Miss Cayman Islands 2015 is Tonie Chisholm
Miss Cayman Islands Pageant 2015 Miss Islas Caiman 2015 26-year-old Tonie Chisholm has a Bachelors of Arts in Film, specialising in Production at Plymouth Co...
By: MyBeauty Official
Read more from the original source:
"Back to the Islands" Spearfishing Bahamas
LIPS - Everything To Me (Adventure Club Remix) Filmed in Rum Cay Samana Cay Edited by Jack Secrest.
By: Life In Blue
Read this article:
The Cuts | Episode VII: GeeGees, Punches, Bluffs, Moccasins, Prison Islands
Clips from my trek through Chernarus. Kieran #39;s Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/kieran0saurusrex Kieran #39;s Twitter - https://twitter.com/kieran0saurusrx Blake #39;s Twitch - http://www.twitch.tv/patblake9...
By: PatBlake 99
Read the rest here:
The Cuts | Episode VII: GeeGees, Punches, Bluffs, Moccasins, Prison Islands - Video
CHINA BUILDS MAN MADE SPRATLY ISLANDS BASES-1
CHINA BUILDS MAN MADE SPRATLY ISLANDS BASES-1.
By: clay moore
Read more:
Call of Duty 4: Deathrun Secret Room - Islands (1080p 60 FPS)
Please don #39;t forget to like, comment, and subscribe! This is the secret room for the map Islands in the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare mod deathrun. Song: Tobu - Candyland ...
By: Kranion
More:
Call of Duty 4: Deathrun Secret Room - Islands (1080p 60 FPS) - Video
Idlewild - Take Me Back To The Islands | The Skinny Sessions
The Skinny presents seven days of Idlewild. An original Idlewild track everyday, for seven days, recorded exclusively for The Skinny. Idlewild play a live ve...
By: The Skinny
Read more:
Idlewild - Take Me Back To The Islands | The Skinny Sessions - Video
The Philippine flag standson Pag-asa Island.
KALAYAAN ISLANDS, PhilippinesThe 1986 Edsa revolution was celebrated even on the island of Pag-asa, a disputed territory in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) caught in the crosshairs of powerful Asian neighbors.
The military, led by Western Command chief Alexander Lopez, together with members of the provincial government of Palawan, headed to the island on Wednesday to celebrate the Edsa people power revolution and the anniversary of Wescom.
Lopez said the message of Edsa was fitting for Pag-asahope and freedom.
Aside from the gift-giving to residents and soldiers, a Mass was also held and children were treated to Jollibee.
Fresh supplies were also delivered to residents and troops stationed on the island.
Pag-asa is a fifth class municipality with a population of about 200. It is the largest Philippine-occupied island in the Kalayaan Island Group (Spratlys).
Pag-asa, a fifth class municipality in Palawan located in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), has a population of about 200.
A flag-raising ceremony was held in Pag-asa on Wednesday, Feb. 25, during the Edsa people power revolution anniversary.
Military and local government officials, led by Wescom chief Vice Adm. Alexander Lopez, Palawan Vice Gov. Victorino Dennis Socrates and Kalayaan Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon, on Pag-asa Island
The rest is here:
In photos: Edsa, Wescom anniversary celebration on Kalayaan Islands
Crete, Greece
Of all the Greek Islands, Crete is both the largest and most varied. Historical sights are topped by the ruins of the Knossos Palace, the pinnacle of the Minoan civilisation. It's just to the south of Crete's capital, Iraklio (also called Heraklion). There are also some tremendous beaches particularly Elafonisi in the south-western corner while Samaria Gorge offers one of the continent's great canyon hikes. The island's also large enough to have substantial mountains, dotted with picturesque monasteries such as the culturally symbolic Moni Arkadiou. Stay at Casa Delfino (casadelfino.com), a 17th-century mansion in Hania, Crete's most attractive city. Doubles cost from 137 euros.
See incrediblecrete.gr.
The brand often supersedes the island itself. Ibiza is so well known as the home of superclubs and globetrotting star DJs that the original appeal is forgotten. Go beyond the beach resorts some are upmarket, others massively insalubrious and there's a fabulous cliff and cove-lined coast. Ibiza Mundo Activo (Ibizamundoactivo.com) runs kayaking trips along it. In the east, converted farmhouse accommodation and the Las Dalias alternative markets (lasdalias.es) hint at the long-standing hippy culture. The fortified Ibiza City, however, is a much-underrated star in its own right. Stay ina huge spa complex at the Aguas de Ibiza resort (aguasdeibiza.com), from 189 euros.
See Ibiza.travel.
A unique history sets Malta far apart from other holiday islands. The capital, Valletta, may be tiny, but the astonishingly complete fortifications built along its clifftops make it look like the world's largest castle. It was built by the Knights of St John who have plenty of audio-visual and slightly hokey walk-through attractions devoted to them within the city. Elsewhere, the megalithic Hagar Qim temple, Hal Saflieni Hypogeum prehistoric necropolis and medieval streets of walled city Mdina all evoke different eras. Stay at the classic grand dame HotelPhoenicia (phoeniciamalta.com), just outside Valletta, from 150 euros.
See visitmalta.com.
Skye is Scotland 101; a startlingly gorgeous compromise for those who can't quite choose between Scotland's highlands and islands. Dunvegan (dunvegancastle.com) ticks the imposing castle box, while the Cuillin Hills have razor-toothed peaks and testing trails to loch and moorland views for determined hikers. The Talisker whisky distillery (discovering-distilleries.com/talisker) should suit less active types, while the MV Stardust (skyeboat-trips.co.uk) shows off the cliff-lined coastline and hopefully a few seals, porpoises and sea eagles. Stay in pretty Portree, where the Rosedale Hotel (rosedalehotelskye.co.uk) has bags of old-fashioned charm. Doubles cost from 70.
See skye.co.uk.
The dreamy lavender fields and photogenic abandoned villages of the island's interior have virtually nothing in common with the swaggering, well-heeled glamour of Hvar Town. The latter is all gothic palaces, handsome 13th-century city walls, high-energy bars and eye-wateringly expensive hotels. But hire a scooter for a day, or head out on a day tour, and it's suddenly all about old-school, slow-paced Mediterranean romance and jealousy-inducing cove beaches. The clear waters make for great diving too Viking Diving (viking-diving.com) runs PADI courses and day trips. Aparthotel Pharia (orvas-hotels.com) offers a rarity affordable peak season double rooms from 78 euros.
More here:
Human evolution questioned: 'Big brain gene found humans, not chimps'
A single gene may have paved the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of brain cells found in a key brain region.
This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees.
By allowing the brain region called the neocortex to contain many more neurons, the tiny snippet of DNA may have laid the foundation for the human brain's massive expansion.
"It is so cool that one tiny gene alone may suffice to affect the phenotype of the stem cells, which contributed the most to the expansion of the neocortex," said study lead author Marta Florio, a doctoral candidate in molecular and cellular biology and genetics at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.
Still, it's likely this gene is just one of many genetic changes that make human cognition special, Florio said.
An expanding brain
The evolution from primitive apes to humans with complex language and culture has taken millions of years.
Some 3.8 million ago, Australopithecus afarensis, the species typified by the iconic early human ancestor fossil Lucy, had a brain that was less than 30 cubic inches (500 cubic centimeters) in volume, or about a third the size of the modern human brain.
By about 1.8 million years ago, Homo erectus was equipped with a brain that was roughly twice as big as that of Australopithecus.
Visit link:
Human evolution questioned: 'Big brain gene found humans, not chimps'
A single gene may have helped pave the way for the rise of human intelligence by dramatically increasing the number of neurons found in a key brain region.
This gene seems to be uniquely human: It is found in modern-day humans, Neanderthals and another branch of extinct humans called Denisovans, but not in chimpanzees.
By allowing the brain region called the neocortex to contain many more neurons, the tiny snippet of DNA may have laid the foundation for the human brain's massive expansion.
This embryonic mouse cerebral cortex was stained to identify cell nuclei (in blue) and a marker for deep-layer neurons (in red). The human-specific gene known as ARHGAP11B was selectively expressed in the right hemisphere: Note the folding of the neocortical surface.
"It is so cool that one tiny gene alone may suffice to affect the phenotype of the stem cells, which contributed the most to the expansion of the neocortex," said study lead author Marta Florio, a doctoral candidate in molecular and cellular biology and genetics at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics in Dresden, Germany.
She and her colleagues found that the gene, called ARHGAP11B, is turned on and highly activated in the human neural progenitor cells, but isn't present at all in mouse cells. This tiny snippet of DNA, just 804 genetic bases long, was once part of a much longer gene. Somehow, this fragment was duplicated, and the duplicated fragment was inserted into the human genome.
In follow-up experiments, the team inserted and turned on this DNA snippet in the brains of mice. The mice with the gene insertion grew what looked like larger neocortex regions.
The researchers reviewed a wide variety of genomes from modern-day and extinct species confirming that Neanderthals and Denisovans had this gene, while chimpanzees and mice do not. That suggests that the gene emerged soon after humans split off from chimpanzees, and that it helped pave the way for the rapid expansion of the human brain.
Florio stressed that the gene is probably just one of many genetic changes that make human cognition special. [The Top 10 Things That Make Humans Special]
The gene was described in a paper published online Thursday by the journal Science.
Visit link:
A better understanding of genetics role in mental illness will lead to better treatments, according to scientists who participated Thursday in the Massachusetts General Hospital Leadership Council for Psychiatrys ninth annual mental health symposium.
Scientists first identified genetic risk factors related to mental disorders about six years ago, said Dr. Jordan Smoller, director of the psychiatric and neurodevelopmental genetics unit in the hospitals Center for Human Genetics Research. Since then, nearly 200 genetic risk factors have been confirmed, Smoller said.
Genetic markers overlap in five disorders bipolar, schizophrenia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, Smoller said.
Were seeing some of these connections and the hope is (that) were going to be able to move towards a diagnostic system that is not simply based upon symptoms but on an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of mental illness, he said.
Another speaker, Dr. Sabine Wilhelm, chief of psychology, discussed body dysmorphic disorder.
About 2 percent of Americans have the condition, Wilhelm said. People with the disorder are preoccupied with a perceived flaw or flaws in their appearance. This intense focus on appearance is linked with an increased risk of depression and/or anxiety. People with the condition are 45 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, she said.
High doses of serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help alleviate the disorder, though the medication takes at least six weeks to work, Wilheim said. That drug is often used in conjunction with cognitive behavior therapy designed to pull a patients focus away from the perceived flaw and to boost his or her self-esteem, she said.
Parents can help children avoid the disorder by communicating positive comments about their own bodies, Wilhelm said.
Dont make make major comments about wrinkles and scars, things like that, Wilhelm said. She urges parents to be careful how they talk to their kids about their looks.
It is important to compliment girls for their academic and athletic prowess, rather than focus on their physical beauty, she said.
Originally posted here:
Symposium: Genetics role in mental illness key to better treatments
Baylor College of Medicine experts will give an update on the latest research and best practices in medical care for Marfan syndrome, a genetic disorder of connective tissue that affects the skeletal system, cardiovascular system, eyes, and skin, in a public forum Feb. 17at the Childrens Museum of Houston.
The forum will feature Dr. John Belmont, professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor and a pediatric geneticist at Texas Childrens Hospital; Dr. Shaine Morris, assistant professor of pediatrics at Baylor and a pediatric cardiologist at Texas Childrens Hospital; Andi Lewis, a genetic counselor at Baylor and Texas Childrens Hospital; Judy Gibaldi, acting president and CEO of The Marfan Foundation and Rod Gray, a parent advocate.
The experts will discuss results of a recent large study, as well as best practices in medical care and resources regarding Marfan Syndrome.
Sponsored by Baylor and Texas Childrens, the event is part of the monthly Evening with Genetics lecture series organized by Baylors Department of Molecular and Human Genetics. The series offers current information regarding care, education and research about genetic disorders.
The program is free and open to the public. It will be held at 7 p.m. at the Childrens Museum of Houston, 1500 Binz, 77004. For more information, contact Susan Fernbach at 832-822-4280 or fernbach@bcm.edu or visit the registration page at http://www.bcm.edu/eveninggenetics. Registration is required.
Visit link:
Marfan syndrome: medical care and research update focus of monthly genetic series
Dr. Jasmin McGinty, SLUCare Pediatric Orthopaedics
Dr. Jasmin McGinty is a pediatric orthopaedic surgeon specializing in foot and ankle deformities/clubfoot, lower extremity deformities, neurofibromatosis, adolescent hip, and Blount #39;s disease....
By: SLUCare
Visit link:
Dr. Abhay Kumar, SLUCare Neurointensive Care
Dr. Abhay Kumar is a neurologist specializing in neurocritical care. He treats patients in the neurointensive care unit at Saint Louis University Hospital for stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage,...
By: SLUCare
See original here:
Dr. Vincent Gibbons, SLUCare Pediatric Neurology
Dr. Vincent Gibbons specializes in pediatric epilepsy, clinical neurophysiology (interpreting EEGs) and medical informatics. He provides inpatient and outpatient care for complex epilepsy cases....
By: SLUCare
Read this article:
Transforming Health Care Through IT Innovation
As health care is becoming unbundled and patients are creating and providing more of their own patient information, health care companies face the challenge ...
By: Delighted Robot
Excerpt from:
Care for PA: Meet Dawna Bivins
Meet Dawna Bivins, a nurse practitioner who is providing high-quality care to patients in Braddock, her hometown. Nurse practitioners like Dawna are ready, willing, able and nationally...
By: PA Coalition of Nurse Practitioners
Read the original:
Holly Fletcher, The (Nashville) Tennessean 11:11 p.m. EST February 25, 2015
The Tennessean staff is kicking off #TNfit, a month-long project in which staff will use the Streaks for Small Starts from the Governors Foundation for Health and Wellness, to make small daily adjustments to be healthier. Join the intiative by downloading the app and tweeting your progress to #TNfit.(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)
NASHVILLE When you're standing in the grocery line the next time, take a look around: There may be someone checking her smartphone or doing calf raises.
While it might be an idle reflex in a moment of quiet, it could also be a moment of multitasking a few repetitions of easy yet tingly stretches or checking in on a recent insurance claim. Those "mobile moments," such as standing in a grocery queue, are what a generation of smartphone apps are looking to capture as a way to integrate health care into everyday life.
The person doing calf raises could very well have been this reporter or another person using the Streaks for Small Starts app developed by the Governor's Foundation for Health and Fitness, an initiative of Gov. Bill Haslam's aimed at encouraging Tennesseans to bring movement and healthier choices into their lives.
The person swiping could be a customer of UnitedHealthcare using the Health4Me app to check and pay a claim.
USA TODAY
Smartphones and tablets to spur record annual revenues
Both apps are examples of the mobile health trend mHealth as its called in the industry taking place in all corners of health care and wellness as companies try to engage with consumers or patients where people communicate: the smartphone.
"People aren't thinking about their health or health care on a daily basis. Most don't need to," said Craig Hankins, vice president of consumer engagement products at UnitedHealthcare. "We seek to support our consumers in regards to their whole well-being."
Original post:
There are sweeping changes now taking place at the intersection of health care and Silicon Valley. If the first step was the embrace of digital health by big tech companies and the creation of new wearable devices for tracking fitness and health, then the next step could be the creation of a revolutionary new direct-to-consumer health care model. This would take advantage of cheap plastic dongles hooked into your smartphone that offer the type of diagnostic power once reserved for hospital laboratories.
The latest development in this new direct-to-consumer health model is a new breakthrough from a team of biomedical engineering researchers at Columbia University in New York City that makes it possible to test for both HIV and syphilis in 15 minutesafter hooking a plastic dongle into your smartphones headphone jack. You simply insert a pinprick of blood onto a disposable plastic collector, connect the plastic collectorto a microfluidic chipused to analyze the sample and insert the chip with the bloodsampleintothe dongle. Once youve logged into an app, your smartphone can start to determine the presence of HIV or syphilis in your blood and display the results on your smartphones screen 15 minutes later.
More than its ease of use, the cost factor of the dongle is what makes it possible to speculate that this type of smartphone diagnostics could one day lead to a new direct-to-consumer model for health care. The equipment needed to perform a laboratory-quality HIV testcan cost upwards of $18,450 apiece. Contrast that to the cost of a cheap plastic dongle, which costs an estimated $34 to make.That makes it possible to imagine a future where tests are faster, simpler and cheaper than anything available today.
What makes the lab-on-a-smartphone so innovative is that, even though youre significantly reducing cost, youre not sacrificing power. The results delivered by the new device suggest thata full laboratory-quality immunoassay can be run on a smartphone accessory. Moreover, in a small field study in Rwanda, the team of researchers found that patient preference for the dongle was 97 percent compared to laboratory-based tests.
According to Samuel K.Sia, the lead biomedical engineering researcher on the project, there are broad implications for the way we think about health care: Coupling microfluidics with recent advances in consumer electronics can make certain lab-based diagnostics accessible to almost any population with access to smartphones. This kind of capability can transform how health care services are delivered around the world.
And theres plenty more innovation where this came from. This month, 23andMe received FDA approval for the first time ever to market a direct-to-consumer genetic test. Its an important first stepin terms of delivering direct-to-consumer genetic testing, as 23andMe notes: While this authorization is for a single carrier status test only, we are committed to returning health information to our US customers who dont already have this information once more tests have been through this process and we have a more comprehensive product offering. At some point in the future, you could theoreticallyreceive health reports about your childrenby running a series of DNA tests at home.
This lab-on-a-chip innovation fits into a broader trend that has been building momentum for more than five years. Harvard chemist George Whitesides, in a popular TED Talkin 2009, outlined his vision of diagnostics for all, in which the cost of all diagnostics could be brought down to zero by creating a lab the size of a postage stamp. Instead of taking something thats very expensive and trying to bring it down to zero (the $18,000 machine) you can start with something very simple (a cheap plastic dongle) and attempt to build in additional complexity and diagnostic ability.
Interesting things happen when you start thinking in terms of bringing low-cost innovations from the developing world to developed world. Cost constraints become a positive, not a negative. Sias work suggests that similar tests screening for other diseases might be right around the corner. As Sia points out, If you can start to bring core health services to the smartphone beyond just measuringtheheartrate like blood tests then youre going to start seeing a pretty fundamental shift in the health-care system.
Of course, its not certain that all this innovation is going to be coming to market anytime soon. In the United States, for example, there are obvious regulatory hurdles to get new health innovations to market. Just consider how much time and effort 23andMe has spent in getting its genetic tests to market. As a result, health-care dongles will probably be used in the field first for remote and mobile clinics in the developing world, before moving to the developed world.
When it comes to diagnostics, though, zero cost is an admirable goal. Smartphone diagnostics is part of a mind-set shift about the way we offer and receive health care. Smartphones offer power, a simple user interface and mobility, all in the palm of your hand. Now that the average smartphone today has more processing power than NASA had when it put a man on the moon, it could just be a matter of finding the right mix of dongles and letting Moores Law take care of the rest when it comes to testing for disease.
Go here to read the rest:
Innovations: The future of health care is a dongle attached to your smartphone
Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.org, won't yet show you what your local hospital or radiologist charges, but it will reveal the average cost of the test in your area. iStockphoto hide caption
Shopping for an MRI scan? Guroo.org, won't yet show you what your local hospital or radiologist charges, but it will reveal the average cost of the test in your area.
Buying health care in America is like shopping blindfolded at Macy's and getting the bill months after you leave the store, Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt likes to say.
But an online tool that went live Wednesday is supposed to help change that, giving patients in most parts of the country a small peek at the prices of medical tests and procedures before they open their wallets.
Got a sore knee? Having a baby? Need a primary-care doctor? Shopping for an MRI scan?
A website called Guroo.org shows the average local cost for 70 common diagnoses and medical tests in most states. It's showing the real cost not the published charges, which often get marked down based on a giant database of what insurance companies actually pay.
OK, this isn't like Priceline.com for knee replacements. What Guroo hopes to do for consumers is still limited.
It won't reflect costs for particular hospitals or doctors, although officials say that's coming, in some cases. And it doesn't yet have much to say about the quality of care.
Still, consumer advocates say Guroo should shed new light on the nation's opaque, complex and maddening medical bazaar.
"This has the potential to be a game changer," said Katherine Hempstead, who analyzes health insurance for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "It's good for uninsured people. It's good for people with high deductibles. It's good for any person [who is] kind of wondering: If I go to see the doctor for such-and-such, what might happen next?"
Read the original:
Attention, Shoppers: Prices For 70 Health Care Procedures Now Online!