While many remodeling projects add important value to a home, the No. 1 reason to renovate is to improve your daily living environment.
According to a survey conducted by Houzz, an online platform for home design and remodeling, among homeowners planning to build, remodel or decorate in the next two years, 86 percent cited ?improving the look and feel of the space? as an important driver for remodeling projects, while only 47 percent cited ?increasing home value.? The gap between these priorities was consistent across all income levels and demographic groups.
Homeowners say they are more likely to cut back in other areas, such as vacations and other big-ticket purchases, than to delay or decrease the budget for their home improvement plans.
Seventy percent of respondents said they would rather cut back elsewhere or do some of the work themselves than take out a loan to finance their home improvement. Even upscale homeowners are taking a hands-on approach to building, remodeling and decorating projects. The survey found that while 45 percent of homeowners at upper income levels ($150,000+) are choosing to hire an architect, interior designer, general contractor or another remodeling or decorating professional to complete a project in its entirety, an equal number of them are combining professional help and DIY efforts, a proportion only slightly smaller than the 49 percent taking this combination approach in lower income brackets.
According to the survey, kitchens and bathrooms are the most popular remodeling projects, with 48 percent of respondents planning a bathroom remodel, and 45 percent redoing a kitchen in the next two years. An added bonus, these two projects always add value to your home, allowing you to recoup costs if and when you sell.
Other interesting findings from the survey include:
In the next two years, 72 percent of homeowners surveyed plan to decorate or redecorate, 40 percent plan to remodel or construct an addition, while 10 percent are planning to build a custom home.
57 percent of homeowners planning to complete a project in the next two years will hire a general contractor, 35 percent a kitchen or bath professional and 32 percent will hire a carpet or flooring professional. Thirty percent are planning to hire an architect, 26 percent an interior designer and 24 percent a landscape architect or designer.
About half?52 percent?say they will save money by completing some projects themselves.
The largest projects in terms of average spend in the last five years were custom home builds ($577,000), complete home remodels ($193,000), pool additions or replacements ($34,000) and kitchen remodels ($25,000).
Feel free to reach out if you would like to find out if and how your remodeling project will affect the value of your home, or if you would like recommendations on credible professionals to work with.
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My past awards and designations include ? 2003 President of the Dulles Association of Realtors, 2003 Dulles Area Assoc Realtor of the Year, Salesperson of the year 2000 Dulles Area Assoc of Realtors,? Top Producer awards from both the Dulles Area Association and the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors.? I am a member of the Top 5 in Real Estate Network.
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Loudoun County and Northern Virginia Real Estate Sales and Solutions ? Helena Talbot, Broker. I specialize in helping buyers and sellers invest in real estate in the Northern Virginia area to include Loudoun County and surrounding areas including Fairfax, Clarke, Fauquier, Prince William? Counties.? Our local neighborhoods include Leesburg, Ashburn, Sterling, Potomac Falls, Brambleton, Broadlands, Lansdowne, River Creek, Belmont Country Club, Beacon Hill, Shenstone, Waterford, Lovettsville, Purcellville, Hamilton, Round Hill and Bluemont.??????????????????????? Cell 703.727.9885??? Office 703.574.3800?? www.facebook.com/LoudounCountyConnect? www.twitter.com/ExitAshburn? www.Linkedin.com/in/HelenaTalbot
JERUSALEM (AP) ? Israel's deputy foreign minister downplayed the Palestinians' statehood bid at the United Nations on Thursday, calling their internationally backed quest for global recognition a "virtual move without any substance" that could boomerang against them.
After four years of deadlocked negotiations, the Palestinians plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday to recognize a non-member state of Palestine in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
The measure, advanced over Israeli and U.S. objections, is expected to pass because the Palestinians have overwhelming support in the assembly and do not face a U.S. veto there as they do in the Security Council.
Backing for the Palestinians' appeal to the U.N. bid came from an unexpected quarter Thursday, when former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was quoted as saying the Palestinian request "is congruent with the basic concept" of the two-state solution.
"Therefore, I see no reason to oppose it," said, according to The Daily Beast news website. An Olmert spokesman did not return a call for comment.
Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and their teams conducted peace talks in 2007 through early 2009, but never clinched a deal.
The U.S. and Israel mounted an aggressive campaign to head off the General Assembly vote.
In a last-ditch move Wednesday, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns made a personal appeal to Abbas, promising that President Barack Obama would re-engage as a mediator in 2013 if Abbas abandoned the statehood effort. The Palestinian leader refused, according to Abbas' aide Saeb Erekat.
For Abbas, the U.N. bid is crucial if he wants to maintain his leadership and relevance. The Islamic militant group's standing in the Arab world has risen as changes sweep the region, while Abbas' Fatah movement, which governs the West Bank, has been sidelined and marginalized.
Israel, meanwhile, focused on lining up European powers against the bid. But France and other European nations have lined up behind the Palestinians, Germany announced Thursday that it would abstain and Britain indicated it might do the same.
Still, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon insisted Thursday that "the Palestinians will come out the losers in the end."
The statehood bid, he told Army Radio, constitutes a "serious violation" of peace accords between the two sides. Israel will consequently feel itself "less bound" by those agreements, and could respond by withholding funds or security cooperation from the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, he said.
"In my opinion, it's a losing proposition," Ayalon said. "It's a virtual move without any substance."
The Israeli government argues that the Palestinians can only win a state through negotiations with Israel and maintains the U.N. appeal violates peace accords by sidestepping talks.
However, Ron Pundak, one of the architects of those mid-1990s accords, told Army Radio on Thursday that the agreements contained no provision blocking such a move.
The Palestinians are turning to the General Assembly a year after they failed to muster Security Council to recognize "Palestine" as a full-fledged U.N. member.
Intense Israeli and U.S. lobbying against that earlier bid buried it. But this year, the Palestinians have been helped by another year of stalemate and perhaps more important, changes in the Arab world that have strengthened the Palestinian Authority's militant Hamas rivals, who oppose negotiations with Israel.
European nations have been more receptive to this latest bid, in the hope of bolstering the authority's moderate president, Mahmoud Abbas, who governs the West Bank. Abbas champions negotiations, but his stature at home has suffered because of his failure to deliver a state through diplomacy during his eight-year tenure.
General Assembly recognition of an independent state of Palestine will not actually deliver a state, end the Israeli occupation or reunify the Palestinians, who are ruled by dueling governments in the West Bank and Gaza.
But the Palestinians hope U.N. recognition will add weight to their claims for an independent homeland and say they hope to leverage it to resume negotiations.
The Palestinians are going to the U.N. on an emotionally charged date. On Nov. 29, 1947, the U.N. decided to partition what was then British-ruled Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, but Arabs rejected it, and the Palestinians were left without a state.
Do you charge your iPhone with a boring old cable? What the heck is the matter with you? Are you a gadgeteer or what? I bet these docks from Iron Giant Designs will make you drool. They offer a limited number of docks that are made from a solid hunk of metal or clear material [...]
Implantable silk optics multi-task in the bodyPublic release date: 28-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Alex Reid alexander.reid@tufts.edu 617-627-4173 Tufts University
Dissolvable micro-mirrors enhance imaging, administer heat, deliver and monitor drugs
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (November 28, 2012) Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions.
Biodegradable and biocompatible, these tiny mirror-like devices dissolve harmlessly at predetermined rates and require no surgery to remove them.
The technology is the brainchild of a research team led by Fiorenzo Omenetto, Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering at Tufts. For several years, Omenetto; David L. Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering chair, and their colleagues have been exploring ways to leverage silk's optical capabilities with its capacity as a resilient, biofriendly material that can stabilize materials while maintaining their biochemical functionality.
The technology is described in the paper "Implantable Multifunctional Bioresorbable Optics," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online Early Edition the week of November 12, 2012.
"This work showcases the potential of silk to bring together form and function. In this case an implantable optical form -- the mirror -- can go beyond imaging to serve multiple biomedical functions," Omenetto says.
Turning Silk into Mirrors
To create the optical devices, the Tufts bioengineers poured a purified silk protein solution into molds of multiple micro-sized prism reflectors, or microprism arrays (MPAs). They pre-determined the rates at which the devices would dissolve in the body by regulating the water content of the solution during processing. The cast solution was then air dried to form solid silk films in the form of the mold. The resulting silk sheets were much like the reflective tape found on safety garments or on traffic signs.
When implanted, these MPAs reflected back photons that are ordinarily lost with reflection-based imaging technologies, thereby enhancing imaging, even in deep tissue.
The researchers tested the devices using solid and liquid "phantoms" (materials that mimic the scattering that occurs when light passes through human tissue). The tiny mirror-like devices reflected substantially stronger optical signals than implanted silk films that had not been formed as MPAs.
Preventing Infection, Fighting Cancer
The Tufts researchers also demonstrated the silk mirrors' potential to administer therapeutic treatments.
In one experiment, the researchers mixed gold nanoparticles in the silk protein solution before casting the MPAs. They then implanted the gold-silk mirror under the skin of mice. When illuminated with green laser light, the nanoparticles converted light to heat. Similar in-vitro experiments showed that the devices inhibited bacterial growth while maintaining optical performance.
The team also embedded the cancer-fighting drug doxorubicin in the MPAs. The embedded drug remained active even at high temperatures (60 degree C), underscoring the ability of silk to stabilize chemical and biological dopants.
When exposed to enzymes in vitro, the doxorubicin was released as the mirror gradually dissolved. The amount of reflected light decreased as the mirror degraded, allowing the researchers to accurately assess the rate of drug delivery.
"The important implication here is that using a single biofriendly, resorbable device one could image a site of interest, such as a tumor, apply therapy as needed and then monitor the progress of the therapy," says Omenetto.
###
Collaborating with Omenetto and Kaplan from Tufts Department of Biomedical Engineering were Hu Tao, research assistant professor; Jana M. Kainerstorfer, post-doctoral researcher; Sean M. Siebert, a Tufts undergraduate; Eleanor M. Pritchard, former post-doctoral researcher; Angelo Sassaroli, research assistant professor; Bruce J.B. Panilaitis, research assistant professor; Mark A. Brenckle, graduate student; Jason Amsden, former post-doctoral researcher; Jonathan Levitt, post-doctoral researcher, and Professor Sergio Fantini.
At Tufts, Fiorenzo Omenetto also has an appointment in the Department of Physics in the School of Arts and Sciences, and David Kaplan also has appointments in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Dental Medicine.
The work was supported by the United States Army Research Laboratory, the United States Army Research Office, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Tissue Engineering Resource Center of the National Institutes of Health under award number P41EB00250 and the National Science Foundation.
Tao, H., Kainerstorfer, J.M., Siebert, S.M., Pritchard, E.M., Sassaroli, A., Panilaitis, B., Brenckle, M.A., Amsden, J., Levitt, J., Fantini, S., Kaplan, D. L., and Omenetto, F.G. (2012),.Implantable Multifunctional Bioresorbable Optics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Doi:10.1073/pnas.1209056109
Tufts University School of Engineering
Located on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, the School of Engineering offers a rigorous engineering education in a unique environment that blends the intellectual and technological resources of a world-class research university with the strengths of a top-ranked liberal arts college. Close partnerships with Tufts' excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, coupled with a long tradition of collaboration, provide a strong platform for interdisciplinary education and scholarship. The School of Engineering's mission is to educate engineers committed to the innovative and ethical application of science and technology in addressing the most pressing societal needs, to develop and nurture twenty-first century leadership qualities in its students, faculty, and alumni, and to create and disseminate transformational new knowledge and technologies that further the well-being and sustainability of society in such cross-cutting areas as human health, environmental sustainability, alternative energy, and the human-technology interface.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Implantable silk optics multi-task in the bodyPublic release date: 28-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Alex Reid alexander.reid@tufts.edu 617-627-4173 Tufts University
Dissolvable micro-mirrors enhance imaging, administer heat, deliver and monitor drugs
MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, Mass. (November 28, 2012) Tufts University School of Engineering researchers have demonstrated silk-based implantable optics that offer significant improvement in tissue imaging while simultaneously enabling photo thermal therapy, administering drugs and monitoring drug delivery. The devices also lend themselves to a variety of other biomedical functions.
Biodegradable and biocompatible, these tiny mirror-like devices dissolve harmlessly at predetermined rates and require no surgery to remove them.
The technology is the brainchild of a research team led by Fiorenzo Omenetto, Frank C. Doble Professor of Engineering at Tufts. For several years, Omenetto; David L. Kaplan, Stern Family Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering chair, and their colleagues have been exploring ways to leverage silk's optical capabilities with its capacity as a resilient, biofriendly material that can stabilize materials while maintaining their biochemical functionality.
The technology is described in the paper "Implantable Multifunctional Bioresorbable Optics," published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online Early Edition the week of November 12, 2012.
"This work showcases the potential of silk to bring together form and function. In this case an implantable optical form -- the mirror -- can go beyond imaging to serve multiple biomedical functions," Omenetto says.
Turning Silk into Mirrors
To create the optical devices, the Tufts bioengineers poured a purified silk protein solution into molds of multiple micro-sized prism reflectors, or microprism arrays (MPAs). They pre-determined the rates at which the devices would dissolve in the body by regulating the water content of the solution during processing. The cast solution was then air dried to form solid silk films in the form of the mold. The resulting silk sheets were much like the reflective tape found on safety garments or on traffic signs.
When implanted, these MPAs reflected back photons that are ordinarily lost with reflection-based imaging technologies, thereby enhancing imaging, even in deep tissue.
The researchers tested the devices using solid and liquid "phantoms" (materials that mimic the scattering that occurs when light passes through human tissue). The tiny mirror-like devices reflected substantially stronger optical signals than implanted silk films that had not been formed as MPAs.
Preventing Infection, Fighting Cancer
The Tufts researchers also demonstrated the silk mirrors' potential to administer therapeutic treatments.
In one experiment, the researchers mixed gold nanoparticles in the silk protein solution before casting the MPAs. They then implanted the gold-silk mirror under the skin of mice. When illuminated with green laser light, the nanoparticles converted light to heat. Similar in-vitro experiments showed that the devices inhibited bacterial growth while maintaining optical performance.
The team also embedded the cancer-fighting drug doxorubicin in the MPAs. The embedded drug remained active even at high temperatures (60 degree C), underscoring the ability of silk to stabilize chemical and biological dopants.
When exposed to enzymes in vitro, the doxorubicin was released as the mirror gradually dissolved. The amount of reflected light decreased as the mirror degraded, allowing the researchers to accurately assess the rate of drug delivery.
"The important implication here is that using a single biofriendly, resorbable device one could image a site of interest, such as a tumor, apply therapy as needed and then monitor the progress of the therapy," says Omenetto.
###
Collaborating with Omenetto and Kaplan from Tufts Department of Biomedical Engineering were Hu Tao, research assistant professor; Jana M. Kainerstorfer, post-doctoral researcher; Sean M. Siebert, a Tufts undergraduate; Eleanor M. Pritchard, former post-doctoral researcher; Angelo Sassaroli, research assistant professor; Bruce J.B. Panilaitis, research assistant professor; Mark A. Brenckle, graduate student; Jason Amsden, former post-doctoral researcher; Jonathan Levitt, post-doctoral researcher, and Professor Sergio Fantini.
At Tufts, Fiorenzo Omenetto also has an appointment in the Department of Physics in the School of Arts and Sciences, and David Kaplan also has appointments in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, the Department of Chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Dental Medicine.
The work was supported by the United States Army Research Laboratory, the United States Army Research Office, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Tissue Engineering Resource Center of the National Institutes of Health under award number P41EB00250 and the National Science Foundation.
Tao, H., Kainerstorfer, J.M., Siebert, S.M., Pritchard, E.M., Sassaroli, A., Panilaitis, B., Brenckle, M.A., Amsden, J., Levitt, J., Fantini, S., Kaplan, D. L., and Omenetto, F.G. (2012),.Implantable Multifunctional Bioresorbable Optics, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Doi:10.1073/pnas.1209056109
Tufts University School of Engineering
Located on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, the School of Engineering offers a rigorous engineering education in a unique environment that blends the intellectual and technological resources of a world-class research university with the strengths of a top-ranked liberal arts college. Close partnerships with Tufts' excellent undergraduate, graduate and professional schools, coupled with a long tradition of collaboration, provide a strong platform for interdisciplinary education and scholarship. The School of Engineering's mission is to educate engineers committed to the innovative and ethical application of science and technology in addressing the most pressing societal needs, to develop and nurture twenty-first century leadership qualities in its students, faculty, and alumni, and to create and disseminate transformational new knowledge and technologies that further the well-being and sustainability of society in such cross-cutting areas as human health, environmental sustainability, alternative energy, and the human-technology interface.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
The Philadelphia Eagles have shifted into full-blown evaluation mode.? So why not evaluate another member of the staff as the interim head coach?
With each passing loss, more and more members of the media and fans are pointing out that the time has come to fire Andy Reid.? For two very good reasons, however, owner Jeffrey Lurie should ride it out.
First, is there anyone on the current staff who deserves a crack at coaching the team if Reid is relieved of his duties?? The Eagles haven?t won a game since Todd Bowles became defensive coordinator.? Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg is tied too closely to Reid.? That leaves special-teams coordinator Bobby April.
Second, and more importantly, the firing of Reid and the hiring of an on-staff interim replacement could provide the kick in the pants the players need.? As we explained a few weeks back, current players tend to play hard for an interim head coach, not because they want to help the interim head coach get the job but because they know that, if the interim head coach gets the job, the players are more likely to keep their jobs.
Then, once the interim head coach becomes the permanent head coach, the players can go back to stinking.
So if Reid goes and someone else becomes the interim head coach and a fan base starved for wins finally gets a few of them, the interim head coach could start to look like a good candidate for the job.? It would be better, then, to wait until the season ends, move on from Reid, and find a new coach from outside the organization.
That said, who is really going to want this job?? The Eagles have no clear-cut quarterback, looming salary-cap problems, and an uncharacteristic number (for the Eagles) of aging players.? Recent drafts have featured more misses than hits, and whoever takes the job will have to deal with RG3, Eli Manning, and the Cowboys twice per year.
If Chip Kelly or Jon Gruden have options, they could be inclined to opt for another opportunity.
The former CEO of Autonomy slammed Hewlett-Packard's board of directors Tuesday in an open letter for accusing his company of "serious financial impropriety."
"On 20 November Hewlett-Packard (HP) issued a statement accusing unspecified members of Autonomy?s former management team of serious financial impropriety," said Dr. Mike Lynch, the former CEO of Autonomy, in his letter. "It was shocking that HP put non-specific but highly damaging allegations into the public domain without prior notification or contact with me, as former CEO of Autonomy."
"I utterly reject all allegations of impropriety," he said.?
Lynch demanded Hewlett-Packard answer questions regarding its allegations against Autonomy financial practices, including HP's claim that a $5 billion write-down was necessary on Autonomy.?
"Can HP really state that no part of the $5 billion write down was, or should be, attributed to HP?s operational and financial mismanagement of Autonomy since the acquisition?" Lynch said in the letter.?
HP responded to Lynch's letter stating that the matter was now in the hands of authorities, including the UK Serious Fraud Office, the US Securities and Exchange Commission?s Enforcement Division and the US Department of Justice.
"We will defer to them as to how they wish to engage with Dr. Lynch. In addition, HP will take legal action against the parties involved at the appropriate time," the company said in an email statement to CNBC.
HP also said that it had uncovered "extensive evidence" that former Autonomy employees were inflating financial metrics of the company, according to the statement.
The company also made it clear in the statement that the only answers Lynch would be getting would be through a legal process.
"While Dr. Lynch is eager for a debate, we believe the legal process is the correct method in which to bring out the facts and take action on behalf of our shareholders. In that setting, we look forward to hearing Dr. Lynch and other former Autonomy employees answer questions under penalty of perjury," the company said in the statement.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]Castle Hill Real Estate Agent; Parramatta Real Estate Agent; Hills Area Real Estate Agent; Property Manager Castle Hil; Property Manager Parramatta; Property Manager Hornsby; Hornsby Real Estate Agent; Thornleigh Real ...
Follow world-renowned fitness presenter Jane Wake through this bitesized workout for the exercise bike! Either follow the whole series for a full workout, or use each clip individually for quick fitness burst! Always make sure you warm up before doing any form of exercise and cool down afterwards. Pure Living and its parent company The Music Factory Entertainment Group cannot be held responsible for any injury incurred whilst using this video or any others on the Pure Living YouTube Channel. Video Rating: 4 / 5
This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 3:07 pm and is filed under Exercise Bike. ?Tagged Bike, Exercise, Part, Workout You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Sign Up Now Online; Two teams to Receive Fully Paid Trips to Compete Live in Riot Games? Season 3 Qualifier
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Major League Gaming today announced a League of Legends Championship Series 3 online qualifying tournament. Beginning today, up to 32 teams (North American teams that did not attend 2012 NA regionals) can register online?to compete in the single elimination tournament. Registration will close on Sunday, December 2 at 5pm ET. The top two teams will earn all expenses paid trips to compete LIVE at Riot?s Season 3 Qualifier in Los Angeles from January 9-13 where they will go up against 14 other teams for five spots in Season 3.?Note: Players must be 17 years of age by February 8th, 2013 in order to be eligible.
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Fans worldwide can watch the action on www.majorleaguegaming.com beginning Thursday, December 6 at 8pm ET.? Tom ?Optimus Tom? Searfoss and special guests will commentate the gameplay and the broadcast schedule is available below and at www.majorleaguegaming.com/schedule.
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Broadcast Schedule ? Broadcasts air at 8pm ET at www.majorleaguegaming.com
Thursday, 12/6 ? RQ Ro8 #1
Monday, 12/10?- RQ Ro8 #2
Thursday, 12/13 ? RQ Ro8 #3
Friday, 12/14 ? RQ Ro8 #4
Monday, 12/17 ? RQ Ro4 #1 ? Winner Qualifies for LA
Thursday, 12/20 ? RQ Ro4 #2 ? Winner Qualifies for LA
When Elizabeth Howard went to an event supporting the homeless about six years ago, she was thinking about pet food.
?I knew I wanted to do something to help the homeless people, but I?m an animal rights activist and have been for quite a while now,? she said. ?So I thought, ?Well, OK, I?ll get the pet food for the homeless people for their dogs and cats.??
Howard started the Home Van Pet Care Project five years ago, a companion to the Home Van, a nonprofit that feeds the homeless.
She said she started with ?one little bag? of pet food someone donated. Now, the Gainesville nonprofit donates 100 pounds each of dog food and cat food every week.
After following the Home Van with her own car for awhile, Howard began distributing the pet food ? packed in gallon-size Ziploc bags ? on Wednesdays at the library.
Howard said she isn?t sure how much longer she can sustain the program, though. The nonprofit needs more hands to pack bags of food and deliver them, she said.
?It?s a little scary right now,? she said. ?I don?t know which way to go with some of this.?
Howard said?although it?s hard to care for pets, the homeless need the love and companionship pets provide. She emphasized because Home Van Pet Care is?a type of food bank, the food it provides is only a supplement and not enough to sustain pets.
?We try to get everybody to find out where they can get more food and how they can feed their animals well,? she said.
CAIRO (Reuters) - Opponents of President Mohamed Mursi rallied in Cairo's Tahrir Square for a fifth day on Tuesday, stepping up calls to scrap a decree they say threatens Egypt with a new era of autocracy.
The protest called by leftist, liberal and socialist groups marks an escalation of the worst crisis since the Muslim Brotherhood politician was elected in June and exposes the deep divide between newly empowered Islamists and their opponents.
The crowd is expected to grow in the late afternoon but hundreds were already in the square after many camped overnight. Police fired tear gas and organizers urged demonstrators not to clash with Interior Ministry security forces.
One person - a Muslim Brotherhood activist - has been killed and hundreds more injured in violence set off by a move that has also triggered a rebellion by judges and battered confidence in an economy struggling to recover from two years of turmoil.
Mursi's opponents have accused him of behaving like a modern-day pharaoh. The United States, a big benefactor to Egypt's military, has voiced its concerns, worried by more turbulence in a country that has a peace treaty with Israel.
The protest will test the extent to which Egypt's non-Islamist opposition can rally support. The Islamists have consistently beaten more secular parties at the ballot box in elections held since Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, 2011.
"We don't want a dictatorship again. The Mubarak regime was a dictatorship. We had a revolution to have justice and freedom," said Ahmed Husseini, 32, who was speaking early on Tuesday in Tahrir Square.
Activists have been camped out in Tahrir Square, scene of the historic uprising against Mubarak, since Friday, blocking it to traffic and clashing intermittently with riot police in nearby streets.
The decree issued by Mursi on Thursday expanded his powers and protected his decisions from judicial review until the election of a new parliament expected in the first half of 2013.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch said it gives Mursi more power than the military junta from which he assumed power.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted judges had challenged the decree in remarks to Austria's Die Presse, adding: "But I have also noted that Mursi wants to resolve the problem in a dialogue. I will encourage him to continue to do so."
AVOIDING CONFRONTATION
In a bid to ease tensions with judges outraged at the step, Mursi has assured the country's highest judicial authority that elements of the decree giving his decisions immunity would apply only to matters of "sovereign" importance. Though that should limit it to issues such as a declaration of war, experts said there was room for a broader interpretation.
In another step to avoid more confrontation, the Muslim Brotherhood cancelled a mass protest it had called in Cairo for Tuesday in support of a decree that has also won the backing of more hardline Islamist groups.
But there has been no retreat on other elements of the decree, including a stipulation that the Islamist-dominated body writing a new constitution be protected from legal challenge.
Its popular legitimacy undermined by the withdrawal of most of its non-Islamist members, the assembly faces a raft of court cases from plaintiffs who claim it was formed illegally.
The new system of government to be laid out in the constitution is one of the issues at the heart of the crisis.
"The president of the republic must put his delusions to one side and undertake the only step capable of defusing the crisis: cancelling the despotic declaration," liberal commentator and activist Amr Hamzawy wrote in his column in al-Watan newspaper.
"We asked for the cancellation of the decree and that did not happen," said Mona Amer, spokeswoman for the opposition movement Popular Current, part of a coalition of parties that are joining forces to challenge the Mursi decree.
Mursi issued the decree a day after his administration won international praise for brokering an end to eight days of violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
The decree was seen as targeting in part a legal establishment still largely unreformed from Mubarak's era, when the Brotherhood was outlawed.
MEETING HALF WAY
Rulings from an array of courts this year have dealt a series of blows to the Brotherhood, leading to the dissolution of the first constitutional assembly and the parliament elected a year ago. The Brotherhood had a major say in both.
The judiciary blocked an attempt by Mursi to reconvene the Brotherhood-led parliament after his election victory. It also stood in the way of his attempt to sack the prosecutor general, a Mubarak hold over, in October.
In his decree, Mursi gave himself the power to sack that prosecutor and appoint a new one. In open defiance of Mursi, some judges are refusing to acknowledge that step.
But in a sign that other judges were willing to meet Mursi half way, the Supreme Judicial Council, the nation's highest judicial body, proposed Mursi limit the scope of decisions that would be immune from judicial review to "sovereign matters", language the presidential spokesman said Mursi backed.
"The president said he had the utmost respect for the judicial authority and its members," spokesman Yasser Ali told reporters in announcing the agreement on Monday.
Mursi's administration has defended his decree as an effort to speed up reforms and complete a democratic transformation. Leftists, liberals, socialists and others say it has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.
Before the president's announcement, leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahy said protests would continue until the decree was scrapped and said Tahrir would be a model of an "Egypt that will not accept a new dictator because it brought down the old one".
Mursi has repeatedly stated the decree will only stay in place until a new parliament is elected - something that can only happen once the constitution is written and passed in a popular referendum.
Though both Islamists and their opponents broadly agree that the judiciary needs reform, his rivals oppose Mursi's methods.
(Additional reporting by Seham Eloraby in Cairo and Michael Shields in Vienna; Editing by Anna Willard)
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two privacy advocacy groups urged Facebook Inc on Monday to withdraw proposed changes to its terms of service that would allow the company to share user data with recently acquired photo-application Instagram, eliminate a user voting system and loosen email restrictions within the social network.
The changes, which Facebook unveiled on Wednesday, raise privacy risks for users and violate the company's previous commitments to its roughly 1 billion members, according to the Electronic Privacy Information Center and the Center for Digital Democracy.
"Facebook's proposed changes implicate the user privacy and terms of a recent settlement with the Federal Trade Commission," the groups said in a letter to Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg that was published on their websites on Monday.
By sharing information with Instagram, the letter said, Facebook could combine user profiles, ending its practice of keeping user information on the two services separate.
Facebook declined to comment on the letter.
In April, Facebook settled privacy charges with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that it had deceived consumers and forced them to share more personal information than they intended. Under the settlement, Facebook is required to get user consent for certain changes to its privacy settings and is subject to 20 years of independent audits.
Facebook, Google and other online companies have faced increasing scrutiny and enforcement from privacy regulators as consumers entrust ever-increasing amounts of information about their personal lives to Web services.
Facebook unveiled a variety of proposed changes to its terms of service and data use polices on Wednesday, including a move to scrap a 4-year old process that can allow the social network's roughly 1 billion users to vote on changes to its policies.
If proposed changes generate more than 7,000 public comments during a seven-day period, Facebook's current terms of service automatically trigger a vote by users to approve the changes. But the vote is only binding if at least 30 percent of users take part, and two prior votes never reached that threshold.
The latest proposed changes had garnered more than 17,000 comments by late Monday.
Facebook also said last week that it wanted to eliminate a setting for users to control who can contact them on the social network's email system. The company said it planned to replace the "Who can send you Facebook messages" setting with new filters for managing incoming messages.
That change is likely to increase the amount of unwanted "spam" messages that users receive, the privacy groups warned on Monday.
Facebook's potential information sharing with Instagram, a photo-sharing service for smartphone users that it bought in October, flows from proposed changes that would allow the company to share information between its own service and other businesses or affiliates it owns.
The change could open the door for Facebook to build unified profiles of its users that include people's personal data from its social network and from Instagram, similar to recent moves by Google Inc.
In January, Google said it would combine users' personal information from its various Web services - such as search, email and the Google+ social network - to provide a more customized experience. The unified data policy raised concerns among some privacy advocates and regulators, who said it was an invasion of people's privacy.
"As our company grows, we acquire businesses that become a legal part of our organization," Facebook spokesman Andrew Noyes said in an emailed statement on Monday.
"Those companies sometimes operate as affiliates. We wanted to clarify that we will share information with our affiliates and vice versa, both to help improve our services and theirs, and to take advantage of storage efficiencies," Noyes said.
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Richard Pullin)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian rebels captured a helicopter base just outside Damascus Sunday in what an activist called a "blow to the morale of the regime" near President Bashar Assad's seat of power.
The takeover claim showed how rebels are advancing in the area of the capital, though they are badly outgunned, making inroads where Assad's power was once unchallenged. Rebels have also been able to fire mortar rounds into Damascus recently.
The director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said rebels seized control of the Marj al-Sultan base on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday morning. He said at least 15 rebels and eight soldiers were killed in the fighting that started a day earlier. The rebels later withdrew from the base.
Rebels appear to be trying to take over air bases and destroy aircraft in order to prevent the regime from using them in attacks against opposition forces around the country.
The rebels have no protection against the attack helicopters and fighter jets that have been blasting their positions.
Rebels have been attacking air bases in different parts of Syria, mostly in the northern regions of Idlib and Aleppo.
In the battle at the base outside Damascus, Abdul-Rahman and Damascus-based activist Maath al-Shami said rebels destroyed two helicopters with rocket propelled grenades and captured a tank. They say the base, which is on the eastern outskirts of Damascus, houses several radar positions.
"This is a blow to the morale of the regime, because it is close to the heart of the capital," said Abdul-Rahman, referring to the base that is about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from Damascus.
Al-Shami said the rebels withdrew from the base after they captured some ammunition. He said they feared counterstrikes by regime aircraft.
An amateur video posted online showed rebels walking next to two destroyed helicopters. At least three other helicopters appeared undamaged. Black smoke billowed in the distance.
Another video showed several radar posts on hills inside the large compound. Parked military trucks stood inside as rebels roamed freely.
The activist videos appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting about the events depicted. Syria restricts the access of reporters.
The Observatory also reported violence in other parts of Syria, including the country's largest city of Aleppo in the north and the capital itself.
It said rebels on Sunday captured a training base for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command near the Damascus suburb of Douma. The PFLP-GC is one of the Palestinian factions most loyal to Assad.
The PFLP-GC said in a statement late Saturday that the base was under attack. It said that thousands of activists and fighters who fought against Israel were trained at the base over the past 30 years.
Also Sunday, the Observatory said a bomb targeted a bus in the southern village of Othman, killing at least five people and wounding dozens. It said rebels and troops clashed in the southern region of Quneitra on the edge of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said residents found 12 bodies in the Damascus suburb of Daraya, scene of heavy clashes between rebels and government troops over the past few days.
State TV said troops clashed with al-Qaida militants in Daraya, killing some of them and confiscating a mortar that they were using in their attacks.
The station said that troops killed an al-Qaida affiliated Palestinian militant known as Abu Suhaib in the Damascus suburb of Hajira. It said his group was behind several bombings in Syria that killed and wounded dozens of people.
Assad's regime blames the revolt on a foreign conspiracy. It accuses Saudi Arabia and Qatar, along with the United States, other Western countries and Turkey, of funding, training and arming the rebels, whom it calls terrorists.
Syria's conflict erupted in March 2011 with an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime, inspired by other Arab Spring revolts. It quickly morphed into a civil war that has since killed more than 40,000 people, according to activists.
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Regional Director Medical Affairs, Hepatitis EU-MED000677
Description
The Regional Director Medical Affairs (RDMA) holds primary responsibility for the development and execution of Medical Affairs Plans in their region which are aligned to the Global Human Health (GHH) Brand Book and Merck Research Lab (MRL) Late Development Plan.
They give direction to the country medical organizations for country medical affairs activities relevant for in-line and late stage development products in their franchise.
A Contact RDMA provides medical support to a Global Brand Leader, whereas all RDMAs provide such support to the Regional Marketing Leads of their franchise.
The RDMA is responsible for Scientific Leadership in their region, aligned with global scientific leadership plans of the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Global Directors Scientific Affairs (GDSAs).
Primary Activities/Responsibilities
- Develop Medical Affairs Plan for the Hepatitis products, which is aligned to the GHH Brand Book and MRL Late Development Plan. - Execute the Medical Affairs Plan in EU in collaboration with country medical affairs colleagues. - Provide oversight and guidance to country medical colleagues about country medical affairs activities relevant for the Hepatitis portfolio. Ensure alignment of country medical activities to franchise priorities. - Provide medical expertise to Global Brand Lead (GBL) and/or Regional Marketing Lead (RML). - Execute in collaboration with the GDSAs a coordinated regional scientific leadership strategy through credible and informed scientific dialogue. - Accountable for Merck?s relationship with top Medical/Scientific experts in their region. - Voice of authority and information on franchise science in region. - Scientific communication through contacts, meetings and presentations with/for key stakeholders including key regional institutions and organizations. - Drafts agenda for regional Advisory Boards and may chair them.
External activities:
- Develop individual relationships with top regional scientific leaders through non-promotional scientific dialogue pertinent to Merck?s interest. - Execute the regional scientific leadership strategy, aligned to the GDSAs? Scientific Leadership Strategy, through credible, non-promotional and informed scientific dialogue with key Scientific Leaders (SLs). - Lead/participate in GHH medical and scientific forums (e.g. ad boards and Expert Input Forums (EIFs)) that involve regional SLs. - Ensure relationships with key regional professional societies and organizations. - Ensure existing SLs relationship with Merck scientists are sustained and strengthened via appropriate engagement plans. - Participate jointly with global directors scientific affairs in selected global activities to provide regional perspective.
Internal activities:
- Development and execution of the Global Medical Affairs Plans for the franchise, aligned to GHH Brand Book and MRL Late Development Plans. - Recommend to RDMA Leadership key medical priorities per franchise / brand and work with all in GMA organization in region to execute agreed priorities. - Recommend new studies, global medical affairs activities and prioritized investments to RDMA Leadership. - Establish and lead regional Medical Affairs team consisting of therapeutic area aligned medical colleagues (e.g., country medical directors or designates). - Provide oversight and guidance to country medical colleagues about country medical affairs activities relevant for Merck products. - Ensure alignment of country medical activities to franchise priorities. - Develop and execute regional SL strategy aligned to Global Scientific Leadership Strategies. - Provide medical/scientific support relevant for development or brand strategies to GBL and RMLs. - Participate in Merck Investigator Initiated Study Program (MISP) Review Committees to align country clinical programs (MISP, local studies) from their region with global MRL clinical strategies. - Track progress, completion and publication of country studies. - Address regional medical education needs (e.g. Country Medical Director, Medical Advisors, MSL/HSA/CSL training).
Management
- Lead Regional Medical Affairs Team (RMAT) which consists of Local TA Medical Advisors.
Qualifications
Required:
- MD, PhD or PharmD; recognized expertise through 5+ yrs clinical and/or research experience (incl. publications) in therapy area is desired. - 4+ years pharmaceutical or related industry experience in country with proven track record of contribution to commercial, medical and/or clinical development strategies in country. - Strategic thinking, specifically related to life-cycle management strategy and execution. - Customer expertise especially scientific leadership and other key stakeholders (public groups, government officials, medical professional organizations) in therapy area. - Proven ability to effectively communicate information at management level, with public groups and to scientific leaders. - Excellent interpersonal, analytical, communication (written as well as oral), results oriented project management, facilitation and consultative skills to influence decision making. - Strong prioritization skills and ability to understand how decisions fit into the broader context of corporate strategies. - In a matrix environment, able to effectively collaborate across divisions.
*LI-LS1
Job: Medical Affairs
Job Title: Regional Director Medical Affairs, Hepatitis EU
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Early birds had an old-school version of wingsPublic release date: 21-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press
In comparison to modern birds, the prehistoric Archaeopteryx and bird-like dinosaurs before them had a more primitive version of a wing. The findings, reported on November 21 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, lend support to the notion that birds are the descendants of gliding dinosaurs that spent much of their days in the trees.
"By studying fossils carefully, we are now able to start piecing together how the wing evolved," said Nicholas Longrich of Yale University. "Before, it seemed that we had more or less modern wings from the Jurassic onwards. Now it's clear that early birds were more primitive and represented transitional forms linking birds to dinosaurs. We can see the wing slowly becoming more advanced as we move from Anchiornis, to Archaeopteryx, to later birds."
"This makes us rethink the aerial capabilities in the early phases of avian evolution," added Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary.
What Longrich, Russell, and their colleague Jakob Vinther from the University of Bristol discovered by poring very carefully over the fossil evidence was that neither the wings of bird-like dinosaurs nor the wings of the very early bird Archaeopteryx looked quite like those of modern birds. That is, the feathers on their wings were configured differently.
"Archaeopteryx has this weird design with multiple layers of long flight feathers," Longrich said. "The dinosaur Anchiornis has tons of simple, strip-like feathers that overlapthe only bird that has anything remotely similar is a penguin."
That means that early wings probably worked effectively as simple airfoils for gliding, and perhaps for very primitive flapping flight at high speeds, the researchers say. But the feathers on those wings couldn't separate and twist in the way they do in a modern bird. Low-speed flight and ground takeoff may have been difficult, or even impossible, for them.
The researchers propose that the wing feather arrangement seen in modern birds may have evolved within a period spanning perhaps a few tens of millions of years and then remained largely unchanged for the last 130 million years.
"We are starting to get an intricate picture of how feathers and birds evolved from within the dinosaurs," said Vinther. "We now seem to see that feathers evolved initially for insulation. More complex vaned or pinnate feathers evolved for display. These display feathers turned out to be excellent membranes that could have been utilized for aerial locomotion, which only very late in bird evolution became what we consider flapping flight."
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Longrich et al.: "Primitive wing feather arrangement in Archaeopteryx lithographica and Anchiornis huxleyi."
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Early birds had an old-school version of wingsPublic release date: 21-Nov-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Beth O'Leary moleary@cell.com 617-397-2802 Cell Press
In comparison to modern birds, the prehistoric Archaeopteryx and bird-like dinosaurs before them had a more primitive version of a wing. The findings, reported on November 21 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, lend support to the notion that birds are the descendants of gliding dinosaurs that spent much of their days in the trees.
"By studying fossils carefully, we are now able to start piecing together how the wing evolved," said Nicholas Longrich of Yale University. "Before, it seemed that we had more or less modern wings from the Jurassic onwards. Now it's clear that early birds were more primitive and represented transitional forms linking birds to dinosaurs. We can see the wing slowly becoming more advanced as we move from Anchiornis, to Archaeopteryx, to later birds."
"This makes us rethink the aerial capabilities in the early phases of avian evolution," added Anthony Russell of the University of Calgary.
What Longrich, Russell, and their colleague Jakob Vinther from the University of Bristol discovered by poring very carefully over the fossil evidence was that neither the wings of bird-like dinosaurs nor the wings of the very early bird Archaeopteryx looked quite like those of modern birds. That is, the feathers on their wings were configured differently.
"Archaeopteryx has this weird design with multiple layers of long flight feathers," Longrich said. "The dinosaur Anchiornis has tons of simple, strip-like feathers that overlapthe only bird that has anything remotely similar is a penguin."
That means that early wings probably worked effectively as simple airfoils for gliding, and perhaps for very primitive flapping flight at high speeds, the researchers say. But the feathers on those wings couldn't separate and twist in the way they do in a modern bird. Low-speed flight and ground takeoff may have been difficult, or even impossible, for them.
The researchers propose that the wing feather arrangement seen in modern birds may have evolved within a period spanning perhaps a few tens of millions of years and then remained largely unchanged for the last 130 million years.
"We are starting to get an intricate picture of how feathers and birds evolved from within the dinosaurs," said Vinther. "We now seem to see that feathers evolved initially for insulation. More complex vaned or pinnate feathers evolved for display. These display feathers turned out to be excellent membranes that could have been utilized for aerial locomotion, which only very late in bird evolution became what we consider flapping flight."
###
Longrich et al.: "Primitive wing feather arrangement in Archaeopteryx lithographica and Anchiornis huxleyi."
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Barry Batchelor/PA Archive/Press Association Images
Sandra Fosbrooke, who won ?12.8 million on the lottery (pictured at the time of her win), is facing an enormous bill for damage to her ?415,000 home, after teenagers gatecrashed a party held by her daughter and trashed the place.
And this isn't just a problem for the mega-wealthy.
Trashed
Sandra was working at a pub nearby - which she bought into with her winnings - when her 17-year-old daughter Ffion threw a house party at her home in Five Roads, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.
Unfortunately, after mentioning it on Facebook, the party was overtaken by more than 200 teenagers, who caused serious damage to the property. The Daily Mail reported that it took police 40 minutes to break up the party - during which time six people were arrested. The police later confirmed that two of them will face criminal charges.
The Sun reported one witness as saying: "There were about 200 people, with fights starting everywhere. It was chaos. I think someone threw a flatscreen telly out of the window."
Ffion took to Facebook to express her remorse. She questioned whether she "should show my face in this village again!" and said her Christmas was going to be a nightmare because "none of my family want to talk to me".
We can only hope that Sandra has put enough cash aside to clear up the damage. However, this isn't just the sort of thing that happens to lottery winners.
Not alone
Last month, riot police were called to break up a party in the Dutch town of Haren, after a 16th birthday party was advertised on Facebook and 3,000 people showed up. The police arrested 20 people, and the violence spread to the local town, where party-goers started looting from the shops.
Meanwhile, in Colchester, Essex, a 17-year-old A-Level student was stabbed to death after a party was advertised on Facebook and 100 gatecrashers showed up.
Back in April it was Bradley McAnulty's 16th birthday in Poole in Dorset which went viral on Facebook. Police were called after 400 people showed up and caused hundreds of pounds worth of damage - including ripping the back door off, damaging fencing, breaking a window and pulling down the living room curtains. Two boys were arrested that time.
Protect yourself
Teenagers are always going to have parties, but they don't have to be a disaster. Facebook is not the place to be advertising a party. Teens need to understand the number of guests they are allowed - and to invite them all personally. If they insist on using Facebook they need to make the invitation private and make it clear it is just for family and friends.
You're not going to be the coolest parents on the block, but by far the safest option is to make sure you are in on the night of the party, or at most a couple of houses away staying with neighbours. That way you are on hand if something does go wrong.
Finally, if news leaks out, be proactive. One Irish teen contacted police after accidentally leaking a party invitation on Facebook. He cancelled the party, and they attended the property for the night, turning revellers away.
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Public release date: 28-Nov-2012
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