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Daily newspaper from Salt Lake City, Utah was first published in 1850. Articles cover local news, business and entertainment.
Business Wire disseminates full-text announcements from companies and organizations worldwide. News release subjects include breaking news, earnings results, product announcements, mergers and acquisitions, public policy and press conference advisories.
Business Wire disseminates full-text announcements from companies and organizations worldwide. News release subjects include breaking news, earnings results, product announcements, mergers and acquisitions, public policy and press conference advisories.

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LA JOLLA, Calif. — All About Malignant Mesothelioma, an online resource for information about mesothelioma causes, symptoms and treatments, has recently published a revised section on mesothelioma drug treatments. Mesothelioma is a rare, aggressive form of cancer. Its long dormancy period after exposure to asbestos and its rarity usually mean a late-stage diagnosis. Treatment options have been limited, and the prognosis for victims is poor, with typical survival times of less than two years after diagnosis. In the last several years, however, considerable research has focused on new treatments for this disease. Alimta (pemetrexed), manufactured and distributed by Eli Lilly and Company, when used in conjunction with Cisplatin, is approved for the treatment of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma when surgery is not an option. Other new treatment research has focused on anti-angiogenesis, or impeding the rapid blood vessel growth that erupts during mesothelioma cancer and supplies the tumor cells. Veglin (VEGF-AS), produced by VasGene Therapeutics, Inc., is an anti-angiogenesis drug still in clinical trials, and Onconase (ranpirnase), developed and manufactured by Alfacell Corporation, is one such drug that has shown promise in the first two phases of clinical trials.
Malignant mesothelioma is an often-fatal cancer of the pleura or peritoneum. Occupational exposure to asbestos is a known risk factor for this disease. Little is known about the relationship of diet to the risk of malignant mesothelioma, but one small study found a decreased risk among people with a high intake of vegetables.After adjustment for occupation, subjects who consumed carrots once a month or more had a significantly lower risk of malignant mesothelioma than those who never ate carrots (odds ratio 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.8). Carrots are rich in the carotenoids [alpha]-carotene and carotene, which are precursors of vitamin A. Subjects who consumed tomatoes or tomato juice also appeared to have a reduced risk of mesothelioma, but the relationship was not statistically significant (odds ratio 0.5,95% CI 0.2-1.4). Tomatoes are the principal dietary source of the carotenoid lycopene. Other foods rich in vitamin A or carotenes (cantaloupe, spinach, sweet potato, broccoli, orange juice) were not associated with a reduced risk of mesothelioma.These results provide some support for the hypothesis that foods containing provitamin A or certain carotenoids may decrease the risk of developing malignant mesothelioma.
There is general agreement that the microscopic characteristics of an adenocarcinoma involving the pleura and an epithelioid mesothelioma overlap in the hematoxylin-eosin-stained slide. Additional studies such as electron microscopy and immunohistochemical stains are needed for proper identification.1 We describe a pleural tumor with “typical” features of mesothelioma in the hematoxylin-eosin stain slide that with further studies was reclassified as adenocarcinoma. A 75-year-old male retired biology teacher with a history of hypertension, transient ischemic attack, and depression and a remote history of smoking presented with dry cough, respiratory distress, and weight loss of several months duration. A chest radiograph showed left side pleural effusion. The patient underwent thoracentesis. Cytology of the pleural fluid was positive for malignant cells, with a differential diagnosis of epithelioid mesothelioma versus adenocarcinoma. Subsequently, the patient underwent partial pleurectomy. The pleurectomy specimen was characterized by fragments of fibrous connective tissue lined by mesothelial cells with focal papillary area. Normal mesothelium was found in continuity with hyperplastic stratified and papillary structure without invasion of the underlying fibrous connective tissue. The cells were cuboidal in the hyperplastic and papillary areas, with an increased nucleocytoplasmic ratio, round bland nuclei with low mitotic activity, and inconspicuous nucleoli (Figure 1). Thus, a diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma, epithelioid type was rendered. However, additional clinical inflammation challenged the diagnosis of epithelioid mesothelioma. The patient had a 4.4-cm perihilar mass; furthermore, the patient also had a probable brain mass (2 small enhancing lesions evaluated by magnetic resonance imaging), bony metastasis (multiple areas of increasing uptake evaluated by bone scan) and a 3-cm lesion in the right kidney (based on computed tomographic scan). All this additional clinical information favored a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma rather than malignant mesothelioma. Subsequent studies of this tumor showed that it stained positive for Leu Ml, CK7, D-PAS, and alcian blue (hyaluronidase resistant) and negative for calretinin, carcinoembryonic antigen, and CK20 (Figure 2). Electron microscopic study showed tumor cells with short, widely spaced microvilli and some cells forming ductlike lumen and apical junction complex (Figure 3). All of these studies supported a diagnosis of adenocarcinoma.

mesothelioma

These were the questions brought before the New York Court of Claims in Rochester and Judge Philip J. Patti in the case of Anne L. Vislosky and Stephen G. Vislosky v. The State of New York. Judge Patti found there was no evidence to establish that the defendant had actual or constructive notice of a dangerous condition caused by any pothole or expansion joint and that the claimant failed to meet her burden of proving that the DOT failed to maintain the travel lanes in a reasonably safe condition. Concluding that the state is entitled to qualified immunity under the facts, the court dismissed the claim. A one-car accident occurred February 9, 1994 when the car the claimant was operating in the far left-hand lane of Interstate Route 81 south (in Onondaga County) at the so-called Park Street overpass went out of control. It careened to the right, crossed two other southbound lanes, struck a snow bank on the shoulder and vaulted to the top of the bank where it teetered for a matter of seconds before toppling to the ground 60 feet below.
The Capital-Journal The city of Topeka and two area agencies have joined forces to provide limited snow removal service for older adults and qualifying people with disabilities. In conjunction with the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center, the city announced the formation of the Snow Removal Team, which will consist of five or six teams of female inmates from the Topeka Correctional Facility.
Exmark recently unveiled snow removal attachments for its front-mount FrontRunner and Navigator mowers. The FrontRunner and Navigator snow blowers are constructed of heavy-duty steel, and each features a 2-stage blower with 4 blades and a rotational chute. Both snow blowers are easily maneuvered from the operator seat. Made of heavy-gauge, 4-rib reinforced steel, the FrontRunner and Navigator snow blades are 64 and 48 inches wide, respectively, and both blades can angle 20 degrees either right or left. All 4 snow removal attachments may be quickly attached without tools, using Exmarks quick hitch attachment system. Fill in 167 on reader service form or visit http://OneRs.hotims.com/13966.167 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

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Sterling Ruby, Marc Foxx, Los Angeles Sterling Ruby is a cool name, a drag queen name, a British spys name. I dont know him, and hadnt heard of him before I saw his show at Marc Foxx. That doesnt matter because his show, Interior Designer, which looks at sexuality, namely transgendered people, and flirts with theoretical schizophrenia, requires only sympathy for his observations and the art he makes. Four delicately scratched and key carved Formica laminate monoliths, each 7 x 4 x 4 are at the center of Interior Designer. Their tinted surface has dirty spots, handprints, chips, and evidence of handling. They recall the laminate prefabs in the displays and dressing rooms found in department stores. In their material and dimension they suggest–and maybe desire to be–video booth jack off chambers.
THE Malaysian Institute of Interior Designers (IPDM) has launched the Malaysian Interior Design Awards 2004. This year, the awards will honour excellence in the interior design industry in three categories, namely Interior Builders, Interior Products and Service Excellence. IPDM will

interior design

Canadas three Presbyterian colleges have announced the dates for their spring convocations. The schedules are as follows: Where: The Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul, Montreal
A fully accredited Florida college has become the first such institution to offer a two-year Associate of Science degree for those entering the pool and spa industry. Keiser College, with nine campuses statewide, is partnering with Horner Equipment of Florida Inc., the Fort Lauderdale-based manufacturer/distributor, to present the program–which will be offered exclusively online. Those completing the program will receive a degree in aquatic engineering. One of [the industrys] underlying weaknesses has been its lack of respect as a profession, he said. There are no formal or accredited programs for the industry. This is my attempt to acknowledge that we are a profession.

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With the surge in passenger car sales and the entry of private FM radio stations, the Indian car audio market is booming. This year, the overall industry is expected to register a 7.5 percent growth, of which the organised sectors share will be in double digits. Even though MP3 compatibility products is the rage these days, the basic AM/FM radio receiver and cassette player still account for 90 percent of the overall sales.
Car Audio Plus, located at 1204 E. Sunset Drive in the same building as the Sunset Car Wash, is now open for business. Owner Paul Luzius opened the custom car audio shop earlier this summer after scouring the market for a suitable location. The 3,000-square-foot space includes a retail area and a large bay that can fit up to six cars for installations.
SALT LAKE CITY–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Dec. 21, 1998– CARS(TM) Software Database Helps Audio Retailers and Insurance Companies Determine Accurate Car Audio Equipment Replacement for

car audio

LEE KNAPP, 27, is from Essex. He wants to know more about the Mitsubishi FTO. He cant find details on the specifications, and wonders if it is the right car for him. Although there is a 1.8 16-valve at the bottom of the range, the most popular model in the UK is a glorious twin cam V6. The Mivec engine, which stands for “Mitsubishi Innovative Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control system”, delivers 20bhp and more torque. Lee should join the UK FTO Owners Club to get a newsletter, approved spare-part suppliers, merchandise, organised track days and rallies, a brand new owners manual, discounts on products and full access to the Owners Club website. It costs just pounds 10 a year. Go to the website and download an application form. For more information, contact member-ship@fto.org or dial 0870 7650386.
Mild, sunny Bay Area weather can be deadly for children and pets locked in parked cars, Stanford University researchers have found in the first study to examine car temperatures in cooler weather. “There are cases of children dying on days as cool as 70 degrees Fahrenheit,” said lead author Dr. Catherine McLaren, clinical instructor in emergency medicine at Stanfords School of Medicine, in a statement. The outside temperature reached highs ranging from 72 to 96. They found that when parked in full sun, a cars interior can heat up by an average of 40 degrees within an hour. Even at the coolest temperature of 72, the car temperature reached 117, according to the study.
Wilbur explained that while there are typically an array of outstanding and appealing concept cars [a.k.a., cool cars] shown by the major OEMs, more often than not these cars and trucks experience an ignominious disappearance as they do the show circuit before being inventoried [or worse]. A reason this is the case is because the nature of major OEMs is that theyre ordinarily interested in volume, not variety. And concept cars are niche vehicles almost by nature, and niches are places the majors visit all too infrequently. So ASC is intending to build a plant in North America–the site is to be selected in 06–that is dedicated to niche vehicle production for OEM customers. Wilbur said the plant will be about 500,000- to 600,000-f[t.sup.2] and will employ from 450 to 800 people. Based on two shifts, Wilbur reckons the annual volume will be 50,000 units. Of that number the plan would be to make five or more different vehicles–not the same platform with different top hats, but totally distinct vehicles, even for different OEMs–on the same line. To do this, they would deploy what Wilbur called humination, a play on human and automation, all of which is to say that this would be a people-centric, low-investment tooling approach to production. Given that many a cool car has been built in a garage, this approach makes sense.–GSV

cool cars

We hope that this decision will encourage home schoolers across the country. Relatively few states have restrictive home-schooling laws, and hopefully this decision, and the attention it brought to home schooling, will prove to be a significant step toward home-schooling freedom for everyone.
The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA, Purcellville, VA) has released a new study, Home Schooling Works, that focuses on the academic achievement of home schooled children. Written by an independent evaluator, the report analyzes standardized test scores for 20,760 students and background information questionnaires submitted by 11,930 families. Home school families have a higher median income ($52,000 in 1997) than the median income of families with children ($35,000 in 1995). Fifty-four percent of home school families earned more than $50,000, compared to 32% of families with children nationwide. Not surprisingly, home schooled children tend to watch less television than do average American children. On average only 2% of home schoolers in the 4th grade watch more than three hours of television daily, compared to neatly 40% of 4th graders nationwide.

home school

Salt Lake Community College placed fifth in the nation for the number of associate degrees conferred last year. The rankings were released Wednesday as part of the 2007 Top 100 Associate Degree Producers list, compiled by Community College Week magazine with information and data from the U.S. Department of Education. Information reflects the 2005-06 school year. “It says something about our efficiency when you look at our size, which is small compared to other institutions,” said Joy Tlou, SLCCs spokesman.
Area residents will soon be able to begin and end their college education from their homes as Owens Community College expands its academic opportunities through e-learning. Beginning fall semester 2005, the college will offer students the opportunity to enroll in the first-ever online associate degrees as part of the new eOwens academic curriculum. “Owens Community College is dedicated to meeting the needs of its students by providing alternative ways to pursue a college education,” stated Mark Karamol, Owens division director of e-learning. “eOwens was created to offer a consistent and supportive environment for individuals who need more flexibility in their academic choices. The various web courses and telecourses available through eOwens allow students to enroll and take classes at their own convenience, anytime during the day or night.” Karamol added: “e-Learning is becoming the educational wave of the future due to its flexibility. Prior to degrees and courses being available online many individuals might not have considered attending college because of their busy schedules. With such opportunities now available, college is definitely a viable option.”
Key Words Associate Degree Nurse–Professionalism–RN to BSN Education–Self-Actualization NURSINGS LEADERS HAVE STRESSED THE NEED FOR PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS AMONG MEMBERS OF THE PROFESSION SINCE THE END OF THE 19TH CENTURY. In 1900, Isabel Hampton Robb remarked, How soon we shall attain to the full professional level depends upon ourselves entirely (1, p. 326). Styles, differentiating professionalism of the occupational group and the professionalism of individual members, asserted that the professionalism of nursing could only be attained through members professionalism (2).

associate degree online

Nutrition
Nutrition is the science that studies the interactions between living organisms and food. Human nutrition includes the study of nutrients and other substances found in foods; how the human body uses nutrients for growth and maintenance; and the relationship between foods, food components, dietary patterns, and health. The study of nutrition encompasses all aspects of the ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, interaction, storage, and excretion of nutrients by the body. In a broader sense, the study of nutrition also includes the various psychological, sociological, cultural, technological, and economic factors that affect the foods and dietary patterns chosen by an individual.

nutrition

A digest of higher education data Borrowing through private student loan programs has grown rapidly, rising by more than 900 percent between 1995-96 and 2005-06 to total $17.3 billion. As a result, these programs have attracted significant scrutiny from both the New York attorney general and Congress. In light of this recent national attention on private loans and the private loan industry, ACE s Center for Policy Analysis recently released Who Borrows Private Loans? The issue brief details the type of institutions that private student loan borrowers attend, the demographic profile of typical undergraduate private loan borrowers, and the factors that might help explain the share of students who forgo federal loans and rely exclusively on private loans.
Dont blame Congress for cutting the student loan budget. Blame the students who are not paying the loans back. I heard on the news that billions of dollars are still outstanding in student loans. They didnt have such programs when my generation went to school. We had to earn it the old-fashioned way. We worked hard. Washington
Private student loan consolidation comes at a time when education debt is
on the rise; the average debt in the class of 2006 is roughly $21,100,
according to Greentree Gazette. Federal loans often dont cover rising
tuition expenses, so many students turn to private student loans to make up
the difference. When loan repayment begins after graduation, students find
themselves with federal and private loan payments. Now, the Student Loan
Network can help these students consolidate all of those loans.

“Loan Consolidation — whether for private or federal student loans –
offers many benefits for graduates,” explains Jonathan Rudy, Director of
Loan Consolidation at Student Loan Network. “Upon graduation, many students
find themselves with high monthly loan payments. Student loan consolidation
helps them meet their monthly payments and establish themselves financially
while lowering their monthly costs. The Student Loan Network is proud to be
adding another great product to our growing portfolio of student loan
products aimed at making funding an education a reality.”

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Nutrition education is a critical component of most major health promotion and disease prevention programs. Research indicates that behavioral change is directly related to the amount of nutrition education received. Nutrition Education involves the communication of nutrition-related information that will equip individuals, families, and communities to make healthful food choices. The media remain the primary source of nutrition information in the United States. Thus, nutrition education also focuses on discriminating between credible and noncredible sources of nutrition information. Nutrition messages and programs must be culturally relevant and specific to the target group. Registered dietitians are the professionals who are specifically trained to deliver information on food and nutrition.
Nutrition is the science that studies the interactions between living organisms and food. Human nutrition includes the study of nutrients and other substances found in foods; how the human body uses nutrients for growth and maintenance; and the relationship between foods, food components, dietary patterns, and health. The study of nutrition encompasses all aspects of the ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, metabolism, interaction, storage, and excretion of nutrients by the body. In a broader sense, the study of nutrition also includes the various psychological, sociological, cultural, technological, and economic factors that affect the foods and dietary patterns chosen by an individual.

nutrition

Associate degrees continue to open doors for millions of Americans in search of careers or advanced academic study. Here are some of the options. In 2 years, you can train for some of the fastest growing jobs in the economy, increase your earnings, and pave the way for further education. Compared with workers whose highest level of educational attainment was a high school diploma, workers with an associate degree averaged an extra $128 a week in 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). People with associate degrees also are more likely to find jobs: the unemployment rate in 2001 was more than 30 percent lower for associate degree holders compared with high school graduates. And, according to several academic studies, advantages in the job market might be even greater for those just starting their careers and for those who work in a career related to their degree.
Getting an associates degree from a California community college is about to get tougher. The college system governing board voted unanimously Monday to increase the minimum English and math requirement for the degree, a move officials said will better prepare graduates for the work force and add a new level of rigor to the general education diploma. The change is about a one-course boost from current minimum requirements, which call for students to complete elementary algebra and classes just below English composition. Officials said those requirements — which are identical to Californias basic requirements for a high school diploma — arent tough enough in a college setting.
To address the teacher shortage, some states have developed special associates degrees in teacher education. This article explores the prevalence and structure of these specialized associates degrees and presents a case for their development to smooth the transfer pathway for community college students who wish to become teachers. Keywords: associate of arts in teaching; teacher education; community colleges; articulation; transfer Most states today are grappling with a teacher shortage. The U.S. Department of Education has estimated that the demand for teachers in the nations public schools will reach 4 million by 2015, an increase of 17% from 2003 (Hussar Bailey, 2006). The latest figures available show that 74% of all public schools reported teaching vacancies during the 2003-2004 school year (Strizek, Pittsonberger, Riordan, Lyter, Orlofsky, 2006, p. 39). The demand for new teachers is especially intense in states that attract high numbers of immigrants, such as Florida, Georgia, and Texas. Even if the number of children attaining school age as a result of the baby boom echo declines by 2008, the teacher shortage in many parts of the United States will continue because of population growth and immigration patterns.

associate degree online

Support exempting small businesses from paying the personal property tax. Support federal efforts to fund technical training and education programs for small manufacturers. For more information on these and other Chamber public-policy priorities, call Melissa Roy at (313) 596-0409 or e-mail: mroy@detroitchamber.com.
The relief allows companies to claim an additional tax deduction equivalent to 50 per cent of the qualifying expenditure, according to Warren Taylor, tax director at accountancy advisers Tenon. The extension will be particularly useful to companies with high energy costs, but any innovative company should ensure that it is able to identify costs related to RD and consider making a claim for tax relief, he said.

small business accounting software

UK based affiliateWindow.com today announced the launch of a new
software solution that is set to revolutionise the UK e-commerce
marketplace. AffiliateWindow.com is a revenue sharing marketing
strategy that is set to become the answer to the prayers of many
struggling Internet companies as they look to turn growth projections
into tangible profits. Commissions are paid for traffic originating from an affiliate site
that registers or buys on the merchant or partner site.
AffiliateWindow.com manages these relationships taking away much of
the financial cost and administration of running an affiliate program
allowing the affiliate merchant to focus revenues and staff in other
areas.AffiliateWindow.com will provide support to affiliates as part of the
package offering technical expertise, training, software updates and
advice on how to gain the maximum potential from its affiliate
program. Affiliate Window will also recruit new affiliates into the
network and manage payment of commission earnt by the merchant by
paying affiliates with a single monthly cheque. AffiliateWindow also
allows the merchant and its affiliates to access a web-based live
account to access sales statistics and reporting information 24 hours
a day.
New Payment Solution Launched for Affiliate Marketers World Wide The Affiliate SpeedPay system is exclusively for affiliate payments and provides online marketers worldwide with unprecedented payment advantages: * Secure: personal account at an EU regulated bank, not an e-wallet or other intermediary

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Hypnotherapy explained.
Abstract This paper argues that hypnotherapy is a potentially effective adjunct to complementary medicine. Using existing research and professional publications, the paper considers the impact hypnosis could make as an adjunct to complementary medicine. Just as hypnosis is effective within the orthodox health arena, it could have application in complementary medicine. Cowen LW, Saltmarsh D, Hayek R. Hypnotherapy: an adjunct to complementary medicine. Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society 2008;14(2):87-89.
OREM — A hypnotherapy lecture at Utah Valley State College that had been scheduled for last week has been changed. The lecture will be held Thursday at 2:30 p.m. in the Liberal Arts Building, Room 105. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Aaron Wood at 801-592-7912.

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Thinking about buying a home? Be sure to look beyond the obvious when assessing a house. A few laboratory tests conducted before or shortly after buying a home can help assure that your dream house is also a healthy one. Tests for drinking-water contaminants, radon gas, lead paint, and other potential health hazards are not legally required at the sale of a home, but many house hunters ask for results of various environmental tests before the sale of the house is final. * Coliform bacteria. The presence of these bacteria indicates unfiltered or poorly filtered surface water has found its way into groundwater or the well. Its a good idea to have a water bacteria test for all wells annually, or any time the water changes in odor or appearance.
(Editors Note: This is the fifth in a series of articles on everyday steps to financial security.) Dorothy said it best in The Wizard of Oz: “Theres no place like home.” Of course, Dorothy wasnt a financial advisor. But when it comes to investing your money, there really isnt anything quite like your home. You can borrow most of the money to buy it, deduct the interest from your taxes, and (possibly) sell it for a tax-free profit. Plus, you get to eat, sleep, and play there! Try doing that with your mutual funds.

how to buy a new home

Firms are facing financial difficulties because they are too slow to grasp new technology, according to Graham Whitehead, principal consultant and futurologist at BT, who spoke at the ITService Management Forum conference last month in Brighton. Whitehead pointed to encyclopedia publisher Britannia as a great example of a firm using new technology and learning to adapt. The company has published a L39 DVD of its complete encyclopedia collection in addition to the hard copy volumes. “Firms are going out of business so quickly, Whitehead added. They have about 10 months to get it right once they start having difficulties.” Geoff McMullen, president of the British Computer Society, agreed that change was becoming increasingly rapid and was multi-dimensional. Half of what we know today will be out of date within three years, he said. But he cautioned firms not to get carried away by technology. You can get the new technology, but your infrastructure must be developed slowly and carefully. People must be trained and the vision communicated within the organisation, or the technology means little.”
TECHNOLOGY The bad news is that diffusion rates through any industry are difficult to measure, and monitoring the pace of invention is worthless in an industry as large and diverse as mortgage banking. We cannot answer a question of prevalence or permanence without guessing. To avoid getting dragged through the mud, firms are doing their own technological assessment prior to writing contracts for purchase of equipment or software. The good news is that the assumed results of currently available technology can be measured, and hence, the assessment can be financially sound. This months column presents a few ideas relevant to the acquisition of technology and the measure of its net worth. The effect of technological change is measured by the annual increase in output per employee hour of labor. Simply, this measure tells us how much more volume the new technology will produce using existing staff. Because many people in an organization are usually affected by a new system, it is important that gross changes be computed, using the average output per employee, rather than just the evaluation of one particular employee.

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“Unlike other types of financial institutions that need to generate a profit to satisfy stockholders, credit unions are member-owned,” explains Peter V. Yeager, director of government and public affairs with the Credit Union Affiliates of New Jersey, Hightstown. “The boards of directors do not get paid, only the staff. There are no stockholders. All excess earnings are returned to members in the form of highly competitive dividend rates on savings and investment accounts, great interest rates on loans and the addition of new products and services.” In fact, 144,000 Americans volunteer for their credit unions, serving as board members, committee members or providing other assistance. The credit union movement is anchored in 19th century Europe, when farmers pooled resources to purchase supplies and place excess earnings in a common pool in a good harvest season. Participants could then borrow from that pool at a low interest rate in a poor harvest year. The concept of “People Helping People” came to the U.S. in the early 1900s. Edward Filene, the Boston merchant who created Filenes Department Store, introduced it to the U.S. The first U.S. credit union was established in 1909 in New Hampshire, which is still operating. In New Jersey there are 303 credit unions; some 275 federally chartered ones, overseen by the National Credit Union Administration, and 28 state-chartered institutions, administered by the New Jersey Department of Banking.
The booming credit universe is providing rich pickings for providers of independent research.Worried over conflicts of interest, bond buyers are increasingly turning to independent credit analysis rather than relying on recommendations from the sell side of banks. “We started this company knowing that institutional customers knew that the information provided to the them by the sell side was tainted,” says Paul Ciasullo, an analyst at independent credit research team Creditsights in New York. “It may be new to mom and pop unfortunately, but its not new to the institutions to which were selling our research.”Creditsights was founded in late 2000 by a handful of bond traders and analysts. Its since grown from a team of six to now over 25 analysts. Annual subscriptions to the companys research cost $12,000 per individual user. “We have companies managing less than $10 million in assets with a couple of people taking a subscription,” says Ciasullo, “and we have companies with literally hundreds of billions of dollars buying the research for their entire research department.”
No one likes to say no to a good customer or a potentially good customer. Its hard to turn down requests for credit, even if you suspect that your customer may be treading on financially shaky ground. So how can you handle this delicate and possibly risky situation? Begin your policy with a general statement of your companys philosophy about credit granting. For example, it might read: The Better Building Materials Company has a general credit policy of extending credit only to those individuals and companies that have done business with us on a cash basis for at least six months. Your policy should not violate any federal or state laws. After you have drafted the policy, run it by your attorney to make sure it is legally acceptable. Then once your policy is in place, enforce it fairly and uniformly.

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“Unlike other types of financial institutions that need to generate a profit to satisfy stockholders, credit unions are member-owned,” explains Peter V. Yeager, director of government and public affairs with the Credit Union Affiliates of New Jersey, Hightstown. “The boards of directors do not get paid, only the staff. There are no stockholders. All excess earnings are returned to members in the form of highly competitive dividend rates on savings and investment accounts, great interest rates on loans and the addition of new products and services.” In fact, 144,000 Americans volunteer for their credit unions, serving as board members, committee members or providing other assistance. The credit union movement is anchored in 19th century Europe, when farmers pooled resources to purchase supplies and place excess earnings in a common pool in a good harvest season. Participants could then borrow from that pool at a low interest rate in a poor harvest year. The concept of “People Helping People” came to the U.S. in the early 1900s. Edward Filene, the Boston merchant who created Filenes Department Store, introduced it to the U.S. The first U.S. credit union was established in 1909 in New Hampshire, which is still operating. In New Jersey there are 303 credit unions; some 275 federally chartered ones, overseen by the National Credit Union Administration, and 28 state-chartered institutions, administered by the New Jersey Department of Banking.
NEW YORK (AP) — Digging for gold in the growing mounds of tarnished credit and bankruptcies, some credit-card issuers are issuing cards to some of the worst credit risks — sometimes charging hundreds of dollars in fees. “Weve begun to see more and more of these offers, and we suspect this is an area thats going to grow,” said Ruth Susswein, executive director of Bankcard Holders of America in McLean, Va. “But be aware that these offers can be very costly and may be a bad deal, although theyre certainly not going to be pitched that way.” Until recently, people with past credit problems could only get credit cards if they first put up enough money to at least cover their credit limit. The new products arent secured, but holders of the new cards are required to make an up-front payment or pay special fees over time. These fees can sometimes be considerable, and unlike a secured account, they dont earn interest. AmCredit in Sioux Falls, S.D., buys debts that others have given up on for pennies on the dollar. Through a 5,000-card pilot program launched last May, it asks people who have already been through bankruptcy to repay all or a portion of their old debt. In exchange, AmCredit will extend a modest line of new credit, typically 10 percent of what the bankrupt person agrees to pay back. Susswein says the offer isnt a good deal. Anybody who has been through bankruptcy has already had the debts wiped out. “Dont assume debt that is already not yours to pay,” she said. Martin Burke, vice chairman of Service One, which markets and services the AmCredit program, said the AmCredit cards offer “an opportunity for people to take advantage of one of their old obligations to re-establish themselves as credible.” Some creditors dont want to lend money to people who have only had secured cards, because they dont demonstrate that someone can actually pay back a loan, Burke added. Cardholders do not pay an initial fee, but pay a 6.9 annual percentage rate for the six months and 18.99 percent thereafter. First Premier Bank in Sioux Falls offers loans from $250 to $1,000, for which consumers pay a $49 up-front processing fee, another $89 to join the program, plus an annual fee of $89. Of the total $227 initial cost, $178 can be paid out over time, but that counts against the card holders credit limit. Cardholders pay a 21 percent annual rate. Bill Connor, vice president for new business at First Premier, said some customers do not want a secured credit card because they incorrectly perceive that a merchant accepting the card for payment can tell it is secured, or because they have a hard time raising a security deposit. First Premier, which piloted about 105,000 unsecured cards three months ago, also has several secured products in the marketplace, Connor said. Cross Country Bank in Wilmington, Del., which recently bought Ocean Independent Banks credit-card business, offers unsecured credit between $350 and $2,500. Consumers pay $100 up front, $50 a year, and APR of 20.99 percent, Susswein said. Susswein thinks a secured credit card is a better deal for people with spotty credit. Although the deposits for secured cards typically earn minimal interest — under 3 percent — that is still better than giving the money away in the form of fees, she said. “I agree with (that) conclusion,” Connor admitted, “but the client is the person who makes the decision here.”
The booming credit universe is providing rich pickings for providers of independent research.Worried over conflicts of interest, bond buyers are increasingly turning to independent credit analysis rather than relying on recommendations from the sell side of banks. “We started this company knowing that institutional customers knew that the information provided to the them by the sell side was tainted,” says Paul Ciasullo, an analyst at independent credit research team Creditsights in New York. “It may be new to mom and pop unfortunately, but its not new to the institutions to which were selling our research.”Creditsights was founded in late 2000 by a handful of bond traders and analysts. Its since grown from a team of six to now over 25 analysts. Annual subscriptions to the companys research cost $12,000 per individual user. “We have companies managing less than $10 million in assets with a couple of people taking a subscription,” says Ciasullo, “and we have companies with literally hundreds of billions of dollars buying the research for their entire research department.”

debt reduction

Pet Pals
A dog is a loyal companion, who would defend you to the end. Yes he can be stubborn, but hes still your very best friend. He knows when youre up and senses when youre down, cos totally out of the blue. he becomes a clown, just for you!
Lots of animals make good pets. Can you guess what kind of pet each kid has? Sallys pet feels cool and dry and likes to eat insects and vegetables. It has a long tail. Richards pet has lots of fur. It eats hay and gets a carrot for a treat. Jamal has a pet that likes to swim. Sometimes it hides in the pirate ship.

german dachshund

Big Brother winner Anthony Hutton has hailed the regeneration of his home town. The 24-year-old, who was made an ambassador for Derwentside after his 2005 success, recently returned to Consett after living in London. Anthony said: It is great to see new homes going up in Consett as it plays a part in the regeneration of the town. It is a great place to live.
Valley Inc. 2
IT is hardly surprising there is a growing crisis in social housing with no new council homes having been built for two decades. Soaring property prices coupled with fewer homes available has led to local authorities being unable to meet demand. And regenerating existing stock cannot be done quickly enough to ease the problem in the short term.

www.yourshingles.com

Site: Laurel Uniforms, an independent dealer member of The Uniform Group Target Audience: businesses interested in purchasing service, kitchen, hospitality and industrial professional uniform apparel. What I like about this site: At the top level of this site, I entered my Colorado Springs zip code and was routed immediately to the local stores subdirectory (as cited above).
Check out this months One on One article New Strategies for an Historic Company, by Web Editor Mike Wilson. In an exclusive interview with new Kindel President and CEO Jonathan Smith, we get the scoop on Smiths plans for the 100-plus-year-old furniture company, plus his views on the industry as a whole, his strategies to build sates for the Grand Rapids, Ml-based company and Smiths tong-term goals for the business.

Web Design

Making a decision about cosmetic surgery can be a daunting one, and potential patients need help deciding if cosmetic surgery is right for them. If they do opt for surgery, they seek a guarantee that the surgery is performed in a safe setting. In a consumer-friendly style, Cosmetic Surgery For Dummies helps potential patients define a shopping process, just as they would to buy a car or another significant purchase. It helps patients narrow their choices so they choose the best doctor for themselves and for the procedure they are considering. Additionally helpful, the book includes many stories and photos of actual patients. While surgical results are very important, Dr. Olesen also urges prospective patients to look for signs of warmth and caring in prospective doctors and their staff. Patients dont want to feel like just another case, rather than a person. They need to find a surgeon they like and trust, said Dr. Olesen
As in the past, the goal of this Clinic is to describe for out readers surgical techniques and treatments proven to be successful. This feature is expected to be of interest both to the seasoned surgeon and the beginner. The Facial Plastic Surgery Clinic will feature color photographs and illustrations. It will offer the opportunity to all otolaryngologists and plastic surgeons who have mastered a unique technique or found a better way to solve a problem to submit their ideas to this Clinic, to demonstrate them to their colleagues. I welcome Dr. Mobley to the ENT JOURNAL and look forward to the continuing success of the Facial Plastic Surgery Clinic.

Facelift

The flights will start next month with prices from pounds 55.98 return.
AIRPORT passengers at Newcastle enjoyed a drop in delayed flights at the end of 2007. Figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority showed more flights were on time in the final quarter than the previous year. During that period 79% of scheduled flights avoided delays - a 3% increase on closing end of 2006.

Cardiff Flights

THE FINAL vacation days of summer are rapidly approaching. Traveling with pets can be great fun, but if your dog or cat hates to travel, the trip could be your worst nightmare, and hers, too. What arrangements do you need to make? Some dogs and cats do perfectly well in a boarding facility, while others do better when they stay in their own home. For a pet who will stay at home, a reliable friend or family member who can sleep over in your home is best for a dog. A cat will be OK alone for a short time with someone regularly visiting to give her food, water and some human companionship. If you dont have a friend or family member who can come do this for you, numerous bonded and insured pet sitting services are available.
World Travel 101 Want to travel on the cheap? Holly Ridenour of Hostelling International, Rocky Mountain Council, will talk about using hostels as inexpensive accommodations while traveling. Her free talk is 7- 8:30 p.m. Thursday at REI, 1376 E. Woodmen Road. Call 260-1455 for information.

Southampton Flights

The Utah Museum of Natural History is starting a weekly series of summer youth camps in August, geared to three age groups. Camps are $95 for museum members or $105 for nonmembers. For dates and times, call 581-5567.
Hike a variety of trails with just a daypack. On some Base Camp Trips, pack animals carry most of your gear, food, and equipment to and from a backcountry camp, leaving you to enjoy the peace and serenity of the great outdoors. On others, campgrounds, huts, or other accommodations serve as a headquarters from which you make your daily explorations in the surrounding area. Americas Tropical Paradise: St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands. February 27-March 4. Feast on the sensory delights of warm, sandy beaches, secluded bays, colorful fish, and coral reefs. Well hike the wooded hills and snorkel the turquoise waters, visit historic ruins and enjoy Caribbean cuisine. Well explore the entire island using safari vehicles from our cottages at Cinnamon Bay campground. Meals are not included in the trip price. Leader: Margaret Rabel. Price: $795; Dep: $100. [00411A]
Camp Columbia in the diocese of British Columbia is showing a substantial loss because of weaker than anticipated attendance. Deficits are threatening the camps future. The diocese is calling for input from its parishes on the camps future.

camping beds

The Language of Landscape. By Anne Whiston Spirn. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1998. viii + 326 pp. Illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. Cloth $45.00, paper $17.95. Spirns graceful writing style and sensitivity to the stories places can tell recalls Jonathan Stilgoes Common Landscapes in America, although Spins scope is international. Generously illustrated with her own photographs and landscape plans, Spirns poetic and sensual descriptions of places attempts to bring the reader into direct contact with the features of weather, topography, built environment and cultural values which together constitute the “language” of landscape. “Though human capacity for language may be innate,” Spirn writes, “we learn the language of landscape primarily through living in, building, caring for a place” (p. 193). The strength of this work is in the way Spiro draws upon so many examples, across time and in various places and cultures, to illustrate the ways that humans have interacted with their environments. Although Spirn tells cautionary tales of the mistakes people have made by not attending to the details of landscape, far more of her examples are of positive interactions: from the inner-city transformations of the Westminster Community Garden of the West Philadelphia Landscape Project to the sacred garden at Ryoanji, Japan. By emphasizing humans interactions with the world around them in architecture and garden design, Spirn implicitly rejects the dichotomy between nature and culture that has underpinned so much of western thought.
Perennials In The Landscape 2554 Lincoln, Blvd., #1058, Marina Del Rey, CA 90291-5082
Landscapes In Pastel

landscaping ideas

CONTINUING EDUCATION Upon completion of this article, the reader will be able to:
DUBLIN has just FIFTEEN emergency ambulances for a population of 1.5MILLION, it was revealed yesterday. That is just ONE for every 100,000 people in the greater Dublin area. Last night TD Joe Costello accused health bosses of putting lives at risk in the capital city. The North Dublin Labour deputy said the tiny number of ambulances operating in Dublin was a “damning statistic.
The historical reasons for this curious disjunction are unclear, at least to me. The Latin mergere meant to plunge or dip, so emergere was the opposite, to rise from the water. Of course it might be an alarming sea monster, but it might equally well turn out to be the goddess Venus as pictured by Botticelli, and very nice too. It must have been the unexpectedness of it, the doubt (which sort would it be?) that was to cause all the anxiety. Anyway, it was eventually somehow decided that emergence would be the neutral word, leaving emergency for the serious business, though it seems to have taken quite some time to sort this out: Dr Johnson bracketed the two words together as mere variant spellings for both definitions. There must have been a few false alarms.

emergency preparedness

To download high-resolution, print-ready JPEG images, click on the thumbnail image above.
Q:I AM about to embark on a quest to build a home theater system in my basement. I recently purchased a 50-inch plasma HDTV and I have a few questions about how to complete the project. My budget for surround sound is rather modest so I have decided to go with a pair of the $89 Best Buy Insignia NS- B2111 speakers that you recommended as the front left and right speakers. Finally, what do you recommend for the sub-woofer? I would like to spend no more than around $500-$600 for the speakers and receiver (I am looking into the Onkyo TX-SR304 as the receiver for around $200).

pioneer home theater system

> It may be winter but it doesnt stop our eager readers doing something spectacular with their gardens. If youve got an amazing display of lights in your garden or on your house, or your garden still looks special, even under six foot of snow, then we want to hear from you. Write to Great Gardens, Jennifer Bradbury, Evening Chronicle, Groat Market, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1ED or email jennifer.bradbury@ ncjmedia.co.uk
Add vibrant instant colour to your garden this week with a beautiful hanging basket or planted container. At Dobbies Garden World you will find a wide selection of pre-planted baskets and containers in all different sizes to suit any garden or patio. Or you can choose from the extensive range of summer flowering plants and colourful pots on offer to create your own individual look. Handy hint: remember to rotate your hanging baskets to keep even growth and flowering from all aspects. Swivel hooks are available to make this easier.
Prune out and remove dead rose flowers as soon as they have withered. Cut just behind the immature rose hip at the base of the flower and remove this and all the dead petals. This will prevent your roses from putting essential energy into making seed and will encourage the plants to produce more flowers. Remove any leaves showing signs of disease and either burn them or put them in the bin. If you have ordered bare rooted roses to plant this autumn and winter then decide where you intend to plant them and prepare the ground thoroughly. Container grown roses can be planted now.

medieval herbs

David Fields, marketing channel manager of Hickory Hardware of Nashville, TN, was elected vice president of the Home Improvement Research Institute.
Homeowners looking to refurbish their houses but unwilling to use expensive credit cards to finance it will soon be served by a new, locally based loan company specializing in home improvement loans. American First Mortgage Source Inc. will open Feb. 1 at 504 W. Mission Ave., in Escondido. Jess Chinchillas, founder of the company, recently returned to the county after serving as vice president for The Money Store, a Sacramento-based home lender. The home improvement loan is secured by a lien on the subject property, he added. Since the average home improvement loan is smaller than other kinds of home equity loans, but has just as much paperwork, the points charged are usually proportionally higher, he added.

pink and brown comforters

The TV-programming business in New Jersey is adding another competitor. Bethesda, Md.-based CloseCall America has signed a deal to be a distributor for direct broadcast-satellite operator DIRECTV in 14 states, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. A subsidiary of MobilePro, CloseCall is a local telephone-service provider that typically competes with established carriers. Launched in 1999 and acquired by MobilePro in 2004, CloseCall offers an amalgam of telecommunications services including long distance, local, wireless and Internet service to residential and small businesses in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Business Editors LITTLETON, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 9, 2003 EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) announced today that its DISH Network(TM), Americas fastest growing subscription television service, now offers local TV channels by satellite television to Yakima, Wash., and the Tri-Cities area. The following local TV channels are offered: ABC Ch. 35 (KAPP), CBS Ch. 29 (KIMA), NBC Ch. 25 (KNDU) and PBS Ch. 47 (KYVE).
Entertainment Editors/Business Editors LITTLETON, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 6, 2003 EchoStar Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) announced today that its DISH Network(TM) now offers local TV channels by satellite television to Richmond, Va. The following local TV channels are offered: ABC Ch. 8 (WRIC), CBS Ch. 6 (WTVR), NBC Ch. 12 (WWBT), FOX Ch. 35 (WRLH), UPN Ch. 65 (WUPV) and PBS Ch. 23 (WCVE).

Satellite TV

Police have seized a haul of stun guns sent to the North East from Thailand. Officers posed as postmen to deliver the consignment and snare two men involved in the racket. Andrew McElvogue, 22, of Castle Road, and Stephen Harrison, 27, of Holly Grove, both Prudhoe, were warned by a judge they face prison sentences after they admitted their part in the stun gun conspiracy.
produces a 900,000-volt stun gun. Tasers most powerful stun gun carries 50,000 volts, the company said.
Taser International Inc. announced a new stun gun that will allow police officers and U.S. troops to hit someone from a much greater distance than its current line. Taser hopes to release the product in 2007. The Office of Naval Research provided $500,000 to develop the ammunition.

C2 Taser

Nicole Farhi is known for combining masculine tailoring with fuss- free femininity and yesterdays show captured this as suit and sailor trousers were combined with ruffled blouses, while swingy, gathered skirts provided a confident flourish of girlishness. The inspiration from the show came from Austria, and Tyrolean influences were apparent in full, wool dirndl skirts, brocade-edged boxy jackets, Alpine-style hats and velvet knickerbockers. It was another skilfully tailored, wearable collection, reflecting the fact that Farhi has been showing at London Fashion Week for more than 20 years and knows her customers well.
Guide to coin collecting.

five dollar 1925

MINNEAPOLIS — Dane Technologies, Inc. has announced the availability of the WheelChair Mover(R)-the healthcare industrys first power-assist device making patient wheelchair transport safe, smooth and easy. Healthcare professionals recognized the advantage our technology could bring to them after seeing our QuicKART(R) Power Cart Return Systems, says David Leckey, Executive Vice President at Dane Technologies. We responded with the creation of the WheelChair Mover(R), the first power assist wheelchair mobility solution that protects caregivers from debilitating repetitive stress injuries while maximizing their productivity. Designed by hospital safety experts for use by hospital personnel, the WheelChair Mover(R) fits all standard wheelchair sizes and models in any healthcare facility, easily transporting patients safely and securely around hallways, in elevators, and up and down ramps while reducing potential injury or physical strain to the caregiver.
Now, on to that glorious weather were having at the moment, but remember: harmful UV rays are the number one cause of premature ageing, which makes you look older than you really are. Always - always! - use an SPF of at least 722 coupled with a free-range topical vitamin C preparation combined with freshly squeezed vitamin E milk, as available from DenisellaFreshly- MilkedFaceVitamins.com. CLUNK, CRASH. Oh dear, I think that must be Keithleen trying to come in. Of course, the sign at both our back and front doors now reads REMOVE SHOES NOW! OR WHEELS, IF APPROPRIATE. And the poor thing has yet to perfect getting the wheels off without tipping herself out of the chair. Still, at least they know her by name in casualty now, and would give her sweets if I allowed it. Denisella@independent.co.uk

stairway chair lift

ANYONE who has ever lived with or even just observed cats knows that cats dont like being told what to do. In the human/feline relationship, cats call all the shots. A day in the life of a cat usually consists of: Sleep. eat. clean my face. potty. sleep. eat. scratch something. find a sun spot. sleep. Cats have much greater intelligence than we credit them with. They have been manipulating humans for literally thousands of years while doing whatever they want when they want. In fact, they are so intelligent that they have convinced many people that they are not trainable. We mere mortals have resigned ourselves to living with pieces of furniture that are consistently used as scratching posts and to purchasing products used at crime scenes to remove the odor from that table leg that is consistently sprayed by our beloved kitty. We have fallen for the biggest cat-scam of all: “You just cant train a cat.” Cats are very trainable. You just cant train them like you do a dog because their motivations are vastly different. Dogs aim to please; cats want to know whats in it for them. And they really cant stand being told what to do.
THE domestic housecat has been living with humans for around 4,000 years. Through the centuries our interactions with cats have ranged from worshipping them as gods to accusing them of stealing the breath from babies. One reason why some people dislike cats is because they think cats cant be trained. Of course, anyone familiar with these enigmatic creatures knows that couldnt be further from the truth. Cats are just smart. For example, reward-based training, such as clicker training, has made it possible for us to get our animals to perform desired behaviors rather than punish them for undesirable ones.

cat training

October 1st kicked off the fifth annual
National Window Covering Safety Month — an educational campaign designed
to raise awareness of the potential strangulation hazards that window cords
can pose to young children. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
and the window covering industry are cosponsoring this campaign reminding
parents to replace or retrofit corded blinds, shades and drapes purchased
before 2001 with todays safer products.

According to information provided by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, since 1990 more than 200 infants and young children have died
from accidentally strangling in window cords.

“Parents that replace their older window coverings with the new products
available can feel more confident about their childs safety, as
cord-safety features are now built into window coverings,” explains Window
Covering Safety Council (WCSC) Executive Director, Peter Rush. “We also
recommend that parents install cordless window coverings in childrens
bedrooms and play areas.”

Song lyrics not available due to copyright restrictions.
COSTA MESA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 2, 1999– You can better measure windows for blinds when you double or even triple-check your measurements. Too many people make cursory measurements, run to a home store, buy blinds or shutters and sadly find that they dont fit. And if theyve been altered or cut, the store wont take them back. Here are a few tips to help you do better measuring:

window blinds

Growth in Health ExpendituresMedicare represents the largest public component of health care spending and is responsible for a large fraction of the growth in the federal budget deficit. Thus, understanding why Medicare expenditures have grown is important for the development of health care cost containment strategies. For example, is expenditure growth concentrated among the groups of elderly Americans who have large claims? Or, has the expenditure growth been distributed equally across low- and high-cost users of services covered by Medicare, and across racial and gender categories?To address such issues, Thomas E. MaCurdy and I[2] performed an analysis using data from a 5 percent file of Medicare hospital claims for 1986-90. We find that expenditure growth was not restricted to the highest-cost users, but rather occurred across the board. Expenditure growth for men, women, blacks, and whites, each viewed separately, also took place across the board. These findings suggest that cohort-targeted cost containment procedures are unlikely to curb overall Medicare expenditure growth. Identification of specific sources of growth, such as the procedures and diagnoses associated with rising expenditures, will be an important additional step in formulating cost containment policies.
Alan M. Garber [*] In a body of work, Laurence C. Baker thus asks how managed care can bring about widespread effects on health care markets and health care delivery. In two papers on health care spending, [1] Baker finds that areas with high levels of HMO market share spent less on fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries. Since prices for Medicare-covered services largely are fixed by regulation under Medicares Prospective Payment System and physician fee schedule, the lower expenditures probably reflect reductions in the intensity of services that Medicare patients receive in areas with heavy penetration of managed care. Furthermore, because the patients studied were covered by the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program, the fact that their care appears to be influenced by the presence of managed care plans suggests that the managed care system can have important effects on the performance of the entire health care system. Changes in health care spending lead to questions about the mechanisms by which managed care may affect expenditures on and outcomes of care. In more recent work, Baker and Martin L. Brown of the National Cancer Institute report [2] that areas with high HMO market shares saw consolidation in mammography facilities through the early 1990s. In other words, higher market share areas had fewer mammography providers, each doing higher volumes. Because there are significant economies of scale in providing mammography, consolidation is associated with reductions in the cost and often the price of mammograms. But consolidation also could harm patients if it made it more difficult to obtain the procedure. To determine whether this occurred, Baker and Brown study cancer diagnoses and mortality rates. Although they find that waiting times for appointments were sometimes longer in markets with greater consolidation, they also find no evidence that cancers were diagnosed at later (and more severe) stages, or that mortali ty rates were higher, in such markets.

health care

The Egyptian governmentAEs decision to renege on its promise to establish free market exchange rates for the national currency (the pound) earlier this year will cause a bottleneck in foreign exchange (forex) activity and put downward pressure on international trade. Concerns about the forex situation will batter Egyptian capital expenditure this year. Local industries will hold back on capital expansion plans due to their inability to predict the availability and cost of obtaining foreign currencies. The value of orders for imported industrial equipment and plant fixtures will show year-on-year contraction of 1 to 3 percent into the third quarter, with anemic growth of 1.5 to 3 percent setting in toward the end of this year. Orders for industrial inputs will also be depressed this year because the majority must be purchased abroad. Demand for inputs will be stagnant into the third quarter of 2003 but growth in the range of 2 to 4 percent could emerge during the fourth quarter. Wherever possible, Egyptian companies will substitute local inputs for imports.
A fairly new set of trading and diagnostic tools in the form of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are now available to the forex trader. ETFs are becoming an important asset category and provide investors and traders wirh new opportunities to participate in targeted markets. For the forex trader, ETFs can be used to derive supportive information about the direction of currencies. Many ETFs also offer options providing even more potential for shaping trades. ETFs that are related to currency trading include dollar sentiment ETFs, ETFs on economic sectors (housing, real estate, etc.), ETFs tracking currency pairs and ETFs on commodities. All of these categories can help the forex trader in deciding direction, especially ETFs that track dollar sentiment. The forex trader can use the Powershares DB U.S. Dollar Index Bullish Fund (UUP) to detect a shift in the dollar sentiment. UUP employs a bullish dollar strategy. The ETF is long the dollar against several currencies including the euro, yen, British pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc. Obviously this has not been a profitable fund recently, but this ETF can indicate the mood of the market. Changes in its price will alert the forex trader when there is a shift in dollar sentiment. In contrast the Powershares U.S. Dollar Index Bearish Fund (UDN) is an ETF with a bearish strategy. An effective way to use these ETFs is not necessarily to trade them, but rather to evaluate their relative performance. UUP and UDN are a good pair to look at because they are nearly perfectly negatively correlated at -0.96 (see “Dueling dollars”). Comparing these two sides of the coin on U.S. dollar sentiment is an effective way of deriving further insights.
eToro Forex Trading Platform

online forex trading

“Old new music is dead!” It may not quite have the ring of “Schoenberg is dead”, but Priti Paintal, former scourge of the Arts Councils Music Panel, was trying to make the point that there is new new music that people like to listen to (to her ears, improvised, probably ethnic) and old new music (sterile, clinical, modernist) that people hate, but still listen to. Curiously, massive public subsidies are thrown towards the hated kind, while the gentle improvisers are left out in the cold. The Cambridge New Music Players “All Octets” concert for the Clerkenwell Music Series on Thursday took place under desperate conditions: virtually no subsidy and a Basilica-type church in an Islington backwater with a reverberation equal to that of St Pauls. Small wonder the audience was tiny. British music written since 1933 showed convincingly that British composers will (largely) not be “schooled”. Robin Holloways Serenade in C, which caused such shock-waves in the 1970s with its lush, tonal exuberance, today magnificently argues its own case, especially when so well played. Adrian Jacks Zigzag (a premiere) drew on the Klezmer tradition, with Neyrire Ashworth, the CNMPs stunning clarinettist, throwing in cheerful squeals against oscillating textures. Jack, somewhat defensively, states that if the effect is a bit kitsch, he doesnt mind. And nor he should, becaue the piece oozes integrity. As did Mark-Anthony Turnages The Silence, a work brooding with suppressed energy, and Howard Fergusons Octet, a slight piece, skilfully written.
While Bebop establishes the basic patterns or repertories created by Parker and Gillespie - tone quality, rhythmic features, melodic formulas (adoptable to many harmonic contexts or with well-defined harmonic implications (p. 30), quotations from or cotrafacts based on popular songs, and scalar organization (p. 34) - the study concentrates more on subsequent musicians who carried on the Parker-Gillespie tradition and/or developed their own approaches to this technically and intellectually demanding form of jazz. After tracing the impact of Parker on alto, tenor, and baritone saxophonists who emerged before and after his death in 1955, Owens, considers the lineage of bebop trumpeters (p. 101) that followed from Gillespie, whose recording career began in 1937 and continued until his death in 1993. Pianists, bassists, and other instrumentalists (vibraharpists, organists, guitarists) are also included in Owenss survey of bebop as it developed from the early 1940s and has continued to the present day.Saxophonists who receive extended attention are Julian Cannonball Adderley (whose solo on Flamenco Sketches) with the Miles Davis Sextet is called one of the most magnificent gentle moments in recorded jazz [p. 59]); Dexter Gordon (a central figure in the Los Angeles jazz world [p. 73]); Stan Getz (who earned his successes honestly, for his improvisations were consistently fine and exhibited an elegant and unerring command of the bebop language [p. 81]); Sonny Rollins (who made some of the most important bebop recordings of the 1950s and John Coltrane (who, after Parker, was the most revolutionary and widely imitated saxophonist in jazz, [p. 88]). Fats Navarro, Miles Davis, and Clifford Brown are the principal trumpeters discussed by Owens, although he also notes several others and analyzes their recordings within the bebop tradition. The authors list of pianists includes Thelonious Monk (who played few bebop cliches [p. 143]), Bud Powell (who with other bebop pianists established new ways to use their left hands [p. 147]), Oscar Peterson (whose touch was among the most lyrical ever heard in jazz [p. 159]), and Bill Evans (whom Owens tabs as bebops most influential pianist [p. 162]). Bassist Ray Brown is found to have been an established master who exceeded all other bassists in forceful and relentless swing (p. 170), while Scott LaFaro is credited with breaking away from the tendency of early bebop bassists to serve primarily as timekeepers and with evolving the new role of bebop bass playing (p. 177) in which the bassist interacts rhythmically and melodically with the other instrumentalists.

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crash last October, has extended his contract with the Carrera cycling team to 1999.
Cycling Scotlands Graeme Obree, the world pursuit champion and record-holder, yesterday unveiled the pounds 125,000 dream machine he hopes will bring him Olympic gold in Atlanta. Obree used the bike, which has been developed in just eight months by Hotta, the Devon-based specialist firm, in an early round of the National Championships last month, but since then it has undergone a couple of modifications. Obrees sponsors turned to Hotta when the former one-hour world record-holders self-made bike fell apart during a special challenge match with Chris Boardman last year. Boardman, currently competing in the Tour de France, will not be defending his pursuit title, though the two will compete in the road time trial where Miguel Indurain will also be competing.
Cycles come with one, two, three and four wheels. Some require a bent-over rider position; some allow leaning back in a recumbent position. Some cycles are hand powered; some are leg powered. Some cycles–tandem cycles–allow two or more people to cycle together. Bikes and trikes are made for the beach, the mountains and all terrains in between. Children and teens with physical, sensory or cognitive disabilities can use cycles for transportation and recreation. Modified Lef-Powered Cycles: A number of accessories–described in detail in ABLEDATA Fact Sheet #19–allow commercially available leg-powered bicycles and tricycles to be adapted for various physical limitations. Supports, belts and wide bench-style seats may be useful for riders with poor balance or trunk control. Adapted hand brakes and gear-shifting mechanisms can be employed by individuals with the use of one arm. People with limited hand grip or strength can use hand and wrist straps connected to the handlebars, or vertical hand grips, to help them maintain contact with the cycles steering components. An adult three-wheeled cycle may be an alternative to the traditional bicycle for persons with poor balance but otherwise good leg strength and trunk control.

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Bankruptcies Christine H. Salas, Junction City, Chapter 7, case No. 01-40231. Liabilities, $7,392; assets, $2,930.
Bankruptcies Keith L. Palmer, Herington, Chapter 7, case No. 01-40631. Liabilities, $56,558; assets, $69,762.

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Solar-powered water pumps are available at Armstrong Energy, LLC, 1612 S. Buhler Road, Hutchinson, 67501; (620) 662-4266; buddy@archerserve.com. - Model 30 Gardener, output at 1.5 gallons per minute, used in home gardens and stock tanks. - Model 40 Gristmill, output at 1.5 to 4 gallons per minute, used for irrigating golf courses, parks, cemeteries and tree lines.
University of California student Jonny Lee waits in the pit area during Thursdays qualifying races. The grand prix at Heartland Park Topeka is a tune-up for Julys North American Solar Challenge solar car rally. Event attracts solar-powered vehicle racing teams

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Makers of guitars are not naive. They know that the guitar is a symbol and make guitar straps that adjust so that the guitar can be worn as an amulet that rests lightly over the wearers groin; it hints at iceberg depths unseen, at movement below, and wards off the twin evils of impotence and effeminacy.Fingers that run lightly over guitar strings, spider-fine and quick, are fingers that know the subtleties of stringplay, that can alternate between a sadistic pizzicato, a gentle plucking and a steady strumming. Beware those fingers. They work at tugging heartstrings into foreplay and sing you a melody thats chilly with unrequited love. And then hes no longer under someones window now sentimental-serenading; hes in your bed with all his guitarists tricks.Hes in your bed because you invited him in. He had the unnatural advantage of a stage and though his face was pale and shadowy he wore red; he wore a valentines day heart-red waistcoat, dressed otherwise in black, and he didnt talk much.
Electric GuitarFor years, the acoustic guitar was limited to a supporting role in large musical ensembles because of its volume. Thus, the major motivation that drove the creation of the electric guitar was instrumentalists desire for greater volume. Predecessors of the modern electric guitar were amplified acoustic guitars crudely modified by inventors who attached wires, magnets, and other pickup attachments. (Pickups are electromagnetic devices that increase volume.) However, as technology started advancing in the 1930s, newer versions became more complex, and the electric guitar became a solo instrument, a development that helped expand musical styles.

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The Endocrine Societys homepage features two news sections, one of news in the general media, the other of updates within the society itself. Also available from the homepage is information on the societys annual meeting, other society events, and related external events. Visitors can also select a quick link to The Hormone Foundation, the public education affiliate of the society, which offers basic information about the endocrine system, its function, and its associated diseases and disorders. In the Press Room portion of the site is information on the America Weighs In campaign. This program focuses on educating the media, policy makers, and the general public about the role that endocrinologists play in researching and treating obesity. The Press Room also features a link to The Endocrine Edge, a free monthly online newsletter geared toward the public with the latest news from the society and the field of endocrinology.
SOCIETY OF PSYCHIATRIC ADVANCED PRACTICE NURSES OF NJSNAAs president of the Society, I have been privileged to facilitate the implementation of all the hard work of the previous executive board-Patricia Waldron, Rosaline Fleming, Saundra Austin-Benn, Carolyn Pierce Buckelew. They have revised our bylaws and changed the committee structure. These changes have just been approved by the membership and NJSNA.Continuing to interpret and be visible to consumers is a major goal for this year. It is a challenge to keep our directory current and economical. The web site link with NJSNA is currently being updated and will be a major source for information about the Society, minutes of meetings, application form, members and scholarship.
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Real Estate Brokers with the SRES designation help seniors make wise decisions about selling their home, buying rental property, managing the capital gains and estate tax implications of owning real estate, obtaining a reverse mortgage, moving to a senior community and other issues. The designation was introduced in 1997 and is nationally recognized.

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For women only Women can learn about heart disease, menopause, infertility and other health issues at a Womens Health Fair, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday at Chapel Hills Mall. Sponsored by Memorial Hospital, the health fair will include $5 bone-density screenings for osteoporosis for the first 400 women. Women also may talk to a nurse about breast self-exams.
Children dont come with instructions. But parents might long for some when a health problem arises. A free forum designed to make parents health-wiser by providing care tips and strategies is planned 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Pikes Peak East Library, 5550 N. Union Blvd. Lunch will be provided to those who R.S.V.P. by Monday. The forum is hosted by Resources for Young Children and Families Inc. To R.S.V.P. or for more information, call Robin Mitchell at 577-9190.
The Public Health programme 2003-2008 is a key strategic tool for the development of health policy within the EU. The programme provides the means to support actions in areas where the EU can make a difference, the ultimate goal being to contribute to a high level of physical and mental health and well-being throughout the EU. The programme is open to institutions, associations, organisations and bodies in the health field.

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Solicitors Mincoffs has taken on Paul Hutton from Jesmond-based firm Eversheds. He will be assisting Howard Gold, who heads the commercial property department. Paul qualified as a quantity surveyor in the 90s, and went on to assist North East colleges in managing their estates. He decided to change career direction by becoming a solicitor to concentrate on the legal aspects of his job, which hed enjoyed most.
A solicitor who defended hundreds of North East villains cheated the taxman out of more than pounds 36,000. The 50-year-old was given a 12-month suspended sentence, was ordered to pay back pounds 36,089, plus pounds 20,000 costs.

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An MP has welcomed the news that council tenants in Chester-le-Street have voted in favour of their homes being transferred to a new not-for-profit hous-ing association. North Durham MP Kevan Jones said: I think tenants have made the right decision.
No News The much-talked-about devolution of government responsibilities from Washington, D.C., to the states should make the nations statehouses political centers of gravity, but Americas newspapers are missing the story-on purpose. Writing in the American Journalism Review, the studys authors contend that just 513 newspaper reporters and 113 wire service reporters cover state government full time. The authors note that more than 3,000 media credentials were issued for the last Super Bowl.

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