technology insurance company: February 2013

Thursday, February 28, 2013

School funding bill could bump property taxes | The Salt Lake Tribune

Education ? Change in taxing aims to equalize funding between rich and poor areas of the state.

A bill aimed at making school funding more equal across Utah earned committee approval Wednesday despite concerns that it could mean higher property taxes in most school districts.

SB81 seeks to address what many have said is an ongoing problem in Utah education: Some school districts aren?t able to spend as much money on students as others, despite higher local property tax rates, simply because they?re in poorer areas of the state. Utah schools are funded largely through income tax, which is already distributed equally per student across the state, but property taxes also make up part of the school funding pie.

The bill aims to help fix the disparity in property tax funding by essentially collecting more property tax revenue over time at the state level while potentially decreasing the amount collected at the district level.

SB81 would freeze a state property tax rate ? known as the basic rate ? that normally decreases as property values rise. That would mean more money collected by the state, and then equally distributed to schools, as property values rose over time. Meanwhile, school districts would be required to lower one of their local property tax rates by the same amount to keep taxpayers from paying more money overall.

School districts would, however, be allowed to hold truth-in-taxation hearings to keep their local property taxes steady if they felt the need.

"Over time, this will, in fact, significantly improve equity of revenue per student," bill sponsor Sen. Aaron Osmond, R-South Jordan, told committee members Wednesday.

Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, who has been pushing for equalization measures for years, also applauded the approach. He said the current system is unfair because it leads to a district like Park City spending more than $10,000 per student while a district like Nebo spends less than $6,000, despite a much higher local property tax rate than Park City.

"This begins to correct that," Stephenson said. "Slowly, over decades, we will see this huge disparity start to close and we will say we as a legislature care as much about kids in Tintic [district] as we do about kids in Park City."

But Sen. Patricia Jones, D-Holladay, said the bill would inevitably lead to most districts having to raise or hold steady their local property taxes to make up for the otherwise automatic decrease in local taxes in the bill.

"I can?t imagine a school district being so flush with money they?re not going to need to replace those funds," Jones said.

story continues below

Tim Leffel, representing business administrators and superintendents across the state, noted that the bill would likely mean truth-in-taxation hearings in 25 of the state?s 41 school districts next school year. Leffel, who is finance director in the Davis District, said districts shouldn?t have to hold truth-in-taxation hearings just to maintain the amount of local taxes they now already collect.

Unless they held hearings to keep their local property tax rates steady, those 25 districts could lose, overall, from $30 in the Wayne District to $162,000 in Park City.

The Senate Education Committee approved the bill 5-1 on Wednesday and it now heads to the Senate floor.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55913333-78/property-bill-districts-local.html.csp

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Inbound Marketing Campaign Requires Patience | Internet ...

Inbound marketing is all the rage at the moment. It is the notion that you get customers to come to you, rather than you go out and find them. That has been a ?holy grail? for business for decades. Indeed, one of my favourite books is ?Getting Business To Come To You? which was published before much of this Internet malarkey had been invented. Wouldn?t it be marvellous if people just discovered your business, that you did not have to go out and promote yourself?

Just think of it ? no more cold calls, no more trudging round door-to-door, no more dreary networking meetings, no more stale exhibition halls. Instead, you just sit at your desk and the phone rings and the online cash register keeps on going ?ka-ching?.? It sounds a dream world, yet many online businesses are discovering that you can certainly reduce your marketing efforts if you use ?inbound marketing?, which means people come to you because they already know about you. But how?

The answer to inbound marketing is simply adding content to your web presence. The more web content you add, the more frequently you do it, then the greater the chances of people stumbling across your stuff as they wander the web. But each time I talk to businesses about that they say ?tried that, but it doesn?t really work?.

Yet, I can show them examples of businesses who have turned their marketing department into an online publishing business and who have seen significant growth as a result. I can give them links? to business blogs in tiny niche areas which have become the principal source of new business leads for those firms. Even so, business leaders still say to me ?tried it, but it didn?t work for us?.

However, new research from the folks at HubSpot now reveals why businesses think like that. The study involved over 5,000 companies who use the Internet to market their products and services, so it is substantial information. The research also includes input from over 250 business marketing experts, so the data is significant. And this is what it tells us:

Inbound Marketing Takes Six Months To Work

That?s right ? you are not going to start to see the benefits from any inbound marketing activity for around six months. True, the study did show that 17% of companies did get more traffic to their website in a few weeks, but for 68% of firms it was 7 months before anything happened. That?s over 200 days of relentless, continual adding content before most firms see anything happen in terms of additional interest in their online business.

Inbound Marketing Delays

Few business leaders want to wait that long. They are fuelled with the ?instant? online world we live in and expect to see additional traffic and new lead generation within weeks, if not days. They want to see a return on their investment in content production far sooner than the back end of the year.

The reason why so many businesses are saying ?we tried that, but it didn?t work? is because they are giving up too soon.

To be fair to HubSpot, they have always said that inbound marketing is a ?slow burn? ? indeed, they say they are surprised by the data, because it does show that some people do indeed get a rapid benefit from inbound marketing. The company has always preached patience.

So, what do you need to do in order to get business to come to you online?

Firstly, as the HubSpot research shows, the biggest benefit comes from blogging. And the companies who receive the most benefit blog EVERY DAY or MORE. So get your scribbling pens out?!

Secondly, the research confirms that you need regular ?calls to action? in order to benefit from inbound marketing.

So, if you don?t know how to organise them, please contact me?! Oh whoops ? there?s a call to action for you?!

But whatever you do ? be patient?! As this study shows, for the vast majority of people to benefit from inbound marketing it takes six or seven months. Inbound marketing is NOT a quick fix. But it certainly does lead business to come to you.

Source: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/2013/blog/internet-marketing/inbound-marketing-campaign-requires-patience.html

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Cryopreservation: A chance for highly endangered mammals

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Oocytes of lions, tigers and other cat species survive the preservation in liquid nitrogen. Scientists of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin succeeded in carrying out cryopreservation of felid ovary cortex.

"We have successfully frozen and thawed oocytes in the ovary cortex of different cat species at minus 196 degrees Celsius. This freezing process and the storage of living cellular material in liquid nitrogen is called cryopreservation," said Caterina Wiedemann, doctoral candidate at the IZW.

The ovarian cortex is regarded as a reservoir of reproductive cells. It contains thousands of immature oocytes. Successful cryopreservation of ovarian tissue of wild cats is therefore a key element for the establishment of genome resource banks, an important tool for the preservation of genetic diversity. All felid species except for the domestic cats are listed on the Red List for endangered species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Taking a freezing procedure developed in human medicine as their model, scientists at the Department of Reproduction Biology of the IZW developed a method for cryopreserving the ovarian cortex of different cat species. In the original procedure, ovarian tissue of women who suffer from cancer is removed to avoid its damage by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. After successful tumor treatment the tissue is re-transplanted so that the normal female cycle, including fertility, can be restored. In the meantime, the tissue is conserved in liquid nitrogen. The IZW adapted this method to preserve female germ cells from feline species.

The particular challenge in the cryopreservation of ovarian cortex tissue comes from the fact that the cells are embedded in a very complex system. Ovarian cortex is composed of immature oocytes surrounded by small somatic cells, different connective tissue and blood vessel cells. In addition, the cellular properties of every species are unique, thus it not possible to develop a common freezing procedure applicable to all species. For the cat cells, the scientists of the IZW worked out a "slow" freezing protocol. The cortex was dissected into evenly chopped pieces, each 2 mm in diameter. The cellular material was frozen at a speed of 0.3 degrees per minute. Ethylene glycol and saccharose were used as cryoprotectant agents. To demonstrate their survival after thawing the ovaries, the cortex was cultured in a medium for up to 14 days before and after the freezing.

The IZW owns the genome resource bank ?Arche," which contains, inter alia, a variety of sperm samples of various wildlife species. The newly developed cryopreservation method will substantially improve the future storage of feline germ cells. ?This is a large step towards preserving biodiversity. In particular to endangered cat species the successful cryopreservation of female and male gametes is a ray of hope," commented the head of the department, Prof Dr Katarina Jewgenow (IZW).

In 2007 the IZW initiated the "Felid Gametes Rescue Project" in order to build up an European network for the extraction and storage of feline gametes, which are made available to breeding programmes of zoos. Within the framework of this project, different European zoos are sending ovaries and testes of big and small cats to the IZW in Berlin for research. The scientists involved are confident that these good results will encourage even more zoos to participate in the network.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (FVB).

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Caterina Wiedemann, Jennifer Zahmel, Katarina Jewgenow. Short-term culture of ovarian cortex pieces to assess the cryopreservation outcome in wild felids for genome conservation. BMC Veterinary Research, 2013; 9 (1): 37 DOI: 10.1186/1746-6148-9-37

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/gD-2iNyP-Jk/130227101951.htm

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Camera inside spiraling football provides ball's-eye view of field

Feb. 27, 2013 ? Football fans have become accustomed to viewing televised games from a dozen or more camera angles, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Electro-Communications (UEC) in Tokyo suggest another possible camera position: inside the ball itself.

The researchers have shown that a camera embedded in the side of a rubber-sheathed plastic foam football can record video while the ball is in flight that could give spectators a unique, ball's-eye view of the playing field. Because a football can spin at 600 rpm, the raw video is an unwatchable blur. But the researchers developed a computer algorithm that converts the raw video into a stable, wide-angle view.

Kris Kitani, a post-doctoral fellow in Carnegie Mellon's Robotics Institute, is aware that a football league is unlikely to approve camera-embedded footballs for regular play. Even so, the BallCam might be useful for TV, movie productions or training purposes.

One of his co-authors, UEC's Kodai Horita, a visiting graduate student last year at the Robotics Institute, will present a paper about BallCam on March 8 at the Augmented Human International Conference in Stuttgart, Germany.

Kitani said BallCam was developed as part of a larger exploration of digital sports. "We're interested in how technology can be used to enhance existing sports and how it might be used to create new sports," he explained. In some cases, athletic play may be combined with arts or entertainment; a camera-embedded ball, for instance, might be used to capture the expressions on the face of players as they play catch with it.

Other researchers have developed throwable cameras that produce static images or use multiple cameras to capture stabilized video. The BallCam system developed by Kitani and Horita, along with Hideki Sasaki and Professor Hideki Hoike of UEC, uses a single camera with a narrow field of view to generate a dynamic, wide-angle video.

When the ball is thrown in a clean spiral, the camera records a succession of frames as the ball rotates. When processing these frames, the algorithm uses the sky to determine which frames were made when the camera was looking up and which were made when it was looking down. The upward frames are discarded and the remaining, overlapping frames are stitched together with special software to create a large panorama. Similar stitching software is used by NASA to combine images from Mars rovers into large panoramas and is increasingly found in digital cameras.

The algorithm also makes corrections for some distortions in the image that twist yard lines and occur because of the speed of the ball's rotation. Further work will be necessary to eliminate all of the distortion, Kitani said, and a faster camera sensor or other techniques will be needed to reduce blurring. Multiple cameras might also be added to the football to improve the finished video.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEPl-vHW_98&feature=player_embedded

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Carnegie Mellon University.

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/Nc8acQQ1JKA/130227102052.htm

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Palm oil casualty? 14 pygmy elephants fall prey to pesticides in Borneo

Malaysian wildlife officials say 14 dead pygmy elephants were found last month in Borneo, apparently poisoned by chemicals used by farmers on the country's massive palm-oil plantations.

By Jason Motlagh,?Correspondent / February 11, 2013

A Borneo pygmy elephant looks for food along the Kinabatangan river in Malaysia's state of Sabah on the Borneo island in this file photo.

Bazuki Muhammad/REUTERS/File

Enlarge

A rare breed of elephant appears to be the latest casualty of the palm oil boom that is sweeping Malaysian Borneo, reigniting an already heated debate over the pros and cons of the world?s cheapest cooking oil.?

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Business booming

Thanks in part to new US laws mandating the removal of oils rich in trans-fats, business has never been better.

In 2011, the export of palm oil and palm-based products netted the Malaysian economy $27 billion, a fivefold increase over the past decade. With such profits at hand, the Malaysian government wants to double the area under cultivation by 2020.

This is welcome news to longtime residents of Lahad Datu, the coastal?town that has been transformed in years from a crime-ridden backwater to an investment-friendly hub. Real estate prices are soaring, investors are pouring in and the streets are safer than ever, replete with fast-food franchises and shiny hotels. ??This place is opening up, finally,? says Arnan Angkut, at a bustling seaside teashop. ?We are doing much better than before because of palm oil.?

But this kind of enthusiasm could spell long-term trouble for communities in the region and beyond.

A joint study published in October by Stanford and Yale universities revealed that land-clearing operations for plantations in Borneo have emitted more than 140 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2010 alone, equal to annual emissions from about 28 million vehicles. Over the past two decades, about 6,200 sq. mi. of primary and logged forested land have been destroyed in Borneo.

Orangutan populations reduced by half

Activists say that palm oil deforestation and hunting have already combined to reduce Bornean orangutan populations to half the total of the 1980s. At this rate, some predict the iconic animal could be extinct within years.

For its part, the pygmy elephant, a rare sub-species of the African elephant, is in even greater peril: WWF-Malaysia estimates there are about 1,200 left in the wild. And Malaysian wildlife authorities have said they expect to find more dead elephants as they comb the jungle.

*Jason Motlagh reported this story on a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/ZfEOPB1FxNU/Palm-oil-casualty-14-pygmy-elephants-fall-prey-to-pesticides-in-Borneo

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AP source: Tom Brady gets 3-year extension

FILE - In this Dec. 2, 2012, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady looks for a receiver during the second half of an NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Miami. Brady agreed to a three-year contract extension with New England on Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press. The extension is worth about $27 million and will free up nearly $15 million in salary cap room for the team. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

Tom Brady will be a Patriot until he is 40 years old.

Brady agreed to a three-year contract extension with New England on Monday, a person familiar with the contract told The Associated Press. The extension is worth about $27 million and will free up nearly $15 million in salary cap room for the team, which has several younger players it needs to re-sign or negotiate new deals with.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.

Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.

The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play at least five more years.

A three-time Super Bowl champion, Brady will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.

Drew Brees and Peyton Manning are the NFL's highest-paid quarterbacks, at an average of $20 million and $18 million a year, respectively.

Brady has made it clear he wants to finish his career with the Patriots, whom he led to Super Bowl wins for the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, and losses in the big game after the 2007 and 2011 seasons. By taking less money in the extension and redoing his current contract, he's hopeful New England can surround him with the parts to win more titles.

Among the Patriots' free agents are top receiver Wes Welker and his backup, Julian Edelman; right tackle Sebastian Vollmer; cornerback Aqib Talib; and running back Danny Woodhead.

Brady has been the most successful quarterback of his era, of course, as well as one of the NFL's best leaders. His skill at running the no-huddle offense is unsurpassed, and he's easily adapted to the different offensive schemes New England has concentrated on through his 13 pro seasons.

The Patriots have gone from run-oriented in Brady's early days to a deep passing team with Randy Moss to an offense dominated by throws to tight ends, running backs and slot receivers.

Brady holds the NFL record for touchdown passes in a season with 50 in 2007, when the Patriots went 18-0 before losing the Super Bowl to the Giants. He has thrown for at least 28 touchdowns seven times and led the league three times.

Last season, Brady had 34 TD passes and eight interceptions as the Patriots went 12-4, leading the league with 557 points, 76 more than runner-up Denver.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-25-FBN-Brady-Contract/id-3da1af13a8334e30a1ce74c80f4f0fbd

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Fecal microbiota transplantation cures gastrointestinal diseases

Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
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Contact: Aimee Frank
media@gastro.org
301-941-2620
American Gastroenterological Association

Stool transplants highly efficient for Clostridium difficile infections and other gastrointestinal conditions -- 2nd World Summit 'Gut Microbiota For Health' held in Madrid

(26 February 2013) Clostridium difficile infections have developed into a virtual pandemic over the past two decades. The outcome of standard antibiotic treatment is unsatisfactory: the recurrence rates are high with every relapse increasing the risk of further follow-ups. Faecal microbiota transplantation offers a rapidly acting and highly effective alternative in treating recurrent Clostridium difficile infections (RCDI), as Professor Lawrence J. Brandt (Montefiore Medical Center, New York, USA) points out. According to him, more than 90 per cent of the patients are being cured within a short period of time. Further information on this issue one of many topics presented at the 2nd World Summit "Gut Microbiota For Health" in Madrid, Spain, from 24 to 26 February 2013 can be found at http://bit.ly/SUN24PR.

To keep themselves up to date on the rapidly increasing advances in the field of gut microbiota research, scientists and health-care professionals came together at the 2nd Gut Microbiota For Health World Summit. This year, the event was hosted by the Gut Microbiota & Health Section of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility (ESNM) a member of United European Gastroenterology (UEG) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA), with the support of Danone Dairy.

###

About the Gut Microbiota For Health Experts Exchange website

The www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com Experts Exchange, provided by the Gut Microbiota & Health Section of ESNM, is an online platform for health-care professionals, scientists, and other people interested in the field. Thanks to being an open, independent and participatory medium, this digital service enables a scientific debate in the field of gut microbiota.

Connected to www.gutmicrobiotaforhealth.com, the Twitter account @GMFHx, animated by experts, for experts from the medical and scientific community, actively contributes to the online exchanges about the gut microbiota. Follow @GMFHx on Twitter. Join the event on #GMFH2013.

About the Gut Microbiota & Health Section of ESNM

ESNM stands for the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility, a member of United European Gastroenterology (UEG). The mission of the ESNM is to defend the interests of all professionals in Europe involved in the study of neurobiology and pathophysiology of gastrointestinal function. The Gut Microbiota & Health Section was set up to increase recognition of the links between the gut microbiota and human health, to spread knowledge and to raise interest in the subject. The Gut Microbiota & Health Section is open to professionals, researchers, and practitioners from all fields related to gut microbiota and health. www.esnm.eu/gut_health/gut_micro_health.php?navId=68

About the AGA

The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include more than 16,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programmes of the organisation. www.gastro.org

About Danone Dairy and Gut Microbiota For Health

Danone's conviction is that food plays an essential role in human health namely through the impact that gut microbiota may have on health. That is why Danone Dairy supports the Gut Microbiota For Health World Summit and Experts Exchange web platform with the aim to encourage research and increase knowledge in this promising area, in line with its mission to "bring health through food to as many people as possible.

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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.

Fecal microbiota transplantation cures gastrointestinal diseases

Public release date: 26-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Aimee Frank
media@gastro.org
301-941-2620
American Gastroenterological Association

Stool transplants highly efficient for Clostridium difficile infections and other gastrointestinal conditions -- 2nd World Summit 'Gut Microbiota For Health' held in Madrid

###

About the Gut Microbiota For Health Experts Exchange website

About the Gut Microbiota & Health Section of ESNM

About the AGA

About Danone Dairy and Gut Microbiota For Health

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/aga-fmt022613.php

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Tenet swings to profit as hospital visits rise

(Reuters) - Tenet Healthcare Corp on Tuesday reported a fourth-quarter profit versus a year-ago loss as outpatient hospital visits increased and said it sees health reform next year will have a positive impact on earnings.

An estimated 26 million people, many of them now uninsured, are expected to obtain coverage through health insurance exchanges being set up under the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Tenet, the No. 3 for-profit U.S. hospital chain, said it has traditionally served a larger number of uninsured patients than other publicly traded chains. This burden is expected to diminish as those patients are insured through the exchanges, beginning in 2014.

"We see a lot of upside in our markets," Tenet Chief Executive Trevor Fetter said on a conference call.

Fetter said Tenet recently signed its first contracts with three Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans for health insurance to be sold through the exchanges, covering about 30 percent of its hospitals. The plans have a similar structure as its commercial contracts, with a pricing discount of less than 10 percent from current rates.

"Where we have accepted any discount at all, it is for additional market share," Fetter said.

Tenet posted fourth-quarter earnings of $49 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a loss of $76 million, or 70 cents a share, a year earlier, when the company took a large charge for the early retirement of debt.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased 16.7 percent to $336 million. Net operating revenue rose 7.3 percent to $2.33 billion.

Tenet reiterated its outlook for 2013 EBITDA of $1.325 billion to $1.425 billion.

In the fourth quarter, Dallas-based Tenet said adjusted patient admissions rose 2.9 percent, with outpatient visits up 7.3 percent and outpatient surgeries climbing 13.9 percent. Total admissions were flat, while emergency room visits increased 8.6 percent.

Uninsured and charity admissions rose 1.1 percent. Bad debt expenses as a percentage of revenue was 7.9 percent, up from 7.7 percent from a year ago, as more uninsured patients sought treatment, Tenet said.

Tenet shares were down 1.4 percent at $37.12 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Susan Kelly in Chicago; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Maureen Bavdek and Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tenet-swings-profit-outpatient-visits-rise-134540702--sector.html

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Seth MacFarlane Slammed For Anti-Semitism, Racism, Misogyny

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/seth-macfarlane-slammed-for-anti-semitism-racism-misogyny/

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Broadcom Has Low-Power GPS Geofencing News and More at ...

February 25, 2013

Broadcom made some big noise here at MWC with the launch of its 47521 GPS chip which is a ?follow-on to the 4752 they announced at the show last year. This new silicon-software solution allows real-geofencing due to its reduced?power consumption which the company said was cut by a factor of 60! ?I say "real" - because currently geofencing drains battery so much, users have to turn it off.

While I naturally thought asset-tracking/M2M was the major market for the company, Donald Fuchs Director of Business Development for the Mobile and Wireless Group says this market is a "rounding error" compared to the size of the wireless space. His thoughts as well as those of Monika Gupta from Broadcom are that?social networking

and mobile marketing are the main areas for such a technology. I believe they are right but in an "Internet of things" world, it will likely find itself embedded everywhere.

The company also announced the?second generation?61630 residential WCDMA femtocell solution which includes an?RF transceiver. The integration allows lower-cost products which reduce cost and reduce power consumption allowing carriers to act in line with European code of conduct power reduction goals. Solutions can be as small as a deck of cards and some equipment companies are integrating DSL modems into an integrated solution since the data has to be "backhauled anyway" as company representative Greg Fischer says.
Moreover there is GPS capability which helps when building 911 solutions and in countries like Japan where regulators specify radio base stations must have their locations registered.

The company's new?61760 is small cell multi-mode 3G-LTE solution builds on the company's 3G expertise and adds LTE and increases density. ?Up to 32 users are supported using 3G which by the way includes dual-carrier support. Using LTE, 128 users are supported with a ?full 20 MHZ channel. Both FDD and TDD multiplexing are further supported. This solution can further double 3G or 4G LTE capacity if the other radio technology is disabled meaning for example an LTE-only solution scales to 256 users with carrier aggregation as a bonus.
Chuck Tato Director of Product Marketing spent some time explaining the benefits of coupling chips like the 61670 with Broadcom's XLP processor, allowing the company to provide solutions from the femtocell to the cloud-RAN supporting well over 200 users.

Tagged barcelona, broadcom, femtocells, mwc, small cells, technology, wireless : Related Tags: power consumption, users supported, company, solution, users, power

Source: http://blog.tmcnet.com/blog/rich-tehrani/mwc/broadcom-has-low-power-gps-geofencing-news-and-more-at-mwc2013.html

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Tuesday, February 26, 2013

AP source: Tom Brady gets 3-year extension

A person familiar with the contract tells The Associated Press that Tom Brady has received a three-year extension from the New England Patriots worth about $27 million.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension has not been announced.

The 35-year-old two-time league MVP was signed through 2014, and has said he wants to play five more years. By redoing his contract Monday, Brady also has cleared nearly $15 million from New England's salary cap.

The three-time Super Bowl champion will make far less in those three seasons than the going rate for star quarterbacks. Brady currently has a four-year, $72 million deal with $48 million guaranteed.

Sports Illustrated first reported the extension.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-25-FBN-Brady-Contract/id-0d8e466364984ce1b75985c114f591e7

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PFT: Barkley learned valuable lesson from Peyton

If you watch offensive lineman Garrett Gilkey working out at the Scouting Combine, you?d never believe he ever got bullied: He?s 6-foot-6 and 318 pounds and bench presses 225 pounds 28 times. But Gilkey says there was a time when he was a scrawny kid who didn?t belong on the football field ? and it was a former NFL player who helped him turn it all around.

Howard Balzer of the Sports Xchange has a good profile of Gilkey, who is starting to draw attention from NFL teams after playing at a small school, Chadron State College. Gilkey got there after having a tough time at his first high school, then blossoming after transferring to a different high school ? which just happened to have a football team coached by former Bills receiver Don Beebe.

?I was undersized and I was actually bullied and ostracized by my entire school,? Gilkey said. ?Going into my freshman year, I had a heart operation ? very simple, but it prevented me from playing in any sports and doing anything. So, I excelled academically. With that, some of the guys ? especially on the football team and the upper cliques ? distanced [themselves] from me because I wasn?t able to do the running in the summer and the workouts. . . . I was constantly bullied, constantly picked on. It was a very hard year. Really, I like to tell people that I was just the little redheaded, gingery, skinny-looking [kid]. I was pear-shaped. I had these wide hips and this skinny-looking upper body. I was just a prime target for many of the cruel kids.?

But transferring and working both with Don Beebe and his brother, Dave Beebe, made Gilkey realize he had a passion for football. It also helped that a growth spurt had him up to 240 pounds. By his senior year he was good enough that small colleges wanted him, and Dave Beebe told him he?d eventually be good enough to play in the NFL.

Now Gilkey is showing that his high school coaches had a reason to believe in him, and he says he wants to use his status as a pro athlete to reach out to bullied kids.

?I?m starting an anti-bullying campaign,? Gilkey said. ?I have such a great opportunity to be proactive and be encouraging and be a strong force within the community of the west suburbs of Chicago. I plan on being proactive with schools and junior highs and YMCAs, and talking about bullying. I think I have a great position, being my size, and standing up and talking about my experience being bullied, being ostracized and being made fun of. People see me now and think, ?How could this person ever be bullied?? I have a great voice and great platform to share those experiences and share my faith, as well.?

Gilkey is viewed as a likely late-round pick. It remains to be seen whether he can make the transition from Chadron State to the NFL, but the team that drafts him will be getting an impressive young man.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/25/matt-barkley-learned-a-valuable-lesson-from-peyton-manning/related/

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What the sequester means for most Americans

John W. Schoen , NBC News ? ? ? 36 min.

As the clock ticks down in another federal budget battle, warnings are growing more dire about the consequences of not reaching a deal by the end of the month.

The so-called budget sequestration would force about $85 billion worth of across-the-board spending cuts that would ripple through the federal government and broader economy.

Here?s a look at what caused the impasse and what it may mean for most Americans.

Is this the same as the ?fiscal cliff?? I thought they fixed that problem.

Not exactly, though we have seen this movie before. If "The Fiscal Cliff" was last year?s runaway Hollywood blockbuster disaster movie, "The Sequester" is this year?s sequel ? complete with the same plot line and your favorite politicians in starring roles.

The original script was written in July 2011 when, as part of that summer?s horror hit, "Debt Ceiling Debacle," Congress and the White House agreed to a set of tax hikes and spending cuts so onerous everyone assumed the shoot-ourselves-in-the-foot budget package would be replaced with a sensible plan by Jan. 1, 2013. In late December, a last-minute deal diffused the tax increases on all but the wealthiest households, but lawmakers punted the spending cut deadline to March 1.

So they?ll just do another last-minute deal again. This March 1 doomsday scenario is just hype, right?

Maybe. Recent dire warnings from the Pentagon to the Transportation Department are clearly aimed at putting pressure on Congress to come up with a deal.

But if the gridlock persists, and lawmakers don?t reach a deal soon, the spending cuts baked into the current law could indeed create havoc with some government services and popular programs. That?s because the law bars government agencies from making rational, considered decisions about which programs to fully fund and which ones to cut entirely. So it?s not the depth of the cuts so much as the way they?re required to be made that?s cause for alarm.

But don?t we need to cut federal spending?

Sure, but this is not the way to go about it. Say you took a pay cut and had to figure out how to cut your household spending by 10 percent. You?d probably gather the family around the kitchen table, review where the money goes each month and figure out what you can do without. No more ordering Chinese three times a week. Maybe you have to downsize to a mobile phone plan with fewer minutes. Belt tightening is always painful, but done carefully you can usually get back to a more or less normal life.

Now suppose there was a law that said ? instead of making careful, considered decisions ? you had to spend 10 percent less on every bill that comes in. If you pay the phone company only 90 percent of your bill, sooner or later they?ll shut off service. Try paying your landlord 90 percent of your rent and see how long before you get served with an eviction notice.

For that matter, try ordering just 90 percent of a new submarine for the Pentagon. It?s not like you can just lose the sunroof and skip the upgraded exterior trim package.

That?s what makes the process so disruptive ? even though the total cuts are relatively small.

This is insane. Why would anyone come up with a plan like that?

Because when it was written, the threat of a down-the-road disaster seemed like a better option than letting the U.S. Treasury default, an outcome that was just days away in July, 2011. To break that high-stakes deadlock, the sequester process was specifically (some say perversely) designed to create havoc with every single federal agency it applies to. The threat of the expected chaos, along with a six-month cooling off period, was supposed to bring Congress to its senses and usher in a more rational, orderly budget process before the chaos of sequester cuts took effect.

What kind of chaos are we talking about here?

Until we hit the March 1 deadline, it?s impossible to know for sure. Some agencies and departments, including the Pentagon, are already getting ready to furlough workers. Because they need to give 30 days? notice, those staff cutbacks aren?t expected to kick in until April 1.

By then, unless a new budget deal is in place, you could begin seeing the impact fairly quickly. With fewer TSA workers, travelers could see longer lines and delays in airport security checkpoint. Fewer FAA Air Traffic Controllers means fewer planes in the sky, which means ongoing flight delays or cancellations.

"It's going to be very painful for the flying public," warned Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood Friday.

Furloughed food inspectors could force some processors to shut down. The IRS has warned that your tax refund will be delayed if there are fewer workers to review and process your return. With fewer workers showing up at the FBI and Justice Department, criminal cases could take longer to investigate and prosecute.

Doctors would get paid less to see Medicare patients, and could have to wait longer to collect those fees. Households collecting federally-funded, extended unemployment benefits would get smaller checks. Farmers face cuts in crop subsidies.

No wonder they?re called ?across the board?cuts. Would any part of the government be spared?

Yes. Social Security checks and Medicare benefits to patients won?t be cut. (But some of the workers who process those checks could be furloughed, which would delay payments to recipients.) Programs for low-income households, including food stamps, Medicaid, children?s health benefits the earned income tax credit, would be exempt from cuts. Federal retiree and veterans? benefits would also be spared.

Military personnel are exempt, but the Pentagon has said some 750,000 civilian workers would face furloughs.

And for all the disruption, we?d get very little serious deficit reduction. That?s because these cuts apply largely to so-called ?discretionary? spending. The vast bulk of ?mandatory? Social Security and Medicare spending would be left untouched. Those are, by far, the biggest contributors to the federal deficit.

Won?t this hurt the economy?

It won?t help. Some jobs will be cut (the White House estimates about 750,000) which the economy can ill-afford with unemployment a 7.9 percent. But the roughly $85 billion in mandated cuts represents only about a half-percent of annual U.S. gross domestic product.

This is crazy. How did we get into this mess?

The federal deficit has been expanding for some time, through multiple administrations, but the 2007 recession and 2008 credit crash made the problem a lot worse. Social Security and Medicare ? largely off-limits to the sequester ? need to be reformed by raising more money, pare future benefits, or both.

The good news is that there are a number of credible proposals to fix these problems and plenty of time to get fiscal policy on track to help the economy continue to get back its feet.

Unfortunately, despite the sequester?s original goal of spurring Congress to act, there?s little evidence that lawmakers are any closer to getting to work on those big, broad solutions.

So if they do somehow come up with a deal March 1, are we through with all this nonsense?

Not necessarily. Because Congress hasn?t passed a formal budget in years, government spending is currently authorized only through late March. That creates yet another deadline for yet another disaster movie sequel. Unless yet another budget deal can been reached, look for "Continuing Resolution" to open in theaters Mar. 27.

And watch for the trailer on the next coming attraction, "Debt Ceiling Debacle II," due later this year.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/sequestration-just-latest-round-dc-fiscal-follies-1C8502787

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Monday, February 25, 2013

Last Call: Disrupt NY Startup Battlefield Apps Are Due Tonight

This is it! Today, Monday, February 25, is the very last day to submit applications to Disrupt NY's Startup Battlefield. They have to be submitted and completed by 11:59 PST tonight. Stop procrastinating and get those apps in.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wJT830RpeGE/

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Urijah Faber and Court McGee take UFC 157 wins

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Urijah Faber and Court McGee got back on the winning track at UFC 157 on Saturday.

Faber got a first-round submission win over Ivan Menjivar. Faber and Menjivar started the fight with a rolling takedown and Faber ended up on top. He worked the top position until Menjivar got back to his feet. Faber held on, and while attached to Menjivar's back, Faber swung around and sunk in a rear naked choke. Menjivar tapped at 4:34 in the first round. The Anaheim crowd erupted for "The California Kid."

It was an important win for Faber after he lost a title fight to Renan Barao in July. The win puts him at 27-6, with five of his losses coming in title fights.

[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]

In earlier action, Court McGee punched his way to a decision win over Josh Neer. McGee used an effective strategy early on of working Josh Neer's body. Throughout the first round, Neer was hobbled by McGee's body punches. But in the second, McGee worked more on headshots. Though it wasn't as effective, McGee outstruck Neer. In the final round, McGee worked the ground game and controlled Neer while still leading on strikes. All three judges saw it 30-27 for McGee.

It was McGee's first fight at welterweight.

?I felt great at 170 lbs. This was a great move for me. I felt stronger, faster and had a lot more gas. I was told by FightMetric that I broke the record for most significant strikes ever in a welterweight fight and feel great. I could have stopped it, maybe, early with body shots but I was glad I put on a good performance.?

After the win, McGee's record is 15-3. Though he won "The Ultimate Fighter," he also lost two fights in 2012.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/urijah-faber-court-mcgee-ufc-157-wins-042110004--mma.html

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Nokia strengthens basic range with 15 euro phone

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Nokia launched a 15-euro ($20) phone to shore up its position in the basic handset market, where it has lost share while it focused on developing expensive smartphones.

It also unveiled a 65-euro phone with some Internet access and lower-priced versions of its Lumia smartphones, filling the gaps in its product line-up between its high-end Lumia devices that run Microsoft software and mid-tier Asha feature phones.

The Finnish company hopes the new phones will increase sales in emerging markets and help it regain its once-solid footing at the cheaper end of the market, where it makes the bulk of its handset revenue. Sales of basic phones fell over 20 percent in 2012 to 9.4 billion euros.

"That is a key part of our approach to competition, particularly in a country like China," said Chief Executive Stephen Elop at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

"There's a very large number of inexpensive and largely undifferentiated devices. We believe we have to offer differentiation at each price point."

The entry-level Nokia 105, its lowest priced ever device with a color screen, was aimed at first-time buyers in markets such as South America, Africa, Russia and Asia-Pacific, he said.

The phone shows Nokia, once the undisputed leader in the mobile phone industry, trying to fend off growing competition at the low end from Asian rivals such as Huawei and ZTE.

IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo said it would probably be the cheapest phone available in the world from a major brand when it goes on sale later this quarter.

"The pressure is now on the Chinese vendors. Why will any consumer in the world buy a cheap Chinese phone when they can have the same price with better quality from a well known brand?" he said.

LOWER LUMIA ENTRY POINT

The Finnish phonemaker also lowered the entry point of its Lumia smartphones with a new model, the Lumia 520, priced at 139 euros ($180).

Most other Lumia phones cost over $200, and the top-of-the-range 920 can retail at over $600 without a carrier contract in the United States and some European markets.

The 920 model was launched last November and has won plaudits from industry analysts for features such as photography and mapping. Sales, however, have been dwarfed by devices from the likes of Samsung running Google's Android and Apple's iPhone.

Nokia's market share in smartphones has fallen to around 5 percent, while Apple and Samsung together control over half the market.

A new lower entry point for the Lumia 520 would enable Nokia to better compete with some mid-tier Android devices, analysts said.

Feature phones, in the middle market between high-end smartphones and cheaper basic phones, are seen increasingly crucial even though many consumers in developed markets are moving on to smartphones.

"In short, Nokia can still cash the feature phone market with around 5 percent margins even though it is shrinking," said Inderes analyst Mikael Rautanen.

IDC's Jeronimo said the new products, which included the Lumia 720 smartphone with the same camera lens as the 920, gave Nokia a comprehensive range, leaving little excuse for poor sales.

"If Nokia does not improve its market performance with these devices, then they will never do without a radical change in its portfolio strategy," he said.

(Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in Helsinki; editing by Anna Willard)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nokia-strengthens-basic-line-15-euro-phone-075417545--finance.html

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LG Has Acquired webOS From HP to Power Smart TVs

LG has just announced that it has acquired the much-troubled webOS from HP. But instead of using it to power smartphones or tablets, it's planning to roll out smart TVs which will make use of the OS. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/iKiuS4g2x7E/lg-has-acquired-webos-from-hp-to-power-smart-tvs

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TALKSPORT ? Video: Sports pictures taken at exactly the right moment ? Brendan Rodgers, Roberto Mancini and more

There is an art to sports photography, but sometimes you can just get plain lucky and snap a shot at exactly the right moment ? the kind of picture you can't plan, but turns out to be spectactularly entertaining. That's the motive behind this video ? part two of our series of sports pictures taken at exactly the right moment. This edition features an interesting facial expression from Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers, a funny bit of skill from Manchester City gaffer Roberto Mancini and many more sports pictures taken at the right moment. Enjoy!

A news article on 2013-02-24 07:04:00 from: Talksport

Read the full article here.

This news item has been reproduced from today?s media. It does not necessarily represent the opinion of Kop That.

Source: http://kopthat.co.uk/2013/02/talksport-video-sports-pictures-taken-at-exactly-the-right-moment-brendan-rodgers-roberto-mancini-and-more/

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Hogg Spot: MedicalDude | Medical News , Health News , Fitness ...

The Actual Worries And Issues Associated With Hair Loss

Posted: 24 Feb 2013 10:02 AM PST

Hair Loss Common in Women, Too The idea that thinning hair is a guy problem is simply wrong. Forty percent of people who experience temporary or long term hair loss are women. Some have hair that is thinning all over, while others see the center...