Sunday, March 31, 2013

New models predict drastically greener Arctic in coming decades

Mar. 31, 2013 ? New research predicts that rising temperatures will lead to a massive "greening," or increase in plant cover, in the Arctic. In a paper published on March 31 in Nature Climate Change, scientists reveal new models projecting that wooded areas in the Arctic could increase by as much as 50 percent over the next few decades. The researchers also show that this dramatic greening will accelerate climate warming at a rate greater than previously expected.

"Such widespread redistribution of Arctic vegetation would have impacts that reverberate through the global ecosystem," said Richard Pearson, lead author on the paper and a research scientist at the American Museum of Natural History's Center for Biodiversity and Conservation.

Plant growth in Arctic ecosystems has increased over the past few decades, a trend that coincides with increases in temperatures, which are rising at about twice the global rate. The research team -- which includes scientists from the Museum, AT&T Labs-Research, Woods Hole Research Center, Colgate University, Cornell University, and the University of York -- used climate scenarios for the 2050s to explore how this trend is likely to continue in the future. The scientists developed models that statistically predict the types of plants that could grow under certain temperatures and precipitation. Although it comes with some uncertainty, this type of modeling is a robust way to study the Arctic because the harsh climate limits the range of plants that can grow, making this system simpler to model compared to other regions such as the tropics.

The models reveal the potential for massive redistribution of vegetation across the Arctic under future climate, with about half of all vegetation switching to a different class and a massive increase in tree cover. What might this look like? In Siberia, for instance, trees could grow hundreds of miles north of the present tree line.

"These impacts would extend far beyond the Arctic region," Pearson said. "For example, some species of birds seasonally migrate from lower latitudes and rely on finding particular polar habitats, such as open space for ground-nesting."

In addition, the researchers investigated the multiple climate change feedbacks that greening would produce. They found that a phenomenon called the albedo effect, based on the reflectivity of Earth's surface, would have the greatest impact on the Arctic's climate. When the sun hits snow, most of the radiation is reflected back to space. But when it hits an area that's "dark," or covered in trees or shrubs, more sunlight is absorbed in the area and temperature increases. This has a positive feedback to climate warming: the more vegetation there is, the more warming will occur.

"By incorporating observed relationships between plants and albedo, we show that vegetation distribution shifts will result in an overall positive feedback to climate that is likely to cause greater warming than has previously been predicted," said co-author Scott Goetz, of the Woods Hole Research Center.

This work was funded by the National Science Foundation, grants IPY 0732948, IPY 0732954, and Expeditions 0832782. Other authors involved in this study include Steven Phillips (AT&T Labs-Research), Michael Loranty (Woods Hole Research Center and Colgate University), Pieter Beck (Woods Hole Research Center), Theodoros Damoulas (Cornell University), and Sarah Knight (American Museum of Natural History and University of York).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Museum of Natural History, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Richard G. Pearson, Steven J. Phillips, Michael M. Loranty, Pieter S. A. Beck, Theodoros Damoulas, Sarah J. Knight, Scott J. Goetz. Shifts in Arctic vegetation and associated feedbacks under climate change. Nature Climate Change, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nclimate1858

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/most_popular/~3/_-wyLznOOuE/130331165603.htm

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Therapy Coordinator position at Brookdale Senior Living Inc. in ...

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. is presently looking of Therapy Coordinator on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 12:30:42 GMT. Seeking a Full Time SLP-CCC/Therapy Coordinator for our upscale retirement community at Pacific Inn in Torrance! Innovative Senior Care/Brookdale Senior Living uses therapy and wellness techniques to provide lifestyle enhancements to residents of senior living communities. Our services enable residents to live better by helping them to be safer, healthier, more mobile and more vibrant at any age...

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Source: http://torrancejoblist.blogspot.com/2013/03/therapy-coordinator-position-at.html

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Marketing studies help craft health overhaul pitch

WASHINGTON (AP) -- How do you convince millions of average Americans that one of the most complex and controversial programs devised by government may actually be a good deal for them?

With the nation still split over President Barack Obama's health care law, the administration has turned to the science of mass marketing for help in understanding the lives of uninsured people, hoping to craft winning pitches for a surprisingly varied group in society.

The law's supporters will have to make the sale in the run-up to an election ? the 2014 midterms. Already Republicans are hoping for an "Obamacare" flop that helps them gain control of the Senate, while Democrats are eager for the public to finally embrace the Affordable Care Act, bringing political deliverance.

It turns out America's more than 48 million uninsured people are no monolithic mass. A marketing analysis posted online by the federal Health and Human Services Department reveals six distinct groups, three of which appear critical to the success or failure of the program.

They're the "Healthy & Young," comprising 48 percent of the uninsured, the "Sick, Active & Worried," (29 percent of the uninsured), and the "Passive & Unengaged" (15 percent).

The Healthy & Young take good health for granted, are tech-savvy, and have "low motivation to enroll." The Sick, Active & Worried are mostly Generation X and baby boomers, active seekers of health care information and worried about costs. The Passive & Unengaged group is mostly 49 and older, "lives for today," and doesn't understand much about health insurance.

The challenge for the administration is obvious: signing up lots of the Healthy & Young, as well as the Passive & Unengaged, to offset the higher costs of covering the sick and worried.

Uninsured middle-class Americans will be able to sign up for subsidized private health plans through new insurance markets in their states starting Oct.1. Low-income uninsured people will be steered to safety net programs like Medicaid.

"The goal here is to get as many people enrolled as possible," Gary Cohen, the HHS official overseeing the rollout of the law, told insurers at a recent industry conference. Partly for that reason the first open enrollment period will continue until March 31, 2014.

Coverage under the law takes effect Jan. 1. That's also when the legal requirement that most Americans carry health insurance goes into force. Insurance companies will be barred from turning the sick away or charging them more.

The new law is mainly geared to the uninsured and to people who buy coverage directly from insurance companies. Most Americans in employer plans are not expected to see major changes.

Administration officials say they see an opportunity to change the national debate about health care. They want to get away from shouting matches about the role of government and start millions of practical conversations about new benefits that can help families and individuals.

The HHS marketing materials reveal some barriers to getting the uninsured to embrace the law.

The Healthy & Young lead busy lives and tend to be procrastinators. Plus, why would they need health insurance if they're full of vigor? The Passive & Unengaged fear the unknown and have difficulty navigating the health care system. The Sick, Active & Worried dread making wrong decisions.

Marketing for the new system will start this summer, going into high gear during the fall after premiums and other plan information becomes public.

There's already widespread concern that the new coverage costs too much, because of a combination of sicker people joining the pool and federal requirements that insurers offer more robust benefits. A recent study by the Society of Actuaries forecast sticker shock, estimating that insurers will have to pay an average of 32 percent more for medical claims on individual health policies.

The administration says such studies are misleading because they don't take into account parts of the law that offset costs to individuals and insurance companies, along with other provisions that promote competition and increase oversight of insurance rates.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who has long supported coverage for the uninsured, is predicting vindication for Obama once people see how the program really works.

"It's harder to sell what is a pretty new idea for Americans while it is still in the abstract," said Schakowsky, who represents Chicago. "I think as people experience it, they're going to love it, much like Medicare."

That will put wind in the sails of Democratic candidates. "I think it's going to be a very popular feature as far as the American way of life before too long," Schakowsky added.

But Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky says Democrats have been predicting for years that Americans would learn to love the health care overhaul and that has not happened. McConnell had his picture taken next to a 7-foot stack of "Obamacare" regulations recently to underscore his disdain.

"I agree that it will be a big issue in 2014," said McConnell. "I think it will be an albatross around the neck of every Democrat who voted for it. They are going to be running away from it, not toward it."

___

Online:

HHS marketing study ? http://tinyurl.com/aycgowc

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/marketing-studies-help-craft-health-132323410.html

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Saturday, March 30, 2013

NKorea orders rocket prep after US B-2 drill

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned Friday that his rocket forces were ready "to settle accounts with the U.S.," unleashing a new round of bellicose rhetoric after U.S. nuclear-capable B-2 bombers dropped dummy munitions in joint military drills with South Korea.

Kim's warning, and the litany of threats that have preceded it, don't indicate an imminent war. In fact, they're most likely meant to coerce South Korea into softening its policies, win direct talks and aid from Washington, and strengthen the young leader's credentials and image at home.

But the threats from North Korea and rising animosity from the rivals that have followed U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's Feb. 12 nuclear test do raise worries of a misjudgment leading to a clash.

Kim "convened an urgent operation meeting" of senior generals just after midnight, signed a rocket preparation plan and ordered his forces on standby to strike the U.S. mainland, South Korea, Guam and Hawaii, state media reported.

Kim said "the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation," according to a report by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.

Later Friday at the main square in Pyongyang, tens of thousands of North Koreans turned out for a 90-minute mass rally in support of Kim's call to arms. Men and women, many of them in olive drab uniforms, stood in arrow-straight lines, fists raised as they chanted, "Death to the U.S. imperialists." Placards in the plaza bore harsh words for South Korea as well, including, "Let's rip the puppet traitors to death!"

Small North Korean warships, including patrol boats, conducted maritime drills off both coasts of North Korea near the border with South Korea on Thursday, South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said in a briefing Friday. He didn't provide more details.

The spokesman said that South Korea's military was mindful of the possibility that North Korean drills could lead to an actual provocation. He also said that the South Korean and U.S. militaries are watching closely for any signs of missile launch preparations in North Korea. He didn't elaborate.

North Korea, which says it considers the U.S.-South Korean military drills preparations for invasion, has pumped out a string of threats in state media. In the most dramatic case, Pyongyang made the highly improbable vow to nuke the United States.

On Friday, state media released a photo of Kim and his senior generals huddled in front of a map showing routes for envisioned strikes against cities on both American coasts. The map bore the title "U.S. Mainland Strike Plan."

Portions of the photo appeared to be manipulated, though an intriguing detail ? a bandage on Kim's left arm ? appeared to be real.

Experts believe the country is years away from developing nuclear-tipped missiles that could strike the United States. Many say they've also seen no evidence that Pyongyang has long-range missiles that can hit the U.S. mainland.

Still, there are fears of a localized conflict, such as a naval skirmish in disputed Yellow Sea waters. Such naval clashes have happened three times since 1999. There's also the danger that such a clash could escalate. Seoul has vowed to hit back hard the next time it is attacked.

North Korea's threats are also worrisome because of its arsenal of short- and mid-range missiles that can hit targets in South Korea and Japan. Seoul is only a short drive from the heavily armed border separating the Koreas.

"The North can fire 500,000 rounds of artillery on Seoul in the first hour of a conflict," analysts Victor Cha and David Kang wrote recently for Foreign Policy magazine. They also note that North Korea has a history of testing new South Korean leaders; President Park Geun-hye took office late last month. "Since 1992, the North has welcomed these five new leaders by disturbing the peace," they wrote.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told reporters Thursday that the decision to send B-2 bombers to join the military drills was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke North Korea. Hagel acknowledged, however, that North Korea's belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region, "and we have to understand that reality."

U.S. Forces Korea said the B-2 stealth bombers flew from a U.S. air base in Missouri and dropped dummy munitions on an uninhabited South Korean island range on Thursday before returning home. The Pentagon said this was the first time a B-2 had dropped dummy munitions over South Korea, and later added that it was unclear whether there had ever been any B-2 flights there at all.

The statement follows an earlier U.S. announcement that nuclear-capable B-52 bombers participated in the joint military drills.

Pyongyang uses the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a justification for its own push for nuclear weapons. It claims that U.S. nuclear firepower is a threat to its existence and provocation.

The two Missouri-based stealth bombers used in the South Korean drills probably weren't nuclear-armed, but experts say they're the aircraft that would likely be sent if Washington ever decides it does want to drop nuclear bombs on North Korea. The United States doesn't forward-deploy nuclear weapons in South Korea, Okinawa, Guam or Hawaii.

"The B-2 can reach targets from North Korea to Iran directly from Missouri, which is what the United States did in the early stages of operations against Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq," analyst Jeffrey Lewis wrote in a post on ArmsControlWonk.com earlier this month.

___

AP writers Jon Chol Jin in Pyongyang, North Korea, Sam Kim in Seoul and Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nkorea-orders-rocket-prep-us-b-2-drill-000429063.html

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Florida wins 62-50 to end FGCU's NCAA run

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) ? SEC champion Florida is going to its third straight NCAA regional final, while the improbable tournament journey for Florida Gulf Coast is over.

The Eagles, the No. 15 seed few people even knew of on Selection Sunday, had their season ended just before midnight Friday with a 62-50 loss to one of the big schools from Florida.

The high-flying team from "Dunk City" jumped out to an early 11-point lead. But the No. 3 seed Gators (29-7) and their roster filled with NCAA tourney experience were just too strong and too good. FGCU matched its season low for points.

Michael Frazier made a pair of 3-pointers from the left side, in front of the Gulf Coast bench, to start a 16-0 run late in the first half. Those were Frazier's only baskets of the game, but they came during a 4?-minute span when the Eagles (26-11) suddenly couldn't even get off a shot. They missed their only field goal attempt while turning the ball over four times in that span.

That slump finally ended when Sherwood Brown, their dreadlocked senior showman, made a layup in the final minute to get Florida Gulf Coast back within 30-26 by halftime.

But FGCU players walked down the steps off the raised court at Cowboys Stadium at the break with their heads down ? much different than the team that looked so loose and ready for a good time after an early 11-0 run ? similar to extended spurts they had in upsetting No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State.

The Gators play Michigan in the South Regional final at Cowboys Stadium on Sunday. They are trying to get to their first NCAA Final Four since consecutive national championships in 2006 and 2007.

Michigan overcame a 14-point deficit earlier Friday and beat No. 1 seed Kansas 87-85 in overtime.

After the Gators turned up the defensive pressure, the most fun team this side of the Harlem Globetrotters was suddenly having a lot fewer laughs. Those high-flying dunks and alley-oops weren't there and Florida forced 20 turnovers.

FGCU heads back to Fort Myers (aka Dunk City), where they have man-made lakes and a beach on campus, having given the tournament a blast of fresh air while its players were just having a blast. The south Florida state school also got about the best free publicity its administrators could ever hope for.

Mike Rosario led the Gators with 15 points, while Scottie Wilbekin had 13 and Casey Prather 11.

Brown led FGCU with 14 points, and Chase Fieler had 12.

Fieler started the Eagles' big run, the only one they'd have, with a 3-pointer from the top of the key before the kind of plays that earned their "Dunk City" moniker.

After Brett Comer stole a pass, he ran down the court and threw up an alley-oop pass for the trailing Brown, delivering a slam that sent the announced crowd of more than 40,000 into a frenzy ? except for those in Gator orange.

Comer then flipped another backward pass to Bernard Thompson for a 3-pointer. Then Fielder had another 3-pointer ? less than 3 minutes after the first one ? for a 15-4 lead only six minutes into the game.

Could the first No. 15 seed to make it into the round of 16 actually go further?

Not against Florida, the team that had been here so many times before. The FGCU run came too early, leaving the Gators plenty of time to recover.

After Frazier's second 3, Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield ? the gap-toothed coach married to a former model ? was angry when he called timeout and gathered his team together. The timeout and another attempted lob pass inside didn't stop the Gators surge.

Rosario knocked away the pass inside to Eric McKnight, sending the break the other way. Casey Prather grabbed an offensive rebound, and with his back to the basket, basically flipped the ball over his head and it went in.

McKnight missed two free throws after that, and Wilbekin penetrated for a short jumper to tie the game at 24. Rosario hit a go-ahead 3-pointer after a steal by Will Yeguete.

Eddie Murray had a steal for Florida Gulf Coast, but Patric Young took it right back and got it to Boynton. He made the layup while being fouled, and added the free throw for a 30-24 lead.

The Eagles has 12 turnovers in the first half ? one less than they had in each of their first two NCAA tourney games. They took twice as many shots (32-16) as Florida, but that wasn't enough.

There was still 10 minutes left on the halftime clock when FGCU returned to the court, and players started taking shots even as their mascot was on the court doing a halftime routine.

But Florida scored the first seven points of the second half. Boynton drove for a layup and was fouled before making the free throw. Rosario then drove for a shot off the glass and after another FGCU turnover had a floater that rattled in before Enfield called timeout with his team suddenly down 37-26.

But they never threatened and soon their NCAA run was over.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/florida-wins-62-50-end-fgcus-ncaa-run-045717588--spt.html

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Three dozen indicted in Atlanta cheating scandal

ATLANTA (AP) ? Juwanna Guffie was sitting in her fifth-grade classroom taking a standardized test when, authorities say, the teacher came around offering information and asking the students to rewrite their answers. Juwanna rejected the help.

"I don't want your answers, I want to take my own test," Juwanna told her teacher, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.

On Friday, Juwanna ? now 14 ? watched as Fulton County prosecutors announced that a grand jury had indicted the Atlanta Public Schools' ex-superintendent and nearly three dozen other former administrators, teachers, principals and other educators of charges arising from a standardized test cheating scandal that rocked the system.

Former Superintendent Beverly Hall faces charges including conspiracy, making false statements and theft because prosecutors said some of the bonuses she received were tied to falsified scores. Hall retired just days before the findings of a state probe were released in mid-2011. A nationally known educator who was named Superintendent of the Year in 2009, Hall has long denied knowing about the cheating or ordering it.

During a news conference Friday, Howard highlighted the case of Juwanna and another student, saying they demonstrated "the plight of many children" in the Atlanta school system.

Their stories were among many that investigators heard in hundreds of interviews with school administrators, staff, parents and students during a 21-month-long investigation.

According to Howard, Juwanna said that when she declined her teacher's offer, the teacher responded that she was just trying to help her students. Her class ended up getting some of the highest scores in the school and won a trophy for their work. Juwanna felt guilty but didn't tell anyone about her class' cheating because she was afraid of retaliation and feared her teacher would lose her job.

She eventually told her sister and later told the district attorney's investigators. Still confident in her ability to take a test on her own, Juwanna got the highest reading score on a standardized test this year.

The other student cited by Howard was a third-grader who failed a benchmark exam and received the worst score in her reading class in 2006. The girl was held back, yet when she took a separate assessment test not long afterward, she passed with flying colors.

Howard said the girl's mother, Justina Collins, knew something was wrong, but was told by school officials that the child simply was a good test-taker. The girl is now in ninth grade, reading at a fifth-grade level.

"I have a 15-year-old now who is behind in achieving her goal of becoming what she wants to be when she graduates. It's been hard trying to help her catch up," Collins said at the news conference.

The allegations date back to 2005. In addition to Hall, 34 other former school system employees were indicted. Four were high-level administrators, six were principals, two were assistant principals, six were testing coordinators and 14 were teachers. A school improvement specialist and a school secretary were also indicted.

Howard didn't directly answer a question about whether prosecutors believe Hall led the conspiracy.

"What we're saying is, is that without her, this conspiracy could not have taken place, particularly in the degree that it took place. Because as we know, this took place in 58 of the Atlanta Public Schools. And it would not have taken place if her actions had not made that possible," the prosecutor said.

Richard Deane, an attorney for Hall, told The New York Times that Hall continues to deny the charges and expects to be vindicated. Deane said the defense was making arrangements for bond.

"We note that as far as has been disclosed, despite the thousands of interviews that were reportedly done by the governor's investigators and others, not a single person reported that Dr. Hall participated in or directed them to cheat on the C.R.C.T.," he said later in a statement provided to the Times.

The tests were the key measure the state used to determine whether it met the federal No Child Left Behind law. Schools with good test scores get extra federal dollars to spend in the classroom or on teacher bonuses.

It wasn't immediately clear how much bonus money Hall received. Howard did not say and the amount wasn't mentioned in the indictment.

"Those results were caused by cheating. ... And the money that she received, we are alleging that money was ill-gotten," Howard said.

A 2011 state investigation found cheating by nearly 180 educators in 44 Atlanta schools. Educators gave answers to students or changed answers on tests after they were turned in, investigators said. Teachers who tried to report it faced retaliation, creating a culture of "fear and intimidation," the investigation found.

State schools Superintendent John Barge said last year he believed the state's new accountability system would remove the pressure to cheat on standardized tests because it won't be the sole way the state determines student growth. The pressure was part of what some educators in the system blamed for their cheating.

A former top official in the New York City school system who later headed the Newark, N.J. system for three years, Hall served as Atlanta's superintendent for more than a decade, which is rare for an urban schools chief. She was named Superintendent of the Year by the American Association of School Administrators in 2009 and credited with raising student test scores and graduation rates, particularly among the district's poor and minority students. But the award quickly lost its luster as her district became mired in the scandal.

In a video message to schools staff before she retired in the summer of 2011, Hall warned that the state investigation launched by former Gov. Sonny Perdue would likely reveal "alarming" behavior.

"It's become increasingly clear that a segment of our staff chose to violate the trust that was placed in them," Hall said. "There is simply no excuse for unethical behavior and no room in this district for unethical conduct. I am confident that aggressive, swift action will be taken against anyone who believed so little in our students and in our system of support that they turned to dishonesty as the only option."

The cheating came to light after The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that some scores were statistically improbable.

Most of the 178 educators named in the special investigators' report in 2011 resigned, retired, did not have their contracts renewed or appealed their dismissals and lost. Twenty-one educators have been reinstated and three await hearings to appeal their dismissals, said Atlanta Public Schools spokesman Stephen Alford.

APS Superintendent Erroll Davis said the district, which has about 50,000 students, is now focused on nurturing an ethical environment, providing quality education and supporting the employees who were not implicated.

"I know that our children will succeed when the adults around them work hard, work together, and do so with integrity," he said in a statement.

The Georgia Professional Standards Commission is responsible for licensing teachers and has been going through the complaints against teachers, said commission executive secretary Kelly Henson. Of the 159 cases the commission has reviewed, 44 resulted in license revocations, 100 got two-year suspensions and nine were suspended for less than two years, Henson said. No action was taken against six of the educators.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/3-dozen-indicted-atlanta-cheating-scandal-214241949.html

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Why the Obama Administration?s Novel Medicaid Idea Might Not Catch On

A few weeks ago, the Obama administration set out to entice Republican governors and state legislators to expand their Medicaid programs under the federal health reform law by floating a novel approach.

The option to use private health plans instead of the government program for low-income residents was very appealing in theory, intriguing politicians in Arkansas, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, and other states.

But on Friday, the administration dampened that enthusiasm by laying out strict rules for the program that will interest only a few states.

?This does not make it look very appealing to states,? said Dennis Smith, a managing director at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, and a former George W. Bush administration Medicaid director and Health and Human Services secretary in Wisconsin. ?I?m disappointed that they passed up the opportunity.?

The details will reassure many Medicaid advocates, who were worried that the current administration would weaken long-standing protections of the entitlement program in exchange for Republican buy-in. But the rules also could discourage some on-the-fence states from pursuing a Medicaid expansion at all, leaving more Americans without health insurance after the health law?s biggest provisions kick in next year.

?There?s a multisided dynamic here,? said Matt Salo, the executive director of the Association of Medicaid Directors, who had anticipated that the new initiative could bring 10 or more additional states into the expansion. Now, he says, it will likely appeal to only a few.

Eight Republican governors have already said they will seek to expand their existing Medicaid programs, but many politicians who had ruled out such an option have been expressing interest in the private alternative.

The tension for the administration?between its desire to cover more people and its commitment to ensuring robust coverage for vulnerable populations?has been clear since Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, a Democrat, first announced that he had reached an agreement over a private Medicaid option in late February. HHS still has?not acknowledged any agreement, but Beebe told reporters that Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had agreed that the federal government would pay for Medicaid beneficiaries to buy the same private insurance plans that will be offered to higher-income residents.

For Republicans in the Arkansas Legislature?and politicians in many other states?the idea of offering private coverage instead of Medicaid was exciting. But there were many uncertainties in the plan. The private plans would have covered fewer benefits than Medicaid, and exposed beneficiaries to more out-of-pocket costs. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that, on average, the private plans would cost 50 percent more than Medicaid plans, meaning a 10-year price tag in the tens of billions if enough states signed on.

With the document released Friday, HHS explained that it would only approve such a plan if it also included funding for the extra benefits, kept the usual, low Medicaid copayments, and could be shown to be cost-effective for the federal government, when compared to a traditional program. It also said that if states want to require private plans, instead of just offering them as an option, it will have to apply for a special waiver. That sets a high bar for the states to clear.

But Arkansas thinks it can still move forward. ?It is what we expected, and we?re glad to see it,? said Amy Webb, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Human Services.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/why-obama-administration-novel-medicaid-idea-might-not-170918182--politics.html

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Vuemix Lets Serious Video Junkies Stream Multiple ... - AppCraver

Vuemix for iPhone and iPadVuemix?is a video browsing app that allows you to stream up to nine videos ? many from top tier TV channels ? on your iPad simultaneously in order for you to pick the one you want to finally select.

Even better, Vuemix, through some magical algorithm, allows you to do all of this while not upping your Internet usage too much. Just how does it do this? The cloud. Yes, this is one of the benefits that companies are enjoying with the often touted cloud. Behind the scenes, the company takes those nine channels, mixes them into one video stream and sends it directly to you with your nine videos. Very handy.

How does it work? Beautifully. I was skeptical, but low and behold, you actually get a smooth stream of all videos as if they were all powered with their own Internet connection. But do you need access to all nine at once? Yes.?

Think of it this way ... back in the day, my college roommate and I had two television sets going at once to ensure we could watch the game of the week as well as anything else we felt like.?Fast forward and now my home living room has a TV, a few tablets and iPhones. With all of these, I still have to barter with my kids and wife for TV screen time so selection is not always an option in my front room.?However, with Vuemix, I can check in on nine channels on my iPad, see what catches my attention and select one from there. I can pick from different categories such as Comedy, Entertainment, Sports, and more.

And these aren't just random shows from some amateur's basement, in fact, you get news from the big guns such as NBC and CNN. There are plenty of options from Discovery, TMZ.com and the Biography channel as well. I have to admit, it's a great way to consume video from the interwebs.

Overall, the?Vuemix?video browser app for iPad and iPhone is a very useful service. Packed with all the latest videos available on the Internet, simple search functions and of course the nine streaming videos all at once, this app is a must try for anyone who loves watching videos.

Vuemix Video Demo on YouTube

Source: http://www.appcraver.com/vuemix-video-browser/

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Biological transistor enables computing within living cells

Mar. 28, 2013 ? When Charles Babbage prototyped the first computing machine in the 19th century, he imagined using mechanical gears and latches to control information. ENIAC, the first modern computer developed in the 1940s, used vacuum tubes and electricity. Today, computers use transistors made from highly engineered semiconducting materials to carry out their logical operations.

And now a team of Stanford University bioengineers has taken computing beyond mechanics and electronics into the living realm of biology. In a paper to be published March 28 in Science, the team details a biological transistor made from genetic material -- DNA and RNA -- in place of gears or electrons. The team calls its biological transistor the "transcriptor."

"Transcriptors are the key component behind amplifying genetic logic -- akin to the transistor and electronics," said Jerome Bonnet, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar in bioengineering and the paper's lead author.

The creation of the transcriptor allows engineers to compute inside living cells to record, for instance, when cells have been exposed to certain external stimuli or environmental factors, or even to turn on and off cell reproduction as needed.

"Biological computers can be used to study and reprogram living systems, monitor environments and improve cellular therapeutics," said Drew Endy, PhD, assistant professor of bioengineering and the paper's senior author.

The biological computer

In electronics, a transistor controls the flow of electrons along a circuit. Similarly, in biologics, a transcriptor controls the flow of a specific protein, RNA polymerase, as it travels along a strand of DNA.

"We have repurposed a group of natural proteins, called integrases, to realize digital control over the flow of RNA polymerase along DNA, which in turn allowed us to engineer amplifying genetic logic," said Endy.

Using transcriptors, the team has created what are known in electrical engineering as logic gates that can derive true-false answers to virtually any biochemical question that might be posed within a cell.

They refer to their transcriptor-based logic gates as "Boolean Integrase Logic," or "BIL gates" for short.

Transcriptor-based gates alone do not constitute a computer, but they are the third and final component of a biological computer that could operate within individual living cells.

Despite their outward differences, all modern computers, from ENIAC to Apple, share three basic functions: storing, transmitting and performing logical operations on information.

Last year, Endy and his team made news in delivering the other two core components of a fully functional genetic computer. The first was a type of rewritable digital data storage within DNA. They also developed a mechanism for transmitting genetic information from cell to cell, a sort of biological Internet.

It all adds up to creating a computer inside a living cell.

Boole's gold

Digital logic is often referred to as "Boolean logic," after George Boole, the mathematician who proposed the system in 1854. Today, Boolean logic typically takes the form of 1s and 0s within a computer. Answer true, gate open; answer false, gate closed. Open. Closed. On. Off. 1. 0. It's that basic. But it turns out that with just these simple tools and ways of thinking you can accomplish quite a lot.

"AND" and "OR" are just two of the most basic Boolean logic gates. An "AND" gate, for instance, is "true" when both of its inputs are true -- when "a" and "b" are true. An "OR" gate, on the other hand, is true when either or both of its inputs are true.

In a biological setting, the possibilities for logic are as limitless as in electronics, Bonnet explained. "You could test whether a given cell had been exposed to any number of external stimuli -- the presence of glucose and caffeine, for instance. BIL gates would allow you to make that determination and to store that information so you could easily identify those which had been exposed and which had not," he said.

By the same token, you could tell the cell to start or stop reproducing if certain factors were present. And, by coupling BIL gates with the team's biological Internet, it is possible to communicate genetic information from cell to cell to orchestrate the behavior of a group of cells.

"The potential applications are limited only by the imagination of the researcher," said co-author Monica Ortiz, a PhD candidate in bioengineering who demonstrated autonomous cell-to-cell communication of DNA encoding various BIL gates.

Building a transcriptor

To create transcriptors and logic gates, the team used carefully calibrated combinations of enzymes -- the integrases mentioned earlier -- that control the flow of RNA polymerase along strands of DNA. If this were electronics, DNA is the wire and RNA polymerase is the electron.

"The choice of enzymes is important," Bonnet said. "We have been careful to select enzymes that function in bacteria, fungi, plants and animals, so that bio-computers can be engineered within a variety of organisms."

On the technical side, the transcriptor achieves a key similarity between the biological transistor and its semiconducting cousin: signal amplification.

With transcriptors, a very small change in the expression of an integrase can create a very large change in the expression of any two other genes.

To understand the importance of amplification, consider that the transistor was first conceived as a way to replace expensive, inefficient and unreliable vacuum tubes in the amplification of telephone signals for transcontinental phone calls. Electrical signals traveling along wires get weaker the farther they travel, but if you put an amplifier every so often along the way, you can relay the signal across a great distance. The same would hold in biological systems as signals get transmitted among a group of cells.

"It is a concept similar to transistor radios," said Pakpoom Subsoontorn, a PhD candidate in bioengineering and co-author of the study who developed theoretical models to predict the behavior of BIL gates. "Relatively weak radio waves traveling through the air can get amplified into sound."

Public-domain biotechnology

To bring the age of the biological computer to a much speedier reality, Endy and his team have contributed all of BIL gates to the public domain so that others can immediately harness and improve upon the tools.

"Most of biotechnology has not yet been imagined, let alone made true. By freely sharing important basic tools everyone can work better together," Bonnet said.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Stanford University Medical Center. The original article was written by Andrew Myers.

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


Journal Reference:

  1. Jerome Bonnet, Peter Yin, Monica E. Ortiz, Pakpoom Subsoontorn, and Drew Endy. Amplifying Genetic Logic Gates. Science, 28 March 2013 DOI: 10.1126/science.1232758

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/ED1fLVQ-WsM/130328142400.htm

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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Ex-CIA chief aided WWII hero's Arlington burial

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ? When Dr. Rene Joyeuse's request for burial at Arlington National Cemetery was rejected, the family of the decorated Swiss-born World War II spy launched a campaign to get the decision reversed. Months later, Joyeuse is getting his wish, thanks in part to the involvement of the nation's top covert operators, including CIA Director David Petraeus.

Before resigning amid a sex scandal last November, Petraeus played a key role in convincing Pentagon officials that Joyeuse, a retired doctor from upstate New York, deserved to lie in rest among some of America's greatest military heroes, people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.

"It got attention at the highest levels, very high up. That's how important he (Joyeuse) was," said Charles Pinck, president of the OSS Society, whose membership includes a dwindling number of veterans of the Office of Strategic Services, the nation's World War II intelligence agency and forerunner of the CIA.

Petraeus, Pinck added, "took a lead role to get this approved."

A memorial service and inurnment of Joyeuse's cremated remains will be held Friday afternoon at Arlington. It will be a final tribute for a warrior spy-turned-surgeon who spent his post-war years pioneering heart research and emergency trauma care from New York to Hawaii.

"We're finally putting him somewhere he belongs," said Marc Joyeuse, the veteran's oldest of two sons. "Being a soldier, that's where he wanted to be."

It almost didn't happen. After Joyeuse died in June at 92 in Saranac Lake, N.Y., his family's request for his inurnment at Arlington was rejected because he hadn't served in the U.S. military. According to military records, Joyeuse worked for the OSS but was officially a member of the Free French Forces, enlisting after France's surrender to Germany in 1940.

Marc, his brother, Remi, and their mother, Suzanne, started an effort to have the decision reversed by the Department of the Army, which runs Arlington. They contacted Patrick K. O'Donnell, a military historian who had interviewed Joyeuse a decade earlier for a book on World War II espionage.

O'Donnell had met Petraeus several years earlier at a Wounded Warriors event when the four-star Army general was commanding American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Two weeks after Joyeuse's death, O'Donnell emailed Petraeus, describing the family's quest and the veteran's wartime heroics.

The exploits are straight out of a Hollywood movie: nighttime parachute drops behind enemy lines before the D-Day invasion in France, shootouts with SS troops, dodging Nazi collaborators, helping hundreds of downed American airmen elude capture. His actions earned him the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second-highest military honor, pinned on him by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme command of Allied forces in Europe.

"Someone once said the ideal OSS candidate was a Ph.D. who could handle himself in a bar fight," said Pinck, a private-sector security consultant whose father was an OSS agent. "I think Rene Joyeuse typified that."

Petraeus' emailed responses to O'Donnell in late June, copies of which the author shared with the AP, show the CIA director was "checking into it." On July 20, Petraeus wrote a letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh, highlighting Joyeuse's accomplishments and supporting his family's request for a review of Arlington's decision.

At the bottom of the letter, a copy of which was also provided to the AP, Petraeus wrote: "The situation seems very unique and the rationale quite exceptional. It would mean a great deal to the agency family and its forerunner, the OSS. Many thanks ? Dave."

Other military members and intelligence operatives wrote letters in support of Joyeuse, including Adm. William McRaven, commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command. McRaven's letter referred to Joyeuse, who became a U.S. citizen in 1975, as "a true American patriot."

Asked whether the Petraeus and McRaven letters helped the family's cause, Maj. Chris Kasker, a spokesman for McHugh, responded in an email: "The letters were certainly appreciated and a testimony to the extraordinary contributions of Dr. Joyeuse to the United States military. But exceptions to policy are based on a variety of factors that look at the totality of one's service. Because of this, they are extremely rare."

On Nov. 9, a letter from the executive director of the Army National Military Cemeteries to Suzanne Joyeuse notified her that the family's request for burial at Arlington had been approved. It was the same day Petraeus resigned as director of CIA, acknowledging an extramarital affair with his biographer.

Messages left with Robert B. Barnett, Petraeus' lawyer, weren't returned.

While it might seem unusual for a CIA director to take interest in a veteran's burial dispute, in Joyeuse's case, Petraeus was paying homage to a fellow soldier-spy, said O'Donnell, whose latest book, "Dog Company," tells the story of U.S. Army Rangers in World War II.

"He is a soldier's soldier," O'Donnell said. "That was his motivation."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ex-cia-chief-aided-wwii-heros-arlington-burial-063033814.html

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What If Buying Hard Cider Was Like Buying an Apple Product

Somersby Cider in the UK created a cheeky commercial that pokes fun of Apple product launches by imagining a world where buying hard cider is like getting a new iPhone. The Genius Bar would be a real bar and workers would talk about how many cores inside the apple, how many pits and how to use the "in to face" and dock the glass of hard cider. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/GZg0wZpP4L8/what-if-buying-hard-cider-was-like-buying-an-apple-product

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UCSB summit draws key leaders to discuss innovations in energy efficiency science and technology

UCSB summit draws key leaders to discuss innovations in energy efficiency science and technology [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Mikaela Mennen
mikaela@iee.ucsb.edu
805-893-5496
University of California - Santa Barbara

The 2013 Summit on Energy Efficiency will bring together leading experts to discuss the latest innovations in materials science and technology for energy generation, energy storage, lighting, and electronics

Leaders in research, entrepreneurs, and key policymakers from industry, academia, and government will convene at the 2013 Summit on Energy Efficiency, May 1 2. Hosted by UC Santa Barbara's Institute for Energy Efficiency, the Summit provides a forum for a critical dialogue about how advancements in materials science and technology can meet future energy needs through efficiency improvements.

"We are all aware of the energy crisis that we as a society are facing. The goal of the Summit is to gather experts and policy leaders, discuss the latest science and technology for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and to stimulate everyone to think in new ways," said Dr. John Bowers, Director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency.

This year's summit, held at The Fess Parker Resort in Santa Barbara, has attracted high-profile panelists who are leading major research and development efforts in energy efficiency and materials science. Space is limited and early registration rates end on April 5th. Registration is available online at iee.ucsb.edu/summit2013.

This year's Summit program emphasizes the theme of "Materials for a Sustainable Energy Future," featuring an opening keynote on materials science innovations by Steven Chu, outgoing U.S. Secretary of Energy. Featured keynote speakers also include: Michael McQuade of United Technologies Corporation; George Crabtree, Director of the newly established DOE Battery Hub at Argonne National Laboratory; and Kateri Callahan President of the Alliance to Save Energy.

Guest panelists from Soraa, Cree, Intel, Ciena, Pellion Technologies, Southern California Edison, PG&E, U.S. Department of Energy, Ames Research Laboratory, MIT, Yale, and UC Santa Barbara will lead discussions on the following topics: Materials for Energy Technology; Innovations in Solid-State Lighting; Information and Communications Technology; Electrochemical Energy Storage Technology; Utilities discussion on Energy Efficiency; High Efficiency Power Electronics

"We want to be in an environment where government subsidies are not needed; where energy efficiency is purely driven by technology, and that's why events like this are very important," commented Ramamoorthy Ramesh, former Director of the DOE SunShot Initiative at the 2011 Summit.

###

About the Institute for Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara's Institute for Energy Efficiency is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the development of cutting-edge science and technologies that support an efficient and sustainable energy future. The Institute's research activities leverage the considerable expertise of U.C. Santa Barbara's highly acclaimed faculty, scientists, engineers and researchers. By fostering collaborations, sponsoring research, and expediting the commercialization of new technologies, the Institute is a key driver of significant advances in energy efficiency. Learn more at iee.ucsb.edu.


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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.


UCSB summit draws key leaders to discuss innovations in energy efficiency science and technology [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 27-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Mikaela Mennen
mikaela@iee.ucsb.edu
805-893-5496
University of California - Santa Barbara

The 2013 Summit on Energy Efficiency will bring together leading experts to discuss the latest innovations in materials science and technology for energy generation, energy storage, lighting, and electronics

Leaders in research, entrepreneurs, and key policymakers from industry, academia, and government will convene at the 2013 Summit on Energy Efficiency, May 1 2. Hosted by UC Santa Barbara's Institute for Energy Efficiency, the Summit provides a forum for a critical dialogue about how advancements in materials science and technology can meet future energy needs through efficiency improvements.

"We are all aware of the energy crisis that we as a society are facing. The goal of the Summit is to gather experts and policy leaders, discuss the latest science and technology for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and to stimulate everyone to think in new ways," said Dr. John Bowers, Director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency.

This year's summit, held at The Fess Parker Resort in Santa Barbara, has attracted high-profile panelists who are leading major research and development efforts in energy efficiency and materials science. Space is limited and early registration rates end on April 5th. Registration is available online at iee.ucsb.edu/summit2013.

This year's Summit program emphasizes the theme of "Materials for a Sustainable Energy Future," featuring an opening keynote on materials science innovations by Steven Chu, outgoing U.S. Secretary of Energy. Featured keynote speakers also include: Michael McQuade of United Technologies Corporation; George Crabtree, Director of the newly established DOE Battery Hub at Argonne National Laboratory; and Kateri Callahan President of the Alliance to Save Energy.

Guest panelists from Soraa, Cree, Intel, Ciena, Pellion Technologies, Southern California Edison, PG&E, U.S. Department of Energy, Ames Research Laboratory, MIT, Yale, and UC Santa Barbara will lead discussions on the following topics: Materials for Energy Technology; Innovations in Solid-State Lighting; Information and Communications Technology; Electrochemical Energy Storage Technology; Utilities discussion on Energy Efficiency; High Efficiency Power Electronics

"We want to be in an environment where government subsidies are not needed; where energy efficiency is purely driven by technology, and that's why events like this are very important," commented Ramamoorthy Ramesh, former Director of the DOE SunShot Initiative at the 2011 Summit.

###

About the Institute for Energy Efficiency at UC Santa Barbara

UC Santa Barbara's Institute for Energy Efficiency is an interdisciplinary research institute dedicated to the development of cutting-edge science and technologies that support an efficient and sustainable energy future. The Institute's research activities leverage the considerable expertise of U.C. Santa Barbara's highly acclaimed faculty, scientists, engineers and researchers. By fostering collaborations, sponsoring research, and expediting the commercialization of new technologies, the Institute is a key driver of significant advances in energy efficiency. Learn more at iee.ucsb.edu.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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/2013-03/uoc--usd032713.php

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iCloud gets kicked in the Core Data sync -- totally had it coming

iCloud gets kicked in the Core Data sync -- totally had it coming

iCloud, specifically the part of it that covers the frameworks Apple has provided to developers to sync Core Data databases, has been getting kicked around lately, and by almost all accounts, deservedly so.Back in November, developers like Instacast's Vemedio and Steve Streza of Informal Protocol posted about its opacity and Paul Haddad expressed on similar concerns during the second episode of Debug. More even than ensuring the reliability of Siri and Game Center, it felt like proof positive that Apple faced significant challenge in a future where services were table-stakes.

As much as I think iOS 7 and iCloud are more important for Apple than next-generation hardware at this point, I think iCloud is more important than iOS 7 because, for Apple, it'll be an even bigger challenge. iCloud, more so even that Dropbox, is the future, it just doesn't work yet.

Since those initial developer posts, more have have come forward to share their experiences with iCloud Core Data sync, or in some cases document sync, and they share the same frustrations.

In a post intended to reassure users of NetNewsWire about the app's future in a post-Google Reader world, iCloud issues again reared their ugly head. Daniel Pasco of BlackPixel wrote:

As far as sync is concerned, we knew we would likely need an alternative to Google Reader as early as last year. At the time, the option that seemed to make the most sense was to embrace iCloud and Core Data as the new sync solution of choice. We spent a considerable amount of time on this effort, but iCloud and Core Data syncing had issues that we simply could not resolve.

What seems to make the ongoing issues so vexing for developers is that iCloud was introduced with iOS 5 back in 2011, and while iOS 6 in 2012 was an improvement, it wasn't anywhere nearly improvement enough.

Ellis Hamburger of The Verge did a brilliant job summing up much of the reaction and reasoning up, calling iCloud Core Data sync a broken promise:

Many veteran developers have learned their lesson and given up on iCloud?s Core Data syncing entirely. "Ultimately, when we looked at iCloud + Core Data for [our app], it was a total no-go as nothing would have worked," said one best-selling iPhone and Mac developer. "Some issues with iCloud Core Data are theoretically unsolvable (stemming from the fact that you?ve put an object model on top of a distributed data store) and others are just plain bugs in the implementation," he said.

One of the reasons for this is that, just like with Game Center APIs, Apple has very little skin in the Core Data sync game. They're not making massive use of it, so they're not the first ones hitting pain points and problems. Their developers are, and that's a terrible, terrible thing for everyone.

Matthew Panzarino of The Next Web also pointed out that Apple conflating several distinct services all under the iCloud banner further compounds the problem developers face:

Recent criticism of Apple?s iCloud has exposed just how fractured the brand actually is behind the scenes. Developers are having problems with some of the technologies bundled together under the name and it?s causing some confusion. The truth of the matter is that there are really two iClouds, which couldn?t be more different.

Users who get their mail, contacts, or calendars synched without issue just don't understand what developers are complaining about because, for them, iCloud works, it just doesn't work in that developer's app. Some users think the developers are actually incompetent or lying.

Glassboard developer Brent Simmons, on Inessential, pointed out that that's the risk of depending on systems you can't control:

How comfortable are you with outsourcing half your app to another company? The answer should be: not at all comfortable.

Just like services are the future for Apple, they're the future for a lot of developers. More important than hardware, arguably more important than software when that is already a core competency, iCloud is what Apple has to nail. Rather than getting kicked around, iCloud has to kick ass.



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/VXIwsj-NWeU/story01.htm

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Indiana's expansive school voucher program upheld: A model for others?

Indiana's school voucher program, which extends to middle-income families, does not 'directly benefit religious schools,' the state Supreme Court chief justice writes.

By Mark Guarino,?Staff writer / March 26, 2013

Traditional public school supporters rally in the North Atrium of the Indiana Statehouse on March 19. The Indiana Supreme Court upheld the law creating the nation's broadest school voucher program tonight, clearing the way for a possible expansion.

Charlie Nye / The Indianapolis Star / AP

Enlarge

The Indiana Supreme Court Tuesday unanimously upheld the state?s expansive school voucher program, which extends to middle-income families the opportunity to send their children to private schools with public assistance.

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A coalition of teachers, parents, and union officials had challenged the voucher program as unconstitutional, saying it uses public money to promote religious education.

But Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Brent Dickson wrote that whether or not the program is ?wise educational or public policy,? it is constitutional because the state funds "do not directly benefit religious schools but rather directly benefit lower-income families with school children."

The ruling is considered a precedent for other states that say parents should have greater choice in where their children attend school.

?This ruling is a model, or a roadmap, for how to structure a [school voucher law] law that is the most expansive in the nation,? says Terry Spradlin, associate director of education policy at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University in Bloomington.

The ruling resulted from a 2011 lawsuit that challenged the constitutional merit of redirecting tax dollars from local public school districts to pay partial private school tuition. The Indiana State Teachers Association suggested the program is a backhanded method of funding religious activity, considering that the majority of private schools in Indiana are parochial. It also said it violated the state constitution that ensures uniform public school access.

?There are not many good private school choices outside religiously-affiliated schools in this program. Most parochial schools around the nation are struggling to survive, so parochial school advocates see this [voucher program] as a way to extend their livelihood,? Mr. Spradlin says.

The voucher program was pushed through by former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels as part of an education reform initiative that expanded private school access for lower- and middle-income households. Under the new program, a family of four earning less than $42,000 annually can receive up to 90 percent of the maximum state voucher, while the income cap for receiving 50 percent of that aid is $62,000 annually.

The Indiana program ?is a little more expansive than more narrow programs that exist around the nation,? such as those in Wisconsin and Ohio, for example, which are limited to students attending public schools in Milwaukee and Cleveland respectively, says Spradlin.

This is the second school year the program is in operation and the number of voucher recipients has jumped 140 percent, to 9,424 students receiving them for this school year, compared with 3,919 the last. The majority of vouchers used are in Indianapolis, where the number of students in the city?s public school system receiving vouchers increased 96 percent, from 644 in the last school year to 1,262 students today.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence praised the court decision, releasing a statement Tuesday that said ?parents should be able to choose where their children go to school, regardless of their income? and that the state ?must continue to find ways to expand educational opportunities for all Indiana families.?

A current bill that passed the state House and is currently up for debate in the Senate would expand the vouchers to kindergarten students. Under current law, students must attend at least two semesters in public schools before becoming eligible for vouchers.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/Zu9TbZoCRMg/Indiana-s-expansive-school-voucher-program-upheld-A-model-for-others

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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Certified stroke centers more likely to give clot-busting drugs

Mar. 26, 2013 ? Stroke patients are three times more likely to receive clot-busting medication if treated at a certified stroke center, according to a study in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency treatment for people who have ischemic (clot-caused) stroke. The durg can reduce stroke disability.

"The stroke center concept has rapidly taken off, and this data demonstrates one way that certified centers are doing better than non-certified centers," said Michael T. Mullen, M.D., the study's lead author and an assistant professor of neurology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

The researchers examined hospital discharge data on 323,228 ischemic stroke patients from 26 states in 2004-09.

The clot-buster was administered to:

  • 3.1 percent of patients overall;
  • 6.7 percent of patients at primary stroke centers certified by the Joint Commission; and
  • 2.2 percent of patients at other facilities.

After researchers adjusted for patient and facility characteristics, they found the likelihood of receiving tPA was still almost twice as high in certified stroke centers.

Over time, tPA use increased from 6 percent to 7.6 percent at certified primary stroke centers and 1.4 percent to 3.3 percent at non-certified hospitals.

During a stroke, blood flow must be restored quickly and tPA can only be administered in the first few hours after symptoms start.

"Between 10 percent to 15 percent of patients arriving at the hospital with ischemic strokes are eligible to receive tPA," said Eric Smith, M.D., chair of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines?-Stroke quality improvement program and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Calgary. "This research shows that the certification program seems to be working, and that treatment is improving over time. Unlike the improvement in the percentage of patients receiving tPA, we haven't seen comparable improvements in the speed at which patients are evaluated and treated, and that is a major factor in determining outcome."

The American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Target: Stroke program helps hospitals treat 50 percent or more of patients within the first hour after they arrive.

In conjunction with The Joint Commission, the association also offers certification to facilities that meet criteria as Comprehensive Stroke Centers.

"We need more complete systems of care to make sure patients are getting to the best facility to treat their stroke -- and getting there as quickly as possible," Smith said.

At the first sign of a stroke, call 9-1-1 to get to the facility that provides appropriate treatment. The American Stroke Association has more information and tools, including a new mobile app, that can help you recognize and respond to stroke symptoms.

Co-authors are Scott Kasner, M.D.; Michael Kallan, M.S.; Dawn Kleindorfer, M.D.; Karen Albright, D.O., M.P.H.; and Brendan Carr, M.D., M.S. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality, National Institutes of Health, funded the research.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Heart Association.

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