Various management teams of Indian organizations in Mumbai and Bangladore, such as Emerson and Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, gained some crucial organizational insights into Strategy Implementation and Collaboration as they participated in programs facilitated by Dr. Scott J. Simmerman of South Carolina, USA, who spent the week of December 16-23, 2011 in India, sponsored by EduRiser Learning Solutions (P) Ltd. Dr. Simmerman visited India in his role of partnering with EduRiser, India's exclusive representative of Performance Management Company's products. Scott ...

IOS Health Systems (IOS), a leading innovator of web-based ambulatory electronic health record (EHR) and practice management software, announces that users of the their web-based Medios EHR systems are receiving their initial stimulus payments by demonstrating Meaningful Use as part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Stage 1 Electronic Health Record Meaningful Use Medicare Incentive Program. Located in Lancaster Ohio, Dr. Barbara J. Vanfossen DPM, is a nationally recognized a Podiatrist, with over 10 years experience and is one of the growing number ...

Halfpricesoft.com (http://www.halfpricesoft.com) has released the new ezW2 2011, the new edition of the w-2 and 1099 preparing, printing and filing for Year 2012 tax season. Now it's easier and faster than ever for small business owners and tax preparers to print and file W2's and 1099's. The new edition of ezW2 software for Year 2012 tax season allows users to import employee and contractor data from external file easily. The new feature added to ezW2 2011 allows users to import employee lists, contractors lists and certain tax information from .csv files - a common ...

The island scrub-jay is the only island endemic passerine species in the continental United States. Although it is not classified as endangered, the species faces a number of threats to its long-term survival, and climate change is expected to exacerbate those challenges. A new study discusses the conservation management of the island scrub-jay, and highlights how management of this species may set the stage for management planning of many species in a changing world. "The island scrub-jay poses an interesting problem for conservationists today, because right now, the ...

Efforts to help people with learning impairments are being aided by a species of sea snail known as Aplysia californica. The mollusk, which is used by researchers to study the brain, has much in common with other species including humans. Research involving the snail has contributed to the understanding of learning and memory. At The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), neuroscientists used this animal model to test an innovative learning strategy designed to help improve the brain's memory and the results were encouraging. It could ultimately ...

Women with celiac disease -- an autoimmune disorder associated with a negative reaction to eating gluten -- are more likely than the general population to report symptoms of depression and disordered eating, even when they adhere to a gluten-free diet, according to researchers at Penn State, Syracuse University and Drexel University. People with celiac disease often suffer from abdominal pain, constipation, decreased appetite, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting. The disease affects somewhere between one in 105 to one in 1,750 people in the United States and is typically controlled ...

In a study published today in the scientific journal PNAS, NOAA scientists and their collaborators reported Pacific herring embryos in shallow waters died in unexpectedly high numbers following an oil spill in San Francisco Bay, and suggest an interaction between sunlight and the chemicals in oil might be responsible. In November 2007, the container ship Cosco Busan released 54,000 gallons of bunker fuel, a combination of diesel and residual fuel oil, into the San Francisco Bay. The accident contaminated the shoreline near the spawning habitats of the largest population ...

Despite current public and expert opinion to the contrary, having the neurological condition epilepsy is not directly associated with an increased risk of committing violent crime. However, there is an increased risk of individuals who have experienced previous traumatic brain injury going on to commit violent crime according to a large Swedish study led by Seena Fazel from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and Swedish Prison and Probation Service, and published in this week's PLoS Medicine. The authors say: "The implications ...

The poor diet of shift workers should be considered a new occupational health hazard, according to an editorial published in this month's PLoS Medicine. The editorial draws on previous work published in the journal, which showed an association between an increased risk of type 2 diabetes and rotating patterns of shift work in US nurses. Shift work is now a very common pattern of work in both the developed and developing world, with around 15-20% of the working population in Europe and the US engaged in shift work. It is particularly prevalent in the health care industry. ...

Ibiza remains known as one of Europe's most popular best party destinations - the Balearic islands were one of the top 50 destinations in 2011 for UK travellers and there was more bookings for Ibiza that year than in any other. And for the 2012 season parties are already been booked. Ibiza's official opening weekend for 2012 will be Friday, 27 May, through Saturday, 28 May. The first party that's been confirmed for the 2012 season happens on Wednesday, 6 June 2012, at Ibiza Rocks Hotel. Ibiza Rocks is a music festival that's been happening each year in Ibiza since 2005 ...

Anna Nordström and Peter Nordström of Umeå University, Sweden report their analysis of a prospective nationwide cohort of 440,742 Swedish men in this week's PLoS Medicine, finding that reduced cognitive function in young adulthood was associated with increased risk of subdural hematoma later in life, whereas a higher level of education and physical fitness were associated with a decreased risk. These results need to be confirmed in other large studies. The authors say: "An exploration of the mechanistic basis for these associations might allow the construction of public ...

Despite the importance of site investigators to the success of multicentre clinical trials, inadequate public information is available about their recruitment performance. In this week's PLoS Medicine, Rafael Dal-Ré and colleagues argue that that sponsors should disclose the recruitment targets of all site investigators on ClinicalTrials.gov before a trial starts, as well as their final recruitment. Information on issues that could have affected recruitment should also be provided. This information will be of interest to different stakeholders such as patient organizations, ...

A clinical trial testing a candidate HIV vaccine known as the STEP study was halted in September 2007 after interim analysis indicated that the vaccine did not work. Moreover, subsequent analyses indicated that the vaccine made some individuals more susceptible to HIV, in particular individuals who had pre-existing immune effectors (antibodies) that recognized a component of the vaccine (adenovirus serotype 5 [Ad5]). A team of researchers led by Juliana McElrath, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, has now determined that individuals from the STEP study ...

Millions of people have undergone LASIK surgery throughout the world. As the most popular form of laser vision correction, it has been closely monitored by the FDA and several industry groups. In a recent analysis of over 60 studies worldwide, it was found that 95.4 percent of people who have received LASIK are very satisfied with their results. This same analysis found that LASIK was effective in providing vision of 20/20 or better in an overwhelming majority of instances. This is great news for people who long to live a life free of glasses, but it fails to address one ...

The number of people who suffer from one or more of the adverse complications of obesity, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease is rapidly increasing. Thus far, drugs designed to treat obesity have shown limited efficacy and have been associated with serious side effects. This is largely because we have limited understanding of the effects of obesity on our natural mechanisms of body weight control. For example, while great strides have been made in our understanding of how the brain controls our desire to feed, as well as the processes underlying the balancing of ...

Atherosclerosis is a disease of the major arterial blood vessels. It is one of the major causes of heart attack and stroke. The proinflammatory molecule IL-1 has been linked to atherosclerosis and a clinical trial has been launched in which an antibody specific for IL-1-beta is being studied for its effects on the severe clinical complications of atherosclerosis (i.e., heart attack and stroke). However, a team of researchers led by Gary Owens, at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, has now generated data in mice that raise potential concerns about this clinical ...

EDITOR'S PICK Another potential obstacle to developing an HIV vaccine A clinical trial testing a candidate HIV vaccine known as the STEP study was halted in September 2007 after interim analysis indicated that the vaccine did not work. Moreover, subsequent analyses indicated that the vaccine made some individuals more susceptible to HIV, in particular individuals who had pre-existing immune effectors (antibodies) that recognized a component of the vaccine (adenovirus serotype 5 [Ad5]). A team of researchers led by Juliana McElrath, at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research ...

CHICAGO – For patients admitted to an emergency department with chest pain, use of a contemporary or highly sensitive test for levels of troponin I (a protein in muscle tissue) may help rule-out a diagnosis of heart attack, while changes in the measured levels of this biomarker at 3 hours after admission may be useful to confirm a diagnosis of heart attack, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA. One of the most common reasons patients seek care in an emergency department is for acute chest pain. "Early identification of individuals at high and intermediate ...

CHICAGO – A survey of nurses and physicians in intensive care units (ICUs) in Europe and Israel indicated that the perception of inappropriate care, such as excess intensity of care for a patient, was common, and that these perceptions were associated with inadequate decision sharing, communication and job autonomy, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA. "Clinicians perceive the care they provide as inappropriate when they feel that it clashes with their personal beliefs and/or professional knowledge. Intensive care unit workers who provide care perceived ...

CHICAGO – Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recommended that a certain type of genetic testing (for the genotype CYP2C19) be considered before prescribing the drug clopidogrel to identify individuals who may be less responsive to the medication, a review and analysis of previous studies did not find an overall significant association between the CYP2C19 genotype and cardiovascular events, according to a study in the December 28 issue of JAMA. Clopidogrel is an antiplatelet drug used by approximately 40 million patients worldwide to treat or prevent ...

You are sitting in your car, watching the red lights in your rearview mirror. The officer exits their vehicle and begins walking toward your car. The next thing you know, you have been charged with a DUI. What do you do now? You may think you have no chance, that even though you did not feel intoxicated or impaired, the blood alcohol content reading of the breathalyzer showed you were over the limit, and you are as good as convicted. Machines don't make mistakes, do they? Challenging A DWI Charge While it may seem an open and shut case, there may be multiple ...

Oxidative stress is the cause of many serious diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, arteriosclerosis and diabetes. It occurs when the body is exposed to excessive amounts of electrically charged, aggressive oxygen compounds. These are normally produced during breathing and other metabolic processes, but also in the case of ongoing stress, exposure to UV light or X-rays. If the oxidative stress is too high, it overwhelms the body's natural defences. The aggressive oxygen compounds destroy genetic material, resulting in what are referred to as harmful 8-oxo-guanine base mutations ...

The recent discovery of a pendant at the Irikaitz archaeological site in Zestoa (in the Basque province of Gipuzkoa) has given rise to intense debate: it may be as old as 25,000 years, which would make it the oldest found to date at open-air excavations throughout the whole of the Iberian Peninsula. This stone is nine centimetres long and has a hole for hanging it from the neck although it would seem that, apart from being adornment, it was used to sharpen tools. The discovery has had great repercussion, but it is not by any means the only one uncovered here by the team ...

Recent decisions by the New Jersey Supreme Court and the Appellate Division clarify the definition of "adverse employment action" that triggers New Jersey's "whistleblower law," known as the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA). Adverse Employment Action John Seddon had worked for Dupont 30 years when he filed a complaint with OSHA, the federal office for occupational safety and health. Seddon's complaint involved DuPont's practice of inspecting employee vehicles at the gate of the plant. Employees had to stand by the side of a busy ...

Ghent, Belgium 27 December 2011 - Researchers of VIB and UGent have discovered a new approach to preventing septic shock, an often fatal extreme inflammatory reaction of the body. It is the most frequent cause of death at intensive care departments in hospitals. In sepsis, acute inflammation is attended by low blood pressure and blood clots, causing the organs to stop working. Only recently, the Brazilian football legend Socrates, died of the consequences of this condition. In a new study in the top journal Immunity, Peter Vandenabeele and colleagues of VIB-UGent described ...