J Forrest Group recently signed a contract with Richmond American Homes to lead a companywide sales training and management program for Richmond American's new home sales professionals, sales coaches and executives. The Leadership Selling and Leadership Sales Coaching training program consists of a series of on-site seminars, a tailored online e-learning website, video lessons and discussion boards; weekly sales-force goals and motivational calls; accountability reports; and executive and management coaching. The training program commenced in early December. The entirety ...

Patients with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and shortness of breath found that opioids provided relief and improved their quality of life, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). However, physicians are reluctant to prescribe opioids for this condition, meaning many people will not benefit from this treatment. The prevalence of COPD in Canada is increasing, and shortness of breath (dyspnea) is a major symptom that is difficult to treat and can result in fear, anxiety and a decreased quality of life. Although opioids are ...

Canadian provinces should adopt a patient charter of rights with independent enforcement as part of the move to patient-centred care, argues an analysis article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). A properly designed patient charter of rights can help patients resolve concerns and complaints easily and cost-effectively, through an independent ombudsman or commissioner. An effective patient charter contains clearly articulated patient rights — many of which are already provided in law but scattered in different places — such as patients' rights to access their ...

The Beland Music Festival is set to return for its second edition in Malta next month. Running from Saturday May 12th to Sunday May 20th in Zejtun, the event will consist of a series of free concerts taking place in the town's large market square. Highlights of this year's programme include a performance by Think Floyd - The Definitive Pink Floyd Experience, who are regarded as the UK's leading Pink Floyd tribute act. There will also be appearances by Maltese pop singers such as Claudia Faniello, Fabrizio Faniello and Christabelle, as well as the bands Purple Haze ...

Bedwetting in older children is common, but it can be distressing. An article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) outlines possible causes and evidence for current treatments. Bedwetting in children aged five years or older, also called nocturnal enuresis, is common, although more common in boys. An American study found a prevalence of bedwetting of 6.21% in boys compared with 2.51% in girls. There is also a strong genetic aspect to bedwetting, as a large British study found a significantly higher likelihood of bedwetting if a parent was a bedwetter. Three ...

The shortage of prescription generic drugs in Canada is not a recent event, dating back to the fall of 2010 or earlier, states a recent history of the shortage in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Hematologist and medical historian Dr. Jacalyn Duffin first noticed the shortage of an old, reliable drug in November 2010. She and colleagues from the Kingston Regional Cancer Centre tried to find answers to this baffling shortage as well as to focus media and public attention on the issue. The Canadian Pharmacists Association 2010 survey indicated that most pharmacists ...

British singer-songwriter Ben Howard is set to play Le Trianon in Paris next month.   The 24-year-old performer is one of the UK folk music scene's biggest rising stars, having released his debut album Every Kingdom in September 2011. Howard's gig on Thursday May 24th will give people in the French capital a chance to hear expertly crafted songs from his LP such as Old Pine, The Wolves and Only Love. Raised in Devon, Howard has cited legendary songwriters such as Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Van Morrison as his main influences. He is due to make a series of festival ...

SAN DIEGO, April 23, 2012 – A lot of people were skeptical when two young California-based researchers set out more than a decade ago to create a completely human-derived alternative to the synthetic blood vessels commonly used in dialysis patients. Since then, they've done that and more. "There were a lot of doubts in the field that you could make a blood vessel, which is something that needs to resist pressure constantly, 24-7, without any synthetic materials in it," explains Nicolas L'Heureux, a co-founder and the chief scientific officer of Cytograft Tissue Engineering ...

PASADENA, Calif. — The herpes zoster vaccine, also known as the shingles vaccine, is generally safe and well tolerated according to a Vaccine Safety Datalink study of 193,083 adults published online in the Journal of Internal Medicine. More than 1 million people develop shingles every year in the United States. Shingles is a painful contagious rash caused by the dormant chickenpox virus which can reactivate and replicate, damaging the nerve system. The elderly are especially vulnerable because immunity against the virus that causes shingles declines with age. The VSD ...

The Volvo World Match Play Championship returns to the Costa del Sol next month, with many top golfers set to take part. Held at the Finca Cortesin golf course in Casares, the tournament will take place from Thursday May 17th to Sunday May 20th and should see many golf fans making the short trip down the coast from Malaga. An elite field of 24 players is set to gather for the competition, with defending champion Ian Poulter going up against the likes of 2011 British Open champion Darren Clarke and world number six Martin Kaymer. Kaymer, who lost to Luke Donald ...

San Diego, CA — "Come and get it!" A phrase historically proclaiming that the communal meal is ready, is heard all too infrequently among contemporary American households, especially as children get older. Indeed, over 40% of the typical American food budget is spent on eating out, with family meals often being relegated to holidays and special occasions. Aside from negative effects on the family budget, eating out has been shown to be generally associated with poor food choices and bad health. Of particular interest to public health experts is growing scientific evidence ...

San Diego, CA — The international obesity epidemic is widespread, nondiscriminatory, and deadly. But do we really understand all of the factors underlying this alarming trend? The concept of energy balance (energy consumed = energy expended + energy stored) is undeniable, being driven by the first law of thermodynamics. Consequently, there is no contradiction that excessive calorie intake and plummeting levels of physical activity are largely to blame for our ever-expanding waistlines. However, scientists remain baffled as to why some individuals are particularly prone ...

Rugby league fans are set to descend on the Etihad Stadium in Manchester for next month's Magic Weekend. For the first time, the home of Manchester City FC is due to host a full round of Stobart Super League fixtures over two days. The Magic Weekend will take place on Saturday May 26th and Sunday May 27th, with three matches held on the first day and four games kicking off on the second. Current league leaders Huddersfield Giants are set to take on local side Salford City Reds at 14:00 BST on May 27th, while second-placed Wigan Warriors will play St Helens at 18:00. At ...

San Diego, CA — Alzheimer's disease (AD) is an incurable, progressive neurodegenerative disease affecting over five million people worldwide, and is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly. Currently, intravenous human immunoglobulin (IVIG) treatment is being explored in multiple off-label uses other than immunotherapy, including AD. Several clinical studies assessing the tolerability and efficacy of IVIG in Alzheimer's disease subjects are in progress with inconsistent outcomes. Recent studies conducted by Dr. Giulio Maria Pasinetti, Saunders Family Chair and Professor ...

EDITOR'S PICK Vitamin D: a double-edged sword in the fight against osteoporosis? | Back to top Vitamin D is renowned for its role in creating strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Calcium is primarily obtained through diet and absorbed through the intestine and into the blood stream. In addition to building bone, calcium is required for a variety of important physiological processes. Vitamin D, which is detected by receptors in bone and intestinal cells, regulates the level of calcium in the blood stream and determines how much should be stored ...

An evening of haute cuisine lies in store for Bali visitors on May 21st 2012 when the St Regis Bali Resort hosts its Chateau Grand Mayne Wine Dinner. To be held at the luxury hotel's Kayuputi restaurant, the event will see guests treated to a high-calibre degustation menu prepared by a top chef, accompanied by fine wines from the Chateau Grand Mayne. Located in Bordeaux, the chateau is well known for its premium wine and is owned by producer Jean Antoine Nony, who will be in attendance at the event. Attendees will have their taste buds tantalised by delicious dishes ...

Vitamin D is renowned for its role in creating strong bones and is a key regulator of serum calcium levels. Calcium is primarily obtained through diet and absorbed through the intestine and into the blood stream. In addition to building bone, calcium is required for a variety of important physiological processes. Vitamin D, which is detected by receptors in bone and intestinal cells, regulates the level of calcium in the blood stream and determines how much should be stored in the skeleton. Several recent clinical trials have examined the effects of vitamin D supplements ...

An international team of scientists has uncovered the first evidence of a non-human species cultivating plants for use other than as food. Instead, bowerbirds propagate fruits used as decorations in their sexual displays. The researchers discovered male bowerbirds had unusually high numbers of fruit-bearing plants growing around their bowers, and used these fruits in order to attract females. Published today (24 April), in Current Biology the research was carried out by the Universities of Exeter (UK), Postdam (Germany), Deakin and Queensland (Australia). This is the ...

A rescued black female Labrador retriever recently adopted by Emmy Award-winning journalist Cokie Roberts was lost on Bradley Blvd. at 6:15 p.m. Saturday, Lab Rescue of the Labrador Retriever Club of the Potomac announced today. Named Katie, the 48-lb. Lab is about five years old and has a bit of gray around her muzzle (see photo). She was wearing a collar with a Lab Rescue tag attached. Katie is a recently rescued stray. She is gentle but extremely shy, so please do not try to catch or approach her. If you see her, please try to keep her in sight at a distance and ...

When it comes to adapting to climate change, diversity is the mammal's best defense. That is one of the conclusions of the first study of how mammals in North America adapted to climate change in "deep time" – a period of 56 million years beginning with the Eocene and ending 12,000 years ago with the terminal Pleistocene extinction when mammoths, saber-toothed tigers, giant sloths and most of the other "megafauna" on the continent disappeared. "Before we can predict how mammals will respond to climate change in the future, we need to understand how they responded to ...

Taipei visitors will be able to see a production of classic farce The Importance of Being Earnest from May 24th to 27th 2012. To be staged at the National Theater Concert Hall, the show is one of legendary Irish author and wit Oscar Wilde's most famous works, offering a sharp and hilarious dissection of social etiquette. It follows two Victorian gentlemen who gain advantages in their social lives by maintaining false identities as "Ernest", only for two women to upend their comfortable existences by falling in love with their carefully constructed fake personas. Since ...

Cognitive decline is a pressing global health care issue. Worldwide, one case of dementia is detected every seven seconds. Mild cognitive impairment is a well recognized risk factor for dementia, and represents a critical window of opportunity for intervening and altering the trajectory of cognitive decline in seniors. A new study by researchers at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia shows that implementing a seniors' exercise program, specifically one using resistance-training, can alter the trajectory ...

According to a new study, the neuron-killing pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which begins before clinical symptoms appear, requires the presence of both amyloid-beta (a-beta) plaque deposits and elevated levels of an altered protein called p-tau. Without both, progressive clinical decline associated with AD in cognitively healthy older individuals is "not significantly different from zero," reports a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in the April 23 online issue of the Archives of Neurology. "I think this is the ...

CHICAGO – A study that examined the relationship between two cerebrospinal fluid proteins associated with Alzheimer disease in clinically and cognitively normal older patients suggests that amyloid-β (Αβ)-associated clinical decline was linked to the presence of elevated phospho-tau (p-tau), according to a report published Online First by Archives of Neurology, a JAMA Network publication. Identifying clinically normal older individuals destined to develop Alzheimer disease (AD) is increasingly important as therapeutic interventions to prevent dementia are ...

CHICAGO – An analysis of individual data from prospective studies assessing the risks of thyroid dysfunction suggests that subclinical hyperthyroidism may be associated with increased risk of total mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD) death and incident atrial fibrillation (AF), although the risk of CHD mortality and AF is higher when thyrotropin levels are below 0.10 mIU/L, according to a report published Online First in Archives of Internal Medicine, a JAMA Network publication. Subclinical hyperthyroidism is defined by low thyrotropin levels with normal concentrations ...