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st: margins dydx for logit model with interaction terms
David Quinn <email@example.com>
st: margins dydx for logit model with interaction terms
Thu, 9 Aug 2012 12:30:37 -0400
I am estimating a logit model as such: Y=X1 + X2 + X3 + X4 + X1*X3 + X2*X3.
X1 and X2 are binary predictors. X3 is an ordinal predictor. X4 is a
control variable. X1*X3 and X2*X3 are the interaction of X1 and X2,
respectively, with X3.
I'd like to assess the discrete change in my dependent variable for X1
at different levels of X3, given that I expect there to be interaction
effects of X1 and X3. I also need to set X2 and X2*X3 at zero while
doing this in order to calculate the proper discrete change of
interest. As for the control variable X4, I'd like to just keep it at
its mean value.
I used the following margins command to calculate the discrete change in X1:
margins, dydx(X1) atmeans at(X3=(1 2 3) X1*X3=(1 2 3) X2=0 X2*X3=0)
"Atmeans" places X4 at its mean, while the stuff after "at" specifies
the specific values at which to hold the other variables while
calculating the change.
But in the legend that accompanies the results, it keeps saying that
X1 is being held at its mean value when the discrete change
calculations are being made. Why does margins set the variable of
interest--located after the dydx command--to its mean value when
calculating the discrete change, when clearly one would want the dydx
calculations to be made at specific values of the variable of
interest? I just assumed that placing the variable of interest after
dydx would tell Stata to calculate the change in Y as that variable
moves from zero to one, holding all other variables at the values
specified after "at."
Am I doing something incorrectly?
Perhaps I should just use King et al.'s CLARIFY package to calculate
the predicted probabilities, or perhaps even follow Buis' (2010)
advice and calculate the odds. From what I gather, those two are a
bit more straightforward then using the margins command.
Thanks in advance,
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* http://www.stata.com/help.cgi?search
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
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Eames Remix Winners
To coincide with the launch of the new Creative Cloud apps, we paid tribute to the late, great Charles Eames by hosting our own Eames' Chair Remix contest. The task: take the iconic Eames chair and using Adobe products (Illustrator and Photoshop) personalize a digital version and share it with us and the Behance community.
Among the impressive and creative entries we received (check them all out below), we're excited to announce that ANDESIGN is our grand prize winner and will be receiving an Eames Molded Plastic Dowel-Leg Armchair, one year membership to Creative Cloud and an Eames poster for his impressive "Eames Nest" design.
Also, did you know that we put six top designers to the test as well? See what impressive designs they came up with.
A big thanks to everyone who participating. For more fun, news, tips and tricks, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. You won't be disappointed.
All Eames' Chair Remix Entries:

subset: commoncrawl


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'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dies in Texas
This 1981 file photo provided by CBS shows Larry Hagman in character as J.R. Ewing in the television series "Dallas." Actor Larry Hagman, who for more than a decade played villainous patriarch JR Ewing in the TV soap Dallas, has died at the age of 81, his family said Saturday Nov. 24, 2012. (AP Photo/CBS, file)


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Scan any Israeli alternative news website, and you'll see complaints from all over Israel about poor reception issues from YES, the Israeli DBS (Digital Broadcast Satellite) TV service -- what is supposed to be DVD-quality, crystal-clear reception has turned into a pixilated, garbled signal.
Beirut's "Variety" news site picked up on the story and has linked it to Israel's
top secret, not cleared for publication, alleged attack on Syria last month.
Was it working for Russia? Syria? NATO? Or perhaps an illegal Phlippino Gambling operation? We'll see how this story unfolds...
Beirut's "Variety" news site picked up on the story and has linked it to Israel's
BEIRUT -- Watching television in Lebanon and Israel has become a jarring experience over recent weeks.Now, after web reports on rotter.net earlier this evening indicated that a ship might be involved, the latest report from Channel 1 Israel TV (via Walla) is that a ship flying a flag from Holland is responsible for the interference.
Frustrated viewers have inundated their cable and satellite providers complaining that the onscreen images constantly flicker and freeze. Analysts on both sides of the border suspect covert military activity but, like any good Middle Eastern story, theories abound as to who is the culprit.
The onset of the problems coincided with a Sept. 6 Israeli air raid on Syria. Television signals began to deteriorate shortly afterward and on Sept. 12, Lebanon's Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told local daily An Nahar that interference had "started with the aggressive Israeli infiltration on Syria."
But by Sept. 20, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, which also linked reception problems to the raid, reported "Syrian espionage activities on northern Israel using Russian experts" as a possible cause of the disruption.
A third theory emerged on Sept. 23 when satellite industry publication Rapid TV News cited reports that strong radar signals were being generated by "various intelligence elements, chiefly Western countries, which are trying to fathom the intentions of Israel and Syria in the near future."
Israeli and Lebanese cable providers have offered less specific explanations. Israeli satellite operator Yes said reception problems had been caused by "electromagnetic interference not connected to the company."
Was it working for Russia? Syria? NATO? Or perhaps an illegal Phlippino Gambling operation? We'll see how this story unfolds...
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael


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Northern Redbelly Snake
Scientific name: Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata (STORER 1839)
* Currently accepted name
* scientific names used through time
- Coluber occipito-maculatus – STORER 1839
- Coluber venustus – HALLOWELL 1848
- Storeria occipito-maculata – BAIRD & GIRARD 1853
- Ischnognathus occipitomaculatus – GÜNTHER 1858
- Storeria occipitomaculata – STEJNEGER & BARBOUR 1939
- Storeria occipito-maculata occipito-maculata – TRAPIDO 1944
- Storeria occipitomaculata occipitomaculata – CONANT 1958
Description: Average adult size is 8-16 inches (20.3- 40.6 cm). Adults are small, thin, and grayish-brown to black. Top of head not black. Faint striping down the back varies from one broad stripe, to 4 or 5 narrow stripes. There are three light spots on the back of neck. There is a white spot under the eye on the scales of the upper lip. The belly normally is red, but may also be orange or yellow. The scales are keeled and there are 15 dorsal scale rows at midbody. The pupil is round. Juveniles are grayish with a light band across back of neck.
A. Top of the head
B. Underside of the head (chin and throat)
C. Front (face view) of the head
D. Side of the head
E. Keeled scales
F. Elongated scales below the tail (subcaudal scales) are typically divided
Range: In Florida, the Northern Redbelly Snake occurs throughout the panhandle. Outside of Florida, it is found from central Georgia west to eastern Texas and north to Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan, Canada.
Habitat: Moist woodlands on hilly slopes and mountains.
Comments: HARMLESS (Non-Venomous). It feeds on small slugs, insects, and earthworms. It is live-bearing. Up to 23 young, 2.5-4 inches (6.3-10.1 cm) in length, are born from June-September.
Comparison with other species: The Marsh Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi limnetes) has a light band across the back of neck (not head). The Midland Brown Snake (Storeria dekayi wrightorum) has a dark spot under the eye, a light band across the back of neck (not head), and may have dark lines across the back connecting the black spots along the mid–dorsal stripe. The Florida Brown Snake (Storeria victa) has a dark spot under the eye, and a light band across the back of neck (not head). The Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus) is solid grayish-black, with a complete neck ring and black spotted yellow-orange belly.


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Apple's iOS, Google's Android grow to 80% of US smartphone market
The market domination by Apple and Google was tracked in the latest data from comScore, released on Tuesday. It showed that the iPhone grew 1.5 points between November of 2011 and February of 2012, giving Apple a 30.2 percent share of the domestic smartphone market.
Google's Android also grew over the last three months by 3.2 points, giving it more than half of the total U.S. smartphone market. Devices running Android now account for 50.1 percent of smartphone subscribers in America.
While Google and Apple gained ground, its competitors continued to slip. Research in Motion saw the greatest decrease, as the BlackBerry platform dropped 3.2 points to take 13.4 percent of subscribers in February.
Microsoft, too, saw its position slip, losing 1.3 points to 3.9 percent of the domestic market. Nokia's Symbian platform was flat at 1.5 percent.
As for hardware, comScore found that Apple ranked third among all mobile subscribers, covering both smartphones and "feature" phones. The iPhone accounted for 13.5 percent of all mobile subscribers in the U.S., up 2.3 points from November of 2011.
The leader in hardware was Samsung, which stayed flat with 25.6 percent of subscribers, while LG came in second with 19.4 percent, down 1.1 points from November. Motorola was behind Apple, in fourth, with 12.8 percent, down nine tenths of a point, and HTC came in fifth with 6.3 percent, up four tenths of a point.
comScore found that more than 104 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones in the three months ending in February. That's up 14 percent when compared to the three months that concluded in November.


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An organization that helps look after the country's economy may not seem an obvious career choice for a physics graduate, but the Bank of England and physicists have a lot to offer each other, explains Rupert de Vincent-Humphreys
As the nation's central bank, the Bank of England is committed to promoting and maintaining monetary and financial stability. Broadly speaking, this means that it sets the interest rate at a level such that the economy should meet the UK government's 2% inflation target in the medium term, and it analyses the financial system to identify and reduce systemic risks to the country's financial infrastructure. The Bank also performs several other critical functions, including managing the approximately £42bn worth of banknotes in circulation and managing the nation's foreign-currency reserves – a multi-currency fund worth some £23bn. As a physicist, I find that I can make a full contribution to this work.
This is not particularly surprising. Since joining the Bank, I have found that the skills at the heart of my physics training have proved entirely invaluable. Aside from the obvious benefits of being mathematically literate, much of the Bank's work involves observing what's happening and analysing relevant data within a proper, theoretically rigorous framework, bearing in mind the limits to which those data can be measured precisely, and drawing conclusions and making inferences about what else may happen. All of this will be familiar to physics graduates. Furthermore, you can often find yourself having to explain complicated issues to people who do not necessarily have the same specialist, technical knowledge as yourself.
All about options
I work in the Bank's Monetary Instruments and Markets Division, which is one of the departments tasked with producing detailed analysis of what is happening in the economy for the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), the body which sets interest rates, and briefing it ahead of its monthly rate-setting meeting. It is the job of my division to assess information about the prospects for UK economic growth and inflation based on the financial markets. The way that the prices of different financial assets react to different economic shocks can reveal information about the nature of that shock, and this information can help the MPC to determine the appropriate monetary-policy response.
Much of my time, therefore, is spent analysing the prices of financial derivatives. These are assets the value of which depend on the price of another asset, often in a non-linear way. "Options" are one such derivative – they provide the holder with the right to buy (or sell) an asset (e.g. a share in a company, or a whole stock-market index like the FTSE 100) at a pre-specified price on a particular date in the future. When that date arrives, it would only make sense to exercise that right to buy (or sell) if the open-market value of the underlying asset is above (or below) the pre-specified price.
Options to buy the FTSE 100, for example, are available for a whole range of pre-specified prices, and from the way that the cost of this type of option varies with the price you specify, one can deduce the whole probability distribution assumed to describe the value of the FTSE 100 at that future date. This is important, because it can tell us about both the option market's assessment of the risks to the FTSE 100 and its attitude towards those risks. Incidentally, the names of physicists can be found throughout much of the core literature in this area. Richard Feynman, for instance, played a leading role in the probabilistic representation of the option-pricing partial differential equations.
On a day-to-day basis this means that I often find myself communicating my work with others – everything from chatting with peers about how they can make better use of my output to enhance their own work to producing formal written responses to questions from members of the MPC. Alternatively, I may be spending time on longer-term research work, for example separating investors' real expectations for future prices from their attitude towards holding risky assets; or further developing the computer programs that the division uses for routine analysis.
Sense of purpose
I first became involved with the Bank while I was doing my undergraduate physics degree at the University of Durham. In 2002, just before commencing my final year, I took part in its undergraduate internship scheme, which comprised an eight-week paid summer placement. As an undergraduate intern, your time is spent on a self-contained project that is of real importance to a particular business area. My project, for example, looked at the extent to which certain trading behaviour in one segment of the money market might influence other areas. After completing my placement I was offered a graduate job with the Bank, which I took up in 2003.
Summer internships are an excellent way to get to know an employer, because you can learn about both what they do and what it is like to work there. It is easy to read up on what a firm does, but to get a good feel for how much you would enjoy being part of it takes time. The Bank prides itself on its working environment and the opportunities that it offers its staff. Indeed, the emphasis on the continuing professional development of its staff was one of the key features that attracted me to the Bank in first place.
This extends well beyond specific job-based training and soft skills to include more substantive offerings such as a year's leave to take a postgraduate degree, complete with funding for both tuition fees and living expenses. The Bank exists to support monetary stability and financial stability, not to maximize shareholder profit, and that deeper sense of purpose fosters an intensely co-operative work ethic. For me, doing interesting and challenging work that applies scientific thinking to a business environment and working with friendly and supportive colleagues is a combination that cannot be beaten.
About the author
Rupert de Vincent-Humphreys is an economist in the Monetary Instruments and Markets Division of the Bank of England.


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The Chicago Symphony Orchestra may cancel more concerts after striking musicians rejected what it calls its last, best and final offer on a new contract.
State health officials say Illinois has had 154 confirmed cases of candida auris, a rapidly spreading fungus that can cause severe illness and even death, between May 24, 2016 and April 4, 2019.
Nearly one out of every three criminal exonerations in the U.S. last year occurred in Illinois, according to a new report. Most of those cases stemmed from disgraced former police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his crew.
Lawsuits mount and sales tumble in the aftermath of two deadly crashes involving Boeing's 737 Max jet. Can the company repair its reputation? Commercial pilot Rob Mark weighs in.
In many ways, modern American life is set up for convenience and speed – and that can generate a lot of garbage. What you can do at home to reduce your waste output.
She is a psychotherapist and author of the "Dear Therapist" advice column. Lori Gottlieb tells us about her new book, "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone."
Renowned University of Chicago paleontologist Neil Shubin recently returned from an expedition to search for fossils in Antarctica. He tells us about his trip.
There's a grassroots push for an elected school board in Chicago, but how would a move away from an appointed board impact students? We discuss the pros and cons with Jesse Sharkey and Rufus Williams.
Watch the April 9, 2019 full episode of "Chicago Tonight."
A U.S. magistrate ordered an Ohio man to remain jailed without bond Tuesday on a charge that he lied to federal agents about being a missing child from Illinois.
A dispatch from Wisconsin's Northwoods, where Darren and Genevieve Coady hopes to reel in other Chicagoans who want an old-fashioned vacation experience.
The latest on a possible – and major – amendment to the state constitution that would lift a requirement that all income be taxed at a flat rate.


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Commission intervenes in court case involving a Muslim woman's right to testify wearing her niqab (face covering)
The central issue in this appeal is the apparent conflict between the intersecting religious and equality rights of a witness and the fair trial rights of the accused in the context of a criminal proceeding. The OHRC's submissions set out a process, based in existing case law, to analyze and reconcile potentially competing rights. The proposed process can apply, with appropriate modifications, to any competing rights claims whether they arise under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter), human rights legislation, the common law or otherwise.


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Eating a healthy diet helps you take charge of your health when you have a chronic condition. The food choices you make can have a huge effect on how you feel, for better or worse.
Go for spinach and other dark green, leafy vegetables. They're low in carbohydrates and calories and loaded with vitamins and minerals.
Don't eat too many potatoes and other starchy vegetables. They digest into glucose and make your blood sugar level shoot up.
Go for halibut and tuna. These fish are rich in potassium, a mineral that helps manage your blood pressure. It's recommended that adults with readings above 120/80 mmHg increase the potassium in their diet.
Don't eat bacon and other processed meats, which are typically high in sodium. Having too much sodium in your body pulls water into your blood vessels. This in turn raises your blood pressure.
Go for low-fiber fruit such as bananas. According to a study published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences, bananas, rice, and yogurt improve symptoms more often than most other foods.
Don't have high-fiber foods like broccoli and cauliflower, which may trigger symptoms. Spicy foods, sugary treats, greasy cuisine, and alcoholic or caffeinated beverages can also irritate the digestive tract.
Go for eggs, salmon, and orange juice for their high value of vitamin D. According to the American Lung Association, vitamin D boosts the immune system and helps reduce airway inflammation.
Stay away from carbonated drinks, which cause gas or bloating. These may lead to chest tightness and could trigger a flare-up.
Talk with your healthcare provider or a registered dietitian/nutritionist if you have any questions about food choices related to your condition. And for those with a chronic condition such as diabetes or asthma, you should see your provider to get screenings, review medicines, and get counseling about your weight, activity, and diet.


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Just received my new RRD religion MkIII and V5 bar.
Not so muchreal test but sun was sufficient for Nice pictures!
The bag, simple, heavily built:
The kite: Hardcore wave program is clearly announced!!
Inflating (with anti-return ball) /deflating valve:
One pump connection to strut:
Rear briddles:
PVC round label strut end protectors and Metallic PU strut end reinforcements:
2 Ronstand pulley for fron briddles:
And Full Dacron leech and wingtips + Dacron reinforced body:
Very good feeling with this 8sqm during this very short test (15 to 20knots max, onshore wind):
The kite is very reactive, with extreme maniability. Very direct response of the bar, probably due to the "special RRD design of the lines". I really was enjoyed by the very progressive depower and linear power that the kite offer. Of course, unbilievable stability, wich will be very appreciated for surf.
Coming from another brand, i'm very enthusiastic and i've only one wish now: going for waveriding asap!!


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This $5 Lamp Is Powered Solely by Gravity
There aren't any batteries or fuel in the $5 revolutionary lamp called the GravityLight.
The ultra-cheap lamp was created as a replacement for expensive and highly polluting kerosene-powered lanterns, which are widely used in developing countries. London-based designers Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves have been working on the GravityLight as a side project for the four years.
For the 1.5 billion people in the world who live off the electric grid, homemade kerosene lamps are the norm. But, the kerosene can eat up 10% to 20% of a family's household income, according to the designers. Fueling these lamps with kerosene is also extremely dangerous. Men, women and children are regularly exposed to fire hazards and harmful fumes produced by the burning kerosene.
There are no operating costs after the initial purchase of the radical GravityLight lamp. Each GravityLight kit will come with the adjustable lamp and ballast bag. Once the bag is filled up with sand, rocks or soil, users can hang it from the lamp like a weight to turn the LED bulb on. This creates enough energy to last 30 minutes whenever it's needed. The lamp can be recharged by solar panel.
SEE ALSO: Ultra-Cheap Android Tablet Comes to India
With this revolutionary lamp, the GravityLight will have no running cost and will allow families in developing countries to live kerosene-free.
Meeting their Indiegogo goal will allow the designers to increase production units making the future market price even cheaper. The GravityLight project has raised more than $190,000 dollars with 27 days left on the crowdsourcing platform Indiegogo.
Thumbnail image courtesy of Flickr, babbagecabbage; Main image courtesy of Indiegogo, GravityLight


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As a Science Fair participant, my older son had to work on a project, (which, as many parents know, means we end up spending money.) This project was no different and soon enough my son told us he needed to print photos to make the display board look more interesting. Since our printer is horribly outdated, we headed to Wal-Mart's photo center.
As we worked on one of the computers to upload and print the photos, our younger son played on another touch screen right next to us, clicking around to amuse himself. At one point he clicked on the language option and told me "Look! You can do it in Spanish!" — But the fact that there was a Spanish option available didn't surprise me.
What surprised me was that above the English option was an American flag… And above the Spanish option was…
another American flag. Kind of symbolic don't you think?


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How Can We Help?
The mission of the Evaluation Center@HSRI is to provide evaluation services and/or technical assistance to mental health system stakeholders including, but not limited to states, providers, consumers, and evaluators for improving the planning, implementation, and operation of adult mental health services.
Do you need assistance with study design, evaluation methodologies, statistical analyses or any other aspect of evaluation design and implementation? Our staff can provide you with individually tailored technical assistance on projects related to the evaluation of adult mental health systems change. The cost of the consultation will vary depending on the level of assistance required. To request a consultation, contact Terry Camacho-Gonslves by phone at 617-844-2504 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Toolkits & Materials
TEC produces briefings, reviews of new instruments, methodologies, and software, all of which can be found in the Toolkits and Materials section. Most of the materials developed by TEC can be downloaded free of charge. Use the search box located on the right side of the Toolkits and Materials homepage to locate items using a simple text search (e.g. Outcomes and Methodology).


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An interview with Brian Kuritzky '08, who recently ran an ironman triathlon in a bet with friends and colleagues for charity. Brian describes the bet, why and how he volunteered to do the ironman, how he felt throughout the race, and how he has been recovering. Brian also tells us how much money he has raised for the Susan G. Komen Foundation and why he has been very active with the charity.
New episodes of Sidelines premiere on Wednesdays.


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Soon after Tim Walsh graduated from college, back in 1989 in a one-bedroom apartment in Sarasota, he and two buddies invented TriBond.
The idea was to create an adult board game that combined trivia with problem solving, which players connect three clues to one answer.
Even in his wildest fantasies, Walsh — maybe — thought he would sell a few thousand games. But after five years of rejections and multiple revisions, TriBond became a mega-hit. By 1996 it had sold 1 million units, and by 2010 it had surpassed 3 million sales in 14 countries. It's one of 22 board games in production for more than a decade with continuous sales, a list that includes Monopoly, Othello and Yahtzee.
Now, 20 years later, Walsh is back with another startup business that faces long odds.
This time it's Crazy Chins, a new product for a novel category of toys called AppCessories — real toys that connect with devices and gadgets, like smart phones and tablets. Crazy Chins, says Walsh, allows kids to make and share goofy upside-down chin-face videos.
The first part of the products is chin masks, anything from monkeys to squirrels to scary monsters. The next part is portable, fold-up screens and green screens, with a hole where the chin mask fits through. The third part is an iPhone or iPad app that connects the first two parts through dozens of backgrounds.
The app is free, but additional background settings, from a blue sky to a bamboo jungle, cost 99 cents each — a key part of the Crazy Chin hardware/software revenue model. The final product, a recorded skit, can then go to the ultimate showoff land for kids: YouTube.
Walsh's business partner in the venture, Sarasota entrepreneur Chris Abbott, handles the technology-app side of the business. Abbott runs the Abbeton Accelerator Fund, a startup seed money operation that assists local companies, both with advice, and actual funds. Abbott works out of the HuB in Sarasota, a business incubator.
Abbott says the AppCessories model, the ability to monetize the same idea twice, is what drew him to the project. "There could be no products on the shelf," says Abbott, "and we will still make money."
That's exactly what happened in 2012. The software app launched over the summer, and there were more than 60,000 free downloads of it through mid-December. Even though the actual chin masks haven't been released, Abbott says the company made $5,000 or so in 2012 through selling the background screens at 99 cents apiece.
Those sales give Walsh a jolt of confidence. Walsh thinks like someone who wears T-shirts with funny designs to work, smiles a lot and has been in the toy industry for 20 years. In other words: He dreams big. "This is the kind of product that could spree and fade away or we can sell 25 million," he says. "This is a very unique item. It could be a Furby."
The Furby, a plush electronic toy that looks like an owl and speaks its own language, sold 40 million units in the late 1990s.
To reach anything close to Furby level, Walsh and Abbott say 2013 will be a telling year for Crazy Chins. Key tasks include: securing licensing deals with at least two prominent kids characters; finding an American manufacturing partner; and, possibly most importantly, making sure the final product resonates with children consumers, a notoriously fickle bunch.
Says Walsh: "It will be an interesting 12 months."
'Screen time'
In addition to those internal challenges, Walsh faces a possible external huddle that has short-circuited many startup projects: market timing.
Indeed, Jim Wilson, editor of Timetoplaymag.com, a toy industry website, says Crazy Chins and other like-minded AppCessories might be too futuristic. Wilson says the category shows promise, though the industry has been slow to embrace it. One reason, he says, is many parents, in general, seek to separate hard toys from rationed "screen" time. He also says some products just didn't correctly make the connection between toy and app.
"It's a category that will grow," Wilson says, "but right now the market hasn't been too well executed."
Wilson, nonetheless, says Crazy Chins could catch on, especially if the marketing proves how this way of play can't be duplicated with homemade toys or online. Big toy players, like Disney and Fisher-Price, have been somewhat successful with AppCessories in that regard.
Of course, the marketing budget for Crazy Chins is miniature in comparison to those companies. Low-cost help came in October, when Crazy Chins won a contest sponsored by American Airlines that sought the best ways entrepreneurs use travel connections to boost their business.
The crux of the contest, Flights Camera Action, was to create a video, which Walsh turned into a 60-second commercial for Crazy Chins. (See the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LWOC2jwTizI). Walsh's entry not only earned the company some exposure, but the prize included 60,000 Business ExtrAA points for flights and two tickets to the Inc. 500/5000 conference in Phoenix.
Crack up
Walsh, who has written two books on toys, including Wham-O Super Book, a historical account of some famous toys, says the Crazy Chins concept is simpler than it might appear. It's really just kids goofing around, and the advances of technology make it easier to share than ever before. "There are a lot of toys that are extension of physical play," Walsh says. "People threw pie plates before the Frisbee."
A native of Voorhees, N.J, a small south Jersey town, Walsh got into the toy industry after TriBond in 1990. That game was born from a conversation Walsh and his friends had one night while they sat around the dorms at Colgate University, in upstate New York. The group had heard a rumor that the creators of Trivial Pursuit went to school there.
Walsh and his friends decided that despite its huge commercial success, Trivial Pursuit was lacking. Players who didn't know an answer, just didn't know. Their response was to create TriBond, where the questions are clues. It made its debut at a toy fair in 1990.
Another million-selling product Walsh, 48, invented, is Blurt!, a vocabulary-building board game for children. Born on Christmas, Walsh, furthermore, is a professional speaker on the toy industry and how to inject fun into the workplace. He also was a creative consultant and featured in the 2010 documentary Toyland, which was bought by the Documentary Channel.
Great potential
The Crazy Chins, idea, meanwhile, goes back to when Walsh was 10 years old. That's when he drew upside down chin characters, covered his face with a towel and made his sister crack up with laughter.
Walsh called the made up character Chinface Man. "It was (and is) a pretty funny thing to see," Walsh writes on his toy blog. "It's also a bit unsettling, which I think adds some freakiness to the fun. You know you're looking at a human mouth, but the tiny face makes it weird in a wonderful way."
Walsh began to think more seriously about the business a few years ago. At one point, he even licensed it to a company in Orlando that wanted to make it into a face-painting toy. That effort flopped. "It never even got off the shelf," says Walsh. "They didn't do well with it at all."
That experience taught Walsh the lesson of being sure to find the right partners. He has since had discussions with a wide range of possible distribution entities. The list includes toy giant Hasbro and Kevin Harrington, a well-known Tampa TV products entrepreneur and chairman of As Seen on TV.
The company is exploring other opportunities, too. It's working on several licensing deals, with characters popular among children. Walsh will also spend the first few months of 2013 going to toy shows with Crazy Chins, from Hong Kong to New York.
"I'm definitely excited about it," says Walsh. "The potential for this is greater than anything I've ever done."
Name: Crazy Chins
Founder: Tim Walsh
Founded: December 2011
Initial investment: $20,000
Sales: Less than $6,000
Product sales projected for 2013: $1.5 million to $2 million (firm projects an additional $200,000-$500,000 in sales through software apps.)
Fun fact: Walsh played professional baseball in Mexico, and he earned a tryout with the Chicago White Sox in 1989, when the team held spring training in Sarasota. He also was also a wide receiver for Colgate University in upstate New York, though he was recruited to play quarterback.


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Committee Meeting Minutes - 28/07/14
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Whispering Death
Joined: 01 Jul 2009
Posts: 60
Posted: 30/07/14, 20:10
Post subject: Committee Meeting Minutes - 28/07/14
The meeting began with an introduction to Club Mark by Sean Fitzgerald who will be our mentor in the accreditation process. He outlined the four areas in which we need to satisfy ECB 1. Duty of Care and Safeguarding Children. 2. The Cricket Programme. 3. Knowing your Club and its Community One Game. 4. Club Management. The club must be open to all and we are allowed up to three years to obtain accreditation and the ECB will look favourably on Clubs accredited or seeking accreditation for grants and loans. Amongst other benefits are coaching assistance and access to NatWest competitions and support. Sean stressed that there was website support for each subject and that he was available for advice at every stage. Once we had modules completed he would call and sign them off or suggest further action. It was agreed that David Jones would be the contact for Sean and that he would take the Club Mark file home and to report back with the possible delegation of various subjects to individual members and formation of a sub-committee. We thanked Sean for his attendance.
STANSTED CC Match letter of thanks received and they would like another match next year DJ has replied.
DJ has e-mailed Uplyme Parish Council re future plans and has received an acknowledgement.
Harvey Brimicombe ran the bar at the Horticultural Show and takings were £190 approx. Profit on this covered the hire of Chardstock ground and it was agreed to make a nominal (goodwill) donation of £20 to the Uplyme and Lyme Regis Horticultural Society. Thanks to Harvey.
Practice net has been repaired by Jerry Sims if not satisfactory a better job can be done in the close season.
DJ has spoken to EC regarding youth teams for 2015 and Eddie felt that U15 and U11 should be OK but there was some doubt about U13. He will be going into school in early 2015 to do some coaching and hopefully the situation will become clearer then. AD mentioned that for those taking GCSE sport, assisting with coaching was a perfect opportunity.
SH confirmed that Jenny would do teas for this Saturday and Melody for next Saturday as the Matthews were not available.
A coach had been booked for the Corinthian Cup Final at Plymstock on Sunday - £10 per head some seats still available.
SB had stated that the Club had played well in Cups but batting in league matches had been poor which he attributed to poor practice wickets. JH admitted that the practice wickets had not been up to his usual standard owing to dry weather and the number of match wickets he had to prepare. It was felt that poor practice wickets was only a partial excuse and EC said he would make himself available for any batsman wanting additional coaching and that he was surprised that the artificial strip was not used at nets. DJ conveyed this to SB and SB intends to use the artificial at nets this Wednesday. RH had reported that the 2nd X1 was going well. It was reported that there were still some selection issues and there was a need for a more structured approach next season. SH reported that he had spoken with AD regarding Adrian replacing him at The AGM next year. AD said that he was prepared to become chairman next year with support from SH as Vice-Chairman, but would not stand in the way of any other candidate. He also requested that any support he might give to the Club remain anonymous in future. This was agreed.
DJ had chased up honours boards but had agreed that they would be left for both 2013 &2014 winners to be put on together. Can Club captains please collect cups from 2013 winners as soon as possible.
Grant Application we received 50% of the requested amount from Lyme Regis Town Council, but there was press comment that we did not supply evidence of grant-seeking or fund-raising. In fact, DW had included some details in the application but DJ had written to the council listing all our recent grant and fund raising efforts, in clarification (letter was circulated).
DCL have requested a one-minutes silence before matches on 2 & 3 August re the fallen in WW1 DJ will inform SB.
Injury to Phoebe Rowe on 28 June. DJ has written letter wishing her well and Rodney Rowe (father) thanked DJ last Saturday and confirmed that Phoebe had made a complete recovery.
DJ had attended KG5 Field Inspection and subsequent trustees meeting. The points raised with JH at recent meeting were repeated, including the anchoring of sightscreens. It was agreed that DJ would investigate the roll-up type of screens as seen at Bere Regis. It was agreed that KG5 would charge the Saturday morning footballers £10 per week in future. A tree growing in the hedge in front of the Village Hall will be taken down. They are still awaiting planning permission to allow pruning of the trees just inside the main gate of the ground. Trustees have funds of around £6800 but may need to re-surface the court in the near future. Trustees were very pleased with the area around the pavilion and would write thanking JH. Their next meeting is 24 September 2014.
DJ stated that there were still too many membership fees outstanding at this time of the season.
JH reported difficulty in repairing ends owing to the weather. The home dressing room is being left in chaos and he is to place a letter on the wall laying down the law. Bar takings at Lifeboat match £763.19p (including £380 tab). He handed over various funds to NP. He will be away on holiday from 18 August. He will give up as groundsman at end of season, but will help out with the ground and may also do teas.
NP reported CA £2585 SA £398, not including any funds handed over tonight and reminded us that there were still monies owed to Axminster Garden Machinery and 100 Club prizes to be paid.
NP had received two bills re alarm, one for annual service (although last done in December 2013) and then for fault repair. He will discuss with company.
100 CLUB DRAW - AUGUST winners £30 Mike Hankey, £10 John Richards, £10 Ray Edwards.
CM confirmed that she and Terry were not available for teas for the next two Saturdays and would not continue next season. She had been extremely frustrated prior to a recent match at not being able to contact SB or other members of the committee when there was doubt about whether the match was on. She has a new mobile number of 07548189958.
DJ reported a recent phone call from David Gear, chairman of KG5 trustees as follows:-
1. Pallets to be kept behind the new pavilion children have been throwing them into river.
2. Travis Perkins banner not to be displayed on ground without permission from KG5 he suggests we write for permission. SH reports that he got the idea from Horticultural Show.
DJ to write advising that the banner will only be up on match days and that Travis Perkins are providing support for drainage which will be of benefit to the field as a whole.
In Addition :
Presentation Night (addition to minutes of 28 July)
Adrian Davies confirmed that he, Steve Batey, and Jenny Howe were organising the Presentation Night as follows:-
Venue; Lyme Regis Football Club at 7 for 7.30 on Friday 5 September 2014
Cost; £12.50p per head to include 3-course hot and cold buffet meal.
Steve Howe to contact Oliver Ford Davies, well-known actor and Uplyme resident to invite him to be guest of honour.
Put your name and number of guests, if any on the list in the pavilion as soon as possible.
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Plot your ancestors on a map! We are introducing Maps to Genes Reunited. Now when you search for your ancestors in our census records, not only will you see your search results in a list; we will also plot them on a map. Look out for the "show results on a map" link when searching the census records.
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Fort Hood massacre trial: Hasan goes on the defense
- Accused shooter will represent himself%2C question the wounded survivors
- Hasan%2C who was an Army psychiatrist%2C faces the death penalty if convicted
- Military trial called the most significant %27in the past 30 or 40 years%27
KILLEEN, Texas — Kimberly Munley has spent countless hours rehabilitating a shattered knee while trying to erase haunting images of a rampaging killer's 10-minute onslaught here four years ago.
Now Munley faces another ominous challenge: the prospect of answering questions from her would-be murderer in a military courtroom.
Munley, 38, is one of several dozen survivors of the shooting assault by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist accused of opening fire on soldiers and civilians at Fort Hood in 2009. Hasan is charged with killing 13 people and injuring nearly three dozen more before police shot him, paralyzing him from the waist down. The American-born Muslim, who has acknowledged his role in the shootings, faces the death penalty in a case that spawned congressional hearings as well as an ongoing debate as to whether the shooting was a terrorist attack or "workplace violence," as the Pentagon has classified it.
"It's hard when the guy who tried to kill you is up there asking you questions," said Munley, a federal police officer at Fort Hood at the time who was the first person to confront Hasan, exchanging gunfire with him. "That's a whole different monster."
Jury selection in the case — besieged by delays ranging from Hasan's refusal to shave his beard to the removal of the original judge — begins Tuesday and is likely to last several weeks. The proceedings will occur in a courthouse surrounded by large sand-filled barriers in a corner of the sprawling base, akin to a building inside Baghdad's Green Zone. Soldiers carrying assault rifles patrol outside the building and pat down guests inside before they walk through a metal detector to get to the courtroom.
Hasan, who is confined to a wheelchair, has opted to represent himself, putting himself in the rare and emotionally explosive position of cross-examining his own victims. He faces 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of premeditated attempted murder.
If convicted, he could be the first active-duty U.S. soldier to face the death penalty in a half-century. The last time the military executed one of its own was 1961, when Army Pvt. John Bennett was convicted and hanged for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old girl while stationed in Austria, said Marine Corps Col. Dwight Sullivan, an Air Force appellate defense counsel who has studied military executions. The Navy carried out its last execution in 1849, and the Marine Corps has not executed a Marine since 1817, he said.
"This is probably the most significant military trial in the last 30 or 40 years," said Geoffrey Corn, a former Army judge advocate who teaches military and national security law at South Texas College of Law in Houston. "There are a lot of eyes on Fort Hood and this case."
An accused shooter questioning his own victims from the confines of a wheelchair is just one of myriad peculiar twists in a trial that has captivated legal historians and is sure to raise the antennae of military jihadists around the globe.
Hasan, 42, has said in pretrial hearings that he went on his rampage in order to protect Taliban leaders in Afghanistan. A judge recently ruled this "defense of others" strategy could not be used in court.
U.S. authorities have said that Hasan initiated contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, the fiery American-born cleric who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011. The two exchanged up to 20 e-mails. Al-Awlaki had said that he didn't tell Hasan to carry out the shootings, but he later praised Hasan as a "hero" on his website for killing American soldiers who would be heading for Afghanistan or Iraq to fight Muslims.
The case also brings to mind the trial of Colin Ferguson, the Long Island Rail Road shooter whose odd defense became a courtroom spectacle in the mid-1990s. Ferguson defended himself in a trial broadcast on Court TV in which he fired his defense attorneys, cross-examined witnesses and even badgered his victims. He was convicted and sentenced to more than 300 years in prison for killing six commuters and injuring 19 others in the 1993 attack.
Observers of the Hasan trial will witness a thinner, bearded defendant compared to the one shown clean-shaven in photos shortly after the shooting. The court has allowed him to forgo the more formal Army dress uniform usually worn at courts-martial for combat fatigues to better fit two colostomy bags that need to be routinely drained. During breaks, he pulls on a green skullcap and wears a sweater under the fatigues to help regulate his body temperature inside the air-conditioned courtroom. (His paralysis wreaks havoc on his body temperature.)
The case will center on 10 minutes on Nov. 5, 2009, at Fort Hood's Soldier Readiness Processing Center. Prosecutors say Hasan opened fire on soldiers and civilians with an FN 5.7 semiautomatic handgun, a high-tech pistol designed to have large-capacity magazines and penetrate body armor with certain ammunition.
Civilians huddled under desks and slid under gurneys as investigators say Hasan methodically walked through the center's adjoining medical screening building — where soldiers finalize paperwork and receive immunizations for upcoming deployments — allegedly using a laser scope to fire round after round at unarmed people. Twelve soldiers and one civilian were killed, including a 21-year-old pregnant Army private. The barrage of bullets also shattered knees, broke arms and femurs, and pierced lungs and livers of more than 30 other surviving victims.
Army Staff Sgt. Shawn Manning was waiting to get a final medical screening a few feet away from Hasan when he saw the gunman stand up and yell "Allahu Akbar!" — or "God is great" — and begin firing, he said. Hasan fired point-blank at Manning's chest, just above the heart, dropping him to the floor, he said. He fired five more shots into Manning, hitting him in the back, right foot, right side and twice in the right thigh.
Gasping for breath as blood bubbled into a pierced lung, Manning tried to crawl behind a desk already crowded with four other huddled civilians. When Hasan turned to other victims, Manning said he got up and ran out to a nearby building, where other victims were gathering.
It took several months of hospital stays and surgeries to pull the bullets out of Manning's abdomen and legs. Two remain — one near his spine and another in his right thigh. He lost five fellow soldiers from his unit and his commanding officer in the rampage.
Manning recently returned to work as a mental health counselor at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash. But a day doesn't go by that he doesn't think or talk about the shooting, said Manning, who will be a witness in the trial. Delays in the case have been mentally withering, he said.
"You emotionally prepare to go to trial, then there's delay after delay after delay," Manning said. "It's very frustrating. The system obviously doesn't look out for the victims."
Munley arrived at the bloody scene within the first few minutes and began trading gunfire with Hasan. She was shot three times — in the right hand, upper left thigh and left knee — before a fellow officer shot and handcuffed Hasan. Munley has spent the past four years rehabilitating the thigh wound, which severed a femoral artery, and rebuilding the knee shattered into 120 pieces by one of Hasan's bullets.
Victims in the shooting have been livid by the court's decision to allow Hasan to represent himself and by the endless delays in the case, she said.
"There's not one victim who's not fed up," Munley said.
Court officials are also concerned that Hasan's physical condition could further hamper the trial's progress. His doctors have said Hasan cannot sit upright for more than 12 hours a day without his concentration being affected, and he has trouble writing more than a few pages at a time. A military sanity board previously found Hasan mentally competent to represent himself.
At a recent hearing, a bailiff wheeled a somber-looking Hasan to the defendant's table. He wore his green skullcap and combat fatigues and clutched a file of papers. He addressed the judge, Col. Tara Osborn, with short, respectful "yes, ma'ams" or "no, ma'ams" and spent most of the time looking down at his papers.
The military courthouse where the trial will take place has been transformed into a fortress, with tighter-than-usual security measures as well as stacks of dirt- and sand-filled containers designed to withstand a bomb blast.
Unlike a civilian trial, military courts-martial involving the death penalty use a panel of at least 12 jurors — known as "panel members" — who need to outrank the accused, Corn said. The panelists then listen to testimony, declare a verdict and pronounce a punishment, he said. The base commander then has to approve the judgment and has the authority to reduce the penalty, Corn said. Death penalty convictions are automatically appealed in the military.
Osborn will need to strike a balance between allowing Hasan to question witnesses and preventing him from using the courtroom as a political podium, said Richard Rosen, a law professor at Texas Tech University and former judge advocate.
"Hasan may want to use this as a kind of show trial," he said. "The judge is going to have to limit his questions. (Hasan) has to keep to the facts of the case and things that are relevant."
More than deciding on Hasan's guilt, jurors in this case will be focused on whether to give him life in prison or the death penalty, which requires a unanimous verdict, Corn said. Jurors must be convinced that Hasan premeditated the shooting, among other factors, to suggest the death penalty, he said.
"This case is about what happened before Nov. 5 and after Nov. 5," Corn said. "It's not about who killed these people. That's a given."
Outside the courtroom, people around Killeen have followed the trial with a mix of dismay over the case's slow progress and anger at the liberties afforded Hasan, said Jimmy Towers, pastor at Lifeway Fellowship Church. Residents were also enraged to discover that the military continues to pay Hasan's salary as he awaits trial — more than $250,000 since the shooting. Meantime, some of the victims have struggled to survive, he said.
"The general feeling in the coffee shops is that he has, from the very beginning, wanted to turn this into martyrdom," Towers said. "The more twists, the more delays, the more likelihood that people will be offended by it all."
At Papa's Café in nearby Harker Heights, diners perused the local newspaper with a front-page story on the latest Hasan case twist. Beverly Tuggle, 65, said the case is a daily topic among friends.
"I want the families of the victims to know that justice has been done," she said, "whatever that may be."
Munley said the victims she has spoken to are fairly split between those who say Hasan deserves to die for his actions and those who feel life in prison in a wheelchair is enough.
"Some want to see him sentenced to death," she said. "Most of us just want it to be over with."
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- Uniquely Karah has a crush on a pair of tennies that work for the guys and the gals! Comfortable and stylish – what more could you ask for?! (find Uniquely Karah on Twitter!)
- Lipstick & Lollies is rocking a dress as comfortable as pajamas for her growing preggo belly and is looking as stylish as ever! Mommas and non-mommas alike can take a cue from this look!
- A Fine Line is looking ahead to spring and all of the new color combos it will bring! Head over for a pastel fix and inspiration for your next color pairing! (find A Fine Line on Twitter!)
- It's a Darling Ensemble tried out a new color trio and knocked it out of the park! A hint of spring but grounded with a winter neutral – this look is perfect for transitioning to warmer weather!
- Not Going Out Like That is punching up her work wardrobe and thinking pink! Head over to check out this versatile look that can switch from business to casual with the change of a shoe!
- Dream in Fashion is feeling glam in a black and white ensemble that is quick and easy – definitely one to recreate! (find Dream in Fashion on Twitter!)
- Undeniable Style proves it's all in the details by transforming an all black look with a few colorful accessoires! She looks amazing! (find Undeniable Style on Twitter!)
- Laura Wears mixes old and new with a vintage dress and a pair of killer hills that she found at an incredible price! Love this look! (find Laura Wears on Twitter!)
- The Second Best is showing her edgy side with a fun accessory and a little leather! Biker chic at its finest! (find Second Best on Twitter!)
- A Fashion Fixation pairs polka dots and stripes for a playful look fit for day or night! Pop over to check out her playful tights! (find A Fashion Fixation on Twitter!)
- Rose a la Mode is piling on the layers to stay warm, but of course still looks so cute! Head over for a little cold weather inspiration! (find Rose a la Mode on Twitter!)
- Pretty Preened is serving up a delicious soup recipe to help warm our souls this winter and boy does it look good! Pop over for the full run-down! (find Pretty Preened on Twitter!)
- Loving Every Detail lets her accessories shine! With a fab furry vest and a few pretty necklaces, this look is the epitome of winter chic!
- Sweetie Pie Style shares her go-to night out look – skinny pants and booties paired with a cute top! Love this look! (find Sweetie Pie Style on Twitter!)
- Second Street East is taking inspiration from a classic color combo – black and white! Pop over to check out the outfit and room looks that this living room inspired! (find Second Street East on Twitter!)
the IT list is brought to you weekly by Jill of Good Life and edited by Michelle of Second Street East.
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Category: Business Line, Canada, Companies, Countries, development program, Events, Lockheed Martin, Military Aviation, production program, Services | RSS 2.0
Update – On the morning of 7 December reports were starting to be made that after reviewing the report and the latest cost estimates the Government of Canada had decided to cancel their procurement. This has yet to be confirmed by the Government. If the decision is true it will be the first of the planned participants to leave the program.
The Canadian Conservative government as part of their response to criticism of the analysis supporting the decision to go ahead and commit to their F-35 Joint Strike Fighter buy had commissioned an independent audit of the process by KPMG. They had also transferred the authority to review and make decisions about the contract to the Ministry of Public Works rather then the more traditional National Defence department.
Now the report supposedly is in government hands and there is speculation about the results and when they will be released to Parliament and the public.
There are concerns that if the report is not released soon it will have to be after the Christmas recess and then the cost figures involved will be over a year old.
The 2010 decision to go ahead with the buy has been controversial not only for the price of the aircraft, which is estimated at $14 billion Canadian for the procurement, but also concerns about the analysis and decision process that went into award to Lockheed Martin (LMT). An earlier report by the nation's Auditor General revealed that the cost estimate used to support the purchase was arbitrarily lowered from earlier ones by not considering the sustainment and operating costs of the 65 aircraft reducing it by 10 billion.
Canada has been one of the original partners on the F-35 program contributing about $330 million in R&D funding. The F-35 has been considered the replacement for the current CF-18 aircraft. Now, though, the Defence Ministry has said that while the CF-18's need to be replaced it may not be by the F-35 and other aircraft might be more cost effective.
The cost growth and schedule delays of the JSF program have been a major concern for several of the international partners in the program as they have delayed replacing aging systems as well as having to rework cost estimates and the number of aircraft they are buying.
Even so the program continues with training of pilots and ground crew from the U.S. and other nations on-going in the United States. The 5th production buy was just recently awarded and over 150 F-35 of all 3 variants are now either delivered or in production.


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Phase II all-oral combination studies of Simeprevir, TMC647055 and IDX719 for the treatment of Hepatitis C to be initiated shortly
Stockholm, Sweden — Medivir AB (OMX: MVIR) today announced a non-exclusive collaboration between Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Janssen) and Idenix Pharmaceuticals for the clinical development of an all-oral (interferon-free) direct-acting antiviral (DAA) hepatitis C (HCV) combination therapy. The collaboration will evaluate combinations including simeprevir (TMC435), a once-daily protease inhibitor jointly developed by Janssen R&D Ireland and Medivir, TMC647055, a potent once-daily NNI (non-nucleoside inhibitor) of the HCV polymerase, boosted with low dose ritonavir, being developed by Janssen and IDX719, Idenix's once-daily pan-genotypic NS5A inhibitor.
Clinical development plans include an initial drug-drug interaction study to begin in the first quarter of 2013, followed by phase II studies as agreed between the companies, and pending approval from regulatory authorities. The phase II program is expected to first evaluate the two-DAA combination of IDX719 and simeprevir plus ribavirin for 12 weeks in treatment-naïve HCV-infected patients. Subsequently, the companies plan to evaluate a three-DAA combination of IDX719, simeprevir, TMC647055/r, with or without ribavirin. The clinical trials will be conducted by Idenix. Both companies retain all rights to their respective compounds under this agreement.
"This collaboration agreement underscores our strong commitment to develop interferon-free treatment options with simeprevir as a base for hepatitis C patients", says Charlotte Edenius, EVP of Research and Development, Medivir AB. "We are committed to develop these new treatments, where already four different interferon-free combinations with simeprevir are under investigation, with the potential to achieve high viral cure rates after only 12 weeks of total treatment, and we look forward to start this new collaboration with Idenix."
For more information please contact:
Rein Piir, EVP Corporate Affairs & IR
Direct: +46 8 440 6550 or: Mobile: +46 708 537 292.
About Simeprevir (TMC435)
Simeprevir is a once-daily potent investigational hepatitis C protease inhibitor in late phase III clinical development being jointly developed by Janssen R&D Ireland and Medivir AB to treat chronic hepatitis C virus infections. Simeprevir is being investigated in combination with PegIFN/RBV in phase III trials and is also being evaluated with Direct-acting Antiviral (DAA) agents in four other phase II interferon-free combinations both with and without ribavirin (RBV).
Global phase III studies of simeprevir in combination with PegIFN/RBV include the following studies:
- QUEST-1 and QUEST-2 in treatment-naïve patients.
- PROMISE in patients who have relapsed after prior interferon-based treatment.
- ATTAIN in prior null-responder patients and studies in Japanese HCV genotype 1 patients.
In parallel to these trials, phase III studies for simeprevir are ongoing in treatment-naïve and treatment-experienced HIV-HCV co-infected patients and in HCV genotype 4 patients.
Simeprevir is also being studied in phase II interferon-free trials both with and without ribavirin:
- Simeprevir in combination with Gilead Sciences' sofosbuvir (GS7977) in hepatitis C genotype 1 treatment-naïve or prior null responder patients.
- Simeprevir in combination with BMS's, daclatasvir in hepatitis C genotype 1 treatment-naïve or prior null responder patients.
- Simeprevir in combination with Janssen's TMC647055 and low dose ritonavir in hepatitis C genotype 1 treatment-naïve, prior relapser or null responder patients.
- Simeprevir in combination with Vertex's VX-135 in hepatitis C genotype 1 treatment-naïve patients to commence in 2013.
For additional information about simeprevir, please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov
About IDX719
IDX719 is an NS5A inhibitor with low picomolar, pan-genotypic antiviral activity in vitro. To date, IDX719 has been safe and well tolerated after single and multiple doses of up to 100 mg in healthy volunteers (n=36; up to 7 days duration) and HCV-infected patients (n=69; up to 3 days duration). There have been no treatment-emergent serious adverse events reported in the program. IDX719 has demonstrated potent pan-genotypic antiviral activity in HCV-infected patients with mean maximal viral load reductions up to approximately 4.0 log10 IU/Ml across HCV genotypes 1-4 in a proof-of-concept, three-day monotherapy study. For more information about IDX719, please visit www.idenix.com.
About TMC647055
TMC647055 is a potent non-nucleoside hepatitis C polymerase inhibitor with broad genotypic coverage. TMC647055 is in phase II clinical development and is developed by Janssen R&D Ireland to treat chronic hepatitis C virus infections. TMC647055 is being investigated in combination with other DAA agents in all oral interferon-free regimens. There have been no treatment-emergent serious adverse events reported in the program.
About Hepatitis C
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease of the liver and is a leading cause of chronic liver disease and liver transplants. The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 170 million people worldwide, approximately 3% of the world's population, are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has reported that more than three million people in the United States are chronically infected with HCV.
About Medivir
Medivir is an emerging research-based pharmaceutical company focused on infectious diseases.Medivir has world class expertise in polymerase and protease drug targets and drug development which has resulted in a strong infectious disease R&D portfolio. The Company's key pipeline asset is simeprevir (TMC435), a novel protease inhibitor in late phase III clinical development for hepatitis C that is being developed in collaboration with Janssen R&D Ireland.
Medivir has also a broad product portfolio with prescription pharmaceuticals in the Nordics.
For more information about Medivir, please visit the Company's website: www.medivir.com


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Today, I'm taking a back seat to the inimitable Darryl Parks, a legend in the world of commercial radio spoken word. Darryl has an extraordinarily blunt and insightful perspective on what ails Talk Radio, and you can read it here. A few highlights: I guess I hit close to home with my prior blog post on the Ratings Disaster that is today's talk radio. The June PPM's suck for talk radio. Hell. The diary markets coming in are bringing little joy. And many in the talk radio industry just sit back and continue on autopilot with the same hard line conservative narrative hour after hour, ignoring … [Read more...]
Tag: darryl parks
Why Nothing Changes in Talk Radio
Category: Insights, Talk Radio Tags: clear channel, darryl parks, decline, disaster, general manager, mark ramsey, mark ramsey media, Media, nielsen, podcasting, ppm, program director, public radio, radio, radio industry, ratings, talk radio


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What, exactly, is springtime? Springtime is when one can finally place one's Phalænopsis orchids on one's windowsill, and also when one finds a Ferrari 599 GTO parked below one's office window.
This is what the fastest roadgoing Ferrari ever made sounds like, a sound I heard for one loud second before the hypercar's very young owner found this particular parking place below my office window, upgrading Budapest from an Alpha Minus world city to Alpha Plus status for at least 15 minutes.


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R. Kelly's plan to stop making payments on his custom mansion in an attempt to force the lender to make a loan modification backfired big time. The lender didn't modify the loan and now the Grammy winner is set to sell his 22,000-square-foot estate for $1.595 million.
The R&B singer custom-built the home back in 1997, but made headlines earlier this year when he was hit with a $2.9 million foreclosure lawsuit, which cited R. Kelly as failing to make his monthly mortgage payments. The gigantic estate, located in Olympia Fields, Illinois, features six bedrooms, eleven bathrooms, a private lake, a jungle-themed indoor pool and theater room. For those curious, this is not the mansion where R. Kelly was accused (and acquitted) of making a sex tape with an underage girl.
U.S. & World
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The Chicago Tribune reports that R. Kelly has officially bid goodbye to gigantic estates such as this one and decamped to a high-floor unit in the Trump Tower in his hometown of Chicago.
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MONTREAL – If a Canadian does become the next pope and spiritual leader to the world's one billion Catholics, the story of his ascension will begin, appropriately enough, with a hockey injury.
The moment of divine inspiration when Marc Cardinal Ouellet decided he should pursue the priesthood came as he nursed a broken leg, sustained during a game.
As the 17-year-old future cardinal rested his aching leg, he had a lot of extra time to think.
"That was the special moment," Ouellet told The Canadian Press in a 2005 interview before Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI.
"I lost my season, but I was stopped. I was very much active — over active, hyperactive — and suddenly I started to pray and to read a little more spiritual things because I was unable to play. It was decisive for my vocation."
Longtime friend Lionel Gendron, a Quebec bishop, said his pal was a good hockey player. He was studying in the province's northwest to be a teacher, and the injury gave him time to think.
"He reflected on the meaning of life," said Gendron, a bishop from the Saint-Jean-Longueuil diocese who first met Ouellet in 1965.
Ouellet, 68, is now being touted as one of the likeliest successors — perhaps even the favourite — to take over from Pope Benedict XVI.
On Monday, Benedict became the first pontiff to step down in 600 years when he declared he would resign Feb. 28, citing a lack of strength to do the job.
A pair of foreign bookmakers have ranked Ouellet, who heads the Vatican's office for bishops, as one of their three likeliest candidates.
One Canadian who will help elect the next pope was reticent Monday when asked about Ouellet's chances.
"I've known Cardinal Ouelette for many, many years," said Thomas Cardinal Collins, Archbishop of Toronto. "He's a wonderful cardinal… I think it's too early to speculate upon the profile of who should be the next pope."
Collins, Ouellet and retired cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte will travel to Vatican City to participate in conclaves during which ballots will be cast for Benedict's successor.
Ouellet, named a cardinal in 2003 by Pope John Paul II, hails from the tiny Quebec village of La Motte, nearly 500 kilometres northwest of Ottawa. He was named by Pope Benedict in 2010 to head the powerful Congregation for Bishops, which vets bishops nominations worldwide.
One expert in the church described Ouellet's resume as one packed with impressive credentials — including his intellectual abilities, his experience as a bishop and the Roman Catholic Primate of Canada, and the fact that, theologically, he is very astute and orthodox.
His relative youth is another element that could work in his favour, said Douglas Farrow, a professor in McGill University's religious studies department.
But his qualifications don't make him a lock on the papacy, Farrow added. He said the cardinals believe their choice to be divinely inspired, and the process can produce real surprises.
Other experts expressed doubt that the former Archbishop of Quebec City is a contender.
Church historian Benoit Lacroix suggested Ouellet's experience in Quebec City could hardly be described as a success.
He said his lengthy time abroad had left him unprepared for the rapid secularization of Quebec society, and he struggled to deal with it.
"He got there without understanding the evolution of Quebec — that Quebec had changed a lot over 10, 15 years," said Lacroix, a professor at Universite de Montreal.
"Quebec was no longer actively Catholic like it was. He got there with this image from his childhood, I'd say. From that standpoint he was maybe surprised, almost too surprised I believe, with respect to those events."
Ouellet, who speaks several languages, has decades of experience at different levels of the church.
He has advanced degrees in theology and philosophy from two universities in Rome. He served in Colombia, and as rector at the Grand Seminary in Montreal between 1990 and 1994 and of St. Joseph's Seminary in Edmonton from 1994 to 1997.
In Rome, he was chairman of dogmatic theology at a branch of the Pontifical Lateran University, and from 1995 to 2000 was on the staff of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy.
Ouellet's name was mentioned as long shot in 2005 to succeed John Paul II.
Last year, Ouellet shared his thoughts about whether he had hopes of becoming pope.
"I don't see myself at this level, not at all… because I see how much it entails (in terms of) responsibility," he said in response to a question on the subject in an interview with the Catholic news organization Salt + Light TV. The exchange was published online last April.
"On the other hand, I say I believe that the Holy Spirit will help the cardinals do a good choice for the leadership of the church, the Catholic church, in the future."
Ouellet has been vocal in political debates at home.
Anti-abortion remarks he made in May 2010 solicited angry reactions from a number of politicians and women's rights activists in Quebec.
At the time, Ouellet told media during a pro-life rally in Quebec City that abortion was unjustifiable, even in cases of rape.
In 2005, he testified before a Canadian Senate committee studying legislation on same-sex marriage. He urged lawmakers to block the bill and defended the role of religious people in participating in the debate.
Ouellet said he feared that the adoption of Bill C-38 would inevitably lead to religious people being regarded as bigots and homophobes.
He urged parliamentarians to remember that while Canada's Charter of Rights guarantees equality for all, it also states in its preamble that Canada was founded on principles that include the supremacy of God.
"The state must treat homosexuals with respect and find accommodations that are consistent with their rights, without placing them in a category to which they do not belong, the category of marriage," Ouellet told the 2005 hearing.
His arguments failed to turn the debate. The same-sex marriage legislation, Bill C-38, was approved by the Senate several days later.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Harper said Monday that he was shocked to hear Pope Benedict was renouncing the papacy due to his declining health.
Harper noted that two Canadian saints — Brother Andre Bessette and Kateri Tekakwitha — were canonized during Benedict's papacy. Collins, an archbishop, was elevated to the College of Cardinals.
If some of the predictions ring true when a successor to Benedict is chosen, in the coming weeks, many more tales from Canada will be told at the Vatican.
Ouellet's mother, Graziella Ouellet, told a local newspaper that her son had a knack for bringing home the biggest catches using only small pieces of bread as bait.
"He only had to put his rod in the water and he caught many fish," she told the Echo Abitibien in an July 2010 interview.
Graziella Ouellet said that God guided those fish, because her son often prayed before he headed toward the water.
Gendron agreed that Ouellet, like most young Quebecers at that time, was religious long before his hockey-related revelation led him to shift gears and become a priest.
The cardinal's connection to hockey, meanwhile, has remained intact despite the injury. Gendron said Ouellet still laces up with his nephews when he visits his family in Quebec's Abitibi region.
"Physically, he's in very good shape," Gendron said.
– with files from Magdaline Boutros, Diana Mehta in Toronto and James Keller in Vancouver