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More than 17 million Americans—including 4.8 million children—suffer from asthma.
Throughout this year's series of Marketing Tutorials, we have focused on programming for individuals who suffer from health conditions that can be prevented or minimized through regular, moderate exercise. These conditions include heart disease, osteoporosis and, most recently, stress, America's No. 1 health problem. Although these health conditions and their relation to exercise receive a lot of attention, another very common problem is often overlooked: asthma.
Between 1980 and 1994 (the last reported period), asthma cases increased by 75 percent. In 1998, the estimated number of U.S. asthmatics was 17 million, including 4.8 million children.
These numbers carry a price. Treatment costs for asthma are approximately $9.2 billion annually in the United States. Combine the rise in asthma cases with the fact that any increase in an asthmatic's cardiovascular level of fitness can dramatically improve his quality of life and you get a wonderful opportunity for health club programming.
This month's Marketing Tutorial will focus on how your club can attract and safely accommodate asthmatics into an exercise program. Remember that in order to attract a niche of prospects, the marketing must appeal to a very specific consumer, must have a low barrier of entry and must be simple to achieve for the consumer.
Asthma: The Misunderstood Condition
Most individuals know little or nothing about asthma except that those afflicted with the condition have "attacks" in which they have difficulty breathing. True, asthma is an inability to breathe properly, but the problem is more complex than that. During inhalation, air passes into the lungs through millions of progressively smaller airways called bronchioles. Bronchioles lead to alveoli, which are microscopic sacs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged. Asthma is a chronic condition in which these airways, when stimulated by allergens or other environmental triggers, undergo changes that cause patients to cough, wheeze and experience shortness of breath. (The word asthma originates from an ancient Greek word meaning panting.) There are actually two primary stages of an asthma attack: the hyper-reactive response and the inflammatory response.
When an individual's lungs are exposed to allergens or irritants, they respond by constricting. The asthmatic's airways, however, constrict and narrow excessively. This is called the hyper-reactive response stage. The excessive narrowing is further magnified by the fact that an asthmatic —unlike an individual without asthma —is unable to breathe in deeply to relax the airways and rid the lungs of the irritants. As a result of this inability to breathe normally, asthmatics pant or gasp for breath.
The hyper-reactive response in asthmatics is then followed by the inflammatory response, in which the body's immune system responds to allergens or other environmental triggers by delivering white blood cells to the airways. This results in the airways swelling, filling with fluid and producing a thick, sticky mucus. This in turn results in wheezing, breathlessness, an inability to exhale properly and a phlegm-producing cough. For many asthmatics, the only way to stop the body from responding is through medication, often referred to as an inhalator.
Although all asthmatic responses are similar, what most people don't know is that there are essentially two different kinds of asthma: ordinary asthma and exercise-induced asthma (EIA). As the name suggests, EIA only results from exercise. However, exercise will also trigger some level of coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath in 40 to 90 percent of individuals with ordinary asthma. Although EIA has the same symptoms as allergic asthma, it is not dangerous and does not require hospitalization. Some people only have EIA, while others have both types. EIA occurs most often in children and young adults with ordinary asthma. Intense exercise in cold, dry air frequently triggers EIA.
Although asthmatic conditions are cardio-respiratory, an increase in lung strength or capacity—such as the increase associated with exercise—will improve the quality of life for an asthmatic. This means with the proper marketing, programming and management, clubs can attract a new niche market (i.e., asthmatics) through their doors.
Preparing for an Asthma Program Before embarking on a program for asthmatics, you should ready your club for any instance where an asthmatic comes unprepared for an attack. (Fortunately, most asthmatics are careful to have medication close at hand—in case of an emergency.) First, educate your staff with basic information about asthma. Also, make sure everyone knows that CPR training won't help an asthmatic. CPR is designed for cardiac events and has no application to an asthma attack. Second, make sure your club has taken an appropriate inventory of its first aid materials as it relates to an asthma attack. One thing that should be on hand is a bronchiodilator (aerosol drug), which is inhaled to subdue an attack. Also, it is ideal if the club has oxygen, even if it is only a small 12-minute supply, which will provide enough time for the bronchiodilator to take effect. Furthermore, your kit should contain a plastic "spacer," a simple tool that facilitates delivery of the bronchiodilator in the event that the individual can't breathe deeply enough for the drug to get into his airways. Finally, you may also want to keep an Epipen, an adrenalin injection that can be delivered into the thigh muscle. Of course, you should seek the advice of your local doctors and/or any first aid organization on these issues to ensure your first aid kit is complete and up to date.
Type of Programs
As you design programs for asthmatics, keep in mind that you want to attract asthmatics who are not presently involved in exercise. (You would be surprised to know how many of your members are asthmatics. Of the 400 U.S. Olympic athletes in 1984, 97 were asthmatics, the majority suffering from EIA.) This way, you are reaching out to an entirely new market.
Since your club will be seeking inactive asthmatics, you will probably be dealing with deconditioned individuals who are intimidated about the prospect of beginning any type of exercise. Therefore, you will need to put together a very low-impact, easy-to-begin program. As was discussed in the June tutorial on stress programming, one of the best (and easiest) ways to attract a new niche market—without creating a management and programming nightmare—is to offer classes that are currently available at your club. In other words, any type of lowimpact class, such as tai chi, yoga or aqua aerobics, would suffice for asthmatics.
Yoga for Asthmatics
As illustrated by a recent cover story in Time magazine, yoga is one of the fastest-growing forms of exercise in the United States. The reason is that yoga offers a great workout which can be modified by the participants according to their fitness level. In addition, yoga offers a more holistic, total mind/body approach, which is growing in popularity with the aging baby boomers.
Yoga is a great choice for asthmatics for a number of reasons. First, this exercise teaches participants how to breathe deeply and to relax, giving asthmatics a greater feeling of control during attacks. Second, yoga will help participants increase their cardiovascular endurance, hence lung capacity. Finally, the breathing exercises help participants deal more effectively with stress, a common trigger for asthma.
Since most clubs already offer yoga, it's simple to market this mind/ body program to asthmatics.
Aqua Aerobics
If your club has a swimming pool, your aquatics programs—such as aerobics, power walking or even water volleyball—make great choices for asthmatics.
As previously stated, you should try to reach deconditioned asthmatics with your asthma programs. Poolbased programs are perfect for these people. While aquatic programs can give a vigorous workout, water classes are popular with the deconditioned because participants can easily alter their intensity level without looking out of place.
There is another reason to bring asthmatics into your pool. Many doctors recommend swimming for people with asthma because the humidity helps to ease breathing. (Note: High levels of chlorine in pools can cause an allergic reaction in some asthmatics, triggering an asthma attack.)
Intermittent Activities
Any exercise with intermittent periods of exertion—such as volleyball, walleyball, walking or even line dancing —make good activities for asthmatics. These activities give participants natural rest periods or allow them to slow down or sit out if any respiratory agitation occurs.
Make the Programs Short-Term!
When establishing a program for asthmatics, remember what was discussed earlier: You are reaching out to people who don't exercise regularly. Therefore, they probably won't want to make a long-term commitment until they are confident that they will be able to participate fully. The "short-term" vs. "long-term" debate has always been present in the health and fitness industry. Skeptics opposed to short-term programs argue that, due to high dropout ratios, clubs can't afford to let potential long-term members get away with a six- or eight-week commitment. This viewpoint, however, is unwarranted, especially as it relates to marketing to specific populations.
Remember that your club is NOT going to place a generic ad for a short-term membership to the club; you are going to advertise a specific type of class designed for individuals with asthma. Even if your intention is to put these individuals in your regularly scheduled classes, the advertising will not indicate this, preventing non-asthmatics from calling. Furthermore, as was discussed in June's tutorial, these short-term programs actually generate revenue for the health club while, at the same time, drawing prospects who can eventually be converted to regular, full club memberships.
Corporate Outreach
Depending upon your club's level of interest in niche marketing and the amount of work you are willing to do, you can attract asthmatics through corporate outreach. Specifically, you could set up yoga or tai chi classes at lunchtime at corporations. These classes could be part of a short-term program offered once a week, making it easy to fulfill while still attracting potential clients.
If you desire a simpler way to reach the corporate market—without any on-site responsibilities such as classes—you can distribute educational information on how asthmatics can exercise safely. This information could be something as simple as a one-page "Top 10 Tips for Asthmatics" sheet (see July). You could also create a more extensive brochure that discusses asthma in general and provides tips for prevention. Given that the information will be educational and specific, companies will be more inclined to distribute these materials in lieu of a promotional flyer for your club or class programs.
Running the Program
Although you don't need to schedule an asthmatic program during a certain time to ensure a successful turnout, you should take a few things into consideration.
First, look at general traffic patterns at your club. Unless your facility has multiple group fitness rooms that are not being used during convenient class times, it would be advisable not to run any type of short-term program during the peak months of January, February and March. Naturally, you can hold the program during downtimes, but with this niche market, you will probably need to run the class at prime time. Unfortunately, most clubs can't afford to have a specialty, nonmember program oust a member class during the early months of the year.
There's another reason not to hold the asthma program in January, February and March. Remember: Cold air frequently triggers EIA, making the winter months less favorable. Therefore a better strategy would be to conduct the program during spring, summer or fall months when your health club can comfortably handle more bodies without annoying core members.
Where to Promote the Program
As mentioned throughout this tutorial series, you need to consider three distinct marketing areas when promoting any campaign: external marketing, internal marketing and community outreach.
For asthmatic programming, external marketing is imperative to attract nonmember non-exercisers to the club. This can be done through newspaper ads. You can also distribute flyers to local businesses (i.e., corporate outreach) and, even better, directly to doctors' offices. In fact, well-organized clubs could mail an introductory letter and a packet of flyers to all local doctors, requesting that the information be placed in their waiting room. When successful, this strategy adds a tremendous amount of credibility to the program and your club in general. (See sample flyer on Adobe Acrobat download.)
Before doing any internal marketing, you will need to make a decision as to the focus of the program (i.e., do you want the class to have existing members or do you only want new, nonmember prospects?). As was the case with the free stress management study in June's tutorial, you must determine the parameters of the program before you do any marketing —internal, external or otherwise —because members will find out about it and want to participate. If you don't want members in the class, post the rules for participation and stick with them. If you decide to permit members into the class, know that they will participate, limiting the number of new prospects involved.
Your community outreach should entail a press release and follow-up phone calls to your media list. One way to make the press release more personal is to find a club member who has successfully managed her asthma or even improved her condition and quality of life through exercise participation. This will greatly increase the chances of free press, as reporters love personal interest stories.
Putting the Pieces Together
Because this month's program is so specific, it's much easier to choose the marketing vehicles and strategies.
1. External marketing through newspapers or flyers. Remember to follow the basic principles for putting together an effective advertising piece: create a compelling headline, state the benefits, pitch the offer, have a call to action and make the offer better than risk free.
2. Community outreach. By sending out a press release about asthma and, if possible, an existing member who has overcome asthma through regular exercise, you will greatly increase your chances of free publicity.
— A 16-year veteran of the club industry, Casey Conrad is president of Communication Consultants, a Wakefield, R.I.-based company that provides sales and communication seminars. She has also launched a national chain called Healthy Inspirations, Weight Loss & Lifestyle Centers. For more information about asthma programming, contact Conrad at (800) 725-6147.


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Check out the 2008 conference wiki and some of the 2007 conference information
View a complete list of MySQL contacts.
Check out the 2008 conference wiki and some of the 2007 conference information
The 2008 MySQL Conference & Expo has concluded. This year's show was a great success. Thank you to everyone who contributed. MySQL 2009 Conference & Expo dates are April 20-23.
Check out the highlights from the 2008 conferrence & expo:
The MySQL Conference & Expo brings over 1,600 open source and database enthusiasts together to harness the power of MySQL and celebrate the huge MySQL ecosystem.
The largest gathering of MySQL developers, users, and DBAs worldwide, the event reflects MySQL's wide-ranging appeal and capabilities. The open atmosphere of the MySQL Conference & Expo helps IT professionals and community members to create the best database applications, tools, and software through expert instruction, hands-on tutorials, readily available MySQL developers, and guru business advice. Users gain the knowledge they need to rapidly build solid applications with MySQL that scale with the enterprise.
At the MySQL Conference & Expo, you'll benefit not just from gathering with your peers and experts from a wide variety of companies and countries, but also by learning from some of the leading visionaries in the open source world. Join us April 14-17, 2008 in Santa Clara, California for the biggest and best MySQL event yet!
Need some suggestions of what sessions to attend? Read program chair Jay Pipes' Hitchhacker's Guide to the MySQL Conference - PHP Edition.

subset: commoncrawl


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Our Service Department and Express Lube provide automotive services for all makes and models of vehicles. We have a full detail center and retail parts department on site, as well as wholesale parts sales and delivery to all of western ND and neighboring states.
Minot Toyota has remained an industry leader for over 25 years, and we will strive to continually improve and grow in the future to meet the needs of our valued customers.
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Epson P7000
The Epson P7000 is an essential tool to me to do everything from image storage, backup and transportation to teaching. There isn't a trip I do not have it with me along with 4 spare batteries. It is just that important to my workflow. Why is there a cable behind it. You can shoot with the P7000 tethered which is so bloody cool.


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2012 – What is there waiting for us after death?
Posted on February 24, 2012 by mayarote
What is there waiting for us after death? When we are children and someone we love dies, we are told there is a heaven, a nice place people go to when they die – children are told this story because … Continue reading →
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 4th Dimension, 5th dimension, abuse, Angel, anu, Ascension, Astral projection, baidu, Bernard Poolman, cancer, child, cyber, death, demon, demons, desteni, die, Dimensions, disease, doctor, Dying, EQAFE, Freud, game, god, google, Guide, heaven, hospital, Interdimensional, kill, leukemia, matrix, OBE, planet, Portal, Portal Interdimensional Dimensions 5th dimension 4th Dimension Guide Angel leukemia cancer child death die Dying hospital demon demons Sunette Spies Desteni heaven The journey of the soul white Light, psychology, sex, Sunette Spies, systems, The ourney of the soul, white Light, wiki, Wikipedia | Leave a comment


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Hi all, sorry if this is the wrong place for this post. I just wanted to discuss a build issue that I think I finally resolved.
I spent the past few days trying to build OpenMW on my 13" 2015 MacBook Pro running High Sierra, but I kept getting an issue where the cursor would be missing or garbled on load. The cursor worked fine on the release binaries, so clearly something was up with my build. After fiddling with things, making and re-making, I finally remembered that the ReadMe for openmw-deps-mac noted that only the SDK's for 10.11 and 10.12 were supported. After using a tool to download the 10.12 SDK, I built the project using that and the pre-built dependencies and sure enough it worked! I didn't see this noted on the build instructions on the wiki page, so I didn't think to try it until pretty late in the process.
Has anyone else run into this issue trying to build on High Sierra (10.13)? At a glance the stderr output for a build on 10.12 and 10.13 is similar, but I'd have to run another build on 10.13 to take the diff.
Missing or Garbled Cursor when Building on High Sierra
Support for running, installing or compiling OpenMW
Before you submit a bug report for the first time, please read: Bug reporting guidelines
Before you submit a bug report for the first time, please read: Bug reporting guidelines
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Rh sensitization happens when a pregnant woman with Rh-negative blood is exposed to blood from her Rh-positive baby, usually during delivery. This isn't a problem in her first pregnancy, but if she gets pregnant again with an Rh-positive baby, antibodies in her blood can attack the baby's blood cells and cause serious problems.
A blood test is the only way to know you have Rh sensitization or are at risk for it.
Last Revised:
October 9, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & William Gilbert, MD - Maternal and Fetal Medicine
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
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The earliest persons of the family were said (in the records) to be from Bohol, but they did not have the surname yet . With the catálogo de apellidos of the Claveria decree spelling the surname as Satut, the period immediately after the decree, clerks spelled it the prescribed Satut but, after a year, all other Carcar records spelled it already as Satot. And by the decade 1910s, they were still Satot but some were now beginning to be spelled Sato. In a matter of time, everyone had become Sato. Sato (SA-to) is a Japanese name, probably the most common, too, but we still cannot tell if the real big change happened during the war although, again, by the 1910s, some (a very small minority), who were all — let me make the point clear, originally Satut or Satot — were already spelling it as Sato.
Although records point to the family ancestors as having come from Bohol, the surname Satot (or Satut) squares in nicely with other surnames that start with Sat- in Carcar which suggest that the surnames were distributed already in Carcar and not in Bohol. So except for branches that re-migrated to Bohol from Carcar after the surname had been given, there may not be "original" Satot or Satut or Sato families in Bohol.
please look over Sato in:


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Sri Lanka is searching for a new hangman after the latest recruit got upset on seeing the gallows for the first time and quit, officials said on Tuesday.
The Prisons Department appointed the new hangman, the third most qualified from 176 applicants, last week, months after two hangmen chosen late last year failed to show up for work.
"We gave him one week's training, but he resigned after seeing the gallows, saying that he didn't want the job," Chandrarathna Pallegama, commissioner general of prisons, told Reuters.
"He told me that after seeing the gallows he got upset... Next time, we will show the gallows to the new recruits before giving them basic training."
But it's not as if he would have been likely to hang anyone anyway. The job is light administrative work only.
The Indian Ocean island nation, a predominantly Buddhist country, has not carried out an execution since 1976, despite the fact that there are at least 405 convicts on death row.
But an alarming rise in child abuse, rapes, murders, and drug trafficking in the country since the 25-year war against Tamil Tiger separatists ended in 2009 has prompted some lawyers and politicians to push for the death penalty to be reintroduced.


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UVA braces: Up to 15 percent cuts, says guv
Governor Tim Kaine has confirmed the worst-case scenario for which UVA President John Casteen prepared, as Kaine announced Tuesday, September 8 that state universities should expect their budgets to fall by up to 15 percent. Two months ago, Casteen asked departments to prepare budgets for 5, 10, and 15 percent cuts–- and get ready for non-core programs to hit the chopping block. "This is not a time for small steps or for delays in hopes that next month will be better," Casteen wrote in his ominous July 9 email.
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To garner some funds, after trying the "Yale Model "of investing, The University could copycat the "Harvard Model" of branding clothing for the students at UVA, blue and orange of course.
After watching their endowment drop 30% last year, Michael M. Gyrnbaum writes in the Sunday NYT:
"Harvard had entered into a 10-year licensing agreement for a line of preppy clothing.....
the designers at Wearwolf, a Manhattan-based private company that created the line, will add crimson-thread buttonholes and collar details, a subtle nod to their sartorial inspiration. Oxford shirts start at $165, and sports coats run to $495."
Fred, if that's true some heads should roll.
15% cut in the football program probably won't affect it.
Fire Groh. That should save some dollars.
With all the cuts at UVA, Facilities Management is still sending a large group to Hilton Head, S.C. for a needless convention. There's about fifty of them going with their spouses included at a price to the state of about $3,000 per couple. What a waist of tax payer's money.


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Current TV offered its rebuttal to a scathing lawsuit filed by Keith Olbermann by filing a countersuit Friday detailing alleged bad behavior by its former talk show host and seeking a judge's ruling that he is not entitled to any more money from the network.
The network's filing accuses Olbermann of breaching his contract by disclosing terms of the lucrative deal, refusing to cooperate in promoting the show and taking days off without permission.
The countersuit comes one day after Olbermann sued his former employer, claiming it violated his agreement, engaged in shoddy production values and owed him more than $50 million.
"Current seeks a determination that it is no longer obligated to pay a dime to Mr. Olbermann who, having already been paid handsomely for showing up sporadically and utterly failing to keep his end of the bargain, now seeks to be paid tens of millions more for not working at all," the filing states.
The network and Olbermann have been at odds for months, and the dispute has escalated in the days since the former "Countdown" host was fired last week.
Olbermann's attorney Patricia Glaser said of Current's countersuit: "No merit. No defense. And in our view, no problem."
Current's suit claims Olbermann has damaged the network and will continue to do so. It seeks unspecified damages.
The networks' filing paints Olbermann as a petulant figure after he was hired to be Current's signature host, rejecting seven limousine companies, refusing to cooperate in promotional discussions and taking vacations with little notice. The complaint claims Olbermann wrote to Current co-founder Joel Hyatt to complain about a problem with a guest, "Give me a name so I know which of them to kill with my bare hands," and threw a glass mug on the set, which prompted a complaint from the set's landlord.
After two days of court filings, it was clear neither side was pulling punches in its description of the other.
Olbermann's lawsuit repeatedly attacked the network and described Hyatt and co-founder Al Gore as "dilettantes portraying entertainment industry executives."
"Olbermann deeply regrets his decision to put his trust in Hyatt and Gore," the lawsuit claims. "Current had neither the desire nor the ability to produce a first rate news commentary show. Olbermann did not join Current to ruin his hard-won reputation and appear on a show that was an embarrassment."
His lawsuit described a litany of technical issues, including shoddy equipment that wouldn't work if it rained, "terrible sound and filming" of the show, segments that abruptly dropped off the air, busted teleprompters and an earpiece that repeatedly malfunctioned.
Current's filing Friday claims Olbermann refused to cooperate in discussions about improving the set, and in general refused to promote the network.
Olbermann's lawsuit denied several of the claims, including that he leaked information about his contract and that his absences were unauthorized.
The former host, who claims he may be owed $70 million or more when the case is over, took to Twitter after reading Current's countersuit.
"After reading the Current filing my attorneys and I think it should be subtitled 'How To Try To Pound The Table ... And Miss,'" Olbermann posted.
Current TV Files Countersuit Against Olbermann
The network's filing accuses Olbermann of breaching his contract and seeks damages
Current TV offered its rebuttal to a scathing lawsuit filed by Keith Olbermann by filing a countersuit Friday detailing alleged bad behavior by its former talk show host and seeking a judge's ruling that he is not entitled to any more money from the network.


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How College Students Can Forecast Future Income
Start thinking now about how your degree will translate into a career.
Editor's Note: Kip Tips columnist Cameron Huddleston is on maternity leave. We have invited some of our favorite personal-finance bloggers to contribute guest posts in her absence.
By Reyna Gobel
It's never too early in life to start budgeting, especially if you've got student-loan debts about to come due once you graduate. And although you can't determine exactly how much money you'll make when you graduate, you should be able to establish a ballpark estimate with these tips from Edwin Koc, the director of Strategic and Foundation Research at the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE):
1. Start with salary surveys for new graduates. Many universities subscribe to NACE's database of salaries for recent grads or maintain their own data on their own alumni. Such surveys are a good gauge of what graduates in a multitude of majors are earning in their first jobs. NACE surveys are conducted four times per year. The September survey is the most helpful for determining future income because it's based on job offers up to four months after graduation.
If you're still a few years from graduation, ask your school's career center to see surveys from previous years to see income trends.
2. Consider location, industry, and years of experience. Average starting salaries vary by city and years of experience. Starting salaries will likely be higher for those with internships or other related job experience than for someone with a degree and no work experience.
Utilize NACE's Job Seekers Salary Calculator to calculate average salary by location, years of experience and occupation.
3. Review placement rates. Your school's career center may maintain placement-rate data, which tracks graduates' employment rates for your school. If the placement data is available, determine how likely it is you will get a job after graduation -- and how soon.
Now that you've got a better sense of your potential income, you can better assess the value of your tuition payments and your own efforts to make the most of the degree. Will a graduate degree in your field pay off? Should you be networking more, meeting with your career center, and seeking internships? Career planning can mean the difference between whether you live in your first apartment after graduation or your parent's basement.
Reyna Gobel is a freelance journalist who specializes in financial fitness. She is also the author of Graduation Debt: How To Manage Student Loans and Live Your Life.


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Freimund, Jackson & Tardif, PLLC, is a litigation firm with over 90 years combined trial and appellate experience in state and federal courts. Our primary practice areas are the defense of tort, civil rights, and employment claims against public agencies and officials.
Freimund, Jackson & Tardif, PLLC, also defends lawsuits against non-profit and private defendants. The expertise of the firm's partners in the defense of the most difficult high exposure cases against government is a foundation for the defense of similar kinds of lawsuits against private and non-profit defendants.
In addition to our extensive experience in tort litigation, the partners in the firm possess a wealth of experience in the regulatory, administrative, labor, and criminal prosecution functions of government. We accept cases involving legal challenges to government programs under either state or federal law. The firm provides advice to governments on liability-related litigation and program challenges, and on issues of insurance and risk management. We provide liability and risk management training to public and private entities in the area of tort, civil rights, and employment liabilities.


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By Laura Mandaro, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Mark Mobius is bargain-hunting for emerging-markets stocks. But the selloff may need to deepen before this veteran value investor gets really interested.
"We view such selloffs as opportunities to pick up bargains if, in fact, the prices move low enough," said the globe-trotting, 77-year-old executive chairman of Franklin Templeton's Templeton Emerging Markets Group, via email.
Laura Mandaro/MarketWatch Enlarge Image
"However, we have found these kinds of fluctuations are often short-lived and don't go down far enough to necessarily present exciting opportunities."
Mobius is often looked to as a guru of emerging markets investments. Since the 1980s he has sung the investment opportunities of fast-growing, higher-risk markets, from China to Mexico, to more recently, Nigeria, Vietnam and Romania. Operating from a base in Hong Kong, he talks to real-estate developers in Shenzhen and tweets from Lagos. On a trip to Buffalo, N.Y. last year, he stopped by a pawnshop — to check in on the diamond resale market.
When emerging markets retreat, as they regularly and sometimes spectacularly do, he gets asked: Now what? Take profits or dig in deeper? After all, the stock market in Turkey, the nexus of concern for the most recent bout of emerging-markets selling, had surged nearly four-fold, to record highs, from 2008 until it peaked in May 2013. It's since fallen into a bear market.
The broader emerging markets class doesn't bear the same bruises. But it's not looking that pretty. Last week, $6.4 billion left emerging-markets equities funds, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and EPFR Global, the largest exodus since August 2011.
An exchange-traded fund that tracks the benchmark MSCI Emerging Markets Index /zigman2/quotes/201454250/composite EEM +2.27% is down nearly 9% this year and 14% from its 52-week high. Templeton's flagship Templeton Developing Markets Trust /zigman2/quotes/206983518/realtime TEDMX +1.61% , which Mobius co-manages, is down 7% so far this year.
Yet for a value investor like Mobius, such conditions make prime hunting grounds.
"We've repeatedly championed our value-driven philosophy by frequently buying at times others are most pessimistic," he said. "We are finding the valuations in many emerging and frontier stocks particularly attractive at the current time."
Less than a year ago, Mobius was asked the same questions against a similar backdrop. In May and June, after former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's "next few meetings" signal that the Fed could soon start to cut back its monetary stimulus, U.S. bond yields spiked and emerging markets bonds tumbled. The selling spread to emerging markets equities and global stocks, invoking the spectre of a global crisis.
Emerging markets recovered much of those second-quarter losses, rebounding 20% from their late-June lows. But this January, investors again started to dump emerging markets with little discrimination — goaded by rising growth prospects in developed economies, the prospects for higher U.S. rates, and trouble in some developing economies, including a manufacturing slowdown in China, inflation and political risk in Turkey, and a currency devaluation in Argentina.
Volatility, in frequent bouts, is part of investing in any markets these days, said Mobius. What's happened recently "is the type of volatility that we have become accustomed to," he added.
"Markets generally, not only emerging markets, have become much more volatile during the last 20 years as a result of massive flows of money" from mutual funds, institutional investors, hedge funds and high-frequency traders, he said.
Watch: Nouriel Roubini on the risk posed to the global economy from emerging markets


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More HIV meds could be approved next year -- some that come from new classes of drugs and some from already approved classes. Here's a brief look at a few.
Blocking the Door
Several drugs are targeting HIV's entry into CD4 cells. The hope is that preventing the virus from even entering the cell will result in less damage to cells and fewer side effects.
Vicriviroc could be the second co-receptor inhibitor to receive FDA approval (the first, Selzentry, was approved in 2007). These drugs interfere with the second step in HIV's entry into a CD4 cell, by blocking the R5 co-receptor.
The VICTOR-E1 study of vicriviroc (in people resistant to other HIV drugs) found that after 48 weeks, 59% of those who added vicriviroc to approved HIV drugs had their viral load drop below 50, compared with 25% of those who took the approved drugs only. Two larger trials in people resistant to other HIV drugs are finishing soon and could report results before the end of the year.
Trials of Selzentry and vicriviroc in people who have not taken HIV meds before have found these drugs to be less effective than Sustiva, but this may have been due to the tropism test used. This test screens out anyone who has HIV that uses the X4 co-receptor, since these drugs will not be effective in those people. But looking back at studies of regimens containing Selzentry using a new, more sensitive tropism test, it was discovered that the drug was as effective as Sustiva in people screened with the more sensitive test.
Both drugs are currently in trials for people who have never taken HIV meds before, using the newer tropism test. Vicriviroc is being studied with Reyataz/Norvir but no other HIV meds. This is a new approach, since most HIV regimens include nucleosides like Truvada or Combivir. Norvir will not only boost Reyataz levels, but should also increase vicriviroc concentrations 5 to 6 times. Results from this trial could be available in 2010.
TBR-652 is another R5 co-receptor inhibitor that is just beginning its first study in people with HIV. Early studies have shown that it will likely be taken once a day, will not require Norvir boosting, is well tolerated, and may be more potent than Selzentry.
Ibalizumab (TNX-355) is different from Selzentry and vicriviroc in that it blocks the CD4 receptor on T cells rather than a blocking a co-receptor. This means it could be effective against virus that use either the R5 or X4 co-receptor. It is a genetically engineered monoclonal antibody, made by cloning a single parent cell and producing exact copies that bind to the same CD4 receptor that HIV binds to. It is currently enrolling a Phase II trial that should complete in October 2010.
An earlier study found that people who had taken HIV meds before had greater viral load drops when ibalizumab was added to approved HIV drugs. They also had greater increases in CD4 counts: a rise of 51 vs. 5 for those not taking ibalizumab. The drug is being studied as an infusion given every two weeks, so it's unlikely that a pill form will be possible. If approved, it will probably be used only in people who have become resistant to other HIV meds.
Contenders to the Throne
Sustiva is currently one of the most effective and commonly prescribed HIV meds, but that could change if newer drugs in its class (non-nucleosides) are approved.
Sustiva is currently one of the most effective and commonly prescribed HIV meds, but that could change if newer drugs in its class (non-nucleosides) are approved. About half of people who take it develop central nervous system (CNS) side effects like vivid dreams and dizziness in the first two weeks. These usually go away within a few weeks but 4 to 10% of people stop the drug because of them. It may also be linked to fat changes in the body. Intelence, the first new drug in this class in over a decade, was recently approved for people who have become resistant to Sustiva. But three new drugs in this class are worth watching.
Rilpivirine is a once-daily pill that is active against HIV that is resistant to Sustiva. In a two-year study of people who had not taken HIV meds before, it was as effective as Sustiva in lowering viral loads to below 50. But it caused less rash (9% v. 21%) and fewer CNS side effects (31% v. 48%) than Sustiva. Also, triglycerides dropped in people taking rilpivirine but rose in those taking Sustiva. There are plans to combine rilpivirine with Viread and Emtriva in a single pill, creating a competitor for Atripla (also a three-drug pill). Another study is looking at a form of the drug that is given as an injection once a month.
There are plans to combine rilpivirine with Viread and Emtriva in a single pill, creating a competitor for Atripla.
IDX899 showed strong antiviral activity in a seven-day study in 32 people with HIV who had not taken HIV meds before. In this short study, side effects were generally mild and were similar to those in people taking a placebo. It may be less prone to resistance than Sustiva (which requires only one mutation for resistance to develop).
RDEA806 is active against HIV that is resistant to Sustiva, but unlike other non-nucleosides it is not processed by the liver's P450 system, so it will most likely not interact with other medications that use this system. A small study found significant viral load drops after 8 days in people who had not taken HIV meds before. Another study found that the drug has "a high genetic barrier to resistance," meaning that HIV must create multiple mutations in order for the drug to stop working.
Blocking Integration
Researchers began looking for a drug to block HIV's integrase enzyme in the early '90s, but several of these drugs failed. Finally, Isentress was approved in 2007 for people who were resistant to other HIV meds, and that approval was expanded in July of 2009 to include those who had never taken HIV meds before. It has been shown to be a powerful drug, lowering viral load faster than other drugs while having few side effects.
Elvitegravir will likely be the second integrase inhibitor to receive FDA approval. Unlike Isentress, it must be boosted with Norvir or a similar drug, and is taken once a day. In a study of people who were resistant to some protease inhibitors, people taking elvitegravir had greater viral load drops than those who took Prezista or Aptivus.
The drug is currently being tested as part of a "quad combo" pill that combines it with Viread, Emtriva, and GS 9350 (a new boosting agent that works like Norvir). If approved, it could challenge Atripla in the "one pill, once a day" category. A study comparing the two regimens in people who have never taken HIV meds is underway.
GSK 1349572 is a new integrase inhibitor whose first results were reported at the IAS conference in July of 2009. It may lower viral loads even more quickly than Isentress or elvitegravir. In a study of people who had not taken an integrase inhibitor before, 7 of 10 people taking the highest dose of the drug (and no other HIV drugs) achieved an undetectable viral load within 10 days. Unlike Isentress, it is taken once a day, and unlike elvitegravir, it does not require a boosting agent.
Blocking the Exit
Bevirimat could be the first HIV "maturation inhibitor." Like protease inhibitors, maturation inhibitors interfere with the final processing of newly made HIV proteins, but these drugs bind to the gag protein rather than to the protease enzyme. The resulting virus particles have defects that make them unable to infect other CD4 cells.
Generally, when a first-in-class drug becomes available, few people have resistance to it. But recent studies have found that bevirimat is not effective in some people whose virus is resistant to protease inhibitors. A study that screens out people who have certain gag mutations is planned to start later this year.
While none of the above drugs appear to be major breakthroughs, they would bring us closer to the goal of effective, easy-to-take regimens that have fewer side effects. While we wait for a cure, these new meds could mean that people with HIV will find it easier to live with and control their virus.
Mark Milano is an HIV Health Educator and Editor of Achieve.
Want to read more articles in the Summer 2009 issue of Achieve? Click here.


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FOIA Overview:
What is the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)? FOIA establishes the public's right to obtain agency records from the federal government. "Any person" can file a FOIA request—U.S citizens, foreign nationals, organizations, associations, and state/local governments, etc. View the FOIA Overview document to learn more about the FOIA.
Exemption 5
: This exemption protects internal agency information that is predecisional or part of the deliberative process, as well as information that contains privilege attorney/agency communications and attorney generated documents.


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Hey guys, so my problem is that I created a new Jframe in netbeans, and I added a Jlist and a jButton, the list is supposed to display some books ( I also have a class Book created), so the button I added is named Show books, I created DefaultListModel that will contain the books so that I can pass it after the my List to show Books. So this is the code I wrote for handling event of my button:
book1 and book2 are instances of class book that I already created, and of course I created an instance of the class DefaultListModel before. For now it's working, when I click on Show books button, the books I created get displayed in the list, but the problem is that whenever I reclick again on it, they are added another time, etc.. which should not be normal.. How can I do so that when clicking on the button, the books get shown only once and not each time ? Here is the screen of the application:
Javaproblem - HostingPics.net - Hébergement d'images gratuit
And here is what happens if I click many times on the show books button:
java2problem - HostingPics.net - Hébergement d'images gratuit
I really hope you will help me


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As Jenny lay on the obstetrician's examination table, she was grateful that the ultrasound tech had turned off the overhead screen. She didn't want to see the two shadows floating inside her. Since making her decision, she had tried hard not to think about them, though she could often think of little else. She was 45 and pregnant after six years of fertility bills, ovulation injections, donor eggs and disappointment — and yet here she was, 14 weeks into her pregnancy, choosing to extinguish one of two healthy fetuses, almost as if having half an abortion. As the doctor inserted the needle into Jenny's abdomen, aiming at one of the fetuses, Jenny tried not to flinch, caught between intense relief and intense guilt.
"Things would have been different if we were 15 years younger or if we hadn't had children already or if we were more financially secure," she said later. "If I had conceived these twins naturally, I wouldn't have reduced this pregnancy, because you feel like if there's a natural order, then you don't want to disturb it. But we created this child in such an artificial manner — in a test tube, choosing an egg donor, having the embryo placed in me — and somehow, making a decision about how many to carry seemed to be just another choice. The pregnancy was all so consumerish to begin with, and this became yet another thing we could control."
For all its successes, reproductive medicine has produced a paradox: in creating life where none seemed possible, doctors often generate more fetuses than they intend. In the mid-1980s, they devised an escape hatch to deal with these megapregnancies, terminating all but two or three fetuses to lower the risks to women and the babies they took home. But what began as an intervention for extreme medical circumstances has quietly become an option for women carrying twins. With that, pregnancy reduction shifted from a medical decision to an ethical dilemma. As science allows us to intervene more than ever at the beginning and the end of life, it outruns our ability to reach a new moral equilibrium. We still have to work out just how far we're willing to go to construct the lives we want.
Jenny's decision to reduce twins to a single fetus was never really in doubt. The idea of managing two infants at this point in her life terrified her. She and her husband already had grade-school-age children, and she took pride in being a good mother. She felt that twins would soak up everything she had to give, leaving nothing for her older children. Even the twins would be robbed, because, at best, she could give each one only half of her attention and, she feared, only half of her love. Jenny desperately wanted another child, but not at the risk of becoming a second-rate parent. "This is bad, but it's not anywhere as bad as neglecting your child or not giving everything you can to the children you have," she told me, referring to the reduction. She and her husband worked out this moral calculation on their own, and they intend to never tell anyone about it. Jenny is certain that no one, not even her closest friends, would understand, and she doesn't want to be the object of their curiosity or feel the sting of their judgment.
This secrecy is common among women undergoing reduction to a singleton. Doctors who perform the procedure, aware of the stigma, tell patients to be cautious about revealing their decision. (All but one of the patients I spoke with insisted on anonymity.) Some patients are so afraid of being treated with disdain that they withhold this information from the obstetrician who will deliver their child.
What is it about terminating half a twin pregnancy that seems more controversial than reducing triplets to twins or aborting a single fetus? After all, the math's the same either way: one fewer fetus. Perhaps it's because twin reduction (unlike abortion) involves selecting one fetus over another, when either one is equally wanted. Perhaps it's our culture's idealized notion of twins as lifelong soul mates, two halves of one whole. Or perhaps it's because the desire for more choices conflicts with our discomfort about meddling with ever more aspects of reproduction.
No agency tracks how many reductions occur in the United States, but those who offer the procedure report that demand for reduction to a singleton, while still fairly rare, is rising. Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, one of the largest providers of the procedure, reported that by 1997, 15 percent of reductions were to a singleton. Last year, by comparison, 61 of the center's 101 reductions were to a singleton, and 38 of those pregnancies started as twins.
That shift has made some doctors in the field uneasy, and many who perform pregnancy reductions refuse to go below twins. After being rebuffed by physicians close to home, Jenny went online and found Dr. Joanne Stone, the highly regarded head of Mount Sinai's maternal-fetal-medicine unit. Jenny traveled thousands of miles to get there. She still resents the first doctor back home who told her she shouldn't reduce twins and another who dismissively told her to just buck up and buy diapers in bulk.
Even some people who support abortion rights admit to feeling queasy about reduction to a singleton. "I completely respect and support a woman's choice," one commentator wrote on UrbanBaby.com, referring to a woman who said she reduced her pregnancy to protect her marriage and finances. One fetus was male, the other female, and the woman eliminated the male because she already had a son. "Something about that whole situation just seemed unethical to me," the commentator continued. "I just couldn't sleep at night knowing that I terminated my daughter's perfectly healthy twin brother."
Dr. Mark Evans, an obstetrician and geneticist, was among the first to reduce a pregnancy. He quickly became one of the procedure's most visible and busiest practitioners, as well as one of the most prolific authors on the topic. Early on, Evans decided the industry needed guidelines, and in 1988, he and an ethicist with the National Institutes of Health issued them. One of their central tenets was that most reductions below twins violated ethical principles.
Two years later, as demand for twin reductions climbed, Evans published another journal article, arguing that reduction to singletons "crosses the line between doing a procedure for a medical indication versus one for a social indication." He urged his colleagues to resist becoming "technicians to our patients' desires."
The justification for eliminating some fetuses in a multiple pregnancy was always to increase a woman's chance of bringing home a healthy baby, because medical risks rise with every fetus she carries. The procedure, which is usually performed around Week 12 of a pregnancy, involves a fatal injection of potassium chloride into the fetal chest. The dead fetus shrivels over time and remains in the womb until delivery. Some physicians found reduction unnerving, particularly because the procedure is viewed under ultrasound, making it quite visually explicit, which is not the case with abortion. Still, even some doctors who opposed abortion agreed that it was better to save some fetuses than risk them all.
Through the early 1990s, the medical consensus was that reducing pregnancies of quadruplets or quintuplets clearly improved the health of the woman and her offspring. Doctors disagreed about whether to reduce those to triplets or twins and about whether to reduce triplet gestations at all. But as ultrasound equipment improved and doctors gained technical expertise, the procedure triggered fewer miscarriages, and many doctors concluded that reducing a triplet gestation to twins was safer than a triplet birth. Going below twins, though, was usually out of the question.
In 2004, however, Evans publicly reversed his stance, announcing in a major obstetrics journal that he now endorsed twin reductions. For one thing, as more women in their 40s and 50s became pregnant (often thanks to donor eggs), they pushed for two-to-one reductions for social reasons. Evans understood why these women didn't want to be in their 60s worrying about two tempestuous teenagers or two college-tuition bills. He noted that many of the women were in second marriages, and while they wanted to create a child with their new spouse, they did not want two, especially if they had children from a previous marriage. Others had deferred child rearing for careers or education, or were single women tired of waiting for the right partner. Whatever the particulars, these patients concluded that they lacked the resources to deal with the chaos, stereophonic screaming and exhaustion of raising twins.
Evans's new position wasn't just a reaction to changing demographics. The calculus of risks had also changed. For one thing, he argued, in experienced hands like his, the procedure rarely prompted a miscarriage. For another, recent studies had revealed that the risks of twin pregnancies were greater than previously thought. They carried an increased chance of prematurity, low birth weight and cerebral palsy in the babies and gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia in the mother. Marking what he called a "juncture in the cultural evolution of human understanding of twins," Evans concluded that "parents who choose to reduce twins to a singleton may have a higher likelihood of taking home a baby than pregnancies remaining with twins." He became convinced that everyone carrying twins, through reproductive technology or not, should at least know that reduction was an option. "Ethics," he said, "evolve with technology."
Many doctors, including some who do reduction to a singleton, dispute Evans's conclusions, pointing out that while twin pregnancies carry more risks than singleton pregnancies, most twins (especially fraternal) do just fine. Dr. Richard Berkowitz, a perinatologist at Columbia University Medical Center who was an early practitioner of pregnancy reduction, says: "The overwhelming majority of women carrying twins are going to be able to deliver two healthy babies." Though Berkowitz insists that there is no clear medical benefit to reducing below twins, he will do it at a patient's request. "In a society where women can terminate a single pregnancy for any reason — financial, social, emotional — if we have a way to reduce a twin pregnancy with very little risk, isn't it legitimate to offer that service to women with twins who want to reduce to a singleton?"
Berkowitz gave me a short history of reduction. Perinatology's goal is to improve pregnancy outcomes, he said. Reduction began as part of that effort: losing some fetuses for the sake of others. But its role evolved into something quite different, as patients requested elective reduction to a singleton. "The only reason we're the ones doing that is because we're the ones who have the skills to do it, but that's not why we got those skills," he said. "It didn't start with people who conceived twins and said, 'I only want one'; it ended up with that."
Other doctors refuse to reduce below twins unless the pregnancy presents unusual medical concerns. Among them is Dr. Ronald Wapner, director of reproductive genetics at Columbia and another reduction pioneer. Sometime in the late 1990s, when Wapner practiced in Philadelphia, he received his first two-to-one request. "She said, 'Either reduce me to a singleton, or I'll end the pregnancy.' " He consulted his staff, all women, and they concluded that if a woman can choose to end a pregnancy, she can reduce from two to one. Besides, in this case, the team would be saving a fetus that would otherwise be aborted.
As word spread, a stream of patients called Wapner's office, scheduling reductions to a singleton. A few months later, after the last patient of the day left, the sonographer who had worked with Wapner for nearly 20 years stopped at his office. She told me what happened next, on condition of anonymity because she doesn't want her relatives to know everything her work entails: "I told him I just wasn't comfortable doing a termination of a healthy baby for social reasons, and that if we were going to do a lot of these elective reductions, I thought he should bring in someone else who was more comfortable. From the beginning, I had wrestled with the whole idea of doing reductions, because I was raised in the church. And after a lot of soul searching, I had decided there were truly good medical reasons to reducing higher-order multiples to twins. But I had a hard time reconciling doing reductions two to one. So I said to Dr. Wapner, 'Is this really the business we want to be in?' "
Wapner immediately called a meeting with his staff. Every one of them — the sonographer, the genetic counselors, the schedulers — supported abortion rights, but all confessed their growing unease with reductions to a singleton. "There's no medical justification in a normal twin pregnancy to reduce to one," Wapner said. "So we decided to allocate our resources to those who would get the most benefit. We were in the business to improve pregnancy outcomes, and those reductions didn't fit the criteria." He hasn't done an elective two-to-one reduction since.
Evans estimates that the majority of doctors who perform reductions will not go below twins. Shelby Van Voris was pregnant with triplets when she discovered this for herself. After she and her husband tried for three years to get pregnant, they went to a fertility doctor near their home in Savannah, Ga. He put Shelby, then 30, on fertility drugs, and when that didn't work, he ramped things up with injections. By then, her husband, a 33-year-old Army officer, had been deployed to Iraq. He left behind three vials of sperm, and she was artificially inseminated. "You do weird things when mortars are flying at your husband's head," she said. She soon found out she was carrying triplets. Frantic, she yelled at the doctor: "This is not an option for us! I want only one!"
Her fertility specialist referred her to a doctor in Atlanta who did reductions. But when Shelby called, the office manager told her that she would have to pay extra for temporary staff to assist with the procedure, because the regular staff refused to reduce pregnancies below twins. She contacted three more doctors, and in each case was told: not below two. "It was horrible," she says. "I felt like the pregnancy was a monster, and I just wanted it out, but because we tried for so long, abortion wasn't an option. My No. 1 priority was to be the best mom I could be, but how was I supposed to juggle two newborns or two screaming infants while my husband was away being shot at? We don't have family just sitting around waiting to get called to help me with a baby."
Eventually, she heard about Evans and flew to New York for the procedure. "I said, 'You choose whoever is going to be safe and healthy,' " she says. "I didn't give him any other criteria. I didn't choose gender. None of that was up for grabs, because I had to make it as ethically O.K. for me as I could. But I wanted only one."
She paid $6,500 for the reduction and left Evans's office incredibly relieved. "I went out on that street with my mother and jumped up and down saying: 'I'm pregnant! I'm pregnant!' And then I went and bought baby clothes for the first time."
Today, her daughter is 2½ years old. Shelby intends to tell her about the reduction someday, to teach her that women have choices, even if they're sometimes difficult. "I am the mother of a very demanding toddler," she says. "I can't imagine this times two, and not ever knowing if I'd have another person here to help me. This is what I can handle. I'm good with this. But that's all."
Who doesn't want to create a more certain and comfortable future for themselves and their children? The more that science makes that possible, the more it has inflated our expectations of what family life should be. We've come to believe that the improvements are not only our due but also our responsibility. Just look at the revolution in attitudes toward selecting egg or sperm donors. In the 1970s, when sperm donation took off, most clients were married women with infertile husbands; many couples didn't want to know about the source of the donation. Today patients in the United States can choose donors based not only on their height, hair color and ethnicity but also on their academic and athletic accomplishments, temperament, hairiness and even the length of a donor's eyelashes.
Sheena Iyengar, a social psychologist at Columbia Business School and the author of "The Art of Choosing," suggests that limitless choice is a particularly American ideal. In a talk at a TED conference last year in Oxford, England, Iyengar said that "the story upon which the American dream depends is the story of limitless choice. This narrative promises so much: freedom, happiness, success. It lays the world at your feet and says you can have anything, everything." Nevertheless, she subsequently told me, "we are in the midst of a choice revolution right now, where we're trying to figure out where the ethical boundaries should be."
Reduction is hardly the only area in which reproductive innovation has outpaced cultural consensus. Americans disagree bitterly about abortion. They also debate the ethics of egg donation, sex selection, gestational surrogacy and menopausal women being impregnated with younger women's fertilized eggs. And yet all these options are now available, at least to those who are well heeled or well insured.
The ability of women to control their fertility has created all kinds of welcome choices. "But the dark lining of that otherwise very silver cloud is that you make the choice of when to get pregnant, and so you feel really responsible for its consequences, like do you have enough money to do it well, and are you going to be able to provide your child with everything you think you ought to provide?" says Josephine Johnston, a bioethicist at the Hastings Center in Garrison, N.Y., who focuses on assisted reproduction. "In an environment where you can have so many choices, you own the outcome in a way that you wouldn't have, had the choices not existed. If reduction didn't exist, women wouldn't worry that by not reducing, they're at fault for making life more difficult for their existing kids. In an odd way, having more choices actually places a much greater burden on women, because we become the creators of our circumstance, whereas, before, we were the recipients of them. I'm not saying we should have less choices; I'm saying choices are not always as liberating and empowering as we hope they will be."
Consider the choice of which fetus to eliminate: if both appear healthy (which is typical with twins), doctors aim for whichever one is easier to reach. If both are equally accessible, the decision of who lives and who dies is random. To the relief of patients, it's the doctor who chooses — with one exception. If the fetuses are different sexes, some doctors ask the parents which one they want to keep.
Until the last decade, most doctors refused even to broach that question, but that ethical demarcation has eroded, as ever more patients lobby for that option and doctors discover that plenty opt for girls. Some patients, like Shelby Van Voris, want no part in the decision. Others say that as much as they hate the idea of choosing based on sex, if there's a choice to be made, they want to be the ones to make it.
Society judges reproductive choices based on the motives behind them. Though roughly half of Americans identify as "pro-choice" and half as "pro-life," polls also show the distinction blurs depending on why the woman is aborting. If a woman is the victim of incest or rape, or if her health is threatened, far more people — including abortion opponents — understand her choice to end the pregnancy. Support falls off if a woman aborts for financial reasons and is lowest of all if she aborts because of the fetus's sex.
Think about the common reaction to a woman who aborts because contraception failed versus a woman (and her partner) who took no precaution at all. "It changes our judgment of the moral character of the individual making the abortion decision," says Bonnie Steinbock, a philosophy professor at SUNY Albany who is on the ethics committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. "In the first case, it wasn't her 'fault'; in the second, it was. It doesn't mean the careless person shouldn't have the right to an abortion, but it does mean we're going to have a very different reaction to that choice." Likewise, people may judge two-to-one reductions more harshly because the fertility treatment that yielded the pregnancy significantly increased the chance of multiples. "People may think, You brought this about yourself, so you should be willing to take some of the risk," Steinbock says.
Women who reduce to singletons sometimes think the same thing. "Most of the two-to-one patients have gone to incredible lengths to get pregnant," Donna Steinberg, a clinical psychologist in Manhattan who specializes in counseling infertility patients, says. "They've paid a lot of money and put their bodies through tremendous stress, and they've gotten what they wanted — and now they're going to reduce? Outsiders think, How is that possible? And that's also where the patients' guilt comes from."
It's not only the parents who may feel guilty. Even if parents work hard to conceal it, the child may discover the full story of his or her origins, and we don't know what feelings of guilt or vulnerability or loss this discovery might summon.
The doctors who do reductions sometimes sense their patients' unease, and they work to assuage it. "I do spend quite a bit of time going through the medical risks of twins with them, because it takes away a little bit of the guilt they feel," says Stone, the Mount Sinai doctor. Sometimes, she says, couples disagree about whether to reduce a twin pregnancy, and she encourages them to see a therapist so they can be at peace with whatever they decide.
One of Stone's patients, a New York woman, was certain that she wanted to reduce from twins to a singleton. Her husband yielded because she would be the one carrying the pregnancy and would stay at home to raise them. They came up with a compromise. "I asked not to see any of the ultrasounds," he said. "I didn't want to have that image, the image of two. I didn't want to torture myself. And I didn't go in for the procedure either, because less is more for me." His wife was relieved that her husband remained in the waiting room; she, too, didn't want to deal with his feelings.
In some ways, the reasons for reducing to a singleton are not so different from the decision to abort a pregnancy because prenatal tests reveal anomalies. In both cases, the pregnancies are wanted, but not when they entail unwanted complications — complications for the parents as much as the child. Many studies show the vast majority of patients abort fetuses after prenatal tests reveal genetic conditions like Down syndrome that are not life-threatening. What drives that decision is not just concern over the quality of life for the future child but also the emotional, financial or social difficulty for parents of having a child with extra needs. As with reducing two healthy fetuses to one, the underlying premise is the same: this is not what I want for my life.
That was the thinking of Dr. Naomi Bloomfield, an obstetrician near Albany who found out she was pregnant with twins when her first child was not quite a year old. "I couldn't have imagined reducing twins for nonmedical reasons," she said, "but I had an amnio and would have had an abortion if I found out that one of the babies had an anomaly, even if it wasn't life-threatening. I didn't want to raise a handicapped child. Some people would call that selfish, but I wouldn't. Parents who abort for an anomaly just don't want that life for themselves, and it's their prerogative to fashion their lives how they want. Is terminating two to one really any different morally?"
I was eight weeks pregnant when my husband and I, with our 2-year-old daughter in tow, visited friends who had recently had twins. Our friends, two of the most laid-back parents we knew, looked exhausted, beaten, overrun. Between their infants and their 3-year-old, it seemed someone was always hungry, howling or filling a diaper. The second my husband and I stepped into our car to drive home, we said in unintentional unison, "Thank God we're not having twins."
One week later, I began to cramp and bleed, so my midwife did an ultrasound to see if I had miscarried. The fetus was fine. It wasn't, however, alone. "Twins," the midwife announced cheerfully. My terror was instantaneous, and for the next few days, I could not seem to grab enough oxygen to breathe. Aborting half the pregnancy didn't occur to us — who knew it would even be doable? — but for a few panicky hours, we wondered if it was possible to give one up for adoption.
I was right to be afraid. Studies report enormous disruption in families with multiples, and higher levels of social isolation, exhaustion and depression in mothers of twins. The incessant demands of caring for two same-aged babies eclipse the needs of other children and the marriage. It certainly did for us. There's no doubt that life with twins and a third child so close in age has often felt all-consuming and out of control. And yet the thought of not having any one of them is unbearable now, because they are no longer shadowy fetuses but full-fledged human beings whom I love in a huge and aching way.
Plenty of infertility patients who conceive twins are ecstatic from the start about getting a two-for-one deal; some studies indicate that the majority of I.V.F. patients prefer twins. Though most doctors don't believe reduction below twins is medically justified, they do argue that it is best to avoid a multiple pregnancy from the outset. Fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization both markedly increase the chance of multiples. About 5 to 20 percent of pregnancies from fertility drugs turn out to be twins or higher, according to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and half of babies conceived through I.V.F. are part of a multiple pregnancy. Perinatologists and obstetricians have lobbied fertility specialists to use ovulation-inducing drugs more judiciously and to transfer fewer embryos into their patients. Over the past few years, the campaign has resulted in fewer pregnancies of triplets and up, but the number of twin pregnancies continues to climb. Clearly there is room for improvement. The problem is that for all the choices and opportunities that fertility treatments offer, there is still a lot that doctors cannot control.
A. and her partner had been together 15 years when they decided to get serious about having children. Because both women were 45, they tried to double their already slim chances by both being inseminated. They each tried it three times; nothing took. At their doctor's suggestion, they chose an egg donor in her mid-20s. Both women went through I.V.F., each with two embryos transferred. Both women got pregnant, but A. quickly miscarried. Her partner (who did not want to be identified, even by an initial) gave birth to a healthy boy, whom they adore. A. did another round of I.V.F. with frozen embryos, hoping to provide their son with a sibling. It didn't work. So when their boy was nearly a year old, both women underwent I.V.F. again. Given A.'s fertility history, the doctor predicted she had just a 5 percent chance of getting pregnant.
On their son's first birthday, both women found out they were pregnant, both with twins. Four in all. "In our wildest expectations, we never imagined being in this situation," A. said. "We both went through I.V.F. before, and we came out with one baby. We did it exactly the same way as last time, so we never expected this."
A. and her partner were sick, physically and emotionally. Because A. had already miscarried once, her doctor worried she might not carry two to term; if she reduced, the doctor said, she had a better chance of taking a baby home. The women were tempted to reduce both pregnancies, so each woman would carry one, in part to ensure that even if one miscarried, they would have at least one baby. "But we discovered that the reality of having two pregnant moms when you have a 14-month-old is insane. We've both been very ill from the pregnancies, and it's been hard to give him what he needs. At 14 months, they're inquisitive and energetic, and it was becoming harder and harder to chase him and get him up and down the slide. There were days I'd be in the bathroom throwing up, she'd be on all fours with him, and then we'd switch. We all think we can conquer the world, but then reality hits you, and you realize you have limitations."
For the sake of the boy they already had, they decided to reduce A.'s pregnancy to one, and right after that A.'s partner lost her whole pregnancy. "I don't wish this on anyone," A. says. "I'm very grateful that we had this option at our disposal, that it can be done safely and in a legal way, but it was very difficult for both of us. I still wonder, Did we choose the right one? — even though I wasn't the one who chose. That idea, that one's gone and one's here, it's almost like playing God. I mean, who are we to choose? Even as it was happening, I wondered what the future would have been if the doctor had put the needle into the other one."
The women have told no one in their families, no colleagues and only one friend.
I asked A. what would happen if she wound up losing the pregnancy after all.
"We've talked a lot about it," she said, after a bit. "I've come to realize there's only so much we can control. There's a point where you just have to let nature take its course."
Their baby is due in December.


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Suppose p(x) is an irreducible polynomial over Q of degree n, with integer coefficients. If p(x) has two roots r1 and r2 satisfying r1r2 = 5, prove that n is even.
Attempt at solution:
Because the base field is Q, the field extension is separable, hence no roots of multiplicity > 1.
Because r1r2 = 5, I think we can show that if the degree of n is odd, then this will contradict the fact that p(x) has integer coefficients somehow, but I can't seem to do this.
Any help would be appreciated very much, thank you.


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So I have been watching this video for two days straight and it never gets old lol. Who are Hotta Claps and Danger? They sound contagious.
It is the tackiest, low budget piece of shit I have ever seen, the singing is awful, the production is worse and the music video is laughable. However, I must give them props for bravery to actually go out there and do something.


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In anticipation of the long overdue iOS 4.2 update for the iPad (which will finally bring folders and multitasking to the tablet), Reeder for iPad (TMA Review)Â has just been updated with support for task completion syncing. As such, the app can be closed and your Google feeds will continue to download in the background. Facebook and Zootool are also new additions to the already expansive sharing options. Other changes/fixes include:
Other Changes:
– Less sensitive slider controls
– Larger tap area for prev/next article buttons
– Better handling of accounts with hundreds of subscriptions
– "Save to Delicous" with a YahooID!
– Crashes when viewing certain articles (boingboing.net)
– Scrolling issues should be fixed (inertial scrolling)
– Share article via email display issues
Reeder for iPad is arguably the best Google Reader client on the device, and it's also one of the apps I rely on most on a daily basis. If the $4.99 price tag doesn't quite jive with your current budget, you can also take a look at the news reader News Pulse, which was just made Free permanently by the developers.
Silvio Rizzi, Reeder for iPad, 2.2 MB – $4.99


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Hello everyone!
I'm trying to create a menu where you have four options:
- You can register a bird you have seen in a textfile.
- You can write the type of a bird you have seen.
- You can write the place where you have seen the bird.
- Close the program
Can someone help me with creating one? I'm a bit stuck and I keep getting errors so I would appreciate if someone could help me program a menu with these four options.
Also for the first option, registering a bird, this is what i've done.
import easyIO.*; class Birds { public static void main(String[] args) { In press = new In(); Out birds = new Out("birdfile.txt", true); birds.out("Birds name: "); String biName = press.inLine(); birds.out("Sex: "); String biSex = press.inLine(); birds.out("Place for observation: "); String plObs = press.inLine(); birds.out("Date of observation: "); int date = press.inInt(); System.out.println("Birds name: ") birds.close();
I havent started on the other 3 options yet. Was thinkg about getting the menu done first, but got stuck
Thanks alot for help


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I've tried the Slingshot, NSI, Litewave new wide, and Dakine Contour. I went through hell trying to find a strap that would eliminate the loose disconnected feel of straps (I rode bindings of 2 years). The NSI is the most comfortable because it is super soft and flexible. I was able to lock my foot in with those, but the board still felt wobbly and disconnected. The Slingshot is firmer, but didn't lock my foot good enough. The Litewave has a slippery covering that makes the foot fall out. The Dakine Contour felt the most stable. The Dakine strap is made to be installed one way. I tried it the correct way and backwards, with mounting twisted. I found it locked my foot better installed backwards. Either way, it's still the most rigid board to foot connection and certainly gives the most precise control. I don't have to curl my toes either. The Contour strap is heavy, it's only weakness.On 2002-10-08 15:03, Anonymous wrote:
What type of footstraps do people prefer and why? What are the main differences in feel and control between the soft types with velcro adjusters and the hard more plasticy ones like Da Kine do? Got the some soft wide litewave design ones on my wave tray and they feel abit loose - is it something you just get used to and deal with. A mate has a drake which has really wide straps with contoured pads - very nice.


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Suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome meant I was exhausted all the time. I felt like I had cotton candy where a brain should be.
Embarrassingly for a former English major, I lost words, even simple ones. "You know, those things! They go on feet!" I'd cry, frustrated.
"Shoes?" my mom would ask. "Socks?"
I also lost my life as I knew it. One week I had a full college load, my nights spent clubbing or writing essays, surviving on caffeine and chocolate. The next, I became so exhausted pulling on pantyhose that I had to lie down for an hour. I became weepy, confused by how weak I felt.
So I took a month off, planning to return to college when I felt more rested.
I never did.
In short order, my world shrank to the couch, the remote control and one slowly unraveling brown blanket. My mom would tape my favorite shows for me, and I'd watch one while I ate my lunch (which my mom prepared for me before leaving for work). Television occupied my mind and made me feel less alone.
One day, I pressed "play" on a new show. "The Closer" flashed onto the screen, the titles alternating with scenes of a frowning blond detective squinting against the sun as she struggled to navigate her way to a grisly murder scene. As she finally pulled up at the right house, pushing past crowds of reporters to the front door, the breath caught in my throat.
"I should be doing that," I thought. Not solving murders — I was far too squeamish. But my dream had always been to become a journalist. And while I didn't want to race around town chasing ambulances, I did want to have the energy to research and investigate features.
Suddenly I couldn't imagine anything more wonderful than being able to leave the house every day. I had become so accustomed to living this way that I had forgotten there was nothing normal about being a 26-year-old shut-in.
I started to sob: huge tears filled with grief and regret. I cried for the life I had lost. I cried for the life I wanted: one in which driving through a busy city on a sunny day was no big deal.
The next day, I asked my mom if she would drive me around the neighborhood. It was early spring, and weak sunlight filtered through the windshield. I squinted, unused to the light. My mom looked over at me and smiled. She had been begging me to do this for months, but I hadn't seen the point. Now I saw there was value in just leaving the house.
In reminding the world I was alive. In reminding myself.
I wasn't solving murders. I wasn't writing features about interesting people. I wasn't even well enough to go back to school. But this was better than nothing. It was a start.
Diane Shipley is still a huge fan of TV but now she's a freelance writer too. Her website is http://www.dianeshipley.com.
A chronic fatigue syndrome sufferer reconnects with the world
Suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome meant I was exhausted all the time. I felt like I had cotton candy where a brain should be.


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Cincinnati beats No. 18 Memphis 69-53
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Sean Kilpatrick scored 11 of his 18 points down the stretch and Cincinnati overcame early shooting woes to beat No. 18 Memphis 69-53 on Saturday.
Kilpatrick's scoring surge provided enough of a buffer to extend Cincinnati's winning streak to six straight, while Memphis saw an end to a three-game winning streak.
Justin Jackson finished with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, eight rebounds and a career high-matching seven blocks for Cincinnati (13-2, 2-0 American Athletic Conference), while Shaquille Thomas had 10 points.
Joe Jackson led Memphis (10-3, 1-1) with 13 points, but only had two in the second half. Michael Dixon added 12 points but was 4 of 12 from the field.
Cincinnati broke open a close game in the latter stages of the second half as Kilpatrick began scoring and Memphis was stymied with 24 percent shooting in the final 20 minutes.
Cincinnati used a 13-3 rally to extend the lead to 52-42. Eleven straight points by Kilpatrick ran the lead to 69-51 with about a minute left, but many of the Memphis fans already were headed for the exits.
The Bearcats, who were hovering under 30 percent shooting in the first half, connected on 14 of 24 shots in the second half, including missing only one of their five shots from outside the arc.
Memphis was hindered by 16 turnovers and going 2 of 17 from 3-point range for the game despite relying on its four senior guards.
In many ways, Cincinnati outhustled Memphis in getting to loose balls and showed energy, especially in the second half.
Cincinnati used a late rebound basket by Kevin Johnson to take a 27-26 lead into halftime, despite shooting 33 percent. The lead was Cincinnati's only one of the half. There were three ties.
Jermaine Lawrence's six points were the most by a Bearcat in the first half while Jackson had 11 points to lead Memphis, which was hindered by eight turnovers. While Jackson was 5 of 6 from the field, the rest of the Tigers were a combined 7 of 20.
While Memphis scored 18 of its 26 points in the paint, they had little outside shooting to loosen the Bearcats defense. Memphis missed six of its seven shots from outside the arc in the half, a sign of things to come.
Cincinnati outrebounded Memphis 20-15 in the first half and that included nine offensive caroms, leading to a 10-0 margin in second-chance points.
Memphis outrebounded the Bearcats 41-38 for the game.


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Active Shooter Training
Active Shooter
An active shooter is an event in which one or more persons are actively engaging in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. In most cases, active shooters use firearms and there is no apparent pattern or method to their selection of victims. These situations are dynamic and evolve rapidly, with immediate deployment of law enforcement officers to stop the shooting and mitigate harm to innocent people.
If faced with an active shooter incident, there are THREE things you can do that make a difference. RUN, HIDE, FIGHT.
RUN When an active shooter is in your vicinity.
- If there is a way out, and you can get out, GET OUT! This is your best option
- Get out whether others agree or not
- Leave your belongings behind
- Help others from entering the danger zone
- Call 911 or utilize a campus phone or any blue light phone as soon as it is safe to do so.
HIDE If evacuation is not possible, find a place to hide.
- Lock and/or barricade the door
- Turn off lights
- Silence your cell phone
- Spread out
- Hide behind large objects if possible
- Remain very quiet and do not leave until directed by law enforcement officers
- Your hiding place should:
- Be out of shooters view
- Provide protection if shots are fired in your direction
- Do NOT trap or restrict your options for movement (if possible)
FIGHT- AS A LAST RESORT and only if your life is in danger.
- Attempt to incapacitate the shooter
- Act with physical aggression
- Improvise weapons
- Commit to your actions
- Once the shooter is incapacitated call 911 or call campus security at 2200
POLICE RESPONSE When law enforcement arrives.
- Keep your EMPTY hands raised and visible, with your fingers spread apart
- Remain calm and follow instructions
- Avoid pointing or yelling
- The first police officers to arrive will not respond to or aid those who are injured. They will go directly to the shooter.
- Know that help for the injured is on its way. Rescue team officers and emergency personnel will care for the injured as soon as possible.
- The area is a crime scene. Police officers may secure all witnesses until identified and questioned.


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Combine and organize photos from everyone in your household. Access all of your family's photos from anywhere. Rest easy, your photos are securely backed up in the cloud.
Discover your photos again as you flip through Events and Places. Easily tag People and Things. Don't worry about adding duplicates - we'll sort that out for you automatically.
Add photos to Journal entries and remember the moment with a few words. Group photos into Collections and invite others to contribute as well. Stay close to extended family as you share Updates. If you'd like, push an Update to Facebook with 1-click.
Your family photos. Safe. Organized. Enjoyable again.
Plans & Pricing
About 400 photosSign up
A great way to get started. Give JustFamily a try and see if it's right for you.
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* Photo counts assume an average size JPG file from an 8 megapixel camera - like the one on an iPhone 5. RAW and TIFF files from DSLR cameras are much larger. Mileage may vary.
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Access your JustFamily photo library from any web browser - even from your Android phone.Sign up for free
Sync photos right to your shared library with this native Mac App.Download
Download the free iPhone app to collect, organize and enjoy family memories on the go.Download


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As has been mentioned, the burgeoning art gallery scene on the L.E.S. is not showing any signs of slowing down — if anything, it feels like it's speeding up. Three new arrivals – Garis & Hahn (263 Bowery), Shin Gallery (322 Grand St.) and Sasha Wolf Gallery (70 Orchard St.) have opened their doors in the last month. We spoke with the newcomers at Garis & Hahn, as they prepared to open their inaugural show last week. The show, "After the Fall," features photography by seven Yale School of Fine Art MFAs.
Co-directors Mary Garis and Sophie Hahn met in graduate school at Christie's, here in New York. They were both working in the art world and decided they wanted to start their own gallery about a year ago. Garis said they always knew they wanted to be on the L.E.S.; they didn't even consider Chelsea. "We wanted to do something fresher and more contemporary. And we're interested in fostering emerging young artists," she said. "What's going on down here on the Lower East Side is so cutting edge and exciting."


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National City, CAHome Menu
Calendar List
Tech Lab
- Date: 03/09/2020 3:00 PM - 6:59 PM
- Location: National City Public Library
1401 National City Blvd
National City, California 91950
- Introduction: Tinker with 3D design and printing technology. Print out your designs for Free!
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