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Rethinking HIV: After Five Years of Debate, a New Push for Prevention
After decades of focusing almost exclusively on treating HIV, public health experts are now considering a new approach, moving to establish more effective prevention strategies to curb spread of the disease. Recent tests show that anti-HIV drugs that can hamper the growth of the virus responsible for AIDS may also prevent progression of the disease if given to infected individuals soon after their exposure to HIV. The same drugs can also prevent infections from taking hold among healthy people who are exposed to the virus; both approaches would be critical ways of controlling spread of the virus and keeping new cases of HIV to a minimum.
With this potential in mind, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued a draft recommendation urging that all people between the ages of 15 and 65 be tested for the virus as part of routine health screening, even if they are not at high risk of exposure to HIV.
(MORE: Treatment as Prevention: How the New Way to Control HIV Came to Be)
The independent panel of health experts examined recent scientific evidence, including trials that aimed to use anti-HIV drugs to prevent the disease (so-called pre-exposure prophylaxis), and concluded that prompt diagnosis leads to earlier use of effective treatments — and more promising outcomes. Their conclusion: Making HIV screening as routine as cholesterol testing will allow more people to know their status and take advantage of favorable therapies. One in five people living with HIV in the U.S. are not aware of their positive status, and even among those at higher risk, such as gay and bisexual men, testing rates are low: nearly 75% had received medical care but 48% were not tested for HIV, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
(MORE: Early Treatment With Anti-HIV Drugs Stops Transmission Between Partners)
The task force released a draft of their recommendation proposal, which is open to public comments through December 17. The new guidelines recommend doctors screen individuals over age 15 and under 65 as well as all pregnant women. "Screening individuals between ages 15 and 65 is likely to improve the health of the population because it's going to find people that don't know they're positive," says Dr. Virginia Moyer, the chair of the task force and pediatrics professor at Baylor College of Medicine. "What we didn't know when we made our previous recommendation that we know now is that treatment earlier in the course of the infection can substantially improve outcomes."
(MORE: HIV Drugs May Prevent Infection In Health Individuals)
That knowledge is helping public health campaigns to adopt more prevention strategies and shift away from focusing primarily on treatment as the way to stop the spread of HIV. And it provides campaigns leverage to promote measures beyond safe sex and abstinence, which have only been marginally effective in reducing new infection rates. "The fact is that the best way to deal with HIV is don't get it in the first place," says Moyer. "Yes, we can screen and treat, and it makes a difference, but it still involves treatment that if you could avoid it, you wouldn't want to have. If we can really focus on prevention, that would be great."
(MORE: U.S. Panel Recommends More Routine HIV Testing)
Since 2006, the CDC has pushed for more widespread HIV testing for patients as young as 13, citing the fact that many are unaware they are living with HIV, and that available therapies can extend their lives, especially if begun early. In 2005, the task force recommended screening for adolescents and adults who were at a high risk for HIV. But it wasn't until 2011, when the latest studies on the power of AIDS drugs to prevent infection were released, that health officials could begin devising practical ways of making prevention a priority. "We started looking at getting treatments before symptoms and it turns out it does improve things," says Moyer. "Our treatments have gotten better and they've gotten easier. All those things have worked together to change the balance so that it now appears that general screening makes it likely that across the whole population we will have healthier people."
(MORE: AIDS Trial Halted: Anti-HIV Pill Fails to Protect Women)
According to Kali Lindsey, director of legislative and public affairs for the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC), which provides information and research to public health clinics, the recent trial results, and the USPSTF recommendation represent a critical change in managing HIV. "Despite decades of behavioral interventions, infection rates have remained relatively stable, and are increasing among gay and bisexual men, especially young black gay men," says Lindsey. "Treatment as prevention, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and microbicides offer exciting new ways to slow the spread of HIV. But no prevention strategy can truly be effective without an expanded push for scaled-up HIV screening."
The shift in emphasis toward prevention is timely as well, since combination drug therapies have created a sense of complacency about the disease that continues to fuel 50,000 new infections each year even in the U.S. About 20% to 25% of people living with HIV are unaware they are HIV positive.
"The general sense of urgency around HIV/AIDS seems to have dissipated," says Lindsey. "Much of this has to do with improvements in treatment that have made it possible for those who can access it to live long, relatively healthy lives. But some of this also has to do with a perception that has persisted since the onset of the epidemic–that HIV is a disease of 'others.' That it only affects gay men or injection drug users. Too many people underestimate their own vulnerability to infection."
(MORE: How the Global War on Drugs Drives HIV and AIDS)
That might change if testing for HIV became routine. "I don't think most Americans realize how serious this epidemic remains," says Chris Collins, vice president and director of public policy for amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research. "The good news is we have the tools, including testing, treatment and targeted prevention that could really begin to end this epidemic in America. The question is whether we get those interventions to the people who need it."
Testing for HIV is the first step toward expanding those interventions. "This recommendation and its approval will be one more important step towards reducing the stigma of HIV testing both for people in the general public so they are more likely to get a test, and for healthcare providers who currently don't offer the test automatically because they don't perceive their client to be at risk, or they don't want to talk about sex and sexuality," says Collins.
Collins say normalizing testing and making it an active part of quality medical care will greatly expand the reach of testing and identify more people in need of treatment. As part of a preventive health care strategy, the routine HIV testing would be reimbursed by insurers under President Obama's proposed health care program; currently only those at highest risk are not required to provide a co-pay for the HIV test. "We have to make sure it is reimbursed in all cases so that financial concerns never stand in the way of a doctor offering a test and person accepting it," Collins says. "This proposal is an important step towards that."
(MORE: Truvada: 5 Things to Know About the First Drug to Prevent HIV)
Recent developments, like the first at-home HIV test OraQuick–which can identify antibodies that signal HIV infection from saliva in 20 minutes–also helps reduce stigma around the disease. "Any development that normalizes HIV testing is exciting," says Lindsey. "The last couple of years have brought a number of exciting developments in our fight against HIV. From health care reform and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to treatment as prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis, science and policy have aligned like never before, making it possible to realistically envision an end to this epidemic."
Collins agrees that the recommendations represent a first step toward turning around the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. "These policy changes mean we can really can start to talk about the end of AIDS," he says.
Alexandra Sifferlin @acsifferlin


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No big surprises in these bits of news about President Obama's cabinet:
-- The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as expected, this morning approved the nomination of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., to be the next secretary of state. Kerry, the committee's chairman, is set to replace Secretary Hillary Clinton after he gets the approval of the full Senate, which also is expected.
-- Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the White House confirms, is leaving his post. LaHood, a former congressman from Illinois, is a Republican who agreed to cross party lines to work with the Democratic president. According to The Washington Post:
"There are a fair number of names being heard as possible LaHood successors, including Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, and National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah Hersman."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

subset: commoncrawl


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Grapefruit and Anise Macarons
I am always happy to help my friends or lend a hand. When they have baking questions, I generally have an answer or know where to find it (mom). When that baking question involves my making macarons to help illustrate the answer, you can bet I am happily whipping up a batch. If anyone asks me the ins and outs of food chemistry or needs some kitchen mystery answered, I send them to my friend Brian also knows as "The Food Geek".
Not only is Brian the ultimate nice guy, he is also a true geek of food, always exploring and researching. I have had the pleasure to meet Brian on a foodie trip last year and really enjoyed his theories and explanations. Let's just say that if my computer would pass out on me for no obvious reason I'd call him first and have him troubleshoot things.
He asked me one day if I knew why a particular recipe for macarons that he emailed would have a strong meringue flavor. It took me just about 2 seconds to message back that the recipe did not yield traditional French macarons and relied solely on meringue as the building block. Hence the strong meringue flavor. I mentioned the balance of almonds to egg whites in macarons which usually balances out a strong egg white flavor.
Brian asked if I could create a macaron that would fit the criteria asked by one of his readers: grapefruit or blood orange, not strong on the egg white flavor. I did not change much to my original recipe and used grapefruit zest to flavor the shells.
I did however have fun with the buttercream and used a nice complimentary flavor by adding some Pastis (anise liquor) to the buttercream. Any non alcoholic anise flavoring would work but Pastis reminds me of long summer days back home and a cold Pastis at the local cafe.
I am biased when it comes to macarons so I did ask Bill if he thought they add a strong meringue taste. He nodded "nope" but mentioned that the grapefruit made his upper lip numb.
So…here is a question for Brian: given that it was an organic, pesticide free grapefruit, what could have caused his upper lip to go numb? The citric acid? An alkaline ph? Any ways to fix or prevent this?
His job never ends…You can read his full article on the subject of meringue cookies by clicking on this link.
Oh and look….A French Word A Week review: pamplemousse!
Grapefruit and Anise Macarons:
Makes 25-30 filled cookies
For the shells:
90 gr egg whites (use eggs whites that have been preferably left 3-5 days in the fridge, covered or 24-36hrs at room temperature, covered)
25 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (slivered, blanched, sliced, whatever you like)
1 teaspoon finely grated grapefruit zest
Prepare the macarons:
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. Place the powdered sugar and almonds and grapefruit zest in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 280F (convection – 300F regular). When ready, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.
For the buttercream:
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1-2 tablespoon Pastis (or Ouzo, or anise flavor, extract)
Place the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream (temperature should be about 235-238F). Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-8 minutes. Add the liquor or extract and fold with a spatula. Fill a pastry bag with it and pipe on the macarons.


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Apparently, it doesn't really close *all* connections; just those used by the current script.
If you are using persistent connections, every time a script does an odbc_pconnect() and all open connections are in use you'll get a new connection with the same credentials. You won't close them all with odbc_close_all().


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A little over a year ago I made the asparagus and gruyere tart for the first time and I was immediately hooked not only to that particular tart but the whole style of tarts. These simple premade pastry tarts are so easy to make and they always taste great! You pretty much just roll out some puff pastry or oil up a few sheets of phyllo dough and then top it off rather like a pizza with sauces, cheeses and vegetables. Despite the fact that the topping options are near endless I have been enjoying highlighting a single in season vegetable like asparagus, tomatoes or zucchini. One of my favorites so far has been a zucchini and feta ricotta tart so when I came across a zucchini and sun dried tomato pesto parmesan tart on Cook Sister it made it to my meal plan as soon as the local zucchini was in!
In my opinion, you really can't go wrong with a flavour packed sun dried tomato pesto so I already knew that this tart was going to be a winner. Knowing that the sun dried tomato pesto was going to be key to this dish I set about making my own and homemade pesto is actually rather easy. Although you could mash everything up in a mortar and pestle as is traditional, it is much easier to just throw the ingredients into a food processor and puree them. One of the things that I like so much about making you own pesto is that you can experiment and change up the flavours each time by using different nuts, cheeses or even adding new things like say a splash of balsamic vinegar. With tomato season just around the corner you could even make you own oven dried tomatoes for use in this pesto.
Zucchini and Sun Dried Tomato Pesto Parmesan Tart
- 1 sheet puff pastry (thawed according to the packages directions)
- 1/2 cup sundried tomato pesto
- 1/2 cup parmigiano regginao (grated)
- 1 handful basil (torn)
- 1 large zucchini (thinly sliced)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Roll the puff pastry out to a 16×10 inch rectangle.
- Score a line around the puff pastry 1/2 inch from the edge.
- Spread the pesto over the center of the dough and top with the parmigiano reggiano and basil.
- Arrange the zucchini slices in a single layer on top of the pesto and season with salt and pepper.
- Brush the outside inch of the pastry with the oil.
- Bake in a preheated 400F/200C oven until the zucchini is tender and the pastry is golden brown, about 15-25 minutes.


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Check out Hertz Furniture's collection of partitions & cubicles. For temporary space arrangements, choose from our variety of styles and sizes for your school or office. For more permanent solutions, we offer built-in options so they are always there when you need them. So which commercial room dividers should you get? You should get something that fits your space and will last many years.
No matter which type of partition suits your space, all are simple to set up and fold closed with ease. Constructed from high-quality materials, our cubicles are sturdy and long-lasting. In addition, Hertz Furniture offers a complimentary planning and design service to help you make the right purchase.
Freestanding room dividers come in a huge selection of lengths. This arrangement enables you to choose the configuration that fits your space perfectly. Longer options are great if you need to divide a large room into separate areas. Shorter configurations are perfect for sectioning off small areas.
Room dividers save money while making the most of your space. Rather than undertaking a costly construction project, a portable partition can quickly create a new space. Instead of spending months waiting for your room to be ready and back in use, you can divide your space in a matter of minutes. If you decide you want an alternate arrangement, you can simply rearrange the partitions again.
There are various benefits to different arrangement options. Slimmer panels are good for tighter turns. Sound absorbing options are ideal for many settings, especially classrooms and offices. Many partitions have surfaces you can hang posters or important information on using tacks or velcro, so you won&t need to find an appropriately-sized bulletin board for displaying information in a newly-divided room.
Mobile display towers offer an excellent way to divide up an open space while exhibiting student projects, pictures of recent church events or community announcements. Their tackable surfaces accommodate a variety of hanging options including staples and velcro. Display panels can be rolled into the hallway or lobby to display science fair posters and student announcements, and rolled back into storage when they are not needed anymore.
Individual panels are available for dividing up smaller spaces. Wood Designs offers freestanding single divider panels with fun surface options. These choices make the panels themselves into additional activity centers for preschool, daycare or elementary school classrooms. For school use or office use, room dividers are also available with chalkboard or whiteboard surfaces, or built-in cabinets.
For a more permanent setup in larger public spaces, wall-mounted dividers are an excellent option. The floor-to-ceiling panels create the feeling of permanent walls, with the advantage of being able to remove them when you want a larger or more open space. If you still need an easy way to go between sectioned off areas, door panel options are available.
There are two different styles of partitions for wall-mounted floor-to-ceiling divisions. Accordion partitions are designed for public areas in schools, offices and places of worship. They minimize air and sound passing between divided sections, so the spaces really feel like separate rooms. Wall-mounted panel partitions are available as well. Full-length wall-mounted panels require custom arrangements in order to ensure that they are arranged and installed correctly.
When offices are separated by full walls and doors, co-workers are less likely to go into other people's personal spaces. When a physical wall is placed between professionals, it is much easier for them to build personal and emotional walls. While productivity is always desirable, isolation in personal work areas can limit the flow of ideas.
Although having everyone in completely separate spaces may not be ideal, a totally open work area is not great either. If many professionals are trying to focus, make phone calls and meet deadlines, it can be quite distracting to have everyone else in their line of vision. To find a balance between an open and collaborative workspace and a quiet rigorous environment, you need a way to create personal space that is approachable.
Dividing a large shared professional space into appropriate personal sections is easy with office cubicles from Hertz Furniture. If you just need a simple way to split a space in half, you can order individual panels to create your own arrangement. However, when something more complicated is required, feel free to take advantage of our custom solutions.
Verse Panels from HON are easy to arrange, so you can set up a workspace quickly and independently. They connect in a simple yet sturdy manner, so rearranging is no big deal either. Adjustable glides compensate for uneven flooring, so panels remain stable. HON cubicle walls can be ordered in H or C configurations for long rows of workspaces in a large area. They are available in a variety of sizes so you can choose the perfect fit for any space. With many sizes, you have the ability to provide each individual with exactly as much room as they need.
When you are looking for a truly upscale, custom layout, Maxon modular office cubicles are the way to go. Their fully-tackable panels can be configured in unlimited arrangements. Fully-slotted panels accommodate built-in work surfaces and enable adjustments. With this setup, each individual can set their cubicle desk at their ideal height. It also saves money because you don't have to order separate desks for each space. Making sure that regular office desks will fit in the spaces you create can be quite a challenge, but with built-in work surfaces, you get a perfect fit every time.
Maxon cubicle arrangements are made-to-order so you get exactly what you need, no matter what your space looks like. When you contact Hertz Furniture, we will create a custom layout for you that is based on your sketches of the space. For fully-enclosed cubicles, you can choose between sliding and hinged doors. A snapfit electrical system facilitates easy cable routing.
Hertz Furniture offers partitions and cubicles from leading manufacturers including Screenflex, HON, Customfold and Wood Designs. With a huge selection of sizes and styles, you can find the perfect arrangement for dividing up any space. Whether you are looking to separate spaces in a cafeteria, office, gym, classroom or social hall, Hertz Furniture has a number of options that will meet your needs. Many of our models come with a complimentary extended warranty for years of guaranteed functionality.


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GANGOLE PANDIT WARI Village GANGOLE PANDITWADI Panchayat SAHASPUR is situated in Dehradun District. People of this village are living in very peaceful manner. This village having very proud history. Agriculture is the main profession of this village. Still this village is waiting for Industrial development. Education, Drinking water, Road and Electricity are the main concern of this village. Young generation is more attracted towards mobile, Laptop and computer technology these days. If banks and finance institutions proved loan and other financial support to the villagers, this village will see the real development. Medical and health services has to be improved.
Bihar became the first state in India to have separate web page for every city and village in the state on its website www.brandbihar.com (Now www.brandbharat.com)
See the record in Limca Book of Records 2012 on Page No. 217


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Cosmetic Surgery with Ballantyne Plastic Surgery Charlotte NC
Patients who undergo breast reduction surgery frequently are seeking relief from physical symptoms caused by the excessive weight of large breasts. Breast reduction usually can solve these problems as well as improve the size and shape of your breasts. Following breast reduction, your breasts will be more proportional to the rest of your body, and clothes will fit you better.
You may be a good candidate for Breast Reduction if you experience one or more of the following
- Breasts that are too large in proportion to your body frame
- Heavy, pendulous breasts with nipples and areolas that point downward
- One breast is much larger than the other
- Back, neck or shoulder pain caused by the weight of your breasts
- Skin irritation beneath your breasts
- Indentations in your shoulders from tight bra straps
- Restriction of physical activity due to the size and weight of your breasts
- Dissatisfaction or self-consciousness about the largeness of your breasts
Breast reduction can be performed at any age, but plastic surgeons usually recommend waiting until breast development has stopped. Childbirth and breast-feeding may have significant and unpredictable effects on the size and shape of your breasts. Nevertheless, many women decide to undergo breast reduction before having children and feel that they can address any subsequent changes later. If you plan to breast-feed in the future, you should discuss this with your plastic surgeon.
During the consultation, you will be asked about your desired breast reduction size as well as anything else about your
breasts that you would like to improve. This will help your plastic surgeon understand the expectations
and determine whether they can be achieved.
View Plastic Surgery Before and After Photos of Breast Reduction, Lift and Augmentation


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Being in this band for the past 12 years has been a true blessing. We've gotten to go places we never knew we would. We've been able to see and experience things we never imagined possible. We've shared the stage with people we admire, people we look up to, and best of all, our friends. And now, like all great things, it has come time for it to end. Thanks for all of your support, and for being part of the adventure.
My Chemical Romance


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With Rep. Paul Ryan officially in the mix as Mitt Romney's vice presidential pick, the 2012 race for the White House was fully engaged Monday, as all four members of the two major-party presidential tickets campaigned in swing states.
Both President Obama and Ryan were in Iowa, while Romney, the all-but-official Republican nominee, campaigned in Florida. Meanwhile, Vice President Biden was in North Carolina, hitting a state the Republican ticket visited over the weekend.
Obama began a three-day bus tour through Iowa with a stop in Council Bluffs. The president used the opportunity to immediately go after Ryan on an issue with special resonance in a major agricultural state: the failure of the Republicans, who control the House, to bring a Senate-passed farm bill to a floor vote. That legislation contained a relief measure to help drought-afflicted farmers like those in the Midwest.
Ryan, an intellectual leader of the House Republicans and Budget Committee chairman, was an inviting target for Obama.
OBAMA: "Unfortunately right now, too many members of Congress are blocking the farm bill from becoming law. (Crowd boos.)
"I am told that Gov. Romney's new running mate, Paul Ryan, might be around Iowa the next few days. He is — (boos) — one of the leaders of Congress standing in the way.
"So if you happen to see Congressman Ryan, tell him how important this farm bill is to Iowa and our rural communities. (Applause.) We've got to put politics aside when it comes to doing the right thing for rural America and for Iowa." (Cheers, applause.)
House Republicans decided against bringing the bill to the floor in part because of divisions in their ranks. Agricultural subsidies in the bill are opposed by some Republican legislators, who view them as corporate welfare at odds with their free-market principles.
Appearing at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Ryan had his own question for Iowans to ask Obama:
REP. RYAN: "My guess is the reason President Obama isn't making it here from Council Bluffs — because he only knows left turns. (Crowd cheers, applause.)
"You know — but as you see the president come through on his bus tour, you might ask him the same question that I'm getting asked from people all around America, and that is where are the jobs, Mr. President?" (Cheers, applause.)
Ryan stopped to deliver brief remarks at The Des Moines Register's soapbox, a stage used by visiting politicians during election season to deliver their messages to Iowans.
It was at the same location last year that Romney uttered the famous line "Corporations are people, my friend," in response to hecklers.
Ryan was heckled, too. But he didn't deliver a response that appeared, at first blush, to be gold for the opposition, as Romney did last summer.
RYAN: "We're used to this in Wisconsin — oh yeah."
Ryan alluded to the superheated political climate in the Badger State since Republican Gov. Scott Walker and his allies in the state legislature decided to take on the public employee unions.
Romney's selection of Ryan, a favorite with the conservative base, has made it easier for the president to make an argument he's tried all along: that the general election is a choice between two starkly different visions of the nation's future.
Obama used one of his favorite words, "choice," at least eight times:
OBAMA: "I'm going to spend the next three days driving all across this state, just like I did in 2007, from — from Council Bluffs to the Quad Cities, because once more you face a choice in November. And that choice could not be bigger.
"It is not just a choice between two candidates or two political parties. More than any other election in recent memory, this is a choice between two fundamentally different visions of this country and the path that we have to take. And the direction that you choose when you walk into that voting booth in November is going to have an impact not just on your lives but on your children's lives, your grandchildren's lives for decades to come. (Cheers, applause.) This one counts."
Romney's campaign had previously been largely based on the notion that the election amounted to a referendum on the president's performance.
Based on the language both he and Ryan used at campaign appearances over the weekend and again on Monday, the Republicans seemed to have decided to accept Obama's premise that the election is a choice — but to hang onto the earlier strategy that it is a referendum, too, in something of a one-two punch.
For instance, Ryan said Monday at the Iowa State Fair:
"And so what you will see from us is this: We owe you a choice. You are our fellow citizens, and what we want to do is give you the choice so you can decide what kind of country you want to have. What kind of people do you want us to be?"
Meanwhile, campaigning in St. Augustine, Fla., Romney told an audience the president deserved failing grades and only one term for his performance.
"He said that he would be able to measure progress and measure success by a whole series of his own standards. Number one was being able to create jobs. But I hope he understands that he hasn't done that: 23 million Americans out of work or stopped looking for work and can't find the jobs they need to put food on the table for their families.
"It's unacceptable. It's a moral failure for a nation as successful as ours not to have created these jobs. Mr. President, by your own measure, you failed to deliver the jobs Americans need. (Cheers, applause.)"
Campaigning in Florida, long a warm-weather haven for retirees, Romney renewed a charge — by now repeatedly discredited by journalistic fact-checkers — that Obama cut hundreds of billions of dollars from the Medicare program as part of the Affordable Care Act.
ROMNEY: "The president's idea, for instance, for Medicare was to cut it by $700 billion. That's not the right answer. We want to make sure that we preserve and protect Medicare."
(Republicans initially charged Obama with cutting $500 billion from Medicare. NPR's Julie Rovner explained in a Q&A earlier this year that hospitals and other health care providers volunteered to take the cuts in payments with the expectation they would come out whole since more patients would be insured.)
Biden, for his part, was in Durham, N.C., where he also zeroed in on the differences between the tickets.
An excerpt from Politico of Biden's appearance at a rally:
"Now that Gov. Romney has selected his running mate, those ... differences are even more stark," Biden told 900 people here. "The reason I say that, Congressman Ryan has given definition to the vague commitments that Romney's been making."
"... And ladies and gentlemen, we know, we know for certain, what I've been saying for a long time, there is no distinction, let's get this straight, there is no distinction between what the Republican Congress has been proposing the last two years, actually the last four years, and what Gov. Romney wants to do."
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Founders of the award-winning Brooklyn based, organic ice cream business, Blue Marble Ice Cream, Alexis Miesen and Jennie Dundas played a major role in Inozoz Nziz. The duo made numerous trips to Rwanda to train, prepare and mentor the women on how to make ice cream and run a business. Their story is an integral part of the movie.A similar project involving coffee from Rwanda has recently been founded by Grace Hightower De Niro. Her new coffee brand, Grace Hightower & Coffees of Rwanda, is being launched in select Whole Foods later this month. These Rwandan coffees are sourced exclusively from small farmers utilizing fair trade practices.
Complimentary samples of Blue Marble ice cream and a new brand of coffee that is sourced entirely from Rwanda, called Grace Hightower and Coffees of Rwanda, will be available for screening attendees.
- Sweet Dreams film producers/directors Lisa Fruchtman (Academy Award winning film editor for Right Stuff, and nominee for The Godfather III and Apocalypse Now) and Rob Fruchtman (three time Emmy Award winner, including one for directing HBO's Sister Helen)
- Drummers from Rwanda Drum troupe Ingoma Nshya accompanied by New York City-based all femaile drummers Akalande
- Shay Wafer, Executive Director, 651 Arts
- Roland Laird, CEO, MIST Harlem/My Image Studios LLC
About MIST Harlem:
About My Image Studios LLC
Located in the Kalahari Condominiums on 116th Street near Lenox Avenue, MIST Harlem will host a 130 seat restaurant and three intimate theaters that will present the best film, live music, spoken word, comedy and plays from Black and Latino culture throughout the world.
Event will include live African drumming by Rwandan troupe Ingoma Nshya, Blue Marble ice cream and a new brand of coffee that is sourced entirely from Rwanda, called Grace Hightower and Coffees of Rwanda


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In 1983, Berkeley poet and journalist Mark O'Brien wrote an article about sexual surrogates — women and men trained to help people with disabilities learn to use their bodies to give themselves and others erotic pleasure.
For O'Brien, the subject wasn't academic. After a bout of childhood polio, he had spent much of his life in an iron lung. He could talk, and tap out words on a typewriter holding a stick in his mouth. He could feel things below the neck. But he couldn't move his muscles.
In an article published in 1990, O'Brien admitted he was jealous of the people he'd interviewed in 1983 — it turns out he was, at the time, a virgin. The second piece was called, "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate," and it's the basis for the movie The Sessions.
Two things sneaked past my defenses against what I snarkily call the disability-of-the-week Oscar-bait picture. The first is that Mark, played by John Hawkes, is almost never seen at anything but a 90-degree angle, sometimes in his iron lung, sometimes on a rolling stretcher — never sitting up. That sidelong vantage creates a kind of distance and keeps the pathos from being in your face. The second is, he's so funny.
Hawkes bears little resemblance here to the meth-fueled uncle he played in Winter's Bone or the Manson-like cult leader in the film Martha Marcy May Marlene. His features are relaxed and his voice has no chest tones; he sounds like David Sedaris crossed with Liberace. He says at one point that he believes in God because he needs someone to blame for what happened to him.
When he asks his priest, Father Brendan, played by William H. Macy, for permission to have sex, he adds that it's urgent because he's nearing his "use-by date." Macy's determined attempt to remain impassive while Mark gives Father Brendan more details than he needs is a thing of beauty.
At heart, The Sessions is a tender sexual coming-of-age movie. Helen Hunt plays the surrogate, Cheryl Cohen-Greene. It's all legal, by the way — even kind of wholesome.
It's good to see Hunt. She was overexposed for a few years, had some bum roles and dropped out for a spell. Seeing her again reminds you how plain-in-a-good-way she can be, her emotions rising up as if by their own power and breaking through her levelheaded demeanor. She makes Cheryl's shedding of her clothes seem at once professional and human, and without a trace of exhibitionism.
The 66-year-old writer-director, Ben Lewin, is best known for TV dramas and comedies in Australia, the U.K. and Hollywood. He takes a simple, matter-of-fact approach that respects the audience — you don't feel him working you over.
At the same time, The Sessions doesn't have the power of the best films of its ilk — among them My Left Foot, with its raging, titanic performance by Daniel Day Lewis. The real O'Brien seen in Jessica Yu's Academy Award-winning 1996 short documentary Breathing Lessons looks considerably more anguished than the O'Brien here — as well as, at 4-foot-7 and 60 pounds, less solid than the tall and still-rangy Hawkes.
But I have a feeling that O'Brien, who died in 1999, would be pleased that his story has been told as a good comedy with tears instead of a weeper with laughs. It fits his naughty-Catholic-boy mischievousness — and his sideways vantage.
Copyright 2020 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.


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Just braided After 24 hours of turn-out/ mud/rain
Wave Braids
see instructions
Braideez featured
in California Riding Magazine, June 2103
click here
I tried Braideez and I am not going back to yarn or elastic bands. ...so easy to put in and take out... stayed in for a two day show. Big plus - comes out without damaging hair! I highly recommend them.
Judy Lieberman, CT


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There was a decline last year in the already "small" number of Muslim-Americans indicted for violent terrorist plots and the rate of radicalization among that group remains "far less than many feared" after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a researcher at North Carolina's Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security reports today.
According to University of North Carolina sociology professor Charles Kurzman, who has been studying and reporting about such statistics the past three years, "20 Muslim-Americans were indicted for violent terrorist plots in 2011, down from 26 the year before, bringing the total since 9/11 to 193, or just under 20 per year."
His latest study also concludes that "the number of Muslim-Americans indicted for support of terrorism — financing, false statements, and other connections with terrorist plots and organizations, aside from violent plots — fell from 27 individuals in 2010 to 8 in 2011, bringing the total to 462 since 9/11."
Kurzman writes that:
"The limited scale of Muslim-American terrorism in 2011 runs counter to the fears that many Americans shared in the days and months after 9/11, that domestic Muslim-American terrorism would escalate. [A] spike in terrorism cases in 2009 renewed these concerns, as have repeated warnings from U.S. government officials about a possible surge in homegrown Islamic terrorism. The predicted surge has not materialized."
Cases increased sharply in 2009, Kurzman has previously reported, because of 17 Somali-Americans were indicted on various terrorism-related charges. In 2010 there was one indictment of a Somali-American. In 2011, there were none.
That year also brought the killing of 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, who authorities say had become a radical Muslim, is to go on trial for the killings in June.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text: Notice Regarding Technical Center Box Issue Fee Mailings The Office will begin mailing address labels with the PTOL-85, "Notice of Allowance and Issue Fee Due" for patent applications allowed in all Technology Centers. These address labels should be used to ensure proper routing of post-allowance correspondence. This directive supersedes the "Special Boxes for Patent Mail" instruction. Any Notice of Allowance and Issue Fee Due received without the accompanying address labels should continue to be addressed to Box Issue Fee. March 11, 1998 NICHOLAS P. GODICI Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Patents (Acting)


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Toyota recalls 2.77 million vehicles for steering, pump defects
TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. says it's recalling 2.77 million vehicles around the world for a steering shaft defect that may result in faulty steering and a water pump problem.
Japan's top automaker said no accidents have been reported related to these two problems announced Wednesday.
Some 1.51 million vehicles are being recalled for the steering defect in Japan and 1.25 million vehicles abroad, including 670,000 in the U.S.
Affected models include the Prius hybrid, Corolla, Wish and other models produced in Japan from 2000 to last year, and from 2000 to 2009 overseas.
Toyota is also recalling 630,000 vehicles spanning five hybrid models, including the Prius, for a defective water pump.
Last month, Toyota had a recall for faulty power-window switches.


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Lead Poisoning
Topic Overview
What is lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning occurs when you absorb too much lead by breathing or swallowing a substance with lead in it, such as paint, dust, water, or food. Lead can damage almost every organ system.
In children, too much lead in the body can cause lasting problems with growth and development. These can affect behavior, hearing, and learning and can slow the child's growth.
In adults, lead poisoning can damage the brain and nervous system, the stomach, and the kidneys. It can also cause high blood pressure and other health problems.
Although it isn't normal to have lead in your body, a small amount is present in most people. Environmental laws have reduced lead exposure in the United States, but it is still a health risk, especially for young children.
What causes lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning is usually caused by months or years of exposure to small amounts of lead at home, work, or day care. It can also happen very quickly with exposure to a large amount of lead. Many things can contain or be contaminated with lead: paint, air, water, soil, food, and manufactured goods.
The most common source of lead exposure for children is lead-based paint and the dust and soil that are contaminated by it. This can be a problem in older homes and buildings.
Adults are most often exposed to lead at work or while doing hobbies that involve lead.
Who is at highest risk of lead poisoning?
Lead poisoning can occur at any age, but children are most likely to be affected by high lead levels. Children at highest risk include those who:
- Live in or regularly visit homes or buildings built before 1978. These buildings may have lead-based paint. The risk is even higher in buildings built before 1950, when lead-based paint was more commonly used.
- Are immigrants, refugees, or adoptees from other countries.footnote 1 They may have been exposed to higher lead levels in these countries.
- Are 6 years old or younger. Young children are at higher risk because:
- They often put their hands and objects in their mouths.
- They sometimes swallow nonfood items.
- Their bodies absorb lead at a higher rate.
- Their brains are developing quickly.
Others at risk for lead poisoning include people who:
- Drink water that flows through pipes that were soldered with lead.
- Work with lead either in their job or as a hobby (for example, metal smelters, pottery makers, and stained glass artists).
- Eat food from cans made with lead solder. These types of cans aren't made in the United States.
- Cook or store food in ceramic containers. Some ceramic glaze contains lead that may not have been properly fired or cured.
- Eat or breathe traditional or folk remedies that contain lead, such as some herbs and vitamins from other countries.
- Live in communities with a lot of industrial pollution.
What are the symptoms?
You may not notice any symptoms at first. The effects are easy to miss and may seem related to other conditions. The higher the amount of lead in the body, the more severe the symptoms are.
In children, symptoms can include:
- Slightly lower intelligence and smaller size compared to children of the same age.
- Behavior problems, such as acting angry, moody, or hyperactive.
- Learning problems.
- Lack of energy, and not feeling hungry.
In adults, lead poisoning can cause:
- Changes in behavior, mood, personality, and sleep patterns.
- Memory loss and trouble thinking clearly.
- Weakness and muscle problems.
- Headaches.
Severe cases can cause seizures, paralysis, and coma.
How is lead poisoning diagnosed?
The doctor will ask questions and do a physical exam to look for signs of lead poisoning. If your doctor suspects lead poisoning, he or she will do a blood test to find out the amount of lead in the blood.
Diagnosing lead poisoning is difficult, because the symptoms can be caused by many diseases. Most children with lead poisoning don't have symptoms until their blood lead levels are very high.
In the United States, there are screening programs to check lead levels in children who are likely to be exposed to lead. Whether your child needs to be tested depends in part on where you live, how old your housing is, and other risk factors. Talk to your child's doctor about whether your child is at risk and should be screened.
Adults usually aren't screened for lead poisoning unless they have a job that involves working with lead. For these workers, companies usually are required to provide testing.
If you are pregnant or trying to get pregnant and have a family member who works with lead, you may want to ask your doctor about your risk for lead poisoning. But in general, experts don't recommend routine testing for lead in pregnant women who don't have symptoms.footnote 2
How is it treated?
Treatment for lead poisoning includes removing the source of lead, getting good nutrition, and, in some cases, having chelation therapy.
Removing the source of lead. Old paint chips and dirt are the most common sources of lead in the home. Lead-based paint, and the dirt and dust that come along with it, should be removed by professionals. In the workplace, removal usually means removing lead dust that's in the air and making sure that people don't bring contaminated dust or dirt on their clothing into their homes or other places.
Good nutrition. Eating foods that have enough iron and other vitamins and minerals may be enough to reduce lead levels in the body. A person who eats a balanced, nutritious diet may absorb less lead than someone with a poor diet.
Chelation therapy. If removing the lead source and getting good nutrition don't work, or if lead levels are very high, you may need to take chelating medicines. These medicines bind to lead in the body and help remove it.
If blood lead levels don't come down with treatment, home and work areas may need to be rechecked. Call your local health department to see what inspection services are offered in your area.
The best way to avoid lead poisoning is to prevent it. Treatment cannot reverse any damage that has already occurred. But there are many ways to reduce your exposure—and your child's—before it causes symptoms.
- Committee on Environmental Health, American Academy of Pediatrics (2005, reaffirmed 2009). Lead exposure in children: Prevention, detection, and management. Pediatrics, 116: 1036–1046. Also available online: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/116/4/1036.
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2006). Screening for elevated blood lead levels in children and pregnant women. Available online: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspslead.htm.
Other Works Consulted
- Binns HJ, et al. (2007). Interpreting and managing blood lead levels of less than 10 mcg/dL in children and reducing childhood exposure to lead: Recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. Pediatrics, 120(5): e1285–e1298.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2002). Managing elevated blood lead levels among young children: Recommendations from the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/CaseManagement/caseManage_main.htm.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2005). Preventing lead poisoning in young children. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/publications/prevleadpoisoning.pdf.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Lead in drinking water and human blood lead levels in the United States. MMWR, 61(Supplement): 1–9. Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/ind2012_su.html.
- Grandjean P (2008). Lead section of Health significance of metal exposures. In RB Wallace, ed., Wallace/Maxcy-Rosenau-Last Public Health and Preventive Medicine, 15th ed., pp. 609–611. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Henretig FM (2009). Lead section of Toxins. In WB Carey et al., eds., Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics, 4th ed., pp. 319–321. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
- Long H, Nelson LS (2011). Metals and metalloids. In JE Tintinalli, ed., Tintinalli's Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide, 7th ed., pp. 1308–1315. New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Markowitz M (2011). Lead poisoning. In RM Kliegman et al., eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 19th ed., pp. 2448–2453. Philadelphia: Saunders.
- Olsen KR (2012). Carbon monoxide section of Poisoning. In SJ McPhee, MA Papadakis, eds., 2012 Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, 51st ed., pp. 1518–1547. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical.
- Shannon MW (2007). Lead. In MW Shannon et al., eds., Haddad and Winchester's Clinical Management of Poisoning and Drug Overdose, 4th ed., pp. 1129–1146. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier.
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control (2005). Blood lead levels—United States, 1999–2002. MMWR, 54(20): 513–516. Also available online: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5420a5.htm.
- Woolf AD, et al. (2007). Update on the clinical management of childhood lead poisoning. Pediatric Clinics of North America, 54(2): 271–294.
- Woolfenden YB, et al. (2008). Household interventions for prevention of domestic lead exposure in children. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2).
Current as of: December 12, 2018
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:John Pope, MD, MPH – Pediatrics & Kathleen Romito, MD – Family Medicine & E. Gregory Thompson, MD – Internal Medicine & R. Steven Tharratt, MD, FACP, FCCP – Pulmonology, Critical Care Medicine
Topic Contents
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. Learn how we develop our content.


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Project Members
- Leonardo Lancia
Phonetic constraints on lexical items
Why some sequences of sounds are more frequent than others in world's languages? Our assumption was that physiological constraints are mainly responsible for these distributional biases but that, when phonetic constraints are observed in the context of specific languages, phonetic factors interact with the structural features of these languages. Studying language specific instantiations of these distributional biases let us observe the interaction between phonetic laws and the laws governing linguistic behavior at other levels of description (eg. lexical and prosodic phonology).
Lancia, L. & Fuchs, S. (2011). The labial coronal effect revisited. In Yves Laprie (ed.), Proceedings of the International Seminar on Speech Production, 187-194. Montreal, Canada.
Lancia, L., Fuchs, S., Rochet-Capellan, A., Hartinger, M. Is there similar evidence for the labial-coronal effect in German as in French? A multivariate portrait. Summer school ìCognitive and Physical Models of Speech Production, Speech Perception and Production-Perception Interactionî, to be held in Berlin, Germany, September, 2010 (Oral presentation).