App d to Fail: Mobile Health Treatments Fall Short in First Full Checkup

Early trials using mobile technology including text messaging and apps lack rigor and show mixed results

By Lucas Laursen

SMS messages in Africa provide reminders to patients to take antiretroviral drugs, reducing HIV virus counts. Image: Flickr/The Reboot

Health care via mobile technology is still in its infancy. Of 75 trials in which patients used mobile tech, such as text messaging and downloadable apps, to manage a disease or adopt healthier behaviors, only three showed reliable signs of success, according to a systematic survey. In an accompanying survey of medical personnel who used smart phones and other devices, to help deliver care, the same team found more success: 11 of 42 trials had positive, reliable results.

Yet mobile device-aided health care, called mHealth, attracts a lot of attention and dollars, as U.S. National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins wrote last year in Scientific American. In 2012 venture capital firms invested more than $900 million in mHealth, according to a report by Mobile Health Market News.

?There?s a lot of enthusiasm for [mHealth] but [its effectiveness] wasn?t very clear,? says epidemiologist Caroline Free of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England, the lead author of the reviews. In 2011, for example, the World Health Organization found that only 12 percent of mobile health initiatives included an evaluation.

So Free and colleagues conducted the reviews, which appear in PLoS Medicine, she says, to ?put us in the position of knowing exactly in which areas there was good evidence where the evidence was promising.? That information could help investors and researchers make better decisions about how to identify, improve and promote the best mobile health treatments.

In the first review, the team identified 334 relevant mHealth trials in seven medical databases. Most of the trials used text messaging to interact with patients, although some interacted through dedicated applications, downloadable audio and video or the Web. Only 75 of those trials included a control group, which allows researchers to compare experimental interventions with doing nothing.

Of the 75 controlled trials, 26 sought to change patient behavior by methods that included increasing exercise and 49 sought to help patients manage diseases medically such as by taking pills on time. That may not seem like many studies, but medical doctor Rahul Chakrabarti at Monash University in Australia, co-editor of the Journal of Mobile Technology in Medicine, calls it the most comprehensive meta-analysis of mHealth evidence to date.

The bad news is that most trials had weak designs, such as failing to randomize participants in the control group and the experimental group. Others relied on participants to self-report the results, but such methods can be unreliable. Free says such trials should use biochemical tests, instead. In some cases, it?s too early to tell whether a result, such as smaller waist size, would last long enough to improve participants? health. Most trials also neglected the developing world, where mobile phones have the most potential to improve access to health care. ?This does not undermine the outcomes,? Chakrabarti says, ?but shows that going forward, there is a clear need for improved methodology.?

There were a few promising, reliable trials: For instance, receiving text messages helped smokers quit in one trial that did verify its results with biochemical tests. Reminders also helped diabetics stick to their treatments in another trial. In the only successful developing-world trial, in Kenya, SMS reminders to take antiretroviral drugs helped reduce HIV virus counts.

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=804d779ad6611741c609d4f2a8f83e86

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Silibinin, found in milk thistle, protects against UV-induced skin cancer

Jan. 30, 2013 ? A pair of University of Colorado Cancer Center studies published this month show that the milk thistle extract, silibinin, kills skin cells mutated by UVA radiation and protects against damage by UVB radiation -- thus protecting against UV-induced skin cancer and photo-aging.

"When you have a cell affected by UV radiation, you either want to repair it or kill it so that it cannot go on to cause cancer. We show that silibinin does both," says Rajesh Agarwal, PhD, co-program leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the CU Cancer Center and professor at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

The first study, published in the journal Photochemistry and Photobiology worked with human skin cells subjected to UVA radiation, which makes up about 95 percent of the sun's radiation that reaches Earth. The Agarwal Lab treated these UVA-affected cells with silibinin. With silibinin, the rate at which these damaged cells died increased dramatically.

"When you take human skin cells -- keratinocytes -- and treat them with silibinin, nothing happens. It's not toxic. But when you damage these cells with UVA radiation, treatment with silibinin kills the cells," Agarwal says, thus removing the mutated cells that can cause skin cancer and photo-aging.

Specifically, the study shows that pretreatment with silibinin resulted in higher release of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the UVA-exposed cells, leading to higher rates of cell death.

The second study, published this month by the same authors in the journal Molecular Carcinogenesis shows that instead of beneficially killing cells damaged by UVA radiation, treatment with silibinin protects human skill cells from damage by UVB radiation, which makes up about 5 percent of the sun's radiation reaching Earth.

Again, remember Agarwal's suggestion that the prevention of UV-induced skin cancer can happen in two ways: by protecting against DNA damage or by killing cells with damaged DNA. With UVA, silibinin kills; with UVB, it protects, in this case by increasing cells' expression of the protein interleukin-12, which works to quickly repair damaged cells.

"It has been 20 years of work with this compound, silibinin," Agarwal says. "We first noticed its effectiveness in treating both skin and solid cancers, and we now have a much more complete picture of the mechanisms that allow this compound to work."

Agarwal and colleagues continue to test the effectiveness of silibinin in cancer prevention and treatment in cell lines and mouse models, and are working toward human trials of silibinin-based therapeutics.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado Denver. The original article was written by Garth Sundem.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Sreekanth Narayanapillai, Chapla Agarwal, Gagan Deep, Rajesh Agarwal. Silibinin inhibits ultraviolet B radiation-induced DNA-damage and apoptosis by enhancing interleukin-12 expression in JB6 cells and SKH-1 hairless mouse skin. Molecular Carcinogenesis, 2013; DOI: 10.1002/mc.22000

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/most_popular/~3/wRU_1K3abM0/130130143636.htm

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PhotoSocial Is a Pretty, Gesture-Based Photo Gallery for the iPhone

iOS: The iPhone's default Photos app is okay, but if you want something a little prettier and smoother, PhotoSocial is a good alternative.

Photos is still our favorite photo management app, but only because Apple's restrictions make it hard for anything to work as well. That said, PhotoSocial is a pretty cool way to view and share the photos on your iPhone. It automatically splits your photos up into events (kind of like iPhoto does), and lets you manage them with gesture swipes. you can swipe to the left to remove it from the PhotoSocial gallery (but not from your phone), or swipe from the right to share it with other PhotoSocial users. You can share photos via SMS and email by tapping the "Share" button at the top, but we wish you had this option with the swipe gesture. PhotoSocial relies a bit too much on your friends having PhotoSocial too, which makes it much less enticing and useful if your friends don't have it (why not integrate with an existing service like Dropbox or Flickr instead?).

Overall, if you're looking for an alternative photo app with a few extra social features, PhotoSocial is a great new choice. Check out the video above to see it in action.

PhotoSocial ($1.99) | iTunes App Store

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Ac3OGnrBy88/photosocial-is-a-pretty-gesture+based-photo-gallery-for-the-iphone

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In-brain monitoring shows memory network

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andy Fell
ahfell@ucdavis.edu
530-752-4533
University of California - Davis

Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.

"Previous work has focused on one region of the brain at a time," said Arne Ekstrom, assistant professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. "Our results show that memory recall involves simultaneous activity across brain regions." Ekstrom is senior author of a paper describing the work published Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Ekstrom and UC Davis graduate student Andrew Watrous worked with patients being treated for a severe seizure condition by neurosurgeon Dr. Nitin Tandon and his UTHealth colleagues.

To pinpoint the origin of the seizures in these patients, Tandon and his team place electrodes on the patient's brain inside the skull. The electrodes remain in place for one to two weeks for monitoring.

Six such patients volunteered for Ekstrom and Watrous' study while the electrodes were in place. Using a laptop computer, the patients learned to navigate a route through a virtual streetscape, picking up passengers and taking them to specific places. Later, they were asked to recall the routes from memory.

Correct memory recall was associated with increased activity across multiple connected brain regions at the same time, Ekstrom said, rather than activity in one region followed by another.

However, the analysis did show that the medial temporal lobe is an important hub of the memory network, confirming earlier studies, he said.

Intriguingly, memories of time and of place were associated with different frequencies of brain activity across the network. For example, recalling, "What shop is next to the donut shop?" set off a different frequency of activity from recalling "Where was I at 11 a.m.?"

Using different frequencies could explain how the brain codes and recalls elements of past events such as time and location at the same time, Ekstrom said.

"Just as cell phones and wireless devices work at different radio frequencies for different information, the brain resonates at different frequencies for spatial and temporal information," he said.

The researchers hope to explore further how the brain codes information in future work.

The neuroscientists analyzed their results with graph theory, a new technique that is being used for studying networks, ranging from social media connections to airline schedules.

"Previously, we didn't have enough data from different brain regions to use graph theory. This combination of multiple readings during memory retrieval and graph theory is unique," Ekstrom said.

Placing electrodes inside the skull provides clearer resolution of electrical signals than external electrodes, making the data invaluable for the study of cognitive functions, Tandon said. "This work has yielded important insights into the normal mechanisms underpinning recall, and provides us with a framework for the study of memory dysfunction in the future."

###

Additional authors of the study are Chris Connor and Thomas Pieters at the UTHealth Medical School. The work was supported by the Sloan Foundation, the Hellman Foundation and the NIH.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 29-Jan-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andy Fell
ahfell@ucdavis.edu
530-752-4533
University of California - Davis

Working with patients with electrodes implanted in their brains, researchers at the University of California, Davis, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have shown for the first time that areas of the brain work together at the same time to recall memories. The unique approach promises new insights into how we remember details of time and place.

"Previous work has focused on one region of the brain at a time," said Arne Ekstrom, assistant professor at the UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. "Our results show that memory recall involves simultaneous activity across brain regions." Ekstrom is senior author of a paper describing the work published Jan. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience.

Ekstrom and UC Davis graduate student Andrew Watrous worked with patients being treated for a severe seizure condition by neurosurgeon Dr. Nitin Tandon and his UTHealth colleagues.

To pinpoint the origin of the seizures in these patients, Tandon and his team place electrodes on the patient's brain inside the skull. The electrodes remain in place for one to two weeks for monitoring.

Six such patients volunteered for Ekstrom and Watrous' study while the electrodes were in place. Using a laptop computer, the patients learned to navigate a route through a virtual streetscape, picking up passengers and taking them to specific places. Later, they were asked to recall the routes from memory.

Correct memory recall was associated with increased activity across multiple connected brain regions at the same time, Ekstrom said, rather than activity in one region followed by another.

However, the analysis did show that the medial temporal lobe is an important hub of the memory network, confirming earlier studies, he said.

Intriguingly, memories of time and of place were associated with different frequencies of brain activity across the network. For example, recalling, "What shop is next to the donut shop?" set off a different frequency of activity from recalling "Where was I at 11 a.m.?"

Using different frequencies could explain how the brain codes and recalls elements of past events such as time and location at the same time, Ekstrom said.

"Just as cell phones and wireless devices work at different radio frequencies for different information, the brain resonates at different frequencies for spatial and temporal information," he said.

The researchers hope to explore further how the brain codes information in future work.

The neuroscientists analyzed their results with graph theory, a new technique that is being used for studying networks, ranging from social media connections to airline schedules.

"Previously, we didn't have enough data from different brain regions to use graph theory. This combination of multiple readings during memory retrieval and graph theory is unique," Ekstrom said.

Placing electrodes inside the skull provides clearer resolution of electrical signals than external electrodes, making the data invaluable for the study of cognitive functions, Tandon said. "This work has yielded important insights into the normal mechanisms underpinning recall, and provides us with a framework for the study of memory dysfunction in the future."

###

Additional authors of the study are Chris Connor and Thomas Pieters at the UTHealth Medical School. The work was supported by the Sloan Foundation, the Hellman Foundation and the NIH.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/uoc--ims012913.php

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Data Privacy Day 2013

Did you know today is Data Privacy Day?

By no means a national holiday, it is a rather underrated initiative by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

A public-private partnership involving the government, NGOs and academia, it aims to "educate and empower a digital citizenry to use Internet securely and safely". The illustrious board members include ADP, AT&T, Bank Of America, Facebook, Google, Intel, McAfee, PayPal, Microsft, Symnatec and others.

This year, the NCSA is collaborating with Facebook for a live showcase of the Data Privacy Day Kick-off Event on January 28th, 2013 from 8.30-11.30 a.m ET.

A special forum to discuss "data stewardship, privacy innovation and implications for the personal information in an on-demand mobile environment", it has also released a digital book "Lol...OMG"?(available on Amazon.com) for high school kids with the specific aim of better online reputation management.

The Data Privacy Day is celebrated on 28th January every year accross the United States, Canada and 27 Council of Europe member countries. However, the US House of Representatives officially declared January 28th as the Data Privacy Day in 2009 only. The mission statement of DPD is to organize events that "stimulate the development of technology tools that promote individual control over personally identifiable information; encourage compliance of cyber laws and create a dialogue among the stakeholders".?The theme this year is "Respecting Privacy, Safeguarding Data and Enabling Trust".

To trace back its inception to Europe, in 1981 the Convention for the Protection of Individuals signed the Convention 108 - a first of its kind international treaty for privacy and data protection. Added to this Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights also extends privacy safeguards to web users.

Besides being an educative initiative, it is celebrated with much gusto in the cyber circles with top firms bringing out latest privacy and security options for its users this day. In fact, Microsoft has conducted an interesting study among 1000 Americans to arrive at some startling results.

Microsoft's Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch, has shared interesting finds of the survey here:

1."Forty-five percent said they feel they have little or no control over the personal information companies gather about them while they are browsing the Web or using online services, such as photo-sharing, travel or gaming."

2."Four in 10 said they feel they totally or mostly understand how to protect their online privacy."

3."An equal number of people (39 percent) said they are turning to friends and family, as well as company privacy statements, as their top source for privacy information."

4."A third of those surveyed (32 percent) said they are paying attention to companies' privacy reputations, track records and policies when choosing which websites to visit or services to use."

Interestingly, since DPD is a non profit initiative, it is actively sponsered by its member corporations. While Intel is the Platinum sponsor, others like Facebook, AT&T, Microsoft and Google have extended their hand too. Added to this small businesses are also entering the fray with Reputation.com being a prime contributor this year. We acknowledge this enlightening initiative to make the cyber space a better platform to help our e-commerce entrepreneurs to act and interact safely.

You can share with us your opinions in this regard by leaving a comment in the section below.

Subscribe to our RSS feeds to know what's hot-n-happening in the cyber circle.?

Source: http://www.e-junkie.info/2013/01/data-privacy-day-2013.html

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Violent protests greet Egypt emergency decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - A man was shot dead on Monday in a fifth day of violence in Egypt that has killed 50 people and prompted the Islamist president to declare a state of emergency in an attempt to end a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world's biggest nation.

Under emergency powers announced by President Mohamed Mursi for the cities of Port Said, Ismailia and Suez on Sunday, the army will have the right to arrest civilians and to help police restore order.

A cabinet source told Reuters any trials would be before civilian courts, but the step is likely to anger protesters who accuse Mursi of using high-handed security tactics of the kind they fought against to oust president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt's politics have become deeply polarized since those heady days two years ago, when protesters were making most of the running in the Arab Spring revolutions that sent shockwaves through the region.

Although Islamists have won parliamentary and presidential elections, the disparate opposition has since united against Mursi. Late last year he moved to expand his powers and push a constitution with Islamist leanings through a referendum punctuated by violent street protests.

Mursi's opponents accuse him of hijacking the revolution, listening only to his Islamist allies and breaking a promise to be a president for all Egyptians. They say too many hold-outs from the Mubarak era remain in their posts.

Islamists say their rivals want to overthrow by undemocratic means Egypt's first freely elected leader.

Some opposition groups have called for more protests in Cairo and elsewhere on Monday to mark the second anniversary of one of the bloodiest days in the revolution that erupted on January 25, 2011, and ended Mubarak's iron rule 18 days later.

Hundreds of demonstrators in Port Said, Ismailia and Suez, cities which all lie on the economically vital Suez Canal, turned out against Mursi's decision on Sunday within moments of him speaking. Activists there pledged to defy a curfew that starts at 9 p.m. (1700 GMT).

Instability in Egypt has raised concerns in Western capitals, where officials worry about the direction of a key regional player that has signed a peace deal with Israel.

The political unrest has been exacerbated by street violence linked to death penalties imposed on soccer supporters convicted of involvement in stadium rioting a year ago.

In Cairo on Monday, police fired volleys of teargas at stone-throwing protesters in and around Tahrir Square, cauldron of the anti-Mubarak uprising.

KILLED BY A GUNSHOT

A 46-year-old bystander was killed by a gunshot, a security source at the Interior Ministry said. It was not clear who fired the shot.

"We want to bring down the regime and end the state that is run by the Muslim Brotherhood," said Ibrahim Eissa, a 26-year-old cook, protecting his face from teargas wafting towards him.

Mursi also called for a national dialogue with his rivals for later on Monday, but the early response from members of the main opposition coalition suggested they saw little point.

Propelled to the presidency in a June election by the Muslim Brotherhood, Mursi has lurched through a series of political crises and violent demonstrations, complicating his task of shoring up the economy and preparing for a parliamentary election to cement the new democracy in a few months.

"The protection of the nation is the responsibility of everyone. We will confront any threat to its security with force and firmness within the remit of the law," Mursi said, offering condolences to families of victims in the canal zone cities.

Appealing to his opponents, the president called for a dialogue on Monday at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT), inviting a range of Islamist allies as well as liberal, leftist and other opposition groups and individuals to discuss the crisis.

The main opposition National Salvation Front coalition said it would not attend.

Mursi's call to hold talks was "cosmetic and not substantive", a leading member of the coalition, Mohamed ElBaradei, told a news conference.

SECURITY MEASURES

The opposition Front has distanced itself from the latest flare-ups but said Mursi should have acted far sooner to impose security measures that would have ended the violence.

"Of course we feel the president is missing the real problem on the ground, which is his own policies," Front spokesman Khaled Dawoud said. "His call to implement emergency law was an expected move, given what is going on, namely thuggery and criminal activity."

But other activists said Mursi's measures to try to impose control on the turbulent streets could backfire.

"Martial law, state of emergency and army arrests of civilians are not a solution to the crisis," Ahmed Maher of the April 6 movement that helped galvanize the 2011 uprising said. "All this will do is further provoke the youth. The solution has to be a political one that addresses the roots of the problem."

Thousands of mourners joined funerals in Port Said for the latest victims in the Mediterranean port city. Seven people were killed there on Sunday when residents joined marches to bury 33 others who had been killed a day earlier, most by gunshot wounds in a city where arms are rife.

Protests erupted there on Saturday after a court sentenced to death several people from the city for their role in deadly soccer violence last year, a verdict residents saw as unfair. The anger swiftly turned against Mursi and his government.

Rights activists said Mursi's declaration was a backward step for Egypt, which was under emergency law for Mubarak's entire 30-year rule. His police used the sweeping arrest provisions to muzzle dissent and round up opponents, including members of the Brotherhood and even Mursi himself.

Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch in Cairo said the police, still hated by many Egyptians for their heavy-handed tactics under Mubarak, would once again have the right to arrest people "purely because they look suspicious", undermining efforts to create a more efficient and respected police force.

"It is a classic knee-jerk reaction to think the emergency law will help bring security," she said. "It gives so much discretion to the Ministry of Interior that it ends up causing more abuse, which in turn causes more anger."

(Additional reporting by Yasmine Saleh in Cairo and Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia; Editing by Will Waterman and Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-leader-declares-emergency-clashes-kill-dozens-031734034.html

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Quantum theory of smell causes a new stink

Jacob Aron, reporter

The first evidence from tests on people that our ability to distinguish between different scents involves quantum mechanics has reopened a long-standing debate.

Most researchers think a molecule's odour is determined by its shape, with smells triggered when the molecule enters a suitably shaped receptor in the nose, like a key entering a lock. Luca Turin of the Fleming Biomedical Research Sciences Centre in Vari, Greece disagrees, because some molecules with different shapes have similar smells.

In 1996 he proposed that a smell receptor would only fire when a molecule vibrated at the right frequency. These vibrations provide enough energy to trigger a quantum tunnelling effect, causing an electron to pass across the receptor and trigger a smell.

One way to test the theory is replacing the hydrogen atoms in a molecule with deuterium, a hydrogen isotope with a nucleus of a neutron and a proton, rather than just a proton. The shape of the molecule barely changes, but the added neutrons alter the frequency of its vibrations. Turin's previous experiments have shown fruit flies can distinguish between the original and altered versions of acetophenone, a common perfume ingredient, but similar tests on humans had failed.

Now Turin and colleagues have attempted the same experiment with larger molecules and discovered that?humans can detect a significant difference in odour. They put this down to an increased number of carbon-hydrogen bonds in the larger molecules, as these bonds maybe responsible for the vibrational effect.?

Researchers supporting the shape model of smell remain unconvinced though, with?Tim Jacob?of Cardiff University, UK telling the?BBC?that the new results were "supportive but not conclusive".

Meanwhile,?Ilia Solov'yov?of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,?told Chemistry World?he was "not convinced" the results prove humans could smell the difference between the two types of molecules.

More broadly, there is increased interest in the?quantum biology, including recent evidence that?birds may use quantum mechanics to navigate.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/27fc2bb4/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Cblogs0Cshortsharpscience0C20A130C0A10Cquantum0Esmell0Etheory0Ecauses0Ene0Bhtml0Dcmpid0FRSS0QNSNS0Q20A120EGLOBAL0Qonline0Enews/story01.htm

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Narrow Behind-the-Door Shelves Take Advantage of Otherwise Wasted Space

In many homes there are doors that open into a small closet-spaced niche designed to only hold the opened door and provide access to the room. Other than hanging a poster, there isn't much you can do with that space, but if you have kids or just want to display magazines you can add narrow bookshelves to keep reading material handy.

Interior design weblog Design Sponge highlight an apartment by contributors Joshua and Jodie Steen that includes the custom-built narrow bookshelves designed by Joshua. Unfortunately no plans were included but seems to be an easy-to-replicate design using 1x2 lumber?just make sure you measure everything twice to ensure you'll have enough door clearance once you fit the shelves. If you look at the above photo you'll see how the door's knob fits into an opening in the shelves.

Sneak Peek: Joshua and Jodie Steen | Design Sponge

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/Gn2YOc5wDrY/narrow-behind+the+door-shelves-take-advantage-of-otherwise-wasted-space

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Michael Phelps' Horse, Cerro, Wins Race At Gulfstream

HALLENDALE BEACH, Fla. (AP) ? Cerro, a 3-year-old colt partly owned by 18-time Olympic champion swimmer Michael Phelps, won the $54,500 third race at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

Phelps and his former coach, Bob Bowman, share an ownership interest in the Ireland-bred colt, which runs in the colors of Team Valor International. Cerro is trained by Graham Motion, who oversaw 2011 Kentucky Derby winner Animal Kingdom for Team Valor.

Cerro ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.29, winning by 2 1/2 lengths. He paid $6, $3 and $2.40.

Phelps, who retired after the London Olympics, became interested in horse racing through Bowman, who has bred and owned thoroughbreds for several years and is a friend of Motion. Phelps visited Motion's stable in Elkton, Md., in December.

Phelps and Bowman weren't on hand to see Cerro win on Saturday, although they were at Gulfstream to see the colt finish third in a race on Jan. 1.

"We are really excited to be part of Cerro's partnership and see what he can do as he moves along this spring," Bowman said.

Cerro's next scheduled start at Gulfstream is March 3 in the Palm Beach Stakes. The colt is being pointed toward the Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 24, a race won the last two years by Team Valor and Motion.

Phelps and Bowman attended the 2009 Kentucky Derby together and were at the 2011 Preakness when Animal Kingdom finished second in Phelps' hometown of Baltimore.

"I've always loved racing and I got out because it just got to be a little much with the coaching, but now that Michael has retired and we're on a little more flexible schedule, we both wanted to have fun with it," Bowman said. "I think he's always seen how much fun I've had with it and wanted to get involved, and this is a great opportunity for us to do it."

Barry Irwin's Team Valor International syndicates horses among a group of partners. Irwin discovered Cerro in Italy, where he won his career debut on the turf last spring. He raced on turf in his first two U.S. starts and improved when he switched to dirt earlier this month.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/27/michael-phelps-horse-cerro_n_2559199.html

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The Estate Condo by Lougheed House & Ranchmans Club Condo ...

?The Estate? Condo was built in 1980 and is located at 720 13th Ave SW, Calgary, right next door to the world famous Ranchmen?s Club and across the street from Lougheed House, in the Community of Connaught.? It is ?The Estate? is? registered on Condominium Plan 8211330.? It comprises a 27-Story high-rise tower adjoining the Ranchmen?s Club and also a 7-story Low-Rise structure to the west which houses a number of town-homes and low-rise condominium units.

The homes in ?The Estate? range in size from the smallest being 882 sq. ft to the two 3175 square foot Penthouse units on the 27th floor.? The average size of the units is about 1600 sq. ft.? ?The Estate? mirrors the traditions, style and finishing?s of the adjoining Ranchman?s Club and the visitor is greeted by a 24/7 full service concierge who watches over the pristine surroundings and takes care of the ?little things? for you.

Mel Buyer ? Day Concierge Extraordinaire at ?The Estate?

The atmosphere is non-pretentious and those that have made ?The Estate? their home are generally not scuttling about, type A over-achievers.? They have already made their mark in life and are now enjoying the fruits of their labour in the manner to which they have become accustomed.? The units in the high-rise tower of ?The Estate? have no balconies, rendering them relatively dust free.? The floor plans are open and spacious with interesting angles which are perfect for incredible furniture layouts to suite your lifestyle, while still feeling comfortable and cozy.

?The Estate? Low-Rise condominium complex houses four two-story town homes and the rest are apartment style condominiums. Many of these homes have large balconies and large terraces.

Condo fees in ?The Estate? usually range between $1000 and $3000 and as of the date of this review.? If this concerns you in the least, then ?The Estate? is definitely not for you. ?The Estate? is professionally managed by Twylla Walker.

?Amenities in ?The Estate?

• On-Site Manager (5th Floor)
• Swimming Pool with kitchenette/wet bar ? May be reserved for private functions. (5th Floor)
• Roof top Patio between the two buildings (5th Floor)
• Whirl Pool
• Exercise Room (5th Floor)
• Garbage Chutes (Undetectable)
• 9? Ceilings
• Large Terrace Patios on many of the low-rise units
• Central Air Conditioning.

?

Wet Bar in ?The Estate? Swimming Pool Recreation Room

Parking in ?The Estate?

• 4 Levels of secured, assigned underground parking. Two levels up, and two levels down from the main floor.? Many suites have two parking stalls
• 10 underground secured visitor stalls

Inclusions at ?The Estate?

• Heat
• Water/Sewer
• Electricity
• Cable & Internet

Restrictions

To arrange for a private showing, or offer for sale any units for sale in ?The Estate? call me to take care of the details.

Mike Leibel - 403-204-1111

Facebook Is Primed To Disrupt Online Dating

Editor?s Note: Brian Bowman is founder and CEO of LikeIt.com, a fun way to discover people, places, and things. The responsibility of dating sites should be to facilitate great first dates. Unfortunately, the dating industry has chosen to protect its charge-to-communicate?business model instead of give consumers access to information to make an educated decision about a potential date: Is my date a real person? Who do we know in common and what mutual interests do we share?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/LIPTu8Rd7fI/

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Coca Cola's Low Calorie Beverages Will Kill You ... - Food Babe

When I saw Coca-Cola?s new anti-obesity ad, my jaw dropped wide open. Yes, you read that right? Coca-Cola is on a new mission to fight the obesity epidemic now, in what I call a desperate attempt to prevent declining sales. The sad part is that some people will actually believe their nonsense. In the advertisement they try to make a case that there is room for Coca-Cola products in people?s ?healthy? diets.

Coca-Cola is promoting the introduction of new low calorie beverages and using the failed logic of ?a calorie is a calorie? to convince people who need to loose weight to keep Coca-Cola products around in their diet.?But you know what? A calorie isn?t a calorie ? when it?s made up of chemicals that affect how much you eat and the way your body metabolizes those chemicals.

So I?m here to break that down for you and detail out why Coca-Cola?s low calorie beverages will not fight obesity ? and if anything ? the reliance on low calorie chemical-filled drinks just perpetuates the problem even more. Proving in fact, that these drinks will continue to be linked to the increase in obesity.

If you want to see the full advertisement video?it is at the bottom of this post?but I don?t recommend watching it (unless you want to get a good laugh) because it deserves no more attention and I want you to focus on the truth that I am about to share with you now.

(And when you see this advertisement being played during the Super Bowl coming up ? I suggest you yell loudly at the TV, like I plan on doing.)

Quotes from Coca-Cola?s Anti Obesity Advertisement:

?For over 125 years, we have been bringing people together??

Really?? How? By selling a products to adults and children that are linked to diabetes, heart disease and obesity? Hmmm?. What do you call spending millions of dollars against the consumer?s right to know ? i.e. GMO labeling ? Is this bringing people together? ?If anything ? it makes you an enemy company people should boycott.

?We?ve created smaller portion control sizes for our most popular drinks and we?ll have then in about 90% of the country by the end of this year?

A smaller can of poison will not solve obesity. Thank you.

?No matter where they come from, including Coca-Cola and everything else with calories.?And if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you?ll gain weight?

This is faulty logic and I?ll show you why in just a minute?

Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages we now offer over 180 low and no calorie choices and most of our full calorie beverages now have low or no calorie versions.?Over the last 15 years, this has helped reduce the average calories per serving across our industries products in the US by about 22%?

This is where I want to take a closer look at exactly which low calorie beverages Coca-Cola is referring to? here are some examples and the ingredients these low calorie beverages include:

Artificial Sugars ? Linked to Obesity and a?Myriad?of Diseases

Sure you can save some calories drinking beverages with artificial sugars, but you won?t reduce your risk of obesity or getting a tumor.

If someone is trying to lose weight, the consumption of artificial sweeteners is not the solution and will not work as long term strategy. Artificial Sweeteners are proven to stimulate your appetite, increase carbohydrate cravings, and promote fat storage and weight gain.

That?s right ? consuming artificial sweeteners actually increases your appetite. Think about it ? when someone consumes something that is sweet, but it has little to no calories ? their brain receives a signal to want more calories because their body is not actually getting any energy (i.e. enough calories) to get satisfied. ?So that person keeps looking for gratification elsewhere and ends up craving more.

The fact that Coca-Cola and other food industry giants are getting away with this ?orchestrated deception? is unbelievable and then to say developing low calorie beverages using these artificial sweeteners is actually going to help the obesity epidemic? Seriously? Who are they kidding?

Furthermore, there are more dangerous side effects from artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, which is considered one the most dangerous substances allowed in our food supply. Aspartame is found in Powerade, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Dr. Pepper, Fanta Light, Fuze, Minute Maid Light, etc.

Over 10,000 complaints have been filed with the FDA on this substance since 1980 and has actually never been proven to be safe before it was approved for use in our food supply. Aspartame is linked to diabetes, auto-immune disorders, depression (which can cause you to eat more ? once again), birth defects, and several forms of cancer.

?Erythritol? found in Vitamin Water Zero is a sugar alcohol the body does not easily digest and is linked to diarrhea, headache and other intestinal disorders.

Acesulfame Potassium or acesulfame K is the one of main sweeteners in Minute Maid Fruit Falls ? which is a low calorie beverage aimed at kids ? and Monster Zero for example. According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) it is anything but safe.?CSPI reported?the?safety tests of acesulfame-K that were conducted in the 1970s were inadequate. Specifically, two rat studies suggest that the additive?might cause cancer,?but these studies were never addressed by the FDA before they approved the substance to also be used unregulated in soft drinks. In addition it is mentioned that large doses of acetoacetamide (a breakdown product of this sugar) have been shown to affect the thyroid in rats, rabbits, and dogs. As you might know ? the thyroid gland ? regulates the endocrine system, which is responsible the metabolism.

If Coca-Cola wanted to really improve their offerings ? they would immediately eliminate artificial sugars from their products.

Natural Flavors ? Trick Consumers To Drink More

By producing zero or low calorie drinks that taste like the ?real thing,? Coca-Cola is ?hijacking? your taste buds one by one. Food scientists can engineer natural flavors to cause the inability to stop eating or drinking. All of the Coca-Cola products listed above have added natural flavors.?These flavors scientists synthesize trick your mind into wanting more and more. They don?t want you to have the full essence of the strawberry or real coconut ? they want you to only experience the best 1 millionth part of the taste ? so you get ?addicted? and keep having to go back for more and more, searching continuously for gratification ? eating more of that product which in turns fills Coca-Cola?s pocket, as well as other big food companies.

This is an industry trick that is used in so many products ? beyond drinks ? but is the most prevalent in low calorie beverages. In a few versions of Coca-Cola?s product Zico ? a coconut water ? they have to use natural flavors to cover up the fact that they are getting coconuts from all over the world, that taste different, which they then process into ?concentrate.? The?coconut water is heated down to syrup and then reconstituted with water.?To keep the flavor consistent ? they have to add back in natural flavors and what you end up with is an inferior product that is a mix of several different species of coconuts that have lost their original integrity, taste and nutrition.

Artificial Colors ? Attract Adults and Children to Unhealthy Drinks?

Adding artificial colors into food, actually contributes to the obesity epidemic by attracting children (and adults) to fake sweetened drinks that provide almost zero nutrition. This is another marketing ploy by Coca-Cola to target more people to get addicted to their products.

Additionally ? it?s important to note ? the caramel coloring that Coca-Cola and other soda giants like Pepsi use ? is completely artificial ? not the stuff you make at home by cooking sugar.?This caramel color is manufactured by heating ammonia and sulfites under high pressure, which creates carcinogenic compounds. A high?dose of this known carcinogen is proven to cause?liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors?in rats and mice.

When?The Center for Science in the Public Interest?released a study last year found dangerous levels of caramel coloring could be contributing to?thousands of cancers?in the US, it prompted Coca-Cola and Pepsi to quickly change their formulas so they didn?t have to include the cancer warning label on their products in California.

Regardless of the reformulation ? many of Coca-Cola?s products still contain this caramel coloring ? even if it?s in a lesser amount. How small of a dose of poison are you willing to take on a regular basis?

Overconsumption of Caffeine ? Causes Addiction and Adrenal Fatique

The reason why so many of Coca-Cola?s low calorie drinks contain caffeine ? is because they want you to become addicted. The stimulation you get from the caffeine, along with the taste of something sweet ? keeps you coming back for more and more. One of the most alarming drinks on the market is ?Monster Zero? which can be directly affect how your adrenal glands function and lead to persistent exhaustion. What happens when people are exhausted all the time? They stop moving? and likely gain weight.

Right now, Monster energy drinks is being sued by multiple families because it is suspected to have caused death of their loved ones. Despite these lawsuits and the recent FDA report about the dangers of energy drinks, Monster continues to be on the market.

Genetically Modified Organisms or GMO?s ? Linked to Obesity

Every single one of Coca-Cola?s products here are likely to have GMO?s. That?s because they have a hidden corn based product ? like sorbitol, fructose, aspartame, maltodextrin, or citric acid. And why in the world would they have spent millions fighting GMO-labeling in California, if their products weren?t full of them!

A study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences shows that GM food is indeed contributing to the obesity epidemic. The study found that GM corn fed to mice led to an increase in overall body weight of about 3.7 percent, while also increasing the weight of the liver by up to 11 percent.

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM), reported studies that show GMOs responsible for faulty insulin regulation and therefore advise their patients to have GMO-free diets.

Preservatives ? Accelerate Aging and Acidify The Body

Preservatives like sodium benzoate are in almost all of Coca-Cola?s products. The Mayo Clinic reported that this preservative may?increase hyperactivity?in children. Also, when sodium benzoate combines with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) benzene can form a?carcinogen and kill DNA cells, and accelerate aging.

Preservatives cause accelerated aging because they acidify the body. Dr. Jameth Sheridan (D.H.M.) Doctor of Holistic Medicine,?states that it takes 36 glasses of water to re-alkaline your body after drinking just one diet soda. 36 glasses! Wow.

When your body is in an alkaline state your chances of developing disease is significantly lower than a body in an acidic state. This is because our bodies are made of up of billions of cells that are naturally alkaline according to it?s ph balance. When we consume more acidic foods (i.e. many of Coca-Cola?s low calorie drinks) vs. alkaline foods this upsets the balance and leads to all sorts of trouble for our bodies and the organs that regulate our metabolism and weight.

Bisphenol A (aka BPA)?in Cans ? Linked to Obesity

After reviewing the results of over 3,000 children and teens who had high urine BPA levels and high body mass index, a very recent study?determined that BPA is linked to childhood obesity.?BPA has already been banned in baby bottles ? however, kids across the country are still drinking Coca-Cola products tainted with this environmental toxin.

Coca-Cola has downright refused to eliminate BPA?from it?s products and even defends the use of this metabolism destroying compound on their website.

Fructose & Fruit Juice From Concentrate ? Too Much Sugar For the Body To Process

You?ll find crystalline fructose in Vitamin Water Zero, which is?made from (genetically modified) corn starch which is 20% sweeter than sugar.?Fructose is processed by the body differently than other sugars ? and is linked to fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, coronary arterial disease and obesity.

Coca-Cola claims that they have helped remove soda from schools by replacing them with juices. (This not entirely true ? they actually fought the removal of vending machines?in schools).?Nonetheless, these juices are mainly comprised of fruit juice concentrates and do little if anything to solve the problem of obesity.

Honest Kids is made with mainly organic fruit juice concentrate with added natural flavors and ?citric acid.? Citric acid is not organic and is an example of a possible hidden GMO in an organic product.

Honest Kids say ?No GMOs? on their boxes, but I?m not sure if we can entirely trust that. I have yet to see a formal statement from them to know for sure their citric acid is not made from GM corn, as they are not third part verified by the Non-GMO Project. Remember ? USDA organic certified products only have to contain 95% organic content to be labeled as such.

Besides having possible hidden GMOs ? consuming fruit juice concentrate on a regular basis actually overload sugar in the liver, which increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity.

For instance, Minute Maid fruit juice might contain several ounces of straight fructose, with none of the fiber, pulp, or living enzymes that help the body properly digest the sugar.

A Cola Cola sponsored smoothie bar using real whole fruit in schools would be a MUCH better solution ? just a thought.

____________________________________________________

In summary, at the end of Coca Coca?s advertisement they invite you to?.

?To learn more, and visit coke.com/comingtogether?

Ha! That?s funny. When pigs fly!?That?s the last place anyone should go to learn about solving obesity.

If you know a friend or family member who still consumes Coca-Cola products ? especially these ?low or zero calorie? beverages ? please share this article with them.

You could be their hero!

Wishing you lots love, health and a longer life than this tortoise.

Food Babe

Source: http://foodbabe.com/2013/01/25/coca-colas-low-calorie-beverages-will-kill-you-before-they-solve-obesity/

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Business Finance Store Publishes New Article Discussing How ...

In Business Finance Store?s latest blog post, author Brentt Taylor discusses how small businesses can use home equity loans for small business growth.

Santa Ana, CA (PRWEB) January 22, 2013

As Business Finance Store develops ways to find crucial funding for small businesses, their latest blog post discusses how small business owners can use a home equity loan or second mortgage to fund a small business enterprise. As the mechanics of funding a small business with a home equity loan is relatively simple, an owner only needs to have a consistent track record of making mortgage payments in a timely manner.

Of course, there are plenty of requirements to obtain a home equity loan for small business growth as Business Finance Store?s latest article explains. To learn more, visit Business Finance Store?s blog.

The Business Finance Store is a business financing and consulting firm that offers customized Business Financial Solutions. Seasoned professionals offer assistance in a variety of financial solutions to help small businesses succeed such as: Business Financial Solutions, Legal Solutions, and Accounting Solutions.

The staff at The Business Finance Store understands that starting and growing a business is an exciting time. They keep it exciting by taking care of some of the most difficult aspects, by providing legal advice, helping with vital responsibilities like accounting bookkeeping, and by obtaining business finance. They can quickly and easily guide entrepreneurs through many different complicated processes and put them on the path to success.

For 10 years The Business Finance Store has been helping startups and other small businesses legally structure their companies, find the right franchises, get the funding they need, and achieve the American dream of owning their own successful business. Since expanding nationwide in 2007, they have helped thousands of companies and have funded over $100 Million in business credit lines, not including SBA loans. The Business Finance Store sees limitless potential in the current climate, and looks forward to many strong years of growth to come. Take some time to review their services, and give them a call.

For more information, or a free, no-obligation analysis of your business needs, visit The Business Finance Store website: http://www.businessfinancestore.com. A member of their professional staff will contact you to discuss your business? short and long-term goals. Whatever you need, The Business Finance Store is there.

Kelly Rye
The Business Finance Store
(949) 777-5959
Email Information

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-finance-store-publishes-article-discussing-home-equity-162313587.html

Source: http://www.newstonews.com/2013/01/25/business-finance-store-publishes-new-article-discussing-how-home-equity-loans-can-fund-a-business/

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More evidence of a US housing and construction recovery | AEIdeas

More positive reports this week on commercial real estate construction from the American Institute of Architects and firming/rising residential home prices from FHFA.
1. The American Institute of Architects reported this week that:

Business conditions at architecture firms continue to improve.? As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending.? The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the December ABI score was 52.0, down from the mark of 53.2 in November (see red line in chart).? This score reflects an increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings).? The new projects inquiry index was 59.4, down slightly from the 59.6 mark of the previous month (see blue line).

?While it?s not an across the board recovery, we are hearing a much more positive outlook in terms of demand for design services,? said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker.??Moving into 2013 we are expecting this trend to continue and conditions improve at a slow and steady rate.? That said, we remain concerned that continued uncertainty over the outcomes of budget sequestration and the debt ceiling could impact further economic growth.?

2.?The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reported yesterday on its House Price Index (HPI) for November, based on the purchase prices of houses involving conforming, conventional mortgages purchased or securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The FHFA index of national home prices is more comprehensive than the 10 and 20 major metro-areas that determine the two Case-Shiller indexes, and includes both small cities and major cities like Houston (not one of the 20 metro areas in Case-Shiller).? Like the Case-Shiller indices, the HPI is a repeat-sales index, meaning that it measures average price changes in repeat sales or refinancings on the same single-family properties. Here are some highlights of today?s FHFA house price report:

a.??November home prices increased by 0.6% on a seasonally adjusted basis compared to October, posting the?tenth back-to-back monthly increase in home prices starting in February.? The last time there was a streak of?ten consecutive monthly increases in the HPI was back in early 2006, more than six years ago.? The?November HPI at 192.84 was the highest level for home prices since?May 2010, more than two years ago (see chart).

b. The?November HPI (seasonally adjusted) was 5.64% above its year-ago level following a 5.54% year-over-year increase in October.?The back-to-back increases in the HPI above 5% in?October and?November?marked the first time?that home prices have increased more than 5% for two consecutive months since the summer of 2006. Further, the year-over-year increase in the?November HPI was the?tenth consecutive monthly increase in the HPI from its year ago level.? The last time that occurred was more than five years ago in 2007.

MP: More evidence this week?of a?US housing recovery (residential and commercial), with?signs that commercial construction will continue to improve this year based on the ongoing gains in the ABI, a leading indicator of nonresidential construction activity over the next six to nine months.

Source: http://www.aei-ideas.org/2013/01/more-evidence-of-a-us-housing-recovery/

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Water utilities share $105M herbicide settlement (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/279547115?client_source=feed&format=rss

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High doses of folic acid not tied to cancer risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - According to a new analysis, people taking high doses of the B vitamin folic acid are not at an increased risk of cancer - easing some concern about possible side effects of national fortification programs.

The U.S. and Canada have required flour to be fortified with folic acid since 1998, after deficiencies in pregnant women were tied to brain and spinal cord birth defects in their babies.

However, researchers noted, fortification is not mandatory in Western Europe, for example, in part because of concern that extra folic acid might slightly increase people's risk of cancer due to its role in cell growth. Cells, including cancer cells, need folate - the natural form of folic acid - to grow and divide.

"Overall, this is good news," said nutrition researcher Joshua Miller from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

However, he noted, there are enough questions about the long-term effects of folic acid that people should still "be a little cautious" about loading up on the vitamin.

For the new analysis, a team of international researchers combined data from 13 separate trials that randomly assigned participants to daily folic acid or a vitamin-free placebo and recorded who went on to develop cancer.

The studies included a total of close to 50,000 volunteers who were followed for just over five years, on average.

During that time, 7.7 percent of people in the folic acid groups and 7.3 percent in the placebo groups were diagnosed with any kind of cancer - a difference that could have been due to chance, the researchers noted in The Lancet.

Likewise, there was no increased risk of individual cancers - including colon, prostate, lung or breast cancer - attributed to folic acid.

Most trials used daily doses of folic acid between 0.5 and 5 milligrams. In the one study that used a much larger dose - 40 mg daily - there was still no difference in cancer diagnoses between people who were and weren't taking the vitamin.

The total daily amount of folic acid delivered through flour fortification is less than 0.5 mg per day for most Americans.

Folic acid is also naturally found in spinach, asparagus, lettuce and other greens. The recommended upper daily limit is 1.0 mg.

"The conclusion you can make from this is that over a relatively short period of time, there was no significant benefit or harm," said Dr. John Baron from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Lebanon, New Hampshire, who worked on the review.

Most cancers take 10 to 20 years to develop, he told Reuters Health. So it's hard to tell from shorter studies if there really is no folic acid-cancer link or if the researchers didn't follow people for long enough to see an association, whether positive or negative.

The possible effect of folic acid on cancer risk has been controversial, in part because of the complex biology behind it, said Miller, who co-wrote a commentary published with the new study.

"It has this dual nature, where extra folic acid could actually prevent cancers from developing in the first place, (but) once cancer is formed, then they're like any other proliferating cells - they need folate to do that," he told Reuters Health.

The researchers agreed this study shouldn't be the last word on the potential side effects of folic acid.

For now, Miller added, people might want to avoid piling supplements on top of multivitamins and fortified food.

"People should realize if they're eating breakfast cereals and bread and pastas, they're getting a good amount of folic acid in food," he said.

"I think they should try not to exceed the upper limit."

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/Wz5GxC The Lancet, online January 25, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/high-doses-folic-acid-not-tied-cancer-risk-195115635.html

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DIY Carpentry Tips and Advice - Home Improvement

DIY carpentry can be fun if you don?t mind a bit of down-to-earth physical work and it can provide a much needed boost to your creativity. Take some blocks or pieces of wood; get a saw, planer, hammer, nails and measuring tape; and use your hands and imagination. Suddenly, you are a DIY carpenter and you will begin to look at things that require repair and maintenance in a new light. The fact is that with a little learning and practice, anyone can do minor carpentry works themselves and save money.

To get started in carpentry, you will need several tools, such as planer, hammer, saw, tool pouch, Fisco Tape Measures, chisel, framing square, speed square, carpenter?s pencil and electric drill. These are the basic tools you will need. There are also many other advanced tools that you can get as your acquire more skills. But having the tools is not enough because carpentry is as much about skill as hard work. To become a good carpenter, you must also have a lot of imagination and the knack for finding solutions to unforeseen problems.

Here are some tips and advice that you can use if you new to carpentry:

• Get quality and durable tools: Once you get started, you will be using your tools often and expect them to produce the best results. You would also expect them to last many years without needing to be repaired or replaced; so buy only high quality tools that are efficient and durable. To ensure quality, buy from renowned toolmakers like Irwin Record Tools, which is one of the most trusted names for all kinds of carpentry tools.
• Always measure more than once before cutting: When cutting any piece of wood, you will first need to measure the exact length, width and height you want. To avoid any errors, always measure at least twice. Measuring multiple times may seem a waste of time, but it prevents errors and saves you time and money. Always keep a measuring tape and pencils within reach, or make it a habit to carry them in your pocket if necessary.
• Do not use too much force: Carpentry requires a lot of physical work and if you use too much force, you will soon find yourself out of energy and unable to continue. Be gentle on the tools and materials. When using the hammer, try to use only your wrists and not your whole arms; when using the planer, do not push too hard; and when using the saw, try to use only your hands and not your whole body.
• Learn from the experts: As in every field requiring skill, carpentry is also best learned from the experts. If you know someone who is good at carpentry, watch him handle his tools. Learn from him how to design and build furniture. It is dangerous to use tools with sharp edges without proper knowledge. Whenever you are in doubt, do not hesitate to ask questions. If you don?t know anyone, then research on the internet.

Source: http://www.hamaaroch.com/diy-carpentry-tips-and-advice/

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Kentwood boasts record sales of $1.72 billion - Inside Real Estate ...

Peter Niederman

Article Highlights:

• Kentwood has a record year in sales volume in 2012.
• Sales of $1.7 billion are $600 million higher than in 2011.
• Average sale price tops $500,000.

Realtors at Kentwood Real sold a record $1.72 billion in properties in 2012, making it one of the best-performing real estate companies for its size in the nation.

The 170 real estate brokers closed on 3,272 properties with an average price of $525,219. Kentwood Real Estate has three offices staffed by a total of approximately 170 real estate brokers.

The company?s performance ranks it among the top producing real estate companies in the nation.

The sales volume of $1,718,516,376, was almost $600 million more than the company posted for 2011.

Previously, the Denver Business Journal had reported that the top three real estate companies for volume in metro Denver for 2011, had 187 to 820 more agents than Kentwood.

Kentwood?s brokers averaged 19.4 real estate transactions each for 2012, which is three times the national average. The company?s average sales volume for 2012 was four times the national average.

Kentwood?s average sales volume per agent for 2012 was $10.1 million.

During the previous five years, Kentwood Real Estate was ranked among the top three real estate firms in America in total average sales volume per agent, according to Real Trends and the National Association of Realtors Kentwood was number one in average agent sales volume in 2009. The latest Real Trends Top 500 brokerage list is scheduled for distribution this April

Real Trends is a leading real estate consulting and communications company based in Denver, and the NAR is the national trade association representing licensed real estate brokers in the U.S.

?We had a remarkable year in 2012 and the performance is a testament to the hard work, knowledge, and experience of our veteran brokers,? said Peter Niederman, Chief Executive Officer of Kentwood Real Estate. ?While we represent all price ranges throughout the metro Denver area, we were particularly strong in the luxury segment of the market with a total of 296 sales with an average price of nearly $1.7 million, or almost a half-billion dollars in sales volume.?

The Denver Multiple Listing Service reported that transactions for the general market were up 17.5 percent in 2012, with sales volume up 28.6 percent for the year. Kentwood Real Estate recorded a 38.6 percent increase in transactions for 2012 and a 55.5 percent increase in total sales volume.

Kentwood Real Estate?s market share for 2012 was number one in the metro Denver area at 10.8 percent, with the company?s closest competitor at 6.47 percent, according to the Denver Multiple Listing Service?s report on the eight core Denver area submarkets.

The figures represent all price points in the heart of the metro Denver area, which means Kentwood Real Estate sells more real estate than any other company in the region, according to the company.

In Kentwood Real Estate?s state-of-the-company meeting on Tuesday, Niederman told the company?s management team about leading the Denver area market in 2012.

?You could see the sense of pride displayed by everyone at the meeting,? said Niederman. ?Our accomplishments are a direct result of our culture, and we are dedicated to protecting our brand and moving forward at an even higher level in the future.?

Kentwood Real Estate is composed of the Kentwood Co. in the Denver Tech Center, the Kentwood Co. at Cherry Creek, and Kentwood City Properties in downtown Denver. For more information, visit Kentwood Real Estate online at www.DenverRealEstate.com.

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal

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Source: http://insiderealestatenews.com/2013/01/kentwood-has-record-year/

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