The city of Scottsdale is fighting a lawsuit filed this summer that claims a recent contribution to renovations at McDowell Mountain Golf Club constituted an illegal subsidy.
AZCentral reports the city has asked the complaint be dismissed. The city contributed $1.5 million to renovations at the golf course's clubhouse. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation owns most of the land beneath the course, and the city has an agreement to use it. A private entity, White Buffalo Golf LLC, bought the course?s operating rights from SunCor Development Corp. of Tempe in April last year for $2.2 million.
AFP - With its masters required to hone their skills over decades, sushi in Japan is steeped in tradition. But it is also often a high-tech operation where robotic precision steals the limelight from the chef's knife.
The country is dotted with thousands of "kaiten" (revolving) sushi restaurants where raw fish slices atop rice balls travel on conveyer belts along counters waiting to be picked up by diners.
Behind the scenes, however, it is far from a simple merry-go-round, with robots in some locations rolling out perfectly-sized rice balls onto plates embedded with microchips.
Measured dollops of spicy wasabi paste are squirted onto the rice assembly-line style before they're topped with raw fish.
And the most cutting-edge eateries are even connected to monitoring centres that can quickly tell whether the right balance of dishes is being produced -- a far cry from traditional-style places where the sushi chef and his knife still reign supreme.
"Sushi isn't going round at random but rather it is coming out based on a number of calculations," said Akihiro Tsuji, public relations manager at Kura Corp., a major operator in a market expected to hit $5.0 billion in revenue this year, according to industry figures.
"Though traditional, sushi is stuffed with high technology. You can't operate low-price revolving sushi restaurants without databases and scientific management," he told AFP at a Tokyo outlet.
Kura has invented a serving device called "sendo-kun", which roughly translates as "Mr Fresh", a plate with a transparent dome that opens automatically when diners select the dish.
While the hood keeps the sushi moist and clean, it also contains a microchip telling managers what kind of fish are swinging around on the conveyer belts and how long they have been there.
Since their birth half a century ago, kaiten sushi restaurants have evolved from selling traditional sushi into miniature museums of the food that Japanese people eat today, including battered tempura, noodles, and even ice cream.
The dishes are cheap, usually starting at around 100 yen (around $1) for two pieces of sushi.
Now, more and more outlets are equipped with dedicated "high-speed" lanes where customers can receive their order via a touch-screen menu.
Ryozo Aida, a 68-year-old university lecturer, said he visits the Kura outlet with his wife because of its "affordable prices".
"It may sound strange in a sushi restaurant, but I like tempura," he said as he jabbed his fingers at a touch-screen panel.
Inside the kitchen, screens show how many adults and children are dining and roughly how long they have been in the restaurant.
"Even if all the 199 seats here are occupied, how much sushi we need will differ depending on how long they have been at the table," Tsuji said.
The system combines real-time data with information about how many items were consumed in similar circumstances in the past, displaying results for kitchen staff.
Complementing on-the-spot efforts, the Kura chain also has a remote assistance system serving its network of more than 300 outlets.
In-store cameras feed images to dozens of supervisors who move from restaurant to restaurant with laptops -- while others watch from monitoring centres -- to advise restaurants instantly if there is enough food and the right mix of offerings on the conveyer belt. The cameras can zoom in on sushi to make sure it is laid out in regulation elegance -- although they don't monitor customers' faces for privacy reasons.
At another outlet run by Genki Sushi's "Uobei" brand in the fashionable Tokyo district of Shibuya, the concept of one conveyor belt has been updated. All 90 seats face counters with three decks of "high-speed" lanes delivering sushi directly to the person who ordered via multi-lingual touch screen.
Accuracy and speed is the name of the game with the store targeting delivery in under a minute.
"As we looked at how fast we can deliver what's ordered, we came up with this system," said Akira Koyanagi, district manager for Genki, adding that it also cuts down on wasted food.
All this high technology costs money, but sales at kaiten sushi restaurants have grown 20 percent over the past five years with the industry expected to rake in nearly $5.0 billion this year, according to research firm Fuji-Keizai Group.
A key challenge, however, is that Japanese people are eating less fish and more meat these days as world prices rise due to strong demand in the United States and Europe.
"Procurement is getting tough," said a Genki Sushi spokesman.
OTTAWA, August 6, 2013 ??? The University of Ottawa has reached a tentative deal for a new collective agreement with the Association of Professors of the University of Ottawa (APUO), the union representing its full-time faculty members.
The agreement was reached on Sunday, August 4, in the afternoon, after two full days of talks with a mediator. The deal must be ratified by the University?s Board of Governors and the members of the APUO.
?We are extremely pleased to have reached a tentative settlement,? said Allan Rock, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Ottawa. ?This deal addresses some of the key long-standing issues, such as pension and tenure track positions. It also offers increased compensation that is in line with what other Ontario professors have received. I would like to commend all parties for their efforts and such a successful result.?
The details of this tentative agreement will not be communicated at this point. Both the University?s Board of Governors and APUO members must first be informed of and then approve the terms of the agreement.
Negotiations are still ongoing with the union representing uOttawa?s support staff (SSUO-OSSTF). The University is confident that a fair and equitable agreement can be reached before the end of August.
?
INFORMATION:
Patrick Charette
Director, Corporate Communications
University of Ottawa
Office: 613-562-5800 (3137)
Cell: 613-724-8290
patrick.charette@uottawa.ca
?
BOSTON (Reuters) - Jurors in the murder and racketeering trial of Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger asked the judge on Monday whether or not they could find him guilty of a crime because they believed one of his associates had committed it.
The question came in a note from the jury on its fifth day of deliberations over the sweeping 32 counts against the 83-year-old former mob boss of the "Winter Hill" gang in the 1970s and '80s.
The note said they were having trouble reaching unanimous votes on some of the charges under the racketeering count. The racketeering count encompasses 38 criminal acts -- including 19 murders Bulger is accused of ordering or committing.
The jury only needs to find Bulger guilty of committing two of those 38 crimes, which also include extortion, drug dealing and money laundering, for him to be guilty of racketeering.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper told the 12 members of the jury that they could not find Bulger guilty of a crime if they believed one of his associates committed it but said he could be guilty of killing a victim who did not die by his hand.
It was the first question the jury had asked of the judge since Thursday in a trial entering its 10th week.
Bulger has pleaded not guilty to all charges, although his lawyers have acknowledged that their client was a drug dealer, extortionist and loan shark, in short an "organized criminal."
Family members of Bulger's victims have long waited for verdicts on the killings, and about a half-dozen survivors have been a regular presence in the courtroom.
Bulger sat quietly in court dressed in a gray shirt, dark pants and white sneakers. He declined to testify on his own behalf and called the trial a "sham."
The case of the man whose story inspired Martin Scorsese's 2006 Academy Award-winning film "The Departed" has brought back memories of a bygone era of Boston history when machine-gun toting mobsters killed rivals in telephone booths and basements and pulled the teeth from their victims' skulls before burying them in shallow graves.
It also highlighted a black mark on the history of the FBI. Agents who shared Bulger's Irish ethnicity turned a blind eye to his reign of terror in exchange for information they could use against the Italian-America Mafia, which at the time was a top national target of the FBI.
Bulger fled Boston in 1994 after a tip that his arrest was imminent and he eluded capture until 2011, when FBI agents found him hiding out in an apartment in Santa Monica, California, with a stockpile of guns and more than $800,000 in cash.
He agreed to forfeit the cash and guns, but according to court papers filed on Monday he will be allowed to keep a Stanley Cup ring given to him by an associate, who was not identified.
(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Grant McCool)
Hyperloop plans unveiled late Monday imagine a 'fifth mode of transport' in which passengers travel at extreme speeds through tubes to reach their destination. Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, says the idea is 'extremely speculative.' But if the hyperloop is ever realized, it could revolutionize transportation and energy.
By David J. Unger,?Correspondent / August 12, 2013
A conceptual design rendering of the hyperloop passenger transport capsule. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk unveiled his much-anticipated plans for a hyperloop transportation system Monday.
Tesla Motors/AP
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"I've got a hyperloop to catch."
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Why It Matters
Energy: Transportation is the second-most energy intensive sector in the US, behind electric power. ?
Environment: Solar-powered intercity transit could dramatically reduce emissions.
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That's a phrase you might hear sometime in the future, if you believe Elon Musk. The driving force behind Tesla Motors' luxury electric car and SpaceX's forays into private space travel is throwing his weight behind a "fifth mode of transport." The hyperloop, as he laid out in plans late Monday, would whisk travelers in pods at about the speed of sound through tubes to reach their destinations.?
It's not an entirely new idea, and Mr. Musk stresses that his plan is "extremely speculative." But if executed exactly as he envisions it, the hyperloop would offer a combination of high speed, low cost, and low emissions that would make planes, trains, automobiles, and boats look positively Stone Age.
"Short of figuring out real teleportation, which would of course be awesome?(someone please do this)," Musk wrote in a 57-page proposal, "the only option for super fast travel is to build a tube?over or under the ground that contains a special environment."
The basic concept is?"a cross between a Concord and a rail gun and an air hockey table," as Musk described it at a conference in May. Columns of air would push passenger cars through special, low-pressure tubes at speeds greater than 600 mph. To reduce friction, the cars would levitate on a cushion of pressurized air.?
Planning by postcode -- new map reveals how prepared cities are for climate changePublic release date: 12-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Oliver Heidrich oliver.heidrich@ncl.ac.uk 44-019-122-26563 Newcastle University
The ability of cities to combat the cause of climate change and to adapt to future weather patterns depends on where we live, new research suggests.
Scientists at Newcastle University, UK, have revealed a "postcode lottery of preparedness" across the UK based on what each city is doing to not only reduce greenhouse emissions but also adapt to future climate change and extremes of weather such as flooding and drought.
Devising a new way of ranking cities - the 'Urban Climate Change Preparedness Scores' - the team scored 30 cities based on four levels of readiness: Assessment, Planning, Action and Monitoring.
Publishing their results today in the academic journal Climatic Change, they reveal huge variation across the UK and say the same system could be used to rank urban areas around the world.
Newcastle University's Dr Oliver Heidrich who led the research said it highlighted at a glance the "state of readiness" across the country and how prepared we are for the future.
"Of the 30 cities we assessed, all of them acknowledged that climate change was a threat and all except two had a strategy or policy in place to reduce emissions and also adapt to cope better with future weather patterns, in particular flooding," explains Dr Heidrich, a senior researcher in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University.
"But a plan is only any good if you implement it and then assess it to see how effective it has been, this requires a long term investment in the strategies.
"We found that in many cities this wasn't happening. In some cases, plans were in place but nothing had been done about them. Many cities published plans and partially implemented associated schemes such as introducing electric vehicles or solar panels as well as making changes to the built environment to reduce the risk of flooding. But very often, no-one was monitoring to see whether it made a difference or had actually made things worse.
"The aim of this research is not to name and shame cities, but if we are to be prepared for the increased occurrences of floods and droughts then we do need to make sure that our climate change policies are in place, that they are working and that the consequences of implementing these strategies are being checked."
The 30 cities chosen for the study were those selected as part of the European Urban Audit database and are representative of urban areas across the UK.
The Newcastle team then applied the scoring methodology to assess the level of preparedness of each of the cities to climate change, rating from 0-3 against both adaption and mitigation.
London was found to have one of the most advanced strategies in place, mitigating the impact on climate change through, for example, energy efficiency and saving, increasing the use of renewables, waste management and the introduction of greener modes of transport. Leicester also scored highly, carrying out rigorous monitoring and providing regular reports on the city's carbon footprints.
Other cities, such as Newcastle, had advanced electric vehicle infrastructures in place while Sheffield and Coventry have established programmes to produce more energy from waste and reduce landfill.
Almost all cities had set targets for reducing CO2 emissions although quite a few would not commit to an actual target, figure or timescale, rendering them meaningless; reduction targets varied from just 10% to 80%. Edinburgh was one of those with a deadline, setting a target of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and to achieve a zero carbon economy by 2050.
In most cities, adaptation policies lagged behind the mitigation plans. With flooding a key threat in many urban areas both now and in the future the team showed that many cities were still unprepared to cope with extremes of weather patterns. Although many had flood protection schemes in place, few had assessed whether they were actually effective.
Dr Heidrich adds: "What this research highlights more than anything is the huge variations in the state of readiness for climate change across the UK, and the method of assessing the preparedness of cities can easily be applied to cities in other countries.
"Although cities of all sizes across the UK acknowledge climate change is a threat, there is considerable spread of measures in place and huge inconsistency in policy between areas and against national and international targets.
"Local Authorities are pivotal to the implementation of global climate policy so it is essential that we embed adaptation and mitigation strategies within the urban planning framework."
###
[ | 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.
Planning by postcode -- new map reveals how prepared cities are for climate changePublic release date: 12-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Oliver Heidrich oliver.heidrich@ncl.ac.uk 44-019-122-26563 Newcastle University
The ability of cities to combat the cause of climate change and to adapt to future weather patterns depends on where we live, new research suggests.
Scientists at Newcastle University, UK, have revealed a "postcode lottery of preparedness" across the UK based on what each city is doing to not only reduce greenhouse emissions but also adapt to future climate change and extremes of weather such as flooding and drought.
Devising a new way of ranking cities - the 'Urban Climate Change Preparedness Scores' - the team scored 30 cities based on four levels of readiness: Assessment, Planning, Action and Monitoring.
Publishing their results today in the academic journal Climatic Change, they reveal huge variation across the UK and say the same system could be used to rank urban areas around the world.
Newcastle University's Dr Oliver Heidrich who led the research said it highlighted at a glance the "state of readiness" across the country and how prepared we are for the future.
"Of the 30 cities we assessed, all of them acknowledged that climate change was a threat and all except two had a strategy or policy in place to reduce emissions and also adapt to cope better with future weather patterns, in particular flooding," explains Dr Heidrich, a senior researcher in the School of Civil Engineering and Geosciences at Newcastle University.
"But a plan is only any good if you implement it and then assess it to see how effective it has been, this requires a long term investment in the strategies.
"We found that in many cities this wasn't happening. In some cases, plans were in place but nothing had been done about them. Many cities published plans and partially implemented associated schemes such as introducing electric vehicles or solar panels as well as making changes to the built environment to reduce the risk of flooding. But very often, no-one was monitoring to see whether it made a difference or had actually made things worse.
"The aim of this research is not to name and shame cities, but if we are to be prepared for the increased occurrences of floods and droughts then we do need to make sure that our climate change policies are in place, that they are working and that the consequences of implementing these strategies are being checked."
The 30 cities chosen for the study were those selected as part of the European Urban Audit database and are representative of urban areas across the UK.
The Newcastle team then applied the scoring methodology to assess the level of preparedness of each of the cities to climate change, rating from 0-3 against both adaption and mitigation.
London was found to have one of the most advanced strategies in place, mitigating the impact on climate change through, for example, energy efficiency and saving, increasing the use of renewables, waste management and the introduction of greener modes of transport. Leicester also scored highly, carrying out rigorous monitoring and providing regular reports on the city's carbon footprints.
Other cities, such as Newcastle, had advanced electric vehicle infrastructures in place while Sheffield and Coventry have established programmes to produce more energy from waste and reduce landfill.
Almost all cities had set targets for reducing CO2 emissions although quite a few would not commit to an actual target, figure or timescale, rendering them meaningless; reduction targets varied from just 10% to 80%. Edinburgh was one of those with a deadline, setting a target of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and to achieve a zero carbon economy by 2050.
In most cities, adaptation policies lagged behind the mitigation plans. With flooding a key threat in many urban areas both now and in the future the team showed that many cities were still unprepared to cope with extremes of weather patterns. Although many had flood protection schemes in place, few had assessed whether they were actually effective.
Dr Heidrich adds: "What this research highlights more than anything is the huge variations in the state of readiness for climate change across the UK, and the method of assessing the preparedness of cities can easily be applied to cities in other countries.
"Although cities of all sizes across the UK acknowledge climate change is a threat, there is considerable spread of measures in place and huge inconsistency in policy between areas and against national and international targets.
"Local Authorities are pivotal to the implementation of global climate policy so it is essential that we embed adaptation and mitigation strategies within the urban planning framework."
###
[ | 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: atlantacondominiums.us --- Saturday, August 10, 2013 ATLANTA, Aug. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ ? Land on the Flint River, an oceanfront home site in Port Saint Joe, Fla., two Florida condominiums and a car wash in Gainesville, Ga., are among approximately 150 properties set to sell in a pair of back-to-back auctions Aug. 27-28. John Dixon Associates will manage the sales, both of which [...] ...
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actors Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth attend the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: (L-R) Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Director Gary Ross and Jennifer Lawrence attend the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
"The Hunger Games" Cast Signing
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends a special signing event to promote their new movie 'The Hunger Games' at Barnes & Noble Union Square on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
"The Hunger Games" Cast Signing
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actor Josh Hutcherson and actress Jennifer Lawrence attend a special signing event to promote their new movie 'The Hunger Games' at Barnes & Noble Union Square on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actor Liam Hemsworth attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actress Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actor Stanley Tucci (L) attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actor Josh Hutcherson attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actor Liam Hemsworth attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence attend the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Liam Hemsworth, Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson attend the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Jennifer Lawrence attends the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Zoe Kravitz attends the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Bridget Moynahan attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Inside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: (L-R) Liam Hemsworth, Isabelle Fuhrman, Josh Hutcherson, Director Gary Ross and Jennifer Lawrence attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Director Gary Ross attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Tony Danza attends the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Actress Abigail Breslin attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - Outside Arrivals
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Josh Hutcherson attends the Cinema Society & Calvin Klein Collection screening of 'The Hunger Games' at SVA Theatre on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Marisol Thomas and Rob Thomas attend the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Alexi Ashe and Seth Meyers attend the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Cuba Gooding Jr attends the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Jennifer Lawrence arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
The Cinema Society And Calvin Klein Collection Host A Screening Of "The Hunger Games" - After Party
NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 20: Stanley Tucci (C) and guests attend the party following a screening of 'The Hunger Games' hosted by The Cinema Society and Calvin Klein Collection at The Top of The Standard on March 20, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Elizabeth Banks arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Jennifer Lawrence arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
Liam Hemsworth in Dolce & Gabbana
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Amy Paffrath arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Actress Brooke Bundy arrives for the pre
Actress Brooke Bundy arrives for the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Stanley Tucci arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actors Josh Hutcherson (L) and Jennifer Lawrence attend 'The Hunger Games' Los Angeles Premiere on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)
Actor Cody Simpson arrives for the premi
Actor Cody Simpson arrives for the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Lionsgate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: (L-R) Actors Josh Hutcherson, Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth arrive at 'The Hunger Games' Los Angeles premiere held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, United States. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
Actress Garcelle Beauvais arrives for t
Actress Garcelle Beauvais arrives for the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Odette Annable arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: TV personality Kelly Osborne arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Zachary Gordon arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Toby Jones arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Isabelle Fuhrman arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Willow Shields arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Author Suzanne Collins arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Benjamin Bratt arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Garcelle Beauvais arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Kevin McHale arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actor Woody Harrelson arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Producer Ninia Jacobson arrives to the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Premiere Of Liongate's "The Hunger Games" - Arrivals
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Actress Leslie Mann arrives at 'The Hunger Games' Los Angeles premiere held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)
Actress Kalia Prescott arrives at the pr
Actress Kalia Prescott arrives at the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
TV Personality Kendall Jenner arrives a
TV Personality Kendall Jenner arrives at the premiere of Lionsgate's 'The Hunger Games' at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on March 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. AFP PHOTO/JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
MOSCOW (AP) ? The United States is looking at a possible sweep in the 110-meter hurdles at the world championships after its three top runners reached the semifinals Sunday.
Olympic gold medalistAries Merritt, defending champion Jason Richardson and the season's fastest man, David Oliver, all won their heats.
Merritt and Richardson combined for a 1-2 finish at last year's London Olympic.
"I wouldn't mind if we swept up the hurdles," Richardson said, anticipating that with Ryan Wilson also through, they could even go 1-2-3-4.
"I'm coming on this team with an amazing group of athletes. Aries is formidable with the world record. David, former American record holder. Of course, Ryan, who's a veteran of the game," Richardson said. "Feel bad for fourth place, but, hey, things happen."
Hansle Parchment of Jamaica, a bronze medalist at the London Olympics, finished fifth in his heat but made it through as the one of the fastest losers.
In the decathlon, Olympic champion Ashton Eaton is closing in on his first world title, holding 6,280-6,161 edge of Michael Schrader of Germany with three of the 10 events remaining.
American newcomer Gunnar Nixon went into the second day challenging for the lead, but quickly fell back into fifth position after the 110 hurdles and the discus throw.
While all eyes will be Usain Bolt in the 100 meters later Sunday, the women sprinters started their qualifying heats in the morning humidity at a near-empty Luzhniki Stadium.
Most favorites never pushed themselves in advancing to the semifinals, but American runner English Gardner went well under 11 seconds in 10.92 to be the top qualifier.
"We've trained through a lot of meets, and finally, like I always say, the lion got let out of the cage and I just went out there and had some fun," Gardner said.
Defending champion Carmelita Jeter, Alexandria Anderson and Octavious Freeman made sure all four Americans advanced.
Kerron Stewart and two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce led the Jamaican contingent of four into the semifinals, setting up the next chapter of the Jamaican-U.S. sprint rivalry.
Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria could be a spoiler, however, after a sterling season in which she beat some of the best in both sprints and the long jump, where she could well medal later Sunday.
The other finals on Day 2 are the men's 20-kilometer walk, where host Russia is favored to get a first gold, the women's discus throw and the women's 10,000.
If you’re looking to join the upcycle movement and make sure your cookies and milk don’t turn into soggy cookie soup before you can enjoy them, you need to check out the Cuppow BNTO canning jar lunchbox adapter. It’s a 6 oz BPA, BPS and phthalate free food-grade recycled plastic cup that fits into a […]
http://www.HojoElectricity.com Discover How to Produce Free Energy at Home. This Is The BEST Tutorial on how to create a magnetic generator, which can help you produce energy at home, and eliminate your need to constantly have to pay for electricity.Discover How to Produce FREE ENERGY at Home.This motor is based on Howard Johnsons patented magnetic generator and has 3 US patents behind the plans. Howard was one of the greatest inventors in the free energy area. His dream was to create a device that could help any house eliminate their need to pay for electricity.HOW Does The Hojo Motor System Work? The motor uses two groups of magnets instead of one group. The groups of magnets are placed in the correct position around a rotor. The stator magnets are set into a drum with a moving drum put inside and this is what makes the rotor. When the magnets are aligned properly you just need to start the motor with a little push and from then on it will run by itself. After that you just need to attach a rubber belt to the motor and fix this to a generator, in order to create free electricity. DISCOVER HOW TO Produce Steady Amounts of POWER for YOUR HOUSE. This motor is a quiet and compact working motor. When it is complete it is ready to produce power for your house. Today this guide is still available for download. However, some of the large energy corporations have indicated that they do not like this idea of giving people the ability to generate their own homemade electricity. Therefore its not sure that these step-by-step instructions will be available on the internet for long. So if you are looking for a way to produce energy in your home within 2 days. A complete system can be built AND installed easily, and for less than $100!A Zero point magnetic power generator is basically a Free Energy Generator. It uses magnets, and magnetic force to induce perpetual motion. HOW MUCH CAN YOU SAVE? The amount you can save by building the HojoMotor. free energy generator can vary. If you decide to build our generator as a supplement to your current electrical installation, meaning, you are partially powering your household with magnets4energy, you can easily save anywhere in the range of 30-50%. This means that your power bill will reduce by 30-50%. The magnetically generated energy solution is considerably more realistic for the homeowner, from a cost standpoint and a do it yourself standpoint. Equipped with suitable plans and the fact that the materials needed can be purchased from your local hardware, home improvement or electronics store, the Howard Johnson magnet powered motor is a project anyone can undertake, even if you are new to the do it yourself energy scene. Building and applying Howard Johnsons magnet powered motor to your home energy situation can be accomplished by anyone, even a beginner. The cash outlay for materials and quality construction plans is infinitesimal compared to solar or wind powered energy. Even the least experienced home energy enthusiast can build the Howard Johnson magnetic motor and get it up and generating practically free energy in no time. The size of the machine requires a small amount of space in the home. It is weatherproof and portable. The household machine is mobile enough for transportation to an isolated cabin for providing power at that location. It will even provide the power for the RV used to travel to and from locations. So Do Not Hesitate, Go to http://www.HojoElectricity.com and build your own free energy Generator. CREATING ELECTRICITY USING MAGNETS HHO Hamel Hilary Hydrogen Invisible Larry Lawrence Machine Magnet Magnetic Magnetism McCain Motor Obama Overunity Paul Perendev Potomac Project Shielding TESLA Tesla Time Travel UFO Xpenzif anti anti-gravity antigravity aviation car cavity clean coils computer effect electric energy engine environment field free gas gravitons gravity magnet magnetic motion motor overunity perendev perpetual physics point prices primary principle
Source: face2face.si.edu --- Friday, August 09, 2013 Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. / David Hume Kennerly / Color photograph on paper, 1974 / National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Time magazine, ? David Hume Kennerly AMENDMENT XXV Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967. Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. (affecting Article II, section 1 of the Constitution) ***** The first time a vice president of the United States took the oath of office upon the death of a president was in 1841. John Tyler became president after William Henry Harrison decided to give his inaugural address in the cold and rain without proper attire for the weather. Harrison suffered a short illness and died one month after becoming president. Tyler was rebuked during his term and given the pejorative nickname, ?his accidency.? Tyler?s ascendency to the presidency was the first of nine times in our nation?s history that the vice president was called on to assume the chief executive duties. Four vice presidents have been elevated to the presidency because of the natural death of the president?John Tyler (Harrison), Millard Fillmore (Zachary Taylor), Warren Harding (Woodrow ...
by Matthew Archbold | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com | 8/9/13 4:30 PM
Loyola Marymount University (LMU) has told The Cardinal Newman Society that it will drop its employee insurance coverage of abortion but retain its coverage of contraceptives, following protests from a faithful Catholic professor and just prior to publication of a Newman Society report revealing LMU?s benefits plan.
The Jesuit university in California released the following statement:
Last fall, LMU inquired of its health insurance broker and insurers whether it could exclude elective abortions from coverage under its fully-insured PPO and HMO plan options effective January 1, 2013.
In response, LMU was advised that: ??Based on contract filings with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) and California?s Department of Managed Care (DMHC), neither organization can exclude elective abortions from coverage under a fully-insured contract.?
Notwithstanding this response, LMU continued to confer with its broker, insurers and others to determine if practical and effective alternatives exist or could be created.
As a result:
(1) ?Coverage for elective abortions in LMU?s PPO plan and one of its HMOs was excluded effective January 1, 2013;
and,
(2) ?LMU was recently advised that its other HMO provider has re-evaluated its policy on exceptions for excluding elective abortions and now has determined that it will allow the exclusion of elective abortions from LMU?s HMO plan effective January 1, 2014.
In response to LMU?s further inquiry about its ability to have this exclusion become effective prior to January 1, 2014, the HMO provider stated: ?This is a custom benefit and our internal process for these requests and building non-standard benefits takes several months so we would not be able to offer this until sometime in December 2013.
As part of this process, when we are removing a benefit during the contract period, we need to notify members in advance. That is why we are offering it coinciding with LMU?s January 1, 2014 renewal.?
But the policy reversal occurred only following a series of emails between Rebecca Chandler, LMU?s Vice President for Human Resources, and LMU philosophy professor James Hanink, who complained that the University was providing insurance coverage for both contraceptives and abortion.
In those emails, obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society, Hanink complained that LMU was failing to live up to its Catholic identity by offering such coverage. Chandler told Hanink that the University was forced to cover both contraceptives and abortion:
LMU inquired of our health insurers about our ability to exclude coverage for elective abortions under the fully-insured PPO and HMO plan options.? In response, LMU was advised that the California Department of Insurance and the California Department of Managed Care will not allow California insurers to exclude such coverage from its fully insured contracts offered in California.??This response and the requirement to provide this coverage are consistent with advice obtained by other Jesuit universities in California.
We continue to confer with our health insurers and explore other options in an effort to determine if practical and effective alternatives exist or can be created.? At present, no such alternatives have been identified.
But The Cardinal Newman Society subsequently obtained confirmation from Thomas Aquinas College, a faithful Catholic college in California recommended in The Newman Guide, that the College does not cover contraceptives or abortion in its employee health coverage.
Thomas Aquinas College released this statement to the Newman Society:
In 1994, California became the first state to require its insurance companies to provide coverage for contraceptives.? In order to avoid facilitating such coverage for its employees, Thomas Aquinas College became a member of the Reta Trust, ?a self-funded benefit trust? whose plans ?only provide benefits that are in compliance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services published by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops.? Because the College self-insures through the Reta Trust, it is exempt from the State of California?s regulation requiring coverage of contraceptive services.
CLICK LIKE IF YOU?RE PRO-LIFE!
?
Biola University, an evangelical Christian institution in California, also told The Cardinal Newman Society that it does not cover abortion in its employee insurance plan, adding to the evidence that LMU may have had options for avoiding abortion and contraceptive coverage.
?The easiest thing in the world is to blame everything on the insurers, forgetting the fact that you listened to what the insurers said,? Hanink told The Cardinal Newman Society. ?Obviously [LMU] should?ve challenged it from the beginning.?
And LMU still argues in its statement that California forces the Jesuit university to cover contraceptives, despite the experience of Thomas Aquinas College with a self-insured plan:
In regard to insurance coverage of contraceptives, California law requires coverage which was decided by Catholic Charities of Sacramento Inc. v. Superior Court 32 Cal.4th 527, 85 P.2d 67 (2004).
It was just another harried Wednesday
afternoon trip to the commissary (that's a military grocery store).
My husband
was off teaching other young men how to fly. My daughters were going about their
daily activities, knowing I would return to them bearing, among other things,
their favorite fruit snacks, frozen pizza, and all the little extras you never
write down on a grocery list.
My list, by the way, was in my
16-month old daughter's mouth, and I was lamenting the fact that the next four
aisles of needed items would have to wait while I extracted the list from her
mouth. And in the middle of all his, I nearly ran over an old
man.
This man clearly had no appreciation
for the fact that I had only 45 minutes left to finish the grocery shopping,
pick up my four-year old from tumbling class, then get to school where my
12-year old and her carpool friends would be waiting.
I knew men didn't belong in a
commissary, and this old guy was no exception. He stood in front of the soap
selections, staring blankly, as if he'd never had to choose a bar of soap in his
life. I was ready to bark an order at him when I noticed a small tear on his
face.
Instantly this grocery aisle roadblock
transformed into a human. "Can I help you find something?" I asked. He
hesitated, then told me he was looking for soap.
"Any
one in particular?" I queried.
Well, I'm trying to find my wife's
brand of soap."
I reached for my cell phone so he
could call his wife, and as I pulled it out he said, "She died a year ago, and I
just want to smell her again."
Chills ran down my spine. I don't
think the 22,000-pound mother-of-all-bombs could have had the same impact. As
tears welled up in my eyes, my half-eaten grocery list didn't seem so important.
Neither did fruit snacks or frozen pizza.
I spent the remainder of my time in
the commissary that day, listening to a man tell the story of how important his
wife was to him; how she took care of their children while he served our
country. A retired, decorated World War II pilot, who flew missions to protect
Americans, still needed the protection of a woman who served him at
home.
My life was forever changed that day.
Every time my husband works too late or leaves before the crack of dawn, I try
to remember the sense of importance I felt that day in the
commissary.
Sometimes the monotony of laundry,
housecleaning, grocery shopping, and family taxi driving leaves military wives
feeling empty; the kind of emptiness that is rarely fulfilled when our husbands
come home, then don't want to or can't talk about work.
We need to be reminded at times of the
important role we fill for our family and our country. Military wives aren't any
better than other wives, but we are different. The same goes for military husbands of the women who serve on the frontline.
Other spouses get married and look
forward to building equity and putting down roots. Military spouses get married
and know they'll spend years in temporary housing, so the roots have to be short
for frequent transplanting.
Other spouses say goodbye to their
spouse for a business trip and know they won't see them for a week. Military
spouses say goodbye to their deploying spouses and know they won't see them for
months, or a year, or even longer.
Other spouses get used to saying
"hello" to friends they see all the time. Military spouses get used to saying
"goodbye" to friends they've made in the past couple of years.
Other spouses worry about being late
to Mom's house for Thanksgiving dinner. Military spouses worry about getting
back from Japan in time for Dad's funeral.
I will say, without hesitation, that
military spouses pay just as high a price for freedom as do their active-duty
husbands and wives.
Addressing ethical, social, and cultural issues in global health researchPublic release date: 9-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leslie Shepherd shepherdl@smh.ca 416-864-6094 St. Michael's Hospital
Complex and messy ethical, social and cultural issues often left on the table
TORONTO -- Resolving complex ethical, social and cultural issues in the early stage of a global health research project or clinical trial can improve the impact and quality of that research, a new report says.
The current practice for researchers is to seek approval for a study or trial from a research ethics board, usually at an academic institution, late in the process when many important decisions have already been made.
But this can leave many complex and messy ethical, social and cultural issues on the table, according to Dr. Jim Lavery, a research scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.
The past 20 years have seen unparalleled investment in large-scale global health science initiatives and international research consortia such as the Human Genome Project and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
Dr. Lavery said these initiatives have resulted in significant scientific advance and have taught researchers a great deal about how such large-scale collaborations should be organized and managed. The Human Genome Project has also shown how the ethical implications of these initiatives could be identified and studied alongside the science.
But in a paper published today in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Dr. Lavery and colleagues call on researchers, funders, research institutions and managers of large-scale global health initiatives to put more emphasis on understanding the ethical, social and cultural impact of their work and to develop effective approaches to address them.
The report draws on lessons learned by the Ethical, Social and Cultural Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative from 2005-11, for which Lavery served as co-principal investigator, along with Peter Singer at the Sandra Rotman Centre at the University Health Network in Toronto.
Some examples of the challenges addressed by Dr. Lavery and his colleagues in the ESC Program include:
Is there a mandate for the research from the community in which it will take place? Has the community been meaningfully engaged in the research? Does the community think the research is important and has value? Have the interests of the host community been taken into account?
"Many new technologies, such as new vaccines, or new treatment strategies for tuberculosis, or new ways to control insect vectors of diseases like malaria, are tested in studies involving whole communities," he said. "But our usual approaches to the ethics of research focus almost exclusively on individuals. We had to develop some new thinking to help scientistsmake sure their research with communities was done to the highest ethical standards."
How are data and biomedical specimens handled in large-scale research projects? Often researchers will collect data or tissue samples in one country, take them back to European or North American labs for study, and then send the results back to the host community, without involving the community in the process.
Working with a large international research project to improve the understanding of the impact of malaria, Dr. Claudia Emerson of the ESC Program at the Sandra Rotman Centre developed a "tissue trust" model that recognized the cultural significance of the blood and tissue samples and improved the collaborations with the host country scientists and communities.
"In North America and Europe we tend to focus on privacy issues when blood and tissue samples are involved, but in low- and middle-income countries these samples can have deep cultural significance to communities and therefore ownership and appropriate stewardship of these samples are the main concerns," Dr. Lavery said. "The 'tissue trust' solution is a great example of how our ESC Program works. It was only possible because of a close working relationship with the scientists over several years. It privileged the perspective of the host communities and our collaborators in the South. And it resulted in a practical solution that directly addressed the real ethical problem, and that can be applied and refined for a wide variety of other research projects around the world."
###
Click here to view the article
About St. Michael's Hospital
St Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
For more information or to interview Dr. Lavery, contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Communications and Public Affairs Department
St. Michael's Hospital
416-864-6094 shepherdl@smh.ca
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
[ | 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.
Addressing ethical, social, and cultural issues in global health researchPublic release date: 9-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leslie Shepherd shepherdl@smh.ca 416-864-6094 St. Michael's Hospital
Complex and messy ethical, social and cultural issues often left on the table
TORONTO -- Resolving complex ethical, social and cultural issues in the early stage of a global health research project or clinical trial can improve the impact and quality of that research, a new report says.
The current practice for researchers is to seek approval for a study or trial from a research ethics board, usually at an academic institution, late in the process when many important decisions have already been made.
But this can leave many complex and messy ethical, social and cultural issues on the table, according to Dr. Jim Lavery, a research scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael's Hospital.
The past 20 years have seen unparalleled investment in large-scale global health science initiatives and international research consortia such as the Human Genome Project and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.
Dr. Lavery said these initiatives have resulted in significant scientific advance and have taught researchers a great deal about how such large-scale collaborations should be organized and managed. The Human Genome Project has also shown how the ethical implications of these initiatives could be identified and studied alongside the science.
But in a paper published today in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Dr. Lavery and colleagues call on researchers, funders, research institutions and managers of large-scale global health initiatives to put more emphasis on understanding the ethical, social and cultural impact of their work and to develop effective approaches to address them.
The report draws on lessons learned by the Ethical, Social and Cultural Program for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative from 2005-11, for which Lavery served as co-principal investigator, along with Peter Singer at the Sandra Rotman Centre at the University Health Network in Toronto.
Some examples of the challenges addressed by Dr. Lavery and his colleagues in the ESC Program include:
Is there a mandate for the research from the community in which it will take place? Has the community been meaningfully engaged in the research? Does the community think the research is important and has value? Have the interests of the host community been taken into account?
"Many new technologies, such as new vaccines, or new treatment strategies for tuberculosis, or new ways to control insect vectors of diseases like malaria, are tested in studies involving whole communities," he said. "But our usual approaches to the ethics of research focus almost exclusively on individuals. We had to develop some new thinking to help scientistsmake sure their research with communities was done to the highest ethical standards."
How are data and biomedical specimens handled in large-scale research projects? Often researchers will collect data or tissue samples in one country, take them back to European or North American labs for study, and then send the results back to the host community, without involving the community in the process.
Working with a large international research project to improve the understanding of the impact of malaria, Dr. Claudia Emerson of the ESC Program at the Sandra Rotman Centre developed a "tissue trust" model that recognized the cultural significance of the blood and tissue samples and improved the collaborations with the host country scientists and communities.
"In North America and Europe we tend to focus on privacy issues when blood and tissue samples are involved, but in low- and middle-income countries these samples can have deep cultural significance to communities and therefore ownership and appropriate stewardship of these samples are the main concerns," Dr. Lavery said. "The 'tissue trust' solution is a great example of how our ESC Program works. It was only possible because of a close working relationship with the scientists over several years. It privileged the perspective of the host communities and our collaborators in the South. And it resulted in a practical solution that directly addressed the real ethical problem, and that can be applied and refined for a wide variety of other research projects around the world."
###
Click here to view the article
About St. Michael's Hospital
St Michael's Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines. Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, care of the homeless and global health are among the Hospital's recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, research and education at St. Michael's Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world. Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto.
For more information or to interview Dr. Lavery, contact:
Leslie Shepherd
Manager, Media Strategy
Communications and Public Affairs Department
St. Michael's Hospital
416-864-6094 shepherdl@smh.ca
Inspired Care. Inspiring Science.
[ | 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.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]colin_faber writes "Right on the heels of the Bill Gates BusinessWeek article discussing the importance of disease prevention and cure over technological deployment is news from CNN that U.S. researchers may have a viable vaccine for malaria. If true, this could change the lives of up to 3.3 billion people living in malaria danger zones and allow us to do away with this disease, which kills hundreds of thousands of people."
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Public release date: 12-Aug-2013
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her organization can exclude elective abortions from coverage under a fully-insured contract.?
