Hiring a tradesman to remodel your house can be quite costly and when money is tight, it is understandable why so many homeowners set out to improve their property by themselves. DIY projects have been around since the dawn of time but over the years, accidents have happened.
There is a fundamental reason why you should hire an expert- it can be dangerous. And there are many aspects which you need to take into account- is planning permission required; do you need insulation; what material is the most energy efficient?
Try to avoid these DIY failures at your home!
It may seem more desirable to carry out the work solo but it is important that you thoroughly research the renovation beforehand and get expert advice to avoid a disaster. Everything has to be properly organised because a mistake can have damaging effects on the house as well as your health.
One can argue that installing windows by yourself is acceptable but under no circumstances should you install your own solar roofing panels. A ?botched job? can cause a leak and a hefty repair bill so beware the pitfalls of DIY.
Here are 3 of the UK?s worst DIY fiascos ? make sure you evade the following scenarios.
Fence failure
What?s the worst that could happen when building a garden fence? Plenty! One homeowner in Cambridgeshire was left very much out of pocket by British Telecom (BT) when he accidentally sliced through a telephone cable. David Brown was landed a whopping ?25,000 repair bill.
Ensure you don?t have a fencing failure
Painting problem
Have you ever come to redecorate a room and found it extremely time-consuming and boring to peel the wallpaper off each wall? Well one man from Canvey Island in Essex attempted a shortcut that only caused a massive problem.
The homeowner tried to burn the old paint off the walls but accidentally set the property on fire. The damage? Over 60 fire-fighters had to tackle the blaze and he was left stranded without a home for 2 weeks.
This painting job is flawless, unlike other homeowners.
Timber trouble
Everyone at some point in their lives has needed to move house or expand the property to cater to a growing brood. Well this is the case for one man called Christopher Pendery who tried to transform his existing living space. He set out to turn his loft into a bedroom for his kids and started sawing through the timbers- only to accidentally saw through the ones that were holding up the roof!
The price he paid for being a DIY enthusiast? The repairs cost the housing association ?15,000 and he was given 160 hours? community service.
Use the catastrophic mishaps as a warning when considering DIY in your home. Certain jobs are risky and should be left to the professionals.
This article was provided by Myredlandroof.co.uk, the UK?s leading roofing experts. Visit the site today to find a reputable local roofer to carry out your roof repair and replacement work.
Many women own their own businesses from home, and often worry about how they are going to run a direct sales business working at home business while raising a family at the same time.
The answer is simple- there is no right way to own your own business and make time for family as well, but there are tips out there that can help a person balance their family and business when working from home. Starting out it is essential that you participate in home based business communities and direct sales training opportunities.
After that the balance, is well? a balancing act!
Balance Home And Family Life
First of all, remember that just because you work from home doesn?t mean that you are always at work. Likewise, just because your family comes home doesn?t mean that you should automatically put your work aside. Perhaps the best way to balance work and family is to put yourself on a work schedule that your family understands and let them know that just because you are home, that doesn?t mean that you are available right away.
Also, don?t feel guilty for putting work first. What a lot of people do is remember that they have a work at home busines and that business should be treated just like any other job. What this means is this- whether you work outside the home full- or part-time or work from your home, you?re still working and you should never feel guilty for taking time to provide for your family, even if your office is your living room couch.
One of the downsides about working from home is not knowing when to take a day off. When you have a work at home business it?s too easy to work every day and forget to set aside that time for your family. After all, home businesses really do take a lot of time out of your life to be successful. As such, you need to remind yourself that in many ways your family must come first, and you should try your best to make sure that your computer is off on weekends and that you aren?t always checking your phone for work-related calls. Your family will be grateful you took time off for them, and you can feel better knowing that you can balance your family life and your work at home business at the same time and be successful in doing so.
Work At Home Training
Direct sales work at home consultants who participate in training will achieve their financial goals.
The #1 free direct sales party plan training center on the web provides direct sales training and more: http://www.createacashflowshow.com/
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In his speech to the Conservative Party conference earlier this month, the Chancellor unveiled a ?100million ?employee-owner? scheme that will allow shares worth ?2,000 to ?50,000 to be exempt from tax if employees give up certain work rights, such as the right to claim unfair dismissal.
George Osborne said the measure was aimed at the tens of thousands of small and medium-sized firms and would allow businesses hiring staff to insist they forfeit employment rights in two broad areas in exchange for the shares, which would be exempt from capital-gains tax. Existing employees would have the right to refuse.
There has been some support for the proposal, including from the Director General of the IoD, but my view is that the scheme lacks cohesion. It is early days and little detail has been released so far, perhaps my concerns will be allayed, but for what they are worth, here they are.
Under the policy, employees would:
Give up their rights under UK law on unfair dismissal, redundancy and the right to request flexible working and time off for training;
Women would have to give twice as much notice of the date when they want to return from maternity leave. Women currently have to give eight weeks, but this would increase to 16.
This is likely to have a disproportionate effect on women. So at a time that many firms are adopting flexible working practices to enable working parents to juggle the complexities of modern life, this scheme may well limit parents? ability to work and care for their children. At the heart of this point lies the question that if businesses are moving towards more flexible working practices why do we need legislation to prevent what appears to be a popular practice?
John Timpson of shoe repair fame, says the policy is based on a misconception ?that employee shares are a magic wand?.
?It is, quite rightly, fashionable to admire the John Lewis Partnership, but their success isn?t just due to the share structure,? he says. ?Share ownership doesn?t in itself create a more committed workforce. In many small businesses, like ours, it is much better to award a significant bonus based on profits than create the complications that come with issuing equity.?
In my view the main stumbling block in the policy is the question of equity, and what it will actually mean to the employee. How many employees will have the experience to quantify their equity and the potential upsides and downsides? How easy will this be to assess particularly if they are desperate to work?
And assuming that the value of shares and apportionment can be agreed (good luck with a start-up) what happens when the employee wants to sell their shares? Has Mr Osborne ever tried to sell a minority interest in a privately held business? The policy appears to be predicated on the shares being liquid, as they are in a listed business, but this is not the case. What investor would want to purchase ?2,000 worth of shares in a privately owned business?
The policy aims to cut regulation to enable business owners to focus on trading but what happens when employers and employees get into disputes regarding the shares? value or the employees? ability to sell the shares? What happens on an employee leaving? There will be significant amounts of time and money spent on lawyers? bills, corporate finance fees and the like.
As someone who works in the corporate finance industry I would be quite happy to charge for valuations and negotiation services but to be frank, what a waste of time. The fees and management cost are going to rival / outweigh the current cost of employment disputes.
The idea of the scheme is to free up business owners to make investment decisions. But for most businesses ? and particularly services businesses ? employees are the biggest investment. How are you going to attract top talent if you cannot give them basic employment assurances?
Many employees are just that for a reason. They are not entrepreneurs. They do not want the risks associated with being an entrepreneur and favour the relative security of employment. This policy is aimed at the SME market and especially start-ups. But bear in mind that approximately one in three start-ups fail in their first three years. So any employee taking on the shares could well be left with a handful of nothing.
It could be that these questions are answered in due course when further detail is released, but for the moment it appears that the plan has been devised by people who have spent their careers in Westminster, not in the boardroom and certainly not on the shop floor.
Tom McCarthy advises on Mergers & Acquisitions for?www.odysseycf.com?and is Chairman of the Bristol Institute of Directors?www.iod.com
BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - President Barack Obama repeatedly attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney on foreign policy on Monday in their third and final debate in an effort to blunt his opponent's surge in the polls with two weeks left until Election Day.
The high-stakes debate strayed frequently into domestic policy, with Romney seeking to bolster his argument that Obama had bungled the U.S. economic recovery with high unemployment and rising debt.
Neither man threw a knockout punch or made a noticeable gaffe in the 90-minute encounter at Lynn University in Boca Raton, although Obama scored enough debating points to be declared the winner in the first surveys.
A CBS News snap poll declared 53 percent believed Obama won, versus 23 percent for Romney and 24 percent saying it was a draw. A CNN poll put Obama as the winner by 48 percent to 40 percent.
With foreign policy a low priority in a campaign focused mostly on the economy, it was unclear what impact the debate would have on the race, which enters the final frenzy of campaigning with both men tied in the polls before the November 6 election.
Respondents in the CNN poll were split over whether the debate would influence their votes.
The debate was one last chance for the candidates to appeal to millions of voters watching on television and Obama was the aggressor from start to finish.
'HORSES AND BAYONETS'
He criticized the Republican for lacking ideas on the Middle East, mocked his calls for more ships in the U.S. military and accused Romney of wanting to bring the United States back to a long-abandoned Cold War stance.
Obama had a biting, perhaps condescending, response when Romney said the U.S. Navy had fewer ships now than at any time since 1917.
"Governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets," Obama said, suggesting that Romney's worldview was obsolete. "We have these things called aircraft carriers, where planes land on them. We have these ships that go underwater, nuclear submarines."
Obama also said the Republican presidential candidate was seeking to turn back the clock by once declaring Russia the top "geopolitical foe" of the United States.
Seated at a table with moderator Bob Schieffer, Obama said Romney was trying to return U.S. foreign policy to the 1980s and that the decade was "now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because, you know, the Cold War's been over for 20 years."
Romney said Obama's policies toward the Middle East and North Africa were not stopping a resurgence of the threat from al Qaeda in the region.
"Attacking me is not an agenda," said Romney. "Attacking me is not how we deal with the challenges of the Middle East."
Romney, wanting to make no mistakes that could blunt his recent rise in the polls, did not take the bait on some occasions when attacked, which may have led viewers to declare Obama the winner.
Although Romney lacks foreign policy experience, his aides said they believed their man's performance allowed him to pass the "commander-in-chief" test to show Americans he is knowledgeable about foreign affairs and enable them to envision him in the Oval Office.
Romney accused Obama of failing ally Israel, which the Democrat has not visited since taking office four years ago.
The former Massachusetts governor, whose central theme throughout the campaign has been a promise to rebuild the weak U.S. economy, frequently turned the discussion back to economic matters, saying U.S. national security depended on a strong economy.
"The president hasn't balanced a budget yet. I expect to have the opportunity to do so myself," said Romney.
Yesterday I visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and witnessed something that transcended the quality of the legendary masterpieces hanging in its galleries: a woman systematically and without remorse taking pictures of every single masterpiece in those hallowed halls. Using her iPad. More »
Oil prices rose Monday after violence in Lebanon sparked fears of wider unrest in the Middle East.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for November delivery was up 75 cents to $90.80 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.05 to end at $90.05 per barrel on Friday.
In London, Brent crude was up 59 cents to $110.73 on the ICE Futures exchange.
Fears of instability in the Middle East flared anew Friday, when Lebanon's intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, was assassinated in a massive car bombing. He was a powerful opponent of Syria, which for decades has wielded political and military influence in Lebanon.
Syria itself has been riven with violence since an uprising against President Bashar Assad began in February 2011.
"At present, we do not expect conflict to spread outside of Syria and Lebanon but the Middle East holds several key oil transit routes ? the Suez Canal and Strait of Hormuz," said Edward Bell, commodities analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "Any disruption in passing through these chokepoints would contribute to a momentary upward shift in oil prices."
Brent prices were also supported by the delayed return to production of the Buzzard oil field in the North Sea.
"Buzzard is now in its seventh week of complete shut-in, despite initially having been expected to start up after about five weeks of maintenance and be fully back on stream around the middle of October," said a report from KBC Energy Economics in London.
In other energy futures trading in New York:
- Heating oil rose 0.55 cent to $3.1231 per gallon.
- Wholesale gasoline added 1.05 cents to $2.6826 per gallon.
- Natural gas was up 2 cents at $3.637 per 1,000 cubic feet.
___
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
TIP! If you are facing a looming tax debt, don?t think that bankruptcy can be your savior. People often times try to use bankruptcy as a way to avoid paying taxes, one trick people try is to use credit cards to pay taxes and then claim bankruptcy.
Debt is one of the scariest things to live with. One day you?re looking at a little mole hill; the next day you?re staring down a mountain. It doesn?t take long at all before the debt becomes too much to handle. Getting out of debt is not easy, especially if you do not have a steady job. You should read ahead for great tips on how to face and handle a bankruptcy, when your debt is insurmountable.
TIP! Before filing for bankruptcy, be sure to choose the kind of bankruptcy that is best for your personal financial situation. A lot of people do not realize that there is more than one form of bankruptcy.
Don?t try to hide anything if you are filing for bankruptcy, as this will hurt you in the long run. Regardless of the agency you file with, ensure that you tell them all they should know about your current financial situation, regardless of how good or bad it is. You are in this situation, now help them to give you the best assistance possible to deal with it. You do that by giving full disclosure and holding nothing back.
TIP! If keeping your vehicle is of great concern, ask your lawyer if you can secure a payment modification. A lot of the time, your payments may be lowered due to Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Don?t believe the myth that declaring bankruptcy means you lose everything you own. You will be able to keep your personal property. This includes items, such as jewelry, clothes, household furnishings, electronics, etc. Exactly what assets you can hang onto will depend on the applicable laws in your state, your filing status, and your personal finances.
TIP! Do your research ahead of time to find out if you permitted to get a Homestead Exemption with Chapter 7. If you don?t, the possibility may exist for you with Chapter 13.
If your paycheck is larger than your debts, avoid filing for bankruptcy. Though bankruptcy may appear to be a good way to escape your debts, it does affect your credit negatively for a fairly long time.
TIP! If you are filing for bankruptcy, be sure you are being honest, no matter how dire your situation is. It can be catastrophic to make up things about your assets and debts.
Some lawyers offer a phone number that you can give creditors when they call you about your delinquent account. All you have to do is give the number for the attorney?s office, which allows them to confirm the validity of your bankruptcy. By doing this, you can stop these calls from occurring again.
TIP! Not all of your debts can be eliminated by filing for bankruptcy. Creditors are paid a portion of the amount you owe under a chapter 13 restructuring.
If you are in a position where you are unable to pay your debts, bankruptcy may be the only option for you. If this describes your situation, it makes sense to become familiar with relevant laws. Laws differ from one state to the other. Some states protect your home, and others do not. Become acquainted with local bankruptcy laws before filing.
TIP! There is nothing to be embarrassed about when it comes to filing for bankruptcy. Often, people become depressed because of their failures in finances.
If you are in a situation that may result in bankruptcy, you will probably have a lot of contact with creditors. Always get written confirmation of agreements you reach with yours creditors so that you have reliable records. Any flexibility with creditors can affect the process of bankruptcy, as long as it is recorded.
TIP! Always make sure your documents are accurate. Even if you have a lawyer to do that work for you, you are the one who has to make sure your information is correct.
In order to protect your credit history, make sure that bankruptcy filing is your absolute final choice. It is common for creditors express a willingness to settle debts for less than is owed, or create payment plans for debtors. Not only will you end up saving money, but your credit rating won?t take such a hard knock. Before filing, think about a loan for debt consolidation.
TIP! You should obtain a copy of your credit report from all three reporting agencies soon after you declare bankruptcy. Remember that this report would be representing your closed credit accounts and your discharged debts.
When you are filing for bankruptcy, make sure you list all of the financial information you may have. If you don?t do this, your file could be delayed or dismissed. Even if it?s a small sum, make sure it is listed. Include all jobs, assets and loans.
TIP! Be certain that you can differentiate between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 involves the elimination of all of your debt.
There are certain life events that you have no control over. In this article, you were presented with some tips on regaining control of your money and debt. Use the advice that you have been given to make some changes in your life.
Hemroids, also known as piles, can be both excruciating and embarrassing. They itch, burn, swell, and bleed. Nobody wants them, but few people know the home remedies for hemroids.
But what causes hemroids? Why do some people get them, and not other people?
One of the main causes of hemroids is excess pressure in the blood vessels in the rectum. This can be brought on as a side effect of constipation, which can cause you to excessively strain while pooping. The effort of straining while defecating causes the blood vessels in your rectum, and the tissue around them, to swell and often protrude from the anus. These are hemroids.
Here is a home remedies for hemroids that are proven to act quickly in relieving your hemorrhoid pain.
Home Remedies For Hemroids Through Alum Crystal Treatment
Alum crystals have natural astringent properties. This means that they have the tendency to shrink or constrict body tissues, usually after a topical application.
You can use the astringent properties of alum crystals to shrink your hemorrhoid tissues. Here?s how:
First, you?re going to get some alum crystal powder. Go ahead and get a pound of it, since it?s pretty inexpensive. You?ll also see alum crystals for sale, but these are too large for our purposes, so just stick with the alum powder.
Once you?ve got the alum powder, get a Mason jar or similar glass jar with a lid. Measurements will depend on the size of the jar, so take this recipe and make sure you use small enough measurements to fit it all into your jar:
- 1 part alum crystal powder - 5 parts warm water
Stir until crystals begin to dissolve, then let sit for 2-3 hours or until completely dissolved.
This will make a concentrated solution of dissolved alum powder.
You?re going to use this go make a more diluted solution later on.
To use this formula, get a shallow pan that you can sit in, and fill it with an inch or two of water. Then, take a couple of teaspoons of the concentrated alum-water solution and stir it into the pan of water. After that, sit your buns down in that pan of water and let the astringent alum start to shrink your hemroids.
This is a marathon, not a sprint, so don?t go crazy and start applying the concentrated solution to your hemroids ? I have no idea what would happen, but it likely wouldn?t be nice. Instead, just stick with the gentle, diluted solution I described above.
Sit in the pan for 15-20 minutes, and then gently blot yourself dry. Repeat this up to 2 times a day as necessary to shrink your hemroids.
Alum is safe when applied to the outside of your body, so you can continue to use this treatment on a long-term basis while you apply the other long-term home remedies for hemroids.
You don?t have to suffer with hemroids for the rest of your life. There was a time when you didn?t have them, and with the right home remedies for hemroids, you can look forward to a time when you no longer have to suffer. ?
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Slleuthing casts doubt on 'Gospel of Jesus' Wife' A copied error from an online translation of the Gospel of Thomas may be the "smoking gun" that strongly suggests the Gospel of Jesus' Wife, a controversial papyrus fragment that supposedly refers to Jesus being married, is a forgery, scholars say.
Source: NBCnews Posted on:
Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012, 8:25am Views: 9
Scientists harness immune system to prevent lymphoma relapsePublic release date: 18-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Henry Winter hwinter@beatingbloodcancers.org.uk 44-207-269-9019 University of Manchester
UK scientists hope that lymphoma patients could benefit from a new drug that triggers the cancer-fighting properties of the body's own immune system, after highly promising early laboratory results.
The University of Manchester researchers, who were funded by the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, have shown that, when used in conjunction with radiotherapy, the new drug is potentially four times more likely to lead to long-term survival than radiotherapy alone.
Relapse is a common fate for many lymphoma patients and new treatments are desperately needed. The new research, which is published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), shows that the chemical R848 can be used to prime the immune system to fight cancer.
R848 is a chemical which signals to certain molecules known as receptors found on the surface of immune cells, triggering them into action. Receptors play a key role in the function of the immune cell by recognising harmful agents and instructing the cell to respond. It was shown that injections of R848 can generate a rapid expansion of specific anti-lymphoma immune cells known as 'killer T cells'.
Dr Simon Dovedi, of the University of Manchester's School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences, who led the research, said: "Excitingly we think that R848 could be capable of giving patients a protective immunological memory by generating lymphoma-specific anti-tumour cells. This could be the key to ensuring long-term survival."
The Manchester team tested injections of R848, in combination with radiotherapy, in the laboratory on mice with lymphoma. It was found to have few side effects, with 100% of mice achieving long-term survival compared to just 28% of those mice which were treated with radiotherapy alone. In those mice that achieved long-term survival through treatment with R848 and radiotherapy, any re-introduction of cancer was completely rejected by the immune system in 75% of cases. These successful laboratory results mean that it could soon be used in early phase clinical trials for patients with lymphoma.
Professor Chris Bunce, Research Director of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said: "While it is still early and this treatment has not yet been tested in humans, these results are hugely promising. One of the major obstacles to long-term successful treatment for many types of lymphoma has been relapse after initial successful treatment. Treatment with R848 can prime T cells to recognise various tumour-associated antigens, protecting patients from the return of the cancer."
###
For further information contact:
Henry Winter
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Press Office
44 20 7269 9019
press mobile 44 7824 375880
email: hwinter@beatingbloodcancers.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The report is published online in the journal Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), under the title 'Systemic delivery of a TLR7 agonist in combination with radiation primes durable anti-tumor immune responses in mouse models of lymphoma'. Principal authors: Dr Simon Dovedi, Dr Jamie Honeychurch and Professor Tim Illidge of The School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences, University of Manchester
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is dedicated to saving the lives of blood cancer patients through the promotion and assistance of research into causes, diagnosis and treatment. We are committed to advancing the interests of patients and increasing public understanding of blood cancers.
Around 30,000 people of all ages, from children and teenagers to adults are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma in the UK every year.
We receive no government funding and rely entirely on voluntary support. In the next five years we need to raise 120 million to continue our lifesaving work. Further information, including patient information booklets, is available from http://www.llresearch.org.uk/ beatingbloodcancers.org.uk or on 020 7405 0101.
[ | 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.
Scientists harness immune system to prevent lymphoma relapsePublic release date: 18-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Henry Winter hwinter@beatingbloodcancers.org.uk 44-207-269-9019 University of Manchester
UK scientists hope that lymphoma patients could benefit from a new drug that triggers the cancer-fighting properties of the body's own immune system, after highly promising early laboratory results.
The University of Manchester researchers, who were funded by the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, have shown that, when used in conjunction with radiotherapy, the new drug is potentially four times more likely to lead to long-term survival than radiotherapy alone.
Relapse is a common fate for many lymphoma patients and new treatments are desperately needed. The new research, which is published online in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), shows that the chemical R848 can be used to prime the immune system to fight cancer.
R848 is a chemical which signals to certain molecules known as receptors found on the surface of immune cells, triggering them into action. Receptors play a key role in the function of the immune cell by recognising harmful agents and instructing the cell to respond. It was shown that injections of R848 can generate a rapid expansion of specific anti-lymphoma immune cells known as 'killer T cells'.
Dr Simon Dovedi, of the University of Manchester's School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences, who led the research, said: "Excitingly we think that R848 could be capable of giving patients a protective immunological memory by generating lymphoma-specific anti-tumour cells. This could be the key to ensuring long-term survival."
The Manchester team tested injections of R848, in combination with radiotherapy, in the laboratory on mice with lymphoma. It was found to have few side effects, with 100% of mice achieving long-term survival compared to just 28% of those mice which were treated with radiotherapy alone. In those mice that achieved long-term survival through treatment with R848 and radiotherapy, any re-introduction of cancer was completely rejected by the immune system in 75% of cases. These successful laboratory results mean that it could soon be used in early phase clinical trials for patients with lymphoma.
Professor Chris Bunce, Research Director of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research, said: "While it is still early and this treatment has not yet been tested in humans, these results are hugely promising. One of the major obstacles to long-term successful treatment for many types of lymphoma has been relapse after initial successful treatment. Treatment with R848 can prime T cells to recognise various tumour-associated antigens, protecting patients from the return of the cancer."
###
For further information contact:
Henry Winter
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research Press Office
44 20 7269 9019
press mobile 44 7824 375880
email: hwinter@beatingbloodcancers.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The report is published online in the journal Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), under the title 'Systemic delivery of a TLR7 agonist in combination with radiation primes durable anti-tumor immune responses in mouse models of lymphoma'. Principal authors: Dr Simon Dovedi, Dr Jamie Honeychurch and Professor Tim Illidge of The School of Cancer and Enabling Sciences, University of Manchester
Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research is dedicated to saving the lives of blood cancer patients through the promotion and assistance of research into causes, diagnosis and treatment. We are committed to advancing the interests of patients and increasing public understanding of blood cancers.
Around 30,000 people of all ages, from children and teenagers to adults are diagnosed with blood cancers like leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma in the UK every year.
We receive no government funding and rely entirely on voluntary support. In the next five years we need to raise 120 million to continue our lifesaving work. Further information, including patient information booklets, is available from http://www.llresearch.org.uk/ beatingbloodcancers.org.uk or on 020 7405 0101.
[ | 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.
The majority of people can recommence work the very next day and there are no restrictions on flying. 6th, the remolding of the cornea happens in about sixty seconds. Eyes are one of the most essential parts of the body; therefore, it is necessary to take a proper care of it. Laser eye surgery can provide a means for some people to see clearly without the burden of having to wear glasses or contact lenses. The first is that it is very expensive.
Laser surgery will cost about USD $1500 at the least and $3500 at the most so watch out for added expenses after surgery by a doctor charging less. It is performed on an outpatient basis, and is often referred to as refractive surgery or laser vision correction. Since then, other eye doctors have developed the Bates Method and tried to improve it by the adding their own variations and perhaps with additions like diet. Some people get nervous because they worry about the procedure being painful but most patients report feeling discomfort, not pain. If the surgeon is still offering conventional LASIK, be aware that this means he is using a BLADE not a Laser to create your corneal flap.
Finally, the surgeon observes your eyes and their reaction to the treatment generated. When it comes to what an optometrist makes versus that of an ophthalmologist, it really boils down to the varied services that each one offers their patients, and this includes the very lucrative practice of laser eye surgery that is done by an ophthalmologist, not by an optometrist. Health insurance usually will not pay for laser surgery. Your eyeballs will get back their perfect sight and you will be able to see clearly again. There are many different steps which can go into Lasik eye surgery and it should be customized to fit what your eyes require.
However, the need for re-treatment always remains a possibility, but usually only after many years. Ask for the number of surgeries h performed and the success ratio. Intralase and LASIK are similar in their methods for obtaining vision improvement with one very important difference. Now, it demonstrates to be the most effective and healthy modes to treat your eyeballs. LASIK has the ability to treat patient?s suffering from a wider range of vision disabilities delivering as close to perfect sight as possible.
The average fee is around $2000-$2500 per eye! This Shinagawa Eye Laser treatment centers, for example, which began in Tokyo and get now expanded throughout Asia and Singapore, began surgery at a cost-effective price and achieved astronomical affected individual numbers, which has allowed them to expand while as well keeping prices low. The popularity of LASIK surgery has risen in large portion due to the fact of the eye?s rapid healing and the absence of discomfort following the procedure. Some highly expert and experienced doctors are adept in handling eye surgeries and laser surgeries. In this laser surgery, the laser rays burn the tissue that are around the eye?s cornea.
As you can clearly see; the laser eye surgery cost can be a little scary to say the least. If you used to wear reading glasses before, you might still need them after surgery. When considering UK medical centres that specialise in this kind of eye surgery, Yorkshire is just one area that contains an appropriate eye hospital. Most patients who undergo refractive surgery are delighted with the results. However, the sand can be a pesky disturbance, especially if you have contact lenses or glasses.
Those savings come at a price one away or another. The procedure does not take long and though there may be some discomfort there is not any extreme pain involved. As the number of eye related illnesses continue to rise, a regular check-up with local eye surgeon is now becoming the norm. Laser eye surgery is generally a safe treatment but some have reported side-effects like halos around lights. The main dysfunction is the inability of the body to focus the eye lens to make an image sharp and clear.
This is because laser treatment for eye and vision is highly successful. The thin flap that was first cut and lifted from the eye is then replaced to serve the purpose of a natural bandage that will speed up the healing process from the Lasik surgery. There are procedures and surgeries available for people who wish to be unhampered by such eye disorders as nearsightedness, far sightedness, ?lazy eye? and various other visual impediments. Finally there is Wavefront or custom lasik surgery. Once you?ve been deemed a good candidate for the surgery and you make the decision to have it done, you need to start getting prepared.
Usually, the laser eye surgery is performed by expert surgeons. There are a lot of considerations to make before you get the laser eye surgery. Laser Eye Surgery Risks
I have a saved search on Ebay for "Halloween games" but more often than not, it yields the same things every time I check it. Last year, I managed to find these two kids card games from costume maker Rubie's in one auction.
The first one is Crazy Ates, which as you can probably guess, plays like Crazy Eights. The cards in the deck are numbered 1-9 with the standard suits: human hearts, diamond rings, wooden clubs and digging spades. The images on the cards have gross-out dishes like Roast Beast, Eye Scream and Handburger.
The next one is the Old Hag Card Game, which plays similar to Old Maid. Instead of the normal deck of 51 for Old Maid, this is only a deck of 37. There is the Old Hag card and 18 sets of paired cards. The cards feature funny images which remind me of Halloween themed Garbage Pail Kids. Although I'm not sure what's up with that Kitty Kat card, it kind of looks out of place for a kids game.
There is a third game in this series called The Grossout Game. I have seen this one for auction but to me it's not as Halloween themed as the other two so I've passed on it.
Be sure to visit the other bloggers that have their porch lights on by clicking below.?
HAVANA (AP) ? The Cuban government announced Tuesday that it will no longer require islanders to apply for an exit visa, eliminating a much-loathed bureaucratic procedure that has been a major impediment for many seeking to travel overseas.
A notice published in Communist Party newspaper Granma said Cubans will also not have to present a letter of invitation to travel abroad when the rule change takes effect Jan. 13, and beginning on that date islanders will only have to show their passport and a visa from the country they are traveling to.
"As part of the work under way to update the current migratory policy and adjust it to the conditions of the present and the foreseeable future, the Cuban government, in exercise of its sovereignty, has decided to eliminate the procedure of the exit visa for travel to the exterior," read the notice.
The measure also extends to 24 months the amount of time Cubans can remain abroad, and they can request an extension when that runs out. Currently, Cubans lose residency and other rights including social security and free health care and education after 11 months.
Still, the notice said Cuba plans to put limits on travel within unspecified sectors.
Doctors, scientists, members of the military and others considered valuable parts of society currently face restrictions on travel to combat brain drain.
"The update to the migratory policy takes into account the right of the revolutionary State to defend itself from the interventionist and subversive plans of the U.S. government and its allies," the note said. "Therefore, measures will remain to preserve the human capital created by the Revolution in the face of the theft of talent applied by the powerful."
Migration is a highly politicized issue in Cuba and beyond its borders.
Under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, the United States allows nearly all Cubans who reach its territory to remain.
Along with the announcement on migration, Granma published an editorial explaining the political significance of the measure, attributing it to the need to address the needs of the Cuban diaspora.
More than 1 million people of Cuban origin live in the United States, and thousands more are in Europe.
___
Andrea Rodriguez is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ARodriguezAP
In a joint press conference, Softbank has officially announced that it is buying a 70 percent stake in US mobile carrier Sprint for $20.1 billion. The Japanese company is paying $12.1 billion existing shares, with a further $8 billion for new shares that the network is issuing. CNBC has reported previously that it would net Sprint around $3 billion in much-needed cash, which it could use to regain control of Clearwire and bolster its LTE rollout. When Dan Hesse took to the stage, he said that the company's heavy investment (both in Network Vision and in its iPhone gamble) would bring a "margin expansion" in 2014.
It has been a crazy week for stem cell research. After the high of a Nobel prize for Japan's Shinya Yamanaka, the pioneer of cellular reprogramming, events took an alarming and surreal turn when a little-known compatriot ? Hisashi Moriguchi ? claimed to have already run a clinical trial in which similarly reprogrammed cells were injected into people.
But Moriguchi's claims quickly unravelled. "I have not found a single person to say anything concrete indicating that this has really happened," says Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at the University of California, Davis, who tracked the unfolding story on his blog.
In a poster presented at a meeting of the New York Stem Cell Foundation, Moriguchi ? who claimed to work at Harvard Medical School and the University of Tokyo ? described results from a trial in which cardiac muscle cells were grown from induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, and transplanted into six US patients with severe heart failure.
The Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper ? Japan's biggest ? splashed the story, based on an interview with Moriguchi, who claimed he had received ethical approval from Harvard Medical School's Institutional Review Board (IRB).
This was surprising, given the safety concerns that surround iPS cells ? adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an embryonic state. Support for the claim quickly disintegrated: within hours, Harvard released a statement noting that Moriguchi had no current affiliation with the university, nor any ethical approval to run a clinical trial.
Moriguchi's poster describing the clinical trial was taken down after the New York Stem Cell Foundation learned of Harvard's statement ? but a summary was published on Knoepfler's blog. This suggested an improvement of 41.5 per cent in "ejection fraction" ? a measure of heart output ? in patients whose hearts were injected with iPS-derived cells, compared to 4.1 per cent in a placebo group.
That would have been an astonishing claim, says Michael Laflamme at the University of Washington in Seattle, who is working to develop cell therapies for heart attack: "I'm not aware of any clinical trial that reported anything of this magnitude."
Indeed, similar studies involving adult stem cells have typically found improvements of less than 5 per cent (European Journal of Hearth Failure, doi.org/crq5k6).
Moriguchi did not respond to emails from New Scientist. But on Saturday he admitted to reporters that for five of the patients he was actually describing "planned" procedures. Still, Moriguchi maintained that he had transplanted cells into one patient at an unidentified hospital in Boston.
New Scientist's enquiries raise further questions about Moriguchi's work. In papers published earlier this year, he described experiments on freezing human ovarian tissue (Scientific Reports, doi.org/jht), and a remarkable claim to be able to eliminate liver tumour cells using a reprogramming technique (Scientific Reports, doi.org/jhv). Both gave Harvard and University of Tokyo affiliations, and claimed ethical approval from each institution.
Affiliation questions
The University of Tokyo told Nature News that Moriguchi was a visiting researcher in the cosmetic surgery department.
According to Harvard, Moriguchi has not worked there since a brief appointment as a visiting fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, from 1999 to 2000.
The Nature Publishing Group, which publishes Scientific Reports, says it is now "investigating the issues that have arisen around academic affiliation and IRB approval".
In 2010, Moriguchi claimed to have invented a method to create iPS cells using just two chemicals, rather than a combination of genetic factors, as used by Yamanaka and others. This bold claim was made in a short correspondence (Hepatology, doi.org/fhwxbd), rather than a full paper ? and has never been verified.
"I know of no lab, despite huge efforts worldwide, that has yet succeeded in deriving iPS cells with chemicals alone," says George Daley of the Children's Hospital Boston.
Veracity doubts
Raymond Chung of the Massachusetts General Hospital, who advised Moriguchi on preparing that note and is named as a co-author, said in a statement issued through the hospital that he is "no longer confident in Dr Moriguchi's veracity". The statement added that Chung was unaware until this week that Moriguchi had also listed him as co-author of a book chapter describing the method.
Chifumi Sato of Tokyo Medical and Dental University, the other author on the Hepatology correspondence, says that Moriguchi had told him that he was working in the US with Chung and other collaborators.
Meanwhile, Nature's news blog has pointed out that two images in Moriguchi's publications, purportedly illustrating his own work, seem remarkably similar to images on the website of the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago, and from a paper by Yamanaka.
In the light of the fallout from its story, the Yomiuri Shimbun has published a front page apology, and has promised an in-house investigation.
Given concerns that iPS-derived cells may be prone to becoming cancerous, Knoepfler says that the best outcome would be if the entire story is a fantasy. "I really hope Moriguchi did not do these transplants," he says. "That would be really disturbing."
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First of all, remember that just because you work from home doesn?t mean that you are always at work. Likewise, just because your family comes home doesn?t mean that you should automatically put your work aside. Perhaps the best way to balance work and family is to put yourself on a work schedule that your family understands and let them know that just because you are home, that doesn?t mean that you are available right away.
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Public release date: 18-Oct-2012
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