MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says Wisconsin can "complete its journey" by electing Mitt Romney as president and putting former Gov. Tommy Thompson in the U.S. Senate.
Ryan spoke Sunday at a $250-per-couple fundraiser for Thompson at the Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.
Ryan says he, Gov. Scott Walker and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus are all proteges of Thompson, who served 14 years as governor. Ryan says they are all part of what he called the Thompson "farm team."
Walker, Priebus and Thompson also all addressed the crowd of about 300.
Ryan spoke about Walker's successful win in June's recall election and Priebus' work as the head of the RNC after leading the Wisconsin state party, then said Wisconsin can complete its journey in November.
_________________________________________
UPDATED Sunday, October 14, 2012 --- 5:54 p.m.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican Senate candidate Tommy Thompson says Gov. Scott Walker has turned Wisconsin around after his Democratic predecessor "screwed up the state."
Thompson spoke Sunday at a fundraiser hosted by vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. Thompson referred to Ryan as the "Janesville flash."
Thompson says the election of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle in 2002 was a "mental lapse by the state." He says Doyle undid much of the work he did over 14 years as governor and "screwed up the state" with more regulation, more taxes and less people at work.
But Thompson says Walker came onto the scene "riding on a white horse" and he has turned Wisconsin around.
Thompson faces Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the race for Wisconsin's open Senate seat.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
_______________________________________
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus says GOP Senate candidate Tommy Thompson is a hero to other leaders in the party, including vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan and Gov. Scott Walker.
Priebus made his comments Sunday at a fundraiser in Milwaukee hosted by Ryan for Thompson.
Priebus is also a Wisconsin native like Ryan, who is a congressman from Janesville.
Priebus calls Thompson "somebody who showed all of us and paved the way in this state and this country."
Thompson stood by his side on stage with Walker and Ryan as he made the comments.
Thompson faces Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the race for Wisconsin's open Senate seat. Polls show Baldwin with a narrow lead with the election just 23 days away.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
________________________________________
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Gov. Scott Walker says it will take money, a good message and manpower for Tommy Thompson to win Wisconsin's Senate race.
Walker delivered the message at a Sunday fundraiser for Thompson hosted by Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan.
Walker says Thompson has the better message than Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the Senate race. And Walker says Republicans have made 2 million voter contacts since July to help both Mitt Romney and Thompson's campaigns in Wisconsin.
Walker says Thompson "doesn't need" to be elected to the Senate, but the children and grandchildren of the state need him in that role.
Walker shared the stage with Thompson, Ryan and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
_____________________________________________
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- About 50 protesters have gathered outside the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee where Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is hosting a fundraiser for GOP U.S. Senate candidate Tommy Thompson.
Deborah Wiersum of Kenosha carried a sign Sunday that says "Don't Mess With Medicare." She says she opposes Ryan's proposal that would change Medicare into a voucher program.
The 62-year-old Wiersum says he 84-year-old mother also opposes the plan, even though it would not affect her because of her age.
Wiersum says she is protesting both Ryan and Thompson, who faces Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the Senate race.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore also showed up outside the event. She calls Ryan and Thompson a "dangerous duo" who will devastate the middle class by ending Medicare and Medicaid.
Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.
________________________________________
Posted Sunday, October 14, 2012 --- 1:59 p.m.
MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is taking time off the national campaign trail to help fellow Wisconsinite Tommy Thompson in his run for the U.S. Senate.
The Janesville-native Ryan plans to host a fundraiser for Thompson on Sunday at the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.
The event comes a day before Ryan plans to host a rally in nearby Waukesha.
Vice President Joe Biden campaigned in La Crosse on Friday, a day after he and Ryan met for their only debate of the campaign.
Both the presidential race and Thompson's Senate bid against Democrat Tammy Baldwin are tight.
The Senate seat is open due to the retirement of Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ? Gun-rights groups perceive President Barack Obama as a threat to unfettered access to firearms. They once had qualms about Mitt Romney, too.
But times and circumstances have changed for Romney, the GOP presidential nominee now in tune with the National Rifle Association and similar organizations, whose members are motivated voters.
In the tight White House race, every bit of support helps, especially in the most closely contested states and particularly from groups that claim millions of members nationwide.
Romney's prior embrace of weapon-control proposals had put him crossways with the NRA and others. These days, Romney is on their good side by opposing renewal of a federal ban on semiautomatic weapons, additional regulations on gun shows and suggested federal gun registration requirements.
The NRA and some less prominent organizations are spending big money on mailings, radio ads, TV commercials and booths at game fairs to promote the former Massachusetts governor and portray Obama as hostile to gun rights.
Gun groups are an important part of an outdoor enthusiast network that neither side is willing to concede.
There are "Sportsmen for Romney" and "Sportsmen for Obama," all playing to the largely male hook-and-bullet crowd that is protective of recreational passions. Neither candidate is considered an avid outdoorsman, though each has made mention of fishing rods or been photographed casting a line.
Romney and his allies underscore his hands-off stance when it comes to guns, and say he would move to open more public land to hunting. They also promote the bona fides of running mate Paul Ryan, who has a permit for just about every season in Wisconsin, his home state.
Last month, Ryan reminded a gathering of sportsmen in Ohio of the hours he has logged in duck blinds, deer stands, pheasant fields and fishing boats. Then came his critique of Obama: "I wonder, I shudder as a gun owner, seeing his record when he was in the Illinois state Senate, what would he do if he never has to face the voters ever again?"
It's the type of message that resonates with voters such as Stan Glover of Bowerston, Ohio. Glover said Romney's past stands gave him pause, but he's more nervous about Obama.
"The uncertainty of politics in Washington, as regards hunters/gun owner rights, has caused undue fear amongst folks that enjoy the shooting sports," said Glover, a manufacturing plant sales director who plans to vote for Romney.
The Obama campaign emphasizes steps by his administration to promote habitat conservation, set aside land and preserve access to land used for recreation. Supporters point to Obama's "American Great Outdoors Initiative" to coordinate conservation and natural resource efforts in all 50 states, whether it's restoring wetlands in Iowa's duck-rich Prairie Pothole Region or filtering phosphorous harmful to fish and fowl in Grand Lake St. Marys in Ohio.
For Obama, minimizing Romney's apparent advantage among voters who place a premium on outdoors issues is the name of the game.
In Iowa and other states, that task falls to people such as Dick Dearden. He's a Democratic state senator and leader of a group of pro-Obama outdoors enthusiasts working to combat negative portrayals of the incumbent among the shotgun crowd.
"The president is not a threat to people who hunt and fish. He's an asset," Dearden said. "I'm a member of the NRA and they are beginning to more and more embarrass me. I'm a Second Amendment person, but I have not seen anything this president has done for the last four years that has hurt anyone's Second Amendment rights."
Obama's campaign highlights a law he signed in his first year as president that allows people with weapons permits to bring loaded guns into national parks and wildlife refuges. The change drew rebukes from gun-control advocates.
But groups working to defeat Obama sound alarms about his support of reinstating an assault weapons ban if one made it through Congress. They also are stoking fears that the president would use a second term to appoint federal judges with restrictive views toward gun ownership. The Supreme Court has been closely divided in recent gun cases, and the balance could shift if Obama had the chance to pick any new justices.
Romney told the leader of the NRA's lobbying arm in a question-and-answer piece published last month that he would appoint "wise, experienced and restrained judges" and fill his Cabinet with "people who agree that the Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental, individual right."
His own views have evolved from when he ran for the Senate and was governor in Massachusetts. In his failed 1994 Senate campaign he backed a waiting period on gun sales and an assault weapons ban that he said were "not going to make me the hero of the NRA." As governor, he signed a state-level assault weapons ban that he argued was part of a brokered deal between the sides in the gun debate.
In the NRA interview published in September, Romney unequivocally opposed new gun restrictions, including one on semiautomatic weapons. "I do not support any additional laws to restrict the right to keep and bear arms," he said. The group endorsed him in Virginia in early October and has since reserved more than $1.3 million in TV ad time in in Florida, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, acknowledged some hesitancy about Romney but said gun-rights activists were mollified by his selection of Ryan as a running mate.
"It created a lot more willingness to pull his lever, and at least some enthusiasm," Pratt said. "Ryan is at least one of us."
___
Associated Press writer Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Iranian Hackers Are Becoming a Real Pain","date":"Sat, Oct 13, 2012 11:00 AM EDT","credit":null,"byline":null,"provider":"The Atlantic Wire","photo_title":"Iranian Hackers Are Becoming a Real Pain","pivot_alias_id":"iranian-hackers-becoming-real-pain-photo-145856141","plink":"\/photos\/iranian-hackers-becoming-real-pain-photo-145856141.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/iranian-hackers-becoming-real-pain-photo-145856141.html","srchtrm":"Iranian Hackers Are Becoming a Real Pain","revsp":"","rev":"bd7b61d0-1546-11e2-9aef-46f9e4be36ce","surl":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/qrvSle.cIvbEgvJDaju11g--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTg1O3c9OTA-\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/theatlanticwire\/Iranian_Hackers_Are_Becoming_a-7d048cd648e1fd0718b1cdf1a52d8c85","swidth":90,"sheight":56}]}; Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['8f7b0e973c7573a4ab249977a8786918'] = {"spaceid":"97570179","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=1c0be3a8-8362-36ca-90b9-bf91a258affd","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true}; }); Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1", mod_total:"10", total:"1", content_id:"1c0be3a8-8362-36ca-90b9-bf91a258affd", spaceid:"97570179", related_count:"-1" }); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){ d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js'; })(document); }); Y.later(10, this, function() { if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};} if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};} if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");} YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_4b9b5d9878ef7912cd63893334bb13c0 = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"09a9faf4-1bcc-43ad-ac6a-bd9f23f9f173","sCrumb":"","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-4b9b5d9878ef7912cd63893334bb13c0","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"97570179","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/iranian-hackers-becoming-real-pain-145856749.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"1c0be3a8-8362-36ca-90b9-bf91a258affd","sUltQstnTxt":"How confident are you that your privacy is being protected when you browse the internet?","artContentTitle":"Iranian Hackers Are Becoming a Real Pain","artContentDesc":"Iran has a growing legion of low-grade hackers that are quickly becoming a pain in the side of the Obama administration, and financial companies.\u00a0","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Not at all confident","labelRight":"Completely confident","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"38975","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"37152","rightBlocksNum":"1823","leftBlocksPerCent":"95","rightBlocksPerCent":"5","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":29908,\"s2\":3136,\"s3\":1387,\"s4\":1372,\"s5\":1349,\"s6\":1823,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Thank you for sharing your feeling on this article!\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded to this question. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Start the Conversation\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Sure, that's how you feel... But what do your friends think?\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 38,975 people have answered this question\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has answered this question\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have answered this question\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":29908,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":3136,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":1387,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":1372,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":1349,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":1823,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_4b9b5d9878ef7912cd63893334bb13c0","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"
Kanban Tool is an online Kanban Board for Business that you will find visual, intuitive and super-productive. It is a smart visual project management application with real-time collaboration that allows teams to get work done faster. Kanban Tool helps companies visualize workflow, analyze and improve business processes and reduce waste. It is based on Kanban method originally introduced by Toyota and used nowadays in Lean Startups.
Online Kanban Boards
By using Kanban boards you can?organize all your work and projects with cards placed on Kanban board. This helps to visualize, control and optimize your workflow. You can also use your?mouse or touchscreen to drag & drop tasks to the board.
Limit your work in progress to prevent?bottlenecks and archive completed?tasks so they don?t waste space on the board. Kanban Tool also helps to collaborate in real time with other members of your team.
predict when you will get the job done basing on previous performance
use breakdown charts to get quick insight into project status
measure cycle time using cumulative flow diagram
Pricing of Kanban Tools starts at $5 for unlimited Kanban boards but with limited number of users, but you can also get a Pro or Starter account for $29 and $9.
Learn more in?http://kanbantool.com/
Related posts:
5 Impressive Online Project Management Tools To Enhance Productivity
FlowChart.com: Free tool to make diagrams online
Make a free Timebox Diagram for PowerPoint
Anan: PPT File Management Tool
Greenshot: Free tool to take screenshots in Windows
Creating a business allows you to identify potential problems and opportunities your business might face, avoid penalties, fines or other legal problems, adapt to changes in the marketplace and let you expand or contract from a position of objectivity. You can share a business plan with potential partners, advisers and sources of funding. The Small Business Administration suggests that a business plan be a work in progress you should keep current.
Aids in Obtaining Funding
Potential investors will have a variety of questions about your potential or existing business. A complete business plan not only provides them with answers, but shows that you are organized and have considered all of the marketing, legal, financial, human resources and other aspects of running a business. A thorough business plan will increase your chance of obtain venture capital and bank loans.
Helps Get Advice
Business professionals may be more likely to give you free advice about your business if they can comment objectively on numbers, rather than having to give you their personal opinion of your "great idea." Organizations such as the Service Core of Retired Executives will not only give you free advice on launching a business, but will assign an executive to read your business plan and offer suggestions for improving it.
Identifies Problems
A thorough business plan addresses all areas of starting and running your business plan. As you research the information you wish to include in your business plans, you may learn that suppositions you made about your marketing budgets, cost of materials, licensing and permitting, labor costs, real estate or leases and other critical aspects of your business are incorrect. Learning this before you launch your business gives you time to make adjustments before you have signed contracts and committed funds. Business plans include budgets that help you manage cashflow -- critical to keeping your business running.
Provides Exit Strategy
In addition to providing benchmarks for success, a good business plan sets realistic criteria for shutting down the business to prevent your throwing good money after bad. A business failure can be very emotional and business owners are often not objective in the face of that reality. Solid numbers that tell you the business is untenable will help you make the decision to shut down a failing business easier and will prevent you from losing more of your or your investors' money than necessary.
You've been hanging back, waiting for the dust to settle around the iPhone 5 debut. Now that the reviews are in, you're out. It's time to trade in the Cupertino Kool-Aid for some Jelly Beans. Here's how to do it right. More »
Kare Guglielmo is the new medical assistant program chair at Globe University-Madison East
Globe University-Madison East welcomes Kara Guglielmo to the academic leadership team as the new medical assistant program chair. Kara graduated with her medical assistant associate degree from Rasmussen College in Green Bay. She has worked in the health care field since she was 17 years old. She started as a CNA and worked with the elderly and adults, and kids with developmental disabilities and has been a patient advocate for those with developmental disabilities.
Kara has worked in family practice, pediatrics, dermatology, urgent care, gynecology, phlebotomy, research, and has worked with special populations. Her most recent role was as a medical assistant at Group Health in Madison where she had the?opportunity to work with some Globe University medical assistant students completing their externships.
Having worked in so many different departments, Kara says her favorite areas were urgent care and cardiology.?
?In urgent care you never knew what you were going to see each day, there were a lot of wounds and some pretty cool allergic reactions sometimes?covering the entire body,? Kara says.??While in cardiology you really got to know the patients well and make true connections because they would return time and time again.?
This quarter Kara is teaching Pharmacology and says, ?I?m really excited to start my journey with Globe and the medical assistant program!?
Her favorite medical assistant class is Anatomy and Physiology and Kara admits she thinks the kidneys are the coolest organ by far. As medical assistant program chair, Kara is excited about making community connections for the program including meeting with externship sites, employers, and other community partners to set up field trips and guest speakers.
Outside of Globe Kara enjoys spending time with her husband, Anthony, and two sons, Liam and Kaine. They have been involved in foster care and enjoy volunteering at the food pantry and giving back to the community in other ways.?
Please?welcome Kara as you see her around campus!?
Kidney grafts function longer in Europe than in the United StatesPublic release date: 12-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Professor Gerhard Opelz gerhard.opelz@med.uni-heidelberg.de Heidelberg University Hospital
Heidelberg researchers identify vast differences after 5 and 10 years/Lack of cost reimbursement for anti-rejection drugs in the United States possible factor/Publication in Transplantation
Kidney transplants performed in Europe are considerably more successful in the long run than those performed in the United States. While the one-year survival rate is 90% in both Europe and the United States, after five years, 77% of the donor kidneys in Europe still function, while in the United States, this rate among white Americans is only 71%. After ten years, graft survival for the two groups is 56% versus 46%, respectively. The lower survival rates compared to Europe also apply to Hispanic Americans, in whom 48% of the transplanted kidneys still function after ten years, and particularly to African Americans, whose graft survival is a mere 33%.
Researchers from Heidelberg have described the large discrepancy for the first time, after systematically comparing data from the world's most comprehensive study on transplant results, the Collaborative Transplant Study (CTS) in Heidelberg, with transplant data from the United States. Their research findings have now been published online in the journal Transplantation.
The results of the study show particularly large differences in graft survival among children and young adults between Europe and the US. One reason for the poorer results in the United States may be the fact that costs of anti-rejection drugs are usually reimbursed by Medicare for only three years, while in Europe, the statutory health insurance guarantees lifelong reimbursement of costs. In the United States, patients who have undergone kidney transplants often have to pay for these drugs themselves. Costs amount to around US$ 20,000 per year.
Heidelberg CTS Study evaluates international data on transplantation
The CTS Study conducted for the past 30 years at Heidelberg University Hospital's Transplantation Immunology department, headed by Prof. Gerhard Opelz, has collected data on transplants performed worldwide and evaluates them. These days, kidney transplants are generally very successful. A major reason for this is the anti-rejection drugs, or immunosuppressants, which must be taken by kidney-transplant recipients on a lifelong basis.
"For the comparison of the long term graft survival in the United States and Europe, we had access to data from the US United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)," explained Dr. Adam Gondos, who works as an epidemiologist at the Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). In the United States, all data on transplants are systematically collected and available to the public, in contrast to German and most European countries, where generally no comparable national registry exists. Participation in the CTS Study is voluntary. "However, since a high percentage of the European centers participate, the data for Europe are representative," said Prof. Opelz. Around 23,500 kidney transplants in Europe were used for the current evaluation, along with data on 32,000 kidney transplants performed in the United States.
"We cannot conclusively identify the reasons for the discrepancy between the United States and Europe based on the statistical analyses performed here," said Dr. Gondos. However, the fact that the results in the first year are equally good and that they become successively worse in the United States may indicate that posttransplant care in general, and the supply of immunosuppressants or lack thereof in particular, may play an certain role here, he added.
Dialysis more expensive than immunosuppressants
In February 2012, Canadian nephrologists already sharply criticized the current US practice in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM 366;7). If patients have to return to dialysis, their life expectancy is shortened, even if a new kidney is available. According to the experts, this rationing is neither ethically responsible nor does it make sense in economic terms, since dialysis costs around US$ 75,000 per year, more than triple the costs of immunosuppressive treatment. So far, however, all of the political efforts in the United States have failed that call for immunosuppressive treatment to be continued for more than three years after kidney transplant.
###
Literature:
Kidney Graft Survival in Europe and the United States: Strikingly Different Long-term Outcomes. Gondos, Adam; Dhler, Bernd; Brenner, Hermann; Opelz, Gerhard. Transplantation. 10 October 2012. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e3182708ea8
Collaborative Transplant Study CTS: http://www.ctstransplant.org/
Press release: Thirty years CTS Study in Heidelberg
http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news487604
Department of Transplantation Immunology: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Transplantations-Immunologie.1250.0.html
Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research: http://www.dkfz.de/de/klinepi/index.php
Heidelberg University Hospital and Medical Faculty:
Internationally recognized patient care, research, and teaching
Heidelberg University Hospital is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Germany. The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University belongs to the internationally most renowned biomedical research institutions in Europe. Both institutions have the common goal of developing new therapies and implementing them rapidly for patients. With about 11,000 employees, training and qualification is an important issue. Every year, around 550,000 patients are treated on an inpatient or outpatient basis in more than 50 clinics and departments with 2,000 beds. Currently, about 3,600 future physicians are studying in Heidelberg; the reform Heidelberg Curriculum Medicinale (HeiCuMed) is one of the top medical training programs in Germany.
Requests by journalists:
Dr. Annette Tuffs
Head of Public Relations and Press Department
University Hospital of Heidelberg and
Medical Faculty of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 672
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany
phone: +49 6221 / 56 45 36
fax: +49 6221 / 56 45 44
e-mail: annette.tuffs(at)med.uni-heidelberg.de
Selected english press releases online:
http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/presse
[ | 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.
Kidney grafts function longer in Europe than in the United StatesPublic release date: 12-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Professor Gerhard Opelz gerhard.opelz@med.uni-heidelberg.de Heidelberg University Hospital
Heidelberg researchers identify vast differences after 5 and 10 years/Lack of cost reimbursement for anti-rejection drugs in the United States possible factor/Publication in Transplantation
Kidney transplants performed in Europe are considerably more successful in the long run than those performed in the United States. While the one-year survival rate is 90% in both Europe and the United States, after five years, 77% of the donor kidneys in Europe still function, while in the United States, this rate among white Americans is only 71%. After ten years, graft survival for the two groups is 56% versus 46%, respectively. The lower survival rates compared to Europe also apply to Hispanic Americans, in whom 48% of the transplanted kidneys still function after ten years, and particularly to African Americans, whose graft survival is a mere 33%.
Researchers from Heidelberg have described the large discrepancy for the first time, after systematically comparing data from the world's most comprehensive study on transplant results, the Collaborative Transplant Study (CTS) in Heidelberg, with transplant data from the United States. Their research findings have now been published online in the journal Transplantation.
The results of the study show particularly large differences in graft survival among children and young adults between Europe and the US. One reason for the poorer results in the United States may be the fact that costs of anti-rejection drugs are usually reimbursed by Medicare for only three years, while in Europe, the statutory health insurance guarantees lifelong reimbursement of costs. In the United States, patients who have undergone kidney transplants often have to pay for these drugs themselves. Costs amount to around US$ 20,000 per year.
Heidelberg CTS Study evaluates international data on transplantation
The CTS Study conducted for the past 30 years at Heidelberg University Hospital's Transplantation Immunology department, headed by Prof. Gerhard Opelz, has collected data on transplants performed worldwide and evaluates them. These days, kidney transplants are generally very successful. A major reason for this is the anti-rejection drugs, or immunosuppressants, which must be taken by kidney-transplant recipients on a lifelong basis.
"For the comparison of the long term graft survival in the United States and Europe, we had access to data from the US United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)," explained Dr. Adam Gondos, who works as an epidemiologist at the Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). In the United States, all data on transplants are systematically collected and available to the public, in contrast to German and most European countries, where generally no comparable national registry exists. Participation in the CTS Study is voluntary. "However, since a high percentage of the European centers participate, the data for Europe are representative," said Prof. Opelz. Around 23,500 kidney transplants in Europe were used for the current evaluation, along with data on 32,000 kidney transplants performed in the United States.
"We cannot conclusively identify the reasons for the discrepancy between the United States and Europe based on the statistical analyses performed here," said Dr. Gondos. However, the fact that the results in the first year are equally good and that they become successively worse in the United States may indicate that posttransplant care in general, and the supply of immunosuppressants or lack thereof in particular, may play an certain role here, he added.
Dialysis more expensive than immunosuppressants
In February 2012, Canadian nephrologists already sharply criticized the current US practice in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM 366;7). If patients have to return to dialysis, their life expectancy is shortened, even if a new kidney is available. According to the experts, this rationing is neither ethically responsible nor does it make sense in economic terms, since dialysis costs around US$ 75,000 per year, more than triple the costs of immunosuppressive treatment. So far, however, all of the political efforts in the United States have failed that call for immunosuppressive treatment to be continued for more than three years after kidney transplant.
###
Literature:
Kidney Graft Survival in Europe and the United States: Strikingly Different Long-term Outcomes. Gondos, Adam; Dhler, Bernd; Brenner, Hermann; Opelz, Gerhard. Transplantation. 10 October 2012. doi: 10.1097/TP.0b013e3182708ea8
Collaborative Transplant Study CTS: http://www.ctstransplant.org/
Press release: Thirty years CTS Study in Heidelberg
http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news487604
Department of Transplantation Immunology: http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/Transplantations-Immunologie.1250.0.html
Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research: http://www.dkfz.de/de/klinepi/index.php
Heidelberg University Hospital and Medical Faculty:
Internationally recognized patient care, research, and teaching
Heidelberg University Hospital is one of the largest and most prestigious medical centers in Germany. The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University belongs to the internationally most renowned biomedical research institutions in Europe. Both institutions have the common goal of developing new therapies and implementing them rapidly for patients. With about 11,000 employees, training and qualification is an important issue. Every year, around 550,000 patients are treated on an inpatient or outpatient basis in more than 50 clinics and departments with 2,000 beds. Currently, about 3,600 future physicians are studying in Heidelberg; the reform Heidelberg Curriculum Medicinale (HeiCuMed) is one of the top medical training programs in Germany.
Requests by journalists:
Dr. Annette Tuffs
Head of Public Relations and Press Department
University Hospital of Heidelberg and
Medical Faculty of Heidelberg
Im Neuenheimer Feld 672
D-69120 Heidelberg
Germany
phone: +49 6221 / 56 45 36
fax: +49 6221 / 56 45 44
e-mail: annette.tuffs(at)med.uni-heidelberg.de
Selected english press releases online:
http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/presse
[ | 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.
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Human rights activists in Iran are subjected to beatings with batons, mock hangings, rape, sleep deprivation, and threats that family members will be raped or killed, a U.N. rights investigator said in a report released on Thursday.
The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Ahmed Shaheed, said in a report to the U.N. General Assembly that Iranian authorities undermined press freedoms, watched some journalists constantly and detained and persecuted others unfairly.
"The authorities recently banned domestic news outlets from reporting on the impact of economic sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran," Shaheed said.
The Iranian currency has plunged in the past few weeks, sparking street protests. Officials from the United States and other Western countries blame the drop on a combination of economic mismanagement and sanctions.
Iran is under U.N., U.S. and European Union sanctions for refusing to halt nuclear enrichment, which Western powers and their allies say is part of a plan to amass the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge, saying its atomic work is for medicine and generating electricity.
Shaheed said Iranian authorities executed at least 223 people in the first six months of this year, most of them for drug-related offenses. A large number of those executed were convicted at unfair trials.
About 670 people were executed in Iran in 2011, according to Shaheed.
The report provides "a deeply troubling picture of the overall human rights situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including many concerns which are systemic in nature," he said.
Shaheed, a former foreign minister of Maldives, said the Iranian government had not allowed him to visit Iran while making his assessment, but that he had interviewed 99 people, of which three-quarters gave first-hand accounts and the rest were reliable sources or eyewitnesses.
WOMEN WORTH LESS THAN MEN
"In two dozen interviews ... human rights defenders reported being arrested and held incommunicado in solitary confinement for periods ranging from several weeks to 36 months, without charge or access to legal counsel," Shaheed said.
"Most of them also reported that they were subjected to severe physical torture during interrogations, which were aimed at coercing confessions or soliciting information about other human rights defenders and human rights organizations," he said.
The report said: "Methods employed reportedly included severe beatings with batons and other objects, mock hangings, electrocution, and actual rape.
"Other forms of psychological torture allegedly included sleep deprivation, denial of food and/or water, and threats of arrest, detention, rape or murder of family members. Several victims also reported being drugged with hallucinogens."
Iran ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1975 - four years before an Islamic revolution ushered in a clergy-led government that said it took its guidance from Islamic scriptures.
The report said Iran has maintained that the constitution of the Islamic Republic guarantees freedom of expression, religion, assembly and association. Tehran dismisses criticism of its human rights record.
Iran's U.N. mission did not respond immediately to a request for a reaction to Shaheed's report.
Shaheed said Iran's Islamic Penal Code contravenes international law because a woman's court testimony and her life is valued at half that of a man's. Girls are recognized as legally culpable at 9 years old and boys at 14.
He said the penal code also deems moharebeh (enmity against God) and fisad-fil-arzz (corruption on earth) as capital crimes, punishable by execution, crucifixion, amputation of the right hand and the left foot, or banishment.
"A number of interviews conducted and reports received by the special rapporteur show that individuals arrested for political and human rights-related activities are often charged with moharebeh and fisad-fil-arzz," Shaheed said.
Anastase Tabaro, a self-taught engineer, walks by a stream near his hydroelectricity generating station in Rutare, Rwanda.
?
Dai Kurokawa / EPA
Anastase Tabaro at a friend's home in Rutare, 45km north of the capital Kigali.
The European Pressphoto Agency reports ??Anastase Tabaro, a self-taught engineer who had just six years of elementary-level education as a child, has built a hydroelectric system that?provides power to some 700 households in and around his village in rural Rwanda.
The 59-year-old started his research in 1990 with the ultimate ambition of selling power to his neighbors, none of whom had access to electricity at that time. He built a turbine and constructed a barrage dam that he channels water from to power a generator.?
"I grew up in [neighboring] Democratic Republic of Congo and my village had electricity," Tabaro says. "Then my family moved to Rwanda and our village had no electricity. I felt I couldn't live without electricity so I started to research by myself."
Dai Kurokawa / EPA
Tabaro sets up a television to play a DVD at his friend's home.
Locals come to Tabaro's home to charge their cellphones, for which he charges them 20 cents apiece.
According to kumatoo.com, a website dedicated to celebrating the ingenuity of the African people, news of Tabaro's achievements has reached the capital.
The Rwandan government decided to support this project by installing electrical poles in the village to supply electricity to a dozen homes, including the church.
With electricity, it is no longer necessary in Ngororero to cut wood for cooking or to use petrol for lighting. Electricity has changed the lives of the villagers (continue?reading).
Some have even bought televisions and DVD players now that they have electricity supplied by Tabaro's system. "It's like a magic. Now my family can enjoy watching a movie, listening to a radio at our home. He's our man, our hero," a resident of Rutate village says.
The Guardian on Paul Kagame's Rwanda: African success story or authoritarian state?
According to the government, only 14 percent of Rwandans had access to electricity in 2011.
Dai Kurokawa / EPA
Tabaro stands next to a barrage he constructed to control the amount of water passing the dam.
Dai Kurokawa / EPA
Tabaro sits next to a turbine generator he has built inside his generating station.
Dai Kurokawa / EPA
People take shelter from the rain in Rutare village.
EDITOR'S NOTE: These photos were taken in May 2012 and made available to NBC News today.
Further tales of engineering exploits on PhotoBlog:
ScienceDaily (Oct. 12, 2012) ? Researchers from Johns Hopkins and Northwestern universities have discovered how to control the shape of nanoparticles that move DNA through the body and have shown that the shapes of these carriers may make a big difference in how well they work in treating cancer and other diseases.
This study, to be published in the Oct. 12 online edition of the journal Advanced Materials, is also noteworthy because this gene therapy technique does not use a virus to carry DNA into cells. Some gene therapy efforts that rely on viruses have posed health risks.
"These nanoparticles could become a safer and more effective delivery vehicle for gene therapy, targeting genetic diseases, cancer and other illnesses that can be treated with gene medicine," said Hai-Quan Mao, an associate professor of materials science and engineering in Johns Hopkins' Whiting School of Engineering.
Mao, co-corresponding author of the Advanced Materials article, has been developing nonviral nanoparticles for gene therapy for a decade. His approach involves compressing healthy snippets of DNA within protective polymer coatings. The particles are designed to deliver their genetic payload only after they have moved through the bloodstream and entered the target cells. Within the cells, the polymer degrades and releases DNA. Using this DNA as a template, the cells can produce functional proteins that combat disease.
A major advance in this work is that Mao and his colleagues reported that they were able to "tune" these particles in three shapes, resembling rods, worms and spheres, which mimic the shapes and sizes of viral particles. "We could observe these shapes in the lab, but we did not fully understand why they assumed these shapes and how to control the process well," Mao said. These questions were important because the DNA delivery system he envisions may require specific, uniform shapes.
To solve this problem, Mao sought help about three years ago from colleagues at Northwestern. While Mao works in a traditional wet lab, the Northwestern researchers are experts in conducting similar experiments with powerful computer models.
Erik Luijten, associate professor of materials science and engineering and of applied mathematics at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and co-corresponding author of the paper, led the computational analysis of the findings to determine why the nanoparticles formed into different shapes.
"Our computer simulations and theoretical model have provided a mechanistic understanding, identifying what is responsible for this shape change," Luijten said. "We now can predict precisely how to choose the nanoparticle components if one wants to obtain a certain shape."
The use of computer models allowed Luijten's team to mimic traditional lab experiments at a far faster pace. These molecular dynamic simulations were performed on Quest, Northwestern's high-performance computing system. The computations were so complex that some of them required 96 computer processors working simultaneously for one month.
In their paper, the researchers also wanted to show the importance of particle shapes in delivering gene therapy. Team members conducted animal tests, all using the same particle materials and the same DNA. The only difference was in the shape of the particles: rods, worms and spheres.
"The worm-shaped particles resulted in 1,600 times more gene expression in the liver cells than the other shapes," Mao said. "This means that producing nanoparticles in this particular shape could be the more efficient way to deliver gene therapy to these cells."
The particle shapes used in this research are formed by packaging the DNA with polymers and exposing them to various dilutions of an organic solvent. DNA's aversion to the solvent, with the help of the team's designed polymer, causes the nanoparticles to contract into a certain shape with a "shield" around the genetic material to protect it from being cleared by immune cells.
Lead authors of the Advanced Materials paper are Wei Qu, a graduate student in Luijten's research group at Northwestern, and Xuan Jian, who was a doctoral student in Mao's lab. Along with Mao and Luijten, the remaining co-authors of the paper, all from Johns Hopkins, are Deng Pan, who worked on the project as an undergraduate; Yong Ren, a postdoctoral fellow; John-Michael Williford, a biomedical engineering doctoral student; and Honggang Cui, an assistant professor in the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Xuan Jiang, Wei Qu, Deng Pan, Yong Ren, John-Michael Williford, Honggang Cui, Erik Luijten, Hai-Quan Mao. Plasmid-Templated Shape Control of Condensed DNA-Block Copolymer Nanoparticles. Advanced Materials, 2012; DOI: 10.1002/adma.201202932
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2012) ? University of Iowa researchers have previously shown that an enzyme called CaM kinase II plays a pivotal role in the death of heart cells following a heart attack or other conditions that damage or stress heart muscle. Loss of beating heart cells is generally permanent and leads to heart failure, a serious, debilitating condition that affects 5.8 million people in the United States.
Now the UI team, led by Mark Anderson, M.D., Ph.D., professor and head of internal medicine at the UI Carver College of Medicine, has honed in on how CaM kinase II triggers heart cell death following heart damage, showing that the action takes place in the cells' energy-producing mitochondria. In animal tests, the team reports that blocking the enzyme can prevent heart cells from dying, and protects the animals from heart failure.
Mitochondrial are the cells' batteries, generating the energy cells need to work. In heart cells, energy produced by these small cellular components fuels each heartbeat. However, when the heart is stressed, for example during a heart attack, the mitochondria become leaky and non-functional, which triggers cell death and heart failure.
"We found that activity of the CaM kinase II enzyme in mitochondria promotes cell death when the heart is stressed," says Mei-ling Joiner, Ph.D., UI assistant professor of internal medicine and lead author of the study, which was published online Oct. 10 in the journal Nature. "The findings might help us advance treatment of heart diseases and reduce mortality after a heart attack."
The new study shows that activated CaM kinase II promotes leakiness of mitochondria and increases heart muscle damage by allowing too much calcium to enter mitochondria. Specifically, the UI team found that CaM kinase II regulates calcium entry into mitochondria by modifying a special mitochondrial calcium channel. Too much enzyme activity increased the amount of calcium flowing into mitochondria, and this calcium overload triggers cell death.
Using genetically modified mice, the team also showed that inhibiting CaM kinase II activity in mitochondria prevented the calcium overloading, reduced mitochondrial disruption, and protected the mice from heart cell death during heart attack.
These findings provide insight into molecular mechanisms for mitochondrial function and suggest that inhibiting the CaM kinase II enzyme in mitochondria could lead to new and more effective therapies for common forms of heart disease.
"Because mitochondria also play important roles in other diseases in brain and skeletal muscle, for example, our findings could also have broad implications for understanding and treating non-cardiac diseases," says Anderson, who also is director of the UI Cardiovascular Research Center.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Iowa Health Care, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
Mei-ling A. Joiner, Olha M. Koval, Jingdong Li, B. Julie He, Chantal Allamargot, Zhan Gao, Elizabeth D. Luczak, Duane D. Hall, Brian D. Fink, Biyi Chen, Jinying Yang, Steven A. Moore, Thomas D. Scholz, Stefan Strack, Peter J. Mohler, William I. Sivitz, Long-Sheng Song, Mark E. Anderson. CaMKII determines mitochondrial stress responses in heart. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature11444
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.