‎www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112799360/cash-incentives-help-obese-lose-weight-030813/?print=true

<base href="data:"><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">It is commonly suggested that money can't buy happiness. However, it may buy willpower. While some employers and insurance agencies have had limited success in the past trying to get people to quit smoking or eat healthier by offering up the gift of money, a new study has taken a different approach. And the results are encouraging.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Researchers from the <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Mayo Clinic</a> in Rochester, Minnesota have demonstrated that a yearlong program to instill willpower has been largely successful, thanks in part to the way they conducted the study. The program included 100 overweight or <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/topics/obesity/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">obese</a> Mayo employees and instead of just offering a monetary reward to get them to change their ways, they turned it into a game. And who doesn't like a fun game, especially when prizes are involved?</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">To be sure, the Mayo offered the participants a $20 cash reward if they could lose four pounds in a month during the 12-month study. However, they would risk losing $20 if they did not meet monthly goals. But where other similar studies failed, this one succeeded because it not only offered simple rewards for simple goals, it also offered dieters multiple ways to achieve their goals and even gave participants a chance to recoup their penalties when they failed in a particular month.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The study, which is set to be presented at the annual meeting of the <a href="http://www.cardiosource.org/acc" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">American College of Cardiology</a> beginning this weekend in San Francisco, was able to help 62 percent of those who joined the program meet or exceed their goals. Only 26 percent of participants in a control group who were not offered incentives or penalties met their goals.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; ">INCENTIVES NOT TRAINING WHEELS</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr. Steven Driver, resident physician of internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic, said that incentives are "not like training wheels where people learn healthy habits and then will continue them on their own" – you have to keep them going or people will falter.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">And for those who wish to set up a similar system in their workplace, Driver said the key is to make it self-sustaining, such as offering both rewards and penalties. And it's a good idea to have people pay up in advance when beginning such a study. People don't like the fact that they have to pay penalties after receiving bad news. He said during the Mayo study, one woman panicked after stepping onto the scale only to find out she had to pay for her weight gain.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"She headed for the door" but later came back and paid, Driver said. "People in Minnesota are pretty honest."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Driver, who owns stock in <a href="http://www.gym-pact.com/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">GymPact</a>, a firm that offers financial incentives for exercising, said the weight-loss industry is "way ahead" of the science of incentive-based dieting. "We needed to do some research to see what works," he said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"Financial incentives and disincentives can help people lose weight, and keep it off for one year," Driver said. "It's not about getting rich, it's about being held accountable."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Of the 100 obese employees who took part in the 12-month program, 50 were offered weight-loss counseling, monthly weigh-ins and a three-month gym membership. The other half of the group was offered all these plus financial incentives and penalties.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; ">GOALS</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The aim of the study was to have each employee lose four pounds per month up to a goal that was determined for their starting weight. Those who met the monthly goal got a voucher to collect a cash reward when the study ended. But if they failed, they had to pay a penalty to the naughty jar. The penalty money was used to help pay the rewards. The rest was put into a lottery that anyone could win, regardless if they met their weight-loss goals or not.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Driver said that the participants "saw that if they stuck with it, they had a chance at winning more than they had lost" by the end of the study period.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Participants in the financial incentives group also earned $10 per month and a ticket for the lottery for coming to the monthly weigh-ins and also texting their weights to study leaders each week, according to Dr. Don Hensrud, chief of preventive medicine at the Mayo. He said that in the end, people could have lost as much as $240 or won as much as $360, plus a shot at winning the lottery fund.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">At the conclusion of the study, 27 of the 50 incentive participants came out ahead moneywise. Overall, the average weight lost in the incentive group was nine pounds; in the non-incentive group, the average weight lost was 2.3 pounds.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Dr. Kevin Volpp, director of the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (<a href="http://chibe.upenn.edu/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">CHIBE</a>), said the results of the study are promising. However, he cautioned, people need to lose a lot more than nine pounds to make a big difference in their health.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"There's been an explosion of interest in this" and most large companies now provide incentive-based programs similar to this one, Volpp told the <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hCYObWN1pgzzxKD2wxrrHFsSC5qA?docId=ce11f757bf7a435796fd5a675fd5c4d0" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">Associated Press</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Volpp has also seen success in a similar study he published in 2009 in the <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">New England Journal of Medicine</em>(<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMsa0806819" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">NEJM</em></a>). In that study, it was shown that people were three times more likely to <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1638157/cash_incentives_help_people_stop_smoking/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">stop smoking</a> for six months if they were offered up to $750.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">He said the program worked because of the way it was designed. Poorly designed studies with inadequate funding have proven ineffective. "If you do a low-budget incentive program, it may have little effect," he said shortly after his 2009 study.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-weight: bold; ">CHALLENGES</strong></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">With significant resources, come significant results. However, Driver acknowledged that more research is needed to see how long changes like the one in his study last. "The real challenge is to extend this research, and see if we can develop a sustainable financial incentive model that lasts for longer than one year," he said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"The challenge is how to help people lose weight in a way that is sustainable. This is more data that financial incentives and disincentives do play a role in what our behaviors are, but things like this are not likely to make a long-term impact on the obesity epidemic by themselves," noted Dr. Scott Kahan, director of the <a href="http://centerforweightandwellness.com/" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">National Center for Weight and Wellness</a>.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"We need to be thinking about a comprehensive approach that addresses much more than increasing initial motivation," he explained to Denise Mann of <a href="http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/03/07/cash-incentives-penalties-may-spur-people-to-shed-more-pounds" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; ">US News</a>. "We need to maintain this motivation over time."</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">For Audrey Traun, 29, a lab specialist at the Mayo, the cash incentive was a big motivator for her. She lost 40 pounds during the yearlong program.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">"I was impressed. I didn't think I was quite capable of that," said Traun. She said, however, that as the study went on, the cash became less important to her and she found "it was actually more motivating to see my progress — pounds lost and how my clothes were fitting," she said.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Traun said she used the $400 she earned for a family vacation.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 18px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); position: static; z-index: auto; ">The Mayo program follows a similar 2008 study published in <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=183047" target="_blank" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; text-decoration: none; color: rgb(19, 83, 154); background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; "><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-style: italic; ">JAMA</em></a> where 57 overweight and obese individuals were randomly assigned to monthly weigh-ins or two weight-loss incentive programs. One included a lottery and one a contract that required a deposit. In that study, the incentive group lost an average of 13 to 14 pounds, while the control group lost only four pounds.</p></div><a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112799360/cash-incentives-help-obese-lose-weight-030813/?print=true">http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112799360/cash-incentives-help-obese-lose-weight-030813/?print=true</a><div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px; color: black; text-align: left; "><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div>

‎www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112799360/cash-incentives-help-obese-lose-weight-030813/?print=true

It is commonly suggested that money can't buy happiness. However, it may buy willpower. While some employers and insurance agencies have...

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Library Technical Assistant - Hamden Public Library

<b>Library Technical Assistant -</b> <b><span style="color: #48286d;">Hamden Public Library</span></b>. Position Definition: Performs responsible and varied paraprofessional library duties or administrative clerical work. Assists patrons in using library services and facilities. May select and/or maintain materials of a specific unit or library division. Supervision Received: Receives general supervision from a professional Librarian. Supervision Exercised: Provides general or task supervision to library clerks, pages, and seasonal employees or volunteers. Examples of Essential Job Duties: Plans work according to established procedures. Prioritizes tasks within work assignment. Performs work in special unit, including cataloging, children's, circulation, media, reference, branch services or as assigned. Maintains specific materials, supplies or equipment. Performs circulation desk duties, including charging and discharging library materials, and registering new patrons; answers telephone calls and provides information as necessary. Places books and loan materials on reserve as requested. Maintains circulation desk area in neat and functional conditions. Provides backup assistance in other library areas as required. Receives new collection materials, i.e., books, documents, music cassettes, CD's CD-ROMs, videos, DVDs and talking books, periodicals, etc. Reconciles materials received with purchase orders to assure accuracy of shipment. Enters library materials into database, bibliographic and holdings information. Copy cataloging and editing of MARC records. Physically processes all audio-visual materials for circulation. Assists patrons in the use of the library's catalogue and reference materials, answers reference questions as able; locates information or guides patrons to source materials. Assists patrons in use of computers and equipment, including database and Internet searching. Assists patrons in use of reference materials and public access catalogs and other library sources. Refers patrons as necessary to Reference Librarians. Assists children and students in the use of the library's catalogue and reference materials, answers reference questions; locates information or guides children to source materials. Assists children and students in use of computer system to locate books and materials, to access Internet and CD ROM reference sources. May lead story hours, library tours, craft programs, and related events to encourage reading, viewing and listening skills. Refers children and students to Children's Librarian as necessary. Prepared materials in promoting use of library, including posters, newsletters and exhibits. Processes books and materials for mailing in the interlibrary loan program. Maintains records of outgoing and incoming materials. Maintains inventory of library materials and supplies. Interacts with professional staff in maintaining Library collection by recommending or selecting new and replacement books, periodicals and other materials. Examples of Incidental Duties: May lead story hours; library tours, craft programs, and related events to encourage reading, viewing and listening skills when assigned to Children's unit. Relieves other employees as directed by supervisor, including responsibility for a unit in temporary absence of professional librarian. Interviews candidates for Page positions and provides on-the-job training to Pages and Clerks. Minimum Qualifications Required: An Associates Degree in Library Science, or two (2) years' experience in public library work, or an equivalent combination of experience and training. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: A working knowledge of library principles and practices is required. Must be able to apply the principles of library science to resolve practical problems and to deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Must be able to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, and diagrammatic and schedules form. Must be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide all units of measure, and compute ratios, rates and percentages. Must acquire a proficiency in library computer applications and have a general working knowledge of other interfacing departmental applications. Must acquire a proficiency in department specific applications and have a general knowledge of integrated software such as Microsoft Office and its applications, including Word and Excel, and be able to utilize the Town's e-mail system, or be able to acquire these skills within a limited training period as determined by department needs. Must be able to relate to and have the ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with library staff, children and adult patrons. Must have a general knowledge of library reference methods and procedures. Must be able to perform story telling and other presentations, and provide how to use the library instructions to classes. Must have working knowledge of children's literature and school reading programs. License or Certificate: A Connecticut Motor Vehicle Operator's license is desirable. Applications and copies of the job description are available in the Personnel/Civil Service Office from 8:30 - 4:30 PM daily.Closing date: Friday, <span style="color: red;">March 22, 2013</span> at 4:00 PM.

Library Technical Assistant - Hamden Public Library

Library Technical Assistant - Hamden Public Library . Position Definition: Performs responsible and varied paraprofessional library dutie...

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More Architectural Album Covers

Architizer has compiled a list of <a href="http://www.architizer.com/en_us/blog/dyn/78598/kickoff-sxsw-20-architectural-album-covers/">20 Architectural Album Covers</a>, but they left out a few albums that are actually inspired by architecture, albums that exist because of buildings. The short-lived Architettura series from Caipirinha Records featured electronic artists doing experimental music based on specific buildings. I have Tower of Winds, and actually <a href="http://archidose.org/wp/2001/04/09/tower-of-winds/">wrote about it</a> back in 2001. I wrote: "Savvas and Taylor developed a production technique that accepts environmental inputs (sans keyboards and other devices) much the same way the tower reinterprets the sounds of the city." Below are it and the other three albums in the series, linked to All Music Guide for more information.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/tower-of-winds-mw0000062567"><i>Tower of Winds</i></a> (1998), Savvas Ysatis and Taylor Deupree:<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsb16bWvaAW7bk5gxnGgQuR3Ry-P4ltTTTBKDKhMSrjeozm1VX3i51XOhDDrg8O_6HpIN89GbyacAlCNvQ4FhV1wgT9Ifi-M0Arg9VZNTGcM96BUN14Yi59ma7eN9ce1AWkYQRgmarg5Yh/s1600/MI0001544265.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/waterloo-terminal-architettura-series-2-mw0000043802"><i>Waterloo Terminal</i></a> (1998),<i> </i>Tetsu:<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUAiVO-4uwIPiftILEaIw50k06MeUj4vj5sOh-NgfjJbYq2RvfRZHAVk3ST29KuQNZC8HGdp2zJfx8eyBiLU_6MtqqUCiP5BynpEsROP-hBXRYnnwDWY4u2F8sqO1PAzCHpO7hT2t3g9X9/s1600/MI0000177577.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/museum-of-fruit-mw0000242088"><i>Museum of Fruit</i></a> (1999), David Toop:<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrFDUPTl7nttM9h3N7misIalehDuQgobBTku9iMMXyEsLCBtzsFJs-xLdDiJdTDDLzF3Y3AW4SLzcUiJl-4euLJBxoYv5mvs6MQiM-yU3kBf_Tt3vCdgDtAxrXJqvOykSzHpDgAVB3ISMe/s1600/MI0000210663.jpg" /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.allmusic.com/album/brasilia-architettura-vol-4-mw0000605711"><i>Brasilia</i></a> (2000), Panacea:<br /><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqD6QB6Vm4bxmThu3wYdbKoaLG5uci1jl23j0B_q7z8Xi7XlIz803NwnZHOD8LKN7caBkk1_DRETk04_X1tQDs-Q_i1tvMIlKebBKgdOAzgpbB3I_ZxjFdKO1kJLQrl_U0MOWlT9hR1bB2/s1600/MI0000266256.jpg" />

More Architectural Album Covers

Architizer has compiled a list of 20 Architectural Album Covers , but they left out a few albums that are actually inspired by architecture,...

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What is International Women’s Day?

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><h2 class="subhead" itemprop="description" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Google celebrates International Women’s Day with a doodle of women from around the world. Many will honor advancements for women’s rights Friday, but how familiar are people with its history?</div></h2><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;">By Steph Solis / March 8, 2013</div><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><img src="http://www.csmonitor.com/var/ezflow_site/storage/images/media/content/2013/0308-international-women-doodle/15221593-1-eng-US/0308-international-women-doodle_full_380.jpg" /></div><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"><span style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em;">Friday is International Women's Day. Google celebrated with a special banner.</span></div><div class="sByline" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 15px; padding: 0px;"></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit">Google</div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">After more than 100 years, International Women’s Day draws millions to commemorate the advancements made in human rights and to discuss the challenges women continue to face in politics, education, employment, and other areas of daily life.</span></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">However, International Women’s Day originally commemorated the working rights protests led by female garment workers. Many seem to forget the holiday’s ties to the working rights movement in the<a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/United+States" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">United States</a> and the Socialist Party. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The origins of the holiday can be traced back to March 8, 1857, when garment workers in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/New+York+City" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">New York City</a>staged a protest against inhumane working conditions and low wages, <a href="http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/womensday/pages/how_content_1.asp" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">according</a> to the <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/United+Nations" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">United Nations</a>. The police attacked the protesters and dispersed them, but the movement continued and led to the creation of the first women’s labor union.</div><div class="promotion-tag" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="promotion-tag-p" style="font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">RECOMMENDED: <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2012/0308/International-Women-s-Day-How-it-s-celebrated-around-the-globe/Asia-Pacific?nav=638983-csm_article-promoLink" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;">International Women's Day: How it's celebrated around the globe</a></div></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Fast forward to March 8, 1908: 15,000 women marched in New York City for shorter work hours, better pay, voting rights, and an end to child labor.  The slogan “Bread and Roses” emerged, with bread symbolizing economic security and roses for better living standards. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Many of those who protested for working rights were young immigrants from <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Europe" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Europe</a>, who came to the United States seeking better opportunities, says Carol Rosenblatt of the Coalition of Labor Union Women. </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">“Workers in this country also died in their efforts to advance workers’ rights, but they weren’t fearful in the same way that they were in some of the countries that they came from,” says Ms. Rosenblatt, executive director of the coalition. “They had a much different expectation than when they got here. They were exploited.”</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">That May 1908, the Socialist Party of America declared that the last Sunday in February would be National Women’s Day. The first National Women’s Day was celebrated on Feb. 28, 1909 in the United States.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">International Women’s Day (then International Working Women’s Day) was introduced during the International Conference of Working Women in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Copenhagen" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Copenhagen</a>, <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Denmark" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Denmark</a>. Clara Zetkin, a German socialist, suggested a holiday honoring the strike of garment workers in the United States. The proposal received unanimous approval from the 100 women from 17 countries.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The proposal did not give a fixed date of observance, but in the first years International Women’s Day was observed on different days in March. In 1911, <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Austria" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Austria</a>, Denmark, <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Germany" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Germany</a>, and<a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Switzerland" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Switzerland</a> supported the holiday on March 19, with more than a million men and women rallying.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Shortly after, however, women gathered in light of a tragedy. The Triangle Waist Company building in New York City caught fire in March 25, killing 146 young immigrant workers.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The incident, which drew attention to the inhuman working conditions for industrial workers, prompted the Women’s Trade Union League and the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union to stage demonstrations. One protest, a silent funeral march, <a href="http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/trianglefire/story/introduction.html" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">drew</a> more than 100,000 people.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The incident led to the creation of the Factory Investigating Commission, which included Francis Perkins, who would become the first female secretary of labor, and labor union activists.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The commission's findings led to several laws in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/New+York" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">New York</a> that mandated safety standards, minimum wage, unemployment assistance, and support for workers when they grow old. These laws paved the way for <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Franklin+D.+Roosevelt" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">President Franklin Roosevelt</a>'s <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/The+New+Deal" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">New Deal</a> legislation.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">“It brought to light the way in which people were working and the horrific situations that people were enduring,” Rosenblatt says. “That was just one of many fires.” </div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">While there have been advancements, Rosenblatt says, women continue to fight against poor working conditions and lower wages around the world.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">“There are fires in <a class="inform_link" href="http://www.csmonitor.com/tags/topic/Bangladesh" style="color: #205d87; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_self">Bangladesh</a> today in factories that are owned by American countries,” she says. “It has not gone resolved.”</div><br /><br /><div class="podStoryGal p402_hide" style="background-color: white; border: 4px solid rgb(234, 242, 238); color: #333333; float: left; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 8px; position: relative; z-index: 1;"><div class="podC" style="float: right; margin: 0px 0px 0px 8px; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 208px;"><div class="pod" style="background-color: #f2f7f4; font-size: 11px; height: auto !important; line-height: 1.3em; margin: 0px; min-height: 209px; padding: 10px;"><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_caption" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Caption"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div><div class="caption" id="pgallerycarousel_credit" style="color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1.4em; margin-bottom: 0.6em; padding: 0px;" title="Photo Credit"><br /></div></div></div></div></div>

International Women’s Day What is International Women’s Day?

Google celebrates International Women’s Day with a doodle of women from around the world. Many will honor advancements for women’s rights Fr...

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Michael Jordan marriage: He and Yvette Prieto take another step

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><img alt="Wedding bells" src="http://www.trbimg.com/img-5139f967/turbine/la-sp-sn-michael-jordan-marriage-yvette-prieto-001/600" /><br /><span style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px;">Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto have applied for a marriage license. </span><span class="credit" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px;">(<span class="photographer">Chuck Burton / Associated Press</span>)</span><br /><span class="credit" style="background-color: #f2f2f2; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 12px;"></span><br /><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Michael Jordan once gave up basketball and then came back. Now, he's coming back to married life too.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The NBA legend and his fiancee, <a class="taxInlineTagLink" href="http://www.latimes.com/topic/human-interest/yvette-prieto-PECLB002604.topic" id="PECLB002604" style="color: #666666; text-decoration: none;" title="Yvette Prieto">Yvette Prieto</a>, went to the Palm Beach County, Fla., courthouse Thursday to apply for a marriage license, according to Kathy Burstein, a spokeswoman for the clerk's office.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">Jordan and Prieto announced their engagement in December, 2011, so they certainly aren't rushing into anything.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; padding: 0px;">The license is valid until May 9.<br /><br />It would be Jordan's second marriage. He was married to Juanita Vanoy from 1989 to 2006.</div></div>

Michael Jordan Yvette Prieto Michael Jordan marriage: He and Yvette Prieto take another step

Michael Jordan and Yvette Prieto have applied for a marriage license.  ( Chuck Burton / Associated Press ) Michael Jordan once gave up baske...

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The Wolfpack Is Back in 'The Hangover 3' Trailer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NKE-RXR_XIs?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;">Bless the comedy gods, because the wolfpack is back and up to more hilarious antics in <em>The Hangover 3</em>.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;">The official trailer, which dropped Thursday, features the boys out of Thailand — the setting for the second movie — and returning to their original stomping grounds in Vegas.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;">Even Mr. Chow has made a comeback (this time with clothes, it seems) and beloved Melissa McCarthy seems to be stopping by the Strip. Who wouldn't love to see a romance bud between the <em>Bridesmaids</em> star and wolfpack leader Alan (played by Zach Galifianakis)?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"><strong></strong></div><div class="see-also" style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px;"><strong>SEE ALSO: <a data-crackerjax="#post-slider" href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/05/iron-man-3-extended-trailer/" style="color: #0c74a6; text-decoration: none;">Tony Stark Is Back in the Extended 'Iron Man 3' Trailer</a></strong></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;">Even the movie's poster proved funny, spoofing the <em>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2</em>poster that also read "It all ends."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="m!fb6f" style="color: #0c74a6;"></a></div><div class="microcontent-wrapper" data-fragment="m!fb6f" style="background-color: white; clear: left; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-left: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="microcontent-shares" style="-webkit-box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 1px 1px 2px; -webkit-transition: opacity 0.25s ease; border: 1px solid transparent; box-shadow: rgb(204, 204, 204) 1px 1px 2px; height: 0px; left: -47px; opacity: 0; padding: 5px; position: absolute; top: -5px; width: 30px;"><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-facebook facebook" data-fragment="m!fb6f" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAzLzA3LzNkL2hhbmdvdmVyX3BhLmQyMDljLmpwZw/56caeca2/ec1/hangover_part3-teaser-poster1.jpg" href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/hangover-3-trailer/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #3c5a98; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-twitter twitter" data-fragment="m!fb6f" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAzLzA3LzNkL2hhbmdvdmVyX3BhLmQyMDljLmpwZw/56caeca2/ec1/hangover_part3-teaser-poster1.jpg" href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/hangover-3-trailer/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #2daae1; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-linked_in linked_in" data-fragment="m!fb6f" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAzLzA3LzNkL2hhbmdvdmVyX3BhLmQyMDljLmpwZw/56caeca2/ec1/hangover_part3-teaser-poster1.jpg" href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/hangover-3-trailer/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #0073a4; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a><a class="social-share microcontent-share-badge network-badge network-badge-pinterest pinterest" data-fragment="m!fb6f" data-image="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAzLzA3LzNkL2hhbmdvdmVyX3BhLmQyMDljLmpwZw/56caeca2/ec1/hangover_part3-teaser-poster1.jpg" href="http://mashable.com/2013/03/07/hangover-3-trailer/#" style="-webkit-transition: color 0.3s ease; color: #bf1e25; display: inline-block; font-size: 3rem; height: 30px; line-height: 1; margin: 0px; padding: 0px !important; position: relative; text-decoration: none; text-indent: -9900px; white-space: nowrap; width: 30px;"></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"><img alt="" class="fullwidth" data-width="610" src="http://rack.3.mshcdn.com/media/ZgkyMDEzLzAzLzA3LzNkL2hhbmdvdmVyX3BhLmQyMDljLmpwZw/56caeca2/ec1/hangover_part3-teaser-poster1.jpg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 95%; vertical-align: middle; width: 593.75px;" title="hangover_part3-teaser-poster1" /></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"><em><small style="color: #999999; font-size: 11px;">Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures</small></em></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;">And just for giggles, let's all remember the bonding experience that was Alan's wolfpack speech from the first movie:</div><div><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 0.75em;"></div></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fdMxRG9Jol0?feature=player_embedded" width="640"></iframe></div>

The Hangover 3 The Wolfpack Is Back in 'The Hangover 3' Trailer

Bless the comedy gods, because the wolfpack is back and up to more hilarious antics in  The Hangover 3 . The official trailer, which dropped...

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North Korea vows end to nonaggression pacts after U.N. vote

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="234" id="ep_1780" width="416"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="movie" value="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2013/03/08/exp-erin-north-korea-threatens-us-with-nuclear-strike.cnn&contentId=bestoftv/2013/03/08/exp-erin-north-korea-threatens-us-with-nuclear-strike.cnn" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /><embed src="http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embed&videoId=bestoftv/2013/03/08/exp-erin-north-korea-threatens-us-with-nuclear-strike.cnn&contentId=bestoftv/2013/03/08/exp-erin-north-korea-threatens-us-with-nuclear-strike.cnn" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" bgcolor="#000000" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="416" wmode="transparent" height="234"></embed></object><br /><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">(CNN)</strong> -- North Korea on Friday responded to tougher sanctions from the U.N. Security Council with another barrage of vitriol, repeating a vow to ditch all nonaggression pacts with the South.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">A day after the isolated regime in Pyongyang had threatened a possible "preemptive nuclear attack" -- something analysts say they think it is unlikely and currently unable to do -- its official news agency reeled off a number of agreements with South Korea that it said would no longer apply.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">It's the latest installment in a week of furious rhetoric from the North, fueled by its anger over <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/07/world/asia/un-north-korea-sanctions/index.html" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the U.N. vote on the new sanctions</a>, a response to the Pyongyang's recent nuclear test, and joint military drills by the United States and South Korea, which take place in the region each year.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">North Korea watchers and<a href="http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2013/03/07/is-kim-jong-un-more-dangerous-than-his-father/" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> U.S. officials say</a> that the recent frenzy of ominous language from North Korea under its young leader Kim Jong Un makes the situation on the Korean Peninsula more worrying and unpredictable.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em1" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnnGalleryContainer cnn_strylftcntnt" id="expand15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnStoryElementBox" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="cnnArticlePhotoContainer cnn_strylftcexpbxnv" id="photoContainer15" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 122px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 214px;"><img alt="Photos: Kim Jong Un and North Korea's military" border="0" class="cnnArticleBoxImage" height="360" id="photo15" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130307134506-01-nk-0307-horizontal-gallery.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 122px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 214px;" width="640" /><cite class="expCaption" id="cite15" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: black; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Photos: Kim Jong Un and North Korea's military</span></cite></div></div></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em2" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand25" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand25" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130307071041-bpr-labott-nkorea-threat-00003620-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">North Korea at it again with threats</span></cite></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em3" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand35" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand35" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130306184655-north-korea-coren-sanction-00002216-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Anger from North Korea over sanctions</span></cite></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em4" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand45" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand45" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121009053745-north-korea-missile-flag-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">What to make of North Korea's newest threat</span></cite></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">South Korea has warned the North that it will retaliate strongly and sternly if its citizens are threatened.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"This surge in provocative rhetoric is particularly dangerous," said Michael Auslin of the American Enterprise Institute. "South Korea's new president (Park Geun Hye) can't be seen to back down in the face of the North's threats, while Kim Jong Un may feel that his successful missile and nuclear tests give him the ability to keep pressuring Seoul. The two may wind up talking themselves into conflict."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who took office late last month, said Friday that Seoul would respond strongly to any provocation from Pyongyang, the semiofficial news agency Yonhap reported.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The possibility of flare up was highlighted by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, which predicted a provocative move from the North "in the coming weeks."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://csis.org/publication/un-security-council-passes-new-resolution-2094-north-korea" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">The center said that according to its research</a>, Pyongyang has carried out "a military provocation of some form within weeks of every South Korean presidential inauguration dating back to 1992."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">A military clash could risk drawing in the United States, which has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea as part of the security alliance between the two countries.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The most recent skirmish between the two Koreas took place in November 2010, when the North shelled an island on the South's side of the border, killing several people. Pyongyang claimed Seoul had provoked it by carrying out training exercises off their shared coast.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">A week of strong threats</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The North's comments Friday doubled down on statements it had made earlier this week, promising to abolish the armistice agreement that stopped the Korean War in 1953, and threatening strikes on the United States and South Korea.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Claiming its enemies are "hell bent on confrontation and war fever," Pyongyang said it was now revoking "all agreements on nonaggression reached between the north and the south," a declaration it has made in previous years</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">It also said it was nullifying the joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The North, which conducted its third underground nuclear test last month, had said recently that denuclearization of the region was "impossible" because of what it described as the United States' hostile policy toward it.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">And it stated that it was immediately cutting off the "north-south hotline," three days after it had already said it planned to terminate its military telephone line with the United States.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The phone line is meant to serve as a tool to defuse potential flash points along the heavily militarized border between the two Koreas.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">But Andre Kok, deputy public affairs officer for U.S. Forces in Korea, said that reports of the North's Korean People's Army (KPA) cutting off communication often arise when military training exercises are taking place, as they are at the moment.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"When we place a call on the direct phone line and the KPA does not answer, we have no way of knowing if the KPA has actually disconnected the phone lines or are just not answering the phone," he said.</div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em5" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand120" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand120" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121129045417-hancocks-kim-jong-un-sexiest-man-00003323-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tensions high on Korean peninsula</span></cite></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em6" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand220" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand220" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120801041414-china-flag-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">China signs on to North Korea sanctions</span></cite></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em7" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand320" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand320" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/121213081535-north-korea-rocket-launch-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">North Korea's nuclear ambitions</span></cite></div><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8896966065785019252" name="em8" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px;"></span><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt cnn_strylftcexpbx" id="expand420" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Utkal, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px 27px 0px 10px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="clickToPlay" id="clickToPlayvideoContainerexpand420" style="background-image: url(http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.e/img/3.0/video/416_player_Click_to_play_off.png); border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; height: 42px; left: 45px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; top: 27px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 136px; zoom: 1;"></div><img alt="" border="0" class="box-image" height="120" src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130307172423-pkg-roth-un-north-korea-sanctions-00011110-story-body.jpg" style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="214" /><cite class="expCaption" style="background-color: black; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; bottom: 0px; height: 20px; left: 10px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.85; padding: 0px; position: absolute; width: 214px;"><span style="border: 0px; color: white; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-style: normal; left: 4px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; position: relative; top: 2px; vertical-align: baseline;">U.N. toughens sanctions on North Korea</span></cite></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">New U.N. measures</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tensions are particularly high at the moment because of the new measures against the North adopted unanimously Thursday by the U.N. Security Council.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"These sanctions will bite, and bite hard," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said after the vote.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">China, North Korea's key ally, could have used its veto power to block the sanctions. Instead, after weeks of negotiating, it signed on to the final draft.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"China is a country of principle," China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said. "We are firmly committed to safeguarding peace and stability on the Korean peninsula."</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">On Friday, China's Foreign Ministry called upon "all relative parties to stay calm and refrain from taking actions that may escalate tension." Spokeswoman Hua Chunying reiterated China's support for the sanctions, which have stoked Pyongyang's fury.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The goal of<a href="http://usun.state.gov/briefing/statements/205698.htm" style="border: 0px; color: #004276; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"> the new sanctions</a> is to stymie the activities of North Korean banks and cash couriers who might be funneling money to the secretive regime's nuclear and missile programs.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">It will be tougher for the regime to move large sums of cash stuffed into suitcases, Rice said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">The U.N. resolution also outlines measures to step up scrutiny of suspicious sea shipments and air cargo. And it expands restrictions to encompass several institutions and senior officials in the North's weapons industry, as well as a range of materials and technology known to be used in uranium enrichment.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">It also blocks the sale of luxury goods -- such as yachts and certain high-end jewelry -- to North Korea.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"As a result, North Korea's ruling elite, who have been living large while impoverishing their people, will pay a price" for the ongoing nuclear activities, Rice said.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Questions over sanctions</strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">'</strong><strong style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> effectiveness</strong></div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Some doubt whether the new measures will make much difference.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sanctions imposed after previous nuclear tests and rocket launches have failed to deter Pyongyang.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">China will go a long way toward determining whether the new sanctions really do have "bite," analysts say.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">"As long as China allows North Korea to operate, as long as China provides food, energy assistance, and investment, the sanctions really don't matter," said Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute.</div><div class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; padding: 0px 24px 19px 186px; vertical-align: baseline;">North Korea notoriously allows many of its people to live in malnutrition and starvation. Still, the country needs a functioning economy, partly to finance its military, Bandow explained.</div></div>

North Korea North Korea vows end to nonaggression pacts after U.N. vote

(CNN)  -- North Korea on Friday responded to tougher sanctions from the U.N. Security Council with another barrage of vitriol, repeating a v...

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Glass House Conversation - 4 Days Left

There's 4 days left in my <a href="http://glasshouseconversations.org/where-do-you-stand-on-the-traditional-versus-modern-debate-and-why-is-there-a-contemporary-compromise/">Glass House Conversation</a>, on traditional versus modern architecture. It's a conversation eliciting some thoughtful comments, but it could certainly use more. And for those keeping score, the "debate" is a tie: 8 comments in the modern column and 8 comments in the traditional column.<br /><br /><img alt="glass-house-convo4.jpg" src="http://www.archidose.org/Blog/glass-house-convo4.jpg" title="Glass House Conversations screenshot" /><br /><br />Head over to <a href="http://glasshouseconversations.org/where-do-you-stand-on-the-traditional-versus-modern-debate-and-why-is-there-a-contemporary-compromise/">the conversation</a> and have your say.

Glass House Conversation - 4 Days Left

There's 4 days left in my Glass House Conversation , on traditional versus modern architecture. It's a conversation eliciting some t...

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A Breakthrough Against Leukemia Using Altered T-Cells - NYTimes.com

Emma Whitehead has been bounding around the house lately, practicing somersaults and rugby-style tumbles that make her parents wince. <br /><br />It is hard to believe, but last spring Emma, then 6, was near death from leukemia. She had relapsed twice after chemotherapy, and doctors had run out of options. <br /><br />Desperate to save her, her parents sought an experimental treatment at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, one that had never before been tried in a child, or in anyone with the type of leukemia Emma had. The experiment, in April, used a disabled form of the virus that causes AIDS to reprogram Emma's immune system genetically to kill cancer cells. <br /><br />The treatment very nearly killed her. But she emerged from it cancer-free, and about seven months later is still in complete remission. She is the first child and one of the first humans ever in whom new techniques have achieved a long-sought goal — giving a patient's own immune system the lasting ability to fight cancer. <br /><br />Emma had been ill with acute lymphoblastic leukemia since 2010, when she was 5, said her parents, Kari and Tom. She is their only child. <br /><br />She is among just a dozen patients with advanced leukemia to have received the experimental treatment, which was developed at the University of Pennsylvania. Similar approaches are also being tried at other centers, including the National Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. <br /><br />"Our goal is to have a cure, but we can't say that word," said Dr. Carl June, who leads the research team at the University of Pennsylvania. He hopes the new treatment will eventually replace bone-marrow transplantation, an even more arduous, risky and expensive procedure that is now the last hope when other treatments fail in leukemia and related diseases. <br /><br />Three adults with chronic leukemia treated at the University of Pennsylvania have also had complete remissions, with no signs of disease; two of them have been well for more than two years, said Dr. David Porter. Four adults improved but did not have full remissions, and one was treated too recently to evaluate. A child improved and then relapsed. In two adults, the treatment did not work at all. The Pennsylvania researchers were presenting their results on Sunday and Monday in Atlanta at a meeting of the American Society of Hematology. <br /><br />Despite the mixed results, cancer experts not involved with the research say it has tremendous promise, because even in this early phase of testing it has worked in seemingly hopeless cases. "I think this is a major breakthrough," said Dr. Ivan Borrello, a cancer expert and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. <br /><br />Dr. John Wagner, the director of pediatric blood and marrow transplantation at the University of Minnesota, called the Pennsylvania results "phenomenal" and said they were "what we've all been working and hoping for but not seeing to this extent." <br /><br />A major drug company, Novartis, is betting on the Pennsylvania team and has committed $20 million to building a research center on the university's campus to bring the treatment to market. <br /><br />Hervé Hoppenot, the president of Novartis Oncology, called the research "fantastic" and said it had the potential — if the early results held up — to revolutionize the treatment of leukemia and related blood cancers. Researchers say the same approach, reprogramming the patient's immune system, may also eventually be used against tumors like breast and prostate cancer. <br /><br />To perform the treatment, doctors remove millions of the patient's T-cells — a type of white blood cell — and insert new genes that enable the T-cells to kill cancer cells. The technique employs a disabled form of H.I.V. because it is very good at carrying genetic material into T-cells. The new genes program the T-cells to attack B-cells, a normal part of the immune system that turn malignant in leukemia. <br /><br />The altered T-cells — called chimeric antigen receptor cells — are then dripped back into the patient's veins, and if all goes well they multiply and start destroying the cancer. <br /><br />The T-cells home in on a protein called CD-19 that is found on the surface of most B-cells, whether they are healthy or malignant. <br /><br />A sign that the treatment is working is that the patient becomes terribly ill, with raging fevers and chills — a reaction that oncologists call "shake and bake," Dr. June said. Its medical name is cytokine-release syndrome, or cytokine storm, referring to the natural chemicals that pour out of cells in the immune system as they are being activated, causing fevers and other symptoms. The storm can also flood the lungs and cause perilous drops in blood pressure — effects that nearly killed Emma. <br /><br />Steroids sometimes ease the reaction, but they did not help Emma. Her temperature hit 105. She wound up on a ventilator, unconscious and swollen almost beyond recognition, surrounded by friends and family who had come to say goodbye. <br /><br />But at the 11th hour, a battery of blood tests gave the researchers a clue as to what might help save Emma: her level of one of the cytokines, interleukin-6 or IL-6, had shot up a thousandfold. Doctors had never seen such a spike before and thought it might be what was making her so sick. <br /><br />Dr. June knew that a drug could lower IL-6 — his daughter takes it for rheumatoid arthritis. It had never been used for a crisis like Emma's, but there was little to lose. Her oncologist, Dr. Stephan A. Grupp, ordered the drug. The response, he said, was "amazing." <br /><br />Within hours, Emma began to stabilize. She woke up a week later, on May 2, the day she turned 7; the intensive-care staff sang "Happy Birthday." <br /><br />Since then, the research team has used the same drug, tocilizumab, in several other patients. <br /><br />In patients with lasting remissions after the treatment, the altered T-cells persist in the bloodstream, though in smaller numbers than when they were fighting the disease. Some patients have had the cells for years. <br /><br />Dr. Michel Sadelain, who conducts similar studies at the Sloan-Kettering Institute, said: "These T-cells are living drugs. With a pill, you take it, it's eliminated from your body and you have to take it again." But T-cells, he said, "could potentially be given only once, maybe only once or twice or three times." <br /><br />The Pennsylvania researchers said they were surprised to find any big drug company interested in their work, because a new batch of T-cells must be created for each patient — a far cry from the familiar commercial strategy of developing products like Viagra or cholesterol medicines, in which millions of people take the same drug. <br /><br />But Mr. Hoppenot said Novartis was taking a different path with cancer drugs, looking for treatments that would have a big, unmistakable impact on a small number of patients. Such home-run drugs can be approved more quickly and efficiently, he said, with smaller studies than are needed for drugs with less obvious benefits. <br /><br />"The economic model is totally acceptable," Mr. Hoppenot said. <br /><br />But such drugs tend to be extremely expensive. A prime example is the Novartis drug Gleevec, which won rapid approval in 2001 for use against certain types of leukemia and gastrointestinal tumors. It can cost more than $5,000 a month, depending on the dosage. <br /><br />Dr. June said that producing engineered T-cells costs about $20,000 per patient — far less than the cost of a bone-marrow transplant. Scaling up the procedure should make it even less expensive, he said, but he added, "Our costs do not include any profit margin, facility depreciation costs or other clinical care costs, and other research costs." <br /><br />The research is still in its early stages, and many questions remain. The researchers are not entirely sure why the treatment works, or why it sometimes fails. One patient had a remission after being treated only twice, and even then the reaction was so delayed that it took the researchers by surprise. For the patients who had no response whatsoever, the team suspects a flawed batch of T-cells. The child who had a temporary remission apparently relapsed because not all of her leukemic cells had the marker that was targeted by the altered T-cells. <br /><br />It is not clear whether a patient's body needs the altered T-cells forever. The cells do have a drawback: they destroy healthy B-cells as well as cancerous ones, leaving patients vulnerable to certain types of infections, so Emma and the other patients need regular treatments with immune globulins to prevent illness. <br /><br />So far, her parents say, Emma seems to have taken it all in stride. She went back to school this year with her second-grade classmates, and though her grades are high and she reads about 50 books a month, she insists impishly that her favorite subjects are lunch and recess. <br /><br />"It's time for her to be a kid again and get her childhood back," Mr. Whitehead said. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/health/a-breakthrough-against-leukemia-using-altered-t-cells.html?pagewanted=all">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/10/health/a-breakthrough-against-leukemia-using-altered-t-cells.html?pagewanted=all</a><br /><br />Video: <br /><br /><a href="http://www.focusforwardfilms.com/films/72/fire-with-fire">http://www.focusforwardfilms.com/films/72/fire-with-fire</a><br /><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/54668275">http://vimeo.com/54668275</a><br /><iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/54668275?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=ffffff&autoplay=1" width="400" height="300" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe>

A Breakthrough Against Leukemia Using Altered T-Cells - NYTimes.com

Emma Whitehead has been bounding around the house lately, practicing somersaults and rugby-style tumbles that make her parents wince. It is ...

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Unreported Side Effects of Drugs Are Found Using Internet Search Data, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

Using data drawn from queries entered into Google, Microsoft and Yahoo search engines, scientists at Microsoft, Stanford and Columbia University have for the first time been able to detect evidence of unreported prescription drug side effects before they were found by the Food and Drug Administration's warning system.<br /><br><br /><br>Using automated software tools to examine queries by six million Internet users taken from Web search logs in 2010, the researchers looked for searches relating to an antidepressant, paroxetine, and a cholesterol lowering drug, pravastatin. They were able to find evidence that the combination of the two drugs caused high blood sugar.<br /><br><br /><br>The study, which was reported in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association on Wednesday, is based on data-mining techniques similar to those employed by services like Google Flu Trends, which has been used to give early warning of the prevalence of the sickness to the public.<br /><br><br /><br>The F.D.A. asks physicians to report side effects through a system known as the Adverse Event Reporting System. But its scope is limited by the fact that data is generated only when a physician notices something and reports it.<br /><br><br /><br>The new approach is a refinement of work done by the laboratory of Russ B. Altman, the chairman of the Stanford bioengineering department. The group had explored whether it was possible to automate the process of discovering "drug-drug" interactions by using software to hunt through the data found in F.D.A. reports.<br /><br><br /><br>The group reported in May 2011 that it was able to detect the interaction between paroxetine and pravastatin in this way. Its research determined that the patient's risk of developing hyperglycemia was increased compared with taking either drug individually.<br /><br><br /><br>The new study was undertaken after Dr. Altman wondered whether there was a more immediate and more accurate way to gain access to data similar to what the F.D.A. had access to.<br /><br><br /><br>He turned to computer scientists at Microsoft, who created software for scanning anonymized data collected from a software toolbar installed in Web browsers by users who permitted their search histories to be collected. The scientists were able to explore 82 million individual searches for drug, symptom and condition information.<br /><br><br /><br>The researchers first identified individual searches for the terms paroxetine and pravastatin, as well as searches for both terms, in 2010. They then computed the likelihood that users in each group would also search for hyperglycemia as well as roughly 80 of its symptoms — words or phrases like "high blood sugar" or "blurry vision."<br /><br><br /><br>They determined that people who searched for both drugs during the 12-month period were significantly more likely to search for terms related to hyperglycemia than were those who searched for just one of the drugs. (About 10 percent, compared with 5 percent and 4 percent for just one drug.)<br /><br><br /><br>They also found that people who did the searches for symptoms relating to both drugs were likely to do the searches in a short time period: 30 percent did the search on the same day, 40 percent during the same week and 50 percent during the same month.<br /><br><br /><br>"You can imagine how this kind of combination would be very, very hard to study given all the different drug pairs or combinations that are out there," said Eric Horvitz, a managing co-director of Microsoft Research's laboratory in Redmond, Wash.<br /><br><br /><br>The researchers said they were surprised by the strength of the "signal" that they detected in the searches and argued that it would be a valuable tool for the F.D.A. to add to its current system for tracking adverse effects. "There is a potential public health benefit in listening to such signals," they wrote in the paper, "and integrating them with other sources of information."<br /><br><br /><br>The researchers said that they were now thinking about how to add new sources of information, like behavioral data and information from social media sources. The challenge, they noted, was to integrate new sources of data while protecting individual privacy.<br /><br><br /><br>Currently the F.D.A. has financed the Sentinel Initiative, an effort begun in 2008 to assess the risks of drugs already on the market. Eventually, that project plans to monitor drug use by as many as 100 million people in the United States. The system will be based on information collected by health care providers on a massive scale.<br /><br><br /><br>"I think there are tons of drug-drug interactions — that's the bad news," Dr. Altman said. "The good news is we also have ways to evaluate the public health impact.<br /><br><br /><br>"This is why I'm excited about F.D.A. involvement here. They do have mechanisms and ways to pick up the things that we find and triage them based on anticipated public health impact."<br /><br><br /><br><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/science/unreported-side-effects-of-drugs-found-using-internet-data-study-finds.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print">http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/science/unreported-side-effects-of-drugs-found-using-internet-data-study-finds.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print</a>

Unreported Side Effects of Drugs Are Found Using Internet Search Data, Study Finds - NYTimes.com

Using data drawn from queries entered into Google, Microsoft and Yahoo search engines, scientists at Microsoft, Stanford and Columbia Univer...

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serve it up on a tray

It is no secret that trays are a must in home design. Not only do they help to organize and keep clutter under control, but they look damn good doing it.<br /><br />I'm in a tray mood these days and think I need to find myself a new one.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR5nYHm56UgpuLIuu-GJKHt6VxfgtgxK-9PxsOifj0RiRkRQPB5uX4VSJpXzxVPyorQRHCKSpW6Jhn0-b6XvGBFgy2qur4l-pFTusC8Q8W6oBdecVW9uiyGahH7KYqDk8mL4TK21wVysA/s1600/TrayPics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="554" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQR5nYHm56UgpuLIuu-GJKHt6VxfgtgxK-9PxsOifj0RiRkRQPB5uX4VSJpXzxVPyorQRHCKSpW6Jhn0-b6XvGBFgy2qur4l-pFTusC8Q8W6oBdecVW9uiyGahH7KYqDk8mL4TK21wVysA/s640/TrayPics.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.crateandbarrel.com/chevron-tray/s535443" target="_blank">1</a> / <a href="http://www.cwonder.com/lacquered-square-serving-tray-3.html" target="_blank">2</a> / <a href="http://www.westelm.com/products/sarah-campbell-decoupage-trays-large-d791/?pkey=e%7Ctray%7C31%7Cbest%7C0%7C1%7C24%7C%7C7&cm_src=PRODUCTSEARCH||NoFacet-_-NoFacet-_-Featured%20Tray-_-" target="_blank">3</a> / <a href="http://www.shopsocietysocial.com/products/personalized-anchor-lucite-tray" target="_blank">4</a> / <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/122227871/m-gold-hermes-inspired-h-black-tray?" target="_blank">5</a> / <a href="http://www.jonathanadler.com/carnaby-zebra-stacking-dish/?cat=0&initial=11548" target="_blank">6</a> / <a href="http://www.etsy.com/listing/91667826/orange-valet-tray-pink-damask-monogram?" target="_blank">7</a> / <a href="http://www.biscuit-home.com/store/medium-tray-jamie-blue/dp/982" target="_blank">8</a> / <a href="http://www.shopfurbish.com/servlet/the-1301/Seeing-Spots-Pinched-Tray/Detail?category=Home%3ADecor%3ATrays" target="_blank">9 </a></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br />Seen any great trays lately? Can you think of anything better than a lovely tray with a delicious cocktail on top? That's my idea of a good weekend.

serve it up on a tray

It is no secret that trays are a must in home design. Not only do they help to organize and keep clutter under control, but they look damn g...

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