Panel backs sharing studies of lab-made bird flu

NEW YORK (AP) ? The U.S. government's biosecurity advisers said Friday they support publishing research studies showing how scientists made new easy-to-spread forms of bird flu because the studies, now revised, don't reveal details bioterrorists could use.

The decision could end a debate that began in December when the government took the unprecedented step of asking the scientists not to publicize all the details of their work.

The research, by two scientific teams ? one in Wisconsin, the other in the Netherlands ? was funded by the United States. It was an effort to learn more about the potential threat from bird flu in Asia. The virus so far doesn't spread easily among people. But the new lab-made viruses spread easily among ferrets, suggesting they would also spread among humans.

Last year, after reviewing earlier versions of the papers, the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity said publishing full details would be too risky. The federal government agreed.

Scientists around the world debated the matter. Many argued that full publication would help scientists track dangerous mutations in natural bird flu viruses and test vaccines and treatments.

On Friday, board members, meeting in Washington, announced they are satisfied with the revised papers. The panel's advice now goes to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for a decision.

The board unanimously supported publication of one study, led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka, of the University of Wisconsin. By majority vote it supported publication of the key parts of a second study, from Ron Fouchier, of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

In an email, Kawaoka said the revisions to his paper "were mainly a more in-depth explanation of the significance of the findings to public health and a description of the laboratory biosafety and biosecurity."

Editors of the journals Science and Nature, which plan to publish the works, said they were pleased by the recommendation.

"Subject to any outstanding regulatory and legal issues, we intend to proceed with publication as soon as possible," said Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief of Nature.

The manmade viruses are locked in high-security labs. Publication in scientific journals is how scientists share their work so that their colleagues can build on it, perhaps finding ways to better monitor and thwart bird flu in the wild, for example.

University of Pennsylvania bioethics professor Art Caplan said the board's recommendation makes sense, primarily because the information in the studies is already being shared among scientists.

"The details of this paper are already out, these two papers. The horse is out of the barn, and trying to yank it back doesn't make much sense," Caplan said.

Natural bird flu has infected people through close contact with animals, and it doesn't easily spread from person to person. Scientists fear that a highly transmissible bird flu could cause a lethal pandemic.

The researchers say the transmissible germs they created did not actually kill the lab animals.

The bird flu virus, called H5N1, has spread mostly through poultry in Asia for the past decade. It has killed more than 300 people since 2003, mostly in Asia.

Associated Press

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Chapter 7 Bankruptcy: Your Manual to a Fresh Commence - Debt

Whenever a person files for bankruptcy (Chapter 7, 13, or 11), all his or her creditors are instantly prevented from trying to gather the financial debt. That is referred to as the ?automatic continue to be.? What this means is that filing for your bankruptcy immediately relieves someone from creditor harassment this sort of as bothersome cellular phone calls, lawsuits, repossessions, foreclosures, and any other strategy for collection of a debt.

Furthermore, before Bankruptcy, a creditor might initiate the wage garnishment course of action versus you to be able to take 25% within your wages. The filing of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy automatically stops the creditor from proceeding when using the wage garnishment. From the identical way, your finance company could be stopped instantly from repossessing your car. These are all examples from the ?automatic stay? of Bankruptcy.

Chapter 7 is occasionally known as a ?liquidation? or ?straight? bankruptcy. In Chapter 7, an enterprise or shopper debtor obtains a ?discharge? of all debts after a Bankruptcy Trustee [appointed because of the court] possibly liquidates the debtor?s assets to pay creditors or determines that the debtor has no assets to spend collectors. A discharge is undoubtedly an buy on the Bankruptcy court stating that the debtor is unveiled from personal debt, such as a credit score card expenses. Basically, the credit debt is wiped out as well as debtor no longer owes the creditor any cash.

In many customer situations, there isn?t any assets for that Trustee to investigate or administer. It is because most shoppers have assets which can be exempted beneath California regulation. As an example, underneath California law it?s possible you?ll exempt your home furniture, jewellery, clothes, and so on.

Chances are you?ll keep your car in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for those who would like to do so and also you are present-day on your per month finance payments. Conversely, it?s possible you?ll also surrender your vehicle if you want and also you will discharge all liability towards your finance company.

The new bankruptcy regulation imposes the new necessity which you need to now attain a briefing from an approved nonprofit credit score counseling agency inside of 180 days of your respective bankruptcy filing. Less than the new bankruptcy law, you won?t be eligible to file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in case your earnings is over the median revenue with the state in which you dwell, and you also can pay for to shell out a specific number of your debts. Also, a Chapter 7 debtor?s discharge will likely be denied when the debtor received a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy eleven discharge in a very former case filed inside of 8 many years of the latest case.

A Chapter 7 does not help you generate a strategy of repayment to your creditors. For anyone who is powering with your mortgage and desire to ?cure? or make up payments to the mortgage loan company, you will have to file a Chapter thirteen Bankruptcy.

Want to learn more concerning How to file bankruptcy, then go to Rockisto Moresa?s site on how to choose the perfect Bankruptcy Attorney for your needs.. This article, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy: Your Manual to a Fresh Commence has free reprint rights.

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Citizens United II? An Obamacare Roundup and Predictions (Powerlineblog)

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We Live in a Digital Age. Optimize the Online Customer Experience ...

We live in an age of great technological advancement, what are you doing to optimize the online customer experience? Too often we think of customer experience as personal conversation with customers or a pleasant looking store or polite employees. We, too often, place too little concern on popular, preferred medium of business of today, the Internet, which leads to a poor digital online experience. Is your Web site contributing to your customers? experience?

One of the common problems with online marketing and advertising is that businesses can spend vast amounts of money on online advertising, search engine optimization, and marketing campaigns to attract customers, but these online marketing campaigns do little to contribute to the actual customer experience.

My Zappos Great Digital Customer Experience:

I recently had my first shopping experience with Zappos. I?ve studied Zappos for several years now, but just recently shopped with them. The entire experience was a breath of fresh air.

Zappos clearly has clean, useful, purposeful customer-focused Web site that creates a positive online customer experience. The Web site is cleanly laid out, looks professional, is intuitive, and is laid out in a helpful way for customers to purchase online. Notice how easy it is to quickly find the type of items you would potentially be looking for with Zappos. Say you?re searching for kids clothing, specifically for a boy or a girl. How easy is it to find what items Zappos has available? How about Zappos?s policies on shipping or returns? No doubt about that, everything is clearly listed on every page.

A Digital Customer Experience with Some Work to Do:

I?ll be honest, I?ve never dealt with this Web site. I can?t speak for their service, product, or the company. All I can say is what I see when I visit their brand online. I notice that they clearly are a legitimate business, I see a picture of their trucks they use for their business. But if I were looking to shop for car parts from them, what would my experience be? How do I know that they have what I?m looking for? Say I were looking for mufflers, or brakes, or some other car part? How easily could I find what they have? Can I contact them? What is their shipping policy? How about returns or exchanges? It?s difficult to tell because the Web site needs to be optimized for the online customer experience.

When I say that a Web site is part of the customer experience, I?m not talking about adding movies, intro videos, flashing lights, sounds or things that pop out of the screen. Those are distractions, gimmicks from the early days of the Web. I?m not looking to watch a movie online (I have Netflix for that), I just want to buy something or contact your company, so don?t make me sit through your intro video and don?t make me dig through your site to contact you.

I?ve previously discussed that customers really only want 3 things when working with a business online:

• Fast
• Cheap (fair price/value)
• Nice atmosphere with help, if needed.

But when the customer is taken to a Web site that is not optimized for the online customer experience, it defeats the purpose of all of the advertising you?ve done, all of the work to build your brand into something memorable, and you miss the opportunity to make a positive, lasting connection with your customer.

If the advertising or marketing campaign out shines the image of your website then you?ve already lost the battle in getting customers and creating future, loyal customers. After all, they are left feeling disappointed with the final result and may feel mislead.

$$$$$ for Marketing
$ for Customer Experience

In reality, it?s not even a matter of making customer experience spending equal to marketing spending, I don?t think that?s realistic, or necessary. But, an optimized experience has to be part of the plan. There has to be real consideration to the online process and how you will create a seamless delivery from the pre-sales, to the sales-process, through post-sales and product or service support. Customers need to feel like it?s all part of one unified business plan.

With that, I want to focus on 4 tips to optimize this process for digital experience of products and services.

4 Tips to Optimize the Online Customer Experience

1. Your customer experience doesn?t have to be like Apple, just beat your competitors.

Hopefully your competition isn?t Apple, that would destroy my point here. But when focusing on the overall customer experience, one easy way to figure out where you are and where you need to improve first is to look at what your competitors are doing and work on becoming better.

Learn what customers in your industry are looking for, why do they choose them over you? What you can learn from the way your competitors do business and how can you make a difference to give you the advantage? You?ll be amazed at what you can actually learn from a competitor when you change your focus from reactive thinking to pro-active thinking.

2. Make your site an interactive customer experience.

A key point to an exceptional service experience is the feeling that the service is catered to the needs of the customer. The more interaction added to your Web site, blog, social media, etc., the more customers will feel that your organization is looking to meet their needs and craft the service around customer needs.

Inviting customers to a ?generic website? when customers want a catered experience, makes your brand ineffective and forgettable.

3. Customer experience is a feeling.

Stimulate feelings, not the senses. The use of videos, music, sounds and images in motion is becoming a far more common feature of websites, but don?t get sucked into that. The trap is to stimulate the senses and offer a completely different experience of a website than simply filling a website with endless amounts of text. But it?s not the senses we want to engage, it?s the feelings customer get when working with your brand.

Focus on making making it professional, useful, functional, straight forward, useful, clean-looking, functional, and useful (did I mention that already?). The easier, faster, more useful your Web site becomes for customers, the better the feelings you?ll develop within customers that will be associated with the product or service and your brand.

4. Customer experience is for the customer, not the staff.

You wouldn?t believe the number of times I?ve been involved in projects where management and developers cater more to their own personal preferences and what they think would be best, even when it?s directly opposed to what customers want. Unless employees are the primary users of your site, with all due respect, their opinion doesn?t count.

It shouldn?t matter that the boss likes it on the left or that developers want it blue. If customers prefer it on the right and red, it?s done. As the number of customers increases, we typically have a decrease in the level of care for customer opinion. It?s like we become desensitized to the fact that at the end of the day we depend on the customer.

Sweat the small stuff.

I think that we are too careless with the customer experience. We don?t realize how important the little things really are to the overall experience. We?ve all heard the saying ?don?t sweat the small stuff?. It?s true for many things, but not for the customer experience. We go out of our way to carefully craft marketing language, create welcoming places of business, we train our people to be polite, professional, and helpful.

We typically go out of our way to please our customers. Sometimes, though, we get lost in our processes and forget some of the small things that can quickly add up to frustrate our customers. Take a minute and look over your Web site, ask a complete stranger to give you feedback, honest feedback. Take the time to optimize your Web site or system to maximize positive potential for an exceptional customer experience.

Source: http://www.business2community.com/customer-experience/we-live-in-a-digital-age-optimize-the-online-customer-experience-0154759

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Senate confirms two top bank regulators (reuters)

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Find The Best In Online Shopping Wherever Consumers Can Shop ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]MyReviewsNow is an innovative way to experience online shopping, This thorough. informative product reviews website directs shoppers to trustworthy merchants and alerts them to online deals and limited-time promotions ...

Source: http://greensiteinfo.com/find-best-online-shopping-wherever-consumers-can-shop-offer-product-reviews-myreviewsnow-13256

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Finance Ministry Warns Local Governments On Pension Fund ...

Anyone remember the 2008 Great Recession? I know I do. One of the warm and fuzzy memories I had was reading about all those pension funds back home in the U.S. that had lost ginormous sums of money betting on mortgage-backed securities. They took a bath on those investments, as did university endowments and a broad swath of financial institutions.

But wait, you say, pension funds are regulated by the state, and their available investment options are proscribed by law. Indeed, and yet there are always two competing interests here. First, as pension funds often represent a major portion of retiree assets, conservatism and stability is usually the watchword. Second, there is the desire to obtain favorable returns on investments. As to the latter, not only does the state have an interest in ensuring that these employees? retirement savings grow as quickly as possible, but in those countries and in those localities where pension funds are in one way or another comingled with other state assets/budgets, then higher returns may also mean a lesser fiscal obligation for the state.

So we usually start off with the safe approach, and then either in periods where interest rates and bond yields are low, or when the financial services industry successfully argues that a relaxation of restricted investments is a good idea, conservatism tends to fly out the window. In the US in the years prior to 2008, investing in mortgage-backed securities was justified not only in terms of greater returns, but also because this paper was AAA rated. We all know how that worked out.

Now put yourself in the place of the Ministry of Finance here, which is hearing arguments from both sides. Here is one opinion from one of my fellow academics at the Central University of Finance and Economics:

Wang Yongjun, head of the Finance Research School at the Central University of Finance and Economics, said allowing local finance departments to invest local pension funds can also diversify investment risks.

Yes, there it is, the old ?diversification of risk? argument, and with China?s rock-bottom interest rates and lack of safe investment choices (in the face of inflation), there is certainly merit to this point of view. Additionally, with an aging population, greater returns are seen as a way to shore up a declining number of individuals paying into the system. On the other hand, the Ministry is well aware of what happened in the US and other countries a few years ago and is being extremely wary of liberalization.

One thing you can say about the government here is that although it is open to reform now and again, it is extremely cautious in doing so. In this case, it?s probably a good thing. Here is what the MOF said in a recent notice:

The finance departments of local governments can?t use the balance of their social security funds for investment, according to China?s Ministry of Finance.

In a notice aimed at strengthening the management of local social security funds, the ministry asked local governments to strictly enforce regulations to maintain the asset value of the pension funds.

I don?t know exactly what brought this on, and why the MOF felt like this was the right time to remind local governments on this issue. However, we do know that the fiscal health of local governments these days is atrocious, considering what?s been going on in the property market and the attempts of the central government to deflate the bubble even if doing so results in a significant loss of revenue at the local level. Perhaps when times are tough, and local governments are feeling the pinch, these big pools of cash might look mighty tempting. But this is merely speculation on my part.

I don?t know about you, but the thought of local government administrators in charge of pension funds during this time of great fiscal difficulty makes me extremely nervous. I hope that the MOF can strike the right balance here between security and adequate returns, but in the short run, I?d err on the side of conservatism.

Source: http://www.chinahearsay.com/finance-ministry-warns-local-governments-on-pension-fund-investment/

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Does one retain carpet cleaners to clean your carpets to boost your ...

Home
> Home and Family > Does one retain carpet cleaners to clean your carpets to boost your property?

Does one benefit from increasing upon the house? Any time you answered ?yes,? then incredible! You?ve got stumbled onto an write-up which could reaffirm the house improvement data and may even better your ability. Incorporating the data in this particular write-up into your future career will help you out.

Carpet

Well before investing in new hardwood floors, examine along with a certified, about checking out the current floors in your home. Frequently, you might have beautiful, organic and natural hardwood hiding underneath layers of carpet or linoleum, that is definitely just waiting around to become refinished. You certainly will wind up along with a nicer trying, bigger top notch floor for not as much revenue. carpet cleaning salt lake city

Even though hardwood floors are trendy for that to start with floor, consider to include carpet to the second floor rooms. This makes it added comfortable with stepping away from bed, as carpet is plush and comfortable for feet. Also, make sure that to pick out a carpet with very best of the line top notch.

Each time you might be heading or carrying out a home improvement challenge, do not forget to spend some time to protect your floors. Shuffling devices and fixtures roughly through a transform can build a large amount of particles and make a great mess for the carpet. Relocating home equipment and household furniture across a place can realistically scratch up a beautiful hardwood floor. Make sure you go over the floors before you start out.

Picking out to apply wooden flooring as a substitute of carpeting can save you a large amount of headache over time. Carpet can possess allergens and cleaning it is generally away from the problem. The price of ripping up and replacing your carpet can virtually be as pricey as just putting down wooden flooring. Wooden floors are generally refinished and repainted as needed; also giving a more rural and cottage fashion atmosphere. carpet cleaning salt lake city ut

When you could quite possibly now be aware, home improvement assignments are certainly not as overwhelming since they could quite possibly appear at the beginning. By continuing inside a challenge, you?re not only increasing the house, you might be gaining encounter to apply in long run assignments. By following the guidelines out of this write-up, you can help equip all by yourself with the data important to take in your future challenge. carpetcleaners salt lake city

Source: http://coupon-magazines.com/does-one-retain-carpet-cleaners-to-clean-your-carpets-to-boost-your-property/

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Liu coasts into 60m hurdles semis

Chinese athletics superstar Liu Xiang coasted into the semi-finals of the men's 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Athletics Championships here on Saturday.

Liu, who was the gold medallist at the 2008 Valencia world indoors to add to previous silver and bronze showings, clocked 7.62sec in finishing his heat a head behind Britain's Andrew Pozzi, who topped the timings with 7.61.

But he admitted to being concerned by the starter's orders, with which many athletes had problems on the opening day of action at the Atakoy Arena on Friday amid a raft of false starts.

"The starter speaks with a low voice and it was hard for me to understand his 'ready'," said Liu, who set a new Asian record of 7.41sec in Birmingham, England, last month but whose last outing in Stockholm ended with a false start disqualification.

"I waited for the athlete on my right to go off to start. I false started in Stockholm and did not want to make the same mistake."

The Chinese hurdler is hoping a major technical change to his start will reap dividends not only this weekend but also during the outdoor season to follow.

Liu has cut to seven from eight the number of strides he takes before the first hurdle, the "power" phase when hurdlers try to maximise speed from the blocks into the hurdling rhythm that then follows.

The alteration has been made, Liu said, in the expectation that it will lead to faster times as he seeks a second Olympic 110m hurdles gold at the London Games this summer.

The 28-year-old Liu was a shock gold medallist in the high hurdles at the 2004 Athens Games and remains history's second fastest man in the event.

"During the race it felt very relaxed to run," Liu said. "I will get better and better in the semi-final and final on Sunday. I am taking it very serious to run in the final."

The men's 60m hurdles has, however, been robbed of a showdown between Liu and Cuban Dayron Robles, reigning Olympics 110m hurdles champion and world record holder, with American David Oliver also missing the cut.

Liu's main competition will now likely come from American Aries Merritt, who survived a pair of false starts by world leader Dexter Faulk to win the US trials ahead of two-time world indoor gold medallist Terrence Trammell and American outdoor record holder David Oliver.

"It was very easy, nice and relaxed," said Merritt. "It was just the first round, really easy.

"I was happy to get through. I feel very confident I can be a medallist if I just execute my race properly."

Merritt's team-mate Kevin Craddock did not start his heat, with France's former world junior champion Pascal Martinot-Lagarde also impressing in winning his heat in 7.66sec.

"It's my first international championships as a senior," said the 20-year-old Frenchman. "I have to experience sudden stress but this will teach me a lot in my preparation for the future and the Olympic Games in particular."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/liu-coasts-60m-hurdles-semis-092948579.html

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Cellphone Business Capabilities and Top Cellular Accessories ...

An effective Smartphone is one that helps you to connect with your family and friends along with managing your business perfectly. Do you know management of your small business with Apple iPhone 4s? Are you known to the fact that you can keep on your small business from any part of the world?

The mobile phone has become a very integral part of our life. The mobile phone influences our daily activities differently. Depending on the user the mobile phone can influence you life positively or negatively. Due to the advent in technology there has been tremendous improvement in the mobile phone technology. Apple is known as the first introducer of mart phones and it is still dominating mobile industry due to its cutting age technologies. Apple iPhones 4s introduction has really revolutionized mobile world. It is a multifunction device that can help you to manage your small business other than communication and entertainment.

The Apple smart phone uses various applications to help you run your business. The latest technology of ios 5 operating system accommodates over 200 applications and enables them to work efficiently and with ease. Depending on your business you can download applications that are relevant to you. Dont attempt to download any application without reviewing its efficiency and usage.

One of the applications that will definitely be of help to you is the office application. The application allows you to open word, excel, PowerPoint and other office documents with your phone. You can also edit and send the documents to any of your recipients or business clients. You can also check and create invoices just by using your Smartphone anywhere you are. If you are the kind of business person that is always on the road then you will never regret leaving your office since all the tasks can be handled with your phone.

You can also use your phone to set reminders of business meetings or deliveries, schedule tasks and also store some of the most important information about your business. Task scheduling with smart phone will always keep you on track. Establishing a high speed internet connection will help you to do business research and search for good business strategies.

The Apple iPhone 4s accessories are also very important for your business. Some accessories like the Apple iPhone 4s case and the Apple iPhone 4s screen protector are the best and easiest way to keep your device very protected. You can use docks or Bluetooth devices for sending invoices to your clients while travelling on road. Dock will help you attach? your phone anywhere on the dashboard, the Bluetooth headset helps you communicate with your handset without holding it. You can also use Siri features that will help you to give verbal instructions to your smart phone and it will perform functions according to your instructions.

With the release of a great phone, youll need Apple iPhone 4s accessories, please visit Exclusive Mobile Shop and choose the best Apple iPhone 4s screen protectors for your needs.

Source: http://www.eastsidewriter.com/cellphone-business-capabilities-and-top-cellular-accessories/

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The Tech Behind James Cameron's Trench-Bound Submarine

Heh, you're funny.

So to go down to 10,000 feet below sea level, you'd essentially need ten shells, each with a valve, with each shell becoming a point of failure. And that's more of an ideal situation, not taking into account how you're gonna get shit in and out of the vessel.

I work in this industry(shoutout to DeepSea Power and Light, here in San Diego), and we used pressurized oil to add structural integrity to certain electronic components. In fact, it was even mentioned in the article.

You cou

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/9orAy2GGgr0/the-tech-behind-james-camerons-trench-bound-submarine

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CVS Mix-Up Of Children's Fluoride Tablets With Cancer Drug Is Inexcusable (ContributorNetwork)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | A CVS pharmacy in Chatham, New Jersey, accidentally switched chewable children's fluoride tablets with the breast cancer drug Tamoxifen. Tamoxifen is used to treat estrogen-positive breast cancer and it is not meant for children. The New Jersey State Attorney General's Office is looking into how this happened. A report by the New York Daily News states that CVS must respond to the Attorney General's inquiry by March 7.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/meds/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120305/hl_ac/11048074_cvs_mixup_of_childrens_fluoride_tablets_with_cancer_drug_is_inexcusable

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