Greece sneezed and the rest of the world caught a cold, prompting the greatest Drudge headline we’ve seen in awhile:
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Chicago-area nonprofit organizations are meeting as part of a new statewide campaign to raise awareness that Illinois‘ structure for providing high priority human services have been compromised by the current state budget crisis.
The meeting is on Feb. 5 from 8:30am to 12pm at Calumet Center, Metropolitan Family Services, 235 E. 103rd St., Chicago, Ill.
The campaign, organized by Illinois Partners for Human Service, comes at time when nonprofit organizations — the primary providers of human services in Illinois — are being forced to seek loans to keep their doors open because state payments for services run anywhere from six to 18 months late.
Moreover, providers are under increasing pressure to provide the same level of service with fewer funds. And the state’s budget gap continues to widen.
As many as 2 million residents, or approximately 16 percent of people in Illinois depend on the state funding for basic services such as child care; after-school programs for teens; skills training or help finding jobs; counseling for victims of sexual or domestic abuse; assistance for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled; and in-home care for the elderly.
“Payments are not keeping pace with inflation; the costs of borrowing due to late payments must be paid by the organization; our contracts are adjusted at will without our input.
This is seriously impacting the quality of services provided and our entire human service system,” said Nancy Ronquillo, chairperson for Illinois Partners for Human Service, and CEO and president for Children + Family Aid, a major social service provider.
Between 2003 and 2010, The Center on Budget and Tax Accountability estimates that human services were under-funded by $4.4 billion after both inflation and growth in demand are taken into account.
Moreover, approximately 400,000 Illinoisans are employed statewide in the human services sector and approximately $8 is returned to communities for every $1 invested in human services. Five billion dollars in cuts could result in a loss of 25,000 jobs.
Illinois Partners for Human Service was established in 2008 and is a growing statewide network of approximately 200 organizations that advocate for high quality, responsible, and sustainable approaches to providing human service in Illinois.
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The Illinois Hospital Association is disappointed that the Illinois Supreme Court has struck down critically needed medical liability reforms that were improving health care access throughout the state and restoring predictability to our broken medical liability system.
In doing so, the Court has rejected the clear will of the people of Illinois who called upon their legislators to enact this fair and sensible landmark legislation.
In 2005, the General Assembly determined that there was a real public health crisis driving physicians out of Illinois and making health care more expensive and less available.
Accordingly, it enacted a bipartisan and comprehensive solution that included judicial reform, strengthened insurance regulation and improved physician discipline.
The hospital community is deeply concerned that this decision will renew the malpractice lawsuit crisis and make it more difficult for Illinoisans to access or afford health care as liability costs for physicians and hospitals are driven to unsustainable levels.
Hospitals across the state will again face even greater challenges recruiting and retaining physicians, especially specialists such as neurosurgeons and obstetricians, who were leaving Illinois during the height of the crisis.
This decision and its dire repercussions for the health care delivery system highlight the critical need for the President and Congress to embrace serious and meaningful medical liability reform as part of health care reform.
All plausible forms of medical liability reform, such as arbitration, specialized courts and early settlement offer approaches, should be explored as part of health reform.
However, caps on medical liability damages in many states (33) across the country have already proven to be effective at reducing health care delivery costs. We call on the President and Congress to include this important cost-reducing solution to the federal health reform package.
Background
IHA strongly supported this legislation to restore predictability to Illinois‘ broken liability system that drove costs for hospitals and physicians to unsustainable levels and jeopardized patients’ access to health care.
The legislation included:
The Illinois Hospital Association is an advocate for 200 Illinois hospitals and health systems.
See IHA’s Web site at ihatoday.org.
Poor Joe, the nation’s second-in-command always seems to stick his foot in his mouth. On Monday, Vice-President Joe Biden tried to convince MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that he’s actually seen Avatar as the two traded predictions about this year’s Academy Awards — instead Biden ended up sounding like he had no idea what he was talking about….
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“I think one of the odds on favorites…is um, is uh, this uh, this, this, this new program that I looked at and wished I was seeing it in 3D, and you sit there and you watch this science-fiction thing unfold in front of you…..”
We’ve described how some film studios are in a huge legal fight with Redbox over DVD rentals. While some studios have come to their senses and are happy to work with Redbox, others have been trying to pressure the company into giving it a cut of rental revenue and/or delaying when it rents newly-released movies. Those studios convinced the big distribution wholesalers to stop selling to Redbox (which seems like a pretty clear restraint of trade or antitrust issue), and in at least one case had convinced retailers not to sell to Redbox. Of course, there are ways around that as well, and we even suggested that Redbox could crowdsource its movie purchasing.
In fact, to get around the studio blocks, Redbox was apparently already purchasing 40% of its DVDs at retail locations like Target and Wal-Mart. But both retailers are now making that more difficult. They’ve put in place limits directly targeted at Redbox, saying they won’t sell more than five DVDs at any one time to any buyer. Yes, here we have a customer willing to buy an awful lot of product — at full retail price — and these retailers won’t let them? While they claim it’s to make sure movies are available for other customers, given the earlier reports of studios specifically asking retailers to block Redbox from buying, it makes you wonder. What sort of company would tell willing customers they can’t buy a product that is available and in stock?
Still, in the end I doubt those limits will be very effective. Redbox still could go with that crowdsourced concept, and get its subscribers to purchase five DVDs at a time in exchange for free rentals. Eventually, the industry is going to have to realize that fighting Redbox is a mistake.
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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – IBM said Thursday it has been enlisted by the US Air Force to show how defense and intelligence networks can safely soar into the online software “cloud.”
“Our goal is to demonstrate how cloud computing can be a tool to enable our Air Force to manage, monitor and secure the information flowing through our network,” said Lieutenant General William Lord, chief information officer for the military branch.
Cloud computing has grown increasingly popular as businesses cut costs and technology maintenance woes by essentially renting software applications hosted online instead of buying and installing programs on their own machines.
The Air Force has contracted IBM to develop a private cloud computing “architecture” that improves “all operational, analytical and security capabilities,” according to Lord.
IBM said the 10-month-project will “push the technology boundaries” of cloud computing to tailor a system for a military network that includes nine major commands, nearly 100 bases, and 700,000 active personnel worldwide.
A key component of the system will be “stream computing” that couples sensors and monitors to quickly analyze flowing data for “actionable insights” into cyberattacks or network problems, according to IBM.
“This instant access to information would enable Air Force officials to automatically shift the prevention environment based on rules-based protocols in the event of a cyberattack or network anomalies,” IBM said.
In what might seem a page from science fiction, the system will also feature “autonomic computing” allowing it to “retune itself” without human intervention.
Courtesy of Yahoo! News
You might have heard that a little band called The Who will be playing during the half-time show at the Super Bowl this weekend. You also may have picked up on the news that the band plans on performing a special, condensed medley of their greatest hits during Sunday’s big game. Now developer Harmonix has announced that Rock Band owners will be able to download a previously recorded version of that performance immediately after the game.
The track, which they’re calling “The Who Super Bowl S-Mashup,” will be priced at the standard $1.99. It’s coming to the Xbox Live Marketplace and the Wii following the game this Sunday, February 7. The PlayStation 3 version is listed as “coming soon” — if we had to guess, that’ll be next Thursday, February 11.
Judging from a recent Billboard interview with guitarist Pete Townshend, the performance sounds like it should push all the right buttons for fans of The Who:
“We’re kinda doing a mashup of stuff. A bit of ‘Baba O’Riley,’ a bit of ‘Pinball Wizard,’ a bit of the close of ‘Tommy,’ a bit of ‘Who Are You,’ and a bit of ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’ It works — it’s quite a saga. A lot of the stuff that we do has that kind of celebratory vibe about it — we’ve always tried to make music that allows the audience to go a bit wild if they want to. Hopefully it will hit the spot.”
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Filed under: New York Auto Show, Etc.
We couldn’t blame you for thinking that all of the ‘Of the Year” awards were finished for the 2010, but there’s still at least a few key bits of shiny hardware that have yet to be handed out – the World Car of the Year and World Performance Car of the Year. And while we’re not yet sure who will take home the big prizes, we do have a short(er)list of nominees for both accolades.
The field has been whittled down by 59 jurors to 10 possible winners in each category, and the top three finalists will be announced next month at the Geneva Motor Show ahead of the actual award ceremony at April’s New York Auto Show. The nominees are…
2010 World Car of the Year
Given the company it’s in, we’re not altogether sure why the Panamera isn’t in the World Performance Car running instead, but we digress. Speaking of which…
2010 World Performance Car of the Year
Lest we forget, there’s also the 2010 World Green Car of the Year award to be handed out, and you can check out that verdant bunch of shortlisters over at Autobloggreen.
For 2009, the Volkswagen Golf and Nissan GT-R brought home the bacon in their respective categories. Which cars would make the best picks for both awards? Have your say in Comments.
[Source: World Car of the Year]
2010 World Car of the Year finalists announced… is your favorite represented? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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All right, so it looks like another device in a growing market is coming your way to manage your DLNA devices, HD content, Internet and Social Media – in one word – tablet! We are not talking about a Tablet PC, as we know Sony tried it way back in early 2000 with VAIO PenTablet PC PCV-LX900 series and earlier its VAIO UX mini computer series (or UMPC – what an ugly term!). People want a device that is intuitive and easy enough to surf the web, check on their tweets, post something on Facebook. So what will it be Sony? Will it be a VAIO Tablet or a generic Sony device? We do know Sony has been working on a device, and that is good news.
To back up the above statement, Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda (it’s interesting to hear such news from a Corporate Chief Financial Officer, by the way a very humble man, I got to meet once) mentioned: “That is a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product,” who was speaking at a Tokyo news conference held to announce the company’s quarterly financial results. I am pretty confident that its bright engineers are more than skilled to create a very attractive, so to say Sony Style tablet and it is the software that will be in this tablet that is what I am worried about. Again, it’s is all about user experience nowadays and if it is not friendly, a customer is usually turned off by it and the product becomes a flop or a niche that gets adopted by a small devoted crowd. Let’s look at Mylo for example. Awesome idea, it was a good time to be introduced at, marketed to young generation, had its own set of apps, instant messaging, web browsing – Internet device My Life Online. All those statements describe great potential and lots of profits for the company, but at the end – have you tried using it? I sure have and am left disappointed – great hardware, but flawed software! Sometimes I wonder, if any of the top executives ever get to spend some time with a product before it hits the market and see it for themselves, question themselves would I want to use it every day? I know it is probably hard for a company like Sony that produces multiple categories of products and I do not see Sir Howard playing with every VAIO or checking out every Sony Ericsson phone.
So where am I going with this? I guess I want Sony to succeed and bring something extraordinary to the market, something that is not half-baked and mass produced so that they are keeping up with a fruit company. I am sure Sony saw what iPad does, and even threw some reverse psychology in the mix stating that it will help its PSP sales and Reader market, and what Sony needs to do is look at iPad’s shortcomings, check all kinds of comments posted by readers of popular technology blogs on the topic of Sony tablet just to see what a customer really wants, tie it all into your upcoming Sony Network content and create a groundbreaking device. It will need to stand out however and be very unique, so take a look at some interesting patents you have so far and see what you could implement. OK, pretty? Anyways, prove your statement: “Believe that anything you can imagine, you can make real”. Only in this case, I would change it and say: Believe that anything you(customer) can imagine, we (Sony) can make real. So Make.Believe, y’know..
That’s all I wanted to share with you all. I would love to hear back from you and see what your thoughts are too.
The Real Housewives of New York City is losing one of its polarizing couples.
Big Apple socialite Alex McCord and hubby Simon van Kempen will not be back with the hit reality docu-soap returns for its fourth season on Bravo later this year.
Tattling tipters claim producers dumped the couple after refusing to do any more business with the overbearing Simon, who flew into full Bitch Mode when Bravo slammed the entire cast with a hefty reduction in pay. In addition, the network was concerned by the fact that the couple never quite seemed to resonate with viewers.
“Viewers don’t have a positive reaction to them, so they’re easily replaceable at this point. Also, they don’t really fit in with the other wives. All of the other women’s story lines have interwoven, yet Alex and Simon have kept theirs separate. It isn’t nearly as interesting as the other Housewives’.”
Dutch ticketing system Paylogic announced today that it secured round two funding of 3 million Euro ($4.2 million U.S.). The new funding will allow for expansion of the platform in Europe, beginning in Belgium and Germany, according to EU Ticket News.
Paylogic offers a hosted platform for event, venue, and promoter websites that allow fans to search and buy tickets. A fan interested in an upcoming concert, for example, could visit the band’s website and buy tickets through the Paylogic hosted platform. Once the tickets are purchased, the fan prints them, brings them to the concert and is scanned in like a normal ticket. The platform can also be placed on alternative channels, like a retail shop.
Paylogic has similar characteristics to popular event management platform Eventbrite which lets users create stand alone pages to promote events and ticket buying. Paylogic’s offering is a bit more integrated as its platform plugs directly into any website. An event using Paylogic could sell tickets directly from it’s website, rather than having to create a separate page. However, if you don’t have a website, Eventbrite may then be an easy choice.
The company appears to support a wide range of customers with different ticket needs, including sports, clubs, theater and dance.
Paylogic is one of two subsidiaries of Dutch Internet and eCommerce company, Accepté Holding. The round two funding was led by NoorderHuys Investments, which will take over the first round funding from Van den Ende & Deitmers and become a leading stakeholder.
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All signs point to wave power being a huge untapped resource. So far, only one commercial installation has been tried, even though the motion of the waves has the potential to generate between 1 and 10 terawatts. To put this in context, even just 1 terawatt would be enough to power a billion homes. Now, finally, Pacific Gas & Electric is stepping up to test new wave energy designs off the coast of Northern California.
The fact that a major utility is investing in the technology is a very good sign. So what was the hold up before? Apparently wave power poses many more engineering challenges than both wind and solar. Previous experiments have failed, and prototypes are expensive to build and install. At an estimated $2 million per installed megawatt, wave power has become the money pit of the renewable energy movement.
It also doesn’t help that many people confuse wave power and tidal power. They are different in several important ways. Tidal generation requires water turbines to be anchored in place underwater — turbines that are then turned by currents influenced by the moon. It doesn’t work very well in open water.
Wave power, on the other hand, is typically produced by the up and down motion of floating buoys being tossed on the surface of the ocean. It can be installed anywhere there is regular surf and doesn’t rely on the moon’s gravitational pull. This makes it sound easy — but wave power devices have to not only withstand powerful, gale-strength waves, but also salt depositions and extreme temperatures.
Despite these obstacles, PG&E says it’s applying to the U.S. Department of Energy for funds to get its California wave project up and running. If it receives the requisite financing, the utility plans to hold a contest between more than 20 wave power companies to come up with the most promising designs. In the end, three to four will be selected to actually install their prototypes off the coast of Humboldt County.
If all goes according to plan, PG&E will begin construction in 2012 on an installation capable of generating 5 megawatts of power by 2014. Right now, the whole planet runs on 4 terawatts of generation capacity. Considering that wave power could double this figure, PG&E’s attention is more than merited. It will be interesting to see if other big utilities follow suit.
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Norwegian based electric-vehicle maker Think has released its first U.S. EV-Ready Cities Index, which measures markets that are most likely to begin and benefit from the transition to electric-vehicles.
The Think EV-Ready Cities Index takes into account purchase and usage incentives including things such as HOV lane access, hybrid sales, traffic congestion, EPA non-attainment zone status (air quality), and potential lower-carbon energy sources for vehicle recharging.
The index was put together for Think by ASG Renaissance, a market research and business services firm located in Dearborn, Michigan.
Hit the jump for the press release and to see Think’s U.S. EV-Ready Cities Index.
THINK EV-Ready Cities Index scorecard
| City | Purchase/Usage Incentives | Market Fit | Overall Score |
| Los Angeles | 5.75 | 3.75 | 9.50 |
| San Francisco | 5.75 | 3.25 | 9.00 |
| Chicago (tie) | 5.75 | 2.15 | 7.90 |
| New York (tie) | 5.75 | 2.15 | 7.90 |
| San Diego | 5.75 | 2.00 | 7.75 |
| Portland | 5.55 | 1.95 | 7.50 |
| Sacramento | 5.75 | 1.50 | 7.25 |
| Newark | 4.85 | 2.15 | 7.00 |
| Seattle | 3.30 | 3.25 | 6.55 |
| Atlanta | 4.85 | 1.20 | 6.05 |
| Denver | 4.65 | 0.80 | 5.45 |
| Boston | 2.40 | 1.90 | 4.30 |
| Washington DC | 0.80 | 3.05 | 3.85 |
| Philadelphia | 2.40 | 1.70 | 4.10 |
| Phoenix | 1.70 | 1.90 | 3.60 |
Press Release:
THINK releases U.S. EV-ready index
Today, pioneering electric vehicle company THINK released its first U.S. EV-Ready Cities Index. The top four cities included first-ranked Los Angeles and second-ranked San Francisco with Chicago and New York tied for third.
The THINK EV-Ready Cities Index was presented by THINK CEO Richard Canny at the Electric Drive Transportation Association Annual Conference and Meeting at the Washington Auto Show. The company recently announced plans to manufacture the THINK City electric car in Elkhart, Ind. with U.S. production slated to begin early next year.
San Diego, Portland and Sacramento were rated fifth, sixth and seventh putting four cities in California in the top-15 index. Rounding out the top ten were Newark, Seattle and Atlanta. The remaining cities included Denver, Boston, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Phoenix.
THINK developed the EV-Ready Cities Index to measure which markets are most likely to begin and benefit from the transition to electric vehicles, providing an objective comparison of the EV purchase and usage incentives as well as the market fit for EV’s.
“We expect that the roll-out of EV’s to the U.S. market will be quite focused in the early stages. Some cities are more likely to be early adopters of EV technology, and the EV-Ready Cities Index will be a helpful tool to guide and prioritize the development of those markets. It reflects the available government support, consumer acceptance, and the opportunity for EVs to provide the maximum benefits possible from electric drive,” Canny said. “Since EVs are a unique solution for congested urban environments, we are taking a city-by-city approach rather than a national or state-by-state approach.”
The THINK EV-Ready Cities Index takes into account purchase and usage incentives – such as HOV lane access and infrastructure support – for electric vehicles as well as market fit, which includes factors such as hybrid sales, traffic congestion, EPA non-attainment zone status (air quality), and potential lower-carbon energy sources for vehicle recharging. The index was compiled for THINK by ASG Renaissance, a market research and business services firm located in Dearborn, Mich.
The U.S. EV-ready index mirrors one THINK developed for targeting markets in Europe, which recognized Oslo, Copenhagen and Amsterdam as the top-three markets. The company plans to continue to monitor EV-ready factors and periodically update and release its index.
“Ideally, we would like the THINK City to be available throughout the U.S. next year, but in our early commercialization phase, it is important that we first establish a strong concentration of sales in key, highly attractive markets, which support early adoption of sustainable, zero emissions transport solutions,” Canny said.
THINK plans to begin selling the THINK City, which will have a top speed of more than 70 miles per hour and a range of more than 100 miles per full charge, in target U.S. cities beginning this year.
SPRINGFIELD — Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) and Illinois State Police officials today announced details of their Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving campaign in an effort to prevent impaired driving around the big game.
They are also reminding fans to buckle up before traveling to and from their desired locations.
“We are working closely with Illinois State Police to make sure that every football fan enjoys the big game in a safe manner,” said Illinois Transportation Secretary Gary Hannig.
“Super Bowl Sunday is about family, fun, good competition and safety and we want everyone to enjoy and stay sober if you plan to drive.”
“Throughout Super Bowl weekend, the Illinois State Police will remain diligent in enforcing driving under the influence and the other fatal five violations, including speeding, safety belt use, improper lane usage and following too closely,” said Illinois State Police Director Jonathon Monken.
“Law enforcement recognizes the big game brings fans together to celebrate, and alcoholic beverages are often part of the celebration. If you choose to drink, don’t drive. Ask someone to be a designated driver prior to starting your celebration or call a taxi service to make sure you arrive home safely.”
IDOT’s Division of Traffic Safety is supporting the Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving campaign by airing an audio public service announcement, coordinating outreach activities on radio stations statewide and by providing interview opportunities with traffic safety experts, which began on Feb. 1 and runs through Feb. 7.
In addition, Illinois State Police and local law enforcement agencies have an estimated $350,000 in grants by IDOT to conduct stepped-up impaired driving and safety belt patrols around the Super Bowl weekend.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008, fatalities in alcohol-impaired-driving crashes accounted for 32 percent of all motor vehicle traffic fatalities.
On Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 3 to 5:59 am Feb. 4), 49 percent of the fatalities occurred in crashes where a driver or motorcycle rider had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of 0.08 or higher.
The Illinois Department of Transportation’s Division of Traffic Safety suggests the following tips for those planning to consume alcohol while watching the Super Bowl:
The Buzzed Driving is Drunk Driving crackdown began February 1 and runs through Feb. 7, 2010.
For more information about impaired driving in Illinois, log on to drivesoberillinois.org.
IDOT’s Traffic Safety Division can also be followed at twitter.com/ILTrafficSafety.
By Evelyn Matsamura Kiapi KAMPALA , Feb 4 (IPS) HIV-positive Justine Kirumira* is a mother torn between doing what is right for her daughters and her own fear of HIV/AIDS. She suspects that her eight- and 12-year-old daughters may also have the virus. But she may never know the truth of their status because she refuses have them tested.
Kirumira is terrified to face the test results in case her daughters are HIV-positive. "No, I cannot test my children for HIV. How will I break the news to them?" she asks.
But Kirumira’s is not an isolated case. Many parents in Uganda are still reluctant to test their children for HIV because of the fear and stigma that surrounds HIV/AIDS. This reluctance to test for HIV is a trend that is slowing down paediatric AIDS prevention, treatment and care efforts in the East African country, according to health organisations.
"Testing is still eluding us and stigma is still very high. Also, parents do not know yet how to pass this information (that they are HIV-positive) to their children. That’s why early diagnosis is still lagging behind," says Dr Zainab Akol, the national programme manager for government’s AIDS control programme.
While Uganda has international commitments to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS services by 2010 – including 80 percent coverage for Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) – progress towards these goals are slow particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, statistics show. Of the two million HIV-positive children under 15 worldwide, 1.8 million reside in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
Approximately 1.5 million people in Uganda are living with HIV including 88,919 children aged 0 to 14 years, according to the ministry of health (MOH). This includes a total of 324,115 adults and 33,152 children who need anti-retroviral treatment (ART).
However, only 43 percent of the adults and 40 percent of children who require ART were actively on treatment by the end of September 2008, ministry records show. Each year, more than 20,000 mothers in Uganda pass on HIV to their babies, according to the MOH.
Fear and guilt
Because Kirumira does not know how to deal with her daughters being HIV-positive every time they fall sick it becomes a traumatising experience for her. Kirumira becomes frantic, praying that they are not HIV-positive. On one occasion, when her daughter was ill with malaria, she locked herself in her bedroom. It was only when a relative stopped by that the relative managed to get Kirumira to take her daughter for treatment.
"Yes, there is a possibility that my daughters may also be HIV-positive. But I rather not know. It’s only when they fall sick that I really get worried (that they may be infected after all)," the widow tells IPS at her home in Zana, a suburb east of the capital Kampala.
Kirumira, who is on ART, says she cannot stand seeing her children on the life-prolonging drugs all their lives because it is very depressing. She also does not want her daughters to be discriminated against in school.
Fear and guilt are the main reasons why parents like Kirumira are reluctant to test their children for HIV, explains psychologist Dr Janet Nambi, the head of the mental health and community psychology department at Makerere University.
"I think it (not testing) has something to do with knowing and accepting the worst because there is always that hope that the child is not HIV-positive. Even when there are signs that the child may be HIV-positive, parents are reluctant to confirm that reality because that reality has consequences.
"Accepting it (that one’s child is HIV-positive) is a process and seeking help is also a process…No one wants to know the worst. And for children who get HIV through vertical transmission (from mother-to-child), of course there is that guilt; the guilt that ‘I am the one who has passed on this infection to my child.’ And I think many parents do not want to deal with that guilt," Nambi tells IPS.
Challenges
The challenges in paediatric treatment lie both in prevention and care, according to Akol.
"In prevention, Uganda is still producing 20,000 to 30,000 HIV-positive children every year. That alone is overwhelming. However good our system is or however hard we work, we cannot manage 20,000 to 30,000 infected children annually.
"(For instance), even when a woman knows she is HIV-positive and pregnant, she does not complete the whole cycle of (anti-retroviral) treatment," Akol says.
She says because of the stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS, some HIV-positive women cannot even tell their partners about their status for fear of being rejected. "Women who are infected still breastfeed their children even when they know they are infected. That is a concept we are not managing. And even when a woman has an infected baby and wants her baby diagnosed, testing is a problem because we cannot provide services adequately everywhere," Akol says.
However, the unavailability of medicines for paediatric ART was also a setback until recently when the World Health Organisation (WHO) developed ART dosages specifically for children. In June 2008, the WHO also set new guidelines indicating that all children confirmed to be HIV-positive and less than one year of age be started on ART to reduce the related morbidity and mortality rates.
"We (the MOH) have introduced ‘Early Infant Diagnosis’ with the hope that we catch the infection early and treat the children and also try to follow them up," Akol says.
Without care and treatment, over 80 percent of children living with HIV die before they reach their second birthday. The majority of known children with HIV are above five years old, a sign of delayed/late diagnosis, according to a 2008 report on HIV services for women and children complied jointly by the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), UNAIDS and the WHO.
However, other known causes for paediatric HIV/AIDS include limited access to PMTCT services and lack of deliberate budget prioritisation of paediatric AIDS. High levels of fear to test and disclose HIV/AIDS status and inefficiencies in the health system are also main causes, says a 2009 factsheet by the Uganda Paediatrics Association (UPA). UPA is a not for profit organisation that promotes the dissemination of knowledge to paediatricians and child health workers to enhance the welfare of children in Uganda.
"Furthermore, there is still a lot of underlying stigma and discrimination regarding the testing of pregnant mothers, and hence (hinders) prevention of transmission to the unborn baby. These setbacks have consequently resulted in late diagnosis and treatment of the children, with many children presenting in the late stages of HIV/AIDS," says Dr Sabrina Kitaka-Bakeera, president of UPA.
While there are few paediatricians and paediatric specialist nurses and counsellors, lack of knowledge among health care providers on how to manage children and the limited capacity for health facilities to do early infant diagnosis and testing also affect progress, the UPA fact sheet says.
The campaign
The Global AIDS Alliance has launched a three-year Campaign to End Pediatric HIV/AIDS in Africa (CEPA). The campaign includes: selected African advocacy organisations and networks; the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative; and UNICEF. It focuses on overcoming policy and implementation bottlenecks to scaling up PMTCT and paediatric diagnosis, treatment, and care programmes.
The campaign is run in six African countries: Kenya; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Nigeria, and Mozambique. CEPA aims to reduce the incidence of paediatric HIV/AIDS and improve the delivery of treatment to children and mothers from the current average of 30 to 40 percent to the globally agreed‐upon target of 80 percent.
"We hope to reduce the number of children who are exposed to HIV annually to less than 2,500. And for those 150,000 children already infected, we would like to see them access care and treatment and make this treatment optimal and sustainable," says Kitaka-Bakeera whose association is a CEPA partner.
The MOH has also started a strategy called ‘positive prevention’ which aims for increased prevention and care.
"We hope that couples will test and get to know if they have HIV. That way, we shall be able to take them through how to prevent further child birth and if they decide to do so, they do it in the context of HIV.
"If we can get that right, we should be able to halve the infections just through prevention. We are also hoping that couples will take their children for diagnosis early on. Treatment is now not a problem. We have a lot of donations (for paediatric ART)," Akol says.
However, Nambi says, availing treatment without the sensitisation of parents is meaningless. "I believe sensitisation is very important for parents to know that there are services available and these services are mostly free and their children have a chance to live and grow. This sensitisation may require counsellors working specifically with the parents," she says.
*Not her real name
Filed under: Truck, Chrysler, Dodge, Diesel
2010 Dodge Ram HD – Click above for high-res image gallery
It’s tough to sell a heavy-duty pickup truck without a diesel engine offering. Ford uses Navistar, General Motors has worked with Isuzu Motors and Chrysler has Cummins. Of all the automaker diesel offerings, Chrysler’s pact with Cummins has lasted the longest (since 1989), and word from Chrysler’s official blog is that the two companies will continue to play nicely together into the future. According to a new post on the website, Cummins and Chrysler have agreed to extend their cooperation on a multi-year basis.
Cummins currently builds the 350 horsepower, 650 pound-feet of torque 6.7-liter diesel, which is optional on the Ram 2500 and 3500 and standard on the Ram 4500 and 5500 commercial trucks. Chrysler brags that the very capable powertrain is the only big diesel in the US without a selective catalytic reduction system that requires the owner to add diesel exhaust fluid. The Cummins 6.7 has been able to pass 2010 EPA emissions standards since its 2007 introduction.
Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Dodge Ram HD
Photos by Chris Shunk / Copyright (C)2009 Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: Chrysler Blog]
Dodge and Cummins reach multi-year contract extension originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
A rainstorm is expected to reach Southern California by midday Friday, bringing up to 2 inches in coastal and valley areas and up to 4 inches in the foothills and mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
Although there is a slight chance of rain Thursday night, the bulk should fall Friday and continue through Saturday, said Jamie Meier, a weather service meteorologist.
The Friday morning commute should be dry “but by the time they go home, driving will be a mess,” Meier said. “Mountain driving is not going to be fun tomorrow.”
Mountain resort areas can expect up to a foot of snow with levels at about 7,000 feet Friday, dropping to 4,500 feet Saturday. Snow is not expected to have a significant effect on the Grapevine on Interstate 5, Meier said.
“It’s very well-timed for the weekend,” she said of the snow. “Sunday should be beautiful.”
— Raja Abdulrahim
Photo: Looking southwest from Victorville, a belt of fog silhouettes Joshua trees in the desert below the snow covered Mt. Waterman and the Angeles National Forest. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
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Conatus Pharmaceuticals is optimistic that their developmental drug, CTS-1027, will give people with Hepatitis C a greater chance for beating the virus. In a Phase II Hepatitis C trial for previous non-responders, CTS-1027 is being paired with pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
Conatus Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase II Clinical Trial in Combination With Pegylated Interferon and Ribavirin for the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV)
SAN DIEGO, Jan. 28 /PRNewswire/ — Conatus Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today the initiation of a Phase II clinical trial evaluating CTS-1027 in combination with pegylated interferon (Pegasys®) and ribavirin (Copegus®) in refractory HCV patients. Antiviral activity, safety and tolerability of the triple combination will be assessed after up to 48 weeks of therapy.
“There is a significant unmet medical need in HCV patients who have not responded to pegylated interferon and ribavirin. These patients often progress to cirrhosis, a life-threatening condition. CTS-1027 has the potential to increase the effectiveness of the combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin in this population,” said Dr. Paul J. Pockros, Head, Division of Gastroenterology and Director of the SC Liver Research Consortium and The Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, CA.
Continue reading this entire article:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/conatus-pharmaceuticals-initiates-phase-ii-clinical-trial-in-combination-with-pegylated-interferon-and-ribavirin-for-the-treatment-of-hepatitis-c-virus-hcv-82965622.html
Logan Lerman, star of the new film Percy Jackson and the Olympians, called in to The Billy Bush Show on Thursday, where he revealed that he is in discussions to replace Tobey Maquire as a high school aged web-slinger in the recently-announced reboot of Spider-Man.
“There have been a few discussions, it’s definitely something I’m looking into,” Logan told Billy this afternoon.
Online chatter has everyone from Michael Cena to Zac Efron to Robert Pattinson up for the role of Peter Parker, the crime-fighting superhero who masquerades as a shy photographer. For his part, 18-year-old Lerman says he’s been a Spidey fan for most of his life.
“It’s one of my favorite characters ever and I’m a huge fan of the series,” he added. “I’d love to have more conversations about it. I’m definitely very interested in it.”
