At endpoint, pregabalin and placebo showed substantial reductions in mean Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) score from baseline: -2.88 vs -2.63, p = 0.3941.
(-snip-)
Individuals with HIV-associated neuropathy achieved NPRS treatment effect size similar to those in studies of diabetic peripheral and postherpetic neuralgia. However, the placebo group in the current study had a much higher NPRS change than in the diabetic peripheral neuropathy or postherpetic neuralgia studies
In other words, the pregabalin here worked great, but the placebo effect was so gargantuan that the placebo was just as good.
Notably, this study is not the first in which a treatment for HIV-related peripheral neuropathy has elicited an unusually high placebo response. The reasons behind that phenomenon would be extremely interesting to pursue — might HIV-positive individuals have greater faith in the power of medication than do others?
I think she’s on to something important here. After all, in how many other diseases can patients so directly link the medications they are taking to their own survival?
And we clinicians who practice HIV medicine should keep this in mind when prescribing medications to our patients. Strong mutual conviction that something will work — from both provider and patient — may well be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
All ten new fighters in Super Street Fighter IV have finally been revealed. The latest issue of Famitsu has announced the inclusion of Hakan, a blue-haired, red-all-over dude who likes to oil himself up. You gotta see his
Gov. Pat Quinn today called for a 33 percent increase in the state income tax rate to raise money for education and ease deep cuts he’s proposed in his new budget plan.
In his short budget speech to the House and Senate, Quinn argued that an income tax “surcharge” would be enough to restore Illinois’ education budget to current levels and allow the state to get caught up on some of the millions owed to public schools, community colleges and four-year universities.
Quinn wants to increase the personal income tax rate from 3 percent to 4 percent — a 33 percent increase — with the corporate tax rate rising from 4.8 percent to 5.8 percent. The tax hike would bring in $2.8 billion a year.
NASCAR handed down its ruling yesterday on Carl Edwards’ retaliatory wreck of Brad Keselowski during the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway last Sunday. The Roush Fenway Racing team driver will be subjected to a three-race probation that covers the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 21, the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway on March 28 and the Subway Fresh Fit 600 at Phoenix International Raceway on April 10.
What does probation mean for Edwards? Not a whole hell of a lot. The best description we could find of this peculiar punishment was “little more than monitoring actions.” That is to say, unlike a suspension, Edwards will race the next three Sprint Cup races. The fact that Edwards won’t face much consequence for his actions last Sunday is in keeping with what NASCAR officials said in January about putting more responsibility in the hands of the driver. That said, NASCAR president Mike Helton remarked that, “… there is a line you can cross. When you cross that line in our opinion, we’re going to get involved with you.”
In addition to the probation, NASCAR plans on getting Edwards and Keselowski in a room together along with team owners Jack Roush and Roger Penske to iron out this feud. We don’t know about you, but that sounds close enough to the plot of Days of Thunder that an epic rental car race on the beach is almost certain to occur on the way to dinner afterwards.
Not being a musician, I must admit I don’t quite understand this application, but the music synthesizer appears pretty cool, and the narrator’s voice is also pretty hypnotic.
Here is 4Pockets.com’s write-up of this rather expensive$44.95 application:
Whether you are an experienced musician or don’t have a musical bone in your body, you can make great music on your Pocket PC.
Aurora is our pattern based musical sequencing software for the Pocket PC. By simply choosing a musical scale every note you play is in perfect tune, leaving you to make your own great sounding music.
If you are a more accomplished musician you simply switch Aurora to advanced mode and you get full control over the built in instruments and effects, as well as many advanced modes such as the Atomizer and XY Mode which allows you to manipulate sound in real-time. You can create your own instrument from recordings made using the built in microphone. Just think, a full drum kit of you beatboxing into the microphone!
Aurora allows a mixture of pattern based recording and live performance. You can piece together complete compositions or simply improvise a performance. All of which can be captured to a file, for use as a ringtones, or to share with others.
An integrated mixer, combined with the ability to add audio effects and layer automation means that you achieve a sophisticated sound in a fun and user friendly way.
Thankfully the app comes with a free trial, which can be accessed at 4Pockets.com here.
Tourism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk must be a sucker for punishment if he’s putting himself up for the job of deputy United Nations climate chief (Van Schalkwyk has SA nod for UN job, March 9).
That’s because the UN’s flagship climate body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has become a laughing stock as revelations pile up about dodgy science, erroneous forecasts and outright manipulation of data. Not for nothing is it known in sceptic circles as the International Panel of Climate Crooks.
Meanwhile, newer published studies around climate science, more accurate temperature records from satellites, and freezing snow and blizzards in much of the northern hemisphere continue to undermine the thesis of man-made global warming.
The tide is turning.
The smart money is on global warming going the same way as bird flu, swine flu, Y2K, the ozone layer, the population explosion, the food crisis, the energy crisis, global cooling and the litany of Armageddon-type predictions of the past 30 years that never came to pass.
[Editor’s note: This post is from a speech by Trish Millines Dziko of the Technology Access Foundation. It begins by citing a poem from Langston Hughes.]
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore–
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over–
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
The dream or life goal of a human being is central to what makes a human a valuable member of society. But suppose you’re told you can not fulfill your goal. You must wait until society changes, until institutions and laws change to allow you to become the doctor, the engineer, the professor, the scientist or the poet you may become. That’s what Langston Hughes was writing about. He was writing about what it was like to be an African-American in the 1920s and 1930s.
But when I read that poem today, I think about all the children of color and low-income kids who are in so many ways told they are only this good, or the bar for them is only this high, because the system makes judgments about students’ abilities based on what they look like or where they come from. The outcome of this behavior, of course, is devastating. High dropout rates, high crime rates, unemployment, and for too many, incarceration.
I’m reminded by something from another favorite author of mine, James Baldwin. He said, ‘these are all our children. We will all profit by, or pay for, whatever they become.” He’s basically saying we get out what we put in. That’s a lesson we hold dear at TAF. We hold it close to our hearts. We truly believe that what you put in is what you get out. We believe if you set high expectations, invest resources, and provide access to opportunities, students will rise to the challenge. They will create their own success.
Andrew Dubber points us to an interesting post by musician Steve Lawson, where he talks about how he usually uses his blog and other social media accounts to write about others’ music rather than always talking about his own, noting that he can probably help others make more money than he can make for himself. And there’s a reason for that: if you’re posting about something you love that you think is awesome, people take it seriously. If you’re posting about yourself as being awesome, people think you’re an egomaniac.
This is a really good way of thinking about things — and highlights an issue that goes way beyond just music. It’s why so many corporate blogs suck. Because they just talk about their own company, and appear to be propaganda. But it also highlights another important point: the value of passed links. We’ve noted in the past that when people pass around links (or music or books or whatever) it’s the person who’s doing the passing whose reputation is at stake. And, because of that, we tend to trust people passing links to others much more than people just promoting their own stuff. And this doesn’t need to be reciprocal. Steve notes that he just blogs about music he likes — and sometimes he hears from the musicians saying it resulted in a spike in earnings somehow, and that’s great.
To some extent, this also explains some of our position on things like ad blockers. Sites telling visitors who use ad blockers that they’re not welcome are shoving aside visitors who very well may pass on a link that has tremendous value. The viewpoint held by sites like that seems to undervalue passed links, believing the only true value is in the immediate and direct ad impression. But when you focus on just letting people experience whatever cool stuff you’re creating, some of them will pass it on to others, and that “vote” in your favor may be incredibly valuable.
So, while Steve focuses on the point of helping others make more money, if you’re doing cool stuff, it’s worth remembering that a lot of that stuff comes back around (in even more valuable ways). One of the problems we see with so many anti-consumer businesses is that they feel the need to directly monetize every user/visitor/listener, rather than recognizing that the mislabeled “freeloaders” can pay it back in ways that greatly outweigh any sort of direct payment opportunity.
Hold on to your sap gloves and night sticks – it’s that time of the decade! An Autoblog source reveals that Ford is about to release a brand spankin’ new Police Interceptor. Not only is this humongous news for our pals in the law enforcement community, but this is 120-point headline font for taxi companies around the country, as they typically buy old Police Interceptors with 90,000 miles on ’em and repurpose them as the cabs we all know and love passing out in. Why? Because Police Interceptors are the toughest passenger cars money can buy.
Few of us have the need to drive over curbs at 50+ mph, but if that need arises, you’re going to want to do so in an Interceptor. Aside from the “severe duty” shocks, you get a beefed up frame and body mounts. Yes, that is correct. The Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor is body-on-frame. Listen, when you’re PIT maneuvering a perp during a high speed chase, the last thing you want to worry about is bending the chassis. Plus you got them heavy duty brakes, suspension components and oil coolers. A sweet package, no doubt.
Here’s the thing though. If this new Police Interceptor is more than a package, what platform will it ride on? Ford has stated publicly that it’s ending the geriatric Panther Platform Crown Victoria’s life in 2011. We’ll go ahead and interpret that to mean that this new Police Interceptor won’t be Crown Victoria-based. Do we know that for sure? No, but it’s a logical bit of speculation. Could the new Interceptor be Taurus-based, maybe something with a SHO motor and stouter brakes? Again, yes, but for all we know the upcoming car’s a Fiesta with the Mustang GT’s new 5.0-liter V8 crammed in the rear seat. Or one of them apocryphal Australia-only rear-drive Falcons. All we know for sure is that Ford’s introducing a new Police Interceptor to a select group of folks in Las Vegas this Friday. Production? Concept? We’re not entirely sure yet. More details when we get them.
Update: The Fly sure knows how to pump and dump! It just posted a notice to disregard its Radio Shack takeover story.
Know what’s soaring again? RadioShack (RSH), thanks to renewed takeover chatter. Rumor has it that The Shack is looking for a “strategic buyer” (i.e. any buyer) according to The Fly On The Wall. Its stock is up 8.28% to $23.28 a share (and be sure to check out the crazy volume in the chart below.)
Also on the rise is Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS), up 15.5% on talks that Bain Capital may acquire the firm. Shares are currently trading at $27.63.
And of course, American International Group (AIG) is killing it – up 8% to $35.45 a share.
Two other big gainers include Kinetic Concepts Inc (KCI), up 15% to $49.80 a share and Harbin Electric Inc (HRBN) which is at $25.71, up 16.8%.
THE chairman of the ABC, Maurice Newman, has told about 250 leading journalists, program-makers and managers at the ABC that the media had displayed “group-think” on the issue of climate change in a speech that led to a feisty exchange with senior journalists and forced managing director Mark Scott to try to smooth the waters.
Describing himself as an agnostic on climate change, Mr Newman said climate change was an example “of group-think where contrary views have not been tolerated, and where those who express them have been labelled and mocked”.
He warned ABC staffers that he would not tolerate anyone suppressing information, citing the fact that a BBC science correspondent knew for a month before the scandal broke of damaging emails at the University of East Anglia in Britain highlighting the politicised nature of climate science but did not report them.
Mr Newman said the Guardian newspaper had noted that the moment climatology is sheltered from dispute, its force begins to wane.
“Which raises an important question for a media organisation,” Mr Newman said in the speech obtained by The Australian. “Who, if anyone, decides what to shelter from dispute? And when?
Let’s see now Lost in Nightmares, Desperate Escape, and two costume packs. Right now, getting all four will total roughly US$ 14, plus the tedious process of having to confirm purchase on four different instances. Good
Gracias a una serie de imágenes filtradas por un trabajador de la fábrica de Ferrari, podemos afirmar que Fernando Alonso recibirá próximamente un Ferrari 458 exclusivo.
Este modelo contará con diferentes elementos personalizados que harán que sea único. La carrocería será de un color blanco perla y en el interior podremos ver el nombre del piloto español sobre los asientos y posiblemente el salpicadero también tenga algunos cambios aunque no podemos confirmarlo.
En lo que respecta a la motorización, tendrá un motor V8 de tracción trasera que desarrolla 578 CV.
Will Sonic 4 finally bring together old and new fans alike in a grand dance of celebration? I honestly have no idea. For those looking for more info on the game, here are a few tidbits from the Sonic 4 interview
Remember Blair Morrison? He’s the dude who got Primal in the Netherlands for his entry into the PB Fitness Video Contest, and also placed 7th at the 2009 CrossFit Games. Blair wrote to me with his latest workout video – which will close this post – and a reminder: don’t forget about urban Groks!
I live in Malibu, just outside of LA proper, and it’s not exactly an urban environment. LA itself isn’t a classic urban landscape; it’s more urban sprawl than anything else. We’ve got hundreds of miles of wilderness – mountains, beaches, trails, canyons – to climb, run, crawl, or hike, but very little skyscraper to scale or subway turnstile to hurdle. We give a ton of attention to the great outdoors, partly because of my affinity for it and partly because it fits the Primal theme really well. For today, though, I want to address the urban warriors among us. If you’re lucky enough to live in a vibrant, bustling cityscape teeming with ledges, poles, fences, staircases, and tall buildings, you owe it yourself to expand your workout regimen to encompass your (un)natural environment.
Whenever I visit a new city, I like to go for a walk. Cities are meant to be traversed by foot, in my opinion. Sticking to taxis or buses erects a barrier. You gotta put foot to pavement and really connect with a city, especially if you’re just visiting (no time to spare). On my walks, I invariably find myself scoping out the scenery for possible workout “equipment.” I do this everywhere I go, in fact, not just in cities. It may mean I annoy my wife with my roving eyes (hey, at least I’m just scoping out park benches to jump, rather than beds to lie in!), but it also means I’m never unequipped for an impromptu workout.
There are no immutable laws governing urban workouts, because every environment is different. In LA, for example, an urban workout probably means climbing a fifteen-foot tree in front of some suburban house, doing pull-ups at the top branch, and running from an eventually pound-bound pit bull that’s broken loose. Or hitting the Venice drum circle for a bout of Primal dancing. But there are certain features that every urban environment should offer to the intrepid, kinetic explorer, and these include:
Ledges, overhangs, horizontal overhead poles – Perfect for pull-ups and muscle-ups. Hit some knees-to-elbows if there’s room to swing.
Vertical poles – Climb these. Pigeon droppings make for a worse payoff than wild coconuts, but at least you’ll build great grip and pulling strength. Traffic lights are pretty easy to climb (plenty of handholds).
Benches, turnstiles, weird public-owned stone cubes masquerading as art – Leap these. Box-jump them. If the bench is mobile, lift it. If you’ve got stones, try to lift the stone.
Hills – Sprint them. Grok crawl up them, then back down. Don’t worry; you can wash your hands after.
Stairs – You can also sprint these, but I like climbing them hand over hand (if there’s room to grab, that is) from underneath, ninja style. Just don’t let go at the top.
Construction sites – Sure, they’re slightly dangerous and it’s probably illegal to trespass, but there’s so much to do! Heavy slabs of metal to drag and deadlift, shards of concrete to hurl, structures to climb, and if you’re unwilling to go all the way in, you can usually find sandbags lining the perimeter.
Cars – Outrun them. Yes, I’m serious. No, I don’t mean in the street, neck-and-neck with the hulking metal beasts, but on the sidewalk, using the cars as motivation. And if you see a pregnant mother trapped beneath a wrecked one, you can always call upon your ATP and lift the back end.
Dumpsters – Push and pull them, treat ‘em like big stinky weight sleds.
Buildings – Scale them, if you dare. Enter them to reveal massive staircases (see “Stairs” above).
Little old ladies trying to cross the street – Carry them! It’s much faster than simply lending them an arm and walking them to the other side. Plus, it works your core.
And that’s just what I could think of off the top of my head. There are plenty of other options, many of which are just waiting to be discovered. The key is to keep your eyes open and your mind fixated on exactly how this feature or that object could be used to exert force or manipulate resistance. It may mean thinking outside the box or looking at the environment from a totally different perspective – you’ll have to see the urbanity as something to be accosted, assaulted, and conquered, rather than avoided or merely walked past. It’ll probably also have you end up looking a bit crazy, but if you’re eating Primal, you’re probably used to the weird stares from passers-by.
Just have fun! Living in the city doesn’t mean you have to work out at the gym… just ask Blair, who seems to get along okay without one.
Last, I’d be remiss not to remind you to be careful! Injury avoidance is top priority with Primal Blueprint Fitness, so take caution with your urban workouts just like you would any other.
Any Primal urbanites got workout tips to share? Do so in the comments!
Funded by the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, the Students4Giving℠ initiative provides an opportunity for students to make grants to nonprofits through the use of a Donor Advised Fund (DAF). Colleges are selected to participate through a national competition. Each school is awarded a DAF containing $15,000 to oversee and name. DAFs are held by the Gift Fund but managed by students and faculty.
Students have the ability to designate investment pools for the money and make recommendations for grant awards. Only Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)3 public charities are eligible to receive funding. The Gift Fund provides general account maintenance services and services related to verification of tax exemption for recommended nonprofits free of charge.
Students determine the philanthropic mission for DAFs, conduct community needs assessments, design and issue Requests for Proposals (RFPs), and make award determinations. Each class is asked to distribute between 50-75% of the fund, with a focus on retaining some funds for additional cycles and on replenishing accounts. The intention of the program is to provide colleges with a vehicle for charitable giving that can be used as an educational tool for the long term. To acknowledge the additional resources necessary to successfully incorporate a giving component into a course and administer a grant competition, the Gift Fund also provides colleges with a $3,000 administrative stipend.
Participating colleges have a team of people involved in the project including campus communications directors, development directors, faculty, and students. Each college is also required to provide a letter of support from the president. Colleges participate in common evaluation efforts and efforts to collect and disseminate best practices.
Otra de las novedades que nos ha dejado este Salón de Ginebra, ha sido el nuevo vehículo presentado por Lexus. Se trata del Lexus CT 200h, un modelo compacto con prestaciones deportivas y que estará disponible en versión de cinco puertas.
Dispondrá de la tecnología Full Hybrid con la que podrá recorrer un máximo de 2 km haciendo uso sólo de su motor eléctrico (mientras no superemos los 45 km/h). En lo que respecta a su motorización, hace uso de un motor de gasolina VVT-i de 1.8 litros combinado con un motor eléctrico como ya hemos dicho.
Por el momento se desconoce la fecha de lanzamiento aunque se expecula que será el próximo año.
No doubt the government continues to smile as its investments in AIG (AIG), Fannie (FNM), and Freddie (FRE) become more valuable.
After posting double-digit gains yesterday, AIG (AIG) is back on a roll today, currently up 5.4% at $34.55 a share.
Fannie Mae (FNM) is also climbing but those gains are slowly being erased. It’s currently at $1.09 a share, up 2.8%. Freddie Mac (FRE) is up 0.8% at $1.29 a share.
And even Citigroup (C) is up 3.4% today, currently at $3.96 a share.
Noblesse-tuned Honda CR-Z on-track – Click above to watch video after the jump
A couple of days ago, we wrote about the specs for the 2011 Honda CR-Z, and most commenters weren’t all that impressed. Spoon then let a little bit slip about what it was doing to make the hybrid coupe a little more engaging, but those were merely words. Now we have what is said to be track footage of Japanese tuner Noblesse in one of their tuned CR-Zs at Suzuka, and it might put people in a mind to at least reserve judgment.
It’s all in-car video, and yes, Noblesse is primarily known for their bodykit work, not for actual performance parts. All which makes this footage a little tough to gauge, but there were moments when we did find ourselves thinking, “Hey, this could be something.” And yes, we will only accept fully blacked-out CR-Zs from now on. Follow the jump for some Suzuka lapping, and have a look at it in the gallery of high-res photos below. Thanks for the tip and images, Chris!
It should be remembered that austerity plans are a long-term solution, not the short-term economic boosters we’ve grown accustomed to.
This means that while countries like Greece may do the right thing and work towards fixing their long-term financial problems, thus solving their long-term crises, it doesn’t mean that they are off the hook in the short-term.
In fact, doing the right thing for the long-term is likely to make the short-term even uglier.
“I have no doubt that we will remain in recession in 2010, 2011 and 2012 and that the recession will deepen. It won’t be until the first half of 2013 that we will see a recovery,” said Yanos Gramatidis, president of the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce. “And I think most people have grasped that.”
The polls seem to show so, too. According to one poll in Sunday’s edition of To Vima newspaper, 37.9% of Greeks expect the recession to last three to four years. Another 19.3% think it could last five to nine years, and 22.4% think it could take a decade or longer for Greece to emerge from recession. Only a small minority, 15.4%, reckon that a recovery will come in the next year or two, the poll showed.
Thus it’s impossible for the Greece crisis to be completely over, even if they do everything right, since the near-term pain will be huge and recession seems inevitable. It’s like cutting an addict off his drug fix cold-turkey. The next day is going to be horrible, even though it’s in his long-term interest. This same problem will apply to other nations forced into austerity. Doing the right thing isn’t easy, especially if doing the wrong thing has, until now, been so easy for so long.
Remember Blair Morrison? He’s the dude who got 
