Mereja

Category: News

  • Bret Michaels Condition “Deteriorating”

    Drats! We were so hoping to have some promising news to report on Bret Michaels’ condition after Extra TV’s interview with the rocker’s seemingly upbeat dad early Tuesday.

    Sadly, it seems the Poison star and Celebrity Apprentice contestant may have taken a turn for the worst. Bret will soon be undergoing surgery to relieve swelling around his brain, a family insider spilled to television newsmagazine Entertainment Tonight.

    “His condition is said to be deteriorating following a massive hemorrhage he suffered last Thursday,” the site writes.

    A rep for the site has also stepped forward to deny reports that the rocker died.

    “There’s a rumor out there that Bret passed. It isn’t true,” says the rep.

    In the meantime, speculation continues to mount that Bret’s potentially-fatal aneurysm may have been triggered by his recent appendectomy or the injury he suffered after being struck in the head by a prop at the 2009 Tony Awards last June.


  • 2011 Hyundai Veloster – Feature

    What it is: A small front-drive, four-seat coupe to replace the Tiburon. Hyundai will position the car below the rear-drive Genesis coupe.

    Keep Reading: 2011 Hyundai Veloster – Feature

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  • Shoppers Drug and Jean Coutu earnings preview

    Will a ruling in Ontario that would eliminate payments to pharmacies from generic companies spill over into legislation in Quebec?

    Analyst Irene Nattel of RBC Dominion Securities believes it is premature to change her take on Quebec-based pharmacy chain Jean Coutu Group Inc. at this point based on the possibility of future changes in the market.

    “Improved sales and productivity from the generic drug operations should drive higher gross margins again [in the fourth] quarter,” said Ms. Nattel, who rates the shares Sector Perform with a target price of $11.

    She is anticipating earnings per share of 18¢, compared with 15¢ in the same period last year.

    As for Shoppers Drug Mart, which opposes the Ontario government’s plans and has warned it might have to cut staff and close stores (the chain memorably cut pharmacy operating hours recently in London, Ont., the riding belonging to provincial health minister Deb Matthews), Ms. Nattel has maintained her Outperform rating on the shares but shaved her target price to $47 from $48. She is predicting earnings per share of 56¢, a penny above consensus.

    Hollie Shaw

  • IHOP Wants To Make You Fat With Cheesecake-Stuffed Pancakes

    Apparently jealous of the attention KFC was getting with the Double Down, IHOP (or International House of Pancakes if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) has rolled out Pancake Stackers — a five-layer calorie bomb that dares to sandwich cheesecake between two pancakes.

    So yeah, it’s a pancake, then cheesecake (with the crusts cut off), another pancake, then one of the following: strawberries, blueberry or cinnamon apple compote, then whipped cream topping.

    Explain your devilish creation, IHOP:

    With our latest promotion, IHOP took the value we’re known for and topped it with one of America’s favorite flavors — cheesecake… We’re pleased to offer guests a delicious new way to stack up the fun this spring as they celebrate moms, dads, grads, or just a simple escape from their every day.

    The Pancake Stackers are only available through June 20, but only because those of us who choose to eat them will no longer be able to leave the house.

    IHOP Layers on the Cheesecake With New Pancake Stackers [Marketwatch]

  • 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS – Feature

    What it is: A redesign of Mercedes’ low-slung stylish sedan.

    Keep Reading: 2011 Mercedes-Benz CLS – Feature

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  • Tanner Foust Street Drift: Mulholland

    Tanner Foust drifts his Rockstar Energy Drink Scion TC Drift Car on a legendary stretch of Mulholland Highway known as “The Snake”.

    Watch Tanner unleash his 600hp NASCAR V8 powered Scion drift car on this famed road. There were no rehearsals and most of the film is of Tanner¹s first run on a clean stretch of road. And, yes, the road was closed.

    WARNING: The following video was performed by a professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt what you are about to see

  • Attorneys General Upset That Craigslist Is Profiting From Procedure He Forced Craigslist To Put In Place

    The grandstanding of some Attorneys General never ceases — even when they created the “problem” they’re now grandstanding against. Case in point: Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and his crusade against Craigslist. Two years ago, Blumenthal blamed Craigslist for prostitution ads that appear on the site. Blumenthal, as the state Attorney General should know about the law, right? He should know that he has no legal basis for this complaint, and that under Section 230 of the CDA, Craigslist is not liable for the actions of its users. In fact, legal attempts to pin the blame for such ads on Craigslist have been quickly dismissed on just those grounds. Even more importantly, from a common sense standpoint, Blumenthal should realize that when police work with Craigslist in partnership, they’re able to use it as an effective tool to track down lawbreakers who use the site.

    But that doesn’t get headlines.

    Instead, Blumenthal, based on no legal basis whatsoever, used his soapbox (along with some other attorneys general) to get Craigslist to changing its policies on “adult” advertisements. Whereas, previously, those ads had been free, Craigslist now required that anyone putting up such ads pay for them with a valid credit card, eliminating many of the ads and making it much, much easier to track down whoever placed them in the first place. You would think that would make the AGs happy. Six months later, however, the AGs were still upset, and got Craigslist to change again, boosting the fee on such ads from $5 to $10 and reviewing more of the ads.

    Almost all of these moves came in response to public posturing and baseless legal threats from Blumenthal. So what’s he doing now?

    He’s apparently doing more public posturing and issuing more baseless legal threats, because Craigslist stands to make an awful lot of money from these ads — the very same ads that Craigslist only started charging for because of Blumenthal’s pressure:


    “I believe Craigslist acted irresponsibly when it unilaterally decided to keep the profits from these posts,” Mr. Blumenthal wrote in the letter…

    Yes, and I believe Blumenthal acted irresponsibly when he put bogus grandstanding pressure on Craigslist to put in place the tollbooth in the first place. At what point does he recognize that Craigslist isn’t the target here. It’s the people using Cragslist to break the law — and that Craigslist is more than willing to help law enforcement track down those law breakers?

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  • M55 EVO-001 Is The "Ferrari of Electric Bikes" [Bicycles]

    Electric bikes come into their own when you’re pushing up a big hill or embarking on a long journey. The M55 Bike EVO-001 is claiming that after three years’ development, they’ve got the “Ferrari of electric bikes.” Sounds…fast? More »







  • Brazil’s Cure For High Blood Pressure? More Sex

    Brazilians are a passionate people. Unfortunately, they are also a people with high blood pressure. But the country’s health minister is telling Brazilians that a good place to fight heart problems is between the sheets.

    Speaking yesterday in Brasilia to announce a new national campaign against high blood pressure, minister Jose Temporao ran down the regular list of ways to ways to reduce blood pressure — diet, exercise, regular blood-pressure checks — and he also reminded everyone that one way to get a good cardiovascular workout is with more sexytime, adding, “always with protection, obviously.”

    According to the Health Ministry in Brazil, in just three years the rate of high blood pressure in the South American nation has risen from 21.5% to 24.4%.

    For what it’s worth, the American Heart Association estimates that over 70 million adults in the U.S. have high blood pressure. So maybe it’s time we got our collective swerve on… in the name of healthy hearts everywhere.

    Brazilian official urges countrymen to have more sex to fight high blood pressure

  • QUOTE: Speed is the most important feature. If your

    Speed is the most important feature. If your application is slow, people won’t use it. I see this more with mainstream users than I do with power users. I think that power users sometimes have a bit of sympathetic eye to the challenges of building really fast web apps, and maybe they’re willing to live with it, but when I look at my wife and kids, they’re my mainstream view of the world. If something is slow, they’re just gone.

    —Fred Wilson offers “10 Golden Principles of Successful Web Apps”

  • 2011 Nissan Leaf – Feature

    With its new Leaf, Nissan is blowing in the wind, and the wind these days blows toward electric vehicles. Scheduled to arrive in minuscule numbers (fewer than 500 cars) at the end of 2010, the Leaf is the fully electric commuter car Nissan has been promising for several years. The Japanese automaker says the Leaf is the lead vehicle in a full line of electric cars now on the drawing board.

    Keep Reading: 2011 Nissan Leaf – Feature

    Related posts:

    1. 2011 Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle – Official Photos and Info
    2. Nissan Leaf Pricing Clarified (Somewhat)
    3. Nissan Leaf Priced at $32,780—Or Less

  • The BlackBerry OS 6.0 sneak preview pays tribute to… the iPhone?

    The first time the world ever saw the original iPhone, they saw a pair of clownfish, emerging from a tangle of anemone, set as the lockscreen wallpaper. Pulled straight from OS X’s wallpaper collection, this image would go on to be used in countless first-gen iPhone marketing materials; wherever the iPhone 2G went, so did the clownfish.

    Now, take a closer look at that BlackBerry OS 6.0 sneak preview video from earlier. Skip to the 50 second mark. Notice anything funny? Its.. the same.. clown fish.


  • 2011 Scion iQ – Feature

    What it is: Barely larger but far more practical than a Smart Fortwo, the Scion iQ is a rebadged version of Toyota’s iQ city car currently sold in Japan and Europe.

    Keep Reading: 2011 Scion iQ – Feature

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  • Alaska Bering Sea Crabber Provides Insight and Lessons Learned from the Alaskan Crab Catch Share Program

    As New England’s groundfish fishery prepares to move to cooperative-based catch share management later this week, Jim Stone from the Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers provides insight and lessons learned from the Alaskan crab catch share program. In a column in the Juneau Empire, Jim, a 32-year fisherman, highlights the safety benefits, increased catch, and better jobs that have accompanied catch share management in Alaska’s crab fishery.

    Read the full post »

  • Zeemote bluetooth controller gets some Android love

    It’s only taken about a billion years, but the Zeemote, your friendly neighborhood analog Bluetooth controller, has finally started supporting Android. Their new SDK for 1.6 and higher will allow developers to enable Zeemote input in “a matter of hours,” though the real question is whether there are enough games worth playing with the thing on Android?

    Although I enjoy using the platform, I’ve found the game selection seriously lacking compared to the iPhone’s. It’s younger, of course, and less profitable to develop for at the moment, but it’s growing and with more powerful hardware coming out almost weekly, it really is just a matter of time (we hope) until we get some seriously cool games on the thing.

    [via Phandroid]


  • Research Update: Suppressing HCV After a Liver Transplant

    To help prevent Hepatitis C from destroying their new liver, researchers from Japan devised a way to improve immune response in people with Hepatitis C who undergo a liver transplant.

    by Nicole Cutler, L.Ac.

    Receiving a liver transplant may be the last chance at survival for someone whose Hepatitis C has progressed to end-stage liver disease. By removing a severely diseased liver with a healthy one, liver transplants appear to be an opportunity for someone with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) to live a virus-free life.

    However, nearly all liver transplant recipients become re-infected with Hepatitis C almost immediately following their surgery. In an attempt to prevent HCV from infecting their new liver, clinicians have been scrambling for solutions to this re-infection problem. By stepping outside the box of traditional HCV treatment, researchers from Japan have devised a novel, promising strategy to prevent Hepatitis C from inundating newly transplanted livers.

    The number one cause of liver transplants in America, HCV has emerged as a premier health problem. Experts estimate that around 200 million people are infected with Hepatitis C worldwide. Usually progressing to a chronic illness, approximately 50 percent of those with HCV can be cured with the current standard of therapy, pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

    Unfortunately, those who have had this virus for decades and do not respond to HCV therapy are vulnerable to progressive liver damage. If HCV wrecks enough havoc on the liver, liver failure and liver cancer are two potentially devastating outcomes. These are the people whose last resort might be a successful liver transplant.

    A major challenge facing liver transplant recipients and their physicians is the recurrence of HCV infection. Within the first few days after transplant surgery, it is common for Hepatitis C viral loads to climb back up to the levels before the transplant. In fact, the viral load often exceeds pre-transplantation levels. Experts believe this is due to the suppression of the immune system that results from the immunosuppressive drugs used to prevent rejection of the transplanted liver.

    Keeping this deficit of the immune response in mind, researchers from Hiroshima University in Japan conducted a trial to test the HCV suppression ability of transplanted immune cells. As published in the November 2009 edition of Journal of Clinical Investigation, the researchers performed the following sequence of events. They:

    · Extracted immune cells known as lymphocytes from the donor livers before the transplant

    · Activated the lymphocytes in vitro

    · Injected the activated lymphocytes into the patients three days after they had received their liver transplants

    The researchers found that this ingenious method worked, by keeping HCV levels low in most of the HCV-infected patients who received a liver transplant.

    Numbering about one trillion in each individual, lymphocytes are small white blood cells that conduct most of the immune system’s actions. There are two main categories of lymphocytes: B cells and T cells.

    · B cells – produce specific antibodies to infectious microorganisms.

    · T cells – kill infectious microorganisms by destroying the body cells that are infected. In addition, T cells release chemicals called cytokines that initiate the immune response.

    More research is required to investigate the clinical applicability of injecting lymphocytes to suppress Hepatitis C. However, the authors of this study believe they have developed a novel paradigm for the inhibition of viral replication in HCV-infected liver transplantation recipients.

    References:

    http://thyroid.about.com/library/immune/blimm06.htm, Understanding the Immune
    System, Mary J. Shomon, Retrieved January 7, 2010, about.com, 2010.

    http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsRev/2010/NewsRev-342.html#_Keeping_Hepatitis_C, Keeping Hepatitis C Virus at Bay after a Liver Transplant, Retrieved January 5, 2010, Hepatitis C Support Project, 2010.

    http://www.jci.org/articles/view/38374, Adoptive immunotherapy with liver allograft-derived lymphocytes induces anti-HCV activity after liver transplantation in humans and humanized mice, Masahiro Ohira, et al, Retrieved January 5, 2010, Journal of Clinical Investigation, November 2009.

    http://www.medsci.org/v03p0079.htm, Management of HCV Infection and Liver Transplantation,Thomas D. Schiano, Paul Martin, Retrieved January 7, 2010, International Journal of Medical Sciences, April 2006.

  • EPA building competition will look for biggest energy loser

    The Sheraton Austin Hotel will compete on the EPA energy contest.

    The Sheraton Austin Hotel will compete in the EPA energy contest.

    From Green Right Now Reports

    Move over, Project Runway and The Biggest Loser. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it will sponsor the first national energy efficiency contest of its kind among a field of 14 commercial buildings from across the country.  The building that sheds the most energy waste on a percentage basis will be declared the winner at EPA’s final weigh-in on Oct. 26, 2010.

    This will be one contest where you won’t have to feel sorry for the “losers” — by trimming kilowatt hours off the bottom line, each building will still save money and help fight climate change.

    EPA officials said nearly 200 applications were received for the contest. The 14 finalists will be judged on their energy performance from Sept. 1, 2009 to Aug. 31, 2010. The energy use of each building is being monitored with EPA’s Energy Star online energy measurement and tracking tool, Portfolio Manager. Television personality Bob Harper will also provide energy fitness tips for the contestants through a series of videos that will be available on the Web site.

    EPA’s National Building Competition contestants are:

    • 522 Fifth Avenue Building, New York, N.Y.
    • 1525 Wilson Boulevard Building, Arlington, Va.
    • Crystal River Elementary School, Carbondale, Colo.
    • Courtyard by Marriott San Diego Downtown, San Diego, Calif.
    • JCPenney Store 1778, Orange, Calif.
    • Maplewood Mall, St. Paul, Minn.
    • Memorial Arts Building at the Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Ga.
    • Morrison Residence Hall at UNC Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C.
    • Sears, Glen Burnie, Md.
    • Sheraton Austin Hotel, Austin, Texas
    • Solon Family Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio
    • Tucker Residence Hall at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
    • Van Holten Primary School, Bridgewater, N.J.
    • Virginia Beach Convention Center, Virginia Beach, Va.

    “It’s time for buildings to tighten their belts and we’re happy to help them go on an energy diet,” Gina McCarthy, EPA assistant administrator for air and radiation, said in a statement. “Cutting energy use will reduce their monthly expenses and their carbon footprint, showing that environmental protection and economic growth can go hand in hand.”

    The competition web site will provide profiles of each contestant and chronicle their progress, as well as feature advice for contestants from EPA and leading building efficiency specialists. Each building also will participate in mid-point and final contest weigh-ins and the results will be posted online at the competition Web site. Twitter updates by contestants also will be available.

    According to the EPA, energy use in commercial buildings accounts for 17 percent of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions at a cost of more than $100 billion per year. On average, 30 percent of the energy used in commercial buildings is wasted.

    Thousands of businesses and organizations now work with the EPA’s Energy Star program and are saving billions of dollars and preventing millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions from entering our atmosphere each year.

  • 2012 Alfa Romeo Giulietta – Feature

    What it is: An Italian five-door hatchback about the size of a VW Golf.

     

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  • 2012 Cadillac ATS – Feature

    What it is: A new smaller-than-CTS sedan, coupe, and possibly convertible with a front-engine, rear-drive layout (like the CTS). The ATS is supposed to deliver—because of its more compact dimensions—the dynamics of the vaunted BMW 3-series.

    Keep Reading: 2012 Cadillac ATS – Feature

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  • Lawyers for Congo rebel leader Bemba argue legality of charges

    [JURIST] Defense lawyers for Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) former vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba argued before the International Criminal Court (ICC) Tuesday that charges against their client should be dropped. His lawyers argued that he has been denied due process and that the charges are illegal. Bemba was originally set to go on trial on war crimes charges on Tuesday, but the trial was postponed until July 5 to allow the court more time to consider the defense’s motion on the admissibility of the case, filed in February.
    In December, the ICC ordered Bemba to remain in custody until his trial. The ruling reversed a decision issued in August ordering Bemba’s conditional release. The order for release was opposed by ICC prosecutors who appealed the original decision. The ICC has ordered Bemba to stand trial for war crimes allegedly committed in the Central African Republic (CAR) from October 2002 to May 2003. Bemba was arrested in Belgium in May 2008 after the ICC issued a warrant for his arrest for his actions in the CAR. He was indicted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity and transferred to the ICC in July 2008.