Walgreen said on Tuesday it plans to start stocking gene testing kits this week made by Pathway Genomics, a start-up company based in San Diego. The deal with Pathway would make it the first to put such tests in a local pharmacy, over the counter. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) says it has no record that the test kit was approved or validated by the agency and plans to take a hard look at the claims made by the company (citation).

Why should one have their DNA tested? The company encourages that everyone has the right to know the hidden secrets in their DNA. This way you can identify your genetic drug and health response, personalize your medical care, help your doctor help you and uncovour your ancestral path. With the test you can take steps to improve your future and possibly extend your life span. Pathway Genomics provides top of the line research and scientific information that is easy to understand and customized for you.

So how does it work? Follow the easy step-by-step instructions in the kit. You collect a small amount of your saliva in the tube that’s provided then mail it out to their secure onsite CLIA-certified lab. Your personal information is protected for privacy purposes. Once it gets to the lab, scientists conduct Comprehensive Genotyping which is the analysis of DNA sequences called SNPs. When your results are ready, the company informs you of the outcome of your test along with health recommendations  to help prevent anything you’re at risk for. They also provide ongoing support from genetic counselours to help you fully understand your results (citation).

Benefits include low cost of each initial report, low cost of each subsequent report, no new sample collection or excessive delay in getting subsequent reports and additional interpretations based on new science.

You inherit half of your genetic information from your mum and the other half from your father. Genes, alone or in combination, determine what features (genetic traits) a person inherits from his or her parents, such as blood type, hair colour, eye colour, and other characteristics, including risks of developing certain diseases. Certain changes in genes or chromosomes may cause medical problems.

However, the product’s introduction raises immediate concerns among scientists, bio-ethicists and genetic counselours. They worry that consumers will misuse or misunderstand the results of a test so open to interpretation it is potentially meaningless, or frightening, especially without a full medical assessment. Also, there is a fear of genetic discrimination which occurs when people are treated differently by their employer or insurance company because they have a gene mutation that causes or increases the risk of an inherited disorder.

LINKS:

Pathway Genomics Website

More News On Genetic Testing

Pros and Cons Of Genetic Testing

The formula for a horror film from Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes production house seems to have become quite standard and it’s all here along with the now traditional "hook ‘em" opening sequence, the series of stupid scenarios serving the paper thin plot and the jump scare coda reminding us there could always be a sequel if audiences spend enough money. Sure, we’re watching a movie about a pedophile come back from the dead to kill high school teens in their dreams, but that doesn’t need to result in a film this uninspired, derivative and just plain absent-minded (Clay Cane: Whattheflick).

 1981 original focusing on a group of high schoolers suffering from terrible nightmares in which a horribly disfigured man by the name of Freddy Krueger haunts them and has the power to kill them in their dreams. Remember, if you die in your dreams you die for real. While the original did its best to come up with original ways to involve Freddy and his potential victims, this remake just regurgitates a few of those while adding several unimaginative entries in a lackluster attempt to modernize a film that never really felt all that dated.

Dedicated to jump scares more than any real sense of dread, the worst use of the cheap thrill comes in the form of "micro-naps," a word one of the teens finds while researching insomnia on the Internet. While micro-naps are indeed real, their use in this film isn’t concerned with any form of reality. According to our expert after his diligent online search, this means you will be dreaming, but you won’t know it. You’re just walking around (or driving) and dreaming while fully awake, offering up the perfect scenario for Freddy Krueger to pop up here and there accompanied by loud screeches. SCREACHEEACKAREEEE! Scared? Perhaps this explains why our characters seem to be falling asleep in every scenario imaginable, even while jacked on adrenaline (FearNet).

Five days after the product launch of the decade, the iPad if you hadn’t guessed, Steve Jobs was fielding questions at a press conference on Apple’s (AAPL) Cupertino campus. The iPad release had been a stadium-style show, full of stagecraft and choreography meant to wow a global audience. The follow-up was more like a club gig for the truly devoted. The purpose was to show off some improvements to the software that powers the iPad, as well as the iPhone and the iPod touch. Surrounded by journalists and bloggers as interested in the guts of his creation as its flawless skin, Jobs, still gaunt from a cancer-related liver transplant about a year ago, was loose and commanding, his energy and wit at full force. Asked why Apple hadn’t yet included the ability to run small, portable chunks of code called Widgets on the iPad, he grinned. “We only shipped it on Saturday,” Jobs said. “And on Sunday we rested.”

It was a joke, of sorts. Apple is not divine, though anyone who rode the stock from $3 to $247 since Jobs’ 1997 return from cancer to the company might disagree. What Apple has come to resemble is an endlessly expanding cosmos. More than 85 million iPhones and iPod touches are in existence, up from zero in July 2007. IPhone users have downloaded 4 billion apps from Apple’s App Store, and more than 10 billion songs, 33 million movies, and 250 million TV shows from iTunes. IPhone owners, who make up just 2.2% of total mobile-phone consumers worldwide, according to market research firm IDC, chug 64% of all mobile browsing minutes, says Net Applications, another research firm. According to Apple, 500,000 iPads have already been sold, increasing the number of people who have access to a rich life, full of endless media and communication options, without ever leaving the Apple platform (Yahoo!Finance).

Apple’s neatest trick is that this platform would expand even if Apple were sitting still  and it’s not. Forget Apple’s 34,000 salaried employees. More than 125,000 developers now work to make apps for Apple products. Apple pays them nothing. They sign contracts agreeing to Apple’s rigorous terms in the hope that users will buy their apps or view ads on them. In the hope, really, of becoming another little planet orbiting Apple’s sun—with the truly lucky ones landing a spot in the company’s TV spots.

In the quarter ended Mar. 31, the company blew past analysts estimates with sales growth of 49%, to $13.5 billion, while profits soared by 90%, to $3.07 billion. That included record sales of the iPhone, up 131% from the previous year. Jobs even broke from his typically tight script to note: “We have several more extraordinary products in the pipeline for this year.” That could be because a midlevel engineer celebrating a birthday left a prototype of an upcoming iPhone model in a bar on Apr. 18, stealing the element of surprise. Still, there’s little doubt Apple remains on the march into new markets, creating even more of a reason for developers to hitch their wagon to Apple (BindApple).

For Apple, it’s a Wintel-like cycle in which new Apple hardware drives the creation and purchase of new apps. Except it’s better than Wintel; the combination of Intel processor running Microsoft’s Windows operating system never really managed to leap from PCs to other devices. Apple has constructed its empire so that almost anything you buy on iTunes—and Apple has your credit-card information with your first purchase—can run on any future iProduct. “The laws of nature say that [Apple is] making too much damn money, that this has to be unsustainable,” says David J. Eiswert, who runs T. Rowe Price’s (TROW) $312 million Global Technology Fund (PRGTX). “But who is going to stop them?”

LINKS:

All Apple Apps Up To Date

Apple Inc. And Its History

Apple’s Website

Several lines of evidence, including the universal tendency of toddlers and the elderly to nap in the afternoon and the afternoon nap of siesta cultures, have led sleep researchers to the same conclusion: nature intended that we take a nap in the middle of the day. This biological readiness to fall asleep in the mid-afternoon coincides with a slight drop in body temperature and occurs regardless of whether we eat lunch. It is present even in good sleepers who are well rested. Sleep researchers have also discovered that the afternoon dip in mood and alertness is associated with poorer performance, particularly after a night of sleep loss, and a simultaneous increase in sleepiness-related accidents. In fact, deaths from all causes show a secondary peak in the afternoon after a nocturnal peak, presumably from sleepiness-related accidents (HealthCentral).

Other evidence for a biological propensity for a mid-afternoon nap includes: sleepiness increases in the mid-afternoon; the afternoon nap is the last to be given up by children; older adults revert to afternoon naps; and, adult naps are almost always taken in the afternoon;

A mid-day nap is an integral part of the daily routine of many cultures, particularly those near the equator. This suggests that napping may have been part of an evolutionary mechanism to get us out of the hot midday sun. However, because the urge for a nap is appreciably weaker than the need to sleep at night, it can be suppressed or masked by caffeine but at the cost of increased sleepiness and reduced mood and performance. Also, because naps conflict with work schedules, they are becoming less common in industrialized societies with the exception of college students and the elderly, who have more regular opportunities to nap. Unfortunately, this decline in napping may be causing poorer afternoon alertness and performance (TalkAboutSleep).

Research on napping suggests that an afternoon nap as short as ten minutes can enhance alertness, mood, and mental performance, especially after a night of poor sleep. Several studies also suggest that polyphasic sleep in the form of 30 minute naps taken regularly (every 4 hours) is the only way to reduce nocturnal sleep below 5-6 hours and still maintain performance. Studies on solo yacht racers indicate that winner’s average about five hours of sleep in the form of brief naps throughout the 24 hour day. In one study, subjects were allowed 20 minutes of rest/nap every 6 hours during a 64 hour work period. Results suggested that baseline levels of cognitive functions were maintained.

If you have an opportunity for an afternoon nap, particularly after a poor night of sleep, take one; you will feel more alert and energetic afterwards. Following a mid-afternoon nap, performance may temporarily deteriorate due to grogginess. However, once sleep inertia dissipates (usually 5-20 minutes), mood, energy, and subjective alertness improve beyond baseline; in sleep-deprived individuals, objective alertness and performance also improve. In non-sleep deprived individuals, improvements in performance have also been documented when measured 1.5 to 12 hours after a nap, particularly when naps are scheduled in preparation for all-night work shift. Naps should be limited to 45 minutes and avoided after 4:00 p.m.;otherwise, one may enter deep sleep, which may cause grogginess for a period of time after the nap and reduce the pressure for sleep that night (WorldVillage).

Interestingly, there is no evidence that nap benefits are tied to a specific sleep stage. Also, there is evidence that simply resting in the mid-afternoon can improve mood. Sleep itself may not be the crucial factor in the positive effects of afternoon naps on improving mood; what may be important is an afternoon period of relaxation common to both resting and napping.

In summary, napping is normal and beneficial in terms of reducing sleepiness and increasing performance. Optimum human performance appears best served by at least biphasic sleep and perhaps polyphasic sleep.

LINKS:

15 Facts About Napping

How To Get A Good Nap

News Clip About Naps

Bono was inspired to get involved in charity work after seeing The Secret Policeman’s Ball in 1979. In 1986 he helped organize Amnesty International’s Conspiracy Of Hope tour alongside Sting, who was one of the Secret Policeman’s Ball performers seen by Bono, Peter Gabriel, Lou Reed, and Bryan Adams. He also got involved in the Band Aid and Live Aid projects which were organized by Bob Geldof – another Secret Policeman’s Ball performer, and later helped Geldof organize the 2005 Live 8 project.

His first contact with charitable causes was in 1986, prior to the Conspiracy of Hope tour, when World Vision invited him to Ethiopia. While there, Bono developed an education program with his wife, Ali, that used one-act plays and songs to spread information on health, hygiene, and other issues. He released a book of photos he took during the trip called “String Of Pearls”.

It’s perhaps unsurprising that Bono’s unusual adult existence was preceded by a less-than-ordinary upbringing. Born in the north Dublin suburb of Ballymun, Paul Hewson was the second child of Catholic father Brendan Robert Hewson (always called Bobby), and Protestant mother Iris Elizabeth Rankin – a highly unusual arrangement in then deeply sectarian Ireland. As a child Paul Hewson was a precocious, outspoken and thoughtful boy whose early experiences did much to shape his later life as one of the most important figures in Irish history.

As a child, his education started at The Inkwell, a small Protestant Church of Ireland junior school, before eventually continuing on to St. Patrick’s Cathedral Choir School. But his time there was unsuccessful; as Bono put it, “I spent a year at St. Patrick’s, not being happy, and basically they asked me to leave.” This was largely a result of the young Paul throwing dog feces at his Spanish teacher, which subsequently led to his enrollment in 1972 at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, a controversial establishment that was Ireland’s first co-educational, non-denominational high school. Paul settled in very quickly and soon became well-adjusted and happy in his new environment.

Bono has long been involved in a variety of causes outside of U2. His work as an activist, due largely to his Christian beliefs, began in earnest when, inspired by Live Aid, he traveled to Ethiopia to work in a feeding camp with his wife Ali and the charity World Vision. Bono also went to Central America in 1985 to see the damage wrought by US-backed operations in Nicaragua and El Salvador, after which he and U2 toured as part of the Amnesty International benefit tour, A Conspiracy of Hope.

In the 1990s, he campaigned with Greenpeace against the nuclear power plant Sellafield in the north of England, and drew attention to the conflict raging in Bosnia by collaborating with the US journalist Bill Carter during the Zoo TV tour to create the award-winning documentary, Miss Sarajevo.

Since the millennium, he has rallied numerous actors, artists and campaigners to the cause of ending Third World debt in his role as spokesman for the Jubilee 2000 project, as well as trying to end AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa by co-founding the lobbying organisation DATA (Debt, Aid, Trade, Africa) in 2002, the ONE Campaign to Make Poverty History (USA) in 2004, and the Make Poverty History movement (UK) in 2005. The latter two are coalitions of NGOs, faith groups and individuals working to end extreme poverty. Bono was equally key in performing in and helping to organise (along with friend Bob Geldof) the Live 8 concerts in 2005, a series of events across the globe designed to pressure world leaders to increase aid, cancel Third World debt and improve the terms of trade with the world’s poorest countries.

Today, Bono continues to perorm with his band, U2, while participating in several charites around the world. His inspiring work is an example on how one person can bring about a great difference on this planet for the better.

LINKS:

http://www.atu2.com/band/bono/

http://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/245-u2

http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/u2/biography

Their first names have become synonymous with outrage and grief: Megan, Jessica, Samantha, Amber. Now, 17 year old Chelsea King and 14 year old Amber Dubois join the list of young lives that are likely cut short by sexual predators. And as in each of the previous cases, the heartbreaking discovery of the child’s body is followed by a renewed determination to enact stricter laws, to toughen sentences and intensify monitoring and to do anything, to keep children safe.

And they do try. But these murders continue despite sex offender registries and Jessica’s Law, which restricted where offenders can live and strapped global positioning systems on the ankles of about 6,700 perpetrators. They come after laws permitting chemical castration and the indefinite confinement of certain high-risk offenders to psychiatric facilities. And still, a registered sex offender, John Albert Gardner III, is suspected in both of the latest cases.

Remarkably, 90% of child victims know their offender, with almost half being a family member.

Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, whose district includes Poway, home to King, and Escondido, home to Dubois, was right on target when he called last week for a complete evaluation of the state’s incoherent, patchwork approach to sex offenders. He was also right to hold off on the instantaneous creation of “Chelsea’s Law.” But something stll has to be done.

Studies have shown that sex criminals have deep psychological problems as well as physical ones. Social scientists have concluded that these sex offenders are the least likely to reform among all types of criminals. They should be held up to different judicial and legal standards as other criminals considering the high rate of recurrence. In fact, the justice system in some areas already has a different way of dealing with sex offenders.

Scientists also say that one of the things that make it difficult to stop sexual predators is the fact that their anti-social behavior is mostly invisible to most, except, sadly, to their victims. They are not the type of criminals that are easy to spot or who act suspiciously and avoid coming into contact with law enforcement officers or agencies. On the contrary, many sexual predators have established themselves and are familiar figures in the community or neighborhood. They make their dark side known only when they strike.

The California law that provides for this civil commitment will be brought up before California voters in November, with the key issue being whether these civil commitments should be extended indefinitely for certain criminals that psychological experts consider as continuing threats to society.

Today, convicted sexual offenders face up to a two-year “civil commitment” to a locked-down facility in addition to whatever prison sentence they receive. This is because it is considered likely they may re-offend and are not ready to be returned to society.

The rest of the country will likely keep its eyes trained on California to see how effective their approach to sex offenders will be and if it is worthy of emulation. The bottom line is that this issue needs to be stopped or children’s lives will continuously be in danger.

LINKS:

http://www.coveprep.com/myths.asp

http://www.cbs8.com/Global/story.asp?S=12108493

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/03/experts-predator-laws-not-working/

A city advisory committee was supposed to evaluate the proposals of four companies seeking to run the city’s paid parking. However, what the committee did instead was send a clear message that they’re opposed to paid parking.

Members of an advisory committee made up of business leaders were supposed to recommend which two of four proposals from parking companies were best for the city. But committee member Harvey Fox says that, “None of the parking proposals are worthy to recommend to the City Council.”

But they didn’t stop there. Most of the committee made it clear that no plan that includes charging for parking is right for Saratoga Springs. Committee member and Saratoga Chamber of Commerce President Joe Dalton says, “Asking for us to endorse one or two of those proposals is almost a second hand endorsement of paid parking and we are adamantly opposed to that.”

Charles Wait, President of Adirondack Trust, recalled that “In 1973, we were ripping parking meters out of downtown Saratoga because nobody was coming here. And right now, you have nicely renovated downtowns in Glens Falls and Schenectady and they’re beginning to renovate the City of Troy and they have free parking in those cities and shoppers will go where there’s least resistance. So I think paid parking is a mistake. “

The problem is the city has already banked on the revenue from paid parking. They budgeted $1.3 million dollars in income from parking revenues in this year’s budget. So if paid parking goes down, as it appears it will, something has to give. City Finance Commissioner Ken Ivins says layoffs may be the answer to a budget shortfall. “We either have to find another revenue source or we’re looking at additional cuts, possible layoffs,” Ivins said.

Other revenue sources being talked about include an increase in the occupancy tax that hotel guests will pay and an increase in sales tax.

 ”The city council won’t make any decisions until the publics’ voices are heard. We need input from business owners and residents before anything happens. We need to make this decision as a city to make the best sense for everyone,” Mayor Scott Johnson said. “On the other hand, if we do nothing, the topic will just come up again and again. Together we have to decide what we want as a city, what services to provide and how to pay for these services.”

LINKS:

 http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S1431694.shtml?cat=300 (video)

http://www.saratogian.com/articles/2010/02/18/news/doc4b7cacae7dc13553063329.txt (more info)

http://www.fox23news.com/news/local/story/No-Paid-Parking-In-Saratoga/zYWt34H-4E2pIOZXbG6d6w.cspx (more info)

In Kabul, Afghanistan, 165 dead bodies were recovered so far on Febuary 10th due to a powerful avalanche.

Helicopters ferried rescuers and bodies away from the site of a massive avalanche. Some of the victims were found frozen to death inside their vehicles, while in other cases, their bodies were strewn along the road.

The ferocity of the avalanches was so great that windows of cars and buses were smashed while some tumbled into the valley below.

Some 400 police along with 100 local volunteers have been involved in the frantic effort to dig out survivors in the last 24 hours. 135 bodies have been taken to Parwan province to the north, while the remainder were taken to Baglan province in the south.

Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said that rescuers have also recovered a number of bodies along the Salang Pass, which is a key road that connects the Afghan capital with the north. Bashary said 1.5 miles of road have been cleared for emergency ambulances, bulldozers and other road clearing equipment to get through. About 3000 people have been rescued so far but it is still unclear how many are left.

A series of multiple avalanches that began Monday along the 12,700 foot high pass closed off roads and stranded hundreds of people in snow-bound vehicles.

On Tuesday, President Hamid Karzai ordered authorities to make every effort possible to quickly reopen the pass and provide aid to everyone in need.

Experts say heavy rains and ferocious winds loosened mountainfuls of snow setting off 17 avalanches along a 9 mile long stretch of the highway. Rescuers from the nearest village found a bus that had been buried with just the rear bumper sticking out. They started digging and found 14 people still alive who were closest to the surafce. Yet piled beneath them were 40 dead passengers.

There are still alot of cars under the snow. Rescue workers began working there with shovels, the only tools they had, and not many of them; there were at least 5 workers for every shovel. They soon struck metal of a roof. It was a Wednesday afternoon, 2 full days after the avalanches began.

Defence ministry official Ahmad Zia Aftali said that the government is now planning to ask the international coalition for additional equipment, including metal detectors, to aid the search. He said they do not expect to find anyone still alive.

Family members of the victims are grieving over the tradgic loss of their loved ones, and have fear that there are more to still be discovered.