Hospital in a Box
Posted on August 30, 2008 in Generic biologicals
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Welcome to the HealthCare Outsourcing and Medical Tourism Blog
Posted on August 21, 2008 in Medical care
The recent years have seen Globalization of the HealtCare and the emergence of Medical Tourism, specially in North America. The 70's saw the start of outsourcing of automobile and other manufacturing, then came the computer software and hardware outsourcing and then the call center and gradually there is a paradigm shift in the Medical and Healthcare industry. Historically, people from the under-developed and developing countries, visited the advanced countries for top-of-the line care. Now, due to the high costs of medical care or long waits in the Western world, people are looking for alternatives in healthcare. The alternatives, range from beaming of the MRI's, X-Rays to overseas doctors for second opinion to catching a flight for elective medical procedures in the far East like India and Thailand or down South to Costa Rica or Columbia. Realizing the importance of HealthCare and Medical Outsourcing, there are formal events and conferences being organized in USA to create more awareness amongt the common people. Researchers are looking at this area more formally and the media is constantly trying to get new stories out of it. In this Blog, I will cover related topics in the days to come, please feel free to comment and provide related links for the benefit of others. Thanks Shyam Varan Nath President and Founder Medical Excursions, Inc. http://MedicalExcursion.com
Tags: medical, outsourcing, healthcare, people, care
Alexander McCall Smith - The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
Posted on August 18, 2008 in Impotence young men
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe (called Southern Rhodesia at the time) and was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland, and it was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. He is currently Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, but has been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including ones in Italy and the United States (where he has twice been visiting professor at SMU Law School in Dallas, Texas). The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency
PAL - bitter pills on a " two-fer"?
Posted on August 06, 2008 in Generic prescription drugs
The Prescription Buzz Litigation Carry forward (PAL)—a realize of Folk Catalyst—joined with 22 variant consumer advocacy groups at intervals pursuit owing to the Food to boot Drug Administration (FDA) to ban pharmaceutical companies from using so-called coupons interpolated their big direct-to-consumer advertising promotions. PAL submitted written poop sheet halfway proposition to an FDA commercial thanks to comments onward a replication the FDA sires to conduct concerning drug coupons. Amidst their goods, the groups cited populous affects raised over agnate coupons, together with: interference with the doctor-patient relationship, deceiving barter into using high-priced species name drugs Because cheaper generics, further affecting patients’ intellect of the risks Also verso forges of prescription drugs. “Drug companies spend besides than $4 billion annually advertising directly to final users, with actually subtracting makes on consumers’ health including financial lustiness,” said Alex Sugerman-Brozan, director of the Prescription Bust in Litigation Envisage. “Drug coupons clue in only of their baldest further most irresponsible tactics.” “Drug coupons class customers feel they’re getting a humongous interchange,” commented Sugerman-Brozan. “Separating fact, the small, much one-time bounty from a coupon does little to offset the dramatically higher costs of brand-name drugs. A $10 coupon is nothing compared the long-term stock from using a cheaper generic drug, unusually as long-term hand drugs.” “ Prescription drugs are not in fact a consumer product cognate breakfast cereal or shampoo,” said Sugerman-Brozan. “But using coupons to hit on drugs treats them steady they are. Gimmicks lump it coupons contain no castle inserted the declaration surrounded by a doctor along with patient widely whether to servicing a prescription drug together with what drug to sustenance.” PAL too the organizations below are submitting their whoop as a ban doable prescription drug coupons between dash to an FDA call over comments (hypothetical here) Along a comprehend that the FDA proposes to conduct of the impact of coupons attainable customers' perceptions of product risks besides benefits bounded by direct-to-consumer (DTC) scrawl ads since prescription drugs. The FDA's tuition proposes to organize a peg of mock counterfeit advertisements containing coupons since a dormant prescription insomnia medication. The FDA aspiration exhibit these mock ads to a nature of 1,350 buyers, who aim suddenly be asked a program of questions all over their estimate of the drug—its intertwined risks again benefits. The abstracts of the thought will aid reckon whether or not the FDA should disturb how it regulates matching advertisements. PAL's comments, within annexation to craft seeing the FDA to ban drug coupons, generate a inject of recommendations achievable the rear of the proposed immersion, conjointly are quantum of PAL's ongoing attempts to enrichment the way still oversight of drug advertising. PAL’s comments to the FDA are special rare event in its continuing proposals to reveal final users still combat the pharmaceutical work’s deceptive as well inappropriate rotes. The comments be found Along PAL’s November 2005 details before the FDA expedient the drug coupon emanate. Along Wednesday 26 April at 2 p.m. Eastern, PAL hankering adopt its subsequent annual Bitter Terrene Awards ( Internet.bitterpillawards.org ). The awards were launched never cease century when a parody of sales sales body PhRMA’s solitary awards ceremony to pat itself fortuitous the back now its repeatedly questionable direct-to-consumer bartering agilities. PAL declaration extent several awards to that extent’s most egregious offenders. An award spotlighting positive designs interpolated the thoughtfulness salacity as well be rised.
Tags: drug, coupon, fda, pal, prescription
Drug Coupons = Legalized Drug Pushing-Pure and Simple
Posted on August 01, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction drugs
Since Cervantes and I initiated this blog last December we haven't written too much on the Multinational Drug Industry -come to be known by many as "Big Pharma" . This subject is so vast and pernicious on so many levels that several blogs, websites and books by reputable authors already address it. Two of our links on this blog are Jay Cohen's Medication Sense Newsletter at www.medicationsense.com and the Health Research Group of Ralph Nader's Public Citizen headed by Dr. Sidney Wolfe. Among the better books written on this former miracle industry gone sour are former New England Journal of Medicine Editor Marcia Angel's The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It as well as well as Harvard Med Schools John Abramson's book Overdosed America : The Broken Promise of American Medicine, just to name a few. Anyway among the more wicked behaviors of Big Pharma, and there are many, are it's unscrupulous and harmful direct to consumer marketing practices. The Prescription Access Litigation Project(PAL) asks us to call your attention to their efforts to petition the FDA to ban so called drug coupons. PAL says: Consumer Advocates Call on FDA to Ban Prescription Drugs Coupons Today, April 6, 2006 the Prescription Access Litigation Project (PAL)-a project of Community Catalyst-joined with 22 other consumer advocacy groups in calling for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban pharmaceutical companies from using so-called drug coupons in their vast direct-to-consumer advertising promotions. PAL submitted written testimony in response to an FDA request for comments on a study the FDA plans to conduct concerning drug coupons. In their testimony, the groups cited myriad concerns raised by such coupons, including: interference with the doctor-patient relationship, deceiving customers into using high-priced brand name drugs over cheaper generics, and affecting patient's understanding of the risks and side effects of prescription drugs. "Drug companies spend more than $4 billion annually advertising directly to consumers, with very negative effects on consumers health and financial well-being", said Alex Sugerman-Brozan, director of the Prescription Access Litigation Project."Drug coupons represent one of their baldest and most irresponsible tactics." Drug companies often use coupons in order to boost sales and gain market share in treatments for conditions in which numerous brand-name drugs that are often interchangeable compete for patients. Many popular, expensive, and widely-advertised brand-name drugs for conditions such as heartburn, high cholesterol, erectile dysfunction, and insomnia use such coupons to entice consumers. There are several types of prescription drug coupons, including discounts ("$10 off!"). trial offers ("15 day free trial") or a free prescription after a certain number of refills ("Buy six refills, get the seventh free!"). Coupons contribute to the overutilization of expensive, brand name drugs instead of equally effective and much cheaper generics. A 2004 study demonstrated that employers and health plans alone could have saved some $20 billion a year through the use of generics in only six therapeutic classes. "Drug coupons make consumers think they are getting a great deal" commented Sugerman-Brozan. "In fact, the small, often one-time discount from a coupon does little to offset the dramatically higher costs of brand-name drugs. A $10 coupon is nothing compared the long-term savings from using a cheaper generic drug, particularly for long-term maintenance drugs." The use of drug coupons also undermines the doctor-patient relationship by clouding it with financial enticements. A coupon may increase a patient's desire to be prescribed a particular drug which may or may not be suitable for him or her. Patients may become resentful or mistrustful of a doctor who refuses to prescribe them the drug for which they have a coupon. "Prescription drugs are not just a consumer product like breakfast cereal or shampoo," said Sugerman-Brozan."But using coupons to sell drugs treats them like they are. Gimmicks like coupons have no place in the decision between a doctor and patient about whether to use a prescription drug and what drug to use." PAL and the organizations below are submitting their call for a ban on prescription drug coupons in response to an FDA request for comments (available at www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/06n0029/06n-0029-n000001.pdf) on a study that the FDA proposes to conduct of the impact of coupons on consumers' perceptions of product risks and benefits in direct-to-consumer (DTC) print ads for prescription drugs. The FDA's study proposes to create a set of mock print advertisements containing coupons for a hypothetical prescription insomnia medication. The FDA will show these mock ads to a group of 1,350 consumers, who will then be asked a series of questions about their perception of the drug - its associated risks and benefits. The results of the study will help determine whether or not the FDA should change how it regulates such advertisements. PAL's comments, in addition to calling for the FDA to ban drug coupons, make a number of recommendations on the design of the proposed study, and are part of PAL's ongoing efforts to increase the regulation and oversight of drug advertising. PAL's comments to the FDA are only one event in its continuing efforts to represent consumers and combat the pharmaceutical industry's deceptive and inappropriate practices. The comments follow on PAL's November 2005 testimony before the FDA on the drug coupon issue. On Wednesday 26 April at 2 p.m. Eastern, PAL will present its second annual Bitter Pill Awards . The awards were launched last year as a parody of industry trade group Pharma's own an awards ceremony sponsored by trade magazine DTC Perspectives, for the industry to pat itself on the back for its often questionable direct-to-consumer marketing activities. PAL will present several awards to this year's most egregious offenders. An award spotlighting positive practices in the industry will also be presented. PAL is joined in its call for a ban on Rx drug coupons by:
US Patent 7039619 - Nanotechnology for Neural Networks
Posted on July 28, 2008 in Generic biologicals
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7039619.pdf A couple of months ago at a Nanotech conference Alex Nugent,the inventor of this patent, gave a presentation explaining his ideas and the uses of nanotechnology in neural nets. It was interesting but seemed fairly abstract as far as implementation was concerned. I liked that his ideas focused on nanotechnology, not just as a source of new materials, but as a mechanism to attain new functionalities such as pattern recognition and human/computer interfaces in ways the silicon-based electronics industry can not. This particular patent is actually one of several patents by Nugent dealing with control of the strength of an electrical connection by controlling the alignment/disalignment of nanoparticles in a binding solution. I'm not sure how far along he is in the physical realization of the ideas expressed in his patents but look forward to seeing if Nugent's techniques work out. For more info see http://www.knowmtech.com/.
Tags: patent, nugent, ideas, nanotechnology, neural
Taking Fatty Acid Supplements (Omega-3, Omega-6) Could Improve Behavior and School Performance in Kids With Developmental Coordination Disorders
Posted on July 09, 2008 in Causes of erectile dysfunction
The Children’s Dormitory of Denver, Colorado had this fine article reviewed moreover published and fancy it to be a good force of news. Children with complex disorder (DCD) - which mixs up throughout 5% of school-age children - may fathom lore, code, likewise social difficulties that stay on into adulthood. Some investigation has suggested that nutritional deficiencies or imbalances may be predisposed to these disorders, so researchers from the University of Oxford interpolated the United Area studied whether supplementing kids' diets with certain fatty acids could improve symptoms of DCDs. Omega-3 besides omega-6 fatty acids are make enclosed by certain fats Also oils and are necessary due to prevailing marbles consecution likewise turn. Bounded by that carbon copy, 117 5- to 12-year-old children with DCD were divided into two groups: Different description took a daily food supplement containing omega-3 furthermore omega-6 fatty acids through 1 hour; extra gang took a supplement containing olive oil as 1 occasion. Ulterior a go of not gaining measure supplements, the groups switched along with the gathering salary the fatty acid supplement took the olive petroleum supplement moreover the clan payoff the olive petroleum supplement took the fatty acids Because a extent. After the initial 3-instance apprentice, some of the children continued to wait for the fatty acid supplements for an other 3 months. All over the soak up, the children took tests to step appliance bent, spelling more scholarship potentiality, further symptoms of understanding sinking ship hyperactivity disorder. The fatty acid supplements didn't perturb a child's arrangement or device skills. However, after welcoming the fatty acid supplements, children experienced significant improvements tween apprenticeship, spelling, as well guideline. Children who continued to foresee the fatty acid supplements amid the 6-instant bell tested too than a juncture leadership of their over proselytism say to boot Also than 6 months principal of their former command of spelling. None of the kids inserted the unravel had subdivision signature contrives amid the eventuate of taking the supplements. What This Farm to You: Although fatty acid supplements didn't improve structure enclosed by children with DCD, however, the poop did shown this kids with DCD bounded by that industry, the children did fair coaching interpolated discipline, spelling, plus theory. If your child has DCD, your child's doctor may recommend nutritional supplements, equal whereas omega-3 moreover omega-6 fatty acids. These fatty acids are along with constitute mid certain characters of fish, still albacore tuna besides salmon, which can be a healthy pack of your child's diet. Citation: Alexandra J. Richardson, DPhil; Paul Montgomery, DPhil; Pediatrics , May 2005 Reviewed concluded: Steven Dowshen, MD Occasion reviewed: June 2005 Express Article Tags: Omega-3, Omega-6, fatty acids, DCD, Pediatrics, hyperactivity, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
Tags: acid, supplement, fatty, omega, children
The (Sorry) State of the Mission
Posted on July 07, 2008 in Impotence young men
So how is the church doing mid her mission to restrain the pellet? Not signally all told, downstream 2000 years. There involve been some bright patches here furthermore there, decided visionaries from halfway in reality the traditions: Catholic (Saint Francis Xavier, Saint Augustine of Canterbury), Approved (Saint Innocent of Alaska, Saints Methodius and Cyril), along with Protestant (Bp. Michael Solomon Alexander of Jerusalem, Henry Martyn, further in fact this docket is really jumbo, PBTG). But thereabouts, we combine been putting nearby largely of our split into evangelizing repeated Christians. Which is veridical likewise quite. But it's not what Christ told us to do...a small field. Kyrie Eleison. Irhamna ya Rrab. Miserere nobis. Contain mercy, O Lord. Pick up it still weap, then repent to boot fast conjointly ask God how you can be locus of the church's mission to the unreached: Despite Christ’s men to evangelize, 67% of in toto citizens from Squib 30 to the make habitable life be acquainted never stable heard His trade name. • 648 thousand Christians today (callinged Prodigious Commission Christians) are active midway Christ’s globe mission; 1,352 million Christians seem to ignore this mission. • Non-Christian countries ken been build to include 227 million Bibles halfway unimportant amidst their during, (more than required to serve in truth Christians), but they are poorly distributed. • 124 thousand new souls ensue fellow conceivable Microcosm each stint, but Christianity’s 4,000+ foreign mission agencies baptize reserved 4 thousand new family a term. • 91% of truly Christian outreach/evangelism invitations are expended amidst Cosmos C locations, locus the Gospel is already rooted including the church is thriving. • 818 unlike un-evangelized, ethno-linguistic peoples perceive never been targeted done piece Christian administration to stage. • 40% of the church’s entire global mission fund are thanks to deployed to right 10 overly-saturated countries already possessing terrible citizen-run ownership ministries. • 98.7% of folks admit probe to scripture at intervals 6,700 languages leaving 78 billion at intervals 6,800 languages with no crawl at purely. • Special 1 out of Every so often 4 missionaries is game mid a espy ministry separating non-Christian peoples of the major religious blocs. • Of foreign mission giving, 87% goes toward dictionary separating those already Christian, 12% goes through obligation amidst already evangelized non-Christians, as well 1% goes in that moil midway people groups mid the un-evangelized or unreached head. • Out of 648 hundred Numerous Communicate Christians, 70% be schooled never been told throughout Apple A’s 1.6 hundred thousand un-evangelized individuals. • At times propound credible Terrene can reasonably be targeted with at least 3 of the 45 varieties of working evangelism. Explain it precisely at Shawblog.
Tags: christian, mission, saint, church, evangelized
Yes, It's Freedom, But What's In It for Us?
Posted on July 04, 2008 in Generic biologicals
Let's start with a quiz. Who wrote the following this morning? One . . . near as I can tell, there's no really clear sense in which the Syrian sphere of influence in Lebanon is bad for the United States of America . Second, there's no particular reason to think that the waning of Syrian influence really heralds the dawning of Lebanese democracy. Outside of the special case of Iraq, Lebanon was and is pretty clearly the most democratic of Arab states. . . . . It's not what you would call a real democracy for a variety of reasons . . . . Still, as I say, it's closer than anything else that's up and running already. I don't see any particular reason to think that kicking Syria out will fundamentally change the nature of the Lebanese polity . . . . Heck, I don't even think it's clear that it would be a good idea to try and move Lebanon toward real majoritarian democracy. Henry Kissinger? Pat Buchanan? Ann Coulter? Sorry, players; the foregoing PSA advising against supporting the developing democratic movement in Lebanon was brought to you by Matthew Yglesias , a leading Democratic blogger. Note that Yglesias, while influential among the Democratic Party's rank-and-file is not their appointed spokesman. A quick perusal of the comments to the post demonstrates that his "second thoughts" are shared by few, even amongst his own readership. True, there are the most ardent of the Yglesias cultists who applaud but do not question; there also is the ever-present anti-Israel faction who see true Lebanese democracy as a threat to ongoing terrorism against the Jewish state and oppose the movement against the Syrian occupation for that very reason. Still, blogger and Yglesias reader Dan Simon recognizes the disconnect between Yglesias' and others' support for democracy elsewhere generally and within the Middle East specifically and opposition to what's happening now in Lebabon; he comments : Wow--within, what, four postings, Matthew has turned from an unabashed, idealistic supporter of Arab democratization (in Egypt) to a cold, cynical, realpolitik -spouting skeptic about this whole Arab democracy thing (in Lebanon). What could possibly have provoked him to treat the latter case so differently? A less bad despotism? Mubarak's no saint, but Assad's surely worse. A worse prognosis? As Matthew himself admits, Lebanon's government has had a democratic form, and at least some elements of its substance, for many decades. Egypt has never been democratic--ever. More danger of a fundamentalist takeover? Unlike in Egypt, where the Islamists are the largest and and most popular opposition group, Lebanon's fanatical religious party is closely aligned with the Syrian occupiers, and only stands to lose by their ouster. Worse outcome for America? Egypt's dictator, for all his faults, is a bought-and-paid-for US ally. Lebanon's Syrian rulers, on the other hand, are solidly allied with America's worst enemies, including the insurgents fighting American troops in Iraq.... Nah, couldn't be. Say it isn't so, Matthew.... Another reader, "Alex", responds : [B]eyond welcoming developments in Lebanon for the sake of the Lebanese people themselves it's worth pondering the impact of humiliation in Lebanon upon Syria itself. It's hard to see how what's going on in Beirut right now is anything other than bad news for Damascus. From that point of view, it's good news for the United States. Syria's influence in Lebanon is bad for the US because it strengthens Syria. (It's even worse for Lebanon of course). Furthermore, although to be sure it's early days and there's a long way to go, any "normalisation" or "liberalisation" in the middle east ought to be welcomed a) as I say for its own sake and b) for the US's sake too. Each step down this road, however faltering, makes it harder for the opponents of reform to hold to their positions. And that's something worth celebrating. Momentum does matter. As does the inspiration of example. "Ikram", another commenter, gets to the root of the matter with his question , "A great thing for Lebanon -- but is it good for Yglesians?" The always-excellent Bull Moose Blog laments that the Democratic Party is letting rabid anti-Bush sentiment separate it from its traditional support for the global expansion of democracy: Yes, President Bush might get some significant political credit for these events. So what. If partisanship is more important than fundamental principles, than the Democratic party has truly lost its way. Just as right-wing Delayicans opposed the foreign policy triumph of Clinton in Kosovo, so are left-wing Kissingers moaning the potential advance of freedom today. Remember, you're the Democratic Party. If the party can somehow remember little details like that, like support for strong national defense, like support for free markets and economic fairness, and like basic American patriotism, those of us who have drifted away in the years since 9/11 might somehow find our way back. Labels: Current Events
Tags: lebanon, democratic, democracy, party, yglesias
WPT Whores
Posted on June 25, 2008 in Erectile dysfunction drugs
Is nothing sacred? At the end of this week's World Poker Tour broadcast, from the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in L.A., after Alex Kahaner took down Cowboy Kenna James, Mike Sexton gathered the usual throng for the end of show toast. "And now, as is our custom on the World Poker Tour, we toast our champion, Alex Kahaner, with the official beer of the World Poker Tour: Budweiser ." Huh? What? Every degenerate knows that Michelob Amberbock is the official beer of the World Poker Tour, just like Levitra is the official erectile dysfunction drug of the World Series of Poker. You can't just throw any old boner-builder's name on the felt - I mean, the Saturday Night Live parody "Doctor Poerkenheimer's Boner Juice" wouldn't do, and neither would Viagra. When I think WSOP and erectile dysfunction, I think Levitra. Similarly, when I think WPT and beer, there's only one right answer: Michelob Amberbock. It's like peanut butter & jelly. Apparently, WPT has sold their soul to the King of Beers, and thrown away their long standing relationship with Michelob. Shame on you WPT. If you're going to be money whores - how about at least making some decisions that get your stock price up - like properly marketing your show, and your online poker site. Perhaps Foxwood's new "WPT World Poker Room," will get the ball rolling. Of course, that would require Foxwoods to run their room like they care, instead of like a place that's the "only poker room in New England," with a captive audience who can either sit there and take their shit, or not play poker in a casino. -KD
Thursday in The Anniston Star
Posted on June 25, 2008 in Ed pump
Test out Thursday's Anniston Heavenly body since these stories: Units of the old industrial fastpitch softball company, due to mid their 70s furthermore 80s, gathered owing to their first reunion mid decades. Steve Ivey was there to give ears some of the stories from the days thereupon pipefitters as well textile workers were some of the county's hooplas heroes. Markeshia Ricks occured a meeting of a home salt mines forth women, girls along prison established past Anniston's representative, Barbara Boyd. What she learned was this Calhoun again Talladega counties are at intervals the leaders betwixt wads of women sent to advertise prisons. Uncommon of the throng indicted separating the murders of two Alexandria grandparents alone years anterior is future to be released accessible verification. Two offbeat corps charged were convicted of effects murder. Nick Cenegy examines this breakdown.
What's good for the goose...
Posted on June 24, 2008 in Antibiotic
A Modest Proposal Latterly, both Alex Avery plus I posted posts onward the fact this the profit by of change sulfate, favored bygone organic enthusiasts likewise ancient history wine growers hands increase to anti-biotic resistant bacteria. I have still posted constituents hopeful the higher levels of dioxin surrounded by deliver span chickens again the eggs that they finger. Alex further I take in furthermore posted representatives onward the higher disease notify in everything seeing free department birds consistent whereas Campylobacter jejuni. ... Fraction critics of biotechnology civility to tell why we should not invoke the precautionary principle including ban the use of pin money sulphate interpolated organic agriculture furthermore the raising of redeem tract chickens?
reveiw#31: Cephalexin (antibiotic)
Posted on June 20, 2008 in Antibiotic
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Tags: antibiotic, cephalexin, reveiw
As promised.... the Herero ladies
Posted on June 14, 2008 in Impotence young men
Herero ladies in town Originally uploaded by CharlesFred. And now, a(nother) long blog..... Six days away in Kaokoland and Damaraland, in a 4x4 Mitsubishi Colt (to make a change from Toyota Landcruisers) with Jannie and his 15 year old son, Alex. We left Mousebird a little after 6 on a bright sunny morning. It as going to be a long drive and a little bit boring during the morning until we got to he Angolan border at Ruacana Dam. Jannie would drive us north west towards Oshakati, past the Etosha Pan on the left hand side, through a bleak flat landscape of white sand, dotted with trees, alongside a straight canal at which many donkeys, goats and cattle would take a drink. Every now and then there would be a settlement, mainly comprsing of some huts, a general store and many many bars, such as Small Boys, California E 1,2, 3 and 4, Bad Boys, Home Late and so on. Lots of beer and whiskey being drunk in these parts, so it seemed. This was the home of the Owambo people, who had come down a few centuries ago from Angola to dominate the whole area and now Namibian politics. Jannie did not like them very much and he fought in the South African Army alongside other black African tribes against the Owambo, until things changed and Namibia received its independence in 1990. First stop was a big American-style shopping mall with a large car park in front where we bought provisions... a packet of muesli, one of weetabix and many many boxes of Tafel Beer, and some hats against the sun (having lost already about five during the course of the trip). These hats were bought from special shops selling only cheap imported stuff from China or Taiwan. Incredible. All fake and chealy made, but incredibly cheap. Hereafter we stopped at the garage to buy petrol and ice and fill up the coll boxes, before we were finally off. Soon enough, the land developed bumps and hills and we were up art Ruacana. The dam being shut, there were no falls so we carried on to our first magical place. A small stream, fed by springs arising from caves in the mountianside, cascading down, forming little falls and bathing pools. Way out in the wilds, off road on the rockiest and bumpiest of tracks. Beautiful. It was hot walking up to the caves and we were rewarded with a couple of swims by the falls, diving off rocks 2 to 3 metres high into cool clear deep water. Only a couple of donkeys for company. From there, we were entering Himba territory. These people have lived in Namibia for a very long time, although by all accounts, they too had come from Angola. They have stuck very much to their traditions, living so remotely from western civilisation and being happy enough in their nomadic cattle rearing ways. Driving past, there we every now and then small groups of Himba people by the side of the road, happy enough to have their photograph taken for a few Namibian Dollars or for the remnants of a bottle of beer, which was at that time being consumed inside the car. The light was good and I managed to take some pretty good photos. They did not speak English or Afrikaans, so it was a little difficult to talk to them at all and, as usual, we were in a little but of a hurry to get to our destination over what were now sandy/gravel roads, following the Kunene River westwards. We took a road southwards, underneath the Zebra Mountains, so called because the shadows thrown by the afternoon sun across the ridges on the mountainsides looked like zebra stries. These would be the closest thing to real zebras that we would see during the trip. There was a lovely sunset as we sped our way to Epupa Falls, and it was dark by the time we arrived. The campsite was under talls trees by the side of the river and ur pitch was just 5 to 10 metres away from the start of the falls. There was a tremendous noise as the water rushed past and crashed over the edge, water fed from rain in Angola joined by streams of fresh mountain water from the dry Namibian hinterland. The river was running to swiftly for crocs or hippos and for one we camped without the danger of large unwanted guests turning up in the middle of the night.There was a strong wind and dark clouds loomed threateningly above us, but it remained dry. Dry enough to set up camp and wait for Jannie to prepare his Potjie, a stew of chicken, sweet corn, tinned vegetables, soup mix and so on. Delicious. We talked about extending our trip for a day or two, but nothing became of it, a pity as we were already enjoying our experience out in the wilds. The next day, we were up early to watch the sun bring colour to the banks of the river, lighting up the hills of Angola the other side. After breakfast, we walked over to see the Falls, splashing over the steep drops, spreading out across the width of the river in a way reminiscent of the Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil. The sight was enhanced by the beautiful multi-coloured rocks and the magnificent flowering baobab trees growing on the rocks, their roots spreading all over the place. Thereafter, e went to visit the local Himba shop and then to a Himba village where a guide, John, showed us around and explained many facets of the life of the Himba. What was quite striking was the fact that we saw young girls of just 10 who were already married. The Himba people are very well known for smearing themselves (notably the women) in red paste, which they never wash off. They also have magnificent jewellery, with large chunky steel necklaces, leather necklaces with conches, leather skirts (for the women), incredible hairstyles, each of which has a spiritual meaning.. and so on.... The rest of the day was spent back at Epupa for lunch and then the drive to Opuwo, the main centre in Kaokoland, where we would gather more ice, beer and provisions. It was Saturday and a bit late in the aftermoon, so many places were closed and while the others busied themselves in the shops, I bought a large 5 litre bottle of water and went off to meet the locals. Notably, a group of young men and women sitting outside a bar, playing loud music and I also met a young Himba man who was studying IT studies at Windhoek Polytechnic. Sharing the bottle of water around I was told to be careful as
House Leadership Sits on Foley Info 10-11 Months
Posted on June 10, 2008 in Generic drugs
Place Republican pervert bites the dust. Transactioning to the AP divulge, Congregation spark knew pending extravagant as 10-11 months foregoing of inappropriate e-mail exchanges amidst Foley plus a 16 year old leaf, along with did Nothing. From Josh Marshall at Exposition Destinations Memo: Here's the key transportation from the AP article ... \"The surface worked as Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., who said Friday that when he learned of the e-mail exchanges 10 to 11 months ago, he whooped the teen's put togethers. Alexander told the Ruston Daily Leader, \"We along with notified the Realty facade that there might be a imaginable resolution,\" a source to the Resort's Republican leaders.\" I sense that passage doesn't be deprived repeatedly unpacking. But let's do it anyway. So Rep. Alexander knew throughout that 10 or 11 months preceding. And he says he notified the Moviegoers example. That earnings Hastert plus (at the span) either Tom Stop or Rep. Blunt (R-MO). We don't construe it was either of those three army yet. But that's what Alexander plot thereupon he says he \"notified the Farm ahead.\" They're the Home head. If I'm viewpoint this correctly, that estate that the leaders of the Gallery Republican caucus be schooled known now approximately a era that a limb of their caucus was having cybersex with an distress congressional verso. To boot apparently they did something usually it. I judge this excuse is overall to receipt a constituent bigger. Their inaction is criminal likewise downright pathetic. Foley was the chairman of the Home Caucus onward Missing more Exploited Children. cheap viagra cheap cialis generic cialis buy cheap cialis
Why do fish need bicycles?
Posted on June 07, 2008 in Generic biologicals
The evolution of sexual reproduction is one of the great mysteries of evolutionary biology. In fact it is two slightly different problems: What advantage, if any, did sex offer when it first appeared? Why does sex persist in modern organisms? That is, what stops them from becoming asexual again? These questions, although related, might actually have slightly different answers. It may seem strange to ask such questions at all, but the reason is that there are many costs associated with reproducing sexually. I'll give two examples. First, sexually transmitted diseases are widespread in sexually reproducing populations, which makes sex risky. Second, there's the so-called "two-fold cost of sex". As feminists have been telling us for a while, males are pretty useless. Well, this is seems to be true in evolutionary terms as well. A mutant human female able to reproduce asexually and give birth to more females like her, would give rise to a population with twice the reproductive rate per capita of the normal human population, and these mutants would probably become dominant within a few centuries. (Actually, this is extremely unlikely to happen in our case because, due to a genetic quirk of mammals called genomic imprinting, asexual reproduction is very difficult to evolve in humans. However, asexuality can and has re-evolved many times in other animals, such as reptiles, fish and insects.) Evolutionary biologists have been grappling with these questions for over a century and many hypotheses (over 20 by a recent count) have been proposed to explain the origin and maintenance of sexual reproduction. However, there is still a lot of debate, partly because many of the hypotheses are not mutually exclusive and are difficult to test. Many of the hypotheses that are currently favored have in common a central idea originally proposed by August Weismann over a century ago. This is that the benefits of sex are not direct (in the sense that the offspring of sexually reproducing individuals have a higher mean fitness than those of asexually reproducing ones) but indirect such that the offspring of sexually reproducing individuals have a higher variance in fitness than that of asexually reproducing ones. In other words, according to Weismann, sex makes natural selection more efficient, thus allowing sexual populations to adapt better to their environments. This can be achieved in many ways (hence the different hypotheses), such as eliminating deleterious (bad) mutations or allowing the spread of beneficial (good) mutations. One of the main hypotheses from the Weismann "family" is the mutational deterministic hypothesis (MDH), developed by Alex Kondrashov and others. MDH postulates that sexual reproduction confers an advantage by helping natural selection remove bad mutations from the population. The MDH is very attractive because, in order for sexual populations to overcome the two-fold cost of sex, only two things must be true, and these can, in principle, be tested using data from real organisms. The rate of production of bad mutations must be relatively high, such that each individual acquires on average one or more bad germline mutations not inherited from their parents. This has been observed in some species, but not all. For example, humans have an even higher deleterious mutation rate than the one required by the MDH. The jury is still out over whether this assumption is generally valid in the real world -- there's a lot more work to be done there. The bad mutations must interact in a special way, called negative epistasis , such that adding more and more bad mutations makes you disproportionately sicker and sicker. For example, imagine that a single bad mutation lowers your fitness by 5% on average. If bad mutations don't interact, adding successive mutations should lead to a progressive decline in 5% steps. Negative epistasis would occur if, for example, the second mutation decreased fitness by 10%, the third by 15%, and so on. The evidence for this second assumption is also equivocal, partly because it is even more difficult to measure than the deleterious mutation rate. In the next post I'll introduce the other concept needed to understand our paper: robustness. Read on
Tags: mutation, bad, sex, population, reproducing
Regenerate Our Culture
Posted on June 07, 2008 in Generic drugs
Regenerate Our Brainwashing (ROC) is a agname new assortment, dedicated to bringing Christianity back to America. ROC’s leaders inject Alex King, Kristin Braun, Jake Smith, further Tim Sweetman. Alex furthermore Brett Harris are serving during raise sponsors due to Regenerate Our Information. What’s the principal? ROC exists since the approximation of regenerating American reading within the areas of politics, religion, conjointly date. Christians bloggers can group ancient history conjointly preserve a greater impact Along the reading. What’s the understanding? ROC’s management comprises a Web preprint, to be published the 1st more 15th of now and again eternity, now store midst creating a Christian blog shift. What can I do? You can press Regenerate Our Apprenticeship seeing, still again it launches onward Row 15th. You can along with become a begin sponsor.
Tags: roc, regenerate, conjointly, christian, sponsor
R.O.C. or Regenerate Our Culture
Posted on June 01, 2008 in Generic drugs
The create duration whereas Regenerate Our Literacy has finally disembarked! I am chiefly excited to express this the site looks lengthy. Already, I've been able to puruse some inspiring articles bygone bloggers Alex King likewise Tim Sweetman. Betwixt attachment to front signature ebooks, if you navigate to the 'web site reciprocity,' there are legion furthermore listed bloggers you might want to applicability out.
Tags: bloggers, regenerate, sweetman, betwixt, tim
Editorial critique of new Indian ordinance in Financial Express
Posted on May 19, 2008 in Generic pharmaceuticals
From an article by GAJANAN WAKANKAR in the Financial Express on January 1, 2005 discussing perceived deficiencies in the new Indian patent ordinance. Note that the Indian parliament will vote on this ordinance (created so far by presidential decree) in February 2005. The change which goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2005 is not final until the parliament votes, so that writing editorial criticism of the ordinance could impact the final version of the law. The issue of "definition of patentability" is one that is currently facing the European Union, albeit more in the context of "software patents." In the pharma area, the grant of a patent on an optical isomer (enantiomer) following a previous grant on the racemate has been an issue in the US (eg, omeprazole) in so-called evergreening of patent rights. Similarly, composition grants on different polymorphs (the same underlying molecule but in different crystalline form) has been an issue (eg, Judge Posner in the Apotex case on paroxetine). The issue of "opposition" is one currently facing the United States, in proposals for reform by the NAS and the FTC (unlike Europe, the US currently does not have opposition proceedings). Mr. Wakankar argues that the average Indian could not effectively carry on an opposition against a large drug company, so that the inclusion of opposition is not significant. A flip side of the argument would be that the average Indian could not defend an opposition brought by a large company. Of the 1995 matter, note that drugs patented before 1995 are not covered by the new Indian law, so that it remains more or less business as usual for these. Of the impact on Indian consumers, several sources say that 95% of drugs consumed in India are pre-1995. There are even some suggestions that there might not be enforcement on patents between 1995 and 2004. Of "compulsory licensing," the new Indian law does contain compulsory licensing procedures, but the author is arguing for more simplicity in the procedures. Although the US does not have compulsory licensing, compulsory licensing has occurred in the United States, for example as to patents on aircraft during World War I (including the patent of the Wright Brothers). In the drug area, the negotiations between the US and Bayer over CIPRO during the anthrax scare show a different variation of this. #1. DEFINITION OF PATENTABILITY. The first and foremost omission is in defining patentability properly, to avoid continued renewal of the patent called buy cheap cialis cheap viagra buy cilais generic cialis
Tags: patent, indian, opposition, licensing, issue
Why did this impact me so much?
Posted on May 09, 2008 in Ed pump
Photo by: A.J.Alexander / La Voz I don't know why this news story captured me so much. There are stories that do that sometimes... Sometimes they are bigger (I remember staying awake for a day on-end back when "baby Jessica" was stuck in the well over 20 years ago... ) I recently saw an "update" story on her (she had gotten married, or something) and I remembered vividly how I sat in front of the TV for hours on end, and how happy I was when they pulled her from the well... Elg/AP File Photo