Thursday, February 28, 2013

Adult sleepwalking is serious condition that impacts health-related quality of life

Adult sleepwalking is serious condition that impacts health-related quality of life [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
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Contact: Lynn Celmer
lcelmer@aasmnet.org
630-737-9700
American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Left untreated it may induce violent behaviors, self-injury or injury to bed partners, sleep disruption, excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue and psychological distress

DARIEN, IL A new study found that adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition that may induce violent behaviors and affect health-related quality of life.

"We found a higher frequency of daytime sleepiness, fatigue, insomnia, depressive and anxiety symptoms and altered quality of life in patients with sleepwalking compared to the control group," said Yves Dauvilliers, MD, PhD, the study's principal investigator and lead author. Dr. Dauvilliers is professor of physiology and neurology and director of the sleep lab at Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital in Montpellier, France. "What would usually be considered a benign condition, adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition and the consequences of sleepwalking episodes should not be ignored."

Results show that 22.8 percent of sleepwalkers presented with nightly episodes and 43.5 percent presented with weekly episodes. Additionally, a positive history of violent sleep related behaviors was found in 58 percent, including 17 percent who experienced at least one episode involving injuries to the sleepwalker or bed partner that required medical care. Reported injuries included bruises, nose bleeds and fractures, and one participant had sustained multiple fractures and serious head trauma after jumping out of a third-floor window.

Sleepwalking is a common parasomnia affecting up to four percent of adults. It involves complex behaviors that occur during arousals from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. During an episode of sleepwalking the brain is partially awake, resulting in complex behaviors, and partially in NREM sleep with no conscious awareness of actions.

According to the authors, this is the largest prospective cohort study on adult sleepwalkers seen in a clinic, using face-to-face clinical interviews, standardized questionnaires, and objective assessment by polysomnography to investigate the clinical characteristics, consequences and comorbidities of sleepwalking.

The study, appearing in the March issue of the journal SLEEP, involved a prospective case-control study of 100 adult patients in whom primary sleepwalking was diagnosed from June 2007 to January 2011. Exclusion criteria included a positive clinical history of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a similar parasomnia that involves violent dream-related behaviors emerging during REM sleep. The age of the sleepwalkers ranged from 18 to 58 years with a median age of 30. Results were compared with 100 healthy control subjects.

Triggering factors that increased both the frequency and severity of episodes were reported in 59 percent, related mainly to stressful events, strong positive emotions, sleep deprivation, and less frequently to drug or alcohol intake or intense evening physical activity. All of these factors promote increased slow wave sleep (SWS) and NREM sleep instability.

"Sleepwalking is an underdiagnosed condition that may be clearly associated with daytime consequences and mood disturbances leading to a major impact on quality of life," said Dauvilliers. "The burden of sleepwalking in adults needs to be highlighted and emphasized."

###

To request a copy of the study, "Functional Impairment in Adult Sleepwalkers: A Case-Control Study" or to arrange an interview with an AASM spokesperson, please contact Communications Coordinator Lynn Celmer at 630-737-9700, ext. 9364, or lcelmer@aasmnet.org.

The monthly, peer-reviewed, scientific journal SLEEP is published online by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The AASM is a professional membership society that is the leader in setting standards and promoting excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine considers sleep disorders an illness that has reached epidemic proportions. Board-certified sleep medicine physicians in an AASM-accredited sleep center provide effective treatment. AASM encourages patients to talk to their doctors about sleep problems or visit www.sleepeducation.com for a searchable directory of sleep centers.


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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Adult sleepwalking is serious condition that impacts health-related quality of life [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Lynn Celmer
lcelmer@aasmnet.org
630-737-9700
American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Left untreated it may induce violent behaviors, self-injury or injury to bed partners, sleep disruption, excessive daytime sleepiness, fatigue and psychological distress

DARIEN, IL A new study found that adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition that may induce violent behaviors and affect health-related quality of life.

"We found a higher frequency of daytime sleepiness, fatigue, insomnia, depressive and anxiety symptoms and altered quality of life in patients with sleepwalking compared to the control group," said Yves Dauvilliers, MD, PhD, the study's principal investigator and lead author. Dr. Dauvilliers is professor of physiology and neurology and director of the sleep lab at Gui-de-Chauliac Hospital in Montpellier, France. "What would usually be considered a benign condition, adult sleepwalking is a potentially serious condition and the consequences of sleepwalking episodes should not be ignored."

Results show that 22.8 percent of sleepwalkers presented with nightly episodes and 43.5 percent presented with weekly episodes. Additionally, a positive history of violent sleep related behaviors was found in 58 percent, including 17 percent who experienced at least one episode involving injuries to the sleepwalker or bed partner that required medical care. Reported injuries included bruises, nose bleeds and fractures, and one participant had sustained multiple fractures and serious head trauma after jumping out of a third-floor window.

Sleepwalking is a common parasomnia affecting up to four percent of adults. It involves complex behaviors that occur during arousals from non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. During an episode of sleepwalking the brain is partially awake, resulting in complex behaviors, and partially in NREM sleep with no conscious awareness of actions.

According to the authors, this is the largest prospective cohort study on adult sleepwalkers seen in a clinic, using face-to-face clinical interviews, standardized questionnaires, and objective assessment by polysomnography to investigate the clinical characteristics, consequences and comorbidities of sleepwalking.

The study, appearing in the March issue of the journal SLEEP, involved a prospective case-control study of 100 adult patients in whom primary sleepwalking was diagnosed from June 2007 to January 2011. Exclusion criteria included a positive clinical history of REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a similar parasomnia that involves violent dream-related behaviors emerging during REM sleep. The age of the sleepwalkers ranged from 18 to 58 years with a median age of 30. Results were compared with 100 healthy control subjects.

Triggering factors that increased both the frequency and severity of episodes were reported in 59 percent, related mainly to stressful events, strong positive emotions, sleep deprivation, and less frequently to drug or alcohol intake or intense evening physical activity. All of these factors promote increased slow wave sleep (SWS) and NREM sleep instability.

"Sleepwalking is an underdiagnosed condition that may be clearly associated with daytime consequences and mood disturbances leading to a major impact on quality of life," said Dauvilliers. "The burden of sleepwalking in adults needs to be highlighted and emphasized."

###

To request a copy of the study, "Functional Impairment in Adult Sleepwalkers: A Case-Control Study" or to arrange an interview with an AASM spokesperson, please contact Communications Coordinator Lynn Celmer at 630-737-9700, ext. 9364, or lcelmer@aasmnet.org.

The monthly, peer-reviewed, scientific journal SLEEP is published online by the Associated Professional Sleep Societies LLC, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The AASM is a professional membership society that is the leader in setting standards and promoting excellence in sleep medicine health care, education and research.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine considers sleep disorders an illness that has reached epidemic proportions. Board-certified sleep medicine physicians in an AASM-accredited sleep center provide effective treatment. AASM encourages patients to talk to their doctors about sleep problems or visit www.sleepeducation.com for a searchable directory of sleep centers.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/aaos-asi022813.php

Advanced breast cancer edges up in younger women - Herald Online

? Advanced breast cancer has increased slightly among young women, a 34-year analysis suggests. The disease is still uncommon among women younger than 40, and the small change has experts scratching their heads about possible reasons.

The results are potentially worrisome because young women's tumors tend to be more aggressive than older women's, and they're much less likely to get routine screening for the disease.

Still, that doesn't explain why there'd be an increase in advanced cases and the researchers and other experts say more work is needed to find answers.

It's likely that the increase has more than one cause, said Dr. Rebecca Johnson, the study's lead author and medical director of a teen and young adult cancer program at Seattle Children's Hospital.

"The change might be due to some sort of modifiable risk factor, like a lifestyle change" or exposure to some sort of cancer-linked substance, she said.

Johnson said the results translate to about 250 advanced cases diagnosed in women younger than 40 in the mid-1970s versus more than 800 in 2009. During those years, the number of women nationwide in that age range went from about 22 million to closer to 30 million - an increase that explains part of the study trend "but definitely not all of it," Johnson said.

Other experts said women delaying pregnancy might be a factor, partly because getting pregnant at an older age might cause an already growing tumor to spread more quickly in response to pregnancy hormones.

Obesity and having at least a drink or two daily have both been linked with breast cancer but research is inconclusive on other possible risk factors, including tobacco and chemicals in the environment. Whether any of these explains the slight increase in advanced disease in young women is unknown.

There was no increase in cancer at other stages in young women. There also was no increase in advanced disease among women older than 40.

Overall U.S. breast cancer rates have mostly fallen in more recent years, although there are signs they may have plateaued.

Some 17 years ago, Johnson was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer at age 27, and that influenced her career choice to focus on the disease in younger women.

"Young women and their doctors need to understand that it can happen in young women," and get checked if symptoms appear, said Johnson, now 44. "People shouldn't just watch and wait."

The authors reviewed a U.S. government database of cancer cases from 1976 to 2009. They found that among women aged 25 to 39, breast cancer that has spread to distant parts of the body - advanced disease - increased from between 1 and 2 cases per 100,000 women to about 3 cases per 100,000 during that time span.

The study was published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

About one in 8 women will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, but only 1 in 173 will develop it by age 40. Risks increase with age and certain gene variations can raise the odds.

Routine screening with mammograms is recommended for older women but not those younger than 40.

Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, the American Cancer Society's deputy chief medical officer, said the results support anecdotal reports but that there's no reason to start screening all younger women since breast cancer is still so uncommon for them.

He said the study "is solid and interesting and certainly does raise questions as to why this is being observed." One of the most likely reasons is probably related to changes in childbearing practices, he said, adding that the trend "is clearly something to be followed."

Dr. Ann Partridge, chair of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's advisory committee on breast cancer in young women, agreed but said it's also possible that doctors look harder for advanced disease in younger women than in older patients. More research is needed to make sure the phenomenon is real, said Partridge, director of a program for young women with breast cancer at the Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The study shouldn't cause alarm, she said. Still, Partridge said young women should be familiar with their breasts and see the doctor if they notice any lumps or other changes.

Software engineer Stephanie Carson discovered a large breast tumor that had already spread to her lungs; that diagnosis in 2003 was a huge shock.

"I was so clueless," she said. "I was just 29 and that was the last thing on my mind."

Carson, who lives near St. Louis, had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation and other treatments and she frequently has to try new drugs to keep the cancer at bay.

Because most breast cancer is diagnosed in early stages, there's a misconception that women are treated, and then get on with their lives, Carson said. She and her husband had to abandon hopes of having children, and she's on medical leave from her job.

"It changed the complete course of my life," she said. "But it's still a good life."

----

Online:

JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/index.htm

Source: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/02/26/4649441/advanced-breast-cancer-edges-up.html

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

All Things Appy: 5 Best Apple Lifestyle Apps

The introduction of the smartphone can be credited with inspiring many so-called lifestyle improvements -- not the least of which stems from its ability to multi-task. Junk that alarm clock and makeup mirror, and gear up for fashion, shopping and art.

Source: http://ectnews.com.feedsportal.com/c/34520/f/632000/s/2903df74/l/0L0Stechnewsworld0N0Crsstory0C7740A0A0Bhtml/story01.htm

Italy parliamentary elections outcome raises possibility of political ...

With 99.9 percent of the ballots counted for the lower house, or Chamber of Deputies, Bersani?s coalition polled 29.54 percent, compared to 29.18 percent for Berlusconi?s bloc. The ballots cast by about 3 million Italian citizens abroad are yet to be counted, but this will hardly change the results. Bersani?s razor-thin victory means that his coalition will take 340 seats in the 630-seat lower house.

In the Senate, Berlusconi?s and Bersani?s coalitions won 116 seats and 113 seats, respectively, something that may considerably complicate the process of forming a new government, says Rome-based political analyst Michele Comelli.

"Forming a new coalition government may prove a tricky task, Comelli says, referring to Bersani?s and Monti?s persistent unwillingness to create a coalition. Even if formed, the coalition government may well resign several months later, something that will mean another early election in Italy."

Theoretically, Bersani and Berlusconi could create a coalition with outgoing Prime Minister Mario Mon, whose centrist coalition obtained 10 percent of the vote. This would help the country continue a spate of economic reforms aimed at resolving the crisis, a step that Berlusconi rejects. As for Bersani, he remains at odds with Monti over a host of pressing issues.

Surprisingly, the Five Star Movement, led by popular comedian and blogger Beppe Grillo won more than a quarter of the overall votes, in a move that reflects the protest mood in the society, according to Vladislav Belov, of the Moscow-based Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Beppe Grillo has repeatedly been up in arms against the eurozone. Actually, he united all those who withdrew their support from both Berlusconi and Bersani. These people voice protest against the current political situation in Italy.

Meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi has already promised to consider creating a coalition with Bersani?s bloc. Berlusconi stressed the importance of creating a new government in Italy as soon as possible, a government that analysts say will hopefully be able to call the shots.

Source: http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_26/Italy-parliamentary-elections-outcome-raises-possibility-of-political-gridlock-analysts/

Kendra Wilkinson: Everyone Should Spouse Swap!

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/kendra-wilkinson-everyone-should-spouse-swap/

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

REVIEW ? The Pajanimals: Pajanimals Playdate DVD : Mom Knows ...

PAJANIMALS are starting the New Year with a plethora of new and exciting entertainment and activities, including a brand NEW DVD, ?Pajanimals Playdate,? and an assortment of NEW FREE PAJANIMALS-themed Valentine?s Day e-cards for download, just in time to send to someone special!

The PAJANIMALS?Cowbella, Apollo, Sweetpea Sue and Squacky?have quickly become popular with children and parents alike! Their own television series airs nightly on 24-hour preschool television channel Sprout(R) during its The Good Night Show and also airs on NBC on Saturday mornings as part of the NBC Kids programming block.

PAJANIMALS, co-produced by The Jim Henson Company, Sprout and Sixteen South Television, follows this adorable quartet as they take young viewers on exciting imaginary adventures. With music and new friends in every story, PAJANIMALS teaches the skills that preschoolers need to move through their days successfully, especially getting ready for and going to bed.

In ?Pajanimals Playdate,? the Pajanimals love to play games, sing songs and go on great adventures to meet new friends. Each story resolves a challenge typically encountered during every preschooler?s day. Through their imaginary journeys, these friends discover fun ways to learn daily life lessons. Snuggle up with the Pajanimals for a magical adventure and play date that encourages a bedtime routine!

February is the month of love with Valentine?s Day (February 14), Celebration of Love Week (February 10 ? 16) and Love Your Pet Day (February 20), and Pajanimals want to help you celebrate by offering new FREE PAJANIMALS-themed Valentine?s Day printable cards available now at http://www.sproutonline.com/printables/pajanimals-printable-valentines-day-cards

PAJANIMALS fans can also access a number of fun and FREE age appropriate activities and games on the Sprout website, http://www.sproutonline.com/shows/pajanimals. Additionally, The PAJANIMALS App, an interactive adaptation of the episode ?Light in the Sky,? lets children join in the fun with their favorite Pajanimals characters. Filled with engaging activities that play off of the theme of the episode, as well as charming music and animation, the fully 3D app will extend the reach of the TV series onto iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. And, remember to tune into PAJANIMALS on Sprout and NBC Kids.

I received a copy of The Pajanimals: Pajanimals Playdate DVD.

My youngest son absolutely adores The Pajanimals. He?s been watching the first Pajanimals DVD, Meet The Pajanimals, every day since we got it. This DVD is looking to be just as popular, as he has been watching it daily as well. I think the show is adorable. I love that the show encourages the characters to get along with each other and work things out.I really like the episode A Colorful Problem, because it?s definitely a situation I can see happening amongst young children in real life. My son loves all of the episodes. And the music, he loves the songs. When the Pajanimals Bounce song comes on, he bounces. He does that when Jiggle, Jumble and Jump comes on, as well as the Pajanimals Freeze Dance.

The product(s) featured in this review was provided free of cost to me for the sole purpose of product testing and review. This review has not been monetarily compensated and is based on the views and opinions of my family and/or self. Please note that the opinions reflected in this post have not been influenced by the sponsor in any way.

Source: http://www.valmg.com/index.php/2013/review-the-pajanimals-pajanimals-playdate-dvd/

Psy Sings For South Korean Inauguration

Singer performed in Seoul to celebrate election of first female president of his country.
By Gil Kaufman


Psy sings at South Korean Inauguration
Photo: Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702544/psy-south-korean-inauguration.jhtml

BGG Playlist: Date Night At Mohawk Bend, A New Speakeasy, And Sarah Silverman (Live!) |?Broke Girls Guide

www.brokegirlsguide.com:

Whew. We made it through awards season, which means we no longer have to hear endless chatter about who is going to what party and blah, blah, blah. It was all very fun, but now it's time to move on with our lives... Don't you think?

OK, fine, you're still gossiping about so-and-so's dress and how x, y, and z of your instagram friends managed to sneak into Seth MacFarlane's after party last night. And you are probably also still nursing a hangover from the Oscars drinking game we encouraged you to play. (Don't worry: Help is on the way). With all of this in mind, we've kept your Monday mellow and filled the week with good food and lots of laughs so as to ease you back into regular life as painlessly as possible.

Read the whole story at www.brokegirlsguide.com

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/25/bgg-playlist-date-night-a_n_2762307.html

Monday, February 25, 2013

Grief besets family of Pistorius' slain girlfriend

JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Far from the courtroom drama that has gripped South Africa, the family of Oscar Pistorius' slain girlfriend has struggled with its own private deluge of grief, frustration and bewilderment.

The victim's relatives also harbor misgivings about efforts by the Olympian's family to reach out to them with condolences.

Pistorius, meanwhile, spent Saturday at his uncle's home in an affluent suburb of Pretoria, the South African capital, after a judge released him on bail following days of testimony that transfixed South Africa and much of the world. He was charged with premeditated murder in the shooting death of girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day, but the athlete says he killed her accidentally, opening fire after mistaking her for an intruder in his home.

"We are extremely thankful that Oscar is now home," his uncle, Arnold Pistorius, said in a statement that also acknowledged the law must run its course. "What happened has changed our lives irrevocably."

The Pistorius family took steps to lower its profile on social media after someone hacked into the Twitter account of his older brother, Carl, family spokesman Janine Hills said.

"Carl did not tweet this afternoon, out of respect to Oscar and Reeva," Hills said in a statement. "We are busy cancelling all the social media sites for both Oscar's brother and his sister."

Mike Steenkamp, Reeva's uncle, told The Associated Press that the family of the double-amputee athlete initially did not send condolences or try to contact the bereaved parents, but had since sought to reach out in what he described as a poorly timed way. After Pistorius was released on bail in what amounted to a victory for the defense, Arnold Pistorius said the athlete's family was relieved but also in mourning "with the family" of Reeva Steenkamp.

"Everybody wants to jump up with joy," Mike Steenkamp said, speculating on the mood of Pistorius' family after the judge's decision. "I think it was just done in the wrong context, completely."

A South African newspaper, the Afrikaans-language Beeld, quoted the mother of Reeva Steenkamp, a 29-year-old model, law school graduate and participant in a television reality show, as saying the family had received a bouquet of flowers and a card from the Pistorius family.

"Yes, but what does it mean? Nothing," June Steenkamp said, according to the Saturday edition of Beeld. She also said Pistorius' family, including sister Aimee, a somber presence on the bench behind the Olympian during his court hearings in the past week, must be "devastated" and had done nothing wrong.

"They are not to blame," June Steenkamp said. According to Beeld, she said she had hoped to plan a wedding for her daughter one day.

In an affidavit, 26-year-old Oscar Pistorius said he was "absolutely mortified" by the death of "my beloved Reeva," and he frequently sobbed in court during the several days during which his bail application was considered. However, prosecutor Gerrie Nel, suggested in a scathing criticism that Pistorius was actually distraught because his vaunted career was now in peril and he was in grave trouble with the law.

"It doesn't matter how much money he has and how good his legal team is, he will have to live with his conscience if he allows his legal team to lie for him," Barry Steenkamp, Reeva's father, told Beeld.

"But if he is telling the truth, then perhaps I can forgive him one day," the father said. "If it didn't happen the way he said it did, he must suffer, and he will suffer ... only he knows."

Barry Steenkamp suffered "heavy trauma" at the loss of his daughter and his remarks to the newspaper partly reflect how he is working through it, said his brother, Mike Steenkamp.

Steenkamp was cremated in a funeral ceremony on Feb. 19 in her family's hometown of Port Elizabeth on South Africa's southern coast. Mike Steenkamp delivered a statement about the family's grief to television cameras, at one point breaking down in tears.

The three-story house where Pistorius is staying with his aunt and uncle lies on a hill with a view of Pretoria. It has a large swimming pool and an immaculate garden.

Pistorius was born without fibula bones due to a congenital defect and had his legs amputated at 11 months. He has run on carbon-fiber blades and was originally banned from competing against able-bodied peers because many argued that his blades gave him an unfair advantage. He was later cleared to compete. He is a multiple Paralympic medalist, but he failed to win a medal at the London Olympics, where he ran in the 400 meter race and on South Africa's 4x400 relay team.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/grief-besets-family-pistorius-slain-girlfriend-143751649--oly.html

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Sunday, February 24, 2013

Schilling's bloody sock from WS goes for $92,613

The bloody sock worn by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series is displayed at Heritage Auctions in New York, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Bidding is underway for the sock, which he put up for sale after the high-profile collapse of his video game company. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The bloody sock worn by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series is displayed at Heritage Auctions in New York, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Bidding is underway for the sock, which he put up for sale after the high-profile collapse of his video game company. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The bloody sock worn by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series is displayed at Heritage Auctions in New York, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Bidding is underway for the sock, which he put up for sale after the high-profile collapse of his video game company. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The bloody sock worn by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series is displayed at Heritage Auctions in New York, Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013. Bidding is underway for the sock, which he put up for sale after the high-profile collapse of his video game company. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

(AP) ? A bloody sock worn by Curt Schilling while pitching for the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals was sold for $92,613 at a live auction on Saturday night at the Fletcher-Sinclair Mansion.

Schilling had loaned his sock to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum but when his Rhode Island-based video game company "38 Studios" went bankrupt, he decided to sell the sock that was bloodied as he pitched on an injured ankle.

Bidding began at $25,000 several weeks ago. Texas-based Heritage Auctions anticipated it would get more than $100,000.

An anonymous bidder submitted the winning bid.

"It's a one of a kind item, so it's really tough to gauge what kind of interest you're going to get," Chris Ivy, director of Sports Auctions for Heritage Auctions said. "Sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle where a piece will take off like the Buckner ball. This particular time, it's the first time we sold a sock with blood on it so it's very hard to gauge what kind of final number it's going to end up."

Schilling helped end Boston's 86-year championship drought ? the "Curse of the Bambino" ? by pitching on an ankle that had been sutured more than once through the postseason. Pitching with a damaged tendon resulted in bleeding through the sock. Still, Schilling allowed only a run in six innings.

The right-hander made $114 million over an 18-year career with Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia, Arizona and Boston but defaulted on loan payments to the state of Rhode Island.

Schilling's company was lured away from Massachusetts to Providence after Rhode Island's economic development agency in 2010 approved a $75 million loan guarantee. The company ran out of money less than two years later and filed for bankruptcy. Rhode Island is facing a tab of approximately $100 million related to the deal, including interest, and the agency is suing Schilling and others, saying it was misled.

Even with the large sale price, Rhode Island is not getting the proceeds from the sale. Schilling listed the sock as bank collateral in a filing in Massachusetts after investing roughly $50 million in the company and losing all his baseball earnings.

The sock up for sale was actually the second of two. The more famous one was stained when Schilling pitched through an ankle injury during Game 6 of the 2004 AL championship series against the New York Yankees; that sock is said to have been discarded at Yankee Stadium.

Schilling's sock was the second notable piece of Red Sox memorabilia to be auctioned off in the last year. The ball that went through Bill Buckner's legs in Game Six of the 1986 World Series was projected to sell for $100,000 but fetched $418,000.

The other marquee part of the auction was several 1980 Winter Olympic items from Mike Eruzione, who scored the game-winning goal for the US Hockey team to the "Miracle on Ice" against Russia 33 years ago Friday. The team won the gold medal by beating Finland.

He was selling nearly everything except for his actual gold medal.

Besides the No. 21 jersey Eruzione wore when he scored the game-winning goal in the comeback victory over the Soviet Union, he sold his stick, the jersey from the "Miracle on Ice" game, his hockey pants, his hockey gloves and the sweatsuit worn at the gold medal ceremony.

The items were sitting in Eruzione's hockey bag for most of the last 33 years, but his stick went for $262,900 while his jerseys went for $657,250 and $286,800 respectively.

"It was fun, obviously I don't know what's going to happen in something like this," Eruzione said. "It's exciting and I'm happy that a few people enjoy it and display it properly."

Ivy said that Eruzione was interested in selling his memorabilia after seeing the jersey that Paul Henderson wore for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against Russia sell for over $1.2 million dollars last year.

Eruzione said that proceeds will be used to help his family and his charitable endeavors.

Other noteworthy New York Yankee and Red Sox items, included a $1,150 signing bonus endorsed by a 17-year-old Mickey Mantle that sold for $286,800 and two checks related to the purchase of Babe Ruth, which went for $95,600.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-02-24-BBO-Schilling-Sock/id-ac52197fcdad408a8441fa0f616d31f0

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[iPad] Square Card Reader Not Working

Hi,

I was wondering if anybody has a similar problem or any tips to solve the problem.

I've been using Square Card Reader for about 3 weeks and all sudden, it stopped reading the cards. When I plugged in the reader, it says "Reader Connected" but it just doesn't read the card.

I've emailed Square customer service several times but always the same answers, reinstall the apps, restart iPad, etc etc... nothing works.

Reader works fine on my iPhone so I don't think it's a reader problem.

Any advice highly appreciated !

Source: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1546964&goto=newpost

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Two-jobs nurse is suspended

Two-jobs nurse is suspended

A NURSE who worked at the Royal Bolton Hospital after calling in sick at The Christie has been suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Annabel Rodulfa was working back-to-back shifts at both hospitals without telling her employers.

One day she worked a full 24 hours without any break.

Mrs Rodulfa was found out after she asked to change a shift at The Christie on New Year?s Eve in 2010.

She claimed it was for childcare reasons but it was because she was working at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Her boss refused to let her change the shift at short notice, which meant she worked between 1pm and 9pm at the Christie, before travelling to Bolton, where she worked until 7.45am, before returning to The Christie and working until 1.30pm the next day.

Mrs Rodulfa was sacked by The Christie after they discovered she was also working 17.5 hours per week at the Royal Bolton Hospital in addition to the 30 hours per week she spent at The Christie.

She left the Royal Bolton Hospital shortly after the discovery of her two jobs.

The mother-of-three was employed as a band five staff nurse on an oncology ward at The Christie and as a nurse on ward D2 at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

At the hearing, she told the panel she had three children aged between three and 13 and was the sole provider for her family as her husband was unemployed.

She added that she had to pay the mortgage and to send money to her parents in the Philippines.

Mrs Rodulfa was given a sixmonth suspension order after the panel concluded her actions amounted to misconduct and her fitness to practice was impaired.

Heather Edwards, head of communications at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, said Mrs Rodulfa had resigned from the Royal Bolton Hospital in the first part of 2011 and any disciplinary matters had been dealt with by The Christie.

A spokesman at The Christie said: ?We can confirm Annabel Rodulfa was dismissed on March 24, 2011, as a result of an investigation which found she was working at the Royal Bolton Hospital whilst on sick leave from The Christie NHS Foundation Trust.

?We reported the matter to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Ms Rodulfa did not declare her employment with Bolton NHS Foundation Trust at the time she was recruited to The Christie.?

Source: http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/10248147.Two_jobs_nurse_is_suspended/?ref=rss

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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Memoir from New Author Captures the Turmoil of a Nation Gripped by War and a Young Man?s Search for Inner and Outer Peace

"The Struggle Within: Protesting the Iraq War" to be released to mark the Iraq War?s 10th anniversary.

Aurora, CO (PRWEB) February 23, 2013

Coinciding with the Iraq war?s 10th anniversary, the book, "The Struggle Within: Protesting the Iraq War" by John Dickson, adds to the reflection and debate on the war the anniversary brings through its story of a young man enduring a soul-searching journey, trying to stop the war before and after it began. The book also reveals an aspect of the war seldom discussed?the war from the perspective of a protestor in conservative North Texas during a time of spiritual, cultural, and political conflict.

?I looked up and saw the Washington Monument towering above and knew this is what America was all about. Not about military, geo-political, or global economic power. It was about the people, plain and simple. It was about people wanting to live in peace and for others to be able do the same, people coming together for power not to be wielded, to be left alone, like the weapon it is, unloaded, with the safety on.?

With almost weekly news reports of continued violence coming from Iraq, combined with U.S. troops coming home facing significant mental and physical challenges, the 10th anniversary of the Iraq war gives the nation and the world an opportunity to reflect on and learn from how the war began and the numerous lives it affected.

Distributed through Amazon?s CreateSpace and Redway Media, "The Struggle Within: Protesting the Iraq War" will be available March 19, 2013 in paperback ($15), ebook, and audiobook ($10).

About the Author: John Dickson is a teacher and writer living in Aurora, Colorado. He holds a B.A. in History from the University of Texas at Arlington and a M. Ed. from Regis University in Denver. His interests lie in social justice, human and animal rights, and making the earth sustainable for future generations of all life forms. He also loves playing guitar, and spending time with his wife, children, and Sophie, the family Welsh Terrier.

Dan Rink
Redway Media
3038624030
Email Information

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/memoir-author-captures-turmoil-nation-gripped-war-young-080623777.html

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Source: http://www.shoemoney.com/2013/02/21/shoe-in-money-is-live

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More tests needed in LA hotel water tank death

Water tanks seen on the roof of the hotel Cecil on Wednesday Feb. 20,2013 where police say the body of a woman found wedged in one of the water tanks on the roof was that of a missing Canadian guest. Investigators used body markings to identify 21-year-old Elisa Lam, police spokeswoman Officer Diana Figueroa said late Tuesday. A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel found the body earlier in the day after guests complained of low water pressure. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

Water tanks seen on the roof of the hotel Cecil on Wednesday Feb. 20,2013 where police say the body of a woman found wedged in one of the water tanks on the roof was that of a missing Canadian guest. Investigators used body markings to identify 21-year-old Elisa Lam, police spokeswoman Officer Diana Figueroa said late Tuesday. A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel found the body earlier in the day after guests complained of low water pressure. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

FILE - This file photo released by the Los Angeles Police Department shows Elisa Lam of Vancouver, B.C. Los Angeles police say a body has been found on the roof of the Cecil Hotel where Lam, a Canadian tourist, was last seen last month. (AP Photo/Los Angeles Police Department, File)

Hotel Cecil in Los Angeles is seen in a Wednesday Feb. 20,2013 photo. Police say the body of a woman found Tuesday wedged in a water tank on the roof of the Hotel Cecill is that of a missing Canadian guest. Investigators used body markings to identify 21-year-old Elisa Lam, police spokeswoman Officer Diana Figueroa said late Tuesday. A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel found the body earlier in the day after guests complained of low water pressure. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

A visitor arrives at the hotel Cecil on Wednesday Feb. 20,2013 where police say the body of a woman was found wedged in one of the water tanks on the roof was that of a missing Canadian guest. Investigators used body markings to identify 21-year-old Elisa Lam, police spokeswoman Officer Diana Figueroa said late Tuesday. A maintenance worker at the Cecil Hotel found the body earlier in the day after guests complained of low water pressure. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

A man, left, leaves the Cecil Hotel with belongings as Michael and Sabina Baugh, both 27, of Plymouth, England, wait for transportation as they leave the hotel in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, Feb. 20, 2013. Early Tuesday, police discovered the body of a Canadian woman at the bottom of the historic hotel's water tank, weeks after she was reported missing. The Baughs, on a 14-day tour package, had been there eight days and had showered in and drank the water. The couple's tour operator was less than cooperative in finding them other accommodations. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

(AP) ? More testing must be done to determine the cause of death of a 21-year-old Canadian tourist whose body was found wedged in a water tank atop a downtown Los Angeles hotel, authorities said Thursday.

An autopsy performed Thursday didn't provide definitive answers into whether Elisa Lam was killed or if she fell victim to a bizarre accident. Coroner's officials will await toxicology tests before making a final determination.

Lam's body was found Tuesday in a water cistern atop the downtown Cecil Hotel. Police have called her death suspicious.

Guest complaints about low water pressure prompted a maintenance worker to make the gruesome discovery.

Before she died, hotel surveillance footage showed her inside an elevator pushing buttons and sticking her head out the doors, looking in both directions.

Meanwhile, water tested from the hotel didn't contain any live bacteria that would cause illness.

Although county health officials issued a do-not-drink order, the results that came back Thursday indicated the water was safe from a "microbiological standpoint," said Angelo Bellomo, the county's director of environmental health.

"We can't say what the quality of the water was prior to the samples," taken Tuesday, Bellomo said. "We can only say that the water met the standard at the time it was sampled."

Chlorine in the water likely killed any bacteria in the tank where Lam's body was found, Bellomo said. Two standard water tests were performed and samples were taken from throughout the hotel.

Bellomo said the hotel has retained a consultant who submitted a plan to sanitize the water lines that will be retested before they are put back into operation. Only water for toilets is flowing for hotel guests currently.

Lam, of Vancouver, British Columbia, traveled alone to Los Angeles on Jan. 26 and was last seen five days later by workers at the 600-room hotel near Skid Row. She intended to travel to Santa Cruz, about 350 miles north of Los Angeles.

High school classmate Alex Ristea, of Vancouver, called Lam's death shocking and said she was one of the friendliest people he knew.

"This is the last person I expect out of all my friends to have something like this happen to her," Ristea said.

University of British Columbia spokesman Randy Schmidt confirmed that Lam had attended summer school at the university, but she was not registered for the current session.

Ristea said he believes Lam had just gone to California for a holiday, saying she had posted pictures on Facebook from tourist locations such as the San Diego Zoo.

Reached by phone, a man who confirmed that it was Lam's home of said he was busy and hung up when asked to speak about her. A woman reached later at the same number, when told it was a reporter calling, also hung up after saying, "Sorry."

___

Associated Press writers Jeremy Hainsworth in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Charmaine Noronha in Toronto contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Surveillance video: http://bit.ly/Yq5K1y .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-02-21-US-Hotel-Roof-Body/id-0f9064612fe140ca9c617a08fe914843

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Friday, February 22, 2013

Video: What happened to the rights given by the Voting Rights Act?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/hardball/50896698/

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Why Don't We Have Flying Cars?

[unable to retrieve full-text content]"Why Don't We Have" is a PopMech series explaining just why some of the technologies promised by science fiction have yet to become fact. Today: the flying car.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.comwhy-dont-we-have-flying-cars?src=rss

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Career outlook is bleak for kid Oscar nominees

By Rick Warner, TODAY contributor

If 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis wins an Oscar for "Beasts of the Southern Wild," she?ll be the youngest performer ever to capture an adult version of Hollywood?s most coveted prize. Unfortunately for Wallis, her chances of taking home the gold-plated statuette for best actress are slim, and if history is a predictor, being bestowed with an Oscar at such a young age won't do much for her career anyway.

Reuters, WireImage

If Wallis, left, wins, she'd be the youngest winner ever. Anna Paquin, right, was 11 when she won for "The Piano" in 1993, but Tatum O'Neal was just 10 when she won for "Paper Moon" in 1973.

Wallis, who was only 6 when she made "Beasts of the Southern Wild,"? is the 22nd actor or actress to get an Oscar nomination before turning 18. Only three have won, however, and all for supporting roles: Tatum O?Neal, Anna Paquin and Patty Duke.? That?s not counting the honorary juvenile award first given to 6-year-old Shirley Temple in 1935 and last handed out to 14-year-old Hayley Mills in 1961.


The youngest winner was O?Neal, just 10 when she was honored for her precocious performance as the sidekick of a Depression-era con man (played by her father Ryan) in 1973?s "Paper Moon." She went on to star in "The Bad News Bears" and "International Velvet," but drug problems -- the result, according to her autobiography "A Paper Life," of growing up with an alcoholic mother and abusive father living in Hollywood?s fast lane -- derailed her career and marriage to tennis great John McEnroe.

Paquin, who was 11 when she won for 1993?s "The Piano," is the anomaly. She stars in HBO's "True Blood," had a recurring role in the "X-Men" series and has scored great film roles in "Almost Famous" and "The Squid and the Whale."

Duke's career trajectory was much different. Winning the the supporting-actress award for playing Helen Keller in "The Miracle Worker" (1962) when she was 16 did not "open any doors for me," she told TODAY.com.

Sure, she parlayed her Oscar into a TV series, "The Patty Duke Show," but her feature-film career fizzled as an adult and she mostly appeared in made-for-TV movies."It's a kick when people refer to me as an Oscar winner," she said. "But part of me says, 'Hey, I?m 66 years old. When are you going to give me another part for which I could be nominated?' "

Fox Searchlight Pictures

While Wallis is the youngest best actress nominee, she's not the youngest nominee ever -- that goes to Justin Henry, only 8 when he played the child of divorcing parents in "Kramer vs. Kramer?? (1979).? He?s never given up acting, but he hasn?t achieved the same kind of recognition again, and now works as a sales director for an Internet ad company.

" 'Kramer vs. Kramer' spoiled me," he told TODAY.com. "When you have such a magical experience with your first movie, it?s hard to match after that."

Haley Joel Osment, who was 11 when he was nominated as the boy who sees dead people in "The Sixth Sense" (1999), later starred in Steven Spielberg?s "A.I." and recently finished filming the sci-fi thriller "I?ll Follow You Down.?? But like many young Oscar nominees, he?s had a hard time duplicating his early success.

"When you?re young, it seems like a blur," Osment said. "You don?t realize what a unique situation you?re in."

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/02/20/17020066-odds-for-a-bright-future-are-slim-for-kid-oscar-nominees?lite

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Thursday, February 21, 2013

Nielsen to begin counting broadband viewing homes

NEW YORK (AP) ? The company that measures television viewership said Thursday it will soon begin counting people who watch programming through broadband in addition to the traditional broadcast or cable hook-up.

Nielsen's move is a significant step toward recognizing a world where the definition of TV viewing is swiftly changing and toward satisfying clients concerned that the company isn't keeping up with those changes. Separately, Nielsen is developing ways to track content on tablets and mobile phones.

For many years, roughly 99 percent of homes in the U.S. had televisions that received service through broadcast, cable or satellite signals.

Now the number of homes without such service is 4.2 percent ? and growing each year. About three-quarters of those homes still have TVs, however, and their owners watch programming through game consoles or services like Netflix and Amazon. Starting September, Nielsen will have meters that can monitor viewership in those homes, said Brian Fuhrer, a senior vice president at Nielsen.

This will add roughly 160 homes to Nielsen's current sample of 23,000 houses nationwide with meters monitoring viewing habits.

More significantly, Nielsen will return to its sample to find homes that have cable or broadcast, but also separate TV sets hooked up through broadband. This will add an estimated 2,000 more broadband sets, significantly increasing the sample size, Fuhrer said.

"Consumers are accessing content in new ways that fall outside of our traditional definitions and if we don't expand ... we could be missing an emerging trend," he said.

Under Nielsen's old definition, there are an estimated 5 million homes in the U.S. without working TV sets, up a total of 3 million from 2007. Nielsen and the industry studied this to see whether people were pulling their plugs because of the recession; instead, the bulk of the new "non-TV homes" were simply watching TV in a different way.

The changes aren't likely to quickly boost the ratings of your favorite program, however. Most of the programs shown through broadband don't have the same encodings as shows watched traditionally, primarily because they often have different advertisements. As a result, Nielsen will be limited in tracking what particular shows are being watched, at least until more universal encoding standards are developed.

Some broadband services have the ability to measure how much individual programs are seen but keep that information private. It is why, for example, there have been no estimates of how many people have seen Netflix's well-reviewed new series "House of Cards."

Even without those specifics, Nielsen will still be able to collect information such as who in the household is watching through broadband, and how much they watch. That is data that will at least be valuable to advertisers and marketers trying to target specific consumer groups. Nielsen's change was first reported in The Hollywood Reporter.

When the industry will be able to see how much people are watching through broadband, it will increase the pressure for universal encoding ? networks and advertising agencies will want to know what those new viewers are watching, said David Poltrack, chief research executive at CBS.

If, as expected, broadband viewing continues to increase, Nielsen's change at least ensures that this won't be ignored, Poltrack said.

"All of these things are designed to keep them ahead of the game," he said.

Brad Adgate, top researcher for Horizon Media, noted that several networks have seen the median age of their viewers increase significantly over the past few years. In the way television does business, older viewers are less valuable to advertisers. Presumably, younger viewers are more likely to be watching through broadband ? and many had dropped off Nielsen's radar, he said.

Nielsen must also develop a separate metering system for tablets and mobile devices, and Fuhrer said that work is ongoing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nielsen-begin-counting-broadband-viewing-homes-165248375.html

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'Good Day to Die Hard' debuts with $28.6M take

FILE - This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Bruce Willis as John McClane, left, Jai Courtney as his son Jack, center and Sebastian Koch as Komarov in a scene from "A Good Day to Die Hard." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Frank Masi, File)

FILE - This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Bruce Willis as John McClane, left, Jai Courtney as his son Jack, center and Sebastian Koch as Komarov in a scene from "A Good Day to Die Hard." (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Frank Masi, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Bruce Willis' action sequel "A Good Day to Die Hard" hauled in $28.6 million to lead the box office over the long President's Day weekend.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Monday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Tuesday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "A Good Day to Die Hard," Fox, $28,640,657, 3,553 locations, $8,061 average, $36,879,773, one week.

2. "Identity Thief," Universal, $27,456,470, 3,165 locations, $8,675 average, $74,744,255, two weeks.

3. "Safe Haven," Relativity Media, $24,469,155, 3,223 locations, $7,592 average, $33,298,073, one week.

4. "Escape from Planet Earth," Weinstein Co., $21,101,976, 3,288 locations, $6,418 average, $21,101,976, one week.

5. "Warm Bodies," Lionsgate, $10,550,103, 2,897 locations, $3,642 average, $51,770,634, three weeks.

6. "Beautiful Creatures," Warner Bros., $8,945,261, 2,950 locations, $3,032 average, $11,487,578, one week.

7. "Silver Linings Playbook," Weinstein Co., $7,413,756, 2,202 locations, $3,367 average, $99,788,228, 14 weeks.

8. "Side Effects," Open Road Films, $7,299,145, 2,605 locations, $2,802 average, $20,119,981, two weeks.

9. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," Paramount, $4,176,456, 2,103 locations, $1,986 average, $50,405,251, four weeks.

10. "Zero Dark Thirty," Sony, $3,602,315, 1,522 locations, $2,367 average, $88,530,983, nine weeks.

11. "Mama," Universal, $3,081,765, 1,648 locations, $1,870 average, $68,561,940, five weeks.

12. "Argo," Warner Bros., $2,625,357, 903 locations, $2,907 average, $127,288,409, 19 weeks.

13. "Life of Pi," Fox, $2,074,617, 647 locations, $3,207 average, $111,376,518, 13 weeks.

14. "Lincoln," Disney, $2,063,120, 1,007 locations, $2,049 average, $176,651,047, 15 weeks.

15. "Django Unchained," Weinstein Co., $1,857,164, 1,017 locations, $1,826 average, $157,350,147, eight weeks.

16. "Quartet," Weinstein Co., $1,624,647, 333 locations, $4,879 average, $7,200,664, six weeks.

17. "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," Warner Bros., $1,276,940, 605 locations, $2,111 average, $300,161,285, 10 weeks.

18. "Wreck-It Ralph," Disney, $1,102,070, 506 locations, $2,178 average, $185,835,929, 16 weeks.

19. "Les Miserables," Universal, $1,098,445, 676 locations, $1,625 average, $145,764,425, eight weeks.

20. "Amour," Sony Pictures Classics, $858,412, 306 locations, $2,805 average, $4,081,541, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-02-19-Box%20Office/id-ac64cb1f515e4569935f19cf0ab583ff

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Homebuilding stalled in January, but may pick up again

Groundbreaking to build new U.S. homes fell in January but new permits for construction rose to a 4 1/2-year high, reinforcing expectations the housing market will support economic growth this year.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that starts at building sites for homes fell 8.5 percent last month to a 890,000-unit annual rate.

The decline was due to a sharp drop in the volatile multifamily unit category, which fell 24.1 percent during the month.

Starts for single-family units, which comprised about two thirds of the total, edged up 0.8 percent to their highest level since July 2008.

Permits for future home construction rose to a 925,000-unit rate, the quickest since June 2008.

Data for U.S. housing starts can be volatile and is sometimes subject to large revisions. The government revised upward its estimate for December housing starts to a 973,000-unit rate, the fastest pace since June 2008.

The housing market has regained some footing after a historic collapse that helped push the economy into its worst recession since the Great Depression.

Home building added to national economic growth last year for the first time since 2005 and is expected to provide stronger support this year. That could help counter the drag expected from tighter fiscal policy as Washington works to shrink the federal budget deficit.

Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/homebuilding-stalled-january-may-pick-again-1C8447778

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Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Closing education achievement gap: blue-ribbon panel offers blueprint

Better teacher training, accessible early-childhood education, and school-finance reform are key components to closing the achievement gap between minority and white students, says a report.

By Amanda Paulson,?Staff writer / February 19, 2013

Principal Scott Steckler, rear, observes fourth-grade teacher Lora Johnson as she works with her students at George Cox Elementary in Gretna, La., in October 2012. A new report recommends better teacher training as a component to closing the achievement gap.

Ted Jackson/The Times-Picayune/AP

Enlarge

How do you decrease the achievement gap and increase equity ? and excellence ? in America?s public schools?

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For starters, reform the funding systems that so often mean a child?s access to education is determined by his or her ZIP code. Then elevate and reform the teaching profession, ensure access to high-quality preschool, meet the non-school needs of students from high-poverty communities, and shift the system of educational governance to improve equity.

All big ? almost impossibly big ? goals.

The Equity and Excellence Commission, which recently released?its final report?to Education Secretary Arne Duncan, has already achieved one somewhat remarkable goal: unanimous acceptance of the broad-reaching recommendations that the commission believes could turn around American public education.

Given that the commission members include union leaders; district, state, and federal education officials; civil rights leaders; and top thinkers from all sides of the education-reform debate, that is no small feat.

?This is a call to action that we can and we must and we should do better for our children, and for communities who have historically been denied opportunities ? and in doing so, strengthen our country,? said Secretary Duncan, in a conference call with reporters Tuesday.

The report clearly lays out the scope, and importance, of the challenge: Math results that show the average African-American eighth-grader performing at the 19th?percentile of white students, and the average Hispanic eighth-grader at the 26th?percentile. International testing results rank US students 27th?for math, and show just 1 in 4 American students performing on par with the average student in countries like Singapore and Finland.

?Our education system, legally desegregated more than a half century ago, is ever more segregated by wealth and income, and often again by race,? asserts the report, adding that ?simply achieving a 90 percent graduation rate for students of color would add as much as $6.6 billion in annual earnings to the American economy.?

The commission, which was charged by Congress to examine the ways in which disparities in educational opportunities give rise to the achievement gap and to recommend policies to address that gap, is independent. It is now up to Congress, the administration, education advocacy groups, and various state and local bodies to decide what, if anything, they will do with its recommendations.

Given the attention President Obama gave to early-childhood education in his State of the Union address, in which he called for universal access to good preschools, it?s a safe bet that that area of the report will receive particular attention in coming months.

?Nothing is more important,? said Duncan, emphasizing that any effort to address the achievement and opportunity gap ?has to start with high-quality early-learning opportunities in disadvantaged neighborhoods.?

And the recommendations the commission proposes seem to align with the proposals Mr. Obama has outlined.

Under Duncan, the Department of Education has also emphasized the need to reform the teaching profession and ensure that all students ? particularly the most disadvantaged ? have access to high-quality teachers. That received particular attention in the report, and, historically, has been a controversial issue in education-reform circles.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/ftof_y2BV3Q/Closing-education-achievement-gap-blue-ribbon-panel-offers-blueprint

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Business Modeling And Planning Solution Anaplan Acquires Vue ...

Anaplan, which provides a cloud-based solution for businesses to model and plan for sales, operations, and finance, has announced its expansion into Europe via the acquisition of Vue Analytics, an Anaplan reseller in the UK & Ireland. The fee is undisclosed.

In addition, the company has appointed the former Chief Operating Officer of SAP in France and Africa, Laurent?Lefouet, as?General Manager of EMEA who will head up a new European HQ in Paris.

The U.S. company plans to?expand into additional European markets throughout the year.

Anaplan provides cloud-based modeling and planning solutions for sales, operations and finance. Its platform enables users to ?model their business, derive insights, collaborate for better decisions, align operations, and execute processes in a single platform?, in order to help them reach objectives such as reducing expenses, improving margins, and accelerating growth.

Its European clients include Taylor Wimpey plc and Premier Farnell plc in the UK and other firms in Russia, Czech Republic and France. In North America, the company boasts the likes of McAfee, Pandora, and HealthTrust as customers.

The appointment of Lefouet looks like a decent one, too. He?s said to bring ?over 20 years of experience as an entrepreneur and international sales executive?. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Large Enterprise Sales for SAP France and SAP North Africa. Previously, he held international management roles within Business Objects Global and SAP EMEA.

Anaplan is backed by Granite Ventures and Shasta Ventures, and has reportedly raised $17.5 million in total.


Anaplan provides cloud-based modeling and planning solutions for sales, operations and finance. The platform enables people to intuitively model their business, derive insights, collaborate for better decisions, align operations, and execute processes in a single platform. Whether objectives are to reduce expenses, improve margins, accelerate growth, or other, results are immediate and impactful. In 2012, Anaplan introduced a complete suite of sales applications, including quota management, territory management, commissions management, and real-time quote and price optimization, to create a holistic...

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/19/anaplan/

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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Universities Try to Tackle Student Debt with 'Tuition Guarantees'

This year, when freshmen at the University of Dayton walk into their first class, they?ll already know exactly how much money they?ll spend on tuition for a college education in the next four years. On the dot. No surprises, no unexpected expenses.

That?s because of a new program that university officials have approved for the 2013-2014 school year. It?s more or less a tuition guarantee: at the beginning of their freshman year, incoming students will receive a two-page financial prospectus (see the example below). The tuition price will be set in stone for four years?$16,950 per year, for example, though the exact price will vary for each student?with estimates on costs for other expenses like housing and meal plans. The university then guarantees that tuition price for four years by promising to increase scholarships and financial aid to offset any tuition increases, therefore keeping the net price the same for the student.

It?s a first-of-its-kind effort by a higher ed institution to be transparent about its costs and keep them stable.?Dayton officials say they?re conscious of larger conversations about the cost of college and student debt, particularly when it comes to unplanned expenses, and they thought this was something the university could do to add some certainty as prospective students considered whether to attend and what it would cost. University president Daniel Curran went before the school?s board of trustees four times to persuade them it was the right thing to do.

?There?s been a lot of public interest in the cost of college. We?ve been wondering: What?s our role? What?s our contribution? Everybody is acting like it?s somebody else?s problem,? says Sundar Kumarasamy, Dayton?s vice president of enrollment management. ?If our parents and students aren?t going to be successful down the road, we?re not helping our university community. So this is the sticker price you?re going to pay for the next four years. We?re hoping the transparency of costs will help them make good judgments.?

The rest of the higher education world is going to be watching closely to see how Dayton?s experiment works. It?s already earned the endorsement of David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. It bears some similarities to the College Scorecard that President Barack Obama proposed in his State of the Union address this week, an idea the White House has floated before. According to the Columbus Dispatch, Ohio University is already considering a tuition guarantee of its own, and Kumarasamy says he?s consulted with administrators there about transferring the policy from a private school like Dayton to a public one like Ohio.

?It gives some predictability. This is going to be what it?s going to cost for four years. It?s about transparency,? says Megan McClean, managing director of policy at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

It?s not a foolproof plan, however. For starters, it doesn?t really address the underlying factors that contribute to the rising cost of higher education and exploding student debt?a point that Kumarasamy readily concedes. When housing and meals are included, a four-year education at Dayton is still going to cost more than $100,000, even with the tuition guarantee. Some students could still be leaving with a six-figure debt.

So the issue of access is still out there, Kumarasamy acknowledges. But the hope of the guarantee is that students will know up front what they?re going to pay. Another innovative element of the plan is that it removes student fees?charges, separate from tuition, that are usually tacked on as students enroll in specific classes?from the equation. No surprises, that?s the motto. Dayton is still an elite liberal arts university, and you?re going to pay a price for that education. But you?ll always know what that price is.

?We shouldn?t be controlling college costs by reducing what we offer or what we?re invested in. We can?t throw the baby out with the bath water,? Kumarasamy says. ?That?s the risk a person has to take. They have to make a decision about putting themselves in the game. But now they know how much is going to come out of their pocket.?

There is also some skepticism about whether this policy is feasible for public universities. Dayton has theoretically put itself at substantial financial risk?by guaranteeing to cover any tuition increases with financial aid, it could end up spending a lot of money if inflation skyrockets or the school fails to meet its enrollment expectations or federal aid drops dramatically. ?We?re totally exposing ourselves. We are giving up that opportunity to pass on any costs,? Kumarasamy says, though he adds that the school considers those to be ?manageable risks.?

But public institutions don?t have the deep pockets that private schools often do, and they?re already in a tenuous situation with the state budget cuts of the last few years. According to national estimates from Illinois State University, the United States cut higher education spending by a combined 10.8 percent from FY 2008 to FY 2013. Could public universities really be expected to assume the financial risk that Dayton has? Some are doubtful.

But then again, maybe they can, as Ohio University?s interest might indicate. Regardless, Kumarasamy knows the pressure is on for his school?s experiment in transparency to work.

?Is this model going to scare off the public or attract the public? We?ll see,? he says. ?They?ll all be watching, though, if only because they cannot possibly imagine how we can pull this off.?

Below is the University of Dayton's financial prospectus for the 2013-2014 school year.

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Source: http://www.governing.com/blogs/view/gov-universities-try-to-tackle-student-debt-with-tuition-guarantees.html

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