Compound discovered that boosts effect of vaccines against HIV and flu

ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2012) ? Oxford University scientists have discovered a compound that greatly boosts the effect of vaccines against viruses like flu, HIV and herpes in mice.

An 'adjuvant' is a substance added to a vaccine to enhance the immune response and offer better protection against infection.

The Oxford University team, along with Swedish and US colleagues, have shown that a type of polymer called polyethyleneimine (PEI) is a potent adjuvant for test vaccines against HIV, flu and herpes when given in mice.

The researchers were part-funded by the UK Medical Research Council and report their findings in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

Mice given a single dose of a flu vaccine including PEI via a nasal droplet were completely protected against a lethal dose of flu. This was a marked improvement over mice given the flu vaccine without an adjuvant or in formulations with other adjuvants.

The Oxford researchers now intend to test the PEI adjuvant in ferrets, a better animal model for studying flu. They also want to understand how long the protection lasts for. It is likely to be a couple of years before a flu vaccine using the adjuvant could be tested in clinical trials in humans, the researchers say.

'Gaining complete protection against flu from just one immunisation is pretty unheard of, even in a study in mice,' says Professor Quentin Sattentau of the Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford University, who led the work. 'This gives us confidence that PEI has the potential to be a potent adjuvant for vaccines against viruses like flu or HIV, though there are many steps ahead if it is ever to be used in humans.'

HIV, flu and herpes are some of the most difficult targets to develop vaccines against. HIV and flu viruses are able to change and evolve to escape immune responses stimulated by vaccines. There aren't any effective vaccines against HIV and herpes as yet, and the flu vaccine needs reformulating each year and doesn't offer complete protection to everyone who receives it. Finding better adjuvants could help in developing more effective vaccines against these diseases.

Most vaccines include an adjuvant. The main ingredient of the vaccine -- whether it is a dead or disabled pathogen, or just a part of the virus or bacteria causing the disease -- primes the body's immune system so it knows what to attack in case of infection. But the adjuvant is needed as well to stimulate this process.

While the need for adjuvants in vaccines has been recognised for nearly 100 years, the way adjuvants work has only recently been understood. The result has been that only a small set of adjuvants is used in current vaccines, often for historical reasons.

The most common adjuvant by far is alum, an aluminium-containing compound that has been given in many different vaccines worldwide for decades. However, alum is not the most potent adjuvant for many vaccine designs.

'There is a need to develop new adjuvants to get the most appropriate immune response from vaccines,' says Professor Sattentau, who is also a James Martin Senior Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford.

The Oxford University team found that PEI, a standard polymer often used in genetic and cell biology, has strong adjuvant activity.

When included in a vaccine with a protein from HIV, flu or herpes virus, mice subsequently mounted a strong immune response against that virus. The immune response was stronger than with other adjuvants that are currently being investigated.

The team also showed that PEI is a potent adjuvant in rabbits, showing the effect is not just specific to mice and could be general.

Another potential advantage of PEI is that it works well as an adjuvant for 'mucosal vaccines'. These vaccines are taken up the nose or in the mouth and absorbed through the mucus-lined tissues there, getting rid of any pain and anxiety from a needle. Mucosal vaccines may also be better in some ways as mucosal tissues are the sites of infection for these diseases (airways for respiratory diseases, genital mucosa for HIV and herpes).

Professor Sattentau suggests that: 'In the best of all possible worlds, you could imagine people would have one dose of flu vaccine that they'd just sniff up their nose or put under their tongue. And that would be it: no injections and they'd be protected from flu for a number of years.

'It's just a vision for the future at the moment, but this promising adjuvant suggests it is a vision that is at least possible.'

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Oxford, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/Mzo8NdVBL28/120826143537.htm

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Elder Care Strategies-Plan for the Future | Divorce and Family ...

Our lives go through various stages that require planning and preparing for special events and milestones. First time parents prepare for the arrival of their little bundle of joy by getting the nursery ready, deciding what type of child care will be needed and some people have even been known to get their unborn child?s name on a waiting list for private school. Later on, we are preparing for marriage. Think about how much planning and thought goes in to the festivities of that very special day. Later on we plan for retirement. Where do we want to live, have we saved enough money?

The one thing we do not do a good job at planning for is our elder years. Consider this, we may have a last will and testament along with a power of attorney, health proxy or living will, but have we sat down with our loved ones and discussed important issues about how we want to spend our twilight years?

When social security benefits were created in the 1960?s, the average lifespan was 72. With the average lifespan reaching well into the 80?s, there are many more elders in our population and many families experience difficulties not only with their elders but with their loved ones in making decisions for the care and lifestyle for the elders. Most often, caregivers are not in agreement and that leads to litigation or in some lucky cases, they will come to mediation to work out these difference of opinions. How wonderful would it be if everyone involved came together and openly discussed a plan? This would allow the elder to be part of the decision making and also would allow them to be treated with dignity and respect. After all, isn?t that what we would all wish for? So here?s my advice, find the right time and have a chat with your elder loved ones and anyone who would be involved in their care and decision making. Do it before the actual immediate need presents itself so you and they are not under any pressure. It?s simply a conversation.

Here?s a checklist of some topics to be discussed:

• At what point should the elder no longer drive?
• When should the elder not be traveling any longer?
• If the elder can no longer live on their own what would be their preference for living arrangements? Stay home with help if possible, assisted living, living with a loved one?
• At what point would the elder need help with paying bills, keeping track of important documents?
• Are all of the estate documents in order?
• Where are the estate documents located?
• Have burial arrangements been made? If not, what would be their wishes?

Roseann Vanella is a Professional Mediator & Founder of Advanced Mediation Solutions located at 3804 Church Rd., Mt Laurel, NJ 08048 856-669-7172 Additional offices located in Philadelphia PA & Langhorne PA

Source: http://advancedmediationsolutions.net/wordpress/elder-care-checklist/

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Soldat - SCTFL - ATK Gaming Community

Ever played it? Soldat?

The game has existed for about 10 years, had its ups and downs. With a new developer team working on it, now is the time to go back to good old 2D action shooting!

So what's SCTFL? It's a huge 2D game league, "Soldat Capture The Flag League", aimed at giving you the best and most fun competition in a game you've ever had. READY?

You can download Soldat at http://soldat.thd.vg. From there, play a few rounds, gather all your friends, and make a clan.

Already got a clan? Well then, get ready to sign up at http://sctfl.net/ and show the world your true skill...
Or maybe you're too scared??

Source: http://www.atkcommunity.com/showthread.php/3411-Soldat-SCTFL

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About The Boosting Energy Consulting Industry - News and Society

As more people, organizations, and businesses find ways to acquire cheap, reliable, efficient, and clean energy, more and more energy consulting specialists are being hired for a multitude of services. While some people are entering the education field to eventually begin to work in this field, many companies are sprouting up that seek to offer global players from multinational corporations to governments with quality consulting services, said some house builders.

One thing these specialists use is market and trend data that analyzes the global energy market. Political and social changes in Russia could affect the energy market in Western Europe, while actions of OPEC can affect the global price of oil. Political tensions that can lead to the buildup of war or conflict can also affect the marketplace. The trend data that covers these subject areas are what energy consulting professionals must constantly stay on top of to ensure the best analysis of the market is given. As such, those who work in this industry must constantly stay on their game to maintain a competitive edge over their competitors.

Other specialists lend knowledge and expertise on efficient ways to deliver energy, make it cleaner, or how to extrapolate it from alternative sources. This might mean that consultants must have an expertise in electric, civic, or mechanical engineering. Depending on the project, energy consulting services must have a strong grasp of many areas within the energy sector. This means keeping an updated knowledge about the latest market trends, industry terms, technology, various energy systems, their mechanics, transportation methods, and demand response activities.

For many companies, consulting projects transcend energy markets and industries. Because of this, many companies market themselves to benefit both manufacturing and regulatory sectors, promising to optimize energy performance for an array of public and private organizations. Larger projects that may contract these services include state government building, college and university campuses, skyscrapers, large banks, music halls, symposiums, city arenas and other large buildings. On the smaller scale, services can target residential homes, small schools, municipal buildings, and camping sites. As such, companies offer various services in business planning, benchmarking, natural gas and renewable energy consultation, smart grid energy consulting, as well as expertise in legal, litigation, regulatory, and policy making in the energy sector.

Source: http://www.gongyifair.org/about-the-boosting-energy-consulting-industry.html

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The Thorny Question of Marketing Attribution: Does It Apply to B2B ...

Photo credit: dolphinsdock

Have you noticed how marketers are focusing on attribution these days?? Which media channel is really driving the sale, they ask.? What touch sequence is most productive?? Where should we assign credit?? There is much confusion and gnashing of teeth on this subject, but?I say that in B2B, these are the junior questions, and just a building block to the bigger issues.? Sure, we business marketers want to know where to invest our precious dollars.? But what we really want to know is: 1) How do my prospects buy, and how can I make their journey easier, faster, and more likely to result in a sale for my company?? ?2) What?s the ROI on the sale, meaning how much sales and marketing investment do I need to close the piece of business??

I?ve been looking into this attribution discussion recently, and find it pretty frustrating.? In the purely digital marketing world, marketing attribution analysis actually makes a lot of sense, and the various methods that are being talked about are worth looking at.? To summarize, they boil down to 4 general techniques:

1. First touch, last touch.? This means all credit for the sale (or whatever is the desired outcome, like becoming a qualified lead) goes to the media channel that acquired the prospect (the first touch) OR the channel immediately before the outcome (the last touch).? While many consumer marketers find last touch to make sense for attribution, in B2B, it?s more likely that marketers will be keeping close track of the first touch, since that is so useful for analyzing cold prospecting investment decisions.
2. Weighting.? All recorded touches are given some credit, and weighted equally, or according to some reasonable factor, like where they lie in the path to the sale.? In B2B, this method becomes problematic very quickly, since the sales cycle is so complex, involving a long series of touches, to multiple contacts in a target account, through multiple channels, many of them offline, and difficult to capture in a database.
3. Modeling.? Statistical analysis of purchase patterns against touch sequences provides insight into the relative impact of each media channel, which can then be used for more reliable weighting.? According to a 2010 Lenskold Group study, only 3% of business marketers are modeling for attribution. ?And even if they do, models tend to provide guidance only at a fairly high level, which doesn?t much help with granular touch-sequence decision-making.
4. Test and control.? Hands down, the most reliable method of sorting out the impact of an isolated single variable.? But well nigh impossible to execute across a multi-channel, multi-touch relationship.

Some very good work is being done on this subject by thoughtful and experienced B2B marketers.? Have a look at the Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics and Analytics produced by Marketo?s VP of Marketing Jon Miller, where he shares the attribution methods Marketo uses for its own marketing efforts.? And the slides from a recent talk at SES by Rob Cataford, a very smart analyst at the San Diego agency BusinessOnline.? I also appreciate the 5-step ?pipeline influence? process outlined by Michael Brenner in his B2B Marketing Insider blog.? ?And Target Marketing wrapped up its virtual conference on Integrated Marketing with a lively discussion on attribution, where I was pleased to be a member of the panel.

My conclusion:? A successful B2B go-to-market process operates in so many media channels, with so many individual contacts, and so many touches, performed by so many sales and marketing functions?internal and external?that worrying about which touch should get the credit is a relatively minor detail in the scheme of things.? ?When B2B marketers seek to justify their investments and make better decisions, it?s really about optimizing the entire process from initial contact to a sale.

I would argue that B2B marketers should put aside the question of credit-for-a-touch for every single marketing initiative.? We know that a zillion touches are going to go into the selling process. ?And we have access to fairly sophisticated lead management systems that allow us to track an inquiry to a sale over time. ?In B2B, attribution analysis should be applied to two more important concerns:

1. Gaining insight into the buyer?s journey.? Not for assigning credit to any particular touch.? But for understanding how better to identify prospects, engage with them, build a relationship, fend off competitors, and get the sale, faster.? And when we say ?buyer,? this means an account, not an individual contact.? We need to track?as best we can through web analytics as well as our CRM systems?the progression made by all parties involved in the purchase process.
2. Evaluating and improving the cost of selling.?? Companies need to know how much investment is needed to close business, at the account level.? Tracking marketing and sales expense by account, and then analyzing the data by product type, by industry and other variables?this is where attribution analysis can really add value in B2B.

That?s my take, but you are experts, too. What do you think?

This entry was posted on August 24, 2012 at 9:00 am and is filed under Internet Marketing, Web Metrics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://www.biznology.com/2012/08/the-thorny-question-of-marketing-attribution-does-it-apply-to-b2b/

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Source: http://twitter.com/modernghanaweb/statuses/238781331507650560

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Conrad Black's case for Order of Canada hearing unique: lawyer

The Canadian Press
Published Friday, Aug. 24, 2012 1:04PM EDT

TORONTO - A lawyer for Conrad Black says allowing him to argue in person against being stripped of his Order of Canada would not open the floodgates to similar requests.

Peter Howard told Federal Court Friday that Black's case is so unique that the order's advisory council could give Black the hearing without having to make such an exception ever again.

Black is asking the court to override council rules allowing written submissions only as it decides whether to recommend the Governor General revoke Black's prestigious membership.

Federal lawyers argued Black is well equipped to make his views known in writing and doesn't need to appear in person before the 11-member council.

They said a potential recommendation to kick the former media magnate out of the order is not open to judicial review and won't harm Black's reputation.

The council told Black last July it was reviewing his membership in light of his criminal convictions in the U.S.

Source: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/conrad-black-s-case-for-order-of-canada-hearing-unique-lawyer-1.928609

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