On Thursday June 6, small business owners will have an opportunity to discuss issues regarding Federal regulatory compliance and enforcement. SBA Acting National Ombudsman Yolanda V. Swift will meet with members of the Seattle-area small business community to hear issues and comments about Federal regulatory enforcement and compliance actions.?Small business owners, representatives of trade associations, and community and business leaders are invited to participate, comment about compliance actions and enforcement of regulations by Federal agencies, and learn more about the impact of Federal regulations on small businesses.
This Seattle Hearing will be your opportunity to testify/discuss issues regarding Federal regulatory compliance and enforcement and how you have been affected as a small business owner. The SBA?s Office of the Ombudsman?s mission is?to assist small businesses when they experience excessive or unfair federal regulatory enforcement actions, such as repetitive audits or investigations, excessive fines, penalties, threats, retaliation or other unfair enforcement action by a federal agency.
The event will take place on Thursday, June 6 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Rainier Club (820 4th Avenue, Seattle). To RSVP, contact Jose.Mendez@Seattle.gov.
The SBA?s Office of the Ombudsman also allows you to fill out a comment form on your experience working with Federal regulations. The comment form can be found here.
For more information or if you have any questions about this meeting, contact SBA Fairness Board Member Rich Gaspar at Rich@Gaspars.com
Virginia?s marquee governor?s race got a jolt of the unexpected on Saturday, as Republicans added E.W. Jackson, a political novice and evocative conservative firebrand, as the GOP?s lieutenant governor nominee alongside lightning rod gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli.
But whether that jolt will be a burst of enthusiasm from Mr. Jackson, a minister and attorney, or a fatal shock to a ticket Democrats already derided as extreme and out-of-touch will be a fundamental part of the commonwealth?s 2013 gubernatorial race.
?It?s like the Herman Cain phenomenon,? said Quentin Kidd, a Virginia political analyst and pollster at Christopher Newport University, ?only this time he only got the nomination.?
RECOMMENDED: Focus Republican Party 2.0: 4 GOP leaders share ideas for political upgrade
The nomination of Jackson and the fate of a ticket lead by Mr. Cuccinelli, no stranger to incendiary rhetoric himself, emphasizes Virginia?s place in the middle of the Republican Party?s ongoing debate about whether electoral success will come through bolder conservative champions or less ideologically rigid candidates.
?Cuccinelli may be drawn into the Jackson orbit in a way that he doesn?t want to be,? says Professor Kidd.
That could prevent Cuccinelli from emphasizing the economic issues and the more personal side of his campaign, which he has highlighted in recent weeks.
Want your top political issues explained? Get customized DC Decoder updates.
On the other hand, ?Cuccinelli may be able to tack to the middle by contrasting with Jackson,? Kidd says, and in that way the lieutenant governor ?could provide a very helpful foil to Ken Cuccinelli as well.?
Jackson?s addition to the ticket underlined where the Virginia GOP stands in the Republican Party?s ongoing discussion about its future: In the commonwealth, conservatives showed they wanted a more forthright, defiant brand of conservatism.
?I think we learned that the conservative core is far more conservative than people thought it was? in Virginia, Kidd says.
Jackson?s meteoric rise, helped along by a fiery speech on Saturday afternoon, was met with a withering critique from Democrats.
The party?s first African-American nominee for statewide office since the 1980s was savaged by Democrats over his history of incendiary statements on a number of topics ? he once likened Planned Parenthood to the Klu Klux Klan, said that President Obama harbors ?Muslim sensibilities,? and has made a host of statements deriding homosexuality.
?Frankly, I?m rather appalled with the results, with the ideologically narrow scope of the Republican ticket that emerged from Richmond this weekend,? said Vince Callahan, a long-time Republican state legislator who is backing this year?s Democratic nominee, Terry McAuliffe, on a conference call with reporters.
?You?re turning off not only the vast majority of all Virginians but a significant portion of the Republican base," he added.
Jackson is going to have to stand for his record, said Chris Jankowski, the president of the Republican State Leadership Committee, which works to elect Republicans at the lieutenant governor level and lower.
?I saw some things yesterday that I hadn?t seen [about Jackson?s past statements]," said Mr. Jankowksi at a discussion with reporters on Monday.
?No matter how deeply held our views our, politics is about addition and not subtraction,? said Jankowski, a veteran of Virginia politics who attended the convention. ?You want to find the common ground and build on that ? and to the extent your tone does not build on finding a common ground, that is not helpful.?
However, Democratic insistence on fighting over social issues was more to distract from that party?s candidate, Terry McAuliffe, than it was a substantive critique of commonwealth conservatives, Jankowski said.
?This will be a negative race and [Democrats] will play the social issues as much as possible,? Jankowski said. ?We have to keep it on jobs and the role and size and scope of government and remind [voters] that, generally, people think Richmond?s on the right track.?
Mr. McAuliffe, a former mega fundraiser for the Democratic Party who has shown an entrepreneurial streak in recent years, has had his own words thrown back at him as well, including passages from his book where he describes stopping off at an event for party donors on the way home from the hospital with his wife and newborn child.
Helping Jackson?s rise considerably was the party?s decision to hold a convention rather than a statewide primary ? and to hold it the same weekend as major graduations at several of the commonwealth?s largest universities. These decisions gave more influence to the party?s most committed activists, many of whom spent 12 hours battling, ballot after ballot, to determine the nomination for lieutenant governor.
?I think everyone thought that he was sort of a heart-and-soul vote,? says Kidd of Jackson.
Other options were Pete Snyder, a wealthy Northern Virginia marketing entrepreneur, or Corey Stewart, the head of a Northern Virginia Board of County Supervisors. Either would have come with far less political baggage and represented in broad strokes, at least, the type of business-friendly Republican that has long prospered in the Old Dominion.
Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, who himself took some critiques for past social views during his 2009 campaign, ran and won convincingly on his ?Bob?s for Jobs? theme. He recently brokered a bipartisan transportation deal that had eluded at least a half-dozen of his predecessors.
But the commonwealth?s political history offers some strong indicators that Republicans could triumph in 2013. The state has a long-running streak of electing a governor of the opposite party of the president, for one.
Even if Jackson proves too strident for the overall electorate, Kidd points out that Virginia voters are willing to take only the parts of the ticket they like: Virginians put Republican George Allen in the governor?s mansion in 1993 and future GOP governor Jim Gilmore in the attorney general?s office ? but rejected the more right-wing Michael Ferris for lieutenant governor.
There?s also Cuccinelli?s particular history to consider. The man who was always too unyielding to win has made political staying power a habit over his career, once holding on to his Northern Virginia seat in the state Senate by under 100 votes.
?They?ve been writing him off and writing him off,? said Janowski, ?and he always surprises you.?
RECOMMENDED: Focus Republican Party 2.0: 4 GOP leaders share ideas for political upgrade
Apple's U.S Retail Stores top not only the list for highest revenue per square foot, but also revenue per visitor. Asymco's Horace Dediu has been doing his thing crunching the numbers, and the latest quarter shows a 7% increase to $57.6 per visitor, with average revenue per store up to $13 million for the quarter.
Impressive numbers, and it sets Apple at about the double the figure of the next highest, Tiifany and Co. Apple doesn't exactly sell low price goods, but consider how many people pass through the doors each day without buying anything, and it sets it into a little perspective.
What we want to know is, how much have you spent in a single transaction at an Apple Retail Store? Some people must be spending in big numbers, so let us know what you maxed out at!
Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPDPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathaniel Dunford ndunford@thoracic.org American Thoracic Society
ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ? People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, as well as more severe airflow obstruction, than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke, according to the results of a new population-based study conducted by researchers in Colombia.
The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference.
"Although previous studies have shown a definite link between wood smoke exposure and the development of COPD, those studies were case-controls and case series of patients with similar disease or health profiles," said study lead author Carlos Torres-Duque, M.D., director of research at the Fundacion Neumologica Colombiana in Bogota. "This new data derives from a population-based study that looked at wood smoke exposure and the overall prevalence of COPD, as well as the characteristics of the disease and those who suffer from it."
About 40 percent of the world's population uses solid fuels especially wood for cooking or heating, he noted.
For this study, Dr. Torres-Duque and his colleagues used data from the PREPOCOL (Prevalencia de la Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crnica en Colombia) study which evaluated the prevalence of COPD among the adult residents of five Colombian cities. The study included 5,539 subjects, 8.9 percent of whom were diagnosed with COPD. The study participants were divided into four groups: those who were exposed to wood smoke and who had never smoked tobacco (30.9 percent); those who were exposed to tobacco smoke but had no exposure to wood smoke (18.7 percent); those who had been exposed to both types of smoke (29.8 percent); and those who had exposure to neither type of smoke (20.6 percent).
Patients' lung function was measured using spirometry, a technique used to measure the amount of air a person is able to inhale and exhale, and all patients completed a standardized respiratory questionnaire to identify exposure to smoke.
In their initial review of data, the researchers learned that 53 percent of those diagnosed with COPD had both wood and tobacco smoke exposure; moreover, the prevalence of COPD increased as exposure to wood smoke increased.
After adjusting for specific factors including age, active and passive tobacco smoking, education level, history of TB and altitude, the researchers found that wood smoke exposure of 10 or more years posed a significant risk factor for developing COPD in both men and women and those with both wood and tobacco exposure had poorer lung function scores and more phlegm and coughed more frequently than those who had exposure to only one type of smoke.Among the COPD population, those who were exposed only to wood smoke tended to be women, to have higher BMIs and to be shorter than those exposed to tobacco smoke or to a combination of wood and tobacco smoke.
"In the population we studied, exposure to wood smoke was identified as an independent risk factor for developing COPD, both in women and men," Dr. Torres-Duque said. "In addition, the prevalence of COPD was significantly higher in those who were exposed to both wood and tobacco smoke and those with both exposures had more symptoms and more severe disease than those who were exposed to only one type of smoke."
This result suggests that the combination of wood and tobacco smoke produces an additive effect that causes an increase in COPD prevalence and in the frequency of COPD symptoms, he added.
"It is also possible that the responses of the lungs and airways could vary, based on the pollutants to which they're exposed," Dr. Torres-Duque noted.
Future studies might provide additional data regarding varying responses and help clinicians determine specific treatments based on exposures, he said.
###
* Please note that numbers in this release may differ slightly from those in the abstract. Many of these investigations are ongoing; the release represents the most up-to-date data available at press time.
Abstract 42086
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In People Exposed To Wood Smoke. PREPOCOL: A Population Based Study
Type: Scientific Abstract
Category: 06.03 - COPD: Epidemiology (CP/EOH)
Authors: C.A. Torres-Duque1, A. Caballero2, M. Gonzalez-Garcia1, C. Jaramillo3, D. Maldonado1; 1Fundacion Neumologica Colombiana - Bogota/CO, 2Clinica Reina Sofia - Bogota/CO, 3Fundacin Clinica Shaio - Bogota/CO
Abstract Body
Rationale. Forty percent of the world population use solid fuels (charcoal or biomass), especially wood, for cooking or heating. The majority of the studies relating domiciliary exposure to wood smoke (WS) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been case-control or case series studies. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and to characterize the people with COPD related with WS.
Methods. Analytical cross-sectional, probabilistic, population-based study (PREPOCOL) in people older than 40 years in five Colombian cities. Each subject answered a respiratory questionnaire, which included questions on WS exposure, and performed spirometry. COPD was defined by a FEV1/FVC postbronchodilator Results. We included 5539 subjects distributed according to exposure: WS:30,9%, TS:18,7%, MS:29,8%, and none:20,6%. The overall prevalence of COPD was 8.9% and according to exposure: WS:6,7%, TS:7,8%, and MS:16,0% (p
[ | E-mail | 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.
Combined wood and tobacco smoke exposure increases risk and symptoms of COPDPublic release date: 20-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathaniel Dunford ndunford@thoracic.org American Thoracic Society
ATS 2013, PHILADELPHIA ? People who are consistently exposed to both wood smoke and tobacco smoke are at a greater risk for developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and for experiencing more frequent and severe symptoms of the disease, as well as more severe airflow obstruction, than those who are exposed to only one type of smoke, according to the results of a new population-based study conducted by researchers in Colombia.
The results of the study will be presented at the ATS 2013 International Conference.
"Although previous studies have shown a definite link between wood smoke exposure and the development of COPD, those studies were case-controls and case series of patients with similar disease or health profiles," said study lead author Carlos Torres-Duque, M.D., director of research at the Fundacion Neumologica Colombiana in Bogota. "This new data derives from a population-based study that looked at wood smoke exposure and the overall prevalence of COPD, as well as the characteristics of the disease and those who suffer from it."
About 40 percent of the world's population uses solid fuels especially wood for cooking or heating, he noted.
For this study, Dr. Torres-Duque and his colleagues used data from the PREPOCOL (Prevalencia de la Enfermedad Pulmonar Obstructiva Crnica en Colombia) study which evaluated the prevalence of COPD among the adult residents of five Colombian cities. The study included 5,539 subjects, 8.9 percent of whom were diagnosed with COPD. The study participants were divided into four groups: those who were exposed to wood smoke and who had never smoked tobacco (30.9 percent); those who were exposed to tobacco smoke but had no exposure to wood smoke (18.7 percent); those who had been exposed to both types of smoke (29.8 percent); and those who had exposure to neither type of smoke (20.6 percent).
Patients' lung function was measured using spirometry, a technique used to measure the amount of air a person is able to inhale and exhale, and all patients completed a standardized respiratory questionnaire to identify exposure to smoke.
In their initial review of data, the researchers learned that 53 percent of those diagnosed with COPD had both wood and tobacco smoke exposure; moreover, the prevalence of COPD increased as exposure to wood smoke increased.
After adjusting for specific factors including age, active and passive tobacco smoking, education level, history of TB and altitude, the researchers found that wood smoke exposure of 10 or more years posed a significant risk factor for developing COPD in both men and women and those with both wood and tobacco exposure had poorer lung function scores and more phlegm and coughed more frequently than those who had exposure to only one type of smoke.Among the COPD population, those who were exposed only to wood smoke tended to be women, to have higher BMIs and to be shorter than those exposed to tobacco smoke or to a combination of wood and tobacco smoke.
"In the population we studied, exposure to wood smoke was identified as an independent risk factor for developing COPD, both in women and men," Dr. Torres-Duque said. "In addition, the prevalence of COPD was significantly higher in those who were exposed to both wood and tobacco smoke and those with both exposures had more symptoms and more severe disease than those who were exposed to only one type of smoke."
This result suggests that the combination of wood and tobacco smoke produces an additive effect that causes an increase in COPD prevalence and in the frequency of COPD symptoms, he added.
"It is also possible that the responses of the lungs and airways could vary, based on the pollutants to which they're exposed," Dr. Torres-Duque noted.
Future studies might provide additional data regarding varying responses and help clinicians determine specific treatments based on exposures, he said.
###
* Please note that numbers in this release may differ slightly from those in the abstract. Many of these investigations are ongoing; the release represents the most up-to-date data available at press time.
Abstract 42086
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease In People Exposed To Wood Smoke. PREPOCOL: A Population Based Study
Type: Scientific Abstract
Category: 06.03 - COPD: Epidemiology (CP/EOH)
Authors: C.A. Torres-Duque1, A. Caballero2, M. Gonzalez-Garcia1, C. Jaramillo3, D. Maldonado1; 1Fundacion Neumologica Colombiana - Bogota/CO, 2Clinica Reina Sofia - Bogota/CO, 3Fundacin Clinica Shaio - Bogota/CO
Abstract Body
Rationale. Forty percent of the world population use solid fuels (charcoal or biomass), especially wood, for cooking or heating. The majority of the studies relating domiciliary exposure to wood smoke (WS) with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been case-control or case series studies. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and to characterize the people with COPD related with WS.
Methods. Analytical cross-sectional, probabilistic, population-based study (PREPOCOL) in people older than 40 years in five Colombian cities. Each subject answered a respiratory questionnaire, which included questions on WS exposure, and performed spirometry. COPD was defined by a FEV1/FVC postbronchodilator Results. We included 5539 subjects distributed according to exposure: WS:30,9%, TS:18,7%, MS:29,8%, and none:20,6%. The overall prevalence of COPD was 8.9% and according to exposure: WS:6,7%, TS:7,8%, and MS:16,0% (p
[ | E-mail | 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.
The battle between BlackBerry and Microsoft for the No.3 spot in the smartphone platform war is showing no signs of slowing, but a new contender will soon come to market to challenge these struggling giants. Jolla, whose CEO spoke with us nearly a year ago about the company?s efforts, has unveiled its first smartphone. Named simply ?Jolla,? the handset will feature a 4.5-inch HD display, a dual-core processor, 4G LTE, 16GB of internal storage, microSD support, an 8-megapixel camera, Android app support and the Sailfish mobile operating system. Most impressively of all, perhaps, is the price tag: just??399 before taxes and subsidies. Jolla says it hopes to begin shipping the phone by the end of 2013, and a video of
Choosing the first warning signs of undesired pest infestations within your dearest residence might be neural-racking. There are plenty of areas you might have pest infestations entering your home in seconds. Even though you have a shut observe on the entrance ways, your house can nonetheless be subjected to unwanted pests. This information has many typical pest management.
Cleaning rugs assists get rid of the carpeting inside a home. This is a good way to remove the unwanted pests within your carpets and carpets and rugs. You should eliminate the travelling bag later on.
Bed bugs can place dormant for a total calendar year with out food. This is why you should shut off all pockets inside your floors and walls. It can make it difficult on their behalf from camouflaging there.
Make use of a spray if you want to keep little bugs out of your house. Mist regions close to your home, in addition to steps, foundation as well as doors and windows. Try to find crevices and little openings through which unwanted pests can use as an entry ways to your home. Close off up these regions with fillers like caulk.
Outdoor lights can be fantastic, so keep this as low as possible. If you prefer to have outdoor lighting operating all night, try to use orange, like orange, since these usually entice unwanted pests significantly less.
Bedbugs can lay inactive for the entire season with out consuming. So be sure to shut any slots within your walls or flooring. It can protect against these people to conceal there.
You must discover how pest infestations are employing into the future to your residence. For instance, possibly spiders are receiving into the home using a tiny area within a home window, and spiders can crawl by means of cracks in house windows. Start to stop the pests from entering your home when you know how they?re getting into.
Ticks really are a challenging insect, but you have several possibilities in how you can purge your own home of the ticks as well as their chicken eggs. Understand that you need to discard the vacuum handbag needs to be discarded instantly upon doing vacuum-cleaning.
You can find control of the insects as well as other pests that are hurting you. Check out a home remodeling or home improvement center close to you and look for guidance from experts. They can be qualified to know which pesticides work properly for the different kinds of pests.
Take a look at the building blocks plus your surfaces for cracks. These availabilities are easy access factors for unwanted pests to undergo. Pest infestations be in by way of little crevices within the ceiling sometimes.
You need to keep your recycling outside the home if you can. In case you are unable to retailer your recyclables outside the house, then you definitely must rinse out what ever is placed with your container. You should also want to get trying to recycle boxes which can be closed.
It is possible to eliminate bees using foam from harmless miles. Delay until you know the bugs are not any longer residing before eliminating the hive.
If you notice spiders in the home, keep in mind other pests may be appealing to them. Dirt and sweep often to reduce on these complaints to a minimum.
Maintain all of your current food items saved apart safely to avoid cockroach difficulties. A paperclip will not resolve the problem, make sure that covered containers and zip-secure hand bags can be used for meals storing.Any foods ignored is able to keep roaches about. Continue to keep all meals, like flour and sweets, in closed storage containers at the same time.
Carpenter ant infestations are generally the sign of any bigger dilemma. They enjoy wood that may be moist, and for that reason you most likely have leakages and also rotten wooden. Provide an expert decide in which the dilemma and the way to fix it.
Lessen the clutter and you will definitely decrease the little bugs. You can find almost certainly places in your house which can be mess magnets, from desks to counter tops to bookshelves.
Oils of mustard is a wonderful way to repel raccoons that are living in your home. Put the essential oil in the critter?s living space it?s keeping and check around due to its reason for entry. Put in a little bit of fine mesh cords to ensure that it cannot get in to the property yet again.
Pay attention to your lawn and yard circumstances to maintain control over rodent difficulties. Ensure it is an not comfortable in your space. Keep the grass span brief, while keeping your grass trimmed neatly. Performing these issues helps keep rats to result in problems elsewhere.
If pest management is a thing you would like to attempt on your own, bring along distinct pests when you visit buy your pesticide. This helps the pros at the shop to suit the insect towards the proper pesticide to destroy them. You will find bug sprays and products intended for certain pests. This gives you might be using the appropriate poison for the distinct pest.
Vegetation some marigolds if there are traveling by air bugs. Marigolds are acknowledged to keep flying bugs through the region. You might also proceeding so that you can discover some vegetation to maintain pests aside. Mosquito plants and flowers and citronella plants can discourage traveling pesky insects under control.
Ants can occasionally find their very own methods to enter in your home and migrate towards the cooking area location. Ants don?t like cloves, so placing straight down cloves in areas where meals is stored may avoid the foods from turning into contaminated. Also you can dust cloves close to your own home border to prevent them from getting into your property yet again.
Ants will often locate their way into a residence and also the cooking area area. Ants don?t like cloves, so sprinkling some floor cloves in locations where foods are can get rid of them. Also you can spread floor cloves around the house.
Bird foods are something which rats favored treats. If you appreciate to feed birds, make sure your bird food is held in the appropriate compartment. Maintain your plant seeds in a pot that?s rodent-proof and also steel to hold rats out.
For those who have a challenge with rug beetles, getting rid of the rug might have to become the resolve. When you don?t have them out, this is probably not very good for your health.
If you see your meal has unwanted pests inside, toss it aside easily. Place the contaminated food items in a bin exterior and far from home. This may ensure that the unwanted pests don?t sneak back into your house for further food.
Fleas are prevalent during the summer time! For those who have a third party family pet, speak to her or his vet about flea handle. There exists a wide variety of ways for you to cope with fleas available today for pet dogs and kittens and cats as well.
no teletrack online personal loans loans You can now realize that there are a variety of choices within the strategies to management pest infestations. Make use of the advice you may have go through in this article to get the correct means of getting rid of your invasion. When the problem?s too large for you to take care of, request support. Nevertheless you want to deal with your pest matter, you should start getting your strategy into action.
Gather hundreds of celebrities and film executives on the French Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival and naturally, they need their glitter and glam.
One way the famous end up looking so good and so trendy is that often, they don't have to bring, or buy, their own fabulousness: They get special invitations to luxury "gifting suites" set up in hotel rooms at the film festival and can walk out with thousands of dollars of clothes and jewelry.
These rooms of swag aren't the only places where there's bling-related excitement to be found -- someone stole jewels meant for celebrities to wear on the red carpet straight from a hotel room very early on in the festival.
The Hollywood Reporter took a look inside some of these swag rooms stocked by famous brands including Chanel, Swarovski, Dior, and Jimmy Choo to find out what's up for grabs -- if you've got the right A-list name. Check out the video!
JOHANNESBURG, May 17 (IPS) - In December 2011, 159 governments and major international organisations recognised the central role of civil society in development and promised to create an "enabling" operating environment for the non-profit sector.
Mandeep Tiwana, policy and advocacy manager of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Credit: Mandeep Tiwana
Despite the tall talk at the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid and Development Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea, today NGOs, trade unions, faith based groups, social movements and community based organisations working to expose rights violations and corruption remain in a state of siege in many parts of the world.
Reports by U.N. officials and respected civil society organisations show that false prosecutions and murderous attacks on activists are rife and threatening to derail international development objectives even as we debate a new framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals, which expire in 2015.
In fact, moves are being championed by some governments to limit civil society participation at high-level meetings of the U.N. General Assembly through a process whereby states can issue politically motivated objections to the inclusion of particular NGOs in key discussions.
Unfortunately, legal restrictions on free speech, formation of civic organisations and the right to protest peacefully appear to be on the rise despite the rhetoric of engaging civil society in global decision making forums.
In many countries civil society groups are being prevented from accessing funding from international sources, as highlighted by the U.N.'s special expert on freedom of assembly and association in his latest report.
In Russia, non-profit advocacy groups receiving international funding are being subjected to intrusive inspections to ensure compliance with a controversial law that?requires NGOs to register under the highly offensive nomenclature of "foreign agents", or face sanctions.
A draft law currently pending in Bangladesh seeks to implement a cumbersome approval process for civil society organisations receiving foreign funding, in an attempt to discourage criticism of the government.
Egypt is mulling over a new law that would allow intelligence and security agencies to exert control over independent civil society groups.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia's most prolific blogger is serving an 18-year sentence for writing about the implications of the Arab Spring for his country. A respected Laotian activist is missing after he criticised state-sponsored displacement of local communities.
In Saudi Arabia, founders of the Saudi Association for Civil and Political Rights have been handed 10 and 11-year sentences for "breaking allegiance to the King." China continues to incarcerate dissident writers calling for democratic reform, including Nobel Peace Laureate Liu Xiobo.
The situation is alarming in fragile and conflict-affected states. As the civil war rages on in Syria, a number of peaceful civil society activists and journalists are being imprisoned and persecuted in violation of international human rights law.
The actions of?Colombian right-wing paramilitary groups have become so murderous that the country is now the deadliest place in the world for trade unionists.
Women's rights activists challenging patriarchy and religious fundamentalism in Pakistan are gunned down with frightening regularity, while activists from Sri Lanka and Bahrain voicing concerns at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva often face reprisals upon return to their home countries.
In Cameroon and Uganda activists seeking to advance gay rights are not only socially ostracised but also subjected to death threats on a regular basis to prevent them from carrying out their work.
Even in so-called mature democracies, expressing dissent remains an activity fraught with negative consequences. A section of the environmental group Forest Ethics Canada decided to give up its charitable status, including tax advantages, in order to protect itself from intrusive inspections after being blamed by the conservative government of "obstructing" the country's economic development.
Julian Assange, founder of the activist website WikiLeaks, continues to be hounded for his expos? of U.S. diplomatic cables and, arguably, doing what most investigative journalists do.
In the United Kingdom, the practice of police spies penetrating the environmental movement has prompted a sharp rebuke from the U.N., whose expert on freedom of assembly and association, Maina Kiai, expressed "deep concern" in January about police officers infiltrating non-violent groups who were not engaged in any criminal activities.
As evidence from CIVICUS' State of Civil Society Report 2013 shows, promises made in Busan about creating an "enabling" environment for CSOs were ignored as soon as the proverbial ink had dried.
With discussions on the post 2015 development agenda well underway, influential civil society groups are urging the U.N.'s High Level Panel to explicitly recognise the centrality of an enabling environment for civil society in any new formulation of internationally agreed development goals.
While politicians are currently preoccupied with kick-starting or maintaining economic growth, there is a real danger that civil society's right and ability to engage decision makers in various forums will be further limited.
If global development goals are to succeed, civil society needs to be able to operate free from fear of reprisals for advancing legitimate if uncomfortable concerns. After all, civil society groups contribute substantially to development strategies and help find innovative solutions to complex developmental challenges.
More importantly, they help ensure the representation of a wide range of voices, in particular those of the vulnerable and marginalised in development debates. Perhaps this is why they are being persecuted.
(END/COPYRIGHT IPS)
? Inter Press Service (2013) ? All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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Individuals who drink heavily and smoke may show 'early aging' of the brainPublic release date: 17-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Timothy C. Durazzo, Ph.D.
timothy.durazzo@ucsf.edu
415-221-4810 x4157
San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center
Alecia Dager, Ph.D.
alecia.dager@yale.edu
860-545-7670
Yale University
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Alcohol treatment interventions work best when patients understand and are actively involved in the process.
A first-of-its-kind study looks at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in one-month-abstinent alcohol dependent (AD) individuals in treatment.
Results show that AD individuals who currently smoke have more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who do not smoke, effects which seem to become greater with increasing age.
Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities found during early abstinence, including chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age. A new study is the first to look at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in treatment-seeking alcohol dependent (AD) individuals. Findings show that AD individuals who currently smoke show more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who don't smoke, effects which seem to become exacerbated with age.
Results will be published in the October 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Several factors nutrition, exercise, comorbid medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, psychiatric conditions such as depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, and genetic predispositions may also influence cognitive functioning during early abstinence," explained Timothy C. Durazzo, assistant professor in the department of radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California San Francisco, and corresponding author for the study. "We focused on the effects of chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age on cognition because previous research suggested that each has independent, adverse affects on multiple aspects of cognition and brain biology in people with and without alcohol use disorders. This previous research also indicated that the adverse effects of smoking on the brain accumulate over time. Therefore, we predicted that AD, active chronic smokers would show the greatest decline in cognitive abilities with increasing age."
"The independent and interactive effects of smoking and other drug use on cognitive functioning among individuals with AD are largely unknown," added Alecia Dager, associate research scientist in the department of psychiatry at Yale University. "This is problematic because many heavy drinkers also smoke. Furthermore, in treatment programs for alcoholism, the issue of smoking may be largely ignored. This study provides evidence of greater cognitive difficulties in alcoholics who also smoke, which could offer important insights for treatment programs. First, individuals with AD who also smoke may have more difficulty remembering, integrating, and implementing treatment strategies. Second, there are clear benefits for thinking skills as a result of quitting both substances."
Durazzo and his colleagues compared the neurocognitive functioning of four groups of participants, all between the ages of 26 and 71 years of age: never-smoking healthy individuals or "controls" (n=39); and one-month abstinent, treatment-seeking AD individuals, who were never-smokers (n = 30), former-smokers (n = 21) and active-smokers (n = 68). Evaluated cognitive abilities included cognitive efficiency, executive functions, fine motor skills, general intelligence, learning and memory, processing speed, visuospatial functions, and working memory.
"We found that, at one month of abstinence, actively smoking AD [individuals] had greater-than-normal age effects on measures of learning, memory, processing speed, reasoning and problem-solving, and fine motor skills," said Durazzo. "AD never-smokers and former-smokers showed equivalent changes on all measures with increasing age as the never-smoking controls. These results indicate the combination of alcohol dependence and active chronic smoking was related to an abnormal decline in multiple cognitive functions with increasing age."
"These results indicate the combined effects of these drugs are especially harmful and become even more apparent in older age," said Dager. "In general, people show cognitive decline in older age. However, it seems that years of combined alcohol and cigarette use exacerbate this process, contributing to an even greater decline in thinking skills in later years."
Durazzo agreed. "Chronic cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and increasing age are all associated with increased oxidative damage to brain tissue," he said. "Oxidative damage results from increased levels of free radicals and other compounds that directly injure neurons and other cells that make up the brain. Cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption expose the brain to a tremendous amount of free radicals. We hypothesize that chronic, long-term exposure to cigarette smoke and excessive alcohol consumption interacts with the normal aging process to produce greater neurocognitive decline in the active-smoking AD group."
Cigarette smoking is a "modifiable health risk" that is directly associated with at least 440,000 deaths every year in the United States, Durazzo noted. "Chronic smoking, and to a lesser extent, alcohol use disorders are also associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease," he said. "So, the combination of these modifiable health risks may place an individual at even greater risk for development of Alzheimer's disease. Given the above, in conjunction with the findings from our cognitive and neuroimaging research, we completely support programs that routinely offer smoking cessation programs to all individuals seeking treatment for alcohol/substance abuse disorders."
###
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "Neurocognition in 1-Month-Abstinent Treatment-Seeking Alcohol Dependent Individuals: Interactive Effects of Age and Chronic Cigarette Smoking," were: David L. Pennington, Christoph Ab, and Dieter J. Meyerhoff of the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco; and Thomas P. Schmidt and Anderson Mon of the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. This release is supported by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network at http://www.ATTCnetwork.org.
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Individuals who drink heavily and smoke may show 'early aging' of the brainPublic release date: 17-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Timothy C. Durazzo, Ph.D.
timothy.durazzo@ucsf.edu
415-221-4810 x4157
San Francisco Veterans Administration Medical Center
Alecia Dager, Ph.D.
alecia.dager@yale.edu
860-545-7670
Yale University
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research
Alcohol treatment interventions work best when patients understand and are actively involved in the process.
A first-of-its-kind study looks at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in one-month-abstinent alcohol dependent (AD) individuals in treatment.
Results show that AD individuals who currently smoke have more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who do not smoke, effects which seem to become greater with increasing age.
Treatment for alcohol use disorders works best if the patient actively understands and incorporates the interventions provided in the clinic. Multiple factors can influence both the type and degree of neurocognitive abnormalities found during early abstinence, including chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age. A new study is the first to look at the interactive effects of smoking status and age on neurocognition in treatment-seeking alcohol dependent (AD) individuals. Findings show that AD individuals who currently smoke show more problems with memory, ability to think quickly and efficiently, and problem-solving skills than those who don't smoke, effects which seem to become exacerbated with age.
Results will be published in the October 2013 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
"Several factors nutrition, exercise, comorbid medical conditions such as hypertension and diabetes, psychiatric conditions such as depressive disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder, and genetic predispositions may also influence cognitive functioning during early abstinence," explained Timothy C. Durazzo, assistant professor in the department of radiology and biomedical imaging at the University of California San Francisco, and corresponding author for the study. "We focused on the effects of chronic cigarette smoking and increasing age on cognition because previous research suggested that each has independent, adverse affects on multiple aspects of cognition and brain biology in people with and without alcohol use disorders. This previous research also indicated that the adverse effects of smoking on the brain accumulate over time. Therefore, we predicted that AD, active chronic smokers would show the greatest decline in cognitive abilities with increasing age."
"The independent and interactive effects of smoking and other drug use on cognitive functioning among individuals with AD are largely unknown," added Alecia Dager, associate research scientist in the department of psychiatry at Yale University. "This is problematic because many heavy drinkers also smoke. Furthermore, in treatment programs for alcoholism, the issue of smoking may be largely ignored. This study provides evidence of greater cognitive difficulties in alcoholics who also smoke, which could offer important insights for treatment programs. First, individuals with AD who also smoke may have more difficulty remembering, integrating, and implementing treatment strategies. Second, there are clear benefits for thinking skills as a result of quitting both substances."
Durazzo and his colleagues compared the neurocognitive functioning of four groups of participants, all between the ages of 26 and 71 years of age: never-smoking healthy individuals or "controls" (n=39); and one-month abstinent, treatment-seeking AD individuals, who were never-smokers (n = 30), former-smokers (n = 21) and active-smokers (n = 68). Evaluated cognitive abilities included cognitive efficiency, executive functions, fine motor skills, general intelligence, learning and memory, processing speed, visuospatial functions, and working memory.
"We found that, at one month of abstinence, actively smoking AD [individuals] had greater-than-normal age effects on measures of learning, memory, processing speed, reasoning and problem-solving, and fine motor skills," said Durazzo. "AD never-smokers and former-smokers showed equivalent changes on all measures with increasing age as the never-smoking controls. These results indicate the combination of alcohol dependence and active chronic smoking was related to an abnormal decline in multiple cognitive functions with increasing age."
"These results indicate the combined effects of these drugs are especially harmful and become even more apparent in older age," said Dager. "In general, people show cognitive decline in older age. However, it seems that years of combined alcohol and cigarette use exacerbate this process, contributing to an even greater decline in thinking skills in later years."
Durazzo agreed. "Chronic cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and increasing age are all associated with increased oxidative damage to brain tissue," he said. "Oxidative damage results from increased levels of free radicals and other compounds that directly injure neurons and other cells that make up the brain. Cigarette smoking and excessive alcohol consumption expose the brain to a tremendous amount of free radicals. We hypothesize that chronic, long-term exposure to cigarette smoke and excessive alcohol consumption interacts with the normal aging process to produce greater neurocognitive decline in the active-smoking AD group."
Cigarette smoking is a "modifiable health risk" that is directly associated with at least 440,000 deaths every year in the United States, Durazzo noted. "Chronic smoking, and to a lesser extent, alcohol use disorders are also associated with an increased risk for Alzheimer's disease," he said. "So, the combination of these modifiable health risks may place an individual at even greater risk for development of Alzheimer's disease. Given the above, in conjunction with the findings from our cognitive and neuroimaging research, we completely support programs that routinely offer smoking cessation programs to all individuals seeking treatment for alcohol/substance abuse disorders."
###
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research (ACER) is the official journal of the Research Society on Alcoholism and the International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism. Co-authors of the ACER paper, "Neurocognition in 1-Month-Abstinent Treatment-Seeking Alcohol Dependent Individuals: Interactive Effects of Age and Chronic Cigarette Smoking," were: David L. Pennington, Christoph Ab, and Dieter J. Meyerhoff of the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco; and Thomas P. Schmidt and Anderson Mon of the Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health. This release is supported by the Addiction Technology Transfer Center Network at http://www.ATTCnetwork.org.
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Public release date: 20-May-2013
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Mandeep Tiwana, policy and advocacy manager of CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Credit: Mandeep Tiwana