In the past paced, ever-evolving medical age that we live in receiving an x-ray, CT scan or any other test using radiation is relatively common, even for children. But as the number of scans increases the FDA as well as the Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging are suggesting that the amount of radiation children receive over the course of their lifetime could increase their risk of certain cancers later in life.
The article, published by the Boston Globe , stated that while many pediatric hospitals adjust their scanners to produce a lower amount of radiation for children it is not necessarily the case in general hospitals. As part of the recommendation to lower the dose that children receive, the FDA is also recommending that machines have built in adjustments for children of different ages and sizes.
The agency is also calling on parents to track the tests that their children receive. Often the results could be determined with a radiation-free test, only using radiation when absolutely necessary. It’s also a good way to track your child’s exposure to ensure that it doesn’t become excessive. This is of particular importance for children that with serious illnesses that require more tests than the average child.
Experts say that the tests, when necessary, are safe but this is just one more way to ensure that our children lead happy healthy lives .
The quest for health requires of all things – a healthy lifestyle. Easy to say not so easy to do in this world of processed foods and sedentary lifestyles. However there is no getting around this simple rule.
There are two things you must incorporate into your lifestyle if you want to achieve health and increase muscle mass, lose belly fat, develop stamina and all the other benefits of living a healthy lifestyle.
Number one is to undertake regular cardiovascular exercise. Simple huh? Do this four days per week for forty minutes. Cardio can take the form of running, cycling, swimming or any other exercise where you are out of breath and sweating!! Muscle building exercises such as weights and bodybuilding are not cardiovascular and so dont fall in this category. Cardio is suppose to be challenging as the aim is to increase the heart rate for an extended period of time. One benefit of cardio is that it uses up calories and thus aids weight loss.
Number two is to eat only wholegrain, organic, unrefined, or non processed foods. This is important as it will keep your appetite in check and ensure good eating habits. Must of the food found in grocery stores these days has been so refined and added to that many key nutrients have been removed and often replaced with artificial ones as well as chemicals and preservatives. Therefore make a point to eat only wholegrains and organic items. Try to avoid excessive intake of sugars, alcohol and caffeine.
By following these two steps your will improve your well being and ensure that your weight stays at a healthy level. This will help eliminate the need for unhealthy weight loss regimes such as crash diets, fat burning and cosmetic surgery.
Comcast launched its new Xfinity Streampix service for subscribers this week, entering the competition for your portable entertainment dollars against Netflix, Hulu Plus and Amazon. The service rolled out initially to Comcast’s 22.3 million subscribers across 39 states on Feb. 23 and could eventually help the cable company expand its customer base and keep increasingly Internet-oriented consumers from cutting the cable entirely.
About Streampix
The Streampix service is designed to complement the Philadelphia-based cable and Internet provider’s ongoing Xfinity TV service, which provides TV subscribers with access to 75,000 current and recent TV episodes on demand as well as recent and new-release movies. Streampix offers full runs of past seasons of some on-going shows, like 30 Rock and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as older programs, like Ugly Betty and Married with Children, children’s programs and older movies.
On Comcast’s official blog, Comcast Voices, Marcien Jenckes, the company’s senior vice president and general manager of video services, said the program is an effort to respond to consumer demand for access to a deeper video library and will add value to customer subscriptions. Through this program, Comcast hopes to get their subscribers to drop other similar services and make them their sole source for video services.
Netflix currently has 40,000 television episodes and movies in its library, Amazon Prime offers about 15,000, while Hulu Plus says it provides access to more than 16,000 television episodes and “hundreds” of movies.
Streampix Portability
Right now, Comcast subscribers can watch Streampix and Xfinity TV on the television, on desktop computers and laptops and via the Xfinity TV App on an iPad, iPhone — 3G or newer — or iPod Touch — second generation or later — over a WiFi or 3G connection. The app is available for Android platform devices, but at present, only the functions that allow a device to operate as a TV remote control and remote DVR programmer are operational on Android devices.
When announcing the Streampix program on Feb. 21, Comcast said that “in the coming year” the service will be available on the Xbox 360 gaming system as well as fully accessible on Android smartphones and tablets.
Cost
While Xfinity TV is available to all Comcast TV subscribers as part of the regular service; Streampix is only free to subscribers to Comcast’s upper-tier cable packages and is a $4.99 a month add-on to other cable packages. The service is only offered to the company’s TV subscribers, Internet-only subscribers and people who aren’t Comcast customers can’t currently subscribe solely to the Streampix service.
Future Possibilities
This may not always be the case, however. According to The Wall Street Journal, the deal Comcast signed with content providers including its own NBCUniversal, as well as Disney-ABC, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., and Cookie Jar Entertainment, would allow it to sell its service nationwide to anyone. While the company says there are no current plans to offer the service outside its subscriber base, its content rights do leave that option open, according to WSJ.
If you have a creative side that you want to express, graphic design programs can help you achieve your goals. With more people starting online businesses, the demand for skilled graphic designers continues to grow in order to meet this need. You can get the training you need to build an art portfolio. Your portfolio may help you get the career you desire in the field.
Get the Education
Your education is the first step to working in art. Although your passion for the arts brings you closer to a job, getting into one of the schools around the United States may catapult you into a long-term career. A number of design schools offer online programs for working or busy students. This may help you earn a degree in graphic arts or design at your pace.
Today’s schools understand that you still have obligations that may not allow you to attend a program full time or during certain hours. The best programs have flexible courses that you can take any time during the day, evening or night. Most graphic design programs even allow you to have 24-hour access to your curriculum.
You can begin with an Associate of Arts in Graphic Design degree and later move on to a bachelor’s or master’s degree. Many students enter school without any previous educational pursuits. If you fall into this situation, beginning at the associate degree level is preferable.
Curriculum Studies
Depending on the degree you seek, you may study graphic design principles, advertising, marketing and many types of media. You can learn how to design games, online magazines and web pages. Since many online companies need web pages that stand out, you can learn how design pages that rank high on the Internet. A number of graphic design programs teach multimedia skills. This can help you build a portfolio that appeal to many different employers.
Programs typically last for two years or less. You will earn a degree online just as quickly as you would in a traditional technical, college or university setting. After completing your studies, you may find employment as a webmaster, online game designer or media designer. These careers are just a few positions you may pursue.
The Love Motel for Insects project will only be funded if at least $8,000 is pledged by Sunday Dec 11, 11:59pm EST.
Artist Rendering of Proposed Love Motel for Insects in NYC
Urban Art Projects is fundraising on Kickstarter to bring artist/scientist Brandon Ballengée’s Love Motel for Insects to New York City. The Love Motel for Insects is an innovative interactive outdoor artwork that is both an art piece and a life science project.
Combined with ancillary educational programming referred to as Bug Love, this programming informs the general NYC public about important environmental issues, inspires NYC youth so that their interest in science continues into the classroom and provides inspirational experiences, termed Eco-actions, involving both art and science.
Ballengée’s Love Motel for Insects has been exhibited worldwide since 2001; its various iterations have been extensively covered by the media as well as referenced by academia. Ballengée has been reviewed by art critics including Roberta Smith, Edward Lucie Smith and Lucy Lippard; he has also been mentioned by art historian Steven Wilson in his book Art + Science. Media coverage includes features on PBS, ABC News, BBC, and NPR.
Venice Biennale, Waterways, Italy, 2008, Photographed by Brandon Ballenge?e
Ballengée is also referenced in Art Practice as Research, by Professor Graeme Sullivan of Columbia University. Additionally, Ballengée recently participated in a symposium at the National Science Foundation and has received numerous honors such as the Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship and was recently named an Aububon TogetherGreen Fellow; a fellowship which receives funding from Toyota. Ballengée’s work has also been exhibited widely and is in numerous public collections including The American Museum of Natural History in New York, NASA in Washington, D.C., Yorkshire Sculpture Park in England, and the Yale Peabody Museum.
Love Motel for Insects is an ongoing series of outdoor installations intended to construct situations between humans and arthropods. The works use ultra-violet lights on enormous blank canvases to attract insects and create an opportunity for public interactions with rarely seen nocturnal arthropods. At each location, the Love Motels for Insects become the backdrop for community events such as picnics, biodiversity festivals, graffiti jams, scientific investigations, musical events and even local film screenings relating to local insect species.
EcoConnect and Love Motel for Insects in collaboration with Ecohaven Project
As described by Ballengée himself: “The Love Motel for Insects sculptures began in 2001 in Central America. At this time my initial structures were made from black (ultra-violet) lights and bed-sheets placed in the Costa Rican forest floor. Within hours numerous species of flying moths, Hemipteras, beetles, caddisflies, ants, lacewings and other arthropods descended on the installation. Female moths released chemical pheromones to attract mates and consequently “painted” the impromptu piece. Fascinated and inspired by this initial experience, I fabricated further Love Motel for Insects sculptures and developed ancillary public nocturnal field trips. To date versions of the project have debuted in diverse environments including tropical rain forests (rain, dry and cloud), inner city bus-stops, London roof-tops, industrial ‘brown-field’ sites, public schools, Scottish Highlands, German town centers, Venetian boats, and other sites within temperate climate systems. Each Love Motel for Insects variation is site-specific to each unique community and eco-system.”
The importance of taking vitamin supplements before, during and after pregnancy is just one thing you can do for your child that has lasting effects. Many experts contend that taking supplements during pregnancy are indeed necessary. So which vitamins should you be taking?
Many of the nutrients your body needs before, during and after pregnancy are not received – even when your diet is perfect. In addition, women with certain diets or conditions are less likely to be consuming the vitamins they need to be at optimum health. Vegetarians or vegans, women with food intolerances, smokers, women with blood disorders, and women who are having twins or multiple births are at risk.
The vitamins most important for maintaining a healthy pregnancy include: folic acid, vitamin B and iron. Taking folic acid for pregnancy and vitamin B often help reduce the chance of birth defects such as spina bifida, cleft lip, cleft palate, and certain heart defects.
Iron is important for pregnant women, as the need for this mineral is increased during pregnancy. Decreased levels of iron during pregnancy may cause preterm delivery, low birth weight, and infant mortality.
Many experts suggest a full dietary assessment to be done prior to taking vitamins during pregnancy. This assessment will allow you to figure out which vitamins are indeed needed. Over consumption of certain vitamins can actually be a detriment to your baby’s health. For instance, “Retinoid embryopathy”, a syndrome affecting your baby’s face, ear, heart or central nervous system and thymus can be caused by excessive consumption of vitamin A. While rare, it’s still a concern for some pregnant women.
Taking vitamins during pregnancy, before, and after as well is extremely important for your health as well as your babies. Evaluate your needs with your doctor and choose vitamins that are manufactured from the best natural ingredients available.
Are you taking prenatal vitamins or folic acid during pregnancy? Tell us, in the comments below!
“It’s never been a better time to buy a home.” Potential home buyers have heard this before but in this current market, the saying is actually true. Several factors have come together to truly make today’s market a buyer’s market. Real estate classes can clue home buyers in to the many advantages of purchasing a home in 2011 including:
Record low interest rates;
Dropping home prices;
And an increased selection of homes.
Low Rates In response to the sluggish economy, the Federal Reserve Board has kept interest rates at record lows to encourage borrowing to stimulate the marketplace. The feds have signaled their intent to keep these rates low into the year 2013. Right now, first time home buyers with good credit getting into a 30-year fixed mortgage can expect interest rates between 4 and 4.5 percent — historic lows for the housing market. Lower interest rates mean lower payments and less interest expense over the life of the loan.
To get the best interest rates, real estate classes advise making sure home buyers stay on top of their credit report, checking all three reports regularly for fraud and mistakes. Home buyers should also take steps to ensure their credit remains good while they look for a home. The better the credit score, the better the interest rate.
Price Drop The drop in home values is not such great news for current home owners, but it is great news for potential home buyers. The falling home prices means buyers can get more house for their money. Real estate classes suggest looking at three factors to know if a home is a great deal.
Check the comparable sales data for other homes in the area. A Realtor can help a home buyer do this or most major real estate websites.
Determine how much buyers were able to negotiate off the list price to get to the final sale price. Again, a Realtor can assist with this.
Buyers must make sure the house is affordable and fits into their budget. If they buy too much house and then struggle to make payments, they haven’t received a good deal.
Choose Your Home Another half glass empty, half glass full statistic is the amount of homes on the market right now. For home buyers, the amount of homes on the market right now translates to more choice because more people want to sell their homes than there are buyers. Buyers can shop around for the home that best suits their needs both for now and in the future. Gone are the days of having to compete with hordes of buyers for the same house.
Home buyers will find a lot to cheer about the 2011 housing market. Homes are plentiful, prices are low and interest rates can only get lower. For buyers who may have waited to buy a home, now is the time to jump into the market.
The domain names find their significance when it comes to identifying more than one IP addresses and are used in the URLs for the identification of web pages. For example, if you have a career placement site, then you would likely want to choose from the many jobs domains, so that yours will be unique to your product or service so that clients can find you. The creation of the domain name system and the domain name servers (DNS) can be traced back to 1984.
When Wide Area Networks (WAN) were used to connect several computers, like ARPANET in the 60’s, there arose the need for identification to access different systems. With an increase in the number of connections, an effective system for the maintenance and regulation of domain paths all over the network was needed. In 1973 the Internet Protocol (IP) addressing system came into the existence so that various networking computers could be located easily. The newsgroups and the electronic mail (e-mail) gradually came into existence by the 70’s.A stable and easy-to-remember system was demanded with the growth in the number of users. The demand was for a system which was better than the IP system containing long and complex strings of numbers. The University of Wisconsin, in 1984, prepared a ‘name server’, the first of its kind. This made sure that the users, networking with several others, need not remember the detailed path to any other system. This led to the birth of the present-day addressing system. The implementation of the Domain Name System(DNS) took place a year after. Further, the ‘.com’, ‘.net’, ‘org’, etc. were introduced and were known as the top-level domain names. Thus one could expect a sudden change like ‘121.245.078.2’ getting converted to ‘yourcompany.com’.World Wide Web originated in 1991, shaped the public domain to exist by the domain registration. At first, the domain registration was free. But by 1992, due to the exponential increase in internet usage, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) created the ‘InterNIC’ to maintain and organize the growth of DNS services and registry. Gradually NFS stopped subsidizing domain registrations by 1995. InterNIC initially started to impose $100 as a fee for registration for 2 years. In 1998 the U.S. Department of Commerce published a document, called White Paper, outlining the transfer of domain name management systems to private organizations. Today domain registration is much cheaper at around $8.00 per year.ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) now accredits many companies to make an addition to the global domain name database called the Shared Registration System. Presently, there are more than 19 million registered domain names and 40,000 get registered every day.
Before we get into details, we should ask ourselves what keyword search really entails. Why would you need to conduct keyword research? Remember that you can only get the best results if you know what you are doing.
By definition, keyword research is one of the most vital things you can do if you are a beginner in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your business site. This is done with help from tools such as Google AdWords. This way, you can get an avenue to the market and also a clue of what people are searching for when it comes to your products or services. These keywords will be of great benefit to you but you have to understand your customer base first and the market in general.
Suppose keyword research is new to you, the following 5 tips will help you catch the concept and have a better understanding of what keyword research really entails:
• First, you should use the best tools for keyword research.
There are several sites that offer keyword research tools. Out of experience, the Google AdWords has been found to be the best tool for keyword research. It is accurate and reliable compared to all other known keyword research tools. The Google AdWords tool will allow you to search by both topic and then by keyword. This tool allows researchers to get multiple results and is actually the best.
• Regroup the keywords into three groups.
Create three sets of keyword searches. This is important because you will be able to get the optimal amount of results. Make sure that the first group contains the most competitive terms, followed by the second group and put the least competitive terms in the third group. Regrouping will help you determine which words to allocate more time to while researching. The best way to do this is by creating a researched keyword list to help you determine the most competitive and also the least competitive keywords.
• Utilize the long-tail keywords.
These are the keywords which visitors target the most. These keywords display exact results for those customers searching for specific products from your site. This will make your site to have more visitors.
• Pay attention to competition.
Conducting keyword research by use of the Google keyword tool will actually give you a clue of competition under your field. This way, you will be able to determine the level of keyword competition. High competition will make you find the best keyword.
• Do not neglect less competitive keywords.
Focus also on these keywords since they will give you more progress during your search.
If you try implementing these key factors into your keyword research process and also focus on your site’s conversion optimization, you will begin to see a positive change in your revenue.
There is an interesting debate going on in the world of consumer literature these days, and it’s not about what to read or not read, but instead it’s about how to do it. To Kindle, or not to Kindle, that is the question. Proponents say it encourages greater readership among reluctant consumers and entices younger readers into the vast world of literature. This is a major accomplishment and diverts the amount of attention that has been focused on electronic games. Meanwhile, Kindles, other electronic devices and e-books also offer larger numbers of writers the opportunity to have their works read and purchases. Perhaps the widening of the market is the greatest actual social benefit these electronic devices have offered, though some people stress they go way beyond that.
A Rainbow of Books by Dawn Endico
Of course one of the most personally compelling reasons to purchase a hand held electronic book device is the amount of space it consumes, versus the equivalent, well that would be a ridiculous comparison, let’s just say even one or two actual books in hand. And especially for students, you can start adding up the amount of books you need to carry pretty fast. Pass by any student health and wellnes center on college campuses and you’ll see first hand the amount of books students carry with them at any given time.
Those overly stuffed, heavy weighted backpacks might soon give way to a simple purse or even a slot in one’s computer case. And students are not the only ones who are excessively weighted down by reading material, or any other standard daily carrying needs. For many professionals, adding one book to their professional bag is too much, but simply sliding in a thin, lightweight Kindle requires little to no extra room or carrying power.
The simplicity of use, enormous amount of books it can hold, and the relative low cost of reading them are some of the most popular aspects, naturally, of these devices for many consumers. Meanwhile, there are some counter arguments to these devices, and these include the devaluing of some of the classic works, or established writers and reducing income for an already enormously competitive field. In addition, major books stores like Borders are closing their doors due to the enormous loss of patronage these devices are contributing to. Regardless of your personal take on the situation, this is definitely the direction of the future, and contribution technology can make to changes in society, it certainly will do so. Other hand had electronic devices provide excellent Internet services and you can do anything from checking your email to finding quality apartment reviews.
