Study ties drug shortage to poorer cancer survival - Salt Lake Tribune

Young cancer patients who couldn?t get a key medicine because of a national drug shortage were more likely to suffer a relapse than others who were able to get the preferred treatment, doctors report. It?s the first evidence that a long-standing drug-supply problem probably has affected cancer treatment results in specific patients.

The study involved more than 200 children and young adults with a blood cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma. Like childhood leukemia, it can be cured nearly 80 percent of the time. But a drug shortage that has worsened since 2009 is threatening that success rate, doctors report in Thursday?s New England Journal of Medicine.

Hundreds of drugs, including sedatives, antibiotics, painkillers and cancer treatments, have gone in and out of short supply in recent years. Reasons include manufacturing and contamination problems, plant shutdowns, and fewer makers and lower profits for certain drugs, especially generics infused during surgery or cancer treatment.

Doctors sometimes substitute different drugs for ones in short supply. But proving that the swaps led to poorer results has been tough, especially for cancer patients whose disease and response to treatment vary so much.

"We really couldn?t put our finger on, did anybody really suffer?" said Dr. Michael Link, a cancer specialist at Stanford University and past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The new study, led by Dr. Monika Metzger of St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital in Memphis, gives the best evidence so far that patients are suffering.

It focused on mechlorethamine, or nitrogen mustard, a drug that has been in short supply until last month, when more became available. Doctors compared results among 181 Hodgkin lymphoma patients who received the drug to 40 others who were given a different chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, when the first choice was unavailable.

Only 75 percent of those given the substitute drug stayed free of cancer for two years versus 88 percent who received the preferred treatment.

"We can think of no credible explanation for this dramatic difference" other than the drug substitution, the authors wrote.

No patients died, but those who relapsed were given more aggressive treatments, including stem-cell transplants that have more side effects and can harm fertility.

story continues below

One of them was Abby Alonzo, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. She was diagnosed with lymphoma three years ago, when she was 10. After eight weeks of treatment with the preferred drug, "she was doing wonderfully," said her mother, Katie Alonzo.

Then doctors said they were out of it.

"I said, what do you mean, we don?t have the medication my child needs?" Katie Alonzo said.

After four weeks on the substitute chemo, Abby?s cancer had returned and spread to more places, her mother said. The child received high doses of chemotherapy and radiation and now seems cancer-free, although the treatments damaged her lung capacity, leaving her short of breath.

"When your child has cancer you live day by day," and to find out a life-saving medicine isn?t available is "very, very frightening," Katie Alonzo said.

Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/55530514-68/cancer-drug-treatment-patients.html.csp

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This is Your Wakeup Call on Employee Privacy - HBR Blog Network ...

by Peter Holland??|?? 9:00 AM December 27, 2012

With social networking and other electronic communications making employees' actions and attitudes more visible than ever to employers, it's clear that a big change in the relationship between work and private life is well underway. Yet little research has been undertaken to understand organizations' use of that information, or how the potential for increased monitoring and surveillance is perceived by workers. My colleagues Dr Brian Cooper from Monash University and Dr Rob Hecker from the University of Tasmania and I have just conducted a survey to understand workers' awareness of employer policies and the current state of what they consider to be fair and reasonable. We polled a random sample of 500 working people in our own country, Australia.

Of particular interest to us was the realm of social media. It is clear enough why employers might want to monitor employees' activities on sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These can be real distractions with a negative impact on productivity. Indeed, our survey revealed that, among the many employees who access social media sites while at work, only 14% claim that use is purely work-related. Many more, 42%, say their at-work use of social media is solely for personal purposes. (Another 44% say it is both personal and work-related.) There can also be reputational damage when employees clearly affiliated with organizations share their opinions and behaviors so publicly, and even leakage of information valuable to competitors.

Yet the issues raised when employers gain information from social media and other online activity are legion. Begin with the fact that this information is housed on external sites, not the organization's proprietary systems. Certainly these sites hold different kinds of data than employers have collected before. To what extent does an employer have the right to make use of this new font of information?

Given the potential for misunderstandings and misuse, it is surprising to discover how unconcerned the typical worker seems to be. Asked whether it was appropriate for employers to monitor the web sites visited by employees, fully 78% thought it was. This makes internet activity monitoring the most acceptable of the various forms of surveillance we asked respondents to consider.

Regarding employees' ability to see what discoveries are noted in their "personnel files," 72% of respondents report that they understand their rights on this important issue. However, this also means that more than a quarter of employees (28%) do not. More significantly, only a little over half (51%) are aware of how their employer uses the personal information they hold, and only 53% know who in the organization has access to it. Nonetheless, 62% are "not at all" concerned about the use and disclosure of personal information by their employer, and a further 20% are only "a little" concerned.

Perhaps this accounts for the seeming lack of demand for policies to be clearly communicated. While a majority (57%) report that their organizations have written privacy policies or statements for employees, 23% say they do not, and 20% do not know. And on the subject of internet usage policies, 35% of respondents say their organizations do not have a policy on internet use and another 24% say a policy exists but it has not been provided to them to review?so that 59% of those surveyed are in the dark about their organization's expectations.

Employees' use of social networks to communicate about their personal and professional lives can only be expected to increase?and increasingly, we can expect this to become an area of conflict. Policies and knowledge of the issues around privacy at work do not appear to be as common or comprehensive as we might expect.

What better time than now to sound a wakeup call? The festive season is upon us, a time when people traditionally let their hair down. Employees need to be more aware than ever that a careless tweet, photo, or comment on their social website could have major ramifications when they return to work in the new year. And as for employers, there may be no better resolution you could make than deciding to develop, revisit, or update your social media policy.

Source: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/12/this_is_your_wakeup_call_on_em.html

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Tablet Gifts Based On Tweets - Business Insider

In case you wanted a good sample of how many people got an iPad/Kindle Fire HD/Nexus 7/Surface for Christmas, here's a nifty graphic put together A.X. Ian.

It's being passed around on Reddit and elsewhere.?

Based on this sampling of tweets, it doesn't look like too many people got Microsoft's new Surface this year. Click the image for a larger view.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/tablet-gifts-based-on-tweets-2012-12

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Russia parliament passes anti-US adoption bill

Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP

A protester argues with police officers outside the Federation Council in Moscow on Wednesday. The poster held by the protester reads: "Children get frozen in the Cold War."

By Reuters

MOSCOW --?Russia's upper house of parliament approved a bill on Wednesday that would prohibit Americans from adopting Russian children and impose other measures in retaliation for a U.S. law designed to punish Russians accused of human rights violations.?

The bill would also outlaw some U.S.-funded non-governmental organizations and impose visa bans and asset freezes on Americans accused of violating the rights of Russians abroad.?

The bill was endorsed by the lower house last week and is now expected to be sent to President Vladimir Putin to sign.

Putin hasn't committed to signing the bill, but referred to it as a legitimate response to the new U.S. law.

It is one part of a larger measure by angry lawmakers retaliating against a recently signed U.S. law that calls for sanctions against Russians deemed to be human rights violators.?

The U.S. law is primarily intended to end Cold War-era trade restrictions and was hailed by U.S. businesses worried about falling behind in the race to win shares of Russia's more open market, but its human rights part has outraged Putin's government.

Dubbed the Magnitsky act, the U.S. legislation is named for Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was arrested by officials he accused of a $230-million tax fraud.

He?was repeatedly denied medical treatment and in 2009 died after almost a year in jail after being severely beaten by guards.

Opportunity denied
Some top Russian officials, including the foreign minister, have spoken flatly against the Russian bill, arguing that the measure would be in violation with Russia's constitution and international obligations.

Earlier Wednesday, several protesters were detained outside the upper house as it prepared to make its decision.

Boy's Christmas wish: Adoption of little brother caught in US-Russia spat

"Children get frozen in the Cold War," one poster read.

Critics of the bill say it victimizes orphans by depriving them of an opportunity to escape often-dismal Russian orphanages.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claims the U.S. is "poisoning ties" between the two countries with a law that bans Russians who abuse human rights and is backing a Russian draft law banning adoption by Americans. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

Americans may lose right to adopt Russian kids

There are about 740,000 children without parental custody in Russia, according to UNICEF. More than 60,000 Russian children have been adopted in the United States in the past 20 years.

The Russian bill is named in honor of Dima Yakovlev, a Russian toddler who was adopted by Americans and then died in 2008 after his father left him in a car in broiling heat for hours.

See the US Action Plan on Children in Adversity

The father was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Russian lawmakers argue that by banning adoptions to the U.S. they would be protecting children and encouraging adoptions inside Russia.

Russian children?s rights ombudsman Pavel Astakhov told the Interfax news agency that 46 children who were about to be adopted by U.S. citizens would stay in Russia ? despite court rulings in some of these cases authorizing the adoptions.

Astakhov also insisted that all adoptions would be halted once the bill is signed by Putin, but a senior lawmaker at the Federation Council insisted it cannot be enacted immediately.

Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Council's foreign affairs committee, said that a bilateral Russian-U.S. agreement binds Russia to notify of a halt in adoptions 12 months in advance.

More world stories from NBC News:

Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/26/16158938-russia-parliament-passes-anti-us-adoption-bill?lite

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Internet Marketing Top Notch Tips To Boost Your Business | Samuel ...

You will have to come up with new types of techniques to be successful. There will always be some core guidelines that you will want to stick to when dealing with online marketing, however.

Keeping up with growing trends will ensure that your affiliate marketing plans give you the desired level of success. Make an effort to ensure that you are always on top of trends and developments related to your affiliate program. New and improved techniques are constantly being introduced into the world of affiliate marketing, resulting in increased effectiveness and the ability to better entice potential customers.

TIP! Make sure you are keeping track of affiliate tasks assigned by email in an efficient way rather than wasting time with constant checking. Try to organize the points from these emails into a document.

Be honest about your affiliate relationships. As with any other type of business, being up-front and trustworthy will help you in internet marketing. Being open about why you are participating in an affiliate program will make people more likely to follow your links.

As you set out to build your affiliate marketing program, you should always start small. This will enable you to learn as you go along, and to have easier initial success. This approach will ensure that you have a strong knowledge base to work from when you attempt to take on more competitive markets.

TIP! When it comes to affiliate marketing, honesty is the best policy. Building a solid base of loyal visitors is only possible if you are honest and display integrity.

Keeping tabs on where your links perform well is important in managing your web marketing. Try moving the link to different parts of the page to see how it performs in different places- top, bottom, middle and sidebars. You might also use duplicate copy that has been rearranged only to accommodate the location of the link.

Many affiliate marketers feel a compulsive need to do too much. They try to juggle too many balls and end up dropping them all. You have to keep in mind that maximum results are not an option. It?s more important to find out what works best for you and your business.

TIP! If you have lead ads, maybe create a mystery question and have the consumer visit your web page to get the question?s answer. Curiosity will get the best of many people, and they will click the banner to get the answer to the quiz question.

Research a program no matter how it is ranked. Be sure you can get it out there without having issues.

In early 2011, all the affiliates in California lost their accounts and their links temporarily; however, now all accounts and links are reinstated. Amazon has resolved legal conflicts that prevented programs from being immplemented. If it affected you, be sure to sign up.

TIP! You should consider giving your customers the opportunity to also market your product. When someone believes in what you are selling enough to buy it, chances are they can also help you sell it.

Don?t automatically assume that all 100% commission programs are scams. Many times these programs are over looked because people think they are too good to be true. Take the time and read the small print to find out what they are offering. It could be that this is a situation where the company will pay 100% on the initial purchase only, and retain the profits from follow-up subscriptions for themselves. These can still make you money, so look closely when you see these offers.

Get yourself an accountant. Your accountant doesn?t even need to be human; good accounting software can do the job. Having accounting skills lets you see if there?s anything amiss with your payments. It is essential that you complete this step before money comes in or goes out, so that you are organized from the beginning.

TIP! Select affiliates carefully and with the needs of your audience in mind. Focus your marketing dollars in the appropriate direction when offering products to your visitors.

Don?t clutter up your site with too many banner ads. By doing this, you will not only diminish the quality of your site, but you?ll scare people off by being unprofessional and pushy. Have plenty more content than you have banners on your website, and make sure that whatever banners you have are strategically placed around your website so they don?t all end up cluttered on one page.

Information from a few high-quality affiliate marketing sources will always be more valuable than meaningless advice from dozens of irrelevant books or sites. You have to be willing to do the upfront work for nothing and have faith it will pay off in the long run. If you just read and don?t do anything, you won?t get anywhere. Choose a few good tips, put down the books, and put what you?ve learned into action.

TIP! Complete a thorough review of referral programs that your affiliates offer. Certain businesses will offer better compensation if you refer other people to their company.

Find a website dedicated to document sharing, and post an e-book of your creation. You can showcase how much you know and bring people into your site that want more information. Make sure there are several links to your business site embedded in the article.

Don?t be satisfied with your accomplishments to be a good affiliate marketer. Your affiliate marketing plans should be in constant forward motion. Try making another blog or website to make more money. It?s crucial that you never stop working.

TIP! You can make a good deal of cash with affiliate marketing, but to make money, you need the right information. You will need to find a way to make your blog/website ranked high by all of the search engines.

Make sure that you will be compensated on every sale before you put your name on the dotted line for an affiliate company. Are they capable of managing orders created from various sources like the telephone, fax and postal mail? You should make sure you get each and every penny that is owed to you.

Someone who visits your sports-related website is already in a frame of mind to think about sports. Adding affiliate links unrelated to sports will provide little in the way of tangible results. Your customers will most likely look at a link relevant to the info you have on your website.

TIP! Honesty about his business is one of the most important things a good affiliate marketer knows he must hold onto. Be honest with your customers by listing your affiliations, and provide a clear statement about what your business is about.

There are a wide variety of affiliate programs. You?ll find different products to promote, different payouts and different payout schedules.

Most people unsubscribe from mailing lists and you will constantly have generate new customers. To find new customers, make sure to give them your best emails in order to make a good impression.

TIP! Always consider your target customers when choosing items for affiliate marketing techniques. If your product is inexpensive, simply casting a wide marketing net may generate sales.

You need to do things especially for your audience, especially if they are older. Increasing the size of your font by one or two points can make a huge difference in sales ? if they can read it, they will buy it!

Do not let anyone trick you into using their tracking system. Sticking with a trustworthy tracking system can spare you a lot of stress and heartache.

TIP! Don?t affiliate without thinking it through; choose affiliates that make sense given your audience. When you do this, your prospective customers will see that you know what you are talking about, and you understand what they need.

Offering a product for only a limited amount of time can be an effective online marketing strategy. Some visitors may be more inclined to purchase your product if they see that their window of opportunity is dwindling. Using deadlines and specials is a good way to boost sales.

Here?s a good idea to create buzz for your affiliate programs: develop a contest or giveaway for your website. This is a great way to bring readers back to visit your site again, and gives them something to tell their friends about if they win the prize or if your contest offer is really great.

TIP! Always have confidence in the products that you are promoting. What products you recommend reflects back on your business.

Try and pick affiliate companies that use many resources to help sell your products. These companies are in it to make profit just like you are. They study what marketing techniques really convert customers. Good companies will give that info to their affiliates, and they can use it to sell more and make more.

TIP! When working to push one of your affiliate?s products, suggest alternate uses for it. For instance, if you offer a mat to go outside the door, you may also market how the mat will trap dirt from your animals feet to ensure they don?t track it inside.

Google Plus is an avenue for new business ventures. Try to get involved with it now while it is still in its infancy. Make your Google Plus ID known amongst your followers on Facebook and Twitter, and place the Google Plus icon for your website right next to the other links on your site for social media. Give them good information so they want to visit your site.

To get the most out of your affiliate program, choose a company that has a high sales conversion ratio. Consider using a one percent ratio as a benchmark.

They do it because it has worked for them and brought in more customers. Your job is to figure out how you can apply it to the position you?re in. Once you do that, success should follow.

For more tips on Affiliate Marketing and to see the platform I use, go to: http://www.financialreboot.com.com

Source: http://www.samuellevitz.com/internet-marketing-top-notch-tips-to-boost-your-business

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Web.com Small Business Toolkit: ipico Hand-held Projector ...

ipico Hand-held Projector

Sometimes a spontaneous presentation is what?s needed to seal the deal, and now that?s possible with the ipico Hand-held projector. Let?s face it: You can?t always lug around your laptop, and since the ipico lets you turn your iPhone into a projector, you don?t need to. According to the manufacturer, the ipico?s battery charge lasts for about 90 minutes of run time, and the device costs about $129. Simply slide your phone into the device, point it at a blank wall and start your presentation. For iPod and iPhone.

?

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The views expressed here are the author's alone and not those of Network Solutions or its partners.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 25th, 2012 at 12:01 pm and is filed under Resources, sales process, Small Business, small business, Technology. 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.networksolutions.com/smallbusiness/2012/12/web-com-small-business-toolkit-ipico-hand-held-projector-smartphone-projector/

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Don't Start A Home Improvement Project Without This Advice | Tyler ...

TIP! Consider installing motion detector lights to the outside of your residence. Motion detector lights add security to your property.

Have you heard many horror stories from people about renovating homes that you find yourself nervous about even attempting this type of project? Had these individuals done the research needed when it comes to home improvement projects, then they would not have experienced these horrors. Continue reading to learn great tips that will help you do home improvement the right way.

TIP! Stain your basement?s flooring if you want to improve the look and feel of your space. Staining a concrete floor is very cheap and stylish.

Prior to launching any home improvement project, know the cost involved by getting a precise estimate. When home improvements turn sour, the cause is often a homeowner who has been over-optimistic about the limits of his or her budget. Get a number of estimates and be certain to plan for complications.

TIP! When it comes to home improvements, make sure you realize just how long some things last. For example, you can expect a new chimney to be usable for a lifetime of at least 100 years.

Regardless of how much care you take, chair cushions flatten over time after repeated use. A great way to bring life back to your cushions is setting them in the sun. Bright sunlight will significantly improve the cushions? fullness by thoroughly drying out the material with which they are stuffed. Ensure that you flip both sides of the cushions and avoid leaving them out too long, since the sun can fade fabric colors.

TIP! A great investment to make on your home to increase its value is to add a deck and to paint its exterior. Decks and porches beckon you to relax and entertain guests.

When thinking about home improvements for areas with plumbing, like the kitchen and bathroom, consider replacing the walls with something more water resistant. This ?green board?, as it is commonly referred to, will stand up well to moisture, and prevent mold growth so it is ideally suited for these types of areas.

TIP! Look out for carpet sales at big carpet outlets. In order to increase sales of carpeting, they often include very low cost installation packages for their customers.

Replacing your front door for one that is nice looking and well made can boost the value of your home substantially. If you want to add a bit of pizzazz to your front door, update its knob and lock with one of the dozens of styles on the market.

TIP! Close the blinds to block your carpet and floors from sunlight. Sunlight destroys carpet, bleaching the area where it hits most often.

What?s sad is that all of these horror stories do not need to be told. If people would just follow some simple advice, they could avoid the letdowns. Research and knowledge is what?s important here. With the important information conveyed by this article, you are now ready to begin your home repair projects.

Tyler Electric is a reputable, very economical and skilled Electrical Service Company, servicing Thomasville, Albany, Valdosta and Motry, Georgia. We manage each and every project and call we get like it is the most important, because we are aware of the significance of an problem resulting from any electrical matter you may have. We take pride in our work and think strongly in creating relationships with our customers.

Call Us First For:

Quality & Customer Satisfaction Guaranteed
Service Specialists? Well-trained & Educated
Emergency Service Available
Pride in workmanship

We have lots of completely satisfied and repeat customers, and would love to include you in our long list of contented customers.

We provide 24-hour repair service. It doesn?t matter if it?s normal maintenance or emergency repairs, Tyler Electric will send skilled, competent and reputable experts to fix it speedy!

With the high cost of today?s appliances and equipment systems, you need to have confidence in your repair specialist. We offer premier quality, inexpensive and trustworthy repair services for your business systems. You can trust the Tyler Electric trained experts to fix it FAST and fix it RIGHT!

Our success is attributed to our experienced workers and the exceptional customer care we supply. Our highest and most valued resources are our team players.

Tyler Electric is prepared to meet the repair and installation desires of today?s customers. Our aim is to be THE BEST IN THE SERVICE INDUSTRY. Our intention is to give the highest quality of work and insure that our consumers receive exceptional service at the best possible prices.

Please see our website at http://sharperelectrical.com/thomasvillegeorgia

Source: http://www.sharperelectrical.com/thomasvillegeorgia/dont-start-a-home-improvement-project-without-this-advice/

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