Sexual predators and convicted rapists in US jails will no longer qualify for free, taxpayer-funded online pharmacy.
Red-faced officials at the federal Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services withdrew the freebie yesterday and blamed the mess on a Clinton administration foulup.
"The Medicaid program should not pay for the cost of erectile dysfunction drugs for sex offenders," spokesman Gary Karr said.
Notices were going out to states as early as yesterday, less than 24 hours after New York State Controller Alan Hevesi revealed 198 of the state's most dangerous sex fiends were being reimbursed for the impotence drug, courtesy of Medicaid.
Karr said state officials were apparently unaware they didn't have to include Viagra as part of the sex offenders' Medicaid coverage because they were confused by a 1998 Clinton-era letter. That letter listed Viagra as a drug that could be covered by Medicaid.
Hevesi's disclosure of the bizarre drug benefit prompted NY Democrats Senator Chuck Schumer to draft federal legislation banning Viagra coverage for all sex offenders on Medicaid. His fellow Democrat Sen. Hillary Clinton also put out a statement decrying the free Viagra for fiends.
"Giving convicted sex offenders Viagra is like giving convicted murderers an assault rifle when they get out of jail," Schumer said.
sábado, 29 de octubre de 2011
martes, 24 de mayo de 2011
UCLA Researchers Eliminate Major Roadblock in Regenerative Medicine
New 'cocktails' support long-term maintenance of human embryonic stem cells
Monday, 07 February 2011
In regenerative cheap viagra, large supplies of safe and reliable human embryonic stem (hES) cells are needed for implantation into patients, but the field has faced challenges in developing cultures that can consistently grow and maintain clinical-grade stem cells.
Standard culture systems use mouse "feeder" cells and media containing bovine sera to cultivate and maintain hES cells, but such animal product–based media can contaminate the cells. And because of difficulties in precise quality control, each batch of the medium can introduce new and unwanted variations.
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Feedback. Representation of the feedback system control scheme used by UCLA researchers to identify an optimal combination and concentration of small-molecule inhibitors to support the long-term quality and maintenance of hES cells in culture. Credit: UCLA. |
The research findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, represent a major advance in the quest to broadly transition regenerative cialis from the benchtop to the clinic.
"What is significant about this work is that we've been able to very rapidly develop a chemically defined culture medium to replace serum and feeders for cultivating clinical-grade hES cells, thereby removing a major roadblock in the area of regenerative medicine," said Chih-Ming Ho, the Ben Rich–Lockheed Martin Professor at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science and a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
Unlike current animal product–based media, the new medium is a "defined" culture medium — one in which every component is known and traceable. This is important for clinical applications and as drugs or cells enters the world of regulatory affairs, including good manufacturing practice compliance and Food and Drug Administration supervision.
"It is also the first defined medium to allow for long term single-cell passage," said the paper's senior author, Hong Wu, the David Geffen Professor of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a researcher with UCLA's Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research.
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Stem cells in new defined culture. Microscopic image of human embryonic stem cells in the new defined culture created by UCLA researchers. Credit: UCLA. |
Single-cell passaging — a process in which hES cells are dissociated into single cells and subcultured through single-cell–derived colonies — is important in overcoming the massive cell death associated with hES cell dissociation during routine passage, and it allows for genetic manipulation at the clonal level.
"Although other studies have demonstrated growth of hES cells under defined media formulations and/or on defined surfaces, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that combines defined cultures with routine single-cell passaging, which plays an important role in supplying a large mass of clinically applicable cells," said Hideaki Tsutsui, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar and lead author of the study.
"Thus, our hES cell culture system, guided by the FSC technique, will bring hES cells one step closer to clinical therapies."
Initially, the very large number of small molecules in the culture medium and their unknown synergistic effects made it difficult for researchers to assess the proper concentration of each for achieving long-term expansion of hES cells. The major challenge was to find the best way to sort out those molecules and rapidly determine the best combinatorial concentrations.
The breakthrough, ultimately, was the product of a close interdisciplinary collaboration.
Tsutsui, then a UCLA Engineering graduate student, and Bahram Valamehr, then a graduate student at the Geffen School of Medicine, started working on the project two years ago. Armed with biological readouts and analyses of stem cells mastered in Hong Wu's laboratory through the lab's extensive accomplishments in stem cell research, Tsutsui and Valamehr used the FSC scheme — developed previously by Ho's group to search for optimal drug combinations for viral infection inhibition and cancer eradication — to facilitate the rapid screening of a very large number of possibilities.
Working together, the team was able to discover a unique combination of three small-molecule inhibitors that supports long-term maintenance of hES cell cultures through routine single-cell passaging.
"There are certain research projects biologists can dream about, and we know we can eventually get there, but we don't have the capacity to achieve them in a timely manner, especially in a study like this," Wu said.
"It would have taken 10 graduate students another 10 years to test all the possible combinations of molecules. Having an opportunity to collaborate with the engineering school has been invaluable in making this dream a reality."
"This is the best example of demonstrating the strength and potential of interdisciplinary collaborations," said Ho, who is also director of the Center for Cell Control at UCLA Engineering and a senior author of the paper.
"Engineers and biologists working side by side can accomplish a mission impossible."
Source: University of California, Los Angeles
Contact: Wileen Wong Kromhout
.........
ZenMaster
For more on stem cells and cloning, go to CellNEWS at
http://cellnews-blog.blogspot.com/
martes, 17 de mayo de 2011
Prevenience
See also: cialis |
Ensconced in my cushy desk chair and looking fixedly at the title of my blog, I realised that i haven’t really written anything introspective to justify my use of the words “labyrinth of thoughts” and Introspection. I always believe that words should not be chosen in a spurt of vanity as part of the blog title but rather, they should be used to serve as an indication of the type of content that is archived within the blog.
Hence, i reckoned that i should start archiving my musings, no matter how ludicrous or callow they are. If there are any readers who happen to chance upon my blog, do take my musings with a pinch of salt and other condiments you fancy.
***
Although im generally a deferential and accommodating person ( and many people can attest to that), there is one particularly thing that will never fail to tick me off.
And that is being ignored by people whom i thought i was important to.
I contemplated about the source of the catalysis of my eventual chagrin and i came to an eventual conclusion that perhaps, i crave for attention like many others and am simply acerbated by the notion that the significance of my existence is ebbing away. Instead of pledging vendetta against those who has ignored me, i tried to swap perspectives with these people and inquire into the source of my growing inadequacy. And i came to a very dismal conclusion.
I am just not important enough for people to invest their attention in. And i realised that i am not so much different from them.
Humans belong to the animal kingdom after all and when placed in an increasingly competitive society that is a microcosm of the predator-hunts-prey natural wildlife environment out there, innate survival instincts surface.
For eg. people invited to a social event will pick the most interesting and influential person to talk to in hope that they can augment the progress of their lives and interests and climb a notch higher in the social ladder. By talking to the Mr Influential, people also deny others the chance to socialise with him and this is akin to climbing up the social ladder and removing the rungs along the way. The faster one climbs, the faster one can emerge at the top of the “food chain” and claim the rewards of his efforts.
This is true even in everyday interactions with people and is not only exclusive to social events.
“Why should i reply this Mr Moronic’s SMS when i should be saving my SMSes for Mr-I-so-wanna-get-his-attention-so-that-i-can-get-promoted? In fact its not that i do not want to waste my SMSes but rather, by replying to his SMS, im augmenting his delusion that i am keen to invest my attention and time in him. So yeap, the next best thing to ask him to sod off is to well, don’t reply.”
This train of thought is by no means congruent in the people who has ignored me and has sent me a strong signal that i should just get out of their lives and preferably, help them get out of mine too. But i daresay that their train of thoughts rests somewhere on the very same spectrum when they decided to ignore me.
Detractors argue that perhaps there may be unforeseen circumstances involved that resulted in them being unable to communicate with me effectively at that point of time and as a rational and reasonable human being with a self-sufficient level of intelligence and emotional quotient, i do take that point into consideration as well. However, it’s their lack of initiative to explain why they ignored me that sent those signals to inform me that i should just sod off and carry on with life with or without their presence whatsoever.
Nevertheless no matter how it seems like it, this is not an incessant diatribe against these people because every homosapien or even animal is bound to behave in such a manner due to the very fact that attention is a scarce resource.
The scarcity of attention is the very foundation of the Theory of "Relativity" in Human Relationships. In a group conversation of three, one cannot converse simultaneously with two people at the same time and hence, one has to rank and choose a person to talk to first based on how worthy that person is of his attention relative to the other person. People whom we deem more important and worthwhile of our investment of attention due to a multitude of factors such as looks, talent, wealth and personal interests make us more keen to accede to their most farcical request or to even influence them to invest their attention in us, relative to the rest of the human population which is just wallpaper.
I’ve read an article that says that attention is like a transaction whereby when A has accepted B’s attention, A is also obliged to offer its attention to B. Perhaps by ignoring other people’s SMSes for example, it is an indication that we do not accept their attention and hence there would be no need for us to offer our own time and attention to them as well.
However, what people have overlooked is the process of offering one’s attention to others.
Shouldn’t one’s effort and time in crafting an SMS message be awarded with at least a reply, even if the reply says “SOD OFF and JUST DIE! Bitch!” ? At least that person would be able to know that she is no longer important in the guy’s life and should just move on with life and drop any further plans to invest her feelings or attention in him, instead of waiting endlessly and having delusions about the deformed relationship.
Even if that guy just so happened to be caught up in tragedy whereby his mother’s friend’s father’s pet kitten died when it fell into a strawberry patch, he should still take the initiative to explain his lack of reply the moment he has recovered from his intense grief. Otherwise it just shows that he reeks of irresponsibility and discourtesy.
Which is why i’ve always tried my best to reply an SMS message that demands my reply and have always replied to people’s comments/tags on this blog because i believe that i should always reciprocate the time and effort spent by others to invest their attention in me. Its really a basic principle. No more, no less.
As humans, the primacy of self has made us demand respect and attention whenever we are expected to offer them to others as well. If people were to deny us respect and courtesy, we would find it entirely equitable to reciprocate in the same manner.
Should a person ignore his friend’s SMS messages from time to time, his friend would eventually do the same to him and his level of importance to his friend would no doubt be diminished very rapidly.
Humans in general, have vulnerable egos that they seek to protect and hence, when their egos’ are threatened, they will defend it offensively by withdrawing their observation of the conventions of good manners too. The consequence of this is misunderstandings that will spiral into the vicious circle of petty hatred.
Hence, only by being generous and sensitive to the basic emotional needs of our fellow human beings will such a consequence be hampered from materialising.
martes, 3 de mayo de 2011
The Good and the Bad of the Atkins Diet
Here is a break down of the Atkins diet, via three good points to the Atkins diet and three bad points of the Atkins diet.
The Atkins diet three good points.
1. The Atkins diet burns fat. When you begin the Atkins diet your body is switching from burning carbs for energy to burning ketones which come from fat for energy. The Atkins diet is designed to do this so your body becomes a fat burning machine.
Conventional diets use the concept of eat fewer calories than you use in a day which causes your body to burn fat reserves. The Atkins diet approach burns fat quicker because you take in less carbs and your body is forced into burning ketones.
2. You are not hungry on the Atkins diet. The Atkins diet has you eating your main source of protein from meats at each meal. By utilizing meat as your main source of protein your body feels full longer. Meat takes longer to digest which keeps you feeling full longer.
3. The Atkins diet has health benefits. In studies the Atkins diet has been shown in some people to reduce cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure. Also the Atkins diet may help to relieve the symptoms of acid reflux, diabetes and sleep apnea.
The Atkins diet three bad points.
1. The Atkins diet burns fat fast. Toxins that have built up in your body and stored in fat cells may be burned off too fast when you first begin the Atkins diet.
2. You may feel tired on the Atkins diet. When your body switches its fuel source from carbs to ketones in the first few days of the Atkins diet you may feel some form of fatigue. The tired feeling should begin to settle out as your body begins to adjust to the Atkins diet.
3. You eat fewer vegetables on the Atkins diet. The Atkins diet promotes more meat and fewer vegetables. Vegetables are an important source of minerals, fiber and calcium. When your body shifts to the Atkins diet you may suffer a loss in vegetable intake.
After you read the three good points of the Atkins diet and the three bad points of the Atkins diet it is up to you and your doctor to decide if the Atkins diet is the best choice for you.
Taking the Confusion Out of Purchasing Prescription Diet Pills
If you were to search ‘Prescription Diet Pills’ online you would come up with more than 3.5 million results, certainly a large number of results to sort through to find the best prescription diet pill.
The problem is that several diet cheap cialis go by many brand names. To take the confusion out of finding prescription diet cheap cialis online, Diet Pill Reviews created the following diet pill naming guide.
DIET PILL - Adipex
BRAND NAMES - Adipex-P, Fastin, Ionamin, Obenix, Obephen, Oby-Cap, Oby-trim, Panshape M, Phentercot, Phentermine, Phenteride, Pro-Fast, Teramine, Zantryl.
DIET PILL - Bontril
BRAND NAMES - Bontril-SR, Adipost, Anorex, Appecon, Melfiat, Obezine, Phendimetrazine, Phendiet, Plegine, Prelu, Statobex.
DIET PILL - Didrex
BRAND NAMES - Benzphetamine
DIET PILL - Ionamin
BRAND NAMES - Adipex, Fastin, Obenix, Obephen, Oby-Cap, Oby-trim, Panshape M, Phentercot, Phentermine, Phenteride, Pro-Fast, Teramine, Zantryl
DIET PILL - Meridia
BRAND NAMES - Reductil, Sibutramine
DIET PILL - Phentermine
BRAND NAMES - Phentermine HCI, Phentermine HCL, Phentermine Hydrochloride, Adipex, Fastin, Ionamin, Obenix, Obephen, Oby-Cap, Oby-trim, Panshape M, Phentercot, Phenteride, Pro-Fast, Teramine, Zantryl.
DIET PILL - Tenuate
BRAND NAMES - Diethylpropion, Tenuate Dospan
DIET PILL - Xenical
BRAND NAMES - Orlistat
As you can see, many prescription diet pills take on the same brand name. Adipex, for example- Has several brand names (Adipex-P, Fastin, Ionamin, Obenix, Obephen, Oby-Cap, Oby-trim, Panshape M, Phentercot, Phentermine, Phenteride, Pro-Fast, Teramine, Zantryl), but Ionamin another prescription diet pill also goes by several of the same names (Adipex, Fastin, Obenix, Obephen, Oby-Cap, Oby-trim, Panshape M, Phentercot, Phentermine, Phenteride, Pro-Fast, Teramine, Zantryl) Feel free to use this diet pill guide to read and write reviews at Diet Pill Reviews.
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