Karisma Kapoor, the gorgeous actress who entertained us with her moves, enviable figure and a beautiful face is married and a mother of two today. She still maintains her drop dead gorgeous looks. How? Well, that no more a celebrity secret.
Karisma is highly inspired by Victoria Beckham. This helped her lose post-pregnancy fat in no time. Today, Karisma has maintained a fit body and enviable looks just as Victoria Beckham. She eats really healthy. Her favourite cuisines include Japanese food, lots of fish, and chicken. The actress also believes in including a lot of raw vegetables and fruits in her diet.
Karisma believes in maintaining a healthy diet regime and does not starve herself. Today, she keeps a very slim physique. She does this by eating right, exercising occasionally, and running around after her two children.
Karisma Kapoor Diet Chart
Breakfast
? 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with some vegetables
Lunch
? Mango/fruit salad
Snack
? Grilled Sandwich
Or
? Dhokla
Or
Prawns
Supper
? Soup
Dinner
? Chicken breast (no skin, no sauces) and roasted veggies
Karisma believes in eating healthy. She brings variety in her food by introducing vegetable curry and brown rice or steamed fish and chicken in her regular diet chart. The actress also includes 2-3 egg whites in the day to ensure adequate protein intake.
Karisma Kapoor?s Exercise Regimen
Karisma Kapoor has always maintained a fit body. She used to swim a lot during her school days. Today, she maintains the same regime by swimming with her kids during their holidays.
Karisma also likes to practise yoga. She takes long walks the natural way. Karisma prefers to walk in the building and even take the stairs whenever possible.
The actress is not a fan of gyms. In fact, her gym routines are just to maintain a toned body. She has appointed a personal trainer who would help her workout at least 3-4 times in a week.
Today, the actress keeps her children in her priority. However, she believes that her own health and fitness is equally important and works hard for it. She makes it a point to take care of her health, hair, and skin.
Record Wall Street boosts sentiment, U.S. holds key in Q2
TOKYO (Reuters) - Whether the world's largest economy can sustain momentum will be a primary focus for investors for the next three months after a general recovery trend in the United States helped risk sentiment for broad markets in the first quarter of 2013. Asian shares edged higher and the euro steadied on Friday after banks in Cyprus reopened to relative calm. Overall trade was subdued, with many Asian markets, including Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, closed on Friday for Easter holidays.
Banks lift TSX on Cyprus calm; index up for quarter
TORONTO (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index powered ahead in a late surge on Thursday, led by strength in financial and industrial shares, on relief that banks in Cyprus reopened relatively smoothly following a bailout deal. The market received further support from BlackBerry after the smartphone maker reported a surprise quarterly profit.
More trouble for Cohen's SAC Capital as Steinberg indicted in NY
(Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors on Friday charged Michael Steinberg, a veteran portfolio manager with Steven A. Cohen's $15 billion hedge fund, with engaging in insider trading in two technology stocks, the most senior SAC Capital Advisors employee to be charged in the government's long-running probe. The five-count indictment was announced a few hours after Federal Bureau of Investigation agents arrived at Steinberg's home in New York City at around 6 a.m. ET and arrested him.
Cyprus says threat contained, no plan to leave euro
NICOSIA (Reuters) - The president of Cyprus said on Friday the risk of bankruptcy had been contained and the country had no intention of leaving the euro, in a speech laden with criticism of Europe's currency union for "experimenting" with the island's fate. Conservative leader Nicos Anastasiades spoke a day after banks reopened following an almost two-week shutdown to avert a run on deposits by worried Cypriots and wealthy foreign depositors as the country raced to clinch a rescue package from the European Union.
Quarter of U.S. firms in China face data theft: business lobby
BEIJING (Reuters) - A quarter of firms that are members of a leading U.S. business lobby in China have been victims of data theft, a report by the group said on Friday, amid growing vitriol between Beijing and Washington over the threat of cyber attacks. Twenty-six percent of members who responded to an annual survey said their proprietary data or trade secrets had been compromised or stolen from their China operations, the American Chamber of Commerce in China report said.
Exclusive: Indonesia's CT Corp proposes all-cash deal for Bakrie's media unit
TANJUNG BENOA, Indonesia (Reuters) - Indonesia's fifth-richest man has proposed to buy a controlling stake in PT Visi Media Asia, valued at up to $1.8 billion, in an all-cash deal that would give him the lion's share of the TV advertising market in Southeast Asia's biggest economy. Chairul Tanjung, the billionaire founder and chairman of CT Corp, a conglomerate with banking and media interests, told Reuters that his company wanted to buy the stake in the media unit of Indonesia's powerful Bakrie family without any partners.
Deutsche Bank probe finds incomplete data given to prosecutors: magazine
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - An internal investigation at Deutsche Bank has found that incomplete data related to a carbon tax fraud probe were handed over to prosecutors, German magazine Der Spiegel said on Friday. The probe is one of several legal headaches with which Germany's biggest lender is grappling.
Sony, Olympus delay medical venture as regulatory approval on hold
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp and Olympus Corp have again delayed the start of a joint venture to develop medical equipment because they have yet to gain approval from some regulators. "The examination by the relevant authority is taking longer than expected," the two companies said in a statement. They did not set a new date for operations to start.
Commission considers good and bad of British banking
LONDON (Reuters) - The Archbishop of Canterbury has spent the run up to Easter contemplating the ethics of the trading floor and ways to curb greed in the City of London. Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of 80 million Anglicans, is one of an influential committee of British lawmakers looking at how to change the culture of an industry laid low by price manipulation, mis-selling and fraud.
Boeing CEO urges FAA to return 787 to service, delays continue
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - - Boeing Co Chief Executive Jim McNerney on Thursday urged regulators reviewing battery problems on the company's grounded 787 passenger jet to let the plane back into service, saying he was confident the redesigned battery was safe. He would not specify when he expected the jet to be flying customers again other than saying "sooner rather than later."
My old boss Owen Thomas is very close to becoming the new editor-in-chief at the SAY Media-owned tech site ReadWrite, according to sources with knowledge of the company. I'm hearing that it's not quite a done deal, but that it's looking very likely. Naturally, I called Owen to ask if this was the case, but he declined to comment. A SAY spokesperson told me, "There's obviously a lot of interest in ReadWrite. There are a lot of good candidates in the mix, and no one's been hired yet." (Just to reiterate ? I'm not saying he's been hired, just that the discussions are pretty far along.)
If you ever wanted six-pack abs on your way to being named the Sexiest Man Alive, or if you crave the toned legs and flat belly of an international pop superstar, a trip to your nearest fast-food establishment may be in order.
Startraks, FameFlynet
Ryan Reynolds, left, gets his Burger King on during a break from filming in New York this week. Britney Spears grabs KFC to go in Thousand Oaks, Calif., on March 19.
If that doesn't make sense, then neither does Ryan Reynolds walking down the street with Burger King to go, or Britney Spears hauling a bag of KFC across a parking lot. We know stars are supposed to be "just like us," but have you seen us? We don't look like them.
Let's just assume that Reynolds and Spears ate whatever was in those bags. Instead of collapsing into a cheeseburger coma in front of "South Park," it's safe to say these two burned it off. Probably before the bags hit the trash. (In Reynolds' case, the task may have been a little easier. A publicist tied to the actor called Friday to say that's just a turkey burger and unsweetened iced tea!)
Albert Michael / startraksphoto.com
No Coke. Pepsi. Actress Denise Richards at Arby's.
Celebs with six-packs under their shirts and not in their shopping carts get that way thanks to a strict diet-and-exercise routine. And there's a good chance that both of those disciplines are maintained under the watchful eye of well-paid personal chefs and trainers. It also doesn't hurt to go the "kale and dust" route if fitting into a catsuit is in your job description.
So those of you envisioning looking like any of these people because you eat at the same drive-thru, take note. Joy Bauer, nutrition and health expert for TODAY, says "limit fast food outings to once per week, and alternate fattening fare with healthier offerings like grilled chicken salads, turkey burgers, and snack wraps."
If the thought of a snack wrap taking the place of your bacon-double sounds unappetizing, Bauer crunches some numbers for you.
She says to pay penance for a Burger King Whopper (630 calories), large fries (500 calories), and?40-ounce soda (380 calories) -- totaling 1,510 calories -- you would have to:
run for 2 hours straight, or
swim for 4 hours, or
bike for 2 hours, or
play full-court basketball for 2 hours
INFphoto.com
Rihanna hits the drive thru at a fast food joint in her native Barbados.
If you scarf down KFC's Original Recipe chicken-thigh value box (540 calories), a side of mashed potatoes with gravy (120 calories), and?30-ounce sweetened iced tea (260 calories) -- totaling 920 calories -- you'd need to:?
spin for one hour and 10 minutes, or
walk for 3 hours, or
hit the dance floor and boogie down for an hour and a half, or
do yoga for 5 hours straight!
"Celebs have cravings just like everyone else ... and when they succumb to fast food faves -- just like us mortals -- they must work hard to burn off the calorific splurges," Bauer says.
Maybe you're burning calories right now at the thought of Ryan Reynolds burning calories to work off his meal. Maybe the thought of his wife, Blake Lively, in a swimsuit is enough to motivate him to stay in shape. We know she'd never eat ... aw, forget it!
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida Gov. Rick Scott has made his opposition to tuition hikes for college students well-known in the last several months. He has repeatedly said that he worries that the cost of a college education is getting too high in the Sunshine State.
"This is a tax, it's a tax on students, it's a tax on families," Scott told reporters earlier this week.
But Scott's opposition has done little to dissuade the Florida House from proposing a 6-percent tuition hike.
House Speaker Will Weatherford on Thursday strongly defended the move, which would generate an estimated $37 million for the state's 12 public universities.
"Our students and our parents are spending as much money on their cellphones a year as they are paying for tuition," Weatherford said.
Weatherford, who made his remarks before the Florida Board of Governors, also said that the state's overall tuition rate for university students remains among the lowest in the country. The board is the appointed panel that oversees the university system.
Florida charges undergraduate students an average in-state rate of $6,232 a year ? which ranks about 41st in the nation, according to data compiled by the State University System of Florida.
"We think to just take tuition off the table and ignore the fact that we are ranked so low...is not right," Weatherford said.
The difference over tuition is yet another flash point in a building tug-of-war between Weatherford and Scott. The Republican governor last week was critical of a campaign finance bill pushed by the speaker. Weatherford, meanwhile, has questioned Scott's desire to give teachers a $2,500 pay raise.
The Wesley Chapel Republican responded sarcastically when asked about Scott's opposition to tuition hikes.
"Is that right? He's not for tuition increases?" he said.
The Florida Senate has not recommended any tuition increases in its proposed budget. Weatherford said the House was not fixated on a 6 percent amount and said the final figure was "negotiable." The House and Senate have until early May to pass a new state budget and send it to Scott.
Florida has a complicated system for setting tuition rates. The Legislature can order across-the-board tuition increases and the Board of Governors can approve increases requested by individual universities. State law limits the increases to a combined 15 percent annually.
Last year Scott vetoed a bill that would have permitted the state's top two research schools, the University of Florida and Florida State University, to exceed that current cap.
As legislators have cut state spending in recent years, the universities have responded by raising tuition. Last year lawmakers cut university budgets by $300 million.
University presidents pledged last December that they would not seek a tuition increase this year if legislators restored the 2012 cut and agreed to spend $118 million more in state money on the 12 schools.
University of Florida Bernie Machen said that the initial budget proposals rolled out by the House and Senate would allow the schools to keep that promise. The House and Senate budgets would increase state dollars to universities between $143 million and $198 million. The budgets even include extra money for both UF and FSU.
"If that holds, we're fine," Machen said.
Follow Gary Fineout on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fineout
?In Africa if your business is not profitable during the first 45 days, you?re doing something wrong!?
These are the words a friend used to describe how dynamic and fast growing the continent became. Obviously, he was talking about small businesses, but I?ve heard similar stories from other sources regarding some quite important deals.
In 2012? Africa became the fastest growing continent in the world with the highest number of new millionaires. There are now more than 100,000 millionaires in Africa and about 20.000 new millionaires will be added every 3 years. Waouh!
There are lot of opportunities. I?ve? have started few months ago a series of posts on ideas to start profitable business in Africa:
- 100 ideas to Start a Profitable Business in Africa
- 10 Ideas for Profitable Business Empowering African Governments with Technology
- 49 Ideas For Mobile Business in Africa
- 10 Ideas for Profitable Business in Data and Networks Security in Africa
There are thousands of other business opportunities that I will continue featuring here.
The continent still?is a risky place to do business, but the rewards of success are instant and a lot. Here are the top 7 tips for success I?ve garnered through my latest conversations:
1. ?It?s almost virgin here. There are lot of opportunities, but you have to fight!?
2. ?Target the vanity class with vanity products. The ?new rich? have lot of money. They are though on everything except their big ego and social reputation?
3. ?Target the lazy executives and middle managers. Do the job they are paid for as a consultant. Be good, and politically savvy, and the money is yours?
4. ?You?ll make more money in selling food or opening a restaurant than working for the Bank?
5. ?You can?t avoid politics, but learn to think like the people your are talking with. Always finish your sentence with something like ?the most important is the country?s development, not power. We all have to work in that direction?
6. ?It?s about hard work and passion, but you should first forget about managing time like in Europe.
Take time to visit people, go to the vanity parties, have the patience to let stupid people finish their long empty sentences, and make the politicians understand that your project could make them win elections and strengthen their positions?
7. ?Speed is everything. Think fast, Act fast, Be everywhere through friends, family and informants?
?
All these? look very machiavellian to me, but who said business was something for the faint hearts!
About Mawuna Remarque KOUTONIN
Mawuna Koutonin is a world peace activist who relentlessly works to empower people to express their full potential and pursue their dreams, regardless of their background. He is the Editior of SiliconAfrica.com, Founder of Goodbuzz.net, and Social activist for Africa Renaissance. Koutonin?s ultimate dream is to open a world-class human potential development school in Africa in 2017. If you are interested in learning more about this venture or Koutonin?s other projects, you can reach him directly by emailing at mk@linkcrafter.com.
Mar 26 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Tiger Woods $3,787,600 2. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 3. Matt Kuchar $2,154,500 4. Steve Stricker $1,820,000 5. Phil Mickelson $1,650,260 6. Hunter Mahan $1,553,965 7. John Merrick $1,343,514 8. Dustin Johnson $1,330,507 9. Russell Henley $1,313,280 10. Kevin Streelman $1,310,343 11. Keegan Bradley $1,274,593 12. Charles Howell III $1,256,373 13. Michael Thompson $1,254,669 14. Brian Gay $1,171,721 15. Justin Rose $1,155,550 16. Jason Day $1,115,565 17. Chris Kirk $1,097,053 18. ...
Minister of foreign affairs and cooperation, Saad Dine El Otmani, arrived on Monday in Qatar to represent King Mohammed VI in the 24th Arab summit.
The official told reporters that the summit themed ?the Arab world: Present situation and future perspectives? will look into important issues, particularly the Palestinian issue, reiterating Morocco?s commitment to support the Arab League efforts meant to uphold the Palestinian people legitimate rights.
Morocco has always been clear about its support to the Palestinian issue whether after the recognition by the UNO of Palestine as a state or as part of defending the city of Al Qods as a capital for the Palestinian independent state.
He added that he expects the Syrian crisis to dominate debates, given the emergency of this issue, recalling that the meeting of Syria?s friends held in Marrakech was an opportunity to garner international support that led to the recognition of the Syrian national coalition as a representative of the Syrian people.
Morocco will reaffirm in Doha the same support to the Syrian people and will adhere to all the Arab League initiatives, added the Foreign minister.
He also argued that ?reforming the Arab League has become an urgent need as its mechanisms are no longer adapted to address the present challenges.
This past summer, a smash hit crime film opened in a handful of US cinemas with one of the hottest rises actors starring and the greatest directors of all time presenting it. Sound familiar? At its widest in the US, "Easy Money" was screening in all of seven theaters, but make no mistake, this is [...]
Here at T-Mobile's "UnCarrier" press conference, we've heard loads of pricing and availability details for the carrier's new LTE-enabled handsets. Well, here's one more tidbit: the Galaxy S4 is expected to hit T-Mo on May 1st. If that sounds like soft, tentative language on our part, it's because Legere said the phone will arrive "about May 1st," so it's possible it could arrive, you know, on May 3rd instead. That said, it's coming, and soon. As for pricing, nothing's been confirmed, but we already know T-Mobile's other LTE phones (the iPhone 5, HTC One, etc.) will go for $100 plus monthly payments of $20 for two years, so we wouldn't be surprised if the same were true here.
Mindfulness improves reading ability, working memory, and task-focusPublic release date: 26-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sonia Fernandez sonia.fernandez@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-4765 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) If you think your inability to concentrate is a hopeless condition, think again and breathe, and focus. According to a study by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara, as little as two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve one's reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and ability to focus.
Their findings were recently published online in the empirical psychology journal Psychological Science.
"What surprised me the most was actually the clarity of the results," said Michael Mrazek, graduate student researcher in psychology and the lead and corresponding author of the paper, "Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering." "Even with a rigorous design and effective training program, it wouldn't be unusual to find mixed results. But we found reduced mind-wandering in every way we measured it."
Many psychologists define mindfulness as a state of non-distraction characterized by full engagement with our current task or situation. For much of our waking hours, however, we are anything but mindful. We tend to replay past events like the fight we just had or the person who just cut us off on the freeway or we think ahead to future circumstances, such as our plans for the weekend.
Mind-wandering may not be a serious issue in many circumstances, but in tasks requiring attention, the ability to stay focused is crucial.
To investigate whether mindfulness training can reduce mind-wandering and thereby improve performance, the scientists randomly assigned 48 undergraduate students to either a class that taught the practice of mindfulness or a class that covered fundamental topics in nutrition. Both classes were taught by professionals with extensive teaching experience in their fields. Within a week before the classes, the students were given two tests: a modified verbal reasoning test from the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and a working memory capacity (WMC) test. Mind-wandering during both tests was also measured.
The mindfulness classes provided a conceptual introduction along with practical instruction on how to practice mindfulness in both targeted exercises and daily life. Meanwhile, the nutrition class taught nutrition science and strategies for healthy eating, and required students to log their daily food intake.
Within a week after the classes ended, the students were tested again. Their scores indicated that the mindfulness group significantly improved on both the verbal GRE test and the working memory capacity test. They also mind-wandered less during testing. None of these changes were true of the nutrition group.
"This is the most complete and rigorous demonstration that mindfulness can reduce mind-wandering, one of the clearest demonstrations that mindfulness can improve working memory and reading, and the first study to tie all this together to show that mind-wandering mediates the improvements in performance," said Mrazek. He added that the research establishes with greater certainty that some cognitive abilities often seen as immutable, such as working memory capacity, can be improved through mindfulness training.
Mrazek and the rest of the research team which includes Michael S. Franklin, project scientist; mindfulness teacher and research specialist Dawa Tarchin Phillips; graduate student Benjamin Baird; and senior investigator Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychological and brain sciences are extending their work by investigating whether similar results can be achieved with younger populations, or with web-based mindfulness interventions. They are also examining whether or not the benefits of mindfulness can be compounded by a program of personal development that also targets nutrition, exercise, sleep, and personal relationships.
###
For more information on the mindfulness training program, contact Dawa Tarchin Phillips at (805) 680-3988 or phillips@psych.ucsb.edu.
[ | 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.
Mindfulness improves reading ability, working memory, and task-focusPublic release date: 26-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sonia Fernandez sonia.fernandez@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-4765 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) If you think your inability to concentrate is a hopeless condition, think again and breathe, and focus. According to a study by researchers at the UC Santa Barbara, as little as two weeks of mindfulness training can significantly improve one's reading comprehension, working memory capacity, and ability to focus.
Their findings were recently published online in the empirical psychology journal Psychological Science.
"What surprised me the most was actually the clarity of the results," said Michael Mrazek, graduate student researcher in psychology and the lead and corresponding author of the paper, "Mindfulness Training Improves Working Memory Capacity and GRE Performance While Reducing Mind Wandering." "Even with a rigorous design and effective training program, it wouldn't be unusual to find mixed results. But we found reduced mind-wandering in every way we measured it."
Many psychologists define mindfulness as a state of non-distraction characterized by full engagement with our current task or situation. For much of our waking hours, however, we are anything but mindful. We tend to replay past events like the fight we just had or the person who just cut us off on the freeway or we think ahead to future circumstances, such as our plans for the weekend.
Mind-wandering may not be a serious issue in many circumstances, but in tasks requiring attention, the ability to stay focused is crucial.
To investigate whether mindfulness training can reduce mind-wandering and thereby improve performance, the scientists randomly assigned 48 undergraduate students to either a class that taught the practice of mindfulness or a class that covered fundamental topics in nutrition. Both classes were taught by professionals with extensive teaching experience in their fields. Within a week before the classes, the students were given two tests: a modified verbal reasoning test from the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and a working memory capacity (WMC) test. Mind-wandering during both tests was also measured.
The mindfulness classes provided a conceptual introduction along with practical instruction on how to practice mindfulness in both targeted exercises and daily life. Meanwhile, the nutrition class taught nutrition science and strategies for healthy eating, and required students to log their daily food intake.
Within a week after the classes ended, the students were tested again. Their scores indicated that the mindfulness group significantly improved on both the verbal GRE test and the working memory capacity test. They also mind-wandered less during testing. None of these changes were true of the nutrition group.
"This is the most complete and rigorous demonstration that mindfulness can reduce mind-wandering, one of the clearest demonstrations that mindfulness can improve working memory and reading, and the first study to tie all this together to show that mind-wandering mediates the improvements in performance," said Mrazek. He added that the research establishes with greater certainty that some cognitive abilities often seen as immutable, such as working memory capacity, can be improved through mindfulness training.
Mrazek and the rest of the research team which includes Michael S. Franklin, project scientist; mindfulness teacher and research specialist Dawa Tarchin Phillips; graduate student Benjamin Baird; and senior investigator Jonathan Schooler, professor of psychological and brain sciences are extending their work by investigating whether similar results can be achieved with younger populations, or with web-based mindfulness interventions. They are also examining whether or not the benefits of mindfulness can be compounded by a program of personal development that also targets nutrition, exercise, sleep, and personal relationships.
###
For more information on the mindfulness training program, contact Dawa Tarchin Phillips at (805) 680-3988 or phillips@psych.ucsb.edu.
[ | 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.
Home improvement is something that can save you money if you want a newer looking home. Nowadays, finding a person to purchase a home at the valued price is difficult without renovations. Instead of selling and buying, how about improving what you have already? Read on for some easy tips on how to get the job done.
Always remember to turn the main water supply if you are working on plumbing projects in the bathroom or kitchen. This will help you avoid flooding your kitchen or bathroom.
If you are thinking about remodeling your home but want some updated ideas, visit new subdivisions to see their model homes. Styles and colors that appeal to you will be used, and give a better sense of how they look in application. By far, a better option than just the hardware store. Lots of model homes are decorated by professionals and include window treatments and custom furniture that can serve as useful examples for your house.
If hanging pictures or paintings have caused holes in the wall, then utilize spackle and paint in order to eliminate them and freshen the look of your walls. You can find spackle at hardware stores. Only a small bit of spackle is needed to cover small holes. If the hole is really small, then you can use something as small as a bobby pin to apply spackle onto it. Smooth the spackle when have successfully filled in the hole. Then paint. This method will make holes vanish in single night!
You will probably require a new roof if you notice your ceiling is leaking. If you do not fix it, you are flirting with disaster. Find a trustworthy roof specialist in your area and ask them to come take a look at your roof. Be sure the professional is knowledgeable and has experience.
Planting a tree can be an inexpensive enhancement to your home. It improves the resale value of your house. It will also, eventually, shade your home. A tree in the right place can also cut cooling costs by almost 40 percent.
If you want your bedroom or living area to look larger, make sure that furniture is placed away from the walls. This adds space and makes the room look more modern.
If your door hinges continue to squeak after you have tried every solution in existence, you may have to simply replace them. They can be found at any hardware store. Just take the hinge apart and screw each section into the appropriate area of the wall and door frame. Then, align the hinge parts and replace the pins.
Put effort and time into both the inside and outside of your home. The appearance of the exterior and interior of your home are key to its value, so work hard at it.
You may need permission to complete large projects like digging a pool. If you do not know which steps you should take before making major changes to your home such as structural changes, it is best to have a professional help you.
All you need is a little PVC primer and cement in order to attach two PVC pipes together. You need to use these products only on your pipes because other cements or glues can cause the pipe to leak later. Furthermore, the pipe surfaces must be completely dry.
If you have room in your budget, you should go ahead and get started on a good home improvement project. Regardless of the scope and scale of the new project, the useful information found in this article will most certainly make the process far more simple and stress-free.
The subject that touches my heart the most has to be domestic violence. I lived it and I survived yet I know not everyone is as lucky.
1 in 4 women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime ? many of these on a number of occasions.
One incident of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute.
On average, 2 women a week are killed by a current or former male partner. (Women?s Aid)
When a mother comes to me and asks if I have time for a chat, I never have the heart to say no, even if I am busy, I always make the time. When she tells me she is afraid of her partner and wants to leave him but is far too scared to do so, my heart aches for her.
I don?t think of myself as anything special and I am certainly not an expert or professional. but if I can help a mother in some small way then that?s what I aim to do. If I don?t know the answer then I will find it from somewhere.
If a mother comes to me in distress and wants out, then we get her out and safety. I can provide support, personal experience and professionals who can help her. I don?t feel I do anything, ?I just listened.
I have had to phone the police on behalf of a mother before who had locked herself in the bedroom, her partner was trying to kick the door in to get to her. The mother inboxed me her address and begged me to help. I helped.
I have several mothers who have finally found the courage to leave and contacted their local refuge centre and escaped. I still keep in touch with these mums today.
There was a time I felt afraid, alone and feared for my own life. When you live in a world of abuse and you have no control, you become accustomed somewhat to that. I understand how a mother feels when she believes she cannot leave an abusive relationship.
It is a feeling of?relief when I know they have walked away and stayed away.?I also feel a sense of pride when mothers I know do finally brake free. I know all to well how much courage that takes.
I don?t do much, it is them who are brave and inspiring and I know their own experiences will go on to help so many others.
FILE - This undated image provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows its director Tom Clements. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer says Clements was shot to death around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night March 19, 2013 when he answered his front door in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. Personal safety is always on the mind of most correctional officers and prison administrators when they?re working the prison tower or shaking down inmate cells for contraband. But increasingly it?s also a concern at the end of their shifts and off prison grounds. The slaying of Clements has officers checking their review mirrors more often and industry experts recommending a closer look at security off the job. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)
FILE - This undated image provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows its director Tom Clements. Sheriff's Lt. Jeff Kramer says Clements was shot to death around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night March 19, 2013 when he answered his front door in Monument, north of Colorado Springs. Personal safety is always on the mind of most correctional officers and prison administrators when they?re working the prison tower or shaking down inmate cells for contraband. But increasingly it?s also a concern at the end of their shifts and off prison grounds. The slaying of Clements has officers checking their review mirrors more often and industry experts recommending a closer look at security off the job. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections)
FILE - This undated file photo provided by the Colorado Department of Corrections shows paroled inmate Evan Spencer Ebel. Ebel, 28, the former Colorado inmate and white supremacist at the center of a two-state mystery is dead after a high-speed chase and shootout with Texas deputies March 21, 2013. Now investigators are trying to piece together whether he killed the chief of Colorado prisons and a pizza delivery man. Tom Clements, the Colorado prisons chief who was gunned down, is being remembered at a memorial service, Monday, March 25, 2013 at New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. (AP Photo/Colorado Department of Corrections, File)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) ? The Colorado prisons chief who was gunned down as he answered his front door is being remembered at a memorial service.
The service for Tom Clements, 58, is set for Monday morning at New Life Church in Colorado Springs.
The director of the Colorado Department of Corrections was killed at his home Tuesday night in Monument, north of Colorado Springs.
A private funeral was held for him Sunday. He is survived by a wife and two daughters.
Evan Spencer Ebel, killed in a gunfight with Texas authorities Thursday, is a suspect.
Colorado authorities say evidence gathered in Texas provided a strong lead in the case but stressed investigators had not yet confirmed a link between the crime and Ebel.
Authorities say the car Ebel had in Texas was similar to one seen not far from Clements' home the night he was killed, and bullets Ebel fired at Texas police were the same caliber and brand as the bullet or bullets that killed Clements.
Ballistics tests are due sometime this week.
It remained unclear whether Clements was targeted when he was shot and why.
Officials say Ebel had been a member of the 211s, a white supremacist prison gang in Colorado. El Paso County sheriff's spokesman Lt. Jeff Kramer says investigators are trying to determine whether the 211 gang was involved in the killing.
Denver police say Ebel is also a suspect in the March 17 slaying of pizza delivery man Nathan Leon.
Gov. John Hickenlooper, who hired Clements, has said that he is a longtime friend of the suspect's father, attorney Jack Ebel, who testified two years ago before state lawmakers that solitary confinement was destroying his son's psyche.
Hickenlooper confirmed he mentioned the case to Clements as an example of why the prison system needed reform before the job was offered, but the governor said he did not mention Evan Ebel by name.
There was no indication that Hickenlooper's relationship with the Jack Ebel played a role in the shooting. Hickenlooper said he did not having any role in Evan Ebel's parole in January.
Jack Ebel issued a statement offering condolences to all those who have suffered from his son's actions.
"I ask for privacy for me and my family during this time as we grieve for the loss of life that has occurred and for all those affected," he said.
Officials took additional security measures after Clements' death and placed the state prisons on lockdown Friday.
Sacrificing a smartphone's thin and sleek form factor with a case is tantamount to sacrilege in some circles. Others feel little comfort venturing outdoors without having their phone wrapped safely in one sleeve or another. Sprint's Kyocera Torque, though, is for people who demand more than just a sheath of silicone to keep their device safe. Instead of relying on a case for its protection, it's durable in its own right, with an IP67 rating and Military Standard 810G certification to help it withstand everything from water to salt fog.
In addition, the handset carries the distinction of being the very first phone released in the US with Kyocera's Smart Sonic Receiver tissue-conduction tech, which does away with the traditional earpiece. We put the Now Network's first LTE push-to-talk phone through our review gauntlet not only to gauge how tough it is, but also to find out how well it performs. Head past the break to see how it fared.
Vice President Joe Biden's trip to Europe last month led to a hefty tab with over $1 million for hotels for himself, staff and security for two nights in London and Paris, government documents show.
As first reported by The Weekly Standard, documents show that the U.S. State Department obtained contracts with two five-star hotels in London and Paris where the vice president stayed for two nights during a five-day tour of Europe last month.
One contract was awarded to the Hyatt Regency London for a total of $459,338.65 while another went to the Hotel Intercontinental Paris Le Grand for $585,000.50
While the figure may be eye-popping, a State Department official said these costs are par for the course in high-level international trips as they also include accommodations for staff, security details and military personnel.
"These costs are nothing out of the ordinary. They are in line with high-level travel across multiple administrations," the State Department official said. "The contract costs cover the entire range of support, including accommodations for military, communications, secret service staff, and other support professionals. Security experts are also required to travel in advance of the president or vice president. Safety and security are not negotiable."
A 1999 GAO report showed that trips President Bill Clinton took to Africa, Chile and China in 1998 cost $42.8 million, $10.5 million and $18.8 million, respectively - adding up to over $72 million. There were 1302 travelers to Africa, while 592 and 510 people were on the trips to Chile and China, respectively.
The White House normally does not disclose the amount paid for the vice president and president's travel. Last year, an Air Force official told ABC News that one hour of flying time aboard Air Force One totaled $179,750 in FY2012.
White House press secretary Jay Carney would not reveal how much the president's day trip to Illinois earlier this month would cost when asked about it by ABC News' White House correspondent Jonathan Karl.
"I don't have a figure on the cost of presidential travel. It is obviously something, as every president deals with because of security and staff, a significant undertaking," Carney said. "But the president has to travel around the country. He has to travel around the world. That is part of his job."
In an interview during the campaign last year, President Obama said the decisions about travel are not up to him when he was asked if he was out of touch with ordinary Americans when his family is "jetting around" on Air Force One.
"The fact of the matter is, I think if you look at my track record, I'm raising a family here. When we travel, we got to travel through Secret Service, and Air Force One, that's not my choice. I think most folks understand how hard I work and how hard this administration is working on behalf of the American people," Obama told KMOV of St Louis.
Mar. 22, 2013 ? Collaborating scientists from Nationwide Children's Hospital, Baylor Institute for Immunology Research, and Mount Sinai School of Medicine have identified an important mechanism for stimulating protective immune responses following seasonal influenza vaccinations.
The study was published in Science Translational Medicine, a journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
While seasonal influenza vaccines protect 60 to 90 percent of healthy adults from "the flu," the mechanisms providing that protection are still not well understood.
The study led by Octavio Ramilo, MD, chief of Infectious Diseases and an investigator in the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Nationwide Children's Hospital and professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine, and Hideki Ueno, MD, PhD, an investigator at the Baylor Institute for Immunology Research at Baylor University, demonstrates how certain T cells in the blood are stimulated to provide protective antibody responses with seasonal flu vaccines.
Antibodies are produced by specific white blood cells or B cells, which serve as an immune defense against foreign bodies such as the influenza virus. Helper T cells, another type of white cell, are essential for the generation of B cells.
Blood samples before and after influenza vaccination from three groups of healthy study participants were analyzed for antibody responses. The groups included two sets of adults, one receiving flu vaccines during the 2009-2010 winter and the other receiving vaccination during the 2011-2012 winter. The third group included children receiving the flu vaccine during the 2010-2011 winter.
Analyses show that a temporary increase in a unique subset of helper T cells expressing the co-stimulator molecule ICOS adds to the immune response by helping B cells produce influenza-specific antibodies.
Results indicated that at day seven following the administration of a flu vaccine in all groups, stimulated T cells were evident, contributing to the development of the immune response.
The T cells positively correlated with increased antibodies against each flu virus strain examined, with the exception in the children's group against the swine-origin H1N1 virus.
"Given that seasonal influenza vaccines induce antibody responses mainly through boosting the recall response of the immune system, this lack of correlation might reflect the lack of H1N1 specific immunity in some children," explains study co-author Emilio Flano, PhD, a principal investigator in the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Nationwide Children's and an associate professor of Pediatrics at OSU College of Medicine.
"This is consistent with the fact that these children had not been vaccinated or naturally exposed to the H1N1 virus prior to being vaccinated during the 2010-2011 winter," said study co-author Santiago Lopez, MD, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Center for Vaccines and Immunity and a resident at Nationwide Children's.
Further experiments demonstrated that this unique subset of helper T cells can boost production of existing antibodies that fight flu by stimulating memory B cells, but do not help production of new antibodies by na?ve B cells.
"We're gratified that our study provides evidence of one of the essential events associated with the immune response following seasonal influenza vaccination," says Dr. Ramilo. "Understanding these processes is a key step toward developing more effective vaccines."
Asuncion Mejias, MD, PhD, a principal investigator in the Center for Vaccines and Immunity at Nationwide Children's and an assistant professor of Pediatrics in Infectious Diseases at OSU College of Medicine also contributed to this study which was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
S.-E. Bentebibel, S. Lopez, G. Obermoser, N. Schmitt, C. Mueller, C. Harrod, E. Flano, A. Mejias, R. A. Albrecht, D. Blankenship, H. Xu, V. Pascual, J. Banchereau, A. Garcia-Sastre, A. K. Palucka, O. Ramilo, H. Ueno. Induction of ICOS CXCR3 CXCR5 TH Cells Correlates with Antibody Responses to Influenza Vaccination. Science Translational Medicine, 2013; 5 (176): 176ra32 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3005191
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
We've been making the grand tour of Windows 8 hybrids running low-powered Atom processors, and our latest stop is Dell's Latitude 10. While some similar systems, such as the ASUS VivoTab Smart and the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, focus on portable designs and long battery life, the Latitude 10 takes after that group of devices with "Smart" and "Pro" in their name.
Indeed, like the Surface Pro and Samsung ATIV Smart PC Pro, the Latitude 10 flaunts a large variety of corporate-friendly features, such as TPM, a productivity dock, a Wacom-certified stylus and a Bluetooth keyboard. The entry-level configuration will set you back a tolerable $499, but adding on business essentials such as the dock and keyboard could soon have you looking at a price above the $1,000 threshold. Does the Latitude 10 work well enough to warrant the dough -- and satisfy on-the-go professionals? You know where to look if you want to find out.
All signs point toward the T-Mobile / MetroPCS merger becoming a formal thing pretty soon, but the Wireless for All carrier isn't wasting any time and is now welcoming yet another budget smartphone with LTE to its hefty mobile arsenal. And while the newly announced Huawei Premia 4G might not be amongst MetroPCS' better-specced handsets, its 4-inch (800 x 480) display, 1.5GHz dual-core CPU, 1GB RAM and 5-megapixel rear shooter will certainly make this Ice Cream Sandwich slab a relatively solid option at $149. So, those looking for some LTE love without having to break the bank, someone's calling your name -- and, starting today, you can snag one of these Huawei Premia 4Gs in-store or via the MetroPCS site linked below.
My old boss 
?In Africa if your business is not profitable during the first 45 days, you?re doing something wrong!?
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 26-Mar-2013
Share ] 
