Manitoba now has a new strategic action plan to prevent workplace injury and illness and to better ensure every worker makes it home safely at the end of the day. This announcement was made by Family Services and Labour Minister Jennifer Howard.
?This comprehensive strategy follows the province?s most extensive review of injury and illness prevention in more than a decade and doubles resources dedicated to injury and illness prevention,? said Howard. ?It strengthens our safety and health laws and will ensure employers are rewarded for practices that make their workplaces safer and healthier.?
The Manitoba government?s Five Year Plan for Injury and Illness Prevention incorporates recommendations from three reports issued in early April as part of a wide-ranging review of workplace injury and illness prevention.
The new strategy details plans for:
doubling funding for prevention services,
creating new requirements under the Workplace Safety and Health Act that more clearly define workers? legal rights, require mandatory orientation of new workers and provide stronger protection when a worker refuses unsafe work,
investing in resources that will ensure every high school student has access to workplace health and safety information in the classroom or online, and materials to help parents prepare their children to know about their rights to a safe workplace when they start their first job,
strengthening support for emergency responders and other workers in high-trauma jobs,
providing more ways for the public to report unsafe workplaces including a one-stop phone number for reporting unsafe workplace or injuries,
requiring mandatory safety orientation for new workers,
providing a mobile safety lab to bring safety awareness training and tools to rural worksites,
ensuring every new business in Manitoba gets information about their responsibilities to prevent injuries,
creating a leadership team of business owners and executives who have shown their commitment to safety and can help inform and mentor other business owners,
increasing enforcement of rules to prevent bullying and violence in the workplace, and
reviewing every workplace death to learn lessons about prevention.
?Dedicating more resources to prevention will help make Manitoba one of the safest places to work in North America,? said Howard. ?Enforcement is also an important part of injury prevention and our safety and health laws will be among the strongest in the country. Safety and health officers will now have the tools needed to ensure compliance.?
The minister also announced the Workers? Compensation Board of Manitoba will develop a strategy to eliminate claim suppression and inappropriate returnto-work practices, while ensuring employers that engage in genuine injury prevention are recognized and rewarded. That new strategy is expected in the fall of 2013.
?I?d like to thank Mr. Dave Gaudreau, MLA for St. Norbert, who assisted in conducting the comprehensive review of injury and illness prevention in our province,? said Howard. ?I also extend my gratitude to the many Manitobans who provided their input and recommendations.?
Information on Manitoba?s Five Year Plan for Injury and Illness Prevention and on the recent reviews is available at www.gov.mb.ca/labour/safety.
At least eight people were killed and 40 more injured in a suicide bombing this morning in northwest Pakistan. The country has seen scores killed in pre-election violence.
By Ryan Lenora Brown,?Correspondent / April 29, 2013
Pakistani police officers cordon off the site of attack in Peshawar, Pakistan, Monday. A suicide bomber targeting policemen killed at least eight people in northwestern Pakistan on Monday in the latest attack ahead of next month's parliamentary election, police said.
Mohammad Sajjad/AP
Enlarge
At least eight people were killed and 40 more injured in a suicide bombing on a busy road in the Pakistani city of Peshawar Monday morning. The attack capped off a weekend of election-related violence as the country prepares to go to the polls May 11.
Skip to next paragraph Ryan Lenora Brown
Correspondent
Ryan Brown edits the Africa Monitor blog and contributes to the national and international news desks of the Monitor. She is a former Fulbright fellow to South Africa and holds a degree in history from Duke University.?
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The bomber missed his ostensible target, a local commissioner, instead crashing his motorcycle into a passenger bus, Pakistan?s News International reports. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the Pakistani Taliban have carried out a range of similar attacks against secular political parties over the past several weeks.
Indeed, the explosion came just a day after two Taliban attacks targeting political candidates in northwestern Pakistan killed at least eight and injured dozens more. The Taliban and other groups have been responsible for at least 77 deaths in 44 election-related attacks since the beginning of April, Human Rights Watch told The New York Times.
"We are not in favor of democracy. Democracy is for Jews and Christians," Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud said in a recent propaganda video, according to CNN. He implored Pakistanis not to participate in the upcoming elections.
"We want the implementation of Sharia [law], and for that jihad is necessary,? he said.
The May elections will be the first in the country?s checkered political history when one democratically elected government will make way for another, and the uptick in militant violence leading to the historic vote has rattled both domestic and international observers.
But they remain divided on whether or not the spate of attacks will have a significant affect on the election?s outcome at the national level, particularly since neither of the two parties leading in polling over the past three months are among those targeted by the attacks.
As one analyst writing in the Pakistani daily Dawn argues, the violence, though significant, is too sporadic and narrowly targeted to create the kind of chaos necessarily to significantly sway the election?s results.
As for violence making elections impossible, the quantum would have to jump multifold and that too in key urban towns to spread the kind of fear that would result in elections being postponed. The ?threshold rule? applies here: the state has virtually no capacity to prevent targeted violence up to a certain threshold; beyond this, the militants have little chance of carrying out a coordinated campaign of major attacks in city centres in a short time. There is little reason to believe this will be upended over the coming fortnight.
Two of the frontrunners in the national campaign are the center-right Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and the centrist party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI). Taliban attacks, on the other hand, have largely targeted left-leaning parties, including the ruling Pakistan People?s Party (PPP), the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), and the Awami National Party (ANP).
Local candidates for these parties complain that the violence has forced them to dramatically scale back their campaigning activities, leaving the field open for Islamist candidates to win over voters.
"If you tie my hands, and you want me to fight, I can?t,? Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a local candidate for the ANP in the city of Peshawar, told Dawn.?
Overall, however, there is halting optimism in many quarters for Pakistan?s fragile democratic institutions. As the Monitor reported in March, the Pakistani National Assembly recently completed a five-year term for the first time in the country?s history, a signal that the country is finding new and non-militaristic ways to respond to its political grievances. ??
?These five years we saw many instances of corruption, confrontations with the judiciary, and absence of law and order,? says Rasul Bakhsh Raees, a professor of political science in?Lahore, pointing to?Karachi?and Balochistan. ?But the military decided not to intervene, which shows even their attitude is changing.? ?
?Every phase of democracy in Pakistan has been a battle, but the trend shows it?s [heading] toward improving the overall institutional balance,? [he says].
Violence also cast a shadow over Pakistan?s last election, in 2008. On Dec. 27, 2007, Benazir Bhutto, former prime minister and the head of the PPP ? then the leading opposition party ? was assassinated after a campaign rally. Two months later, however, her party and the PLM-N emerged victorious from the campaign and formed a coalition government. That August, former military leader Pervez Musharraf stepped down as president and went into exile, formally ending his nine-year military rule. ?
From an end users perspective, it's always nice to see developers take a step back and focus on streamlining their code, rather than simply piling on new features. Apple used the strategy to great success with Snow Leopard, and now Canonical is set to follow suit with Raring Ringtail, also known as Ubuntu 13.04. The latest version of the popular Linux distro is set for general availability tomorrow, which follows a beta release and a controversial amount of secrecy. Raring Ringtail is characterized as "the fastest and most visually polished Ubuntu experience to date," with a particular emphasis on a smaller memory footprint and greater responsiveness. Much of the streamlining effort was in preparation for Ubuntu's future life in mobile, and to coincide with that effort, developers will find a preview SDK for app development and the ability to test apps within the MIR display server. The release is now a mere hours away, and yes, it'll be a good day.
Bloomberg Businessweek is reporting that Amazon will soon be announcing its own streaming box to pair up with its Amazon Instant Video and video on demand. More »
A suspected meteorite in Argentina was caught on camera early Sunday morning, as seen in this video.
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
A suspected meteor flash wowed observers in Argentina early Sunday?? and sparked memories of February's more serious blast over Russia.
The fireball lit up the night in north and central Argentina at about 3:30 a.m. local time, according to accounts from Argentine news outlets. "The sky lit up completely for a couple of seconds and interrupted the calm in this area of Argentina," BarrioOeste.com reported. Witnesses in Catamarca, Tucuman and Santiago del Estero reported sightings.
Twitter users were buzzing over the fireball: A widely shared amateur video showed the green streak and flash in the background of a concert setting. Britain's ITV network reported that the footage was captured in Salta as the folk music band Los Tekis performed at an outdoor venue.
Jorge Coghlan, director of the Astronomical Observatory of Santa Fe, told La Gaceta in Tucuman that the object could have been a space rock about 20 centimeters (8 inches) in diameter that entered the atmosphere at high speed. "This object disintegrated at an altitude high enough to be seen for hundreds of miles," Coghlan said.
In comparison, the asteroid that came apart over Russia on Feb. 15 was thought to be 17 meters (55 feet) in diameter. That meteor blast created a shock wave that blew out windows and injured more than 1,000 people. No injuries were reported in the wake of the Argentine fireball.
An apparent meteor flashes at the 2:56 point in this concert video.
More about meteors:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Stock markets tanked briefly (and then recovered) after the AP Twitter account was hacked and falsely announced a White House bombing. An array of new firms verify social media information to make sure clients aren't fooled.
By Gloria Goodale,?Staff writer / April 23, 2013
The White House was not bombed Tuesday, despite a fake tweet from AP to the contrary. These police were part of stepped up security Sunday in the wake of the Boston bombings.
Jonathan Ernst/Reuters
Enlarge
Within 60 seconds of the Associated Press tweeting that the White House had been bombed ? a tweet that sent stock markets into a tailspin ? subscribers to Storyful knew it was a hoax.
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The AP Twitter feed, it turns out, had been hacked, and stock markets quickly recovered. But the incident highlighted why Storyful exists. In a social media world gone mad, it is one of a handful of new companies trying to fill the growing need for some form of social media information verification.
That need has been abundantly apparent during the past week. While law enforcement in the Boston bombing case called for the community to send photos, videos, and ideas, the response on social media included reams of raw information ? much of it false ? and half-baked theories. The family of a missing Brown University student had to refute false claims that he was involved.
At times, the news media were drawn into the spiral of social media of misinformation, and that is what Storyful hopes to remedy. Billed as the first news agency for the social media age, this global enterprise of some 35 professionals ? many refugees from media such as CNN ? scans social media to alert clients about news before even local wires, TV, or radio have picked it up. It then cross-checks the information to verify sources.
As social media becomes a greater part of the news media landscape, Storyful is just the sort of venture that could help each improve the other.
?We need both social and traditional journalism in our current age ? not one versus the other, not one or the other, but both,? says Paul Levinson, a professor of media studies at Fordham University in New York and author of ?New New Media,? via e-mail. ?Storyful looks like a significant step forward in bridging this gap.?
Storyful may be the most full-service provider in this growing space, providing not just verification but alerts and help with managing rights and usage. Based in Dublin, Ireland, but with staff in Asia, Europe, and the US, Storyful now boasts a roster of major news outlets from Bloomberg News to The New York Times.
The Latino Coalition 2013 Small Business Summit to address array small business issues
Byline: PR Newswire
US Department of Health & Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Bank of America CEO Brian T. Moynihan, Walmart Vice President of US Sourcing and Manufacturing Greg L. Hall, Senior VP US Chamber of Commerce Randal Johnson, impreMedia CEO Monica Lozano, Nationally Syndicated CNN Columnist Ruben Navarrette, Jr. and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project President Antonio Gonzalez to address gathering of Business Owners
WASHINGTON, April 22, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ ? The Latino Coalition, a leading advocate for Latino-owned, small and medium-sized businesses, will host the 2013 Small Business Summit on Wednesday, May 1st, 2013 at the US Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags in Washington, DC. The 2013 Small Business Summit will host more than 20 speakers and panelists on key issues important to small business including healthcare, immigration and international trade. The summit will bring together small business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs from across the country to network, learn, and advocate for policies that support small business growth. MEDIA RSVP: To cover The Latino Coalition 2013 Small Business Summit, please submit attendee name, outlet, contact number (s) and an email to ytorre@thelatinocoalition.com.
WHAT: The Latino Coalition 2013 Small Business Summit
WHEN: Wednesday, May 1, 2013
WHERE: US Chamber of Commerce Hall of Flags 1615 H Street NW Washington, DC 20062
ON-SITE CONTACT: Yohana de la Torre (239) 896-4695
Check-In and Registration: All media must check in at the press registration table to receive a press badge. A press badge is required to cover the conference and must be displayed at all times. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: Program will begin at 8:30 am ET. Please arrive on-site by 7:30 am ET for check-in and set up on media risers. Press riser and mult-box available. Fiber can be arranged by request. AGENDA DETAILS: Please visit our website at http://tlc2013summit.eventbrite.com/# for more information and to view the conference?s agenda. The Latino Coalition would like to thank the following supporters: Walmart, Lucrazon, AlvaradoSmith A Professional Corporation, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Intuit, MasterCard, Comcast, PG & E, U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, Google, AltaMed, WellMed, Biz2Credit, National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Verizon, Conexion, Business Matchmaking, El Clasificado, CapitalwirePR, Latin Business Today, LatinoNewsEagle, VOXXI and American Beverage Association. ABOUT THE LATINO COALITION- The Latino Coalition (TLC) was founded in 1995 by a group of Hispanic business owners from across the country to research and develop policies relevant to Latinos. TLC is a non-profit nationwide organization with offices in California, Washington, DC and Guadalajara, Mexico. Established to address policy issues that directly affect the well-being of Hispanics in the United States, TLC?s agenda is to develop initiatives and partnerships that will foster economic equivalency and enhance overall business, economic and social development for Latinos. Visit www.thelatinocoalition.com. SOURCE The Latino Coalition /Web site: http://www.thelatinocoalition.com
The Latino Coalition Announces B2B National Procurement http://latinbusinesstoday.com/2013/04/the-latino-coalition-announces-b2b-national-procurement/
The Latino Coalition/U.S. Chamber of Commerce Partnership http://latinbusinesstoday.com/2013/03/the-latino-coalitionchamber-of-commerce-partner-for-americas-small-business-summit/
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime -- a 33 percent increase over th
New York, NY April 23, 2013 New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime.
Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen's academic performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org Responds to Rx Epidemic with The Medicine Abuse Project
In response to the continued high prevalence of teen prescription medicine abuse as reported in the 2012 PATS data, The Partnership at Drugfree.org is helping educate parents, community stakeholders and others about the risks of this dangerous behavior. The Partnership at Drugfree.org leads The Medicine Abuse Project, a multi-year initiative with the goal of preventing half a million teens from abusing prescription medicine by 2017.
The Medicine Abuse Project provides comprehensive resources to parents, educators, health care providers, law enforcement officials and others about the growing problem of teen medicine abuse. The Project aims to mobilize parents and the public at large to take action and help solve the problem of teen substance abuse. This includes learning about the issue, talking with their kids about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and properly monitoring, safeguarding and disposing of excess Rx drugs in their homes.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Holds Nationwide Prescription Take-Back Day on April 27th
One way parents, grandparents and other caretakers can take immediate action is by participating in the upcoming DEA-facilitated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, taking place this Saturday, April 27, 2013.
"Medicine cabinets are the number one access point for teens who want to misuse and abuse prescription drugs. That's why we are making a concerted effort to let parents and caregivers know how important it is to safely dispose of their unused, unwanted or expired medicines. Doing so can literally save a life," said Marcia Lee Taylor,
SVP of Government Affairs at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "This Saturday's DEA Take-Back event gives everyone a chance to protect their kids from the dangers that medicine abuse poses in their own homes. We should all take this simple step and clean out our medicine cabinets."
Collection sites will be set up around the country, open for medicine drop-off between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Those interested in disposing of their medicine at a take-back location this Saturday can visit The Medicine Abuse Project website to find the nearest site to safely drop off their unused, unwanted or expired prescription medicines. In the five previous Take-Back events, more than 2 million pounds of prescription medicines were safely dropped off and removed from circulation.
The DEA Take-Back Day provides a tangible way for parents to help curb medicine abuse. The PATS data released today confirms that misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is now a normalized behavior among teens.
Concerning Trends in Teen Prescription Drug Abuse According to the New PATS Data (2008-2012)
One in four teens (24 percent) reports having misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime (up from 18 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2012), which translates to about 5 million teens. That is a 33 percent increase over a five-year period:
Of those kids who said they abused Rx medications, one in five (20 percent) has done so before the age of 14.
More than a quarter of teens (27 percent) mistakenly believe that "misusing and abusing prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs," and one-third of teens (33 percent) say they believe "it's okay to use prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them to deal with an injury, illness or physical pain."
"These data make it very clear: the problem is real, the threat immediate and the situation is not poised to get better," said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "Parents fear drugs like cocaine or heroin and want to protect their kids. But the truth is that when misused and abused, medicines especially stimulants and opioids can be every bit as dangerous and harmful as illicit street drugs. Medicine abuse is one of the most significant and preventable adolescent health problems facing our families today. As parents and caring adults, we need to take action to address the risks that intentional medicine abuse poses to the lives and the long-term health of our teens."
Significant Increase in Teen Abuse of Stimulants Ritalin and Adderall, Rx Painkiller Abuse Flattening
Rx stimulants are a key area of concern, with misuse and abuse of Ritalin and Adderall in particular driving the noted increases in teen medicine abuse. Stimulants are a class of drugs that enhance brain activity and are commonly prescribed to treat health conditions including ADHD and obesity. The 2012 data found:
One in eight teens (about 2.7 million) now reports having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall at least once in their lifetime.
9 percent of teens (about 1.9 million) report having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall in the past year (up from 6 percent in 2008) and 6 percent of teens (1.3 million) report abuse of Ritalin or Adderall in the past month (up from 4 percent in 2008).
One in four teens (26 percent) believes that prescription drugs can be used as a study aid.
Abuse of prescription pain medicine remains at unacceptably high levels among teens, but the new PATS data show it may be flattening. Teen abuse of prescription pain relievers like Vicodin and OxyContin has remained stable since 2011 with one in six teens (16 percent) reporting abuse or misuse of an Rx pain reliever at least once in their lifetime. One in 10 teens (10 percent) admits to abusing or misusing an Rx painkiller in the past year.
Parents' Missed Opportunity: Lax Attitudes and Permissiveness About Rx Drugs Linked to Teen Abuse
Parent permissiveness and lax attitudes toward abuse and misuse of Rx medicines, coupled with teens' ease of access to prescription medicines in the home, are key factors linked to teen medicine misuse and abuse. The availability of prescription drugs (in the family medicine cabinet, in the homes of friends and family) makes them that much easier to abuse. The new survey findings stress that teens are more likely to abuse Rx medicines if they think their parents "don't care as much if they get caught using prescription drugs, without a doctor's prescription, than they do if they get caught using illegal drugs."
Almost one-third of parents (29 percent) say they believe ADHD medication can improve a child's academic or testing performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD.
One in six parents (16 percent) believes that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs.
Teens reported that during the last conversation they had with their parents regarding substance abuse, only 16 percent said they discussed the misuse or abuse of prescription pain relievers with their parents, and just 14 percent indicate the same for discussions about any type of prescription drug. In comparison, a majority of teens (81 percent) say they have discussed the risks of marijuana use with their parents, 80 percent have discussed alcohol and nearly one-third of teens (30 percent) have discussed crack/cocaine.
More than half of teens (56 percent) indicate that it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parent's medicine cabinet. In fact, about half of parents (49 percent) say anyone can access their medicine cabinet.
More than four in 10 teens (42 percent) who have misused or abused a prescription drug obtained it from their parent's medicine cabinet. Almost half (49 percent) of teens who misuse or abuse Rx medicines obtained them from a friend.
Teens are more likely to use prescription drugs if they believe that their parents are more lenient toward prescription drug misuse or abuse compared to illegal drug abuse, and their parents use drugs themselves.
One in five parents (20 percent) report that they have given their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for them.
The PATS survey also found that 17 percent of parents do not throw away expired medications, and 14 percent of parents say that they themselves have misused or abuse prescription drugs within the past year.
###
PATS Methodology
The 24th annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) of 3,884 teens in grades 9-12 and 817 parents is nationally projectable with a +/- 2.1 percent margin of error for the teen sample and +/- 3.4 percent for the parent sample. Conducted for The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, the 2012 PATS teen survey was administered in private, public and parochial schools, while the parent survey was conducted through in-home interviews by deKadt Marketing and Research, Inc.
About The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Ninety percent of addictions start in the teenage years. The Partnership at Drugfree.org is dedicated to solving the problem of teen substance abuse. Together with experts in science, parenting and communications, the nonprofit translates research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into useful and effective resources for both individuals and communities. Working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with parents and other influencers to help them prevent and get help for drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults. The organization depends on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and the public sector and is thankful to SAG-AFTRA and the advertising and media industries for their ongoing generosity.
About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife's longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. The Foundation is committed to building a secure future for individuals and communities worldwide. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $530 million in grants to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information, visit http://www.metlife.org.
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National study: Teen misuse and abuse of prescription drugs up 33 percent since 2008Public release date: 23-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime -- a 33 percent increase over th
New York, NY April 23, 2013 New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime.
Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen's academic performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org Responds to Rx Epidemic with The Medicine Abuse Project
In response to the continued high prevalence of teen prescription medicine abuse as reported in the 2012 PATS data, The Partnership at Drugfree.org is helping educate parents, community stakeholders and others about the risks of this dangerous behavior. The Partnership at Drugfree.org leads The Medicine Abuse Project, a multi-year initiative with the goal of preventing half a million teens from abusing prescription medicine by 2017.
The Medicine Abuse Project provides comprehensive resources to parents, educators, health care providers, law enforcement officials and others about the growing problem of teen medicine abuse. The Project aims to mobilize parents and the public at large to take action and help solve the problem of teen substance abuse. This includes learning about the issue, talking with their kids about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and properly monitoring, safeguarding and disposing of excess Rx drugs in their homes.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Holds Nationwide Prescription Take-Back Day on April 27th
One way parents, grandparents and other caretakers can take immediate action is by participating in the upcoming DEA-facilitated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, taking place this Saturday, April 27, 2013.
"Medicine cabinets are the number one access point for teens who want to misuse and abuse prescription drugs. That's why we are making a concerted effort to let parents and caregivers know how important it is to safely dispose of their unused, unwanted or expired medicines. Doing so can literally save a life," said Marcia Lee Taylor,
SVP of Government Affairs at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "This Saturday's DEA Take-Back event gives everyone a chance to protect their kids from the dangers that medicine abuse poses in their own homes. We should all take this simple step and clean out our medicine cabinets."
Collection sites will be set up around the country, open for medicine drop-off between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Those interested in disposing of their medicine at a take-back location this Saturday can visit The Medicine Abuse Project website to find the nearest site to safely drop off their unused, unwanted or expired prescription medicines. In the five previous Take-Back events, more than 2 million pounds of prescription medicines were safely dropped off and removed from circulation.
The DEA Take-Back Day provides a tangible way for parents to help curb medicine abuse. The PATS data released today confirms that misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is now a normalized behavior among teens.
Concerning Trends in Teen Prescription Drug Abuse According to the New PATS Data (2008-2012)
One in four teens (24 percent) reports having misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime (up from 18 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2012), which translates to about 5 million teens. That is a 33 percent increase over a five-year period:
Of those kids who said they abused Rx medications, one in five (20 percent) has done so before the age of 14.
More than a quarter of teens (27 percent) mistakenly believe that "misusing and abusing prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs," and one-third of teens (33 percent) say they believe "it's okay to use prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them to deal with an injury, illness or physical pain."
"These data make it very clear: the problem is real, the threat immediate and the situation is not poised to get better," said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "Parents fear drugs like cocaine or heroin and want to protect their kids. But the truth is that when misused and abused, medicines especially stimulants and opioids can be every bit as dangerous and harmful as illicit street drugs. Medicine abuse is one of the most significant and preventable adolescent health problems facing our families today. As parents and caring adults, we need to take action to address the risks that intentional medicine abuse poses to the lives and the long-term health of our teens."
Significant Increase in Teen Abuse of Stimulants Ritalin and Adderall, Rx Painkiller Abuse Flattening
Rx stimulants are a key area of concern, with misuse and abuse of Ritalin and Adderall in particular driving the noted increases in teen medicine abuse. Stimulants are a class of drugs that enhance brain activity and are commonly prescribed to treat health conditions including ADHD and obesity. The 2012 data found:
One in eight teens (about 2.7 million) now reports having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall at least once in their lifetime.
9 percent of teens (about 1.9 million) report having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall in the past year (up from 6 percent in 2008) and 6 percent of teens (1.3 million) report abuse of Ritalin or Adderall in the past month (up from 4 percent in 2008).
One in four teens (26 percent) believes that prescription drugs can be used as a study aid.
Abuse of prescription pain medicine remains at unacceptably high levels among teens, but the new PATS data show it may be flattening. Teen abuse of prescription pain relievers like Vicodin and OxyContin has remained stable since 2011 with one in six teens (16 percent) reporting abuse or misuse of an Rx pain reliever at least once in their lifetime. One in 10 teens (10 percent) admits to abusing or misusing an Rx painkiller in the past year.
Parents' Missed Opportunity: Lax Attitudes and Permissiveness About Rx Drugs Linked to Teen Abuse
Parent permissiveness and lax attitudes toward abuse and misuse of Rx medicines, coupled with teens' ease of access to prescription medicines in the home, are key factors linked to teen medicine misuse and abuse. The availability of prescription drugs (in the family medicine cabinet, in the homes of friends and family) makes them that much easier to abuse. The new survey findings stress that teens are more likely to abuse Rx medicines if they think their parents "don't care as much if they get caught using prescription drugs, without a doctor's prescription, than they do if they get caught using illegal drugs."
Almost one-third of parents (29 percent) say they believe ADHD medication can improve a child's academic or testing performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD.
One in six parents (16 percent) believes that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs.
Teens reported that during the last conversation they had with their parents regarding substance abuse, only 16 percent said they discussed the misuse or abuse of prescription pain relievers with their parents, and just 14 percent indicate the same for discussions about any type of prescription drug. In comparison, a majority of teens (81 percent) say they have discussed the risks of marijuana use with their parents, 80 percent have discussed alcohol and nearly one-third of teens (30 percent) have discussed crack/cocaine.
More than half of teens (56 percent) indicate that it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parent's medicine cabinet. In fact, about half of parents (49 percent) say anyone can access their medicine cabinet.
More than four in 10 teens (42 percent) who have misused or abused a prescription drug obtained it from their parent's medicine cabinet. Almost half (49 percent) of teens who misuse or abuse Rx medicines obtained them from a friend.
Teens are more likely to use prescription drugs if they believe that their parents are more lenient toward prescription drug misuse or abuse compared to illegal drug abuse, and their parents use drugs themselves.
One in five parents (20 percent) report that they have given their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for them.
The PATS survey also found that 17 percent of parents do not throw away expired medications, and 14 percent of parents say that they themselves have misused or abuse prescription drugs within the past year.
###
PATS Methodology
The 24th annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) of 3,884 teens in grades 9-12 and 817 parents is nationally projectable with a +/- 2.1 percent margin of error for the teen sample and +/- 3.4 percent for the parent sample. Conducted for The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, the 2012 PATS teen survey was administered in private, public and parochial schools, while the parent survey was conducted through in-home interviews by deKadt Marketing and Research, Inc.
About The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Ninety percent of addictions start in the teenage years. The Partnership at Drugfree.org is dedicated to solving the problem of teen substance abuse. Together with experts in science, parenting and communications, the nonprofit translates research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into useful and effective resources for both individuals and communities. Working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with parents and other influencers to help them prevent and get help for drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults. The organization depends on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and the public sector and is thankful to SAG-AFTRA and the advertising and media industries for their ongoing generosity.
About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife's longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. The Foundation is committed to building a secure future for individuals and communities worldwide. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $530 million in grants to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information, visit http://www.metlife.org.
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(Reuters) - Slowing graduate-school enrollments, including a 5 percent decline in applications from China for fall 2013, are hurting the revenues of many U.S. universities, Moody's Investors Service said on Friday.
In a commentary, Moody's said graduate school enrollments for the coming autumn term increased by just 1 percent, or the smallest increase in 11 years, according to data from the Council of Graduate Schools.
Private universities took the biggest blow, with applications from typically higher-paying international students off 4 percent. Public universities saw international applications go up 3 percent, Moody's said.
Applications from China, the largest exporter of graduate students to the United States, were off 5 percent.
"Falling applications from China is credit negative for many U.S. universities because Chinese students account for approximately one third of international graduate enrollments, and they tend to pay higher net tuition than domestic students," Moody's said.
"Another soft year of graduate enrollment in the fall of 2013 is likely to further weaken net tuition revenue growth in fiscal year 2014, especially at graduate-intensive private universities," Moody's said.
The turndown comes as other sources of revenue gains, including tuition increases, are thinning. But, Moody's said, it did not expect the fall-off in overseas graduate applications to materially affect U.S. universities in the short term.
(Reporting by Michael Connor in Miami; Editing by James Dalgleish and Vicki Allen)
Apr. 19, 2013 ? A smaller proportion of black carbon created during combustion will remain in soil than have been estimated before. Contrary to previous understanding, burying black carbon in the ground in order to restrain climate change will not create a permanent carbon reserve. Instead, a part of black carbon will dissolve from soil to rivers. The flux of dissolved black carbon from the rivers to the ocean was estimated in a research article published in Science on 19 April.
The burning of organic matter creates 40-250 million tons of black carbon every year. Black carbon is formed through the incomplete combustion of organic matter, e.g. in forest fires, slash-and-burn and controlled burning of fields. The general assumption has been that black carbon would remain in soil even for millions of years.
However, recently published research indicates that a remarkable proportion of black carbon in soil will dissolve to the water system. In the light of new research results, much discussed "bio-carbon" may not be that beneficial in terms of mitigating climate change. Carbon is given the prefix "bio" when it is used both for energy production and soil enrichment. In any case, the stability of carbon in soil has been a central factor of bio-carbon applications.
By sampling rivers all around the world, the researchers estimated that the annual amount of black carbon flowing via rivers to the ocean is 27 million tons per year.
"Each sample included a significant amount of black carbon," says a research participant Anssi V?h?talo, Senior Lecturer from the University of Jyv?skyl?.
"On average, the amount of black carbon was ten per cent of the amount of dissolved organic carbon. The results prove that the proportion of water soluble black carbon may be as much as 40 per cent of black carbon created annually.
Water samples from the largest rivers in the world
The basis of the research was the 'Big river'-project started by Senior Lecturer Anssi V?h?talo while he was working as an Academy Research Fellow at the University of Helsinki before moving to the University of Jyv?skyl?. For this project, water samples were collected from the ten largest rivers in the world.
"These rivers carry one third of fresh water running to oceans, and their catchment area covers 28% of the whole land area in the world. Water samples were taken, e.g. from Amazon, the largest river in the world," says V?h?talo.
In addition to the samples used in the river project, the research published in Science was supplemented with samples from many other rivers all over the world. The total number of researched samples was 174.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Suomen Akatemia (Academy of Finland), via AlphaGalileo.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
R. Jaffe, Y. Ding, J. Niggemann, A. V. Vahatalo, A. Stubbins, R. G. M. Spencer, J. Campbell, T. Dittmar. Global Charcoal Mobilization from Soils via Dissolution and Riverine Transport to the Oceans. Science, 2013; 340 (6130): 345 DOI: 10.1126/science.1231476
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
FILE - In this May 2, 2007, file photo, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher C.J. Nitkowski throws against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Yahoo! Dome in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (AP Photo/Nikkan Sports, Satoshi Tameda, File) JAPAN OUT; ONLINE OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT
FILE - In this May 2, 2007, file photo, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks pitcher C.J. Nitkowski throws against the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles during the eighth inning of a baseball game at Yahoo! Dome in Fukuoka, southwestern Japan. (AP Photo/Nikkan Sports, Satoshi Tameda, File) JAPAN OUT; ONLINE OUT; NO SALES; MANDATORY CREDIT
EDITOR'S NOTE: C.J. Nitkowski pitched for eight teams in the major leagues from 1995-2005, then played pro ball in Japan and South Korea. He portrays Phillies pitcher Dutch Leonard in the current film '42.'
___
Jackie Robinson had no influence on me.
He didn't open any doors for me. He didn't pave any way. He didn't give me the hope that I could do anything I aspired to in a country where some viewed me as less of a man. He didn't give me the courage to forge ahead despite the circumstances surrounding me.
Jackie Robinson was just never a hero to me.
Jackie broke the color barrier in major league baseball on April 15, 1947, and he died in 1972. I was born in 1973 and really didn't have a clue as to what was going in the world until at least 50 years after Jackie's historic debut as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. We just never connected. He was a historical at best figure to me, as distant as Babe Ruth and JFK.
And, so, when baseball began recognizing Jackie every April, the question would always be presented: "What effect did Jackie Robinson have on you as a major league ballplayer?"
I could give each reporter or radio host the best politically correct answer you've ever heard. Ask me to be completely honest with you and what I would have said was, "None."
I grew up in a predominantly white New York City suburb. I was a Yankees fan who, as a kid, idolized Willie Randolph, their star second baseman in the '80s. Willie had more influence on me than Jackie ever did. Despite being left-handed, I wanted to be him. There were no thoughts of black or white. I didn't know the game or life any other way.
From 2007-10, I played baseball in Asia and, for the first time in my life, I was a minority. As the seasons went on, I started experiencing what I felt like was being treated as less than fair.
The conclusions I drew were that it was simply because of my race, not because of my actions. I was criticized more harshly than other teammates, expectations were higher for me and I was given less of a chance. I was under what I perceived as an unfair microscope and I was always looking over my shoulder.
Things reached a pinnacle during one game and the emotions that followed were raw and not anything like my personality. I didn't handle it well. I was full of ill thoughts. I wanted to lash out. I wanted to cause pain to those that I felt were suppressing my career.
I had never felt that way before, but what drew this out of me was the belief that I was being judged and underappreciated for no other reason but the fact that I was white.
In those moments, I thought of some of my past Latino teammates. Many over the years who struggled to adjust, to get comfortable and who would even get so defensive that they wouldn't trust anybody. I could never completely understand their behavior ? I thought it was foolish, I thought they were paranoid. But now I got a very small taste of what that was like and I hated it. I wanted retribution, I wanted somebody to pay.
I was fortunate to get a role in the Jackie Robinson biopic "42" portraying Phillies pitcher Dutch Leonard. I pitch to Jackie three times and knock him down, but I don't drill him.
My scenes take place at the same time as those depicting Philadelphia manager Ben Chapman. The scenes and the language are critical to the movie. Writer-director Brian Helgeland knew the importance of bringing this part of Jackie's experience to his film, regardless of how uncomfortable.
Chapman demeans Jackie in some of the most vile and disgusting ways one man could tear down another. I'm not sure I've ever heard insults that awful before, at least not to that degree and with that intent, filled with hate and pure disgust for the man they were directed toward.
In the movie, you'll hear it once and its effect will be powerful. As a member of the cast, I heard it for hours upon hours the day we were shooting the scene. Multiple takes from multiple angles, it seemed like it would never end. You couldn't help but be disturbed by the powerfulness of the language. One of the makeup women turned to me during one of Chapman's takes and whispered, "I can't wait for this day to be over."
I'll never experience anything close to what Jackie Robinson did in 1947 and neither will you, regardless of which race you are.
What this movie did for me and what I hope it does for you is bring Jackie's awful experiences to life. It forced me to absorb what his experience was really like. It shamed me into feeling embarrassed how I handle my own minute interpretation of injustice.
The 70-year anniversary of Jackie breaking the color barrier is not that far away. Few remain who witnessed his debut and soon they will be gone. But I now feel I know who Jackie Robinson really was and what 1947 was really like for him.
No longer do I have to feign my way through admiration for him. It is sincere, and I'll be a better man for it.
TOKYO (AP) ? U.S. and Japanese officials say their countries are committed to new talks with North Korea if the reclusive communist government begins abiding by previous agreements on its nuclear program.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry tells reporters in Tokyo that there is a clear course of action available to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (kim jawng oon).
Kerry says North Korea will then "find in us ready partners."
Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida says North Korea must put in place deals that it previously has committed to regarding its nuclear and missile programs and on returning kidnapped foreigners.
CHICAGO (AP) ? It'd be enough to make Beethoven roll over in his grave.
Members of one of the classical music world's most celebrated orchestras will perform Sunday behind bars. Looking on will be celebrated conductor, Riccardo Muti (MOO' tee).
The concert in Chicago's Juvenile Temporary Detention Center is a culmination of a weeklong musical workshop for inmates organized in part by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Muti has made community outreach a priority since taking the helm of the CSO in 2010. The goal is to inspire at-risk youth and impart greater appreciation for music.
The detention center holds mainly teenage boys awaiting trial on charges ranging from dope dealing to murder.
The works being performed include compositions inmates helped compose. Italian-born Muti will be in attendance but wasn't expected to conduct.
It's not all about Facebook Home, Mark Zuckerberg, or chat heads in a new ad for Facebook Home. It's all about the goat.
Whether you're ready for Facebook Home on your Android phone, or whether you'd rather just ignore it, this promo (below) is not to be missed. Not because Zuckerberg is going blah-blah-blah-Facebook Home blah-blah (and doing it in a way that he makes fun of himself). Nope, it's because of this animal's (screamingly, literally) funny cameo.
Here's hoping the goat is not lunch anytime soon for Zuckerberg, who spent a year eating only the meat that he killed. Let the memes begin.
Apr. 12, 2013 ? A major factor in the advance of heart disease is the death of heart tissue, a process that a team of scientists at Temple University School of Medicine's (TUSM) Center for Translational Medicine think could be prevented with new medicines. Now, the researchers are one step closer to achieving that goal, thanks to their discovery of a key molecule in an unexpected place in heart cells -- mitochondria, tiny energy factories that house the controls capable of setting off cells' self-destruct sequence.
The study is the first to identify the molecule, an enzyme known as GRK2 (G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2), in mitochondria. It was led by Walter J. Koch, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Pharmacology at TUSM, and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at TUSM.
"We have known that GRK2 is involved in the pathological development of certain heart diseases, such as chronic heart failure, and that its increased activity can lead to the death of heart cells. But its mechanism for the latter was unclear," Koch said. In addition, while the enzyme was known to be present in elevated levels in the hearts of patients with heart failure, the reasons for its rise were not fully understood.
Normally, GRK2 hangs out near the plasma membrane of heart cells, where it turns off certain signals transferred from the blood to the tissue. But the researchers at Temple found that it moves to mitochondria in response to two classic features of heart disease, ischemic insult and ensuing oxidative stress. These two processes, in which a momentary lapse in the delivery of oxygen-rich blood to diseased tissues causes a sudden increase in damaging reactive molecules, converge to stimulate the self-destruct program of heart cells. They ultimately cause whole sections of heart tissue to die, leaving behind scars that can severely compromise the ability of the heart to function properly.
Koch's team found that in ischemic heart cells the movement of GRK2 from the cell membrane to mitochondria is chaperoned by a substance called heat-shock protein 90 (Hsp90), which is produced in cells in response to stress. By blocking Hsp90's ability to bind to GRK2, the researchers were able to prevent the enzyme's delivery to mitochondria.
They reached the same result after mutating a residue called Ser670 in the tail end of GRK2's amino acid structure. When the Ser670 residue is activated by a chemical signal, Hsp90 is nudged into action, attaching to GRK2 and carrying it to mitochondria. Mutation of Ser670 also resulted in a wholesale reduction in pro-death signaling in affected heart cells. The effects were observed in human heart muscle cells grown in the laboratory and in mice that had experienced induced heart attacks. The results are detailed in the April 12 issue of the journal Circulation Research.
Koch explained that the translation of the new findings to the clinic, where they would benefit patients, lies in developing new therapeutic approaches that are capable of limiting both the activity of GRK2 and its ability to associate with mitochondria.
"We have a great opportunity here to develop new medicines against heart failure and improve upon this significant disease syndrome," he said. He added that this will take some time but that molecular and pharmacological strategies against GRK2 are in the works. "We are developing a gene therapy tool known as the ?ARKct, which is a peptide inhibitor of GRK2, and are quite excited about a clinical trial."
Koch and his team have shown in pre-clinical studies that delivery of the ?ARKct to failing hearts can inhibit GRK2 and thereby protect the heart from death. In the new study, ?ARKct was found to block the enzyme's transit to mitochondria after ischemia, an important step now believed to contribute to the peptide's beneficial effects in heart failure.
There is much yet to learn about GRK2, however, according to Koch. "We still need to find out exactly what GRK2 is doing in the mitochondria," he said. "We need to figure out what it interacts with and specifically regulates."
What the team uncovers could solidify GRK2 as a key target for therapeutic strategies against heart disease.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Temple University Health System, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
M. Chen, P. Y. Sato, J. K. Chuprun, R. J. Peroutka, N. J. Otis, J. Ibetti, S. Pan, S.-S. Sheu, E. Gao, W. J. Koch. Prodeath Signaling of G Protein-Coupled Receptor Kinase 2 in Cardiac Myocytes After Ischemic Stress Occurs Via Extracellular Signal-Regulated Kinase-Dependent Heat Shock Protein 90-Mediated Mitochondrial Targeting. Circulation Research, 2013; 112 (8): 1121 DOI: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.112.300754
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.
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Public release date: 23-Apr-2013
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