Close advisers to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied reports on Thursday that he was actively working on forming a new political party.
Netanyahu threatened recently that if the Likud central committee votes to give itself the right to elect the party's MKs he would form a "new Likud." But reports Thursday indicated that he had taken his plans to a new level.
Army Radio reported that Netanyahu's lawyer David Shimron was working on what would be called the National Security Party and could include Defense Minister Ehud Barak, former Kadima ministers Avi Dichter and Tzahi Hanegbi and possibly even former Bank Leumi chairwoman Galia Maor.
The Likud released a statement calling the report mistaken and faction chairman Ze'ev Elkin called it delusional.
NEW DELHI - National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) has said it will cut supplies for Indian clients in August if the two countries have still not found a way to make payments for the oil, three industry sources said on Friday.
NIOC told refiners of the deadline on the more than six-month old dispute in a letter dated June 27 to Indian refiners, the sources, who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
"We regret to inform you that NIOC would hardly be in a position to deliver the Iranian crude oil to our partners in India ... in August 2011 unless concrete solutions are worked out for remittances of NIOC's dues," the letter said, according to two sources who have seen the letter.
Iran is India's second-biggest crude supplier after Saudi Arabia, exporting about 400,000 barrels per day or 12 percent of the fast-growing Asian country's needs, worth some $12 billion a year.
Iran, facing increased isolation internationally, and rising global player India have been looking to resolve an impasse triggered in December when the Reserve Bank of India ended a regional clearing mechanism under US pressure.
Lincoln City officials are asking the public to help chart the future of the city over the next 20 years through Imagine Lincoln City.
​The outreach program is designed to engage the community in creating "a guiding vision for the way our community looks, feels and functions over the next 20 years based on input from the people who live, work, play and visit here."
Tualatin's run in the America's Best Communities contest, a nationwide competition in which small towns and rural communities are vying for up to $3 million, will continue after it scored a spot in the finals Wednesday.
Tualatin was one of 15 communities, out of more than 200 original contest entrants, to reach the semifinal round. Judges were impressed by the forceful presentation Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden gave Wednesday afternoon at the America's Best Communities summit in Durham, N.C., outlining the “revitalization plan” that the Tualatin ABC team devised. (Read More...)
At a pair of community summits held earlier this month, Hillsboro residents were given an opportunity to provide input and feedback for the city’s forthcoming major Comprehensive Plan update.
On April 2 and 7, roughly two-dozen residents visited the city’s main library to show planning department staff what’s most important to consider when planning for the city’s future. (Read More...)
The City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed an updated Vision Action Plan packed with 104 community-generated ideas of how to make Beaverton better.
The new plan builds on the success of the city’s 2010 plan, which resulted in strong direction for much of the progress the city has made in developing its downtown, additional events including a Night Market, cultural inclusion activities, public art and more.
In fact, work on 94 percent of the goals in the first plan have at least been started, and a number of those are finished. (﻿Read More...﻿)
Abstract: Spatial data arise frequently in econometric studies and it is a common practice to analyze such data with spatial autoregressive (SAR) models. This paper proposes a two-step Bayesian approach for inference in the semiparametric spatial autoregressive (SPSAR) model, including the cases for mixed data.
Role of the Neighbourhood Deprivation in the Adverse Effect of Air Pollution on Congenital Abnormalities
Abstract: Congenital abnormalities (CAs) remain a major cause of stillbirth and neonatal mortality. The literature has shown that congenital malformations are suggested to have multifactorial determinants, including environmental exposures and socioeconomic patterns.
Strategies for Promoting Health Literacy at the Primary Care Level: Focusing on Realities of a Low and -Middle Income Country like Peru
Health literacy is associated with improved health outcomes. Primary care providers usually provide the majority of care to patients and are also usually the first point of contact for patients within a health system. Wediscuss four strategies to improve health literacy in the primary care setting: 1) Improve clinician communication skills, 2) Usee-Health tools, 3) Promote patient self-management, and 4) Develop supportive systems and caring environments. These strategies are then discussed within the context of low-middle income country realities, such as the case of Peru. There are unique challenges to improving health literacy in low and middle-income countries, but working towards this objective also provides opportunities to strengthen systems and empower patients, and conduct research to determine the impact of different approaches.
In the United States, 5-year survival for women with newly diagnosed breast cancer is 90%, compared with 75% in 1975 [1]. In 1987, only 29% of women over age 40 underwent recommend screening mammography, compared to 64% in 2015 [2].
Mosquitoes cause more human suffering than any other organism -- over one million people worldwide die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. Not only can mosquitoes carry diseases that afflict humans, they can also transmit several diseases and parasites that dogs and horses are very susceptible to. Mosquitoes can spread viruses like Malaria, Zika, Chikungunya, and Dengue.
This study provides a better understanding of the amounts spent by households in different areas of Lahore, Pakistan on different measures; how many people are aware of its usage and which methods they find the most useful.	
A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan. By using simple random procedure, 100 households were interviewed about their expenditure on malaria mosquito nets in the past year. For collecting data, a structured questionnaire was implemented. Expenditure was compared across bed nets, aerosols, coils, manual swatting, indoor spraying, using smoke, and cleaning outside environment.
Based on data collected from males and females in a ratio 60:40, with most falling in the age group of 18-25yrs, we concluded that 95% of population was aware of mosquito spread diseases and 90% had adopted measures for its prevention. 49% of our study population had an income in range of 30,000-50,000 ($284-474 USD) and belonged to areas which were free from any significant sanitary problems. 57% spent yearly expenditure of less than Rs.5000 ($47 USD) on protective measures while only 8% spent more than 10,000 PKR ($94 USD) yearly. 65% found mosquito repellent to be most effective while mosquito nets being the least. A high proportion of 65% preferred a protective method which is of high quality.
This survey reveals that on an average, an individual person spends about 1.1% of his yearly family income for mosquito prevention, which is about less than equal to 7000 PKR ($66 USD).
To Assess the Awareness about Glaucoma and Cataract in Patients (Aged 45 and Above) Presenting to Outpatient Department (OPD) of Jinnah Hospital Lahore, Pakistan
Background: Being a developing country and having a literacy rate of mere 49%, people of Pakistani in general have misperceptions about even the most prevalent of the diseases. This includes cataract and glaucoma. They still believe that glaucoma like cataract can be surgically treated and thus refrain from seeking early medical advice and end up losing their eyesight.
Objective: The objective of study is to find out the awareness and knowledge of cataract and glaucoma in patients aged 45 and above coming to outpatient department of Jinnah Hospital Lahore
Study setting and duration: Jinnah Hospital Lahore affiliated with Allama Iqbal Medical College located at Moulana Shabbir Ahmed, Usmani Road, Lahore 54550, Pakistan.
Data collection and analysis: 250 subjects fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included in our study. After a verbal informed consent, a structured questionnaire was handed over or all the questions were directly asked from the patient by the group members in cases of illiterate patients. All the information was collected in this structured questionnaire.
Data was analyzed by SPSS version 17.0 or 21.0. For quantitative variables, mean and standard deviation were computed and for qualitative variables, frequency and percentages were computed.
Results: Among our sample population, 75.2 % (188) people had heard about cataract and among those 80.8% correctly knew that in cataract lens become opaque. Awareness of glaucoma was low, with only 43.2% being aware.
Conclusion: Cataract awareness and knowledge was found fairly well due to its high prevalence and occurrence, in almost every aging person. Glaucoma awareness and knowledge were both poor. Lack of health education is the main factor contributing to these results.
Reducing Smoking and Environmental Tobacco Exposure during and after Pregnancy: Results of the Baby's Breath Trial
Introduction: Baby's Breath is a multicomponent intervention to decrease environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) among pregnant smokers or ETS exposed non-smokers.
Methods: Eligible participants, recruited from low-income serving prenatal clinics spoke English, were 18 years or older; were smokers, quitters or smoke-exposed; did not have a multiple gestation pregnancy; had access to a working telephone and video player; and were not more than 16 weeks pregnant. Intervention participants received five tailored videos delivered at 16, 24 and 34 weeks gestation, and at 2 and 14 weeks postpartum; a video for a household or other close smoker; and eight newsletters. Comparison group participants also received eight newsletters containing no tobacco content. Newsletters were mailed to both groups throughout pregnancy, and 16 and 26 weeks postpartum.
Primary outcome measures included: Maternal and infant salivary cotinine self-reported smoking status, and ETS exposure and avoidance. Process measures of video and newsletter use were collected by telephone survey.
Results: No differences were found in smoking cessation or differences in maternal salivary cotinine. Among non-smokers, cotinine among control group infants was significantly higher (3.06 ng/ml) compared with intervention group infants (2.26 ng/ml, p=.0337). Dose analysis demonstrated a relationship between use of intervention components and main outcomes. Dose analysis demonstrated a relationship between use of intervention components and main outcomes.
Discussion: The Baby's Breath intervention assisted in ETS avoidance among non-smokers, but not ETS avoidance or cessation among smokers. Baby's Breath demonstrates that a low-intensity ETS avoidance intervention can be effective among low-income, pregnant non-smokers.
I have been a fan of comedian Margaret Cho for years, and so was happy and surprised to see traffic coming from her site to mine. I found her appreciation of an Iraqi family’s blog touching. As someone who has been interested in Iraq for more than 30 years, it is still surreal for me to find so many Americans now concerned with the place. What is refreshing about Margaret’s comments, however, is her contrast between knowing about Iraqis in the abstract and encountering them on a human level.
There has been controversy over the gay and lesbian Human Rights Campaign’s decision to rescind its invitation to Cho to preview some material from her “State of Emergency” tour at the Democratic National Convention. Their loss. And, luckily for her, there is no such thing as bad publicity in show biz.
Pipe Cross Tee - Cross fittings are also called 4-way fittings. If a branch line passes completely through a tee, the fitting becomes a cross. A cross has one inlet and three outlets, or vice versa. They often have solvent welded socket ends or female threaded ends.