by Hera Arsen, J.D., Ph.D., Ogletree Deakins, Torrance
The U.S. Supreme Court in June issued two highly anticipated decisions addressing same-sex marriage in cases that resonated nationwide and in California.
In United States v. Windsor, the High Court ruled that a key part of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional on equal protection grounds. On the same day, the Court also issued its decision in Hollingsworth v. Perry, a case on California?s Proposition 8, which defined marriage to exclude same-sex couples.
The cases are significant for employers because they are likely to have ripple effects on state, federal and local laws, in particular those dealing with employee benefit plans, taxation and immigration.
The DOMA case
DOMA, which Congress enacted in 1996, defines marriage under federal law as a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. In addition, DOMA clarifies that a ?spou...(register to read more)
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It's the weekend, the bosses take the day off, and Michelle and I have cooked an awesome little plan where we're gonna give away three boxes full of random Android Central swag!
There may be a t-shirt, there may be stickers, there may be a coffee mug, pens, sticky notes or any manner of great AC stuff crammed into a box and sent to your door. We've got a big pile of it, and the best thing to do when you have a pile of cool stuff is to share some of it.
Want to try and win one of the boxes? That's the easy part. Make sure you registered at AC with a real email address. If we pick you, we need to know how to get in contact with you. If you didn't and we pick your name, we'll never know where to send your loot and we have to give it to someone else. That would totally suck, so make sure it doesn't happen.
Once you've done that, just leave a comment below. At 11:59 PM Pacific time Sunday night, we'll shut it down and pick three winners at random. All that's left for you to do is check your email and see if you were one of them.
The roulette wheel activitoy by JW pet company will keep your bird coming back for more with its shiny mirrored body and face. This wheel has a mirror tipped yellow spinner that your bird can grab and spin. Easily bolts on to both vertical and horizontal barred cages. Suitable for parakeets and cockatiels and other
The roulette wheel activitoy by JW pet company will keep your bird coming back for more with its shiny mirrored body and face. This wheel has a mirror tipped yellow spinner that your bird can grab and spin. Easily bolts on to both vertical and horizontal barred cages. Suitable for parakeets and cockatiels and other similar sized birds.
Product Features
Shiny mirrored body and face
Spinning wheel
Perfect for your bird to grab and spin
Suitable for both vertical and horizontal barred cages
Suitable for parakeets, cockatiels and similar sized birds
New IOM report lays out plan to determine effectiveness of obesity prevention effortsPublic release date: 2-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jennifer Walsh news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON -- The United States lags behind other international plans to evaluate obesity prevention efforts, and the country needs to know whether these efforts are having their intended impact, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The committee that wrote the report concluded that more systematic and routine evaluations could help determine how well obesity prevention programs and policies are being implemented and which interventions work best. The committee also recommended specific national and community plans for evaluation of obesity prevention efforts.
Investment in obesity program and policy evaluation is too sporadic, presenting serious barriers to understanding the impact of interventions and the need for future investments, the committee said. Moreover, current data monitoring systems inadequately track progress of some programs, and such monitoring is needed at both the national and community levels. Although many monitoring systems exist, the national systems lack adequate leadership, coordination, infrastructure, guidance, accountability, and capacity. Furthermore, local communities do not have the necessary guidance, capacity, data, and resources for assessing the status of obesity, identifying prevention needs, monitoring obesity prevention actions, evaluating their short-term outcomes, and tracking their long-term effects on obesity reduction.
To guide future efforts to inform and improve obesity prevention at the national, state, and community levels, the committee designed separate but interdependent national and community obesity evaluation plans that prioritize activities and leverage existing resources. The plans provide frameworks for obtaining end-user input, choosing indicators and measures for data collection and analysis, and improving the evaluation structure -- specifically the success of policy and environmental strategies recommended in the 2012 IOM report Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.
Evaluation efforts lack an agreed-upon set of core indicators that could be used at the national and community levels for measuring and comparing progress in obesity prevention. As a starting point for developing the core set, the committee identified 83 indicators about which data are currently collected that could be incorporated into the national and community evaluation plans and provide guidance to improve the infrastructure and capacities of longer-term evaluations.
The evaluation plans outlined in the report will not be fully realized, however, without coordinated changes across multiple federal, state, and local government agencies and departments in collaboration with other nongovernmental partners responsible for obesity prevention-related activities, the committee said. It recommended the creation of an obesity task force or other entity to oversee and lead the implementation of the national plan and provide support to the community plan. In addition, relevant federal agencies, state and local health departments, and other pertinent organizations should enhance evaluation efforts through improved data collection, common guidance, access to and dissemination of data, work-force ability, capacity to address disparities and health equity, and integration of a systems approach in evaluation efforts.
###
The study was sponsored by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Jennifer Walsh, Senior Media Relations Officer
Rachel Brody, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
http://national-academies.com/newsroom
Twitter: @NAS_news and @NASciences
RSS feed: http://www.nationalacademies.org/rss/index.html
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalacademyofsciences/sets
Additional Resources:
Project Page
Report brief
Indicators for Measuring Progress in Obesity Prevention
Table - Measuring Progress in Obesity Prevention: Indicators and Data Sources
Full Report
Pre-publication copies of Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts: A Plan for Measuring Progress are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Food and Nutrition Board
Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Efforts
Lawrence W. Green, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. (chair)
Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Medicine
University of California
San Francisco
Christina Bethell, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
School of Medicine, and
Director
Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative
National Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland
Ronette R. Briefel, Dr.P.H.
Senior Fellow
Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
Washington, D.C.
Ross C. Brownson, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology
Brown School of Social Work and School of Medicine
Washington University
St. Louis
Jamie F. Chriqui, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Health Policy Center
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois
Chicago
Stephen Fawcett, Ph.D.
Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor
Department of Applied Behavioral Science, and
Director
Work Group for Community Health and Development
University of Kansas
Lawrence
Brian R. Flay, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Public Health, and
Co-Director
Promise Neighborhoods Research Consortium
Oregon State University
Corvallis
Deanna M. Hoelscher, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living
School of Public Health
University of Texas
Austin
James W. Krieger, M.P.H., M.D.
Chief
Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention
Public Health Seattle & King County
Seattle
Laura C. Leviton, Ph.D.
Senior Adviser for Evaluation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Princeton, N.J.
K.M. Venkat Narayan, M.D.
Hubert Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology, and
Professor of Medicine
Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
Atlanta
Nico P. Pronk, Ph.D.
Vice President, and
Health Science Officer
Health Management
HealthPartners Inc.
Bloomington, Minn.
Lorrene Ritchie, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Atkins Center for Weight and Health
University of California
Berkeley
Elsie Taveras, M.P.H.
Chief
Division of General Pediatrics, and
Director
Pediatric Population Health Management
Massachusetts General Hospital, and
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics and Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston
STAFF
Leslie J. Sim
Study Director
[ | 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.
New IOM report lays out plan to determine effectiveness of obesity prevention effortsPublic release date: 2-Aug-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jennifer Walsh news@nas.edu 202-334-2138 National Academy of Sciences
WASHINGTON -- The United States lags behind other international plans to evaluate obesity prevention efforts, and the country needs to know whether these efforts are having their intended impact, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. The committee that wrote the report concluded that more systematic and routine evaluations could help determine how well obesity prevention programs and policies are being implemented and which interventions work best. The committee also recommended specific national and community plans for evaluation of obesity prevention efforts.
Investment in obesity program and policy evaluation is too sporadic, presenting serious barriers to understanding the impact of interventions and the need for future investments, the committee said. Moreover, current data monitoring systems inadequately track progress of some programs, and such monitoring is needed at both the national and community levels. Although many monitoring systems exist, the national systems lack adequate leadership, coordination, infrastructure, guidance, accountability, and capacity. Furthermore, local communities do not have the necessary guidance, capacity, data, and resources for assessing the status of obesity, identifying prevention needs, monitoring obesity prevention actions, evaluating their short-term outcomes, and tracking their long-term effects on obesity reduction.
To guide future efforts to inform and improve obesity prevention at the national, state, and community levels, the committee designed separate but interdependent national and community obesity evaluation plans that prioritize activities and leverage existing resources. The plans provide frameworks for obtaining end-user input, choosing indicators and measures for data collection and analysis, and improving the evaluation structure -- specifically the success of policy and environmental strategies recommended in the 2012 IOM report Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention: Solving the Weight of the Nation.
Evaluation efforts lack an agreed-upon set of core indicators that could be used at the national and community levels for measuring and comparing progress in obesity prevention. As a starting point for developing the core set, the committee identified 83 indicators about which data are currently collected that could be incorporated into the national and community evaluation plans and provide guidance to improve the infrastructure and capacities of longer-term evaluations.
The evaluation plans outlined in the report will not be fully realized, however, without coordinated changes across multiple federal, state, and local government agencies and departments in collaboration with other nongovernmental partners responsible for obesity prevention-related activities, the committee said. It recommended the creation of an obesity task force or other entity to oversee and lead the implementation of the national plan and provide support to the community plan. In addition, relevant federal agencies, state and local health departments, and other pertinent organizations should enhance evaluation efforts through improved data collection, common guidance, access to and dissemination of data, work-force ability, capacity to address disparities and health equity, and integration of a systems approach in evaluation efforts.
###
The study was sponsored by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. Established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine provides independent, objective, evidence-based advice to policymakers, health professionals, the private sector, and the public. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. A committee roster follows.
Contacts:
Jennifer Walsh, Senior Media Relations Officer
Rachel Brody, Media Relations Assistant
Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu
http://national-academies.com/newsroom
Twitter: @NAS_news and @NASciences
RSS feed: http://www.nationalacademies.org/rss/index.html
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalacademyofsciences/sets
Additional Resources:
Project Page
Report brief
Indicators for Measuring Progress in Obesity Prevention
Table - Measuring Progress in Obesity Prevention: Indicators and Data Sources
Full Report
Pre-publication copies of Evaluating Obesity Prevention Efforts: A Plan for Measuring Progress are available from the National Academies Press on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu or by calling 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242. Reporters may obtain a copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
Food and Nutrition Board
Committee on Evaluating Progress of Obesity Prevention Efforts
Lawrence W. Green, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. (chair)
Professor
Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
School of Medicine
University of California
San Francisco
Christina Bethell, Ph.D.
Professor of Pediatrics
School of Medicine, and
Director
Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative
National Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health
Oregon Health & Science University
Portland
Ronette R. Briefel, Dr.P.H.
Senior Fellow
Mathematica Policy Research Inc.
Washington, D.C.
Ross C. Brownson, Ph.D.
Professor of Epidemiology
Brown School of Social Work and School of Medicine
Washington University
St. Louis
Jamie F. Chriqui, Ph.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Health Policy Center
Institute for Health Research and Policy
University of Illinois
Chicago
Stephen Fawcett, Ph.D.
Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor
Department of Applied Behavioral Science, and
Director
Work Group for Community Health and Development
University of Kansas
Lawrence
Brian R. Flay, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Public Health, and
Co-Director
Promise Neighborhoods Research Consortium
Oregon State University
Corvallis
Deanna M. Hoelscher, Ph.D.
Professor and Director
Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living
School of Public Health
University of Texas
Austin
James W. Krieger, M.P.H., M.D.
Chief
Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention
Public Health Seattle & King County
Seattle
Laura C. Leviton, Ph.D.
Senior Adviser for Evaluation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Princeton, N.J.
K.M. Venkat Narayan, M.D.
Hubert Professor of Global Health and Epidemiology, and
Professor of Medicine
Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
Rollins School of Public Health
Emory University
Atlanta
Nico P. Pronk, Ph.D.
Vice President, and
Health Science Officer
Health Management
HealthPartners Inc.
Bloomington, Minn.
Lorrene Ritchie, Ph.D.
Director of Research
Atkins Center for Weight and Health
University of California
Berkeley
Elsie Taveras, M.P.H.
Chief
Division of General Pediatrics, and
Director
Pediatric Population Health Management
Massachusetts General Hospital, and
Associate Professor
Department of Pediatrics and Population Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston
STAFF
Leslie J. Sim
Study Director
[ | 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.
This utility installs the originally shipped version of the AMD Radeon HD 6470M /6630M and Intel HD Graphics Family driver and includes the following components: - AMD Radeon HD 6470M / 6630M driver 8.862.4.0 - Mobile Intel HD Graphics driver 8.862.4.0 - Intel Display Audio driver 6.14.0.3074 - Catalyst Control Center version 2011.0701.2226.38454
This driver also resolves the yellow exclamation point error that may appear in Device Manager next to "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter" which indicates that a driver is not installed for that device.
It is highly recommended to always use the most recent driver version available.
Do not forget to check with our site as often as possible in order to stay updated on the latest drivers, software and games.
Try to set a system restore point before installing a device driver. This will help if you installed a wrong driver. Problems can arise when your hardware device is too old or not supported any longer.
(Reuters) - Procter & Gamble Co forecast a slightly more upbeat 2014 than expected on Thursday as Chief Executive A.G. Lafley tries to get the world's largest household products maker back on track without sacrificing profitability.
P&G reported lower quarterly earnings but they still topped the company's muted expectations from April. The shares rose 1.4 percent to $81.47.
P&G, maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers, brought back Lafley in late May to replace Bob McDonald, who had struggled to respond to thrifty consumer spending, sparked by the recession, create new product hits, and expand in fast-growing international markets.
In the two months since he returned, Lafley has done a "deep dive" to figure out what needs fixing. He said the current fiscal 2014 would be a "transition" year, with fiscal 2013 a "stepping stone."
P&G forecast 2014 core earnings per share rising 5 percent to 7 percent, including an expected hit of 6 percentage points from foreign exchange fluctuations. Before Thursday, expectations were high that P&G's outlook would be much weaker than the 6.7 percent growth that analysts anticipated.
"This strikes me as better than the whisper numbers that I had been hearing," David Kolpak, equity research analyst at Victory Capital Management. "I think that's prudent, that's what he ought to be doing at this point. You don't want to overpromise out of the gate."
With Lafley back at the helm, P&G sees more opportunities to cut costs, such as trimming marketing expenses as a percentage of sales, and wants to better understand what consumers want. He has already split P&G into four businesses, hoping the new structure will boost efficiency.
"We know we're not winning like we know we can," Lafley told analysts and investors on a conference call.
"We simply have to execute better," he added later.
NO MORE QUARTERLY FORECASTS
Lafley returned one month before the fiscal year ended, so recent gains in market share and sales came under McDonald.
Under McDonald, P&G cut production and marketing costs and came out with products such as Tide Pods, which has seen some early success. Under a $10 billion restructuring announced in February 2012, P&G has cut 7,000 jobs through June, or 1,300 more than its target.
P&G's quarterly net profit dropped nearly 50 percent but core earnings per share, which strip out various factors and are more closely watched by Wall Street, fell just 4 percent.
"To me, this is the quarter that they really needed to have. It wasn't a blowout quarter, but I don't think anybody expected that," said David Blount, co-portfolio manager at Eagle Asset Management, which owned more than 350,000 P&G shares at June 30.
P&G said it would no longer give quarterly forecasts, instead providing an annual outlook with updates as the year progresses. It wants investors to focus on longer-term growth.
P&G expects organic sales, which strip out the impact of currency changes, acquisitions and divestitures, to rise 3 percent to 4 percent as the overall market grows at about 3.5 percent.
Blount said the annual sales forecast looked conservative since P&G usually talks about beating the market, not performing like the rest of the industry.
Rivals include Europe's Unilever and L'Oreal and U.S. companies such as Colgate-Palmolive Co , Kimberly-Clark Corp , Energizer Holdings Inc and Clorox Co .
While cost savings and improved productivity are necessary, "sales growth is the key here," Blount said.
P&G's core earnings per share fell to 79 cents from 82 cents a year earlier, beating its April forecast of 69 cents to 77 cents and analysts' average estimate of 77 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Sales rose 2.2 percent to $20.66 billion, topping analysts' average target of $20.55 billion.
Also Tuesday, Clorox said its quarterly profit increased to $1.37 per share, topping the analysts' view of $1.34, while sales rose less than expected. The bleach maker stood by its fiscal 2014 forecast, but said the recent rise of the U.S. dollar and volatile commodity prices could weigh on results.
Through Wednesday, P&G's stock had climbed 2 percent since Lafley's May return.
Clorox fell 0.6 percent to $85.45.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Jeffrey Benkoe)
EXCLUSIVE: There?s a ton of curiosity and criticism about Universal?s Scarface reboot since both the 1932 Chicago bootlegging film and 1983 Miami cocaine-dealing versions were so iconic. Understanding that, the studio according to my sources has been refining the script with several screenwriters and drafts while keeping all names and details?under wraps. ?Universal has been through a couple of drafts and now is very high on the current draft.?The first stop is the director.?This is before any conversations on talent or timing.? I?ve learned that the studio is in final talks with?British director David Yates who directed the final four films in the Harry Potter film series (#s 5, 6, 7, and 8 from 2007-2011) ? and in my opinion should have won some Oscar nominations for them as?the franchise grew dark and?interesting under his helming. Though he normally works at Warner Bros,?Yates has been the subject of considerable chatter over which film projects he?d do next.?A prolific?TV director?known for?his gripping?British TV?six-part political thriller?State Of Play (2003) and the?Emmy-winning?The Girl In The Caf? (2005), Yates is a founding member of Directors UK. He now is much in demand with the finish of the Harry Potter franchise. On Scarface, he will be tasked?with updating the?crime saga?so it?lives up to?the Ben Hecht/Howard Hawks/Paul Muni and Oliver Stone/Brian De Palma/Al Pacino classics?since both became?part of?popular culture.?This is?not a remake or sequel?but a reboot of a crime kingpin?who through a ruthless campaign of?ambition goes in hot pursuit of?his American Dream ? whatever that is in this decade.?Ethnicity and geography were important in the first two versions so expect the same here. Former Universal head Marc Shmuger and his Global Produce banner is producing along with Martin Bregman who produced the Pacino version.
Nikki Finke is currently on vacation.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Reintroduction of the gray wolf to Yellowstone National Park has boosted an important food source for the threatened grizzly bear, researchers have found in an example of how the return of a top predator can have far-reaching ecological effects.
A study published this week in the Journal of Animal Ecology is essentially a tale of who eats what.
When wolves returned to the park in 1995 after a 70-year absence, they preyed on elk herds that browsed on trees and shrubs.
The elk population, which had exploded without the wolves, dropped. The over-browsed plants began to rebound, including berry-producing shrubs that provide nutritious summer meals for grizzlies when they are fattening up for hibernation.
"The grizzly bear uses some of the same plants that the prey of the wolf uses," said William Ripple, an Oregon State University professor of forest ecosystems and lead author of the study. "The reintroduction of one top predator is potentially affecting another top predator through this food web."
Ripple and his fellow researchers at OSU and Washington State University compared the frequency of fruit found in grizzly bear scat to elk numbers before and after the wolf reintroduction. Over a 19-year period, they found that the average proportion of fruit in grizzly scat rose significantly after wolves returned to Yellowstone and the elk population fell.
The scientists examined and rejected other possible explanations for the smaller, pre-wolf proportion of fruit in grizzly diets, such as climate influences or the operation of open-pit garbage dumps that served as bear mess halls before the last one was closed in 1970.
Previous research by Ripple and colleagues has demonstrated other ways in which the gray wolf's return has had a cascading effect in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, the wildest in the lower 48 states.
Ripple's work was the first to show that aspens declined after wolves were eliminated from the park in the 1920s. When wolves returned and drove down the elk numbers, scientists saw a resurgence of aspen, cottonwood and willows in some parts of the park that has in turn led to an increase in beavers.
"We're in the early stages of this ecosystem recovery," Ripple said. "This is what we call passive restoration. We put the wolf back in and then we let nature take its course."
In the case of the grizzly, the paper's authors said increasing berry production could help make up for the loss of whitebark pine nuts, another bear food that is threatened by climate change.
The Yellowstone region's whitebark pines have been dying en masse, the victim of beetle kills promoted in part by milder winters. Wildlife biologists worry that the diminishing nut crop could hurt grizzly survival.
Frank van Manen, a federal wildlife biologist and leader of the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, said that Ripple's study was intriguing but that experiments were needed to prove the wolf-bear connection.
"I look at this as more of a hypothesis rather than an established cause and effect," said van Manen, adding that his team has found that bears ate a lot of berries in some years before the wolf's return.
"There's no real scientific consensus yet about a lot of these cascading effects," he said. "If we really want to answer some of these questions about ecological cascades, we're going to have to set up some pretty intensive and broad-scale experiments."
I appreciate NOVA?s Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers because it reminds us that scientists often fail to adhere to one-dimensional stereotypes. The series features people who are scientists and engineers by day but have a secret past time in their spare time.
My favorite scientist of the series is the neuroscientist Dave Sulzer, who also records elephants playing music under the name The Thai Elephant Orchestra. Take a look at the video below to see some elephants jamming out.
Watch Dave Sulzer: Neuroscientist on PBS. See more from Secret Life of Scientists.
Dave Sulzer is also a musician himself, and a Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at Columbia University. Check out the other videos in his feature over at NOVA!
Some other featured scientists/musicians on NOVA?s Secret Life of Scientists & Engineers include Joe DeGeorge, Eran Egozy, Alan Sage, Tom Yang, and Caroline Moore.
About the Author: Princess Ojiaku is a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin - Madison in Neuroscience and Public Policy. She is also a student of life, exuberant nerd, and musician. She often tweets her daily links of interest and digital personal mutterings. Follow on Twitter @artfulaction.
More??
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
BALTIMORE, MD--(Marketwired - Jul 31, 2013) - Goldman Small Cap Research, a stock market research firm focused on the small cap and microcap sectors, notes that considering the success of some of the programs in Israel in treating cancer patients with cannabis, Nuvilex Inc.'s (OTCQB: NVLX) subsidiary, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc. may elect to emulate some of that country's initiatives.
In Israel, the medical-marijuana industry has flourished. Today, medical marijuana is prescribed to 11,000 patients, up from 1,800 in 2009, according to the Israeli Health Ministry. It is used to treat an extensive list of illnesses including cancer, Parkinson's, Tourette syndrome, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Importantly, while some cancer patients do smoke medical marijuana, in most cases, the drug is delivered via pill, liquid, food and even vapor. These delivery method alternatives are a bit broader than what is typically found in the U.S.
Perhaps the reason for the forward-thinking of Israeli scientists is the long history of medical marijuana research in Israel, which according to a recent article in Tablet magazine, traces its roots to nearly 50 years ago.
Much like in the U.S., despite the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) inherent in cannabis that is responsible for the "high," Israeli researchers prefer to remove the THC and raise the concentration of the non-psychoactive cannabidiol, or CBD, which has documented anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. In fact, in the 1960's, Israel was a world leader in research on marijuana and its components conducted under the so-called grandfather of cannabis, professor Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew University, who first isolated the THC component.
Going forward, as Americans continue to embrace the use of marijuana for its medicinal properties coupled with the elimination of THC from cannabis "extracts" and a concentration on the use of CBD as a therapeutic agent, Nuvilex's choice of developing CBD-based treatments for serious cancers becomes validated. Furthermore, a combination therapy for pancreatic cancer that combines a CBD-based treatment with its high profile live-cell encapsulation-based treatment for that disease may well be in Nuvilex's future.
Since the summertime is also a vacation period for the country's legislators, the medical marijuana space has been a bit quiet of late. However, once legislatures return to session, it is likely that this industry segment will enjoy accelerated opportunities.
To view Nuvilex reports and articles and to view our disclaimer, please visit www.goldmanresearch.com.
About Goldman Small Cap Research: Led by former Piper Jaffray analyst and mutual fund manager Rob Goldman, Goldman Small Cap Research produces small cap and micro cap stock research reports, daily stock market blogs, and popular investment newsletters. For more information, visit www.goldmanresearch.com.
A Goldman Small Cap Research report is not intended as an offering, recommendation, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell the securities mentioned or discussed. Please read the report's full disclosures and analyst background on our website before investing. Neither Goldman Small Cap Research nor its parent is a registered investment adviser or broker-dealer with FINRA or any other agency. To download our research, view our disclosures, or for more information, visit www.goldmanresearch.com.
About Nuvilex, Inc. (OTCQB: NVLX): Nuvilex, Inc. has been a provider of all-natural products for many years, has expanded its company to increase its natural product based footprint through medical marijuana studies and is becoming an international biotechnology provider of live, therapeutically valuable, encapsulated cells and services for treatments, research and medicine. The Company's offerings will ultimately include cancer, diabetes and other clinical treatments using the company's natural product knowledge, product base, cell and gene therapy expertise, and live-cell encapsulation technology in addition to other new products currently under development. For more information, visit www.nuvilex.com.
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Public release date: 2-Aug-2013
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EXCLUSIVE: There?s a ton of curiosity and criticism about Universal?s Scarface reboot since both the 1932 Chicago bootlegging film and 1983 Miami cocaine-dealing versions were so iconic. Understanding that, the studio according to my sources has been 
refining the script with several screenwriters and drafts while keeping all names and details?under wraps. ?Universal has been through a couple of drafts and now is very high on the current draft.?The first stop is the director.?This is before any conversations on talent or timing.? I?ve learned that the studio is in final talks with?British director David Yates who directed the final four films in the Harry Potter film series (#s 5, 6, 7, and 8 from 2007-2011) ? and in my opinion should have won some Oscar nominations for them as?the franchise grew dark and?interesting under his helming. Though he normally works at Warner Bros,?Yates has been the subject of considerable chatter over which film projects he?d do next.?A prolific?TV 
director?known for?his gripping?British TV?six-part political thriller?State Of Play (2003) and the?Emmy-winning?The Girl In The Caf? (2005), Yates is a founding member of Directors UK. He now is much in demand with the finish of the Harry Potter franchise. On Scarface, he will be tasked?with updating the?crime saga?so it?lives up to?the Ben Hecht/Howard Hawks/Paul Muni and Oliver Stone/Brian De Palma/Al Pacino classics?since both became?part of?popular culture.?This is?not a remake or sequel?but a reboot of a crime kingpin?who through a ruthless campaign of?ambition goes in hot pursuit of?his American Dream ? whatever that is in this decade.?Ethnicity and geography were important in the first two versions so expect the same here. Former Universal head Marc Shmuger and his Global Produce banner is producing along with Martin Bregman who produced the Pacino version.
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