A spoonful of sugar for NEMO – Care to save a childs life?
The United States National Bone Marrow Donor Registry has recently made an appeal for new database registered potential donors. The registry, which has been responsible for combining thousands of children in need with donor stem cells from bone marrow in treatment of disease, has stepped up efforts to expand their database in response to greater diagnostic ability made possible through overall advances in genetic research. An appeal via internet news services hopes to generate new potential donors. US and UK columnist Keith Roman has written an appeal to others to “Fill out a few forms and swab a few Q-tips around the inside of your cheek.”
I was born in 1953. This qualifies me as the ultimate baby boomer as I was born dead center of the post WWII to 1963 surge in US and UK population. Being born at this particular time in history gave me a firsthand view of many events. Some of these were joyous, some were not. I remember my friend Jacques who developed Polio as a child. Fortunately he was not one of the thousands of children confined to live in a terrifying breathing assistance contraption, the iron lung. Jacques was merely confined to a wheel chair for 15 years until through a combination of therapy and determination he was able to walk.
I remember being in the fourth grade and being administered a tiny pink sugar cube. At school assembly we were all told how chewing and swallowing this sugar cube would keep us safe from ever developing the dreaded disease polio. It was amazing. This was the first use of the oral vaccine for polio. Albert Sabin developed this form of the vaccine and I can tell you, he was a hero of mine and every other parent and child alive in those years. He remains so to this day.
Today for the first time I heard about a children’s disease called NEMO. It stands for Nuclear Factor Kappa B Essential Modulator. Yes, that is pretty complicated. Let’s make it simple to understand. Diseases such as this are today what polio was when I was a child. And, just as with polio they need a cure. There are plenty of good people similar to the likes of Albert Sabin working hard on this. The cure hasn’t happened yet, but as with so much research on disease, a great deal of hope lies in the area of stem cell research.
Bone Marrow Transplants
I cannot tell you that the cure for NEMO is at hand. I can tell you that at present the best treatment for children with NEMO (and many other critical diseases) is a bone marrow stem cell transplant from a very closely matched donor. The more potential donors that are in the database, the many more lives of children can be saved. Getting into the database is easy; you fill out a few forms and swab a few q-tips around the inside of your cheek. The whole process is done though the mail. Here is the link to follow to do so. http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html?src=Join
I can’t help but wonder where myself and so many kids who were my age might be had a vaccine for polio not been developed. I can’t help but wonder where children with NEMO and other immune system diseases will be, when thanks to research and donations, they have their own little pink sugar cube to swallow.
Here is that link again: http://www.marrow.org/JOIN/index.html?src=Join
The New Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC is THE SD Card of choice for professional photographers
Sandisk has released a new SDHC memory card that promises to make life for the professional photographer easier than ever before. These excellent new memory cards are the first to hit the market which conforms to the new UHS speed class 1 rating, which means that features like speed burst photography on some of the top DSLR cameras can be achieved with ease. This is sure to appeal to the top grade of professional photographers and keen amateurs alike.
The most up to date cameras coming to the market at the moment offer features like speed burst photography, full HD video capabilities as well as 3D video footage abilities, so the importance of having a fast performing memory card is higher than ever before. The Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I card offers 10MB/sec minimum sustained write speed which means with this great memory card on board you will be able to record full HD video with your DSLR. the HD video offerings through the new SRL cameras is of an excellent standard given the quality of the lenses associated with these products, but it is so important to have a memory card to match. The Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC is that card. A lot of photographers are now using the speed burst shooting facilities offered by the top DSLR’s such as the Nikon D7000, as it gives the photographer more opportunity to get the right shot. With incredible shutter speeds available, it takes a high performing SDHC memory card to cope.
Professional photographers who sometimes have to dive into difficult situations all over the world will also be reassured by the reliability and durability claims of this great new product. The Extreme Pro has an automatic anti error code correction engine built in, and also employs advanced wear levelling which should improve the durability of the product by spreading the data across the card evenly. For any real disasters, you will find that the card comes with a one year RescuePRO media recovery software, meaning you should be able to recover any files should they mysteriously vanish. The Extreme Pro has been designed with professional photographers in mind every step of the way which is why you can take them almost anywhere. the Sandisk Extreme Pro SDHC UHS-I memory card is waterproof, temperature proof, shock proof, vibration proof and x ray proof, meaning that no matter where you want your camera to go, your memory card will remain in tip top condition throughout the whole ordeal!
The new Sandisk SDHC Extreme Pro memory card will work with any device which supports SDHC memory cards, and is available in a range of memory sizes, from 8GB to 32GB.
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Central heating insurance is a must in light of gas and electricity rises.
Thanks to rising fuel duty, we are now seeing rising gas and electricity prices across the board and around eight out of every ten firms are struggling because of the extra costs. An FSB survey indicates that results from around 1000 respondents showed that rises in fuel duty was hitting small and medium sized businesses hard. In light of this, the FSB is calling for the government to scrap the proposed one pence rise on fuel duty in the budget.
Given this shocking information, it has to be said that small and medium term businesses are going to have to think carefully about their strategy regarding the way that they deal with their heating systems. In the current economic climate it would appear that the price of fuel is only going to rise given the recent earthquake in Japan, and it is critical that businesses take into account the possibility of a price rise in the future, even if the FSB’s attempts to put a stop to the proposed 1 pence fuel price rise are successful.
At the moment it is clear that the only way forward for businesses who believe that they could be in trouble because of this situation is to tackle matters into their own hands. It is time for businesses to look at what they are spending on their fuel bills and work out ways of making sure that they are not spending over budget. A good way to reduce some costs is to look into the possibility of having a new central heating insurance policy, which could reduce costs. Another area which often causes small businesses problems is when there are any problems with the guts of their heating systems, and it is for this reason that they have to think about buying a new boiler to make sure that they are not using something that is terribly inefficient. Of course, it is difficult at times to know which boiler to buy, but you can find plenty of guides and boiler reviews on the internet.
Because business electricity prices can be so high, it is tremendously important that any businesses keep an eye on what happens in the budget. It could be critically important for them, and they may have to look at cost cutting measures to make sure that they don’t go overboard on heating costs. With the market in a precarious position anyone can go under these days, so businesses at least have to be sure that they are doing everything they can to make sure that rising electricity and gas costs is not the thing that puts them under.
Affordable Treatment at Big Room Acupuncture Bristol
Bristol acupuncture clinic, Big Room, provide an affordable alternative to expensive one-to-one treatment, with an open-plan approach.
Acupuncture has provided a positive alternative to Western forms of medical treatment, working against problems such as back pain, chronic fatigue, colds and flu and respiratory disorders. As well as the traditional method of needling acupressure points, treatments can involve massage, applying heat and stimulating the blood flow in the body using glass cups. Bristol acupuncture clinics are varied in their practices, locations and fees. Big Room Acupuncture offer a fresh approach to an ancient method of treatment, with an open-plan space where several clients are treated at the same time.
Big Room set up practice in 2006 in both Bristol and Oxford, responding to the need for cost-effective acupuncture treatment. Because of limited access to acupuncture treatments through the NHS, finding a suitable practitioner may be a long and expensive process for a client. One-to-one acupuncture can often be costly, with treatments for in Bristol reaching up to £60 for an initial session. Big Room offers a cheaper alternative by using a ‘multi-bed’ setting. The open-plan setting of the treatment space means that several clients will be treated at the same time, with privacy screens separating the beds. This approach is modelled on a traditional Chinese methodology, and provides a way for the practitioners to work as a team and treat more than one patient at a time.
While clients may be daunted by the idea of trying acupuncture for the first time, in a mixed client setting, the feedback for the service has been overwhelmingly positive. “Big Room has been a fantastic help to me,” says one Bristol client. “I have always wanted to try acupuncture, but couldn’t afford to pay in the region of £40 a session. The Bigroom team are extremely professional and provide a very personal service, and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them.” Creating a respectful and private space for each client is a priority of the Bigroom staff, and clients are made to feel comfortable and safe.
The staff at Bigroom acupuncture in Bristol are highly experienced, all holding advanced qualifications in Chinese medicine and several holding their own private acupuncture clinics. Tom Kennedy, a Bigroom Bristol practitioner, who graduated from an Acupuncture degree course in 2007, says “The main benefit (of our service) is that it’s cheaper, and people also find that they enjoy the shared experience. Most people find it is a very nice experience coming into a space where there are other people getting better at the same time.”
Bigroom are a unique organisation, with an aim to provide positive and professional treatment to those seeking acupuncture. With concessional fees available for students, senior citizens and the unemployed, Bigroom aim to bring affordable acupuncture treatment to the whole community.
Bigroom Bristol is located at the Wild Goose Space in St. Werburghs. An initial consultation and treatment session is £35. For more information, visit www.bigroomacupuncture.co.uk/.
Ofcom’s pledge to ban rollover contracts could lead to a cheaper telephone line
In recent times there has been a real problem with companies enforcing a rollover contract if customers do not pick up the phone to cancel, and then charging customers to cancel the contract if they get in touch after the rollover date. There have been many people campaigning to stop this unfortunate policy, and it appears that Ofcom have caught the news and decided to act. There are approximately 3.5 million people in the UK tied to these contracts, and many of the contracts are through BT. Often the contracts will be in force for 12 months, but if it is no t cancelled on the appropriate date customers will be forced into another 12 month deal, which costs money to get out of. Ofcom are worried that this makes it harder for people to switch from one company to another, which obviously reduces competitiveness in the market place.
This is obviously great news for the legions of people stuck on these deals, and may mean in the near future that they are able to get out of their old deals for their landline phone and find a new cheaper deal for their telephone line. Of course, most of these deals are struck initially on the basis that the customer is getting a cheap landline deal, but after 12 months things change in the market and it is only fair that customers should be able to react to change in any way they see fit. It is somewhat galling for someone to see a deal 13 months after they signed a contract, only to find out that they have to pay to nullify their agreement which in some respects has already elapsed. There are many large firms out there who do not operate these policies, so it would be an evening out of the playing field if Ofcom were to take this action.
Of course, if you are happy with your phone line and the charges that you receive then this information may not seem all that relevant, but you have to remember that people’s circumstances change all the time, and if you are suddenly no longer in need of free evening calls, then you will want a different package. If you have been tied in for over a year it doesn’t seem unfair to be able to change it. Thankfully, Britain has a great set up when agencies like Ofcom can actually do something to stop things like this. All that anyone asks for is a level playing field, and with this change in the law, that might just be what the British Public ends up with.