There is something special about buying your new first home. You are handed the keys and you walk in the front door and it is yours. It is almost visceral.
The smell of the paint, the feel of the carpet under your feet and the vision of how you are going to furnish and style the rooms is enticing.
The senses are engaged and it is your new asset.
Opening your own fashion store, cafe or?restaurant?is also a dream for many. The planning, the imagining and the creation of a place where customers will love to visit is a temptation that leads to large investments of time and money. The lease is signed often with a commitment for 5 years. The shop design and fit-out is arranged and deposits taken. It is not uncommon to for $100,000 -$200,000 to transfer out of your account into the hands of the landlord, suppliers and contractors.
It is a big risk. Will the location work? Are the customers going to buy.
It is your bricks and mortar retail asset.
It is a Digital World
When it comes to the online world we often think that because your can?t see, touch or feel the furnishings or furniture that it doesn?t deserve the attention and investment of the physical.
We are wired to be sensory creatures and the feel of a physical planet. The evolution, customs and culture of millenia is embedded.
The need and want for real physical assets is hardwired by time.
In an increasingly digital world and fast evolving knowledge economy, we need to adjust our thinking and priorities regarding where we invest our time and money.
If you are looking for a job your online presence needs to be professional and clear and a?presence?on LinkedIn is mandatory.
As a bricks and mortar retailer having an online channel to market should not be ignored. Just as people want to consume content in multiple ways, today?s consumer wants the convenience to buy online when and where they feel like it. It could be on a train while browsing on the iPad. It could be as they wait for a friend while surfing with their mobile phone.
Authors need books in print and ebook digital formats. Publications need to be on Amazon and Apple
Convenience and immediacy are making us mobile impulse buyers.
It is time to invest in our digital assets with the attention and investment that the 21st century demands.
?What are 5 Online Assets Worth Building?
In a digital world here are 5 essential online assets that should be built and?optimized.
1. Website/Blog
A business owner or a professional services consultant cannot be seen as serious player in their industry unless they have a website or a blog. If you are not visible on Google then you are often?perceived?as a nobody.
Secure your domain name, arrange the hosting and buy the content management system or template such as WordPress to present your content to the 2.5 billion online netizens.
Make this your digital hub and home.
2. Online Store
Bricks and mortar retailers cannot rely anymore on shoe and leather customers just walking in the door. As technology and eCommerce software matures, the cost of creating a serious online option for your customers should be part of your multiple channels to market. You are no longer ?just competing with the shop across the street. Amazon and your competitors on another continent are now only one click away.
3. Mobile
Lat year nearly 500 million smart phones landed in the palms of your potential customers. This addiction to a web connected computer in your pocket is not going away any time soon. Mobile devices having been outselling laptops and desktops since 2010. Building apps and websites that are able to be easily viewed on mobile screens is an asset that needs to be built sooner rather than later.
4. Social
Generation ?Internet? (children that have grown up with the web in their DNA) often don?t leave the Facebook ecosystem. On the social web your customers are looking for you on the social media channels. It could be
LinkedIn ? If you?re a knowledge professional
YouTube ? Consumer brands, professionals, B2B. In fact anyone and any business
Slideshare ? Knowledge workers who are the brand evangelist and present or speak then join up to the YouTube for Powerpoint
Facebook ? At nearly 1 billion users this is the place to start.
Twitter ? Want to share in an instant with 140 characters and a link ?where over 500 million global users spend some time
Google+ ? A passionate tribe over 250 million hangout here
Pinterest ? If your content is in an any way visual you should be playing in this social media sand box
These are some of the channels you need to secure and brand with your presence. Choose the ones where most of your ?customers hang out.
Keep in mind though that you are have a presence here within the constraints and terms and conditions of the social network landlord.
5. Content
In a knowledge economy your content defines you.
Content is the foundation of your online presence. Content is any digital information that can be built and shared online. It can be created or curated. A lot of content is hidden offline. Take the content that is hidden on hard disks and filing cabinets and make it visible to the search engines. Build content that is?contagious?and begs to be shared. Tempt readers with captivating headlines. Structure content that is easily read with fonts that sizeable and friendly to the eye.
Online stores?require?high definition photos that reveal your products in all their glory.
What About You
What assets are important to your business and brand? Are you paying enough attention to your online assets.
Is it time to rearrange your investment priorities?
When it comes to the photos you share,?Facebook is going big. The changes, which start gradually rolling out today?to all users, truly give the social network more of a photo album feel.
When you?click "Photos" at the top of your timeline, you'll see larger pictures "that fill up the page," wrote Emily Grewal, a?Facebook product manager, in a posting.
You can also use the menu to look for photos you're tagged in, photos you've shared as well as albums you've created.
Friends can "like" and comment all from that one?page.?
"With your Facebook photos all in one section, it's simple to show friends your favorites," Grewal wrote. "Click the star button to make important photos stand out" and appear bigger.
Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on?Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.
The NCAA Committee on Infractions is scheduled to announce Tuesday morning whether UCF will face additional penalties for major recruiting violations within the football and men's basketball programs.
"UCF is committed to winning with integrity and setting the standard for NCAA compliance," UCF spokesman Grant Heston said. "Tuesday?s announcement represents the latest step in our ongoing process."
Former UCF athletics director Keith Tribble and wide receivers coach David Kelly were forced to resign in November due to their ties to the investigation. UCF men's basketball coach Donnie Jones was suspended for three Conference USA games for failing to stop Caldwell from tampering with recruits, a process that began before he was hired and appeared to be sanctioned by Tribble. Former UCF point guard A.J. Rompza missed the first 12 games of the 2011-12 season because he received money from Caldwell, who had been his mentor since the fifth grade.
NCAA investigators alleged Ken Caldwell, a former Chicago club basketball coach, was affiliated with a professional sports agent and helped steer recruits to UCF.
The Knights self imposed a long list of sanctions, including vacating wins by the basketball program and reducing scholarships after it completed an investigation concurrent with the NCAA's review.
UCF appeared before the Committee on Infractions in April to discuss the case. Greg Sankey, associate commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and a committee member, will hold a teleconference Tuesday at 11 a.m. to discuss the NCAA's decision.
If you run a little local business, you may have seriously considered starting an internet marketing marketing campaign to increase your existence and attract customers. Many small businesses start to adopt it within their business as they are discovering it to be one of the most good ways to promote their products and firm. Marketing online is cost-efficient and easily implemented often causing fast response and find out more growth.
The question is how does a small business proprietor undergo advertising and marketing on the internet effectively to generate larger sales and profits while keeping costs to a minimum. The most common and the first element that may come to mind is to create a website for your company. No matter whether you sell your products online or even offline, a website can easily act as your 24 hour sales person to showcase as well as take orders night and day. Indeed, internet marketing is essential for offline firms just as much as it is pertaining to online businesses to increase organization and sales. It can make more customers whether you have a small specialized store, a bakery or even a restaurant, you can control the Internet to let learn about it and to believe it is easily and quickly when they browse the web. Even if your small business is in a small town, you?ll be able to bet that more men and women will find your place on-line when you incorporate some internet marketing strategies. Statistics demonstrate that around 70 percent of people use the web to find a local business. In case you optimize your website to the search engines, your website can rank higher than the competitors, thus sending anyone more visitors. This is a fundamental part of small business online marketing. It has been estimated in which 75 per cent in the traffic to websites arises from search engines. More traffic indicates more customers. You can use a range of search engine optimization (Search engine optimization) techniques which include perfecting your website?s written content for a specific search term or posting written content on other related and also popular websites and achieving back links to your website in return. Article marketing and online video marketing are important elements of small enterprise internet marketing. When you article relevant articles on popular directories, you not only get an inbound link to your site. You need to use the article content to advertise your company and products. Exactly the same applies to video marketing. You can use videos not only to market your business and products, and also to increase the conversion rate at your online shop by offering video item presentations and video clip user guides. Employ social media marketing for powerful virginia business formation internet marketing. This kind of marketing has to do with promoting your company and products utilizing social medial including blogs and internet sites. Setting up a blog in your website will help for more effective SEO and for marketing your products.
For more information about find out more visit our website.
In Israel, Romney talks Iran, angers Palestinians http://ca.news.yahoo.com/romney-israel-seeking-foreign-policy-kudos-070935123.html ^ | 7/29/2012 | By Steve Weizman | AFP
Posted on 07/29/2012 9:16:11 PM PDT by F15Eagle
White House hopeful Mitt Romney held top-level talks in Israel over Iran's nuclear ambitions but quickly drew fire from the Palestinians for endorsing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
"We must lead the effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability," the Republican challenger said in a speech given on a rooftop overlooking Jerusalem's Old City in which he laid out key foreign policy issues facing Israel.
"We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course," he said, expressing hope that diplomatic and economic measures would help achieve this aim, but adding that "in final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded."
"We recognise Israel's right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you," said Romney, the Republican challenger who will face off against President Barack Obama in November's US election.
Israel, which is widely believed to have the Middle East's only, albeit undeclared, nuclear arsenal, has warned that a military option cannot be ruled out to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons capability. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
According to Israeli public radio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Romney it was important to have "a strong and credible military threat" because sanctions and diplomacy "so far have not set back the Iranian programme by one iota."
Annoy a politician:
Defend the Constitution. and donate to Free Republic
Posting mainly for the issue that continues to trouble the world: Jerusalem. Just as prophesied; the burdensome stone for all nations (zechariah 12:1-3).
Notice also the comment by the Pali:
"They they harm **peace, security** and stability," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Day of the Lord
5 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, ?There is **peace and security**,? then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
1 posted on 07/29/2012 9:16:24 PM PDT by F15Eagle
To: F15Eagle
Hell, you could anger ?Palestinians? by just waving at them.
If he angered them, I like it. Now if he could just get their heads to explode.
2 posted on 07/29/2012 9:21:36 PM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate Republicans Freed the Slaves Month.)
3 posted on 07/29/2012 9:22:09 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, 5:13; John 3:17-18, 6:69, 11:25, 14:6, 20:31; Rom10:8-11; 1 Tim 2:5; Titus 3:4-5)
To: ROCKLOBSTER
Yeah that was my first thought when I clicked on the link from Drudge.
What DOESN?T anger the Palestinians?
As near as I can tell, the only joy they ever seemed to express was the terrorist jihad islamic murders of nearly 3,000 Americans, etc. on 9/11/2001.
4 posted on 07/29/2012 9:24:58 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, 5:13; John 3:17-18, 6:69, 11:25, 14:6, 20:31; Rom10:8-11; 1 Tim 2:5; Titus 3:4-5)
To: ROCKLOBSTER
Made up people. Made up country. Neighboring Arab countries refuse to assimilate their brothers.
To: F15Eagle
The mere existence Israel angers the palestinians. The fact that Jews walk alive on this world angers the Palestinians.
6 posted on 07/29/2012 9:33:30 PM PDT by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
To: F15Eagle
It?s tough to take seriously a group of people who tolerate those among their group who try to destroy innocent men women and children.
The concept, ?Oh you?ve really done it now.? fails to mean anything at all other than that the Pali saying it is a world-class liar.
You can?t negotiate with a people who operate this way. Therefore you ignore them and go on about your life.
Go Israel. And Mitt, I appreciate your take on Jerusalem.
7 posted on 07/29/2012 9:37:26 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Remove all Democrats from the Republican party, and we won't have much Left, just a lot of Right.)
To: F15Eagle
In Israel, Romney talks Iran, angers Palestinians.
Must be saying the right things.
To: F15Eagle
Didn?t ?wimp out? on the Jerusalem question.
To: F15Eagle
What DOESN?T anger the Palestinians?
If I recall correctly...their fellow koranimals flying planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon didn't anger them at all. In fact they celebrated with great pride and joy on 9/11. I'll always remember the video of the cheering and dancing in the streets, people giving away candy to celebrate. The Israelis can use the "Palestinians" to fill potholes for all I care.
10 posted on 07/29/2012 10:00:48 PM PDT by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
In Israel, Romney talks Iran, angers Palestinians
Skip to comments.
In Israel, Romney talks Iran, angers Palestinians http://ca.news.yahoo.com/romney-israel-seeking-foreign-policy-kudos-070935123.html ^ | 7/29/2012 | By Steve Weizman | AFP
Posted on 07/29/2012 9:16:11 PM PDT by F15Eagle
White House hopeful Mitt Romney held top-level talks in Israel over Iran's nuclear ambitions but quickly drew fire from the Palestinians for endorsing Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
"We must lead the effort to prevent Iran from building and possessing nuclear weapons capability," the Republican challenger said in a speech given on a rooftop overlooking Jerusalem's Old City in which he laid out key foreign policy issues facing Israel.
"We should employ any and all measures to dissuade the Iranian regime from its nuclear course," he said, expressing hope that diplomatic and economic measures would help achieve this aim, but adding that "in final analysis, of course, no option should be excluded."
"We recognise Israel's right to defend itself, and that it is right for America to stand with you," said Romney, the Republican challenger who will face off against President Barack Obama in November's US election.
Israel, which is widely believed to have the Middle East's only, albeit undeclared, nuclear arsenal, has warned that a military option cannot be ruled out to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons capability. Tehran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.
According to Israeli public radio, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Romney it was important to have "a strong and credible military threat" because sanctions and diplomacy "so far have not set back the Iranian programme by one iota."
Annoy a politician:
Defend the Constitution. and donate to Free Republic
Posting mainly for the issue that continues to trouble the world: Jerusalem. Just as prophesied; the burdensome stone for all nations (zechariah 12:1-3).
Notice also the comment by the Pali:
"They they harm **peace, security** and stability," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
English Standard Version (ESV) The Day of the Lord
5 Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers, you have no need to have anything written to you. 2 For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, ?There is **peace and security**,? then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.
1 posted on 07/29/2012 9:16:24 PM PDT by F15Eagle
To: F15Eagle
Hell, you could anger ?Palestinians? by just waving at them.
If he angered them, I like it. Now if he could just get their heads to explode.
2 posted on 07/29/2012 9:21:36 PM PDT by ROCKLOBSTER (Celebrate Republicans Freed the Slaves Month.)
3 posted on 07/29/2012 9:22:09 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, 5:13; John 3:17-18, 6:69, 11:25, 14:6, 20:31; Rom10:8-11; 1 Tim 2:5; Titus 3:4-5)
To: ROCKLOBSTER
Yeah that was my first thought when I clicked on the link from Drudge.
What DOESN?T anger the Palestinians?
As near as I can tell, the only joy they ever seemed to express was the terrorist jihad islamic murders of nearly 3,000 Americans, etc. on 9/11/2001.
4 posted on 07/29/2012 9:24:58 PM PDT by F15Eagle (1 John 5:4-5, 4:15, 5:13; John 3:17-18, 6:69, 11:25, 14:6, 20:31; Rom10:8-11; 1 Tim 2:5; Titus 3:4-5)
To: ROCKLOBSTER
Made up people. Made up country. Neighboring Arab countries refuse to assimilate their brothers.
To: F15Eagle
The mere existence Israel angers the palestinians. The fact that Jews walk alive on this world angers the Palestinians.
6 posted on 07/29/2012 9:33:30 PM PDT by Steely Tom (If the Constitution can be a living document, I guess a corporation can be a person.)
To: F15Eagle
It?s tough to take seriously a group of people who tolerate those among their group who try to destroy innocent men women and children.
The concept, ?Oh you?ve really done it now.? fails to mean anything at all other than that the Pali saying it is a world-class liar.
You can?t negotiate with a people who operate this way. Therefore you ignore them and go on about your life.
Go Israel. And Mitt, I appreciate your take on Jerusalem.
7 posted on 07/29/2012 9:37:26 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Remove all Democrats from the Republican party, and we won't have much Left, just a lot of Right.)
To: F15Eagle
In Israel, Romney talks Iran, angers Palestinians.
Must be saying the right things.
To: F15Eagle
Didn?t ?wimp out? on the Jerusalem question.
To: F15Eagle
What DOESN?T anger the Palestinians?
If I recall correctly...their fellow koranimals flying planes into the World Trade Center and Pentagon didn't anger them at all. In fact they celebrated with great pride and joy on 9/11. I'll always remember the video of the cheering and dancing in the streets, people giving away candy to celebrate. The Israelis can use the "Palestinians" to fill potholes for all I care.
10 posted on 07/29/2012 10:00:48 PM PDT by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson
From MLB.com?s Brian McTaggart?comes word that the Astros have acquired offensive prospects Bobby Borchering and Marc Krauss from the Diamondbacks for third baseman Chris Johnson.
At first glance, it?s another crafty deal for Astros GM Jeff Luhnow. Johnson had a nice showing in his first real chunk of major league playing time back in 2010, but the 27-year-old owns a .314 career on-base percentage and he doesn?t play great defense.
Borchering, meanwhile, has slugged 61 home runs in his first 394 major league games. The 21-year-old third baseman and corner outfielder was the 16th overall pick in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft. Krauss, a second-round pick in that ?09 draft, has a .924 OPS and 15 homers in 434 plate appearances this year in Double-A. He has a slugger?s profile.
Johnson will take over as Arizona?s primary third baseman. Ryan Roberts was recently traded to the Rays.
Many snorers are usually mouth breathers, and oral cavity breathing is very strongly associated with snoring. ZQuiet and They are simple to use pop it in and away you go. So you lost weight, stopped drinking alcoholic beverages, checked all of your prescription drugs, eat good and employ regularly, but still tend to constantly still on the nightly basis.
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where to buy zquiet along with the problem of loud snoring is an age old matter, but never before offers so many individuals been seen to be regularly haunted by loud snoring as there are now inside overall population. A much more supportive pillow may be helpful as well. This specific noise can be small to non-existent in some individuals to others having a particular roar. This keeps your head raised to allow easy inhaling and exhaling.
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The pillow-cases cost $20 each and every, and no regular situations fit the Sona cushions. Effects Of Sleep Deprivation In case you have just started taking some over the counter medicine, maybe it?s the culprit. In answering this question it?s important to answer the question: what exactly is snoring and how should it happen? I have defined snoring as the ?silent relationship killer? as it can slowly ruin the intimacy of a relationship without the pair even realizing it and sleeping in individual rooms can also slow up the intimacy in a relationship.
Raising the top of the bed up, and asleep all night upon your own side just just isn?t curing the heavy snoring problem for you, usually do not despair, because it is only a matter of time before the ideal anti-snoring remedy will be discovered, as long as you do not quit. Smoking: Smoke highly irritates air passages, making them in order to constrict.
For more information with regards to zquiet ? please visit our website!
Russ: This is The BusinessMakers Show, heard on the radio and seen online at TheBusinessMakers.com. It's guest time on the show and I'm very pleased to have with me today Bruce Blausen, the creator of a company whose product I'm sure you've seen on television, the Web, maybe in a courtroom; because Bruce is the Founder of Blausen Medical Communications. Bruce, welcome to The BusinessMakers Show.
Bruce: Thank you for having me, Russ.
Russ: You bet. Well, let's start by you giving us an overview of your company.
Bruce: Sure. The company has been in business for 21 years. We now have the largest 3D medical animation library in the world. We originally worked for the publishing companies, the pharmaceutical companies. But what we recognized were the consumers and the students really weren't getting access to high-quality medical animation. And so over the years, we have been shifting our priority and we have been trying to stay with the digital demand and the digital content and how that's been evolving.
Russ: Okay. Well, obviously, I'm familiar with your company for full disclosure. Bruce has been on the show, but it was at least three years ago. My God, the way the digital world moves forward, I'm sure Blausen Communications is moving forward too. I remember distinctly the discussion we had about what motivated you to launch this company. Take us back to the very beginning.
Bruce: Sure. I was originally going to be an architect. I did really well in math and thought that the creative art side and the math, that was all going to work out well. And I was in a cow pasture, painting watercolor landscape.
Russ: That artist part of you.
Bruce: Sure.
Russ: Yeah.
Bruce: And a friend of mine, Larry Brownsie, said to me, "What are you gonna do with an art degree?" And I said, "Oh, well I'm going to be an architect." And I said, "What are you gonna do?" And he said, "I'm gonna be a medical illustrator." I said, "I never heard of it." And he said, "Oh, yeah, like Leonardo da Vinci. You draw the body and stuff for textbooks." And I thought, "Really? Okay, I'll do that." So I got an art degree and a science degree out of Penn State.
Russ: Wow. And so at the time though, I mean were there many medical illustrators?
Bruce: No. And in fact, I ended up going to Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. I graduated in 1987, came here to Houston, worked for Dr. Red Duke.
Russ: Oh, yeah.
Bruce: And there are only maybe 600 to 700 practicing medical illustrators in the United States right now; and the program at Johns Hopkins has only graduated 200 students. And we recently celebrated. Last summer, they invited certain alumni back to talk and I was honored to be one of those people.
Russ: Wow, cool. Well, I also remember - it certainly seemed like to me that you were on the leading edge of medical illustrators who got into animation.
Bruce: Exactly. I mean my thesis was reconstructing embryo heart development using 3D software that, back in 1987, I mean almost didn't even exist.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: And as we worked for the pharmaceutical companies, the biomanufacturing companies, the publishing companies; we built a bigger and bigger library. And as such, this library now has taken on a life of its own. The Human Atlas product that we built - we talked about the last time I was here - has now won 25 awards in the last nine years, and it has 307 topics of common medical treatments and conditions, and has been translated into 16 languages.
Russ: Oh, my God.
Bruce: So you're talking about millions and millions of people around the world are seeing this content and being educated on things like, "Prostate Cancer. What is tomotherapy? What is an ACL tear?" things of that nature.
Russ: Wow. So describe The Human Atlas Project. I mean where would we see that? I mean do you sell that to somebody like WebMD? How does the business work in that category?
Bruce: I'm a better artist than I am a business man, okay. [Laughter]
Russ: [Laughter] Okay.
Bruce: I can make great animations, just not great piles of money. But The Human Atlas, you'll see it on a lot of different hospital website. You can go to About.com. If you look up "Medical Topics" you'll see it there. New York Presbyterian Hospital, they have it right on their main page.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: Everyday Health is another company that we just signed up from the consumer portal. But also what we recognized was that the animations were originally built - I don't know if you remember - as my mother was getting older.
Russ: I remember the story, [Laughter] but tell them, it's cool.
Bruce: And she says to me, you know, "They want me to have an angiogram. They want me to get angioplasty. You know, what is that?" And she was afraid, so I looked at all of the animations. And we get about $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 to create a single minute.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: So I looked at the animations that we had on the hard. I put a few of these pieces together, I put a voiceover on it, and I sent it to her on a VHS tape. Well, she made more requests - depression, diabetes, glaucoma - and I'm thinking, "By the time I see my mom again, you know, what's left of her?" But in reality, she was taking these VHS tapes and she was giving them to all of the other women in her retirement home, because they all wanted to know this information, but nobody was ever going to build something for the consumer or for the patient. So I took it upon myself and that's how The Human Atlas started.
Russ: Okay. So you said, "Wow, you know, there's a lot of interest in what I do. Maybe I should expand it."
Bruce: Yeah. I mean the interest is definitely high.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: The dollars aren't.
Russ: [Laughter] Right, okay.
Bruce: So when you go to a hospital and you say, "Oh, well, we can build you an animation on angioplasty, but it's gonna cost you $25,000.00."
Russ: Right.
Bruce: Well, they can't afford that.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: And we recognize that they couldn't, but we thought, "Well, there are so many hospitals and there are so many people that want this information." What happened was, my second son was born and we were at a hospital that had our content on their website, but none of them knew that the content was on the website.
Russ: None of the doctors and nurses and -
Bruce: None of them, no.
Russ: - yeah.
Bruce: And so there was this miscommunication -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - and then I thought, "Whoa." A friend showed me an iPhone. I looked at the iPhone, I said, "Can you pull up our website?" He pulled up the website. Immediately I said, "We're in the app business."
Russ: Okay. [Laughter]
Bruce: We're switching, because we now have The Human Atlas on the iPhone -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - on the iPad, on the Android products as well; and it has won 25 awards in the last nine years as the best point-of-care patient education app in the market.
Russ: Okay. And that's all so interesting and appealing. But what about people like WebMD? Are they like a customer of yours?
Bruce: I want them to be. I've been talking to them for ten years.
Russ: [Laughter] Right.
Bruce: Perseverance, you know, woo. But they're in a catch-22.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: And what they've said to me is that we don't really have a great demand or request from our consumers for animation.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: And I said, "Well, unless you show them animations, how are they gonna make that request?"
Russ: Right.
Bruce: What I've done is - I'm gonna back up a little bit. The last time we talked, I said we were going to create a product called Anatomy and Physiology.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: There are 600,000 new science students every single year, and the top leading anatomy and physiology textbooks all have 29 chapters. They all have the same pedagogy. So I said, "What we can do is, let's bring every illustration in that book to life. Let's animate it." So we have an anatomy and physiology app that is out there that we hope it's gonna hit the fall market and really, really do well for us at $30.00 a pop. And what we're seeing is that if you open up a book, Chapter 20, and it's the heart; well, they have a picture of the heart. Well, our heart spins and rotates. Well, you turn the page and it's the interior. Well, our heart beats. The valves open and close.
Russ: Wow.
Bruce: You turn the page; they have a picture of the SA node and the AV node. Well, we actually show the electrical conduction, we show how that all works, we tie that with the EKG. And we don't do it just for the heart, we do it for hearing, we do it for vision, respiratory system, the digestive system. We took all of our animations and made the largest collection of anatomy and physiology available right now to go, not just with the top-selling textbooks, but with all the A&P that are out there.
Russ: Wow. So this means your customer, your prospect, are all the med students at this point.
Bruce: Med students, nursing students, Allied Health, phlebotomists, x-ray technicians - anybody that has to pick up an A&P book -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - is going to love this product. To give you an idea - this thing has a 1,000 animations, it has 3D models that can rotate, it has quizzes, drag-and-drop features; but it's 5 gigs. Do you know how big 5 gigs - I mean there are people that are selling apps and they may have one or two animations in them and then people are disappointed.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: We give you 5 gigs. People complain it's too big.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: "For $29.99, it's too big for us." But that's not the exciting thing that's happening and why we're here now.
Russ: Okay, [Laughter] all right. But before you leave this one to the next exciting one, this A&P collection is an app. So it's an iPhone app or an iPad app?
Bruce: It's iPad for the iPad and for Android Tablets.
Russ: Wow. But you can also look at it on the computer on a website. Right?
Bruce: Not yet.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: But that's where we're going to.
Russ: [Laughter] All right, all right.
Bruce: So, I was driving down the road, and actually, it was a feeder road -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - and I was thinking to myself about electronic medical records -
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: - and how can we our content and help educate the patient when they are reading these words like ?myocardial infarction' or they're looking at ?tomotherapy' or ?CyberKnife therapy'?
Russ: They're reading their own medical records.
Bruce: They're reading their own records and they can't comprehend it.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: So I thought, "Let's link some of our animations to these words." And so if it says ?CyberKnife' -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - click it and it'll show you an animation on CyberKnife.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: So I thought, "Well, let's do one thing - take it one step further."
Russ: Right.
Bruce: Now that we have The Human Atlas, which has 307 conditions of medical treatments and conditions, and you have then all of the normal anatomy from anatomy and physiology -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - this gives you such a huge range in terms of content.
Russ: Right. [Laughter]
Bruce: So now, we've got about 1,000 to maybe - close to maybe 1,500, and soon to be maybe 3,000 terms that are a part of our glossary. And what you'll be able to do - and this is exciting - is that you'll be able to put in the word ?Blausen' - B-L-A-U-S-E-N - and it'll take you to our website, and you can click a Google Chrome app, a Web browser app -
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: - and this will put a little tiny B up in the right-hand corner of your browser.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: Now if you're reading the Wall Street Journal, you're reading Sports Illustrated, you're reading the Houston Business Journal -
Russ: On the Web.
Bruce: - anything on the Web in the browser -
Russ: Yeah.
Bruce: - you can click the little Blausen icon. It will scan through that document and it will put a little icon next to the keywords.
Russ: Any word that you have in your -
Bruce: In our glossary.
Russ: Yeah. Whoa.
Bruce: And it's free.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: So if you have prostate cancer, you could type in ?prostate cancer' and it'll bring up 250,000 pages of stuff.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: All you have to do is click the Blausen icon and it will highlight keywords. So if it says ?prostate cancer' you click it and you'll have an option. You'll have an animation with narration, you'll have an animation alone; there may be a 3D model that you can spin and rotate, and then there's an illustration that also has labels and leader lines. But the cool thing is, just like with Amazon where it says, "If you've watched prostate cancer, you may also wanna watch chemotherapy, radiation sickness, tomotherapy, da Vinci Surgical - any of these other options for you. And you can also go through our glossary and select topics to see.
Russ: Bruce, this sounds huge. I can't imagine that it won't be extremely popular. But once again, this is The BusinessMakers Show. So how are you gonna monetize that in your business? [Laughter]
Bruce: Yeah. Why the hard questions? [Laughter]
Russ: [Laughter] I love -
Bruce: You know, can't we just be excited.
Russ: I love your passion about what you do and I think that's real cool and stuff, so.
Bruce: What we're hoping is that as more and more users tap into the Blausen icon and the Blausen it - you know, Google it, FedEx it -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - what we are going to see is that it's not just for the consumer, it's also for students. So if you have a chemistry textbook, a biology textbook; if you've got an anatomy and physiology textbook and you haven't purchased our app, you can just hit the Blausen icon and it is going to revolutionize - it's a paradigm shift in terms of publishing.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: And so what we're hoping -
Russ: So you're gonna be selling your app off of this.
Bruce: We're selling the app.
Russ: It's like an advertisement for your app.
Bruce: Yeah, a little bit.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: But also, as we reach 100,000, 2-million, 5-million users, then we're gonna start to convert to an advertising model.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: But initially, we just wanna really get the content out there. As you know - I mean I've been here before - I'm an artist, I'm a scientist, I'm a creative person, you know, I don't have an MBA from Stanford -
Russ: Right.
Bruce: - and, you know, we are always looking for investors. We've got all of our product completed, it's in the stores. And now what we're looking for is someone in the Houston area, hopefully, who has a sales and marketing and business acumen that wants to look at what we're doing, see the potential, and say, "Hey, this thing could be as big as, you know, Facebook. This could be as big as Google. This could be really a shift in the way that people access medical and scientific content for their initial understanding of a particular disease.
Russ: So you're actually seeking investors at this point in time.
Bruce: My hands are always open. [Laughter]
Russ: Right, right. [Laughter] Cool. Well, Bruce, I have to tell you, the passion that you demonstrate for what you do is pretty cool. And doing what you do is pretty cool. I mean exposing, you know, an understandable rendering of what these very complex procedures are. Do you have medical doctors on your staff?
Bruce: We actually - we have an advisory board of physicians that review the content.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: Our senior medical editor used to work for the American Medical Review Board.
Russ: Okay.
Bruce: But what we do is we stay focused on really what is well-known.
Russ: Right, okay.
Bruce: You know, you forget that 70 percent of the United States does not have a college degree.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: Thirty-five percent are operating at or below literacy levels.
Russ: Right.
Bruce: So if you have a child that's diagnosed with cancer or if you have a mother who's been diagnosed, you know, with breast cancer and they're talking about lumpectomy, mastectomy, they're talking about tomotherapy, CyberKnife - there is so much confusion, and you just want someone to say, "Hey, just give me an animation, a picture. Just help me understand the basics. I don't wanna get a degree in it."
Russ: Right.
Bruce: "I just wanna like be able to explain something to my mother, to my father, to my wife, to my son." And that's where I think Blausen makes the difference; is that we can give you that foundation of understanding, and we're gonna give it to you for free.
Russ: Really cool. Bruce, I really appreciate you coming in once again and sharing your story with us.
Bruce: Oh, thank you.
Russ: You bet. That's Bruce Blausen, the Founder of Blausen Medical Communications. And this is The BusinessMakers Show, heard on the radio and seen online at TheBusinessMakers.com.
The number one goal of 90% of my clients has been weight loss. Some people are obese and need to lose a substantial amount of weight for health reasons and other people with a healthy BMI just want to get rid of a few pounds to look and feel better (we all want six pack abs). weight loss depends on how much energy is used to do work (i.e., to move, digest food, think etc.,) relative to how much energy is consumed and stored (caloric intake). Energy is constant so if the energy output (work done) is greater than the energy input (calories consumed) there will be a negative energy balance which forces the body to tap into fat to make up for that deficit. The energy output consists of a person?s resting or basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the total number of calories a person uses while at rest, and a person?s active metabolic rate (AMR), which is the total number of calories a person uses if they incorporate movement. If you want to lose fat then you have to create a daily negative caloric balance by limiting your caloric intake or increasing your BMR and AMR or a combination of both.
There are several factors that influence the BMR, AMR and the rate of weight loss. The BMR is influenced by body composition, age, gender, level of stress, body type (or somatotype), hormones and food intake. The AMR is influenced by the activity level. A negative energy balance is created by controlling the caloric intake. All of these need to be carefully balanced in order to achieve your weight loss goal without compromising your health or losing muscle.
The higher the percentage of body fat the quicker the rate of weight loss. I?ve trained obese people around 40% body fat who could shed up to 3lbs a week by following a rigorous program. However if you are around 15% body fat then the rate of weight loss is exponentially lower. At you?ll be extremely lucky to lose 1 pound per week (the typical amount is 0.5lbs/week). Having a higher percentage of muscle also contributes to quicker fat loss but not as much as many people claim. The common misconception is that muscle is 20x more metabolically active than fat and therefore having more muscle raises your BMR accordingly. Recent studies found that 1 pound of muscle burns about 6 calories per day, not 50 calories as is popularly believed. This is still higher than fatty tissue which burns 2 calories per pound per day.
A person?s age and gender also influence the rate of weight loss. As you get older your metabolism slows down because your body tends to lose muscle and gain fat which slows down your ability to burn calories. However this can be attenuated by doing regular cardio, strength training and keeping a healthy diet. There is a slight difference between men and women because men have more testosterone which helps to build muscle and so men will have a higher BMR than women on average because they have more muscle.
The level of mental and physical stress affects the rate of fat loss. Cortisol is a hormone released when the body is under stress such as in a fight or flight situation. It serves a biological function of freeing up energy by breaking down fat and muscle tissue during a stressful event so that the body can use it to fight or flee. However, in today?s society we do not use that energy to fight or flee and so it gets deposited back into fat around the abdominal region. Prolonged stress can increase the resting level of cortisol making it very hard to burn fat in the abdominal region.
Humans come in three different body types or somatotypes that are genetically determined: ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph. These body types represent a continuum of body composition and the ability to gain or lose weight (either muscle or fat). Ectomorphs have the least total body mass (made up of fat, muscle and bone). Ectomorphs tend to be tall and skinny and have difficulty gaining weight because they have a fast metabolism. Weight loss for ectomorphs is not an issue but muscle gain is. Mesomorphs have an average total body mass and can change their body composition very easily. Mesomorphs have an intermediate metabolic rate. Endomorphs have the greatest total body mass and tend to put on weight very easily. Endomorphs have the greatest difficulty in burning fat because they have the slowest metabolism.
The BMR is influenced by the levels of thyroid hormones and the catecholamines epinephrine and nor-epinephrine. Thyroid hormones are thermogenic raising body temperature and BMR. People with hypothyroidism (low level of thyroid hormones) have a very slow metabolism, tend to put on fat very easily and have difficulty losing fat. People with hyperthyroidism (high level of thyroid hormones) have a very fast metabolism, tend to be skinny and have difficulties putting on weight. The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for arousal and utilizing energy to be used in times of stress or arousal. The primary hormones that activate the sympathetic nervous system are epinephrine (adrenaline) and nor-epinephrine. Both of these hormones will increase heart rate and force of contraction, increase blood flow to muscles, suppress hunger, and utilize the body to break down fat and glycogen to produce glucose. Most weight loss pills are stimulants that increase the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. Caffeine is often used in over the counter weight loss pills in conjunction with other stimulants because it increases cardiac output, helps the body to utilize fat as a fuel source by increasing epinephrine levels, and suppresses hunger.
Food intake has the greatest effect on basal metabolic rate. The body has to expand energy when digesting and processing food. This is called the thermic effect of food or diet induced thermogensis. The quantity and type of food ingested influences how much energy is required to process the food. Research indicates that proteins are harder to process than fats and so have a much higher thermic effect. Therefore increasing the quantity of protein in your diet will raise your BMR. Foods that are high in fiber such as celery and grapefruit are the hardest to process and have the highest thermic effect. These foods also have what is called a negative caloric balance because they take more energy to digest than the energy they release from digestion.
Increasing the level of physical activity increases the AMR. The more active you are the more calories are needed. The type of activity you engage in as well as the duration and intensity of that activity influences how many extra calories are needed and from what food source these calories come from.
Contrary to popular belief low intensity and long duration cardiovascular activity doesn?t burn more fat than shorter duration high intensity cardio. Numerous studies have demonstrated that high intensity interval training (where the heart rate is between 80-90% of its maximum) is more effective for fat loss than low intensity endurance activity because the body has to make up for the oxygen deficit produced during exercise and it burns calories for up to two hours after you stop exercising. This phenomenon is called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Resistance training is also recommended for fat loss because not only is energy needed during the workout but also after the workout because the body has to repair and build new muscle and this takes energy. Activities with a heavier weight or resistance level and a lower rep number per set are recommended over activities with a light weight and a high rep number per set because lifting heavier weights produces more microtrauma in muscles which is a stimulus for repair and synthesis.
Carbohydrate is the primary source of fuel for the body and it is the only fuel source besides ketones that the brain can use. Whereas fats and proteins must be converted into intermediate forms before they can be used as fuel. Before, during and after higher intensity physical activity the body needs carbohydrates otherwise the blood sugar will get too low and a person will crash, feel nauseous and throw up. Carbohydrates and proteins are needed to build muscle after heavy resistance training. Therefore, when incorporating physical activity into a weight loss program the body will need an adequate supply of proteins and carbohydrates. I found that when incorporating higher intensity cardio and resistance training into a fat loss program a person?s diet should be roughly % 35 carbohydrates, % 45 proteins, and % 20 fats and the maximum daily caloric deficit should not exceed 750 calories.
In order to burn fat a person must maintain a proper caloric intake. exercise itself is not enough if there isn?t a sufficient daily caloric deficit. Fatty tissue is a medium the body uses to store energy. One pound of fat stores 3500 calories therefore 3500 calories have to be used in order to burn one pound of fat. In order to burn fat a person must eat fewer calories everyday than they eat regularly to maintain their current weight. If a person eats 500 fewer calories per day then they can lose 1 pound of fat in 7 days. This rate of 1 pound per week is widely acknowledged by health and fitness professionals as a safe and healthy rate of weight loss. Starvation diets (anything above a 1000 caloric deficit) are unhealthy because the body burns more muscle than fat (fat is needed as an energy source when food is scarce) and because the body isn?t getting the essential amount of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other phytonutrients that keep us healthy.
Now that you have a better idea of the factors involved in metabolism and fat loss you can incorporate some of these into your weight loss program. However a professional weight loss program incorporates many of these factors at the same time and these factors have to be carefully balanced in order to achieve optimum fat loss results without depriving yourself of essential nutrients and losing muscle and strength. I design fat loss programs that are personalized (I take into account your metabolic profile, activity level, and other relevant physical attributes) and comprehensive (I take multiple factors into account attacking fat from every angle).
Phil Jelinowski DO., CSCS., MES
Phil Jelinowski is an Osteopath, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Medical exercise Specialist. He had been operating a small personal training business Elite Strength & Conditioning in Mississauga, Ontario since 2007 that provides a range of health and fitness services. He is also an author and has published a popular article on dragondoor.com entitled ?Planche Training: Strengthening the Mind/Body Connection?. You can contact him at phil.jelinowski@rogers.com or check out his website http://www.elitesnc.com
SEATTLE (AP) ? Seattle officials agreed to an independent monitor and court oversight of the city's police department as part of an agreement announced Friday with the Justice Department following a damning report that found officers routinely used excessive force.
City and federal negotiators were involved in tense talks over the scope of a deal for months, and Justice Department lawyers had threatened to sue the city if a deal was not reached by July 31.
"It's no secret there were a few bumps in the road to get here," Mayor Mike McGinn said. "We do have a lot of work in front of us."
The Justice Department launched its civil rights investigation early last year after the fatal shooting of a homeless, Native American woodcarver and other incidents involving force used against minority suspects. In December, a DOJ report found officers were too quick to reach for weapons, such as flashlights and batons, even when arresting people for minor offenses.
The agreement was announced at City Hall by McGinn, Jennifer Durkan, U.S. attorney for Seattle, and Thomas Perez, the Justice Department's chief civil rights enforcer.
The deal also calls for a special commission, appointed by the mayor, to concentrate on use of force issues.
Talks between Seattle officials and the Justice Department had been hung up after city officials initially balked at some federal proposals for reform.
The settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, requires the Seattle Police Department to revise use of force policies and enhance training, reporting, investigation and supervision for situations involving use force. Police also would have to change policies and training concerning "bias-free" policing and stops, and create a Community Police Commission, which would be a civilian oversight body.
Court oversight would continue for five years, but the city could ask to end the scrutiny earlier if it has complied with the agreements for two years.
"This city is committed to eliminating bias," McGinn said.
Perez said the agreement could serve as a way to help reduce crime and increase public confidence in the city's police officers.
"We must continue to be well aware of the very raw feelings that many Seattle residents continue to have toward the Seattle Police Department," Perez said.
Surveillance cameras and police-cruiser videos had captured officers beating civilians, including stomping on a prone Latino man who was mistakenly thought to be a robbery suspect, and an officer kicking a non-resisting black youth in a convenience store.
The earlier Justice Department report found that force was used unconstitutionally one out of every five times an officer resorted to it. The department failed to adequately review the use of force and lacked policies and training related to the use of force, it said.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other community groups called for scrutiny of the department after a Seattle officer shot and killed the woodcarver, John T. Williams, in 2010.
Video from Officer Ian Birk's patrol car showed Williams crossing the street holding a piece of wood and a small knife, and Birk exiting the vehicle to pursue him. Off-camera, Birk quickly shouted three times for Williams to drop the knife then fired five shots. The knife was found folded at the scene, but Birk later maintained Williams had threatened him. Birk resigned from the force and was not charged. A review board found the shooting unjustified.
Seattle Councilman Tim Burgess, a former city police officer, said the agreement was a good one.
The fact that a federal judge and federal monitor will be involved was key, Burgess said. "That will provide the muscle behind the reforms that will be necessary," he said.
Doug Honig, spokesman for the ACLU of Washington, was also pleased.
"The city and the DOJ appear to have taken our concerns about excessive force, racially biased policing and flaws in the oversight system seriously," Honig said. "The implementation is what's going to matter."
Since the beginning of 2010, the Justice Department's civil rights division has previously reached settlements to reform police practices in New Orleans and in Warren, Ohio.
It has sued the Maricopa County, Ariz., sheriff's office and the East Haven, Conn., police department for a pattern and practice of discrimination against Latinos and Hispanics. It is also investigating the Newark, N.J., police department for a pattern and practice of excessive force and unconstitutional stops, searches, arrests and seizures, and discriminatory policing; the Miami, Fla., police department and the Portland, Ore., Police Bureau over patterns of excessive deadly force; and Missoula, Mont., police over handling of sexual assault cases.
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Associated Press writers Gene Johnson in Seattle and Michael J. Sniffen in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama's administration launched a new partnership with private insurance companies, state officials and other stakeholders to scale up efforts to tackle widespread and increasingly sophisticated healthcare fraud.
Speaking from the White House at a table surrounded by leaders from many of the country's biggest health insurers, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder launched the new initiative, which builds on past efforts to root out crimes that cost U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars every year.
"Bringing additional healthcare industry leaders and experts into this work will allow us to act more quickly and effectively in identifying and stopping fraud schemes, seeking justice for victims, and safeguarding our healthcare system," Holder said.
The project increases a focus on data sharing between public and private health insurers, using new technology that helps track medical claims in real time. Many large insurers have already signed onto the program, including Humana Inc, UnitedHealth Group and WellPoint Inc.
"In the past, we followed a ?pay-and-chase' model, paying claims first - then only later tracking down the ones we discovered to be fraudulent. Now, we're taking away the crooks' head start," Sebelius said.
Over the past two years, Holder and Sebelius have sought to identify major centers of healthcare fraud, meeting with local organizations, investigators, prosecutors and state officials to better understand the nature of common fraud schemes and to bring new stakeholders into the conversation.
Fraudulent claims to the government's Medicare health plans for the elderly are estimated to cost $60 billion a year, making it a focus of large-scale busts by the U.S. Department of Justice. In May, U.S. authorities conducted the biggest Medicare fraud sweep to date, arresting more than 100 people across the country - including doctors, nurses, office managers and other providers - for trying to defraud the system of nearly half a billion dollars.
Officials did not give specific details of how the new partnership would be rolled out. But department officials said that a third party would be brought in to conduct computer analysis to spot patterns of fraud and comb through millions of claims and other associated billing data.
The partnership announced Thursday builds on previous collaborations, including HEAT, the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team, designed to strengthen data sharing and partnerships at all levels of government.
Obama's healthcare law, known as the Affordable Care Act, earmarks hundreds of millions of dollars for anti-fraud measures and gives greater authority to insurers and law enforcement officials, including enhanced screening of Medicaid and Medicare providers and tougher laws and sentences for people who commit these crimes. Holder said that in 2011, anti-fraud initiatives recovered $4.1 billion in cases involving federal healthcare programs.
"That was a new record," said Holder. "Over the last three years, for every dollar we've spent fighting against healthcare fraud, we've returned an average of $7 to the U.S. Treasury, the Medicare Trust Fund and others.
"It's clear that our approach is working - and that our investments in anti-fraud efforts are yielding extraordinary returns. But - as today's announcement proves - this is only the beginning," he added.
(Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf in New York; Editing by Tim Dobbyn, Michele Gershberg and Lisa Shumaker)
You are here: Home / Market Research Reports / Business Opportunities in the Retail Building Construction Industry in Russia: Market Profile
July 26, 2012 by admin ? ?
SynopsisThe report provides detailed market analysis, information and insights on the Russian retail building construction industry including: In-depth analysis of the retail building construction market in Russia A detailed analysis of market attractiveness, covering the key trends, drivers and challenges across the retail building construction industry in Russia Detailed market sizing for a period of ten years (20072016) by segment Detailed analysis on the macroeconomic fundamentals affecting the retail building construction industry of each country Description and analysis of the competitive landscape of the retail building construction industry of each country SummaryRussia ranked first in Europe in terms of the volume of total retail space constructed in 2011. The countrys retail construction activities covered a total retail space of XX square meters. Over 2012, Russia is projected to retain this position because of the proposed development of a further XX million square meters of land. There are a number of new projects in the pipeline and the market is also recording a gradual rise in rental rates. These are positive signs for the industry overall. Due to the global financial crisis and subsequent recession Russian retailers were forced to re-think their expansion strategies. Over the forecast period, retailers are expected to choose their locations with the utmost precision. This will be an interesting time as there is a growing trend towards conceptualized shopping centers across the country.ScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the retail building construction market in Russia: It provides historical values for the Russian retail building construction market for the reports 20072011 review period and forecast figures for the 20122016 period It offers a detailed analysis of market size by construction activity It covers an exhaustive summary on key trends, drivers and issues in the retail building construction industry It details the competitive landscape in the retail building construction industry in Russia It has in-depth coverage of the challenges affecting each retail building construction market in RussiaReasons To Buy Make strategic business decisions using historic and forecast market data related to the Russian retail building construction industry Identify the key market trends and challenges in the retail building construction industry in Russia Identify the growth opportunities and industry dynamics in the retail building construction industry in Russia Assess the competitive landscape in the retail building construction market enabling the formulation of effective market-entry strategiesKey HighlightsNA
Original Post Business Opportunities in the Retail Building Construction Industry in Russia: Market Profile source Researchmoz Market Research BRICdata Reports
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? Samsung, the world's largest technology company by revenue, reported another record-high quarterly profit as customers flocked to Galaxysmartphones, helping it outdo rivals at a challenging time for the global tech industry.
Samsung Electronics Co. said Friday its net profit swelled to 5.2 trillion won ($4.5 billion) in the April-June quarter, a 48 percent jump from a year earlier.
The earnings were lower than a median forecast of 5.6 trillion won in a poll of seven analysts by Yonhap Infomax. But Samsung shares jumped 5.2 percent to close at one-month high in Seoul as investors expect its earnings to continue growing strongly.
Samsung, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, televisions and memory chips, benefited from runaway demand for its Android-powered smartphones as rivals including Apple Inc. were yet to release new models.
The robust sales of smartphones such as the company's flagship Galaxy S3 helped Samsung paper over a slowdown in other consumer electronics sectors such as televisions and personal computers that has been painful for its rivals and component suppliers.
Its second quarter operating profit spiked 79 percent over a year earlier to 6.7 trillion won and its revenue rose 21 percent to 47.6 trillion won, matching Samsung's guidance released earlier this month. The operating profit, also at an all-time high, was up 15 percent from the previous quarter.
Despite nagging worries about debt-crippled Europe, analysts are expecting Samsung to achieve a record-high profit in the third quarter when Galaxy S3 sales are expected to reach a peak before Apple unveils its new iPhone, anticipated in October.
"The third quarter is expected to be marginally positive as demand for consumer electronics goods, including smartphones and tablets, remains strong and a stream of new products hit the market. Supply for display panels is also expected to increase, as TV makers prepare for the year-end holiday season," Samsung said in a statement.
In a conference call, Samsung's mobile communications vice president Kim Hyun-joon said growth in global smartphone sales will not be affected by an economic slowdown. Sales of Samsung's smartphones in China increased significantly and the company expects to sustain mobile growth through expansion in emerging markets, he said.
The increase in smartphone sales, the S3 as well as the Galaxy Note, will also boost sales of Samsung's mobile processors, helping the company counter weak demand for computer memory chips, analysts said.
In the second quarter, Samsung's mobile division, which makes smartphones, personal computers and network equipment, contributed 63 percent of Samsung's entire operating profit by generating 4.2 trillion won profit.
Although the company does not release its mobile sales figures, Samsung probably outperformed competitors in the top-end smartphone market, while having a tougher time competing with Chinese brands such as ZTE and Huawei in low-end smartphones, analysts said.
Unlike Apple, which makes a limited number of smartphone models, Samsung boasts a wide range of mobile phones with various screen sizes, designs and price ranges. Industry watcher say Samsung might unveil a new version of the Galaxy Note at a German trade fair in the fall to fend off competition from Apple's new iPhone launch.
Research firm IDC said Samsung shipped 50.2 million smartphones in the April-June quarter, widening its lead over Apple. Apple, which earlier this week reported earnings that fell short of expectations, sold 26 million iPhones in the three month stretch.
The two companies, which together control around half of the world's smartphone market, are scheduled to meet on July 30 in a San Jose court for a U.S. trial on mobile patents.
An epic legal battle between the two companies started in April 2010 when Apple accused the South Korean firm of copying its iPhone and iPad designs and has expanded to about a dozen lawsuits in North America, Asia and Europe. Samsung in turn accuses Apple of violating its wireless technology patents.
Despite the legal battles, the two companies continue to have a close business relationship. Samsung is a key supplier of mobile processors for Apple's iPhone and iPad and Samsung's component divisions also make display screens and mobile chips for Apple.
Outside the mobile market, Samsung made improvements in flat-screens and TVs but semiconductor profit declined on weak global demand for personal computers.
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