Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/01/selena-gomez-out-for-revenge-against-justin-bieber/
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Breast-conserving surgery may top mastectomy for cancer survival
Over the past decade, women with early-stage breast cancer have increasingly?opted for mastectomy over lumpectomy despite evidence that breast-conserving therapy plus radiation is as effective as removal of the breast.
This trend has seemed particularly prevalent among younger, more affluent women from urban areas. New research suggests such decisions may be particularly unwise.
Many women with breast cancer in one breast choose to have the other breast removed as well. Shown here, a microscopic image of breast cancer carcinoma. (Credit: Duncan Smith)
In a study published online Monday in the journal Cancer, researchers found that??early-stage breast cancer patients who undergo breast-conserving therapy ??lumpectomy and radiation ? instead of mastectomy may actually live longer.
?In light of the reports showing renewed interest in mastectomy, and because there have been few opportunities to observe long-term, treatment-associated outcomes in the general population, we asked whether the comparable survival outcome of BCT compared with mastectomy as seen in randomized controlled trials could be generalized to the non-clinical trial population,? wrote lead author E. Shelley Hwang, M.D., M.P.H., Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"There are lots of women who think the more [treatment] they do, the better they will do," she told HealthDay News. "This refutes that."
Creativity Vs Innovation In Business
How companies can encourage creativity and innovation?
The word ?creative? is generally not accepted within the business environment because it is understood as ?vague and undefined? (Gogatz and Mondajar, 2005, p.123). The word ?innovation? however, has found its place in the business world, given that business people constantly seek to innovate their products, services or ideas; it seems that entrepreneurs want to innovate, rather than create.
To be able to quickly respond to the market changes and customers needs, companies need to encourage innovative thoughts of their employees (Gogatz and Mondejar, 2005). Indeed, innovation is imperative for the growth of competitive market and success of the business (Christensen et al., 2001). In fact, Robinson and Stern (1997) argue that a company can be considered creative when its employees create a novel idea without being directly taught how to do it. On the other hand, authors also suggest that there are six key solutions which should be applied to encourage corporate creativity: (1) Alignment, (2) Self-Initiated Activity, (3) Unofficial Activity, (4) Serendipity, (5) Diverse Stimuli and finally, (6) Within-Company Communication. Consequently, these six ingredients not only encourage employee?s creativity but also innovation.
(1) Alignment
The first condition to encourage creativity or innovation in an organisation is to make sure that the views of different employees are in accordance. According to Robinson and Stern (1997), a company can function without strong alignment, however, misalignment is highly destructive to a company?s creative process. In fact, alignment is the ability to show a relationship between innovation and company?s performance.? Innovation is then shown as an essential element of the business plan, because it is a mean of reaching financial goals (Strassmann, P. 1997). Consequently, the views of upper management on innovation correspond with the views of the R&D department and other employees responsible for innovation. The example of Apple Inc. is representative of the importance of alignment in the success of a company. Prior to 1997, Apple did not release innovative products on the market (Gallo, 2011). The technologies were outdated and as a result, customers were not satisfied. Arguably, the come back of Steve Job as Chief Executive, allowed the company to focus on developing innovative products with the latest technologies. Since then, the financial performance was assured because customer satisfaction and active R&D was aligned with the financial goals of the company.
(2) Self-initiated activity
The second key ingredient for corporate creativity is self-initiated activity. Businesses should be aware that promotion of self-initiative activities among their employees is essential, to improve the work environment of employees (Robinson and Stern, 1997).? Employees should be able to implement their ideas without the involvement of the upper management. The example of a waiter finding a new way to dress a table in a restaurant, allowing him to serve twice as many customers as before, because he decided to implement his new idea without the approval of his manager. After releasing the increased performance, the manager takes a decision to make the waiter?s idea the new policy of the restaurant. The freedom of implementation allowed employee to improve directly the way of work. Consequently, the waiter?s creativity has proven to be beneficial to the functioning of the whole organisation.
(3) Unofficial activity
?The third element is unofficial activity, which occurs when employees are developing new projects on their own, without the supervision of management. This allows the project to grow to full maturity, before being officially presented. Indeed, there are no strings attached, either financially or regarding time scale (Robinson and Stern, 1997). In fact, Robinson and Stern argue that giving an official status to an idea can create a range of restrictions, which will be reverberated on the ability of the employees to be creative. Removing those restriction will give the employees enough time to conduct their unofficial activities and fully develop their ideas. The example of Google shows relevance of this element encouraging creativity. Google belief in their employee?s innovative minds is shown in their policy. The company allows their staff to spend twenty per cent of their office time on developing their own projects (Forbes, 2011a). The employees are encouraged to contribute actively and personally to the overall success of the company. They are then fully integrated into the company identity.
(4) Serendipity
?Serendipity plays an important role in the creative process. According to the Oxford Dictionary, serendipity can be defined as ?the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way? (n.d.). It refers to a ?fortunate accident? during which employees can take advantage of an unexpected discovery by further developing the new idea into an innovative product (Robinson and Stern, 1997). The companies therefore should ensure that the ?mistakes? made by their employees are corrected in a thoughtful way, and consider any unexpected outcome as a potential idea worth developing.? One of the most famous examples is the discovery of a well-known antibiotic: Penicillin. In fact, Alexander Fleming accidentally left some culture of bacteria in a contaminated area of his laboratory. The contamination having the form of a fungus appeared to kill the bacteria. Further researching the previous fungus, Fleming realised that he had discovered Penicillin, the first antibiotic (Bud, 2007). This was not his first serendipity, he also discovered Lysozymes, a well-known enzyme (Bud, 2007). This proves that further researching and unexpected results can lead to innovation and creativity.
(5) Diverse stimuli
The fifth element of creative process is diverse stimuli. Indeed, every person pays attention to different events and recall different ?things?. In this way, a company will beneficiate from communicating with its employees in the most various ways, to make sure that everyone had a chance to understand (Robinson and Stern, 1997). Consequently, organising many activities will allow the company to reach the maximum number of employees. The communication between employees will increase in effectiveness, due to the numerous interpretations each of them have of problems. Various stimuli increase the interconnection between employees and improve the understanding of the company?s goal. In fact, when Dan Buchner has worked on developing products for Procter and Gamble, he has encouraged members of his team to spend time at customer?s houses (Horth, 2010). Buchner therefore decided to conduct an in-depth research on how people clean their houses and this allowed the employees to obtain ?new? experiences. Indeed, this stimulus was essential in the way that it regroups employees to think about the company?s goals. The outcome of these stimuli is likely to be creative.
(6) Within-company communication
The final ingredient of corporate creativity is within-company communication, which aim is to create cooperation and understanding between employees for planned activities within the corporation. Employees will then share their ideas and help each other develop their projects and their ideas further. According to Robinson and Stern (1997), communication happens naturally in small corporations, while within-company, the communication process is much harder in firms with multiple locations. It can be argued however that Google, which is a large international corporation, has successfully developed an internal communication system. It allowed the company to use the full potential of its employees by combining their knowledge and creativity into new products. Indeed, Google?s Vice President Marissa Mayer has established weekly, voluntary meetings with employees, where staff have an opportunity to present their creative ideas. The goal of such meetings is to encourage employees to think creatively and develop communication between upper management and employees. Therefore Google hold the belief that employee?s creativity should be encouraged on a regular basis, but the upper management of the company should initiate this encouragement.
References:
Bud R., 2007. Penicillin: Triumph and Tragedy. New York: Oxford University Press.
Business Council of Australia, 2006. New Concepts in Innovation. Melbourne: Business Council of Australia.
Christensen C., et al., 2001. Harvard Business Review on Innovation. USA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation
Dyer J., Gregersen H., Christensen C., 2011. The Innovator?s DNA. [e-book]
Gallo C., 2011. Secrets of Steve Jobs. Insanely Different Principles for Breakthrough Success. United States: McGraw-Hill.
Gogatz A., Mondejar R., 2005. Business Creativity. Breaking the Invisible Barriers. New York: Palgrave MacMillia.
Google, 2009. Google Annual Report 2009. Google.
Horibe F., 2001. Creating the innovation culture. Ontario, Canada: John Wiley & Sons Canada Limited
Horth D., Buchner D., 2009. Innovation Leadership. How to use innovation to lead effectively, work collaborately and drive results. Colorado: Centre for Creative Leadership.
Kaufman J., Stenberg R., 2010. The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Robinson A.G. and Stern S., 1997. Corporate Creativity: how innovation and improvement actually happen. San Francisko, CA: Berrett- Koehler Publishers Inc.?
Runco M., Pritzker S., 1999. The encyclopedia of creativity. San Diego, California: Academic Press.
Scott V., 2008. Google. United States: Greenwood Publishing Group.
SEEDA. n.d., Leadership for Innovation. United Kingdom: SEEDA.
Strassmann P., 1997. The Squandered Computer: Evaluating the Business Alignment of Information Technologies. United States: The Information Economic Press.
Source: http://studypr.co.uk/blog/creativity-vs-innovation-in-business/
Rebel comic aims to exorcise Italian politics' walking dead
POMEZIA, Italy (Reuters) - Comic Beppe Grillo calls four-time Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi a "dwarf zombie", outgoing premier Mario Monti "rigor Montis" and Italy's political class "the walking dead".
Grillo, founder of a movement that will rival even the biggest parties at elections next month, hopes to wipe out the old guard: "We will bring some exorcists to parliament," he said in an interview after a rain-drenched rally south of Rome.
The 64-year-old Grillo is quick with wisecracks but the his 5-Star Movement is no joke. It is currently Italy's second- or third-biggest party, depending on the poll, riding a wave of discontent at conventional politics and economic austerity.
Crossing Italy on his "Tsunami tour", Grillo hopes to overturn Italian politics in a way that has not happened since the "Clean Hands" corruption scandals buried a political generation in the early 1990s, making way for Berlusconi's political rise.
"Grillo is attracting people who are disgusted with politics," said Maurizio Pessato, of pollsters SWG.
Rivals decry the movement as a populist vehicle with vague policy aims and it lost some momentum towards the end of last year as criticism grew that Grillo's authoritarian style was stifling independent voices.
But the 5-Star Movement is still second only to Pier Luigi Bersani's Democratic Party (PD) at 17.2 percent, up almost 2 percentage points in two weeks, an SWG poll published on Friday said, tying Berlusconi's People of Freedom (PDL), which lost half a percentage point from a week earlier.
That means that more than 50 - Grillo says 100 - of the movement's candidates will fill parliament's 945 seats. None of the 5-Star candidates has ever been there, and most are complete newcomers to politics at any level.
His influence has already guaranteed Italy a new generation of lawmakers - more than half of those elected on February 24-25 will be novices, according to a study published last week.
NOVICES
Instead of the movement's leaders picking its candidates, the 5-Star Movement held a primary, a move the PD copied. Monti picked political novices for his list and Berlusconi's PDL eliminated candidates accused of ties to the mafia.
"A mother of three, a 23-year-old college graduate and an engineer," Grillo said, describing who he voted for in the primary. "Those are the people I want to see in parliament."
A calm, unimposing presence in the privacy of his camper-van, the opposite of the hyperactive, foul-mouthed persona he projects on stage, Grillo is not running for election himself, but is lending his "face and popularity to help others."
Grillo wants a referendum on whether Italy should stay in the euro and has policies ranging from free Internet access to scrapping a planned high speed rail link with France.
But his main appeal is his call to get rid of the political class that has led the country for two decades.
"The PDL says it will not put forward any candidates who are under criminal investigation... There won't be anyone left," Grillo growled from stage in a routine that targeted the politicians he hopes to sweep away.
Corruption and a recession helped turn 5-Star from a fringe movement into a real political force last year. In regional elections in October, it received more than 20 percent of the national vote and became the single-largest party in Sicily.
Thirty-six percent of Italian voters see the movement as the most transparent force in the election, by far the biggest percentage, a separate SWG poll showed on Friday.
The 5-Star Movement's candidates have an average age of 42, the lowest of any party. On Grillo's insistence, none has a criminal record or is under criminal investigation, and all have agreed to serve a maximum of two terms.
During the rally in Pomezia, the candidates stood timidly on stage behind Grillo as he ranted through his campaign routine.
To those concerned about the inexperience of the movement's candidates, Grillo pointed to the unknowns standing behind him: "I'd rather take a shot in the dark with these guys than commit assisted suicide with those others."
(Additional reporting by Antonio Denti and Roberto Mignucci; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rebel-comic-aims-exorcise-italian-politics-walking-dead-134746684.html
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Which Exercise Equipment is Best for Your Health? : Ideas For ...
Exercise and fitness is a major consideration for most Americans. Finding the right equipment can be a challenge. Clearly what works for one woman may not be what is best for you. What equipment is best and how do you choose?
Exercise equipment is complicated. Some equipment can do more than one thing for your health while others only help you do one activity. Cost, performance, portability, convenience, and the room for your equipment all plays a part in your decision about which equipment to buy. You can also shop around for used equipment in good condition depending on your needs.
?A treadmill for instance helps you to build endurance and increase cardiac health by letting you walk inside in all kinds of weather. You may be able to change speeds or inclines but you still stay in one place to perform the exercise. For some this can be boring, for others it doesn?t tackle their problem flabby spots. Often you can find used treadmills in your local paper.
Other equipment may offer weight training, endurance training, and a combination of pullies and benches. These may offer many different ways to improve your health but may be bulky and costly.
Stationary bikes take up less room and work your legs and abs but may not offer you the upper body exercise you desire. Bicycling outside is another solution but may be hindered if you have small children and can?t get away.
Walking is the least costly exercise available and can be enhanced by the addition of leg or arm weights and a good pair of shoes.
Deciding which exercise equipment is best for your personal health means you ask yourself these questions. What can I afford? What exercise is realistic for my personal ability and goals? What kind of space do I have to store the equipment or do I have an area to keep it up all the time? What is my personal fitness goal? to increase strength, endurance, or to loose weight? Answering these questions before you buy will help you to choose the right exercise equipment for your needs. It is a matter of your health.
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FIFA, IOC send condolences to Brazil fire victims
SAO PAULO (AP) ? FIFA and local organizers canceled an event celebrating 500 days to go until the 2014 World Cup because of a nightclub fire that killed more than 230 people in southern Brazil on Sunday.
FIFA said it maintained confidence in Brazilian authorities' security plans for the World Cup, but the event scheduled for Monday in the capital of Brasilia was called off in respect to the victims of the fire in the southern city of Santa Maria.
Organizers said they felt "extremely sad for what happened" and expressed "their sympathy to the families of the victims."
The unveiling of the official World Cup poster was scheduled for Monday but also was postponed. The poster will be unveiled Wednesday after a meeting of the local organizing committee in Rio de Janeiro.
FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke, who began a four-day visit to Brazil on Sunday, posted a message on his Twitter account expressing sympathies.
"Very sad to hear of the tragedy in southern Brazil. My condolences to the families of victims," wrote Valcke, who is scheduled to visit Fortaleza, Brasilia, Salvador and Rio de Janeiro in the center and north of the country.
Santa Maria is about 155 miles from Porto Alegre, among 12 World Cup host cities, in the same state of Rio Grande do Sul. The nightclub fire, which appeared to be the world's deadliest in more than a decade, is likely to again increase scrutiny of safety efforts ahead of the World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. FIFA reiterated its belief that the local organizing committees and Brazilian city, state and federal agencies are up to the task.
"FIFA has full confidence in the security plans of the LOC and the local authorities," soccer's governing body said in a statement.
The 2016 Rio organizing committee expressed "solidarity with the families and friends of the victims of this tragedy," adding "it wishes a quick recovery to those affected."
The International Olympic Committee said that "we simply send our sympathies to friends and families."
Hosting the World Cup and Olympics two years apart has heightened attention on security and crime issues in Brazil, although the discussion has focused possible violence. South Africa's relatively high rates of violent crime were similarly scrutinized before the 2010 World Cup, but that tournament was held without major incident.
Because of the tragedy, the Rio Grande do Sul state soccer federation canceled Sunday matches in its first-division regional championship. There was a minute of silence honoring the victims before matches across the country.
___
AP Sports Writers Graham Dunbar in Geneva and Tales Azzoni in Rustenburg, South Africa, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/fifa-ioc-send-condolences-brazil-fire-victims-222738005--sow.html
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Monday, January 28, 2013
China Considering End To Video Game Console Ban | Geekosystem
Good news for Chinese gamers! China is thinking about lifting its ban on game consoles. The news is just speculation right now, and it?s based on the Playstation 3 receiving a quality certification from the Chinese government, but even that speculation has been enough to bump up stock prices for Sony and Nintendo, both of which are champing at the bit to enter the Chinese market.?Obviously, a lifting of the ban would help those companies greatly. It might also destroy the mental and physical development of Chinese children, since that?s what the ban was trying to protect.
The ban was put into place in 2000 by seven ministries of the Chinese government, and there seem to be conflicting reports from those ministries about the future of the ban. An unidentified source at the Ministry of Culture was quoted in the China Daily saying, ?We are reviewing the policy and have conducted some surveys and held discussions with other ministries on the possibility of opening up the game console market.?
Meanwhile, a semi-identified source only calling himself ?Bai? at the ministry?s cultural market department said, ?The ministry is not considering lifting the ban.?
Lenovo managed to sneak their Eedoo CT510 system into the Chinese market despite the ban last year. The Eedoo is similar to the Xbox Kinect, and senses a user?s motion to control the games, so Lenovo billed it as an ?exercise and entertainment machine.? It stands to reason that other consoles could make the same argument for things like Wii Fit and Playstation Move.
Whether the rumors are true or not, Nintendo has already seen a 3.5% increase in their share price, and Sony shares are selling up 8% at the moment ? largely on happy thoughts, the raw fuel of the stock market.
(via Business Insider, image via James M. Turley)
Source: http://www.geekosystem.com/china-could-life-console-ban/
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