Archive for the 'Education' Category

Stem Cell Research: Crucial for the Field of Bio Medicine

Author bio: Guest post is submitted by Sasha Bakhru.  He serves as the VP, CTO, and Co-Founder of Perosphere Inc., a specialty pharmaceuticals company.  Check out his website for more information.

Bio Medicine is not the same as it was even a few years ago.  This exciting field is changing and expanding rapidly.  Modern advancements and research are changing many things in the medical field.  Due to the amount of advancements, medical treatments that weren’t available before are now being used to treat millions all over the world.

One of the most exciting avenues within new Bio Medicine is the research on stem cells.  Scientists have focused on stem cells for many years now.  Through their research, there have been many important developments with this revolutionary treatment tool.

Many people aren’t familiar with what stem cells are and yet many know that they are considered controversial.  The controversy over stem cells has to do with the religious beliefs of many and yet the use of stem cells has given hope to millions where it was lacking before.  Stem cells are part of every human body.  However, stem cells can also be useful once outside the body in order to grow and develop them into new body parts.    Basically, stem cells are premature cells which have not yet developed into their final form or function.  Once stem cells are fully developed, they go to use for various organs including the skin, brain, heart, blood, and so forth.

The reason that stem cell research is the focus of so many scientists and medical researchers is that studies show that stem cell therapy is changing the treatment of many diseases.  There is still plenty of research that needs to be done as many of these studies are not conclusive.  However, there have already been many gains from this crucial research.

For more information on stem cells, check out the website of Sasha Bakhru.

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submit on September 9th 2013 in Education

New Iranian President at a crucial time

Following the June 14, 2013 Iranian Presidential election, Hassan Rohani will be sworn in as the new President of Iran in August. He is a cleric as well as a diplomat and a lawyer. Many believe that he is a moderate compared to previous presidents in Iran during the recent past.

He is coming to the presidency at a time Iran is faced with high unemployment especially among its youth population, crippling international sanctions, falling oil exports and drop of over 50 percent of oil revenue, high inflation of over 32 percent, the national currency (the Rial) losing more than half of its value and a tight power grip by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the final decision maker.

He will have issues related to more popular programs in Iran. How to handle the handouts that was intended to help the poor but due to political reasons many Iranian’s are receiving it today. Also, another issue is what to do with the cheap loans given to Iranian farmers. To change these programs will require the Iranian parliament, the Majlis approval. His biggest problem will be how to deal with sanctions as well as Iran’s relationship with the Western world.

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elegant on August 9th 2013 in Education

How to reduce your property taxes

You think paying Federal and state taxes is enough, here comes your property tax bill usually about the same time. Property taxes vary from one geographic location to another. In many cases property taxes are based on the value of your home and adjusted annually. According to local regulations, percentage you pay as property taxes could vary and may result in lower priced home owners paying a higher percentage compared to higher price home. Northeast, especially around New York property owners pay more property taxes compared to the South including Alabama and Louisiana.

If your property tax bill is high you may consider options available. You could move to a locality within the same region that charges a lower property tax or you can rent instead of owning a home. Be advised, some property owner pass the property taxes to renters. Low-income seniors may qualify for a lower rate. Then there are exemptions such as homeowner exemptions or exemptions for seniors. Some jurisdictions limit the time you can apply for a reduction in value after a new assessment. If you sold a home that had a lower property tax rate than your new home, you may qualify to transfer your old rate for the new home. Contact your assessor’s office for information and availability of a program.

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elegant on June 21st 2013 in Education

What to do when you are closer to retirement

Experts say you have to start saving for your retirement as early as possible. But what if you haven’t done so and now you are closer to your retirement? Here are few ideas.

Thanks to modern medicine, more and more Americans are living longer. So your nest egg needs to supplement and provide for your retirement. If you are getting closer to your retirement and you are faced with an emergency, do not touch your retirement funds for any reason. On one hand if you withdraw from your retirement account prematurely, you’ll have to pay a penalty for early withdrawal. On the other hand, you may live longer than your money and you may end up not having enough money to live on.

If you are closer to your retirement and you are still paying for your home, consider accelerating your mortgage payment. Your mortgage is the largest monthly payment and you need to be free of mortgage payments at your retirement.

Look for a good long-term care insurance plan. Starting early will give you a lower premium than waiting for closer to retirement. Closer to retirement, you may not be able to get a long-term care policy with a medical condition.

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elegant on April 22nd 2013 in Education

Group of Eight (G8) 2012 Summit

The G8 Summit 2012 will be held on May 18 and 19, 2012 at the Presidential Retreat at Camp David in Frederick County, Maryland instead of Chicago, which was the venue previously announced. One notable absence will be the recently reelected Russian President Vladimir Putin for unknown reasons. He will be represented by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. G8 is the gathering of group of western economic powers and this will be their 38th gathering.

France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) met as Group of Six (G6) in 1975. They became Group of Seven when Canada joined the group in 1976. Later in 1997 Russia was added to the group and became the Group of Eight (G8). In addition to the heads of states of G8, the President of the European Commission also attends the meeting since 1981. This year number of other world leaders including Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa has been invited to attend full or portions of the summit.

Focus of this year’s summit will be major political and economic issues of various regions including austerity measures in European Union due to recent power change in France and failure of Greeks to form a government.

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elegant on May 17th 2012 in Education

Presidential election in France

French will go to the first round of voting on April 22, 2012 to elect a new president. The incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, 57 years old, is in a fight for his political life with the contender Francois Hollande. If neither is able to get a clear majority, a runoff election is scheduled for May 6, 2012. As of this writing, opinion polls show Hollande, also 57 years old, leading the race and many expect him to become the next President of France.

President Sarkozy appears to be the next victim of the euro-zone crisis. Like many other euro-zone countries, France is facing diminishing competitiveness, high unemployment, and excessive spending by the government. President Sarkozy was elected in 2007 and still struggling to deliver on his election promises which are hampered by the global economic crisis.

The contender Hollande is promising to spend more government money to save the country which may lead to a worse economic situation in the country. His former partner and mother of his four children, Segolene Royal lost to Sarkozy in the 2007 presidential election. Hollande came to the forefront to challenge President Sarkozy after Dominique Strauss-Kahn bowed out of the race due to a sex scandal.

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elegant on April 17th 2012 in Education

Putin’s Russia

Russians are going to polls in March 2012 to elect a new President. Current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is poised to return as Russia’s President again.

There were massive demonstrations against Putin on Moscow streets lately. The crowed at the rally on February 4, 2012 against Putin estimated at 120,000.

It appears that Putin has no formidable challenge. Registration rules have eliminated some who may have given Putin run for his money. The Communist Party chief, Gennady Zyuganov, is expected to pick up only about 8% of the votes. Jewish and Armenian heritage of former chess champion Garry Kasparov make it difficult for him to clinch the title of President. The radical Left Front candidate, Sergei Udaltsov, want to address the widespread income inequality but his more leftist agenda drive away supporters who can remember the past. Alexei Navalny, a lawyer and an activist, may be the best hope of the opposition, but lacks popularity.

But Putin may run into trouble as soon as he gets elected to the presidency. The rampant corruption, fraud allegations of last parliamentary election, and continued demonstrations are sure to keep him occupied for next eight years or even worse that he may be out of power.

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elegant on February 18th 2012 in Education

Your School’s Student Resources Are There for You

Going back to school for the long-haul is something that demands fervent commitment. You’ll need ample commitment to schedule time to study, get yourself to school on time, and to stick with a new routine. If you’ve decided that you’re up for the challenge, congratulations.

You should know, too, that now is the time to pester your school’s financial aid office with all the questions you need answered. Talk with the officials here as early as you can about issues like Pell Grants; for single mothers and any other student subset, the financial aid office will be the motherload of financial resources.

However, if you want to talk about what to expect, socially, as an adult who’s going back to school at 50, for instance, then the door to go knocking on belongs to the academic counselor. The resources at schools are there to help all students make it through — do not be shy about making use of them.

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submit on August 4th 2011 in Education

Ways to Learn Spanish Quickly

Learning another language other than your own is not only an excellent add-on for your resume but also an instrumental role in personal development as. Not only are you exposed to a completely different culture but this can also lead to career opportunities that you never imagined.

Take for example, the Spanish language.  It is one of the widely spoken languages in the world today. The fastest way to learn Spanish is by taking lessons from an experienced teacher inside the four walls of a classroom.  You will have the opportunity to master the language quickly and correctly since you can clarify all your questions about the language as you take these lessons.

Although working individuals might not be able to do this, aspiring students will just have to devote a certain amount of their time every week to be able to progress as they learn Spanish and, thus, stay on track.

Another interesting way to learn Spanish is by surfing the Internet for websites that offer basic classes that vary in difficulty depending on the learner’s level of speaking and understanding of the language.

And if you like to learn Spanish from the masters themselves and use it to converse fluently, the best way to do this is by getting an internship to live in Spain.  If you cannot do this, you can use the Internet again to help polish up your Spanish conversation skills.

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publisher on March 18th 2011 in Education

Is Astrology a Valid Science?

Almost every culture has known to have its form of astrology ever since the dawn of time. However, with the advent of modern science, people are skeptical more than ever about whether this age-old system actually does count for something or whether it is just for entertainment.

But being such a rich study that is so complex (considering the construct of the 12 houses itself), it is hard to base one’s judgment on whether it is valid or not.

By its definition, astrology is the study of planetary cycles, and each planet is said to bringing certain energies into people’s lives depending on which sign they have as their sun, moon or ascendant. Yet scientists are divided as to whether it should taken seriously or not, and the truth is that one’s acceptance of this age-old study of the stars can only be judged when one is able to understand the way it works.

In several cases, people who have studied with an open and a skeptical mind have come to conclusions that there is something to this study after all, the most famous of all being Carl Jung, Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein as well.

Yet one must keep in mind that in taking up this study that it can draw you deeper and deeper into the relationship between words and their meanings, and the subtleties therein. And in most cases, not being able to understand this can result in the simple “Yes” or “No” answer to the aforementioned question.

All in all, it is more of a personal journey that one must take to understanding astrology as one can interpret its validity in a million ways as well as disprove it as well.

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publisher on February 13th 2011 in Education