Fluid from Pap test used to detect ovarian, endometrial cancers ...

CHICAGO (Reuters) ? Using cervical fluid collected from routine Pap smears, U.S. researchers were able to spot genetic changes caused by both ovarian and endometrial cancers, offering promise for a new kind of screening test for these deadly cancers.

Experts say that although the test has tremendous potential, it is still years from widespread use. But if proven effective with more testing, it would fill a significant void.

Currently, there are no tests that can reliably detect either ovarian or endometrial cancer, which affects the uterine lining. Research teams have been trying for several years to find a screening test that could identify these cancers early, when there is a better chance of a cure.

?Pap smears have had a tremendous impact in reducing the rate of cervical cancer in the United States,? said Dr. Andrea Myers of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a co-author of the commentary on the study published in Science Translational Medicine.

?The lack of an equally effective screening test for women at high risk for endometrial or ovarian cancer has created a great deal of interest in developing tests that could identify these cancers by their genetic ?signature? ? the collection of specific mutations within them,? she said.

?This new study is an important step in that direction.?

The new approach, developed by a team at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center in Baltimore, piggybacks on routine Papanicolaou or Pap testing, which is already done routinely to detect cervical cancer.

The idea is to take fluid collected from the cervix for Pap tests and use gene sequencing technology to look for genetic changes that would only be found in endometrial and ovarian tumors.

Since Pap tests occasionally contain cells shed from the ovaries or the lining of the uterus, cancer cells from these organs could be present in the fluid as well.

The team tested for mutations in 24 endometrial and 22 ovarian cancers.

?EXCITING FIRST STEP?

?We could detect 100 percent of endometrial cancers and 40 percent of ovarian cancers, even at the earliest stages of their disease, and we can do it without any false positives,? said Dr. Luis Diaz, associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, who worked on the study published on Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine.

Diaz called the study ?an exciting first step.?

?We?re seeing high sensitivity in endometrial cancer. We?re seeing moderate sensitivity in ovarian cancer, and we?re seeing no false positives,? he said.

That offered enough rationale to start tests on 100 ovarian cancers of different stages and 100 endometrial cancers, as well as a large number of samples from healthy women.

The team hopes to complete that testing by the end of the year.

Dr. Shannon Westin, an expert in gynecologic cancers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said the need for a screening test for these two cancers is great.

In the United States, the two cancers combined are diagnosed in 70,000 women each year, and about 23,500 women will die from these cancers.

Westin, who co-wrote a commentary on the study, said the paper is ?very compelling and very interesting? that you could find evidence of these cancers in a screening test using fluid from Pap tests.

But the test must still be validated and shown to be effective in a large populations of women, a process that could take 10 to 15 years.

?It?s a great first step. It is a proof of principle that this can be done. Patients are used to getting the Pap smear. They understand it,? she said. That might mean women would ultimately be comfortable getting this type of test.

Dr. David Chelmow, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, who was not involved with the research, said it would be ?fantastic? to have a test that would reliably detect cancers.

?It?s an innovative idea. It?s neat. But the question is really going to be what happens when this gets more thoroughly tested,? he said.

Diaz said currently there are no tests to screen for these cancers early. The experimental test would cost about $100, b ut with the falling cost of sequencing technology, he estimates it will be half or even a tenth of that cost within the next year.

(Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Editing by Jilian Mincer and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/world/fluid-from-pap-test-used-to-detect-ovarian-endometrial-cancers-583033.html

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New marker of drug response may speed pace of lung cancer prevention trials

Jan. 8, 2013 ? Testing medicines to prevent lung cancer requires treating many thousands of high-risk individuals and then waiting 5, 10 or 15 years to discover which of them develop cancer and which, if any, experience survival benefit from the treatment. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study recently published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research proposes a possible waypoint on the way to benefit, which if validated, could dramatically reduce the number of patients needed and time required to test drugs for lung cancer prevention.

"Chemoprevention is an important approach that has been way behind in terms of scientific advances for lung cancer," says Fred R. Hirsch, MD, PhD, investigator at the CU Cancer Center and professor of medical oncology and pathology at the CU School of Medicine. "If we could find a surrogate endpoint for lung cancer mortality -- an intermediate endpoint -- it would make it much easier to conduct smaller trials in much shorter time."

The original intent of the study was to discover certain microRNAs whose level of expression might predict patients likely to respond to the possible chemopreventive drug, Iloprost. If an especially high or low microRNA expression predicted response, it would allow researchers to test the drug only in the population most likely to benefit. Unfortunately, while levels of seven miRNAs were found to be correlated with the appearance of lung cancer, none predicted response to the drug.

It might have been a dead-end study if it weren't for microRNA-34c.

To a striking degree, changes in the expression of this molecule six months after treatment correlated with benefit from the drug seen much later. In those who later showed benefit, microRNA-34c expression was down six months after treatment; in patients who showed no benefit, microRNA-34c expression remained unchanged.

"Instead of waiting for an endpoint 15 years in the future, we could potentially discover the effectiveness of chemopreventive agents only six months after treatment. It would speed up the pace of discovery and eventually bring new chemopreventive agents much faster to the market," Hirsch says.

Hirsch cautions that his discovery, with CU Cancer Center colleagues including Celine Mascaux, MD, PhD, of this potential intermediate endpoint is just that: potential. Further work is needed to validate the predictive power of miRNA-34c in showing chemopreventive response. But Hirsch and colleagues are hopeful not only that miRNA-34c could be this predictive waypoint, but that the cutting edge technique of looking beneath genes, beneath even RNA and mRNA into the molecular world of microRNA will help them discover the roots of the disease.

"The approach is new and it needs to be further explored," Hirsch says.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Colorado Denver. The original article was written by Garth Sundem.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. C. Mascaux, W. J. Feser, M. T. Lewis, A. E. Baron, C. D. Coldren, D. T. Merrick, T. C. Kennedy, J. I. Eckelberger, L. M. Rozeboom, W. A. Franklin, J. D. Minna, P. A. Bunn, Y. E. Miller, R. L. Keith, F. R. Hirsch. Endobronchial miRNAs as biomarkers in lung cancer chemoprevention. Cancer Prevention Research, 2012; DOI: 10.1158/1940-6207.CAPR-12-0382

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/90bnj6tMs9E/130108142128.htm

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Your medical chart could include exercise minutes

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, center, trains with running club members Rian Barrett, second from right, and Richard Chen in Pasadena, Calif. Dr. Robert Sallis says some patients may not be aware that research shows physical inactivity is riskier than high blood pressure, obesity and other health risks people know they should avoid. As recently as November 2012, a government-led study concluded that people who routinely exercise live longer than others, even if they're overweight. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, center, trains with running club members Rian Barrett, second from right, and Richard Chen in Pasadena, Calif. Dr. Robert Sallis says some patients may not be aware that research shows physical inactivity is riskier than high blood pressure, obesity and other health risks people know they should avoid. As recently as November 2012, a government-led study concluded that people who routinely exercise live longer than others, even if they're overweight. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, third from left, trains with her running club in Pasadena, Calif. Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, made a big push a few years ago to get its southern California doctors to ask patients about exercise. Since then, Kaiser has expanded the program across California and to several other states. Now almost 9 million patients are asked at every visit, and some other medical systems are doing it, too. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, left, stretches with her running club in Pasadena, Calif. Dr. Robert Sallis says doctors with Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, generally prescribe exercise first, instead of medication, and for many patients who follow through, that's often all it takes. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, right, exercises with her running club in Pasadena, Calif. Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, made a big push a few years ago to get its southern California doctors to ask patients about exercise. Since then, Kaiser has expanded the program across California and to several other states. Now almost 9 million patients are asked at every visit, and some other medical systems are doing it, too. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2012 photo, Zendi Solano, second from left, trains with her running club in Pasadena, Calif. Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, made a big push a few years ago to get its southern California doctors to ask patients about exercise. Since then, Kaiser has expanded the program across California and to several other states. Now almost 9 million patients are asked at every visit, and some other medical systems are doing it, too. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

(AP) ? Roll up a sleeve for the blood pressure cuff. Stick out a wrist for the pulse-taking. Lift your tongue for the thermometer. Report how many minutes you are active or getting exercise.

Wait, what?

If the last item isn't part of the usual drill at your doctor's office, a movement is afoot to change that. One recent national survey indicated only a third of Americans said their doctors asked about or prescribed physical activity.

Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation's largest nonprofit health insurance plans, made a big push a few years ago to get its southern California doctors to ask patients about exercise. Since then, Kaiser has expanded the program across California and to several other states. Now almost 9 million patients are asked at every visit, and some other medical systems are doing it, too.

Here's how it works: During any routine check of vital signs, a nurse or medical assistant asks how many days a week the patient exercises and for how long. The number of minutes per week is posted along with other vitals at the top the medical chart. So it's among the first things the doctor sees.

"All we ask our physicians to do is to make a comment on it, like, 'Hey, good job,' or 'I noticed today that your blood pressure is too high and you're not doing any exercise. There's a connection there. We really need to start you walking 30 minutes a day,'" said Dr. Robert Sallis, a Kaiser family doctor. He hatched the vital sign idea as part of a larger initiative by doctors groups.

He said Kaiser doctors generally prescribe exercise first, instead of medication, and for many patients who follow through that's often all it takes.

It's a challenge to make progress. A study looking at the first year of Kaiser's effort showed more than a third of patients said they never exercise.

Sallis said some patients may not be aware that research shows physical inactivity is riskier than high blood pressure, obesity and other health risks people know they should avoid. As recently as November a government-led study concluded that people who routinely exercise live longer than others, even if they're overweight.

Zendi Solano, who works for Kaiser as a research assistant in Pasadena, Calif., says she always knew exercise was a good thing. But until about a year ago, when her Kaiser doctor started routinely measuring it, she "really didn't take it seriously."

She was obese, and in a family of diabetics, had elevated blood sugar. She sometimes did push-ups and other strength training but not anything very sustained or strenuous.

Solano, 34, decided to take up running and after a couple of months she was doing three miles. Then she began training for a half marathon ? and ran that 13-mile race in May in less than three hours. She formed a running club with co-workers and now runs several miles a week. She also started eating smaller portions and buying more fruits and vegetables.

She is still overweight but has lost 30 pounds and her blood sugar is normal.

Her doctor praised the improvement at her last physical in June and Solano says the routine exercise checks are "a great reminder."

Kaiser began the program about three years ago after 2008 government guidelines recommended at least 2 1/2 hours of moderately vigorous exercise each week. That includes brisk walking, cycling, lawn-mowing ? anything that gets you breathing a little harder than normal for at least 10 minutes at a time.

A recently published study of nearly 2 million people in Kaiser's southern California network found that less than a third met physical activity guidelines during the program's first year ending in March 2011. That's worse than results from national studies. But promoters of the vital signs effort think Kaiser's numbers are more realistic because people are more likely to tell their own doctors the truth.

Dr. Elizabeth Joy of Salt Lake City has created a nearly identical program and she expects 300 physicians in her Intermountain Healthcare network to be involved early this year.

"There are some real opportunities there to kind of shift patients' expectations about the value of physical activity on health," Joy said.

NorthShore University HealthSystem in Chicago's northern suburbs plans to start an exercise vital sign program this month, eventually involving about 200 primary care doctors.

Dr. Carrie Jaworski, a NorthShore family and sports medicine specialist, already asks patients about exercise. She said some of her diabetic patients have been able to cut back on their medicines after getting active.

Dr. William Dietz, an obesity expert who retired last year from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said measuring a patient's exercise regardless of method is essential, but that "naming it as a vital sign kind of elevates it."

Figuring out how to get people to be more active is the important next step, he said, and could have a big effect in reducing medical costs.

___

Online:

Exercise: http://1.usa.gov/b6AkMa

___

AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2013-01-06-US-MED-Exercise-Vital-Sign/id-b786aac3feff43dbacd90d9576b443a9

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Penguins' private lives recorded in Antarctica

Suppose someone monitors your whole life, from the moment you were born through childhood, puberty, adolescence and your midlife crisis, all the way to your ultimate death ? recording what you eat, where you go, who you make love to, when you raise children and how your body ages. Pretty scary, right?

But that's exactly what biologist David Ainley is doing. Not with humans, but with Ad?lie penguins in Antarctica. If he could put TV cameras in the birds' master bedrooms, he wouldn't hesitate.

No detail too private
For 17 years now, Ainley has studied three penguin colonies in and around McMurdo Sound, located at the southern extent of the Ross Sea. "It's rare in science to collect data throughout the whole age structure of a population," Ainley told LiveScience, noting Ad?lie penguins live, on average, about 20 years. Some of the sedate, elderly colony members were just "screaming" newborn chicks when he first arrived here in 1996.

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Back then, the three colonies were growing rapidly, at a rate of about 10 percent per year. "My original goal was to find out what caused this increase, and why the smaller colonies grew even faster than the larger ones," said Ainley, who is a biologist at H.T. Harvey & Associates, an ecological consultancy in San Jose, Calif.

Surprisingly, the baby boom turned out to be a side effect of the Antarctic ozone hole (an opening in the protective atmospheric layer), which reached huge dimensions in the 1990s. "A larger ozone hole means a cooler stratosphere, a more powerful polar vortex and, as a result of stronger winds, more open water in the immediate neighborhood of the colonies," he said. The penguins need the open water for finding their favorite foods ? krill and fish.

With funding from the U.S. Antarctic Program, through the National Science Foundation, Ainley has discovered a lack of competition for scarce food resources is what drives the smaller colonies to grow faster than larger ones. Also, predator leopard seals, which aren't very efficient hunters, are more interested in the bigger colonies, where they have a better chance to catch their nourishing penguin snack.

Along the way, penguin privacy has gone out the window: To keep track of a representative selection of individual penguins, Ainley has banded them on one of their flippers, making it easy to identify each from afar through binoculars. [ Image Gallery: Private Sex Lives of Penguins ]

Moreover, at the exit of the colonies, Ainley has mounted electronic weigh bridges, over which the penguins have to pass when they go foraging in the open sea, and again when they return to feed their newborn chicks from their own stomachs. Radio-frequency chips identify the penguins, and the automatic measurements provide a detailed record of their foraging and feeding behaviors during the austral summer season.

An icy obstacle
All was going well with Ainley's research. But in March 2000, catastrophe struck. A huge part of the Ross Ice Shelf broke loose. The iceberg, nearly the size of the state of Connecticut, blocked access to the open waters of the Ross Sea, effectively cutting off the penguins' preferred route to their winter habitat, farther away from the pole. To reach these slightly warmer and less gloomy regions with their fish and krill in tow, the poor birds now had to take a 50-mile detour. Eventually, the iceberg would remain stuck for a period of five years, and the penguin colonies diminished markedly. [ Album: Stunning Photos of Antarctic Ice ]

"At first, I was very disappointed," said Ainley, as it looked as if the iceberg had wrecked his research program. "But then it turned out that there was a lot of new information to gain from the whole episode." In particular, Ainley discovered many penguins from the small colony at Cape Royds did not return home at all in the summer season, but started a new life at one of the other two Ad?lie colonies at Ross Island ? at Cape Crozier and Cape Bird.

This was completely unexpected, said Ainley. "The scientific gospel was that penguins live in the same colony for their entire life, and that they never migrate elsewhere. But the gospel was written by people who had never witnessed an iceberg event like this one."

Contemplating the universe
By now, everything is pretty much back to normal again. Together with his colleague Jean Pennycook, Ainley started his 17th field expedition in early December. Every other day at Cape Royds, he walks through the penguin colony, armed with a pair of binoculars, keeping track of what the birds are doing. "There's not very much to do, really,? he said. ?Actually, I spend most of my time at my laptop." Research results, as well as daily pictures from breeding nests, are published at a special website, www.penguinscience.com, partly for educational reasons.

The small colony at Cape Royds has a population of about 2,000 penguin pairs, as opposed to Cape Bird, with some 50,000 pairs, and Cape Crozier, the biggest colony in the world, with a staggering 280,000 pairs. "At the other colonies, there's more than enough work to keep two people busy for seven days a week," he said.

But despite the cold, Ainley doesn't seem to mind the relative lack of work. Pointing at the male penguins that are solemnly breeding two fresh-laid eggs each, he notes: "They're just sitting there, contemplating the universe."

To many researchers in Antarctica, the combination of utter remoteness and overwhelming natural beauty is the main atttraction of the frozen continent. In fact, Ainley admits he choose penguin research for his doctoral work just to get a chance to go to Antarctica. "I just had to go there," he said. "I could've chosen geology instead, since I also majored in that discipline."

Then again, monitoring the full life cycle of a mountain or a glacier, from birth to death, is a bit beyond human scope. In the case of the Ad?lie penguins, Ainley almost accomplished this feat. "I'll return two more times on my current grant," he said. "If I'm creative enough to come up with a new research project, I may receive another five-year grant."

The penguins aren't likely to mind. Who knows, they might start to miss their human friend if he weren't to show up anymore.

Dutch freelance science writer Govert Schilling visited McMurdo Station and the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station in early December as a selected member of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic media visit program.

Follow LiveScience on Twitter@livescience. We're also onFacebook &Google+.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50380842/ns/technology_and_science-science/

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"Hawaii Five-0" to run choose-your-own-ending episode

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Tired of those elitist television writers crafting episode endings that don't go the way you want them to? (We're looking at you, "Sopranos" finale!) "Hawaii Five-0" feels your pain.

In a television first, the hit CBS drama will bring democracy to the airwaves with its January 14 episode and allow viewers to vote for the ending of their choice in real time.

The episode, which will center on the death of an O'ahu State University professor, will prompt viewers to log onto CBS.com or Twitter to cast their votes for three different suspects when each suspect's motive is revealed. The most popular ending is the one that will air at the end of the episode. (Separate votes will be held for the East/Central and Pacific time zone broadcasts.)

"I've always felt the most fun aspect of watching a mystery is trying to figure out ?whodunit,'" executive producer Peter Lenkov said of the groundbreaking endeavor. "Now the 'Hawaii Five-0' viewers will actually get the chance to tell us who they think committed the crime and we will listen. I love that our dedicated and attentive fans will actually play a part in resolving our story."

All three endings will be aired after broadcast on CBS.com, so you can see if you made the right decision.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hawaii-five-0-run-choose-own-ending-episode-025326630.html

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Double-Duty Pools | Northstar Publishing

A recreational professional at a pool can prevent a drowning by teaching a young child to swim, provide the gift of mobility to a grandmother, introduce a toddler to water, build the self-esteem of a teenager on the swim team, and motivate a 12-year-old child to simply play.

It?s important to consider programming before designing a competition swimming pool. Photos Courtesy of Water Technology Inc.

So what if that professional?well-educated in the benefits of swimming?is challenged by operating only one pool that provides all of the above benefits?

Ideally, a multi-generational aquatic center would include multiple pools with multiple temperatures in separate environments; indoor and outdoor.

Alas, in this example, our seasoned professional does not have the luxury of multiple pools, but that does not obscure the importance of his or her role in the initial programming. Early involvement in the design programming will arm the resourceful recreation professional with the necessary input for a successful outcome.

Challenges

First, consider the three specific challenges that one body of water presents:

? Size of the pool
? Water temperature
? Water depth.

A competition pool designed to accommodate swim teams and meet the requirements of sanctioning bodies defies all of the ?design rules? for leisure or wellness pools. These ?rules? include shallower, warmer water, with entertainment features like water slides and spraying water, wellness lap lanes, lazy rivers, and vortex channels that can offer both passive and active areas.

A competition pool is oftentimes larger in size than a recreation pool, and the percentage of population use is smaller than with a leisure pool. If the competition pool is to also host swim meets, the size of the natatorium must also be increased for spectator seating.

Aquatic programming must respond to the size of the pool to realize a return on its investment. Movable bulkheads should be considered to help make the pool function at its best capacity, and make it multi-faceted to allow competing programs to occur simultaneously. Maximum utilization of the pool is the ultimate goal.

Ideally, different programs require varied water temperatures. A cooler temperature is preferred for competitive lap swimming or aquatic aerobic exercise. A warmer temperature is more appealing in instances where a patron is using the pool for therapeutic or recreation programming. The pool program should determine what pool temperatures are required. In the instance of one body of water, concessions will have to be made to accommodate these different programs.

A competition pool can have many uses.

A movable floor is an option to overcome the water-depth challenge. Different activities require different levels of water depth, and this solution can help provide the appropriate depths for competition swimming during one hour and small child swimming instruction in the next.

Historically, competition-pool facilities achieve approximately 50- to 60-percent cost recovery per year. A seasoned recreation professional needs to find a way to increase that cost recovery. This begins during the initial programming of the new pool.

Program For Success

Programming should always precede design and should be a collaborative process. Pool managers should be as intimately involved as possible. The more stakeholders involved from the community, the better sharing of information, accountability, and ownership the project will gain. Otherwise, the pool might not meet the goals and expectations of the operator.

When leading a design charette, Doug Whiteaker, President of Water Technology Inc., likes to apply a ?lens theory? so that the team looks at the project through different lenses. First, begin looking at the design through a competitive-swimming lens, and then change lenses and look at the pool through a programmatic lens, and a myriad of options will appear. Lastly, look at the pool through a recreation?or ?water-tainment??lens and ask how to bring recreation fun into this pool.

Start With Spreadsheets

Programming should start at the spreadsheet level. Document all of the swimming functions, including competitive swimming and training, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, etc. to gain an understanding of the number, length, and depth of lanes that you will need. Each sport has a set of critical requirements, and an estimated number of users will help determine the number of lanes and depth of water.

? How many swimmers will be using the pool at any one time?

? At what percentages of operational hours will each of these groups occupy the pool?

? How many swimmers are on the competition teams?

? How many lanes will be required?

? What are the length and width of lanes required?

? Will the pool be available for general recreation or fitness use when the competitive team has training scheduled?

? What provisions will be made for warm-up lanes?

Using a programmatic lens, discuss what other programs?learn-to-swim, water aerobics, snorkeling, etc. (see sidebar)?you would like to offer. Poll the residents to discover what programs they may participate in as well as what they perceive to be the immediate and future needs of the community.

There are many ways to adjust a competition pool for recreational uses.

Be creative and open to suggestions from both a collective programming team and peers operating similar pools. These discussions will reveal successful and not-so-successful program offerings.

Lastly, look at the pool through the recreation lens. Could the addition of removable, floatable play-features be a way to add recreation value when meets are not being held? Explore the new innovations in movable aqua-climbing walls, and determine how they fit into the recreation program. Is the addition of a water dropslide a viable option?

Overlay the sports swimming, programmatic, and recreation spreadsheets to help visualize how they all work together. This will help to determine the number of lanes needed and what depths are necessary.

The last challenge is marketing the new facility. Competition pools do not have the instant ?just add water-tainment? attraction like their counterparts. Make sure to communicate to community residents the benefits of swimming and the programs you have successfully compiled. Saturate each marketplace, reaching out to the multi-generations of swimmers that will ultimately keep the new pool afloat.

Participation in the initial programming of the pool is essential to a pool operator?s success. When presented with a challenge, recreation professionals know their actions will ultimately impact budgets and bottom lines, and most importantly, the residents. Embrace the idea that there is a pool to program, and dive into the programming phase of the project with recreation resourcefulness!

Appropriate and inclusive aquatic-program development of the new community asset will not only be a source of drowning prevention and learn-to-swim-faster sports programs, but also the catalyst for teaching the ?youth? of all ages and abilities in the community the lifelong benefits of aquatic wellness.

Melinda Kempfer is the business-development coordinator at Water Technology, Inc., in Beaver Dam, Wis. Reach her at (920) 887-7375, or mkempfer@wtiworld.com.

???????????Sidebar??????????-

To The Drawing Board

Looking for alternate recreation programming to host in competition pools? Try these out:
? Learn-to-swim lessons
? Aqua-aerobics and fitness programs (deep water and shallow water)
? Water-rescue and safety classes
? Snorkeling/scuba classes
? Dive-in movies
? Frisbee golf
? Kayak classes and training
? Stand-up paddle boarding
? Underwater hockey
? Innertube polo

Note the recreational equipment that works well in competition pools:

? Basketball
? Volleyball
? Climbing walls
? Rope swings
?Floatables
? Inflatable water-play structure
? Slides (drop)
? Portable underwater fitness equipment

Related posts:

  1. Developing Standards For Public Pools
  2. Fast Pools and LZR Suits
  3. Examining Outdoor Pools
  4. Finding Purpose
  5. Winning Over Residents

Source: http://www.northstarpubs.com/articles/prb/double-duty-pools

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US may skirt 'fiscal cliff' but faces higher taxes

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., left, walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, to the Senate floor for a vote on the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 in Washington. The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., left, walks with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell from Kentucky, to the Senate floor for a vote on the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 in Washington. The Senate passed legislation early New Year's Day to neutralize a fiscal cliff combination of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts that kicked in at midnight. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Vice President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after a Senate Democratic caucus meeting about the fiscal cliff, on Capitol Hill on Monday, Dec. 31, 2012 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A last-ditch tax deal in the Senate might let the U.S. economy escape the worst of the so-called fiscal cliff and avoid going back into recession. But even if the House goes along, the tax increases likely coming in 2013 will dent economic growth anyway.

In the early hours of the new year, the Senate voted to end a long stalemate and raise taxes on upper-income households, extend long-term unemployment benefits and postpone decisions over government spending cuts, officials said. But any deal needs approval from the House.

About $536 billion in 2013 tax increases were scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, along with $109 billion in cuts from military and domestic-spending programs, if Democrats and Republicans could not reach agreement.

Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo, said he expects budget policy, including the higher taxes in the Senate plan, to shave 0.8 percentage points off economic growth in 2013. The economy doesn't have much growth to give. Vitner predicts it will grow just 1.5 percent in 2013, down from 2.2 percent in 2012.

The biggest hit to the economy is expected to come from the end of a two-year Social Security tax cut. The so-called payroll tax is scheduled to bounce back up to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent in 2011 and 2012, amounting to a $1,000 tax increase for someone earning $50,000 a year.

"Even with this deal, fiscal policy will still be a net drag on economic growth," Vitner said. "The expiration of the payroll tax holiday will reduce after-tax income for all workers and hit lower to middle income families the hardest."

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, calculates that the higher payroll tax will reduce economic growth by 0.6 percentage points in 2013. The other possible tax increases ? including higher taxes on household incomes above $450,000 a year ? will slice just 0.15 percentage points off annual growth, Zandi said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-01-Fiscal%20Cliff-Economy/id-346b58a20a4b4cca80c8d82fc7472ac3

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johnthomasssd: labor day recipes ? desserts | crafts hobbies home ...

Labor Day Recipes - Desserts

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I will think This Interesting ,and you can see Labor Day Recipes ? Desserts Feature Details . The end of summer is here and you want to enjoy a last blow out picnic with your friends and family. These desserts will have you in and out of the kitchen in no time and all them pack well for your picnic at the park.

Make these desserts a day or so ahead of time and sit back and enjoy the time you will save with your friends and family on this holiday.

This book also includes the History of Labor Day.

The Recipes
? Torie?s Pecan Cookies
? Danielle?s Zucchini
? Lisa?s Banana Cake
? Carmita?s Crunchy Cereal Brownies
? Katie?s Buttermilk Sheet Cake
? Josh?s Chocolate Apricot Cake
? Gloria?s Swirl Cookies
? Judy?s Chocolate Pepper Cake
? Melissa?s Lemon Pumpkin Cheesecake
? Martha?s Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies Reading Guideline?

The Labor Day Recipes ? Desserts Product of Holiday Recipes Series

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Labor Day Recipes - Desserts

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Labor Day Recipes - Desserts

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labor day recipes ? desserts

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