An addendum to my blog on care.data, the scheme to link up GP and hospital patient records. The leaflets are supposed to have dropped on to our household mats by now, although mine must have mistakenly ended up in the recycling bin with the gutter-cleaning, pizza-delivering, house-selling offers because I havent seen it.

However, the Royal College of GPs has now thrown a minor spanner in the works by saying that they are worried that the public has not been properly informed about the benefits of, and the safeguards surrounding, the programme.

It does feel a bit late in the day, especially as they say themselves that there is now only seven weeks to go before the national roll out. But they have obviously taken note that some of their own members are worried about the position they find themselves in, having to explain to their patients why it is such a good thing to their patients, without being clear about the safeguards.

The RCGP Honorary Secretary Professor Nigel Mathers said in a statement:

The college remains supportive of the care.data initiative in principle, as we believe it will help the NHS improve the quality of care for patients and to better prepare for outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as flu, through for example, the use of shared, suitably anonymised, data to build up a picture of which treatments work best.

However, we urgently need reassurance about what plans are being made to address current GP and public concerns to restore public confidence in the scheme.

The government and NHS England need to act immediately, otherwise further questions will inevitably be asked about the wisdom of rushing the scheme through before the current gaps in information and awareness have been addressed.

It would be a tragedy if something that could have enormous benefits for patient care falls at the first hurdle because of a failure of communication.

There have been repeated reassurances from the government that the system is safe and they adamantly deny claims that insurance companies will be able to access the data.

See original here:
Government 'must act' to reassure patients over NHS data sharing

Published: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at 5:49 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at 5:49 p.m.

Week after week for perhaps a year or longer a mystery person drove through a west Petaluma neighborhood, tossing multiple bags of household garbage out onto the streets, said Petaluma police.

It became a major topic of conversation and irritation for many Wickersham Park neighborhood residents who dealt with the leavings. Many of them had kept watch, hoping to spot the culprit and some even picked through the spilled rubbish, unsuccessfully looking for a clue to an identity.

Every week we would find it in various spots in the neighborhood. At least two bags of garbage. Nothing you could trace back to anybody, said neighbor Merielle Morshead. Sometimes a car would hit it and there'd be garbage all over the place. The whole neighborhood has been trying to find out who it is.

Area resident Paula Deuweke called the trash dumping beyond obnoxious.

It was always tossed on the sidewalk or the gutter in front of somebody's house, said Dueweke.

It's not the crime of the century but it really does negatively impact morale in a neighborhood when you have to deal with this kind of nonsense, said Dueweke.

After fielding complaints from residents for months about the yellow bags of garbage showing up in the streets, near the park and even in some people's landscaping, police recently conducted a few stakeouts.

As the bags typically appeared between 5-7 a.m. officers one day last week showed up early. They think they narrowly missed the dumper last week and Wednesday morning they say they got him.

At 6:45 a.m. officers arrested a neighborhood resident after seeing him toss a yellow bag from his car's passenger window onto G Street, said Petaluma Sgt. Ken Savano.

See the original post here:
Stakeout ends in arrest of suspected garbage dumper in Petaluma

RoboCop may be blasting his way into theaters this week, but in reality, a cyborg like him is probably still 100 years away from patrolling our streets.

PHOTOS: RoboCop: Science Fact And Fiction

But dont tell that to this team of undergrads from FloridaInternational Universitys Discovery Lab. Theyre already hard at work on a real-life RoboCop.Granted, its nowhere near as advanced as the tech depicted in the movie, but their Telebot is nothing to ignore.

The six-foot tall, 75-pound prototype combines telepresence and robotics to eventually allow disabled police officers and military personal to serve as patrol officers. Built from scratch, Telebot functions via an Oculus Rift headset, a motion-tracking vest, arm bands and gloves all worn by a remote person. The headset gives that person a live-feed of the robots field of vision while the vest relays movements to the robot. The motion-sensing gloves control robots hands.

The Telebot was made possible by Jeremy Robins, alieutenant in the U.S. Navy, who donated $20,000 towards the project to help his disabled veteran friends get back into the work force.

BLOG: X-Ray Glasses Help Surgeons See Cancer

Our next step is to fabricate the external shell of the robot and to tune up the softwareand finally, field test it, said Nagarajan Prabakar, an associate professor in the FIU School of Computing and Information Sciences.

via PopSci

Credit:FIU Discovery Lab

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Real-life RoboCop Taking Shape

Question: After years of neglect, my "lawn" is a complete wreck. It is green, all right, consisting of every green weed known to man. Should I get my soil tested? Should I chemically treat and kill the lawn and start over?

Answer: The answer to your first question is easy: Yes. Getting your soil in good shape is the first step toward growing a healthy lawn, whether you decide to try to save the one you have or start over. A soil test will tell you which nutrients your soil is lacking, so you can feed it accordingly. It will also tell you the soil's pH level, which determines whether the grass plants can use the nutrients in the soil.

There are other things you can do to improve your lawn, including giving it a core aeration and top-dressing it with compost. Mowing properly is important, too, because it helps the grass stay healthy so it can out-compete the weeds.

From your description, however, it sounds like you're going to have to renovate the lawn, either by over-seeding or replacing it. Over-seeding involves dethatching and aerating or slitting the lawn, and then spreading seed over the existing grass. Replacing the lawn is what you referred to: killing the existing grass and planting new.

-- McClatchy-Tribune News

Read the original here:
Lawn & Garden: What can be done with a lawn gone bad?

May 1 (two to three weeks) squash, pumpkins, cucumbers, zucchini, watermelon, muskmelon.

Materials needed

Use soil-less seed starting mixes like Jiffy Mix, Miracle Gro Seeding Mix or one recommended by your local greenhouse.

Containers should be about 2 inches deep, such as greenhouse trays, pie tins, egg cartons or any trays with bottom drain holes added. Use separate trays for each type because seeds grow at different rates. Also needed are wooden or plastic labels or stakes. We make our own by cutting plastic milk jugs into stakes 4 inches long and 1 inch wide.

Why not seed directly into the final larger pots or cell-packs? Why seed into trays and then transplant? Because its easier to provide optimum germination conditions for a seed tray than a larger grouping of pots. Seedlings become stockier as you transplant them slightly deeper into the final container.

Procedure

1. Moisten the seeding mix the previous day by adding water to the bag and stirring by hand. Dry mixes can be difficult to water after seeding.

2. Fill containers almost to the top with mix, then gently firm and level.

3. Seeds may be broadcast over the surface of the mix or planted in rows. Being of German stock, I prefer neat rows. Press a ruler or pencil into the mix to make shallow furrows.

4. Planting depth is important, and its usually shallower than we might expect. Small seeds like petunia can be merely pressed into the mix after sowing. Larger seeds can be sown into a furrow and covered with mix, or place the seeds on the surface and sprinkle mix over the top. As a rule of thumb sow seeds at a depth equal to two or three times the seeds diameter. Its better to err on the shallow side.

See the original post here:
Growing Together: Scoffing at the Season: Banish winter by starting seeds indoors

DENHAM SPRINGS, LA (WAFB) -

Amanda Toups made her way around her muddy yard Monday afternoon in the newly constructed Quail Creek neighborhood near Denham Springs.

Toups says she received a picture from her husband last Friday showing a Ward 2 Water excavator on her front lawn. Toups says workers told her husband they had to dig up her yard to install water lines for the new house across the street. A big dirt mound was left behind and Toups wanted answers.

"I started to contact Ward 2 and said when are you going to come out and fix this and they said we just have to let nature run its course refusing to give any kind of help," said Toups.

Toups is not alone. There is another yard down the street with a mound of mud left behind. Toups says she continued to call and was eventually referred to Ward 2's head foreman who she says refused to do anything but fill the hole with dirt because the company had right of way.

"I was shocked, mad, upset," said Toups. "It's just not fair that they can come on your personal property do whatever they want, never notify you and not even leave a note on the door explaining what happened."

The damage to Toup's yard is beyond the six foot right away which is why she believes Ward 2 Water should be responsible.

In a phone call, Ward 2 Water Manager Preston Killcrease explained normal procedure is to fill in holes with removed dirt and spread it evenly. Killcrease also vowed to make sure Toups was satisfied.

"We will do anything to please the customer," added Killcrease. "Anything it takes I'm all for it."

Killcrease also requested that we give Toups his cell phone number and after a quick call with him Toups said she was feeling optimistic.

See more here:
Livingston Parish resident says water company damaged lawn

QUEENSBURY For SUNY Adirondack students who smoke, the gazebos on campus offer a safe haven.

I come out here to enjoy my smoke after all the stress from school, said Whitney Morehouse of Lake George.

Morehouse also likes the chance to socialize with other smokers.

Theres so many people that I dont see on a regular basis that Ill see out here, she said.

The gazebos are the colleges only designated smoking areas, but that will change in the fall when the campus goes tobacco-free.

The Board of Trustees in December voted to move forward with the plan to prohibit cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and electronic cigarettes from campus. The decision brings the college in line with a SUNY goal of getting all campuses smoke-free.

College officials are stressing education instead of punishment and are hosting workshops next week for students and staff looking to snuff their smoking habits. The first workshop will start at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 19 in the Miller Auditorium of Dearlove Hall. A second workshop is slated for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 20.

Some students dont plan to attend the sessions. Tricia Pratt, of Wilton, said she has been smoking for 25 years and doesnt plan to quit.

Ive figured its my only bad habit, she said.

It is a habit brought on by stress, say smokers, and its hard to stop.

Read more:
SUNY Adirondack offering workshops to help students quit smoking before campus goes tobacco-free

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EXPERIENCE NATURE -paesaggio neve- natura relax,inverno,video rilassanti,video arredamento,feng shui - Video