Nurses at a Texas hospital where a Liberian man died of Ebola described a confused and chaotic response to his arrival in the emergency room, alleging in a statement Tuesday that he languished for hours in a room with other patients and that hospital authorities resisted isolating him.

UPDATE: Second healthcare worker tests positive for Ebola

In addition, they said, the nurses tending him had flimsy protective gear and no proper training from hospital administrators in handling such a patient.

The allegations, made under unusual circumstances, provided the first detailed portrait of Thomas Eric Duncan's second trip to the emergency room, where he arrived by ambulance days after doctors had sent him home with a fever, a headache, abdominal pain and a prescription for antibiotics.

Tuesday's claims came during a conference call with reporters in which none of the nurses from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital spoke or was identified to reporters. A statement outlining a litany of damning assertions was read by Deborah Burger, co-president of National Nurses United. The Oakland-based nurses union does not represent the Dallas nurses, who are nonunionized, but has been vocal about what it says are hospitals' failures to prepare for Ebola.

The Dallas nurses asked the union to read their statement so they could air complaints anonymously and without fear of losing their jobs, National Nurses United Executive Director RoseAnn DeMoro said from Oakland. DeMoro refused to say how many nurses signed off on the letter or how many were on the media call, but she said all of them worked at Texas Health Presbyterian and had been involved in Duncan's care or had direct knowledge of what had occurred after he arrived by ambulance Sept. 28.

They were spurred to speak out after their colleague Nina Pham, a 26-year-old registered nurse, contracted Ebola while treating Duncan, according to DeMoro. She said the nurses were angered over what they perceived to be health officials' suggestions that Pham made a mistake that led to her exposure to the virus, which is believed to have killed more than 4,400 people in West Africa.

The nurses' statement alleged that when Duncan was brought to Texas Health Presbyterian by ambulance with Ebola-like symptoms, he was left for several hours, not in isolation, in an area where up to seven other patients were. Subsequently, a nurse supervisor arrived and demanded that he be moved to an isolation unit, yet faced stiff resistance from other hospital authorities, they alleged.

Duncan's lab samples were sent through the usual hospital tube system without being specifically sealed and hand-delivered. The result is that the entire tube system was potentially contaminated, they said.

The statement described a hospital with no clear rules on how to handle Ebola patients, despite months of alerts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta about the possibility of Ebola coming to the United States.

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Nurses at Dallas hospital describe poor safety measures with Ebola victim

Lynchburg, VA- Lynchburg City Council will vote Tuesday night on the naming of the Lynchburg Public Library's new story time room.

The plan is to name it the "Lynn Dodge Story Time Room" after Lynn Dodge who spent close to 40 years working at the Lynchburg Public Library.

In her retirement, she gave a donation of more than a hundred thousand dollars for the new room.

Other donors include St. John's Episcopal Church, Friends of the Library, Liberty University and the Greater Lynchburg Community Trust.

Dodge says it's a community wide effort.

"I'm glad I was able to help because it's just a true honor because I just believe so much in the power of reading, and the power of succeeding in life because you can read comfortably," said Dodge.

Construction for the new addition should be complete by the end of the year.

Read more here:
Council To Vote On Naming Story Time Room

Tour of the Family Room Addition
We have completed the family room addition, take a tour through the finished space!

By: Ally Synstad

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Tour of the Family Room Addition - Video

UPDATE: Weve learned today that since the liquor license sale is still pending, Peacock Room may stick around longer than October, which we originally reported as the official closing time. We regret not contacting Peacock owner Carmen Oleander to confirm the information provided below. There is a possibility the sale may not go through, in which case Peacock may continue operating until a new agreement is reached or alternate solution is found. We will post more information when we get it.

In August, the Golden Pelicans effectively closed Bar-BQ Bar, performing the last concert the bar/occasional venue would host before the space was transformed into Olde 64. Now, Golden Pelicans will do the same for one of Mills 50s favorite venues, the Peacock Room, when they perform their Halloween Smashtacular with Gino and the Goons, covering AC/DCs Poweragefor no cover at 10 p.m. Friday,Oct. 31 (RSVP), and marking the final show in Peacock Room as we currently know it.

According to Peacock Rooms Phil Longo, this isnt a sign of struggle so much as the natural end of the venues varied presence on Mills Avenue. The barhad recently gone throughmany transitions no smoking, outdoor patio area, improved stage and most recently, the addition visual appealof thenewly deemed Shine Shed Room butwith reluctance,current owner Carmen Oleandercame to the difficult decision to let the venue go and sell the liquor license.

What will happen nextin the space is uncertain.All the October shows currently on the schedule will happen as planned, but come November, as far as we know at this time, the doors will be closed and thevacancy will be open to new ownership possibilities.

Longo says he hopes the space stays in the family the core community that provides the pulse to Mills 50. He also feels Peacock may be overdue for a reboot because of thefrequentcultural pivots the bar has experienced, especially in the past two years. While its a blow to the music community and folks who liked the dimly lit but vibrant atmosphere, were curious to see whats next for the Room, because every now and again, you,as AC/DC suggests on Powerage, gotta change your tune.

Tags: gino and the goons, golden pelicans, halloween concert, halloween show, Mills 50, mills 50 halloween, orlando bars, peacock room, peacock room closing

See the original post here:
UPDATE: Peacock Room is may be closing at the end of October

HYDERABAD: The Telangana government has instructed officials in all districts to be prepared for any eventuality arising from the impact of Cyclone Hudhud that is expected to bring widespread rain in the state in the next few days.

The government set up a control room in the state secretariat here on Saturday in addition to similar control rooms in all district headquarters. Officials have been instructed to pay particular attention to low-lying areas prone to flooding, bunds and railway tracks near water bodies.

A press release from the chief minister's office said that chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, who is on a visit to New Delhi, has instructed state revenue and police officials to be prepared to extend any assistance to those affected by the rain. He also instructed mandal level officials to keep themselves abreast of the developing weather situation.

Telephone numbers of the control room at the secretariat here are 23454088 and 23454293. The control room would function for 24 hours after the passage of cyclone over the state, the release added.

Stay updated on the go with The Times of Indias mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.

Go here to see the original:
Cyclone Hudhud effect: Telangana prepares for heavy rain

In August, the Golden Pelicans effectively closed Bar-BQ Bar, performing the last concert the bar/occasional venue would host before the space was transformed into Olde 64. Now, Golden Pelicans will do the same for one of Mills 50s favorite venues, the Peacock Room, when they perform their Halloween Smashtacular with Gino and the Goons, covering AC/DCs Poweragefor no cover at 10 p.m. Friday,Oct. 31 (RSVP), and marking the final show in Peacock Room as we currently know it.

According to Peacock Rooms Phil Longo, this isnt a sign of struggle so much as the natural end of the venues varied presence on Mills Avenue. The barhad recently gone throughmany transitions no smoking, outdoor patio area, improved stage and most recently, the addition visual appealof thenewly deemed Shine Shed Room butwith reluctance,current owner Carmen Oleandercame to the difficult decision to let the venue go and sell the liquor license.

What will happen nextin the space is uncertain.All the October shows currently on the schedule will happen as planned, but come November, as far as we know at this time, the doors will be closed and thevacancy will be open to new ownership possibilities.

Longo says he hopes the space stays in the family the core community that provides the pulse to Mills 50. He also feels Peacock may be overdue for a reboot because of thefrequentcultural pivots the bar has experienced, especially in the past two years. While its a blow to the music community and folks who liked the dimly lit but vibrant atmosphere, were curious to see whats next for the Room, because every now and again, you,as AC/DC suggests on Powerage, gotta change your tune.

Tags: gino and the goons, golden pelicans, halloween concert, halloween show, Mills 50, mills 50 halloween, orlando bars, peacock room, peacock room closing

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Peacock Room is closing at the end of October

NORTHWOOD | Construction crews are making progress on an addition to the Northwood Public Library.

The approximately 2,200-square-foot addition will be used for a public meeting room. Benefactors Gregg Olson and his wife, Sandy Olson, are paying for construction.

The exterior is up and enclosed. Crews are working on the sidewalk leading to the building and the addition's brick exterior.

When completed, the addition will have a separate entrance and also be accessible through the library, 906 First Ave. S.

Officials are hopeful the project will be completed by the end of the year, said Library Director Connie Kenison. Construction began in early June.

The space also will contain a kitchenette and restroom. It will be handicapped-accessible.

Reservations will be made through Northwoods city offices.

-- Molly Montag

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Northwood library addition taking shape

Final Stages of the Family Room Addition

By: Lane Homes Remodeling

View original post here:
Final Stages of the Family Room Addition - Video

This image from Microsoft Research's "Mano a Mano" paper shows how three projector/Kinect pairs can create believable 3D virtual objects from two different perspectives.

Microsoft may be taking an official wait and see approach before following companies like Oculus and Sony down the virtual reality headset path. That isn't stopping the company's research arm from looking into interesting ways to use Kinect and projector technology to create holodeck-style augmented reality experiences in the living room, though. Microsoft Research has prepared a number of interesting demos and papers on these lines for the Association for Computing Machinery's User Interface Software and Technology Symposium, showing off just how far those efforts have come and how they could lead to interesting new forms of gaming in the future.

The first project, RoomAlive, promises to "transform any room into an immersive augmented virtual gaming experience," as the researchers put it. The system uses six paired projector/Kinect units, mounted to the ceiling so they have somewhat overlapping fields of view. These units can auto-calibrate themselves with a series of projected light patterns, transforming their individual Kinect depth maps into a unified 3D point-cloud model of the room.

From there, RoomAlive translates the point data into a series of vertical and horizontal surfaces representing the walls and furniture, then translates that into a 3D environment in the Unity game engine. Using that virtual representation of the room, the system then figures out how to project a unified image on those walls and surfaces, warping the projection so it appears correct on each surface. The effect is akin to transforming the entire room into a computer screen or monitor, complete with player-tracking through the array of Kinect cameras.

In addition to some non-interactive demos, MSR showed off a few gaming concepts that use the system. In one "whack-a-mole" game, users, tracked by Kinect, can touch or shoot at critters that appear on the wall. In another, a gun-toting character controlled with a handheld controller runs across the wall, down on to a table, and then onto the floor while being chased by robots. The final demo puts virtual spike traps on the wall for users to dodge and bathes the room in red when and ifthey are hit.

In a similar ACM demo, called Mano-a-Mano, a team of two MSR researchers uses a trio of projector/Kinect combos to create an augmented reality effect that provides correct three-dimensional perspectives for two different users. Each projector displays virtual objects against the walls, floors, and fixtures in a room in such a way that they appear to float in the middle of the room. The apparent perspective and size of those virtual objects changes as the user's position and head angle are detected by Kinectto give the illusion of real depth and position in the middle of the room.

That's a decent faux 3D solution for a single user, but how can such a system account for two people looking at a virtual object from different angles? That's where the multiple projector setup comes in, giving each user their own view of the virtual scene. By "assuming that each user is unaware of graphics projected on the wall behind them or their own bodies," as the researchers explain, the system can show two different perspectives of the same scene that look correct to each user. In the demo, the system is shown for a simple game of catch and for a "combat style game" where a user can summon fireballs in their hand and fling them at the user on the other side of the room.

The last of MSR's ACM demos that might be of interest to gamers and game makers is Handpose, a system that adds a degree of detail and articulation to Kinect-based hand and finger tracking. With a new tracking algorithm, researchers appear to be able to distinguish individual fingers and hand gestures with much more detail than was previously possible with a standard Kinect v2 sensor.

Users are shown throwing complex finger positions at many different angles while the tracking system quickly and accurately tracks those positions in a 3D model of the hand. This tracking is "robust to tracking failure," works up to "several meters" away from the sensor, and works regardless of where the camera is positioned, even if the tracking camera is moving, the researchers say. In a video demo, users are shown using the system to easily grasp and move virtual objects simply by moving their fingers together and apart.

These kinds of augmented reality experiments aren't exactly new for Microsoft and Microsoft Research. MSR's latest demos pivot off of IllumiRoom, an impressive demonstration from last year that showed projectors being used to extend game action past the bounds of a TV screen. And let's not forget that Microsoft's 2012 "Project Fortaleza" leak and subsequent patents both point to an interest in heads-up augmented reality displays.

Link:
Microsoft Research demos our potential, holodeck-style gaming future

By Ian Bauer, Milpitas Post

Owners of Bay 101 Casino have solely funded a Nov. 4 ballot measure that if passed by voters could allow the relocation of the card room from San Jose to Milpitas, according to campaign finance reports released this week.

Bumb & Associates Inc. and affiliated entities including Bay 101 contributed nearly $314,000 in the effort to bring their card room here.

By contrast, Voters Against Measure E, the grassroots group opposed to a card room's presence in the city, raised $5,550.

Filed on Monday, state-mandated Fair Political Practice Commission statements disclosed campaign monies raised by Milpitas' mayoral and city council candidates as well as both Measure E campaigns for the filing period July 1 through Sept. 30, for all who have committees.

The Bumb family, who filed their required campaign statements Tuesday and Wednesday, hope Measure E's passage will allow a card room to operate here. Proposed is a 10.5-percent card room tax that will result in approximately $8.4 million in annual general fund revenue to the city and possibly gross $80-million each year for the card room operator. If voters pass the measure, the card room would locate on the outskirts of the city, west of McCarthy Boulevard.

To counter the card room's advances here, No on E received a $2,000 donation from the group's spokesperson, former Milpitas school trustee Mike McInerney. Group member Jerry Epps also donated $2,500.

In addition, No on E also received $100 from K & P Reed Enterprises Inc. of Milpitas; $200 from Earl Riebold of Milpitas; and $350 from Elizabeth Cilker, co-owner of Cilker Farms and Milpitas Center -- a West Calaveras Boulevard shopping center not far from the possible card room site.

Mayor and city council races

Eleven people are running for Milpitas City Council this year, with three stepping forward as mayoral contenders. They are Daniel Bobay, 59, vice president of Milpitas Unified's Board of Education; Mayor Jose "Joe" Esteves, 67, who's running for re-election; and retired engineer Robert Marini.

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Measure E campaign discloses $250,000 in donations for card room in Milpitas