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Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Better estrogen-testing methods needed to improve patient care
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Public release date: 5-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jenni Glenn Gingery
jgingery@endo-society.org
301-941-0240
The Endocrine Society
Endocrine Society issues position statement on estradiol measurement
Chevy Chase, MDIn a Position Statement unveiled today, The Endocrine Society advocates that all methods for measuring estrogens, which play a crucial role in human biology, be made traceable to a common standard.
In addition to the well-known role of estrogens in sexual development, these hormones, particularly estradiol, have a significant impact on the health of the skin, blood vessels, bones, muscle, kidney, liver, digestive system, brain, lung and pancreas. Studies have linked changes in estradiol levels to coronary artery disease, stroke and breast cancer.
"Estradiol levels need to be accurately, precisely and consistently measured to provide the proper care for patients from the cradle to the grave," said the statement's lead author, William Rosner, MD, of Columbia University. "Health care providers rely on estradiol testing to diagnose and help treat a variety of conditions, including infertility, osteoporosis and breast cancer. Current testing methods need to evolve to meet patients' needs."
The statement identifies a number of issues with the current testing methods used for a typical patient's care. Most of the tests used in the clinical setting cannot detect the low estradiol concentrations found in men, children, menopausal women and breast cancer patients taking drugs that decrease estradiol levels. In addition, other compounds in the body can interfere with the testing, leading to results that can be 10 times the true estradiol level. Quality assessments have found large variations in measurements performed by different laboratories or with different pieces of equipment. Accurate results are needed so that diagnoses are not missed, and patients and health care providers can make informed decisions about treatment options.
In addition, current testing methods limit the ability to generalize results from any given study to the population at large. Furthermore, in the current environment, data from different studies often cannot be compared because measurements and standards were not uniform.
Although a "gold standard" estradiol testing method using mass spectrometry exists, its cost and complexity have discouraged many clinical and research laboratories from implementing this approach.
"The Endocrine Society calls for physicians, members of the research community, government agencies, patient advocates and insurers to collaborate to make accurate testing more accessible," Rosner said.
Recommendations in the statement include:
- The development of a universally recognized estradiol standard to which all measurements can be traced;
- The development of estradiol reference ranges specific for age, gender and stage of reproductive development, including puberty/adolescence, menstrual cycle and menopause;
- A wider recognition among physicians, laboratory staff and researchers that low estradiol values in men, children and menopausal women obtained using current clinical testing methods are likely to be untrustworthy; and
- The creation of new methods capable of accurately and precisely measuring small concentrations of estradiol in routine clinical specimens. Until such methods are available, a system needs to be implemented to continuously evaluate existing testing and facilitate the improvement of estradiol measurements.
Other authors of the statement include: Susan Hankinson of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Patrick Sluss of Massachusetts General Hospital; Hubert Vesper of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Margaret Wierman of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The statement, "Challenges to the Measurement of Estradiol: An Endocrine Society Position Statement," appears in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
###
Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 16,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endo-society.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 5-Mar-2013[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Jenni Glenn Gingery
jgingery@endo-society.org
301-941-0240
The Endocrine Society
Endocrine Society issues position statement on estradiol measurement
Chevy Chase, MDIn a Position Statement unveiled today, The Endocrine Society advocates that all methods for measuring estrogens, which play a crucial role in human biology, be made traceable to a common standard.
In addition to the well-known role of estrogens in sexual development, these hormones, particularly estradiol, have a significant impact on the health of the skin, blood vessels, bones, muscle, kidney, liver, digestive system, brain, lung and pancreas. Studies have linked changes in estradiol levels to coronary artery disease, stroke and breast cancer.
"Estradiol levels need to be accurately, precisely and consistently measured to provide the proper care for patients from the cradle to the grave," said the statement's lead author, William Rosner, MD, of Columbia University. "Health care providers rely on estradiol testing to diagnose and help treat a variety of conditions, including infertility, osteoporosis and breast cancer. Current testing methods need to evolve to meet patients' needs."
The statement identifies a number of issues with the current testing methods used for a typical patient's care. Most of the tests used in the clinical setting cannot detect the low estradiol concentrations found in men, children, menopausal women and breast cancer patients taking drugs that decrease estradiol levels. In addition, other compounds in the body can interfere with the testing, leading to results that can be 10 times the true estradiol level. Quality assessments have found large variations in measurements performed by different laboratories or with different pieces of equipment. Accurate results are needed so that diagnoses are not missed, and patients and health care providers can make informed decisions about treatment options.
In addition, current testing methods limit the ability to generalize results from any given study to the population at large. Furthermore, in the current environment, data from different studies often cannot be compared because measurements and standards were not uniform.
Although a "gold standard" estradiol testing method using mass spectrometry exists, its cost and complexity have discouraged many clinical and research laboratories from implementing this approach.
"The Endocrine Society calls for physicians, members of the research community, government agencies, patient advocates and insurers to collaborate to make accurate testing more accessible," Rosner said.
Recommendations in the statement include:
- The development of a universally recognized estradiol standard to which all measurements can be traced;
- The development of estradiol reference ranges specific for age, gender and stage of reproductive development, including puberty/adolescence, menstrual cycle and menopause;
- A wider recognition among physicians, laboratory staff and researchers that low estradiol values in men, children and menopausal women obtained using current clinical testing methods are likely to be untrustworthy; and
- The creation of new methods capable of accurately and precisely measuring small concentrations of estradiol in routine clinical specimens. Until such methods are available, a system needs to be implemented to continuously evaluate existing testing and facilitate the improvement of estradiol measurements.
Other authors of the statement include: Susan Hankinson of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Patrick Sluss of Massachusetts General Hospital; Hubert Vesper of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Margaret Wierman of the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
The statement, "Challenges to the Measurement of Estradiol: An Endocrine Society Position Statement," appears in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
###
Founded in 1916, The Endocrine Society is the world's oldest, largest and most active organization devoted to research on hormones and the clinical practice of endocrinology. Today, The Endocrine Society's membership consists of over 16,000 scientists, physicians, educators, nurses and students in more than 100 countries. Society members represent all basic, applied and clinical interests in endocrinology. The Endocrine Society is based in Chevy Chase, Maryland. To learn more about the Society and the field of endocrinology, visit our site at http://www.endo-society.org. Follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/#!/EndoMedia.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/tes-bet030513.php
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Curtains down for the black hole firewall paradox: Making gravity safe for Einstein again
Mar. 6, 2013 ? Research by scientists at the University of York has revealed new insights into the life and death of black holes. Their findings dispel the so-called firewall paradox which shocked the physics community when it was announced in 2012 since its predictions about large black holes contradicted Einstein's crowning achievement -- the theory of general relativity. Those results suggested that anyone falling into a black hole would be burned up as they crossed its edge -- the so-called event horizon.
Now Professor Sam Braunstein and Dr Stefano Pirandola have extinguished the fire. In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, they invoke quantum information theory, a modern branch of quantum mechanics that treats light and atoms as carriers of information. The key insight from quantum mechanics is the existence of `spooky' quantum entanglement across a black hole's event horizon.
Professor Braunstein says: "Quantum mechanics shows that entanglement can exist across the event horizon, between particles inside and outside the black hole. But should this entanglement ever vanish, a barrier of energetic particles would be created: an energetic curtain (or firewall) would descend around the horizon of the black hole.
"We are the first to show the necessity of entanglement across all black hole event horizons and to consider what happens as black holes age. The greater the entanglement, the later the curtain descends. But if the entanglement is maximal, the firewall never occurs. Indeed, entanglement has long been believed to exist for some types of black holes, taking on exactly this maximum value. Our work confirms and generalizes this claim."
Stephen Hawking was the first to consider information flow in black holes, arguing that aging black holes must hoard information about everything they swallow. Professor Braunstein adds: "When quantum mechanics, and in particular entanglement, are included in the story, Hawking's prediction holds for the longest time possible. Our results not only back up Einstein's theory of gravity, but also point to quantum information theory as a powerful tool for disentangling the deep mysteries of the Universe."
Professor Braunstein and Dr Pirandola, of the Department of Computer Science at York, collaborated with Professor ?yczkowski, of the Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of York.
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Journal Reference:
- Samuel L. Braunstein, Stefano Pirandola, Karol ?yczkowski. Better Late than Never: Information Retrieval from Black Holes. Phys. Rev. Lett., 110, 101301 (2013) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.101301
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/matter_energy/physics/~3/vr1fn6rbmWo/130306084151.htm
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Self-Organizing Organizations (For Real)
Posted by Emmanuel Gaillot on Mar 04, 2013
Everyone and their grandmother in the Agile world raves about self-organizing teams and the value of self-organization. Yet very few are willing to push self-organization to the next step: to actually work without managers / coordinators / benevolent seniors, in short, without anyone (including you) telling their mate (including yourself) what they must do. There are reasons for this: self-organization is no picnic, it doesn?t work, and everyone knows it. We at /ut7 didn?t know better, and we took nothing for granted. So we?ve tried self-organizing. For real. And we?ve learned some lessons on our way about self-organization, and life.
It all started in July 2011 when we, the workers of /ut7, bought back our company and transformed it into a co-operative business. Or maybe it started earlier, in 2010 when some of us proclaimed the company under Permanent State of Open Space. Or maybe even earlier, when one by one, we heard about this company hiring agilists who'd like to apply what they knew and believed in at company-level. So much for certainties: in self-organized structures you never really know when and where things start.
/ut7 is a collective of seasoned agilists with a solid expertise in software programming, product definition, team dynamics and self-organization. Our clients invite us to come back because they love how we constantly deliver working software on time, no matter how desperate the case is. Our students return to our trainings because they understand we're fully dedicated to raise the bar of expectations when it comes to defining what a professional coder is. Our friends visit us and hang around because we open our space to them for free. And perhaps because we're nice people. Or because there's always beer in the fridge.
Our company fully belongs to the workers. They may decide for the future of the company, they can enjoy a substantial part of the benefits generated by their work, but they can't speculate on the value of the company itself and make profit by selling their share.
/ut7 is one of the rare companies in IT that consistently operates under principles of self-organization. But what is self-organization, at company level? Basically, it means that the company organizes itself according to the free will of each individual in the company, all of them freely choosing to co-operate for achieving some goals. Let's take a closer look at this.
The Law of two feet
Our core interpretation of self-organization is the state in which you feel while being in an Open Space Conference. In 2009, three of us were seasoned Open Space Conference organizers; some others had experienced at least one Open Space Conference, so it became an easy point of reference. And if we wanted to feel like in an Open Space, why not use that same framework in our workplace?
All meetings and activities in general (including doing administrative tasks and client work) are public and publicized. Anyone may attend and participate, or act as an observer. No activity or meeting is mandatory. While there is value to having something done, we find it more valuable to receive signals that nobody is motivated to do something, because it tells us we shouldn't pursue this path. This of course could mean that some critical, not-so-gratifying tasks may remain undone and hurt us in the long-term. On the other hand, it helps us to check frequently whether we as a group still want to make the company function or not. As long as we're here, it means we're still committed as a group.
To ensure that the company may keep honoring its various commitments to its clients, its partners and the French regulations, we work in pairs. Whenever we can, we rotate the pairs on regular basis, to keep a fresh eye on the context and to accommodate individual schedules. We do this both for administrative tasks and clients' work.
Once a week we hold a formal Open Space, with opening, marketplace scheduling and closing. We use it to discuss what needs to be discussed prior to making an informed decision and to exchange information. We also use it to share whatever drives our passion at the moment, usually in the form of production activities such as programming, writing articles or songs, cleaning up or playing games of all kinds, some serious, some not. Every now and then, we invite people from outside to participate to the Open Space, usually for half a day so that we still have time to discuss private matters.
We've put "The Law Of Two Feet" (or, as some of us say, Bipodocracy) at the core of our governance scheme. That is, if you're where you are, doing what you're doing, this means you're either learning something or contributing to the group.
How do we make sure no one is slacking off? The short answer is we don't. (The longer, more subtle answer is based on cultivating trust, communication and healthy expectations about others.) We trust everyone to do their best and to act for the good of the company. When someone does less than others, we say "from each according to his abilities." This is frustrating at times. This can be discouraging to the point that some may prefer to leave the group rather than accepting to do more while earning the same. When you are able to deal with it, though, you increasingly find happiness in what you do, regardless of what others earn (or don't).
You're not the boss of me
Our company has no manager. Long-term orientations are decided collectively, unanimously. As long as there's no consensus, we keep on discussing the options. Short-term decisions are handled under the principle that those who do, get to decide: what they'll do, how they'll do it, when, for how long and for how much. Others in the company, those who don't do a specific thing, might wish for other methods, higher production rates or better outcomes. They might express their frustration, bring up an alternative point of view, but in no way can anyone tell another what they have to do. The only way to (maybe) change the course of action is to participate in the doing of the task.
Which brings a tough challenge: how do you get stuff, any stuff done, when you are constantly torn between doing what you feel is the most important task at hand and fixing all the wrongs you see the others doing? How do you decide to try out something new, when a failure could financially impact the company? How do you make choices, when nobody is there to tell you what to do?
We believe at? /ut7 that everyone is equipped to make an informed decision about their work priorities since they're aware of the financial situation of the company. We have an open accounting books policy. Everyone at /ut7 can check to the cent what amounts we've collectively earned and spent, and consult a conservative estimation of future expenses and incomes. This, of course, includes salaries. Everyone is then free to derive from these numbers whatever metrics they see fit and act accordingly. The sole indicator that's been consistently measured and publicized over the last two years is the time we have left before money runs out, should we not sign any new contract.
And now you say: There is no coordinated action? No common goal? No shared vision? Just people acting as they see fit according to their own interpretation of how financially healthy the company is?
And you're right. We've given up with shared vision and common goals as we feel that they are largely over-rated. Shared vision is a cool thing to have, of course, as it speeds everything up big time. But developing a self-organizing group with shared vision exercises is going to hurt everyone. We know, we've tried it many times in many ways. It's easy to come to a shared vision in an environment where some boss tells you what to do or tells you where to go in the form of a long-term goal. However, when the sky is the limit, things get tougher. You need to go personal, to talk about what deeply matters to you and to accept what deeply matters to others. This is scary. You'll have to share your vulnerabilities and trust the other won't use them against you. This doesn't happen with the click of a switch. You have to practice this everyday until the fear of getting hurt isn't an obstacle anymore. Rushing to a shared vision state in the group will only lead to platitudes such as "we want to do great things that our clients will love and be glad to buy," and will lower everyone's morale.
Our biggest surprise was to realize that a self-organized company can actually function without a shared vision. As long as there's room for everyone to go where their two feet lead them, and as long as the company keeps existing, what else do you need? So, instead of focusing on shared vision, we've switched our attention to making sure everyone was getting positive outcomes from whatever was being done, and to solve situations where one suffers from negative outcomes. This is a time-consuming practice but it has proved itself to be much more efficient than setting a long-term goal that we would never quite manage to define.
This is still a risky path, though. In times of financial crisis, it's tempting to look for individual financial contributions, compare "personal rentabilities" and despise those who aren't putting in "enough effort." We've been there, and it can get ugly. The main problem is that it's not easy to measure the actual financial contribution of an individual. And while solidarity is cool to talk about, it's hard to live by. There's no easy answer to this. Education, patience and communication help. Equal wages helps. Doing things in pairs and switching pairs helps too. And sometimes it's still not helpful enough and you have to let go, and welcome someone else's frustration and do the best with it. Just as in life.
Find your own path
Self-organizing means believing there are no preconceived solutions on how to get and remain self-organized. Every self-organizing structure will have to come up with their own practices, adapted to their context and (most) possibly irrelevant to others. This comes as no surprise, when you think about it. If there were such thing as "the" way to self-organization teams wouldn't be self-organizing anymore, they'd merely follow the voice or the writings of enlightened gurus.
We've grown from three to thirteen employees in about a year, to shrink back to four in about two years. Try to run a self-organizing company with thirteen people, and you'll see what kind of mess you get into. Self-organization is incredibly hard. Partly because when you disagree with someone, no manager will jump in and tell how to settle the disagreement. It is tempting to "stay put in his or her corner and take no notice of the others." Still, all together, you have to run the company and while you may easily bypass minor differences of opinion, it is much harder to ignore what the others do when you believe it jeopardizes the company's future. Ironically enough, chances are high the others think the same about you. "Hell is the other people." You can't just ignore the others, when what they do makes you cringe. You can't either force them to stop.
Some felt they didn't get enough room to explore their own endeavors. They expressed their concern of not feeling represented in the orientations the company was taking. This is something tricky: you do want to accommodate everyone's passion, and it's hard to do so and not lose your own stamina. In the end, we've noticed that the people who weren't feeling represented were also the ones who had chosen to spend much of their time at clients' workplace or doing work from home. This had unbalanced the relationship between a core of workers, who was actively maintaining contact and communication, and others who were more peripheral to this core. We realized that this was a self-re-enforcing loop, which made it even harder to get back in touch with those who weren't feeling heard. Since then, we make sure that we allocate at least a day a week for face-to-face communication.
And thus, some of us have stayed, believing they could overcome frustrations, no matter what. And it looks like we're actually getting somewhere. The Law of Two Feet helps. Open Space is just a start, though. The four of us have a practical experience in coaching practices and therapeutic tools, mostly from the Virginia Satir's system. It helps us to face with difficult conversations with courage. One format we use weekly is Temperature Reading. It not only helps to express what matters to you, be they appreciations, angers and worries, puzzles, new facts and rumors, or hopes and wishes, but also to hear others express vibrantly what dearly matters to them, and to be in touch with your own liveliness in reflection.
Of course, this isn't as rosy as it may seem. Finding out collectively what you're good at, what you want to do, and how you're going to do it takes a significant portion of your time and soon money runs short. About a year ago, we've filed for the French equivalent of Chapter 11 of Bankruptcy Code. That was six months after buying the company back. We thought we had gotten to self-organization, but we'd mostly run out of money.
What is the point of putting so much effort in self-organizing, then? To some, to us at least, it is about living a work life more in accordance with your values such as freedom, responsibility, solidarity and self-improvement. When you're this kind of person, finding yourself a healthy place in the vast grimness of the actual work milieu, finding people who understand you, whom you trust and among whom you can develop your self, can become an end in itself. A healthy work environment, mutual help, the permission to experiment and maybe fail may become the main outcomes you want the company to produce. Problem is, by doing so you allocate time, money and energy to things the rest of the economic systems doesn't value much. Even if you're selling great products, it's just a matter of time before some other company copies you and does the same with a "better" optimization of their resources and becomes a tough competitor. It may feel warm inside, but it's a cold world out there.
Conclusion: you leap and the net appears
It's been a year since we've filed for bankruptcy and we're still there. Our clients have all supported us while fully knowing our situation. New ones have even come to us. Are we eventually doing better? It's always hard to figure out if this is success, finally, or just a strike of luck that will pass, or a miserable tragedy we fail to see for what it is. You go on the self-organization path and everyone tells you how it will never work, and who knows, they could even be right. But life doesn't work either, it always fails and still, it doesn't prevent one to try and do one's best. So you try and do your best at setting up a self-organizing company. And you never know if you've succeeded enough to tell others that it can actually work.
Eventually, self-organization stops being a goal you want to reach, and turns into the way you work and live. It's only one way of living among many others, but you know deep inside that this one fits you well. You practice it again and again, and it stops being practice. It's still less-than-perfect, but you've stopped striving for perfection. You find out you can live with the mess, the uncertainty and the frustrations.
And then something amazing happens. You realize that you manage to work out problems in the company with others, that you achieve goals you believed were beyond your reach. That you're getting more confident about your abilities and your self-worth. That you face tough decisions with courage and honesty. That you actually like waking up in the morning to go to work. That not only your work, but also your whole life has a meaning. That you're doing something that matters to you, and to a group of now intimate friends who support your growth. Fears, doubts, uncertainties are still there everyday but they're so familiar now that you don't let them prevent you from doing your best. You're proud of yourself, and of each one in the group.
And you start thinking. If this is something you could do with a small group, you the normal guy, with limited abilities, limited resources and a fair share of traumas, maybe others could do it, too. Working out their own solutions to their current problems, talking about their victories, about their doubts, about what it means to them to be human and alive. So you write about your experience, hoping it'll inspire others to start their own. And this, dear reader, is where the rest of the story begins, waiting to be written.
About the Author
Emmanuel Gaillot works as a team coach, (extreme) programmer, facilitator, trainer and systems jiggler. For the last 10 years he has been helping software makers to be better at, prouder of, and happier about the work they produce. A regular speaker at many conferences on Agility, Emmanuel also co-organizes the annual Agile Open France conference. He is one of the founders (and still assiduous member) of the Coding Dojo in Paris. Emmanuel works in Paris at /ut7, co-operative business he learns to hack with his fellow colleagues. He currently focuses his energy and passion on learning and teaching exotic languages, on shaping self-organizing structures and setting up co-learning spaces.
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Source: http://www.infoq.com/articles/self-organizing-organizations
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Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Syrian rebels capture most of northern city
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Syrian rebel fighters displays an epaulette from a government soldier during a tour of the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the province of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Syrian rebel fighters displays an epaulette from a government soldier during a tour of the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the province of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a Syrian rebel fighter stomps on a picture of Syrian President Bashar Assad within the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the provence of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a dead Syrian government soldiers lies within the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the province of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, a dead Syrian government soldiers lies within the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the province of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police academy in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Shaam News Network via AP video)
In this Sunday March 3, 2013 image taken from video obtained from the Ugarit News, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, Syrian rebel fighters are seen walking within the police academy complex in Khan al-Asal, in the province of Aleppo, Syria. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized the police school in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead. (AP Photo/Ugarit News via AP video)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian rebels pushed government troops from most of the northern city of Raqqa Monday, setting off celebrations in a central square where scores of cheering protesters tore down a bronze statue of President Bashar Assad's late father and predecessor, activists said.
If rebels seize control of Raqqa, it would be the first time an entire city had fallen into the hands of anti-Assad fighters. Rebels hold parts of several major Syrian cities ? several neighborhoods in Aleppo, Homs and Deir el-Zour, as well as suburbs of the capital, Damascus. They also control large areas in the countryside, particularly in the north.
The rebel advances are a significant blow to Assad, although during the past week his forces have regained control of several villages and towns along a key highway near Aleppo International Airport.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels are now in control of "large parts" of Raqqa, a city of around 500,000 on the Euphrates River, which flows through Syria into Iraq. A top police officer was killed and intelligence officers were detained, the group said.
Activists declared Raqqa "liberated" on opposition social media websites Monday. A photo posted on several pro-rebel Facebook pages showed people tearing down a huge poster of Assad and hitting it with their shoes. The activists said the picture was taken inside the feared Air Force Intelligence headquarters in Raqqa.
An amateur video posted online shows a large, bronze statue of Hafez Assad being torn to the ground by a rope tied around the statue's neck. The video shows people in the crowd taking photos and video on their cellphones as the statue crashes into the side of a fountain, while others fired guns into the air in celebration. People then rush to jump on the statue and hit it with their shoes.
"God be with the Free Army!" they shout.
The video appeared consistent with AP reporting.
Amir, an activist in Raqqa, said rebels were now in control of the city but that there were pockets of pro-regime elements still fighting.
The mood was euphoric in the city when residents and rebels toppled the statue in the main square, but "then the shelling began and everyone fled home," Amir said via Skype, with the crackle of gunfire audible in the background.
There were also airstrikes on the city and many casualties, he said, agreeing to give only his first name for security reasons.
Rebels have been making headway in Raqqa province for weeks, capturing the country's largest dam. On Sunday, anti-Assad fighters stormed the Raqqa central prison.
Earlier Monday, rebels launched an offensive to try to seize the military air base of Mannagh near the Turkish border and clashed with government forces at a historic mosque in the nation's largest city of Aleppo, activists said.
In Saudi Arabia, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal together warned Assad that they will boost support to rebels unless he steps down.
Saudi Arabia has been one of the region's harshest critics of Assad's regime. In his discussions with Kerry, Saud said he stressed the importance of enabling the Syrian people to exercise their "legitimate right to defend itself against the regime's killing machine." Saud also complained that the Assad regime continues to get weapons from "third parties," a veiled reference to Russia and Iran, which have backed Assad through the conflict.
Kerry criticized Iran, Hezbollah and Russia by name for giving weapons to Assad's forces.
Monday's fighting came as a pro-government newspaper reported that opposition fighters killed 115 police and wounded another 50 in a battle Sunday over a police academy in the north. The daily Al-Watan reported that "terrorists committed a massacre" at the academy near Aleppo.
A government official, however, denied the report, and said instead that 27 government troops were killed and that seven were still missing. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
The report came a day after the Observatory said the rebels seized the police school in Khan al-Asal after entering the sprawling government complex with captured tanks. The Observatory said the battle left at least 120 soldiers and 80 rebels dead.
The Syrian conflict started two years ago as a popular uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule, then turned into a full-blown civil war after the rebels took up arms to fight a government crackdown on dissent. The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
Assad maintains his troops are fighting "terrorists" and Islamic extremists seeking to destroy Syria, and he accuses the West and its Gulf Arab allies of supporting them.
The Observatory said clashes also were raging inside Aleppo's landmark 12th century Umayyad Mosque, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the walled Old City. The mosque was heavily damaged last year after a fire gutted the city's famed medieval market.
On Saturday, the Syrian army command said it captured areas in Aleppo opening a road between the government-controlled central city of Hama with Aleppo's international airport. The airport, the country's second largest, has been the target of a rebel offensive for weeks.
The Observatory said rebels on Monday destroyed the Assan bridge near the airport. An amateur video showed rebels blowing up the bridge, creating a thick black of smoke amid chants of "God is great."
The video appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting on the events depicted.
___
Associated Press writer Zeina Karam contributed to this report.
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Chill out: Researchers engineer mice that can?t feel cold
RIO DE JANEIRO, March 5 (Reuters) - Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari stood up for specialist dribbler Neymar on Tuesday, saying the flamboyant forward's reputation for falling down easily was undeserved and exaggerated. "He gets fouled 10 times a match, and possibly one or two of those free kicks shouldn't be awarded, but then that is normal in football," Scolari told a news conference on Tuesday. "The coaches who criticise Neymar, who claim he falls over or simulates fouls, do that because it's an easy way out for them. ...
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/chill-researchers-engineer-mice-t-feel-cold-201531839.html
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Friday, 1 March 2013
The 5 Benefits of Effective Sales Training by John McEntyre
With the economy trampling on and off the red zone, most global businesses have decided to employ a series of cutbacks ? one of them being sales training. Although some salespeople might possess a natural flair for the job, not all of them might be as lucky as their more extroverted colleagues. As such, hiring the expertise of a sales trainer or forking out expenses to send your salespeople for effective sales training should never fall off the top rung of the priority ladder.
| Free PDF Download - The 5 Benefits of Effective Sales Training - By John McEntyre |
The 5 Benefits of Effective Sales Training
With the economy trampling on and off the red zone, most global businesses have
decided to employ a series of cutbacks ? one of them being sales training. Although
some salespeople might possess a natural flair for the job, not all of them might be
as lucky as their more extroverted colleagues. As such, hiring the expertise of a
sales trainer or forking out expenses to send your salespeople for effective sales
training should never fall off the top rung of the priority ladder.
Effective selling is basically a skill that must be harnessed and honed through
training, and salespeople should be kept on their toes at all times or risk contracting
several nasty sales habits along the way that will jeopardize your business in the
long run. Thus, sales training is essentially a must to guarantee maximum output
from your sales force. Besides being instrumental in raking in profits for a particular
company or business, effective sales training also tags along with its fair share of
benefits such as:
? Exploring New Avenues in Getting in Touch with Customers. With the
medley of technological innovations constantly being introduced in the world
today, salespeople must learn to adapt or fall behind in the world of global
communication. An expert sales trainer will be an excellent coach in teaching
your salespeople on how to enhance their persuasive communication skills
and even help them improve on their written communication. Considering that
social media networking has become the central hub for communicating brand
awareness online, it is crucial that your salespeople learn some nifty writing
skills that will help them promote your products and services.
? Outwitting the Competitors. Anyone partaking in the field of sales and
marketing must learn to lock horns with their competitors and be one step
ahead to achieve their business goals and objectives. In the business world,
it?s either a race to the top or a one way trip to the bottom. A good sales
training program will equip your salespeople with specific skills set that will
help them formulate strategies and concoct creative ideas to outwit the
competition. Such skills incorporate the usage of the product?s strengths
to gain a competitive advantage, or even zoning in on the competitor?s
weaknesses and hitting them where it hurts.
? Learning How to Deal with the Different Types of Buyers/Customers. In
order to effectively sell a product or item, a salesperson must be able to know
all aspects of their customers or consumers. This includes zoning in on their
selected target market to ensure an effective purchase. An excellent sales
training program will impart the necessary listening skills and knowledge on
how to properly deal with each type of customer or buyer.
? Refining Sales Techniques. Some of your salespeople might be transplants
from another state or even fresh graduates out of college with virtually
zero or nil sales experience. By hiring an expert sales trainer, you can help
your salespeople to learn the various skills and techniques associated with
marketing and selling such as negotiation tactics, proper presentation skills
and how to deal and overcome objections from tough customers.
? Improving Overall Efficiency. When you conduct a business, you definitely
want to maximize efficiency and effectiveness at once. This includes
maximizing profits and cutting down the use of resources to attain your
sales goals. Therefore, you should enlist the aid of a good sales training
program to help your salespeople be more focused on value-adding activities.
This includes the impartation of excellent time management skills and the
exploration of new ways on how to get things done quicker without sacrificing
professionalism and quality of service in the process.
There is definitely a medley of benefits to hiring an expert sales trainer to coach your
salespeople and maximize your company?s bottom line.
Related Articles
? Is Your Sales Training Missing These Ingredients? ? Sales Training - short term or long term success? ? Benefits of Sales Training for Small Business ? Sales Training, without supporting Sales Management Training, ? What Should Your Time Management Training Cost in Terms of Money Time and Results ? A Comprehensive Approach to Sales Skill Training ? Sales Training Techniques that Work! ? Sales Training Materials that Work! ? How to Select Professional Sales Training ? Traditional Sales Training is a Waste of Time and Money! ? Improve Your Sales Training By Changing Fuel ? Automobile Sales Training ? The Ideal Sales Training Manual ? Sales Training - Making it Stick! ? Sales Manager = Sales Training Success ? What you should know before you invest in a sales training program. ? How Current are your Training Programs? ? 4 More Ways To Outsell Your Competitors ? Sales Rep ? The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
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Source: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Marketing/4253/The-5-Benefits-of-Effective-Sales-Training.html
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