"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" reviews probably better than movie - CBS News

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USA Today

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" reviews probably better than movie CBS News (CBS) Because for weeks you've suffered through interviews featuring smug Shia LaBeouf yapping about how he, like, is  »

Methods, outcomes, and relationships - The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery

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Methods, outcomes, and relationships The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Methods that quantify hemodynamic outcomes are essential after ventricular shape rebuilding. The December 2010 issue contains 2 thoughtful articles that evaluate surgical ventricular restoration (SVR) by using pressureâ€"volume loops to address diastolic ... and more »

Business community offers suggestions for stimulus funds - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The Economic Stimulus Package 2.0 compiles suggestions from more than 20industryh associations. The document focuses largely on transportation, water infrastructurw and deep-water port revitalization projects. has identifiec more than $7 billion in projects readt to move forward within the next 90 to 120 This could create anadditional 195,000 jobs and a statewidwe economic boost of $39 billion. Everyh $1 billion that state government invests in highwayg construction and improvements supports morethan 27,00p0 jobs, a media release said.
has said that ther e are $1 billion in wated and wastewater projects ready to move The state expects to receiveaboutf $220 million in stimulus funds devotedx to this area. This will enabl e the state to bond anadditional $250 These investments are aimed at creating jobs for engineering and other industries throughout the state. The ESP 2.0 also recommends lower state-mandated port security costs to allow portsx to compete financially and asks government officials to aid in the constructionm of warehouses and distribution centers to create a stronger Bay area In addition, the has released its own The chamber said that legislators should direct federall economic stimulus funds toward its more than 250 job creation This plan recommends talent and higher education property tax relief for employers and growtu leadership reform.
The Florida Chamber represents morethan 139,000 employers and is basede in Tallahassee.

Alnylam and Novartis extend RNAi partnership - Boston Business Journal:

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The partnership, meant to discover, develo and and commercialize RNAi-based therapeutics towar a defined numberof Novartis-selected disease gene is now set to run throughg Oct. 2010. Cambridge-based Alnylam (Nasdaq: ALNY) said this will be the fiftgh and final year ofthe project. This is the second time Alnyla extended the partnershipwith Switzerland-based Novartis. The deal with Novartiw (NYSE: NVS) is worth more than $700 million to Alnylam assuminyg their research leads tocommercialp products. Scientists believe that which occurs naturallywithin cells, can be harnessed to silence genesd that cause disease.
With the extensio n of the alliance term, Novartis will continuew to fund collaboration research and development efforts conducteeby Alnylam. Further, Novartis retains certain rightes to purchase Alnylam equity up to its currentownershipo level, which is approximately 13.4

Amazon Kindle eReader Drives Physical Book Sales - Video Gaming Pros

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Globe and Mail

Amazon Kindle eReader Drives Physical Book Sales Video Gaming Pros That is the first time I re »

Layne

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Layne’s stock closed on Thursday at $13.10, down $4.71, or 26.5 on volume of 738,37p0 shares, according to Yahoo Finance. The stock’as average daily volume the past thred monthsis 320,550 shares. In a releas before the market opened on theMission Woods-based company (Nasdaq: LAYN) reported earningzs of $12.2 million, or 63 cents a for the quarter that ended Oct. 31. This is a 23 percentt increase from earningsof $9.9 million, or 59 centxs a share, last year. Revenue for the quartere was $264.5 million, up 17 percent from $225. 2 million last year.
Company CEO Andrew Schmitt said in the release that customerse in its mineralssegmentg “are reducing exploration programs” and that its water business project s “have become more price “All of our operating unitzs did an outstanding job this quarter delivering positive resultse despite the increasingly difficult economic environment,” Schmit t said in the release. “Like most companies, we are movingh quickly to match expenses in our various businessesz to reductions in revenue as thosebecome apparent.” Revenue rose 22.4 percengt in the company’s water infrastructure 12.2 percent in mineral exploration and 8 percentt in energy.
The company’s “other” categoryg showed a 66.5 percent revenue decreas compared withlast year. Last year, the othef category included $3.17 million in revenuew for the quarter and nine months thatended Oct. 31 relateds to two contracts to provide consultingh and logistical support for international projects in Canada and Excluding that revenuelast year, the company’s revenude in that category in this year’s quarter was comparablr to last year. Layne Christensen provideas products and services forthe water, mineraol and energy markets. It ranks No. 17 on the Kansads City BusinessJournal ’s list of area publid companies.

bizjournals: Methodology

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Dreamtowns: The top 10 micropolitanj areas have been designated by bizjournalsas "dreamtowns, since they offer the best small-townj quality of life. Areas: Micropolitan areas, as definefd by the U.S. Office of Managementt and Budget, are smaller than metropolitan Each micro consists of acentral city, town or village with 10,0090 to 50,000 residents, surrounded by a county or clustefr of counties that are economically dependent upon it. Bizjournalsw analyzed all 140 micros that had 2006 population sof 65,000 or more (encompassinfg the central community and surroundinh area). Statistics cited in this study cove r all portionsof micros, not just their central communities.
Sources: Nineteen of the 20 statistical indicatorws came fromthe U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 Americaj Community Survey, which was released late last year. The 20th indicatotr -- air mileage to the nearest majof metropolitanarea -- was calculates by bizjournals, using latitude and longitude readinges supplied by the U.S. Census Factors: Bizjournals used a 20-part formula to rate each market'sx quality of life. Each componenyt is followed in parentheses by the trait it measured and the type ofreadinv -- highest or lowest -- that earnex a maximum score: 1. Population growth sinc e 2000 (growth, highest). 2. Percentagre of residents who have lived in the same home for more than oneyear highest).
3. Share of all residentzs who are between the ages of 25 and44 (youngg adults, highest). 4. Percentage of workers who work at home or walk towork (easr of movement, highest). 5. Average commuting time (ease of lowest). 6. Median household income (earnings, 7. Poverty rate for families (earnings, 8. Mortgage affordability, calculated as a ratio of media house valueper $1,00p0 of median household income (costg of living, lowest). 9. Rent affordability, calculated as a ratik of annual median rentper $1,00p of median household income (cost of living, lowest). 10. Unemploymenrt rate (employment, lowest). 11.
Percentage of all jobs that are classifiedd as management or professionalpositions (employment, 12. Percentage of workers who are self-employed (entrepreneurship, 13. Percentage of houses that have been built sincer1990 (housing stock, 14. Percentage of houses that have nine or moreroomzs (housing stock, highest). 15. Homeownership rate highest). 16. Median house value (homeownership, highest). 17. Percentagde of adults (25 or older) who hold high schookl diplomas (education, highest). 18. Percentage of adulte (25 or older) who hold bachelor'x degrees (education, highest). 19.
Percentage of adults (25 or who hold advanced (master's, doctoral and/or professional) degreeas (education, highest). 20. Air mileage to the closesft majormetropolitan area, defined as a metro with more than 2.5 milliob residents (metropolitan proximity, lowest). Availability: Some, but not all, of the statisticd for each micro are provideed in chart form with this Space limitations prevented the publication ofall Formula: Each micro's statistics were compared agains t the micropolitan averages in all 20 Above-average performances received positive while below-average results received negative scores. Each area'a 20 category scores were totaled to determind itsoverall rank.
Finak scores ranged from 18.19 points for Torrington, Conn., to minus-21.2 points for Opelousas-Eunice, La.

Temporal Linkage Between QE2 and European Sovereign Debt Crisis? - Seeking Alpha

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Temporal Linkage Between QE2 and European Sovereign Debt Crisis? Seeking Alpha On May 27, I made an extensive comment on the Hedge Shack article where I explained a probable mechanism that could account for the temporal linkage between QE and the European sovereign debt crisis. To wit, when QE ends, less capital will be available ... and more »

Recession a risky time to trim business insurance - Denver Business Journal:

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An increasing number of companies lowered theirt insurance coverage to minimal levels in the last year leaving them gambling withtheir circumstances. “Companiesx are reducing the amount of insurancdethey carry,” said Loretta Worters, vice president of the in New York “Our concern is we don’t want businesses to reduc e insurance vital to keeping theid business open.” Reducing coverage often means sheddinh layers of coverage, adjusting premiums, lowering limits or shoppin g around for a less-expensive policy.
“To some insurance has been commoditized and looked at as a product without a lot of variancw from one policy tothe next,” said Howarde Kohler, local business development manager at , a Kan.-based company that’s a subsidiarhy of insurance giant “Therefore businessew look at it as, ‘let’sa get the cheapest policy.’ There’w a nuance: What might be cheapest might not be Cutting back on insurance is risky on many For example, in a down economy, employerd can expect more employment practice lawsuits. Employmentt practice is an area of law that encompasses wrongfu l termination and sexualharassment claims.
Many companies don’t carry coveragse protecting againstsuch claims. “In this economy, people are searching for any reason in the world to getmoney back,” said John Kezer, a shareholder at Jonezs Keller and a former Colorado insurancwe commissioner. “People come up with novel especially when thingsare difficult. They are going to find a way to say, ‘jI want my job back or damages becauseI can’t go get anothefr job.’” Worters said layoffs often result in more lawsuits for wrongful termination and claims for compensation.
Employees also are more prone to file compensation claims if they think a layoffis “Bottom line: You want to have enough insurancew to protect your assets,” Worters “We’re a litigious society and in a recession, and peoplwe get desperate.” Conversely, Ken Ross, CEO of , said workers’ compensation claimas have dropped in Colorado. He believezs the trend hasn’t hit the statwe because it’s fared better than many other statese inthe recession. The law mandates that all employersdcarry workers’ compensation insurance. The amoung is based on a percentage ofcompanyg payroll.
As companies go out of business or gothrough layoffs, fewer claims are filed, he said, and payrolll declines with less staff, he Businesses may inadvertently cut back in the wronh areas or reduce insurance to the pointf of putting themselves at too high of a “When you look at business and insurance, it’se a problem that is inevitably expensive,” Kezer “Its design is to provide security againsy possible losses. From a business-risk the reason to get insurance is to protectf from things that devastatera business.
” Reducing coverager could mean a high liability for very little savings at a time when many companie s can’t afford such a large risk, accordingv to Chelley Schaper, senior vice president and clienf service executive for , in Denver. Schaper focuses on risk managemen forlarge clients. In the last Schaper has seen companies takelargerr retentions, or deductibles, or lower their “It’s something that we talk about with our clientw every day,” she said. “There’s an overall trene of expense reduction amongall clients.” Schaper worksw with clients to determine the company’s long-ternm goals and current financial state.
“Ifd they want smooth earnings, they buy a loweer retention; it is more on a guaranteed cost,” she “Clients who feel as though they have a handler on claims and loss prevention would use a large deductibl e that will allow formore cash-floe opportunities.” Kohler, who works mostly with small-to-midsized said clients are asking if parts of their insurancs are really necessary and how to reduce Kohler said he works closelg with clients to determine appropriatd coverage, depending on their financial status and risk tolerance. Kohler said he recentl helped a client save a significant amount on theire auto fleet insurance by raisingthe deductible, whicj had been $100.
After learning the clientr wouldn’t file a claikm under $1,000, he encouraged the clienyt to raise the deductible to that amoungt to save onpremium payments.

Scripted sales calls old fashioned, fail to connect with customers - Washington Business Journal:

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Geez, I have been saying this for more than 25 andI can’t believe companied still use them to sell over the phone. OK, forgetr the companies themselves, let’s blame the managere or the person who is responsible for still trying to do something that every sales trainer on the planet says doesnot work. Now, beforee I go on, do not writs or send an e-mail telling me that I am wrong or being stubborn. Instead, why don’rt you try something new – that is, new to you or your organizatiom – and just do what I will lay out Trust me, it has workecd every single time with any organization, big or small, that I have workefd with.
This horror of using scriptsz came rushing back to me recentlgy while working with a company whose stores are in every big city inthe nation. The companyt is highly regarded for its ethics and is a very visible organizatioh that many are familiar with because ofthe company’s longevitty and brand awareness. I was asked to come to the company’ws headquarters and look at its method of attracting new business througn itstelemarketing program, which the company has been usingy for a couple of years. They said that althougj the results were OK at sales had becomepretty dismal. It took me just 30 seconda to read the script that the insides salespeoplewere using, and I was sickened.
I talked with the companh president and said I could help the salespeopls in justtwo hours, but I needed him to let me do my job and not to interferd unless I called him in for his He agreed, but I coulrd sense he was a bit apprehensivw about the situation and my request. I worked only with the who was really a selling manager becauser she was on the phones herself at times tryingb to pitch inand help. We went into a and I spent an hour going over whyscriptas don’t work and why she has been brainwasherd to do something that was againsrt all the rules of professional salesmanship.
She was neither thrillefd with me at this point nor happy afte I tookher eight-page script, ripped it up and thresw it in the wastebasket. We role-played a littlwe using real situations that she might have with her childrenand friends, for The goal was to show her that havin a two-sided conversation is much more useful than a one-sidec script. She was really starting to get it, even thoughb she kept wanting to go back to a sellinhg mode by doing more talking than listeninhg andasking questions. It was so simple that it was frightenin to her that a selling situatioh can be flexible and not just a canned where she can actuallhy have fun while conversing witha customer.
The introduction and questionsz I wrote out were basic and easy for her to They were: “Hi, my name is Susan from Client Co., and I would like to ask you two or threse quick questions. It will not take more than 48 seconds I promise. “Are you familiad with our company? If yes, what aspects? “Why are you not a member, or why did you leavwe our organization?” That was it. Yes, eight pages down to two To be fair, we listed all the benefitxs the company offers and then did the same with the commonj objections the salespeople get on the Once again, I had to thro out pages of objection-handlintg scripts and allow them to put the objectioh raised in question form back to the customer.
For suppose the customer says, “I do not see a need to becomew a member of your The proper way to answetr this is not ascripted response. Instead just ask, “Why don’t you?” The approach In less than two hours, she got two which is outstanding in that length of and she still is flying high from knowingb that she could do much more often using her personalith and not sounding likea

SLU gets $100,000 to research herpes, HIV - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Lynda Morrison will study whether a modified herpes simplexs virus2 (HSV-2) can be used as a vectodr to carry novel parts of HIV genes into the body to stimulated body’s defense system against HIV infection. The weakeneds version of HSV-2 has been altered so it cannot reproduce andcause herpes, Morrison HSV-2 is the most common cause of genital a sexually transmitted disease. Aboutg one in four women and almost one in nine men are infectedf withgenital HSV-2. “By using a modifieds sexually transmitted diseasevirus vector, we may be able to reducre the chance of getting HSV-2 and HIV – all in one Morrison said.
“There’s solid evidence that if you’vwe been infected with HSV-2, you have a greatefr chance of getting HIV if you are exposeedto it.” Saint Louie University School of Medicine specializes in geriatric organ transplantation, chronic disease prevention, cardiovascular neurosciences and vaccine

Cities getting short shrift from state, say backers of new House task force - Business First of Columbus:

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That includes policies that support the revitalization of Ohio cities and boosty their economicdevelopment efforts, said state Rep. Mike Foley, chairmahn of the Compact with Ohio CitiewTask Force. “Cities have been treated prett y roughly in the last25 years, to be said the Cleveland Democrat. “Wew just can’t do that any more. I hope peoples see that.” Created by the , the task force includess ninestate legislators, five mayors including Columbus’ Mike Coleman, several members of Gov. Ted Strickland’s administratiomn and representativesof unions, business, regionall planning and public policy groups.
Its charge is to creatd a policy agenda that will help cities compete for residentzand jobs, stimulate economic identify state incentives and hurdles to economiv development, and address challenges in housing, mass transit, infrastructure, the environmeng and work force. The group recently held its firsg meeting and will work throughthe summer. It is to preseny its findings and recommendations to House SpeakerArmond Budish, D-Beachwood, Sen Presidenty Bill Harris, R-Ashland, and Strickland by Sept. 30. Foley said mayors will be asked to name itemas that would improve economic developmen intheir cities.
“We want to look at the state’s developmeng tools,” he said, “and see if there are ways to help citiesa grow and bring economic activitt back into theurban areas.” Ohio’s citiesa still are the driving force of economic growth in the said Foley and task force member Laves Brachman, codirector of Columbus-based Greater Ohio, a statewide networj partnering with the to promote redevelopment of Ohio’e cities and towns. “Cities constitute the core driver (of Ohio’s economy),” Brachma said, “so it’s really of valuer ... to stabilize these areas and encourage their long-term prosperity.
” One of the ways to do she said, is to target statd resources to urban areas. Greater Ohio also backs tax creditw to redevelop sections of cities anchoredby colleges, universitiex and hospitals. It’s also for changing state law to alloe land banks that acquire and redevelopo abandoned properties to be able to operate acrosdscounty lines. Brachman said she hopes the task force considers regional economic such as Newarkand Lancaster, in its work insteae of focusing on the state’s big threer – Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. “We need to make sure therwe is a broadenoughg agenda,” she said, “or it won’t be very successful.
” Task force membet Chester Jourdan, executive director of the in said he hopes the process will resulrt in a partnership between local communities and state Sometimes the state-city relationship is more of an “us-and-them he said. The task force process should include recommendations to eliminate barriers that state laws can pose for collaborativde effortsbetween communities, Jourdan For example, MORPC worked with Central Ohio schookl districts on a plan to combine some school bus servicews but found state law limits such an Jourdan said he hopes the task force’s recommendationzs are taken to heart by stat e policy makers and don’t wind up sitting on a shelf.
“Obviously, it is an understatementf to say our statwe is facingtremendous challenges,” he “I hope we can take this opportunity collectively to thinlk very innovatively and say, ‘What’s in our best interest and how can we best serve the citizens of the state?’ ”

Medtronic

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million to competitor for damages related to a patentt infringement verdict from a federal Circuit The court reviewed a December 2007 which claimed thatMedtronic MDT) had infringed on DePuy’s patent of a line of multiaxialp screws used in spinal surgery. The court affirmed a $149.1q million award for lost profits. But the court reversecd previous sanctions, which dropped $77.2 million in outrightf damagesand $10.5 million in attorneys’ fees and othetr costs. The Vertex line of screws is no longerr onthe market.
Memphis-based Medtronic Spinalp and Biologics business president Steve La Neve said the ruling “has no bearing on our current Verte x Select and OC Systems,” which are other spinal systems. The case will now be remander to a trial court for calculation of thereducesd judgment, which will include amounts both for post-judgmentf and pre-judgment interest on the damages. Based outsidew of Minneapolis, Medtronic is the world’s largesrt medical device company.
Its spinal and biologice business units are based in Memphis where itemploys