Archive for the ‘Tech’ Category

According to Jewish Law, there is a cycle of union and separation between husband and wife. The mikvah stands at the vortex of that cycle. The word “mikvah” means an assembly of natural water. A mikvah is a small pool, built according to exact rules of dimension and an acceptable source of natural water. One week after the woman’s menstrual cycle is complete, after nightfall, the woman visits the mikvah.

“Having a mikvah within walking distance is critical for an observant community,” said Nechama Prus. “The woman’s mikvah, in particular, is built with a strong emphasis on comfort and privacy, to be a very personal and positive experience.” 

Throughout Jewish history, the ritual of mikvah immersion has been a means of spiritual purification. Men also use the mikvah on occasions such as before Shabbat, before morning prayer, before Yom Kippur or on the wedding day.

Beth Menachem Chabad’s mikvah, like most modern mikvahs, is designed more like a first-class spa than a ritualarium. There’s a separate entrance, a private shower and bath with all the necessary amenities for cleansing before immersion and a private attendant for the woman. The mikvah waters are equipped with filtration and water-purification systems and kept at a comfortable temperature.

Mikvah: Ritual bath in natural water

Tags: water purification systems, Yom Kippur, necessary amenities

Curtis Campbell, Gleaner Writer

The Smirnoff Dream Weekend has maintained its reputation for being effectively organised and a leader in putting on unique parties and new experiences. Popularised by strong media attention and huge patron turnout for each staging, the Smirnoff event promises to bring even more waves of fun to Negril Beach this summer.

The event is slated to take place from July 29-August 1. Smirnoff Dream Weekend has seven high-energy parties – Flavours, Twisted Spiritz, Daydreams, Yush, Xtreme Wet n Wild, Bere Vibes and Xclusive Celebrity Playground – and there are hints that there will be a bonus party, free to holders of a season band.

According to Dean Shepherd, public relations representative of Dream Weekend, this year’s edition is focused primarily on consumer experience. “People already love our events, so this year our main focus is to increase the consumer experience. We want this year’s staging of the event to be seamless,” he said.

However, patrons will have to pay a little extra to indulge in the Dream this summer, as season bands now attract an additional $3,000. Shepherd said maintaining the high-calibre experience means extra spending on production. “We have always had a discounted price and we still do; it’s just that this year we can’t maintain that heavy discount as we normally do,” Shepherd said.

He continued: “The band is always discounted by 60 to 65 per cent. This event would cost $50,000 to $40,000. If you do the calculations you will see that there is a discount,” he said.

But why do patrons continue to be attracted to Dream Weekend? According to Shepherd, patrons are drawn to the unique themes, distinctive appeal, d

Tags: consumer experience, new experiences, public relations, curtis campbell, Negril Beach, media attention, high energy

You have to make hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions every single day. What to eat for dinner, what clothes to wear, and whether to stop or go at that yellow light, just to name a few. Now, you’ve made a decision to do a colon cleansing with an enema. Never guessed you’d have to decide what type of enema to perform, did you? Below is an enema colon cleanse comparison to help make your decision easier. You have enough decisions to make everyday to have to worry about doing a colon cleanse comparison.

First you have a fountain enema, also known as a bag enema. They are probably the most popular of all the enema methods. They use gravity to get the liquid, (usually water), into the colon. You usually hang the “bag” up on a shower rod or something like that and let the water come down with slight force.

A bag or fountain enema system looks very similar to a hot water bottle. It has basically the same principles of operation as the fountain or bag method, the only difference is that cleaning up after it’s over can be a little more time consuming.

A Higginson enema works while the person is under water, usually laying in a tub. It relies on a pump to get the water flowing.

Bulb enemas are made for children. When they are constipated, parents can use the bulb style to relieve them. The bulbs look like one of those nasal clearers used on infants and works in the same basic way.

If this colon cleanse comparison should tell you anything at all, it’s that each method has value and you should choose the one that best fits your liking.

An Enema Colon Cleanse Comparison

Tags: Enemas, Colon, Hospitality Recreation

If you want to detox, but you want an inexpensive, gentle, all-natural detox program you can do yourself, this is it. This natural detox plan is easy and gradual, making it easy to stick to. It’s best to follow this detox plan over the course of a week.Monday and Tuesday – Prepare for your cleanse by cutting all sugar and fat from your diet. Promise yourself you will not drink alcohol for the next seven days. Remove caffeine from your diet as well.Next you’ll take your diet to another level, removing meat, dairy, and processed foods, committing to a strictly vegan diet from Wednesday on through the rest of the week. Try to drink at least 50% more water than you usually do.For the last three days of your cleanse, you’ll want to go hard-core, committing to an organic, raw veggie and fruit meal plan.Your weekend of detoxing should include most if not all of the following: Drink plenty of the following: senna and fasting support teas, Master Cleanse lemon-water (with pure maple syrup and a bit of cayenne), and filtered water.Be sure to eat something every couple of hours. You’ll want to keep portions small, but alternate between raw fruit and raw vegetables. Be sure to wash the produce well to remove pesticides.Encourage elimination. If you feel the urge to go, act on it, allowing your body to rid itself of excess waste as often as needed.Get plenty of sleep. Take time for regular sleep and naps.Massage therapy is a perfect accompaniment to detoxing. A good massage will encourage your body to process and release waste products. Ask for a full-body Swedish or deep-muscle massage. When you go in for the massage, tell the therapist you are detoxing, and be sure to hydrate well.Engage in mild exercise. You will benefit from a hike, walk, or yoga session.Invest time in skin care, since your skin is your biggest, most exposed organ. Shower or bath, using all natural products, and follow up with a body brush. Use the body brush on dry skin, exfoliating and stimulating your pores to release even more toxins.When you’ve finished your week of detoxing, slowly return to your old ways. Take this detox opportunity to change bad habits as you carefully reintroduce favorite foods, drinks, and activities.

Seven Day Homemade Detox Program

Tags: lemon water, Detox Program, mild exercise, dry skin, rest of the week, Hospitality Recreation, massage therapy

Sarasota Memorial Hospital and eight other Florida hospitals are part of a national research program aimed at developing more effective cancer treatments targeted as much toward the patient as the disease itself. Volunteer patients at Sarasota Memorial and a total of 18 health institutions nationwide are vital to efforts by scientists and drug companies to quickly test new cancer drugs to determine their effectiveness and get them to market.

The program is Total Cancer Care, directed by the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. Since becoming a pilot site in 2006, Sarasota Memorial has enrolled more than 3,000 volunteers. If the research pans out, doctors will have fresh options when confronted with one of more than 200 cancers, from leukemia to melanoma. Instead of tackling every brain cancer with standard rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, physicians are more likely to apply treatments tailored to a patient’s specific genetic makeup.

Total Cancer Care is just one local response to the fact that access to biological knowledge is rapidly expanding while research by pharmaceutical companies lags. Another is a drug trial program run by Florida Cancer Specialists, a network of 40 doctors’ offices in the state, including ones in Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice and Englewood. Soon, more new drugs are likely to reach patients through an improvised pipeline — involving private businesses and doctors, as well as public universities, hospitals and the government.

“Oncologists, particularly, get frustrated with the limited treatment options available,” said Katie Goodman, director of clinical research at Florida Cancer Specialists. “The patients try whatever has been FDA-approved, and then they say, ‘OK, now what?’”

In the past, pharmaceutical firms shouldered the cost of drug development, willingly spending millions to develop and market lucrative breakthrough treatments for the masses — drugs such as Lipitor and Plavix.

But the industry is shrinking, a trend driven by losses from expiring patents on these best-selling drugs. Fresh discoveries are hampered by the threat of adverse effects, such as a link to heart attacks that yanked the popular arthritis medicine Vioxx from the market.

Since 1996, new drugs have been approved by federal regulators at a far lower rate. That year, 56 new drugs won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. In 2007, only 18 were approved, edging up to 21 last year.

One answer to this dilemma is M2Gen, a for-profit division of Moffitt, which began more than four years ago in partnership with a major drugmaker, Merck. Moffitt stepped up its involvement in clinical research with Total Cancer Care in 2003. It was conceived as a two-way street: Patients who enrolled would donate tumor tissue and share personal information, which would be mined for intriguing patterns; in turn, they would benefit from any breakthroughs the research might deliver, and be selected for trials that fit their disease and genetic attributes.

The question posed to patients, said Moffitt’s Robert Wenham, is: “Can we partner with you for life and use any excess data and tissue to explore possible treatments, and in the future, can we contact you?”

The answer is key to developing new drugs, because companies want to enter a clinical trial with genetically screened subjects, knowing “that particular subgroup is going to respond really well — without worrying about side effects or spending thousands for a drug that has no chance of success,” he said.

Moffitt has built an impressive library of 22,000 genetic tissue samples and information from more than 72,000 patients, and is creating a comprehensive database to facilitate high-level research.

Cathy Kerzner, M2Gen’s CEO since last fall, said her mission is to help new pharmaceutical partners whittle the enormous cost of trials.

“We can have patients trial-ready, so when the experimental drugs come across, we are able to supply patients quickly,” she said.

This will include local patients, who will not have to travel to Tampa for treatment.

“M2Gen is currently working on trials for ovarian cancer, lung cancer and colon cancer, as well as others that we can offer to our Sarasota community,” said Tamela Fonseca, program manager for Total Cancer Care at Sarasota Memorial.

“The access to tumor tissue and access to clinical data is a great resource for validating preclinical models,” Kerzner said. “We’ve had people from all corners of the globe visit us.”

Wenham, chief investigator for the Total Cancer Care protocol, said the payoff will come when patients in the database can benefit from discoveries.

“It is underappreciated out there how much work is involved in trying to do this,” he said.

Discoveries related to the human genome — a person’s unique DNA sequence — promise to unlock mysteries about why certain drugs work on some patients and not others. This could one day allow companies to manufacture medicines for smaller, targeted populations — and still make money if enough of the guesswork can be eliminated.

Biomedical institutions globally are closing in on this prize — and getting a powerful boost from emerging information technologies, sophisticated enough to handle the nuances of matching cure to patient.

“We always knew you’d have two patients that appeared to have the same types of cancers, and a treatment would work on one and not the other,” said Goodman of Florida Cancer Specialists. “But on the cellular level, those cancers aren’t really the same. Years and years ago, we would just hit people with all kinds of chemotherapy.”

Geneticists say the question now is not whether targeted drug development can succeed, but when.

“If people are expecting this to lead to miracle drugs in three to five years, they are going to be disappointed,” said Kevin Davies, author of “The $1,000 Genome.” “Drug discovery is an incredibly difficult, complicated, tedious and ridiculously expensive process. That’s the main reason we don’t yet talk about this new era of personalized medicine.”

The treatment could one day help people such as Carmen Ortega, who has battled cancer for more than four decades. She was among the 100 Sarasota patients of Florida Cancer Specialists who volunteer each year for clinical trials.

As a young, single mother of two boys, Ortega was misdiagnosed with gallstones. When she was properly diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 40, she underwent a second intestinal operation — the only treatment option at the time. She came to the states from Puerto Rico five years later, and continued to live with complications.

In 2006 the cancer returned in force, and her Sarasota doctors ruled out further surgery. After trying available medications, Ortega said yes to experimental chemotherapy. Two years after her last treatment, she remains in recovery — and has become one more crucial bit of evidence in pharmaceutical research.

In the future, cancer patients can hope to avoid a lifetime of trial-and-error treatment like Ortega’s. Once the biorepositories and data libraries yield enough clues, each patient could be screened genetically and matched to the therapy most likely to cure.

Having the experimental drug Avastin repeatedly pumped into a port in her chest was not easy for Ortega. But the decision to join the trial was: Her older son had a severe stroke in 2007, and she was determined to live, so she can cook the foods he likes.

She credits her doctor, Claudia Mallarino, but also the Virgin Mary. And while happy to play her part in new drug discovery, she also offers fellow cancer patients an old-fashioned cure, based on her years of bitter experience.

“The best medicine in cancer is your attitude,” she claims. “Don’t let yourself feel pity, don’t let anybody treat you like you are dying, and keep your mind working the whole day.”

Total Cancer Care: Targeted treatments

Tags: Colon Cancer, lung cancer, health institutions, severe stroke, Cathy Kerzner, information technologies, pilot site