To save lives and reduce costs, there would be tremendous advantage if science had a way to stop a devastating hurricane like Sandy. And scientists have thought of it before.
One idea that rears its head almost every hurricane season recently is the notion of bombing a hurricane into submission. The theory goes that the energy released by a nuclear bomb detonated just above and ahead of the eye of a storm would heat the cooler air there, disrupting the storm's convection current.
Unfortunately, this idea, which has been around in some form since the 1960s, wouldn't work.
[50 Amazing Hurricane Facts]
Chris Landsea, science and operations officer at the National Hurricane Center, posted an explanation when he was a research meteorologist with NOAA.
"The main difficulty with using explosives to modify hurricanes is the amount of energy required," Landsea wrote.
A hurricane gets its energy from warm ocean water, and in the process of water vapor condensing into rain droplets. The heat released during condensation serves to continue to warm the surrounding air, which causes more seawater to evaporate, condense, and continue the cycle.
A fully developed hurricane releases 50 or more terawatts of heat energy at any given moment, only about 1 percent of which is converted into wind. The heat release, Landsea wrote, "is equivalent to a 10-megaton nuclear bomb exploding every 20 minutes."? The entire human race in 2011 used about a third of the energy present in an average hurricane.
So bombing a hurricane might be about as effective as trying to stop a speeding Buick with a feather.
There's also the possibility that bombing the hurricane, if it had any effect at all, would just add to the storm's heat supply, making it even stronger.
Why not, then, just nuke tropical depressions before they have a chance to become hurricanes? Partly it's a numbers game, Landsea explained. "About 80 of these disturbances form every year in the Atlantic basin, but only about 5 become hurricanes in a typical year. There is no way to tell in advance which ones will develop." That, and a tropical disturbance is already a pretty powerful beast. If it were just 10 percent as powerful as a full-blown hurricane, it'd still take a huge effort to nip it in the bud.
Finally, whether the bomb would have a minor positive effect, a negative effect, or none at all on the storm's convection cycle, one thing is for sure: It would create a radioactive hurricane, which would be even worse than a normal one. The fallout would ride Trade Winds to land ? arguably a worse outcome than a landfalling hurricane.
Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Study suggests too much risk associated with SSRI usage and pregnancyPublic release date: 31-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kelly Lawman klawman@bidmc.harvard.edu 617-667-7305 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Antidepressants should only be prescribed with great caution
BOSTON Elevated risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, neonatal health complications and possible longer term neurobehavioral abnormalities, including autism, suggest that a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) should only be prescribed with great caution and with full counseling for women experiencing depression and attempting to get pregnant, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center and MetroWest Medical Center.
"Depression and infertility are two complicated conditions that more often than not go hand in hand. And there are no definitive guidelines for treatment," says lead author Alice Domar, Ph.D, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Executive Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF. "We hope to provide a useful analysis of available data to better inform decisions made by women and the providers who care for them."
Domar and colleagues conducted a review of published studies evaluating women with depressive symptoms who took antidepressants while pregnant. The results appear online October 31 in the journal Human Reproduction.
"There are three main points that stand out from our review of the scientific studies on this topic," says senior author Adam Urato, MD, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MetroWest Medical Center and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Tufts Medical Center. "First, there is clear and concerning evidence of risk with the use of the SSRI antidepressants by pregnant women, evidence that these drugs lead to worsened pregnancy outcomes. Second, there is no evidence of benefit, no evidence that these drugs lead to better outcomes for moms and babies. And third, we feel strongly that patients, obstetrical providers, and the public need to be fully aware of this information."
Over the last 20 years antidepressant usage has increased 400 percent. Antidepressants are now the most commonly prescribed medication in the United States for people between 18 and 44 years of age, the childbearing years for most women. And as women enter their late 30s and early 40s they are more likely to experience infertility.
"According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 1 percent of the babies born in the USA each year are the result of an IVF cycle," write the authors. "And most women will report symptoms of depression during infertility treatment, especially following unsuccessful treatment cycles."
As many as 11 percent of women undergoing fertility treatment report taking an SSRI to combat depressive symptoms, but Domar and colleagues found no evidence of improved pregnancy outcomes with antidepressant usage, and in fact, found the opposite. They also found plenty of controversy around SSRI efficacy. Many studies found SSRIs to be no more effective or only slightly more effective than placebos in treating depression. "More broadly, there is little evidence of benefit from the antidepressants prescribed for the majority of women of childbearing ageand there is ample evidence of risk," the authors write.
For starters, there is mounting evidence that SSRIs may decrease pregnancy rates for women undergoing fertility treatment. Additionally, studies consistently show that women using antidepressants experience increased rates of miscarriage. There is also a strong signal of congenital abnormalities, the most noted of which is the association between the use of the antidepressant, Paxil, and cardiac defects. In 2005, this association prompted the FDA to ask Paxil's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline to change Paxil's risk factor from a C to a D, where a D rating indicates a demonstrated risk to the fetus.
"Preterm birth is, perhaps, the most pressing obstetrical complication," write the authors. In more than 30 studies, the evidence overwhelmingly points to increased risk for early delivery in women who are taking antidepressants. "This is a significant finding because we know that babies born before 37 weeks are at risk for many short and long-term health problems," says Urato. "Caring for premature babies adds up to billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures."
Available data also suggests that antidepressant usage, especially if it extends beyond the first trimester, leads to an increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. "Given the importance of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in terms of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, and the widespread use of antidepressants during pregnancy, further investigation into this area will be essential," write the authors.
Similarly, long-term exposure to SSRIs appears to correspond to an increased incidence of birth weight falling below the 10th percentile, coupled with increased rates of respiratory distress.
The health complications associated with antidepressant usage can be carried into infancy and beyond. A 2006 study showed that infants exposed to antidepressants in utero had a 30 percent risk of Newborn Behavioral Syndrome, most commonly associated with persistent crying, jitteriness and difficulty feeding. In more rare instances the syndrome can produce seizures and breathing difficulties leading to the need for intubation. Studies have also shown delayed motor development in babies and toddlers. And a Kaiser Permanente study showed a "two-fold increased risk of autism spectrum disorders associated with maternal treatment with SSRI antidepressants during the pregnancy, with the strongest effect associated with treatment during the first trimester."
"There is enough evidence to strongly recommend that great caution be exercised before prescribing SSRI antidepressants to women who are pregnant or who are attempting to get pregnant, whether or not they are undergoing infertility treatment," says Domar. "We want to stress that depressive symptoms should be taken seriously and should not go untreated prior to or during pregnancy, but there are other options out there that may be as effective, or more effective than SSRIs without all the attendant risks."
Domar and team looked at studies assessing different treatment modalities for depression in the general population, including psychotherapy, exercise, relaxation training, yoga, acupuncture and nutritional supplements. While many of these options were shown to provide some benefit, psychotherapy, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) showed the most promise. "There is overwhelming evidence that CBT is equivalent to antidepressant medication in the treatment of mild to moderate depression and more recent research indicates that it is effective in the treatment of severe depression as well," write the authors.
A 2008 study showed impressive results for CBT in depressed women undergoing infertility treatments. The results showed that 79 percent of women who received CBT reported a significant decrease in symptoms, compared with 50 percent of women in the medication group.
"These alternative treatment options may not be appropriate for everyone, still we think it's important for women on an antidepressant who are considering becoming pregnant to have a conversation with their physician about the risks and benefits of continuing to take their medication," says Domar. "Because at this point in time, with no data to indicate an advantage to taking an SSRI during pregnancy, the research all points to increased risk."
###
In addition to Domar and Urato, other co-authors include: Vasiliki A. Moragianni, MD, MS and David A. Ryley, MD of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston IVF.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.
MetroWest Medical Center is a full-service community teaching hospital system dedicated to meeting the health care needs of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts by providing advanced care with a community touch. The 269-bed health care system the largest between Worcester and Boston includes Framingham Union Hospital, Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, MetroWest HomeCare and Hospice, and The MetroWest Wellness Center, an outpatient diagnostic imaging and rehabilitation center.
Tufts Medical Center is an exceptional, not-for-profit, 415-bed academic medical center that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and Floating Hospital for Children. Conveniently located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. Floating Hospital for Children is the full-service children's hospital of Tufts Medical Center and the principal pediatric teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. Tufts Medical Center is affiliated with seven community hospitals and with New England Quality Care Alliance, its community physicians' network. For more information, please visit www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org.
[ | 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.
Study suggests too much risk associated with SSRI usage and pregnancyPublic release date: 31-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kelly Lawman klawman@bidmc.harvard.edu 617-667-7305 Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Antidepressants should only be prescribed with great caution
BOSTON Elevated risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, neonatal health complications and possible longer term neurobehavioral abnormalities, including autism, suggest that a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) should only be prescribed with great caution and with full counseling for women experiencing depression and attempting to get pregnant, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Tufts Medical Center and MetroWest Medical Center.
"Depression and infertility are two complicated conditions that more often than not go hand in hand. And there are no definitive guidelines for treatment," says lead author Alice Domar, Ph.D, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Executive Director of the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health at Boston IVF. "We hope to provide a useful analysis of available data to better inform decisions made by women and the providers who care for them."
Domar and colleagues conducted a review of published studies evaluating women with depressive symptoms who took antidepressants while pregnant. The results appear online October 31 in the journal Human Reproduction.
"There are three main points that stand out from our review of the scientific studies on this topic," says senior author Adam Urato, MD, Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MetroWest Medical Center and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Tufts Medical Center. "First, there is clear and concerning evidence of risk with the use of the SSRI antidepressants by pregnant women, evidence that these drugs lead to worsened pregnancy outcomes. Second, there is no evidence of benefit, no evidence that these drugs lead to better outcomes for moms and babies. And third, we feel strongly that patients, obstetrical providers, and the public need to be fully aware of this information."
Over the last 20 years antidepressant usage has increased 400 percent. Antidepressants are now the most commonly prescribed medication in the United States for people between 18 and 44 years of age, the childbearing years for most women. And as women enter their late 30s and early 40s they are more likely to experience infertility.
"According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 1 percent of the babies born in the USA each year are the result of an IVF cycle," write the authors. "And most women will report symptoms of depression during infertility treatment, especially following unsuccessful treatment cycles."
As many as 11 percent of women undergoing fertility treatment report taking an SSRI to combat depressive symptoms, but Domar and colleagues found no evidence of improved pregnancy outcomes with antidepressant usage, and in fact, found the opposite. They also found plenty of controversy around SSRI efficacy. Many studies found SSRIs to be no more effective or only slightly more effective than placebos in treating depression. "More broadly, there is little evidence of benefit from the antidepressants prescribed for the majority of women of childbearing ageand there is ample evidence of risk," the authors write.
For starters, there is mounting evidence that SSRIs may decrease pregnancy rates for women undergoing fertility treatment. Additionally, studies consistently show that women using antidepressants experience increased rates of miscarriage. There is also a strong signal of congenital abnormalities, the most noted of which is the association between the use of the antidepressant, Paxil, and cardiac defects. In 2005, this association prompted the FDA to ask Paxil's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline to change Paxil's risk factor from a C to a D, where a D rating indicates a demonstrated risk to the fetus.
"Preterm birth is, perhaps, the most pressing obstetrical complication," write the authors. In more than 30 studies, the evidence overwhelmingly points to increased risk for early delivery in women who are taking antidepressants. "This is a significant finding because we know that babies born before 37 weeks are at risk for many short and long-term health problems," says Urato. "Caring for premature babies adds up to billions of dollars in healthcare expenditures."
Available data also suggests that antidepressant usage, especially if it extends beyond the first trimester, leads to an increased risk of pregnancy-induced hypertension and preeclampsia. "Given the importance of the hypertensive disorders of pregnancy in terms of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, and the widespread use of antidepressants during pregnancy, further investigation into this area will be essential," write the authors.
Similarly, long-term exposure to SSRIs appears to correspond to an increased incidence of birth weight falling below the 10th percentile, coupled with increased rates of respiratory distress.
The health complications associated with antidepressant usage can be carried into infancy and beyond. A 2006 study showed that infants exposed to antidepressants in utero had a 30 percent risk of Newborn Behavioral Syndrome, most commonly associated with persistent crying, jitteriness and difficulty feeding. In more rare instances the syndrome can produce seizures and breathing difficulties leading to the need for intubation. Studies have also shown delayed motor development in babies and toddlers. And a Kaiser Permanente study showed a "two-fold increased risk of autism spectrum disorders associated with maternal treatment with SSRI antidepressants during the pregnancy, with the strongest effect associated with treatment during the first trimester."
"There is enough evidence to strongly recommend that great caution be exercised before prescribing SSRI antidepressants to women who are pregnant or who are attempting to get pregnant, whether or not they are undergoing infertility treatment," says Domar. "We want to stress that depressive symptoms should be taken seriously and should not go untreated prior to or during pregnancy, but there are other options out there that may be as effective, or more effective than SSRIs without all the attendant risks."
Domar and team looked at studies assessing different treatment modalities for depression in the general population, including psychotherapy, exercise, relaxation training, yoga, acupuncture and nutritional supplements. While many of these options were shown to provide some benefit, psychotherapy, specifically cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) showed the most promise. "There is overwhelming evidence that CBT is equivalent to antidepressant medication in the treatment of mild to moderate depression and more recent research indicates that it is effective in the treatment of severe depression as well," write the authors.
A 2008 study showed impressive results for CBT in depressed women undergoing infertility treatments. The results showed that 79 percent of women who received CBT reported a significant decrease in symptoms, compared with 50 percent of women in the medication group.
"These alternative treatment options may not be appropriate for everyone, still we think it's important for women on an antidepressant who are considering becoming pregnant to have a conversation with their physician about the risks and benefits of continuing to take their medication," says Domar. "Because at this point in time, with no data to indicate an advantage to taking an SSRI during pregnancy, the research all points to increased risk."
###
In addition to Domar and Urato, other co-authors include: Vasiliki A. Moragianni, MD, MS and David A. Ryley, MD of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston IVF.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is a patient care, teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and currently ranks third in National Institutes of Health funding among independent hospitals nationwide. BIDMC is clinically affiliated with the Joslin Diabetes Center and is a research partner of Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center. BIDMC is the official hospital of the Boston Red Sox. For more information, visit www.bidmc.org.
MetroWest Medical Center is a full-service community teaching hospital system dedicated to meeting the health care needs of the MetroWest region of Massachusetts by providing advanced care with a community touch. The 269-bed health care system the largest between Worcester and Boston includes Framingham Union Hospital, Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick, MetroWest HomeCare and Hospice, and The MetroWest Wellness Center, an outpatient diagnostic imaging and rehabilitation center.
Tufts Medical Center is an exceptional, not-for-profit, 415-bed academic medical center that is home to both a full-service hospital for adults and Floating Hospital for Children. Conveniently located in downtown Boston, the Medical Center is the principal teaching hospital for Tufts University School of Medicine. Floating Hospital for Children is the full-service children's hospital of Tufts Medical Center and the principal pediatric teaching hospital of Tufts University School of Medicine. Tufts Medical Center is affiliated with seven community hospitals and with New England Quality Care Alliance, its community physicians' network. For more information, please visit www.tuftsmedicalcenter.org.
[ | 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.
Killing drug lords gets headlines, but complexity analysis suggests they are the wrong people to target to bring down a cartel
WHEN the Mexican navy announced on 9 October that Heriberto Lazcano, leader of the country's most violent criminal cartel, Los Zetas, had been killed it was hailed as a major victory in the war on drugs. But it's doubtful that Lazcano's death will be the end of Los Zetas - or reduce violence in Mexico. After all, there is already a new leader.
More useful targets might be those apparently minor players with key connections, according to a complexity analysis approach that could help Colombia - the world's largest producer of cocaine - investigate and prosecute cartel members.
Complexity analysis depicts drugs cartels as a complex network with each member as a node and their interactions as lines between them. Algorithms compute the strength and importance of the connections. At first glance, taking out a central "hub" seems like a good idea. When Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993, for example, the Medellin cartel he was in charge of fell apart. But like a hydra, chopping off the head only caused the cartel to splinter into smaller networks. By 1996, 300 "baby cartels" had sprung up in Colombia, says Michael Lawrence of the Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation in Canada, and they are still powerful today. Mexican officials are currently copying the top-down approach, says Lawrence, but he doubts it will work. "Network theory tells us how tenuous the current policy is," he says.
Now Colombian prosecutors have a new tool to add to their investigation methods: network analysis. This can be an integral part of the modern war on drugs, says Eduardo Salcedo-Albaran, director of the Vortex Foundation based in Bogot?.
Vortex uses network-analysis algorithms to construct diagrams for court cases that show the interactions between cartel members, governors and law enforcers. These reveal links that are not otherwise visible, what Salcedo-Albaran calls "betweeners" - people who are not well-connected, but serve as a bridge linking two groups. In Mexico and Colombia, these are often police or governors who are paid by the cartels.
"The betweener is the guy who connects the illegal with the legal," says Salcedo-Albaran. Because many cartels depend on their close ties with the law to operate successfully, removing the betweeners could devastate their operations.
It's a reasonable strategy, says Michael Kenney of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, although it shouldn't be the only one governments use. The ideal strategy depends on government goals. If it is the end of the drug trade they are after, removing the leaders may work. But if the goal is to reduce violence, as incoming Mexican president Enrique Pe?a Nieto has vowed to do, targeting kingpins like Lazcano will have the opposite effect, says Vanda Felbab-Brown of the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. Smaller organisations that emerge from a broken cartel tend to assert their power by torturing and killing people.
Fighting all these factions would require even more firepower. Sean Gourley, of the data analysis organisation Quid in San Francisco, used public data from nine recent insurgencies, including Colombia's drug war, to determine mathematically how these battles play out (Nature, doi.org/bv2tf5). "Unfortunately, if you put more forces on the ground, you elongate the violence," he says.
Data collected by the Transborder Institute in San Diego, California, supports this. Prior to the crackdowns that began in 2006, drug-related crimes in Mexico killed about 3700 people per year. In 2011, that number was more than 16,000.
"People keep saying that the violence [in Mexico] will get worse before it gets better, and the cartels are at the end of their lives, but those predictions have been going on for years," says Lawrence. At some point, he suggests, a more mathematical approach will win out.
Lost your cartel? Just Google it
Mexican cartels aren't subtle about their whereabouts. To intimidate their rivals and the government, they advertise their latest crimes through the media and threaten each other on blogs and websites.
But this practice has been revealing their inner workings to Viridiana Rios and Michele Coscia of Harvard University. In a paper that will be presented at the CIKM conference in Hawaii this month, the two created a program called MOGO that searches Google News for references to the different cartels, their locations and their influence between 1999 and 2011.
They used MOGO to construct a map showing where all the cartels were working at each point in time. Their map turned out to be quite accurate, correlating closely with those developed by the global intelligence firm Stratfor.
The cartels' movements reveal a lot about their business strategies, says Rios. Some, such as Los Zetas, are very aggressive, expanding quickly into new territories and competing with rivals. Older organisations such as Sinaloa prefer to strengthen their own territories rather than seek new ones. Understanding the cartels' logic might make it easier to predict their movements, Rios says.
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In a Harvard Business Review article, Thomas Davenport and D.J. Patil named ?data scientist? as the sexiest job of the 21st century. Indeed.com confirms: data scientist is one of the fasting growing job postings in its database.
But are data scientists an entirely new breed of data analysts? Not entirely, according to Michael Griffin, founder and CTO of retail search engine marketing company Adlucent. And he should know: he?s looking to hire a data scientist himself.
?Data scientist is just the new-age term applied to people who have worked in statistics, machine learning or artificial learning in the past,? says Griffin. ?It?s a new moniker to apply to some of the same people.?
So what does a data scientist look like? Bruno Aziza, VP of Worldwide Marketing at SiSense, notes that he finds the most successful data scientists can expertly manipulate databases, collaborate with team members and successfully relay analyses to those outside of the world of data. ?Think of a data scientist more like the business analyst-plus,? says Aziza.
If you?re up to the challenge and want to obtain a job as a data scientist, the time is now. Demand for data professionals is far outpacing supply, and that should continue as more companies look to analyze and benefit from the data they?re collecting. For those interested in becoming the next-great wave of data scientists, here are three secrets to success.
1. Sharpen Your Scientific Saw
Data scientists need to be comfortable with manipulating and analyzing any data?even when it?s housed in exceptionally large, incomplete and disorganized databases. This often requires individuals to hypothesize and test multiple scenarios to find the right solution in unexpected situations.
But we would say the dominant trait among data scientists is an intense curiosity?a desire to go beneath the surface of a problem, find the questions at its heart, and distill them into a very clear set of hypotheses that can be tested. ? Thomas Davenport and D.J. Patil, Harvard Business Review
Krishna Gopinathan, COO and founder of big data platform company Global Analytics Holdings, reinforces the importance of a scientific approach to data analysis. ?The solution to a problem may be hidden in a particular machine learning algorithm or a traditional statistical model,? says Gopinathan. ?Individuals experienced in various domains and working with different problems will be the ones who succeed.?
A variety of academic backgrounds provide a good foundation to be a data scientist. Griffin is looking for a Ph.D. in computer science, machine learning, statistics, applied mathematics, physics or similar disciplines. Gopinathan adds econometrics as another useful discipline of study. Advanced proficiency with mathematics is of course a prerequisite.
In addition, Gopinathan emphasizes the importance of keeping abreast of current research by reading journals such as the Journal of Machine Learning Research or IEEE PAMI.
2. Learn the Language of Business
The responsibilities of a data scientist have a very clear end-goal: derive actionable, profitable insights from data. Individuals transitioning from academia must focus on organizational, project management and communication skills to excel.
?Working in a commercial environment is just different than academia,? says Griffin. For example, Griffin notes that unlike in most academic environments, his position at Adlucent affords a team of developers to assist as needed. To succeed, individuals must be able to delegate tasks, manage projects and lead teams?in addition to wizardly manipulating data.
?You have to be able to produce something that makes a difference very quickly," Griffin says.
Gopinathan notes he has built exceptional data teams around individuals who ask questions about the business, its data and the processes behind its collection. This knowledge ensures that scientists stay focused on projects, tell the most accurate, ?data story,? and make an impact on the business quickly. Knowing the context of data collection and the implication of analyses can position individuals for success on projects that have a widespread impact on the organization.
As Gopinathan notes, ?Insight from a data scientist can reshape an entire company.?
Gopinathan strongly suggests individuals read about how businesses are using data as much as they read trends in data and computing. One of his favorite books: Competing on Analytics, written by Davenport and Jeanne Harris.
3. Keep Adding to Your Technical Toolbelt
Which technologies and tools look best on a resume? Do you need to know HBase, Cassandra, MySQL, Excel, SPSS, R or SAS? The answer: all of the above.
?Becoming an effective data scientist is all about playing with the data cards you?re dealt. The more tools you?ve mastered, the stronger your play,? says Gopinathan.
While working as the chief data scientist at Facebook, Jeff Hammerbacher described how, on any given day, a scientist team would utilize Python, R and Hadoop, and then have to relay the analyses to colleagues. Additionally, a recent SiSense data professionals study found that 60 percent of respondents use three or more data warehouse and business intelligence interfaces.
Thankfully, there are ample resources on the Web to develop and hone your skills. Big Data University, for example, offers free resources to help data professionals gain proficiency in JAQL, MapReduce, Hive, Pig and others.
It?s also important to gain experience using these skills in the ?real world.? Gopinathan advises aspiring data scientists to participate heavily in open-source projects and data contests, such as Kaggle, to practice utilizing technical, scientific and visual skills in real business scenarios.
I?d like to hear other suggestions on how individuals can take their career in data to the next level. What advice would you provide to aspiring data scientists? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Old Milwaukee, a unit of the PabstBrewing Co., doesn't like to make a big deal out of its ads. In fact, they seem to deliberately hide them.
Business Insider has been diligently following their hidden ad gems over the past year, noting that each spot is in equal measure funny, memorable ? and difficult to find.
Curious why a brand would do this, we set out to understand Old Milwaukee's strategy/non-strategy, beginning with a conversation with the creators of, "Hey, Pass Me a Beer," the latest Old Milwaukee commercial.
Meet Nick and Jack Packard.
They are the creative duo behind? "Hey, Pass Me A Beer," and also happen to be brothers.
During the day, Nick is a marketing consultant, and Jack is the content supervisor for Funny or Die. By night, they are The Packard Brothers, "a truly odd mix of talent that creates a perfect storm of awesome."
So, here's the deal with the Old Mil commercial.
While sitting around the house one afternoon, Jack recalls, "we had this idea for beer passing. We did some test shots, and ended up going through three cases of our own beer. We needed more beer (obviously), so we asked Old Mil, and they were nice enough to supply the rest of the beer for the video."
By the end of filming, they had gone through 192 beers! But, somehow had enough left for "a wicked after party."
Once the video was edited and produced, the brothers shared it with Old Milwaukee. "They really liked it. But, initially, they wanted wanted to put a harder promotional push behind the video," said Jack.
Nick and Jack did not agree with this approach. Instead, they convinced Old Milwaukee to let them post the video on Funny or Die's website to see what would happen.
?It had a very natural build-up,? notes Nick, however, ?had there been a money exchange they [Old Milwaukee] would have wanted more control, so because we weren?t really getting paid for it, we were able to do things how we wanted.?
Shortly there after, "the video was illegally uploaded to a YouTube user's page," said Jack, and quickly went viral.
At its peak, that video had more than 6.5 million views. The brothers never asked the user to take the video down, only to give them a credit, but eventually the user removed the video. Today, the official video is still on YouTube, and has just over 700,000 views.
Nick went on to say "when videos are taken and put up on other pages that is usually a good thing ... It sucks from a monetary point of view, but it's the internet, so you take the good with the bad."
The brothers are currently talking to Old Milwaukee about creating, "Hey, Pass Me a Beer 2." They are hoping to stage similar beer passing stunts around the equipment at the Old Milwaukee factory. If all goes well, the video should be out sometime during the first half of 2013.
Here's the video ... in case you couldn't find it.
Spend yesterday away from the internet? ASUS' launch of the new PadFone 2 might have passed you by. Fortunately, we live in the internet age, where any action can be reviewed and examined to Zapruder-esque proportions. If you'd like to relive the press conference as if you were there with Jonney Shih in Milan, grab yourself an espresso and catch the footage we've tucked after the break.
At this point no one disputes that online and mobile marketing are the way of the future. There are certainly plenty of companies still pouring money into print, radio, and television ads as there?s still an audience for that sort of advertising. But readership of print publications like newspapers and magazines continues to decline, consumers are growing to prefer paid radio services that limit ads, and more and more people are installing DVR technology in their homes so that they can fast-forward through commercials. Plus, the internet has provided an immense entertainment and information playground for the public at large, making it an excellent place for companies to approach consumers in a variety of ways. And if you want to be successful in your chosen career, it behooves you to understand the impact and implementation of online marketing campaigns so that you can peddle your skills to the best internet marketing agencies around. But how can you nab that coveted top spot?
One good way to start is by attending a top school. While it?s true that you can find other ways to get a foot in the door, a diploma from a prestigious college, especially one that has a top-notch business school (and emphasis in marketing) will certainly gain the attention of employers, potentially placing you ahead of the pack when it comes to hiring. On the other hand, this can be a fairly pricy endeavor. So unless you?ve got your sights set on moving up the corporate ladder pretty quickly and you have a comprehensive plan to make it happen, you might not want to saddle yourself with all of that student loan debt. If you want to work at a top firm in any industry you need to be prepared to work hard and make the sacrifices that will get you there.
Of course, you might need a little more than just a degree in this day and age. When you leave the Ivory Tower of learning and head out into the working world you?re going to find that the recession has seriously impacted your ability to obtain gainful employment. Not only are there fewer jobs (even though online marketing should be a growing field), but you?ll be competing against people who have the same credentials as you, but supplemented by years of experience. So you need to make a splash. The best way is to build a portfolio, and this can start during your time in college.
Beyond what you do for your classes, you might want to join competitions through your college that will bring the opportunity for state and national titles for online ad campaigns. And you should probably offer your services free of charge (or for a minimal fee) to local businesses as a way to gain experience and build a portfolio of professional work. If you can swing it, an internship with an online firm (such as www.bowlerhat.co.uk) will also help immensely and it could just result in a job offer that starts you on your way to reaching the pinnacle of your industry. And of course, any references you can muster from professors and clients will help. These steps will show a prospective employer what you?re capable of in a way that a diploma alone cannot, and they will advance your prospects of working at a top online marketing agency.
CHICAGO (AP) ? Shots that protect against cervical cancer do not make girls promiscuous, according to the first study to compare medical records for vaccinated and unvaccinated girls.
The researchers didn't ask girls about having sex, but instead looked at "markers" of sexual activity after vaccination against the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, or HPV. Specifically, they examined up to three years of records on whether girls had sought birth control advice; tests for sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy; or had become pregnant.
Very few of the girls who got the shots at age 11 or 12 had done any of those over the next three years, or by the time they were 14 or 15. Moreover, the study found no difference in rates of those markers compared with unvaccinated girls.
The study involved nearly 1,400 girls enrolled in a Kaiser Permanente health plan in Atlanta. Results were published online Monday in Pediatrics.
Whether vaccination has any influence on similar markers of sexual activity in older teens wasn't examined in this study but other research has suggested it doesn't.
The study is the first to use medical outcomes data to examine consequences of HPV vaccination and the results are "comforting and reassuring," said lead author Robert Bednarczyk, a researcher at Kaiser and Emory University. Both institutions paid for the study.
HPV is the leading cause of cervical cancer and also has been linked with anal and oral cancers in women and men.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend HPV shots for girls and boys at age 11 or 12, before they have ever had sex. Three doses are generally recommended over six months.
Some parents have raised concerns that the shots "are a license to have sex," but the study bolsters evidence against that concern, said Dr. Elizabeth Alderman, an adolescent medicine specialist at The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City. She was not involved in the study.
A CDC study published in January suggested that the shots don't promote sexual activity among older girls, but it relied on self-reporting, at ages 15 to 24. That's a less reliable method than the new study, Alderman said. She has been a paid speaker for Merck & Co., which makes one of the two HPV vaccines sold in the United States, but said she has no current financial ties to the company.
In the new study, at least 90 percent of vaccinated and unvaccinated girls did not seek pregnancy tests, chlamydia tests or birth control counseling, markers that were considered surrogates for sexual activity during up to three years of follow-up. Two in each group became pregnant. Chlamydia, a common sexually transmitted disease, was diagnosed in one vaccinated girl and three unvaccinated girls.
Three of the study's four co-authors reported having done previous research funded by Merck.
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Online:
American Academy of Pediatrics: http://www.aap.org
HPV vaccination: http://1.usa.gov/1tgXtd
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AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner
A San Francisco civil grand jury has concluded that 38 restaurants built into their prices the cost of providing city-mandated employee health coverage?and then never offered the benefits to workers.
The grand jurors? suspicion: That restaurateurs pocketed a substantial portion of the money.
In 2006, San Francisco passed the Health Care Security Ordinance, the nation?s first public-option health insurance plan. It requires employers to provide health insurance.
If they don?t, they must pay up to $4,252 per employee annually into a San Francisco fund that reimburses employees for their health expenditures. The funds are collected at the point of sale from consumers.
Em??ployees then submit medical bills directly to the employer for reimbursement.
In November 2011, San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee signed legislation clarifying that the full amount collected from customers under the surcharge must be used for employee health care expenditures.
Grand jurors collected receipts from 38 restaurants and compared them with annual compliance reports, which employers file with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. They were also matched up with annual payroll expense tax documents filed with the Office of the Treasurer and Tax Collector.
The survey found that 18 restaurants collected $2.17 million in surcharges, of which $1.16 million was spent on health care expenses. A surplus of $1.01 million remained with the restaurants.
The report also found that more than half of the restaurants failed to add sales tax to the surcharge. In just that small sample, the city?s lost tax revenue added up to more than $77,000.
Rob Black, executive director of the Golden Gate Restaurant Asso?ci?ation, criticized the report, saying it fell outside the scope of a civil grand jury?s purpose. He argued that of the 3,200 restaurants in the city, only a few were handpicked to make a political point.
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Can you imagine the outcry if the Romney campaign announced White People for Mitt.
Why hasn't the White House announced a special program for Pop Stars for Obama? ?Or former Wall Street Bankers for Obama? ?Or Wall Street Defense Attorneys for Obama? Or narcoleptic former Harvard Presidents who destroyed the Harvard Endowment for Obama? Or Moody's economists named Mark Zandi for Obama?
Finally, what about tax-cheating, dick-weed former NY Fed Presidents for Obama?
One thing that's really been lacking on the market until recently is Halloween themed games. You'd think it would be a no brainer, right? Sure there have been a few games with Nightmare Before Christmas versions. And even Disney's Haunted Mansion versions of Clue and The Game of Life. There's even a Halloween themed Monopoly knock off called Boo-Opoly, which I have yet to get.
It's only in the past few years that I started to see Halloween themed games, mostly at Target. For the most part, they're classic games like Bingo, Twister, and Ring Toss with Halloween graphics. They're cute but usually don't appeal to my Halloween collecting need because they're not Halloween-y enough.
When I visited Micheal's craft store last week, I found this cute kids card game for $2.
As you can see, it's called Go Batty! and it plays just like Go Fish. Instead of a normal deck of cards with numbered suits, there are 13 sets of four cartoony creatures. For the price, the cards are made from surprisingly good stock. However, the big problem with them for me is the box.
The box is mounted to the backing card and I don't think there's any way of removing it without destroying the box short of cutting the card away with scissors. Also because of the way the interior tabs are placed in the box, it's impossible to close the top flap with the cards in there unless you remove the two foreign language rules cards. Even when I manage to get it closed, it's just as difficult to open because in order to get your fingertip on the flap you have to bend the backing card.
Despite all my whining about the box, you can't do much better for only two bucks, especially if you're not a stickler for keeping the packaging intact.
Be sure to visit the other bloggers that have their porch lights on by clicking below.?
SANAA, Yemen (AP) ? Yemen's defense ministry says a Russian-made jetfighter has crashed immediately after takeoff during a training mission, killing its pilot.
The ministry's online newspaper said the MiG-21 aircraft crashed Monday inside al-Annad air base in the southern province of Lahj due to technical failure.
It said the jet's pilot, Col. Atiq al-Akhali, was killed and a trainee was injured.
Al-Annad air base is the biggest in the country. It hosts a group of U.S. military advisers helping Yemeni troops fighting the local branch of al-Qaida, considered by the U.S. to be the terror network's most dangerous offshoot.
Yemen's air force has carried out strikes during the military's offensive against al-Qaida.
GROSSETO, Italy (AP) ? The former captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner came to an Italian court on Monday to hear the evidence against him, while passengers who survived the Jan. 13 collision in which 32 died showed up to look him in the eye.
Wearing dark glasses, Francesco Schettino used a back entrance to slip into a theater in the Tuscan city of Grosseto that is serving as a courtroom. He made no comment to reporters outside.
The Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after Schettino took it off course and brought it close to the island as part of a stunt.
Hearings this week will help decide whether a judge will order trial for Schettino, who is charged with manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the charges. Any trial is unlikely to begin before next year.
More than 1,000 survivors, victims' relatives and their lawyers are attending the closed-door hearing to discuss the evidence against Schettino and eight other defendants, including crew members and officials from Concordia owner Costa Crociere SpA, which is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp.
"We want to look him in the eye to see how he will react to the accusations," said German survivor Michael Liessen, 50, who was attending Monday's hearing along with his wife.
Last month, four court-appointed experts delivered a 270-page report of what went wrong that night based on an analysis of data recorders, ship communications equipment, testimony and other evidence.
The experts ? two admirals and two engineers ? lay most of the blame for the collision with the reef and the botched evacuation on Schettino. But they also noted that not all crew members understood Italian, not all had current certification for evacuation procedures, and not all passengers had participated in evacuation drills.
Passengers described a confused and delayed evacuation, with many of the lifeboats unable to be lowered because the boat was listing too far to one side. Some of the 4,200 people aboard jumped into the Mediterranean and swam to Giglio, while others had to be plucked from the vessel by rescue helicopters hours after the collision.
Schettino has insisted that by guiding the stricken ship to shallower waters near Giglio's port instead of immediately ordering an evacuation he potentially saved lives. He has claimed that another official, and not he, was at the helm when the ship struck.
The timeline in the expert report, however, makes clear that he had assumed command six minutes before the ship struck the reef.
Good foreclosure home buys are available everywhere, but they require research, preparation, patience and persistence.?Setting realistic goals and recruiting the help of experienced real estate investor professionals will help you minimize your investment risks.
1) Begin by researching the local areas you want to invest in. Choose a small area so that your research remains manageable, and then expand that area as you determine the quantity of leads you need to match the number of properties you want to buy.
2) Next, search your area for available?foreclosure home opportunities.?You will want to look at Pre-foreclosures with equity (loans are less than market value) and Short Sales (loans are more than market value ? by contacting the owner in default directly. You will also want to review Auction notices to purchase the home from the owner in default before the Auction, or purchase at the public sale. Don?t forget to check out the entire bank owned foreclosed homes on You?ll be surprised how many of the properties lare NOT available on the open market (AKA: Phantom Foreclosures).
4) Decide your minimum profit, based on your time and risk involved in each project. If you are doing a full flip, investing 3-4 months of your time and money, I would recommend a minimum 15% profit on resale or $30,000 per deal (whichever is higher). Or, if you want to ?wholesale? your deal to another investor, (who will flip it), and invest only a few weeks of your time (and no money at all), I would recommend a $5,000 or $10,000 minimum ?wholesale fee? or 25% of the total profit in the deal (whichever is higher).3) Not it?s time to build relationships with investor-friendly foreclosure agents in your local market. They will be an invaluable resource for access to critical information available only to agents in the MLS (Multiple Listing Service). And, if they are closing wholesale deals with investors right now, they will know which banks, which markets and which properties are the best opportunities for your investment goals. Finding these foreclosure agents contacts, and establishing credibility so they want to work with you. This is critical to your success as a foreclosure investor.
5) If you are flipping, you will also need to estimate the cost of repairs.?You can do this on your own or seek the help of a contractor who accompanies you to tour the house and create a budget. Be careful here. Oftentimes contractors will create a much bigger budget than you need to flip the house. You will want to educate yourself on which repairs will get you the best return of your time and money.?In some cases,?there may be little need for repairs, but generally speaking, when you are making a big profit, you are adding a lot of value to get the higher price.
6) Make sure you have your money resource figured out.?Your agent may have relationships with mortgage brokers or lenders that match your financial profile. You will either need to get prequalified for a mortgage loan (if you plan on holding for rental) or find some good hard money lenders and private investors in your community to joint venture the deal with you. Some foreclosure sellers require that buyers submit ?proof of funds? with their foreclosure home offer to purchase. Make sure you have this in place before you write your offer.
7) It?s time to write an offer on a foreclosure home.?You will need to calculate how much you can pay for the property and needed renovations and build in your minimum profit. This is the maximum amount you can offer to purchase the foreclosure home. You must get your offer price right. Too low and you will never buy a property. Too high and you will lose money and be wiped out of any future investments. This is another critical area of concern for new investors that you must perfect, before you start investing. If your agent is skilled in foreclosure investment business, she will be able to negotiate your wholesale price based on asking the right questions and properly determining the seller?s motivation.
8) Once your offer is accepted, it?s time to do your due diligence.?This is when either hire a property inspector to analyze the property, or walk the property with your contractor to make sure you are on budget and there are no surprises. (I do the latter.) If your contractor finds discrepancies between what was advertised and the reality of the property, you can negotiate a lower price or cancel your purchase contract.
9) After closing, it?s time to hire your general contractor to get the rehab done. Create a contract with your contractor to ensure the work is completed on time and on budget. You can include a clause that penalizes the contractor for finishing late, or reward him for finishing early. (I do the latter.) Now sell your property to a owner occupant that will use the home as a primary residence, and bank your 15% or $30,000 (or more) profits.
Order Your FREE ForeclosureList?Now?www.lasvegaswinner.org David Cooper->"LIKE" my?Facebook?Page
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Public release date: 31-Oct-2012
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