Senior Center news | Wilton Bulletin

Sonia Katz

Mental Health First Aid is a 12-hour certification course that will be given over two days ? June 7 and June 14 from 9 to 4 ? at Comstock Community Center. It is intended to help individuals and communities understand mental health issues and respond to those who may be experiencing distress. Attendees must attend both days in order to receive certification.

Who should take this training?

? Volunteers and the general public;

? Primary care professionals;

? School personnel, nurses and educators;

? First-responders, fire, police and corrections officers;

? Nursing home staff;

? Employers, human resources professionals and business leaders;

? State policymakers.

Mental Health First Aid is an interactive course designed to provide key skills in helping someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. Just as CPR training helps a non-medical professional assist an individual following a heart attack; Mental Health First Aid training helps an individual who does not have clinical training assist someone experiencing a mental health crisis.

Highlights of the training course include:

? The prevalence of mental illnesses in the United States;

? Potential warning signs of the most common mental health disorders;

? A five-step action plan for assisting an individual in crisis;

? Resources available to help someone with a mental health problem.

Mental Health First Aid USA is managed, operated, and disseminated by the Nation Council for Community Behavior Healthcare, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

The instructor is Dawn Roy, a licensed social worker with a? private practice in Fairfield . She has been a mental health first aid instructor since 2009, providing over 30 training courses throughout Fairfield County.

Seating is limited to the first 30 registrants. To register email Ms. Roy at ladyroy@earthlink.net or call 203-331-7458. The course fee is $100 per person. This includes three-year certification, two-day training, manual, handouts, and certificate.

Wellness series

Live Well is a free health promotion program for older adults. It is a nationwide, evidence-based health promotion program developed by Stanford University to help adults living with chronic conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer manage their health and maintain active, fulfilling lives. Led by two trained facilitators, the workshops cover new topics each week and provide opportunities for interaction and group problem solving.

The program is offered Thursdays, May 16, 23, 30; June 6, 13, 20 from 9:30 to noon. Space is limited.? Register at 203-834-6240.? For more information visit swcaa.org and click on ?Benefits and Services? and ?Live Well Program.?

Self-hypnosis with Sonia

Learn the simple steps of self-hypnosis with Sonia Katz. With more than 40 years of experience, Ms. Katz offers a ?workshop of fun and relaxation whatever your age or experience.?

Ms. Katz studied hypnosis with Dr. Brian Weiss, author of Many Lives, Many Masters. She will teach how to achieve relaxation through breathing techniques, guided meditation and position, and how to plant the proper suggestions in the unconscious mind in order to achieve goals.

The seminar takes place on Thursdays, May 9 and 23, June 6 and 20, at 2 p.m., at the senior center. There is a $5 drop-in fee; advance registration recommended.

Computer classes

Computer Fundamentals is an introductory course is for those with limited or no computer experience who would like to test the waters.? This is excellent preparation for Beyond Beginners Word 2007/2010.? Taught by Andrea Ragusa; May 13 and 14. Fee: $30. Call 203-762-8445 to register.

Memoir organization

This course provides comprehensive information about options for preparing a memoir to be printed in book form. It will outline how to set up copy to have continuity among the pages and how to develop graphics to enhance the book?s material. Learn money-saving tips before going to a professional printer or UPS Store. This is not a research course; it is a workshop to help you organize before getting started. Taught by Catherine Myers; May 20 and 21. Fee:? $30.

Coming Events

All activities take place at the senior center (203-834-6240) unless otherwise specified.

For the week of May 3:

Friday, May 10, 10, Move, Strengthen, and Stretch with Julienne Camhi; 12, Bridge with Eleanor Mihailidis; 1:30, Beginner Bridge with Dan DeVlieg; 1:30-3, Free swim for seniors at the Wilton Y.

Monday, May 13; 9:20, Enhance Fitness with Laura Mars; 9:30, Computer Fundamentals with Andrea Ragusa; 10:30, Line Dance Fusion with Beatriz Araujo; 12, Movie, ?Emma.?

Tuesday, May 7, 9:30, Computer Fundamentals with Andrea Ragusa; 10, Painting with Althea; 11, Yoga with Denise O?Hearn; 2, Chair Yoga at Ogden House.

Wednesday, May 15, 9:30, RSVP; 9-10:30, Blood Pressure Screening at the Wilton Y; 9:45, Tai Chi with Debbie Dong; 10, Duplicate Bridge with Dan DeVlieg; 12, Lunch at Ogden House followed by ?Fall Prevention;? 1:30, Mah Jongg.

Thursday, May 16, 9, Enhance Fitness with Leslie Hinshaw; 10, Yoga with Denise O?Hearn; 12, Lunch at St. Matthew Church; 6, Osteoarthritis presentation at The Greens.

Source: http://www.wiltonbulletin.com/5777/senior-center-news-6/

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Wall Street jumps as banks lead S&P 500 to new high

By Ryan Vlastelica

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks rose and extended a recent rally on Tuesday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 hitting new intraday highs as investors bet that the market's upward momentum would keep going.

Gains were broad, with more than two-thirds of New York Stock Exchange-listed companies' shares rising and almost 640 securities hitting 52-week highs, including Chevron Corp and Visa Inc .

Growth-orientated stocks were among the day's biggest advancers, with large-cap bank stocks leading the way. Bank of America , up 2.6 percent at $13.32, was the Dow's biggest gainer. Citigroup Inc rose 2.2 percent to $49.98. Goldman Sachs advanced 3.4 percent to $154.67 while Wells Fargo & Co added 1.1 percent to $38.63.

Wall Street has climbed for the past three weeks. The S&P 500 is up almost 16 percent so far this year, propelled in large part by the Federal Reserve's easy monetary policy, designed to stimulate the economy.

"We're riding a self-fulfilling prophecy of momentum. There's no fundamental reason for today's move, other than the continued easing by the Fed and momentum," said Paul Radeke, vice president at Minneapolis-based KDV Wealth Management.

While some analysts expect the momentum to wane in the near term, as equities haven't undergone a significant pullback this year, many say that the long-term trend remains positive as investors keep using any market decline as a buying opportunity.

"The sheer volume of cash coming in from the sidelines is preventing any kind of correction, even though fundamentally we seem to be getting overbought," said Radeke, who helps oversee $400 million in assets.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 95.73 points, or 0.63 percent, to 15,187.41. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> climbed 15.65 points, or 0.96 percent, to 1,649.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advancedp 29.39 points, or 0.85 percent, to 3,468.18.

Earlier in the session, the Dow hit an all-time intraday high at 15,191.60, while the S&P 500 reached an all-time intraday high at 1,649.71.

The Dow's gains were limited by weakness in Caterpillar Inc , down 0.8 percent at $87.56, and UnitedHealth Group , off 0.8 percent at $61.90.

The market had been trading sideways for three sessions, showing a gain of 0.07 percent as the winding down of the quarterly earnings season and a light economic calendar have left investors without a strong catalyst for further gains.

Economic data showed import prices slipped 0.5 percent last month because of a drop in oil costs, the biggest decline since December, and matching Wall Street's expectations.

U.S.-listed shares of Sony Corp jumped 10.3 percent to $20.83 after billionaire hedge fund investor Daniel Loeb called on the company to spin off its lucrative entertainment arm.

Nokia Corp unveiled a new version of its Lumia smartphone line, but U.S.-listed shares fell 5.3 percent to $3.64. Research company Gartner said Nokia lost 5 percentage points of market share in the first quarter, falling to 14.8 percent.

Solar power companies' shares fell on the day after Trina Solar Ltd estimated lower panel shipments than a previous outlook and said its results would be hurt by a foreign currency exchange loss. The stock fell 7.3 percent to $5.50 while Yingli Green Energy slid 4.4 percent to $2.41.

Most corporate earnings have been better than expected this quarter. With 90 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 67.2 percent have topped earnings expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, which is even with the average over the past four quarters. However, only 46.9 percent have beaten revenue expectations, below the 52 percent average over the past four quarters.

(Editing by Nick Zieminski and Jan Paschal)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/stock-futures-tick-lower-investors-look-catalysts-113954143.html

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Nancy Folbre: The Care and Feeding of Small Business - NYTimes ...

Nancy Folbre is an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

As a growing number of small business organizations pursue a policy agenda distinct from that of corporate America, they may be able to nudge state and local government toward new economic development strategies.

Currently, the businesses best able to garner generous grants and tax incentives by promising to create jobs within specific political boundaries are large, mobile corporations that can pit communities against one another, demanding ever-higher subsidies.

Greg LeRoy wrote about the problem at length in ?The Great American Jobs Scam.? In his 2010 book, ?Investment Incentives and the Global Competition for Capital,? Kenneth Thomas estimated the total cost to American taxpayers at about $70 billion a year.

A number of technical issues regarding treatment of tax expenditures and property tax abatements come into play in such estimates, but another accounting based on investigative reporting by The New York Times generated an estimate of $80 billion a year. The details unearthed in the Times series, United States of Subsidies, show that 48 companies have received more than $100 million in state grants since 2007.

A bias toward large companies has been particularly obvious in the retail sector, where big-box stores have been big winners, with adverse effects on small independent businesses. Critics of Walmart have developed an entire Web site devoted to monitoring the public subsidies it receives.

The state of Texas touts its success in luring large companies from other states, offering generous tax subsidies financed by cuts in spending on local education, infrastructure and other public services. But critics of the Texas model contend that corporate relocations have had a ?microscopic? impact on the state?s economy.

Meanwhile, alternative economic development strategies are gradually gaining traction. Littleton, Colo., a suburb of Denver, has pioneered an ?economic gardening? approach that rejects a ?hunting? model in favor of growing its own small businesses, providing supportive services and planning assistance. Its success has inspired pilot projects in several states, including Florida, Iowa, Kansas and Louisiana. The Colorado legislature is currently considering a statewide pilot project.

Economic gardening tends to focus on companies that are well established but ready to move into a growth phase. Many efforts to foster and develop new businesses fall under the rubric of ?localist incubation.? My University of Massachusetts student Joseph Costello just completed an undergraduate honors paper on this topic, including a detailed account of the efforts of the Franklin County Community Development Corporation in nearby Greenfield, an area that includes many small farms growing high-quality organic produce.

Their Western Massachusetts Food Processing Center offers food entrepreneurs an industrial kitchen space meeting federal standards for commercial food production, as well as large refrigeration and storage units, and packing machinery. One of its success stories is Real Pickles, a company that supplies high-quality naturally fermented products to about 300 local stores. In business for 11 years, with a current staff of about 12, the company just announced plans to transition to a fully worker-owned cooperative model.

Promotion of worker-owned cooperatives is a way to create entrepreneurs and jobs at the same time. The Evergreen Cooperatives of Cleveland represent a stellar example, recently called out by the Federal Reserve Board member Sarah Bloom Raskin as an effective model of local economic development. A similar effort is on the verge of starting in Springfield, Mass.

States and cities have carried out a variety of other efforts to help small businesses grow. But the level of public investment in such efforts seems tiny compared with the amounts spent on incentives for large companies to relocate. The governor of Texas may dream of winning jobs from California, but the country as a whole would benefit more from the creation of new jobs.

It would be interesting to estimate what $70 billion to $80 billion in subsidies to economic gardening could yield, relative to economic hunting.

Mr. LeRoy explains that the nonprofit organization Good Jobs First has begun a study of relative spending on subsidies for small versus big businesses. In the meantime, he asserts, ?Small business groups should put their shoulder to the wheel on state economic development policy reform.?

The jobs they could create, after all, would be their own.

Source: http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/13/the-care-and-feeding-of-small-business/

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Nigerian naira strengthens on oil firms' dollar sales

LAGOS (Reuters) - The Nigerian naira strengthened against the U.S dollar on the interbank market on Monday, supported by oil companies selling dollars to banks, traders said.

The naira closed at 157.45 to the dollar on the interbank, compared with 157.75 on Friday.

"The naira was supported mainly by the $72 million sold by Chevron to some banks on Monday and the balance of the second tranche of NNPC (state-owned oil company) sold on Friday," one dealer said.

Traders said the NNPC sold additional $200 million to selected lenders late on Friday, which further boosted dollar liquidity and provided support for the local unit.

The local currency had hit a one-month high on Thursday on the back of dollar flows from oil companies and offshore investors buying local debt.

On the official window, the central bank sold $290 million at 155.74 to the dollar, compared with $300 million sold at 155.75 at the previous auction on Wednesday.

"We see the naira stable around the 157.50-157-95 to the dollar for the rest of the week because of the level of demand for hard currency in the market," another dealer said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-naira-strengthens-oil-firms-dollar-sales-152020221.html

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Four new genetic risk factors for testicular cancer identified

May 12, 2013 ? A new study looking at the genomes of more than 13,000 men identified four new genetic variants associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer, the most commonly diagnosed type in young men today. The findings from this first-of-its-kind meta-analysis were reported online May 12 in Nature Genetics by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

The discovery of these genetic variations -- chromosomal "typos," so to speak -- could ultimately help researchers better understand which men are at high risk and allow for early detection or prevention of the disease.

"As we continue to cast a wider net, we identify additional genetic risk factors, which point to new mechanisms for disease," said Katherine L. Nathanson, MD, associate professor in the division of Translational Medicine and Human Genetics within the department of Medicine. "Certain chromosomal regions, what we call loci, are tied into testicular cancer susceptibility, and represent a promising path to stratifying patients into risk groups -- for a disease we know is highly heritable."

Tapping into three genome-wide association studies (GWAS), the researchers, including Peter A. Kanetsky, PhD, MPH, an associate professor in the department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, analyzed 931 affected individuals and 1,975 controls and confirmed the results in an additional 3,211 men with cancer and 7,591 controls. The meta-analysis revealed that testicular germ cell tumor (TGCT) risk was significantly associated with markers at four loci -- 4q22, 7q22, 16q22.3, and 17q22, none of which have been identified in other cancers. Additionally, these loci pose a higher risk than the vast majority of other loci identified for some common cancers, such as breast and prostate.

This brings the number of genomic regions associated with testicular cancer up to 17 -- including eight new ones reported in another study in this issue of Nature Genetics.

Testicular cancer is relatively rare; however, incidence rates have doubled in the past 40 years. It is also highly heritable. If a man has a father or son with testicular cancer, he has a four-to six-fold higher risk of developing it compared to a man with no family history. That increases to an eight-to 10-fold higher risk if the man has a brother with testicular cancer.

Given this, researchers continue to investigate genetic variants and their association with cancer.

In 2009, Dr. Nathanson and colleagues uncovered variation around two genes -- KITLG and SPRY4 -- found to be associated with an increased risk of testicular cancer. The two variants were the first striking genetic risk factors found for this disease at the time. Since then, several more variants have been discovered, but only through single GWAS studies.

"This analysis is the first to bring several groups of data together to identify loci associated with disease," said Dr. Nathanson, "and represent the power of combining multiple GWAS to better identify genetic risk factors that failed to reach genome-wide significance in single studies."

The team also explains how the variants associated with increased cancer risk are the same genes associated with chromosomal segregation. The variants are also found near genes important for germ cell development. These data strongly supports the notion that testicular cancer is a disorder of germ cell development and maturation.

"TGCT is unique in that many of the loci are very good biological candidates due to their role in male germ cell development," said Dr. Nathanson. "Disruptions in male germ cell development lead to tumorigenesis, and presumably also to infertility. These conditions have been linked before, epidemiologically, and genes implicated in both of our prior studies, but this study reinforces that connection."

This study was supported in part by Intramural Research Program of the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health grant (R01CA114478).

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/genes/~3/9BSwT38EXEM/130512141208.htm

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Cherished Hearts At Home: Happy Mothers Day

'Mothers Day' that one day a year when the value of motherhood is celebrated in our society!
How many times has this day not gone exactly to plan in most of our lives.
The reality of the day as opposed to the expectations of the day can sometimes cause an emotional let down not only for the Mama but for those who are trying to create the special day.

And yet the hype that it is given in our?society?is really part of the problem.
The commercialism and the images of a perfect 'Mothers Day.'
This may happen in some homes and yet a lot of mothers who?want?this to be a fantastic day of?memories,?are often surrounded by those very small children who call them mummy, and invariable the?everyday living?of being mummy to them can cause tension and anxiety for everyone involved.

Now?don't?get me wrong I love the the fact that I get to be 'queen of the day' in our home for this day BUT really I aren't I always?
Is this not a?title?that can be applied to every mother?

Am I not the one who can create special times with the family, the one our little and yes big ones come to for help and a wee bit of love and?encouragement.

The fact is Mothers Day is not a single day in each year but the joy that comes from ?being blessed mothers everyday.

The joys and the tears, the?frustrations?and the triumphs are the crowning glory that we have as mothers.
It is in the everyday that we are?cherished?and we choose to cherish and?nurture?those precious souls?entrusted?to us.

Motherhood ?is a GIFT!
A gift we can welcome and enjoy everyday?despite?the days when it all seems too much work.
But oh the countless times that gift can bring such wonder and absolute joy is why 'Mothers Day' is in my opinion EVERYDAY.

May your Mothers Day be a most blessed day surrounded by the love of each of your children who may be near or far, and may the love you have for them and they for you ?never diminish!

Blessings to you and your homes,
?

Source: http://cherishedheartsathome.blogspot.com/2013/05/happy-mothers-day.html

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Carnivorous plant throws out 'junk' DNA

May 12, 2013 ? Genes make up about 2 percent of the human genome. The rest consists of a genetic material known as noncoding DNA, and scientists have spent years puzzling over why this material exists in such voluminous quantities.

Now, a new study offers an unexpected insight: The large majority of noncoding DNA, which is abundant in many living things, may not actually be needed for complex life, according to research set to appear in the journal Nature.

The clues lie in the genome of the carnivorous bladderwort plant, Utricularia gibba.

The U. gibba genome is the smallest ever to be sequenced from a complex, multicellular plant. The researchers who sequenced it say that 97 percent of the genome consists of genes -- bits of DNA that code for proteins -- and small pieces of DNA that control those genes.

It appears that the plant has been busy deleting noncoding "junk" DNA from its genetic material over many generations, the scientists say. This may explain the difference between bladderworts and junk-heavy species like corn and tobacco -- and humans.

The international research team, led by the Laboratorio Nacional de Gen?mica para la Biodiversidad (LANGEBIO) in Mexico and the University at Buffalo, will report its findings on May 12 in Nature.

The study was directed by LANGEBIO Director and Professor Luis Herrera-Estrella and UB Professor of Biological Sciences Victor Albert, with contributions from scientists in the United States, Mexico, China, Singapore, Spain and Germany.

"The big story is that only 3 percent of the bladderwort's genetic material is so-called 'junk' DNA," Albert said. "Somehow, this plant has purged most of what makes up plant genomes. What that says is that you can have a perfectly good multicellular plant with lots of different cells, organs, tissue types and flowers, and you can do it without the junk. Junk is not needed."

Noncoding DNA is DNA that doesn't code for any proteins. This includes mobile elements called jumping genes that have the ability to copy (or cut) and paste themselves into new locations of the genome.

Scientists have spent countless hours puzzling over why noncoding DNA exists -- and in such copious amounts. A recent series of papers from ENCODE, a highly publicized international research project, began to offer an explanation, saying that the majority of noncoding DNA (about 80 percent) appeared to play a role in biochemical functions such as regulation and promotion of DNA conversion into its relative, RNA, which for genes, feeds into the machinery that makes proteins.

But Herrera-Estrella, Albert and their colleagues argue that organisms may not bulk up on genetic junk for reasons of benefit.

Instead, they say, some species may simply have an inherent, mechanistic bias toward deleting a great deal of noncoding DNA while others have a built-in bias in the opposite direction -- toward DNA insertion and duplication. These biases are not due to the fact that one way of behaving is more helpful than the other, but because there are two innate ways to behave and all organisms adhere to them to one degree or the other. The place that organisms occupy on this sliding scale of forces depends in part on the extent to which Darwin's natural selection pressure is able to counter or enhance these intrinsic biases.

The new U. gibba genome shows that having a bunch of noncoding DNA is not crucial for complex life. The bladderwort is an eccentric and complicated plant. It lives in aquatic habitats like freshwater wetlands, and has developed corresponding, highly specialized hunting methods. To capture prey, the plant pumps water from tiny chambers called bladders, turning each into a vacuum that can suck in and trap unsuspecting critters.

The U. gibba genome has about 80 million DNA base pairs -- a miniscule number compared to other complex plants -- and the deletion of noncoding DNA appears to account for most of that size discrepancy, the researchers say. U. gibba has about 28,500 genes, comparable to relatives like grape and tomato, which have much larger genomes of about 490 and 780 million base pairs, respectively.

The small size of the U. gibba genome is even more surprising given the fact that the species has undergone three complete genome doublings since its evolutionary lineage split from that of tomato.

That is, at three distinct times in the course of its evolution, the bladderwort's genome doubled in size, with offspring receiving two full copies of the species' entire genome. "This surprisingly rich history of duplication, paired with the current small size of the bladderwort genome, is further evidence that the plant has been prolific at deleting nonessential DNA, but at the same time maintaining a functional set of genes similar to those of other plant species" says Herrera-Estrella.

Besides LANGEBIO and UB, institutions with researchers contributing to the study included: University of Arizona, Tucson; Universidad de Guanajuato, Irapuato; Chongqing University of Science and Technology; Departamento de Gen?tica, Unidad Irapuato, Centro de Investigaci?n y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Polit?cnico Nacional; Universidad Veracruzana; Michigan State University; Universidad de Guadalajara, Ocotl?n; Pennsylvania State University; Nanyang Technological University; Centre for Genomic Regulation in Barcelona; Universitat Pompeu Fabra; Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics; Indiana University; Rutgers University; and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

The study was supported by CONACyT (Mexico), Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences and the National Science Foundation.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/strange_science/~3/EGMZRcm1uB8/130512140559.htm

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