NEW YORK — Americans think the U.S. health care system is in need of major repairs, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll. Nine out of 10 say the system needs at least fundamental changes, including 36 percent who favor a complete overhaul. Although most Americans say they are generally satisfied with the quality of their own health care, including 41 percent who say they are very satisfied, it’s a different story when it comes to the cost of care. Just one in five are very satisfied with what they pay for health care, while a majority (52 percent) are dissatisfied, including a third who are very dissatisfied. U.S. HEALTH CARE SYSTEM NEEDS¦ Minor changes 8% Fundamental changes 54% To be completely rebuilt 36% Americans are even more critical of health care costs in the nation as whole: 59 percent are very dissatisfied with the overall cost of health care in the U.S. and another 22 percent are somewhat dissatisfied. Most Americans believe government can play a role in fixing the health care system. Two-thirds say the federal government should guarantee that all Americans have health insurance - and a similar number […]
Every Wednesday, seconds before 11 a.m. Eastern time, furniture fans are stationed at their computers, poised to point and click. It’s the countdown to the weekly posting of new items at 1stdibs.com, an online decorative arts marketplace with dealers from the United States and Paris. The site, with as many as 30,000 visits a day, up from 7,500 two years ago, according to its founder, has become a favorite among professional interior designers and, in the last year, do-it-yourself decorators. It is not only a primary resource for locating and acquiring new pieces but also a way to discern the latest design trends. ‘It’s mind-boggling, the gorgeous things you can find in minutes,’ said Deborah Doe, who furnished her 15,000-square-foot home in Osterville, Mass., on Cape Cod, almost entirely with items she bought at 1stdibs.com. ‘I have a passion for decorating and wanted to do my house myself,’ she said. But with two small children, she didn’t have time to go antiquing, especially when she needed furniture to fill more than 40 rooms, not to mention 400 light fixtures. She appreciated the access the site gave her, ‘without having to hop a flight to Paris or having […]
Mathematicians have finally laid to rest the legendary mystery surrounding an elusive group of numerical expressions known as the ‘mock theta functions.’ Number theorists have struggled to understand the functions ever since the great Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan first alluded to them in a letter written on his deathbed, in 1920. Now, using mathematical techniques that emerged well after Ramanujan’s death, two number theorists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have pieced together an explanatory framework that for the first time illustrates what mock theta functions are, and exactly how to derive them. Their new theory is proving invaluable in the resolution of long-standing open questions in number theory. In addition, the UW-Madison advance will for the first time enable researchers to apply mock theta functions to problems in a variety of fields, including physics, chemistry and several branches of mathematics. The findings appear in a series of three papers, the third appearing today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ‘It’s extremely gratifying to be able to say we solved the ‘final problem’ of Ramanujan,’ says co-author Ken Ono, UW-Madison Manasse Professor of Letters and Science, who is widely noted for contributions to number theory. […]
An elite team of officers advising the US commander, General David Petraeus, in Baghdad has concluded that they have six months to win the war in Iraq – or face a Vietnam-style collapse in political and public support that could force the military into a hasty retreat. The officers – combat veterans who are experts in counter-insurgency – are charged with implementing the ‘new way forward’ strategy announced by George Bush on January 10. The plan includes a controversial ‘surge’ of 21,500 additional American troops to establish security in the Iraqi capital and Anbar province. But the team, known as the ‘Baghdad brains trust’ and ensconced in the heavily fortified Green Zone, is struggling to overcome a range of entrenched problems in what has become a race against time, according to a former senior administration official familiar with their deliberations. ‘They know they are operating under a clock. They know they are going to hear a lot more talk in Washington about ‘Plan B’ by the autumn – meaning withdrawal. They know the next six-month period is their opportunity. And they say it’s getting harder every day,’ he said. By improving security, the plan’s short-term aim […]
Antioxidant vitamins may not always as good as intended, according to some researchers. A new meta-analysis of 68 randomized trials with 232 606 participants suggests that treatment with beta carotene, vitamin A, and vitamin E may increase risk of death whereas the effect of vitamin c and selenium on the death risk remains unclear. The study published in the Feb. 28, 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association has drawn immediate criticism from the Council of Responsible Nutrition which issued a statement suggesting that the analysis is inadequate because the studies used in the analysis differ greatly in terms of their designs, size and quality. The trade organization representing vitamin supplements manufacturers says in its press release that the researchers ‘misuse meta-analysis methods to create generalized conclusions that may inappropriately confuse and alarm consumers who can benefit from supplementing with antioxidants.’ The antioxidant vitamins of concern are often times marketed as dietary supplements and used by consumers in hopes to maintain their health or protect against diseases such as cancer and heart disease as these compounds can presumably help eliminate free radials (at least in a theoretical sense) that would otherwise injure […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
