Dancing with Ana by Nicole Barker

Stars: ***1/2

The Golden Road Press (2009)
Teen Fiction
170 pages

Summary: Beth has a great life, a loving family and three best friends. Beth and most of her friends decide to go on a diet but it gets a little out of control for Beth. 

The title says it all. Ana is short form for Anorexia and Beth is indeed dancing with it. She doesn't quite develop into full Anorexia needing hospitalization and treatment but she does get quite close. Luckily she realizes what she is doing to herself and is able to stop. With true Anorexia, the person doesn't see what they are doing to themselves because they have warped view of themselves.

I think the fact that Beth comes from a good family shows teenage girls that struggles with diet and even eating disorders can happen to anyone. The story was simple and it's short enough that the story doesn't get too in depth. For some this may not be a good thing but I think it's perfect for teenage girls. When it comes to reading about struggles, a lot can be too much.

Although the story is mainly about Beth, a bit about her friend Rachel is covered. It's a sub-plot I guess. Adding a bit about her seemed to make the book not too monotonous. The book doesn't only cover Beth's struggle with weight loss either. It includes her romance with her boyfriend Jeremy and her relationship with her friends, teachers and parents.

Recommended for girls 12-16, especially if they struggle with their weight, (whether their weight is above normal or not.)

Links of Interest: Dancing With Ana,

Other Reviews: Nose in a Book, Missy's Book Nook, Kay's Bookshelf, Miss Remmer's Review, Tales of a Book Addict, Crazy for Books, Diary of an Eccentric, Cheryl's Book Nook,

Buy Dancing With Ana at Amazon.com and support SMS Book Reviews

*I received a copy of this book for review. All reviews are honest and are not affected in any way by how I received the book.

NNVC

Here is my current take on NNVC.  The chart below is pretty persuasive that we are in a third wave advance of some degree.  Note how the Elliott Oscillator in the bottom panel is confirming the wave count on the chart, with both prices and momentum at or near new highs for the entire six month rally.

NNVC Daily Trend Model

Also note what appears to be a series Waves 1 & 2 Up from the late October, 2009 low.  Needless to say, the Daily Trend Model is solidly up with its reversal well under current prices.  An objective risk/reward analysis based on this stop is that there is about 25c of risk against a potential $2.25 reward, almost 10 to 1.  

What can be a catalyst here? Any number of fundamental events as there are many different irons in the fire for NanoViricides.  But I see little reason to complicate the analysis with speculation, the chart speaks for itself.

Anesthesia 2.0: Web 2.0 in anesthesia education

Educators in all specialties of medicine are increasingly studying Web 2.0 technologies to maximize postgraduate medical education.

Web 2.0 technologies include:

- microblogging
- blogs
- really simple syndication (RSS) feeds
- podcasts
- wikis
- social bookmarking and networking

Although direct practice and observation in the operating room are essential, Web 2.0 technologies hold promise to innovate anesthesia education and clinical practice such that the resident learner need not be in a classroom for a didactic talk, or even in the operating room to see how an arterial line is properly placed.

Web 2.0 and advanced informatics resources will be part of physician lifelong learning and clinical practice.

References:
Anesthesia 2.0: Internet-based information resources and Web 2.0 applications in anesthesia education. Chu LF, Young C, Zamora A, Kurup V, Macario A. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2010 Jan 19. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20090518

Image source: Wikipedia.

Big Picture Perspective

Below the DJIA Monthly chart with proposed big picture wave count, retracement and stochastic analysis.

DJIA Monthly

Easter weekend takes me back to the 1980's, "BK" (before kids) days when as part of a yuppie couples community, we used to take these days off and drive down from Atlanta to the gulf coast, the Florida panhandle.  Amid the usual suspects of substances and debauchery, I remember numerous weeks leading up to the Good Friday holiday where the market was running up, my coffers were full and these beach vacations were the best of times.  But I also remember how time and time again, the market would turn right around these holiday beach trips and whether it be a stiff ABC correction or a more serious intermediate decline, the rest of the Spring season was never as sanguine as those days leading up to this particular weekend.

An observation, especially filled  with melancholy memories of simpler, more buoyant times, doesn't constitute a well researched empirical case for a top, but neither can I relegate it to the meaningless nostalgia bin, especially in the light of the above chart.  The wave structure, retracement levels, overbought nature of the stochastic all come together, along with the season at hand, to remind me that big picture bear market view is still out there to be reckoned with in one way or another. 

The Monthly Trend Model is too slow to change to be of trading value here, but the Intermediate Trends, defined by the Daily and Weekly Trends, will provide the first clues that the worst case scenario is unfolding.  Therein lies the beauty of trend following, we need only observe, identify and accept what the market gives us, a lesson decades in the making.

My Little Farm-Day 5 & 6

The boys watched themselves on video this morning. Over and over and over. Then they wanted to perform. Again and again and again. No shortage on activity for a rainy morning around here. ;)

We're continuing with lessons in My Little Farm, buying sheep and goats to add to the pasture. My student calculated how much the animals, land, and fencing would cost him. He's beginning to explore perimeter as he figures how much fencing he needs for each animal pasture. The lesson comes with a fact sheet of cards you cut out naming characteristics of sheep and goats. He sorted them, pleased that he knew which facts go with which animals; we decided that he will quiz Daddy on them later tonight.

Tomorrow we'll head to the library to pick up a few more books on farm life. Which brings to mind a few favorite books with animals in starring roles...

My 4-year-old student is new to English. We've read a lot to him since he came home about 10 months ago. He loves most books. But he has two favorite series worth mentioning: Elephant/Piggie books by Mo Willems and the boy/dog/frog books by Mercer Mayer.

The Elephant/Piggie books (such as I Am Going, which the 4-year-old now recites) are easy readers with hilarious text/photos. It's not often I find myself laughing aloud at an early reader, but I do with these!

The boy/dog/frog books (such as One Frog Too Many) are wordless picture books with captivating story lines. Wordless picture books help children to become readers as they first understand the concept of a story (front to back, beginning/middle/end) and then build vocabulary and comprehension as they tell the story in their own words. The readers in my family enjoy these books just as much as the non-readers. Wordless picture books can also be used with older kids as a basis for creative writing.

Respect

GE Has Clinical IMAGES iPhone App for Radiologists

Clinical IMAGES from GE Healthcare showcases clinical images obtained from GE Healthcare imaging systems. You can choose a product and browse by anatomy or by applications specific to the selected system. The application contains both static images and video of various image acquisitions.



References:
GE Healthcare Releases Clinical IMAGES iPhone App for Radiologists
Clinical IMAGES for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad

GOOG Trend Model

Below is the GOOG Daily Trend Model chart.  GOOG is currently on a Daily SELL, the stop/reversal level is 571.84.  Thus, there are about 10 points of risk in this trade, while if you look at the early January Sell Signal, it was good for about 100 points on the downside. 

GOOG Daily Trend Model

GOOG, along with GS, AAPL, AMZN and BIDU are the original five stocks in the Trend Following service and all have continued to perform well under the parameters of the system.

GS vs SPX

I wrote this one up yesterday as a watch and wait pending Short trade.  The prior two Sells on the chart worked well for swing trades, as did the most recent Buy.  Also note the divergence between GS and the market averages over the past six months.  Lower lows and lower highs versus higher lows and higher highs. 

GS Daily

SPX Daily

Fish Oil Comes from “The Most Important Fish in the Sea”: Menhaden

From the NYTimes:

A considerable portion of fish oil comes from a creature upon which the entire Atlantic coastal ecosystem relies, a big-headed, smelly, foot-long member of the herring family called menhaden, which a recent book identifies in its title as “The Most Important Fish in the Sea.”

Menhaden filter-feed nearly exclusively on algae, the most abundant forage in the world, and are prolifically good at converting that algae into omega-3 fatty acids and other important proteins and oils. They also form the basis of the Atlantic Coast’s marine food chain.

Nearly every fish a fish eater likes to eat eats menhaden. Bluefin tuna, striped bass, redfish and bluefish are just a few of the diners at the menhaden buffet. All of these fish are high in omega-3 fatty acids but are unable themselves to synthesize them. The omega-3s they have come from menhaden.

Menhaden is also called bunker, pogies, mossbacks, bugmouths, alewifes, and fat-backs. The maximum size for the Atlantic menhaden is usually 15 inches in length. The average size of menhaden is smaller in the southern portion of their range, and largest at the northern portion. They are bright silver in color, and have a number of black spots extending horizontally from the gill plate to the tail.

References:

A Fish Oil Story. NYTimes.

Menhaden, Wikipedia.

Fishing For Answers: How To Choose Fish and Seafood | Summer Tomato http://goo.gl/0OBf

Image source: Menhaden B. tyrannus from the Chesapeake Bay. Wikipedia, Brian.gratwicke, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

Everything Sucks: Losing My Mind and Finding Myself in a High School Quest for Cool by Hannah Friedman

Stars: *****

HCI Teens (2009)
Teen Nonfiction (Memoir)
264 pages

Summary: Hannah Friedman's life sucks. So she sets out to change it. After a strange early and middle childhood she enters one of the country's most prestigious boarding schools on scholarship and transforms herself into everything she is not: cool. By senior year, she has a perfect millionaire boyfriend, a perfect GPA, a perfect designer wardrobe, and is part of the most popular clique in school, but somehow everything begins to suck far worse than when she first started. Her newfound costly drug habit, eating disorder, identity crisis, and Queen-Bee attitude lead to the unraveling of Hannah's very unusual life. She manages to put it all back together but it's not easy.


When I was approached by the author herself to review this book, the title and summary brought me back to my high school years. I realize they weren't all that long ago but I enjoy reading of others adventures in high school. I was a little unsure about the book, not sure if it would be good or not but I'm glad I accepted because it was awesome!

I just LOVE the chapter titles. They each have the work suck in them such as: Family Sucks, Periods Suck, Diets Suck, Love Sucks etc.... I zipped through the book in a few days because it was engaging. I remember telling my husband about the book too which I don't do often because he's not a reader and usually could careless. However if I really enjoy a book, I ramble on and on about it to him. The fact that on Amazon.com it has a four and a half star average rating and NO ratings below three (as of this post anyways) tells me that I'm not the only one to enjoy this book.

The writing style is what kept me captivated. It was almost like the author was sitting across from me telling me her story, which to me is a sign of a good memoir. Her stories were funny but also in some ways amazing. A few times I was wondering if something really happened to her, it just seemed a bit extreme. The story, even thought it's true, carries some important lessons about being who you are, and not who you think you should be. Hannah finds out the hard way that being cool isn't everything. I think hearing this from a true memoir drives the point home more than a fiction novel with the same lesson.

Recommended for Ages 14 and up, including those who are not in high school anymore but enjoy reading about it.

Links of Interest: Hannah Friedman, Hannah on Twitter, Hannah on YouTube, 

Other Reviews: Book Addiction, Stephanie's Confessions of a Book-a-holic, Shooting Stars Mag, Write for a Reader, Pop Culture Junkie, Presenting Lenore,

Buy Everything Sucks at amazon.com and support SMS Book Reviews

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. All reviews are honest and are not affected in any way by how I came by the book.

Puppet Shows & Public Speaking

In conjunction with our farm unit we decided to do a puppet show of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. My student drew one goat which we photocopied and reduced by 75% and 50% to make the two smaller goats. He also drew a troll. Little helper, just turned 4-years-old and only 10 months into learning English, assisted in the performance, repeatedly begging, "Do it again! Do it again!"

"Speaking" of which...

When I first started homeschooling, I had a few concerns. "Socialization" was near the top of the list. (I soon came to realize this was a joke. We socialized so much the first year that we hardly had time left for school. We cut waaaayyyy back and eventually came to a happy medium.) Related to socialization was the idea of public speaking/presentations. Since my children were not in large classes, I felt that speaking opportunities must be deliberate, frequent, and purposeful. At young ages we acted out stories or made puppet shows, performing for anyone who would listen...usually Daddy, siblings, and grandparents. We joined book clubs and co-ops where students regularly presented. Later came Lego Robotics and Shakespeare productions. It's paid off. My daughter, now a freshman in a large public high school, has excelled in speech competitions. Last year, two of my kids competed in Lego Robotics on a national level, where their performance depended heavily on their speaking/presenting skills.

All that to say that this is where they began...



The older kids did their own version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff when they were young. We all start somewhere. :)

When kids are young, I start by repeatedly reading a story. When they have the story line down, I like to do the puppet show with them, modeling how to use the puppets in the context of the story. As soon as they're ready to take over, I happily bow out and let them continue without me. Today I heard many, many different versions of the story as they considered what they wanted to say. (A lot of whispering went on "backstage.") It's fascinating to watch them internalize the story, getting louder and more clear as they become more comfortable with the performance aspect. The request to "do it again, do it again!!" didn't stop today.

Love of learning. What more can we ask?

GNVC

GNVC is getting pummeled after hours due to the failure of its pancreatic cancer therapy.  Some comments and suggestions:

First of all, GNVC is more then a one trick pony; they have other drugs in their pipeline, including big pharma partners.  Don't panic, in fact, this could be a buying opportunity.

Second, if GNVC is part of a Biotechnology Basket, it represents only 12.5% of the portfolio; this is one reason to play these speculative biotech's as part of a basket.

Third, if you are following the Trend Models, GNVC went into this announcement with both the Daily and Weekly trends SHORT:

The models had no clue that this trial would fail, but they did detect persistent enough selling in the stock to cause both models to be in SELL modes.  Not a coincidence.  Same holds true for stocks that are reflecting persistent strength, they are in BUY modes.  Respect the models.

What to do now?

Think about whether or not this is a buying opportunity and/or wait for the Daily Trend Model to turn up again.

Or move on. There are plenty of stocks in the Biotech Basket in strong uptrends already, if you are so inclined.

In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 29

This is the day when I highlight all the new books that have come into my house since the last time I participated.

In My Mailbox is hosted at The Story Siren while Mailbox Monday is hosted at The Printed Page. Since they are basically the same meme, I do them together. Check the links to find posts from others.

So what have I received for review?

Dear Diary, I'm Pregnant: Ten Real Life Stories Interviews by Anrenee Englander (Annick Press)
Interviews with pregnant teens, teens who were pregnant, teens who had abortions, teens who placed child for adoption and teens who are or were raising their children.

Animal Snoops: The Wondrous World of Wildlife Spies by Peter Christie (Annick Press)
Just what it says - animal spies! It's children's nonfiction

How Do You Read to a Rabbit? by Andrea Wayne von Konigslow (Annick Press)
Could you read to bunnies, camels or dolphins? Why not? Picture book


Chicken, Pig, Cow and the Purple Problem by Ruth Ohi (Annick Press)
The third in a series that I've been reviewing here. Cute picture book.

Didn't I Feed You Yesterday?: A Mother's Guide to Sanity in Stilettos by Laura Bennett (Ballantine Books)
Laura Bennett from Project Runway Season 3, mother of six children (five boys and one girl) shares her approach to parenting. Seem's very funny.

That's it!

Square For Mobile Payments At Political Fundraisers, Any Future Use at Doctor Offices?

Square is an innovative way to let people quickly and easily accept physical credit card payments from their mobile phone. The service was started by the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey.

Here is how Square works: A small device attaches to the phone via the headset/microphone jack. The device gets the power it needs to send data to the phone from the swipe of the card, and sends the information over the microphone connection. The device is compatible with both the iPhone and Android. It’s similar in some ways to PayPal, but anyone can now accept physical credit card payments, too. With no contracts or monthly fees. People are sent receipts by text and email. If you haven’t seen Square in action, check out this video:



References:
Square Now Being Used For Mobile Payments At Political Fundraisers
Video: Jack Dorsey Talks Square And I Buy Him Coffee With It
Square Turns Your iPad Into A Cash Register

Updated: 04/03/2010

Old drug, new warnings: Acetaminophen (paracetamol, Tylenol)

Acetaminophen is the leading cause of acute liver failure in the United States. Nearly half of acetaminophen-associated cases are due to unintentional overdose.

Especially vulnerable patients are:

- taking enzyme-inducing drugs
- chronic users of alcohol
- malnourished

Although no consensus has been reached on what is a safe dose in patients with liver disease, 4 g/day is too much: a total daily dose of no more than 2 g is recommended to decrease the risk of toxicity in these patients.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering banning acetaminophen-narcotic combination products.

References:
Acetaminophen: Old drug, new warnings. Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine January 2010 vol. 77 1 19-27.
Image source: Amazon, used for illustrative purposes only - NOT a suggestion to purchase any medications.

MRNA, again

"It would be nice to catch one of these high flying biotechs before they take off."

---Wednesday, March 10th

 MRNA - premarket Monday, March 29th

Tessellations: Lessons & Fun Manipulative

Love tessellations. They're like a puzzle. Artsy. Challenging to make. And, yes, math-y. Love the patterns.

Tessellation Posters, Individual
I've often done tessellations with second through sixth grade students--both at home and at school--with pretty cool results. I usually have kids use this method. Here's another set of step-by-step instructions. Basically, start with a square and draw a line (curved or several straight) from the top left to the top right corner. Cut this out, slide straight down across the figure, and tape onto the bottom edge of the square, straight edges together. (This must line up exactly.) Then make another line (again, curved or several straight) from the top left corner to the bottom left corner. Cut. Slide to right side. Tape, straight edges together. After you've got your pattern piece, trace repeatedly on a larger paper.

Here are a few student examples of tessellation posters:

Go to bottom of this entry for some fabulous tessellation links.

Tessellation Poster, Group
Last year every child contributed one "fish" to our large tessellation poster. I used an index card to made a fish that would tessellate. I traced the fish onto individual index cards so that each child had one. I brought in my junk art supply box and they used fabric, glitter, sequins, pompoms, yarn, crayons and colored pens to decorate their fish. They cut them out, very carefully. We then mounted them on a blue piece of posterboard, leaving a "blank fish" space in between each one. I used fish from two different classes to create the poster. Each group was pleased to see what the other group had constructed.

Bargain Bin Manipulatives
But why am I posting this under "Monday Manipulatives?"

I rarely shop. (Food is an exception. I do eat.) Even rarer that I buy much. I'm quite frugal. Quite. :) But on a spring break trip to the mall, I found something in the bargain section that I just had to buy. For math, you know.

They are called "Puzzellations" and are basically magnetic puzzles that tessellate. You can get snowflakes, undersea adventures, garden shapes, and more. When I taught the lessons above, I would have loved to have had these to illustrate the concept on the white board, also magnetic.

We opened the dinosaur kit last night and my 7yo son, my 15yo daughter, and I played around with it a bit. My 7yo had trouble fitting the pieces together at first. So did I. Then we realized that you have to be very precise about placement...which was also the case when I did tessellation lessons with kids...so it made sense. My 7yo could do some simple patterns with a lot of effort, the greatest difficulty being with fitting pieces together smoothly. My daughter and I enjoyed experimenting. The box says "ages 8 and up." [See photos below. We tried a variety of things--tessellations as well as other patterns.]

It comes with magnetic pieces, a magnet board, and a booklet. In addition to pattern ideas and tessellation info, the booklet also contains math (involved in making the dinosaur pieces, symmetry--rotational, translational, glide reflection), art (coloring, drawing your own), and tessellations in nature. Pretty involved for a booklet.

Related Children's Book
If you decide to do a tessellation lesson, consider reading A Cloak for the Dreamer as you begin.


Tessellation Links

Here's another great how-to site.

Here's a way to make even fancier designs.

And a wonderful award-winning website of kid-safe Escher-style tessellation art and teachers' tutorials


A step-by-step YouTube video:



Happy Tessellating!

Spiked Scorpions & Walking Whales: Modern Animals, Ancient Animals and Water by Claire Eamer

,

Stars: ***1/2

This is the second similar book by Claire Eamer. I've reviewed Super Crocs & Monster Wings as well.

Summary: Following in the steps of Super Crocs & Monster Wings, this highly engaging book looks at six different groups of animals that are linked with the place where all life began – the water. Featuring the 110-million-year-old platypus, the mysterious colossal squid, Sea scorpions as large as crocodiles and the Demon Duck of Doom, a giant, flightless Australian bird with legs built for walking and a beak the size of a suitcase.

These books are great for learning about science and any child wanting to know more about where today's animals evolved from will enjoy these books. The Demon Duck of Doom (mentioned in summary) is so big and scary looking I'm glad it's not still around!

This book not only covers specific animals but also talks about how important water is to so many animals. There is also an interesting page that shows what the evolution of some animals would look like if the earth's total age was condensed into one year. For example:

"Earth forms on the first day of January"
"Bizarre soft-bodied creatures fill the oceans in mid-November."
"On December 27, an asteroid strikes Earth, bringing death to the dinosaurs and many other species."

Doing it this way shows how most of what's happened on the Earth happened in the last few billion years.

The book is full of photos of modern animals and detailed drawings of what their ancient counterparts probably looked like.

I found this book wasn't quite as good as Super Crocs and Monster Wings but was still a good nonfiction science read for children.

Links of Interest: Claire Eamer,

Other Reviews: NONE YET

Buy Spiked Scorpions & Walking Whales at amazon.com and support SMS Book Reviews

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. All reviews are honest and are not affected in any way by how I came by the book.

Investigating Growing Patterns

Investigating Growing Patterns is the featured topic in MathWire: April 2010. Tons of great stuff! Many pdf files to print for student use. Also,

"...samples of growing pattern problems created by ED 556 students at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ during the Fall 2004 session. In each case, students should draw and/or describe the next couple of stages in the pattern and create an input/output table to describe the relationship between the stage and the number of blocks used. Students should be challenged to write a rule in words and more capable students should be challenged to write a general mathematical rule that would calculate the number of blocks needed for any given stage."

Links are listed for on-line practice with function machines. They also recommend several children's books to introduce functions as growing patterns: Two of Everything, One Grain of Rice, The King's Chessboard. (Also see pdf files and lesson plans available for the books.)

Basket of Income

The success of last weekend's Biotechnology Basket has triggered another idea, a Basket of Income Stocks that will pay a healthy dividend when the Trend Models are LONG, and yet will not share the risk of loss when the Trend Models say, "Exit, go to cash."   

The past few days I've been researching high-dividend paying stocks across diversified sectors, Bonds, Utilities, Oil & Gas, REIT's and assorted other sectors.  The concept is to put together a basket of these income generating companies that is as non-correlated as possible and where the individual stocks have historically trended well under the trend following algorithm either on the Daily and/or Weekly Models.

The results so far are very encouraging and I expect to be trading this basket myself, especially as a conservative, low-risk strategy for the benefit of conservative, low-risk accounts.  As with the Biotechnology Basket, I'll send it out to the email list first and eventually will post some if not all of the names here.

This is concept in beta phase right now, so all suggestions are welcome and encouraged.  Below are some ideas along with their Weekly Trend Models.

NLY - Yield 14.70%

NZT - Yield 11.20%

SUI - Yield 10.20%

These are three examples of what I am looking for and will not necessarily be part of the Basket of Income. To be considered, I am looking for stable dividends and price histories that trend well.  Once in that group, I will look to diversify across uncorrelated (or at least, less correlated) sectors.

The goal will be to be collect the healthy payouts along with capital gains when the model is LONG and to be in cash on the sidelines when the model is SHORT, avoiding high risk periods characterized by weak and falling prices.   The Trend Models are ideally suited for trading these kinds of stocks.

A

Week in Review (Mar 21-Mar 27)

Here's what happened this week:

In My Mailbox Monday - Mar 22
Straight Talk for Teenage Girls by Annette Fuson
The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
Free Hans Wilhelm Children's Books in PDF Format (Out of Print)
My Story The Great Plague: A London Girls' Diary 1665-1666 by Pamela Oldfield
Cake Wrecks by Jen Yates
Books with an Environment Theme
Booking Through Thursday - on Friday "Break"
I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui
Juggling, Cooking and Acting Immature

What else?

Caught up with some reviews but still have more to catch up on. I like writing reviews but I find it so hard to concentrate with my kids around. At night when they're sleeping, I'm too tired to think. I'd love some suggestions from other parents of preschoolers who blog.

About the Upcoming Week  

Expect review of all kinds of books: adult fiction, teen fiction, picture books, klutz kits, nonfiction etc...

FDA: Rotarix rotavirus vaccine contains DNA from a "harmless" pig virus and should not be used

GlaxoSmithKline confirmed that the pig virus, porcine circovirus type 1 or PCV-1, has been in the vaccine since it was developed.

75% of U.S. doctors prescribe the three-dose RotaTeq vaccine, made by Merck, which was approved in 2006.

Electron micrograph of Rotaviruses. Image source: Wikipedia, Environmental Protection Agency, public domain.

Rotavirus-related diarrhea used to cause 70,000 hospitalizations per year in the U.S. before the introduction of the vaccines. The first vaccine against the virus called RotaShield was withdrawn from the market due to reports of an intestinal blockage (intussusception) associated with its use.

References:
Pig Virus DNA Found in Rotavirus Vaccine. WebMD.

Image source: GSKsource.com.

Now There’s Pig Virus DNA in Merck’s Rotavirus Vaccine, Too. WSJ, 2010.

Updated: 05/06/2010

Oral fingolimod more effective than intramuscular interferon in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis

Oral fingolimod is a sphingosine-1-phosphate–receptor modulator that prevents the egress of lymphocytes from lymph nodes.

In patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis, oral fingolimod was more effective than intramuscular interferon beta-1a in reducing relapse rates.

Adverse events in the fingolimod group included:

- herpesvirus infections (two fatal infections)
- atrioventricular block
- macular edema
- skin cancer
- liver-enzyme elevation

This trial showed the superior efficacy of oral fingolimod with respect to relapse rates and MRI outcomes in patients with multiple sclerosis, as compared with intramuscular interferon beta-1a.

References:
Oral Fingolimod or Intramuscular Interferon for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. NEJM, 2010.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/362/5/402
A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Fingolimod in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. NEJM, 2010.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/362/5/387
A Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Cladribine for Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. NEJM, 2010.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/362/5/416

Image source: Fingolimod, Wikipedia, public domain.

Juggling, Cooking and Acting Immature

Juggling for the Complete Klutz and John Cassidy and B.C. Rinbeaux
Stars: ***

This is actually the 30th Anniversary edition of Juggling for the Complete Klutz. It comes with three Juggling beanbag squares and a small book of information.

You'll find some good information in this book, not only on how to do the moves but also some information on how your brain gets confused when you are learning juggling.

After you learn the basics, you'll find information on juggling with more than one person, juggling with other objects, circle juggling and a few other fun ideas.

Since this is the 30th Anniversary the back two pages of the book is a little scrapbook with cover art from the first 5 editions of the book, some old photographs and letters and news clippings although you don't get to read them all.

There is at least one typo, "Road that last line again," but overall it's a cute and helpful book.

Kids Cooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual by Editors of Klutz
Stars: ****

Summary: 45 savory samples of kid-do-able kitchen crafts and cuisine, including Giant Soap Bubbles, Not So-Sloppy Joes, Frozen Bananoids and lots more.

This cute book/kit is listed as for ages 5 and up but with proper parental help/supervision (which is needed for a 5 year old too) you could do at least some of these with a 3 or 4 year old. The book is made of thick, wipe-able pages and comes with a set of plastic measuring spoons.

The book has 5 sections: Breakfasts, Lunches/Snacks, Dinners/Salads, Desserts and Not to Eat. The Not to Eat section includes play dough, face paint, finger paints, giant soap bubbles and Fido's fabulous people crackers.

After some kitchen rules, you'll find Metric Conversion Tables. The recipes are in Imperial but with the aid of the charts, those who use Metric can easily follow the recipes. Each recipe has illustrations of ingredients, methods and some just for fun illustrations too. Each recipe lists prep time, bake time and total servings. The illustrations are a nice touch. This is a good book that the kids will enjoy looking at too instead of just listening to the instructions from their parent/guardian.

The Encyclopedia of Immaturity Volume 2 by the Editors of Klutz
Stars: ****

Are you a kid in no hurry to grow up? Or an adult who wishes he/she was still a kid? Then this is the book for you? This book has ALL kinds of crazy activities (or shenanigans as it says on the cover.) Here is just a short list of possible fun:

• Air Guitar
• Dog Couture
• Frozen Underapnts
• How to Bark Like a Dog
• How to Fake a Cold
• How to  Make a Lasso
• How to Make Bird Poop
• How to Play the Spoons
• Make a Juice Box Straw Rocket
• Slappy Games
• History of Flip-Flop Mail
• World's Funniest Joke
• and MUCH MUCH MUCH more!

Check out all the Klutz Books and Kits at Amazon.com! If you purchase through this link you can support SMS Book Reviews.

* I received these books in exchange for a review.  How I got these books has no bearing on my review.

Trend Models - Tutorial

This morning I want to explain my Trend Models and how they work, especially in conjunction with the email subscription service. 

I started the service on January 2, 2010 and just a few days later the first stock trade idea was sent to the list:

Thursday Morning, January 7, 2010 7:53 AM:

 Trade Idea : Short GOOG

As you can see from the above chart, GOOG closed Wednesday below it's trend line (solid navy line) and generated a SHORT signal @ 608.  The previous signal was a LONG generated November 9, 2009 @ 562.  

The early January SHORT was closed out on March 3rd at 545, for a gain on the trade of about 63 points:

That is pretty much the entire system, LONG above the trend lines and SHORT below them.  The system works on all time periods, below is the GOOG Weekly chart:

You can see from the interaction of prices and the trend line how effective the Weekly trend is on being on the right side of GOOG.  After the close each day I update the status of trends on Daily and Weekly charts for about 50 different stocks and ETF's.  They all are not as effective as the GOOG trends, but most are and even if you only traded GOOG (some subscribers do just that), you should be able see the benefit of knowing where the trend line is, either above or below prices, for any tradable.

The service also uses the same approach to trade the 60 and 240 minute trends of SPX and QQQQ, as well as their Daily and Weekly trends. 

How does this system fit into macro-trading, i.e. Wave 3 of 3 Down? 

It doesn't, not exactly. 

The system only cares about where the trend line is in relation to prices.  There are no other considerations.  Simple and elegant.  Yet, if there were to be a "third of third wave" decline this year, the trends can't help but catch such a decline early enough to profit handsomely from it.  By its very nature, it will identify the current trend and get on board.  That's what trend following does and this algorithm does it as well as any I have seen.

In addition to the trend models I occasionally include added value ideas for subscribers, for example, the Biotechnology Basket from last weekends, "Weekend Update."  Things I use to post on my blog I will usually post first to the email list, then to Blog, trying to make it worthwhile for subscribers to stay subscribers.  So far, my renewal rate is up over 90%, so I must be doing something right.

I hope this answers a lot of questions about what these trend models and the email list are all about.  I know it's pretty basic stuff, but, as we should all know by know, the complicated stuff doesn't work all that great.  As my mantra suggests, find something that works, then trade it.


A

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

Stars: *****

Three Rivers Press (2010) - division of Random House
Memoir
188 pages


Summary: Nujood is married off at age 10 to a man three times her age. He promises to not touch her till the year after she has her first period but does not keep his promise. He also beats her. Fed up with this life, Nujood runs away to the courthouse to get a divorce. This is the first time a young wife has ever done this and she sets a standard for Yemeni women.

The story is told in alternating chapters going from the past when she was married off and early marriage life to the present when she is filing for divorce, including court proceedings.

It's a short read but includes everything you need to know about Nujood's life, marriage and divorce. It's a bit hard to read at times but the most shocking part of all is for those of you who have or know of a 10 year old girl, to imagine her in Nujood's circumstances.

Nujood's story made me proud to be a woman and sad that women and girls in other countries are being treated the way they are.

Sidenote:
Her story caught the attention of the press around the world and Glamour Magazine gave Nujood Ali the Woman of the Year Award alongside others such as Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice.

All is not necessarily well though: Child bride Nujood Ali's life after divorce.

Links of Interest: A 10-year-old Divorcee Takes Paris (TIME), (Unofficial) Nujood Ali on Twitter, Nujood Ali and Shada Nasser: Woman of the Year (Glamour),

Other Reviews: 5 Minutes for Books,

Buy I Am Nujood: Age 10 and Divorced at amazon.com and support SMS Book Reviews

Booking Through Thursday - On Friday - "Break"

Oops.  I forgot!!!

Yesterday's Booking Through Thursday Question Was:

Do you take breaks while reading a book? Or read it straight through? (And, by breaks, I don’t mean sleeping, eating and going to work; I mean putting it aside for a time while you read something else.)

 First of all, good thing for the clarification because I thought she did mean eating and sleeping as breaks. (Although I don't break when I eat, I often read while eating.)

I do a little of both. There are some books that get done in three days or less (sometimes 2 hours or less) and other books which are ongoing for 3-6 months. A book of 300 pages may last me 2 days or 2 months. It really depends. I always have LOTS of books going at a time (by LOTS I mean 4+.) Some of those books I won't end up reading the whole thing of either because I didn't like it enough and stopped reading it or I only needed to read certain parts of it. Most get finished though.

I usually have at least one of the following going at one time:

• adult nonfiction
• children's nonfiction
• teen or middle grade fiction
• picture books

How about you?