New Topic Page: Concussion

A concussion is a type of brain injury. It’s the most minor form. Technically, a concussion is a short loss of normal brain function in response to a head injury, but people use the term to describe any minor injury to the head or brain. Concussions are a common type of sports injury. You can also suffer from one if you suffer a blow to the head or hit your head after a fall.

After a concussion, you may have a headache or neck pain. You may also experience nausea, ringing in your ears, dizziness, or tiredness. You may feel dazed or not your normal self for several days or weeks after the injury. Consult your health professional if you notice any of your symptoms getting worse, or if you have more serious symptoms such as seizures or trouble walking or sleeping.

Source: MedlinePlus (NLM)

Presidential transition resources

Wiki offering:

+ 1 Presidential Transitions

• 1.1 Laws
• 1.2 CRS Reports
• 1.3 Discussions on the Transition
• 1.4 Transition Support
• 1.5 Obama Transition Resources
• 1.6 Media Coverage

+ 2 Transition Recommendations, 2008

• 2.1 Government Reform
• 2.2 Other New Administration Recommendations

+ 3 Past Transition Recommendations

Source: Congresspedia (Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Media and Democracy)

Change.gov

Throughout the Presidential Transition Project, this website will be your source for the latest news, events, and announcements so that you can follow the setting up of the Obama Administration. And just as this historic campaign was, from the beginning, about you — the transition process will offer you opportunities to participate in redefining our government.

Come back often as we define new programs and possibilities to engage and be part of this administration.

Source: Obama Administration/Presidential Transition Project

See also: GAO Lists Top “Urgent Issues” for Next President and Congress; Unveils New Transition Web Site (via DocuTicker)

DOD portal centralizes health info for wounded vets

The Defense Department has launched a new Web portal designed to help service members and their families find health information and programs available to them.

The www.WarriorCare.mil portal has links to health-related programs and resources offered by the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, DOD and Veterans Affairs Department. The site also provides access to the Wounded Warrior Resource Center, which offers information and other resources, and the Compensation and Benefits Handbook for injured or seriously ill service members.

The new portal is part of an effort to improve the medical treatment of service members and “make it easier for troops and their families to benefit from all the assistance available to them,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Gates designated November as Warrior Care Month.

Source: Federal Computer Week

Resource of the Week: United National Audiovisual Library of International Law
By Shirl Kennedy, Senior Editor

Our friends at UN Pulse — a perpetually useful blog by the staff at the UN’s Dag Hammarskjöld Library — tipped us off to this unique, new resource from the UN Office of Legal Affairs.

The Audiovisual Library is a unique, multimedia resource which provides the United Nations with the unprecedented capacity to provide high quality international law training and research materials to an unlimited number of recipients on a global level. The Audiovisual Library consists of three pillars: (1) the Historic Archives containing documents and audiovisual materials relating to the negotiation and adoption of significant legal instruments under the auspices of the United Nations and related agencies since 1945; (2) the Lecture Series featuring a permanent collection of lectures on virtually every subject of international law given by leading international law scholars and practitioners from different countries and legal systems; and (3) the Research Library providing an on-line international law library with links to treaties, jurisprudence, publications and documents, scholarly writings and research guides. The Audiovisual Library is available to all individuals and institutions around the world for free via the Internet.

This is a very rich resource, but there is plenty of helpful information on how to access the content — for example, this detailed page on what is in the Historical Archives and how to navigate this section of the site. Topics included here: Criminal Law, Decolonization, Diplomatic and Consular Relations, Disarmament, Education / Science / Culture, Environmental Law, Health, Human Rights, International Economic Law, International Organizations, Law of Outer Space, Law of the Sea, Law of Treaties, Peace and Security, Refugees and Stateless Persons, Succession of States.

About the Lecture Series section:

A series of lecture cards lists the lectures given by each lecturer under a particular subject matter heading. Each lecture card includes the name, professional affiliation, photograph and a brief biography of the lecturer; the title, a brief summary and the recorded lecture; and related materials such as a lecture outline, power point slides or recommended reading, to the extent provided by the lecturer.

You’ll need RealPlayer to watch the lecture videos. Topics here include: Arctic, Boundary Delimitation Courts and Tribunals, Criminal Law and Procedure, Cultural Heritage Development, Diplomatic Protection, Disaster Prevention and Relief, Environmental Law, Health and Science, Human Rights, International Civil Aviation, International Economic Law, International Labour Law, International Law, International Migration Law, International Organizations, International Watercourses, Law of Armed Conflict, Law of Outer Space, Law of the Sea, Law of Treaties, Peace and Security, Regional Organizations, Rule of Law / Democracy / Good Governance, Specialized Agencies and Related Organizations, States, United Nations.

And then there’s the site’s Research Library:

The research library contains links to other web-based resources providing international law-related materials of interest to the researcher and practitioner alike. The library is divided into four components: resources relating to treaties and treaty status information; materials concerning the jurisprudence of international courts and tribunals; access to selected United Nations publications and to repositories of official documentation; and selected scholarly writings in international law, including publications and journal articles as well as information on research guides presently available on the Internet.

The collection of scholarly writings in the library is a joint pilot project with HeinOnline. It includes:

• Scholarly Writings of Faculty members
• Scholarly Writings on Legal Instruments in the Historic Archives
• Scholarly Writings on Lectures in the Lecture Series
• Selected Classics in International law

According to UN Pulse, “The Audiovisual Library aims to provide free, scholarly resources to students and practitioners around the world, particularly in regions where there are few resources for the study of international law.”

FTC Launches New Web Site for Kids

The Federal Trade Commission today launched a new Web site to introduce kids to key
consumer and business concepts. Set in a shopping mall, http://www.ftc.gov/YouAreHere takes kids on an experiential journey that presents the FTC’s mission and its important role in American commerce. Kids under 12 are reported to spend billions of dollars on goods and services every year.
…
The site features animated guides who help visitors navigate a virtual mall and interact with shopkeepers and other consumers. Kids can design and print advertisements for a shoe store, uncover suspicious claims in an ad, and guess the retail price of various candies based on their supply, demand, and production costs. One game that has players match the features of various cell phones with certain audiences illustrates the principles of target marketing; another allows visitors to compare sales pitches from three pizza joints as it explains competition. A short film playing at the cinema illustrates the history of the FTC.

For parents and teachers, the site offers fact sheets that cover advertising, marketing, and competition in more detail, along with ideas for related activities.

Source: Federal Trade Commission

Leukemia Information Added to NIH Web Site about Senior Health

Information about leukemia has just been added to NIHSeniorHealth, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Web site designed especially for older adults. Consumers can visit www.nihseniorhealth.gov/leukemia/toc.html to learn more about leukemia, a cancer of the blood cells that affects 10 times as many adults as children. In fact, more than 65 percent of people diagnosed with leukemia are older than 55 years of age.

Source: National Institutes of Health

FindLaw Offers Special Edition: Elections 2008

FindLaw, the most-visited legal Web site, launched FindLaw Special Edition: Elections 2008, a presidential election portal dedicated to delivering election analysis, news and commentary. Elections 2008 hosts past features and resources that offer its specialist audience information on the likely impact the next President of the United States will have on the law and legal issues. The Special Edition Election page, found at www.findlaw.com/election2008.html, provides the expert commentary and analysis FindLaw is known for and also aggregates key articles from leading news publications, legal experts and pundits with a focus on the election and how it relates to the law.

FindLaw’s Elections 2008 Special Edition gives consumers and legal professionals a one-stop-shop resource to election related issues. Elections 2008 provides authoritative election information specifically as it pertains to the legal world, from voter rights laws and voting machines to vitally important judicial nominations and attorney-candidate profiles. Consumers and legal professionals who have dealt with a legal issue as a result of the current administration can get information on how their legal issues may be affected by a new President.

Source: FindLaw

New Pathways to Public Health Web Site

A new and improved version of the “Pathways to Public Health” web site is live at www.pathwaystopublichealth.org. “Pathways to Public Health” was developed by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) as a way for youth to learn more about public health education and public health careers.

The website features:
* A clearinghouse of a wide range of types of resources, such as events, media, and more;
* Ways to share pages with friends (via E-mail), and to post the page on a social networking web site;
* Profiles of graduate students and young public health professionals;
* Several “top 10” lists;
* An interactive poll feature;
* Statistical snapshots that rotate on refresh of the page;
* Public health-themed videos; and
* Information targeted to high school students, undergraduate students, parents, teachers and counselors.

Koshland Science Museum’s online interactive sheds new light on world trends

The Marian Koshland Science Museum has launched an online, interactive exhibit that reveals fascinating stories about the world by allowing people to view changes in energy use around the world. The display, “Lights at Night,” provides a navigable, astronaut’s-eye view of the Earth at night using satellite data that spans a decade. Comparing the differences in energy use over time can starkly illustrate trends about people’s economic, political, and living situations in many different regions of the world.
…
Created with satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, “Lights at Night” allows users to zoom in on one particular region of the world or view the entire Earth to see energy use in each of three different years; 1993, 1997, and 2003. Several features allow for comparisons between specific years. For example, viewers who hone in on Northern India can see how energy use has increased as the area’s population and economic fortune has grown. Viewing the stark differences between light use in North Korea and South Korea tells a different story about poverty and economic prosperity in the two countries. In addition, users can even spot such details as the lights from fishing vessels off the coast of Asia.

Source: Marian Koshland Science Museum (via The National Academies)

FDA Creates Web Page with Drug Safety Information for Patients, Health Care Professionals

Consumers and health care professionals can now go to a single page on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Web site to find a wide variety of safety information about prescription drugs. The Web page, http://www.fda.gov/cder/drugSafety.htm, provides links to information in these categories:

* Drug labeling, including patient labeling, professional labeling, and patient package inserts;
* Drugs that have a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to ensure that their benefits outweigh their risks;
* A searchable database of postmarket studies that are required from, or agreed to by, drug companies to provide the FDA with additional information about a drug’s safety, efficacy, or optimal use;
* Clinicaltrials.gov, a searchable database of clinical trials, including information about each trial’s purpose, who may participate, locations, and useful phone numbers;
* Drug-specific safety information, including safety sheets with the latest information about the drug as well as related FDA press announcements, fact sheets, and drug safety podcasts;
* Quarterly reports that list certain drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues, based on a review of information in the FDA’s Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS);
* Warning Letters, Import Alerts, Recalls, Market Withdrawals, and Safety Alerts;
* Regulations and guidance documents;
* Consumer information about using medications safely and disposing of unused medicines;
* Instructions how to report problems to the FDA through its MedWatch program;
* Consumer articles on drug safety; and
* The FDA’s response to the Institute of Medicine’s 2006 report on the future of drug safety.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Forbes.com Plays Financial Adviser With New Content Section

Forbes.com has launched a new content section within its Personal Finance channel aimed at financial advisers and big money investors.

The new Financial Adviser Network (not to be confused with the various multisite ad networks Forbes has launched recently) will feature a mix of news, analysis and commentary centered around amassing and building wealth. Top industry experts will also dole out advice and encourage community participation in the section via columns and blog postings.

Source: Mediaweek

Hat tip: PW

EIA Launches New Online Press Room

EIA’s Press Room, a new web site feature launched today, brings together selected Agency content and contacts to better meet the needs of the media:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/pressroom/

Featured content includes:

• Press releases
• Congressional testimony
• Media contacts
• Upcoming reports and testimony
• Weekly data releases
• “Energy in Brief” articles that explain important energy topics in plain language

The development of our Press Room was guided by Internet industry studies, interviews with journalists, analyses of web site visits, and information about how the media use our web site and information. Our aim was to make EIA information more accessible to our media customers.
RSS feeds are also available now for EIA Congressional Testimony and Presentations.

Source: Energy Information Administration

New CMS Initiative Helps to Assist and Identify Individuals Who Care for Medicare Beneficiaries as Caregivers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today launched Ask Medicare, a new initiative to help family caregivers –those who are family members or friends who help people with Medicare — access and use valuable healthcare information, services and resources.

More than 44 million Americans, more than one in five adults, provide care to a loved one, friend or neighbor, valued in economic terms at $350 billion annually, according to a recent report by AARP. The new initiative will provide a one-stop Web page for caregivers (www.medicare.gov/caregivers) that provides easy access to useful information about Medicare and other essential resources to help with caregiving.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)

TopClassActions.com

Welcome to Top Class Actions! What can you do here?

Check out the most active items, by popularity, on the left. Clicking on one will bring up the class action lawsuit settlement or article details. Each class action lawsuit settlement page includes how to participate, who is eligible and our take on the settlement. We dig through the legal paperwork and terminology of every class action lawsuit settlement to find the info which will benefit YOU the most so YOU don’t have to.

From About Us:

The founder of TopClassActions.com is Scott Hardy (President and CEO.) Scott received assistance from tech visionaries J.R. Jasperson and Dave Elkins who have acted as trusted advisers throughout the creation and roll out of TopClassActions.com.

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