Trending on Thursday - July 21, 2011







1.    Kawasaki Disease
2.    Legionnaires' Disease Reported in Las Vegas Aria Hotel & Casino
3.    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Review
4.    Poll Shows 55 Percent of Americans Will Not Take Summer Vacation
5.    Miracle of the Day - A MIRACLE BABY



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Facebook Stunner: Child's Kawasaki Disease Mystery Solved By Users

ne desperate mom named Deborah Copaken Kogan through a series of photos, being unable to diagnose her son's eyes swollen shut, his chin and cheeks ballooned beyond recognition and his fever ever rising her son's rare condition used Facebook to reach out and eventually figured out what his condition was and how to treat it. Kawasaki disease (KD) is rare, but the social network might have saved the child's life.

So, Kogan's virtual friends looked at her posted photos, and simply commented on them. She rushed her son to the hospital.
An unofficial Facebook blog stated:

    "There is no virtual in feelings of that magnitude. Perhaps just as in the real world, with your real life, and quote-unquote real friends, your Facebook friend network is what you make it. Accordingly, old adages apply: Choose your friends wisely. Put in as much as you expect to get out."



So what is Kawasaki disease?

The disorder, first described in 1967 by Dr. Tomisaku Kawasaki in Japan, often begins with a high and persistent fever that is not very responsive to normal treatment with paracetamol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen. The fever may persist steadily for up to two weeks and is normally accompanied by irritability.

Kawasaki published the first English language report of 50 patients with Kawasaki disease in 1974. Since that time, KD has become the leading cause of acquired heart disease among children in North America and Japan. Although an infectious agent is suspected, the cause remains unknown. However, significant progress has been made toward understanding the natural history of the disease and therapeutic interventions have been developed that halt the immune-mediated destruction of the arterial wall.

Inflammation of the mucous membranes in the mouth, along with erythema (redness), edema (swelling) with fissures (cracks in the lip surface), desquamation (peeling) and exsudation of the lips become exceedingly evident. Rashes occur early in the disease, and the cutaneous rash observed in patients with KD is non-specific, polymorphic, non-itchy and normally observed up to the fifth day of fever.

Some of these symptoms may come and go during the course of the illness. It is a syndrome affecting multiple organ systems, and in the acute stage of KD, systemic inflammatory changes are evident in many organs.

If left untreated, some symptoms will eventually relent, but coronary artery aneurysms will not improve, resulting in a significant risk of death or disability due to myocardial infarction (heart attack). If treated in a timely fashion, this risk can be mostly avoided and the course of illness cut short.

Children with Kawasaki disease should be hospitalized and cared for by a physician who has experience with this disease. When in an academic medical center, care is often shared between pediatric cardiology and pediatric infectious disease specialists (although no specific infectious agent has been identified as yet). It is imperative that treatment be started as soon as the diagnosis is made to prevent damage to the coronary arteries.





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Legionnaires' Disease Reported in Las Vegas Aria Hotel & Casino


If you were in Las Vegas in the month of June to July, you may need to check for symptoms of fever, chills, coughing, headaches, and loss of appetite – all signs possibly pointing to a case of Legionnaires’ disease.

Six cases of the pneumonia-like disease were discovered at the Aria Hotel & Casino, according to the Southern Nevada Health District.

Public Information Manager Jennifer Sizemore stated that sampling was conducted at the resort after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention informed her that cases of the disease were found in out-of-state visitors who stayed at the hotel, reported Medical News Today.

In cooperation with the health district, Aria Resort contacted guests who stayed at their hotel from June 21 to July 4, when water tests detected elevated levels of Legionella bacteria in several of their guest rooms.

The common and naturally occurring bacteria exists in most water supplies and in some circumstances, may lead to respiratory illness or pneumonia. It grows best in warm water, hot and cold water taps, hot water tanks, and water in air conditioning systems.

The bacteria originated in 1976, when people who attended a Philadelphia convention of the American Legion suffered from an outbreak of the disease. In 2011, the bacteria was also found in a hot tub at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles; 439 people became sick as a result.

According to the official statement released by the Nevada hotel, illness usually occurs when someone receives direct concentrated exposure to the bacteria when breathed in as a mist or vapor. Symptoms usually begin two to 14 days after exposure.

It is reported not to be contagious and can be successfully treated with antibiotics, although in five to 30 percent of the cases, death can occur, according to the CDC. Those who smoke or are 65 and older are at a higher risk.

Each year in the United States, about 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized due to the disease. The illness usually occurs in the summer or the early fall, though it can happen any time of the year.

The Nevada Health District shared that every patient that contracted the disease from the hotel was successfully treated and have fully recovered.

The Aria has been working to eliminate the bacteria from the water source, undertaking a multi-prong remediation plan.

Vice President of Hotel Operations Paul Berry stated, “Following the recent elevated test result, our facilities team immediately implemented additionally precautionary measures, and our most recent test results indicate that no detectible level of active Legionella bacteria was present in any of the locations tested. We will continue to monitor our water quality on an ongoing basis to ensure the safety of the water system and our guests.”

No new cases have been reported as of yet.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Review

The highest grossing franchise of all-time concludes the series on a slightly underwhelming, but ultimately high note.

It is something of a bittersweet realization that after ten years, the Harry Potter films have come to their conclusion, and the character will never again grace the big screen — excluding Lucas-style special editions and the possibility that a rabid fan will go Misery on J.K. Rowling and force her to write an eighth Harry Potter book. Barring that, the franchise ends on a high note, albeit a slightly muted one.

It has been an odd and nearly unparalleled experience watching the cast of Harry Potter grow through the years. And as the actors matured and grew into their roles, the series itself also matured. The tone became darker, and the stories grew more complex. The style changed as well, partly due to the deepening plot, but mostly due to the change of directors. For the final outing, David Yates returns behind the lens of Harry Potter for the fourth time, and his style has become very distinctive, as has his view of what Harry Potter is all about.

Yates is not into the spectacle of Harry’s world as the original Potter director, Christopher Columbus was, nor does he emphasize the magical nature as Alfonso Cuaron did in Prisoner of Azkaban. He is closer to Mike Newell (who directed Goblet of Fire) than to the other two, but still, Yates has his own way of seeing things. He is a character director, and as a result the emphasis is on Harry’s journey more than anything else. That makes the journey and the conclusion satisfying, but at the cost of the epic scale of the final battle.
Part 2

Deathly Hallows — Part 2 is not so much a sequel as it is just a continuation of Part 1. Rather than having its own three-act structure, Part 2 essentially begins during the middle of the second act, which began in Part 1. If possible, watch Part 1 immediately before watching Part 2. It will make more sense in terms of the narrative flow.

The movie begins without much introduction. It picks up immediately where Part 1 ended and hits the ground running. Without spoiling too much for people that haven’t read the books, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) continue to hunt the horcruxes that are keeping Voldemort (Ralph Finnes) alive, while around them the war is over, and he-who-must-not-be-named has won.

If you watched the first film, then you know everything you need to know about the plot of the second. All of the exposition and setup was dumped into Part 1, leaving Part 2 to focus on the climactic confrontation and final battle, which occupies more than the last hour of the film. There is very little fat on this film, which is both a good and bad thing. Part 1 was nearly all set up, so many of its faults were overlooked, and rightly so. It had moments that dragged, and there were very few action scenes to break up the monotony of the months the characters spent on the run. Part 2 does not have that problem at all. In fact, the events in the film all take place over the course of a few days.

3D is not always a good thing

At times, this film looks better than it has any right to. There are shots that are simply beautiful, and the visuals are almost a character in themselves. As with the previous films, Yates uses the colors of the world to convey emotion. The majority of the time the film looks grey, with occasional blue hues, until a pivotal change happens and colors explode into the scene. It is almost the exact opposite of Columbus’ visual style, which was loaded with rich and lush colors.

While that may make for an interesting visual look, it is not one that works well with 3D. Part 2 is a visually dark film. The majority of it takes place at night, and one lengthy scene set during the day is all filmed in a dark setting. Mix that in with Yates’ use of monochromatic hues and the intended bleak look becomes muddy and hard to distinguish.
There are some impressive visual effects and great looking shots. Do yourself a favor and see it in 2D so you can actually appreciate it.
Yates leaves his mark

Part 2 marks the fourth Harry Potter film for director David Yates, which means that quietly, Yates has become the most influential person for the entire series in terms of visual look and style. Yates is a director who loves to focus on the character development and emotional side of events above all else. He works well with actors, has the ability to get memorable performances out of his cast, and Part 2 is no exception. From the stars to the cameo shots, every actor in the film does his or her job well, and a good deal of credit for that has to go to the director.

Yates squeezes all the emotion out of an already emotionally charged finale, and the moments that work best are the quiet ones. Without getting into spoilers, there are several scenes towards the end when puzzle pieces fall into place, and the truth about past actions come out. Those are among the best and most memorable moments of the film, and if you haven’t read the books, then they may even shock you and make you rethink how you have judged some of the characters. He also uses flashbacks from previous movies, as well as flashbacks to previously unseen events, and he does so masterfully. In one instance in particular, Yates tells an entire story through a few brief flashbacks, and in the course of those few minutes the entire story changes.

Where he stumbles is the action. Yates has never been a strong action director. In both the Half-Blood Prince and The Order of the Phoenix, major battles from the book were neutered under Yates, and ended up being overshadowed in favor of the emotional side of what happened during those battles. In fact, in Half-Blood Prince, the climactic battle from the book was totally removed from the film, which was a baffling decision. Not only would it have made for a good conclusion to a somewhat slow-paced film, it made sense in the structure of that story to have a fight at the end, yet Yates cut it entirely.

In Part 2, there are still some good action scenes, but most of them occur in the background. Granted, to recreate the entire final battle would probably tack on another hour and cost an additional $100 million or so, but at 130 minutes, Part 2 is already the shortest of all the Potter films, and it could have easily added 20 minutes of the fighting that has been building up for the last seven films.

The idea is to keep the focus entirely on Harry, and so other characters which play a significant role in the final book are relegated to the background. Even Ron and Hermione seem to disappear for huge chunks of time — in one scene they are actually just sitting down while the battle is raging, as if they don’t exist until Harry arrives.

The final battle is underwhelming to say the least, and major characters to the series are left with stunted epilogues that don’t do them justice. There is one fight in particular between characters that aren’t named Harry Potter, but it is almost an afterthought, and the emotional context is mostly missing.

This is the battle we have all been waiting 10 years to see (15 for fans of the book), and yet it is just something that sort of happens in the background. The Deathly Hallows Part 2 is still a good movie, but it is underwhelming and lacking in certain areas. That being said, there is still plenty of action to enjoy, and the final confrontation between Harry and Voldemort is fun to watch.
Conclusion

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 is a suitable ending to the beloved franchise, and one that will make a lot of fans happy. However, it will also leave a lot of fans wanting more, due to the decision to shift the focus of the final battle away from the battle itself towards a greater emphasis on the characters. That makes sense, but at the same time, it would be somewhat akin to re-making Return of the King, but instead of showing the Battle of Minis Tirith, focusing almost entirely on one character that is inside the city and only fleetingly involved in the battle.

The 3D is also a problem. Since the action scenes are not the major focus, the inclusion of 3D isn’t really necessary, and more importantly it makes a movie that is already visually dark, much darker. Yates deliberately employs a monochromatic color scheme to help sell the bleak feel of the world, and the added darkness of 3D doesn’t mesh well with that. The film looks amazing at times, and in 3D you actually miss some of the impressive visuals.

Putting aside the 3D and the final battle (or lack thereof), the film nicely ties up several loose ends and brings the series to a mostly satisfying conclusion. The battle could have been more of a focus, but the emphasis is on Harry and his journey, and that is wrapped up nicely. It isn’t a perfect ending to the franchise, but it is a good one, and should is a decent goodbye to one of the most memorable and beloved franchises of all time.




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Poll Shows 55 Percent of Americans Will Not Take Summer Vacation

Merriam-Webster introduced into its dictionary the word, "staycation," meaning a vacation spent at home or nearby, just as the recession officially ended in 2009. Next to enter into the lexicon may be the word, "naycation."

According to an annual survey by Marist Poll, a majority of U.S. adults, 55 percent, say they will not be booking a summer vacation this year. Only 18 percent said they will take several shorter weekend trips while 16 percent said they will take one or more long getaways. The remaining 11 percent said they will do both or "other."

Of the 45 percent of adults who say they will take a vacation this year, 41 percent said they will take several shorter weekend trips. Though drivers in Los Angeles bracing themselves for the closure of the major 405 freeway, or "carmageddon," may opt to stay very local this weekend.

The national poll results show the continuing waning of a traditional summer vacation, according to Lee Miringoff, director of Marist Poll of Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

Marist's survey has asked American adults since 2000, "Do you plan on taking a vacation this summer?"

Those answering affirmatively were 66 percent in 2000, compared to 45 percent this year, the lowest since the survey began. The figure decreased slightly from last year, when 48 percent said they planned to take a summer vacation.

"This is clearly driven by economy," Miringoff said. "The idyllic image of traditional pack your bags and head away for a couple weeks is not what's going on."

Marist conducted the survey from June 15 to June 23 with 1,003 adults over 18. The margin of error was three percentage points.

The unemployment rate rose in June to 9.2 percent, with employers adding only 18,000 jobs that month.

Miringoff said the data may be driven both by lower incomes and less confidence in the economy or one's financial security.

Of the respondents, 34 percent said they have changed their vacation plans this year to save money while said while two-thirds of respondents said they have not. Mirinoff said there has been little change in the survey results since 2009 when the recession officially ended.

The U.S. recession began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research in September 2010, though the organization did not state the economy has returned to "normal capacity."

In 2009, 65 percent of surveyed results said money concerns did not alter their vacation plans while 35 percent said they were financially restricted.


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Miracle of the Day - A MIRACLE BABY

"WELL HALLEJUAH PRAISE THE LORD MY LORD AND SAVIOR IT WAS PROPHESIED TO ME THREE YEARS AGO THAT GOD WOULD BLESS ME WITH A CHILD.. MY TUBES HAVE BEEN TYED SINCE NOV 1995 I AM MARRIED TO MY HUSBAND OF TWO 12 YRS NOW . ILL TELL YOU WHEN IT WAS MENTIONED I WAS LIKE SARAH LAUGHING, SMILING, WELL ABOUT A WEEK AGO, I FOUND OUT I AM PREGNANT WOW, THE LORD IS AMAZING ISNT HE .AMEN I AGREE SO THROUGH MY HUSBAND HIS PRAYER WAS ANSWERED. ITS BEEN ALMOST 15YRS SINCE MY LAST CHILD WAS BORN. I HAVE THREE FROM MY PREVIOUS MARRIAGE . 22YR DAUGHTER 15YRS DAUGHTER, 17YR SON. NOW IAM PREGNANT AND HAPPY WHAT AN AWESOME MIRACLE GOD IS GOOD IN ALL HIS WAYS. I AM TRULY BLESS IAM 46 MYSELF.."

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