Abdominal Pain

The following is an incomplete list of possible causes of abdominal pain.

• Gastrointestinal
  • Inflammatory: gastroenteritis, appendicitis, gastritis, esophagitis, diverticulitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, microscopic colitis
  • Obstruction: hernia, intussusception, volvulus, post-surgical adhesions, tumours, superior mesenteric artery syndrome, severe constipation, hemorrhoids
  • Vascular: embolism, thrombosis, hemorrhage, sickle cell disease, abdominal angina, blood vessel compression (such as celiac artery compression syndrome)
  • digestive: peptic ulcer, lactose intolerance, celiac sprue (affecting 1:133 people), food allergies, Jasohnstritis
  • Bile system
    • Inflammatory: cholecystitis, cholangitis
    • Obstruction: cholelithiasis, tumours
    • Liver
      • Inflammatory: hepatitis, liver abscess
      • Pancreatic
        • Inflammatory: pancreatitis
        • Renal and urological
          • Inflammation: pyelonephritis, bladder infection
          • Obstruction: kidney stones, urolithiasis, Urinary retention, tumours
          • Vascular: left renal vein entrapment
          • Gynecological or obstetric
            • Inflammatory: pelvic inflammatory disease
            • Mechanical: ovarian torsion
            • Endocrinological: menstruation, Mittelschmerz
            • Tumors: endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cyst, ovarian cancer
            • Pregnancy: ruptured ectopic pregnancy, threatened abortion
            • Abdominal wall
              • muscle strain or trauma
              • muscular infection
              • neurogenic pain: herpes zoster, radiculitis in Lyme disease, abdominal cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome (ACNES), tabes dorsalis
              • Referred pain
                • from the thorax: pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, ischemic heart disease, pericarditis
                • from the spine: radiculitis
                • from the genitals: testicular torsion
                • Metabolic disturbance
                  • uremia, diabetic ketoacidosis, porphyria, C1-esterase inhibitor deficiency, adrenal insufficiency, lead poisoning, black widow spider bite, narcotic withdrawal
                  • Blood vessels
                    • aortic dissection, abdominal aortic aneurysm
                    • Immune system
                      • sarcoidosis
                      • vasculitis
                      • familial Mediterranean fever
                      • Idiopathic
                        • irritable bowel syndrome (affecting up to 20% of the population, IBS is the most common cause of recurrent, intermittent abdominal pain)

Acute Abdominal Pain

Acute abdomen can be defined as severe, persistent abdominal pain of sudden onset that is likely to require surgical intervention to treat its cause. The pain may frequently be associated with nausea and vomiting, abdominal distention, fever and signs of shock. One of the most common conditions associated with acute abdominal pain is acute appendicitis, a condition where mucus or fecal matter hardens, becomes rock-like, and blocks the opening.
Selected causes of acute abdomen

• Traumatic : blunt or perforating trauma to the stomach, bowel, spleen, liver, or kidney
• Inflammatory :
  • Infections such as appendicitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, pyelonephritis, pelvic inflammatory disease, hepatitis, mesenteric adenitis, or a subdiaphragmatic abscess
  • Perforation of a peptic ulcer, a diverticulum, or the caecum
  • Complications of inflammatory bowel disease such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis
  • Mechanical :
    • Small bowel obstruction secondary to adhesions caused by previous surgeries, intussusception, hernias, benign or malignant neoplasms
    • Large bowel obstruction caused by colorectal cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, volvulus, fecal impaction or hernia
    • Vascular : occlusive intestinal ischemia, usually caused by thromboembolism of the superior mesenteric artery

Recurrent Abdominal Pain in Children and Adolescents

Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) occurs in 5–15% of children 6–19 years old. In a community-based study of middle and high school students, 13–17% had weekly abdominal pain. Using criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), 14% of high school students and 6% of middle school students fit the criteria for adult IBS. As with other difficult to diagnose chronic medical problems, patients with RAP account for a very large number of office visits and medical resources in proportion to their actual numbers. Most patients with RAP benefit from reassurance and techniques to manage anxiety and stress, which are frequently associated with episodes

Abdominal pain (or stomach ache) can be one of the symptoms associated with transient disorders or serious disease. Making a definitive diagnosis of the cause of abdominal pain can be difficult, because many diseases can result in this symptom. Abdominal pain is a common problem. Most frequently the cause is benign and/or self-limited, but more serious causes may require urgent intervention.

When a physician assesses a patient to determine the etiology and subsequent treatment for abdominal pain the patients history of the presenting complaint and physical examination should derive a diagnosis in over 90% of cases.

It is important also for a physician to remember that abdominal pain can be caused by problems outside the abdomen, especially heart attacks and pneumonias which can occasionally present as abdominal pain.

Investigations that would aid diagnosis include

* Blood tests including full blood count, electrolytes, urea, creatinine, liver function tests, pregnancy test and lipase.
* Urinalysis
* Imaging including erect chest X-ray and plain films of the abdomen
* An electrocardiograph to rule out a heart attack which can occasionally present as abdominal pain

If diagnosis remains unclear after history, examination and basic investigations as above then more advanced investigations may reveal a diagnosis. These as such would include

* Computed Tomography of the abdomen/pelvis
* Abdominal or pelvic ultrasound
* Endoscopy and colonoscopy (not used for diagnosing acute pain)

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Classification

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are commonly divided according to their size and symptomatology. An aneurysm is usually defined as an outer aortic diameter over 3 cm (normal diameter of aorta is around 2 cm). However, if the AAA is surgically repaired before rupture, the post-operative mortality rate is substantially lower: approximately 1-6%.

The vast majority of aneurysms are asymptomatic. However, as abdominal aortic aneurysms expand, they may become painful and lead to pulsating sensations in the abdomen or pain in the chest, lower back, or scrotum. The risk of rupture is high in a symptomatic aneurysm, which is therefore considered an indication for surgery. The complications include rupture, peripheral embolisation, acute aortic occlusion, and aortocaval (between the aorta and inferior vena cava) or aortoduodenal (between the aorta and the duodenum) fistulae. On physical examination, a palpable abdominal mass can be noted. Bruits can be present in case of renal or visceral arterial stenosis. The bleeding can be retroperitoneal or intraperitoneal, or the rupture can create an aortocaval or aortointestinal (between the aorta and intestine) fistula.

* Genetic influences: The influence of genetic factors is highly probable. The high familial prevalence rate is most notable in male individuals. There are many theories about the exact genetic disorder that could cause higher incidence of AAA among male members of the affected families. Some presumed that the influence of alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency could be crucial, some experimental works favored the theory of X-linked mutation, which would explain the lower incidence in heterozygous females. Other theories of genetic etiology have also been formulated.
* Atherosclerosis: The AAA was long considered to be caused by atherosclerosis, because the walls of the AAA are frequently affected heavily. However, this theory cannot be used to explain the initial defect and the development of occlusion, which is observed in the process.

Hemodynamics affect the development of AAA. It has a predilection for the infrarenal aorta. The histological structure and mechanical characteristics of infrarenal aorta differ from those of the thoracic aorta. The diameter decreases from the root to the bifurcation, and the wall of the abdominal aorta also contains a lesser proportion of elastin. The mechanical tension in abdominal aortic wall is therefore higher than in the thoracic aortic wall. The elasticity and distensibility also decline with age, which can result in gradual dilatation of the segment. Higher intraluminal pressure in patients with arterial hypertension markedly contributes to the progression of the pathological process. This is a grade B recommendation. A re-analysis of the meta-analysis estimated a number needed to screen of approximately 850 patients.

The largest of the randomized controlled trials on which this guideline was based studied a screening program that consisted of:

Screening men ages 65–74 years (not restricted to ever smokers). 'Men in whom abdominal aortic aneurysms (> or =3 cm in diameter) were detected were followed-up... Patients with an aortic diameter of 3·0–4·4 cm were rescanned at yearly intervals, whereas those with an aortic diameter of 4·5–5·4 cm were rescanned at 3-monthly intervals ... Surgery was considered on specific criteria (diameter > or =5.5 cm, expansion > or =1 cm per year, symptoms)'.

This trial reported significant short) and long term (number needed to screen after 7 years of approximately 280 to prevent nonfatal ruptured AAA plus AAA-related deaths) benefit and cost effectiveness. Subsequent randomized controlled trials also found benefit:

* number needed to screen after 4 years of 300
* number needed to screen after and after 7 years of 563 (calculation).

In the U.S., effective January 1, 2007, provisions of the SAAAVE Act (Screening Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Very Efficiently) now provide a free, one-time, ultrasound AAA screening benefit for those qualified seniors. Men who have smoked at least 100 cigarettes during their life, and men and women with a family history of AAA qualify for the one-time ultrasound screening. Enrollees must visit their healthcare professional for their Welcome to Medicare physical within six months of enrolment in order to qualify for the free screening. The Welcome to Medicare Physical Exam must be completed within the first six months of Medicare eligibility, but there is no published time limit thereafter for completion of the AAA screening. Providers who perform the physical and order the AAA screening need to document the AAA risk factors.

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (also known as AAA, pronounced "triple-a") is a localized dilatation of the abdominal aorta exceeding the normal diameter by more than 50 percent. It is caused by degeneration of the aortic wall, but the exact etiology remains unknown. Some 90 percent of abdominal aortic aneurysms occur infrarenally (below the kidneys), but they can also occur pararenally (at the level of the kidneys) or suprarenally (above the kidneys). Such aneurysms can extend to include one or both of the iliac arteries in the pelvis.
Abdominal aortic aneurysms occur most commonly in individuals between 65 and 75 years old and are more common among men and smokers. They tend to cause no symptoms, although occasionally they cause pain in the abdomen and back (due to pressure on surrounding tissues) or in the legs (due to disturbed blood flow). The major complication of abdominal aortic aneurysms is rupture, which can be life-threatening as large amounts of blood spill into the abdominal cavity, and can lead to death within minutes.
Symptomatic and large aneurysms (i.e., those greater than 5.5cm in diameter) are considered for repair by one of several surgical methods. There is moderate evidence to support screening in individuals with risk factors for abdominal aortic aneurysms.
There have been many calls for alternative approaches to rupture-risk assessment over the past number of years, with many believing that a biomechanics-based approach may be more suitable than the current diameter approach. Numerical modelling is a valuable tool to researchers allowing approximate wall stresses to be calculated, thus revealing the rupture potential of a particular aneurysm.
Experimental models are required to validate these numerical results, and provide a further insight into the biomechanical behaviour of the AAA. ''In vivo'', AAAs exhibit a varying range of material strengths from localised weak hypoxic regions to much stronger regions and areas of calcifications. Experimental models can now be manufactured using a novel technique involving the injection-moulding lost-wax manufacturing process to create patient-specific anatomically-correct AAA replicas.
Work has also focused on developing more realistic material analogues to those ''in vivo'', and recently a novel range of silicone-rubbers was created allowing the varying material properties of the AAA to be more accurately represented. These rubber models can also be used in a variety of experimental testing from stress analysis using the photoelastic method to deterimining whether the locations of rupture experimentally correlate with those predicted numerically.
With the recent advancements in AAA research, coupled with the increasing collaboration between clinicians and engineers, the future research into AAA rupture-prediction and treatment appears to be in a strong position to combat what is currently ranked as the 13th leading cause of death in the US and the 10th leading cause of death in men over the age of 55 years.
A recent animal study published in the journal ''Nature Medicine'' showed that removing a single protein prevents early damage in blood vessels from triggering a later-stage, frequently lethal complication of atherosclerosis. By eliminating the gene for a signaling protein called cyclophilin A (CypA) from a strain of mice, researchers were able to provide complete protection against abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
New endovascular devices are being developed that are able to treat more complex and tortuous anatomies.

Julianne Moore for Bvlgari Jewellery – Bvlgari Spring Summer 2010 Ad Campaign

Makeup Tips for Winter

http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/INSERT_THE_YOUTUBE_VIDEO_ID_NUMBER_HERE/THE_THUMBNAIL_IMAGE_SIZE.jpg

The BRATTY (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast, and Yogurt) diet is generally recommended as part of the prescribed treatment for patients suffering from gastrointestinal ailments. Common conditions such as gastroenteritis, dyspepsia, and diarrhea as well as more serious conditions such as Graft versus Host Disease can be effectively managed and treated with this diet. This diet helps to treat the root cause of diarrhea as well as the accompanying symptoms such as abdominal cramps, dehydration, fatigue, and lethargy. It is important to include all the foods in this diet for a speedy recovery.

Purple and Persian Green Crepe Embroidered Churidar Kameez

Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is the new 10.1-inch tablet powered by a Nvidia dual-core Tegra 2 processor,16GB or 32GB of storage, and sporting dual camera with front-facing 2 megapixel camera for video calling and 8 mega-pixel camera at rear .It is pre-loaded with the latest Android v3.0 OS .It is also called Samsung P7100 Tablet.
Special Features

TOKYO — The operator of Japan's leaking nuclear plant says power lines have been hooked up to all six reactor units, though more work is needed before electricity can run through them.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, announced the hookup Tuesday but cautioned that workers must check pumps, motors and other equipment before the electricity is turned on.

Reconnecting the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex to the electrical grid is a significant step in getting control of the overheated reactors and storage pools for spent fuels. But it is likely to be days if not longer before the cooling systems can be powered up, since damaged equipment needs to be replaced and any volatile gas must be vented to avoid an explosion.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

FUKUSHIMA, Japan (AP) – Weariness and anxiety percolated Tuesday among people who left their homes near Japan's radiation-shedding nuclear complex as workers tried urgently to cool an overheated storage pool and methodically to reconnect critical cooling systems.

In another day of progress and setbacks, a pool holding spent nuclear fuel heated up to around the boiling point, a nuclear safety official said. With water bubbling away, there is a risk that more radioactive steam could spew out. "We cannot leave this alone and we must take care of it as quickly as possible," said the official, Hidehiko Nishiyama.
Story continues below
Advertisement

It wasn't clear if crews had to retreat to stop work hooking up electrical systems and checking machinery to power up cooling systems.

People at Fukushima city's main evacuation center waited in long lines for bowls of hot noodle soup. A truck delivered toilet paper and blankets. Many among the 1,400 people living in the crowded gymnasium came from communities near the nuclear plant and worry about radiation and weary of the daily routine of the displaced.

"It was an act of God," said Yoshihiro Amano, a grocery store owner whose house is 4 miles (6 kilometers) from the reactors. "It won't help anything to get angry. But we are worried. We don't know if it will takes days, months or decades to go home. Maybe never. We are just starting to be able to think ahead to that."

Public sentiment is such that Fukushima's governor rejected a meeting offered by the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco, the utility that runs the nuclear plant.

"What is most important is for TEPCO to end the crisis with maximum effort. So I rejected the offer," Gov. Yuhei Sato said on national broadcaster NHK. "Considering the anxiety, anger and exasperation being felt by people in Fukushima, there is just no way for me to accept their apology."

The nuclear crisis has added a broader dimension to the disaster unleashed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that pulverized the northeast coast, leaving more than 9,000 dead by official count and twice that in police estimates.

Three of Japan's marquee companies – Sony Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. – announced halts to production at plants in Japan. The reason is a shortage of parts – a result of so many ruined factories in the disaster area.

Fears about radiation are reaching well beyond those living near Fukushima and the 430,000 displaced by the earthquake and tsunami to encompass large segments of Japan. Traces of radiation are being found in vegetables and raw milk from a swath of farmland, forcing a government ban on sales from those areas.

Seawater near the Fukushima plant is showing elevated levels of radioactive iodine and cesium, prompting the government to test seafood.

China, Japan's largest trading partner, has ordered testing of imports of Japanese food. The World Health Organization has urged Japan to adopt stricter measures and reassure the public.

Government officials and health experts say the doses are low and not a threat to human health unless the tainted products are consumed in abnormally excessive quantities. But the government measures to release data on radiation amounts, halt sales of some foods and test others are feeding public worries that the situation may grow more dire.

"We acknowledge this situation has caused anxiety among the general public but even if the accident hadn't happened we would be monitoring and taking action if the government's very conservative standards are exceeded," the government's spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, said at a briefing.

In the first five days after the disasters struck, the Fukushima complex saw explosions and fires in four of the plant's six reactors, and the leaking of radioactive steam into the air. Since then, progress has been made cooling the active reactors and replenishing spent fuel pool, though setbacks have occurred.

The bubbling in Unit 2's storage pool is worrisome. If unabated, the water could boil away, exposing fuel rods that would throw up more radiation. At extremely high temperatures, the zirconium cladding around the rods could melt and explode.

Nishiyama, the agency official, said the rods had been partly exposed; an agency spokesman Shinji Kinjo believed the rods remained covered.

An official of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in Washington that Units 1, 2 and 3 have all seen damage to their reactor cores, but that containment is intact. The commission's executive director, Bill Borchardt, said that "things appear to be on the verge of stabilizing."

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency said that radiation seeping into the environment is a concern and needs to be monitored. "We are still in an accident that is still in a very serious situation," said Graham Andrew, senior adviser to IAEA chief Yukiya Amano.

IAEA monitoring stations have detected radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels – but in an area about 12 miles (20 kilometers) from the power station, the limit of the evacuation area declared by the government last week.

Radiation at that level, while not high for a single burst, could harm health if sustained. If projected to last three days, radiation at those levels would U.S. authorities would order an evacuation as a precaution.

The levels drop dramatically the further you go from the nuclear complex. In Tokyo, about 140 miles (220 kilometers) south of the plant, levels in recent days have been higher than normal for the city but still only a third of the global average for naturally occurring background radiation.

Indian politicians are in a stew over cables released by WikiLeaks suggesting that Indian lawmakers were paid millions of dollars to vote in favor of a civil nuclear deal with the U.S.

The deal was regarded as a milestone in Indo-American relations. But it was opposed by several groups in India, especially the Communist Party, which withdrew support from the governing coalition as the deal was being finalized in 2008.

Brinda Karat, a senior leader of the Communist Party, told AOL News that the cables exposed how Congress Party leaders tried to "whitewash the political crimes that have been committed."

The 2008 civil nuclear agreement was a first step in repairing India-U.S. relations, which had worsened after the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on India for conducting underground nuclear tests in 1998.

The deal was signed under the Bush administration and is still being finessed by the Obama administration, which hosted its first state dinner in 2009 for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

The leaked cable, published in The Hindu, said that an Indian political aide showed an American diplomat two chests of cash, allegedly part of a $25 million fund to pay for votes.

Before the vote of confidence on the nuclear deal in 2008, leaders of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, produced cash on the floor of the House and claimed that votes had been bought. A subsequent investigation, however, did not lead to any concrete findings.

The cables have brought the issue to the forefront again, according to Karat, who has called on Congress Party leaders to confess and asked the government to conduct criminal prosecutions immediately.

Several analysts in India have expressed concern that the government is bending over backward to accommodate the U.S., which they say is running the show.

The immediate question, however, is whether the Congress-led government will survive. Many observers have suggested that this scandal -- like many others -- will blow over, especially because the allegations are old and the deal has moved forward since then. And WikiLeaks has said that it will reveal more India-related cables, which could distract the public and media with another scandal.

"In normal circumstances, the government would not survive, but we don't live in normal times. ... The corruption has become so deep-rooted," said Prashant Bhushan, a prominent Indian lawyer and activist, who convinced the Supreme Court to investigate the loss of $40 billion from the Indian Treasury in the "2G Spectrum" scam last year.

Still, Bhushan observed that the fragile polity, if hit with another blow, could crumble in the coming months.

Following the recent uproar, Prime Minister Singh told the Indian Parliament that the cables were "speculative, unverified and unverifiable."

"It is unfortunate that the opposition continues to raise old charges that have been debated, discussed and rejected by the people of India," he said last week.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, however, insists that the cables are authentic and that Singh is misleading the public.

"The comments that I've been hearing from Prime Minister Singh, these to me seem like a deliberate attempt to mislead the public by suggesting that governments around the world do not accept this material and that it's not verified," Assange told Indian news channel NDTV.

"That does not mean every fact in them is correct. You have to look at their sources and how they gave this information," he said Monday.

Shoma Chaudhury, the managing editor of Tehelka, an Indian news magazine known for its undercover exposes, argues that the cables have too many "ifs and buts" and are only of "speculative value."

"They are not conclusive by a long shot," she said, adding that the Indian political aide who showed the money to the American official was a junior operative and could have been exaggerating.

While the Congress Party has been mired in a series of billion-dollar corruption scams, its soft-spoken leader is generally regarded as being clean. But in the wake of the new scandal, the BJP has called for his resignation.

It is unlikely that the current scandal will lead to Singh's resignation, according to Vinod Mudgal, who runs a project to improve rural livelihood in India that includes more transparency in governance.

Sponsored Links
"In South Asia, corruption is endemic ... The poor have to pay more bribes than the rich in their everyday life," he said. "But there will be a limited impact."

Today, the opposition staged a walkout of a parliamentary session, saying Singh had misled the House in 2008 by claiming that lawmakers had not been bribed.

But the BJP hasn't escaped the scandal unscathed. Shortly after the first revelation, WikiLeaks released cables that suggested the opposition party publicly slammed the nuclear deal but privately reassured the Americans they were OK with it.

"The result of all this is that even the opposition party has no moral authority," Bhushan said.

The BJP has denied engaging in any hypocrisy.
Source: http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/22/wikileaks-cables-cause-uproar-in-india-over-nuke-deal-with-us/

There have been several tutorials and questions on internet that shows how to reset the security locking code of your Nokia Symbian Phones. But honestly speaking, non of the tutorial works. Because, most of them keeps talking about Master Code security code which really does not work in every phone.
The technique behind Master code is that, every phone has unique International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number and with the help of this number, a specific software will calculate your so called master code. This might work in some phone but not always. Because how can you be so sure about that the Master Code generated is the correct one? If it has been the straight right security code then there won’t be any use of security code. Because, Lock codes and master codes are meant for security purpose in case if it’s stolen or lost some where.
Therefore this might not be much practical. The good thing you can do is, contact the authorized service center to have your code reseted. If you don’t want to do that then still you have a choice left. That is, you’ll have to hack the phone. Don’t worry with the term ‘hack’ we’ll do nothing like hacking.
We’ll use a backdoor to reset the security code. This might be illegal, but can be helpful if you badly need it. Here is how you do it.
First of all download the security code hack patch from here. Once you have downloaded it extract it with your favorite unzipper.  Now reate a new folder ‘Recogs‘ in your desktop.

New Recogs folder in desktop

Once it has been created, copy the THC-NOKIA-UNLOCK.MDLfile from the extracted file to Recogs folder.

Drag or copy the file to Recogs folder

Now take out the memory card from your Nokia phone and plug it in to you card reader and open it from my computer.

Open your card from my computer

Once you open go to System folder. If it is not there then don’t worry it is hidden folder. To go to System folder, type ‘system‘ next to your card location as shown in the image below (in this tutorial the drive letter for the memory card is H:).

Type-in system to go to system folder

Instantly you’ll be inside system folder.

The System folder

Once you are inside the system folder copy the Recogs folder from desktop to the system.

Recogs folder being copied to system folder

Finally when it’s copied, eject your memory card and insert it to your phone which you want to unlock. Once you insert the memory card, it will automatically start the unclocker file and resets the Locking code.
Once it succesfully resets your Locking code, it will prompt a message on white screen with, ‘Press a Key’. Press any key and your code is rested to 12345. Now you can change it any time.
Thats it, you are done. No need of any electronic device, no need of any data cards no need of any complicated and insecure software and the phone is yours again.
If you enjoyed this tutorial then subscribe to us for free and also bookmark us.

Verizon's 4G network proved the fastest and most consistent among those of the four major U.S. carriers, according to a study (PDF) out today by mobile testing company RootMetrics.

With the four (but soon to be three, what with yesterday's surprise announcement that AT&T plans to buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion) major carriers all trumpeting the respective performance of their own high-speed mobile networks, RootMetrics set out to determine which was truly the speediest by testing 4G-capable phones from each one.

Included in the study were the HTC Thunderbolt running on Verizon's LTE network, the HTC Inspire on AT&T's HSPA+ network, the HTC Evo on Sprint's WiMax network, and the Samsung Galaxy S on T-Mobile's HSPA+21 network. The testing was done solely in Seattle near RootMetrics' offices in Bellevue, Washington.

Though the term 4G is bandied about rather loosely in the industry, for the purposes of the study Metrics referred to each carrier's network as 4G.

Measuring upload and download performance as one part of the test, RootMetrics found that Verizon's LTE delivered the best speeds, averaging between 4 and 14.5 times faster than the competition in downloads and between 4.7 and 49.3 times faster in uploads. Beyond mere speed, though, the test looked at the ability to both achieve and maintain those high speeds. And here, Verizon also scored on top.

RootMetrics discovered that Verizon managed to deliver download speeds above 10 megabits per second almost 90 percent of the time and average upload speeds between 5Mbps and 10Mbps fully 100 percent of the time. Further, Verizon's LTE network was available 100 percent of the time, both in the car and in a fixed location.

In comparison, T-Mobile and Sprint tied statistically for second place overall, though T-Mobile's HSPA+21 network offered a slightly higher average download speed of 4.42Mbps over Sprint's WiMax at 4.4Mbps. T-Mobile's upload speed fared better as well, averaging 1.29Mbps versus Sprint's 605 kilobits per second. Taking up the rear in speed was AT&T's HSPA+ network, which delivered average download speeds of 1.18Mbps and upload speeds of just 123Kbps.

Looking at reliability, RootMetrics was able to access Sprint's network 90 percent of the time and the networks from AT&T and T-Mobile 80 percent of the time. Further, the tests found that WiMax offered the most consistent download and upload speeds after Verizon, followed by T-Mobile and then AT&T.

How do the speeds that RootMetrics found compare with those touted by the carriers themselves?

For its LTE network, Verizon promises average speeds of 5Mbps to 12Mbps for downloads and 2Mbps to 5Mbps for uploads. AT&T points to download speeds up to around 6Mbps. Sprint promises average download speeds of 3Mbps to 6Mbps on its WiMax network. And T-Mobile's testing showed download speeds of close to 5Mbps.

To conduct its tests, RootMetrics drove around Seattle on March 18 with unaltered, off-the-shelf versions of the four smartphones tested, each outfitted with the Android 2.2 operating system. The testers also stopped at certain locations to gauge performance in a fixed location.

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20045376-251.html#ixzz1HB4qQgzZ

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to do a "systematic and methodical" review of U.S. nuclear facilities following the onset of the crisis earlier this month in Japan.

The NRC said today that it will study information from the situation in Japan--where a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and ensuing tsunamis provoked a dangerous situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility--and conduct an assessment of nuclear power plants in the U.S. There will be a rapid, 90-day review and a longer review which could include regulatory action, according to reports.

"We have a high degree of confidence that at our 104 nuclear reactors there is an adequate basis to ensure adequate protection," Bill Borchardt, executive director for operations at the NRC, said at a Commission meeting, according to a report at E2 Wire.
Dry cask storage puts spent fuel assemblies are entombed in steel and concrete.

Dry cask storage puts spent fuel assemblies are entombed in steel and concrete.
(Credit: NRC)

The review comes at a time of growing concern over nuclear disasters in the U.S. and renewed calls to improve the safety of spent fuel from nuclear facilities. At the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, the spent fuel pools have emerged as one of the gravest dangers because they are not stored in metal and thick concrete structures as the reactors are.

In the U.S., there are under 100 tons of spent fuel stored at power plants, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. After they have been used to generate heat in the reactor, fuel is kept in pools of water that contain the radiation. Water is also circulated to remove the residual heat from the assemblies, which hold the nuclear fuel rods, for several years.

Because there isn't a central repository in the U.S. for storing spent nuclear fuel, many nuclear plants have a lot of spent nuclear fuel on site. The Seabrook Station nuclear power plant in New Hampshire, for example, had space for 20 years worth of spent fuel storage in pools but then needed to build a dry cask storage facility on site. The nuclear waste is covered in steel and concrete.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which released a report citing safety lapses at U.S. nuclear plants last week, noted that storing fuel in dry casks, rather than in pools, is safer from errors, natural disasters, and attacks.

"UCS has long recommended that spent fuel be transferred from the pool to dry cask storage once the fuel has cooled enough, after about five years. This is a major issue in the U.S. because U.S. pools are becoming increasingly packed with spent fuel," said Lisbeth Gronlund, the co-director of the global security program, in a blog post yesterday.

In particular, plant designs where nuclear fuel is stored above ground have come under fire. Massachusetts state attorney general Martha Coakley yesterday put out a statement pressing the NRC to review the spent fuel at two New England nuclear power plants--Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim. The Seabrook Power Plant was not subject of the complaint because it has below-grade storage.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20045486-54.html#ixzz1HB31P300

There is a thin line between design and development, and as we move into a new decade, this line is becoming extremely blurry. Is it enough to draw beautiful mock ups in Photoshop? Maybe 5 years ago. These days, the average internet user requires more. All beauty, with no substance, gets boring after a while. If your only goal is to impress a community of fellow designers with your flashy designs, you’ll find yourself quickly beneath the tide. 2011 is not about beauty, it’s about function. The trends for this new year and emerging decade are responsive design, constant connection and virtual reality.

How will you stay relevant as a designer in 2011? The ultimate goal of a designer is not to dazzle but to entangle. Any designer can get ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ that are easily forgotten. The supreme designer is able to create an environment which charms and captivates the user to the point where he does not want to find the ‘Back’ button. Several elements come together to forge such a wonderland: harmonious color scheme, intuitive design, easily accessible information and fast response. Additionally, one can never under-estimate the power of simplicity. Of course, this has always been the case, but in 2011, you are no longer at the forgiving discretion of the desktop, or even laptop, computer. Now, your design must contend with smart phones, netbooks, tablets and the like. Are you ready?
Take a gander at the top 11 trends for 2011.

1. More CSS3 + HTML5

What a gratifying sigh of relief! CSS3 and HTML5 have been on the distant horizon of web design for the past couple of years, but now, in 2011, we see an explosion of it. Designers are finally starting to let go of Flash. However you may feel about Flash, you do know that it does not play well with some of the hot, new technology available to your current and potential visitors. In 2011, you will slowly step away from Flash and embrace the magic known as HTML5. Look at the amazingly similar comparison:


Now that’s shown, please understand that Flash and HTML5 are not equal opponents. There is plenty of room for both in 2011. The problem is that designers in 2010 (and before) misused Flash. Case in point, very rarely should your entire site be made of Flash, especially these days. HTML5 alleviates some of the burden we have placed on Flash. However, HTML5 cannot (yet) replace the extraordinary design elements we can achieve through Flash.
Perhaps even more exciting is the fact that CSS3 is available to us in a real way this year. Move over Photoshop (wow, Adobe just cannot rest), because CSS3 is making short work of text shadow, border radius and image transparency. If you have not already begun, now is the time to really delve into understanding CSS3 and HTML5.

2. Simple Color Schemes

Simplicity. There’s nothing quite as impacting as an honest message on a quiet backdrop. Quiet can be interpreted several different ways. Forget black and white or shades of gray. Think of green, yellow or even red as your primary color. However, limit your palette to two or three colors. Work within the shades of each color for variety. It can be truly remarkable what a few colors can do for your message. Observe:

Shades of green create this Twitter visualization tool. Side note: this site was created with XHTML/CSS and Javascript.

Red can be jarring if done incorrectly. This site gets it right by subduing the color’s overwhelming personality with easy-to-read high contrast text.

3. Mobile Ready

Smartphones, iPads, netbooks, oh my! There’s a dizzying amount of mobile products available to the consumer in 2011. This means your web design must be responsive to multiple viewports.
Creating a mobile ready website is not simply removing the bells and whistles from your design. This can create a vacant and impersonal design. Although not impossible, distilling the magic from your original design into a pure representation of your brand is tough! Fortunately, technology is quickly removing this burden.
With the help of CSS3, primarily media queries, mobile web design has taken a big leap forward (more on this later). One of the most important advances is that you can design a whole site and allow your coding to conform to the user’s viewing medium.
It may be tempting to just create a dedicated mobile site, but that may no longer satisfy your audience. Increasingly, mobile sites include the option to visit the original site. If you do not offer this option or if your original site is not optimized to mobile standards, you are simply not ready for 2011. Forecasters predict that smartphones will outsell personal computers this year. Bulletproof your design to meet this demand.

4. Parallax Scrolling

Parallax scrolling: not just for old school video games. As aforementioned, the hot web design trend for 2011 is creating a sense of depth. What better way to create that than with parallax scrolling? The parallax effect uses layers to present the illusion of a 3 dimensional space. It can be accomplished with some simple CSS tricks or the help of jQuery plugins like Spritely. Parallax scrolling can be most effective as a secondary element on your design, for example, as a header, footer, or background. Making it an integral part of your navigation may prove frustrating for your site visitor.

The Old Pulteney Row to the Pole website uses a top down parallax scrolling effect for the background. This adds a nice subtle amount of depth and lots of interest.

5. Designing for Touch Screens, Not Mice

Technology has become much more tactile. Usability is shifting from abstract to tangible. This means that instead of navigating your mouse to remotely connect, your destination is literally at your fingertips. Tablets, most smartphones and some desktops use touchscreens. Does your design accommodate fingertip navigation?
How much of your design is mouse-oriented? As designers, we worship mice. Our links light up when the mouse hovers over. However, there’s no hovering in touchscreen. How will your design indicate links to your visitors? What about drop-down menus? That’s also a no-go in touchscreen design.
Similarly, how will visitors peruse your site? As controversial as it may be for standard web browsing, horizontal scrolling may be more appropriate for touchscreens. Fitting nicely into this niche is a magazine-like layout where visitors virtually flip through your site.
Lastly, consider using liquid layouts as part of your commitment toward responsive design. In 2011, you are no longer dealing with screen resolution size. Visitors can change their viewing orientation from vertical to horizontal. Your design must be flexible to meet any challenge, or you will be a relic of 2010.

Baby sees the iPad Magic, Copyright Steve Paine, Flickr

6. Depth Perception in Web Design

No, we are not dealing with the aerial ‘I can see your coffee cup and keyboard on your website’ design of two years ago. Depth perception is about creating dimension in your web design, so that parts of your site looks nearer than others. It conjures a faux 3D effect when done masterfully. Remember what it felt like watching the blockbuster 3D movie, Avatar? The elements jumped off of the screen, quite literally.
Although 3D technology has no yet made it to web design, you can still replicate depth in your design.

This playful website features a rotatable, 3D planet and makes use of depth with well-placed shadows and layering.

Eye-catching and smart, this celebration of Jordan (both the man and shoe) is thoroughly entertaining. The 3D elements are crisp and simple, which what makes them so stunning.

7. Large Photographic Backgrounds

Large scale backdrops will surge in 2011. These images will be high resolution, and covering the entire site. Large photos are an instant way to grab your audience– they cannot help but to see it and have an opinion about it. The background photo must be content-appropriate. Simply having a pretty image in the background without any context will disrupt your user’s experience. Trends point to soft and slightly transparent imagery that does not over shadow your content, but harmonizes with it.

This site makes use of high-resolution photos and the predominant color is yellow throughout.

This site adds playful animation with its grand scale imagery. Warning: auto-play music.

8. Adventurous Domain Names & Integration

Although not in the strictest sense a web design issue, look forward to seeing more creative domain names. The once-coveted .com domain has lost a lot of its appeal– primarily because you have to think up words in Na’Vi in order to find a domain that has not been thought up yet. 2011 will see a more wide-spread venture away from .com and into more whimsical domains like .me or .us. Think of the possibilities and scoop it up before it’s gone.

.me is a great domain to use for personal portfolios, or blogs, especially if you want a seperate identity from your corporate brand.

Another example of .me integration.

9. QR: Quick Response

If you have noticed those square barcodes popping on business cards, magazines or else where, you may already know that they are a hot trend for 2011. How exactly does it translate into web design? Amazingly well, in fact.
The barcodes are called QR, short for Quick Response. Simply take a photo of the unique barcode with your camera phone. Like magic, your phone will call up the website associated with said barcode. The beautiful thing about QR is that you can use it in a myriad of ways. Feature your QR on your website, in order for site visitors to have a shortcut to your mobile site. You can also track your visitors through QR, by placing a special referral code on your URL. When you are leaving comments on sites such as this, use the QR as your avatar.
2011 is all about mobility and it will be smart to take advantage of this new medium.

This is the QR for the author’s personal website. Create your own code here.

10. Thumbnail Design

The ever-enterprising folks at Google have introduced the average user to thumbnail browsing. Gone are the days of clicking through to see the content of a website. These days, you just click on the magnifying glass and hover (assuming you’re not on a touchscreen). Magically before you is a glimpse of what waits on the other side of your click.
If your design is Flash-based, that is definitely going to be a problem. The preview will not display those elements of your design.
As the average internet user becomes more surfing-savvy in 2011, expect to see more people navigating by these means. It is just too great of a temptation not to judge a site by its thumbnail.

11. Constant Connection/ Life Stream

Last, but certainly not least, is the focus on constant connection in web design. The internet is, by nature, a sterile environment, and we make it human by sharing our lives in an open forum. Expect to see more intimacy through the form of lifestreaming. Personal blogs and portfolios in 2011 will prominently feature live Twitter feeds (not just a link to the Twitter page). People will let you know where they are at any moment of the day via Foursquare. In fact, expect to see a dedicated lifestream for all of one’s online activity. 2011 will definitely bring out our inner, creepy stalker, no doubt about it.

A personal site that utilizes lifestreaming.

This is a business site that synthesizes a lot of information on one page.

Final Salute to 2010

Do you agree, disagree, have anything to add? We would love to hear from you.

If you want to be a better designer, then you should feed yourself great designs. Forehead-slapping common sense, right? Yet some designers downplay the importance of consuming and getting inspired by great designs. Yet there are 3 reasons why you need to feed yourself great designs.
Designers that think influence and constantly exposing yourself to great designs isn’t that important tend to believe that brilliant work comes from within and that it can be turned on at will. But as creative block—which gets the best of us—shows, creativity is a finicky beast. And a lot of outside factors subconsciously dictate how and when your best designs are created. Therefore, it’s important that you feed yourself great designs. It’s what can help inspire your best design work—whether for yourself or for your clients—as well as keep you going during the creative down periods.
Without further ado, here are 3 reasons why you need to feed yourself great designs:

1. Good Goes In, Good Comes Out

Think of your design work as a body: when good design inspiration comes in, good work comes out. It’s similar to your body where when good ingredients come in, a good body and day comes out. You’re more energized, better rested and alert, healthier, stronger, and so forth.
It’s no different with your design work. Creativity is a ridiculously fragile thing – when you feed it anything but the best inspiration, your output quickly plummets. You really can’t be messing with it. Think about it: after watching some mediocre show or browsing through fairly average blogs or listening to safe-and-nothing-special music, did you get really excited and have inspired ideas start running through your head? The answer is probably ‘no’, and with good reason – bad ingredients went in, so it’s only natural that mediocre work would come out if you attempted to design afterwards.
Keep your design creativity in tip-top shape. Healthy, strong, alert, energized. By feeding yourself great designs, you increase your chances of also creating great designs. Good goes in, good comes out.

2. Get an Energetic Jolt During Uninspired Moments

Creative block happens to the best of us. Minimize it by feeding yourself some great designs. You’ll then get an energetic jolt. Perfect for those uninspired moments when you can’t seem to come up with any cool designs – or if you have to force yourself really hard just to finish an existing design project.
If you live in a city with some great public art, architecture, or museums or shops nearby, you can take a break and simply walk around outside. You’ll come back to your computer re-energized. Or you can flip through some design magazines, or browse some design showcase websites. Or do whatever that’ll expose you to some great, inspiring designs. But get away from your design work in order to feed yourself these designs. Even if just for a bit.
The energetic jolt you’ll get can help inspire you, and you can come back to your design work filled with creative energy and ideas.

3. Keep Yourself Going Longer Creatively

Creativity is like a sprint runner – inspiration usually happens in spurts for most. But by constantly feeding yourself great designs, you can help make your creativity more like a marathon runner so that you can keep yourself going longer creatively.
Now, that doesn’t mean being like a robot that never stops creating or being inspired. That’s simply not possible – plus, not many would really want that, anyway. No, keeping yourself going longer creatively just means that you can minimize the uninspired down times and extend your creative designing times. In other words, keep yourself going in the zone longer – when you’re inspired and your ideas and work is flowing.
Similar to #2, you’re not only shortening the uninspired moments but by extension helping yourself be inspired more often. The higher frequency of inspiration can help you keep designing in the zone for longer periods of time. You’ll have so many ideas, or you’ll be energized by some many great designs you just saw earlier.

Feed Yourself Great Designs

Again, you might be thinking this is forehead-slapping common sense. Of course you should feed yourself great designs rather than mediocre ones, and by doing so more frequently you’ll be inspired and in the creative zone more often, right? Yet it’s easy to forget the most simple of things and succumb to wasting hours on YouTube or playing games when you’re uninspired and feel like procrastinating on your latest design project. When all it could’ve taken to get you back on track is a little bit of time with a great design magazine, or a brief walk around town, or anything where you expose yourself to great designs.
Rinse and repeat, and you’ll help yourself be a better designer and create inspired designs more frequently.
Hopefully you now see how important feeding yourself great designs is. It’s not just for pleasure, or something to do to pass the time, or influence to take lightly – it’s what can help keep your creative engine well-oiled and fueled so you can run better and longer with your design work.
To recap, here are the 3 reasons why you need to feed yourself great designs:

1. Good goes in, good comes out
2. Get an energetic jolt during uninspired moments
3. Keep yourself going longer creatively

Now get out there and start feeding yourself all sorts of great designs.
How have you been feeding yourself great designs? What are some of your favorite sources of inspiration, especially outside of web and visual design?

Landing pages for product sales can be seen everywhere. Affiliate marketers are constantly examining some of the newer techniques to mastering digital e-commerce. When the situation involves just a small market segment, the rules for landing page design can change.
Overall it takes a strong designer’s eye to create something extraordinary. Product landing pages offer fantastic insight towards deeper psychological marketing techniques. Here we’ll look into some great strategies for a sales page and what you can do to entice more sales.

Distinct Headlines and Ad Copy

Society has almost become numb to the classic ad copy sales pitch. After a while the general consensus of Internet users will shift and a broader understanding of marketing can be shared. In this regard it’s important to consider some of the creative opportunity in ad copy.

For example EdwinSoft’s Article Demon offers an interesting take on a squeeze page. The header offers some graphics which pertain to the brand and describe what you can expect. The large, bold red text is used to attract your attention immediately, and also entice you to scroll down further to learn more.
The ad copy throughout the page is also very well written. As you can imagine the writing process takes a long time and can be grueling. Just keep your message clear and to the point, there’s no reason to add convoluted language and it’ll either confuse or annoy your visitors. Also be sure to bold and underline your essential messages to help them stand out.

Include Relatable Media

Digital media can encompass quite a wide variety of information. The most common are including (but not limited to) audio recordings, podcasts, video presentations, or infographics explaining the growth process or benefit from your product.
When it comes to direct page images it takes a special craft to define them just right. Stock imagery in the category of businesses or modern people don’t often perform very well. The reason being they don’t present any underlying message or explain what your product does, or even why it’s useful.

The purpose of a landing page is to present a product or group of products and provide as much information as required to hook a sale. This means each area of page space should be utilized to its fullest in presenting your message. For software or template development it’s much easier to work in page graphics. However, when it comes to smaller products (for example e-books) you would need to create much of the design and branding personally.
It isn’t always worth the money to hire a professional, but when it comes to selling anything branding is important factor number 1. You should consider what type of message you’re sending out with your product and how you want visitors to feel when coming onto your page. Illustrations and icons are useful in both filling empty space and giving your page a pleasing look.

Keep Action Above the Fold

Anything that’s truly crucial to your sale should be introduced right away. Visitors can be finicky with their time and shouldn’t be expected to scroll down to find the information they need. In fact many studies have shown visitors will leave your page within the first few seconds if the actions seem too confusing.

By this it’s meant to say visitors are looking for something to do on your website. If they can’t find anything interesting to read, watch, listen to or interact with they will probably leave just as quickly as they came.
This is why offering a plan of action is so crucial. Visitors interested in your product will likely be excited to offer you their e-mail address for updates. Placing just a small signup form towards the heading on your page will spur dramatic interest and lead to increased sales in the long term.

Consider also working your brand into social networking opportunities. The chance to build a large network of followers is possible on major hubs such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, or YouTube. Once you have profile links created you can share them with those who land on your page. Popular execution methods can involve social media icons and small marketing campaigns to increase your profile activity.

Working with Colors

In both digital and physical design, color choice is everything. Colors invoke a set mood into those perceiving a piece of art, and a landing page website is no different.
Your choice of colors will vary based on your end goals. Black and green offer simulations of power and wealth. Green is also one of the easiest colors for the eye to process. By this reason it’s used by many popular financial institutions and eco-friendly corporations.
Blues create a sense of security and trust. It can be seen as the most common and professional color. Purples can be calm, soothing, often referencing beauty or glamor products. Similarly red can be used to produce an energetic sensation, leading to more visitor interaction.

Yellows and oranges behave similarly to bright colors such as red, but can be toned down and not so vibrant. Yellows appeal to youthfulness and grab attention quickly. Orange in a similar manner can be placed towards a call-to-action button for grabbing the visitor’s attention.
All of these are situational and should be used with precision. These tips are great for getting the initial juices flowing in designing a product page. Carefully created user interface elements will also surely draw attention to your finer points.
Always keep in mind the end goal of your process. Sales should be figured into the starting plan and tested thoroughly through refined analytics tools. Consider other landing page designs for inspiration on your own. There are many techniques available and you can learn a lot by networking with other Internet marketers and digital artists.