Lexmark To Stop Making Inkjet Printers By 2013

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printerUS printer company Lexmark has announced it will cease production of inkjet printers by 2013. This will involve the closure of its factory in Cebu, Philippines by 2015 and will result in the loss of 1700 jobs.

Lexmark expects this change will help save $95million per year, a move made after seeing profits fall by 61% for the April to June quarter when compared to the previous year. Profits were just $39.2million this year.

The company also plans to raise additional cash by selling some of the 1,000 inkjet patents that it owns. Lexmark plans to continue selling laser printers as well as a new focus on imaging software and document management services.

The announcement comes as no surprise as the market for inkjet printers has been on the decline with the rise of social media sites where people share photos digitally rather than print them. The shrinking market is now dominated by big firms such as HP and Epson.

Shares of the company rose 15% after the news; this is despite Lexmark warning it will have to finance $160million in order to complete the restructuring.

This isn’t the first time Lexmark has announced the loss of jobs, back in January 625 workers were laid off from their consumer inks divison.

Article by www.colorlabelprinter.org and www.cheapcolorcopies.org

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Diabetes Rates in Scotland Continue to Soar

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scottish flagNearly a quarter of a million people in Scotland now suffer from diabetes according to the latest statistics from a diabetes survey. The amount of new people being diagnosed with the condition each year is now around 10,000. This brings the total to around 5% of the population.

The vast majority of these diabetic sufferers have type 2 diabetes; this is normally caused by poor diet and bad lifestyle choices. It is more common in elderly patients but recently more and more young people have also been diagnosed with the condition.

The Chief Medical Officer, Sir Harry Burns has put the increase down to an ageing population and unhealthy lifestyle factors including obesity. He believes the key to tackling this problem is to stop smoking, to eat healthy food and to exercise.

Diabetes occurs when a person’s blood sugar levels are too high and if left untreated can lead to many different health problems including damage to the nerves and organs. Damage to the nerves is called diabetic neuropathy.

The good news is that type 2 diabetes is something which can be treated and prevented naturally through good lifestyle choices. People can keep their blood sugar levels down by consuming less sugar and refined carbohydrates. In addition intensive exercise also helps reduce to bring levels back to normal.

Article by Rebecca Valentine, a health expert who has also written articles about Fibromyalgia

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Gu Kailai To Be Represented By State Appointed Financial Lawyer In Murder Trial

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courtroomThe woman on trial for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood has been appointed a lawyer that specializes in finance and has little experience in criminal law. This latest development is sure to spark more controversy in a trial that is seen as one of the most politically sensitive in decades. Many Chinese people believe the case is part of a campaign to discredit her husband, Bo Xilai, a popular politician who has made powerful enemies. The fact she is being represented by a financial lawyer rather than a criminal lawyer means she is now almost certain to be convicted.

She stands accused of poisoning Heywood over a financial dispute, though initial allegations suggested a more personal motive. Heywood may have made threats against her son Bo Guagua, which could have an influence in the trial and severity of Gu’s sentence. The trial is expected to last just a few weeks and may be followed by convictions against Bo Xilai for corruption and abuse of power.

Gu is herself a lawyer but has been denied the use of her own family lawyer despite calls from the British government for the trial to handled fairly. Gu could be sentenced to the death penalty for the crime though it is more likely that she will be face a lengthy term in prison. It is expected to be a closed trial with some British diplomats present. Whilst it is not yet determined if any of Gu’s family will be allowed to attend the trial, even her own mother Fan Xiucheng.

Whatever the outcome, this trial is sure to be a huge talking point, and the controversy about the whole scenario will surely continue. Gu’s family will keep fighting but they know that as things stand, Gu is unlikely to receive a transparent trial.

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Categories: Law

Mystery Skin Condition Causes Woman To Grows Nails Instead Of Hair

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doctorDoctors are completely baffled by an extremely rare skin condition that is causing 28 year old Shanya A. Isom to grow nails in her follicles instead of hair. The criminal justice student was in her first year of university when her ordeal started, and her family has racked up medical bills totalling an eye watering $250,000 in attempts to cure her illness. This is because her state insurance plan does not cover her for the care she receives from a special unit in Baltimore.

Her nightmare started in 2009 when she had an asthma attack and was treated with steroids. This medication caused her to have an allergic reaction and develop bumps and scabs on her body. She has since struggled to walk and carry out many tasks that once seemed trivial. It was almost two years later that doctors realised that the bumps were actually human nails growing from her skin. Any place where hair once grew now has nails growing.

The treatment she has received since being afflicted with this illness has helped improve her quality of life slightly but doctors are a long way off establishing what is causing her problems. She is currently the only known person to suffer from this in the world. Shanya has since set up the S.A.I. Foundation in order to help cover the medical bills and even help anyone else who may suffer from this condition in the future. She feels that going through this will be worth it if she can help others in the future.

Article by Patrick Humphries of Hair Regrowth Shampoo here

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tapping into the Immense Benefits of Fashion Shows and Exhibitions

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fashion showOver the years the fashion industry has evolved in several ways and there have been tremendous changes even in cultures that had predominantly preserved their way of life including their mode of dressing. One of the trends that has been growing in the recent past is the rise of fashion shows and exhibitions to showcase or market various clothing designs for both men and women. In many cities around the world, there are fashion shows that showcase a particular theme almost every fortnight or at least every month. Every culture or society tends to formulate their own way of going around the fashion issue.

These fashion exhibitions usually bring together participants and industry stakeholders from different parts of the world, normally adorning expensive jewellery and rings. According to studies from various fashion-related scholarly quarters, these exhibitions and shows serve the fundamental purpose of brand promotion which, in effect, leads to the establishment of good reputation and strong clientele bases. In the fashion industry, different brand strategies are adopted based on a company’s aims, goals and objectives.

Over the recent times, brand management has been increasingly done by fashion companies based on the ever escalating number of fashion houses. As a result, some companies have grown to become respectable brand names while weak brands spiral downwards in the market. For example, in women’s clothes, fashion houses like Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss are some of the most respected brand names.

Some of the advantages of fashion exhibitions and shows include helping buyers to effortlessly recognize a given fashion product or service. They also help fashion houses to spread their market share since the majority of the people who attend these exhibitions always buy the fashion products on sale. Through the shows, fashion companies are able to get marketing responses and outcomes, commonly known as brand equity. Individuals or small and medium-sized fashion companies can also get sponsors in these exhibitions thus helping them to better their products and services.

In conclusion, it is worth noting fashion brands are different from consumer brands in some aspects. For example, most buyers looking for women’s clothes often want to be identified with the product they buy and that is the reason most people tend to go for clothes and shoes from fashion houses with good brand names. On the other hand, consumers may go for products mostly based on their cost-effectiveness and overall efficacy rather than upholding the aspect of a good brand name.

Article by Rebecca Gove of http://www.affordablehandbags.net/ and http://www.crossbracelet.org/

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net

London’s Public Transport System, More Than Ready For The Olympics

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london busThe London 2012 Olympic Games bring many things to mind, such as who will be the fastest man alive and are we going to win the gold? What rarely crosses the thoughts of most however is the transport system, particularly the public transport system offered by the city. With over 200, 000 people visiting Olympic Park on Friday August 3rd alone, public transit plays a crucial role in ensuring that there is a smooth and orderly flow of people to the events.

London has a number of bus, rail, air and tram networks as well as a cycle for hire program that provide service both within the city and to destinations beyond. For the Olympic Games however most transit users will be making use of the bus systems and the world famous London Underground. In fact within the first week of the games the Underground broke records for the number of people using its services. Not only had the record been broken but it was broken three times in a row in that first week. On Wednesday the number of passengers hit 4.25 million setting a new record, but that was not to last long as on Thursday 4.31 million people made use of the Underground. Stunningly however on Friday there were 4.4 million passengers using the Underground smashing the records set the day before and the day before that.

The Underground was not the only service breaking records however as both the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and the cycle for hire program both saw spikes in usage. The DLR is an automated rail system serving the Docklands area of eastern London. On Friday the 3rd the DLR transported more than 500, 000 people, a 70 percent increase in the use of its services. The Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme offers people, for a small fee, access to a network of 8, 000 bicycles and 570 docking stations throughout the city. This economical and green form of transportation also experienced a record number of users, 47, 000 to be exact. This was the highest amount of people using the program since it began two years ago.
Despite these record numbers of passengers however the system is aging and as such is not always reliable, featuring a number of incidents leading up to and during the games. While thousands of volunteers were preparing for the opening ceremony of the games two trains servicing Olympic Park went down for a brief period of time. There were severe delays as well during the first week of the games, due to a signal failure on the line connecting the center of the city to Olympic Park. This delay spread to other lines as passengers sought other routes to the venue.

In spite these hiccups in the service on the whole London’s fleet of busses, trains, and bicycles have been offering exemplary services to the record number of passengers who have flooded the city. Patrons who have come to London to experience the Olympics are for the most part smoothly transported to and from the games on a variety of systems of transport, with little or no delay.

Article by Victor Shields of Toddler Bike Helmet here and 150cc Scooter here

Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net