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Trent Consultants News New Brain Findings On Dyslexic Children

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News The vast majority of school-aged kids can focus on the voice of a instructor amid the cacophony of the typical classroom thanks to a brain that automatically focuses on relevant, predictable and repeating auditory information, according to new research from Northwestern University.

But for kids with developmental dyslexia, the teacher’s voice might get lost in the background noise of banging lockers, whispering children, playground screams and scraping chairs, the researchers say. Their study appears in the Nov. 12 issue of Neuron.

Recent scientific studies recommend that kids with developmental dyslexia — a neurological disorder affecting reading and spelling skills in 5 to 10 percent of school aged kids — have difficulties separating relevant auditory information from competing noise.

The research from Northwestern University’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory not only confirms those findings but presents biological evidence that kids who report problems hearing speech in noise also suffer from a measurable neural impairment that adversely affects their capability to make use of regularities in the sound environment.

“The capability to sharpen or fine-tune repeating elements is crucial to hearing speech in noise because it grants for superior ‘tagging’ of voice pitch, an important cue in picking out a particular voice within background noise,” stated Nina Kraus, Hugh Knowles Professor of Communication Sciences and Neurobiology and director of the Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.

In the article “Context-dependent encoding in the human auditory brainstem relates to hearing speech-in-noise: Implications for developmental dyslexia,” Kraus and co-investigators Bharath Chandrasekaran, Jane Hornickel, Erika Skoe and Trent Nicol demonstrate that the remarkable capability of the brain to tune into relevant aspects in the soundscape is carried out by an adaptive auditory system that continuously changes its activity based on the demands of context.

Good and poor readers were asked to watch a video while the speech sound “da” was presented to them through an phone in two different sessions during which the brain’s response to these sounds was continuously measured.

In the first session, “da” was repeated over and over and over again (in what the researchers call a repetitive context). In the second, “da” was presented randomly amid other speech sounds (in what the researchers call a variable context). In an additional session, the researchers performed behavioral tests in which the kids were asked to repeat sentences that were presented to them amid increasing degrees of noise.

“Even though the children’s attention was focused on a movie, the auditory system of the good readers ‘tuned in’ to the repeatedly presented speech sound context and sharpened the sound’s encoding. In contrast, poor readers did not show an improvement in encoding with repetition,” stated Chandrasekaran, lead author of the study. “We also found that kids who had an adaptive auditory system performed superior on the behavioral tests that required them to perceive speech in noisy backgrounds.”

The study recommends that in addition to conventional reading and spelling based interventions, poor readers who have difficulties processing information in noisy backgrounds could benefit from the employment of relatively easy strategies, such as placing the child in front of the instructor or using wireless technologies to enhance the sound of a teacher’s voice for an individual student.

Interestingly, the researchers found that dyslexic kids showed enhanced brain activity in the variable condition. This might enable dyslexic kids to represent their sensory environment in a broader and arguably more creative manner, even though at the cost of the capability to exclude irrelevant signals (e.g. noise).

“The study brings us closer to understanding sensory processing in kids who experience difficulty excluding irrelevant noise. It provides an neutral index that can help in the assessment of kids with reading problems,” Kraus says.

For almost two decades, Kraus has been trying to determine why some kids with good hearing have difficulties learning to read and spell while others do not. Early in her work, because the deficits she was exploring related to the complex processes of reading and writing, Kraus studied how the cortex — the part of the brain responsible for thinking –encoded sounds. She and her colleagues now comprehend that problems associated with the encoding of sound also can occur in lower perceptual structures. Adapted from materials provided by Northwestern University, a service of AAAS. <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/11/091111123600.htm>.

Trent Consultants News: Trent Consultants Psychology Clinic. Dedicated to the study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders. Trent Consultants has a variety of programs for parents who want to give their kids a headstart in life. Trent Consultants website www.trentconsultants.org Email: childcare@trentconsultants.org

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Brain, children, Consultants, Dyslexic, Findings, News, Trent | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News Virtual Reality Games Could Help Bullying Victims

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News Kids who took part in a three-week anti-bullying virtual learning intervention in schools in the UK and Germany showed a 26% decrease in victimisation.

In the study, published in The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Maria Sapouna and Professor Dieter Wolke from Warwick Medical School and the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick led a team of researchers to analyze the effects of an anti-bullying virtual learning intervention called FearNot!

The team recruited 1,129 kids aged between eight and nine from 27 primary schools crossways the UK and Germany. They split the kids into intervention and control groups. The intervention group took part in three sessions, interacting individually with the FearNot! software. Each session lasted around 30 minutes over a three-week period. The kids were assessed on self-report measures of victimisation before and after the intervention.

The software was a virtual school with 3D pupils who assumed the roles that kids take when bullying occurs, either as the bully, victim or bystander. These characters were then used to improvise real-life bullying incidents and pupils could interact with the characters and recommend ways to cope with or resolve the situation. Even though the effect was only short-term, researchers recommend longer interventions could have a more sustained impact.

Professor Wolke stated this was the first study to investigate the efficacy of a virtual learning intervention for victims of bullying. He said: “We found that the FearNot! intervention significantly increased the probability of victims escaping victimisation, especially among those kids who interacted with the characters more and explored the advice. The effects we found were only short-term, but we believe a longer term intervention integrated in the curriculum would be more beneficial.

“Our findings recommend for the intervention to be effective, they need to be of appropriate duration and include booster episodes over time. Virtual interventions could be most effective as part of a wider anti-bullying curriculum.” Adapted from materials provided by University of Warwick.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Bullying, Consultants, Could, Games, Help, News, Reality, Trent, Victims, Virtual | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News TV May Increase Aggression in Toddlers

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News This research, published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that direct television watching by young kids or exposure to indirect viewing in the household were both associated with increased aggression in small children.

After controlling the data for other factors, such as maternal depression, living in an unsafe neighborhood and being spanked, “for each hour that a child watched television directly, aggression went up 0.16 on a scale of zero to 30. For a television being on in the house, it was 0.09,” stated study author Jennifer A. Manganello, an assistant professor of health communication at the University of Albany School of Public Health, Say University of New York.

And, she said, while the increase might not seem like a lot, when the researchers looked at all of the other factors, “TV was more likely than some other factors to increase aggressive behaviors.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is concerned enough about the media’s effect on children’s behavior that they recently updated their policy on media violence.

“Exposure to violence in media, including television, movies, music and video games, represents a significant risk to the health of kids and adolescents. Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares and fear of being harmed,” wrote the AAP Council on Communications and Media.

For the current study, Manganello and her colleagues collected data from the home and by telephone for 3,128 kids born between 1998 and 2000. The kids came from 20 massive U.S. cities, and their moms finished surveys when the child was born, and again at ages 1 and 3.

Because so many factors can influence a child’s behavior, the researchers tried to control for as many factors as they could, including maternal health and depression, maternal parenting attitudes and behaviors, maternal experience with violence, the country of the neighborhood and demographic characteristics.

The researchers found that kids who were spanked, lived in an unsafe neighborhood or had a mom who was depressed or stressed were more likely to exhibit aggressive behaviors.

But, after controlling for these and other factors, the study authors found that television — both direct and indirect viewing — had a statistically significant effect on children’s aggressive behavior.

“A take-home message from this study is that parents should think about how much television kids are watching themselves, but also think about the overall media environment in the home,” stated Manganello.

“TV is not a benign influence. It does have impact,” stated Richard Gallagher, director of the Parenting Institute at the New York University Child Study Center in New York City. And, while content might impact children, he pointed out that children’s behaviors might also be affected by the “opportunities lost.”

That means that when a child is watching TV, which is a passive behavior, the child doesn’t have the opportunity to interact with other people and might have reduced contact with his or her peers.

“The AAP guidelines that kids under 2 shouldn’t watch any television might be evenhandedly strict and hard to carry out, but parents should be judicious about how much television young kids are watching, and be aware that it’s not likely to be appropriately stimulating,” he said.

He added that parents need to act as a television filter for their children. For example, he said, parents should point out when something is silly on television that it’s not a real-life scenario. Or, if they see something violent — state an anvil dropping on someone’s head in a cartoon — parents need to interpret that for their children, and let them know what would happen if that were a real situation. Learn more about the effects of television on kids from the Nemours Foundation’s KidsHealth.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aggression, Consultants, Increase, News, Toddlers, Trent | Leave a comment

Cost Reduction Consulting

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

The most important thing to keep in mind if you are running a company this day is how to make cost reduction. Cost reduction requires rigid planning and comprehensive ideas that can promote cost reduction within the company. In this case, you need the service of cost reduction consultants. Lots of companies have been applying various ways to conduct financial studies within their company this is to estimate and know the origin of expenses within the company. This kind of study can help them to control the overall cost within the company. It can be very helpful if you will acquire the help of professional cost reduction consultants.

Many companies uses the brainstorming method with the main aim of slicing costs and create a solid and valuable plan that can eliminate too much expense within the company with the help of cost reduction consultants from Dryden. Within the plan, the company should establish specific goals as well as business forecast. The entire should be flexible to deal with diverse problems that will occur within the company when it comes to their expenses. You have to figure out some way to reduce the cost of entire company. By doing this, you can acquire the right edge to beat your competitors in the market.

In fact, having layoffs can result into a tremendous future problem within the company and this can be prevented by having cost reduction consultants. There are lots of consequences that might arise right after the layoffs. The ideal answer is to juts explore other expense reduction method before going into a drastic move such as layoffs. Trust Dryden cost reduction consultants to prevent big layoffs of employees.

There are times when a company result in lay off just to cut the cost of the entire company. This is not a good cost reduction technique because there are lots of employees that will be affected by the cost reduction. When a business is in the bridge of financial problems, they will scrutinize each detail as well as finances and they will result to abrupt slicing cost that leads to layoffs. Instead of further studying the cost of the problem, all businesses result to job cut just to stabilize the situation. You do not have to do this kind of solution if you will acquire the help of cost reduction consultants. These people are knowledgeable and skilled enough to find the most perfect solution without hurting many innocent employees.

Visit us for more information on Cost Reduction Consultants

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Consulting, Cost, Reduction | Leave a comment

Amadeus Consulting Discusses: Database, Date Security and Using Information

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Building Superior Security

Fun Fact: In 2009 there were slightly over 5500 bank robberies in the US. Who would have guessed that so many people still robbed banks? Didn’t that mostly end with stage-coach hijackings and Tommy guns? Most surprisingly though is this is a 20% reduction from the year before. Add onto this the current high profile art thefts, and the thefts of other secure assets and we begin to see how insecure some of our assets might be.

As businesses we have our own secure assets. Of course money is included, but so are intangible assets such as trade secrets, competitive intelligence, and all sorts of consumer and business data. While bank accounts and physical assets might be insured, it is hard to place a price on the intangible assets that make a business so successful.

Information grants us to make informed decisions, outperform our competition, and superior reach our target audiences. As a result, data and information security is becoming increasingly vital to businesses of all sizes and in all industries. In 2009, the 5500 bank robberies only accounted for about $30 million in losses. By comparison, known thefts of data and digital property (not including copyrighted materials such as music and movies) exceeded over $1 trillion last year.

Some of these data thefts have been well targeted attacks against very well equipped and well managed data security systems. Others have been due to individuals blatantly breaking security policies, or the digital equivalent of leaving the bank vault open, doors unlocked and carrying all the money out to the curb.

Although data theft is one “worst case” scenario, it is actually only one of three major factors that can reduce the value of data, and threaten a company:

Data Theft

The loss of data to a third celebration who will use it for your detriment, or for its own benefit

Data Loss

The loss of data or information due to imperfectness or faulty systems, such as a hard drive crash, database error, or system malfunction

Data Neglect

Failing to use your data to its full potential. This could be from inadequate or old analysis systems, or just collecting the wrong kinds of information

Fortunately there are many things that can be done which can protect a business against any of these scenarios.

Data Policies

Crafting an internal data endorsement policy is one of the most important steps to protecting critical information. While properly secured networks are also important, these networks are most often unintentionally compromised by employees who are unaware of proper security practices or who underestimate the risks.

A strong and enforced data security policy can help deflect a massive portion of security threats. An experienced consultant can help evaluate policies and practices that include everything from World wide web use policies, to ensuring that data storage hardware systems are kept in a properly (physically) secured location and free from direct sunlight and excessive heat.

Data Storage Systems

Data storage comes in many shapes and sizes and should fit your business, but also wage plenty of room to grow and expand. Most databases are relational databases, which organizes data based on characteristics of that data. For example, an employee’s information could be stored by his or her name, hire date, salary, etc. This is the main storage method for SQL, a database personal language designed for managing data in relational database management systems (RDBMS).

SQL relational data storage is the most common method of storing data for business systems. It features high performance data retrieval and reporting and is good for storing massive amounts of data as well as providing tools to maintain data integrity.

However, SQL Server data storage is only as good as the logical and physical database design – all of the advantages of relational databases can be negated by a bad design. It can be difficult to map relational data into an object-oriented software design (which helps you interpret the data) and so it is important to find a developer who is experienced in both fields.

Although no system is invincible against attack or damage, properly designed and built data systems wage large protections against data loss and data theft.

Data Gathering Software

Data gathering falls under the category of Data Neglect. Not only is it important to use and protect the data that you have, but you might also benefit by optimizing the systems that you have for collecting the data in the first place. This ensures that you are effectively capturing the data that you need, and that you are capturing the data that you want.

There are plenty of ways to gather data. The main focus here is on XML-type data exchanges between systems. This means a software system that can gather information as it is processed through another system.

For example, a supermarket might have an automatic checkout system. This checkout system scans the barcode of apiece item and displays its price. Integrating a data gathering system into it would grant you to track which items are sold (for inventory tracking), when they are sold, how long it takes to sell them, who purchases them, what items are frequently bought together, and so on. This lets you make smarter decisions about how you place, price and buy your inventory, and how you manage your employees.

Data gathering systems can work in any number of ways, and can be subject to rules or regulations. Data systems can track everything from organisation use to the time people spend on your website. These systems are frequently custom-built and specifically plain to an organization to wage a competitive benefit over out-of-the-box analysis systems.

Data Analysis

SQL systems help store data in a way that provides simple access, security, and reliability. However, it does not wage data analytics and information processing outside of helping you sort through your own database.

Analytical processing, and more recently, online analytical processing (known as OLAP), is a swift way to sort through vast arrays of complex data. It is commonly used in reporting analytics in marketing, sales, management, financials, budgeting and forecasting. The benefit of OLAP is that it grants for rapid execution of complex analytical and ad-hoc queries. It puts the power of data in the hands of the business user. In other words, OLAP systems can examine historical data and get answers to many questions without users having to ask IT departments to help produce reports.

Many people are surprised to find that an OLAP system can replace an overgrown Excel application and create a much easier, more efficient way to access and examine data. OLAP applications are also much more secure than Excel applications, can automate the analytic process, and can be easily expanded as your business grows.

Finding the Right Solution

Finding the right data storage solution depends on your company, as apiece system should be plain to fit your needs and goals. A good place to begin might be a eligible data storage expert, or data storage consultant that can help you comprehend the options, costs and benefits.

Find someone you can trust that can give you advice on what your business needs and what will help you grow in the future. An experienced consultant will help look at your business goals and long-term objectives and help you comprehend the various options and alternatives. The most valuable element of data management is understanding what you have. This will help you protect it, secure it, and use it to its full potential.

Of course, at Amadeus Consulting we offer consulting and evaluation, as well as custom built data solutions, and are a Microsoft® Gold Certified Data Management and Business Intelligence Solutions partner. We would be happy to work with you to build a data storage solution that helps you get the most out of your business data.

About Todd McMurtrey

The marketing team at Amadeus Consulting thinks about it part of their regular tasks to stay on top of what is going on in the technology marketplace. It is important to our company culture to be technology thought leaders, but we also want to share our knowledge and insights with readers excited about the latest and greatest tech news in the Tech Market Watch blog.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Amadeus, Consulting, Database, Date, Discusses, Information, Security, Using | Leave a comment

The Loan Consultants Bio

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Since 1983, The Loan Consultants has built a reputation within the financial community that is looked upon with envy and respect. Our goal was to establish an international network of independently owned and operated loan brokerage companies. These affiliated companies would offer highly personalized service and help cut through the red tape that is often involved in securing loans from banks and other lending institutions. The Loan Consultants

More than a quarter century later, our vision has become a reality. In addition to being the first company to offer this business opportunity, we are the largest with more than 1200 affiliate companies in the U.S., Canada and United Kingdom. With a massive staff of industry professionals and an operating budget of over $1 million, we stand ready to assist you in achieving your entrepreneurial goals. The Loan Consultants

If you have a desire to be your own boss and acquire executive level income, your timing could not be better. As banks continue to tighten their lending requirements, borrowers are seeking local and professional sources with creative methods of funding to satisfy their financing needs. Here is your chance to cash in on a vast, untapped market with a prestigious Dun and Bradstreet rated company to assist you each step of the way. The Loan Consultants

Choose Certified Loan Broker Program CLB | Select Business Finance Consultant Program BFC
Loan Consultants, Inc. can create multiple streams of income for you!

The current Economic Stimulus package passed by Congress has created a tremendous opportunity for Loan Brokers? That’s because over $150 billion in Stimulus money will go toward rebuilding our nations’ infrastructure. These projects will be contracted out to thousands of small and medium sized businesses nationwide. In addition to their each day cash flow needs these businesses, and thousands more that they sub-contract with, will need immediate operating capital to buy supplies, upgrade equipment and meet payroll.

John Musca

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Consultants, Loan | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News Half of U.S. Kids Assaulted Each Year: Study

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News More than 60 percent of youngsters had either direct or indirect exposure to violence within the past year, according to a U.S. government survey that looked at past-year and lifetime exposure to violence among kids aged 17 and younger.

Trent Consultants News: The survey also found that:

Nearly half the kids surveyed were assaulted at least once in the past year, and more than one in 10 were hurt as a result.

Nearly one-quarter of the kids were the victim of a robbery, vandalism or theft.

About 10 percent were victims of maltreatment (including physical and emotional abuse, neglect or a family abduction), and one in 16 were victimized sexually.

The report, Children’s Exposure to Violence: A Comprehensive National Survey, was published by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Major categories covered in the survey include: conventional crime, child maltreatment, victimization by peers and siblings, sexual victimization, witnessing and indirect victimization, school violence and threats, and World wide web victimization.

The findings recommend a need for further study of the long-term effects of violence on youth and improved policies to help kids who are victims of violence, the authors say. For example:

Because the survey tracked children’s lifetime exposure to violence, it can help researchers more accurately estimate the number of kids in specific age groups who have been exposed to a certain type of violence.

The findings offer a clearer picture of the extent of children’s exposure to violence, the cumulative effects of multiple exposures to violence, and how being exposed to one form of violence might increase a child’s vulnerability to other forms of violence.

The results confirm the need for agencies to work together to refer kids at risk of exposure to violence (such as witnessing domestic violence) and to coordinate delivery of services to those children.

The findings also highlight the need for screening and assessment tools to refer kids who are suffering emotionally, physically, socially and developmentally from exposure to violence and would benefit from services and treatment.

The survey shows the need for a more comprehensive, coordinated approach to improve the fragmented way in which local, say and federal authorities currently respond to kids exposed to violence.

More information: The American Academy of Pediatrics has more about child abuse. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Justice. HealthDay News

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Assaulted, Consultants, Each, Half, Kids, News, Study, Trent, U.S., Year | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News Parent training complements medication for treating behavioral problems in children with PDD

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News Treatment that includes medication plus a structured training program for parents reduces serious behavioral problems in kids with autism and related conditions, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). The study, which was part of the NIMH Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP) Autism Network, was published in the December 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Trent Consultants News: Results from a previous RUPP study reported in 2002 showed that the antipsychotic medication risperidone (Risperdal) reduced such behavior problems as tantrums, aggression and self-injury in kids with autism. However, most children’s symptoms returned when the medication was discontinued. Even though effective, risperidone is associated with adverse effects such as weight gain, which can lead to metabolic changes, blubber and related health problems.

“Medication alone has been shown to help with some symptoms of autism, but its potential is limited,” stated NIMH Director Thomas R. Insel. “This study shows promise of a more effective treatment prescript that could improve life for kids with autism and their families.”

In the study, the RUPP group tested the benefits of medication alone compared to medication plus a parent training program that actively involves parents in managing their children’s severely disruptive and noncompliant behavior. Parents were taught to alter their children’s behavior and learned to enhance their children’s regular living skills.

The 24-week, three-site trial included 124 kids ages 4 to 13 with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) such as autism, Asperger’s or related disorders accompanied by tantrums, aggression and self-injury. The kids were randomized to a combination of risperidone and parent training, or to risperidone only. Parents in combination therapy received an average of 11 sessions of training over the course of the study.

Although both groups improved over the six-month trial, the group receiving combination therapy showed greater reduction in behavioral problems like irritability, tantrums and impulsiveness compared to the group receiving medication only. The combination therapy group also ended the trial taking an average dose of 1.98 milligrams (mg) per day of risperidone, compared to 2.26 mg/day in the medication-only group—a 14-percent lower dose. However, kids in both groups gained weight, indicating “a need to learn more about the metabolic consequences of medications like risperidone,” stated the authors.

“The combination group was healthy to achieve its gains with a lower dose of medication. Plus, it appeared that the benefits of added behavioral treatment increased over time, a strong signal that actively including parents in the treatment of kids with PDD could only benefit families, ” stated lead author Michael Aman, Ph.D., of the Ohio Say University.

“Future studies will evaluate whether the benefits of parent training last over a long period of time,” concluded the authors. The investigators also plan to apply the parent training to younger kids with PDD to prevent the evolution of serious behavioral problems. Future studies might also look for ways in which the parent training program can be used in schools and community clinics. Source: NIH/National Institute of Mental Health

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged behavioral, children, complements, Consultants, medication, News, Parent, problems, training, treating, Trent | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Trent Consultants News Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words: Program Uses Art to Engage at-Risk Children and Identify Needs

Trent Consultants News: Identifying the public health and country needs of kids from low-income communities might be ideal accomplished through art, report University of Pittsburgh researchers in the current online issue of Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education and Action. In their paper, researchers describe the success of Visual Voices, an arts-based program that engages community members as partners in research.

The study was based on Visual Voices programs conducted with 22 kids ages 8 to 15 in two low-income and predominantly African-American communities in Baltimore and Pittsburgh. During the Visual Voices sessions, participants created paintings and drawings to share their perceptions, both positive and negative, of community country and violence, as well as their hopes for the future. Afterward, they combined their individual art projects into two “visual voice” exhibits that were publicly displayed in apiece city.

Michael A. Yonas, Dr.P.H., Visual Voices creator and assistant professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues at Pitt and the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy, used qualitative research methods to review and code the participants’ art projects for themes. Factors that participants identified as important to country included school and social networks — family, friends and the local community. Places that they identified as unsafe were corner stores, streets and alleys with poor lighting, and forsaken houses. Other contextual factors identified as unsafe were drugs, smoking, drinking, gambling, guns and violence.

“Community members are experts in their own lives much more so than those who reside outside their communities,” stated Dr. Yonas. “Visual Voices helps incorporate residents’ one-of-a-kind expertise into the research process in a non-intrusive and fun way, and creates valuable data about their life experiences.”

Visual Voices is different than surveys or focus groups because it uses tools — crayons, paint and markers — that are familiar to children, and it can lead to in-depth discussions, encourage self-efficacy and help build trusting relationships between academic researchers and the communities they serve, added Dr. Yonas. It also can help experts prioritize public health interventions.

In Pittsburgh, for example, findings were shared with the local police department to develop potential intervention opportunities and to increase law enforcement’s understanding of young peoples’ perceptions of safety.

“The heart of Visual Voices is to ask and listen,” stated Jessica G. Burke, Ph.D., study co-author and assistant professor, Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health. “You need to first ask what it is people care about in order to develop public health interventions that are appropriate for specific communities.”

As an artist who specializes in painting, Dr. Yonas created Visuals Voices in 1993 to bring youth together in a common venue for artistic expression. He has conducted the program in nine cities crossways the U.S.

The project was funded by a allow from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy. Co-authors of the study include Kimberly Rak, University of Pittsburgh; Antoine Bennett, New Song Urban Ministries; Vera Kelly, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; and Andrea C. Gielen, Sc.D., Sc. M., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Consultants, News, Picture, Thousand, Trent, Words, Worth | Leave a comment

Franchise Opportunities : Matchpoint Network, Leading Franchise Consulting Organization

Posted on July 13, 2010 by ahnaf

Do you want to be part of the franchise industry? Do you see yourself as a great entrepreneur with a great passion to learn about buying a franchise business in your industry of choice? Do you foresee not only career potential but also financial promise? If you answered yes to those questions, you’ve got franchise vision, and you see the multiple benefits of becoming a successful franchisee.

To purchase a franchise you must take some strategic considerations as well as place some planning to action. Through MatchPoint’s services, you can learn all you need to know to make your franchise a success.

The first step before buying a franchise is to think about all the factors involved. In order for yu to be well prepared and ensure that you find the right franchise, you can benefit from the services of a franchise consultant such as MatchPoint. Franchise consultants wage expert advice in the entire franchise selection process. The service is at no cost and they help you save time and money as they have the expert knowledge and experience in the franchising field.

The second step before buying a franchise is to research your choices and outline a budget. A franchise consultant will assist you in entering the world of franchise business ownership by helping you learn as much as you can about franchising and then helping you find the right fit for your skills and needs. They do this by gathering information about you. MatchPoint will help you do a thorough analysis of exactly what you want out of a business, from the characteristics of your role, to the hours of operation, to the investment and income needs you have, to what you hope to accomplish by owning your own business. The franchise consultant will help you develop your own individualized criteria that you can use to evaluate various franchise opportunities in different industries and as well financial abilities to meet your allocated budget. The eventual goal is to introduce you to the right business opportunities that meet your individualized criteria.

The third step before buying a franchise is to inform yourself. Buying a franchise is a life-changing experience. The superior informed you are, the sooner you can fulfill your dream of becoming your own boss and open a franchise. Taking advantage of a franchise consultant, who is an expert in the field, will grant you to purchase the franchise business that would be right for you. Once you are ready to own your franchise, all you have to do is get started.

Who superior to help you do this than MatchPoint! Operating the largest physical office of Franchise Consultants in the industry, where Franchise Consultants receive regular briefings from leading Franchisors around the world. Well informed Franchise Consultants are uniquely positioned to offer the ideal advice and value to individual franchise buyers.

Take advantage of MatchPoint’s services and start making your franchise dream a reality Today! With MatchPoint’s expert advice your franchise will be a success.

MatchPoint Franchise Consulting Network was founded in 2006 with a mission of helping companies expand their franchise networks and improve their system profitability by reducing Franchisee recruitment costs and improving the calibre of new Franchisees coming into a system. For more information, please visit matchpointnetwork.com

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Consulting, Franchise, Leading, Matchpoint, Network, Opportunities, Organization | Leave a comment

Trent Consultants News New Brain Findings On Dyslexic Children

Trent Consultants News Virtual Reality Games Could Help Bullying Victims

Trent Consultants News TV May Increase Aggression in Toddlers

Cost Reduction Consulting

Amadeus Consulting Discusses: Database, Date Security and Using Information

The Loan Consultants Bio

Trent Consultants News Half of U.S. Kids Assaulted Each Year: Study

Trent Consultants News Parent training complements medication for treating behavioral problems in children with PDD

Trent Consultants News Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Franchise Opportunities : Matchpoint Network, Leading Franchise Consulting Organization

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