Project cost index crawls 1.4% over April-January

14 Pilot Power Projects India

Bank loans to industry slow during April-November of FY14

Karnataka state budget for 2014-15

Maharashtra Interim Budget 2014-15

Interim Budget 2014-15

ECB/FCCB approvals decline 31 per cent to $5,564 million during Q1

World Bank GEP 2014: Global economy set to turn corner

Jul4 Posts

Nous sommes heureux d'annoncer que cet automne, dans le cadre de nos séminaires annuels sur Taxprep des sociétés, nous offrirons des séances distinctes le matin et l'après-midi dans chaque ville visitée, afin de répondre à vos besoins spécifiques en matière de développement professionnel.

Lors de la séance du matin, de l'information détaillée sur les changements à la fiscalité, aux formulaires et au logiciel vous sera fournie, et, lors de la séance de l'après-midi, nos formateurs compétents et expérimentés traiteront de l'observation de la réglementation fiscale et de diverses fonctionnalités incluses dans Taxprep des sociétés.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

December 11, 2014 09h00 à 16h00 EST
December 11, 2014 09h00 à 12h00 EST
December 12, 2014 09h00 à 16h00 EST
December 12, 2014 09h00 à 12h00 EST

We are excited to announce that our annual fall Corporate Taxprep seminars will consist of a separate morning and afternoon session at each location to better suit your professional development needs.

The morning session will provide detailed information on the tax, form and software changes, while during the afternoon session, our professional and knowledgeable presenters will cover corporate tax compliance and a detailed discussion of various features in Corporate Taxprep.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

December 10, 2014 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST
December 10, 2014 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST
December 12, 2014 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST
December 12, 2014 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM EST

In this 90-minute webinar, we will show you how to get around in the software and what functions are available to make you more productive. Includes an in depth look at Family Coupling, File attachments and the Pathfinder, what they are and how to use them to improve your productivity. This session is intended for those who are new to the Cantax software and those who would like a refresher of all the menu items and their function.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

December 17, 2014 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST
January 16, 2015 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST
January 23, 2015 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST
January 28, 2015 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST

Experience the productivity-boosting power of this full-day seminar! These interactive, information-packed sessions are an excellent opportunity for both new and experienced Cantax users to brush up on their "Cantax know-how" and get valuable information they need to prepare T1 personal and T2 corporate returns efficiently.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

December 10, 2014 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST
December 11, 2014 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM EST

This Webinar will focus on how to prepare and submit your T-Slips using the new interface with FormMaster. Plus how to navigate around in the program when searching for extraneous forms.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

January 14, 2015 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST
January 21, 2015 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM EST

The 2014 T1 season is almost upon us, so it's time for tax return preparers to get updated again on all the current issues that may impact their clients' tax returns. This webinar will get you in position to prepare your clients' 2014 personal tax returns, and will review some of the more commonly experienced issues faced by tax preparers.

Join Erin Swint, a tax partner with Squire and Company, for a thorough overview of the key changes from the past year that will impact personal tax return filing including the 2013 Federal Budget, CRA announcements and relevant court cases. Erin will also discuss some other tax matters that are integral to personal taxation as well as administrative issues related to filing returns.

Available Sessions for this Seminar:

January 20, 2015 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM EST

Hayden Library - HN80.L7 W35 2014

Hayden Library - F1921.A95 2016

Hayden Library - PN1997.E33 A1 1990

International Conference on Fuel Cell Science, Engineering and Technology (14th : 2016 : Charlotte, North Carolina),

Interview with Fangjun Zhou, PhD, MS and Rafael Harpaz, MD, MPH, authors of Impact of Varicella Vaccination on Health Care Utilization, published in the August 17 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Varicella can be severe and at times life threatening, however, since the introduction of varicella vaccine in 1995, varicella hospitalizations have declined significantly, as have outpatient visits. 2. Herd immunity is protecting unvaccinated persons from varicella. Since varicella can be more severe in adults, it is particularly important that patients be screened for evidence of immunity to varicella and anyone susceptible be vaccinated, so that children and adolescents do not remain susceptible at adulthood. The federal government's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, provides new recommendations regarding screening patients for evidence of immunity to varicella and vaccinating those at risk of the disease. 3. The diagnosis of varicella has become challenging as rates have declined and since the disease is highly modified among those vaccinated. Laboratory testing will play an increasing role in diagnosis of varicella. 4. Providers should report varicella to the local health department so that public health authorities can act to control outbreaks and can monitor for development of problems in the vaccination program. Thanks to everyone who took part in Author in the Room on September 21. During the call, Dr. Rafael Harpaz mentioned that the CDC has some photo images of more attenuated forms of varicella. You can find these images at www.cdc.gov.

Interview with Charles N. Ford, MD, author of Evaluation and Management of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux, published in the September 28 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary points: 1. Differentiating between gastroesophageal reflux and laryngopharyngeal reflux. 2. Making and confirming laryngopharyngeal reflux diagnosis. 3. Resolution of laryngopharyngeal reflux findings may require aggressive and prolonged treatment.

Interview with David R. Flum, MD, MPH, author of Use of Early Mortality Among Medicare Beneficiaries Undergoing Bariatric Surgical Procedures, published in the October 19 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Patients 65 years or older have a much higher risk of early death than younger patients after bariatric (obesity) surgery. 2. Already a high risk population, Medicare medically disabled patients have a higher risk of early death after bariatric (obesity) surgery is performed than previously reported. 3. Older patients of more experienced bariatric surgeons had a much lower risk of death than those older patients whose surgeons had less experience performing the surgery.

Interview with Sandra Dial, MD, MSc, author of Use of Gastric Acid Suppressive Agents and the Risk of Community Acquired Clostridium difficile Associated Disease, published in the December 21 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. Summary Points: 1. Acid suppressive therapy use was associated with an increased risk of CDAD, with PPIs appearing to be associated with a higher risk than h2blockers. These agents, particularly PPIs, are being prescribed with increasing frequency to patients, including situations where the benefits may be small. 2. Although the rate is lower than in the hospital, CDAD is occurring in the community and is being diagnosed more frequently. 3. Prior antibiotic exposure appears to be less frequent in patients diagnosed in the community as compared to patients diagnosed in hospital.

Interview with Dennis Black, PhD, author of The Effects of Continuing or Stopping Alendronate after Five Years of Treatment: Results from the Fracture Intervention Trial Long-term Extension. Summary Points: 1. The long-term use of alendronate for up to 10 years is safe. 2. Those who discontinued treatment at 5 years lost bone mass compared with those who continued but the bone loss was only moderate. Rates of fracture were similar among those who continued vs those who discontinued except for clinical vertebral fractures which, although relatively uncommon, were higher in those who discontinued treatment. 3. Results suggest that after 5 years of alendronate, many women may discontinue therapy for up to 5 years. However, those at high risk of clinical vertebral fracture may benefit by continuing.

Interview with Paul M. Ridker, MD, MPH, author of Development and Validation of Improved Algorithms for the Assessment of Global Cardiovascular Risk in Women: The Reynolds Risk Score. Summary Points: 1. Half of all heart attacks and strokes occur among those with normal cholesterol levels and 15-20% occur among those with no major risk factors at all. 2. The major breakthroughs in understanding cardiovascular disease over the past decade include insights about inflammation and genetics. Each of these can easily be ascertained with either a simple blood test (hsCRP for inflammation) or a simple question about parental history of myocardial infarction. 3. By incorporating these 2 new measures into how we think about risk, a new risk tool was derived known as the "Reynolds Risk Score." 4. This is a win-win for everyone as it allows us to better target therapies, avoid toxicity, and improve overall prevention strategies for heart disease.

Interview with Jan L. Brandes, MD, author of Sumatriptan-Naproxen for Acute Treatment of Migraine. Summary Points: 1. Evidence from two replicate randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials showed sumatriptan-naproxen as a fixed dose combination was superior in treating an attack of migraine when compared with sumatriptan alone, naproxen alone, or placebo. 2. Most importantly, given that migraine attacks in adults are 4 to 72 hours in duration, the fixed-dose combination of sumatriptan-naproxen was significantly more effective than sumatriptan monotherapy or naproxen monotherapy in providing a 24-hour sustained pain-free response. 3. Patients using the fixed-dose combination therapy were less likely to use rescue medication or to have headache recurrence, and did not experience any increase in adverse effects using the combination.

Interview with Stephen M. Shortell, PhD, MBA, MPH, author of Improving Patient Safety by Taking Systems Seriously. Summary Points: 1. To make real progress in patient safety will require redesigning the underlying system of care such that healthcare professionals and institutions providing a continuum of services from prevention to hospice can address multiple conditions and episodes over time. A "culture of systems" must be established. 2. Competing priorities, professional autonomy, solo and small physician practices, disciplinary silos, miss-aligned financial incentives, and inadequate feedback about performance all undermine efforts to create safe healthcare systems. 3. A number of strategic, cultural, technical, and structural barriers need to be addressed to assure safer care. This includes the need for patient safety organizations to gather information across the continuum of care and provide both rapid feedback to practitioners and analyze trends over time.

Interview with Barbara V. Howard, PhD, author of Effect of Lower Targets for Blood Pressure and LDL Cholesterol on Atherosclerosis in Diabetes: The SANDS Randomized Trial. Summary Points: 1. Both standard and aggressive targets for blood pressure and LDL cholesterol in individuals with diabetes can be achieved and are safe. 2. Aggressive targets were associated with regression in IMT and greater decrease in LV mass, but long term data are needed to determine if they will result in improvement in clinical events. 3. Aggressive targets for blood pressure and LDL cholesterol may be considered on an individual basis.

Interview with Wendie A. Berg, MD, PhD, author of Combined Screening With Ultrasound and Mammography vs Mammography Alone in Women at Elevated Risk of Breast Cancer. Summary Points: 1. Adding a single screening ultrasound examination to screening mammography in women at increased risk of breast cancer with at least heterogeneously dense breasts increases the cancer detection rate from 50% to 78%. 2. The risk of a biopsy for a benign lesion in our series was 1 in 40 for women undergoing mammography versus 1 in 10 for women undergoing mammography combined with ultrasound screening. 3. Using the standardized technique and interpretive criteria developed for this study, other radiologists and facilities with similar equipment and experience should expect similar results.

Interview with Beverly Beth Green, MD, MPH, author of Effectiveness of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring, Web Communication, and Pharmacist Care on Hypertension Control: The e-BP Randomized Controlled Trial. Summary Points: 1. If blood pressure (BP) control could be improved, many deaths from cardiovascular and renal disease could be prevented. 2. The Chronic Care Model was used to design an intervention that empowered patients to be more involved in their own care using home BP monitoring, a patient shared electronic medical record, and Web-based pharmacist assistance. 3. The group of patients that received BP monitors and training to use an existing patient website (with encouragement to send their BP numbers to their physician) had a modest decrease in systolic blood pressure, but BP control did not significantly improve. The group that received BP monitors, web training, and web-based pharmacy assistance had greater decreases in BP and were almost two times as likely to have controlled BP.

Interview with H. George Nurnberg, MD, author of Sildenafil Treatment of Women With Antidepressant-Associated Sexual Dysfunction: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Summary Points: 1. Emergent sexual dysfunction (SD) is a principal reason for a three-fold increased risk of non-adherence that leads to increased relapse, recurrence, and poor disease management outcomes. 2. Selective phosphodiesterase-type 5 inhibitors (PDE5Is), limited to studies in men, have demonstrated evidence based data to support broad based and clinically meaningful treatment efficacy. 3. In an intention-to-treat analysis, women treated with sildenafil showed significant improvement in adverse sexual effects compared with those taking placebo. 4. Evidence shows that selective phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors are effective in both sexes for patients who have been effectively treated for depression but need to continue on their medication to avoid relapse or recurrence.

Interview with Mary M. McDermott, MD, author of Treadmill Exercise and Resistance Training in Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease With and Without Intermittent Claudication. Summary Points: 1. Supervised treadmill exercise improves walking performance for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD), whether or not the patient has classic symptoms of intermittent claudication. 2. Supervised lower extremity strength training improves quality of life, stair climbing ability, and treadmill walking performance for PAD patients with and without intermittent claudication. 3. Supervised treadmill walking exercise improves brachial arterial flow mediated dilation in patients with PAD, suggesting a global cardiovascular health benefit.

Interview with Steven A. Schroeder, MD, author of A 51-Year-Old Woman With Bipolar Disorder Who Wants to Quit Smoking. Summary Points: 1. Smoking is extremely common among persons with mental illness and exerts a huge toll in terms of morbidity and mortality. 2. We are now in the midst of a culture change. Formerly smoking was an integral part of the mental health culture and smoking cessation was not deemed pertinent. Now it is evolving into an important component of mental health and wellness. 3. Most smokers who have mental illness would like to quit. And many are able to do so, using the standard smoking cessation techniques used for the general population. There is still much more to know, but we know enough to encourage persons with mental illness to stop smoking and to provide them the tools to do so.

Interview with John P. Forman, MD, MSc, author of Diet and Lifestyle Risk Factors Associated With Incident Hypertension in Women. Summary Points: 1. At an individual level, combining healthy lifestyle factors may substantially reduce the risk of developing hypertension; according to the findings of the study, women who followed 6 healthy factors had nearly an 80% reduction in risk. 2. At a population level, a large fraction of all new cases of hypertension could hypothetically be prevented if all individuals in the population followed combinations of healthy lifestyle factors; according to the findings of the study, this fraction may is 78%. 3. Given that hypertension is a leading cause of preventable death in the population, and given that the majority of hypertension may be preventable through lifestyle modification, efforts should be intensified to improve lifestyle as a means of improving public health.

Interview with David Reuben, MD, author of Medical Care for the Final Years of Life. Summary Points: 1. When caring for older patients, the conventional evidence-based approach is modified by 3 important caveats: prognosis, insufficient evidence, and patient goals and preferences. 2. Conceptually, the care of older persons can be divided into 3 time frames: short term, which focuses on remediating the current problems; mid-range, focusing on preventive and foreseeable problems; and long-range, which focus on eventual decline and living arrangements. 3. Individual clinicians need to structure their practices to efficiently and comprehensively accommodate the diverse needs of elderly patients.

Interview with Roger Chou, MD, author of Will This Patient Develop Persistent Disabling Low Back Pain? Summary Points: 1. A small proportion of patients with acute LBP go on to develop chronic LBP, these patients account for a very high proportion of costs, services, and suffering. 2. The most helpful items to predict persistent disabling low back pain are presence of maladaptive pain coping behaviors, nonorganic signs, functional impairment, general health status, and presence of psychiatric comorbidities. 3. Early identification of patients with these risk factors could help guide early use of psychological therapies and exercise therapy to reduce the likelihood that they will go on to develop chronic disabling low back pain.

Interview with David B. Carr, MD, author of The Older Adult Driver With Cognitive Impairment. Summary Points: 1. Know how to assess a cognitively impaired older driver in the office setting. 2. Know how and where to refer at-risk cognitively impaired older drivers. 3. Know how to counsel cognitively impaired older drivers in regards to driving retirement.

Interview with Matthew K. Wynia, MD, MPH, author of The Role of Professionalism and Self-regulation in Detecting Impaired or Incompetent Physicians. Summary Points: At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to: 1. Describe the frequency with which physicians report encountering other physician who may be impaired or incompetent. 2. Explain the 3 basic options available to policy-makers for regulating and ensuring the quality of medical practitioners. 3. Name at least 3 newer mechanisms by which the profession of medicine is enhancing its ability to self-regulate and detect physicians who are not providing high quality care.

Interview with Ralph Gonzales, MD, MSPH, author of Does This Coughing Adolescent or Adult Patient Have Pertussis? Summary Points: 1. When evaluating adolescents and adults with persistent cough illness, the presence of classic symptoms of pertussis (paroxysmal cough, whooping cough, post-tussive emesis) modestly increase the likelihood of pertussis, and their absence modestly decreases the likelihood of pertussis; but they are not strong enough to rule-in or rule-out disease. 2. Most patients in whom pertussis is suspected will not derive symptomatic benefit from antibiotic treatment because their illness duration is usually greater than 10 days. 3. Vigilant testing and treatment should be provided to adolescents and adults who have been exposed to a known case of pertussis, or have contact with individuals at high risk for serious complications of pertussis, ie, child care providers and teachers, health care workers, and patients who live or work with infants less than 6 months of age; unvaccinated children; or immunosuppressed individuals.

Interview with Michael A. Steinman, MD, author of Managing Medications in Clinically Complex Elders. Summary Points: 1. First, a systematic approach to approaching prescribing is essential. 2. Second, an essential first step is to know what the patient is actually taking right now, and to clarify what goals you are trying to achieve by prescribing drugs. 3. Third, it is critical to individualize care based on what benefits and harms a patient is actually experiencing from their drugs.

Interview with Julia Neily, RN, MS, MPH, author of Association Between Implementation of a Medical Team Training Program and Surgical Mortality. Summary Points: 1. Improved communication is associated with decreased surgical mortality. 2. Since there was a dose response relationship, this indicates that continuing follow up was related to better results. 3. Briefings and debriefings is more than a checklist, it is about the conversation.

Interview with Julia Howell Hayes, MD, author of Active Surveillance Compared With Initial Treatment for Men With Low-Risk Prostate Cancer: A Decision Analysis. Summary Points: 1. Active surveillance is a reasonable approach to consider for carefully selected 65-year-old men with low-risk clinically localized prostate cancer, providing improved quality of life even if associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer–specific death. 2. The results depend on patient preferences. 3. It is crucial that individual patients make this decision in conjunction with their physicians.

Interview with Daniel Leffler, MD, MS, author of Celiac Disease Diagnosis and Management: A 46-Year-Old Woman With Anemia. Summary points: 1. Celiac disease can present at any age with a wide variety of signs and symptoms and delay in diagnosis is common. 2. Testing for celiac disease with IgA tissue transglutaminase is accurate and cost-effective. 3. The only treatment for celiac disease is the gluten-free diet, but this is very burdensome and requires ongoing education and support.