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WASHINGTON?? Thinking of a home renovation? Smaller might be better. Adding a sweet sunroom or luxe master suite sounds great, but don't expect to recover the costs anytime soon.
He's only 7 months old, but little Arthur Hammond is already the star of enough movies to fill a multiplex. Using just a f...
On average, U.S. homeowners who made home improvements in 2011 only picked up 58 cents in home equity on their remodeling dollar, according to the Cost versus Value survey released on Thursday by Remodeling Magazine. That's down sharply from the 2005 peak, when a new project immediately earned back 76 percent of its cost in higher home prices.
Homeowners who do less costly replacement projects do slightly better at recouping their costs than do those who spend big bucks on additions and new construction, with projects like replacement roofs and front doors earning 64 percent of their costs back in resale value. Remodeling projects earn back 57 percent, on average.
"The numbers are telling us that price is becoming a more and more important determining factor," said Sal Alfano, editorial director for Remodeling Magazine. "People are doing the things they have to do, rather than the more discretionary projects."
The average home improvement project cost $44,734 in 2011; that's down slightly from the $45,593 figure for last year. But resale values fell more, producing a 3 percent decline in the cost-value ratio.
The good news for homeowners is that all of those projects continue to get more affordable, as contractors keep cutting their prices to stay busy during the ongoing housing slump.
"There is so little new construction," Alfano said. "When commercial and new construction drop out of the picture, that leaves remodeling. The competition is there and they are sharpening their pencils." Prices for materials have remained pretty constant, he said.
Alfano told Reuters that he thinks the slump in home remodeling might be bottoming out. "We think it might start to pick up at the end of 2012, and 2013 is where we are expecting a much stronger growth rate."
The most popular projects tend to be ones that are more easily affordable, like replacing a garage door or replacing windows with more energy-efficient ones, said Alfano. Also popular are projects that add space without increasing the footprint of a house.
The project with the highest cost-to-value ratio on the list for 2011 was a mid-range replacement of the front door (with, say, a 20-gauge steel door). That cost an average of $1,238 and raised the average sales price of a home by $903, or 73 percent of the project's initial cost. But homeowners who upgraded their front door to an upscale fiberglass door spent more ? $3,536 ? yet saw, on average, an increase in home value of only $1,990, or 56.3 percent.
Another project with a relatively high cost-to-value ratio was adding an attic bedroom. Across the U.S., the average cost for that project was $50,148, but it added $36,346 to the average selling price of a house, allowing the homeowner to recoup an average 72.5 percent of the project's cost. Perhaps, Alfano suggested, that was because there is greater emphasis on multi-generational living, and people are seeking additional bedrooms to house their elderly parents or their returning adult children.
Replacing cabinet doors, spiffing up the hardware and putting in new appliances costs an average of $19,588 and raises home values by $14,120, or 72.1 percent, according to the survey.
Upscale kitchen remodeling is less rewarding, however. It cost an average of $110,938 to do a full-fledged upscale new kitchen, but that only raised home values by about $63,731 or 57.4 percent.
What about those sought-after man caves? A mid-range basement remodel costs $63,378 on average, and raised a home's value by 66.8 percent, or $42,228, in 2011, the survey found. And decks remained pretty popular; adding a wood deck cost an average of $10,350, but raised home resale values by 70.1 percent, or $7,259.
Of course, homeowners usually don't go through the hassle and the dust of a major renovation project just to sell their home, and if they're trying to decide whether to do a big project, the resale value shouldn't be the determining factor of a project, Alfano said.
Families should decide how long they want to stay in the home and whether the new project will improve their lives enough to justify the expense. For example, if it's going to cost an average of $83,118 to add a basic family room, and the resell value of that project is just 60.2 percent or $50,004, that means they can expect to spend $33,114 that they will never recoup on that family room. If they think they are going to stay in the home for 10 years, they can think in terms of whether or not $3,311 is an affordable and reasonable amount to spend every year for the pleasures of the extra space.
Put that way, it almost makes the spa room addition seem sensible.
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45247422/ns/today-money/
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Ancient cave paintings that seemed to depict make-believe white-spotted horses might have been drawn from real life, scientists now find.
The cave paintings of the Stone Age are not only among the oldest drawings made by humans, but also serve as evidence of our growing capabilities. Scientists hotly debate how realistic these paintings are ? discovering this fact could reveal whether ancient humans tended more toward accuracy or creativity.
The approximately 25,000-year-old paintings "The Dappled Horses of Pech-Merle" depict spotted horses on the walls of a cave in France remarkably similar to a pattern known as "leopard" in modern horses such as Appaloosas. Horses were popular among Stone Age artists, found in most cave paintings that have recognizable animals in them, commonly in a caricature form that slightly exaggerates the most typical "horsey" features, such as their manes of hair.
Until now, ancient DNA analyses suggested horses during the Stone Age were only black or bay colored with no evidence for white-spotted patterns. This hinted that cave paintings of leopard-patterned horses were fantasy, not accurate portrayals. Some have proposed that drawings of imaginary animals might have had some kind of symbolic or even religious value.
Research now suggests those paintings might actually have been based on the real-life appearance of the animals.
Scientists investigated the differences in genes for coat color of 31 ancient horse fossils from Siberia, Eastern and Western Europe and the Iberian Peninsula. The researchers found that a genetic mutation associated with the presence of white leopard-like spotting patterns on modern horses was present in six of the European horse fossils. Additionally, seven of the fossils had the genetic variation for black coat color, whereas 18 had bay coats.
As such, all the horse colors seen in these drawings have now been found to exist in prehistoric horse populations. The findings suggest that cave paintings of horses may be more realistic and less symbolic or fantastic than supposed. Still, although these horses might not have been imaginary, "we cannot exclude that these horses had a religious value," researcher Arne Ludwig, an evolutionary geneticist at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, told LiveScience.
Leopard-spotted patterns in modern horses are sometimes linked with congenital problems such as stationary night blindness, perhaps explaining why any wild horses with them eventually died out long ago. As to why so many other horse fossils were found with them in the first place, perhaps this patterning provided camouflage in the snowy environments of the Stone Age, was attractive to mates or just stuck around due to random chance.
The scientists detailed their findings online today (Nov. 7) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.
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Public release date: 7-Nov-2011
Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today that it will receive funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.
Terri Finkel, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Rheumatology at Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled "Use of a BET Antagonist to Control and Cure HIV Infection."
Grand Challenges Explorations funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Dr. Finkel's project is one of 110 Grand Challenges Explorations grants announced today.
"We believe in the power of innovationthat a single bold idea can pioneer solutions to our greatest health and development challenges," said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health Discovery for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Grand Challenges Explorations seeks to identify and fund these new ideas wherever they come from, allowing scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs to pursue the kinds of creative ideas and novel approaches that could help to accelerate the end of polio, cure HIV infection or improve sanitation."
Projects that are receiving funding show promise in tackling priority global health issues where solutions do not yet exist. This includes finding effective methods to eliminate or control infectious diseases such as polio and HIV as well as discovering new sanitation technologies.
To learn more about Grand Challenges Explorations, visit www.grandchallenges.org.
Dr. Finkel and her research team will study the potential of drugs called synthetic BET (bromodomain extra terminal) family protein antagonists to control HIV infection and latency. Current HIV drugs reduce the disease-causing virus to undetectable levels, but the virus goes into a dormant state called latency, from which it can make a resurgence if a patient stops taking medication. Previous studies by Dr. Finkel and other scientists have suggested that BET antagonists may flush HIV out of its hiding places where it can be destroyed by other antiretroviral drugs.
Dr. Finkel's chief collaborator in this project is Gerd A. Blobel, M.D., Ph.D., holder of the Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair in Pediatric Hematology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who has focused on the biological activities of BET family proteins. In the first part of the project, Drs. Finkel and Blobel will investigate the effectiveness of BET antagonists against HIV in cell cultures. If these results are encouraging, the project will progress to clinical trials in patients with HIV. Because this class of drugs will soon be tested in humans as treatments for other diseases, appropriate BET antagonists are expected to be freely available for HIV clinical trials.
###
About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a US$100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from over 40 countries. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short, two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have an opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to US$1 million.About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu. [ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 7-Nov-2011 Share ] Contact: John Ascenzi
ascenzi@email.chop.edu
267-426-6055
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced today that it will receive funding through Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative created by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that enables researchers worldwide to test unorthodox ideas that address persistent health and development challenges.
Terri Finkel, M.D., Ph.D., chief of Rheumatology at Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, will pursue an innovative global health research project, titled "Use of a BET Antagonist to Control and Cure HIV Infection."
Grand Challenges Explorations funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges. Dr. Finkel's project is one of 110 Grand Challenges Explorations grants announced today.
"We believe in the power of innovationthat a single bold idea can pioneer solutions to our greatest health and development challenges," said Chris Wilson, Director of Global Health Discovery for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Grand Challenges Explorations seeks to identify and fund these new ideas wherever they come from, allowing scientists, innovators and entrepreneurs to pursue the kinds of creative ideas and novel approaches that could help to accelerate the end of polio, cure HIV infection or improve sanitation."
Projects that are receiving funding show promise in tackling priority global health issues where solutions do not yet exist. This includes finding effective methods to eliminate or control infectious diseases such as polio and HIV as well as discovering new sanitation technologies.
To learn more about Grand Challenges Explorations, visit www.grandchallenges.org.
Dr. Finkel and her research team will study the potential of drugs called synthetic BET (bromodomain extra terminal) family protein antagonists to control HIV infection and latency. Current HIV drugs reduce the disease-causing virus to undetectable levels, but the virus goes into a dormant state called latency, from which it can make a resurgence if a patient stops taking medication. Previous studies by Dr. Finkel and other scientists have suggested that BET antagonists may flush HIV out of its hiding places where it can be destroyed by other antiretroviral drugs.
Dr. Finkel's chief collaborator in this project is Gerd A. Blobel, M.D., Ph.D., holder of the Frank E. Weise III Endowed Chair in Pediatric Hematology at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, who has focused on the biological activities of BET family proteins. In the first part of the project, Drs. Finkel and Blobel will investigate the effectiveness of BET antagonists against HIV in cell cultures. If these results are encouraging, the project will progress to clinical trials in patients with HIV. Because this class of drugs will soon be tested in humans as treatments for other diseases, appropriate BET antagonists are expected to be freely available for HIV clinical trials.
###
About Grand Challenges Explorations
Grand Challenges Explorations is a US$100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Launched in 2008, Grand Challenge Explorations grants have already been awarded to nearly 500 researchers from over 40 countries. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline and from any organization. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short, two-page online applications and no preliminary data required. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have an opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to US$1 million.About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique family-centered care and public service programs have brought the 516-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu. [ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/chop-tch110711.php
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Fifty-eight percent of U.S. men spend more time each week watching sports than they spend working on their personal finances, including their investments, according to a new?national survey of 500 men conducted by TNS on behalf of ING Direct, an online bank, and Men's Health magazine.
However, there's still room for finances. ING Direct CEO Arkadi Kuhlmann said in a statement that a surprisingly large number of men surveyed were saving for retirement, paying off mortgages and watching their finances -- activities that happened less frequently five years ago.
"Being financially fit and responsible is something all consumers should strive for, and these findings prove that people see the value in being in control of their money and future," Kuhlmann said.
Other findings:
The survey was taken by telephone and online March 30 through April 3, 2011.
No word yet on the responses of the 500 women who were also surveyed.
Follow me on Twitter: @marciegeff
Source: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/banking/men-prefer-football-to-finance/
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Public release date: 2-Nov-2011 Share ] Contact: Julie O'Connor
julie.oconnor@gmail.com
313-577-8845
Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
DETROIT A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have developed a novel indirect screener that identifies women at risk for drug use by evaluating correlates of illicit drug use rather than drug use itself. In phase I testing, this new screener proved to be more sensitive than any alternative approach at detecting recent drug use. The team of researchers also developed a brief, computer-delivered intervention for behavioral change motivation that does not presume drug use.
Now, with a new $1.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, Steven Ondersma, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences in WSU's School of Medicine and the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute, is leading a team of researchers to continue development and use of the screener, known as the Wayne Indirect Drug Use Screener (WIDUS). He and his team will also begin a formal trial with 500 at-risk women at Hutzel Hospital to evaluate the efficacy of a unique computer-delivered intervention that intends to motivate women to quit or reduce drug use without presuming that drug use is present.
According to Ondersma, many women who use drugs during or after pregnancy are hesitant to disclose that use for good reason. "This study could identify and help at-risk women, regardless of their comfort with disclosing drug use," said Ondersma.
In addition, Ondersma's use of a wholly computer-delivered model will help to make this a logistically feasible, replicable and low-cost approach that is far-reaching, ultimately having a widespread impact on providing brief interventions to at-risk post-partum women. If successful, this approach will also have a dual benefit through its indirect effects on at-risk children, including improving safety and stability, as well as behavior, health and school readiness.
"If we are successful, this new approach could give health care systems the ability to help far more at-risk women than was previously possible," said Ondersma.
###
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 2-Nov-2011 Share ] Contact: Julie O'Connor
julie.oconnor@gmail.com
313-577-8845
Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
DETROIT A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have developed a novel indirect screener that identifies women at risk for drug use by evaluating correlates of illicit drug use rather than drug use itself. In phase I testing, this new screener proved to be more sensitive than any alternative approach at detecting recent drug use. The team of researchers also developed a brief, computer-delivered intervention for behavioral change motivation that does not presume drug use.
Now, with a new $1.7 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health, Steven Ondersma, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences in WSU's School of Medicine and the Merrill-Palmer Skillman Institute, is leading a team of researchers to continue development and use of the screener, known as the Wayne Indirect Drug Use Screener (WIDUS). He and his team will also begin a formal trial with 500 at-risk women at Hutzel Hospital to evaluate the efficacy of a unique computer-delivered intervention that intends to motivate women to quit or reduce drug use without presuming that drug use is present.
According to Ondersma, many women who use drugs during or after pregnancy are hesitant to disclose that use for good reason. "This study could identify and help at-risk women, regardless of their comfort with disclosing drug use," said Ondersma.
In addition, Ondersma's use of a wholly computer-delivered model will help to make this a logistically feasible, replicable and low-cost approach that is far-reaching, ultimately having a widespread impact on providing brief interventions to at-risk post-partum women. If successful, this approach will also have a dual benefit through its indirect effects on at-risk children, including improving safety and stability, as well as behavior, health and school readiness.
"If we are successful, this new approach could give health care systems the ability to help far more at-risk women than was previously possible," said Ondersma.
###
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/wsu--wsc110211.php
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Michael Jackson's doctor on Tuesday declined to testify as both the prosecution and defense rested their cases in the trial in which he is charged in the 2009 death of the pop star.
Asked by the judge whether he wanted to take the witness stand in his involuntary manslaughter trial, Dr. Conrad Murray replied: "My decision is that I will not testify in this matter, judge."
Murray had said on Monday he was still undecided about testifying.
His decision means that the only time the jury will have heard from Murray was in a two-hour tape of a police interview he gave two days after Jackson's death in June 2009.
Defense and prosecution lawyers later rested their cases after more than five weeks of evidence and 49 witnesses. The judge set closing arguments for Thursday.
Murray denies involuntary manslaughter, or gross negligence, in the case. He could face up to four years in prison if convicted.
He was caring for Jackson at his Los Angeles mansion when the 50-year-old pop star was found not breathing just a few weeks before a planned series of London comeback concerts. The singer was later ruled to have died from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, combined with sedatives.
Murray admits giving Jackson a small dose of propofol as a sleep aid. But his attorneys have sought to convince the jury that the singer somehow gave himself an extra dose of the drug, without Murray's knowledge, and thus caused his own death.
Jurors have heard from more than half a dozen doctors, including one called by the defense, who said propofol is normally used to sedate patients for surgery and should not be given in a home setting where there is a lack of back-up personnel and medical equipment.
Propofol expert Dr. Paul White, the defense's last witness, said on Tuesday that it is not always necessary to have all the commonly accepted monitoring equipment on hand. He cited plastic surgery centers as an example.
But rival propofol expert, Dr. Steven Shafer, took a different view.
"If there was such a thing as bedroom-based anesthesia, the standard guidelines would be considered a minimum," Shafer said on Tuesday.
"Because there's no back-up, there's no tolerance for error. If you have an error, you'll have a mortality."
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Will Dunham)
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