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One of the most common reasons people give when asked why they are improving their home is that home improvements increase house value. While this can often be true, it is by no means as universal as some people assume it is. When you’re about to pay out lots of money for a home improvement, it’s worth checking whether the value of your house will increase by enough to pay for it – or, worse, whether it might actually force your house value down.

Let’s start with bathrooms and kitchens. While well-maintained and nice-looking kitchens and bathrooms do add value to a home, there’s nothing to say that they have to be the very latest thing. An older room that is well looked-after and wasn’t a complete abomination to begin with can often help the value just as much as a newly-installed one.
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Many people in today’s society do not have the time they want in order to attend a college or university in order to further their education.  So, there is an easier way to get a college degree and that is by taking online courses.  Online courses are offered in a wide range of subjects from accounting to engineering.  These courses are deemed to be the easier way to getting a college degree by doing it online.  A college education online will give you the same degree level that you would get if you attended a traditional university or college.

The newest way to get a degree is attending the University of Phoenix online.  The University of Phoenix online offers their students a list of courses, a personal admissions counselor, and classes that are fit around your already hectic schedule and lifestyle.  With almost sixty online courses and approximately thirteen campuses spread throughout the country, the University of Phoenix is the leading site for getting a college education online.  They offer everything from a Bachelor’s degree to a Master’s degree and even offer single classes instead of an entire degree’s worth.  They also offer financial assistance for those who are not able to afford an online education.  The financial assistance plans that they offer range from helping out a little bit, to making the payments affordable for those that have families and large monthly bills. Read the rest of this entry »

Many schools or universities require the study of a foreign language. Before you start resenting the very idea of it, consider that it could be to your advantage for you to study and master a foreign language. Make no mistake about it: the whole world does NOT speak English. For anyone who has travelled to anywhere but the very largest of the world’s capitals, local people still primarily speak the local language and not English. To speak with them, the only way to do so will be to learn their language.

Here are 5 reasons to why you should study a foreign language:

1. Meet new friends: Learning a foreign language opens up the door to your getting to know more people and expanding your social network. If you are studying a language such as Spanish, Portuguese, or Chinese that is spoken by a large percentage of the population, you will be literally potentially tapping into a communication network with hundreds of millions of people that was previously off limits to you. If you are studying a less popular language, just think how much more valuable you will be since there are fewer foreign speakers of it.

2. Become a more globally-viable businessperson: In the world of business, communication is king. It does not matter how well you can program a computer, do accounting, or design new products: if you cannot communicate with other people, you will not find the success you deserve in the business world. Learning to communicate in a foreign language effectively increases your value as a communicator. And, many people who become proficient in a foreign language end up actually improving their skills as a communicator in their native language, as well. Learning a foreign language makes you a better communicator overall, and it therefore makes you a more attractive employee or partner in the world of business.

3. Expand your mind: Speaking a foreign language with fluency truly means switching channels to another way of thinking. Once you become fluent enough in the foreign language you are studying, you will find your consciousness actually expanding to accommodate your new ability. Each language has its own set of vocabulary, phrases, and concepts that do not directly translate to other languages. The result for multilingual people is that they actually force their neurons to grow and connect in new ways. Effectively, you become a little bit smarter and more mentally flexible.
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1977:

The Age of biotechnology arrives with “somatostatin” – a human growth hormone-releasing inhibitory factor, the first human protein manufactured in bacteria by Genentech, Inc. A synthetic, recombinant gene was used to clone a protein for the first time.

1978:

Genentech, Inc. and The City of Hope National Medical Center announce the successful laboratory production of human insulin using recombinant DNA technology. Hutchinson and Edgell show it is possible to introduce specific mutations at specific sites in a DNA molecule.

1979:

Sir Walter Bodmer suggests a way of using DNA technology to find gene markers to show up specific genetic diseases and their carriers. John Baxter reports cloning the gene for human growth hormone.

1980:

The prokaryote model, E. coli, is used to produce insulin and other medicine, in human form. Researchers successfully introduce a human gene – one that codes for the protein interferon- into a bacterium. The U.S. patent for gene cloning is awarded to Cohen and Boyer.

1981:

Scientists at Ohio University produce the first transgenic animals by transferring genes from other animals into mice. The first gene-synthesizing machines are developed. Chinese scientists successfully clone a golden carp fish.

1982:

Genentech, Inc. receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market genetically engineered human insulin. Applied Biosystems, Inc. introduces the first commercial gas phase protein sequencer.

1983:

The polymerase chain reaction is invented by Kary B Mullis. The first artificial chromosome is synthesized, and the first genetic markers for specific inherited diseases are found.

1984:

Chiron Corp. announces the first cloning and sequencing of the entire human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genome. Alec Jeffreys introduces technique for DNA fingerprinting to identify individuals. The first genetically engineered vaccine is developed.

1985:

Cetus Corporation’s develops GeneAmp polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology, which could generate billions of copies of a targeted gene sequence in only hours. Scientists find a gene marker for cystic fibrosis on chromosome number 7.

1986:

The first genetically engineered human vaccine – Chiron’s Recombivax HB – is approved for the prevention of hepatitis B. A regiment of scientists and technicians at Caltech and Applied Biosystems, Inc. invented the automated DNA fluorescence sequencer.

1987:

The first outdoor tests on a genetically engineered bacterium are allowed. It inhibits frost formation on plants. Genentech’s tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), sold as Activase, is approved as a treatment for heart attacks.

1988:

Harvard molecular geneticists Philip Leder and Timothy Stewart awarded the first patent for a genetically altered animal, a mouse that is highly susceptible to breast cancer

1989:

UC Davis scientists develop a recombinant vaccine against the deadly rinderpest virus. The human genome project is set up, a collaboration between scientists from countries around the world to work out the whole of the human genetic code.

1990:

The first gene therapy takes place, on a four-year-old girl with an immune-system disorder called ADA deficiency. The human genome project is formally launched.

1991:

Mary-Claire King, of the University of California, Berkeley, finds evidence that a gene on chromosome 17 causes the inherited form of breast cancer and also increases the risk of ovarian cancer. Tracey the first transgenic sheep is born.

1992:

The first liver xenotransplant from one type of animal to another is carried out successfully. Chiron’s Proleukin is approved for the treatment of renal cell cancer.

1993:

The FDA declares that genetically engineered foods are “not inherently dangerous” and do not require special regulation. Chiron’s Betaseron is approved as the first treatment for multiple sclerosis in 20 years.

1994:

The first genetically engineered food product, the Flavr Savr tomato, gained FDA approval. The first breast cancer gene is discovered. Genentech’s Nutropin is approved for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency.

1995:

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center transplanted hearts from genetically altered pigs into baboons, proving that cross-species operations are possible. The bacterium Haemophilus influenzae is the first living organism in the world to have its entire genome sequenced.

1996:

Biogen’s Avonex is approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The discovery of a gene associated with Parkinson’s disease provides an important new avenue of research into the cause and potential treatment of the debilitating neurological ailment.

1997:

Researchers at Scotland’s Roslin Institute report that they have cloned a sheep–named Dolly–from the cell of an adult ewe. The FDA approves Rituxan, the first antibody-based therapy for cancer.

1998:

The first complete animal genome the C.elegans worm is sequenced. James Thomson at Wisconsin and John Gearhart in Baltimore each develop a technique for culturing embryonic stem cells.
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