See What Plastic Surgery Has To Offer

Have you wondered about how plastic surgery would look?

Then take a look at the Photo Gallery at the website of this Los Angeles Plastic Surgeon.

This is actually a team of surgeons and other professionals who focus on breast augmentation, facial procedures and other common plastic surgery techniques.

Even if you are not in California, you can use this site to search for a plastic surgeon in your area and find out his or her qualifications and specialties.

You also find the latest news on the site related to plastic surgery, including information on INAMED Silicone-Filled Breast Implants becoming FDA approved.

When considering plastic surgery, you want all the background information you can find and this website could be a good resource for you.

This was a sponsored post.

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New Method Predicts High LA Fire Danger Starting July 13

Researchers at the University of Utah and elsewhere have developed a new way to predict when vegetation dries to the point it is most vulnerable to large-scale fires in the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles. And this year’s forecast says the highest-risk fire period will begin July 13 – weeks earlier than usual.

Despite that, the new study also shows that unlike other areas of the western United States, global warming has not caused any apparent long-term trend toward early fire seasons in the Santa Monicas.

The scientists eventually hope to expand their unique fire-risk forecasting method to all of Southern California and beyond.

“We developed a way to predict when the time of highest fire danger begins in the Santa Monica Mountains, based on the amount of spring precipitation,” says the study’s principal author, Philip Dennison, an assistant professor of geography at the University of Utah. “We estimate that this year, the highest fire danger will begin July 13.”

The study found the amount of March-April-May precipitation can be used to predict the date at which high fire-risk thresholds are reached.

Dennison says he hopes that “in future years this method can be used to better plan for the start of high fire danger. Fire agencies could use this to help them plan where and when to put their people and equipment. Homeowners may find this useful for knowing when fire danger will be high so they can be better prepared to evacuate, clear brush from around their homes and watch for arsonists.”

Study co-author Max Moritz, a wildland fire specialist at the University of California, Berkeley, adds: “Although large fires still may be associated with autumn Santa Ana winds in Southern California, it appears the stage for these events is set much earlier than usual this year. Being prepared early is thus even more important than usual.”

The study will be published later this year in the International Journal of Wildland Fire. Dennison and Moritz conducted it with Robert Taylor, a fire specialist at the National Park Service’s Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.


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Study Finds Banks Less Available to Working Class, Minority Communities

A new report by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition finds that most of the largest metropolitan areas of the United States have markedly lower numbers of bank branches in working class and minority communities than in the upper class and white neighborhoods.

Are Banks on the Map? An Analysis of Bank Branch Location in Working Class Neighborhoods draws the clear connection that without access to basic banking services, modest income families spend more of their limited resources for simple financial transactions.

"Despite the purchasing power that is clearly available in urban areas, these emerging markets have been left out of the mainstream bank ing industry," says John Taylor, NCRC president and CEO. "Without banks in the neighborhood, un-banked families are paying exorbitant fees for services that are practically free for the rest of us. How can anyone climb out of poverty if they have to pay $35 to a check casher on a $585 payroll check?"

In Are Banks on the Map? NCRC surveys 25 of the largest metropolitan municipalities, including their surrounding areas (MSAs), and maps out the number of bank branches located in communities based on income-level and minority population. This report shows in 24 out of 25 MSAs, urban areas that have dense populations have fewer bank branches -- therefore fewer mainstream banking opportunities -- than the less populated suburbs. Without the ability to build relationships with the regulated banking community, working class and minority neighborhoods are more likely to use"fringe" services, such as payday lenders and pawnshops, for small loans. They are also more likely to have their home loans originated with mortgage brokers and subprime lenders, which often led to foreclosures and unmanageable monthly payments.

"There are an estimated 14 million US households that do not have regular access to bank services," says Taylor. "If banks develop and expandtheir products needed by these communities, they would be helping themselves and the people they're chartered to assist."

At the top of the list with favorable bank branch/customer ratio, San Francisco, Miami, and Boston had higher than average number of branches in minority neighborhoods, whereas Houston, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago had relatively fewer in these communities.

Based on the findings in this report, NCRC calls for more attention tobe directed to the regulated and unregulated financial services available in these communities and for the strengthening of the Service Test of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). CRA requires banks to meet the needs ofthe communities in which they are located. By enhancing the Service Test, the public will be able to adequately measure the number of branches in various communities to evaluate whether banks are providing the quality and quantity need in those areas.

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Is the AIDS Epidemic Discriminating?

According to the latest statistics from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC), Latinos are more likely to develop full-blown AIDS within one year of their HIV diagnosis than anyother ethnic group. In Los Angeles County, approximately 72% of Latinos develop full-blown AIDS within a year of receiving their HIV diagnosis.

In light of these statistics, BIENESTAR, a Latino-based HIV/AIDS organization, California state Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez, state Senator Gilbert Cedillo and the California Latino Legislative Caucus are calling on elected officials to take action and address this crisis, BIENSTAR says.

"Although the AIDS virus itself does not discriminate, the numbers clearly demonstrate that race and ethnicity are playing a role in who ismost likely to develop full-blown AIDS," says Oscar De La O, president and CEO of BIENESTAR. "We are calling upon our elected officials to commit to solutions that specifically target Latinos and African-Americans. Failing to do so will perpetuate the adverse impacts of poverty, stigma, and inadequate healthcare access on Latinos and other underserved communities," adds De La O.

A CDC report revealed extremely high rates of late testing among Latinos. Late testing is defined as the development of AIDS within 12months after first being diagnosed with HIV. Late testing denies individuals of the benefits of new treatment advancements, including lifesaving medications, BIENSTAR says. Since late testers are likely to have been HIV positive without their knowledge for an unknown period of time, the likelihood that further transmission of the virus to other individuals occurred is significant.

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