Mice In Spaaaace!

Atlantis leaves station as NASA eyes shuttles' end

By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space shuttle Atlantis left the International Space Station on Wednesday after a seven-day stay to deliver gear to keep the outpost operating after the shuttle program is retired next year.

Space station flight engineer Nicole Stott joined the six Atlantis astronauts for the return trip home. She is expected to be the last station crewmember to catch a ride on the shuttle. Atlantis is due back at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday.

"Thank you for a great mission," Jeff Williams, commander of the station, radioed to Stott as the shuttle prepared to leave at 4:53 a.m. EST (0953 GMT). "Bon voyage."

The United States is retiring its three-ship shuttle fleet in 2010 after five more missions to complete construction and outfitting of the $100 billion space station. The station, a project of 16 nations, then will be serviced by Russian, European and Japanese cargo ships, though none can transport the heavy pumps, tanks and gyroscopes carried by the shuttle.

Astronauts will fly exclusively on Russian Soyuz capsules at a cost of about $50 million a seat.

The United States has been developing a replacement for the space shuttles, but it is not expected to unveil it until 2015 at the earliest. An advisory panel tapped by the Obama administration to assess NASA's human space programs determined the new spaceship won't be ready until 2017.

In addition to flying to the station, which currently is funded only through 2015, the new ships are being designed to fly astronauts to the moon and other destinations in the solar system. The program, however, is under review.

Stott's departure comes six days before three more station crewmembers are due to return to Earth, leaving the complex with a two-man crew for the first time since 2006. Replacements are due to arrive December 23. The station won't reach a full, six-member crew again until March.

During Atlantis' mission, astronauts conducted three spacewalks to install antennas, science experiments, cargo mounts and other tasks. They are returning with the station's broken urine-recycling system, which purifies wastewater into potable water.

Also returning to Earth are six mice that have been aboard the station since late August for science experiments. Three of the mice died while in space, though scientists are not sure why.

NASA's next trip to the outpost is expected in February when shuttle Endeavour delivers the station's final connecting hub and a six-sided cupola that will give the outpost a 360-degree viewing port.

(Editing by Paul Simao)

Bed Bug Mattress Encasement Covers

Bed Bug Mattress Encasement Covers
By Mike L. Evans


Bed Bug Mattress Encasement Covers are vital to protecting your bed from bedbugs. If you have ever had them, you need to purchase mattress covers for bed bugs if you own an old mattress or even if you buy a new mattress. This is confusing for some people, so let me try to explain why this is the case.

When bedbugs infest a home, they live in the walls, the floors, under carpets, and a whole variety of other places. Due to the nature of bedbug behavior, bed bug treatments are often not successful the first time. You need to understand that these bugs will continue to infest your home until you can fully exterminate your home.

If you live in a dorm room or apartment or any shared living condition, you should realize that your chances of eliminating them forever are diminished greatly. Shared wall conditions present some of the most challenging scenarios for pest control companies. The bedbugs can easily move from one room to another room, so unless you treat an entire building for bedbugs, you are likely going to have to deal with them for sometime. If you do not purchase a new mattress encasement for bugs, a new mattress will be infested just as easily as an old mattress.

Do not waste your money on an new mattress if you are dealing with bed bugs. Make sure you eliminate the problem first, and then you can buy the new mattress. As I already stated, make sure you purchase a mattress encasement even with a new mattress so that your new mattress is not infested. You want to get help for your embarrassing problem so you do not have to deal with them anymore.

You cannot possibly learn everything you need to know about bedbugs from reading this one article about bed bug mattress encasement covers. I encourage you to check out other popular sites on the internet about bedbugs to get all of the information you need to make an informed decision and get rid of the bedbugs forever.

Bedbug Mattress Encasement is a great resource that goes into much more detail about how to get rid of bedbugs. With bed bugs, how to get rid of them is not going to be an easy task. With proper methods, it is possible to get rid of bed bugs forever!








Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_L._Evans

Bed Bug Stats

Bedbug treatments by Orkin Pest Control in Canadian cities (2005 & 2006)
The following statistics are just a sampling of a pest control company's treatments in Canadian dwellings, including houses, apartments, dormitories and hotels. The company, Orkin Pest Control, is just one of many large pest control agencies. Time periods range for each region. The 2006 stats are for January to October, unless otherwise stated.

TORONTO NORTH
2006: 200 treatments thus far for 2006 or about 10% of total service for branch
Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Hotels
Motels
Dormitories

2005: 150 treatmentsFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Hotels
Motels

VANCOUVER/BURNABY
2006: 50 treatments thus far (huge hotel/motel business) or 25% of total service for branchFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Hospitals
Dormitories

Note: This branch performs so many bedbugs treatments that they are hiring 2 more technicians who will do nothing but handle bedbugs treatments.

2005: 35 treatments Facilities treated:
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Dormitories

STONEY CREEK
2006: 200 treatments thus far or about 5% of total service for branchFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes

2005: 100 treatmentsFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes

SASKATCHEWAN
2006: 125 treatments thus far or 10% of total service for branchFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Dormitories

2005: 75 treatments Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Dormitories

OTTAWA
2006: 500 treatments thus far or 30% of total service for branchFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes
Dormitories
Low income housing (surge in the number of infestations in these residences)

2005: 200 treatmentsFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes

NOVA SCOTIA
2006: 300 treatments thus far or 10% of total service for branchFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Government buildings
Group homes
Dormitories

2005: 250 treatmentsFacilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes
Low income housing (surge in the number of infestations in these residences)

CALGARY
2006: 200 treatments thus far or 20% of total service for branch Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes
Dormitories

2005: 200 (the past 5 years have been steadily busy) Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Group homes
Dormitories

VANCOUVER ISLAND
2006: 250 treatments thus far or about 5% of total services for branch Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Correctional facilities
Government buildings
Military bases
Group homes
Dormitories
Cruise ships
Airplanes

2005: 200 treatments total Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels
Correctional facilities
Government buildings
Military bases
Group homes
Dormitories
Cruise ships
Airplanes

VALLEY/MAPLE RIDGE
2006: 100 treatments thus far or about 10% of total services for branch Facilities treated:
Single-family residences
Apartments
Condominiums
Hotels
Motels

2005: 85 treatments Facilities treated:
Apartments
Hotels
Motels

Rentokil turnaround on track but shares fall

LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - British pest control to parcel delivery firm Rentokil Initial (RTO.L) said its five-year turnaround plan was gathering pace as it posted an 82 percent increase in third-quarter profit and forecast more progress in the balance of 2009.

However, shares in the firm, whose businesses also include cleaning and the hiring out of uniforms and tropical plants, fell 7 percent as investors booked profits on concerns over the outlook for 2010.

The stock was down 7.9 pence at 104.1 pence at 1115 GMT, valuing the business at 2 billion pounds ($3.30 billion).

Before Friday's update, Rentokil shares had more than doubled over the last year, outperforming the DJ Stoxx European industrial goods and services sector index .SXNP by 65 percent.

"It would be tempting to believe that the lower (Q3) losses in parcels (Rentokil's City Link business) mark a change of fortunes for Rentokil and the share price is certainly reflecting this.

However, the outlook for the group is still uncertain and we retain our sell stance," said Seymour Pierce analyst Kevin Lapwood.

"The shares are trading on over 20 times our FY 2009 estimates, which now looks too high for a late cycle services company."

Rentokil brought in Alan Brown and John McAdam -- who together led a turnaround at British chemicals group ICI -- as CEO and chairman last year.

The pair are trying to reverse years of underperformance and botched acquisitions by improving customer service, operational efficiency and cutting costs.

"We anticipate a further quarter of good delivery in Q4 despite few signs of economic recovery in our major markets," said Brown.

He told reporters he would detail a new growth strategy when Rentokil publishes 2009 results in February.

The focus will on targeting sustainable organic growth in the group's pests and washrooms divisions.

"They are our biggest businesses, they account for the great majority of our 1,000 branches across the world, so we can get most leverage by focusing on pests and washrooms," said the CEO, who did not rule out small bolt-on acquisitions.

The support services company, which issued a string of profit warnings in 2007 and 2008, said its profit before tax and one-off items was 49.6 million pounds in the three months to Sept. 30.

This was ahead of analysts' consensus forecast of about 46 million pounds and compares with 16.6 million pounds in the same period last year.

The outcome was driven by good progress in fixing the firm's problem businesses, particularly City Link, and no provisions for bad debt in the period versus 6 million pounds in the same period last year.

Revenue fell 3.2 percent at constant currencies to 622.6 million pounds, the same percentage fall as the second quarter, but was up 3.6 percent at actual exchange rates. Some 70 percent of Rentokil's earnings stream is in euros.

City Link made a loss of 1.3 million pounds in the third quarter and Brown forecast it would make a full year operating loss of 7 million pounds, better than previous guidance of a loss of 12 million pounds. In 2008 it made a loss of 43 million pounds.

The CEO estimated City Link would get a 1 million to 2 million pounds profit boost from the recent strike at Royal Mail and forecast the business would be profitable in the fourth quarter and throughout 2010.

Spike In Bed Bug Infestations

Source: cbc.ca

Toronto is experiencing a dramatic spike in the number of bed bug infestations, according to a new report.

The report, funded in part by the city and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term care, found that over an eight-month period in 2008, Toronto Public Health received 1,500 reports of bed bug infestations.

For all of 2003, in comparison, the city’s public health department received 46 such complaints.

The report says a rise in infestations isn’t unique to Toronto — Ontario towns like Ottawa, Owen Sound and London have also been hit. Meanwhile, New York City and even some cities in Australia have reported similar spikes in the past five years.

More than 100 people —including social workers, MPs and landlords — crammed into a conference room at City Hall on Monday to discuss the report’s findings with its authors.

Sean Meagher, one of the authors, blamed the increase of infestations on a lack of awareness of how to deal with bed bugs. He said the problem affects a wide variety of dwellings, from university student dormitories to swanky hotels and low-cost rental housing.

Those who have had to deal with infestations have been hit hard, he said.
“People suffering from bed bugs frequently experience shame, fear, isolation and insomnia,” he said.

“Many face serious economic consequences, including loss of income and loss of work. The cost of eradications can run into the thousands of dollars and the replacement of infested household items are also expensive.”

Meagher said the bugs are notoriously durable.

“Bedbugs can live, breed, hatch and carry out their entire lives while still being exposed to … pesticide used for bed bugs. Bed bugs have even shown resistance to DDT.”

‘Psychologically terrorized’

Toronto resident Fionna Blair is one of the unlucky ones to be hit by an infestation.
Two years ago she started getting mysterious bites. She soon found the culprits — bed bugs in her sofa.

“They hide very well and only come out at night,” she said.
It took lots of money, time and energy spent cleaning, fumigating and even caulking the space between walls and baseboards before Blair got rid of the bed bugs. But even now, she can’t be sure they’re all gone.

“They can stay dormant for a year and a half, so they leave you psychologically terrorized … Perhaps you don’t have them, but perhaps they’re just hibernating until they come out again,” she said.

The problem could get out of hand unless the government steps in to co-ordinate the response to the infestation, said Meagher.

“It will impact all parts of our city. And the failure to act will result in wider infestations and more costly responses. Consistent use of best protocols can and will work, but co-ordination and education are needed to make that possible,” he said.

The problem can only be meaningfully solved, he said, through “extensive public education to ensure early identification and the participation of governments, landlords, medical professionals, institutions, as well as residents.”