A big idea at ChinesePod is that we constantly iterate and develop the website based on user feedback. However, it can be hard to keep up sometimes. Over the past week, we’ve had many requests that we keep you better informed of changes made to the site, and so today I’d like to announce the next series of changes. What’s new, I hear you ask? Well, two words: My Studies.
Shortly, you’ll be able to see the My Studies tab in the place where the Home tab used to be (don’t worry, you can still click on the ChinesePod logo up top to get to the main page). My Studies is a new section that will contain all your personalized study resources. So far, we’ve moved My Courseand My Wordbank into My Studies, and added a new feature wherein personal counselors (coming soon) can publish notes, reports, and recommendations to their individual students. In the days to come, we will also be adding Study Notes(you can already see the “coming soon” button on the top left of the home page) and lots more. The Learning Center then becomes the place where general resources are located – the glossary, pinyin guide, grammar guide, tests, assessments, etc.
In addition, we have consolidated your payment history and my details (in this new section) to make it easier for you to browse through your account and make necessary changes.
Aside from this major change, we’ve also made a bunch of minor changes, including improvements to the navigation in the Lesson Archive. There’s lot’s more coming soon - including Guided Learning and ChinesePod Media Player.
Intrigued? Watch this space!
Eileen
Some major clarifications!
The Learning Center and THE VOCAB BUILDER then become the places where general resources are located – the glossary, pinyin guide, grammar guide, tests, assessments, etc.
Sorry for that!
Sounds good.
I really do love Cpod, and I love change, but today at the local McDonald’s they stopped offering the toasted-rice karubi-sauce triangle wrap, AND they remodeled. Now Cpod has buttons popping up all over the place.
There’s a perpetual-beta and there is such a thing as a development server or staging area. Stuff-like “Under Construction Coming September 26″ I can’t use, and I can’t even provide feedback on it. So that’s not beta, that’s ALPHA. Alpha is unstable - it makes me unstable, it causes angst and searches for coffee ‘to calm my nerves.’
My favorite Kitchen Cafe also closed shop, yes–the one which I posted their menu–at least the weather is nice. I am trying to ‘deal’. Since Aric stopped smoking, maybe I should start up?
In case anyone misunderstands me, I LIKE the new stuff.
I really like many of the changes! I can’t seem to find the option to export my Word Bank anymore, though. Was that discontinued?
Hi Frank,
The Export function is still in the Vocab Builder section.
How will the personal counselors thing work?
Hi Bazza,
Basically, students who choose Guided Learning will have their own personal counselor. The counselor will be an expert on assisting western students with improving their Chinese, and will offer individual support to the student. This will depend on the student’s needs, but can include unlimited e-mail support, IM writing practice, skype meetings, creating personal study plans, adding items to the student’s word bank or my course, setting homework, etc etc. A record of all the recommendations of the counselor will be kept in the student’s progress report, so they can easily access all the advice, suggestions, links, resources etc that the counselor provides.
Hey Bazza - check out your progress report. I’ve given you an example of how the counselor will record your abilities and give suggestions and support.
What do you think?
Hi, Eileen! I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment until now! Yes, I found that on my own. It seems a little unwieldy to me, though. I have to first go to my Word Bank, load “All” (I have some broken out from the others), then sort by Pinyin, then go over to the Vocab Builder, and THEN export the Word Bank. That’s a few more mouse clicks than it used to be.
Thanks Steve.
No problem - what do you think of this method of counselors presenting information to their students?
LOWER ADVANCED - Is it possible to put up a ‘mirror’ site of the advanced podcasts, one where the ADSO-like popup offer both the English and Chinese definitions. (or a fancy toggle option)
I realized today part of why I don’t go there as often as I should. The listening part is not ‘that hard’ for me, I get much of what is said. But when I go to the website, the additional exercises, dialogues — it’s too much hanzi for me to digest.
Footnote: It would be great to have a “TAB” on the main website for updates and site changes, I bet a good majority of your listeners will not, and won’t be able to find announcements buried in the blog.
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The popular hair-growth drug finasteride, taken by millions of balding men, artificially lowers the results of the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, the standard screening test for prostate cancer, a multicenter study has found.
The study, involving 308 men ranging in age from 40 to 60 years old, is available online in the British medical journal The Lancet and is scheduled to be published after Jan. 1, 2007. The study calls for new clinical guidelines for primary-care physicians, dermatologists and urologists to account for the role of finasteride, known as Propecia when used for hair loss, while evaluating PSA results.
“It’s not universally known that finasteride lowers PSA levels in younger men who take it for hair growth,” said Dr. Claus Roehrborn, chairman of urology at UT Southwestern Medical Center and co-principal investigator of The Lancet study, along with Dr. Anthony D’Amico of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. “It is important for physicians to know that many young men take Propecia and that their PSA level is lowered artificially. Doctors need to adjust the PSA interpretation by multiplying it times two for these men.”
Finasteride was initially developed in the 1990s for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), better known as enlarged-prostate disease, and was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for this use. Patients with BPH must strain to pass urine and feel the urge to urinate frequently. BPH can lead to the inability to urinate and urinary tract infection.
In 1997 the FDA approved finasteride for the treatment of male-pattern baldness. While Propecia is administered at 1 milligram per day, patients who take the finasteride drug Proscar for BPH get a five times higher dosage, 5 mg per day.
“The impact of finasteride on PSA levels is significant,” said Dr. Roehrborn. “This needs to be realized by all internists, family-care doctors, dermatologists - anybody who writes prescriptions for male-pattern hair loss.”
Researchers have known for years that the same testosterone metabolism responsible for prostate growth also causes male-pattern baldness (called androgenic alopecia), Dr. Roehrborn said. Both BPH and male-pattern hair loss have to do with the male hormone testosterone, which is being converted to dihydrotestosterone (DHT) by an enzyme named 5-alpha reductase. DHT activates the genes responsible for the development of male-pattern hair loss. Finasteride interferes with this process by blocking 5-alpha reductase and preventing the conversion of testosterone to DHT.
The data in The Lancet study were collected by Dr. Roehrborn from 1998 to 2000 in cooperation with medical centers in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas and Virginia.
The data in The Lancet study are derived from a study Dr. Roehrborn conducted with Merck & Co., Inc. in 2000. Dr. Roehrborn, discussing the reasons to publish this report now, said: “The data are published now out of recognition that there was an acknowledged gap in the primary-care community about the impact of Propecia on PSA levels. When doctors ask for their patients’ medical history, they need to ask if they have taken any drugs for hair loss, and the doctors need to multiply the PSA readings by two.”
The current study also was funded by Merck & Co., Inc.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern Medical Center, one of the premier medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. Its more than 1,400 full-time faculty members - including four active Nobel Prize winners, more than any other medical school in the world - are responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and are committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 89,000 hospitalized patients and oversee 2.1 million outpatient visits a year.
UT Southwestern Medical Center
United States
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