Tending to Business: USA Home Improvements

For over 30 years, Tasos Mihalopoulos has been making homeowners’ dreams come true. A native of Greece, he came to the U.S. in his early 20s and decided to follow the family trade: construction. "It’s all I know," he says. "It was easy for me to pick up construction."

Formerly named USA Aluminum Siding out of Palisades Park, Mihalopoulos decided to branch out with soup to nuts home improvement services and moved his company to Teaneck in 1996, rebranding it USA Home Improvements.
"I thought it was a great location," says Mihalopoulos. "It’s right in the middle of Bergen County and is close to major highways, which is easy for our suppliers."

Services at USA Home Improvements include, but are not limited to additions, bathrooms, gutters and leaders, kitchens, roofing, doors, decks, patios, windows and siding. Mihalopoulous says his crew consists of three fulltime workers (more hired per job scope) and preferred subcontractors like plumbers and framers work with USA Home Improvements regularly.

"I’ll take any job; we have the manpower," he says, adding that the geographic location of a potential job is not a deal-breaker either. "I go where the job is."

Currently, Mihalopoulous and his crew are working on a kitchen and bath remodel in Teaneck, an interior job that frequents USA Home Improvements’ calendar in the winter months. When the weather shifts to sun and warmth, he says projects like roofing and siding become more prevalent. The company will work as a go-between with homeowners and reputable suppliers to ensure that quality materials go into every home improvement project. Timeframes for the largest jobs, like additions and building from the ground up can take three and six months respectively.

USA Home Improvements is a preferred contractor for Owens Corning and a GAF certified roofing contractor. In addition to USA Home Improvements being a licensed home improvement contractor in New Jersey and Rockland County, it has also been recognized by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development: Division of Wage and Hour Compliance to be a public works contractor. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has also confirmed USA Home Improvements’ fulfillment of the requirements of the Toxic Substances Control Act and is certified to conduct lead-based paint renovation, repair and painting activities.

Source: http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tending-to-business-usa-home-improvements-1.746441

Baylor Seeks Volunteers in Need of Colonoscopies

Researcher with Baylor Research Institute, an analysis arm of Baylor Scott & White Health, have opened up participation for a new medicinal trial that might determine whether a specific blood examination are able to identify colon cancer before it actually develops. Early outcome of the evaluation, which screens for cancer-related microRNA in a person’s blood, seemed like positive, as released in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. On the platforms of those promising findings, investigators are actually planning 400 healthy and treatment-naïve digestive tract or rectal cancer clinically diagnosed participants to determine this non-invasive blood test.

Image source: http://www.veooz.com/news/dGz52aX.html

Directed by principal investigator Richard Boland, MD, of Baylor University Medical Center’s Division of Gastroenterology, the investigation explores whether or not the blood assessment (which identifies the cancer-related biomarker serum miR-21), executed in conjunction with regular colonoscopies, should detect sufferers at high risk for colorectal cancer.

Right now, colorectal cancer is the third-leading root cause of cancer-related deaths in the USA, in accordance with the American Cancer Society. Some of those patients diagnosed with colorectal cancers, half are clinically diagnosed at advanced stages. Fewer than 50 percent of Americans undergo assessment for colorectal cancer, typically through an ordinary colonoscopy treatment.

“Our objective is always to improve those sobering statistics and to make available more comfortable examining solutions,” Dr. Boland said. “We’re emphasized by the preliminary outcome and are optimistic that measuring levels of miR-21 in the blood can help identify not simply cancer tumors, but also cancer risks.”

To continue with the analysis, researcher have asked for 200 healthy volunteers (who are due for a colonoscopy) and 200 patients clinically determined as colon or rectal cancer who have not undergone chemotherapy or radiation. Upon enrollment in the study, the research coordinator will accumulate a blood sample prior to the colonoscopy technique for all participants.

Is your Smartphone giving you wrinkles?

Are you addicted to your smartphone? And do you have the ‘smartphone squint?’

Supposedly, gals are developing untimely fine lines and wrinkles from gazing their smartphones. Really?

In accordance with Dr. Brian Glatt, a New Jersey board-certified plastic surgeon, “The fashion for ‘BlackBerry Botox’ is remarkably multiplying most importantly among women that are addicted to staring at on their BlackBerries or iPhones the whole day. Peering at a small screen makes unwanted facial strain, around and between the brows that hopefully will cause premature wrinkles on the face.”

Smartphone-related facial lines and wrinkles are the most recent condition that surgeons attribute to excessive use of modern technology. Others include ‘BlackBerry thumb’ – a form of repetitive strain injury caused by excessive texting.

Ok, we aren’t really convinced we deem this, but we thought sharing these tips couldn’t hurt…

1. Take a rest – It’s crucial for you to laid down or at least glimpse up from your Smartphone frequently so that your eyes can calm down. Even though squinting is important when using a Smartphone, taking enough time to relax your eyes will make a special difference in minimizing this new type of strain on your facial muscles.

2. Simply turn the light down low – extreme light and contrast can lead to you to narrow the eyes to take in the brightness. A no-no for fresh-looking eyes contours. Combat the terrifying ‘crow’s feet’ effect by dimming the monitor in your ‘settings’ options – and look at exactly how low you can easily go on the light emission . The less, the better. (As a bonus, this will also help preserve your phone’s battery life!)

3. Enlarge the text – When you find yourself being unable to read the smaller text on your Smartphone and start up holding it so close you anti-wrinkle your nose so much it hurts , just expand the text by simply going to your settings and altering the text size . Also, the zoom function can be a fantastic thing – use it to focus in on images on your handset which enables you to see more clearly and avoid pulling the inner eye.

4. Looking after your eyes – If you possibly can sustain it, spend less duration glued to your iPhone or Blackberry. And in this particular timeout , take some deep breaths to relax the face into much more genuine expression , and carefully massage the area around the eyes – a simple thing that are able to produce a significant difference to combating those lines that starts subtly but can get deeper even more pronounced . Not only will possibly your face be serene looking, you will feel more serene – and in a much better state to deal with any inbox horrors.

5. Don’t forget about to smile! If you find yourself dealing with emotional stress from being consistently attached to your Smartphone, just think about the potentially negative effect this is having on your youthful appearance. Then, take some time to do something that alleviates the stress and anxiety, like playing on a fun app, like TomCat or Angry Birds; this will help relax your face, soften your expression and prevent long term frown lines. Do you think that excessive use of your smarphone will age your face?

Valeria Luykanova before plastic surgery photos to become real-life Barbie

Image courtesy: www.dailymail.co.uk

 Pictures of real-life Barbie, Valeria Lukyanova, reclaim surfaced of what exactly she was appeared to be before all the plastic surgery treatment she was required to look like the authentic Mattel doll . The 21-year-old Ukrainian declined Thursday she's had any kind of surgical modifications to take off the near-perfect human Barbie look, but yet the pictures reveal to a slightly different story.

In the photographs, she was a stunner before the plastic surgical operations really more "human." It's not renowned precisely what surgical procedures Luykanova had in order to accomplish her dream of looking like Barbie. Dr. Anthony LaBruna, a medical director in New York of Manhattan's Plastic Surgery, told ABC's "Good Morning America," that to facilitate a real-life lovely women to have measurements of the Mattel Barbie doll, she would certainly have some of her ribs cut out, have a 38DD breast, and an 18" waist size. An earlier report from Huffington Post also reported the lady would be 110 pounds -- anorexic standards for Barbie's human form height.

Image courtesy: www.ibtimes.com

Valeria's conducted an additional videotape launched Thursday at which she declined making plastic surgery and that her outward appearance is the outcome particularly of some hard work and consuming raw foods. She claims to never ever drink or smoke.

What do you really feel from the before and after pics of the real-life Barbie? Can it be even justifiable to believe that her changing appearance from 8 to 10 years ago are the result of exercise and a good diet?