NASA Administrator Bolden and Senator Vitter See Space Launch System Progress in New Orleans

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Sen. David Vitter ofLouisiana will visit the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La., Monday, Jan. 13. They will be updated on construction of the facility that will manufacture the massive core stage of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket and progress on launching it on its targeted first flight test in 2017.

SLS will be the world's largest rocket, and the Michoud Vertical Assembly Center will be home to one of the world's largest welding tools when the facility is completed in March.

NASA is developing the SLS and Orion spacecraft to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration. They will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration in the solar system, including to an asteroid and Mars.

For more information on SLS, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/sls

SOURCE NASA

Caesars Entertainment Agrees To Acquire Non-Gaming Assets Of Atlantic Club in Bankruptcy Auction

Caesars Entertainment Corporation (NASDAQ: CZR) today confirmed that its subsidiary, Caesars Entertainment Operating Company, Inc., has agreed to acquire the non-gaming assets of the Atlantic Club, including the real property, in a bankruptcy auction, pending approval of the bankruptcy court.

The Atlantic Club's gaming assets are being acquired by another buyer. The current owner of the Atlantic Club indicated it plans to close the facility January 13, 2014. Caesars expects to close on the purchase of the property thereafter. Caesars does not intend to resume gaming or hotel operations at the facility, and is evaluating options for the use of the assets, some of which may be used in the company's other Atlantic City properties.

Caesars Entertainment Corporation is the world's most geographically diversified casino-entertainment company. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, 75 years ago, Caesars has grown through development of new resorts, expansions and acquisitions and now operates casinos on four continents. The company's resorts operate primarily under the Caesars®, Harrah's® and Horseshoe® brand names. Caesars is focused on building loyalty and value with its guests through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership. We are committed to environmental sustainability and energy conservation and recognize the importance of being a responsible steward of the environment. For more information, please visit www.caesars.com.

SOURCE Caesars Entertainment Corporation

RELATED LINKS
http://www.caesars.com

Day of the Dead Craft Beer

Drinks Americas (OTC: DKAM) is a leading U.S. broker for authentic Mexican Beer. Their leading brand Day of the Dead Craft Beer showcases the original art work of well known Southwest artist. The eye catching creative label design has contributed to the extremely fast response from the marketplace. Day of the Dead Craft Beer is now available in over 20 U.S. chain retailers (such as Whole Foods, Cost Plus World Market, Walgreens, Sprouts, Total Wines)  represented by over 40 distributors and available in over 32 states. This positive response is a true indicator that Drinks Americas has the right brand at the right time and momentum is building. 

The artist is Sean Younis Wells who designed the label artwork for the award-winning national beer brand Day of the Dead Craft Beer and for La Catrina Wine. Both product lines have a Day of the Dead theme.

For 3,000 years the Aztecs honored the deceased in an annual celebration called Day of the Dead. The ceremony would involve using parts of the skeleton, most commonly the skull where relatives would place native Merigolds in the eye sockets to reflect the life that once was present.

Many celebrants decorate in the joyful colors of the Mexican roots, paint faces and sing to wake the dead. Day of the Dead Craft Beer is made to celebrate life and honor the traditions of this great holiday.

The labels include images from Mrs. Wells' original acrylic paintings that were recently exhibited in the Canyon Road gallery De La Serna Fine Arts Studio & Gallery in Santa Fe, N.M and additional national exhibits are pending. A well-known painter throughout the southwest, Mrs. Wells also produces and hosts a television show, "New Mexican Santera," on the regional art form of retablo painting.

"The labels are the first thing that consumers comment on.  We get calls on a regular basis asking for posters, etc.  We are planning to make reproductions of the original art and using them to advertise throughout the industry," said Jospeh Belli, VP Sales Day of the Dead Craft Beer.

Day of the Dead Craft Beer is an authentic Mexican beer brewed at a Mexican owned brewery Cerveceria Mexicana, whose packaging depicts this Mexican holiday and offers six variations including;  Death Rides A Pale Horse Blonde Ale, Immortal Beloved Hefeweizen, Death Becomes Her Amber Ale, Queen of the Night Pale Ale, Immortal Beloved IPA and Pay The Ferryman Porter

SOURCE Drinks Americas

RELATED LINKS
http://www.drinksamericas.com

Total Artificial Heart Manufacturer SynCardia Secures $14M in Growth Financing $10M Financed by SWK of Dallas with $4M from Athyrium Opportunities Fund

Privately held SynCardia Systems, Inc. announced today that it had raised $14 million to fund the rapid growth of the only approved medical device that eliminates the symptoms and source of end-stage heart failure, the SynCardia temporary Total Artificial Heart. The SynCardia Total Artificial Heart is the world's first and only FDA, Health Canada and CE (Europe) approved Total Artificial Heart.

"SWK is very pleased to provide SynCardia this new capital in order to help further the growth of the company's Total Artificial Heart," Brett Pope, CEO of SWK Holdings Corporation, says of its $10-million financing. "We are very gratified to help expand the availability of this lifesaving device."

"In 2013 we are setting another record for SynCardia Heart implants, nearly double what was then our 2011 record-breaking year of 81 implants," says Michael Garippa, President and CEO of SynCardia. "As of Dec. 16, 155 SynCardia Total Artificial Hearts have been implanted this year."

The financing positively affects the development of the new, smaller 50cc version of the approved 70cc SynCardia Total Artificial Heart, the availability of the Freedom portable driver and the use of SynCardia technology for destination therapy.

"We are pleased to support SynCardia's continued clinical and commercial successes," says Laurent Hermouet, a partner at Athyrium. "This latest financing will help reinforce SynCardia's supply chain and manufacturing capabilities ahead of new product launches and increased production levels."

The $4 million provided by Athyrium Capital Management in last week's funding supplemented $15 million in long-term growth capital it provided to SynCardia in March 2013.

Wedbush PacGrow Life Sciences acted as exclusive placement agent for the offering.

The new financing allows SynCardia to accelerate the development and launch of its 50cc Total Artificial Heart* through an FDA-approved clinical study. Together, the 50cc and 70cc sizes of the Total Artificial Heart will fit almost all women and men, as well as many pediatric patients. With this expanded product line, SynCardia anticipates the tripling of the market size and sales potential for the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart.

The funds also will help the company meet the increasing demand for the Freedom portable drivers. In a letter dated Oct. 21, 2013, the FDA determined that the Freedom PMA supplement is approvable with the submission of additional information. The 13.5-pound wearable Freedom driver, which powers the SynCardia Heart while giving patients nearly unrestricted mobility, is already approved by Health Canada and has a CE Mark for Europe.

SynCardia is an innovative, 85-employee company focused on advanced medical technology targeting the NYHA Class IV heart failure market. There are 93 SynCardia Certified Centers worldwide where the SynCardia Heart is immediately available with an additional 35 hospitals undergoing the company's four-phase certification program. As of Dec. 16, 2013, there have been 1,262 total implants of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart worldwide.

SWK Holdings Corporation is a specialized finance company with a focus on the global healthcare sector. SWK partners with ethical product marketers and royalty holders to provide flexible financing solutions at an attractive cost of capital to create long-term value for both SWK's business partners and its investors. SWK believes its financing structures achieve an optimal partnership for companies, institutions and inventors seeking capital for expansion or capital and estate planning by allowing its partners to monetize future cash flow with minimal dilution to their equity stakes. Additional information on the life science finance market is available on the company's website at www.swkhold.com.

Athyrium Capital Management, LLC is an asset management company formed in 2008 to focus on investment opportunities in the global healthcare sector. Athyrium invests across all healthcare verticals including biopharma, medical devices and products and healthcare services, and partners with management teams to implement creative financing solutions to companies' capital needs. The Athyrium team has substantial investment experience in the healthcare sector across a wide range of asset classes, including public equity, private equity, fixed income, royalties and other structured securities. Athyrium has over $600 million under management as of Sept. 30, 2013. The firm's investors include public and corporate pension funds, charitable endowments, insurance companies, funds-of-funds, family offices and university endowments. For more information, please visit www.athyrium.com.

*The 50cc Total Artificial Heart is designed for use as a bridge to transplant in patients of smaller stature, including women and adolescents. It has been designated as a Humanitarian Use Device (HUD) by the FDA for destination therapy in adults and as a bridge to transplant in pediatric patients. Prior to clinical study, an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application that includes each indication must be approved by the FDA.

** CAUTION – The Freedom portable driver is an investigational device, limited by United States law to investigational use.

SOURCE SynCardia Systems, Inc.

WebMD Accelerates Consumer-Provider Connectivity with Expanded Patient Instructions Beta and Previews

Personalized Mobile App that Leverages Qualcomm Life 2net Platform at mHealth Summit

NEW YORK AND NATIONAL HARBOR, MD, December 9, 2013 / PRNewswire / — WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD), the leading source of health information, today announced at the mHealth Summit that it is expanding the beta program for its Patient Instructions feature, which enables physicians who use Medscape Mobile to securely send education and instructions on thousands of conditions, procedures and drugs to their patients who use the WebMD app for iPhone, or access WebMD on a PC or other mobile device. The company also previewed a forthcoming version of its WebMD app that leverages the 2net™ Platform from Qualcomm Life, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), to enable health-conscious consumers to access and manage wireless health data from a wide array of fitness, wellness and medical devices directly from the app.

"WebMD is partnering with innovative companies like Qualcomm and developing new products and services like Patient Instructions to make health information more actionable and accelerate consumer-provider connectivity," said David Schlanger, Chief Executive Officer at WebMD. "As consumers and providers assume more financial risk for the provision of care, WebMD believes that facilitating this kind of engagement is essential to producing quality outcomes and reducing the cost of care."

Qualcomm Life and WebMD first announced plans to enable consumers to upload biometric data to WebMD in an effort to proactively manage health and fitness, as well as chronic health conditions such as obesity and diabetes, at the HIMMS conference in March 2013. WebMD will introduce its new app and set of services that deliver personalized content and actionable insights, as well as a new online storefront where consumers will be able to purchase a variety of biometric devices from the industry's leading providers, in the first quarter of 2014.

"WebMD is uniquely positioned to facilitate consumer-provider connectivity and accelerate the roll-out of quantified health solutions to the masses," said Bill Pence, EVP, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer, WebMD. "Our Patient Instructions functionality will enable consumers and their providers to jointly manage their care, and our partnership with Qualcomm Life will provide consumers with a more personalized WebMD experience that makes biometric data more actionable."

Patient Instructions
As part of the expanded Patient Instructions beta, Medscape providers can simply select from a set of over 4,200 clinically reviewed patient instructions and provide them to patients securely and confidentially by enabling patients to access and review the information in the WebMD app or in their browser. In addition, providers can manage lists of patients and save favorite instruction sets for easy retrieval during the course of their daily workflow. WebMD expects to expand this capability over time to allow for more customization and other types of information and services to be sent securely to patients.

WebMD initiated the Patient Instructions beta in September 2013 to a limited number of Medscape Mobile physician users, and early feedback regarding features, functionality, workflow and the overall user experience confirmed strong interest in, and demand for, this capability. The beta is being expanded now to provide WebMD with additional feedback, which will be used to inform future product enhancements. You can view an animation that further illustrates how WebMD's Patient Instructions feature works via the following link: http://origin-qps.onstreammedia.com/origin/multivu_archive/MNR/60050_1206.mp4.

About WebMD
WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD) is the leading provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, health care professionals, employers, and health plans through our public and private online portals, mobile platforms, and health-focused publications. The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, eMedicineHealth, RxList, theheart.org, Medscape Education, and other owned WebMD sites.

All statements contained in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including those regarding: our expectations concerning market opportunities and our ability to capitalize on them; and the benefits expected from new products or services. These statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on our current plans and expectations, and they involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to be different than those described in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include those relating to: market acceptance of our products and services; relationships with customers and strategic partners; and changes in economic, political or regulatory conditions or other trends affecting the healthcare, Internet and information technology industries. Further information about these matters can be found in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

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Global Dementia Epidemic

Imagine watching someone you love lose their mind? Day by day pieces of the person who you love, slip away. The body is the same, but the mind is leaving. The terror that moment you realize that the person you built your life with is disappearing inside. Praying that the day would never come when your mom, dad, aunt, uncle or best friend turns to you and doesn't have any idea who you are. The sadness that rushes through you as you see the fear in their face. You feel helpless; but are you really?

Do you even know if your country is preparing for the global dementia epidemic?  Only 13 countries are currently implementing a national dementia plan. All governments should initiate a national dialogue regarding future provision and financing of long term care. There is an urgent need for a collaborative, global action plan for governments, industry and non-profit organisations like Alzheimer associations.

In a policy brief launched today, Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) has announced that the number of people living with dementia worldwide in 2013 is now estimated at 44 million (estimated at 35 million in 2010), reaching 76 million in 2030 (66 million) and 135 million by 2050 (115 million).

Professor Martin Prince, from King's College London and author of the Policy Brief, says: "The governments of the world's richest nations are focusing today upon dementia. This is a global problem that is, increasingly, impacting on developing countries with limited resources and little time to develop comprehensive systems of social protection, health and social care. While we all hope for advances in treatment that could blunt the impact of the coming epidemic, we need to agree now to work together to close the diagnosis and treatment gap. Nobody should be left without access to support and care."    

The Policy Brief entitled 'The Global Impact of Dementia 2013-2050' reports a staggering 17% increase in global estimates of people living with dementia, compared to the original ADI estimates in the 2009 World Alzheimer's Report.

Although high income countries like all those in G8 have borne the brunt of the dementia epidemic, the disease is a global phenomenon. In the next few decades the global burden of the disease will shift inexorably to low and middle income countries with 71% of those with dementia living in lower and middle-income countries by 2050.

Marc Wortmann, Executive Director of ADI, comments, "At the eve of the G8 Dementia Summit in London, UK, it is not just the G8 countries, but all nations, that must commit to a sustained increase in dementia research."

Research must become a global priority if we are to improve the quality and coverage of care, find treatments that alter the course of the disease and identify more options for prevention. 

The full policy brief can be found here: http://www.alz.co.uk/G8policybrief

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales for Latin America Shoppers

eCoupons.com announced that it created a directory of Black Friday and Cyber Monday Sales for International Shoppers. Last year, more than USD $1 billion was spent online on Black Friday and nearly USD $1.5 billion on Cyber Monday at U.S. online stores, an increase of 25% and 30% respectively. Shoppers from outside the U.S. accounted for nearly 5% of these totals or $125 million.

Matthew Cheng, founder of eCoupons.com said, "International shopping is becoming increasingly popular and now shoppers in Latin America can take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales in the U.S. and U.K.  Shoppers can browsehttp://www.ecoupons.com/international for a listing of over 300 online stores that ship to over 100 countries."

Stores that ship internationally include Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Banana Republic, Gap, Macy's, Overstock.com, Shoes.com and Shopbop.com. Clothing and shoes, that often ship free, are the most popular categories.

eCoupons.com analyzed 100 retailer's past Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions and found:

1. 70% have the same promotion on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
2. 20% started Black Friday sales on Thanksgiving Day (the day before Black Friday).
3. 25% had their biggest coupon discount on Black Friday.
4. 30% had their biggest coupon discount on Cyber Monday.
5. 15% repeated Cyber Monday sales on the following Monday.

Cheng added, "Traditionally, Black Friday is the only day of the year that the Apple Store has a sale at all their international online stores.  On Cyber Monday, the Apple Store offered free shipping on all orders or discounted accessories."

eCoupons.com created localized Black Friday and Cyber Monday websites:

Argentina http://www.cybermonday.com.ar
Brasil http://www.cybermonday.com.br
Mexico http://www.blackfriday.com.mx
Puerto Rico http://www.blackfriday.com.pr  http://www.cybermonday.pr

On Black Friday and Cyber Monday, eCoupons.com will reveal a complete listing of coupons and deals at participating online stores.