Tuesday, January 31, 2012

China dissident tried over Skype messages, poem (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Chinese prosecutors cited a poem and messages sent on Skype against a dissident who stood trial on Tuesday, his son and his lawyer said, in the latest case highlighting the Communist Party's drive to silence political challengers.

Veteran activist Zhu Yufu faced trial in the prosperous eastern city of Hangzhou, where police arrested him in April and charged him with "inciting subversion of state power," his lawyer, Li Dunyong, said.

The court did not deliver its verdict straight away. But Zhu, who turns 59 in February, appears likely to follow other Chinese dissidents who have received stiff prison terms from the party-run judiciary on subversion charges, which are often used to punish ardent advocates of democratic change.

In Zhu's case, the prosecutors cited his poem, "It's time," as well as text messages that he sent using the Skype online chat service, said Li.

There was no suggestion that Skype helped police to collect evidence, he told Reuters by telephone.

"They took his computer away from his home and went through it," he said of the Hangzhou police.

"His Internet contacts and password were saved on it, with automatic access, and when the police accessed it they could open the records of text messages saved on Skype. He had not erased the records."

Skype's online telephone and messaging service has become popular among Chinese activists as a cheap and relatively secure way to communicate.

Zhu's wife, Jiang Hangli, told Reuters that she feared that he could join other dissidents recently given prison terms of nine years and longer for subversion. Chinese courts rarely find in favor of defendants.

"I hope he won't face trouble, but that's a wish. I don't think that they'll let him off lightly," Jiang said in a telephone interview before the trial.

China's Communist leaders are steeling for a leadership handover late this year, and their long-standing determination to stifle political challenges is likely to deepen. The government is also trying to quell flare-ups of protest in Tibetan areas in the country's west.

Beijing has rejected criticism that Chinese human rights conditions have worsened, especially since 2010, when authorities cracked down out of fear that anti-authoritarian upheavals across the Arab world could trigger unrest in China.

Like two dissidents given sentences of 10 and nine years in December, Zhu was jailed before for his pro-democracy activism, making it more likely that he too will get a heavy sentence. He was jailed in 1999 for seven years and in 2007 for two years, said the Chinese Human Rights Defenders.

Zhu's son, Zhu Ang, said he and his mother, Jiang Hangli, were the only two family members allowed to attend the trial, which lasted a morning. Other kin and supporters were kept out.

"My father seemed listless and even exhausted, but he was mentally together," Zhu Ang told Reuters by telephone. "His defense was that he was not advocating subversion but urging progress, which is nothing illegal."

The charges against Zhu also centered on a poem, "It's time," which he circulated online, said the lawyer Li.

A version of the poem that has circulated on the Internet, declares: "It's time, Chinese people!/ The square belongs to everyone/the feet are yours/it's time to use your feet and take to the square to make a choice."

References to a "square" might evoke memories among many Chinese people of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the epicenter of pro-democracy protests in 1989 that were quelled by armed troops. But the poem did not mention that.

At the trial, Zhu rejected the charge that the poem amounted to "inciting subversion," said Li.

"He said the poem was not urging an assembly, because the people were in different cities and places, and he did not tell them a specific time or place to assemble," said Li.

"As well, there's no legal prohibition on going to a square," added the lawyer, citing Zhu's words. "Everyone has the right to walk on a square."

Li said the court was likely to deliver its verdict in February.

(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Nick Macfie)

(This story was corrected in the third paragraph to change the age)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wr_nm/us_china_dissident

charlie sheen roast dancing with the stars 2011 cast paz de la huerta julianna margulies dr oz hakeem nicks hakeem nicks

Monday, January 30, 2012

Can NATO force weather France's faster exit? (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? France's call for a speedier NATO exit from Afghanistan reflects the depth of war fatigue in the West and raises fears that other countries in the U.S.-led coalition will succumb to rising political pressure and pull their troops home early.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to fast-track its withdrawal ? just days after an Afghan soldier gunned down four French troops ? is the latest crack in a coalition already strained by economic troubles in Europe and the United States, the Afghan government's sluggish battle against corruption, on-again off-again cooperation from neighboring Pakistan and a dogged Taliban bloodied but not beaten.

The international coalition is already rushing against the clock to meet President Hamid Karzai's goal of having the Afghan police and army in charge of the nation's security by the end of 2014. France's break with that timetable, which was agreed to by NATO members, now raises the question: Can the coalition stay together until then?

Resetting the date to end the coalition's combat mission could strengthen arguments for President Barack Obama to accelerate U.S. troop withdrawals beyond the 33,000 he's sending home by the end of this year, and reopen a debate over whether setting a withdrawal deadline allows the Taliban to seize more territory once foreign forces are gone.

It's unclear whether Sarkozy's call for all foreign forces to hand security over to the Afghan forces in 2013 will have any traction when it is presented next week at a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels. If other nations see France's move as a green light to speed up their withdrawals, it will complicate the current strategy for a coordinated pullout.

In a gentle rebuke to France, British Prime Minister David Cameron said in London on Saturday that withdrawals should be dependent on security conditions on the ground. Britain has said it's keeping to plans to withdraw its 9,500 troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

"The rate at which we can reduce our troops will depend on the transition to Afghan control in the different parts of Afghanistan, and that should be the same for all of the members of NATO," Cameron said after meeting with Karzai.

Other nations facing extreme economic problems, such as Italy and Spain, are not planning early withdrawals.

"We are a responsible country. We are a big country that honors its commitments that it agrees to make," said Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, defense minister in Italy, which this week signed a pact aimed at supporting Afghanistan after foreign forces withdraw in 2014.

Germany also said it agrees with the goal to hand over security responsibility by the end of 2014 and withdraw combat troops.

Sarkozy said France will speed up its withdrawal and pull 1,000 ? up from 600 ? out this year and bring all combat forces home at the end of 2013. Sarkozy also said France would hand over authority in the province of Kapisa, where the French troops were killed this month, by the end of March.

France, which now has about 3,600 soldiers in the coalition force, joins the U.S., Britain, Germany and Italy in the top five largest troop-contributing nations.

Talk of an accelerated exit alarmed many Afghans, especially those who have cast their lot with the U.S.-backed government but have little confidence in their country's own security forces. Some said France was reneging on its promises.

Afghan lawmaker Tahira Mujadedi, who represents Kapisa, said Afghan forces there aren't ready to go it alone in fighting the Taliban insurgency, which is especially strong in several of the province's districts. She warned that if NATO forces do pull back from Kapisa, it could also destabilize nearby Kabul. Foreign forces should consider staying even longer than 2014, she said.

"When military forces are present in a war zone, anything can happen," said Mujadedi, who expressed sadness about the French troops who were killed.

But she added: "They are not here for a holiday."

Former Afghan interior minister and military analyst Abdul Hadi Khalid said Sarkozy's decision was clearly political. Sarkozy's rival in spring presidential elections in France, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande, has pledged to pull French troops out of the war if he is elected in May.

"Why is he raising this now?" Khalid asked. "He is trying to get political benefit out of it."

So far, Karzai has reacted cautiously to the idea of a 2013 handover. He can ill afford to anger major coalition partners, yet he wants to be seen as the leader of a country capable of security itself.

"We hope to finish the transition ... by the end of 2013 at the earliest ? or by the latest as has been agreed upon ? by the end of 2014," Karzai said.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu underscored the coalition's solidarity, saying that all nations agreed at a Lisbon summit in 2010 to complete the transition to Afghan-led security by the end of 2014.

"Transition is well on track to be completed by the end of 2014, as we all agreed," she said. She said NATO nations would "take stock, shape the next stage of transition" at its summit in Chicago in May.

In Chicago, NATO members will discuss another contentious issue: Who will pay the salaries of the more than 300,000 Afghan policemen and soldiers after 2014. Estimates range from $5 billion to $6 billion a year.

Thomas Risse, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University, said the problem of securing commitments to finance the Afghan security forces comes as a general fatigue with foreign interventions grips Europe and the United States.

"The public mood in most NATO countries is that they want their boys back as soon as possible and they don't care much about Afghanistan either way," Risse said. "The political elites have undertaken to keep up the military commitments, but I'm not sure they will be able to sustain those promises in the face of such a strong public mood."

"As far as the money (for the post-2014 period) is concerned, I don't think there is any mood in Germany to throw money after the Karzai regime," he added.

Stories of Afghan security forces killing their foreign partners make it that much harder to sell the war in cash-strapped countries.

The deadly shooting of the four French soldiers on Jan. 20 was the second against French forces in a month; two members of the French Foreign Legion were killed by an Afghan soldier on Dec. 29. On Thursday, an Afghan man wielding a knife tried to attack foreign troops in southern Afghanistan before being arrested. The Taliban said the man was upset about a video that purportedly shows U.S. Marines urinating on Afghan corpses.

The promise to pull out by 2014 has appeased immediate public demand, said Malcolm Chalmers, a professor of defense at Kings College in London.

"But as the (economic crisis) continues to deepen and these types of incidents continue to occur, it's very possible that there will be renewed public pressure to accelerate the pace of withdrawal," he said. "My expectation is that there will be a steady and substantial withdrawal starting this year."

Asked if France's break with the coalition could spark a wider split, Kate Clark, senior analyst with the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said it could be troublesome for countries deploying troops to Afghanistan. While the U.S. contributes the bulk of troops, any cracks in the coalition could dampen morale of all foreign forces on the battlefield, she said.

"The foreign troops have been here for 10 years. That's a long time," she said. "There's a certain war-weariness among the voters of a great many of those countries."

Then again, she pointed out that the Netherlands and Canada have drawn down their forces in recent years and the coalition has not crumbled.

___

Lekic reported from Brussels. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez and Kay Johnson contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

ship aground off italy nfl playoff schedule 2012 nfl live 49 ers vanessa marcil saints vs 49ers frank gore

Beyonce Gets A College Course, Possible Houston Monument


By



Photo: Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678096/beyonce-gets-a-college-course-possible-houston-monument.jhtml

harrys law orioles atlanta braves national coffee day national coffee day paw paw paw paw

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Former Italian president Scalfaro dies at 93 (AP)

MILAN, Italy ? Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a past president of Italy who held the post during the sweeping corruption scandal of the early 1990s that reshaped the country's post-war political landscape, died Sunday in Rome. He was 93.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano paid tribute to his predecessor as "a protagonist in the democratic political life" and an example of "moral integrity."

"As president of the republic, he firmly and steadfastly confronted one of the most difficult periods of our history," Napolitano said in a statement.

Pope Benedict XVI remembered Scalfaro as "a distinguished" Catholic man of state, who "helped to promote the common good and the perennial ethical and religious values."

Scalfaro was a key figure in postwar Italian politics, helping to write the constitution and to found the former Christian Democrats. He held numerous prominent government posts before becoming Italy's ninth post-war president, a position that is largely ceremonial but carries the significant role of moral compass for the country.

As president from 1992-1999, Scalfaro was often called upon to resolve Italy's recurrent political crises, either choosing a new premier or calling early elections. He once called Italy's volatile political situation "pathological."

The "Clean Hands" investigations launched in the early 1990s uncovered a broad system of bribes that wiped out much of Italy's political class, including key members of the conservative Christian Democrats and the center-left Social Democrats. The scandals deeply eroded Italians' trust in politicians and led to the demise of the two parties that had formed the pillars of post-war Italian politics.

Premier Mario Monti said Scalfaro "consistently defended the values" enshrined in the constitution "bearing witness with his actions and his rigor to all Italians, in particular the young."

A devout Roman Catholic with a law degree from the Catholic University of Milan, Scalfaro spent the World War II years working to help imprisoned anti-Fascists and their families.

Then, in 1946, he won a seat in the assembly that wrote the constitution for the Italian Republic, declared in late 1947 after a popular referendum abolished the monarchy.

Scalfaro, a native of the northern city of Novara, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian republic's first general election in 1948 and remained a deputy until he was elected president in 1992.

Scalfaro held junior posts at various ministries through the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1966, he gained his first Cabinet position when Premier Aldo Moro appointed him transportation minister.

In subsequent governments, Scalfaro served two more stints as transport minister and was education minister and interior minister. He was vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 1976 to 1983.

He became a senator for life after completing his term as president.

He is survived by a daughter, Marianna. A funeral is set for Monday afternoon in Rome.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_obit_scalfaro

devin hester shayne lamas cain velasquez dos santos waterboarding boxing news boxing

Familiar Names Rise to the Top of GOP Running Mate Possibilities (ContributorNetwork)

The Republicans have narrowed down the candidates campaigning for their party's nomination to just four: Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. While they continue the quest to add delegates for the fall convention, talk has begun about possible running mates.

Here is a short list of interesting prospects for the second slot on the ballot this November:

* Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman -- The former governor and ambassador to China immediately endorsed Romney after withdrawing from the race in South Carolina. The Boston Globe reported that a senior Romney campaign advisor has been suggesting Huntsman as a running mate for Romney all month. With extensive foreign policy experience, a warm relationship with Chinese leaders and executive experience as a former governor, Huntsman is likely on many short lists. But Huntsman also is a Mormon, making a pairing with Romney unworkable for many Republicans.

* Texas Gov. Rick Perry -- He may have had a dismal showing in his own candidacy for the GOP nomination, but Perry remains a popular governor of a large state with lots of electoral votes. Still, Scripps Howard News reported that Perry is an unlikely choice of any of the remaining candidates because of his poor showing on the campaign trail. His endorsement of Gingrich makes him a geographical long-shot should the former speaker win the nomination.

* Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan -- The Wisconsin Republican is the current chairman of the House Budget Committee and universally considered by most Republicans to be an authority on the federal budget. Ryan shot down speculation last summer about a presidential run this year, but didn't close the door on vice president. The Journal Times reported that Ryan could still seek re-election for his House seat while campaigning as the running mate of a presidential candidate. His budget knowledge would make him a central player as a GOP administration tackles deficits and spending priorities.

* Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell -- The term-limited conservative governor on Wednesday told WDBJ in Richmond that his current focus is on working with the General Assembly during its short session and helping Romney campaign. He has been mentioned as a vice presidential contender for years. Virginia was a safe Republican state until President Barack Obama won it in 2008.

* Florida Sen. Marco Rubio -- While the first-term senator from Florida is an unlikely pick, he remains on the short list of potential running mates because of his connections in a must-win state flush with Hispanic voters. Reuters reported that Rubio has endured many financial problems that could create vetting problems, but none is dissimilar to many experienced by many Americans in recent years.

Dan McGinnis is a freelance writer, published author and former newspaper publisher. He has been a candidate, campaign manager and press secretary for state and local political campaigns for more than 30 years.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120127/pl_ac/10889595_familiar_names_rise_to_the_top_of_gop_running_mate_possibilities

how to cook a turkey yorkshire pudding whitney cummings larry the cable guy miracle on 34th street santa tracker patrice oneal

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Zhu Zhu Pets | Super Guide Shopping

Where will YOUR Zhu Zhu zhu-oom? Pick your favorite Zhu Zhu Pet and explore your very own humongous hamster city! Nurture them, feed them, hear them chatter and love them as you scoot and scamper through an awesome maze filled with chutes, tunnels, twists, turns, ramps and jumps for endless fun for everyone! Each Zhu Zhu Hamster has its own unique personality and whimsical sounds. Help them scoot, scamper, bump n? boogie through the crazy maze as you unlock more cool stuff the further you go in the Hamster habitat. Collect all your favorite hamsters as you rule the Zhuniverse. 9 different Zhu Zhus: play with Patches, Nugget, Winkie, Jilly, Scoodles, Pip Squeek, Mr. Squiggles, Chunk and Num Nums, plus 10 babies! Play with multiple Zhu Zhu toys, including the Hamsterball, Car and Skateboard 30 unique levels filled with secret passages, food, coins, upgrades, and babies Care for each of your Zhu Zhu pets to keep them happy! Explore the Slide Park, Skate park, nursery, bathrooms and more! Drive around little cars, zip up ramps, spin down slides, run in the hamster wheels, and get into all sorts of crazy situations! No Need to Compare Prices Again, We Compare and Choose Low Prices to offer You Here! Zhu Zhu Pets Stores NYC ? Discount Furniture Online | Modern Furniture Thousands of Discount Zhu Zhu Pets in our Furniture Stores at Affordable prices: Buying Cheap Discount Furniture for a new home today is one very big step.
Zhu Zhu Pets Massive Saving, Order Now! It is truly an amazing Zhu Zhu Pets.I highly recommend Zhu Zhu Pets for anyone.I absolutly love it!
We Compare and Choose Low Prices to offer You Here! Best Offers Today!

Visit: undefined

This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink.

Source: http://provokeimages.com/zhu-zhu-pets/

lindsey lohan reed hastings cujo hpv vaccine hurricane tracking hurricane tracking flat tax

Iolo System Mechanic 10.7


If sluggish PC performance is giving you the blues, you'd do well to invest in the $39.95 Iolo System Mechanic 10.7, a utility suite?designed to blow the virtual dust out of worn machines by repairing the registry, defragging the hard drive, and eliminating files that stymie snappy performance. Iolo System Mechanic 10.7 serves up a host of new features not present in previous builds we've reviewed, including Designated Drivers which manages drivers in an attempt to keep your PC problem free. All in all, Iolo System Mechanic remains one of the best PC tune-up utilities around, as it digs deep, cleans up PCs well, and offers informative, easy-to-understand help about the problems that plague computers.

System Requirements and Interface
Compatible with Windows 7, Vista, and XP PCs, Iolo System Mechanics 10 requires just 30MB of disk space, 256MB of RAM, and an Internet connection for activating the license.?Unlike most PC tune-up utilities such as TuneUp Utilities 2012 (4 stars, $49.95), which limit you on the number of licenses, Iolo System Mechanic 10.7 lets you install the software on any number of computers provided that it's not for business purposes?a welcome feature in the age of the multi-PC household.

The interface looks very similar to previous entries in the Iolo System Mechanic family with the familiar red-white-and-blue color scheme. Like the previous version of System Mechanic, this version has several options in the left pane (Overview, Problems, Automated Tasks, Anti-malware, Firewall, All-in-One Tools, Individual Tools) the content of which appears in the main pane when clicked.

Iolo System Mechanic 10.7 also installs a useful widget on the desktop that gives you at-a-glance PC health and security readings. From this widget, you can launch any number of Iolo System Mechanic 10.7's features to begin the clean up process.

The Clean Up Process
The Overview screen opens by default when the program is launched, and it's where the "Analyze Now" button lives. Clicking the arrow next to it opened drop-down box that presented two choices: "Perform Quick Analysis" and "Perform Deep Analysis." The former is a one- to two-minute scan that looks for the most common PC problems; the latter is a five- to seven-minute scan that checks for all problems. Considering the heavy use that our test laptop had received, I went with the second option. Approximately six minutes later finished the scan and uncovered over 2,000 problems.

Beneath the reading appeared a highlighted message: "Boost speed and stability by removing redundant programs with CRUDD Remover." CRUDD is Iolo's acronym for Commonly Redundant or Unnecessary Decelerators and Destabilizers?fancy talk for duplicate programs that clog your system. The idea behind CRUDD Remover is to eliminate those extra programs as each application install theoretically slows your PC's performance a bit. After running CRUDD Remover, 9 problems were detected on the PC, which were explained in wonderful detail on the "Problems" screen.

What I found truly cool was that Iolo System Mechanic 10 didn't just serve up a number?it provided blurbs that explained why these problems negatively impact performance. I checked off all nine problems, clicked the "Repair All" button, and performed the required reboot. Performing another deep scan revealed that all but one problem was fixed, and that straggler was one beyond Iolo System Mechanic 10.7's scope: No installed anti-malware program was detected on the system.

I also ran Iolo's patent-pending Program Accelerator, which smartly re-aligns all of a program's dependent files on the hard drive. It's touted as being better than disk defragmenters, which can blindly compact and separate files even more. Program Accelerator took approximately 15 minutes for to work its magic, and, when it was done, I discovered that it had re-aligned over 30,000 files and eliminated nearly 100 file fragments. Four further files were defragmented after a restart.

Performance Improvements
I tested Iolo System Mechanic 10.7's ability to whip a PC back into shape by performing three tests?running the Geekbench system performance tool, measuring boot times, and transferring a 1.1GB folder of mixed media to external storage?before and after running the software to compare the computer's potency. Each test was run three times and averaged. Before AVG PC Tuneup 2011 scrubbed the system, the 2-GHz Intel Core i7 X990 Style-Note notebook with 4GB of RAM, and an 80GB Intel SSD drive achieved a 5,903 Geekbench score, booted in 50.3 seconds, and transferred the 1.1GB folder in 40.5 seconds.

After using Iolo System Mechanic 10.7, the system saw the most improved performance of all the tune-up utilities tested: The GeekBench score rose to 6064 (better than TuneUp Utilities 2012's 6045); the boot time decreased to just 37.1 seconds (on a par with TuneUp Utilities 2012's 37 seconds). The file transfer speed dropped to 40.8 seconds (swifter than TuneUp Utilities 2012's 41.1 seconds).?The overall system performance was incredibly fast and snappy?windows and menus opened in a blink.

Designated Drivers and NetBooster
Designated Drivers, a new feature to version 10.7, helps you find and install safe drivers for your computer?drivers that have been tested and certified by Microsoft. I liked that this driver utility is a part of Iolo System Mechanic 10.7 and not a separate application (which is the case with SlimWare Utilities SlimCleaner and SlimWare Utilities DiverUpdate). Designated Drivers found two driver updates for my PC, but Slimware Utilities DriverUpdate found a whopping 74.

The NetBooster internet booster is designed to stabilize and speed up your internet connection by optimizing settings?Iolo states that it's beneficial to run it before playing Web-connected video games and assists in opening Web pages faster. Cracked.com loaded in 5.9 seconds before running NetBooster, which decreased slightly (after clearing the browser's Internet history, rebooting, and activating the tool) to 5.3 seconds?a marginal increase.

Should You Use Iolo System Mechanic 10.7?
The answer is a resounding yes. Iolo System Mechanic 10.7 has simple interface, easy-to-understand problem definitions, and a deep array of performance-enhancing tools that produce excellent all-around scores. Iolo System Mechanic remains the PC tune-up-utility champion.

More Utility Suites Reviews:
??? Iolo System Mechanic 10.7
??? Diskeeper 2011 Professional
??? Avanquest Fix-It Utilities 11 Professional
??? Norton Utilities
??? AVG PC Tuneup 2011
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/w-7L2zSR7ZE/0,2817,2371043,00.asp

breaking bad nancy shevell nancy shevell weezer weezer slavoj zizek paul mccartney

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Oops: Cancer drug Avastin found to increase cancer cells ...

And who wouldn?t pay $8,000 per month for that?

University of Michigan researchers report,

Cancer treatments designed to block the growth of blood vessels were found to increase the number of cancer stem cells in breast tumors in mice, suggesting a possible explanation for why these drugs don?t lead to longer survival, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The drugs Avastin and Sutent have been looked at as potential breast cancer treatments. But while they do shrink tumors and slow the time till the cancer progresses, the effect does not last, and the cancer eventually regrows and spreads.

?This study provides an explanation for the clinical trial results demonstrating that in women with breast cancer antiangiogenic agents such as Avastin delay the time to tumor recurrence but do not affect patient survival. If our results apply to the clinic, it suggests that in order to be effective, these agents will need to be combined with cancer stem cell inhibitors, an approach now being explored in the laboratory,? says study author Max S. Wicha, M.D., director of the U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center.

The researchers treated mice with breast cancer using Avastin (bevacizumab) and Sutent (sunitinib), both of which work by stopping the growth and formation of blood vessels, a process called angiogenesis. The researchers found that tumors treated with these drugs developed more cancer stem cells, the small number of cells within a tumor that fuel a cancer?s growth and spread and that are often resistant to standard treatment. Both the number of cancer stem cells and the percentage of cancer stem cells that make up the tumor increased after being treated with each of these therapies.

The researchers found that the cancer stem cells increased because of a cellular response to low oxygen, a condition called hypoxia. And they were able to determine the specific pathways involved in hypoxia that activate the cancer stem cells.

Results of the study appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.

We?ve always been suspicious of the Avastin hype. See:

  • Click here for the New York Times article from May 3, 1998 that got launched Avastin-hype.
  • Milloy S, Cancer Miracle or Mirage, FoxNews.com, June 6, 2003.

Click here for an FDA advisory panel?s recent nixing of Avastin for breast cancer.

Click for the study abstract.

Like this:

Be the first to like this post.

Source: http://junkscience.com/2012/01/25/oops-cancer-drug-avastin-found-to-increase-cancer-cells/

redacted redacted banned books 30 rock anna faris amanda knox latest news brass monkey

2 Positives From BNY Mellon's Otherwise Timid Quarter (The Motley Fool)

A risk-averse environment and lower trading levels resulted in mediocre results for U.S. trust banks. The largest of them all, Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK - News), recorded a 26% fall in fourth-quarter profits on account of lower fee revenues.

Weak economic conditions have definitely taken their toll as the demand for custody banks has dropped, and investment opportunities have been dismal because of historically low interest rates. However, there were reasons to smile as well.

The quarter that was
BNY Mellon's revenues for the quarter dropped 6% as fee revenue fell, reflecting lower volumes and depositary receipt revenues as well as higher money market fee waivers. Investment services fees fell 8% from the year-ago period, with investment management and performance fees falling 9% from last year.

Although net income tumbled 26% to $505 million, the results include a $107 million restructuring charge that dragged earnings per share down $0.06. Excluding that one-time item, the company earned $0.48, which was a tad less than last year's $0.54. So, the bank didn't do quite as badly as the headlines might suggest. In fact, there are two things that I liked about the quarter.

A couple of positives
BNY Mellon's asset management services seem to be making a return. Assets under management rose to $1.26 trillion, increasing 8% from the year-ago period and 5% sequentially. Similarly, assets under custody and administration rose 3% to $25.8 trillion compared with the same period last year, showing signs of new businesses flowing in. Although the flat asset-management fees are disappointing, the rise in AUC and AUM is definitely a plus and will help BNY Mellon improve its performance going forward.

The bank tried to counter the bleak top line growth by cutting costs. The restructuring may help the company save almost $700 million before taxes by 2015.

A hiccup, though...
One downer is the foreign-exchange-related lawsuit against BNY Mellon. But the latest is that BNY Mellon and the Justice Department have come to a partial settlement whereby the bank will furnish details of the way it derives currency exchange rates for its customers. This should provide some relief to investors, some of which claimed the bank had been ripping them off by giving them unfavorable rates.

A sturdy balance sheet and initiatives to improve efficiency and profitability are definitely two green flags for me and make BNY Mellon a stock to take note of. To stay up to date on all the top news and analysis on BNY Mellon, simply click here and add the stock to your own personalized Watchlist.

Fool contributor Shubh Datta doesn't own any shares in the companies listed above. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personalfinance/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/fool/20120124/bs_fool_fool/rx176091

teleprompter ashley greene mukesh ambani mukesh ambani bob harper x factor judges x factor judges

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Obama to take on economy in State of the Union (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Addressing a divided nation amid a determined GOP campaign to take his job, President Barack Obama is preparing to issue a populist cry for economic fairness as he aims to corral the sympathies of middle-class voters 10 months before Election Day.

Obama delivers his third State of the Union address Tuesday in a capital and country shot through with politics, with his re-election campaign well under way and his potential GOP opponents lobbing attacks against him daily as they scrap for the right to take him on.

Obama's 9 p.m. EST address to a joint session of Congress and millions of television viewers will be as much as anything an argument for his re-election, the president's biggest, best chance so far to offer a vision for a second term.

Senior political adviser David Plouffe said Tuesday morning the president is "happy to have a debate" about his performance.

Bill Galston, a former Clinton administration domestic policy adviser now at the Brookings Institution, said, "Almost by definition it's going to be at least as much a political speech as a governing speech."

"The president must run on his record," Galston said, "and that means talking candidly and persuasively with the country about the very distinctive nature of the challenges the American economy faced when he took office and what has gone right for the past three years, and what needs to be done in addition."

With economic anxiety showing through everywhere, the speech will focus on a vision for restoring the middle class, with Obama facing the tricky task of persuading voters to stick with him even as joblessness remains high at 8.5 percent. Obama can point to positive signs, including continued if sluggish growth; his argument will be that he is the one to restore economic equality for middle-class voters.

Implicit in the argument, even if he never names frontrunners Gingrich and Mitt Romney, is that they are on the other side.

Obama's speech will come as Gingrich and Romney have transformed the Republican campaign into a real contest ahead of Florida's crucial primary next week. And he'll be speaking on the same day that Romney, a multimillionaire, released his tax returns, offering a vivid illustration of wealth that could play into Obama's argument about the growing divide between rich and poor.

Asked in an interview Tuesday about Romney's relatively modest tax rate in the range of 15 percent, given that he's a multi-millionaire, Plouffe said, "We need to change our tax system. We need to change our tax code so that everybody is doing their fair share."

Obama will frame the campaign to come as a fight for fairness for those who are struggling to keep a job, a home or college savings and losing faith in how the country works.

The speech will feature the themes of manufacturing, clean energy, education and American values. The president is expected to urge higher taxes on the wealthy, propose ways to make college more affordable, offer new steps to tackle a debilitating housing crisis and push to help U.S. manufacturers expand hiring.

Aides said the president would also outline more specifics about the so-called "Buffett Rule", which Obama has previously said would establish a minimum tax on people making $1 million or more in income. The rule was named after billionaire Warren Buffett, who has said it is unfair that his secretary pays a higher tax rate than he does.

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said on Twitter Tuesday that Buffett's secretary, Debbie Bosanek, would attend the State of the Union in the first lady's box.

Even before Obama delivered his speech, Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, said he already felt "a sense of disappointment."

"While we don't yet know all of the specifics, we do know the goal," he said. "Based on what the president's aides have been telling reporters, the goal isn't to conquer the nation's problems. It's to conquer Republicans. The goal isn't to prevent gridlock, but to guarantee it."

For three days following his speech, Obama will promote his ideas in five states key to his re-election bid. On Wednesday he'll visit Iowa and Arizona to promote ideas to boost American manufacturing; on Thursday in Nevada and Colorado he'll discuss energy; and in Michigan Friday he'll talk about college affordability, education and training. Polling shows Americans are divided about Obama's overall job performance but unsatisfied with his handling of the economy.

The lines of argument between Obama and his rivals are already stark, with America's economic insecurity and the role of government at the center.

The president has offered signals about his speech, telling campaign supporters he wants an economy "that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few." Gingrich, on the other hand, calls Obama "the most effective food stamp president in history." Romney says Obama "wants to turn America into a European-style entitlement society."

Obama will make bipartisan overtures to lawmakers but will leave little doubt he will act without their help when it's necessary and possible, an approach his aides say has let him stay on offense.

The public is more concerned about domestic troubles over foreign policy than at any other time in the past 15 years, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center. Some 81 percent want Obama to focus his speech on domestic affairs, not foreign ones; just five years ago, the view was evenly split.

On the day before Obama's speech, his campaign released a short Web ad showing monthly job losses during the end of the Bush administration and the beginning of the Obama administration, with positive job growth for nearly two Obama years. Republicans assail him for failing to achieve a lot more.

House Speaker John Boehner, responding to reports of Obama's speech themes, said it was a rehash of unhelpful policies. "It's pathetic," he said.

Presidential spokesman Jay Carney said Monday that Obama is not conceding the next 10 months to "campaigning alone" when people need economic help. On the goals of helping people get a fair shot, Carney said, "There's ample room within those boundaries for bipartisan cooperation and for getting this done."

Plouffe appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America" and was interviewed on NBC's "Today" show and "CBS This Morning."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Julie Pace contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union

blago mumia abu jamal mumia abu jamal pearl harbor alec baldwin alec baldwin rock and roll hall of fame

Mourinho won't punish Pepe for Messi hand stamp

Lionel Messi

updated 10:18 a.m. ET Jan. 21, 2012

MADRID - Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho will not punish Pepe for stomping on the hand of Barcelona's Lionel Messi, saying that the defender's apology was sufficient.

The Portuguese manager said Saturday "the player has spoken and that is enough" after including Pepe in his squad for Sunday's home game against Athletic Bilbao.

Real Madrid lost 2-1 Wednesday to Barcelona in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal. Mourinho said after the game if Pepe had stepped on Messi's hand intentionally it would be "punishable."

The following day Pepe issued a statement on Madrid's website saying the stomp was "unintentional."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


advertisement

More news
Balotelli lifts Man City

??Mario Balotelli scored a stoppage-time penalty kick Sunday to give first-place Manchester City a 3-2 victory over Premier League title rival Tottenham.

Getty Images
Hat trick

Clint Dempsey became the first American to score a hat trick in England's Premier League, helping Fulham rally from a halftime deficit to rout Newcastle 5-2 Saturday.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46081974/ns/sports-soccer/

top model all stars americas next top model mark buehrle mark buehrle rick perry ad rick perry ad dragnet

Monday, January 23, 2012

Gaddafi supporters seize control of Libyan town (Reuters)

TRIPOLI (Reuters) ? Fighters loyal to Libya's overthrown leader Muammar Gaddafi took control of a town south-east of the capital on Monday, flying their green flags in defiance of the country's fragile new government.

The fightback by Gaddafi supporters defeated in Libya's civil war, though unlikely to spread elsewhere, added to the problems besetting a government which in the past week has been reeling from one crisis to another. Gaddafi himself was captured and killed in October after weeks on the run.

Accounts from the town of Bani Walid, about 200 km (120 miles) from Tripoli, described armed Gaddafi supporters attacking the barracks of the pro-government militia in the town and then forcing them to fall back.

"They control the town now. They are roaming the town," said a fighter with the 28th May militia, loyal to Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC), which came under attack.

The fighter told Reuters the loyalists were flying "brand new green flags" from the centre of town. The flags were symbols of Gaddafi's 42-year rule.

A resident said four people were killed and 20 wounded in the fighting, during which the sides used heavy weapons.

Bani Walid, base of the powerful Warfallah tribe, was one of the last towns to surrender to the anti-Gaddafi rebellion last year. Many people there oppose the new leadership.

A Libyan air official said war planes were being mobilized to fly to Bani Walid. But it was not immediately clear what the government in Tripoli could do. It has yet to demonstrate that it has an effective fighting force under its command and Bani Walid, protected behind a deep valley, is difficult to attack.

EMBATTLED GOVERNMENT

The uprising in Bani Walid could not come at a worse time for the NTC. In the past week its chief has had his office overrun by protesters angry at the slow pace of reform and the second most senior official has quit, citing what he described as an "atmosphere of hatred."

During Libya's nine-month war, anti-Gaddafi rebels tried to take Bani Walid but did not progress much beyond the outskirts of the town. It later emerged that Saif al-Islam, one of Muammar Gaddafi's sons who was captured in the Sahara desert in November, had been using Bani Walid as a base.

Soon before the end of the conflict, with Gaddafi's defeat unavoidable, local tribal elders negotiated an agreement under which forces loyal to the NTC were able to enter the town without a fight.

Relations have been uneasy since then and there have been occasional flare-ups of violence.

The resident, who did not want to be identified, said Monday's violence began when members of the May 28 militia arrested some Gaddafi loyalists.

That prompted other supporters of the former leader to attack the militia's garrison.

"They massacred men at the doors of the militia headquarters," said the resident.

FRAGILE GRIP ON POWER

The NTC still has the backing of the NATO powers who, with their diplomatic pressure and bombing campaign, helped push out Gaddafi and install the new government.

But questions are now being raised inside some Western governments about the NTC's ability to govern Libya effectively and secure its borders against al Qaeda, arms traffickers and illegal migrants trying to get into Europe.

The NTC was pitched into its worst crisis since the end of the civil war at the weekend when a crowd of protesters in the eastern city of Benghazi stormed the council's local headquarters when NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil was inside.

The protesters, who supported the revolt against Gaddafi, were angry that more progress had not been made to restore basic public services. They also said many of the NTC's members were tarnished by having served in Gaddafi's administration.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, deputy head of the NTC and target of some of the protests, said he was resigning. Abdel Jalil warned that the protests could drag the country into a "bottomless pit."

(Additional reporting by Ali Shuaib; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_libya_fighting

robert kardashian chicago weather forecast one tree hill chelsea handler weather st louis faceoff kings island

Economics and Investing: - SurvivalBlog.com

Jim T. suggested a good piece by Thorsten Polleit: How Deflationary Forces Will Be Turned into Inflation

AmEx (American Expat) sent us this: Local currencies: 'In the U.S. we don't trust'

The FDIC Friday Follies have resumed: Banks closed in Georgia, Florida, Pennsylvania; first failures of 2012

A reader in Manitoba wrote ask me about possible trigger dates for a financial panic. I told her that a key date is March 15, 2012. That is the day that the Greek government must either cough up the cash, or admit default. Fitch seems to consider Greek default almost a certainty.

Items from The Economatrix:

World Bank Cuts Economic Outlook, Says Europe in Recession, Warns Developing Countries to "Prepare For The Worst"

Silver to Explode Upward

Wall Street Rises On Bank Results, But Google Sinks Late

12 Things To Keep In A Safe At Home, Not In A Bank

Oil Above $101 On Hopes IMF To Curb Europe Crisis

Source: http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/01/economics_and_investing_1060.html

gears of war 3 release date up all night dr. oz lingual braces joe mcginniss joan crawford joan crawford

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Grab a 32GB Acer Iconia A500 for just $299 at Woot

Acer Iconia

I'm a sucker for daily deals sites, and had to pass this one along.  A 32GB Acer Iconia A500 (one of our top picks of last year) for just under $300 bucks is nothing to sneeze at.  We know the next generations of tablets and quad-core is coming soon, but the A500 is still a hell of a tablet and this is a hell of a price.  If you're in the market for a new tablet, or just want to window-shop, head over to Woot and have a look-see.

Source: Woot!



Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/wOw2MGYAKLs/story01.htm

air jordans pecan pie recipe prince philip david wright sugar cookie recipe sugar cookie recipe robert deniro

Gunmen kill 4 members of Iraqi security forces (AP)

BAGHDAD ? Gunmen killed two Iraqi soldiers and two police officers in a series of shootings on Saturday, officials said, in the latest attacks amid an escalating political crisis.

Suspected Sunni insurgents have frequently targeted Iraqi security forces to undermine public confidence in the Shiite-dominated government and its efforts to protect people. But the country is in the grips of a political crisis pitting the government against the largest Sunni-backed bloc, which has fueled fears that an ongoing spike in violence targeting primarily Shiites could nudge the country back toward sectarian conflict.

The two soldiers were killed when assailants fired on an Iraqi military patrol in the former al-Qaida stronghold city of Fallujah, according to police officials in the city some 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. Fallujah hospital officials confirmed the death toll.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters.

Another attack took place in the predominantly Sunni town of Hawija, a former insurgent stronghold located 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad, when gunmen opened fire on the house of a police officer, killing one of his guards, said Brig. Gen. Sarhad Qadir.

Qadir, the police commander in the nearby city of Kirkuk, said the officer was unharmed in the attack.

In Baghdad, gunmen also killed a police officer late Saturday in a drive-by shooting, police and hospital officials said on condition of anonymity.

A wave of bombing attacks has killed at least 160 people ? most of them Shiite ? since the last American troops withdrew from Iraq in December.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

bristol palin bethenny frankel orlando brown orlando brown benjamin netanyahu prospect park no child left behind

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Amazon's India launch may be limited: report (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Amazon.com Inc's highly anticipated entrance into India's retail market may be limited to operating an online marketplace for other merchants, the Times of India reported Thursday.

The world's largest Internet retailer may launch Amazon Marketplace, an online platform that will connect shoppers with third-party retailers -- similar to rival eBay Inc's approach, the newspaper said.

The company could be in India by the first or second week of February, the newspaper added, citing unidentified people familiar with Amazon's plans. An Amazon representative did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

Amazon is stepping up its international expansion as the company tries to maintain the torrid rate of growth of recent years. India, with more than 1 billion people and a fast-growing economy, would be an attractive location for the Seattle-based company.

Restrictions on overseas multi-brand retailers now effectively exclude giants like Wal-Mart Stores and Amazon from the $550 billion Indian retail market.

"There's the regulatory handicap that Amazon has to work around," said Scott Tilghman, an analyst at Caris & Company.

Some restrictions on foreign direct investment in India's retail market were lifted recently, and there may be more curbs loosened, the analyst said.

Entering India with an online marketplace or "aggregator" approach will help Amazon "get their feet wet and keep their eyes and ears on the ground," Tilghman said.

Amazon has a thriving online marketplace in the United States and other countries that accounts for about 40 percent of the company's revenue, Tilghman estimated.

Rolling this out in India will get Amazon into the country, without some of the higher costs associated with opening a full retail operation, Tilghman said.

"It takes some of the pressure off by lowering the bar considerably on the financial commitment involved in entering that market," the analyst said. "They can rely more heavily on individual retailers that are already there."

Amazon shares were up 2.2 percent at $193.59 on Thursday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr in San Francisco)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/wr_nm/us_amazon_india

hurricane tracking flat tax flat tax divine bettie page harry caray northern lights

Ex-UK official: Spies did use fake rock in Moscow (AP)

LONDON ? It was the spy saga that sounded too implausible to be true ? British intelligence officers communicating with Russian agents using equipment hidden inside a fake rock left in a Moscow park.

Now Tony Blair's ex-chief of staff Jonathan Powell has acknowledged that Russia's accusations against Britain over the 2006 affair were correct, the first official acknowledgment of the espionage plot that soured ties between London and the Kremlin.

At the time, Russian state television broadcast footage which appeared to show four British officials placing or retrieving the fake rock, and exposed the sophisticated communications equipment inside the plastic boulder.

Blair ? then the British prime minister ? declined to comment on the issue and Britain's government has never confirmed the Russian allegations, citing a long standing policy not to discuss intelligence issues.

Powell, however, told the BBC in a documentary broadcast Thursday that British spies had been caught red handed.

"There's not much you can say, you can't really call up and say 'I'm terribly sorry about that, it won't happen again'. I mean, they had us bang to rights," said Powell, Blair's chief of staff throughout his decade in office.

Moscow said British officials and their Russia contacts had used pocket-sized computers to download data to and from a gadget hidden in the rock as they walked past it, a process which worked at a distance of up to 20 meters (65 feet) and took only one or two seconds.

Russia's then President Vladimir Putin chose not to expel the British diplomats involved ? the usual practice when officials are exposed as spies ? claiming that Britain would only send more capable officers to replace them.

"Let's suppose we expel these spies, others will come and they may be smart," Putin said.

Russia instead used the plot to justify new restrictions on non-governmental organizations, accusing Britain of offering funds to human rights groups in an attempt to stir discontent.

Powell said he believed that Russia timed its exposure of the fake rock saga to crackdown on Kremlin critics.

"Clearly they'd known about it for some time and were saving it up for a political purpose," he said.

Tony Brenton, the British ambassador to Moscow in 2006, said "the Russians chose their time carefully and it was politically very damaging."

He said the dispute marked the start of a dramatic disintegration of ties between London and Moscow ? diplomats were intimidated, British energy companies targeted with lawsuits, and dissident ex-Russian security official Alexander Litvinenko died after being poisoned in London.

"It led us down the route that led us to the Litvinenko murder, to various acts against me personally and to attacks on BP and Shell. We were on a downward gradient in UK-Russian relations at the time," he told BBC radio.

In a first visit to Moscow as British leader in September, Prime Minister David Cameron insisted the UK and Russia must improve their relations and nurture new trading ties.

"The fact is that the two governments don't agree" over Litvinenko's killing, Cameron said. "I don't think that means that we should freeze the entire relationship."

Britain's Foreign Office, responsible for the overseas MI6 spy agency, declined to comment on Powell's remarks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_russia_spying

consumer financial protection bureau casey anthony video recess appointment eastman kodak eastman kodak richard cordray shannon de lima

Friday, January 20, 2012

Duration of RBC storage does not affect short-term pulmonary, immunologic, or coagulation status

Duration of RBC storage does not affect short-term pulmonary, immunologic, or coagulation status [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 20-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nathaniel Dunford
ndunford@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society

There is no difference in early measures of pulmonary function, immunologic status or coagulation status after fresh versus standard issue single-unit red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic.

"Longer duration of RBC storage is thought to increase the risk of transfusion-related pulmonary complications," said Daryl J. Kor, assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. "In our study of 100 intubated, mechanically ventilated patients, we did not see evidence for an increased risk associated with RBC storage duration, at least not in the early post-transfusion period."

The findings were published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In the double-blind trial, 50 patients were randomized to receive fresh (median storage duration = 4.0 days) RBC and 50 were randomized to receive standard issue RBC (median storage duration = 26.5 days). The primary outcome measure was change in pulmonary gas exchange, as measured by the partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen concentration ratio (?PaO2/FiO2). Post-transfusion measurements were performed upon completion of the transfusion and within two hours of the transfusion (median 1.9 hours in the fresh RBC group and 1.8 hours in the standard issue RBC group).

No significant differences between groupswere seen in the primary outcome measure of change in PaO2/FiO2 ratio (2.5 +/- 49.3 vs. -9.0 +/- 69.8; fresh RBC vs. standard issue RBC; p = 0.22). Similarly, no significant differences were seen for any of the other outcome measures of pulmonary function (fraction of dead space ventilation, dynamic and static pulmonary compliance), immunologic status (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-8, C-reactive protein) or coagulation status (fibrinogen, anti-thrombin consumption).

"Our data do not support a significant effect of RBC storage duration on respiratory, immunologic or coagulation parameters in the immediate post-transfusion period," said Dr. Kor. "Previous observational studies linking RBC storage duration and respiratory complications may have suffered from bias and unmeasured confounding, which were more effectively addressed in our double-blind, randomized trial study design."

The study did have some limitations, including the short duration of follow-up, the study's limited sample size and the single center, tertiary-care setting, which may limit the generalizability of the results.

"Given the lack of an association between RBC storage duration and evidence of transfusion-related pulmonary complications in our study, randomization to fresh versus longer storage duration RBC in clinical trials would clearly seem ethical," said Dr. Kor. "Further study will need to clarify the impact of RBC storage duration on other patient-centered outcomes."

###

About the American Journal of Respiratory Research and Critical Care Medicine:

With an impact factor of 10.191, the AJRRCM is a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Thoracic Society.It aims to publish the most innovative science and the highest quality reviews, practice guidelines and statements in the pulmonary, critical care and sleep-related fields.

Founded in 1905, the American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The Society's 15,000 members prevent and fight respiratory disease around the globe through research, education, patient care and advocacy.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Duration of RBC storage does not affect short-term pulmonary, immunologic, or coagulation status [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 20-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Nathaniel Dunford
ndunford@thoracic.org
212-315-8620
American Thoracic Society

There is no difference in early measures of pulmonary function, immunologic status or coagulation status after fresh versus standard issue single-unit red blood cell (RBC) transfusion, according to a new study from the Mayo Clinic.

"Longer duration of RBC storage is thought to increase the risk of transfusion-related pulmonary complications," said Daryl J. Kor, assistant professor of anesthesiology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. "In our study of 100 intubated, mechanically ventilated patients, we did not see evidence for an increased risk associated with RBC storage duration, at least not in the early post-transfusion period."

The findings were published online ahead of print publication in the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

In the double-blind trial, 50 patients were randomized to receive fresh (median storage duration = 4.0 days) RBC and 50 were randomized to receive standard issue RBC (median storage duration = 26.5 days). The primary outcome measure was change in pulmonary gas exchange, as measured by the partial pressure of arterial oxygen to fraction of inspired oxygen concentration ratio (?PaO2/FiO2). Post-transfusion measurements were performed upon completion of the transfusion and within two hours of the transfusion (median 1.9 hours in the fresh RBC group and 1.8 hours in the standard issue RBC group).

No significant differences between groupswere seen in the primary outcome measure of change in PaO2/FiO2 ratio (2.5 +/- 49.3 vs. -9.0 +/- 69.8; fresh RBC vs. standard issue RBC; p = 0.22). Similarly, no significant differences were seen for any of the other outcome measures of pulmonary function (fraction of dead space ventilation, dynamic and static pulmonary compliance), immunologic status (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-8, C-reactive protein) or coagulation status (fibrinogen, anti-thrombin consumption).

"Our data do not support a significant effect of RBC storage duration on respiratory, immunologic or coagulation parameters in the immediate post-transfusion period," said Dr. Kor. "Previous observational studies linking RBC storage duration and respiratory complications may have suffered from bias and unmeasured confounding, which were more effectively addressed in our double-blind, randomized trial study design."

The study did have some limitations, including the short duration of follow-up, the study's limited sample size and the single center, tertiary-care setting, which may limit the generalizability of the results.

"Given the lack of an association between RBC storage duration and evidence of transfusion-related pulmonary complications in our study, randomization to fresh versus longer storage duration RBC in clinical trials would clearly seem ethical," said Dr. Kor. "Further study will need to clarify the impact of RBC storage duration on other patient-centered outcomes."

###

About the American Journal of Respiratory Research and Critical Care Medicine:

With an impact factor of 10.191, the AJRRCM is a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Thoracic Society.It aims to publish the most innovative science and the highest quality reviews, practice guidelines and statements in the pulmonary, critical care and sleep-related fields.

Founded in 1905, the American Thoracic Society is the world's leading medical association dedicated to advancing pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. The Society's 15,000 members prevent and fight respiratory disease around the globe through research, education, patient care and advocacy.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ats-dor011712.php

ua ua weeds chicago weather newt gingrich elizabeth banks

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Prez Primary Heats Up South Florida Politics

Getty Images

Republican presidential candidates from left to right: Texas Gov. Rick Perry, for U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul.

Florida politics heat up as Republicans will select their presidential candidate in just 14 days.
?? ?
The five Republican candidates squared off in a feisty debate in South Carolina last night with Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney trading barbs over super PAC TV commercials.

"Well, this is typical of what both Senator Santorum and I have complained about with Governor Romney's super PAC ? over which he apparently has no influence, which makes you wonder how much influence he'd have if he were president," Gingrich said.
?
Romney also spoke of his dissatisfaction with the PAC commercials.
?
"We all would like to have super PACs disappear, to tell you the truth ... but you know what? This campaign is not about ads, it's about issues," Romney said.
?
The former Massachusetts governor and former House speaker lead the field in Florida.
?
Romney is the only candidate running commercials in South Florida. His political machine is organized here.
? ?
Fort Lauderdale attorney and Romney's statewide co-chairman, Justin Sayfie, says early and absentee voting have been the campaign's focus.
?
More than 400,000 Florida republicans have requested absentee ballots, according to Sayfie.
?
"Over 100,000 Republican voters have already voted, have already cast their ballots for who they want to be the presidential nominee," Sayfie said.
? ?
Gingrich has also had a presence in South Florida, making an appearance in Little Havana last week.
? ?
His Florida campaign director, Jose Mallea, told NBC Miami that Gingrich supporters are energized after his performance in last night's debate.
?
"We're starting to hear from a lot of people that were undecided, whether it's Tea Party leaders or just volunteers and just voters, saying after last night, 'we feel strongly this is the right candidate,'" Mallea said.
?
Romney enjoys a sizeable 41 percent to 26 percent lead over Gingrich in the latest Florida public policy polling survey. Eleven percent of those polled support former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. Texas Congressman Ron Paul garners 10 percent, while Texas Governor Rick Perry rounds out the field with 4 percent.

Posted Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012 - 6:53 PM EST

Source: http://feeds.nbcmiami.com/click.phdo?i=905ec93ed5961bdd43a522f1573b2d07

election results 2011 election results 2011 board of elections board of elections senate bill 5 senate bill 5 joe paterno press conference