MADRID, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi has rarely been accused of failing to deliver in big games, having scored in two European Cup finals, but after subdued performances against AC Milan and Real Madrid, questions are being asked. The four-times World Player of the Year and leading scorer in one of the greatest club teams of all time, was a shadow of his usual self at the San Siro in a Champions League last-16 first leg last week, when Barcelona slumped to a 2-0 defeat. ...
ACC/HRS release appropriate use criteria for ICDs and CRTPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Cagan rcagan@acc.org 202-375-6395 American College of Cardiology
Document examines potential clinical scenarios to support physician decision making
WASHINGTON (Feb. 28, 2013) The American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society, along with key specialty societies, today released appropriate use criteria for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The document provides assessed levels of appropriateness for implanting the devices in 369 real-life clinical scenarios, with the goal of enhancing physician and patient decision making and improving care and health outcomes.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are devices that monitor the heart's rhythms and correct arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) by providing electrical pulses to the heart. By immediately responding to any abnormal rhythm, ICDs help prevent sudden cardiac death. Cardiac resynchronization therapy uses an implantable device to synchronize the beating of the heart's left and right ventricles. This improves the heart's efficiency and reduces its stress. While both ICDs and CRT have expanded treatment options for cardiac patients, the ACC and HRS examined their use as part of an ongoing effort to critically and systematically review the diagnostic tests and procedures involved in cardiovascular care.
The criteria focus on scenarios that were derived from physician experience, clinical practice guidelines, and results of studies examining device implantation. The scenarios identify "real life" clinical situations encountered in daily practice. These clinical presentations include patients that may not be specifically covered by clinical guidelines, which the organizations hope will provide valuable assistance for decision making by physicians and patients.
"The goal of this document is to help inform medical decisions and assist clinicians and stakeholders in understanding areas of both consensus and uncertainty, while identifying areas where there are gaps in knowledge that warrant further research," noted Dr. Andrea M. Russo, writing committee co-chair and Director of Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services at Cooper University Hospital.
The scenarios cover six areas: ICDs for secondary prevention, ICDs for primary prevention, comorbidities, CRT devices, generator replacement, and dual- versus single-chamber ICDs.
A 10-member writing committee drafted the scenarios, while a separate technical panel rated each on a numerical scale as "Appropriate" (median 7 to 9), "May Be Appropriate" (median 4 to 6), or "Rarely Appropriate" (median 1 to 3). Of the 369 scenarios, 45% were deemed Appropriate, 33% were rated May Be Appropriate, and 22% were determined Rarely Appropriate.
The writing committee stated that the appropriate use criteria can help inform the decision making process but should not be used as a substitute for careful clinical judgment and clinical practice experience nor current coverage and reimbursement policies.
"The decision to implant an ICD or CRT device is often complex, based on clinical evidence and clinical judgment, while taking into account comorbidities and other individual patient factors," said Russo. "While this document was designed to help inform clinical decision making, it does not establish 'rules' by which decisions should be made in clinical practice. Healthcare providers and other stakeholders should continue to acknowledge the pivotal role of clinical judgment in determining whether device implantation is indicated for an individual patient."
Russo added that the appropriate use criteria "can also be used to create algorithms or educational tools that help identify resource utilization or variations in care." These tools can be used at the point of caresuch as hospitals or physician officeswhere utilization decisions are made. Data generated from these tools or collected in registries can be used to identify the patient mix for these procedures for individual institutions. This information can then be used for benchmarking over time and for comparison to other organizations.
###
The work of the writing committee and technical panel was supported exclusively by the ACCF, the HRS, and the other partnering societies without commercial support. All members were required to disclose industry relationships, which were reviewed by the Appropriate Use Criteria Task Force.
The ACCF/HRS/AGS/AHA/ASE/HFSA/SCAI/SCCT/SCMR 2013 Appropriate Use Criteria for Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy is published on the websites of both the ACC and the HRS and will be published in the Mar. 26, 2013 print issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
About the American College of Cardiology
The mission of the American College of Cardiology is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The College is a 43,000-member medical society comprised of physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The ACC provides professional education, operates national registries to measure and improve quality of care, disseminates cardiovascular research, and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit www.cardiosource.org/ACC.
About the Heart Rhythm Society
The Heart Rhythm Society is the international leader in science, education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, and the primary information resource on heart rhythm disorders. Its mission is to improve the care of patients by promoting research, education and optimal health care policies and standards. Incorporated in 1979 and based in Washington, DC, it has a membership of more than 5,800 heart rhythm professionals in more than 72 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.HRSonline.org, voted 2012's "Best in Class" website for a nonprofit by the Interactive Media Council.
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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.
ACC/HRS release appropriate use criteria for ICDs and CRTPublic release date: 28-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Rachel Cagan rcagan@acc.org 202-375-6395 American College of Cardiology
Document examines potential clinical scenarios to support physician decision making
WASHINGTON (Feb. 28, 2013) The American College of Cardiology and the Heart Rhythm Society, along with key specialty societies, today released appropriate use criteria for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). The document provides assessed levels of appropriateness for implanting the devices in 369 real-life clinical scenarios, with the goal of enhancing physician and patient decision making and improving care and health outcomes.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators are devices that monitor the heart's rhythms and correct arrhythmias (abnormal heartbeats) by providing electrical pulses to the heart. By immediately responding to any abnormal rhythm, ICDs help prevent sudden cardiac death. Cardiac resynchronization therapy uses an implantable device to synchronize the beating of the heart's left and right ventricles. This improves the heart's efficiency and reduces its stress. While both ICDs and CRT have expanded treatment options for cardiac patients, the ACC and HRS examined their use as part of an ongoing effort to critically and systematically review the diagnostic tests and procedures involved in cardiovascular care.
The criteria focus on scenarios that were derived from physician experience, clinical practice guidelines, and results of studies examining device implantation. The scenarios identify "real life" clinical situations encountered in daily practice. These clinical presentations include patients that may not be specifically covered by clinical guidelines, which the organizations hope will provide valuable assistance for decision making by physicians and patients.
"The goal of this document is to help inform medical decisions and assist clinicians and stakeholders in understanding areas of both consensus and uncertainty, while identifying areas where there are gaps in knowledge that warrant further research," noted Dr. Andrea M. Russo, writing committee co-chair and Director of Electrophysiology and Arrhythmia Services at Cooper University Hospital.
The scenarios cover six areas: ICDs for secondary prevention, ICDs for primary prevention, comorbidities, CRT devices, generator replacement, and dual- versus single-chamber ICDs.
A 10-member writing committee drafted the scenarios, while a separate technical panel rated each on a numerical scale as "Appropriate" (median 7 to 9), "May Be Appropriate" (median 4 to 6), or "Rarely Appropriate" (median 1 to 3). Of the 369 scenarios, 45% were deemed Appropriate, 33% were rated May Be Appropriate, and 22% were determined Rarely Appropriate.
The writing committee stated that the appropriate use criteria can help inform the decision making process but should not be used as a substitute for careful clinical judgment and clinical practice experience nor current coverage and reimbursement policies.
"The decision to implant an ICD or CRT device is often complex, based on clinical evidence and clinical judgment, while taking into account comorbidities and other individual patient factors," said Russo. "While this document was designed to help inform clinical decision making, it does not establish 'rules' by which decisions should be made in clinical practice. Healthcare providers and other stakeholders should continue to acknowledge the pivotal role of clinical judgment in determining whether device implantation is indicated for an individual patient."
Russo added that the appropriate use criteria "can also be used to create algorithms or educational tools that help identify resource utilization or variations in care." These tools can be used at the point of caresuch as hospitals or physician officeswhere utilization decisions are made. Data generated from these tools or collected in registries can be used to identify the patient mix for these procedures for individual institutions. This information can then be used for benchmarking over time and for comparison to other organizations.
###
The work of the writing committee and technical panel was supported exclusively by the ACCF, the HRS, and the other partnering societies without commercial support. All members were required to disclose industry relationships, which were reviewed by the Appropriate Use Criteria Task Force.
The ACCF/HRS/AGS/AHA/ASE/HFSA/SCAI/SCCT/SCMR 2013 Appropriate Use Criteria for Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy is published on the websites of both the ACC and the HRS and will be published in the Mar. 26, 2013 print issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
About the American College of Cardiology
The mission of the American College of Cardiology is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The College is a 43,000-member medical society comprised of physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards and guidelines. The ACC provides professional education, operates national registries to measure and improve quality of care, disseminates cardiovascular research, and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more information, visit www.cardiosource.org/ACC.
About the Heart Rhythm Society
The Heart Rhythm Society is the international leader in science, education and advocacy for cardiac arrhythmia professionals and patients, and the primary information resource on heart rhythm disorders. Its mission is to improve the care of patients by promoting research, education and optimal health care policies and standards. Incorporated in 1979 and based in Washington, DC, it has a membership of more than 5,800 heart rhythm professionals in more than 72 countries around the world. For more information, visit www.HRSonline.org, voted 2012's "Best in Class" website for a nonprofit by the Interactive Media Council.
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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.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. economy barely grew in the fourth quarter although a slightly better performance in exports and fewer imports led the government to scratch an earlier estimate that showed an economic contraction.
Another report on Thursday showed a drop in new claims for unemployment benefits last week, adding to a string of data that suggests the economy improved early this year.
Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said, missing the 0.5 percent gain forecast by analysts in a Reuters poll.
The growth rate was the slowest since the first quarter of 2011 and far from what is needed to fuel a faster drop in the unemployment rate.
Still, much of the weakness came from a slowdown in inventory accumulation and a sharp drop in military spending. These factors are expected to reverse in the first quarter.
"The breakdown remains consistent with more positive future growth," TD Securities said in a note to clients.
Consumer spending was more robust by comparison, although it only expanded at a 2.1 percent annual rate.
Because household spending powers about 70 percent of national output, this still-lackluster pace of growth suggests underlying momentum in the economy was quite modest as it entered the first quarter, when significant fiscal tightening began.
However, data on retail sales and from the housing market has suggested a tax hike enacted in January did not deal a big blow to households. Incomes have grown for U.S. families who have also made inroads in reducing their debt burdens.
Most economists think economic growth will pick up substantially by the end of the year although a wave of federal spending cuts due to begin on Friday are also expected to dampen economic growth in the first half of the year.
Some investors were disappointed by the fourth-quarter GDP reading, and U.S. stock index futures briefly turned negative after the data. Treasuries held onto early gains. The dollar edged lower against the euro and the yen.
"The fact that we only eked into positive growth in Q4 will do little to instill optimism in the pace of the recovery," said Omer Esiner, an analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange.
Initially, the government had estimated the economy shrank at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the last three months of 2012. That had shocked economists.
Thursday's report showed the factors holding back the economy were mostly as initially estimated.
Inventories subtracted 1.55 percentage points from the GDP growth rate during the period, a little more of a drag than initially estimated. Defense spending plunged 22 percent, shaving 1.28 points off growth as in the previous estimate.
There were some relatively bright spots, however. Imports fell 4.5 percent during the period, which added to the overall growth rate because it was a larger drop than in the third quarter. Buying goods from foreigners bleeds money from the economy, subtracting from economic growth.
Also helping reverse the initial view of an economic contraction, exports did not fall as much during the period as the government had thought when it released its advance GDP estimate in January. Exports have been hampered by a recession in Europe, a cooling Chinese economy and storm-related port disruptions.
Excluding the volatile inventories component, GDP rose at a revised 1.7 percent rate, in line with expectations. These final sales of goods and services had been previously estimated to have increased at a 1.1 percent pace.
Business spending was revised to show more growth during the period than initially thought, adding about a percentage point to the growth rate.
Growth in home building was revised slightly higher to show a 17.5 percent annual rate. Residential construction is one of the brighter spots in the economy and is benefiting from the Federal Reserve's ultra-easy monetary policy stance, which has driven mortgage rates to record lows.
JOBLESS CLAIMS FALL
A separate report showed the number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits fell more than expected last week, suggesting some traction in the labor market recovery.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 22,000 to a seasonally adjusted 344,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's claims figure was revised to show 4,000 more applications received than previously reported.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected first-time applications to fall to 360,000.
A Labor Department analyst said no states were estimated.
While the level of jobless claims is near where it was in the early days of the 2007-09 recession, hiring has remained quite lackluster. Job gains have averaged 177,000 per month over the past six months.
The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 7.9 percent in January. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Wednesday the jobless rate was unlikely to reach more normal levels for several years.
High unemployment prompted the U.S. central bank last year to launch an open-ended bond buying program that it said it would keep up until it saw a substantial improvement in the outlook for the labor market.
(Additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
The recent run-up in gasoline prices has some economists ? including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke ? worried about the impact on consumer spending and the economy.
It?s a perennial concern. When gas prices spike, as they have done in the past few weeks, the extra money you pay at the pump forces you to cut spending on other things. That takes a bite out of overall consumer spending, which fuels roughly 70 percent of the U.S. economy. Slower spending means slower growth.
But the longer-term impact is not as great as some forecasters would have you believe. Here?s why:
Why is Chairman Bernanke soworried?
He?s concerned mostly because the economy isn?t growing as fast as it should be this far into an economic recovery. For reasons that most economists believe are temporary, the U.S. gross domestic product ground to a screeching halt in the last three months of last year. Bernanke and his Fed policy colleagues have been doing everything they can to get the economy moving ahead. But unemployment remains stubbornly high and near-zero interest rates don?t seem to be working.
In his Congressional testimony Tuesday on the state of the economy, Bernanke worried out loud that one reason for the slow growth is that higher gasoline prices ?are hitting family budgets.?
So how hard do budgets get hit by higher gas prices?
In the short term, gas price spikes can have an bigger impact than they should, largely because gasoline is one of the few commodity prices consumers track so closely. (Quick: how much does a loaf of bread cost at your local grocery store?)
An opinion poll conducted last week by the National Association of Convenience Stores found that 44 percent of consumers said that gas prices have a "great impact" in how they feel about the economy, up from the 38 percent who felt that way in January.
See? Bernanke?s right.
In the short-run, yes, a gas price spike can slow the economy ? a little. But over the long run, the impact is not all that great. To see why, we?re going to have to do a little math.
American drivers burn through about 350 million gallons of gasoline a day this time of year, at a cost of a little over $400 billion a year. Pump prices bottomed in December (as they usually do every year) at $3.32 a gallon and then shot up by 53 cents to an average of $3.85 a gallon nationwide, according to the latest Department of Energy figures. (We're using the data for all formulas, all grades.) This year, that seasonal rise has come earlier, and quicker, than usual.
If that increase held through the rest of the year, the hit to spending would be about a half percent of GDP. With an economy that?s only growing about 2 percent a year, that?s a fairly big number.
But that math doesn?t account of the savings consumers enjoy when gas prices fall. For the past three years, prices have bounced in a range between about $2.75 and $4.00 a gallon. The three-year average has been $3.43 a gallon. If you use that price as a starting point, the recent increase ? even if sustained for a full year ? would only knock about two-tenths of a percent from GDP.
Those numbers don?t look right. I?m paying a lot more than that at the pump, and it?s taking a big bite out of my paycheck.
Again, these are averages. For some people, the impact is much more severe. California drivers are paying $4.20 a gallon on average. If you live 30 miles from the nearest grocery store, you?re going to feel the impact of every extra penny a lot more than someone who commutes to work by subway.
Lower-income households feel the impact much more than those further up the income ladder. On average, roughly 5.5 percent of American household budgets go to pay for gasoline. But gasoline bills eat up a bigger portion of the weekly budget for those in the bottom quintile that for those at the top.
But gas prices hurt more than other price increases because I can?t cut back on driving.I have to get to work. What am I supposed to do?
You?re right. For most Americans, especially outside of major cities, gas price spikes are extremely painful because it?s very difficult to cut back in the short run. But over time, drivers can ? and do ? respond.
The long-term rise in gasoline prices over the past decade ? and the pain of sudden spikes ? is one of the biggest reasons that the consumption of gasoline has been falling since August 2007. Americans have been burning through about four percent less gasoline every year since then - even as the number of cars and trucks on the road continues to increase. Thanks to improvements in engine technology, higher-mileage government mandates and strong consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars and trucks, that trend is expected to continue.
Demand for those higher-mileage vehicles has, in turn, spurred a surge in consumer spending on new cars, a category has been an important source of strength for the U.S. recovery. That improvement in the overall mileage of the U.S. fleet has, in turn, helped offset the impact of gas price spikes.
Since bottoming in the first quarter of 2010, new car sales have zoomed ahead ? up nearly 60 percent to $103 billion in the final three months of 2012. About two-thirds of that money went to domestic car makers. Light truck sales have jumped 40 percent, to more than $140 billion for the latest quarter.
The boom in sales is coming partly because drivers deferred buying during the recession. But they?re also snapping up new models with better gas mileage that will continue to reduce consumption ? and blunt the economic impact of future gas price spikes.
Google's Nexus One has dreamt of space travel for a while now, but on Monday it was finally launched into orbit aboard a CubeSat dubbed STRaND-1, which was developed by Surrey Satellite Technology and the University of Surrey's Surrey Space Centre. STRaND-1 now holds the honor of being the first PhoneSat and UK CubeSat that has made it into orbit. Alongside the HTC-made handset are an altitude and orbit control system, two propulsion setups and a Linux-based computer with a "high-speed" processor. After the Tux-friendly rig conducts a battery of tests, it'll relinquish control of much of the satellite's functions to the smartphone, which still runs Android.
Not only will the mission test how commercial, off-the-shelf tech can survive in the vacuum and conduct experiments, but it'll squeeze in some fun courtesy of apps developed by winners of a competition held last year. An app called 360 will let folks back on terra firma request their own snapshots of earth taken with the phone's shooter and pin them to a map. Ridley Scott might like to say no one can hear you scream in space, but another application loaded onto the device will put that to the test by playing user-submitted shrieks and recording them with the handset's microphone as they playback. Hit the break for more details and a brief video overview of the satellite, or jab the more coverage links to partake in the app shenanigans.
Feb. 26, 2013 ? Patients with severe depression show at least as good clinical benefit from 'low-intensity' interventions, such as self help books and interactive websites, as less severely ill patients, according to new research by The University of Manchester.
Depression is a major cause of disability worldwide and effective management of this is a key challenge for health care systems.
The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), confirmed evidence that 'low-intensity' interventions provide significant clinical benefit. Initial severity of depression is one of the key variables determining who gets 'low' or 'high' intensity treatment, but this is largely based on epidemiological studies and clinical experience rather than high quality evidence.
Researchers from an international collaboration carrid out a meta-analysis of several studies involving 2470 patients with depression, all treated in a non-hospital setting. All studies were from the year 2000 or later with a sample size of more than 50 patients. The mean age in all studies was 35-45, and studies included patients with lower levels of depressive symptoms, as well as those with quite severe depression.
'Low-intensity' treatment was defined as interventions designed to help patients manage depressive symptoms such as self-help books or interactive websites, often with limited guidance and support from a health professional. Self-help groups were excluded.
The researchers found that patients with more severe depression at baseline derive "at least as good clinical benefit from 'low-intensity' interventions as less severely ill patients." They recommend including 'low-intensity' interventions in the first step of treating severely ill patients and encouraging the majority of patients to use them as the initial treatment option.
Professor Peter Bower, from The University of Manchester who led the research, said: "To better manage depression in the community, many services seek to provide simple forms of psychological therapy (so called 'low intensity' interventions) to depressed patients. We assessed whether more severely ill patients demonstrated better or worse treatment effects from 'low-intensity' treatments. We found no clinically meaningful differences in treatment effects between more and less severely ill patients receiving 'low-intensity' interventions. Patients with more severe depression can be offered 'low-intensity' treatments as part of a stepped care model."
The researchers also say that an important research question for the future is whether low-intensity treatments are cost-effective and if "initial experience with low intensity interventions could act as a barrier to further treatment."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Manchester.
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Journal Reference:
Peter Bower et al. Influence of initial severity of depression on effectiveness of low intensity interventions: meta-analysis of individual patient data. BMJ, 2013; 346 DOI: 10.1136/bmj.f540
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Goodyear employee burns tires, outside the Goodyear tyre company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Workers at a dying French tire factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. The words on the shirt translates to "Bosses from Hell ".(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Goodyear employee burns tires, outside the Goodyear tyre company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Workers at a dying French tire factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. The words on the shirt translates to "Bosses from Hell ".(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)(AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Goodyear employees burn tires, outside the Goodyear tire company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Workers at a dying French tire factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
A Goodyear employee stands near burning tires, outside the Goodyear tire company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Workers at a dying French tyre factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Goodyear employees gather around burning tires, outside the Goodyear tire company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. . Workers at a dying French tire factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
The flag of the CGT union (General Confederation of Work), is seen around burning tires, outside the Goodyear tire company, in Amiens, northern France, Tuesday Feb. 26, 2013. Workers at a dying French tire factory who've become the butt of American jokes are staging a day of last-ditch protests to try to save their jobs. The protests in the northern city of Amiens come after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling plant have fizzled. An American executive who considered buying it sent a letter last week to the French government saying that France's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
AMIENS, France (AP) ? Workers at a dying French tire factory who have become the butt of American jokes staged a last-ditch protest on Tuesday to defy anyone ? plant owner Goodyear, prospective buyers, even the French government ? to try and take their jobs away.
They've been fighting for 62 months to keep the factory operating and prevent Goodyear from shifting work to China. But their efforts seem doomed as a labor model that features high wages, long vacations and short work weeks is increasingly being called into question amid a weak economy.
It's a growing problem across France, particularly as the Socialist government of President Francois Hollande is under pressure from the European Union and financial markets to focus on cutting debt, rather than trying to prop up loss-making industries.
The protests at the plant in the northern city of Amiens came after efforts to find a new buyer for the struggling factory fizzled. The most promising prospect, an American executive, sent a letter last week to the French government saying that the country's economic model is too worker-friendly and discourages investment.
The factory's closure was announced five years ago by Goodyear when workers refused to accept any layoffs. It will be at least 2014 before the French government intervention runs its course and the plant ultimately shuts down.
"I have visited that factory a couple of times. The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that's the French way!" Maurice Taylor, the CEO of Titan tires, wrote to the French government official trying to find a buyer. "How stupid do you think we are?"
The stinging letter infuriated France's political class and even drew a rebuke from the director of Goodyear France, who insisted that the accusations against the workers he's trying to lay off were "unfair."
"It is logical that companies make money. It is their first goal. But at some point, they also must divide the wealth fairly," said Mickael Wamen, a union leader at the factory who organized Tuesday's protest.
Figures from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development show France has one of the highest rates of productivity ? measured as economic output per hour worked ? in Europe. In fact, it is close to that of the U.S.
But that productivity rate in France also costs more because of higher taxes for companies. As a result, analysts and politicians say France, the continent's second-largest economy after Germany, is rapidly losing its competitiveness.
For weeks now, French government officials have hinted, warned and then finally outright acknowledged that the country was going to miss its EU-mandated deficit targets, that unemployment was certain to rise even beyond the current 10.7 percent, and that drastic spending cuts were going to hit every city and town for years to come.
Hollande was blunt on Saturday as he warned both European authorities and the French that things would get worse before they improved.
"2013 will be marked by more unemployment," he said.
Stephen Lewis, chief economist for Monument Securities, said Hollande's options were dwindling fast and was relying on the EU's leniency on deficit targets. The EU expects France's budget deficit to be 4.6 percent of annual GDP in 2012, well above the bloc's 3 percent target.
"His short-term option is to try to persuade the EU authorities to give him more leeway. Then he'll be able to continue with his budgetary policies and not impose more austerity on what already is an austere situation," Lewis said. "The moment that the EU acknowledges France has a problem is the moment when we have a major euro crisis."
For Amiens, with an unemployment rate at 12.5 percent and rising faster than all but one region in France, the future is here.
"Our country ? like Europe in general ? is on the verge of a social explosion," said Wamen, the union leader. "These who don't listen to the people, who don't listen to the rising anger are, in my opinion, dangerous arsonists because I think we are on the verge of a social explosion."
For Peter Morici, a conservative economist at the University of Maryland, the French need to come to terms with the fact that both their own economic model and that of the European Union have failed them.
"If they cut spending the economy will start to shrink. If they don't cut spending, they will go bankrupt," he said. "The realization is emerging in Europe that Europe is not going to get better."
Morici said it's clearly too late for countries like Greece, Spain and even Italy, where this week's elections called into question the country's very ability to govern itself. And France is out of options, he added.
That realization appears to be sinking in already in Amiens, despite the workers' promises to sue Goodyear and Titan and find a way to keep the factory going.
After a brief protest in the morning, they took a few hours off in the middle of the day before staging another demonstration march. But by mid-afternoon, all but a few dozen of the workers had trickled away, and only a handful returned to the parking lot to burn tires. Those, at least, were easy to find.
Feb 25 (Reuters) - Leading money winners on the 2013 PGATour on Monday (U.S. unless stated): 1. Brandt Snedeker $2,859,920 2. Matt Kuchar $1,987,000 3. Hunter Mahan $1,412,965 4. John Merrick $1,296,014 5. Phil Mickelson $1,232,760 6. Dustin Johnson $1,200,125 7. Tiger Woods $1,144,000 8. Russell Henley $1,129,080 9. Brian Gay $1,089,181 10. Charles Howell III $1,087,944 11. Jason Day $1,009,164 12. Chris Kirk $990,013 13. Steve Stricker $940,000 14. Josh Teater $870,934 15. Bill Haas $816,300 16. Jimmy Walker $812,620 17. Scott Piercy $789,592 18. Charlie Beljan $785,800 19. ...
University of Kansas researchers have found that the infants of mothers who were given 600 milligrams of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA during pregnancy weighed more at birth and were less likely to be very low birth weight and born before 34 weeks gestation than infants of mothers who were given a placebo. This result greatly strengthens the case for using the dietary supplement during pregnancy.
Susan CarlsonThe results are from the first five years of a 10-year, double-blind randomized controlled trial to be published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It is also available online. A followup of this sample of infants is ongoing to determine whether prenatal DHA nutritional supplementation will benefit children's intelligence and school readiness.
"A reduction in early preterm and very low birth weight delivery could have clear clinical and public health significance," said Susan Carlson, A.J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition at the KU Medical Center, who directed the study with John Colombo, KU professor of psychology and director of the Life Span Institute.
John Colombo"We believe that supplementing U.S. women with DHA could safely increase mean birth weight and gestational age to numbers that are closer to other developed countries such as Norway and Australia," she said.
DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) occurs naturally in cell membranes with the highest levels in brain cells, but levels can be increased by diet or supplements. An infant obtains DHA from his or her mother in utero and postnatally from human milk, but the amount received depends upon the mother's DHA status.
"U.S. women typically consume less DHA than women in most of the developed world," said Carlson.
During the first five years of the study, children of women enrolled in the study received multiple developmental assessments at regular intervals throughout infancy and at 18 months of age. In the next phase of the study, the children will receive twice-yearly assessments until they are 6 years old. The researchers will measure developmental milestones that occur in later childhood and are linked to lifelong health and welfare.
Previous research has established the effects of postnatal feeding of DHA on infant cognitive and intellectual development, but DHA is accumulated most rapidly in the fetal brain during pregnancy, said Colombo. "That's why we are so interested in the effects of DHA taken prenatally, because we will really be able to see how this nutrient affects development over the long term."
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University of Kansas: http://www.news.ku.edu
Thanks to University of Kansas for this article.
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WASHINGTON (AP) ? A Senate aide and a lobbyist say a dispute over whether to require record keeping for private gun sales is holding up a bipartisan compromise over expanding background checks for firearms transactions.
Requiring background checks for virtually all firearm sales is a keystone of President Barack Obama's proposed gun curbs. The checks are currently required only for sales at federally licensed dealers, but not private transactions at gun shows, online or elsewhere.
Two Republican and two Democratic senators have been looking for a compromise.
The aide and lobbyist say Oklahoma GOP Sen. Tom Coburn, a conservative playing a leading role in the talks, is balking at requiring record keeping for private transactions. They say he is concerned it could lead to a national gun registry, which Democrats say is untrue.
Virus shows promise as prostate cancer treatmentPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology
A recombinant Newcastle disease virus kills all kinds of prostate cancer cells, including hormone resistant cells, but leaves normal cells unscathed, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, as well as those associated with cancer chemotherapies generally, says corresponding author Subbiah Elankumaran of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg. The modified virus is now ready to be tested in preclinical animal models, and possibly in phase I human clinical trials.
Newcastle disease virus kills chickens, but does not harm humans. It is an oncolytic virus that hones in on tumors, and has shown promising results in a number of human clinical trials for various forms of cancer. However, successful treatments have required multiple injections of large quantities of virus, because in such trials the virus probably failed to reach solid tumors in sufficient quantities, and spread poorly within the tumors.
The researchers addressed this problem by modifying the virus's fusion protein. Fusion protein fuses the virus envelope to the cell membrane, enabling the virus to enter the host cell. These proteins are activated by being cleaved by any of a number of different cellular proteases. They modified the fusion protein in their construct such that it can be cleaved only by prostate specific antigen (which is a protease). That minimizes off-target losses, because these "retargeted" viruses interact only with prostate cancer cells, thus reducing the amount of virus needed for treatment.
Retargeted Newcastle disease virus has major potential advantages over other cancer therapies, says Elankumaran. First, its specificity for prostate cancer cells means it would not attack normal cells, thereby avoiding the various unpleasant side effects of conventional chemotherapies. In previous clinical trials, even with extremely large doses of naturally occurring strains, "only mild flu-like symptoms were seen in cancer patients," says Elankumaran. Second, it would provide a new treatment for hormone-refractory patients, without the side effects of testosterone suppression that result from hormonal treatments.
About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and one in 36 will die of this disease. Men whose prostate cancer becomes refractory to hormone treatment have a median survival of about 40 months if they have bone metastases, and 68 months if they do not have bone metastases.
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A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0213b. Formal publication of the article is scheduled for the first April 2013 issue of Journal of Virology.
(R. Shobana, S.K. Samal, and S. Elankumaran, 2013. Prostate-specific antigen-retargeted recombinant Newcastle disease virus for prostate cancer virotherapy. J. Virol. online ahead of print, 23 January 2013, doi:10.1128/JVI.02394-12)
Journal of Virology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
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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.
Virus shows promise as prostate cancer treatmentPublic release date: 25-Feb-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jim Sliwa jsliwa@asmusa.org 202-942-9297 American Society for Microbiology
A recombinant Newcastle disease virus kills all kinds of prostate cancer cells, including hormone resistant cells, but leaves normal cells unscathed, according to a paper published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology. A treatment for prostate cancer based on this virus would avoid the adverse side effects typically associated with hormonal treatment for prostate cancer, as well as those associated with cancer chemotherapies generally, says corresponding author Subbiah Elankumaran of Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg. The modified virus is now ready to be tested in preclinical animal models, and possibly in phase I human clinical trials.
Newcastle disease virus kills chickens, but does not harm humans. It is an oncolytic virus that hones in on tumors, and has shown promising results in a number of human clinical trials for various forms of cancer. However, successful treatments have required multiple injections of large quantities of virus, because in such trials the virus probably failed to reach solid tumors in sufficient quantities, and spread poorly within the tumors.
The researchers addressed this problem by modifying the virus's fusion protein. Fusion protein fuses the virus envelope to the cell membrane, enabling the virus to enter the host cell. These proteins are activated by being cleaved by any of a number of different cellular proteases. They modified the fusion protein in their construct such that it can be cleaved only by prostate specific antigen (which is a protease). That minimizes off-target losses, because these "retargeted" viruses interact only with prostate cancer cells, thus reducing the amount of virus needed for treatment.
Retargeted Newcastle disease virus has major potential advantages over other cancer therapies, says Elankumaran. First, its specificity for prostate cancer cells means it would not attack normal cells, thereby avoiding the various unpleasant side effects of conventional chemotherapies. In previous clinical trials, even with extremely large doses of naturally occurring strains, "only mild flu-like symptoms were seen in cancer patients," says Elankumaran. Second, it would provide a new treatment for hormone-refractory patients, without the side effects of testosterone suppression that result from hormonal treatments.
About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and one in 36 will die of this disease. Men whose prostate cancer becomes refractory to hormone treatment have a median survival of about 40 months if they have bone metastases, and 68 months if they do not have bone metastases.
###
A copy of the manuscript can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0213b. Formal publication of the article is scheduled for the first April 2013 issue of Journal of Virology.
(R. Shobana, S.K. Samal, and S. Elankumaran, 2013. Prostate-specific antigen-retargeted recombinant Newcastle disease virus for prostate cancer virotherapy. J. Virol. online ahead of print, 23 January 2013, doi:10.1128/JVI.02394-12)
Journal of Virology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
[ | E-mail | 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.
Washington University engineering researchers have created a new type of air-cleaning technology that could better protect human lungs from allergens, airborne viruses and ultrafine particles in the air.
The device, known as the SXC ESP, was created by a team led by Pratim Biswas, PhD, the Lucy & Stanley Lopata Professor and chair of the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the School of Engineering & Applied Science.
A recent study of the device, published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology, found that it could help to prevent respiratory and viral infections and inhalation-induced allergic reactions more efficiently than existing filter-based systems.
Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that can be triggered by inhaling allergens, pollen, pet dander and other particles, is one of the most costly health-care expenses in the United States at more than $50 billion.
"Because many people in developed countries spend the majority of time indoors, properly maintaining indoor air quality is an absolute necessity to protect public health," Biswas says.
The new device incorporates soft X-ray irradiation as a component of the electrostatic precipitation process currently used to remove large particles from airflows. By incorporating the soft X-ray enhanced electrostatic precipitation technology, the researchers were able to ensure very efficient charging of the particles over a broad range of sizes and their capture in the SXC ESP.
They exposed mice with compromised immune systems to the downstream air stream passing through the unit that contacted infectious viruses, allergens, anthrax, smallpox and other particles in the air. The sensitive mice survived, indicating that the SXC ESP was very effective in removing these biological agents from the air.
"Traditional air cleaners can trap viruses or other toxic particles in the filter, where they linger and grow," Biswas says. "This device finds the virus or toxic particle or bioterror agent and inactivates it in one application."
Ultimately, this technology could be incorporated into stand-alone air cleaners or scaled for use in aircraft cabins, offices and residential HVAC systems. It also could be used to clean up a diesel engine or power plant exhaust.
Michael Gidding, who is expected to graduate in 2013 with an MBA, a bachelor's in chemical engineering and a master's in energy, environmental and chemical engineering, and Daniel Garcia, a May 2012 chemical engineering graduate, have teamed up to scale up this technology for commercial use. Their startup, Aerosol Control Technologies (ACT), is based on the patented process Biswas developed.
There are many applications for the technology in the coal industry, Gidding says, from dust control and safety at the mine to flue-gas treatment at the power plant.
Gidding and Garcia are working on a prototype to be tested as a diesel particulate filter substitute.
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Washington University in St. Louis: http://www.wustl.edu
Thanks to Washington University in St. Louis for this article.
This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.
Budget stalemate in Washington worries Democratic and Republican governors. Automatic spending cuts March 1 cut stall recent economic gains, they warn.?
By Ken Thomas and Steve Peoples,?Associated Press / February 24, 2013
National Governors Association Vice Chairman Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma, left, with Chairman Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware, speaks during a news conference at the NGA Winter Meeting in Washington, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013. U.S. governors urged Washington to avoid spending cuts that would affect states' defense and federal agencies and expressed concerns that they would hamper their economic recovery.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
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Washington's protracted budget stalemate could seriously undermine the economy and stall gains made since the recession, exasperated governors said Saturday as they tried to gauge the fallout from impending federal spending cuts.
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At the annual National Governors Association meeting, both Democrat and Republican chief executives expressed pessimism that both sides could find a way to avoid the massive, automatic spending cuts set to begin March 1, pointing to the impasse as another crisis between the White House and Congress that hampers their ability to construct state spending plans and spooks local businesses from hiring.
Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a former congressman, noted that the cuts ? known in Washington-speak as "the?sequester" ? could lead to 19,000 workers laid off at Pearl Harbor, site of the surprise attack in 1941 that launched the United States into World War II. Today, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam supports Air Force and Navy missions.
"That will undermine our capacity for readiness at Pearl Harbor. If that doesn't symbolize for the nation ... what happens when we fail to meet our responsibilities congressionally, I don't know what does," Abercrombie said.
The budget fight came as many states say they are on the cusp of an economic comeback from the financial upheaval in 2008 and 2009. States expect their general fund revenues this year to surpass the amounts collected before the Great Recession kicked in. An estimated $693 billion in revenues is expected for the 2013 budget year, nearly a 4 percent increase over the previous year.
"It's a damn shame," said Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat. "We've actually had the fastest rate of jobs recovery of any state in our region. And this really threatens to hurt a lot of families in our state and kind of flat line our job growth for the next several months."
At their weekend meetings, governors were focusing on ways to boost job development and grow their state economies, measures to restrict gun violence and implement the new health care law approved during Obama's first term.
Some Republican governors have blocked the use of Medicaid to expand health insurance coverage for millions of uninsured while others have joined Democrats in a wholesale expansion as the law allows. The Medicaid expansion aims to cover about half of the 30 million uninsured people expected to eventually gain coverage under the health care overhaul.
Yet for many governors, the budget-cut fight remains front-and-center and fuels a pervasive sense of frustration with Washington.
"My feeling is I can't help what's going on in Washington," Gov. Terry Branstad, R-Iowa, said in an interview Saturday. "I can't help the fact that there's no leadership here, and it's all politics as usual and gridlock. But I can do something about the way we do things in the state of Iowa."
Indeed, right now no issue carries the same level of urgency as the budget impasse.
Congressional leaders have indicated a willingness to let the cuts take effect and stay in place for weeks, if not much longer.
The cuts would trim $85 billion in domestic and defense spending, leading to furloughs for hundreds of thousands of workers at the Transportation Department, Defense Department and elsewhere.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has said the cuts would harm the readiness of U.S. fighting forces.
The looming cuts were never supposed to happen. They were intended to be a draconian fallback intended to ensure a special deficit reduction committee would come up with $1 trillion or more in savings from benefit programs. It didn't.
"We should go back and remember that sequestration was originally designed by both the administration and Congress as something so odious, so repellent, that it would force both sides to a compromise. There can't be any question, this is something that nobody wants," said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat.
Obama has stepped up efforts to tell the public about the cuts' negative impact and pressure Republicans who oppose his approach of reducing deficits through a combination of targeted savings and tax increases. House Republicans have said reduced spending needs to be the focus and have rejected the president's fresh demand to include higher taxes as part of a compromise.
Governors said they are asking the Obama administration for more flexibility to deal with some of the potential cuts.
"We're just saying that as you identify federal cuts and savings, allow the states to be able to realize those savings, too," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, a Republican and the association's vice chairwoman.
Wests Tigers coach Mick Potter says rookie fullback James Tedesco is well in contention for spot in his squad for the NRL season opener against Newcastle.
Potter insisted Tim Moltzen is still in pole position to start at fullback against the Knights, but conceded Tedesco is in his thoughts after impressing in the second half of Saturday's trial defeat by Sydney Roosters.
Moltzen was forced out of the game at halftime due to a stomach upset and Tedesco more than held his own when deputising, showing great composure to set up Joel Reddy's try with a well-weighted grubber kick.
Tedesco started round one of last year, but his season ended just 29 minutes into his debut when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligaments.
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And new coach Potter said he's been impressed with what he's seen from the 20-year-old since his arrival at the club.
"He's a good player but he just needs to build up his confidence," Potter said.
"I think Tim Moltzen has got him with the talk factor, which is so important for a fullback, but there's not much between them."
Moltzen has spent time at halfback and centre in the past five years, but his preference is to play fullback.
However, Potter said he would have no hesitation moving him again, and admitted young halfback Jacob Miller has not entirely convinced him he's ready to be the starting No.7.
"He's got some things to work on and, between Robbie (Farah) Benji (Marshall) and Moltzen and Tedesco, there is a lot to work on. We're not there yet," he said.
"That's not to say Moltz or Teddy can't play another position to compliment the team.
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Public release date: 28-Feb-2013
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