Avastin, the blockbuster drug that just lost approval for treating breast cancer, now looks disappointing against ovarian cancer, too. Two studies found it did not improve survival for most of these patients and kept their disease from worsening for only a few months, with more side effects.
The Genentech drug won approval in Europe last week for advanced ovarian cancer. But its maker has no immediate plans to seek the same approval in the United States. After talking with the Food and Drug Administration, "we do not believe the data will support approval" although no final decision has been made, said Charlotte Arnold, a spokeswoman for Genentech, part of the Swiss company Roche.
Results of the studies are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.
In November, the FDA revoked Avastin's approval for breast cancer because it did not meaningfully extend life and can have serious side effects. Without approval, doctors can prescribe the drug but insurers may not pay. Treatment with it can cost $100,000 a year.
Avastin can still be sold for some colon, lung, kidney and brain cancers. The new research was aimed at adding ovarian cancer to the list.
One study, led by Dr. Robert Burger of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, involved nearly 1,900 women with advanced ovarian cancer given one of three treatment combinations. The time until the disease got worse was a median of 10 months in those given just chemotherapy; adding Avastin improved that by just one to four months for the other two groups.
Survival was similar among the groups, and side effects were higher among those on Avastin ? mostly high blood pressure but also some stomach and gut problems that needed treatment.
In the other study, led by researchers from England, more than 1,500 ovarian cancer patients were given chemo with or without Avastin. The drug kept cancer at bay just one to two months longer than chemo alone did, with more cases of high blood pressure. There was a trend toward improved survival for those on Avastin, but the difference was too small to say the drug was responsible.
Genentech helped pay for the studies and some of the researchers consult for the company.
Dr. Gary Lyman, a Duke University researcher who was on the FDA advisory panel that recommended revoking Avastin's approval for breast cancer, wrote in an email that he agreed with the company's decision not to seek approval for ovarian cancer.
"The situation is very similar" to the results in breast cancer, and approval is unlikely unless a biological marker or test can show which patients might benefit, he wrote.
About 220,000 new cases of ovarian cancer are diagnosed each year around the world, and it causes 140,000 deaths. In the United States, the National Cancer Institute estimates 22,000 new cases and 15,000 deaths each year.
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Online:
Studies: http://www.nejm.org
___
Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets supporters in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. Putin, who is running to reclaim the presidency, says he wants the vote in March to be absolutely transparent. (AP Photo/RIA novosti, Yana Lapikova, Pool)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets supporters in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. Putin, who is running to reclaim the presidency, says he wants the vote in March to be absolutely transparent. (AP Photo/RIA novosti, Yana Lapikova, Pool)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meets supporters in Moscow, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011. Putin, who is running to reclaim the presidency, says he wants the vote in March to be absolutely transparent. (AP photo/RIA novosti, Yana Lapikova, Pool)
MOSCOW (AP) ? Facing a swelling wave of public anger over fraud-tainted elections, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected demands for a rerun of the vote, while the Kremlin reassigned the architect of his tightly controlled political system to a job with no apparent domestic political duties.
The order by President Dmitry Medvedev to make Vladislav Surkov a deputy prime minister in charge of economic modernization was variously interpreted as a sign that leaders recognize the need for significant reform and as a cosmetic move with little meaning.
Allegations of fraud in the Dec. 4 national parliamentary election sparked a wave of protests unprecedented in post-Soviet Russia, including two vast rallies in Moscow that attracted tens of thousands. Putin, who was president in 2000-2008, seeks to return to the Kremlin in elections in March, and the protests have undermined his image as the inevitable winner.
Putin and Medvedev have sought to dilute the protests by rolling out a set of proposed political reforms, but have firmly resisted the protest leaders' main demand that the parliament elections be annulled and rerun. Opposition forces also say the proposed reforms are too little and too late.
In a meeting with supporters Tuesday, Putin again took a tough line on the election, saying "there can't be any talk about reviewing it" ? a position likely to lead to more protests.
The protesters have not only denounced the elections, but the entire so-called "managed democracy" political system implemented under Putin, under which parties that do not take their cues from the Kremlin or United Russia have been forced to the far sidelines.
Surkov, whose formal title had been deputy chief of the presidential administration, was seen as the developer of that system. He also is believed to be the creator of the intensely pro-Putin Nashi youth movement despised by the opposition.
Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, a close Putin associate, was quoted by the state news agency RIA Novosti as saying The decision about the departure of Surkov, which I understand was made by Putin and Medvedev, is a very serious order for the renovation of the political system."
But in the view of Mikhail Prokhorov, the tycoon and New Jersey Nets owner who plans to run against Putin in March, "what happened today is no more than the moving of people from one office to another."
Putin on Tuesday urged his supporters to ensure fairness of the presidential vote to prevent any possible criticism, and discussed details of his proposal to put web cameras at all polling stations. He also suggested that all ballot boxes be made transparent.
"As a candidate, I don't need any vote-rigging," Putin said. "I want the election to be maximally transparent. I want to rely on people's will."
Alexei Navalny, an anti-corruption lawyer and popular blogger who has been a key driving force behind the latest protests, vowed that up to a million demonstrators would take to the streets before the presidential election.
Although Putin is seen as still the strongest candidate in the presidential elections, recent polls suggest his support his not enough to win an outright victory in the first round.
His United Russia party retained a slim majority in parliament in the December elections, but lost about 25 percent of its seats. The party's electoral performance, which protesters say would have been even weaker in an honest count, has galvanized opposition forces that were long marginalized under Putin.
___
Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices rose to near $100 a barrel as worries over global security issues outweighed weak economic data in the U.S.
Benchmark crude rose 36 cents to $99.89 per barrel in New York. Brent crude fell 6 cents to $107.83 per barrel in London.
Tensions between Iran and the West, along with unrest in Syria, Bahrain, Kazakhstan and Iraq have raised worries that oil supplies could be disrupted if the unrest spreads or grows more serious.
U.S. economic data released this week showed signs of an improving economy, but on Friday the Commerce department reported weak consumer spending and income growth.
Average retail gasoline prices rose less than a penny Friday to a national average of $3.22 per gallon.
KHARTOUM, Sudan ? Sudanese troops killed Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the main Darfur rebel group, in fighting early Sunday west of the capital Khartoum, the military said.
Ibrahim led the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM, which unlike other Darfur rebel groups did not join a peace deal with the government in Khartoum.
An army statement, carried by the official SUNA news agency, said Ibrahim was killed in the North Kordufan state, at Wad Banda, an area 440 miles (700 kilometers) west of Khartoum. Ibrahim's group, JEM, could not immediately be reached for comment.
Fighting in the area flared up in the past days. On Saturday, the Sudanese army said the rebels from Darfur attacked three locations in neighboring North Kordufan, killing an unspecified number of civilians in an area where government forces were not present. JEM did not claim responsibility for Saturday's attack, but in 2008, it was behind a large-scale attack on the capital.
The military responded on Sunday, killing Ibrahim with a group of associates as the rebels where retreating toward South Sudan, which in July seceded from Sudan and became the world's youngest country.
Ibrahim was believed to have been until recently in Libya, where he enjoyed support of Moammar Gadhafi until the death of the Libyan dictator at the hands of the country's revolutionaries.
"The army cut all paths for the group as it was retreating and trying to cross into South Sudan to reorganize it forces," said Sudanese army spokesman Col. Khalid al-Sawarmy Saad. "Our gallant armed forces were able to kill rebel Khalil Ibrahim along with some of his associates."
"The armed forces laid a long chase and were able to impose an effective and complete siege against the remnants of Khalil Ibrahim's forces," said the military spokesman.
He commended the residents of Wad Banda who he said "gave the ultimate example of patriotism" in the face of "bad treatment they received from the rebel forces. "
Ibrahim's death is likely to be a significant blow to JEM. Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic African rebels accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination took up arms against it.
The Khartoum government is accused of retaliating by unleashing Arab militias on civilians ? a charge the government denies. The U.N. estimates 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced in the conflict.
Ismail el-Haj Musa, Sudanese deputy speaker of the council of states, told the pan-Arab Al Jazeera TV that Ibrahim re-entered Sudan sometime after Gadhafi's death and was en route south.
"He completely refused to come to the negotiating table, he never joined the peace talks," Musa said. "He committed acts against the state."
Stop by and enjoy some quality Texas and California Reds and light appetizers.? Learn how In Home Wine Tasting 4 You can "Bring the wine or beer to your Party" and enter a drawing for a Free In Home Wine Tasting for up to 10 people.?
Half of your tasting fee covers the wine and appetizers.? The other half will be contributed to The New Hope Foundation to assist their efforts improving lives of needy area residents.
Their Elves in Disguise program this year helped a single mother who was subjected to horrific abuse as a child, but thanks to her mother's sacrifice and grandmother's devotion, she made it out alive. Despite deep scars, she eventually attended college and received her associates degree.?Her husband recently passed away, leaving her to raise four children alone, who have asthma and other health and learning issues. Their apartment isn't safe or healthy. Words cannot express how little they have. But the children do not complain because it is better than the shelter where they used to live. During the year they help feed, clothe, tutor and provide safe after school programs for kids of working parents. ?Find out more at:? www.newhopefoundation.com
Come enjoy some wonderful wines; learn about a relaxing way to find new affordable, quality wines; help families in severe need in this season of giving; and enter to win a free wine and beer tasting of your own.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Japan and China agreed to start formal talks early next year on a free trade pact that would also include South Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Sunday after talks that showed the deepening bonds between Asia's two biggest economies.
Japan also said it was looking to buy Chinese treasury debt, and the two governments agreed to enhance financial cooperation.
"On a free trade agreement among Japan, China and South Korea, we've made a substantial progress for an early start of negotiations," Noda told reporters after his meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao.
China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, said on its website (www.pbc.gov.cn) that the two leaders agreed to strengthen bilateral financial market cooperation and "encourage the use of the renminbi and Japanese yen in international trade transactions between the two countries."
The renminbi is another name for China's yuan currency.
The trade talks announcement builds on an agreement between the three countries last month also to seek a trilateral investment treaty and finish studies on the proposed free trade agreement by the end of December so that they could start formal negotiations on the trade pact.
"China is willing to closely coordinate with Japan to promote our two countries' monetary and financial development, and to accelerate progress of the China-Japan-Republic of Korea free-trade zone and East Asian financial cooperation," Wen told Noda at the meeting, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry's official website (www.mfa.gov.cn).
But the regional trade negotiations could also compete for attention with Washington's push for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), after Japan said last month it wants to join in the talks over the U.S. proposal.
CLOSER ECONOMIC TIES
Despite sometimes rancorous political ties between the two neighbours, Japan's economic fortunes are increasingly tied to China's economic growth and consumer demand.
China and Japan are also the world's first and second-biggest holders of foreign reserves. Wen told Noda that closer economic ties were in both countries' interests.
"The deep-seated consequences of the current international financial crisis continue to spread, and the complexity and severity of global and world developments have exceeded our expectations," Wen said.
"China and Japan both have the need and conditions to join hands more closely to respond to challenges and deepen mutually beneficial strategic relations."
China has been Japan's biggest trading partner since 2009.
In 2010, trade between the two nations grew by 22.3 percent compared to levels in 2009, reaching 26.5 trillion yen (218 billion pounds), according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
In a statement issued after the two leaders' meeting, the Japanese government said it would seek to buy Chinese government bonds -- a tentative step toward diversification of Tokyo's large foreign exchange reserves that are believed to be mostly held in dollars.
China central bank said the two governments agreed to support Japanese businesses issuing yuan bonds in Tokyo and other markets outside of China, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation would begin a pilot scheme for issuing yuan-denominated bonds in mainland China.
The People's Bank of China also said it will support Japan in using the yuan for direct investment in China.
But Japanese officials have stressed that Japan's trust in dollar assets remains unshaken, and the scale of the planned purchase of Chinese government bonds will be small.
Wen and Noda also agreed to set up a framework to discuss maritime issues after diplomatic ties deteriorated sharply last year following Japan's arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain near disputed isles in the East China Sea.
Bilateral meetings attended by vice ministers and senior officials from relevant ministries will be held periodically to exchange views, in an effort to prevent a similar row from happening.
"On maritime matters, we have successfully set up a channel to solve problems through multi-layered dialogue," Noda told reporters.
(Additional reporting by Koh Gui Qing; Writing by Chris Buckley; Editing by Yoko Nishikawa)
I reported this to seesmic but they say as it's a third party app I must report it to the writers who are a french company (which I've done, hope they speak english). But why is a completely broken app like this in the market place, don't seesmic do any basic test or validation? I won't put votes here as seesmic basically are going to ignore it as far as I understand, but wish there was a working google reader functionality
What an unreal game. Sure the Panthers played three games in four nights including back-to-back games. Every team has scheduled losses like that but what happened last night was a message sender to Florida that they might be good, but they're not that good yet. And it's gonna be a long, tough life in a division with Boston. The Boston Bruins showed some love for their Jewish fans last night with eight goals, lighting the Panthers up like a Menorah
Last week one of the major business-oriented computer manufacturers, Dell announced that it would no longer produce netbooks. The company will be still selling a couple of Latitude business models, but it's not going to develop new netbooks on the upcoming Intel Cedar Trail platform. Obviously, Dell was not happy with netbook sales. And other netbook manufacturers are also having problems. According to ABI Research, netbook sales in Q2 of this year fell to 7.3 million from 13.6 million in the Q1. At the same time, the sales of the competing technology - tablets during the same period grew from 6.4 million to 8.4 million. But tablets aren't the main reason of the netbooks problem. The main reason is Microsoft.
Microsoft didn't like netbooks from the very beginning. Because the idea of netbook is "Cheap, small, low-power laptop for working in the Internet". The Windows operating system appeared to be excessive for netbooks. Everything was ok with Windows XP, but Vista for the device in which the main application - it browser, was not good at all. And the market price of netbooks ($200-300) can't include $100 for Windows license. Microsoft had to sell Windows licenses to OEMs with big discount. And it's losing money each time when a customer chose a cheap netbook instead of a full-featured laptop.
In Windows 7 Microsoft introduced a number of limitations. First, the stripped version of the OS for netbooks Windows 7 Starter could only be installed on netbooks with smaller than 10.1 inch screen and less than 1GB of memory. Second, Windows 7 Starter lacks some important for business features - Windows Server support, encryption, support for workgroups. While business users - are probably the main buyers of netbooks.
As a result, there almost no good Windows-netbooks on the market. But buyers still want the cheap Windows-netbooks.
Another case with tablets. They cost from $600 and people buy them mostly because of apps, but not because of browser. This niche is more interesting for Microsoft. That's why the new Windows 8 is positioned as an OS for tablets.
The last hope for netbooks - is Google, with its Chromebooks and Chinese manufacturers, that love to produce cheap devices.
Published: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 10:05 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, December 21, 2011 at 10:05 a.m.
The Bullington Center is offering a variety of workshops and classes for the new year. Space is limited, register by calling 828-698-6104.
* Grafting workshop with Fritz McCall, 1 to 4 p.m. Jan. 7. Learn to graft your own Japanese maples, $30 all materials provided.
* Terrarium Workshop with Mary Martin, 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 26. Explore the hot new trend in the art of terrariums. All materials provided, $25.
* Growing and Caring for Orchids with Cynthia Gillooly of BB Barns, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 31. $15.
* Restoring the King of the Forest, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 9. Mila Kirkland of the American Chestnut Foundation will talk about efforts to restore this once dominant tree. $5.
* Gardening 101 with John Murphy, 3 to 4:30 p.m. Second Mondays February-October. A series of 9 classes that follows the growing season to help new gardeners better manage their vegetable and ornamental gardens. $70.
Heritage trees are still available
Heritage Trees are still available for purchase in ECO's Annual Heritage Tree sale. Available to WNC residents this year are heritage apple trees, chestnuts, peaches, blueberries and persimmons.
Some varieties have already run out, so interested purchasers are reminded to buy early to insure you get the tree you want. Heritage trees, as a gift or as an addition to your yard, are a good way of connecting to WNC's cultural history.
ECO offers gift certificates for its apple, peach and chestnut trees but suggests that purchasers buy them now. All trees come in limited quantities and tend to sell out quickly. Several varieties are no longer available.
Heritage apple trees available this year include 10 varieties of dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees for your backyard orchard. These 1-year grafts are 3-4' tall, in 2-gallon containers and ready for planting and cost $25 per tree.
For varieties and ordering, please see ECO's website at www.eco-wnc.org or contact ECO at 828-692-0385.
All trees will be available for pickup at the Hendersonville Visitor's Center on Feb. 11, but order now to insure your favorite tree is still available. The Heritage Tree Sale is a fundraiser for ECO. For more information about the sale, call the ECO office at 828-692-0385 or log on to www.eco-wnc.org.
KABUL, Afghanistan -- A roadside bomb shattered an armored vehicle in a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing five Polish soldiers - the deadliest single attack on Poland's military in the war-torn country.
Polish spokesman Jacek Sonta said in Warsaw that the soldiers were headed to Rawza, in eastern Ghazni province, when their vehicle struck the bomb.
The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message to journalists. Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said "a Polish tank" was blown up and all its occupants were killed.
AP Television News footage from the scene showed wreckage of what seemed to be a U.S.-made Cougar armored terrain transport vehicle. The blast appeared to have broken the 19-ton vehicle into three large pieces, which lay scattered around a crater not far from some village homes.
Mohamad Ali Ahmadi, deputy governor of Ghazni province, said that Polish soldiers were attending a morning meeting in the Rawza district of Ghazni city, about 77 miles (125 kilometers) southwest of the capital Kabul. One of their vehicles was destroyed by a roadside bomb, he said.
Poland is in the process of withdrawing some 100 out of the 2,600 troops it has in Afghanistan.
So far this year, 532 NATO service members have been killed in Afghanistan. The attack on the Polish convoy brings the number of NATO troops killed in December to 16.
Also in the east, Afghan police said they shot dead on Wednesday a would-be suicide bomber before he was able to attack a police station.
Youqib Khan, deputy police chief in Khost province, said policemen identified the would-be bomber in front of a bank next to the police station in Khost city and killed him before he could detonate his explosives vest. A search operation was under way because police fear the attacker, who was wearing a vest packed with explosives, might not have been working alone, he said.
Also Wednesday, an Afghan military spokesman said the country's armed forces now number 180,000 troops, a significant step toward having enough troops to replace departing coalition forces.
Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the troop numbers increased by more than 40,000 in 2011. This brings the military closer to the goal of having 195,000 Afghan troops by next October.
"Once we achieve that, then we will start discussing an agreement with international community to expand to 240,000 soldiers," Azimi said. "And once we have reached that, the Afghan National Army will be able to take control of internal and external security in all of Afghanistan."
The expansion of the army and police is a critical element in NATO's exit strategy from Afghanistan.
Coalition forces, which started their drawdown this year, are already handing over responsibility for security to the Afghan army and police in selected regions. The process will run through 2014 when international forces are to end their combat role.
Azimi noted that troops are continuing to leave the Afghan military and that the attrition rate remains high, at about two percent a month. This makes it necessary to recruit and train large numbers of men just to keep up the army's strength levels.
Attrition includes all service members leaving the security forces, including those who have completed their terms of service or left due to medical or other reasons, losses in combat and desertions.
Critics have said some of the men deserting the security forces - often with their weapons - are defecting to the Taliban and providing the insurgents with trained new fighters.
Azimi attributed the losses mainly to the problems the men face when they are based far from their homes and families in regions in the east and south, where the insurgency has been the most active.
In an unrelated development, The U.S. Army said that eight U.S. soldiers were charged in connection with the Oct. 3 death of a fellow soldier in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province.
Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old from New York, N.Y., was found in a guard tower at Combat Outpost Palace with what the Army described as "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound." Chen was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
In a statement, the military said the eight soldiers from Chen's company faced charges ranging from dereliction of duty, assault, negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
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Associated Press writers Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland, and Patrick Quinn, Rahim Faiez and Massieh Neshad in Kabul contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON ? Sen. Mitch McConnell does not high-five easily or often. But a deal to keep American workers' taxes from rising on Jan. 1 was reason enough for the coolest negotiator in the Senate to lift a hand on camera and slap ? or pat ? some skin.
His celebration was premature.
Furious House Republicans said McConnell's deal for a two-month extension of payroll tax cuts is 10 months too few. They are prepared to let everyone's Social Security taxes rise an average $20 a week for a while if that's what it takes to extend the cut for a year. And they are intent on dragging the vacationing Senate back to Washington to do it their way.
"I don't care about the political implications," Rep. Tom Reed, R-N.Y., said Monday.
Senate Republicans do, especially those up for re-election at a time when Americans are more apt to trust car salesmen than Congress.
"The House Republicans' plan to scuttle the deal to help middle-class families is irresponsible and wrong," said one, Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass.
It was at least the third time in a year dominated by partisan standoffs that House conservatives, led by a nearly 90-member freshman class, brought GOP leaders up short on their plans to compromise. The first was last spring when they forced GOP leaders to rewrite spending bills to deepen federal spending cuts. Then there were objections in the summer over raising the nation's debt limit, which brought the government to the brink of a first-ever default.
Now, the question of compromise is keeping a tax cut ? the stuff of Republican dogma ? hanging on the eve of the presidential and congressional election year.
At stake are Social Security payroll taxes paid by 160 million workers. President Barack Obama and the last Congress agreed to cut them by 2 percentage points a year ago, but only for a year. On Jan. 1, they go back up to 6.2 percent if Congress doesn't act. Also, people without jobs for more than six months start losing benefits and doctors' Medicare fees get cut by 27 percent.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, derided what he said was yet another instance of the Senate "kicking the can down the road" with only a two-month renewal of the status quo. Doing it for an entire year would mean more certainty "for job creators and others," he said.
House Republicans huddled late into the night and planned to instead call Tuesday for formal negotiations with the Senate, rejecting the two-month version.
The dustup marked an unusual disconnect between Boehner and McConnell. Even before the 2010 elections made Boehner speaker, he and McConnell coordinated closely on tactics. This year, they've stayed in close contact, either by phone or by shuttling quietly between their office suites at the Capitol, their aides say.
Kentucky's McConnell is not meek when it comes to partisan brinksmanship.
He's vowed, for example, to use his perch as the Senate's top Republican to deny Obama a second term. He considers cartoons mocking his hardcore negotiating style badges of honor, and posts them on his office wall. But even McConnell spoke up Saturday in favor of compromise on the payroll tax, lest another standoff drop Congress' approval ratings the few points they have left to fall.
"In order to achieve something around here, we have to compromise," he intoned just before the Senate's vote Saturday on the two-month tax cut extension. "That is, in fact, what we have done. We have crafted a bill not designed to fail but designed to pass."
It passed overwhelmingly, 89-10, and senators immediately bolted for a month-long recess, a year of sniping and ugliness finished at last ? or so they thought.
House Republicans immediately balked and insisted on their one-year version, six times more expensive and paid for in part by raising Medicare premiums for people whose incomes exceed $80,000 a year. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid made clear he had no intention of calling the Senate back into session to vote on that or any other bill.
A two-month deal, the House freshmen suggested, was not worth having because it did not afford business owners and others enough time to plan. They were outraged at the Senate ? including 39 of its 47 Republicans ? for voting for a two-month extension.
"The Senate just needs to do its job," said Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, R-N.Y. "What they sent us over was an insult to the American people."
"That vote (in the Senate) had a lot more to do with getting out of Washington and going back home and spending time with our loved ones," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark.
So it's all or nothing? House Republicans are prepared to let taxes rise on Jan. 1?
ILIGAN, Philippines ? With funeral parlors overwhelmed, authorities in a flood-stricken southern Philippine city on Monday organized the first mass burial of some of nearly 700 people who were swept to their deaths in one of worst calamities to strike the region in decades.
For the first time in a day, the staggering death toll from Friday night's disaster, spawned by a tropical storm, remained little changed but the number of missing varied widely. Official figures put the missing at 82, while the Philippine Red Cross estimated 800.
The disparity underscores the difficulty in accounting for people who could be buried in the mud and debris littering much of the area or could be alive but lost in crowded evacuation centers or elsewhere.
"We lost count of how many are missing," said Benito Ramos, head of the government's Office of Civil Defense.
In Iligan, a coastal industrial hub of 330,000 people, Mayor Lawrence Cruz said the city's half a dozen parlors were full to capacity and no longer accepting bodies. The first burial of 50 or so unclaimed bodies was to take place later Monday in individual tombs at the city cemetery, he said.
"For public health purposes, we're doing this. The bodies are decomposing and there is no place where we can place them, not in an enclosed building, not in a gymnasium," Cruz told The Associated Press.
He said many of the Iligan dead ? 279 by official count ? "are just piled and laid outside the morgues," which ran out of formaldehyde for embalming and coffins.
"We're using plastic bags, whatever is available," Cruz said.
In nearby Cagayan de Oro city, the situation was more chaotic and people were resisting mass burials, instead demanding that bodies be interned until relatives can claim them.
About 340 died in Cagayan de Oro, most of them women and children and many of whom lived along river banks. Flood waters came gushing after 12 hours of pounding rain, catching most of them in their sleep.
Residents told local officials that plans for a mass burial was "un-Christian," said Cagayan de Oro city administrator Griscelda Joson.
Mayor Vicente Emano called a meeting later Monday to discuss the problem. Funeral parlors have asked authorities to do something about the unclaimed bodies because of the stench and complaints from neighbors, she said.
More bodies continue to be found. While city officials were meeting Sunday, more than 40 bodies were seen floating off an island but the coast guard could not recover them, Joson said.
In a grim sign of desperation, a funeral parlor dumped about 30 badly decomposed bodies in a city garbage dump over the weekend, sparking protests from distraught villagers who were looking for the missing loved ones.
Ramos, the head of the agency that is spearheading the recovery and relief operations, attributed the high casualties "partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms" despite warnings by officials that one was approaching.
"We've had flooding before but nothing like this," Cruz, the Iligan mayor said, recalling floods in the early 1950s. "We have a good drainage system but it as simply overwhelmed. The rainfall fell heavily on the mountains and this flowed down to two of our river systems and they overflowed and swept away houses and covered the highway and residential areas."
About 143,000 people were affected in 13 southern and central provinces, including 45,000 who fled to evacuation centers. About 7,000 houses were swept away, destroyed or damaged, the Office of Civil Defense said.
An estimated 35 percent of evacuees are children, said Trevor Clark, head of UNICEF in the southern Mindanao region. Running water and hygiene were major concerns, followed by a lack of clothing, blankets and even shoes for young children, he said.
Although he said government agencies were responding in a quick and efficient manner, they were overwhelmed and the United Nations was preparing an appeal for urgent assistance from donors and foreign governments.
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Associated Press writers Jim Gomez and Hrvoje Hranjski in Manila contributed to this report.
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Novel device removes heavy metals from waterPublic release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Lewis Richard_Lewis@brown.edu 401-863-3766 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] An unfortunate consequence of many industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Those metals can remain for decades, even centuries, in low but still dangerous concentrations.
Ridding water of trace metals "is really hard to do," said Joseph Calo, professor emeritus of engineering who maintains an active laboratory at Brown. He noted the cost, inefficiency, and time needed for such efforts. "It's like trying to put the genie back in the bottle."
That may be changing. Calo and other engineers at Brown describe a novel method that collates trace heavy metals in water by increasing their concentration so that a proven metal-removal technique can take over. In a series of experiments, the engineers report the method, called the cyclic electrowinning/precipitation (CEP) system, removes up to 99 percent of copper, cadmium, and nickel, returning the contaminated water to federally accepted standards of cleanliness. The automated CEP system is scalable as well, Calo said, so it has viable commercial potential, especially in the environmental remediation and metal recovery fields. The system's mechanics and results are described in a paper published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.
A proven technique for removing heavy metals from water is through the reduction of heavy metal ions from an electrolyte. While the technique has various names, such as electrowinning, electrolytic removal/recovery or electroextraction, it all works the same way, by using an electrical current to transform positively charged metal ions (cations) into a stable, solid state where they can be easily separated from the water and removed. The main drawback to this technique is that there must be a high-enough concentration of metal cations in the water for it to be effective; if the cation concentration is too low roughly less than 100 parts per million the current efficiency becomes too low and the current acts on more than the heavy metal ions.
Another way to remove metals is through simple chemistry. The technique involves using hydroxides and sulfides to precipitate the metal ions from the water, so they form solids. The solids, however, constitute a toxic sludge, and there is no good way to deal with it. Landfills generally won't take it, and letting it sit in settling ponds is toxic and environmentally unsound. "Nobody wants it, because it's a huge liability," Calo said.
The dilemma, then, is how to remove the metals efficiently without creating an unhealthy byproduct. Calo and his co-authors, postdoctoral researcher Pengpeng Grimshaw and George Hradil, who earned his doctorate at Brown and is now an adjunct professor, combined the two techniques to form a closed-loop system. "We said, 'Let's use the attractive features of both methods by combining them in a cyclic process,'" Calo said.
It took a few years to build and develop the system. In the paper, the authors describe how it works. The CEP system involves two main units, one to concentrate the cations and another to turn them into stable, solid-state metals and remove them. In the first stage, the metal-laden water is fed into a tank in which an acid (sulfuric acid) or base (sodium hydroxide) is added to change the water's pH, effectively separating the water molecules from the metal precipitate, which settles at the bottom. The "clear" water is siphoned off, and more contaminated water is brought in. The pH swing is applied again, first redissolving the precipitate and then reprecipitating all the metal, increasing the metal concentration each time. This process is repeated until the concentration of the metal cations in the solution has reached a point at which electrowinning can be efficiently employed.
When that point is reached, the solution is sent to a second device, called a spouted particulate electrode (SPE). This is where the electrowinning takes place, and the metal cations are chemically changed to stable metal solids so they can be easily removed. The engineers used an SPE developed by Hradil, a senior research engineer at Technic Inc., located in Cranston, R.I. The cleaner water is returned to the precipitation tank, where metal ions can be precipitated once again. Further cleaned, the supernatant water is sent to another reservoir, where additional processes may be employed to further lower the metal ion concentration levels. These processes can be repeated in an automated, cyclic fashion as many times as necessary to achieve the desired performance, such as to federal drinking water standards.
In experiments, the engineers tested the CEP system with cadmium, copper, and nickel, individually and with water containing all three metals. The results showed cadmium, copper, and nickel were lowered to 1.50, 0.23 and 0.37 parts per million (ppm), respectively near or below maximum contaminant levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency. The sludge is continuously formed and redissolved within the system so that none is left as an environmental contaminant.
"This approach produces very large volume reductions from the original contaminated water by electrochemical reduction of the ions to zero-valent metal on the surfaces of the cathodic particles," the authors write. "For an initial 10 ppm ion concentration of the metals considered, the volume reduction is on the order of 106."
Calo said the approach can be used for other heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, and tin. The researchers are currently testing the system with samples contaminated with heavy metals and other substances, such as sediment, to confirm its operation.
###
The research was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, through the Brown University Superfund Research Program.
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Novel device removes heavy metals from waterPublic release date: 16-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Richard Lewis Richard_Lewis@brown.edu 401-863-3766 Brown University
PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] An unfortunate consequence of many industrial and manufacturing practices, from textile factories to metalworking operations, is the release of heavy metals in waterways. Those metals can remain for decades, even centuries, in low but still dangerous concentrations.
Ridding water of trace metals "is really hard to do," said Joseph Calo, professor emeritus of engineering who maintains an active laboratory at Brown. He noted the cost, inefficiency, and time needed for such efforts. "It's like trying to put the genie back in the bottle."
That may be changing. Calo and other engineers at Brown describe a novel method that collates trace heavy metals in water by increasing their concentration so that a proven metal-removal technique can take over. In a series of experiments, the engineers report the method, called the cyclic electrowinning/precipitation (CEP) system, removes up to 99 percent of copper, cadmium, and nickel, returning the contaminated water to federally accepted standards of cleanliness. The automated CEP system is scalable as well, Calo said, so it has viable commercial potential, especially in the environmental remediation and metal recovery fields. The system's mechanics and results are described in a paper published in the Chemical Engineering Journal.
A proven technique for removing heavy metals from water is through the reduction of heavy metal ions from an electrolyte. While the technique has various names, such as electrowinning, electrolytic removal/recovery or electroextraction, it all works the same way, by using an electrical current to transform positively charged metal ions (cations) into a stable, solid state where they can be easily separated from the water and removed. The main drawback to this technique is that there must be a high-enough concentration of metal cations in the water for it to be effective; if the cation concentration is too low roughly less than 100 parts per million the current efficiency becomes too low and the current acts on more than the heavy metal ions.
Another way to remove metals is through simple chemistry. The technique involves using hydroxides and sulfides to precipitate the metal ions from the water, so they form solids. The solids, however, constitute a toxic sludge, and there is no good way to deal with it. Landfills generally won't take it, and letting it sit in settling ponds is toxic and environmentally unsound. "Nobody wants it, because it's a huge liability," Calo said.
The dilemma, then, is how to remove the metals efficiently without creating an unhealthy byproduct. Calo and his co-authors, postdoctoral researcher Pengpeng Grimshaw and George Hradil, who earned his doctorate at Brown and is now an adjunct professor, combined the two techniques to form a closed-loop system. "We said, 'Let's use the attractive features of both methods by combining them in a cyclic process,'" Calo said.
It took a few years to build and develop the system. In the paper, the authors describe how it works. The CEP system involves two main units, one to concentrate the cations and another to turn them into stable, solid-state metals and remove them. In the first stage, the metal-laden water is fed into a tank in which an acid (sulfuric acid) or base (sodium hydroxide) is added to change the water's pH, effectively separating the water molecules from the metal precipitate, which settles at the bottom. The "clear" water is siphoned off, and more contaminated water is brought in. The pH swing is applied again, first redissolving the precipitate and then reprecipitating all the metal, increasing the metal concentration each time. This process is repeated until the concentration of the metal cations in the solution has reached a point at which electrowinning can be efficiently employed.
When that point is reached, the solution is sent to a second device, called a spouted particulate electrode (SPE). This is where the electrowinning takes place, and the metal cations are chemically changed to stable metal solids so they can be easily removed. The engineers used an SPE developed by Hradil, a senior research engineer at Technic Inc., located in Cranston, R.I. The cleaner water is returned to the precipitation tank, where metal ions can be precipitated once again. Further cleaned, the supernatant water is sent to another reservoir, where additional processes may be employed to further lower the metal ion concentration levels. These processes can be repeated in an automated, cyclic fashion as many times as necessary to achieve the desired performance, such as to federal drinking water standards.
In experiments, the engineers tested the CEP system with cadmium, copper, and nickel, individually and with water containing all three metals. The results showed cadmium, copper, and nickel were lowered to 1.50, 0.23 and 0.37 parts per million (ppm), respectively near or below maximum contaminant levels established by the Environmental Protection Agency. The sludge is continuously formed and redissolved within the system so that none is left as an environmental contaminant.
"This approach produces very large volume reductions from the original contaminated water by electrochemical reduction of the ions to zero-valent metal on the surfaces of the cathodic particles," the authors write. "For an initial 10 ppm ion concentration of the metals considered, the volume reduction is on the order of 106."
Calo said the approach can be used for other heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, and tin. The researchers are currently testing the system with samples contaminated with heavy metals and other substances, such as sediment, to confirm its operation.
###
The research was funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a branch of the National Institutes of Health, through the Brown University Superfund Research Program.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
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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.
Half of all stillbirths result from pregnancy complications, such as a woman going into labor too soon, or abnormalities of the placenta, a new analysis of the causes of stillbirths finds.
On the other hand, a woman's characteristics at the start of her pregnancy, such as her weight, blood sugar levels and smoking habits, did not account for much of her stillbirth risk.
The extent of the risk also differed by ethnic group, the researchers said.
"Stillbirth is more common than people realize, affecting one out of every 160 pregnancies in the United States," said study researcher Dr. Robert Silver, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Utah School of Medicine.
Still more work is needed to understand why stillbirths happen, the researchers said. More autopsies as well as additional studies of early pregnancy may help pin down its causes, the researchers said.
Stillbirth causes
The new results are based on two studies conducted by The Stillbirth Collaborative Research Network Writing Group, which was established by the National Institutes of Health to find the causes of stillbirth.
In one study, the researchers examined 512 cases of stillbirth (death of a baby at or after the 20th week of pregnancy) at 59 hospitals in five states (Georgia, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Texas and Utah.) Each case underwent a complete evaluation, including autopsy, to determine the cause of death.
A probable cause of death was found in 312 of the stillbirths (60.9 percent) and a possible or probable cause in 390 cases (76.2 percent). Earlier studies, which typically were limited to analyzing medical records, could identify a cause of death in only about 50 percent of cases.
Pregnancy or birth-related complications contributed to the largest proportion of stillbirths: 29 percent.? Such complications can include preterm labor or a premature rupture of the membranes that hold the amniotic fluid.
Other causes identified were abnormalities of the placenta (24 percent of cases), genetic conditions or birth defects (14 percent), infection (13 percent), problems with the umbilical cord (10 percent), maternal high blood pressure (9 percent) and other medical conditions affecting the mother (8 percent).?
The study authors noted that fewer than 50 percent of stillbirths in the United States undergo an autopsy exam. To better understand why stillbirths happen, researchers need more information to be gathered from autopsies, placental exams and examinations of the fetus's chromosomes the researchers said.
Predicting stillbirth
In a second study, researchers compared 614 cases of stillbirth with 1,816 live births in an effort to identify factors present at the start of pregnancy that could indicate an increased risk for stillbirth.
A number of factors were associated with stillbirth, including previous history of stillbirth, pregnancy with twins, black race/ethnicity, diabetes and a history of drug use with addiction.
However, apart from having a previous stillbirth or pregnancy loss, the other risk factors had only a small effect on a mother's risk of stillbirth, the researchers said.
"It is extremely difficult to predict stillbirth risk based on risk factors that can be identified at the start of a pregnancy," Silver said. "The more we learn about causes and risk factors for stillbirth, the better we will become at designing strategies to reduce or prevent stillbirth."
Both studies will be published tomorrow (Dec. 14) in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Pass it on: Many stillbirths are caused by pregnancy complications and placenta abnormalities, but more work is needed to determine additional predictive factors.
This story was provided by MyHealthNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.
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The #1 New York Times best seller by Kathryn Stockett comes to vivid life through the powerful performances of a phenomenal ensemble cast. "The Help" is an inspirational, courageous and empowering story about very different, extraordinary women in the 1960s South who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project ? one that breaks society?s rules and puts them all at risk. Filled with poignancy, humor and hope ? and complete with compelling, never-before-seen bonus features ? "The Help" is a timeless, universal and triumphant story about the ability to create change.
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DALLAS ? Andre Coe, a former editorial assistant in the Dallas bureau of The Associated Press and the cooperative's regional news desk in Phoenix, died Friday. He was 36.
During his career at the AP, Coe reported from the Texas Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Ike in 2008, and was one of the first reporters to arrive at the scene of a bus crash that killed 17 passengers in Sherman earlier that year. He wrote about the 45th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and the return of US Airways Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who successfully landed a passenger jet in the Hudson River in 2009, to his hometown of Denison.
"Andre would appear in our cramped newsroom after a long day out in the wet heat of a summer disturbed by Ike, drop a backpack heavy with gear, and inquire about our story," said David Scott, the AP's Central Regional editor. "Invariably, it was a story for which he'd again earned the byline, having dictated throughout the day the details and interviews that made it work."
Coe had just started working as an editorial assistant at the AP's West Regional desk in 2010 when he was diagnosed with brain and lung cancer.
"Andre was an inspiration to everyone he met," said Dale Leach, AP's Chief of Bureau for Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. "Even when his body was failing, his spirit remained hopeful and uplifting. We will miss his presence, but always remember his spirit."
Coe was born in Fort Worth and grew up in Abilene. He graduated from the University of Texas with a degree in sociology in 2000 and returned to the school to earn a second degree in journalism in 2003.
Before coming to the AP, Coe was a reporter at the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser and the Dallas Examiner. He also had interned at the Austin American-Statesman and the Abilene Reporter-News.
"He said his biggest accomplishment was being a journalist, working where he could tell other people's stories," said Kim Bogney, one of Coe's three siblings.
He was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity, where his nickname was Aries, for his warrior spirit, she said. Coe was an ROTC cadet and also a huge sports fan.
While battling his illness, Coe would often visit his colleagues and joke about the weight and hair he lost during his treatment for cancer. He was a constant upbeat presence on Facebook.
"He remained happy, joyful and positive even while being fully cognizant of what he was facing and he truly inspired everyone who knew him during that period because he fought that battle joyfully," said Matt Curry, a reporter in the AP's Dallas bureau, who became good friends with Coe as they worked together at night.
While Coe was ill, he wrote a book of humorous stories about his life titled "The Life and Times of a Curly Headed Kid from West Texas."
"Andre was very carefree," Bogney said. "He lived his life. He didn't leave anything on the table."
Coe is survived by his mother, Irene Coe of Abilene; two sisters, Vickie Hall of Plano and Kim Bogney of Allen; and a brother, Anthony Coe of Round Rock. Funeral services are pending.
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