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Friday 28 October 2011
Thursday 27 October 2011
Wayne State to develop a computer-delivered intervention for alcohol use during pregnancy
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
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313-577-8845
Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
DETROIT -- A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have received a three-year grant to develop a computer-delivered intervention for pregnant women at risk for alcohol use, which can lead to lifelong negative effects on the fetus. Prenatal exposure to alcohol affects attentional, cognitive, social and behavioral functioning and is a major cause of mental retardation. Infants born to African American women are at increased risk of adverse effects.
Screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment ("SBIRT") approaches to alcohol use during pregnancy can be used by medical staff to identify and reduce alcohol use among pregnant women. SBIRT approaches are not often used, however, because of the amount of time, training, expertise and commitment required. Computer-delivered SBIRT approaches may offer an alternative approach through the use of consistent screening and evidence-based brief interventions at a lower cost, without requiring significant time of medical staff.
With this in mind, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health recently funded the "Healthy Pregnancy Study," which will help Steven Ondersma, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, and colleagues develop and test a highly practical, high-reaching computer-delivered intervention to reduce alcohol use during pregnancy.
Ondersma's study will lay the groundwork for larger-scale investigations of computer-delivered SBIRT for alcohol use during pregnancy. Ondersma and his team will evaluate the utility of handheld mobile devices and an anonymous self-interview format in screening for at-risk drinking among patients at a prenatal clinic, along with sophisticated interactive intervention software. In addition, the study will examine the validity of the alcohol biomarker, Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), to indicate alcohol exposure in study participants.
"If our study is successful, health care systems will have the ability to help far more at-risk women through this intervention than previously possible," said Ondersma. "In turn, it may also have a meaningful impact on reducing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders."
###
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.
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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.
Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Julie O'Connor
julie.oconnor@gmail.com
313-577-8845
Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research
DETROIT -- A team of researchers at Wayne State University's Parent Health Lab in the School of Medicine have received a three-year grant to develop a computer-delivered intervention for pregnant women at risk for alcohol use, which can lead to lifelong negative effects on the fetus. Prenatal exposure to alcohol affects attentional, cognitive, social and behavioral functioning and is a major cause of mental retardation. Infants born to African American women are at increased risk of adverse effects.
Screening, brief intervention, and referral for treatment ("SBIRT") approaches to alcohol use during pregnancy can be used by medical staff to identify and reduce alcohol use among pregnant women. SBIRT approaches are not often used, however, because of the amount of time, training, expertise and commitment required. Computer-delivered SBIRT approaches may offer an alternative approach through the use of consistent screening and evidence-based brief interventions at a lower cost, without requiring significant time of medical staff.
With this in mind, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health recently funded the "Healthy Pregnancy Study," which will help Steven Ondersma, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, and colleagues develop and test a highly practical, high-reaching computer-delivered intervention to reduce alcohol use during pregnancy.
Ondersma's study will lay the groundwork for larger-scale investigations of computer-delivered SBIRT for alcohol use during pregnancy. Ondersma and his team will evaluate the utility of handheld mobile devices and an anonymous self-interview format in screening for at-risk drinking among patients at a prenatal clinic, along with sophisticated interactive intervention software. In addition, the study will examine the validity of the alcohol biomarker, Ethyl Glucuronide (EtG), to indicate alcohol exposure in study participants.
"If our study is successful, health care systems will have the ability to help far more at-risk women through this intervention than previously possible," said Ondersma. "In turn, it may also have a meaningful impact on reducing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders."
###
Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world. For more information about research at Wayne State University, visit http://www.research.wayne.edu.
.
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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.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/wsu--wst102611.php
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Video: Boeing?s Dreamliner makes its first flight
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45054298#45054298
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Wednesday 26 October 2011
Lern2Play
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Tuesday 25 October 2011
Guinness won't ratify centenarian's marathon
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Texas man sought in frozen-armadillo attack
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 22, 2011, 11:13 a.m.
Dallas police are searching for a man who allegedly used a frozen armadillo to attack a woman who had been trying to buy the critter.Investigators told Fox 4 News-Dallas Fort Worth that the fight started in an apartment parking lot Sept. 29 when the suspect was selling the carcass to the alleged victim, who planned to eat it.
The pair were haggling over the price when police said the man hurled the armadillo at the 57-year-old woman twice. The woman was struck in her leg and chest, and suffered bruises, police said.So far, investigators have been unable to track down the suspect, who they said could face assault charges.
According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas law prohibits the sale of live armadillos, but some Texans still savor the meat. Some developed a taste for armadillo during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when it was known as "Hoover Hog" and "poor man's pork."
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Sunday 23 October 2011
NASDAQ Attackers Likely Monitored Director Communications ...
Two unknown sources close to the NSADAQ investigation have told Reuters that malicious software that worked its way into a web-based communications platform at NASDAQ last year allowed the attackers to monitor communications between business leaders using its Director?s Desk system.
Directors Desk is a solution to help board members communicate and collaborate "securely", which the company says is used by more than 10,000 directors around the globe.
NASDAQ CEO Robert Greifeld told the news agency that the exchange is under constant attack. Because of this, they spend nearly a billion dollars annually on their information security program. Yet, is this money that should be applied elsewhere? Perhaps on basic Application Security?
?Due to the true nature of the Director?s Desk Web-based application, it appears that vulnerabilities within the application were probably successfully exploited by remote attackers that allowed them to peruse information exchanges between various company directors. There are several classes of common vulnerabilities that would allow attacks like this, and I would direct people to take a closer look at the OWASP Top-10 application security risks,? commented Damballa?s Gunter Ollman.
?Gaining remote access to confidential data held within the Director?s Desk application could have been through SQL injection, broken authentication and session management, and URL restriction failures. In my years of running penetration tests against Fortune-500 companies, these were the most common vulnerabilities that could be exploited to reveal this level of confidential data.?
He added that the new details of the malicious usage of Director?s Desk, or any major Web application being targeted should come as no surprise.
?Overall, vulnerabilities within large Web-based applications are very common. They are under constant development and change, which means that vulnerabilities can be unintentionally introduced at any time. If there are multiple development teams working on the same application portal ? all developing their own micro applications ? then the probability of new vulnerabilities being introduced grows considerably. This is why Web applications need to be security tested continuously.?
Directors Desk is completely unrelated to the NASDAQ trading platforms which power the exchange and that trading operations were nevr affected.
Steve Ragan is a security reporter and contributor for SecurityWeek. Prior to joining the journalism world in 2005, he spent 15 years as a freelance IT contractor focused on endpoint security and security training.Previous Columns by Steve Ragan:Source: http://www.securityweek.com/nasdaq-attackers-likely-monitored-director-communications
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Venezuela's Chavez declares himself free of cancer (Reuters)
LA GRITA, Venezuela (Reuters) ? Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez declared himself cancer-free on Thursday, four months after surgery to remove a malignant tumor that shook the South American nation ahead of a 2012 presidential election.
"I am free of illness," Chavez, 57, said in an address to Venezuelans after touching down from Cuba in a western state to make a pilgrimage to a Catholic shrine.
"The new Chavez is back ... We will live!"
Despite the charismatic socialist president's ebullience, doctors say it is impossible for him to be considered out of danger until at least two years after treatment has finished.
"No matter what kind of cancer he was treated for, it's just too early to tell," said a U.S.-based cancer expert, who asked not to be named.
Nearly 13 years into a radical rule that has transformed the South American OPEC member, Chavez plans to run for re-election in a presidential vote set for October 2012, and insists he will win.
"It will be easier for a donkey to pass through the eye of a needle than for the opposition to win the elections," Chavez added in a typically idiosyncratic use of a Biblical quote.
With constant jibes at Washington and a self-styled "revolution" at home, Chavez has become one of the world's best-known and most controversial heads of state.
He says he wants to rule for at least another decade or two to "accelerate" reforms that have included sweeping nationalizations, huge injections of oil revenues into social projects in the slums, and tighter grips on opponents.
Adored by supporters in poor areas, he is viewed as a clownish but dangerous dictator by foes who say Chavez wants to install an unwanted Cuban-style communism in Venezuela.
Dressed in green military uniform and looking overjoyed, Chavez said the tests he underwent in Cuba this week had shown there were no malignant cells in his body following four cycles of chemotherapy after the June 20 operation in Havana.
"It's a miracle that I am with here you," he said in a second speech to the nation after kneeling in prayer at the Christ of La Grita shrine, in the Andean foothills, to repay a promise and give thanks for his health improvement.
Chavez has not given precise details of his cancer, but the surgery was in his abdomen region. There has been intense speculation his condition is worse than he has let on, with one Venezuelan doctor who has treated him in the past quoted this week as saying he only had two years maximum to live.
"CHAVEZ IS BACK!"
Chavez is the latest in a group of fellow Latin American leaders who have undergone cancer treatment and also declared a clean bill of health just months after treatment.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff won a 2010 election after chemotherapy while Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo was diagnosed last year with a lymphoma that he said was in remission four months later.
Touching down in western Tachira state, the ever-theatrical Chavez hugged smiling ministers and warmly greeted supporters, singing with some and slapping the backs of others.
After a first speech carried on all Venezuelan TV and radio stations, he set off driving through the hills to the shrine, waving at supporters from an open-topped vehicle.
"I am more and more Christian. Socialism is the way of Christ. Love, social justice, that is Christ," said Chavez, who has mixed communism, Catholicism and veneration of Venezuela's independence hero Simon Bolivar during a remarkable rule.
Chavez exuded confidence but eventually looked tired and hoarse at the end of a three-hour roadshow clearly designed to show Venezuelans his old physical strength was returning.
"Chavez is back in the street!" he said.
The president has benefited from a sympathy bounce taking him to an approval rating near 60 percent. But analysts say that may fall if his health deteriorates again and he is seen as unfit to run for re-election or rule for another six years.
A newly-united opposition coalition plans a primary in February to choose their candidate against Chavez.
Currently leading polls is a young and energetic state governor, Henrique Capriles Radonski, seen to share Chavez's populist touch if not his politics.
SKEPTICISM
Famous for swilling coffee, sleeping just a few hours and exhausting aides with his round-the-clock, high-energy style, Chavez said it was time to tone down his lifestyle.
"It is necessary, to change radically my habits to preserve my health and accompany you in the new fatherland."
His return will quell, at least for now, the maneuvering local media say is taking place among his allies over possible succession. Most analysts think "Chavismo" would falter after Chavez, with no obvious figure ready to take over should he leave office due to sickness.
U.S.-based Nomura Securities analyst said Chavez was seeking to quell the speculation his condition had awoken. "Nobody is going to know for sure if he is cured. But he has to say this because he needs to bring peace to the Chavistas. His being there is to try to calm them down and tell them that Chavismo continues and he'll take it from here."
Karen Hooper, who analyzes Latin America for political risk consultancy Stratfor, was skeptical over the latest chapter in the Chavez drama.
"No one accurately declares themselves free of cancer after just a few months. This is political theater," she said.
"His actual condition remains a state secret."
(Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga, Daniel Bases, Diego Ore; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne; Editing by Kieran Murray)
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Friday 21 October 2011
Beyond The Battlefield: As Veterans Fight For Needed Care, Long-Term Funding Remains A Question Mark
"Beyond The Battlefield" is a 10-part series exploring the challenges that severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan face after they return home, as well as what those struggles mean for those close to them. Learn how you can help here. Other stories in the series can be found here. Listen to reporter David Wood discuss "Beyond The Battlefield" with NPR's Terry Gross here. Wood and wounded veteran Bobby Henline will hold a live video chat this Friday. See more details and send them questions.
Three days after Sept. 11, 2001, Congress met to authorize giving the president the power to respond with "all necessary and appropriate force" to the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. It was, in effect, a declaration of the war that has now lasted a decade. In a rhetorical cascade that went on for five hours, hundreds of politicians of both parties joined the war fervor, demanding that troops be sent to "crush" the perpetrators and their supporters.
Only one person, a now-retired Democratic congresswoman, took time to observe that war would create a new generation of wounded veterans who would need lifetime care, and that Congress ought to agree to pay those bills before sending young Americans into battle.
"There will be casualties, both physical and psychological," said Rep. Darlene Hooley of Oregon. "Let us ensure that when they come home Congress honors their sacrifice, not solely with parades, but for the rest of their lives."
There would be more casualties than anyone at the time could imagine -- 53,000 dead and wounded -- and there would be more severely wounded among them as well, roughly 16,000 so far. Moreover, the cost of caring for these young, severely wounded combat survivors for a lifetime would also rise exponentially.
In a report that the Congressional Budget Office issued last summer, economist Heidi L. W. Golding said future costs for the Department of Veterans Affairs to treat veterans "will be substantially higher (in inflation-adjusted dollars) than recent appropriations for that purpose, partly because more veterans are likely to seek care in the VA system but mostly because health care costs per enrolled veteran are projected to increase faster than the overall price level."
Responsibility for caring for veterans could add at least another half-trillion dollars to the U.S. debt, according to Harvard economist Linda Bilmes. Yet there is at present no long-term strategy on how to pay for it. Money for veterans' care emerges from the annual budget squabbles in Congress. Unlike a pension fund or even Social Security, Congress doesn?t actually set aside funds for future obligations to veterans.
And given the current budget-ax climate in Washington, it's unlikely that Congress will begin setting aside money for the future care of veterans who are being wounded this year.
So far, politicians generally have been loathe to cut funds for veterans. But the uproar this year over the budget and debt squeeze suggests that even annual appropriations for severely wounded and disabled soldiers such as Tyler Southern and Todd Nelson could be vulnerable.
Politicians of both parties vow to protect veterans' funding, and the White House has directed that $25 billion be stripped from the Pentagon's 10-year spending plan and set aside for veterans' medical costs. The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that its costs will drop as the generation of Vietnam veterans require less support.
But VA funding remains an enticing target as tempers fray over the ballooning deficit.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), for instance, a GOP presidential candidate, proposed early this year a package of federal spending cuts that included a $4.5 billion cut in veterans' health benefits. Veterans organizations screamed in protest. The measure would, said Veterans for Common Sense, leave the war's wounded "twisting in the wind."
"While the country is at war, there's a lot of positive feeling about those who fight," said economist Bilmes, who has studied and written about the cost of veterans programs. "But it is quite conceivable to me that over a period of time, when the wars are over and the U.S. is involved in other things and budget resources are very scarce, the desire to support veterans will change."
LIFETIME CARE
At the close of 2001, with the war in Afghanistan barely underway and the Iraq war still 18 months away, the VA was paying compensation to 172,254 veterans who had a disability rating of 100 percent from service in prior conflicts. By the end of last year, the VA had 295,529 veterans with 100 percent disability ratings on its books, an increase of 123,275 disabled veterans in just a decade.
The increase in costs was also substantial. In 2003, the VA paid $18 million to care for veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2013, the VA projects that cost will be $3.5 billion -- and that figure will continue to grow by $1.5 billion a year.
Why?
Among many reasons -- more wounded veterans, more generous allowances and more veterans who are aggressively seeking help -- is this: The growing number of severely wounded soldiers and Marines coming off the battlefield require more expensive services and compensation over the five decades or more of their lifetimes.
Because Iraq and Afghan war casualties are more severely wounded than veterans of past conflicts, the cost of their lifetime care may be underestimated. A recent Army study reported that the severely wounded experience "prolonged and profound dysfunction (physical and emotional) that is oftentimes underestimated by health care providers."
As President Obama observed in a speech last summer to the American Legion: "Thanks to advanced armor and medical technologies, our troops are surviving injuries that would have been fatal in previous wars. So we're saving more lives, but more American veterans live with severe wounds for a lifetime. That's why we need to be there for them for their lifetime.?
Prosthetic legs, for instance, have grown in sophistication and capability in the past decade. Instead of the "dumb" peg-legs seen in pirate movies, today's powered legs come with microprocessors, accelerometers and gyroscopes to mimic the complex motions of walking, as well as a carbon-fiber foot that enables amputees to run.
One such prosthesis, the Otto Bock X2, costs $30,000 for the knee joint alone. Tyler Southern has two of them. Otto Bock HealthCare of Duderstadt, Germany, developed the joint working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the U.S. Army Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center.
The entire powered leg, from hip to toe, can cost up to $100,000 -- and most amputees are given three or four of them for different uses. The prostheses have to be replaced after three to five years, depending on how much they are used.
Still in the experimental phase is a mind-controlled arm that will replace the static hook commonly seen today. The new arm, a collaboration between Otto Bock and U.S. researchers funded by the Defense Department, uses signals from the brain, re-routed through nerves transferred from chest muscles to the arm stump, to rotate and open and close the hand and to flex the elbow. A prototype has advanced sensors implanted into the prosthetic index finger to feel heat and cold, judge the strength of the grip and, it is said, feel the difference between a grape and a raisin.
Such devices are developed to deliver maximum benefit to military amputees, not necessarily to control costs. "We'll do everything we can to return you to the highest level of function," is the way Chuck Scoville, chief of amputee patient care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, describes his work.
Each new generation of a prosthetic limb has been "radically more expensive" than the device it replaced because of its increasing complexity, said David McGill, a board member of the Amputee Coalition and a prosthetics industry official. "With increased sophistication of the device you see an increase in the cost," he says.
Aside from hardware, the cost of caring for veterans is rising because veterans are increasingly demanding mental health services and disability payments, among other benefits. According to Army studies, the levels of acute stress among combat troops deployed in Afghanistan is "significantly higher" than in previous years, suggesting the demand for mental health services will continue to grow for years.
Past wars have shown that the cost of caring for the wounded rises and peaks long after the war is over and largely forgotten by the general population. Disability payments for veterans of World War I didn't peak until 1969, according to Harvard economist Bilmes, who teaches public finance at the Kennedy School of Government.
The VA is still making disability payments to a dependent of a soldier who fought in the Civil War 150 years ago, according to VA officials who declined to provide details because of privacy guidelines.
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Thursday 20 October 2011
Paths Taken
One of the pleasures of Scientific American, i?ve always thought, is that it offers armchair travelers a vicarious expedition to the exciting worlds uncovered through science. I reflected on that fact recently as I sat on the tarmac, my flight 23rd in line for takeoff at LaGuardia Airport in New York City. I was reading over this issue?s articles and again became absorbed by our cover story, ?The First Americans,? by Heather Pringle. Time rolled back in my mind?s eye, and I imagined a wholly different journey than the one I was taking.
What might it have been like to step across Beringia, the bridge between Asia and the Americas, during the last ice age? You are wearing warm, tailored clothing of hides, stitched together with bone needles. You are expert at reading the land for clues about the presence of prey and edible vegetation. Massive ice sheets cover much of your Arctic world. One day, ahead of you, you see a grassy plain?the dry winds whistling across it have made snowfall scant. Behind you are campfires, but none lie ahead. Drawn by the open path and the promise of richer hunting, you step toward a New World.
Studies of genetics and the recently discovered trove of more than 19,000 stone tools and other evidence from 15,500 years ago are helping scientists piece together those trailblazers? paths and what their lives were like. The findings indicate that humans arrived thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
Other science excursions in this issue include going to the Red Planet (?Digging Mars?), to Central America and elsewhere to battle dengue (?The Wipeout Gene?), and to the frontiers of medicine (?The Medical Sleuth?).
As for me, I was headed to Washington, D.C., where we held a reception with policy leaders on Capitol Hill to celebrate the magazine?s September single-topic issue on cities. Joining me was Harvard University economist Edward Glaeser, author of two pieces, who spoke about how, done right, with an emphasis on education, the greater density of humanity afforded by urban living can help us innovate our way out of the problems facing us today. That?s a journey we?ll all be making together.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=08ce80452729e86752dba82bc385d628
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Wednesday 19 October 2011
Reid: Parts of Cain???s 9-9-9 plan ???make sense??? [VIDEO] (Daily Caller)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told reporters on Tuesday before the GOP debate in Las Vegas that parts of 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain?s signature ?9-9-9? tax plan ?make sense.? But he added that it is ?very difficult? to grasp what Cain has proposed in ?little soundbites? from debates.
?I heard a presentation on that this morning, and there are parts of it that make sense, parts of it that don?t,? Reid said at the Capitol. ?But with taxes, you have to make sure that it makes sense.
?What people don?t understand is that Mr. Cain has not only the six ? I?m sorry ? the 9-9-9, but he also has a followup, some kind of a flat tax. And when you get to that, it creates a number of problems when you complicate it with what he?s already done. So in short, I think it?s something we?ve just started learning about.?
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Reid: Parts of Cain?s 9-9-9 plan 'make sense' [VIDEO]
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Obama on NC, VA bus tour: 'I'm the president' (AP)
JAMESTOWN, N.C. ? President Barack Obama sought Tuesday to recapture some of the bipartisan appeal that helped get him elected, while using the opportunity to assail GOP lawmakers for blocking his jobs bill.
Appearing in politically important North Carolina to promote his economic measures and his re-election, Obama promised he would work with GOP lawmakers on any serious plan they put forward to help get Americans back to work.
"I'm not the Democratic president or the Republican president. I'm the president," Obama said as the supportive crowd at a community college near Greensboro rose to its feet. The comment echoed Obama's 2008 campaign trail refrain about America being the "United States" and not simply a collection of red states and blue states.
Bipartisan rhetoric aside, Obama has had few discussions with any Republicans about the $447 billion jobs bill that Senate Republicans blocked last week. The bill is being broken into pieces so Congress can vote on its individual components.
"We got 100 percent `no' from Republicans in the Senate," Obama said. "Now that doesn't make any sense."
He said the GOP jobs plan amounts to gutting environmental regulations, increasing domestic oil production, rolling back Obama-era reforms of the financial system and repealing the health care law enacted last year.
"Now that's a plan," Obama said, "but it's not a jobs plan."
The White House denies Obama is on a campaign trip. But immediately after his remarks, the president climbed aboard his sleek, million-dollar, Secret Service-approved black bus for a five-hour ride to Emporia, Va. The bus rolled to a stop a short time later at Reid's House, in Reidsville, N.C., and the diverse crowd cheered loudly as Obama entered the restaurant for lunch.
The president worked the room, stopping to chat with one local couple who said they'd been married 59 years and joking that he and his wife, Michelle, had 40 years to go to catch up. He even complimented a local resident who said he worked in the funeral business, exclaiming, "Fantastic, that's important work!"
Afterward, Obama encountered Laketta Hussain, who was among a group waiting outside and was using a very old cell phone or a cordless phone to talk to her grandmother. Obama took the phone and spoke for a few minutes. "I'm doing good," he said, "except your granddaughter needs a new cell phone."
Obama is on the second day of a three-day tour through North Carolina and Virginia that is giving him a chance to sit back, admire the colorful fall foliage and bask in some small-town Southern hospitality.
"There's just something about North Carolina," he said Tuesday. "People are just gracious and kind. Even the folks who don't vote for me are nice to me." He recalled stopping for barbecue, sweet tea and hush puppies and playfully admonished the audience not to tell his health-conscious wife what he's been eating.
The stated purpose of the trip was to continue selling the jobs bill. But Obama is also selling himself, trying to pump up voters whose enthusiasm may have waned. That's particularly important in North Carolina, a state he wrested from Republicans in 2008 but that could slip from his grasp next November.
To try to recapture some of his electoral appeal, Obama turned to campaign staples: barbecue, babies and barrels of candy.
Obama spent more than four hours Monday driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which were bright with red and orange fall leaves. He stopped in Marion, population 8,075, for lunch at Countryside Barbeque. He ordered at the counter ? the barbecue platter and sweet tea ? then spent more than half an hour shaking hands and having his picture taken with the lunchtime crowd.
The tech-savvy president even helped one woman figure out how to take a photo on her smartphone.
Obama had a close encounter with one baby boy: "I think you got some biscuit on me," he said as he handed the child back to his mother.
And he made personal appeals for his economic policies, telling one table of local businessmen about his call for $50 billion more in new infrastructure spending. He said, "We're going to have to do it eventually, so why not do it now?"
Obama's unscheduled stops aren't wholly impromptu. White House staffers typically scope out areas in advance and Secret Service officers arrive well ahead of the president.
But the stops are about as spontaneous as it gets for the president, and they afford him the freedom of personal, retail politics that's often missing in the highly scripted White House.
Obama's bus, which he said was "decked out pretty good," passed crowds of people lined up on the sidewalks of small towns and residents sitting on lawn chairs in their front yards. A group of schoolchildren gathered outside their classrooms, waving small American flags. A man pulled his car to the side of the road and saluted as the commander in chief sped by.
One woman held a sign reading "We believe. We voted. Now What?" That message underscored the challenge Obama faces as he seeks to rally his supporters ahead of the 2012 election.
Key to Obama's 2008 success in North Carolina was his campaign's ability to boost voter turnout among young people. And there were plenty of them in Boone, home to Appalachian State University, when Obama stopped Monday at Mast General Store.
The store was filled with barrels of candy, which Obama started grabbing by the handful ? to help the White House prepare for Halloween, he said.
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Tuesday 18 October 2011
Johnson & Johnson 3Q profit down 6 pct, sales up
FILE - This file photo taken April 19, 2010 shows Johnson's "No More Tears," baby shampoo in Philadelphia. Johnson & Johnson posts a 6 percent decline in third-quarter profit, as larger overhead and production costs and a one-time charge offset higher foreign sales. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
FILE - This file photo taken April 19, 2010 shows Johnson's "No More Tears," baby shampoo in Philadelphia. Johnson & Johnson posts a 6 percent decline in third-quarter profit, as larger overhead and production costs and a one-time charge offset higher foreign sales. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Johnson & Johnson's third-quarter profit fell 6 percent becuase larger overhead and production costs and a one-time charge offset higher foreign sales.
The health care giant said Tuesday that net income was $3.2 billion, or $1.15 per share. That's down from $3.42 billion, or $1.23 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding a 9-cent charge for the pending acquisition of medical device maker Synthes Inc., net income would have been $3.4 billion, or $1.24 per share.
The maker of baby products and biologic drugs had revenue totaling $16 billion, up 7 percent from a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings per share of $1.21 and sales of $16.02 billion. Their estimates generally exclude one-time items.
The company, based in New Brunswick, N.J., raised the low end of its 2011 profit forecast, to betweem $4.95 and $5 per share, from its earlier forecast of $4.90 to $5 per share. Both sets of figures exclude one-time items.
Sales in all three J&J divisions ? prescription drugs, consumer health care and medical devices and diagnostics ? were down in the U.S.
U.S. prescription drug revenue fell 6 percent, mainly due to generic competition for antibiotic Levaquin and the Duragesic pain patch. The consumer business declined 4.5 percent as a two-year-long stretch of product recalls, mainly nonprescriptin medicines made by its McNeil Consumer Healthcare Business, kept Tylenol, Motrin and other products off store shelves.
But international revenue rose 16.4 percent, with stronger results in all three divisions, driven by sales jumps in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions and North and South America, excluding the U.S.
Worldwide revenue from medical devices and diagnostics rose 6.1 percent, to $6.28 billion. Prescription drug sales jumped 8.9 percent to $5.98 billion. Consumer product sales rose 4.9 percent at $3.74 billion.
"Our solid results this quarter reflect the success of many of our recently launched products," CEO William Weldon said in a statement.
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Monday 17 October 2011
Liberia president's lead narrows in vote count (AP)
MONROVIA, Liberia ? Liberia election officials say the president's narrow lead has decreased as vote counting continues.
Results released late Saturday represent 80 percent of polling stations and decrease Ellen Johnson Sirleaf's lead by less than 1 percent to 44.6 percent. A majority is needed to avoid a runoff after Tuesday's poll.
Earlier Saturday, a group of opposition parties including the second- and third-place contenders said they were pulling out of the process. They threatened to refuse the results over allegations that election officials are skewing the outcome in Sirleaf's favor.
Harvard-educated Sirleaf who was Africa's first democratically elected female president. She is viewed abroad as a reformer and was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her role in stabilizing Liberia after a 14-year civil war.
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Gaming Everything ? Blog Archive ? First Uncharted 3 review ? tons ...
October 16th, 2011 Posted in News, PS3
Posted By: Valay
We now have the first details on the Playmania?s Uncharted 3 review, along with the complete set of scans (again, spoiler warning!). A significant amount of the information simply praises the game, though there are some interesting gameplay tidbits. This reviewer said that it took ten hours to complete the single-player mode, so it sounds like the campaign could be slightly longer than originally thought (at least for some players).
- Combat is showy and spectacular
- One of the reasons things are so spectacular is becuase of the contextual animations
- Nathan?s actions can change based on the level and whatever is near
- Much attention to detail
- Moments that you won?t expect (like pipes breaking while you climb and other similar surprises that keep you on guard)
- A great game that you won?t find on any other console
- Lighting/shading effects have been given more care
- Some areas that are true works of art
- Epic soundtrack
- One of the best adventures on PS3
- Reviewer praises the dubbing (remember, this is a Spanish review)
- Reviewer seems to say he misses bosses (there are only different types of soldiers)
- Some feelings of ?deja vu? (only sometimes)
- Game is so good that the couple of points above aren?t too significant
- Reviewer praised the fact that co-op and competitive multiplayer can be played in split-screen, both local and online
- The 3D effect is very successful, one of the best they?ve seen
- 101 treasures and relics invite you to re-play the levels to see everything
- Persecution on foot in Yemen
- The game will tell you the ?genesis of Drake? and Sullivan
- Many new features/changes for multiplayer
- Co-op has 5 levels, including one of Borneo Uncharted 2
- It?s the closest things to playing as Indiana Jones
- The reviewer says that the single-player mode will take about 10 hours
- The game is a visual spectacle: it?s a game that enters your eyes, you have not seen anything like this on the PS3 or other consoles
- It?s Nathan?s most dramatic and intense adventure
- Shooting takes up most of the action, though there?s still platforming, puzzle-solving, etc.
- Each area is unique
- Great animations: in each level, Nathan has different gestures and details, like staggering in a ship with waves
- The recreation of water in the game is second to none
- If you don?t know Chloe/Elena/Suli, you?ll get lost with plot details, but nothing that?s too important
- The good: graphics, dubbing, situations, gameplay? it?s a gem with almost no weak spots
- The bad: Some levels seem quite reminiscent of Uncharted 2. That?s it.
- The best adventure to enjoy for on the PS3, fun for, technical quality, game options, and emotion
- From an artistic point of view, Uncharted 3 is a marvel; you?ve never seen such terrific scenes
- The puzzles have gained something in difficulty even though the game doesn?t look to make you get stuck
- Uncharted 3 conveys the desolation feeling of being lost in the desert; the game conveys many feelings
- Graphics: Simply one of the best on PS3 (99/100)
- Sound: Magisterial dubbing, effects and soundtrack. A pleasure to the ear (99/100)
- Entertainment: Intense, varied, replayable, secrets (99/100)
- Length: 10 hours single-player, online co-cop, a lot of replayability (97/100)
Source: http://gamingeverything.com/10580/first-uncharted-3-review-tons-of-details-full-scans/
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Sunday 16 October 2011
Somali militants suspected of grabbing aid workers
NAIROBI, Kenya?? Suspected Somali militants entered the world's largest refugee camp Thursday and abducted two Spanish women working with an aid group after shooting and wounding their Kenyan driver ? the third kidnapping of Europeans in Kenya in six weeks.
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Police pursued the gunmen by land and air, just as they had done following a nighttime kidnapping of a French woman from an island resort earlier this month . In September, a British woman was abducted ? and her husband was shot to death ? at a coastal resort.
The kidnappings by armed Somalis underscore the ease with which militants can cross into Kenya, take hostages and return to a land where power is determined by AK-47s and bandoliers of ammunition.
The police expressed confidence in capturing the gunmen even though the last two kidnappings saw the female captives taken into Somalia.
Regional police chief Leo Nyongesa said he believes the attackers came from Somalia because that was the direction they fled after Thursday's abduction from the Dadaab refugee camp, about 50 miles from the Somalia-Kenya border.
"We are following them by the road and air. We have closed the borders. We are tracking them down," Nyongesa said.
Closing the border, however, is impossible. The frontier is marked by a poorly manned border crossing and wide expanses of wilderness on either side of the road, which allows militants ? and Kenya's military at times ? to cross with ease.
The world's largest refugee camp, Dadaab would qualify as Kenya's third-most populous city and has become a mini-Somali state.
Tens of thousands of new Somalis have flooded Dadaab in the last three months to escape famine. The camp holds nearly a half-million Somalis, some of them third-generation refugees.
Kenyan officials have won international praise for accepting so many refugees fleeing hunger and war, but those who live near Dadaab complain that the Somali population increases insecurity.
The gunmen hijacked the vehicle in which the aid workers for Doctors Without Borders were riding and shot their driver in the neck, according to Baijo Mohamed, a youth leader in the Dadaab refuge camp.
A statement from the aid group gave few details but said the injured driver was hospitalized in stable condition.
"Two international staff are missing. A crisis team has been set up to deal with this incident," the group said.
In Spain, a Foreign Ministry official confirmed that two Spanish women who do logistics for the group were abducted. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with ministry rules.
Story: French woman snatched by boat from Kenya to SomaliaThe attack could complicate the aid effort at Dadaab, even though aid workers already operate under security requirements. U.N. staff must have armed escorts and most aid workers must be inside secure compounds before nightfall.
"I am deeply, deeply shocked and saddened. This is unacceptable," said Adan Keynan, chairman of the Kenyan parliament's defense and foreign relations committee. "This is a barbaric action, and the people of responsible nations must unite and fight this menace. This is an organized criminal gang who are hell-bent on causing fear and mayhem among people of Kenya."
After the successful kidnappings on Kenya's coast ? abductions that have harmed the country's tourism sector ? Internal Security Minister George Saitoti said "stringent measures" have been implemented to deter attacks along the border.
Story: British woman held by pirates reportedly 'sick with fever'But a Kenya-based security official said there had been indications of a pending attack in Dadaab. About two weeks ago, Somalis approached translators working for aid groups and asked about the nationalities of foreign staff, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Gunmen took the French woman from her home near the resort town of Lamu on Oct. 1. Kenyan authorities gave chase but said the militants escaped into Somalia. The government blamed the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab.
In early September, six gunmen believed to have been Somali pirates shot to death David Tebbutt, 58, and kidnapped his wife, Judith, at the exclusive Kiwayu Safari Village hotel north of Lamu on the coast near the Somali border. The British couple were staying at the resort, which consists of 18 cottages dotted along a white sand beach fringed with palms.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44888139/ns/world_news-africa/
Saturday 15 October 2011
CSN: Valverde still cool, if no longer perfect
By Sean McAdam
CSNNE.com
DETROIT -- You can't always be perfect.
????
Tom Gordon found that out the hard way in 1998. Jose Valverde learned it Wednesday night.
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Gordon was a striking 46-for-46 in save opportunities during the regular season that year, then picked the worst possible time to blow his first -- in Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Cleveland Indians.
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He came in for the 8th inning as Jimy Williams asked him, for the first time all year, to get a six-out save. Gordon got through the eighth fine, then allowed two runs in the ninth, ending the Sox' season.
????
There were striking similarities with Valverde last night. Like Gordon, he had successfully converted every save chance in the regular season. Like Gordon, he was sent out for a second inning by his manager.
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And like Gordon, Valverde tripped in his second inning of work, bringing his team to within one loss of winter.
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True, it wasn't a save situation as Valverde entered a tie game, 3-3.
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But in a somber Detroit clubhouse, after Valverde had yielded a run-scoring single to Mike Napoli and a three-run homer to October's newest hero, Nelson Cruz, the feeling was the same.
???
Unbeatable all year, fallible when it counted most.
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"We were down two games to one," shrugged Jim Leyland of his decision to go with Valverde for two innings. "You have to give it your best shot. That was our best shot."
There's no arguing with Leyland on that count. He's been into his bullpen earlier than he would like in most games in this series and he had little faith in Al Albuquerque, who was not-so-effectively wild while taking over for starter Rick Porcello in the seventh.
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After two innings from Joaquin Benoit, he went with Valverde. Both, he later, acknowledged, are "pitching on fumes and heart."
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Even by the industry standard for closers, Valverde is an eccentric. In the Division Series, he pronounced the Yankees done after the first game, then saved two of the Tigers' three wins to make his prediction a self-fulfilling prophecy.
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Following Wednesday's loss, he sat in his chair in front of his locker and discussed what might be the next-to-last loss of his team's season with a casual air, as if he had just spit up a lead in the Grapefruit League.
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No, he wasn't tired. No, he isn't doing anything different in the post-season.
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The pitch to Cruz was a sinker, he revealed, pretty much where he wanted it.
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"He went and got it," said Valverde, adding a small chuckle as an afterthought, an audible what-can-you-do. "Nothing I could do."
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He regretted only the outcome.
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Had the Tigers done a better job with some opportunities, or perhaps not run into some outs on the bases -- Austin Jackson was gunned down trying to steal second in the bottom of the 10th; Miguel Cabrera was cut down trying to score on a flyout to right in the eighth -- Valverde might not have been asked to pitch a second inning.
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Maybe the series would be tied. Maybe Valverde's season would still be unblemished.
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He vowed to be ready for Game 5 Thursday night and said he had great faith in starter Justin Verlander to present him with a late-inning lead.
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Salvation could be only 24 hours away. Such is the life of a closer in the post-season.
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Few remember the converted saves in October. The blown ones, however, become parts of baseball history: Donnie Moore. Calvin Schiraldi. Dennis Eckersley.
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Even the great Mariano Rivera has been on the mound when two Yankee seasons have come crashing down.
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But if Jose Valverde was worried about joining them in infamy, he was hiding it well Wednesday night.
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Gordon didn't get another chance in 1998. His late-inning stumble was the last game of the year for his team. Jose Valverde has some margin for error, which is handy when you find out that you can always be perfect.??
Sean McAdam can be reached at smcadam@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sean on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sean_mcadam.
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Catching up on Congo elections
Guest blogger Jason Stearns recaps some of the recent developments leading up to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's elections, scheduled for next month.
I have been posting irregularly over the past few weeks. Here are some stories you may have missed over the last week that relate to elections.
Attack on Lukolela:
Compared to many incidents in the East, this attack seemed minor, but has a strong symbolic value. According to Kinshasa, on Oct. 6 an armed group attacked the fishing village of Lukolela, along the border with The Republic of Congo (ROC) around 500 km from the capital Kinshasa. Five of the attackers were arrested, allegedly carrying residency permits from the ROC and signed orders from General Faustin Munene, a dissident DR Congolese officer.
Immediately, the ROC government dismissed the claims as a set-up by the DRC government, saying "if those who are organizing the elections are not ready, they should say so, but they need to leave others out of this." Its minister of interior scoffed at the idea that the attackers had signed orders from General Munene, wondering how Munene could sign orders if he is in prison in their capital Brazzaville.
In response, Kinshasa sent a large delegation of 21 officials to Brazzaville to show them proof of the attack.
This back-and-forth comes to the backdrop of tense relations between the two countries. DRC officials have suggested that the armed men who attacked the presidential residence in February came from across the river, and Brazzaville has still not responded to an extradition request for DRC's two main western rebel leaders: General Munene and Udjani Mangbama. ROC President Sassou Nguesso visited Kinshasa in April to discuss these security issues with his counterpart, but no concrete steps have been taken to ameliorate relations.
Gizenga finally makes his move:
Just days after his 86th birthday, Antoine Gizenga, former prime minister and the head of the PALU political party, declared his support for Joseph Kabila's candidacy. A declaration had been long awaited, as PALU had previously just said they would support the "party of the left." Gizenga made clear that Kabila had won that label, and that he was the only "Lumumbist" candidate in the running. None of these labels mean much to most Congolese, or they think they are window-dressing for political expediency.
The alliance is important, as Gizenga helped Kabila will over 60 percent of the vote in Bandundu province, where he is revered almost as a saint by many, in 2006. This time around, however, it may well be different, as PALU has held the prime ministry for the past five (first Gizenga, then Adolphe Muzito) and has not delivered much. Some doubt whether Gizenga has much appeal outside the elders of his Pende community.
Ethnic tensions rise in Fizi, South Kivu:
On Oct. 5, the jeep of the NGO Ebenezer was stopped by armed men close to Fizi. According to several sources, the soldiers seperated the passengers by ethnicity, putting the Banyamulenge to one side and shooting them, but sparing the others. Twelve Banyamulenge were reportedly killed in the incident. The attackers were allegedly members of the Mai-Mai Yakutumba, together with members of the Burundian FNL rebels. It was the FNL that claimed responsibility for the 2004 massacre of 152 Banyamulenge in the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi.
Yakutumba has gleaned a certain popularity in the Fizi area for his opposition to the deployment of rwandophone officers (ex-CNDP and ex-PARECO) in the region. He is rumored to be preparing an endorsement of Etienne Tshisekedi.
? Jason Stearns blogs about the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Great Lakes region at Congo Siasa.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of Africa bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/T0LHBCDr1qo/Catching-up-on-Congo-elections
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