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Monday, October 31, 2011
YouTube Pays $100 Million to Channel Hollywood Star Power [YouTube]
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Video: Trapped in a grounded plane
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45096619#45096619
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Some People With Alzheimer's Take Conflicting Drugs (HealthDay)
FRIDAY, Oct. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Many Alzheimer's patients who take cholinesterase inhibitors to slow their brain disease also take drugs that counter the effects of those Alzheimer's medications, a new study says.
Clinical trials have shown that cholinesterase inhibitors such as Aricept (donepezil) have a modest impact on the functional and cognitive decline caused by Alzheimer's disease, noted the researchers at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle.
"Cholinesterase inhibitors are today's primary therapy for slowing Alzheimer's disease," study leader Denise Boudreau said in an institute news release.
"Anticholinergic properties are often found in drugs commonly used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, allergies, urinary incontinence, depression and Parkinson's disease, and they can have negative effects on cognition and function in the elderly. There's concern that if someone is taking both types of drugs -- cholinesterase inhibitors and anticholinergic medications -- they will antagonize each other, and neither will work," she explained.
Common anticholinergic medications include Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Ditropan (oxybutynin), which is prescribed for overactive bladders.
Boudreau and colleagues analyzed data from more than 5,600 patients aged 50 and older who had cholinesterase inhibitors prescribed to them for the first time between 2000 and 2007. Of those patients, 37 percent also took at least one anticholinergic drug and more than 11 percent took two or more anticholinergic drugs.
Among the patients who took both classes of drugs, dual use generally lasted three to four months, but one-quarter of the patients used both classes of drugs for more than a year.
The researchers also found that 23 percent of patients who received a new prescription for cholinesterase inhibitors were already using at least one anticholinergic drug, and 77 percent of those patients continued taking an anticholinergic drug after they began taking a cholinesterase inhibitor.
"It's reassuring that we did not observe an association between simultaneous use of the two types of drugs and increased risk of death or nursing home placement," Boudreau said in the release. "But concomitant use of these drugs is, at the very least, not optimal clinical practice."
The study was published online Oct. 22 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Alzheimer's patients often have multiple health problems, which may help explain why doctors might prescribe conflicting medications for these patients, the researchers said.
More information
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about Alzheimer's medications.
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China key suspect in U.S. satellite hacks: commission (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? At least two U.S. environment-monitoring satellites were interfered with four or more times in 2007 and 2008 via a ground station in Norway, and China's military is a prime suspect, a draft report to Congress said.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which reported the interference, said the events had not actually been traced to China. It said it was citing them "because the techniques appear consistent with authoritative Chinese military writings" that have advocated disabling satellite control facilities in any conflict.
Pinpointing responsibility for a cyberattack can be extremely difficult. Hackers typically mask their tracks by routing intrusions through computers on multiple continents and may make an attack appear to come from a third country.
The commission said its account was based largely on a May 12 U.S. Air Force briefing for the 12-member commission, which was set up by Congress in 2000 to report on U.S.-China trade's national security implications. Its final 2011 report is due to be sent to lawmakers on November 16.
The satellites cited in the report are used for climate and terrain monitoring by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U.S. Geological Survey.
A Landsat-7 earth observation satellite, built by NASA for the USGS, experienced 12 or more minutes of interference in October 2007 and July 2008, the report said.
A NASA-managed Terra AM-1 earth observation satellite was similarly interfered with for two minutes or more on June 20, 2008, and at least nine minutes on October 22, 2008, it said.
Trent Perrotto, a NASA spokesman, confirmed that NASA had spotted two "suspicious events" with its Terra spacecraft in the summer and fall of 2008, but said no commands were successfully sent to the satellite and no data was captured.
NASA notified the Department of Defense, which is responsible for investigating any attempted interference with satellite operations, Perrotto added.
The U.S. Geological Survey, for its part, said the Landsat-7 satellite in the fall of 2007 and the summer of 2008 had detected radio signals from the ground that seemed to be an attempt to "lock on" to it, a step that must be completed before a ground station's command can be received.
In both cases, the apparent attempts failed and no information was compromised, said USGS spokesman Jon Campbell.
PENTAGON RESPONSE
The Defense Department would not comment on the alleged hacking but said it is monitoring China's development of "counter-space" capabilities.
The department is increasing the resilience of U.S. assets in space and is improving "the ability to operate in a degraded environment," among other precautions, said Army Lieutenant Colonel James Gregory, a Pentagon spokesman.
Degraded environment refers to any compromise of the U.S. military's sophisticated high-tech digital networks.
Hackers appear to have worked through Svalbard Satellite Station, or SvalSat, in Spitsbergen, Norway, which routinely connects to the Internet to transfer data, the commission's draft added in an excerpt provided to Reuters.
Located about 750 miles/1,200 km from the North Pole, SvalSat is well-placed to communicate with satellites in polar orbit, the report said.
But the company that owns the ground station said it saw no sign of the penetration reported by the commission.
"Our systems indicated nothing," Kongsberg Satellite Services President Rolf Skatteboe told Reuters in Oslo. "We don't understand where this is coming from."
Larry Wortzel, a commissioner who is a retired U.S. Army colonel and former military attache in China, said Beijing had conducted numerous tests on space warfare systems in 2007 and 2008.
"I don't think it is a wild analytical leap to suggest that these hacks could have been part of that matrix of testing," Wortzel said in an email to Reuters.
The bipartisan commission typically goes much further in publicly outlining perceived security threats from Beijing than have U.S. administrations, which must deal with other issues on which China's cooperation is critical. These include North Korea's nuclear program, regional security and matters before the U.N. Security Council.
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.
The report does not spell out the nature of the interference, but says that hackers "achieved all steps required to command" the Terra AM-1 satellite without ever actually exercising that control.
The interference was disturbing because it could be used to access satellites with more sensitive functions, the commission's draft said.
"For example, access to a satellite's controls could allow an attacker to damage or destroy the satellite. The attacker could also deny or degrade as well as forge or otherwise manipulate the satellite's transmission," the report said.
(Additional reporting by Terje Solsvik and Joachim Dagenborg in Oslo; Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)
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Saturday, October 29, 2011
NASA to Launch Trailblazing Weather & Climate Satellite Friday (SPACE.com)
A new NASA satellite is poised to launch early Friday (Oct. 28) to continue the agency's string of Earth-watching missions, but the new spacecraft has a twist ? it's the first probe ever built to track fast weather systems and long-term climate change, researchers say.
The National polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system Preparatory Project ? or NPP for short ? is slated to blast off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California at 5:48 a.m. EDT (0948 GMT) Friday aboard a Delta 2 rocket.
The $1.5 billion NPP spacecraft is the first satellite designed to collect data for both short-term weather forecasting and long-term climate monitoring, researchers said. It will also serve as a bridge to more advanced future satellite systems, which are expected to start studying our planet in five years or so.
"NPP will help us understand what tomorrow will bring, whether by 'tomorrow' we mean tomorrow's forecast, or whether we mean years or decades down the road," Andrew Carson, NPP program executive at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., told reporters Wednesday (Oct. 26). [Video: NASA's NPP Satellite]
A weather and climate satellite
The NPP satellite is about the size of a minivan and weighs 4,500 pounds (2,041 kilograms). It will zip around Earth in a polar orbit, peering down at our planet from an altitude of 512 miles (824 kilometers).
NPP will continue the sort of work done by venerable NASA Earth-observing satellites such as Terra, Aqua and Aura, researchers said. But NPP will provide a marked increase in capability, they added.
"This is the time for the generational leap forward in operational weather forecasting observations," said Jim Gleason, NPP project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
NPP will use five different science instruments to scrutinize Earth, gathering a wide variety of data. For example, it will track atmospheric ozone and dust levels, record land and sea surface temperatures, monitor ice cover around the globe and measure changes in vegetation, among other things.
In all, NPP will measure more than 30 different climate variables and will beam back to Earth 4 terabytes of data ? the equivalent of 800 DVDs ? every day, researchers said.
The satellite's observations should be useful to weather forecasters all over the world, as well as scientists seeking a better understanding of long-term climate change and its impacts. Researchers will also use the satellite to monitor natural disasters, such as hurricanes, wildfires, floods and volcanic eruptions.
The NPP mission should provide "better observations for better predictions, to make better decisions," Gleason said.
A bridge to future systems
While NPP should give meteorologists and climate scientists a lot of data to pore over, the satellite was always envisioned as a stepping stone to even more capable future spacecraft.
For example, NPP was originally proposed as a demonstration mission for the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), a joint military-civilian project.
However, ballooning costs and a series of delays doomed NPOESS, and the program was canceled in 2010. The military-civilian partnership was dissolved, and each branch was told to develop its own line of Earth-observing satellites.
NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) teamed up on the civilian program, which is called the Joint Polar Satellite System, or JPSS. NPP will help make JPSS a reality, researchers said.
"NPP will lay the groundwork for the JPSS system, by proving out the capabilities and technologies of both the instruments and the ground system," Carson said. "NPP is a critical first step in creating a climate-capable operational system."
NPP is designed to last for at least five years, so it should be able to deliver data until JPSS becomes operational. The first JPSS satellite is due to launch in late 2016, officials said.
You can follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter: @michaeldwall. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
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Clash with police stirs Oakland economic protest (Reuters)
OAKLAND, Calif (Reuters) ? Over 1,000 activists protesting economic inequality and corporate greed massed on Wednesday night in a downtown Oakland plaza from which they had been evicted a day earlier in clashes with police that left 85 people arrested and one critically hurt.
The severe injury of Scott Olsen, 24, a former U.S. Marine who friends said served two tours of duty in Iraq, became a rallying cry among Occupy Wall Street supporters in Oakland and elsewhere as organizers took to Twitter and other social media urging protesters back into the streets.
In Portland, Oregon, a crowd estimated to number at least 1,000 joined in a march organized by the AFL-CIO labor federation in support of the anti-Wall Street movement. And Twitter buzz suggested the turnout may have gotten a boost from outrage generated by news of the injured Oakland veteran.
Supporters in New York voted on Wednesday to send $20,000 and 100 tents to their peers in Oakland, according to a Twitter message from a protester identified as J.A. Myerson and re-tweeted by the Occupy Wall Street group.
The liberal activist group MoveOn.org said it was creating a "rapid response ad" from video footage of the "brutal crackdown" Tuesday night in which Olsen was hurt.
Rally organizers said Olsen was struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police at protesters trying to move back into a downtown plaza where a makeshift encampment had been forcibly removed earlier.
A spokesman for Highland General Hospital in Oakland confirmed Olsen was in critical condition from injuries sustained in the protest but could not say how he was hurt.
INVESTIGATION LAUNCHED
Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan told a news conference his department was investigating the injury to Olsen as a "level one" incident, the highest priority for an internal police inquiry.
He declined to confirm whether Olsen was struck with a projectile fired by law enforcement but said Oakland police did launch tear gas and so-called "bean bag" munitions on Tuesday when demonstrators defied orders to disperse.
Jordan, acknowledging his department has received complaints of excessive force during the protests, said his officers were under orders to accommodate peaceful rallies and marches. But he added that "no camping will be allowed overnight" on public property.
The altercations erupted on Tuesday when about 1,000 activists sought to retake an outdoor plaza adjacent to City Hall that police had cleared earlier that day. Police arrested 85 people.
On Wednesday night, a crowd of at least 1,000 demonstrators were allowed back into the square. Some immediately ripped down a fence erected to close off a grassy area after authorities had removed tents and sprayed disinfectant chemicals.
But the crowd was otherwise peaceful and activists met to discuss strategy, including a proposal to call for a general citywide "strike" next week. Except for a helicopter hovering overhead, police remained absent from view.
BADLY HURT AFTER TWO TOURS IN IRAQ
Keith Shannon, who said he served with Olsen in Iraq, told Reuters his friend suffered a 2-inch skull fracture and brain swelling and had been sedated in the hospital's emergency room trauma center while neurosurgeons decided whether to operate.
The hospital declined to comment on those medical details.
"The irony is not lost on anyone here that this is someone who survived two tours in Iraq and is now seriously injured by the Oakland police force," said his friend, Adele Carpenter, who spoke to Reuters by phone from the hospital waiting room.
The "Occupy Wall Street" protests, which began in New York City on September 17, take issue with a financial system they say benefits corporations and the wealthy. They are critical of U.S. government bailouts of big banks, high unemployment and economic inequality.
Loosely organized protest groups have since sprung up across the United States and in countries around the world. Tensions were building in several cities where authorities have been treading a fine line between allowing peaceful protest and addressing concerns about trespassing, noise and safety.
In an early morning raid in Atlanta, police evicted dozens of protesters from a downtown park and arrested 53 who refused to leave. They were allowed to camp in the park for three weeks but Mayor Kasim Reed said he decided to evict the protesters because of fire code violations and crowd control issues.
In Orlando, demonstrators had been complying with orders to vacate a park overnight and left their belongings, only to have police confiscate the property. And in Baltimore, the city ordered protesters to drastically reduce the number of people who camped overnight from roughly 200 to two people in a single tent. Protesters were given a Wednesday deadline to comply.
In the birthplace of the demonstrations, New York City, authorities have largely averted confrontation. Over 700 protesters loudly but peacefully marched through lower Manhattan on Wednesday to denounce for-profit healthcare.
The New York demonstrators are camped in a privately owned park in the city's financial district, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said there was little the city could do until the park owners, Brookfield Office Properties, file a complaint.
(Additional reporting by Mary Slosson in Los Angeles, Barbara Liston in Orlando, David Beasley in Atlanta, Dan Cook in Portland, Jason Tomassini in Baltimore and Chris Francescani in New York; Writing by Steve Gorman and Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Greg McCune and Jackie Frank)
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Arctic predators caught by camera traps
A gripping new set of photos from camera traps in the Alaskan Arctic catch animals in the carnivorous act of preying on the eggs and the young of nesting birds, showing how these predators may be benefitting and migratory birds suffering from human activity in the area.
The photos, some of them graphic depictions, were collected during the summers of 2010 and 2011 as part of the Wildlife Conservation Society's ongoing study of how energy development is affecting the region's ecology, including the birds that migrate to the region to nest during the brief Arctic summers.
"Pictures are worth a thousand words, and these photos speak volumes regarding the changing conditions that threaten migratory birds coming to the Arctic to breed," said WCS North America program director Jodi Hilty.
Benefits to predators
The camera traps were set up to identify nest-raiding predators near the Prudhoe Bay oil field and at a remote, undeveloped area near the Ikpikpuk River in the National Petroleum Reserve ? Alaska. Scientists hoped to learn whether "human-subsidized" predators (those, such as Arctic foxes, ravens, and glaucous gulls, that apparently benefit from human activity in the area) were raiding nests more often in the oilfields than in the remote areas. They recently reported that for some bird species, the rate of survival was indeed lower in the developed areas because of the increased presence of predators.
"The presence of people and structures enable these animals to live in areas that otherwise would not be preferred or suitable habitat, or to do so in greater numbers than would normally be the case. As a result, they have more access to the nests of migratory birds and can exploit a vulnerable food source," said WCS scientist Joe Liebezeit.
Predators find that human-made structures can provide them and their young with protective shelter. Arctic foxes, for example, den in culverts and under buildings in the oil fields. Ravens, which otherwise would not nest on the treeless tundra, are taking advantage of towers, eaves of buildings and other structures across the transformed landscape.
These "generalist" species also benefit by consuming the garbage, roadkill and other sources of food brought by human activity.
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Bird threats
Each year, an international assemblage of migratory birds numbering in the millions flies to Alaska's Arctic to breed and rear young.
Wildlife Conservation Society scientists recently released findings that compared nest survivorship (production of young) and other nesting patterns in the Prudhoe Bay region with a site in the undeveloped Teshekpuk Lake area of the National Petroleum Reserve 150 miles to the west. They found that, for some species, survivorship and overall nest densities were higher at the undeveloped Teshekpuk site.
"The photos are also a reminder of the value of undeveloped areas in the Arctic to birds from all over the world," Hilty said in a statement.
? 2011 OurAmazingPlanet. All rights reserved. More from OurAmazingPlanet.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45054821/ns/technology_and_science-science/
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Stocks finish mixed after Thursday's big rally (AP)
A quiet day on Wall Street ended Friday with major stock indexes little changed after a big rally the day before.
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 23 points, or 0.2 percent, to finish at 12,231.11. Stock indexes jumped more than 3 percent Thursday after European leaders unveiled a plan to expand their regional bailout fund and take other steps to contain the debt crisis in Greece.
Optimism ebbed on Friday as analysts raised questions about the plan, which left out many key details about how the fund would work. European markets mostly fell, and the euro declined against the dollar.
The S&P 500 rose less than a point to 1,285.09. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.48, or 0.1 percent, to 2,737.15.
"It's a kind of sobering-up after a day of partying," said Jerry Webman, chief economist with Oppenheimer Funds in New York. "We got back to what's more of a square position, closer to where we want to be, and now we're going to take a couple of deep breaths and reassess what this really means."
There are still plenty of obstacles to overcome before the crisis is resolved. One troubling sign: Borrowing costs for Italy and Spain increased, signaling that traders remain worried about their finances.
The Dow is up 12.1 percent this month, the S&P 13.6 percent. Both indexes are on pace to have their best month since January 1987.
In less than four weeks, the Dow has risen 14.8 percent from its 2011 low, reached on Oct. 3. The S&P has gained 17 percent in that time. However, the Dow remains 4.5 percent below this year's high, reached on April 29. The S&P is 5.8 percent below its high.
Whirlpool Corp. slumped 14 percent, the most in the S&P index, after the appliance maker said it would cut 5,000 jobs, citing weak demand and higher costs for materials. Another household name, Newell Rubbermaid Inc., soared 11 percent after its adjusted earnings beat Wall Street's expectations. The maker of tubs and markers maintained its outlook for the year.
Cablevision Systems Corp. fell 12.5 percent after reporting that its third-quarter net income dropped sharply and it lost cable TV subscribers.
Thursday's stock rally led to a sell-off in Treasurys, which traders hold to protect their money when other investments are falling. Demand for Treasurys increased sharply Friday, pushing the yield on the 10-year Treasury down to 2.33 percent from 2.39 percent late Thursday.
Markets have been roiled for months by fears about the impact of Europe's debt crisis. Greece couldn't afford to repay its lenders, and banks holding Greek bonds faced billions in losses. A disorganized default by Greece threatened to spook lenders to other countries with heavy debt loads such as Spain and Italy. Traders feared that a wave of defaults by countries would cause financial panic and mire the global economy.
Some analysts expect traders to refocus on U.S. economic news next week after months spent watching Europe. The government releases its jobs report for October next Friday. A news conference by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke might offer clues about the Fed's economic outlook. Key reports on manufacturing and business sentiment are due out as well.
Declining stocks narrowly outnumbered rising ones on the New York Stock Exchange. Volume was slightly below average at 4.4 billion shares.
___
Daniel Wagner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/wagnerreports
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Friday, October 28, 2011
ARISTOTLE trial finds new drug may revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillation
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Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Amanda Bates
amanda@curvecommunications.com
604-306-0027
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Vancouver New research has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition affecting a quarter of a million Canadians which is expected to strike even more in the coming years, as the Canadian population ages.
AF is the most common type of heart arrhythmia and puts those affected at a three to five times greater risk for stroke. Now, there is a new drug poised to battle the condition.
"The majority of patients with atrial fibrillation need an anticoagulant. The current anticoagulant can be a burden for physicians and patients due to its side effects and narrow therapeutic range," Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, from the University of Alberta, told a late breaking clinical trial session at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. It is associated with a risk of bleeding and needs very close monitoring, whereas this new drug is taken twice a day and does not require monitoring. Our trial also shows it is not just equivalent, but better than warfarin for preventing strokes. These are important advantages."
The mainstay of treatment for AF, in which the heart's rhythm becomes very irregular and rapid, has been warfarin, an anticoagulant which has been highly effective in preventing stroke in patients with AF. However, it requires patients to come in to their doctor's office for frequent blood tests, is associated with bleeding, and it also can interact with a variety of foods and drugs that patients might also be taking. Apixaban, a new type of oral anticoagulant known as a factor Xa inhibitor, resulted in fewer strokes (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and fewer systemic embolisms, caused less bleeding and resulted in fewer deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation, said Dr. Ezekowitz.
"We have a drug that can increase reductions in death and stroke and it is safer in terms of bleeding," says Dr. Ezekowitz. "It is also easier to use."
Dr. Ezekowitz presented the results from the large, international, multicentre Apixaban for Reduction In Stroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events (ARISTOTLE) in atrial fibrillation trial. It is the largest prospective trial yet reported for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. The trial randomized 18,201 patients with at least one additional risk factor for stroke, such as age greater than 75 years, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, systemic embolism, heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40 per cent, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
The patients came from over 1,000 sites in 39 countries. Their mean age was 70 years and 31 per cent were 75 or older. There were 19 per cent with prior stroke, 87 per cent had high blood pressure, 28 per cent had heart failure or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and 24 per cent had diabetesmellitus. Canada supplied a very large cohort of 1,057 patients, said Dr. Ezekowitz, who led the Canadian arm of the trial with Dr. Paul Dorian from the University of Toronto.
The patients were randomized to apixaban 5 mg twice daily versus dose-adjusted warfarin which is often used to treat AF ? using a double-blind, double-dummy design. Warfarin or warfarin placebo was monitored adjusted to a target INR of two to three using a blinded, encrypted point-of-care device. "This was the best possible clinical trial design," says Dr. Ezekowitz.
A bit more than half of the patients (57 per cent) had used warfarin before entering the study, and 43 per cent were new to warfarin. The patients were followed for 1.8 years, on average.
The study found that apixaban is effective at treating AF. It was also better at reducing all-cause mortality and was associated with less bleeding.
pecifically, apixaban reduced the chance of stroke and systemic embolism by 21 per cent, reduced major bleeding by 31 per cent, and reduced mortality, or all cause death, by 11 per cent.
Clinical trials have resulted in major advances in the management of AF over the past number of years," says Dr. Blair O'Neill, president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, which publishes the Canadian AF guidelines for clinicians. "Stroke is a major public health issue and in many instances as a result of AF. These novel anticoagulants are important advances and apply to most patients with AF."
Atrial fibrillation is becoming more common due to the aging of the population, not only in Canada but around the world.
It is also being seen in younger people due to lifestyle factors, especially stress. Also, it is increasing as cardiologists have become better at diagnosing the condition.
Some facts about atrial fibrillation:
- Atrial fibrillation is associated with a four- to five-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. It is responsible for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of all ischemic strokes.
- Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 250,000 Canadians.
- Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia managed by emergency physicians and accounts for approximately one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbances.
- Hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation have increased by 66 per cent over the past 20 years due to an aging population and a rising prevalence of chronic heart disease.
- After the age of 55, the incidence of atrial fibrillation doubles with each decade of life.
- After age 60, one-third of all strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation.
###
More information about the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for atrial fibrillation can be found at: http://www.ccsguidelineprograms.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=65
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (ccs.ca) is the national voice for cardiovascular physicians and scientists. Its mission is to promote cardiovascular health and care through knowledge translation, professional development, and leadership in health policy.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.
For more information and/or interviews, contact
Amanda Bates
Curve Communications
amanda@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-306-0027
Gina Vesnaver
Curve Communications
gina@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-317-6129
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 26, 2011, contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
(613) 569-4361 ext 273, jfraser@hsf.ca
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 26-Oct-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Amanda Bates
amanda@curvecommunications.com
604-306-0027
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
Vancouver New research has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF), a condition affecting a quarter of a million Canadians which is expected to strike even more in the coming years, as the Canadian population ages.
AF is the most common type of heart arrhythmia and puts those affected at a three to five times greater risk for stroke. Now, there is a new drug poised to battle the condition.
"The majority of patients with atrial fibrillation need an anticoagulant. The current anticoagulant can be a burden for physicians and patients due to its side effects and narrow therapeutic range," Dr. Justin Ezekowitz, from the University of Alberta, told a late breaking clinical trial session at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2011, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress. It is associated with a risk of bleeding and needs very close monitoring, whereas this new drug is taken twice a day and does not require monitoring. Our trial also shows it is not just equivalent, but better than warfarin for preventing strokes. These are important advantages."
The mainstay of treatment for AF, in which the heart's rhythm becomes very irregular and rapid, has been warfarin, an anticoagulant which has been highly effective in preventing stroke in patients with AF. However, it requires patients to come in to their doctor's office for frequent blood tests, is associated with bleeding, and it also can interact with a variety of foods and drugs that patients might also be taking. Apixaban, a new type of oral anticoagulant known as a factor Xa inhibitor, resulted in fewer strokes (ischemic or hemorrhagic) and fewer systemic embolisms, caused less bleeding and resulted in fewer deaths in patients with atrial fibrillation, said Dr. Ezekowitz.
"We have a drug that can increase reductions in death and stroke and it is safer in terms of bleeding," says Dr. Ezekowitz. "It is also easier to use."
Dr. Ezekowitz presented the results from the large, international, multicentre Apixaban for Reduction In Stroke and Other ThromboemboLic Events (ARISTOTLE) in atrial fibrillation trial. It is the largest prospective trial yet reported for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. The trial randomized 18,201 patients with at least one additional risk factor for stroke, such as age greater than 75 years, prior stroke or transient ischemic attack, systemic embolism, heart failure or left ventricular ejection fraction less than 40 per cent, diabetes, or high blood pressure.
The patients came from over 1,000 sites in 39 countries. Their mean age was 70 years and 31 per cent were 75 or older. There were 19 per cent with prior stroke, 87 per cent had high blood pressure, 28 per cent had heart failure or reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, and 24 per cent had diabetesmellitus. Canada supplied a very large cohort of 1,057 patients, said Dr. Ezekowitz, who led the Canadian arm of the trial with Dr. Paul Dorian from the University of Toronto.
The patients were randomized to apixaban 5 mg twice daily versus dose-adjusted warfarin which is often used to treat AF ? using a double-blind, double-dummy design. Warfarin or warfarin placebo was monitored adjusted to a target INR of two to three using a blinded, encrypted point-of-care device. "This was the best possible clinical trial design," says Dr. Ezekowitz.
A bit more than half of the patients (57 per cent) had used warfarin before entering the study, and 43 per cent were new to warfarin. The patients were followed for 1.8 years, on average.
The study found that apixaban is effective at treating AF. It was also better at reducing all-cause mortality and was associated with less bleeding.
pecifically, apixaban reduced the chance of stroke and systemic embolism by 21 per cent, reduced major bleeding by 31 per cent, and reduced mortality, or all cause death, by 11 per cent.
Clinical trials have resulted in major advances in the management of AF over the past number of years," says Dr. Blair O'Neill, president of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, which publishes the Canadian AF guidelines for clinicians. "Stroke is a major public health issue and in many instances as a result of AF. These novel anticoagulants are important advances and apply to most patients with AF."
Atrial fibrillation is becoming more common due to the aging of the population, not only in Canada but around the world.
It is also being seen in younger people due to lifestyle factors, especially stress. Also, it is increasing as cardiologists have become better at diagnosing the condition.
Some facts about atrial fibrillation:
- Atrial fibrillation is associated with a four- to five-fold increased risk of ischemic stroke. It is responsible for 15 per cent to 20 per cent of all ischemic strokes.
- Atrial fibrillation affects approximately 250,000 Canadians.
- Atrial fibrillation is the most common arrhythmia managed by emergency physicians and accounts for approximately one-third of hospitalizations for cardiac rhythm disturbances.
- Hospital admissions for atrial fibrillation have increased by 66 per cent over the past 20 years due to an aging population and a rising prevalence of chronic heart disease.
- After the age of 55, the incidence of atrial fibrillation doubles with each decade of life.
- After age 60, one-third of all strokes are caused by atrial fibrillation.
###
More information about the Canadian Cardiovascular Society guidelines for atrial fibrillation can be found at: http://www.ccsguidelineprograms.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=65
Statements and conclusions of study authors are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect Foundation or CCS policy or position. The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society make no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The Canadian Cardiovascular Society (ccs.ca) is the national voice for cardiovascular physicians and scientists. Its mission is to promote cardiovascular health and care through knowledge translation, professional development, and leadership in health policy.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation (heartandstroke.ca), a volunteer-based health charity, leads in eliminating heart disease and stroke and reducing their impact through the advancement of research and its application, the promotion of healthy living, and advocacy.
For more information and/or interviews, contact
Amanda Bates
Curve Communications
amanda@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-306-0027
Gina Vesnaver
Curve Communications
gina@curvecommunications.com
office: 604-684-3170
cell: 604-317-6129
Congress information and media registration is at www.cardiocongress.org
After October 26, 2011, contact:
Jane-Diane Fraser
Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada
(613) 569-4361 ext 273, jfraser@hsf.ca
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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/hasf-atf101811.php
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Thursday, October 27, 2011
College prices up again as states slash budgets
It's a kick in the gut even for students and families hardened to bad financial news: Average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges rose an additional $631 this fall, or 8.3 percent, compared with a year ago.
Nationally, the cost of a full credit load has passed $8,000, an all-time high. Throw in room and board, and the average list price for a state school now runs more than $17,000 a year, according to the twin annual reports on college costs and student aid published Wednesday by the College Board.
Helping drive the national numbers were huge tuition increases at public universities in California, which enrolls 10 percent of public four-year college students and whose 21 percent tuition increase this year was the largest of any state.
But even without California, prices would have increased 7 percent on average nationally ? an exceptional burden at a time of high unemployment and stagnant family incomes.
Disappearing federal assistance
The large increase in federal grants and tax credits for students, on top of stimulus dollars that prevented greater state cuts, helped keep the average tuition-and-fees that families actually pay much lower: about $2,490, or just $170 more than five years ago. But the days of states and families relying on budget relief from Washington appear numbered. And some argue that while Washington's largesse may have helped some students, it did little to hold down prices.
"The states cut budgets, the price goes up, and the (federal) money goes to that," said Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. "For 25 years we've been putting more and more money into financial aid, and tuition keeps going up. We're on a national treadmill."
Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the American Council on Education, which represents colleges in Washington, said the cause of the price increases for the 80 percent of college students who attend public institutions is clear. State appropriations to higher education declined 18 percent per student over the last three years, the College Board found, the sharpest fall on record.
"To see increases of 20 percent, as we saw in California, to see gains of 15 percent in other states, is simply unprecedented," Hartle said. "Tuition is simply being used as a revenue substitute in many states."
The latest report comes with concerns about student debt front and center among many of the Occupy Wall Street protesters. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama planned to announce a new measure Wednesday to help borrowers of student loans . The administration plans to accelerate from 2014 to 2012 a new income-based repayment option that will bring monthly payment caps down from 15 percent of discretionary income to 10 percent. It also plans to allow 5.8 million borrowers who are paying back two kinds of government loans ? federal direct loans and loans from the old Federal Family Education Loan Program ? to consolidate them, which could lower monthly payments.
Video: Obama offers help with student loans (on this page)The College Board reports roughly 56 percent of 2009-2010 bachelor's degree recipients at public four-years graduated with debt, averaging about $22,000. At private nonprofit universities, the figures were higher ? 65 percent and around $28,000.
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"Psychologically, practically, it's a big number, and it will inform important choices, like when and whether you buy a home, start a family, save for retirement or take the risk of starting a new business," said Lauren Asher, president of The Institute for College Access and Success.
Exceeding credit card debt
This year, for the first time, total outstanding student loan debt has passed $1 trillion, and it now exceeds outstanding credit card debt, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Still, private borrowing ? usually more dangerous than government loans ? has been falling. And Asher and other experts emphasize that the types of loans students take out can be as important as the amount. In general, a college degree remains a good investment.
Other slivers of what passes for good news: While several states had double-digit percentage increases, there were wide variations, and Connecticut and South Carolina held under 3 percent. Roughly half of students are enrolled in nonprofit colleges attend institutions charging under $10,000, and fewer than 1 in 10 attend institutions listing prices over $36,000.
Meanwhile, both community colleges and private four-year colleges reported lower tuition inflation than public universities.
Video: From dorms to tents, students protest loans (on this page)At nonprofit private four-year colleges, tuition and fees were up 4.5 percent to $28,500. Factoring in aid, the average total net cost, including room and board, was about $22,970 ? lower than five years ago. At community colleges, where list prices rose 8.7 percent nationally to just under $3,000, net costs are also lower than five years ago, and aid generally covers the whole price.
Still, while net costs are important to note, they don't tell the whole story. They don't cover living costs, which for many students are a higher obstacle than tuition, especially if they can't work as much while enrolled.
Low-income students
And the aid dollars that that help lower the average net price don't always go to the neediest students.
Colleges award merit scholarships. Federal Pell Grants do support the neediest, and spending on them has nearly doubled in the last two years to around $35 billion (9.1 million students got grants averaging $3,828).
But the latest College Board figures highlight a rapid recent increase in indirect government support through tuition and other tax credits, which have reached almost $15 billion. Around 12 million people are now taking advantage of tax benefits averaging more than $1,200. And while recent changes make low-income families better able to take advantage of those credits, a growing proportion of the benefit goes to families earning more than $100,000.
The tax credit program, dramatically expanded in 2009, "really changes the story of how the federal government subsidizes students," said Sandy Baum, the economist who directs the College Board's reports. The credit is "not so much a middle-income benefit as we're used to thinking about it."
Some states are not only cutting their appropriations but not even paying what they've promised. Illinois is late on bills worth $500 million to nine campuses this year, where on some campuses tuition and fees are up thousands of dollars.
California leading the trend
The percentage increases in California, once widely considered to have the best-value public universities in the world, are so high in part because the base prices of past years were low. Prices there still aren't high by national standards, but this year for the first time, California's tuition and fee rates were above the national average. That in 2011 California's public universities would be cost more than the national average would have been unimaginable to most experts a decade ago.
Hartle and others say this year's sharp increases came despite the last chunks of stimulus dollars from Washington used to plug holes in education spending. Looking forward, state budgets remain broken and there's little indication Washington will come riding to the rescue.
"I'm not exactly sure where higher education in the United States is going," he said. "But I have a feeling California is going to get there first."
Also, on Tuesday, an Education Department official testified to a House subcommittee that personal details of as many as 5,000 college students were temporarily visible to other students on the departments' direct loan web site earlier this month.
The episode lasted 67 minutes on Oct. 12 and happened during a reconfiguration of data on 11.5 million borrowers to improve website performance times, said James Runcie, the Education Department's federal student aid chief operating officer. Students who logged on during that window saw other students' personal details. Those who were exposed were notified and offered credit monitoring services. The department said it had no reason to believe any students' information was misused.
___
On the Net:
www.collegeboard.org
___
Justin Pope covers higher education for The Associated Press. You can reach him at twitter.com/jnn_pope9. AP Education Writer Kimberly Hefling contributed to this report from Washington, D.C.
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/45040257/ns/us_news-education/
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Wednesday, October 26, 2011
2-week old baby rescued after Turkish quake (AP)
ERCIS, Turkey ? A 2-week-old baby girl, her mother and grandmother were pulled alive from the rubble of an apartment building in a dramatic rescue Tuesday, 48 hours after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake toppled some 2,000 buildings in eastern Turkey.
Television footage showed a rescuer, Kadir Direk, in an orange jumpsuit squeezing into the hulk of crushed concrete and metal to free the baby. The infant, named Azra Karaduman, was wrapped in a blanket and handed over to a medic amid a scrum of media and applauding emergency workers.
Close to 500 aftershocks have rattled the area since Sunday, according to Turkey's Kandilli seismology center, and a moderately strong one on Tuesday, measuring 5.4, sent residents rushing into the streets.
Authorities said the death toll had jumped to 432 as rescuers in Ercis and the provincial capital, Van, raced against time to free dozens of people trapped inside mounds of concrete, twisted steel and construction debris. At least nine people were rescued on Tuesday, although many more bodies were discovered.
Authorities have warned survivors in the mainly Kurdish area not to enter damaged buildings and thousands spent a second night outdoors in cars or tents in near-freezing conditions, afraid to return to their homes. Some 1,300 people were injured.
There was still no power or running water and aid distribution was disrupted as desperate people stopped trucks even before they entered Ercis. Aid workers said they were able to find emergency housing for only about half the people who needed it.
The baby's mother, Semiha, and grandmother, Gulsaadet, were huddled together, with the baby clinging to her mother's shoulder when rescuers found them, Direk, the emergency worker, told The Associated Press. There was a bakery at the ground floor of the building, which may have kept them warm, he said.
The baby was in good health but was flown to a hospital in Ankara, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported. Hours after she was freed, the two others were pulled from the large, half-flattened building and rushed to ambulances as onlookers clapped and cheered. The mother had been semiconscious, but woke up when rescuers arrived, Direk said.
"Bringing them out is such happiness. I wouldn't be happier if they gave me tons of money," said rescuer Oytun Gulpinar.
Firefighters and rescuers ordered silence while they listened for noise from other possible survivors in the large 5-story apartment block, parts of which were being supported by a crane. Workers could not find the baby's father and there were no other signs of life in the shattered building, said Direk.
Direk was chosen to rescue the three because he was thinnest in the group and was able to squeeze through the narrow corridor that they had drilled, according to NTV television.
He chatted with the woman while trying to get her out, at one point jokingly asking her to name the baby after his own son, Cagan.
"She replied that the baby was a girl, and that she wanted her named Azra," said Direk, who traveled from the western city of Izmir.
The Hurriyet newspaper reported the family live in Sivas, central Turkey, but were visiting the girl's grandmother and grandfather.
Nine-year-old Oguz Isler was rescued along with his sister and cousin, but on Tuesday he was waiting at the foot of the same pile of debris that was his aunt's apartment block for news of his parents and of other relatives who remain buried inside.
Turkish rescue workers in bright orange overalls and Azerbaijani military rescuers in camouflage uniforms searched through the debris, using excavators, picks and shovels to look for Oguz's mother and father and other relatives still inside.
Dogs sniffed for possible survivors in gaps that opened up as their work progressed.
"They should send more people," Oguz said as he and other family members watched the rescuers. An elder cousin comforted him.
Mehmet Ali Hekimoglu, a medic, said the dogs indicated that there were three or four people inside the building, but it was not known if they were alive.
The boy, his sister and a cousin were trapped in the building's third-floor stairway as they tried to escape when the quake hit. A steel door fell over him.
"I fell on the ground face down. When I tried to move my head, it hit the door," he said. "I tried to get out and was able to open a gap with my fists in the wall but could not move my body further. The wall crumbled quickly when I hit it."
"We started shouting: 'Help! We're here,'" he said. "They found us a few hours later, they took me out about 8 1/2 hours later. ... I was OK but felt very bad, lonely. ... I still have a headache, but the doctor said I was fine."
"They took me out last because I was in good shape and the door was protecting me. I was hearing stones falling on it," the boy said.
Hundreds of rescue teams from throughout Turkey rushed to the area, while Turkish Red Crescent dispatched tents and blankets and set up soup kitchens. Some residents complained that they could not get tents and stoves for their families. The Milliyet newspaper on Tuesday reported fistfights in front of some aid trucks.
"The aid is coming in but we're not getting it. We need more police, soldiers," resident Baran Gungor said.
Tents were erected in two stadiums but many preferred to stay close to their homes for news of the missing or to keep watch on damaged buildings. Some left Van to seek shelter with friends or relatives elsewhere.
Turkish Red Crescent director Omer Tasli admitted shortfalls in sheltering all the survivors.
"We couldn't cover ... all the families," he said. "Now just maybe 50 percent of them (are) under a tent."
The government said it would set up temporary homes and would begin planning to rebuild destroyed areas with better housing. Turks across the country began sending blankets and warm clothing.
The earthquake's epicenter was the village of Tabanli but damage there was minimal; No deaths were reported and its mud-brick homes were relatively unharmed.
Turkey lies in one of the world's most active seismic zones and is crossed by numerous fault lines. In 1999, two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7 struck northwestern Turkey, killing about 18,000 people.
Istanbul, the country's largest city with more than 12 million people, lies in northwestern Turkey near a major fault line, and experts say tens of thousands could be killed if a major quake struck there.
__
Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, and Christopher Torchia in Istanbul, contributed to this report.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Cents sense
For a young girl with a head for business, dollars and cents make sense.
"We have to make money now, while we can," my 8-year-old daughter, Lael, explained to her 8-year-old cousin, Hannah, "or one day we will both be out on the streets."
Skip to next paragraphLael, who had always had an interest in money, now seemed to have developed an obsession. On the advice of a mutual accountant friend here in South Africa, she had decided to open a 2,000 rand ($250) long-term investment with PSG Consultants. She had 800 rand left to save before she could do it. "Can I Google on the computer: 'Quickest, easiest way to make money'?" she asked one evening.
Lael had an entrepreneurial spirit and good self-esteem ? the combination of which could get a mom into trouble. She had been known to fill old perfume bottles with water and market them as perfume, and to charge her granddad for his Sunday lunch. Who knows what schemes she could find on the Internet? I laughed nervously in response. "Do you have any other ideas?"
She took that as a green light. That evening Lael drew up a chore roster, and by the next morning I was paying 10 rand (about $1.25) per 5 chores completed. The next day she e-mailed my crafting friends for crafting ideas, and that evening I was stuffing felt Christmas decorations while she worked out her potential costs and profits. Every cent of money that came in went into a money tin, and once a week she counted it out and even offered my husband and me the pleasure of counting it. "Do you want to see how much money I have, Dad?" she tapped him on the legs as he teetered on a ladder. "Do you want to worship at the feet of Lael's money box?" I translated for him.
While her younger brother spent his irregular earnings on soda, all Lael did was make money and save it. "When people ask what I want for my birthday," she said, lying on her bed staring dreamily out the window, "just tell them 'money.' "
"You might need to watch that," my sister, Hannah's mother, warned me one day. Does she just find money interesting, or does she see money as her protector against the uncertainties of the future? "Hannah said that she can't get Lael to do things for fun; it always has to be for money."
I had spent the afternoon at the hospital watching very rich people go the same way as very poor people. One thing had become clear: Money is no protection. "You spend your whole life making money and then it's over," I said at the dinner table that night. "What's the point? It's easy for rich people to think that money's going to save them."
"But I'm rich and I don't think that," Lael replied.
"Well, that's a relief," I said. My sister's warning had been troubling me. "But then why do you like making money so much, Lael?" I asked.
"Well, I like doing the sums," she replied.
"And I like making business deals with people," she mused.
"But most of all I just like the feeling of having lots and lots of money."
Nothing wrong with that, I thought. Accountants and stockbrokers and investors love making and saving lots and lots of money. But it doesn't mean they trust in it any more than the rest of us do.
"But then," I asked, "why did you tell Hannah that she'd be out on the streets if she didn't help you make money?"
"Oh, you know Hannah," she replied, flicking her hair, "I just can't get her to take anything seriously ? everything always has to be for fun."
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/bKP91jdFzKY/Cents-sense
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Poll: How?s iCloud working for you?
How is iCloud working for you?iCloud has been out of beta and live on iOS 5 for over a week now so it’s time ask — how’s iCloud working for you? Now that you don’t sync MobileMe style anymore but — I’ll say it! — seamlessly store...
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/nQZwQ_6aAeg/
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Monday, October 24, 2011
Video-Sharing Startup Shelby.tv Launches Into Public Beta With New iOS App
Shelby.tv, the video-sharing startup (and stars of Bloomberg's TechStars reality show), is today exiting out of its private alpha phase and launching into a public beta. The service, founded by?Reece Pacheco, Dan Spinosa, Henry Sztul and Joe Yevoli, aggregates the video links your friends are sharing across social networks in order to offer you personalized video recommendations. It's now available in the iTunes app store as a native app for the iPhone or iPad.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/sJhqIOx__IQ/
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Unemployment rates fall in half of US states (AP)
WASHINGTON ? Unemployment rates fell in half of U.S. states last month, a sign that September's pickup in hiring was felt around the country.
The Labor Department said Friday that unemployment rates dropped in 25 states, rose in 14 and stayed the same in 11. That's an improvement from August, when unemployment rose in 26 states.
Nevada reported the highest unemployment rate for the 16th straight month. It stayed at 13.4 percent for the second consecutive month. California was next. The rate there fell from 12.1 in August to 11.9 percent. Michigan had the third-highest rate, at 11.1 percent.
North Dakota had the lowest unemployment rate, staying at 3.5 percent for the second straight month. Nebraska had the second lowest rate; it fell from 4.3 percent in August to 4.2 percent.
Nationwide, employers added 103,000 net jobs in September, nearly double the number created in August. And the number of people applying for unemployment benefits fell last week to a six-month low, according to a four-week average calculated by the government. That has helped calm fears that the economy was sliding into another recession, as have other recent data.
Still, hiring remains sluggish. The national unemployment rate has been stuck near 9 percent for more than two years. Employers pulled back on hiring this spring after seeing less demand from consumers. Higher food and gas prices forced consumers to rein in spending.
Employers have added an average of only 72,000 jobs per month in the past five months. That's down from an average of 180,000 in the first four months of this year and far from what is needed to lower the unemployment rate.
In September, 24 states added jobs and one state saw no net change in hiring. The other half of U.S. states lost jobs. That's better than August, when 30 states lost jobs.
Florida, which has had one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation since the recession ended, added 23,300 jobs last month, the biggest gain. The Sunshine State added jobs in education and health care, at hotels and restaurants and in recreation.
Sean Snaith, an economics professor at the University of Central Florida, said the job gains reflect increased tourism in Florida, both from other U.S. states and overseas.
"Pent up demand is periodically being released," he said. "People are taking trips that they may have delayed for two or three years."
Texas created 15,400 jobs, second most among states in September. New positions included jobs in construction and professional and business services, which include accounting, engineering and temporary jobs, among others.
Louisiana added 14,100 jobs, third best.
North Carolina led the nation in jobs lost. It shed 22,200 positions. Most were in government, particularly public education.
Americans are pessimistic about the economy, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. And more than half say President Barack Obama does not inspire confidence about a recovery.
A sizable majority ? more than 7 in 10 ? believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, the poll found. And 43 percent describe the nation's economy as "very poor," a new high. Among those surveyed, less than 40 percent say Obama's proposed remedies for high unemployment would increase jobs significantly.
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
Cain tweaks 9-9-9 tax plan to allow exemptions (AP)
DETROIT ? Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain on Friday redefined his tax plan to exclude the poorest Americans and to allow some deductions, abandoning the zero-exemption feature of his "9-9-9" proposal that helped win headlines but would have meant a tax increase for 4 out of 5 Americans.
After sharp criticism over his one-size-fits-all plan from Republicans and Democrats alike, Cain proposed no income taxes for Americans living at or below the poverty line. He also proposed exemptions for businesses investing in "opportunity zones" as a way to give an economic jolt to rundown neighborhoods such as the one he visited in hard-hit Detroit.
Standing in front of a massive abandoned train depot with broken windows and barbed wire, Cain blamed regulation for the crumbling of the nation's cities.
"When I look at this building behind me, I see opportunity ? if we get capital gains out of the way. There are a lot of people in this country that have money, and capital gains is a wall between people with money and people with ideas," Cain told reporters after a campaign speech. "Because taxes and regulations have gotten so bad, people with money don't want to take risks."
Cain said America needs to renew its optimism and take those risks.
"I believe the American people are saying they want to move this shining city on a hill back to the top of the hill where it belongs," he said, borrowing some of President Ronald Reagan's favorite rhetoric.
Yet many of Cain's proposals for sites such as this one were likely to earn him more skeptics.
Cain's plan suggested minimum wages block low-skill workers from finding work and proposed that they be eliminated in already struggling areas. His plan also suggested that building codes and zoning in such areas should be reviewed; if businesses can make a case the regulations are hurting the economy, they may qualify for waivers.
Organized labor was guaranteed to oppose his proposal that projects funded with taxpayer dollars could pay non-union wages.
"America is ready for solutions, not more rhetoric," he said. "The American dream has been hijacked, but we can take it back."
Cain has seen a meteoric rise in recent weeks as Republican voters have moved from one candidate to another, looking for an alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
Stumbles, however, have plagued Cain. He initially said he would negotiate for the release of U.S. prisoners from terrorists, then reversed himself. Unclear comments on abortion forced another clarification. And then he seemed to undercut his signature tax plan.
Up to now, Cain has touted a plan to scrap the current taxes on income, payroll, capital gains and corporate profits and replace them with a 9 percent tax on income, a 9 percent business tax and a 9 percent national sales tax.
But the plan seems to be unraveling. Cain's shift on zero exemptions comes after an independent analysis showed his tax plan would raise taxes on 84 percent of U.S. households. The Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank, said low- and middle-income families would be hit hardest, with households making between $10,000 and $20,000 seeing their taxes increase by nearly 950 percent.
Households with the highest incomes, however, would get big tax cuts. Those making more than $1 million a year would see their taxes cut almost in half, on average, according to the analysis.
Cain's rivals seized on the disparity and were relentless during Tuesday's debate; President Barack Obama also decried it.
"It never felt so good being shot at," Cain laughed as he outlined new exemptions for Americans living in poverty and tax incentives for businesses to develop areas in need of economic development.
"Some of the most attractive features will be zero capital gains tax, immediate expensing of business equipment and no payroll taxes are factory-installed in the 9-9-9 plan for the whole country to benefit," Cain said.
He insisted he had not changed positions, though.
"We simply chose not to talk about this piece earlier," he told reporters. "We didn't want to put it all out there at once."
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