Prenatal DHA reduces early preterm birth, low birth weight

Public release date: 25-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karen Salisbury Henry
kahenry@ku.edu
785-864-0756
University of Kansas

LAWRENCE University of Kansas researchers have found that the infants of mothers who were given 600 milligrams of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA during pregnancy weighed more at birth and were less likely to be very low birth weight and born before 34 weeks gestation than infants of mothers who were given a placebo. This result greatly strengthens the case for using the dietary supplement during pregnancy.

Susan CarlsonThe results are from the first five years of a 10-year, double-blind randomized controlled trial to be published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It is also available online. A followup of this sample of infants is ongoing to determine whether prenatal DHA nutritional supplementation will benefit children's intelligence and school readiness.

"A reduction in early preterm and very low birth weight delivery could have clear clinical and public health significance," said Susan Carlson, A.J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition at the KU Medical Center, who directed the study with John Colombo, KU professor of psychology and director of the Life Span Institute.

John Colombo"We believe that supplementing U.S. women with DHA could safely increase mean birth weight and gestational age to numbers that are closer to other developed countries such as Norway and Australia," she said.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) occurs naturally in cell membranes with the highest levels in brain cells, but levels can be increased by diet or supplements. An infant obtains DHA from his or her mother in utero and postnatally from human milk, but the amount received depends upon the mother's DHA status.

"U.S. women typically consume less DHA than women in most of the developed world," said Carlson.

During the first five years of the study, children of women enrolled in the study received multiple developmental assessments at regular intervals throughout infancy and at 18 months of age. In the next phase of the study, the children will receive twice-yearly assessments until they are 6 years old. The researchers will measure developmental milestones that occur in later childhood and are linked to lifelong health and welfare.

Previous research has established the effects of postnatal feeding of DHA on infant cognitive and intellectual development, but DHA is accumulated most rapidly in the fetal brain during pregnancy, said Colombo. "That's why we are so interested in the effects of DHA taken prenatally, because we will really be able to see how this nutrient affects development over the long term."

###

The study is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

---

[ | 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: 25-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Karen Salisbury Henry
kahenry@ku.edu
785-864-0756
University of Kansas

LAWRENCE University of Kansas researchers have found that the infants of mothers who were given 600 milligrams of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA during pregnancy weighed more at birth and were less likely to be very low birth weight and born before 34 weeks gestation than infants of mothers who were given a placebo. This result greatly strengthens the case for using the dietary supplement during pregnancy.

Susan CarlsonThe results are from the first five years of a 10-year, double-blind randomized controlled trial to be published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It is also available online. A followup of this sample of infants is ongoing to determine whether prenatal DHA nutritional supplementation will benefit children's intelligence and school readiness.

"A reduction in early preterm and very low birth weight delivery could have clear clinical and public health significance," said Susan Carlson, A.J. Rice Professor of Dietetics and Nutrition at the KU Medical Center, who directed the study with John Colombo, KU professor of psychology and director of the Life Span Institute.

John Colombo"We believe that supplementing U.S. women with DHA could safely increase mean birth weight and gestational age to numbers that are closer to other developed countries such as Norway and Australia," she said.

DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) occurs naturally in cell membranes with the highest levels in brain cells, but levels can be increased by diet or supplements. An infant obtains DHA from his or her mother in utero and postnatally from human milk, but the amount received depends upon the mother's DHA status.

"U.S. women typically consume less DHA than women in most of the developed world," said Carlson.

During the first five years of the study, children of women enrolled in the study received multiple developmental assessments at regular intervals throughout infancy and at 18 months of age. In the next phase of the study, the children will receive twice-yearly assessments until they are 6 years old. The researchers will measure developmental milestones that occur in later childhood and are linked to lifelong health and welfare.

Previous research has established the effects of postnatal feeding of DHA on infant cognitive and intellectual development, but DHA is accumulated most rapidly in the fetal brain during pregnancy, said Colombo. "That's why we are so interested in the effects of DHA taken prenatally, because we will really be able to see how this nutrient affects development over the long term."

###

The study is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. The university's mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities and making discoveries that change the world. The KU News Service is the central public relations office for the Lawrence campus.

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/uok-pdr022513.php

nike nfl uniforms ben and jerrys free cone day tornado in dallas texas the island president the maldives harper lee mega millions numbers

Breaking Dawn: Part 2 DOMINATES Razzies

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/02/breaking-dawn-part-2-dominates-razzies/

Sephora Cyber Monday 2012 Walmart.com detroit lions Thanksgiving Day cooking a turkey toysrus

Boost Mobile getting the HTC One SV on March 7

The HTC One SV is a very capable mid-level Android phone, and today we found out that it will be available on Boost Mobile starting March 7 -- complete with 4G LTE service. With the Snapdagon S4 processor and 1GB of RAM, the extremely thin and well built One SV will certainly be a treat for existing -- and new -- Boost customers.

The One SV will be available on Boost's no-contract shrinking price Android plan. What that means is that the first month's service will be $55, and every six months the payments are on-time will drop $5 off the monthly price until you hit $40. The phone itself will cost $299.99, but remember that is the full, no contract price you're seeing.

A phone this nice (check the review, I thought it was dandy) for just $40 monthly on Boosts "unlimited" plan sounds like a sweet deal. Hit the break for the full press release.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/n2ogwcXKZtc/story01.htm

rondo suspended bay bridge band of brothers presidents george washington russell westbrook horsetail falls

ADB president leading name for Japan central bank

TOKYO (AP) ? Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is preparing to nominate Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda to head Japan's central bank and help spearhead moves to revive growth in the world's third-biggest economy, local reports said Monday.

Abe had been expected to announce the plan late Monday, according to NHK television and major newspapers, but prospects for an agreement appeared uncertain after a tentative plan for a news conference was called off. Top members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party were meeting with the coalition New Komeito party and opposition party leaders to seek their support for the nomination, the reports said.

The current Bank of Japan governor, Masaaki Shirakawa, will step down on March 19, three weeks before his term ends. Abe intends to formally propose his replacement to parliament within this week so as to allow a smooth succession, said government spokesman Yoshihide Suga.

"The key is to return to the bold monetary policies advocated by the Abe administration," Suga told reporters at a routine briefing. "We need to create an environment in which we can pursue those Abe policies."

Kuroda, 67, is an Oxford-educated former vice minister of finance who is thought to back Abe's strategies for seeking to revive Japan's economy by fighting deflation through monetary easing and hefty government spending.

Kikuo Iwata, a professor at Tokyo's Gakushuin University, and Hiroshi Nakaso, an executive director at the BOJ, are due to become the bank's top two deputy governors, the reports said.

During his years as the country's top financial diplomat, Kuroda often objected to the yen's protracted rise against the U.S. dollar, saying it did not reflect the fundamentals of the economy.

As head of the Manila, Philippines-based regional lender ADB, he has sought to balance the bank's mission of poverty mitigation with Asia's economic ascent and growing financial heft. He also often has urged China to ease foreign exchange controls that link the Chinese yuan to the U.S. dollar.

Despite frequent central bank interventions in the currency markets, the yen continued its long-term ascent thanks to its status as a safe-haven, and low interest rates that encouraged an international "carry trade" of borrowing in yen and using the money to invest in the bonds of countries with higher interest rates.

Abe's support for a weaker yen has lifted share prices and spurred a further decline in the value of the Japanese currency, which has weakened by about 20 percent against the U.S. dollar since last fall.

The benchmark Nikkei 225 stock index surged 2.4 percent to 11,662.52 on Monday. The yen was trading near 94.25 to the U.S. dollar, after sliding to a more than three-year low of 94.71 earlier in the day.

Since taking office in late December, Abe has pushed through a raft of policies aimed at helping Japan escape from recession through heavy public works spending and other measures meant to restore sustainable growth. Japan's economy is struggling with the aftermath of the 2011 natural and nuclear disasters, rapid aging of its population and the biggest public debt burden among leading industrial economies.

After months of lobbying by Abe, even before the Liberal Democrats took power following a landslide win in a Dec. 16 election, the Bank of Japan joined with the government in setting a 2 percent inflation target. So far, massive asset purchases by the central bank and years of near-zero interest rates have done little to boost investment or hiring by corporations put off by slack domestic demand.

"Japan needs something dramatic to happen. They are stuck," said David Harvey, director of the Canberra, Australia-based consultancy Asia Financial Group. He described Kuroda as a "smart cookie."

Shirakawa has chafed at Abe's pressure for more aggressive action from the central bank, and Abe's strong stance on monetary policy has raised concern he may be violating the Bank of Japan's autonomy.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/adb-president-leading-name-japan-central-bank-041537415--finance.html

diane sawyer Cnn.com Colorado Marijuana Washington Election Results drudge report Presidential Election 2012 Incumbent

Report: Saudis may drop screen for women advisers

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) ? A Saudi newspaper says officials may consider dropping plans for a barrier separating men and the newly appointed women in the country's top advisory body.

The reports follow the swearing-in ceremony Sunday for the first women in the ultraconservative kingdom's Shura Council. There was no barrier during the event as the 30 women sat on one side of the chamber and the 130 men on the other.

Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic codes sharply restrict mixing between genders.

The pro-government Al-Watan newspaper reported Monday that the original proposal for a barrier in the Shura chamber now could be reconsidered.

In 2011, King Abdullah said women can vote and run as candidates in the next municipal elections in 2015. The kingdom's women are still banned from driving and face many other restrictions.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/report-saudis-may-drop-screen-women-advisers-130715917.html

NRA Golden Globes 2013 Anna Kendrick Sandy Hook conspiracy Stuart Scott Holly Rowe Chief Keef

G20 says in text will refrain from competitive devaluations

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Group of 20 nations vowed to refrain from competitive devaluations and move towards market-determined exchange rates in a joint communique that was due to be issued after talks in Moscow on Saturday.

"We will refrain from competitive devaluations," said the communique, which was thrashed out by finance officials on Friday night and seen by Reuters.

The text said that monetary policy should be directed towards domestic price stability and economic recovery - effectively giving a free pass to countries like Japan whose currencies have fallen as a result of expansive policies.

It contained a commitment to run credible medium-term fiscal strategy, but stopped short of setting specific goals.

This was a key U.S. demand, reflected in wording that medium-term fiscal consolidation should take into account near-term economic considerations and fiscal space.

(Writing by Douglas Busvine, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/g20-says-text-refrain-competitive-devaluations-061154428--finance.html

dad shoots daughters laptop brandon jennings the vow review luol deng culkin wooly mammoth no child left behind

Japan Prime Minister Abe to meet Obama next Friday

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Japan's new prime minister Shinzo Abe will meet with President Barack Obama on Feb. 22, the White House announced Friday. The statement said that Obama looked forward to "in-depth discussions" with Abe on a range of economic and security issues.

Source: http://feeds.marketwatch.com/~r/marketwatch/marketpulse/~3/QNfRMKHTjtw/story.aspx

budweiser shootout animal house invincible jesse jackson whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston r kelly

DashClock Widget v1.2 adds shortcuts, visual tweaks, new languages

If you've got an Android phone or tablet that's got Android 4.2.x and you're not using DashClock Widget, you are, quite frankly, doing it wrong. And the app that turns the Jelly Bean lock screen widgets into more than just wishful thinking -- by the way, it's already in the 50,000 to 100,000 download range, and we'd be willing to bet it's on the high end of that -- got an update to version 1.2 today, bringing with it a number of improvements.

First up are some new visual tweaks, allowing for custom opacity, as well as the ability to center the clock. You also can assign application shortcuts to the weather and clock widgets. Nice. Then there's the addition of extensions for missed calls and new text messages. Or perhaps you'd be interested in support for French, German, Spanish and Russian. Use Microsoft Exchange for your calendar? It's now supported. Some of this is tucked into a new "advanced" menu, so dive into the settings to see the new features.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/GsQZrZOjfw0/story01.htm

Whitney Heichel Tippi Hedren Big Tex Sweetest Day optimal Samantha Steele Espn goog

PST: MLS won't add goal-line technology in '13

TUCSON, Ariz. ? Major League Soccer is bullish on the new goal line technology, now slowly being introduced to the game, that can remove one element of potential match controversy.

Upon FIFA approval of the high-tech science that can remove all doubt, in real time, about whether a ball has fully crossed the goal line, MLS commissioner Don Garber talked about wanting to get on board as quickly as possible, with 2013 as the initial target.

But Nelson Rodriguez, the league?s executive vice president of competition, told me Wednesday night that it won?t happen in 2013.

Further, because Rodriguez believes the league requires six months to implement the new technology, he said MLS probably needs FIFA approval by late this summer or 2014 implementation would be in jeopardy, too.

Rodriguez was in Tucson for the Desert Diamond Cup, a preseason tournament with four MLS clubs.

He said the league has not lost a bit of interest and will be as aggressive as possible, never mind cost that promise to be considerable. The stumbling blocks are mostly procedural and above MLS level. FIFA?s deliberate approach to spreading the technology ? used for the first time last December during the Club World Cup ? is the issue.

Two independent systems have gained official FIFA sanction, one is chip-based and one is camera-based. Both were employed during the high-profile 10-day club tournament in Japan two months ago.

Only two companies are presently authorized to build those systems, Rodriguez explained. Plus, one of two designated FIFA officials must be present at installation for each venue, a fairly cumbersome and time-consuming process to coordinate across such a large country.

And Major League Soccer isn?t the only league interested in the top standard of goal line officiating; It does not sound like Major League Soccer is near the top of FIFA?s list for getting the technology going here.

Considering FIFA?s dawdling and delay in getting the system up and operating, none of this can be considered much of a surprise.

Source: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/14/no-goal-line-technology-for-mls-in-2013/related/

hunger games movie review bats hunger games review jeff saturday jason smith jon corzine austin rivers

The Quad: Debt-Ridden Maryland Buys Every Athlete an iPad

At first blush, the news item that Maryland has announced plans to buy an iPad for every one of its roughly 500 athletes at a cost of about $300,000 seems like just another case of temporary insanity caused by the recruiting arms races.

But when you realize this is the same Maryland athletic department that announced it was bolting as a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference for the big payday of joining the Big Ten because of its crippling department debt ? which prompted it to drop seven entire sports programs ? the insanity seems more than temporary.

The school justified the expense because it has decided it can pay for the iPads with the student-athlete opportunity fund ? which is supposed to be used to help student-athletes with unexpected expenses and financial hardships. But because Maryland deems this as helping with their athletes? educational mission, it decided the use of the fund was appropriate. ?Our student-athletes will now be better connected academically when traveling to represent the university,? the school?s statement read. ?Each iPad has educational apps and the department has the ability to issue additional apps as necessary. These iPads provide our student-athletes with direct access to iTunes U, which is one of the largest educational resources available.?

Yes, this is the same Maryland that says its athletic department debt could top $17 million by 2017 and that recently dropped its teams in men?s and women?s swimming, men?s tennis, women?s water polo, acrobatics and tumbling, along with men?s cross-country and indoor track. Its president, Wallace D. Loh, did say when Maryland announced it was joining the Big Ten in November that he hoped the new conference paycheck would help restore those sports.

But until then, it?s just iPads for everyone.

Source: http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/14/debt-ridden-maryland-buys-every-athlete-an-ipad/?partner=rss&emc=rss

heart transplant the international preppers geraldo obama trayvon martin pietrus cheney

NY exhibits draft of Washington's Farewell Address

?

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A State Museum exhibit highlighting New York residents who became president is featuring the original draft of George Washington's Farewell Address, written in his own hand.

?

The special three-day, Presidents Weekend exhibit at the downtown Albany museum opens Friday and runs through Sunday.

?

The exhibit honors Washington, the nation's first president, as well as political leaders who lived in New York and rose to the presidency, including Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore, Chester A. Arthur, Ulysses S. Grant, Grover Cleveland, and Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt.

?

Washington published his Farewell Address in September 1796 after serving two terms as president and declining the opportunity to run for a third. New York state's original draft of the document was saved from the fire that heavily damaged the state Capitol in 1911.

?

(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

?

Source: http://albany.wnyt.com/news/news/184110-ny-exhibits-draft-washingtons-farewell-address

Anderson Cooper Gay NBA draft 2012 alicia sacramone Don Grady ann curry euro 2012 Colorado Springs

Merck settles investor suits on cholesterol drugs

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) ? Merck & Co. has agreed to pay $688 million to settle two long-running lawsuits brought by investors who alleged the drugmaker delayed releasing bad news on its blockbuster cholesterol drugs to prevent a drop in sales.

Merck, the world's third biggest drugmaker by revenue, said Thursday that it agreed to the settlement because it's in the best interest of the company and current shareholders. It is taking a charge of nearly a half-billion dollars against 2012 earnings.

The delay in releasing results of a study that was meant to bolster sales of pricey cholesterol pills Zetia and Vytorin triggered criticism by analysts, investors, some scientists and the media ? and ultimately an investigation by Congress.

The maker of Januvia Type 2 diabetes pills and the Gardasil vaccine against sexually transmitted cancers admitted no wrongdoing. The deal must be approved by a federal judge.

"The settlement gets a cloud out of the sky for Merck," said Erik Gordon, an analyst and professor at University of Michigan's Ross School of Business.

The settlement is among the top 25 securities class action settlements ever, according to Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP, co-lead counsel in the litigation brought by a number of large pension funds.

Merck, which is based in Whitehouse Station, N.J., said in a statement that it's taking a charge of $493 million. The company also restated previously reported financial results, reducing its 2012 fourth-quarter results to 30 cents per share from 46 cents per share, and its 2012 results to $2 per share from $2.16 per share.

Merck shares fell initially but closed up 4 cents at $41.19, near the middle of their 52-week range of $36.91 to $48.

Merck and its then-partner Schering-Plough, which it later acquired, for about two years had delayed disclosing results of the study, known by the acronym ENHANCE. It tested how well Vytorin and Zetia reduced plaque buildup in neck arteries of patients with high cholesterol. The drugs had already been on the market for a few years, and together generated a combined $5.2 billion in 2007 alone.

The study was intended to give the pills a bigger edge over rival medicines in the nearly $40 billion-a-year global market for cholesterol drugs, by showing that besides reducing bad, or LDL cholesterol, the pills prevented it from clogging arteries ? and presumably from causing heart attacks and strokes. But imaging of neck arteries of ENHANCE study participants showed that Zetia and Vytorin, which combines Zetia with a generic version of Merck's older cholesterol pill Zocor, didn't work any better than cheap generic Zocor did alone.

When Merck in early 2008 finally released the ENHANCE study results, Merck stock tumbled, causing big losses for investors, and sales of the two pills declined in the U.S.

Bernstein Litowitz, Grant & Eisenhofer and other law firms representing pension funds in the U.S. and elsewhere that held Merck and Schering-Plough stock then filed suits against each of the companies. Under the settlement agreement, Schering-Plough, which became part of Merck in 2009, will pay $473 million, and Merck will pay $215 million. A Merck spokesman said the company expects insurance to cover part of the total, reducing Merck's liability to the $493 million for which it's taking a charge.

Edward Jones analyst Judson Clark said the settlement is "largely a non-issue for long-term equity investors."

However, he added, "The combined number was probably a little higher than many investors were expecting and that's reflected in today's price movement."

Merck said in a statement that "numerous clinical trials conducted over the years have demonstrated a strong relationship between lowering LDL cholesterol and reduced risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality."

It added that its ongoing IMPROVE-IT study, an 18,000-patient study of Vytorin, should answer the question of whether lowering LDL cholesterol to very low levels with Vytorin could reduce heart attacks and strokes more than generic Zocor alone could do.

However, during a conference call two weeks ago to review fourth-quarter results, Merck executives would not reassure nervous analysts that the IMPROVE-IT study will show that benefit. Merck stressed then that it has numerous drugs in late-stage development and plans this year to file for approval of five of them. Still, two analysts quickly downgraded their ratings on its shares, one from "Hold" to "Sell" and the other from "Buy" to "Hold."

Analyst Les Funtleyder, a health care strategist at private equity fund Poliwogg, said the settlement news "will get lost in concern over" Merck saying recently that it will delay for about a year plans to apply for approval of a crucial new osteoporosis drug, odanacatib, while it waits for additional study results.

The settlement comes less than three weeks before the case was to come to trial. It had been scheduled to begin on March 4, before U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh in Newark, who must approve the settlement.

Last February Merck settled another lawsuit over delay of the ENHANCE study results by agreeing to more promptly report research results to investors and patients. The company's research division must give an annual report to the board of directors on any delays over a year in publicly disclosing results of patient studies. Merck also agreed to pay about $5 million to cover expenses of the retirement plan that brought the lawsuit.

______

Linda A. Johnson can be followed at http://twitter.com/LindaJ_onPharma

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/merck-settles-investor-suits-cholesterol-drugs-170345339--finance.html

scientology Wimbledon 2012 TV Schedule fourth of july Jason Terry IFE Fireworks 2012 4th Of July independence day

Google?s Street View Goes Inside Its First NFL Venue, Maps Colts Stadium

The football season may be over, but with 202 days to go before the next NFL game kicks off again, Google today announced that it has brought its Street View cameras into the Indianapolis Colts' Lucas Oil Stadium. The new 360 degree imagery, Google Maps product manager Evan Rapoport writes, is "another example of how we?re working hard (and having fun!) building the most comprehensive, accurate and usable map of the world -- complete with imagery from inside your favorite sporting venues."

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/Ew9SnG2ZsZ0/

chardon sean young juan pablo montoya free pancakes at ihop martina navratilova high school shooting daytona 500

Contractors Blamed for Church Demolition on Ash Wednesday

WILKES-BARRE ? A spokesman for the Diocese of Scranton told Newswatch 16 that demolition work on St. Therese Catholic Church on Old River Road was scheduled to start on Monday, but contractors were delayed by another project and decided to start tearing down the church on Ash Wednesday.

The Diocese consolidated St. Therese with the nearby Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Church and closed the doors after a final service in 2011.

Teresa Hustey stopped her car in the street and said she was stunned to see the former house of worship being demolished as she drove home.

?My daughter was married here, both of my girls were raised with the church,? said Hustey. ?Monsignor Callahan watched them grow.?

Ned Blaum told Newswatch 16 that he drove from Hanover Township to take a brick home, after a friend told him that the church was being torn down.

?I said ?What do you mean the church is gone?? She said ?They?re ripping it down.? I said, ?On Ash Wednesday?? I couldn?t believe it because I was a lifelong member of St. Therese church. I went to grade school here as a kid. It was my second home,? said Blaum.

Former parishioner Mary Carr said some of the most exciting moments in her life happened inside the church, which was a few blocks away from the home that she was raised in.

?In grade school, I went here for eight years. It was my first holy communion, my first penance, confirmation and I was married here,? said Carr. ?There?s a lot of fond memories.?

A diocese spokesman said the parish will sell the property when the debris is cleared.

Source: http://luzernecounty.wnep.com/news/news/148078-contractors-blamed-church-demolition-ash-wednesday

666 Park Avenue Kara Alongi Sahara Davenport Resident Evil 6 arnold schwarzenegger revenge revenge

Obama's Middle Class Priorities Complicated By Looming Fights Over Deficit

In terms of rhetoric, President Obama's latest State of the Union address offered an ambitious call to action, aiming for no less than the restoration of middle-class security for millions of Americans who have grown accustomed to sliding toward poverty.

"No one who works full-time should have to live in poverty," Obama said in one of his signature lines of the evening, arguing in essence that a paycheck ought to be enough to deliver a family basic goods such as housing, medical care and ample groceries.

In a bid to achieve that goal, Obama proposed raising the federal minimum wage, along with a series of initiatives aimed at spurring job creation. But if his stated plans resonated as bold, the details of Obama's prescription left many economists skeptical that his administration is in any position to deliver.

Obama still confronts a House of Representatives controlled by Republicans who have vowed to pare federal spending. Virtually everything he put forward Tuesday night -- from a $50 billion infrastructure building fund to a program to rehabilitate abandoned homes -- involves spending money. And the dollars the President seeks would themselves be insufficient to significantly boost employment or lift the working poor to the ranks of the middle class, say many experts.

"It's just going to be nickel-and-dime stuff," said Dean Baker, an economist with the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "It's not going to have a noticeable impact, certainly not on the economy as a whole."

In setting his sights on the working poor, Obama put the focus on an increasingly large slice of the American population. One in three working families now lives just above the official poverty line -- defined as $22,811 for a family of four -- according to a recent report from the Working Poor Families Project, which is funded by several nonprofit groups including the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Ford Foundation. A decade ago, that number was closer to one in four.

In 2011, the latest year for which data is available, nearly 48 million Americans were in low-income working families, living on $45,000 or less for a family of four, according to the report. Raising the federal minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour would not be enough to lift many out of poverty, economists say. Even if a person works 40 hours a week, a full-time job at $9 an hour would add up to less than $19,000 a year -- still below the poverty line for a family.

Advocates nonetheless praised Obama's proposed minimum wage increase as a crucial means of elevating the circumstances of people who work at the lowest rungs of the economy. Such a course "will stimulate consumer demand and help drive economic growth for the people who need it most in America -- workers," said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, in a statement following the president's speech.

The rest of Obama's economic proposals struck many economists as mere repackaging of half-measures either too expensive to gain congressional approval or too modest to lift fortunes, and sometimes both.

Obama lent voice to job creation through infrastructure investment, proposing a $50 billion "Fix It First" program to rebuild crumbling bridges and roads. He cast the idea as a way to "put people to work as soon as possible on our most urgent repairs, like the nearly 70,000 structurally deficient bridges across the country."

But the dollars simply can't achieve the objective, said David Backus, an economist at NYU's Stern School of Business. "Fifty billion dollars is basically an immaterial number for the U.S. economy," Backus said. "We have a 14-trillion dollar economy. Will there be an employment effect? Maybe. But it'll be swamped by anything else that goes on."

The "Fix It First" infrastructure proposal is a scaled-back version of a much larger job-creation effort floated by the president in 2011. That plan, marketed publicly as the American Jobs Act, included $447 billion worth of tax cuts and spending increases. It would have trimmed payroll taxes, assisted state and local governments and repaired highways. House Republicans instantly criticized it, and most of the agenda went nowhere.

At the time, economists estimated the full package could have added up to 1.9 million jobs to the economy while cutting the unemployment rate by 1 percent. Mark Zandi, the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said in a 2011 report that the plan would "go a long way toward stabilizing confidence, forestalling another recession, and jump-starting a self-sustaining economic expansion."

In an interview Wednesday, Zandi said the slimmer proposal Obama mentioned Tuesday night "has the most potential" for job creation, but doubted that even a scaled-down version of the plan would have much success on Capitol Hill.

"There's just a more realistic tone to the discussion," Zandi said. "There's an understanding that this is going to be very difficult to get done."

The president's less-ambitious spending goals in part reflect how addressing the federal deficit has quickly grown to become one of the nation's top public policy priorities, constraining his ability to champion new spending.

According to data from the Pew Research Center for People & the Press, at the beginning of Obama's first term in 2009, only 53 percent of survey respondents defined reducing the budget deficit as a top priority. By the beginning of his second term, 72 percent of those surveyed counted it as a significant issue -- the largest increase of any policy issue covered by the survey.

That public-opinion shift underscores the considerable obstacles that confront Obama, even as he operates with the momentum of a newly elected president: He must take heed of concerns over the deficit, which make spending nearly impossible, while somehow coming up with the dollars to spur improvements for the working poor.

"The narrative is now too impressed on the American public's mind that the nation's number-one problem is its debt," said Gary Burtless, a senior fellow in economic studies at the Brookings Institution. "That represents a very serious counterargument to undertaking these kinds of policies."

Also on HuffPost:

"; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/state-of-the-union-unemployment_n_2680288.html

DNS Changer ernest borgnine ESPYs 2012 venus williams Freeh Report direct tv wimbledon

Use Microsoft Bing Daily Wallpaper As Windows 8 Lock Screen Background

Bing my lockscreen is a Windows 8? / RT app that automatically downloads and applies Bing?s daily wallpapers as your lockscreen in Windows 8. Even though Bing Search Engine isn?t the number one choice amount the majority of Internet users, its daily background images are stunning and pleasing to the eyes.

This app downloads images every four hours and only if there?s a Internet connection. You can also set the frequency images are downloaded, and from what part of the world. Eight of the most recent Bing?s background are made available to you if you choose to manually select your lockscreen background.

This is a great app to have if you love looking at beautiful images daily from your computer screen.

To get started, go and download Bing my lockscreen from Windows apps store

?

?

Next, click ?Install?

?

?

After installing, open the app and if you get a prompt whether to allow the app to run in the background. Click ?Allow?

?

?

Enjoy!

?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/LiberianGeek/~3/YtaSyDd51DI/

Nadia Comaneci Rebecca Soni Snoop Lion London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes Gabby Olympic Gymnast

Social Security head: Program fraying from neglect

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Outgoing Social Security Commissioner Michael J. Astrue has some parting shots for Congress, the White House and advocates for seniors. They have all "really walked away from Social Security," he says, leaving the program "fraying because of inattention to its problems."

Instead of making the hard choices to fix Social Security's financial problems, policymakers "use it as a tool of political rhetoric," Astrue said.

Astrue, 56, has headed the federal government's largest program since 2007 ? he was nominated by former President George W. Bush. By law, Social Security commissioners serve six-year terms, so President Barack Obama will now have the opportunity to choose his own nominee, who must be approved by the Senate. Astrue's last day on the job was Wednesday.

The trustees who oversee Social Security say the program's trust funds will run dry in 2033, leaving Social Security with only enough revenue to pay about 75 percent of benefits. Already the program is paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes.

As commissioner, Astrue served as a trustee. He regularly urged Congress to address Social Security's long-term financial problems but refrained from publicly weighing in on various options to cut benefits or raise taxes ? until now.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Astrue said benefit cuts and tax increases are inevitable ? despite fierce opposition to both. Yet he questions whether Congress is up to the task.

Q: The president and Republican leaders in Congress have both embraced changes to Social Security as part of negotiations to reduce government borrowing. Should Social Security be part of the deficit and debt discussions?

A: My general perspective is that Washington broadly, and I include the Congress, both parties, the executive branch, the major interest groups, have really walked away from Social Security. ... I think that Social Security is a gem. I think it is the most successful domestic program in the history of the United States government and it is fraying because of inattention to its problems. And I think it's a shame that Washington cannot get its act together to look at Social Security in detail in isolation and say, What do we need to do?

Q: There are some in Congress who say only benefit cuts should be considered ? no tax increases. Others say benefit cuts should be off the table. Where do you come down?

A: Nothing is going to happen if you establish preconditions for the conversation. I do think that for the people who simply want to tax more, you need to be very mindful of the fact that that tax will fall disproportionately on the younger generation and that if you're not careful, that could be a huge economic drag.

Q: One of the few issues that the president and Republicans in Congress agree on is changing the way the government measures inflation. As you know, this would reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, for Social Security recipients. Advocates for seniors hate the idea. They want bigger COLAs, not smaller ones. What do you think?

A: As a general matter I do think that the president and the Congress are right that before you start talking about increases in the retirement age and things like that it's appropriate to try to have a conversation about what we might be able to do in terms of COLA adjustments.

Q: The age when retirees can receive full benefits is gradually increasing from 66 to 67. There are proposals to increase it gradually even more, perhaps as high as 70. What do you think of those proposals?

A: I think there's some historical inevitability that we will move in that direction. How far, I don't think is historically inevitable. Part of this we need to remember is not that the system is flawed or that there are evil people around here. I mean, we should celebrate a little bit of good news. Most of the pressure on the system comes from the fact that we've had great medical advances and people are living a lot longer than before.

Q: Social Security payroll taxes only apply to the first $113,700 of a worker's wages. There have been proposals to increase this threshold or even eliminate it, applying the tax to all wages. What do you think of those ideas?

A: I think there's some historic inevitability on at least some lifting of the (payroll tax) cap. I think that most politicians and I think most economists I've talked to generally think that that would have less of a negative impact on the economy than raising the rate itself.

Q: Applications for disability benefits increased dramatically when the economy went bad. Why did that happen?

A: I think a lot of people applied out of economic desperation. Very few of those people actually ended up getting benefits. If you look at the numbers, it's one of the reasons why our approval rates have dropped dramatically in the last few years.

Q: Aren't most disability claims initially denied?

A: Yes.

Q: Why?

A: Because the statutory standard is so stringent. In terms of the percentage who get on, both in the beginning and at the end of the process, it's somewhere usually in most years in the 35 to 40 percent range. Sometimes people talk like nobody gets approved initially, and that's not true. Some people say, Oh, everybody gets on, and that's not true, either. But the statutory standard is you have to be unable to do work that exists in the national economy for 12 months or more.

Q: If your claim is denied, you can appeal to an administrative law judge, but the process can take a year or more. Tell me about your efforts to reduce these backlogs.

A: We've done, I think, some yeoman's work in reducing the backlogs. ... If you look at time to a hearing, what we call average processing time, it peaked very shortly after I started at 542 days and it got down to about 340 (days) and then drifted up a little bit with all the budget cuts in the last couple of years. But it's still about a year on average, and that's a big improvement.

Q: Are you getting enough resources from Congress to address these backlogs?

A: No.

Q: The Association of Administrative Law Judges says that in order to reduce backlogs some judges are deciding more than 500 cases a year. Is that too many cases to do a thorough job on each one?

A: No, not at all. We set for the first time productivity standards in 2007. It was actually done by the chief judge, and it was done looking at best demonstrated practices of existing judges. At that point in time about 40 percent of the judges were doing 500 to 700 cases a year. And so that's what we set as our goal, and that's what it is, it's a goal to shoot for. ... Now, about 80 percent of the judges hit that goal.

___

Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-14-US-Social-Security-Commissioner/id-0c90af50c9cb4848864b78010fb799f8

chicago bulls st louis blues rueben randle mike trout ryan broyles jerel worthy alshon jeffery

Small business owners still feeling 'fiscal cliff' pinch

Heesun Wee , CNBC.com ? ? ? 40 min.

Small-business owners' confidence was virtually flat in January, as entrepreneurs failed to recoup losses sparked by December's scare about the so-called "fiscal cliff."

That's the finding of a monthly survey by the National Federation of Independent Business. The group said Tuesday that its small-business optimism index edged up just 0.9 points to 88.9 last month from 88 points in December 2012.

While a fiscal deal was reached in January on tax increases and spending cuts, benefits have remained elusive for much of Main Street ? a traditional driver of new jobs during past economic downturns. (Read More: Amid 'Fiscal Cliff' Stalemate, Main Street Deteriorates)

"The only good news is that it 'budged' up, not down. If small businesses were publicly traded companies, the stock market would be in shambles," said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg. "While corporate profits are at record levels as a share of GDP, small businesses are still struggling to turn a profit," he sad in a prepared statement.

The latest monthly reading among small-business owners also showed low expectations for future growth ? clearly not a good way to kick off 2013.

Expectations for improved business conditions remained overwhelmingly low. Actual job creation and job creation plans improved nominally, but still not enough to keep up with population growth.

The NFIB also noted sales trends remain overwhelmingly negative for small employers, with more owners reporting declining sales.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/economywatch/small-business-owners-still-feeling-fiscal-cliff-pinch-1C8340258

bloom box obama sweet home chicago accenture match play george washington carver king cake fun. hepatitis c symptoms

ESPN?s latest bracketology has six Big 12 teams in the NCAA tournament

on February 12, 2013M at 1:40 pm

By Anthony Slater ? Aslater@opubco.com -?@anthonyVslater

By now, if you?ve been following the season at least casually, you?re well aware that both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are currently expected (and easily projected) to make the NCAA hoops tourney.

They have been for weeks.

But what might come as a bit of a surprise is the number of conference brethren who are expected to join them. In ESPN braketologist Joe Lunardi?s latest projections (they can be seen here), the Big 12 has six participants in the Big Dance (KU, KSU, OSU, OU, ISU and Baylor).

That?s the third most of any conference, one more than the ACC and two more than the SEC and Pac-12. Considering the general consensus was a pretty substantial down year for the Big 12, that?s quite impressive.

Here?s where Lunardi has them slotted in the ?still-way-too-early? projections:

Kansas
Seed:?3
Region: South (Kansas City)
Opponent: Davidson

Kansas State
Seed: 4
Region:?Midwest (San Jose)
Opponent:?Lehigh

Oklahoma State
Seed:?6
Region:?West (Austin)
Opponent: Saint Louis

Oklahoma
Seed:?9
Region:?South (Auburn Hills)
Opponent:?Wichita State

Iowa State
Seed:?10
Region:?Midwest (Salt Lake City)
Opponent:?San Diego State

Baylor
Seed:?10
Region:?East (Philadelphia)
Opponent:?Colorado State

Thank you for joining our conversation on OU Sports. We encourage your discussion but ask that you stay within the bounds of our commenting and posting policy.

Source: http://blog.newsok.com/ou/2013/02/12/espns-latest-bracketology-has-six-big-12-teams-in-the-ncaa-tournament/

whitney houston funeral video tyler perry whitney houston r kelly r. kelly macular degeneration whitney houston funeral judi dench

Dr Bala Kovvali: Doctor who travelled from India to work in Britain failed to send seriously ill diabetic man to hospital hours before he died

• Dr Bala Kovvali failed to recognise diabetic ketoacidosis
  
• Andre Fellow had no history of diabetes but his body ran out of insulin
• Kovvali, 64, admitted causing the death by gross negligence

By Anna Edwards

PUBLISHED: 12:32 EST, 12 February 2013 | UPDATED: 13:29 EST, 12 February 2013

An out-of-hours doctor has been jailed for two-and-a-half years for manslaughter after he failed to send a seriously ill diabetic man to hospital - diagnosing him as 'depressed with a headache'.

Dr Bala Kovvali ignored the classic signs of diabetes-related poisonous acids building up in 42-year-old Andrew Fellows' body, a court heard.

Instead of dialling 999 for an ambulance, the on-call locum told Mr Fellows' mother that her son was depressed and had a headache and should see his own doctor the next day.

Less than nine hours later Mr Fellows died at home from diabetic ketoacidosis.

Sheffield Crown Court heard how Mr Fellows became thirsty in the week before he died

A test which takes less than a minute would have alerted the GP to raised blood-sugar levels and it is 'virtually certain' Mr Fellows would have survived with an insulin injection and rehydration.

Jailing the doctor Judge Roger Keen told him: 'It was criminal negligence and a wholly preventable death followed.'

Experts who examined the case said any competent doctor would have recognised the classic symptoms of ketoacidosis and Dr Kovvali's breach of duty to his patient was 'appalling and gross.'

It was revealed at Sheffield Crown Court that the GP was based in India but flew to Britain to work every summer for two or three months for the nationwide doctors' deputising service Primecare.

He was arrested in the United States and extradited after a Sheffield coroner adjourned an inquest into Mr Fellows' death for police investigations.

?

Father-of-two Kovvali, 64, admitted causing the death of Mr Fellows by gross negligence in failing to carry out an adequate clinical assessment, failing to send Mr Fellows to hospital as an emergency and failing to diagnose diabetic ketoacidosis from which he died.

Michael Burrows QC, prosecuting, said Mr Fellows, who lived with his family in Handsworth, Sheffield had no medical history of diabetes but suffered from anxiety and depression.

In the week before his death, the painter and decorator was working outside and became restless and began drinking huge quantities of water. Both he and his mother Brenda believed he had caught sunstroke.

When her son's condition worsened Mrs Fellows called Primecare at 17.50 on June 4, 2009.

She told a triage nurse her son was 'very muddled and mumbling', his breathing was erratic and his eyes were sunken with his breath smelling odd 'like pear drops.'

She was asked about his depression and replied: 'He had had episodes before but if this is depression I've never seen one as bad as this.'

Dr Kovvali was asked to attend Mr Fellows and arrived at 21.13. Mrs Fellows expected her son to be taken to hospital and had even packed a bag for him.

He had now decided to quit as a doctor and 'will not be working in the UK ever again'?

Mrs Fellows asked if her son was in a coma or had an infection and specifically if he might be diabetic. 'She says Dr Kovvali shook his head to all these questions,' said Mr Burrows.

'According to Mrs Fellows, Dr Kovvali did not have any equipment with him and did not examine her son. He said he was depressed and advised that he should see his own GP the following day for his medication to be reviewed.'

After the doctor left, Mrs Fellows gave her son something to drink but he could not swallow.

He appeared so dehydrated she gave him an ice cube at 1am. She returned at 6am to find him dead in bed.

The court heard Mr Fellows had basically run out of insulin in his body. It switched to burning fatty acids and produced acidic ketones.

When ketones are produced in excess the blood becomes more acidic and blood-sugar levels rise leading to a coma which can be fatal.

Professor of Forensic Medicine Ian Wall, who reviewed the case, said he considered the patient's confusion, thirst, smell, sunken eyes and inability to answer were 'classic symptoms of ketoacidosis.'

Dr Kovvali should have checked sugar levels in the patient's blood or urine and he should have been immediately admitted to hospital 'where he could have been treated or saved.'

Professor Robert Tattersall, a retired professor of clinical diabetes, said the GP's records were 'grossly deficient' and he could and should have measured blood sugar.

'It would have taken less than a minute and shown high blood sugar levels. Dr Kovvali should then have called for for an ambulance as an emergency... the failure to diagnose his condition was the main cause of death.'

Dr Kovvali, who worked as a GP in Sheffield from 1981 to 1988 before returning to India, was arrested in the United States on August 27, 2012 and brought back to the UK.

When questioned he admitted he had a blood-sugar testing kit in his car which he failed to use.

It was clearly criminally negligent and a wholly preventable death followed?

Just a fortnight after Mr Fellows died, Dr Kovvali attended another patient Christopher Timms who had been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and prescribed insulin.

He felt unwell but the GP told him not to take his insulin as well as failing to examine him or test for ketones.

A consultant said the advice to stop taking insulin was 'wholly inappropriate' and lack of insulin would have put the patient 'in a life-threatening situation in a matter of hours.'

In a victim impact statement Mrs Fellows said that to test her son's blood 'would have been such a small thing to do but that one small thing would have saved her son's life.'

Stephen Climie QC, defending, said the doctor had 'misdirected' himself.

He had a particular interest in mental health matters and coupled with Mr Fellows not taking his medication it led him to rule out diabetes as a risk factor.

He qualified as a doctor in India in 1973 and came to the UK a year later. He completed his training before becoming a GP and had been subject to appraisals in the years leading up to these events. 'He is not allowed to practise without supervision,' said Mr Climie.

He had now decided to quit as a doctor and 'will not be working in the UK ever again.' His wife back in India was ill and lived alone and had been badly affected by his arrest.

Judge Keen told Kovvali: 'You have devoted your working life to caring for others. I have seen glowing references as to your competence, empathy and thoughtfulness.

'It is a tragedy for you that this brought about an end to your career, destroyed your good character and your ability to work in this country.'

He went on: 'However the nature of your offending is too serious for anything other than a custodial sentence.

'You failed to recognise Mr Fellows' condition despite the fact that all the classic signs of a diabetic condition were present.'

He had opted for a diagnosis that was contrary to all the evidence. 'That was a gross breach of your duty of care,' said the judge. 'An expert has called your decision appalling. I agree. It was clearly criminally negligent and a wholly preventable death followed.'

After the hearing Mrs Fellows said: 'We want everyone to know how much we loved Andrew. He was a loving son, brother, grandson, uncle, nephew and cousin and his death has caused a huge hole in the lives of everyone who knew him.

'He was honest and upright, funny and sensitive. He loved science and nature and was very proud of the fact that he got a BSc degree later in life.

'He was known to his friends as "Fell" and was described by them as the man with the hundred watt smile.'

?

?

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2277607/Dr-Bala-Kovvali-Doctor-travelled-India-work-Britain-failed-send-seriously-ill-diabetic-man-hospital-hours-died.html?ITO=1490&ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490

umf elite eight stephon marbury the lion king suzanne collins cherry blossom festival nc state

Home altitude tied to obesity risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Americans who live where the air is thinnest are less likely to be obese than those in low-lying areas, according to a new study.

The results don't mean people should move to higher altitudes to lose weight, said study lead author Dr. Jameson Voss. But the work suggests that elevation may be part of obesity puzzle.

Based on data for more than 400,000 people in the U.S., researchers found Americans living closest to sea level were four to five times more likely to be obese, compared to people who live well above sea level in Colorado.

"I was surprised by the magnitude of the effect? I wasn't expecting such a consistent pattern as what was emerging," said Voss, from Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

About 36 percent of American adults are obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Rates vary across the country, however, with a higher percentage of obese adults in southern states. Western states, such as Nevada and Colorado, report the fewest obese adults.

The reasons behind the difference in obesity prevalence between states are unclear, according to Voss and his colleagues, who published their findings in the International Journal of Obesity.

One possible explanation, they write, is differences in elevation, which can affect appetite hormones, growth and how many calories the body burns.

Cynthia Beall, who researches how the body adapts to high altitudes but was not involved with the new study, said it's common for travelers to high elevations to burn more calories in their first few weeks.

"That person would probably lose some weight during the course of a three week vacation? It would in fact be an interesting question whether that would sustain," said Beall, a professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

To examine obesity rates at different altitudes, the researchers combined information from several databases, including a telephone health survey of 422,603 Americans from 2011.

The researchers had information on 236 people who lived at the highest altitude of at least 3,000 meters (about 9,800 feet) above sea level. Those people all lived in Colorado and tended to smoke less, eat healthier and exercise more.

The researchers also had information on 322,681 people who lived in the lowest altitude range - less than 500 m (about 1,600 ft) above sea level.

After taking into account other factors that could influence the results, the researchers found adults living in the lowest altitude range had a Body Mass Index (BMI) - a measurement of weight in relation to height - of 26.6.

That compared to people who lived in the highest altitude range, who had a BMI of 24.2.

A healthy BMI falls between 18.5 and 24.9, and obesity is a score of 30 or more, according to the CDC.

Voss and his colleagues also found a drop in the risk of a person being obese was tied to every 200 m (about 660 ft) increase in elevation.

"It provides some evidence that these associations persist over the long term," Voss said.

RETIREMENT PLAYS A ROLE?

But Beall cautioned that the new findings don't prove the higher altitude prevented people from being obese.

For example, she said that other researchers have found that people living in Colorado's higher altitudes move to lower altitudes when they get sick with chronic diseases.

Voss said that he and his colleagues tried to adjust for retirement and population loss, but they write that they were not able to see how long each person actually lived at a certain elevation.

Beall told Reuters Health that it would be interesting to take a closer look at the people living in Colorado, and to see whether their obesity prevalence would change if they move to a lower altitude.

"I know from my own self that when I come back to my own activities and diet, I come back to my own weight too," she said.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/WEWACs International Journal of Obesity, online January 29, 2013.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/home-altitude-tied-obesity-risk-160612089.html

Leryn Franco The Campaign Kinesio tape randy travis Allyson Felix Kourtney Kardashian Baby Girl Ashton Eaton

Regeneron says Sanofi plans to buy more stock

NEW YORK (AP) -- Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that the French drugmaker Sanofi, its partner on a recently approved cancer drug, intends to buy more shares of Regeneron stock.

The Tarrytown, N.Y., company said it received a notice about the planned transaction from the Federal Trade Commission. The notice said Sanofi intends to own more than $500 million in voting shares. Sanofi is Regeneron's largest shareholder. It owns about 15.8 million shares of Regeneron, which is worth about $2.6 billion and is a one-sixth stake in the company.

Under the terms of the agreements between the two companies, Sanofi is not allowed to own more than 30 percent of Regeneron's Class A stock and common stock. However Sanofi said it does have the right to buy more shares and may do so. It described the filing as a technical move, and added that it is "very happy" with its relationship with Regeneron and has no plans to take a controlling stake in the company.

Shares of Regeneron rose $6.50, or 3.9 percent, to $172.38 after being halted early in the day. Earlier the shares gained as much as 10.1 percent. Regeneron stock is up more than 60 percent over the last year and reached an all-time high of $188.95 in November.

Sanofi and Regeneron collaborate on the cancer drug Zaltrap. The Food and Drug Administration approved Zaltrap as a treatment for colorectal cancer, and the companies are marketing it together in the U.S. European regulators approved the drug Tuesday. The two companies are also studying treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, "bad" cholesterol and asthma. They are also working on other cancer drugs.

Regeneron also makes the eye drug Eylea, a treatment for "wet" age-related macular degeneration and for macular edema with central retinal vein occlusion. It expects to report $790 million to $815 million in sales of the drug in 2012, including about $230 million to $250 million in the fourth quarter.

Regeneron will report its quarterly results Thursday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/regeneron-says-sanofi-plans-buy-160448509.html

martin luther king jr casey anthony baltimore ravens ravens Ravens vs Patriots 49ers Vs Falcons Mama Movie

Folic Acid Before Pregnancy Linked to Lower Autism Risk, Study Finds

Feb 12, 2013 7:01pm

Credit: Getty Images

Folic acid has been?recommended?to pregnant women for years, usually as a way to prevent birth defects?such as spina bifida.

But a new study published today in?the Journal of the American Medical Association?found it may also prevent autism.

The study comes at a time when pregnant women are increasingly worried about how their actions will affect their growing fetuses ? from eating certain foods to getting vaccines to dying their hair.

?Many women have significant concerns, anxiety and stress during pregnancy about the things that they eat, consume or come into contact with in an environmental sense,? said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, a senior medical contributor to ABC News.

The JAMA study, which used data from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, found that mothers who took folic acid four weeks before and eight weeks after pregnancy had a 40 percent reduced risk of giving birth to a child with autism. While the researchers found an association between folic acid deficiency and autism, that does not mean that folic acid taken during pregnancy?would?result in fewer autism cases.

?We know that folic acid deficiency leads to defects in the development of the nervous system,? said Dr. Ari Brown, a pediatrician in Texas, who was not involved in the JAMA study, referring to spina bifida. ?So it would not be surprising that a deficiency might also affect brain development in other ways.?

The Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study? followed more than 85,000 babies born between 2002 and 2008, and their parents. About 270 babies whose parents participated in the study were born with a developmental disorder on the autism spectrum.

Mothers reported whether they were taking folic acid before and during early pregnancy before they found out whether their children had autism, which eliminated some potential bias, said molecular epidemiologist Rebecca Schmidt, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine. In 2011, Schmidt was one of the first scientists to?publish a study that found that autism arises because of both genetic and?external factors, including women?s prenatal vitamin intake before conception.

?Given the replication of findings showing reduced risk of autism associated with folic acid supplements taken near conception, more research is needed to investigate whether this association is causal,? she said. ?Interestingly, both studies reported ? a nearly 40 percent reduction in risk for autism.?

The number of children with autism spectrum disorders in the United States rose to?one in 88 in 2012, up from?one in 110 in 2006, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is not clear whether mothers who did not take folic acid had other risk factors for bearing children with autism, said Dr. Schlomo Shinnar, a professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. ?He?said that the Norwegian study population was also more?homogeneous?than the population in the 2011 University of California, Davis study, and that Norway might have different diagnostic tests for autism spectrum disorders than we do in the United States.

?The findings are of great interest,? Shinnar said.

Alfred Romeo, a counselor at the Organization of Teratology Specialists affiliate in Utah, said he works on a hotline set up for pregnant women who are worried about how their medications, vaccines and food choices will affect their unborn children. Romeo?s center gets about 9,000 calls a year from 10 states.??Autism is a hot topic,? he said. ?We?re watching all the research studies to see if anything increases or decreases the rate of autism.? The organization has not yet reviewed the JAMA?study.

Ashton said she tries to help the patients in her OB/GYN practice to weigh the benefits and risks of things that might affect their pregnancies, such as medications, chemical exposure or foods. She said she knows from her own pregnancy how confusing and frightening it can be, and she aims to alleviate some of that by reassuring mothers that fetuses are resilient.

?Society can sometimes do a really good job of laying blame and guilt, and when there is no medical proof that it is the mother?s fault,? she said.? ?I usually tell women pregnancy is no different than parenting. ?There are never 100 percent guarantees of anything.?

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2013/02/12/folic-acid-before-pregnancy-linked-to-lower-autism-risk-study-finds/

the beach blood diamond 8 bit google maps kids choice awards 2012 micah true kansas vs ohio state winning mega million numbers