Monthly Archives: June 2012

Iran Guards chief visits disputed Gulf islands

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TEHRAN: The head of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards on Thursday made a pointed visit to three islands in the Gulf whose ownership is fiercely disputed by Tehran and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Guards Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, accompanied by his naval commander, Ali Fadavi, went to the islands of Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb to deliver a speech stressing they were Iran's "strategic and sensitive territory," the Guards' official news website said.

Jafari expressed satisfaction with the condition of Iranian combat units stationed on Abu Musa, it said. He also offered a message of "friendship" to neighboring Arab countries on the Gulf.

The visit was likely to be viewed as incendiary by the UAE, which claims the islands under the terms of a 1971 agreement signed when Britain ended its colonial-era reign over that part of the Gulf.

But Iran rejects any UAE claim to the islands, saying they have always been part of its territory and that it never renounced its ownership.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad triggered the fury of the UAE and its allied Arab monarchies when he visited the islands in April to reinforce Tehran's position.

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council called Ahmadinejad's trip "a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the United Arab Emirates over its three islands."

Iran's military has vowed to defend the islands. It maintains a permanent military base and airfield on Abu Musa, the biggest of the three and the only one to be inhabited.

The islands are at a strategic location in the oil-rich Gulf, permitting control over access to the waterway.

The UAE has won support from the United States in the dispute, with Washington urging Iran to agree to the UAE's demand that the issue be resolved through direct negotiations.

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Dow Health Care Smackdown

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By David Williamson | More Articles May 31, 2012 |

The following video is part of our "Motley Fool Conversations" series, in which health care editor/analyst David Williamson discusses topics across the investing world.

In today's edition, we put the three health care components of the Dow head to head to determine which is the best stock. Will it be highly diversified Johnson & Johnson, radically revamping Pfizer, or lurking big pharma member Merck? The answer may surprise you.

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Health care district reforms are on hold

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Story by Jennifer Gollan

An effort to impose spending restrictions on California's taxpayer-funded health care districts is on hold until next year.

Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park, said he plansto introduce a bill in January requiring more "transparency" and more "accountability" from those districts. The new legislation would mandate how much tax revenue districts must spend on community health care programs.

The state's 74 health care districts were created to provide medical care to low-income and rural communities, but a recent Bay Citizen investigation found about 30 of those districts no longer run hospitals. Instead, some districts are managing real estate, stockpiling cash and pouring millions of taxpayer dollars into dubious projects at the expense of community health care programs.

Gordon had co-sponsored legislation earlier this yearrequiring those districts to spend at least 95 percent of their annual tax revenue on community health programs and tosubmit detailed financial reports to local oversight agencies.

But lawmakers failed to take action on his bill last week, after some Assembly members said that some districts could not afford to comply with the bills reporting requirements.The Assembly Appropriations Committee had estimated those requirements would cost districtsmore than $100,000.

The lawmakers who opposed the bill were in session yesterday and unavailable for comment.

Gordon said he would consider ways to bring down those costs before he introduces his new bill.

It gives us an opportunity to say how can we make this bill better, said Gordon,who co-authored the legislation withAssemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento. I remain concerned that health care districts, particularly those that are no longer running hospitals, should guarantee that tax dollars are being well spent.

Supporters of Gordon's bill were disappointed that lawmakers chose not to vote on his legislation.

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Health care district reforms are on hold

Health Care: What Will You Pay?

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I am sitting in the radiology department reception area at Mt. Sinai Hospital waiting for my name to be called. Two weeks ago, my doctor ordered a CT scan to explore some back pain she assumed would turn out to be an ovarian cyst or a stress fracture. Instead, it turned up kidney cancer.

Now, I am about to undergo a test to map out the topography and blood flow of my kidneys, which my surgeon will use to guide him to the lesion and safely remove it. When the nurse calls my name, I head up to the check-in desk.

"I'm sorry," she says as she lowers her eyes and hands me the phone.

On the other end of the line, a woman identifies herself as a "third-party intermediary" for my insurance company. She says she is calling to inform me that the procedure I am scheduled to have in just a few minutes has been approved and the facility I have selected is in network. However, my chosen provider is more expensive than other options and may result in a higher co-payment.

"You may cancel your test and reselect a cheaper provider," she tells me.

I am stunned. Then, I ask the obvious question: "If I stay, how much will it cost me?"

Her answer is that she is not authorized to give me that information and, no, she cannot tell me the price differential between staying and going somewhere else. For that, I will have to speak to my insurance company directly.

I decide to do just that. As the nurse behind the reception desk dials the number for me, she mentions how these third-party calls have been escalating in frequency.

"What do most people do?" I ask her.

"A lot of them hang up and walk out," she says.

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Health Care: What Will You Pay?

Flies with restless legs syndrome point to a genetic cause

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ScienceDaily (May 31, 2012) When flies are made to lose a gene with links to Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), they suffer the same sleep disturbances and restlessness that human patients do. The findings reported online on May 31 in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, strongly suggest a genetic basis for RLS, a condition in which patients complain of an irresistible urge to move that gets worse as they try to rest.

"Although widely prevalent, RLS is a disorder whose pathophysiological basis remains very poorly understood," said Subhabrata Sanyal of Emory University School of Medicine. "The major significance of our study is to highlight the fact that there might be a genetic basis for RLS. Understanding the function of these genes also helps to understand and diagnose the disease and may offer more focused therapeutic options that are currently limited to very general approaches."

Sanyal's team recognized that a number of genome-wide association studies in humans had suggested connections between RLS and variation in a single gene (BTBD9).

"BTBD9 function or its relationship to RLS and sleep were a complete mystery," Sanyal said.

His team realized that there might be a way to shed some light on that mystery in fruit flies. Flies have a single, highly conserved version of the human BTBD9. They decided to test whether the gene that had turned up in those human studies would have any effect on sleep in the insects. In fact, flies need sleep just like humans do, and their sleep patterns are influenced by the same kinds of brain chemistry.

The researchers now report that flies lacking their version of the RLS-associated gene do lose sleep as they move more. When those flies were treated with a drug used for RLS, they showed improvements in their sleep.

The studies also yielded evidence about how the RLS gene works by controlling dopamine levels in the brain as well as iron balance in cells. Sanyal said his team will continue to explore other RLS-related genes that have been identified in human studies in search of more details of their interaction and function.

"Our results support the idea that genetic regulation of dopamine and iron metabolism constitute the core pathophysiology of at least some forms of RLS," the researchers write.

More broadly, they say, the study emphasizes the utility of simple animals such as fruit flies in unraveling the genetics of sleep and sleep disorders.

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Personalized medicine study using genetic data in EMRs signs up Air Force

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As the cost of mapping out personal genomes goes down, the more potentially lifesaving but sensitive genetic data is available. Although the day when its commonplace to have that personal information in a medical record may be several years away, it is coming. And health insurers and hospitals need to think about how that information will be processed and transmitted in electronic medical records.

The Air Force Medical Service is collaborating with personalized medicine research center, the Coriell Institute for Medical Research in Camden, New Jersey in a study to review and evaluate medical evidence assess, among other things, best practices for using genetic information in EMRs, according to Coriell President Dr. Michael Christman. It will look at how the data should be displayed and how it should be shared with physicians.

About 2,000 active duty medical service personnel are expected to participate in the six-year Patient-Centered Precision Care Research program longitudinal study. It has already begun the recruitment process. Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory will also offer research and program management support for the study.

The institute is working on a similar study with Ohio State University Medical Center.

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Personalized medicine study using genetic data in EMRs signs up Air Force

Freedom Home Care Opens New Location in Hinsdale Illinois

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Freedom Home Care is expanding and announced today the opening of another location in Hinsdale, IL. Located at 907 N. Elm Street, this location will serve all communities in and around the western suburbs of Chicago.Highland Park, IL (PRWEB) June 01, 2012 Freedom Home Care is expanding and announced today the opening of another location in Hinsdale, IL. Located at 907 N. Elm Street, this ...

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Freedom Home Care Opens New Location in Hinsdale Illinois

Metal Roof Restoration to New City Church in Fairburn, Georgia Provided by Roof Solutions, LLC

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Roof Solutions, LLC is excited to announce its Metal Roof Restoration project at the New City Church, North Campus in Fairburn, Georgia, using energy efficient, bright white liquid applied membrane system (ERSystems - Eraguard 1000 Metal Roof Restoration System).(PRWEB) June 01, 2012 Roof Solutions, LLC, provider of Georgia commercial roof repair, supplied a cost-effective, eco-friendly answer ...

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Metal Roof Restoration to New City Church in Fairburn, Georgia Provided by Roof Solutions, LLC

North Korea, Eco State?

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Talk about North Korea usually centers around how the regime starves its people, whether it has the bomb, and if Kim Jong Un is really in charge. The UNs Kyoto Protocol doesnt make the list.

Yet under the terms of the protocol, North Korea, as a developing country and a member of the United Nations, has the right to build clean energy projects that may apply for Certified Emission Reductions, or CERs, popularly known as carbon credits. The North Koreans can then sell them to a rich country or company that needs the credits to offset its own greenhouse gases. Dig into data from the UNs Framework Convention on Climate Change, and you will find seven North Korean projects registered for carbon trading.

This is where Miroslav Blazek comes in. Blazek, director of Czech company Topic Energo, acts as a link between North Korea and potential carbon credit buyers. He says his experience as manager of a tractor factory in socialist-era Czechoslovakia is invaluable for doing business with the communist North Koreans. I can work with them because I understand how their system works, he says. If I send an e-mail and still dont have a reply in several days, I know its not because they didnt see it but because it had to work its way through the chain of command. For me its like a trip down memory lane.

North Korea is now building seven hydroelecrtric plants, which provide some of the cleanest energy going. Most can earn tradable carbon credits. Blazek says the North Koreans jumped at the opportunity to get into carbon trading: They immediately grasped that this is a way to make money. Koreas seven dams may generate as many as 241,000 CERs a year, worth almost 1million ($1.3million). The projects are already in a relatively advanced phase, says Ondrej Bores, director of carbon advisory services at Virtuse Energy in Prague, whos worked with Blazek on other deals.

Still, selling anything made in North Korea has its challenges. More than 30 potential buyers pulled out because of the U.S. embargo on trade with North Korea. Blazek finally struck a deal with a Chinese-controlled conglomerate that needs credits to offset emissions from facilities in Europe. He wont name the company, citing a confidentiality clause.

When he visited some of the hydro dam sites, Blazek saw workers digging with their bare hands. Human labor has practically no price there, he says. Maybe peaceful trade in carbon credits will make the regime a little less monstrous.

The bottom line: Although its initial foray into carbon trading may fetch only 1million, North Korea has ambitions to be a player in the market.

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Repairs close beaches at 2 Missouri state parks

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) Swimming beaches at two Missouri state parks will remain closed while the parks undergo construction and repairs.

Last years flooding along the Missouri River in northwestern Missouri caused extensive damage at Lewis and Clark State Park near St. Joseph. The parks day-use areas have reopened, but the Missouri Department of Natural Resources says the campground and swimming beach are still closed.

In southeastern Missouri, the opening of the swimming beach at Trail of Tears State Park has been delayed until further notice. The beach area has been affected by the lowering of water in Lake Boutin for construction work on a spillway.

All beaches at other state parks are open. Missouri environmental officials test the water near swimming beaches weekly.

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Missouri state parks: http://www.mostateparks.com

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Repairs close beaches at 2 Missouri state parks

All beaches open for the weekend

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Tribune staff reports

HURON COUNTY Though it might be a bit chilly this weekend, Huron County health officials report all area beaches are within safe limits for swimming.

According to beach test results issued Thursday, all 13 area beaches tested this week were well below the 300 E. coli colonies per 100 milliliter (ml.) of water.

If a beach exceeds 300 E. coli colonies per 100 ml. of water, it is closed until new test results show its waters are below the 300 limit.

The program is funded by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Look to the Tribune for weekly results.

The Results:

Bird Creek

County Park 0.0027

Caseville County

Park 0.0027

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All beaches open for the weekend

Crimean beaches to be divided into categories

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Beach in Nikolaevka near Feodosiya, Crimea feodosia-otdyh.com Crimean beaches to be divided into categories Today at 14:32 | Interfax-UkraineCrimean beaches will be divided into five categories, and about half of the total number of Crimean beaches will be free to the public, Crimean Resorts and Tourism Minister Oleksandr Liyev has reported.

"This year we'll use 558 beaches, of which 219 will be free of charge," he said at a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday.

The minister also said the Crimean authorities had initiated a categorization of the beaches, according to which five categories equal to the hotel "star" categories will be determined.

"The categories will be indicated by seashells. Five seashells [will signify] a beach with Wi-Fi service, where there is rather good developed infrastructure, and information screens with current information about state of the shore area. The beach with one seashell corresponds to sanitary norms and has a minimal service set," Liyev said.

The minister said all beaches of the peninsula would go through the categorization procedure.

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Science journal offers up essays on 8 mysteries in astronomy

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(Phys.org) -- Because astronomy and astrophysics are still so much a mixture of theory, conjecture and generally difficult to measure phenomenon, at least as compared with many of the other sciences, one of the most highly respected science journals, Science, has chosen to run a series of articles detailing eight of what it deems the most compelling questions currently vexing those who study the cosmos; each written by someone uniquely qualified to delve into the subject matter at hand.

Adrian Cho is up first with an essay describing the hotly debated topic of Dark Energy, the reason behind why everything in the universe is scattering away from everything else faster than it used to be, or really should be. Equally vexing is that models and equations suggest that whatever the mysterious energy is, it appears to make up 73% of everything that exists, and still it cant be seen, or even measured.

Tied closely to dark energy is Dark Matter, the stuff that most in the field agrees is there, yet cant really explain in any meaningful way. Adrian Cho authors this second in the series and highlights the fact that dark matter is merely a term for describing whatever it is that holds everything in the universe together. He argues that unlike dark energy, scientists stand a reasonably good chance of one day actually detecting a particle of the stuff, which would of course prove that it really does exist.

In the third essay, Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, asks, Where are the Missing Baryons? Right now, they cant be found of course, hence the question. Baryons are particles that make up regular matter, but for some reason when adding up dark energy, dark matter and then leaving the rest to baryons, researchers cant come up with a number that equals 100% of everything that is supposed to exist. Hence the mystery. Also by Bhattacharjee is an essay that asks the simple question, How do Stars Explode? After a lot of research over a lot of years, researchers still dont really understand what goes on with a star when it explodes in what is known as a supernova. Theyre still working on the conditions that lead up to one.

Edwin Cartlidge then takes up the question of What Reionized the Universe? Put another way, what caused stripping off of electrons from atoms in the few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang?

In the next essay, Daniel Clery wants to know What's the Source of the Most Energetic Cosmic Rays? Were bombarded with them every day, yet researchers cant agree on where they come from.

Richard A. Kerr follows that by wondering Why Is the Solar System So Bizarre? Did our solar system form the way it did by following logical steps, or was it all just chaos and chance? Nobody really knows.

And Finally, Kerr concludes the series by asking Why Is the Sun's Corona So Hot? Or hotter than it is internally? Those that study the sun still really dont know, but really wish they did.

Journal reference: Science

2012 Phys.Org

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Phoenix Aerospace Inc. of Montreal favours own expansion project over acquisition of Aveos assets

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MONTREAL, June 1, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - Phoenix Aerospace Inc., a leading Montreal-based provider of heavy and light maintenance, has decided not to go ahead with its project of acquiring parts of Aveos' assets in the wake of the latter's surprising closure several weeks ago. This decision was announced today by Phoenix Aerospace's President, Serge Prvost, following a special meeting with his company's steering committee. Despite an extension of the submission deadline offered by Toronto's FTI Consultants, Phoenix Aerospace will not be bidding.

"Even with the additional time offered to potential bidders, the procedure appears to be too restrictive for Phoenix Aerospace's business model, and presents a number of uncertainties," said Mr. Prvost following his steering committee's meeting.

AN EXPANSION PROJET FAVOURED

The company's President also announced that they have decided to favour an expansion project worth tens of millions of dollars in heavy maintenance and MRO services for major airlines. This is a project that Phoenix Aerospace has been developing for some 15 months; started well before Aveos' closure, the project was put on hold in order to properly evaluate the acquisition of all or part of Aveos' assets.

Mr. Prvost is confident that in the near future, this expansion project will allow Phoenix Aerospace to call on specialized workers laid off from Aveos; Phoenix Aerospace's primary objective is to keep this talent and expertise in Montreal, thus benefitting a strong and distinctive local economy, and maintaining the area's prestigious global reputation as a centre of excellence in the aerospace industry.

About Phoenix Aerospace Inc. Based in Dorval, Quebec, Phoenix Aerospace Inc is recognized as a leading provider of light and heavy aircraft maintenance repair and overhaul (MRO). The company leverages leading edge technology and research and development in service to airlines and commercial and private fleet owners and operators. The company operates in a business environment that embraces profitability, effectiveness and efficiency in providing rapid services which, above all, fully comply with stringent Canadian, American, and European standards and regulations. Phoenix Aerospace also provides fleet maintenance as an outsourcing service to various airlines.

Source: Serge Prvost President Phoenix Aerospace Inc.

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Phoenix Aerospace Inc. of Montreal favours own expansion project over acquisition of Aveos assets

Life Technologies Showcases Leading Technologies for Companion Diagnostic Development, Cancer Research at the ASCO …

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CARLSBAD, Calif., June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) will exhibit platforms for companion diagnostic development and products ideal for basic, translational and clinical cancer research during the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting 2012, taking place June 1 June 5, in Chicago, Illinois. In addition, several of the company's customers will present clinical research findings obtained with Life's sequencing technologies.

"Life Technologies offers platforms across the spectrum of genomics and proteomics that can be utilized in companion diagnostic development," said Ronnie Andrews, president of medical sciences at Life Technologies. "We share with our pharma partners a dedication to the movement toward personalized treatments based on the specific defects driving cancer in each individual patient."

In October 2011, Life announced a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline to develop a companion molecular test for a GSK candidate cancer immunotherapy.

Presentations:

AmpliSeq panels accurately identify more than 700 mutations in patient samples Marilyn Li, Ph.D., professor of molecular and human genetics and director of the Cancer Genetics Lab at Baylor College of Medicine, will present a poster demonstrating use of the Life Technologies Ion AmpliSeq cancer panels to sequence 12 archived tumor research samples including FFPE, bone marrow and cell line samples. The authors report that the panel accurately identified all known mutations previously detected using Pyrosequencing or Sanger sequencing and was sensitive enough to detect mutations at frequencies as low as 5% with 99% confidence. The poster will be presented June 4, Monday afternoon from 1:15 to 5:15.

AmpliSeq panels validated in CLIA lab with rapid turn-around for tumor sample sequencing Christopher Corless, M.D., Ph.D., chief medical officer of the Knight Diagnostic Laboratories at Oregon Health & Science University's Knight Cancer Institute, will present results using the Ion Torrent (Life Technologies) AmpliSeq Cancer Panel in a CLIA-licensed/CAP-certified setting. Forty-five FFPE tumor samples were sequenced, and the results matched those obtained via previous mass spec-based genotyping and revealed an additional 27 new mutations. Preliminary data from a custom AmpliSeq GI Stromal Tumor (GIST) panel will also be shown. The poster will be presented June 4, Monday afternoon from 1:15 to 5:15.

Featured Products:

Life Technologies offers cancer researchers the ability to detect mutations in cancer-associated genes using both PCR and sequencing platforms.

Ion Personal Genome Machine (Ion PGM) and Ion Proton Between the benchtop Ion PGMSequencer and the benchtop Ion ProtonSequencer, the Ion Torrent technology can cover any application. The Ion PGMSequencer is ideal for sequencing genes, small genomes, panels of genes, or performing gene expression profiling, and its speed, simplicity and scalability also make it an ideal platform to extend into diagnostics.

The Ion ProtonSequencer is ideal for sequencing both exomes regions in the DNA that code for protein and human genomes. The Ion ProtonI Chip, ideal for sequencing exomes, will be available mid-2012. The Ion ProtonII Chip, ideal for sequencing whole human genomes, will be available six months later. In addition, the Ion ProtonOneTouchsystem automates template prep and a stand-alone Ion ProtonTorrent Server performs the primary and secondary data analysis.

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ACM Global Central Laboratory Appoints Mark Engelhart as Chief Commercial Officer

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ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

ACM Global Central Lab, the central laboratory that continually defines the customer-service standard with its flexible approach, is pleased to announce that Mark Engelhart has joined the executive management team as chief commercial officer. Engelhart will be responsible for leading ACM Globals business development, proposals and contracts, marketing and sales activities worldwide.

Prior to joining ACM Global, Engelhart was chief commercial officer at Cryoport, Inc. a provider of leading-edge cold chain logistics services. His experience also includes serving in varying sales and marketing management and operations roles at leading pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer and Abbot Laboratories. Engelhart has also held the role of vice president of global sales and marketing at Covance Laboratory, Quest Diagnostics Clinical Trials division and Esoterix Clinical Trials Services.

We are extremely pleased to have Mark join ACM Global, said Angela J. Panzarella, president of ACM Global Central Lab. Mark is a highly accomplished senior executive with deep experience in sales, marketing, strategy, and global commercial operations for central laboratory services and clinical trials support services, and will be a valuable addition to our executive team.

ACM Global will be on hand to discuss the latest trends in clinical research lab testing at PCMG Annual Conference, June 13-15 at the Pine Cliffs Hotel in Portugal and at the 48th Annual DIA Meeting, June 24-28 in Philadelphia.

About ACM Global Central Lab

ACM Global Central Lab offers a flexible approach and a focus on precision to keep clinical research studies on schedule. ACM Globals services extend to more than 60 countries with all tests conducted and managed from central lab facilities with seamless data management providing a single database. The organization performs 14 million tests each year, featuring more than 1,500 individual tests spanning all medical disciplines, including pathology, microbiology, flow cytometry and pharmacogenomics. Combining comprehensive safety, efficacy and pathology testing from a single lab ensures clients receive consistent, analyzable test results with faster and cleaner reporting.

For more information, visit http://www.acmgloballab.com, our Central Labs in Focus blog or call +1 866 405 0400.

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ACM Global Central Laboratory Appoints Mark Engelhart as Chief Commercial Officer