The Chinese foreign minister tells the UN General Assembly that Japan 'stole' the disputed islands from China.
View original post here:
Monthly Archives: September 2012
China hits out over islands at UN
28 September 2012 Last updated at 00:09 ET
A war of words over islands claimed by both Japan and China continued at the United Nations, as the US called for cooler heads to prevail.
In a speech, China's foreign minister accused Japan of stealing the islands, which lie in the East China Sea.
On Wednesday, the Japanese prime minister called the archipelago an "inherent part" of Japanese territory.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged both to "engage in dialogue to calm the waters", a diplomat said.
The islands, called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China, are also claimed by Taiwan. South of Okinawa and north of Taiwan, they are controlled by Japan.
Earlier this month, the Japanese government bought the islands from their private Japanese owner, reigniting a territorial row that has rumbled for years.
The row has seen a ceremony meant to mark Sino-Japanese ties cancelled and a number of Japanese businesses briefly halt production in some Chinese cities because of protests.
Both Chinese and Taiwanese fishing boats and surveillance ships have also been sailing in and out of what Japan says are its territorial waters - leading to warnings from Tokyo.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi's comments came as he gave China's address to the UN General Assembly.
More here:
Jackson Lab CEO Leads From Heart
BAR HARBOR Edison Liu, M.D. has filled top leadership positions across the globe while gaining encyclopedic knowledge of cancer pathology, human genetics and medical science. But one year into his term as president and CEO of the Jackson Laboratory, Dr. Liu has become known for something decidedly artistic; the good doctor is actually one heck of a piano player.
Music runs strong through Dr. Lius life, from his childhood in California, through his recent, decade-long stint as the founding executive director of the Genome Institute of Singapore. It didnt take long for others at the lab to take notice of his skills. A monthly pick-up session in Roscoes, the labs cafeteria, soon developed, with Dr. Liu taking the lead on the house piano.
Theres only one prerequisite to play, Dr. Liu told the Islander in a wide-ranging interview this week, and that is an adherence to what he calls sincere art. In other words, you may not be very good, but you have to be very sincere.
When filtered through Dr. Lius impressive intellect, those monthly jam sessions resonate with meaning. Music, he said, provides alternative communication pathways, ones that are able to break through much of the stalemate that can develop out of modern life. Musical sincerityis the closest thing to truth that I know of, he said.
There is a different etiquette, an opening of different portals into the heart, Dr. Liu said. And the more pathways we have into each others souls, the closer community we have.
A search for those pathways defines Dr. Lius leadership style and traces the arc of his career. From the time he was five years old, he wanted to be a physician, just as his parents were. But just as music, and the great literature that Dr. Liu also loves, tells a sometimes unexpected story, so, too, has Dr. Lius path in life.
Original post:
Younger Americans are Spending more on Health Care – Video
27-09-2012 12:05 Younger Americans are Spending more on Health Care
Read the original here:
UNC Health Care taking over High Point Regional Health
The realities of the increasing cost of providing health care have led High Point Regional Health System to be acquired by UNC Health Care System.
The systems announced Thursday that UNC Health Care will take on oversight of High Point Regional in early 2013.
High Point Regional officials spent seven months pursuing proposals from health care systems in the state.
Officials did not say which other systems responded. Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center confirmed Thursday that it did not submit a proposal and had no further comment. Novant Health Inc. officials could not be reached for comment.
High Point Regional will remain a private, not-for-profit organization, keeping its current management.
UNC Health Care said it does not plan to make job cuts among High Point Regional's nearly 2,000 workforce for at least a year, or changes in pay rates or benefits for High Point Regional employees.
"We are confident that this partnership will allow us to continue to meet our mission of providing exceptional health services to the people of our region," said Jeffrey Miller, president of High Point Regional.
Under the terms of the letter of intent, UNC Health Care will provide $150 million for capital improvements at High Point Regional and $50 million for the establishment of a community health fund.
Those kinds of financial enticements have become commonplace when one health-care system acquires another.
For example, when Cone Health of Greensboro took over Alamance Regional Medical Center of Burlington this year, Cone won the oversight competition in part because it was willing to commit $150 million over five years toward capital investment in the hospital.
Originally posted here:
Md. picks model for essential health insurance benefits
Under national health care reform, insurance policies in Maryland will be required to cover acupuncture for pain management and chiropractic care in certain cases.
The plans won't cover acupuncture for other treatments, such as infertility or stress, and will limit home health care to 120 visits per year and physical therapy for ailments such as sports injuries to 50 days a year.
The state panel charged with implementing health care reform in Maryland voted Thursday to include these services among those insurers will be required to cover once reform is fully implemented in 2014.
The Affordable Care Act requires that insurers cover certain "essential benefits" but leaves the details up to the states, which must choose from 10 insurance options already sold within their borders. Plans could look different from state to state. Some may cover chiropractors, while others may not.
The Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council chose to model insurance policies under reform after the plans currently offered to the state's employees. The 16-member panel reviewed 10 insurance options before choosing the state plan.
The state plan didn't offer the best coverage in all areas, the group said, but it struck a good balance between offering comprehensive coverage and not driving up costs for consumers.
Panel members said the plan must not be so costly that it dissuades people from opting in. People can choose not to buy insurance, but will have to pay a penalty. In order for reform to work, a balanced share of healthy and sickly people need to be enrolled to share in the costs.
"This plan will give meaningful coverage, but it will still be affordable," said Carolyn A. Quattrocki, the coordinating council's executive director.
Insurance companies don't have to model their plans exactly after the state plan, but they must offer similar options. Open enrollment on the health exchange, the marketplace where those without employee-sponsored insurance will be able to buy policies, will begin in October 2013. Reform will be instituted three months later.
"This gives a green light for insurers to start designing plans for January 2014," said state Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein, who co-chairs the coordinating council with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown.
See the rest here:
Changes to federal health spending will hit provincial governments hard, budget officer says
OTTAWA A new report from a federal spending watchdog concludes the Conservative governments changes to health funding will ultimately download billions of dollars in medical costs annually to the provinces, something premiers and opposition parties say will erode public health care and provincial finances.
The office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer released a report Thursday highlighting the extent to which provincial governments will increasingly struggle to balance their books and pay for health care in the coming years, partly due to the federal Conservative governments decision to trim the growth in health transfers to the provinces.
The Harper governments reforms over the past year to the Canada Health Transfer and Old Age Security, along with its ongoing savings in operating spending, mean the federal governments finances are sustainable over the long term, the report says. The Canada and Quebec pension plans are also in good shape over the long run, it says.
But these changes especially slicing the growth in health transfers in the coming years will leave the provinces with a significant fiscal gap that will force them to either increase taxes or cut programs, the report says.
They (federal government) totally transferred the problem to the provinces, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page said Thursday in an interview.
If I were a province, Id be under significant stress, he said. People are going to start asking questions: Have the feds ante-ed up enough to support a national health-care program?
Indeed, the countrys premiers warned in a recent report that the new federal health accord will gut nearly $36 billion in funding from the provinces over the 10-year deal, compared to the current arrangements, and will erode public health services to all Canadians.
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter, the current chairman of the Council of the Federation of premiers, said Thursday that provinces will struggle to pay for health care with the funding changes announced by Ottawa late last year.
This will bring the federal share of health-care costs to less than 20 per cent, compared to about 50 per cent originally,Dexter said in a statement to Postmedia News.
In many parts of the country, including Nova Scotia, there is an aging population, which is going to substantially increase the cost of health care.These costs will consume an increasing share of provincial budgets.
View original post here:
Changes to federal health spending will hit provincial governments hard, budget officer says
University health privatization a 'mixed bag'
Like most college students, Eric Kamler is young and healthy. He suffers from the occasional cold, but by and large, hes rarely had to use the University Health Center.
But the University of Nebraska-Lincoln student body president likes to know its there and that he can count on it. Thats why hes watching closely a plan to privatize health center operations.
I think the biggest concern that students have that weve heard at student senate and in our offices is maintaining the same quality of health care and services, he said.
At his Sept. 11 state of the university address, UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman announced plans to hire a private health care provider to build and operate a new health center. To ensure participation from various stakeholders, the university has created an advisory board that will review the bids and make a recommendation to Perlman.
That board is made up of university staff, faculty and students, including James Guest, director of the University Health Center. Since Sept. 11, Guest has spent much of his spare time researching the successes and failures of other universities at privatization.
He has looked at schools like the University of Northern Colorado, which ended its contract with a large hospital in 2006 after its privatized health center failed to generate enough profits, and Radford University in Virginia, which successfully outsourced its health center to a large healthcare provider after an initial contract with another provider collapsed in 2001.
Its a mixed bag, Guest said.
With virtually flat state funding for the past five years, UNL is looking to take advantage of scale in purchasing and improve regulation compliance by connecting the health center to a larger health care organization. Perlman has said privatization also could reduce the cost of medical care to students and allow the university to avoid increasing student fees to pay to replace the 1957-built health center.
Chris Jackson, vice chancellor for business and finance at UNL, said a failed 2009 student referendum that would have increased student fees to pay for a new health center also prompted the university to begin considering privatization.
Costs, as we are very aware, continue to rise, she said. We are continually looking at ways we might more expeditiously provide services to our students.
See the rest here:
U.S. Ranks Second in Internet Freedom, Behind Estonia
The United States has the second highest degree of Internet freedom in the world, according to a new study from Freedom House. What country's ahead of America? Estonia, a country of 1.29 million in northeast Europe.
View post:
Kenji Kamiyama's Full 009 RE:CYBORG Trailer Streamed
Trailer previews plot & voices of Cyborg 002, 003, 004, Dr. Gilmore
The YouTube channel of director Kenji Kamiyama (Eden of the East, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) began streaming the full-length trailer for Kamiyama's upcoming feature film, 009 RE:CYBORG, on Thursday. The trailer introduces the film's story and highlights the action sequences. It also offers the first preview of the voices of Cyborg 002 (Daisuke Ono), 003 (Chiwa Saito), 004 (Toru Ohkawa) in the film, as well as the first glimpse of the cyborgs' progenitor Dr. Gilmore in the film.
The story begins in 2013 when skycrapers in London, Moscow, Berlin, and New York are destroyed by simultaneous bombings. The indiscriminate terrorism by an unknown group with unknown motives sets off widespread panic throughout the world.
There was once a group of nine cyborg fighters who rescued humanity from threats, but they had disbanded to their home countries. Now the man who created them, Dr. Gilmore, has summoned and assembled them back together again. However, the 00 Number Cyborgs' former leader, a Japanese man named Joe Shimamura (Mamoru Miyano), is now living alone in Tokyo's Roppongi with his past memories erased.
The film, which is Kamiyama's first in full-3D animation, is based on Shotaro Ishinomori's classic science-fiction manga Cyborg 009 that was famously left uncompleted by the creator's passing. In the original manga, the secret Black Ghost organization transforms nine unsuspecting humans into cyborgs. However, the nine cyborgs turn on their masters and protect the rest of humanity from Black Ghost's plans for world war.
The film will open simultaneously in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and South Korea on October 27. The Facebook page for PH9 Global, the official account for director Kenji Kamiyama's titles, revealed that an English script for his upcoming 009 Re:Cyborg anime film is in development.
Read more:
Eric Porres of Rocket Fuel to Speak at OMMA Global at Advertising Week 2012
REDWOOD SHORES, CA--(Marketwire - Sep 27, 2012) - Rocket Fuel, the leading provider of artificial intelligence advertising solutions for digital marketers, today announced that CMO Eric Porres will join a panel discussion at OMMA Global at Advertising Week, to be held on October 1, 2012 at the New York Marriott Marquis.
Key Facts:
Resources:
About OMMA Global at Advertising Week
About Rocket Fuel
Follow Rocket Fuel on Twitter
Follow Rocket Fuel on Facebook
Read the Rocket Fuel Blog
About Rocket Fuel:
Rocket Fuel is the leading provider of artificial intelligence advertising solutions that transform digital media campaigns into self-optimizing engines that learn and adapt in real-time, and deliver outstanding results from awareness to sales. Recently awarded #22 in Forbes Most Promising Companies in America list, over 700 of the world's most successful marketers trust Rocket Fuel to power their advertising across display, video, mobile, and social media. Founded by online advertising veterans and rocket scientists from NASA, DoubleClick, IBM, and Salesforce.com, Rocket Fuel is based in Redwood Shores, California, and has offices in fifteen cities worldwide including New York, London, Toronto, and Hamburg.
See more here:
Eric Porres of Rocket Fuel to Speak at OMMA Global at Advertising Week 2012
20% Showers
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Pediatrics and Arkansas Children's Hospital (ACH) announced today the opening of the Centers for Children in Jonesboro, which is initially offering neurology and cardiology clinics. Additional services will follow.
Northeast Arkansas families whose children are seen by these subspecialties will have the benefit of comprehensive care in a comfortable setting right in northeast Arkansas. Those who have had to travel to larger cities like Little Rock or Memphis will be able to avoid longer drives for basic specialty appointments. The new UAMS/ACH Centers for Children location at 520 Carson Street in Jonesboro is already allowing families to seek more comprehensive care closer to home for disorders ranging from extreme headaches and seizures to autism.
The centers' opening marks an expansion of regional services offered by a unique UAMS and ACH collaborative. The first Centers for Children location in Lowell opened in 2007 and quickly grew to include multiple subspecialty services and a primary care clinic. UAMS and ACH are also partners in two dozen individual subspecialty clinics throughout Arkansas.
"We want families to have excellent care available to their children as close to their front doors as possible," said ACH President and CEO Jonathan Bates, MD. "Through the Centers for Children, ACH and UAMS are delivering these specialized services in more familiar environments, which means better outcomes and happier, healthier children."
The collaboration between UAMS and ACH results in a strengthened coordinated system of care for children across the state.
"It's all about the kids," said College of Medicine Dean Debra H. Fiser, MD. "The overriding goal of the UAMS Department of Pediatrics and Arkansas Children's Hospital has always been to improve the health and welfare of children in Arkansas. The Centers for Children in Jonesboro will help us to enhance the health and health care of children in Northeast Arkansas for generations to come." Familiar faces are also a part of the Centers for Children experience. Northeast Arkansas families have turned to Stephen Bates, MD, for their children's neurology care for several years. He is now seeing patients as part of the UAMS/ACH Centers for Children in Jonesboro. Patients of the Neurology Clinic at the UAMS/ACH Centers for Children in Jonesboro will also be able to undergo EEGs on site that will be read by Dr. Stephen Bates, who is a professor in the UAMS Department of Pediatrics.
In October, the centers will also add a monthly Cardiology Clinic, where children with congenital heart defects will be evaluated and treated. This clinic will be moving from its existing location at The Children's Clinic in Jonesboro.
The institutions expect there will be between 1,500 and 2,000 visits to the neurology and cardiology clinics in the first year at the Centers for Children in Jonesboro. UAMS and ACH plan to offer additional clinics at the Jonesboro campus in the coming months, as well. These additional clinics will be based on volume and feedback from the referring physicians in the region.
Read more from the original source:
20% Showers
Biotech Industry Applauds Introduction of the High Technology Small Business Research Incentives Act
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Sep 27, 2012) - The Biotechnology Industry has seen increased investor interest in 2012 as it continues to impress with strong gains. The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (IBB) has gained over 35 percent this year, more than double the S&P 500 Index's gain of 15 percent. New legislation, increased mergers & acquisition activity as a result of major patent expirations have all been contributing factors to industry's rapid rise in 2012. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for companies in the Biotech Industry and provides equity research on Genetic Technologies Limited ( NASDAQ : GENE ) and MannKind Corporation ( NASDAQ : MNKD ).
Access to the full company reports can be found at:
http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/GENE
http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/MNKD
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has recently praised the introduction of the High Technology Small Business Research Incentives Act. The new legislation would allow investors of joint venture R&D projects to utilize the losses and tax credits.
"Through the tax code, Congress historically has provided opportunities that encourage private investment in pre-revenue, R&D-intensive companies. The early growth of the biotech industry in the 1980s was due in part to the ability of investors to support projects aimed at finding new cures and treatments through similar joint ventures. This legislation will help spur greater private investment in biotech and other R&D intensive industries," BIO's President and CEO Jim Greenwood said in a statement.
Five Star Equities releases regular market updates on the Biotech Industry so investors can stay ahead of the crowd and make the best investment decisions to maximize their returns. Take a few minutes to register with us free at http://www.FiveStarEquities.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.
Genetic Technologies is an established diagnostics company with more than 20 years of experience in commercializing genetic testing, noncoding DNA and product patenting. Shares of the company soared after they reported BREVAGen, their breast cancer test, has been cleared for sale into the State of Florida.
MannKind is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutic products for patients with diseases such as diabetes and cancer. The company's lead investigational product candidate, AFREZZA, is a novel, ultra rapid-acting mealtime insulin therapy.
Five Star Equities provides Market Research focused on equities hat offer growth opportunities, value, and strong potential return. We strive to provide the most up-to-date market activities. We constantly create research reports and newsletters for our members. Five Star Equities has not been compensated by any of the above-mentioned companies. We act as an independent research portal and are aware that all investment entails inherent risks. Please view the full disclaimer at: http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/disclaimer
Go here to see the original:
Biotech Industry Applauds Introduction of the High Technology Small Business Research Incentives Act
New Legislation and Major Patent Expirations Contributing Factors to Biotech Industry Success in 2012
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Sep 27, 2012) - The Biotechnology Industry has seen increased investor interest in 2012 as it continues to impress with strong gains. The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology Index ETF (IBB) has gained over 35 percent this year, more than double the S&P 500 Index's gain of 15 percent. New legislation, increased mergers & acquisition activity as a result of major patent expirations have all been contributing factors to industry's rapid rise in 2012. Five Star Equities examines the outlook for companies in the Biotech Industry and provides equity research on Chelsea Therapeutics International Ltd. ( NASDAQ : CHTP ) and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals ( NASDAQ : PPHM ).
Access to the full company reports can be found at:
http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/CHTP
http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/PPHM
The Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) has recently praised the introduction of the High Technology Small Business Research Incentives Act. The new legislation would allow investors of joint venture R&D projects to utilize the losses and tax credits.
"Through the tax code, Congress historically has provided opportunities that encourage private investment in pre-revenue, R&D-intensive companies. The early growth of the biotech industry in the 1980s was due in part to the ability of investors to support projects aimed at finding new cures and treatments through similar joint ventures. This legislation will help spur greater private investment in biotech and other R&D intensive industries," BIO's President and CEO Jim Greenwood said in a statement.
Five Star Equities releases regular market updates on the Biotech Industry so investors can stay ahead of the crowd and make the best investment decisions to maximize their returns. Take a few minutes to register with us free at http://www.FiveStarEquities.com and get exclusive access to our numerous stock reports and industry newsletters.
Chelsea Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical development company that acquires and develops innovative products for the treatment of a variety of human diseases, including central nervous system disorders. Chelsea is currently pursuing FDA approval in the U.S. for Northera, a novel, late-stage, orally-active therapeutic agent for the treatment of symptomatic neurogenic orthostatic hypotension in patients with primary autonomic failure.
Peregrine Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company with a portfolio of innovative monoclonal antibodies in clinical trials focused on the treatment and diagnosis of cancer. The company recently reported that it had found major discrepancies in their phase 2 clinical trial results for its bavituximab. The company is currently conducting a detailed review.
Five Star Equities provides Market Research focused on equities hat offer growth opportunities, value, and strong potential return. We strive to provide the most up-to-date market activities. We constantly create research reports and newsletters for our members. Five Star Equities has not been compensated by any of the above-mentioned companies. We act as an independent research portal and are aware that all investment entails inherent risks. Please view the full disclaimer at: http://www.FiveStarEquities.com/disclaimer
See more here:
New Legislation and Major Patent Expirations Contributing Factors to Biotech Industry Success in 2012
U.N. calls for biotechnology controls
Published: Sept. 27, 2012 at 6:11 PM
CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- More extensive international efforts need to be taken to prevent biotechnology being used to commit biological terrorism, a U.N. official says.
Piers Millet from the U.N. Biological Weapons Convention, speaking at the BioDesign Forum on synthetic biology being held in the Britain, warned there was no global organization with the power to ensure biotech did not fall into the hands of those who would used it for "nefarious" purposes, the BBC reported Thursday.
"If you look at the history of the last century we see a very clear trend -- every time we make a major step forward in our understanding of biology, we find a weapons application for it," he said.
He cited several major instances of biological attacks in the past few decades, as when the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo released anthrax spores in Tokyo in 1993.
"The traditional approach of the international community to dealing with weapons is this - they recognize a threat, develop a treaty, and then they turn that treaty into some operational form, normally by trying to control technology associated with it," Millet said.
"It has very strong models in nuclear and chemical spheres -- but not in regards to synthetic biology."
Excerpt from:
U.N. calls for biotechnology controls
CEO of Abbott’s spinoff didn’t receive college degrees claimed in filings
September 27, 2012 5:02PM
Updated: September 28, 2012 12:05AM
Abbott Laboratories is shrugging off the fact that the company overstated the education level of the man chosen to helm its pharmaceutical spinoff, which is expected to make $18 billion in sales next year. Longtime Abbott exec Richard Gonzalez didnt receive either a bachelors degree in biochemistry from the University of Houston or a masters in biochemistry from the University of Miami contrary to biographical information filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007 and several years prior while he was a director at the company. There was an administrative error many years ago when the bio was written, said Abbott spokesman Melissa Brotz. When we became aware of it a while back we corrected it promptly I dont have an exact date. Theres absolutely no issues with his educational background or ability to lead. Hes had a distinguished career reaching the highest levels in the company with a proven track record, said Brotz. Gonzalez will take the reigns of the pharmaceutical spinoff AbbVie when the nascent company completes its separation Jan. 1. AbbVie (pronounced Abb-vee) will be the new research-based pharmaceutical firm expected to be launched by Abbott Laboratories by the end of the year. In October 2011, North Chicago-based Abbott said it would separate into two publicly traded firms one in diversified medical products, the other in research-based pharmaceuticals. AbbVie will include Abbotts current portfolio of proprietary pharmaceuticals and biologics. The name is derived from a combination of Abbott and vie, which references the Latin root vi meaning life. The AbbVie logo and graphic identity will be unveiled when the new company is launched. The diversified medical products company, which will retain the Abbott name, will consist of Abbotts existing products portfolio, including its branded generic pharmaceutical, devices, diagnostics and nutritional businesses. AbbVie has nearly $18 billion in annual revenue and will have a portfolio of market-leading brands, including Humira, Lupron, Synagis, Kaletra, Creon and Synthroid. Gonzalez joined Abbott in 1977 and retired briefly in 2007 as the companys No. 2 man before returning in 2009 to head its investment arm and is currently executive vice president of the pharmaceutical products group. A spokesman for the University of Houston confirmed Gonzalez took classes at the school in 1972 and 1973, but did not earn a degree. School administrators from the University of Miami were not immediately available Thursday. Crains Chicago Business first broke the story.
Read the original:
CEO of Abbott’s spinoff didn’t receive college degrees claimed in filings
CEO of Abbott spinoff lacks degrees claimed in filings
SUN-TIMES MEDIA September 27, 2012 6:58PM
Abbott Laboratories gave incorrect education credentials for the executive chosen to lead its pharmaceutical spinoff in regulatory filings between 2002 and 2007, Crains Chicago Business is reporting.
Richard A. Gonzalez, named CEO of AbbVie, did not receive a biochemistry bachelors degree nor a biochemistry masters degree from the universities Abbott filings listed, Crains reported.
According to Crains, Gonzalez did not receive a bachelors degree in biochemistry from the University of Houston, nor a masters degree in biochemistry from the University of Miami, contrary to claims in Abbotts filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission when the longtime company executive was a director.
He started at the company in 1977 and retired from Abbott as president and chief operating officer in 2007, but returned two years later.
Gonzalez, 58, currently executive vice president, Global Pharmaceuticals at Abbott, was chosen to be chairman and CEO of AbbVie (pronounced Abb-vee), the new research-based pharmaceutical firm, which is projected to have $18 billion in annual sales after it is spun off later this year.
Abbott external communications Vice President Melissa Brotz confirmed to Crains that Gonzalez did not receive degrees from either university.
The inaccurate information about his education was included in SEC filings as a result of an internal administrative error. She told Crains that Abbott learned about the errors some time ago. The company corrected the information on its Web site immediately after the errors were discovered, she said.
According to the companys Web site, Gonzalez is listed as a research biochemist at the University of Miami School of Medicine and attended the University of Houston, majoring in biochemistry,
Theres really no issue here with respect to his educational background and his ability to lead AbbVie, Brotz told Crains. His ability to lead AbbVie is evidenced by his distinguished career over 30 years, culminating in his reaching the highest levels of the company.
Read this article:
CEO of Abbott spinoff lacks degrees claimed in filings
'Grey's Anatomy' recap: Life Support
Image credit: Karen Neal/ABC
R.I.P. MCSTEAMYSeattle Grace mourned the loss of Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), as the doctor was pulled off life support in yet another tragic episode of Grey's Anatomy.
For the first few minutes of tonights ninth season premiere of Greys Anatomy, I was convinced we were in the midst of another alterna-reality episode of the ABC soap. My brain knew otherwise, of course, but remember when they did that oddly intriguing and oddly weird What If? episode last season? Yep, this return to the Greys world felt so different that it was reminiscent of the feeling that episode exuded.
So many things were weird: Lexie was dead! There were new interns and residents! Cristina was away working in Minnesota! Karev was headed to Johns Hopkins! There was no sign of Kepner or Arizona! Bailey was deliriously happy! Derek and Callie were shattered with grief! Meredith was tearing around the hospital as the new Bailey/Nazi, nicknamed Medusa! Sloan was laying there on life support! Sorry for all the exclamation marks, but they seemed rather necessary, considering how dire all of these things are. Is this the Seattle Grace we left last May when a huge portion of our beloved doctors were stranded after their plane crashed in Idaho? Nope, not exactly -- in fact, not at all. Clearly, lots had changed, making this an intriguing hour of television.
Granted, while many things had changed as we zeroed back into Seattle Grace Mercy West after a summer away, some were exactly the same. Like, say, how Meredith opened the hour with her patented monologue that cut right to the chase. Dying changes everything, Meredith began, foreshadowing the grim hour to come. The world just keeps on goingwithout you. Meredith was surely referencing the death of her sister Lexie, who died under a chunk of a plane in Mays finale, plus another death to come in this hour, that of Mark Sloan, who was lying in a hospital bed, on life support, presumably after his internal injuries from the finales plane crash got the best of him. And thats probably where we should start.
Because it would never be any other way on a show as sudsy as Greys, creator Shonda Rhimes decided to kill Mark Sloan -- also known lovingly as McSteamy, due to his shower-steam-and-towel introduction to Grey's in season 2 -- in an excruciating and melodramatic way. At the top of the hour, a deadline was set: 5 p.m. We viewers didnt know exactly what the deadline was for, but it wasnt hard to guess, especially after we learned that the life-supported and unresponsive Sloan had a directive in his living will, spelling out that if after 30 days, there were no signs of recovery, Richard Webber said, Mark wanted to be let go. And then he added: Thats all were doing. Honoring his wish.
The weird thing about it whole situation, of course, was the fact that we didnt know how Sloan got to this devastatingly injured point. So his internal injuries must have gotten worse from what we'd seen in the finale? But how exactly? What happened out there in the wilds after last Mays finale cut off? It must have been bad if a guy as strong as Sloan couldnt survive -- or his injuries must have been just that bad and we didn't know it.
NEXT: I keep thinking if I say something big enough or shocking enough hell open his eyes.
See original here:
'Grey's Anatomy' recap: Life Support
Mayo Clinic finds way to weed out problem stem cells, making therapy safer
Public release date: 27-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jennifer Schutz newsbureau@mayo.edu 507-284-5005 Mayo Clinic
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- Mayo Clinic researchers have found a way to detect and eliminate potentially troublemaking stem cells to make stem cell therapy safer. Induced Pluripotent Stem cells, also known as iPS cells, are bioengineered from adult tissues to have properties of embryonic stem cells, which have the unlimited capacity to differentiate and grow into any desired types of cells, such as skin, brain, lung and heart cells. However, during the differentiation process, some residual pluripotent or embryonic-like cells may remain and cause them to grow into tumors.
"Pluripotent stem cells show great promise in the field of regenerative medicine; however, the risk of uncontrolled cell growth will continue to prevent their use as a therapeutic treatment," says Timothy Nelson, Ph.D., M.D., lead author on the study, which appears in the October issue of STEM CELLS Translational Medicine.
Using mouse models, Mayo scientists overcame this drawback by pretreated stem cells with a chemotherapeutic agent that selectively damages the DNA of the stem cells, efficiently killing the tumor-forming cells. The contaminated cells died off, and the chemotherapy didn't affect the healthy cells, Dr. Nelson says.
"The goal of creating new therapies is twofold: to improve disease outcome with stem cell-based regenerative medicine while also ensuring safety. This research outlines a strategy to make stem cell therapies safer for our patients while preserving their therapeutic efficacy, thereby removing a barrier to translation of these treatments to the clinic," says co-author Alyson Smith, Ph.D.
Stem cell therapies continue to be refined and improved. Researchers are finding that stem cells may be more versatile than originally thought, which means they may be able to treat a wider variety of diseases, injuries and congenital anomalies. Stem cell therapy is an emerging regenerative strategy being studied at Mayo Clinic.
"By harnessing the potential of regenerative medicine, we'll be able to provide more definitive solutions to patients," says Andre Terzic, M.D., Ph.D., co-author and director of Mayo Clinic's Center for Regenerative Medicine.
###
Other members of the Mayo research team included Clifford Folmes, Ph.D., Katherine Hartjes, Natalie Nelson and Saji Oommen, Ph.D. The research was supported by the Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, National Institutes of Health New Innovator Award OD007015-01, and a Mayo Clinic Center for Regenerative Medicine accelerated research grant.
Continued here:
Mayo Clinic finds way to weed out problem stem cells, making therapy safer
CNIO team discovers the first real indicator of longevity in mammals
Public release date: 27-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nuria Noriega nnoriega@cnio.es Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncologicas (CNIO)
A team of researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), headed by CNIO Director Mara Blasco, has demonstrated in a pioneering study on mammals that longevity is defined at a molecular level by the length of telomeres. The workwhich is published today in the online edition of the journal Cell Reportsopens the door to further study of these cellular components in order to calculate the rate at which cells age and thus be able to determine life expectancy for a particular organism.
Chromosomesthe cellular containers holding the genetic information in living creatureshave repetitive sequences of DNA at their extremities called telomeres. These sequences act as hoods that protect the genetic material in the face of any external agent which might damage it and compromise the function of the cells.
Several transversal population studiesmeasuring telomere length once over time in a large group of individualsshow a relationship between the length of the telomeres and the risk of suffering illnessescardiovascular disease or cancer, for example.
Until now, however, the use of telomeric measurements to predict real life expectancy in mammals had not been evaluated.
"In the transversal studies, it appears that individuals with short telomeres have a significantly increased probability of developing illnesses, including cancer. But this information is not applicable to a specific individual", says Blasco.
To determine a real ageing prediction method, the authors of the present study have carried out longitudinal studies of telomere length in mice, in which a single individual is followed over a period of time.
After taking periodic blood samples from the same individual, from which cells were extracted for study, they found that those mice which managed to live longer were not the ones that had longer telomeres at any given age but those in which showed less telomeric shortening over time.
"The important thing is not so much the long telomeres at any given time as the tendency or the evolution of the length of the telomeres over time", says Elsa Vera, lead author of the study.
Read more:
CNIO team discovers the first real indicator of longevity in mammals