Penn Medicine researchers harness the immune system to fight pancreatic cancer

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Public release date: 24-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Holly Auer holly.auer@uphs.upenn.edu 215-200-2313 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

PHILADELPHIA -- Pancreatic cancer ranks as the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and is one of the most deadly forms of cancer, due to its resistance to standard treatments with chemotherapy and radiation therapy and frequently, its late stage at the time of diagnosis. A group of researchers led by the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Pittsburgh and University of Washington, published results of a clinical trial in which the standard chemotherapy drug for this disease, gemcitabine, was paired with an agonist CD40 antibody, resulting in substantial tumor regressions among some patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. By using a novel, real-time imaging approach to monitor tumor response to the immunotherapy, the team also found differences how primary and metastatic disease sites shrank. Their work appears online this month in Clinical Cancer Research.

"We're now using imaging to understand the treatment heterogeneity that one can see in immunotherapy not all tumors within a patient's body react the same way, even in the face of powerful treatments, and now we have a way to follow these unique treatment responses in patients in real-time," said lead author Gregory Beatty, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the division of Hematology/Oncology in the Abramson Cancer Center.

The report builds on preliminary results of findings in both humans and mice published in Science in 2011. The new approach exploits an immune reaction in the microenvironment of the patient's primary tumor by targeting an immune cell surface molecule CD40 to turn a type of white blood cell known as macrophages against the tumor by causing them to attack the stroma, the fibrotic supporting tissue of the tumor that acts as a defensive barrier to standard therapies. The treatment ate away at this stroma, ultimately causing substantial shrinkage of some primary tumors, and affecting the metabolic activity of both primary and metastatic lesions. Of 21 patients treated with the drug combination, five patients who received at least one treatment course developed a partial response, defined as a decrease in tumor size of at least 30 percent.

The new study also measured the effectiveness of applying a new approach to FDG/PET-CT imaging, to reveal the metabolic responses of individual tumors. FDG/PET-CT uses a radioactive glucose tracer to pinpoint glucose uptake within tumors, revealing the places where cells are metabolically active. Typically physicians and radiologists report only the maximum uptake of glucose within a tumor using this imaging technique; however, the new study showed that glucose metabolism can be quantified within individual tumors or within organs, and throughout the entire body, to provide a measure of total tumor burden.

The team found that while primary tumors seemed to respond more or less uniformly with each treatment cycle, tumors varied in their reactions to treatment. "We incorporated imaging as early as two weeks after the first dose of treatment, and we're able to see changes and responses in terms of glucose metabolism even at this early time point in treatment, which predicted how well patients would respond two months later," Beatty says. The team hopes to apply the use of FDG/PET-CT to monitoring treatment responses during other immune-based therapies in pancreas cancer.

Determining the reasons for these varying responses will be an important next step in this work. The unique imaging approach, Beatty notes, is revealing new insight into the biology of pancreas cancer and its treatment resistance. This allows the research team to expedite progress through a unique model that moves quickly back and forth between the lab and the clinic: "We're taking it back to the bench and at the same time, applying it at the bedside with additional clinical trials."

The most commonly observed side effect of the treatment was cytokine release syndrome, typically manifested as chills and rigors. One patient with a previous history of vascular disease experienced a stroke shortly after starting therapy.

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Penn Medicine study: Proton therapy cuts side effects for pediatric head and neck cancer patients

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Public release date: 24-Sep-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Holly Auer holly.auer@uphs.upenn.edu 215-200-2313 University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

ATLANTA -- The precise targeting and limited dosing of radiation via proton therapy is proving to be an advantage in ongoing efforts to reduce treatment side effects among head and neck cancer patients, according to a new study of pediatric patients from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results were presented Monday at the 55th annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) conference.

"Children are especially susceptible to the side effects of radiation therapy, and treating them for head and neck cancers poses an additional challenge due to the risk of radiation to developing tissues," said the study's lead author, Christine Hill-Kayser, MD, an assistant professor of Radiation Oncology in Penn's Abramson Cancer Center. "Our findings using proton therapy for these patients, however, show that side effects are milder than those which are typically seen among children undergoing conventional radiation. We hope that this will translate to mean fewer late effects as they survive their cancer."

Although physicians have hypothesized about reduced toxicity and side effects with proton therapy because the modality spares most normal tissue from damage, clinical data on the new approach have not yet matured, particularly among pediatric cancer patients. The present study sought to shed more light on the issue by following a group of 25 patients, ranging in age from 1 to 21 years, all of whom received proton therapy at Penn Medicine's Roberts Proton Therapy as part of their treatment for various head and neck cancers, including rhabdomyosarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, and salivary gland tumors, among others. Treatment toxicity was evaluated every week during proton treatment and every one to three months thereafter.

After a median of 13 months after treatment, 19 patients (76 percent) have no evidence of disease, 3 patients (12 percent) had developed local recurrence, and 5 (20 percent) had tumors that seemed to be stable. One patient died of their cancer. The authors note that these outcomes are generally equivalent to those that would be expected with more traditional x-ray therapy. More significant, however, were the greatly reduced side effects observed in the study, compared to the prevalence seen among head and neck cancer patients undergoing x-ray treatment. "The side effects profile was really very mild, with basically no high-grade toxicity," says Hill-Kayser, who conducted the study along with colleagues from both Penn Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The most common side effects were fatigue and dermatitis. The researchers noted that while skin reactions are often seen during radiation treatment, this study seemed to indicate a somewhat greater reaction than expected when proton treatment was followed by certain chemotherapies, including actinomycin-d and doxorubicin, which can interact with radiation and cause radiation sensitivity. That finding helped the research team refine their approach to minimize that side effect. "If we started those drugs right away after proton therapy, it seemed the dermatitis was worse," Hill-Kayser said. "So we learned that after proton therapy, we wanted to hold those drugs and not give them for a month to six weeks, so the patient had time to recover from the skin toxicity before it got worse."

Another common side effect of radiation therapy -- especially among head and neck cancer patients -- can be weight loss and nutritional problems, but those were also only found to be a mild concern for the patients in the current study. "It's common to lose some weight during radiation treatment because the mouth and throat get inflamed, but we found that very few patients in our study lost more than 10 percent of their body weight during the course of treatment. We found that we could minimize that weight loss by using a gastrostomy tube to give tube feedings, but even when we didn't do that, the weight loss was manageable. This was likely the case because proton therapy allowed us to decrease the radiation dose to the mouth and throat compared to equivalent plans using x-ray therapy."

Over one to three months, all of the study patients fully recovered from any acute side effects from the proton treatment. Hill-Kayser expects that this study will help to reinforce the growing consensus that "pediatrics is one of the areas where proton therapy is going to provide a lot of benefit."

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South Jersey Family Medicine Switches to e-MDs for EHR, Practice Management and Patient Portal Solutions

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AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Sep 24, 2013) - e-MDs, a leading provider of electronic health records (EHRs) and practice management (PM) solutions, announced today that South Jersey Family Medicine is the latest healthcare provider to switch to e-MDs Solution Series Electronic Health Records, Practice Managementand Patient Portal solutions.

South Jersey Family Medicine, previously on the Alteer platform, is the latest in a series of providers to select e-MDs as a replacement for their legacy system.South Jersey Family Medicine, whose focus is family practice, has four practitioners who conduct more than 20,000 patient visits a year.

"After more than a dozen years on our previous system, we were looking for better customer support, speed, functionality, ease of use and reliability for our system," said Michael Rogers, MD, the owner of South Jersey Family Medicine for 23 years. "We wanted a solution that was affordable, yet ensured patient visits were completed in a timely manner. The fact that e-MDs consistently ranked high for physician satisfaction in both KLAS and the Family Practice Management EHR User Satisfaction Surveys was also a deciding factor."

e-MDs was able to accelerate the implementation and adoption of e-MDs Solution Series. The clinical staff and physicians at South Jersey Family Medicine underwent three days of training on the e-MDs EHR solutions, followed by three days of e-MDs PM training for the billing and reception staff. To support the clinic's go-live milestone, e-MDs provided a trainer on site to ensure success.

"All of the physicians in our practice had the opportunity to work with the e-MDs' software prior to our final decision, and the staff was also able to get a good feel for the product beforehand as well," said Dr. Rogers. "The training and launch went so well that by the fourth day I was up to a full schedule of patients. I even finished all of my documentation by the end of the day despite having to enter data from the legacy system."

e-MDs' integrated EHR and practice management system is designed by physicians specifically to help providers in independent, group and specialty practices deliver robust capabilities for electronic health, practice management, patient engagement and claims management.As demonstrated by Dr. Rogers' experience, it is widely recognized as the most user-friendly EHR available.This is a critical factor in ensuring a quick ramp up to full productivity and minimizing the potential for the long-term revenue impacts less well-designed systems can have on a practice.

"We are excited South Jersey Family Medicine selected the e-MDs Solution Series for its EHR, Practice Management, and patient portal needs," said David Winn, MD, FAAFP, CEO and Chairman of the Board, e-MDs. "South Jersey Family Medicine can now leverage the power of our integrated tools to transform clinical, financial and quality of life outcomes in today's quickly evolving and dynamic healthcare environment."

About e-MDs

e-MDs is a leading developer of integrated electronic health records and practice management software for physician practices and enterprises. Founded and actively managed by physicians, the company is an industry leader for usable, connected software that enables physician productivity and a superior clinical experience. e-MDs software has received continual top rankings in physician and industry surveys including those conducted by the American Academy of Family Physicians' Family Practice Management, KLAS, AmericanEHR Partners, MedScape, and Black Book.e-MDs has a proven track record of positioning clients for success as demonstrated by Meaningful Use attainment in 2011-2012. According to data provided by CMS, e-MDs clients are attesting in the top proportion of all major vendors. For more information, please visit http://www.e-mds.com, http://facebook.e-mds.com, and https://twitter.com/emds.

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USF medical school extends deal with Tampa General

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TAMPA The University of South Floridas medical school faculty and students have a long-term deal to remain at Tampa General Hospital, according to a three-year contract announced today.

The agreement with the University of South Floridas Morsani College of Medicine replaces a contract that was in its final year. It had become the victim of tensions partly involving former dean Stephen Klasko and his brokering of deals with other medical centers.

Since 1970, the hospital and USF have worked together and built a residency program that now numbers 300. USF Health also operates its South Tampa Center for Advanced Health Care adjacent to the downtown Tampa hospital.

Harry vanLoveren, interim dean of the USF Morsani College of Medicine, said both sides wanted an evergreen contract to avoid last-minute negotiations.

We will never again walk to the cliff, he said.

Coincidentally, Tuesdays statement came as Tampa General announced a partnership with the Florida Hospital Network. Since 2012, USF medical students and professors have practiced at Florida Hospital facilities, including the Pepin Heart Institute in Tampa.

David Straz, chairman of the Tampa General board, said leadership changes at the hospital and the College of Medicine allowed him to work directly with USF President Judy Genshaft, a longtime friend.

We were able to work things out in an amicable way, he said.

This announcement can eliminate the dynamic tension between USF and its partner hospitals, vanLoveren said. He said he can see USF playing a significant role in the partnership between the local hospitals, and in the areas future health care opportunities.

I think you are seeing the system emerge, he said. USF is the glue that is going to unify these players in the marketplace.

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USF medical school extends deal with Tampa General

The University of Massachusetts Medical School Selects Aircuity for Lazare Medical Research Building Energy Project

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NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Aircuity, the safe, smart and efficient airside solutions company, announced today that it has been awarded an energy retrofit contract to provide its laboratory ventilation optimization solution for the Lazare Medical Research Facility on the University of Massachusetts Medical School campus in Worcester, MA. The project is expected to significantly lower the energy usage throughout the facility while maintaining a comfortable and productive workspace by continually monitoring the buildings indoor environmental quality.

We are thrilled to be working with UMass Medical School to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities, said Chuck McKinney, vice president of marketing at Aircuity. UMass Medical Schools commitment to Growing Green has made them a shining example of how to use less energy and reduce their carbon footprint, and we are both proud and honored to be a part of their sustainability effort.

We have a very robust sustainability program here on campus, stated John Baker, associate vice chancellor for facility management. We have collectively bought into the program, we live it every day, and we continue to strive to be one of the best sustainability programs in the area.

The Medical Schools energy strategy includes a focus on making existing buildings more energy efficient, building new facilities to be green and efficient, and utilizing more efficient power generation for the campus. The Lazare Medical Research facility is the second building to incorporate Aircuitys demand control ventilation (DCV) solution; the newly constructed Albert Sherman Center, which achieved LEED Gold certification, was the first Aircuity installation on campus.

The Lazare energy project will involve the installation of Aircuity in the lab areas on all floors of the facility, and is expected to be completed in approximately six months. Partial funding for the project is being provided through utility incentive programs from National Grid and NSTAR.

By continuously monitoring the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) of laboratory spaces, Aircuity provides smart signals to a facilitys building management system to adjust the ventilation rates according to the actual conditions of the space, saving money while ensuring a safe, comfortable, and productive environment for researchers and lab occupants. The data collected is then analyzed to provide actionable information to facility & energy managers on overall building performance and to give Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) personnel better insight to lab operations.

Although saving energy is often the primary reason to install an Aircuity system, our customers quickly realize the benefit of having vital information about their facility at their fingertips, McKinney explained. Aircuity is a critical information partner for facilities personnel, helping them understand what is happening throughout their building, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

About Aircuity

Aircuity is the smart airside efficiency company providing building owners with sustained energy savings through its intelligent measurement solutions. By combining real-time sensing and continuous analysis of indoor environments, the company has helped commercial, institutional and lab building owners lower operating costs, improve safety and become more energy efficient. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Newton, MA, Aircuitys solutions have benefited organizations such as the University of Pennsylvania, Eli Lilly, North Carolina State University, LabCorp, the Bank of America Tower, Wake Forest University and the University of California-Irvine. For additional information on the company and its solutions, please visit: http://www.aircuity.com.

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The University of Massachusetts Medical School Selects Aircuity for Lazare Medical Research Building Energy Project

Liberty Property Trust Prices $450 Million Of 4.40% Senior Notes Due 2024

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MALVERN, Pa., Sept. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --Liberty Property Trust (LRY), announced today that its limited partnership subsidiary, Liberty Property Limited Partnership, has priced a $450 million offering of 4.40% senior unsecured notes under its existing shelf registration statement. The notes are due February 15, 2024. The offering is expected to close on September 27, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions. The proceeds will be used to fund a portion of the cash consideration payable in the Company's pending acquisition of the outstanding general and limited partnership interests of the Cabot Industrial Value Fund III Operating Partnership, L.P.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated served as joint book-running managers and Barclays Capital Inc., BB&T Capital Markets, Capital One Securities, Inc., Mitsubishi UFJ Securities (USA), Inc., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, PNC Capital Markets LLC, RBS Securities Inc., SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc., The Huntington Investment Company, UBS Securities LLC, U.S. Bancorp Investments, Inc. and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC served as co-managers.

The offering may be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A copy of the prospectus supplement and prospectus relating to these securities may be obtained, when available, by contacting Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attn: Prospectus Department, email: dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com; J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, 383 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10179, Attn: High Grade Syndicate Desk, 3rd floor, telephone collect at (212) 834-4533; Citigroup Global Markets Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, telephone (800) 831-9146, email: batprospectusdept@citigroup.com or Goldman, Sachs & Co,. Attn: Prospectus Department, 200 West Street, New York, NY 10282, telephone: (866) 471-2526, facsimile: (212) 902-9316, email: prospectus-ny@ny.email.gs.com.

This press release is for informational purposes only and shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities, blue sky or other laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

Liberty Property Trust is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty's 81 million square foot portfolio includes 662 properties providing office, distribution and light manufacturing facilities to 1,700 tenants.

The statements contained in this press release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities law. Although Liberty believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, the company can give no assurance that its expectations will be achieved. As forward-looking statements, these statements involve important risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expected results and, accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of the company. The company assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, without limitation, uncertainties affecting real estate business generally (such as entry into new leases, renewals of leases and dependence on tenants' business operations), risks relating to the integration of the operations of entities that we have acquired or may acquire, risks relating to financing arrangements and sales of securities, possible environmental liabilities, risks relating to leverage and debt service (including availability of financing terms acceptable to the company and sensitivity of the company's operations and financing arrangements to fluctuations in interest rates), dependence on the primary markets in which the company's properties are located, the existence of complex regulations relating to status as a REIT and the adverse consequences of the failure to qualify as a REIT, risks relating to litigation, including without limitation litigation involving entities that we have a acquired or may acquire, and the potential adverse impact of market interest rates on the market price for the company's securities.

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Liberty Property Trust Prices $450 Million Of 4.40% Senior Notes Due 2024

Liberty Global Reverts to Neutral – Analyst Blog

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We upgrade our recommendation on Liberty Global plc. ( LBTYA ) to Neutral following its recent acquisition of Virgin Media. The acquisition has positioned the company as the largest pay-TV operator globally. Liberty Global currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Why the Upgrade?

On Jun 2013, Liberty Global completed the acquisition of British cable MSO Virgin Media. Together, Liberty Global and Virgin Media had approximately 24.5 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter of 2013. In the U.K., the merged entity poses serious competitive threat to British Sky Broadcasting Group plc. and BT Group plc. ( BT ).

Recently, Virgin Media decided to offer the video-subscription service of the online video streaming service provider, Netflix Inc. ( NFLX ). With this, for the first time in the global pay-TV industry, web-based service will be integrated into cable system. Initially, Virgin Media will test run the Netflix service with its 40,000 subscribers who use the company's next-generation set-top boxes developed by TiVo Inc. ( TIVO ).

At the end of the second quarter of 2013, the company had over 1.7 million video subscribers who use TiVo developed set-top boxes. This new converged digital TV platform provides improved graphics, on-demand video content, catch-up TV service, and web-based applications including games and personal video recorder. The set-top box integrates the Internet and live TV on one screen through fiber-optic cable.

Liberty Global has launched a hybrid IP video gateway called "Horizon TV" in Netherlands and Switzerland. This innovative IP gateway will combine cable operators' video services with web-based content through an integrated cable modem. This modem includes an open software developer platform and application store.

Further, customers can view TV programs on multiple screens such as PCs, iPhones and iPads. Horizon TV also features an in-build application store for YouTube, Wikipedia and Facebook. This service will be introduced in Germany and Ireland by the end of this year.

BT GRP PLC-ADR (BT): Free Stock Analysis Report

LIBERTY GLBL-A (LBTYA): Free Stock Analysis Report

NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report

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Liberty Global CEO Says He Doesn’t Expect Apple to Sell a TV

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Liberty Global Plc (LBTYA) Chief Executive Officer Mike Fries, who runs one of the worlds biggest cable companies, said he doesnt expect Apple Inc. to sell its own television, disputing speculation among analysts.

I dont think Apple is going to build a TV, Fries said today at an investment conference in New York. Apple instead is talking to U.S. cable providers about revamping the interface for pay-TV services, he said.

Analysts such as Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray Cos. and Brian White of Cantor Fitzgerald have predicted Apple will release a television set, vaulting the company into a new market. Until now, its TV efforts have been limited to a $100 Internet-connected set-top box that streams video from providers such as Netflix Inc., Google Inc.s YouTube, Hulu LLC and Apples own iTunes.

The company has been beefing up what is available via Apple TV in recent months by striking deals with Walt Disney Co. (DIS)s ESPN and Time Warner Inc. (TWX)s HBO. Apple also has been negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc. to give subscribers of the cable service access to their channels via Apple TV, people familiar with the talks have said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Nick Turner at nturner7@bloomberg.net

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Liberty Global CEO Says He Doesn’t Expect Apple to Sell a TV

Liberty Delivers a Better World While Utopians Promise a Perfect One

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Editors Note: September 26, 2013 is the 115th anniversary of the birth of Leonard E. Read

Why are unattainable utopian visions attractive and inspirational to so many while the promises of liberty, under which a vastly-improved society can actually be attained, are so often disregarded? Leonard Read, among Americas most prolific defenders of liberty in the 20th century, considered that question.

In Let Freedom Reign, Read argued that libertys failure to gain more adherents than utopian statism derived in substantial measure from the fact that the ends envisioned, rather than the means involved, often motivate people. Unlike the utopian visions, the freedom philosophy recognizes that a system of free markets is an amoral servant that does not claim to generate no objectionable results to anyone. For this reason, liberty faces an inspirational disadvantage.

A good illustration of utopianisms advantage over freedom is the utopians assertion that he can deliver equality of results (implicitly assumed to be equality at a high level of prosperity). This in turn leads to rationalizations for cutting freedom off at the knees. Yet some forms of inequality are inseparable from astounding social benefits, particularly the massive gains from specialization among people with differing abilities and circumstances, coordinated through voluntary market arrangements.

As Read noted in Having My Way, rather than bemoaning any inequality of results, it would be more accurate to say, inequality exists, fortunately! as long as it is combined with freedom, which he called our working handmaiden.

[F]reedom and equality are ... mutually antagonistic. The equality idearests on the antithesis of freedom: raw coercion. It is ... impossible to be free when equality is politically manipulated ...

Not our likenesses, but our differences, give rise to the division of labor and the complex market processes of production and trade ... it is to our advantage to specialize and to trade with other specialists. ... By thus serving others and becoming ever more skilled and outstanding (unequal) in the process he best serves his own interest.

Read recognized that inequality among individuals was a fact and that the working handmaiden of voluntary arrangements allowed the members of society to better achieve what they desired. As a result, Read also saw that attributing disliked results, such as deviations from an idealized equality, to voluntary arrangements, misplaced the blame. Those deviations are rooted in an underlying reality utopians simply assume away. Therefore, restricting voluntary arrangements, beyond preventing force and fraud, cannot solve the real problems that arise from scarcity. However, the attempt to do so hobbles the markets ability to coordinate the productive plans of people with vastly different skills and circumstances, causing harm in the misguided attempt to accomplish good.

Read saw that libertys defenders must face the fact that markets are amoral servants which enable people to do whatever they want better. They cannot be relied upon with certainty to only do good and inspirational things. But whenever they enable doing ill, they only reflect the desires individuals have. If we reformed ourselves, markets could do no harm. In contrast, coercively reforming ourselves by law does not eliminate the cause of such harm and so does little to actually stop it. Moreover, the restrictions on markets adopted in the process throw out the amoral servant that allows us to accomplish greater good than achievable via any other known means.

This brought Read to focus on the crucial distinction between inspirational utopian ends and the means such ends necessarily entail. The collectivist means, backed by force, that utopias require are immoral, so such systems cannot be moral.

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Liberty Delivers a Better World While Utopians Promise a Perfect One

Liberty Star Completes ZTEM Geophysical Survey at Hay Mountain, Southeast Arizona

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TUCSON, Ariz.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. (Liberty Star or the Company)(OTCQB: LBSR) announces that its geophysical contractor Geotech Ltd. (Geotech) Aurora, Ontario, Canada completed a ZTEM geophysicalsurveyon September 20, 2013.

ZTEM (Z Axis Tipper Electromagnetic system) is a fixed wing or helicopter borne survey method measuring electromagnetic changes because of geologic features in the area of the survey. Geotechs computer technology and sensitive measuring equipment enables detection and modeling of the shape of metallic mineral bodies at depths of up to approximately 2,000 meters below the surface.

The survey was conducted over Liberty Stars Hay Mountain Project as part of exploration work for the delineation to a depth of about 2,000 meters (about 6,000 feet) of a porphyry copper, gold and other metal system suggested by previous geochemical surveys of the area and the recommendations contained in SRK Consultings NI 43-101 style report undertaken in 2011.

The Hay Mountain ZTEM survey consisted of 432.73 kilometers (268.88 miles) @ 200 meters and 400 meters line spacing, and approximately 8 meters between samples (readings) along each line.

With the delivery of the ZTEM interpreted data Liberty Star geologists, headed by Company CEO and Chief Geologist James A. Briscoe, can begin the work of combining the Geotech findingswith the Companys many geologic and geochemicalmapsinto GIS (Geographic Information Systems, ESRI computer maps) that can undergo further analysis that will lead to specific targets for a phased drilling program to begin as funding allows.

James A. Briscoe James A. Briscoe, Professional Geologist, AZ CA CEO/Chief Geologist Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp.

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Liberty Star Completes ZTEM Geophysical Survey at Hay Mountain, Southeast Arizona

Ingber ’15: Brown: The libertarian of the Ivy League

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I am not a libertarian. While I may agree with libertarians on some issues, I certainly do not share their approach on foreign policy. I lean toward interventionism, and I admittedly tend to favor a hands-on government role when it comes to national security sorry, Ben Franklin. With that said, I am sympathetic to the libertarian emphasis on individual freedom and limited government. These notions have deep historical roots in the United States and remain a fundamental part of our political culture. And though much of Browns student body avowedly favors a large government presence on economic and social welfare issues, I believe we can learn a bit about government policy from our beloved Brunonia, the libertarian of the Ivy League.

It is no secret that we have plenty of freedom at Brown. From designing our own education to navigating the many social outlets on campus, Brown boasts an incredibly liberating, hands-off approach. Most notably, the Open Curriculum allows students to carve their own paths, to try and fail, and to explore and reject all on their own. While various advising institutions make recommendations about which classes students should take, at Brown, undergraduates could easily take four classes in the same department or take all of their classes S/NC. This is a free market at its finest.

We learn the ins and outs of Browns sinuous academic roads by talking to our peers, shopping classes and experimenting on our own. We do not have to sift through top-down rules. Such rules would suggest Brown students are not capable of or willing to figure out what is best for themselves. The fact that the Universitys administration allows this freedom displays an incredible amount of trust something our political structures as a whole can learn from. Why should we not emulate this hands-off approach in the real world? At the end of the day, individuals, rather than governing bodies, know what makes them happy.

It is also no secret that Brown has repeatedly been ranked as one of Americas happiest schools. Perhaps Brown students are some of the happiest in the country because of the very free market approach at Brown I just described. I would undoubtedly be less happy if I had a mandatory lab science or language to take before I graduated. The freedom we enjoy as students percolates into the classroom itself students at Brown are in classes that they want to take, not because they are forced to. Granted, many complain when fulfilling tough pre-med or other requirements. But Brown not only abstains from setting many of those it also does not force students to take that path. The American government could learn a bit by looking at Browns libertarian approach, its students happiness and the trust the administration bestows upon the student body. There seems to be an invisible hand guiding Brown students to academic success and happiness.

Just as the Open Curriculum mirrors a free market, the social atmosphere at Brown reflects a smart approach to social politics in the United States. We have an exceptional Residential Peer Leader program at Brown, a program focused on building relationships and creating resources for students in need. RPLs do not function as spies or security seeking ways to get students in trouble. This allows students to seek help when they truly need it rather than ignore something that could severely hamper their experience at Brown. I believe that states should adopt this philosophy when writing legislation on social policy. From drug policy to a womans right to choose, a less overbearing government would lead to happier Americans. Allowing people to make their own decisions provided that they do not harm others will lead to a happier, freer population.

I understand that sometimes we need to correct the market from the top. Imperfections exist. The introduction of the writing requirement is a perfect example of this. The University recognized a shortcoming in our system and fixed it. I accept the necessity of these types of reforms, but we need to make sure that we are focusing on the right kinds of repairs in the right places. These solutions should neither significantly dampen the overall experience of a student or citizen nor greatly impinge on the individual right to choose a certain path.

I am not suggesting that we abolish all regulations in the United States. All I am saying is that we, a student body that tends to favor a top-down economic approach in government, could learn a little from the way we do things at Brown. Because I think I know what makes me happier better than the government does.

Zach Ingber 15 would love if Brown Dining Services had fewer rules about where and when you could use meal credits. Feel free to email him atZachary_ingber@brown.edu.

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Ingber ’15: Brown: The libertarian of the Ivy League