koijemala: মে 2013

বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৩ মে, ২০১৩

EU bid to label Hezbollah wing terror group

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, center, talks with Lithuania's President Dalia Grybauskaite, left, as they walk away after a group photo was taken during an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. Leaders from the 27 European Union countries gather in Brussels for one of their regular European Council sessions. On the agenda is the increasingly controversial subject of tax evasion. Countries such as Austria and Luxembourg which have lucrative, and somewhat opaque, banking systems have begun to fight back against efforts to improve the transparency of the EU's financial system.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

British Prime Minister David Cameron addresses the media upon arrival at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. Leaders from the 27 European Union countries gather in Brussels for one of their regular European Council sessions. On the agenda is the increasingly controversial subject of tax evasion. Countries such as Austria and Luxembourg which have lucrative, and somewhat opaque, banking systems have begun to fight back against efforts to improve the transparency of the EU's financial system.(AP Photo/Ezequiel Scagnetti)

French President Francois Hollande arrives for a group photo during an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. Leaders from the 27 European Union countries gather in Brussels for one of their regular European Council sessions. On the agenda is the increasingly controversial subject of tax evasion. Countries such as Austria and Luxembourg which have lucrative, and somewhat opaque, banking systems have begun to fight back against efforts to improve the transparency of the EU's financial system.(AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)

BRUSSELS (AP) ? The European Union is reassessing whether to declare the Lebanese party Hezbollah's military wing a terrorist organization, a move it has long shied away from despite pressure from the United States, officials said Wednesday.

The move is specifically bolstered by Germany's change of heart on the issue after long resisting calls to list Hezbollah as a terrorist organization for fear it could destabilize Lebanon and the greater region around it.

Any change in EU policy on Hezbollah would need unanimity among the 27 EU member nations and has so far been impossible to achieve. Adding the military wing to the EU's terror list would slap sanctions such as travel bans and asset freezes on the group's members and severely hamper its operations in the EU.

During an EU summit in Brussels, British officials said London had launched a bid for the change, which is fueled by indications the organization was responsible for a terrorist bombing in Bulgaria that killed five Israeli tourists and one Bulgarian last year. Bulgaria has accused Hezbollah of the attack, a charge the Shiite group denies.

"We firmly believe that an appropriate EU response would be to designate Hezbollah's military wing as a terrorist organization," said a British official, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record.

Hezbollah's links to the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad have also increasingly raised concern. The EU is strongly opposed to the Syrian leader and is considering next week whether to end an arms embargo to boost the opposition.

Hezbollah's growing role in the Syrian conflict was highlighted recently when 31 of its elite fighters were killed and 70 others were wounded in the battle for the Syrian town of Qusair near the border with Lebanon.

The United States has had Hezbollah on its terror list since October 1997.

Germany said Wednesday that its position had changed due to new and clearer information about the Lebanese militant Shiite organization's activities and analysis provided by Cypriot authorities.

In March, a Cyprus criminal court found a Hezbollah member guilty of helping to plan attacks on Israelis on the Mediterranean Island.

"We've come to the conclusion that the facts are such that a successful listing might be possible," said German foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke.

He said such a move "received a fresh boost after the attack in Burgas, in Bulgaria. There has been a significant increase in knowledge about this whole complex recently."

Any EU change in policy would be discussed officially within the next two weeks.

One problem, however, might result from the overlap of people involved in both Hezbollah's activities as a legitimate Lebanese political party and the group's armed wing, a diplomat from a major EU country said in Brussels.

Some countries would therefore prefer to sanction specific individuals instead of the entire military wing, the person added.

Action on Hezbollah is further complicated by its pivotal role in Lebanese politics, where the Iranian-backed group has dominated the government since 2011.

In March, Prime Minister Najib Mikati resigned over a political deadlock between the two main political camps ? the Western-backed March 14 coalition and the pro-Syrian March 8 movement led by Hezbollah. Mikati's departure plunged Lebanon into uncertainty amid heightened sectarian clashes.

France, a key EU player on foreign affairs, and several other EU nations have United Nations peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, where the Shia group enjoys wide support. German troops patrol off southern Lebanon's coast to enforce a weapons embargo.

____

Associated Press writers Paisley Dodds in London, Frank Jordans in Berlin, Jamey Keaten in Paris and Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this story.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-05-22-Europe-Hezbollah/id-1ce72d80f318444b88d5ee73217cf6da

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বুধবার, ২২ মে, ২০১৩

The Irish loophole behind Apple's low tax bill

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Apple's ability to shelter billions of dollars of income from tax has hinged on an unusual loophole in the Irish tax code that helps the country compete with other countries for investment and jobs.

A U.S. Senate investigation has revealed that Apple, maker of iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, had channeled profits into Irish-incorporated subsidiaries that had "no declared tax residency anywhere in the world".

Apple revealed on Tuesday that the arrangements dated back over 30 years and had been negotiated with Ireland's government, which has long angered European peers such as France and Germany by helping multinationals to avoid paying tax on sales its makes to their citizens in their domestic markets.

Apple's annual reports show that over the past three years, Apple paid taxes worth 2 percent of its $74 billion in overseas income.

Apple channels most of its overseas sales through three companies which are incorporated in Ireland but tax resident in no jurisdiction. U.S. rules that allow companies incorporated abroad not to pay U.S. taxes complement that arrangement.

Apple tax head Phillip Bullock told the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations on Tuesday that one of these three subsidiaries, Apple Operations International (AOI), had not submitted a tax return anywhere for five years.

All three were registered in Ireland in 1980 and reregistered as unlimited companies in 2006, which means under Irish law that they do not have to publish annual accounts, so the subcommittee's report was the first time the current structure had been publicly revealed.

Peter Vale, tax partner at accountants Grant Thornton in Dublin, said it was unusual for companies incorporated in Ireland not to be tax resident there - but it is legal.

Apple relies for its tax benefits on contrasting approaches to determining tax residence in Ireland and the United States.

Vale said that if a group has at least one trading Irish subsidiary - as Apple does, in the form of units that employ 4,000 staff - it can establish a corporation that will not be deemed tax resident in Ireland providing this unit's "central management control" is outside the country.

The subcommittee said AOI and ASI held board meetings in the United States and most board members were based there. That means the units would not be deemed to have Irish management control, accountants said.

Apple told the subcommittee that AOI's assets are managed by employees at an Apple subsidiary, Braeburn Capital, located in Nevada, while its assets are held in bank accounts in New York, and its primary accounting records are maintained at Apple's U.S. shared service center in Austin, Texas.

Despite this, AOI did not have tax residency in the United States, because, said Lyn Oates, professor of tax and accounting at the University of Exeter Business School, the United States determines tax residence on the place of incorporation only.

LOST PROFIT

Britain also used to allow companies to be incorporated there without being tax resident, but changed its system over 20 years ago, to stop tax avoidance, said Penelope Tuck, Associate Professor of Public Finance and Policy at the University of Warwick.

Ireland did not change its rules, probably because there was not the same concern about the loss of tax revenues, said Professor Eamonn Walsh, Professor of Accounting at University College Dublin's Graduate School of Business.

Ireland's small population of 4.6 million means multinationals generate relatively little by way of sales or profits there.

"From a policy point of view, people are more concerned with the idea that high-paid jobs are being delivered to the local economy," Walsh said.

Apple's Chief Executive Tim Cook told a hearing of the subcommittee on Tuesday in Washington that Apple was attracted to Ireland in 1980 at a time when the country offered incentives to technology companies as it tried to build an industrial base.

Over the years, the structures Apple uses have evolved but it appears the support of the Irish government has continued.

"Since the early 1990s, the government of Ireland has calculated Apple's taxable income in such a way as to produce an effective rate in the low single digits," Apple tax chief Bullock told the subcommittee in earlier testimony.

A Reuters analysis of Apple's annual reports shows that it was in the late 1990s that Apple's overseas tax rate really began to hit rock bottom, after the United States began to let firms avoid U.S. tax on overseas earnings in what became known as the "check-the-box" (CTB) loophole.

From 1993 to 1995, the three years before CTB emerged, Apple had an effective overseas tax rate of 16 percent. After this the rates plummeted and averaged 2 percent in the past three years.

One former official with the Irish Development Authority, which had the task of enticing foreign companies to invest in Ireland, said that after the introduction of CTB in the United States firms began to demand lower tax deals in Ireland.

While the Senate subcommittee referred to Apple negotiating tax rates of below 2 percent, Ireland usually facilitates low tax payments not by undercutting its headline corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent but by allowing companies to declare low taxable profits - often by making deductions for payments to tax-exempt affiliates, usually offshore.

Ireland said the low tax payment was not its fault and blamed other countries' tax legislation.

Apple's exact arrangements in Ireland have changed over the years.

Up until 2004 or later, the three Apple companies were assessed for taxation in Ireland, although the declared profits were much lower then.

In 2004, ASI declared a profit of $325 million and paid Irish tax of $21 million, its accounts from the time show.

In 2011, according to the subcommittee's report, ASI earned $22 billion and paid just $10 million in "global taxes".

Apple's retail units in France, Germany and Britain purchase goods from the Irish units. The prices are set at levels that ensure these units in bigger states do not report much profit.

This means the company avoids tax on sales in its bigger markets.

In 2011, the last year for which accounts are available, Apple Retail UK Ltd reported profits of 31 million pounds on sales of 860 million pounds and paid tax of 9 million pounds.

In the same year, Apple Retail France reported a loss of 21 million euros on sales of 346 million euros and paid income tax of 7 million euros.

Apple Retail Germany reported a 4-million euro loss on sales of 174 million euros and paid no income tax.

Other jurisdictions also offer tax advantages like Ireland.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc, for example, pays low taxes on its overseas income by channeling European sales through a Luxembourg-based company that makes untaxed payments worth hundreds of millions of euros each year to a tax-exempt partnership, also resident in Luxembourg.

Web search giant Google pays low taxes by channeling overseas sales through an Irish unit that pays most of its income to an affiliate in Bermuda.

The schemes used by all three companies work by arranging for the units that make sales to customers in Europe and elsewhere to make tax-deductible payments to untaxed, or little taxed, affiliates for the use of intellectual property such as brands and business processes.

The Group of 20 leading nations has asked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development think-tank to look at such corporate profit-shifting, and one area it is examining closely is such payments for intangible assets.

The companies say they follow the tax rules in all the countries where they operate.

(Reporting by Tom Bergin; Editing by Will Waterman and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/irish-loophole-behind-apples-low-tax-bill-003322241.html

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MLS deal with billionaire oil sheikh could be bigger than Beckham

Two of the most deep-pocketed teams in world sport ? Manchester City of the English Premier League and the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball ? have agreed to pay $100 million to own and operate a new professional soccer team in New York City starting in 2015.

Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber could probably read that sentence all day.

The news is potentially so significant for the still-fledgling league that it's hard not to see it as an announcement of David Beckhamian proportions.

RECOMMENDED: David Beckham: What did he do, really, for American soccer? (+video)

The owner of Manchester City is Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, a sheikh who, in his first four years of owning the club, spent more than $1.5 billion of his petro-fortune to turn City from bumbling underachievers into Premier League champions for the first time in 44 years. And there are whispers that that was just a warmup act for an American adventure.

Manchester City, after all, are not Manchester United ? their cross-town rivals who have won a record 20 league championships and are the most profitable sports franchise in the world. They are not Real Madrid or Barcelona or even Bayern Munich ? pillars of European soccer whose success is measured over generations. European soccer, Wall Street would say, is already a mature market, and City are for now still just scheming upstarts.

Yet in New York City Football Club, Mansour has an opportunity to do something altogether more momentous: to make soccer relevant in America.

To be sure, Beckham played his part. But his six-year sojourn was never likely to be enough. Though MLS has come a long way since his arrival in 2007 ? it now draws more fans to each game, on average, than do the National Basketball Association or National Hockey League ? it still has a long way to go. It's televised games, for example, draw a 0.2 rating ? less than a recent broadcast of US Grand Prix skiing.

To truly make soccer relevant in the US means making it one of the top leagues in the world. That will take time and money, lots of it. Enter Mansour. In other words, when Mansour made City one of the top soccer clubs in the world, one half of Manchester was overjoyed. If he could do the same with his new City, he will have pried open one of the great untapped sporting markets in the world.

"When it comes to propelling Abu Dhabi?s image onto a global scale, the United States is where it?s at for Sheikh Mansour and his advisors," writes Mark Ogden of The Telegraph, a British newspaper.

And who better to help his team of soccer cognoscenti navigate the world of US sports than the Yankees, who have built an American empire of their own. News reports suggest a deal is already in the works to secure a site in Queens for a new $340 million soccer stadium for New York FC, despite local opposition.

The address is key. MLS has had a New York area team since its inception in 1996, but never one in New York City. The New York Red Bulls play in Harrison, N.J. New York City FC clearly will not end up at the Meadowlands or on Long Island.

Yet in landing an investor of the sort that MLS has long sought, the league faces a potentially decisive moment.

Even now, only one-third of MLS teams make a profit. That might not be the most accurate measure of league health, since many clubs play in venues built just for them and control the revenues from those facilities. Yet the league is hardly rolling in cash.

The league has survived only by going slowly ? by reining in the spending excesses that doomed its predecessor, the North American Soccer League. Yet in the aftermath of the Beckham experiment, pressure is mounting to loosen the pursestrings a bit.

One might guess where an oil sheikh with a reported personal net worth of $30 billion might come down on that question.

RECOMMENDED: David Beckham: What did he do, really, for American soccer? (+video)

মঙ্গলবার, ২১ মে, ২০১৩

Pinterest Launches Pins With More Info And A New Button For Mobile Apps

Pinterest announced two new features today that will help make the Web site more attractive to potential advertisers. The first is pins embedded with additional information about products, recipes and movies. The second is a Pin It button that is now available on nine mobile apps.

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

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Obama cites Myanmar reforms during leader's visit

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2011 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, stands next to Myanmar President Thein Sein during a group photo session at the East Asia Summit in Nusa Dua, on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Thein Sein?s historic White House visit next week is the culmination of U.S. outreach to a former pariah regime. That?s been based on a principle of taking ?action for action? by deepening ties in response to democratic reforms. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? In a long-awaited White House visit, President Barack Obama told Myanmar's president that he appreciates the Asian leader's efforts to lead the country in "a long and sometimes difficult, but ultimately correct, path to follow" toward democracy.

Obama spoke as he sat in the Oval Office with former general Thein Sein, who became the first president of Myanmar to visit the White House in 47 years. Activists object to the invitation because of concerns over human rights in the country, but it marks a turnaround in international acceptance for Myanmar after decades of isolation and direct military rule.

Obama credited Thein Sein's leadership in political and economic reform in bringing about an end to significant tensions between their two countries.

"As I indicated to President Sein, countries that are success are countries that tap into the talents of all people and respect the rights of all people," Obama said. "And I'm confident that if Myanmar follows that recipe, that it will be not only a successful democracy but a thriving economy."

Thein Sein previously served in a repressive junta, and his meetings at the White House and Congress would have been all-but-impossible before he took the helm of a nominally civilian government in 2011. His name was only deleted from a blacklist barring travel to the U.S. last September.

He arrived in Washington Saturday, six months after Obama made history with an unprecedented U.S. presidential visit to the country also known as Burma. The administration's outreach to Myanmar's generals has provided an important incentive for the military to loosen controls on citizens and reduce dependence on China.

Myanmar has been rewarded by relaxation of tough economic sanctions, and Thein Sein will be addressing American businessmen keen to capitalize on the opening of one of Asia's few untapped markets.

Sitting next to Obama in the Oval Office and speaking through an interpreter, Thein Sein said he was grateful for the invitation to discuss reforms and said Myanmar still has democratic processes to learn and significant challenges. "It is a daunting task ahead of us," he said, noting in particular the widespread poverty in the country.

"We will need the assistance and understanding of the international community, including the United States," Thein Sein said.

In his remarks, Obama used "Myanmar" ? the country name adopted by the junta in 1989. However, the U.S. will keep using "Burma" in official documents.

"We very much appreciate your efforts in leadership in leading Myanmar in a new direction and we want you to know that the United States will make every effort to assist you in what I know is a long and sometimes difficult but ultimately correct path to follow," Obama said.

Obama cited the release of political prisoners and their incorporation in the political process, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, credible elections. He also mentioned the legislature's increasing inclusivity and efforts to resolve long-standing ethnic conflicts and establish laws that respect rights.

"As President Sein is the first to admit, this is a long journey and there is still much work to be done," Obama said. He said they discussed Sein's intention to release more political prisoners, institutionalize political reform and rule of law so it endures and work to end ethnic conflict.

Obama said he expressed concern about violence against Muslims in the country. "The displacement of people, the violence directed toward them needs to stop," Obama said.

It was the first by a Myanmar leader since a September 1966 visit by Ne Win, an independence hero-turned dictator, who began the nation's descent from regional rice bowl to economic basket case. Thein Sein visited New York last September for the U.N. General Assembly but didn't come to Washington.

The U.S. last month announced it is considering duty-free access for Myanmar to U.S. markets, and there could be progress Monday toward a bilateral trade and investment framework agreement.

Thein Sein's welcome paled next to that granted last September to Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who met Obama and was presented by Congress with the highest civilian award it can bestow.

Human rights activists and Myanmar campaigners have sharply criticized the administration for inviting Thein Sein, arguing it sends the wrong message and wastes leverage to press for further democratic change. The administration says it is important to signal U.S. support for his reform agenda, likely still opposed by military hardliners.

Thein Sein told the Washington Post in an interview Sunday that the military "will always have a special place" in government.

The military governed Myanmar for five decades and retains a quarter of parliamentary seats, giving it an effective veto over constitutional amendments ? including changes that would be required to allow Suu Kyi to run for the presidency in crucial 2015 elections.

Outside the White House on Monday, about 30 activists opposing Thein Sein's visit protested corruption in the government and treatment of ethnic Kachins in a northern region blighted by fighting between army and rebel forces. "We need real changes in Burma to stop the violations," said an organizer of the rally, Ye Htut of the International Foundation for Burma National Congress.

Ahead of Thein Sein's trip, Myanmar released at least 19 political prisoners in what has become a pattern for amnesties that coincide with high-profile international meetings as a way of highlighting the government's benevolent policies. Right groups say at least 160 political detainees are still held.

The government has permitted the International Committee of the Red Cross access to its notorious prisons for the first time in seven years. But hasn't allowed adequate humanitarian access to conflict zones where tens of thousands have been displaced. Authorities have failed to stop, and may have abetted in some cases, an explosion in communal violence that has killed hundreds and led to segregation of Muslim communities.

The U.S. State Department on Monday again designated Myanmar as a country of special concern for its severe violations of religious freedom, as it has since 1999 in an annual global assessment. It said the government promoted Buddhism, practiced by the majority, over minority faiths that include Islam.

The department said there were credible allegations of the involvement of local border security authorities in the burning of villages during the communal violence in western Rakhine State, and of Muslims being arbitrarily detained since June, and reportedly denied food, water, and sleep. Some deaths in custody were reported, the department said.

The U.S. Campaign for Burma said Thein Sein's trip follows a troubling downward trend in Myanmar, and that "instead of honoring an abusive leader" the U.S. should tie its concessions to conditions.

Thein Sein told the Post that allegations the Myanmar army condones or even participates in ethnic pogroms against the nation's Muslim minority were a "pure fabrication."

____

Associated Press writers Josh Lederman in Washington and Aye Aye Win in Yangon, Myanmar, contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-05-20-US-US-Myanmar/id-c182ed4edcf3461c9e26a98fe7a33252

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সোমবার, ২০ মে, ২০১৩

Did you just win $590M? Get a good team in place

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) ? So you have a lottery ticket worth $590.5 million. Now what?

If you won Saturday's historic Powerball jackpot and you haven't already done so, sign the ticket. Now.

Finished? Now call a lawyer ? even before your spouse if things are a little shaky on that front. Next you'll need a financial adviser, an accountant and a therapist.

The Associated Press asked more than 20 personal financial advisers how the winner should proceed, and they agreed it's crucial to assemble a team of advisers who can be trusted. Chances are the winner wasn't mega-rich before, so it's hard to know what to expect.

"You don't need a financial planner immediately, because you don't have the check in your hand. You need the lawyer before you need the financial planner because you've got to get all the necessary legal work done as quickly as possible," said Stuart Goldberg, a Tallahassee-based estate and tax lawyer. That can include creating a trust fund, shoring up a will, getting advice on how best to claim the money so the government gets less of it and discussing who else might try to claim they're entitled to a share. "If you collect the ticket while you're married and your wife immediately files for divorce, does she get half?"

The winning ticket was bought at a Publix supermarket in Zephyrhills, a city of about 13,000 that's 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. The winner has 60 days to claim the biggest jackpot in Powerball history if they choose a lump sum payment. Under Florida law, the person can't remain anonymous.

No one had come forward to claim the prize on Monday, and lottery officials said they were expecting the person to wait at least a few days.

Experts say the winner should thoroughly vet whoever's on their team of advisers. And while the first call may be to an attorney or financial planner who's a friend or relative, such acquaintances may not be best capable of dealing with that kind of money. They can, though, give advice on where to go next.

"For that kind of money, I would certainly want a well-known reputable group, not cousin Bernie who has a securities company down the road," Goldberg said.

Ginger Snyder, vice president of investments for The 360 Wealth Management Group of Raymond James in Tampa, agreed that the lawyer should be the first hire and should be present for subsequent talks with a financial planner.

"Once everything is calmed down, as an adviser I would treat them just like any other client that I have. It's a little different because obviously it's sudden wealth," Snyder said. "I would have to assume that this is going to be a lot more money than they have currently, so I would talk to them what their goals might be and what relationships are important to them."

Many advisers said to avoid high-risk investments and opt for lower yielding but more secure investments. Even the most conservative investment should yield at least a 3 percent return. Considering the lump sum payment could be as high as $277.5 million after taxes, the winner could live off $8.3 million in interest per year without touching the winnings.

Among other advice: The winner should change his or her phone number and email address and give the new ones out only to those who need it. Once one's identity is revealed, there will be plenty of people offering their financial services ? not all of whom have pure motives.

"Do a Google search on all the lottery winners who squandered it or became miserable," said Buz Livingston, a Santa Rosa Beach-based financial adviser.

Of course, many people, family and friends included, will want money.

"Hire someone to deal with all of the solicitations including those from family and friends. If anyone asks you for anything you can simply tell them they have to contact Mr./Ms. X," said Jennifer Hartman, a Los Angeles-based financial adviser.

Among the most notorious tales of a lottery winner's misfortune was West Virginia's Jack Whittaker, who won $315 million in 2002. Five years later, he blamed the money for causing his granddaughter's fatal drug overdose, his divorce and hundreds of lawsuits filed against him. He said he couldn't trust many of his friends and relatives.

Even more modest prizes can come with problems. A woman was convicted late last year of slaying Florida lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare, who won a $30 million jackpot in 2006. Prosecutors say the woman befriended him, became his financial adviser and swindled him out of his dwindling fortune before killing him.

The advisers say there's nothing wrong with some modest splurges. But the winner shouldn't rush out and buy a new house before considering how this change will affect them, said Eric Lewis, the chief investment officer at Bedrock Capital Management, Inc. in Los Altos, Calif.

"Satisfy your urge to splurge, prudently. Take a small portion of the winnings and spend it on a few things or experiences you've always wanted. A new car, a big TV, a fancy vacation, a great bottle of wine, etc.," Lewis said. "With the exception of a modest splurge, force yourself to chill out regarding spending your new wealth. You'll get more satisfaction from the money, and it will be more likely to last, if you take the time to reflect on what you want from your new lifestyle."

Several said a therapist should also be on the list of people to consult.

"You need a plan, and it should include some kind of counseling. You can have the best lawyers and everything, but it goes to people's heads," said Goldberg. "Lottery winners have ended up in divorce, bankruptcy, suicide because they don't know what to do and how to handle the money."

___

Follow Brendan Farrington on Twitter at https://twitter.com/bsfarrington

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/did-just-win-590m-good-team-place-210250999.html

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China April housing inflation quickens to two year high

By Xiaoyi Shao and Michael Martina

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's housing inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in April in two years, driven by a jump in prices in Beijing and Shanghai, complicating the task of policymakers trying to cool the property sector while supporting economic expansion.

Average new home prices rose 4.9 percent last month from a year ago, after a year-on-year increase of 3.6 percent in March, according to Reuters calculations from data released by the National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) on Saturday.

The rise was the sharpest since April 2011.

Rising home prices have reignited concerns about property inflation, adding to pressure on policymakers who are struggling to curb house prices and still spur a strong economic recovery.

"The market expectations on rising home prices have not changed thoroughly and the property tightening campaign is still at a critical stage to strictly enforce (curbing measures)," Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician at the NBS, said in a statement.

Worried about a rebound in home prices, China's government unveiled a fresh round of measures in March to try to cool the sector, though those measures were less stringent than market expectations.

New home prices in Beijing rose 10.3 percent in April from a year earlier and Shanghai's prices were up 8.5 percent in April from a year ago. Both marked the fastest year-on-year gains since January 2011 when NBS changed the way it calculated data.

China's fight against property speculation has headed into its third year but many middle-class Chinese are still priced out of the urban housing market.

EASING MONTH-ON-MONTH GAINS ON CURBS

However, on a monthly basis, new home prices rose 1 percent in April, easing from March's gain of 1.2 percent, the NBS data showed, providing tentative signs that recent government moves to ward off property bubbles are biting.

Home prices rose month-on-month in 67 of 70 major cities monitored by the NBS in April, down from 68 in March.

The accelerating year-on-year home price gains were mainly caused by low bases last year as over 60 percent of 70 cities saw month-on-month price drops last April, said Liu.

China's home prices began their latest climb in mid-2012 when the central bank started expanding monetary easing as part of Beijing's growth-supporting policies.

"Going forward, we expect property sector policy to stabilize in the coming months and see a modest property recovery to continue," Tao Wang, an economist at UBS, said in a note to clients before the data was released.

"Meanwhile, the recent property tightening, including administrative price controls, may keep property prices from rising too rapidly in a few large cities," Wang added.

Reuters started its weighted China home price index in January 2011 when the NBS stopped providing nationwide data, only giving home price changes in each of 70 major cities.

(Reporting By Xiaoyi Shao and Michael Martina; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-april-housing-inflation-quickens-two-high-082802362.html

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রবিবার, ১৯ মে, ২০১৩

Genetic Testing Guidelines Under Fire

If you underwent a genetic test for a heart condition, but the test also revealed that you have a high risk of colon cancer, would you want to know?

A respected scientific society says your doctor should tell you, but the group is receiving criticism for its recommendation that "incidental findings" of genetic tests be shared with patients.

Incidental findings are unexpected results, unrelated to the reason for testing. What to do with these findings has been a controversial issue for adults undergoing genetic testing, as well as children.

In March, the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released guidelines saying that when patients receive genetic testing for any medical reason, they should be screened for mutations in an additional 57 genes, including mutations that strongly increase the risk of breast, ovarian and colon cancer.

The ACMG argues that doctors have an obligation to look for and report these mutations because there are ways that people can act to reduce their of developing a medical disorder.

However, some researchers and bioethicists say the new recommendations go too far, and take away patients' rights to refuse medical information they do not wish to know.

Informed consent

A crucial part of genetic testing ethics is ensuring that patients understand what a test might find, and what those findings could mean for future treatment.

Under the new recommendations, a patient who consents to any genetic test is consenting to be screened for mutations in an additional 57 genes. Some bioethicists take issue with this approach, because patients may not wish to know their results for all of these genes.

A positive result for any one of these mutations may increase patients' anxiety, or cause them to live their life differently, said Susan Wolf, a professor of law, medicine and public policy at the University of Minnesota.

Under the new guidelines, "unless they are willing to have this extra analysis done, the only option is to walk away from the sequencings altogether," Wolf said. "It's all or nothing."

Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University School of Medicine's Division of Medical Ethics, agreed that patients should have an opportunity to refuse. "People do not have any obligations to accept any findings that they hadn?t been expecting," Caplan said.

And even calling such findings "incidental" is a misnomer, Wolf said, because under the new guidelines, researchers have to actively test for these gene mutations.

What about kids?

Earlier this year, both the American Academy of Pediatrics and the AMCG advised that children not be screened for genetic conditions that occur in adulthood (such as breast cancer), unless some action in childhood can lower the risk of disease or death. Children should wait until they are at least 18 years old to decide if they want to know their risk, the guidelines say.

But under the new recommendations, children should be informed about any findings from the extra screening, including those that relate to adult disorders.

Supporters of the new recommendations say that they are not at odds with earlier guidelines.

Dr. Robert Green, of Harvard Medical School, and colleagues, wrote in the May 16 issue of the journal Science that if doctors are screening a child for a genetic disease that occurs in adulthood, the child would presumably have a family history of the disease. With incidental findings, no other family members, including the child, would be known to be at risk. So reporting an incidental finding could alert the child, as well as other family members including adults, to their risk of a certain condition, Green said.

But others disagree, saying the new recommendations contradict earlier guidelines, and are not in children's best interest. "You've deprived the child of their own choice later as an adult," Wolf said.

Practical issues

The guidelines also say that patients should be counseled about the implications of genetic testing before the test is ordered. But some argue that discussing all 57 genes would be demanding. "That is going to be a rather time consuming process," said Dr. Harry Ostrer, a medical geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

Wolf and others are calling on the AMCG to reconsider the new guidelines. The AMCG says that the guidelines will be reviewed yearly and updated in light of new evidence.

But in the meantime, doctors are in a bind about what to do when screening patients.

"It really creates a big dilemma because, when an organization like the AMCG makes a recommendation, it's seen as establishing a standard of care," Ostrer said. If doctors don't follow the guidelines, patients could sue for malpractice if it turns out they are a carrier of a mutation that the additional screening would have caught, Ostrer said.

Ostrer said he would like to see more evidence about how patients respond to being told about incidental findings. Studies looking at this question are being carried out now, he said.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow MyHealthNewsDaily @MyHealth_MHND, Facebook & Google+. Originally published on LiveScience.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/genetic-testing-guidelines-under-fire-132942409.html

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New salt study: We're still drowning in salt

New salt study: Despite warnings from the CDC, most producers of fast foods and processed foods didn't lower the salt content in their foods between 2005 and 2001, say researchers.

By Rachael Rettner,?My Health News Daily Senior Writer / May 14, 2013

Boston Market restaurants, like this one seen today in Alexandria, Va., have removed salt shakers from restaurant tables and placed them with other condiments on the beverage dispenser table. Most Americans still eat way too much salt, says a new study, not just from salt shakers but because of sodium in processed foods.

Cliff Owen / AP

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Despite recent calls for food manufacturers to cut back on salt in their products, sodium levels in processed and restaurant foods have changed little in recent years, a new salt study suggests.

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The study, conducted by the advocacy organization Center for Science in the Public Interest, reviewed the sodium content of 402 processed foods sold at supermarkets, and 78 fast foods sold at chain restaurants.

Between 2005 and 2011, the sodium content of processed foods declined, on average, by 3.5 percent, and the sodium content of fast foods increased by 2.6 percent. Both of these changes were so small that they could have been due to chance, said study researcher Dr. Stephen Havas, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Currently, 9 in 10 Americans eat too much salt, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The government recommends people limit their salt intake to 2,300 milligrams per day. (For those who are 51 years or older, African-American, have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney diseases, the recommendation is 1,500 mg per day.)

"That?s nearly impossible for people to do right now, given how much salt is in restaurant and processed foods," Havas said. The average American takes in about 3,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Too much sodium in the diet raises blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the CDC says.

Overall, the amount of salt we consume from processed and fast foods needs to decline by at least 50 percent to have benefits for people's health, Havas said. (Most of the salt we consume is through processed and fast foods, and not from a salt shaker, the researchers say.)

The new findings suggest that change happens too slowly when the food industry is asked to voluntarily reduce the sodium content of its foods, Havas said. Instead, the Food and Drug Administration should take steps to limit the amount of sodium allowed in different categories of food, he said.

High sodium foods

Some of the saltiest foods in the study were smoked bacon (1,803 mg of sodium per 100-gram serving), Caesar salad dressing (1,079 mg) and hot dogs (927 mg).

And a fast food meal of chicken strips and fries contained, on average, 1,239 mg of salt in 2011.

The study did not include products labeled as low sodium or sodium-free because the intent of the study was to focus on regular foods that had ample opportunity to reduce sodium levels between 2005 and 2011.

The researchers found wide variation in sodium levels in fast food. For instance, a medium serving of Burger King french fries had nearly twice the sodium as a medium serving of McDonald's french fries (670 mg versus 270 mg per 100 g serving).

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/-C2tKA72RN8/New-salt-study-We-re-still-drowning-in-salt

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'Idol' Champs vs. Runners-Up: Who's Actually Winning?

As Candice Glover is crowned the new American Idol winner, see which previous winners have been eclipsed by those who came in second.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/american-idol-winners-and-runners/1-b-73646?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aamerican-idol-winners-and-runners-73646

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Online Video Marketing for Business | Small Business Social ...

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Source: http://www.rangrage.com/online-video-marketing-for-business/

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Asian lady beetles use biological weapons against their European relatives

Friday, May 17, 2013

Once introduced for biological pest control, Asian lady beetle Harmonia axyridis populations have been increasing uncontrollably in the US and Europe since the turn of the millennium. The species has been proliferating rapidly in Germany; conservationists fear that the Asian lady beetle will out-compete native beetle species. Scientists from the University of Giessen and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, have now found the reason why this animal is so successful. Apart from a strongly antibiotic substance ? a compound called harmonine ? and antimicrobial peptides, its body fluid, the hemolymph, contains microsporidia. These tiny fungus-like protozoa parasitize body cells and can cause immense harm to their host. The Asian lady beetle is obviously resistant to these parasites in its own body. However, transferred to native species, microsporidia can be lethal. SCIENCE, May 17, 2013, DOI: 10.1126/science.1234032)

The Asian lady beetle ? a model organism for studying biological invasions

Because of its delicate, yet extremely variable, patterning, the lady beetle species Harmonia axyridis is sometimes called Harlequin ladybird. However, this insect has no comical characteristics. At the end of the last century, the species ? which is native e.g. in China and Japan and therefore called Asian lady beetle ? was successfully used in European greenhouses to keep aphid populations in check: It can devour hundreds of aphids per day, as well as many bug species or insect eggs. Yet today, this "bio killer" has escaped from the greenhouses and is spreading massively, but: A rapid and successful propagation of a neozoon ? the biological term for a species which is invading new habitats and ecosystems ? is not just an inevitable matter of course. In most cases, such a neozoon species doesn't survive or else its population density remains very low, because original and adapted life forms usually prevail in their ecological niche and win interspecific competitions. However, as soon as Harmonia axyridis is released into nature, it invades all habitats, especially those occupied by beetle species that feed on aphids. Within a very short period of time, native beetles are out-competed and the intruders have taken over. During the fall, major congregations of Asian lady beetles can be observed as swarms of insects search for hibernation places in houses or other sheltered areas. They are not only a nuisance, they can also cause serious allergic reactions in humans. When prey becomes scarce, Asian lady beetles may feed on grapes as a substitute diet and hence, they are often found on grape-vines in vineyards in the fall. Once in the mash, the defensive chemical substances in their hemolymph negatively affect the taste of wine.

Like most ladybug species, the Asian lady beetle reflexively secretes fluid from its hemolymph as soon as it is attacked by potential enemies. Hemolymph fluid contains toxins and is therefore defensive. Can the Asian lady beetle's secret of success be found in the hemolymph?

Microsporidia, tiny parasites present in the hemolymph of Harmonia axyridis, are the key to successfully out-competing native species

In comparison to other ladybug species, the hemolymph of H. axyridis contains a wide range of different antibacterial peptides ? small proteins that insects use to fend off pathogens. Andreas Vilcinskas, Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany, and Heiko Vogel, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, studied the complex immune system of the insects and were able to isolate the genes that encode the enormous antimicrobial repertoire of H. axyridis. The hemolymph also contains a special substance, harmonine, which has a strongly antibacterial effect. Harmonine is only found in the hemolymph of H. axyridis, where is it abundant. Both the proteins and harmonine are of interest in medical research where they offer promising targets for the development of novel antibiotics, potentially even those against malaria.

When H. axyridis and its relative Coccinella septempunctata, which is native to Germany, are infected with pathogenic bacteria, both beetle species produce antibacterial peptides. However, the Asian lady beetle switches from a general hygiene using harmonine to an effective defense strategy based on dozens of peptides. "This alone, however, does not answer our main question: Is such a strong immune system, capable of fending off pathogens, the sole reason why H. axyridis is conquering the habitats of other beetle species all over the world? Can Harmoniaout-compete other species just because it is more resistant to pathogens and, as a consequence, has a better chance to survive ? or do other important factors play a role?" asks Heiko Vogel.

Although lady beetles generally compete for their common food source, aphids, some beetles also eat each other. This phenomenon, called intraguild predation, is an important factor in the competition among predating lady beetles ? especially if they compete against the particularly aggressive invader H. axyridis. H. axyridis can feed on native lady beetles without harmful consequences. In contrast, native lady beetles that feed on H. axyridis die. How can that be?

A key experiment provided the answer to this question. The hemolymph of H. axyridis contains, apart from harmonine and antimicrobial peptides, a third defensive component: tiny biological weapons called microsporidia. These spores enable the invader to infect other beetle species, mainly because it is common among lady beetles to predate the eggs and larvae of other species. In their experiment, the scientists first injected harmonine into native C. septempunctata lady beetles, to establish whether this chemical substance harms the insects. In fact, the injection of hemolymph or purified microsporidia from H. axyridis had lethal consequences. A look through a high-resolution microscope revealed innumerable tiny spores in the hemolymph of the Asian lady beetle, spores that were even tinier than hemocytes. Microsporidic spores "germinate" and attack the cells of C. septempunctata; however, they do not germinate in H. axyridis. The Asian lady beetle can disable these biological weapons in its own hemolymph, but the spores become active as soon as they reach the body fluid of other beetle species. H. axyridis' very strong immunity against pathogens and the effect of the microsporidia may explain the ecological success of the Asian invader as it continues to out-compete native species across Europe. Now the researchers are interested in finding out how H. axyridis can disable the microsporidia in its own hemolymph. [JWK/AO]

###

Vilcinskas, A., Stoecker, K., Schmidtberg, H., R?hrich, C., Vogel, H. (2013). Invasive harlequin ladybird carries biological weapons against native competitors. SCIENCE. May 17, 2013, DOI: 10.1126/science.1234032 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1234032

Schmidtberg, H., R?hrich, C., Vogel, H., Vilcinskas, A. (2013). A switch from constitutive chemical defense to inducible innate immune responses in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis. Biology Letters 9: 20130006. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2013.0006

Vilcinskas, A., Mukherjee, K., Vogel, H. (2013). Expansion of the antimicrobial peptide repertoire in the invasive ladybird Harmonia axyridis. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B - Biological Sciences. 280: 20122113. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2012.2113

Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: http://www.ice.mpg.de

Thanks to Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/128277/Asian_lady_beetles_use_biological_weapons_against_their_European_relatives

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Plaintiffs in Mexico Yahoo case say will appeal court ruling

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two Mexican firms embroiled in a contractual dispute with Yahoo Inc will appeal a court ruling that overturned an earlier $2.75 billion judgment in their favor, a director of the companies said on Friday.

Yahoo announced the decision by the Mexican appellate court on Thursday. Both Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas S.A. de C.V. will contest the ruling, said Carlos Bazan-Canabal, a director at the companies.

"We're going to appeal it on the grounds of unconstitutionality," said Bazan-Canabal, adding that the plaintiffs would provide more details next week.

Last year, a civil court in Mexico City awarded the companies some $2.75 billion in a preliminary judgment that took the tech world by surprise. Yahoo fought that decision, prompting the higher appeals court to rule in its favor.

The dispute centers on alleged breach of contract by Yahoo relating to agreements signed between Yahoo de Mexico and Ideas Interactivas between 2002 and 2004 over a venture for an online business search function as well as printed volumes.

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/plaintiffs-mexico-yahoo-case-appeal-court-ruling-205028780.html

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Unglamorous Space Catastrophes That You'll Never See in a Movie

We were all impressed with the dramatic trailer for Gravity, with George Clooney weathering an explosion on an orbiting space station and Sandra Bullock spinning off into the void of space. Things like that make good cinema. There are other space crises, though, that will never get their own movies. Here are some space disasters that are just too awkward for the cinema.

Sewage System Failures

If there?s a failing system somewhere on a spaceship in a movie, something that?s spraying things all over, it?s always going to be either water or fire. Possibly, if the movie is set in the future, it?s antimatter. Whatever it is, it?s elemental and anodyne. It lets someone announce over the intercom system, ?The coolant leak is shorting out the life support systems!? What it isn?t, however, is literal crap bursting out of the walls and spraying all over the delicate equipment.

This is strange, since biological leavings are the one thing that we?ll never get rid of in human space travel. And, no matter what level of technological sophistication you are at, any sewage spill is always going to be a massive emergency. The most basic, retro movie could have something as simple as, ?poop bag explodes!? Because astronauts had to go in a bag, put in some chemicals that dissolve the product, and knead the bag to work the chemicals through, it?s not an unthinkable possibility. Any bursting of the bag would send liquidy poop flying through the capsule, doing a lot of damage. More recent spacecraft have toilets that shunt human leavings to an unheated compartment that then opens into space. This means that solid waste, and sometimes even liquid waste, freezes. Any sort of pressure from the outside would send frozen poop bullets and peecicles flying into the space craft. Again, causing a lot of damage. And not just damage to the equipment. There?s a reason people don?t live in sewers. With the limited availability of cleaning facilities, and the possibility of getting impaled by frozen feces, you?re looking at massive infections for the entire crew.

Even in the future, sewage problems present a major crisis. If you look at the Enterprise, it was a long-haul space ship that was meant to cross vast distances, and when it came across new civilizations it was not allowed to interfere with them in any significant way. This presumably included not dumping megatons of sewage on them and taking all their food. This, in turn, meant that the crew was eating food, and leaving waste. You figure out the connection there. Any problem with the sewage system would mean cutting, or changing, the food supply. Imagine the effect this would have on crew morale. Sure, it?s easy to be an enlightened, peace-loving civilization if every time you want a sundae the computer will give it to you. If Picard, or even Spock, had to chow down on barely-processed crap patties to scrape by on 1200 calories a day, they?d turn into a raiding party in about a week.

Minor Health Problems in Space

Movies are rife with space plagues and space madness and evil space worms that creep into your ear and burst out of your chest ? but rarely does any space movie deal with the minor, annoying health problems that inevitably crop up. We know about the host of medical problems brought about by the sudden loss of significant gravity. Generally this causes headache, nausea, and back ache, because the body naturally curves into a fetal position during weightlessness. This, in turn, leads to a hell of a lot of crankiness and, eventually, depression. Even during relatively short voyages, this is a problem ? especially when there?s a lot of work to do. There have been missions, even during the hyper-competitive space race days, that have been cut short because the some of the astronauts simply couldn?t take any more. In one case, on Skylab-4, there was a 24-hour mutiny during which the crew switched off communications and relaxed for a day, in rebellion against a punishing work schedule. This isn?t a glamorous fight-the-man kind of problem, but exhaustion, overwork, and a myriad minor pains can make people simply stop working, even if that means cutting off communication with the people whose job it is to keep them alive.

Again, this would be more of a real emergency if this were set in the future. It?s one thing for a crew of five to twenty to have a few aches and pains between them. It?s another when a ship of thousands, complete with families, suddenly loses artificial gravity so that everyone has a health problem. Imagine the chaos if everyone in an entire city got sick. Some are violently nauseous. Some have blinding headaches. Some have minor health problems that are suddenly exacerbated by the crisis. Some just have constant pain that denies them any adequate rest. No place could ever be built to deal with one hundred percent of the population getting hurt. It would be a death of a thousand cuts. A thousand, mundane, annoying little cuts.

The Depopulation of the Earth

Have you ever watched a program about space voyages and thought, ?Man, I wish during this amazing age of discovery, I was still on Earth, wearing neutral-colored jumpsuits and growing grapes?" No. Nobody has. Most movies and TV shows get around the fact that it?s cooler to be in space by showing spaceships as grungy or colony worlds as miserable wastelands that look, I?m sure by coincidence, like the bleaker parts of California?s southern deserts. It?s no surprise that no one wants to go there.

And yet, in a future where space ships jet around the galaxy filled with attractive people doing interesting things and discovering worlds that are semi-paradises, it doesn?t seem like the Earth would be a major attraction. Yes, we?ve all seen the nature documentaries. The Earth is a wondrous place. But there are plenty of wondrous places on Earth ? wide majestic deserts, fertile rolling valleys, silent solemn mountaintops - that have all been depopulated because some people discovered birth control and others decided that they?re going to New York to make performance art or become a stock broker. The world is full of ghost towns. In a future that, seemingly, has birth control available to everyone and a star ship ready to take you to any planet you desire, would you hang around the Earth? There are movies about space prisons. Maybe they?ve got it the wrong way around. Maybe the only way people will stay on Earth is if it?s turned into a prison.

Non-Evil Sentient Computers

HAL is one of the best movie villains ever. So is the Terminator. Evil, sentient computers are cool. They make for riveting movies. But there?s no real guarantee that, when a computer gains sentience, it?s going to be evil. The problem is, it?s equally unlikely that its sentience is going to be suited for space travel. The vast majority of people aren't candidates for NASA not because they are serial killers, but because they?re distracted, lazy, ignorant of the subject material, and not interested enough in learning it. They?d be a disaster if they went up on a mission.

But they wouldn?t be a fascinating movie-type disaster. They?d just be a miserable co-worker that everyone around them had to compensate for.

But no one can compensate for the computers on a space ship, or space station, if they turn out to be sentient and lazy. Computers on space ships need to be non-sentient, not because of the remote chance that they?ll be evil, but because of the very real chance that they?ll just not feel like doing the millions of boring things that we require them precisely when we require them to do it. Astronauts would have to spend hours cajoling a computer into doing the calculations necessary for navigation. They?d have to nag it to keep up the air filtration. (I?m guessing maintaining the sewage systems would also be a point of contention.) And that?s just routine maintenance. When timing really counts ? like landing on planets, taking space walks, or maneuvering up to other ships ? there would be moments of sheer terror while everyone wonders if the computer will be distracted by a cat video and forget to run the numbers at some crucial point. It would be like living with a negligent coworker who could kill you if they don't feel like making a fresh pot of coffee. And that's scary, but not glamorous.

This is the problem with being in an environment where anything that goes wrong can kill you. Anything can go wrong. But not anything makes a death you'd want to admit to. Or watch someone else suffer.

Source: http://io9.com/unglamorous-space-catastrophes-that-youll-never-see-in-508256799

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Doctor who promised cancer cure faces sentencing

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? At the age of three, Brianica Kirsch was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Her parents, desperate to find alternative measures for their daughter who had undergone surgeries and chemotherapy, turned to Dr. Christine Daniel, who offered an herbal supplement with a success rate she claimed was between 60 and 80 percent.

Brianica's parents spent thousands of dollars on the herbal product and their daughter spent much of her time in those last few months before she died in the summer of 2002 being shuttled from her Ventura County home to Daniel's clinic in the San Fernando Valley.

Daniel, 58, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in a Los Angeles courtroom where federal prosecutors are asking she be sentenced to 27 years in prison for crimes they deem cruel, despicable and heinous. Daniel's lawyer is seeking a nearly six-year prison term.

Daniel was convicted in September 2011 of 11 counts, including wire fraud, tax evasion and witness tampering. Authorities said Daniel used her position both as a doctor at the Sonrise Wellness Center and a Pentecostal minister to entice people from across the nation to take her herbal product to remedy cancer, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis.

Federal prosecutors argue that Daniel preyed upon people in their most vulnerable state and gave them false hope.

Daniel "repeatedly demonstrated a merciless and callous indifference to the suffering of her patients and their family members," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Johns wrote in court documents. "It is unlikely that our federal criminal justice system will see the like of defendant Christine Daniel again."

Some of her patients, relying on her product, died from complications of cancer within three to six months after taking the supplement. In one case, prosecutors contend a 22-year-old woman who had highly curable form of neck lymphoma died because she relied on Daniel's recommendation to avoid radiation or chemotherapy treatments.

For Brianica's parents, they implored Daniel for the stark truth given their daughter's condition.

"I remember telling Dr. Daniel before we started, 'If this isn't real, if you can't really help my daughter, please don't take away our last time with her,'" LuAnn Kirsch testified at Daniel's trial. "'Just let us go home if you can't really help.' Because you don't get that time back."

For other patients, they endured additional pain and suffering because they took the herbal tonic provided by Daniel. At trial, experts called by federal prosecutors said chemical tests of the product showed it contained beef extract flavoring and a sunscreen preservative among other ingredients.

"I live with the guilt that I should have seen that none of what she was going through was helping her, but instead was hurting her," Debra Harris wrote in a letter submitted to the court about her sister and Daniel's one-time patient Barbara Davis who later died. Harris said Daniel's patients were not only convinced by the physician that they could be cured but so were family members who "wanted to believe it just as bad."

Paula Middlebrooks also put her faith in Daniel, who billed her nearly $60,000 over a five-month period to help treat her terminal breast cancer. Eventually, Daniel pronounced Middlebrooks was free of cancer and threw her a party. But in reality the cancer was spreading and Middlebrooks died shortly after she returned to her home in Georgia.

"This heinous conduct was a clear effort to rid herself of a problematic patient, to lull other cancer fraud patients and to create yet another miraculous 'marketing' example of the success of her herbal cancer treatment that would be sure to spread throughout the evangelical Christian community," prosecutor Johns wrote in court documents.

In all, authorities believe Daniel siphoned about $1.1 million from dozens of families between 2001 and 2004.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/doctor-promised-cancer-cure-faces-sentencing-083518213.html

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Repeat brain injury raises soldiers' suicide risk

May 15, 2013 ? People in the military who suffer more than one mild traumatic brain injury face a significantly higher risk of suicide, according to research by the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah.

A survey of 161 military personnel who were stationed in Iraq and evaluated for a possible traumatic brain injury -- also known as TBI -- showed that the risk for suicidal thoughts or behaviors increased not only in the short term, as measured during the past 12 months, but during the individual's lifetime.

The risk of suicidal thoughts increased significantly with the number of TBIs, even when controlling for other psychological factors, the researchers say in a paper published online May 15 in JAMA Psychiatry, a specialty journal of the American Medical Association.

"Up to now, no one has been able to say if multiple TBIs, which are common among combat veterans, are associated with higher suicide risk or not," says the study's lead author, Craig J. Bryan, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Utah and associate director of the National Center for Veterans Studies. "This study suggests they are, and it provides valuable information for professionals treating wounded combat servicemen and women to help manage the risk of suicide."

Results showed that one in five patients (21.7 percent) who had ever sustained more than one TBI reported suicidal ideation -- thoughts about or preoccupation with suicide -- at any time in the past. For patients who had received one TBI, 6.9 percent reported having suicidal thoughts, and zero percent for those with no TBIs. In evaluating the lifetime risk, patients were asked if they had ever experienced suicidal thoughts and behaviors up to the point they were assessed.

The increases were similar for suicidal thoughts during the previous year rather than at any time: 12 percent of those with multiple TBIs had entertained suicidal ideas during the past year, compared with 3.4 percent with one TBI and zero percent for no TBIs.

In this study, suicidal ideation was used as the indicator of suicide risk because too few patients reported a history of suicide plan or had made a suicide attempt for statistically valid conclusions to be made.

Researchers found that multiple TBIs also were associated with a significant increase in other psychological symptoms already tied to single traumatic head injuries, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, and the severity of the concussive symptoms. However, only the increase in depression severity predicted an increased suicide risk.

"That head injury and resulting psychological effects increase the risk of suicide is not new," says Bryan. "But knowing that repetitive TBIs may make patients even more vulnerable provides new insight for attending to military personnel over the long-term, particularly when they are experiencing added emotional distress in their lives."

How the Study was Conducted

During a six-month period in 2009, 161 patients who received a suspected brain injury while on duty in Iraq were referred to an outpatient TBI clinic at a combat support hospital there. Patients were predominantly male, average age of 27, with 6.5 years of military service.

Diagnosis of traumatic brain injury was made by a clinical psychologist specifically trained in the assessment, diagnosis and management of the condition. Only patients with mild or no TBI completed all assessments; patients with moderate to severe TBI were immediately evacuated from Iraq.

TBI was confirmed if at least one clinical event was newly presented or worsened following the injury: loss of consciousness or memory, alteration of mental state, some neurological decline or brain damage.

Patients were divided into three groups based the total number of TBIs during their entire lives -- zero, single TBI and two or more -- the most recent of which was typically within the days immediately preceding their evaluation and inclusion in the study.

Each individual was also given surveys as part of his or her evaluation and treatment. Using standard evaluation tools, patients were surveyed about their symptoms of depression, PTSD and concussions, and their suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

"An important feature of the study is that by being on the ground in Iraq, we were able to compile a unique data set on active military personnel and head injury," Bryan says. "We collected data on a large number of service members within two days of impact."

At the same time, because the results of this study are based on a single clinical sample -active military in a war zone within days of the injury -- the researchers note that caution is advised before assuming that the results from this particular group will apply to every other group. Studies with larger sample sizes and conducted over longer periods of time will be needed.

Why TBI is of Concern for Military Personnel

As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a traumatic brain injury is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head, or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Effects can be mild to severe. The majority of TBIs that occur each year are concussions or other mild forms.

TBI is considered a "signature injury" of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and is of particular concern because of the frequency of concussive injuries from explosions and other combat-related incidents. Estimated prevalence of TBI for those deployed in these two countries ranges from 8 percent to 20 percent, according to a 2008 study.

In addition, according to studies by the RAND Corp., suicide is the second-leading cause of death among U.S. military personnel, and the rate has risen steadily since the conflicts began in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prevalence of PTSD, depression and substance abuse have risen as well, especially among those in combat, and each has been shown to increase risk for suicidal behaviors.

"Being aware of the number of a patient's head injuries and the interrelation with depression and other psychological symptoms may help us better understand, and thus moderate, the risk of suicide over time," Bryan says. "Ultimately, we would like to know why people do not kill themselves. Despite facing similar issues and circumstances, some people recover. Understanding that is the real goal."

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/PRIeGEpqYdY/130515163924.htm

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