European health officials have said that Botox can have negative side effects, said to a German news report. The announcement came months after warnings against the wrinkle-smoothing injections were issued in the US. The European Medicines Agency, based in London, found over 600 cases of negative side-effects with a potential link to Botox by August 2007, reported the German news weekly Focus in its edition to be released Monday, Sept. 1. In 28 of the cases, the Botox users died. Some 210 cases with a presumed link to the injection -- five of them lethal -- were reported by the Federal Institute for Medication and Medical Products in Germany.
The European Medicines Agency, based in London, found over 600 cases of negative side-effects with a potential link to Botox by August 2007, reported the German news weekly Focus in its edition to be released Monday, Sept. 1.
In 28 of the cases, the Botox users died.
Some 210 cases with a presumed link to the injection -- five of them lethal -- were reported by the Federal Institute for Medication and Medical Products in Germany.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulinum_toxin">Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is one of the most poisonous naturally occurring substances, and it is the most toxic protein.[1] Though it is highly toxic, it is used in minute doses both to treat painful muscle spasms, and as a cosmetic treatment in some parts of the world. It is sold commercially under the brand names Botox, Dysport, and Myobloc for this purpose. The terms Botox, Dysport, and Myobloc are trade names and are not used generically to describe the neurotoxins produced by C. botulinum.
Last month farmers around France announced that they had lost between 40 and 100 per cent of their oysters aged one to two years old. According to oysters farmers cited by weekly magazine Marianne, the culprit is the triploid oyster, which is modified to give it three pairs of chromosomes instead of two, as is the case with common oysters. "It's the triploid's fault", one was quoted as saying. "But one mustn't say that because the scientific and financial stakes are considerable". According to Marianne, a disease linked to the triploid could have spread to non-modified oysters in offshore parks, although it gave no further details. A growing number of oyster farmers favour the triploid, introduced into France in 1999, as it is grows much faster than other types and is sterile. This means the oyster never becomes milky and mushy, as is the case with normal oysters in their reproductive period.
Last month farmers around France announced that they had lost between 40 and 100 per cent of their oysters aged one to two years old.
According to oysters farmers cited by weekly magazine Marianne, the culprit is the triploid oyster, which is modified to give it three pairs of chromosomes instead of two, as is the case with common oysters.
"It's the triploid's fault", one was quoted as saying. "But one mustn't say that because the scientific and financial stakes are considerable".
According to Marianne, a disease linked to the triploid could have spread to non-modified oysters in offshore parks, although it gave no further details.
A growing number of oyster farmers favour the triploid, introduced into France in 1999, as it is grows much faster than other types and is sterile.
This means the oyster never becomes milky and mushy, as is the case with normal oysters in their reproductive period.
On the Road Again Pump Prices Revive Appeal of Natural Gas on Capitol Hill and in Detroit Motorists fuel their vehicles with natural gas in Salt Lake City. Fewer than 2,000 U.S. gas stations carry natural gas. By Jordan Weissmann Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 26, 2008; Page D01 In the early 1990s, all three major American automakers started building clean and efficient natural gas vehicles. But when a new federal law failed to create an expected guaranteed market, the momentum died. Today, only Honda sells a model in the United States -- and in minuscule numbers. Now, as drivers reel from the shock of high gasoline prices, natural gas vehicles are attracting renewed interest both on Capitol Hill and in Detroit. Proposed legislation and a new impetus at General Motors may bring a modest revival. -Skip- Natural gas vehicles run on a normal internal combustion engine but have a special, high-pressure fuel tank that is cheap to fill. In April, the equivalent of a gallon of compressed natural gas averaged $2.04, compared with $3.53 for gasoline. They also emit 20 percent less greenhouse gas and less than a third the amount of smog than petroleum-powered cars. .... The vehicles have some high-profile advocates. For months, T. Boone Pickens has plugged them as a key part of his plan to wean the United States off foreign petroleum. -Skip- Meanwhile, both Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) have introduced legislation that would help increase the number of natural gas pumps at fueling stations and boost the number of natural gas vehicles on the road. Many advocates, especially politicians, are attracted to natural gas because it is mostly a local resource. The United States gets 98 percent of its supply from domestic sources. And many think that recently discovered deposits of shale in Louisiana, Texas and under the Appalachian Mountains could keep the country self-sufficient for decades.
Motorists fuel their vehicles with natural gas in Salt Lake City. Fewer than 2,000 U.S. gas stations carry natural gas.
By Jordan Weissmann Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, August 26, 2008; Page D01
In the early 1990s, all three major American automakers started building clean and efficient natural gas vehicles. But when a new federal law failed to create an expected guaranteed market, the momentum died. Today, only Honda sells a model in the United States -- and in minuscule numbers.
Now, as drivers reel from the shock of high gasoline prices, natural gas vehicles are attracting renewed interest both on Capitol Hill and in Detroit. Proposed legislation and a new impetus at General Motors may bring a modest revival.
-Skip-
Natural gas vehicles run on a normal internal combustion engine but have a special, high-pressure fuel tank that is cheap to fill. In April, the equivalent of a gallon of compressed natural gas averaged $2.04, compared with $3.53 for gasoline. They also emit 20 percent less greenhouse gas and less than a third the amount of smog than petroleum-powered cars. ....
The vehicles have some high-profile advocates. For months, T. Boone Pickens has plugged them as a key part of his plan to wean the United States off foreign petroleum.
Meanwhile, both Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) have introduced legislation that would help increase the number of natural gas pumps at fueling stations and boost the number of natural gas vehicles on the road.
Many advocates, especially politicians, are attracted to natural gas because it is mostly a local resource. The United States gets 98 percent of its supply from domestic sources. And many think that recently discovered deposits of shale in Louisiana, Texas and under the Appalachian Mountains could keep the country self-sufficient for decades.
The United States gets 98 percent of its supply from domestic sources.
Canadians will be happy to know that their gas counts as "domestic" for the US... (they export roughly 3.7 tcf/y of gas to the US each year, or 100 bcm/y) out of a total consumption of 22 tcf (or around 600 bcm/y). 17%, in other words. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
It seems to me that at anything like current prices, market forces will encourage a longer term move to renewables, but CNG could help in the short term, especially for fleets. CNG-hybrids could be a good interim solution for school bus fleets, and other government vehicle fleets especially. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
I would like to see something that puts the probable contributions of the more recent Barnett, Fayetteville and Haynes gas fields into clear context. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
And the easiest way to reduce gas use is to burn coal in power plants... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
But everything is interim with fossil fuels. If there are adequate supplies for home heating and industrial uses as well as providing some significant portion of fuel for vehicular transportation, say 20%, for another 15 years, that would seem to be an adequate window for an interim CNG solution, especially for school bus fleets, etc. That is what I would like to see explored. That, and the degree of confidence, if any, that we could have in any answer. As the Dutch said while fighting the Spanish: "It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."
Glamorous rail journeys that evoke a bygone era have never been more popular. Now they are being joined by the Danube Express, thebrainchild of a former BR employeeHoward Trinder was bitten by the railway bug when he stood as a child in a Paris station and read down a departure board offering direct sleeper trains to Venice, Istanbul and Berlin. Throughout his subsequent 30-year career in British Rail, he retained his dream of reviving a golden era of rail travel, with its hand-built carriages and glamorous evenings in a restaurant car trundling across Europe. Later this week, the improbable vision of this self-confessed "rail nut" son of a Durham ticket inspector will become reality, when the gleaming 12-carriage Danube Express, built at a cost of more than £5m from rolling stock that once belonged to the Hungarian postal service, pulls out of Budapest on its first journey to Warsaw. The trip will herald the arrival of the first luxury train service in continental Europe since 1981, when the Venice-Simplon Orient Express - the modern successor to the 1930s express which epitomised high-end rail travel - was revived. The Danube Express will be the only opulent sleeper service operating between such evocative destinations as Berlin, Istanbul and Prague.
Howard Trinder was bitten by the railway bug when he stood as a child in a Paris station and read down a departure board offering direct sleeper trains to Venice, Istanbul and Berlin. Throughout his subsequent 30-year career in British Rail, he retained his dream of reviving a golden era of rail travel, with its hand-built carriages and glamorous evenings in a restaurant car trundling across Europe.
Later this week, the improbable vision of this self-confessed "rail nut" son of a Durham ticket inspector will become reality, when the gleaming 12-carriage Danube Express, built at a cost of more than £5m from rolling stock that once belonged to the Hungarian postal service, pulls out of Budapest on its first journey to Warsaw.
The trip will herald the arrival of the first luxury train service in continental Europe since 1981, when the Venice-Simplon Orient Express - the modern successor to the 1930s express which epitomised high-end rail travel - was revived. The Danube Express will be the only opulent sleeper service operating between such evocative destinations as Berlin, Istanbul and Prague.
I saw the train parked at West Station just today. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
