The European Medicines Agency in London has agreed to give access to internal reports on the side effects of everyday medicines. The move, which will see the confidential information released in "the coming weeks," came after pressure from the Strasbourg-based EU Ombudsman's office.
"I saw that the weakness of the law was the 150-euro fine," he said recently. "I asked myself and my wife, can we pay it? The answer was yes, because this doesn't concern millions of people." Indeed, estimates of those who regularly wear burkas in France range from 400 to 2,000. Nekkaz, a businessman, whose parents immigrated to France from Algeria, and his Franco-American wife, Cecile Le Roux, have pledged a million euros of their own money to pay any fines that may arise from the law.
"I saw that the weakness of the law was the 150-euro fine," he said recently. "I asked myself and my wife, can we pay it? The answer was yes, because this doesn't concern millions of people."
Indeed, estimates of those who regularly wear burkas in France range from 400 to 2,000.
Nekkaz, a businessman, whose parents immigrated to France from Algeria, and his Franco-American wife, Cecile Le Roux, have pledged a million euros of their own money to pay any fines that may arise from the law.
(Reuters) - A new superbug could spread around the world after reaching Britain from India -- in part because of medical tourism -- and scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it. Researchers said on Wednesday they had found a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, in patients in South Asia and in Britain.NDM-1 makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems, and experts say there are no new drugs on the horizon to tackle it.
(Reuters) - A new superbug could spread around the world after reaching Britain from India -- in part because of medical tourism -- and scientists say there are almost no drugs to treat it.
Researchers said on Wednesday they had found a new gene called New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase, or NDM-1, in patients in South Asia and in Britain.
NDM-1 makes bacteria highly resistant to almost all antibiotics, including the most powerful class called carbapenems, and experts say there are no new drugs on the horizon to tackle it.
Bacterial conjugation is the transfer of genetic material between bacterial cells by direct cell-to-cell contact or by a bridge-like connection between two cells. Discovered in 1946 by Joshua Lederberg and Edward Tatum, conjugation is a mechanism of horizontal gene transfer as are transformation and transduction although these two other mechanisms do not involve cell-to-cell contact. Bacterial conjugation is often incorrectly regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating since it involves the exchange of genetic material. During conjugation the donor cell provides a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element that is most often a plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the recipient cell does not already contain a similar element. The genetic information transferred is often beneficial to the recipient. Benefits may include antibiotic resistance, xenobiotic tolerance or the ability to use new metabolites. Such beneficial plasmids may be considered bacterial endosymbionts. Other elements, however, may be viewed as bacterial parasites and conjugation as a mechanism evolved by them to allow for their spread.
Bacterial conjugation is often incorrectly regarded as the bacterial equivalent of sexual reproduction or mating since it involves the exchange of genetic material. During conjugation the donor cell provides a conjugative or mobilizable genetic element that is most often a plasmid or transposon. Most conjugative plasmids have systems ensuring that the recipient cell does not already contain a similar element.
The genetic information transferred is often beneficial to the recipient. Benefits may include antibiotic resistance, xenobiotic tolerance or the ability to use new metabolites. Such beneficial plasmids may be considered bacterial endosymbionts. Other elements, however, may be viewed as bacterial parasites and conjugation as a mechanism evolved by them to allow for their spread.
(Reuters) - As dozens of U.S. billionaires pledge their fortunes to charity and the country struggles to shake off recession, philanthropy is a growing status symbol of the rich, experts say. Being wealthy may no longer be about how many properties or fast cars a millionaire owns -- it could be about how much money they are giving away -- bringing hope to charities that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' philanthropic push inspires others."It will be something that's very important to the wealthy -- to be able to say: 'I give my money away as much as I spend it in all these other exciting ways,'" said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
(Reuters) - As dozens of U.S. billionaires pledge their fortunes to charity and the country struggles to shake off recession, philanthropy is a growing status symbol of the rich, experts say.
Being wealthy may no longer be about how many properties or fast cars a millionaire owns -- it could be about how much money they are giving away -- bringing hope to charities that Warren Buffett and Bill Gates' philanthropic push inspires others.
"It will be something that's very important to the wealthy -- to be able to say: 'I give my money away as much as I spend it in all these other exciting ways,'" said Stacy Palmer, editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.
Five of the 15 experts that advised the World Health Organisation about swine flu pandemic alerts had received support from the drugs industry, including for flu vaccine research, the WHO revealed on Wednesday. The agency released for the first time a list of the 15 members of the Emergency Committee headed by Australian tropical diseases professor John Mackenzie, who was the only member publicly named during the outbreak. They came from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America, the list posted on the WHO's website showed. Most were scientific researchers and epidemiologists, along with a Senegalese diplomat, public health officials from Thailand and Chile as well as two specialists on international air travel and health. The list can be seen at http://www.who.int/ihr/emerg_comm_members_2009/en/index.html.
The agency released for the first time a list of the 15 members of the Emergency Committee headed by Australian tropical diseases professor John Mackenzie, who was the only member publicly named during the outbreak.
They came from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin and North America, the list posted on the WHO's website showed.
Most were scientific researchers and epidemiologists, along with a Senegalese diplomat, public health officials from Thailand and Chile as well as two specialists on international air travel and health. The list can be seen at http://www.who.int/ihr/emerg_comm_members_2009/en/index.html.
The British National Party is taking part in a week-long conference in Japan organised by Nippon Issuikai, an extreme-right group that denies Japanese wartime atrocities.Adam Walker, the BNP's staff manager, is in Tokyo along with 20 MEPs and members of the Alliance of European National Movements, the "europarty" that brings together far-right parties from across Europe.Walker arrived in Tokyo today where he will spend the next week attending a congress on "The Future of Nationalist Movements" .According to the BNP, Walker has worked in Japan as a teacher and runs a martial arts academy.
The British National Party is taking part in a week-long conference in Japan organised by Nippon Issuikai, an extreme-right group that denies Japanese wartime atrocities.
Adam Walker, the BNP's staff manager, is in Tokyo along with 20 MEPs and members of the Alliance of European National Movements, the "europarty" that brings together far-right parties from across Europe.
Walker arrived in Tokyo today where he will spend the next week attending a congress on "The Future of Nationalist Movements" .
According to the BNP, Walker has worked in Japan as a teacher and runs a martial arts academy.
Researchers working in the Black Sea have found currents of water 350 times greater than the River Thames flowing along the sea bed, carving out channels much like a river on the land. The undersea river, which is up to 115ft deep in places, even has rapids and waterfalls much like its terrestrial equivalents. If found on land, scientists estimate it would be the world's sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.
The undersea river, which is up to 115ft deep in places, even has rapids and waterfalls much like its terrestrial equivalents.
If found on land, scientists estimate it would be the world's sixth largest river in terms of the amount of water flowing through it.
Sounds fammiliar:
According to Pausanias, [the river-god] Alpheius was a passionate hunter and fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, but she fled from him to the island of Ortygia near Syracuse, and metamorphosed herself into a well, after which Alpheius became a river, which flowing from Peloponnesus under the sea to Ortygia, there united its waters with those of the well Arethusa.
It is also deficient in oxygen and being very saline doesn't mix with the much less saline water flowing into the black sea from freshwater rivers. this means that the black sea is almost devoid of oxygen from 100 metres on down. That means, as Ballard discovered when he did some deep sea exploration, that anything that sinks below this level doesn't rot. He discovered a ship, about 15 centuries old, that was still as good as the day it sank. keep to the Fen Causeway
Greenland shed its largest chunk of ice in nearly half a century last week when the momentous break-up of the Petermann Glacier set a 100 sq mile chunk of ice drifting into the North Strait between Greenland and Canada. Scientists say Greenland is losing ice mass at an increasing rate, dumping more icebergs into the ocean because of warming temperatures
Mankind may be descended from apes but Australian scientists have found proof of links much closer to the sea floor, with a study revealing that sea sponges share almost 70 percent of human genes. Genetic sequencing of sea sponges from the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef showed the ancient marine animal shared many of its genes with humans, including a large number typically associated with disease and cancer. Lead researcher Bernard Degnan, of the University of Queensland, said the findings "would shed light on a whole range of different things," and could lay the foundation for breakthroughs in cancer and stem cell research. "Sponges have what's (considered) the 'Holy Grail' of stem cells," Degnan told AFP. Exploring the genetic function of sponge stem cells could provide "deep and important connections" to the genes that influenced human stem cell biology, he said.
Genetic sequencing of sea sponges from the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef showed the ancient marine animal shared many of its genes with humans, including a large number typically associated with disease and cancer.
Lead researcher Bernard Degnan, of the University of Queensland, said the findings "would shed light on a whole range of different things," and could lay the foundation for breakthroughs in cancer and stem cell research.
"Sponges have what's (considered) the 'Holy Grail' of stem cells," Degnan told AFP.
Exploring the genetic function of sponge stem cells could provide "deep and important connections" to the genes that influenced human stem cell biology, he said.
Now, let me get back to filter-feeding my breakfast. In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
In what is believed to be a medical first, researchers have used stem cells from bone marrow to repair the skin of young patients with a painful and usually deadly skin disease, a study published Wednesday says. Researchers led by University of Minnesota doctors John Wagner and Jakub Tolar in 2007 began treating children with a rare genetic skin disorder, called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with bone marrow stem cells that had been found in lab tests to repair skin in mice. There is currently no cure or treatment for epidermolysis bullosa, which causes skin to blister and scrape off with the slightest rub or bump. It can affect the lining of the mouth and esophagus as well as the skin, and makes activities that many children take for granted, such as eating, painful. The trial was the first to use bone marrow stem cells to treat something other than diseased or damaged marrow, said Tolar, associate professor of pediatric transplantation at the University of Minnesota.
Researchers led by University of Minnesota doctors John Wagner and Jakub Tolar in 2007 began treating children with a rare genetic skin disorder, called recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), with bone marrow stem cells that had been found in lab tests to repair skin in mice.
There is currently no cure or treatment for epidermolysis bullosa, which causes skin to blister and scrape off with the slightest rub or bump.
It can affect the lining of the mouth and esophagus as well as the skin, and makes activities that many children take for granted, such as eating, painful.
The trial was the first to use bone marrow stem cells to treat something other than diseased or damaged marrow, said Tolar, associate professor of pediatric transplantation at the University of Minnesota.
This year, Mexico City became the first capital in mainly Catholic Latin America to pass a law allowing gay couples the same marriage and adoption rights as heterosexuals. But Calderon's government and his right-wing National Action Party, or PAN, argued the law was unconstitutional on grounds it would be destructive to families. The powerful Catholic hierarchy in Mexico calls gay marriage immoral. While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause on Monday.
But Calderon's government and his right-wing National Action Party, or PAN, argued the law was unconstitutional on grounds it would be destructive to families. The powerful Catholic hierarchy in Mexico calls gay marriage immoral.
While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause on Monday.
"Kim Lemish, executive director of the East Point Housing Authority, said the event marked the first time the city has offered Section 8 housing applications since 2002. The waiting list that lasted eight years had depleted, she said, and the agency was beginning a new one. So people braved all the physical difficulties just to get on a waiting list that could keep them waiting for years....
"Only families with incomes no more than half the median income for the area qualify. The median income for the East Point area is less than $32,000, according to Census data. It is up to the renter to find a place that meets HUD standards, which includes being 90 percent to 110 percent of the 'local fair market rent.' " Read more...
-- Personal point of reference: Transfer amounts do not obtain "90% - 110%" of fair market value. I looked into Sec. 8 the winter of 2008 a couple months after Dr MarketTrustee died. I needed to move immediately and was decidedly uncertain about my employment prospects. I found that the app window had already closed; it's opened once annually for 30 days. And the maximum benefit of $700 (xcounty) was insufficient for my purposes in Montgomery County where local median rent 2BR1BATH, by my xcounty search, was $1900. More important, the agency later announced at its web site FY enrollment was limited to 800 out of 27K apps received to the program. Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.
