SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? Chinese food safety regulators in the southern city of Shenzhen have found carcinogenic mildew in peanuts and cooking oil, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.
The cancer-causing substance, called aflatoxin, triggered public concern this week after milk giant Mengniu Dairy Co Ltd said last weekend its Sichuan plant had destroyed products found by a government quality watchdog to contain it.
Aflatoxin occurs naturally in the environment and is produced by certain common types of fungi. It can cause severe liver damage, including liver cancer.
Xinhua reported that the Shenzhen market supervision bureau had said it found up to 4.3 times of the permitted level of aflatoxin in peanuts sold in two supermarkets and one frozen food store, and up to four times the allowed level of aflatoxin in cooking oil in four restaurants.
Fungi and the aflatoxin they produce can infect crops before harvest or during harvesting and storage. The tainted crops then enter the foodchain either directly, or indirectly via animal feed.
On Thursday, food safety officials recalled cooking oil produced by three companies in the southern Guangdong province because they may contain excessive levels of aflatoxin.
These incidents are the latest in a string of safety scandals to hit China's food industry in recent years.
In 2008, at least six children died and nearly 300,000 became ill in China from drinking powdered milk laced with melamine, an industrial chemical added to low-quality or diluted milk to give misleadingly high protein readings.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina ? Argentina's president cracked jokes and sounded optimistic Wednesday after her thyroid cancer diagnosis was announced, but she's clearly struggling with the need to delegate power while she recovers from next week's surgery.
Cristina Fernandez's thyroid removal operation, scheduled for Jan. 4, is expected to be as routine as cancer surgery can be. Doctors predict a speedy recovery, since papillary thyroid carcinoma detected before it spreads is highly curable without chemotherapy.
Still, the idea of leaving her vice president in charge for 20 days appears to pose a daunting challenge for Fernandez, who has never been comfortable delegating.
She praised her constitutional successor, former Economy Minister Amado Boudou, for sharing her political ideas, but jokingly warned him to "be careful what you do" as interim president and made clear that she'll be keeping a close watch on things while recovering at her home in Patagonia.
"The truth is that I ? everything is too much. You can't be in charge of everything," Fernandez acknowledged. "The body can't handle it."
Indeed. Despite the doctors' assurances, simply combining the words "cancer" and "Cristina" had Argentines worried about the mortality of a leader who has been virtually alone at the top. Even before the death of her husband, Nestor Kirchner, of a heart attack last year, she had grown accustomed to ruling through emergency decrees after consulting only a small circle of loyal advisers.
"It affects me deeply," said Cecilia Maldonado, a young office worker in downtown Buenos Aires. "Because if you begin to think about her having to leave the presidency, or something happening to her ... there isn't anybody who could replace all the energy that she's put into raising up this government."
Fernandez and Kirchner were Argentina's ultimate power couple, whose fervent supporters say they've done more for the country during their combined two terms in office than anyone since legendary strongman Juan Domingo Peron and his wife, Evita, used the country's post-World War II riches to move a generation of working people into the middle class.
Fernandez, 58, dispelled doubts about her survival skills after Kirchner's death and won re-election by a landslide in October, in part because voters saw the grieving widow as indomitable ? the only one capable of containing Argentina's social pressures and keeping on track the economy, which grew at more than 9 percent this year.
Argentina has come back strong from its disastrous devaluation and debt default a decade ago, reducing poverty, unemployment and the wealth gap, and directing billions of dollars in revenue to the poor through social programs. But many worry that such achievements could disappear when Fernandez leaves office.
"Just when it seems like we're getting a little better," complained Maldonado, reacting to the news. "Ten years ago, I lived through 2001, and I really suffered. ... Only now can you see things improving, and plan for the future."
The cancer diagnosis worries Argentines precisely "because it's a one-person government ... where only the president makes decisions," said Mariel Fornoni, director of the Management & Fit consulting firm. "That's why there's so much doubt about what might happen."
Still, Fornoni said, it's clear that the president's planned medical leave is irrelevant, and that no real decision will be made without consulting her.
Fernandez spoke of her cancer diagnosis as she announced new revenue transfers to provincial governments, seeking to project an image of normalcy. Several of the gathered governors and ministers who gave her an extended standing ovation said they were relieved to see her in good spirits and fully in command.
"She seems optimistic, making jokes. Clearly she's not going to let anything slow her down these next four years," said Jorge Capitanich, governor of the northern state of Chaco.
Just behind her during her speech was an architect's rendering of an image of Evita Peron that now towers over the widest avenue in Buenos Aires. Comparisons weren't lost on Argentines, who learn as children that Evita died in 1951 because she neglected her own health while caring for the poor, letting uterine cancer spread until it was incurable.
The president's doctors said Fernandez was told of her cancer on Dec. 22, the same day that her newly inaugurated Senate majority, racing to approve new laws ahead of its summer recess, significantly increased several executive powers.
And while Fernandez talked of delegating on Wednesday, she reversed herself practically in the same breath.
"We're going to keep going with the same energy we've always had. We need to face things as we've always done, taking charge of everything that's our responsibility, and everything else as well," she said. "I'm going to keep working the same as always, for Argentina, for nothing other than her, and for all the Argentines."
___
Associated Press writer Almudena Calatrava in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.
Gadget Lab has seen a Windows 8 tablet in action, and the experience opened our eyes to just how useful -- and, yes, even fun -- a Windows 8 tablet might be. But will Windows 8 tablets actually be successful? We give you four reasons that say, yes, Windows 8 tablets might be a big surprise.
On the surface, it?s easy to shrug at Sunday?s slate of games, given the sense that only a few postseason loose ends remain.? But as our good friend Ricky Diamond, producer extraordinaire at NBC Sports, points out, all but three of the games have meaning.
Unfortunately for FOX, all three of the meaningless games ? Redskins-Eagles, Bears-Vikings, Seahawks-Cardinals ? will be televised on its network.
Here are the implications of each of the other games.
Bills at Patriots:? New England clinches the top seed in the AFC with a win.? A loss combined with a win by the Steelers or Ravens would push the Pats to No. 2.
Jets at Dolphins:? New York remains alive for the second wild-card berth in the AFC.
Titans at Texans:? Ditto for the Titans.
Colts at Jaguars:? The Colts secure the No. 1 pick if they lose; if they win (and if the Rams lose to the 49ers), the pick goes to St. Louis.
Ravens at Bengals:? The Ravens need a win to clinch the AFC North and the No. 2 seed.? The Bengals must win to secure the second wild-card berth in the AFC.
Steelers at Browns:? A Steelers win plus a Ravens loss gives Pittsburgh the AFC North title and the No. 2 seed.? Throw in a Patriots loss, and the Steelers emerge with the No. 1 seed.
Chiefs at Broncos:? Denver clinches the AFC West with a victory.
Chargers at Raiders:? Oakland takes the AFC West with a victory and a loss by the Broncos.? The Raiders with a win also have a shot at the second AFC wild-card berth.
Panthers at Saints:? The Saints can capture the No. 2 seed in the NFC with a win and a 49ers loss.
Buccaneers at Falcons:? With a Falcons win and a Lions loss, Atlanta secures the No. 5 seed in the NFC, avoiding a potential return trip to New Orleans.
Lions at Packers:? With a win, the Lions clinch the fifth seed, avoiding the Saints in the wild-card round.
49ers at Rams:? A win by San Fran nails down the No. 2 seed; a loss by the Rams could deliver the top pick in the draft, if the Colts beat the Jaguars.
Cowboys at Giants:? A true playoff play-in game, the winner takes the NFC East.? The loser goes home.
And so be sure to ring in the New Year by keeping your eyes on every NFL game on Sunday.? (Except the three that don?t matter.) We?ll be watching them all ? including the three that don?t matter ? and bringing you all the pertinent information right here.
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Originally published: December 30, 2011 5:32 PM
Updated: December 30, 2011 5:49 PM
By ELLEN YAN
?ellen.yan@newsday.com
The return of a Baby Jesus, stolen from a Nativity scene, is being requested by a Roslyn Harbor church, Nassau County police said Friday.
The figure was probably taken from in front of St. Mary's Church, at 110 Bryant Ave., between 7 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday, police said.
The theft is classified as a larceny, police said, but church officials are "only requesting the safe return...
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A report today is claiming that the Obama Administration is in secret talks with the Israeli government to figure out exactly what would constitute a good excuse for launching an attack on Iran.
The talks came after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made comments suggesting that attacking Iran is something that the US and Israel ?would regret,? apparently causing many top Israeli officials to react furiously and for Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to file an official complaint with the Obama Administration.
Panetta followed up the speech with much more hawkish ones, apparently aimed at publicly placating Israel, but behind the scenes the administration has been seeking to clarify what exactly counts as a ?red line? that would give the US and Israel the excuse to launch an attack.
Officially, of course, both sides would insist such an attack was about Iran?s nuclear program. But since both nations have been claiming Iran is within striking distance of acquiring nuclear weapons since the mid-1980s, the excuse isn?t going to really fly internationally, so both nations are hoping to settle on something which could be the ?trigger? for the attack.
Adele came in at #2 on Billboard 200 between Bublé's Christmas and Jeezy's latest. By Gil Kaufman
Young Jeezy's <i>TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition</i> Photo: Def Jam
There's just no catching Michael Bublé on the Billboard 200 as 2011 comes to a close. The smooth crooner will top the charts once again next week thanks to his holiday steamroller, Christmas, moving another 467,000 units. In just over two months, MB has sold 2.4 million copies, giving him the second best-selling album of the year to date, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan.
And though he's put up very impressive numbers in a short time, there's no way he can surpass 2011's chart champ, Adele, whose 21 sold another 399,000 copies, giving her more than 5.6 million in sales so far this year. Right behind Adele at #2 was the week's only new top 10 entry, Young Jeezy's long-awaited TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition.
The rest of the top 10: Justin Bieber's Mistletoe (#4, 225,000), Drake's Take Care (#5, 131,000), Lady Antebellum's Own the Night (#6, 110,000), Rihanna's Talk That Talk (#7, 99,000), Nickelback's Here and Now (#8, 99,000), Black Keys' El Camino (#9, 92,000) and Now That's What I Call Music! 40 (#10, 88,000).
Just outside the top 10, people were clearly picking up copies of Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto as stocking stuffers, sending the album's sales up 85 percent to 85,000 and eight slots to #12 as it closes in on sales of 1 million. The only other notable new entry on the charts was Common's The Dreamer/The Believer, which will debut at #18 on sales of 69,000.
Several top 20 artists got a serious double-digit boost in the run-up to Christmas, including LMFAO (up 85 percent), Mary J. Blige (up 75 percent), Florence and the Machine (up 101 percent) and Lil Wayne (up 93 percent).
Perhaps an upcoming feature on the next version of the iPhone or iPad, Apple filed a patent today with the United States Patent and Trademark Office that outlines a method of face recognition for taking an iOS device out of sleep mode. Likely built into a future version of iOS, an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad would recognize that a user is in the vicinity after the user picks up the device and utilize the camera to scan the user?s face to turn on the device automatically. While security would be a concern to anyone that currently uses a password to lock their iOS device, Apple mentions that the software would isolate?unique facial features in addition to specific skin tones to recognize a face. The software would memorize the attributes to the face, but the user may potentially have to reset the scan after any form of facial plastic surgery or something as simple as a sunburn. ?
Apple is already utilizing face detection in the iPhone 4S for photography. The camera automatically detects up to 10 faces within the picture and sets the focus on the most?prominent face. It?s likely that the current face detection software will be customized to work with facial recognition elements.?Apple calls the new technology ?low threshold face recognition? and is designed to work in many situations where lighting can be an issue. Facial recognition technology already exists on Google Android phones with the recent release of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. While the feature is definitely interesting, users were quickly able to fool the software into unlocking the phone after scanning a picture of the user?s face. Google warns users that facial recognition offers lower security that using a pin or other password to lock the Android device.
Apple filed this patent 18 months ago and hasn?t issued any official comment on how this technology will be utilized in future devices. Any announcement concerning the use of facial recognition on iOS devices will likely come at the next Apple press conference. ??
This article was originally posted on Digital Trends
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MEXICO CITY ? Mexican federal police said Wednesday they detained one of the United States' most-wanted drug traffickers, Luis Rodriguez Olivera, at Mexico City's international airport.
U.S. authorities had offered a reward of up to $5 million for Rodriguez Olivera, who is known by the nickname "Blondie," according to Mexico's Public Safety Department.
Olivera and his brother Esteban are accused of smuggling tons of cocaine and methamphetamine into Europe and the U.S., mainly through Texas. Esteban was extradited to the United States in March.
Luis Rodriguez Olivera, 39, was indicted in U.S. federal court in 2009 on cocaine-smuggling conspiracy and related charges. The red-haired suspect was arrested Tuesday, officials said.
His gang, known as "The Blondies" formed temporary allegiances with bigger Mexican cartels, including the Sinaloa cartel, the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel, officials say. He is being held until a hearing on a U.S. extradition request.
Also Wednesday, Mexican authorities seized 120 metric tons of a precursor chemical used to make methamphetamines at the Pacific coast port of Lazaro Cardenas, the fifth such large shipment seized so far in December.
The Attorney General's Office said the shipment, like the previous four, came from China and was destined for Puerto Quetzal in Guatemala.
The chemical, which filled eight shipping containers, was identified as methylamine.
The latest bust brings to almost 675 metric tons the amount of meth precursors seized in Mexico in December, more than half of the entire amount ? 1,200 tons ? seized in Mexico in all of 2011.
Experts familiar with meth production call it a huge amount of raw material, noting that under some production methods, precursor chemicals can yield about half their weight in uncut meth.
Authorities said they seized 205 tons of the chemical at Lazaro Cardenas over several days in early December, and on Dec. 19 they announced the discovery of almost 100 metric tons. On Dec. 23, authorities announced the seizure of 229 metric tons of precursor chemicals at the port, and on Dec. 26 another 21 tons were found at another port.
Experts familiar with meth production call it a huge amount of raw material, noting that under some production methods, precursor chemicals can yield about half their weight in uncut meth.
Authorities have not said which cartels the shipments may have belonged to.
The port of Lazaro Cardenas is located in the home territory of the Knights Templar drug cartel, but the Sinaloa and Zetas cartels have been more active in Central America. Officials say the Sinaloa cartel in particular has moved into meth production on an industrial scale.
Mexico has busted a few huge meth laboratories, and traffickers could be looking for other locations to install production.
"When controls over precursors were strengthened in the United States, manufacture shifted to Mexico," according to the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime 2011 World Drug Report. "As Mexico has responded with strong counter-methamphetamine initiatives, manufacturing activities are increasingly reported from countries in Central and South America."
In Guatemala, National Police spokesman Donald Gonzalez said Puerto Quetzal has tightened controls after a period in which traffickers had moved shipments "with ease" at the terminal.
"Now it is more difficult for that to happen, because better control measures have been implemented," Gonzalez said.
The National Police have reported seizing 7,847 barrels of precursors so far in 2011, with 3,876 of those seized at Puerto Quetzal. No weight measure of those seizures was immediately available, but if those were standard shipping drums, which usually contain 55 gallons or 208 liters, that would suggest Guatemala's total seizures may have equaled or surpassed Mexico's.
___
Associated Press Writer Sonia Perez contributed to this report.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? People who eat lots of red meat may have a higher risk of some types of kidney cancer, suggests a large U.S. study.
Researchers found that middle-aged adults who ate the most red meat were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than those who ate the least. A higher intake of chemicals found in grilled or barbecued meat was also linked to increased risk of the disease, they reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
"Red meat is an important source for iron (and) it has protein," said Dr. Mohammed El-Faramawi, an epidemiologist from the University of North Texas Health Science Center in Fort Worth, who has studied diet and kidney cancer risks but wasn't involved in the new study.
"You should not stop eating red meat because there is an association between red meat and renal cancer," he told Reuters Health. Instead, eating a limited amount of meat while following dietary recommendations is a good idea, he said.
U.S. guidelines call for limiting high-fat foods including processed meat, and instead eating more lean meat and poultry, seafood and nuts.
Eating red meat in large amounts -- even if it doesn't necessarily lead to kidney cancer -- increases the risk of a host of health problems, such as plaque buildup in the arteries, El-Faramawi added.
Previous studies examining the link between red meat and kidney cancer arrived at mixed conclusions, according to Carrie Daniel, from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, and her colleagues.
To try to clear up that picture, they used data from a study of close to 500,000 U.S. adults age 50 and older, who were surveyed on their dietary habits, including meat consumption, and then followed for an average of nine years to track any new cancer diagnoses.
During that time, about 1,800 of them -- less than half a percent -- were diagnosed with kidney cancer.
On average, men in the study ate two or three ounces of red meat per day, compared to one or two ounces among women. Participants with the highest consumption of red meat -- about four ounces per day -- were 19 percent more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than those who ate the smallest amount, less than one ounce per day.
That was after accounting for other aspects of diet and lifestyle that could have influenced cancer risks, such as age, race, fruit and vegetable consumption, smoking and drinking and other medical conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes.
When the researchers looked at the most common types of kidney cancers, they found that the association between red meat and cancer was stronger for so-called papillary cancers, but there was no effect for clear-cell kidney cancers.
People who ate the most well-done grilled and barbecued meat -- and therefore had the highest exposure to carcinogenic chemicals that come out of the cooking process -- also had an extra risk of kidney cancer compared to those who didn't cook much meat that way.
The study doesn't prove that eating red meat, or cooking it a certain way, causes kidney cancer. And, El-Faramawi pointed out, some people who eat lots of red meat won't develop cancer, while others that hardly eat any will.
Daniel and her colleagues said more research is needed to figure out why red meat may be linked to some types of kidney cancers but not others.
But for now, meat-related cooking chemicals "can be reduced by avoiding direct exposure of meat to an open flame or a hot metal surface, reducing the cooking time, and using a microwave oven to partially cook meat before exposing it to high temperatures," Daniel told Reuters Health in an email.
"Our findings," she concluded, "support the dietary recommendations for cancer prevention currently put forth by the American Cancer Society -- limit intake of red and processed meats and prepare meat by cooking methods such as baking and broiling."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/u2TOw9 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, January 2012.
10 Fundamental Tips for Social Media Community Managers
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Community managers are becoming an increasingly important role for all types of businesses, and we're seeing the role appear everywhere from tech startups to major corporate brands. Most commonly, community managers are responsible for engaging current and potential customers via social media and growing vibrant, enthusiastic communities around their products and services. Some community managers even facilitate conversations in private online forums, work with internal company intranets, and act as customer support.
Community managers?must strike a balance. Externally, community managers are the voices of their brands in social media, serving as?social media strategists, customer service?managers,?content creators, product managers, and evangelists. Internally, they are the voice of their communities at their own companies. Community managers bring the conversations they have with community members to the forefront of marketing, customer service, and product discussions, epitomizing the value and function of a?social business.
Because community manager jobs vary at each company, there is no one magic bullet to make a community management program work. But with more and more community manager jobs showing up every day, here are some tips for new or aspiring community managers or those who think they could benefit from a community management function in their marketing department.
1. Fish Where the Fish Are
When it comes to social media, it?s very easy to get?caught up in tactics. It?s important to establish and monitor your presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube, but for goodness' sake, you're only human! Prioritize based on what drives the most ROI. Whether that's blogs, tweetups, in-person conferences, or new social media platforms, spend your time where your community spends theirs.
2. Identify and Delegate to Your Power Users
Identify your most engaged community members and top influencers, and leverage their voice by offering them guest blog spots, curating their own content in a news round-up, re-sharing it in some other capacity, or offering them a position as a community moderator in your forum.
3. ?But Don?t Play Favorites Too Much
Loyal community members are great resources; they are the first people to provide feedback, share your content, refer you to others, and even stick up for you. But make sure to keep an even playing field for new, quieter community members. Each new commenter, forum member, tweeter, and group member matters. Challenge yourself and get a unique perspective by engaging with them, too. It?s your job to build a community, not a clique of power users who make your job easy and build resentment among other members.
4. Say ?I?m Sorry.?
Community managers are typically the ones running Twitter and Facebook accounts and will also be the ones responding to complaints. That means you have to learn how to say you're sorry. Not, "I'm sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused." That's total baloney. If your service isn?t working and a community member is angry enough to go ranting about it on Twitter, you've definitely caused an inconvenience.?Speak in first person with genuine emotion like you would to someone in real life.
5. Stay Calm and Maintain Perspective
It?s natural to get frustrated or stressed out on busy days when responding to complaints online or answering a lot of questions.?Breathe. It's just the internet.
Plus, your biggest critics can turn into your biggest fans if you successfully and swiftly resolve their problems. Those that take the time to offer negative feedback will also often take the time to be your advocate.
6. ...But Remember the 2% Rule
The 2% rule states, ever so scientifically, that there's always going to be a chunk of naysayers in any group. No matter what you do, these people are just going to be, well, jerks. For an easy example, go take a look at the comments section of a blog or news site. There's always a handful of people that are irrational and not really looking to contribute to productive discussion. You can do your best to turn these negative people, but don't beat yourself up over it and let a few bad apples spoil the bunch.
7. Anticipate Common Questions and Know Your Product Inside and Out
Answering questions about your product or service through social media or email will probably be a major part of your job.?Be prepared ahead of time.?This is?especially important if you work in a?regulated industry?in which you may need your tweets or Facebook communication to have prior approval.?Go over common questions with your product or support team to make sure you have your answers (including your 140-character ones) accurate. You can also create FAQs and step-by-step guides to link to, which will cut down on hand holding time and repeat questions.
8. Don?t Forget About Email
Email may seem old-school compared to sexier tools like social media, but remember, every single social media user has an email address!?Email is?the glue that?makes social media stick, and if you offer helpful content with an?email newsletter or product digest, it can be a great way to keep community members engaged.
9. Engage Offline
Even with the ability to have global, online communities, community building starts at home. Use meetups to connect with your local audience. These events can inspire evangelists who will vouch for you as they get to know you better as a local company, and as they get to know?you?face-to-face. Those people are most certainly connected to a larger, global network through social media. This is where your first network of power users can stem from.
10. Your Social Media Accounts Are No Longer Your Own, But Your Time Is
As the face of your brand online, people will inevitably identify you as the community manager for that company. The number of Twitter followers you have may grow, and you may begin to get more Facebook and LinkedIn requests from people you don?t personally know from real life. Even if you put "Tweets are my own"?in your Twitter bio, people see your thoughts aligned with your company.
Be who you are and represent yourself online as someone you are proud of. Have a rant you?really really really?want to post? We've all been there. But remember that we tend to?regret the rants we do post on social media, not the things we don't.
Maintaining a healthy personal and professional balance is tricky, but?take control of your experience on social media and don?t stop enjoying it.?Use Twitter lists, Facebook lists and filters. Own your privacy, your time, your news feed, and your personal network.
Are you a community manager, or have you hired one for your marketing team? What benefits has your company seen since the introduction of the role?
Digitimes, the hit-or-miss rumor news site, has additional speculation from industry sources that Apple may be looking to Foxconn for assembly orders of their upcoming Siri-powered Apple Television, in addition to a number of potential bids for contracting component production.
DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first in the second test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Monday.
South Africa made one injury-enforced change to the team that won the first test at Centurion by an innings and 81 runs, with Vernon Philander ruled out with a knee injury.
Marchant de Lange, the 21-year-old rookie fast bowler from northern South Africa who has played just 14 first-class matches, will be playing his first test in place of Philander.
The Sri Lankans have made one change with uncapped wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal replacing Kaushal Silva.
Teams:
South Africa - Graeme Smith, Jacques Rudolph, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Ashwell Prince, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, Imran Tahir, Marchant de Lange.
Typically, the week before Christmas, stocks and commodities drift higher due to the lack of participants. Light volume favours higher prices, which is why stocks want to rise going into the holiday season.
The big money players, like hedge fund managers, are finished for the year. They're sitting on the sidelines enjoying the holiday season while waiting for their year-end bonus checks.
Let's take a quick look at how the week finished...
Friday was an interesting session as stocks and oil reached some key resistance levels. Below are my thoughts, charts, and a possible trade idea for next week.
Gold & Silver Thoughts:
Looking at the long term charts of gold and silver, I feel they could head much lower in the first quarter of 2012. The inverse relationship between the dollar index and gold makes me think this is a high probability scenario.
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The weekly dollar index chart remains strong at this point and could start another very strong rally any day. Once the dollar starts heading higher, expect precious metals to move down along with equities.
SP500, Dollar and Volatility Index
Below are three charts stacked on top of each other. They are marked with my analysis and thoughts for next week. Personally, I don't feel shorting stocks is a safe play. The last week of the year, we can see the volatility index (VIX), and the dollar, rise without putting pressure on stocks. So be aware of that.
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TRADE IDEA - View Chart:
Crude oil looks like a great low risk opportunity (a real "Christmas" present!) from Mr. Market. SCO would be the ETF for US based traders. HOD, which is listed on the TSX, is good for Canadians. I favour this setup because I don't feel that oil will be as affected from the holiday bulge as will American equities.
Pre-Holiday Trading Conclusion:
I was planning on avoiding the market Friday, but the charts were calling my name... The session ended with what looked to be a short squeeze. The remaining short positions didn't get their expected drop in price. Consequently, when the traders all started to cover their shorts (buy) just before the close, it caused a strong surge higher.
I do not recommend shorting stocks next week because of the light volume. However, oil looks good to me.
Just thought I would share my end of the week thoughts, and wish you a Merry Christmas!
Earlier this year, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announced recommendations that surprised the medical community: Healthy men should no longer have the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test to screen for prostate cancer. An article published in the Dec. 6, 2011, issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine concluded that PSA tests resulted in little or no reduction in the number of prostate cancer deaths.?
Local urologists?including Nilesh Patil, MD?say encouraging men to avoid the test all together may result in men dying unnecessarily, particularly for those in increased risk categories.?
"There has been a 40 percent decline in prostate cancer-related deaths since the PSA test was introduced,? says Patil, an assistant professor at the UC College of Medicine and UC Health physician. "The test could be improved, but it can provide important clues that prostate cancer may be developing. If the patient waits until he has symptoms, the cancer may have advanced to a less treatable stage.??
The National Cancer Institute estimates that 240,890 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 33,720 will die from the disease in 2011. Here, Patil addresses some of the common myths about prostate cancer.
MYTH: If I don?t have symptoms, I don?t need to have a check up or a blood test.
Most localized or early prostate cancers are asymptomatic. Prostate cancers arise from the periphery of the prostate, hence they are asymptomatic. If you are having symptoms of prostate cancer, then more likely than not, you are not going to be cured of prostate cancer as it will have been detected in an advanced stage.
MYTH: If you have surgical treatment of prostate cancer, you will be incontinent, i.e. leak urine.
Patil: Surgical treatment of prostate cancer, removes the prostate, not the control mechanism of urinary control. ?Most men are completely continent after surgery, when they relearn the use of the external sphincter, a muscle that controls leakage of urine. With current available modalities of surgery and technology (robotic) and the vision and precision with which these structures are preserved over 96 percent of men undergoing surgery are completely continent.
MYTH: If you have surgery, you will be impotent, i.e. lose sexual function
Patil: Sexual function of an individual is based on the pre-operative sexual function, stage and extent of cancer and the surgical procedure one undergoes. Broadly speaking there are two nerves in very close proximity to the prostate which are responsible for the sexual function of the men. If these nerves are spared and if an individual is young, the recovery of sexual function is very good. These nerves are spared in low grade and low volume cancer. Hence earlier detection will allow for sparing of these nerves and better recovery of sexual function post operatively.
MYTH: Prostate biopsy is a painful procedure.
Patil: Prostate biopsy is not a painful ?procedure Typically it is done as an office procedure and when done appropriately it is pain free. A nerve block is given and sample tissues are taken from the prostate. But the procedure requires a probe in the rectum which is uncomfortable, not pain inducing.
MYTH: If your PSA is normal, you don?t have prostate cancer:
Patil: The suspicion of prostate cancer is based on a digital rectal examination and a blood test (PSA). It is the combination of these tests that determine if you need a prostate biopsy. If there is one thing we know from the prostate cancer prevention trials, it is the fact that there is no range of PSA that rules out prostate cancer. Even people with PSA < 2 ng/ml can have prostate cancer.
? Patil offers a catheter-less robotic prostate cancer surgery that eliminates the need for a penile catheter post-surgery. Learn more about the procedure here.?
The HTC Radar 4G is available from T-Mobile. Unlike most smartphones that are released these days, the device was originally launched in white, looking like it was dropped in some snow. That is what makes the picture of the phone found on Microsoft's website so interesting. The variant shown in the image on the Microsoft site has the same white border but the outer part of the device is black. The two-tone look gives the phone the appearance of a Maitre d' wearing a tuxedo.
We are not sure if HTC plans on issuing a version of the handset looking like this, or if it was just done for the website. We must admit to digging the look, even if it seems formal. In fact, this might be the first Windows Phone handset that gets invited to a Black Tie affair.
By the way, while the Microsoft website is offering the HTC Radar 4G free with a $50 mail-in rebate, a $100 trade-in value on your old handset, and a signed two-year contract, T-Mobile's site is offering the device for free with the two year lock up.
One of the leading lithium-ion battery makers in theUSAis set to expand into China after announcing $30million in new private equity.
The company has received investment from GSR Ventures, as well as Oak Investment Partners and Foundation Asset Management. It follows on from an announcement in September of $125million in growth capital and Chinese government stimulus programmes that is being used to boost manufacturing, research and development in the country.
Boston Power has started work on a new manufacturing site in Liyang and hopes the facility will be open by the end of 2012 ? it will be capable of producing 400MWh of lithium-ion battery cells every year. Meanwhile, the company is also establishing an electric vehicle battery research and development, and engineering facility in Beijing.?
Of course this doesn?t mean that it is turning its back on its Massachusetts roots. It will still have a team in Westborough that focuses on intellectual property development, global customer support, research and development and business development and partnerships.
Climate change has seemed to fade from the news as of late, much to Charley?s chagrin, for good reason so we are told. The conventional narrative is that this is no longer a priority in light of the economic downturn and the desperation so many Americans have for jobs, any jobs, that can help them put food on the table and roofs over their heads. That narrative, now a bipartisan one, states that climate change is something only the elite are concerned about and a way for more government regulation and interference from the natural course of the economy.Union support of the Keystone pipeline and progressives like Gov. Cuomo backing accelerated fracking are just a few areas where the environment ?has? to go on the backburner. The irony is we stand to lose many jobs from climate change, and the impact is already being felt in our own backyards.
News items like this one about the ski industry and this one about the fishing industry suggest to me that climate change is already hurting staples of the New England middle class and it is only going to get worse. Climate change effects everything. Shorter falls mean a shorter foliage season hurting the already weak tourist industry in Western MA. The rising temperatures and ocean levels could cause severe damage to homes and entire communities, threatening coastal tourist meccas and leading to even more dangerous building collapses from harsh winters like we had last year. These are just some of the consequences. This issue should be front and center in the upcoming center race. One candidate, Elizabeth Warren, has already taken a clear and progressive position on climate change:
1)Its real
2)Its hurting all of us, especially New England
3)Tacking it head on creates, rather than destroys, jobs right here at home
?
From her website:
?
Renewable energy. If we invest now in 21st century energy, we can lower the costs of production for all of our future work. Right now, renewable energy competes with old energies that get lots of special breaks in Washington. Massachusetts can lead the world in using green technology to cut production costs and make our products competitive around the world. Again, we could do this right here, right now?and create jobs here in Massachusetts.
?
From Sen.Brown we seem to hear multiple choices on this issue, perhaps a cue from his political mentor Mitt Romney:
There were early indicators he was against taking any action, coupled with contradictory notes to constituents.
Our next US Senator must take up this issue and be a drum major for progressive change and policies that will not only secure the health of our environment but the long term health of our economy as well. Multiple choices just don?t cut it on this test.
Improving family consent in organ donation could save livesPublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gabby Fletcher gabby.fletcher@oup.com 01-865-353-969 Oxford University Press
Research published today in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the UK could be increased if the current issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). From 2003 to 2005, the overall consent rate for donation after brain death (DBD) was 59%. This figure remains largely unchanged with a consent rate of 63% for DBD in 2007-2009. The low consent rate for organ donation in the UK is the largest factor limiting actual organ donor.
Currently, organ donation consent is established by views expressed prospectively via membership of the ODR or views expressed to a family member. However, when a patient is deceased and has not previously expressed a wish to their relatives about organ donation the health care professional will discuss donation with the family. Up to 10% of families of potential donors, who are on the ODR, still refuse assent to donation. At present, it is accepted practice to respect the family's wishes despite the existence of valid legal consent.
The paper 'Consent for Organ Donation' by Vincent and Logan, published in a special issue regarding organ donation for the British Journal of Anaesthesia, calls for action on the concerns and issues that affect consent.
Make Your Donation Wishes Known:
Findings have consistently shown that only 50% of those that wish to donate after death have discussed this with a family member. It is extremely important that donors discuss their wishes with their close relative because ultimately it is the family which authorizes organ donation. Research has found that family discussion strongly predicts consent for donation from family members.
Recent research has examined the negative attitudes felt in joining the ODR and suggests that these may be the most important barriers to address. These include a level of disgust felt in the idea of organ procurement, a belief that registering for organ donation will jinx the individual; and mistrust of the medical profession. Addressing such negative beliefs should be a key component in public campaigns to increase donation.
Staff Care and Interaction:
The relative's experience and interaction with staff can have a huge impact on the decision to consent or refuse donation. The basic principles of medical practice should always be in place. However, a wider treatment of care for the family itself can have a very positive or negative effect on consent. Provisions of physical support in the form of comfortable accommodation, staff availability throughout the patient's admittance, empathy to the family, and a respectful and dignified treatment, are all factors that can have a positive impact on donation rates.
Make Sure the Family Understands
Understanding brain stem death is an important factor in organ donation. Studies have consistently found that an astounding amount of relatives do not fully understand brain death, even after it has been explained by the attending doctors. It is extremely important that brain stem death is explained so that a relative can fully understand that their loved one is dead before donation takes place. Once this understanding has been reached discussion and consent for organ donation can then begin. Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation are also trained and have the time to make sure families understand this. It has been suggested that allowing a family to witness tests or providing imaging or diagrams to explain concepts could help to improve a family's understanding of brain death.
Who should request consent?
It is intuitive that a specialist coordinator, with systematic training, a skill set that understands the modifiable factors and grief reactions of the family, and a day-to-day experience of dealing with such encounters, may perform better than a physician who may be involved in donation infrequently. Studies carried out by Shafer and colleagues suggest that early contact with families and interaction before any conversation about donation increased consent and authorisation rates. The study showed 75% consent rates for groups that had contact with a coordinator for more than 3 hours. Since 2009, the UK has expanded its pool of coordinators from 100 to 250. It is anticipated that the value and expertise the specialist nurses bring to the intensive care unit will become accepted more widely in areas where the model has not already been embraced.
Practical steps for improving consent:
Promote the need for families to discuss their wishes regarding organ donation
Discuss donation at a time separate to that when the family are informed of the death or its inevitability, in an unhurried manner
Ensure the family are given specific information and that in particular, concerning DBD, the concept of brain stem death is fully explained
Use an approach pre-planned by the coordinator/specialist nurse and healthcare team that considers specific individual circumstances
Dr. A. Vincent, author of 'Consent for organ donation', comments that "Only 60% of families when asked, give consent for organ donation from a loved one. Research would suggest that adopting a best practice model with respect to the process involved in consent for organ donation could improve this rate. It is an improvement in consent rates, more than in any other area, that would see a real increase in donor numbers in the UK."
Paul Murphy, National Clinical Lead for Organ Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant said: "Organ transplantation is made possible through the generosity of people who donate their organs so that others can live on, but also through the skill and dedication of a great many clinical staff. There has been much progress in recent years in transforming the systems and processes across the UK to increase rates of organ donation and transplantation, and there is more work needed to improve rates further.
NHS Blood and Transplant plays a key part in overseeing and managing donation and transplant processes and is privileged to have been involved in producing this supplement which brings together the professional views of many highly respected and experienced clinicians and showcases the work being done in the UK to increase donor numbers."
###
Note to Editors:
Any reference to this article must be attributed to British Journal of Anaesthesia published by OUP.
'Consent for organ donation' by A. Vincent and L. Logan. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer353
The paper can be accessed here: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/bjaint/prpaper.pdf
Other Papers of interest on the subject of organ donation:
'International practices of organ donation' by C. Rudge, R. Matesanz, F. L. Delmonico and J. Chapman. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer399
'Respecting wishes and avoiding conflict: understanding the ethical basis for organ donation and retrieval' by B. Farsides. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer370
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Improving family consent in organ donation could save livesPublic release date: 22-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gabby Fletcher gabby.fletcher@oup.com 01-865-353-969 Oxford University Press
Research published today in the British Journal of Anaesthesia suggests that organ donation rates in the UK could be increased if the current issues affecting declined consent are improved. At present, only 30% of the UK population are registered on the NHS Organ Donor Register (ODR). From 2003 to 2005, the overall consent rate for donation after brain death (DBD) was 59%. This figure remains largely unchanged with a consent rate of 63% for DBD in 2007-2009. The low consent rate for organ donation in the UK is the largest factor limiting actual organ donor.
Currently, organ donation consent is established by views expressed prospectively via membership of the ODR or views expressed to a family member. However, when a patient is deceased and has not previously expressed a wish to their relatives about organ donation the health care professional will discuss donation with the family. Up to 10% of families of potential donors, who are on the ODR, still refuse assent to donation. At present, it is accepted practice to respect the family's wishes despite the existence of valid legal consent.
The paper 'Consent for Organ Donation' by Vincent and Logan, published in a special issue regarding organ donation for the British Journal of Anaesthesia, calls for action on the concerns and issues that affect consent.
Make Your Donation Wishes Known:
Findings have consistently shown that only 50% of those that wish to donate after death have discussed this with a family member. It is extremely important that donors discuss their wishes with their close relative because ultimately it is the family which authorizes organ donation. Research has found that family discussion strongly predicts consent for donation from family members.
Recent research has examined the negative attitudes felt in joining the ODR and suggests that these may be the most important barriers to address. These include a level of disgust felt in the idea of organ procurement, a belief that registering for organ donation will jinx the individual; and mistrust of the medical profession. Addressing such negative beliefs should be a key component in public campaigns to increase donation.
Staff Care and Interaction:
The relative's experience and interaction with staff can have a huge impact on the decision to consent or refuse donation. The basic principles of medical practice should always be in place. However, a wider treatment of care for the family itself can have a very positive or negative effect on consent. Provisions of physical support in the form of comfortable accommodation, staff availability throughout the patient's admittance, empathy to the family, and a respectful and dignified treatment, are all factors that can have a positive impact on donation rates.
Make Sure the Family Understands
Understanding brain stem death is an important factor in organ donation. Studies have consistently found that an astounding amount of relatives do not fully understand brain death, even after it has been explained by the attending doctors. It is extremely important that brain stem death is explained so that a relative can fully understand that their loved one is dead before donation takes place. Once this understanding has been reached discussion and consent for organ donation can then begin. Specialist Nurses in Organ Donation are also trained and have the time to make sure families understand this. It has been suggested that allowing a family to witness tests or providing imaging or diagrams to explain concepts could help to improve a family's understanding of brain death.
Who should request consent?
It is intuitive that a specialist coordinator, with systematic training, a skill set that understands the modifiable factors and grief reactions of the family, and a day-to-day experience of dealing with such encounters, may perform better than a physician who may be involved in donation infrequently. Studies carried out by Shafer and colleagues suggest that early contact with families and interaction before any conversation about donation increased consent and authorisation rates. The study showed 75% consent rates for groups that had contact with a coordinator for more than 3 hours. Since 2009, the UK has expanded its pool of coordinators from 100 to 250. It is anticipated that the value and expertise the specialist nurses bring to the intensive care unit will become accepted more widely in areas where the model has not already been embraced.
Practical steps for improving consent:
Promote the need for families to discuss their wishes regarding organ donation
Discuss donation at a time separate to that when the family are informed of the death or its inevitability, in an unhurried manner
Ensure the family are given specific information and that in particular, concerning DBD, the concept of brain stem death is fully explained
Use an approach pre-planned by the coordinator/specialist nurse and healthcare team that considers specific individual circumstances
Dr. A. Vincent, author of 'Consent for organ donation', comments that "Only 60% of families when asked, give consent for organ donation from a loved one. Research would suggest that adopting a best practice model with respect to the process involved in consent for organ donation could improve this rate. It is an improvement in consent rates, more than in any other area, that would see a real increase in donor numbers in the UK."
Paul Murphy, National Clinical Lead for Organ Donation at NHS Blood and Transplant said: "Organ transplantation is made possible through the generosity of people who donate their organs so that others can live on, but also through the skill and dedication of a great many clinical staff. There has been much progress in recent years in transforming the systems and processes across the UK to increase rates of organ donation and transplantation, and there is more work needed to improve rates further.
NHS Blood and Transplant plays a key part in overseeing and managing donation and transplant processes and is privileged to have been involved in producing this supplement which brings together the professional views of many highly respected and experienced clinicians and showcases the work being done in the UK to increase donor numbers."
###
Note to Editors:
Any reference to this article must be attributed to British Journal of Anaesthesia published by OUP.
'Consent for organ donation' by A. Vincent and L. Logan. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer353
The paper can be accessed here: http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/bjaint/prpaper.pdf
Other Papers of interest on the subject of organ donation:
'International practices of organ donation' by C. Rudge, R. Matesanz, F. L. Delmonico and J. Chapman. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer399
'Respecting wishes and avoiding conflict: understanding the ethical basis for organ donation and retrieval' by B. Farsides. British Journal of Anaesthesia. doi:10.1093/bja/aer370
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public health agencies are looking to interview survivors of the killer tornadoes that hit north and central Alabama on April 27.
State Health Officer Don Williamson says the goal is to explore ways to lessen the loss of lives and property in future disasters. The state departments of Public Health and Mental Health are working on the project with the Centers for Disease Control.
They are asking storm survivors to call the state Department of Public Health at 1-855-228-3777 or enter their contact information online at the department?s website. Then they will be called back to schedule a phone interview of 20 to 30 minutes beginning Jan. 9.
Interviewers will be either Alabama college students or staff from the Centers for Disease Control.
Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The talks came after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made comments suggesting that attacking Iran is something that the US and Israel ?would regret,? apparently causing many top Israeli officials to react furiously and for Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren to file an official complaint with the Obama Administration.
gregorycortez 
Apple is already utilizing face detection in the iPhone 4S for photography. The camera automatically detects up to 10 faces within the picture and sets the focus on the most?prominent face. It?s likely that the current face detection software will be customized to work with facial recognition elements.?Apple calls the new technology ?low threshold face recognition? and is designed to work in many situations where lighting can be an issue. Facial recognition technology already exists on Google Android phones with the recent release of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone. While the feature is definitely interesting, users were quickly able to fool the software into unlocking the phone after scanning a picture of the user?s face. Google warns users that facial recognition offers lower security that using a pin or other password to lock the Android device.
Community managers are becoming an increasingly important role for all types of businesses, and we're seeing the role appear everywhere from tech startups to major corporate brands. Most commonly, community managers are responsible for engaging current and potential customers via social media and growing vibrant, enthusiastic communities around their products and services. Some community managers even facilitate conversations in private online forums, work with internal company intranets, and act as customer support.
albuquerqueone 
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Public release date: 22-Dec-2011
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Public health agencies are looking to interview survivors of the killer tornadoes that hit north and central Alabama on April 27.