Saturday, December 31, 2011

Convert a Paper Airplane into an Electric Plane

The PowerUp Electric Powered Paper Airplane Conversion Kit from TailorToys will turn a homemade folded paper airplane into an electric powered propeller driven plane. It comes with one propeller module and a charger module which runs on 3 AA batteries. You will need to supply your own paper to fold your plane. Once folded, clip [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/12/30/convert-a-paper-airplane-into-an-electric-plane/

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Digestive Acts of Sea Cucumbers May Be Dissolving Coral Reefs (LiveScience.com)

Sea cucumbers secrete acidic compounds that may be weakening the structure of the coral communities in which they live.

The main component of a coral reef is calcium carbonate (CaCO3), a mineral that makes up the corals and much of the sand and rubble around them. Many of the organisms living on the reef either add to or absorb CaCO3 from the surrounding environment. In a healthy reef this would be in balance, but when the calcium carbonate is out of whack, the reef may be unhealthy and could cease to grow.

The researchers studied a part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef known as One Tree Reef. In one specific area, called DK13, they found lots of sea cucumbers. They collected these squishy animals and studied them in the lab.

Life of a reef

Researchers measure coral reef growth by measuring how much calcium carbonate is in the surrounding waters. If CaCO3 levels drop, it means the reef is growing. The researchers found that the digestive action of the sea cucumbers increases the CaCO3 levels in the waters, and may account for about half of the total nighttime increase in calcium carbonate.

The sea cucumbers survive by scouring the seafloor for food. They suck in sand and rubble and send it through their digestive system, filtering out the edible particles and sending the rest of the rocks and sand on its way. During this process, the sea cucumbers produce acids to dissolve the carbonate-based sand, which produces soluble calcium carbonate minerals that are released into the surrounding waters.

"This CaCO3: You can argue that it is not 'the reef,' as it is not coral and seems not to be reef-building," study researcher Kenneth Schneider, of the Carnegie Institution for Science at Stanford University, told LiveScience. "You can also claim that the sea cucumber recycles these materials to make them available for other organisms ... and I will fully agree with you that sea cucumbers have an ecological role in recycling."

But in times of stress or changing ocean acidification, this process might get sticky.

Times of trouble

"In a case where the ability of reef organisms to precipitate CaCO3 will decrease ? say, due to ocean acidification or thermal stress ? ... that sand and rubble that the sea cucumbers dissolve may hurt the reef to a point where a reef is eroding and its stability weakens," Schneider said in an email.

"The reef is built mainly by corals and calcifying algae, but between the structure sand and rubble accumulate," he wrote. "This material fills up gaps in the reef structure and creates the sand and rubble on the reef floor at the same time it adds stability to the reef structure."

The calcium carbonate may not be completely a bad thing: It could help buffer this secluded reef from the increasingly acidic ocean ? "helping to maintain the overall health of the coral reef," Schneider said. "Although sea cucumbers may play a part in reef dissolution, they are also an important part of an incredible marine environment."

The study was published Dec. 23 in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111230/sc_livescience/digestiveactsofseacucumbersmaybedissolvingcoralreefs

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Friday, December 30, 2011

Kazemi has 13 points, 15 rebounds as Rice beats Corpus Christi, former coach 78-66


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HOUSTON ? Arsalan Kazemi had 13 points, 15 rebounds and five assists Wednesday night as Rice defeated Texas A&M Corpus Christi 78-66.

Dylan Ennis added 12 points, Lucas Kuipers and Tamir Jackson 11 each, and Connor Frizzelle 10 for the Owls (9-5).

Terence Jones had 15 points, Myron Dempsey 14 and Chris Hawkins-Mast 13 for Corpus Christi (1-11), which lost its ninth straight game.

Rice turned the ball over 23 times ? leading to 30 points for the Islanders ? but prevailed by shooting 50 percent from the field and outrebounding Corpus Christi 47-35. The Islanders shot 34 percent and were just 1 for 9 on 3-point attempts.

The game marked a homecoming for Corpus Christi coach Willis Wilson, who is the winningest coach in Rice history (219 wins from 1992-2008) and was playing against his former school for the first time since being fired after a 3-27 season.

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Source: http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/story/b3ae37b987ff45919c230d1317677406/BKC--Texas-AM-Corpus-Christi-Rice/

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WernerPatels: Why? They're all useless losers! Eight fired Ontario nuclear plant workers get their jobs back http://t.co/q71q42L8 #roft

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Thursday, December 29, 2011

Watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Live Hockey HD Streaming


Watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Live NHL Game via Free Online Streaming without paying a single dime. Thanks to the latest internet web browser free HD streaming technology you will never miss your favorite NHL game ever again! To watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers Live NHL match you do don't need any additional hardware and/or equipment. All you need is a PC or Laptop and an internet connection and you can enjoy today's NHL match ( Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers ) from the comfort of your own home.

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Ice Hockey fans from all over the world can finally watch their favorite teams online, via free streaming technology. To watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers and the other 11 Live NHL game taking place today, click on the link below to start free internet streaming. Enjoy Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers and good luck to your favorite NHL team! When the links to the stream for the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers live broadcast event are shown, the general rule that will let you know if you need extra software installed is to look at the first column on our schedule - the one that says P2P.

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If that column says YES then you will need to install the software for the application that is listed in the fourth column - The one that says Type. If you have that application installed then just click play and the stream for Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers will start. If the P2P column says NO then you normally will not need anything else installed to watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers. Just click Play and the stream will start if it is broadcasting. There is no catch. It really is that simple to watch Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers. There are all different types of applications that might be used to provide you with a stream of the Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers event. New applications to stream events like Toronto Maple Leafs vs Florida Panthers are released frequently. Fortunately most do not need to be installed on your PC.

Source: http://androidcommunity.com/forums/f24/watch-toronto-maple-leafs-vs-florida-panthers-live-hockey-hd-streaming-84006-new/

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[NFL: Chicago Bears] - Carimi undergoes procedure on knee

Carimi undergoes procedure on knee

Posted: Tuesday, December 27th 5:47?PM

By: Larry Mayer (www.chicagobears.com)

... urn to action before the start of training camp next summer. Selected by the Bears with the 29th pick in the first round of the draft, Carimi started all four ...

to add a comment. New users can Sign up for free.

Source: http://www.sportspyder.com/teams/chicago-bears/articles/5497915

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BCS Championship Game tickets available in drawing to aid tornado relief efforts

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama --?The state's on-going?tornado relief effort is being benefitted through the generosity of a former Alabama football player and a drawing for a pair of BCS National Championship Game tickets.

A former Tide player, who wants to remain anonymous, has donated his two tickets to the Jan. 9 Alabama-LSU rematch in New Orleans?to the Dade Organization Acting in Disaster (DOAD). Those tickets will be raffled off with all proceeds going to the relief program.

The raffle will be conducted on the web site of the Chattanooga Times Free Press www.timesfreepress.com/doadtickets. A donation of $20 makes a person eligible to win the tickets. The contest will begin Dec. 23 and run through Jan. 4. A winner will be selected at random on Jan. 5. The championship game will be played Jan. 9 in the Superdome in New Orleans.

DOAD represents relief efforts from the series of April tornadoes in Dade County, GA, but also in the northeastern Alabama counties of Jackson and DeKalb. Dade borders those counties and DOAD is extending assistance in the sparsely populated areas in the extreme northwest.

Two persons died and almost 300 homes were totally or partially destroyed from the tornadoes in Dade. Just across the state line, on Sand Mountain, 12 individuals lost their lives and dozens of other homes were demolished or damaged.

"Our primary focus just after the emergency need was to get the community up and going again," said Joseph Chambers, chairman of DOAD. "Once we got out of that, we were looking at helping individuals. We are helping to rebuild and we are continuing to help with repairs."

To date, DOAD is working on rebuilding five homes and continuing to repair others. It has purchased five trailers for families, and has done myriad types of repair work on single family homes and trailers, in addition to purchasing furniture and household goods.

"Right now, we still need $100,000-$150,000 to finish off this disaster," Mr. Chambers said.

Although the organization is based in Trenton, GA., the county seat of Dade County, much work is being done in Alabama.

"State lines and county lines become blurred in a disaster," said Howard Doyle, a case manager for DOAD. "They are our neighbors. We want to help them as well."

According to Mr. Chambers, foundations have been established for three homes on Sand Mountain. He believes the relief effort won't be completed until late in 2012.

For more information, contact DOAD at 706-657-3233 ext 364.

Source: http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/12/bcs_championship_game_tickets.html

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

New Hampshire Primary Beckons GOP Candidates Jan. 10 (ContributorNetwork)

The Iowa caucus will help decide the 2012 GOP race for the presidential nominee. A week later, the primary election for New Hampshire is Jan. 10, one week after Iowans make their choice.

Here is some background information regarding the New Hampshire primary election.

History

The History Channel states New Hampshire first held a presidential primary in 1952. Primaries for choosing presidents often didn't come into popular use until the 1970s in the United States. New Hampshire was one of the first states to implement such an election for choosing presidents of the United States.

New Hampshire's official almanac states the first victor in the New Hampshire primary was Dwight D. Eisenhower. The former general was so popular, he never once campaigned in the state and won on reputation alone. He was elected president after Harry S. Truman left office.

Richard M. Nixon holds the records for most victories in the New Hampshire primary. From 1960 to 1972, he won three contests. In the 1960 race, there were only 15 states that held presidential primary elections.

Results

Every incumbent president who has run unopposed in New Hampshire has won a second term in office, going back to Eisenhower in 1956. More recently, New Hampshire has played a bigger role in national politics. In 2000, Democratic vice president Al Gore won with nearly 76,900 votes. Sen. John McCain of Arizona won the Republican side with 115,600 votes in a seeming landslide over George W. Bush. Bush came back later in the primary season to become the nominee and win the general election.

McCain won again 2008 after coming in a distant fourth place in the Iowa caucus. The New York Times noted the Arizona Republican garnered just 15,559 votes in Iowa and then picked up nearly six times as many in New Hampshire. Despite an early loss in Iowa, McCain went on to become the GOP nominee.

Current State of Affairs

In the 2008 primary, there were nearly 234,000 votes cast for GOP candidates. The ballot for the New Hampshire primary has 30 names on it as opposed to just seven mainstream candidates. Herman Cain is still listed despite suspending his campaign. Many of the names on the ballot are not known on a national level such as Michael J. Meehan from St. Louis and Christopher V. Hill from Prospect, Ky.

The Boston Globe reports Mitt Romney still holds a sizable lead over his competition. Independent voters may be the key in the presidential primary. Romney holds a slim lead with undeclared voters in New Hampshire in recent polls conducted by the Globe.

As the political clock counts down to the New Hampshire presidential primary, the election is still anyone's to win.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111228/pl_ac/10754785_new_hampshire_primary_beckons_gop_candidates_jan10

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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise Edition and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

Posted:? 22 Dec 2011
Published:? 31 Jul 2010
Format:? PDF
Length:? 15? Page(s)
Type:? White Paper
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TechTarget provides enterprise IT professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective IT purchase decisions and managing their organizations' IT projects - with its network of

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All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2000 - 2011, TechTarget?|?

Source: http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1324496788_522.html?asrc=RSS_BP_KABPKM

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Record reaction cascade yields cancer drug candidate

The organic synthesis of complex molecules is often laborious and time-consuming. To produce such molecules, chemists usually have to carry out numerous individual processes in sequence and isolate the intermediate products each time until they finally obtain the desired end product. In contrast, reaction cascades lead to the end product considerably faster: because they involve a kind of domino effect, it is sufficient to provide the starting materials and initiate the first step to reach the end product via a series of successive intermediate products and steps. Because the entire cascade takes place in a single reaction vessel, the isolation of intermediate products is dispensed with and the process saves time, energy and costs.

A team of scientists working with Herbert Waldmann, Director at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology in Dortmund has now succeeded in developing the longest reaction cascade known up to now. The researchers used it to synthesise biologically active substances termed Centrocountins in twelve individual steps: Centrocountins are complex molecules which intervene in cell division and prompt tumour cells to commit cellular suicide.

?This process holds the current world record for cascade length,? says Kamal Kumar, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund who made a decisive contribution to the development of the synthesis process. The reaction begins with simple tryptamine derivatives and incorporates nine different individual reactions over twelve steps, which involve the use of two different catalytic mechanisms. The end products have a complex molecular structure with four ring systems. The entire reaction takes between ten and 30 minutes. ?The production of molecules of this complexity using traditional methods would take days if not weeks,? says Kamal Kumar.

As tests on cell cultures showed, cells treated with Centrocountins did not divide in two but in three or more daughter cells which were not viable. The effect is due to the fact that the substances bind to certain proteins ? nucleophosmin (NPM) and Crm1 ? which play an important role in the formation of the spindle apparatus and organelles known as centrosomes, which provide starting points for the spindle apparatus. These structures ensure the correct separation of the chromosomes between the two daughter cells during cell division. As a result of treatment with Centrocountins, a dividing cell has multiple spindles poles instead of two. ?. As a result, the cell can no longer correctly count its centrosomes ? hence the name ?Centrocountin?. The chromosomes are unable to orient themselves correctly at the metaphase plate and the cell division cycle comes to a standstill. The cell can only divide when all chromosomes are correctly arranged. The daughter cells produced in this way are not viable.

Due to their central role in cell division, the two proteins NPM and Crm1 are identified as potential molecular targets for cancer treatment. ?An active substance that binds to both NPM and Crm1 has not been available up to now,? says Slava Ziegler, a scientist at the Max Planck Institute in Dortmund who played a leading role in the identification of the target proteins. Hence, the new Centrocountins provide a promising starting point for the development of new tumour therapies.

More information: Heiko D?ckert, Verena Pries, Vivek Khedkar, Sascha Menninger, Hanna Bruss, Alexander W. Bird, Zoltan Maliga, Andreas Brockmeyer, Petra Janning, Anthony Hyman, Stefan Grimme, Markus Sch?rmann, Hans Preut, Katja H?bel, Slava Ziegler, Kamal Kumar und Herbert Waldmann, Natural Product-Inspired Cascade Synthesis Yields Modulators of Centrosome Integrity, Nature Chemical Biology.

Provided by Max-Planck-Gesellschaft (news : web)

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-reaction-cascade-yields-cancer-drug.html

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Monday, December 26, 2011

China expects 11 percent industrial output growth in 2012 (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's industrial output is expected to grow 11 percent for 2012, easing from an estimated 13.9 percent in 2011, China's industry minister said on Monday.

The forecast by Miao Wei, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, will also serve as the official target for China's industrial output, China's state radio reported on its website (www.cnr.cn).

Miao was quoted by the radio as saying that China's industrial development in 2012 "would not be optimistic" partly due to an uncertain global economy.

China's industrial sector has lost steam in recent months with annual industrial output growth falling to 12.4 percent in November from 13.2 percent in October and down from the year's high point of 15.1 percent in June.

The annual rise of China's industrial output, which covers enterprises with a minimum annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($3.16 million), is closely correlated with GDP growth in the world's second biggest economy.

An 11 percent annual expansion in industrial output is regarded by Beijing as appropriate to achieve an annual 8 percent GDP growth rate. Miao's ministry had an 11 percent target of industrial output growth for both 2010 and 2011.

China's latest five-year plan targets an average annual GDP growth rate of 7 percent over the five-year period, with industrial output targeted at 10 percent.

Huang Libin, a senior official with the industry ministry, said at an online briefing last month that China's factory output growth may hit 12-13 percent in 2012.

CONSOLIDATION

Miao said China would try to cut energy consumption for every yuan of industrial output by 5 percent in 2012, and cut water consumption by 7 percent.

According to China's state radio, Miao's ministry has decided to launch a number of new initiatives designed to safeguard the healthy development of China's economy.

The focus will be put on consolidation of key industries.

"We will launch implementation plans for mergers and acquisitions in sectors like steel, automobiles and cement," Miao was quoted as saying.

In addition, the ministry would try hard to boost the growth of strategic emerging industries and small industrial firms. ($1 = 6.3364 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Zhou Xin and Kevin Yao; Editing by Nick Edwards and Ramya Venugopal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/bs_nm/us_china_economy_ip

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NFL Game Capsules

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Source: http://www.nationalpost.com/Game+Capsules/5879555/story.html

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Sunday, December 25, 2011

cancerHAWK: @CincoVidas what about curcumin? RT @cancerhawk: Fight Cancer: 5 Herbal Possibilities from Ancient Medicine http://t.co/HLTBIqD6

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Entercom Communications Corp. Announces Exchange Offer for ...

Entercom Communications (NYSE: ETM) announced today that its wholly owned finance subsidiary Entercom Radio, LLC (?Entercom Radio?) has commenced an exchange offer for its outstanding unregistered 10?% Senior Notes due 2019, Series A. These notes were originally issued on November 23, 2011, in a private placement exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in an aggregate principal amount of $220 million. Holders of these notes may exchange them for an equal principal amount of a new issue of 10?% Senior Notes due 2019, Series B, pursuant to an effective registration statement on Form S-4 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Terms of the new notes are substantially identical to those of the original notes, except that the transfer restrictions and registration rights relating to the original notes do not apply to the new notes.

The exchange offer will expire one minute after 11:59 p.m., Eastern Standard Time, on January 25, 2012, unless extended. Tenders of the original notes must be made before the exchange offer expires and may be withdrawn at any time before the exchange offer expires.

(c) 2011 Benzinga.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published in its entirety or redistributed without the approval of Benzinga.

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Source: http://www.benzinga.com/news/11/12/2227834/entercom-communications-corp-announces-exchange-offer-for-10-senior-notes-due-201

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Sony Update Pricing for Memory Cards?It?s Better.

Well at least you won?t have to sell blood and other bodily fluids to buy what should already be a part of the package. Sony have announced the final price list for the memory cards, and it?s not as dear as originally believed. Instead of $30 for a 4GB card, it?ll be $19.99, and the ?

Source: http://thegamestribe.com/news/sony-update-pricing-for-memory-cards%E2%80%A6it%E2%80%99s-better/

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Why India should increase taxes on cigarettes

?Sugar, rum, and tobacco, are commodities which are no where necessaries of life, which are become objects of almost universal consumption, and which are therefore extremely proper subjects of taxation?

?Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations, 1776.

Tobacco smoking and chewing are both common in India (Government of India 2010, Rani et al 2003), but the individual risks from smoking are markedly greater (Gajalakshmi et al 2003, Jha et al 2008). A large, nationally-representative study of mortality in over 1.1 million homes indicates that already 1 in 5 of all adult male deaths and 1 in 20 of all adult female deaths at ages 30-69 are due to smoking and India will soon have a million smoking deaths a year (Jha et al 2008). The study also suggests that the relative risk of death from any medical cause does not depend on educational level, but does depend on whether bidis or cigarettes were smoked, and the amount smoked (Figure 1). The risk ratio for a given number of bidis or cigarettes smoked was greater for cigarettes than for bidis. For example, compared to non-smokers, the risk of dying as a result of smoking 1-7 bidis per day was 30% higher compared to an increase in risk of 80% from smoking the same number of cigarettes per day.

Figure 1. Relative risk of death by amount and type of smoking, men aged 30-69

Increasing tobacco prices has been found to be the single most effective method to reduce smoking (Chaloupka and Warner 2000; International Agency for Research on Cancer 2011). Yet, bidis, the most common form of smoked tobacco in India, are largely untaxed, while cigarettes are taxed at about 40% of retail price, well below the 65-80% rate noted by the World Bank in countries with effective tobacco control policies (Jha and Chaloupka 1999, Jha et al 2011). Moreover, low and stagnant tax rates have occurred in a period in which all tobacco products have become more affordable with income growth (Jha et al 2011, John et al 2010). Like many taxation policies in India, tobacco taxation reflects years of accumulated influences, lobbying, exemptions, and in some cases, even attempts to do social good. The current result is a complex, even chaotic tax structure on smoked tobacco (Jha et al 2011).

There is a small but growing body of research that examines the effect of tobacco prices on tobacco use in India specifically and more generally in countries of South Asia. John (2005, 2008),using data from two quinquennial rounds of the National Sample Survey of India conducted in 1993?94 and 1999?2000, finds negative and significant own-price elasticities for bidis (ie the percentage change in quantity of bidis demanded in response to a 1% change in price of bidis) with effect sizes ranging between -0.7 and -0.9, with no substantial differences between rural and urban households. However, the same studies find little evidence that changes in cigarette prices affect cigarette use. Research conducted using data from Bangladesh (Nargis et al 2010), Nepal (Karki et al 2003), Pakistan (Mushtaq et al 2011), Sri Lanka (Arunatilake 2002) and time-series cross-sectional data from seven Southeast Asian countries (Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand) (Guindon et al 2003) suggest that individuals of South Asia are responsive to changes in the prices of cigarettes and bidis. Effect sizes, however, vary substantially within and across studies.

The scarcity of India-specific research, the heterogeneity in methods and findings of other South Asian studies, the very limited research exploring socioeconomic differences in the impact of prices on smoking, and the complementarity or substitutability between different tobacco products (such as bidis and cigarettes) and between tobacco and alcohol products, calls for additional research. In a recent paper (Guindon et al 2011), we attempt to fill some of this research void. First, we use data from the most recent three quinquennial rounds of the National Sample Survey and a two-equation system of budget shares and unit values proposed by Deaton (1990, 1997) that attempts to correct for quality and measurement error. Second, we pool data from the most recent nine survey rounds (NSS 55-57, 59-64, conducted between 1999?2000 and 2007?08) and use a simple share-log functional form (Deaton 1989, Gibson and Rozelle 2005). Our analyses of single and repeated cross-sections yield own-price elasticity for bidis that are roughly in keeping with the limited existing evidence. We find that a 10% increase in bidi prices would reduce the demand for bidis by about 6 to 9.5%. We find, however, that own-price elasticity for cigarettes in India is substantially larger than previously thought. Our estimates suggest that cigarette users are at least as responsive as bidi users to price changes. On the whole, our analyses suggest that poorer households are more responsive to price changes (see Figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2. Own-price elasticities for bidis ? pooled analyses, 1999?2000 to 2007?08

Figure 3. Own-price elasticities for cigarettes ? pooled analyses, 1999?2000 to 2007?08

Our analyses also uncover important and policy-relevant cross-price effects. We find that cigarettes and country liquor (a locally distilled product made from fruits and grain) are likely substitutes and that the substitutability tends to be larger among poorer households. We also find that cross-price elasticities between bidis and cigarettes may vary by income and by urban/rural strata. Our findings suggest there may be some substitutability between cigarettes and bidis among rural and poor households and some complementarity between cigarettes and bidis among richer households.

Findings from this study provide additional evidence of the effectiveness of tobacco prices at reducing tobacco use. Increasing taxes on both bidis and cigarettes in India can be expected to have large effects. As cigarettes are slowly replacing bidis as the preferred form of smoked tobacco (Joseph et al 2011), even independent increases in cigarette taxes can be expected to yield large reductions in cigarette use.

The links between prices, tobacco, and health are not theoretical. Consider the French example (Jha 2009). France?s uptake of smoking was chiefly after World War II and its prevalence rose until the mid-1980s. From 1990 to 2005, cigarette consumption fell from about 6 cigarettes per adult per day (which is comparable to the per capita adult male consumption in India today) to 3 (Figure 4). This sharp decline was mostly due to a sharp increase in tobacco taxation starting in 1990 under then-President Jacques Chirac. These price increases raised the inflation-adjusted price three-fold. Among men, the corresponding lung cancer rates at ages 35-44 fell sharply from 1997 onward.

Figure 4. France: smoking, prices and lung cancer rates in young men, 1980?2004

Arunatilake N. (2002) "An Economic Analysis of Tobacco Demand in Sri Lanka", Sri Lanka Economic Journal 3, 96-120.

Chaloupka FJ, Warner KE (2000) "The Economics of Smoking". In AJ Culyer and JP Newhouse eds. Handbook of Health Economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, North-Holland, pp 1539-627.

Deaton A. (1989) Household Survey Data and Pricing Policies in Developing Countries, World Bank Economic Review 3, 183?210.

Deaton A. (1990) "Price elasticities from survey data: extensions and Indonesian results". Journal of Econometrics 44, 281-309.

Deaton A. (1997) The Analysis of Household Surveys: A Microeconometric Approach to Development Policy. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.

Gajalakshmi V, Peto R, Kanaka TS, Jha P. (2003) "Smoking and mortality from tuberculosis and other diseases in India: retrospective study of 43000 adult male deaths and 35000 controls". Lancet 362: 507-15.

Gibson J, Rozelle S. (2005) Prices and unit values in poverty measurement and tax reform analysis. The World Bank Economic Review 19: 69-97.

Government of India (2010). Global Adult Tobacco Survey India (GATS India), 2009-2010. Mumbai: International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Guindon GE, Nandi A, Chaloupka FJ, Jha P. (2011) "Socioeconomic Differences in the Impact of Smoking Tobacco and Alcohol Prices on Smoking in India". NBER Working Paper No. 17580. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series. Cambridge: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Guindon GE, Perucic A-M, Boisclair D. (2003) "Higher tobacco prices and Taxes in South-East Asia: an effective tool to reduce tobacco use, save lives and increase government revenue". HNP Discussion Paper Economics of Tobacco Control Paper No 11. Washington: The World Bank.

International Agency for Research on Cancer (2011) IARC Handbooks of Cancer Prevention: Tobacco Control. Volume 14. Effectiveness of Price and Tax Policies for Control of Tobacco. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Jha P. (2009) Avoidable global cancer deaths and total deaths from smoking. Nature Reviews Cancer, 9: 655-64.

Jha P. (1999) Chaloupka FJ. Curbing the epidemic: governments and the economics of tobacco control. Washington: The World Bank.

Jha P, Guindon E, Joseph RA, Nandi A, John RM, Rao K, Chaloupka FJ, Kaur J, Gupta PC, Rao MG. (2011) "A rational taxation system of bidis and cigarettes to reduce smoking deaths in India", EPW Economic & Political Weekly XLVI: 44-51.

Jha P, Jacob B, Gajalakshmi V, Gupta PC, Dhingra N, Kumar R, Sinha DN, Dikshit RP, Parida DK, Kamadod R, Boreham J, Peto R. (2008) "A nationally representative case-control study of smoking and death in India". N Engl J Med, 358: 1137-47.

John RM. (2005) "Price Elasticity Estimates for Tobacco and Other Addictive Goods in India". Working Paper Series No. WP-2005-003. Mumbai: Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.

John RM. (2008), "Price elasticity estimates for tobacco products in India". Health Policy Plan 23: 200-9.

John RM, Rao RK, Rao MG, Moore J, Deshpande R, Sengupta J, Selvaraj S, Chaloupka FJ, Jha P. (2010) The Economics of Tobacco and Tobacco Taxation in India. Paris: International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

Joseph RA, Gupta PC, Kaur J, Ram F, Sinha DN, Dixit R, Palipudi K, Pezzack B, Asma S, Jha P. (2011), "Smoking in India: Trend Analysis from 1998-2010". Working Paper. Toronto: Centre for Global Health Research, St. Michael?s Hospital, University of Toronto.

Karki YB, Pant KD, Pande BR. (2003), "A Study on the Economics of Tobacco in Nepal".? HNP Discussion Paper Series. Economics of Tobacco Control Paper No. 13. Washington: The World Bank.

Mushtaq N, Mushtaq S, Beebe LA. (2011) "Economics of tobacco control in Pakistan: estimating elasticities of cigarette demand". Tob Control.

Nargis N, Ruthbah UH, Fong GT. (2010) "Taxation of Tobacco Products in Bangladesh: Findings from the 2009 ITC Bangladesh Survey". ITC Project Working Paper Series. Waterloo: University of Waterloo.

Rani M, Bonu S, Jha P, Nguyen SN, Jamjoum L. (2003) "Tobacco use in India: prevalence and predictors of smoking and chewing in a national cross sectional household survey". Tob Control 12: e4.

Smith A. (1776), An inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations (ed. Edwin Cannan). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


This article may be reproduced with appropriate attribution. See Copyright (below).

Source: http://www.voxeu.org/index.php?q=node/7463

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

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Hollywood dialect coach Robert Easton dies at 81 (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Character actor and Hollywood dialect coach Robert Easton, whose successes include teaching Forest Whitaker to speak like Idi Amin in the 2006 movie "The Last King of Scotland," has died in Los Angeles. He was 81.

Daughter Heather Woodruff Perry tells the Los Angeles Times ( http://lat.ms/rEfhAQ) that Easton died of natural causes on Monday at his home in the San Fernando Valley.

His movie credits include "Paint Your Wagon," "Pete's Dragon," "Pet Sematary II" and "Primary Colors."

When he was younger, he mainly played country bumpkins on TV shows because of his Southern drawl.

He feared being typecast so he worked on different accents and learned he could mimic regional speech patterns.

As a dialect coach, he worked Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlton Heston, Liam Neeson, Anne Hathaway and Robert Duvall.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_en_mo/us_obit_robert_easton

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Thursday, December 22, 2011

Ankeny Community School District, Iowa

Ankeny Community School District is a school district in Iowa.

[edit] Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Iowa school district websites

Website was reviewed on December 21, 2011.

[edit] The good

  • Up to date tax rate information is posted.[1]
  • Budget documents are published.[2]
  • Meeting agendas and minutes are available.[3]
  • Contact information is provided for all Board members.[4]
  • Contact information is provided for the Superintendent[5], as well as department officials on individual department webpages.[6]
  • Financial audits are published.[7]
  • Public records request information is posted.[8]
  • Annual student performance information is published.[9]
  • Background check information is available.[10]

[edit] The bad

  • Teacher contracts are not published.

[edit] Leadership

[edit] School Board

[edit] Teacher Contracts

[edit] Administrative Officials

[edit] Unions

[edit] School Budget

[edit] Academic performance

[edit] Reform

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Source: http://sunshinereview.org/index.php?title=Ankeny_Community_School_District,_Iowa&diff=233470&oldid=prev

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Philippine storm toll exceeds 650; 900 missing (AP)

ILIGAN, Philippines ? As a storm that killed more than 650 in the southern Philippines raged outside the store where she works, Amor Limbago worriedly called home to check on her parents, but their cellphones just kept ringing and later went dead.

Limbago, 21, rushed home as soon as the flash floods receded and confirmed her worst fear: Her parents and seven other relatives were gone, swept away from their hut by the river. They had eagerly planned a small Christmas dinner in that hut just days earlier.

"I returned and saw that our house was completely gone," a weeping Limbago told The Associated Press from Cagayan de Oro city. "There was nothing but mud all over and knee-deep floodwaters."

Tropical Storm Washi blew away Sunday after devastating a wide swath of the mountainous region on Mindanao island, which is unaccustomed to major storms. It killed at least 652 people and left more than 900 others missing, the Philippine Red Cross said.

Most of the victims were asleep Friday night when flash floods cascaded down mountain slopes with logs and uprooted trees, swelling rivers. The late-season tropical storm turned the worst-hit coastal cities of Cagayan de Oro and nearby Iligan into muddy wastelands filled with overturned cars and broken trees.

Most of the dead were children and women, Red Cross Secretary General Gwendolyn Pang said.

The government's Office of Civil Defense placed the number of dead at 516 with 274 missing and 431 others rescued. Its head, Benito Ramos, said he expected the toll to rise and added that the government count was slower because authorities try to identify each casualty by verifying it with relatives.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and top military officials flew to Cagayan de Oro and Iligan to help oversee search-and-rescue efforts and deal with about 45,000 displaced villagers. Among the items urgently needed are coffins and body bags, said Benito Ramos, who heads the government's disaster-response agency.

"It's overwhelming. We didn't expect these many dead," said Ramos, adding that authorities were continuing to find bodies floating at sea.

Although the disaster-prone Philippines is lashed by about 20 typhoons and storms annually, the devastation shocked many, coming close to Christmas ? the predominantly Roman Catholic nation's most-awaited time for family reunions. Army officials in the south said they canceled Christmas parties and would donate the food to homeless survivors.

Limbago said she and her mother, Jean, 50, and father Amancio, 63, planned to have a simple Christmas dinner of spaghetti. Those plans had evaporated Sunday as she and surviving relatives checked crowded morgues, hospitals and evacuation centers for any sign of her missing parents.

Others lost homes and belongings but were happy to have survived.

Edmund Rubio, a 44-year-old engineer, said he, his wife and two children scrambled to the second floor of their house in Iligan city as floodwaters engulfed the first floor, destroying his TV set and other appliances and washing away his car and motorcycle.

Amid the panic, he heard a loud pounding on his door as neighbors living in nearby one-story houses pleaded with him to allow them up to his second floor. He said he brought 30 neighbors to the safety of his house, which later shook when a huge floating log slammed into it.

"It's the most important thing, that all of us will still be together this Christmas," Rubio told the AP.

About a block away from Rubio's house, rescuers used a backhoe and shovels to search for 19 people in the muddy ruins of a two-story house that collapsed when it was hit by a massive log. They dug out 11 bodies from the site Saturday, witnesses said.

Army officers reported unidentified bodies piled up in morgues in Cagayan de Oro, where electricity was restored in some areas, although the city of more than 500,000 people remained without tap water.

At least 346 died in Cagayan de Oro and 206 in Iligan, the Red Cross said. The death toll was expected to rise because many isolated villages still had not been reached by overwhelmed disaster-response personnel.

"Our fear is there may have been whole families that perished so there's nobody to report what happened," Pang said.

Both Iligan, a bustling industrial center about 485 miles (780 kilometers) southeast of Manila, and Cagayan de Oro were filled with scenes of destruction and desperation.

A lone worker gingerly embalmed scores of bodies laid side by side in an Iligan city funeral parlor. Outside the embalming room, seven white coffins were placed in a corridor, surrounded by weeping relatives.

"Many mothers, fathers were walking from one funeral parlor to another, looking for their children," said army Maj. Eugenio Osias, who led a rescue effort in Cagayan de Oro.

Ramos attributed the high casualties "partly to the complacency of people because they are not in the usual path of storms" despite warnings by officials that one was approaching.

In just 12 hours, Washi dumped more than a month of average rain on Mindanao.

Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of local police, reservists, coast guard officers and civilian volunteers were mobilized for rescue efforts, but were hampered by flooded-out roads and lack of electricity. Rescuers in boats rushed offshore to save people swept out to sea.

___

Gomez reported from Manila. Associated Press writers Oliver Teves and Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_re_as/as_philippines_storm

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AP-GfK Poll: Obama re-election odds roughly 50-50 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Entering 2012, President Barack Obama's re-election prospects are essentially a 50-50 proposition, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. It found that most Americans say the president deserves to be voted out of office even though they have concerns about the Republican alternatives.

Obama's overall standing in the poll suggests he could be in jeopardy of losing re-election even as the survey showed that public's outlook on the economy appears to be improving. For the first time since spring, more people said the economy got better in the past month than said it got worse. The president's approval rating on unemployment shifted upward ? from 40 percent in October to 45 percent in the latest poll ? as the jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, its lowest level since March 2009.

But Obama's approval rating on his handling of the economy overall remains stagnant: Thirty-nine percent approve and 60 percent disapprove.

Heading into his re-election campaign, the president faces a conflicted public. It does not support his steering of the economy, the most dominant issue for Americans, or his overhaul of health care, one of his signature accomplishments, but it also is grappling with whether to replace him with Republican contenders Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich.

The poll found Americans were evenly divided over whether they expect Obama to be re-elected next year.

For the first time, the poll found that a majority of adults, 52 percent, said Obama should be voted out of office while 43 percent said he deserves another term. The numbers mark a reversal since last May, when 53 percent said Obama should be re-elected while 43 percent said he didn't deserve four more years.

Obama's overall job approval stands at a new low, with 44 percent approving and 54 percent disapproving. The president's standing among independents is worse: Thirty-eight percent approve while 59 percent disapprove. Among Democrats, the president holds steady with an approval rating of 78 percent while only 12 percent of Republicans approve of the job he's doing.

"I think he's doing the best he can. The problem is the Congress won't help at all," said Rosario Navarro, a Democrat and a 44-year-old truck driver from Fresno, Calif., who voted for Obama in 2008 and intends to support him again.

Robin Dein, a 54-year-old homemaker from Villanova, Pa., who is an independent, said she supported Republican John McCain in 2008 and has not been impressed with Obama's economic policies. She intends to support Romney if he wins the GOP nomination.

Obama, she said, "spent the first part of his presidency blaming Bush for everything, not that he was innocent, and now his way of solving anything is by spending more money."

Despite the soft level of support, many are uncertain whether a Republican president would be a better choice. Asked whom they would support next November, 47 percent of adults favored Obama and 46 percent Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. Against Gingrich, the president holds a solid advantage, receiving 51 percent compared with 42 percent for the former House speaker.

The potential matchups paint a better picture for the president among independents. Obama receives 45 percent of nonaligned adults compared with 41 percent for Romney. Against Gingrich, Obama holds a wide lead among independents, with 54 percent supporting the president and 31 percent backing the former Georgia congressman.

Another piece of good news for Obama: People generally like him personally. Obama's personal favorability rating held steady at 53 percent, with 46 percent viewing him unfavorably. About three-quarters called him likable.

The economy remains a source of pessimism, though the poll suggests the first positive movement in public opinion on the economy in months. One in five said the economy improved in the last month, double the share saying so in October. Still most expect it to stay the same or get worse.

"I suppose you could make some sort of argument that it's getting better, but I'm not sure I even see that," said independent voter John Bailey, a 61-year-old education consultant from East Jordan, Mich. "I think it's bad and it's gotten worse under (Obama's) policies. At best, it's going to stay bad."

Despite the high rate of joblessness, the poll found some optimism on the economy. Although 80 percent described the economy as "poor," respondents describing it "very poor" fell from 43 percent in October to 34 percent in the latest poll, the lowest since May. Twenty percent said the economy got better in the past month while 37 percent said they expected the economy to improve next year.

Yet plenty of warning signs remain for Obama. Only 26 percent said the United States is headed in the right direction while 70 percent said the country was moving in the wrong direction.

The president won a substantial number of female voters in 2008 yet there does not appear to be a significant tilt toward Obama among women now. The poll found 44 percent of women say Obama deserves a second term, down from 51 percent in October, while 43 percent of men say the president should be re-elected.

About two-thirds of white voters without college degrees say Obama should be a one-term president, while 33 percent of those voters say he should get another four years. Among white voters with a college degree, 57 percent said Obama should be voted out of office.

The poll found unpopularity for last year's health care overhaul. About half of the respondents oppose the health care law and support for it dipped to 29 percent from 36 percent in June. Just 15 percent said the federal government should have the power to require all Americans to buy health insurance.

Even among Democrats, the health care law has tepid support. Fifty percent of Democrats supported the health care law, compared with 59 percent of Democrats last June. Only about a quarter of independents back the law.

The president has taken a more populist tone in his handling of the economy, arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes to help pay for the extension of a payroll tax cut that would provide about $1,000 in tax cuts to a family earning about $50,000 a year. Among those with annual household incomes of $50,000 or less, Obama's approval rating on unemployment climbed to 53 percent from 43 percent in October.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Dec. 8-12 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,000 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

___

Associated Press writer Stacy A. Anderson and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.ap-gfkpoll.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_el_pr/us_ap_poll_obama

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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Barracuda babies: Novel study sheds light on early life of prolific predator

Friday, December 16, 2011

For anglers and boaters who regularly travel the coasts of Florida the great barracuda (Sphyraena barracuda) is a common sight. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about the early life stage of this ecologically and socio-economically important coastal fish.

In the journal Marine Biology, lead author Dr. Evan D'Alessandro and University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science colleagues Drs. Su Sponaugle, Joel Llopiz and Robert Cowen shed light on the larval stage of this ocean predator, as well as several other closely related species.

"Due in large part to the expense and difficulty of collecting fish larvae from the open ocean, the larval ecology of barracuda were a mystery until now," said D'Alessandro. "A research study led by Dr. Robert Cowen, which sampled the Straits of Florida regularly for two years, provided a unique opportunity to catch a glimpse of the larval life of many fishes."

The study samples included great barracuda (92.8%) and their relatives Sphyraena borealis and Sphyraena picudilla (6.6%), commonly known as sennets.

In their larval stage, which generally lasts several weeks, barracuda and sennets remain in the upper 25 m of the ocean and live on a similar diet. They start out consuming copepods, or small crustaceans, but make an early switch to a diet of fish larvae, much like several larval billfishes and tunas.

"Barracuda are an important element in the marine food chain; they are voracious predators of other fishes as juveniles and adults on reefs and other nearshore habitats. Now we know this holds true for their larval stage before they reach an inch in length, as well," said D'Alessandro. "This novel study unlocks important aspects of the barracuda's life cycle. It also identifies an important size advantage within the larval stage (bigger larvae are more likely to survive) and provides insight that resource managers can use to better manage this species."

###

University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science: http://www.rsmas.miami.edu

Thanks to University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science 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/116109/Barracuda_babies__Novel_study_sheds_light_on_early_life_of_prolific_predator

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Advantages and motivations uncertain behind use of brachytherapy for breast cancer radiotherapy

Advantages and motivations uncertain behind use of brachytherapy for breast cancer radiotherapy [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 16-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Zachary Rathner
Zachary.Rathner@oup.com
301-841-1286
Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Accelerated partial breast irradiation using brachytherapy (APBIb) for the treatment of breast cancer has been rapidly increasing over the last several years in the U.S. as an alternative to standard whole-breast irradiation (WBI), according to a study published December 16th in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Various types of APBI recurrence (external beam radiation, intraoperative radiotherapy, brachytherapy using multiple interstitial catheters, or intracavitary brachytherapy using a balloon catheter) deliver radiation to breast tissue at the highest risk of recurrence. Advantages of these techniques include decreased treatment time and less radiation to uninvolved portions of the breast and normal tissues. Disadvantages of APBI include the possibility that tumor cells in a different part of the breast will remain untreated, which could lead to increased local recurrence. Because of the potential limitations of APBI, in 2009 the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) convened a task force of breast cancer experts to develop criteria for use of APBI off-protocol. They proposed three groups of APBI appropriateness: suitable, cautionary and unsuitable, based on patient characteristics and clinical factors.

Because of the growing popularity of APBIb in particular, Jona Hattangadi, M.D., of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of women who had received either APBIb or WBI between 2000 and 2007. In line with ASTRO guidelines, the researchers classified the 138,815 women as "suitable", "cautionary", or "unsuitable" for APBIb.

The researchers found that 3,576 of the 138,815 patients had received APBIb: 32% of whom would have been considered suitable, 29.6% cautionary, and 36.2% unsuitable. The overall use of APBIb increased from 0.4% in 2000 to 6.6% in 2007. There was a wide range of utilization patterns across the United States with specific geographic regions having higher APBIb use despite other patient and clinical factors. There were also substantial racial and ethnic disparities with respect to APBIb use. White women were more likely to get this treatment than black women among "cautionary" or "unsuitable" patients; and or women living in cities were more likely to get it than those in rural areas even though it would potentially provide greater convenience for the rural women. The authors conclude "the wide disparity in use of APBIb suggests that unwarranted variationpractice variation not explained by illness, patient preference, or evidence-based medicinemay be present. Future studies of APBIb use will help elucidate whether patterns change as [the ASTRO guidelines] diffuse into practice and whether the regional and temporal changes in APBIb cost, reimbursement, and insurance coverage affect utilization."

In an accompanying editorial Simona F. Shaitelman, M.D., at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, notes that it is reassuring that the authors found the fastest increase in utilization among patients classified as "suitable," even if the majority of patients undergoing APBIb in their study were not classified as suitable. Shaitelman also comments on the authors' suggestion that financial interests that might be driving usage and notes that reimbursement was decreased for the procedure after the end of the period of the study. She writes, "Moving forward, it will be useful to analyze more recent trends in the use of APBI and to document whether such changes in financial remuneration are indeed associated with the delivery of APBI." Shaitelman also concludes that more studies of the effectiveness of APBI are needed. "Although population based studies allow us to reflect on changes in patterns of practice, we are still left eagerly awaiting the results of large randomized trials that compare patients outcomes with WBI vs APBI."

###

Contact Info:

Article:
Jona Hattangadi, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, L-2 Level, Boston MA 02115
Email: jhattangadi@partners.org

Editorial:
Simona F. Shaitelman, MD, EdM, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1202, Houston TX 77030
Email: sfshaitelman@mdanderson.org


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Advantages and motivations uncertain behind use of brachytherapy for breast cancer radiotherapy [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 16-Dec-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Zachary Rathner
Zachary.Rathner@oup.com
301-841-1286
Journal of the National Cancer Institute

Accelerated partial breast irradiation using brachytherapy (APBIb) for the treatment of breast cancer has been rapidly increasing over the last several years in the U.S. as an alternative to standard whole-breast irradiation (WBI), according to a study published December 16th in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Various types of APBI recurrence (external beam radiation, intraoperative radiotherapy, brachytherapy using multiple interstitial catheters, or intracavitary brachytherapy using a balloon catheter) deliver radiation to breast tissue at the highest risk of recurrence. Advantages of these techniques include decreased treatment time and less radiation to uninvolved portions of the breast and normal tissues. Disadvantages of APBI include the possibility that tumor cells in a different part of the breast will remain untreated, which could lead to increased local recurrence. Because of the potential limitations of APBI, in 2009 the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) convened a task force of breast cancer experts to develop criteria for use of APBI off-protocol. They proposed three groups of APBI appropriateness: suitable, cautionary and unsuitable, based on patient characteristics and clinical factors.

Because of the growing popularity of APBIb in particular, Jona Hattangadi, M.D., of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues performed a retrospective analysis of data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of women who had received either APBIb or WBI between 2000 and 2007. In line with ASTRO guidelines, the researchers classified the 138,815 women as "suitable", "cautionary", or "unsuitable" for APBIb.

The researchers found that 3,576 of the 138,815 patients had received APBIb: 32% of whom would have been considered suitable, 29.6% cautionary, and 36.2% unsuitable. The overall use of APBIb increased from 0.4% in 2000 to 6.6% in 2007. There was a wide range of utilization patterns across the United States with specific geographic regions having higher APBIb use despite other patient and clinical factors. There were also substantial racial and ethnic disparities with respect to APBIb use. White women were more likely to get this treatment than black women among "cautionary" or "unsuitable" patients; and or women living in cities were more likely to get it than those in rural areas even though it would potentially provide greater convenience for the rural women. The authors conclude "the wide disparity in use of APBIb suggests that unwarranted variationpractice variation not explained by illness, patient preference, or evidence-based medicinemay be present. Future studies of APBIb use will help elucidate whether patterns change as [the ASTRO guidelines] diffuse into practice and whether the regional and temporal changes in APBIb cost, reimbursement, and insurance coverage affect utilization."

In an accompanying editorial Simona F. Shaitelman, M.D., at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, notes that it is reassuring that the authors found the fastest increase in utilization among patients classified as "suitable," even if the majority of patients undergoing APBIb in their study were not classified as suitable. Shaitelman also comments on the authors' suggestion that financial interests that might be driving usage and notes that reimbursement was decreased for the procedure after the end of the period of the study. She writes, "Moving forward, it will be useful to analyze more recent trends in the use of APBI and to document whether such changes in financial remuneration are indeed associated with the delivery of APBI." Shaitelman also concludes that more studies of the effectiveness of APBI are needed. "Although population based studies allow us to reflect on changes in patterns of practice, we are still left eagerly awaiting the results of large randomized trials that compare patients outcomes with WBI vs APBI."

###

Contact Info:

Article:
Jona Hattangadi, MD, Department of Radiation Oncology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, L-2 Level, Boston MA 02115
Email: jhattangadi@partners.org

Editorial:
Simona F. Shaitelman, MD, EdM, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Blvd, Unit 1202, Houston TX 77030
Email: sfshaitelman@mdanderson.org


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share 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.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/jotn-aam121411.php

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