MARSHALL, Mich. ? Enbridge Inc. is sticking with its previous estimate that about 843,000 gallons of oil were spilled from a pipeline in southern Michigan last year.
A posting this week on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website says about 1.1 million gallons of oil have been recovered since a July 2010 pipeline rupture near Marshall. Much of the oil wound up in the Kalamazoo River.
The EPA said Wednesday the recovered oil total includes oily water, soil, sediments and debris. The agency says it can't state how much oil was lost from the pipeline.
An Enbridge spokesman says the 1.1 million gallons includes oil lost from the pipeline and other material recovered from the spill site, including non-petroleum and potential petroleum-based materials.
The pipeline runs from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
Selena Gomez may still have a restraining order against Thomas Brodnicki, but, unfortunately, it sounds like she may now actually need it.
TMZ confirms that Brodnicki - who has reportedly told LAPD detectives and psychologists that God instructed him to kill the singer - is a free man after a judge dismissed all felony stalking charges against him this afternoon.
The court decreed that even if Brodnicki said said these things, there's no evidence that he plans to actually carry out the threats against Selena. Talk about a dangerous technicality, huh?
WASHINGTON ? The blockbuster drug Avastin should no longer be used in advanced breast cancer patients because there's no proof that it extends their lives and it presents dangerous side effects, the government declared Friday.
The ruling by the Food and Drug Administration was long expected, but it was certain to disappoint women who say they've run out of other options as their breast cancer spread through their bodies. Impassioned patients had lobbied furiously to preserve Avastin as a last shot.
"This was a difficult decision," said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. But, she added that "it is clear that women who take Avastin for metastatic breast cancer risk potentially life-threatening side effects without proof that the use of Avastin will provide a benefit, in terms of delay in tumor growth, that would justify those risks."
Those risks include severe high blood pressure, massive bleeding, heart attack or heart failure, and perforations in parts of the body such as the stomach and intestines, she said.
Avastin is the world's best-selling cancer drug, and also is used to treat certain forms of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancers. So even though FDA formally revoked its approval of the drug to treat breast cancer, doctors still could prescribe it ? but insurers may not pay for it. Including infusion fees, a year's treatment with Avastin can cost $100,000.
Some insurers already had quit covering the drug's use in breast cancer after FDA's advisers twice, once last year and once last summer, urged revoking the approval.
But Medicare said Friday that it will keep paying for now.
Medicare "will monitor the issue and evaluate coverage options as a result of action by the FDA but has no immediate plans to change coverage policies," said spokesman Don McLeod.
In 2008, the FDA allowed Avastin to be marketed as a treatment for breast cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body and is generally considered incurable. The approval came under a special program that allows patients access to promising treatments while their makers finish the studies needed for final proof that they really work as promised.
But when Avastin manufacturer Genentech did those studies, the data showed only a small effect on patients' tumor growth, not that they were living longer or had a better quality of life and not enough benefit to outweigh such severe side effects, FDA concluded.
Genentech, part of Swiss drugmaker Roche Group, had argued that Avastin should remain available while it conducts more research to see if certain groups of patients might benefit from the drug.
Hamburg encouraged Genentech do those studies
Roche and Genentech did not immediately comment Friday.
Stocks ended trading near their session lows Wednesday.
According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 190.19, or 1.57 percent, at 11,905.97. The S&P 500 fell 20.88, or 1.66 percent, to 1,236.92. The Nasdaq was off 46.59, or 1.73 percent, to 2,639.61.
The Dow fell nearly 125 points shortly after the opening bell and slowly recovered throughout the day. Gains by energy giants Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. pulled the Dow closer to breakeven at midafternoon before tumbling again after Fitch Ratings put out a report saying U.S. banks could take a big hit if Europe's debt crisis spreads.
U.S. economic reports were mixed. Output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines rose at the fastest pace in three months in October, the Federal Reserve said. Production of autos and parts surged 3.1 percent.
Consumer prices largely held steady last month. The Consumer Price Index dropped 0.1 percent in October, led by a steep decline in gas prices. An index of builder sentiment rose to the highest level since May 2010, but is still well below a level consistent with a strong housing market.
Concerns about Europe's debt crisis continued to linger. The European Union economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.2 percent between July and September, a sign that Europe may be headed for a recession. Together, the 27 countries in the European Union make up the world's largest economy and a key source of revenue for companies in the Standard and Poor's 500 index.
Michael Cuggino, president of Permanent Portfolio, tells CNBC why he is cautiously optimistic about the U.S. economy:
A new trailer for the 3D re-release of the box office monster hit, "Titanic," has hit the internet, but unfortunately for you, the trailer isn't going to look much different than one from 1997.
The 2D trailer for the 3D version has all the familiar sights: Leo, Kate, Celine Dion and other horrific tragedies. The re-release [...]
ScienceDaily (Nov. 17, 2011) ? A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world's lightest material -- with a density of 0.9 mg/cc -- about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam?.
Their findings appear in the Nov. 18 issue of Science.
The new material redefines the limits of lightweight materials because of its unique "micro-lattice" cellular architecture. The researchers were able to make a material that consists of 99.99 percent air by designing the 0.01 percent solid at the nanometer, micron and millimeter scales. "The trick is to fabricate a lattice of interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair," said lead author Dr. Tobias Schaedler of HRL.
The material's architecture allows unprecedented mechanical behavior for a metal, including complete recovery from compression exceeding 50 percent strain and extraordinarily high energy absorption.
"Materials actually get stronger as the dimensions are reduced to the nanoscale," explained UCI mechanical and aerospace engineer Lorenzo Valdevit, UCI's principal investigator on the project. "Combine this with the possibility of tailoring the architecture of the micro-lattice and you have a unique cellular material."
Developed for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the novel material could be used for battery electrodes and acoustic, vibration or shock energy absorption.
William Carter, manager of the architected materials group at HRL, compared the new material to larger, more familiar edifices: "Modern buildings, exemplified by the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge, are incredibly light and weight-efficient by virtue of their architecture. We are revolutionizing lightweight materials by bringing this concept to the nano and micro scales."
Recommend this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google +1:
Other bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of California - Irvine.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
T. A. Schaedler, A. J. Jacobsen, A. Torrents, A. E. Sorensen, J. Lian, J. R. Greer, L. Valdevit, W. B. Carter. Ultralight Metallic Microlattices. Science, 2011; 334 (6058): 962 DOI: 10.1126/science.1211649
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Saint Paul, Minnesota, November 16, 2011The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is proud to announce that its executive director, Deborah Wexler, MD, has been selected as the honoree of the Every Child By Two Immunization Leadership Award. Every Child By Two (ECBT), founded by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and former First Lady of Arkansas Betty Bumpers, is dedicated to protecting all children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The winner of ECBT Immunization Leadership Award is an individual who exhibits consistent leadership at the national level with a demonstrated positive impact on the field of immunization.
Dr. Wexler was presented the award last month during ECBT's 20th anniversary gala in Washington, DC.
Dr. Wexler was recognized for her work as the founder and executive director of IAC. She started the nonprofit organization in 1991 when she left her medical practice out of concern for her patients who were becoming infected with measles during a major outbreak. Under Dr. Wexler's leadership, IAC has grown to be one of the nation's premier sources of immunization information for healthcare providers and their patients. In national vaccine policy, Dr. Wexler has served as a consultant on working groups of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and on external planning committees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Conferences, as well as other national immunization groups.
According to ECBT, "Dr. Wexler's innovative 'out of the box' thinking and tenacity make her the ideal candidate for the ECBT Leadership Award."
"The Immunization Action Coalition has long worked to provide the best immunization information to patients and parents, and I am delighted to be recognized for my part in this important work," said Dr. Wexler.
Edgar Marcuse, MD, MPH, a pediatrician and vaccine advocate, and Debbie McCune Davis, an Arizona state senator and program director of The Arizona Partnership were also honored.
###
About the Immunization Action Coalition
IAC's immunization educational tools have a strong impact on the education, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals throughout the nation, making IAC one of the most respected and relied-upon immunization organizations in the United States. IAC is also a direct source of immunization information for the public. IAC's two major websites receive more than 20,000 visits per day, and its email news service broadcasts weekly immunization updates to more than 45,000 opt-in subscribers.
Dr. Wexler is available for interviews about this award.
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.
Immunization Action Coalition's director receives national recognitionPublic release date: 16-Nov-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Saint Paul, Minnesota, November 16, 2011The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) is proud to announce that its executive director, Deborah Wexler, MD, has been selected as the honoree of the Every Child By Two Immunization Leadership Award. Every Child By Two (ECBT), founded by former First Lady Rosalynn Carter and former First Lady of Arkansas Betty Bumpers, is dedicated to protecting all children from vaccine-preventable diseases.
The winner of ECBT Immunization Leadership Award is an individual who exhibits consistent leadership at the national level with a demonstrated positive impact on the field of immunization.
Dr. Wexler was presented the award last month during ECBT's 20th anniversary gala in Washington, DC.
Dr. Wexler was recognized for her work as the founder and executive director of IAC. She started the nonprofit organization in 1991 when she left her medical practice out of concern for her patients who were becoming infected with measles during a major outbreak. Under Dr. Wexler's leadership, IAC has grown to be one of the nation's premier sources of immunization information for healthcare providers and their patients. In national vaccine policy, Dr. Wexler has served as a consultant on working groups of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and on external planning committees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Conferences, as well as other national immunization groups.
According to ECBT, "Dr. Wexler's innovative 'out of the box' thinking and tenacity make her the ideal candidate for the ECBT Leadership Award."
"The Immunization Action Coalition has long worked to provide the best immunization information to patients and parents, and I am delighted to be recognized for my part in this important work," said Dr. Wexler.
Edgar Marcuse, MD, MPH, a pediatrician and vaccine advocate, and Debbie McCune Davis, an Arizona state senator and program director of The Arizona Partnership were also honored.
###
About the Immunization Action Coalition
IAC's immunization educational tools have a strong impact on the education, attitudes, and practices of healthcare professionals throughout the nation, making IAC one of the most respected and relied-upon immunization organizations in the United States. IAC is also a direct source of immunization information for the public. IAC's two major websites receive more than 20,000 visits per day, and its email news service broadcasts weekly immunization updates to more than 45,000 opt-in subscribers.
Dr. Wexler is available for interviews about this award.
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.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_uQsNK60MwVPJzml1OlI4GTR3d5Vm48H2RnlVlQSHmrsdNe7jG9Df-5nt6mwUXu96PKw5l-F8K4im6-i9H1os45O8T1V3Z7tojogUIEyMc=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 16-Nov-2011
Share ]