MONDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a drug to treat the most common form of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma.
Erivedge (vismodegib) is the first drug sanctioned in the United States to treat basal cell skin cancer that has metastasized, or spread. The once-daily pill is also designed for cases deemed unsuitable for surgery or radiation, the agency said in a news release.
This usually slow-growing, painless form of cancer starts in the epidermis, the top layer of skin. Frequent exposure to sunlight and other forms of ultraviolet radiation are the typical causes, the FDA said.
Researchers evaluated the safety and effectiveness of Erivedge in a clinical study of 96 people with locally advanced or metastatic cancer. Of those with metastatic disease, 30 percent had at least a partial response to the drug, while 43 percent of people with locally advanced basal cell had at least a partial response.
One specialist welcomed the drug's approval.
"Eviredge is an amazing revolutionary approach to treating skin cancer," said Dr. Michele Green, dermatologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "I have many patients who are elderly and infirm for whom getting surgery is a major ordeal. Molecular biology has advanced to the point where such an important advance in therapy was unthinkable even a few years ago."
Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the United States, and it is estimated that one in five Americans will develop it in their lifetime. Caught early, it is highly treatable.
The most frequently cited side effects of Erivedge included muscle spasms, hair loss, weight loss, nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, distorted sense of taste, decreased appetite, constipation and vomiting.
Because of the potential risk for death or severe birth defects to a fetus, the drug will be packaged with a label warning, and doctors will not prescribe it to women who are pregnant, the agency said. Men and women will be advised to use birth control while taking the pills.
Erivedge, marketed by San Francisco-based Genentech, won expedited approval under a priority review program for drugs that may represent a major treatment advance.
More information
The Skin Cancer Foundation has details about basal cell.
Jennifer Lopez is going strong with her new boyfriend, 24-year-old dancer Caspar Smart -- but that doesn't mean she's thinking about marriage again. At least not yet.
DAKAR (Reuters) ? Senegal's opposition called on Saturday for more "resistance" against President Abdoulaye Wade, after a night of riots over his plans to run for a third term in elections next month.
Local media reported that one policeman was killed during the riots, in which protesters threw rocks, overturned cars and burned tyres and security forces fired tear gas, raising worries of growing instability in West Africa's most peaceful nation.
Calm had returned to the capital Dakar by morning and security boosted around the presidential palace. Truckloads of police in full riot gear patrolled the city, armed with tear gas grenade launchers, according to a Reuters witness.
"We are asking the people to remain alert and to resist Abdoulaye Wade," Abdoul Aziz Diop, the spokesman for opposition activist movement M23 told Reuters by telephone Saturday. "If Wade tries to impose himself on us ... we will resist."
He said that opposition figures and activist leaders were meeting Saturday to discuss their next steps.
The clashes came after Senegal's top legal body late on Friday night validated the candidacy of 85-year-old Wade and 13 rivals for the February 26 vote, but turned down the presidential bid of world music star Youssou N'Dour, saying he did not have the required 10,000 signatures of support.
Wade's rivals say the constitution sets an upper limit of two terms on the president. But Wade, who came to power in 2000 and was re-elected in 2007, has argued his first term pre-dated the 2001 amendment establishing the limit.
Wade appeared on state television late Friday and made an appeal for calm, promising elections would be free and fair.
"Stop these displays of petulance which will lead to nothing," he said. "The electoral campaign will be open. There will be no restrictions on freedom."
Senegal is the only country in mainland West Africa to have not had a coup since the end of the colonial era. February's poll, and a possible run-off a few weeks later, are seen as a test of social cohesion in the predominantly Muslim country.
Critics say that Wade, who spent 26 years in opposition to Socialist rule, has done nothing during his 12 years in power to alleviate poverty in a country where formal employment is scarce, and has dragged his heels on tackling official graft.
Wade points to spending on education and infrastructure projects such as roadbuilding as proof of progress toward turning Senegal into an emerging market country and a trade hub.
His candidacy has raised eyebrows abroad. The senior U.S. State Department official for Africa, William Fitzgerald, told French RFI radio that Wade's candidacy was "a bit regrettable."
Rival presidential hopeful Amsatou Sow Sidibe called on Wade to withdraw his candidacy voluntarily. "Peace and tranquility in Senegal depends on it," she told Reuters by telephone.
Local television said one policeman died from head injuries after clashes in the capital Dakar late Friday, but this could not be independently confirmed. Reuters reporters saw youths set fire to tyres and overturn cars.
One witness said a police station in the central town of Kaolack had been ransacked, while state radio said the local headquarters of Wade's liberal PDS had been burned down. Street protests were also reported in the towns of Thies and Mbour.
(Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Research in Motion's Thorsten Heins plans to waste no time in his new job. The BlackBerry maker's chief executive said he will present the board with his plan for company's future in just a matter of weeks.
The German-born executive, who took over from two longstanding co-CEOs on Saturday, said his plans for RIM would be "significant" though he did not divulge details in an interview with Reuters.
"I will have time with the board in two weeks to present my ideas and changes," Heins said.
But the executive, who was promoted from the role of chief operating officer, said he has already done groundwork to tackle his company's most pressing problem - persuading the U.S. market to covet the BlackBerry again.
While RIM is growing in other countries, Heins conceded that its U.S. business is in need of a major revival after losing out to rivals like Apple Inc's iPhone at U.S. service providers and corporations, where it once had a clear advantage among employees heavily dependent on its email service.
"In general I wouldn't consider RIM as a turnaround candidate. It is a turnaround candidate in the U.S.," he said. "We lost market share in this market quite substantially. That is something that we have to address."
While U.S. operators such as Verizon Wireless and AT&T Inc have helped BlackBerry with heavy advertising and promotions in the past, these operators have been much more focused in the last few years on devices like iPhone and smartphones based on the Google Inc operating system.
Heins' quest to regain ground with these operators has been complicated by the fact that RIM had to announce in December that it is delaying the launch of phones based on BlackBerry 10 - its next-generation software - until the later part of 2012 as it is awaiting the availability of a high-powered chip.
The executive would not say when exactly these phones would hit the market but implied that they would arrive in time for the year-end holiday-shopping season in the fourth quarter.
So in the meantime, Heins will concentrate on getting the most current BlackBerrys into more consumers hands. He noted that only 20 percent of U.S. BlackBerry users have the company's latest phones, which he says are competitive with rival smartphones.
The rest of RIM's U.S. customers have devices with older RIM software, some of which are "two generations behind," he said.
To overcome this, RIM has devised a new upgrade plan with U.S. operators to promote phones with the BlackBerry 7 system, which was launched in August last year.
"All the plans are ready. The carrier agreements are all ready. Now we have to get off the starting grid. Now we need to execute that upgrade program," Heins said.
While he did not want to disclose specifics about the new agreements, Heins said RIM could look at new ways of bundling different devices together or offering carriers smartphones with a package of pre-loaded applications.
He is also betting on the company's PlayBook tablet to compete with the Apple iPad tablet. This spring, Heins said that RIM will launch a version of the Playbook, with a high-speed wireless connection based on LTE - a technology that the top three U.S. operators are building into their networks.
Verizon Wireless and AT&T are already promoting LTE devices including smartphones and tablets from RIM's rivals. RIM's first smartphones with LTE connections will be in the company's BlackBerry 10 line-up, Heins said.
MOMENT OF SURPRISE
In his first presentation to Wall Street as CEO earlier this week, Heins said he did not think the company needed drastic change, causing some analysts to worry that the executive would not do enough to reverse the company's fortunes.
But the executive said on Friday that he was merely telling Wall Street that he does not want to change the core of RIM.
"Is RIM up for sale, is RIM up for a split-up?" He rejected those possibilities as "a drastic, seismic change because it would tear the company apart."
Heins, who has been with RIM for four years after spending over two decades at German engineering group Siemens, was became COO responsible for software and products seven months ago.
He explained that RIM had succession plans for co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in place for some time and that he had an inkling that he was being groomed to follow in their footsteps when he was named COO.
"The moment they tell you it's still a surprise," Heins said, smiling broadly and adding that he immediately said yes.
Lazaridis and Balsillie, who turned the BlackBerry maker into a global company and a household name, stepped down last week but will remain on the board.
Some analysts have worried whether these executives would have too much of a say in the future strategy of the company because of their position on the board.
Heins said, it would be an advantage to be able to tap into the experience and company knowledge of RIM founder Lazaridis, but he made it clear that he would be the one calling the shots.
"What I do with the company is my decision. The CEO runs the company."
(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Additional reporting by Alastair Sharp and Peter Lauria; Editing by Gary Hill)
VIENNA (Reuters) ? Senior United Nations nuclear inspectors headed to Tehran on Saturday to press Iranian officials to address suspicions that the Islamic state is seeking atomic weapons.
The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency hopes Iran, which has indicated readiness to discuss the issue for the first time since 2008, will end years of stonewalling on intelligence pointing to an intention to develop nuclear arms technology.
"We are trying ... to resolve all the outstanding issues with Iran, in particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts told reporters as he prepared to depart from Vienna airport.
But Western diplomats, who have often accused Iran of using such offers of dialogue as a stalling tactic while it presses ahead with its nuclear program, say they doubt Tehran will show the kind of concrete cooperation the IAEA wants.
They say Iran may offer limited concessions and transparency in an attempt to ease intensifying international pressure on the country, a major oil producer, but that this is unlikely to amount to the full cooperation that is required.
The outcome could determine whether Iran will face further international isolation, or whether there are prospects for resuming wider talks between Tehran and the major powers on the nuclear dispute that has sparked fears of war.
The United States and its allies suspect the program has military aims but Tehran says is for peaceful electricity generation.
"The chances of the IAEA's success may depend on how badly Iran wants to avoid harder sanctions," said nuclear expert Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs on Saturday suggested Iran was not in the mood for concessions.
"Iran's stance towards its nuclear issue has not changed in term of fundamentals and principles," Ali Akbar Velayati said, according to the ISNA news agency.
"One important principle is that Iran would not relinquish or withdraw from its peaceful nuclear activities."
The six-member IAEA team of senior officials and experts, headed by Nackaerts, was due to arrive in Tehran early on Sunday.
The three day visit comes at a time of soaring tension between Iran and the West. The IAEA issued a report in November with details of suspected research and development activities in Iran relevant to nuclear weapons.
The West has seized on the report to ratchet up sanctions aimed at Iran's lifeblood oil exports. Iran hit back on Friday warning it may halt oil exports to Europe next week.
"APPEARING TO COOPERATE"
The IAEA team is expected to seek explanations to the issues raised in the report, including information that Iran appears to have worked on a nuclear weapon design, and demand access to sites, officials and documents relevant to the agency's probe.
The IAEA says Iran, which has rejected the allegations as forged and baseless, has not engaged with the agency in a substantive way on these issues since August 2008 and that it keeps receiving intelligence data adding to its concerns.
"There were a huge number of questions raised by the November report. They will be seeking to answer those questions, and it's incumbent on Iran to be supportive," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said this week.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano has called on Iran to show a "constructive spirit" in the meeting and Iran has said it is willing to discuss "any issues" of interest to the U.N. agency, including the military-linked concerns.
Iran's Press TV state television said on its website the IAEA visit was aimed at bolstering cooperation between the two sides "by resolving ambiguities," language Tehran has also used in the past.
The English-language station cited Iran's envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, as saying the main objective was to "thwart plots by enemies who are leveling unfounded allegations" against Iran and to prove its nuclear transparency.
Hibbs said Amano would want to see a "significant step" from Iran, for example by agreeing to more intrusive IAEA inspections or by explaining issues related to the weapons suspicions.
"I'm not very optimistic," Hibbs said. "Iran's track record is of appearing to cooperate whenever they are threatened by penalties."
(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari in Tehran; Editing by Rosalind Russell)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The U.S. economy grew at its fastest pace in 1-1/2 years in the fourth quarter of 2011, but a strong rebuilding of stocks by businesses and a slower pace of spending on capital goods hinted at softer growth early this year.
U.S. gross domestic product expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Friday, a sharp acceleration from the 1.8 percent clip of the prior three months and the quickest pace since the second quarter of 2010.
It was, however, a touch below economists' expectations in a Reuters poll for a 3 percent rate, and nearly 2 percentage points was due to the build-up in business inventories.
The report supported the Federal Reserve's ultra easy monetary policy stance to nurse the recovery.
"This seems consistent with the Fed's view that the U.S. economy is going to need all the help it can get to hit escape velocity in the next couple years," said David Watt, a senior currency strategist, RBC Capital, Toronto
U.S. stock index futures turned negative after the data, while government debt prices pared losses. The euro held gains against the dollar.
Growth in the fourth quarter got a temporary boost from the rebuilding of business inventories, which was the fastest since the third quarter of 2010, after they declined in the third-quarter for the first time since late 2009.
Inventories increased $56.0 billion, adding 1.94 percentage points to GDP growth. Excluding inventories, the economy grew at a tepid 0.8 percent rate, a sharp step-down from the prior period's 3.2 percent pace.
The robust stock accumulation suggests the recovery will lose a step in early 2012.
Also pointing to slower growth, business spending on capital goods was the slowest since 2009, a sign the debt crisis in Europe was starting to take its toll.
Expectations of soft growth led the Fed on Wednesday to say it expected to keep interest rates at rock bottom levels at least through late 2014.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank, which forecast growth this year in a 2.2 percent to 2.7 percent range, was mulling further asset purchases to speed up the recovery.
The Fed warned the economy still faced big risks, a suggestion the euro zone debt crisis could still hit hard.
The economy grew 1.7 percent in 2011 after expanding 3 percent the prior year.
"The Fed is attempting to shield the economy from a potentially more severe recession in Europe," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody's Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
"Even though the economy improved last quarter there are a number of headwinds and a lot of uncertainty surrounding Europe, emerging markets and also U.S. fiscal policy."
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the World Economic Forum in Davos the U.S. economy still faced big challenges.
"We're still repairing the damage done by the financial crisis. On top of that we face a more challenging world. We have a lot of challenges ahead in the United States," Geithner said.
Consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity, stepped up to a 2 percent rate from the third-quarter's 1.7 percent pace - largely driven by pent-up demand for motor vehicles.
The Japanese earthquake and tsunami had disrupted supplies early in the year, leaving showrooms bereft of popular models.
Spending was also lifted by moderate inflation.
A price index for personal spending rose at a 0.7 percent rate in the fourth-quarter, the slowest increase in 1-1/2 years, after rising at a 2.3 percent pace in the July-September period.
A core inflation measure, which strips out food and energy costs, increased at a 1.1 percent rate after rising 2.1 percent in the third quarter.
The increase last quarter was the smallest in a year and put this measure well below the Fed's 2 percent target.
SLUGGISH INCOME GROWTH
Sluggish income growth amid an 8.5 percent unemployment rate, which has prompted households to tap savings and credit cards to fund their purchases, is expected to weigh on consumers as the new year unfolds.
The saving rate was 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter, slowing from the prior period's 3.9 percent.
"Though the unemployment rate has improved, the jobs market remains a major challenge. Part of the decline in the unemployment rate is due to the fact that ... people have stopped looking for work," said Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief economist at Mesirow Financial in Chicago.
"The high level of people out of the workforce and underemployed people show there isn't really much income generation to contribute to a better spending pattern."
About 23.7 million Americans are either out of work or underemployed.
The shrinking labor force suggests the economy's long-term growth potential has slipped below 2.5 percent.
A sustained growth pace of at least 3 percent would likely be needed to make noticeable headway in absorbing the unemployed and those who have given up the search for work.
Business spending grew at a sluggish 1.7 percent rate, pulling back sharply from the third-quarter's 15.7 percent pace.
Though exports held up despite slowing global demand, an increase in imports left a trade gap that sliced off 0.11 percentage point from GDP growth.
Despite an anticipated slowdown in growth this year, analysts do not believe the economy will fall into recession.
"The United States has enough momentum to offset the losses coming from Europe," said Laurenti.
Unseasonably mild winter weather helped home construction post its fastest growth pace since the second quarter of 2010, with much of the increase going to meet rising demand for rental apartments.
Spending on nonresidential structures fell. Government spending shrank for a fifth consecutive quarter, reflecting a large decline in defense and still weak state and local government outlays.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; editing by Neil Stempleman)
If you ask eliminated contestant Monica Spannbauer, The Bachelor's Ben Flajnik and contestant Courtney Robertson are a match made in reality TV heaven -- but not for the reasons viewers may think.
PHOTOS: Reality TV's most shocking love stories
"I absolutely think she's wrong for Ben, but the more I watch the show -- because obviously I don't get to see everything that happens -- they deserve each other," Spannbauer told reporters Thursday of the 28-year-old model, who has made a nasty habit of hating on the other girls in the house while pursuing Flajnik.
VIDEO: Courtney flirts with Ben during their fly fishing date
While Spannbauer admits she never personally had a problem with her while in the Bachelor mansion, she understands how Robertson's evil behavior has rubbed viewers the wrong way.
"Courtney is not very nice and I think she deserves everything that's coming toward her," the ousted bachelorette sniped. "Hands down, I think she's somebody different around other women and somebody different around a man."
PHOTOS: Meet Bachelor Ben's sexy singles
Spannbauer admits she also thinks differently of ABC's bachelor after watching his interactions with Robertson.
"[Courtney] is really manipulative and really good at what she does. Obviously that's the kind of girl Ben's looking for, at least to this point," she said. "If they end up together, they deserve each other, because if he's that shallow and she's that manipulative, then they totally work together."
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TOKYO ? Japan's deputy prime minister says the government failed to take minutes of 10 meetings held to formulate its response to the country's nuclear crisis last year and called for officials to compile reports on the meetings retroactively.
The missing minutes have become a hot political debate, with opposition lawmakers saying they are necessary to provide a transparent record of the government's decisions after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami touched off the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Deputy Prime Minister Katsuya Okada confirmed Friday at a news conference that the minutes were not recorded at the time and called for them to be written up, retroactively, by the end of next month.
Study: Diabetes affects hearing loss, especially in womenPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Krista Hopson khopson1@hfhs.org 313-874-7207 Henry Ford Health System
DETROIT Having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the metabolic disorder is not well controlled with medication, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Women between the ages of 60 and 75 with well-controlled diabetes had better hearing than women with poorly controlled diabetes, with similar hearing levels to those of non-diabetic women of the same age.
The study also shows significantly worse hearing in all women younger than 60 with diabetes, even if it is well controlled.
Men, however, had worse hearing loss across the board compared to women in the study, regardless of their age or whether or not they had diabetes.
"A certain degree of hearing loss is a normal part of the aging process for all of us, but it is often accelerated in patients with diabetes, especially if blood-glucose levels are not being controlled with medication and diet," says Derek J. Handzo, D.O., with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.
"Our study really points to importance of patients controlling their diabetes, especially as they age, based on the impact it may have on hearing loss."
The study will be presented Jan. 26 in Miami Beach at the annual Triological Society's Combined Sections Meeting.
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and another 34.5 million have some degree of hearing loss. Signs of hearing loss include difficulty hearing background noises or hearing conversations in large groups, as well as regularly needing to turn up the volume on a radio or TV.
While the association between diabetes and hearing loss has previously been studied, Henry Ford researchers sought to learn more about hearing differences among patients with well-controlled diabetes, poorly controlled diabetes, and those who do not have diabetes.
The Henry Ford research team reviewed records for 990 patients that had audiograms performed between 2000 and 2008 at the hospital. Patients were categorized by gender, age (younger than 60 years old, between 60-75 years old and older than 75 years old), and if they had diabetes. Those with diabetes were divided into two groups: well-controlled or poorly controlled, as determined by the American Diabetes Association guidelines that use HbA1C blood levels.
Dr. Handzo notes that previous studies about diabetes and hearing loss have not focused on blood-glucose levels, nor did they include such a diverse population based on age and gender.
The Henry Ford team looked at patients' pure tone average, a measurement that determines hearing level at certain frequency, and speech recognition at different ages. The team evaluated pure tone average ranges that focus on the frequency at which most people speak and the very high frequencies used in music and alarms.
Women between the ages of 60 and 75 with poorly controlled diabetes had significantly worse hearing than those whose diabetes was well-controlled and the control group. Among the women younger than 60, those with diabetes regardless of whether or not it was being controlled had worse hearing than non-diabetic women.
For the men in the study, there was no significant difference in hearing between those with diabetes that well-controlled or poorly controlled, as well as those who did not have diabetes.
"Younger males in general have worse hearing, enough so to possibly mask any impact diabetes may have on hearing. But our findings really call for future research to determine the possible role gender plays in hearing loss," says Dr. Handzo.
###
Funding: Henry Ford Hospital
Along with Dr. Handzo, Henry Ford study authors are Virginia S. Ramachandran, Au.D.; Brad A. Stach, Ph.D.; Ed S. Peterson, Ph.D.; and Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, M.D.
[ | 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.
Study: Diabetes affects hearing loss, especially in womenPublic release date: 26-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Krista Hopson khopson1@hfhs.org 313-874-7207 Henry Ford Health System
DETROIT Having diabetes may cause women to experience a greater degree of hearing loss as they age, especially if the metabolic disorder is not well controlled with medication, according to a new study from Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.
Women between the ages of 60 and 75 with well-controlled diabetes had better hearing than women with poorly controlled diabetes, with similar hearing levels to those of non-diabetic women of the same age.
The study also shows significantly worse hearing in all women younger than 60 with diabetes, even if it is well controlled.
Men, however, had worse hearing loss across the board compared to women in the study, regardless of their age or whether or not they had diabetes.
"A certain degree of hearing loss is a normal part of the aging process for all of us, but it is often accelerated in patients with diabetes, especially if blood-glucose levels are not being controlled with medication and diet," says Derek J. Handzo, D.O., with the Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford.
"Our study really points to importance of patients controlling their diabetes, especially as they age, based on the impact it may have on hearing loss."
The study will be presented Jan. 26 in Miami Beach at the annual Triological Society's Combined Sections Meeting.
According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and another 34.5 million have some degree of hearing loss. Signs of hearing loss include difficulty hearing background noises or hearing conversations in large groups, as well as regularly needing to turn up the volume on a radio or TV.
While the association between diabetes and hearing loss has previously been studied, Henry Ford researchers sought to learn more about hearing differences among patients with well-controlled diabetes, poorly controlled diabetes, and those who do not have diabetes.
The Henry Ford research team reviewed records for 990 patients that had audiograms performed between 2000 and 2008 at the hospital. Patients were categorized by gender, age (younger than 60 years old, between 60-75 years old and older than 75 years old), and if they had diabetes. Those with diabetes were divided into two groups: well-controlled or poorly controlled, as determined by the American Diabetes Association guidelines that use HbA1C blood levels.
Dr. Handzo notes that previous studies about diabetes and hearing loss have not focused on blood-glucose levels, nor did they include such a diverse population based on age and gender.
The Henry Ford team looked at patients' pure tone average, a measurement that determines hearing level at certain frequency, and speech recognition at different ages. The team evaluated pure tone average ranges that focus on the frequency at which most people speak and the very high frequencies used in music and alarms.
Women between the ages of 60 and 75 with poorly controlled diabetes had significantly worse hearing than those whose diabetes was well-controlled and the control group. Among the women younger than 60, those with diabetes regardless of whether or not it was being controlled had worse hearing than non-diabetic women.
For the men in the study, there was no significant difference in hearing between those with diabetes that well-controlled or poorly controlled, as well as those who did not have diabetes.
"Younger males in general have worse hearing, enough so to possibly mask any impact diabetes may have on hearing. But our findings really call for future research to determine the possible role gender plays in hearing loss," says Dr. Handzo.
###
Funding: Henry Ford Hospital
Along with Dr. Handzo, Henry Ford study authors are Virginia S. Ramachandran, Au.D.; Brad A. Stach, Ph.D.; Ed S. Peterson, Ph.D.; and Kathleen L. Yaremchuk, M.D.
[ | 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.
TULKAREM, West Bank ? Some 300 Palestinians have protested against price hikes and a recent income tax increase imposed by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Fayyad says he needs to raise revenues to slash a debilitating budget deficit that has led to several cash crises in recent months. Fayyad says the tax hikes target only the rich, and the measures are needed to wean the Palestinians off foreign aid.
The tax hike comes at a time of a steep increases in the prices of some basic goods and has sparked protests in the West Bank. On Thursday, about 300 supporters of a small PLO faction, the People's Party, staged a march in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem.
Business leaders and the West Bank's dominant Fatah Party also oppose the tax increase.
An Egyptian man chants slogans as thousands gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
An Egyptian man chants slogans as thousands gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
Egyptian protesters wave the national flag as thousands gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
An Egyptian man holds a newspaper with a photo of the opening session of parliament as thousands gather in Tahrir Square to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
An Egyptian man wears face paint in the colors of the national flag in Tahrir Square as thousands gather to mark the one year anniversary of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)
CAIRO (AP) ? Tens of thousands of Egyptians rallied Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the country's 2011 uprising, with liberals and Islamists gathering on different sides of Cairo's Tahrir Square in a reflection of the deep political divides that emerged in the year since the downfall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak.
Groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and their liberal and secular rivals differ over the goals of the revolution and the strategy to achieve them, in particular the relationship with the country's interim military leaders.
Military generals led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi took over from Mubarak when he stepped down on Feb. 11, 2011. The ousted president is now on trial for his life on charges of complicity in the killing of hundreds of protesters during the uprising.
Volunteers from the Brotherhood, a fundamentalist group that won just under half of parliament's seats in recent elections, were checking IDs and conducting searches of the thousands flocking to join the protests.
Other Brotherhood followers formed a human chain around a large podium set up overnight by the group. The Brotherhood loyalists were chanting religious songs and shouting, "Allahu Akbar," or God is great.
In contrast, liberals on the other side of the square were chanting, "Down, down with military rule," and demanding that Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for nearly 20 years, be executed.
"Tantawi, come and kill more revolutionaries, we want your execution," they chanted, alluding to the more than 80 protesters killed by army troops since October. Thousands of civilians, many of them protesters, have been hauled before military tribunals for trial since Mubarak's ouster.
"We are not here to celebrate. We are here to bring down military rule. They have failed the revolution and met none of its goals," said Iman Fahmy, a 27-year- old pharmacist who wore a paper eye-patch in solidarity with protesters shot in the eye by security forces during recent protests.
Fahmy was among several thousand protesters led by pro-reform leader Mohamed ElBaradei who were marching toward Tahrir Square from a neighborhood on the west bank of the river Nile. Several other marches were proceeding toward Tahrir, raising the possibility of a massive turnout at the square.
Unlike many of the demonstrators, ElBaradei, a Nobel Peace laureate, said that the immediate return of the military to the barracks was not a top priority.
"I don't think that is the issue right now. What we need to agree on is how to exactly achieve the revolution's goals starting by putting down a proper democratic constitution, fixing the economy, security and independent judiciary and media and making sure the people who have killed those people are prosecuted," he told The Associated Press.
There were no army troops or police in Tahrir Square, birthplace of the 18-day, anti-Mubarak uprising that began on Jan. 25, 2011.
Liberal and left-leaning groups behind Mubarak's ouster say that, except for putting Mubarak on trial, the generals have left the old regime largely in place. They say that the Brotherhood has tacitly accepted this, concentrating its efforts on winning parliamentary seats rather than working for the realization of the uprising's goals ? social justice, democracy and freedom.
"You have the parliament, the marshal (Tantawi) is in power and the revolutionaries are in prison," a man shouted at a Brotherhood supporter carrying the blue flag of the group's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party.
The Brotherhood is the largest single bloc in the new, 508-seat parliament, which held its inaugural session on Monday. The group's supporters have mostly stayed away from recent protests demanding the military immediately step down, arguing that it was time for elections rather than street protests.
But the liberal and leftist groups maintain that the revolution must continue until remnants of Mubarak's 29-year regime are removed from public life and government, and until those responsible for the killing of protesters are brought to justice.
"I am not here to celebrate. I am here for a second revolution," said Attiya Mohammed Attiya, a 35-year-old father of four children who is unemployed. "The military council is made of remnants of the Mubarak regime. We will only succeed when we remove them from power," said Attiya.
The Brotherhood's election win came in the nation's freest election in decades, held in stages over a six-week period starting Nov. 28. Another Islamist group, the ultraconservative Salafis, won about a quarter of the seats, while liberals and independents could only garner under 10 percent of the seats.
The Brotherhood was outlawed for most of the 84 years since its inception, subjected to repeated crackdowns by successive governments. Under Mubarak, hundreds of them were jailed on trumped-up charges.
"We are the political force that paid the heaviest price," said Alaa Mohammed, a teacher and Brotherhood supporter. "Thanks to the military council, we had the cleanest elections ever, and the military protected the revolution."
Posted: 3:26 pm Mon, January 23, 2012 By Dan?Emerson Tags: Chuck Palm, Cuningham Group, David Williams, Eric Dueholm, Greiner Construction, Johnson Lewis, Kim Ess, LEED
A glass-walled conference room at Nilan Johnson Lewis, a Minneapolis law firm that developed an ecology-conscious space on two floors of the One Financial Plaza building. (Staff photo: Bill Klotz)
Interior design in law offices traditionally has featured pricey, imposing furniture, expensive paneling, carpeting and artwork, and other opulent touches. But the Minneapolis law firm of Nilan Johnson Lewis emphatically broke with that tradition when it developed its ecology-conscious space on two floors of the One Financial Plaza building.
The LEED-certified, 77,000-square-foot office, designed by Minneapolis-based Cuningham Group architects, offers a lengthy list of earth-friendly and energy-saving elements: sustainable hardwoods and other locally sourced materials, high-efficiency plumbing and light fixtures, and low VOC (volatile organic compound) paints and carpeting.
And, in the demolition process, Greiner Construction diverted at least 80 percent of the materials from landfills by repurposing or recycling.
Local contractors, architects and landlords say the green build-out trend is growing and can benefit even small space users with limited budgets. Along with sending a socially responsible message, green improvements also can yield significant financial benefits, said Kim Ess, the law firm?s chief operating officer.
After the firm moved into its new office in late 2009, a detailed study showed that the improvements reduced the space?s energy consumption by 35 percent. The daylight-filled space also conveys a welcoming message to clients and employees, Ess said.
Obviously, smaller office tenants do not typically have the same degree of control over their leased spaces as a large business that is leasing two whole floors. Smaller tenant-improvement budgets are one reason.
But they can apply some of the same eco-friendly and energy saving improvements, Ess said. ?Much of what we did involved lighting and power consumption.? Along with choosing energy-efficient office equipment, she said, ?you can use lamps and fixtures that not only consume less power but also generate less heat.?
Chuck Palm, vice president of engineering and sustainability for Bloomington-based Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq Real Estate Services, agrees that even small or mid-size office tenants can make choices that will lead to significant energy savings. Energy Star-rated PCs, copy machines and other office equipment are examples, he said.
Several national organizations have developed ?model? green leases for use by landlords and tenants, including the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA).
Beyond the usual legal stipulations, a green lease addresses key environmental issues such as indoor air quality, energy use, carbon credits, recycling, insurance, maintenance, operating costs, tenant improvements, green cleaning specs and building regulations.
Eric Dueholm, NAI Welsh?s vice president for corporate solutions, said he has not seen much demand for green leases in this market, ?although there is a lot of good information? available.
?What I have seen ? and what I think is most likely to continue ? is proactive efforts on the part of the landlord to ?green? their operations and more requests from tenants for green build-outs,? Dueholm said.
NAI Welsh has recently been making green upgrades to a number of its vacant office spaces to ?make them more sustainable and more marketable,? he said. ?In a lot of older spaces, it?s work that needs to be done anyway.?
David Williams, a building performance specialist and senior mechanical engineer with LHB Engineers and Architects in Minneapolis, points out that landlords and tenants can agree to split the cost of energy-saving improvements.
Williams suggests asking the landlord for data on how much energy has been used to heat, cool and light a space especially if it will be rehabbed ? ?to see if we can split potential savings by either operating the building better or improving something lessees have control over.?
Palm wishes more office tenants would take advantage of green tenant-improvement opportunities. ?I do quite a bit of auditing of commercial spaces, and it surprises me how na?ve people are about energy use,? he said. ?Even though there is a lot of opportunity to save money, we don?t get nearly as much demand as I would like to see. Most tenants are more concerned with having a nice-looking office space, not necessarily whether it is going to be energy-efficient.?
For example, ?there are opportunities missed in choosing light fixtures that look beautiful but may not be that efficient,? Palm said. ?Even with standard, 4-foot fluorescent bulbs, many people are not aware that there are multiple options available that could be 20 percent more efficient. I don?t think those are usually presented as options when architects are pulling together plans.?
Of course, some tenants, landlords and architects are greener than others. ?We?re always looking at energy efficiency and occupant health, from soup to nuts,? said Rick Carter, a principal with LHB Architects.
?In some cases, that means using less materials or salvaging materials from the build-out. Or you might not have (fixed) walls dividing up the space, which is also a green strategy,? said Carter, recently named one of the Green Building Certification Institute?s first 34 LEED Fellows, chosen for their leadership.
?Sometimes, it depends on a company?s culture,? said Andi Simon, senior director of project management for Cushman & Wakefield/NorthMarq Real Estate Services. ?Before they lease, some tenants want to know what the landlord is offering for sustainable practices.?
Simon said clients who opt for green features typically do so for altruistic reasons rather than focusing only on costs and payback. ?Some people feel it?s the right thing to do and that it supports their culture and business platform.?
This entry was posted on Monday, January 23rd, 2012 at 3:26 pm and is filed under Focus on Energy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
3DS owners have been waiting (and waiting) for a chance to take advantage of a downloadable content market, and while Nintendo already accomplished the tough part (read: launching it) a few days back, there's still been no word on when paid content would make an appearance. Pushing those freebies aside is Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, which is seemingly destined to be the first 3DS title in existence to offer up enhancements in exchange for a few yen. The box here is actually an "early retail dummy unit," though the verbiage on the back makes quite clear that downloadable material will be available at a cost. Furthermore, there's a heretofore unseen Nintendo Network badge on the front, which may be a new look for the existing Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. At any rate, the game is scheduled to ship on February 16th in Japan, after which all of this will-it-won't-it drama will presumably be cleared up.
Alanis Morissette iss one of the pre-eminent singer-songwriters of her generation. In 1995, she took the world by storm, selling more than 33 million copies of her debut album "Jagged Little Pill." On "The Mortified Sessions" (Mon., 8 p.m. EST on Sundance), she revealed that her love of writing began at an early age, reading a poem she wrote as a child.
While her ability to turn a phrase certainly improved over the years, there's something fun about going back to such an early work and seeing how a creative mind developed. Certainly Morissette herself was beside herself with laughter as she read lines like "It feels like you just came out of a pit" and "You might say bad words and get in heck."
Morissette confirmed toward the end of 2011 that she was finishing up work on her eighth studio album, currently untitled. She's made appearances on recent season finales of both "American Idol" and "The X Factor," and will be a guest mentor on "The Voice," maintaining a higher public profile in anticipation of the album's release. It remains to be seen if she can match her earlier sales heights. She even has a planned guest role on "Up All Night."
"The Mortified Sessions" continues Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on Sundance.
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MONDAY, JANUARY 23: "Gossip Girl"
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"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret. "Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret.
MONDAY, JANUARY 23: "Gossip Girl"
"Gossip Girl" (8 p.m. EST, The CW) "Clueless" writer/director Amy Heckerling makes her first foray into TV directing since 2005 for Blair's bachelorette party, as others scheme behind Queen B's back to make it a night to remember. After discovering the truth behind Chuck and Blair's car accident, Nate joins forces with a surprising ally to gather the evidence, while Serena and Dan pretend to be dating again to protect Blair's secret. "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });
Phone makers love to take pride in the extravagant names they give their products, but it's likely that the Huawei Honor is more to its creator than just a decently-specced handset. After all, the introduction of the Honor -- followed by last week's announcement of the super-slim Ascend P1 S -- appears to represent a shift in the OEM's overall product placement strategy. Huawei has done a great job finding customers in emerging and prepaid markets, but now it has its sights set on cranking out noteworthy phones that will gain the attention of anyone looking for a high-end device.
Based on its laundry list of specs, the Honor isn't a high-end handset compared to some of its LTE and dual-core competitors. And yet, it's still the best device Huawei's offered to date, and it's clear the company's upcoming phones are only going to get better. So we're really eyeing the Honor as a step closer to the OEM finally realizing its ultimate goal. Does it live up to its name? Can the Honor play with the big boys, or is it nothing more than just an outward indication of the company's future? Read on to find out.
PYONGYANG, North Korea ? North Korea on Friday credited new leader Kim Jong Un with spearheading past nuclear testing, as it adds to a growing personality cult that portrays the young son of late leader Kim Jong Il as a confident military commander.
Kim Jong Un's youth ? he's believed to be in his late 20s ? and quick rise have spurred questions in foreign capitals about his readiness for leadership. But North Korea has dismissed such worries in recent days, saying Kim Jong Un worked closely with his father on military and economic matters.
The North's official Uriminzokkiri website said Friday that Kim "frightened" the country's enemies by commanding nuclear testing in the past. North Korea tested nuclear devices in 2006 and 2009, but the website didn't specify which tests Kim oversaw.
Uriminzokkiri described Kim Jong Un as "fully equipped" with the qualities of an extraordinary general, even during his years at Kim Il Sung Military University. The website also repeated the North's claim that he was involved in satellite launching but didn't elaborate.
North Korea's linking of Kim Jong Un to past nuclear testing comes as it pushes for the resumption of long-stalled six-nation aid-for-nuclear disarmament talks that also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States. Washington and its allies want the North to first show it is serious about previous disarmament commitments.
North Korea last week questioned Washington's generosity and sincerity, but suggested it remains open to suspending its uranium enrichment program if it can get the food aid it wants.
Kim Jong Un took over after his father and longtime ruler Kim Jong Il died in mid-December and has quickly been given many of the country's most important titles.
He was introduced as heir only in September 2010. Before that he had been kept out of the public eye for most of his life. He was quickly promoted to four-star general and named a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the Workers' Party of Korea.
Some of North Korea's neighbors and Washington have expressed worry about whether he can lead a nation of 24 million with a nuclear program as well as chronic trouble feeding all its people.
Kim Jong Il had 20 years of training under his own father, Kim Il Sung, before taking over. Even after his father's 1994 death, Kim Jong Il observed a three-year mourning period before formally assuming leadership.
A senior official told The Associated Press recently that Kim Jong Un spent years working closely with his late father and helped him make key policy decisions on economic and military affairs.
North Korea has also made it clear that Kim Jong Un will continue Kim Jong Il's "songun," or military-first, policy, and a steady stream of reports and images from state media has sought to show him as a fearless military commander who is comfortable with leadership.
North Korea also reported Friday that Kim Jong Un inspected two more military units.
Earlier this month, North Korea's state-run broadcaster aired a documentary that showed Kim Jong Un observing an April 2009 launch of a long-range rocket. It was the first indication of his involvement in the launch.
The documentary quoted Kim as threatening to wage war against any nation attempting to intercept the rocket, which North Korea claimed was carrying a communications satellite but the United States, South Korea and Japan said was really a test of its long-range missile technology.
Exxon Mobil has reached an agreement with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to pay $1.6 million in penalties over the Yellowstone River oil spill, according to the Associated Press. The agreement specifically details that the oil company will spend $1.3 million on future environmental projects, pay $300,000 in cash, and reimburse state agencies for $760,000 in emergency response costs. The penalty is the largest in the history of the agency.
With this landmark decision, here are some facts and information about the Yellowstone River oil spill and the following events leading up to Thursday's announcement:
* KTVQ Billings reported that the spill occurred on the night of Friday, July 1, 2011, after an underground line underneath the Yellowstone River broke and the initial spill estimates were 750 to 1,000 barrels.
* In less than 24 hours, the unrefined crude oil had spread from the town of Laurel, Mont., to Hysham, a town about 100 miles east.
* CNN added that the about 200 residents were evacuated after the oil company reported the spill but were allowed back to their homes the following morning.
* Ecological concerns have also been raised since the river is home to trout and helps provide habitat and food for geese, otters, and bald eagles, all of which could be at risk for ingesting toxins.
* Cleanup efforts included utilizing 48,000 feet of absorbent boom, 2,300 absorbent pads, and vacuum trucks and tankers.
* In light of the $1.6 million agreement, Exxon Mobil increased its estimate of the total number of crude oil spilled by 50 percent from the earlier estimate of 1,000 barrels to at least 1,509 barrels, according to the Billings Gazette.
* Gov. Brian Schweitzer had disputed with Exxon, saying that the 1,000-barrel estimate was too low and, in addition, only about 10 barrels of crude oil were recovered by cleanup crews.
* The New York Times reported that 10 days into the spill, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) testing showed that air and drinking water quality did not pose safety risks.
* During the time of the spill, raging flood waters prevent water tested and the EPA was unable to proceed until flood waters receded.
* In October, eight landowners filed a lawsuit against Exxon seeking unspecified damages for harm to their property and businesses as a result of the oil spill, reported the Associated Press.
* The rupture happened in a pipeline buried 5 to 7 feet below the river and since the burst, a 12-inch pipeline was been reburied about 60 to 70 below the river and oil transport has resumed.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
ScienceDaily (Jan. 19, 2012) ? Shortly after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, mysterious honeycomb material was found floating in the Gulf of Mexico and along coastal beaches. Using state-of-the-art chemical forensics and a bit of old-fashioned detective work, a research team led by scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) confirmed that the flotsam were pieces of material used to maintain buoyancy of the pipe bringing up oil from the seafloor.
The researchers also affirmed that tracking debris from damaged offshore oil rigs could help forecast coastal pollution impacts in future oil spills and guide emergency response efforts -- much the way the Coast Guard has studied the speed and direction of various floating debris to guide search and rescue missions. The findings were published Jan. 19 in Environmental Research Letters.
On May 5, 2010, 15 days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oceanographer William Graham and marine technicians from the Dauphin Island Sea Lab were working from a boat about 32 miles south of Dauphin Island, Ala., when they saw a 6-mile-long, east-west line containing more than 50 pieces of white material interspersed with sargassum weed. The porous material was uniformly embedded with black spheres about a centimeter in diameter. No oil slick was in sight, but there was a halo of oil sheen around the honeycomb clumps.
Two days later, the researchers also collected similar samples about 25 miles south of Dauphin Island. Nobody knew what the material was, with some hypothesizing at first that it could be coral or other substance made by marine plants or animals. Graham sent samples to WHOI chemist Chris Reddy, whose lab confirmed that the material was not biological. But the material's source remained unconfirmed.
In January 2011, Reddy and WHOI researcher Catherine Carmichael, lead author of the new study, collected a piece of the same unknown material of Elmer's Beach, Grand Isle, La. In April, 2011, they found several large pieces, ranging from 3 to 10 feet, of the honeycomb debris on the Chandeleur Islands off Louisiana.
Oil on all these samples was analyzed at WHOI using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography. The technique identifies the thousands of individual chemical compounds that comprise different oils from different reservoirs. The chemistry of the oil on the debris matched that of oil sampled directly from the broken pipe from the Macondo well above the Deepwater Horizon rig.
In addition, one piece of debris from the Chandeleur Islands retained a weathered red sticker that read "Cuming" with the numbers 75-1059 below it. Reddy found a company called Cuming Corporation in Avon, Mass., which manufactures syntactic foam flotation equipment for the oil and gas industry. He e-mailed photos of the specimen to the company, and within hours, a Cuming engineer confirmed from the serial number that the foam came from a buoyancy module from DeepwaterHorizon.
"We realized that the foam and the oil were released into the environment at the same time," Reddy said. "So we had a unique tracer that was independent of the oil itself to chronicle how oil and debris drifted out from the spill site."
The scientists overlaid the locations where they found honeycomb debris on May 5 and 7 with daily forecasts produced by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the trajectory of the spreading oil slick. NOAA used a model that incorporated currents and wind speeds, along with data from planes and satellites. On both days, the debris was about 6.2 miles ahead of the spreading slick.
The explanation, the scientists said, is the principle of leeway, a measure of how fast wind or waves push materials. The leeway for fresh oil is 3 to 3.3 percent, but the scientists suspected that "the protruding profile of the buoyant material" acted acting like a sail, allowing wind to drive it faster than and ahead of the floating oil.
In this case, the flotsam served as a harbinger for the oncoming slick, but because different materials can have different leeways, oil spill models may not accurately forecast where oiled debris will head. "Even a small deviation in leeway can, over time, results in significant differences in surface tracks because of typical wind fields," the scientists wrote.
The Coast Guard has a long history of calculating the leeway of various materials, from life jackets to bodies of various sizes and weights, to improve forecasts of where the materials would drift if a ship sank or a plane crashed into the sea. But calculating leeways has not been standard practice in oil spills.
"We never had solid data to make the case until this study," said Merv Fingas, who tracked oil spills for more than 38 years for Environment Canada, which is equivalent to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"These results," the study's authors wrote, "provide insights into the fate of debris fields deriving from damaged marine materials and should be incorporated into emergency response efforts and forecasting of coastal impacts during future offshore oil spills."
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation.
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Public release date: 26-Jan-2012
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