Clinton must face her demons over health

Clinton must face her demons over health

DURING her first campaign swing last weekend through Iowa, the small mid-western state where a year from now, she will face the first test in her bid to win the Democratic Party nomination for the 2008 presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton was asked many times whether she was prepared for the months of scrutiny of her private life and political record.

She said she had been through that sort of scrutiny and those sort of dirty tricks before and was prepared for whatever came her way.

But she was not asked how she would handle questions about perhaps the biggest political failure of her husband's first term, one that played a large role in the Republican Party's mid-term election victories in 1994 and one for which she has to take much of the "credit".

Taco Bell E. coli outbreak linked to Calif. lettuce

Taco Bell E. coli outbreak linked to Calif. lettuce

Prepackaged iceberg lettuce from California has been linked to two separate outbreaks of E. coli that sickened more than 150 Taco Bell and Taco John's customers late last year on the East Coast and in the Midwest, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The news comes just months after officials fingered prepackaged California spinach in an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened more than 200 people and killed three.

It deals another blow to California's leafy greens industry, which dominates the nation's supply. The iceberg lettuce industry alone harvested $750 million worth of greens in 2005 — nearly 75% of the nation's crop. Most of it was grown in the Greater Salinas and Central valleys.

"It just adds more fuel to the fire of the need to address this," said Dr. David Acheson, chief medical officer for the FDA's food safety center.

The recent outbreaks apparently have vindicated concerns he voiced last September, when he unenthusiastically announced his agency's decision to lift a warning against eating fresh bagged spinach from California's Central Coast. He pointedly noted at the time that of the 20 E. coli outbreaks from lettuce and spinach since 1995, nine were linked to the Greater Salinas Valley.

"Until some fundamental fixes are put in place in the areas where this contamination is happening," Acheson said during a conference call with reporters, "there is obviously a concern that two months from now we'll be having the same conversation, talking about outbreak No. 21."

And, indeed, outbreaks No. 21 and 22 occurred about two months later. People began falling sick after eating at the fast food chains Taco Bell and Taco John's in November. In the Taco Bell outbreak, which involved restaurants in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, seventy-one fell ill and 53 were hospitalized. The Taco John's outbreak involved three eateries in Minnesota and Iowa. Eighty-one were sickened, including 26 who were hospitalized.

Wider area affected

Outbreaks 21 and 22 also showed that problems in California extend beyond the Greater Salinas Valley, where the tainted spinach was grown.

Taco Bell's tainted lettuce was traced, via packaging, to farms in the Central Valley, although no specific sources have been named. The Taco John's produce was traced both to the Central Valley and to the coast south of Salinas.

As with the spinach outbreak, investigators suspect that the initial point of lettuce contamination occurred at the farms, not in processing or distribution, said Jack Guzewich, director of emergency coordination and response for the FDA's food safety center.

Conflicting land uses

One potential problem is the proximity of ranching and farming operations in parts of California. Cattle and other animals harbor the bacteria, which is shed in their feces.

Indeed, officials said, the same sub-strain of E. coli involved in the Taco John's outbreak was found in two unidentified "environmental samples" from dairy farms next to one of the chain's lettuce growers.

In the spinach outbreak, the implicated greens were ultimately traced to four farms in Monterey and San Benito counties. Near one of the farms, which was next to a cattle ranch, officials found the sub-strain that caused illnesses in cow manure, a wild pig's intestines and creek water.

The three successive outbreaks, all of which have run their course, also raise questions about what is causing them to occur with such frequency, said Trevor Suslow, a UC Davis food pathologist.

"The fact that it seems to be happening even more frequently, in a more compressed time frame, one would have to speculate something is either being missed or something has changed to elevate the level of risk or potential of contamination," Suslow said.

Tim Chelling, spokesman for the Western Growers Assn., said one possibility is increased vigilance by public health authorities, enabling outbreaks to be detected faster and with more precision.

"I think it's an indication of the heightened sensitivity of the food safety network," Chelling said. "At the same time, everyone here is treating it as the serious matter that it is."

Brian Dixon, spokesman for Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Taco John's International Inc., said it was a relief that investigators are making progress in their probe.

India Tests Technology for Space Vehicles

India Tests Technology for Space Vehicles

India has launched a satellite designed to test re-entry technology that could be used to prepare for a future manned mission. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, the experiment is the first step toward a more ambitious foray into space.

A red and white rocket blasted off Wednesday from Sriharikota in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh carrying four payloads: an Indian remote sensing satellite, two foreign-built satellites and a satellite designed to test technology for space vehicles re-entering the atmosphere when they return to earth.

The head of the Indian Space Research Organization, G. Madhavan Nair, said on national television the satellites were successfully placed in orbit.

"It is a great day for the country," he said. "We have done it, we have done it precisely, we have put all the four spacecraft into the orbit. I think I have no other words than to say it is a textbook mission."

For Indian scientists, the main focus of Wednesday's launch is on the 550-kilogram capsule that will help them test re-entry technology for the first time.

The capsule is designed to orbit the earth for 13 to 30 days before plunging into the Bay of Bengal, where it will be recovered.

The Indian Space Research Organization says this capsule will test technology for "navigation, guidance and control during the re-entry phase."

Only a handful of countries possess re-entry technology, which is a needed for sending manned missions into space.

A spokesman for the Indian space agency, S. Krishnamurthy, says this experiment will give India crucial technology for more ambitious missions.

"These are some of the technologies which of course will be useful for the future for whatever we do, whether it is manned or even to send this type of capsule, carry some experiment, do it in space, and recover those experiments after some time," he said.

India has not announced plans for a manned space mission, but the country's scientists have shown growing interest in space exploration.

They plan to send an unmanned spacecraft to the moon in the next three years. Scientists hope this mission will be the first step in India's voyage to other planets.

For decades, India's space program has focused on providing services such as telecommunications and weather forecasting. In recent years, the program has also developed vehicles that can put smaller satellites into space.

Officials say Wednesday's launch recaptured the space program's confidence. Last July an attempt to launch a communications satellite failed.

FDA Approves MedImmune's New Fresh Vs. Frozen Flu Vaccine Inhalant

FDA Approves MedImmune's New Fresh Vs. Frozen Flu Vaccine Inhalant

Gaithersburg, MD (AHN) - MedImmune Inc. announced today that their refrigerated formulation of FluMist has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Although a frozen formulation of FluMist has been on the market since its approval from the FDA in 2003, MedImmune's latest refrigerated formulation of FluMist will be available to the public in the 2007-2008 vaccination period for the next influenza season.

Both frozen and refrigerated formulations of FluMist are free of preservatives, such as thimerosal, which is a product that causes an allergic reaction in some individuals. Thimerosal is still currently being used to formulate the injectable flu vaccinations.

MedImmune's latest formulation of the FluMist was tested on children as young as 6 weeks old and as old as 98 years of age.

To date there have been 42 clinical trials that involved 60,000 study participants to test the effects of the FluMist product. The latest results of the 2004-2005 influenza season study found that using FluMist demonstrated a significant 55 percent reduction in strains that are included in the FluMist and even those that were not included in the formula in comparison with the injection form of the flu vaccine.

MedImmune is one of several manufacturers approved by the FDA to make the vaccine available to the public.

The nasal spray delivery of Flu-Mist is a well-tolerated influenza prevention option for healthy individuals in the listed age group. Current approved applications of this vaccine apply to healthy children and adults ages 5 to 49 years only as a nasal inhalant.

MedImmune has requested that the FDA expand the age group allowable for FluMist, which is still pending approval. The manufacturer wishes to include children as young as one year of age as long as they do not have any history of asthma or wheezing.

The anticipated future application of MedImmune's latest formulation of FluMist is scheduled for early August 2007.

Charity issues anorexia internet warning

Charity issues anorexia internet warning

WEB sites that promote anorexia and bulimia as a lifestyle choice rather than as diseases are "literally killing people", a British charity helping people with eating disorders said today.

Pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia Web sites present themselves as support networks and deny that they are encouraging people to remain thin, but they also offer tips for becoming thinner alongside glamorous images of slim celebrities and models.

"The danger of these sites is that often young people with an eating disorder don't understand what is happening to them," Steve Bloomfield, the Eating Disorders Association's head of communications, told BBC Radio.

"The great danger is that the people who construct these sites often have no idea of the terrible medical complications that come - the danger of losing your fertility, of developing osteoporosis - for some people if you resist treatment.

"About one in five people who don't get appropriate treatment die prematurely, so they are literally killing people."

According to Professor Janet Treasure, head of the eating disorders service and research unit at King's College London, about five to ten percent of women aged 14 to 24 in Britain suffer from some form of eating disorder.

The ratio falls to 1 percent for the whole female population.

"We have seen research from the States that has definitely identified that the people who use these sites are more resistant to seeking help and treatment," added Bloomfield.

In December a pilot study - published in the American Academy of Pediatrics' journal Pediatrics - of eating disorder patients aged between 10 and 22 in the US showed that up to a third learn new weight loss or purging methods from Web sites that promote eating disorders.

Internet chat rooms also enable users to share tips, such as what drugs induce vomiting and what Internet sites sell them.

Eating disorders returned to the global spotlight recently when two models suffering from anorexia died in Brazil and Uruguay.

The fashion industry has long been blamed for encouraging anorexia and bulimia among teenagers with its use of excessively thin catwalk models.

In September, the city of Madrid banned models below a certain weight from its fashion week shows.

Growth in US troops possible for Iraq

Growth in US troops possible for Iraq

BAGHDAD -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told visiting Defense Secretary Robert Gates that he would let US generals decide whether there is a need for a surge in US troops deployed in Iraq, according to Iraqi officials with knowledge of the meeting.

In a press conference, Gates said his conversation with the Iraqi prime minister and defense minister included "no numbers. . . . We were really talking in broader terms."

Iraq's defense minister, Abdul Qadir, later indicated general acceptance of an idea that has emerged as one of the chief options President Bush is considering as he reevaluates Iraq policy. "I did not say no to an increase in the number of US troops," Qadir said in a brief interview after the meeting at Maliki's residence in the Green Zone. "If we need it, we need it."

But after seeing Gates, Maliki met with Shi'ite members of his alliance where divisions unfolded over whether more US troops were needed, said Sami al-Askari, a Shi'ite member of Parliament who is close to Maliki. Askari, who attended the second meeting, said there was a general feeling that "there's no need for further troops."

Gates said that he "emphasized . . . the steadfastness of American support" for Iraq during his meeting with Maliki. The message he heard back from Maliki, he said, is that the Iraqi government wants to take the lead role in solving the country's security problems, including in the most violent zones in and around Baghdad.

Gates has billed his trip to Iraq, launched the day after he became defense secretary earlier this week, as key to formulating his recommendations for President Bush on how to re shape the US approach in Iraq. But in his public comments he gave little indication of how his two days of talks with generals, enlisted soldiers, and Iraqi officials have affected his views.

Update: Operations To Resume At Denver Airport

Update: Operations To Resume At Denver Airport

PORTLAND - Things are looking up for travelers stranded because of the blizzard in Denver, Colo., where crews have been working around the clock to get at least two of the runways operational.

The Denver International Airport will resume operations on two of its six runways at noon on Friday and hopes to open a third runway later in the evening.

The snow that blanketed Eastern Colorado continues to affect travelers in Portland.

DIA has been shut down since Wednesday afternoon due to weather conditions, leaving thousands of holiday travelers stranded. Nationally, 2,500 flights have been affected by the closure and airports are filling up.

As of Thursday, Portland International Airport had canceled 28 flights headed for Denver as either a connection or a final destination.

The closure is affecting most airlines, but United Airlines is especially taking a hard hit. Denver is a major hub for United flights and travelers were faced with long lines at ticket counters, but they weren't getting many answers. The reopening of the airport is strictly dependent on the weather.

Pfizer's departing chairman's package valued at $200M

Pfizer's departing chairman's package valued at $200M

Former Pfizer Inc. (PFE) chief executive of Henry A. "Hank" McKinnell, who was forced out earlier this year due in part to anger over his pension, will leave the company with a package of pay and benefits valued at a potential $200 million, according to a regulatory filing.

The bulk of the package was contained in the pension, valued at $82.3 million, which became the subject of shareholder ire earlier this year when the number was first disclosed. The disclosure was prompted by Harvard academic Lucian Bebchuk, who estimated it to be worth roughly $80 million.

McKinnell will also receive $78 million in deferred compensation, with $67 million of it coming from his pocket. Pfizer contributed $2.5 million to the plan; the remaining $8.2 million was earnings on the investment.

McKinnell will also receive a lump-sum severance of $11.9 million, which is two times his base salary and bonus. The company will pay him a 2006 bonus, pro rata, of $2.1 million, and $5.8 million in accelerated vesting of his restricted stock and restricted stock units. Unused vacation, benefits and unpaid bonus accounted for an additional $3 million.

McKinnell was replaced as chief executive by Jeffrey Kindler in July amid shareholder discontent over the pension and the company's five-year stock price. Between 2000 and 2005, Pfizer's stock declined by 49%, yet the company paid its chief executive an average annual salary of $25 million, according to data from Institutional Shareholder Services, a firm that advises shareholders on proxy votes.

The company announced Monday that Kindler had also succeeded McKinnell as chairman. McKinnell is to depart the board of directors in February.

At the company's annual shareholder meeting in April, investors flew a plane with a banner reading "Give it back Hank." But despite a campaign backed by high-profile investors like John Bogle to oust the directors responsible for McKinnell's pay package, no board member received less than 78% of the vote for retention.

The pension value is an estimated lump-sum amount for McKinnell's 35 years with the company, the filing said. Annually, the pension is worth about $6.6 million.

McKinnell will also continue to be eligible for performance-based stock compensation. If Pfizer meets its targets, he will be due about $18.3 million worth of stock at recent Pfizer stock prices, the filing said. Otherwise, he walks away with more than $180 million.

McKinnell's stock options will also fully vest, the filing said. The company didn't estimate the value of that benefit.

Fish oil during pregnancy could boost baby's coordination

Fish oil during pregnancy could boost baby's coordination

Women who take high doses of fish oils during pregnancy could dramatically boost their children's coordination, say researchers.

A new study reveals the benefits of using so-called "clever capsules" to help develop the full potential of babies while still in the womb

It found a significant advance in hand-eye coordination among toddlers whose mothers took fish oil supplements during the second half of pregnancy compared with those who did not.

The last three months of pregnancy are thought to be a key time for intake of fish oil because there is a growth spurt in the human brain during this time, which carries on into the first few months of a baby's life.

Other research suggests cod liver oil taken during pregnancy may increase birthweight and reduce the risk of the baby developing type 1 diabetes.

But as well as immediate benefits to the child, studies show fish oils can help mums-to-be in a number of ways, including reducing high blood pressure and easing post-natal depression.

The latest study from the University of Western Australia looked at 98 pregnant women, who were either given 4g of fish oil supplements or 4g of olive oil supplements daily from 20 weeks of pregnancy to the bith of their babies.

When the children reached the age of two and a half, they were given various tests measuring growth and development.

Children whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements scored significantly higher in hand-eye coordination than those whose mothers had taken olive oil supplements.

The last three months of pregnancy are thought to be a key time for intake of fish oil because there is a growth spurt in the human brain during this time, which carries on into the first few months of a baby's life.

Other research suggests cod liver oil taken during pregnancy may increase birthweight and reduce the risk of the baby developing type 1 diabetes.

But as well as immediate benefits to the child, studies show fish oils can help mums-to-be in a number of ways, including reducing high blood pressure and easing post-natal depression.

The latest study from the University of Western Australia looked at 98 pregnant women, who were either given 4g of fish oil supplements or 4g of olive oil supplements daily from 20 weeks of pregnancy to the bith of their babies.

When the children reached the age of two and a half, they were given various tests measuring growth and development.

Children whose mothers had taken fish oil supplements scored significantly higher in hand-eye coordination than those whose mothers had taken olive oil supplements.

US measles outbreak tied to traveler from Romania

US measles outbreak tied to traveler from Romania

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (Reuters) - A measles outbreak last year in Indiana in which 34 people became ill was spread by a 17-year-old U.S. girl who visited Romania without being vaccinated, U.S. health officials said on Thursday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention detailed the cause of the outbreak -- the largest in the United States since 1996 -- in an annual report on measles. CDC said there were 66 confirmed cases of measles in the United States in 2005, with no deaths. The 37 cases of measles in 2004 was the lowest ever recorded in the United States. The highly infectious, sometimes fatal viral illness has largely been eliminated in the United States by vaccination.

Savvy squirrels outwit trees

Like good stock brokers, red squirrels predict when the market will be flooded with seeds and then invest big by producing a second litter of young, a new study finds.

"Lots of animals time their reproduction to match predictable increases in resources like the new growth of plants every spring," said lead researcher Stan Boutin of the University of Alberta. "But the interesting twist here is that these squirrels have figured out a way to produce this second litter of babies at a time when they have little food and before an ‘unpredictable’ boom in seed production.”

The results are detailed in the Dec. 22 issue of the journal Science.

Smart squirrels
Boutin and his colleagues monitored two species of red squirrels, including a natural population of American red squirrels in southwestern Yukon, Canada from 1987 to 2004, and Eurasian red squirrels in Belgium and Italy.

Somehow the squirrels could anticipate when the trees would be laden with cones, and only during these years they produced a second litter of young.

In addition to predicting the future, the squirrels were able to reproduce while females were breast-feeding the first litter — something that doesn't normally occur in mammals, said study team member Andrew McAdam of Michigan State University.

While the researchers still aren’t certain how the squirrels can predict the cone market from year to year, they think it might be some chemical or visual cue from the buds that ultimately form tree cones. Every summer the squirrels nibble on these buds. "Squirrels could be using a visual cue or a hormonal cue they gain from eating the buds," Boutin said.

Battling the holiday bulge — with bacteria?

Battling the holiday bulge — with bacteria?

"There's new research that suggests it may not be what you eat that makes you fat, but what eats what you eat.

According to two studies in the journal Nature obese mice — and people — had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind. They both had a lower percentage of a family of bacteria called Bacteroidetes and more of a type of bacteria called Firmicutes. But the researchers aren't quite sure if the Firmicutes make people fat or if people who are obese grow more of that type of bacteria.

The researchers found that when lean mice with clean guts were given lots of Firmicutes, they got twice as fat and took in more calories from the same amount of food than mice with the more normal bacteria ratio.

So perhaps some time in the future, when the holiday binge is over for yet another year, gym memberships won't top the list of people wanting to lose weight. Maybe it'll be a heapin' helping of bacteria."

A new type of explosion, cause unknown

A new type of explosion, cause unknown

Over the summer of this year, NASA's Swift satellite program detected something that defies our understanding of the universe. Seen was a phenomenon titled a hybrid-gamma ray burst, most likely signaling the formation of a new black hole. As one may surmise, a hybrid gamma ray burst is a combination of two classes of gamma ray bursts, but this specific one, named GRB 060614, exhibited features that could not be explained with a simple combination approach.

Gamma ray bursts are the most powerful explosions in the universe, however they only last for a short time and until recently were hard to detect. The Swift program was designed to detect such bursts. Since the discovery of GRB 060614 many of the world's other telescopes, both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial (Hubble, et al), have spent a large amount of time studying the source of GRB 060614. There are two main types of gamma ray bursts: short bursts lasting less than a second or two, and long bursts lasting longer than two seconds. Gamma ray bursts are often a sign that something else is about to happen or has happened; long bursts are often the result of a massive star collapsing into a black hole which can precede a supernova; short bursts, on the other hand, are often the result of two massive bodies merging. GRB 060614 lasted for a whopping 102 seconds, putting it well into the long-burst range, but it was missing the tell-tale sign of a supernova—which often accompanies a long gamma ray burst.

Through measurements of the photons that reached earth shortly after the burst, scientists have found that GRB 060614 behaved much more like a short-bust blast. However, there is currently no theory of merging massive bodies that would explain a burst of the duration of GRB 060614. This leaves scientists in uncharted territory. Some scientists suggest that this may not be an unprecedented event. By searching through old data of past gamma ray bursts (note: this one actually occurred 1.6 billion years ago, so it is very old as well), they believe they have found other hybrid bursts that defy current explanation but do not have the same amount of follow-up examinations as with GRB 060614. As it stands now, scientists are divided over what this was—a very long short burst, or a long burst without the accompanying supernova. Whichever it is, it provides scientists with a new challenge and shows what happens when new evidence reveals that a currently-held theory cannot explain everything. Scientists are regrouping in search of a new explanation that can encompass both our previous knowledge of gamma ray bursts as well as this newly discovered phenomenon. Even in the face of new evidence, science will continue to explore and seek new understanding.

Three Landing Sites Ready for Return of Space Shuttle Discovery

Three Landing Sites Ready for Return of Space Shuttle Discovery

NASA is pondering the landing of the STS-116 crew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery. Specifically, officials are deciding whether to land the shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center (the primary landing site)—since weather is forecast to be unacceptable for a landing—or to land at alternative sites at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico or Edwards Air Force Base in California.

'Reset' Is Newest U.S. Military Catch-word

'Reset' Is Newest U.S. Military Catch-word

The newest term the U.S. military has adopted in dealing with troop stress management is "reset," as heard in a CNN interview with U.S. Army Gen. Richard Cody.

Cody, the vice chief of staff Army was asked about mounting suicide rates among troops facing multiple combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, and he used his own son as an example, saying he's had three combat tours "and is now in that 12- to 13-month reset," and was getting ready to go back to combat.

Cody then used the term three times in the next sentence.

"What we do, when we reset the unit, when it comes back, is we have to reset the equipment as well as reset the soldiers," he said.

The term also came up Tuesday when U.S. President George Bush was answering questions in Washington about whether he will increase troop numbers in Iraq.

"We need to reset our military. There's no question the military has been used a lot," Bush said.