29 April 2013Last updated at 21:54 ETBy James GallagherHealth and science reporter, BBC News
Patients in the UK have been enrolled into a trial to see if an engineered virus can be used to heal their damaged and struggling hearts.
The trial will use a virus to introduce genetic material into heart muscle to reverse the organ's decline.
The British Heart Foundation said the idea had "great potential" but needed to be proven in clinical trials.
Heart failure affects more than 750,000 people in the UK and can leave some people too weak to climb the stairs.
It occurs when the organ is damaged, for example after being starved of oxygen in a heart attack, and becomes too weak to effectively pump blood around the body.
There have been huge medical leaps in keeping patients alive after a heart attack, but the consequence is a rapidly growing number of people living with heart failure.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
Gene therapy used to be heralded as the next big thing in medicine, but for decades it has promised more than it has delivered.
The concept is simple. If there is a problem with a patient's genetic code, then correct that part of the code.
Safety issues have been one of the biggest stumbling blocks.
In one trial a US teenager died and other patients have developed leukaemia.
The first gene therapy was finally approved for commercial use in Europe in November 2012.
It treats patients with lipoprotein lipase deficiency - who are otherwise unable to digest fat.
There is certainly a need for new treatments that could reverse heart failure
But even if this trial there will be a need for larger trials, so any therapy could be a decade away even if things go well.
Researchers at Imperial College London found levels of the protein SERCA2a were lower in heart-failure patients. So they devised a genetically modified virus, with the instructions for producing more of the protein, that can infect the heart.
The virus will be released into the damaged heart muscle of the 200 patients involved in the trial via a tube inserted into the leg and pushed up through the blood vessels.
Prof Sian Harding, from Imperial College London, said: "It's bringing [the heart] back to the point where patients were pretty well, just after the initial damage occurred.
"We think this is a treatment that can improve quality of life for quite a lot of people."
Dr Alexander Lyon, a cardiologist at Royal Brompton Hospital, where some patients will take part in the trial, said: "This is the first ever gene therapy trial for heart failure.
"Our goal is to fight back against heart failure by targeting and reversing some of the critical molecular changes arising in the heart when it fails."
Prof Peter Weissberg, the medical director of the British Heart Foundation, said: "Whilst drugs can offer some relief, there is currently no way of restoring function to the heart for those suffering with heart failure.
"Gene therapy aims to improve the function of weak heart muscle cells, whereas our Mending Broken Hearts Appeal is aimed at finding ways to replace dead heart muscle cells after a heart attack.
"Both approaches are novel and both offer great potential for the future."
Memory of a time where an NEC phone graced US shores escapes us, but the prolific -- and often accurate -- @evleaks has tweeted a press shot that signals a handset from the Japanese firm might soon arrive stateside. Emblazoned with AT&T's logo and reportedly dubbed the NEC Terrain, the Android-toting smartphone shares its front real estate with a screen, a camera and a QWERTY keyboard. No other details were spilled with the image, but with a name like Terrain and what looks like a rubberized border, we wouldn't be surprised if it could withstand a fair amount of rough and tumble.
SAN FRANCISCO: Siri may be feeling a little job insecurity. The sometimes droll assistant that answers questions and helps people manage their lives on Apple's iPhone and iPad is facing competition from an up-and-coming rival made by Google.
The duel began with the release of a free iPhone and iPad app that features Google Now, a technology that performs many of the same functions as Siri.
It's the first time that Google Now has been available on smartphones and tablet computers that aren't running on the latest version of Google's Android software. The technology, which debuted nine months ago, is being included in an upgrade to Google's search application for iOS, the Apple software that powers the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It's up to each user to decide whether to activate Google Now within the redesigned Google Search app, which is available through Apple's app store.
Siri tried to dismiss the competitive threat. When asked for an opinion about Google Now, Siri responded: "If it's all the same to you, I'd rather Google later."
Mike Allton, a St. Charles, resident who has owned an iPhone for four years, could hardly wait to check out Google Now, even if Siri might interpret it as a betrayal.
Siri "is looking a little green with envy," Allton, 36, said with a laugh after he installed Google's new app. "I love Apple products, but I like to see the competition because it probably will lead to even more improvements. I believe this technology is going to be even more deeply ingrained in our lives a few years from now."
Other iPhone users - even those who have grown fond of Siri - welcomed Google Now's arrival to iOS in mostly enthusiastic and sometimes amusing remarks posted on Twitter and Google Plus. One person joked that Google Now is so helpful that the technology prompted him to wash his hands after using the bathroom. The biggest gripe was about the possibility of Google Now's location-tracking features draining a device's battery more quickly.
Google Now's invasion of Siri's turf marks Google Inc.'s latest attempt to lure iPhone and iPad users away from a service that Apple built into its own devices.
Google quickly won over millions of iPhone users in December when it released a mapping application to replace the navigation system that Apple dumped when it redesigned iOS last fall. Apple's maps application proved to be inferior to Google's ousted service. The app's bugs and glitches made Apple the butt of jokes and fueled demand for Google to develop a new option.
Apple has been losing to Google on other fronts in a rapidly growing mobile computing market, an arena that was revolutionized with the iPhone's release in 2007. Smartphones and tablet computers running Google's free Android software have been steadily expanding their market share in recent years, partly because they tend to be less expensive than the iPhone and iPad. In 2012, Android devices held about 69 per cent of the smartphone market while iOS had about 19 percent, according to the research firm IDC.
Android's success has been particularly galling for Apple because its late CEO, Steve Jobs, believed Google stole many of its ideas for the software from the iPhone. That led to a series of court battles over allegations of patent infringement, including a high-profile trial last year that culminated in Apple winning hundreds of millions in damages from Samsung Electronics, the top seller of Android phones. That dispute is still embroiled in appeals.
The rise of Android also is squeezing Apple's profit margins and has contributed to a nearly 40 per cent drop in the company's stock price since it peaked at $705.07 last September around the time that the iPhone 5 came out.
Android's popularity is good news for Google because the company's services are built into most versions of the operating system. That brings more traffic to Google services, creating more opportunities for the company to sell ads - the main source of Google's revenue.
Siri is billed by Apple as an "intelligent feature." Since the technology's release in October 2011, Apple has made it a centerpiece of some marketing campaigns that depict Siri and its automated female voice as an endearing and occasionally even pithy companion.
Google believes its Siri counterpart is smarter because Google Now is designed to learn about a user's preferences and then provide helpful information before it's even asked to do so. The technology draws upon information that Google gleans from search requests other interactions with the company's other services. Knowing a person's location also helps Google Now serve up helpful information without being asked.
"This concept of predicting your needs and showing you them at the right time is unique to Google Now," said Baris Gultekin, Google Now's director of product management. "We want computers to do the hard work so our users can focus on what matters to them so they can get on with their lives."
If the technology is working right, Google Now is supposed to do things like automatically tell people what the local weather is like when they wake up to help decide what to wear and provide a report on traffic conditions for the commute to work. During the day, Google Now might provide an update on the score of a user's favorite sports team or a stock quote of a company in a user's investment portfolio. On a Friday evening, Google Now might offer suggestions for movies to see or other weekend events tailored to a user's interests. For international travelers, Google Now might provide currency conversion rates, language translations of common phrases and the time back home.
Most of this automatic information is provided in summaries that Google calls "cards." Like Siri, Google Now also is equipped with voice technology that allows it to respond to questions and interact with users, though it hasn't shown the wit that delights some of Siri's users.
The Google Now app for iOS isn't as comprehensive as the Android app, which only works on devices running on the latest version of Android - known as "Jelly Bean." Some of the Android features missing from Google Now's iOS app include cards for showing airline boarding passes and movie tickets bought though online vendor Fandango. Both of those options are available on the iOS through Apple's built-in Passbook feature that's designed to be a digital wallet.
Google Now's expansion on to the iOS underscores Google's ambitions for the service. The company, which is based in Mountain View, California, views it as a pivotal tool in its effort to peer deeper into its users' brains. In doing so, Google believes it will be able to provide more useful services and also show more relevant ads. For Google Now to become more intuitive, it needs to widen its availability.
"The more you use Google Now, we will have a better chance of understanding what your needs are and providing you with the right information," Gultekin said. "It's a virtuous cycle."
Shawn Jacob, a student at the University of North Texas, activated Google Now on his iPhone Monday and was startled by how much the service already knew about him when he logged in for the first time. "I was blown away," Jacob, 21, said. "It made me wonder if I really want Google to know this much about me. It's like Google wants to take over the world."
Gultekin declined to discuss whether there are plans to make Google Now apps for mobile devices running on Microsoft's Windows system. He also refused to comment on speculation circulating in technology blogs that a Web version of Google Now will be offered as a replacement for iGoogle, a tool that allows people to encircle the Google search engine with a variety of services suited to their tastes. IGoogle is scheduled to close in November.
LONDON (AP) ? The British government says it has expressed concern to United Arab Emirates authorities over allegations that three Britons held in Dubai on drug charges were abused.
Grant Cameron, Suneet Jeerh and Karl Williams were arrested while on holiday in July and accused of possessing synthetic cannabis.
Legal charity Reprieve says Williams was given electric shocks to his testicles, while all three men were threatened with guns and made to sign documents in Arabic, a language they do not understand.
The men deny the drug charges. A judge is due to deliver verdicts in their trial on Monday.
The Foreign Office said Sunday that British officials "have raised, and continue to raise, these allegations at the most senior levels."
?It called for a "full, impartial and independent" inquiry into the claims.
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons could be a greater threat after that nation's president leaves power and could end up targeting Americans at home, lawmakers warned Sunday as they considered a U.S. response that stops short of sending military forces there.
U.S. officials last week declared that the Syrian government probably had used chemical weapons twice in March, newly provocative acts in the 2-year civil war that has killed more than 70,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. The U.S. assessment followed similar conclusions from Britain, France, Israel and Qatar ? key allies eager for a more aggressive response to the Syrian conflict.
President Barack Obama has said Syria's likely action ? or the transfer of President Bashar Assad's stockpiles to terrorists ? would cross a "red line" that would compel the United States to act.
Lawmakers sought to remind viewers on Sunday news programs of Obama's declaration while discouraging a U.S. foothold on the ground there.
"The president has laid down the line, and it can't be a dotted line. It can't be anything other than a red line," said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich. "And more than just Syria, Iran is paying attention to this. North Korea is paying attention to this."
Added Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.: "For America to sit on the sidelines and do nothing is a huge mistake."
Obama has insisted that any use of chemical weapons would change his thinking about the United States' role in Syria but said he didn't have enough information to order aggressive action.
"For the Syrian government to utilize chemical weapons on its people crosses a line that will change my calculus and how the United States approaches these issues," Obama said Friday.
But Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, said Sunday the United States needs to consider those weapons. She said that when Assad leaves power, his opponents could have access to those weapons or they could fall into the hands of U.S. enemies.
"The day after Assad is the day that these chemical weapons could be at risk ... (and) we could be in bigger, even bigger trouble," she said.
Both sides of the civil war already accuse each other of using the chemical weapons.
The deadliest such alleged attack was in the Khan al-Assal village in the Aleppo province in March. The Syrian government called for the United Nations to investigate alleged chemical weapons use by rebels in the attack that killed 31 people.
Syria, however, has not allowed a team of experts into the country because it wants the investigation limited to the single Khan al-Assal incident, while U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged "immediate and unfettered access" for an expanded investigation.
One of Obama's chief antagonists on Syria, Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., said the United States should go to Syria as part of an international force to safeguard the chemical weapons. But McCain added that he is not advocating sending ground troops to the nation.
"The worst thing the United States could do right now is put boots on the ground on Syria. That would turn the people against us," McCain said.
His friend, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also said the United States could safeguard the weapons without a ground force. But he cautioned the weapons must be protected for fear that Americans could be targeted. Raising the specter of the lethal bomb at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Graham said the next attack on U.S. soil could employ weapons that were once part of Assad's arsenal.
"Chemical weapons ? enough to kill millions of people ? are going to be compromised and fall into the wrong hands, and the next bomb that goes off in America may not have nails and glass in it," he said.
Rogers and Schakowsky spoke to ABC's "This Week." Chambliss and Graham were interviewed on CBS's "Face the Nation." McCain appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press."
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Apr. 19, 2013 ? An international research team in including Christian Schl?tterer and Alistair McGregor of the Vetmeduni Vienna has discovered a completely new mechanism by which evolution can change the appearance of an organism. The researchers found that the number of hairs on flies' legs varies according to the level of activity of a so-called microRNA.
The results, published in the journal Current Biology, shed a completely new light on the molecular mechanisms of evolution.
It has long been known that certain proteins, known as transcription factors, directly control the way in which information is read from DNA. As a result, it is widely believed that changes in genes encoding such proteins underlie the mechanisms responsible for evolutionary adaptation. The idea that small RNA molecules, so-called microRNAs, may play an important part in evolutionary changes to animals' appearance is completely new. An international team of researchers, including Christian Schl?tterer and Alistair McGregor from the Institute of Population Genetics of the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna (Vetmeduni Vienna), has now published a study that describes such an evolutionary mechanism.
Small and large bald patches
Insect bodies are generally covered with a large number of microscopic hairs. This is the case for the legs of many closely related species of the fruit fly genus Drosophila, although the animals have a bald patch on the second pair of legs, intriguingly known as the naked valley. Previous work had shown that the size of this patch is regulated by the gene ultrabithorax (Ubx) and that it differs between species. However, the work at the Vetmeduni Vienna showed that similar differences are shown by individuals from different populations of Drosophila melanogaster.
Their search for the genetic basis of the variation led the researchers to a segment of fruit fly DNA that contained four genes. Three of these genes were known to encode proteins with no role in the development of the hairs. The fourth gene, known as miR-92a, encodes a microRNA. Previous experiments had shown that an increase in activity of the miR-92a gene was associated with a loss of hairs from the animals' wings. By overexpressing the gene in the legs of the fruit flies, the scientists were able to cause hair loss on the animals' legs.
Schl?tterer is naturally excited by the findings. "This is the first experiment to show that natural variation in the expression of a microRNA can lead to a change in the appearance of an organism. MicroRNAs can fine-tune the level at which genes are expressed, so evolutionary changes in the production of microRNA would be an elegant way to cause morphological changes."
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Veterin?rmedizinische Universit?t Wien.
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Journal Reference:
Saad Arif, Sophie Murat, Isabel Almudi, Maria?D.S. Nunes, Diane Bortolamiol-Becet, Naomi?S. McGregor, James?M.S. Currie, Harri Hughes, Matthew Ronshaugen, ?lio Sucena, Eric?C. Lai, Christian Schl?tterer, Alistair?P. McGregor. Evolution of mir-92a Underlies Natural Morphological Variation in Drosophila melanogaster. Current Biology, 2013; 23 (6): 523 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.02.018
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Researchers confirm multiple genes robustly contribute to schizophrenia risk in replication study
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Multiple genes contribute to risk for schizophrenia and appear to function in pathways related to transmission of signals in the brain and immunity, according to an international study led by Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy researchers.
By better understanding the molecular and biological mechanisms involved with schizophrenia, scientists hope to use this new genetic information to one day develop and design drugs that are more efficacious and have fewer side effects.
In a study published online in the April issue of JAMA Psychiatry, the JAMA Network journal, researchers used a comprehensive and unique approach to robustly identify genes and biological processes conferring risk for schizophrenia.
The researchers first used 21,953 subjects to examine over a million genetic markers. They then systematically collected results from other kinds of biological schizophrenia studies and combined all these results using a novel data integration approach.
The most promising genetic markers were tested again in a large collection of families with schizophrenia patients, a design that avoids pitfalls that have plagued genetic studies of schizophrenia in the past. The genes they identified after this comprehensive approach were found to have involvement in brain function, nerve cell development and immune response.
"Now that we have genes that are robustly associated with schizophrenia, we can begin to design much more specific experiments to understand how disruption of these genes may affect brain development and function," said principal investigator Edwin van den Oord, Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Biomarker Research and Personalized Medicine in the Department of Pharmacotherapy and Outcomes Science at the VCU School of Pharmacy.
"Also, some of these genes provide excellent targets for the development of new drugs," he said.
One specific laboratory experiment currently underway at VCU to better understand the function of one of these genes, TCF4, is being led by Joseph McClay, Ph.D., a co-author on the study and assistant professor and laboratory director in the VCU Center for Biomarker Research and Personalized Medicine. TCF4 works by switching on other genes in the brain. McClay and colleagues are conducting a National Institutes of Health-funded study to determine all genes that are under the control of TCF4. By mapping the entire network, they aim to better understand how disruptions to TCF4 increase risk for schizophrenia.
"Our results also suggest that the novel data integration approach used in this study is a promising tool that potentially can be of great value in studies of a large variety of complex genetic disorders," said lead author Karolina A. Aberg, Ph.D., research assistant professor and laboratory co-director of the Center for Biomarker Research and Personalized Medicine in the VCU School of Pharmacy.
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Virginia Commonwealth University: http://www.vcu.edu
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Researchers have identified a new genus of bat after discovering a rare specimen in South Sudan. With wildlife personnel under the South Sudanese Ministry of Wildlife Conservation and Tourism, Bucknell Associate Professor of Biology DeeAnn Reeder and Fauna & Flora International (FFI) Programme Officer Adrian Garside were leading a team conducting field research and pursuing conservation efforts when Reeder spotted the animal in Bangangai Game Reserve.
"My attention was immediately drawn to the bat's strikingly beautiful and distinct pattern of spots and stripes. It was clearly a very extraordinary animal, one that I had never seen before," recalled Reeder. "I knew the second I saw it that it was the find of a lifetime."
After returning to the United States, Reeder determined the bat was the same as one originally captured in nearby Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1939 and named Glauconycterissuperba, but she and colleagues did not believe that it fit with other bats in the genus Glauconycteris.
"After careful analysis, it is clear that it doesn't belong in the genus that it's in right now," Reeder said. "Its cranial characters, its wing characters, its size, the ears ? literally everything you look at doesn't fit. It's so unique that we need to create a new genus."
In the paper, "A new genus for a rare African vespertilionid bat: insights from South Sudan" just published by the journalZooKeys, Reeder, along with co-authors from the Smithsonian Institution and the Islamic University in Uganda, placed this bat into a new genus - Niumbaha. The word means "rare" or "unusual" in Zande, the language of the Azande people in Western Equatoria State, where the bat was captured. The bat is just the fifth specimen of its kind ever collected, and the first in South Sudan, which gained its independence in 2011.
"To me, this discovery is significant because it highlights the biological importance of South Sudan and hints that this new nation has many natural wonders yet to be discovered. South Sudan is a country with much to offer and much to protect," said Matt Rice, FFI's South Sudan country director. FFI is using its extensive experience of working in conflict and post-conflict countries to assist the South Sudanese government as it re-establishes the country's wildlife conservation sector and is also helping to rehabilitate selected protected areas through training and development of park staff and wildlife service personnel, road and infrastructure development, equipment provision, and supporting research work. || Read more about FFI's conservation efforts in South Sudan here.
The team's research in South Sudan was made possible by a $100,000 grant that Reeder received from the Woodtiger Fund. The private research foundation recently awarded Reeder another $100,000 dollar grant to continue her research this May and to support FFI's conservation programs.
"Our discovery of this new genus of bat is an indicator of how diverse the area is and how much work remains," Reeder added. "Understanding and conserving biodiversity is critical in many ways. Knowing what species are present in an area allows for better management. When species are lost, ecosystem-level changes ensue. I'm convinced this area is one in which we need to continue to work."
To download hi-resolution photos of DeeAnn Reeder, Adrian Garside and Niumbaha superba in South Sudan, visit: http://www.bucknell.edu/X81336.xml
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Pensoft Publishers: http://www.pensoft.net
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TOKYO (AP) ? Toyota, Honda and Nissan are recalling more than 2 million vehicles globally for an identical problem with air bags on the passenger side whose inflator may burst, sending plastic pieces flying.
No injuries have been reported related to the problem.
The recall for air bags made by Japan's Takata Corp. affects other automakers including non-Japanese manufacturers, and may be as many as 3 million vehicles, Takata spokesman Akiko Watanabe said Thursday. She declined to give details.
Toyota Motor Corp. is recalling 1.7 million vehicles, with some 580,000 in North America, another 490,000 in Europe and 320,000 in Japan. Affected models include the Corolla, Tundra, Lexus SC, produced between November 2000 and March 2004.
Toyota said it had received five reports of air-bag problems, three in the U.S. and two in Japan, but there have been no injuries.
The automaker suffered a blow to its reputation from a series of massive recalls in 2009 and 2010, including faulty braking, sticky gas pedals and defective floor mats, partly a reflection of how various models used the same parts to save costs. But the latest recall is affecting other major automakers as well.
Honda Motor Co. is recalling 1.1 million vehicles. About 680,000 are in North America, 270,000 in Japan and 64,000 in Europe. The models include the Civic, CR-V and Odyssey.
The automakers have reported the problem to the Transport Ministry in Japan, and will be reporting other recalls later in the day in other regions, they said.
The recall extends to Latin America, China, other Asian nations, the Middle East and Africa.
Nissan Motor Co. recalled 480,000 vehicles globally, some 137,000 of them in Japan, for the air bag problem.
The Yokohama-based automaker said vehicles in North America and Europe are affected, but did not immediately have other details on its 343,000 overseas recalls.
Recalled models in Japan include the Cube, X-Trail, Maxima and Teana, made from August 2000, to January 2004, spokesman Chris Keeffe said.
The problem crept in because of two human errors during production. A worker forgot to turn on the switch for a system weeding out defective products and parts were improperly stored, which exposed them to humidity, according to Honda spokeswoman Akemi Ando.
Also affected under the same recall were the RX-8 and Mazda 6 at Mazda Motor Corp.
The Hiroshima-based automaker said 45,000 vehicles were recalled, including 4,000 in Japan. It did not give numbers for other regions, but said recalls will be announced in North America, Europe, China and other nations.
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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at www.twitter.com/yurikageyama
Dr. Robert Edwards holds the world's first "test-tube baby," Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978. A midwife stands in the center, with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe on the right.
Keystone/Getty Images
Dr. Robert Edwards holds the world's first "test-tube baby," Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978. A midwife stands in the center, with gynecologist Patrick Steptoe on the right.
Keystone/Getty Images
The man whose research led to the world's first test-tube baby more than three decades ago, has died at age 87.
Robert Edwards, who later won the Nobel Prize, began experimenting with in vitro fertilization, or IVF, in the late 1960s. His work, controversial at the time, eventually led to the birth of the world's first "test tube baby," Louise Brown, on July 25, 1978.
Since then, IVF has resulted in about 5 million babies worldwide, according to the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology.
In 2010, Edwards was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and was knighted the following year.
Brown, now 34, told the BBC that she had "always regarded Robert Edwards as like a grandfather."
The work he pioneered along with surgeon Patrick Steptoe, "has brought happiness and joy to millions of people all over the world by enabling them to have children," Brown said. Steptoe died in 1988.
The Associated Press quoted the University of Cambridge, where Edwards was a professor, as saying he passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home just outside Cambridge.
IVF, which joins a human egg and sperm in the laboratory before transferring the resulting embryo back into the womb, sparked enormous controversy after the birth of Brown was announced to the world. Brown's mother had been unable to conceive naturally due to complications from a blockage in her fallopian tubes.
Dr. Peter Braude, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Kings College London, who was at Cambridge when Edwards and Steptoe were developing IVF, called Edwards "an extraordinary scientist."
"There was such hysteria around the kind of work he was doing," Braude told The Associated Press. He said Edwards had halted his research for two years as he sought "to work out what the right thing to do was, whether he should continue or whether he was out on a limb."
"I think people now understand that [Edwards] only had the best motivation," he told the AP. "There are few biologists that have done something so practical and made a huge difference for the entire world."
NEW YORK (AP) -- A Raymond James analyst said Tuesday that it's good for Chevron that Brazil authorized the oil company to resume production off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
An oil spill of about 110,000 gallons occurred in November 2011 off the Brazilian coast. Leaks resumed several months in March and production in the Frade field was halted. The field, in which Chevron has a nearly 52 percent interest, had been producing around 62,000 barrels per day.
San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp. last year produced an average of 2.64 million barrels of oil and gas per day, down from 2.67 million per day in 2011. Production had been hurt by the closure of the Frade field.
"We bet it feels good today at Chevron regional headquarters in Rio," said Raymond James' Pavel Molchanov in a client note Tuesday. The analyst, who has an "Outperform" rating on Chevron, noted that the oil and gas producer still has legal disputes in Argentina and Ecuador.
The authorization from Brazil's National Petroleum Agency lasts for one year and will allow Chevron to resume production on six offshore wells. Chevron said in an emailed statement on Tuesday that its preparations to restart production will begin shortly.
Criminal charges against Chevron and a driller, Transocean Ltd., were dropped but both still face two civil lawsuits seeking $20 billion in damages.
Shares of Chevron gained 90 cents to $118.71 in afternoon trading.
A customer leaves a J.C. Penney store, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in New York. J.C. Penney is hoping its former CEO can revive the retailer after a risky turnaround strategy backfired and led to massive losses and steep sales declines. The company's board of directors ousted CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. The department store chain said that it has rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A customer leaves a J.C. Penney store, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in New York. J.C. Penney is hoping its former CEO can revive the retailer after a risky turnaround strategy backfired and led to massive losses and steep sales declines. The company's board of directors ousted CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. The department store chain said that it has rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
In this Oct. 23, 2009 photo, Mike Ullman, Chairman and CEO of J.C. Penney Company, Inc., visits a company store in New York. Mike Ullman was named CEO of JC Penney's after Ron Johnson was ousted on Monday, April 8, 2013, after restructuring backfired. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
A shopper carries a J.C. Penney bag, Tuesday, April 9, 2013 in New York. J.C. Penney is hoping its former CEO can revive the retailer after a risky turnaround strategy backfired and led to massive losses and steep sales declines. The company's board of directors ousted CEO Ron Johnson after only 17 months on the job. The department store chain said that it has rehired Johnson's predecessor, Mike Ullman. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
NEW YORK (AP) ? There won't be an easy fix for J.C. Penney ? if it can be fixed at all.
As Mike Ullman takes the reins again less than two years after his departure, he faces a Herculean task to undo the mess left by CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted Monday. With the department store retailer in the middle of a disastrous overhaul that has driven away shoppers, the 66-year-old Ullman has to quickly figure out what parts of Johnson's legacy to keep and what to trash.
The overarching question is whether the century-old company can be saved at all. Very few retailers have recovered from a 25 percent sales drop in a single year, like that suffered by Penney under Johnson's watch. On Tuesday, the retailer's stock price dropped more than 12 percent to a 12-year-low of $13.93 as investors' worries escalated about Penney's future.
"Ullman can't go back to the old ways, but he can't do what Ron Johnson did," said Ron Friedman, head of the retail and consumer products group at Marcum LLP, a national accounting and consulting firm. "I think there will be a combination of the two. But he has to make some quick moves."
Apparently, the company's board of directors felt Ullman, who served as Penney's CEO for seven years and is known for strong relationships with suppliers and calm, steady execution, would be the best choice right now to secure the company's future. But it could take Ullman 18 months to stabilize the business, says Burt Flickinger III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. He gives the chain a 50-50 chance to survive.
"The odds are declining every day," said Flickinger, noting that rivals like Macy's are taking away market share. "Competitors see blood in the water."
Johnson, the mastermind behind Apple Inc.'s successful retail stores, lasted just 17 months. He faced an ever-growing chorus of critics calling for his resignation as they lost faith in the aggressive overhaul. The rapid-fire changes included getting rid of coupons and most discounts in favor of everyday low prices, bringing in new brands and remaking its outdated stores. Johnson's goal was to reinvent the stodgy retailer into a mini-mall of hip specialty shops.
Instead, Penney's loyal shoppers went in search of deals elsewhere, and the chain didn't attract the younger and more affluent shoppers that Johnson coveted. Now the 1,100-store chain is burning through cash. In the past year, the company lost nearly a billion dollars and saw its revenue tumble by nearly $4.3 billion to $12.98 billion. Customer traffic dropped 13 percent. Steep sales declines have continued, say analysts, even though Johnson added back some sales events and coupons early this year.
Some speculate that Ullman may ditch the everyday price strategy and instead ramp up the return to discounting and coupons to get shoppers back in the stores. But that will still be an expensive move. Michael Binetti, an analyst at UBS Investment Research, and others believe that Ullman also will temporarily suspend the rollout of the mini-shops, which started late last year and feature such brands as Joe Fresh and Levi's.
When the overhaul of its home area is completed next month, the company will have carved up 30 percent of its store space into mini-boutiques. But after that, Ullman is expected to pull back the pace of the rollout as Penney tries to conserve cash. That means that some suppliers who expected to have mini-shops could be left in the lurch.
Ullman also will have to find ways to boost employee morale amid severe cuts that have slashed the work force by nearly 30 percent. As of February, Penney employed 116,000 full- and part-time workers, down from 159,000 a year ago.
Whatever Ullman ends up doing, analysts expect him to be thoughtful and deliberate in his moves. That's a big difference from Johnson, who was criticized for not testing his strategies in a few stores, particularly the pricing plan.
In a statement released by Penney on Monday, Ullman said he plans to immediately "engage with the company's customers, team members, vendors and shareholders, to understand their needs, view and insights" and then work with the management team and the board to develop a game plan.
"(The board) chose stability and experience, in my mind," said Antony Karabus, president of SD Retail Consulting. "Instead of big, grandiose ideas, what they need now is someone to stabilize and execute effectively. He has a calm way about him. If anyone can do it, he can, because he knows the business. He knows the customers."
Bud Konheim, president of designer fashion brand Nicole Miller, which has sold an affordable version to Penney since 2005, agrees.
"(Ullman) is very smart. Everybody loves him. He's a strong executive but he's not a bull in the china shop," he said. "He's not as much show biz as Ron Johnson. He flies under the radar."
Still, there are concerns. Penney struggled under Ullman's first regime, though the company was still profitable. Ullman brought in Penney's first mini-shops, including beauty company Sephora and exclusive names like MNG by Mango, a European clothing brand. But he didn't do much to transform the store's shopping experience or to attract new customers.
That showed up in the sales figures. During Ullman's previous tenure, from December 2004 to October 2011, sales declined from $18.18 billion in 2004 to $17.6 billion in 2010, his last full year at the company. Sales per square foot dropped to $155 from $177, according to Deborah Weinswig, an analyst at Citi Research.
When Ullman left Penney in November 2011, the situation wasn't great. But it also wasn't the crisis it is now. The company's credit ratings are deep into junk status. Its stock has lost 67 percent of its value since February 2012 when investors bullish on Johnson's grand plans drove the price up around $43. That makes it that much harder for Ullman to turn business around.
History also dictates that the odds are against a sales recovery. Last fall, Credit Suisse surveyed 17 retailers that reported annual declines of anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent in a single year from 2000 to 2011. Of that group, only four retailers recovered the lost revenue ? Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Ann Inc., Guess Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. ? and it took an average of three years to do so. The rest were either acquired by a private equity company, went bankrupt or merged with another public company.
Ultimately, Penney's fate lies in once-loyal shoppers like Beth Williams, 39, who deserted the chain early last year.
Williams, a writer and mother of a 3-year-old from Plum, Pa., said she used to shop at Penney once a month for her family. But that changed when her local store got rid of coupons and sales events. She also doesn't like the new styles that she believes only target customers in their teens and 20s.
Williams says she would go back if Penney had more sales and brought back more traditional clothing like khaki shorts with forgiving fits.
"I would go back," she said. "I miss it. That was my go-to store for a long time, and then it changed."
___
Anne D'Innocenzio can be reached at __http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio
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'Diseases of affluence' spreading to poorer countriesPublic release date: 9-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sam Wong sam.wong@imperial.ac.uk 44-207-594-2198 Imperial College London
High blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries, a new study has found.
These health risks have traditionally been associated with affluence, and in 1980, they were more prevalent in countries with a higher income.
The new research, published in Circulation, shows that the average body mass index of the population is now just as high or higher in middle-income countries. For blood pressure, the situation has reversed among women, with a tendency for blood pressure to be higher in poorer countries.
Researchers at Imperial College London, Harvard School of Public Health, and worldwide collaborators studied data from 199 countries between 1980 and 2008 on the prevalence of risk factors related to heart and circulatory disease. In 1980, a country's income was correlated with the population's average blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).
By 2008, there was no relationship between national income and blood pressure in men, and in women blood pressure was higher in poorer countries. BMI was still lowest in the poorest countries, but higher in middle-income countries than the wealthiest countries. Cholesterol remained higher in higher-income Western countries.
Fasting blood sugar, which is linked to diabetes, was only weakly related with income and affluence, but correlated with obesity.
Professor Majid Ezzati, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the research, said: "This study shows that non-communicable diseases are no longer 'diseases of affluence'. They've shifted from being epidemic in rich countries to become a truly international pandemic.
"If current trends continue, developing countries will be confronted with a rising tide of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Meanwhile, developed countries will continue to face an epidemic of diabetes and high cholesterol."
The study also found that BMI has consistently been related to the proportion of the population living in cities, suggesting that urban lifestyles might be playing an important role in the obesity problem, now and in the past.
The researchers suggest that the change in relationship between national income and blood pressure might be caused by improved diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure in wealthier countries, and perhaps changes in diet and lifestyle.
"Developed countries have succeeded in reducing blood pressure," said Dr. Goodarz Danaei, one of the lead authors of the study from Harvard School of Public Health. "We need to replicate that success in developing countries by improving primary health care services, lowering salt intake and making fresh fruit and vegetables more available.
"High cholesterol is still linked to national wealth, probably because of the relatively high cost of meat and other animal products. Lower income countries should encourage the use of unsaturated fats over saturated fats to avoid the problems that richer countries have.
"Heart and circulatory diseases impose a huge cost on healthcare systems in high and middle income countries. Redirecting some of these resources to prevention might lead to savings in the long run."
###
The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
For more information please contact:
Sam Wong
Research Media Officer
Imperial College London
Email: sam.wong@imperial.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)20 7594 2198
Out of hours duty press officer: +44(0)7803 886 248
Todd Datz
Director of News and Online Communications Harvard School of Public Health
Tel: +1 617 432 8413
Email: tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu
Notes to editors
1. G Danaei et al. 'The Global Cardiovascular Risk Transition: Associations of Four Metabolic Risk Factors with Macroeconomic Variables in 1980 and 2008.' Circulation, 2013; 127: 1493-1502. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.001470
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/127/14/1493.abstract
2. About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges.
In 2007, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust formed the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. This unique partnership aims to improve the quality of life of patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible.
Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk
3. About the Medical Research Council
Over the past century, the Medical Research Council has been at the forefront of scientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in 1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers' money in some of the best medical research in the world across every area of health. Twenty-nine MRC-funded researchers have won Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRC scientists have been behind such diverse discoveries as vitamins, the structure of DNA and the link between smoking and cancer, as well as achievements such as pioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, the invention of MRI scanning, and the development of a group of antibodies used in the making of some of the most successful drugs ever developed.
Today, MRC-funded scientists tackle some of the greatest health problems facing humanity in the 21st century, from the rising tide of chronic diseases associated with ageing to the threats posed by rapidly mutating micro-organisms. http://www.mrc.ac.uk The MRC Centenary Timeline chronicles 100 years of life-changing discoveries and shows how our research has had a lasting influence on healthcare and wellbeing in the UK and globally, right up to the present day. http://www.centenary.mrc.ac.uk
4. About the NIHR
The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world-class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. http://www.nihr.ac.uk
5. About NIHR Biomedical Research Centres
NIHR Biomedical Research Centres support research across a wide range of disease areas. These Centres are the most outstanding NHS/University research partnerships in the country; leaders in scientific translation and early adopters of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for improving health. To ensure they are able to succeed, the NIHR BRCs receive substantial levels of sustained funding. NIHR BRC funding supports the NHS infrastructure to create an environment where scientific endeavour can thrive, attracting the foremost talent and producing world-class outputs.
[ | 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.
'Diseases of affluence' spreading to poorer countriesPublic release date: 9-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sam Wong sam.wong@imperial.ac.uk 44-207-594-2198 Imperial College London
High blood pressure and obesity are no longer confined to wealthy countries, a new study has found.
These health risks have traditionally been associated with affluence, and in 1980, they were more prevalent in countries with a higher income.
The new research, published in Circulation, shows that the average body mass index of the population is now just as high or higher in middle-income countries. For blood pressure, the situation has reversed among women, with a tendency for blood pressure to be higher in poorer countries.
Researchers at Imperial College London, Harvard School of Public Health, and worldwide collaborators studied data from 199 countries between 1980 and 2008 on the prevalence of risk factors related to heart and circulatory disease. In 1980, a country's income was correlated with the population's average blood pressure, cholesterol and body mass index (BMI).
By 2008, there was no relationship between national income and blood pressure in men, and in women blood pressure was higher in poorer countries. BMI was still lowest in the poorest countries, but higher in middle-income countries than the wealthiest countries. Cholesterol remained higher in higher-income Western countries.
Fasting blood sugar, which is linked to diabetes, was only weakly related with income and affluence, but correlated with obesity.
Professor Majid Ezzati, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London, who led the research, said: "This study shows that non-communicable diseases are no longer 'diseases of affluence'. They've shifted from being epidemic in rich countries to become a truly international pandemic.
"If current trends continue, developing countries will be confronted with a rising tide of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure. Meanwhile, developed countries will continue to face an epidemic of diabetes and high cholesterol."
The study also found that BMI has consistently been related to the proportion of the population living in cities, suggesting that urban lifestyles might be playing an important role in the obesity problem, now and in the past.
The researchers suggest that the change in relationship between national income and blood pressure might be caused by improved diagnosis and treatment of high blood pressure in wealthier countries, and perhaps changes in diet and lifestyle.
"Developed countries have succeeded in reducing blood pressure," said Dr. Goodarz Danaei, one of the lead authors of the study from Harvard School of Public Health. "We need to replicate that success in developing countries by improving primary health care services, lowering salt intake and making fresh fruit and vegetables more available.
"High cholesterol is still linked to national wealth, probably because of the relatively high cost of meat and other animal products. Lower income countries should encourage the use of unsaturated fats over saturated fats to avoid the problems that richer countries have.
"Heart and circulatory diseases impose a huge cost on healthcare systems in high and middle income countries. Redirecting some of these resources to prevention might lead to savings in the long run."
###
The research was funded by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Imperial Biomedical Research Centre.
For more information please contact:
Sam Wong
Research Media Officer
Imperial College London
Email: sam.wong@imperial.ac.uk
Tel: +44(0)20 7594 2198
Out of hours duty press officer: +44(0)7803 886 248
Todd Datz
Director of News and Online Communications Harvard School of Public Health
Tel: +1 617 432 8413
Email: tdatz@hsph.harvard.edu
Notes to editors
1. G Danaei et al. 'The Global Cardiovascular Risk Transition: Associations of Four Metabolic Risk Factors with Macroeconomic Variables in 1980 and 2008.' Circulation, 2013; 127: 1493-1502. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.001470
http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/127/14/1493.abstract
2. About Imperial College London
Consistently rated amongst the world's best universities, Imperial College London is a science-based institution with a reputation for excellence in teaching and research that attracts 14,000 students and 6,000 staff of the highest international quality. Innovative research at the College explores the interface between science, medicine, engineering and business, delivering practical solutions that improve quality of life and the environment - underpinned by a dynamic enterprise culture.
Since its foundation in 1907, Imperial's contributions to society have included the discovery of penicillin, the development of holography and the foundations of fibre optics. This commitment to the application of research for the benefit of all continues today, with current focuses including interdisciplinary collaborations to improve global health, tackle climate change, develop sustainable sources of energy and address security challenges.
In 2007, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust formed the UK's first Academic Health Science Centre. This unique partnership aims to improve the quality of life of patients and populations by taking new discoveries and translating them into new therapies as quickly as possible.
Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk
3. About the Medical Research Council
Over the past century, the Medical Research Council has been at the forefront of scientific discovery to improve human health. Founded in 1913 to tackle tuberculosis, the MRC now invests taxpayers' money in some of the best medical research in the world across every area of health. Twenty-nine MRC-funded researchers have won Nobel prizes in a wide range of disciplines, and MRC scientists have been behind such diverse discoveries as vitamins, the structure of DNA and the link between smoking and cancer, as well as achievements such as pioneering the use of randomised controlled trials, the invention of MRI scanning, and the development of a group of antibodies used in the making of some of the most successful drugs ever developed.
Today, MRC-funded scientists tackle some of the greatest health problems facing humanity in the 21st century, from the rising tide of chronic diseases associated with ageing to the threats posed by rapidly mutating micro-organisms. http://www.mrc.ac.uk The MRC Centenary Timeline chronicles 100 years of life-changing discoveries and shows how our research has had a lasting influence on healthcare and wellbeing in the UK and globally, right up to the present day. http://www.centenary.mrc.ac.uk
4. About the NIHR
The National Institute for Health Research provides the framework through which the research staff and research infrastructure of the NHS in England is positioned, maintained and managed as a national research facility. The NIHR provides the NHS with the support and infrastructure it needs to conduct first-class research funded by the Government and its partners alongside high quality patient care, education and training. Its aim is to support outstanding individuals (both leaders and collaborators), working in world-class facilities (both NHS and university), conducting leading edge research focused on the needs of patients. http://www.nihr.ac.uk
5. About NIHR Biomedical Research Centres
NIHR Biomedical Research Centres support research across a wide range of disease areas. These Centres are the most outstanding NHS/University research partnerships in the country; leaders in scientific translation and early adopters of new insights in technologies, techniques and treatments for improving health. To ensure they are able to succeed, the NIHR BRCs receive substantial levels of sustained funding. NIHR BRC funding supports the NHS infrastructure to create an environment where scientific endeavour can thrive, attracting the foremost talent and producing world-class outputs.
[ | 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.
If you love to travel for pleasure or have to travel for work, and would like to do it in comfort and style, but at the same time you are conscious of the costs, then there are some agencies that specialise in providing that very same service. They are the experts to go to in order to avail of some great deals in first and business class. The great service and the comfortable offered is worth the price that is paid. So travel need not be such a nightmare any more.
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About the Author: Chris Toomey is an independent travel awareness consultant. Writes contents on traveling and has deep knowledge of discounted first and business class airfare and online first and business class air tickets with the lowest price.
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Public release date: 9-Apr-2013
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