New Cornell High-Tech Campus Recalls Former Research Glory of Small New York City Island

Features | Technology

Roosevelt Island was once home to the founders of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), not to mention important studies of malaria, frostbite and saltwater consumption

By Larry Greenemeier ?| January 31, 2012

Scientists at Goldwater Memorial Hospital and elsewhere tested thousands of drugs during World War II. Particularly important were antimalarial drugs. Nobel Prize winner Julius Axelrod (left) was part of the Goldwater team. Also pictured is Robert Bowman (inventor of the practical spectrophotofluorometer), who joined the Goldwater team following World War II. Image: Courtesy of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The aging Goldwater Memorial Hospital on Roosevelt Island?soon to be the site of Cornell University's new NYC Tech Campus?holds a significant place in 20th-century medicine.

During World War II, Goldwater researchers participated in a government program that recruited conscientious objectors from the Civilian Public Service (CPS)?set up in 1941 for draftees willing to serve their country but unwilling to engage in military service?to take part in various medical experiments. CPS volunteers became human guinea pigs. In a 100-bed Goldwater research unit, Columbia University and New York University physicians studied the effects of malaria, cold weather, starvation, arthritis, liver disease and other conditions on CPS volunteers, according to Judith Berdy, president of the Roosevelt Island Historical Society and an island resident since 1977.

Known as Chronic Disease Hospital when it opened in 1939, Goldwater was renamed a few years later after its founder, then New York City Hospitals Commissioner Sigmund S. Goldwater. The hospital was built on site of the former Blackwell's Island Penitentiary, whose prisoners were relocated to Rikers Island when that prison opened in 1932. (At the time the prison was built, Roosevelt Island was known as Blackwell's Island, after the family that owned the land from 1685 to 1828.)

S. S. Goldwater's mission was to provide rehabilitation services and long-term care as well as to treat patients with chronic diseases, such as hypertension and liver-damaging hepatic cirrhosis. Goldwater, along with Bird S. Coler Hospital (built in 1952), located just to its north, continue to provide extended care for patients with Alzheimer's and AIDS. (The two facilities merged in 1996.)

Several influential scientists emerged from Goldwater's research programs after the start of World War II. James Shannon, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from 1955 to 1968, led the hospital's antimalarial research group in the 1940s. Shannon gathered a group of researchers who could determine the correct dosage of the synthetic antimalarial Atabrine for U.S. soldiers serving in the Pacific. At the time, Japan occupied territory that was the chief source of supply for quinine, then the best-known treatment for malaria. (pdf)

In 1949 Shannon became director of laboratories and clinics at the newly created NIH's National Heart Institute (NHI) in Bethesda, Md. He took a number of Goldwater researchers with him, including: future Nobel Prize winner, Julius Axelrod; future chief of the NHI's Laboratory of Chemical Pharmacology, Bernard Brodie; future founding director of the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology (RIMB), Sidney Udenfriend; and future dean of Yale University School of Medicine, Robert Berliner.

In addition to the work of Shannon and his team, other Goldwater researchers worked with CPS volunteers to study a number of scientific curiosities. Between 1943 and 1946 at least 25 volunteers participated in research that examined the physiological effects of eating meals while subjected to different levels of air pressure?a prelude to the in-flight meal. In another experiment, researchers explored the best types of rations to stock on lifeboats, the effects of drinking saltwater and ways to replace evaporation of body liquids if stranded at sea. A third experiment exposed volunteers to severe cold so doctors could figure out how to prevent gangrene following frostbite.

Research was a way of life then, and it appears that it is about to become so once again.

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Time short for Gingrich to close gap in Florida (AP)

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich slammed GOP rival Mitt Romney on Sunday for the steady stream of attacks he likened to "carpet-bombing," trying to cut into the resurgent front-runner's lead in Florida in the dwindling hours before Tuesday's pivotal presidential primary.

And despite surging ahead in polls, Romney wasn't letting up, relentlessly casting Gingrich as an influence peddler with a "record of failed leadership."

In what has become a wildly unpredictable race, the momentum has swung back to Romney, staggered last weekend by Gingrich's victory in South Carolina. Romney has begun advertising in Nevada ahead of that state's caucuses next Saturday, illustrating the challenges ahead for Gingrich, who has pledged to push ahead no matter what happens in Florida.

An NBC News/Marist poll published Sunday showed Romney with support from 42 percent of likely Florida primary voters, compared with 27 percent for Gingrich.

Romney's campaign has dogged Gingrich at his own campaign stops, sending surrogates to remind reporters of Gingrich's House ethics probe in the 1990s and other episodes in his career aimed at sowing doubt about his judgment.

Gingrich reacted defensively, accusing the former Massachusetts governor and a political committee that supports him of lying, and the GOP's establishment of allowing it.

"I don't know how you debate a person with civility if they're prepared to say things that are just plain factually false," Gingrich said during appearances on Sunday talk shows. "I think the Republican establishment believes it's OK to say and do virtually anything to stop a genuine insurgency from winning because they are very afraid of losing control of the old order."

Gingrich objected specifically to a Romney campaign ad that includes a 1997 NBC News report on the House's decision to discipline Gingrich, then speaker, for ethics charges.

Romney continued to paint Gingrich as part of the very Washington establishment he condemns and someone who had a role in the nation's economic problems.

"Your problem in Florida is that you worked for Freddie Mac at a time when Freddie Mac was not doing the right thing for the American people, and that you're selling influence in Washington at a time when we need people who will stand up for the truth in Washington," Romney told an audience in Naples.

Gingrich's consulting firm was paid more than $1.5 million by the federally-backed mortgage company over a period after he left Congress in 1999.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, trailing in Florida by a wide margin, stayed with his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who was hospitalized with pneumonia. Sunday night he told supporters, "She without a doubt has turned the corner," but he cautioned she "isn't out of the woods yet."

Aides said Santorum would resume campaigning Monday in Missouri and Minnesota.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who has invested little in Florida, looked ahead to Nevada. The libertarian-leaning Paul is focusing more on gathering delegates in caucus states, where it's less expensive to campaign. But securing the nomination only through caucus states is a hard task.

The intense effort by Romney to slow Gingrich is comparable to his strategy against Gingrich in the closing month before Iowa's leadoff caucuses Jan. 3. Gingrich led in Iowa polls, lifted by what were hailed as strong performances in televised debates, only to drop in the face of withering attacks by Romney, aided immensely by ads sponsored by a "super" political action committee run by former Romney aides.

But Romney aides say they made the mistake of assuming Gingrich could not rise again as he did in South Carolina. Romney appears determined not to let that happen again.

"His record is one of failed leadership," Romney told more than 700 people at a rally in Pompano Beach Sunday evening. "We don't need someone who can speak well perhaps, or can say things we agree with, but does not have the experience of being an effective leader."

Gingrich has responded by criticizing Romney's conservative credentials. Outside an evangelical Christian church in Lutz, Gingrich said he was the more loyal conservative on key social issues.

"This party is not going to nominate somebody who is a pro-abortion, pro-gun-control, pro-tax-increase liberal," Gingrich said. "It isn't going to happen."

But Gingrich, in appearances on Sunday news programs, returned to complaining about Romney's tactics. "It's only when he can mass money to focus on carpet-bombing with negative ads that he gains any traction at all," he said.

Romney and the political committee that supports him had combined to spend some $6.8 million in ads criticizing Gingrich in the Florida campaign's final week. Gingrich and a super PAC that supports him were spending about one-third that amount.

Gingrich worked to portray himself as the insurgent outsider, collecting the endorsement of tea party favorite Herman Cain, whose own campaign for president foundered amid sexual harassment allegations.

It was unclear how aggressively Gingrich would be able to compete in states beyond Florida. The next televised debate, a format Gingrich has used to his advantage, is not until Feb. 22, more than three weeks away.

Romney already has campaigned in Nevada more than Gingrich, is advertising there, and stresses his business background in a state hard-hit by the economy. His campaign welcomed the Sunday endorsement of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Nevada's largest newspaper.

Michigan and Maine, where Romney won during his 2008 campaign, also hold their contests in February. Arizona, a strong tea-party state where Gingrich could do well, has its primary Feb. 28.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Naples and Shannon McCaffrey in Lutz contributed to this report.

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Abigail Noble: Impact Investing: How Do We Harness the Hype?

There is a lot of hype about impact investing. Investors speak of a $1 trillion USD sized market. Social enterprises reposition their business model and restructure their financial model to attract, absorb and grow through investor capital. Despite the enthusiasm, the actual volume of impact investment transactions remains minimal at best. The Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship took this week at Davos to convene several important discussions about how to harness the hype and create results that are both practical and impactful.

On Tuesday, before the Annual Meeting began, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship hosted a private discussion on the possible future scenarios for impact investing. The participants were asked to map out what the space could ideally look like in 2030, and work backwards to identify the constraints and facilitating factors for this ideal state. The intimate discussion, which included a handful social entrepreneurs and several mainstream investors who are just entering the space, was moderated by professor Johanna Mair, chair of the Global Agenda Council on Social Innovation and editor of the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

Later in the week, the Schwab Foundation and the investors community of the World Economic Forum co-hosted a gathering that brought together some 30 CEOs, CFOs and Chief Investment Officers of the world`s most powerful private equity, venture capital, and investment management firms with 20 leading social entrepreneurs, as well as important players in the field including foreign investment authorities, pension funds and leading business professors. In an interactive and dynamic simulation, they were challenged to build a concrete investment case comprising both an economic and ESG (environmental, social, governance) bottom line. This exercise helped build empathy and a spirit of collaboration among the diverse participant group. The ensuring dialogue created actionable next steps and helped defuse some of the hype around the impact investment class.

Discussions like these are critical to help investors and social entrepreneurs start speaking the same language. Financial institutions like UBS, which recently launched at $100 million impact investment fund, have already made large commitments to the field. However, there is still a dearth of information for newer investors on how to navigate the impact investing sector.

For this reason the Schwab Foundation partnered with Credit Suisse to produce the report Investing for impact: how social entrepreneurship is redefining the meaning of return. Contributors include Jed Emerson, Cathy Clark, and Acumen Fund's Brian Trelstad and Rob Katz. The investment profiles of five social enterprises in the Schwab Foundation network are featured in the report. Working in sectors as diverse as health care, education, and job creation, these organizations are united by their innovative yet pragmatic approaches to solving social problems. They are:

? Felipe Vergara of Lumni in the US and Latin America; investment funds would be used to set up a Chile Fund to finance the university education of low-income students
? Asher Hasan of Naya Jeevan in Pakistan; equity and grant funding would underwrite a new initiative to provide health insurance to workers making less than $6 a day
? Patrick Shofield of The Indalo Project in South Africa; grants and low-interest loans would be used to establish twelve new craft producer groups
? Bam Aquino of Hapinoy in the Philippines; investment funds would allow Hapinoy to expand its model to less developed islands in the archipelago
? Kyle Zimmer of First Book; a loan will finance expansion of their services to reach 35,000 children in Mumbai, India.

The social enterprise sector is on the cusp of achieving significant scale and impact, thanks in no small part to the recent influx of investment capital. But to ensure the capital remains a tool to build the sector and not the other way round, investors must take the longer view, get comfortable assuming greater levels of risk, and be willing to deploy a mix of financial tools most suitable for social enterprises' needs. And take heart: you are laying the foundations for a new economy.

?

Follow Abigail Noble on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ab_noble

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/abigail-noble/impact-investing_b_1240237.html

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Hands on with Garmin Pilot My-Cast for iPhone and iPad

Garmin may best be known for their driving navigation apps and devices, but they also have Pilot My-Cast, an iPhone and iPad app for pilots to plan their flights by

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The Oil Off Cuba: Washington and Havana Dance at Arms Length Over Spill Prevention (Time.com)

On Christmas Eve, a massive, Chinese-made maritime oil rig, the Scarabeo 9, arrived at Trinidad and Tobago for inspection. The Spanish oil company Repsol YPF, which keeps regional headquarters in Trinidad, ferried it to the Caribbean to perform deep-ocean drilling off Cuba -- whose communist government believes as much as 20 billion barrels of crude may lie near the island's northwest coast. But it wasn't Cuban authorities who came aboard the Scarabeo 9 to give it the once-over: officials from the U.S. Coast Guard and Interior Department did, even though the rig won't be operating in U.S. waters.

On any other occasion that might have raised the ire of the Cubans, who consider Washington their imperialista enemy. But the U.S. examination of the Scarabeo 9, which Repsol agreed to and Cuba abided, was part of an unusual choreography of cooperation between the two countries. Their otherwise bitter cold-war feud (they haven't had diplomatic relations since 1961) is best known for a 50-year-long trade embargo and history's scariest nuclear standoff. Now, Cuba's commitment to offshore oil exploration -- drilling may start this weekend -- raises a specter that haunts both nations: an oil spill in the Florida Straits like the BP calamity that tarred the nearby Gulf of Mexico two years ago and left $40 billion in U.S. damages.

The Straits, an equally vital body of water that's home to some of the world's most precious coral reefs, separates Havana and Key West, Florida, by a mere 90 miles. As a result, the U.S. has tacitly loosened its embargo against Cuba to give firms like Repsol easier access to the U.S. equipment they need to help avoid or contain possible spills. "Preventing drilling off Cuba better protects our interests than preparing for [a disaster] does," U.S. Senator Bill Nelson of Florida tells TIME, noting the U.S. would prefer to stop the Cuban drilling -- but can't. "But the two are not mutually exclusive, and that's why we should aim to do both."

(MORE: Cuba Set to Begin Offshore Drilling: Is Florida In Eco-Straits?)

Cuba meanwhile has tacitly agreed to ensure that its safety measures meet U.S. standards (not that U.S. standards proved all that golden during the 2010 BP disaster) and is letting unofficial U.S. delegations in to discuss the precautions being taken by Havana and the international oil companies it is contracting. No Cuban official would discuss the matter, but Dan Whittle, senior attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund in New York, who was part of one recent delegation, says the Cubans "seem very motivated to do the right thing."

It's also the right business thing to do. Cuba's threadbare economy -- President Ra?l Castro currently has to lay off more than 500,000 state workers -- is acutely energy-dependent on allies like Venezuela, which ships the island 120,000 barrels of oil per day. So Havana is eager to drill for the major offshore reserves geologists discovered eight years ago (which the U.S. Geological Survey estimates at closer to 10 billion bbl.). Cuba has signed or is negotiating leases with Repsol and companies from eight other nations -- Norway, India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brazil, Venezuela, Angola and China -- for 59 drilling blocks inside a 43,000-sq.-mile (112,000 sq km) zone. Eventually, the government hopes to extract half a million bpd or more.

A serious oil spill could scuttle those drilling operations -- especially since Cuba hasn't the technology, infrastructure or means, like a clean-up fund similar to the $1 billion the U.S. keeps on reserve, to confront such an emergency. And there is another big economic anxiety: Cuba's $2 billion tourism industry. "The dilemma for Cuba is that as much as they want the oil, they care as much if not more about their ocean resources," says Billy Causey, southeast regional director for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's marine sanctuary program. Cuba's pristine beaches and reefs attract sunbathers and scuba divers the world over, and a quarter of its coastal environment is set aside as protected.

So is much of coastal Florida, where tourism generates $60 billion annually -- which is why the state keeps oil rigs out of its waters. The Florida Keys lie as close as 50 miles from where Repsol is drilling; and they run roughly parallel to the 350-mile-long (560 km) Florida Reef Tract (FRT), the world's third largest barrier reef and one of its most valuable ocean eco-systems. The FRT is already under assault from global warming, ocean acidification and overfishing of symbiotic species like parrotfish that keep coral pruned of corrosive algae. If a spill were to damage the FRT, which draws $2 billion from tourism each year and supports 33,000 jobs, "it would be a catastrophic event," says David Vaughan, director of Florida's private Mote Marine Laboratory.

(MORE: Will BP Spill Lower Risk of Deepwater Drilling?)

Which means America has its own dilemma. As much as the U.S. would like to thwart Cuban petro-profits -- Cuban-American leaders like U.S. Representative and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami say the oil will throw a lifeline to the Castro dictatorship -- it needs to care as much if not more about its own environment. Because fewer than a tenth of the Scarabeo 9's components were made in America, Washington can't wield the embargo cudgel and fine Repsol, which has interests in the U.S., for doing business with Cuba. (Most of the other firms don't have U.S. interests.) Nor can it in good conscience use the embargo in this case to keep U.S. companies from offering spill prevention/containment hardware and services to Repsol and other drilling contractors.

One of those U.S. firms is Helix Energy Solutions in Houston. Amid the Gulf disaster, Helix engineered a "capping stack" to plug damaged blow-out preventers like the one that failed on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig. (It later contained the spill.) Having that technology at hand -- especially since the Cuba rigs will often operate in deeper waters than the Deepwater rig was mining -- will be critical if a spill occurs off Cuba.

Helix has applied to the Treasury Department for a special license to lease its equipment, and speedily deliver it, to Cuba's contractors when needed. The license is still pending, but Helix spokesman Cameron Wallace says the company is confident it will come through since Cuba won't benefit economically from the arrangement. "This is a reasonable approach," says Wallace. "We can't just say we'll figure out what to do if a spill happens. We need this kind of preparation." Eco-advocates like Whittle agree: "It's a no-brainer for the U.S."

(MORE: U.S. Fails to Respond to Cuba's Freeing of Dissidents)

Preparation includes something the U.S.-Cuba cold-war time warp rarely allows: dialogue. Nelson has introduced legislation that would require federal agencies to consult Congress on how to work with countries like Cuba on offshore drilling safety and spill response, but the Administration has already shown some flexibility. Last month U.S. officials and scientists had contact with Cuban counterparts at a regional forum on drilling hazards. That's important because they need to be in synch, for example, about how to attack a spill without exacerbating the damage to coral reefs. Scientists like Vaughan worry that chemical dispersants used to fight the spill in the Gulf, where coral wasn't as prevalent, could be lethal to reefs in the Straits. That would breed more marine catastrophe, since coral reefs, though they make up only 1% of the world's sea bottoms, account for up to 40% of natural fisheries. "They're our underwater oases," says Vaughan, whose tests so far with dispersants and FRT species like Elkhorn coral don't augur well.

A rigid U.S. reluctance to engage communist Cuba is of course only half the problem. Another is Havana's notorious, Soviet-style secrecy -- which some fear "could override the need to immediately pick up the phone," as one environmentalist confides, if and when a spill occurs. As a result, some are also petitioning Washington to fund AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) that marine biologists use to detect red tides, and which could also be used to sniff out oil spills in the Straits.

What experts on both sides of the Straits hope is that sea currents will carry any oil slick directly out into the Atlantic Ocean. But that's wishful thinking. So probably is the notion that U.S.-Cuba cooperation on offshore drilling can be duplicated on other fronts. Among them are the embargo, including the arguably unconstitutional ban on U.S. travel to Cuba, which has utterly failed to dislodge the Castro regime but which Washington keeps in place for fear of offending Cuban-American voters in swing-state Florida; and cases like that of Alan Gross, a U.S. aid worker imprisoned in Cuba since 2009 on what many call questionable spying charges.

U.S. inspectors this month gave the Scarabeo 9 the thumbs-up. Meanwhile, U.S. pols hope they can still dissuade foreign oil companies from operating off Cuba. Last month Nelson and Cuban-American Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey introduced a bill to hold firms financially responsible for spills that affect the U.S. even if they originate outside U.S. waters. (It would also lift a $75 million liability cap.) Others in Congress say Big Oil should be exempted from the embargo to let the U.S. benefit from the Cuba oil find too. Either way, the only thing likely to stop the drilling now would be the discovery that there's not as much crude there as anticipated. That, or a major spill.

PHOTOS: Fidel Castro Steps Down

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Compassion Without Passion

Dear Lonely,
I'm sorry you are in such a terrible situation. Finding yourself the caretaker for a brain-damaged spouse is one of the toughest things that can befall a married person. Please read this story from the Washington Post, written by my friend Susan Baer about a situation similar to yours. Robert Melton was a talented reporter and editor at the Washington Post (and a colleague of my husband?s) when in 2003, at age 46, he had a heart attack that caused a severe, permanent brain injury from oxygen deprivation. His wife, Page, was in her 30s and was left with two small daughters and a husband who was like a child. Eventually she placed Robert in assisted living. She and the girls visited frequently, and Page thought this was her life. But a few years later at a reunion, she reconnected with a former classmate, and eventually they fell in love. She divorced Robert and remarried. But there?s a stunning and moving twist. Robert?s family was at the wedding to support Page, and when her new husband, Allan, spoke his vows he said that he would always help care for Robert. Robert moved across the country with them, where he is in another assisted living facility. The two men have breakfast weekly, and Robert is often at the house visiting his daughters.

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Are you a happy shopper? Research website helps you find out

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2012) ? Psychologists have found that buying life experiences makes people happier than buying possessions, but who spends more of their spare cash on experiences? New findings published this week in the Journal of Positive Psychology reveal extraverts and people who are open to new experiences tend to spend more of their disposable income on experiences, such as concert tickets or a weekend away, rather than hitting the mall for material items.

These habitual "experiential shoppers" reaped long-term benefits from their spending: They reported greater life satisfaction, according to the study led by San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Psychology Ryan Howell.

To further investigate how purchasing decisions impact well-being, Howell and colleagues have launched a website where members of the public can take free surveys to find out what kind of shopper they are and how their spending choices affect them. Data collected through the "Beyond the Purchase" website will be used by Howell and other social psychologists.

Graduate students in Howell's Personality and Well-being Lab will use the site to study the link between spending motivations and well-being, and how money management influences our financial and purchasing choices.

For his latest study, Howell and colleagues surveyed nearly10,000 participants, who completed online questionnaires about their shopping habits, personality traits, values and life satisfaction.

"We know that being an 'experience shopper' is linked to greater wellbeing," said Howell, whose 2009 paper on purchasing experiences, published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, challenged the adage that money can't buy happiness. "But we wanted to find out why some people gravitate toward buying experiences."

Participants' personality was measured using the "Big Five" personality traits model, a scale psychologists use to describe how extraverted, neurotic, open, conscientious and agreeable a person is. People who spent most of their disposable income on experiences scored highly on the "extravert" and "openness to new experience" scales.

"This personality profile makes sense since life experiences are inherently more social, and they also contain an element of risk," Howell said. "If you try a new experience that you don't like, you can't return it to the store for a refund."

The authors suggest that it could be easier to change your spending habits than your personality traits. "Even for people who naturally find themselves drawn to material purchases, our results suggest that getting more of a balance between traditional purchases and those that provide you with an experience could lead to greater life satisfaction and wellbeing."

Visit the Beyond the Purchase website at http://www.beyondthepurchase.org

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Journal Reference:

1. Ryan T. Howell, Paulina Pchelin, Ravi Iyer. The preference for experiences over possessions: Measurement and construct validation of the Experiential Buying Tendency Scale. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2012; 7 (1): 57 DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2011.626791

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

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English footballer warned over Twitter predictions

By ROB HARRIS

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:30 a.m. ET Jan. 26, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Predicting the outcome of football matches on Twitter could land players in trouble, as the English football authorities are wary they could be seen to be providing inside betting information.

Queens Park Rangers captain Joey Barton used Twitter on Thursday to claim that the English Football Association had warned him not to provide opinions about the outcome of matches.

The FA regulations warn players that they cannot bet on games in competitions in which their club is involved or "pass inside information on to someone else which they then use for betting."

On Sunday, Barton correctly predicted to more than 1.1 million followers ahead of Sunday's Premier League matches that Manchester City would beat Tottenham and Manchester United would win at Arsenal.

According to Barton, the comments raised alarm bells at FA headquarters, although the governing body declined to comment.

"Just received my weekly warning letter from FA headquarters, this time regarding me tweeting about predicting the weekend's Manchester double," Barton wrote Thursday on his verified Twitter account. "According to the FA, I am not allowed to give my opinion of possible results in case that is seen as insider information. These people are so out of touch with reality it's untrue.

"What difference does my opinion of the outcome of a match have on the result? None."

The FA rules warn players: "You should be aware that the passing of information would not just be by word of mouth - the rule applies equally to emails or social networking sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter)."

But Barton believes the FA has not got "to grips with the change that's happening in the world around them," claiming that he has "probably" received 30 letters from the organization since he started tweeting in July 2010.

The midfielder first revealed in October that the FA had told him to moderate his online comments.

"The FA came to hush me down or make me not have an opinion," he said.

While using Twitter to transform his image since being jailed in 2008 for assault in a street fight, Barton has also used the platform to attack the hierarchy at former club Newcastle and criticize Neil Warnock after he was fired as QPR manager earlier this month.

---

Rob Harris can be reached at www.twitter.com/RobHarrisUK

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Barca holds off Madrid rally

Pedro Rodriguez and Daniel Alves scored first-half goals, and Barcelona held off a spirited Real Madrid comeback attempt to eliminate the defending Copa del Rey champion with a 2-2 tie Wednesday night.

Do-or-die

The U.S. women's soccer team was still on the field, having dispatched rival Mexico, when Abby Wambach gathered her teammates for a little speech.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46145514/ns/sports-soccer/

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UN Somalia representative opens Mogadishu office (AP)

MOGADISHU, Somalia ? The U.N.'s special representative to Somalia is moving his office to Mogadishu for the first time in 17 years.

Augustine Mahiga said Tuesday that he hopes the move to Mogadishu marks the start of renewed hope for the future of Somalia, which hasn't had a fully functioning government in more than two decades.

Mahiga said that being in the Somali capital will allow the U.N. to work more closely with the country's Transitional Federal Government. The government's mandate is up in August.

Mahiga was previously based in Nairobi, the capital of neighboring Kenya. Several other U.N. agencies have already had a permanent presence in the Somali capital for over a year. But the last U.N. special representative based in Somalia left the country in 1995.

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Key Greek bondholders meet to discuss debt deal

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Representatives of Greece's private sector bondholders will meet on Wednesday to discuss how and whether to continue talks on a bond swap after the EU toughened its demands, a person close to the investors said.

The so-called steering committee of the Institute of International Finance will gather in Paris for an "important meeting ... to really take stock" of the talks, the person said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The committee represents banks and other investment funds that hold a large part of Greece's debt.

On Monday, eurozone finance ministers decided to cap the average interest rate Greece can pay to investors taking part in a debt swap designed to cut Greece's debt by euro100 billion ($130 billion) at well below 4 percent.

In their offer last week, the bondholders said the average interest rate should be above 4 percent.

The finance ministers also made clear that they would not increase the amount of rescue loans for Greece above the euro130 billion ($169 billion) tentatively agreed in October.

The interest rate is one of the most important variables in the bond swap that investors as well as the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund hope will bring Greece's debt back to a sustainable level. The plan is to have private investors exchange their old Greek bonds for ones with half the face value and to push repayments 20 to 30 years into the future.

A higher interest rate could help buffer losses for investors, but the eurozone and the IMF say it will prevent Greece's debt from falling to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 ? the maximum level they see as sustainable. Without the debt swap, Greece's debt would approach 200 percent of GDP by the end of this year.

If the investors decide against moving ahead with talks for a voluntary deal, the eurozone would face a stark choice between a forced default or new, bigger aid payments to Greece.

In a forced default, bondholders would likely stand to lose an even bigger part of their investments issued and traded by banks and other investors.

The eurozone has so far worked hard to prevent a payout of CDS, since the CDS market is obscure ? without a clear picture of who owes what to whom ? and they worry that it could create uncertainty and panic on financial markets. The private investors also argue that a forced default would make investors reluctant to lend to Greece and other vulnerable euro countries.

The person close to the private bondholders said the meeting was called for Wednesday because some eurozone officials wanted the deal to be ready for a summit of EU leaders on Monday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-25-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-45eab94bad054528aa29ba8c4d0741f6

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Cocoa could prevent intestinal pathologies such as colon cancer

Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC
info@plataformasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

A new study on living animals has shown for the first time that eating cocoa (the raw material in chocolate) can help to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, including colon carcinogenesis onset caused by chemical substances.

The growing interest amongst the scientific community to identify those foods capable of preventing diseases has now categorized cocoa as a 'superfood'. It has been recognised as an excellent source of phytochemical compounds, which offer potential health benefits.

Headed by scientists from the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN) and recently published in the Molecular Nutrition & Food Research journal, the new study supports this idea and upholds that cacao consumption helps to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, such as the onset of chemically induced colon carcinogenesis.

"Being exposed to different poisons in the diet like toxins, mutagens and procarcinogens, the intestinal mucus is very susceptible to pathologies," explains Mara ngeles Martn Arribas, lead author of the study and researcher at ICTAN. She adds that "foods like cocoa, which is rich in polyphenols, seems to play an important role in protecting against disease."

The study on live animals (rats) has for the first time confirmed the potential protection effect that flavonoids in cocoa have against colon cancer onset. For eight weeks the authors of the study fed the rats with a cocoa-rich (12%) diet and carcinogenesis was induced.

Possible protection

Doctor Martn Arribas outlines that "four weeks after being administered with the chemical compound azoxymethane (AOM), intestinal mucus from premalignant neoplastic lesions appeared. These lesions are called 'aberrant crypt foci' and are considered to be good markers of colon cancer pathogenesis."

The results of the study showed that the rats fed a cocoa-rich diet had a significantly reduced number of aberrant crypts in the colon induced by the carcinogen. Likewise, this sample saw an improvement in their endogenous antioxidant defences and a decrease in the markers of oxidative damage induced by the toxic compound in this cell.

The researchers conclude that the protection effect of cocoa can stop cell-signalling pathways involved in cell proliferation and, therefore, subsequent neoplasty and tumour formation. Lastly, the animals fed with the cocoa-rich diet showed an increase in apoptosis or programmed cell death as a chemoprevention mechanism against the development of the carcinogenesis.

Although more research is required to determine what bioactive compounds in cocoa are responsible for such effects, the authors conclude that a cocoa-rich diet seems capable of reducing induced oxidative stress. It could also have protection properties in the initial stages of colon cancer as it reduces premalignant neoplastic lesion formation.

A not-so-guilty pleasure

Cocoa is one of the ingredients in chocolate. It is one of the richest foods in phenolic compounds, mainly in flavonoids like procyanidins, catechins and epicatechins, which have numerous beneficial biological activities in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer (mainly colorectal cancer).

In fact, compared to other foods with a high flavonoid content, cocoa has a high level of procyanidins with limited bioavailability. These flavonoids are therefore found in their highest concentrations in the intestine where they neutralise many oxidants.

###

References:

ldefonso Rodrguez-Ramiro, Sonia Ramos, Elvira Lpez-Oliva, Angel Agis-Torres, Miren Gmez-Juaristi, Raquel Mateos, Laura Bravo, Luis Goya, Mara ngeles Martn. "Cocoa-rich diet prevents azoxymethane-induced colonic preneoplastic lesions in rats by restraining oxidative stress and cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis". Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 55:1895-1899, diciembre de 2011. DOI 10.1002/mnfr.201100363.

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: SINC
info@plataformasinc.es
34-914-251-820
FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology

A new study on living animals has shown for the first time that eating cocoa (the raw material in chocolate) can help to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, including colon carcinogenesis onset caused by chemical substances.

The growing interest amongst the scientific community to identify those foods capable of preventing diseases has now categorized cocoa as a 'superfood'. It has been recognised as an excellent source of phytochemical compounds, which offer potential health benefits.

Headed by scientists from the Institute of Food Science and Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN) and recently published in the Molecular Nutrition & Food Research journal, the new study supports this idea and upholds that cacao consumption helps to prevent intestinal complaints linked to oxidative stress, such as the onset of chemically induced colon carcinogenesis.

"Being exposed to different poisons in the diet like toxins, mutagens and procarcinogens, the intestinal mucus is very susceptible to pathologies," explains Mara ngeles Martn Arribas, lead author of the study and researcher at ICTAN. She adds that "foods like cocoa, which is rich in polyphenols, seems to play an important role in protecting against disease."

The study on live animals (rats) has for the first time confirmed the potential protection effect that flavonoids in cocoa have against colon cancer onset. For eight weeks the authors of the study fed the rats with a cocoa-rich (12%) diet and carcinogenesis was induced.

Possible protection

Doctor Martn Arribas outlines that "four weeks after being administered with the chemical compound azoxymethane (AOM), intestinal mucus from premalignant neoplastic lesions appeared. These lesions are called 'aberrant crypt foci' and are considered to be good markers of colon cancer pathogenesis."

The results of the study showed that the rats fed a cocoa-rich diet had a significantly reduced number of aberrant crypts in the colon induced by the carcinogen. Likewise, this sample saw an improvement in their endogenous antioxidant defences and a decrease in the markers of oxidative damage induced by the toxic compound in this cell.

The researchers conclude that the protection effect of cocoa can stop cell-signalling pathways involved in cell proliferation and, therefore, subsequent neoplasty and tumour formation. Lastly, the animals fed with the cocoa-rich diet showed an increase in apoptosis or programmed cell death as a chemoprevention mechanism against the development of the carcinogenesis.

Although more research is required to determine what bioactive compounds in cocoa are responsible for such effects, the authors conclude that a cocoa-rich diet seems capable of reducing induced oxidative stress. It could also have protection properties in the initial stages of colon cancer as it reduces premalignant neoplastic lesion formation.

A not-so-guilty pleasure

Cocoa is one of the ingredients in chocolate. It is one of the richest foods in phenolic compounds, mainly in flavonoids like procyanidins, catechins and epicatechins, which have numerous beneficial biological activities in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer (mainly colorectal cancer).

In fact, compared to other foods with a high flavonoid content, cocoa has a high level of procyanidins with limited bioavailability. These flavonoids are therefore found in their highest concentrations in the intestine where they neutralise many oxidants.

###

References:

ldefonso Rodrguez-Ramiro, Sonia Ramos, Elvira Lpez-Oliva, Angel Agis-Torres, Miren Gmez-Juaristi, Raquel Mateos, Laura Bravo, Luis Goya, Mara ngeles Martn. "Cocoa-rich diet prevents azoxymethane-induced colonic preneoplastic lesions in rats by restraining oxidative stress and cell proliferation and inducing apoptosis". Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 55:1895-1899, diciembre de 2011. DOI 10.1002/mnfr.201100363.

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/f-sf-ccp012412.php

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Video: McConnell's State of the Union Preview

Sen Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican Leader, (R-KY) discusses what he hopes to hear from President Obama in his State of the Union address, and whether he expects divisiveness to continue in Congress.

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Baseball analogies dominate media?s debate analysis (The Cutline)

Gingrich lines up King's fastball as Romney looks on. (AP/File)

The Republican primary debate in Charleston, South Carolina on Thursday night was a slugfest, with Newt Gingrich leading off the ballgame with a home run off CNN starter John King, who tried to slip an "open marriage" fastball by the former House Speaker.

That is, if you were to borrow a baseball analogy--which the media has been all-to-eager to do lately.

"I think Gingrich saw a fastball coming," CNN's David Gergen told Anderson Cooper. "And in front of this audience, he smacked it right out of the park."

Gergen wasn't the only pundit mining the national pastime for quips.

"Newt did knock it out of the park," Ari Fleischer said later on CNN. "Well, I think, putting it in baseball terms, Mitt Romney is a doubles hitter. He hit more doubles tonight, but he's not hitting enough doubles to win South Carolina. Rick Santorum had his best night yet -- he hit a triple."

Fleischer wasn't done.

"Newt swings for the fences, and he connected tonight," he said. "Also, when he swings, he can have some spectacular whiffs. And we don't know from day to day if he's going to hit one or strike out."

John Baldoni of CBS' "Money Watch" thought Newt cleared the fences, too: "Newt Gingrich hit a home run the other evening in South Carolina when he took moderator John King's question about his former wife's allegation of his request for an open marriage and turned it into a media bashing moment."

Boston.com's Garrett Quinn put it another way: "Gingrich has found a way to turn what should be a single into a home run. Tonight, though, was a grand slam for him."

Of course, Thursday's debate was not the first time the media likened Gingrich to Babe Ruth. Earlier this week, Ed Rollins said Gingrich smacked a "home run" during Saturday's Fox News-hosted debate, turning around a question about race from Juan Williams.? "I think it's put him back in the game," Gingrich said. "He looks strong."

A blogger for Norcalblogs.com took the baseball analogy even deeper:

Gingrich hit home run after home run, but his biggest hit came at the expense of Juan Williams. Juan pitched a race baiting fast ball that Newt hit with the sweet spot of his bat. When he finished, the crowd erupted [in] the first ever standing ovation at a debate. Fox News was forced to take a commercial break to calm things down. It wasn't his only big hit, but it was his best.

On Thursday, Fleischer added: "To use the baseball expression we started with here, I think we're into the fourth inning with too many players on the field, maybe three. So people thought maybe the game would be over here after three races, three innings, and Romney would win it. If he wins in South Carolina, that's the likelihood. I don't think that's going to happen."

Then again, it's anybody's ballgame.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:
? No joke: Stephen Colbert ahead of Gary Johnson in national poll
? Questions about Gingrich's personal life, Romney's wealth dominate debate
? Newt Gingrich mauls CNN's John King for asking about 'open marriage'

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thecutline/20120120/bs_yblog_thecutline/baseball-analogies-dominate-medias-debate-analysis

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Many high-risk Americans don't get hepatitis B vaccine

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Although there is an effective vaccine for hepatitis B and public health officials have a strong sense of who is at highest risk for the infectious liver disease, tens of thousands of people in the United States contract the virus every year. According to a new study by researchers at Brown University, missed opportunities to administer the vaccine continue to be a reason why infections persist.

"This is a really simple thing that we could do and if somebody ends up getting the disease because we didn't make the effort then I think that's really a shame," said Brian Montague, assistant professor of medicine in the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a physician at The Miriam Hospital.

Yet in an analysis published Jan. 12, 2012, in advance online in the journal Infection, senior author Montague and lead author Farah Ladak found that in a nationally representative sample of high-risk adults, 51.4 percent said they were unvaccinated. More than half of them had the potential to receive the vaccine based on their reported contact with health care providers.

The study is based on responses by more than 15,000 adults to the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey, which gathers health information from more than 430,000 people across the United States. The respondents in the study's analysis acknowledged engaging in risk behaviors such as certain sexual practices or needle drug use and could definitively report their hepatitis B status. Previous research has found that more than 95 percent new infections in adults occur among people with such behavioral risk factors.

Montague, Ladak, and their co-authors sought to figure out who among this highly vulnerable population was going unvaccinated and whether and where they could have received the three required shots.

They found that vaccinations were relatively infrequent among adults older than 33 (vaccinations have increased markedly in children since the 1990s), among people with less access to health insurance, and among people who have also not been vaccinated against other diseases such as the flu.

But even among people with access to health care, including people who reported specific contact with health care providers, thousands of people went unvaccinated, Ladak said. The study identifies places where improved vaccine delivery would make a substantial difference ? for instance when people are tested for HIV, such as at the doctor's office, in a hospital or clinic, and especially in jail.

For those infected as adults, hepatitis B does not always result in persistent infection and chronic liver disease, but it is especially likely to do so among people infected with HIV. Such co-infections are common because many of the risk factors for contracting either virus are the same.

"In persons visiting [HIV-testing] locations there was a high prevalence of people who had not received the vaccine," said Ladak, a Brown public health graduate. "One of the areas that really stuck out was jails and prisons. Given that many states have mandates to vaccinate incarcerated individuals, you wonder why in so many of these prisons people have not received vaccinations."

Ladak noted that the new study's figures from 2007 closely mirror similar research published in 2000, suggesting that despite widespread awareness among public health officials that vaccinations have been lacking among adults, there has not been clear progress.

Calls to do better

The study lends additional support to the urging of the Institute of Medicine, which in a 2010 report emphasized the importance of seizing opportunities to vaccinate people for hepatitis B and C. The report suggested that officials have not devoted enough resources to vaccination programs, perhaps because the infections sometimes don't present any symptoms, as a reason for the continued prevalence of the diseases.

Montague said some programs are also structured to ensure missed opportunities. For example, funding for HIV care programs allows testing and vaccination of those who are HIV positive. Funding is often not available, though, for combined screening for hepatitis B together with HIV.

"Given that the risks for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C overlap, what we need is integrated testing and prevention programs and strategies that link those cases identified with effective treatment in the community," Montague said.

###

Brown University: http://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau

Thanks to Brown University for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116856/Many_high_risk_Americans_don_t_get_hepatitis_B_vaccine

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Viral Chicago video points to disturbing trend

This photo provided Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, by the Chicago Police Dept. shows Raymond Polomino who is being charged as an adult in the alleged beating of a 17-year-old high school student Sunday, in Chicago. Seven teenagers, including Palomino, were arrested in the beating that was filmed and posted online, city police said. (AP Photo/Chicago Police Dept.)

This photo provided Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, by the Chicago Police Dept. shows Raymond Polomino who is being charged as an adult in the alleged beating of a 17-year-old high school student Sunday, in Chicago. Seven teenagers, including Palomino, were arrested in the beating that was filmed and posted online, city police said. (AP Photo/Chicago Police Dept.)

Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, during a news conference Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, about the beating of of a high school student Sunday, and the video from the beating that went viral, during a news conference in Chicago. Seven teenagers were arrested and charged in the 17-year-old student's beating and robbery that was videoed and posted on YouTube. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

CHICAGO (AP) ? It seems to defy the logic of committing crimes in a way to avoid getting caught: Ruffians intentionally recording themselves on video beating and robbing someone, then posting it on YouTube so anyone anywhere can see it, including police.

The latest example of this disturbing but increasingly common phenomenon comes from Chicago, where police Wednesday arrested seven teens who apparently did just that. Their video had gone viral and led to their arrest within just days of the Sunday afternoon attack.

The practice, some experts say, is a modern twist on the age-old human penchant for boasting about one's exploits to impress the community at large and to warn perceived rivals that their group is more powerful than others.

"Medieval warriors putting the heads of their enemies on sticks, scalping and even school yard brawls in the '50s ? they're all ways of displaying that dominance in public," said Pam Rutledge, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based psychologist who heads the Media Psychology Research Center. "These new tools ? the Internet, YouTube ? just let you spread the word much farther."

Throughout the more than three-minute video, the attackers ? many with sweat shirt hoods over their heads and some wearing masks ? are seen yelling at the visibly terrified victim, punching and kicking him in the face with apparent glee as he curled up on the snow-covered ground. Police believe the lone girl involved lured the victim to the alley on the city's South Side.

Posting incriminating material online might also reveal a shaky grasp of how cyberspace works.

"These guys are bragging online without understanding they just provided irrefutable evidence of a crime," she said. "It says something both about their naivet? ? and their stupidity."

Speaking to reporters in Chicago Wednesday, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy noted that episodes of youth violence ending up in online videos have become more frequent everywhere.

"This is a national epidemic," he said. "It's not something that's particular to Chicago."

The Chicago teens were charged in the beating and robbery of a 17-year-old high school student in an incident that stemmed from a previous dispute last October, police said. Police said the posted video helped to identify the alleged attackers.

One teen was charged as an adult. The rest ? a 15-year-old girl, two 16-year-old boys and three 15-year-old boys ? were cited in juvenile delinquency petitions. All face one count each of robbery and aggravated battery, including the teen who recorded the video.

A striking aspect of the video is just how at ease the attackers seem about being filmed. One even pauses from kicking and punching the victim's face to calmly instruct whoever is holding the camera how to compose the shot. He then walks back and resumes pummeling the boy.

Viewers who posted comments online identified the alleged attackers by name, including 17-year-old Raymond Palomino, who appeared in bond court Wednesday, his head bowed and looking ill-at ease. His bail was set at $100,000. Palomino's face is visible in the video.

Police said the attackers stole shoes, a wallet and $180 in cash from the victim, who was treated at a hospital for a laceration to his lip, bruises and abrasions.

Another website provided an outlet to fan the flames leading up to the attack.

Raymond Palomino's father claimed Sunday's beating followed an after-school attack on Raymond and another boy. Michael Palomino, a Cook County sheriff's deputy, said incendiary comments posted on Facebook after the alleged beating of his son contributed to the situation spiraling out of control.

"They're making it sound like he did everything," Palomino said, speaking to reporters following his son's initial appearance in court Wednesday. "It's just one side of the story."

The sheriff's deputy, who said he turned his son in after seeing the viral video, conceded what his son did was wrong. But he also accused prosecutors of exaggerating his son's role.

McCarthy, the city's top cop, shared the bewilderment of many officials and observers about why the teens saw fit to post the video, thereby incriminating themselves.

But while older Americans may express astonishment that someone behaving badly would take the added step of displaying that behavior online, it doesn't surprise teens who have never known a world without the Internet, said Tim Hwang, president of the 750,000-member National Youth Association.

"There's an impulse with youth today to put everything online, so the fact (this beating) was posted online doesn't itself make it more exceptional," said Hwang, 19.

Since always thinking in terms of cyberspace is second nature to today's youth, it wouldn't immediately strike them as odd that the alleged attackers thought in those terms, too, he added.

The video-recorded attack in Chicago isn't the first to attract attention on the Web. In 2009, footage of the fatal beating of a 16-year-old honor student was circulated worldwide.

In that video, captured by a cellphone camera, Derrion Albert is seen being punched, hit on the head with large boards and kicked in the head. The fight broke out after classes were dismissed at a high school on Chicago's South Side.

Four teens were sentenced to lengthy prison terms last year in that case, which sparked outrage around the country. A fifth suspect tried as a juvenile was ordered to remain imprisoned until he turns 21.

The most recent incident was different in that the attack was videotaped by someone apparently affiliated with the attackers. The Albert attack was recorded by a bystander.

That these latest attackers beat the victim and uploaded the video to YouTube not only illustrated their immaturity, it also suggests they are deeply insecure, somehow calculating that the stunt would boost their social standing, Rutledge said.

If that was their thinking, they badly miscalculated.

"They are getting the opposite reinforcement that they intended," Rutledge said, citing the arrests. "They put it up to show how cool and tough they were. Instead, it left people thinking, 'You guys are complete idiots.'"

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-19-Chicago-Filmed%20Beating/id-573b9e0834654d74a48f5637948033b7

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Photography pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Eastman Kodak Co, the photography icon that invented the hand-held camera, has filed for bankruptcy protection and plans to shrink significantly, capping a prolonged plunge for one of America's best-known companies.

The Chapter 11 filing makes Kodak one of the biggest corporate casualties of the digital age, after it failed to quickly embrace more modern technologies such as the digital camera -- ironically, a product it invented.

Kodak once dominated its industry, and its film was the subject of a popular 1973 song, "Kodachrome," by Paul Simon.

The bankruptcy may give Kodak, which traces its roots to 1880, the ability to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents, a major portion of its value. Kodak now employs 17,000 people worldwide, down from 63,900 just nine years ago.

"It is a very sad day even though we had anticipated it," said Shannon Cross, an analyst at Cross Research who has had a "sell" rating on the company since 2001. "If it emerges, it will be a much smaller entity."

According to papers filed with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, Kodak had about $5.1 billion of assets and $6.75 billion of liabilities at the end of September.

In court documents, Chief Financial Officer Antoinette McCorvey said, without elaborating, that Kodak plans to sell "significant assets" during the bankruptcy.

Kodak expects to complete its U.S. restructuring in 2013. Non-U.S. units are not part of the Chapter 11 case.

"This is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak," Chairman and Chief Executive Antonio Perez said in a statement on Thursday.

Kodak's market value has sunk below $100 million from $31 billion 15 years ago, when its share price topped $94.

The shares (EKDKQ.PK) began trading on Thursday on the Pink Sheets , and closed down 6 cents at 30 cents.

WAY BEHIND

At a nearly five-hour court hearing on Thursday, Kodak won interim approval from U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper to obtain up to $650 million of debtor-in-possession financing led by Citigroup Inc (C.N).

The amount is $300 million less than Kodak had sought, but would allow it to keep operating and avoid having to liquidate. A hearing to consider final approval was set for February 15.

Kodak's proposed 18-month package drew objections from secured creditors concerned they might not be paid back if Kodak executives mismanaged the company, allowed losses to mount, and failed to come up with a viable reorganization plan.

Lenders and creditors argued at Thursday's hearing over whether the package was too big. Gropper agreed that it could be cut down without threatening Kodak's ability to operate.

"This is not going to be a Chapter 7," the judge said, referring to a part of the U.S. bankruptcy code that governs liquidations.

Perez, a former Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) executive who became Kodak's chief in 2005, has in recent years steered Kodak toward consumer and commercial printers.

But that failed to restore annual profitability, something Kodak has not seen since 2007, and did not arrest a cash drain.

"They got behind the curve on the analog-to-digital shift, and they were way behind for a long time," said Ananda Baruah, a Brean Murray analyst who covers Kodak.

Kodak has struggled to meet its pension and other obligations to more than 65,000 workers, retirees and others who participate in its employee benefit programs.

McCorvey also said Apple Inc (AAPL.O), BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd (RIM.TO) and Taiwan's HTC Corp (2498.TW) have dragged their heels in patent negotiations as Kodak's finances deteriorated.

She said Kodak "began to experience delays in licensing negotiations" with the companies, "all of which owe substantial royalties for use of Kodak's digital capture portfolio."

Patent litigation has been a major part of Kodak's recent efforts to generate revenue, and the company has sued Apple, Research in Motion and HTC over alleged violations.

Those companies have denied infringing Kodak patents. Apple on Thursday filed a limited objection in the bankruptcy case to preserve its rights in patent litigation.

Ultimately, McCorvey said, Kodak suffered from a "liquidity shortfall" as some vendors stopped shipping and providing services, and demanded shorter payment terms.

Kodak said in court papers it has about $820 million of cash and equivalents. It said it was down to just $56.7 million of cash in the United States.

"TOO MUCH VALUE" TO LIQUIDATE

The downfall has also hit Kodak's Rust Belt hometown of Rochester, New York, with its workforce there falling to about 7,000 from more than 60,000 in Kodak's heyday.

Andrew Cuomo, New York's governor, on Thursday called the bankruptcy "difficult and disappointing news" for the city, whose population was about 211,000 in the last census.

Kodak named Dominic DiNapoli, a vice chairman at business turnaround specialist FTI Consulting Inc (FCN.N), as its chief restructuring officer.

The investment bank Lazard (LAZ.N) is also providing advice and has been helping Kodak look for a buyer for its digital patents. Kodak's law firm is Sullivan & Cromwell.

Last week, Kodak reorganized its business operations, creating a commercial unit and a consumer unit. It previously had units for consumer digital imaging; film, photofinishing and entertainment; and graphic communications.

Mark Zupan, dean of the University of Rochester's business school, said "there's still too much value" for the company to liquidate. "Segments will be profitable enough to survive as a leader, as a smaller company," he said.

Perez said the bankruptcy would help Kodak maximize the value of patents related to digital imaging, used in virtually every modern digital camera, smartphone and tablet.

Andrew Dietderich, a lawyer for Kodak, told Gropper at Thursday's hearing that the company believes it has intellectual property worth $2.2 billion to $2.6 billion.

Kodak's more than 100,000 creditors include retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Target Corp (TGT.N), and movie companies Sony Corp (6758.T) and Walt Disney Co (WMT.N).

APOLLO 11

According to Kodak, George Eastman, a high-school dropout from upstate New York, founded the company in 1880 and began making photographic plates. To get his business going, he splurged on a second-hand engine to make the plates for $125.

Within eight years, the Kodak name had been trademarked, and the company had introduced the hand-held camera as well as roll-up film, for which it became the dominant producer.

Eastman also introduced the "Wage Dividend" in which the company would pay bonuses to employees based on results.

Kodak went on to create cameras such as the Brownie, launched in 1900 and sold for $1, and the Instamatic in 1963.

The company on its website said a Kodak camera was used on the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. A Kodak camera was used by the astronauts to film the lunar soil from only inches away, according to NASA.

Kodak film has been used on 80 movies that have won Best Picture Oscars, according to the company.

In 1975, not long after songwriter Simon told his mama not to take his Kodachrome away, Kodak invented the digital camera.

The size of a toaster, it was too big for the pockets of amateur photographers, whose pockets now are stuffed with digital offerings from the likes of Canon, Casio and Nikon.

But Kodak put the digital camera on the back burner, and spent years watching rivals take market share away.

In 1994, Kodak spun off a chemicals business, Eastman Chemical Co (EMN.N), which proved to be more successful.

Kodak's final downfall in the eyes of investors began in September when it unexpectedly withdrew $160 million from a credit line, raising worries of a cash shortage.

It is unclear how Kodak will handle its pension obligations, many of which it took on decades ago when U.S. manufacturers offered more generous retirement and medical benefits.

Many retirees hail from Britain, where the company has been manufacturing since 1891.

Kodak had promised to inject $800 million over the next decade into its British pension plan. [ID:nN1E80803N] It expects the trustee for the British plan to have a "significant" general unsecured claim against the company, court papers show.

The case is In re: Eastman Kodak Co et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 12-10202.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker, Caroline Humer and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Nick Brown in Las Vegas; Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; and Sue Zeidler in Los Angeles; Editing by Mark Bendeich, Tim Dobbyn and Bernard Orr)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_kodak

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New watchdog agency reviewing payday lending (AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The Obama administration's new consumer protection agency is holding its first hearing in Alabama on payday lending, an industry that brings in some $7 billion a year in fees nationwide with relatively little federal oversight.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says testimony from the session held Thursday in Birmingham will help guide future regulations. Director Richard Cordray says the bureau recognizes the need for short-term loans, but the lending needs to help consumers, not harm them.

The agency has been in the spotlight because of Republican opposition to its formation and because of President Barack Obama's use of a recess appointment to install Cordray as director.

The bureau says about 19 million American households now have payday loans. It says lenders take in more than $7 billion annually in fees.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_us/us_consumer_watchdog_payday_lending

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