A man who previously ran for a seat as a commissioner in Ramsey County appeared in court last week in a child pornography case in Ramsey County. The man had previously held an administrator's job in state government, but no longer holds that position.
Prosecutors filed charges alleging 12 counts of possession of child pornography last March against the 39-year-old defendant. Now, Ramsey County officials are apparently considering filing up to 56 additional counts against the man, based upon computer forensics and a search of the man's computers.
A number of court rulings across the country have found that simply viewing an image on the Internet does not amount to possessing the image. However, when an image has been viewed, a remnant of the data may remain somewhere in the computer--even though a person may not be able to retrieve that image without a forensic type search.
The defendant in the Ramsey County case made that argument before the court recently. However, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the judge presiding in the case ruled that prosecutors in St. Paul are alleging that the man did more than view files online. Apparently, the state argues it has evidence of emails and images stored in different areas that the cache.
The judge reportedly scheduled a trial on the current 12 counts of unlawful possession of child pornography for late February. The state says that prosecutors may add additional charges based upon the search of the computers.
This blog has previously discussed issues that can arise with Internet crimes and allegations involving data stored on computers and other electronic media. Child pornography charges often involve highly complex allegations involving electronic media with today's technology. Many legal questions involving computer forensic may remain unresolved. It is important to vigorously defend on the law, as well as on the facts when facing criminal charges to advance the understanding of the law.
Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Ex-GOP House aide faces prospect of more child porn charges," Joy Powell, Jan. 25, 2013
The nightmare is finally over.. We found our car insurance for Canada and the USA. I don?t think I have ever been so relieved as when I saw the email coming in that said ? Dear Erica, please find below our quote?? . And it is a good quote too. Admittedly, I was at the point that I would have signed for anything and was prepared to pay whatever they asked, but the offer is only 800 USD for a year. Having read blog posts of people who paid 1800 USD for 6 months, I was again very relieved. This will not completely blow our budget.
This guy who saved us is Karl-Heinz Nowag. His contact details are as follows:
Platanenring 15, 63110 Rodgau, Germany.
Tel. +49 61 06 1 69 60. Email nowag@t-online.de
He also provides insurance for Central & South America at very reasonable prices.
After having read dozens of blog posts and forums, it looks like this is the only option for Europeans to get their own car insured for the Americas, especially if your car is older than 19 years. It is very important to arrive in an US port, after which you can easily go up to Canada and drive through Canada. You just cannot arrive in a Canadian port. Don?t ask me why.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all our readers for their help. Thank you for the comments you left with advise, the emails you sent us explaining how and where you found your insurance and the forwarding of our stories to your own followers. I promise we will not just be asking for help on this blog but also share our tips on where to camp, where to find the best restaurants, which books to read and how to find the nicest quiet beaches?
LONDON (Reuters) - A Pakistani schoolgirl shot in the head by the Taliban for advocating girls' education is to return to a specialist hospital in Britain for surgery to reconstruct her skull.
Fifteen-year-old Malala Yousufzai, who was shot in October and brought to Britain for treatment, was discharged from the hospital earlier this month to spend time with her family after her initial treatment phase.
Her doctors said on Wednesday she would return to hospital within the next 10 days to undergo surgery known as titanium cranioplasty to repair a missing area of her skull with a specially molded titanium plate.
The shooting of Yousufzai, in the head at point blank range as she left school in the Swat valley, drew widespread international condemnation.
She has become an internationally recognized symbol of resistance to the Taliban's efforts to deny women education and other rights, and more than 250,000 people have signed online petitions calling for her to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her activism.
British doctors who treated Yousufzai say the bullet hit her left brow but instead of penetrating her skull, traveled underneath the skin along the side of her head and into her shoulder.
The shock wave shattered the thinnest bone of the skull and the soft tissues at the base of her jaw were damaged. The bullet and its fracture lines also destroyed her eardrum and the bones for hearing, rendering her deaf in her left ear.
She is being cared for in a specialist department of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, central England, which has treated hundreds of soldiers wounded in conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Dave Rosser, the hospital's medical director, said a procedure to insert a cochlear implant to restore her left side hearing and the complicated skull reconstruction surgery would be carried out by a team of 10 doctors and nurses.
The skull will be repaired with a 0.6 mm plate molded from a 3D model created using imaging data from Malala's skull.
The cranioplasty, which is expected to take between one and two hours, will be carried out first, followed by the cochlear implant operation, which should take around 90 minutes, Rosser said in a statement.
The Amazon Kindle app for Windows Phone 8 got an update today. It's a good one, too, fixing the awful three-sided letterboxing and giving the app a more Metro-y tile. But it's massively late, and tripped over itself coming out the gate, too. In a way, it's a perfect encapsulation of everything wrong with Windows Phone 8 so far. More »
CLEVELAND - Oh Cleveland, a city where temperatures can go from 25 degrees to 59 degrees, where winter coats are sandals aren?t mutually exclusive, and laying never goes out of style.
On a nearly-60-degree January day, Cleveland?s GV Art and Design released its take on the five-day forecast. The shirt features everything from sunny skies, snow flurries and a question mark all in the same week.
?We thought this was the perfect week to launch our new shirt. A blizzard one day and shorts the next. Only in Cleveland does the weather change so drastically from one day to the next,? the company describes the design.
GV Art and Design is owned by Etch A Sketch artist George Vlosich III and his brother, Greg. Vlosich has been interviewed by Oprah and Jimmy Kimmel, and his artwork is the basis for the mural in the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland.
To get you own Cleveland forecast T-shirt and see more of Vlosich's art, click here http://bit.ly/ XfIZyF
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Philips has decided that there just isn't any money in home entertainment, and as such is flogging off the remainder of its interests to Funai for $201 million. It had already sold its North American TV and DVD operations to the Japanese company back in 2008, but will now package off its whole Lifestyle Entertainment division, which includes global disc players and its Fidelio high-end audio outfit. Instead, Philips will concentrate on profitable sectors such as lighting and healthcare -- so the sooner it can develop a bulb that can kill the sniffles, the better.
Show full PR text
Amsterdam, the Netherlands - Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today announced that it has signed an agreement regarding the transfer of its Lifestyle Entertainment business (Audio, Video, Multimedia and Accessories) to Funai Electric Co., Ltd (TSE/OSE 6839). Under the terms, Funai will pay a cash consideration of EUR 150 million and a brand license fee, relating to a license agreement for an initial period of five and a half years, with an optional renewal of five years. The deal for the Audio, Multimedia and Accessories businesses is expected to close in the second half of 2013. The Video business will transfer in 2017, related to existing intellectual property licensing arrangements. The gain on the transaction will be recorded at the closing date.
The transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory filings and works council procedures. The Remote Control activities, which are predominantly business-to-business, are excluded.
"With this transaction we are taking another step in reshaping the Consumer Lifestyle portfolio and transforming Philips into the leading technology company in Health and Well-being," said Philips Chief Executive Officer Frans van Houten. "I am confident that today's agreement with Funai, our partner for over 25 years, will create a promising future for Philips Audio, Video and Entertainment, and continuity for our customers. It will leverage Philips' strong brand, strength in innovation, and leadership position in these businesses, with Funai's strong presence in North and Central America - and Japan, and its supply and manufacturing expertise."
"This is truly an exciting time for us at Funai," said Funai President and CEO, Tomonori Hayashi. "This transaction will allow us to continue moving forward and grow as a global company. We will benefit from Philips' legendary know-how and innovation, as well as the excellent talent they have in place around the world, allowing us to work as a team to leverage and grow the Philips brand in Audio, Video and Entertainment. Additionally, this will give Funai the opportunity to meet our goal of expanding our business into markets including Brazil, Russia, India and China."
"With this agreement and the joint venture for Philips Television, the Consumer Lifestyle sector will further focus on Health and Well-being. The portfolio, consisting of Personal Care, Health & Wellness, Domestic Appliances and Coffee, delivered high single-digit growth in 2012," said Philips Consumer Lifestyle Chief Executive Officer Pieter Nota. "Philips has a proud heritage in Audio, Video, Multimedia and Accessories, and today's agreement with Funai ensures that this business can continue to deliver great Philips-branded innovations to consumers around the world."
Philips Audio, Video, Multimedia and Accessories make up the Lifestyle Entertainment business group within Philips Consumer Lifestyle. This business group is headquartered in Hong Kong and employs approximately 2,000 people worldwide.
Today's agreement does not impact any of Funai's existing brand licensing agreements with Philips.
Many challenges that confront us collectively today may seem insurmountable, whether we?re facing a ?fiscal cliff? or the longstanding conflict in Syria or elsewhere. Even our individual and family challenges may appear to defy solution ? finding a job, dealing with an aggressive illness or the passing of a close family member.
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These remind me of an account recorded in the Bible of when many people were at a loss as to how to handle a situation. One man came forward, took charge, and handled it confidently and easily. The scope of this situation was great, and the impact of the outcome was far reaching. The story is told in the first book of Samuel. When the army of Israel was facing the Philistine army, Goliath, a Philistine, bellowed out a challenge to fight one soldier from the Israelite army ? and the winner would determine the outcome of the battle. King Saul of Israel and everyone in his army were at a loss because Goliath was more than nine feet tall and a well-equipped, experienced, and boastful warrior.
When David arrived on the scene and saw what was happening, he stepped up to the task. David faced the giant with a sling and five smooth stones. Goliath mocked David and the army of Israel, but to the great surprise of everyone in both armies, Goliath was felled by a single stone.
Before standing up to Goliath, David had been tending his family?s flock of sheep; and as far as we know, he humbly accepted that role and diligently fulfilled it. He trusted God to guide him, and he learned all he could. This approach had proved effective when he needed to protect the sheep from a lion and a bear. When he arrived at the battlefield, he was confident that he knew what to do, and without hesitation he courageously offered to fight Goliath. David trusted his God and his own experience as a shepherd, and they proved the deciding difference.
Mary Baker Eddy, who discovered Christian Science, emphasized the importance of shepherding and the accompanying expectation in this message to members of her church: ?You come from feeding your flocks, big with promise; and you come with the sling of Israel?s chosen one to meet the Goliaths? (?The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany,? p. 125).
We can actively fulfill a shepherding role by making sure that our ?flocks? are safe and well tended in our job as parent, employee, employer, citizen, or leader. Our work and the impact may appear modest, the lessons we learn may be small or large and many, but by following the gentle, guiding, divine shepherding voice of God, we will learn the lessons we need and learn them well to be ready to face even bigger challenges that may come along, even if they look insurmountable. We will see and fulfill our unique role in making a difference, blessing many, and perhaps even astounding them.
The indestructible Twinkie appears to be one step closer to a comeback.?
Hostess Brands is close to announcing that it has picked two investment firms ? C. Dean Metropoulos & Co. and Apollo Global Management ? as the lead bidders for its Twinkies and other snack cakes, according to a source close to the situation.??
The so-called stalking horse bid would be for more than $400 million, according to the Wall Street Journal. It would serve as the baseline offer for the business and could be topped by others at an auction.??A judge would have to approve any final sale.??
A deal, part of Hostess's bankruptcy reorganization, is not yet final, said the source, who declined to be identified as the discussions are not public.??
Spokesmen for Metropoulos and Apollo were not immediately available to comment. Hostess declined to comment.?
After years of management turmoil and turnover, Hostess declared it was going out of business and selling its brands in November.?
Earlier this month, Hostess chose a $390 million offer by Flowers Foods , maker of Tastykake products, as the stalking horse bid for several brands including Wonder bread?and?Drake's.
?On Monday, Hostess said it chose McKee Foods Corp, maker of Little Debbie snack cakes, as the initial bidder for its Drake's cakes, which include Ring Dings, Yodels and Devil Dogs. It also chose United States Bakery as the lead bidder for four of its smaller bread brands plus bakeries, equipment and depots.?
FILE - This Jan. 7, 2013 file photo shows former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's choice for defense secretary, speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - This Jan. 7, 2013 file photo shows former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's choice for defense secretary, speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - This Jan. 7, 2013 file photo shows former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, president Barack Obama's choice for defense secretary, speaking in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 7, 2013 file photo, President Barack Obama, left, shakes hands with his choice for Defense Secretary, former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, after announcing Hagel's nomination in the East Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republican-leaning groups opposing President Barack Obama's choice of Chuck Hagel to head the Defense Department have let loose a barrage of claims about the former GOP senator.
They say he endorses automatic cuts to the defense budget, that he wants to decimate the nation's nuclear arsenal, that his membership on the board of a major company that had a Pentagon contract is a conflict of interest that he's ignoring.
A look at Hagel's record suggests many of the contentions are overblown.
In statements and attack ads, the groups have sought to undermine Hagel's nomination in the weeks leading up to his confirmation hearing on Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. His opponents face a tough challenge as Democrats have begun to rally around the president's choice, and the party has the majority votes to confirm the former two-term Nebraska senator, barring surprises.
Here's a look at the validity of some of the criticism of Hagel.
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THE CLAIM: "We live in a dangerous world. Iran, North Korea, even Russia. But Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of defense wants America to back down. An end to our nuclear program. Devastating defense cuts. A weaker country."? An ad being run by Americans for a Stronger Defense in the home states of five Democratic senators up for re-election next year ? Alaska's Mark Begich, Arkansas' Mark Pryor, Louisiana's Mary Landrieu, Colorado's Mark Udall and North Carolina's Kay Hagan.
THE FACTS: Hagel has not proposed ending the nuclear weapons program, though he has supported deep cuts.
Hagel was co-author of a May 2012 study by the advocacy group Global Zero that called for an 80 percent reduction of U.S. nuclear weapons and elimination of all nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The group argued that with the Cold War over, the United States needs no more than 900 total nuclear weapons. Currently, the U.S. and Russia have about 5,000 each, either deployed or in reserve. Both countries are on track to reduce the deployed strategic warheads to 1,550 by 2018, the number set in the New START treaty that the Senate ratified in December 2010.
The study said: "These steps could be taken with Russia in unison through reciprocal presidential directives, negotiated in another round of bilateral arms reduction talks or implemented unilaterally." The report was by Hagel, former ambassadors Richard Burt and Thomas Pickering, retired Gen. James Cartwright, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and retired Gen. John J. Sheehan.
An arsenal of 900 nuclear weapons would not be an "end" to the U.S. nuclear program, but Hagel and the organization did raise the possibility of unilateral reductions. In a statement Monday, Burt and others defended Hagel and dismissed suggestions that they were "unilateralists."
The group running this anti-Hagel ad was formed recently and offers little information about itself on its website. Board member Mauricio Claver-Carone also is director of the US Cuba Democracy Advocates in Washington and favors tighter restrictions on the Castro government.
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THE CLAIM: "Opposition is growing even more due to his support for sequestration of the military: huge budget cuts that the Joints Chiefs have already warned the Senate Armed Forces Committee would result in a 'hollow force.'" ? A Jan. 22 statement from Move America Forward, a California-based group founded by conservatives in 2004 to show support for U.S. troops.
THE FACTS: The group offered no evidence Hagel supports sequestration, the budget mechanism that will mean automatic, across-the-board spending cuts March 1 if Congress does not act to avert them. The White House says he opposes the mechanism, which came into play after Hagel left the Senate.
To be sure, Hagel has spoken about cutting Pentagon spending. In a 2011 interview with the Financial Times, Hagel said, "the Defense Department, I think in many ways, has been bloated" and "has gotten everything it's wanted the last 10 years and more."
The base defense budget has nearly doubled over 10 years, to about $528 billion this year. That doesn't include the billions spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Obama and congressional Republicans agreed in August 2011 on a deficit-cutting plan that would cut $487 billion from projected defense spending over 10 years. Democrats and Republicans also voted for automatic cuts of $55 billion this year if a special congressional panel can't come up with a sweeping deficit-cutting plan.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has warned against the approach of across-the-board cuts, and Hagel has given no sign that he has a different view.
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THE CLAIM: "Now Hagel sits on the board of Chevron, which receives hundreds of millions in Pentagon contracts. ... How can Chuck Hagel run the Pentagon with so many ethical questions about his own record?" ? Ad by the American Future Fund, which is running a "Hagel No" campaign. The group describes itself as advocating conservative, free-market ideals.
THE FACTS: It's widely assumed that Hagel will be leaving the Chevron board, a move common for nominees who face the prospect of such ethical conflicts. The Senate Armed Services Committee has some of the most stringent rules for nominees for senior civilian positions in the Defense Department. The panel requires nominees to divest all financial interests in companies doing business with the department. Stepping down from any board would certainly be required.
The committee bases its decisions on the Defense Department list of companies with contracts valued at $25,000 or more. The list is 330 pages long and includes Chevron.
SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) ? There was no alarm, no extinguishers, no sprinklers and almost no escape from the nightclub that became a death trap for more than 200 Brazilian college students.
As investigators began poking through the rubble and families mourned their dead, questions abounded as the university city in southern Brazil tried to understand how the Sunday morning blaze that killed 231 people could have been sparked in the first place, then rage rapidly out of control.
Why was there only one door available for exit and entry? What was the flammable material in the ceiling that allowed the conflagration to move so quickly? And, more pointedly, why was a band playing at the club allowed to use pyrotechnics inside the building?
Police were leaning toward the band's pyrotechnics as the cause of the blaze during a party at the Kiss nightclub organized by several academic departments at the Federal University of Santa Maria. Inspector Antonio Firmino, who's part of the team investigating the fire, said it appeared the club's ceiling was covered with an insulating foam made from a combustible material that ignited with the pyrotechnics.
Firmino said the number and state of the exits is under investigation but that it appeared that a second door was "inadequate," as it was small and protected by bars that wouldn't open.
The disaster, the worst fire of its kind in more than a decade, also raises questions of whether Brazilian authorities are up to the task of ensuring safety in such venues ahead of it hosting next year's World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
Some critics have said conditions in many Brazilian bars and clubs are ripe for another deadly blaze. They say that in addition to modernizing sometimes outdated safety codes and ensuring sufficient inspectors, people must change their way of thinking and respect safety regulations.
Hundreds of people marched peacefully outside the nightclub Monday night to remember the victims, and demand justice. Some carried signs with slogans such as, "May God's justice be carried out."
"We hope that the justice system, through its competent mechanisms, succeeds in clarifying to the public what happened, and gives the people an explanation," said marcher Eglon Do Canto.
Brazilian police said they detained three people Monday in connection with the blaze, while the newspaper O Globo said on its website that a fourth person had surrendered to police. Police Inspector Ranolfo Vieira Junior said the detentions were part of the ongoing police probe and those detained can be held for up to five days.
Vieira declined to identify those detained, but local media has identified them as two co-owners of the club, and two members of the band that was using a spark machine inside the building when the fire erupted.
According to state safety codes here, clubs should have one fire extinguisher every 1,500 square feet as well as multiple emergency exits. Limits on the number of people admitted are to be strictly respected. None of that appears to have happened at the Santa Maria nightclub.
"A problem in Brazil is that there is no control of how many people are admitted in a building," said Joao Daniel Nunes, a civil engineer in nearby Porto Alegre. "They never are clearly stated, and nobody controls how many people enter these night clubs."
Rodrigo Martins, a guitarist for the group Gurizada Fandangueira, told Globo TV network in an interview Monday that the flames broke out minutes after the employment of a pyrotechnic machine that fans out colored sparks, at around 2:30 a.m. local time.
"I felt that something was falling from the roof and I looked up and I saw the fire was spreading, and I shouted 'Look, it's catching on fire, man, it's catching fire,'" Martins said. "Then the drummer tried to throw water on it, and it looked like the fire spread more then. Then the security guards came with an extinguisher, tried to use it, but it didn't work."
He added that the club was packed and estimated the crowd at about 1,200-1,300 people.
"I thought I was going to die there. There was nothing I could do, with the fire spreading and people screaming in front."
Standing next to the stage when the fire broke out, Rodrigo Rizzi, a first-year nursing student, watched the tragedy unfold.
"I was right there, so even though I was far from the door, at least I realized something was wrong," he said. "Others, who couldn't see the stage, never had a chance. They never saw it coming."
As he headed toward the door, the air turned dense and dark with smoke; there was no light, nothing pointing to the single exit. Rizzi found himself clawing through a panicked crowd that surged blindly toward the door.
"I was halfway across the floor, I could see the door, but the air turned black with this thick smoke," he said. "I couldn't breathe. People started to panic and run toward the door. They were falling, screaming, pulling at each other."
Witnesses said security guards who didn't know about the blaze initially blocked people from leaving without paying their bills. Brazilian bars routinely make patrons pay their entire tab at the end of the night before they're allowed to leave.
Inside the club, metal barriers meant to organize the lines of people entering and leaving became traps, corralling desperate patrons within yards of the exit. Bodies piled up against the grates, smothered and broken by the crushing mob.
About 50 of the victims were found in the club's two bathrooms, where the blinding smoke caused them to believe the doors were exits.
Martins confirmed that the group's accordion player Danilo Jacques, 28, died, while the five other band members made it out safely. Martins said he thought Jacques made it out of the building and later returned to save his accordion.
The first funeral services were held Monday for the victims, including brothers Pedro and Mercello Salle. Most of the dead were college students 18 to 21 years old, but they also included some minors. Almost all died from smoke inhalation rather than burns.
National Health Minister Alexandre Padilha cautioned that the death toll could worsen dramatically, telling news media in Santa Maria on Monday that 75 of those injured were in critical condition and could die.
Santa Maria Mayor Cezar Schirmer declared a 30-day mourning period, and Tarso Genro, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, said officials were investigating the cause of the disaster.
The blaze was the deadliest in Brazil since at least 1961, when a fire that swept through a circus killed 503 people in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro.
Sunday's fire also appeared to be the worst at a nightclub anywhere in the world since December 2000, when a welding accident reportedly set off a fire at a club in Luoyang, China, killing 309 people.
___
Associated Press writers Marco Sibaja contributed to this report from Brasilia, Brazil, Stan Lehman and Bradley Brooks contributed from Sao Paulo and Jenny Barchfield contributed from Rio de Janeiro.
In doing research for a post on "The Enterprise Cool Kids" at the tail end of last year, I interviewed Silicon Valley veteran Marc Andreessen about where he thought the enterprise was headed. While excerpts of that interview made it into the post, the transcript of the entire interview was so good it deserved to be published in its entirety.
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Jan. 25, 2013 ? Astronomers have used the Subaru Telescope to show that the HAT-P-7 planetary system, which is about 1040 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus, includes at least two giant planets and one companion star. The discovery of a previously unknown companion (HAT-P-7B) to the central star (HAT-P-7) as well as confirmation of another giant planet (HAT-P-7c) orbiting outside of the retrograde planet HAT-P-7b, offer new insights into how retrograde planets may form and endure.
A Japanese collaboration led by Norio Narita (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan) used the Subaru Telescope in 2008 to discover the first evidence of a retrograde orbit of an extrasolar planet, HAT-P-7b.? Although retrograde planets, which have orbits that run counter to the spin of their central stars, are absent in our solar system, they occur in other planetary systems in the universe. However, scientists did not know how such retrograde planets formed.
Since his team's initial discovery of the retrograde planet HAT-P-7b, Narita has pursued his quest to explain its origin. As participants in the SEEDS (Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with the Subaru Telescope) Project, he and his colleagues, Yasuhiro Takahashi, Masayuki Kuzuhara, and Teruyuki Hirano (all from the University of Tokyo), took high contrast images of the HAT-P-7 system? with HiCIAO (High Contrast Instrument for the Subaru Next Generation Adaptive Optics) to develop a more complete picture of it.
The team first discovered two companion candidates around the HAT-P-7 system in 2009 and measured their proper motion? over a three-year period until 2012. They confirmed that one of the two candidates is a common proper motion stellar companion to HAT-P-7, named HAT-P-7B.
The team also confirmed a long-term radial velocity trend for HAT-P-7. This indicated the existence of another giant planet, HAT-P-7c, orbiting between the orbits of HAT-P-7b (the retrograde planet) and HAT-P-7B (the stellar companion).
The question remained: How did the retrograde orbit of the planet develop?
In a 2012 research report, Dr. Simon Albrecht pointed out that certain gravitational effects between the central star and HAT-P-7b would prevent the long-term maintenance of its retrograde orbit. The current team thinks that the existence of the companion star (HAT-P-7B) and the newly confirmed outer planet (HAT-P-7c) are likely to play an important role in forming and maintaining the retrograde orbit of the inner planet (HAT-P-7b) via the Kozai mechanism, a long-term process during which a more massive object has an effect on the orbit of another. In the case of HAT-P-7b, the team posited so-called "sequential Kozai migration" as an explanation of this retrograde planet. They suggest that the companion star (HAT-P-7B) first affected the orbit of the newly confirmed outer planet (HAT-P-7c) through the Kozai mechanism, causing it to tilt. When the orbit of that planet inclined enough, HAT-P7c altered the orbit of the inner planet (HAT-P-7b) through the Kozai mechanism, so that it became retrograde. This sequential orbital evolution of the planet is one of the scenarios that could explain the origin of retrograde/tilted/eccentric planets.
Narita's team has demonstrated the importance of conducting high-contrast direct imaging observations for known planetary systems to check for the presence of outer faint companions, which may play an important role in understanding the entire picture of planetary migration. The findings provide important clues for understanding the origin of a variety of planetary systems, including those with highly tilted and eccentric orbits.
Notes
1) A retrograde planet is a planet with an orbit that runs counter (over 90 degrees) to the direction of the spin of the central star. Previous observations have revealed that about a third of hot Jupiters, exoplanets with characteristics similar to Jupiter but orbiting very close to their host stars, have tilted or even retrograde orbits relative to the spin of their central star.
2) The letters after the name of a star are consistent ways that astronomers label parts of a planetary system. The planetary system is named for the central star (HAT-P-7), and a companion star is labeled with an upper case B (HAT-P-7B). The first planet discovered in the system is designated by a lower case b (HAT-P-7b), and the next, with a lower case c (HAT-P-7c), and so on.
3) SEEDS (Strategic Exploration of Exoplanets and Disks with Subaru Telescope) is a large-scale, five-year strategic project led by Motohide Tamura (National Astronomical Observatory of Japan). Using a total of 120 observing nights at the Subaru Telescope, the project focuses on exploring hundreds of nearby stars in an effort to directly image extrasolar planets and protoplanetary/debris disks around stars.
4) Radial velocity is a measure of the rate of change in the distance of an astronomical object. When a planet orbits around a star, it causes a tiny shift in the star's spectrum which can be measured with a high-precision spectrograph and used to infer the presence of a planet.
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Scientists have detected what appears to be a stellar outburst from a pair of stars locked in a cosmic tryst within a shared veil of gas, a find that marks the first discovery of a long-sought type of space eruption.
Most outbursts from stars are lumped into two categories ? novas or supernovas. A nova is a thermonuclear explosion from a white dwarfstar driven by fuel piled on from a companion star. Novas do not result in the destruction of their stars, but supernovas do.
Supernovas, which are bright enough to briefly outshine all the stars in their galaxies, happen in two known ways ? type Ia supernovas occur after a white dwarf dies from gorging on too much fuel from a companion star, while type II supernovas take place after the core of a star runs out of fuel, collapses into an extraordinarily dense nugget in a fraction of a second, and then bounces and blasts outward.
However, over the years, scientists have recognized another class of outbursts that are brighter than novas but dimmer than supernovas. Investigators called these mysterious events intermediate-luminosity red transients, or ILRTs. [Top 10 Star Mysteries]
Now, researchers suggest the culprits behind these enigmas may lurk behind shrouds of gas.
"I find it extremely exciting that we have explained a class of events that previously no one knew what they were," study lead author Natasha Ivanova, an astrophysicist at the University of Alberta in Canada, told SPACE.com. "That does not happen very often in science."
Two stars in dusty veil
Scientists had long theorized that two stars can temporarily orbit each other with an envelope of gas they share. In these "common-envelope events," the star with less mass should become engulfed by matter from the larger companion star. The interactions between these stars can explosively hurl this super-hot envelope away from them at speeds of up to 2.2 million mph (3.6 million kph), releasing about as much mass as a supernova and about 10,000 times more than a nova.
However, astronomers did not expect to see these events directly. They are both rarer than novas but not as bright as supernovas, making them difficult to spot.
After developing computer models of the properties of common-envelope events, researchers found the energies, colors, short time scales, ejection velocities of ILRTs, as well as the rates at which they happened, match those of the predicted properties of long-sought common-envelope events.
"The surprise was that the appearance of the events (common-envelope events) is very different to what the original predictions were ? the outbursts are much brighter and the durations are much longer than once thought," Ivanova said.
New star outburst model
This new model applies best to a subset of ILRTs often called luminous red novae. "It may be expected that not all of the ILRTs must necessarily be caused by common-envelope events, and some don't seem to be easily explained by our model unless it will be extended to take into account further complications," Ivanova said.
Common-envelope events are thought to create many binary systems, and could potentially help produce the progenitors of type Ia supernovas and gamma-ray bursts, the most powerful explosions in the universe. The scientists estimate about 24 common-envelope events happen every 1,000 years per galaxy like the Milky Way.
"We hope that the whole field of studies of interacting binaries ? this includes such binaries as Type Ia progenitors, gamma-ray burst progenitors and merging double-stellar black holes ? will receive a strong shake up," Ivanova said.
Ivanova and her colleagues detailed their findings in the Jan. 25 issue of the journal Science.
Follow SPACE.com on Twitter?@Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook?&?Google+.
Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
CARSON, Calif. (AP) - The home of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chivas USA could have a new name by the end of the year.
The $70 million, 10-year naming rights agreement for the Home Depot Center expires in May, and Jean Niemi, a spokeswoman for the home improvement company, tells The Associated Press it will not be renewing the deal. Anschutz Entertainment Group, which owns the Galaxy, says it's in the "final stages" of negotiations with a new naming rights partner for the sprawling complex.
The 125-acre Home Depot Center includes facilities for tennis, track and field, baseball, basketball and other sports. It's also an official training site for U.S. Olympians.
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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PST: Dave Checketts recently sold his stake in Real Salt Lake, but his ownership tenure was good not just for the club, but for all of MLS.
KILLING Pluto was only the beginning. The dwarf planet Eris, named for the Greek goddess of strife, could also bring down the most popular explanations for dark matter and dark energy.
Many galaxies appear to have stronger gravity - and thus more mass - than can be explained by their visible matter alone. Overly massive galaxies are most often attributed to dark matter, an invisible substance that interacts with matter through gravity. To date, though, no one has directly detected dark matter particles.
But a well-established notion in physics could hold another explanation for their size. This says that empty space is really a frothy, turbulent sea full of virtual particles - matter and antimatter that spring in and out of existence so fast that we can't see them.
Though they are tiny, quantum objects, Dragan Hajdukovic, a physicist at CERN near Geneva, Switzerland, thinks these bubbling particles may have opposing gravitational charges, similar to electrical charges. In the presence of a gravitational field, the particles would generate a secondary field, which, in the case of galaxies, could explain the mass discrepancy.
Hajdukovic's theory could also explain dark energy, the baffling force thought to be driving the universe apart at an accelerated pace. If virtual particles have gravitational charges, then space-time itself is imbued with a small charge that could be causing objects in the universe to speed away from each other.
To test whether quantum-scale gravity is at work, Hajdukovic plans to borrow a trick from Einstein (see diagram). Due to gravitational effects in the solar system, such as the tug of other planets, Mercury's oval-shaped path around the sun slowly turns, or precesses. In the 1800s astronomers noticed that this happens at a different rate than predicted by Newtonian physics. Einstein showed that the sun's mass creates a curvature in space-time that affects Mercury enough to explain the difference, lending credence to his theory of general relativity.
Hajdukovic's quantum gravity might create a similar discrepancy with more distant orbiting bodies, he says - which is where Eris and its moon Dysnomia come in.
Best known for depriving Pluto of planethood by showing that there are many similar bodies in orbit beyond Neptune, Eris's great distance from the sun means the effects of general relativity become negligible. Newtonian physics should dominate, putting Dysnomia's precession rate around Eris at 13 arc seconds per century. But if quantum gravity exists, the rate should be -190 arc seconds per century, Hajdukovic calculates (Astrophysics and Space Science, doi.org/j6r).
He thinks the required measurements could be made from Earth using existing observatories. "Einstein was lucky that there is a planet so close to the sun as Mercury," he says. "My theory might be lucky that there are trans-Neptunian objects allowing astronomical tests."
Gary Page of Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, is sceptical that Earth-based tests would be sensitive enough to pick up the effect. Still, he praises Hajdukovic for going beyond the party line. "It's always good when people are willing to go a little bit out on a limb."
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According to information released by the ISA (Israel Security Agency ? Shin Bet), there was a 55% decline in terror-related fatalities in 2012 as compared to the previous year Baruch Hashem. Ten people were killed in terror attacks HY?D in 2012 as compared to 22 HY?D in 2011. Six of those killed were civilians and four security personnel.
Most of the deaths were the result of Gaza/Sinai based terror. Six of the dead (4 civilians and 2 security personnel) were killed as a result of rocket fire from Gaza.
Have you checked out?YWN Radio?yet? Click?HERE?to listen!
(YWN ? Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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A video from Deep Space Industries lays out the company's vision.
By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News
Deep Space Industries' backers say that their newly revealed plan to seek out and dig into near-Earth asteroids has already attracted interest and investors ? but they also admit they're looking for much more.
"We have some investors on board," the company's CEO, David Gump, told journalists during Tuesday's briefing at California's Santa Monica Museum of Flying, "and one reason for having this press conference is to become findable by additional investors."
The event gave Gump and his partners a chance to lay out their vision for new in-space industries, ranging from asteroid reconnaissance to solar-power satellites and space settlement. However, they provided few details about their financial backers or their customers.
One potential customer is NASA, which might be interested in purchasing the data gathered by Deep Space's asteroid-hunting probes. NASA struck just such a data-purchase plan with some of the teams competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, which is aimed at encouraging the development of private-sector moon rovers.
Gump said he and other executives met with space agency officials to discuss Deep Space's plans to launch fleets of low-cost asteroid probes as early as 2015. "We found a great hunger for the idea that we can get space missions done for a much lower cost," he said. Such data could help the space agency fine-tune its plans to send astronauts to an asteroid in the mid-2020s.
Deep Space's development plan calls for launching three of its Cubesat-based reconnaissance satellites, known as FireFlies, as piggyback payloads on a yet-to-be-determined launch vehicle in 2015. Those 25-kilogram (55-pound) spacecraft would go on six-month, one-way missions to scout out near-Earth asteroids. In 2016, a 32-kilogram (70-pound) DragonFly probe would take on the first three- to four-year mission to bring up to 45 kilograms (100 pounds) of asteroid samples back to Earth.
Bryan Versteeg / Deep Space Industries
Artwork shows two FireFly spacecraft studying a near-Earth asteroid. Deep Space Industries cautioned that the artwork does not necessarily reflect the actual spacecraft design.
Bryan Versteeg / Deep Space Industries
An artist's conception shows a version of Deep Space Industries' DragonFly spacecraft grabbing a rock sample from an asteroid for return to Earth.
Bryan Versteeg / Deep Space Industries
Concept art shows a version of Deep Space Industries' Harvestor extracting materials from an asteroid.
Gump said commercial in-space processing could begin as early as 2020, facilitated by Harvestor spacecraft capable of bringing hundreds of tons of material back to Earth orbit. An industrial type of 3-D printer could turn the ground-up metal from an iron-nickel asteroid into tools and spacecraft components. More precious metals such as gold or platinum could be shipped down to Earth.
Another potentially profitable line of business would be to turn water and other material from asteroids into fuel for filling up the propellant tanks of existing communication satellites, thus extending their lives. Gump said Deep Space was discussing the concept with a major satellite operator that was "intrigued" by the idea.
John Mankins, Deep Space's chief technical officer, said the spacecraft concepts relied on existing technology. "You don't see any magic," he said. "You don't see any space elevators, you don't see any [artificial] gravity, you don't see any warp drive."
Gump said the price tag for the first three-probe mission to a near-Earth asteroid would be $20 million. If Deep Space finds a customer willing to pay that price, that would bring in a "good profit," said the company's board chairman, veteran space activist Rick Tumlinson.
Watch the full news conference at the unveiling of Deep Space Industries.
In addition to the selling the data and the more substantial products generated by asteroid missions, Deep Space could bring in money through corporate sponsorships and branding, as well as extras such as "VIP access" to a launch site or mission control center, Gump said.
"The journey of a million miles begins with a business plan that closes in the next few years," said Gump, who previously has been involved in space ventures such as LunaCorp (which proposed sending rovers to the moon), Transformational Space Corp. (which was an early competitor in NASA's space commercialization effort) and Astrobotic (which is one of the teams competing for the Google Lunar X Prize).
Will Deep Space's business plan take off? That was the big question hanging in the air after Tuesday's briefing. Planetary Resources, another commercial venture that was unveiled less than a year ago, has a business plan that's comparable to that proposed by Deep Space Industries. It also has an impressive list of billionaire investors, including Google's Eric Schmidt and Larry Page. If Planetary Resources holds to its previously announced schedule, its first prototype space telescope could be launched as early as next year.
Planetary Resources' president, Chris Lewicki, said this week that the company was "extraordinarily busy" with the task of building prototypes at its Seattle-area manufacturing facility. In contrast, Tumlinson said Deep Space Industries had not yet determined where its spacecraft would be built. "Literally, we are looking for somebody who wants to make a good offer to have this kind of budding industry there," he said.
Both companies are betting that the resources from asteroids will be valuable enough to go after in the next decade. It's entirely possible that both companies will lose that bet, particularly if space travel doesn't take off the way they expect. But if the bets pay off, both companies could be winners.
"There are 2 to 3 million near-Earth asteroids," Gump said. "There's room for everyone to prosper, I think."
More about asteroid ventures:
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's?Facebook page, following?@b0yle on Twitter?and adding the?Cosmic Log page?to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out?"The Case for Pluto,"?my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
Jan. 22, 2013 ? A research study of more than 600 black patients with uncontrolled hypertension found that less than half were prescribed a diuretic drug with proven benefit that costs just pennies a day, report researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College and the Visiting Nurse Service of New York's (VNSNY) Center for Home Care Policy and Research. The researchers say these new findings should be taken as a serious wake-up call for physicians who treat black patients with hypertension.
Their study, reported in the American Journal of Hypertension, found that the patients in the study who used the common diuretic drugs had, on average, lower blood pressure (both systolic and diastolic) than the patients who did not receive them.
"We were surprised to find that this beneficial and low-cost drug was not being prescribed for more patients who would benefit from it," says the study's lead investigator, Dr. Linda Gerber, a professor of public health and director of the Biostatistics and Research Methodology Core at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Many previous studies have shown that diuretics are particularly helpful in black patients with hypertension and should be used as first or second-line treatment -- findings that have been written into treatment guidelines. Also, several recent clinical trials have reported that newer classes of agents are not superior to the older diuretic agents, especially in blacks. Newer drugs for hypertension include angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEs), angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) and calcium-channel blockers (CCBs).
"Yet, we find that physicians are not using the drugs as they should in a population that is especially hard hit by high blood pressure, and who suffer greater prevalence, severity, organ damage and mortality from the disease compared to other groups," says Dr. Gerber, who is also a professor of epidemiology in medicine at Weill Cornell.
While Dr. Gerber did not speculate on why this phenomenon is occurring since doctors were not interviewed as part of this research, study co-author, Dr. Samuel Mann, a professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell and a hypertension specialist at the Hypertension Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital?Weill Cornell Medical Center, has some theories.
"Guidelines are not rules and they are not enforceable, and some physicians may worry about potential side effects of diuretics -- which, although not uncommon, are not a major problem. And in patients with uncontrolled hypertension, the benefit of treating with a diuretic far outweighs the risk of side effects that are generally very manageable," says Dr. Mann. "Also, newer drugs are promoted much more aggressively than diuretics. However, many studies show that diuretics work very well, particularly in black patients, so between their effectiveness and low cost, their use should be a no-brainer."
The Weill Cornell research team worked in close collaboration with researchers from the VNSNY Center for Home Care Policy and Research, who received funding support from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to seek ways to improve hypertension management and outcomes. 658 black patients receiving home care were enrolled in the study; all had uncontrolled hypertension defined as 140/90 or above (130/80 or above if they were diabetic). Although the patients were receiving post-acute care from a single health organization, their prescribing providers came from a wide variety of medical settings.
"Communicating effectively with patients' physicians and persuading them to review the medications of patients with uncontrolled hypertension is an ongoing challenge for home care nurses," says study co-author Dr. Penny Feldman, director of the VNSNY Center for Home Care Policy and Research and senior vice president for Research and Evaluation at VNSNY. "Our study shows that close monitoring of patient medications can help identify inconsistencies and divergence from current approved medical guidelines and make inroads to help improve the health and quality of life of black patients with hypertension."
Study investigators found that 5.5 percent of participants were not prescribed any antihypertensive drugs, and that only 46 percent were prescribed a diuretic. They also discovered that participants who were not taking a diuretic had systolic and diastolic blood pressures that were, on average, five and four millimeters higher, respectively, than those who were taking a diuretic.
"A majority of patients surveyed were taking multiple drugs for hypertension, as many as three or four, and many of those still were not taking a diuretic," says Dr. Gerber. "The absence of diuretic use in the regimen of more than half of the patients in this study is contrary to guidelines and may be harmful to patients, both medically in terms of uncontrolled hypertension, and economically, in terms of medication cost and compliance."
Dr. Gerber adds that a strength of the study is that "it focuses on members of an undertreated and understudied population whose high blood pressure has proven particularly damaging, and for whom guidelines strongly recommend a diuretic as a mainstay of treatment."
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U.S. stocks opened little changed on Tuesday as investors held back from making large bets at the start of a busy week for corporate earnings after major indexes notched five-year highs.?
The Dow Jones industrial average gained 16.95 points, or 0.12 percent, to 13,666.65. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index shed 0.33 point, or 0.02 percent, to 1,485.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index added 0.21 point, or 0.01 percent, to 3,134.91.?
U.S. markets were closed on Monday for a public holiday.?
Despite stronger-than-expected earnings results from major companies, including big banks, at the start of the quarterly reporting season, many investors are worried that other reports will reflect economic uncertainty in the fourth quarter.?
"The market has been pleased with earnings thus far, and it is encouraging to see a cyclical company like DuPont show revenue strength, but I'm waiting on more tech and energy earnings until I come down one way or the other on this season," said Adam Sarhan, chief executive of Sarhan Capital in New York.?
DuPont posted a steep drop in earnings on reduced demand for paint pigment, though revenue was ahead of expectations.?
Verizon Communications Inc fell after reporting a steep loss due to pension liabilities and charges related to superstorm Sandy that offset strength in its wireless business. Travelers Cos Inc also posted earnings that were hurt by losses related to Sandy.?
DuPont, Verizon and Travelers are all Dow components, as is Johnson & Johnson , slated to report later Tuesday along with Google and Texas Instruments . Tech earnings will be in particular focus after Intel last week gave a revenue outlook that was below expectations.?
Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are forecast to have risen 2.5 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That estimate is above the 1.9 percent forecast from a week ago but well below the 9.9 percent fourth-quarter earnings forecast from October 1, the data showed.?
Monday was a market holiday for Martin Luther King Day in the United States, and also marked the start of a second term for President Barack Obama, who called for aggressive action on climate change, economic equality and the federal budget.?
"It remains a question whether Obama will be able to deliver on his agenda, but a sector like solar power companies could continue to be strong as he pushes for action," Sarhan said.?
Markets have recently been pressured by uncertainty stemming from Washington about the federal debt limit and spending cuts that could hamper U.S. growth.?
Republican leaders in the House of Representatives said they aim to pass on Wednesday a nearly four-month extension of the U.S. debt limit, allowing the government to borrow enough to meet its obligations during that period.?
The Dow and S&P 500 closed at five-year highs on Friday as the market registered a third straight week of gains on a solid start to the quarterly earnings season, including from Morgan Stanley and General Electric Co .?
Children with egg allergies can safely receive flu vaccine, U-M study says Public release date: 22-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary F. Masson mfmasson@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Egg allergic children did not have adverse reactions to single dose of influenza vaccine in multi-center study
Ann Arbor, Mich. Egg allergic children, including those with a history of anaphylaxis to egg, can safely receive a single dose of the seasonal influenza vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
Historically, the CDC recommended that the seasonal influenza vaccine not be administered to egg allergic children. Recent research conducted at the University of Michigan, and elsewhere, helped modify this recommendation in 2011 so that caution was warranted for only those with severe egg allergy.
The new study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, is good news for children who've had severe egg allergies, given the prevalence of the flu this season. In the study, none of the children with severe egg allergies developed an allergic reaction after receiving the vaccine, says Matthew Greenhawt, M.D., M.B.A., MSc, lead author of the study and assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
"The flu vaccine is grown in embryonated chicken eggs and contains residual amounts of ovalbumin, a major egg allergen. This has historically raised concern about the safety of the vaccine in children with egg allergies," says Greenhawt.
"But this study shows these children, all of whom either had anaphylaxis or a severe allergic reaction from egg, can tolerate the vaccine. That's important because we know it's crucial that children get a vaccine to avoid the flu, especially this year as we've seen such an increase in cases and severity. The benefits outweigh the risks."
Influenza A is responsible for 21,156 annual hospitalizations of children younger than five years. The CDC reports that influenza activity right now is high and widespread across the nation. Thirty states and New York City were reporting high activity during the week of Jan. 6. As of Jan. 12, the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths was 29 for 2012-13. As many as one-third of children with a food allergy have asthma, and this group is particularly susceptible to influenza.
The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology this month announced that administration of the flu vaccine is safe even in children with a history of a severe allergic reaction to eggs. In its recommendation, the College cited the U-M study.
Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, but by age 16 about 70 percent outgrow the allergy.
The study showed that a single dose is safe, Greenhawt adds, making it unnecessary to administer the dose in two steps, one of the techniques used in the past to minimize the risk of allergic reactions. He adds that skin testing to the vaccine, another technique used in the past to minimize this risk, is also unnecessary, as was proven in a past U of M study in 2009. Such precautions may have served as barriers to vaccination in the past.
Greenhawt says the only precaution needed is that egg-allergic children should be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination in any medical setting, including primary care providers' offices, where an allergic reaction could be recognized and treated should it occur.
"Because of the prevalence of egg allergy in children is approximately 2%, we know there are a significant number of children who don't get the flu vaccine. This study can put parents' fears to rest and hopefully help more kids avoid the flu," he says.
###
The study was conducted from October 2010 to March 2012 at seven institutions, including the University of Michigan.
About C.S. Mott Children's Hospital: Since 1903, the University of Michigan has led the way in providing comprehensive, specialized health care for children. From leading-edge heart surgery that's performed in the womb to complete emergency care that's there when you need it, families from all over come to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital for our pediatric expertise.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital operates a food allergy clinic, specifically designed to care for patients with food allergies and intolerances.
More information is available here: http://mottchildren.org/our-locations/df-allergy.
[ | 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.
Children with egg allergies can safely receive flu vaccine, U-M study says Public release date: 22-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary F. Masson mfmasson@umich.edu 734-764-2220 University of Michigan Health System
Egg allergic children did not have adverse reactions to single dose of influenza vaccine in multi-center study
Ann Arbor, Mich. Egg allergic children, including those with a history of anaphylaxis to egg, can safely receive a single dose of the seasonal influenza vaccine, according to a new study from the University of Michigan.
Historically, the CDC recommended that the seasonal influenza vaccine not be administered to egg allergic children. Recent research conducted at the University of Michigan, and elsewhere, helped modify this recommendation in 2011 so that caution was warranted for only those with severe egg allergy.
The new study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, is good news for children who've had severe egg allergies, given the prevalence of the flu this season. In the study, none of the children with severe egg allergies developed an allergic reaction after receiving the vaccine, says Matthew Greenhawt, M.D., M.B.A., MSc, lead author of the study and assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital.
"The flu vaccine is grown in embryonated chicken eggs and contains residual amounts of ovalbumin, a major egg allergen. This has historically raised concern about the safety of the vaccine in children with egg allergies," says Greenhawt.
"But this study shows these children, all of whom either had anaphylaxis or a severe allergic reaction from egg, can tolerate the vaccine. That's important because we know it's crucial that children get a vaccine to avoid the flu, especially this year as we've seen such an increase in cases and severity. The benefits outweigh the risks."
Influenza A is responsible for 21,156 annual hospitalizations of children younger than five years. The CDC reports that influenza activity right now is high and widespread across the nation. Thirty states and New York City were reporting high activity during the week of Jan. 6. As of Jan. 12, the total number of influenza-associated pediatric deaths was 29 for 2012-13. As many as one-third of children with a food allergy have asthma, and this group is particularly susceptible to influenza.
The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology this month announced that administration of the flu vaccine is safe even in children with a history of a severe allergic reaction to eggs. In its recommendation, the College cited the U-M study.
Egg allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, but by age 16 about 70 percent outgrow the allergy.
The study showed that a single dose is safe, Greenhawt adds, making it unnecessary to administer the dose in two steps, one of the techniques used in the past to minimize the risk of allergic reactions. He adds that skin testing to the vaccine, another technique used in the past to minimize this risk, is also unnecessary, as was proven in a past U of M study in 2009. Such precautions may have served as barriers to vaccination in the past.
Greenhawt says the only precaution needed is that egg-allergic children should be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination in any medical setting, including primary care providers' offices, where an allergic reaction could be recognized and treated should it occur.
"Because of the prevalence of egg allergy in children is approximately 2%, we know there are a significant number of children who don't get the flu vaccine. This study can put parents' fears to rest and hopefully help more kids avoid the flu," he says.
###
The study was conducted from October 2010 to March 2012 at seven institutions, including the University of Michigan.
About C.S. Mott Children's Hospital: Since 1903, the University of Michigan has led the way in providing comprehensive, specialized health care for children. From leading-edge heart surgery that's performed in the womb to complete emergency care that's there when you need it, families from all over come to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital for our pediatric expertise.
C.S. Mott Children's Hospital operates a food allergy clinic, specifically designed to care for patients with food allergies and intolerances.
More information is available here: http://mottchildren.org/our-locations/df-allergy.
[ | 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.
In doing research for a post on "The Enterprise Cool Kids" at the tail end of last year, I interviewed Silicon Valley veteran Marc Andreessen about where he thought the enterprise was headed. While excerpts of that interview made it into the post, the transcript of the entire interview was so good it deserved to be published in its entirety.
According to information released by the ISA (Israel Security Agency ? Shin Bet), there was a 55% decline in terror-related fatalities in 2012 as compared to the previous year Baruch Hashem. Ten people were killed in terror attacks HY?D in 2012 as compared to 22 HY?D in 2011. Six of those killed were civilians and four security personnel.
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Public release date: 22-Jan-2013
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