Singer Etta James “Terminally Ill” With Cancer
Etta James has been told by her doctor that her leukemia is not curable. The singer, who was diagnosed cancer earlier this year, has now [...]
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? British-born journalist and atheist intellectual Christopher Hitchens, who made the United States his home and backed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, died on Thursday at the age of 62.
Hitchens died in Houston of pneumonia, a complication of cancer of the esophagus, Vanity Fair magazine said.
"Christopher Hitchens - the incomparable critic, masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant - died today at the age of 62," Vanity Fair said.
A heavy smoker and drinker, Hitchens cut short a book tour for his memoir "Hitch 22" last year to undergo chemotherapy after being diagnosed with cancer.
As a journalist, war correspondent and literary critic, Hitchens carved out a reputation for barbed repartee, scathing critiques of public figures and a fierce intelligence.
In his 2007 book "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," Hitchens took on major religions with his trenchant atheism. He argued that religion was the source of all tyranny and that many of the world's evils have been done in the name of religion.
The son of a British naval officer, Hitchens studied at Oxford University and worked as literary critic for the New Statesman magazine in London before moving to New York to work as a journalist in 1981. He settled in Washington the following year, initially as correspondent for the left-wing magazine The Nation. He retained his British citizenship when he became an American citizen in 2007.
Hitchens was not one to mince words. In his book on Bill Clinton "No one left to lie to", he called the former U.S. president a "rapist" and a "con man." He once referred to Mother Teresa of Calcutta as a "fanatical Albanian dwarf."
The author of 25 books - including works on Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine and George Orwell - and countless articles and columns, Hitchens never lost his biting humor.
"I'm a member of a cancer elite. I rather look down on people with lesser cancers," Hitchens said in an interview with CBS "60 Minutes" aired on March 6, 2011.
In a 2010 interview with Reuters, Hitchens dismissed criticism that he moved from left to right and helped former U.S. President George W. Bush sell the 2003 war with Iraq to the American public with what turned out to be bad intelligence about weapons of mass destruction.
"Saddam was an enemy of the civilized world and he should have been taken out a long time before," Hitchens said of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "I have no regrets about that at all."
The 2001 attacks on the United States by Islamic fundamentalists in hijacked passenger planes made Hitchens ever more critical of the role of religion in the world, and led him to appreciate the merits of American democracy.
"I am absolutely convinced that the main source of hatred in the world is religion, and organized religion," he wrote.
(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican presidential hopefuls competing to challenge U.S. President Barack Obama in 2012 faced off in a debate in Iowa on Thursday, where the state-by-state Republican nominating contest kicks off in less than three weeks.
Here are some of their main quotes.
NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES
Defending his merit as front-runner:
"I believe I can debate Barack Obama and I think in seven three-hour debates Barack Obama will not have a leg to stand on."
Before answering a question on the Keystone pipeline:
"You know I sometimes get accused of using language that's too strong. So I've been standing here editing. I'm very concerned about not appearing to be zany."
On Michele Bachmann saying he supported partial-birth abortion:
"I have consistently opposed partial birth abortion. I in fact would like to see us go much further than that and eliminate abortions as a choice ... as president I would defund planned parenthood and shift the money to pay for adoption services."
MITT ROMNEY, FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR
On how he compares with Gingrich:
"I spent my life in the private sector. I can debate President Obama based upon that understanding. I'll have credibility on the economy when he doesn't. I know what it takes to get this economy going. The president doesn't."
Complaining that Obama asked Iran to give back a downed U.S. drone:
"A foreign policy based on pretty please? You got to be kidding."
Defending past statements about illegal immigrants:
"Get in line behind everyone else. My view is: people who've come here illegally, we welcome you to apply, but you must get in the back of the line."
On changing his stance on gay rights and abortion:
"I am firmly in support of people not being discriminated against based upon their sexual orientation. At the same time, I oppose same-sex marriage. With regards to abortion, I changed my mind ... My experience in life ... has told me that sometimes I was wrong. Where I was wrong I tried to correct myself."
MICHELE BACHMANN, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM MINNESOTA
On Gingrich's work for mortgage giant Freddie Mac:
"Evidence is that Speaker Gingrich took 1.6 million dollars. You don't need to be within the technical definition of being a lobbyist to still be influence-peddling with senior Republicans."
"Speaker Gingrich said that he would actively support and campaign for Republicans who got behind the barbaric practice of partial birth abortions ... What virtue is there in tolerating infanticide?"
RON PAUL, U.S. REPRESENTATIVE FROM TEXAS
"I would be a different kind of president. I wouldn't be looking for more power. I as the president wouldn't want to run the world."
On Bachmann calling for stronger U.S. action on Iran:
"You're trying to dramatize this that we have to go and treat Iran like we've treated Iraq ... You cannot solve these problems with war."
On whether he would support the eventual nominee:
"Anybody up here can probably beat Obama."
JON HUNTSMAN, FORMER UTAH GOVERNOR
On the state of the country:
"We have been kicked around as people. We are getting screwed as Americans."
RICK PERRY, TEXAS GOVERNOR
On his poor debate performances
"I hope I am the Tim Tebow of the Iowa caucuses. There were a lot of folks who said Tim Tebow would not be very good professional quarterback," he said.
On Washington deadlock:
"That's the reason I've called for a part-time Congress. Cut their pay in half. Send them home. Let them get a job like everybody else back home has."
(Compiled by Lily Kuo in Washington; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2011) ? The cancer-causing potential of fetal exposure to carcinogens can vary substantially, a recent study suggests, causing different types of problems much later in life depending on the stage of pregnancy when the fetus is exposed.
The research sheds further light on the way in which toxic damage early in life can later manifest themselves as cancer, due to "epigenetic" changes in cells. It was done by scientists in the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, and other institutions, in laboratory studies with mice.
In this study, published in the journal Cancer Letters, mice received four separate doses of a carcinogen commonly found in air pollutants or other combustion products. As a result, they had triple the level of ovarian cancer at the rodent equivalent of middle age. About 80 percent of them also got lung cancer, and many of the male mice had abnormally small testes -- a phenomenon not seen before.
In previous research, by contrast, the same amount of this carcinogen given in a single dose had caused a much higher rate of T-cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, which this study found to almost disappear when the carcinogen exposure was spread out over time. Liver cancer also was largely absent.
"There's still a lot of uncertainty about how the fetus responds to carcinogens and at what points in time it is most vulnerable," said David Williams, a professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at OSU.
"We know it's far more sensitive than adults for several reasons, including faster cell division and the lack of protective detoxifying enzymes," he said. "But it's interesting that the timing of fetal exposure makes such a difference in which organs are targeted. These results were somewhat surprising."
The mice in these experiments were exposed to one type of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, a group of compounds commonly produced by everything from coal combustion to automobile exhaust. The levels of carcinogen the mice received were far higher than humans would face in a normal environment.
In the research, tracking with radioactive labeling showed that the carcinogens clearly made their way into the mouse fetuses, although at about 10 percent of the tissue concentration of those in the mother. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, and included collaborators from OSU and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Increasing amounts of research are being done on PAHs, which are associated with the burning of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum, and may be on the rise in some areas, particularly China, Williams said. They can also get into soils, be taken up by plants and make their way into the human food chain.
The types of cancer that these carcinogens can cause in animal models include lymphoma and leukemia, and cancer is the number one cause of disease-related death in children. Epidemiological studies have shown that exposure of pregnant women to carcinogens such as cigarette smoke enhances the risk for offspring to develop a number of cancers.
"The fetal basis of adult disease is relevant to a number of chronic diseases in humans, including diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease and cancer," the researchers wrote in their report, "as well as neurological and behavior toxicities."
Research such as this, scientists say, suggests that a healthy diet is important during pregnancy, including a wide range of fruits and vegetables. Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli and cauliflower, in particular, have high levels of some compounds believed to help protect against cancer.
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Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215135926.htm
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Equity mutual funds lost a net $16.1 billion in November. Foreign equity mutual funds lost $2.6 billion.?
Investors pulled cash out of stock?mutual?funds?for the seventh month in a row, as the European debt crisis continued to drive U.S. market volatility in November.
Skip to next paragraphInvestors withdrew a net $16.1 billion from U.S. stock?funds?last month, extending a string that began in May, industry consultant Strategic Insight said on Monday.
Stock?funds?attracted new cash during the first four months of this year, on the heels of strong market gains in late 2010. But the market was dominated this summer and fall by fears that Europe's debt crisis was getting impossible to contain.
As the continent's leaders struggled to come up with a debt-control plan, U.S. stocks again followed a volatile path last month. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid about 9 percent in mid-November before recovering most of its gain to finish down less than 1 percent for the month.
"With the market still gyrating, investors still lack enthusiasm" for U.S. stock?funds, said Avi Nachmany, research director with New York-based Strategic Insight.
Through November, investors withdrew a net $65 billion from stock?funds. That exceeds the full-year total of 2010, when they pulled a net $49 billion from stock?funds. Investing has taken a more conservative turn since the financial crisis of 2008, with money consistently flowing out of stock?funds, and bond?funds?continuing to attract new cash.
Other details of how investors moved their money in November:
? Foreign stock?funds: Investors withdrew a net $2.6 billion from these?funds, as debt troubles in Europe and slowing economic growth in China continued to depress stock prices in many foreign markets. Through November, investors have deposited a net $45 billion into foreign?funds, reflecting expectations that China and other emerging markets such as India and Brazil continue to have good long-term prospects.
? Bond?funds: Investors deposited a net $11.9 billion in November. About $9 billion in new cash was added to taxable bond?funds, a category that includes corporate bonds. About $2.9 billion was deposited last month into municipal bond?funds, which buy the debt of state and local governments. Year-to-date, bond?funds?have attracted nearly $104 billion in new cash.
? Money-market?funds: A net $42 billion was deposited into these?funds?last month, marking a reversal from the $21 billion in net withdrawals in October. Strategic Insight said investors appeared to increasingly view money-market?funds?as a safety net from stock market volatility. They're designed to be safe harbors where investors can temporarily park cash and quickly access it when needed. Net withdrawals from money?fundstotal $173 billion year-to-date. Their appeal has dimmed because returns have been barely above zero since early 2009.
? Exchange-traded?funds: Investors deposited a net $5 billion into ETFs, which bundle together investments in a particular market index. Unlike?mutual?funds, they can be traded during daily sessions just like stocks. ETFs continue to grow much faster than?mutual?funds, with year-to-date net deposits of nearly $94 billion. At that rate, ETFs could end 2011 with more than $100 billion in new cash for the fifth year in row.
Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/4AUH2PqZdwo/Equity-mutual-funds-Investors-pull-money-out
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LOS ANGELES ? At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor's hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces ? less than a can of soda ? she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world.
Most infants her size don't survive, but doctors are preparing to send her home by New Year's.
Melinda was born premature at 24 weeks in late August and is believed to be the second-smallest baby to survive in the U.S. and third smallest in the world. She spent the early months cocooned in an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit in Los Angeles.
Despite hurdles, Melinda lived to her original Thursday due date. Doctors say it is too early to say how she will fare developmentally and physically when she grows up.
For now, her 22-year-old mother sits at her bedside almost every day and stays overnight whenever she can.
On Wednesday, Haydee Ibarra caressed Melinda through the portholes of the incubator where nurses pinned up a homemade sign bearing her name. Now 3 1/2 months old and weighing 4 pounds, Melinda gripped Ibarra's pinky finger and yawned.
"Melinda, Melinda," she cooed at her daughter dressed in a polka dot onesie. "You're awake today."
During her pregnancy, Ibarra suffered from high blood pressure, which can be dangerous for mother and fetus. She was transferred from a hospital near her San Fernando Valley home to the county's flagship hospital, which was better equipped to handle high-risk pregnancies.
There was a problem with the placenta, the organ that nourishes the developing fetus. The fetus, however, was not getting proper nutrition, blood and oxygen. Doctors knew Melinda would weigh less than a pound, but they were surprised at how small and fragile she was.
"The first few weeks, it was touch and go. None of us thought the baby was going to make it," said Dr. Rangasamy Ramanathan, who oversees premature infants at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
Even if she survived, doctors told Ibarra and her husband Yovani Guido, children born this extremely premature can have developmental delays and impairments such as blindness, deafness or cerebral palsy.
Ibarra, who previously had a stillborn, told doctors to do whatever necessary to help her baby.
"They said, `We'll take the chance. Please try.' So we said. `OK we'll try,'" Ramanathan recalled.
Melinda was delivered by cesarean section at 24 weeks and was immediately transferred to the NICU where a team of doctors and nurses kept watch around the clock. Infants born before 37 weeks are considered premature.
Melinda was kept insulated in an incubator and was hooked up to a machine to aid her breathing. She got nutrition through a feeding tube. Her mother said her skin felt like plastic because it was so thin.
"It takes a lot of good care and a lot of good luck. Most of them don't survive," said pediatrician Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa who keeps an online database of the world's smallest surviving babies who were less than a pound at birth.
The list currently contains 126 babies dating back to 1936. Since submission is voluntary, it does not represent all survivors.
Ten babies weighing less than a pound were born last year and survived. Melinda joins three other tiny survivors delivered this year in Berkeley; Seoul, South Korea; and Iowa City, Iowa. All are bigger than Melinda, who is not eligible to be listed until she gets discharged.
Most tiny babies who survive tend to be female. That's because female fetuses mature faster than males of the same gestational age. Having more developed lungs and other vital organs increases odds of survival.
Bell published a study last year that found many survivors struggle with health and learning problems. For those for whom growth data are available, many are short and underweight for their age.
There are some success stories.
The smallest surviving baby born weighing 9.2 ounces is now a healthy 7-year-old and another who weighed 9.9 ounces at birth is an honors college student studying psychology. Their progress was detailed in a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics by doctors at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois where the girls were born.
In the past three years, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center cared for two other babies with extremely low birth weight who survived, but Melinda holds the record at the hospital.
Prematurity comes with high costs. Ramanathan estimates it costs $3,000 to $5,000 a day to care for a premature infant.
A month after birth, Melinda was treated for an eye disorder that's common in premature babies. She faced her biggest test last month when she underwent surgery to close an artery that usually seals after birth.
Ybarra held her daughter for the first time after the surgery. Before that, she could only touch her through the incubator.
The next challenge is learning to bottle feed before discharge. Ramanathan predicted at least another two-week stay, dashing her parents' hopes of taking her home by Christmas.
Ramanathan said doctors don't know how Melinda will fare when she's older. Since she did not have major complications such as bleeding in the brain, he held out hope.
Melinda can breathe by herself, but still uses an oxygen tube as a precaution. On Wednesday, an ophthalmologist checked out her eyes and said everything looked good.
After the checkup, Ibarra lifted Melinda out of the incubator and sat in a rocking chair, cradling her.
___
Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia
___
Online:
Tiniest Babies Registry: http://bit.ly/rvglZQ
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