Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Operations and Cost Analysis ? Q2, 2011 - "Pine Cliff Energy Ltd." Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Operations and Cost Analysis is a report that offers comprehensive information on the operational and financial performance of the company. The report is an essential source for key operational data, analysis and strategic insight into company. The report provides latest annual and quarterly overview of valuation, share price performance, production, reserves, reserve changes, capital expenditures, acreage, performance metrics, and results of oil & gas operations.
Scope
The report provides in-depth analysis and insights into companies' valuation, capital spending, revenues, oil and gas reserves, production, and performance measures. Its scope includes - - The report provides detailed and unique insights information on the key operational parameters. The report provides a comprehensive overview of production, reserves, reserve changes, capital expenditures, acreage, performance metrics, and results of oil & gas operations. - Provides analysis of the share price performance of the company and the key valuation multiples. The report provides a comprehensive overview of share price performance and key valuation metrics such as market capitalization, enterprise value, EV/Production ($/Boed), EV/Proved Reserve ($/MMboe), EV / EBITDA, and EV / EBITDA. - Provides annual and quarterly information on key operational, valuation and financial parameters. Annual information is for the current and the last five years while the quarterly information is for the current and the last five quarters. - The report provides detailed crude oil and natural gas reserves and production of the company by country. - Contains in-depth and latest information on exploration, development, finding & development, acquisition expenditure, gross and net developed and undeveloped acreage position; key costs and revenue information; and performance metrics of the company.
Reasons to buy
The report will enhance your decision making capability in a more rapid and time sensitive manner. It will allow you to - - Provides up-to-date information and in-depth analysis on operational parameters of the company. - Identify M&A targets from up-to-date information and in-depth analysis on financial and operational parameters of your competitors. - Rank your performance against other E&P companies using operational and financial benchmarking metrics. - Formulate your strategies based on in-depth analysis of your competitors' financial and operational data. - Exploit the strengths and weakness of your closest competitors by comparing and analyzing their financial and operational parameters. - Establish relative performance among the industry's players based on key operational and financial measures.
Click for Report details:Pine Cliff Energy Ltd. Oil & Gas Exploration and Production Operations and Cost Analysis ? Q2, 2011
Most homeowner?s result in demand for repairs or home improvement at once or some other. Here are some handy suggestions to give! Hopefully, this may save you both time and expense by doing the work right the very first time. Read on for a few great advice.
If you are buying tools and equipment to get a home improvement project, don?t cheap out on the requirements. As an example, a cheaply-built ladder will most likely falter while being used and low-quality paintbrushes may shed bristles in to the paint, leaving ugly marks around the walls. Aim for middle-grade equipment if you?re on a budget, otherwise, you might be looking for some nasty accidents.
Make each room in your home look expensive with the help of one high-end furniture. Each room wants a focal point; otherwise, everything just blurs together and the room doesn?t have sparkle. Choose one special furniture piece; an excellent armoire, a trompe l?oleil chest, an oversize mirror by having an ornate frame or another type special and unique to dress up each room. Your pals will think you?ve hired an artist.
Wallpapering can be a quick and affordable update for almost any house. If you?re planning on hanging wallpaper inside your bathroom, laundry room, or kitchen, opt for wet-look vinyl. This kind of wallpaper can withstand sprinkles, splashes, and splatters and is particularly perfect for use in homes in even the most humid climate. Be sure to clean and smooth the wall surface before hanging vinyl, however, as any imperfections may show through.
If you?d like more room due to a growing family, don?t auction your home. Instead, remodel it. Increase rooms or remodel the ones that you already have to make them bigger. This has some good benefits, it will save you lots of money and also the hassle of having to move.
Don?t purchase fitted furniture unless you are certain you won?t want to sell your house in the future. Although fitted furniture looks really stylish and be a powerful way to get yourself a lot of extra space for storing, it is expensive and you may not take it along with you when you move out of your house.
Ensure your contractor is declaring and getting the permits needed to make renovations. This calls for which you double check his paperwork and go to your city to discover if he?s declared the permits. An excellent contractor will provide you a record of his actions without you even needing to require it.
When making renovations, it is important to check your entire faucets for leaks. A leaky faucet can waste plenty of water. Should you encounter a leaky faucet, make sure to do the repair as quickly as possible. Whenever you wash your clothes, try using cold water. You can look at installing low flow showerheads, that can cut down on the amount of water used.
Isn?t it time to begin? Remember ?a penny saved is really a penny earned.? So, take time to read beforehand to avoid any unnecessary mistake. Use the tips provided above to assist you save your time and cash.
As we count down the days to Sunday's awards show, we check up on last year's Oscar darlings. By Kara Warner
Natalie Portman at the 2011 Oscars Photo: Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images
With less than four days to go until Hollywood's main event, our Oscar thoughts are zeroed in on this year's lucky nominees and potential winners. With all the hullabaloo surrounding this year's awards season, it's easy to forget about the shining stars who took home Oscar gold last year.
Here's a look at what 2011's Oscar darlings are up to now:
Colin Firth After taking home the Best Actor award for his memorable performance in "The King's Speech," Firth has kept himself very busy with a role in the critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated ensemble spy drama "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," and has a slew of projects lined up for release in 2012 and beyond: the Coen brothers-scripted "Gambit," co-starring Alan Rickman and Cameron Diaz; "Arthur Newman, Golf Pro," with Emily Blunt and Anne Heche; West Memphis Three-based thriller "The Devil's Knot" with Reese Witherspoon; and the next installment in the Bridget Jones franchise, "Bridget Jones' Baby."
Natalie Portman Portman has followed up her Best Actress win for her chilling, unforgettable performance in "Black Swan" with a very different, but far more weighty role: motherhood. Portman and her dancer/choreographer fiancé, Benjamin Millepied, whom she met during the filming of "Swan," welcomed son Aleph in June. Portman has kept out of the public eye since giving birth, but she did make an appearance with Millepied at the Golden Globe Awards. Portman's next gig is Terrence Malick's film "Lawless" alongside Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara and fellow 2011 Oscar-winner Christian Bale.
Christian Bale Last year's Best Supporting Actor is certainly not hurting for work. Bale will reprise his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated and likely final Batman film, "The Dark Knight Rises," followed by back-to-back films with Oscar nominee Terrence Malick in "Lawless" and "Knight of Cups."
Melissa Leo Leo has followed up her Best Supporting Actress win for "The Fighter" with a full slate of upcoming films. The seasoned Hollywood veteran will appear in "Predisposed" with Jesse Eisenberg and Tracy Morgan; Robert Zemeckis' return to live action, "Flight," with Denzel Washington and John Goodman; "Something in the Water"; and "Prairie Bones." She will also lend her voice-acting talents to the animated film "Dwegons."
Tom Hooper Last year's Best Director winner is certainly not sitting on his laurels. Of all of last year's winners mentioned here, Hooper might be tackling the most challenging post-Oscar-win project of them all. "The King's Speech" helmer has chosen to take on a big-screen adaptation of one of literature's most classic and beloved stories of all time, Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables." Did we mention it's a musical? It is. Hooper certainly has the credibility to deliver a faithful adaptation. Not only that, but he's assembled a very capable cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Russell Crowe and Sacha Baron Cohen.
The MTV Movies team has the 2012 Oscars covered! Stick with us for everything you need to know leading up to the awards show, and on Sunday, February 26, tune into MTV.com at 5 p.m. ET for our two-and-a-half-hour red-carpet live stream and updates on the night's big winners. To join the live conversation,tweet @MTVNews with the hashtag #Oscars.
Doctors have proved for the first time that removing polyps during a screening colonoscopy not only prevents colorectal cancer from developing, but also prevents deaths from the disease, according to an analysis to be published Thursday.
By studying the fate of 2,602 high-risk patients in a 23-year time period, a team of medical investigators led by researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan concluded colonoscopy cuts the risk of colorectal cancer death in half.
?The evidence demonstrates a striking reduction in death,? said Dr. Sidney J. Winawer, lead investigator of the National Polyp Study and a Sloan-Kettering gastroenterologist.
?By finding and removing polyps, there was a 53 percent reduction in the death rate,? Winawer said, adding that colorectal cancer is the only malignancy that can be prevented through a screening technique.
For years, doctors knew colonoscopy helped reduce the risk of colorectal cancer when precancerous growths _ polyps _ were removed.
The problem: No one had ever quantified by how much colonoscopy reduced the risk of death.
Knowing that figure, doctors said, would help bolster another observation: Cancer statistics were revealing a noticeable decline in colorectal cancer incidence over the last two decades. Doctors believed _ but were uncertain _ that the decrease could be attributed to colonoscopies.
Dr. Ann Zauber, senior author of the study, which is reported in Thursday?s New England Journal of Medicine, said she and her team proved colonoscopy cut the death rate in half by comparing colorectal cancer deaths of study participants to those of people in the general population.
In the group of 2,602 patients, 25.4 deaths from the disease would have been expected. Instead, there were only 12.
Despite advances in screening, colorectal cancer remains a potent cause of cancer mortality in the United States, and only 30 percent of people 50 and older undergo the test, according to data from the National Cancer Institute.
The institute also estimates more than 140,000 new cases will be diagnosed this year and that more than 50,000 people will die of the disease.
Yet, even in the face of colonoscopy?s benefits, it has come under fire, Winawer said.
?The effectiveness of colonoscopy has been challenged recently, along with mammography, the PSA and CT scanning for lung cancer,? Winawere said. ?So, yes, these questions have been raised, but you can?t ignore the major benefits from this form of screening.?
Two years ago, Drs. Alfred Neugut and Benjamin Lebwohl of Columbia University argued colonoscopy was no more effective than sigmoidoscopy, another screening technique.
Last year, relying on New York State Health Department data, Dr. David Bernstein, chief of gastroenterology at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, reported on a colonoscopy risk factor: possible colon perforations during the procedure.
Bernstein said while perforations are rare, colonoscopy is best performed by skilled specialists.
Zauber, meanwhile, noted the new results should inspire renewed confidence in the procedure. ?Our findings provide strong reassurance that there is a long-term benefit to removing these polyps and support continued recommendations of screening colonoscopy in people over age 50.?
Innovation isn?t the province of a select few. It exists in everyone ready to be discovered. Learning any new ability always takes time and it is the same with creating an progressive mindset. Don?t be dissatisfied when you?re not innovating 24/7 immediately. It should take a little bit of follow and doubtless a couple of adjustments in the way in which you go about your day. Here are a number of concepts on methods to bring innovation into your life to deliver your own enterprise into existence.
Ignore the doubters ? Don?t listen to different those that solid doubts on what you?re trying to do. Folks forged doubts for a wide range of reasons and most of these can have nothing to with you. In case you?re engaged on a brand new enterprise, don?t waste your time and effort making an attempt to convince folks that you simply?re doing the fitting thing. The nice entrepreneurs by no means listened to the doubters and neither ought to you.
Search steerage ? Getting a mentor or steerage from somebody that has executed what you need to do can provide you confidence in what you?re making an attempt to perform and provide help to avoid common mistakes.
Commit the time ? Spend time in your mission as a result of should you don?t, no one else goes to do it either. This may require some time administration and self-discipline to?macmall coupon make sure you can match every little thing in to your life.
No excuses ? Make do with what you?ve acquired and don?t get slowed down because you don?t have the most popular IPad on the market. Many individuals use fewer tools as they turn out to be more proficient at their craft. You?ll have to be resourceful but that?s also a part of being innovative.
Develop your passion ? In starting a new enterprise, you may be caught up in learning the ropes and executing your plan. If you happen to?re actually doing one thing you wish to do, your ardour will doubtless construct as you change into more proficient and your perception than you possibly can succeed strengthens. This passion can turn you into an unstoppable force underneath the correct conditions.
Doesn?t worry in the event you?re not encourage 24/7 ? Not every thing you do in your enterprise will provide inspiration. For those who?re following your passion, inspiration will arrive on the most surprising times. For instance, JK Rowling acquired the concept for Harry Potter whereas she was stuck on a practice that was in the course of a 4 hour delay.
Take care of your self you?re at your greatest, at your most creative, and you might be most revolutionary if you?re healthy. Nice things and concepts can come while you?re exercising so don?t think of it as time that you simply?re taking away out of your business. n n Remember that your business is what you are promoting and that you simply?re doing this stuff to your own satisfaction and never anybody else?s. A little success will carry the doubters around soon enough.
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AP - The U.S. and North Korea reopen nuclear talks Thursday that will provide a glimpse into where Pyongyang's opaque government is heading after Kim Jong Il's death and test its readiness to dismantle nuclear programs for much-needed aid.
This is a classic little salad, one of the basics you?ll often find served at falafel stands and lunchtime restaurants. It?s a pleasant, simple creation with a sharp, fiery tang from lemon juice and raw garlic, along with a slight bitterness from the lemon peels.
You can make it by grating up some whole carrots, or, say, using the carrot cores left over from my stuffed carrot recipe. As a bonus, if you happen to use brightly colored carrots, then you?ll get a salad with a riot of color, which I guarantee you?ll never see at your neighborhood falafel shop.
These colored carrots can be purchased at the various farmer?s markets as well as at a few shops in Jaffa (and sometimes Ramle).
My version uses so-called Chinese lemons ? those miniature fruits also known as limequats ? which have particularly thin skins that lack the bitterness of their pithier, full-sized cousins.
For about two cups? worth:
2 cups finely chopped carrot
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 mini lemons (?Chinese lemons? in Hebrew, also known as limequats in English), finely chopped, seeds removed (alternately: 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus 2 tablespoons lemon pulp and zest)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
Prep time: 5 minutes.
Mix together all the ingredients. Let sit for about 15 minutes so the flavors can blend.
Regarding the lemon: Chinese lemons are sweet enough that you can use them whole, but larger, traditional lemons have a bitter pith. After squeezing them for juice, you?ll want to remove some of the zesty yellow outside with a vegetable peeler (it?s OK if you get some of the white pith) and chop up that along with the pulpy inside to get the 2 tablespoons called for in the recipe.
As people age, their need for storage spaces increases also. In the same way, the constant increase in population would make one wonder how in the world can all things be managed when it comes to storage. In these modern times, it is crucial to be aware of the different ways by which things can be stored in order to maximise any available space there is.
It?s therefore a must to learn the proper way to make the most of all existing spaces, whether at home or in the office. Every important thing to stash and use deserves a modest storage place. You may not know it, but, a nook or corner in your room may give a potentially great solution for your storage woes.
You can never go amiss with shelving units. Installing shelves makes use of the otherwise useless vertical spaces along the length of a wall, making it a truly practical solution for stashing a lot of things. Firstly, you give a new meaning or purpose for walls other than serving as dividers and providing structural support to the house. As such, you?re able to freely move about since there?s already additional floor space.
Shelves are ideal for keeping and displaying books, toys, souvenir items, among many other things. Just make sure to use only hard-wearing hardware pieces so that they can withstand heavy weights. Select materials and styles that will complement your home?s interiors so they will not clash with your design style.
Use double duty furniture pieces that have built-in multifunctional features. These are great solutions especially for those who live in apartment style properties or studio type condominium units whereby moves can be limited. Drawers underneath beds can hold linens, clothing, or toys. An ottoman can be used not just as a footrest, but also as a makeshift coffee desk. Having a detachable lid with a compartment inside, it can already be a storage place for extra blankets, pillows or books. A kitchen island counter can store utensils and simultaneously be a breakfast nook.
When you just can?t dispose of something due to sentimental reasons or when you have use for a certain item on a seasonal basis only, then go for warehousing or self-storage facilities. These companies offer a flexible, safe, secure and inexpensive way for you to keep the stuff that you just can not let go of. They offer 24 hour CCTV security and packing assistance services for your convenience.
Click for further information on storage in Singapore or storage.. Free reprint available from: Great Storage Ideas For Homes.
AAA??Feb. 20, 2012?4:17 PM ET Glenn chats with space station to mark anniversary KANTELE FRANKOKANTELE FRANKO, Associated Press??
Sen. John Glenn talks, via satellite, with the astronauts on the International Space Station, before the start of a roundtable discussion titled "Learning from the Past to Innovate for the Future" Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around it three times in 1962, and also became the oldest person in space, at age 77, by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Sen. John Glenn talks, via satellite, with the astronauts on the International Space Station, before the start of a roundtable discussion titled "Learning from the Past to Innovate for the Future" Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around it three times in 1962, and also became the oldest person in space, at age 77, by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Sen. John Glenn talks, via satellite, with the astronauts on the International Space Station, before the start of a roundtable discussion titled "Learning from the Past to Innovate for the Future" Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around it three times in 1962, and also became the oldest person in space, at age 77, by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
Sen. John Glenn, left, and Charles Bolden, administrator from NASA headquarters, talk, via satellite, with the astronauts on the International Space Station, before the start of a roundtable discussion titled "Learning from the Past to Innovate for the Future" Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth, piloting Friendship 7 around it three times in 1962, and also became the oldest person in space, at age 77, by orbiting Earth with six astronauts aboard shuttle Discovery in 1998. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
FILE - This Feb. 20, 1962 file photo made available by NASA shows astronaut John Glenn during his space flight in the Friendship 7 Mercury spacecraft, weightless and traveling at 17,500 mph. The image was made by an automatic sequence motion picture camera. Glenn plans to mark the 50th anniversary of his historic spaceflight, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, with a series of events at Ohio State University, including a special dinner and a live chat with crew members aboard the International Space Station. (AP Photo/NASA, File)
In this photo provided by NASA, Sen. John Glenn poses for a portrait shortly after doing live television interviews from the Ohio State University Union building, Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, in Columbus, Ohio. Monday marks the 50th anniversary of Glenn's historic flight. Glenn was the first American to orbit Earth. (AP Photo/NASA, Bill Ingalls) MANDATORY CREDIT
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? NASA surprised John Glenn with the kind of anniversary gift only a space agency can give, enabling him to speak live with the International Space Station on Monday as he marked 50 years since his historic spaceflight.
The former astronaut and senator from Ohio, now 90, became the first American to orbit the Earth on Feb. 20, 1962, circling it three times in five hours and helping to lead the nation into space. He celebrated the anniversary at Ohio State University by kicking off a forum about NASA's future.
Sitting on stage with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, he chatted with three space station crew members about space research and NASA's future. Commander Dan Burbank appeared by video link, flanked by two flight engineers floating in the zero-gravity environment, and said the crew was delighted to help commemorate Glenn's momentous trip.
Glenn was among the top military test pilots presented in 1959 as the Mercury Seven. The only other surviving Mercury astronaut is Scott Carpenter, who called out the memorable line "Godspeed John Glenn" moments before the rocket ignited for Glenn's spaceflight.
"Fifty years ago today, Friendship 7 was orbiting planet Earth, and that helped in a very big way, paved the way for America to become a space power, and to go to the moon, and to do the things that we're doing right now on the International Space Station," Burbank said. "And we hope this also can help set the stage for us down the road to do even greater things."
Glenn had a light-hearted but educational exchange with the space station crew, asking them about the types and number of experiments on board ? more than a hundred, they said ? and explaining to his gravity-bound audience of more than 200 people that, for example, a candle burns differently in space than on Earth.
When Bolden asked the astronauts which experiment they'd like to hand off to Glenn if he could join them, Burbank suggested research on the "regenerative environmental control systems" on spacecraft.
"That's a fancy word for our toilet," flight engineer Don Pettit added. "So he wants to put Sen. Glenn busy fixing the plumbing up here."
Glenn took the humor in stride, replying: "That's exactly what I thought I was going to get assigned to."
Glenn also inquired about how far the space station had traveled during the course of the roughly 15 minutes they'd been talking. They hadn't kept an eye on the exact distance but said they guessed it was about one-fourth of the way around the Earth.
Bolden joked that Glenn sometimes bugs him about making a trip to the space station. Glenn became the oldest person to fly in space in 1998, at age 77.
He and Annie, his wife of almost seven decades, were scheduled to cap Monday's anniversary by participating in a student-led question-and-answer session during an evening gala featuring a keynote speech by former astronaut Mark Kelly, the commander of the space shuttle Endeavour's final mission.
Associated PressNews Topics: Manned spacecraft, Space research services, Space industry, Spacecraft, Space technology, Aerospace technology, Industrial technology, Technology, Aerospace and defense research services, Aerospace and defense, Industrial products and services, Industries, Business
The current debate on Greece and the Eurozone crisis is depressing and so are the riots in Athens. But you know what will never be depressing? Delicious Greek food. And you?ll find a lot of that at Blu Kouzina.
Nestled in a four-story building in Singapore, Blu Kouzina is a little slice of Greek heaven. I had dinner there last Friday and it was simply spectacular. This quaint restaurant is Greek-run and Greek-owned (the owners even have their own specially cultivated olive oil) so you can be assured of authenticity and the famous Greek hospitality.
Every dish I had was worth writing home about. The Saganaki with figs was a revelation ? it had an intense burst of flavor that defied any expectations. The seafood platter (came with sea bream, prawns and squid) was fresh and beautiful ? it reminded me of being in Mykonos and having seafood by the beach. The flavors were delicate and refined. The meat platter (came with beef patties, meatballs, lamb chops, beef kalamaki) was juicy and succulent. We completed the food with a few bottles of this great extra-dry wine from Santorini.
The good thing about being part of a party of 8 is that we could get away with ordering a lot more so I would recommend you grab a few of your friends and head down in a group to get a better taste of the menu. The thing that stands out in Blu Kouzina besides the food is the fact that you do feel like you?re on a little island in Greece just having a great night. Throw in warm service and amazing food and you have a cure for all things depressing.
This entry was posted on Sunday, February 19th, 2012 at 11:19 PM and is filed under Asia, Travel . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
The early signs of autism are visible in the brains of 6-month-old infants, a new study finds, suggesting that future treatments could be given at this time, to lessen the impact of the disorder on children.
Researchers looked at how the brain develops in early life, and found that tracts of white matter that connect different regions of the brain didn't form as quickly in children who later developed autism, compared with kids who didn't develop the disorder.
"The way the wiring was changing was dampened" in the children with autism, said study researcher Jason Wolff, who studies developmental disabilities at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. "It was a more blunted change over time, in how the brain was being wired,"
In contrast, in the brains of infants who did not later develop autism, white matter tracts were swiftly forming, Wolff said. "Their brains were organizing themselves in a pretty rapid fashion."
The findings suggest that during a child's first year, "there is a potential to intervene, to disrupt autism before it becomes entrenched," Wolff said. "There are a lot of possibilities to improve outcomes for these children."
The study is published today (Feb. 17) in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
A crucial time
The first year of life is an important time in brain development, and is also when the first symptoms of autism start to appear, Wolff said.
In the study, the researchers looked at the brains of 92 infants, when they were 6 months, 1 year and 2 years old. All of the children had a sibling with autism; research shows such children have a higher risk of developing the disorder themselves.
The researchers used a brain scan called diffusion tensor imaging, a type of MRI scan which allowed them to see changes in the brain's organization over time.
When the kids were 2 years old, 28 had developed autism, while 64 had not. The researchers looked back at the early brain scans, to see if there were differences between the groups.
"We looked at pathways that connect brain regions to each other, and 12 out of 15 were different in kids with autism," Wolff said.
Previous studies had found differences in brain volume in infants of this age, and other researchers had looked at white matter tracts in older children with autism, and adults, but the structures had not been examined before in infants so young, Wolff said.
The fact that so many of the tracts were affected shows that autism is a "whole-brain phenomenon," Wolff said. "There are widespread differences" in the brains of people with the disorder, he said.
What's causing the brain differences?
As to what might be causing these brain differences, it's too early to say, Wolff said. But the findings are consistent with what researchers suspect about what triggers autism's development, he said, "there's a complex interaction between genes, and a child's experiences with the world."
And while the brain scans of the two groups of children certainly revealed their differences, those scans are not at the point where they could be used to diagnose the disorder in a 6-month-old, Wolff emphasized.
A new study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found significant differences in brain development starting at age 6 months in high-risk infants who later develop autism, compared to high-risk infants who did not develop autism.
"It's a promising finding," said Jason J. Wolff, PhD, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral fellow at UNC's Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD). "At this point, it's a preliminary albeit great first step towards thinking about developing a biomarker for risk in advance of our current ability to diagnose autism."
The study also suggests, Wolff said, that autism does not appear suddenly in young children, but instead develops over time during infancy. This raises the possibility "that we may be able to interrupt that process with targeted intervention," he said.
Joseph Piven, MD, director of the CIDD, is senior author of the study.
The study was published online on Friday, Feb. 17 at AJP in Advance, a section of the website of the American Journal of Psychiatry. Its results are the latest from the ongoing Infant Brain Imaging Study (IBIS) Network, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health and headquartered at UNC. Piven received an NIH Autism Centers of Excellence (ACE) program network award for the IBIS Network in 2007. ACE networks consist of researchers at many facilities in locations throughout the country, all of whom work together on a single research question.
Participants in the study were 92 infants who all have older siblings with autism and thus are considered to be at high risk for autism themselves. All had diffusion tensor imaging ? which is a type of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) ? at 6 months and behavioral assessments at 24 months. Most also had additional brain imaging scans at either or both 12 and 24 months.
At 24 months, 28 infants (30 percent) met criteria for autism spectrum disorders while 64 infants (70 percent) did not. The two groups differed in white matter fiber tract development ? pathways that connect brain regions ? as measured by fractional anisotropy (FA). FA measures white matter organization and development, based on the movement of water molecules through brain tissue.
This study examined 15 separate fiber tracts, and found significant differences in FA trajectories in 12 of the 15 tracts between infants who did develop autism versus infants who did not. Infants who later developed autism had elevated FA at six months but then experienced slower change over time. By 24 months of age, infants with autism had lower FA values than infants without autism.
"This evidence, which implicates multiple fiber pathways, suggests that autism is a whole-brain phenomenon not isolated to any particular brain region," Wolff said.
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University of North Carolina School of Medicine: http://www.med.unc.edu
Thanks to University of North Carolina School of Medicine for this article.
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AP - The House kicked off debate Friday on extending a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for people out of work the longest, a showdown that many legislators hope will finally end a standoff that has dominated Washington since the fall.
?At my daughter?s first birthday (that she shares with my brother Steve), we surprised my parents with him. Steve is finally back from overseas! If you notice in the video my mom has no clue that Steve has walked through the back door. My other brother keeps trying to point out to my mom that hes in the room, but she?s too distracted!?
If you suffer from severe anxiety Attack, you might like to find a panic attacks treatment that not merely aids you end a panic attack in its tracks but you also have to discover a solution that aids eliminate panic disorder permanently. This disorder can easily be a psychological issue due to extreme stress and anxiety or concern. Sometimes, these do not work as well as they simply waste far more cash in looking for the best remedy. This can easily too affect the men and females around him particularly his family as well as preferred ones.
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Executing yoga is an truly stress-free and beneficial exercise and some thing that takes into account the whole body, the mind and even the soul. Review on to obtain the details why This is exactly what you have actually been browsing for. Truth be told there very are a number of superb all-natural panic as well as anxiety attack treatments which you could possibly take benefit of to assist you to deal collectively with the situation as properly as overcome the trouble. Review on to receive the details why This is precisely what you have actually been looking for. There are distinct panic attacks generates and most of them might be rather essential as well as fleeting Are they harmful? No however unpleasant.
This is practically certainly advertisement likelihoods to the wishes and also If you attempt to stop the attack it nonetheless takes location as well as you undergo a loss of control. More precisely, your brain is the source of the attack. On an intellectual level you realize that you ?re not in any threat as well as that you will be over-reacting. Do not be worried as well as ashamed. These panic attacks are a ton more Popular than individuals think. Support is given to the person to get rid of exceptional fearfulness as well as the emotion of some thing unsatisfactory is going to occur.
Right about now you ?re a lot more or a great deal reduced perceiving that you ?ll have to spend the others of your life like this. Natural Panic Attack Treatments Natural Panic as well as stress and anxiety attack Remedies ? What very works? Method too typically nowadays individuals merely merely express that no matter what they ?re dealing with, they ?ll need to use prescribed medicines for it. Additional styles of psychological therapy include hypnosis as well as neuro-linguistic shows. Sensation of choking or smothering. Exposure therapy lends you a helping hand to confront your anxieties in a controlled environment.
If you might be all set to take back the body and your mind, to view things in a entire brand-new light as well as to take measures to end the panic attacks, then you desire to absolutely take the time to find exactly how non-medicated options can actually benefit you. Those that suffer from panic attacks desire to have a remedy that: Is effective in helping replace their life back to normal Is cost effective and easy to follow and recognize Helps by having additional stress and anxiety issues that go hand in hand by having panic attacks Helps restore faith and self esteem. Finding the proper therapy in the appropriate price might be difficult, Nonetheless You ?ll discover effective panic attacks therapy out there. These indicator may be embarrassing as well as are undesirable. Even we turn out to be far more alert as well as our concentration on additional tasks can easily be impaired as we are working tracking for risk.
Do you want to learn more about Home Remedies for Panic Attacks? Visit Here: How to Cure Panic Attacks Naturally.
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An information technology degree offers education involving all necessary aspects dealing with computers and the growing technological innovations associated with it. A lot of varying occupations can be filled by a degree holding IT professional that has been well trained. There are various career paths to choose from and here are a couple of them.
1. Network Analysts ? Network engineering is a specialized field of information technology. What you have here are individuals that work on the core elements found in computers. Aside from the usual network deeds like creation, configuration, and monitoring, these workers are also the ones responsible not only for the design of the network but its security as well.
When it comes to IT, it is also possible for skilled pros to become computer programmers. Program development is something demanded by numerous companies. The gains that come with computer programming show you how valuable the job option can be to a lot of people.
Upon graduation, you will see numerous students engage in work as a software designer. The creation of new software is what software design is all about and here is where people work in groups. Here is where employment opportunities are available in all sorts of mobile security and Web software organizations.
You can also work as a graphic designer if you graduate with an IT degree as there are all kinds of electronic media that needs proper handling. Here is where the kind of work being done involves a series of media forms and of course some typography all mixed together to create an attractive design. If you want to be a designer, graduating from an IT course will get you into an entry level position so obtain more experience if you want to move up the ladder.
It is possible for IT degree holders to work as a web designer too where they can handle all types of work associated with making websites. Here is where the professionals will be responsible for website content and other aspects plus its internal programming. For those interested in website design, they need to learn about HTML, CSS, and XML plus Java Script.
Information Technology students can also try their luck with digital content creation which is another career path. This is something that requires imagination for it deals with digital content like gaming. Although the field can be challenging at times, the idea of being able to play your favorite video games is something that a lot of professionals get attracted to.
If you graduated with a degree in Information Technology but do not favor Hands on software development, working with teams of computer developers and researchers is something you should consider. There are then a significant number of graduates who find interest in assisting in technological research projects and how they relate to computers. Although entry level positions are usually available for this sort of thing, administrative jobs are also available but they are only offered to those with a masters degree in information technology.
A lot of organizations are looking for workers that know how to handle customer service concerns, IT administration, and troubleshooting and this is why several options are available for IT grads. All companies, corporations and organizations nowadays make use of computers to facilitate business. IT grads always have options when it comes to employment as companies are always in need of someone who can troubleshoot computer systems.
People with an information technology degree know how hard it is to achieve and they also know how difficult looking for a job can be. However, as new technical innovations are produced, relevant jobs are created as well. Get a degree in info tech and join the IT world.
If you want some trusted information about information technology degree, hit this masters degree in information technology link and you?ll have some great ones.
Mixed progress made by US government and schools to improve food marketing influencing children's dietsPublic release date: 14-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beverly Lytton eAJPM@ucsd.edu 858-534-9340 Elsevier Health Sciences
Findings published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
San Diego, CA, February 14, 2012 -- New research has found that the US government and schools have made mixed progress to comprehensively address food and beverage marketing practices that put young people's health at risk. A comprehensive review published in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that public sector stakeholders have failed to fully implement recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to support a healthful diet to children and adolescents.
"Evidence links the marketing of high-calorie, nutrient-poor branded food and beverage products to obesity rates. Our evaluation found that the prevailing marketing environment continues to threaten children's health and the public sector has missed important opportunities to promote a healthful diet and create healthy eating environments," says lead author Vivica Kraak, MS, RD, Research Fellow at Deakin University's Population Health Strategic Research Center in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
In a study requested by Congress in 2004, the IOM determined that food marketing influences children and adolescents to prefer, request, and consume high-calorie and nutrient poor foods and beverages. In December 2005, an expert IOM committee issued a report with 10 recommendations to guide public- and private-sector stakeholders to promote healthy eating in children and adolescents. Kraak and colleagues Mary Story, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Ellen A. Wartella, PhD, Northwestern University School of Communication, conducted a comprehensive literature review of the evidence to determine what progress had been made toward 5 of the report's recommendations for the public sector. The other 5 recommendations directed at industry stakeholders, were examined in a separate publication released in September 2011. They evaluated 80 data sources, including published articles, enacted legislation, and media stories over 5 years (from late 2005 to early 2011). Their work was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The evaluation showed that extensive progress was not made by any public-sector group. For example, the report recommended that government partner with the private sector to create a long-term, multifaceted, and financially sustained social marketing program to support parents, caregivers, and families to promote a healthful diet. No progress was found. In a commentary accompanying the article, Lori E. Dorfman, DrPH, of the Berkeley Media Studies Group in Berkeley, CA, notes, "Our government is ceding education about nutrition to the food and beverage industry, which spends $2 billion annually more than $5 million every day inundating children with enticements to eat and drink high-fat, sugary and salty foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages."
The best news came from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), educational leaders, and state and local schools. They collectively made moderate progress toward developing nutritional standards for foods and beverages sold in school, and adopting model school wellness policies and practices to expand the availability of healthy foods and beverages, as called for in the IOM food marketing report. Many states implemented competitive food guidelines and stricter nutrition standards than called for by USDA and 23 states supported farm-to-school programs in 2010 compared to just 1 state in 2005. Despite these efforts, widespread availability of unhealthy competitive foods, especially for older students, and in-school marketing of high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods for celebrations and school fundraisers, continued through early 2011.
"It is notable that USDA made some progress to promote healthier meals during the period reviewed. USDA has accelerated progress immensely with the new school meal nutrition standards released in January 2012," remarked Dr. Story. Additionally, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and the American Recovery Act of 2009 made grants available to states and local communities to increase fruit and vegetable availability to children. Still, federal, state, and local governments have not done their best job to implement the IOM food marketing report recommendations. The researchers found that the government failed to use all available policy tools to fund initiatives promoting healthy eating in proportion to its spending on diet-related chronic diseases, including subsidies for healthy foods and taxes for unhealthy foods and beverages.
The IOM report emphasized the need to conduct studies about new promotional techniques and venues (i.e., digital interactive marketing to children through the Internet), healthier foods, smaller portion sizes, product viability, and the impact of TV advertising on young people's diet quality and diet-related health. Kraak and colleagues found that federal research institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the USDA were inadequately funded by Congress to comprehensively research how marketing practices influence young people's diets.
Actions suggested by the researchers include:
Congress could support the federal Interagency Working Group for Food Marketed to Children to complete and release robust voluntary nutrition standards for industry marketing to children and adolescents, despite industry lobbying to stall efforts.
Congress could empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate misleading or deceptive industry practices that promote high-calorie, nutrient poor food and beverage products directed to young people.
Congress could support the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cover all food and beverage products marketed to children through the 2010 Menu-Labeling Law (as candy companies and movie theaters are exempt).
"Congress could also empower the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop new rules for advertising and commercial promotion during children's programming," Kraak suggests. "If industry's voluntary efforts continue to show unabated unhealthy food and beverage marketing, FCC could pursue measures such as limiting interactive marketing of unhealthy products, prohibiting unhealthy product placement in programs with a substantial child audience, and reducing the minutes per hour of advertising allowed for TV programs with a high proportion of child viewers."
"Food companies have railed against even voluntary guidelines for what foods should be marketed to kids, spending $37 million to lobby Congress to weaken science-based recommendations from the Interagency Working Group for Food Marketed to Children. Yet the companies continue to aggressively market the sugary, salty foods kids should avoid. It seems that the companies need the very advice that the recommendations will provide. Now more than ever we need the Interagency Working Group guidelines to strengthen our national commitment to address how food is marketed to children," notes Dr. Dorfman.
###
The article is "Government and School Progress to Promote a Healthful Diet to American Children and Adolescents: A Comprehensive Review of the Available Evidence," by V.I. Kraak, M. Story, E.A. Wartella (DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.10.025). It appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 42, Issue 3 (March 2012), published by Elsevier.
The commentary is "The Nation Needs to Do More to Address Food Marketing to Children," by L.E. Dorfman, M.G. Wootan (DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.12.005). It appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 42, Issue 3 (March 2012), published by Elsevier.
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Mixed progress made by US government and schools to improve food marketing influencing children's dietsPublic release date: 14-Feb-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Beverly Lytton eAJPM@ucsd.edu 858-534-9340 Elsevier Health Sciences
Findings published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine
San Diego, CA, February 14, 2012 -- New research has found that the US government and schools have made mixed progress to comprehensively address food and beverage marketing practices that put young people's health at risk. A comprehensive review published in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that public sector stakeholders have failed to fully implement recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to support a healthful diet to children and adolescents.
"Evidence links the marketing of high-calorie, nutrient-poor branded food and beverage products to obesity rates. Our evaluation found that the prevailing marketing environment continues to threaten children's health and the public sector has missed important opportunities to promote a healthful diet and create healthy eating environments," says lead author Vivica Kraak, MS, RD, Research Fellow at Deakin University's Population Health Strategic Research Center in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
In a study requested by Congress in 2004, the IOM determined that food marketing influences children and adolescents to prefer, request, and consume high-calorie and nutrient poor foods and beverages. In December 2005, an expert IOM committee issued a report with 10 recommendations to guide public- and private-sector stakeholders to promote healthy eating in children and adolescents. Kraak and colleagues Mary Story, PhD, RD, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, and Ellen A. Wartella, PhD, Northwestern University School of Communication, conducted a comprehensive literature review of the evidence to determine what progress had been made toward 5 of the report's recommendations for the public sector. The other 5 recommendations directed at industry stakeholders, were examined in a separate publication released in September 2011. They evaluated 80 data sources, including published articles, enacted legislation, and media stories over 5 years (from late 2005 to early 2011). Their work was funded by Healthy Eating Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The evaluation showed that extensive progress was not made by any public-sector group. For example, the report recommended that government partner with the private sector to create a long-term, multifaceted, and financially sustained social marketing program to support parents, caregivers, and families to promote a healthful diet. No progress was found. In a commentary accompanying the article, Lori E. Dorfman, DrPH, of the Berkeley Media Studies Group in Berkeley, CA, notes, "Our government is ceding education about nutrition to the food and beverage industry, which spends $2 billion annually more than $5 million every day inundating children with enticements to eat and drink high-fat, sugary and salty foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages."
The best news came from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), educational leaders, and state and local schools. They collectively made moderate progress toward developing nutritional standards for foods and beverages sold in school, and adopting model school wellness policies and practices to expand the availability of healthy foods and beverages, as called for in the IOM food marketing report. Many states implemented competitive food guidelines and stricter nutrition standards than called for by USDA and 23 states supported farm-to-school programs in 2010 compared to just 1 state in 2005. Despite these efforts, widespread availability of unhealthy competitive foods, especially for older students, and in-school marketing of high-calorie, nutrient-poor foods for celebrations and school fundraisers, continued through early 2011.
"It is notable that USDA made some progress to promote healthier meals during the period reviewed. USDA has accelerated progress immensely with the new school meal nutrition standards released in January 2012," remarked Dr. Story. Additionally, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 and the American Recovery Act of 2009 made grants available to states and local communities to increase fruit and vegetable availability to children. Still, federal, state, and local governments have not done their best job to implement the IOM food marketing report recommendations. The researchers found that the government failed to use all available policy tools to fund initiatives promoting healthy eating in proportion to its spending on diet-related chronic diseases, including subsidies for healthy foods and taxes for unhealthy foods and beverages.
The IOM report emphasized the need to conduct studies about new promotional techniques and venues (i.e., digital interactive marketing to children through the Internet), healthier foods, smaller portion sizes, product viability, and the impact of TV advertising on young people's diet quality and diet-related health. Kraak and colleagues found that federal research institutions such as the National Institutes of Health and the USDA were inadequately funded by Congress to comprehensively research how marketing practices influence young people's diets.
Actions suggested by the researchers include:
Congress could support the federal Interagency Working Group for Food Marketed to Children to complete and release robust voluntary nutrition standards for industry marketing to children and adolescents, despite industry lobbying to stall efforts.
Congress could empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate misleading or deceptive industry practices that promote high-calorie, nutrient poor food and beverage products directed to young people.
Congress could support the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to cover all food and beverage products marketed to children through the 2010 Menu-Labeling Law (as candy companies and movie theaters are exempt).
"Congress could also empower the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop new rules for advertising and commercial promotion during children's programming," Kraak suggests. "If industry's voluntary efforts continue to show unabated unhealthy food and beverage marketing, FCC could pursue measures such as limiting interactive marketing of unhealthy products, prohibiting unhealthy product placement in programs with a substantial child audience, and reducing the minutes per hour of advertising allowed for TV programs with a high proportion of child viewers."
"Food companies have railed against even voluntary guidelines for what foods should be marketed to kids, spending $37 million to lobby Congress to weaken science-based recommendations from the Interagency Working Group for Food Marketed to Children. Yet the companies continue to aggressively market the sugary, salty foods kids should avoid. It seems that the companies need the very advice that the recommendations will provide. Now more than ever we need the Interagency Working Group guidelines to strengthen our national commitment to address how food is marketed to children," notes Dr. Dorfman.
###
The article is "Government and School Progress to Promote a Healthful Diet to American Children and Adolescents: A Comprehensive Review of the Available Evidence," by V.I. Kraak, M. Story, E.A. Wartella (DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.10.025). It appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 42, Issue 3 (March 2012), published by Elsevier.
The commentary is "The Nation Needs to Do More to Address Food Marketing to Children," by L.E. Dorfman, M.G. Wootan (DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2011.12.005). It appears in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 42, Issue 3 (March 2012), published by Elsevier.
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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.
WASHINGTON ? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress Tuesday that the president's new $3.8 trillion spending plan would impose new taxes on only 2 percent of the nation's wealthiest families and the alternative would be to seek more painful cuts in other government programs such as defense, Social Security and Medicare.
Geithner defended the new budget plan in the face of intense attacks from GOP members of the Senate Finance Committee. Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah told Geithner that the administration's spending plan would give the country a "permanently larger, European-inspired government."
But Geithner said deeper spending cuts now would damage economic growth and push more Americans into poverty at a time when the economy is still struggling to recover from a deep recession.
Geithner told the committee that the administration hopes to send Congress next week a framework for making changes in the country's corporate tax structure.
He said the administration would not offer detailed legislative language but rather broad principles for corporate tax reform. He said the administration would propose eliminating a number of current business tax breaks in an effort to lower the corporate tax rate.
The nominal U.S. corporate tax rate is 35 percent, the highest in the world after Japan, but few companies pay that much after taking various deductions.
Obama has proposed lowering that tax rate but has not said by how much it should be lowered. The president has also proposed ending tax breaks for U.S. companies moving jobs or profits to foreign countries while suggesting tax breaks for businesses that move jobs back to the United States.
Geithner did not offer any hints about what recommendations the administration will make on corporate rates in its submission to Congress.
Congress may put off the tough decisions on the budget until after the November elections, but the spending document will certainly be used as a campaign document for Obama and a key target for Republicans running against Democrats.
Republican Mitt Romney, who is campaigning for the GOP nomination to challenge Obama in the fall, called the budget Obama released Monday "an insult to the American taxpayer." GOP candidates Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are all advocating bigger spending cuts to control the deficits, and all the GOP candidates oppose Obama's tax increases.
"The president's budget is a gloomy reflection of his failed policies of the past, not a bold plan for America's future," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Monday after the budget was released. "The president offered a collection of rehashes, gimmicks and tax increases that will make our economy worse."
Republicans are arguing for deeper spending cuts and a frontal assault on the biggest drivers of the deficit, the soaring costs of Medicare and Medicaid, whose already sizable costs are projected to double in future years as baby boomers retire.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., chairman of the House Budget Committee, said Monday that he expected the Republican-controlled House would in coming weeks pass an alternative to the Obama budget that would gain control of the deficit, not by raising taxes but by curtailing Medicare and Medicaid.
"President Obama's irresponsible budget is a recipe for a debt crisis and the decline of America," Ryan said.
Obama's cuts in Medicare and Medicaid avoid cuts in benefits and instead make modest trims in payments to health care providers. In contrast, the Republican House last year approved Ryan's plan, which would essentially transform Medicare into a voucher system in which future seniors would get a fixed amount to buy medical insurance.
The Obama budget proposes spending $3.8 trillion in the 2013 budget year, which begins Oct. 1. It would achieve $4 trillion in deficit cuts in part through restraining the growth of many government programs, adhering to the agreement Congress approved in August for spending caps to achieve $900 billion in deficit reduction over a decade.
Obama's plan also proposes additional deficit reduction in order to avoid $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts scheduled to take effect next January.
But the president relies on $1.5 trillion in tax increases, mainly by allowing the Bush-era tax cuts to expire on families making more than $250,000 per year, imposing additional taxes on those making more than $1 million per year and eliminating various corporate tax breaks.
The tax increases all have been rejected by Republicans.
With both parties holding entrenched positions, it is very likely that no solution will be found before the November elections, with both sides preferring to use the debate to score political points.
If that occurs, Congress will probably be back in Washington after the November elections for a lame-duck session to resolve the battle over taxes and spending cuts.
Lawmakers are facing end-of-the-year deadlines when the Bush-era tax cuts on all taxpayers expire and across-the-board spending cuts will go into effect if lawmakers can't agree on $1.2 trillion in further deficit reduction over the next decade.
Maharashtra, Mumbai -- Europe is becoming increasingly dependent on a high percentage of imported generic medicines from India and China. Without the appropriate level of control and monitoring, this could easily lead to shortages and problems with supply continuity in those smaller markets. Globalisation of the generic medicines industry will bring new challenges to Europe which must be met if the sector is not to be marginalised with respect to both pricing and supply. Innovation has been traditionally perceived as the domain of the research-based originator companies. However, generic medicine companies often spend significant sums on innovating - improving formulations, enhancing delivery systems and finding solutions to patient compliance issues.
In an interview with an Indian CFO, Shantanu Kumar Singh, Taj Pharma Group,
Mr. Singh commented, "A generic medicine treatment is now available within many of the major therapeutic classes and this is often the 'gold standard' option for specific diseases. Opportunities exist to recommend schedules that encourage initiation of treatment with these 'gold standard' generic medicines. This is a positive sign which should increase the uptake of these drugs and potentially generate long-term savings through the use of a safe and effective therapy at an affordable price. "
Singh also mentions, 'In 2011, 7% of revenues from the generics medicine industry were spent on research and development alone. Furthermore, sector investments in manufacturing and development facilities have created a solid base of employment (150,000 direct employees in the EU2) yielding societal benefits that go beyond the realms of healthcare. The potential benefits of the generics medicine industry will not be maximised if the focus is on the lowest price alone. There is a need to increase the volume of generic medicines penetration in the EU market and optimise such key areas as competition with in-patent medicines, co-payment policies, time to market, and ready supply'.
What do you think about the rising costs of health care in Europe?
The provision of an effective and efficient healthcare system in any country is a complex equation balancing appropriate levels of patient care with resources available. Within this lies the need for infrastructures to support both primary and secondary care as well as associated services such as social welfare. Making direct comparisons of costs and best practices across EU member states is difficult; inherent political differences give rise to highly variable systems. No one country is the same. However, one element that is common to all and often the focus of attention is the cost of medicines. Although medicines generally constitute only around 10% of a country's total healthcare budget (with generic medicines only comprising between 1-2%) they are a prime target for cost savings - despite being arguably the most cost-effective part of the healthcare solution. However, even here, the lack of coherent policies and variations in pricing and reimbursement systems, sociodemographics and the management of healthcare within each EU member state make comparisons difficult. What works in one country may be totally inappropriate in another. One thing is certain, the ageing population and changes in lifestyle automatically bring an increased demand for
healthcare and consequent escalation of costs. Pharmaceutical expenditure has been growing at comparable rates across all the major Western markets, with the developing markets exhibiting greater growth due to expanding access to medicines. Prolonged life expectancy in diseases previously associated with high mortality is also extending the use of longer-term chronic therapy treatments, further increasing the burden on healthcare providers. It is a fundamental principle in medicine that pharmaceuticals can delay or even prevent the need for costly hospitalisation in some patients. Therapies to improve quality of life in patients with terminal diseases are also playing a growing role in the physicians' armamentarium. Against this background, it is possible to draw a correlation between life expectancy and pharmaceutical consumption.
Pharmaceuticals undeniably play an essential role in improving and maintaining health, but managing and controlling cost remains a major challenge for society, including governments and payers. Although the percentage of GDP spent on healthcare is fairly consistent in the major EU countries, the absolute amounts available are straining to deliver the desired levels of healthcare.
You're announcing strong first half results today. What's driven that performance?
Shantanu Kumar Singh, CFO (Taj Pharma Group) comments, 'I have to say I'm very, very happy, we're extremely pleased by the results that we announced today'. We're looking at revenues up by 22.6%, we're looking at our operating profits up by 40%, gross margins are almost 50%, fantastic cash flow growth by 74%, and we have a fantastic net debt to equity ratio of 18%. So we're very, very happy with these numbers. I've always said that this is a very well diversified business, and we have three main engines that continuously feed this growth. So this year for the first half, the US Generic business did extremely, extremely well, so we're very happy with that. That has been fantastic growth. Our Injectable business for the first half was very good also, we're very happy with that. And the Brand business, as we had previously said, would this year be split almost evenly between the first half and second half. So the Brand business was stable and we are looking at very good growth in the Brand business for the second half of the year. So overall, all three engines have been performing quite well, and the diversity and diversification has come in and worked again to give us these fantastic results....
SEC Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Taj Pharma's ("the Company") business plan. The Company's business is subject to various risks, which are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The interview given by Shantanu Kumar Singh CFO should not be construed as an indication in any way whatsoever of the value of the Company or its common stock. The Company's filings may be accessed at the SEC's Edgar system at www.sec.gov. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. The Company cautions readers not to place reliance on such statements. Unless otherwise required by applicable law, we do not undertake, and we specifically disclaim any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement.
About TF1 TV channel France TF1 is a national French TV channel, controlled by TF1 Group, whose major share-holder is Bouygues. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. Flagship shows include Star Academy (Endemol's international competitor to the X Factor franchise), CSI and House, M.D. TF1 originally stood for T?l?vision Fran?aise 1 (French Television 1). Since its privatisation in 1987, the abbreviation is no longer expanded, so as to avoid confusion with the government-owned channel France T?l?visions. The channel is part of the TF1 Group of mass media companies, which also includes the news channel LCI and Eurosport, the largest European sports network. Together with France T?l?visions, TF1 co-managed the international French news channel France 24 but has since sold its share. TF1 is a supporter of the Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) initiative (a consortium of broadcasting and Internet industry companies including SES, OpenTV and Institut f?r Rundfunktechnik) that is promoting and establishing an open European standard for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast TV and broadband multimedia applications with a single user interface.
Taj Pharmaceuticals Group Taj Pharmaceuticals Limited is known as a pharmaceuticals manufacturing company found and based in India. The company manufacturer's pharmaceuticals formulations and API for India and other countries. The company was established in 1995 as an enterprise and in 2004 became a public limited company. As per Mumbai pharmaxil and Chemixil association the company manufacturers and exports to countries like Iran, Iraq and Asia Pacific. In recent EU-Indonesia Business Dialogue (EIBD) conference Taj Pharma Group was listed amongst top 10 pharmaceutical companies in EU by 2008 sales. The Group sales 16,234 ($M) making the company 12 ranked in EU by 2008 sales. Founded as a company for finished formulation marketing and Export and then entered Api and Agro business in 2004 and 2007 respectively.Taj Pharmaceuticals Limited announced the purchase of Mulberry chemicals (MulChem) wholly-owned US subsidiary from REVIB, Administration (DEA) as a narcotic raw material manufacturer. The founder of Taj Pharmaceuticals, Dr. R. K. Singh, is known as entrepreneur who was convinced that the future belonged to branded pharmaceutical products way back in 1995. Mr Singh is among the first to recognize that the industrial manufacture of standardized medicines would be a major advance in the fight against disease. Dr. R. K. Singh attached great importance to product information as the link between the pharmaceutical manufacturer and doctors, pharmacists and patients. Shortly after the foundation of the company, affiliates were opened in Mauritius, Malaysia, Dubai, Moscow, England, France, the US, Great Britain and Russia.
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