SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Activist investor Carl Icahn may be putting more pressure on Apple CEO Tim Cook to get more aggressive about boosting the iPhone maker's stock price.
Icahn posted on his Twitter account Wednesday that he had sent Cook a letter in the afternoon. He said he would share the letter Thursday on a new website called "Shareholders' Square Table."
The missive follows up on a Sept. 30 dinner with Cook that Icahn hosted at his New York apartment. During that get-together, Icahn said he lobbied Cook to spend $150 billion buying back Apple Inc.'s own stock. That's more than double the amount that the Cupertino, Calif., company has committed to spend.
Icahn, whose wealth is estimated at $20 billion by Forbes magazine, has said his fund has invested about $2 billion in Apple. At that amount, Icahn would own less than a 1 percent stake in Apple.
Icahn, 77, has a long history of buying significant stakes in companies with a slumping stock price and then pressing the corporate leaders to pursue plans that he thinks would make the shares more valuable.
While Apple's market value of about $477 billion is more than any other publicly traded company, its stock prices has fallen about 25 percent from a peak 13 months ago. Investors have been worried about tougher competition facing Apple in the smartphone and table market, as well as the lack of a breakthrough product since the death of its chief visionary, Steve Jobs, two years ago. Those worries didn't dissipate with unveiling of Apple's latest iPads on Tuesday.
Apple's stock rose $5.09 Wednesday to close at $524.96.
Icahn believes Apple could lift its stock by taking advantage of low interest rates to borrow money to finance its proposed stock buybacks. The buybacks would fuel demand for Apple's stock and increase the company's earnings per share by reducing the amount of stock. Higher earnings per share usually lift a company's stock price.
Neither Apple nor Icahn responded to requests for comment on Wednesday.
In some instances, Icahn has threatened to try to oust corporate boards that don't follow his wishes. Icahn hasn't yet said whether he might pursue a shake-up at Apple if the company rebuffs him.
Icahn sent his letter to Cook the day after disclosing he had sold more than half his stake in one of his biggest successes, an investment in Internet movie service Netflix Inc.
In that instance, Icahn did little but give Netflix CEO Reed Hastings a vote of confidence at a time when the company had fallen out of favor. After accumulating a nearly 10 percent stake in Netflix while the stock was trading below $60 last year, Icahn reaped a pre-tax gain of nearly $800 million by selling 3 million shares at prices ranging from $304.23 to $341.44 earlier this month.
Icahn still owns nearly 2.7 million Netflix shares, leaving him with a 4.5 percent stake in the Los Gatos, Calif., company.
The decommissioned aircraft carrier Ex-USS Forrestal (CV 59) departs Naval Station Newport for a three-day cruise to Philadelphia in June, 2010.
MCCS Melissa F. Weatherspoon/U.S. Navy
The decommissioned aircraft carrier Ex-USS Forrestal (CV 59) departs Naval Station Newport for a three-day cruise to Philadelphia in June, 2010.
MCCS Melissa F. Weatherspoon/U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy's first "supercarrier" is being sold for just 1 cent to a ship breaker.
The ex-USS Forrestal, launched in 1954 and decommissioned in 1993, is the first of three conventional (non-nuclear) carriers due to be scrapped in the coming years. The Forrestal is best known for a devastating fire in 1967 that engulfed the ship's flight deck, killing 134 sailors and wounding 161 others.
Navy crewmen try to put out a fire aboard the USS Forrestal in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, July 29, 1967.
AP
Navy crewmen try to put out a fire aboard the USS Forrestal in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam, July 29, 1967.
AP
In a statement, the U.S. Navy says All Star Metals, which was awarded the contract for the ship, is developing a final tow plan to get the ship "from its current berth at the Navy's inactive ship facility in Philadelphia to All Star Metals' facility in Brownsville. The ship is expected to depart Philadelphia before the end of the year."
The minimal payment reflects the net price proposed by All Star Metals, "which considered the estimated proceeds from the sale of the scrap metal to be generated from dismantling," the statement said.
"[The] Forrestal was in the Gulf of Tonkin the morning of July 29, 1967, for the Vietnam War effort when stray voltage triggered a rocket to launch from an F-4 Phantom on the flight deck.
The rocket struck an armed A-4 Skyhawk — piloted by a young Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III — rupturing the fuel tanks and sparking a chain reaction of fires and explosions on the deck, which was parked full of planes.
The crew fought the flight deck fire for an hour, but other fires blazed into the next day."
The Navy says it made the Forrestal available for donation in June 1999 as a museum or memorial, but didn't get any viable offers.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Four female officials will be working a game between Division II Miles and Lane, in what appears to be a first for a college football game.
The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, an Atlanta-based league comprised of historically black schools, said Thursday night's game at Miles will mark the first time a mostly female officiating crew has worked any NCAA football game. The league said the NFL 's director of football officials David Coleman and director of recruiting Ron Baynes will attend the game to evaluate the officials' performance.
"This is a special opportunity for not only the group of ladies selected to officiate the game, but all officials in the SIAC," said Harold Mitchell, supervisor of officials for the SIAC and the Southwestern Athletic Conference. "Playing on a Thursday night is also a great opportunity for our (SIAC) officials to partner with officials from an FCS conference.
"To that point, it's also very important for everyone to understand that the selected crew are all outstanding officials, and not just females."
Yvonda Lewis will be the head linesman and work with line judge Tangela Mitchell, field judge Sabrina Brunson and back judge Krystle Apellaniz.
All four, who will work with former NFL player umpire Terry Killens, have risen through the NFL Officiating Development Program.
Brunson of Atlanta and Houston's Lewis have already made history. Brunson became the SIAC's first female official in 1995 and Lewis was the first woman to officiate in a SWAC game in 2009.
She has been working SIAC games since 2010.
Mitchell, who lives in Atlanta, and Apellaniz of Oviedo, Fla., both are in their first year in the SIAC.
A blindfolded man convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping and slaying of two policemen, awaits execution in Tehran in 2011.
Mohammad Hadi Khosravi/AP
A blindfolded man convicted of armed robbery, kidnapping and slaying of two policemen, awaits execution in Tehran in 2011.
Mohammad Hadi Khosravi/AP
Iran's justice minister says a convicted drug smuggler who survived an attempted execution by hanging earlier this month shouldn't go back to the gallows.
As we reported last week, the 37-year-old man, identified as Alireza M, was found alive in the morgue by his family following a 12-minute hanging. After the incident, an Iranian judge reportedly said Alireza would hang again once he had recovered from the botched execution.
Now, Iran's ISNA news agency quotes Justice Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi as saying that going ahead with a second execution attempt would have "[negative] repercussions for Iran's image," according to the BBC.
However, as the BBC notes, "The government has no direct control over the judiciary which has to decide whether a second execution takes place."
Amnesty International has condemned the "horrific prospect" of a second execution attempt for the man.
"[After] having gone through the whole ordeal already once, merely underlines the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty," Amnesty's Middle East and North Africa Program director Philip Luther said last week.
Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world.
There's a lot to love about USB. The plugs are small and convenient. The cable can carry both power and data. Plus, USB is, well, universal. This is why USB is considered by some to be the future of electricity. Smart grids, more convenient storage, solar power—according to a new Economist report it's all easier with USB.
Microsoft officially launched its Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets on Tuesday morning, stealing a few hours of the spotlight before Apple is expected to announce refreshed versions of the iPad later on Tuesday.
Microsoft kicked off with midnight launch parties at several Microsoft Stores, where customers could win several "challenges" and win a chance to be flown to Florida for a special Pitbull concert. Photos from the Westchester, N.Y. launch and the Dadeland Mall in Miami indicate that at least a few people showed up.
The Microsoft Surface 2 costs $449, and will be available in 32GB and 64GB configurations. Surface Pro 2 will come in 64GB and 128GB configurations with 4GB of RAM as well as 256GB and 512GB configurations with 8GB of RAM, with prices starting at $899. Some of the orders for the higher-end Surface Pro 2 options have been pushed back until December, although Microsoft has said that it may have some in stock at physical stores.
The thinner, backlit Touch Cover will cost $120, while the new Type Cover will sell for $130.
Over time, Microsoft's Surface Pro 2 could end up being the face of modular computing, with a docking station and so-called Power Cover debuting next year. But Microsoft has had to weather the embarrassment of writing down its first-generation Surface tablets to the tune of over $900 million, as demand for the pricey tablets fizzled. Microsoft then instituted a series of discounts to try to move its inventory, with limited success.
Same song, different verse
Unfortunately, early reviews of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 were middling. As with the first generation, the Surface hardware was almost uniformly praised, with reviewers generally panning the lack of Windows RT/Surface 2 apps within the Microsoft Store. PCWorld conducted its own hands-on of the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablet. Look for our own review within the next few days.
Below is a sampling of the Web's Surface reviews:
Engadget: Surface 2 review score: none. Engadget praised the tablet's battery life from going from "impressively long to ridiculously long" but noted the discrepancy between its emphasis on productivity and the lack of available apps. Although a "top-notch" product, "recommending the Surface becomes harder when there are other Windows tablets that cost less and run full Windows".
Surface Pro 2 review score: none. "When it came time to hand down a verdict on the first Surface Pro, we ultimately decided that, nice as it was, it felt compromised as both a laptop and a tablet," the site concluded. Buy a convertible ultrabook instead, the site recommended.
The Verge: Surface 2 review score: 7.1 out of 10. The Verge concluded that the Surface 2 marginally improves on the existing hardware, but was unimpressed by the battery life and the lack of available applications.
Surface Pro 2 review score: 7.8 out of 10. Again, too much was left unchanged from the previous generation, The Verge found, with not enough redemption from within the upgraded hardware.
Looks like Taylor Swift, queen of awards shows, will be performing a special version of her song Red with some HUGE country music names!
Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, bassist Edgar Meyer, Sam Bush, and percussionist Eric Darken will join the country cutie on stage during the Country Music Awards on November 6!
Sounds like it's gonna be a real good country-filled time! We can't wait!!
In addition to TSwift's performance, Jason Mraz will also be performing with Hunter Hayes and the Foo Fighters will be playing alongside Zac Brown Band!
Sounds like a cool fusion of country meets contemporary! So cool!!
We wonder when Swifty will start performingSweeter Than Fiction on the awards circuit! Hopefully soon!
Maybe we'll see her perform it at the Oscars! Ya know, when she wins her Oscar along with Meryl Streep for her role in The Giver!?!
Glitches in the HealthCare.gov website, shown here, are making the White House and its allies very nervous.
Uncredited/AP
President Obama radiated confidence when he took to the Rose Garden earlier this week to convince Americans that the flaws in the Affordable Care Act website would be fixed.
It's understandable that the president himself might be upbeat about the prospects of resolving the problems currently plaguing the technology behind the law.
But for anyone not named Obama, the apparent scale of the problems seems daunting. And it doesn't fuel a lot of optimism that the websites will be up and running by Dec. 15, the deadline for open enrollment under the new law. And that's despite the president's promised "tech surge" featuring "some of the best IT talent in the entire country," as Obama put it.
The Washington Post reported that experts say the problems need to be fixed by Thanksgiving to keep the program on track. But there are already murmurings the repair project could go past Dec. 15, reportsThe New York Times. The same story mentioned that potentially 5 million lines of computer code could need rewriting. If that's true, it sounds like it could be the code-writing equivalent of the D-Day invasion — massive, complex and arduous.
Which is not exactly what nervous Democrats want to hear. But they're sure to ask about it at an Obama administration briefing for House Democrats on the health law's travails scheduled for Wednesday morning. (House Republicans are requesting a similar briefing as well.)
For the congressional Democrats whose votes made the Affordable Care Act a reality and who will have to defend their support for the law in the 2014 midterm elections, the problems with the federal website are a political nightmare.
Not only do the website's problems embolden the Republican opposition to the law; they place Democrats on the defensive at a time when the party appears to have the advantage coming out of the shutdown/debt default crises.
Several recent polls suggest that Republicans greatly damaged themselves by forcing the crisis, a self-inflicted wound Democrats are eager to exploit. Some of the more ebullient Democrats even claimed that their chances for retaking the House had improved significantly.
But now there's a chance 2014 could find Democrats conducting their own version of damage control, as a result of the disastrous digital rollout.
They'll be looking for any assurances the White House can provide that the problems with the federal website will be ironed out so that the Obamacare timeline can continue as planned. The critical dates as of now are Dec. 15, when the open enrollment period ends; Jan. 1, when new policies sold by the December deadline are to take effect; and Feb. 15, the last day by which premiums must be paid for those hoping to avoid the individual mandate penalty.
But congressional Democrats may not receive assurances from the White House that those dates will be met. And based on how things have gone so far, they'd probably be skeptical if the White House gave them.
The mood within the Health and Human Services Department, as described in one recent report, probably wouldn't give Democrats reason for optimism. Yuval Levin, who worked on bioethics issues in the George W. Bush White House, talked with officials inside HHS and wrote about it for the conservative National Review last week:
"No one wants to say how long it might take, and no one would share with me what estimates they might be getting from their contractors (whom they no longer trust anyway), but there has so far been relatively little progress and it seems like everyone involved is preparing for a process that will take months, not weeks."
Levin goes on to say that HHS officials seem to be expecting that the enrollment period will be extended to March.
That, of course, could force the administration to do something Republican opponents of the law have asked it to do: delay the individual mandate provision. The mandate requires everyone to be insured by Feb. 15 or pay a penalty.
In short, the people who have some idea of what it takes to fix problems of the scale the Obama administration has ahead of it think it's a mission impossible to get all the needed work done in time to delay a central part of the law.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A dim view of the U.S. job market emerged Tuesday with a report that employers cut back on hiring in September just before a partial government shutdown began.
Just 148,000 jobs were added last month, a steep drop from August's gain, though they were enough to lower unemployment to 7.2 percent from 7.3 percent in August. The report bolsters expectations that the Federal Reserve will maintain its pace of bond purchases for the rest of 2013 to try to keep long-term loan rates low.
The government's release of the September jobs report had been delayed 2½ weeks by the shutdown. Temporary layoffs during the 16-day shutdown will probably depress October's job gain. That means a clear picture of the job market won't emerge before November jobs figures are issued in December.
"The economy is too fragile for the Federal Reserve to touch," Sung Won Sohn, an economist at California State University, said. "The shenanigans in Congress have hurt confidence and increased uncertainties, most likely hurting both consumer and business spending as well as hiring."
Average U.S. job growth has fallen sharply in the past three months after a promising start this year. The economy added an average of 143,000 jobs a month from July through September. That was down from the 182,000 average gain during from April through June and well below the 207,000-a-month pace from January through March.
The report "reinforces the impression that the labor market was losing a little momentum heading in to the shutdown," said Josh Feinman, global chief economist at Deutsche Asset and Wealth Management. "The labor market is continuing to create jobs. ...It's just frustratingly slow."
Stocks rose after the report was released, in part because slower job gains mean the Fed will continue its stimulus efforts. The Dow Jones industrial average was up about 50 points in midday trading.
Economists at Barclays now predict the Fed won't trim its bond purchases until March, much later than its previous forecast of December.
A tight job market has discouraged many Americans from looking for work. The percentage of Americans working or looking for work remained at a 35-year low last month.
The government doesn't count people as unemployed unless they are actively looking for work. Most of the drop in the unemployment rate this year has occurred because many people have either given up looking or have postponed their job searches by remaining in school.
The September jobs report showed that some higher-paying industries added jobs at a healthy pace. Construction companies, for example, added 20,000.
Lower-paying industries were mixed. Hotels and restaurants cut about 11,000 jobs, after strong hiring earlier this year. Retailers added 21,000 positions.
The budget impasse didn't stop Accumold, which makes components for medical devices, smartphones and other electronic goods, from boosting its workforce. CEO Roger Hargens said the Ankeny, Iowa-based company filled jobs in September and plans to add up to 65 to its 185-worker staff in the next few months.
Hargens says he is seeing more orders from customers who are shifting from Chinese manufacturers to U.S. suppliers.
"There's a big trend to move manufacturing back to the United States," he said. "It's really speeding up now for us."
Last month, average hourly U.S. pay ticked up 3 cents to $24.09. In the past year, pay has risen 2.1 percent, ahead of the 1.5 percent inflation rate.
The government revised its estimates of job growth in July and August to show a slight net gain of 9,000. It said employers added 193,000 jobs in August, more than the 169,000 previously estimated. But it said just 89,000 were added in July, the fewest in more than a year and below the earlier estimated 104,000.
The deceleration in job growth was a key reason the Fed decided in September to hold off on slowing its $85-billion-a-month in bond purchases. Many economists think the lack of clean data will lead the Fed to put off any decision on the bond purchases until 2014.
"It reinforces their hesitancy," Feinman said of the September jobs report. "It's more validation for their hesitancy to taper in September."
Many economists say the shutdown cut $25 billion out of the economy and slowed growth to about a 2 percent annual rate in the October-December quarter. That's down from estimates before the shutdown that the economy would expand at a 2.5 percent annual rate.
Robert Mellman, senior U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase, forecasts that October's job gains will be lower by about 35,000 because of cutbacks at government contractors and other companies affected by the shutdown. Many of those jobs will be regained in November.
Growth is expected to rise slightly in the first three months of next year, as consumers and businesses make purchases and investments that were delayed during the shutdown.
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Follow Chris Rugaber on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/ChrisRugaber
Say what you will about the cavalier bike messengers that give cyclists a bad name, but it doesn't change the fact that pedaling your way to work is better for both your health and the environment. Unfortunately, biking (especially in New York City) can feel a little, well, dangerous at times. ...
Chael Sonnen’s marketability and vicious trash talk have made him perhaps the most wanted man in MMA. Sonnen fighting is in such big demand, in fact, that he now has not just one but two opponents lined up.
Sonnen is already set to face former light heavyweight champ Rashad Evans in November at UFC 167. While interviewing his boss UFC president Dana White on a segment for Fox Sports Live – The American Gangster’s night job – Sonnen learned, however, that he will also be a coach on the third season of "The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil" opposite his nemesis Wandelei Silva.
"You two will coach The Ultimate Fighter. You will have a ton of security down there with you, and it should be a fun season," White told Sonnen, perhaps only half-joking about the need for security.
In interviews and in tweets, Sonnen has insulted many national Brazilian fight heroes and, indeed the entire country, often deriding them as being primitive. The xenophobic speech from Sonnen appeared to draw the sincere ire of Silva three years ago and Silva confronted Sonnen in person during an exchange caught on tape (video below).
Silva told Sonnen that he knew nothing of Brazil or its people and that he should keep quiet or that he could get hurt. Sonnen did not fire back at Silva in person but has since used the web and airwaves to hurl insults at the former champion.
Silva has since lobbied hard to fight Sonnen, but injuries will keep him out of action until 2014. White said that Silva and Sonnen will indeed fight one another after coaching on TUF: Brazil 3.
A date has not been set. Neither has a weight, for that matter. Both men have bounced around between middleweight and light heavyweight as of late.
In recent months, Silva has produced over the top, pro-wrestling style promo videos where he’s yelled at Sonnen through a camera and staged a confrontation at an expo, but his original, organic dressing down of Sonnen in a car while the pair were both doing UFC public relations activities is the real, enjoyable watch. We imagine being told, “In Brazil we have a saying – you have respect, you don’t lose your teeth,” by The Axe Murderer in a calm, even voice, is terrifying. Sonnen certainly looked a bit nervous.
We were so pleased for legacy UK music store HMV, when it turned up with a new iOS app last week. It seems Apple was a little bit over-excited too, having apparently mashed the approve button without really realizing what it was doing. HMV was selling music downloads via the new app, a massive ...
Okay, so remember that Human Ken Doll guy from a while back? The guy who had over 90 plastic surgery procedures until his face and body had been chiseled to doll-like perfection? Yeah, well some of us wanna look like Ken, and others– apparently– wanna look like Justin Bieber. Because. Justin Bieber is, ya know. The epitome of sexy… LOL. So yeah, this 33 year-old guy has spent the past five years of his life (and about $100,000… that I totally could have used for sooo many other things) to look like the Biebs. Click inside for more!
The Huffpost has the deets.. and these awful photos:
Not only is songwriter Toby Sheldon a 33-year-old Justin Bieber fan, his Bieber-devotion would blow teeny-bopping Beliebers out of the water.
That’s because Sheldon went so far as to spend almost $100,000 on five years worth of plastic surgery to make him look like his idol, according to the British tabloid Closer…
On top of Botox injections and hair transplants, Sheldon had costly “smile surgery” done to make his smile look just like Bieber’s, according to multiple reports.
“It’s Justin’s smile that gives him his youthful look. So I had my upper lip lifted [and] my bottom lip plumped out,” the musician told Closer.
Honestly? This guy’s face is making me so uncomfortable. What am I even looking at?! And has anyone told him that… um… he looks nothing like Justin Bieber? Or that– shocker of shockers– he actually looked much better before he dropped $100,000 on smile surgeries?! Madness, all kinds of madness.
No, for real. I can’t look at his face anymore. Your thoughts?
AAAOct. 22, 20139:17 AM ET Trains running after deal reached to end strike By LISA LEFF and SUDHIN THANAWALABy LISA LEFF and SUDHIN THANAWALA, Associated Press
With the BART transit system on strike, people line up along the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building to catch a ferry to Oakland, Calif., during the afternoon commute Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in San Francisco. Frustrated bay area commuters started the work week Monday facing gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day, increasing pressure on negotiators to reach a deal that resumes train service. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
With the BART transit system on strike, people line up along the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building to catch a ferry to Oakland, Calif., during the afternoon commute Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in San Francisco. Frustrated bay area commuters started the work week Monday facing gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day, increasing pressure on negotiators to reach a deal that resumes train service. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
With the BART transit system on strike, people line up along the Embarcadero near the Ferry Building and walk to catch a ferry to Oakland, Calif., during the afternoon commute Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in San Francisco. Frustrated San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the work week Monday facing gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day, increasing pressure on negotiators to reach a deal that resumes train service. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
With the BART transit system on strike, traffic slows on Interstate 80 leading to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during the morning commute Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the new work week on Monday with gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day. At the same time, federal investigators were searching for clues to a weekend train crash that killed two workers. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
With the BART transit system on strike, traffic slows on Interstate 80 leading to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge during the morning commute Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in Berkeley, Calif. San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the new work week on Monday with gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day. At the same time, federal investigators were searching for clues to a weekend train crash that killed two workers. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
A traffic sign on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge alerts motorists to expect delays because of the BART transit strike Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, in Oakland, Calif. Frustrated San Francisco Bay Area commuters started the work week on Monday with gridlocked roadways and long lines for buses and ferries as a major transit strike entered its fourth day. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco Bay Area's main commuter train system is running limited service Tuesday morning after a tentative deal was struck to end a commute-crippling four-day strike.
Bay Area Rapid Transit tweeted that riders should expect up to 45-minute delays system wide as the trains get back on track.
Union officials announced the deal Monday night. It still requires approval from union members, then from the Bay Area Rapid Transit's board of directors.
The talks between BART and its two largest unions dragged on for six months— a period that saw two chaotic dayslong strikes, contentious negotiations and frazzled commuters wondering if they would wake up to find the trains running or not.
Associated PressNews Topics: Business, General news, Labor unions, Strikes, Rail transportation industry, Labor negotiations, Labor issues, Social issues, Social affairs, Transportation and shipping, Industrial products and services, Industries, Personnel
NIH awards UT Southwestern $28.6M Clinical and Translational Science Award
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Russell Rian russell.rian@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Oct. 21, 2013 UT Southwestern Medical Center has received a new $28.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to promote rapid translation of basic laboratory findings into patient care.
The grant, a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), will be administered through the Center for Translational Medicine at UT Southwestern. With this award, UT Southwestern will join a national Clinical and Translational Science Award consortium that includes 61 medical research institutions working collaboratively to improve bench-to-bedside translation across the country.
The Center for Translational Medicine leverages the scientific strengths of UT Southwestern and the institutions broad base of clinical practice. The new state-of-the art William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, opening in 2014, will provide an important opportunity to expand clinical research and ensure that new knowledge is effectively disseminated to improve patient care.
Advancing a new therapy or medicine from the moment of discovery to the hands of physicians is a significant challenge from a scientific, regulatory, and practical standpoint, said Dr. Robert Toto, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine. Our vision is to better enable investigators to discover, translate, and disseminate new knowledge that improves the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and effective treatment of disease, said Dr. Toto, who is also Principal Investigator of UT Southwesterns CTSA.
UT Southwesterns first CTSA, which was funded in 2007 and directed by Dr. Milton Packer, established highly successful programs to educate and train clinical and translational scientists, provided pilot grants, and bolstered biomedical informatics (BMI), biostatistics, population research, community health science, and patient-centered outcomes research.
The award will take advantage of the new Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the two hospital affiliates now under construction: the William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and the new Parkland Memorial Hospital. Both hospitals incorporate novel design elements to seamlessly support translational research alongside the clinical care provided.The latest award from NIHs National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences will build upon these many accomplishments. Moreover, several new clinical and translational researchers have been recruited into leadership positions, and the infrastructure to support biomedical researchers has been enhanced.
UT Southwesterns Center for Translational Medicine will focus on programs to:
Identify and validate clinically relevant targets for therapies and diagnosis.
Promote the discovery of new disease-causing genes.
Enhance the ability to assess disease presence and predict progression using state-of-the-art imaging and biomarker analysis.
Augment programs in population science and community engagement to promote the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases to improve overall health.
As a result of receiving this new funding, clinical and translational researchers will have improved access to new technologies and imaging equipment; assistance for statistical analysis, including analysis of very large data sets; and development of assays to measure biomarkers and metabolites. In addition, the Center will have a centralized repository for tissue specimens that will be made available to researchers.
UT Southwestern excels in biomedical research across the spectrum of translational science, which makes the medical center a perfect fit for this award, said Dr. Toto, Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences. The best research evolves from the unique collaborations found at academic medical centers, and UT Southwestern is well recognized for its fluent interactions between scientists and clinicians who work in diverse specialties. Doing so is a tradition and principle that the medical center was founded on.
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About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has many distinguished members, including five who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 90,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 1.9 million outpatient visits a year.
This news release is available on our home page at utsouthwestern.edu/home/news/index.html
To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email, subscribe at utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews
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NIH awards UT Southwestern $28.6M Clinical and Translational Science Award
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Russell Rian russell.rian@utsouthwestern.edu 214-648-3404 UT Southwestern Medical Center
DALLAS Oct. 21, 2013 UT Southwestern Medical Center has received a new $28.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to promote rapid translation of basic laboratory findings into patient care.
The grant, a Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA), will be administered through the Center for Translational Medicine at UT Southwestern. With this award, UT Southwestern will join a national Clinical and Translational Science Award consortium that includes 61 medical research institutions working collaboratively to improve bench-to-bedside translation across the country.
The Center for Translational Medicine leverages the scientific strengths of UT Southwestern and the institutions broad base of clinical practice. The new state-of-the art William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital, opening in 2014, will provide an important opportunity to expand clinical research and ensure that new knowledge is effectively disseminated to improve patient care.
Advancing a new therapy or medicine from the moment of discovery to the hands of physicians is a significant challenge from a scientific, regulatory, and practical standpoint, said Dr. Robert Toto, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research and Director of the Center for Translational Medicine. Our vision is to better enable investigators to discover, translate, and disseminate new knowledge that improves the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and effective treatment of disease, said Dr. Toto, who is also Principal Investigator of UT Southwesterns CTSA.
UT Southwesterns first CTSA, which was funded in 2007 and directed by Dr. Milton Packer, established highly successful programs to educate and train clinical and translational scientists, provided pilot grants, and bolstered biomedical informatics (BMI), biostatistics, population research, community health science, and patient-centered outcomes research.
The award will take advantage of the new Childrens Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern, the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the two hospital affiliates now under construction: the William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital and the new Parkland Memorial Hospital. Both hospitals incorporate novel design elements to seamlessly support translational research alongside the clinical care provided.The latest award from NIHs National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences will build upon these many accomplishments. Moreover, several new clinical and translational researchers have been recruited into leadership positions, and the infrastructure to support biomedical researchers has been enhanced.
UT Southwesterns Center for Translational Medicine will focus on programs to:
Identify and validate clinically relevant targets for therapies and diagnosis.
Promote the discovery of new disease-causing genes.
Enhance the ability to assess disease presence and predict progression using state-of-the-art imaging and biomarker analysis.
Augment programs in population science and community engagement to promote the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases to improve overall health.
As a result of receiving this new funding, clinical and translational researchers will have improved access to new technologies and imaging equipment; assistance for statistical analysis, including analysis of very large data sets; and development of assays to measure biomarkers and metabolites. In addition, the Center will have a centralized repository for tissue specimens that will be made available to researchers.
UT Southwestern excels in biomedical research across the spectrum of translational science, which makes the medical center a perfect fit for this award, said Dr. Toto, Professor of Internal Medicine and Clinical Sciences. The best research evolves from the unique collaborations found at academic medical centers, and UT Southwestern is well recognized for its fluent interactions between scientists and clinicians who work in diverse specialties. Doing so is a tradition and principle that the medical center was founded on.
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About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has many distinguished members, including five who have been awarded Nobel Prizes since 1985. Numbering more than 2,700, the faculty is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide medical care in 40 specialties to nearly 90,000 hospitalized patients and oversee more than 1.9 million outpatient visits a year.
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VIENNA (AP) — Iran nuclear talks ended last week with enthusiastic pronouncements of progress from negotiators. Tehran's willingness to engage is a big step, but diplomats familiar with the meeting also say significant gaps remain between what the Iranians offered and what the six negotiating powers seek in order to reduce fears Iran wants to build nuclear weapons.
Details of the Iranian offer remain confidential, but two diplomats agreed to give The Associated Press some insight. They demanded anonymity because they are under orders not to discuss the issue.
The diplomats said the chief advance achieved at Geneva was not detailed Iranian concessions, but Tehran's apparent willingness to engage the six powers on their concerns — a departure from previous Iranian refusal to even discuss most of the other side's demands.
Differences remain over the size and output of Iran's enrichment program, which can create both reactor fuel and weapons-grade material suitable for a nuclear bomb.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, refused to confirm the characterization of negotiations, saying only that his country "introduced the framework for the talks" during the meeting and that they were welcomed. He said that Iran and the six powers had agreed to keep details confidential.
Iran, which denies any interest in such weapons, currently runs over 10,000 centrifuges that have created tons of fuel-grade material that can be further enriched to arm nuclear warheads. That's a relatively slow process with such reactor-grade material.
But Tehran also has nearly 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of higher-enriched uranium in a form that can be turned into weapons much more quickly. Experts say 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of 20 percent-enriched uranium are needed to produce a single warhead
The following is a list of demands on Iran from the six powers — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — and what the diplomats say Tehran offered at the Geneva talks:
SUSPENSION OF ENRICHMENT ABOVE REACTOR FUEL-GRADE LEVELS
— The six want Iran to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent. The diplomats say Iran offered to halt 20-percent enrichment at the Geneva talks, which ended Wednesday. They had already proposed this at the round preceding the Geneva talks.
ENRICHMENT AT FORDO
—The six demand that enrichment operations at Fordo, an underground bunker believed to be impervious to air strikes, be disabled to the point where they would be difficult to restart. The diplomats say Iran offered only to discuss the status of Fordo.
LIMITS ON ALL IRANIAN ENRICHMENT
— The six powers want a cap on how much enriched material Iran can produce and stockpile. With some of Iran's enriching centrifuges more efficient than others, this would mean tough negotiations on the number and type of machines it has installed and is operating. The diplomats say Iran has signaled it is open to discussing numbers.
URANIUM STOCKPILES
—The six powers want Tehran to ship out most of its supply of 20-percent enriched uranium or blend it down into reactor fuel. They also want Iran to agree to stricter U.N. supervision of its lower-grade enriched uranium stockpile. The diplomats said the Iranians did not substantially address these demands.
Additionally, the diplomats said the Iranians agreed to discuss six power concerns about a reactor that experts say will produce enough plutonium for one or two bombs a year once completed. The U.S. and its allies have called on Tehran to stop construction of that reactor.
Araghchi predicted Monday the nuclear talks could take as long as a year in step-by-step measures with the first milestone coming in three to six months and negotiations concluding within the year.
Such as a timetable, however, could bring pressure on Washington from Israel and others that fear Iran could be seeking to buy time while making nuclear advances. The diplomats said no formal implementation time table of any deal was discussed last week.
In contrast to the overture on nuclear efforts, hardline factions in Iran have increased their bluster. They hold sway over the pace and direction of the nuclear program and the West could grow increasingly skeptical about the country's outreach.
On Tuesday, Gen. Masoud Jazayri, the deputy chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, issued a veiled warning to the negotiators representing Tehran at the talks.
"Iranian diplomats will never give in to the oppressive West," Jazayri was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars new agency. "The Iranian people will carefully watch what their own representatives and the other party at the talks say and do."
Experts from both sides are to meet at a yet unannounced date before the next round of talks in Geneva Nov. 7-8. The diplomats said that only if that meeting makes progress in nailing down concrete issues to be negotiated at the Geneva talks can last week's round be called a success.
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Associated Press writers Brian Murphy in Dubai and Nasser Karimi in Tehran contributed to this report.
ABC Family has tapped two familiar faces to join its comedy pilot Work Mom.
Grey's Anatomy alum Brandon Scott and The Secret Life of the American Teenager's Renee Olstead have nabbed series regular roles on the workplace comedy pilot from Bunheads duo Grant Levy and Dominik Rothbard.
Work Mom follows Heather (Olstead), who finally gets promoted at her digital marketing firm and winds up hiring her recently unemployed mother, Eden (The New Adventures of Old Christine'sEmily Rutherfurd).
Scott will play Craig, an employee at Pow Marketing who is sweet and idealistic in his approach to both people and work. He's good at inspiring others but needs to apply some of that can-do attitude to his personal life. He recommended Heather (Olstead) for the "Team Leader" promotion and believes she's good at maximizing profits in a division of the firm. He's also quietly attracted to her but she's blind to his interest. He takes Eden under his wing and explains her duties to her.
Olstead will portray Heather, Eden's daughter, who is comfortably intimate with her mother. She's a new hire at Pow, described as focused, sharp and goal-oriented -- unlike most of her new cohorts. After she unexpectedly gets a big promotion, she feels pressure to get the just-fired Eden a job and does -- in the lowest possible position.
Bunheads alums Levyand Rothbard will pen the pilot, which was picked up in August -- a month after ABC Family canceledBunheads after one season.
Scott was in the ABC Diversity showcase last year and had a comedy holding deal with the network and was released to film the BET comedy pilot What Would Dylan Do. Repped by Innovative Artists and Sweeney Entertainment, his credits include Hello Cupid, NCIS: LA, Bones and Cold Case.
For her part, Olstead will return to the network on which she starred as Madison in The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which was canceled last year after five seasons. Repped by Paradigm, Strong Management and Morris Yorn, her credits also include Still Standing and Reunited.
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Amnesty International called on the U.S. to investigate reports of civilians killed and wounded by CIA drone strikes in Pakistan in a report released Tuesday that provided new details about the alleged victims of the attacks, including a 68-year-old grandmother hit while farming with her grandchildren.
Mamana Bibi's grandchildren told the London-based rights group that she was killed by missile fire on Oct. 24, 2012, as she was collecting vegetables in a family field in the North Waziristan tribal area, a major militant sanctuary near the Afghan border. Three of Bibi's grandchildren were wounded in the strike, as were several others who were nearby, the victims said.
The U.S. considers its drone program to be a key weapon against insurgent groups that it says stages cross-border forays into neighboring Afghanistan. But the belief, widespread in Pakistan, that the strikes kill large numbers of civilians sparks resentment and complicates the two countries' ability to coordinate efforts against militants based in the country, including al-Qaida.
An even deadlier incident noted by the report — titled "'Will I be next?' U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan"— occurred in North Waziristan on July 6, 2012. Witnesses said a volley of missiles hit a tent where a group of men had gathered for an evening meal after work, and then a second struck those who came to help the wounded, one of a number of attacks that have hit rescuers, the rights group said.
Witnesses and relatives said that total of 18 male laborers with no links to militant groups died, according to Amnesty. Pakistani intelligence officials at the time identified the dead as suspected militants.
The U.S. did not respond to request for comment on the strike. President Barack Obama said during a speech in May that the U.S. does not conduct a drone strike unless there is "near-certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured." But Amnesty said the U.S. is so secretive about the program that there is no way to tell what steps it takes to prevent civilian casualties. They say it has "failed to commit to conduct investigations" into alleged deaths that have already occurred.
Several different organizations have tried to track the number of civilian casualties from nearly ten years of drone strikes in Pakistan, including the Long War Journal website, the New America Foundation think tank and the Bureau of Investigative journalism. These groups indicated that the attacks have killed between 2,065 and 3,613 people, the report said. Between 153 and 926 were thought to be civilians.
Amnesty said it is concerned that the attacks outlined in the report and others may have resulted in unlawful killings that constitute extrajudicial executions or war crimes, even though the U.S. insists the strikes are legal.
"We cannot find any justification for these killings. There are genuine threats to the USA and its allies in the region, and drone strikes may be lawful in some circumstances," said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty International's Pakistan researcher. "But it is hard to believe that a group of laborers, or an elderly woman surrounded by her grandchildren, were endangering anyone at all, let alone posing an imminent threat to the United States."
Amnesty called on the U.S. to comply with its obligations under international law by investigating the killings documented in the report and providing victims with "full reparation."
The U.S. carried out its first drone strike in Pakistan in 2004 and has carried out nearly 350 more since then, the majority of which have been in North Waziristan. President Barack Obama significantly ramped up attacks when he took office in 2009, and the number peaked the following year with over 100 strikes. The frequency has steadily dropped since then, partly because of growing tension between Pakistan and the U.S. There have only been around two dozen strikes so far this year.
Pakistani officials regularly denounce the attacks in public as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but senior members of the government and the military are known to have supported the strikes in the past.
"Amnesty International is also extremely concerned about the failure of the Pakistani authorities to protect and enforce the rights of victims of drone strikes," said the report. "Pakistan has a duty to independently and impartially investigate all drone strikes in the country and ensure access to justice and reparation for victims of violations."
Amnesty said victims they interviewed with no apparent connection to militant groups have either received no compensation or inadequate assistance from the Pakistani government.
The top political official in North Waziristan gave Bibi's family around $100 to cover medical expenses for the children injured in the strike, even though the total cost to the family, including loss of livestock and repairs to their home, was around $9,500, the rights group said. None of the victims in the attack on the laborers received compensation, Amnesty said.
The U.S. drone policy sets a dangerous precedent "that other states may seek to exploit to avoid responsibility for their own unlawful killings," said Amnesty.
"The USA and Pakistan both have obligations under international law to investigate these and any other cases where unlawful killings might have occurred, and deliver justice," said the report. "But the USA's persistent refusal to acknowledge these strikes, coupled with Pakistan's ambiguous attitude towards the drone program and limited governance in the Tribal Areas, make it almost impossible for victims to secure the redress they need."
Say what you will about the cavalier bike messengers that give cyclists a bad name, but it doesn't change the fact that pedaling your way to work is better for both your health and the environment. Unfortunately, biking (especially in New York City) can feel a little, well, dangerous at times. ...
We were so pleased for legacy UK music store HMV, when it turned up with a new iOS app last week. It seems Apple was a little bit over-excited too, having apparently mashed the approve button without really realizing what it was doing. HMV was selling music downloads via the new app, a massive ...
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