TOKYO (Reuters) ? Canon Inc said on Monday its president Tsuneji Uchida would step down and his role would be taken on by chairman and chief executive Fujio Mitarai after the camera and printer maker forecast much weaker-than-expected earnings growth for this year.
Like other Japanese exporters, Canon, which makes 80 percent of its revenue overseas, has been buffeted by the strong yen, a weak economic outlook and the floods in Thailand, although it has been quite aggressive in countering these challenges by cutting costs and increasing automation.
"Owing to the historically high valuation of the yen combined with the effects of the earthquake and floods, all of Canon's businesses faced extremely demanding conditions throughout the year," the company said in a statement.
Canon said Uchida would resign effective March 29, to be replaced by Mitarai, who served as president from 1995 to 2006 but has since held the post of chairman.
Canon forecast a full-year operating profit of 390 billion yen ($5.1 billion) for the current year to December 2012, below expectations of a 470 billion yen profit based on the average of 20 estimates by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
The company also posted a slightly better-than-forecast 14 percent rise in fourth-quarter operating profit to 94.6 billion yen, in line with consensus expectations.
Operating profit for the full year to December was 378.1 billion yen, down from 387.5 billion yen in the previous year but beating the average of 20 analyst forecasts for a profit of 372 billion yen.
Canon, which competes with Xerox in printers and Nikon and Sony Corp in cameras, aims to sell 9.2 million interchangeable lens cameras and 22 million compact cameras in the year to December, compared with 7.2 million and 18.7 million, respectively, last year.
Its shares have fallen about 18 percent since the start of last year, slightly worse than the benchmark Nikkei average's 14 percent drop.
Xerox lowered its outlook for 2012 this month, on expectations that the debt crisis in Europe would hurt its business.
($1 = 76.67 yen)
(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Edwina Gibbs)
FILE - In this March 16, 2011 photo, steam escapes from Exelon Corp.'s nuclear plant in Byron, Ill. A nuclear reactor the plant shut down Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators. (AP Photo/Robert Ray, File)
FILE - In this March 16, 2011 photo, steam escapes from Exelon Corp.'s nuclear plant in Byron, Ill. A nuclear reactor the plant shut down Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators. (AP Photo/Robert Ray, File)
FILE - In this March 16, 2011 photo, steam escapes from Exelon Corp.'s nuclear plant in Byron, Ill. A nuclear reactor the plant shut down Monday, Jan. 30, 2012 after losing power, and steam was being vented to reduce pressure, according to officials from Exelon Nuclear and federal regulators. (AP Photo/Robert Ray, File)
CHICAGO (AP) ? Officials are investigating the events surrounding a power failure at a nuclear reactor in northern Illinois, where steam was vented to reduce pressure after it shut down.
After the shut down Monday morning at Exelon Nuclear's Byron Generating Station, operators began releasing steam to cool the reactor from the part of the plant where turbines are producing electricity, not from within the nuclear reactor itself, officials said. The steam contains low levels of tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, but federal and plant officials insisted the levels were safe for workers and the public.
Diesel generators were supplying the reactor with electricity, though it hasn't been generating power during the investigation into what happened. One question is why smoke was seen from an onsite station transformer, though no evidence of a fire was found when the plant's fire brigade responded, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Viktoria Mitlyng said.
Exelon Nuclear officials believe a failed piece of equipment at a switchyard at the plant about 95 miles northwest of Chicago caused the shutdown, but they were still investigating an exact cause. The switchyard is similar to a large substation that delivers power to the plant from the electrical grid and from the plant to the electrical grid.
The commission declared the incident an "unusual event," the lowest of four levels of emergency. Commission officials also said the release of tritium was expected.
Mitlyng said officials can't yet calculate how much tritium was being released. They know the amounts were small because monitors around the plant didn't show increased levels of radiation, she said.
Tritium molecules are so microscopic that small amounts are able to pass from radioactive steam that originates in the reactor through tubing and into the water used to cool turbines and other equipment outside the reactor, Mitlyng said. The steam that was being released was coming from the turbine side.
Tritium is relatively short-lived and penetrates the body weakly through the air compared to other radioactive contaminants.
Releasing steam helps "take away some of that energy still being produced by nuclear reaction but that doesn't have anywhere to go now," Mitlyng said. Even though the turbine is not turning to produce electricity, she said, "you still need to cool the equipment."
Candace Humphrey, Ogle County's emergency management coordinator, said county officials were notified of the incident as soon as it happened and that public safety was never in danger.
"It was standard procedure that they would notify county officials," she said. "There is always concern. But, it never crossed my mind that there was any danger to the people of Ogle County."
Another reactor at the plant was operating normally.
In March 2008, federal officials said they were investigating a problem with electrical transformers at the plant after outside power to a unit was interrupted.
In an unrelated issue last April, the commission said it was conducting special inspections of backup water pumps at the Byron and Braidwood generating stations after the agency's inspectors raised concerns about whether the pumps would be able to cool the reactors if the normal system wasn't working. The plants' operator, Exelon Corp., initially said the pumps would work but later concluded they wouldn't.
HAVANA ? Cuba's Communist leaders vowed not to cede any ground to "the enemy," even as they pledged to fight corruption and continue overhauling the island's listing Marxist economy with an injection of free market reform.
No word of long-awaited political changes ? including an April pledge by President Raul Castro to implement term limits ? seeped out of the first day of the closed-door party conference. Nor was there any hint of changes to the aged upper ranks of the party hierarchy. President Raul Castro is 80, and his two top deputies are 81 and 79, respectively.
Castro has spoken of the need to revitalize the island's leadership, but has complained there are few young leaders ready to step up. He, or his now-retired brother Fidel, have ruled the country since their 1959 revolution.
"Making the necessary changes, but without the smallest concession to the enemy," read the headline in Sunday's official Juventud Rebelde newspaper, an apparent reference to the United States and other government opponents.
The theme was echoed by delegates at the conference in snippets of the session shown on state television
"The enemy is waiting to create internal problems for us," Angel Bueno warned fellow attendees.
Raul Castro was to address the delegates in a closing speech Sunday, according to state-run website Cubadebate, though it was not clear if his words would be televised or rebroadcast at some point. Attendees did pledge to boost the ranks of women, Afro-Cubans and young people in the party and government, and noted that women currently make up 37 percent of the government, and 41 percent of delegates to the island's National Assembly.
But there were no concrete resolutions, and Castro's recent comments not to expect fireworks out of the internal meetings dampened expectations any major announcements were coming.
The meetings are a follow-up to last April's historic party summit, which opened up long-shut doors of economic opportunity by green-lighting the legalization of home and car sales, expansion of private-sector activity and extension of loans to support farmers, entrepreneurs and homeowners.
Foreign journalists were not allowed access to the weekend event.
State-run website Cubadebate showed photos of Castro presiding over the conference wearing a gray blazer and a dark, open-collar shirt, with what appeared to be a small bandage on the tip of his nose. There was no word of any appearance by Fidel Castro, who was greeted with a standing ovation and some tears at the April congress.
In a brief snippet of video posted on Cubadebate, Vice President Jose Ramon Machado Ventura said in a keynote speech that the conference would focus on "the everyday work of the organization."
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Follow Paul Haven at http://www.twitter.com/paulhaven/
TEHRAN, Iran ? A U.N. nuclear team arrived in Tehran early Sunday for a mission expected to focus on Iran's alleged attempt to develop nuclear weapons.
The U.N. nuclear agency delegation includes two senior weapons experts ? Jacques Baute of France and Neville Whiting of South Africa ? suggesting that Iran may be prepared to address some issues related to the allegations.
The delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency is led by Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts, who is in charge of the Iran nuclear file. Also on the team is Rafael Grossi, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano's right-hand man.
In unusually blunt comments ahead of his arrival in Tehran, Nackaerts urged Iran to work with his mission on probing the allegations about Iran's alleged attempts to develop nuclear weapons, reflecting the importance the IAEA is attaching to the issue.
Tehran has refused to discuss the alleged weapons experiments for three years, saying they are based on "fabricated documents" provided by a "few arrogant countries" ? a phrase authorities in Iran often use to refer to the United States and its allies.
Ahead of his departure, Nackaerts told reporters at Vienna airport he hopes Iran "will engage with us on all concerns."
"So we're looking forward to the start of a dialogue," he said: "A dialogue that is overdue since very long."
In a sign of the difficulties the team faces and the tensions that surround Iran's disputed nuclear program, a dozen Iranian hard-liners carrying photos of slain nuclear expert Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan were waiting at Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport early Sunday to challenge the team upon arrival.
That prompted security officials to whisk the IAEA team away from the tarmac to avoid any confrontation with the hard-liners.
Iran's official IRNA news agency confirmed the team's arrival and said the IAEA experts are likely to visit the underground Fordo uranium enrichment site near the holy city of Qom, 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of the capital, Tehran.
During their three-day visit, the IAEA team will be looking for permission to talk to key Iranian scientists suspected of working on a weapons program, inspect documents related to such suspected work and secure commitments from Iranian authorities to allow future visits to sites linked to such allegations. But even a decision to enter a discussion over the allegations would be a major departure from Iran's frequent simple refusal to talk about them.
The United States and its allies want Iran to halt its enrichment of uranium, which they worry could eventually lead to weapons-grade material and the production of nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is for peaceful purposes, such as generating electricity and producing medical radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.
Iran has accused the IAEA in the past of security leaks that expose its scientists and their families to the threat of assassination by the U.S. and Israel.
Iranian state media say Roshan, a chemistry expert and director of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility in central Iran, was interviewed by IAEA inspectors before being killed in a brazen bomb attack in Tehran earlier this month.
Iranian media have urged the government to be vigil, saying some IAEA inspectors are "spies," reflecting the deep suspicion many in Iran have for the U.N. experts sent to inspect Iran's nuclear sites.
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AP writer George Jahn contributed to this report from Vienna.
Genetic regulation of metabolomic biomarkers paths to cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetesPublic release date: 29-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Samuli Ripatti samuli.ripatti@fimm.fi 358-206-108-159 University of Helsinki
In a study to the genetic variance of human metabolism, researchers have identified thirty one regions of the genome that were associated with levels of circulating metabolites, i.e., small molecules that take part in various chemical reactions of human body. Many of the studied metabolites are biomarkers for cardiovascular disease or related disorders, thus the loci uncovered may provide valuable insight into the biological processes leading to common diseases.
Laboratory tests used in the clinic typically monitor one or few circulating metabolites. The researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) used a high throughput method called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that can measure more than hundred different metabolites in one assay. This provides a much more in-depth picture of circulating metabolic compounds.
"Using this extensive analysis in thousands of people, we could identify a large number of genetic loci regulating the level of compounds circulating in the blood stream", says Dr. Samuli Ripatti, the leader of the study.
The team assayed 117 detailed metabolic markers, including lipoprotein subclasses, amino acids and lipids, and conducted the largest genome-wide association analysis of this type, in terms of study sample size of 8330 individuals from six Finnish population-based cohorts and 7.7 million genomic markers studied. They revealed, in total, 31 genetic regions associated with the blood levels of the metabolites.
Eleven of the loci had not been previously shown to be associated with any metabolic measures.
Among the findings were two new loci affecting serum cholesterol subclass measures, well-established risk markers for cardiovascular disease, and five new loci affecting levels of amino acids recently discovered to be potential biomarkers for type 2 diabetes. The discovered variants have significant effects on the metabolite levels, the effect sizes being in general considerably larger than the known common variants for complex disease have.
Also, using Finnish twin pair samples, the researchers indicated that the metabolite levels show a high degree of heritability. "This result suggests that the studied metabolites are describing better the underlying biology than the routinely used laboratory tests. Therefore, the study provides further support for the use of detailed data on multitude of metabolites in genetic studies to provide novel biological insights and to help in elucidating the processes leading to common diseases", Dr. Ripatti says.
###
Dr. Samuli Ripatti is a FIMM-EMBL Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Finland (http://www.fimm.fi) and a Honorary Faculty Member at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK (http://www.sanger.ac.uk)
The Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM is an international research institute focusing on building a bridge from discovery to medical applications. FIMM investigates molecular mechanisms of disease using genomics and medical systems biology in order to promote human health. FIMM is a multi-disciplinary institute combining high-quality science with unique research cohorts and patient materials, and state-of-the-art technologies. Website http://www.fimm.fi
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. Website http://www.sanger.ac.uk/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Genetic regulation of metabolomic biomarkers paths to cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetesPublic release date: 29-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Samuli Ripatti samuli.ripatti@fimm.fi 358-206-108-159 University of Helsinki
In a study to the genetic variance of human metabolism, researchers have identified thirty one regions of the genome that were associated with levels of circulating metabolites, i.e., small molecules that take part in various chemical reactions of human body. Many of the studied metabolites are biomarkers for cardiovascular disease or related disorders, thus the loci uncovered may provide valuable insight into the biological processes leading to common diseases.
Laboratory tests used in the clinic typically monitor one or few circulating metabolites. The researchers at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM) used a high throughput method called nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that can measure more than hundred different metabolites in one assay. This provides a much more in-depth picture of circulating metabolic compounds.
"Using this extensive analysis in thousands of people, we could identify a large number of genetic loci regulating the level of compounds circulating in the blood stream", says Dr. Samuli Ripatti, the leader of the study.
The team assayed 117 detailed metabolic markers, including lipoprotein subclasses, amino acids and lipids, and conducted the largest genome-wide association analysis of this type, in terms of study sample size of 8330 individuals from six Finnish population-based cohorts and 7.7 million genomic markers studied. They revealed, in total, 31 genetic regions associated with the blood levels of the metabolites.
Eleven of the loci had not been previously shown to be associated with any metabolic measures.
Among the findings were two new loci affecting serum cholesterol subclass measures, well-established risk markers for cardiovascular disease, and five new loci affecting levels of amino acids recently discovered to be potential biomarkers for type 2 diabetes. The discovered variants have significant effects on the metabolite levels, the effect sizes being in general considerably larger than the known common variants for complex disease have.
Also, using Finnish twin pair samples, the researchers indicated that the metabolite levels show a high degree of heritability. "This result suggests that the studied metabolites are describing better the underlying biology than the routinely used laboratory tests. Therefore, the study provides further support for the use of detailed data on multitude of metabolites in genetic studies to provide novel biological insights and to help in elucidating the processes leading to common diseases", Dr. Ripatti says.
###
Dr. Samuli Ripatti is a FIMM-EMBL Group Leader at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, Finland (http://www.fimm.fi) and a Honorary Faculty Member at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, UK (http://www.sanger.ac.uk)
The Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland FIMM is an international research institute focusing on building a bridge from discovery to medical applications. FIMM investigates molecular mechanisms of disease using genomics and medical systems biology in order to promote human health. FIMM is a multi-disciplinary institute combining high-quality science with unique research cohorts and patient materials, and state-of-the-art technologies. Website http://www.fimm.fi
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally. Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease. Website http://www.sanger.ac.uk/
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON ? Fuzzy math, Illinois State University's president called it. "Political theater of the worst sort," said the University of Washington's head.
President Barack Obama's new plan to force colleges and universities to contain tuition or face losing federal dollars is raising alarm among education leaders who worry about the threat of government overreach. Particularly sharp words came from the presidents of public universities; they're already frustrated by increasing state budget cuts.
The reality, said Illinois State's Al Bowman, is that simple changes cannot easily overcome deficits at many public schools. He said he was happy to hear Obama, in a speech Friday at the University of Michigan, urge state-level support of public universities. But, Bowman said, given the decreases in state aid, tying federal support to tuition prices is a product of fuzzy math.
Illinois has lowered public support for higher education by about one-third over the past decade when adjusted for inflation. Illinois State, with 21,000 students, has raised tuition almost 47 percent since 2007, from $6,150 a year for an in-state undergraduate student to $9,030.
"Most people, including the president, assume if universities were simply more efficient they would be able to operate with much smaller state subsidies, and I believe there are certainly efficiency gains that can be realized," Bowman said. "But they pale in comparison to the loss in state support."
Bowman said the undergraduate experience can be made cheaper, but there are trade-offs.
"You could hire mostly part-time, adjunct faculty. You could teach in much larger lecture halls, but the things that would allow you achieve the greatest levels of efficiency would dilute the product and would make it something I wouldn't be willing to be part of," he said.
At Washington, President Mike Young said Obama showed he did not understand how the budgets of public universities work.
Young said the total cost to educate college students in his state, which is paid for by both tuition and state government dollars, has gone down because of efficiencies on campus. While universities are tightening costs, the state is cutting their subsidies and authorizing tuition increases to make up for the loss.
"They really should know better," Young said. "This really is political theater of the worst sort."
Obama's plan would need approval by Congress, a hard sell in an atmosphere of partisan gridlock.
In his State of the Union address Tuesday, Obama described meeting with university presidents who explained how some schools curtailed costs through technology and redesigning courses to help students finish more quickly. He said more schools need to take such steps.
Obama said at Michigan that higher education has become an imperative for success in America, but the cost has grown unrealistic for too many families and the debt burden unbearable. He said states should properly fund colleges and universities.
"We are putting colleges on notice," Obama told an arena packed with cheering students. "You can't assume that you'll just jack up tuition every single year. If you can't stop tuition from going up, then the funding you get from taxpayers each year will go down."
Obama is targeting only a small part of the financial aid picture: the $3 billion known as campus-based aid that flows through college administrators to students. He is proposing to increase that amount to $10 billion and change how it is distributed to reward schools that hold down costs and ensure that more poor students complete their education.
The bulk of the more than $140 billion in federal grants and loans goes directly to students and would not be affected.
The average in-state tuition and fees at four-year public colleges this school year rose 8.3 percent and with room and board now exceed $17,000 a year, according to the College Board.
Rising tuition costs have been attributed to a variety of factors, among them a decline in state dollars and competition for the best facilities and professors. Critics say some higher education institutions are attempting to wait out the economic downturn and have been too reluctant to make large-scale changes that would cut costs such as offering three-year degree programs.
The federal government's leverage to take on the rising cost of college is limited because higher education is decentralized, with most student aid following the student.
The response to Obama's plan wasn't all negative. Many university presidents said they welcome a conversation about making college more affordable and efficient.
In Missouri, where Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed a 12.5 percent funding cut for higher education in the coming fiscal year, Obama's proposal could put even more pressure on public colleges and universities to limit tuition increases. By state law, schools must limit such increases to the annual inflation rate unless they receive permission for larger ones. Nixon has warned schools that he doesn't want to see a tuition increase of more than 3 percent, the latest Consumer Price Index increase.
"The president's message isn't inconsistent with the agenda that we've been pursuing here in Missouri," said Paul Wagner, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Higher Education. "It's good to see him put the focus on the same things."
Obama also wants to create a "Race to the Top" competition in higher education similar to the one his administration used on lower grades. He wants to encourage states to make better use of higher education dollars in exchange for $1 billion in prize money.
Obama is also pushing for more tools to help students determine which colleges and universities have the best value.
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Online:
White House: http://tinyurl.com/75yrqyh
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Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Julie Pace in Washington, Jim Kuhnhenn and David Runk in Ann Arbor, Mich., David Mercer in Champaign, Ill., Alan Zagier in Columbia, Mo., Alex Dominguez in Baltimore, Dorie Turner in Atlanta, and Donna Gordon Blankinship in Seattle contributed to this report.
'Super Wi-Fi' Blankets First County in U.S. A campaign to free up spectrum hoarded by old media bears fruit.
New Hanover County, North Carolina, just rolled out Super Wi-Fi, which is its actual name, not just a patronizing euphemism I'm deploying because I think you can't handle "a new Wi-Fi standard operating in the 'white spaces' between 50-700Mhz, where previously only television stations were allowed to transmit."
Source: Technology Review Posted on:
Friday, Jan 27, 2012, 8:55am Views: 8
A strange disease in which sufferers say they find fibers, fuzz and other debris sprouting from sores on their skin is not contagious and has no clear cause, the largest-ever study of the condition called Morgellons has found.
As the Pentagon rolled out its budget preview Thursday, it stressed the tough work involved in cutting $487 billion over the next decade.?But in Pentagon parlance, the word ?cut? is a relative term. While the Defense Department?s base budget initially decreases from $553 billion this year to $525 billion in fiscal year 2013 ? more than its $480 billion base budget in 2008, when US troops were in the midst of two wars.?The budget will then rebound steadily to $567 billion in fiscal year 2017.?
With this in mind, here are the top three winners and losers:
- Anna Mulrine,?Staff writer
The Pentagon has made no secret of its plan to shift its attention toward the Pacific (read China) in the years to come. This is a boon for the US Navy, whose aircraft carriers and submarines will be key in any US military maneuvering that involves China, senior military officials stress. It is a change of fortune for a service branch that often felt marginalized amid the decade?s two large counterinsurgency wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Indeed, despite some robust calls to reduce just one of the 11 aircraft carriers in the Navy?s fleet, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced Thursday that this would not be happening. He cited the need for a Navy ?that maintains forward presence and is able to penetrate enemy defenses.?
What?s more, the Pentagon will be putting money into developing, for example, ?a new afloat forward staging base? and ?a design that will allow new Virginia-class submarines to be modified to carry more cruise missiles.?
The Pentagon is also currently working to develop an ?undersea conventional prompt global strike option? ? essentially arming submarine-based missiles with conventional warheads ? despite a Bush administration decision to scrap it amid concerns that they would be mistaken for nuclear missile strikes.
?Modernizing our submarine fleet will be critical to our efforts to maintain maritime access in these vital regions of the world,? Mr. Panetta said. One senior military official pointed to the Navy?s ?particularly useful role? in the seas around China, ?for the things we want to do in the future.?
ROME ? Officials say an earthquake has shaken a wide area of northern Italy from Verona to Genoa on the western coast but that no injuries or damage were reported.
The National Geophysics Institute in Rome registered the magnitude-5 earthquake on Wednesday and said the epicenter was in Reggio Emilia, some 400 km (250 mile) north of Rome.
Residents reported that buildings shook at around 9 a.m. (0800 GMT) in Verona, Milan, Turin and Genoa.
DAVOS, Switzerland ? Swiss drug maker Novartis AG reported a 47 percent drop in its fourth-quarter net profit Wednesday, citing a slate of exceptional costs from the ending of clinical trials to manufacturing problems and layoffs.
The Basel-based company said its net profit reached $1.21 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.32 billion in the same period in 2010. Sales rose four percent to $14.78 billion in the Oct.-Dec. period.
"We experienced some disappointments in the fourth quarter, with Tekturna/Rasilez and with the need to improve our quality standards at some manufacturing sites," Chief Executive Joseph Jimenez said in a statement.
Novartis recently halted a clinical trial into wider uses of the hypertension drug Tekturna, which is known as Rasilez outside the United States, after it was found to cause increased complications in patients already taking other common hypertension drugs.
The company said it took an exceptional charge of $900 million in the fourth quarter as a result of the trial ending.
Two other experimental drugs were also dropped, leading to one-off charges of $160 million in the fourth quarter.
Manufacturing problems led the company to recall several over-the-counter drugs from the U.S. market earlier this month. The company closed the Lincoln, Nebraska, facility where the products were manufactured and took a charge of $115 million for the temporary production halt.
Novartis said it would also book charges of $288 million for over 2,000 job cuts announced last year. Many of those were in the United States, where the company expects to see a sharp dip in sales with the expiry of another hypertension drug, Diovan.
"I am quite bullish on the future growth prospects for the company once we get Diovan out of the base," said Jimenez.
In a conference call, Jimenez told reporters that he didn't expect any further job cuts in 2012 "unless conditions change."
The results were in line with analyst expectations, but shares fell 2.5 percent to 50.70 Swiss francs ($54.58) on the Zurich exchange as traders focused on the company's cautious outlook for 2012.
"We consider the current results to be very strong, but the outlook particularly for 2012 will likely disappoint investors," Zuercher Kantonalbank said in an analyst note.
Novartis received 19 regulatory approvals worldwide in 2011, including 15 for new drugs.
Jimenez said his company supported a European medicines agency investigation into its multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya, following the death of one patient.
Gilenya contributed $494 million to sales results last year.
"We are confident that Gilenya will continue to be a growth driver," said Jimenez.
For the full year 2011, Novartis reported a net profit of $9.25 billion, down seven percent from $9.97 billion the previous year.
These are the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS John C. Stennis, two of the ten nuclear-powered Nimitz-class aircraft supercarriers in service with the United States Navy. The Lincoln just arrived to the Strait of Hormuz as tension keeps mounting up in the area. More »
According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, veteran infielder David Eckstein has decided to retire from baseball ?even though there were teams willing to bring him to camp? on a minor league contract.
Eckstein, 37, will finish up with a .280/.345/.355 career batting line. The 5-foot-6 shortstop and second baseman was named an All-Star twice and won the World Series MVP in 2006 after going 8-for-22 (.364) with three doubles, a walk and four RBI in the Cardinals? five-game victory over the Tigers.
Eckstein played for St. Louis, Anaheim, San Diego, Arizona and Toronto during his 10-year MLB career.
Broadcast study of ocean acidification to date helps scientists evaluate effects on marine lifePublic release date: 23-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gail Gallessich gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-7220 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Might a penguin's next meal be affected by the exhaust from your tailpipe? The answer may be yes, when you add your exhaust fumes to the total amount of carbon dioxide lofted into the atmosphere by humans since the industrial revolution. One-third of that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's oceans, making them more acidic and affecting marine life.
A UC Santa Barbara marine scientist and a team of 18 other researchers have reported results of the broadest worldwide study of ocean acidification to date. Acidification is known to be a direct result of the increasing amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The scientists used sensors developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego to measure the acidity of 15 ocean locations, including seawater in the Antarctic, and in temperate and tropical waters.
As oceans become more acidic, with a lower pH, marine organisms are stressed and entire ecosystems are affected, according to the scientists. Gretchen E. Hofmann, an eco-physiologist and professor in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, is lead author of the recent article in PLoS ONE that describes the research.
"We were able to illustrate how parts of the world's oceans currently have different pH, and thus how they might respond to climate changes in the future," said Hofmann. "The sensors allowed us to capture that." The sensors recorded at least 30 days of continuous pH values in each area of the study.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, human activities have accelerated the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide mixes with water. The two molecules combine to become carbonic acid, making seawater more acidic. As billions of molecules combine and go through this process, the overall pH of the oceans decreases, causing ocean acidification.
Acidification limits the amount of carbonate forms that are needed by marine invertebrates, such as coral, urchins, snails, and shellfish, to make their skeletons. As the concentration of carbonates decreases in acidified water, it is harder to make a shell. And, the structures of some organisms may dissolve when water chemistry becomes too unfavorable.
"The emerging pH data from sensors allows us to design lab experiments that have a present-day environmental context," said Hofmann. "The experiments will allow us to see how organisms are adapted now, and how they might respond to climate change in the future."
Hofmann researched the Antarctic, where she has worked extensively, as well as an area of coral reefs around the South Pacific island of Moorea, where UCSB has a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. She also studied the coastal waters of Santa Barbara, in conjunction with UCSB's Santa Barbara Coastal LTER. The research team provided 30 days of pH data from other ocean areas around the world.
The researchers found that, in some places such as Antarctica and the Line Islands of the South Pacific, the range of pH variance is much more limited than in areas of the California coast that are subject to large vertical movements of water, known as upwellings. In some of the study areas, the researchers found that the decrease in seawater pH being caused by greenhouse gas emissions is still within the bounds of natural pH fluctuation. Other areas already experience daily acidity levels that scientists had expected would only be reached at the end of this century.
"This study is important for identifying the complexity of the ocean acidification problem around the globe," said co-author Jennifer Smith, a marine biologist with Scripps. "Our data show such huge variability in seawater pH, both within and across marine ecosystems, making global predictions of the impacts of ocean acidification a big challenge."
Todd Martz, a marine chemistry researcher at Scripps, developed the sensor. "When I arrived at Scripps, we re-engineered my prototype design, and since then I have not been able to keep up with all of the requests for sensors," said Martz. "Because every sensor used in this study was built at Scripps, I was in a unique position to assimilate a number of datasets, collected independently by researchers who otherwise would not have been in communication with each other. Each time someone deployed a sensor, they would send me the data, and eventually it became clear that a synthesis should be done to cross-compare this diverse collection of measurements." Hoffman worked with Martz to put together the research team to create that synthesis.
The team noted that the Scripps sensors, called "SeaFET" and "SeapHOx," allow researchers to continuously and autonomously monitor pH from remote parts of the world, providing important baselines from which scientists can monitor future changes caused by ocean acidification.
Despite surveying 15 different ocean regions, the authors noted that they only made observations on coastal surface oceans, and that more study is needed in deeper ocean regions farther away from land.
###
Hofmann is the director of the Center for the Study of Ocean Acidification and Ocean Change, a UC multi-campus initiative. Hofmann participated in writing a report on ocean acidification while on the National Research Council's Ocean Acidification Committee, and she is currently participating as a lead author on the National Climate Assessment. Hofmann is a member of the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs Advisory Panel, and she is an Aldo Leopold Fellow.
In addition to Hofmann, Martz, and Smith, co-authors include Emily B. Rivest and Pauline Yu of UCSB; Uwe Send, Lisa Levin, Yuichiro Takeshita, Nichole N. Price, Brittany Peterson, and Christina A. Frieder of Scripps; Paul Matson and Kenneth Johnson of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Fiorenza Micheli and Kristy Kroeker of Stanford University; Adina Paytan and Elizabeth Derse Crook of UC Santa Cruz; and Maria Cristina Gambi of Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy.
Funding for instrument development and related field work came from several sources, including the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the University of California, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, the WWW Foundation, Scott and Karin Wilson, the Rhodes family, and NOAA.
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Broadcast study of ocean acidification to date helps scientists evaluate effects on marine lifePublic release date: 23-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Gail Gallessich gail.g@ia.ucsb.edu 805-893-7220 University of California - Santa Barbara
(Santa Barbara, Calif.) Might a penguin's next meal be affected by the exhaust from your tailpipe? The answer may be yes, when you add your exhaust fumes to the total amount of carbon dioxide lofted into the atmosphere by humans since the industrial revolution. One-third of that carbon dioxide is absorbed by the world's oceans, making them more acidic and affecting marine life.
A UC Santa Barbara marine scientist and a team of 18 other researchers have reported results of the broadest worldwide study of ocean acidification to date. Acidification is known to be a direct result of the increasing amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The scientists used sensors developed at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego to measure the acidity of 15 ocean locations, including seawater in the Antarctic, and in temperate and tropical waters.
As oceans become more acidic, with a lower pH, marine organisms are stressed and entire ecosystems are affected, according to the scientists. Gretchen E. Hofmann, an eco-physiologist and professor in UCSB's Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, is lead author of the recent article in PLoS ONE that describes the research.
"We were able to illustrate how parts of the world's oceans currently have different pH, and thus how they might respond to climate changes in the future," said Hofmann. "The sensors allowed us to capture that." The sensors recorded at least 30 days of continuous pH values in each area of the study.
Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, human activities have accelerated the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide mixes with water. The two molecules combine to become carbonic acid, making seawater more acidic. As billions of molecules combine and go through this process, the overall pH of the oceans decreases, causing ocean acidification.
Acidification limits the amount of carbonate forms that are needed by marine invertebrates, such as coral, urchins, snails, and shellfish, to make their skeletons. As the concentration of carbonates decreases in acidified water, it is harder to make a shell. And, the structures of some organisms may dissolve when water chemistry becomes too unfavorable.
"The emerging pH data from sensors allows us to design lab experiments that have a present-day environmental context," said Hofmann. "The experiments will allow us to see how organisms are adapted now, and how they might respond to climate change in the future."
Hofmann researched the Antarctic, where she has worked extensively, as well as an area of coral reefs around the South Pacific island of Moorea, where UCSB has a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) project. She also studied the coastal waters of Santa Barbara, in conjunction with UCSB's Santa Barbara Coastal LTER. The research team provided 30 days of pH data from other ocean areas around the world.
The researchers found that, in some places such as Antarctica and the Line Islands of the South Pacific, the range of pH variance is much more limited than in areas of the California coast that are subject to large vertical movements of water, known as upwellings. In some of the study areas, the researchers found that the decrease in seawater pH being caused by greenhouse gas emissions is still within the bounds of natural pH fluctuation. Other areas already experience daily acidity levels that scientists had expected would only be reached at the end of this century.
"This study is important for identifying the complexity of the ocean acidification problem around the globe," said co-author Jennifer Smith, a marine biologist with Scripps. "Our data show such huge variability in seawater pH, both within and across marine ecosystems, making global predictions of the impacts of ocean acidification a big challenge."
Todd Martz, a marine chemistry researcher at Scripps, developed the sensor. "When I arrived at Scripps, we re-engineered my prototype design, and since then I have not been able to keep up with all of the requests for sensors," said Martz. "Because every sensor used in this study was built at Scripps, I was in a unique position to assimilate a number of datasets, collected independently by researchers who otherwise would not have been in communication with each other. Each time someone deployed a sensor, they would send me the data, and eventually it became clear that a synthesis should be done to cross-compare this diverse collection of measurements." Hoffman worked with Martz to put together the research team to create that synthesis.
The team noted that the Scripps sensors, called "SeaFET" and "SeapHOx," allow researchers to continuously and autonomously monitor pH from remote parts of the world, providing important baselines from which scientists can monitor future changes caused by ocean acidification.
Despite surveying 15 different ocean regions, the authors noted that they only made observations on coastal surface oceans, and that more study is needed in deeper ocean regions farther away from land.
###
Hofmann is the director of the Center for the Study of Ocean Acidification and Ocean Change, a UC multi-campus initiative. Hofmann participated in writing a report on ocean acidification while on the National Research Council's Ocean Acidification Committee, and she is currently participating as a lead author on the National Climate Assessment. Hofmann is a member of the National Science Foundation's Office of Polar Programs Advisory Panel, and she is an Aldo Leopold Fellow.
In addition to Hofmann, Martz, and Smith, co-authors include Emily B. Rivest and Pauline Yu of UCSB; Uwe Send, Lisa Levin, Yuichiro Takeshita, Nichole N. Price, Brittany Peterson, and Christina A. Frieder of Scripps; Paul Matson and Kenneth Johnson of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute; Fiorenza Micheli and Kristy Kroeker of Stanford University; Adina Paytan and Elizabeth Derse Crook of UC Santa Cruz; and Maria Cristina Gambi of Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn in Naples, Italy.
Funding for instrument development and related field work came from several sources, including the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the University of California, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, the WWW Foundation, Scott and Karin Wilson, the Rhodes family, and NOAA.
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CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) ? Television comedian Stephen Colbert took his political shtick down south on Friday, staging a mock campaign rally in South Carolina, the site of the next Republican presidential primary.
Colbert, who grew up in South Carolina, held a bogus rally on the grounds of the College of Charleston, and urged fans to vote for former Republican presidential hopeful Herman Cain, who also spoke at the rally.
Cain suspended his campaign in December amid allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity, but he remains on the ballot for Saturday's South Carolina primary.
"Anybody who knows me knows that I have believed in the message of Herman Cain for several days now," the Charleston native told the crowd. "I would want you to vote for Herman Cain because Herman Cain is me."
Part of Colbert's fun makes a serious point about the growth of new Super PAC funding organizations that are spending huge amounts on attack ads on candidates. Political action committees, or PACs, are groups with great clout in U.S. politics that are legally separate from candidates. A Supreme Court ruling in 2010 allows corporations and unions to raise unlimited funds to buy ads that encourage or discourage the election of specific candidates.
"Faced with this tragic lack of corporate influence in our government, five courageous, unelected justices of the Supreme Court ruled that corporations have the constitutional right to spend unlimited money in political speech," Colbert said.
He was backed by a gospel choir that occasionally chimed in, singing, "Corporations are people," a phrase made famous by Republican front-runner Mitt Romney.
A crowd, comprised mostly of college students, stood in line for up to four hours to get into the event. They held signs that said "Get on the Cain Train" and "Control the bear population" and included a couple of animal rights activists dressed in pig costumes.
"Stephen Colbert make politics more accessible. He makes things real," said Catherine Mueller, 18 of Dallas, Texas.
Discussing whether this is Mitt Romney's race to lose, with Steve Schmidt, Edelmen vice president; Ari Melber, The Nation; and Ed Rogers, former Bush duputy assistant.
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Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - Cameraman Dave Spangler, left, films puppets reenacting testimony in a county corruption trial at the WOIO-TV studios in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - Cameraman Dave Spangler, left, films puppets reenacting testimony in a county corruption trial at the WOIO-TV studios in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - Puppeteer Kirk Maynard, bottom left, works a puppet representing defense attorney Andrea Whitaker cross examining Ferris Kleem during taping at WOIO-TV in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - A puppet representing witness Ferris Kleem is shows during taping at WOIO-TV in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - A puppet reporter is shown turing taping at WOIO-TV in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
FOR USE FRIDAY, JAN. 20 AT 3 A.M. EST AND THERAFTER - A puppet representing defense attorney Andrea Whitaker cross-examines a Ferris Kleem puppet during taping at WOIO-TV in Cleveland Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012. The station uses the puppets performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the corruption trial against former Cuyahoga county commissioner Jimmy Dimora, which began last week in federal court in Akron. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
CLEVELAND (AP) ? The high-profile corruption trial of a longtime Democratic power broker in Cleveland has drawn some unusual TV coverage ? puppets playing the roles of courtroom figures and re-enacting alleged bribe deals.
"It's a satirical look at the trial and, again, I think we have it appropriately placed at the end of the newscast," WOIO news director Dan Salamone said Thursday.
He said the puppets are in addition to the station's regular coverage of the Akron federal trial of ex-Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.
"It's not intended in any way to replace any of the serious coverage of the trial," Salamone said.
Dimora, a former county Democratic chairman in Cleveland, has pleaded not guilty to bribery and racketeering. He also faces another trial on a second indictment.
With cameras barred from court, the news media has relied on artist sketches of the proceedings inside and daily video of Dimora walking into court with his wife and his defense team.
The station uses the puppets repeating testimony and performing as witnesses, reporters and jurors to detail the case, which began last week and is expected to last three months. The trial has been a daily staple of front-page coverage in The Plain Dealer newspaper and often leads TV newscasts in town.
According to Salamone, the puppets are meant to lampoon the sometimes-steamy testimony, including details of a topless hot tub excursion in Las Vegas and taped phone calls with off-color and often unprintable comments.
The station is awaiting the arrival of an updated puppet that looks like the newly clean-shaven Dimora. For now, the station has been showing the back of a puppet's head that doesn't resemble Dimora, Salamone said.
And if Dimora grows his familiar salt-and-pepper beard back? "We've asked for some accessories in the event that he might decide to regrow his beard," Salamone said.
The puppets perform near the end of the late newscasts on WOIO and its sister station, WUAB. The stations started using them on Tuesday.
At that point in the newscast, Salamone said, "People are accustomed to seeing a lighter story, what is often called a 'kicker' story."
Salamone said viewers are in for another lookalike puppet debut when Dimora's longtime friend and political ally, former Cuyahoga County Auditor Frank Russo, testifies for the prosecution. Russo has pleaded guilty to taking bribes and hopes his cooperation will trim his nearly 22-year sentence.
Karl Idsvoog, of Kent State University's School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said Thursday that the puppet show didn't work. "Why would anyone approve that to go on the air because it was dull and boring," he said.
An Ohio man who made no sperm and his wife, who had few eggs, have become parents thanks to a first-ever Cleveland Clinic case in which a single sperm that was frozen and injected into an egg resulted in pregnancy. Here, Jason and Jennifer Schiraldi pose with Kenley,9 months.
Passers-by are reflected on an electronic stock board displaying the U.S. dollar's quotation against the Japanese yen at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
Passers-by are reflected on an electronic stock board displaying the U.S. dollar's quotation against the Japanese yen at a securities firm in Tokyo, Tuesday, Jan 17, 2012. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)
LONDON (AP) ? Financial markets were subdued Thursday as investors awaited developments in Greece's debt-reduction talks with private creditors, a day after the International Monetary Fund revealed it was looking to get its hands on another half a trillion dollars to help it shore up a fragile global economy.
Another successful bond auction from Spain and relief that Germany's second-largest bank, Commerzbank AG, won't need to help from shareholders or the government to boost its capital base helped ease concerns over Europe's debt crisis in the run-up to a raft of U.S. corporate earnings.
However, the main focus of attention in markets remains the negotiations between Greece and the Institute of International Finance, which represents private sector bondholders. Talks are set to continue later, having restarted Wednesday.
Greece needs to clinch the agreement quickly to qualify for more bailout loans before it faces a major bond repayment on March 20. Without the money, the country would find it difficult to service its debts and be forced to default, potentially triggering more turmoil in global markets.
Last October, Greece's partners in the eurozone sanctioned a deal whereby Greece's creditors agree to take a cut in the value of their Greek bond holdings to help lighten the country's debt burden. The deal with private investors aims to reduce Greece's debt by euro100 billion ($127.9 billion) by swapping private creditors' bonds for new ones with a lower value. It is a key part of a euro130 billion international bailout, the second one for Greece.
Hopes that a deal is being thrashed out has helped shore up sentiment in markets in recent days as has the IMF's revelation that it aims to raise up to $500 billion to meet its $1 trillion financing needs in coming years. The new money to be raised includes $200 billion that European countries recently agreed to hand the IMF.
"There was a time when the idea that a body like the IMF would need such a huge amount of money to cover such a short period of time would have been taken as bad news," said Gary Jenkins, an analyst at Swordfish Research. "This is not the first time in this crisis that a big figure has been thrown out there so it will be interesting to see if this time there is any reality behind the number."
As investors awaited more details on the Greek deal and the IMF's fundraising, market movements were subdued.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was flat at 5,701 but France's CAC-40 rose 0.5 percent to 3,281. Germany's DAX fell 0.2 percent to 6,344 even though shares in Commerzbank AG rallied around 10 percent after it revealed it could raise euro5.3 billion ($6.8 billion) to shore up its capital base, as demanded by European regulators, without resorting to the state or shareholders.
A recent easing in concerns over Europe's debt crisis has helped the euro clamber off Monday's 17-month low against the dollar below $1.27. It's now trading around two cents higher at $1.2881, up 0.2 percent on the day.
Wall Street was poised for a flat opening, though a raft of U.S. earnings later from the likes of Bank of America and Morgan Stanley could change that. Dow futures were down 0.1 percent at 12,496 while the broader Standard & Poor's 500 futures fell a similar rate to 1,300.
"Unusually, at least compared to the last few months, Europe may not dwarf investor's agenda this afternoon as a host of U.S. firms are due to report," said Shavaz Dhalla, a trader at Spreadex.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1 percent to close at 8,639.68. South Korea's Kospi rebounded 1.2 percent to 1,914.97 after a losing session Wednesday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 1.3 percent at 19,942.95.
Oil prices remained supported above $101 a barrel ? benchmark oil for February delivery was up 69 cents to $101.28 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
___
Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.
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Public release date: 29-Jan-2012
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