SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle police call it one of the boldest attempted drug thefts they have seen: A woman impersonating a nurse, apparently addicted to painkillers, crept through the hospital rooms of patients and tried to steal medication from their IV machines.
"It's pretty unusual, pretty brazen," Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt said on Wednesday. "It really shows how desperate this woman is and how powerful addiction can be."
Police are looking for the woman who, dressed in a shirt that resembled scrubs and wearing clogs on her feet, entered a man's room at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle on April 13 and began fiddling with his pain medication IV machine.
The patient did not recognize the woman and when he asked what she was doing, she promptly left, police said.
When the man's real nurse came into the room, she noticed his IV line had been cut and pain medication was dripping on the floor. The machine had pry marks, where the intruder apparently had tried to access pain medication, police said.
Shortly afterward, the same woman was spotted on another floor of the hospital peering into patient rooms, Witt said. She told a staff member she was there to check the IV machines.
The woman went into a room and again tinkered with a patient's IV machine, police said. As she left, a relative of the occupant noticed blood dripping on the floor and saw that lines to the patient's IV machine had been cut.
Witt said neither patient suffered any injuries, and the only thing stolen was about 2 feet of tubing from the patient-controlled medication machines and possibly some pain medication from the tubes.
Police said the woman appeared confident both in talking to hospital staff and in walking into patients' rooms. They released images of the woman on Wednesday and asked for the public's help in identifying her.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Cynthia Johnston and Peter Cooney)
Sunlit snow triggers atmospheric cleaning, ozone depletion in the ArcticPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter West pwest@nsf.gov 703-292-7530 National Science Foundation
Finding is related to snow atop sea ice, adding a new dimension to scientific concerns about loss of Arctic ice
National Science Foundation-funded researchers at Purdue University have discovered that sunlit snow is the major source of atmospheric bromine in the Arctic, the key to unique chemical reactions that purge pollutants and destroy ozone.
The new research also indicates that the surface snowpack above Arctic sea ice plays a previously unappreciated role in the bromine cycle and that loss of sea ice, which been occurring at an increasingly rapid pace in recent years, could have extremely disruptive effects in the balance of atmospheric chemistry in high latitudes.
The team's findings suggest the rapidly changing Arctic climate--where surface temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average--could dramatically change its atmospheric chemistry, said Paul Shepson, an NSF-funded researcher who led the research team. The experiments were conducted by Kerri Pratt, a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Division of Polar Programs in NSF's Geosciences Directorate.
"We are racing to understand exactly what happens in the Arctic and how it affects the planet because it is a delicate balance when it comes to an atmosphere that is hospitable to human life," said Shepson, who also is a founding member of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. "The composition of the atmosphere determines air temperatures, weather patterns and is responsible for chemical reactions that clean the air of pollutants."
A paper detailing the results of the research, some of which was funded by NSF and some by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was recently published online at Nature Geoscience.
Ozone in the lower atmosphere behaves differently from the stratospheric ozone involved in the planet's protective ozone layer. This lower atmosphere ozone is a greenhouse gas that is toxic to humans and plants, but it also is an essential cleaning agent of the atmosphere.
Interactions between sunlight, ozone and water vapor create an "oxidizing agent" that scrubs the atmosphere of most of the pollutants human activity releases into it, Shepson said.
Temperatures at the poles are too cold for the existence of much water vapor and in the Arctic this cleaning process appears instead to rely on reactions on frozen surfaces involving molecular bromine, a halogen gas derived from sea salt.
This gaseous bromine reacts with and destroys atmospheric ozone. This aspect of the bromine chemistry works so efficiently in the Arctic that ozone is often entirely depleted from the atmosphere above sea ice in the spring, Shepson noted.
"This is just a part of atmospheric ozone chemistry that we don't understand very well, and this unique Arctic chemistry teaches us about the potential role of bromine in other parts of the planet," he said. "Bromine chemistry mediates the amount of ozone, but it is dependent on snow and sea ice, which means climate change may have important feedbacks with ozone chemistry."
While it was known that there is more atmospheric bromine in polar regions, the specific source of the natural gaseous bromine has remained in question for several decades, said Pratt, a Polar Programs-funded postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the paper.
"We thought that the fastest and best way to understand what is happening in the Arctic was to go there and do the experiments right where the chemistry is happening," Pratt said.
She and Purdue graduate student Kyle Custard performed the experiments in -45 to -34 Celsius (-50 to -30 Fahrenheit) wind chills near Barrow, Alaska. The team examined first-year sea ice, salty icicles and snow and found that the source of the bromine gas was the top surface snow above both sea ice and tundra.
"Sea ice had been thought to be the source of the gaseous bromine," she said. "We had an 'of course!' moment when we realized it was the snow on top of the sea ice. The snow is what is in direct contact with the atmosphere. Sea ice is critical to the process, though. Without it, the snow would fall into the ocean, and this chemistry wouldn't take place. This is among the reasons why the loss of sea ice in the Arctic will directly impact atmospheric chemistry."
The team also discovered that sunlight triggered the release of bromine gas from the snow and the presence of ozone increased the production of bromine gas.
"Salts from the ocean and acids from a layer of smog called Arctic haze meet on the frozen surface of the snow, and this unique chemistry occurs," Pratt said. "It is the interface of the snow and atmosphere that is the key."
A series of chemical reactions that quickly multiplies the amount of bromine gas present, called the "bromine explosion," is known to occur in the atmosphere. The team suggests this also occurs in the spaces between the snow crystals and wind then releases the bromine gas up into the air above the snow.
The team performed 10 experiments with snow and ice samples contained in a "snow chamber," a box constructed of aluminum with a special coating to prevent surface reactions and a clear acrylic top. Clean air with and without ozone was allowed to flow through the chamber and experiments were performed in darkness and in natural sunlight.
The team also measured the levels of bromine monoxide, a compound formed from the reaction of bromine atoms with ozone, through flights of the Purdue Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research.
Shepson is the pilot of this specially equipped aircraft, which he and air operations technical specialist Brian Stirm flew from Indiana to Barrow for these experiments. They found the compound was most prevalent over snow-covered first-year sea ice and tundra, consistent with their snow chamber experiments.
The experiments were performed from March to April 2012 and were part of NASA's Bromine, Ozone and Mercury Experiment, or BROMEX. The goal of the study is to understand the implications of Arctic sea ice reduction on tropospheric chemistry.
Shepson's group next plans to perform laboratory studies to test the proposed reaction mechanisms and to return to Barrow to perform more snow chamber experiments.
In addition, Shepson is co-leading a team using ice-tethered buoys to measure carbon dioxide, ozone and bromine monoxide across the Arctic Ocean, and Pratt is working with scientists from the University of Washington to examine the chemistry of snow from across the Arctic Ocean.
"In the Arctic, climate change is happening at an accelerated pace," Pratt said. "A big question is what will happen to atmospheric composition in the Arctic as the temperatures rise and snow and ice decline even further?"
###
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Sunlit snow triggers atmospheric cleaning, ozone depletion in the ArcticPublic release date: 24-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Peter West pwest@nsf.gov 703-292-7530 National Science Foundation
Finding is related to snow atop sea ice, adding a new dimension to scientific concerns about loss of Arctic ice
National Science Foundation-funded researchers at Purdue University have discovered that sunlit snow is the major source of atmospheric bromine in the Arctic, the key to unique chemical reactions that purge pollutants and destroy ozone.
The new research also indicates that the surface snowpack above Arctic sea ice plays a previously unappreciated role in the bromine cycle and that loss of sea ice, which been occurring at an increasingly rapid pace in recent years, could have extremely disruptive effects in the balance of atmospheric chemistry in high latitudes.
The team's findings suggest the rapidly changing Arctic climate--where surface temperatures are rising three times faster than the global average--could dramatically change its atmospheric chemistry, said Paul Shepson, an NSF-funded researcher who led the research team. The experiments were conducted by Kerri Pratt, a postdoctoral researcher funded by the Division of Polar Programs in NSF's Geosciences Directorate.
"We are racing to understand exactly what happens in the Arctic and how it affects the planet because it is a delicate balance when it comes to an atmosphere that is hospitable to human life," said Shepson, who also is a founding member of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. "The composition of the atmosphere determines air temperatures, weather patterns and is responsible for chemical reactions that clean the air of pollutants."
A paper detailing the results of the research, some of which was funded by NSF and some by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, was recently published online at Nature Geoscience.
Ozone in the lower atmosphere behaves differently from the stratospheric ozone involved in the planet's protective ozone layer. This lower atmosphere ozone is a greenhouse gas that is toxic to humans and plants, but it also is an essential cleaning agent of the atmosphere.
Interactions between sunlight, ozone and water vapor create an "oxidizing agent" that scrubs the atmosphere of most of the pollutants human activity releases into it, Shepson said.
Temperatures at the poles are too cold for the existence of much water vapor and in the Arctic this cleaning process appears instead to rely on reactions on frozen surfaces involving molecular bromine, a halogen gas derived from sea salt.
This gaseous bromine reacts with and destroys atmospheric ozone. This aspect of the bromine chemistry works so efficiently in the Arctic that ozone is often entirely depleted from the atmosphere above sea ice in the spring, Shepson noted.
"This is just a part of atmospheric ozone chemistry that we don't understand very well, and this unique Arctic chemistry teaches us about the potential role of bromine in other parts of the planet," he said. "Bromine chemistry mediates the amount of ozone, but it is dependent on snow and sea ice, which means climate change may have important feedbacks with ozone chemistry."
While it was known that there is more atmospheric bromine in polar regions, the specific source of the natural gaseous bromine has remained in question for several decades, said Pratt, a Polar Programs-funded postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the paper.
"We thought that the fastest and best way to understand what is happening in the Arctic was to go there and do the experiments right where the chemistry is happening," Pratt said.
She and Purdue graduate student Kyle Custard performed the experiments in -45 to -34 Celsius (-50 to -30 Fahrenheit) wind chills near Barrow, Alaska. The team examined first-year sea ice, salty icicles and snow and found that the source of the bromine gas was the top surface snow above both sea ice and tundra.
"Sea ice had been thought to be the source of the gaseous bromine," she said. "We had an 'of course!' moment when we realized it was the snow on top of the sea ice. The snow is what is in direct contact with the atmosphere. Sea ice is critical to the process, though. Without it, the snow would fall into the ocean, and this chemistry wouldn't take place. This is among the reasons why the loss of sea ice in the Arctic will directly impact atmospheric chemistry."
The team also discovered that sunlight triggered the release of bromine gas from the snow and the presence of ozone increased the production of bromine gas.
"Salts from the ocean and acids from a layer of smog called Arctic haze meet on the frozen surface of the snow, and this unique chemistry occurs," Pratt said. "It is the interface of the snow and atmosphere that is the key."
A series of chemical reactions that quickly multiplies the amount of bromine gas present, called the "bromine explosion," is known to occur in the atmosphere. The team suggests this also occurs in the spaces between the snow crystals and wind then releases the bromine gas up into the air above the snow.
The team performed 10 experiments with snow and ice samples contained in a "snow chamber," a box constructed of aluminum with a special coating to prevent surface reactions and a clear acrylic top. Clean air with and without ozone was allowed to flow through the chamber and experiments were performed in darkness and in natural sunlight.
The team also measured the levels of bromine monoxide, a compound formed from the reaction of bromine atoms with ozone, through flights of the Purdue Airborne Laboratory for Atmospheric Research.
Shepson is the pilot of this specially equipped aircraft, which he and air operations technical specialist Brian Stirm flew from Indiana to Barrow for these experiments. They found the compound was most prevalent over snow-covered first-year sea ice and tundra, consistent with their snow chamber experiments.
The experiments were performed from March to April 2012 and were part of NASA's Bromine, Ozone and Mercury Experiment, or BROMEX. The goal of the study is to understand the implications of Arctic sea ice reduction on tropospheric chemistry.
Shepson's group next plans to perform laboratory studies to test the proposed reaction mechanisms and to return to Barrow to perform more snow chamber experiments.
In addition, Shepson is co-leading a team using ice-tethered buoys to measure carbon dioxide, ozone and bromine monoxide across the Arctic Ocean, and Pratt is working with scientists from the University of Washington to examine the chemistry of snow from across the Arctic Ocean.
"In the Arctic, climate change is happening at an accelerated pace," Pratt said. "A big question is what will happen to atmospheric composition in the Arctic as the temperatures rise and snow and ice decline even further?"
###
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Apr. 23, 2013 ? Scientists from King's College London have identified patterns of epigenetic changes involved in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) by studying genetically identical twins who differ in autism traits.
The study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, is the largest of its kind and may shed light on the biological mechanism by which environmental influences regulate the activity of certain genes and in turn contribute to the development of ASD and related behaviour traits.
ASD affects approximately 1 in 100 people in the UK and involves a spectrum of disorders which manifest themselves differently in different people. People with ASD have varying levels of impairment across three common areas: deficits in social interactions and understanding, repetitive behaviour and interests, and impairments in language and communication development.
Evidence from twin studies shows there is a strong genetic component to ASD and previous studies suggest that genes that direct brain development may be involved in the disorder. In approximately 70% of cases, when one identical twin has ASD, so does the other. However, in 30% of cases, identical twins differ for ASD. Because identical twins share the same genetic code, this suggests non-genetic, or epigenetic, factors may be involved.
Epigenetic changes affect the expression or activity of genes without changing the underlying DNA sequence -- they are believed to be one mechanism by which the environment can interact with the genome. Importantly, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible and may therefore provide targets for the development of new therapies.
The researchers studied an epigenetic mechanism called DNA methylation. DNA methylation acts to block the genetic sequences that drive gene expression, silencing gene activity. They examined DNA methylation at over 27,000 sites across the genome using samples taken from 50 identical twin pairs (100 individuals) from the UK Medical Research Council (MRC) funded Twins Early Development Study (TEDS): 34 pairs who differed for ASD or autism related behaviour traits, 5 pairs where both twins have ASD, and 11 healthy twin pairs.
Dr Chloe Wong, first author of the study from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, says: "We've identified distinctive patterns of DNA methylation associated with both autism diagnosis and related behaviour traits, and increasing severity of symptoms. Our findings give us an insight into the biological mechanism mediating the interaction between gene and environment in autism spectrum disorder."
DNA methylation at some genetic sites was consistently altered for all individuals with ASD, and differences at other sites were specific to certain symptom groups. The number of DNA methylation sites across the genome was also linked to the severity of autism symptoms suggesting a quantitative relationship between the two. Additionally, some of the differences in DNA methylation markers were located in genetic regions that previous research has associated with early brain development and ASD.
Professor Jonathan Mill, lead author of the paper from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and the University of Exeter, says: "Research into the intersection between genetic and environmental influences is crucial because risky environmental conditions can sometimes be avoided or changed. Epigenetic changes are potentially reversible, so our next step is to embark on larger studies to see whether we can identify key epigenetic changes common to the majority of people with autism to help us develop possible therapeutic interventions."
Dr Alycia Halladay, Senior Director of Environmental and Clinical Sciences from Autism Speaks who funded the research, says: "This is the first large-scale study to take a whole genome approach to studying epigenetic influences in twins who are genetically identical but have different symptoms. These findings open the door to future discoveries in the role of epigenetics -- in addition to genetics -- in the development of autism symptoms."
The study was funded by Autism Speaks, Medical Research Council UK (MRC) and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD). The twins were selected from the Twins Early Development Study (TEDS) which is funded by the MRC with additional support from the US National Institutes of Health.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by King's College London.
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Journal Reference:
C C Y Wong, E L Meaburn, A Ronald, T S Price, A R Jeffries, L C Schalkwyk, R Plomin, J Mill. Methylomic analysis of monozygotic twins discordant for autism spectrum disorder and related behavioural traits. Molecular Psychiatry, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/mp.2013.41
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
22 April 2013Last updated at 15:34 ETBy Rebecca MorelleScience reporter, BBC World Service
A strain of bacteria has been created that can produce fuel, scientists say.
Researchers genetically modified E. coli bacteria to convert sugar into an oil that is almost identical to conventional diesel.
If the process could be scaled up, this synthetic fuel could be a viable alternative to the fossil fuel, the team said.
The study is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Professor John Love, a synthetic biologist from the University of Exeter, said: "Rather than making a replacement fuel like some biofuels, we have made a substitute fossil fuel.
"The idea is that car manufacturers, consumers and fuel retailers wouldn't even notice the difference - it would just become another part of the fuel production chain."
Fuel factories
There is a push to increase the use of biofuels around the world.
In the European Union, a 10% target for the use of these crop-based fuels in the transport sector has been set for 2020.
But most forms of biodiesel and bioethanol that are currently used are not fully compatible with modern engines. Fractions of the substances (between 5-10%) need to be blended with petroleum before they can be used in most engines.
However, the fuel produced by the modified E. coli bacteria is different.
Continue reading the main story
?Start Quote
Our challenge is to increase the yield before we can go into any form of industrial production?
End QuoteProf John LoveUniversity of Exeter
Prof Love explained: "What we've done is produced fuels that are exactly the chain length required for the modern engine and exactly the composition that is required.
"They are bio-fossil-fuels if you like."
To create the fuel, the researchers, who were funded by the oil company Shell and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, used a strain of E. coli that usually takes in sugar and then turns it into fat.
Using synthetic biology, the team altered the bacteria's cell mechanisms so that the sugar was converted to synthetic fuel molecules instead.
By altering the bacteria's genes, they were able to transform the bugs into fuel-producing factories. However, the E. coli did not make much of the alkane fuel.
Professor Love said it would take about 100 litres of bacteria to produce a single teaspoon of the fuel.
"Our challenge is to increase the yield before we can go into any form of industrial production," he said.
"We've got a timeframe of about three to five years to do that and see if it is worth going ahead with it."
The team is also looking to see if the bacteria can convert any other products into fuel, such as human or animal waste.
Magic bullet?
Biofuels are considered to be a greener alternative to fossil fuels.
While petrol and diesel release carbon dioxide that has been stored deep within the Earth, biofuels are said to be carbon neutral because they release as much CO2 into the atmosphere as the plants they are made from absorbed.
However, the energy it takes to grow and process the crops needed for biofuels also should be taken into account, as this adds to their "carbon footprint".
A recent report by Chatham House said biofuels were expensive and worse for the climate than fossil fuels.
According to Geraint Evans, a biofuel consultant at the NNFCC (formerly known as the National Non-Food Crops Centre), these issues would need to be taken into account for a bacteria-produced fuel too.
"It widens the potential sources you can use to make diesel," he said.
"But we still need to consider that this is coming from the land and the sustainability needs to be carefully considered.
It's not a magic bullet - but it is another tool in the toolbox."
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime -- a 33 percent increase over th
New York, NY April 23, 2013 New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime.
Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen's academic performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org Responds to Rx Epidemic with The Medicine Abuse Project
In response to the continued high prevalence of teen prescription medicine abuse as reported in the 2012 PATS data, The Partnership at Drugfree.org is helping educate parents, community stakeholders and others about the risks of this dangerous behavior. The Partnership at Drugfree.org leads The Medicine Abuse Project, a multi-year initiative with the goal of preventing half a million teens from abusing prescription medicine by 2017.
The Medicine Abuse Project provides comprehensive resources to parents, educators, health care providers, law enforcement officials and others about the growing problem of teen medicine abuse. The Project aims to mobilize parents and the public at large to take action and help solve the problem of teen substance abuse. This includes learning about the issue, talking with their kids about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and properly monitoring, safeguarding and disposing of excess Rx drugs in their homes.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Holds Nationwide Prescription Take-Back Day on April 27th
One way parents, grandparents and other caretakers can take immediate action is by participating in the upcoming DEA-facilitated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, taking place this Saturday, April 27, 2013.
"Medicine cabinets are the number one access point for teens who want to misuse and abuse prescription drugs. That's why we are making a concerted effort to let parents and caregivers know how important it is to safely dispose of their unused, unwanted or expired medicines. Doing so can literally save a life," said Marcia Lee Taylor,
SVP of Government Affairs at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "This Saturday's DEA Take-Back event gives everyone a chance to protect their kids from the dangers that medicine abuse poses in their own homes. We should all take this simple step and clean out our medicine cabinets."
Collection sites will be set up around the country, open for medicine drop-off between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Those interested in disposing of their medicine at a take-back location this Saturday can visit The Medicine Abuse Project website to find the nearest site to safely drop off their unused, unwanted or expired prescription medicines. In the five previous Take-Back events, more than 2 million pounds of prescription medicines were safely dropped off and removed from circulation.
The DEA Take-Back Day provides a tangible way for parents to help curb medicine abuse. The PATS data released today confirms that misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is now a normalized behavior among teens.
Concerning Trends in Teen Prescription Drug Abuse According to the New PATS Data (2008-2012)
One in four teens (24 percent) reports having misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime (up from 18 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2012), which translates to about 5 million teens. That is a 33 percent increase over a five-year period:
Of those kids who said they abused Rx medications, one in five (20 percent) has done so before the age of 14.
More than a quarter of teens (27 percent) mistakenly believe that "misusing and abusing prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs," and one-third of teens (33 percent) say they believe "it's okay to use prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them to deal with an injury, illness or physical pain."
"These data make it very clear: the problem is real, the threat immediate and the situation is not poised to get better," said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "Parents fear drugs like cocaine or heroin and want to protect their kids. But the truth is that when misused and abused, medicines especially stimulants and opioids can be every bit as dangerous and harmful as illicit street drugs. Medicine abuse is one of the most significant and preventable adolescent health problems facing our families today. As parents and caring adults, we need to take action to address the risks that intentional medicine abuse poses to the lives and the long-term health of our teens."
Significant Increase in Teen Abuse of Stimulants Ritalin and Adderall, Rx Painkiller Abuse Flattening
Rx stimulants are a key area of concern, with misuse and abuse of Ritalin and Adderall in particular driving the noted increases in teen medicine abuse. Stimulants are a class of drugs that enhance brain activity and are commonly prescribed to treat health conditions including ADHD and obesity. The 2012 data found:
One in eight teens (about 2.7 million) now reports having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall at least once in their lifetime.
9 percent of teens (about 1.9 million) report having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall in the past year (up from 6 percent in 2008) and 6 percent of teens (1.3 million) report abuse of Ritalin or Adderall in the past month (up from 4 percent in 2008).
One in four teens (26 percent) believes that prescription drugs can be used as a study aid.
Abuse of prescription pain medicine remains at unacceptably high levels among teens, but the new PATS data show it may be flattening. Teen abuse of prescription pain relievers like Vicodin and OxyContin has remained stable since 2011 with one in six teens (16 percent) reporting abuse or misuse of an Rx pain reliever at least once in their lifetime. One in 10 teens (10 percent) admits to abusing or misusing an Rx painkiller in the past year.
Parents' Missed Opportunity: Lax Attitudes and Permissiveness About Rx Drugs Linked to Teen Abuse
Parent permissiveness and lax attitudes toward abuse and misuse of Rx medicines, coupled with teens' ease of access to prescription medicines in the home, are key factors linked to teen medicine misuse and abuse. The availability of prescription drugs (in the family medicine cabinet, in the homes of friends and family) makes them that much easier to abuse. The new survey findings stress that teens are more likely to abuse Rx medicines if they think their parents "don't care as much if they get caught using prescription drugs, without a doctor's prescription, than they do if they get caught using illegal drugs."
Almost one-third of parents (29 percent) say they believe ADHD medication can improve a child's academic or testing performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD.
One in six parents (16 percent) believes that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs.
Teens reported that during the last conversation they had with their parents regarding substance abuse, only 16 percent said they discussed the misuse or abuse of prescription pain relievers with their parents, and just 14 percent indicate the same for discussions about any type of prescription drug. In comparison, a majority of teens (81 percent) say they have discussed the risks of marijuana use with their parents, 80 percent have discussed alcohol and nearly one-third of teens (30 percent) have discussed crack/cocaine.
More than half of teens (56 percent) indicate that it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parent's medicine cabinet. In fact, about half of parents (49 percent) say anyone can access their medicine cabinet.
More than four in 10 teens (42 percent) who have misused or abused a prescription drug obtained it from their parent's medicine cabinet. Almost half (49 percent) of teens who misuse or abuse Rx medicines obtained them from a friend.
Teens are more likely to use prescription drugs if they believe that their parents are more lenient toward prescription drug misuse or abuse compared to illegal drug abuse, and their parents use drugs themselves.
One in five parents (20 percent) report that they have given their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for them.
The PATS survey also found that 17 percent of parents do not throw away expired medications, and 14 percent of parents say that they themselves have misused or abuse prescription drugs within the past year.
###
PATS Methodology
The 24th annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) of 3,884 teens in grades 9-12 and 817 parents is nationally projectable with a +/- 2.1 percent margin of error for the teen sample and +/- 3.4 percent for the parent sample. Conducted for The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, the 2012 PATS teen survey was administered in private, public and parochial schools, while the parent survey was conducted through in-home interviews by deKadt Marketing and Research, Inc.
About The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Ninety percent of addictions start in the teenage years. The Partnership at Drugfree.org is dedicated to solving the problem of teen substance abuse. Together with experts in science, parenting and communications, the nonprofit translates research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into useful and effective resources for both individuals and communities. Working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with parents and other influencers to help them prevent and get help for drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults. The organization depends on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and the public sector and is thankful to SAG-AFTRA and the advertising and media industries for their ongoing generosity.
About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife's longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. The Foundation is committed to building a secure future for individuals and communities worldwide. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $530 million in grants to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information, visit http://www.metlife.org.
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National study: Teen misuse and abuse of prescription drugs up 33 percent since 2008Public release date: 23-Apr-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime -- a 33 percent increase over th
New York, NY April 23, 2013 New, nationally projectable survey results released today by The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation confirmed that one in four teens has misused or abused a prescription (Rx) drug at least once in their lifetime a 33 percent increase over the past five years. The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) also found troubling data on teen misuse or abuse of prescription stimulants. One in eight teens (13 percent) now reports that they have taken the stimulants Ritalin or Adderall when it was not prescribed for them, at least once in their lifetime.
Contributing to this sustained trend in teen medicine abuse are the lax attitudes and beliefs of parents and caregivers. In fact, nearly one-third of parents say they believe Rx stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall, normally prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can improve a teen's academic performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD. Parents are not effectively communicating the dangers of Rx medicine misuse and abuse to their kids, nor are they safeguarding their medications at home and disposing of unused medications properly.
The Partnership at Drugfree.org Responds to Rx Epidemic with The Medicine Abuse Project
In response to the continued high prevalence of teen prescription medicine abuse as reported in the 2012 PATS data, The Partnership at Drugfree.org is helping educate parents, community stakeholders and others about the risks of this dangerous behavior. The Partnership at Drugfree.org leads The Medicine Abuse Project, a multi-year initiative with the goal of preventing half a million teens from abusing prescription medicine by 2017.
The Medicine Abuse Project provides comprehensive resources to parents, educators, health care providers, law enforcement officials and others about the growing problem of teen medicine abuse. The Project aims to mobilize parents and the public at large to take action and help solve the problem of teen substance abuse. This includes learning about the issue, talking with their kids about the dangers of misuse and abuse of prescription drugs and properly monitoring, safeguarding and disposing of excess Rx drugs in their homes.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Holds Nationwide Prescription Take-Back Day on April 27th
One way parents, grandparents and other caretakers can take immediate action is by participating in the upcoming DEA-facilitated National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, taking place this Saturday, April 27, 2013.
"Medicine cabinets are the number one access point for teens who want to misuse and abuse prescription drugs. That's why we are making a concerted effort to let parents and caregivers know how important it is to safely dispose of their unused, unwanted or expired medicines. Doing so can literally save a life," said Marcia Lee Taylor,
SVP of Government Affairs at The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "This Saturday's DEA Take-Back event gives everyone a chance to protect their kids from the dangers that medicine abuse poses in their own homes. We should all take this simple step and clean out our medicine cabinets."
Collection sites will be set up around the country, open for medicine drop-off between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Those interested in disposing of their medicine at a take-back location this Saturday can visit The Medicine Abuse Project website to find the nearest site to safely drop off their unused, unwanted or expired prescription medicines. In the five previous Take-Back events, more than 2 million pounds of prescription medicines were safely dropped off and removed from circulation.
The DEA Take-Back Day provides a tangible way for parents to help curb medicine abuse. The PATS data released today confirms that misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is now a normalized behavior among teens.
Concerning Trends in Teen Prescription Drug Abuse According to the New PATS Data (2008-2012)
One in four teens (24 percent) reports having misused or abused a prescription drug at least once in their lifetime (up from 18 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2012), which translates to about 5 million teens. That is a 33 percent increase over a five-year period:
Of those kids who said they abused Rx medications, one in five (20 percent) has done so before the age of 14.
More than a quarter of teens (27 percent) mistakenly believe that "misusing and abusing prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs," and one-third of teens (33 percent) say they believe "it's okay to use prescription drugs that were not prescribed to them to deal with an injury, illness or physical pain."
"These data make it very clear: the problem is real, the threat immediate and the situation is not poised to get better," said Steve Pasierb, President and CEO of The Partnership at Drugfree.org. "Parents fear drugs like cocaine or heroin and want to protect their kids. But the truth is that when misused and abused, medicines especially stimulants and opioids can be every bit as dangerous and harmful as illicit street drugs. Medicine abuse is one of the most significant and preventable adolescent health problems facing our families today. As parents and caring adults, we need to take action to address the risks that intentional medicine abuse poses to the lives and the long-term health of our teens."
Significant Increase in Teen Abuse of Stimulants Ritalin and Adderall, Rx Painkiller Abuse Flattening
Rx stimulants are a key area of concern, with misuse and abuse of Ritalin and Adderall in particular driving the noted increases in teen medicine abuse. Stimulants are a class of drugs that enhance brain activity and are commonly prescribed to treat health conditions including ADHD and obesity. The 2012 data found:
One in eight teens (about 2.7 million) now reports having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall at least once in their lifetime.
9 percent of teens (about 1.9 million) report having misused or abused the Rx stimulants Ritalin or Adderall in the past year (up from 6 percent in 2008) and 6 percent of teens (1.3 million) report abuse of Ritalin or Adderall in the past month (up from 4 percent in 2008).
One in four teens (26 percent) believes that prescription drugs can be used as a study aid.
Abuse of prescription pain medicine remains at unacceptably high levels among teens, but the new PATS data show it may be flattening. Teen abuse of prescription pain relievers like Vicodin and OxyContin has remained stable since 2011 with one in six teens (16 percent) reporting abuse or misuse of an Rx pain reliever at least once in their lifetime. One in 10 teens (10 percent) admits to abusing or misusing an Rx painkiller in the past year.
Parents' Missed Opportunity: Lax Attitudes and Permissiveness About Rx Drugs Linked to Teen Abuse
Parent permissiveness and lax attitudes toward abuse and misuse of Rx medicines, coupled with teens' ease of access to prescription medicines in the home, are key factors linked to teen medicine misuse and abuse. The availability of prescription drugs (in the family medicine cabinet, in the homes of friends and family) makes them that much easier to abuse. The new survey findings stress that teens are more likely to abuse Rx medicines if they think their parents "don't care as much if they get caught using prescription drugs, without a doctor's prescription, than they do if they get caught using illegal drugs."
Almost one-third of parents (29 percent) say they believe ADHD medication can improve a child's academic or testing performance, even if the teen does not have ADHD.
One in six parents (16 percent) believes that using prescription drugs to get high is safer than using street drugs.
Teens reported that during the last conversation they had with their parents regarding substance abuse, only 16 percent said they discussed the misuse or abuse of prescription pain relievers with their parents, and just 14 percent indicate the same for discussions about any type of prescription drug. In comparison, a majority of teens (81 percent) say they have discussed the risks of marijuana use with their parents, 80 percent have discussed alcohol and nearly one-third of teens (30 percent) have discussed crack/cocaine.
More than half of teens (56 percent) indicate that it's easy to get prescription drugs from their parent's medicine cabinet. In fact, about half of parents (49 percent) say anyone can access their medicine cabinet.
More than four in 10 teens (42 percent) who have misused or abused a prescription drug obtained it from their parent's medicine cabinet. Almost half (49 percent) of teens who misuse or abuse Rx medicines obtained them from a friend.
Teens are more likely to use prescription drugs if they believe that their parents are more lenient toward prescription drug misuse or abuse compared to illegal drug abuse, and their parents use drugs themselves.
One in five parents (20 percent) report that they have given their teen a prescription drug that was not prescribed for them.
The PATS survey also found that 17 percent of parents do not throw away expired medications, and 14 percent of parents say that they themselves have misused or abuse prescription drugs within the past year.
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PATS Methodology
The 24th annual Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) of 3,884 teens in grades 9-12 and 817 parents is nationally projectable with a +/- 2.1 percent margin of error for the teen sample and +/- 3.4 percent for the parent sample. Conducted for The Partnership at Drugfree.org and MetLife Foundation by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications, the 2012 PATS teen survey was administered in private, public and parochial schools, while the parent survey was conducted through in-home interviews by deKadt Marketing and Research, Inc.
About The Partnership at Drugfree.org
Ninety percent of addictions start in the teenage years. The Partnership at Drugfree.org is dedicated to solving the problem of teen substance abuse. Together with experts in science, parenting and communications, the nonprofit translates research on teen behavior, addiction and treatment into useful and effective resources for both individuals and communities. Working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with parents and other influencers to help them prevent and get help for drug and alcohol abuse by teens and young adults. The organization depends on donations from individuals, corporations, foundations and the public sector and is thankful to SAG-AFTRA and the advertising and media industries for their ongoing generosity.
About MetLife Foundation
MetLife Foundation was established in 1976 to continue MetLife's longstanding tradition of corporate contributions and community involvement. The Foundation is committed to building a secure future for individuals and communities worldwide. Since it was established, MetLife Foundation has provided more than $530 million in grants to nonprofit organizations addressing issues that have a positive impact in their communities. For more information, visit http://www.metlife.org.
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Apr. 23, 2013 ? Researchers from Yale University School of Medicine have demonstrated that vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is highly competent at finding, infecting, and killing human melanoma cells, both in vitro and in animal models, while having little propensity to infect non-cancerous cells.
"If it works as well in humans, this could confer a substantial benefit on patients afflicted with this deadly disease," says Anthony van den Pol, a researcher on the study. The research was published online ahead of print in the Journal of Virology.
Most normal cells resist virus infection by activating antiviral processes that protect nearby cells. "The working hypothesis was that since many cancer cells show a deficient ability to withstand virus infection, maybe a fast-acting virus such as VSV would be able to infect and kill cancer cells before the virus was eliminated by the immune system," says van den Pol. And indeed, the virus was able to selectively infect multiple deadly human melanomas that had been implanted in a mouse model, yet showed little infectivity towards normal mouse cells, he says.
Many different mechanisms are involved in innate immunity, the type of immunity that combats viral infection. van den Pol plans to investigate which specific mechanisms are malfunctioning in cancer cells, knowledge that would be hugely beneficial both in understanding how cancer affects immunity, and in enhancing a virus' ability to target cancer cells, he says.
Melanoma is the most deadly skin cancer. Most melanomas are incurable once they have metastasized into the body. The incidence of melanoma has tripled over the last three decades, and it accounts for approximately 75 percent of skin cancer-related deaths.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Society for Microbiology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
G. Wollmann, J. N. Davis, M. W. Bosenberg, A. N. van den Pol. Vesicular stomatitis virus variants selectively infect and kill human melanoma but not normal melanocytes.. Journal of Virology, 2013; DOI: 10.1128/JVI.03311-12
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Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the free Syrian Army hiding behind scrap metal during an attack against Syrian government forces, in the neighborhood of al-Amerieh in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, April. 21, 2013. The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country immediately, as activists said regime troops supported by pro-government gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of a string of villages near the Lebanon-Syria border. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
This citizen journalism image provided by Aleppo Media Center AMC which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows members of the free Syrian Army hiding behind scrap metal during an attack against Syrian government forces, in the neighborhood of al-Amerieh in Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, April. 21, 2013. The Syrian opposition called on Hezbollah to withdraw its fighters from the country immediately, as activists said regime troops supported by pro-government gunmen linked to the Lebanese Shiite militant group battled rebels Sunday for control of a string of villages near the Lebanon-Syria border. (AP Photo/Aleppo Media Center AMC)
BEIRUT (AP) ? Two Syrian activist groups say they fear the past six days of clashes in two Damascus suburbs may have killed hundreds of people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the number of dead could be as high as 250.
Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the Observatory, says the group has documented 80 names of those killed in Jdaidet Artouz and Jdaidet al-Fadel suburbs.
The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, says the death toll is 483. It says most of the people were killed in Jdaidet Artouz.
State-run news agency SANA said Syrian troops "inflicted heavy losses" on the rebels in the suburbs.
Monday's reports came as President Bashar Assad's forces continued a major offensive in the suburbs against opposition fighters who were closing in on parts of Damascus.
Apr. 19, 2013 ? Past climate change varied remarkably between regions. This is demonstrated in a new study coordinated by the international Past Global Changes (PAGES) project, which reconstructed temperature over the past 1000 to 2000 years.
It is the first comprehensive temperature reconstruction on a continental scale. One of its main findings is that a general cooling trend, caused by different factors (e.g. orbital-driven insolation and changes in solar and volcanic activity), was ubiquitous across all continental-scale regions and was reversed by a distinct warm trend beginning at the end of the 19th century.
The scale of this project is impressive. Some 80 researchers from all over the world collaborated on the study, which has just been published in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience. In one of the widest-ranging efforts yet undertaken to reconstruct climate across the globe, the international author team evaluated data from all continents to track the evolution of temperatures over the past one to two millennia.
This major project was initiated and coordinated by the Past Global Changes (PAGES) organization. PAGES was established in 1991 to facilitate international research into understanding climatic and environmental dynamics by studying the past. The program receives funding mainly from the Swiss and US national science foundations. In 2006, ambitious scientists in the PAGES network decided to organize an initiative to reconstruct the climate of the last 2000 years in unprecedented quality.
The first results of the collective effort have now been published. "A key aspect of the consortium effort was to engage regional experts who are intimately familiar with the evidence for past climate changes within their regions," says Heinz Wanner, emeritus professor at the University of Bern and one of the original architects of the PAGES 2k Network.
"Several mathematical procedures were applied to reconstruct the continental temperature time series and they were compared to assess the extent to which the main conclusions of the study stood up to the different analytical approaches." Previous attempts to reconstruct temperature changes focused on hemispheric or global-scale averages, which are important, but overlook the pronounced regional-scale differences that occur along with global changes, he points out.
Natural climate archives and documentary sources
For the present study, "Continental-scale temperature variability during the last two millennia," the researchers drew up temperature curves for large regions at seven continents, using 511 local temperature records. These were based on the analysis of tree rings, pollen, corals, lake and marine sediments, ice cores and stalagmites as well as historical documents.
In most cases the data used were highly resolved, attesting to short-term variations over decades or less, rather than smoothing over centuries. In Africa, there were too few records to accurately determine long-term temperature changes for that continent. Nevertheless, the expansive new dataset will undoubtedly be used in future studies, including for comparisons with the output of climate models used to help project future climate change.
The evolution of temperature across all the continents was noticeably more similar within the hemispheres than between the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. "Distinctive periods, such as the Medieval Warm Period or the Little Ice Age stand out, but do not show a globally uniform pattern," says professor Heinz Wanner.
By around 1500 AD temperatures did indeed fall below the long-term mean everywhere. However, in the Arctic, Europe and Asia this temperature drop occurred several decades earlier than in North America and the Southern Hemisphere. These new findings will certainly stimulate vibrant discussions within the research community, Wanner believes.
Long-term cooling trend reversed
The most consistent feature across the regions over the last 2000 years was a long-term cooling trend, which was likely caused by a combination of factors such as an overall increase in volcanic activity, a decrease in solar irradiance, changes in land cover, and slow changes in earth's orbit. This cooling only came to an end toward the end of the 19th century.
The warming during the last century has reversed this long-term cooling, the study found. It remained cold only in Antarctica. An analysis of the average temperatures over 30-year periods indicates that interval from 1971-2000 was probably warmer than any other 30-year period in the last 1400 years.
Cooler 30-year periods between the years 830 and 1910 AD were particularly pronounced during weak solar activity and strong tropical volcanic eruptions. Both phenomena often occurred simultaneously and led to a drop in the average temperature during five distinct 30- to 90-year intervals between 1251 and 1820.
Warming in the 20th century was on average twice as large in the northern continents as it was in the Southern Hemisphere. During the past 2000 years, some regions experienced warmer 30-year intervals than during the late 20th century. For example, in Europe the years between 21 and 80 AD were possibly warmer than the period 1971-2000.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Bern.
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Journal Reference:
Moinuddin Ahmed, Kevin J. Anchukaitis, Asfawossen Asrat, Hemant P. Borgaonkar, Martina Braida, Brendan M. Buckley, Ulf B?ntgen, Brian M. Chase, Duncan A. Christie, Edward R. Cook, Mark A. J. Curran, Henry F. Diaz, Jan Esper, Ze-Xin Fan, Narayan P. Gaire, Quansheng Ge, Jo?lle Gergis, J Fidel Gonz?lez-Rouco, Hugues Goosse, Stefan W. Grab, Nicholas Graham, Rochelle Graham, Martin Grosjean, Sami T. Hanhij?rvi, Darrell S. Kaufman, Thorsten Kiefer, Katsuhiko Kimura, Atte A. Korhola, Paul J. Krusic, Antonio Lara, Anne-Marie L?zine, Fredrik C. Ljungqvist, Andrew M. Lorrey, J?rg Luterbacher, Val?rie Masson-Delmotte, Danny McCarroll, Joseph R. McConnell, Nicholas P. McKay, Mariano S. Morales, Andrew D. Moy, Robert Mulvaney, Ignacio A. Mundo, Takeshi Nakatsuka, David J. Nash, Raphael Neukom, Sharon E. Nicholson, Hans Oerter, Jonathan G. Palmer, Steven J. Phipps, Maria R. Prieto, Andres Rivera, Masaki Sano, Mirko Severi, Timothy M. Shanahan, Xuemei Shao, Feng Shi, Michael Sigl, Jason E. Smerdon, Olga N. Solomina, Eric J. Steig, Barbara Stenni, Meloth Thamban, Valerie Trouet, Chris S.M. Turney, Mohammed Umer, Tas van Ommen, Dirk Verschuren, Andre E. Viau, Ricardo Villalba, Bo M. Vinther, Lucien von Gunten, Sebastian Wagner, Eugene R. Wahl, Heinz Wanner, Johannes P. Werner, James W.C. White, Koh Yasue, Eduardo Zorita. Continental-scale temperature variability during the past two millennia. Nature Geoscience, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/NGEO1797
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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Is your organization still on the fence about BB10 and casting around for alternatives? Then here's a little first-party business app for Nokia Windows Phones that might be worthy of some evidence-based evaluation. It's called Conference and it's only at the beta stage, but it's already able to serve its primary purpose: namely, letting you join a conference call on your Lumia without needing to grab details out of your calendar and key them in. The app receives the invite, with the necessary ID/PIN details supplied by the sender, and then lets you join a call with a single tap -- or a voice instruction if you're on a WP8 handset. It also integrates with Lync and vibrates whenever someone uses corporatese in lieu of gravitas.
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad quit on Saturday after months of tension with President Mahmoud Abbas, leaving the administration in disarray just as the United States tries to revive peace talks with Israel.
Abbas, who has been unhappy with Fayyad's handling of the cash-strapped government, accepted the resignation and asked Fayyad to stay on as caretaker until a new government is formed, according to official Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Palestinian law requires the president to appoint a new prime minister within two weeks.
Fayyad, a Texas-educated former World Bank official, is credited with helping create institutions in the occupied West Bank which would be needed if the Palestinians are to gain independence from Israeli occupation.
Sources told Reuters on Wednesday that Fayyad offered to resign. Fayyad, appointed prime minister in 2007, had offered to stand down before, only for Abbas to reject his requests after pressure from Western donors..
Western diplomats expressed dismay at the latest turmoil within the Palestinian Authority at a time when the United States is making a concerted effort to revive peace negotiations with Israel and boost the local economy.
During a visit to the region last month, U.S. President Barack Obama praised Fayyad, and Secretary of State John Kerry held private talks with the beleaguered prime minister earlier this week, in a gesture of support.
Admired abroad, including in Israel, Fayyad has failed to build a strong political base within the Palestinian territories, leaving him vulnerable to attacks from Abbas's Fatah party and the Islamist group Hamas, which governs in Gaza.
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Fayyad's reputation among Palestinians suffered as policy missteps and economic hardships abounded ? While Fayyad was one of the few senior politicians to frequently visit marginalized communities and ask after their concerns, tax and commodity price hikes repeatedly stoked angry street protests against him.
Palestinian unemployment has risen to almost 25 percent and real GDP growth is set to fall from an average of 11 percent in 2010-11 to just 5 percent in 2013, according to the World Bank.
Kerry said on Tuesday he was preparing measures to boost growth in the West Bank, which is partially controlled by the Palestinian Authority. The plans were due to be unveiled in Washington next week.
A senior Fatah official said he had doubts about Fayyad's resignation. "We can't judge the seriousness of this move until the president appoints a new prime minister. I feel as if this is an artifice to keep things as they are," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
Fayyad's problems grew last year when foreign aid started to slow. The situation worsened at the end of the year when Washington froze funding to punish the Palestinians for gaining de-facto statehood recognition at the United Nations.
Israel also withheld tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians in November and December in response to the unilateral U.N. move, making it impossible for Fayyad to keep up with already delayed public sector salary payments.
Sources close to Fayyad accuse Fatah of stirring discontent, in a bid for more control over Palestinian coffers. The sources complain Abbas did not give his prime minister enough support.
Relations between the two men soured further last month when Finance Minister Nabil Qassis quit, saying the government had failed to address a gaping budget deficit. Fayyad accepted the resignation, against the wishes of Abbas.
Hamas welcomed Fayyad's departure. It has accused him of helping Israel maintain its partial blockade on the Gaza Strip.
"Fayyad leaves the government after he drowned our people in debts," Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said.
Hamas won national elections across the Palestinian territories in 2006 and seized control of Gaza the following year after falling out with Fatah. In response to the brief civil war, Abbas named Fayyad as his prime minister.
Abbas and Hamas are engaged in on-off talks aimed at reconciliation, and Fayyad offered to stand aside in 2011 if this would help unity efforts.
(Additional reporting by Noah Browning and Nidal al Mughrabi in Gaza; Writing by Maayan Lubell; Editing by Jason Webb)
An ice cloud taking shape over Titan's south pole is the latest sign that the change of seasons is setting off a cascade of radical changes in the atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon. Made from an unknown ice, this type of cloud has long hung over Titan's north pole, where it is now fading, according to observations made by the Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) on NASA's Cassini spacecraft.
"We associate this particular kind of ice cloud with winter weather on Titan, and this is the first time we have detected it anywhere but the north pole," said the study's lead author, Donald E. Jennings, a CIRS Co-Investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The southern ice cloud, which shows up in the far infrared part of the light spectrum, is evidence that an important pattern of global air circulation on Titan has reversed direction. When Cassini first observed the circulation pattern, warm air from the southern hemisphere was rising high in the atmosphere and got transported to the cold north pole. There, the air cooled and sank down to lower layers of the atmosphere, where it formed ice clouds. A similar pattern, called a Hadley cell, carries warm, moist air from Earth's tropics to the cooler middle latitudes.
Based on modeling, scientists had long predicted a reversal of this circulation once Titan's north pole began to warm and its south pole began to cool. The official transition from winter to spring at Titan's north pole occurred in August 2009. But because each of the moon's seasons lasts about 7-1/2 Earth years, researchers still didn't know exactly when this reversal would happen or how long it would take.
The first signs of the reversal came in data acquired in early 2012, which was shortly after the start of southern fall on Titan, when Cassini images and visual and infrared mapping spectrometer data revealed the presence of a high-altitude "haze hood" and a swirling polar vortex at the south pole. Both features have long been associated with the cold north pole. Later, Cassini scientists reported that infrared observations of Titan's winds and temperatures made by CIRS had provided definitive evidence of air sinking, rather than upwelling, at the south pole. By looking back through the data, the team narrowed down the change in circulation to within six months of the 2009 equinox.
Despite the new activity at the south pole, the southern ice cloud hadn't appeared yet. CIRS didn't detect it until about July 2012, a few months after the haze and vortex were spotted in the south, according to the study published in Astrophysical Journal Letters in December 2012.
"This lag makes sense, because first the new circulation pattern has to bring loads and loads of gases to the south pole. Then the air has to sink. The ices have to condense. And the pole has to be under enough shadow to protect the vapors that condense to form those ices," said Carrie Anderson, a CIRS team member and Cassini participating scientist at NASA Goddard.
At first blush, the southern ice cloud seems to be building rapidly. The northern ice cloud, on the other hand, was present when Cassini first arrived and has been slowly fading the entire time the spacecraft has been observing it.
So far, the identity of the ice in these clouds has eluded scientists, though they have ruled out simple chemicals, such as methane, ethane and hydrogen cyanide, that are typically associated with Titan. One possibility is that species X, as some team members call the ice, could be a mixture of organic compounds.
"What's happening at Titan's poles has some analogy to Earth and to our ozone holes," said the CIRS Principal Investigator, NASA Goddard's F. Michael Flasar. "And on Earth, the ices in the high polar clouds aren't just window dressing: They play a role in releasing the chlorine that destroys ozone. How this affects Titan chemistry is still unknown. So it's important to learn as much as we can about this phenomenon, wherever we find it."
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NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center: http://www.nasa.gov/goddard
Thanks to NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center for this article.
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It was the end of the "Idol" road for Lazaro Arbos on Thursday.
Ladies and gentlemen of ?American Idol,? you won?t have Lazaro Arbos to kick around any more.
The inspirational story who soon became mentor Jimmy Iovine?s nemesis, Lazaro looked to be indestructible as his fellow males fell before the voting masses one by one. He was even among the top three vote-getters a week ago. ?But the last man standing on season 12 finally ran out of chances on Thursday, finishing in sixth place and officially ending the guys? five-year winning streak.
This means he won?t have to spend another Wednesday listening to the judges patronizing his courage for getting this far despite his speech impediment before moving on to crush him for his vocal miscues. There will be no more Thursday nights marred by having to stand there and try to smile as Jimmy rips him to shreds on video.
?Last night?s performance hit me like an Ambien milkshake? was this week?s gem from the ?Idol? mentor. He later closed his evaluation with, ?If I had to chart him this week, I?d put him 10th.?
?There?s only six singers,? a producer? s voice chimed in.
?I know,? Jimmy answered.
That?s partially a burn, partially just a really bad joke.
Lazaro also won?t have to worry about butchering another group performance. Nor will any of the other contestants, which could be why none of them were crying at the results except for Amber Holcomb.
And Amber had reason to cry. She was the second lowest vote-getter despite Nicki Minaj?s very vocal sales pitch. Every season has a singer or two with a lot of talent who just doesn?t resonate with the viewers, and right now it?s looking like she has that honor this year.
?Amber, I don?t know what to tell you to change. Just keep on doing what you?re doing,? Jimmy said in his video recap of her Wednesday performance.
Or, you know, maybe try something different to avoid getting sent home next week.
In fairness, she also could have been crying because season one winner Kelly Clarkson showed up to perform in a glowstick-heavy performance wearing some really scary eye makeup. But I?m guessing it was the results.
Kree Harrison and Candice Glover were the top two vote-getters this week. That was not surprising, considering they sang the best on Wednesday. Angie Miller and Janelle Arthur were in the middle.
With the judges? least-favorite singer at the bottom, this was the least dramatic sing-for-survival performance of the season, even though they now have to use it or lose it next week. But Lazaro tried anyway, because them?s the rules.
?It?s a new dawn. It?s a new day. It?s a new life!? Lazaro belted as he covered ?Feelin? Good.?
The judges couldn?t have agreed more.
?Lazaro, we love you, you?ve been a treasure to the show,? Randy said. ?But we?re not using the save.?
That won?t come into play until next week, when the competition really gets interesting now that the guys are gone.
Were you surprised by the order in which the girls finished? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.?
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