By Matt Hawes

Thomas still doesn’t have the text up, so here is the language for H.R. 4995:

To restore the American people’s freedom to choose the health insurance that best meets their individual needs by repealing the mandate that all Americans obtain government-approved health insurance.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “End the Mandate Act of 2010.”

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF INDIVIDUAL AND EMPLOYER MANDATES ENACTED BY PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.

(a) PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT.-Effective as of the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, subtitle F of title I of such Act, as amended by title X of such Act, is hereby repealed.

(b) HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2010.-Effective as of the enactment of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, sections 1002 and 1003 of such Act are hereby repealed.

Thousands of pages to take away your freedom – two to get it back.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has executed the first Carolina express license agreement with UNC spinout Synereca Pharmaceuticals, Inc., also of Chapel Hill. The Carolina express license is a standard license agreement created by the University to foster more spinouts from academic research conducted on campus. (For an in-depth article on the Carolina express license, see the article in Technology Transfer Tactics, January 2010.) “We expect that Synereca is the first of many spinout companies from Carolina research that will use the Carolina express license,” says Cathy Innes, director of the University’s Office of Technology Development. Interested spinouts are prequalified to satisfy funding, business strategy, and management experience thresholds. “The response has been exceptionally positive across the academic technology transfer community as well as from our own faculty,” Innes says.

Under the agreement, Synereca will license inventions resulting from research conducted by Scott F. Singleton, PhD, associate professor in the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Singleton’s research addresses bacterial resistance to current antibiotics. Synereca aims to develop orally active drugs that sustain the efficacy of existing antibiotics by inhibiting the bacterial enzyme RecA — a key factor in bacterial DNA repair and in the development and transmission of antibiotic resistance. Synereca’s prototype RecA inhibitors potentiate the killing of a variety of bacteria by a range of antibiotics, including a fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin) and penicillin (ampicillin) — representatives of antibiotic classes with combined annual sales exceeding $10 billion.

W. Bennett Love, vice president for business operations at Synereca, says the Carolina express license reflects a well-conceived approach. “The qualification standards needed from a spinout company to satisfy the licensee requirements, combined with diligence commitments on the company’s part, insure that the university’s interests are well protected,” he says. “Yet the milestone parameters do not place an undue economic burden on the spinout company early in its development — the time when spinouts can least afford the cash drain. Additionally, having a set of standard terms in the agreement will materially shorten the time from company concept to realization.”

Sources:  Triangle Business Journal and Synereca

Technology Transfer Tactics’ Distance Learning Division has just announced a six-week webinar series, Start-Up Boot Camp for University TTO Professionals and Inventors. This convenient format allows you cost-effectively educate both tech transfer staff and faculty innovators on the critical issues and success factors in forming and growing an academic spinout. 90-minute sessions will be held every Thursday from June 3rd through July 8th, featuring a faculty panel of high-level academic start-up experts. From early decision-making to exit strategies and each milestone along the way, this unique series is carefully crafted to provide the detailed guidance and advice neede to take start-ups beyond survival — to rapid growth, and ultimately to a liquidity event.

Faculty include Gerard Eldering, founder and president of InnovateTech Ventures; Brian Cummings, executive director of the Technology Commercialization Office and VP for technology ventures at the University of Utah; Jack Brittain, the University of Utah’s vice president of Technology Venture Development; Jim Chung, director of the Office of Entrepreneurship at George Washington University; Kef Kasdin, general partner with Battelle Ventures and Innovation Valley Partners; Paul E. Rauch, PhD, founder of Evan Law Group LLC; and Charles Cella, patent attorney and co-founder of GTC.

Attendees can select individual sessions as well as the entire series at a discounted rate, and series participants also receive the Start-Up Strategies book from Volume 2 of the Tech Transfer Library, plus the entire recorded webinar to share with staff and faculty who can’t attend the live sessions. CLICK HERE for complete details.

And don’t miss these additional individual distance learning opportunities:

• Working Effectively with University Counsel to Speed the Licensing Process — Thursday, April 29
• Become Industry Friendly: Transform Your TTO Into a Licensee Magnet — Wednesday, May 12
• University Researchers: Tap Into Your Inner CEO — Thursday, May 20, 2010
• TTOs: Use Social Media Effectively to Market Your Innovations — Tuesday, June 8
• The Perfect Elevator Pitch: Sell Your IP in 3 Minutes or Less! — Tuesday, June 15
• Prevent Faculty Disputes from Turning Into a Declaration of War — Tuesday, July 13

Ron Paul can beat Barack Obama in 2012 according to the latest Rassmussen poll. Among independents, Paul has an astonishing 47% to 28% edge over the president.

The difficult part may be getting the GOP nomination: Only 66% of GOP voters support Ron Paul. But there’s still potential for improvement: 49% are still not sure whether Ron Paul shares the values of most Republican voters throughout the nation.

Time to spread the message!

Pit maverick Republican Congressman Ron Paul against President Obama in a hypothetical 2012 election match-up, and the race is – virtually dead even.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds Obama with 42% support and Paul with 41% of the vote. Eleven percent (11%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided.

Obama earns 79% support from Democrats, but Paul gets just 66% of GOP votes. Voters not affiliated with either major party give Paul a 47% to 28% edge over the president.

Twenty-six percent (26%) of GOP voters think Paul shares the values of most Republican voters throughout the nation, but 25% disagree. Forty-nine percent (49%) are not sure.

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Birth control for moths — that’s one way to describe the focus of a start-up company based at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa that hopes to take a bite out of the $100 billion hole insects inflict each year on worldwide crop production. Rusty Sutterlin, PhD, a chemist and entrepreneur, and his newly formed company, Sutterlin Technologies, is targeting the brown codling moth — a pest to farmers around the planet — using an environmentally friendly, patent-pending biodegradable technology licensed from UA. Scott Spear, PhD, a research scientist in UA’s Alabama Innovation and Mentoring of Entrepreners (AIME) program, and colleagues developed the technology.

Members of the company’s initial target market, apple growers, are primed and ready for relief from the winged insects, whose larva sometimes appears as worm-like creatures within apples. “The response I’m hearing indicates we can’t get this out soon enough,” Sutterlin says of his company’s powdery product, poised to enter field trials after successfully passing tests in UA laboratories. The product works by disrupting the insects’ mating patterns through the use of insect pheromones — chemical sex attractants that the tiny creatures emit to entice and locate mates. While using synthetic pheromones to reduce insect populations isn’t new, the standard means of delivering pheromones is quickly falling out of favor, Sutterlin says, because of environmental concerns and the labor-intensive steps necessary to use them.

The company’s biodegradable approach centers around the use of pectin — a complex carbohydrate that occurs naturally in fruits, including apples, and some vegetables. Used in jam production to provide the jelly-like consistency, pectin is adept at binding with the pheromones and later releasing them it as it degrades harmlessly in the fields. “We take the pectin and chemically modify it,” Sutterlin explains. “Then, we add the insect pheromone, mix it together, do a little chemistry and, voila, we’ve encapsulated the pheromone in pectin. If you’re holding it in your hand, it looks almost like flour.”

Growers can mix the powder with water and spray it on their fields using standard spraying equipment. As the pheromone is released, the insects are confused by the many scents that blanket the orchards and are unable to locate mates. “Growers are not going to see dead moths like they would with traditional insecticides,” Sutterlin says. Instead, “the mating season does not occur, so the next season, there are no bugs.” Unlike traditional insecticides, the technique doesn’t randomly kill harmless or commercially helpful insects and poses no environmental risks, he adds.

Source: UA News

From the Breaking News Center:

The new details are contained in
an evidentiary proffer ordered unsealed by
a federal judge today. It echoes some of the details in the indictment
against
the ex-governor but offers the most complete roadmap yet of the
government’s case.

Read more from Tribune federal courts reporter Jeff Coen by clicking here.

The Canadian Patent Office has granted the University of British Columbia (UBC) a technology and process patent for the use of radiant energy vacuum (REV) dehydration technology in the production of dried biological materials. The patent covers vacuum microwave dehydration of a wide range of materials in solid, liquid, or frozen state, including enzymes, drugs, vitamins, antimicrobial agents and preservatives. The protected IP was developed in the laboratory of Tim Durance, PhD, professor and program director of food nutrition and health at UBC. Durance serves as chair and co-CEO of Vancouver-based EnWave Corporation, which has exclusively licensed the patent under an ongoing collaboration agreement with UBC. “This is a general, broad-based patent which serves to substantially bolster EnWave’s growing patent portfolio over the use of vacuum microwave dehydration technology globally,” Durance says.

Using technologies developed in conjunction with UBC, EnWave is investigating new methods to apply REV technology, which combines microwave energy transfer under vacuum to dehydrate and alter structures and drive chemical reactions. REV technology creates unique product characteristics for both food products and medical applications, including fruit, vegetables, probiotics, enzymes, proteins, food cultures, vaccines, and antibodies. In addition to the company’s patent filings on other REV dehydration processes and equipment, EnWave holds an exclusive worldwide license from UBC for a number of food and biopharmaceutical dehydration patents.

Source:  Market Watch

And now for the latest on Palm’s attempt to sell themselves: Huawei, a rather small name in the smartphone space, is reportedly interested in purchasing Palm. Or was interested. Or might be interested Or something. According to Reuters sources, Palm had contacted Huawei’s investment bank to begin ‘preliminary discussions’. Why do we care about Huawei being interested in Palm? Because they occasionally make Android phones that are mildly interesting and we once pegged them as the next HTC. If they buy Palm, it’s a whole different story, now is it? Anyways, back to your regular scheduled program.

With less than 30 minutes to go, the Dow is up 100 points.

We’re going to fill the Lehman gap just like that.

Says one trader we spoke with:  “It feels like ’05”

Join the conversation about this story »

For two years, the Boulder (CO) Innovation Center (BIC) has been a commercialization partner to 60 research teams through its partnership with the TTO at the University of Colorado-Boulder (CU). The BIC will now take its commercialization process to the tech transfer program at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. “The relationship with the BIC increases the chances of commercialization by providing business mentorship, company formation, and risk capital financing,” says Tim Bour, executive director of the BIC. “This is the next step in technology transfer that the BIC now brings to the table.”

The BIC has been working with Mines faculty on a number of projects, including technologies based around a nuclear battery for space applications, a nano thread for armor applications, and a process to convert CO2 to methanol. “Our mission is to help inventors and researchers at CU and Mines think about creating businesses based on their research and to introduce them to advisors with a proven track record in commercialization and potential investors,” Bour explains. As part of the partnership, the BIC will identify promising commercial applications at Mines and match Mines faculty and inventions with BIC mentors and advisors to assist in proof-of-concept proposal development, feasibility studies, business planning, and capital formation strategies.

Source: PR Web

Managing the growing volume of disclosures, patent filings, technology licenses, and spinoff activity is prompting some tech transfer managers to consider new tactics to handle more work without adding staff. Outsourcing is gaining interest as an option to shift service line responsibilities or IP portfolios to other entities, which may be located across the university or across the world. Texas Tech University in Lubbock is a typical example. Its Office of Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property, established in 1998 with a director and office assistant, initially was focused more on protecting than commercializing IP. In 2007, the university hired David L. Miller, JD, MBA, a serial entrepreneur, to manage the office. A year later, the department was renamed the Office of Technology Commercialization (OTC) and expanded to respond better to the needs of researchers, explains Amber Dean, associate managing director.

Although the OTC now has five full-time staff, “compared to other universities our size we are still relatively small,” says Dean. Nevertheless, the OTC has significantly boosted production, increasing invention disclosures from 31 in 2006-07 to 61 in 2008-09 and more than doubling the number of license agreements while nearly tripling revenues. The OTC accomplished that growth, in part, by outsourcing segments of the tech transfer process to “fill some of the gaps” in its knowledge base while maintaining control of the mechanics of licensing and commercialization, according to Dean.

Because business people rather than technicians staff the office, its biggest need is to evaluate new technologies for their technical merit and commercial potential. “Typically, we see about a third of our disclosures from our medical school, a third from our engineering school, and a third from our agriculture school,” Dean says. “Not one of us in our office has a particular background in those areas, so it was very important to find expertise in those fields to help us evaluate technologies.”

Serendipitously, Newton F. Hamlin, a managing partner with Austin, TX-based LGE Execs, had previously approached Texas Tech officials to discuss strategies to increase the school’s technology commercialization prospects. LGE Execs is a network of more than 75 former top executives — mostly retired CEOs, presidents, CIOs, CTOs, CFOs, and others — with a track record of running companies, leading business units, growing start-ups, raising capital, and spearheading mergers and acquisitions. Following Hamlin’s initiative, the OTC established a formal relationship to assess promising new technologies. When the office receives a discovery, the staff sends a nonconfidential summary to Hamlin, who reviews the technology or forwards the idea to a colleague. The reviewer provides the OTC with an “opportunity rating” on a scale of A-F, based on the projected investment needed to achieve certain milestones, timeline associated with those milestones, and potential challenges associated with the technology’s development. The review weights each technology using criteria such as market size, urgency of the solution for the market, and strength of IP protection. If the rating is strong enough, the OTC begins to explore the possibility of forming a start-up.

“There’s no charge, typically, for this type of review, so that’s a huge cost savings for our office,” Dean says, adding that outside consultants quoted the OTC fees of $3,500 and up per technology to conduct the same service. Once a technology receives a thumbs-up, the university licenses the technology to a start-up while Hamlin’s organization puts a management team in place and begins to raise money for a serious commercialization effort. A detailed article on TTO outsourcing strategies appears in the March issue of Technology Transfer Tactics. To subscriber and access the full article, along with a 3-year archive of tech transfer case studies, how-to strategies, and best practices, CLICK HERE.

The University of Cincinnati (UC) has signed worldwide exclusive license agreements with privately held Techulon, Inc., a life sciences company based at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, to manufacture and sell transfection reagents used for research and therapeutic delivery of nucleic acids. The licenses cover a family of molecules invented by Theresa M. Reineke, PhD, while she was a faculty member in the chemistry department at UC’s McMicken College of Arts & Sciences. The university has filed two patent applications on the technology.

Marketed by Techulon under the name Glycofect Transfection Reagent, the polymer-based formulations demonstrate efficacy for delivering genetic materials into a variety of cell types for health-related research and drug development. In contrast to currently used lipid-based transfection reagents, Techulon’s products are based on carbohydrate polymer structures invented by Reineke, now an associate professor of chemistry at Virginia Tech. “This new class of polymers can deliver DNA research reagents and therapeutics into a high number of cells and tissues types without causing cell damage or death,” Reineke explains. “After cellular delivery, the glycopolymers degrade and release their DNA cargo to perform its biological function without toxic side effects.”

Glycofect is available for purchase as a transfection reagent for research applications, and Techulon plans to sublicense the reagent to companies seeking an efficient vector with low toxicity for therapeutic development, according to Frank Akers, the company’s president. Glycofect’s delivery, high gene expression, and low toxicity are particularly evident in primary cells, he adds. Current transfection reagents do not work well with primary cells, which are costly and difficult to obtain.

Source: Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News

A Milwaukee start-up founded by an engineer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) has completed a licensing agreement with the UWM Research Foundation for IP the company will use to develop nanoscale products and devices. NanoAffix Science LLC, founded by Junhong Chen, PhD, UWM associate professor of mechanical engineering, aims to commercialize Chen’s technologies, which include techniques to create custom nanoparticles and to deposit them onto carbon nanotubes. “We have found new ways of combining nanocomponents to produce valuable technologies which are superior to existing approaches,” Chen says. His methods of combining structures are low-cost but yield high-performance materials with potential uses in medical diagnostics, green energy technology, and sensors. The company plans to bring practical nanosensor products to market and to pursue other manufacturing technology applications, according to Ed Corrigan, NanoAffix director.

Source: nano werk

Below are links to news stories of interest from newspapers that came up during a search today.  These links were active at the time of this e-mail, but should you want to save a story, printing it or cutting and pasting the entire article and saving it to your computer is recommended.    

Rally Day is April 21.  IEA has partnered with several other organizations and rally day is proving to be a fairly large event. We’re encouraging everyone to wear pink to the rally in support of those who have been RIF’d.  Click here for a list of things to keep in mind as you’re planning your trip: 

The tentative schedule of events for the day, which is subject to change:

9 to 11 a.m.   Buses arrive at IEA HQ-visit legislators (time permitting)

11 to 11:30 a.m.   Walk to rally staging point at 2nd and Capitol

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.   SOS rally speakers at 2nd and Capitol

12:15 p.m.   Beginning of march

1 p.m.   Visit legislators (time permitting)

(Lunch will be availble at noon and served throughout the day. Members may eat at their leisure.)

State News  

Quinn plans to sign bill to cut state pension costs  Chicago Tribune (blog) – Gov. Pat Quinn plans on Wednesday to sign legislation aimed at saving billions of dollars through reforms of the state pension system that will …   

Gov. Quinn to sign pension reform bill today
Springfield State Journal – Quinn said Tuesday he was reviewing Senate Bill 1946, which makes major changes in pensions for newly hired state government employees and teachers as part of an effort to save the state billions of dollars and shore up concerns about its financial stability. He has until late May to take action.   

Pension Plan: Political Football?  MyFox Illinois – SPRINGFIELD – Gov. Pat Quinn has not yet acted on a sweeping pension plan sent to his office more than two weeks ago. …  

Quinn: No political gamesmanship at work with pension plan  Chicago Daily Herald – Gov. Pat Quinn said Tuesday he wouldn’t hold pension reform hostage to try to scrounge up more votes for … 

Study: Illinois Among the Worst at Pension Funding
Chicago Public Radio – The report by the Center for State and Local Government Excellence examines a sampling of pension systems from each state. Funding levels for Illinois teacher and state worker pensions ranked among the lowest in the country in 2009. And researcher Joshua Franzel says the short-term outlook is dim.   

Quinn Makes His Case for Tax Hike for Education  Chicago Public Radio – ?Illinois Governor Pat Quinn can’t say for sure when or if the state legislature will act on his proposed tax increase for school funding. …   

Quinn heads to Springfield to push for tax hike
Arlington Heights Daily Herald – Gov. Pat Quinn is heading to Springfield, and he wants lawmakers to act on his proposal to raise the state income tax.    

Gov. Quinn Still Backing Tax Hike
Decatur WAND (NBC) 17 – Governor Quinn is not backing down on his proposal to raise the state income tax. Quinn wants lawmakers to raise the personal and corporate income tax rates 1% to stave off deep cuts to education. The Governor says school funding could be cut $1.3 billion without a tax increase. Quinn says he expects lawmakers to eventually vote on an income tax increase 

State superintendent gives awards to ESL schools, calls for tax hike
Belleville News-Democrat – Prior to his East St. Louis visit, Koch visited Edwardsville and discussed the state’s funding situation, telling school officials that he did not see any way out of the education funding problem without raising the state income tax.  ”The money just is not there and will not be unless additional revenue is identified,” Koch said. 

Angry parents join “Caravan to the Capitol” to protest education cuts
Medill News Service – Caravan to the Capitol is a group of approximately 60 parents who will be heading to Springfield Wednesday to air their concerns.  Sherry Tatar, the group’s informal leader, says the parents came together after realizing that School District 204 couldn’t do anything about the budget cuts.  “We have to turn to Springfield,” she says. “How can you be cutting these teachers? How can you be cutting music programs?” 

Special education schools plead for fewer cuts  Alton Telegraph – Pat Quinn introduced his state budget last month for the upcoming fiscal year, education bore the brunt of potential cuts totaling more than $1 billion.   

School districts slashing as state cuts funding
Highland Park News – A survey of Illinois school administrators in March suggested the state could lose as many as 20,000 education-related jobs pre-kindergarten through 12th grade by the time school opens in the fall. “We are completely in unchartered waters,” said Charles McBarron, director of communications for the Illinois Education Association, a union representing many suburban teachers.   

Halloran: State’s woes are forcing reductions
Morris Daily Herald – Illinois’ financial situation has many school districts worried, and Morris Community High School District 101 is no exception.  During Monday evening’s school board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Pat Halloran gave the board a brief overview of the district’s financial condition relative to state-funding dollars. 

Editorial: Turning tenure on its ear
Quad Cities Dispatch Argus Leader – Sadly, beyond angering the state’s top two teacher unions, the series was largely ignored among the people who could do anything about fixing what is broken. Indeed, rather than moving toward more accountability, state legislators have pushed for less; most recently by exempting teacher and administrator evaluations from the Illinois Freedom of Information Act.  

Evanston superintendent warns against malicious Facebook page
Chicago Tribune – The page on the popular social networking Web site had attracted more than 400 fans by Tuesday afternoon. But the only hint of its earlier comments came from the page’s description: “This page is made to tell you all about people in Evanston.” The page had been scrubbed clean of any offensive material that had been posted there in previous days.   

Hiawatha School publicizes state financial woes
Stickney Life – Hiawatha Elementary School staff have a message for the State of Illinois and they want everyone driving on 26th Street to know it.  The sign out front of the school reads “The State OF ILL owes District 100 $1.9 million.”  Timothy McGinnis, assistant superintendent for finance and operations at School Berwyn School District 100, said the state is about four months behind in paying its bills.   

Chicago Schools Go for Gold on Lunch Standards
Chicago Public Radio – said today they’ve recently purchased 200,000 peaches and one million apples from Michigan. In order to achieve the “gold” certification from the USDA, CPS will also have to increase nutrition education in schools and give students more opportunities for physical exercise.   

Political News

 Governor Quinn: Top Priority is State Budget  MyStateline.com – Springfield-Lawmakers are back to work in Springfield and Governor Quinn says the budget is their number one priority. With a 13 billion dollar deficit, … 

State Quits Paying Service Providers, Owes $4.5B
WBBM TV CBS 2 Chicago – The State of Illinois stopped paying its service providers, in order to keep the government functioning on a day-to-day basis.  The state currently owes $4.5 billion in unpaid bills. By the end of this budget year on June 30, that number will grow to $6 billion. The problem stems from overspending during the administration of since-deposed Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the Chicago Tribune reported.  

Kirk Out-Raises, Leads Poll Over Alexi
Chicago Chicagoist – Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk With all of the controversy surrounding Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias and his campaign’s shifting to damage control mode, perhaps the news that Republican opponent Mark Kirk has raised almost twice as much money isn’t that big of a surprise. The Sun-Times reports that Giannoulias is reporting fundraising in the first quarter 

Giannoulias raises $1.2M in Senate bid
DeKalb Daily Chronicle – Democrat Alexi Giannoulias said Tuesday that he raised $1.2 million during the first three months of the year in his bid for President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat, significantly less than his Republican opponent in a state controlled by Democrats. Giannoulias, Illinois’ first-term state treasurer, raised $1 million less than the $2.2 million raised by Republican

National News

Iowa Governor signs teacher diversification bill
Quincy WGEM (NBC) 10 – Gov. Chet Culver has signed a bill requiring state education officials and leaders at the state’s public and private colleges to study how to better recruit and retain minority teachers. Culver went to a Des Moines school Tuesday  

Misgivings about a race for school aid
At Adelphi Elementary School, students peel away from their classrooms twice a week for tutorials in reading and math. Clusters of five or six children shuffle into a book closet, a hallway, a computer lab or any place teachers can fit a few chairs for 45 minutes of catch-up lessons or enrichment.
(By Nick Anderson, The Washington Post)  

 Rhee’s surplus revelation draws ire
Teachers union leaders angrily accused D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee of unethical behavior Tuesday by failing to disclose the discovery of a $34 million surplus in the school system budget in February, three months after laying off 266 teachers because of what she described as a budget…
(By Bill Turque, The Washington Post)

Eye on federal money, Md. proposes school reforms
Maryland education officials charted a reform path Tuesday that would overhaul statewide exams, make student performance a factor in teacher evaluations and toughen graduation requirements in math and science. They hope their proposal will make the state eligible for millions of dollars in federal…
(By Michael Birnbaum, The Washington Post)

On world stage, Obama at ease as seminar leader
During his first year in office, President Obama was often best overseas when he was behind a lectern or onstage before a crowd with a microphone in his hand.
(By Scott Wilson, The Washington Post)

46 nations join U.S. in nuclear pact
President Obama persuaded 46 countries Tuesday to sign on to a plan to put the world’s nuclear material beyond the reach of terrorists within four years, but the commitments are voluntary, and experts said reaching the goal will be difficult.
(By Mary Beth Sheridan, The Washington Post)

Choice of leader for mine probe criticized
After a coal mine explosion that killed five people in 2006, an internal review by the Mine Safety and Health Administration sharply criticized its own inspection process. It said many safety flaws had not been corrected before the blast because of faulty inspection practices “coupled with weak…
(By Steven Mufson and David A. Fahrenthold, The Washington Post)

An almost predictable capriciousness
LEPTIS MAGNA, LIBYA – Only a handful of tourists wandered through the unspoiled ruins of this ancient Roman city edging the azure waters of the Mediterranean. It was high season, when buses should have been disgorging hundreds of affluent visitors from Europe and beyond. But among the arches and …
(By Sudarsan Raghavan, The Washington Post)

At peak of influence, SEIU chief set to leave
As he prepares to turn over the reins of the Service Employees International Union, Andrew L. Stern is at the apex of his political influence. He helped lead the push for the health-care overhaul that became law last month. He has visited the White House 38 times in President Obama’s tenure, far…
(By Alec MacGillis, The Washington Post)

TIME.com Today’s Top Stories

Russian Adoption: What Happens When a Parent Gives Up?

Torry Hansen’s abandonment of her adopted son, 7-year-old Artyom Savelyev, has rocked Russia, the U.S. and the international adoption community

Bank Lobby Takes a Hit on Derivatives Reform

For weeks now, suspense has flitted through the air in Washington. The reason is something that almost no one in America understands: derivatives

Obama Makes Progress on Nuke Security, Less So on Iran

The goals of the Washington summit are uncontroversial, but efforts on the sidelines to win backing for sanctions against Iran have mixed results

The Great Firewall: China’s Web Users Battle Censorship

China’s Web-censorship regime may be formidable, but ordinary Chinese are learning to scale the “Great Firewall” a little at a time. Can the authorities hold them back?

Why Obama Backed Down on an Embattled Nominee

Perhaps because a battle over replacing Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens is shaping up, the Obama Administration has decided to save its political capital and give up on Justice Department pick Dawn Johnsen

Word of the Day for Wednesday, April 14, 2010

bloviate \BLOH-vee-ayt\, intransitive verb:

To speak or write at length in a pompous or boastful manner.

In partnership with e-Zassi, 2Market Information, publisher of Tech Transfer E-News, is offering half-price access to e-Zassi’s InnoVision Decision Support Software. This elegant tool for medical device developers and IP owners allows users to generate a 30- to 40-page report that both helps rapidly and efficiently triage your IP portfolio and instantly generate required due diligence data. Each report includes calculations of a new technology’s probable regulatory classification, clinical endpoints supporting the safety and marketing claims for market clearance, early stage clarity on the reimbursement and market landscape, and identification of the manufacturing, distribution, and sales burdens. The software includes membership in e-Zassi’s online medical device Business Network, so after the report is generated it can be posted and shared with potential partners and investors. InnoVision is a powerful, predictive analytical software tool that comprehensively analyzes medical device technologies at any stage of maturity, creating a roadmap for development and commercialization. Users gain a deep understanding of the potential burdens, opportunities, and requirements for development — while drastically reducing the time and expense associated with the due diligence process. For complete details, CLICK HERE.

In January, I told you about a terrific new website from the National Academies called What You Need to Know About Energy. It describes the ways we use energy, where it comes from, and how energy efficiency and alternative sources can figure into our energy future. The following month I also shared the link for NASA’s new Global Climate Change site designed to explain how warming impacts our world. Apparently, I’m not the only one who noticed these are fantastic resources… What You Need To Know About Energy and Global Climate Change have both been nominated in the 14th Annual Webby Awards for ‘best science website’ and I encourage readers to go vote! Scroll waaaaay down to the bottom of the page to find ‘science’ (what gives?), and choose your favorite site working to communicate science.

On Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m., the Lakers will play the Clippers at STAPLES Center … while wearing purple jerseys.

It’s a road game, after all, one that could potentially still mean something if the Orlando Magic improbably lose at home to Philadelphia. In such case, a Lakers’ win would draw L.A. even with Orlando in the race for the second overall seed in the league, the tiebreaker going to L.A. in case a 2009 Finals rematch occurred since the Lakers have a better record against the opposing conference.

But if Orlando manages to win, the Lakers can only improve from 57 wins on the season to 58.

On the Injury Front
– Kobe Bryant will not play, and neither will Andrew Bynum, though the Lakers did get some positive news in that Bynum took the practice court to shoot on Wednesday morning for the first time since straining his left Achilles.
– Jordan Farmar strained his left hamstring in L.A.’s Tuesday evening win over Sacramento, but will dress and could possibly play against the Clippers.
– Luke Walton played a season-high 24 minutes on his sore back, which he said felt “great.” Obviously, he hopes to stay pain free but isn’t making any assumptions with such a tricky part of the body.

Gasol Going Off
Speaking of “great,” that’s an easy way to describes Pau Gasol’s play of late. The Spaniard produced 28 points on 12-of-15 shooting with eight boards, three assists and a block against Sacramento to complete a five-game stretch featuring the following averages: 27.6 points, 11.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.8 blocks while shooting 65 percent from the field.

Clippers Scouting Report
Among the keys against the Clippers:

– Limit Chris Kaman’s touches on the block. He can score with either hand and is very active on the glass. He averages 18.5 points and 9.3 boards to lead he Clips in both categories.
– Recognize what newcomers Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw can do, as L.A. hasn’t seen either in the Clippers’ lineup this season.
– Contain Craig Smith in the paint. “The Rhino” averages eight points off the Clippers’ bench, and made 6-of-7 shots for 12 points in the Clippers’ Jan. 6 win against L.A. He then went for 17 in the Clippers’ Jan. 15 loss to the Lakers.
– Control Baron Davis, who had a monster game with 25 points and 10 assists in that Jan. 6 Clips win.

Limited Minutes?
Phil Jackson said that he would like to limit the minutes of Derek Fisher and keep the rest of his regular starters below their averages as well, though Gasol did play 32 minutes and Lamar Odom nearly 35 against the Kings (Ron Artest’s were down to 25 Fisher’s to 18).

Filed under: Coupe, Europe, Mazda

According to the crew at Auto Motor und Sport, the Mazda RX-8 won’t be coming back to Europe for the 2011 model year. Why? The rev-rific rotary can’t pass the Euro-5 emission standards and a replacement won’t arrive until 2013.

Mazda Germany exec, Joseph Alois Schmid, told AMuS that retrofitting the current engine would be too cost prohibitive and the Wankel can’t adapt quickly enough to Europe’s stringent emission standards.

Although a replacement is in the works – and a hydrogen version could arrive within the next few years – the next rotary mill will have to be significantly reworked to adhere to the new standards. But even a revised rotary could have problems in 2014, when the new Euro 6 emission rules take effect.

[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via TTAC]

Report: Mazda RX-8 denied re-entry into Europe originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Simulation technology developed at the University of Virginia (UVA) will allow health care providers and medical students to experience numerous scenarios that simulate prostate cancer. The Virginia Prostate Exam Simulator consists of an anatomical model with four different prostates that can be altered by the inflation and deflation of small water balloons. The interactive tool can simulate more than 100 malignancy scenarios, which might take years for clinicians to encounter through traditional patient examinations, says Marcus Martin, MD, UVA professor of emergency medicine, interim vice president, and chief officer for diversity and equity.

The project’s goal was to create multiple conditions that could be reconfigured on demand by clinicians to simulate graded stages of cancerous tumors and benign prostatic hyperplasia in a lifelike model. “Collaboration helped us develop a realistic and robust simulator for teaching students and practitioner,” says Reba Moyer Childress, MSN, FNP, APRN-BC, assistant professor of nursing at UVA. “The simulator is user-friendly, accurate, and representative of how an actual patient will present.” Initially, training occurs in a supervised setting, followed by unsupervised scenarios. The simulator’s design enables immediate feedback to both the instructor and trainees. UVA researchers are developing additional simulators that will include refinements of the technology. The UVA Patent Foundation has licensed the technology to health care product supplier NASCO International.

Source:  Medical News TODAY