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Rumors that the 2013 Mitsubishi Evolution XI will come with a hybrid powertrain aren’t new. In fact, we first heard such rumblings way back in October of 2009 when the Japanese automaker unleashed its PX-MiEV concept, which is also rumored to have received the green light for production using the same platform as the Evo, at the Tokyo Motor Show. But Motor Trend has a few more intriguing details to share, starting with the fact that it will boast a plug and a short-distance EV mode that won’t ever activate the gasoline-fueled engine.

If MT is correct, a powerful electric motor would drive the front wheels of the Evo XI, drawing power from a lithium ion battery pack, while the (presumably turbocharged but possibly normally aspirated) 2.0-liter engine would drive the rear wheels only when necessary. The two combined powerplants could theoretically put out as much as 350 horsepower (or more, depending on final specifications) to all four wheels, catapulting the car from 0 to 60 in just 4.5 seconds.

Finally, the Evo would reportedly be blessed with the Active Steering and Roll Control Suspension that Mitsubishi has been working on getting into production since 2006, as well as a new electronically-controlled Active Yaw Control system for the engine-driven rear wheels. Sounds like a lot of technology, which could potentially equal lots of weight and a hefty sticker price. Stay tuned. Thanks for the tip, Jim!

[Source: Motor Trend]

Motor Trend details 2013 Mitsubishi Evolution XI’s plug-in electric drivetrain originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease that strikes most often in adults who are just getting going with their life – they’re establishing their careers, starting families, and they have plans.

MS is a disease that can progress slowly, allowing those affected by it to live fairly “normal” lives. Unfortunately, others deteriorate quickly to the point that they can’t care for themselves before they die. MS is seen more in northern countries, so there is a theory that sunlight – or lack of sunlight – plays a role in the development of the disease. Canada has the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of MS in the world.

What MS Is

In MS, the nerves in the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain and spinal cord, degenerate. The nerves are covered with a substance called myelin. Myelin also helps the nerves work properly, sending the impulses along. In MS, the myelin sheath degenerates and can no longer protect the nerves.

There are two types of MS: relapse-remitting MS (RR-MS) and primary-progressive MS (PP-MS). RR-MS is the most common type, affecting between 65% to 80% of newly diagnosed MS. People with RR-MS can progress to PP-MS, however.

RR-MS is, as the name indicates, a form of the disease that has relapses – but that also means there are times when there is little or no deterioration. PP-MS is a progressive deterioration.

Treatment

Right now, there is little doctors can do to slow the progression of MS. Beta-interferon, provided as Avonex, Betaseron, and Rebif, may help slow the progression of RR-MS in some patients. However, there may be hope soon.

According to results of a study testing the effectiveness of Cladribine, published in the on-line version of New England Journal of Medicine this week, the medication “significantly reduces relapse and deterioration of the disease, and goes a long way to eliminating the unpleasant side effects associated with existing therapies.”

Cladribine also has the added benefit of being a tablet, which is taken by mouth, and is not taken every day.

Study

Over one thousand patients with MS were given either two or four short courses of Cladribine per year (one or two tablets daily for four or five days), for two years, or a placebo.

After the two years, those patients who took Cladribine had a 55% lesser chance of having a relapse than those who took placebos, and they were 33% less likely to get worse than those who took placebos.

The medication still needs to be studied further. There are no long-term studies yet, so researchers don’t know what will happen in the future to those who are taking Cladribine. However, results like this are promising and may lead to other findings as well.

~~~

Image: iStock.com

Post from: Blisstree

Multiple Sclerosis Drug Trial Promising

Brock Lesnar is ready to resume training to defend his UFC heavyweight title after a serious intestinal problem derailed his career and endangered his life.

Lesnar hasn’t been in the octagon since UFC 100 last July, when he beat Frank Mir in the biggest event in mixed martial arts history. He struggled through several months of pain and confusion with an illness eventually diagnosed as diverticulitis.

UFC president Dana White expects Lesnar to return this summer, likely fighting the winner of Mir’s March 27 bout against Shane Carwin in Newark, N.J.

“Everybody has got life-changing experiences, and this is one of them for me,” Lesnar said in a phone interview Wednesday.

“I believe things happen for a reason. It gave me a different perspective on life and my family. I considered myself a healthy human being, and for something like this to happen to me, I need to re-evaluate. I have to make some changes.”

After just four fights over less than two years with UFC, Lesnar is considered the league’s top pay-per-view draw. The former NCAA wrestling champion and WWE professional wrestler is thrilled to resume his MMA career after thinking he might be forced to retire by major abdominal surgery.

“The heavyweight division should be back on their toes again,” Lesnar said.

He spent several months struggling with diverticulitis, a swelling of pouches in the intestinal wall. Lesnar said he had abscesses in his intestines that became infected — and he also apparently tested positive last fall for mononucleosis, which might have delayed getting the proper diagnosis of his intestinal woes.

Lesnar withdrew from his scheduled fight against Carwin at UFC 106 last November, but didn’t yet know why he was exhausted and losing weight. Although Lesnar is vague about the dates and locations of his health woes’ progression, he lost 40 pounds and eventually had a major scare while at a hunting lodge in Canada, when he became delirious and
passed out from pain while at least three hours from medical treatment.

After a stint in a Canadian hospital that left him criticizing the entire Canadian medical system and railing against U.S. health reform Wednesday, he returned to North Dakota and was diagnosed with diverticulitis after a trip to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

But after originally being told he would need surgery, a colonoscopy on Jan. 5 revealed the problems apparently had healed with the help of antibiotics.

“The Mayo Clinic said, ‘You’ve got a winning lottery ticket,”‘ Lesnar said.

White said Lesnar will return in the summer, giving a boost to the ever-growing company after a series of injury postponements and cancellations over the past several months.

If an injury prevents the winner of Mir’s bout with Carwin from being ready, Lesnar is likely to fight the winner of a Feb. 21 bout in Australia between Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Lesnar has altered his diet, moving away from an “all-protein” approach befitting his weightlifting program and adding more fiber and greens. He’ll return to his gym for training on Thursday morning after raising his weight from a low of 248 — which he hadn’t weighed “since second grade” — to 273.

“I think it’s raised my conditioning level, because I was really at the bottom,” Lesnar said. “Now I’m back in the gym, and I feel great. I feel like my old self again.”

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

How rational is the market? Not very, based on the first day of trading for the so-called baby B shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The shares got off to a steaming start on Thursday, up nearly 4% in the early going.

This is not the way the market is supposed to work. Finance professors and finance textbooks have taught for years that the market is an efficient calculator of value. The market, according to every Finance 100 course, is far too smart to be swayed by a mere repackaging.

Yet that is what has happened here. All that Buffett has done is to split each of his company’s B shares into 50 smaller B shares. (The split was required as part of his deal to acquire Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.) The move makes the shares more affordable to small investors, because the B shares used to trade for more than US$3,000 each. But it doesn’t affect the fundamental value of what you get for each dollar you invest.

The surge in the baby B shares isn’t the only evidence that Mr. Market can get giddy for no good reason. Consider the shares of the old bankrupt General Motors, which now trade over the counter under the label of Motors Liquidation Co.

The restructured General Motors Co., which is now a private company largely owned by the U.S. and Canadian governments, has warned several times that the shares of Motors Liquidation are worthless. The shares continue to trade, though, and have actually had a nice run up in recent weeks.

The total amount invested in the worthless shell is staggering. Motors Liquidation, which holds properties abandoned by GM during the restructuring process, continues to have a market capitalization of more than US$300 million, despite the certainty that its liabilities far exceed its assets.

Maybe it’s time to rewrite the finance textbooks.

Freelance business journalist Ian McGugan blogs for the Financial Post

I’ve been getting some positive feedback on my previous posts on Concurrent CFD so I thought I’d continue with the thread. I’ve described traditional CFD, upfront CFD and concurrent CFD as very different entities – which they are, but I ought to point out that they represent the evolutionary spectrum of how the CFD technology itself has been packaged over the years.

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It came as no surprise when Palm said it would partner with Verizon after Sprint with the Pre and Pixi. How could it be when Verizon’s CEO let the news slip even before the handset debuted on Sprint? Unexpected, however, were the hardware specification bumps. Verizon’s removal of the center button found on Sprint’s version wasn’t a shocker — it’s quite common to see minor or cosmetic tweaks for the same handset on different carriers. But who was counting on double the memory and twice the storage capacity?

PreCentral took an early look at Verizon’s Palm Pre Plus to see if these changes improve upon the original. When it comes to memory and storage, how could things not be better? More is good. In fact, the extra memory makes the phone fly a little faster when opening apps, although in-app use didn’t seem to vary. That extra RAM helps with multitasking, however — 50 apps opened simultaneously in testing, which is nearly a full deck of cards. C’mon Dieter — you couldn’t open two more for the Jokers?

Another huge Verizon differentiation is the Mobile Hotspot option. With it, you gain Mi-Fi-like functionality as the Pre Plus becomes a mobile hotspot for sharing 3G over Wi-Fi. The service tacks on another $40 to the monthly bill, but it’s a sweet option and provides you another 5 GB of monthly data for the phone. I wish more handsets — and carriers — would offer this. At the end of the day, Dieter tackles the question that current Palm Pre owners on Sprint are asking: Is it worth it to switch? For Dieter’s needs, it is, but for people happy with their current Pre on Sprint, probably not. My take — if you’re in a good Sprint coverage area and don’t need the Mobile Hotspot functionality, it’s probably not worth the cost to switch.

Portable Radios for U. S. Cavalry
THE latest in portable radio receivers and transmitters has been developed by Signal Corps engineers for use by the U. S. Cavalry. The antenna is strung on a short mast, while the instruments are carried on the saddle, as illustrated below.

Saxophone Combined With Organ

TONE modulation such as only the most accomplished wind instrument artist can achieve can now be duplicated by a beginner as a result of a new instrument called the solfia now being manufactured in Germany. The new wind instrument is played with a mouthpiece similar to that of a saxophone, but the notes are controlled by an organ keyboard. An air chamber within the device modulates the tone and adds resonance.

Money Changing Machine Gives Silver for Bills!

MANY times has the cash girl wished that she didn’t have to change paper money and run out of change. Realizing this, an English inventor conceived and produced a changing machine. The bank note is placed within a flap on the top of the machine and the lever pressed downward. The exact change is then delivered to a cup at the bottom. A one pound English note is the only one that can be used in this particular model, but no doubt the inventor will fit the idea to several other types of currency.

The American cigarette vending machine is similar to this device. It has relieved the cash girl greatly, but there is still much congestion along this line. Modern invention is producing labor saving devices so fast that we often wonder just what will be next.

Human rights activists in Mexico face life-threatening harassment and attacks, while the government does very little to protect them.

Here are profiles of three such activists who in the course of their work have been subjected to threats, acts of intimidation and arbitrary detention.

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel

The founder and President of the Organization of the Me’ phaa Indigenous People (OPIM) in Guerrero, Obtilia Eugenio Manuel is a longstanding campaigner for the rights of Indigenous people.

She has been the target of numerous threats, acts of intimidation and surveillance since the Me’ phaa and Mixteco Indigenous communities started to organize in 1998.

The campaign of intimidation against her and the risks to her life became so serious in recent years, Obtilia and her family were forced to relocate to another community.

For example, in March 2009, just after a ceremony commemorating human rights defender Raúl Lucas Lucía, who was murdered in February 2009, Obtilia received three death threats by text message to her mobile phone.

In January 2009, she was followed on numerous occasions. One time, she recognized one of the men following her. She had reported several earlier incidents involving the same man to the authorities, but they asked her to provide more evidence before they would investigate.

On one occasion he leaned out of his car and shouted: "Do you think you’re so brave? Are you a real woman? Let’s hope you also go to prison… If you don’t go to prison, we’ll kill you."

None of the threats or acts of intimidation against her have been investigated.

Obtilia, 32, and her partner have two daughters aged 8 and 6 and a son aged 4.

Jesús Emiliano

Jesús Emiliano is a leading member of the Peasant Farmers’ Democratic Front of Chihuahua, north Mexico, an organization that campaigns for the economic rights of poor rural farmers.

Jesús was arbitrarily detained on spurious criminal charges by federal authorities in 2007 on account of his human rights activism and as a way of stopping him from defending human rights.

Amnesty International has documented similar abuses against many other human rights activists.

Jesús was arbitrarily detained in Chihuahua City on 9 March 2007 and charged with sabotage, a federal criminal offence. He was released unconditionally five days later, after the federal judge dismissed the charges for lack of evidence.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office requested Jesús’ detention claiming the charges against him were linked to a demonstration in 2005 on a federal highway.

After his lawyer gained access to the files, he discovered the charges were related to Jesús’ participation in a in a different demonstration to demand support for poor small-scale farmers on 20 February 2007 outside the building of the Chihuahua office of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

Such irregularities were acknowledged by the judge who dismissed the case, but no action was taken against the federal authorities for wrongful arrest.

Jesús, 42, is married and has six children aged 23, 21, 20, 18, 2 and a 3-month-old baby.

Father Alejandro Solalinde

"I will never be the same person that I was before I started working to defend the rights of migrants. My family knows that the security risks are big and they have accepted that as have I."

Father Alejandro Solalinde is the Co-ordinator of the Catholic Pastoral Care Centre for Migrants in South-western Mexico and Director of a migrants’ shelter in Ciudad Ixtepec, Oaxaca state.

Since 2005 Father Alejandro Solalinde has dedicated his life to providing a place of safety for migrants, away from the criminal gangs who exploit and abuse them.

He has travelled on the network of freight trains taken by migrants heading to Mexico’s northern border, saying that doing the journey himself was the only way of finding out about the horrors migrants have to face. 

On 26 February 2007, he set up the Ciudad Ixtepec migrant shelter next to the railway lines used by travelling Central Americas. Over 400 migrants slept at the shelter on that first night and the flow of people has been constant ever since.

Because of his work, Father Solalinde has been continuously threatened and intimidated by local gangs and officials.

Last December, he was warned that a criminal gang operating in Veracruz and Oaxaca planned to kill him.

Photo copyrights: Obtilia Eugenio Manuel (CDHM Tlachinollan AC) Jesús Emiliano (Private) and Father Alejandro Solalinde (Amnesty International/Ricardo Ramírez Arriola)

Unlearn your MBA – David talks REWORK at Stanford

A great hour-long talk and Q&A session with David at Stanford last night. He covered topics and perspective from our upcoming book REWORK (due out in the US on March 9, 2010).

David Cage, the brains behind the heavily-anticipated PS3 exclusive, Heavy Rain, has shed some light on developer Quantic Dream’s DLC plans.

Another team of Children’s clinicians departed Hanscom Air Force Base yesterday for Haiti, this one including John Meara, MD, DMD, and Gary Rogers, MD, both of Plastic & Oral Surgery, David Waisel, MD, and Craig McClain, MD, both from Anesthesia, a team of Children’s nurses (Nelson Aquino, RN, Lisa Pixley, RN, Stella Harrington, RN, Jay Hartford, RN, Pam Gorgone, RN) and surgical technician, Johanne Jocelyn, with colleagues from Partners in Health. We got word that they arrived safely, and we’ll keep you updated with more info as we get it.

As 40 percent of Haiti’s population are children, pediatric medical and surgical care is desperately needed right now. The National Disaster Medical System is calling for pediatric critical care and critical care transport teams to assemble for possible deployment. Additional support teams from Children’s are currently being mobilized.

Volunteers from Children’s have been a part of the relief efforts from the beginning. Shannon Manzi, David Mooney, MD, MPH, and Gary Fleisher, MD, headed to Haiti on one of the first transports available, with no knowledge of what kind of conditions awaited them. An article from The Boston Globe today reports on the tough decision Mooney had to make in amputating a young Haitian boy’s fingers.

Hate to rain on the bull parade, but this chart from Citi's global strategist Robert Buckland is just unnerving. It shows how profit margins didn't really fall very low during the recent economic downturn. As seen below, they didn't break below 5%, remaining well above the 30-year average of 4.5% according to Mr. Buckland.

Worse yet, analyst earnings forecasts for our current rebound are heavily dependent on margin expansion and are hoping for margins to be higher than any time ever, except for the brief 2005 - 2007 period. Higher than the late nineties even.

Mr. Buckland doesn't seem too concerned:

Citi: We don’t believe margins are destined to fall back down to historical averages, or below, over the next two years. Neither do we think they will push much higher than 2007 levels of 8%. However, our expectation of a sharp rebound in profits (driven by the combination of a subdued revenue recovery and a low cost base) can drive margins ahead over the next two years.

We're pretty sure Citi has a far more detailed view of margins on a company-by-company basis than we do, but from our vantage point 30,000 above betting on essentially all-time high margins seems dangerous. The economist in us wonders why global profitability would suddenly jump to a new, higher long-term level (above the 4.5% of the last 30 years).

As shown below, margin expansion (in black) is a huge part of forecast earnings growth over the next two years. Seems like there could be a lot of room for disappointment in 2010:

(Via Citi, Global Equity Strategist, Robert Buckland, 20 January 2010)

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Citi: Chinese Credit Tightening Will Strangle Commodities
• Citi: 2009 Revenue Down 4% At 50 Top Firms; No Change In Partner Earnings
• What Do Citi and Apple Share In Common? Tons Of Short Sellers Piling Onto Them

What is considered by Daimler the first touring coach with equipment for disabled passengers to be made available ex factory has been unveiled today by the carmaker and Bayern Express & P. Kühn Berlin (BEX). The novelty is the fact that the equipment for disabled passengers is available straight from the factory.

The Tourismo L features 57 + 2 passenger seats plus space for four wheelchairs on board. The wheelchairs are lifted by an electric lift situated aft of the front axle. Once inside, t… (read more)

Tribune Co. on Wednesday said it had generated a much better-than-expected $500 million in cash flow during 2009 and sought to make it easier for a bankruptcy judge to bless $45.6 million in bonuses tied to the results for 720 managers at the company.

In July, Tribune Co., owner of the Chicago Tribune, petitioned the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware for permission to pay from $21.5 to around $67 million in bonuses through three separate performance-based plans.

The biggest was a continuation of Tribune Co.’s normal incentive bonus plan for both top and middle managers. The other two would reward a group of around 20 top managers for either navigating the bankruptcy process or “transforming” their business units.

A group of company unions objected to the request at a September court hearing, calling the bonuses top-heavy and too easy to earn. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Carey has yet to rule as he prepares a formal opinion on the matter.

Tribune Co. had originally requested that Carey rule on all three plans together. But on Wednesday, the company said it would be willing to have the court “bifurcate” its ruling so that the larger group of more than 700 managers could be rewarded in February for their 2009 performance.

Any payout would be based on how much cash flow the company generated relative to plan in 2009. The maximum payout would require a result 200 percent more than originally predicted.

In a separate note to employees Wednesday, Tribune Co. CEO Randy Michaels said that the company generated almost $500 million in cash flow during the year “thanks to a stronger than expected performance by both the Broadcasting and Publishing Groups in the fourth quarter.”

The results owe much to cost cutting efforts but Michaels noted that lower newsprint costs and a slightly better economy helped.

A spokesman said that level of cash flow exceeded the 200 percent threshold, meaning bonuses for the group of 720 would come in at a maximum of $45.6 million if approved. If the judge also approved the other two plans, they would pay out around $21 million to a much smaller group.

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.

Defense lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich have again asked the judge overseeing his case to grant them quick access to investigative documents, saying the defense should be given “the same shot at an acquittal that the government has to obtain a conviction.”

The Blagojevich team in December had requested to have evidence turned over to them early so they could better prepare for a trial that is now set to start June 3, a request prosecutors have flatly rejected.

Among the items the lawyers requested were notes agents made during any interviews of President Barack Obama, with the defense signalling it was making a decision about potentially calling him as a witness in the case.

“A government confident enough in its own rectitude to try purported terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a United States District Court in New York should likewise be secure enough to provide the accused former governor of Illiinois with the requested statements of the President of the United States,” the motion filed Wednesday reads. “What next, a government motion to limit the tapes to only those the government wants played at trial?”

The Blagojevich defense has long suggested it would like to see all the tapes made public, while the government typically seeks to limit the number of recordings a jury can hear to those it believes are on-point.

In a filing earlier this month, prosecutors argued they had already met their obligations to date. They told the court they would stay in compliance with the rules of evidence, turning over material as required.

The government noted it must only turn over notes of interviews of the defendant and witnesses it calls to the stand, not any and all reports made by agents during the course of an investigation.

“Accordingly, the government will resist any attempt by the defendant to obtain unwarranted discovery of internal file materials,” the filing stated, adding that written statements of trial witnesses will be turned over as required. “The defendant is entitled to no more.”

– Jeff Coen

Read the original article from Tribune News Services.