Hola alguien me podría hablar un poco de la situación allá en Nicaragua económica y en la construcción, o por lo menos redirigirme a alguna pagina, porque en las paginas del gobierno no encontré nada respecto al 2010… incluso muy poco del 2009.. Gracias!
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At Hospitals in China, Caesarean Rate Nears 50%
Public health officials in the U.S. are worried because nearly a third of births here are c-sections, more than twice the rate public officials say would be appropriate. But in China, the rate is far higher: 46%, according to a WHO study published this week in the Lancet.The study looked at data from hospitals in nine Asian countries in 2007 and 2008; China’s rate was highest by far, with Vietnam second, at 36%. The rate for the region as a whole was 27%.
In each country, researchers looked at deliveries in hospitals in three different regions. To be included, a hospital had to do at least 1,000 deliveries a year, and to do at least some c-sections. Because smaller facilities which may have far lower rates were excluded, the findings may not be representative.
Still, roughly a quarter of the c-sections done in China and examined in the study weren’t medically necessary, the researchers found. When a Caesarean isn’t medically necessary, a traditional birth is safer, according to this study as well as previous research.
The study didn’t get into the reasons for the c-section rates. But a commentary that accompanied the study called the results “surprising and chilling.” The authors, based at a hospital in Singapore, add that “financial incentives for doing these procedures should be removed or kept to a minimum, and both public and continuing medical education should emphasize the risks of unnecessary caesarean delivery.”
Image: iStockphoto
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H1N1 vaccine clinic
Harvard University Health Services (HUHS) has received a new shipment of H1N1 influenza vaccine and will distribute it at a clinic open to all members of the Harvard community under age 65.
The clinic will be held Jan. 19 from noon to 3 p.m. in Monks Library at HUHS in the Holyoke Center.
Flu season is not over, and HUHS would like to remind students, faculty, and staff to remain vigilant about monitoring and combating flulike illnesses. The best way to stay healthy is to practice good hygiene. Wash your hands often with soap and water or hand sanitizer, such as Purell. Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or use the crook of your arm when you cough or sneeze, to protect others. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth to avoid spreading infection.
Public health officials have indicated that HUHS will receive additional shipments of vaccine at regular intervals, so additional clinics could be scheduled shortly.
More information about H1N1 and the vaccine can be found at www.harvard.edu/h1n1. For information about the clinics.
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MobileTechRoundup 194 — a Perfect Storm for ARM?
MoTR 194 is 36 minutes long and is a 33 MB file in MP3 format.CLICK HERE to download the file and listen directly.
HOSTS: James Kendrick (Houston), Matthew Miller (Seattle) and Kevin C. Tofel (Philadelphia)
TOPICS:
CES = no big wow devices, but some interesting trends
Lenovo’s U1 hybrid computer stood out from the crowd
Is now the “perfect storm” for the ARM platform?
Google Nexus One impressions from Matt and Kevin
Nokia’s Ovi Store launches for the N900CONTACT US: Email us or leave us a voicemail on our SkypeLine!
SUBSCRIBE: Use this RSS feed with your favorite podcatcher or click this link to add us to iTunes!
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Rumor: Apple’s Tablet Is an “iPhone on Steroids” [AppleTablet]
One of our close Apple connects who haven’t steered us wrong dropped a little bit of information on us. Here’s what we know:• The tablet’s multi-touch gestures are “out of control.”
• It’s powered by an incredibly fast ARM CPU
• It runs on the iPhone kernel.
• The internal model number is K48AP.
• There hasn’t been an updated iPhone OS build because there’s too much tablet-related code/references in the OS and Apple obviously didn’t want that to leak. Oops.
• The tablet is basically an “iPhone on steroids.”That’s all we’ve got for now!
BGR features the latest tech news, mobile-related content and of course, exclusive scoops.
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Orexigen revisits Fen-phen…
Today is a big day for Orexigen Therapeutics’ (OREX) CEO Mike Narachi. At 1:30 p.m. EST he is scheduled to present at JPMorgan’s big Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. Narachi will have only a brief half hour to explain, or perhaps gloss over the 30-page slideshow that the company filed as an 8K on Monday.It’s no lie that obesity is increasing healthcare costs in America. As the slideshow notes, obesity rates in the United States will raise from 75 million obese people in 2009 to 103 million by 2018. The slides also reveal that the US healthcare system will spend $344 billion on treating obesity in 2018 – a $197 billion increase from the $147 billion spent as of 2008. For Orexigen, Contrave is the company’s lead investigational product addressing this spreading epidemic. It has completed Phase 3 clinical trials and is on track for a regulatory submission with the FDA in the beginning of 2010 and the company clearly has high hopes for the drug.
While browsing through Orexigen’s presentation, there was one slide that made us lean in to take a closer look. On page 17 the company claims there is a clear demand for a prescription-based solution and that consumers are more than willing to pay. But what’s really surprising is that Orexigen compares this pent-up demand to another weight-loss drug we haven’t heard a lot about lately — Fen-phen– a medication that was taken off the market for causing heart defects, which eventually led to legal damages in excess of $13 billion. Still, the slide notes that between 1995 and 1996, the demand for Fen-phen grew from 6.6 million to 20.6 million prescriptions.
The slideshow also states that, “treating obesity in patients with depressive symptoms may be an attractive future opportunity.” The company’s research indicates 92 percent of physicians would be willing to prescribe Contrave for obesity to patients who display depressive symptoms but are not on an antidepressant. However, only 72 percent of doctors say they would suggest Contrave for obese patients who display depressive symptoms and are on an antidepressant. And there was also a pitch to a potential outside suitor: with 150 sales reps, Orexigen is able to reach a much smaller number of doctors. But by teaming up with someone else — they never mention who — “as few as 500 reps can build a blockbuster.”
Orexigen wasn’t the only company to sneak a slideshow into its filings before the conference. Cell Therapeutics (CTIC), MediciNova (MNOV), and Molina Healthcare (MOH) are another three of the conference’s 300 companies that filed their presentations with the SEC this week.
This post was written by footnoted intern Kristen Scholer, who is a junior at Northwestern Unviersity.
Image source: Yvonne Hemsey/GETTY IMAGESSupport This Site
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Asian Carp Threaten Great Lakes
The New York Times reports that Michigan has sued Illinois in an effort to close the Great Lake waterways leading to Lake Michigan, and the case has now made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The reason: Asian carp, the “voracious, non-native species” that consume 40 times their body weight a day and eat the food of other native fish. The Guardian (UK) says Asian carp now make up to 95 percent of the biomass in areas of the Illinois River. According to The New York Times, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Ohio now all support Michigan’s efforts to close waterways to Asian carp.Asian carp have been moving up the Mississippi River for years, but have just recently threatened the Great Lakes region: “For years, leaders in the region worried about Asian bighead and silver carp — large, imported fish that can take over an ecosystem by consuming the food supply of other fish and that were known to be making their way north up the Mississippi River. But the efforts took on a new urgency in November, when the authorities reported finding genetic evidence of the carp within about six miles of Lake Michigan, in the Chicago-area waterway system that links the Mississippi to the Great Lakes.”
In addition to the damage to local native fish stocks, the non-native fish threaten to create a wider rift in the “carefully-constructed” Great Lakes compact, which prevents water from being diverted from the Great Lakes unless all eight neighboring states and Canadian provinces are in agreement about water use. There are concerns the recent Supreme Court case could reopen a 1920’s agreement on water use.
The City of Chicago is concerned about the carp making it to neighboring lakes, but is more worried about the economic impact of waterway closures. Suzanne Malec-McKenna, Comissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment said to The New York Times: “While we recognize that Asian carp pose a significant threat to the Great Lakes, shutting down the waterway system in Northeastern Illinois before fully understanding the impact it would have on the movement of people, goods and storm water is a shortsighted answer to a complex problem.”
The Great Lakes provide 20 percent of the world’s freshwater, and are a crucial freshwater ecosystem.
The Guardian (UK) adds that Asian carp aren’t the only invasive animal or plant species the U.S. is concerned about. The International Union for Conservation of Nature recently stated that 38 percent of the 44,838 species catalogued on its “Red List” are faced with extinction. ”At least 40 percent of all animal extinctions for which the cause is known are the result of invasive species.” Invasive species not only negatively impact existing ecologies, but also wreck economic havoc: “The UN Convention on Biological Diversity says the spread of invasives costs 1.4 trillion dollars a year globally in damages and control measures. The U.S. alone loses 138 billion dollars a year in the fight.”
In another example, to protect native plant species in the midwest, The New York Times writes that the Chicago Botanic Garden and Morton Arboretum have been collecting prarie plant seeds, and creating plans for the assisted migration of some plant species in the event that climate change or invasive species destroy native ecosystems. “Scientists from the botanic garden are sending teams out across the Midwest and West to the Rocky Mountains and Great Basin to collect seeds from different populations of 1,500 prairie species by 2010, and from 3,000 species by 2020. The goal is to preserve the species and, depending on changes in climate, perhaps even help species that generally grow near one another to migrate to a new range.”
Kayri Havens, the Chicago Botanic Garden’s director of plant science and conservation said: “We recognize that climate change is likely to be very rapid and that seeds only disperse a few hundred yards, half a mile at most, naturally. They’ll need our help if we want to keep those species alive.”
The U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management and its Seeds of Success program, the National Science Foundation, and Cedar Tree Foundation are funding efforts to catalogue, store, and preserve native plant species in the midwest.
Image credit: The New York Times / Nerissa Michaels/Illinois River Biological Station, via Detroit Free Press
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Green Guide’s Beef Label Decoder
For the conscious consumer, food shopping may involve much label deciphering, interpretation, and confusion. Organic this, certified that … what does it really mean? If you shop for beef, National Geographic’s Green Guide has an interactive label decoder to help you sort out the various certifications and buzzwords.
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Life Acquires AcroMetrix
Bruce V. Bigelow wrote:
Life Technologies (NASDAQ: LIFE), the Carlsbad, CA-based provider of biomedical diagnostic equipment and laboratory supplies, has agreed to acquire AcroMetrix, a diagnostics controls specialist based in the Bay Area community of Benicia, CA. Financial terms of the deal were not disculosed. Life says in a statement that AcroMetrix’ diagnostic quality control products allow a laboratory to achieve better standardization across systems and are more economically efficient to use than “homebrew” control reagents.
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Google Uses Follower Numbers to Rank Tweets in Search Results
The real-time web has been making waves for the best part of 2009 and many were quick to herald it as a crucial component for the future web. Recently, it looks like those voices may have gotten it right, as both Google and Bing have introduced real-time results, mostly from Twitter, to their searches. Google, in particular, has mad… (read more) -
Solyndra Racks Up Nearly $200M in VC Cash in ‘09
Solyndra, the California maker of thin-film photovoltaic cells, received the most amount of venture capital cash in 2009, raising $198 million. Its backers are counting on a hefty payday with the company having recently filed for an Initial Public Offering (IPO). A123 Systems, the Massachusetts battery maker, which IPOed last fall, raised $100 million, according to data compiled by market research firm the CleanTech Group. Swiss smart meter maker Landis + Gyr, smart grid developer Silver Spring Networks and V-Vehicle, a clean vehicle manufacturer, also each raised $100 million last year — see charts below the fold.
Which VC firm invested the most money in renewable energy in 2009? Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers was the most active, having invested in 19 venture rounds in 2009 followed by SAIL Venture Partners, which invested in 15 rounds, according to the CleanTech Group.
Largest Cleantech VC Players in 2009:
Source: CleanTech Group; Barclays Capital -
MORTGAGE BANKERS ASSOCIATION (MBA) BACKS COVERED BOND LEGISLATION
By Covered Bond Investor™ Staff
Calling covered bonds “one of the most affordable wholesale funding instruments for financial institution asset-liability management,” the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has included support for them in its just-announced legislative and regulatory priorities for 2010.
The organization’s official statement (Jan. 12) reads in part:
“MBA supports legislation and regulation to provide for equal treatment of covered bonds with other qualified financial contracts. Covered bonds are debt securities backed by cash flows from mortgages that remain on the issuer’s consolidated balance sheet. Covered bonds provide an additional source of liquidity for residential and commercial real estate financing. READ MORE>>
http://www.coveredbondinvestor.com/news/us-covered-bonds-mbas-legislative-agenda-2010
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Video: Challenging Bernanke on Housing Bust
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says low interest rates aren’t to blame for the housing boom and bust. WSJ’s Jon Hilsenrath tells Kelly Evans why fellow economists aren’t buying his argument.
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A Big Week for Marijuana Legalization
The California Assembly’s public safety committee voted 4-3 yesterday in favor of a bill that would legalize marijuana and regulate it like alcohol. Although the bill likely won’t go anywhere (it will miss a deadline to reach the full floor for a vote), this is the first time a statewide committee has approved such a measure and it’s a sure sign that attitudes are changing in California and across the country.The news came a day after New Jersey became the 14th state to approve marijuana for medicinal use. Gov. Jon Corzine says he’ll sign the bill into law before he leaves office this week.
The momentum toward marijuana legalization continues to grow. On Monday, activists filed a petition in Washington state that will put full legalization on the ballot before voters in November.
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One month of WIND Mobile: how is your experience?
Here is an excerpt from Kate O’Brien at Mobile Syrup “One month of WIND Mobile: how is your experience?” (emphasis added),
Today marks the 1-month (4-weeks) of having WIND Mobile active in the Canadian market. The new entrant had a number of challenges starting up and with all their enthusiasm bolted into the hearts of Canadians. When we sat down with Chairman Tony Lacavera last week he stated they have signed up over 5,000 subscribers… so by now they are probably over the 12,000 – 15,000 mark.
One of the best traits that new entrant Wind is doing well is standing by their tag line of “The Power of Conversation”.
[…] For those Wind customers who have signed up, how are you liking the everything and what is your experience like?
See my previous video interviews with WIND Mobile CEO Ken Campbell and CCO Chris Robbins at the Calgary launch on Dec 18th, 2009. Borrowing a page from Kate’s post, please share your WIND Mobile experience?
Note: I trust people are honest and only leave comments if you are a WIND customer. If you are a Bell, Telus, or Rogers employee trying to badmouth WIND, I remind what it does to your karma and the reason why your customer services are considered poor by Canadians.
Posted in Business, Calgary, Canada, Telecom, Toronto
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Estimate Places Total App Store Piracy Cost at $450M
An interesting article at the financial blog 24/7 Wall St. today estimates the total cost of pirated apps to the App Store, for both Apple and developers, to be somewhere near the $450 million-mark. That number depends on a revenue estimate of between $60 million and $110 million per quarter, which is probably less than the actual number since those figures are based on a slightly older report by Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi.The article also notes that finding good solid numbers related to both the number of jailbroken iPhones that are out there, and the number of those devices that are actually pirating games is difficult to do. After reviewing numerous sources of information, 24/ Wall St. arrived at the conclusion that an estimate of 75 percent piracy rates for paid apps was most accurate.
That means that for every paid app download, there have been three pirated downloads of the same app that result in no revenue. Given that the researchers behind the report also estimated that around 17 percent of the 3 billion app store downloads, or 510 million, were paid apps (though we found 1 in 4 in December, so that number seems to be growing), that means that the number of pirated apps is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1.53 billion apps. Not a number you’ll see Apple using in its promotional material anytime soon.
Even considering that only around 10 percent of those who pirated apps would’ve purchased them instead if the illicit option was not available, this represents a loss of around $459 million for both Apple and the app developers working with the Mac maker. Doesn’t seem like an insignificant number.
Insignificant or not, Apple isn’t doing much to quell piracy rates, either. Sure, it counters the most recent jailbreak exploit every time a new model of the iPhone is released, but those countermeasures are usually pretty easily overcome. Apple could do more on the software side, with apps themselves, but that would only spark another arms race-type situation between the company and the hacking community, and allowing users to jailbreak and pirate frankly helps Apple sell hardware, which is the real cash cow.
It’s a troubling report for developers who can’t afford to just eat these kinds of losses the way Apple can. But it also makes the assumption that piracy will continue to grow, which I think is a false one. Yes, it’s easier than ever to jailbreak your iPhone, but as Apple continues to work on the operating system behind the platform, there is less and less reason to do so.
Many users only jailbreak to get some extra functionality out of their device that already exists there, rather than being set on trying to get software for free. As long as iPhone 4.0 introduces true multitasking, I think we’ll see overall jailbreak rates fall off considerably, and likely piracy numbers will follow, too.
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Report Warns About Public Debt
U.S. policymakers must prevent a rapidly ballooning public debt from rising above 60% of the nation’s output over the next decade, two nonprofit think tanks said in a report released Wednesday.
U.S. debt, which has grown to more than 50% of gross domestic product from around 40% of GDP only two years ago, will inevitably rise further in 2010 as the government fights the economy’s downturn, said the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration in a report.
But President Barack Obama’s administration must begin to tackle the debt problem with higher taxes or bigger spending cuts from the end of 2011, with the aim of cutting it over several years.
Delaying action for five or 10 years will make addressing the problem more painful and costly, requiring even higher taxes or lower levels of government services, the report noted.
“Increasing debt also may contribute to a loss of investor confidence in the nation’s economy, which would, in turn, lead to even higher interest rates, lower domestic investment, and a falling dollar,” the report said.
Economists have long worried that an aging population and growing health-care costs could cause the U.S. budget deficit and debt to balloon, undermining confidence in the U.S. dollar.
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Do You Use Cupcake Stands?
We’re thinking about throwing a few small get togethers between January and February and we’re thinking cupcakes would be much easier than baking an entire cake (less clean up, less fuss!). Problem is, we’re trying to figure out the best way to serve the cupcakes.
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Peugeot Eco Cup Launched – European Public Green Driving Competition
Peugeot is using the Brussels Motor Show today to launch an eco-driving contest for European drivers. The competition opens today (entries will be received through February the 10th): candidates form 18 countries can enter through their national Peugeot websites or by following this link *. Four candidates from each country will be selected in accordance with the regulations, on the basis of their sensitivity to environmental issues. They will be allowed to choose a co-pilot and then they w… (read more)
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“Spider-Man” Broadway Musical Tickets Refunded
Producers of the Spider-Man Broadway musical are offering ticket refunds, MTV News said yesterday.
The most recent in a series of delays in bringing Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark to the New York stage has prompted show producers to offer refunds to fans who had purchased tickets for performances.
The show — like the latest edition of the film franchise — has been postponed indefinitely. Previews, which were expected to start Feb. 25., have been cancelled. The production “is moving forward,” but a revised scheduled, along with an opening date later this year, will be announced shortly.
In the meantime, ticketholders can request an immediate refund from Ticketmaster or wait to exchange them for another date when the new performance schedule is announced.The Spider-Man Musical will be directed by Julie Taymor and features a score by Bono and The Edge of U2. This isn’t the first drawback for the musical, work was stalled on the musical last summer because of financial difficulties. The show’s budget could hit the $50 million mark — that’s the largest in Broadway history.
