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Paying donors of tissue or organs can help sick people by driving up supply. But creating a market for human parts is an ethically slippery proposition.

In this country, it’s legal to compensate donors of eggs, sperm and blood, but it’s illegal to pay organ donors. Compensating donors of bone marrow — which is sometimes removed from the bone itself, but more often taken from the donor’s blood — is also illegal. But a lawsuit in federal court is challenging that ban and seeking to launch a pilot compensation program.

Offering marrow donors scholarships or housing stipends could mean better outcomes for patients with diseases such as leukemia. And, since bone marrow grows back after it’s donated, it makes sense for the law to treat marrow donation more like blood or sperm donation rather than kidney donation, a doctor and a lawyer argue this morning on the New York Times op-ed page.

But the National Marrow Donor Program has argued that paying donors might compromise safety.

“Offering compensation to potential donors might compel them to withhold important personal health information that would negatively impact the patient,” the group said in a statement to American Medical News, which reported on the lawsuit last month. “The safety of the donors is equally important. Offering compensation to potential donors might also compel them to withhold personal health information that would normally defer them from donating.”

Health Blog Question of the Day: Should bone marrow donors be compensated?

Image: iStockphoto

Microsoft’s big CES keynote, which was hotly tipped as a reveal for the impressive Courier slate PC, was actually just a luke-warm Windows 7 promo. And that has one big result: The tech world is now waiting on Apple.

Read more from Fast Company

Luke Timmerman wrote:

Synta Pharmaceuticals, the Lexington, MA-based developer of cancer drugs, said today it has raised $25 million in a stock offering. The company (NASDAQ: SNTA) sold 5.5 million shares at $4.50 apiece—about a 17.6 percent discount from yesterday’s closing price of $5.46. Lazard Capital Markets led the offering and RBC Capital Markets served as a co-manager. The company had $51.7 million in cash and investments at the end of September, according to its most recent financial report.

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The Dallas Cowboys will be in the spotlight tomorrow night when they take on the Philadelphia Eagles in a do-or-die NFL Wild Card playoff game. And shining that energy-efficient lighting in their new billion-dollar football stadium is GE.

Light touch: The Cowboys stadium is the largest NFL venue ever built. “Our stadium has capacity for as many as 100,000 people and our football games are some of the most watched in the NFL, so making sure our field has effective lighting is imperative to our business,” says Jack Hill, general manager, Cowboys Stadium. “We needed a proven and robust solution that could enhance and sustain the viewers’ experience and GE delivered.” Photo: James Smith/Dallas Cowboys.

At the onset of the project, GE laid out a photometric design that took into account the complex problem of maintaining uniform lighting and light levels on the field that would eliminate shadows and glare for fans — as well as for all of the High Definition TV cameras positioned throughout the stadium.

GE’s solution combines 764 complete lighting fixtures, known as “luminaries,” to light the entire field including the sidelines and end zones. Ninety-six of the lights feature a “hot re-strike” capability that lets them come back on almost instantaneously during a temporary loss of power. That’s especially important during stadium events – as standard sport lighting requires 11 to 15 minutes to cool down and come back on after a momentary loss of power. “Having thousands of fans sit in the dark for 15 minutes is not acceptable,” says Jack Bohner, GE’s commercial director for sports and entertainment. “GE’s technology solves this problem efficiently and really enhances the quality of light in the Cowboys stadium.”

The designers and architects who created the suites and club space at the stadium also turned to GE, using advanced LED lights. “We wanted to make the spaces feel warmer,” said Stephanie King, principal designer with the design lighting firm CRA. “It imparts a more residential feel while respecting the contemporary design and functionality of the stadium.”

I saw the light: Since sustained power in a stadium is imperative, GE also developed a solution for the Cowboys that includes 70 substations, 15 switchboards and a variety of other electrical distribution products to provide emergency power during an outage or surge. Photo: James Smith/Dallas Cowboys.

* Read today’s announcement

Learn more about GE’s lighting business in these GE Reports stories:
* “From geothermal power to LEDs: Two ‘firsts’”
* “Starbucks gets a ‘green’ light; Pop. Sci. picks a winner”
* “Hey, what’s your sign? At AT&T it’s GE’s LEDs”
* “GE’s LEDs: A greener sign of the times at Holiday Inn”
* “GE’s OLED research: I saw the light — and it bends!”
* “Introducing the zero energy home”

The national unemployment rate was unchanged in December at November’s seasonally adjusted rate of 10.0%, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The rate also matched consensus expectations. Though the rate was unchanged, the U.S. economy lost 85,000 jobs in December, well above November’s surprising (revised) gain of 4,000 jobs. 85,000 is also worse than the 35,000 that economists predicted. That might not be as bad as it seems, however, as the number of unemployed Americans still managed to decline in December to 15.3 million from 15.4 million in November. This makes for some more ambiguous jobs news, so let’s interpret.

First, here’s how BLS shows the unemployment rate’s progression over the past few years:

And here’s its chart of actual job losses:

This graphic tells me two things. First, November’s wonderful news may, indeed, have been just a blip. However, you could still draw a pretty nice trend from December 2008 through December 2009. If this progression continues, then 2010 should show some actual job growth before too long.

On an industry basis, most of the usual suspects continued to suffer in December. Construction lost 53,000 jobs. Manufacturing lost 27,000. There were, however, 47,000 more temp jobs. That could be sort of good news, as it may indicate that businesses do need more employees, but remain reluctant to hire as many full time workers due to economic uncertainty. Health care continued to be a winner, adding 22,000 workers

If you disregard seasonality, the unemployment rate actually increased in December to 9.7% from 9.4% in November. So, yes, seasonality did play a role in the nationally reported rate remaining unchanged. As I noted last month, however, the seasonally adjusted and non-seasonally adjusted rates appear to be coming together:

The duration of those unemployed also continues to be troubling. Those unemployed for more than 27 weeks increased again, though the numbers declined for the prior two time periods:

The number of discouraged workers is also worsening. I find this possibly the worst news in the report. With 929,000 discouraged workers in December, we’re beginning to near the one million mark. It’s by far the highest number we’ve seen during the recession:

And the broader marginally attached unemployed number is up to a whopping 2.5 million people. Those Americans aren’t reflected in the reported rate of 10.0%, but if they were that rate would jump to 11.4%. If you add in those forced to work part time, then it leaps to 17.3%. That means more than one in six Americans can’t find full-time work.

Even though December’s national unemployment rate was unchanged, I found this report to be surprisingly negative. I would have thought that December would be a very slow month for layoffs, given the holidays. But the economy still lost 85,000 more workers in December, reversing direction from November’s gain of 4,000 jobs. And the soaring number of discouraged workers is also quite bad news. You won’t be able to have a legitimate decline in unemployed Americans until that number comes way down. Of course, for that to happen, the national unemployment rate will first have to go up, with those Americans re-entering the workforce. Let’s hope they find a newfound optimism in 2010 and more job opportunities.

Lastly, readers did fairly well yesterday in prediction this month’s rate. 26% thought the rate would be unchanged at 10.0%. That’s a great deal better than last month, when a mere 5% of respondents correctly predicted November’s rate. One interesting thing to note is that voters appear to be getting quite cautious about their predictions, as a full 70% of guesses were at or +/- 0.1% from the November rate of 10.0%. Here are those results:

Belarus negotiators have been left to scurry home without result after talks with Russia over pipeline import duties ended fruitless.

Nobody would really care if it weren’t for the fact that 75% of the oil in question supplies Europe.

Think the U.S. is held hostage by energy dependence?

It’s nothing when to compared to the other side of the pond. No wonder they’re pushing alternative energy so hard.

Business Week: Russia is asking Belarus to pay full import duties on crude oil it refines and transits to the West, abolishing a current 65 percent discount. Experts estimate that equates to a $5 billion increase in costs for the poor former Soviet satellite, which buys about 20 million metric tons of Russian crude annually. Belarus consumes about a quarter and ships the rest onward in a lucrative cargo worth more than a third of the country’s export revenues.

Read more here >

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Did A New Pipeline Just Make Russia The Most Important Energy Superpower By Far?
• Goldman’s Jim O’Neill: Easy Money And High Oil Prices Make Russia The #1 BRIC For 2010
• Iranian Leader Khamenei Prepares Jet For Possible Emergency Escape To Russia

Nintendo once again ended up in last place in the 14th edition of Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics. Microsoft’s there to keep them company though, while Sony is still sitting in the middle of the earth-friendliness spectrum.

Although he experienced a series of outings in the rally world so far, Robert Kubica’s next commitment will be driving a Renault Clio R3 in the famous Rally Monte Carlo of 2010. The news was confirmed earlier today, when the Automobile Club de Monaco announced the official entry list for the event scheduled for later this month.

Since last year, the Monte Carlo route is no longer part of the World Rally Championship, but had become the regular season opener in the International Ra… (read more)

In what is one of the rare moments of joy for Japanese carmaker Toyota, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association yesterday announced that the Prius is the country’s best selling models of 2009, with 208,876 hybrids finding new owners last year.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said, according to DetNews. "The Prius represents the ideal package people in Japan are looking for in terms of environmental and driving performance."read more)

If pop culture were your only guide, you’d probably think that tasers are hilarious. Scenes of hapless souls squirming after being “tased” often play with a laugh track in Hollywood comedies. Real-world taser bloopers get thousands of hits on on the net. These images, however, are deeply deceptive. Tasers actually cause excruciating pain and police abuse of the weapon is a deadly serious problem. For this reason, I welcome the recent federal civil rights ruling that may help reform police taser policies.

The federal case arose out of a particular encounter in California between a police officer and a motorist during a traffic stop for a seat belt violation. The driver, Carl Bryan, was unarmed and indeed wore only boxer shorts and tennis shoes. Bryan was agitated, upset, and muttering gibberish. He exited his car but did not attempt to flee. Neither did he physically or verbally threaten the  cop. However, because Bryan allegedly failed to obey an order to return to his car, the officer — who was standing 20 feet away — discharged his taser. The electric current made Bryan fall flat on his face, fracturing four teeth and causing contusions.

(more…)

Our friend Taylor of AndroidAndMe spotted this strange looking device from Motorola (HS1001) while in Vegas the other day.   Upon closer examination, he found that it’s actually a cordless home phone running Android.

The HS1001 offers Wi-Fi capability and connects to a base unit. Look for this to hit the UK later in the year for around $150.

Specifications include:

• DSPG Arm9 240 MHz processor
• 2.8 inch resistive touch screen (QVGA)
• 256 MB flah ROM / 128 MB RAM
• MicroSD expansion slot
• Android 1.6

Does a unit like this appeal to you at all?  What if your contacts were stored in the cloud and had some other Google features?

PKB Animal Health, Inc., makers of Zymox® Otic and Zymox® Topical Spray announce scientific research demonstrating effectiveness of the enzyme-based products against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA.

Zymox® adds a much needed level of confidence in the ability to manage stubborn infections of the ears and skin of dogs and cats, including antibiotic resistant microorganisms such as MRSA.

This discovery has timely benefits as there has been growing concern in the veterinary community regarding treatment and prevention of MRSA and the potential for pets to spread this bacteria to people.

According to published research, both Zymox® Otic for ear infections and Zymox® Topical Spray for skin infections, wounds and cuts have been shown to eradicate MRSA in as little as 30 seconds upon contact.

Gentle on skin, yet effective on microbes, Zymox® utilizes the patented LP3 Enzyme System which is non-toxic and formulated without antibiotics, chlorhexidine, harsh detergents or chemicals.

Zymox® requires no pre-cleaning and is applied only once a day.

PKB Animal Health, Inc. has been dedicated for over 10 years to providing antimicrobial enzyme-based products for topical use which are safe, non-toxic and proven to be effective antibiotic alternatives.

PKB Animal Health also offers an enzyme-based product line for pet oral care as well.

To view the research, please view these reports:

• jarvm.com/articles/Vol7Iss4/King1.pdf
• jarvm.com/articles/Vol7Iss4/King2.pdf

With the endearingly precious Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium hitting theaters in a few weeks Natalie shared a few of the life lessons she has learned in her wise, wise 26 years. Including her regret over one revealing scene in Goya’s Ghosts that in the end wasn’t even her. Here’s highlights:The 13-minute film, which serves as a prologue to Darjeeling, is about an American named Jack (Jason Schwartzman, left), holing up in a fancy Paris hotel, who has an unexpected reunion with an estranged girlfriend (Natalie Portman, right). Shot two years ago, before screenwriters Anderson, Schwartzman, and Roman Coppola developed the character into one of the three brothers on Darjeeling’s rail journey across India, “Chevalier” sees Anderson working in his customary jewel-box/dollhouse mode, but the form and length really suit each other here. (Anderson’s arcane taste in ’60s British Invasion pop tunes is present as well, in the repeated use of Peter Sarstedt’s 1969 tune “Where Do You Go To (My Lovely),” a Donovan-lite song that began to grate on me with repetition but which I now can’t dislodge from my brain.) “Chevalier” is an exquisite short story where we learn not much but exactly enough about these two characters; plus, there are several allusions in Darjeeling to elements of “Chevalier” that you won’t catch if you haven’t already seen the short.

Oh, by the way: there’s been a lot of drooling fanboy talk that Portman finally gets naked in “Chevalier.” Well, not quite. Like the film, she reveals not much, just enough.

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Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Safety

Speed cameras are at best a dubious safety enhancement sold on the premise of slowing traffic, while the more important proposition is often the promise of the revenue they can generate. Arizona residents have mostly cut through the bovine feculence around the state’s big camera deployment program, one that’s been described as groundbreaking. The state installed 76 one-eyed bandits, but profits are lower than projected, and some citizens want the cameras gone.

Further sabotaging the camera initiative are citizens who have taken to ignoring the automated citations in large numbers. A loophole surrounding mailed tickets is allowing many drivers to motor on with impunity, while an anti-camera group is trying to get a ballot measure to ban the cameras underway. The 700,000 tickets that have been issued since September 2008 should have meant $127 million into the coffers, but only $36 million has been collected. At that level, it’s not even clear if Redflex, the public scourge firm that runs the cameras, is able to break even.

[Source: New York Times | Photo: Redflex]

Arizona to abandon ‘groundbreaking’ speed camera program? originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interesante y curiosa noticia nos llega desde Suiza, en este país se acaba de superar el record del importe a pagar en las multas de tráfico.  Un millonario de dicho país fué sorprendido por la policía con un Ferrari Testarossa circulando por carreteras secundarias a unos 140 km/h.

A la hora de dictar el importe de la multa, el juez tuvo más en cuenta la fortuna del conductor (16 millones de Euros) que la velocidad a la que conducía.

En definitiva, el valor de la multa que tendrá que pagar, 202.000€, sobrepasa incluso al valor que tiene el propio coche que conducía, parte de su colección personal de cinco Ferrari. El valor monetario de la infracción se establece así como récord para Suiza.

Related posts:

1. BP, Repsol y Cepsa son multados por la Comisión Nacional de la Competencia
2. Nuevo vídeo espía del Ferrari F450
3. Nuevo intento de batir el record mundial de velocidad

Tokyo-based USB accessory specialist Thanko has a thing for spy gadgets. Just look at their spy button camera, the USB necktie with a built-in camera and the camera watch they developed in the last few months. Last July, Thanko started offering a a pen with an integrated micro camera. And today the company announced [JP] the so-called Super Slim Video Pen 2, which is a spy pen that shoots video in HD (1,280×960 at 30fps, to be more exact).

The pen lets you shoot JPEGs with the same resolution. It’s 14cm long and weighs 30g. It can store 1.5 hours of video with its internal memory but also supports microSD cards (up to 16GB). Thanko says an 8GB card is enough to record around six hours of HD video. Users just need to press a button on top of the pen to start the recording. The micro camera is right under it (see picture above).

Video files can later be transferred to your PC (as long as it runs under Windows XP, Vista or 7) via USB 2.0 (the pen has a miniUSB slot).

Thanko is selling the spy pen for $65. Ask Geek Stuff 4U if you live outside Japan and are interested in getting one (they’re just offering the older model at the moment).

Buy This Item: [Click here to buy this item]

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