Research and Markets: Outlook of Future LNG Markets – Analysis and Forecasts of Upcoming 20 Potential LNG Markets

July 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/69db00/outlook_of_future) has
announced the addition of the “Outlook of Future LNG Markets- Analysis and
Forecasts of Upcoming 20 Potential LNG Markets” report to their offering.

Outlook of Future LNG Markets – Analysis and Forecasts of Upcoming 20 Potential
LNG Markets

Global LNG markets have evolved strongly over the last decade. With declining
construction and operational costs, the spread of LNG markets is rising rapidly.
Robust natural gas demand coupled with supply diversity advantages are resulting
in an increased number of countries participating in world LNG trade. Between
2010 and 2015, 21 new countries are expected to start LNG trading, providing a
strong scope for companies existing or planning to enter LNG market.

Entry of these markets is expected to result in diversification of global LNG
market and growth in trade volumes. However, the price bases will not alter in
the near future. On one hand, the industry provides a larger scope of
investments for new entrants and existing players but on the other hand, it can
reduce the domination of the existing majors.

To evaluate the pros and cons of entering these markets and making contracts
with companies in these countries, LNGReports has come up with the brand new
report Outlook of Future LNG Markets- Analysis and Forecasts of Upcoming 20
Potential LNG Markets. The report evaluates each of these markets through new
innovative tools like benchmarking and positioning map. Further, through
information on planned investments and market structures, the report gives you a
complete insight into 21 evolving LNG markets

Scope

* The report analyses 16 regasification (Bahamas, Bangladesh, Croatia, Germany,
Indonesia, Ireland, Jamaica, Netherlands, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland,
Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay) and 6 Liquefaction
countries (Angola, Canada, Iran, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Venezuela), which are
expected to start LNG operations between 2010 and 2015
* Yearly forecasts of capacities, trains, capital investment and trade movements
are provided for each country for the next five years
* Key factors driving growth of LNG with primary challenges facing these
countries are analyzed
* Details information on 20 planned LNG import and 12 LNG export terminals
including operator, ownership, construction cost and period, capacity, location
and expected commencement date
* Evolving markets in each region are benchmarked against different parameters
including supply, demand and economic indexes
* Expected market share of companies in 2015 in these evolving markets are
provided by region

Key Topics Covered:

1 Table of contents

2 Executive Summary

3 Outlook of Future LNG markets in Asia Pacific

4 Outlook of Future LNG markets in Europe

5 Outlook of Future LNG markets in Middle East Africa

6 Outlook of Future LNG markets in Americas

7 Appendix

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/69db00/outlook_of_future

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager,
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Hamilton Sundstrand Launches Global Customer Response Center

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — FARNBOROUGH AIR SHOW — Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), has begun construction of a new Customer Response Center at its Windsor Locks, Conn., facility – an innovative central contact point designed to respond to customer inquiries and collect data necessary to coordinate response efforts across Hamilton Sundstrand’s functions.

“Hamilton Sundstrand’s new Customer Response Center will serve as a key differentiator in the marketplace by providing a single data collection point to coordinate issue resolution efforts across all Hamilton Sundstrand’s businesses, platforms and facilities, which is necessary given our product and service offerings’ complexity,” said Matthew Bromberg, Hamilton Sundstrand Customer Service vice president and general manager. “Our ultimate goal is to keep our customer’s aircraft in the air.”

Work began in May to construct the Customer Response Center, which will be staffed by engineers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help keep customer aircraft flying by addressing customer technical issues and aircraft spare part orders. The center will feature new software to manage customer inquiries and create a master database allowing Hamilton Sundstrand’s businesses to coordinate their efforts in addressing and resolving customer issues as quickly as possible.

“Over the last decade, Hamilton Sundstrand’s global customer base and diverse product portfolio have grown tremendously,” Bromberg said. “At the same time, Hamilton Sundstrand’s network of engineering, manufacturing and repair facilities has become more complex, customer expectations are always increasing, and airline maintenance strategies continue to evolve with total support programs and multi-party partnerships.”

Construction on the new 2,720 square-foot Customer Response Center is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2010. While the new Customer Response Center is under construction, the operation is temporarily located at an alternate location on Hamilton Sundstrand’s Windsor Locks, Conn., campus.

With 2009 revenues of $5.6 billion, Hamilton Sundstrand is headquartered in Windsor Locks, Conn. Among the world’s largest suppliers of technologically advanced aerospace and industrial products, the company designs, manufactures and services aerospace systems and provides integrated system solutions for commercial, regional, corporate and military aircraft. It also is a major supplier for international space programs.

United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., is a diversified company that provides high-technology products and services to the aerospace and building industries.

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U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for July 19

July 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON, July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Following is the daily “Profile America” feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090226/CENSUSLOGO)

MONDAY, JULY 19: CELL PHONES

Profile America — Monday, July 19th. We’ve all seen them and heard them. People on cell phones talking in heavy traffic while driving, or loudly discussing very private matters while shopping in the supermarket. Well, take hope — this is Cell Phone Courtesy Month — a time for those who just have to stay in touch, wherever they are, to pay more attention to the highway and to hold down the volume of their conversation if they’re in a public place. Cell phones exploded from a novelty to a necessity during the last decade. In 1990, there were some 5 million cell phone users. Now, that number is just over 270 million. That means that about nine-out-of-10 of all Americans have a cell phone. Our average bill for this convenience is just over $50 a month. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase’s Calendar of Events 2010, p. 348

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2010, t. 1112

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for “Multimedia Gallery” by the “Newsroom” button).

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UPDATE 3-Sumitomo buys stake in Usiminas unit for $1.93 bln

July 2, 2010 By Leave a Comment

SAO PAULO, July 1 (Reuters) – Usiminas (USIM5.SA), Brazil’s largest maker of flat steel, said on Wednesday it is selling 30 percent of its mining unit to Japan’s Sumitomo Corp (8053.T) for $1.93 billion, in a bid to raise cash to develop its fast-growing iron ore assets.

Sumitomo agreed to subscribe for new shares of the unit, called Mineracao Usiminas (MUSA), as part of the deal, Usiminas said in a filing with Brazil’s securities regulator.

Sumitomo will pay $1.35 billion by the end of August and the rest upon confirmation of the mine’s expansion plan and the quality of the ore, Sumitomo told reporters in Tokyo.

By bringing in Japan’s third-biggest trading house as a partner, Usiminas Chief Executive Wilson Brumer, who took over in April, will likely mitigate potential risks in developing iron ore assets, unlocking value for shareholders.

Iron ore prices have more than doubled this year, forcing steelmakers to rely more on their own mining assets to avert violent price swings.

“We are creating the necessary conditions to fund the growth of the mining operations without crowding out potential funding for the steel arm,” Brumer told investors on a conference call on Wednesday.

Usiminas and Sumitomo are expected to seal terms of the transaction by the end of August, the filing added.

Usiminas expects to invest up to 4 billion reais ($2.2 billion) by 2015 to develop its iron ore assets, Brumer said. Recent geology studies indicated that Usiminas mines have potential reserves of 2.6 billion tonnes of the mineral, he noted.

Usiminas is trying to replicate a strategy by rival CSN (CSNA3.SA) (SID.N), which earlier last decade invested heavily in its mines to reduce dependence on third parties for supply of the mineral.

Brazil’s iron ore is globally known for its superior quality, allowing steelmakers based here to charge a premium on some Brazilian-made products or sell the mineral to other customers.

The Belo Horizonte, Brazil-based company will also transfer assets and issue new shares of Mineracao Usiminas and Usiminas Participacoes e Logistica, its logistics unit, as part of a plan to boost their value, the filing said.

Under the project, MUSA’s iron ore output is expected to reach 8 million tonnes next year, up from this year’s 7 million tonnes. Usiminas and Sumitomo aim to expand the output to as much as 29 million tonnes by 2014 or 2015, Sumitomo said.

“Our investment in the project could generate 10 billion yen to 20 billion yen ($110-230 million) profit annually when expansion plans are completed,” Kuniharu Nakamura, Sumitomo’s senior managing executive officer, told a news conference.

Shares of Usiminas fell for a second day, shedding 0.9 percent to 49.28 reais. The stock has risen less than 1 percent this year, compared with a drop of about 4 percent in shares of rival CSN, Brazil’s second-largest maker of flat steel.

The Sumitomo stock inched up by 0.2 percent to 899 yen on Thursday, bucking a 2 percent fall in the broader Tokyo market. ($1=88.38 Yen) (Additional reporting by Yuko Inoue in TOKYO, Brian Ellsworth in SAO PAULO; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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UPDATE 2-Czech Civic Democrat leader Necas to become new PM

June 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

PRAGUE, June 27 (Reuters) – Czech President Vaclav Klaus will name Civic Democrat leader Petr Necas as the next prime minister on Monday, ushering in what should be the strongest government in a decade to tackle economic reforms.

The Civic Democrats are leading coalition talks with two other centre-right parties, TOP09 and Public Affairs, after the three won a combined 118 seats out of 200 in a May 28-29 election with pledges of austerity and fighting corruption.

If the three parties agree on a coalition government they would have a strong majority to kick-start key reforms in pensions and healthcare compared with previous cabinets over the last decade which lacked a strong enough majority and the will to reform.

Talks between the parties have dragged because of disputes over policy and ministerial posts, including who should run the important finance ministry. Necas has said he wants a deal by early July, in time to prepare the 2011 budget.

“Tomorrow at 10 a.m. I will name Petr Necas as prime minister,” Klaus said on Sunday in a live television interview.

Klaus accepted the resignation of caretaker Prime Minister Jan Fischer on Friday ending a year-old interim cabinet that led the country after the collapse of the previous centre-right government. He will stay on until a new cabinet takes power.

Investors, analysts and rating agencies cheered the centre-right victory as the best possible election outcome, and most-likely grouping to make pension and health reform — areas in which the country of 10.5 million has lagged neighbours.

TOUGH TALKS STILL

The Czechs and other central European countries have mostly kept public budgets under control in the economic crisis and have debt levels lower than the European Union average.

But to meet the EU’s 3 percent of GDP deficit ceiling in the coming years, they all must find more savings.

The parties have agreed to cut the 2011 fiscal deficit to at least 4.8 percent of economic output, from 5.3 percent planned for 2010, by reducing money for state salaries and ministry budgets across the board, among other measures.

The Civic Democrats would get six posts in the cabinet, while conservative TOP09 and centrist Public Affairs would get five and four seats.

However, TOP09 has pushed hard to have its vice-chairman and former finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, as head of the finance ministry — which many Civic Democrats have resisted.

Public Affairs, which along with TOP09 entered parliament for the first time, has said it might not enter the coalition but would support it in votes.

Party Vice-Chairman Vit Barta was quoted on Sunday as saying there was still a chance of this.

“The chance that we will be directly in the government is now about 20 percent. The probability is directly correlated to an agreement on the government programme, and can grow,” Barta was cited as saying by online server iDnes.cz.

Another party official said on Sunday on Czech Television that the party would not enter the government if Public Affairs Chairman Radek John did not get the interior minister post. (Editing by Matthew Jones)

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athenahealth Announces Management Changes

June 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

WATERTOWN, Mass.–(Business Wire)–
athenahealth, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHN), a leading provider of Internet-based business
services to physician practices, today announced changes to its management team.

Operations and Technology

Effective July 1, 2010, David E. Robinson, Executive Vice President and Chief
Operating Officer, will resign from the position of COO in keeping with the
anticipated length of service under his employment agreement. Mr. Robinson, who
joined athenahealth in 2009, will transition the COO role to Ed Park,
athenahealth`s current Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Park, who joined
athenahealth in 1998, while best known for co-creating its national physician
network, athenaNet, has worked closely with athenahealth`s operations teams over
the last decade on applying innovation to develop a fully scalable services
platform. Mr. Park will report to Jonathan Bush, athenahealth`s Chairman and
CEO.

In conjunction with this transition, Jeremy Delinsky will be appointed Chief
Technology Officer and will report to Mr. Park. Mr. Delinsky, who joined
athenahealth in 2004, is currently Senior Vice President of athenaNet
Intelligence. During his tenure, Mr. Delinsky has held various leadership roles
in product development and operations focusing on the strategic deployment of
network knowledge and the use of technology to drive process innovation.

“Dave joined us to meet key short-term goals for our operational teams and to
groom internal talent for the COO role. We thank Dave for achieving these goals
and for his leadership as COO,” commented Bush. “Ed built the foundation for
athenahealth`s technology and operations teams and has been instrumental in
shaping our growth strategy over the past ten-plus years. As athenahealth has
evolved, he has become increasingly involved in operational strategy and
execution, which positioned him as an ideal internal candidate for the COO post.
In addition, Jeremy`s cross-functional experience leading product development,
operations, and technology teams at athenahealth during the last six years will
make him a highly effective CTO.” Bush continued, “We congratulate both Ed and
Jeremy on their new roles and are confident in their ability to leverage
technology and people in pursuit of our growth objectives and our vision for an
information infrastructure that makes health care work as it should.”

Business Development

Effective July 1, 2010, Nancy G. Brown, Senior Vice President of Corporate
Development, will step down from her position to pursue other opportunities. Ms.
Brown joined athenahealth in 2004 and has led product strategy initiatives as
well as business development efforts during her tenure. Ms. Brown will continue
to serve as an employee of athenahealth until July 31, 2010, and will transition
her responsibilities to Derek Hedges, who currently serves as Senior Vice
President of Business Development and Product Strategy. Mr. Hedges joined
athenahealth in 2005 and, during his tenure, led its channel partnerships as
well as its strategic enterprise sales organization.

“Nancy`s entrepreneurial energy has been a great asset to athenahealth over the
past six years. From her initial work on the development of athenaClinicalsSM
through her leadership on key strategic partnerships and acquisitions, she has
built a talented team focused on expanding athenahealth`s presence as an
industry leader,” said Bush. “Derek has worked closely with Nancy for the past
five years and possesses over a decade of experience in strategic roles within
the health care technology industry. We wish Nancy the very best in her
endeavors and congratulate Derek on broadening his leadership role at
athenahealth.”

“Thanks to our tremendous internal talent and the strong leadership of our
long-standing executives, I am confident we have the right team in place to move
this business forward and distinguish our services in the physician market,”
concluded Bush.

For the latest athenahealth news and information, please visit the news section
of our website.

About athenahealth

athenahealth, Inc. is a leading provider of Internet-based business services for
physician practices. athenahealth’s service offerings are based on proprietary
web-native practice management and electronic health record (EHR) software, a
continuously updated payer knowledge-base, integrated back-office service
operations, and automated and live patient communication services. For more
information, please visit www.athenahealth.com or call (888) 652-8200.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including statements regarding management`s plans and the ability to
achieve long-term objectives. These statements are neither promises nor
guarantees, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contemplated in these forward-looking statements. In
particular, the risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk
that our service offerings will not operate in the manner that we expect, due to
design flaws, security breaches, or otherwise; potential interruptions or delays
in our Internet-based service offerings; our reliance upon third parties, such
as computer hardware, software, data-hosting, and Internet infrastructure
providers, which reliance may result in failures or disruptions in our service
offerings; errors or omissions included in our payer and clinical intelligence
rules engine and database; and the evolving and complex government regulatory
compliance environment in which we and our clients operate. Existing and
prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. athenahealth
undertakes no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this
press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or
circumstances, or otherwise. For additional disclosure regarding these and other
risks faced by athenahealth, please see the disclosure contained in our public
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, available on the Investors
section of our website at http://www.athenahealth.com and on the SEC`s website
at http://www.sec.gov.

(Media)
athenahealth, Inc.
John Hallock, 617-504-0958
Director, Corporate Communications
media@athenahealth.com
or
(Investors)
athenahealth, Inc.
Jennifer Heizer, 617-402-1322
Director, Investor Relations
investorrelations@athenahealth.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Foreigners use the pill more, sterilisation less

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The pill is still the No 1 contraceptive for American women, but it’s even more popular in other countries, according to the first US government report comparing nations.

More US women, however, get their tubes tied than elsewhere, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has reported.

In the US, 16 per cent of married women say they use the pill. That compares to 29 percent in the United Kingdom and more than 40 per cent in the Netherlands and France.

About one in four US married women opt for sterilisation, also known as tubal ligation, or tube-tying.

Sterilisation rates were below 10 per cent for most of the six countries included who collect those figures.

The patterns appear to be similar for all women, not just the married ones, said William Mosher, an author of the new report.

International comparisons are sometimes difficult because some nations only have information on married women, added Mosher, a statistician with the CDC’s National Centre for Health Statistics.

The US numbers are based on in-person interviews of more than 7,300 women of childbearing age nationwide from 2006 through 2008. The rates were compared to those of eight other industrialised countries – France, Belgium, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Australia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The new report is the government’s first national data on contraception use in more than five years. It found that the pill was the most used contraceptive by all women, but sterilisation was a close second. About 17 per cent of women say they use the pill, and nearly the same proportion said they were sterilised.

The US has seen a variety of new contraception options for women in the last decade, including a vaginal ring and a skin patch. Though many women have tried them, fewer than 2 per cent said they used one of those methods.

Contraception choices by US women have remained remarkably stable for decades, Mosher said.

“We seem to be stuck in this pattern of the pill and sterilisation are the leading methods,” he said.

The pill was much more popular among women who have never had children – more than half of them use it. It was also more commonly used by white women and those who were more educated. More popular among older women is sterilisation.

Many Americans get their tubes tied after they have children, as a don’t-have-to-worry-about-it-anymore measure, experts say. Younger women with less education more often turn to sterilisation, as well.

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Most married military couples are satisfied

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 16 (ANI): Majority of married people at an Army post are satisfied with their relationship, despite challenges faced like deployments, a study at Kansas State University has found.

“Because of the stressors that have been on the military and military families, particularly in the last decade, it”s easy to focus on the difficulty and dysfunction of their marriages,” said Jared Anderson, assistant professor of family studies and human services at K-State. “But I think one of the things that this study does is look at what makes these families resilient in the midst of ongoing stress.”

K-State researchers in family studies and human services studied the marital quality of military couples and identified factors that relate to relationship distress.

Their findings showed that the vast majority of people in the sample were non-distressed in their relationship. The researchers include Anderson; Matthew Johnson, graduate student in marriage and family therapy, Manhattan; and Laura Cline, senior in family studies and human services, Overland Park.

Anderson studies how couples develop and maintain strong marriages, and conversely, the factors that contribute to relationship problems. By understanding factors associated with distress, he said interventions could be developed to target at-risk marriages.

“I think it”s just as important, or more important, to learn factors of non-distressed marriages because that gives us a picture into what we can actually do to replicate that for other families,” Anderson said.

He said there is much information about successful civilian marriages, which can be partly applied to military marriages, though there are differences. The researchers said it is important to understand marital quality in military couples because it”s associated with marital stability and personal well-being. Additionally, the quality of a soldier”s marriage has potential implications for soldier retention and readiness.

The study used data collected in spring 2008 and included a sample of 700 U.S. Army soldiers and 390 spouses of soldiers at Fort Riley. Participants completed a survey that included demographic and quality of life questions, including measures for marital satisfaction.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found that the majority of the participants fell in the non-distressed range of their marital satisfaction. The findings showed that 81 percent of soldiers and 85 percent of spouses were categorized as relationally non-distressed.

The researchers also looked at factors that differentiated the participants categorized as distressed and non-distressed in their relationship. Overall, soldiers were 1.7 times more likely to be relationally distressed than the spouses of soldiers in the sample. While no factors were associated with distress or non-distress for the partners of spouses of soldiers, there were several variables linked to relational distress for soldiers.

A greater likelihood of being relationally distressed was associated with soldiers whose families did not accompany them to their current duty station and soldiers with newer marriages, who were dating or engaged versus being married and who were lower in rank.

The study also looked for an association between the number of deployments and relational distress. Almost all of the soldiers in the study sample had been deployed at least once, and one-third of the soldiers had been deployed two or more times.

“Deployment didn”t factor into distress,” Anderson said. “It”s interesting, but within context it makes sense.” (ANI)

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Antony to visit Oman to boost defence cooperation

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 14 (ANI): To promote military cooperation and further strengthen ties, Defence Minister AK Antony will undertake a two day official visit to Oman from May 17.

During his stay in Muscat, Antony will hold wide-ranging talks with his Oman counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib Al Busaidi on the issue of piracy in the Gulf of Eden and efforts to secure trade between two countries via the sea route.

Defence exports from India will also feature on Antony’s agenda, as Oman is the first Gulf country to procure the assault rifle INSAS, which is manufactured by the Ordnance Factory Board.

The indigenously built rifle, used by the Indian Army, was sent to Muscat in March and is currently undergoing trials for the Oman army.

A high-level delegation, including Defence Secretary Pradeep Kumar, will accompany Antony during his visit.

The Defence Minister will also hold talks with the top leadership of the Sultanate of Oman and meet the Indian community.

“India and Oman have a vibrant military cooperation. In October last year Jaguar fighter jets of the Indian Air Force flew to Oman to participate in the first joint air exercise with the Royal Air Force of Oman,” said a Ministry of Defence statement.

Following the signing of a protocol agreement on military relations between India and Oman in 1972, the last decade has seen an increase of military relations between India and Oman.

Several high level visits are expected to take place between India and Oman. Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma will visit that country in June to attract investments. (ANI)

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Bundchen world’s highest paid model for second year running

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 14 (ANI): Gisele Bundchen, the 29-year-old who is married to American football player Tom Brady, earned 25 million dollars last year, making her the world”s highest paid model for the second year running.

In the Forbes’ list, Heidi Klum came in second with 16 million dollars in earnings, followed by style icon Kate Moss, also 36, who made 9 million dollars, through modelling campaigns, her clothing range for Topshop, and her perfume.

It is the second year the same three models topped the list, reports The Telegraph.

Steve Bertoni of Forbes said: “These contracts were written during the doldrums of the recession.

“So when companies decided on the faces of their campaigns, they wanted to play it safe.”

Adriana Lima, 28, came in fourth with a 7.5-million-dollar salary.

Dutch model Doutzen Kroes, 25, was placed fifth with 6 million dollars.

“These are the tried and true supermodels of the last decade … the household names of the industry,” Bertoni said.

Carolyn Murphy, who is the face of Estee Lauder, Roberto Cavalli and Anne Klein, earned 3.5 million dollars to grab the 10th spot.

The list represents earnings made from June 2009 to July 2010. (ANI)

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South Africa’s only lesbian soccer team play to fight prejudice

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Johannesburg, May 13 (ANI): South Africa’s only lesbian soccer team, ‘Chosen Few’, plays to fight for their rights and eradicate prejudice.

The team plays with skill and great zeal despite the waste-ground that is bordered by a large puddle on which they are obliged to train, a few hundred meters from the imposing Constitutional Court in central Johannesburg.

“We tried many other places.

“But they just won”t let us in,” 24.com quoted Lerato Marumolwa, one of the best players, as saying.

Such injustice perpetrated in a country that is admired for its post-apartheid constitution – the first in the world to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

But injustice against lesbians in South Africa is commonplace. More than 30 lesbians are reported murdered in the last decade, and the British NGO ActionAid said in a report last year there was an increasing trend of homophobic attacks and murders by men who believed they would “cure” lesbian women.

The ‘Chosen Few’ was launched in 2004 by the Forum for the Empowerment of Women (FEW) in support of lesbians in the country.

The group demonstrated outside the court where one of the murderers of former South African national women”s soccer team player Eudy Simelane was tried and sentenced last year, for raping and stabbing her.

The team won bronze medals in the soccer competition at the Gay Games in Chicago in 2006 and at the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association Cup in London two years later.

Phindi Malaza, the FEW programmes coordinator and manager of the Chosen Few, said almost all FEW”s funding came from overseas and there was no backing from the South African government despite the constitution.

“I feel there is really no support in government or the political leadership. You never hear any condemnation of hate crimes,” she said. (ANI)

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Simple genetic test may lead to more personalized breast cancer treatment

May 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, May 7 (ANI): US researchers say that a simple genetic test that uses just three genes is among the most effective means of classifying breast cancer into sub-types.

The findings are a significant step in bringing more personalized treatment into breast cancer, say researchers.

The study is based on the already well-established fact that breast cancer is not one biologically homogeneous disease, but it is composed of several molecular sub-types each of which is characterized by distinct gene expression profiles.

“It is these differences that explain, at least in part, why patients who have tumours that appear to be similar may experience completely different clinical outcomes such as prognosis and response to anticancer therapies,” said Benjamin Haibe-Kains from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, USA.

“Thus, there is an urgent need for developing a robust tool to provide clinicians with guidance for classifying breast cancer molecular sub-types, which could then aid in making therapeutic decisions,” Haibe-Kains added.

Several research groups have already developed a range of different genetic ”fingerprints” they use to assign breast cancers into different sub-types, but questions have been raised about the reliability of these groupings.

To shed new light on this issue, Haibe-Kains and colleagues performed the largest comparative study to date of breast cancer sub-types, analyzing 32 publicly available gene expression datasets including more than 4600 breast cancer patients and six different classification models.

“We studied these models in terms of concordance and prognostic value and, for the first time, we estimated their robustness: that is, their capacity to assign the same tumours to the same molecular sub-types whatever the gene expression data used to fit this model,” Haibe-Kains said.

Two main classes of classification models have been published during the last decade: the Single Sample Predictor (SSP) and the Sub-type Classification Model (SCM). Over the years the list of genes used by these models have been refined, leading to the publication of six distinct classification models.

“Generally speaking, we found that SCMs yielded stronger concordance than SSPs. We also observed that SCMs, including a simple model that uses only three genes –ESR1, ERBB2 and AURKA– were significantly more robust than SSPs,” Haibe-Kains said.

By demonstrating the robustness of the SCM models, the new study is a significant step towards bringing these classification models into the clinic, Haibe-Kains said.

“The robustness of SCMs makes them promising candidates for an implementation into the clinic especially in the simplest form –that is, a model using only three genes,” Haibe-Kains added.

The findings were presented at the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium. (ANI)

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Litex Lovech win third Bulgarian league title

May 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Litex Lovech secured their third Bulgarian league title with a 3-0 win at relegation-threatened Lokomotiv Plovdiv on Sunday.

The win gave the Lovech-based side an unassailable seven-point lead over CSKA Sofia, who came from behind to demolish third-placed city rivals Lokomotiv 5-1, with two matches remaining.

Litex top the standings with 64 points, followed by CSKA on 57. Lokomotiv are third on 52.

CSKA and Levski Sofia, the two most popular clubs in the Balkan country, have won nine titles between them in the last decade and 52 in total since CSKA’s foundation in 1948.

Litex, champions in 1998 and 1999, became only the second team to upset the balance of power this century after Lokomotiv Plovdiv’s triumph in 2004.

Litex, who sealed a place in next season’s Champions League qualifying rounds, opened the scoring six minutes before the interval when French striker Wilfried Niflore headed in Brazilian winger Tom’s cross.

Doka Madureira doubled Litex’s lead early in the second half while Niflore put the game beyond doubt in the 81st minute with another firm header.

“We were the best team throughout the championship and we deserve the title,” said delighted Litex coach Angel Chervenkov after the win in Plovdiv.

A late goal by midfielder Vladimir Gadzhev gave outgoing champions Levski Sofia a 1-1 draw at Cherno More Varna to keep alive their chances of qualifying for next season’s Europa League.

(Reporting by Angel Krasimirov; Editing by Clare Fallon;

To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Palestinians call on Israel to probe prison death

April 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Palestinian Authority on Saturday called on Israel to investigate the death of a Palestinian prisoner in a jail in southern Israel.

Issa Qaraqi, minister of prisoner affairs in the Western-backed government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said 27 year-old Raed Abu Hammad died on Friday in solitary confinement.

An Israel Prison Service spokesman said Hammad, who was about half-way through a ten year sentence for attempted murder, was found dead on the floor of his cell. Hammad was suffering from medical conditions and the Prison Service was checking the cause of his death, the spokesman said.

“We are demanding an investigation and to perform an autopsy to find out why he died,” Qaraqi said. “Israel is fully responsible for the death of the prisoner because he was sick and Israel and the doctors in the prison authority knew that.”

About 7,000 Palestinians are held in Israeli jails. Qaraqi said 19 Palestinians have died in jail in the last decade.

(Reporting by Mohammed Assadi; Editing by Matthew Jones)

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Electronic ”nose” that can predict pleasantness of novel odors created

April 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 16 (ANI): An electronic system has been ‘trained’ by Weizmann Institute scientists to be able to predict the pleasantness of novel odors, just like a human would perceive them.

The breakthrough turns the popular notion that smell is completely personal and culture-specific on its head.

In research published in PLoS Computational Biology, the scientists argue that the perception of an odor”s pleasantness is innately hard-wired to its molecular structure, and it is only within specific contexts that personal or cultural differences are made apparent.

These findings have important implications for automated environmental toxicity and malodor monitoring, fast odor screening in the perfume industry, and provide a critical building block for the Holy Grail of sense technology – transmitting scent digitally.

Over the last decade, electronic devices, commonly known as electronic noses or ”eNoses,” have been developed to be able to detect and recognize odors. The main component of an eNose is an array of chemical sensors. As an odor passes through the eNose, its molecular features stimulate the sensors in such a way as to produce a unique electrical pattern – an ”odor fingerprint” – that characterizes that specific odor. Like a sniffer dog, an eNose first needs to be trained with odor samples so as to build a database of reference. Then the instrument can recognize new samples of those odors by comparing the odor”s fingerprint to those contained in its database.

But unlike humans, if eNoses are presented with a novel odor whose fingerprint has not already been recorded in their database, they are unable to classify or recognize it.

So a team of Weizmann scientists, led by Dr. Rafi Haddad, then a graduate student of Prof. Noam Sobel of the Neurobiology Department and co-supervisor Prof. David Harel of the Computer Science and Applied Mathematics Department, together with their colleague Abebe Medhanie of the Neurobiology Department, and Dr. Yehudah Roth of the Edith Wolfson Medical Center, Holon, decided to approach this issue from a different perspective. Rather than train an eNose to recognize a particular odor, they trained it to estimate the odor along a particular perceptual axis. The axis they chose was odorant pleasantness. In other words, they trained their eNose to predict whether an odor would be perceived as pleasant or unpleasant, or anywhere in between.

To achieve this, the scientists first asked a group of native Israelis to rate the pleasantness of a selection of odors according to a 30-point scale ranging from ”very pleasant” to ”very unpleasant.” From this dataset, they developed an ”odor pleasantness” algorithm, which they then programmed into the eNose. The scientists then got the eNose to predict the pleasantness of a completely new set of odors not contained in their database against the ratings provided by a completely different group of native Israelis. The scientists found that the eNose was able to generalize and rate the pleasantness of novel odors it never smelled before, and these ratings were about 80 percent similar to those of naive human raters who had not participated in the eNose training phase. Moreover, if the odors were simply categorized as either ”pleasant” or ”unpleasant,” as opposed to being rated on a scale, it achieved an accuracy of 99 percent.

But these findings still don”t determine whether olfactory perception is culture-specific or not. With this in mind, the scientists decided to test eNose predictions against a group of recent immigrants to Israel from Ethiopia. The results showed that the eNose”s ability to predict the pleasantness of novel odors against the native Ethipoians” ratings was just as good, even though it was ”tuned” to the pleasantness of odors as perceived by native Israelis. In other words, even though different odors have different meanings across cultures, the eNose performed equally well across these populations. This suggests a fundamental cross-cultural similarity in odorant pleasantness. (ANI)

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Big Easy in masterful form after tough times

April 8, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Times have been hard in recent years for Ernie Els but the ‘Big Easy’ has never felt more confident for a US Masters after winning twice in his last three PGA Tour starts.

Armed with an ideal golf ball for Augusta National’s unique challenge and a resurgence in his putting form, the smooth-swinging South African will tee off in Friday’s opening round as one of the favoured contenders.

“I feel good, better than ever before coming into the Masters,” Els said as he wound up his preparations for the year’s opening major.

“I’ve got a bit of form now although I don’t want to harp on about it too much. I’ve certainly got the game but I’ve got to go out there and play the course like everybody else.

“It’s nice to have confidence but you’ve still got to manage yourself around this place,” added the former world number one, who won last month’s WGC-CA Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational in successive starts.

“That’s the bottom line. You have to think properly here and you’ve got to hit proper shots. I might have more patience now because I’ve got more confidence whereas in previous years I’ve pushed a little bit.”

Els, 40, has been one of the game’s biggest drawcards for the last decade-and-a-half but his form has dipped in recent years, mainly due to his putting.

Short and sweet

Knee surgery midway through 2005 and his protracted recovery from that also held him back but his main priority since the end of last year has been on improving his short game.

“I’ve done a lot of work and pretty much gone back to how I used to putt,” said the three-times major winner.

“I always used to be nicely bent over the ball with a good posture and I had lost that lately.

“Now I’m getting over the ball better and feeling much more comfortable. My entire short game has been a lot sharper than it has been the last couple of years. That came back.”

Els has posted six top-10s at the Masters and believes the ball he has been using since the end of last year will help him flourish on Augusta’s slick, sloping greens.

“The golf ball has been a revelation to me,” he said.

“It’s a softer ball and it’s got good distance but around the greens my putts have come back almost overnight.

“I almost won with it the first week out in Shanghai last year, I lost by one shot there,” Els added, referring to the WGC-HSBC Champions where he was edged out by Phil Mickelson.

“So I’ve got a lot of confidence there too.”

Els will tee off with American Anthony Kim and Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa at 10:13 local time (12:13am AEST) on Thursday.

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Moscow subway bombers may have links with Pak-Afghan militants: Lavrov

March 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Moscow, Mar.30 (ANI): Suggesting foreign involvement in Monday’s twin blasts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the female suicide bombers who targeted the city’s subway system might have links with extremists based in the ungoverned tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

When asked that if the explosions, in which at least 38 people were killed and over 60 others injured, were the handiwork of foreign elements, Lavrov said such a possibility could not be excluded.

“We all know that the Afghan-Pakistani border, in the so-called no-man”s land, the terrorist underground is very well entrenched. We know that many people there actively plot attacks, not just in Afghanistan, but also in other countries. Sometimes the trails lead to the Caucasus,” Xinhua quoted Lavrov, as saying.

Meanwhile, Russia”s FSB state security service has said that the two suicide bombers may have links to the North Caucasus, which is believed to be the center of an Islamic insurgency movement against Moscow.

Though no group has yet claimed the responsibility for the incident, the explosions do appear to have been co-ordinated.

Monday’s explosions were the deadliest witnessed in Russia in the recent past. There was a major attack on the Moscow Metro in February 2004, when at least 39 people were killed by a bomb on a packed train as it approached the Paveletskaya Metro station.

Six months later, a suicide bomber blew herself up outside a station, killing 10 people. Both attacks were blamed on Chechen rebels, who had targeted the capital on several occasions in the past.

Over the last decade Moscow has been hit by a string of deadly explosions claimed by militants from its turbulent southern region of Chechnya, but this has become less frequent in the last few years. (ANI)

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Twin blasts in Moscow Metro kill 37

March 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Moscow, Mar 29 (ANI): At least 37 people were reportedly killed in twin explosions on the Metro system in central Moscow on Monday morning.

The first blast took place at the Central Lubyanka station, killing at least 25 people.

Another 12 people were killed in a second explosion, at the Park Kultury station.

According to a Moscow Metro release, 14 people were killed in the train and 11 on the platform at Lubyanka.

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) headquarters is located just above the Lubyanka station.

“The blast hit the second carriage of a metro train that stopped at Lubyanka, said a spokesperson.

The Moscow Emergencies Department said there was no fire and rescue teams have been pressed into service.

Over the last decade Moscow has been hit by a string of deadly explosions claimed by militants from its turbulent southern region of Chechnya,but this has become less frequent in the last few years.(ANI)

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Bresnan can fill in Andrew Flintoff’s boots

March 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Mar 26 (ANI): England coach Andy Flower has heaped praise on Tim Bresnan for his starring role in the one-day and Test series wins over Bangladesh, and said the Yorkshire all-rounder has what it takes to fill Andrew Flintoff’s boots.

Bresnan, 25, has demonstrated an uncanny familiarity with the attributes Flintoff showed when he rose to the top in the middle of the last decade.

Flower is expected to revert to four bowlers this summer, Bresnan’s 91 in the second Test has seen the England coach earmark him as a future world-class all-rounder, The Sun reports.

He said: “Bresnan was the stand-out bowler here. He’s been skilful with reverse swing and accurate with a heavy bouncer. He’s hard physically too. The experience he got playing a part in our wins was valuable.

“I was happy with his batting too. He managed his innings well and built it. He’s not had many chances and I’d like to see him develop it more. His defence was very good. I don’t know if he can do that in more pressing situations, we’ll have to see.”

Although Bangladesh may represent the weakest opponents during Flower’s 12-month tenure as full-time England coach, he said his side is improving.

“If I’m honest, we’ve a way to go before we catch the world’s best sides. We know that from our standing in the rankings at No 5. There is a lot of hard work and thought that must go into making us a far stronger unit.

“We have a busy schedule with the World Twenty20, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Australia next winter. While the next Ashes are important, we must win along the way to build the confidence needed,” Flower said. (ANI)

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Australia too reliant on resources: Tanner

March 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The Federal Finance Minister says Australia has become too reliant on resources and needs to expand its export base.

Lindsay Tanner says there has been a “worrying period” over the last decade where resources have increased their domination of Australia’s exports.

Lindsay Tanner says the 1990s saw great diversification, with strong exports across a range of sectors, and he says there needs to be a return to that kind of diversification.

“We had a huge growth in tourism, in education, in specialised manufacturing, in wine, in pharmaceuticals that helped us to diminish our enormous reliance on minerals,” he told ABC radio 774 in Melbourne.

“That’s kind of almost gone into reverse in recent times. So it’s not so much that there’s one country that we’re dependent on, it’s that we have, I think to some extent, too many eggs in that basket.”

Mr Tanner says Australia’s future prosperity should not be pinned to one industry, and the Government is looking at ways to boost productivity in other sectors.

“Minerals are always going to be critical for Australia, there’s no question about that,” he added.

“But our strategy of improving infrastructure and skills and lifting our productivity very much has in mind the need to revive our performance in some of our other aspects which have been languishing and, also, to strengthen newer areas like financial services.”

Mining can’t guarantee prosperity

One of Australia’s leading economists says he has some sympathy with Mr Tanner’s view.

The Grattan Institute’s program director for productivity growth Saul Eslake says, while the mining boom certainly has contributed to wealth creation and an increase in tax revenues, it also has some negative side-effects.

He says the recent boom in mining activity may actually be damaging some of the sectors of the economy that Lindsay Tanner wants to revive.

“The mining industry can’t possibly guarantee prosperity for the vast majority of Australians, given that it accounts for less than 3 per cent of total employment,” Mr Eslake told ABC News Online.

“One of the corollaries of the present mining boom is a very high value of the Australian dollar that is hurting the competitiveness of sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and education, most of which employ considerably more Australians than the mining industry does.”

He says the currency impacts will be exacerbated by wage pressures as Australia’s economy nears full-employment again.

“Growth in demand from the mining sector could well put upward pressure on wages in other sectors of the economy contributing, in the context of a strong exchange rate, to a further squeeze on the profitability of employers in other parts of the economy and thus diminishing the viability of those industries.”

Mr Eslake says, while the damage to those other industries could be long-lasting, the current mining boom has a finite lifespan.

The danger is that, when the mining boom does come to an end, there will be few other internationally competitive export industries left standing to provide employment alternatives.

“The mining boom, though it may well go on for more than a decade, isn’t going to go on indefinitely any more than previous mining booms have, and future generations of Australians are going to look for other sectors of the economy for their employment prospects long after this present mining boom has come to an end,” he noted.

Mr Eslake says a resource rent charge is likely to be one tax canvassed by the Henry Review, which is due to be released before the Federal Budget is handed down in May.

He says, while the Government would not want to actively constrain the mining sector, shifting the tax burden to those resources companies that are highly profitable by introducing a resource rent tax to replace the current mining duties would make sense.

“There are reasonable arguments for moving away from a production based system of taxing the mining industry, one which takes no account of the profitability of individual mine ventures, to one which allows the community to share in high prices as well as increased volumes of production of mineral resources, whilst also ensuring that in periods when commodity prices are very low mining companies are not punitively taxed.”

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