EA and DICE bring the rain with another explosive entry to their first-person shooter franchise.
By Clint A. Mize
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Steve Goodyear
sgoodyear@mhif.org
612-863-1658
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
MINNEAPOLIS, MNOctober 31, 2013A Paravalvular regurgitation, or leakage, commonly affects valvular prostheses, particularly artificial valves placed percutaneously according to data presented at the 2013 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference. Building on existing data, research cardiologist Paul Sorajja MD, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation delivered a presentation on current percutaneous techniques that sheds light on the complexities of the treatment of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation, or heart valve leakage. This research represents new advances for patients who have few or no surgical options
Significant paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation occurs in as many as 1 in 7 patients suffering from valvular heart disease. Traditional treatment has been open heart surgery. Percutaneous repair of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation can now be performed with a high rate of procedural success and has become the preferred initial therapeutic option, particularly in patients at significant risk for more invasive surgery.
"Paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation, or heart valve leakage, recently has been associated with not only heart failure and anemia but also a greater risk of death after what is initially deemed to be a successful surgery," said Paul Sorajja, MD, research cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Director, Center for Valve and Structural Heart Disease, Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. "New data has shown that leakage is actually more common in percutaneous valves than surgically implanted prostheses. How we manage paravalvular leaks therefore becomes increasingly important as more and more patients are receiving valves percutaneously. These patients are typically at high-risk of cardiac surgery so being able to treat these leaks with new percutaneous techniques is more important than ever before."
Two-year data from a current clinical trial called PARTNER II cites follow-up analysis of patients at high-risk of cardiac surgery who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, and is one study referenced by Dr. Sorajja. In that study, the presence of prosthetic paravalvular regurgitation, even when mild, was associated with 1.5- to 2-fold increase in the risk of death.
"We do not yet know if percutaneous repair can address this increased risk, but it is incredibly important to be able to successfully treat these defects percutaneously, as these patients have few, if any, surgical options," said Dr. Sorajja.
The data suggests that while percutaneous repair of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation can lead to durable symptom relief in selected patients, mortality remains significant and long-term clinical efficacy is highly dependent on residual regurgitation. Patient selection, comprehensive imaging, and operator experience are keys to the success of percutaneous repair of paravalvular leak.
"There is a new significant learning curve, which can be addressed with a detailed patient evaluation, close collaboration with colleagues who have expertise in imaging, and operator experience in new techniques," said Dr. Sorajja. These techniques currently are available only at tertiary referral centers, but should become more available as more interventionalists adopt them and bring them to the rapidly increasing number of patients who would benefit from their use."
###
About the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation is dedicated to improving people's lives through the highest quality cardiovascular research and education.
Scientific Innovation and Research Publishing more than 120 peer-reviewed studies each year, MHIF is a recognized research leader in the broadest range of cardiovascular medicine. Each year, cardiologists and hospitals around the world adopt MHIF protocols to save lives and improve patient care.
Education and Outreach Research shows that modifying specific health behaviors can significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease. Through community programs, screenings and presentations, MHIF educates people of all walks of life about heart health. The goal of the Foundation's community outreach is to increase personal awareness of risk factors and provide the tools necessary to help people pursue heart- healthy lifestyles.
About the Minneapolis Heart Institute
The Minneapolis Heart Institute is recognized internationally as one of the world's leading providers of heart and vascular care. This state-of-the-art facility combines the finest in personalized patient care with sophisticated technology in a unique, family-oriented environment. The Institute's programs, a number of which are conducted in conjunction with Abbott Northwestern Hospital, address the full range of heart and vascular health needs: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 31-Oct-2013
ShareContact: Steve Goodyear
sgoodyear@mhif.org
612-863-1658
Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
MINNEAPOLIS, MNOctober 31, 2013A Paravalvular regurgitation, or leakage, commonly affects valvular prostheses, particularly artificial valves placed percutaneously according to data presented at the 2013 Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) conference. Building on existing data, research cardiologist Paul Sorajja MD, of the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation delivered a presentation on current percutaneous techniques that sheds light on the complexities of the treatment of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation, or heart valve leakage. This research represents new advances for patients who have few or no surgical options
Significant paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation occurs in as many as 1 in 7 patients suffering from valvular heart disease. Traditional treatment has been open heart surgery. Percutaneous repair of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation can now be performed with a high rate of procedural success and has become the preferred initial therapeutic option, particularly in patients at significant risk for more invasive surgery.
"Paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation, or heart valve leakage, recently has been associated with not only heart failure and anemia but also a greater risk of death after what is initially deemed to be a successful surgery," said Paul Sorajja, MD, research cardiologist at the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation and Director, Center for Valve and Structural Heart Disease, Minneapolis Heart Institute at Abbott Northwestern Hospital. "New data has shown that leakage is actually more common in percutaneous valves than surgically implanted prostheses. How we manage paravalvular leaks therefore becomes increasingly important as more and more patients are receiving valves percutaneously. These patients are typically at high-risk of cardiac surgery so being able to treat these leaks with new percutaneous techniques is more important than ever before."
Two-year data from a current clinical trial called PARTNER II cites follow-up analysis of patients at high-risk of cardiac surgery who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, and is one study referenced by Dr. Sorajja. In that study, the presence of prosthetic paravalvular regurgitation, even when mild, was associated with 1.5- to 2-fold increase in the risk of death.
"We do not yet know if percutaneous repair can address this increased risk, but it is incredibly important to be able to successfully treat these defects percutaneously, as these patients have few, if any, surgical options," said Dr. Sorajja.
The data suggests that while percutaneous repair of paravalvular prosthetic regurgitation can lead to durable symptom relief in selected patients, mortality remains significant and long-term clinical efficacy is highly dependent on residual regurgitation. Patient selection, comprehensive imaging, and operator experience are keys to the success of percutaneous repair of paravalvular leak.
"There is a new significant learning curve, which can be addressed with a detailed patient evaluation, close collaboration with colleagues who have expertise in imaging, and operator experience in new techniques," said Dr. Sorajja. These techniques currently are available only at tertiary referral centers, but should become more available as more interventionalists adopt them and bring them to the rapidly increasing number of patients who would benefit from their use."
###
About the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation
The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation is dedicated to improving people's lives through the highest quality cardiovascular research and education.
Scientific Innovation and Research Publishing more than 120 peer-reviewed studies each year, MHIF is a recognized research leader in the broadest range of cardiovascular medicine. Each year, cardiologists and hospitals around the world adopt MHIF protocols to save lives and improve patient care.
Education and Outreach Research shows that modifying specific health behaviors can significantly reduce the risk of developing heart disease. Through community programs, screenings and presentations, MHIF educates people of all walks of life about heart health. The goal of the Foundation's community outreach is to increase personal awareness of risk factors and provide the tools necessary to help people pursue heart- healthy lifestyles.
About the Minneapolis Heart Institute
The Minneapolis Heart Institute is recognized internationally as one of the world's leading providers of heart and vascular care. This state-of-the-art facility combines the finest in personalized patient care with sophisticated technology in a unique, family-oriented environment. The Institute's programs, a number of which are conducted in conjunction with Abbott Northwestern Hospital, address the full range of heart and vascular health needs: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.
Share
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's nominees to lead an influential federal court and a housing agency on Thursday, despite Democratic warnings of a return to last summer's partisan brawl over who wields power in the Senate.
In rapid succession, Democrats failed to overcome GOP delaying tactics against Patricia Millett to join the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and Rep. Melvin Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
The votes were 55-38 to free Millett's nomination for final passage and 56-42 for Watt's, but both fell short of the 60 votes needed to break the Republican procedural blockade.
The Millett nomination was the flashpoint because the D.C. circuit court rules on federal agency and White House actions, and Millett's confirmation would have given that court's judges a 5-4 tilt toward those chosen by Democratic presidents. Appointments to that court, which currently has three vacant judgeships, are lifetime positions.
Republicans argued that the D.C. court's workload was lighter than other districts and didn't merit an additional judge. They also said Democrats want to turn that court, considered second in power only to the Supreme Court, into a rubber stamp for Obama administration policies.
"This is the court that can rule for or against the executive orders of this administration," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa. "We need to maintain checks and balances of the government."
Democrats say caseload totals for the D.C. circuit are close to its 10-year average. They also say that when Republicans held the White House, they voted to fill the D.C. court's ninth seat with John Roberts, now the chief justice of the U.S.
They also said GOP opposition to Millett is based strictly on politics and warned they might use their 55-45 Senate majority to weaken the Senate minority party's powers to block nominations. Such a move would infuriate Republicans and might prompt retaliatory GOP procedural moves that could grind the Senate's work to a crawl.
"If Republican senators are going to hold nominations hostage without consideration of individual merit, we will have drastic measures," said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
Some senior Democrats have been reluctant to limit minority party power in the Senate, saying it would hurt them whenever the GOP gains the majority. But many younger Democratic senators have been eager to streamline Senate rules.
"The conversation on rules changes can't come fast enough for me," Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said after Thursday's votes. He called the GOP procedural hurdles "a government shutdown by another tactic."
Last July, Democrats abandoned a threat to change Senate rules after Republicans agreed to supply enough votes for approval of several Obama nominations. Those included his choices to head the Environmental Protection Agency and the Labor Department.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., indicated early Thursday that Democrats might not act immediately, saying, "I appreciate" a suggestion by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that the two parties talk about the next steps.
"Always willing to do that," Reid said.
After the votes, Reid said the Millett vote was "hard to comprehend." Asked about the next steps, he said, "Time will only tell."
Reid switched his vote to "no" on the roll calls for both Millett and Watt, a procedural move that gives him the right to force fresh votes on both nominees.
Initially, Millett's nomination seemed to have a potential for a revival. She could get to 60 Senate votes when Reid switches back to "yes;" with certain support from Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who did not vote; and with the backing of all three senators who voted "present" Thursday: Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
Millett was an assistant solicitor general, representing the administration before the Supreme Court, under both Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. She has argued 32 cases before the highest court.
Obama has also nominated attorney Cornelia "Nina" Pillard and U.S. District Judge Robert Wilkins to bring the court to its full strength of 11 judges, nominations that have yet to reach the full Senate.
Republicans are backing a bill by Grassley and others to eliminate one of the D.C. court's 11 judgeships and transfer two others to districts with heavier workloads.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency oversees government-owned mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Watt, D-N.C., is a 21-year House veteran who has served his entire tenure on the House Financial Services Committee. At the housing agency, he would succeed acting director Edward DeMarco, a George W. Bush appointee criticized by Democrats for not letting Fannie and Freddie reduce principal costs for homeowners risking foreclosure.
Democrats have praised Watt for having a pro-consumer record, including opposing risky Wall Street behavior that helped produce the 2008 financial industry collapse. He's won support from the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders.
Republicans said Watt was short on technical expertise needed to oversee Fannie and Freddie and said he lacked political independence.
He also faced opposition from the influential conservative groups Heritage Action for America and the Club for Growth. They warned Republicans that their votes on Watt would be counted in their ratings of 2014 candidates.
___
Associated Press writer Henry C. Jackson contributed to this report.
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-10-31-Senate-Nominations/id-697868e0a7b84b1486a3d47143e59767Google's stable Chrome release already has a reset tool in case malware hijacks the browser, but we're sure many would rather avoid that rogue code in the first place. Thankfully, a new build of Chrome Canary automatically blocks hostile apps. Try to download malware that Google recognizes and you'll get a polite warning instead of a rude surprise. The safeguard isn't likely to reach more reliable versions of Chrome for some time, but those willing to experiment in the name of security can grab the Canary browser at the source link.
Apple seems to be promoting its built-in software within iOS App Store search results. Search terms such as "browser", "SMS", or "messages" will yield a card showing one of Apple's built-in apps as the first result, with a link at the bottom of the card that will take you to Apple's web page about the feature. Frederico Viticci of MacStories:
This morning, I noticed a tweet by Lukas Burgstaller with a screenshot of Apple’s Safari browser showing up in App Store search results for the “browser” search query. I did some tests, and I’ve discovered other search results advertising built-in iOS system apps and features with banners and links to open an app or read more information about it. I’m not sure when Apple started displaying their own built-in apps in the App Store search results, but it’s an interesting (and, I believe, good) idea worth discussing.
Viticci does note, however, that this could push developers and third party apps further down the search chain, and if Apple starts taking over too much of the results, could cause them problems. Check out his article for the full story and let me know what you think.
Source: MacStories
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/OcWyh6i2csg/story01.htmNEW YORK (AP) — October, with its history of big crashes on Wall Street, didn't scare off investors this time. To the contrary, the stock market seemed unstoppable.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index closed at a record high seven times and ended the month up 4.5 percent. The market climbed even after October began with the 16-day government shutdown and the threat of a potentially calamitous U.S. default.
"The market didn't waver in the face of the shutdown," said Anton Bayer, CEO of Up Capital Management, an investment adviser. "That was huge."
After being rattled by a series of down-to-the-wire budget battles in recent years, investors have become inured to the ways of Washington lawmakers. Instead of selling stocks, they kept their focus on what they say really matters: the Federal Reserve.
The central bank is buying $85 billion of bonds every month and keeping its benchmark short-term interest rate near zero to promote economic growth. The Fed stimulus has helped generate a stock market rally that has been going on since March 2009.
With October's gains, the S&P 500 is now up 23.2 percent for the year and is on track for its best year since 2009. The Dow Jones industrial average is 18.6 percent higher, and the Nasdaq composite index is up 29.8 percent.
The S&P 500 has climbed 160 percent since bottoming out at 676.53 in March 2009 during the Great Recession.
Some analysts say the precipitous rise in stocks may now make the market vulnerable to a drop.
"Because stocks have gone up so much, people will get nervous about another big sell-off at some stage," said David Kelly, chief global strategist at JPMorgan funds.
Some investors will be relieved to see October behind them. The Stock Trader's Almanac refers to October as "the jinx month" because of its fraught history.
The Dow lost 40 points on Oct. 28, 1929, a day that became known as Black Monday and heralded the start of the Depression. Almost 60 years later, on Oct. 19, 1987, the Dow suffered its biggest percentage loss, plunging nearly 23 percent in the second Black Monday. The index also plummeted 13 percent on Oct. 27, 1997.
There was no such drama on Wall Street on Thursday. Stocks were mostly flat as investors took in disappointing corporate earnings.
The S&P 500 slipped 6.77 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,756.54. The Dow dropped 73.01 points, or 0.5 percent, to 15,545. The Nasdaq composite fell 10.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3,919.71.
Avon slumped $4.90, or 21.9 percent, to $17.50 after the beauty products company reported a third-quarter loss, reflecting lower sales and China-related charges. The company also said the Securities and Exchange Commission is proposing a much larger penalty than it expected to settle bribery allegations.
Visa fell $7.15, or 3.5 percent, to $196.67. Its quarterly profits fell 28 percent as it set aside money for taxes. Visa also expects a slow recovery for the economy.
Overall, company earnings are beating the expectations of Wall Street analysts and lifting stock prices. Companies are benefiting from low borrowing costs and stable labor expenses, which are enabling them to boost earnings even as sales remain slack.
Earnings for companies in the S&P 500 are expected to grow 5.3 percent in the third quarter, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. That compares with 4.9 percent in the second quarter, and 2.4 percent in the same period a year ago.
The stock market is likely to keep climbing as long as the central bank keeps up its stimulus, said Up Capital's Bayer. But stocks could fall as much as 20 percent when the Fed starts to cut back on its bond-buying program, he said.
Vice President Joe Biden swears in Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) as his mother, Carolyn, holds a Bible on Thursday.
Vice President Joe Biden swears in Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) as his mother, Carolyn, holds a Bible on Thursday.
Cory Booker is a Yale-educated lawyer and erstwhile tweeter who, as mayor of Newark, N.J., displayed a knack for grabbing headlines while building a mixed legacy as the troubled city's leader.
He's also black, and Thursday at noon the 44-year-old Democrat was sworn in as a U.S. senator, making Congress's upper chamber just a tiny bit more diverse in more ways than one.
Booker, who on Oct. 16 was elected as New Jersey's first black senator, will join Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina as the chamber's only black senators.
Scott, a former congressman, was appointed to temporarily fill retired Sen. Jim DeMint's unexpired term and is running in 2014 for the right to serve out the term's final two years.
The last elected black senator? That would be Barack Obama of Illinois, back in 2004. Obama and Booker form half of an elite group: Only four African-Americans have ever been elected to the U.S. Senate and served. Five, including Scott, were appointed.
As Booker starts his Senate career we thought we'd take a quick dive into the demographics of our Congress. We have drawn on the detailed work the Congressional Research Service does profiling each successive Congress — including the current 113th.
Booker Will Help Lower Average Age
In her analysis of the 113th, Jennifer Manning of the CRS reported that the average age of members "is among the highest of any Congress in recent U.S. history."
That means Booker, born in 1969, will bring a dash of youthful diversity to the Senate, where the average age is 62. He replaces the man who had been the oldest serving senator — New Jersey Democrat Frank Lautenberg, who died in June at 89.
But the average age is going down. Manning reports that the average for senators elected in 2012 was 53, down from 57.1 in 2008.
The U.S. House is younger, but not by much: The average current age is 57; the average age of those elected last year was 49.2 years.
Lautenberg Was Old, But Not Oldest Ever
The oldest senator in U.S. history was Strom Thurmond, the South Carolina senator who was 99 years old when he stepped down in January 2003. Thurmond, who died six months later at age 100, was also the longest-serving senator, chalking up nearly a half century.
The distinction of being the dean of senators, age-wise, now goes to Democrat Dianne Feinstein of California, who is 80. The youngest? Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., who was born in 1973.
The oldest House member is Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, who was born in 1933; the youngest is Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Fla., who was born 50 years later.
Booker Makes History, But Ethnic Diversity Is House Story
With Booker sworn in, joining fellow New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, the Garden State becomes the first in the nation to have an African-American and Hispanic serving in the U.S. Senate at the same time.
A milestone, to be sure.
Booker also joins Obama, and former senators Carol Moseley Braun, an Illinois Democrat, and Edward William Brooke, a Massachusetts Republican, as the nation's only elected black senators.
But Senate diversity remains more a tale of women than ethnicity. There are 20 female senators, 16 Democrats and four Republicans.
The real diversity story is playing out on the Democratic side of the aisle in the U.S. House. There, Manning of the CRS reports, women and minority representatives are a caucus majority.
Eighty-two women serve in the House, 62 of them Democrats, and 20 Republicans. CRS reports that there are 43 black House members, including two delegates, all Democrats; and 34 Hispanic/Latino members, including a delegate and Puerto Rican resident commissioner, of which 27 are Democrats. Twelve House Democrats are Asian or Pacific Islanders.
Women, Predominantly Democrats, Set Record
Jeanette Rankin of Montana was the first woman elected to the U.S House, back in 1917. It's worth noting that it wasn't until 1920 that the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote — and that was a year after Rankin's term ended, reports R. Eric Peterson, a specialist in American government at CRS.
Over on the Senate side, the first woman to serve was Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia, appointed in 1922 after the death of her senator husband.
The House, Peterson reports, was 95 percent male until the 102nd Congress of 1991-1992. In the succeeding decade, the percentage of women in both the House and the Senate grew at its historically highest rate, he says.
Booker's Law Background: Not So Groundbreaking
In his analysis of congresses dating back to 1945, Peterson found that law was consistently the most commonly reported occupation or professional background of U.S. senators.
"Lawyers have occupied between one-third and half of Senate seats in each Congress studied since 1945," he reported, with the peak in 1971-1973 of more than half.
Business and banking were reported as the second most common occupations among senators since 1945.
House members reported much more diverse occupational backgrounds, though law was the most commonly cited over time, Peterson found.
Booker worked as a staff attorney for the Urban Justice Center in Newark, but quickly jumped into his political career, winning a seat on the city council in 1998.
