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This article is more than 1 year old
Western Digital My Book USB 3.0 drive
The fast show
For those without a USB 3.0-capable motherboard, an NEC PCIe USB 3.0 card is supplied with the My Book if you buy the full kit. Installation is straightforward, but does require additional drivers from the included CD, as even Windows 7 doesn't ship with USB 3.0 support. The My Book 3.0 feels light, yet solid and sturdy. It features a single LED status light, but lacks the LED usage meter present on other products in the My Book line.
CrystalDiskMark Results
512KB data transfer speeds in Megabytes per Second (MB/s)
Longer bars are better
In general, the drive runs cool and quiet which suggests, even though WD does not let on, that this NTFS-formatted model utilises its line of Caviar Green hard disks. I would have no problems running this model on mu desk in close vicinity to the working area. A Kensington security slot is also included for those worried about envious co-workers lusting over your new USB 3.0 toy. Such jealousy is inevitable; just look at the performance figures.
To give you an idea of just how fast this is I've compared it to the next fastest drive Reg Hardware has reviewed, Iocell's NetDisk 351UNE which also uses Western Digital Caviar Green drives. The NetDisk, however, uses eSata but it is still the closest parallel, until Reg Hardware gets some more SuperSpeed USB 3.0 drives to test.
Clearly, USB 3.0 has a major advantage over USB 2.0, offering speed increases of approximately 100 per cent in random I/O operations and 250 per cent in sequential I/O operations. It is also clear that the limiting factor is now the internal bus of the hard disk used, rather than the connecting interface.
USB backward compatible, but with obvious performance penalties
With the release of the My Book 3.0, Western Digital has shown that external hard drives no longer need lag behind internal disks, while still maintaining compatibility with legacy systems. USB 3.0 is expected to enter mainstream usage when Intel adopts the standard in 2011, making these technological advances the norm among consumer applications.
If eSata is not for you, or you are one of the few already equipped with a USB 3.0 capable computer and don't feel like waiting for all the other USB 3.0 products announced at CES, then go and pick up the My Book 3.0, as there's not much else out there. Go on, put those ports to work. ®
More Storage Reviews... |
Cloud Engines
Pogoplug 2 |
ReadyNas NVX |
NetDisk |
Linkstation Duo |


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WASHINGTON -- Adding extended-release niacin to statin treatment did not decrease cardiovascular events in 32 months of follow-up, leading the NIH to stop the AIM-HIGH trial 18 months earlier than scheduled.
The announcement by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) was yet another blow to proponents of an HDL-targeted approach to secondary prevention of cardiovascular/cerebrovascular events, following similar disappointing results from ACCORD.
In April, the AIM-HIGH data and safety monitoring board (DSMB) concluded that high-dose, extended-release niacin (Niaspan) offered no benefits beyond statins alone in reducing cardiovascular events and that there was no evidence this would change by continuing the trial, announced Susan B. Shurin, MD, acting director of the NHLBI, during a press briefing today.
The DSMB also noted a small and unexplained increase in ischemic stroke rates in the niacin group (1.6% versus 0.7%), which contributed to the decision by the NHLBI to stop the trial.
Nine of the 28 strokes in the niacin group occurred in participants who had discontinued the drug at least two months and up to four years before their stroke.
"The overall frequency of stroke was less than 1%," Shurin said. "Previous studies have not linked niacin with stroke, while some studies have shown reductions in stroke. At this time, the FDA does not intend to change the labeling for niacin."
"These results demonstrate the critical need to test our assumption that reducing a risk factor will actually reduce patient risk," Harlan Krumholz, MD, of Yale University, told MedPage Today in an email.
"Several small studies suggested large benefits from niacin, but we now know that the event reduction in those studies was overstated," Christopher Cannon, MD, from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told MedPage Today in an email.
"We need to review the data, but with the apparent suggested added risk of stroke, one would lean toward stopping niacin in most patients, and likely titrating up statin dose, which is proven multiple times over," Cannon said.
Participants in the trial had low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) levels of about 71 mg/dL at baseline, but were at risk of cardiovascular disease due to low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels and high levels of triglycerides, reported William Boden, MD, co-principal investigator and a professor at the University of Buffalo, in Buffalo, N.Y., at the press briefing.
Their average age was 64 and preexisting medical conditions included coronary artery disease (92%), metabolic syndrome (81%), high blood pressure (71%), and diabetes (34%). More than half of participants reported having a heart attack prior to entering the study.
Participants who could tolerate high doses of niacin were randomized to niacin plus statin (n=1,718) or placebo (n=1,696).
All 3,414 participants in the AIM-HIGH (Atherothrombosis Intervention in Metabolic Syndrome with Low HDL/High Triglycerides: Impact on Global Health) trial were prescribed simvastatin (Zocor), and 515 participants were given a second ezetimibe (Zetia) in order to maintain LDL cholesterol levels at the target range of 40-80 mg/dL.
After 32 months of follow-up, participants in the intervention arm had increased HDL-C by 22% and lowered triglycerides by 25% compared with participants who took a statin alone. While these numbers are comparable to other studies, the combination treatment did not reduce fatal or nonfatal heart attacks, strokes, hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome, or revascularization procedures.
The increased levels of HDL and decreased levels of triglycerides were "well within the range of what we had predicted, and within the range of power calculations," Boden said.
"The lack of effect on cardiovascular events is unexpected and a striking contrast to the results of previous trials and observational studies," said Jeffrey Probstfield, MD, co-principal investigator and a professor at the University of Washington Seattle, at the press briefing.
Researchers expected a 6.5% event rate in the control arm and recorded an overall event rate of 5.6% in the control arm and 5.8% in the intervention arm, said Ruth McBride, a coordinator for the trial. The total number of events was about 500, she said at the press briefing.
Most events were nonfatal myocardial infarctions and revascularization procedures, with a substantial number of coronary artery disease deaths and hospitalizations for acute coronary syndrome, McBride said.
This is not the first disappointing result for attempts to stem cardiovascular events by raising HDL. Fenofibrate, an HDL-raising drug, failed to reduce the rate of cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes in the ACCORD (Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes) trial despite favorable effects on HDL and triglycerides.
Another HDL-raising drug, torcetrapib, actually increased the rate of cardiovascular events in the ILLUMINATE (Investigation of Lipid Level Management to Understand its Impact in Atherosclerotic Events) trial despite lowering LDL and triglycerides and raising HDL levels, as intended.
But investigational drug anacetrapib, which dramatically raises HDL while lowering LDL, may sustain interest in an HDL boosting strategy based on results reported last November at the American Heart Association meeting.
When added to statin therapy, anacetrapib reduced LDL by almost 40% while boosting HDL by a whopping 138% with no observed increase in MI, stroke, or mortality over 24 weeks' treatment.
Nonetheless, the NHLBI announcement about AIM-HIGH may raise the bar for the HPS2-THRIVE trial to demonstrate benefits for add-on niacin in a healthier population, Howard Weintraub, MD, of NYU Langone Medical Center, told MedPage Today, in an email.
"Raising HDL has now been brought into question but it should not be tabled. We should focus on reducing LDL with statins and lifestyle interventions, while exploring other mechanisms of HDL elevation," Weintraub said.
Although AIM-HIGH has been terminated, patients in the trial will be followed for at least another 18 months.
Moreover, ongoing analyses of data will drill down to HDL and LDL subtypes, as well as examine the cause of the ischemic strokes.
Abbott Laboratories provided the Niaspan and Merck Pharmaceuticals provided the Zocor.

subset: commoncrawl


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Purportedly inspired by the obscure (in the decadent West, at least) Soviet-era Polivoks synthesiser, Sawer is really a rather simple affair.
Tone generation comes from two oscillators: a main oscillator, which can only produce a sawtooth waveform, and a sub oscillator that outputs sawtooth or square waves and can be independently tuned in cents and/or octaves. The Octave knob ranges from -2 to +2 octaves and, unusually, is stepped in half-octave increments.
Thankfully, rather than yielding a nasty-sounding tritone (ie, six semitones), this gives a phat, harmonious perfect fifth.
The sub oscillator also has Level and Phase knobs; a Retrig switch that causes the phase of the waveform to reset on a new note; and optional polarity inversion. There's also a Noise Level knob for introducing grit to the signal.
The sound can be further beefed up with the synth's unison options, which can give 1, 2, 4 or 8 voices per note. There are controls for detune amount and stereo spread, and an Oct switch to pitch half of the voices up by an octave.
Activating the Retrig option causes each of the detuned voices' waveforms to reset their phase at the start of a new note. All told, the unison section can kick out some splendidly phat timbres, but it'd be even better if the Unison Detune knob had a greater range, for creating very heavily detuned tones.
You can opt for polyphonic or monophonic modes, with the portamento options including static (fixed time) or variable (fixed speed), bend/held modes (ie, legato) and glide time.
Sawer's sync mode uses an inaudible third oscillator to retrigger the waveform of the main one with each cycle. This can be tuned using the Sync Freq knob and is capable of yielding satisfyingly crunchy timbres.
The pitch of the hard sync oscillator can also be manipulated by the instrument's modulation envelope and LFO to excellent effect. The LFO features four wave shapes; retrigger, sync and inverse switches; and knobs for attack and release time, to have the modulation intensify or fade out with note start and end - we do wish more synths offered this highly useful feature. There's also a simple ADSR modulation envelope.
However, a single envelope and LFO is a bit meagre these days, and the fact that you can only have one destination for each is very limiting. Furthermore, the modulation amount knobs could have greater ranges, for more intense changes - for example, when modulating the filter with the LFO, it's not possible to have the filter go from fully closed to wide open, so to speak. There is a 'modulation' matrix, but it's just for assigning MIDI CCs to parameters.
Moving on, using a short envelope to modulate the sync level and engaging the aforementioned Retrig options produces pounding basses and hard-hitting leads, making Sawer a great choice for anyone who craves edgy, ballsy synth sounds.
Oh, and there's a filter section, naturally, with high-pass, band-pass and low-pass modes (the latter is switchable between 12 and 24dB per octave), and key and velocity tracking. You also get a decent arpeggiator and great-sounding chorus, phaser, delay and reverb effects - the phaser is particularly impressive. The lack of any kind of waveshaping or distortion is a pity, though - we'd love to hear how Sawer sounds when it's been roughed up a little.
While Sawer is lacking in a few areas - notably the modulation department - it packs an enormous amount of sonic punch. However, we do hope that Image-Line will consider adding a few more features in an update - that is, if it's not already plotting a super-synth based on Sawer's formidable engine.


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How to configure Site-Site IPSec VPN in Cisco Routers (IOS)
Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a network which uses a shared network infrastructure (Internet) which allows a secure access between two networks or securely connects a remote user to his corporate network. Let's check out here how to configure a Site to Site VPN using a Pre-shared Key in Cisco Routers running Cisco IOS If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Read More →


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As suborbital space companies gear up for their first tourist flights in the next couple of years, at least three seats have been set aside to give teachers a free ride to the final frontier, a space activist group announced Friday.
So far, three ventures — Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace, Oklahoma-based Rocketplane Ltd. and California-based XCOR Aerospace — have each pledged to donate a ticket for a teacher's use once they're at full operations, according to Rick Tumlinson, one of the organizers behind the private-sector "Teachers in Space" effort. Such seats are valued in the $100,000-to-$200,000 range, but the first opportunities for flight won't come until next year at the earliest.
The Space Frontier Foundation has been laying the groundwork for the effort over the past few months, and announced the companies' pledges Friday at the Space Access '06 conference in Phoenix. Tumlinson told MSNBC.com that the project is designed to send scores of teachers to the fringe of outer space and back every year — and support the rise of the suborbital spaceflight industry at the same time.
"The eventual goal of the program is to get at least 100 teachers a year into suborbital spaceflight, with a mix of private and public funding," he explained. "However, we realize that it's premature to begin any legislative action to get that funding. ... So what we're starting with is going after private contributions from either companies or individuals."
More than a joyride
Tumlinson said the selection process for the suborbital space teacher program still had to be worked out, in cooperation with educational groups such as the National Science Teachers Association.
Al Byers, NSTA's assistant executive director for government partnerships and e-learning, told MSNBC.com that his organization will look forward to working with private-sector partners on space opportunities. Byers also emphasized that the experience should be more than just a joyride.
"We're supportive of any experience that would enhance teachers' knowledge and experiences, to excite students to study science, mathematics, technology and engineering," he said. "The real challenge is being able to transfer that experience to the classroom. ... If it doesn't translate to what teachers can do in the classroom, ultimately it's much ado about nothing."
Byers said NSTA "recognizes and applauds the effort of bringing in the high-tech sector of industry" to support educational goals.
Only the beginningProject leader for the "Teachers in Space" effort is business executive Bill Boland, and the advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan and X Prize founder Peter Diamandis.
In a news release, Boland praised the companies whose contributions were announced Friday. "They understand how the real-life experience of space flight can touch the classroom. These new American heroes are offering tickets, at a real financial cost to them, to support America's future, its teachers and students," he said.
And Tumlinson said there was more to come: "Other companies that have stepped forward will come out in a few weeks. We're getting some real momentum going," he said.
XCOR spokesman Rich Pournelle said the "Teachers in Space" venture provided an opportunity for competitors in the infant suborbital spaceflight industry to work together for the common good. "This is our attempt to jump-start the program, so we invite both the private sector and the public sector to join us in this new expedition," he told MSNBC.com.
Tragedy marked NASA effort
The idea follows through on NASA's educator-in-space program, which has suffered several setbacks over the past two decades. NASA's first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, was killed in the 1986 Challenger explosion.
After a decade's wait, Idaho elementary-school teacher Barbara Morgan, who was McAuliffe's backup for Challenger's doomed flight, entered full-time astronaut training in 1998. Morgan had been scheduled to make her maiden spaceflight on the shuttle Columbia in November 2003 — only to have those plans thrown into disarray when Columbia and its crew were lost in February of that year. She is currently assigned to the shuttle Endeavour's STS-118 mission to the international space station, due for launch no earlier than June 2007.
The Columbia tragedy came in the midst of NASA's selection process for a second wave of educator-astronauts. Despite the grounding of the shuttle fleet, NASA followed through on its plans, and three teachers were included in the astronaut candidate class of 2004. However, because of NASA's shifting strategy for space exploration, it's not clear whether any of those teachers will ever fly before the shuttle fleet's scheduled retirement in 2010.
What teachers would experience
The flights that teachers would take on suborbital spacecraft would be markedly different from the days-long orbital trips on NASA's space shuttle. The typical flight would last only a couple of hours, and passengers would experience only a few minutes of weightlessness at the top of the ride.
There'd be little opportunity to conduct real-time lessons from space, as McAuliffe hoped to do and as Morgan intends to do.
Nevertheless, from an altitude of more than 62 miles (100 kilometers), the teachers and other passengers would see the curving Earth spread out below them, with the black sky of space stretching above. And there would be time enough to do microgravity demonstrations for playback after the trip.
"There are experiments that can fly along with the teachers," XCOR's Pournelle said. "Possibly the teachers can fly as payload engineers."
Pournelle said the most inspirational part of the exercise would likely come after the flight itself.
"The teachers will be able to come back and explain to the kids what it's like to fly into space and tell their story," he said. "If the kids see that their teacher flew into space, they see that they can do it too, and it motivates them to want to learn math and science."
In Friday's news release, executives from the first three companies to provide "scholarships" for suborbital spaceflight expanded upon the inspirational theme:
- Jeff Greason, president of XCOR: "To open space, we will need a workforce that is educated and motivated. Inspiring today's students and their teachers by putting them in direct contact with this new space industry does just that."
- George French, president and chief executive officer of Rocketplane: "Inspiration always accelerates education, and history shows that there is almost nothing that is more inspiring than spaceflight."


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NFL Cleveland Browns | Men's Cleveland Browns Chris Odom Nike Brown Game Player Jersey HXN6856
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(visited by kevin watt and John Hall)
20-May-2002 -- This confluence is located on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. One of the hidden beauty spots of Scotland that most tourists (and some natives) sadly never visit. Harris and Lewis are actually two islands connected by a narrow strip of land. Harris is the name given to the Southern Island and also the southern part of the North Island. Still with me? The rest of the Northern Island is called Lewis. I think that's correct. The location was given a higher profile in 2000 with the BBC documentary Castaway, when a group of volunteers were marooned on the uninhabited island of Taransay, which lies off Harris, to form a community, and become minor celebs, over a period of a year.
We left at 8:00am to catch a ferry from Uig, a small ferry port in the North of the Isle of Skye. The 90 min ferry crossing took us to Tarbert in Harris.
After 5 hours and a few hundred miles travelling on motorways and behind tourists in mobile homes, the final approach from Tarbert was mostly on single track roads behind sheep, lots of sheep. I'm convinced there are more sheep on the roads of Harris than there are cars. We left the car 3 miles from the confluence and set off for the spot. Despite the fact that this was to be my eighth confluence I was still naïve to believe that I could have faith in everything I saw on the Ordnance Survey map. I'd programmed the GPS to allow us to follow the paths on the OS map for the first 2 miles of the final approach. Unfortunately the first path through the peat bogs was just that, peat bogs, and no path. We followed a more direct route for a mile and eventually discovered some of the route marked on the map. Once we were on the final 1-mile climb to the confluence, the terrain altered to a more stable surface of metamorphic rock known as Lewissian Gneiss, typical of some of the Western Isles of Scotland.
We arrived at the confluence, at a height of 370 metres beside Loch Braigh Bheagarais. The point looks up at Tiorga Mor, at 679m the highest spot on Harris. As with most other confluences I've reached, there's usually impending rain or wind (or both). So we did the necessary stuff a reading and a view and set off downhill again.
The round trip of about 6 miles walking took more or less 3 hours and at this time of year waterproof gear is thoroughly recommended. If you have the time, which we didn't, I'm sure the extra climb of 300m up Tiogra Mor would be worthwhile for better views.
I've included a couple of other photographs, which, although not from the immediate surroundings of the confluence, do typify Harris itself. I can't put into words how stunning some of the sights are, so just look at the photos. Wonderful beaches and a clear blue sea. Add a sunlamp and shelter from the 100mph winds and you could be in the Caribbean, well almost.


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By Valerie Harris
Most people hope to retire around age 65, but hard-working Abel Vela stayed busy well into his 70s.
After 27 years in the Army and more than 30 years of owning and operating a number of McDonald's franchises throughout San Antonio, Texas, the 81‐year‐old Army Major says volunteering for the Purple Heart Association and at his church have taken the place of work.
"And in my free time, I work for a young lady. Her name is Angela Vela, and she keeps me very busy," said Vela with a laugh.
Since retiring in 2003, Vela's free time has also enabled him to spend leisure time with his 15 grandchildren and, at the time of his interview, 18 great‐grandchildren, which his Army career kept him from doing with his own five children.
"I would be in the room and the kids would point and say, 'Who's he?' and my wife would say, 'He's your dad,'" Vela recalled.
Spending free time with family members is something Vela rarely experienced growing up. Born June 26, 1926, in Beeville, Texas, to Aurelio G. Vela and Maria Flores Vela, both Mexican immigrants with third-grade educations, Vela started working at a young age.
"My father was a sharecropper," Vela said. "He would grow cotton and corn, and raise pigs, cows and chickens."
It was not an easy life. Vela and his siblings, Manuel and Olivia, worked alongside their mother and father in the fields.
"Once a week we would go into Beeville and my dad would buy us an ice-cream cone," Vela said. "It was the only treat we got."
The family moved to San Antonio when Vela's father became ill with tuberculosis. Aurelio was unable to work, so Vela recalls depending on welfare from the Red Cross and the American Lutheran Church near their home.
Vela attended Barkley Elementary and Lanier Middle and High School while living in San Antonio's predominantly Latino West Side. Though working every evening kept him from being involved in many school activities, Vela did manage to play drums in the band.
"The only free time I had was when I'd go to the games," said Vela, "and I knew that if I joined the band, I could see the games for free."
Vela also joined Lanier's Reserve Officer Training Corps program. He had decided early on that he wanted to join the military.
"I wanted to see the world and travel," Vela said. "I mean, I'd only seen San Antonio and the Valley, so I wanted to see something different."
Vela also had a more endearing reason to join the service:
"After receiving all the help from the Red Cross and the welfare department, I felt like I owed something to my country," he said.
After graduating from high school in 1943, Vela volunteered for the Navy, because his brother was already enlisted.
"I liked the way he talked to me about the Navy," Vela said. "It was a nice place to be, nice uniforms, good food and three meals a day."
After the Navy turned him down, Vela volunteered for the Air Force and then the Army, before finally being accepted. He enlisted in January of 1944, near the end of World War II, and after only eight weeks of training, was sent overseas to Germany. He was a mere 18 years old.
"I was happy to leave," Vela said. "I was starting a new career, starting a new journey, and I wanted to do the best that I could."
As a member of the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion, Vela was assigned to reconnaissance up front, meaning he was the "eyes and ears" of the tanks following behind. Contrary to many soldiers, Vela enjoyed his duties.
"I was motivated; my whole attitude was positive," he said. "I never complained in the Army, but I'd always hear other guys complaining, 'Oh man, I wish I was back home with my dad. I'd be running the store or doing this for him.' But my dad didn't have a job at the time so I didn't have to worry about that."
That good attitude and hard work ethic he had developed as a child didn't go unnoticed, and Vela began moving up the ranks.
Though Latinos weren't in segregated units like blacks, Vela says some Anglo soldiers were upset he was promoted before they were.
"They thought I was getting preferential treatment, but it wasn't that," Vela said. "I was doing my job and I was going the extra mile."
After the war in Europe ended, Vela, then a sergeant, was stationed in Wels, Austria. There, he met Angela Haager; they married May 28, 1948.
Vela was discharged the following month, and he and his new wife returned to the United States. He received a degree in Finance and Accounting from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, where he was in ROTC.
After graduating with honors, Vela decided to further pursue his military career. He returned to the Army and asked for parachute training and to be assigned to an airborne division, much to his mother's disapproval.
"To make this a career, you have to volunteer for a lot of things that are dangerous," Vela told his mom. "You have to prove to the Army that you're willing to die for your country."
Vela remained in the Army until he retired from it as a major in 1970, following the Vietnam War. His military success had earned him the Purple Heart; a bronze arrowhead, a small device worn on a campaign ribbon indicating the wearer participated in an amphibious or airborne assault; a Good Conduct medal and a Vietnamese Medal of Honor, among other decorations.
"I wasn't looking for Purple Hearts," Vela said; "that's taking a big chance. My job was to save people's lives."
Vela's military achievements and discipline helped him achieve success in business as well. He became the first Latino to own a McDonald's in San Antonio and owned more than 10 others before retiring, something he may have never accomplished without the Army.
"There was some prejudice … They didn't want any Hispanics, or blacks. But since I was a veteran … an officer, and, I fought it," Vela said. "If you don't ask for it, you're not gonna get it. I went over to [McDonald's] headquarters and took my cot with me and slept there, until I was able to get an interview …."
Though Vela had a successful military career, it wasn't without heartache. The memories he will never forget are the terrible images he saw, the friends and comrades he lost and how close he came to death, especially when freeing Jews from concentration camps.
"They walked out and started eating grass, the bark of the trees, whatever they could find. They were skin and bones," Vela recalled.
He watched members of his tank unit run over a mine.
"We had to pull them out of their vehicle afterwards. Pieces of legs and bodies were strewn all over the place," said Vela, who was nearly killed by a mine himself.
"I woke up and I thought I'd lost my leg."
Vela says he wears his uniform in memory of all who were lost.
"The people that should be honored are those people who are not here," he said. "Those people who gave their life for our freedom; they're the ones who should be honored."
Mr. Vela was interviewed in San Antonio, Texas, on May 3, 2008, by Nora Frost.


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2012 June U.S. Amateur Team East Shatters Its Own Attendance Records
U.S. Amateur Team East Shatters Its Own Attendance Records |
By Al Lawrence | |
February 20, 2012 | |
Despite what we hear about the dire economy—or maybe because of it—the U.S. Amateur Team East, an event known to put big fun into chess with a small entry fee and lots of fellowship, set a new attendance record with 294 teams and about 1300 players.
"It's the all-time record for the U.S. Team, the biggest tournament in the U.S., and the biggest team tournament in the world," organizer Steve Doyle told the crowd in the main ballroom before the kick-off round.
A favorite ingredient of the USATE's annual shtick is the Best Team Name and Best Gimmick (normally a team costume or performance) competitions. This year's event drew its share of candidates for memorable monikers—among them some football-inspired rimshots: "Tebow's Bishop Couldn't Skewer Your Queen" and "Tried the Brady gambit, but Welks dropped the pieces." Even an end-of-the-world chess pun made the list--"Mayan National Team in Time Pressure." The Occupy Wall Street Movement inspired a half-dozen names, with "Occupy the Center: 99% Solution" making the final roll of nominees. But in the end, the crowd in the main ballroom decides with hoots and claps. When Doyle read off the list, it was clear the players favored the politically inspired "Team Romney: We Play Both Sides of the Board". Best gimmick went to the T-shirted uniforms of "Occupy d4."
"The Hoodies" (see photo), Ian Mark (N.Y.) and Dan Yeager (Penn.,) topped the always-enthusiastic crowd of bughouse-chess competitors on Sunday night.
After two days of play in the main event, five teams are going into Sunday morning's round five with a perfect four points: "Caro-Cain Defense: 999 Plans to Mate," "Three and a Half Masters," "Mayan National Team in Time Pressure," "Forking with Tebows Knight Never Leads to Mating," and "Go Ahead, Mate My Day." And 11 teams with 3.5. join the match-up behind the stanchions for a chance to make history when the tense, final round begins at 3:30.
On Tuesday, look to CLO for a wrap-up of all the winners and some best games. Meanwhile, I have to run to report to a rare appearance with those roped-off finalists, as fourth board on Hanon Russell's "The Rustlers," among the teams with 3.5 points. Whatever happens, it's always fun at the USATE.
Look for reports from all four US Amateur Team events later this week and a US Chess Scoop video from Parsippany.


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"EXPERTS warn of a coming ice age" declared the headline in a story which appeared in last week's The Australian newspaper.
In reality, the headline should have read something like this "One solar physicist in Russia who is a member of a climate science denial organisation says we're heading for global cooling but all the other people we spoke to say he's dead wrong".
Not as catchy though, eh?
The story "Emissions debate heats up while experts warn of a coming ice age" was written by the newspaper's environment editor Graham Lloyd and there are some very curious aspects to it.
Lloyd's only "expert" warning of global cooling is Dr Habibullo Abdussamatov, a Russian solar physicist who has been claiming for at least four years that we're heading for an ice age and we should all rug up. Abdussamatov says that climate change is all down to solar cycles and that the sun is in a quiet phase that will plunge us all into a deep freeze. Skeptical Science explains why this climate myth – one of the most popular – is wrong.
Lloyd tells readers that he is quoting Abdussamatov via an interview given to Principia Scientific International (Lloyd doesn't say who they are, but I'll have more about them in a moment). Here are Lloyd's quotes
"Mars has global warming – but without a greenhouse and without the participation of Martians," Abdussamatov said. "These parallel global warmings – observed simultaneously on Mars and on the Earth – can only be a consequence of the effect of the same factor: a long-time change in solar irradiance."
Here's the real news. The quotes which Lloyd uses from Abdussamatov are actually more than five years old and come originally from this interview given to the National Post in Canada in January 2007.
Lloyd quotes Abdussamatov as "the head of space research at the Russian Academy of Sciences Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in St Petersburg, and director of the Russian segment of the International Space Station".
This wasn't accurate either. Principia Scientific International has already issued a correction saying that in fact "Dr Abdussamatov is actually head of space research of the Sun Sector at the Polkovo Observatory and head of the Selenometria project on the Russian segment of the International Space Station."
Not quite so impressive as being the head of space research or the head of the Russian bit of the International Space Station.
Lloyd then goes on to provide some "balance" on his story leaving the reader with the impression that genuine experts actually are discussing the possibility of a coming ice-age, when they're not. All they're doing is responding to crank theories.
Lloyd quotes Frank Hill, a scientist at the US National Solar Observatory in Arizona. Lloyd writes that the quotes from Hill are from "last June". This is also wrong. The quotes Hill gave were from June 2011 (here they are).
Irrespective of this, Lloyd quotes Hill like this
"We are predicting the behaviour of the solar cycle," he said. "In my opinion, it is a huge leap from that to an abrupt global cooling, since the connections between solar activity and climate are still very poorly understood.
"My understanding is that current calculations suggest only a 0.3 degree C decrease from a Maunder-like minimum, too small for an ice age."
Lloyd left out the beginning of Hill's original quote, perhaps because it was so unequivocal. "We are NOT predicting a mini-ice age," Hill pointed out, just in case anyone was wondering.
Hill's understanding on the impact of a low point in the solar cycle reflects a paper published in 2010 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, which found that if solar activity did drop to low levels, this would only take 0.3C off any global warming which we will have experienced by the end of the century. Several reports are now saying global average temperatures could be 4C higher or more by the end of the century.
Lloyd also gets a quote from Peter Stott of the UK's Met Office.
"It is misleading to the public that other theories, such as that most of the warming is caused by solar changes, carry equal weight," he says.
Except Lloyd probably didn't get the quote from Peter Stott. Instead, it appears he took it without attribution from this article in April from the UK website Carbon Brief. The article explains just why the claims that we're heading for a "mini ice-age" are misleading tosh.
Remember the headline at the top of Lloyd's story? The one about how "experts warn of a coming ice-age"? Even though the first "expert" Lloyd cites does claim this, the other people quoted in Lloyd's story say exactly the opposite. I should point out that Lloyd would likely not have written the headline.
Now back to our Russian physicist and the source of Lloyd's story – the article on Principia Scientific International. Graham Lloyd doesn't say anything about who this group is, so allow me. PSI promotes some of the most widely debunked theories on climate change that exist on the internet (behind, possibly, magnetism) and it's chief executive John O'Sullivan does not even accept that CO2 is a greenhouse gas that warms the planet.
Terri Jackson, who is credited with writing the story about Abdussamatov, has also written a pamphlet in which he claims that the greenhouse effect is bogus and that carbon dioxide "cools the earth".
Principia recently got into a row with climate science denial pin-up boy Lord Christopher Monckton. Monckton does at least accept that carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, which was seen as a step too far for Principia.
When you are sourcing information from an organisation too fringe even for Lord Monckton that promotes positions which only the dark corners of the internet could sustain, then you know you are in trouble.


text:
Electrosurgical catheter and method for resolving atherosclerotic plaque by radio frequency sparking
A method, and device utilized to practice it, for the resolution of tissue by radio frequency sparking. The device of the present invention having a distal end which is insertable within and along the lumen of a tubular body member and manipulated there through to desired position where the device will be operated. The device comprises an elongated flexible hollow tube having a distal end, a proximal end, and a diameter smaller than the diameter of the tubular, body member into which the device is being inserted; passage means within the tube; a plurality of electrodes adjacent the distal end of the device; and means for selectively supplying radio frequency electrical current to at least one of said electrodes.
Latest Angioplasty Systems, Inc. Patents:
The present invention relates to a device and method for resolving or removing atherosclerotic plaque build-up in an artery in order to improve blood flow. The device consists of an electrosurgical catheter which has a plurality of electrode sites, each capable of resolving plaque via radio frequency ("RF") sparking between the electrodes and the plaque. The current generated at the selected electrode is modulated so that the fatty material of the plaque is resolved without creating significant amounts of residue.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONVarious angioplasty techniques have been in use for several years. Typically, a catheter is introduced into the body through an artery in the leg or arm and threaded into the artery or blood vessel that has restricted blood flow due to the build-up of atherosclerotic plaque. The most common technique in current practice is balloon angioplasty. The catheter positioned within the subject artery has a deflated balloon at its tip. The balloon is inflated within the artery and the expansion of the balloon is designed to "press" the plaque into the artery wall, thereby minimizing blood flow restrictions. Balloon angioplasty generally just manipulates the form of the plaque, and does not create a significant problem of plaque residue flowing from the site. Unfortunately, balloon angioplasty has several failings and a relatively high complication rate.
Atherosclerotic plaque build-up can exist in a number of different forms. The plaque can be quite hard and scaly or more fatty and pliable. The areas of plaque accumulation are generally not symmetrically located at a particular point in the artery, rather adhering to only portions of the artery walls.
Considerable efforts have been directed toward finding improved means to perform angioplasty procedures. Numerous devices recently have been described that utilize the application of heat to resolve atherosclerotic plaque. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,654,024 of Crittendon et al. and 4,748,979 and 4,672,962 of Hershenson. The most extensive research concerning the use of heat to resolve atherosclerotic plaque has been directed toward the area of laser angioplasty techniques. In most laser angioplasty devices the laser is used simply to supply heat to the tip of the catheter. See for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,784,133 of Mackin; 4,685,458 of Lechrone; 4,770,653 of Shturman; 4,662,368 and 4,773,413 of Hussein; and 4,732,448 and 4,641,912 of Goldenberg.
The various angioplasty techniques described in the literature uniformly fail to address the asymmetric disposition of the plaque within the artery. In most cases, the tip of the angioplasty catheter acts as if the plaque consists of a uniform symmetric coating on the interior wall of the artery. Particularly in those techniques which use something other than pressure to manipulate the plaque, the resolving forces are applied indiscriminately to the plaque and to the healthy tissue within the artery.
Radio frequency sparking to cut or cauterize tissue as a medical procedure is common in the prior art. There are two basic classes of electrosurgical devices. Monopolar devices consist of a high-frequency electrical (generally RF) generator, a cutting or cauterizing electrode or needle, and a patient plate. The patient plate is attached to the body of the patient, and acts as the return electrode for completion of the RF circuit. Cutting occurs due to the heat generated by RF sparking from the electrode to the patient's body tissue. The shape of the electrode concentrates the RF energy, thus creating the high temperature spark. Appropriate modulation of the frequency determines whether cutting or cauterizing will occur. The relatively larger surface area of the patient plate, which is in contact with the patient's body, prevents the current flow from concentrating at one point. This prevents the RF current from burning the patient as the current exits the body.
There are also several bipolar electrosurgical devices described in the prior art. Bipolar devices consist of a high frequency electrical generator and an instrument that contains both the delivery and return electrode. RF sparking occurs between the two self-contained electrodes of the instrument. The bipolar electrosurgical devices of the prior art are generally inadequate due to the conditions necessary to create bipolar sparking. The most fundamental difficulty is that bioactive electrodes must have a roughly equal voltage drop at both the delivery and return electrodes. The high power current required in order to achieve bipolar arcing often causes extraneous sparking, particularly when there is unequal contact with the surrounding tissue.
The extension of known electrosurgical processes--utilizing RF sparking--to angioplasty techniques is relatively unexplored. A disclosure of a monopolar electrosurgical catheter for use in resolving atherosclerotic plaque is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,596 of Bales. The mono and bipolar devices in Bales describe a hollow catheter with a hollow tip member. Only one potential electrode, at the catheter tip, is envisioned by the Bales patent. Bales briefly describes the utilization of variously modulated waveforms in order to resolve atherosclerotic plaque, and the application of high power levels while minimizing the creation of excessive amounts of heat. However, means are included for removing residue from the plaque destruction site, indicating that the modulation techniques employed have not been maximized. It should be possible to destroy the plaque in such a manner so as to eliminate significant residue formation.
An article by Cornelius J. Slager et al. in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology entitled "Vaporization of Atherosclerotic Plaque by Spark Erosion" (Jun. 1985, pp. 1382-6) describes the use of a bipolar RF sparking catheter. Again, there is a single spark generating electrode. The sparking frequency is modulated, but not to optimize ablation. Synchronous transmission of energy with cardiac contraction is employed in order to minimize the disruption of electrical pathways in the heart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,186 of Rosen describes an "antenna" type bipolar RF sparking catheter for use in angioplasty. The delivery and return electrodes are configured in such a way that the electrodes terminate together to form an "antenna."
When current is supplied to the antenna, RF sparking will occur. The addition of balloon means encapsulating the sparking antenna is also described. Rosen discloses coating the interior surface of such balloons in order to supply some control over the direction of sparking. Such directional manipulation can only be accomplished before the catheter is introduced into the patient's body. No means are disclosed for directing the random sparking of the "antenna" once introduced into the desired artery.
An example of an asymmetrically shaped electrode or energy applicator is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,154 of Sterzer. The Sterzer patent discloses a device to be used in the treatment of a cancerous tumor with high temperatures, or hyperthermia. Sterzer describes a device for hyperthermic treatments utilizing microwave energy so that heat radiates nonsymmetrically from the surface of the instrument. Sterzer does not utilize RF sparking and, like the Rosen patent, does not contemplate the use of means for directing the energy once the device is in place within the body.
The examples discussed above where RF sparking has been used for the resolution of atherosclerotic plaque employ relatively unsophisticated means. The RF spark is a very powerful and intense force to be let loose within the human body. Means for effectively harnessing the vast potential of RF sparking angioplasty have not been disclosed prior to this invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to an improved device for the ablation or resolution of atherosclerotic plaque by use of RF sparking. The present invention adapts the electrosurgical electrode so that it may be incorporated into a catheter that may be manipulated to an arterial site of atherosclerotic plaque. The RF angioplasty catheter of the present invention has a segmented head, so that it is possible to control nonsymmetrical sparking from a plurality of electrodes.
Combined with real time visualization techniques, the device of the present invention allows for greater control and precision when utilizing RF sparking to resolve atherosclerotic plaque. The RF spark is an extremely powerful and concentrated source of heat within the artery. By the use of a segmented catheter head, the somewhat random nature of the sparking may be actively directed towards the section of the artery surface containing the plaque build-up of interest.
Controlling the direction of sparking from the electrode head makes it possible to increase the energy of the RF current utilized. By employing increased energy sparks, the material making up the atherosclerotic plaque may be almost totally disintegrated. The material constituting the plaque may be reduced to such fine particles that removal of residue from the plaque resolution site is not necessary.
It is necessary to optimize the modulation of the RF current delivered to the sparking site. Even though the segmented catheter head greatly increases the specificity of the sparking action, it is still crucial to minimize temperature increases in the tissues surrounding the plaque. The higher energy sparks employed requires that pulsed modulation of the frequency be carefully controlled in order to allow the dissipation of heat to occur between the heat-generating spark pulses.
The catheter device of the present invention may have an elongated flexible hollow body that has a single open cavity capable of delivering fluids to the site of plaque resolution. At the far, or distal end, of the device, there is a plurality of sparking sites or electrodes spaced about the exterior circumference of the generally cylindrical catheter device. The RF energy transmitted to the distal end of the catheter may be selectively applied to any one of the various electrodes. Visualization of the artery will determine which wall or walls of the artery contain the plaque build-up to be resolved and will determine which electrode should be activated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSFIG. 1 is an isometric view of the distal end of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a monopolar embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a fragmentary axial cross-sectional view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 4 is a distal end view of the device shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a radial sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 3 and is taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 6 is another radial sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 3 and is taken along the line 6--6 of FIG. 3.
FIG. 7 is an isometric view of the distal end of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a distal end view of an embodiment of the invention.
FIG. 9 is a radial sectional view analogous to FIG. 6 of an embodiment of the device.
FIG. 10 is a radial sectional view analogous to FIG. 5.
FIG. 11 is a radial sectional view analogous to FIG. 6.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTFIG. 1 shows the distal end 20 of a atherosclerotic plaque resolving device constructed according to the teachings of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the entire device, which is generally referred to, in total, as numeral 10. The device 10 is constructed, both by use of the appropriate size and materials, so that it may be inserted within and along the lumen of a blood vessel. Such devices are generally referred to as catheters, and may be manipulated to the desired location in the blood vessel or artery. The desired location is the site of atherosclerotic plaque build-up. Usually, the plaque site is causing reduced blood flow through the vessel or artery.
The device and method of the present invention is particularly suited for the ablation of atherosclerotic plaque located within the arteries leading to the heart. The device and method disclosed herein has, however, significant advantages over the prior art that may be useful in a number of invasive surgical techniques. The device of the present invention may be used, for example, in the following procedures: the ablative treatment of fallopian tubes; the removal of colon obstructions, the removal of blood clots or tissue build-up within the blood vessels of the brain; and the removal of undesirable intestinal tissue. In each of these surgical procedures--and in the other invasive surgical techniques--a catheter is manipulated to the desired location within the body via the lumen of a tubular body member, and energy is applied to the distal end of the catheter in order to ablate or resolve tissue.
Introduction of the device 10 to the appropriate site may be accomplished by use of a guidewire. A guidewire, with the appropriate bends and turns, is "threaded" through an arterial pathway to the desired point of plaque build-up. The device 10 may then be easily passed over the path of the guidewire to the correct arterial site.
The device 10 includes an elongated hollow tubular body 12. The body 12 is usually flexible, and constructed of an electrically insulative material. Any of a number of polymeric or plastic materials may be employed for this purpose. The distal end 20 of the device 10 includes a plurality of electrodes 14. The electrodes 14 each constitute a monopolar electrosurgical electrode. The electrodes 14 may be constructed of any conductive metal or metallic alloy that is capable of retaining its form or shape when exposed to the extremely high temperatures generated by RF sparking. For example, the electrodes 14 may be composed of stainless steel, tungsten, platinum, titanium, zirconium or any of the other so-called refractory metals. Alloys of the refractory metals may also be employed.
The distal end 20 of the device includes a generally flat end surface 22. The interior 16 of the tubular body 12 of the catheter 10 has a generally constant diameter throughout the axial length of the catheter. Each of the electrodes 14 is separated from each other by the insulative material of the tubular body 12, and exists in part on the circumference of the exterior surface of the tubular body 12 adjacent to the end surface 22, and in part planar to the end surface 22. Each electrode 14, therefore, consists of front 15 and radial 17 elements that are of unitary construction. The RF energy selectively delivered to each of the electrodes 14 will create sparking from the electrode 14 to the atherosclerotic plaque.
In a monopolar device of the present invention as is schematically shown in FIG. 2, the return path for the RF current introduced into the body tissue is through a patient plate 92. The patient plate 92 is a relatively large dispersive plate that is attached to the body of the patient in order to establish contact with a significant amount of body surface area. The patient plate is typically placed onto the hip, thigh, buttock or belly of the patient. Conduction from the patient to the return electrode is maximized by applying electroconductive gel to the points of contact.
The device 10 may also be constructed as a "bipolar" RF sparking source. In such an embodiment, a single return electrode may be included among the plurality of electrodes 14 at the distal end of the device 10. The RF sparking would thereby proceed from the selected electrode 14 to the return electrode. In such an embodiment a single return electrode may be a large conductive ring 93 distal to electrodes 14 with a surface area from 5 to 20 times larger than that of any of the delivery electrodes 14. In another bipolar embodiment of the present invention, the power generator output and return may be adapted so that any one of the plurality of electrodes can serve as either the delivery or return electrode. For example, if the electrodes 14 in the device shown in FIG. 1 were numbered A-D and the plaque adjacent electrode A is twice that adjacent to electrodes B and C with the artery nearest electrode D containing no plaque, electrode A would be selected as the return electrode and B and C would be alternated as the delivery or anodic cathode. The plaque adjacent electrode A would receive twice the sparking energy as that adjacent electrodes B and C, and that adjacent electrode D would receive minimal amounts. In this embodiment, the directional specificity of sparking can be further controlled.
The device 10 is attached to and activated by a high-frequency, high voltage power supply 98. There are several such power generators marketed for use in electrosurgery. Typically, the energy is radio-frequency. Each electrode 14 is coupled to the power supply via a wire conductor 40 that runs the entire length of the tubular body 12. Each wire 40 may be electrically insulated.
The proximal end 50 of the catheter 10 has a "Y" shaped portion 52 that has a straight through passage 53 and a branch passage 54. The interior 16 of the tubular body 12 may be accessed from either the straight through 53 or the branch 54 passage. The wire conductors 40 are coupled to the generator, and prior to insertion into the catheter 10 via the branch passage 54 may be bundled together to form a single transmission wire 42, as shown in FIG. 9, or may remain separated.
The RF generator 98 must be adapted via an electrode switching device 96 such that the output of the generator may be selectively applied to one of the wire conductors 40, and therefore to one of the electrodes 14. Further modification of the generator via a device for waveform modulation 95 must be performed in order to create the optimized modulated waveform. The optimal waveform provides a RF pulse of energy strong enough to create a spark that will disintegrate the atherosclerotic plaque with minimum residue formation. At the same time, the waveform must be modulated such that there is not an excess heat build-up in the tissue adjacent to the plaque destruction site. Appropriate time periods in which heat may be dissipated between bursts of energy will enable adequate cooling periods for the adjacent tissues.
It is thought that commonly available electrosurgery generator units may be adapted to provide the proper RF current; for example, a Bovie "Specialist" 75 Watt ES, Electro-Surgery Unit or similar Valleylabs unit. The frequency of the wave form employed will be between 0.05 and 200 megahertz and the voltage will have a magnitude of several hundred volts. To achieve the optimum output modulation, a digital controller 93 will be connected in series with the generator to control pulse width of RF burst, on and off times and number of pulses.
The transmission wire 42 or wire conductors 40 enter the catheter 10 via the branch passage 54 at the proximal end 50 of the catheter 10. In FIG. 9, the embodiment of the invention utilizing a single transmission wire 42, the transmission wire 42, which contains each of the wire conductors 40, is constructed so that each of the wire conductors 40 is electronically insulated from each other. In addition, the exterior surface of the transmission wire 42 is coated with an insulating material. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the wire conductors 40 will be separately insulated, and will proceed separately through the catheter as seen in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6.
FIG. 6 shows a radial sectional view of the catheter 10 at a point between its distal 20 and proximal 50 ends. As is shown, the wire conductors 40 are located within the interior cavity 16 of the tubular body 12. The wire conductors 40 are designed so that they will not take up significant amounts of the interior 16 volume of the tubular body 12 and that the individual wires will not cross talk with each other. Room must be allowed for the passage of fluids to the plaque destruction site or to encompass the guide wire used to properly place the catheter 10.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, the wire conductors 40 run nearly the full length of the tubular body 12. At some point 45 just adjacent the distal end 20 of the catheter 10, the individual wire conductors 40 proceed through the tubular body 12 and are coupled to the electrodes 14. FIG. 5 is a radial sectional view of the catheter 10 at the point 45 where the wire conductors 40 each connect to its corresponding electrode 14.
FIGS. 10 and 11 show an additional embodiment of the invention wherein the wire conductors 40 are separately contained within separate lumens within the tubular body of the cathode 10.
The device 10 of the present invention is used for resolving or ablating atherosclerotic plaque or clots within the interior of vessels or arteries. The method of plaque resolution with such a device requires the use of some means for visualizing the interior of the vessel where plaque destruction is to occur. This can be accomplished by placing ultrasound transducers 85, as shown in FIG. 7 at the catheters distal end or under the electrodes 14. The transducers 85 send and receive ultrasonic signals which are processed using traditional ultrasonic processing means 100 and this displayed on video terminals 102 as shown in FIG. 2. Other visualization techniques would include, but would not be limited to, the following: the introduction of radionuclear dyes that allow for radiographic visualization use of other dyes suitable for introduction at the site of plaque destruction--or in the bloodstream generally--that are detectable by X-ray or other detection techniques, high resolution biplane angiography, and fiber optics introduced along the catheter pathway that provide an actual picture of the interior of the artery or vessel.
Whatever means are used to determine the site of plaque build-up that requires treatment, the initial step is generally the placement of the catheter adjacent to the proposed destruction site. As described above, the appropriate positioning may be accomplished with the aid of a guidewire. Guidewires are constructed so that the wire will be introduced into an artery--either through the leg or arm--and threaded to the desired position. The placement of catheters is a well known and often performed procedure in connection with balloon angioplasty and other invasive surgical procedures. In the present invention the placement is critical not only with respect to the extension of the catheter distal end through an artery, but also with respect to the circumferential orientation of the catheter since the RF energy is applied differentially along the circumference to correspond to differential plaque build-up.
When utilizing a guidewire to help manipulate the distal end 20 of the catheter 10 to the appropriate location, the end of the guidewire exiting the patient may be used to guide the catheter 10 by use of the hollow interior 16 of the tubular body 12. The guide wire can be removed from the interior of the catheter when resolution is to begin, or may be maintained in place if required by the attending physician.
The interior cavity 16 of the catheter 10 may also be used to introduce fluids to the site of plaque destruction. For example, as an aid to visualization it may be desirable to flush the plaque destruction site. The introduction of dyes to aid the visualization process may also be accomplished via the interior cavity 16.
The interior cavity may also be valuable in order to place a fiber optic element at the site of atherosclerotic plaque build-up. This could be accomplished by removal of the guidewire and introduction of the fiber optic--guided through the interior chamber--to the appropriate site.
The electrodes 14 at the tip of the distal end 20 of the tubular body 12 are shaped so that sparking may occur in both forward and radial directions. It is therefore possible to resolve plaque that has built up to such an extent that the catheter 10 is prevented from proceeding further along the arterial pathway. RF sparking from the front portions of the electrodes 14 will allow some forward directed sparking. Generally, the exterior diameter of the tubular body 12 is sized such that it is substantially smaller than the interior diameter of the arteries and vessels it will be encompassed by. Unless the atherosclerotic plaque build-up has progressed extremely far, it should be possible to place the distal end 20 of the catheter 10 in a position so that the plaque to be resolved will be generally planar to the side elements 17 of the electrode 14 selected to ablate the plaque.
Once the distal end 20 of the catheter 10 is properly placed, the operator must determine by consultation with the visualization technique utilized which surfaces of the artery or vessel require ablation. Rather than the random sparking delivered from the RF sparking electrodes of the current devices, it is possible to direct sparking towards those surfaces that require ablation.
In an additional embodiment of the device 10 (shown in FIGS. 7 and 8), the electrodes 14 consist of a plurality of split rings spaced along the exterior surface of the distal end 20 of the catheter. Each of the split rings 80 are separated from each other by a relatively small amount of the insulative material that comprises the bulk of the catheter 10. Each ring 80 is "split" into a plurality of separate electrodes by equally spaced portions of insulative material. In such an embodiment it may be useful to incorporate end electrodes 89 on the relatively flat end of the distal end 20 of the catheter 10 as seen in FIG. 8. It would be possible to include a narrowed opening into the interior of the catheter to allow the expulsion of dyes or an interior catheter, as shown, or to "cap" the hollow catheter 10.
The embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, as can the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, may be adapted to serve as either monopolar or bipolar electrosurgical catheters. The embodiment shown in FIG. 7 has a total of 12 electrodes. When adapted to perform as a bipolar device in which each of the 12 electrodes may be selected to function as the anode or the cathode, the locational specificity for sparking at the site of plaque build-up is greatly enhanced. In such an embodiment, in addition to means for optimally modulating the wave form of the current flowing from the generator, the electrode switching means 96 must be adapted to select which of the electrodes will serve as the anode and which will serve as the cathode or return path.
1. An electrosurgical device for resolving an occlusive deposit in a lumen of a blood vessel having a distal end which is insertable within and along the lumen of the vessel and manipulatable therethrough to a desired position where the device is operated to resolve the occlusive deposit by radio frequency sparking, said device comprising:
- (a) an elongated flexible hollow tube having a distal end, a proximal end, and a diameter smaller than the diameter of the vessel lumen into which said device is being inserted;
- (b) a plurality of electrodes proximate said distal end of the tube, the electrodes being spaced radially about the tube;
- (c) selection means in electrical communication with the electrodes for selectively supplying a radio frequency electrical current to at least one of said electrodes whereby said at least one electrode becomes a transmitting electrode and a user can limit the radial direction of radio frequency sparking to the radial location of the occlusive deposit corresponding to the transmitting electrode so as to minimize damage to the vessel; and
- current return means on the tube for returning current to the selection means.
2. The device of claim 1 wherein at least one of said electrodes serves as the current return means and said radio frequency sparking occurs between said transmitting electrode and said return electrode.
3. The device of claim 2 wherein the selection means further comprises means for selecting which of said electrodes will serve as said return electrode.
4. The device of claim 2 wherein said distal end further includes a tip, and said electrodes further include electrodes on the tip of said distal end.
5. The device of claim 2 further comprising modulation means for modulating the wave form of said radio frequency electrical current so that said sparking will resolve said occlusive deposit while minimizing heat build-up in tissue adjacent to said occlusive deposit.
6. The device of claim 2 wherein said radio frequency electrical current includes a frequency, a voltage and a current, and further comprising means for adjusting the frequency, voltage and current of the radio frequency electrical current so that said sparking will resolve said occlusive deposit while minimizing heat buildup in tissue adjacent said occlusive deposit.
7. The device of claim 2 wherein said electrodes are composed of a refractory metal selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, tungsten, platinum, zirconium and titanium.
8. The device of claim 2 wherein said tube is an electrically insulative material.
9. The device of claim 2 wherein said electrodes are electrically associated with said selection means via individual wires carried within said hollow tube.
10. The device of claim 2 further comprising ultrasound transducers on said hollow tube adjacent to said electrodes at said distal end.
11. The device of claim 2 wherein said electrodes consist of a plurality of split rings adjacent said distal end.
12. The device of claim 11 wherein said electrodes are electrically insulated from one another.
13. The device of claim 2 further comprising means for supplying or removing fluids from a site of-tissue resolution and wherein said proximal end has a "Y" shaped portion consisting of a straight through passage and a branch passage, said straight through passage being associated with said means for supplying or removing fluids from the site of tissue resolution.
14. The device of claim 1 further comprising means for visualizing the interior surfaces of said desired position within said vessel.
15. The device of claim 14 wherein said means for visualizing the interior surfaces of said desired position within said vessel employ ultrasound information.
16. The device of claim 1 wherein the current return means comprises a conductive ring disposed around the circumference of the tube proximate the plurality of electrodes.
17. A method for reducing the flow restriction effects of an occlusive deposit located at a point in a vessel, comprising:
- (a) obtaining access to the interior of said vessel;
- (b) inserting the distal end of a catheter consisting of an electrical conductor terminated in a plurality of radially spaced electrodes into said vessel;
- (c) adjusting the position of said electrodes adjacent to said point;
- (d) identifying the radially spaced electrodes adjacent to the occlusive deposit; and
- (e) selectively applying radio frequency energy to the identified electrodes adjacent said occlusive deposit so that said energy will cause sparking from only the identified electrodes to resolve the occlusive deposit while minimizing damage to the vessel.
18. The method described in claim 17 wherein one of said electrodes serves as a return electrode and at least one of said electrodes serves as a transmitting electrode and said sparking occurs between said transmitting electrode and said return electrode.
4532924 | August 6, 1985 | Auth et al. |
4576177 | March 18, 1986 | Webster, Jr. |
4643186 | February 17, 1987 | Rosen et al. |
4682596 | July 28, 1987 | Bales et al. |
3516830 | November 1986 | DEX |
- Slager et al, "Vaporization . . . Erosion", JACC, Jun. 1985, pp. 1382-1386.
Type: Grant
Filed: Apr 19, 1994
Date of Patent: Oct 3, 1995
Assignee: Angioplasty Systems, Inc. (Englewood, CO)
Inventor: Michael Janssen (Englewood, CO)
Primary Examiner: Lee S. Cohen
Law Firm: Beaton & Folsom
Application Number: 8/230,439
International Classification: A61B 1739;


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The Maori Council has lost its initial legal bid to delay the partial privatisation of Mighty River Power until Maori water rights are dealt with but is already working on an appeal.
In a three day High Court hearing late last month in Wellington the council argued that the Government should establish the extent of Maori ownership rights over freshwater and geothermal resources and make redress for them before the partial sale of Mighty River and other power companies under the Government's "mixed ownership model".
In the summary of his judgement released this afternoon, Justice Ronald Young said he was satisfied that three key decisions by the Government to advance its asset sales programme which were challenged by the council were not reviewable by the court.
Those decisions included the order-in-council or move to take Mighty River Power out from under the State Owned Enterprises Act and into the Public Finance Act to allow the sale, and the final decision to sell the shares.
However, Justice Young said that even if he was wrong on those points the council's bid case would have failed because when making each of those decisions the Government would not have been acting inconsistently with the Treaty of Waitangi.
Maori Council spokeswoman Rahui Katene said Justice Young had determined the matter "on a narrow legal issue".
"The moral issue has still be to addressed in public debate."
While Justice Young had taken the view that the Government's decision was not one the courts could review, the council was concerned "that government has not been willing to address the issue of indigenous water rights, as the Court itself noted, and has relied upon statutory technicalities".
"In this instance we think that the view taken about the statutory framework does not fit with previous court decisions and we are now working on an appeal."
Finance Minister Bill English and State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall said the decision vindicated their view "that the partial sale of shares does not in any way affect the Crown's ability to recognise rights and interests in water, or to provide redress for genuine Treaty claims".
Mr Ryall said the Government's share offer programme remained on track.
"If the High Court decision is appealed, we hope this can be heard as soon as possible."
Labour's SOE spokesman Clayton Cosgrove said the High Court's decision was "just the first in a number of steps for this appeal to go through".
"It is likely there will be an appeal and New Zealanders will again have to fork up the costs of court hearings."
Maori Council lawyer Felix Geiringer told the Herald he had already begun work on the council's appeal but it was not yet decided whether the council would seek to bypass the Court of Appeal and take the matter directly to the Supreme Court.
Mr Geiringer said he was disappointed with Justice Young's decision but not surprised. Justice Young's questions as he heard arguments from the council and the Crown had given an indication of his final decisions on key issues.
In his judgement, Justice Young said he was satisfied there was no connection or "nexus" between the sale of power company shares "and the need to provide for Maori claims to proprietary interest in water by way of potential redress or recognition of rights".
He was satisfied that the Government's consultation with Maori over the asset sales programme was "adequate" and undertaken without a predetermined stance "especially with respect to the Waitangi Tribunal's shares plus concept".
The Maori Council was assisted in its High Court challenge late last month by a group of Waikato River iwi and hapu. Their lawyer Helen Cull QC had argued the Government had breached the terms of earlier settlement legislation dealing with the river by not adequately consulting relevant iwi over the sales plan.
But Justice Young said there was no breach of the Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims (Waikato River) Settlement Act 2010.
"The sale of share was not a sale that required the Crown to engage with Waikato-Tainui."


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Between the Lines: N.H. House Vote on Map Expected This Week
The end is near for New Hampshire mapmaking.
The Granite State could have a map for the state's two House districts as early as this week.
The state Senate previously passed a map that was recently passed out of the state House committee overseeing redistricting. It will now be sent to the state House floor for a full vote on Wednesday.
Because the state's two Congressmen have come to an agreement on the boundary line, the once-deadlocked process is "greenlighted," according to a person who closely watches the New Hampshire Legislature.
Rep. Charles Bass (R) advocated for dramatic changes to shore up his vulnerable seat. Rep. Frank Guinta (R) wanted a map with few changes. But because the two men were able to agree, the map is expected to easily pass on Wednesday.
The bill will then go to Gov. John Lynch (D). He has the option to sign it immediately or to veto it. If he does neither, in five business days the map will become law.
It will then be submitted to the Justice Department for preclearance.
In related electoral news, the state government is seeking to be removed from the Justice Department's preclearance list, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.
One of the fiercest advocates for the change is New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner. He told the paper that the state's inclusion is "an embarrassment."
Kansas: Rock Chalk Jayhawk: Clock Ticks on New Map
The GOP-controlled state Senate exited for a three-week recess without taking action on the Sunflower State's Congressional map, leaving future House boundaries in flux.
The GOP-controlled state House passed a Congressional map last week with Gov. Sam Brownback's (R) blessing, but the Senate failed to act before leaving town.
The House-passed map, titled "Bob Dole 1," aimed to make the state's four GOP Members safer under the new lines. The proposal moved population to the mostly rural 1st district by splitting Topeka — a Democratic stronghold — in the 2nd district.
But GOP leadership and Democrats in the state Senate aligned to push for a different plan that could make Rep. Lynn Jenkins' (R) district more competitive. Under this proposal, the 2nd district is more competitive, most likely paving the way for state Sen. Laura Kelly (D) to challenge Jenkins again.
"I don't think the Senate actually cares what the Congressional map looks like," one frustrated top Kansas GOP operative said. "This is about preserving an alliance between a liberal Republican leadership and Democrats on redistricting."
Brownback must sign a new map into law by May 10 in order to keep the primary schedule on track. If that doesn't happen, officials can move up the filing deadline again by several days — but any later on the calender could put the state's Aug. 7 primary in peril.
"If that deadline moves, we're in serious trouble," the top Republican said.


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2. I love making my own playlists on Pandora internet radio
3. The Secret Circle is a cool, new teen TV show thats rather addictive so far (quick fact: it's based on a series of books by L. J. Smith, who also wrote Vampire Diaries) .
4.I really don't like it when a book's cover is changed because of the movie.
5. My neighbour's cat is learning to speak whale - Well, that's the only good explanation I have for the awful sounds it keeps making.
6 .My closet is too full of dark colours - summer's coming, time to get some brights
7. Salt grinders shaped like bunnies are awesome (click here to see the one I bought)
8. If you go to gym really late on Sunday night, you will probably be gyming all alone
9. Fragrance diffusers are so much better than scented candles.
10. Love is often not as easy or uncomplicated as it should be


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I broke my 56 hour day this morning and took a nap before coming back. One of the nice features of Stardock is that it has developers in the US and in Europe so we can, technically, work on things around the clock if necessary which is something we're taking advantage right now.
So where are we at?
The system works pretty well if you have a few thousand people online at once. The system works…less well if there are tens of thousands of people online at once. And if there are over 100,000 people, well, you get horrific results such as the game being incredibly unresponsive due to simple web service calls that were considered pretty benign during the beta that suddenly start to bring down firewalls and such due to the sheer massive number of calls that are being made.
Sadly, most of the ~120,000 connections are not customers but via warez. About 18,000 are legitimate. So anyway, we spent a lot of time today trying to isolate out the warez users from the legitimate users (it would require a lot of surgery to actually break them and even if we did, there'd be no friendly "ha ha pirate" message which would result in people just saying the game is buggy). Mind you, the game makes relatively few server calls, it's just the sheer number of people.
Our stress tests had counted on having maybe 50,000 people playing at once at peak and that wouldn't be reached for a few weeks by which time we would have slowly seen things becoming problematic. With Sins of a Solar Empire, the game was incredibly successful but its user base grew slowly and steadily over time. Sometimes on a peak time the server would start to get slow and we would adjust so that it would be better next time.
But here, when you're getting that many connections at once, you're no longer talking about dealing with the basics like having a good SAN and lots of redundant servers. You instead fall into all kinds of weird secondary issues that start to pop up like yesterday's case where an older network card couldn't handle all the packets (not bandwidth limited but # of tiny packets being sent out at once).
So during the day today, people couldn't even logon and in some cases, the Demigod forums, which use one of the affected databases for some piddly thing were even down. Even getting the game running was a pain today because a simple HTTP call to see what the latest version would get hung leaving people looking at a black screen. Stuff of nightmares.
Before the game shipped, I wrote a scary email to our team saying how disastrous things would be and predicted doom for us and GPG if there were problems with multiplayer. At the time, my worry was about things like disconnects and CVP. It didn't occur to me that we'd have near MMO user connections to throw in.
Last night and all day today we've been working on multiple fronts.
First, we've been trying to shuttle off the warez users so that they're not slamming our servers. Well, not slamming the same servers that legitimate customers are using. I'm feeling pretty confident that that is working better because there's a lot more people in games with lots of people in them.
Second, we've developed a new connection system (pictured below). The connection stuff in Demigod is not part of Demigod but is rather part of Impulse Reactor which in turn is talking to the various connection servers we have set up to get player A to connect to player B and so on. It's not done yet but amongst its new features is the ability for the host to eject players who just can't connect.
This whole new connection service has been written in the past 48 hours.
Third, we've greatly expanded our capacity. I tell you, anyone who wants to know why we delayed Society (MMO RTS we are slowly working on) need look no further than how painful the first 24 hours since the official release of Demigod have been. That was done today and hopefully users have noticed an improvement.
We're in the process of testing out this new update to put up tonight (less than 24 hours after the street date) that should largely fix this.
Early reviews
The early reviews of Demigod have been very good – in general.
Neoseeker gave us a 10 out of 10.
Crispy Gamer gave us a "Buy It"
But the GameSpot review nailed us because of the connectivity with a 6.5. I'm pretty disappointed about that. [Begin Rant] First, I totally understand that connectivity is central to a game like this. I totally agree. But I think that should be weighted with what the average user who gets Demigod will experience and in reality, as annoying as this issue is, it's not something that's going to be an ongoing issue, it's something that is likely to be taken care of in the next day or two. So this time next week, players will be happily playing but GameSpot's review will live on. I suppose the solution going forward isn't to send out review copies until the game is released and we make sure there's no network issues. Afterall, in a week from now, the guy buying it from retail will have a great experience. [End Rant]
The IGN and 1Up reviews are coming up. So we could be looking at a lot of reviews like that if every reviewer decides to take the same approach Gamespot did which I hope they don't (luckily for every other on-line centric game that's had a rough first day or two most reviewers haven't taken Gamespot's approach).
We took a video about some of the stuff we're working on and a little quick tour of Stardock. You can see it here:
IGN Video
Status report.
Thank you for the update Mr. Wardell. I look forward to playing as soon as the little network problems are fixed.
Nice nice, hopefully by the time I get my order sorted out...since it was declined even though there were sufficent funds...I will be able to play flawlessly (or almost:)).
By next week hopefully I'll be playing...at least single player!! But Stardock better get my order sorted out!
Thanks for updates Frogboy we can wait out some tiny issues for a great game
I loved Sins, I loved GalCiv II (still enjoying it at 500%)...so far Stardock and associates have delivered the best games I HAVE EVER PLAYED (EXCEPT Exile 3: The Ruined World).
So in a few days time (I hope it'll be tomorrow), you'll see a new legit player +_+!
ShadowMastiff2468 IS COMING
BTW: 100% well deserved praise!
Great job
Nice update
Managed to play with a friend online for a few games, had a blast, hopefully things go smoothly for you guys soon enough, can't imagine the stress you're all going through...
Thanks for the update - hopefully things get all ironed out soon.
Thanks for the heads-up
"i hope he bought the game" made me lol
I was going to tell you to stop complaining about the gamespot review because you deserved it for having unplayable multiplayer on day 1 but then I changed my mind. I remember that Halo 3 day 1 was unplayable online, the same for Battlefield bad company and I am sure many other games because of the number of connections. Why did these games not face the same wrath in review scores as Demigod on gamespot? Probably because they were played on private servers for the review Really unfair when you think about it....
Exile 3 was a great game. I actually have the source code to it at home (long story). I really got into Blades of Exile, too, but that was about the time I got into programming and also had to concentrate on schoolwork.
Hahahahaha I remembered that as well. The Halo 3 servers were overloaded, you had to basically wait 2 hours or so, hopefully to get in the server. My reaction was the same as many are having now that I almost gave up on Halo3 and send it back.
The differense is that Halo is Halo and people will always look past Halo's flaw. Demigod, you can say is for many something new. The gamespot reviewer is not familiar with the style and the game has no tutorial, so he despite the game being very simplistic it will still take a while for him to know what he is actually playing.
Is that windows 7 I see? Does that mean you're accepting crash reports from it? Cause I am switching to vista when I play to avoid some crashes. Obviously not something that would demand your immediate attention, but... thought I might ask.
Also, I would like to salute you because we all know the happy smile of someone who's been awake way more than he ought to be the last few days.
I have got to say a good job on 1UP's part though on delaying there review. Seems like integrity won over ad dollars from having the first review up won over there.
Blades was OK...I just didn't like the fact that it was only 3 short adventures. Don't get me wrong the three missions we're awesome and really well calibrated but it no where nears equals the EPIC SCALE of Exile 3 (PROMOTION FTW). The fact you can create your own scenarios was fun but Exile 3 was EXCELLENT!
Magic Barrier + Quick Fire Combo FTW
or..my personnal favourite Simulacrum of your favourite enemy +_+.
So if you played Exile 3...then I suspect you also played games like Geneforge, Nethergate...etc?
Its out now?
I have a question about the pirate users:
I realize this game doesn't use DRM, but doesn't it do a CD Key check when you log into online? That seems like a no-brainer when it comes to protection against the sort of problems you're having. Sure, people can make a CD Key generator or something eventually, but I'm sure having a unique CD Key check would at least prevent the 80k plus pirates you have playing the game online days after release.
I think it's a mistake for demigod to connect to anything before the menu screen, even if it was to check for updates. All this should be done after the person clicks on multiplayer. Well it's too late to change now with the warez dvds out there.
So 18,000 legitimate users which means 18,000 first days sales and preorder sales. Not too bad. I wonder how many are retail vs online. I think you'll get #1 NPD pc sales for this week.
Crikey! I have Exile 3 on my desktop right now! I'm still playing through Exile 1 which I never finished but my favorite memory was using simulacrum to spawm vahnatai lords. Took me over 10 minutes of saving and reloading to get the capture but I eventually did it !
Is this just worded wrong or can pirates play on the servers?
I like how in the end of the video... you disconnect from the game and AIs take over for the other three players.
At least you kept it in the video, and I'm glad you're being so open about the issues. I'm really upset with gamespot, and I hope that enough people ask for the game to be re-reviewed once the new servers are up. Fantasic game, I'll be addicted for ages.
I appreciate the update. And I still love you stardock
Thanks for the update, *hands out lollipops to all the programmers*
The balance seems a little wonky in some cases, and I'm just talking about single-player. Try playing as the Unclean Beast, with allies Rook and Regulus, versus Sedna, The Oak, and Lord Erebus. With normal AI, you'll still probably lose. It seems like Generals are roughly equivelant to Assassins in one-on-one strength, add Minions and they're drastically stronger.
Am I right in assuming that at some point in development they considered making Generals and Assassins just as strong, but making Generals more about buffs, and let everybody have Minions? Because it kind of seems like that now, except not everybody gets minions.
Thanks for report. Demigod is the best game i have ever play. Go, Stardock, go...
Terms of Use
Copyright © 2016 Stardock Entertainment and Gas Powered Games. Demigod is a trademark of Gas Powered Games. All rights reserved. All other trademarks and copyrights are the properties of their respective owners. Windows, the Windows Vista Start button and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies, and 'Games for Windows' and the Windows Vista Start button logo are used under license from Microsoft. © 2012 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.


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Cornerstone Florida Title & Abstract
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Fort Lauderdale ( LAW-dər-dayl) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, 30 miles (48 km) north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth largest city in Florida. After Miami and Hialeah, Fort Lauderdale is the third largest city in the Miami metropolitan area, which had a population of 6,166,488 in 2019.Built in 1838 and first incorporated in 1911, Fort Lauderdale is named after a series of forts built by the United States during the Second Seminole War. The forts took their name from Major William Lauderdale (1782–1838), younger brother of Lieutenant Colonel James Lauderdale. Development of the city did not begin until 50 years after the forts were abandoned at the end of the conflict.
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How to decide?
A new rule could make it easier to open up trails in national parks to mountain biking.
Mountain biking isn't banned in national parks as a matter of course, although it is rare to find parks where it is allowed. Before allowing mountain bikes, a park must undergo an extensive environmental analysis heavily laden with opportunities for public comment.
The rule change would loosen the requirements, allowing what amounts to an "abbreviated analysis," said Greg Kidd, a representative with the National Parks Conservation Association Asheville office. Needless to say, Kidd's organization is against any truncation of the process.
"We feel strongly it is important to have the full analysis and that includes public participation and opportunity for the public to weigh in," Kidd said.
But Kent Cranford, owner of Motion Makers bike shop in Sylva, thinks the current process is so arduous that it is essentially a barrier.
"This new rule change will make that process much easier. Right now it is an ugly process," Cranford said.
Related Items
Cranford said the rule change will streamline the process, not totally skirt it.
"My understanding is that it won't remove any barriers of making sure mountain bikes aren't going to damage anything. They are still going to have to go through the environmental process and the approval process," Cranford said. But it wouldn't be as burdensome, time consuming or costly to the park.
The rule change came at the suggestion of outgoing President Bush, a mountain biker himself, in his final days in office. The proposal could be dead in the water already, however.
"When Obama came in, they put a freeze on all rule changes that had been promulgated by the outgoing administration," said Bob Miller, spokesperson for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "At the end of any administration there is a lot of rule making, or changing, as they go out the door. The new administration wants to catch their breath and decide which are in play. There is no telling when this one will move forward."
A public comment period has been underway for the rule change and will expire Feb. 17.
To read the rule change, go to edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-29892.htm. To comment, go to www.regulations.gov and use the code 1024-AD72.
— By Becky Johnson