text:
The UCC2732x/UCC3732x family of high-speed drivers deliver 9 A of peak drive current in
an industry standard pinout. These drivers can drive the largest of MOSFETs for systems requiring
extreme Miller current due to high dV/dt transitions. This eliminates additional external circuits
and can replace multiple components to reduce space, design complexity, and assembly cost. Two
standard logic options are offered, inverting (UCC37321) and noninverting (UCC37322).
Using a design that inherently minimizes shoot-through current, the outputs of these can
provide high gate drive current where it is most needed at theMiller plateau region during the
MOSFET switching transition. A unique hybrid output stage paralleling bipolar and MOSFET
transistors (TrueDrive) allows efficient current delivery at low supply voltages. With this drive
architecture, UCC3732x can be used in industry standard 6-A, 9-A and many 12-A driver applications.
Latch up and ESD protection circuitries are also included. Finally, the UCC3732x provides an enable
(ENBL) function to have better control of the operation of the driver applications. ENBL is
implemented on pin 3, which was previously left unused in the industry standard pinout. It is
internally pulled up to VDD for active high logic and can be left open for
standard operation.
In addition to the 8-pin SOIC (D) and 8-pin PDIP (P) package offerings, the UCC3732x also
comes in the thermally enhanced but tiny 8-pin MSOP PowerPAD™ (DGN) package. The PowerPAD package
drastically lowers the thermal resistance to extend the temperature operation range and improve the
long-term reliability.


text: The noisefest that is the Thursday Night Football post-game show on NFL Network usually proceeds like an unfunny version of TNT's Inside The NBA: full of wackiness, but lacking the charm or anything memorable. You can usually rely on Michael Irvin to do something out of the ordinary, though, and he certainly brought it last night following the Bills' 19-14 win over Miami. After the panel put Buffalo's C.J. Spiller through the interview wringer, Irvin gave the running back a traditional dap, but followed it up with not one but three kisses to various parts of Spiller's head. In a world of sports pundit haters, it seems Irvin wants to be a lover.

subset: commoncrawl


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Armada - The durability of a profile-waterbed
The upholstered frame of the Armada consists of indestructible plastic profiles that can be re-upholstered easy later, if desired. They are also 100% recyclable.
The Armada is available in all colours and sizes. Also extra large sizes and customisation are possible.
- Mattress-set of your choice
- Cover of your choice
- All colours are possible
- All sizes are possible, from 100x190 cm to 280x240 cm, including customisation for all intermediate sizes and more
- The bed can be combined with all socles
The indicated lengths and widths are always 'order sizes'. The actual dimensions deviate from these. Click here for more info..
XL or XXL extension
This extension is useful for installation in combination with a head- and/or footboard. This option creates more space between the bed and the head- or footboard, so making the bed is easier. The bedframe (soft-side) is 5 cm longer at the head end (XL) or 5 cm at the head and foot end (XXL).
Removable upholstery
With this option you can adapt the colour of your bed to your redecorated interior or change of taste.
We cover the bedframe (soft-side) with a neutral fabric. Over this, the removable upholstery with a color of your choice is attached. Afterwards, you can simply order another upholstery and replace it easily.
Other fabrics
Should you not find your choice in our extensive fabric collection, then there is always the possibility to provide a fabric yourself. Of course, the fabric must be suitable for upholstery. Please ask for advice from your local vendor or our technical service.
Water mattresses
The correct choice of the mattress is important for personal comfort.
Covers for the perfect hygienic sleep system.
Make your bed a cosy place.
The support of the waterbed
Choose the right colour to match your interior.
Waterbed technology
Technology for your comfort.


text:
Former NFL Coach Joe Gibbs Shares the Gospel at CIU
NFL Super Bowl Coach and NASCAR team owner Joe Gibbs says life is like a game – the biggest game of all – and you want to be on the winning side.
That was Gibbs' message to nearly 500 people at a lunch in the Moore Fitness Center on the campus of Columbia International University March 29. And Gibbs knows something about winning. Gibbs led the NFL's Washington Redskins to three Super Bowl Championships, and as a NASCAR team owner, Gibbs has won three NASCAR Cup Series Championships.
But Gibbs says if you want to win at the game of life, you need a good coach. He says he got on the side of the winning coach when he gave his life to Christ at age nine. He says it was the most important decision of his life – deciding whether he was "an accident" of evolution as explained to him in school, or created by God, as taught him by his family and pastor.
"A loving God – He made this world, he knit me together in my mother's womb, He made me special and different, and wanted me to have a personal relationship with Him," Gibbs explained.
Gibbs shared some of the victories and defeats in his sports career and family life. He admitted that some of the defeats were brought on by not following the Bible, including problems with diabetes and near bankruptcy. But he said no mess is too big for God.
"I don't care what your mess is, it can be a relationship, it can be an addiction, it can be finances," Gibbs said. "Nothing is too big for God, if we're on God's team."
As Gibbs compared life to a football game, he cautioned that God says there are only two teams in life.
"You either play with Him forever, or you play against Him forever," Gibbs said. "OK, think about that. He made us with a soul that will live forever."
He admitted that it takes courage to stand for Christ. But he said Christ also demonstrated courage.
"Think about this. Crucified on a cross. That takes courage. That's what Christ did," Gibbs said. "For you and for me."
The lunch was a benefit for the ministry "With Open Eyes," a group that meets the needs of the Church in Africa.
In the morning, Gibbs spoke to South Carolina prison inmates who are housed just across the Broad River from CIU.
The event garnered local and nationwide media coverage. Check it out at:
Photos of the event can be viewed on the CIU Flickr site.


text:
Like many of you, I enjoyed the hell out of AMC's new series "The Walking Dead" last season. I was extremely surprised they managed a gritty, gory tale of the zombie apocalypse that was paired with great acting and characters with personality.
"The Walking Dead" casting continues to pick up speed as Brandon Routh has been added to the cast list. So far, Routh will be starring alongside Andrew Lincoln and Jon Bernthal.
Emile Hirsch prepares to dip his toes into the genre pool as he signs on for "The Darkest Hour". The movie, an all new alien invasion thriller from Chris Gorak, begins filming in Russia this summer.
Dennis Iliadis, director of last year's "Last House on the Left" remake, has decided to undertake the daunting task of directing Keanu Reeves in "Jekyll", a modern retelling of the classic tale.
20th Century Fox is starting its prep-work for a surprise prequel, "Planet of the Apes: Caesar". Planned to be attached to the Tim Burton remake, the new film will be directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Somebody needs to check Lloyd Kauffman to make sure he hasn't dropped dead from sheer happiness. Dutch TV giant Endemol has acquired the rights to the Toxic Avenger. They have planned a staggering four films, an animated TV series and comic books as well as they prepare to relaunch Toxie as a new 'green' super hero for today's environmentally conscious world.
The big screen adaptation of video game hit Gears of War hits development snags. With the budget cuts and Len Wiseman leaving the team, the writers are now reshaping the film's plot for something more mundane.
AMC's "The Walking Dead" has found its leading man as they have cast Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes. Hailing from the UK, you may recognize Lincoln from his roles in "Love Actually" or the series "Strike Back". Or, you may be like me and never heard of him at all! That's not a bad thing though.


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September 2003
It was billed as a scientific gathering intended to "provide new insights into HIV disease that can lead to new research directions, help speed translational research and move advances into clinical practice." But in retrospect, the 2nd IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis and Treatment, held July 12-16, 2003, in Paris, said as much about the convergence of social and political concerns regarding the global HIV/AIDS pandemic as it did about the science.
Approximately 6,000 delegates from 120 countries filled the auditoriums, meeting rooms, and exhibit halls of Paris's Palais des Congrès, where they shared insights into the molecular biology of HIV, clinical data on current and emerging antiretroviral therapies, the epidemiology of HIV infection and HIV disease, and strategies for providing optimum care in parts of the world where resources are severely limited.
Summaries of the presentations regarding these drugs are presented below in alphabetical order by generic name. These drugs are also discussed later in this article in sections focusing on salvage therapy and industry-sponsored satellite symposia.
In a late-breaking oral presentation, Joseph G. Jemsek (Jemsek Clinic, Huntersville, North Carolina) reported data from the metabolic substudy of the BMS-034 trial, which compared ATV 400 mg once daily (QD) with efavirenz (EFV) 600 mg QD, each in combination with fixed dose zidovudine (ZDV) and lamivudine (3TC) twice daily (BID). The metabolic substudy looked at adipose tissue changes and metabolic parameter changes from baseline to 48 weeks. The researchers found that ATV and EFV produced comparable and proportional effects on body fat distribution at week 48. They also determined that the pattern of fat increase seen in patients was consistent with normal weight gain and not with patterns of central adiposity. In addition, whereas therapy with EFV raised total cholesterol, fasting LDL, HDL, and fasting triglycerides, ATV resulted in an 11 percent increase in HDL, but a 6 percent decrease in fasting triglycerides, and was essentially neutral in its effects on total cholesterol and fasting LDL.
Atazanavir's reputation was further enhanced by a study indicating that the lipid benefits can be seen in antiretroviral-experienced patients who are switched to ATV-containing regimens. That conclusion was reported in a late-breaking poster session. Kenneth Lichtenstein et al. (University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver) evaluated serum lipid levels of patients in antiretroviral failure who were then switched to regimens containing ATV or lopinavir (LPV) boosted with ritonavir (RTV) -- lopinavir/ritonavir (LPV/r). They looked at two open-label studies, one comparing ATV 400 mg QD to LPV/r BID plus two NRTIs, and the other comparing RTV-boosted ATV, ATV plus saquinavir (SQV) 1,200 mg QD and LPV/r BID each combined with tenofovir (TDF) and one NRTI. In the first study, they found that at 24 weeks, ATV lowered total cholesterol, fasting LDL and triglycerides by 2 percent, 6 percent and 2 percent from baseline, respectively. In contrast, LPV/r raised all three values 17 percent, 5 percent, and 55 percent, respectively.
In the second of the two studies looked at by Lichtenstein et al., both ATV combinations result in modest lowering of all lipid parameters, whereas LPV/r was associated with a slight rise in total cholesterol, and a 31 percent jump in triglycerides, although fasting LDL was slightly decreased among LPV/r users in this study. The researchers concluded that: "in patients who have experienced virologic failure on other PI-containing [highly active antiretroviral therapy] HAART regimens, a switch to a HAART regimen containing ATV is associated with significantly greater improvements in lipid levels compared to a switch to a HAART regimen containing LPV/r."
In a second study, a double blind multicenter comparison of FTC QD to stavudine (d4T) BID in treatment-naive HIV-infected patients, lead author Francois Raffi (CHU de Nantes, France) reported that once-daily FTC produced a higher rate of virologic success at 48 weeks (80 percent versus 62 percent for d4T), and that FTC continued to show "durable and superior virologic efficacy and tolerability" out to 60 weeks of follow-up.
Emtricitabine was also evaluated for its efficacy in patients with HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) co-infections. Raffi et al. conducted three multicenter, 48-week studies to assess the following triple-drug regimens:
They found that "FTC as a component of HAART produced potent suppression of HBV DNA in co-infected patients with HIV RNA suppression."
South African researchers also found that FTC provided significant efficacy when included in an antiretroviral regimen given to treatment-naive patients with high pre-treatment viral loads (>100,000 copies/ml).
In an analysis of virological response of T-20 in the TORO 1 and TORO 2 trials, Julio Montaner (University of British Columbia, Vancouver) said that the virologic response to T-20 plus optimized background (OB) therapy is directly related to the activity of the background regimen itself.
A different analysis of the TORO 1 and TORO 2 data by researchers from Stanford University and Roche Pharmaceuticals found the combination of T-20 and an OB regimen increased the time to virological failure and the mean change in HIV-1 viral load and CD4 cell counts compared to the background regimen alone. Enfuvirtide administered to the patients with genotypic sensitivity scores of 1 to 2 or 3 to 4 provides a greater than 2.3-fold predicted benefit in mean overall survival compared with those with GSS scores of 0. When given to patients with baseline CD4 cell counts >100 cells/mm3, T-20 was predicted to result in increased mean overall survival of 2.4 years, compared with 0.9 years when given to patients with CD4 counts <100 cells/mm3. The researchers found that "the clinical prognosis was more favorable with [T-20] plus OB than with OB alone ... [T-20] is expected to provide greater benefit in prognosis among patients in the higher [baseline] CD4 subgroup and those with remaining active antiretroviral therapy options (higher GSS)."
In a 24-week study of an NRTI-sparing regimen combining RTV-boosted LPV and EFV, researchers from the BIKS study reported that the combination reduced HIV RNA levels to <50 copies/mL in 76 percent of treated patients. Virologic success (<400 copies/mL) was achieved in 67 of 72 patients treated (93 percent). The combination of LPV/r and EFV showed a similar efficacy to classic NRTI-based regimens with "acceptable" tolerance. Most dropouts from the study for safety occurred in the early weeks of the study, and there was only one virologic failure.
In a study comparing an NRTI-sparing regimen of indinavir (IDV), RTV, and EFV with the same three drugs plus an NRTI (d4T), Michael Stek Jr. (Merck & Co.) reported that at 48 weeks the NRTI-sparing regimen was similar in both safety and efficacy to the NRTI-containing regimen.
But in a presentation that raised some eyebrows among conference delegates, Roy M. Gulick (Weill Medical College, Cornell University, New York) reported on results of the ACTG 5095 trial, comparing three PI-sparing antiretroviral regimens for the initial treatment of HIV. The trial compared Trizivir (ZDV/3TC/ABC) with Combivir (ZDV/3TC) plus EFV and with Trizivir plus EFV in more than 1,100 patients. The study was halted early due to the fact that the rates and time to failure among patients on the triple-NRTI arm was "demonstrably inferior to each of the two EFV-containing regimens," Gulick said. Patients in the triple-NRTI arm were offered the chance to continue in the study with either of the two EFV-containing regimens.
In another study presented later in the same session, a triple-NRTI combination of ABC, 3TC, plus TDF also failed to make the grade, according to Charles Farthing (AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Los Angeles). He reported that of 19 patients in the study, 11 (58 percent) had virologic failures, and only five had a virologic response. "These preliminary results raise concerns about potency and efficacy of the once-daily combination in naive patients. Until further data are available, this regimen, especially once-daily, should be avoided," Farthing concluded.
Martin Markowitz (Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York) reported that a combination of Trizivir and EFV for induction in antiretroviral-naive patients treated for 48 weeks produced viral RNA of <50 copies/mL in 61 percent of patients -- 90 percent in an intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis. There was a somewhat high dropout rate due to adverse events, however, with about 30 percent of patients quitting. Nonetheless, Markowitz said, the combination of Trizivir and EFV is a "compact and potent regimen that can effectively reduce viral RNA in patients with broad ranges of viral RNA and CD4 cell counts."
Each stage of virologic failure may require a different intervention strategy, said Schlomo Staszewski (J.W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany):
Robert L. Murphy (Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago) briefly discussed new and emerging antiretroviral agents as salvage therapy options, including T-20, ATV, and FTC.
"Atazanavir was developed for initial therapy but with a little RTV boosting it looks like it's highly effective for salvage therapy as well," Murphy said. He pointed to ATV's potency, once-daily dosing, unique resistance profile, and good lipid profile versus a standard PI regimen (RTV-boosted LPV). He also touched on new drugs in development, including DPC 817 (an NNRTI), and T-1249 (a fusion inhibitor that is a follow-up to T-20). One old drug -- MIV-310 (FLT) a thymidine analog that was abandoned due to toxicity -- is being looked at in lower doses in new studies, which suggest that it may be effective in treating multi-drug resistant strains, at least in vitro, Murphy said.
Among emerging drug classes, Murphy mentioned integrase inhibitors, d-amino acid peptides, and TAT-TAR antagonists.
In a study comparing unboosted ATV with LPV/r in combination with two NRTIs in PI-experienced patients in virological failure, Calvin Cohen (Community Research Initiative of New England, Boston) reported that there were "robust increases" in CD4 cell counts and significant declines in HIV RNA in both treatment groups. Although the non-boosted ATV showed slightly less antiviral efficacy than LPV/r, ATV had a significantly more favorable lipid profile. He said that ATV might be a good therapeutic option for antiretroviral-experienced patients in whom lipid management is a priority. In a discussion at the end of the forum, he also suggested that boosting ATV with 100 mg RTV could make ATV-based regimens even more effective.
That last conclusion seems to have been borne out by a study pitting ATV/r or ATV in combination with SQV against LPV/r in combination with TDF, reported by Bonaventura Clotet (Retrovirology Laboratory and HIV Unit, Hospital Universitari Germans Trias I Pujol, Barcelona). In an interim analysis of the BMS AI424-045 study, the researchers found that the ATV/r regimen was comparable to LPV/r at viral load reduction. In contrast, the ATV-SQV combination was less effective than either of the two boosted regimens. ATV with either RTV or SQV was safe and well tolerated, and had a better lipid profile than LPV/r. ATV was associated with elevated bilirubin levels and a small number of cases of clinical jaundice, but these were not serious and did not lead to patient dropout. The LPV/r combination was associated with more frequent diarrhea.
The session also contained results of a subgroup analysis of the CPCRA 064 trial, which examined whether structured treatment interruption could benefit patients with advanced treatment failure. The analysis confirmed earlier results suggesting that treatment interruption does not confer any immunological or virological benefit, said Jody Lawrence (University of California, San Francisco).
Noting that patients must take 90 to 95 percent of their prescribed antiretroviral doses daily to optimize virologic suppression, di Peri suggested that anything that can be done to reduce pill burden and simplify dosing regimens would likely enhance compliance.
Kathleen Squires (University of Southern California, Los Angeles) described the use of ATV in PI-naive patients, noting that the drug appears to be lipid neutral: "There is no negative impact in important metabolic parameters, including cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and glucose," according to Squires. In a study comparing ATV with EFV, both in combination with ZDV and 3TC, the drugs were comparably effective and had similar lipid profiles. ATV was generally safe and well tolerated, with adverse events similar to those seen with EFV.
A similar experience was seen by Clotet, who reported that in a study of ATV in treatment-experienced patients who had failed at least two antiretroviral regimens (BMS-045), RTV-boosted ATV was comparably effective to RTV-boosted LPV, with undetectable viral loads (<400 copies/mL) occurring in 64 percent and 62 percent of patients, respectively. Both regimens were well tolerated, although diarrhea occurred three times more frequently with LPV/r than with ATV/r.
"What do we need a new PI for, anyway?" asked Cohen, tongue in cheek. He said that ATV "addresses and improves on several issues we're seeing in the current standard of care." The drug has established efficacy, a favorable lipid profile (in which lipid decreases are significant and sustained at more than two years), and a distinct resistance profile. Cohen noted that in treatment-naive patients resistance is infrequent, and when it does occur, it has always been the 150L mutation, which does not confer cross-resistance to other PIs and has been associated with increased in vitro sensitivity to other PIs.
Cohen said that ATV has similar efficacy to standard-of-care regimens containing EFV in treatment-naive patients, as demonstrated by similar mean declines in baseline HIV RNA levels at 48 weeks. In addition, ATV-containing regimens were associated with significantly greater increases in CD4 cell counts, he said. ATV-based therapy also maintained or improved virologic response in treatment-experienced patients switched. With RTV boosting at the 300 mg QD dosing level, ATV-based regimens were comparably efficacious to standard-of-care regimens containing LPV/r in patients with prior PI failure.
The clinical portion of the program focused on adverse events and new insights into therapy.
Although anti-HIV therapy is likely to result in an excess risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), the benefits of antiretroviral therapy clearly outweigh any possible risk, according to Jens D. Lundgren (Hvidovre University Hospital, Copenhagen). He noted, however, that most evidence to date for possible cardiovascular effects of antiretroviral therapies come from cohort studies, which by definition cannot define causality. Lundgren recommended cardiovascular risk assessment for all patients on antiretroviral therapy, both as a means of identifying those at risk and as a teaching tool. He said that a reasonable strategy for medical intervention might be when an individual's 10-year risk for CHD is greater than 10 percent. Interventions may include diet, exercise, and smoking cessation.
Joep MA Lange, representing the International Antiviral Therapy Evaluation Center (IATEC), reported on a study comparing antiretroviral regimens based on either NVP (QD or BID) or EFV or a combination (the 2NN study). The study showed that the dual NNRTI regimen was significantly less effective than either of the single NNRTI regimens, primarily due to toxicity-related dropouts. The study found that antiretroviral regimens based on either NVP or EFV had comparable immunological and virological efficacy. In terms of safety, there was a trend toward more liver enzyme elevation and skin rashes in NVP-treated patients, with EFV accounting for significantly more psychiatric and central nervous system (CNS) adverse events. Lange said that co-administration of NVP and EFV is not recommended due to safety concerns.
Changes in serum lipid profiles associated with PI-based antiretroviral regimens are greater than can be explained by the "return-to-normal" phenomenon associated with effective HIV suppression, according to Mark van der Valk (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands). NNRTI-based regimens, in contrast, are associated with significant rises in HDL, and smaller increases in LDL and triglcyerides, van der Valk said. He suggested that although antiviral efficacy is the primary concern, it might be appropriate to initiate or switch to NNRTI-based regimens in the treatment of patients with pre-existing cardiovascular risk factors.
Hepatotoxicity of antiretroviral regimens is a serious issue, but it may be confounded by issues such as co-infection with hepatitis B or C, use of other drugs, alcohol, or even over-the-counter herbal preparations, said Marion Peters (University of California, San Francisco). Peters said the majority of hepatotoxicity cases are mild and asymptomatic. "HIV patients have other reasons for abnormal liver tests," Peters said.
The session was concluded by Daniel R. Kuritzkes (Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston), who discussed current experience with RTV-boosted TPV. The drug is a non-peptide inhibitor of HIV-1 protease that has shown activity against viral isolates resistant to currently approved PI. In preliminary studies of patients failing a first PI, TPV/r achieved a median reduction in viral load comparable to RTV-boosted SQV. More recently, the BI 1182.52 study looked at TPV/r in three dose combinations in patients infected with multiple PI-resistant HIV. At two weeks, median change in viral load was -0.9 log10 copies/mL for a dose of TPV 500 mg plus RTV 100 mg; -1.0 log10 copies/mL for a 500 mg/200 mg dose; and -1.2 log10 copies/mL for a 750 mg/200 mg dose. Grade 3 or 4 adverse events trended toward more frequent with the higher dose ranges, and there was substantial loss of virologic response in patients with three or more mutations. Based on the results, Phase III trials using the TPV 500 mg plus RTV 200 mg dose are currently underway.
With the advent of more potent antiretroviral therapy, the focus is turning from management of inevitable resistance to selection of therapeutic regimens that prevent failure in the first place, Gallant said. Although cross-trial comparisons are fraught with difficulties, a meta-analysis comparing antiretroviral trials suggested that newer regimens using more potent agents in more convenient and tolerable regimens can result in a greater number of participants achieving virologic suppression compared with earlier trials, Gallant noted.
Gallant said that the pendulum is swinging back toward the concept of "hit early and hit hard" to achieve maximum viral suppression at the earliest opportunity. He cited results from Study 720 of LPV/r indicating that a high percentage of patients had undetectable viral loads at four years. In a second trial (Study 863), there were no primary or active site mutations in HIV among 51 patients with a known genotype who received RTV-boosted LPV for up to 96 weeks; in contrast, 44 of 96 patients (46 percent) of those receiving nelfinavir (NLF) had mutations.
Kuritzkes discussed the concept of "viral fitness" -- the ability of a virus to replicate in a given environment, which is distinct from -- but interrelated with -- viral replication capacity and virulence. The overall potency of a regimen is important for determining rates of resistance, he explained, but it appears the combination of a genetic barrier to high-level resistance seen with PIs and the pharmacologic barriers thrown up by RTV boosting make patients on RTV-boosted PI regimens less likely to fail therapy than those on other antiretroviral regimens.
Keeping patients on antiretroviral regimens after they begin to experience significant side effects is a major challenge to continued success, said José R. Arribas (La Paz Hospital, Madrid). Arribas emphasized that survival benefits of antiretroviral therapy outweigh the modest increase in cardiovascular risk seen in some studies.
When it comes to antiretroviral therapy, more drugs may not necessarily be better, noted Mark Nelson (Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London). He pointed to the so-called Treasure Coast cohort of 15 patients, 11 with prior PI exposure, who were switched to monotherapy with LPV/r because of either toxicity or virologic failure. Of this cohort, 12 patients had a viral load of less than 400 copies/mL, and nine of the 12 achieved a viral load of <50 copies/mL with a median of 34 weeks therapy.
The CATCH study looked at reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease sequence information from 1,633 newly diagnosed, recently and chronically infected patients from 17 European countries. The researchers looked at the prevalence of resistance from 1997 to 2002.
The researchers found that prevalence of primary drug resistance among people in Europe who are newly diagnosed with HIV is about 10 percent. The prevalence of resistance among infections with viral subtype B -- the type most prevalent in Europe during the study period of 1996 to 2002 -- was about four times higher than in non-B subtypes, which are more commonly found in Africa, noted David van de Vijver (University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands), who presented the study. Transmission of drug-resistant non-type-B strains in Europe is also occurring, he noted.
Speaking at a press briefing before the session, Lange said that the study shows that when it comes to new infections with drug-resistant HIV strains, "we're never going to be able to prevent it from happening." Lange went on to say that, "the idea that we should not give HAART to people in developing countries to prevent the emergence of resistance is ridiculous. Nobody is asking us to stop giving drugs to patients in the United States and Europe."
Overall, the researchers found that the following prevalence of any major resistance-related mutation during the study period was 11.6 percent. Resistance to at least one NRTI was 9.2 percent, while infections resistant to any NNRTI was 2.7 percent. Resistance to a PI was detected in 2.3 percent of all infections, and resistance to at least two antiretroviral drug classes was 1.8 percent.
The CATCH study researchers recommend that because of the high prevalence of resistance, baseline sequencing should be considered in newly diagnosed patients who became infected in Europe.
Calling drug resistance "the inevitable consequence of our failure to fully suppress the virus," Kurtizkes noted that the benefits of continued drug therapy on morbidity and mortality of infection persist despite the emergence of drug resistance, and that the benefits continue until the highest levels of viral drug resistance are reached. He said that resistance testing is recommended in acute or recent HIV infections, before initiation of antiretroviral therapy in established HIV infections, following first regimen or multiple regimen failure, and in pregnancy if the mother has detectable plasma levels of HIV-1 RNA.
Boehringer Ingelheim's Mayers discussed results from the BI 1182.52 study looking at the inhibitory quotient (IQ) of RTV-boosted TPV. The IQ, which is the ratio of trough plasma concentration of a drug to the protein-adjusted viral IC50, is a good measure of the potential therapeutic margin of antiretroviral therapies. In a trial comparing three doses of TPV/r twice daily in patients with triple antiretroviral drug class experience, the IQ of TPV/r compared favorably with IQ data for other PIs given to treatment-naive patients. This finding "suggests that TPV/r may provide antiviral activity in the majority of highly treatment-experienced HIV-positive patients," he said.
In other news, researchers from the ERA trial comparing phenotypic resistance testing added to genotypic resistance versus genotypic testing alone, found that testers could probably save money by skipping the phenotypic part. The trial result showed no significant differences in terms of virologic and immunologic response between therapy guided by genotype testing alone or genotype-plus-phenotype. The researchers also found that access to phenotypic resistance testing did not significantly alter the composition of new drug regimens.
Means for coping with drug resistance and adverse events in HIV-1 were also the subject of a separate oral abstracts session on resistance and pharmacology.
Anders Malmsten (Uppsala University, Sweden) reported on a simple assay that combines viral load and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing by measuring virion-associated reverse transcriptase activity. The assay, which can detect activity down to a few thousand particles, correlates well with a standard, commercially available viral load assay, Malmsten said. He noted that the assay might be helpful for managing drug therapy in regions where healthcare resources are limited.
Such an assay could be of benefit in countries such as Cameroon, where a study monitoring the prevalence of antiretroviral-resistant HIV-1 strains in patients receiving either antiretroviral therapy or single-dose NVP to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmission found a high rate of mutations in treated patients. In an analysis of PCR-amplified samples, researchers from Hopital du Jour HCY, BP81 in Yaoundé, Cameroon, and other African colleagues found resistance mutations in 19 of 34 samples, including high-level resistance to three antiretroviral classes in some patients. They concluded that antiretroviral therapy guidelines and biological monitoring must be implemented in Africa to prevent rapid selection of resistance.
Circumstances are considerably different in France, where a study of genotypic drug resistance mutations in 2001 to 2002 showed no significant changes in frequency of resistant virus from 1996 to 2000. The researchers -- from ANRS and the PRIM, INTERPRIM, and PRIMSTOP study groups -- did find an increasing trend in the frequency of non-B subtype strains, from 19 percent in 1999 to 2000 to 24 percent in 2001 to 2002.
Another French study looked at the efficacy of an RTV-boosted amprenavir (APV) combination in PI-experienced (but APV-naive) patients in virological failure and found that treatment with APV 600 mg plus RTV 100 mg led to a median viral load decrease of -1.32 log by week 12, and -1.46 by week 24.
In a study that spanned the globe from Switzerland, to Thailand, to Australia, researchers found that in a planned treatment interruption strategy of one week on, one week off, 19 of 36 (53 percent) of evaluable patients had two successive HIV RNA concentrations above 500 copies/mL at the end of the week off therapy, and were classified as virologic failures. This arm of the study was halted.
Better results were seen in a study of the use of antiretroviral prophylaxis to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child during breast-feeding (the SIMBA study). Joseph Vyankandondera (Centre Hospitalier de Kigali, Kigali, Rwanda) reported that in a trial of 397 infants of HIV-positive women in Uganda and Rwanda, a combination of antiretroviral prophylaxis (with either NVP or 3TC) and counseling to the mothers on breastfeeding practices kept late postnatal transmission of infection (out to six months) to 1.1 percent of infants receiving 3TC, and just 0.6 percent of those receiving NVP.
A rather different study out of the Hospital La Paz in Madrid looked at the use of ambulatory EEG and therapeutic drug monitoring of patients on EFV who experience sleep abnormalities. The researchers found a dose-related correlation, with sleep problems tending to occur at plasma drug levels of about 4 ng/l or higher. They found that dose adjustment appeared to resolve or ameliorate problems in most patients.
Protease inhibitors and NRTIs can exert negative effects on various organ systems, including the liver, muscle, pancreas, bone and CNS, said Jacqueline Capeau (Hôpital Ste. Antoine, Paris). She noted that lipodystrophy and metabolic changes might be linked to hepatotoxicity and alteration of glucose metabolism mechanisms. Drug effects may also be influenced by co-infection with hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus.
Morris Schambelan (University of California, San Francisco) discussed possible approaches to treating lipodystrophy and metabolic changes using thiazolidinediones. He cited two studies looking at the use of rosiglitazone 8 mg/day (one for 12 weeks and the other for 24 weeks), in which use of the drugs significantly resulted in improved insulin resistance profiles, decreased visceral adipose tissue, and increased subcutaneous abdominal tissue. He also briefly described pilot studies using recombinant humanized leptin to treat acquired generalized lipodystrophy. In one case, administration of leptin to a woman with a massively steatotic liver caused a loss of about 2 kg of intrahepatic fat.
In an in vitro study, Capeau et al. looked at the effects of five NRTIs on adipose cell differentiation, insulin sensitivity, and cell survival. They found that three of the NRTIs tested (ABC, ddI, and 3TC) did not modify adipose cell functions. In contrast, d4T and ZDV decreased cell lipid content and mildly increased apoptosis and ZDV also induced insulin resistance. They conclude that the thymidine analogues, but not the other NRTIs, exerted adverse effects in cultured adipocytes.
Researchers from the Laboratory for AIDS Virus Research at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York looked at factors that might affect bone formation or retention in people with HIV who are both treatment-naive and antiretroviral-experienced. They compared the expression and biological activity of the primary cytokine responsible for osteoclast differentiation and bone resorption, receptor activator of nuclear factor kB ligand (RANKL). They found upregulation of the cytokine, and that pharmacologic levels of RTV and SQV, which have linked to osteopenia alter RANKL activity. In contrast, IDV had no effect.
Ulrich Walker et al. (Medizinische Universitäsklinik, Freiburg, Germany) investigated whether mitochondrial DNA is depleted in the livers of people receiving NRTIs. They found that current treatment with ddI, d4T, or ddC is associated with decreased mitochondrial DNA in the liver without regard to liver cirrhosis or inflammation.
Mitochondrial toxicity was also seen in a study by researchers from Hôpital Avicenne, Université Paris-Nord, Bobigny, France, who looked at patients with long-term exposure to NRTIs. They found that chronic exposure to NRTIs produced a loss of responsiveness of capsaicin-sensitive nociceptors, suggesting that the drugs may produce alterations in small peripheral nerve fibers that may be linked to mitochondrial toxicity.
"Forget about 'fat redistribution,' because it ain't moving," said Charles M. van der Horst (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill).
The FRAM study was a cross-sectional population-based study looking at lipid, metabolic, and adipose tissue changes in people who are HIV positive and in controls (HIV-negative individuals enrolled in the CARDIA study). The researchers had "no a priori assumption of what constitutes the HIV lipodystrophy syndrome," said co-principal investigator Carl Grunfeld (University of California, San Francisco). The results presented here did not include data on the effects of drug therapy; those data will be presented at a later meeting, the researchers said.
Self-reports of fat loss among both men and women in the study correlated closely with objective measures, a fact that several researchers reported to be "highly reassuring."
Among the most interesting study findings was that in HIV-positive men and women central lipohypertrophy was not associated with peripheral lipoatrophy, although peripheral and central lipoatrophy in the same individual were associated, said Michael Saag (University of Alabama, Birmingham). "There's no evidence that people who gained weight in the belly lost weight in the periphery," Saag remarked.
Among men, there was significantly greater peripheral fat loss in all body areas in those who were HIV positive versus controls. Men with HIV also reported, and exams confirmed, less central fat gain.
In an analysis of data on women enrolled in the study, the researchers found an inverse association between central lipohypertrophy and peripheral lipoatrophy. In general, women who were HIV positive experienced little overall change in body fat distribution, said Abby Shevitz (Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston).
In both men and women, HIV positivity was associated with either significant changes or trends toward decline in both LDL and HDL cholesterol, and increase in triglycerides, as well as unfavorable changes in insulin and glucose parameters, suggesting that HIV infection increases risk of cardiovascular problems, said Judith Currier (University of California, Los Angeles).
Mugyenyi said that the patients who present to the JCRC tend to come in with advanced, late-stage disease, noting that about half of all patients present with CD4 cell counts below 100 cells/mm3 at first admission. Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death, accounting for 40 percent of all mortality at the center, he said. Other common opportunistic infections include all the usual suspects, including toxoplasmosis, Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP), and cryptococcosis, all of which are almost uniformly fatal. He pointed out that the average life expectancy is 87 years in Japan versus 33 years in Zambia.
Mugyenyi also spoke of a cruel irony or "evil convocation" resulting from the success of Uganda's HIV-prevention efforts: there is decreased HIV prevalence, but increased incidence of both AIDS and opportunistic infections.
The good news, said Mugyenyi, is that antiretroviral therapy reduces the incidence of tuberculosis by about 80 percent in HIV-positive people, and that antiretroviral therapy is the ideal form of prophylaxis for opportunistic infections. He compared the costs of various forms of therapy for two weeks of therapy for opportunistic infections, noting that treatment of PCP and toxoplasmosis infection cost more than US$100, tuberculosis therapy costs about US$40 for the same period, but antiretroviral therapy, using generic drugs, costs only US$12.
In the same session, Kevin DeCock (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Nairobi) reported that there are 8 million new cases of tuberculosis per year, and 1 million deaths. In addition, there are 11.4 million people with HIV/tuberculosis co-infection, two thirds of whom are in sub-Saharan Africa.
DeCock said that most cases of tuberculosis occur in HIV-positive patients, but are transmitted primarily from those who are HIV-negative. He agreed with Mugyenyi that antiretroviral therapy is the most effective means of tuberculosis prevention and treatment in the developing world, pointing out that it reduces the incidence of the disease by about 80 percent in HIV-positive patients, although they still remain at higher risk than those who are not infected.
He cautioned, however, against half measures, saying that "a bad tuberculosis program is worse than no program at all," and that widespread, poorly implemented antiretroviral therapy can do more harm than good.
Gallo spoke of three now-absurd notions that prevailed in the medical community in the 1970s:
He noted that in the 1970s, US medical schools closed their Departments of Microbiology, and that the then-named US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) was "threatened with reduction or closure" in the then-common belief that major infectious diseases had been relegated to the medical history books.
Later in the program, Montagnier called for efforts to ensure access to medications in the developing world, as well as more coordinated surveillance, and, it goes without saying, research into new therapies and preventive vaccines.
The former President of South Africa and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, looked frail as he was helped to the podium, leaning on a cane and on the arms of aides. Yet, as he spoke, his strength and passion were as great as they have ever been.
Mandela cited United Nations estimates that:
"These numbers are staggering -- in fact incomprehensible," Mandela said. "By all accounts we are dealing with the greatest health crisis in human history. By all measures we have failed in our quest to contain and treat this scourge. And the disparity between its impact in the developed world and the developing world is a shocking reality that we cannot hide from."
Noting the devastating toll that AIDS has taken on impoverished nations, Mandela challenged the audience of scientists, clinicians, policy-makers and activists to "act for the sake of the world."
"Why have we failed? What are we going to do? In the end it boils down to one inescapable fact -- we have failed to translate our scientific progress into action where it is most needed -- in the communities of the developing world, the poorest regions of the globe. This is a global injustice [that] cannot be tolerated. It is a travesty of human rights on a global scale."
He called for dramatic expansion of prevention programs and access to treatment throughout the developing world. Noting the early promise of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Mandela mentioned the US$1 billion the United States set aside for the fund. "We would like it to be more, but we believe that this is a floor from which to start," Mandela commented. He also praised French President Jacques Chirac for committing France to a tripling of its investment in the fund, and called on the leaders of other European nations to substantially increase funding.
Mandela did not spare criticism for the leaders of nations at the center of the pandemic: "With regard to delivering effective HIV/AIDS responses on the ground, we must sadly point out that many of the countries that are most highly affected by HIV/AIDS have not done nearly enough to fight the epidemic -- especially in sub-Saharan Africa. This is completely unacceptable. It too is a travesty of human rights. Yes, these countries are poor, but we know they have the capacity to do more -- much more."
However, Mandela did single out Botswana, Senegal, and Uganda as exemplars. "These are countries that have demonstrated leadership from the very top and have made remarkable progress in both prevention and care," he said, noting that in Botswana, a relative latecomer to active intervention, more than 6,000 people are now receiving antiretroviral therapy.
He ended his remarks with an expression of "our very great concern about India, China, and Russia, which have rapidly evolving epidemics. If they follow the trends of Africa, the results will be calamitous, not only for the countries concerned, but for the whole world."
Fauci reviewed the rapid scientific progress in the field, including:
Challenges for the foreseeable future, Fauci said, include the development of an effective vaccine, based not solely on traditional antibody strategies, but on a combination of antibody-based and CD8-based approaches. "A safe and effective vaccine is absolutely critical and it is probably the most important and difficult scientific challenge in AIDS research," he said.
Fauci also acknowledged the role that activists played, especially in the early years of the epidemic, in advancing the cause of HIV/AIDS research and treatment. "It was activism that demanded that those who were infected with HIV, or who were at risk of infection, play a role in determining the nature of clinical trials and the access to drugs which could only be accessed through clinical trials, and it was more than a decade and a half ago that we decided to address that problem. We brought the activist to the table, and I can tell you from personal experience how the clinical trials process and the process of access is much the better for it," he said.
Chirac, whose speech was briefly interrupted by demonstrators demanding increased funding for treatment, spoke of the devastating social and economic impacts of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and praised the efforts of the medical communities, non-governmental organizations, and support groups who serve on the front lines of the crisis.
He called for increased coordinated global efforts to support research and treatment. "I wish, today, to issue a solemn appeal: an appeal to governments of donor countries all over the world to show more generosity, despite budgetary difficulties. This is not an act of charity; it is an act of shared responsibility in standing up to a global scourge. An appeal to the developing and transition countries to set the fight against AIDS as a national priority. An appeal to businesses, well-represented here, to do even more."
Chirac also warned against complacency: "In the developed countries the advent of multiple therapies and a certain weariness of complying with the discipline of prevention have prompted a renewed trend toward risky behavior. The critical importance of responsibility -- both collective and individual -- in dealing with this disease cannot be overstated."
Neil Osterweil is a medical writer with Osterweil & Baron Communications in Holliston, Massachusetts.
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Now that you are stuffed with Turkey Day dinner, you're probably looking for ways to get rid of some of those leftovers.
If you're looking for a healthy recipe, Eatingwell.com has some suggestions. The Turkey Squash Soup sounded the tastiest to me. You can find other leftover recipes on their website.
Turkey Squash Soup
- 2 teaspoons canola oil
- 2 leeks, trimmed, chopped and rinsed
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 1 1/2 pounds butternut squash, (1 small to medium), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh thyme, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 pound turkey cutlets, cut into 1/2-by-2-inch strips
- 2 cups frozen corn kernels
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add leeks and bell pepper; cook, stirring often, until the vegetables begin to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Stir in broth, squash, thyme and cumin; cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add turkey and corn; return to a simmer and cook until the turkey is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes. Add lime juice and crushed red pepper. Season with salt and pepper.
Per serving: 231 calories; 3 g fat ( 0 g sat , 1 g mono ); 30 mg cholesterol; 31 g carbohydrates; 0 g added sugars; 24 g protein; 6 g fiber; 550 mg sodium; 692 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (260% daily value), Vitamin C (120% dv), Folate (21% dv), Iron (20% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 1 1/2
Photo courtesy of cookingwell.com


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NEW YORK (AP) — The yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho" is about to stalk an off-Broadway stage.
Second Stage Theatre said Monday it will stage the musical based on Bret Easton Ellis's 1991 Manhattan-based novel starting in February 2015. No casting was announced.
The book for the stage version was written by playwright Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and is directed by Rupert Goold. Duncan Sheik has penned music and lyrics for more than a dozen original songs, including "You Are What You Wear."
Sheik, who had the 1996 smash-hit single "Barely Breathing" and is the songwriter of the Tony Award-winning musical "Spring Awakening," turned to Kickstarter to give the show a $150,000 infusion. Almeida Theatre in London staged the world premiere in December.
The show also uses real songs from the era, including one by Tears for Fears, New Order and Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight." Huey Lewis and the News' "Hip to be Square" is the subject of an enthusiastic ode by Bateman.
The book's graphic violence provoked extreme reactions when it was published and "American Psycho" was adapted for the screen by Mary Harron in 2000, with Christian Bale in the lead role. The new adapter, Aguirre-Sacasa, worked on the TV series "Glee" and Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark."
In London, Matt Smith, best known as the galaxy-hoping hero of the BBC sci-fi series "Doctor Who," played Bateman.
Online: http://www.2ST.com


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Engineering with a mission: 100 years
We, robots
Adventures with the Robotics Systems Laboratory by land, sea, and sky. And in orbit.
On the third floor of the Bannan Engineering building, an undergrad facing several giant screens monitors a NASA satellite that's circling the globe. Down the hall, his classmates are designing and building wheeled, flying, and marine robots, which a master's degree engineer will experiment with for her thesis. A few steps away, Ph.D. candidates working on their dissertations under professor Chris Kitts develop advanced software and control techniques, allowing multiple robots to operate autonomously in complex formations.
"We've got everything up here," Kitts says, "from research desks to a more traditional lab room with soldering irons and electronics all over the place. Up on the roof is our tracking antenna for the spacecraft." The Robotics Systems Laboratory (RSL) even includes a robot graveyard students use to "cannibalize older robots for parts."
In the RSL, the coolness factor is never in short supply. Nor is a sense of how this work might apply: The National Academy of Engineering recently recognized Santa Clara's field robotics program as one of the top "real-world" engineering programs in the nation.
A few projects the robotics teams are running these days: a robotic boat called SeaWasp, a handful of large underwater robots, and a flotilla of robot kayaks—not to mention wheeled robots, robot arms, and a new squadron of quadrotors four-bladed helicopters.
Kitts credits the breadth and depth of the program to a lot of mentoring by folks in the Silicon Valley aerospace community—NASA Ames, Lockheed-Martin, and others—plus grants, contracts, and collaborative projects. Students can take equipment into the corporate setting and put it through tests. "But the design engineering all happens at Santa Clara," Kitts says.
Most projects are not designated undergrad or graduate student only. Undergraduates might design, build, and learn how to operate a system. Graduate students help with the more sophisticated design challenges, and they also use the robots as experimental platforms to demonstrate their own research techniques.
Up the road at the NASA Ames center at Moffett Field, Kitts secured an unused warehouse (a former home and garden center, to be precise) with a large shop floor and high ceilings that's ideal for projects like flying those quadrotors around in formations that require complex autopilot software. Wheeled rovers zip around the shop floor, undergoing tests with tracking systems that allow students to perform controlled experiments. And the tethers of the underwater robots—a thousand feet long—can be unrolled and inspected.
SeaWasp and the robot kayaks
|Deep blue: The Triton robot explores the lakebed of Tahoe with a little help from Giovanni Minelli '06, M.S. '11. Photo by Charles Barry
Then there's Lake Tahoe. Every May, Kitts and the SeaWasp team head for the lovely alpine lake for some deepwater robotic research. Partnering with geologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Nevada-Reno, students map Tahoe's underwater geology, photograph fault lines and features, and collect samples. The geologists bring questions—perhaps about volcanic flows and earthquakes in the distant past; Kitts brings robots and operator know-how to collect the data that answers these questions.
The SeaWasp vehicle automatically sails back and forth throughout a section of the lake where the geologists hope to see something. The robot maps lake bed topography to a half meter, revealing any major geologic features. "Afterward, the geologists look at the map and say 'Oh, there—that looks interesting. Let's go look at that,' then we'll use an underwater robot to take a look," Kitts says. Discoveries in recent years have included evidence of an earthquake and landslide-induced tsunami within Lake Tahoe.
The latest RSL project has been to "robotify" kayaks. Student teams acquire a standard kayak hull, affix a trolling motor like the kind you might buy for a rowboat, then add electronics, computers, and the necessary communications equipment.
Repeat a few times, and you've got a robotic kayak flotilla—which also ties in with Kitts' research on multi-robot systems: finding ways to get robots to work together to accomplish tasks more precisely or more cost-effectively. "There are some things that you don't see robots doing at all that this new technology will enable," Kitts says. "We have a new technique that allows us to do cost-effective environmental sensing. We can use a group of robots to rapidly 'sniff out' the high or low point of a pollutant."
The practical implications for robot kayaks are manifold. Beyond tracking problems such as oil spills, they can follow algal blooms and find oxygen-depleted regions caused by fertilizer runoff—which lead to "dead" regions of estuaries such as those in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nitrogen or oxygen sensors on the kayaks would allow the fleet to drive straight to a source instead of mapping the whole area to find the highest concentration of a contaminant. Deployed quickly enough, they could pinpoint the problem and even help prevent a massive die-off of marine life.
"It all comes back to this idea of getting more than one robot to work together," Kitts says. "The application for this technology is ultimately to help people or the environment—that's the direction we try to go with a lot of our projects."
Rogue robot!
What happens when robots go bad? "We joke that we build a lot of systems that have failures," Kitts says, "which is great, since fault diagnosis is one of our research areas!"
Multiple robots offer redundancy in case something goes wrong. But low-level safety precautions are built in as well. If the team loses the wireless link to a kayak that's traveled out of range, the robot will turn off its motors automatically. "With a wheeled robot, it just stops," Kitts explains. "It's not gonna go anywhere. But with a kayak, it'll stop, but the wind may still blow it away or the current may take it. We always bring an extra kayak along so that we can go out and manually retrieve something and bring it back."
As with the kayaks, the quadrotor robot helicopters require a software architecture that allows them to operate cooperatively.
"You can command things like, 'I want this cluster of robots to go over here,'" Kitts says. "As an example, we have the Frisbee maneuver, which is: Get in a circle, go in that direction, and spin while you do it. From an individual robot point of view, it's a very complicated maneuver. But the technique we have allows you to say that very simply, and then the automated control system takes care of all the details."
This past year has seen increasing talk (and concern about) flying drones being deployed domestically in the United States. While the RSL began experimenting with large radio-controlled planes some years back, that program has been mothballed since the Federal Aviation Administration put a moratorium on autopiloted planes without a human in the loop. But by 2015, the FAA is expected to have guidelines for flying autopiloted aerial vehicles.
Meanwhile, the formations of quadrotors can be flown indoors and out at NASA Ames. When the FAA issues its new guidelines, expect a proliferation of those machines. And when that time comes, Kitts and the RSL want to be ready—with all systems go.
Fall 2012
Table of contents
Engineering with a Mission
The engineering work being done today was the stuff of imagination when the School of Engineering started a century ago. Where do we go from here?
We, robots
Adventures with the Robotics Systems Laboratory by land, sea, and sky. And in orbit.
Can you stand the heat?
It took months of space flight for the Curiosity rover to reach Mars. And, to survive the heat of entry, it took a shield that a team led by Robin Beck '77 designed.
Mission Matters
A grand new gateway
Step inside the Patricia A. and Stephen C. Schott Admission and Enrollment Services Building.
A rivalry like no other
It's only a game, right? Not if we're talking soccer and USA vs. Mexico.
Player of the year
Computer engineering major Katie Le '14 becomes the first Bronco to battle in the NCAA women's singles tourney.


text: UPDATED: Two local men killed in separate ATV crashes in North Country Staff Report September 21. 2013 8:28PM Two people, one of them a 79-year-old man, were killed in separate all-terrain vehicle crashes in Dixville and in Colebrook over the weekend, while a Massachusetts teen was seriously hurt in a dirt bike accident in Brentwood. Clifton Scott, 79, of Stewartstown was killed after his off-highway recreational vehicle rolled off a downhill turn on the Dixville Peaks Trail in Dixville on Saturday afternoon. Rescue workers attempted life-saving measures. Police said Scott was wearing a helmet. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor. Just over an hour earlier, David Howe, 40, of Colebrook was killed when his ATV rolled over on South Hill Road. That crash is under investigation by Colebrook police. Colebrook Fire and Rescue workers and 45th Parallel EMS crews responded to both accidents. A Wakefield, Mass., teen was transported to Beth Israel Hospital in Boston Saturday evening suffering from serious injuries after hitting a tree in Brentwood with his dirt bike. He was thrown from the vehicle at 5:20 p.m. The accident occurred on a private course in the woods off Route 125 in Brentwood. According to New Hampshire Fish and Game officials, the teen was out riding with two of his friends. The Brentwood ambulance, police and fire departments responded. Conservation officers are investigating the cause of the crash, but early indications are that alcohol was not a factor. The teen was wearing a helmet and protective goggles. Outdoors Public Safety


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text:
ANDERSON, SC (WYFF) - The Anderson Police Department confirmed that Sunday night one of its officers was involved in a crash that left a patrol car overturned.
According to Anderson police, the officer was driving on River Street around 6:00 p.m., when an unknown vehicle turned into the roadway, in front of the officer.
Investigators said the officer swerved to miss the car, hit a guide wire and flipped.
The other driver did not stay at the scene of the crash.
The police officer driving the car at the time of the crash was taken to AnMed Health, with non-serious injuries.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol continues to investigate the crash.
Copyright 2013 WYFF. All rights reserved.


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Assessment of the Molecular Diagnostic Market for 38 NA Tests in Italy, 2011
Feb 21, 2013, 02:48 EST
NEW YORK, Feb. 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:
Assessment of the Molecular Diagnostic Market for 38 NA Tests in Italy, 2011
Update of the 2009 started comprehensive European market assessment for molecular diagnostics from the end user perspective. Hospital and private laboratories have been surveyed to collect information on NA tests, test volumes, used platforms and technologies (amplification & detection) and reagents. For data reliability and accurate projections at segment level a 3 step methodology has been applied:
Step 1: Identification of the total number of laboratories
Step 2: Identification of the total number of laboratories using NA technologies (several units per hospital)
Step 3: Interviews with NA laboratories on NA test volume, kits, platforms and trends. A list of 38 NA tests has been provided to the labs for structured data entry. The report covers key platforms of molecular diagnostics, including Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), Real Time PCR (RT-PCR), TMA, LCR, NASBA, SDA, HCA, bDNA.
dii is an international market research company entirely specialised in healthcare markets providing market information and support to strategic business decisions. In cooperation with key industry we have desigend the Continuous European Molecular Market Assessment which has been realized in 2009 and 2011 with the 2 main objectives:
1) Assess the market for molecular diagnostics (# of labs using which technology, test volumes, platforms and reagents)
2) Understand long term trends and needs
Total number of clinical diagnostic labs by segment: small, medium and large hospitals, independent (private) labs
Number of clinical diagnostic NA labs by segment: small, medium and large hospitals, independent (private) labs
# of lab performing test by test types (Virus: Adenovirus, CMV, Enterovirus, EBV VL, HBV resistance, HBV Viral Load , HCV Genotyping , HCV qual, HCV Viral Load , HIV Genotyping , HIV qual, HIV Viral Load , HPV, HPV Genotyping, HSV 1 & 2, Influenza A, B, Norovirus, RSV, VZV, Bacteria: C. Diff, CT, CT/NG, GAS, GBS, MRSA, MTB, NG, VRE, Coagulation: Factor II, Factor V Leiden, Genetics: CF, Fragile X, Her2Neu, HLA Typing, Oncology: BRAF, EGFR, K RAS, BCR / ABL)
Total # of test/results per test type & growth rate
Market shares: for amplification & detection platforms and reagents be test type (Roche Diagnostics, Innogenetics, Abbott, Bio-Rad, bioMérieux, Stratagene, Applied Biosystems, Qiagen, Siemens, Cepheid, Digene)
Companies mentioned
Roche Diagnostics, Innogenetics, Abbott, Bio-Rad, bioMérieux, Applied Biosystems, Siemens, Nanogen, Chiron
To order this report:
Assessment of the Molecular Diagnostic Market for 38 NA Tests in Italy, 2011
Contact Clare: email@example.com
Intl:+1 339 368 6001
SOURCE Reportlinker


text:
Choose from Three Options
- $25 for one 14-ounce engraved pure copper moscow mule mug ($38.95 value)
- $45 for two 14-ounce engraved pure copper moscow mule mugs ($74.95 value)
- $85 for four 14-ounce engraved pure copper moscow mule mugs ($149.99 value)
Personalize a moscow mule mug with your choice of initials, message, font, and graphic. Mugs are ready in 2–3 weeks. They're recommended for cold beverages only and should be hand-washed.
There's just something special about drinking out of a copper mug. It might be because of the unique visuals. It might be because the material makes for the chilliest of chill drinks. It might be because they're the only vessel conductive enough to refresh a robot with an electric cocktail. What's for sure is that they are the only right way to drink the classic moscow mule, as well as other drinks such as the whiskey ginger and the gin and tonic. Alchemade specializes in these unique metallic mugs, and sell them in a wide range of styles including barrel-shaped, etched with patterns, and personalized with custom engravings.
Customer Reviews
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Durango had an eight-point lead with about 3½ minutes to play in regulation, head coach Alan Batiste said.
Montezuma-Cortez rallied to force overtime at 53-53, though.
Although Batiste wasnt happy with his typically stout defense allowing 25 points in overtime and the final minutes of the fourth quarter, he was happy with the Demons 69-66 victory Tuesday night in Cortez.
The win gave the Demons basketball programs a season sweep over their archrivals.
Defense really wasnt our forte, for both teams I dont think, Batiste said after his Demons allowed a season-high in points. That was by far our worst defensive display.
Batiste said it was the tiny breakdowns that hurt the Demons on D.
Watching the ball. They hit some big shots; they were able to penetrate on us, and that leads to breakdowns on defense and wide-open shots, he said.
The final minutes of regulation were back and forth.
Montezuma-Cortez made the front end of a one-and-one from the free throw line late in the game, and Durango had a chance to win it at the end of regulation.
DHS had the ball with 7 seconds left, but Montezuma-Cortez, with a foul to give, fouled near half court. With 3 seconds to play, DHS inbounded and got a foul call at the buzzer that this time wouldve sent the Demons to the free throw line.
But we didnt get that call, Batiste said.
The foul eventually was ruled to be whistled after the final buzzer.
But on the back of their point guard, the Demons rallied to victory behind Willy Frownfelters 26 points.
He had a great second half, Batiste said. And he hit some big free throws.
Thats a big game to come out of against your rivals in a hostile environment he said. Now we just have to handle our business on Friday, and that will set up up for a share of the (Southwestern League) championship on Saturday.
DHS (13-4, 6-2 SWL) will host Montrose at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Grand Junction at 1:30 a.m. Saturday; both games will be broadcast on KDGO 1240 AM.


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February 11. 2014 10:49PM
Man accused of hitting Salem officer in leg with vehicle
By ADAM SWIFT
Union Leader Correspondent
— A man was arrested by Massachusetts State Police after allegedly hitting a Salem police officer with a truck on Monday evening.
Shortly before 7:30 p.m. on Monday evening, two police officers were investigating a report of a suspicious person in the area of 75 South Policy St., according to Lt. Ron Peddle. A resident called and told police that an apparently intoxicated man was at his door asking for directions.
After getting directions, the man drove away in a white pickup truck that also had a child in it, according to the resident.
The police officers stopped the truck on Muse Terrace, a dead-end street. However, the driver then drove away from the officers, made a U-turn, and pointed his truck at the officers while revving the engine.
The suspect reportedly drove his truck at the officers, hitting one of them in the knee as the officer jumped over the hood of the truck, according to Peddle.
Both officers attempted to pursue the truck, but lost sight of it in the area of Pleasant Street and South Policy Road.
The truck was identified as a White Chevrolet Silverado registered to a woman in Lowell.
Lowell police were notified, and they sent a photograph of the owner's boyfriend, David Babcock, who was identified as the driver of the truck by the two police officers, according to Peddle.
At 8:30 p.m., Babcock was arrested by Massachusetts State Police and held pending extradition on charges of being a fugitive from justice based on the crimes committed in Salem, which include first-degree assault, attempted first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
The injured police officer, who was not identified, was treated and released from the hospital.


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Tuesday, January 24, 2012
17 comments:
I would LOVE to see Viennese price tags!!ReplyDelete
Just checking the train price tags again to Vienna...
Carol, do you miss francs? or euros better. Must smell so wonderful when you are boulevarding past all those restaurants and bakeries!ReplyDelete
Euros are great!ReplyDelete
You can use them almost anywhere except Switzerland, UK etc..
so easy
I like to see prices too:) I don't know why but sometimes I am embarrassed to ask how much is this?ReplyDelete
Why?I have no clue..I guess having been a realtor for almost 30 yrs..I like seeing the $ up front.
Everything looks so charming in Paris.
Wonder why " formule" has no article before it. How do I say "I'll have the formule s'il voussoirs plait"?ReplyDelete
Oh Carol, I am so happy to know I am not alone... I had photos of french price cards/tags/boards on my phone forever. I love them too! Thanks for another charming post. ~JenReplyDelete
I would suggest you do NOT say s'il voussoirs plait
voussoirs=One of the wedge-shaped stones forming the curved parts of an arch or vaulted ceiling
'La formule' is fine
or just point to the blackboard or what yr neighbor is eating dahlink!
Oh it all looks so good .. how do you say, one of each please. :) Nice to know how to figure dollars for euros.ReplyDelete
I love the way you include humour in your posts... the pictures are always such a treat and good to see they put on prices - good idea...ReplyDelete


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Manchester city workers paying more than school workers for health coverageBy BILL SMITH
New Hampshire Union Leader
October 24. 2013 11:50PM
MANCHESTER — Health insurance expenses for the deficit-plagued Manchester School District, whose largest union balked at paying more for health coverage, fell just three-tenths of 1 percent in the year ending June 30, according to a recently released report.
In contrast, health insurance costs dropped 12 percent for city departments, where several unions agreed to pay more for health insurance.
The city and school insurance plans each covered fewer employees. There were 4.9 percent fewer school workers covered compared to the previous year and 4 percent fewer covered employees in city departments.
Manchester's city government and school district are self-insured for most health care claims. Anthem Blue Cross of New Hampshire is paid a fee to administer the city and school health insurance programs.
Anthem recently released reports detailing city and school health care costs for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
"If we're showing 12 percent (cuts) on the city side, I don't know why that reduction could not be the same on the school side," Mayor Ted Gatsas said. "Our employees are contributing more and our numbers are reflecting those changes."
In 2012-13, the city saved $2.4 million on health care costs compared to the previous year.
If the school district had also cut its health coverage cost by 12 percent, it would have saved $3.3 million.
The school district is scrambling to plug a $1.6 million budget deficit blamed on the reduction in the number of tuition-paying high school students in the district.
Teachers have been reluctant to pay more for their health coverage without getting something in return.
Ben Dick, president of the Manchester Education Association, the teachers union, said teachers paid more for health coverage in the past than members of other city unions.
Over the past 18 months, however, city-side unions agreed to pay higher deductibles, co-payments and fees, while teachers rejected a tentative deal that would have seen them paying more.
Concessions by city employees means they pay about 6.5 percent of the cost. Before they took the deal that raised their health care costs, the city union members paid 3.5 percent of the cost.
School employees currently pay about 3.4 percent of the cost of their health coverage.
Negotiations on a new teachers union contract are on-going, with the school committee pressing for union members to pay more.
Dick said teachers are reluctant to agree to the health insurance concessions, partly due to concerns that the school district's wage proposals would limit pay hikes for teachers at the top of the wage scale to less than 1 percent.
"We recognize that the money is limited," he said.
The Board of School Committee is expected to receive an update on the progress of negotiations next week.
"Somebody needs to sit down and put something on paper that makes sense for both sides," Gatsas said. "If people come forward with an agreement and both sides are unhappy, you have a pretty good deal."


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Each week, we'll ask our stable of scribes across the globe to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.
Fixing the lottery | A 2013 highlight | One bold prediction for '14
Now, Nostradamus: Give us an outrageous (but realistic) prediction for 2014.
Steve Aschburner, NBA.com: Somehow, some way, perhaps even in spite of a playoff berth and maybe the Atlantic Division title, the Toronto Raptors are going to wind up with top prospect and Canadian product Andrew Wiggins when the smoke clears from the 2014 Draft.
Fran Blinebury, NBA.com: Dwight Howard shoots a perfect 20-for-20 from the free throw line in Game 7 of the NBA Finals and the Rockets beat Miami for the championship. Oh, you said realistic? He makes 19 of 20.
Jeff Caplan, NBA.com: The Lakers finish with the worst record in the Western Conference and win the Draft Lottery.
Scott Howard-Cooper, NBA.com: Paul George wins the scoring title. Nobody would have predicted it at the start of the season, and I don't know if many would even now. But George hasn't reached his peak and still should be in the MVP conversation. Watch the upward trajectory continue in the second half.
John Schuhmann, NBA.com: I don't know how outrageous this is considering the state of the Eastern Conference, but … the Charlotte Bobcats will not only win their first playoff game, but they'll win four to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Sekou Smith, NBA.com: Kevin Durant will snatch the MVP trophy away from LeBron James this year. He's tired of finishing second. I'm tired of hearing about him being tired of finishing second. And I suspect plenty of other people are, too. No one can dispute LeBron's impact on the game night after night. But 2014 is KD's year to take that trophy and perhaps a few others down the line …
Lang Whitaker, NBA.com All Ball blog: Kobe Bryant returns and has at least one 50-point game down the stretch. I'm on record thinking that Kobe will (eventually) come back healthy. And if the Lakers are in full-on rebuild mode, why not let Kobe get as many shots and points as possible in pursuit of the all-time scoring record? The Lakers might not be fighting for a title, but fighting for something is always better than fighting for nothing.
Akshay Manwani, NBA India: If Indiana can maintain home court advantage right through to the 2014 Finals and have no injuries, the Pacers can win it all. Remember, it was these same Pacers who pushed the Miami Heat to seven games in the 2013 East Finals. Now with Danny Granger back, a stronger bench and home court advantage, they can go the distance.
Aldo Avinante, NBA Philippines: The 2014 NBA Finals will have a rematch of the 2012 edition and the OKC Thunder will win the Larry O'Brien trophy in seven games against the Miami Heat.


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I Believe I Can Fly
Darren Smith 11/28/2003 4:23:34 AMGreat action shot Warren, nice range of aqua colour's too. #77572
Murry Grigsby 11/28/2003 6:03:15 AMWOW!! #282035
Evy Johansen 11/28/2003 8:25:07 PMGreat image, Warren! #282651
Kathleen Clemons 12/19/2003 3:10:46 PMCongratulations on all of your finalist wins, Warren! #299108
Jason 12/19/2003 9:04:31 PMCongrats Warren! This is SICK!!!!! What a shot! #299956
Evy Johansen 12/19/2003 9:50:44 PMMany congratulations, Warren! #300068
Colette M. Metcalf 12/20/2003 4:35:05 AMCongrats, Warren!! #300508
Donna J. Eaton 12/20/2003 4:53:54 AMMany congrats to you Warren! What a action filled and fun shot!!! Love the blue board and flippers! #300544
Bob Jones 12/20/2003 6:50:45 AMAnother superb action shot Warren ... many congratulations and good luck with it in the final ... #300900
Cathy Barrows 12/20/2003 7:45:46 AMCongrats...you always have such great action shots #301071
Mette Vendelboe Allison 12/20/2003 8:51:55 AMGreat photo- exposure right on, great colours! Big congrats:-) #301269
Erica Murphy 12/20/2003 9:37:20 AMWarren, YOU ROCK!!!! All of your photos that I've seen are spectacular! What a great eye you have. Congratualtions on all your photos in the finals, they are all great and this one is my absolute favorite!!!!! Good luck to you.
Erica #301435
Susana Matos 12/20/2003 9:43:22 AMWow, but he did it!
Randy Walton 12/20/2003 11:34:14 PMWonderful action shot Warren. Just returned from 2 weeks of shooting on Maui. Mixed wave results some good, some not so hot. Jaws was nothing this go around. Hookipa and Honolua Bay provided most of the surf action.
Patricia Marroquin 12/21/2003 12:15:59 AMYou're riding a wave of success here, Warren! A big congrats on this and your other excellent finalists! #302330
clifton Mair 12/21/2003 10:55:36 AMStunning! Great shot, congrats! #302943
Patricia Marroquin 12/22/2003 12:10:15 AMOnce again, congrats Warren, on this top winner! #303384
Jean Papo 12/22/2003 1:25:58 AMCongratulations, Warren! Fantastic capture! #303416
Kathleen Clemons 12/22/2003 2:33:31 AMCongrats on your win, Warren! #303485
Colette M. Metcalf 12/22/2003 3:56:27 AMCongrats, Warren!!!! #303578
Mette Vendelboe Allison 12/22/2003 6:36:46 AMMost deserved - another congrats! #303797
Evy Johansen 12/22/2003 8:41:31 PMCongrats on your win! #304729
Lori Ditlefsen 12/23/2003 10:20:39 AMCongrats on this neat motion shot. #305494
Donna La Mattino Pagakis 2/2/2010 7:35:10 AMCongratulations on your win. Superb action, I love this Warren.
Your website is incredible!!
Donna #8350108
Uploaded on 11/27/2003 11:29:06 PM
Camera: Canon EOS D60 Digital SLR Camera
Copyright for this gallery photo belongs solely to Warren Ishii. Images may not be copied, downloaded, or used in any way without the expressed, written permission of the photographer.
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Islington Entertainers
Entertainers near Islington
|Neverland Parties
|07908 515 865
| Neverland Parties is the UK's leading superhero, Harry Potter, Pirate and Willy Wonka parties. Our professional trained entertainers will make sure your little one has a birthday they never forget. We...www.neverlandparties.co.uk
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|Singers for Hire
| Our "Singing Waiter" shows offer a fun presentation with a broad audience appeal. Our opera singers, singing waiters and acclaimed opera singing chef Marco are ready and waiting to entertain your wedding...singersforhire.com
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|0845 890 8525
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|020 8301 2509
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|Promo Only - Entertainer in London
|020 89642882
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London › NW10 5SP
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|Jo Peters Management
|020 77246555
|Jo has been involved in all kinds of the entertainment scene for more than 20 years and has gained the respect of many of her contemporaries in the business. As a successful singer and recording artiste...www.jopeters.biz
London › W1H 5LP 75 Crawford Street
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|John Page DJ/VJ
|07967 611 659
|The diverse array of bookings include award shows, private and corporate parties, film premieres, charity fund raising events and society weddings. John's capability to read an audience, adapt and play...www.djjohnpage.co.uk
London › SW15 1ET 77a Lower Richmond Rd
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|Spafax - Singer in London
|020 79062001
|Working With offices around the world, we're truly a global creative community with a Who's Who list of airline, travel and terrestrial customers. But like any success story, Spafax has a history. And...www.spafax.com
London › W1U 3DY 13-16 Jacobs Well Mews
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London › SW19 3JE Keswick Avenue, Wimbledon
|Entertainment & Arts › Entertainers


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Checking In With Lizzie Grubman
Summer is here, which means Plum TV is back in action, filming the sorts of hard-hitting interviews you just can't find anywhere else. This week, the host of "The Juice," Nick Leighton, files a two-part interview with none other than Lizzie Grubman.
Unfortunately, the one-time mega-publicist (and now "publicist/manager") doesn't reveal much: She spends a good part of the interview scolding Leighton for drinking on camera and urging him not to drink and drive, ironically.
It is amusing, though, to watch Leighton ask Grubman if she has any info on Madonna's whereabouts in the Hamptons and then repeatedly press her for details, seemingly unaware that the pop star in question just so happens to be one of her father's oldest and most profitable clients and thus the last person on earth Lizzie would be willing to dish about.
Oh, well. Can't blame a girl for trying.
Nick Leighton Interviews Publicist Lizzie Grubman - Part 1 of 2 [PlumTV]
Nick Leighton Interviews Publicist Lizzie Grubman - Part 2 of 2 [PlumTV]


text:
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