WASHINGTON ? NASA plans to solicit proposals Feb. 7 for the third round of its commercial crew program and award at least two funded Space Act Agreements this summer that will run through 2014 and prepare competing astronaut transportation concepts for production.
NASA has rebranded this initiative as the "Commercial Crew integrated Capability" program, according to a procurement notice posted online Jan. 23. It was formerly known as the Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract.
Continuing a drumbeat it has sounded since last summer, NASA cautioned that the next round of awards will depend heavily on funding availability. "NASA intends to select?a portfolio of multiple [commercial crew concepts] that best meet?the [program's] goals within the available funding," the procurement notice says.
The Commercial Crew integrated Capability program, being managed out of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is the successor to NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, the second round of which will wrap up in July. Ed Mango, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager, said CCDev 2 will consume the majority of NASA's $406 million commercial human spaceflight budget for 2012. NASA had requested $850 million for these activities in 2012.
CCDev 2 represents more than $300 million in federal financial aid. Four companies received funded Space Act Agreements under CCDev 2, which focuses on development of vehicles capable of ferrying astronauts to and from the international space station.
NASA decided late last year that it could not afford to use standard government contracts as previously planned for the upcoming phase of the commercial crew procurement unless it was willing to fund development of just one transportation system.
Space Act Agreements allow NASA to provide companies with federal funds and access to agency expertise without having to draw up a contract that complies with complex federal acquisition regulations. The first two rounds of CCDev were funded via Space Act Agreements.
The caveat with Space Act Agreements is that they do not permit NASA to dictate design requirements to the contractors.
This article was provided by?Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.
The challenge facing America now is arguably greater than that facing the U.S. at the end of WWII. Victory in Europe and the Pacific delivered a much needed sense of achievement and resolution to the attack on Pearl Harbor. This has not been the case in Iraq or Afghanistan. While Bin Laden's death has no doubt provided some catharsis, it comes at the expense of two long, hard wars whose achievements are harder to quantify. Iraq looks on the verge of a collapse into anarchy and it is hard to feel optimistic about the future of an Afghanistan without coalition troops.
More striking still is the contrast between the home front now and at the end of the Second World War. Even if Iraq and Afghanistan had been a huge success the thought of some Marshall plan for either country beggars belief. With the deficit spiralling out of control, harsh cuts to defense spending and an urgent need to re-energize the U.S. economy America itself could use some rebuilding. In his state of the Union, Obama cited the Golden Gate Bridge and Hoover Dam as examples of a time when America rebuilt after economic hardship. However, he could only pledge to "sign an executive order clearing away the red tape that slows down too many construction projects." This was not a commitment to put a man on Mars in the next ten years, or to connect the eastern seaboard by high-speed rail.
President Obama recognized that his grandparents enjoyed "the basic American promise that if you worked hard, you could do well enough to raise a family, own a home, send your kids to college, and put a little away for retirement." In no uncertain terms he stated that "the defining issue of our time is how to keep that promise alive. No challenge is more urgent. No debate is more important." Now he just has to convince the voters that he is the president to address that challenge in the next four years. By Obama's reckoning four million jobs were lost in the six months before he took office, with another four million following before his policies took effect. While businesses created three million jobs in the last 22 months, that still leaves a deficit of 5 million American jobs. Coincidentally the voters who filled those jobs would account for roughly half of Obama's 2008 margin of victory, and would have swung it for George H. W. Bush against Clinton in 1992.
On taxes Obama came out with a reiteration of his populist "let's not tax Joe the plumber" strategy. While this worked in 2008 due to anti-financial institution sentiment I'm not sure it's going to be enough to win over the Occupy movement. His Attorney General appointed task force to crack down on risky lenders may be too little, too late. I also find it hard to believe that taxing American multinationals who rely on cheap overseas labor will help them to drive down prices and enable consumers to buy American. It will also make his goal of increasing U.S. exports harder, as comparative advantage on high-end goods goes down with rising costs to American manufacturers. People pay a premium for quality, as Apple have deftly proven, but how much would people be willing to pay if iPhone components weren't manufactured in China?
Ironically for an election year, the defense portion of the speech felt tacked on, and as if it may have been written in the limo on the way to the Capitol. In truth, the only military aspect of the speech I could get behind was Obama's promise that he would launch a program to provide incentives to U.S. business to hire veterans. The rest of his speech attempted to take partial credit for the Arab Spring (where were you on Tunisia again Mr. President?) and remind Americans that in the fight against terrorism, "we got him." Subtle and statesman-like this was not. His new defense strategy leaves me cold, and will have even centrist Democrats feeling uncertain given unfolding events in Iran and Syria. Hillary Clinton looked pretty uncomfortable as Obama muddled his way through what was tantamount to an acceptance that America needs to take a step back from the world stage for the next four years.
This State of the Union gave Obama the chance to set his stall out for November's election, and I've got to say I came away thinking 2012 might be there for the taking for a Republican candidate promising voters a very different type of change. When Obama said "I bet most Americans are thinking the same thing right about now," I wonder how many were thinking about Mitt Romney taking the oath of office.
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Follow Peter Blair on Twitter: www.twitter.com/peterhblair
Last year the German Aerospace Center developed Rollin' Justin, an articulated robot that was particularly adept at catching balls. But so he doesn't have to play catch alone, the DLR just finished building his clunky pitching teammate, Agile Justin. More »
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, left, and his wife Callista, center, arrive at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Lutz, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, left, and his wife Callista, center, arrive at Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Lutz, Fla. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
LUTZ, Fla. (AP) ? Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich called Sunday for a commission to study the ethical issues relating to in vitro fertilization clinics, where infertile women receive treatment to get pregnant and large numbers of embryos are created.
"If you have in vitro fertilization you are creating life. And therefore we should look seriously at what should the rules be for clinics that do that because they're creating life," said Gingrich, who opposes abortion and says life begins at conception.
Gingrich, who is campaigning for votes in Tuesday's Florida primary, did not expand on his proposal for a commission. His remarks seemed to open the possibility of a larger federal role over IVF clinics across the country than currently exists.
Standing outside the Exciting Idlewild Baptist Church, where he had attended Sunday worship services, Gingrich also said he opposes the use of leftover embryos for stem cell research, which advocates say offers the hope of treatments or even cures for a variety of diseases.
The issue of stem cell research has become politically charged over the past decade, as scientific technique has advanced.
Former President George W. Bush, who opposed abortion rights, signed an executive order in 2001 that said federal funds could be used for stem cell research only on lines that were already in existence, which scientists subsequently said had been compromised.
President Barack Obama, who supports abortion rights, jettisoned Bush's restrictions on federal funding for stem cell research after taking office.
In vitro fertilization involves creating an embryo outside a woman's body, then implanting it inside the womb. Excess embryos may be stored at the clinic, discarded, used for research or made available to other couples. A study nearly a decade ago estimated there were as many as 400,000 in existence.
Etta James was remembered at a service Saturday attended by hundreds of friends, family and fans as a woman who triumphed against all odds to break down cultural and musical barriers in a style that was unfailingly honest.
The Rev. Al Sharpton eulogized James in a rousing speech, describing her remarkable rise from poverty and pain to become a woman whose music became an enduring anthem for weddings and commercials.
Perhaps most famously, President Barack Obama and the first lady shared their first inaugural ball dance to a version of the song sung by Beyonce. Sharpton on Saturday opened his remarks by reading a statement from the president.
"Etta will be remembered for her legendary voice and her contributions to our nation's musical heritage," Obama's statement read.
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The Grammy-winning singer died Jan. 20 after battling leukemia and other ailments, including dementia. She had retreated from public life in recent years, but on Saturday her legacy was on display as mourners of all ages and races converged on the City of Refuge church in Gardena, south of downtown Los Angeles.
Singer Etta James dies at 73
Among the stars performing tributes to James were Stevie Wonder and Christina Aguilera, who told the gathering that she has included "At Last" in every concert she's performed as a tribute to her musical inspiration.
Wonder performed three songs, including "Shelter In the Rain" and a harmonica solo. James' rose-draped casket was on display, surrounded by wreaths and floral arrangements and pictures of the singer.
Sharpton, who met James when he was an up-and-coming preacher, credited her with helping break down racial barriers through her music.
"She was able to get us on the same rhythms and humming the same ballads and understanding each other's melodies way before we could even use the same hotels," Sharpton said.
He said James' fame and influence would have been unthinkable to a woman with James' background ? growing up in a broken home during segregation and at times battling her own demons.
"The genius of Etta James is she flipped the script," Sharpton said, alluding to her struggles with addiction, which she eventually overcame.
"She waited until she turned her pain into power," he said, adding that it turned her story away from being a tragic one into one of triumph.
"You beat 'em Etta," Sharpton said in concluding his eulogy. "At last. At last. At last!"
The assembly roared to their feet, and would again stand to applaud performances by Wonder and Aguilera, who filled the sanctuary with their voices.
"Out of all the singers that I've ever heard, she was the one that cut right to my soul and spoke to me," Aguilera said before her performance.
Throughout the service, a portrait of James as a woman who beat the odds in pursuit of her dreams repeatedly emerged.
"Etta is special to me and for me, because she represents the life, the triumphs, the tribulations of a lot of black women all over this world," said U.S. Rep Maxine Waters, D-Calif.
"It does not matter who sang 'At Last' before or after Etta. It does not matter when it was sung, or where it was sung. 'At Last' was branded by Etta, the raunchy diva ? that's her signature and we will always remember her."
James won four Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement honor and was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In her decades-long career, she became revered for her passionate, soulful singing voice.
She scored her first hit when she was just a teenager with the suggestive "Roll With Me, Henry," which had to be changed to "The Wallflower" in order to get airplay. Her 1967 album, "Tell Mama," became one of the most highly regarded soul albums of all time, a mix of rock and gospel music.
She rebounded from a heroin addiction to see her career surge after performing the national anthem at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She won her first Grammy Award a decade later, and two more in 2003 and 2004.
James is survived by her husband of 42 years, Artis Mills and two sons, Donto and Sametto James.
"Mom, I love you," Donto James said during brief remarks. "When I get to the gates, can you please be there for me?"
? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Republican Senator John Hoeven is set to introduce legislation on Monday seeking to bypass President Barack Obama and empower Congress to approve the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, an aide said on Friday.
Obama put TransCanada's $7 billion Canada-to-Texas pipeline on ice last week, saying that the administration needed more time to review its environmental impacts.
Hoeven's bill would seek to put Congress effectively in control of the pipeline decision and take it away from the Obama administration.
But any such measure faces the steep hurdle of having to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Senate. And even if it did, it would have to be signed by the president in order to become law.
Environmentalists pushed for Obama to block the 1,700-mile (2,735-km) pipeline. They loathe the idea of increasing the flow of oil sands crude from Canada because of its bigger carbon footprint in the mining process.
Republicans say the pipeline would create jobs but environmentalists say the job-creation claims are inflated.
"We've been working with (the Republican) leadership in the Senate and all our colleagues, and we believe Senator Hoeven's bill has support from a lot of people in the Senate," said Ryan Bernstein, an energy advisor to Hoeven.
Bernstein declined to elaborate on how many other senators have signed on to sponsor the bill.
Republicans have made the pipeline and its construction jobs a key political issue in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election.
Lawmakers in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives also are considering legislation to advance the project, and have not ruled out attaching it to payroll tax cut legislation that needs to pass Congress by the end of February.
On the Senate side, the route for Keystone to advance to a vote is not yet clear.
"We'll introduce it and I'm sure we'll be looking at all options," Bernstein told Reuters.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler and Christopher Wilson)
KANO, Nigeria (Reuters) ? In an audio tape posted on the Internet, the purported leader of the violent Nigerian Islamist sect Boko Haram threatened to kill more security personnel and kidnap their families, and accused U.S. President Barack Obama of waging war on Islam.
In the 45-minute tape released on Thursday, a man's voice in the main northern Hausa language claimed to be Abubakar Shekau. He said President Goodluck Jonathan would fail to stop their insurgency.
Boko Haram's attacks have become more sophisticated and deadly in recent weeks in Africa's top oil producer. A series of gun and bomb attacks killed 186 people in Nigeria's second city of Kano last Friday.
"We were responsible for the attack in Kano, I gave the order and I will do it again and again. Allah gives us victory," the voice said.
If confirmed as authentic, the second tape in just under three weeks by Shekau would suggest he wants to use to media to establish his authority over the group, security sources said.
Shekau is said to have taken over control of Boko Haram, which wants sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria, after the sect's founder Mohammed Yusuf was killed in police custody in 2009 following an uprising in which 700 people were killed.
However, security experts say it is unclear whether Boko Haram really has a unified leadership.
Boko Haram, a movement loosely modeled on the Afghan Taliban whose name translates from the northern Hausa language as "Western education is sinful," has been behind almost daily killings in its home base in the largely Muslim northeast, and occasionally in the capital Abuja.
The Kano attack was their deadliest strike yet.
"We attacked the securities base because they were arresting our members and torturing our wives and children. They should know they have families too, we can abduct them. We have what it takes to do anything we want," the voice on the tape said.
But he denied responsibility for the civilian casualties, which police said made up 150 of the deaths.
"We never kill ordinary people, rather we protect them. It is the army that rushed to the press to say we are the ones killing civilians. We are not fighting civilians. We only kill soldiers, police and other security agencies," he said.
In August last year, the sect carried out a suicide car bombing of the United Nations headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed 24 people. On Christmas Day it masterminded coordinated explosions against Christians, including one at a church near Abuja that killed at least 37 people.
In a previous video tape on January 11, Shekau defended attacks against Christians.
President Jonathan told Reuters on Thursday that Boko Haram had made contact with other jihadist groups operating in the region, echoing views by security experts that AQIM has trained and supported some Boko Haram militants, though its interests remain local.
He challenged the group to identify themselves and state their demands as a basis for talks.
The tape hinted that Boko Haram was part of a global jihad against Western interests.
"In America, from former President George Bush to Obama, the Americans have always been fighting and destroying Islam," he said. "They have tagged us terrorists and they are paying for it. It is the same in Nigeria, and we will resist."
Ahead of the Florida primary on Jan. 31, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum faced off in the Florida GOP debate that aired on CNN Thursday.
Just in time for the 19th debate in the Republican presidential contest, "Sh*t Politicians Say" video went viral online. The political parody, the latest in the Internet memes, shows actor Joe Leon playing the every-man politician, uttering all those cliches heard from people running for presidential election.
Starting from "moral fiber," "family values," "trust me," "three-point plan," "earmarks" and "tough question" to "children are our future," "Washington outsider," "jobs" and "my opponent," you'll hear those common jargons in the video.
According to Mashable, the video "serves as an advertisement disguised as a meme for Americans Elect" that calls itself the "first nonpartisan nomination," meaning "it wants to provide Americans a third candidate - not just a Democrat or Republican - to vote for during the 2012 presidential race."
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While "Sh*t Politicians Say" would definitely induce laughs, here are some more funny clips and memes spawned by this presidential election season.
Rick Perry's "Oops" Memory Lapse
Rick Santorum's Sweater Vests
Rick Perry's "Strong" Commercial and the Meme
Also read:?Guess What this Four-Year-Old Boy Brought to School?
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. ? The first major nutritional overhaul of school meals in more than 15 years means most offerings, including popular pizza, will come with less sodium and more whole grains, with a wider selection of fruits and vegetables on the side, first lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced during a visit Wednesday with elementary students.
Pizza won't disappear from lunch lines, but will be made with healthier ingredients.
Mrs. Obama, also joined by celebrity chef Rachael Ray, said youngsters will learn better if they don't have growling stomachs at school.
"We have a right to expect the food (our kids) get at school is the same kind of food we want to serve at our own kitchen tables," she said.
After the announcement, the three went through the line with students and ate turkey tacos with brown rice, black bean and corn salad and fruit ? all Ray's recipes ? with children in the Parklawn Elementary lunchroom.
The new rules aren't as aggressive as the Obama administration had hoped. Congress last year blocked the Agriculture Department from making some of the desired changes, including limiting french fries and pizzas.
A bill passed in November would require the department to allow tomato paste on pizzas to be counted as a vegetable, as it is now. The initial draft of the department's guidelines, released a year ago, would have prevented that. Congress also blocked the department from limiting servings of potatoes to two servings a week. The final rules have incorporated those directions from Congress.
Among those who had sought the changes were potato growers and food companies that produce frozen pizzas for schools. Conservatives in Congress called the guidelines an overreach and said the government shouldn't tell children what to eat. School districts also objected to some of the requirements, saying they go too far and would cost too much.
The new guidelines apply to lunches subsidized by the federal government. A child nutrition bill signed by President Barack Obama in 2010 will help school districts pay for some of the increased costs. Some of the changes will take place as soon as this September; others will be phased in over time.
The guidelines will limit the total number of calories in an individual meal and require that milk be low in fat. Flavored milks will have to be nonfat.
While many schools are improving meals already, others still serve children meals high in fat, salt and calories. The guidelines are designed to combat childhood obesity and are based on 2009 recommendations by the Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences.
Vilsack said food companies are reformulating many of the foods they sell to schools in anticipation of the changes.
"The food industry is already responding," he said. "This is a movement that has started, it's gaining momentum."
The subsidized meals that would fall under the guidelines are served as free and low-cost meals to low-income children and long have been subject to government nutrition standards. The 2010 law will extend, for the first time, nutrition standards to other foods sold in schools that aren't subsidized by the federal government. That includes "a la carte" foods on the lunch line and snacks in vending machines.
Those standards, while expected to be similar, will be written separately and have not yet been proposed by the department.
In this week's Culture Gabfest, our critics Stephen Metcalf, Dana Stevens, and Julia Turner are joined by Slate?s Bryan Curtis to discuss Curtis? New York Times Magazine profile of George Lucas, whose latest film Red Tails, about the Tuskegee airmen in World War II,opened last week. Next, they consider the pros and cons of the collaborative vs. solitary workplace. For their final segment, it?s ?sh*t Gabfesters say? as the new YouTube meme gets thoroughly dissected.
A massive solar outburst buffeted the Earth yesterday, giving rise to beautiful auroral displays in many places, including Sweden, where this photo was taken by G?ran Strand.
Strand took a 360-degree panorama, then wrapped the results into a circle to give this unusual perspective.
Auroras are produced by electrons and protons slamming into Earth's upper atmosphere. Earth's magnetic field funnels the particles towards the north and south poles, so auroras are more common at higher latitudes.
The sun sends a constant stream of particles at Earth in the solar wind, but it occasionally belches out bigger quantities of them, triggering more intense light shows.
During yesterday's outburst, the number of these particles in Earth's vicinity reached their highest level since 2003.
In addition to triggering auroras, such outbursts can also wreak havoc with technology.
Solar storms can interfere with navigation equipment on planes flying polar routes, as is common for flights between North America and Asia. Some airlines rerouted polar flights onto lower-latitude paths yesterday as a precaution.
The most powerful storms can also shut down power grids on the ground, but this storm turned out to be relatively weak ? a level 1 storm on a scale where 5 is the most severe, and there were no reports of power outages.
[unable to retrieve full-text content]At the La Brea Tar Pits, fossils preserved in tar provide a time capsule of the creatures that roamed Southern California 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) ? Students in State College are expressing concern for seriously ill former Penn State coach Joe Paterno.
Doctors say the 85-year-old legendary coach recently experienced complications from lung cancer. He has been hospitalized since Jan. 13.
Sophomore Max Spangler says he's concerned that the stress of the Penn State sex abuse scandal has compounded Paterno's condition. Paterno was fired in November amid accusations that he didn't do more to alert authorities about child sex abuse allegations against retired assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
Spangler says, "I don't know how bad his situation is, but I hope it gets better. It's a lot of complications at his age."
Recent alum Ben Woodward says, "It has to be pretty heartbreaking to end on the note that it did, and not on his own terms."
A Buffalo cancer center is set to announce development of an investigational vaccine that has the potential to eradicate cancer cells and prevent relapses. Roswell Park Cancer Institute says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given approval for the center to produce the experimental therapy for clinical study. Hospital officials plan to provide details at a news conference Tuesday.
Mortgage rates for the past 52 weeks, at a glance - Yahoo! News Skip to navigation ? Skip to content ? By The Associated Press The Associated Press ? Thu?Jan?19, 10:48?am?ET
The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a record low of 3.88 percent, Freddie Mac said Thursday. That's just below the previous record of 3.89 percent reached one week ago. Here's a look at rates for fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgages over the past 52 weeks.
Current week's average Last week's average 52-week high 52-week low
30-year fixed 3.88 3.89 5.05 3.88
15-year fixed 3.17 3.16 4.29 3.16
5-year adjustable 2.82 2.82 3.92 2.82
1-year adjustable 2.74 2.76 3.40 2.74
All values are in percentage points.
Source: Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey.
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[unable to retrieve full-text content]The United States wants to scrap the leap second, but beware: without it, noon will strike at sunrise in some 100,000 years.
Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun finally got his day in court on Thursday afternoon. Here?s the story, from reporters Bill Madden, Andy Martino and Teri Thompson of the New York Daily News:
Ryan Braun, the National League?s Most Valuable Player, pleaded his case Thursday before a three-member panel that will decide whether he faces a 50-game suspension for testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone.
The appeal came just two days before Braun will accept his MVP award at the New York Chapter of the Baseball Writers? Association of America?s dinner Saturday night at the New York Hilton, sources familiar with Braun told the Daily News.
The panel, made up of?MLB Players Association executive director?Michael Weiner, MLB executive vice president for labor relations?Rob Manfred?and independent arbitrator Shyam Das, is not expected to reach a decision before Braun accepts his award. But our guess would be that it won?t take more than a week.
Braun is?maintaining a cry of innocence, but that early-October PED test showed insanely high levels of synthetic testosterone in his bloodstream and you have to wonder how he could possibly attempt to prove that it wasn?t ever there. Calling the test result a false-positive isn?t going to cut it, and arguing that something non performance-enhancing triggered the positive reading would require a whole lot of convincing.
Comparison of effects of red wine versus white wine on hormones related to breast cancer risk Public release date: 19-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: R Curtis Ellison ellison@bu.edu 508-333-1256 Boston University Medical Center
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) prevent the conversion of androgens to estrogens, and could play a role in the development of breast cancer. This study of 36 pre-menopausal women consisted of a cross-over intervention trial to determine if there were differences between red wine and white wine in their effects on AIs. Subjects sequentially consumed eight ounces of red wine, followed by white wine (or vice versa), each beverage for a one-month period. The investigators concluded that red wine, but not white wine, was associated with significant effects on some indices of estrogen metabolism; free testosterone and luteinizing hormone were increased, but no significant differences were noted in estrogen levels.
Forum reviewers considered the results interesting and that they contribute to our understanding of the relation of wine to hormonal levels. On the other hand, they were concerned about methodological problems, including a lack of baseline data and variations in the timing during the menstrual period of blood sampling (which could affect estrogen levels). Also, no significant effect of the interventions was seen on blood levels of estradiol.
Further, the Forum thought that it should be pointed out that data are inconsistent on the relation of red wine consumption to the risk of breast cancer; many studies do not show beverage-specific effects on risk. More research will be needed to determine if the polyphenols in red wine can play a role in lowering the risk of breast cancer.
###
Reference: Shufelt C, Bairey Merz CN, Yang YC, Kirschner J, Polk D, Stanczyk F, Paul-Labrador M, Braunstein GD. Red versus white wine as a nutritional aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women. J Women's Health, 2011;DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2011.3001
Comments on this paper were provided by the following members of the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research:
Lynn Gretkowski, MD, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Mountainview, CA, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Erik Skovenborg, MD, Scandinavian Medical Alcohol Board, Practitioner, Aarhus, Denmark
Creina Stockley, clinical pharmacology, Health and Regulatory Information Manager, Australian Wine Research Institute, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia
Harvey Finkel, MD, Hematology/Oncology, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
Arne Svilaas, MD, PhD, general practice and lipidology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ulrich Keil, MD, PhD, Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Mnster, Mnster, Germany
David Van Velden, MD, Dept. of Pathology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Fulvio Ursini, MD, Dept. of Biological Chemistry, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Gordon Troup, MSc, DSc, School of Physics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
R. Curtis Ellison, MD, Section of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
For the detailed critique of this paper by the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research, go to http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum and click on Recent Reports.
The specialists who are members of the Forum are happy to respond to questions from Health Editors regarding emerging research on alcohol and health and will offer an independent opinion in context with other research on the subject
Helena Conibear co Director
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research
helena@alcoholforum4profs.org
Professor R Curtis Ellison co Director
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research
ellison@bu.edu
http://www.alcoholforum4profs.org
http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum
Tel UK: 44-1300-320869
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Comparison of effects of red wine versus white wine on hormones related to breast cancer risk Public release date: 19-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: R Curtis Ellison ellison@bu.edu 508-333-1256 Boston University Medical Center
Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) prevent the conversion of androgens to estrogens, and could play a role in the development of breast cancer. This study of 36 pre-menopausal women consisted of a cross-over intervention trial to determine if there were differences between red wine and white wine in their effects on AIs. Subjects sequentially consumed eight ounces of red wine, followed by white wine (or vice versa), each beverage for a one-month period. The investigators concluded that red wine, but not white wine, was associated with significant effects on some indices of estrogen metabolism; free testosterone and luteinizing hormone were increased, but no significant differences were noted in estrogen levels.
Forum reviewers considered the results interesting and that they contribute to our understanding of the relation of wine to hormonal levels. On the other hand, they were concerned about methodological problems, including a lack of baseline data and variations in the timing during the menstrual period of blood sampling (which could affect estrogen levels). Also, no significant effect of the interventions was seen on blood levels of estradiol.
Further, the Forum thought that it should be pointed out that data are inconsistent on the relation of red wine consumption to the risk of breast cancer; many studies do not show beverage-specific effects on risk. More research will be needed to determine if the polyphenols in red wine can play a role in lowering the risk of breast cancer.
###
Reference: Shufelt C, Bairey Merz CN, Yang YC, Kirschner J, Polk D, Stanczyk F, Paul-Labrador M, Braunstein GD. Red versus white wine as a nutritional aromatase inhibitor in premenopausal women. J Women's Health, 2011;DOI: 10.1089/jwh.2011.3001
Comments on this paper were provided by the following members of the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research:
Lynn Gretkowski, MD, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Mountainview, CA, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
Erik Skovenborg, MD, Scandinavian Medical Alcohol Board, Practitioner, Aarhus, Denmark
Creina Stockley, clinical pharmacology, Health and Regulatory Information Manager, Australian Wine Research Institute, Glen Osmond, South Australia, Australia
Harvey Finkel, MD, Hematology/Oncology, Boston University Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA
Arne Svilaas, MD, PhD, general practice and lipidology, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway
Ulrich Keil, MD, PhD, Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine, University of Mnster, Mnster, Germany
David Van Velden, MD, Dept. of Pathology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
Fulvio Ursini, MD, Dept. of Biological Chemistry, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
Gordon Troup, MSc, DSc, School of Physics, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
R. Curtis Ellison, MD, Section of Preventive Medicine & Epidemiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA
For the detailed critique of this paper by the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research, go to http://www.bu.edu/alcohol-forum and click on Recent Reports.
The specialists who are members of the Forum are happy to respond to questions from Health Editors regarding emerging research on alcohol and health and will offer an independent opinion in context with other research on the subject
Helena Conibear co Director
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research
helena@alcoholforum4profs.org
Professor R Curtis Ellison co Director
The International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research
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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) ? A participant in the Brazilian version of reality TV show "Big Brother" is being investigated for suspected rape of a fellow housemate while she apparently was asleep during the program.
Police on Tuesday questioned male model Daniel Echaniz, 30, who was shown in live images in bed with 23-year-old Monique Amin apparently having sex under the covers.
"The young woman denies she was raped and has not pressed charges," Rio police spokeswoman Edileide Macedo said. "We continue to investigate the case because it is a public matter."
Television network Rede Globo expelled Echaniz from the program on Monday after a seven-minute video of the bed scene was posted on the Internet and police were called in to investigate.
Police collected possible evidence from the set of the reality show, including the bed sheets, the police spokeswoman said.
"Big Brother" is a television show in which a group of people live together in a large house, isolated from the outside world but are continuously watched by television cameras. Housemates try to win by avoiding periodic evictions from the house. Localized versions run in countries around the world.
It was not clear from the images taken with a night camera whether Amin was asleep. In the video, she barely moves. Brazilian media reported she had passed out from drinking alcohol at a party before going to bed.
Her mother was sure she was out of it. "Without any doubt, my daughter was asleep," Claudia Amin told a local newspaper.
(Reporting by Pedro Fonseca and Anthony Boadle; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
Ultrabooks and OLED TVs may have been the prominent theme at this year's CES, but there was also a number of action cam solutions announced. Like the MiVeu, which provides a secure way to mount your iPhone to your chest. More »
GUATEMALA CITY ? Retired Gen. Otto Perez Molina was sworn in as president of Guatemala on Saturday, calling on the United States and Mexico to help him fight a wave of drug trafficking and violence that has overwhelmed the Central American country.
Perez won over voters by pledging to crush criminality with an "iron fist." Mexican drug cartels have seized large swatches of territory in Guatemala, which has one of the world's highest homicide rates.
Perez, 61, is the first military officer elected as Guatemalan president since the end of a military government 25 years ago. He served in that administration as director of intelligence.
"The change has begun," Perez told cheering supporters Saturday in Guatemala City. "We are committed to the peace and integral security that we all desire."
"Today I call on my international associates to combat drug trafficking: Mexico, Central America and I make a special call to the United States..." Perez said.
His tough campaign resonated in a country of more than 13 million people where murders are committed at a rate of 41 for every 100,000 residents, according to a recent U.N. homicide report. That is well over twice the rate in neighboring Mexico.
"He was the only one who from the start had a national security program," said Leonel Archila, a 43-year-old businessman among the 5,000 people at the ceremony. About half were Guatemalans bused in from around the country. All wore blue or white shirts and sat in sections organized to form a giant Guatemalan flag.
The mood was marred by the assassination a day earlier of congressman Oscar Valentin Leal Caal, who was shot to death outside the headquarters of the former ruling party. Colleagues said he had been in negotiations to join the new president's party.
"We are profoundly concerned about the assassination of Leal, an elected representative of the people, and we hope to see the investigation generate results," U.S. Ambassador Arnold Chacon said.
Close advisers say Perez supports meeting the conditions set by the U.S. Congress for restoring aid it eliminated in 1978 ? halfway through the Central American country's 36-year civil war.
Among the requirements is reform of a weak justice system that has failed to bring to justice those responsible for abuses during the conflict. A U.N.-sponsored postwar truth commission said state forces and related paramilitary groups committed most of the killings.
The U.S. also insists that the government back a U.N.-supported international anti-corruption team whose prosecution effort has been criticized by Guatemala's political elite.
Perez has long insisted there were no massacres, human rights violations or genocide in a conflict that killed 200,000 civilians, mostly Mayan Indians.
"I suffered and lived through the armed conflict and 15 years after having signed the (peace) agreement Guatemalans are still being betrayed," Perez said on Saturday. "I pray to God for a true reconciliation. I pray that my generation is the last of war and the next one is the first of peace."
GREER, S.C. ? The second time around, the shock has worn off.
The prospect of a Mormon president appears to be less alien to South Carolina Republicans who are giving Mitt Romney a second look after his failed White House bid in 2008.
Still, worries about his faith persist in a state where one pastor jokes there are "more Baptists than people." Voters preparing for the Jan. 21 presidential primary are weighing whether Romney's religion should matter so much when they cannot pay their bills and a Democrat many distrust occupies the White House.
"Although Romney's faith is still a matter of some discussion, it is less of a political problem for him than it was in 2008," said Jim Guth, a political scientist at Furman University in Greenville, in South Carolina's conservative upstate. "Most Republicans have a generally positive view of Romney, even evangelical Christians."
Four years ago, the Romney campaign directly took on suspicion about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Conservative Christians, including Protestants and Roman Catholics, do not consider Mormons to be Christian, although Mormons strongly do.
The former Massachusetts governor courted evangelical pastors and formed a national faith-and-values steering committee. Romney gave a major 2007 speech in Texas, modeled on John F. Kennedy's pivotal 1960 address on Catholicism, that promised "no authorities of my church or of any other church for that matter" would influence his policies.
This time, Romney has no formal religion committee and rarely mentions his faith unless asked.
In an appearance Thursday in a motorcycle dealership in Greer, he said the election was about "the soul of America" and described the national debt as a moral issue. He called "America the Beautiful" a "national hymn." (The music was, in fact, originally composed by a church organist for a hymn.)
The only direct mention of religion at the event came from the South Carolina state treasurer, Curtis Loftis. In a speech introducing Romney, Loftis noted that he was a Baptist.
By contrast, at South Carolina barbecue joints and churches, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been giving what evangelicals call personal testimony of how he accepted Christ at age 14.
Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social conservative and Roman Catholic who's sometimes mistaken for an evangelical Protestant, recently asked an audience in Greenville to pray for his campaign.
"It's a tough battle every day out there," Santorum said. "And we need that hedge of protection."
Appeals like these are almost expected in a state where Christianity is so much part of daily life.
As Romney arrived in Columbia for the first time since his New Hampshire primary victory, churches around the state were welcoming families for the weekly food, fellowship and Bible study that is a Wednesday night tradition in evangelical churches throughout the South.
In 2008, 60 percent of Republican voters in the South Carolina primary identified themselves as born-again Christians, according to exit polls.
Underscoring the focus on religion in this state, if not the skepticism about Romney's faith, the second question from the audience at a town hall-style event in Hilton Head on Friday was whether he believes "in the divine saving grace of Jesus Christ?" His answer: "Yes, I do."
Oran Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, a conservative policy group based in Columbia, said the state "is sort of an evangelical-permeated culture."
Smith said South Carolina "is strongly influenced by very large churches. Even for those who just go to church for the ritual of it, the values people preach have become part of people's worldview."
The Romney campaign is making a play for these votes with a focus on values, according to Mark DeMoss, a senior adviser to Romney and veteran public relations executive who represents evangelical pastors and ministries.
The campaign released a new radio ad Friday that asserts, "Today Christian conservatives are supporting Mitt Romney because he shares their values: the sanctity of life, the sacredness of marriage and the importance of the family."
A glossy brochure that began arriving in South Carolina mailboxes last weekend noting Romney has been a lifelong member of the same church. It didn't say which one. The detail also can read as a dig at former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who left Lutheranism and converted to Southern Baptist, then Catholic.
The underlying message of Romney's generic faith language is "I'm just like you," said John Green, a specialist in religion and politics at the University of Akron, Ohio,
"It's kind of like an inoculation to say, `I'm good on these values. Now let's talk about the economy,'" Green said. "He wants to get past a potential criticism."
Romney has acknowledged that there are some votes he'll never win.
In the upstate city of Easley, the Rev. Brad Atkins, president of the South Carolina General Baptist Convention, has posted an email exchange on his church website with a local reporter on his objections to the LDS church.
"Romney's Mormonism will be more a cause of concern than Gingrich's infidelity," Atkins wrote. Christians can forgive sin, the pastor said, "but will struggle to understand how anyone could be a Mormon and call themselves a Christian."
Hector Chavez, a Roman Catholic and Republican voter in Columbia, said he can't support Romney and neither can many people he knows. "As a Christian, I can't vote for somebody who can't lead us in a Christian way," Chavez said. He's leaning toward voting for Perry.
Yet, even Atkins ended his website post by predicting that most Christians will vote based on economic, not moral, concerns.
While he made the comment ruefully, he inadvertently highlighted what evangelical leaders have been struggling to explain ever since the 1980s emergence of the Christian right: Christian conservatives don't just vote on religion, not in South Carolina or anywhere else.
South Carolina has one of the most dramatic examples of how political pragmatism can co-exist with faith.
Bob Jones III, chancellor of the fundamentalist Christian school Bob Jones University in Greenville, stunned many when he endorsed Romney in the 2008 primary.
Fundamentalists generally steer clear of anyone with even the most minor difference over Scripture. But Jones said the country elects a president not a preacher. This past week, Jones said through a spokeswoman that he hasn't endorsed anyone so far in the 2012 primary.
Romney supporters often compare his plight to that of Kennedy, who overcame widespread prejudice to become the first Catholic president.
Charles Wilson, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi, said the story of the Rev. Jerry Falwell may be more apt for this election cycle as a model for Christian conservatives. When Falwell was building the Moral Majority in the 1980s, he set aside deep theological differences with Catholics and worked closely with them against abortion.
"Evangelicals have been willing to make alliances with groups you never would have imagined," Wilson said.
Maybe Mormons will be next.
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Associated Press reporters Brian Bakst and Kasie Hunt contributed to this story.
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Rachel Zoll is on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rzollAP
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Public release date: 19-Jan-2012
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