Zhang Yimou'sThe Flowers of War, with Christian Bale headlining, is doing big business in its home country, where it's already become the top grossing Chinese film of 2011.
Through Dec. 29, the movie has grossed $66 million (400 million yuan) at the Chinese box office, where it's competing with Jet Li action pic Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. Flowers of War, about the Japanese invasion of Nanjing, opened Dec. 16.
PHOTOS: The Christian Bale Directors Posse: 6 Auteurs Won Over By the Actor
Until Flowers of War, the No. 1 Chinese film of the year was Beginning of the Great Revival, which grossed $62 million.
Hollywood tentpoles are the top two earners overall -- Paramount's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen grossed a massive $145.5 million in China, followed by DreamWorks Animation and Paramount's Kung Fu Panda 2 with $92.2 million. Both films had the advantage of higher 3D ticket prices.
Among other Hollywood movies, Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides eared $71.8 million China, while Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 grossed $63.6 million.
COVER STORY: Oscar Winner Christian Bale Turns East
Flowers of War will pass Pirates this weekend, and has a shot at overtaking Kung Fu Panda 2.
Costing $100 million to produce, Flowers of War is the most expensive Chinese production in history and was fully financed by Zhang Weiping's New Pictures Film Co. It's one of the first times that a Western actor has played the lead role in a Chinese production of this size.
Bale's recent dust up with Chinese security guards when trying to visit blind activist Chen Guangcheng haven't hurt the movie. Bale attempted to met with Chen days after attending the premiere of Flowers of War in Beijing.
Flowers of War is China's official submission for the Oscar for best foreign language film, and is being distributed in the U.S. by Chris Ball's Wrekin Hill Entertainment.
This year was the second warmest on record for the UK, the Met Office says.
Provisional figures show that only 2006, with an average temperature of 9.73C (49.5F), was warmer than 2011's average temperature of 9.62C (49.3F).
This year saw high temperatures for lengthy periods; including the warmest April and spring on record, the second warmest autumn and the warmest October day.
Early figures suggest 2011 is ending with a "close to average" December.
John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect.
"It may be that the stark change from last year, which was the coldest December on record for the UK, has led many to think it has been unseasonably warm."
All bar one of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1997 and all the UK's top seven warmest years happened in the past decade.
Our strategy is to buy high quality stocks that we would be willing to hold for years although we don't promise to when they are selling at big discounts for their value, says Wally Weitz, Wallance R. Weitz & Co. founder/president, who shares why Wells...
Windows users don't have a ton of choices when it comes to making presentations, but the well-known PowerPoint has all the features you need for putting together a great presentation.
Create attractive presentations instantly using a number of pre-built themes
Create 2D and 3D charts
Add dynamic 3D slide transitions and realistic animation effects
Embed images and videos in your presentations, even remote ones?like videos from YouTube
Edit images and videos right from PowerPoint
Compress media inside your presentation for smaller file size
Create a video of your presentation for broadcast to anyone, anywhere, even if they don't have PowerPoint installed.
Collaborate with others on the same presentation in real time even from different locations.
PowerPoint is simply the most feature-filled presentation app out there for Windows. Most others don't even come close, what with its built-in photo editing, media compression, and collaboration features which allow you to work on your project from anywhere. It also makes the most attractive presentations of any of its competitors, which is important when you need to make a splash with your presentation. And, with the foundation of Microsoft Office, it's pretty easy to add charts from Microsoft Excel rather than try to create them in some unknown program. It's not necessarily that PowerPoint is amazing, it's just that no other Windows counterpart comes close.
As with all Microsoft Office programs, you have to deal with the $120 price tag and painful installation that comes with a program like PowerPoint. It could also be faster, but at this point, it's no slower than the competition, so it's hard to complain. Similarly, while its photo and video editing tools could be more advanced, it's hard to expect them to be as advanced as dedicated photo and video editing tools. If you have a lot of editing to do, you won't be able to do it with PowerPoint, but for more basic video trimming and image adjustments, it's nice to not have to open up another program.
As always the main competition for Microsoft Office is the free LibreOffice Impress. LibreOffice's big advantage is that you don't need to pay, and while your presentations will not be nearly as good-looking or easy to craft as they would in PowerPoint, if you rarely create them, it's easier to justify a $0 cost. Also keep in mind that while LibreOffice can open PowerPoint files, it rarely does it perfectly, so if you're looking for compatibility you're best off getting the real deal.
Your other free choice is Google Docs. Again, it isn't nearly as advanced as PowerPoint, but it does have advantages. Its collaboration features, for instance, are much easier to use than PowerPoint's. You don't need a Windows Live or SharePoint account; you just jump in and start editing with your Google account. It also has very easy video embedding from things like YouTube. It is, however, more basic, and you don't have quite as many themes to choose from (not to mention the complete lack of transitions). Still, for simple presentations on which collaboration is necessary, it could be worth a look.
We didn't find very many presentation apps beyond the staple office suites, so if you know of a hidden gem that's worth a look, be sure to let us know in the comments.
Lifehacker's App Directory is a new and growing directory of recommendations for the best applications and tools in a number of given categories.
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS ? Police in a quiet Fort Worth suburb worked Monday to piece together a family history after a man dressed in a Santa Claus suit apparently shot six relatives and himself on Christmas.
Grapevine police spokesman Sgt. Robert Eberling said the shooter showed up in the Santa outfit shortly before gunfire erupted and that the family appeared to have been opening Christmas presents. Police responding to a 911 call found four women and three men dead, along with two handguns.
?We think he was just inside there celebrating Christmas with the rest of them and decided for whatever reason that?s how he?s going to end things,? Eberling told The Associated Press.
Investigators worked through Sunday night and into Monday morning, meticulously searching the apartment where the bodies were found, along with vehicles parked outside. Police said they believe the victims were related, though some were visiting and didn?t live in the apartment.
Eberling said investigators are piecing together a ?family history,? but he declined to get into specifics. Autopsies of the shooter and the victims were being done Monday by the Tarrant County medical examiner, but it would probably be Tuesday before their identities were released, he said.
?We?re getting a clearer picture, but we?re not ready to go on the record with anything until we find out from the medical examiner absolute confirmation of identities and the manner of death,? Eberling said.
Roger Metcalf, a spokesman for the medical examiner?s office, said the victims have been tentatively identified, but the office couldn?t confirm the names because the state driver?s license fingerprint database wasn?t available on the holiday.
?In addition, we need to locate next of kin before information can be released, and our investigators are working on that as well,? Metcalf wrote in an email to the AP.
Late Sunday evening, police intently searched a sport utility vehicle parked outside the apartment. The vehicle is registered to a man who listed his residence as a home two miles away in the neighbouring suburb of Colleyville.
Thomas Ehrlich, who lives near the home in Colleyville, told the AP he heard from neighbours that police went to the house Sunday. He said it was his understanding that the man and women who once lived there were estranged.
Records show the couple had financial problems and that their home, most recently valued on the county tax rolls at $336,200, had been sold in 2010 at a foreclosure auction.
Police and firefighters rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex about 11:30 a.m. Sunday after receiving a 911 call in which no one was on the other end of the line. Because no one responded on the phone, police went into the apartment, located at the back of the complex.
They found the seven, aged 18 to 60, dead.
Many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbours reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around.
The apparent murder-suicide involved the first homicides in Grapevine in more than a year and a half.
MONDAY, Dec. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Teens are more likely to be obese if they had a poor emotional relationship with their mother when they were toddlers, according to a new study.
The findings echo previous research showing that toddlers who didn't have close emotional ties with their parents were more likely to be obese by the time they were 4.5 years old.
In the latest study, researchers examined U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development data collected from hundreds of families who lived in nine states and had children who were born in 1991.
The analysis showed that the children's risk of obesity at age 15 was highest among those who had the lowest-quality emotional relationship with their mothers when they were toddlers, the Ohio State University researchers said.
More than one-quarter of the toddlers who had the lowest-quality relationships with their mothers were obese as teens, compared with 13 percent of those who had closer bonds with their mothers in their early years, according to the report published online and in the January print issue of the journal Pediatrics.
These and previous findings indicate that the risk of obesity may be affected by areas of the brain that control emotions and stress responses working together with those that control appetite and energy balance, the investigators explained.
The authors suggested that obesity prevention efforts should include strategies to improve the mother-child bond, as well as promoting healthier eating and exercise.
"It is possible that childhood obesity could be influenced by interventions that try to improve the emotional bonds between mothers and children rather than focusing only on children's food intake and activity," lead author Sarah Anderson, an assistant professor of epidemiology, said in an Ohio State University news release.
"The sensitivity a mother displays in interacting with her child may be influenced by factors she can't necessarily control. Societally, we need to think about how we can support better-quality maternal-child relationships, because that could have an impact on child health," Anderson added.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about overweight and obesity in children.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421511008147 Abstract: Energy efficiency in industrial boiler steam systems can be very low due to old technologies, improper design and non-optimal operation of the steam systems. Solutions include efficiency assessments and investments in steam system optimizations, education and training for operators of the systems. This paper presents case studies on assessing and investing in boiler steam systems in China and Vietnam. Methodologies and approaches for data collection and analyses were designed specifically for each of the two countries. This paper concludes: (1) investing in energy efficiency in industrial boiler steam system in China and Vietnam are cost effective; (2) government should not sent national energy efficiency standards lower than that of energy companies or energy equipment manufactures.
Highlights: ? GEF successfully catalyzed investment in industrial energy efficiency boilers in China in 1990s. ? With about $100 million of investment by the GEF/World Bank/Chinese government, the project will mitigate 40 million tons of CO2 by 2019. ? This generated lowest unit cost of carbon reduction in the world: about $2.5 per ton of CO2 mitigation. ? Investing in energy efficiency in industrial boiler steam system today in Vietnam will be the same cost effective as in China: $2.1 per ton of CO2 mitigation.
by Ming Yang 1 and Robert K. Dixon 2 1. 3E&T International, Suite 1506, No. 10 Building, Luo Ma Shi Street, Xuan Wu District, Beijing, 100052, China 2. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, US Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20585, USA Energy Policy via Elsevier Science Direct www.ScienceDirect.com Volume 40; January, 2012; Pages 432-437 Special Issue: Strategic Choices for Renewable Energy Investment
From the Christmas day edition of Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace along with Mike Huckabee again being dismissive of what happens if Ron Paul were to win the Iowa caucuses. Huckabee thinks Paul would never win the Republican primary or be elected president because of his views on foreign policy which he and Wallace badly distorted here.
There are a lot of reasons why Ron Paul will likely never be elected president, but his views on foreign policy are not would hurt him in a general election. His racism, crazy economic views and extreme views when it comes to women's reproductive rights would do a lot more damage than his isolationism. I think most of the country is with him in that regard.
FRIDAY, Dec. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Women with breast cancer undergo many more imaging tests between diagnosis and surgery than they did in the early 1990s, a new study finds.
The tests -- breast ultrasounds, MRIs and mammograms -- help doctors determine the best course of treatment, but add to the hassles and expense of care, the study says.
"The burden to the patient is increasing substantially," said study leader Dr. Richard Bleicher, an associate professor of surgical oncology at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. For older patients, especially, coordination of care is needed, he said.
Bleicher, a breast surgeon, evaluated data on more than 67,000 women in the United States diagnosed with breast cancer from 1992 to 2005. His intent was to clock the time and inconvenience involved in multiple imaging appointments.
In 1992, he found that 1 in 20, or under 5 percent of patients, had imaging twice or more during the preoperative period of about 37 days. By 2005, 1 in 5 patients, or nearly 20 percent, had two or more imaging sessions.
"Patients are having a lot more imaging done overall," he said. "I can't tell you whether the imaging was appropriate or not appropriate."
The percentage of patients who had more than one type of imaging on a given day increased more than six-fold, from about 4 percent in 1992 to just over 27 percent in 2005, the study found.
A subgroup of 20 patients had five or more mammogram visits during the pre-op period, he found.
For the study, the researchers used Medicare claims linked to the U.S. National Cancer Institute's Surveillance Epidemiology End Results data for women with breast cancer. They zeroed in on about 67,750 women over age 65 who had invasive cancer that hadn't spread and who were scheduled for surgery.
Bleicher presented the findings earlier this month at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. He urged his colleagues to consider ways of streamlining the testing, with an eye to improving treatment without raising costs.
The increase in imaging tests does not surprise Dr. Carol Lee, head of the communications committee for the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Commission.
"Practices have changed," she said. "Standards of care have changed." Since 1992, imaging technology has advanced greatly, she said, noting there are more, and better, options.
One limitation of the study, she said, is that the outcomes are not addressed. "This is not telling the whole story," she said. "What gets lost in the numbers is, what are the possible benefits of this additional imaging?"
"Yes, we are doing more tests," she said. "But we are not doing tests for the sake of doing tests."
Some states have laws that address self-referral, said Shawn Farley, spokesperson for the American College of Radiology. The specifics of the laws vary.
Lee agreed with Bleicher that doctors should strive for better coordination of imaging tests.
If your doctor orders imaging, Bleicher recommends asking why it's needed. You might also ask if the doctor expects more imaging will be needed and if so, whether it's possible to schedule tests together, he said.
The study was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service, the American Cancer Society, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and private donors.
Research presented at meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
More information
For more on breast cancer imaging, see the American College of Radiology patient information page.
FRANKFURT, Germany ? The European Central Bank is lending euro489 billion ($639 billion) to the continent's banks for an unprecedented three years in an effort to bolster Europe's stressed financial system.
The ECB said Wednesday that 523 banks took the loans. It didn't identify the banks involved.
Demand far exceeded market expectations of around euro300 billion.
It was the biggest ECB bank liquidity operation ever, surpassing the euro442 billion in one-year loans from June, 2009.
The ECB previously had given credit over periods of 13 months at most. Extending that is meant to reassure markets that banks will have long-term financing amid tensions triggered by the eurozone debt crisis.
The ECB has served as lender of last resort for banks when they cannot borrow elsewhere.
"It appears that happiness is going down," says a University of Vermont researcher and head of a new study on wellbeing. The proof? Twitter, of course. Millions of users point to a global depression of an entirely non-monetary kind. More »
PRAGUE (Reuters) ? Vaclav Havel, a dissident playwright who was jailed by Communists and then went on to lead the bloodless "Velvet Revolution" and become Czech president, died at 75 on Sunday.
The former chain smoker, who survived several operations for lung cancer and a burst intestine in the late 1990s that nearly killed him and left him frail for the rest of his life, died after a long illness.
Havel was with his wife Dagmara and a nun who had been caring for him when he died at his country home, north of Prague. "Today Vaclav Havel has left us," his secretary, Sabina Tancevova, said in a statement.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said on Twitter, "Vaclav Havel was one of the greatest Europeans of our age. His voice for freedom paved way for a Europe whole and free."
"We will remember his commitment to freedom and democracy just as much as his great humanity," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel. "We Germans especially have much to thank him for."
The diminutive playwright, who once took Bill Clinton to a Prague jazz club and was also a friend of Mick Jagger, rose to fame by facing down Prague's communist regime when he demanded they respect at least their own human rights pledges.
Just half a year after completing his last jail sentence, he led the peaceful uprising that ended Soviet-backed rule in Prague and emerged in charge at the mediaeval Prague castle.
"I am extremely moved," an emotional Prime Minister Petr Necas told Czech Television when told of Havel's death.
"He was a symbol and the face of our republic, and he is one of the most prominent figures of the politics of the last and the start of this century. His departure is a huge loss. He still had a lot to say in political and social life."
Havel became a guarantee of peaceful transition to democracy and allowed the small country of 10 million to punch well above its weight in international politics.
"Truth and love will overcome lies and hatred," was Havel's slogan that Czechs remember from the Velvet Revolution days.
But at home, Havel lost some of his allure in the later years of his presidency.
STRUGGLE FOR THE SOUL
Much of his presidential term was cast as a struggle for the soul of democratic reforms against right-wing economist Vaclav Klaus, who replaced Havel as president in 2003.
"In the Czech Republic, he was not only a prophet recognized worldwide, but also a concrete politician who made concrete political mistakes," Havel's ex-adviser, Jiri Pehe, said.
Havel returned to writing, and published a new play, "Leaving," which won rave reviews and premiered in 2008.
When asked in a magazine interview that year if he wanted to be remembered as a politician or playwright, he said:
"I would like it to say that I was a playwright who acted as a citizen, and thanks to that he later spent a part of his life in a political position," he said.
Born in 1936, the son of a rich building contractor, Havel was denied a good education after the communists seized power in 1948 and stripped the family of its wealth.
On December 3, 1963, his first play, "Garden Party" premiered at a Prague theatre, lampooning the communist system.
Havel was barred by communist leaders from his job as a writer/editor after the suppression of the Prague Spring reforms of 1968 and he was forced to work as a manual laborer.
He became the first spokesman for the Charter 77 dissident group that strongly criticized communist officials.
Havel was sentenced in 1979 to 4-1/2 years in prison for "subversion" against the state. In 1983, he was released from prison amid immense foreign, diplomatic pressure after falling seriously ill with pneumonia.
Chosen as Czechoslovak president following the 1989 November collapse of the communist regime, he left office in 1992 ahead of the breakup of Czechoslovakia. On January 26, 1993, he was elected president of the newly-emerged and independent Czech Republic.
(Reporting by Michael Winfrey; Editing by Sophie Hares)
DES MOINES, Iowa ? Newt Gingrich tried to quiet unrelenting campaign criticism that he acknowledged had taken a toll as Mitt Romney stepped up insider attacks Saturday in hopes of regaining front-runner status with the first presidential vote little more than two weeks away.
Gingrich, the former House speaker enjoying a late surge in the polls, pledged to correct what he said were his rivals' inaccurate claims about him. Romney, the ex-Massachusetts governor looking for a rebound, portrayed Gingrich as a well-heeled lobbyist since his service in Congress and predicted that conservative voters will reject Gingrich as they learn more about his lengthy Washington record.
"I'm going to let the lawyers decide what is and what is not lobbying, but when it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, typically it's a duck," Romney said.
With the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3 up for grabs, most candidates are redoubling their efforts heading into the holidays, when voters generally tune out the race.
Gingrich is their prime target. Last week alone, anti-Gingrich ads from a Romney ally outspent Gingrich by an 8-to-1 margin on television.
Gingrich cited "the extraordinary negativity of the campaign" during a call from Washington with Iowa supporters. He said he was inclined to hold teleconferences every few days so people can discuss ideas and his campaign can "encourage them to raise any of these things that you get in the mail that are junk and dishonest."
"I'll be glad to personally answer, so you're hearing it from my very own lips," he said in the forum. "We don't have our advertising versus their advertising, but you get to ask me directly."
Romney campaigned in early-voting South Carolina, where tea party activists have given Gingrich a strong lead in polls. Romney told reporters that many voters now are just beginning to pay attention to the race and will turn on Gingrich after they learn about his time in Washington and his role with mortgage company Freddie Mac, a quasi-government agency.
Gingrich's consulting firm collected $1.6 million from the company. Gingrich insists he did not lobby for them and only provided advice.
"I think as tea partyers concentrate on that, for instance, they'll say, `Wow, this really isn't the guy that would represent our views,'" Romney said after a town hall meeting with South Carolina Rep. Tim Scott. "Many tea party folks, I believe, are going to find me to be the ideal candidate."
Gingrich said the attacks on his record have been brutal, but he insisted they are exaggerated.
"I just want to set the record straight," Gingrich told his Iowa backers. "We were paid annually for six years, so the numbers you see are six years of work. Most of that money went to pay overhead ? for staff, for other things. It didn't go directly to me. It went to the company that provided consulting advice."
It's a distinction without a difference, his rivals have said. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann continued to criticize his tenure as a consultant and Texas Rep. Ron Paul continued an ad accusing him of "serial hypocrisy" for taking Freddie Mac's checks.
During a Friday appearance on Jay Leno's late-night television show, Paul also turned on Bachmann.
"She doesn't like Muslim. She hates them," said Paul, who routinely clashes with his rivals over foreign policy. "She wants to go get them."
Bachmann told reporters in Estherville that was not true.
"I don't hate Muslims. I love the American people," she said. "As president of the United States, my goal will be to keep America safe, free and sovereign."
Texas Gov. Rick Perry rumbled through rural Iowa on a bus tour. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum stuck to a plan that has won him the honor of spending the most time in the state, yet has not yet translated into support in polls.
Iowa's largest newspaper, The Des Moines Register, announced it would publish its presidential endorsement in Sunday editions. In 2008, the paper backed Sen. John McCain, the eventual GOP nominee who came up short in Iowa's caucuses.
Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who early on decided against competing in Iowa, was campaigning in New Hampshire. Huntsman, who also served as President Barack Obama's ambassador to China, has kept his focus on New Hampshire, where independent voters are the largest bloc and can vote in either party's primary.
As the Iowa vote neared, Gingrich's decision to take the weekend off from campaigning raised eyebrows given his rivals' busy schedules. Gingrich called the decision "pacing."
Gingrich has prided himself on a nontraditional campaign, but his advantages in the polls could shift if the only exposure to Gingrich comes through rivals' negative ads.
Gingrich's campaign manager noted the onslaught in a fundraising pitch to donors.
"With Newt's opponents spending $9 million on attack ads in Iowa, we need to quickly ramp up our messaging," Michael Krull said Saturday.
Anti-Gingrich ads, courtesy of Romney allies, dominate in Iowa. The Restore Our Future political action committee on Friday spent an additional $1 million on airtime, and broadcast almost $790,000 in commercials against Gingrich last week alone. Gingrich, by comparison, spent roughly 100,000 on broadcast and cable ads.
That looked to continue into the final week before the Christmas holiday.
Romney, who has kept Iowa at arm's length after investing heavily here four years ago only to come up short. His advisers note they have kept in touch with supporters of his 2008 campaign that came in second place in Iowa.
The busy mind of Newt Gingrich has been much in the news lately. He's the man of grand ideas -- a thinker, a theorist, the big brain in a GOP field of bureaucrats and simpletons. Don't believe it? Don't worry, Gingrich himself will tell you.
Gingrich's mind indeed does churn. The problem is, he approaches ideas the way a gluttonous gourmand approaches food -- with a rich, complex and subtle appetite, but also a hopeless weakness for corn dogs and Twinkies. If it's edible -- or, in his case, imaginable -- he's interested. This can be awkward, particularly when he steps outside of his comfort zone of history and public policy and starts to muck around with science. (Watch "10 Questions for Newt Gingrich.")
Much has been made of some of Gingrich's wackier ideas in the past few weeks, beginning with his oft-repeated worry that a rogue state with a nuclear weapon could shut down the U.S. power grid. To give Gingrich his due, there's a grain of truth in his fears. Scientists agree -- theoretically at least -- that a missile detonated at the right altitude could trigger what's known as an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that could fry the circuits of whatever country lay below. The one experiential data point that supports this idea occurred in 1962, when an atmospheric test of an American atomic weapon caused street lights in Hawaii to go temporarily dark.
Of course, it's a big step from there to shutting down an entire country, especially when the bad actors Gingrich imagines blacking out America are the Iranians and North Koreans, who have nowhere near the missile technology or targeting know-how to pull off such a stunt -- at least without being detected -- and in the case of Iran, don't even have a bomb yet. What's more, if either country did want to launch a strike, it would be a whole lot easier to go the point-and-shoot route -- pick a city and try to take it out directly. Yet Gingrich has continued to sound the EMP alarm, arguing that preparing for an attack should be an important part of the country's defense posture.
"In theory, a relatively small device detonated over Omaha would knock out about half the electricity generated in the United States," he warned in Iowa last week, according to the New York Times.
Gingrich's advocacy of space mirrors -- albeit years ago, in a 1984 book -- has provoked eye rolling too. The thinking is that scientists could position giant mirrors in space that would point toward Earth, reflecting sunlight downward and creating as much illumination as several full moons. This would eliminate the need for nighttime lighting on highways and brighten shadowy neighborhoods as a deterrent to crime. (Read "Newt Gingrich: Potential President, or Skilled Showman?")
Put aside what this would also do to the day-night cycle under which all life on Earth is accustomed to operating; put aside what it would do to the simple business of looking up and trying to see a star. The technical obstacles are dizzying. The U.S. has already orbited one whopping big mirror -- a slab of polished glass inside the Hubble Space telescope that measures close to 8 ft. (2.4 m) in diameter. But reflective space mirrors would have to be far bigger, perhaps the size of a football field. Even the massive International Space Station, which measures 357 ft. (109 m) across, appears to be little more than a moving star at the lowest point of its orbit, 234 mi. (376 km) above ground. To provide permanent illumination to a target area, you'd have to position your mirrors a whole lot farther away -- in geosynchronous orbit, 22,236 mi. (37,786 km) above sea level, so that their rate of revolution matches the rotation of the globe.
The weight problem alone makes this impossible -- at least if you were trying to fly a giant mirror made of glass, like the Hubble's. While University of Arizona engineers have developed mirror material only .04 in (1 mm) thick, this doesn't address other problems like the cost of launching and maintaining the mirrors, not to mention keeping so big a target safe from meteors and other space debris. All of this seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to for an illumination problem that highway lights and porch lamps already solve rather neatly.
It's Gingrich's advocacy of moon mining, however, that is getting the most attention -- and drawing the most derision -- partly because this is a drum he doesn't seem willing to quit banging. For the most part, the moon is a pretty prosaic mix of very familiar materials -- including silicon, iron, calcium, aluminum, potassium and phosphorous. There is, however, also helium-3. A light isotope of common helium, helium-3 streams toward Earth all the time as part of the storm of charged particles coming from the sun, but our planet's magnetic field deflects most of it. This is not so on the moon, which has a magnetic field far weaker than Earth's. What makes this important is that helium-3 also turns out to be a cracker jack fuel for fusion reactors -- far more efficient than the deuterium currently used. But it's not just a matter of going to the moon, scooping up what you need and powering the world on it. (Watch TIME's video "Earth Is Running Out of Helium.")
First of all, a practical fusion reactor has not yet been invented and there's no realistic projection for when it might be -- though scientists have been trying for decades. What's more, the moon's helium-3 is not just there for the taking. Apollo samples revealed that the isotope is present in lunar soil in concentrations no greater than 30 parts per billion. Harrison Schmitt, the lunar module pilot on Apollo 17 and the only geologist to walk on the moon, estimates that it would take 220 lbs (100 kg) of helium-3 to power one city the size of Dallas for one year, and to collect that much you'd have to dig a trench three quarters of a mile square by 9 ft. deep (1.9 sq km by 2.7 m).
That's a lot of digging, and it doesn't even touch the cost of getting the stuff home. Even aboard cheap rockets like the Russian Proton, it costs $2,200 to launch a pound of payload to low Earth orbit. The shuttle, nobody's idea of a bargain ship, cost $8,100 per lb. Things are a lot cheaper on the moon, where lower gravity means everything weighs less, but that doesn't mean every ounce doesn't cost -- a lot. There's a reason the skin of the Apollo lunar module was no thicker than three sheets of aluminum foil and that its windows were triangular, a shape that shaved a few ounces off of the framing and sealant that would have been needed for round windows of approximately the same size.
In the last presidential debate, Gingrich responded to Mitt Romney's criticism of the moon mining concept by not responding. "I'm happy to defend the idea that America should be in space and should be there in an aggressive, entrepreneurial way," he said -- which most people agree with and which is not what Romney was questioning at all.
Answering evasively, of course, is what politicians do, as is dreaming big dreams of New Frontiers and Great Societies and shining cities on hills. But dreams aren't science -- and politicians, for the most part, aren't scientists. Newt Gingrich may play one on TV, but that doesn't mean anyone is required to listen.
We handle the big injury stories Friday in the rumor mill.
The rest goes right here, in America?s most enticing weekly segment about the injury report.
1. Here are the players were updated during the day on the rumor mill: Kevin Smith, Andre Johnson, Colt McCoy, Justin Tuck, and?Kyle Orton.
2. The Eagles are ready to go, except for defensive end Darryl Tapp who is doubtful with a broken rib.
3. The Jets get running back Joe McKnight and defensive lineman Mike Devito back in the lineup for their game against Philly.
4. The Packers are short a number of key players once again: Linebacker Desmond?Bishop (calf), Chad Clifton (hamstring), wideout Greg Jennings (knee), and defensive tackle Ryan Pickett (concussion) are all out. Running back Brandon Saine (concussion), James Starks (ankle), and guard Josh Sitton (knee) are questionable. Starks says he?ll play.
5. The Dolphins list quarterback?Matt Moore (head/neck), tackle Jake Long (back), and tight end Anthony Fasano (ribs) as questionable. They all practiced on a limited basis and look likely to face the Bills. ?Linebacker Koa Misi (shoulder) is out.
6. Mark Ingram is out again for the Saints because of his toe injury.
7. The Bills will be without Peter King?s favorite tight end Scott Chandler, who is out with an ankle injury.
8. The Bucs will be without receiver?Arrelious Benn on Saturday night against the Cowboys.?Defensive end Michael Bennett (toe), defensive tackle Brian Price (ankle) and wideout Sammie Stroughter (knee) are all questionable. Bennett is the longest shot of the questionables.
9. Dallas has a number of questionable starters: cornerback?Michael Jenkins (shoulder), center Phil Costa (concussion), and linebacker DeMarcus Ware (neck). Costa has been cleared, but still may sit.?Ware is a safe bet to play.
10. Three Broncos secondary members are questionable: David Bruton (achilles), Brian Dawkins (neck), and cornerback Andre? Goodman (concussion). Only Bruton missed practice all week.
11. ?The Patriots listed safety Patrick Chung and tackle Sebastian Vollmer as doubtful. That way they can downgrade them to out on Saturday and then I can get a cheap post out of it while trying to cram my ?family time? in for the week.
12. Devin Hester (ankle) is questionable for the Bears. Jay Cutler (thumb), Matt Forte (knee), and Sam Hurd (5-10 kilos) are all out.
13. The Panthers list tackle Jordan Gross (ankle) as questionable for Sunday?s game. They really missed him last week, but he returned for a limited practice Friday.
14. Kyle Orton is officially probable (thumb) for the Chiefs. He?ll start on Sunday against the Packers.
15. The Bengals will likely be without running back Brian Leonard, who is doubtful with a knee injury. The Bengals get Carlos Dunlap back. Tackle Andre Smith (ankle) is questionable after not practicing Friday.
16. The Raiders will be without wideout?Jacoby Ford (foot) and running back Darren McFadden (foot) yet again. Cornerback Chris Johnson is away from the team following the death of his sister. He?s out.
The team could get Denarius Moore (foot) back. He?s questionable. Also questionable:?safety Michael Huff (hamstring) and running back Taiwan Jones (hamstring). They didn?t practice all week. Oakland is very banged up.
17. Half of the Ravens team is questionable: Linebacker Ray?Lewis (toe), cornerback Lardarius Webb (toe), kicker Billy Cundiff (calf), ?guard Ben Grubbs (toe), defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (back), defensive tackle Cory Redding (ankle) and cornerback Chris Carr (back). Lewis is expected to return to the lineup Sunday night.
18. Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb (head) is officially questionable. He was limited in practice during the week, but the Cardinals? beat writers think John Skelton will get the start.
19. The Titans list quarterback?Matt Hasselbeck (calf) as questionable. He?s expected to start. Look for wideout Nate Washington (ankle) to play despite being questionable. He?s been playing in pain for weeks.
LONDON (Reuters) ? British scientists have made the first human embryonic stem cells of a high enough grade to use in patients and deposited them in a public stem cell bank for development in human trials by drug companies and researchers by 2014.
A team from King's College London said on Monday they were submitting two clinical-grade stem cell lines to the UK Stem Cell Bank (UKSBC), which will test and validate them before offering them to researchers.
This could speed the path towards new stem-cell treatments for conditions like blindness, severe injury or heart disease.
"This first batch of cells is the culmination of nearly 10 years of research. This is a significant milestone," said Peter Braude, who led the King's team.
The cells are the first to be grown completely free from animal-derived products, known as "xeno-free," and developed specifically to be of clinical grade and for public use.
The hope is that the cells will be grown and processed by the bank to feed cell stocks for human trials and, beyond that, patient treatments.
The cells have the potential to become the "gold standard" lines for developing new stem cell based therapies for use in regenerative medicine trials in patients, Braude told reporters at a briefing.
It is likely to be many years before treatments are fully developed and licensed, but the cells could be used in human trials of potential therapies by 2014, the team said.
Stem cells are the body's master cells, the source for all other cells. Scientists say they could transform medicine, providing treatments for blindness, spinal cord and other severe injuries, as well as generating cells for damaged organs.
Human embryonic stem (hES) cells can be grown in the laboratory indefinitely while retaining their capacity to develop into specialized cell types, such as nerve or heart muscle cells, which can then be used in clinical trials.
The UK Stem Cell bank already has more than 90 research grade stem cell lines for use in laboratory studies, but as yet has no clinical grade xeno-free lines for use in human trials.
"In the future, patients hoping for the benefit of regenerative medicine for serious medical conditions caused by illness, injury and ageing can expect improved progress on cures or amelioration from hES cell-based therapy," said Dusko Ilic, a senior lecturer in stem cell science at King's.
A few companies, such as Pfizer and Advanced Cell Technology, are already conducting or are about to start human trials using hES cells -- which are harvested from embryos -- to test their potential for repairing spinal cord injuries and eye disorders like macular degeneration.
But the hES cell lines for these early trials were reclassified from "research grade" to "clinical grade" for specific short-term clinical studies in selected disease areas.
Braude said this is not considered appropriate for the future of cell therapy because of the expense of extra testing and reclassification, and the potential risks.
"While it might be reasonable to incur additional risks for these early pioneering studies, it is not reasonable to accept these risks for the long-term future," he said. "Therefore the highest standard of xeno-free lines are urgently needed."
Braude's team's cells were grown from frozen embryos donated by patients who had had in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and no longer wanted to use their remaining stored embryos. The embryos would otherwise have been discarded, Braude said.
Glyn Stacey, head of the UKSCB, said these first clinical grade lines would be an "important resource" and an initial step towards the bank's aim to make available a panel of tested clinical grade lines within the next three years.
"The process of testing will be rigorous and not all cells lines received will make the grade," he said.
VILNIUS, Lithuania -- Issuing new warnings to two U.S. partners Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticized Russia for a parliamentary election she said was rigged and said election gains by Islamist parties must not set back Egypt's push toward democracy after the fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak this year.
She acknowledged the success of Islamist parties in Egyptian parliamentary voting that the U.S. has praised as fair. But many of the winners are not friendly to the United States or U.S. ally Israel, and some secular political activists in Egypt are worried that their revolution is being hijacked. Islamist parties are among the better-known and better-organized in Egypt, and while they were expected to do well in last week's first round voting, a hardline bloc scored surprisingly large gains.
Clinton addressed head-on the fear that the hardliners will crimp human and women's rights.
"Transitions require fair and inclusive elections, but they also demand the embrace of democratic norms and rules," she said. "We expect all democratic actors to uphold universal human rights, including women's rights, to allow free religious practice."
Speaking to the election-monitoring Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Clinton repeated criticism of Russia's weekend elections, in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's party won the largest share of parliament seats. Opposition politicians and election monitors say the result was inflated because of ballot-box stuffing and other vote fraud.
"Russian voters deserve a full investigation of electoral fraud and manipulation," Clinton said. Russia's top diplomat was present at the meeting in the Lithuanian capital, but the two did not plan to meet separately.
Clinton criticized human rights abuses in neighboring Belarus and planned to meet with activists from that country, often called the last dictatorship in Europe, later Tuesday.
In Egypt, the more moderate Muslim Brotherhood is in the lead so far, with about 37 percent of the vote, according to partial results released Sunday. But the hardline Al-Nour bloc grabbed nearly a quarter of the vote for the ultraconservative Salafis, who seek to impose strict Islamic law in Egypt.
The strong Islamist showing came at the expense of liberal activist groups that led the uprising against Mubarak, toppling a regime long seen as a secular bulwark in the Middle East.
The Salafis espouse a strict interpretation of Islam similar to that of Saudi Arabia, where the sexes are segregated and women must be veiled and are barred from driving. The Salafis speak openly about their aim of turning Egypt into a state where personal freedoms, including freedom of speech, women's dress and art, are constrained by Islamic law.
Where is the accurate memory? The eyes have itPublic release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Divya Menon dmenon@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science
The witness points out the criminal in a police lineup. She swears she'd remember that face forever. Then DNA evidence shows she's got the wrong guy. It happens so frequently that many courts are looking with extreme skepticism at eyewitness testimony.
Is there a way to get a more accurate reading of memory? A new study says yes. "Eye movements are drawn quickly to remembered objects," says Deborah Hannula, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who conducted the study with Carol L. Baym and Neal J. Cohen of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and David E. Warren of the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Tracking where and for how long a person focuses his or her eyes "can distinguish previously seen from novel materials even when behavioral reports fail to do so." The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science.
The researchers gave university students 36 faces to study. These target faces were also morphed to produce images closely resembling them; the morphed phases were not seen during the study phase. The students were then shown 36 three-face displays, one at a time. Told that the studied faces wouldn't always be there, the participants had to press a button indicating which face was the studied one, or simply choose a face if they felt none had been studied. They then reported verbally whether the studied target face was present or not. While they looked at the 3-face display, their eye movements were recorded, tracking where the eyes focused first and what proportion of time was spent looking there. For the analysis, the psychologists divided the faces into three groups: studied targets; morphs mistaken for the "target" face; and morphs chosen and known to be incorrect.
Participants easily identified the target faces most of the time. They also spent more time looking at these faces, and did so soon after the 3-face display had been presented. "The really interesting finding is that before they chose a face and pressed a button, there was disproportionate viewing of the target faces as compared to either type of selected face," said Hannula. However, "after the response was made, viewing tended to mimic the behavioral endorsement of a face as studied or not, whether that endorsement was correct or incorrect." In other words, "pre-response viewing seems to reflect actual experience, and post-response viewing seems to reflect the decision making process and whether or not the face will be endorsed as studied."
Hannula theorizes as to what is happening: "Early disproportionate viewing of the target face may precede and help give rise to awareness that a particular face has been studied. Subsequently, we begin to think about the choice that we're making"we look closely, compare and weigh the options"these cognitive processes permit us to make a decision, but may also lead us down the wrong path. In this case, leading us to endorse a face as studied despite having never seen it before."
Aside from the potential for practical application, says Hannula, eye movement methods could be used to examine memory in individualslike some psychiatric patients and children who may have trouble communicating what it is that they remember. "Eye movements might provide us with more information about what exactly these individuals remember than behavioral reports alone."
###
For more information about this study, please contact: Deborah Hannula at hannula@uwm.edu.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "The Eyes Know: Eye Movements as a Veridical Index of Prior Exposure" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Divya Menon at 202-293-9300 or dmenon@psychologicalscience.org.
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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.
Where is the accurate memory? The eyes have itPublic release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Divya Menon dmenon@psychologicalscience.org 202-293-9300 Association for Psychological Science
The witness points out the criminal in a police lineup. She swears she'd remember that face forever. Then DNA evidence shows she's got the wrong guy. It happens so frequently that many courts are looking with extreme skepticism at eyewitness testimony.
Is there a way to get a more accurate reading of memory? A new study says yes. "Eye movements are drawn quickly to remembered objects," says Deborah Hannula, assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, who conducted the study with Carol L. Baym and Neal J. Cohen of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and David E. Warren of the University of Iowa College of Medicine. Tracking where and for how long a person focuses his or her eyes "can distinguish previously seen from novel materials even when behavioral reports fail to do so." The findings will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science.
The researchers gave university students 36 faces to study. These target faces were also morphed to produce images closely resembling them; the morphed phases were not seen during the study phase. The students were then shown 36 three-face displays, one at a time. Told that the studied faces wouldn't always be there, the participants had to press a button indicating which face was the studied one, or simply choose a face if they felt none had been studied. They then reported verbally whether the studied target face was present or not. While they looked at the 3-face display, their eye movements were recorded, tracking where the eyes focused first and what proportion of time was spent looking there. For the analysis, the psychologists divided the faces into three groups: studied targets; morphs mistaken for the "target" face; and morphs chosen and known to be incorrect.
Participants easily identified the target faces most of the time. They also spent more time looking at these faces, and did so soon after the 3-face display had been presented. "The really interesting finding is that before they chose a face and pressed a button, there was disproportionate viewing of the target faces as compared to either type of selected face," said Hannula. However, "after the response was made, viewing tended to mimic the behavioral endorsement of a face as studied or not, whether that endorsement was correct or incorrect." In other words, "pre-response viewing seems to reflect actual experience, and post-response viewing seems to reflect the decision making process and whether or not the face will be endorsed as studied."
Hannula theorizes as to what is happening: "Early disproportionate viewing of the target face may precede and help give rise to awareness that a particular face has been studied. Subsequently, we begin to think about the choice that we're making"we look closely, compare and weigh the options"these cognitive processes permit us to make a decision, but may also lead us down the wrong path. In this case, leading us to endorse a face as studied despite having never seen it before."
Aside from the potential for practical application, says Hannula, eye movement methods could be used to examine memory in individualslike some psychiatric patients and children who may have trouble communicating what it is that they remember. "Eye movements might provide us with more information about what exactly these individuals remember than behavioral reports alone."
###
For more information about this study, please contact: Deborah Hannula at hannula@uwm.edu.
The APS journal Psychological Science is the highest ranked empirical journal in psychology. For a copy of the article "The Eyes Know: Eye Movements as a Veridical Index of Prior Exposure" and access to other Psychological Science research findings, please contact Divya Menon at 202-293-9300 or dmenon@psychologicalscience.org.
[ | 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.
Follow-up study finds prolonged fatigue for those who had chemotherapy for breast cancerPublic release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ferdie De Vega Ferdinand.DeVega@moffitt.org 813-745-7858 H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Chemotherapy-related weight gain may be factor in prolonged fatigue
TAMPA, Fla. In a follow-up study, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues have found that patients who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer might experience prolonged fatigue years after their therapy. The new study, published in the American Cancer Society's current issue of CANCER, is a follow-up to a study on fatigue and chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer Moffitt researchers published in CANCER in 2007.
"Fatigue is among the most common symptoms reported by women who are treated for breast cancer," said study corresponding author Paul B. Jacobsen, Ph.D., program leader for Health Outcomes and Behavior at Moffitt.
The 2007 study found that immediately following treatment fatigue was greater in women who had received chemotherapy than in patient groups comprised of women who had received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, radiotherapy alone, or in groups with no cancer history. Six months after treatment, women in the chemotherapy alone group reported more fatigue than the combination therapy group, the radiotherapy group, or the non-cancer group.
"On the basis of our 2007 study and the results of other studies, we hypothesized that fatigue in the group receiving chemotherapy would diminish over a three-year follow-up period, yet possibly remain higher than fatigue levels for women who had received radiation, combination therapy, or those with no history of cancer," explained Jacobsen.
The recently published follow-up study was comprised of 205 patients who had received chemotherapy compared with 193 women in a control group with no history of cancer. The controls were within five years of age of the cancer patients and lived in the same zip codes as their partner cancer patients. The average age for both groups was 55. Fatigue levels were measured at six months and 42 months.
Their new findings, however, contradicted the expectation that patients receiving chemotherapy would, overtime, experience less fatigue and eventually see their fatigue levels diminish to equal the levels of women in the other two groups.
"Contrary to our expectations, fatigue did not diminish over time for patients in the chemotherapy group," said Jacobsen, who studies the behavioral and psychosocial aspects of cancer, cancer treatment, outcomes, and cancer survivorship. "In some cases, fatigue worsened, and that finding is not consistent with prior research."
Among the possible factors influencing the long-term or worsening fatigue included the potential for weight gain, common among patients who receive chemotherapy and who, according to the researchers, rarely return to their pre-treatment weight.
One variable affecting prolonged or worsening fatigue might involve supportive care, suggested the researchers.
"This finding has important implications for patient education and for fatigue monitoring during follow-up," concluded Jacobsen. "Our results should inform patient education efforts when patients receiving chemotherapy are often told that their fatigue will gradually diminish following treatment. Health care providers may want to communicate to their patients who have received chemotherapy that their fatigue may not improve over time and may worsen."
The researchers concluded that patients should be informed about interventions known to be effective against fatigue post-treatment, such as exercise and cognitive behavior therapy.
###
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Follow Moffitt on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MoffittCancerCenter
Follow Moffitt on Twitter: @MoffittNews
Follow Moffitt on YouTube: MoffittNews
Located in Tampa, Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center a designation that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 14 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia, one in Pennsylvania and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer. Moffitt marks a very important anniversary in 2011 25 years committed to one mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer .
Media release by Florida Science Communications
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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.
Follow-up study finds prolonged fatigue for those who had chemotherapy for breast cancerPublic release date: 5-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Ferdie De Vega Ferdinand.DeVega@moffitt.org 813-745-7858 H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Chemotherapy-related weight gain may be factor in prolonged fatigue
TAMPA, Fla. In a follow-up study, researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues have found that patients who receive chemotherapy for breast cancer might experience prolonged fatigue years after their therapy. The new study, published in the American Cancer Society's current issue of CANCER, is a follow-up to a study on fatigue and chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer Moffitt researchers published in CANCER in 2007.
"Fatigue is among the most common symptoms reported by women who are treated for breast cancer," said study corresponding author Paul B. Jacobsen, Ph.D., program leader for Health Outcomes and Behavior at Moffitt.
The 2007 study found that immediately following treatment fatigue was greater in women who had received chemotherapy than in patient groups comprised of women who had received both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, radiotherapy alone, or in groups with no cancer history. Six months after treatment, women in the chemotherapy alone group reported more fatigue than the combination therapy group, the radiotherapy group, or the non-cancer group.
"On the basis of our 2007 study and the results of other studies, we hypothesized that fatigue in the group receiving chemotherapy would diminish over a three-year follow-up period, yet possibly remain higher than fatigue levels for women who had received radiation, combination therapy, or those with no history of cancer," explained Jacobsen.
The recently published follow-up study was comprised of 205 patients who had received chemotherapy compared with 193 women in a control group with no history of cancer. The controls were within five years of age of the cancer patients and lived in the same zip codes as their partner cancer patients. The average age for both groups was 55. Fatigue levels were measured at six months and 42 months.
Their new findings, however, contradicted the expectation that patients receiving chemotherapy would, overtime, experience less fatigue and eventually see their fatigue levels diminish to equal the levels of women in the other two groups.
"Contrary to our expectations, fatigue did not diminish over time for patients in the chemotherapy group," said Jacobsen, who studies the behavioral and psychosocial aspects of cancer, cancer treatment, outcomes, and cancer survivorship. "In some cases, fatigue worsened, and that finding is not consistent with prior research."
Among the possible factors influencing the long-term or worsening fatigue included the potential for weight gain, common among patients who receive chemotherapy and who, according to the researchers, rarely return to their pre-treatment weight.
One variable affecting prolonged or worsening fatigue might involve supportive care, suggested the researchers.
"This finding has important implications for patient education and for fatigue monitoring during follow-up," concluded Jacobsen. "Our results should inform patient education efforts when patients receiving chemotherapy are often told that their fatigue will gradually diminish following treatment. Health care providers may want to communicate to their patients who have received chemotherapy that their fatigue may not improve over time and may worsen."
The researchers concluded that patients should be informed about interventions known to be effective against fatigue post-treatment, such as exercise and cognitive behavior therapy.
###
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Follow Moffitt on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MoffittCancerCenter
Follow Moffitt on Twitter: @MoffittNews
Follow Moffitt on YouTube: MoffittNews
Located in Tampa, Florida, Moffitt Cancer Center is an NCI Comprehensive Cancer Center a designation that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research and contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Moffitt currently has 14 affiliates in Florida, one in Georgia, one in Pennsylvania and two in Puerto Rico. Additionally, Moffitt is a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a prestigious alliance of the country's leading cancer centers, and is listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer. Moffitt marks a very important anniversary in 2011 25 years committed to one mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer .
Media release by Florida Science Communications
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?
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.
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