Jan. 30, 2013 ? The first of NASA's three next-generation Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS), known as TDRS-K, launched at 8:48 p.m. EST Wednesday (Jan. 30) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
"TDRS-K bolsters our network of satellites that provides essential communications to support space exploration," said Badri Younes, deputy associate administrator for Space Communications and Navigation at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "It will improve the overall health and longevity of our system."
The TDRS system provides tracking, telemetry, command and high-bandwidth data return services for numerous science and human exploration missions orbiting Earth. These include the International Space Station and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.
"With this launch, NASA has begun the replenishment of our aging space network," said Jeffrey Gramling, TDRS project manager. "This addition to our current fleet of seven will provide even greater capabilities to a network that has become key to enabling many of NASA's scientific discoveries."
TDRS-K was lifted into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-41. After a three-month test phase, NASA will accept the spacecraft for additional evaluation before putting the satellite into service.
The TDRS-K spacecraft includes several modifications from older satellites in the TDRS system, including redesigned telecommunications payload electronics and a high-performance solar panel designed for more spacecraft power to meet growing S-band requirements. Another significant design change, the return to ground-based processing of data, will allow the system to service more customers with evolving communication requirements.
The next TDRS spacecraft, TDRS-L, is scheduled for launch in 2014. TDRS-M's manufacturing process will be completed in 2015.
NASA's Space Communications and Navigation Program, part of the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington, is responsible for the space network. The TDRS Project Office at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., manages the TDRS development program. Launch services were provided by United Launch Alliance. NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center was responsible for acquisition of launch services.
For more information about TDRS, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/tdrs
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by NASA.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Aetna's fourth-quarter earnings sank 49 percent as the health insurer's medical costs climbed and it absorbed costs for litigation and the purchase of another insurer, among other expenses.
The Hartford, Conn., insurer earned $190.1 million, or 56 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's down from $372 million, or $1.02 per share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings, which exclude several charges, totaled 94 cents per share. Analysts forecast, on average, earnings of 97 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Total revenue climbed 16 percent to $9.93 billion due largely to a one-time pension premium. Excluding that and other one-time items, revenue grew 5 percent to $8.96 billion.
Analysts expected revenue of about $8.89 billion, according to FactSet.
The company's health care costs climbed more than 9 percent to $6.12 billion in the quarter, while its total benefits and expenses jumped 21 percent. The insurer booked an after-tax $78 million charge tied to the settlement of litigation over its payment of health care providers outside its network.
The insurer also recorded a charge of nearly $13 million tied to its acquisition of Medicaid and Medicare coverage provider Coventry Health Care. Aetna announced that $5.7 billion deal about a month before the quarter started.
Aetna Inc. is the third-largest commercial health insurer based on enrollment, trailing WellPoint Inc. and UnitedHealth Group Inc.
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2012, file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez walks back to the dugout to get a new bat in the second inning of Game 2 of baseball's American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in New York. When the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez in December 2007, they expected him to set home run records. Now some in the team's management hope he never plays again, so much of the $114 million he's still due can be covered by insurance. Not only is he injured, he's at the center of performance-enhancing drug use allegations.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2012, file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez walks back to the dugout to get a new bat in the second inning of Game 2 of baseball's American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in New York. When the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez in December 2007, they expected him to set home run records. Now some in the team's management hope he never plays again, so much of the $114 million he's still due can be covered by insurance. Not only is he injured, he's at the center of performance-enhancing drug use allegations.(AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 14, 2012, file photo, New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez reacts after striking out during the second inning of Game 2 of baseball's American League championship series against the Detroit Tigers in New York. When the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez in December 2007, they expected him to set home run records. Now some in the team's management hope he never plays again, so much of the $114 million he's still due can be covered by insurance. Not only is he injured, he's at the center of performance-enhancing drug use allegations. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
NEW YORK (AP) ? Alex Rodriguez was speaking on a conference call.
"A huge debacle," he said. "Distasteful."
That was on Dec. 13, 2007, when he re-signed with the New York Yankees and was discussing his decision 1? months earlier to become a free agent.
Now those words describe how some in the team's front office feel about A-Rod's $275 million, 10-year contract.
Once considered a player who could shatter the career home run record, Rodriguez has transformed from All-Star to annoyance for some in the Yankees organization. He hasn't played a full season since he was voted his third AL MVP award in 2007, he's out for at least the first half of this year following hip surgery on Jan. 16 and now he's been accused of again receiving performance-enhancing drugs ? an allegation he denies.
Even before the charges were published Tuesday by the alternative weekly Miami New Times along with accusations against Melky Cabrera, Nelson Cruz, Gio Gonzalez, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal, some Yankees executives were wishing Rodriguez would just go away. Speaking on condition of anonymity because the team isn't publicly commenting on A-Rod's latest troubles, they revealed their frustration with the slugger.
And they have a big incentive for A-Rod to disappear. If he doesn't play again due to a career-ending injury, about 85 percent of the $114 million he's owed by the team would be covered by insurance, according to one of the executives who spoke on condition of anonymity.
New York also might be able to free itself from having the $27.5 million average annual value of Rodriguez's contract count in its luxury tax payroll in each of the next five seasons, a key factor as the Yankees try to get under the $189 million threshold in 2014.
If Rodriguez is on the disabled list, his contract is included. But if he's on the voluntary retired list, it would not be part of the total.
And if the Yankees fall under that $189 million benchmark, their luxury tax rate would drop from its current 50 percent to 17.5 percent for 2015. That would give them far more flexibility to pursue pitchers Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez and Justin Verlander if they become free agents following the 2014 season.
New York is not likely to be able to void A-Rod's deal. Baseball's drug agreement between management and the players' association specifies the commissioner's office has all disciplinary authority for violations.
A-Rod's poor health, however, may provide the path to savings for the team.
While Rodriguez rebounded from right hip surgery in March 2009 to help the Yankees to their first World Series title since 2000, Dr. Bryan Kelly said recovery from his operation on A-Rod's left hip this month will be more complex if for no other reason than it receives more stress because Rodriguez is a right-handed hitter.
Even before the latest kerfuffle, A-Rod seemed to have worn out his welcome.
Yankees management tired of spotting him on the gossip pages with Madonna, Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz and Torrie Wilson. They bristled when he was seen with a stripper in Toronto, at a swingers' club in Dallas and at an illegal poker club in New York.
They made their displeasure public in 2010 when they said they never authorized Rodriguez to be treated by Dr. Anthony Galea, who said he prescribed anti-inflammatories to A-Rod following the first hip operation. Indicted in part for illegal possession of human growth hormone with intent to distribute, the Canadian doctor pleaded guilty in 2011 to one count of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce with the intent to mislead a U.S. agency.
Then came last year's playoffs, when Rodriguez was benched in three of nine games and pinch hit for in three others. He flirted with girls in the stands after he was removed from the AL championship series opener against Detroit.
Rodriguez's 647 home runs are 115 shy of tying Barry Bonds' career record but he has totaled just 34 the last two seasons and his 38th birthday is in late July. He has averaged 119 games, 21 homers and 81 RBIs over the last three years.
Before and after most games, when media is allowed to enter the Yankees' clubhouse, Rodriguez spends little time at his locker in the back left of the oval room, not too far from the entrance to the inner sanctum that contains the players' lounge, steam room, sauna, rubdown room, weight room, trainer's room and swimming pool. He doesn't have one of the prestige locations flanking the back entrance, held by Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano, who took over the spot when Jorge Posada retired.
He has never been accepted by Yankees' fans the same way they adored Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. And now, with his increasing tabloid notoriety and declining production, some of the team's executives have concluded he's more a handicap than a help as the team strives for World Series title No. 28.
The Ford Motor Company's emblem is pictured at the company's factory in Almussafes near Valencia September 5, 2012. REUTERS/Heino Kalis
DETROIT (WKZO) -- Ford workers are slated to receive profit-sharing checks. ?The automaker's record North American profit in 2012 means roughly 4,600-dollars in March. ?General Motors and Chrysler are expected to follow Ford's lead and announce profit-sharing payments when their year-end results are released.
1. The Car Charger is a must have on the go for iPhone 5 owners, which is convenient for you to charge your phone at any time in your vehicle when you are driving.
2. This iPhone 5 car charger is designed with easy plug-and-play installation, which is also portable. It also includes the 8-pin lightning charging cable, which is compatible with Apple's new products in 2012, such as iPad mini, iPad 4.
3. Please do not hesitate and upgrade your in-car integration accessories. Wholesale will be greatly welcome and appreciated.
ETS Advantages:
1. ETrade Supply provides iPhone 5 Car Charger with high quality, reasonable price and the fastest shipment.
2. As the first enterprise of the electronics parts service industry to get the ISO9001 certificated QC of quality system, ETrade Supply conducts strict visual inspection and functionality test for each iPhone 5 Car Charger before package and transportation. Besides, we also invent our own super-protective packaging method to give the maximum protection to the iPhone 5 Car Charger.
3. Therefore, please rest assured that our product quality is guaranteed. Besides, ETrade Supply also supplies other related accessories and replacement parts, such as iPhone 5 Charging Dock.
Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2013 Disulfiram was the first medication approved for the treatment of alcoholism over 50 years ago. It works, at least in part, by preventing the metabolism of an alcohol by-product, acetaldehyde. High levels of acetaldehyde in the body quickly cause unpleasant symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, headache, and accelerated heart rate. Thus, disulfiram provides a very strong incentive to avoid drinking.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a series of studies conducted at Yale University found that disulfiram reduced the consumption of cocaine, particularly in the context of alcohol or opiate dependence. One mechanism introduced to explain this phenomenon was the ability of disulfiram to inhibit dopamine ?-hydroxylase, or D?H, an enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine. This hypothesis was supported in a new pharmacogenetic study by Thomas Kosten and colleagues, published in Biological Psychiatry.
The researchers recruited cocaine- and opioid-dependent patients who were randomized to receive either disulfiram or placebo for ten weeks. They also genotyped the DBH gene, which alters D?H levels, to determine which variant that each patient carried. Prior work has already shown that individuals with the CC genotype have normal D?H levels, whereas those carrying the T allele have lower D?H levels. This allowed them to determine whether the functional DBH variant influences the success of disulfiram treatment.
Disulfiram was effective in reducing cocaine use in patients with the CC genotype and normal D?H levels, whereas those with the low D?H level T genotype showed no disulfiram effect. These data support the hypothesis that disulfiram reduces drug consumption, in part, by blocking D?H.
Senior author David Nielsen at Baylor College of Medicine said, "We found significantly greater efficacy in cocaine addicts who carried a genetic variant of the dopamine ?-hydroxylase gene that codes for an enzyme with 10 to 100 fold greater enzyme expression and occurs in about 60% of addicts. Thus, pharmacogenetic matching is critical for the optimal efficacy of disulfiram in cocaine addiction, and this matching includes the majority of these patients."
Disulfiram is not an FDA-approved treatment for cocaine addiction, and in fact, there are currently no approved medications to treat cocaine addiction.
"Cocaine has proven to be a particularly difficult challenge from the perspective of medication development. No doubt this reflects the powerful control that cocaine and cocaine-related cues exert on behavior. However, the current study suggests that pharmacogenetic approaches might be a strategy to match medications like disulfiram to patients who would be more likely to respond," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
###
The article is "Pharmacogenetic Randomized Trial for Cocaine Abuse: Disulfiram and Dopamine ?-Hydroxylase" by Thomas R. Kosten, Guiying Wu, Wen Huang, Mark J. Harding, Sara C. Hamon, Jaakko Lappalainen, and David A. Nielsen (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.07.011). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 73, Issue 3 (February 1, 2013), published by Elsevier.
Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact David A. Nielsen at +713 791-1414, ext 6289 or nielsen@bcm.edu.
The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.
John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.
About Biological Psychiatry
Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.
The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.
Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
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.
Disulfiram: New support for an old addiction drugPublic release date: 31-Jan-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Philadelphia, PA, January 31, 2013 Disulfiram was the first medication approved for the treatment of alcoholism over 50 years ago. It works, at least in part, by preventing the metabolism of an alcohol by-product, acetaldehyde. High levels of acetaldehyde in the body quickly cause unpleasant symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, headache, and accelerated heart rate. Thus, disulfiram provides a very strong incentive to avoid drinking.
Beginning in the late 1990s, a series of studies conducted at Yale University found that disulfiram reduced the consumption of cocaine, particularly in the context of alcohol or opiate dependence. One mechanism introduced to explain this phenomenon was the ability of disulfiram to inhibit dopamine ?-hydroxylase, or D?H, an enzyme that converts dopamine to norepinephrine. This hypothesis was supported in a new pharmacogenetic study by Thomas Kosten and colleagues, published in Biological Psychiatry.
The researchers recruited cocaine- and opioid-dependent patients who were randomized to receive either disulfiram or placebo for ten weeks. They also genotyped the DBH gene, which alters D?H levels, to determine which variant that each patient carried. Prior work has already shown that individuals with the CC genotype have normal D?H levels, whereas those carrying the T allele have lower D?H levels. This allowed them to determine whether the functional DBH variant influences the success of disulfiram treatment.
Disulfiram was effective in reducing cocaine use in patients with the CC genotype and normal D?H levels, whereas those with the low D?H level T genotype showed no disulfiram effect. These data support the hypothesis that disulfiram reduces drug consumption, in part, by blocking D?H.
Senior author David Nielsen at Baylor College of Medicine said, "We found significantly greater efficacy in cocaine addicts who carried a genetic variant of the dopamine ?-hydroxylase gene that codes for an enzyme with 10 to 100 fold greater enzyme expression and occurs in about 60% of addicts. Thus, pharmacogenetic matching is critical for the optimal efficacy of disulfiram in cocaine addiction, and this matching includes the majority of these patients."
Disulfiram is not an FDA-approved treatment for cocaine addiction, and in fact, there are currently no approved medications to treat cocaine addiction.
"Cocaine has proven to be a particularly difficult challenge from the perspective of medication development. No doubt this reflects the powerful control that cocaine and cocaine-related cues exert on behavior. However, the current study suggests that pharmacogenetic approaches might be a strategy to match medications like disulfiram to patients who would be more likely to respond," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
###
The article is "Pharmacogenetic Randomized Trial for Cocaine Abuse: Disulfiram and Dopamine ?-Hydroxylase" by Thomas R. Kosten, Guiying Wu, Wen Huang, Mark J. Harding, Sara C. Hamon, Jaakko Lappalainen, and David A. Nielsen (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.07.011). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 73, Issue 3 (February 1, 2013), published by Elsevier.
Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact David A. Nielsen at +713 791-1414, ext 6289 or nielsen@bcm.edu.
The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.
John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.
About Biological Psychiatry
Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.
The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.
Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
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.
Party Poker has launched its latest World Poker Tour satellite series, this time for the WPT National London taking place at the Aspers Casino in Stratford, England between march 14th and 18th, 2013.
The Party Poker WPT National London Satelite runs from January 21st through March 3rd, during which players can win prize packages valued at $3,000 that include the $2,200 buy-in into the WPT National London main event and $800 in spending cash.
The series starts ? as most Party Poker WPT satellites do ? with a WPT National London Freeroll taking place daily and which advances the top 25 players from each installment into the WPT National London Qualifier Speed Rebuy event. That event has a $1 direct buy-in and takes place daily; there?s also a Qualifier Speed event with no rebuy that costs $2 to buy-in and also takes place daily. From both of these qualifier speed events 1 player will advance to the next stage for every $18 in the pot. That next stage is the WPT National London Satellite Qualifier, a daily event that takes place twice on Sundays (including once as a Turbo tournament) and costs $18 to buy-in directly. This event advances one player to the final satellite for every $162 in the pot.
That final satellite ? the WPT National London Satellite ? awards one package guaranteed for every $3,000 in the prize pool. That event has a $150 + $12 direct buy-in and takes place every Sunday during the promotional period at 21:20 CET or 3:20 pm ET.
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_v0F1ipITupfJ9SA3ACcrujjuNnks3cDX2xbf0Mms0uRQlmaPX-5IJaOHrWZ4Y8Mir1gGP1utV-_4isDWrqCqY_PfjbbqD_fiv2P7rpmm0=s0-d){kind=small}
Public release date: 31-Jan-2013
Share ] 