Codeblack snags next Kevin Hart concert film, Summit plots July 4 release

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – Codeblack Films has acquired Kevin Hart‘s concert film, “Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain,” which Summit plans to release in theaters over the July 4 weekend.

Hart’s 2012 tour spanned 10 countries and 80 cities, selling more than 540,000 tickets. He stopped at some of the world’s biggest venues, including Madison Square Garden and London’s O2 Arena.

“Let Me Explain is my best work to date,” Hart said in a statement. “I am beyond excited by how my fans will be able to see my growth as a stand-up comedian from my first special I’m a Grown Little Man until now,” Hart said in a statement.

Hart has built himself into one of the most successful comedians working today, combining stand-up, acting roles and hosting duties at various awards shows.

He starred in 2012′s “Think Like A Man,” which was a surprise box office hit for Sony’s ScreenGems label with a $ 96 million worldwide haul. Codeblack partnered with Hart on his last concert film, “Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain,” which grossed $ 7.7 million in limited release.

Lionsgate, owner of Summit, made a deal with Jeff Clanagan in May to bring Codeblack under its corporate umbrella. Clanagan founded Codeblack to make movies, TV shows and other entertainment properties for black or “urban” audiences.

“I am very excited about working with Kevin on his next stand up film,” Clanagan said in a statement. “We laid the groundwork with Laugh at My Pain. Let me Explain will show Kevin’s growth as a comedian and entrepreneur as well as his global appeal.”

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Codeblack snags next Kevin Hart concert film, Summit plots July 4 release
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/codeblack-snags-next-kevin-hart-concert-film-summit-plots-july-4-release/
Link To Post : Codeblack snags next Kevin Hart concert film, Summit plots July 4 release
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Scant Proof Is Found to Back Up Claims by Energy Drinks

Energy drinks are the fastest-growing part of the beverage industry, with sales in the United States reaching more than $10 billion in 2012 — more than Americans spent on iced tea or sports beverages like Gatorade.

Their rising popularity represents a generational shift in what people drink, and reflects a successful campaign to convince consumers, particularly teenagers, that the drinks provide a mental and physical edge.

The drinks are now under scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration after reports of deaths and serious injuries that may be linked to their high caffeine levels. But however that review ends, one thing is clear, interviews with researchers and a review of scientific studies show: the energy drink industry is based on a brew of ingredients that, apart from caffeine, have little, if any benefit for consumers.

“If you had a cup of coffee you are going to affect metabolism in the same way,” said Dr. Robert W. Pettitt, an associate professor at Minnesota State University in Mankato, who has studied the drinks.

Energy drink companies have promoted their products not as caffeine-fueled concoctions but as specially engineered blends that provide something more. For example, producers claim that “Red Bull gives you wings,” that Rockstar Energy is “scientifically formulated” and Monster Energy is a “killer energy brew.” Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts, a Democrat, has asked the government to investigate the industry’s marketing claims.

Promoting a message beyond caffeine has enabled the beverage makers to charge premium prices. A 16-ounce energy drink that sells for $2.99 a can contains about the same amount of caffeine as a tablet of NoDoz that costs 30 cents. Even Starbucks coffee is cheap by comparison; a 12-ounce cup that costs $1.85 has even more caffeine.

As with earlier elixirs, a dearth of evidence underlies such claims. Only a few human studies of energy drinks or the ingredients in them have been performed and they point to a similar conclusion, researchers say — that the beverages are mainly about caffeine.

Caffeine is called the world’s most widely used drug. A stimulant, it increases alertness, awareness and, if taken at the right time, improves athletic performance, studies show. Energy drink users feel its kick faster because the beverages are typically swallowed quickly or are sold as concentrates.

“These are caffeine delivery systems,” said Dr. Roland Griffiths, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University who has studied energy drinks. “They don’t want to say this is equivalent to a NoDoz because that is not a very sexy sales message.”

A scientist at the University of Wisconsin became puzzled as he researched an ingredient used in energy drinks like Red Bull, 5-Hour Energy and Monster Energy. The researcher, Dr. Craig A. Goodman, could not find any trials in humans of the additive, a substance with the tongue-twisting name of glucuronolactone that is related to glucose, a sugar. But Dr. Goodman, who had studied other energy drink ingredients, eventually found two 40-year-old studies from Japan that had examined it.

In the experiments, scientists injected large doses of the substance into laboratory rats. Afterward, the rats swam better. “I have no idea what it does in energy drinks,” Dr. Goodman said.

Energy drink manufacturers say it is their proprietary formulas, rather than specific ingredients, that provide users with physical and mental benefits. But that has not prevented them from implying otherwise.

Consider the case of taurine, an additive used in most energy products.

On its Web site, the producer of Red Bull, for example, states that “more than 2,500 reports have been published about taurine and its physiological effects,” including acting as a “detoxifying agent.” In addition, that company, Red Bull of Austria, points to a 2009 safety study by a European regulatory group that gave it a clean bill of health.

But Red Bull’s Web site does not mention reports by that same group, the European Food Safety Authority, which concluded that claims about the benefits in energy drinks lacked scientific support. Based on those findings, the European Commission has refused to approve claims that taurine helps maintain mental function and heart health and reduces muscle fatigue.

Taurine, an amino acidlike substance that got its name because it was first found in the bile of bulls, does play a role in bodily functions, and recent research suggests it might help prevent heart attacks in women with high cholesterol. However, most people get more than adequate amounts from foods like meat, experts said. And researchers added that those with heart problems who may need supplements would find far better sources than energy drinks.

Hiroko Tabuchi contributed reporting from Tokyo and Poypiti Amatatham from Bangkok.

Read More..

Deepwater Horizon Owner Settles With U.S. Over Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico

The driller whose floating Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew out in 2010, causing a massive oil spill, has agreed to settle civil and criminal claims with the federal government for $1.4 billion, the Justice Department announced Thursday.

The Deepwater Horizon exploded, burned and sank in April 2010. Eleven men were killed and millions of gallons of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico and fouled the shores of coastal states. The well, known as Macondo, was owned by British oil giant BP, which settled its own criminal charges and some of its civil charges in November for $4.5 billion.

While this settlement resolves the government’s claims against Transocean, that company and the others involved in the spill still face the sprawling, multistate civil case, which is scheduled to begin in February in New Orleans. In a deal filed in federal court in New Orleans, a subsidiary, Transocean Deepwater, agreed to one criminal misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act and will pay a fine of $100 million. Over the next five years, the company will pay civil penalties of $1 billion, the largest ever under the act.

As part of the criminal settlement, Transocean also agreed to pay the National Academy of Sciences and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation $150 million each. Those funds will be applied to oil spill prevention and response in the Gulf of Mexico and natural resource restoration projects. The agreement will be subject to public comment and court approval. The company agreed to five years of monitoring of its drilling practices and improved safety measures.

In a statement, Transocean Ltd., the Switzerland-based parent of the rig owner, said that the company thought these were “important agreements” and called them a “positive step forward” that were “in the best interest of its shareholders and employees.” Of the 11 men killed on the rig, the company said, “their families continue to be in the thoughts and prayers of all of us at Transocean.”

The company announced in September that it had set an “estimated loss contingency” of $1.5 billion against the Justice Department’s claims.

Shares of Transocean Ltd. rose nearly 3 percent on the news, to close at $49.20.

In a statement, Lanny A. Breuer, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, suggested that Transocean had played a subservient and lesser role in the disaster to that of BP: “Transocean’s rig crew accepted the direction of BP well site leaders to proceed in the face of clear danger signs — at a tragic cost to many of them.” He said that the $1.4 billion “appropriately reflects its role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.”

Under a law passed last year, 80 percent of the penalty will be applied to projects for restoring the environment and economies of gulf states.

That fact was applauded by a coalition of Gulf Coast restoration groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and the National Audubon Society. A joint statement called this “a great day for the gulf environment and the communities that rely on a healthy ecosystem for their livelihoods.”

Still, the penalty struck some experts in environmental law as somewhat light. David M. Uhlmann, who headed the Justice Department’s environmental crimes section from 2000 to 2007, praised the size of the civil settlement, which he said “reflects the scope of the gulf oil spill tragedy.”

He argued, however, that the criminal penalty should have been at least as onerous, “given Transocean’s numerous failures to drill in a safe manner, which cost 11 workers their lives and billions of dollars in damages to communities along the gulf.” The settlement, he said, should have included seaman’s manslaughter charges, which were part of the BP settlement.

As for the company’s role in following the lead of BP, he said, “following orders is not a defense to criminal charges.”

At the Environmental Protection Agency, Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the office of enforcement and compliance assurance, called the settlement “an important step” toward holding Transocean and others involved in the spill accountable. “E.P.A. will continue to work with D.O.J. and its federal partners to vigorously pursue the government’s claims against all responsible parties and ensure that we are taking every possible step to restore and protect the Gulf Coast ecosystem,” she said.

The multistate trial over claims in the Deepwater Horizon cases that have not been settled are scheduled to begin in February. Stephen J. Herman and James P. Roy, lawyers who represent the steering committee of plaintiffs in the cases, said that Thursday’s settlement did not change the case, and that the plaintiffs thought that BP, Transocean and Halliburton “will be found grossly negligent” at trial.

BP continued its longstanding argument that the accident, in the words of the spokesman Geoff Morrell, “resulted from multiple causes, involving multiple parties,” and that other companies had to shoulder their share of the blame.

Transocean, Mr. Morrell said in a statement, “is finally starting, more than two-and-a-half years after the accident, to do its part for the Gulf Coast.” He then turned his attention to the other major contractor on the well, and said, “Unfortunately, Halliburton continues to deny its significant role in the accident, including its failure to adequately cement and monitor the well.”

Beverly Blohm Stafford, a Halliburton spokeswoman, said that the company “remains confident that all the work it performed with respect to the Macondo well was completed in accordance with BP’s specifications for its well construction plan and instructions,” and so Halliburton, she said was protected from liability through indemnity provisions of its drilling contract.

“We continue to believe that we have substantial legal arguments and defenses against any liability and that BP’s indemnity obligation protects us,” she said. “Accordingly we will maintain our approach of taking all proper actions to protect our interests.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 3, 2013

An earlier version of this story misstated the size of the spill. It was not the nation’s biggest oil spill.

Read More..

Bieber urges crackdown on paparazzi after photographer's death

Justin Bieber and his collection of exotic cars have been tantalizing targets for celebrity photographers ever since the young singer got his driver's license.

A video captured the paparazzi chasing Bieber through Westside traffic in November. When Bieber's white Ferrari stops at an intersection, the video shows the singer turning to one of the photographers and asking: "How do your parents feel about what you do?"

A few months earlier, he was at the wheel of his Fisker sports car when a California Highway Patrol officer pulled him over for driving at high speeds while trying to outrun a paparazzo.

This pursuit for the perfect shot took a fatal turn Tuesday when a photographer was hit by an SUV on Sepulveda Boulevard after taking photos of Bieber's Ferrari. And the singer now finds himself at the center of the familiar debate about free speech and the aggressive tactics of the paparazzi.

Since Princess Diana's fatal accident in Paris in 1997 while being pursued by photographers, California politicians have tried crafting laws that curb paparazzi behavior. But some of those laws are rarely used, and attorneys have challenged the constitutionality of others.

On Wednesday, Bieber went on the offensive, calling on lawmakers to crack down.

"Hopefully this tragedy will finally inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders and the photographers themselves," he said in a statement.

It remained unclear if any legislators would take up his call. But Bieber did get some support from another paparazzi target, singer Miley Cyrus.

She wrote on Twitter that she hoped the accident "brings on some changes in '13 Paparazzi are dangerous!"

Last year, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge threw out charges related to a first-of-its-kind anti-paparazzi law in a case involving Bieber being chased on the 101 Freeway by photographer Paul Raef. Passed in 2010, the law created punishments for paparazzi who drove dangerously to obtain images.

But the judge said the law violated 1st Amendment protections by overreaching and potentially affecting such people as wedding photographers or photographers speeding to a location where a celebrity was present.

The L.A. city attorney's office is now appealing that decision.

Raef's attorney, Dmitry Gorin, said new anti-paparazzi laws are unnecessary.

"There are plenty of other laws on the books to deal with these issues. There is always a rush to create a new paparazzi law every time something happens," he said. "Any new law on the paparazzi is going to run smack into the 1st Amendment. Truth is, most conduct is covered by existing laws. A lot of this is done for publicity."

Coroner's officials have not identified the photographer because they have not reached the next of kin. However, his girlfriend, Frances Merto, and another photographer identified him as Chris Guerra.

The incident took place on Sepulveda Boulevard near Getty Center Drive shortly before 6 p.m. Tuesday. A friend of Bieber was driving the sports car when it was pulled over on the 405 Freeway by the California Highway Patrol. The photographer arrived near the scene on Sepulveda, left his car and crossed the street to take photos. Sources familiar with the investigation said the CHP told him to leave the area. As he was returning to his vehicle, he was hit by the SUV.

Law enforcement sources said Wednesday that it was unlikely charges would be filed against the driver of the SUV that hit the photographer.

Veteran paparazzo Frank Griffin took issue with the criticism being directed at the photographer as well as other paparazzi.

"What's the difference between our guy who got killed under those circumstances and the war photographer who steps on a land mine in Afghanistan and blows himself to pieces because he wanted the photograph on the other side of road?" said Griffin, who co-owns the photo agency Griffin-Bauer.

"The only difference is the subject matter. One is a celebrity and the other is a battle. Both young men have left behind mothers and fathers grieving and there's no greater sadness in this world than parents who have to bury their children."

Others, however, said the death focuses attention on the safety issues involving paparazzi

"The paparazzi are increasingly reckless and dangerous. The greater the demand, the greater the incentive to do whatever it takes to get the image," said Blair Berk, a Los Angeles attorney who has represented numerous celebrities. "The issue here isn't vanity and nuisance, it's safety."

richard.winton@latimes.com

andrew.blankstein@latimes.com

Read More..

Visionary Images: The Lost Fractals of Benoît Mandelbrot

Many people know Benoît Mandelbrot from the computer screensavers of a pre-LCD era. Others have a deeper understanding of his mathematics, the repeating geometries that earned him the sobriquet Father of Fractals. Less appreciated, though, is the process underlying his work: Mandelbrot relied as much for guidance on visual imagery as whiteboard formulae. Primitive computer printouts were his maps to uncharted mathematical terrain, their dot-matrix patterns a "here be dragons" for the exploration of dynamical systems and chaos theory.

In 2008, fascinated by the interplay between imagery and scientific investigation, art historian Nina Samuel spent two weeks interviewing Mandelbrot in his Cambridge, Massachusetts home. After Mandelbrot passed away in 2010, she was allowed entry to his office, collecting some 300 printouts, sketches and notebook scribbles now on display in The Islands of Benoît Mandelbrot: Fractals, Chaos, and the Materiality of Thinking, an exhibition at the Bard Graduate Center in Manhattan.

"There is such an organic quality to these images," said Samuel. "These are the images the scientists used when they were working, and not what was found on magazine covers or popularized in screensavers."

The exhibition runs until Jan. 27, but for readers not fortunate enough to visit, Samuel took Wired on a guided virtual tour. Each entry is followed by links to high-resolution versions of the images.

Below:

The image below comes from a series of 120 prints, some composed of seemingly stray dots and others almost completely blank, that preceded Mandelbrot's discovery of the fractal set that bears his name (visualized above, as produced by a modern pattern generator).

"If you look at the shadows, you can see the resemblance," Samuel said of the early image. "Later on, he could have seen the shapes that became famous." But at the time, Mandelbrot saw only an undefined something, a hint of what needed next to be done.

"Mandelbrot would never say that an image was a proof, but an image would lead to conjecture, open up the imagination, and then you could prove something with formulas," said Samuel.

Images: 1) Geek3/Wikimedia Commons [high-resolution] 2) Benoît Mandelbrot and Mark Laff, programmer. Collection Aliette Mandelbrot. [high-resolution]

Read More..

Springsteen to be honored as MusiCares person of the year

(Reuters) – U.S. rocker Bruce Springsteen has been named MusiCares‘ 2013 Person of the Year in recognition of his artistic achievements as well as his philanthropic work, the Recording Academy said on Wednesday.

Springsteen, 63, will be honored at a February 8 gala in Los Angeles hosted by comedian Jon Stewart and held in conjunction with the annual Grammy Awards, the recording world’s most prestigious honors which will be handed out on February 10.

“The Boss” has actively supported many charities over the years, including those focused on homelessness, hunger and helping veterans, and last year he participated in benefit concerts to aid victims of superstorm Sandy.

Among top music stars slated to perform at the MusiCares gala are Sting, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, Kenny Chesney, Faith Hill, Elton John, Tim McGraw and Patti Smith.

Past MusiCares Person of the Year honorees have included Tony Bennett, Bono, Phil Collins, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklin Billy Joel, Elton John, Sting, Paul McCartney, Luciano Pavarotti and Barbra Streisand.

New Jersey native Springsteen, known for hits including “Born to Run,” “Born in the U.S.A.” and “Dancing in the Dark,” has won a string of honors including Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards.

He has often taken inspiration from his home state and used his star platform to highlight both its charms and challenges, most notably in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy which devastated New Jersey’s famous coastline in October.

MusiCares, which was established in 1989 by the Recording Academy, maintains a foundation that provides programs and services to members of the music community such as emergency financial assistance, educational workshops and other support services.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud, editing by Jill Serjeant and Cynthia Osterman)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Springsteen to be honored as MusiCares person of the year
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/springsteen-to-be-honored-as-musicares-person-of-the-year/
Link To Post : Springsteen to be honored as MusiCares person of the year
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment

Read More..

Hillary Clinton Is Discharged From Hospital After Blood Clot

Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose globe-trotting tour as secretary of state was abruptly halted last month by a series of health problems, was discharged from a New York hospital on Wednesday evening after several days of treatment for a blood clot in a vein in her head.

The news of her release was the first welcome sign in a troubling month that grounded Mrs. Clinton — preventing her from answering questions in Congress about the State Department’s handling of the lethal attack on an American mission in Libya or being present when President Obama announced Senator John Kerry as his choice for her successor when she steps down as secretary of state.

“Her medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts, and they are confident she will make a full recovery,” Philippe Reines, a senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton, said in a statement.

Mrs. Clinton, 65, was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital on Sunday after a scan discovered the blood clot. The scan was part of her follow-up care for a concussion she sustained more than two weeks earlier, when she fainted and fell, striking her head. According to the State Department, the fainting was caused by dehydration, brought on by a stomach virus. The concussion was diagnosed on Dec. 13, though the fall had occurred earlier that week.

The clot was potentially serious, blocking a vein that drains blood from the brain. Untreated, such blockages can lead to brain hemorrhages or strokes. Treatment consists mainly of blood thinners to keep the clot from enlarging and to prevent more clots from forming, and plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration, which is a major risk factor for blood clots.

Photographed leaving the hospital, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and their daughter, Chelsea, appeared elated. In a Twitter post on Wednesday, Chelsea Clinton said, “Grateful my Mom discharged from the hospital & is heading home. Even more grateful her medical team confident she’ll make a full recovery.”

Dr. David J. Langer, a brain surgeon and associate professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, said that Mrs. Clinton would need close monitoring in the next days, weeks and months to make sure her doses of blood thinners are correct and that the clot is not growing. Dr. Langer is not involved in her care.

Mrs. Clinton’s illness cuts short what would have been a victory lap for her at the State Department. With only a few weeks before the end of President Obama’s first term — the time frame she set for her own departure — she will be able to do little more than say goodbye to her troops.

But she will, at least theoretically, be able to testify before the Senate and House about the attack on the American mission in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens. She was not able to appear at a hearing in December because of her illness. Republicans, who have sharply criticized the Obama administration’s handling of the attack and its aftermath, had demanded that she appear to explain the department’s role, though in recent days they have modulated their request.

Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot formed in a large vein along the side of her head, behind her right ear, between the brain and the skull. The vein, called the right transverse sinus, has a matching vessel on the left side. These veins drain blood from the brain; blockages can cause strokes or brain hemorrhages. But if only one transverse sinus is blocked, the vein on other side can usually handle the extra flow.

In one sense, Mrs. Clinton was lucky: a clot higher in this drainage system, in a vessel with no partner to take the overflow, would have been far more dangerous, according to Dr. Geoffrey T. Manley, the vice chairman of neurological surgery at the University of California, San Francisco. He is not involved in her care.

The fact that Mrs. Clinton had a blood clot in the past — in her leg, in 1998 — suggests that she may have a tendency to form clots, and may need blood-thinners long-term or even for the rest of her life, Dr. Manley said.

One major risk to people who take blood thinners is that the drugs increase bleeding, so blows to the head from falls or other accidents — like the fall that caused Mrs. Clinton’s concussion — become more dangerous, and more likely to cause a brain hemorrhage. Even so, the medication should not interfere with Mrs. Clinton’s career, Dr. Manley said.

“There are lots of people running around on anticoagulants today,” he said. “I don’t see any way it would have any long-term consequences.”

He also said there was no reason to think that this type of clot would recur; he said he had treated many patients for the same condition and had never seen one come back with it again.

Dr. Langer said the vein blocked by the clot might or might not reopen. Sometimes, he said, the clot persists and the body covers it with tissue that closes or narrows the blood vessel. As long as the vein on the other side of the head is open, there is no problem for the patient.

One thing that is unclear, and that may never be known for sure, is what caused Mrs. Clinton’s blood clot. Around the second week in December, she reportedly contracted a stomach virus that caused vomiting and dehydration, passed out, fell and struck her head. A concussion was diagnosed several days after the fall, on Dec. 13, and the public was told Sunday that she had a blood clot, though its location was not revealed until the next day.

She had several risk factors for clots, including dehydration and her previous history of a clot. In addition, women are more prone than men to this type of clot, particularly when dehydrated. The fall may also have been a factor, though it is not clear whether her head injury was serious enough to have caused a blood clot. The type of clot she had is far more likely to be associated with a skull fracture than with a concussion, several experts said.

Did overwork — frequent overseas trips, perpetual jet lag, high-pressure meetings — make her ill? Mrs. Clinton has kept up a punishing schedule since she declared her candidacy for president in 2007. Having logged more than 950,000 miles and visited 112 countries, she is one of the most-traveled secretaries of state in history. She has put on weight and in recent times appeared fatigued. But the same could be said of plenty of people who do not develop clots in their heads.

“You cannot tell me that her hard work resulted in this,” Dr. Langer said. “I can’t imagine that you could make that judgment.”

In theory, Dr. Manley said, exhaustion can weaken the immune system temporarily, and lower a person’s resistance to infections like the stomach virus that apparently started Mrs. Clinton’s problems. But in his opinion, the most important contributing factor to her blood clot was probably the head injury from her fall.

Read More..

Biogen Gives Up on Drug for Lou Gehrig’s Disease

A closely watched experimental drug to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease failed to work in a late-stage clinical trial, the drug’s developer, Biogen Idec, said Thursday. The company said it would discontinue further work on the drug.

Biogen said that the drug was not effective in either slowing the loss of muscular function or prolonging the lives of people with the disease, formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or A.L.S.

There were also no signs that the drug, dexpramipexole, worked in any subgroup of patients, Biogen said.

“As a physician who has treated people with A.L.S., I hoped with all my heart for a different outcome,'’ Dr. Douglas Kerr, director of neurodegeneration clinical research at Biogen, said in a statement.

A.L.S., which attacks the nerves that control muscles, causes gradual paralysis and typically results in death within a few years of diagnosis. There are about 30,000 Americans with the disease.

There is only one drug approved to treat it, Rilutek, made by Sanofi, which doctors say has only modest effectiveness. Many other drugs have failed in clinical trials, in part because scientists do not understand the cause of A.L.S. and therefore do not know how to treat it.

While expectations had not been that high that dexpramipexole would succeed in its phase 3 trial, they were higher than for many previous A.L.S. drugs, given what some doctors viewed as strong results in a smaller, phase 2 trial.

“I’m more excited about this compound than any compound I’ve ever tested in A.L.S.,'’ Dr. Robert Miller, director of A.L.S. research at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco, said in April on a call with investors hosted by Deutsche Bank. Patients getting the highest dose had an almost a 50 percent slower decline in muscular function than those receiving a placebo.

Biogen had licensed dexpramipexole from Knopp Biosciences, a privately held company in Pittsburgh. Biogen’s trial included 943 patients in 11 countries. The main measurement of success was a composite that took into account both deaths from the disease and the decline of functionality. Patients in the trial were allowed to take Rilutek.

Dr. Jeffrey D. Rothstein, director of the Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said the results were disappointing but not surprising.

“We really, really need a new drug,'’ Dr. Rothstein, who was not involved in the phase 3 trial, said by e-mail. He said he thought the phase 2 results for dexpramipexole had been only “marginal,'’ so he was not surprised the latest trial did not succeed.

The reaction on Wall Street was somewhat muted because of the modest expectations for the trial to succeed. Biogen’s shares were down about 4 percent.

“We (and most of the Street) had characterized this trial as a high risk trial,'’ Mark Schoenebaum, an analyst at ISI Group, wrote in a research note Thursday.

Other companies are also developing drugs to treat A.L.S. Neuraltus Pharmaceuticals, a privately held company in Palo Alto, Calif., is preparing to enter the final stage of clinical trials for NP001.

The company announced in late October that its phase 2 trial, which involving 136 patients, failed to show a statistically significant benefit compared to a placebo. But the company said that 27 percent of patients getting the high dose of NP001 had no progression of their disease for six months, two and a half times as many as in the placebo group.

Cytokinetics, of South San Francisco, Calif., is in mid-stage testing of a compound, tirasemtiv, which might make muscles respond more forcefully to nerve signals.

Read More..

Brown plans extensive changes for school funding in 2013

SACRAMENTO — Gov. Jerry Brown will push this year to upend the way schools are funded in California, hoping to shift more money to poorer districts and end requirements that billions of dollars be spent on particular programs.

Brown said he wants more of the state's dollars to benefit low-income and non-English-speaking students, who typically are more expensive to educate.

"The reality is, in some places students don't enjoy the same opportunities that people have in other places," the governor said in an interview. "This is a way to balance some of life's chances."

He would also scale back — and possibly eliminate — dozens of rules that districts must abide by to receive billions in state dollars. Some of those requirements, such as a mandate to limit class size, have been suspended amid Sacramento's recurrent budget problems but are set to resume by 2015.

Brown and his aides are keeping most details under wraps. But advisers say his proposals, part of the budget blueprint to be unveiled early this month, will amount to the most extensive changes in decades in the relationship between school districts and state government.

His intentions are already raising concerns among school administrators, district officials and labor unions. The governor postponed earlier plans to push for the changes when the discord threatened to distract from his campaign for higher taxes. Voters approved the tax hikes in November, averting billions of dollars in education cuts.

Now, the transformation of school funding is at the top of his agenda. He says his goal is more local control.

"What the state has done for 40 years is develop one new program after another to compensate for underperforming" schools, he said. "What we have now is command and control issuing from headquarters in Sacramento."

Scores of programs set up by state mandate — for smaller classes, bilingual education and summer school, for example — have their own pots of money sent from Sacramento to pay for them. ¿The Public Policy Institute of California found that nearly 40% of every dollar sent to schools from both the state and federal governments is earmarked for such a purpose.

The programs vary in size and scope: $4.5 million to meet the needs of Native American students, $10 million to improve school Internet access, more than $618 million set aside for school buses, etc.

According to Brown's Department of Finance, 56 such programs received a total of $11.8 billion in state funds last year. ¿The result, the governor says, is a bloated school bureaucracy that takes money away from core instruction.

"You have to have administrators at the state level, district level and at the school level who are engaged in making sure this money is used for what it's supposed to be used for," Brown said. "This constant articulation of rules is a world unto itself that is not directly supporting the teacher in the classroom."

But many of the programs are popular with parents and various interest groups and have staunch defenders in the Capitol. They say lifting restrictions on how schools spend their money could hurt struggling students.

In recent years, state lawmakers have offered districts some flexibility to cope with rounds of budget cuts. The results, some say, have not always been good, leading to larger classes and sharp reductions in programs for adults trying to earn a high school degree.

Since 2008, the average class size in kindergarten through third grade has grown from 20 to 23, among the largest in the nation, according to a study from the Public Policy Institute of California. During the same period, the average class size elsewhere in the country remained at around 15 students.

In addition, "since schools have been given greater flexibility, adult education ... has been decimated throughout the state," said Jeff Freitas, secretary-treasurer of the California Federation of Teachers. "You can't just give the locals carte blanche with the money."

Shifting money to poorer schools at the expense of wealthier ones is also certain to stir protest.

Under a similar proposal the governor floated last year, the Department of Finance estimated that Compton Unified schools would see an uptick of more than $4,700 per pupil by the 2017-18 school year. Manhattan Beach Unified would get a per-student increase of just $681.

Those who have met with Brown's top education aides expect the governor to propose a similar formula in January, asking districts to account for the expenditures to make sure the funds serve higher-needs students.

Adonai Smith, a lobbyist for the Assn. of California School Administrators, said his members would not support a plan that amounts to a "redistribution of resources."

The governor says that even if funding is tweaked to favor more poor students and English learners, all schools will receive more money now that state revenue is on the uptick.

"I want to align more closely the money schools receive with the problems that teachers encounter," Brown said. "When somebody's teaching in Compton, it's a much bigger challenge than teaching in Beverly Hills."

anthony.york@latimes.com

Read More..

Go Bionic With These Wearable Arduino Projects

The emerging field of smart textiles, known as "Wearables" or e-textiles, has gained considerable momentum in the past few years as enthusiasts continue to build more and more complex projects with microcontrollers that keep growing in power while shrinking in size.

The LilyPad Arduino microcontroller board helped bring a large developer community into Wearables with its debut in 2007; since then it has allowed many of those who dream of blending technology and everyday clothing to build out their ideas.

The diminutive microprocessor, designed to be incorporated into apparel or other soft goods, has easy connectors that integrate with a range of sensors and actuators with conductive thread. This combination opens a new platform for technology and fashion, allowing for easy projects like embedded LEDS, or more advanced projects like motorized, moving components that react from environmental conditions.

Since the debut of the Lilypad, there have been advancements in the open source wearable technology arena, with the Adafruit Flora being the next generation of that field, providing more advanced specs in an even smaller package.

Above:

Designer Lulin Ding has created a digitized version of eyeshadow, constructed from an Arduino Lilypad and thin wires that double as a supportive frame that surrounds the eye with a cyber look. Hoping to recreate the effect of standard eyeshadow that is primarily visible when the eyes are closed, Ding's high-tech version lights up in response to blinking.

Digitized Eyeshadow from Lulin Ding on Vimeo.

Photo: Courtesy Lulin Ding

Read More..