tech code
October 6th, 2009Adhd-news
September 20th, 2009| 80beats | ||
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You may have learned of the line of cells known as the HeLa strain in a biology class, where a teacher explained the “virtually immortal” nature of these rapidly multiplying cells, and how they played a defining role in science. Over the last six decades, the prolific HeLa cells have been used to develop ...
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100 gigahertz of processing powernot bad for a single sheet of atoms.
In a paper in Science, researchers at IBM say they have created the fastest-ever graphene transistor, with a cut-off frequency (the highest it can go without significant signal degradation) that at 100 GHz is nearly four times higher than their previous attempt. Similar silicon-based ... |
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There’s your chronological age, the number that creeps depressingly upward with each passing birthday, and then there’s your biological age, associated with the condition of your body. In a study this week in Nature Genetics, a British team discovered a link between a particular genetic variation and people being several years older in their biological ...
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As study after study suggests that wine might have health benefits, beer tends to get the short end of the stick. But food scientist and beer lover Charles Bamforth wasn’t going to take that lying down, saying: “The wine guys have stolen the moral high ground. I resent the stance that people take that wine ...
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When it comes to a sperm fertilizing an egg, it all comes down to speed and timing. If the sperm starts swimming at top speed too soon, it will die before it reaches the egg. But if it swims too slowly then it won’t get to its destination in time. Now, scientists have discovered ...
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| InjuryBoard National News Desk | ||
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Tracing Communicable Disease
In a major compromise to the livestock industry, the Obama administration plans to start over in developing a way to trace communicable disease in livestock after resistance from ranchers and farmers. In doing so, it is abandoning the National Animal Identification System, developed by the Bush administration in 2004 after identification of mad cow disease in 2003. Participation was voluntary and ranchers objected to the extra work and cost in identifying cattle. As it now stands, states will have to devise systems to identify livestock. New federal rules, when they are developed in as long as two years, will only apply to livestock being moved interstate, such as livestock transported to a slaughter house in another state. The National Animal Identification System (NAIS) was intended to give health officials the ability to trace every pig, chicken or cow with a unique identification number that would be entered into a database. If there was a disease outbreak such as mad cow disease or E.coli, agricultural officials would be able to locate the sick animal and others who had been exposed to the sick animal. The old system received $142 million in federal funds, but ultimately only 40% of the livestock producers participated. Tom Vilsack, the head of the Department of Agriculture was bombarded with opposition to the NAIS. Opponents such as the American Farm Bureau Federation opposed the identification system. It was just overwhelming in the country that people didn’t like it, and I think they took that feedback to heart,” said Mary Kay Thatcher, public policy director to the New York Times. Carol Tucker Foreman, with the Consumer Federation of America agrees that managing the old system state-by-state was not working. “Today’s announcement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it will develop a new framework for animal identification and traceability is a welcome break from previous attempts to develop a National Animal Identification System,” said Foreman in a statement. The Obama administration plans on working in consultation with the livestock industry and state in developing a new system. # Originally posted at Jane Akre
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Ralph Nader He may know more about automobiles than almost anyone in America. Consumer advocate, Ralph Nader, has been exposing the hazards of the automobile industry for more than four decades. In 1965, the then-unknown lawyer, Nader wrote, Unsafe At Any Speed, an expose of the problems with the Chevy Corvair and the automobile industry’s disregard for consumer safety by producing defective and unsafe vehicles. Nader is a founder of the advocacy group, Public Citizen. He has run for president of the U.S. as both an Independent and a Green Party candidate. He spoke to IB News editor, Jane Akre, about the failure of federal regulators and what’s ahead for Toyota and Toyota owners. Akre: Toyota seems to have not just stepped in it but they are rolling in it from a public relations standpoint. Nader: “The floor mat seems to have been a ruse. That was their first attempt to cover it up. There are two different suppliers in the U.S. and Japan, and they are not getting a recall in Japan. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) has the best subpoena power and they have not exercised it against Toyota suppliers or dealers. Now they are jawboning in telling them stop production. They haven’t exercised their formal authority to do it.” Q: So the problem is with NHTSA? Nader: “NHTSA doesn’t have the wherewithal they need to hire skilled people and their budget in inflationary terms is equal to 55% of the budget they had in 1980. “So you’ve got congressional hearings next week. We’ll see what kind of witnesses they bring. They have a professor of engineering at the University of Maryland. He should be retained. The hearings have got to have technical experts to ask and answer questions that have not been answered by Toyota or NHTSA." Q: What questions does NHTSA have to ask Toyota? Nader: “They need to say, ‘I need your engineering reports on exhaustive tests on the computer systems. What do they mean by replacing the pedal? How is that going to deal with a problem like that?’ “Another one is to divulge all your lawsuits and evidence of injury from probable cause police reports. Now when there is a crash it won’t just say, ‘the driver was drunk and lost control,’ now police will start focusing on sudden acceleration. “Why doesn’t Toyota cover the millions of automobiles made before 2005 which were subject to six NHTSA unintentional acceleration and product defect petitions since 2003? They are not part of the recall. There was a recall of the Toyota Lexus 200 in Britain in 2000, why did it take so long to recall it in the U.S? “There is NHTSA protocol and they are not setting the standard. It’s all done in phone calls here. They are way in over their heads. There are a lot of questions they’re not asking, really the kind of questions a thorough regulatory agency investigates. "They have been so denuded of technical staff through budget deregulation mania. They have been turned from a federal regulatory agency to a consulting company office for Detroit. And this has been going on since Reagan, under a Republican and Democrat. Clinton was as bad as Bush.” Q: Do electronics and computers in today’s cars make finding the problem more difficult? Nader: “The first Toyota recall was over sticking throttles in 1986. They replaced the computer system. Then it was much simpler than now, and we just don’t know, they haven’t done the engineering and testing. Whether Toyota has or not, we don’t know since they don’t have mandatory recalls in Japan. If they had the same problem in Japan, it would really explode there. “This is very complex, the most ever. There are so many components to the computer system that have to be tested. The last sticking throttle was in General Motors. 6.1 million GMs were recalled, mostly Chevys, and it was an engine mount problem. That was 1971. “NHTSA should issue mandatory standard smart pedals in all systems. Smart pedal, the brake override system, but that doesn’t deal with the fundamental computer problem. It’s more like an effective band aid." What would you do if you had a Toyota? Nader - “Not having a car I don’t have to worry. What would I do? Wait until you get a certified letter until you do anything? There is something incongruous about what they are doing. Toyota is saying the problem is not electronic, that’s where the real conflict is whether it’s electronic or not. It could be different problems, mechanical maybe, but it all depends on the computer system. “The ‘fix’ – there is no confidence this is the right fix. Some don’t think it will work. There is just not enough known and that means they are not really coming clean with that level of technical disclosure. Better to learn how to brake and put it in neutral at the same time.” Q: Is litigation the answer? Nader: “Litigation is too slow. It’s very important but it takes too long. This is a company with huge resources. The thing is the cost in sales that they can’t recover. GM bounced back pretty easily. "This seems to have a different quality and gravity to it. GM knew what the problem was and it was the same for 6 million vehicles. Increasingly, electronics are the forecast of the future that mechanics can’t deal with it. It increases the variables of what can go wrong. The engine mount was a simple physical artifact." Q: Should President Obama get involved? Nader: “Why not? He’s spending $780 million this year to guard the embassy in Baghdad because of a criminal war of aggression by Bush/Cheney that is larger than the budget for all of NHTSA including grants to states for traffic safety, which is $702 million. A $775 million budget to guard an embassy, it’s institutional insanity. "It took him a year to find the head of NHTSA. George W. Obama. More information has to be disclosed and that is a function of the press, to press Congress and provoke Toyota. If they downplay it, it looks like a four day story and the heat’s off." # Originally posted at Jane Akre
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Whistleblower and Sealed Documents
Dimitrios P. Biller was managing counsel for Toyota from 2003 to 2007. His job was to produce the electronic documents that would help Toyota fight about 300lawsuits filed after the rollovers of SUVs and trucks. Many resulted in traumatic head injury. But Biller says he was fired when he refused to hide documents at the direction of the company. Biller has accused the company of inflicting emotion distress on him while it was committing “criminal acts” in the rollover litigation In September, a U.S. District Judge ruled that some company documents will stay opened and not be sealed, opening the doorto hundreds of settled or dismissed lawsuits by rollover accident victims. Biller and Toyota have been grappling over about 6,000 internal documents that Biller has in his possession, proof of the company’s pattern of fraud, he says. The disputed documents have been kept confidential by court order since last summer. A California arbitrator will soon decide whether they should be made public. They could potentially shed light on the type of safety allegations now facing Toyota – what they knew and when they knew it. No stranger to litigation, Biller was terminated by Toyota and received a nearly $4 million severance deal. He sued Toyota for wrongful termination. Toyota has sued Biller for violating his severance agreement. That decision is pending. In a federal racketeering lawsuit filed in August, Biller accuses the automaker of a long history of hiding and destroying evidence, orchestrated by the company’s headquarters in Japan. Biller now runs Litigation Discovery and Trial Consulting in California. Biller talked briefly to IB News Wednesday about the company he used to work for. He says he is under a couple of restraining orders, but he doesn’t believe in them because the information falls under criminal fraud. While he is waiting on a ruling, IB News Editor, Jane Akre, got in a few questions before his lawyer, who was in the room, stopped the interview. Meanwhile, he has spoken briefly with ABC News, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN. IB News: Toyota sued you in 2008? “They sued me in 2008 but it was a manufactured lawsuit. When I left Toyota I had some troubles because of my mental condition (depression) that Toyota caused. I set up my own business giving seminars to lawyers for MCLE (minimum continuing legal education) credit. Toyota sent two spies to seminars and they claim I made disclosures of confidential information. So Toyota sued me to prevent me from making such disclosures. But to be accused of making a disclosure you have to make it to a third party. Toyotas lawyers were in the room and nobody else was in the room. Toyota’s lawyers are not third parties.” Q: Are you being asked to participate in the rollover cases that have been reopened? “I’ve been noticed for deposition many times. Toyota either gets a motion to quash or settles the case.” Q: Do you feel vindicated by what’s going on with Toyota now? “That implies I didn’t believe or people didn’t believe me. There are plenty of people who believed in me and I believe in what I was doing – to right a wrong ship. I’m enjoying watching the Toyota ship sink.” Q: Do you have any opinion about the cause of the sudden acceleration problem? “It’s an electronic problem. I know.” Q: Do you know with certainty? “My lawyer is sitting here. I’m expecting an order any day now.” Q: Can Toyota regain its reputation? “No, I agree with the comment the previous NHTSA administrator made 100 percent, that Toyota is a secretive organization that is very difficult to get any information from. There are lots of reasons.” # Meanwhile, the eastern district of Texas has become ground zero for many rollover cases, now reopened. In October, Biller drove from California with four large banker boxes sealed with tape and delivered the boxes to the office of federal District Judge T. John Ward. He had just obtained a restraining order against Toyota to prevent the destruction of documents. The documents and exhibits were to be used in a fraud lawsuit filed by Dallas attorney Todd Tracy Tracy, who is seeking to reopen 17 accident cases following Biller’s revelations. Tracy has set up a Web site to update the public on the actions being taken to reopen rollover cases. # Originally posted at Jane Akre
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Prius Braking Complaints Too
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says park your recalled Toyotas for now. His apparently off the cuff comment came today in testimony before a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, reports the Detroit Free Press. His recommendations – “Stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.” The most recent recall involves 2.3 million vehicles and the problematic sticking gas pedals that have led to 19 deaths so far. LaHood says Toyota owners should “exercise caution until repairs can be made.” Toyota dealers reportedly do not have the parts to immediately fix all 5.6 million cars and trucks that have been recalled. The pedal recall of 2.3 million models may not be available until April. Toyota is confident that the “fix” part it is sending to auto dealers will solve the sticking gas pedal problem and that another repair involving floor mats will end the acceleration problem. Not everyone has confidence in the automaker’s remedy. LaHood says that even though Toyota says the computers in its cars are not at fault, NHTSA will look at the possibility of electromagnetic interference with the accelerator systems. Mr. LaHood said earlier Wednesday he wants to talk directly with Toyota Chief Executive Akio Toyoda about the safety concerns involving Toyota cars and the company’s handling of those issues. And congress will be directing questions at Toyota execs February 25. The Wall Street Journal reports that Toyota Motor Corp. shares sank after the LaHood announcement 7.8% to $72.06. The stock had been hovering around $75 earlier in the morning. Prius Owner Complaints Over Faulty Brakes So far at least 96 consumer complaints have been lodged concerning the Prius hybrid and braking and sudden acceleration problems. That is more than double the number of complaints concerning all flaws in the 2009 model. The Detroit Free Press reviewed federal data from the NTSB and found most of the complaints say the Prius suddenly accelerated after traveling over a bump or pothole. Two injuries and two crashes have been reported. One Prius owner complains, “This has almost resulted in the Prius striking the car in front of it. It makes it impossible to safely judge your braking distance in order to come to a safe stop because you never know when this phenomenon will occur.” The Prius is not covered by the Toyota recall of 2.3 million vehicles for the sticking accelerator pedal problem. The Prius is as hybrid vehicle that uses “regenerative” braking. That uses the motion of the car to recharge batteries while slowing down along with regular brakes. The Los Angeles Times reports that Apply co-founder, Steve Wozniak, reports his Toyota Prius accelerates on its own, as much as 97 mph, when he used cruise control. He tapped the brakes to stop the acceleration. Toyota has plans to borrow Wozniak’s car for a week to diagnose the problem. Before he went to the media, Wozniak says he could get no one to listen. His model Prius has not been recalled. # Originally posted at Jane Akre
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Regional Carriers Dominate At Some Airports
A report on the regional carrier airline crash in Buffalo last year concludes that the pilots showed “complacency and confusion that resulted in catastrophe.” 50 people died when Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo crashed in icy conditions, killing 50 people. “History is repeating itself,” National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair, Deborah Hersman told reporters, referring to characteristics of this accident that have been seen before. With the exception of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, five of the six major airline crashes involving fatalities since January 2001, have involved regional airlines, according to the NTSB. In as many as 650 communities, regional airlines are the only scheduled service. Media General News Service reports that last year, regionals carried nearly 160 million people, about 20 percent of all U.S. air service. Pilot Fatigue The Buffalo crash of Flight 3407 highlights the differences in safety between major airlines and regional carriers. There, lower-paid pilots are more likely to fly fatigued, travel long distances to report to work, and receive inadequate training. The flight was en route to Buffalo Niagara International Airport when the Bombardier Dash 8 Q 400 crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York just short of the runway. 49 who died were on the plane and one was on the ground. The flight stalled when the pilot pulled back on the control column after hearing an automated stall warning. Capt. Marvin Renslow should have pushed forward to gain speed. Investigators believe that could have saved the stalled flight. Renslow pulled back on the throttle three more times. “That’s very unusual behavior and, quite frankly, I’m at a loss to explain it,” said Tom Haueter, who directs the NTSB’s Office of Aviation Safety. Capt. Renslow had flown from Florida to Newark Liberty Airport, and co-pilot Rebecca Shaw, 24, had flown in from Seattle where she lived with her parents. She had reportedly slept in a crew room and was suffering from a cold. “The big thing is fatigue” FAA spokeswoman Alison Duquette said. Renslow and Shaw were engaged in cockpit conversation, the black box recorder shows, when their attention should have been on recovering from the stall and Shaw sent a text message from the cockpit before takeoff. "Distractions caused by personal portable electronic devices affect flight safety because they can detract from a flight crew’s ability to monitor and cross-check instruments, detect hazards, and avoid errors," the NTSB report says. Safety Recommendations The NTSB has issued 25 safety recommendations and will hold a public forum this spring on pilot and air traffic control high standards. The FAA says in a statement that significant improvements in pilot professionalism, training and background checks have been made in the last year. The FAA plans to publish new rules on crew rest this spring and is in the process of rewriting airline training regulations. The Airline Safety and Pilot Training Improvement Act of 2009 would tighten qualifications, records, crew-rest and training requirements for air-carrier pilots. It has passed the House and is under consideration in the Senate. The Regional Airline Association, a lobby for the industry says regional airlines are already implementing most of the safety improvements. The association is not in favor of the bill’s provision to require new hires to have logged at least 1,500 hours of flight time. # Originally posted at Jane Akre
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