Evraz North America opens $650M credit line to refinance debt

Evraz in August announced plans to expand capacity at Evraz Oregon Steel in Portland, shown in this 2007 photo, to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Russian steel-maker Evraz on Wednesday said its North American subsidiary, formerly based in Portland, may borrow as much as $610 million to refinance its debt.

Evraz North America Inc., which relocated earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, has agreed to a new five-year revolving credit facility that will replace existing credit agreements of $225 million in U.S. currency and $300 million in Canadian currency.

The new credit agreement will also finance the company?s working capital needs.

GE Capital Markets, Inc., GE Capital Markets (Canada) Ltd., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and UBS Loan Finance LLC served as joint lead arranges and bookrunners in the transaction.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that Evraz, which had $7.2 billion in debt at the end of September, is refinancing in an attempt to expand while protecting its credit ratings.

The company earlier this month said it will increase rail production at its plant in Pueblo, Colo., Bloomberg reported.

And in August it announced plans to expand capacity at its steel tube manufacturing plant in Portland to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Formerly Oregon Steel Mills Inc.? ? Oregon Steel Mills Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Fallout from an NYSE-Deutsche B?rse merger Kitzhaber: Boost economic developmentEvraz nets M in incentives for move Follow this company , the North American subsidiary of Russian steel giant Evraz Group S.A. relocated its headquarters earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, though it still employs around 400 workers at its North Portland manufacturing op

Russian steel-maker Evraz on Wednesday said its North American subsidiary, formerly based in Portland, may borrow as much as $610 million to refinance its debt.

Evraz North America Inc., which relocated earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, has agreed to a new five-year revolving credit facility that will replace existing credit agreements of $225 million in U.S. currency and $300 million in Canadian currency.

The new credit agreement will also finance the company?s working capital needs.

GE Capital Markets, Inc., GE Capital Markets (Canada) Ltd., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. and UBS Loan Finance LLC served as joint lead arranges and bookrunners in the transaction.

Bloomberg on Wednesday reported that Evraz, which had $7.2 billion in debt at the end of September, is refinancing in an attempt to expand while protecting its credit ratings.

The company earlier this month said it will increase rail production at its plant in Pueblo, Colo., Bloomberg reported.

And in August it announced plans to expand capacity at its steel tube manufacturing plant in Portland to make pipe used in energy exploration.

Formerly Oregon Steel Mills Inc.? ? Oregon Steel Mills Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Fallout from an NYSE-Deutsche B?rse merger Kitzhaber: Boost economic developmentEvraz nets M in incentives for move Follow this company , the North American subsidiary of Russian steel giant Evraz Group S.A. relocated its headquarters earlier this year from Portland to Chicago, though it still employs around 400 workers at its North Portland manufacturing operation.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vertical_61/~3/iQuuQt6VduQ/evraz-north-america-opens-650m-credit.html

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Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor ready to rebel at 50 after cancer battle

By Liz Thomas

Last updated at 2:33 AM on 27th December 2011

Coronation Street star Sally Dynevor is the first to admit she?s always been a bit of a goody two-shoes in real life.

But her very public battle with breast cancer has left the soap icon in a different frame of mind as she approaches 50.

In a frank interview, the actress says she?s fighting back to fitness and now it?s time to do something ?naughty?.

Age is just a number: Sally Dynevor dons a leather biker jacket for a photoshoot

?I feel as though I?m starting to enter a new time in my life,? she said. ?I?m really excited about the future.

?As I get older I want to break the? rules and be a bit rebellious. I?ve been? so good for such a long time I just want to do something naughty. I want to do as much as I can. I just want to fill every minute of every day.?

?

Mrs Dynevor, who plays Sally Webster, was diagnosed with cancer after a Coronation Street plotline ? in which her character developed the disease ? inspired her to check her own breasts.

In November last year she began a gruelling course of chemotherapy which led to her losing her hair.

Cancer fight: Sally had months of therapy

?I?ve learnt that whatever happens to us, it?s just life?s path,? she said. ?So many people go through breast cancer. I?m not the only one, there are thousands. But it gave me great comfort to talk to other women going through the same thing.?

The mother-of-three confessed that she now wanted to try a backpacking holiday or working in New York as a waitress.

She told Woman magazine: ?I was talking to some of the Corrie girls and we all said 50 is the new 40, isn?t it?

?Fifty-year-olds now aren?t dressing like my mother?s generation did. I still want to be wearing a leather jacket and skinny jeans. Being 50 is just a number and it?s about how you feel in your head. I?m sure there are exciting times to come.?

Mrs Dynevor, who was previously known as Sally Whittaker,?has said that the ITV soap could potentially have saved her life because it was only the storyline that caused her to check herself and find a lump.

The early diagnosis gave her a better chance at beating the disease.

?If I had not been researching this storyline, I may not have discovered the lump in my breast and had it looked at so quickly,? she said in a interview.

?I had never properly checked my breast before because I thought this wasn?t going to happen to me.?

Mrs Dynevor said she had ignored a? lump she had felt while on holiday? earlier last year, but was inspired by her scenes to have it checked by a nurse.

The nurse immediately booked her a hospital appointment and she was diagnosed with a 1.8cm grade one tumour. The tests also revealed that the diseased cells had spread to six of the lymph nodes under one arm.

The actress, who is married to scriptwriter Tim Dynevor with whom she has three children ? Sam, 14, and daughters Phoebe, 16, and Hattie, eight ? then underwent months of chemotherapy, losing much of her hair.

She? continued to play her character Sally, who was facing a similar? situation in the soap.

Mrs Dynevor, who has starred in Coronation Street for 25 years, insisted she was happy to keep working on the show.

?I?ve had so many good stories. If my storylines had dried up I would have left a long time ago,? she said. ?That?s not to say I might not venture off and do a bit of theatre when I get older.

?There are times when I see something and think, ?I?d really like to be doing that?, but the reality is I wouldn?t get home at night to put my kids to bed.? Corrie suits my life and that?s why I?ve stayed so long.?

Alongside her latest interview she posed in a daytime biker jacket and figure-hugging? trousers to illustrate how she? is beginning to get her life back? to normal.

?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/dailymail/tvshowbiz/~3/j10jtlDbwMw/Coronation-Street-star-Sally-Dynevor-ready-rebel-50-cancer-battle.html

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NFL: Cam Newton Blames Vince Young & JaMarcus Russell For [Black] QB Stereotyping

Because Cam Newton has set the NFL on fire this season, it seems silly to think back to when scouts and experts wouldn?t go near the Panthers rookie quarterback?s bandwagon.?Blaine Gabbert?more worthy of the No. 1 overall pick? That?s downright laughable now. ?Find out why Cam feels he was unjustly stereotyped after the jump.

@Shay_Marie x @gametimegirl

Some of Newton?s critics were so harsh that his mentor, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon,?believed their reviews were racially charged. Newton wouldn?t play up the race card in?an interview for next month?s issue of ESPN The Magazine, instead pointing to people?s bias because of past failed high-pick QBs ? although there is a catch to what he says.

?I can?t sit up here and look at it like, ?Oh man, my critics are racist,?? Newton said. ?I blame JaMarcus Russell and to some degree?Vince Young. If you have the opportunity to make that kind of money doing something you love to do, why would you screw it up? I?m trying to be a trailblazer. If Baylor?s Robert Griffin decides to come out, I want people to say ?He can be the next Cam Newton? instead of ?He?s going to be the next JaMarcus Russell.??

Now, about the catch, Newton specifically blames two black quarterbacks for his being disrespected, so maybe the criticism was?racial?but no so much?racist?(there is a difference)?

Anyhow, Newton had much more to say about his critics, specifically how he was in disbelief when, all of a sudden, they wanted to do interviews after he became the first player in NFL history to open his career with back-to-back 400-yard passing games.

?I had people who can?t throw a football telling me my mechanics were wrong,? Newton said. ?I had people taking shots at my character, classifying me as a thug, as a hoodlum. After Week 3 or 4, all these same people wanted an interview. I said, ?You were giving me all this crap and had so much to say about how I was going to play, and now you want to talk? No. Just sit back and watch the show, man.? ?

It?s been pretty impressive, too. Newton already has eclipsedPeyton Manning?in passing yards for a rookie record 3,893, while scoring 34 total touchdowns (20 passing, 14 rushing). Eagles quarterback?Michael Vick?recently said?Newton will revolutionize the game, and that?s exactly what Newton is striving for.

?Gone are the days of the drop-back quarterback who can only throw the ball,? Newton said. ?You know the new iPhone? It?s faster, more powerful and smarter. It?s revolutionary. Why can?t the quarterback be like that? Why can?t you be a big, tall, fast, quick, strong, smart, mobile quarterback who?s unstoppable??

NFL

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Source: http://www.inflexwetrust.com/2011/12/28/nfl-cam-newton-blames-vince-young-jamarcus-russell-for-black-qb-stereotyping/

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AUTOMOTIVE - AUTOS: Top Technologies Of 2011

We'll likely look back on 2011 as the year that the app truly entered our automobiles, becoming integrated with our Bluetooth-connected smart phones and in some cases, fully integrated with vehicle infotainment systems.

In looking for the top tech stories of 2011, we fought the urge to simply rattle off a series of apps. By themselves, they're hardly the technology, although put together with the carefully designed and innovative in-car interfaces, such as GM's upcoming CUE, connectivity is the year's top tech story.

There is lots more, although much of it is more evolutionary than revolutionary. Mechanically, the auto industry largely continued some trends that have been underway for several years. Turbocharging became more common, direct-injection engines continued to proliferate the market, and transmissions gained gears, with seven- and eight-speed units no longer eyebrow-raising; there?s even word that a 10 speed is being developed.

Electrification of the vehicle is underway, but with electric cars and hybrids remaining such a small piece of the pie, it's going to be a sluggish start.

Another key thread of the year is the advancement of safety-tech and accident-avoidance features into their second or third generations, with cost coming down on some items, allowing us to see such features as obstacle detection and blind-spot alert in much more affordable models.

As we look forward to a future of smart, connected cars, we might look back on some of the headlines, such as those for Google's driverless car, and single this year out as an especially insightful time when seemingly broader themes came together to give us a clearer vision of what lies 10 or 20 years ahead.

Focusing back on individual items, here are nine of the top car-tech items and stories of 2011:

The Cadillac User Experience is a major advancement in touch-screen interfaces with several industry firsts. (Photo: Cadillac) Cadillac User Experience (CUE) -- Better than an iPad. Love it or hate it, over the next several years we're going to see even more instrument-panel real estate dedicated to screen-based systems, especially touch screens. While MyFord Touch made a plunge last year, it's been followed in close succession by a host of other interfaces that aim to do most of what the Ford system can do, but with a little more simplicity, such as Chrysler's UConnect Touch, the General Motors system known as IntelliLink (Buick) and MyLink (Chevy). But none of them quite matches up to GM's upcoming system for Cadillac models, called CUE (Cadillac User Experience).

While CUE isn't yet out (it won't arrive until next spring in the new 2013 Cadillac XTS), it shows the direction of in-car touch-screen interfaces and packs several industry firsts. It's not just the first automotive touch-screen system to use a capacitative screen (think iPad), it will also be the biggest (12.3 inches) and brightest at launch. It also will be the first auto interface to recognize gestures; think the tap, flick, swipe and spread motions we're now used to making with phones.

But it goes beyond what the iPad has. Haptic feedback pushes back lightly against your finger to give the menu options a ?texture,? and proximity sensors see when your hand is approaching, with the screen only then showing more options to minimize distraction the rest of the time.

A strong processor should keep it all quick. Match with this a completely new natural-language data set, and CUE is looking like one of the most important new pieces of car tech in 2012.

Integrated Pandora and Stitcher ? Satellite radio might give you plenty of listening options, and HD Radio is finally making it into production vehicles this year, further broadening your possibilities beyond traditional FM. But seriously, who needs radio anyway?

As custom streaming sites Pandora and Stitcher have shown us, the way we listen is changing with the technology. Programming in your own audio system beamed in from the cloud is most likely the way of the future. Over the past year, we've seen a rapid revolution with a host of models offering integrated controls of your custom stations, while you use the data connection from your smart phone.

Pandora seems to have a leg up on rivals for the moment ? Hyundai is offering it standard in its affordable Veloster ? but the market has by no means shaken out. As we look into next year, we'll see more applications from Spotify and others.

Meanwhile, the competition from satellite radio isn't bad. Look for more XM Sirius systems to include time-shifting buffers, and such features as favorites and tagging.

Start-stop comes to affordable cars ?Start-stop (or idle-stop) systems, which smartly shut the engine off at stoplights then start it up as soon as you lift off the brake, are a no-brainer for stoplight-peppered U.S. driving. These systems can boost real-world mileage by one to four miles per gallon in congested city driving, depending on the vehicle.

But ask automakers, and it's still a tough road as EPA ratings don't represent the improvement most U.S. commuters will see. And thanks to components borrowed from hybrids, as well as such components as electric power steering and smart alternators, start-stop is now more affordable.

Porsche now offers it on its Cayenne and Panamera model lines, but the brightest news is that Kia is offering it as a low-cost option on the 2012 Rio. It's also included with the new, four-cylinder 2012 BMW 528i, and it's just a year away for some Ford models.

The technology finally looks poised to take off. One analysis firm recently projected that a quarter of all U.S. vehicles will include it by 2015, and 25 million vehicles will be sold with the feature globally by 2017. That's a lot of fuel saved, and since it doesn't affect anything about how the vehicles drive, that's a win-win.

Source: http://automotive.speedtv.com/article/autos-top-technologies-of-2011/

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There?s A Lohan In Love With Jets QB Mark Sanchez

Despite the Jets? embarrassing loss to the Giants Saturday, Mark Sanchez is still popular with the ladies. Lindsay Lohan?s model sister, Aliana, watched the game from the cozy couches in the Jets? stadium lounge, the Green Room ? along with brothers Michael and Cody ? where Ali complimented the handsome, losing QB telling us, ?Mark [...]

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Human Birdwings combines Wiimote, smartphone in DIY flying initiative (video)

Somewhere, somehow, the Wright Brothers are smiling. Jarnos Smeets, a mechanical engineer from the Netherlands, has been plugging away on his Human Birdwings project for many, many months now, and his latest breakthroughs are absolutely worthy of a peek. Put simply, the bloke has married an HTC Wildfire S, a Wii remote and bookoodles of software genius in order to create a set of wings that are controlled by a human waving his arms as if to fly. As these things tend to go, it's all better explained in video, two of which are hosted up after the break. There's no capture just yet of Jarnos taking off himself, but at this rate, he'll probably be giving Santa a run for his money around this time next year.

Continue reading Human Birdwings combines Wiimote, smartphone in DIY flying initiative (video)

Human Birdwings combines Wiimote, smartphone in DIY flying initiative (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fighting Stereotypes in the U.K. (Powerlineblog)

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UN condemns Syria terrorist attacks (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? The U.N. Security Council strongly condemned Friday's terrorist attacks in Syria and sent condolences to the victims, their families and the Syrian people ? but not to the government, which is the usual council practice.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he left out several words to get support from all 15 council members.

The U.N.'s most powerful body remains deeply divided over the nine-month uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad, which has led to its failure to adopt a resolution on Syria and acrimonious exchanges and heightened tensions especially among major powers.

Western nations and the U.S. are demanding a resolution threatening sanctions if the violence doesn't stop and condemning Assad's crackdown, which the U.N. says has killed 5,000 people. But Russia and China, which have closer ties to Assad's regime, believe extremist opponents of the government are equally responsible for the bloodshed and oppose any mention of sanctions.

While the council was able to agree on a press statement on Friday's twin suicide bombs targeting Syria's intelligence agencies, it could not agree on another Russian-proposed statement Friday supporting the start of the Arab League mission to investigate Assad's crackdown. It called on all parties to show maximum restraint, but made no mention of the government crackdown on civilians.

The council also remains at odds over a revised Russian-drafted resolution circulated Friday which Germany's U.N. Ambassador Peter Wittig called "insufficient." He said the Western allies want a resolution incorporating all Syrian issues including spelling out the Arab League demands such as releasing political prisoners and calling for accountability for those who have perpetrated human rights violations.

Wittig said Friday's bombings are "a sign of escalation, that the situation is rapidly deteriorating."

"It underlines the need ... for the council to act: We cannot let the things just happen, we need to act here and those events underline the need to act urgently," he told reporters.

Churkin defended the Russian approach which still calls for an end to violence and a Syrian-led political process.

But he said even in early August, when the Security Council adopted a presidential statement endorsing these ideas, "unfortunately Syria was already seen as a target of opportunity for regime change" by the Western allies.

The result, he said, is a situation "where Syria is very close to civil war."

Churkin, who holds the council presidency this month, called a news conference to discuss the Russian-proposed statements and revised resolution on Syria ? and also to respond to sharp comments Thursday from U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice at the end of a council meeting on Libya where Churkin called for a U.N. investigation of civilian deaths from NATO's bombing campaign.

Rice dismissed his call as "a cheap stunt" to distract from Moscow's failure to condemn the Syrian government's ongoing killing of protesters, adding: "Oh, the bombast and bogus claims."

The U.S., France, Germany and others have hailed the NATO bombing campaign for saving hundreds of thousands of Libyan lives. But Russia and its supporters argue that NATO misused the limited council resolution imposing a no-fly zone and authorizing the protection of civilians as a pretext to promote regime change in Libya. Libya's longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi was ousted after 42 years, captured and killed in October.

Churkin insisted that only a U.N.-mandated investigation can quickly address the issue of civilian casualties ? and that the victims and their families shouldn't have to wait for the results of a U.N. Human Rights Council investigation in March and an investigation by the International Criminal Court.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_re_us/un_un_syria

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Can Madonna make a comeback at 53? (The Week)

New York ? With a new multimillion-dollar record contract, the Queen of Pop hopes it's not too late to re-conquer the music charts

No surprise: Madonna is staging another music comeback. The singer signed a new three-album deal yesterday with Interscope Records, for which she'll earn a base of $1 million per album. (She split with her longtime label, Warner Brothers Records, in 2007.) She also announced that the first of those three albums will be released in March 2012, soon after her high-profile Super Bowl halftime performance. Madonna's last album, 2008's Hard Candy, was one of her least successful yet, and her latest directorial effort, the film W.E., has been ravaged by critics. Are the odds of a comeback stacked against her?

It's not looking good: Madonna simply isn't as popular as she used to be, says Josh Grossberg at E! Online. Her previous album Hard Candy was a commercial disappointment. Along with 2003's American Life, it's one of only two Madonna albums that failed to achieve platinum status, even though it boasted Justin Timberlake and Kanye West as collaborators and a modern "urban flavor." And since Hard Candy, the music scene has been dominated by new, improved Madonnas like Lady Gaga. Even so, the original is "still a music force to be reckoned with."
"Can Madonna make comeback in Lady Gaga-dominated world?"

Of course she can make a comeback: This makes way more sense than those ridiculous deals being made in baseball, says Kyle Anderson at Entertainment Weekly. Albert Pujols' lucrative 10-year contract will pay him into his 40s, even though his stats prove that he's on the decline. At an album-every-three-years rate, Madonna will be 60 when she releases her final record under the Interscope contract, which seems comparatively acceptable considering that she "has been an innovator and a shape-shifter for the entirety of her career." If "stylistic shakeups" like the recently-leaked "Masterpiece" are any indication, she shows no signs of stopping.
"Madonna sings three-album contract with Interscope, continues comeback run"

Either way, this is a wise business decision: This is a surprisingly "rational deal," says Peter Kafka at All Things D. The kind of money Madonna's being offered, may seem like chump change "she would have laughed at in the past" ? especially considering that Bruce Springsteen signed a $100 million deal with Sony not that long ago. Yet Madonna is "long past her music-selling peak, and the music industry is a decade past its peak, too." If she still wants to make a splash on the radio, she needs a record label behind her to "deliver the Big Reach." All things considered, this is "a very reasonable contract."
"Stunning news: Music industry acts rationally"

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Can strep throat cause OCD? (The Week)

New York ? A growing body of research into a disorder called PANDAS suggests that some mental illnesses could be fought with simple penicillin

Almost all kids come down with strep throat, and the vast majority of them suffer nothing more than a few days of fever, sore throat, and missed school. Some kids, though, seem to recover then suddenly develop a tic, extreme anxiety, or symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) ? a condition known as PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcus). "Parents have used the word 'possessed,'" says leading PANDAS researcher Susan Swedo at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), one of the first people to link strep to OCD in the mid-1990s. "Their sweet, wonderful child turns into a monster seemingly overnight." Here's a guide to the puzzling, controversial disorder:

What exactly is PANDAS?
An autoimmune reaction to an infection, usually strep, that causes a child to suddenly develop OCD, tics, or neurological problems like anxiety, hyperactivity, and even anorexia. Though the disorder is not well understood, a new and growing body of research is lending wider legitimacy to the idea that mental illnesses can be caused by common bacterial infections.

SEE ALSO: 'Broken heart syndrome': A real health issue for women

?

How could a strep infection affect the brain?
Infections like strep trigger antibodies that are supposed to help fight bacteria, but in some cases ? like the now-rare, strep-linked rheumatic fever ? the antibodies go haywire and attack the body. The theory with PANDAS is that the antibodies attack the brain, causing the OCD and other problems. That theory is bolstered by a 2003 study in Nature Medicine in which immunologist Madeleine Cunningham showed that strep antibodies can attach to neurons that then release large amounts of dopamine and other neurotransmitters believed to cause OCD symptoms.?

What is PANDAS like in practice?
In one case, a mother describes how her second-grade son, coming home from school one day not long after a strep infection, started running maniacally through the house shutting off lights and the TV because they were spreading "radiation" and "poison." Another mother says her just-recovered 11-year-old son woke up one day so terrified of germs that he refused to return to school, showered compulsively, and would only wear a sheet or freshly microwaved clothes. "He had never been like this before. Ever," she tells the Los Angeles Times. "He just woke up with it."

SEE ALSO: Why nuns should go on birth control?

?

How is PANDAS diagnosed?
There's no test ? yet. The National Institute of Mental Health defines the disorder as a handful of tic outbreaks or OCD episodes that occur shortly after a strep infection. PANDAS is more common in families with a history of rheumatic fever, and scientists think some kids are genetically predisposed to the disorder and other strep-related autoimmune problems.

How common is it?
About 1 percent of U.S. children have OCD and maybe 20 percent have at least temporary tics. But nobody knows how many of those cases have any connection to strep, how long PANDAS can lie dormant after a strep outbreak, or even how common ODC is. "I used to think it was exceedingly rare," says OCD expert Michael Jenike at Harvard Medical School. "Now I think it's exceedingly common."

SEE ALSO: America's 'startling' use of mental-illness drugs: By the numbers

?

How do you treat PANDAS?
The medical community is split. Some doctors treat PANDAS like other cases of OCD or tics, typically with antidepressants or cognitive-behavioral therapy. Others use antibiotics to douse any remaining strep infection, or turn to a more invasive method called intravenous immunoglobin (IVIG), which involves transfusing plasma from healthy donors to shut down the wonky antibody response.?

Do either of those work?
The research is mixed. A 1999 study in the British journal the Lancet found IVIG treatments to be effective for children with strep and OCD, but another study the next year found no improvement. A new study is in the works at the NIMH. Until there is more definitive evidence that either experimental treatment works, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends antidepressants and therapy. That doesn't still well with all PANDAS parents, says Melinda Beck in The Wall Street Journal, many of whom "are incensed that doctors are willing to prescribe psychotropic drugs to their young children but not 10 days of penicillin."

SEE ALSO: The wireless pacemaker as small as a grain of rice

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Might antibiotics really cure OCD?
Some specialists swear by them as a treatment, if not a cure. "I've been working in psychiatry for 20 years and I've never seen psychotropic medications turn a child around as quickly as I've seen antibiotics turn a PANDAS child around," says Tanya Murphy at the University of Florida's Rothman Center for Pediatric Neuropsychiatry. But symptoms can flare up again, often more severe, if the person is exposed to strep again. Still, researchers are excited about the possibilities, for OCD and a host of other psychological disorders. "If you can prevent lifelong suffering by using antibiotics or some acute intervention, that would be huge," says Jenike.?

What are the larger implications?
If researchers can definitively show that strep infections can cause OCD, that implies that other neurological disorders like autism, schizophrenia, and eating disorders might also be tied to errant antibodies from normal infections. It also opens up the possibility that those conditions could be treated with antibiotics or other medical interventions. "The whole area of mental illness caused by infections is being looked at more closely because of PANDAS," SEE ALSO: America's unhealthiest states: 4 talking points

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Sources: Daily Mail, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal

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Video: Holidays shoppers suffer from buyers? remorse

>> record breaking sales this holiday season may be giving way to record breaking returns. some of the people who rushed to the stores as early as thanksgiving for big discounts are returning the gifts to get the cash back because they need it. according to the national retail federation , returns cost stores 10 cents for every dollar earn and that is an increase from last year. a retail writer for the associated press. i heard holiday hangover, buyer's remorse. when we look at the video, people were grabbing things that maybe they didn't need or want, but got caught up in the madness.

>> right. they got caught up in the 60% and when they brought the merchandise back to their house, they realized they didn't need it and it was denting their bank account .

>> that's incredible. we had several conversations and i believe it was one of the gut checks on the show. we said people talk about hard times , but they're running out with a wii or nintendo in their hands. i don't want to stand in the way of anyone's happiness, but these are tough economic times .

>> what's happening is three things. people are getting too caught up with the bargains out there. they are realizing they spent too much. number two, stores were lenient with the returns. they started becoming lenient two years ago. number three, i talked to a number of shoppers and they all say you know what, i'm buying and i bring it home , but i keep looking for the better deal and i will return it.

>> absolutely. there some stores right now on their second round of discounts, especially places that sell clothing where they reduce the prices and they are on the second round. if you bought it, you should get your money back.

>> i talked to lots of shoppers who said they return something to get a cheaper brand or something different because it's cheaper. you really see this reluctance to spend.

>> absolutely. thank you very much. we will see what happens after this holiday stuff dies

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/45687121/

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Outfit7?s Talking Friends Merchandise Aims To Invade Your Closet

I've spoken at length about the folks at Outfit7 and how they want their flock of talking animals (and fairies, and bacteria, and robots) to attain an Angry Birds level of ubiquity. While they haven't quite signed a movie deal yet, Outfit7 has in fact coaxed their furry little cash cows into a new frontier: merchandise. Thanks to a strategic partnership with New York-based licensing agency Beanstalk, Outfit7 has introduced a full line of Talking Friends-branded swag that kids are bound to shriek incessantly over.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/A54miXu-oFY/

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Pearl Harbor attack remembered at 70th anniversary

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II. (AP File Photo)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the destroyer USS Shaw explodes after being hit by bombs during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II. (AP File Photo)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, the battleship USS Arizona belches smoke as it topples over into the sea during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Wednesday is the 70th anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II. (AP File Photo)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, a small boat rescues a crew member from the water as heavy smoke rolls out of the stricken USS West Virginia after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Two men can be seen on the superstructure, upper center. The mast of the USS Tennessee is beyond the burning West Virginia. Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II. (AP File Photo)

FILE - In this Dec. 7, 1941 file photo, sailors stand among wrecked airplanes at Ford Island Naval Air Station as they watch the explosion of the USS Shaw in the background, during the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of the attack that brought the United States into World War II. (AP File Photo)

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) ? The Dec. 7, 1941, bombing of Pearl Harbor and those who lost their lives that day are being remembered Wednesday on the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack that brought the U.S. into World War II.

About 120 survivors will join Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, military leaders and civilians to observe a moment of silence in Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time ? the moment the attack began seven decades ago.

About 3,000 people are expected to attend the event held each year at a site overlooking the sunken USS Arizona and the white memorial that straddles the battleship.

The Pearl Harbor-based guided missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon will render honors to the Arizona and blow its whistle at the start of a moment of silence at 7:55 a.m. ? the same time 70 years ago the first Japanese planes began to attack.

F-22 jets flown by the Hawaii National Guard are due to soar overhead in a missing man formation to finish the moment of silence.

Mal Middlesworth, a Marine veteran who was on the USS San Francisco during the bombing, will deliver the keynote address.

President Barack Obama hailed veterans of the bombing in a statement proclaiming Wednesday "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."

"Their tenacity helped define the Greatest Generation and their valor fortified all who served during World War II. As a nation, we look to December 7, 1941, to draw strength from the example set by these patriots and to honor all who have sacrificed for our freedoms," he said.

Also this week, five ash scattering and interment ceremonies are being held for five survivors whose cremated remains are returning to Pearl Harbor after their deaths.

On Tuesday, an urn containing the ashes of Lee Soucy was placed on his battleship, the USS Utah, which is lying on its side near the place where it sank 70 years ago. The ashes of Vernon Olsen, who was on the Arizona during the attack, will be placed on his ship late Wednesday.

The U.S. lost 12 vessels that day, but the Arizona and the Utah are the only ones still sitting in the harbor. The ashes of three others are being scattered in the water in separate ceremonies this week.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-07-Pearl%20Harbor/id-19ef528a0e4a4556aa6721fd8e45b738

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