Heart disease linked to evolutionary changes that may have protected early mammals from trauma

ScienceDaily (Oct. 18, 2011) ? Can a bird have a heart attack? A new study by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania suggests that cardiovascular disease may be an unfortunate consequence of mammalian evolution. The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Blood, demonstrates that the same features of blood platelets that may have provided an evolutionary advantage to early mammals now predispose humans to cardiovascular disease.

"The biology of platelets has been studied in great detail in the context of human disease, but almost nothing is known about why mammals have platelets, whereas no other species do," said lead study author Alec A. Schmaier, PhD, an MD/PhD student in the lab of Mark Kahn, MD, professor of Medicine at Penn. "This new line of research suggests that platelets could have allowed mammals to better survive traumatic injury by being able to form cellular clots in arterial blood vessels. The price for this evolutionary change may be modern cardiovascular diseases."

Platelets are small circulating cells that have no nucleus and form clots at sites of vessel injury. Platelets are required to prevent excessive bleeding following traumatic injury, but they also form clots at sites of atherosclerotic plaques in the blood vessels that lead to stroke and heart attack. Drugs that inhibit the function of platelets, including aspirin and clopidogrel, are the main weapons for treating heart attack and stroke.

Despite being a vital element of the blood clotting system, platelets are only found in mammals, whereas all non-mammalian vertebrates, including birds, have thrombocytes. About twice the diameter of platelets, thrombocytes contain a nucleus. Studies performed in the 1970s suggested they have a clotting function similar to platelets, but extensive studies of thrombocytes using modern experimental techniques have not been performed.

The research team focused their study on birds (compared to fish or reptiles for example) because birds and mammals both have a high pressure arterial system. Birds in fact have higher cardiac output and blood pressures than mammals do. Therefore, the challenge for hemostasis, i.e. blood clotting after vessel injury or trauma, should be similar between a mammal and a bird. However, in the present study, using molecular and physiologic techniques, the Penn researchers discovered that avian thrombocytes express most of the same proteins as platelets, with two key exceptions: thrombocytes express a significantly lower level of one essential platelet protein (the fibrinogen receptor) and are completely deficient in another (the adenosine diphosphate receptor) that function in a pathway required to form occlusive clots in the arterial system and are the primary targets of anti-platelet medications. In collagen flow-chamber experiments, the research team found that thrombocytes could not form 3-dimensional aggregates under high-flow conditions, a key step in the pathogenesis of stroke and heart attack.

Collaborative studies with colleagues at Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine, Karen Rosenthal, DVM, MS, and Jeff Runge, DVM, and Tim Stalker, in Department of Medicine -Hematology/Oncology, at the Perelman School of Medicine, next compared the ability of platelets and thrombocytes to form intra-vascular clots in mice and similarly sized parakeets. The mice, but not the birds, developed clots that prevented blood flow after arterial injury due to the ability of platelets, but not thrombocytes, to stick to each other under high flow conditions.

Although the researchers caution that this prediction cannot be tested in all contexts, the finding that equivalent degrees of arterial vessel wall injury in vessels of similar size and equal hemodynamic forces result in the occlusion in mammals but not in birds is consistent with the hypothesis that platelets mediate a more efficient clotting response than thrombocytes.

Dr. Kahn, the study's senior author, concluded, "Although the reason for platelet evolution in mammals can never be known with certainty, it is tempting to speculate that platelets may have allowed early mammals to better survive trauma and thereby provided a survival advantage."

The research was supported by National Institute of Health and by an American Heart Association (AHA) postdoctoral fellowship.

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The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Journal Reference:

  1. A. A. Schmaier, T. J. Stalker, J. J. Runge, D. Lee, C. Nagaswami, P. Mericko, M. Chen, S. Cliche, C. Gariepy, L. F. Brass, D. A. Hammer, J. W. Weisel, K. Rosenthal, M. L. Kahn. Occlusive thrombi arise in mammals but not birds in response to arterial injury: evolutionary insight into human cardiovascular disease. Blood, 2011; 118 (13): 3661 DOI: 10.1182/blood-2011-02-338244

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111018211341.htm

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Deschanel, country stars to sing at World Series (AP)

NEW YORK ? Zooey Deschanel has double duty on Fox: The star of the new series "New Girl" also is performing at the World Series.

Deschanel is from the indie pop duo She & Him. She'll sing the national anthem at Game 4 of the Major League Baseball seven-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Texas Rangers. It airs Sunday on Fox.

Before the actress takes the stage, country singer Trace Adkins will perform the anthem at Game 2 on Thursday, and Ronnie Dunn will do the same two days later at Game 3.

The Cardinals and Rangers battle it out Wednesday night in Game 1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, where "American Idol" champion Scotty McCreery will perform the national anthem.

___

Online:

http://mlb.mlb.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111019/ap_on_sp_ot/us_music_world_series_singers

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Wandering seal a welcome relief for nervous Japanese (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? A wild spotted seal that swam up a Japanese river and has lived there since early this month is now a Japanese media star, with children and adults alike flocking to see it as a welcome distraction from stress and bad news.

On any given day, hundreds of spectators pack the banks of the Arakawa river in the city of Shiki, about 30 km (19 miles) north of Tokyo, to catch a glimpse of the seal nicknamed "Ara-chan" -- a combination of the river's name and an affectionate suffix used for small children.

"Ara-chan! Please come out so we can see you," shouted two-year-old Sayuki Toyama on Tuesday, shortly before the gray seal heaved itself out of the water to sunbathe on a rock.

Some onlookers crouched down on the river's sloping banks to snap pictures, while behind them trucks from Japanese TV networks rolled into place and cameramen set up their tripods, preparing to broadcast the seal's antics live.

"It's refreshing to take a walk here and watch the cute seal, since being in the house makes us nervous these days -- we don't know when earthquakes will come," said Makie Namiki.

Eastern Japan has been rocked by frequent aftershocks following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Residents have been barraged with bad news since then, including worries about radiation from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Shiki officials made Ara-chan a citizen of the city on Tuesday in recognition of the seal's growing fame.

"We're presenting the seal with a special resident permit because it has become a close friend to local people," said official Osamu Nakamura.

Seals are an uncommon sight around Tokyo, especially so far upstream from the ocean, but Ara-chan is not the first.

In 2002, a wild bearded seal was spotted in the Tama river near Tokyo. Nicknamed "Tama-chan," the seal set off a similar national frenzy and was also granted citizenship, before eventually swimming away.

(Reporting by Hyun Oh; Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111019/lf_nm_life/us_japan_seal

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How Mysterious Vampire Stars Drain Life from Neighbors (SPACE.com)

The mysterious origins of the stellar version of vampires ? stars that apparently drain life away from other stars to look young ? may just have been solved, scientists revealed.

Blue stragglers are oddball stars that seem to lag or straggle in age behind the ancient neighbors with which they formed. Instead, they appear inexplicably hotter, and thus younger and bluer.

Astronomers have debated for decades as to why blue stragglers don't show their age. It's been hypothesized that they must have come across extra hydrogen fuel that helped them burn hotter, but it was uncertain whether they did so by merging with other stars, colliding with victims or stealing hydrogen from companions. [Top 10 Star Mysteries]

"People have been trying to explain the origin of blue stragglers since their discovery in 1953," said study lead author Aaron Geller, an astronomer at Northwestern University.

Now researchers have evidence that blue stragglers are indeed cannibals that rip fuel off their neighbors.

Cannibal stars

Astronomers used the WIYN Observatory in Tucson, Ariz., to analyze 21 blue stragglers in NGC 188, a 7-billion-year-old cluster of about 3,000 stars in the constellation Cepheus, located in the sky near Polaris, the North Star. They combined these observations with computer models simulating the leading theories of blue straggler formation.

The scientists ruled out star mergers and interstellar collisions as origins for most of these blue stragglers. Instead, their data suggest they fed off partner stars, "solving the mystery of where these blue stragglers come from," Geller told SPACE.com.

The majority of blue stragglers in the study are in binaries ? in other words, they have a companion star. The light from the blue stragglers' companion stars is not actually visible, but their effect on the blue stragglers is evident, with each companion pulling gravitationally on its blue straggler and creating a "wobble" as it orbits.

"It's really the companion star that helped us determine where the blue straggler comes from," Geller said. "The companion stars orbit at periods of about 1,000 days, and we have evidence that the companions are white dwarfs. Both point directly to an origin from mass transfer."

The wobbles the researchers saw hint that each companion star of the blue stragglers is about half the mass of the sun, which is consistent with a white dwarf. The other theories of blue straggler formation require the companion stars to be brighter and more massive.

"As so often happens in astronomy, it is the objects that you don't see that provide the critical clues," said study co-author Robert Mathieu, an astronomer at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. [The Strangest Things in Space]

Blue straggler origin debate

However, although their findings account for most of the blue stragglers in NCG 188, the researchers do note a few might have been created by other methods.

For instance, two of the blue stragglers in binary systems likely had other kinds of encounters, and potentially collisions, with other stars at some point, Geller said. In addition, five of the 21 blue stragglers analyzed apparently did not have companions, and "we do not have enough data on the blue stragglers that currently appear to be single to say where they come from," he added.

"It is likely that multiple formation mechanisms are response for producing the full blue straggler population in the cluster," Geller said.

The researchers will now use the Hubble Space Telescope to search for ultraviolet light from these hidden companions, to confirm if they are indeed white dwarfs.

Geller and Mathieu detailed their findings in the Oct. 20 issue of the journal Nature.

Follow SPACE.com contributor Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Visit SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111019/sc_space/howmysteriousvampirestarsdrainlifefromneighbors

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Internists address dual concerns of privacy and protection of health data

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Kinsman
dkinsman@acponline.org
202-261-4554
American College of Physicians

Newly released ACP Policy Paper examines fears about re-uses of personal data and re-uses of research data and samples

(Washington) Fears about re-uses of personal data as well as re-uses of research data and samples are the focus of a policy paper released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). The new document, which is an update of a paper produced by ACP two years ago, adds a policy position regarding research. It proposes a privacy rule that says researchers should maximize appropriate uses of information to achieve scientific advances without compromising ethical obligations to protect individual welfare and privacy.

The release of Health Information Technology & Privacy comes eight days before the close of the comment period for the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) of Human Subjects Research Protections: Enhancing Protections for Research Subjects and Reducing Burden, Delay, and Ambiguity for Investigators. The proposed changes, which will be highlighted in ACP's ANPRM comments, are designed to strengthen protections for human research subjects.

"While coming changes did not prompt this paper, its production and release are turning out to be quite timely," noted Virginia L. Hood, MBBS, MPH, FACP, president of ACP. "The paper suggests revisions to the current regulations, which are now being considered because the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) believes these changes will strengthen protections for research subjects in a number of important ways."

In its 15-page policy paper, ACP proposes 13 policy positions to guide the development of the comprehensive framework. The new policy position, number 4, says:

New Position 4: Regarding research, a revised privacy rule should maximize appropriate uses of information to achieve scientific advances without compromising ethical obligations to protect individual welfare and privacy.

A. Participation in prospective clinical research requires fully informed and transparent consent that discloses all potential uses of PHI and IIHI, and an explanation of any limitations on withdrawing consent for use of data, including biological materials.

B. ACP recognizes that further study is needed to resolve informed consent issues related to future research use of Protected Health Information (PHI) and Individually Identifiable Health Information (IIHI) associated with existing data, including biologic materials.

C. Informed consent documents should clearly disclose whether law enforcement agencies would have access to biobank data without a warrant.

D. ACP recommends that regulations governing IRB review be expanded to include consideration of the preferences of research subjects whose tissue has been stored.

The paper also says that by including providers, governmental bodies, consumers, payers, quality organizations, researchers, and technologists, the resulting framework would clearly specify appropriate activities such as treatment, payment, and some health care operations where sharing of personal health information can proceed without the need for additional consent. Once the boundaries of appropriate data-sharing practices and situations are agreed on, it will be far easier to define consent requirements for appropriate activities.

"The patient-doctor relationship is dependent on trust and this extends to the personal information shared as part of that relationship," said Dr. Hood. "As U.S. health care moves from paper to an electronic world, a new national debate over privacy of individually identifiable health information (IIHI) has emerged. Patients need to feel confident that they can receive needed health care without the risk that their private information will be inappropriately disclosed, which might result in withholding of information and lead to potentially negative clinical consequences. Patients benefit when information pertinent to their care, concerns, and preferences is shared among those rendering health care services to them."

ACP strongly believes in the goal of widespread adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) to improve the quality of care, the paper says. ACP supports the concept of safe and secure electronic health information exchange (HIE) and advocates that clinical enterprises, entities, and clinicians wishing to share health information develop principles, procedures, and polices appropriate for the electronic exchange of information necessary to optimize patient care.

The paper emphasizes that privacy policies need to satisfy the growing expectations that the implementation of computerized and networked medical records will facilitate better care at lower overall costs while preserving the expressed intent of one of the principles from the Hippocratic Oath, "All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 18-Oct-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: David Kinsman
dkinsman@acponline.org
202-261-4554
American College of Physicians

Newly released ACP Policy Paper examines fears about re-uses of personal data and re-uses of research data and samples

(Washington) Fears about re-uses of personal data as well as re-uses of research data and samples are the focus of a policy paper released today by the American College of Physicians (ACP). The new document, which is an update of a paper produced by ACP two years ago, adds a policy position regarding research. It proposes a privacy rule that says researchers should maximize appropriate uses of information to achieve scientific advances without compromising ethical obligations to protect individual welfare and privacy.

The release of Health Information Technology & Privacy comes eight days before the close of the comment period for the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) of Human Subjects Research Protections: Enhancing Protections for Research Subjects and Reducing Burden, Delay, and Ambiguity for Investigators. The proposed changes, which will be highlighted in ACP's ANPRM comments, are designed to strengthen protections for human research subjects.

"While coming changes did not prompt this paper, its production and release are turning out to be quite timely," noted Virginia L. Hood, MBBS, MPH, FACP, president of ACP. "The paper suggests revisions to the current regulations, which are now being considered because the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) believes these changes will strengthen protections for research subjects in a number of important ways."

In its 15-page policy paper, ACP proposes 13 policy positions to guide the development of the comprehensive framework. The new policy position, number 4, says:

New Position 4: Regarding research, a revised privacy rule should maximize appropriate uses of information to achieve scientific advances without compromising ethical obligations to protect individual welfare and privacy.

A. Participation in prospective clinical research requires fully informed and transparent consent that discloses all potential uses of PHI and IIHI, and an explanation of any limitations on withdrawing consent for use of data, including biological materials.

B. ACP recognizes that further study is needed to resolve informed consent issues related to future research use of Protected Health Information (PHI) and Individually Identifiable Health Information (IIHI) associated with existing data, including biologic materials.

C. Informed consent documents should clearly disclose whether law enforcement agencies would have access to biobank data without a warrant.

D. ACP recommends that regulations governing IRB review be expanded to include consideration of the preferences of research subjects whose tissue has been stored.

The paper also says that by including providers, governmental bodies, consumers, payers, quality organizations, researchers, and technologists, the resulting framework would clearly specify appropriate activities such as treatment, payment, and some health care operations where sharing of personal health information can proceed without the need for additional consent. Once the boundaries of appropriate data-sharing practices and situations are agreed on, it will be far easier to define consent requirements for appropriate activities.

"The patient-doctor relationship is dependent on trust and this extends to the personal information shared as part of that relationship," said Dr. Hood. "As U.S. health care moves from paper to an electronic world, a new national debate over privacy of individually identifiable health information (IIHI) has emerged. Patients need to feel confident that they can receive needed health care without the risk that their private information will be inappropriately disclosed, which might result in withholding of information and lead to potentially negative clinical consequences. Patients benefit when information pertinent to their care, concerns, and preferences is shared among those rendering health care services to them."

ACP strongly believes in the goal of widespread adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) to improve the quality of care, the paper says. ACP supports the concept of safe and secure electronic health information exchange (HIE) and advocates that clinical enterprises, entities, and clinicians wishing to share health information develop principles, procedures, and polices appropriate for the electronic exchange of information necessary to optimize patient care.

The paper emphasizes that privacy policies need to satisfy the growing expectations that the implementation of computerized and networked medical records will facilitate better care at lower overall costs while preserving the expressed intent of one of the principles from the Hippocratic Oath, "All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will never reveal."

###


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/acop-iad101811.php

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Supreme Court to hear military medal lying case (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The Supreme Court said on Monday that it would decide whether a federal law making it a crime to lie about being awarded a military medal or decoration violated free-speech rights.

The justices agreed to review a federal appeals court ruling that struck down the "Stolen Valor Act" passed by Congress in 2006 because the law went too far in infringing on constitutional freedom-of-speech protections.

The law targets individuals who falsely claim, verbally or in writing, they won a military decoration or medal. Violators can face up to six months in prison, or up to one year if elite awards, including the Medal of Honor, are involved.

Appeals court judges who struck down the law said that if lying about a medal can be classified a crime, so can lying about one's age or finances on Facebook or falsely telling one's mother one does not smoke, drink, have sex or speed.

The Supreme Court said it would hear an Obama administration appeal defending the law as constitutional and arguing it served an important role of protecting the integrity of the nation's military honors system.

The case involves Xavier Alvarez, who was elected to a California water board in Pomona. He introduced himself at a board meeting in 2007 and said he was a retired Marine who won the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military decoration.

Alvarez, described in court documents as a congenital liar, never received the award and never served in the military.

The FBI got a recording of the meeting and Alvarez became the first person charged under the law in 2007. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and perform more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital.

He then challenged the law for violating his free-speech rights.

By a 2-1 vote, a U.S. appeals court based in San Francisco threw out his conviction and ruled the government cannot bar speech simply because it was factually false. It noted the misrepresentations caused no harm or danger.

U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli appealed to the Supreme Court. He said the law prohibited only a narrow category of knowingly made false factual claims, lies that steal the honor and prestige associated with military medals.

Jonathan Libby, a deputy federal public defender in Los Angeles who represented Alvarez, urged the Supreme Court to reject the appeal because the question did not involve broad importance and the appeals court simply applied settled law.

He said Alvarez made his false claim introducing himself as an elected officer at a political event, a water district meeting, and was unconstitutionally punished for political speech.

Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives in May to amend the law and make misrepresentations about receiving a medal or decoration a crime only if there had been intent to profit.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in the case early next year, with a ruling likely by the end of June.

The Supreme Court case is United States v. Xavier Alvarez, No. 11-210.

(Reporting by James Vicini, Editing by Paul Simao)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111017/us_nm/us_usa_military_medals

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Halliburton gets boost from increased drilling (AP)

A five-month slump in oil prices hasn't spooked the petroleum industry so far.

Drilling activity rose in in the U.S. in the third quarter and that boosted net income for Halliburton, a major provider of oil industry services. The company said its profit rose 26 percent.

Halliburton Co., based in Houston, is the first big player in the industry to report third-quarter results.

The company expects producers to continue to drill aggressively for oil in the U.S., particularly the rich underground shale deposits such as the Eagle Ford region of Texas and the Bakken region in North Dakota and Montana. New technologies have allowed companies to cheaply produce oil and natural gas from those fields, sparking a rush to drill despite a 24-percent drop in the price of benchmark crude since May.

The number of drilling projects grew 6 percent in the U.S. from the second to third quarter, Halliburton said. Oil companies may eventually cut back, but CEO Dave Lesar said he doesn't see "any meaningful changes" in the industry for now.

"I continue to believe in the long-term prospects for our business," Lesar said.

A plunge in oil prices three years ago forced many companies to scale back on drilling. The number of active rigs dropped by more than half as oil tumbled from more than $147 per barrel in July 2008 to below $61 per barrel in July 2009.

This time will be different, Lesar said. Oil giants like Exxon, Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell have become increasingly involved in America's oil and gas fields in the past three years, and they usually don't change course because of a short-term fluctuation in prices. Besides, oil prices haven't dropped nearly as much as they did three years ago.

With more money flowing in internationally, banks appear onboard as well, Lesar said. That ensures the industry has plenty of cash to carry out new projects.

Three big acquisitions over the past day show high expectations for the energy industry.

Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA announced Monday that it would buy Brigham Exploration Co. of Austin, Texas for $4.4 billion in cash, giving it control of fields in North Dakota. Less than three hours later AmeriGas said it would pay $2.9 billion for the propane operations of Energy Transfer Partners.

Kinder Morgan plans to buy El Paso Corp. for $20.7 billion in a deal that would create America's largest natural gas pipeline operator.

Still, for investors, Halliburton's prospects were clouded by troubling legal news.

The company may be forced to pay millions or billions of dollars as part of its role in last year's Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Halliburton, which was hired to do cement work on the well, has shared the blame for the disaster with well owner BP and rig owner Transocean. Halliburton has denied that it is at fault, but analysts say it may pay BP anyway to clear itself from any future legal claims.

A stake holder in the well, Anadarko Petroleum Corp., on Monday agreed to pay BP $4 billion.

BP already has accepted a $75 million settlement from contractor Weatherford International Inc. and a $1 billion settlement with MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, which owned 10 percent of the well.

Shares fell $2.77, or 7.4 percent, to $34.66 in midday trading.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Scott Burk said the stock price decline follows a sharp rise last week. Some investors were anticipating profit increases similar to the first half of the year, when Halliburton nearly doubled its net income. Halliburton may have exceeded analyst expectations in the third quarter, but "it wasn't a blowout quarter," Burk said.

The Houston oil services company reported earnings of $683 million, or 74 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compared with $544 million, or 60 cents per share, for the same period in 2010. Revenue rose 40 percent to $6.55 billion.

Income from continuing operations was 94 cents per share. Analysts, who tend to base estimates on continuing operations, were expecting earnings of 91 cents per share on revenue of $6.35 billion, according to FactSet.

The company said costs rose for materials, logistics and labor in North America, and project delays in Iraq and Libya slowed down its international business.

Profit at Halliburton's completion and production business increased 75 percent to $1.07 billion. The company's drilling and evaluation business saw profit increase 36 percent to $369 million.

Schlumberger Ltd. is expected to release its financial results on Friday while Baker Hughes Inc. will post its results on Nov. 1.

___

Chris Kahn can be reached at http://twitter.com/ChrisKahnAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_halliburton

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Concert raises $500K for Texas fire victims

Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines told a thunderous crowd Monday night that "there was zero hesitation" when her band was asked to perform with fellow country music stars to raise money for victims of recent wildfires in her home state of Texas.

She and her band mates joined George Strait, Willie Nelson and other musicians during a mega-concert in Austin that raised more than $500,000. A fire that started Sept. 4 in Central Texas' Bastrop County destroyed at least 1,500 homes and killed two people, marking the most devastating of the numerous fires that have scorched about 6,000 square miles (15,500 square kilometers) in Texas in the last year.

Story: HBO retooling film for West Memphis 3 verdict

Maines told the crowd she was worried that without homes, "you all might not look lovely." But she told them they all looked fantastic.

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"When they called us to do this show, there was zero hesitation," she said. "You can take the girl out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl."

Nelson was joined onstage by folksy newcomers The Avett Brothers and, backed up by Asleep at the Wheel, they roused the crowd with rowdy versions of Nelson's classic "On the Road Again" and the gospel anthem "Will the Circle Be Unbroken."

Story: Judge rejects Willie Nelson plea deal in pot case

Nelson recently spent time filming a movie in Bastrop and, in an interview before the concert, called the fires "tragic." He said he has lost homes to fire and knows how devastating it can be.

"You never really get over it," he said. "There's nothing I can tell them to make it better except some of us have been there and done that and we survived it, and they will too. Be strong."

Asleep at the Wheel front man Ray Benson, who helped book the performers, said he seldom asks his friends for favors but thought this cause was important enough.

"This one was so compelling, I said 'OK, let me call Willie and let me call Lyle (Lovett)' and they both said yeah," Benson said. "Willie actually cancelled a show to do it. Lyle also canceled an appearance."

Story: Emmy Awards show felt like a rerun

Benson said the music community felt a responsibility to help.

"I just think the scope of devastation was so great and so close to home," he said. "The numbers in Bastrop were so overwhelming, how do you deal with something like that? And also you do feel ... that we're in a position to not sit on the sidelines and do something."

The concert started with Christopher Cross. Eleven acts were scheduled to perform, and helping emcee was actor Kyle Chandler, who won an Emmy last month for his role as a Texas high school football coach in "Friday Night Lights."

Story: 'Friday Night Lights' movie is in the works

Images of charred forests, skeletal remains of vehicles and homes were shown between sets at the Frank Erwin Center at the University of Texas at Austin campus.

The concert was nearly full, but officials said they didn't yet have numbers for the number of tickets sold. But one of the concert's hosts told the crowd that they'd raised "way north of $500,000."

Several attendees wore T-shirts representing local volunteer fire departments that battled the recent blazes.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44941735/ns/today-entertainment/

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This Automated Poop Scooper Picks Up Your Pet's Piles [Video]

I dislike picking up my dog's droppings almost as much as stepping in them. However, a fleet of these automated scoopers could one day safeguard my shoe soles without reducing me to picking up poop. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JDJn5GDulTk/this-automated-poop-scooper-picks-up-your-pets-piles

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