San Francisco earthquake: Thursday night's quake came nearly six hours after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit in the same area.
Two small earthquakes hit the San Francisco area Thursday, jolting residents on the same day many Californians took part in an annual earthquake preparedness drill.
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A quake with a preliminary magnitude of 3.8 struck in Berkeley at 8:16 p.m. PDT, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
Thursday night's quake came nearly six hours after a magnitude 4.0 earthquake hit in the same area.
Berkeley police said there were no reports of damage or injuries from either quake.
Officials at Bay Area Rapid Transit said the system's trains Thursday night were experiencing minor delays as workers inspected tracks, a routine procedure after an earthquake.
Officials at Caltrain said none of its trains was delayed.
The second temblor was strong enough to knock photographs off the wall and glasses onto the floor at the home of Diane Coppini, who lives in nearby Emeryville.
"It was a nice jolt," Coppini said in describing the quake.
Seismologists determined that the second quake was an aftershock to the earlier quake, said USGS geophysicist Walter Mooney.
"This is a textbook example of an aftershock," said Mooney.
The earlier earthquake struck at 2:31 p.m. and was centered across the bay from San Francisco, six miles beneath the University of California, Berkeley, campus, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps.
The second earthquake was about nine miles deep, and was centered just east of the campus, according to the USGS.
Jack Boatwright, a seismologist with the USGS, described the earlier quake it as a "sharp little earthquake."
Tami Humphrey, director of a preschool just north of Berkeley, was outside with her students when the quake struck.
"We felt it pretty good. It felt like a drop and then a shake," she said, adding that "the kids didn't even notice."
More than 8.5 million people signed up to participate in the preparedness drill, which took place at 10:20 a.m. and was labeled the Great California ShakeOut.
The quake also came almost 22 years to the day after the Loma Prieta earthquake struck the Bay area during the 1989 World Series. The magnitude-6.9 quake killed 63 people, injured almost 3,800 and caused up to $10 billion damage.
Seattle resident Joaquin Miller was in Oakland when Thursday's shaking began. He said he first thought it was coming from a passing big rig.
"It wasn't big enough to scare me," the 44-year-old said.
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WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama is bestowing the nation's second-highest civilian honor on 13 people for their exemplary service, including helping the needy, fighting illiteracy and supporting veterans, service members and their families.
One woman was chosen to receive the Presidential Citizens Medal posthumously for speaking out against domestic abuse.
Other honorees are being recognized at a White House ceremony Thursday for their efforts helping victims of conflict and mass violence, teaching women self-defense techniques, and replacing the violence in children's lives with music.
A woman whose experience led Obama to grant same-sex partners full visitation rights in hospitals is also receiving an award.
President Richard M. Nixon created the honor in 1969 as a way to recognize exemplary service by a citizen.
JERUSALEM?? A sign at the ice cream parlor may caution men and women not to lick cones in public, but the warning didn't stop Jewish zealots vandalizing the shop in Jerusalem's main ultra-Orthodox neighborhood.
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Other businesses in Mea Shearim, including a book store and dress shops, have been damaged in night-time attacks by Sikrikim, a group of some 100 ultra-religious men who want one of the holy city's most tradition-bound quarters to become even more conservative.
"Promiscuity" reads graffiti scrawled in black at the entrance of a clothing shop selling dresses whose lengthy hemline and drab colors have been deemed too racy by the group.
Other stores in the neighborhood, where men wear traditional black garb and women bare little but their face, have had their windows broken, locks glued and foul-smelling liquid smeared on walls.
"They also threw once a bag of excrement inside and smashed our windows three times," said Marlene Samuels, manager of the Or Hachaim bookshop, whose bright lights and large storefront sign stand out among smaller and more dimly lit businesses.
The shop has been attacked more than 10 times since it opened a year and a half ago, Samuels said. The latest assault was last week when one of the store's branches had its locks glued overnight.
Samuels said the shop's owner met with the Sikrikim several times. The store stocks only religious books, but they include volumes published by Orthodox institutions that are Zionist -- anathema to the Sikrikim, who believe a Jewish state can be established only with the coming of the Messiah.
Ancient resistance
Named after a small Jewish group which 2,000 years ago fought against Roman rulers and suspected Jewish collaborators, the modern-day Sikrikim strike at night and some wear masks to hide their identities.
"They use aggressive tactics and they also ask for protection money which involves paying (a religious inspector) coming in and removing the books he deems unfit," Samuels said.
Meir Margalit, a Jerusalem councilman from the secular Israeli Meretz party, voiced concern that the existence of the Sikrikim, although a tiny minority, signified a growing divide among Jews in Israel.
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"Society is becoming increasingly extremist. With the Sikrikim particularly, who are religiously motivated and rule out any position but their own, one cannot reckon, only fight them," Margalit said.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews make up about 8 percent of Israel's 7.7 million population. With an average of eight children per family, they are a fast-growing population. Many live below the poverty line and keep to dozens of their own towns and neighborhoods.
Mea Shearim area is small, less than half a square mile, and home to about 30,000 residents considered among the most tight-knit and reclusive of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jews.
It takes about a minute to walk from Jerusalem's city center to Mea Shearim, but the dozens of synagogues and Hassidic courts dotting its narrow alleyways are a world away from the cafes and bars of downtown Jerusalem.
Sikrikim attacks have also been reported at Beit Shemesh, a mixed secular and religious town with a growing ultra-Orthodox community, about half an hour's drive from Jerusalem. The latest target there has been a religious girls' school.
The Sikrikim who reside near the school object to the way the girls dress. Since the school year began in September they have regularly picketed outside shouting out at the students, most of them younger than 12, that they are promiscuous.
"They claim to be religious but what they do is a crime against God, against the Torah and against humanity," said David Rotenberg, who works at Or Hachaim.
'Utter sacrilege'
Up the road, the Zisalek ice cream parlor has separate entrances for men and women and a sign -- posted at the request of local religious authorities -- asking them to avoid any show of immodesty by licking cones in public.
"They (the Sikrikim) had a real ball with us," said Guy Ammar, one of Zisalek's owners, describing vandalism similar to attacks against other shops in the area.
"But we were not deterred. Residents here told us not to give up and business is going well now."
Sikrikim shun the media and have made no public comment about their activities.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said an investigation was under way following two complaints lodged by Or Hachaim Center but no suspects have yet been arrested.
Some business owners in Mea Shearim said police has been slow to act, reluctant to get involved in what they see as internal disputes among different religious sects of a closed community.
Rosenfeld said that no other businesses have filed formal complaints in recent weeks.
A few minutes walk from Zisalek Ice Cream is the Greentech music shop, where Hassidic music plays in the background and one DVD in a collection of ultra-Orthodox movies is a suspense film about the battles of a rabbi against Christian missionaries.
The Sikrikim "do not like anything that changes the character of the shtetl and the way it was a hundred years ago," a worker in the music store said, using a Yiddish term for the small towns where Eastern European Jews lived before the Holocaust.
Shlomo Kuk, an ultra-Orthodox journalist from Jerusalem, said the Sikrikim shouldn't be seen as representative of devout Jews known as "haredim."
"One thing is certain: they may dress like haredim but what they do is utter sacrilege which blackens the name of the entire haredi community," Kuk said.
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? IBM's quarterly revenue and services signings barely met Wall Street forecasts, underscoring investors' fears about slower information technology spending and depressing its stock more than 3 percent.
IBM, a bellwether for the IT hardware sector with its global span and diverse clientele, needed to beat forecasts significantly to ease investors' concerns, analysts said.
International Business Machines Corp's total services signings -- an indicator of future growth -- climbed to $12.3 billion in the third quarter, at the low end of expectations of $12 billion to $13 billion.
Revenue rose 8 percent to $26.2 billion, marginally softer than an average forecast of $26.26 billion.
IBM, which has consistently beaten Wall Street forecasts, raised its full-year diluted earnings forecast to at least $13.35 per share, from its prior estimate of at least $13.25. But that was just pennies above the Wall Street target of $13.32, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
"Whatever IBM could control, they did a great job. But they are not immune to macro conditions. Financial conditions are tough," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.
"People don't want to cancel projects, but projects are getting delayed. Sales cycles are getting elongated. New projects are getting smaller budgets."
Buttressed by recurring revenue that helps keep IBM's results steady in strong and weak economies, the company's shares have outperformed the broader market. They are up about 28 percent this year versus the Standard & Poor's 500 index's 4 percent dip.
Some analysts said Monday's showing, in barely meeting expectations, may have triggered profit-taking. Its stock fell 3.7 percent to $179.70 in extended trade after closing down 2.07 percent on the New York Stock Exchange.
"The company exceeded published expectations, but the underlying expectations were even higher," Annex Research analyst Bob Djurdjevic said. "Investors who have been very bullish on IBM are probably taking some profits now."
U.S. economic concerns and a worsening European financial crisis have hurt demand. But companies such as IBM that sell hardware and software for data centers powering the Internet have remained resilient.
IBM reported a third-quarter profit, excluding items, of $3.28 per share, up 15 percent year over year, just pennies above expectations for $3.22.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich; Editing by Richard Chang)
Lung cancer patients with diabetes show prolonged survivalPublic release date: 17-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Renee McGaw renee.mcgaw@ucdenver.edu 303-724-5796 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer patients with diabetes tend to live longer than patients without diabetes, according to a Norwegian study published in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Researchers did not speculate on the reason for the effect, but said that the survival benefit warranted more study and that diabetes should not be considered a reason to withhold standard cancer treatment.
"Standard therapy should not be withheld from patients with diabetes mellitus provided they are otherwise fit, even if it may be considered a significant comorbidity," researchers wrote in the study. "The survival benefit may be of clinical importance and should be focused on in future studies."
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Trondheim University analyzed 1,677 lung cancer cases from the Nord-Trndelag Health study (HUNT), the pemetrexed gemcitabine (PEG) study and the Norwegian Lung Cancer Biobank study. It was the first cohort study from a well-defined geographical area, with a stable and large number of inhabitants, investigating lung cancer, diabetes and survival.
They found that the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival in patients with lung cancer with and without diabetes mellitus were 43% versus 28%, 19% versus 11%, and 3% versus 1%, respectively.
The fact that patients with diabetes mellitus showed a lower frequency of metastatic diseases may partly explain the survival benefit in patients with diabetes mellitus, because the majority of the patients with lung cancer die of metastasis and not of the primary tumor," researchers wrote. "However, as we adjusted for stage of disease in our analyses this potential advantage can hardly explain the observed increased survival in patients with diabetes mellitus. In addition, increased survival in patients with diabetes mellitus was clearly demonstrated in the PEG study where all patients had advanced lung cancer."
###
About the Journal of Thoracic Oncology:
The Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) is the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). It is a valuable resource for medical specialists and scientists who focus on the detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. It emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach, including original research (clinical trials and translational or basic research), reviews and opinion pieces.
To learn more about the JTO please visit http://journals.lww.com/jto/pages/default.aspx.
About the IASLC:
The Denver-based International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1972, the association's membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries.
IASLC members promote the study of etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and all other aspects of lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. IASLC disseminates information about lung cancer to scientists, members of the medical community and the public, and uses all available means to eliminate lung cancer as a health threat for the individual patients and throughout the world. Membership is open to any physician, health professional or scientist interested in lung cancer.
To learn more about IASLC please visit http://iaslc.org/
[ | E-mail | 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.
Lung cancer patients with diabetes show prolonged survivalPublic release date: 17-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Renee McGaw renee.mcgaw@ucdenver.edu 303-724-5796 International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer patients with diabetes tend to live longer than patients without diabetes, according to a Norwegian study published in the November issue of the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.
Researchers did not speculate on the reason for the effect, but said that the survival benefit warranted more study and that diabetes should not be considered a reason to withhold standard cancer treatment.
"Standard therapy should not be withheld from patients with diabetes mellitus provided they are otherwise fit, even if it may be considered a significant comorbidity," researchers wrote in the study. "The survival benefit may be of clinical importance and should be focused on in future studies."
Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Trondheim University analyzed 1,677 lung cancer cases from the Nord-Trndelag Health study (HUNT), the pemetrexed gemcitabine (PEG) study and the Norwegian Lung Cancer Biobank study. It was the first cohort study from a well-defined geographical area, with a stable and large number of inhabitants, investigating lung cancer, diabetes and survival.
They found that the 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival in patients with lung cancer with and without diabetes mellitus were 43% versus 28%, 19% versus 11%, and 3% versus 1%, respectively.
The fact that patients with diabetes mellitus showed a lower frequency of metastatic diseases may partly explain the survival benefit in patients with diabetes mellitus, because the majority of the patients with lung cancer die of metastasis and not of the primary tumor," researchers wrote. "However, as we adjusted for stage of disease in our analyses this potential advantage can hardly explain the observed increased survival in patients with diabetes mellitus. In addition, increased survival in patients with diabetes mellitus was clearly demonstrated in the PEG study where all patients had advanced lung cancer."
###
About the Journal of Thoracic Oncology:
The Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO) is the official monthly journal of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC). It is a valuable resource for medical specialists and scientists who focus on the detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer. It emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach, including original research (clinical trials and translational or basic research), reviews and opinion pieces.
To learn more about the JTO please visit http://journals.lww.com/jto/pages/default.aspx.
About the IASLC:
The Denver-based International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) is the only global organization dedicated to the study of lung cancer. Founded in 1972, the association's membership includes more than 3,500 lung cancer specialists in 80 countries.
IASLC members promote the study of etiology, epidemiology, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and all other aspects of lung cancer and thoracic malignancies. IASLC disseminates information about lung cancer to scientists, members of the medical community and the public, and uses all available means to eliminate lung cancer as a health threat for the individual patients and throughout the world. Membership is open to any physician, health professional or scientist interested in lung cancer.
To learn more about IASLC please visit http://iaslc.org/
[ | E-mail | 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.
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Public release date: 17-Oct-2011
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