Source: PLoS Medicine
Young adults born with VLBW, when studied close to the age of peak bone mass, have significantly lower BMD than do their term-born peers. This suggests that compromised childhood bone mass accrual in preterm VLBW children translates into increased risk for osteoporosis in adulthood, warranting vigilance in osteoporosis prevention.
Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin - Summer 2009 (PDF; 2.2 MB)
Source: Internal Revenue Service
The Statistics of Income (SOI) Bulletin is issued quarterly, in February, May, August, and November, by the Statistics of Income Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The report provides the earliest published annual inancial statistics obtained from the various types of tax and information returns filed as well as information from periodic or special analytical studies of particular interest to students of the U.S. tax system, tax policymakers, and tax administrators. Selected historical and other data tables, previously published in every issue of the SOI Bulletin, now are published only in the spring issue of the Bulletin. These tables are also available on SOI’s pages of the IRS Web site (www.irs.gov/taxstats).
The New Orleans Index Anniversary Edition: Four Years after Katrina
Source: Brookings Institution
Though New Orleans has been somewhat shielded from the recession due to substantial rebuilding activity, four years after Katrina the region still faces major challenges due to blight, unaffordable housing, and vulnerable flood protection. New federal leadership must commit and sustain its partnership with state and local leaders by delivering on key milestones in innovation, infrastructure, human capital, and sustainable communities to help greater New Orleans move past “disaster recovery” and boldly build a more prosperous future.
+ Summary (PDF; 6.4 MB)
+ Data tables (.xls)
Role of Local Police: Striking a Balance Between Immigration Enforcement and Civil Liberties (PDF; 30.9 MB)
Source: Police Foundation
This report presents the findings and recommendations of a nationwide project that examined issues involved in the enforcement of Federal immigration laws by local law enforcement agencies.
U.S. Small Farms: Decline and Persistence? (PDF; 79 KB)
Source: 111 EAAE-IAAE Seminar
We use two comprehensive and representative USDA databases to assess the performance of small farms in the U.S. Farm production is shifting to much larger farms, and the number of small commercial farms is declining. Most large U.S. farms remain family-owned and operated enterprises, and most remain small businesses by U.S. standards. Small commercial farms tend to focus on three commodities: beef cattle, grains and oilseeds, and poultry. On average, large farm financial returns substantially exceed those on small farms, but the range of performance among small farms is quite wide. About one quarter of the nearly 800,000 small commercial farms show very good financial returns.
See also: Small U.S. Dairy Farms: Can They Compete? (PDF; 155 KB)
See also: U.S. Farm Policy and Small Farms (PDF; 148 KB)
Country Analysis Brief: Norway
Source: Energy Information Administration
Norway is the world’s third largest exporter of natural gas and the sixth largest exporter of oil. While oil production has been falling in recent years, natural gas production continues to rise.
2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting (PDF; 1.7 MB)
Source: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
From press release (PDF; 52 KB)
The number of students who graduated with accounting degrees in the 2007-08 school year surpassed the previous year’s record level, according to a new report by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. More than 66,000 achieved bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting, 3.5 percent higher than in 2006-07.
This represents the largest number of graduates since 1972, the year the AICPA began tracking the data, according to the report, 2009 Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits. The gender ratio is 51 percent female, 49 percent male, a 1 percent uptick in the male cohort.
Role of the No Fly and Selectee Lists in Securing Commercial Aviation, (Redacted) (PDF; 1.7 MB)
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General
Potential threats to aviation security will always exist, regardless of efforts taken to eliminate all possible sources of risk. However, comprehensive, interagency security measures, which form the components of a larger aviation security cycle, help mitigate potential vulnerabilities to commercial aviation. The No Fly list is successful in ensuring that … do not fly. The Selectee list further assists in ensuring … are subject to additional physical screening.
Additionally, individuals listed in the consolidated TSDB who were encountered but not included on the No Fly and Selectee lists were not a threat to commercial aviation, and appropriately were not included on the watch lists according to existing criteria. Furthermore, although TSA uses only a limited subset of the TSDB to prescreen passengers, collateral security measures by the Department of State and CBP ensure that all known and reasonably suspected terrorists are screened prior to boarding an aircraft bound for or departing from the United States. These foreign passengers may be denied admission into the country, but CBP cannot prevent the entry of U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents into the United States. Various TSA security measures also contribute to aviation security, regardless of an individual’s watch list status. Lastly, although domestic watch list screening associated with commercial aviation only occurs for individuals on the No Fly and Selectee lists, law enforcement efforts fill this gap by investigating potential terrorists. These efforts further protect aviation security by feeding valuable intelligence and information on the domestic activities of potential terrorists back into the watch-listing process.
Special Review: Counterterrorism Terrorism and Interrogation Activities (PDF; 6.2 MB)
Source: Central Intelligence Agency, Office of Inspector General
Heavily redacted
McAfee, Inc. Names Jessica Biel the Most Dangerous Celebrity in Cyberspace
Jessica Biel has overtaken Brad Pitt as the most dangerous celebrity to search in cyberspace, according to Internet security company McAfee, Inc. (NYSE:MFE). For the third year in a row, McAfee researched Hollywood’s glamorous stars and pop culture’s most famous people to reveal the riskiest celebrities on the Web. McAfee’s latest report found that searches for Barack or Michelle Obama posed a lesser threat compared to others.
Fans searching for “Jessica Biel” or “Jessica Biel downloads,” “Jessica Biel wallpaper,” “Jessica Biel screen savers,” “Jessica Biel photos” and “Jessica Biel videos” have a one in five chance of landing at a Web site that’s tested positive for online threats, such as spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses and other malware. Searching for the latest celebrity news and downloads can cause serious damage to one’s personal computer.
Every day, cybercriminals use celebrities’ names and images, like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna, to lure surfers searching for the latest stories, screen savers and ringtones to sites offering free downloads laden with malware.
Source: McAfee, Inc.
New Report Identifies Barriers, Offers Solutions to Water and Sanitation Service Delivery to Urban Poor
Source: World Bank
Giving poor people a say in the water and sanitation services they receive, and allowing alternative documentation to prove residence are some of the simple solutions that can bring sustainable water and sanitation services to the hundreds of millions currently living without, according to a new report today released by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP).
According to UNICEF and WHO, 900 million do not drink safe water and 2.5 billion people live without access to improved sanitation, leading to millions of deaths every year, mostly of children under five.
The report, Guidance Notes on Services for the Urban Poor: A practical guide for improving water and sanitation services, identifies barriers to service delivery for poor people living in urban areas in Africa, East and South Asia, and Latin America and recommends practical solutions to overcome them.
+ Full Report (PDF; 1.8 MB)
Elimination of all forms of religious intolerance: Note by the Secretary-General (PDF; 172 KB)
Source: Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief (UN General Assembly)
The Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief submits the present report to the General Assembly pursuant to its resolution 63/181. In the report, she provides a brief overview of general patterns arising out of the mandate and further issues of concern.
The Special Rapporteur then focuses on persons in vulnerable situations, including persons deprived of their liberty, refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced persons, children, persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and migrants, as regards their ability to freely exercise their right to freedom of religion or belief.
The Special Rapporteur gives an overview of the activities carried out under the mandate since the submission of her previous report to the General Assembly, including communications with Governments, country visits and participation in conferences and meetings, as well as application of a gender perspective in the reporting process.
The Special Rapporteur sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations, especially with regard to the protection of the right to freedom of religion or belief and to the prevention of related discrimination and intolerance. She emphasizes the importance of detecting early signs of intolerance that may not be human rights violations themselves, but that may ultimately lead to discrimination based on religion or belief.
Hat tip: UN Pulse
Recommended use of antivirals
Source: World Health Organization
WHO is today issuing guidelines for the use of antivirals in the management of patients infected with the H1N1 pandemic virus.
The guidelines represent the consensus reached by an international panel of experts who reviewed all available studies on the safety and effectiveness of these drugs. Emphasis was placed on the use of oseltamivir and zanamivir to prevent severe illness and deaths, reduce the need for hospitalization, and reduce the duration of hospital stays.
The pandemic virus is currently susceptible to both of these drugs (known as neuraminidase inhibitors), but resistant to a second class of antivirals (the M2 inhibitors).
Worldwide, most patients infected with the pandemic virus continue to experience typical influenza symptoms and fully recover within a week, even without any form of medical treatment. Healthy patients with uncomplicated illness need not be treated with antivirals.
On an individual patient basis, initial treatment decisions should be based on clinical assessment and knowledge about the presence of the virus in the community.
In areas where the virus is circulating widely in the community, clinicians seeing patients with influenza-like illness should assume that the pandemic virus is the cause. Treatment decisions should not wait for laboratory confirmation of H1N1 infection.
This recommendation is supported by reports, from all outbreak sites, that the H1N1 virus rapidly becomes the dominant strain.
Hat tip: UN Pulse
Government policies and drug plans often deprive Canadians of access to new medicines
Source: Fraser Institute
After enduring lengthy waits for the federal government to approve new prescription drugs, Canadian patients all too often discover that their provincial drug plans will not pay for these new medicines, according to a new, peer-reviewed study from independent research organization the Fraser Institute.
Canada’s drug approval process involves two separate stages: First, Health Canada must certify a drug is safe and effective for public use, then provincial governments must decide if the drug will be covered by public health plans. This combination of federal and provincial decision-making creates delays or, more often, results in new drugs being unavailable to some patients.“It takes more than 14 months, on average, for Health Canada to approve new medicines as safe and effective. And while private insurers will immediately cover those medicines, the provinces can take up to another year to decide if they will pay for the same drugs,” said Brett Skinner, Fraser Institute director of bio-pharma and health policy and author of Access Delayed, Access Denied: Waiting For New Medicines in Canada.
+ Full Report (PDF; 1.4 MB)
U.S. Drinking Water and Watersheds Widely Contaminated by Hormone Disrupting Pesticide, Atrazine
Source: Natural Resources Defense Council
A widely used pesticide known to impact wildlife development and, potentially, human health has contaminated watersheds and drinking water throughout much of the United States, according to a new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Banned by the European Union, atrazine is the most commonly detected pesticide in U.S. waters and is a known endocrine disruptor, which means that it affects human and animal hormones. It has been tied to poor sperm quality in humans and hermaphroditic amphibians.
“Evidence shows Atrazine contamination to be a widespread and dangerous problem that has not been communicated to the people most at risk,” said Jennifer Sass, PhD, NRDC Senior Scientist and an author of the report. “U.S. EPA is ignoring some very high concentrations of this pesticide in water that people are drinking and using every day. This exposure could have a considerable impact on reproductive health. Scientific research has tied this chemical to some ghastly impacts on wildlife and raises red flags for possible human impacts.”
“People living in contaminated areas need to be made aware — and the regulators need to get this product off the market,” said Sass.
