If you are impulsive, take modafinil and count to 10

Public release date: 1-Feb-2013
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Contact: Rhiannon Bugno
Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-0880
Elsevier

Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry

Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2013 Poor impulse control contributes to one's inability to control the consumption of rewarding substances, like food, alcohol, and other drugs. This can lead to the development of addiction. FDA-approved medications for alcoholism, like naltrexone (Revia) and disulfiram (Antabuse), are thought to reduce alcohol consumption by curbing cravings and creating unpleasant reactions to alcohol, effects which reduce the desire to drink alcohol.

New medications, however, might target the uncontrollable urges to consume drugs of abuse. The idea of treating problems of self-control by improving the ability to suppress impulses is not new. This approach is precisely what one is doing when counting to 10 before acting when one is upset. What is new, however, is the idea that medications might help with this process.

A new study by Lianne Schmaal at the University of Amsterdam and colleagues, published in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that modafinil (Provigil), a drug originally developed to increase wakefulness, may help some people to reduce drinking by improving their impulse control.

Although modafinil is formally approved solely for the treatment of several sleep disorders, it has been shown to enhance cognition. Such beneficial effects have been observed in healthy individuals and in patients with schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. It has also been shown to reduce impulsivity in some individuals with addictions, but these effects had not yet been studied in non-stimulant addictions like alcohol dependence.

This background of potentially promising findings led Schmaal et al. to investigate the effects of modafinil on impulsivity in alcohol dependent patients and healthy controls. The researchers also measured participants' underlying brain activity while they completed a stop signal task designed to measure impulsive behavior.

"This line of research adopts a strategy from the attention deficit disorder 'playbook'. Modafinil has effects that resemble amphetamine. This interesting new study suggests that, if you are impulsive, modafinil may help your self-control," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

They found that modafinil improved response inhibition in alcohol-dependent participants with initially poor response inhibition, but response inhibition was diminished in those who initially performed better. Modafinil also modulated brain activation in key brain regions directly involved response inhibition, but again, only in those patients with poor baseline response inhibition.

Schmaal explained further, "Most importantly, the study showed that modafinil had a positive effect in patients with high initial levels of impulsivity, whereas modafinil had a detrimental effect in patients with low initial levels of impulsivity. Positive effects of modafinil were associated with normalization of brain activation and connectivity patterns during the stop signal task."

These findings indicate that baseline levels of impulsivity should be taken into account when considering treatment with modafinil.

"The current observation of 'one size does not fit all' (i.e., that a pharmacotherapy may constitute a useful adjunct therapy for some individuals but not for others) calls for caution when prescribing modafinil and strongly supports the potential of and the need for personalized medicine," added Schmaal.

###

The article is "Effects of Modafinil on Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition in Alcohol-Dependent Patients" by Lianne Schmaal, Leen Joos, Marte Koeleman, Dick J. Veltman, Wim van den Brink, and Anna E. Goudriaan (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.032). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 73, Issue 3 (February 1, 2013), published by Elsevier.

Notes for editors

Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Lianne Schmaal at +31 (0) 20 89 13762 or lianschmaal@gmail.com.

The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.

John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.

About Biological Psychiatry

Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.

The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.

Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact

Rhiannon Bugno, Editorial Office
+1 214 648 0880
Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu

---

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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.

Public release date: 1-Feb-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Rhiannon Bugno
Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu
214-648-0880
Elsevier

Reports new study in Biological Psychiatry

Philadelphia, PA, February 1, 2013 Poor impulse control contributes to one's inability to control the consumption of rewarding substances, like food, alcohol, and other drugs. This can lead to the development of addiction. FDA-approved medications for alcoholism, like naltrexone (Revia) and disulfiram (Antabuse), are thought to reduce alcohol consumption by curbing cravings and creating unpleasant reactions to alcohol, effects which reduce the desire to drink alcohol.

New medications, however, might target the uncontrollable urges to consume drugs of abuse. The idea of treating problems of self-control by improving the ability to suppress impulses is not new. This approach is precisely what one is doing when counting to 10 before acting when one is upset. What is new, however, is the idea that medications might help with this process.

A new study by Lianne Schmaal at the University of Amsterdam and colleagues, published in Biological Psychiatry, suggests that modafinil (Provigil), a drug originally developed to increase wakefulness, may help some people to reduce drinking by improving their impulse control.

Although modafinil is formally approved solely for the treatment of several sleep disorders, it has been shown to enhance cognition. Such beneficial effects have been observed in healthy individuals and in patients with schizophrenia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. It has also been shown to reduce impulsivity in some individuals with addictions, but these effects had not yet been studied in non-stimulant addictions like alcohol dependence.

This background of potentially promising findings led Schmaal et al. to investigate the effects of modafinil on impulsivity in alcohol dependent patients and healthy controls. The researchers also measured participants' underlying brain activity while they completed a stop signal task designed to measure impulsive behavior.

"This line of research adopts a strategy from the attention deficit disorder 'playbook'. Modafinil has effects that resemble amphetamine. This interesting new study suggests that, if you are impulsive, modafinil may help your self-control," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.

They found that modafinil improved response inhibition in alcohol-dependent participants with initially poor response inhibition, but response inhibition was diminished in those who initially performed better. Modafinil also modulated brain activation in key brain regions directly involved response inhibition, but again, only in those patients with poor baseline response inhibition.

Schmaal explained further, "Most importantly, the study showed that modafinil had a positive effect in patients with high initial levels of impulsivity, whereas modafinil had a detrimental effect in patients with low initial levels of impulsivity. Positive effects of modafinil were associated with normalization of brain activation and connectivity patterns during the stop signal task."

These findings indicate that baseline levels of impulsivity should be taken into account when considering treatment with modafinil.

"The current observation of 'one size does not fit all' (i.e., that a pharmacotherapy may constitute a useful adjunct therapy for some individuals but not for others) calls for caution when prescribing modafinil and strongly supports the potential of and the need for personalized medicine," added Schmaal.

###

The article is "Effects of Modafinil on Neural Correlates of Response Inhibition in Alcohol-Dependent Patients" by Lianne Schmaal, Leen Joos, Marte Koeleman, Dick J. Veltman, Wim van den Brink, and Anna E. Goudriaan (doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2012.06.032). The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 73, Issue 3 (February 1, 2013), published by Elsevier.

Notes for editors

Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Rhiannon Bugno at +1 214 648 0880 or Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Lianne Schmaal at +31 (0) 20 89 13762 or lianschmaal@gmail.com.

The authors' affiliations, and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available in the article.

John H. Krystal, M.D., is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available here.

About Biological Psychiatry

Biological Psychiatry is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, whose purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior. In accord with this mission, this peer-reviewed, rapid-publication, international journal publishes both basic and clinical contributions from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major psychiatric disorders.

The journal publishes novel results of original research which represent an important new lead or significant impact on the field, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Reviews and commentaries that focus on topics of current research and interest are also encouraged.

Biological Psychiatry is one of the most selective and highly cited journals in the field of psychiatric neuroscience. It is ranked 5th out of 129 Psychiatry titles and 16th out of 243 Neurosciences titles in the Journal Citations Reports published by Thomson Reuters. The 2011 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry is 8.283.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include ScienceDirect, Scopus, Reaxys, ClinicalKey and Mosby's Nursing Suite, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.

A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact

Rhiannon Bugno, Editorial Office
+1 214 648 0880
Biol.Psych@utsouthwestern.edu

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-02/e-iya020113.php

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Coke's new ad about protecting profit, not fighting obesity

A controversial ad from Coca-cola has given the role of soft drinks in the obesity epidemic the type of attention the company had hoped to deflect. The new ad tries to improve public opinion of Coca-Cola by showing concern about the future health of the nation. Since the campaign kicked off, nutrition experts have been reminding the public about how scientific research debunks Coca-Cola?s cynical claims.

Coke and cigarettes

Last year government officials, most notably the mayor of New York, started imposing strict regulations on the portion size of sugar-sweetened beverages. Growing public awareness of their health risks is leading to comparisons of products such as Coke with cigarettes in terms of health impact.

Fearing the damage to profits from an emerging marketing and public relations debacle, Coca-Cola has produced an ad intended to obfuscate scientific research confirming that Coke and other sugar-sweetened soft drinks are a major contributor to obesity and that their products have absolutely no nutritional value.

Coke sounds the alarm

The spin of the company?s new ad campaign, ?Coming Together,? is that Coca-Cola is working hard to make its beverages healthier. It begins with a sincerely earnest tone:

?For over 125 years, we?ve been bringing people together. Today we?d like people to come together on something that concerns all of us: obesity. The long-term health of our families and the country is at stake.?

Healthier choices?

The narrator uses statistics to create the impression that Coca-Cola is leading people who drink sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks to a thinner, healthier tomorrow:

?Across our portfolio of more than 650 beverages, we now offer over 180 low- and no-calorie choices,? the ad says, ?Over the last 15 years, this helped reduce the average calories per serving across our industry?s products in the U.S. by 22 percent.?

Many people have been led to believe that so-called diet drinks with no- or low-calories are a healthier choice. However, numerous studies have shown that artificial sweeteners can distort biochemistry in ways that lead to significant weight gain and higher blood sugar levels, as well as disrupt the body?s ability to control calorie intake.

A calorie is a calorie?

According to most critics of the campaign, the company goes too far when the narrator tries to shift blame for obesity from the company to the consumer?with the implication that all calories, including soda calories, are created equal:

??beating obesity will take action by all of us, based on one simple, common-sense fact: All calories count, no matter where they come from. ?And if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, you?ll gain weight.?

Scientific research in the past few years has proven that in human metabolism, all calories are not created equal, in particular those from fructose, the main sweetener in Coke. Fructose, which can only be metabolized in the liver, overwhelms the organ, where fat accumulates. Fructose also forces the pancreas to make more insulin, which can eventually lead to a prediabetic condition. Both effects send a body on the road to metabolic syndrome.

Shameless

Even the advertising industry has responded to Coca-Cola?s campaign with derision. Adweek, called the video ?shameless? in an article titled ?The soda giant makes an awkward first stab at addressing obesity.?

So we can expect to hear more from Coca-Cola about obesity. But properly translated the company?s message is an attempt to maintain profits, not take action for the health of consumers.

Source: New York Times, Medill Reports, Dr. Mercola

Tagged as: artificial sweeteners, coca cola claims, coke ad obesity, coke and cigarettes, fructose calories, Healthier choices, obesity epidemic, scientific research, sugar-sweetened beverages

Source: http://www.themedifastplan.com/main/cokes-new-ad-about-protecting-profit-not-fighting-obesity/

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Unique photography rig captures snowflakes in mid-flight

Devin Coldewey , NBC News ? ? ? 5 hrs.

They say no two snowflakes look the same ? well, scientists at the University of Utah aren't going to take that for granted. They've devised a photography rig that can take detailed photos and measurements of thousands of snowflakes in a single night.

It's called the Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera, and it's just what it sounds like. Three cameras are arrayed around an infrared sensor that detects the presence of a snowflake and tells the cameras to fire. By lighting the snowflake carefully and using a super-short exposure (1/25,000th of a second), they can get tack-sharp images of snowflakes on the fly.

The system is so efficient that it can take tens ofthousands of shots in a single night. While that may be too many to browse through for fun, it's a huge benefit to researchers. Meteorologists only have a partial understanding of snowflakes ? their size, density, shape, fall speed, things like that ? because, naturally enough, they tend to melt before anyone can get a good look at them.

MASC is the project of University of Utah atmospheric scientist Tim Garrett, and the setup has been spun off as a separate company, Fallgatter Technologies. Right now, the company's device is documenting snowflakes at Utah's famous Alta ski area.

Scientists in the 1970s also measured snowflakes, but it was by hand, which must have been extremely delicate (and cold) work ? "I knew the guy who did it and he felt he needed to get glasses because of this project," Garrett told LiveScience.

And if the snowflakes in the pictures don't look much like the symmetrical geometric shapes one usually think of (and which were recently captured in stunning fashion by macro photographer Andrew Osokin), that's because most "snowflakes" are actually clumps made up of smaller flakes that have collided or broken apart.

Achieving a better understanding of snowflakes means a better understanding of snowy weather systems. Alta, for example, can use it to gauge the quality of the snow falling, and the Army is planning to use the device to improve its avalanche prediction techniques.

You can watch a live-updating feed of recent snowflakes from Alta, or check the project's highlight page, showing a few outstanding examples of what the system can capture.

Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/unique-photography-rig-captures-snowflakes-mid-flight-1B8219491

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Rules would make school snacks healthier

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The government for the first time is proposing broad new standards to make school snacks healthier, a move that would ban the sale of almost all candy, high-calorie sports drinks and greasy foods on campus.

Under new rules the Department of Agriculture proposed Friday, school vending machines that once were full of Skittles and Sprite would instead be selling water, lower-calorie sports drinks, diet sodas and baked chips. Lunch rooms that now sell fatty "a la carte" items like mozzarella sticks and nachos would have to transition to healthier pizzas, fruit cups and yogurt.

The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are an effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools have already made improvements in their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others are still selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.

The USDA is proposing fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in school. Current standards regulate only the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches subsidized by the federal government. Snacks would have to be less than 200 calories, and elementary and middle schools could only sell water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, but the calories would be limited.

"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The new standards will cover vending machines, "a la carte" lunch lines and any other foods regularly sold around school. The proposed rules would not cover in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states could decide to individually regulate those. The guidelines do not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home to celebrate a birthday, or anything a student brings for their own personal consumption.

The new rules would be one of many recent changes to the school lunch program to make foods healthier. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.

Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, USDA exempted in-school fundraisers and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12 oz. portion.

Schools, industry, interest groups and any critics of the proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes, before the USDA writes the final rule. The soonest the rules could be in place would be the 2014 school year.

Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says surveys done by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.

"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.

The food industry has been mostly on board with the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric beverages out of school vending machines.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-02-01-Healthier%20School%20Foods/id-3278a87185784ed880947ae18a47b39b

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Negotiators talking to Ala. captor through pipe

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) ? Speaking into a 4-inch-wide ventilation pipe, hostage negotiators tried Thursday to talk a man into releasing a kindergartener and ending a standoff in an underground bunker that stretched into its third day.

The man identified by multiple neighbors and witnesses as 65-year-old retired truck driver Jimmy Lee Dykes was accused of pulling the boy from a school bus on Tuesday and killing the driver. The pair was holed up in a small room on his property that authorities compared to tornado shelters common in the area.

James Arrington, police chief of the neighboring town of Pinckard, said the shelter was about 4 feet underground, with about 6-by-8 feet of floor space and a PVC pipe that negotiators were speaking through.

There were signs that the standoff could continue for some time: A state legislator said the shelter has electricity, food and TV. The police chief said the captor has been sleeping and told negotiators that he has spent long periods in the shelter before.

"He will have to give up sooner or later because (authorities) are not leaving," Arrington said. "It's pretty small, but he's been known to stay in there eight days."

Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper said he has been briefed by law enforcement and visited with the boy's parents.

"He's crying for his parents," he said. "They are holding up good. They are praying and asking all of us to pray with them."

The normally quiet red clay road was teeming Thursday with more than a dozen police cars and trucks, a fire truck, a helicopter, officers from multiple agencies, media and at least one ambulance near Midland City, population 2,300.

Dykes was known around the neighborhood as a menacing figure who neighbors said once beat a dog to death with a lead pipe, threatened to shoot children for setting foot on his property and patrolled his yard at night with a flashlight and a firearm.

The chief confirmed that Dykes held anti-government views, as described by multiple neighbors: "He's against the government ? starting with Obama on down."

"He doesn't like law enforcement or the government telling him what to do," he said. "He's just a loner."

Authorities say the gunman boarded a stopped school bus Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When the driver tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took a 5-year-old boy off the bus.

The bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, was hailed by locals as a hero who gave his life to protect the 21 students aboard the bus.

No motive has been discussed by investigators, but the police chief said the FBI had evidence suggesting it could be considered a hate crime. Federal authorities have not released any details about the standoff or the investigation. The mayor said he hasn't seen anything tying together Dykes' anti-government views and the allegations against him.

Dykes had been scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to answer charges he shot at his neighbors in a dispute last month over a speed bump. Neighbor Claudia Davis said he yelled and fired shots at her, her son and her baby grandson over damage Dykes claimed their pickup truck did to a makeshift speed bump in the dirt road. No one was hurt.

The son, James Davis Jr., believes Tuesday's shooting was connected to the court date. "I believe he thought I was going to be in court and he was going to get more charges than the menacing, which he deserved, and he had a bunch of stuff to hide and that's why he did it."

Neighbors described a number of other run-ins with Dykes in the time since he moved to this small town near the Georgia and Florida borders, in a region known for peanut farming.

A neighbor directly across the street, Brock Parrish, said Dykes usually wore overalls and glasses and his posture was hunched-over. He said Dykes usually drove a run-down "creeper" van with some of the windows covered in aluminum foil.

Parrish saw him often digging in his yard, as if he was preparing a spot to lay down a driveway or a building foundation. He lived in a small camping trailer on the site. He patrolled his lawn at night, walking from corner to corner with a flashlight and an assault rifle.

Mike and Patricia Smith, who also live across the street from Dykes and whose two children were on the bus, said their youngsters had a run-in with him about 10 months ago.

"My bulldogs got loose and went over there," Patricia Smith said. "The children went to get them. He threatened to shoot them if they came back."

Another neighbor, Ronda Wilbur, said Dykes beat her 120-pound dog with a lead pipe for coming onto his side of the dirt road. The dog died a week later.

"He said his only regret was he didn't beat him to death all the way," Wilbur said. "If a man can kill a dog, and beat it with a lead pipe and brag about it, it's nothing until it's going to be people."

Court records showed Dykes was arrested in Florida in 1995 for improper exhibition of a weapon, but the misdemeanor was dismissed. The circumstances of the arrest were not detailed in his criminal record. He was also arrested for marijuana possession in 2000.

___

Associated Press writers Jay Reeves, Melissa Nelson-Gabriel, Bob Johnson in Montgomery and AP researcher Rhonda Shafner in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/negotiators-talking-ala-captor-pipe-181459029.html

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At least 3 dead in mass pileup on Detroit freeway

DETROIT (AP) ? Snow squalls, high winds and slippery roads led to a chain-reaction of crashes on a mile-long stretch of an interstate in Detroit Thursday, leaving at least three people dead and 20 injured.

Michigan State Police Lt. Michael Shaw said visibility was poor when the mass of crashes happened on Interstate 75 on the southwest side of the city. The injured, including children, have been taken to hospitals, Shaw said.

SUVs with smashed front ends and cars with doors hanging open sat scattered across the debris-littered highway, some crunched against jackknifed tractor-trailers and tankers.

Motorists and passengers who were able to a get out of their vehicles huddled together on the side of the road, some visibly distraught, others looking dazed. A man and woman hugged under the gray, cloud-filled skies, a pair of suitcases next to them and a bumper on the ground behind.

"We're not sure of the cause," Shaw told The Associated Press. "Some witnesses said there were white-out conditions."

More than two dozen vehicles were involved in the pileups and scores of cars and trucks not involved in crashes were stuck on the freeway behind. Shaw said it could be hours before the freeway reopened.

Greg Galuszka was driving a fuel truck along I-75 when white-out conditions quickly materialized.

"I looked on my driver's side mirror, and I could see the trucks piling up back there," Galuszka said, pointing to a mass of twisted metal where vehicles had smashed into each other a short time earlier.

"Then, when I looked in my passenger side (mirror), is when I saw the steel hauler coming up," he said. "I just said my prayers from there and said, 'Please don't hit me.'"

Shaw said many people had to be pulled from their vehicles. Numerous fire engines and ambulances were at the scene.

The crash happened as a wave of snow and strong blustery winds reduced visibility across southeastern Michigan, said Bryan Tilley, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oakland County's White Lake Township.

"There was a pattern of snow showers moving through the area in the midmorning hours," Tilley said. Nearby Detroit Metropolitan Airport had west winds at 20 miles per hour, with gusts to 33 mph around the time of the crash. The temperature of 24 degrees was about 30 degrees colder than a day before.

The crash happened near an elevated stretch of expressway where the road surface can cool quickly and make driving hazardous, Tilley said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/least-3-dead-mass-pileup-detroit-freeway-172914028.html

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American Oil Revolution

American Oil Revolution By STEVE AUSTIN for OIL-PRICE.NET, 2013/01/02

By now, you'd have heard the news (yes, the world doesn't end on February 30, let alone on December 21) that the US is set to become the world's largest oil producer in a decade. So, how did this great nation, perceived as emaciated on the oil front, turn around?

After all, not long ago, any analysis of the oil scene in the US treated it- predominantly- as an oil importing country Well, the crude oil production in the US, according to the latest monthly report of EIA, averaged about 6.5 million barrels per day in September 2012. As a fact, this is the highest volume in almost 15 years.

So what exactly did the US do to warrant all this? What changed the game-plan? The short and long answer: Shale boom.

That shale has changed the oil landscape of the US would be a gross understatement. In fact, the present energy revolution in the US is mainly due to shale. What is Shale, so? Oil Shale is nothing but a type of sedimentary oil bearing rock with low permeability which contains a mixture of natural gas and liquids including oil (Shale oil). It's controversial as the extraction process, fracking, is harmful to the environment. There's also the looming fear of induced earthquakes because of fracking. So what's the extraction process? Fracking is the method used to extract gas from the shale formations. A hole is drilled into the rock and a mixture of sand, chemicals and water are injected at high pressure. Under the impact, the rock splits releasing the gas. Irrespective of popular opinion, extracting shale is expensive. But, what wasn't possible a decade ago is happening today not only because of technological advances, but also due to the current price of oil. On the other hand, returns from conventional wells aren't encouraging either. Yes, the energy scene in the US is changing.

In the US, Shale oil production is mainly concentrated in Texas and North Dakota. Drilling in the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford shale formation has enabled oil production in Texas to grow from 31,661,000 barrels per month in September 2008 to 61,500,000 barrels per month in September 2012. Oil production in North Dakota is mainly from the Bakken shale formation. According to estimates of the US Geological Survey there are about 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in Bakken and drilling in this formation has helped North Dakota's oil production to shoot by more than 250,000 barrels per day (between September 2011 and September 2012).

The IEA predicts the US to overtake Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world's biggest producer of oil by 2017. Also, on the anvil: US becoming self-sufficient in oil by 2035 and North America trudging on to become a net oil exporter sometime around the year 2030. Exxon Mobil Corp.'s annual outlook, for its part, expects North America as an exporter of oil and gas 'by the middle of the next decade.' Both these reports, if you care, are closely monitored by oil investors. If you're one, do factor the EIA prediction of oil production at 6.8 million barrels per day in 2013, which will put in the oil prices at about $3.44 per gallon next year as against the 3.64 gallon in 2012. Yet, from the long- term perspective this is definitely a good time to be in a region with immense potential for growth. Or not. Ostensibly, environmental curbs over fracking can change everything written on the wall. Of course, these are intriguing times. If we have to, we'd like to call this period the 'transitional phase.'

It has to be noted that this 'shale bloom' occurred during the present administration. Or rather, in spite of it.

After the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, the Obama administration issued a six-month moratorium on oil drilling permits for new projects. Since then, new projects take longer with more stringent rules and regulations. Consequently, in 2011, according to the Institute for Energy Research, oil production on federal lands fell to 11 percent from 2010 levels, while oil production on private and state lands increased by 14 percent. As per EIA estimates, oil production from federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico would increase in 2013, but not to the levels prior to the accident in 2010. To make a comparison: The Gulf of Mexico was producing about 1.71 million barrels of oil per day before the moratorium and about 1.09 million barrels per day after the moratorium.

When oil prices soared in 2008, President Bush and the Congress allotted additional federal lands for oil exploration. Despite those plans, according to the Institute of Energy Research, the federal government leases 'less than 2.2 percent of federal offshore areas' and less than six percent of federal onshore areas. Also, soon after taking office for a second term, the Obama administration closed off 1.6 million acres of Western US territory originally meant for oil shale and tar sands. In other words, the shale oil production is mainly on state and private lands. The Congressional Research Service believes that almost 96 percent of the increased oil production in recent times was produced on state and private lands.

Of course, if not for the shale bloom, the oil prices would have gone through the roof with similar results for unemployment figures. As per existing laws, the oil produced domestically cannot be exported, thus the possibility of even lower oil prices. Should the government open the market for exports, the oil prices will see a revision. However, it'll take another decade at least, for the US to become a major gas exporter. In terms of energy security, from a futuristic point of view, shale will reduce the US dependence on oil from the Middle-East, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Recently, Norse Energy, a Norwegian company, filed for bankruptcy after failing to extract gas from the Marcellus Shale in New York. With the four-year ban on hydraulic fracturing by the state department, Norse Energy's wait to drill the 130,000 acres under lease proved to be too expensive for the company. Meanwhile, the UK government has lifted restrictions on fracking with the Energy and climate secretary saying that Sale gas could 'contribute to energy security in the country.'

Of course, talking about energy, it's not only shale, there's the Canadian Oil sands or tar sands too. Like Shale, this unconventional oil reached people only after the dramatic price rise in oil. In fact, compared to a conventional oil well, the extraction of these sands is about twelve percent dirtier, not to mention the pristine forests destroyed. If the Keystone XL pipeline manages to transport this oil to the Texas refineries, it would be a victory to the oil pundits at the expense of the environment. The Canadian tar sands produce about 1.5 million barrels a day, most of them coming from the Alberta oil fields. As a result, Canada is rather over-enthusiastic for pipelines to conduit the excess oil.

Anyway, how is the administration going to balance coal, shale and tar sands on one side and the renewable on the other? "As long as I'm president, we will not walk away from the promise of clean energy," said President Obama. According to Economic Modeling Specialists International, the six fastest growing jobs since 2010-2011 were related to oil and gas extraction. So, the challenge for the present administration: More jobs, faster economic growth or greener energy policies? (Hey, what's the point of energy without the Earth?)

Recently the Obama administration announced plans to allocate 285,000 acres of federal land in six SouthWestern states for solar energy projects. In spite of the odd efforts, there's confusion in the energy policies. Will the new-year bring in a clearer picture?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Oil-pricenet-OilPriceTodayAndTomorrow/~3/UwV1fozYHpg/american-oil-revolution.php

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