FDA APPROVES SUPERA PERIPHERAL STENT SYSTEM FOR ARTERY TREATMENT IN THE LEGS

FROM:  U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION 
Supera Peripheral Stent System – P120020

This is a brief overview of information related to FDA’s approval to market this product. See the links below to the Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data (SSED) and product labeling for more complete information on this product, its indications for use, and the basis for FDA’s approval.

Product Name: Supera Peripheral Stent System
PMA Applicant: IDEV Technologies
Address: 253 Medical Center Blvd., Webster, TX 77598
Approval Date: March 28, 2014
Approval Letter: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/pdf12/P120020a.pdf

What is it? The Supera Peripheral Stent System is used to re-open narrowed (stenotic) regions of the superficial femoral and proximal popliteal arteries which supply blood to the legs. It consists of two components, the stent and the delivery system. The stent is a small woven tube made of two metals (nickel and titanium). The stent is mounted within the delivery catheter; a long, thin, tube-like device used to deliver the stent into the artery.

How does it work?

A catheter with a deflated balloon at its tip is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin and advanced within the vessel to the narrowed section of the superficial femoral or proximal popliteal artery.

The balloon is inflated within the narrowed artery to open the artery by pushing the plaque against the artery wall (balloon angioplasty).

The angioplasty balloon and its catheter are removed. The Supera Peripheral Stent System is advanced through the same vessel and positioned within the expanded artery.

The stent is then released (deployed). The stent opens automatically over the blockage as it is released from the delivery system.

The stent placement increases blood flow to the legs by holding the artery wall open.

Once the stent is deployed, the stent delivery catheter is removed.

The stent remains permanently implanted in the superficial femoral or proximal popliteal artery and acts as a support for the newly opened section of the vessel.
When is it used? The Supera Peripheral Stent System is used to treat patients with narrowing of a superficial femoral or proximal popliteal arteries caused by atherosclerosis, the collection of fatty substances such as cholesterol that forms “plaque” along the lining of the arteries. This narrowing may limit blood flow to the legs, leading to pain when walking.

What will it accomplish? The inside lining of the artery will grow over the stent approximately 8 weeks after it is implanted. Once in place, the stent acts as a scaffold to:

Hold open the narrowed superficial femoral or proximal popliteal artery, and
Improve blood flow to the legs.

When should it not be used? Use of the Supera Peripheral Stent System is contraindicated in the following cases:

When a patient has a lesion that prevents complete inflation of an angioplasty balloon or proper placement of the stent or stent delivery system.

When a patient cannot receive specific blood thinning medications, such as aspirin or Coumadin, among others.

Additional information: The Summary of Safety and Effectiveness Data and labeling are available online.

GSA REAL ESTATE CONSOLIDATION ESTIMATED TO SAVE $70 MILLION

FROM:  GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION 

GSA to Shrink Real Estate Footprint and Cut Costs with $70 Million Consolidation Project

How we’ll do it

When it comes to government efficiency and sustainability, GSA is leading the way by reducing the federal government’s carbon and real estate footprints. In addition to its innovative Total Workplace program and ongoing property disposal efforts, GSA has identified 19 projects across the country where the agency will work with other federal agencies to consolidate their offices into a federally owned space. This consolidation effort will not only reduce costs by eliminating multiple leases, but also scale back the federal government’s energy and water consumption. GSA is also revolutionizing workplace efficiency by creating open work spaces which eliminate the traditional four-walled office and provide staff the flexibility to work wherever their team is located. This encourages creative collaboration and increased productivity with less square footage.

Why we do it

GSA is the country’s largest landlord, providing workspace for more than a million federal workers who work in both federally-owned and leased space, that makes up more than 9,000 properties or 377.9 million square feet of workspace. As dedicated stewards of the public trust and the environment, GSA is committed to assisting federal agencies in reducing their carbon footprint and employing cost-effective green building strategies.

This investment will save federal agencies $17 million in annual rent payments and reduce the federal footprint by 507,000 rentable square feet, plus reduce the government’s leasing costs by more than $38 million.
GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said:

“As public servants we have a responsibility to serve the American people as effectively and efficiently as possible. By consolidating these locations we are not just eliminating redundant rents and space, but also encouraging collaboration among  government workers by creating open workspace. We’re ushering in a new day for office space throughout the federal government.”

Consolidation project list

Project Name Amount Allocated (in $)
Jacob K. Javits Federal Building & 201 Varick Street – NYC 5,000,000
George H. Fallon Federal Building – Baltimore, MD 621,000
Norfolk Federal Building - Norfolk, VA 1,811,000
Peachtree Summit – Atlanta, GA 509,000
Schiller Park – Vernon Hills, IL 520,000
Austin Federal Courthouse – Austin, TX 14,416,000
Wallace F. Bennett Federal Office Building – Salt Lake City, UT 4,400,000
Evo A. DeConcini Courthouse – Tucson, AZ 3,804,000
300 North Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA 5,000,000
Guarantee Savings Building – Fresno, CA 155,000
Chet Holifield Federal Building – Laguna Niguel, CA 674,000
Ronald Dellums – Oakland, CA 1,470,000
Edward J. Schwartz FB & CH – San Diego, CA (2 projects) 5,020,000
U.S. Trustees     2,733,000
Federal Protective Service     2,287,000
911 Federal Building – Portland, OR 2,148,000
Bank of America Fifth Ave & Jackson FB – Seattle, WA 1,143,000
Hubert H. Humphrey Building – Washington, DC 6,740,000
Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C Street SW – Washington, DC 10,384,000
7980 Science Applications Court – Vienna, VA 3,569,000
Total $67,384,000

U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTS FOR APRIL 21, 2014

FROM:  U.S. DEFENSE DEPARTMENT 
CONTRACTS

AIR FORCE

Mirador Enterprises Inc., El Paso, Texas, (FA4801-14-D-0002); Mesa Verde Enterprises Inc., Alamogordo, N.M. (FA4801-14-D-0003); R-Con Construction Inc., Las Cruces, N.M, (FA4801-14-D-0004); Dawn, Inc./McTech Corp., Joint Venture, Albuquerque, N.M. (FA4801-14-D-0005); and E-Corp, Albuquerque, N.M., (FA4801-14-D-0006), have been awarded a $75,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award construction contract for a broad range of maintenance, repair, minor construction/alteration and renovation work on real property. Work will be performed at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., and federal real property within a 100 mile radius of Holloman AFB post office, excluding areas within the state of Texas. This award is the result of a competitive acquisition and 29 offers were received. Work is expected to be complete by April 21, 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance and military construction funds may be used to fund each task order issued. 49 Contracting Squadron/LGCB, Holloman AFB, N.M., is the contracting activity.

NAVY

Adira Construction Inc.,* Chesapeake, Va. (N40085-13-D-5246); Contract and Purchasing Solutions Inc.,* Lake Park, Ga. (N40085-13-D-5247); Greenland Enterprises Inc.,* Hampton, Va. (N40085-13-D-5248); Locke-Lane Construction Inc.,* Stony Point, N.C. (N40085-13-D-5249); Patriot Construction LLC,* Dunkirk, Md. (N40085-13-D-5250); Turner Strategic Technologies LLC,* Norfolk, Va. (N40085-13-D-5251); and Sampson Contracting Inc.,* Barco, N.C. (N40085-14-D-7711), are each being awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity, multiple-award construction contract for general construction projects located at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps Air Station New River, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, and other outlying facilities in North Carolina. The maximum dollar value including the base period and four option years for all six contracts combined is $50,000,000. The work to be performed provides for new construction, demolition, repair, total/partial interior/exterior alteration/renovation of buildings, systems and infrastructure, civil, structural, mechanical, electrical, communication systems, installation of new or extensions to existing high voltage electrical distribution systems, extensions to the existing high pressure steam distribution systems, extensions to the potable water distribution systems, extensions to the sanitary sewer systems, additional storm water control systems, painting, removal of asbestos materials and lead paint, and incidental related work. Patriot Construction LLC, is being awarded task order 0001 at $82,950 for the installation of sprinkler and fire alarm system building 1819 at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. Work for this task order is expected to be completed by September 2014. All work on this contract will be performed in Jacksonville, Havelock, and other outlying facilities in North Carolina. The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of September 2018. Fiscal 2013 and 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy contract funds in the amount of $112,950 are obligated on this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was originally competitively procured via the Navy Electronic Commerce Online website, with 26 proposals received. This contract action is a re-award as a result of corrective action taken due to a Government Accountability Office protest. These seven contractors may compete for task orders under the terms and conditions of the awarded contract. The Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Norfolk, Va., is the contracting activity.

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., St. Augustine, Fla., is being awarded a $31,135,442 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, cost-reimbursement, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the depot maintenance services of 44 Navy and Marine Corps Reserve F-5N/F aircraft. The services will include depot level maintenance, aircraft inspections, repairs, overhauls, emergency repairs, modifications, engineering support, and procurement of structural components as required to sustain the F-5N/F aircraft. Work will be performed in St. Augustine, Fla. (96 percent); Springville, Utah (3 percent); and Emmen, Switzerland (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2015. Fiscal 2014 operations and maintenance, Navy Reserve funds in the amount of $7,386,924 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity (N00019-14-D-0022).

Northrop Grumman Systems Corp., Linthicum Heights, Md., is being awarded a $17,150,542 modification (P00126) to previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (M67854-07-C-2072) to incorporate a change order to provide for additional testing and test support during the Common Aviation Command and Control developmental test, and, weapons tactic instructor test events. This contract modification includes a government maximum liability in the amount of $15,000,000 for the bailing of the contractor’s engineering development model to support the government’s test events. Work will be performed in Camp Pendleton, Calif. (51 percent) Linthicum Heights, Md. (46 percent); Syracuse, N.Y. (3 percent); and work is expected to be completed June 30, 2014. Fiscal 2014 research and development funds in the amount of $17,150,542 will be obligated at the time of award, and will expire at the end of fiscal year 2015. The Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, Va., is the contracting activity.

ARMY

C.J. Mahan Construction Co., LLC, Grove City, Ohio, was awarded an $11,801,329 firm-fixed-price contract for the Olmsted Major Lock Rehabilitation, Olmsted, Ill. Fiscal 2014 other procurement funds in the amount of $11,801,329 were obligated at the time of the award. Estimated completion date is June 1, 2017. Bids were solicited via the Internet with two received. Work will be performed in Olmstead, Ill. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisville, Ky., is the contracting activity (W912QR-14-C-0020).

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

Omega Apparel,* Smithville, Tenn., has been awarded a maximum $7,499,520 modification (P00103) exercising the fourth option period on a one-year base contract (SPM1C1-10-D-1041) with four one-year option periods for men’s trousers. This is a firm-fixed-price contract. Location of performance is Tennessee with an April 24, 2015 performance completion date. Using military service is Army. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2014 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pa.

*Small Business

PRESS BRIEFING ON V.P. BIDEN'S TRIP TO UKRAINE

FROM:  THE WHITE HOUSE 

Background Press Briefing on Vice President Biden's Trip to Ukraine

Aboard Air Force Two
En Route Kyiv, Ukraine

2:00 P.M. (Local)

MR. SPECTOR:  Just a reminder at the top this is on background as a senior administration official.  He will give some brief remarks at the top and walk through the schedule, and then he’ll take a few questions afterwards.  And again, senior administration official on background.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Thanks, everybody.  We’re about an hour and a half out of Kyiv, and I just wanted to lay out for you what the Vice President will be doing while he’s here, and then speak to some of the themes from the trip and then answer some of your questions.

When we arrive today, he’s got an opportunity to meet with our embassy team that has been pretty much working around the clock for the last few months, even long before February 21st; and then he will sit down with a CODEL led by Congressman Royce to have the chance to speak with them before they have their series of official meetings on Tuesday as well.  So he’ll get brought up to speed on developments on the ground today from our ambassador and our team, and then he’ll go into his meetings tomorrow.

He starts in the morning with a meeting with acting President Turchynov, and then he will do a meeting with Rada representatives from every corner of the country -- from the center, the west, the east, the south -- from multiple generations of Ukrainian politics; some familiar names and then some younger faces and voices.  And the key message of that meeting from him is one of national unity and a successful constitutional reform effort that takes into account the perspectives and aspirations of all Ukrainians. 

But in addition to sending that message, he’s also going to want to hear from them -- all of them -- about what they would like to see both in the immediate term, and then over the medium to long term.

He will then meet with Prime Minister Yatsenyuk where he’ll cover the full range of issues confronting Ukraine today.  And then he’ll finish with a meeting with a couple of dozen or more members of civil society from a variety of backgrounds who work on a variety of issues from democracy to anti-corruption, to youth issues, to cultural issues.  He’ll have an opportunity to address not just them but a broader segment of the Ukrainian public in public remarks there that will be open to the media before going behind closed doors to have conversations with the assembled group about the way they see things and what the United States can do to support them.

So that's the schedule.  In terms of what the Vice President is trying to accomplish, first and foremost, he wanted to come Kyiv to send a very clear message of the United States’ support for Ukraine’s democracy, unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity.  And he wanted to have the opportunity to speak to all Ukrainians from the center, from the west, from the east and from south.  He will call for urgent implementation of the agreement reached in Geneva last week, while also making clear as we have done for the last few days there will be mounting costs for Russia if they choose a destabilizing rather than constructive course in the days ahead.

He will speak to government leaders both the Prime Minister and the acting President, but also members of various factions in the Rada, as well as with civil society about how the United States can support constitutional reform, including the government’s decentralization proposals and how we can support their effort to bring about free and fair elections, international monitors supporting international standards on May 25th.  He will speak to officials about steps towards economic stabilization in Ukraine.  He’ll discuss forms of U.S. assistance, including the loan guarantee that was signed this past week, but also and especially the IMF agreement.  We hope that the final elements of that will come together imminently, and that the IMF board will be able to meet relatively soon to complete that process and begin dispersing the money.

He will speak about both the short- and long-term energy situation in Ukraine.  As he arrives, there will also be a team on the ground from the United States, a team of experts working on the reverse flow issue.  That team will be in Kyiv and then will travel also to Slovakia, Poland and Hungary to help address the issue of reversing the flow of natural gas to provide Ukraine with some measure of short-term supply of natural gas as they look to replenish their stores.

But also he’ll discuss with them medium- and long-term strategies to boost conventional gas production, and also to begin to take advantage of the unconventional gas reserves that are in Ukraine.

Then, of course, as you might anticipate from his meeting with civil society, he’s looking to lift up the voices of Ukraine civil society as they seek to ensure there isn’t a repeat of the past, that they look to a future with less corruption, less coercion, less division. 

And then finally let me just say I don't want to preempt him but he will be discussing various forms of assistance that the United States will be offering in some of these areas.  And we’ll have an opportunity to go through some of those forms of assistance and what’s behind them after he’s had the opportunity to consult with leaders there.  So I’ll look forward to coming back to briefing you in greater detail on that over the next 24 hours or so.

Q    Are you talking about --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Yes.

Q    -- beyond economic assistance?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, there’s a package of economic and energy and governance assistance that he’ll be discussing.  And we, as you saw, just recently announced a latest tranche of security assistance, nonlethal security assistance.  And he’ll have the opportunity to speak with the government about what more is needed and what more we could provide in the period ahead.

Q    So there’s a package that includes economic, energy and discussion of further security assistance.  Is that right?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, the package I’m describing includes economic, energy and governance assistance.  On the question of security assistance, that's something we’ll be consulting with the Ukrainian leadership about.

Q    What kind of energy assistance can the U.S. provide broadly?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  We have a wide range of technical expertise and then forms of technical assistance in four areas.  The first is how to address this immediate reverse flow issue, and we already have a team on the ground to deal with that.  The second is technical assistance to help them be able to boost production in their conventional gas fields, where presently they aren’t getting the maximum of what they could be.  Third, technical assistance relating to a regulatory framework, and also the technology that would be required to extract unconventional gas resources; and Ukraine has meaningful reserves of unconventional gas according to the latest estimates.  And then finally various forms of technical assistance relating to energy efficiency, where experts have shown that the Ukraine could substantially lessen its energy dependence and deny any country the capacity to use energy as a political weapon through a combination of all those things, but in no small part through greater energy efficiency and use of its existing energy.

Q    The economic assistance, does that mean money?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think the biggest piece of business beyond the $1 billion loan guarantee and bringing to closure the IMF and helping also to shepherd the European money will be teams that we can put on the ground to help ensure that that money is allocated in an effective way.  Technical assistance teams from the Treasury Department and elsewhere.  And when I say effective, I mean in keeping with what the IMF and Ukraine have agreed, but also in keeping with everyone’s desire to ensure that all parts of Ukraine benefit from this assistance -- the east and the south, as well as the center and the west.

Q    The violence that broke out on Sunday, in the context of the international agreement, there seemed to be a lot of finger-pointing between Russian and Ukrainian officials about what happened.  Do you have a sense of who is to blame and whether -- how that might affect that agreement?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The situation regarding the incident outside of Slavyansk is still very murky.  What the Ukrainian government says is that it was a provocation by the pro-Russian forces manning roadblocks there, and that they have no evidence that there was any either Ukrainian security service involvement or involvement by people coming from Kyiv or elsewhere.  We have nothing to suggest that there was either, but we don't have 100 percent of the facts on that, and part of the reason for that, of course, is that it has been difficult for monitors to travel in and around Slavyansk because the pro-Russian separatists there with Russia standing behind them have not permitted the type of international observation that should be permitted.  And we think that the best way to ensure that those kinds of incidents don't happen again would be for the Russian government to follow through on its commitment to use every influence it has to get these pro-Russian separatists to lay down their arms, to de-occupy buildings, to take down roadblocks and to allow the political process to run its course.

Q    You’ve talked about cohesion, that that's part of the Vice President’s message through all of this.  You guys haven’t really talked to that up till now.  And so can you talk about what the thinking is behind that, and why he’s going to be going with that message at this particular time?  And kind of what the expectations are in terms of getting different factions on board? Is he planning on having some kind of specific takeaway?  Or is it more of a general discussion?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Let me start by staying obviously Ukraine’s future -- its political decisions, its economic decisions -- are up to Ukrainians.  And the United States wants to support its free choices in that regard, not to try to dictate any outcomes.

But his focus on unity comes from sort of three bases.  The first is that the Ukrainian government itself has placed an increasingly high premium on pressing for a sense of national unity and has conducted increasingly vigorous outreach to the east and the south, including just this past Friday, when Prime Minister Yatsenyuk spoke about decentralization proposals, spoke about cultural and linguistic traditions.  And the Vice President wants to support that.

Second, there are currently ongoing threats to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.  And the most effective response for Ukraine to that is for the whole country to pull together to push back on those threats and to say we want to take our country forward in a way free from violence, and at the ballot box rather than with arms.

And then third, Ukraine faces substantial urgent challenges right now on a number of different levels.  And only if every aspect of the country gets united behind a game plan to tackle those challenges will they be able to make progress.  That's true with respect to stabilizing the situation on the ground.  It’s true with respect to following through on constitutional reform and elections.  It’s true with stabilizing a very fragile economy.  And it’s true with dealing with an energy situation that remains precarious.  So for all of those reasons, the Vice President feels that the United States’ support for efforts to pull the country together are especially important at this time.

Q    We’re not going to hear at all from him today, right?  The Vice President.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  You’re not going to hear from him today.  You’ll hear from him multiple times tomorrow.

Q    Did the President task him with a specific message?  Or can you talk at all about kind of what President Obama said -- told the Vice President before he left and kind of whether he’s carrying a message from him, or what his goals are in that sense?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Most of what I’ve laid out here is the product of conversations between the President and the Vice President in the run-up to the trip in terms of the issues we’re emphasizing and what we’re trying to accomplish.  I don't want to get into their private conversations, but he will speak directly with the Prime Minister about the President’s perspective on this, and also about the President’s commitment to support the government and to support the broader effort at following through on these various lines of effort.

In terms of what this government has been doing or attempting to do on the economy, on the elections, on constitutional reform, on all the areas that we’ve been discussing, it’s been a very encouraging set of steps that they’ve been trying to take in the face of pretty enormous challenges.  And I think the President and the Vice President want to make sure that the Prime Minister understands that the United States wants to find every way that it can to support those efforts.

Q    -- been vigorous outreach from the Ukrainian government to the south and the east.  Can you give a few examples of the kind of outreach that you think has been very effective and other steps that the U.S. would like to continue to see progress on?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  I think I said increasingly vigorous, and that's important because it’s been building over time.  And we want to continue to encourage that.  Obviously, the leadership in Kyiv has a lot to deal with, but this is as much at the top of the list as anything else.  And what I mean is both private conversations among leaders in Kyiv and those representing political interests in the south and the east.  I mean officials who have been appointed by this interim government who are out in the oblasts in the east trying to speak with people across the political spectrum there to figure out how we can design -- how they can design a decentralization process that really works.  I mean the Prime Minister himself addressing directly the concerns of some of the citizens in the east and south, including his comment -- or his pledge regarding the Russian language.

I’m referring also to the work of the constitutional commission, which is a balanced group that reflects significant representation from the south and the east, and is focused on these questions of decentralization and empowering local communities.

So at a variety of different levels you’re seeing more robust interchange within Ukraine, and that's all to the good.  We believe that that has to be sustained and deepened in the days ahead.

Q    We talked a little bit about some of the increase in violence that has been seen in Ukraine in the recent days.  This past weekend, the Ukrainian Prime Minister said that really the only person responsible for containing that is Putin.  Do you expect that we should hear some sort of direct message to President Putin from Vice President Biden during this trip, any sort of direct message -- either from the President or just from the administration in general?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, first of all, President Obama spoke with President Putin last week and was able to deliver the message in the most direct fashion possible -- person-to-person.  And what he told President Putin is the same thing that we’ve been saying publicly which is that really Russia has a choice to make here.  They can contribute to a de-escalation process as a responsible actor, which they have not been -- and going back to their illegal annexation/occupation of Crimea, have proven to be just the opposite of that; or they are going to face increasing costs.  And that's something that the President has been very clear about; the Vice President will continue to be clear about.  And we’ll continue to consult with our European partners about.

Q    Does the administration have any sort of updated timeline on that as to when you say these dire consequences, when we would see that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Well, I didn't say what you just said.  But in terms of the timeframe, Geneva was decided Thursday.  The OSCE has been working over the weekend.  We haven’t seen the kind of progress that, of course, we would like.  We’d like to see every building vacated as soon as possible.  And we’ve seen certain activities that have been discouraging like the shooting at the roadblock outside of Slavyansk.  But I’m not going to put a precise timetable on it.  I will just say that this is not going to be an open-ended process.  This is going to be a situation where we take stock and determine in the relatively near term what our next step should be.

Q    What does that mean?  Because you guys were indicating as recently as Friday that it would be days.  So when you say --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Nothing has changed since Friday. 

Q    Okay, so days would mean by the end of this week, right?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Like I said, I’m not going to put a precise timeframe on it, only to say that we’re heading into Monday here.  And what we said on Friday was that we would be looking at this in the coming days to determine whether there was progress or whether there wasn’t.  And that still stands.

Q    Could you just say how this trip came about?  Obviously the Vice President has a long history of diplomatic relations with Ukraine.  Was this something that was his initiative?  Did the President ask him to go because of those relationships?  Or how did that come?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  The reason I’m pausing here is it’s one of those -- it’s one of those conversations where it’s a little hard to say whether the President asked him or he said I want to go.  It grew out of a conversation that the two of them had, and both of them agreed that it was important for the U.S. to send a high-level signal of support for all of the lines of effort that this government is undertaking.

Obviously, the most pressing and acute right now is the security situation.  But these other lines of effort are also existential for Ukraine.  Its politics, its economics and its energy also matter acutely, and so they felt it was important to have somebody with deep ties to and a deep passion for the U.S.-Ukraine relationship to come and send that message both privately and publicly.  And there’s no better messenger for that than the Vice President.  So that's what brings us here, and we’ll make sure that over the next 24 hours we keep you guys up to date in terms of how those conversations are going and how a very fast moving situation is unfolding on the ground.

Obviously as we’ve been flying things have been happening in Ukraine.  It’s early afternoon now.  So we’ll make sure that we stay in touch here over the next 24-36 hours.

Q    What’s been happening -- is there anything significant that’s happened while we’ve been in the air?  I’m just sort of curious.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL:  Nothing that I would come back here to announce.

Thanks, guys.

Q    Thank you very much.

END

LANL REPORTS ON SOLAR PANEL-WINDOW

FROM:  LOS ALAMOS NATIONAL LABORATORY 

Right:  This schematic shows how the quantum dots are embedded in the plastic matrix and capture sunlight to improve solar panel efficiency.


Shiny quantum dots brighten future of solar cells
Photovoltaic solar-panel windows could be next for your house

LOS ALAMOS, N.M., April 14, 2014—A house window that doubles as a solar panel could be on the horizon, thanks to recent quantum-dot work by Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers in collaboration with scientists from University of Milano-Bicocca (UNIMIB), Italy. Their project demonstrates that superior light-emitting properties of quantum dots can be applied in solar energy by helping more efficiently harvest sunlight.

“The key accomplishment is the demonstration of large-area luminescent solar concentrators that use a new generation of specially engineered quantum dots,” said lead researcher Victor Klimov of the Center for Advanced Solar Photophysics (CASP) at Los Alamos.

Quantum dots are ultra-small bits of semiconductor matter that can be synthesized with nearly atomic precision via modern methods of colloidal chemistry.  Their emission color can be tuned by simply varying their dimensions. Color tunability is combined with high emission efficiencies approaching 100 percent. These properties have recently become the basis of a new technology – quantum dot displays – employed, for example, in the newest generation of the Kindle Fire ™ e-reader.

Light-harvesting antennas

A luminescent solar concentrator (LSC) is a photon management device, representing a slab of transparent material that contains highly efficient emitters such as dye molecules or quantum dots. Sunlight absorbed in the slab is re-radiated at longer wavelengths and guided towards the slab edge equipped with a solar cell.

Klimov explained, “The LSC serves as a light-harvesting antenna which concentrates solar radiation collected from a large area onto a much smaller solar cell, and this increases its power output.”

“LSCs are especially attractive because in addition to gains in efficiency, they can enable new interesting concepts such as photovoltaic windows that can transform house facades into large-area energy generation units,” said Sergio Brovelli, who worked at Los Alamos until 2012 and is now a faculty member at UNIMIB.

Because of highly efficient, color-tunable emission and solution processability, quantum dots are attractive materials for use in inexpensive, large-area LSCs.   One challenge, however, is an overlap between emission and absorption bands in the dots, which leads to significant light losses due to the dots re-absorbing some of the light they produce.

“Giant” but still tiny, engineered dots

To overcome this problem the Los Alamos and UNIMIB researchers have developed LSCs based on quantum dots with artificially induced large separation between emission and absorption bands (called a large Stokes shift).

These “Stokes-shift” engineered quantum dots represent cadmium selenide/cadmium sulfide (CdSe/CdS) structures in which light absorption is dominated by an ultra-thick outer shell of CdS, while emission occurs from the inner core of a narrower-gap CdSe. The separation of light-absorption and light-emission functions between the two different parts of the nanostructure results in a large spectral shift of emission with respect to absorption, which greatly reduces losses to re-absorption.

To implement this concept, Los Alamos researchers created a series of thick-shell (so-called “giant”) CdSe/CdS quantum dots, which were incorporated by their Italian partners into large slabs (sized in tens of centimeters) of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA). While being large by quantum dot standards, the active particles are still tiny - only about hundred angstroms across. For comparison, a human hair is about 500,000 angstroms wide.

“A key to the success of this project was the use of a modified industrial method of cell-casting, we developed at UNIMIB Materials Science Department” said Francesco Meinardi, professor of Physics at UNIMIB.

Spectroscopic measurements indicated virtually no losses to re-absorption on distances of tens of centimeters. Further, tests using simulated solar radiation demonstrated high photon harvesting efficiencies of approximately 10% per absorbed photon achievable in nearly transparent samples, perfectly suited for utilization as photovoltaic windows.

Despite their high transparency, the fabricated structures showed significant enhancement of solar flux with the concentration factor of more than four. These exciting results indicate that “Stokes-shift-engineered” quantum dots represent a promising materials platform. It may enable the creation of solution processable large-area LSCs with independently tunable emission and absorption spectra.
Publication: A research paper, “Large-area luminescent solar concentrators based on ‘Stokes-shift-engineered’ nanocrystals in a mass-polymerized PMMA matrix,” is published online this week in Nature Photonics.

Funding: The Center for Advanced Solar Photophyscis (CASP) is an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy.

The work of the UNIMIB team was conducted within the UNIMIB Department of Materials Science and funded by Fondazione Cariplo (2012-0844) and the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013; grant agreement no. 324603).

OWNER TAX RETURN FRANCHISE AND HEALTH PROVIDER BUSINESS PLEADS GUILTY TO TAX, HEALTH CARE FRAUD, MONEY LAUNDERING

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Owner of Tax Return Preparation Franchise and Health Provider Business Pleads Guilty to Tax Fraud, Healthcare Fraud and Money Laundering

Claude Arthur Verbal II, formerly of Raleigh, N.C., and now of Miami, pleaded guilty to tax fraud, healthcare fraud and money laundering in two separate cases in federal court, announced Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney Ripley Rand for the Middle District of North Carolina.  Verbal pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, one count of healthcare fraud and one count of money laundering.  The plea was accepted late yesterday by U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles in Greensboro, N.C., and sentencing was set for Aug. 11, 2014.  Verbal faces up to 28 years in federal prison and $850,000 in fines, and has agreed to pay restitution to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Medicaid.

The Tax Case

According to court documents, Verbal was the owner of Nothing But Taxes (NBT), a tax return preparation franchise with 10 branches throughout the state of North Carolina that operated from 2005 to at least 2012.  Verbal personally prepared false tax returns for clients of NBT and taught and encouraged his employees to do so as well.  Verbal and NBT employees frequently offered clients a dramatically larger tax refund if the clients agreed to make a cash payment to the person who prepared their return.  These cash payments were over and above the flat return preparation fee that NBT charged every client, whether or not their return was falsified.

According to court documents, from 2005 to 2007, Verbal personally prepared dozens of false tax returns on a computer at NBT’s location on Fayetteville Street in Durham, N.C.  One such return was a 2006 tax return for an NBT client that falsely reported the client had a Schedule C business and a dependent, which Verbal knowingly prepared and electronically filed with the IRS.  

According to court documents, the most common types of falsifications at NBT were false dependents, false Schedule C businesses, false tip income, false Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) and false education credits.  Verbal himself falsified returns using these items and taught his managers and line employees how to do so as well.  Verbal and many of his employees facilitated the purchase and sale of false dependents at NBT by purchasing the names, dates of birth and social security numbers of individuals from the community for use as false dependents on other NBT clients’ tax returns.

According to court documents, in November 2010, one of Verbal’s employees informed a U.S. Probation Officer of the fraudulent practices at NBT’s location on Fayetteville Street.  The probation officer informed Verbal of this fraud and he falsely denied knowledge of it.  Afterward, Verbal took steps to keep the profitable Fayetteville Street location open and to continue operating as usual, but to also further distance himself from the fraudulent practices.  In order to do this, Verbal transferred the electronic filing privileges for that NBT branch to a nominee.  Verbal and others jointly persuaded, a relative of Verbal who allowed Verbal to use their name to apply for new electronic filing privileges for the Fayetteville Street location.  In exchange, Verbal and his wife paid the relative $10,000, and the relative had no role in operating NBT, no professional tax experience and no knowledge of the fraud that was occurring at NBT.

Later, in 2012, the IRS shut down electronic filing privileges at all 10 NBT branches due to persistent fraud.  Verbal re-applied for electronic filing privileges twice for all NBT locations, first in the name of the relative and, when that attempt failed, in the name of another relative who had no knowledge of NBT’s business.

Related Tax Cases

According to court documents, in a series of related cases in the Middle District of North Carolina, multiple other individuals employed by NBT – including branch managers, return preparers and client recruiters – have also pleaded guilty to charges involving federal tax fraud, fraud, and identity theft crimes.

According to court documents, in a related case, Rakecia Brame pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns.  Brame, a former social worker with the Alamance County Department Social Services (DSS), admitted to selling the identities of DSS clients to NBT return preparers for use as false dependents on tax returns.

According to court documents, in another related case, Tasha Smith, a former NBT employee who later left and opened her own fraudulent tax return preparation businesses, pleaded guilty on April 8, 2014, to conspiracy to defraud the United States.

“The tax fraud committed by Claude Verbal and the other Nothing But Taxes defendants is an affront to honest, hard-working taxpayers,” said Assistant Attorney General Kathryn Keneally of the department’s Tax Division.  “The Justice Department will prosecute and seek just punishment against those who prepare fraudulent tax returns.”

“Today, Mr. Verbal admitted to owning a tax preparation business that blatantly ignored the tax laws by preparing false tax returns and misusing his electronic filing privileges,” said Chief of IRS-Criminal Investigation Richard Weber.  “Dishonest return preparers use a variety of methods to cheat the government, including falsifying information on the tax returns to generate larger refunds for their clients.  Criminal Investigation will continue to ensure that all tax practitioners, tax preparers and others who practice in the tax law profession adhere to professional standards and follow the law.”

The Healthcare Fraud Case

According to court documents, Verbal was the owner and operator of Infinite Wellness Concepts (IWC), a Medicaid behavioral health provider with locations in Burlington, Durham and Greensboro, N.C.  IWC was contracted to provide group therapy, intensive in-home services, enhanced mental health and substance abuse services.  Court documents state that Verbal acquired at least one million dollars in fraudulently obtained funds from the Medicaid program.  The fraudulent activities included:  
·          Changing diagnosis codes so that codes with higher reimbursement rates could be billed;
·          Falsely inflating the number of clients treated during group therapy;
·          Billing for services not rendered and submitting false treatment notes in support of the services not rendered using forged signatures from counselors and therapists,
·          Unqualified personnel conducting therapy; and
·          Creating fraudulent clinical assessments and creating clinical assessments prepared and signed by unqualified preparers.
According to court documents, Verbal used the proceeds of the tax and healthcare fraud schemes to make extensive purchases of luxury cars, homes and jewelry.  The money laundering charge to which Verbal pleaded guilty relates to the purchase of a $52,000 diamond ring with the proceeds of healthcare fraud.

In the course of the health care fraud investigation, law enforcement authorities seized $765, 917 from bank accounts controlled by Verbal, a 2011 Toyota Camry and four pieces of diamond jewelry, including a 7-carat diamond ring.  The United States initiated a civil forfeiture action alleging the properties constituted proceeds traceable to the health care fraud and on Sept. 19, 2013, Judge Eagles entered an order forfeiting the property to the government.

“Mr. Verbal’s fraudulent schemes victimized taxpayers in multiple ways, damaging Medicaid, the patients who rely on it, and the taxpayers who support it,” said U.S. Attorney Rand.  “Stopping these fraudulent activities is a priority of the Department of Justice, and we are committed both to bringing the fraudsters to justice and returning the ill-gotten gains to the victimized agencies.”

“The improper billing of the N.C. state community mental health program by unscrupulous providers will not be tolerated,” said Derrick Jackson, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in Atlanta.  “This costs taxpayers millions of dollars each year and drains the Medicaid program of much needed resources.”

The tax case against Verbal was investigated by agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Chut and Trial Attorney Jonathan Marx of the Tax Division.  The healthcare fraud case against Verbal was investigated by agents of the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations, the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Medicaid Investigations Division and IRS – Criminal Investigation, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Hamilton.

RAGWITEK APPROVED BY FDA FOR SHORT RAGWEED POLLEN ALLERGIES

FDA NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: April 17, 2014

FDA approves Ragwitek for short ragweed pollen allergies 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Ragwitek, the first allergen extract administered under the tongue (sublingually) to treat short ragweed pollen induced allergic rhinitis (hay fever), with or without conjunctivitis (eye inflammation), in adults 18 years through 65 years of age.

 

Ragwitek contains an extract from short ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia) pollen. It is a tablet that is taken once daily by placing it sublingually, where it rapidly dissolves. Treatment with Ragwitek is started 12 weeks before the start of ragweed pollen season and continued throughout the season. The first dose is taken in a health care professional’s office where the patient is to be observed for at least 30 minutes for potential adverse reactions. After the first dose, patients can take Ragwitek at home.

 

“The approval of Ragwitek offers millions of adults living with ragweed pollen allergies in the United States an alternative to allergy shots to help manage their disease,” said Karen Midthun, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. 

 

Individuals with allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis may experience a runny nose, repetitive sneezing, nasal itching, nasal congestion, and itchy and watery eyes. Short ragweed pollen is one of the most common seasonal allergens and is prevalent during the late summer and early fall months in most of the United States. Short ragweed pollen induced allergies are generally managed by avoiding the allergen, medications to relieve symptoms, or with allergy shots. 

 

The safety and effectiveness of Ragwitek was evaluated in studies conducted in the United States and internationally. Safety was assessed in approximately 1,700 adults. The most commonly reported adverse reactions by patients treated with Ragwitek were itching in the mouth and ears and throat irritation. Of the 1,700 adults, about 760 were evaluated to determine effectiveness. Some patients received Ragwitek; others received an inactive substitute (placebo). The patients reported their symptoms and additional medications needed to get through the allergy season. During treatment for one ragweed pollen season, patients who received Ragwitek experienced approximately a 26 percent reduction in symptoms and the need for medications compared to those who received a placebo. 

 

The Prescribing Information includes a boxed warning to inform that severe allergic reactions, some of which can be life-threatening, can occur. Ragwitek also has a Medication Guide for distribution to the patient.

 

Ragwitek is manufactured for Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp., (a subsidiary of Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, N.J.) by Catalent Pharma Solutions Limited, United Kingdom.

For more information:

• Allergenics     

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation's food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.

AMERICAN POWER GANG LEADERS CONVICTED IN RACKETEERING CONSPIRACY

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Armenian Power Gang Leaders Convicted for Their Role in Racketeering Conspiracy

Two leaders of the Armenian Power gang were found guilty today by a federal jury in Los Angeles for their participation in a racketeering conspiracy that included extortion, bank fraud targeting elderly bank customers and a sophisticated credit and debit card skimming scheme that stole account numbers and   personal identification numbers (PINs) from thousands of people who used their cards at 99 Cents Only Stores throughout Southern California.

Armenian Power leaders Mher “Capone” Darbinyan and Arman “Horse” Sharopetrosian were each found guilty for their roles in a racketeering conspiracy, and an associate of the gang, Rafael Parsadanyan, was found guilty for his role in the 99 Cents Only Stores skimming scheme.

Acting Assistant Attorney General David O’Neil of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney André Birotte Jr. of the Central District of California and Assistant Director in Charge Bill L. Lewis of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office made the announcement following a four-week jury trial before United States District Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California.

Darbinyan, 38, of Valencia, was found guilty of 57 criminal counts, including racketeering conspiracy, extortion conspiracy, extortion, bank fraud, access device fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.   According to the evidence presented at trial, Darbinyan was a powerful leader of Armenian Power who operated a sophisticated bank fraud scheme that used middlemen and runners to deposit and cash hundreds of thousands of dollars in fraudulent checks drawn on the accounts of elderly customers and jewelry businesses.   Darbinyan also organized and operated a sophisticated debit card skimming operation targeting customers of 99 Cents Only Stores.   This expansive scheme involved installation of skimmers in stores that were used to steal customers’ debit card numbers and PINs.   The scheme targeted stores throughout Southern California and involved the bank accounts of thousands of customers of the discount store.   Separately, Darbinyan conspired to extort and extorted funds from a member of the Armenian community using threats of violence.   He also possessed, on two separate occasions, firearms and ammunition after having previously been convicted of felony grand theft for his role in a 2004 debit card fraud scheme.

Sharopetrosian, 35, was convicted of three counts: racketeering conspiracy, extortion conspiracy and extortion.   The evidence at trial showed that while Sharopetrosian was incarcerated in Avenal State Prison in 2009, he directed the extortion of a member of the Armenian community.   Sharopetrosian worked together with Darbinyan and others to carry out the extortion over a period of six months, at one point even arranging the kidnapping of the victim in order to hasten the extortion payments.   Sharopetrosian, at different times, threatened to kill and kidnap the victim to coerce the victim into paying him over $100,000.

Parsadanyan, 29, of Los Angeles, was convicted of 14 counts of bank fraud for his role in the 99 Cents Only Store scheme.    The evidence at trial showed that Parsadanyan assisted Darbinyan by, among other things, collecting and storing proceeds of the fraud scheme, including delivering approximately $34,000 in criminal proceeds to a co-schemer.

Darbinyan is scheduled to be sentenced on July 21, 2014.   Sharopetrosian is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept.15, 2014.   Parsadanyan is scheduled to be sentenced on July 14, 2014.

Darbinyan, Sharopetrosian and Parsadanyan were among 90 individuals charged in 2011 in two indictments targeting Armenian Power.   One indictment accused 29 defendants, including Darbinyan and Sharopetrosian, of participating in the Armenian Power racketeering conspiracy that involved a host of illegal activities such as sophisticated bank fraud schemes, identity theft, debit card skimming and manufacturing counterfeit checks.   Some defendants in the case were charged with participating in a variety of violent crimes, such as kidnapping, extortion and firearms offenses.

According to court documents, the Armenian Power street gang formed in the East Hollywood area of Los Angeles in the 1980s.   The gang’s membership consisted primarily of individuals of Armenian descent, as well as of other countries within the former Soviet bloc.   Armenian Power has more than 250 documented members, as well as hundreds of associates.   According to court documents, Armenian Power members and associates regularly carry out violent criminal acts, including murders, attempted murders, kidnappings, robberies, extortions and witness intimidation to enrich its members and associates and preserve and enhance the power of the criminal enterprise.

Out of the 90 defendants charged in the two indictments, 85 have now been convicted.   Two of the defendants are still pending trial, two defendants are fugitives and prosecutors dismissed charges against one defendant.   The charges contained in the indictments are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The case was investigated by the Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force, which is composed of the FBI, the Glendale Police Department, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Burbank Police Department, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, IRS – Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Secret Service.   The Huntington Beach Police Department and the Beverly Hills Police Department provided assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Andrew Creighton of the Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys E. Martin Estrada and Elizabeth Yang of the Central District of California.

SECRETARY OF STATE KERRY'S OP-ED ON THE VATICAN AND HUMAN SLAVERY

FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT 

Working With the Vatican Against Modern Slavery

Op-Ed

John Kerry

Secretary of State

The Boston Globe

April 20, 2014

---

Last month, I traveled to Rome with President Obama, where I was honored to meet His Holiness Pope Francis. As an altar boy six decades ago, I never imagined that I would find myself crossing the threshold of the Vatican to see the Bishop of Rome.

My wife, Teresa, and I took our own pilgrimage three years ago at Easter to Assisi, and traveled to Porziuncala to see the chapel which St. Francis restored out of the rubble, one of his own special ways of acting upon the prophecy visited upon him to “repair my house.” Two years later, Teresa and I sat in Mass at Georgetown as our priest shared the moving story of the moment Pope Francis decided to take Francis for his name as the Holy Father – after the Cardinal from Brazil shared his caution not to “forget the poor.”

Today, all the world knows that this was more than a symbolic statement by Pope Francis, but rather the start of a mission that is now an example to the world.

Today, as the first Catholic Secretary of State in 33 years, I find special joy and pride in the way that the United States can partner with the Holy See to help meet some of our greatest global challenges.

Among those challenges, we find perhaps no greater threat to human dignity, no greater assault on basic freedom, than the evil of human trafficking — what we call modern-day slavery and what Pope Francis himself denounced as “a crime against humanity.”
Whether it comes in the form of a young girl trapped in a brothel, a woman enslaved as a domestic worker, a boy forced to sell himself on the street, or a man abused on a fishing boat, the victims of this crime have been robbed of the right to lead the lives they choose for themselves.

For years, it has been apparent that this crime affects every country in the world. As many as 27 million people are victims, and the United States is the first to acknowledge that no government anywhere is doing enough.

But as we dive deeper, we begin to see that modern slavery, like so many other 21st century challenges, doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s interconnected with so many of our other foreign-policy concerns, from environmental sustainability to advancing the lives of women and girls to combating transnational organized crime. Wherever we find poverty and lack of opportunity — wherever the rule of law is weak, where corruption is most ingrained, and where populations can’t count on the protection of government and law enforcement — we find not just vulnerability to trafficking, but zones of impunity where traffickers can more easily prey on their victims.
A major zone of impunity is beyond the border and jurisdiction of any single country. Research shows us that people laboring on the high seas are subject to brutal abuse and enslavement. This fact cannot be separated from our other concerns about the ocean: if we want to secure safe and free trade routes, bolster global food security, or curb environmental degradation, we ignore the oceans at our peril.

Trafficking sits at the intersection of all these issues.

Do we think that a ship’s captain who beats and murders his crew will respect his fishing quota? Do we believe he’ll respect laws against smuggling drugs, weapons, and people? Do we think he’s helping conserve the environment for future generations? The answers are self-evident, and so is the need to address this problem head-on.

We are starting to make progress. I’ve instructed the Trafficking in Persons Office at the State Department to zero in on the way modern slavery entangles with economic and environmental concerns. This is one powerful example of how we are engaging with faith communities to solve a range of global issues of mutual concern, in partnership with the new Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives at the State Department, led by Dr. Shaun Casey, whom I recruited from Wesley Seminary.

A key partner in these efforts will be the Apostolate of the Sea, a Catholic organization with a world-wide network of clergy and lay religious serving workers in the fishing fleet and their families. Working together, we feel confident we can improve the way we uncover modern slavery, identify its victims, get them out of harm’s way, and bring their abusers to justice.
As Christians the world over celebrate Easter, this is a fitting place to fix our gaze. Christ found his earliest followers off the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He brought them off their fishing boats to become his apostles, to spread his message of love and compassion. Particularly at Easter, this is a message that can guide people of all faiths. When we embrace our common humanity and stand up for the dignity of all people, we realize the vision of a world that is more caring and more just — a world free from slavery.

NSF REPORTS DROUGHT, FIRE IN AMAZON LEADS TO MORE DEAD TREES

Photo:  Amazon Forest.  Credit:  Wikimedia.  

FROM:  NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 

Drought and fire in the Amazon lead to sharp increases in forest tree mortality

Deforestation and fragmentation of forests help create tinderbox conditions

Ongoing deforestation and fragmentation of forests in the Amazon help create tinderbox conditions for wildfires, contributing to rapid and widespread forest loss during drought years, according to a team of researchers.

Their findings show that forests in the Amazon could reach a "tipping point" when severe droughts coupled with forest fires lead to large-scale loss of trees, making recovery more difficult, said Jennifer Balch, a geographer at Penn State University.

"We documented one of the highest tree mortality rates witnessed in Amazon forests," Balch said. "Over the course of our experiment, 60 percent of the trees died with combined drought and repeated fire.

"Our results suggest that a perfect firestorm, caused by drought conditions and previous fire disturbance, crossed a threshold in forest resistance."

The researchers conclude in today's issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) that "efforts to end deforestation in the Amazon must be accompanied by programs and policies that reduce the accidental spread of land management fires into neighboring forests--and effectively control forest fires when started."

Balch noted that climate change is expected to warm the air in the Amazon region by several degrees and substantially reduce regional precipitation, making understanding the interactions between droughts and fires even more important.

"However, before any prediction of Amazon climate warming occurs, our study demonstrates that drought and fire are already driving forest dieback," she said.

The eight-year study is the largest and longest-running fire experiment in tropical forests. The researchers burned 50-hectare forest plots in the Southeastern Amazon, a region prone to the effects of climate change.

"If drought and wildfires happen in the same time-frame, there are far-reaching consequences for the health of Amazon forests," said Henry Gholz, a program director in the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology, which funded the research. "When climate change becomes part of the mix, questions for these forests loom yet larger."

The plots were burned every year, every three years, or not at all. The timeframe for the study included 2007, a year of severe drought.

By comparing the tree deaths for the plots each year, the researchers could assess the effect of drought on fire intensity and tree deaths.

"Drought causes more intense and widespread fires," said lead PNAS paper author Paulo Brando of the Instituto de Pesquisa Ambiental da Amazônia, Carnegie Institution for Science, and Woods Hole Research Center.

"Four times more adult trees were killed by fire during a drought year, which means that there was also more carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere, more tree species loss and a greater likelihood of grasses invading the forest."

The researchers found that fragmented forests are more susceptible to the effects of drought and fire, and that drought leads to an increase in fuel such as leaves and branches.

The findings are key, in part, because most climate change models have not included the effects of fires on Amazon forests.

"Basically, none of the models used to evaluate future Amazon forest health includes fire, so most of these predictions underestimate the amount of tree death and overestimate overall forest health," said Michael Coe, a scientist at the Woods Hole Research Center.

Fire as a forest management tool can contribute to an increase in severe fires because the resulting thinner canopy leads to drier forest conditions.

This lack of humidity does not dampen fires but does encourage airflow between fields and forests. Fragmented forests also have more edge space, which is susceptible to both fire and invasive grasses, another potential fuel.

"These forests are tough and can take a lot, but if drought reaches a certain level, big trees begin to die," said Daniel Nepstad of the Earth Innovation Institute, who also co-led the project. "We now know that severe drought makes fires more intense, creating a second tree mortality threshold."

The results are important because large portions of the Amazon forest already experience droughts and are susceptible to fire--they are broken into smaller blocks by agriculture and are close to human settlements, the predominant source of fire in the Amazon.

The researchers analyzed NASA satellite data to provide regional context for results from the experimental burns.

"In 2007, fires in Southeast Amazonia burned 10 times more forest than in an average climate year -- an area equivalent to a million soccer fields," said scientist Douglas Morton of NASA.

"These smaller forest fragments have more edges than large blocks of forest, which expose them to the hotter, drier conditions in the surrounding landscape and make them more vulnerable to escaped fires," said researcher Marcia Macedo of the Woods Hole Research Center.

By 2011, about eight percent of Southeast Amazonia's forests were less than 328 feet from an agricultural or pasture clearing. This lattice-like network of degraded forest edges is now very susceptible to future fires.

The research was also funded by the Packard Foundation, NASA and the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry.

-NSF-

GOVERNMENT, LOWE'S SETTLE HOME RENOVATIONS LEAD POLLUTION CASE

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT 

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Corporate-Wide Settlement with Lowe’s Protects Public from Lead Pollution During Home Renovations

Lowe’s Home Centers, one of the nation’s largest home improvement retailers, has agreed to implement a comprehensive, corporate-wide compliance program at its more than 1,700 stores nationwide to ensure its contractors minimize lead dust from home renovation activities, as required by the federal Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (RRP) Rule, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced.  The company will also pay a $500,000 civil penalty, which is the largest ever for violations of the RRP Rule.

The settlement stems from violations, discovered by EPA inspectors, of the RRP Rule’s recordkeeping and work practice standards at private homes that had been renovated by Lowe’s contractors.  EPA enforces the RRP and other lead rules to protect children and others who are vulnerable to exposure to lead dust that can cause lead poisoning.

“Today’s settlement requires Lowe’s to institute a robust, nationwide program at its more than 1,700 stores nationwide to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform renovation projects, like window and carpet installation, are properly certified and adhere to practices that help prevent lead contamination in customers’ homes,” said Robert G. Dreher, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.  “This action, the first of its kind to address lead safe work practices on a system-wide basis, will help prevent children’s exposure to lead in communities across the nation by raising home improvement contractors’ awareness of EPA’s lead safety regulations and contributing to a culture of compliance.”

“Today’s settlement sends a clear message to all contractors and the firms they hire: Get lead certified and comply with the law to protect children from exposure to dangerous lead dust,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.  “Lowe’s is taking responsibility for the actions of the firms it hires, and EPA expects other contractors to do the same.”

“Protecting our most valuable assets, our children, is something that I will always do,” said Stephen R. Wigginton, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois.  “This settlement will ensure that not only children in southern Illinois, but children throughout the United States will be better protected from the known hazards associated with lead exposure.  I commend Lowe’s for taking responsibility and entering into this agreement.”

EPA discovered the violations through a review of records from completed renovations performed by contractors hired by the following Lowe’s stores: Alton, Ill.; Kent and Trotwood, Ohio; Bedford, N.H.; Southington, Conn.; South Burlington, Vt.; Rochester, N.Y.; Savannah and Lebanon, Tenn.; Boise, Idaho Falls and Nampa, Idaho; and Muldoon, Alaska.

The government complaint alleged that Lowe’s failed to provide documentation showing that its contractors had been certified by EPA, had been properly trained, had used lead-safe work practices, or had correctly used EPA-approved lead test kits at renovation sites.   Additionally, EPA’s investigation found that Lowe’s contractors had failed to ensure that work areas had been properly contained and cleaned during renovations at three homes.  EPA’s investigation was prompted by tips and complaints submitted by the public.

In addition to the civil penalty, Lowe’s must implement a comprehensive compliance program to ensure that the contractors it hires to perform work for its customers comply with the RRP Rule during renovations of any child-occupied facilities, such as day-care centers and schools, and any housing that was built before 1978.  For these projects, Lowe’s must contract with only EPA-certified renovators, ensure they maintain certification, and ensure they use lead safe work practices checklists during renovations.  In addition, Lowe’s must suspend anyone that is not operating in compliance with the rule, investigate all reports of potential noncompliance and ensure that any violations are corrected.

The RRP Rule, which implements the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, is intended to ensure that owners and occupants of housing built before 1978, as well as any child-occupied facilities, receive information on lead-based paint hazards before renovations begin, and that individuals performing such renovations are properly trained and certified by EPA and follow specific work practices to reduce the potential for lead-based paint exposure.  Home improvement companies such as Lowe’s that contract with renovators to perform renovation work must ensure that those contractors comply with all of the requirements of the RRP Rule.

Lead-based paint was banned in 1978 but still remains in many homes and apartments across the country.  Lead dust hazards can occur when lead paint deteriorates or is disrupted during home renovation and remodeling activities.   Lead exposure can cause a range of health problems, from behavioral disorders and learning disabilities to seizures and death, putting young children at the greatest risk because their nervous systems are still developing.

In February 2014, EPA announced enforcement actions that require 35 home renovation contractors and training providers to take additional steps to protect communities by minimizing harmful lead dust from home renovation activities, as required by the RRP Rule.  Those settlements generated a total of $274,000 in civil penalties.

Renovators that are certified under EPA’s RRP Rule are encouraged to display EPA’s “Lead-Safe” logo on worker’s uniforms, signs, websites and other material, as appropriate.   Consumers can protect themselves by looking for the logo before hiring a home renovator.

Lowe’s operates over 1,700 stores throughout the U.S., with over 120 additional stores located in Canada and Mexico.   Lowe’s Home Centers, LLC, formerly known as Lowe’s Home Centers Inc. and Lowe’s HIW Inc., is headquartered in Mooresville, N.C.

The consent decree was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.  Notice of the lodging of the consent decree will appear in the Federal Register allowing for a 30-day public comment period before the consent decree can be entered by the court as final judgment.

CDC REPORTS ON WAYS TO REDUCE HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG DIVERSE POPULATIONS

FROM:  CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION 

CDC Reports on Effective Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities

Public health interventions close health equity gaps among diverse U.S. populations

Evidence-based interventions at the local and national levels provide promising strategies for reducing racial and ethnic health disparities related to HIV infection rates, immunization coverage, motor vehicle injuries and deaths, and smoking, according to a new report by the CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity.

The report,published today as an MMWR Supplement, describes CDC-led programs addressing some of the health disparities previously highlighted in the CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Reports, CHDIR, 2011 and 2013. The CHDIR reports highlight differences in mortality and disease risk for multiple conditions related to behaviors, access to health care, and social determinants of health – the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, age, and work.
“Reducing and eliminating health disparities is central to achieving the highest level of health for all people,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.  “We can close the gap when it comes to health disparities if we monitor the problem effectively and ensure that there is equal access to all proven interventions.”

Examples of the programs and health disparities addressed:
The Vaccines for Children (VFC) Program, managed by CDC, provides vaccines at no cost to eligible children who might otherwise not be vaccinated because of inability to pay. After the introduction of the VFC Program, racial/ethnic disparities in childhood immunization coverage do not exist for measles-mumps-rubella and poliovirus vaccines.

Many Men, Many Voices (3MV) is an evidence-based HIV/STD prevention intervention developed by and for black men who have sex with men (MSM) that can lead to decreased rates of HIV infection and increased access to preventive services and treatment among MSM of color. It uses small group education and interaction to increase knowledge and change attitudes and behaviors related to HIV/STD risk among black MSM.  In a randomized clinical trial, 3MV reduced participants’ high-risk sexual activity and increased rates of HIV testing. The program has been implemented in 37 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico and has been adapted to serve other MSM of color.

Four American Indian/Alaska Native tribal communities implemented tribal motor vehicle injury prevention programs, using evidence-based road safety interventions to reduce motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths. Each tribal community showed increased use of seat belts and child safety seats, increased enforcement of alcohol-impaired driving laws, or decreased motor vehicle crashes involving injuries or deaths. The effective use of communication tools –billboards, radio and television media campaigns, and school and community education programs– contributed to the success of this public health program.
“These interventions demonstrate progress toward health equity. They show the elimination of health disparities as an achievable goal and encourage further implementation of evidence-based initiatives and interventions addressing health disparities and inequities,” said Leandris C. Liburd, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.A., CDC’s associate director for Minority Health and Health Equity.

The release of this supplement coincides with 2014 National Minority Health Month, which raises awareness about the health disparities that continue to affect racial and ethnic minorities across the United States.

TELEMARKETER PERMANENTLY BANNED FROM TELEMARKETING

FROM:  FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 

Marketer of Robocalling Services Banned from Telemarketing

The head of an operation that enabled telemarketers to make illegal robocalls, call phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, and mask Caller ID information, is permanently banned from telemarketing and robocalling under a settlement with the federal government.

In November 2011, on the Federal Trade Commission’s behalf, the Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that Joseph Turpel sold services to telemarketers who were violating the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule.  The complaint alleged that Turpel knew, or consciously avoided knowing, that clients used his services while calling numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, transmitting inaccurate caller ID information, and making illegal prerecorded telemarketing solicitations (robocalls).

According to the complaint, Turpel’s clients offered credit card services, home security systems, and grant procurement programs. He allegedly gave clients the means to hide their identity by transmitting inaccurate caller names, such as “SERVICE MESSAGE” or “SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT,” on caller ID displays.

In addition to banning Turpel from telemarketing and robocalling, the settlement order imposes a $395,000 civil penalty that is suspended based on his inability to pay. The full penalty will become due immediately if Turpel is found to have misrepresented his financial condition.

The Commission vote authorizing DOJ staff to file the proposed  stipulated final order was 4-0. The final order was entered by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on April 15, 2014.

The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the FTC’s online Complaint Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 2,000 civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s website provides free information on a variety of consumer topics. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.