Shares Climb as Oil Prices and Supply Concerns Ease

Follow the link http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/business/26markets.html?_r=1&scp=10&sq=economic%20growth&st=cse to read my article.

Shares Climb as Oil Prices and Supply Concerns Ease

Mark Flannery wrote the article, ``Shares Climb as Oil Prices and Supply Concerns Ease `` on the New York Times on February 25, 2011. My interest in this article comes from my major, economics. It deals with changes in one of the biggest determinants of economic growth, oil price; therefore making it very informative and appealing.

The article elucidates the effects of rising oil prices on different giant corporations and on the U.S. economy. The writer mentions that war and unrest in Libya, 5^th biggest oil producer in Africa, is taking a toll on many other countries and businesses. The writer specifically draws the examples of Boeing, which has suffered a 2.8% decline in its share prices. Economic analysts think the major reasons behind the decline are rising oil prices and proportionately smaller rise in sales. The writer also discusses about the effects of increasing oil prices on the U.S. economy. Analysts calculated the US economy grew at a rate of 2.8% last year compared to the predicted rate of 3.2%.

However, the author only refers to the short-term consequences of an increase in oil prices. In the long run many other factors come into play. For example, an alternative to oil as a non-renewable resource to power industries. Thus I am left with a major question; what are the long-term effects of such an increase in oil prices?

Anyone Need a new limb?

The FDA has approved of this new replacement limb for people who have undergone amputations, had a stroke, or spinal injuries. These new arms have near natural movement and are controlled by a chip implanted on the surface of the brain, learning how the brain works and the responding to the signals that the brain sends.

This is interesting because people who have had those diseases or have had an accident and fell that people treat them differently because of how they lack the limb or can't move it as effectively will feel less of a stare when they have that function again through this prosthetic.

article

No More Flu anyone?

In this article, talks about a break through in the flu vaccine earlier this month. Doctors in Oxford's Jenner Institute have found a way to create a universal flu vaccine. Previously, flu vaccines were made using a proteins on the shell of the flu virus to destroy it. The problem arises because those proteins mutate all the time, thus giving us the swine flu, bird flu and many others. Each flu had to be taken in to guess the strain and taken through a 4 month process to get vaccines off the production lines and into stores.

Now, Dr. Sarah Gilbert and her team have used activated T-cells (part of our immune system, the main component of our body learning to fight new diseases, these are the first soldiers at the battle scene scoping out the weakness of the enemy) to target common proteins inside the flu virus common to almost all strains of flu, called nucleoproteins. How this vaccine differs from normal seasonal flu vaccines are seasonal flu vaccines use weakened or killed flu viruses with the protein still left in them, and are injected into our body for OUR body's T-cells to get the information to defend itself, which takes a bit of time. On the other hand, this new activated T-cell vaccine, injects T-cells that already know how to kill the flu virus into our body, this alerts our body, and cuts the time our body has to learn the virus and preparing for it out. After vaccinating the Dr.'s saw an increase in the bodies immune system, but most importantly, it has the intelligence needed and is ready to fight, before the virus even enters the body.

The reason I chose this article is because I saw the it was cool for researchers to finally find a more efficient way to fight the flu, although it is not a 100% protection it is still a step up from the regular seasonal vaccines that we have to get a shot every year to get protected against, this is you get vaccinated once, and you are set for life.

With the seasonal flu vaccines, adults over 50 have a 30%-40% effectiveness, I wonder (as well as the researchers) if the effectiveness for older adults who have weakened immune systems would increase.

Pet stores see healthy sales of organic food; Independent shops are stocking more of the premium-priced brands

In this article they discuss the pet food movement. Lately more organic and holistic choices have been appearing on the selves of pet food stores. As the years go by, pets are becoming less as our property and more as our family members. This also is influencing how we take care of them. BY providing our pets with natural pet foods, people are hoping that this will help extend the lives of our pets, as eating healthier would extend our lives as humans. But with increased value comes increased prices. One reporter predicted a 15% increase on this multibillion-dollar industry.

This makes a lot of sense to me as a pet owner. You would not feed a child a mystery food, so why would you feed your pet a food you knew nothing about? Dogs are omnivorous and need a completely balanced diet in order to keep their internal structures running smoothly. Cats on the other hand are carnivores, so they should not have any corn or wheat products in their diet, yet many cat foods use these as fillers. So even though these foods come at an increased cost, it would be worth it to keep your pet at their optimal health.

Article

The Home With No Energy Bills

This article is about Colorado University's Solar Decathlon house. The house employed energy efficient appliances, lighting, windows and most importantly employed solar panels to generate energy for the home. In using all these technologies, they were able produce more energy then they could use and were actually paid by the power company.

The article was interesting to me because it showed a practical approach to building green by using materials that can be easily found and used a house that was actually a mobile home.

After reading the article would you say that the Colorado University Solar Decathlon team approached the project in a way that was in fact practical?

www.servicemagic.com/articles.show.The-Home-with-No-Energy-Billss.14002.html

FDA Clears iPhone, iPad, Radiology App

Recently, the FDA approved software that runs on the iPhone and iPad to be used by doctors to aid in medical diagnoses. The benefit of this software is that it allows doctors to view medical images immediately at any location. This eliminates the need for a doctor to use valuable time traveling to a lab to view films.

I was interested in using this article for this Biz Buzz assignment because it is different from articles I used in the past. This is the first time software has been approved by the FDA for use by doctors to aid in medical diagnoses.

What measures should be taken to ensure patient’s privacy? What would prevent an unauthorized person from taking the iPhone/iPad and viewing private medical records? Do you think the benefits out-weight the risks?

http://www.lexisnexis.com.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/lnacui2api/auth/checkbrowser.do?rand=0.7990547490848645&cookieState=0&ipcounter=1&bhcp=1