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What bacteria don't know can hurt them

Interfering with the ability of biofilm-forming bacteria to sense starvation increases their susceptibility to antibiotics

		IMAGE:Dr. Dao Nguyen, now at McGill University, trained in the University of Washington lab of Dr. Pradeep Singh, a lung specialist who studies bacterial biofilm infections. Click here for more information.

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

A key cause of this resistance is that bacteria become starved for nutrients during infection. Starved bacteria resist killing by nearly every type of antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before.

What produces starvation-induced antibiotic resistance, and how can it be overcome? In a paper appearing this week in Science, researchers report some surprising answers.

"Bacteria become starved when they exhaust nutrient supplies in the body, or if they live clustered together in groups know as biofilms," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Dao Nguyen, an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University.

Biofilms are clusters of bacteria encased in a slimy coating, and can be found both in the natural environment as well as in human tissues where they cause disease. For example, biofilm bacteria grow in the scabs of chronic wounds, and the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Bacteria in biofilms tolerate high levels of antibiotics without being killed.

"A chief cause of the resistance of biofilms is that bacteria on the outside of the clusters have the first shot at the nutrients that diffuse in," said Dr. Pradeep Singh, associate professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, the senior author of the study. "This produces starvation of the bacteria inside clusters, and severe resistance to killing."

		IMAGE:Dr. Pradeep Singh is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UW Medicine in Seattle and a scientist who studies bacterial biofilms and their resistance to antibiotics. Click here for more information.

Starvation was previously thought to produce resistance because most antibiotics target cellular functions needed for growth. When starved cells stop growing, these targets are no longer active. This effect could reduce the effectiveness of many drugs.

"While this idea is appealing, it presents a major dilemma," Nguyen noted. "Sensitizing starved bacteria to antibiotics could require stimulating their growth, and this could be dangerous during human infections."

Nguyen and Singh explored an alternative mechanism.

Microbiologists have long known that when bacteria sense that their nutrient supply is running low, they issue a chemical alarm signal. The alarm tells the bacteria to adjust their metabolism to prepare for starvation. Could this alarm also turn on functions that produce antibiotic resistance?

To test this idea, the team engineered bacteria in which the starvation alarm was inactivated, and then measured antibiotic resistance in experimental conditions in which bacteria were starved. To their amazement, bacteria unable to sense starvation were thousands of times more sensitive to killing than those that could, even though starvation arrested growth and the activity of antibiotic targets.

"That experiment was a turning point," Singh said. "It told us that the resistance of starved bacteria was an active response that could be blocked. It also indicated that starvation-induced protection only occurred if bacteria were aware that nutrients were running low."

		IMAGE:Bacterial clusters living in the lungs of a cystic fibrosis patient are highly resistant to killing by antibiotics. Click here for more information.

With the exciting result in hand, the researchers turned to two key questions. First does the starvation alarm produce resistance during actual infections? To test this the team examined naturally starved bacteria, biofilms, isolates taken from patients, and bacterial infections in mice. Sure enough, in all cases the bacteria unable to sense starvation were far easier to kill.

The second question was about the mechanism of the effect. How does starvation sensing produce such profound antibiotic resistance?

Again, the results were surprising.

Instead of well-described resistance mechanisms, like pumps that expel antibiotics from bacterial cells, the researchers found that the bacteria's protective mechanism defended them against toxic forms of oxygen, called radicals. This mechanism jives with new findings showing that antibiotics kill by generating these toxic radicals.

The findings suggest new approaches to improve treatment for a wide range of infections.

"Discovering new antibiotics has been challenging," Nguyen said. "One way to improve infection treatment is to make the drugs we already have work better. Our experiments suggest that antibiotic efficacy could be increased by disrupting key bacterial functions that have no obvious connection to antibiotic activity."

The work also highlights the critical advantage of being able to sense environmental conditions, even for single-celled organisms like bacteria. Cells unaware of their starvation were not protected, even though they ran out of nutrients and stopped growth. This proves again that, even for bacteria, "what you don't know can hurt you."

What bacteria don't know can hurt them

Interfering with the ability of biofilm-forming bacteria to sense starvation increases their susceptibility to antibiotics

		IMAGE:Dr. Dao Nguyen, now at McGill University, trained in the University of Washington lab of Dr. Pradeep Singh, a lung specialist who studies bacterial biofilm infections. Click here for more information.

Many infections, even those caused by antibiotic-sensitive bacteria, resist treatment. This paradox has vexed physicians for decades, and makes some infections impossible to cure.

A key cause of this resistance is that bacteria become starved for nutrients during infection. Starved bacteria resist killing by nearly every type of antibiotic, even ones they have never been exposed to before.

What produces starvation-induced antibiotic resistance, and how can it be overcome? In a paper appearing this week in Science, researchers report some surprising answers.

"Bacteria become starved when they exhaust nutrient supplies in the body, or if they live clustered together in groups know as biofilms," said the lead author of the paper, Dr. Dao Nguyen, an assistant professor of medicine at McGill University.

Biofilms are clusters of bacteria encased in a slimy coating, and can be found both in the natural environment as well as in human tissues where they cause disease. For example, biofilm bacteria grow in the scabs of chronic wounds, and the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis. Bacteria in biofilms tolerate high levels of antibiotics without being killed.

"A chief cause of the resistance of biofilms is that bacteria on the outside of the clusters have the first shot at the nutrients that diffuse in," said Dr. Pradeep Singh, associate professor of medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington in Seattle, the senior author of the study. "This produces starvation of the bacteria inside clusters, and severe resistance to killing."

		IMAGE:Dr. Pradeep Singh is a pulmonary and critical care physician at UW Medicine in Seattle and a scientist who studies bacterial biofilms and their resistance to antibiotics. Click here for more information.

Starvation was previously thought to produce resistance because most antibiotics target cellular functions needed for growth. When starved cells stop growing, these targets are no longer active. This effect could reduce the effectiveness of many drugs.

"While this idea is appealing, it presents a major dilemma," Nguyen noted. "Sensitizing starved bacteria to antibiotics could require stimulating their growth, and this could be dangerous during human infections."

Nguyen and Singh explored an alternative mechanism.

Microbiologists have long known that when bacteria sense that their nutrient supply is running low, they issue a chemical alarm signal. The alarm tells the bacteria to adjust their metabolism to prepare for starvation. Could this alarm also turn on functions that produce antibiotic resistance?

To test this idea, the team engineered bacteria in which the starvation alarm was inactivated, and then measured antibiotic resistance in experimental conditions in which bacteria were starved. To their amazement, bacteria unable to sense starvation were thousands of times more sensitive to killing than those that could, even though starvation arrested growth and the activity of antibiotic targets.

"That experiment was a turning point," Singh said. "It told us that the resistance of starved bacteria was an active response that could be blocked. It also indicated that starvation-induced protection only occurred if bacteria were aware that nutrients were running low."

		IMAGE:Bacterial clusters living in the lungs of a cystic fibrosis patient are highly resistant to killing by antibiotics. Click here for more information.

With the exciting result in hand, the researchers turned to two key questions. First does the starvation alarm produce resistance during actual infections? To test this the team examined naturally starved bacteria, biofilms, isolates taken from patients, and bacterial infections in mice. Sure enough, in all cases the bacteria unable to sense starvation were far easier to kill.

The second question was about the mechanism of the effect. How does starvation sensing produce such profound antibiotic resistance?

Again, the results were surprising.

Instead of well-described resistance mechanisms, like pumps that expel antibiotics from bacterial cells, the researchers found that the bacteria's protective mechanism defended them against toxic forms of oxygen, called radicals. This mechanism jives with new findings showing that antibiotics kill by generating these toxic radicals.

The findings suggest new approaches to improve treatment for a wide range of infections.

"Discovering new antibiotics has been challenging," Nguyen said. "One way to improve infection treatment is to make the drugs we already have work better. Our experiments suggest that antibiotic efficacy could be increased by disrupting key bacterial functions that have no obvious connection to antibiotic activity."

The work also highlights the critical advantage of being able to sense environmental conditions, even for single-celled organisms like bacteria. Cells unaware of their starvation were not protected, even though they ran out of nutrients and stopped growth. This proves again that, even for bacteria, "what you don't know can hurt you."

News from Ukraine about fullerenes in nanomedicine!!!

Science, Research & Technology
News from Ukraine about fullerenes in nanomedicine!!!

Grigoriy Andrievsky
Director of Science, PhD. at "Institute of Physiological Active Compounds" LLC
To:Walter Derzko, […]

Dear sir/madam,
Dear colleagues,

After many years of scientific research and extended preclinical and clinical trials, at the end of 2010 in Ukraine, for the first time in the world, the following products “Concentrated solutions of hydrated С60 fullerene” (C60FWS), “Water with hydrated С60 fullerene” and fully highly purified С60 fullerene were approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for use as a component in food products and cosmetics. This includes their administration as a multifunctional dietary supplement, which has unique medicinal and preventive properties while, at the same time, being absolutely safe for humans.

You may find this same information upon visiting our site http://www.ipacom.com, in particular via the following links: http://www.ipacom.com/index.php/ru/products-left/68 and
http://www.ipacom.com/index.php/ru/products
http://ipacom.com/index.php/en/fullerenes-and-water-left/74
http://ipacom.com/index.php/en/publications-about-c60hyfn/70
http://ipacom.com/images/Articles/annotation_en.pdf

In addition, you may see our News and obtain the file of presentation: “About the most important physical, chemical and biological properties of hydrated С60 fullerene (С60HyFn) and its water solutions (С60FWS)” on our site:
http://ipacom.com/index.php/en/publications-about-c60hyfn/92

Thus, the water solutions of hydrated fullerene С60 have already become available commercially and they can now be purchased for your own research and applications in many areas of human activity and, especially, as optimum means for preventive medicine of the future.

Thank you very much in advance.

On behalf of my colleagues,

Grigoriy Andrievsky

Director of Science, PhD.
Institute of Physiological Active Compounds, LLC.
58, Lenin ave.,
61072, Kharkov,
Ukraine
Phone: +38 057 763 0521 (Phone/Fax, Office)
+38 057 763 0336 (Lab.)
E-mail: yard@kharkov.ua or
science@ipacom.com
http://www.ipacom.com (russ./engl.)

Walking through doorways causes forgetting, new research shows

We've all experienced it: The frustration of entering a room and forgetting what we were going to do. Or get. Or find.

New research from University of Notre Dame Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky suggests that passing through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses. "Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an 'event boundary' in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away," Radvansky explains.

"Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized."

The study was published recently in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Conducting three experiments in both real and virtual environments, Radvansky's subjects – all college students – performed memory tasks while crossing a room and while exiting a doorway.

In the first experiment, subjects used a virtual environment and moved from one room to another, selecting an object on a table and exchanging it for an object at a different table. They did the same thing while simply moving across a room but not crossing through a doorway.

Radvansky found that the subjects forgot more after walking through a doorway compared to moving the same distance across a room, suggesting that the doorway or "event boundary" impedes one's ability to retrieve thoughts or decisions made in a different room.

The second experiment in a real-world setting required subjects to conceal in boxes the objects chosen from the table and move either across a room or travel the same distance and walk through a doorway. The results in the real-world environment replicated those in the virtual world: walking through a doorway diminished subjects' memories.

The final experiment was designed to test whether doorways actually served as event boundaries or if one's ability to remember is linked to the environment in which a decision – in this case, the selection of an object – was created. Previous research has shown that environmental factors affect memory and that information learned in one environment is retrieved better when the retrieval occurs in the same context. Subjects in this leg of the study passed through several doorways, leading back to the room in which they started. The results showed no improvements in memory, suggesting that the act of passing through a doorway serves as a way the mind files away memories.

Could Ukraine become Russia's (Gazprom's) new money laundering center?

‎

Moscow, Kyiv Agree on New Gas Price - Newspaper

[...Wonder what else Ukraine gave up in the negotiations that's undisclosed?..."Lending in Roubles" seems to be the

"main event" overshadowing the actual gas agreement, turning the Ukrainian government into one huge legal money laundering operation (or conversion center) for black market Russian Roubles from the huge Russian shadow economy and for delighted Russian Oligarchs. –as someone said on FB recently. … Roubles lead to Troubles---N.B. Trade between

China and Russia is bilateral in both Roubles and Yuan. With Russia and Ukraine it’s only one way-sorry Jack (Ivane), we only take Roubles, no Hryvnias…but you can be sure….Ukrainian Party of Regions politicians will get their cut off the top-Walter Derzko]

Moscow, Kyiv Agree on New Gas Price - Newspaper

Interfax

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

KYIV. Nov 15 (Interfax) -

Ukraine and Russia finished gas talks, having agreed on a new price for natural gas and other conditions facilitating the resolution of the dispute over the reduction of its price, a source from the Ukrainian presidential administration told the Economic News newspaper."Roughly, in late November to early December (when the new contracts are due to be signed). Currently, the process of agreeing upon technical details pertaining to the new agreements continues at the level of the governments and the companies - Naftogaz Ukrainy and Gazprom. When everything is

ready, a date will be set for the meeting between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents who will countersign the documents," the source was quoted as saying by the newspaper. Among the new conditions for gas cooperation are the gas price in the region of $220-$230 per 1,000 cubic meters, payment for gas supplies and a possibility of lending in rubles. Besides this, the new agreements allow information to be provided to Russian investors in case of their participation in the privatization of Ukrainian companies, the source told the newspaper.

Ukraine's Watergate-KOPANKA coal scandal could lead to western sanctions against the Yanukovich regime, bringing down Yanukovich and the Party of Regions

KOPANKA coal scandal (child labour and money laundering) could lead to western sanctions against the Yanukovich regime, bringing down Yanukovich and the Party of Regions

(Ukrainian text from Russian original followed by English Briefing paper on the business model behind KOPANKAS-how they work)

Олександр Янукович зазіхнув на інтереси Ріната Ахметова (Ukrainian version via Google Translate from Russian) Check against Russian original below

http://donetskie.com/novosti/2011/10/13/aleksandr-yanukovich-posyagnul-na-interesy-rinata-ahmetova

Такими темпами "татко" не дотягне до наступних виборів. Кількість ворогів перейде в якість, тим більше, альтернатива є ...

У боротьбі за місце у вугільному бізнесі від важкої руки Януковича може постраждати навіть Ринат Ахметов

Днями енергогенеруюча компанія «Донбасенерго», 85,77% акцій якої належать державі, уклала контракт з «Асоціацією фінансових, промислових і торгових підприємств« Донбаський розрахунково-фінансовий центр »(ДРФЦ) на поставку їй вугілля на 532 млн. гривень. «Донбасенерго» має намір закупити кам'яне вугілля марки А і П по 250 тис. тонн кожній. При цьому відтісняються традиційні постачальники палива цієї енергоструктур, в тому числі і ДТЕК Ріната Ахметова. Звідки у того ж Ахметова взявся такий потужний конкурент, який за рік з маловідомої фірмочки перетворився на найбільшого учасника всіх держзамовлень і тендерів у вугільному секторі, «переварюючи» мільярдні суми, пояснюється просто. Серед її засновників компанія, пов'язана з засновниками фірм, яке свого часу займалися відведенням земельних ділянок під «Межигір'я». Вона ж близька до Олександра Януковичу.

Нагадаємо, на початку літа поточного року ДРФЦ успішно стартувала на тендерній арені, вклинившись в список престижних імен на вугільних торгах, що проводяться Міненергоуглем і Мінфіном, із закупівель для державних підприємств обладнання і матеріалів за бюджетні кошти в основному у приватних компаній. Як повідомляє «Вісник державних закупівель», ДП «Селідоввугілля» за результатами тендеру 1 червня підписав з ДРФЦ договір на послуги зі збагачення 2 млн. тонн вугілля на суму 79,60 млн. грн. Ще у вересні минулого року Антимонопольний комітет обурювався, що ця компанія з моменту створення не здійснювала господарської діяльності, але, тим не менш, планує управляти корпоративними правами великих підприємств і структур вуглепрому, а вже через півроку ДРФЦ отримав підряди на постачання вугілля державі на майже мільярд гривень.

Звідки у фірми, офіційно не займається вуглевидобутком, з'являється вугілля, можна тільки гадати. Багато експертів стверджують, що мова йде про вугілля, що добувається в «копанках». Ще в березні поточного року Президент країни Віктор Янукович дав губернаторам Донецької та Луганської областей доручення «вивчити можливість легалізації тіньової вуглевидобутку», створити спільну робочу групу, висновки якої стануть ключовими для узаконення «копанок». Керувати процесом довірено міністру енергетики та вугільної промисловості Юрію Бойко. А вже в травні при Міненергоугле була створена робоча група, яка «пропрацювала» проект постанови Кабміну про «Деякі питання діяльності малих шахт». Згідно з цим документом, «копанки» повинні реєструватися як малі шахти. Наприкінці вересня Донецька облрада, яким керує екс-менеджер будівельної компанії «МАКО», що належить Олександру Януковичу, Андрій Федорук, затвердив новий порядок надання надр у користування області. Спікер облради відверто зізнався, що даний документ можна розглядати як перший крок до легалізації «копанок» у регіоні.

Про те, хто стане новим господарем перш нелегальної вуглевидобутку тепер уже на цілком законних підставах, сумніватися не доводиться, якщо врахувати вищенаведені факти. Бізнес-інтерес «сім'ї» до «копанок» не випадковий. За експертними оцінками, щорічно в шахтарських дірках видобувається 5-6 мільйонів тонн вугілля. Як не дивно, але основними покупцями продукції з «копанок» стали державні вугледобувні підприємства. Видаючи потім цей більш дешеве вугілля як власний, керівництво шахт може розраховувати на отримання та бюджетних дотацій. У підсумку щорічна тіньова прибуток від подібних операцій може становити близько 15 мільярдів гривень, що в два рази більше, ніж весь держбюджет вуглепрому. Взявши під повний свій контроль весь цей процес, за п'ять років можна стати першим олігархом країни.

Для цього Міненергоуголь вже зробив другий крок. На розгляді в Донецькій облраді знаходиться кілька десятків звернень щодо відведення вугільних ділянок державних шахт приватним фірмам. Причому за вказівкою згори лобіюють даний процес директора самих держпідприємств. Якщо це станеться, то держшахти стануть банальним прикриттям для господарської діяльності тих самих «малих шахт», прописаних у спеціальному урядовій постанові. Як заявив перший заступник голови Донецької облдержадміністрації Сергій Дергунов, якщо шахта належить до малої, то для неї спрощуються умови отримання дозволу на земельну ділянку і правила техніки безпеки. Причому дозвіл на видобуток вугілля повинна видаватися в короткі терміни, до 30 днів. Про те, що облрада задовольнить подібні «звернення», теж сумніватися не доводиться.

Крім того, за підтримки «охоронця сімейного вогнища» народного депутата Юрія Іванющенка Олександр Янукович активно вклинився в боротьбу олігархів за самі державні вугільні активи. Днями в найбільшому ДП «Макіїввугілля» розігрався серйозний скандал. Туди нагрянули силовики, влаштувавши показові маски-шоу. Обласна прокуратура звинуватила керівництво об'єднання в незаконному списанні вугілля. Даний наліт на «Макіїввугілля» «сімейної» структури виглядав досить дивно. Справа в тому, що ключовим партнером держпідприємства з недавніх пір є структура, близька до Іванющенко. Згідно з повідомленням «Вісника державних закупівель», наприкінці жовтня минулого року близька до нардепа фірма «Іолід» укладає з ДП «Макіїввугілля» контракт, за яким приватна компанія зобов'язалася поставити державних вуглевидобувних об'єднанню 1,2 млн. т. вугілля, отримавши за це 865 , 2 млн. грн. Тобто керівництво «Макіїввугілля» було лояльно до «сім'ї», а тут - «маски - шоу». Однак, як розповів порталу «Донецьк. Коментарі »джерело в Міненерго,« стратегічні партнери »вирішили приструнити гендиректора« Макіїввугілля »Станіслава Толчина, який відмовився віддати під контроль служби безпеки впливової« даху »свої госвладенія. Місцеві вугільні профспілки, захищаючи свого «генерала», навіть пригрозили владі акціями протесту. Але їм швидко пояснили, хто відтепер є господарем в «Макіїввугіллі». Опальний ж Толчин відразу відправився «у відпустку» за кордон.

Як вдалося з'ясувати, збиралися силовики влаштовувати маски-шоу і на найбільшій держшахт «Краснолиманській», що опинилася в ході майбутньої приватизації «спірною територією» для бізнес-структур Юрія Іванющенка та Ріната Ахметова, а також на ПАТ «Шахтоуправління« Покровське »(екс-шахта «Красноармійська-Західна № 1»), що є власністю Віктора Нусенкіса. Але, схоже, конфліктні питання вдалося вирішити мирним шляхом. Хоча впливовим вугільним конкурентам красномовно продемонстрували, що тим тепер доведеться рахуватися і з бізнес-інтересами «сім'ї».

Олександр Міщенко

За матеріалами: donetsk.comments.ua

Теги: Ринат Ахметов, Олександр Янукович, ДРФЦ, Донбасенерго, Макіїввугілля, конфлікт, Копанки, вуглевидобуток, Віктор Нусенкіс, шахта

 

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Briefing Paper on How KOPANKAS work, published last week......UKRAINIAN KOPANKA –THE BUSINESS SIDE or the “Smoking Gun” against the Yanukowych Regime

UKRAINIAN KOPANKAS –THE BUSINESS SIDE or the “Smoking Gun” against the Yanukowych Regime

Coal industry experts in Ukraine tell us that the production of the “kopanka coal” is officially banned in Ukraine. Accordingly, there are no official figures or data in the public domain, that allow to us to trace a piece of coal from an illegal kopanka to the furnaces of Akhmetov's power plant or metallurgy giant, or to the exports shipment of Ivanushchenko's COAL-2000 trader. Nevertheless, a reasonable case may be formulated for the use of illegal kopanka revenues by the family of president Victor Yanukowych, thus further strengthening the business case for sanctions against Victor Yanukowych, his son Alexander, Energy Minister Boyko and PM Azarov.

(for a backgrounder see this short ILO video on child labor in mining in Ukraine dating back from 2005 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz_RREduic8&feature=share ). N.B. unbelievably, a government working commission was set up earlier this year in Donbas, to explore ways of legalizing kopanka’s instead of eliminating them.

The business model that kopanka coal pits employ is simple. The illegally-produced coal using child labour. is delivered to the local trading site –or coal bazaar (usually by the truckloads), where it is bought, usually for cash, hand-to-hand by the representatives of conditioning and refinement factories. No paper trail. Afterwards, this illegal coal undergoes conditioning and refinement, where it becomes fully “legal” and a standardized product of these factories, which is then sold for metallurgy, power generation, or is exported. The profitability of kopanka operations was estimated by the ”Segodnya” newspaper^[1] as US$125,000 per month per mine, a “backyard cottage” industry that produces 100 tons of coal per day. The subset of such a business model is the cradle to grave operation when the official state owned coal mines are buying this illegal coal at the local coal “bazaar”, and submitting it for processing to either of conditioning factories, as their own production. In this case, they also receive certain government subsidies for the coal that they have “produced”, while their actual production costs are much lower (they don't need to deal with workplace safety, methane detection, mineshaft reinforcements, other traditional safety measures, worker compensation etc.). The key element in this business model is using cash to buy coal, and transactions that involve business accounts of coal conditioning factories, and cash paid hand-to-hand to the miners that work at kopanka pits, including children. This requires the engagement of so called “conversion centers”, which provide such a services, that are, essentially, money laundering transaction operations.

The main business vehicle of Victor Yanukovych's older son Alexander is DONBASS FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS CENTER («Донбасский расчетно-финансовый центр», DFTC). The core business of DFTC is the legalization of cash money transactions, and cashing out the money from the business accounts; in reality, this is a large “conversion center” operation. These operations are illegal, but are a “necessary evil” for the Ukrainian economy, which operates 40-50% “in the shadows”. According to the press, during 2010, DFTC had concentrated control over the following coal refinement and conditioning factories: DONETSS-UGLEPERERABOTKA (ООО «Донбасс-углепереработка»), KALININSKAYA, UZLOVAYA, DONBASS REFINERY COMBINATE, and VOSTOKUGLEMASH. The combination of the transaction capabilities of DFTC along with control over the several coal conditioning factories creates an ideal system for handling the kopanka production, and creates “clean” image for this coal, that is further used by legitimate business ventures of Akhmetov and/or Ivanuschenko. DFTC had already received serious contracts for delivery of US$65mln worth of coal for State-owned Donbass-Energo company (power generation), while there are no data in any registers about signing the contracts between DFTC and registered mines. This means that kopanka coal will likely be used.

Interestingly, DONBASS REFINERY COMBINATE already offers coal at the prices far below market value, according to their advertisements. Laundering of this shadow economy money is at the center of its operations.

 

[1] http://www.segodnya.ua/news/14266848.html

 

When will the Recession End? Part 266 Russia Collapse Scenarios 2014

Russia Collapse Scenarios 2014

http://www.neva24.ru/a/2011/11/08/Deljagin_Deljagin/

Russian expert predicts death for Russia in 2014
Publication time: 11 November 2011, 12:01

Economist and political scientist Mikhail Delyagin, director of Moscow Institute of Globalization, said in an interview with a Russian news agency, Neva-24, when, in his view, Russia will be destroyed:

"Definitely not in 2012. Social tensions will start to rise in the fall of 2012, but they will not cause the change of power yet. The most likely date is 2014 or later. This state has a very large margin. The problem of authorities is that many people in Russia believe that the essence of the state is their personal enrichment. This is a difficult diagnosis. A deadly one".

 

When will the Recession End ? Part 265 Helsinki Conference: Russia is doomed. Russian Bear will be eaten by Chinese Dragon

Helsinki Conference: ''Russia is doomed. Russian Bear will be eaten by Chinese Dragon''
13 November 2011,

KEY QUOTE: [Russia].. is doomed to be a declining great power".

The main ideas of the opening speech by Finland's Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Erkki Tuomioja at International Aleksanteri Conference in Helsinki (November 9-11) have been published on the Internet.

In his speech, entitled "The Dragon and the Bear: Strategic Choices of China and Russia", the Finnish Minister, in particular said:

"Over the past two decades, Russia and China have both experienced extensive socio-economic and political transformation, as well as foreign policy reorientation.

Within the framework of "transition studies", these developments have naturally been a rather popular subject of academic study and applied research. However, only a few scholars have studied the post-Cold War developments in Russia and China in comparative perspective.

The 11th Aleksanteri Conference compares Russia´s and China´s transformation from three interrelated perspectives: socio-economic system, political system, and international system. The outcomes of the Chinese and Russian reforms differ considerably.

From a social and economic impact perspective, the "Chinese way" has undoubtedly been a great success. For almost three decades now, the averaged annual growth rates of the Chinese GDP and industrial added value have been about 10%, far higher than the world average.

Over the same period, the annual net income per capita, calculated at comparable prices, has increased more than five times both in urban and rural areas.

In sharp contrast, Russia's economic development after the collapse of the Soviet Union was characterised by a sudden decrease of GDP and industrial output, followed by major problems throughout the 1990s, leading to the crash in 1998. This development naturally resulted in major negative social consequences.

The thesis that the economic development of large countries can produce major power shifts in international politics is widespread and generally accepted. There are many speculations that suggest that China, after it has become the most important regional economic and military power in East Asia, will ultimately become the strongest great power in the world.

By contrast, much of the literature on Russia points out that the country with its rather modest economic power (despite its energy resources) is doomed to be a declining great power".

When will the Recession End? Part 264 Russia in big trouble with sinking commodity prices, on the road to bankrupcy.

Why is Ukraine getting closer to Russia? A sinking ship.

Top Banker Believes No Second Wave Of Crisis In Russia, [ BUT.....?]

KEY QUOTE: [BUT......The macroeconomic situation in Russia can get worse if commodity prices fall, he said. "Falling prices on raw materials, metals, oil, and chemical fertilizers will be bad for us. If the prices fall, we will find ourselves in a much deeper crisis," the head of Sberbank said.]

N.B......all these commodity prices continue to fall, just like in the 1989 financial crisis before the collapse of the Soviet Union, USSR in 1991. Remember 2 years ago now, ex-Russian finance minister A. Kudrin said Russia needs oil to stay at well above $100 per barrel for Russia to stay solvent, otherwise it's well on the road to bankrupcy--this will makes EU zone financial troubles look like loose change....Oil no where close to $100...Walter Derzko

Interfax
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Text of report by corporate-owned Russian news agency Interfax

Moscow, 12 November: The head of Sberbank (Savings Bank) and former economic development minister, German Gref, believes that inflation in Russia will not go beyond 7 per cent in 2011. Gref does not think that inflation will accelerate in the first half of next year.

"So far we do not see any reason for high inflation early next year," Gref said. "It is difficult to say how the situation will develop in the second half of the year," he said.

He also said that so far he did not see an immediate threat of a second wave of crisis in Russia. "I would not scare people with a second wave of crisis. I think that if oil prices do not fall much, we will maintain the current growth rates, which are not very high for Russia, 3 to 4 per cent," Gref said.

The macroeconomic situation in Russia can get worse if commodity prices fall, he said. "Falling prices on raw materials, metals, oil, and chemical fertilizers will be bad for us. If the prices fall, we will find ourselves in a much deeper crisis," the head of Sberbank said.

"Now we have every reason to maintain stability going through this time period," he added. However, Gref said that "for next year's budget any fall in oil prices below 110 dollars will be critical". "And we think for ourselves that the price below 70 dollars a barrel makes it difficult to resolve current problems," he said.

UPDATE:

World Financial Crisis Under Way, Economic Crisis Likely to Follow - Kudrin (Part 2)
Interfax
Saturday, November 12, 2011

 

(Part 2)

MOSCOW. Nov 12 (Interfax) - A financial crisis in the world is under way, and it is quite likely that a recession will follow, said former Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin.
"Considering that the safety fuse has already been ignited and is burning, we are entering a crisis. We already have a financial crisis, and an economic crisis is likely to follow. It is so far difficult to understand its scope and depth," Kudrin said at a Sberbank business breakfast in Moscow on Saturday.
Russia is prepared for a crisis better than most economically developed countries, Kudrin said. "A state debt of only 12% of GDP and considerable gold and foreign currency reserves provide a good margin of safety," Kudrin said.
"However, we should understand that the challenges are about the same for us (as for the EU countries and the U.S.)," Kudrin said, adding that it would be unreasonable to expect high oil prices within the next 3, 5 or even 10 years.
The EU problems cannot be solved fully, Kudrin said. "Unfortunately, we have already lost the battle for Greece, and we are now in the process of battling for other, larger Eurozone economies," he said.
This phase will cost two to three billion euros, Kudrin said.
"The world has a chance to settle the crisis, but it is very slim. The crisis is likely to spread over other parts of the world and the U.S. We will be balancing on very low growth on the brink of another recession," Kudrin said.

 

How to prevent or slow down age-related disorders

How to prevent or slow down age-related disorders

November 3, 2011

 

Eliminating “deadbeat” cells that accumulate with age could prevent or delay the onset of age-related disorders and disabilities, Mayo Clinic researchers have shown.

The researchers genetically engineered mice so their senescent cells harbored a molecule called caspase 8 that was only turned on in the presence of a drug with no effect on normal cells. When the transgenic mice were exposed to this drug, caspase 8 was activated and killed the senescent cells.

The researchers found that lifelong elimination of senescent cells delayed the onset of age-related disorders such as cataracts and muscle loss and weakness, and that removing these cells later in life could slow the progression of already established age-related disorders.

Ref.: Darren J. Baker et al., Clearance of p16^Ink4a-positive senescent cells delays ageing-associated disorders, Nature (2011) [DOI: 10.1038/nature10600]