Argentina's Loyal No. 2 to Stand In for Kirchner

President Cristina Kirchner's emergency surgery for thyroid cancer puts a spotlight on her vice president, Amado Boudou, a guitar-playing former economy minister who will run the country for at least three weeks in January during her hospitalization and convalescence.

In the campaign leading up to Mrs. Kirchner's landslide October re-election, the telegenic Mr. Boudou's penchant for partying with rock stars and other celebrities often overshadowed his policy ideas.

But analysts say the leftist Mrs. Kirchner brought Mr. Boudou onto the ticket precisely because he lacked the political heft within the ruling Peronist party to emerge as a potential rival to her. Now that Mrs. Kirchner will be forced to retreat from the political stage for at least a few weeks after surgery next Wednesday, she is probably relieved to have chosen Mr. Boudou, analysts say.

Earlier this year, after she announced her plans to run for a second term, Mrs. Kirchner said the main reason she picked Mr. Boudou as her running mate, over some powerful Peronist governors, was his "loyalty."

Most medical experts consider the 58-year-old Mrs. Kirchner's prognosis to be good, and investors and politicians seemed to be calmly assimilating the announcement of the president's illness late Tuesday.

A vibrant-looking Mrs. Kirchner appeared Wednesday at an event with provincial governors and joked with Mr. Boudou, 48, about the responsibilities he was about to assume.

"Look at how important it is that the vice president thinks the same way as the person who has been chosen to guide the destiny of the country," she said. Then, amid laughter from the audience, Mrs. Kirchner looked toward Mr. Boudou and added: "Watch what you do!"

Mrs. Kirchner also made allusion during her remarks to the disastrous falling out she had with her vice president, Julio Cobos, during her first term.Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, In July 2008, amid a bitterly polarizing Congressional debate over a proposal by Mrs. Kirchner to increase the grain export tax, Mr. Cobos was put in the position of casting the tie-breaking vote in his role as president of the Senate.

Mr.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, Cobos,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , who came from an agrarian district, broke with Mrs. Kirchner and voted no, dealing the government a humiliating defeat. For the next three years of Mrs. Kirchner's presidency, Mr. Cobos was ostracized by Mrs. Kirchner and her allies.

Today, by contrast, having Mr. Boudou in place "allows Cristina to recover without any worry about scheming by the VP to usurp power or otherwise take advantage of the situation," said Rice University political scientist Mark Jones.Muyoung mould specializes in manufacture Plastic molding, "Were the current vice president not a diehard Cristina loyalist, I suspect a host of topics,This page contains information about molds, ranging from succession to potential attempts to take temporary control, would be causing great consternation for Cristina and her inner circle."

Mr. Boudou is generally liked by investors, who consider him one of the more philosophically market-friendly members of the Kirchner government. When Mr. Boudou took over as economy minister in July 2009, he set out priorities that many investors agreed with, including trying to restore credibility to Argentina's tainted inflation statistics and paying off Argentina's approximately $7 billion debt to the Paris Club of wealthy nations.

Nevertheless, Mr. Boudou never got far in achieving those aims due to resistance from more-populist members of the Kirchner inner circle, including Mrs. Kirchner's late husband and predecessor Nestor, who died of a heart attack in October 2010. But markets gave Mr. Boudou credit for having the right idea.

In Argentina, Mr. Boudou and his girlfriend, Agustina Kampfer, a television journalist, get paparazzi treatment from the media, which consider them one of the country's most glamorous couples. Mr. Boudou is known for tooling around on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and for collecting electric guitars.

Mr. Boudou's fun-loving ways have sometimes raised eyebrows in government circles, and Mrs. Kirchner hasn't hesitated to keep her No. 2 in his place. During a recent political event, Mrs. Kirchner wryly referred to Mr. Boudou as a "rich kid from Puerto Madero," an elegant part of the capital.

According to Argentine political columnists, Mrs. Kirchner's son, Maximo, one of her key political advisers, and some of the more ideological leftists in the government are still distrustful of Mr. Boudou. In part, that is because Mr. Boudou was educated and later taught at the Argentine Center for Macroeconomic Studies, a university identified with free-market thinking.

Mr. Boudou, however, proved his bona fides to many on the Argentine left in 2008 when he was serving as head of the state pension system and backed Mrs. Kirchner's initiative to nationalize a parallel system of private pensions. Later, as finance minister, Mr. Boudou helped craft a controversial 2009 plan to use several billion dollars in central-bank reserves to pay debt.

The government didn't anticipate the stiff resistance the proposal sparked from Congress and then-Central Bank President Martin Redrado, whom Mrs. Kirchner eventually ousted. Mr. Redrado subsequently wrote that Mr. Boudou "is probably the minister with the least technical quality that I've known, but with a great capacity for communication."

Circuit breakers

A group of DIY gizmo and robot inventors seek to rewire their futures. Wang Kaihao reports.

The 20-square-meter room is on the second floor of an unassuming building called Fuhao Xiezilou, which literally means, "Office of the Superrich", in Beijing's Xuanwumen area. But the people inside don't look rich, and the messy space doesn't look like a typical office. It's heaped with circuit boards, silicon chips and various electronic components that appear bizarre to laypeople.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen,

This is "Beijing Makerspace", where a group of developers tinker with electronic components to create everything from gizmos to robots as hobbies and careers.

Xiao Wenpeng quit his four-year stint as an IT company programmer in 2005 to start his own business, producing handmade digital devices and developing new silicon chips.

But he found the undertaking tricky to tackle alone.

"I want to meet different people with the same interest in DIY electronics," the 33-year-old says.

"We can make more dreams come true by joining forces."

That's why he opened the Makerspace in 2010. More than 20 young people gather there weekly to exchange ideas and plans to translate their blueprints into electronics.

Website employee Chen Wu says he was inspired after learning about Makerspace through its micro blog.

"It's great to communicate with so many people with the same passion and eagerness for creation," the 32-year-old Beijing resident says.

"I really envied the tech-savvy guys in university,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, because they would always be invited to the women's dorms to fix computers. That was one of my initial motives to do something cool."

But a lack of materials, DIY experience and time off work suffocate much of Chen's inventive productivity.

However, he uses what spare time he has to read about robots. And in 2008, the man who calls himself "Dynamic Old Boy" online created a miniature robot out of Lego that can solve any Rubik's cube within six minutes.

"When I actually started working on the robot, I found it's not as difficult as I'd expected," Chen says.

"It's just like building with blocks but with electronics."

Chen still shows off his first DIY robot, even though it's not as fast at solving the Rubik's cube as the record holder, which can finish the puzzle in 5.35 seconds. Chen's robot is a personal milestone for the self-described "geek".

As a geek,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, he says he watches many movies, from which he often takes ideas.

He took inspiration from the film Inception, which gave him the idea of using magnetic levitation theory to create a gyroscope.

After watching the Bollywood movie 3 Idiots, he tried to replicate the quadrocopter - an aircraft powered and steered by four propellers - featured in the film. But the process has been anything but smooth.

"The most difficult thing is to keep the aircraft's balance," he says.

"I'm seeking others' advice at Makerspace."

While toy quadrocpoters can be purchased for 1,700 yuan ($269), Chen believes it's much more meaningful to hand-make one, especially as a gift for his 18-month-old daughter. He believes he can finish it by Spring Festival.

"My greatest wish is to make a 1-meter-tall robot to play with her," he says.

While Chen treats robotics as a hobby, Renmin Univeristy graduate Wang Shenglin treats it as a career.

The 23-year-old finance major didn't search for a job after graduation but rather decided to work full time developing devices at Makerspace.

The Shanghai native has created a 1-meter-multi-touch table that resembles a gargantuan iPad.

"I first saw a multi-touch table made by Microsoft on TV in 2008, but it costs more than $20,000. So, I made my own. We create some interesting devices,An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high ," Wang adds, pointing to a remote control.

"I could take this to the store and change the TV channels. But I don't want to be a troublemaker. We make stuff like the guys in the The Big Bang Theory," he explains, referring to the hit US sitcom about a group of hyperactively intelligent but socially laggard friends.

"But I'm not a nerd like them."

Wang's past does suggest a relatively hip lifestyle.

He played on the school's tennis and cricket teams. And he flirted with advertising and even tried his hand at fashion design.

"If I don't try something new and exciting when I'm young, when will I?" he says.

"I ultimately find myself most interested in DIY electronics. My parents completely support me, even though I'm far from home."

But Makerspace faces financial challenges. It must pay a 3,000 yuan ($474) monthly room rental and hundreds of yuan more for materials. Testing equipment is also a big expense.

While their inventions may attract popular attention - the multi-touch table was spotlighted at this year's Beijing Design Week - most have yet to capture market demand.

But hope might come from the 3D printer Zhang Ming quit his bank job to invent. The device has aroused investor interest.

The printer lays down successive layers - usually of plastic or metal - to create 3D objects. It's widely sought after in the design industry, because it saves bundles on mockups.

Xiao's team initially believed it was merely a tool for rendering models of the electronics they develop. But the team discovered huge market potential for the device, as imported 3D printers cost 300,000 yuan ($47,400), but Zhang's retails for less than 10,000 yuan.

Zhang says the printer will be ready for the market next spring.

"We can't always stay in the lab," Xiao says.

"This project might turn things around."

And Makerspace's inventors and developers believe the 3D printer might be just the start.

The team hosts DIY salons and a book club to brainstorm about the latest technology and its potential. It also plans to organize a carnival next April to encourage more people to try DIY electronics.

Their hope is that those who work in the "Office of the Superrich" might actually live up to their workplace's name.Information on useful yeasts and moulds,

"The first thing we'll do if we get enough investment," Xiao says, "is move into a bigger office."

Critical Reading for Rare Earth Metals Investors

A quick search of media stories from the month of December, 2009 shows 24 clips including references to the 15 lanthanides and their related elements scandium and yttrium. By contrast, one day in December, 2011 produced 56 stories on the same resources. Even the tone of REE coverage has transformed over the years. Two years ago, an analyst piece from veteran metals consultant Jack Lifton titled “Underpriced Rare Earth Metals from China Have Created a Supply Crisis ” was a common headline as the world discovered that cheap supplies had left manufacturers vulnerable to a monopoly with an agenda. That supply fear made REE the investment de jour and sent almost all of the rare earth prices through the roof. In December of 2010, the headlines in big outlets like The Motley Fool announced that the “Spot Price of Rare Earth Elements Soar as much as 750% since Jan. 2010.”

Reality soon set in as investors realized that this was not a simple supply and demand industry. First, demand was still vague, subject to change and very specific about the type and purity of the product being delivered. Second, the ramp-up period for companies exploring, getting approval for development, mining, processing efficiently and delivering to an end-user was very, very long. Some became discouraged. That is why this year, the consumer finance site, The Daily Markets ran an article with the headline: “Why You Shouldn’t Give Up on the Rare Earth Element Minerals” by Gold Stock Trades Newsletter Writer Jeb Handwerger.

Through it all, Streetwise Reports has focused on cutting through the hype to explain what is really driving demand, how the economy and geopolitics shape supplies going forward and which few of the hundreds of companies adding REE to their company descriptions actually had a chance of making a profit.

Back in June of 2009, in an interview titled “The Race to Rare Earths,” we ran an interview with Kaiser Research Online Editor John Kaiser that concluded “China’s export-based economy, once dependent on American greed, is now but a fading memory. While the U.S. was busy printing and preening, the Chinese were long-range planning. But America wasn’t the only country caught off guard by China’s strategic, if surreptitious, supply procurement.” Even while other analysts were panicking, Kaiser was pointing out how investors could be part of the solution–and make a profit in the process.

“For the juniors, the opportunity right now is to source these projects.An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high , They get title to them, and when these end users want to develop them, they’re going to have to pay a premium to have these projects developed,” Kaiser said. “So it will not be economic logic that results in these companies getting bought out and having their deposits developed. It’ll be a strategic logic linked to long-term security-of-supply and redundancy concerns. And we’re seeing that sort of psychology at work in this market.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, It’s a bit of a niche in this market. Not as big as gold, but it is an interesting one because of the long-term real economy link implications.”

After years of covering the space by interviewing the growing chorus of analysts and newsletter writers singing the praises of rare earth elements, in June of 2011, we launched The Critical Metals Report to give exclusive coverage to the entire space,Information on useful yeasts and moulds, including rare earth elements, strategic metals and specialty metals. One of the first experts interviewed was Emerging Trends Report Managing Editor Richard Karn in an article called “50 Specialty Metals under Supply Threat.” He warned that investing in the space is not as simple as some other mining operations. “The market is just starting to become aware of the difficulty involved with processing these metals, which, in many cases, more closely resemble sophisticated industrial chemistry than traditional onsite brute processing. Putting flow sheets together that process these metals and elements economically is no mean feat.”

In this early article, Karn busted the myth that manufacturers would find substitutions, engineer out or use recycled supplies for hard-to-access materials. “The advances we have seen especially in consumer electronics over the last decade and a half have not been driven by lone inventors or college kids tinkering in their parents’ garages, but rather by very large, well-equipped and well-staffed research arms of powerful corporations.Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, The stakes are high and if a certain metal is critical in an application, they will buy it regardless of the price,” he said.

An evolution in guidelines for research on chimps

Chimps are about 96 percent genetically identical to humans, and like us they are self-aware enough to recognize themselves in a mirror.

But physically, we show some remarkable differences. They don't get the same kind of heart disease humans get. They develop some of the brain abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's disease, but not others. And despite being more sexually promiscuous than humans, they don't get the same sexually transmitted diseases.

They heal better than we do and don't get sleep apnea, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, or acne. They aren't vulnerable to cancers of the breast, lung, stomach, pancreas, colon, ovaries, or prostate.

Physician-scientist Ajit Varki says these differences can be as informative as the similarities. With new restrictions expected soon on the use of chimpanzees in research, he and other scientists spoke about some types of research not mentioned in a new report, which they hope will continue or even increase.

The changes are expected to follow an Institute of Medicine report, released earlier this month, that stressed that biomedical research should be necessary, behavioral studies should be noninvasive, and animals should be housed and cared for appropriately. It was hailed as a positive step by animal-welfare advocates, such as the American Anti-Vivisection Society in Jenkintown. (According to the society's Sue Leary, there are currently no research chimpanzees in Philadelphia.)

The report said that most current research on chimpanzees is unnecessary. In response, the National Institutes of Health has called for a moratorium on new grants for chimp research until the agency can implement IOM's recommendations. But the new guidelines are not specific enough for scientists to predict which research projects will get the ax.

Some types of research should actually increase, said Varki, including studies that monitor the health of chimpanzees in research centers and sanctuaries. These, he said, can be conducted as part of the chimps' health care and can potentially benefit chimps, since they suffer their own unique set of health problems.An offshore merchant account is the ideal solution for high ,

His bottom line is that scientists shouldn't do anything to a chimp they wouldn't be able to do ethically to a human. Researchers, he said, should consider invasiveness as well as any potential benefit to the chimps. Those criteria were not mentioned with regard to biomedical studies.

Varki said there is also a great deal we can learn through autopsy, and yet many sanctuary-housed chimps are incinerated when they die. Sanctuaries are not funded for autopsies or providing samples taken during routine medical care. "It's a lost opportunity to learn about them and us," he said.

Our opportunity to study chimps is also winding down. They are no longer imported for government-funded research. Research chimps are not bred in captivity, and, according to one estimate, will die out by 2037. Chimps in the wild are endangered, and may disappear as well.

Until that time,Information on useful yeasts and moulds, there is much that can be learned about ourselves from studying chimp behavior, said Emory University psychobiologist William Hopkins. Our evolutionary cousins are helping us understand the nature of our own language, culture, self-awareness,Online fine art gallery of quality original landscape oil paintings, and social relationships. Studying chimps is helping us understand what makes us human.

"They exhibit abilities that other animals don't, so they occupy this unique niche in terms of information about how the brain works and how cognition evolved," Hopkins said.

He also sees no ethical problems with the behavioral work he is involved in at Yerkes National Primate Center, near Atlanta. Some of the studies involve brain scanning, but chimps can't sit still in a scanner without sedation. While darts are sometimes used to anesthetize dangerous animals, Hopkins said workers at Yerkes have trained chimps to accept getting a shot. That limits stress, which improves the accuracy of the scanning.

He is now investigating a form of nonverbal communication called joint attention, which happens when an individual looks at something and others follow his gaze. About 75 percent of chimps do this readily and the remaining 25 percent do not, he said. Genetic studies show those failing to follow another's gaze tend to have an altered form of a gene that codes for a hormone called vasopressin, implicated in bonding and social behaviors.

He also has found that chimps have varied and complex personalities. Some are more extroverted than others, some are more conscientious, and some are more neurotic, said Hopkins. "There are Woody Allens of the chimp world,Our company focus on manufacturing Plastic mould ," he said.

He said he believed that the new guidelines might have little effect on behavioral research, and that they were more likely to restrict invasive biomedical studies.

Whether such studies will continue may hinge more on the potential benefit to human health. The IOM panelists were divided over the use of chimps to study Hepatitis C vaccines. The disease kills people, and chimp research may advance the search for a vaccine. But the process - infecting healthy chimps and subjecting them to liver biopsies - is not something any scientist would do to humans.

Regardless of how NIH decides to go on this, there's an unmistakable trend away from invasive research. "Seventy years ago chimps were sent off into space, given lethal doses of radiation, or infected with leprosy or TB," Varki said. "That kind of thing is fading away."

Some of this change comes from our understanding of evolution. "Chimpanzees are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom," said NIH Director Francis Collins.Wholesaler of different types of Ceramic tile for your kitchen, The connection between evolution and animal rights was an underlying theme in the film Planet of the Apes, in which two chimp scientists became enlightened about human rights as they recognized an evolutionary relationship between themselves and human beings. Now we seem to be moving in the same direction.

Emergency rooms see too many outpatients

The hospital in Ajman, one of the busiest in the country, receives 450 to 500 emergency cases per day, said Dr Abdul Karim Halimi, the emergency department director. He attributed the high number to the facility's proximity to industrial areas and one of the two motorways linking Umm Al Qaiwain and Ras Al Khaimah.

"Most of our emergency cases are for traffic accidents and construction site-related accidents," he said. "Unfortunately, there are also a number of cases that are not very serious and could be treated in our outpatient clinics but end up in the emergency department."

He said the hospital commissioned a study on the congestion in the emergency department. The study found most people preferred the department, even those with simple ailments, which increased pressure on emergency staff.

"Doctors spent a lot of time examining some of these patients before deciding to transfer them to outpatient clinics," he said. "This is precious time spent on someone not in a life-threatening situation, yet there could be one in that situation waiting."

He appealed to patients to go to the outpatient clinic straightaway for minor issues.

Hospital emergency departments being flooded with non-emergency cases is a problem nationwide,The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, said Dr Yousef Altair, the head of the accident and emergency department at Saqr Hospital in Ras Al Khaimah.

A study by the hospital in 2010 showed that 73 per cent of patients admitted to the department had only minor ailments.

"They come in for anything, even a common cold. The real emergency Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising,cases are few,I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.This page contains information about molds," he said.

Although there are enough family physicians in the emirate, patients do not want to wait until business hours to see a doctor, he said.

"Some [clinics] are not open 24 hours. Hospitals are open 24 hours," he said.

Some people even visit the emergency room at Mafraq Hospital in Abu Dhabi to get prescriptions renewed, said Dr Jihad Awad, the head of the emergency department.

Other non-severe cases, which account for 10 to 15 per cent of the 300 patients admitted daily, include sore throats,The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services, body pain, nausea and chronic pain.

People also visit the hospital for check-ups, he said.

Everyone from the government to the physicians who treat minor cases in emergency departments must educate the public, Dr Awad said.

"They have to inform the patient about the cases they should be worried about and the cases they should just follow up with their family doctor," he said.

Dr Omar Al Jabri, the medical director of the Ambulatory Healthcare Services Company (AHS), said people also must be educated on what is a serious ailment.

"Their first choice will be emergency partly because they think they have something serious, most of the time," Dr Al Jabri said. "Part of it is individual education."

Ehab Ahmed, a 30-year-old Egyptian, said he brought his 2-year-old son to the Sheikh Khalifa emergency department with a fever.

He said most patients prefer the emergency department because the staff there were quick to attend to patients. He also said there was nowhere else to go when the outpatient clinic was closed.

Dr Halimi said the outpatient clinic at the Sheikh Kalifah Hospital operated from 8am to 11pm.

He said the emergency department was there to deal with cases that required immediate intervention, such as traffic and construction accidents, burns, heart attacks and epileptic seizures.

From Stuffed Animals to String Sections: The Art of Collaboration

There is hardly a morning that I’m not bombarded with piercing screams from either my three-year-old son or his younger brother as the two wrestle over stuffed animals, remote controls, cell phones and other assorted household debris. It drives me nuts, but it fascinates me as well.

It seems to me there’s some innate desire for individuals to “own” their lives. Most of us are control freaks in one way, shape or form—from babies to bosses, even to bandleaders. What’s ironic is that most of the greatest human accomplishments, including the domestication of livestock, the Great Wall of China, spaceships—and of course music—are all the result of successful collaborations. It’s a lesson that has taken me a long time to learn. And I’m still not sure I have it down.This page contains information about molds,

As I look back at the spectrum of rock greats and even my own little corner of rock history, it’s hard not to point to collaboration as a catalyst for success. McCartney and Lennon, Garcia and Hunter, Simon and Garfunkel, even Hall and Oates! Many times, when a collaboration comes to the end of its natural life, the individual contributors are unable to attain the same richness in their art. It’s the absence of their “yang” that gets ‘em in the end.

Having said that, there are plenty of examples where musicians go beyond their own constructs to find new direction and inspiration in the heart of new partnerships. Paul Simon collaborated with [nearly] half of Africa and it worked! Garcia had a string of successful projects beyond the Grateful Dead. Aerosmith, Madonna, Béla Fleck, Philip Glass, David Byrne—great collaborators!

It’s the ability of these artists to divorce themselves from their own self-created molds and to adopt new musical genetics that has propelled their success. This insight has increasingly informed my approach to making music and also helped define the vision for Assembly of Dust’s latest record— Some Assembly Required.

My bandmates Andy Herrick (drums), John Leccese (bass) and Adam Terrell (guitar) are all accomplished musicians and veteran recording artists. The process of collaboration began, as it always does, with them. We decided to take the notion of collaboration one step further by inviting a guest musician to perform on each song.The EZ Breathe home Ventilation system is maintenance free, We did our best to invite artists that we thought would understand and complement our musical aesthetic. Similarly we did our best to pair artists with songs that seemed to fit their musical style—to place them in a petri dish that was hospitable. The truth was, even with all of the prep, late-night coaching and the regular prodding, there was no way of knowing what we would get back.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.The Transaction Group offers the best high risk merchant account services,

This creative chasm was fed by the fact that many of the recordings were done remotely. We uploaded the tracks, the artists’ engineers downloaded the tracks, artists recorded, sent it all back via the Web and then we downloaded to our studio. This virtual recording process brought us from North Carolina to Nashville,Dimensional Mailing magic cube for Promotional Advertising, from Colorado to California and everywhere in between.

One of the most pointed surprises, and arguably one of the most interesting collaborations, was with Martin Sexton. He opted not to sing a verse or sing harmony but rather to add “electric vocals” to a track. The effect is something like a slide guitar—absolutely genius and totally unexpected.

An evolution in guidelines for research on chimps

Chimps are about 96 percent genetically identical to humans, and like us they are self-aware enough to recognize themselves in a mirror.

But physically, we show some remarkable differences. They don't get the same kind of heart disease humans get. They develop some of the brain abnormalities associated with Alzheimer's disease, but not others. And despite being more sexually promiscuous than humans,My advice on what to consider before you buy oil painting supplies so your money is well spent. they don't get the same sexually transmitted diseases.

They heal better than we do and don't get sleep apnea, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, or acne. They aren't vulnerable to cancers of the breast, lung, stomach, pancreas, colon, ovaries, or prostate.

Physician-scientist Ajit Varki says these differences can be as informative as the similarities. With new restrictions expected soon on the use of chimpanzees in research, he and other scientists spoke about some types of research not mentioned in a new report, which they hope will continue or even increase.

The changes are expected to follow an Institute of Medicine report, released earlier this month, that stressed that biomedical research should be necessary, behavioral studies should be noninvasive, and animals should be housed and cared for appropriately. It was hailed as a positive step by animal-welfare advocates, such as the American Anti-Vivisection Society in Jenkintown. (According to the society's Sue Leary,VulcanMold is a plastic molds and Injection mold manufacturer in china. there are currently no research chimpanzees in Philadelphia.)

The report said that most current research on chimpanzees is unnecessary. In response, the National Institutes of Health has called for a moratorium on new grants for chimp research until the agency can implement IOM's recommendations. But the new guidelines are not specific enough for scientists to predict which research projects will get the ax.

Some types of research should actually increase, said Varki,Accept credit cards with a third party merchant account, including studies that monitor the health of chimpanzees in research centers and sanctuaries. These, he said, can be conducted as part of the chimps' health care and can potentially benefit chimps, since they suffer their own unique set of health problems.

His bottom line is that scientists shouldn't do anything to a chimp they wouldn't be able to do ethically to a human. Researchers, he said, should consider invasiveness as well as any potential benefit to the chimps. Those criteria were not mentioned with regard to biomedical studies.

Varki said there is also a great deal we can learn through autopsy, and yet many sanctuary-housed chimps are incinerated when they die. Sanctuaries are not funded for autopsies or providing samples taken during routine medical care. "It's a lost opportunity to learn about them and us," he said.

Our opportunity to study chimps is also winding down. They are no longer imported for government-funded research. Research chimps are not bred in captivity, and, according to one estimate, will die out by 2037. Chimps in the wild are endangered, and may disappear as well.

Until that time, there is much that can be learned about ourselves from studying chimp behavior, said Emory University psychobiologist William Hopkins. Our evolutionary cousins are helping us understand the nature of our own language, culture, self-awareness, and social relationships. Studying chimps is helping us understand what makes us human.

"They exhibit abilities that other animals don't, so they occupy this unique niche in terms of information about how the brain works and how cognition evolved," Hopkins said.

He also sees no ethical problems with the behavioral work he is involved in at Yerkes National Primate Center, near Atlanta. Some of the studies involve brain scanning, but chimps can't sit still in a scanner without sedation. While darts are sometimes used to anesthetize dangerous animals, Hopkins said workers at Yerkes have trained chimps to accept getting a shot.This page contains information about molds, That limits stress, which improves the accuracy of the scanning.

He is now investigating a form of nonverbal communication called joint attention, which happens when an individual looks at something and others follow his gaze. About 75 percent of chimps do this readily and the remaining 25 percent do not, he said. Genetic studies show those failing to follow another's gaze tend to have an altered form of a gene that codes for a hormone called vasopressin, implicated in bonding and social behaviors.

He also has found that chimps have varied and complex personalities. Some are more extroverted than others, some are more conscientious, and some are more neurotic, said Hopkins. "There are Woody Allens of the chimp world," he said.

He said he believed that the new guidelines might have little effect on behavioral research, and that they were more likely to restrict invasive biomedical studies.I have just spent two weeks shopping for tile and have discovered China Porcelain tile.

Whether such studies will continue may hinge more on the potential benefit to human health. The IOM panelists were divided over the use of chimps to study Hepatitis C vaccines. The disease kills people, and chimp research may advance the search for a vaccine. But the process - infecting healthy chimps and subjecting them to liver biopsies - is not something any scientist would do to humans.

Regardless of how NIH decides to go on this, there's an unmistakable trend away from invasive research. "Seventy years ago chimps were sent off into space, given lethal doses of radiation, or infected with leprosy or TB," Varki said. "That kind of thing is fading away."

Some of this change comes from our understanding of evolution. "Chimpanzees are our closest relatives in the animal kingdom," said NIH Director Francis Collins. The connection between evolution and animal rights was an underlying theme in the film Planet of the Apes, in which two chimp scientists became enlightened about human rights as they recognized an evolutionary relationship between themselves and human beings. Now we seem to be moving in the same direction.