A US government report detailing widespread waste and missed opportunities in America?s $60 billion reconstruction effort in Iraq is unlikely to dramatically alter America?s aid policy, say international development experts.
Yesterday the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR) released a report entitled Learning From Iraqthat examined many of the challenges and mistakes that led to the wasting of at least $8 billion, or 13.3 percent of US reconstruction spending in Iraq.
Although the report offered suggestions for improvement, the US continues to fund a number of programs in Afghanistan that bear a strong resemblance to the failed Iraq projects outlined in the report.
RECOMMENDED: How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz.
Ashley Jackson, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute, says that most of the problems highlighted in SIGIR?s final report on Iraq were issues the agency repeatedly warned Congress and Presidents Bush and Obama about.
?This is something they started reporting on years ago and nothing has changed,? she says.
SIGIR?s sister institution, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, has issued regular reports on US spending in Afghanistan, uncovering many of the same wasteful spending patterns. Both organizations? findings have resulted in numerous criminal investigations, but Ms. Jackson says the watchdogs lack the authority to implement aggressive changes that could prevent future waste.
?These agencies are really useful in exposing things, but unless they have the ability to correct them, it?s not going to happen. It?s just going to be another report,? says Jackson, who has worked extensively in Afghanistan.
Providing adequate oversight remained a consistent problem in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where security concerns prevented American monitors from directly supervising the work they funded or making regular site visits.
As the US looks to provide aid to areas such as Pakistan, Yemen, and other strategically important countries, the question of project oversight in dangerous areas remains a consistent problem that many development experts say remains unaddressed. Additionally, the political climate has made it more difficult for policymakers to enact measures that would support more front-line monitoring.
?The 9/11 attack in Benghazi proved that the political atmosphere in Washington DC won?t accept risk. Everything is hyper-politicized,? says James Miller, a Syria analyst and associate editor of EA Worldview. ?Money being wasted is a political liability, but I think that money being wasted is less of a liability than lives being wasted.?
Still, George Ingram, a senior fellow at Brookings Institution, says that it?s problematic to use reconstruction programs for Iraq and Afghanistan as examples for most US assistance programs.
The sheer size of the Iraq and Afghanistan programs, $60 billion and $89 billion respectively, make them anomalous. If anything, he says the two wars may have taught the US that it is often better served by more modest spending that allows for more careful planning and comprehensive oversight.
?You haven?t seen the US rush massive amounts of assistance into the Middle East. I think it?s been a combination of a difficult budget situation, but also a little more humility on the ability of the US to rush in with large amounts of money and create sustainable solutions to the problems there,? says Mr. Ingram.
?You?re already beginning to see the impact of some lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan, of the US being more cautious and moving a little slower until it gets a better fix of what?s going on in the country and how we can be helpful effectively.?
RECOMMENDED: How well do you know Afghanistan? Take our quiz.
Virgin Atlantic has unveiled more details about its forthcoming domestic flights, which are scheduled to launch at the end of this month.
Services will operate under the branding ?Little Red?, with flights from Heathrow to Manchester launching on March 31, followed by Edinburgh on April 5 and Aberdeen on April 9.
Little Red will offer four return daily services to Manchester, six to Edinburgh and three to Aberdeen.
Customers will benefit from 23kg of free checked luggage, pre-assigned seats and free drinks and snacks, including ?hot breakfasts on early morning flights.
Eligible passengers will also be able to use shared lounge services at Aberdeen and Edinburgh (Servisair), and Manchester (Manchester Airport Authority Lounge).
Virgin confirmed plans for the launch of services to Scotland in November last year, when it secured the rights to Heathrow slots released following the purchase of Bmi by BA?s parent company IAG.
Virgin Atlantic?s founder and president Sir Richard Branson said: ?Virgin Atlantic has been on an incredible journey since we started with a single plane 29 years ago. Little Red represents the next step on that journey as we go head to head with British Airways to provide domestic flights that deliver Virgin Atlantic?s rock and roll spirit as well as real value for money.
?The European Commission recognised that a British Airways monopoly would be undeniably bad for consumers and Virgin Atlantic Little Red will stop British Airways dominating routes and driving higher prices.?
Little Red services will operate from Heathrow Terminal 1, so passengers looking to connect to or from Virgin Atlantic?s international flights will need to transfer between there and Terminal 3.
Virgin says Little Red?s schedules will offer ?excellent connections with Virgin Atlantic?s international flights?, and include ?early flights to serve business fliers reaching morning meetings in each city?.
The carrier will operate domestic flights using single-class Airbus A320 aircraft leased from Aer Lingus.
Tumors deliberately create conditions that inhibit body's best immune responsePublic release date: 1-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marianne Slegers marianne.slegers@kcl.ac.uk 44-207-848-3840 King's College London
New research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that tumours in melanoma patients deliberately create conditions that knock out the body's 'premier' immune defence and instead attract a weaker immune response unable to kill off the tumour's cancerous cells.
The study also highlights a potential antibody biomarker that could help predict prognosis and identify which patients are most likely to respond to specific treatments.
The research, led by Dr Sophia Karagiannis and Professor Frank Nestle at King's College London, UK, was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London.
Karagiannis and colleagues have previously shown that, in patients with melanoma, antibodies are produced that can attack tumour cells. Despite this, the patient's immune system is often ineffective in preventing the cancer from progressing.
The body's B cells (part of the immune system) produce a total of 5 different antibody classes. The most common, IgG, comprises 4 types (or subclasses) of which the researchers have shown that IgG1 subclass antibodies are the most effective at activating immune cells, while antibodies of the IgG4 subclass are thought to be the least efficient.
In this new research, the authors analysed tumour tissue and blood donated by 80 patients from the melanoma clinic of St John's Institute of Dermatology at Guy's and St Thomas', as well as tissue and blood from healthy volunteers.
By analysing the lesions found in melanoma, the authors show that melanoma tumours not only create conditions that attract IgG4, the weakest possible response, but also that IgG4 antibodies interfere with the action of any IgG1 antibodies circulating. "We were able to mimic the conditions created by melanoma tumours and showed that B cells can be polarised to produce IgG4 antibodies in the presence of cancer cells," says Dr Karagiannis. In the presence of healthy cells, the body's immune response functions normally, and IgG1 are the main antibodies circulating.
To better understand the functional implications of IgG4 subclass antibodies in cancer, the authors engineered these two antibodies (IgG1, IgG4) against a tumour antigen and demonstrated that unlike IgG1, the IgG4 antibody was ineffective in triggering immune cells to kill cancer cells. Importantly, IgG4 also blocked the tumour cell killing actions of IgG1, thus preventing this antibody from activating immune cells to destroy tumours.
Additionally, using samples from 33 patients, the authors found that patients with higher IgG4 levels in their blood are more likely to have a less favourable prognosis compared to those whose blood levels of IgG4 are closer to normal levels. This suggests that IgG4 may help assist in predicting disease progression.
"This work bears important implications for future therapies since not only are IgG4 antibodies ineffective in activating immune cells to kill tumours but they also work by blocking antibodies from killing tumour cells," says Dr Karagiannis. "The latter means that IgG4 not only prevents the patient's more powerful antibodies from eradicating cancer, but could also explain why treatments may be hindered by those native IgG4 antibodies found in patients, making therapeutic antibodies less effective."
"Now, with the help of our NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, more work needs to be done on developing IgG4 as a potential clinical and prognostic biomarker which can improve patient care by informing clinical decisions and helping to identify patients most likely to respond to treatments," concludes Professor Nestle. Therefore, these findings are expected to inform the design and help improve the potency and efficacy of future therapies for cancer. "This study can also inform the rational design of novel strategies to counteract IgG4 actions."
The authors are now broadening the study by examining larger groups of patients. The team is analysing blood and sera from patients with melanoma and from patients with other cancers to determine whether the presence of IgG4 could inform patient outcomes or predict responses to therapy. They are also analysing the mechanisms of IgG4 blockade of new and existing therapeutic antibody candidates, and developing new antibody candidates which may be less prone to IgG4 blockade.
###
To interview Dr Sophia Karagiannis, please contact Marianne Slegers, King's College London, UK. T) +44 (0)207 848 3840 E) Marianne.slegers@kcl.ac.uk
A copy of the full study is attached to the email in this release.
Notes to editors:
Note to editors: The study additionally benefited from support from Cancer Research UK (CR UK) and CR UK New Agents Committee; and by the CR UK//NIHR Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre.
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 30 universities in the world (2011/12 QS World University Rankings), and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 25,000 students (of whom more than 10,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 6,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a 1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly 450 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Tumors deliberately create conditions that inhibit body's best immune responsePublic release date: 1-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marianne Slegers marianne.slegers@kcl.ac.uk 44-207-848-3840 King's College London
New research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that tumours in melanoma patients deliberately create conditions that knock out the body's 'premier' immune defence and instead attract a weaker immune response unable to kill off the tumour's cancerous cells.
The study also highlights a potential antibody biomarker that could help predict prognosis and identify which patients are most likely to respond to specific treatments.
The research, led by Dr Sophia Karagiannis and Professor Frank Nestle at King's College London, UK, was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and King's College London.
Karagiannis and colleagues have previously shown that, in patients with melanoma, antibodies are produced that can attack tumour cells. Despite this, the patient's immune system is often ineffective in preventing the cancer from progressing.
The body's B cells (part of the immune system) produce a total of 5 different antibody classes. The most common, IgG, comprises 4 types (or subclasses) of which the researchers have shown that IgG1 subclass antibodies are the most effective at activating immune cells, while antibodies of the IgG4 subclass are thought to be the least efficient.
In this new research, the authors analysed tumour tissue and blood donated by 80 patients from the melanoma clinic of St John's Institute of Dermatology at Guy's and St Thomas', as well as tissue and blood from healthy volunteers.
By analysing the lesions found in melanoma, the authors show that melanoma tumours not only create conditions that attract IgG4, the weakest possible response, but also that IgG4 antibodies interfere with the action of any IgG1 antibodies circulating. "We were able to mimic the conditions created by melanoma tumours and showed that B cells can be polarised to produce IgG4 antibodies in the presence of cancer cells," says Dr Karagiannis. In the presence of healthy cells, the body's immune response functions normally, and IgG1 are the main antibodies circulating.
To better understand the functional implications of IgG4 subclass antibodies in cancer, the authors engineered these two antibodies (IgG1, IgG4) against a tumour antigen and demonstrated that unlike IgG1, the IgG4 antibody was ineffective in triggering immune cells to kill cancer cells. Importantly, IgG4 also blocked the tumour cell killing actions of IgG1, thus preventing this antibody from activating immune cells to destroy tumours.
Additionally, using samples from 33 patients, the authors found that patients with higher IgG4 levels in their blood are more likely to have a less favourable prognosis compared to those whose blood levels of IgG4 are closer to normal levels. This suggests that IgG4 may help assist in predicting disease progression.
"This work bears important implications for future therapies since not only are IgG4 antibodies ineffective in activating immune cells to kill tumours but they also work by blocking antibodies from killing tumour cells," says Dr Karagiannis. "The latter means that IgG4 not only prevents the patient's more powerful antibodies from eradicating cancer, but could also explain why treatments may be hindered by those native IgG4 antibodies found in patients, making therapeutic antibodies less effective."
"Now, with the help of our NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, more work needs to be done on developing IgG4 as a potential clinical and prognostic biomarker which can improve patient care by informing clinical decisions and helping to identify patients most likely to respond to treatments," concludes Professor Nestle. Therefore, these findings are expected to inform the design and help improve the potency and efficacy of future therapies for cancer. "This study can also inform the rational design of novel strategies to counteract IgG4 actions."
The authors are now broadening the study by examining larger groups of patients. The team is analysing blood and sera from patients with melanoma and from patients with other cancers to determine whether the presence of IgG4 could inform patient outcomes or predict responses to therapy. They are also analysing the mechanisms of IgG4 blockade of new and existing therapeutic antibody candidates, and developing new antibody candidates which may be less prone to IgG4 blockade.
###
To interview Dr Sophia Karagiannis, please contact Marianne Slegers, King's College London, UK. T) +44 (0)207 848 3840 E) Marianne.slegers@kcl.ac.uk
A copy of the full study is attached to the email in this release.
Notes to editors:
Note to editors: The study additionally benefited from support from Cancer Research UK (CR UK) and CR UK New Agents Committee; and by the CR UK//NIHR Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre.
King's College London
King's College London is one of the top 30 universities in the world (2011/12 QS World University Rankings), and the fourth oldest in England. A research-led university based in the heart of London, King's has more than 25,000 students (of whom more than 10,000 are graduate students) from nearly 140 countries, and some 6,500 employees. King's is in the second phase of a 1 billion redevelopment programme which is transforming its estate.
King's has an outstanding reputation for providing world-class teaching and cutting-edge research. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise for British universities, 23 departments were ranked in the top quartile of British universities; over half of our academic staff work in departments that are in the top 10 per cent in the UK in their field and can thus be classed as world leading. The College is in the top seven UK universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income of nearly 450 million.
King's has a particularly distinguished reputation in the humanities, law, the sciences (including a wide range of health areas such as psychiatry, medicine, nursing and dentistry) and social sciences including international affairs. It has played a major role in many of the advances that have shaped modern life, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA and research that led to the development of radio, television, mobile phones and radar. It is the largest centre for the education of healthcare
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Rockbridge County resident Charles Bodie makes the 15- minute drive to Leyburn library to check his email because his home service is too slow. Photo by Mickey Gorman.
By Mickey Gorman
Rockbridge County?s new fiber optic broadband network will eventually allow residents like Charles Bodie to access high-speed Internet connections from the comfort of their own homes.
Bodie, who lives in Kerrs Creek, said he drives at least 15 minutes to use the Internet at Leyburn Library in Lexington because the connection at his house is so poor.
?We have what is called dial-up, which is by the phone line, and when you use the Internet that way you have a long wait,? Bodie said. ?There is a long delay of 30 minutes or more.
Bodie said he is excited for the arrival of a faster Internet connection, though he may have to wait a little longer.
The newly installed network will be tested in Lexington this week before going live in the city at the end of March. But parts of Rockbridge County will have to wait up to two years before having access to the network?s high-speed communication services.
The Rockbridge Area Network Authority (RANA), a group of leaders from Rockbridge County, Lexington and Buena Vista cities, and Washington and Lee University, formed in 2009 after receiving a federal grant to bring high speed Internet to the county.
RANA?s board of directors is hopeful that ?a major portion? of Lexington will be ready to connect in March, said Dan Grim, the board secretary.
Grim said it was impossible to say exactly how much of Lexington?s fiber optic line will be ready following the tests.
Though early predictions pinned the project?s completion at the end of March, he said, installation setbacks pushed the deadline back.
Only portions of Lexington will have an operating fiber optic system by the end of next month. Fiber network construction should be completed in May, according to the RANA website.
Connecting to Fiber Optic in Lexington
After Lexington?s network is tested this week, ?city residents will have to wait for RANA to strike a deal with an Internet service provider before accessing the fiber optic line.
RANA will physically connect businesses and homes to the fiber optic line through in-ground installations. Private companies will provide the Internet and communication services.
Many of these companies are withholding their bids to provide services until the line is tested and running, said Hunt Riegel, RANA?s Rockbridge County representative.
Riegel said RANA board members feel that they are close to finalizing a deal with one local Internet service provider, Rockbridge Global Village.
?We are basically agreed in principal,? said Dusan Janjic, the President of Rockbridge Global Village. He said the lawyers are still working out the wording of the contract, but should be finished around April.
RANA plans to install as much of the fiber optic network as it can before the project?s $7 million federal stimulus grant runs out in July.
Plans for northern parts of the county
Parts of northern Rockbridge County will be excluded from the project until there are funds available to extend the network, Riegel said.
RANA plans to use revenue from operating the fiber optic network to fund these final stages of installation, he said.
Once the fiber optic network is up and running, Internet service providers will sign contracts with RANA to connect residents to the fiber optic line. RANA will receive a portion of the money from residents? Internet bill payments, which will be used to fund the remaining installations.
Riegel said he expects RANA to make a profit by December and have money to connect the rest of the county within two years.
?It is what it is,? said Buffalo district supervisor John Higgins during the Rockbridge County board meeting on February 25. ?I hope they can eventually get [fiber optic] service out to the county where they need it.?
The northern parts of the county will not be without ?high-speed Internet? until then. County residents will have access to Digital Subscriber Line, or DSL, cabinets that were installed in addition to fiber optic lines, Grim said.
The DSL cabinets were attached to telephone poles where the ground installation of the fiber optic line ran into trouble, he said.
DSL versus fiber optic broadband
DSL services carry the Internet signal to users through a copper wire, typically in the form of a phone line, while a fiber optic line is run through a glass filament installed in the ground.
A DSL line carries a limited amount of data because of its narrow bandwidth, or cable size, relative to a fiber optic line.
A fiber optic cable operating at full capacity will be two thousand times faster than a DSL cable operating at full capacity, Riegel said.
Most homes and businesses in Rockbridge County will never come close to transferring enough data to push the fiber optic network to its full capacity, he said.
Homeowners and business owners can expect service that is ?six or seven times faster? than what they?re used to with the fiber optic network, Riegel said.
?
For previous coverage on RANA?s progress:
Broadband network moves forward despite early issues, October 2012
Broadband network cutbacks get glum reception, March 2012
Broadband?s reach curtailed, March 2012
Broadband expected to boost area economy, January 2012
County residents slow to allow fiber optic cables on their property, January 2012
Editor's Note:?Listen to the full story in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
(CNN) ? Hot dog carts, with their blue and yellow awnings, are practically on every street corner in New York City.
No one pays much attention to the vendors other than during the 15-20 seconds it takes to buy a hot dog and a drink. But if you stopped to talk to one you might be surprised to learn how mighty the small sidewalk business is.
[4:16] ?It provides my rent money, provides my kids? tution, pays for Greek school, pays for my daughter?s ballet school, her tutor lessons. So it?s all from me for here.? said Gus Argy.
He?s the third generation of his family to man the hot dog cart across the street from New York?s City Hall.
The hot dog cart has even paid for retirement homes in Greece.
[1:21] ?My uncle? He lived in Queens, he raised two kids, he had a wife, he bought a couple of houses? he made a house in Greece. He lived comfortably. He worked seven days a week, though.?
Today, a grilled hot dog will run you $2. For $1.75 you can get one that has been sitting in boiled water all day earning it the street nickname ?dirty water dog.?
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Public release date: 1-Mar-2013
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