No. 253
February 2004
WRINKLES WILL DISAPPEAR…TEMPORARILY
As found in the FDA
Talk Paper T03-85, FDA Approves
New Product for Facial Wrinkles http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2003/ANS01271.html
issued on December 12, 2003, the
FDA announced the approval of a new inject able gel to treat facial wrinkles.
Restylane has been shown by manufacturers’ studies to be a safe and
effective gel for filling moderate to severe wrinkles around the nose and mouth.
Although most patients needed only one injection to get completely get rid of
their wrinkles, some patients needed two injections.
The major limitation with this cosmetic remedy is that it lasts only six
months. Two other injectable products to
remove wrinkles are Collagen injections used primarily for soft tissue
deficiencies and acne scars and botulinum toxin (botox) used to remove frown
lines between the eyebrows are not new. One now has a few choices on how to get
rid of wrinkles, at least temporarily.
SCHOOL BUS SAFETY
People interested in the “safety qualities” of cars should review the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Buying a Safer Car
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/ncap/
and the seat belts, injury
prevention, and occupant protection information at (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/airbags/).
What about the children in school buses? Do
school buses have seatbelts? Should they? How
safe are school buses? What about
school bus crash tests? In May 2002,
NHTSA Press Release 37-02 NHTSA Sends School Bus Report to Congress (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/announce/press/pressdisplay.cfm?year=2002&filename=pr37-02.html)
announced the latest school bus safety report. The press release provides
current basic information and data, and a link to the Report on the NHTSA school
bus safety crash worthiness research page. This 59 page Report presents
summary statistical data on school bus crashes, fatalities, injures, crash
circumstances, and crash tests results for 1990-2000.
The Report includes
U.S.
and Canadian crash tests results. In 1985
Transport
Canada
tests measure the risks for head injuries from
frontal collisions by bus size and restraint type. The NHTSA tests measure the
risks of neck, head, and thoracic injuries resulting from frontal and side
impact collisions. The report School Bus Crashworthiness Research Report –
April 2002 is found on the
NHTSA
School
Bus Crashworthiness Resarch
site at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-11/SchoolBus.html
. This NHTSA school bus crashworthiness page provides a lengthy “Abstract”
and links to the PDF version the April 2002 Report. Also provided are
links to related research, the Research Tests results in video, and PDF files,
and to PDF files of the reports about the varied school bus Restraint Systems. The “Abstract” is very informative about the current safety
status of
America’s school buses: “The record is quite
impressive,” but there is still room for improvements and changes which
include design and additional seat restraints. The
school bus crash test program, though lesser known than new car tests crashes,
is equally, if not more important.
MOTORCYCLE HELMET
LAWS IN
KENTUCKY
AND LOUISIANA
Kentucky
in 1998 and Louisiana
in 1999 repealed their
laws requiring motorcycle helmet use by all riders. These actions follow recent
helmet law repeals in
Arkansas
and Texas
that took place in
1997. In 1968,
Kentucky
first enacted a
motorcycle helmet law applicable to all riders. The 1968 law was amended
effective July 1998 to require helmet use only by: Motorcycle operators and
passengers under the age of 21, those operators who possess a motorcycle
instruction permit and operators who have had a motorcycle operator's license
for less than one year. In 2000,
Kentucky
repealed the medical insurance requirement aspect of
the law. Louisiana’s
1968 motorcycle helmet law applicable to all riders was amended in 1976 to
require helmet use only by riders under the age of 18. Then, in 1982, the state
reenacted a universal helmet law. It was this latter law that was amended
effective August 1999 to require helmet use only by Motorcycle operators and
passengers under the age of 18 and riders 18 and older who do not have medical
insurance coverage of at least $10,000. A survey of motorcycle use in
Kentucky
and Louisiana
from 1997 to 2001showed that helmet use went down, and accident injuries, fatalities,
registrations, and crash rates went up significantly. These facts are found in
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report Evaluation of the
Repeal of Motorcycle Helmet Laws in Kentucky and Louisiana, Report DOT HS
809-530, dated October 2003 which is found on the NHTSA website (http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/pedbimot/motorcycle/kenturky-la03/index.html).
Included in this report are a review of the legislative history of the
motorcycle laws, the literature of motorcycle helmet use and the helmet use laws
of each state.
ADOPTION AND FOSTER
CARE Throughout the United States there are thousands of children in foster
care. The foster care parents are subsidized by the federal government through
state run programs. Some children get adopted and some don’t.
In 1986, Congress decided there should be a national level collection of
foster care and adoption data and information. In 1993, the Final Rules for the
Adoption and Foster Care Reporting System (AFCARS) were published requiring all
States to report adoption and foster care data to the Administration for
Children and Families (ACF). October 1,1994
was the first
submission of adoption and foster care data by the States to the ACF via the
AFCARS. Currently the States submit this data semi-annually in May and November.
The States’ data reveal progress and effectiveness of current programs
and funding in providing caring for the children in foster care homes.
This data will also show the current status and effectiveness of current
adoption programs and the numbers of children adopted.
This data is publicly available on the AFCARS – Adoption and Foster
Care and Analysis Reporting System home page http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/dis/afcars/index.htm
. There are links to information
guides about AFCARS Assessment Reviews of State programs and to both National,
and State-by-State Adoption and Foster Care Statistics Reports.
The About AFCARS page provides general information which supplements the Federal
Register Notice “Request for Public Comment on the Improvement of the
Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System,” Federal Register,
V. 66, No. 81, April 28, 2003 pages 22386-22387, which announced the upcoming
collection of States data for the May, 2003 data for its 2003 semi-annual
report.
ELECTRONIC
CHECKING Some people write checks
and some people don’t. Currently, when
you mail a check to pay a bill in
Alaska
(or any other
location), your bank does not release your funds until your paper check arrives
back at your bank. The paper
checking system is slow and requires a constant flow of millions of checks
between banks. According to John R.
Walter, “the majority of the 40 billion checks written each year in the
United States
must be returned in
their original paper form in order for the bank to release the funds the checks
represent.” However, things will
change,“beginning on
October 28, 2004
the paying banks no
longer may demand the original check before making payment.” The collecting
bank in
Alaska
will truncate the
check, i.e. “stopped from being physically presented (sent) to the paying
bank. The Alaska bank scans the check electronically and sends an electronic
image aka a “substitute check” to the payer’s (your) bank. Upon
receipt of the “substitute check” the payer’s bank will immediately
release the funds. In some instances
your bank may provide you with a printed copy of the “electronic/substitute”
check. In the future, if you pay by
check, the merchant may scan your check and send an electronic copy to his bank.
He will then return your voided check which is your proof of payment. His
bank would then collect the funds from your bank.
All very “quickly and electronically.”
Electronic checks and checking will be here as of
October 28, 2004
, because of the Check
Clearing for the 21st Century Act. The
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond published “Checks
Enter the Electronic Age” by John R. Walter,
Region Focus, V. 8, No. 1, Winter 2004, page 5 http://www.rich.frb.org/pubs/regionfocus/winter04/update.html.
The online version of this brief but very good article includes links to Federal
Reserve Press Release and a proposed Rule for electronic checks. Most
of the details and answers to the legal and functional questions about
electronic checking and E-Checks are provided by the Federal Trade Commission.
Facts for Consumers, E-Checks (Electronic Check Conversion) is the
title of the FTC publication found at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/echeck.htm
and http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/echeck.pdf
.
FREE
SHIPS UNTIL
JUNE 15, 2004
Yes, there are two ships which the Navy will donate.
The Department of the Navy has issued “Notice of Availability for
Donation of the Amphibious Assault Ship ex-New
Orleans
(LPH-11) and the Air
Carrier ex-Ranger (CV-61), Notice,” Federal Register, V. 69, No. 10,
January 15, 2004, page 2337 (AE 2.106:69/10).
The brief Notice ends with “This notice of availability will expire in
6 months from the date of issue”so the offer is brief.
The Navy is very specific about who can be the recipient of a Navy ship,
since the second limitation is that there are only three “eligible
recipients.” First, any State,
Commonwealth, possession of the
United States, or any municipal
corporation or political subdivision thereof, second, the
District of Columbia; or third, any
organization incorporated as a non-profit entity under Section 501 of the
Internal Revenue Code. The Navy intends that these ships become museum or
memorial display items. For
those interested, this Notice identifies the current location of each ship for
inspection and provides some of the basic requirements and application
procedures. However, all other application information will be found only at the
Navy Ship Donation Program website at http://www.navsea.navy.mil/ndp
. If today’s date is after
June 15, 2004
, it is worthwhile to visit the website and/or watch
the Federal Register for other ships being offered.
ORGANIC
SUBSTANCES LIST CHANGES With the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 came the
legal definition of Organic. To be called Organic (Food), a food must
be grown, processed, and handled within the new Organic Food Production
Standards set by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). On
December 21, 2000, the Department of Agriculture established the National List
of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List) (Code of Federal
Regulations, Title 7, Part 205, “The National List of Allowed and
Prohibited Substances,” Sections
205.600 through 205.607)(AE 2.106/3: P. 53-209/2004.
“The National List is the Federal list that identifies synthetic
substances and ingredients that are allowed and nonsynthetic (natural)
substances that are prohibited for use in organic production and handling. Since
established, the National List has not been amended.” For
the period from
November 15, 2000
through
September 17, 2002
there have been five new substances the NOSB wants to add to the
National List. “Agricultural
Marketing Service, 7 CFR 205, National
Organic Program, Proposed Amendments to the National List of Allowed and
Prohibited Substances, Proposed Rule,” Federal Register, V. 68, No. 99
May 13, 2003, pages 27941-27943 provides a brief history of the List, a copy of
the proposed changes, and a citation for its location in the 2004 Code of
Federal Regulations.
PERFECT SOLAR STORM/ PERFECT STORMS
(EARTH/OUTER SPACE) It was in the
November 2000 issue of this Newsletter that the reader learned about the 1991
weather phenomenon of a predicted Hurricane accompanied by a second unpredicted
and unnamed hurricane. Called the
Perfect Storm this weather event was later the title of a book and a movie about
their sudden and violent impact on the eastern seacoast of the
United States. It
was about 144 years ago that there was another solar phenomena which occurred
suddenly and also impacted Earth in a sudden and violent way.
Scientists have termed this solar phenomenon, the Perfect Space Storm.
The impact of the Solar Flare of
September 1-2, 1859
created “the most potent disruption of
Earth’s atmosphere in recorded history.”
Scientists have recently uncovered the historical data and information,
at the Colaba Observatory in
India, about history’s most massive space storm and
its effect on Earth. From August 28 to September 2 solar activity was so
intensive and extensive, that on
September 1, 1859, the Sun released a massive solar flare. Along
with the flare came an explosive release of a massive cloud of magnetically
charged plasma called a solar flare or coronal mass ejection.
The flare was moving toward the Earth so fast that, instead of taking
three or four days as flares usually do, the flare impacted Earth’s atmosphere
in 17 hours and 40 minutes. The
flare’s magnetically charged plasma overwhelmed Earth’s magnetic field,
allowing the flare’s charged particles to enter the atmosphere.
The flare’s charged particles caused disruptions of any electrical
systems which were in existence in 1859, such as the telegraph. There were also
spontaneous fires, Northern Lights, and other solar-induced phenomena appeared
at both Poles, and as far south as
Rome
and
Cuba. Space
storm research shows that in 1859, 1989, and 1994 there were other solar flares
which caused less intense space storms, but were more disruptive and cause more
damage to the electrical grid and communications systems in Earth’s atmosphere
and on Earth’s surface. Even though the Perfect Solar Storm occurred 144 years
ago, a Solar Flare of this magnitude could occur and be hurled toward Earth at
anytime the solar conditions are as they were from August 28 to
September 2, 1859. NASA
Scientist Dives into Perfect Space Storm, October 23, 2003 is the NASA Press
Release 03-344 is what to look for at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2003/140.cfm.
Back
to Philip’s page
May 20, 2004
http://www.nku.edu/~yannarella/news0402.html