us news today: November 2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

New report: Community health plans improving care for patients with chronic illnesses

Public release date: 30-Nov-2011
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Contact: Anna Helms
ahelms@achp.org
202-785-2247
Alliance of Community Health Plans

Alliance of Community Health Plans report demonstrates that enhanced services and higher quality benefits lead to improved health

Community health plans are partnering with physician practices to initiate a range of care management programs for people living with chronic diseases; these programs have resulted in decreased emergency room (ER) use, improved health and lower costs. The findings, released today by the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), are part of a report that is a comprehensive look at the way community health plans partner with providers to improve care.

Care management is the coordination of care and services for chronically ill patients who require complex, one-on-one and personalized care, and is emerging as a foundation of patient-centered medical care. At many ACHP plans, a plan-employed care manager works with a medical practice to coordinate services for patients living with long-term, chronic diseases, through activities such as patient education, referral to community resources and agencies, help navigating health care systems and coordination of information among multiple providers. Innovative health plans, including Geisinger Health Plan, Group Health Cooperative and Independent Health have launched care management initiatives in partnership with medical practices, resulting in improved patient experiences.

"Improving how we care for those living with chronic disease is a national priority and requires that we understand not only the role physicians and practices play, but also how health plans can help advance and integrate care," said ACHP President and CEO Patricia Smith. "With this report, we demonstrate the critical role community based health plans play as a partner in improving the delivery system."

ACHP also found significant cost savings when reviewing results from its members' care management programs, primarily due to prevention of avoidable hospitalizations and ER visits. Between January and July of this year, for example, Group Health Cooperative reported total cost savings of more than $2.5 million for patients in its case management programs.

In this report, which notes the evolution from disease management to care management approaches that address the "whole person" including social, environmental or financial barriers to good health, ACHP focused on five key themes that could be adapted more broadly to replicate the positive results found in the care management work of community health plans:

1. Physician Partnerships. A plan-employed nurse working within a provider's practice whether a plan-affiliated or networked practice allows patients to view the nurse more as an extension of the physician, therefore improving the patient's experience of truly coordinated care.

2. Face-to-Face Encounters. Personal meetings with a care manager can be used to confirm a doctor's instructions, answer medication questions or learn how to use a medical device.

3. Multidisciplinary Teams. Involving social workers, geriatricians and others in a care management program can help patients and families access specialized services they need.

4. Appropriate Use of Technology. Technologies can increase communication with a patient or speed the delivery of health information to a care manager. This enables a more seamless support system for patients seeing a range of providers or accessing multiple services.

5. Community Mindedness. Familiarity with their local communities helps health plan nurses connect patients to community based organizations that can provide, for example, necessary nutrition, housing, financial, social and home health services.

ACHP released its care management report along with a companion Care Management Handbook for health plans looking for greater detail on integrating care management programs. The care management documents are part of a new ACHP series on delivery system reforms, Health Plan Innovations in Patient-Centered Care. The series looks to fill the existing gap in the literature when it comes to identifying ways community based health plans can partner with medical practices and communities to keep patient needs front and center as well as deliver high-value care. Papers on the role of health plans in innovative primary care delivery and transitions of care will follow this first installment on care management.

"The right care and high quality benefits can yield healthier, more satisfied patients; further, enhanced care management services offer the potential of reduced costs" Smith said. "In an era of tight budgets, people think that the only way to reduce costs is to trim services, but our analysis of community based health plans providing care management finds this is not the case."

###

About ACHP

ACHP is a national leadership organization that brings together innovative health plans and provider groups that are among America's best at delivering affordable, high-quality coverage and care in their communities. The community based and regional health plans and provider organizations from across the country that make up ACHP's membership provide coverage and care for approximately 16 million Americans. These 22 organizations focus on improving the health of the communities they serve and are on the leading edge of patient care coordination, patient-centered medical homes, accountable health care delivery, use of information technology and other innovations leading to improvements in affordability and the quality of care. To learn more about ACHP, go to http://www.achp.org.

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New report: Community health plans improving care for patients with chronic illnesses

Public release date: 30-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail |

Share ]

Contact: Anna Helms
ahelms@achp.org
202-785-2247
Alliance of Community Health Plans

Alliance of Community Health Plans report demonstrates that enhanced services and higher quality benefits lead to improved health

2. Face-to-Face Encounters. Personal meetings with a care manager can be used to confirm a doctor's instructions, answer medication questions or learn how to use a medical device.

3. Multidisciplinary Teams. Involving social workers, geriatricians and others in a care management program can help patients and families access specialized services they need.

###

About ACHP

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/aoch-nrc112311.php

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Babies embrace punishment earlier than previously thought, study suggests

Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
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Contact: Basil Waugh
basil.waugh@ubc.ca
604-822-2048
University of British Columbia

Babies as young as eight months old prefer it when people who commit or condone antisocial acts are mistreated, a new study led by a University of British Columbia psychologist finds.
While previous research shows that babies uniformly prefer kind acts, the new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that eight month-old infants support negative behavior if it is directed at those who act antisocially and dislike those who are nice to bad guys.
We find that, by eight months, babies have developed nuanced views of reciprocity and can conduct these complex social evaluations much earlier than previously thought, says lead author Prof. Kiley Hamlin, UBC Dept of Psychology, who co-authored the study with colleagues from Yale University and Temple University.
This study helps to answer questions that have puzzled evolutionary psychologists for decades, says Hamlin. Namely, how have we survived as intensely social creatures if our sociability makes us vulnerable to being cheated and exploited? These findings suggest that, from as early as eight months, we are watching for people who might put us in danger and prefer to see antisocial behavior regulated.
For the study, researchers presented four scenarios to 100 babies using animal hand puppets. After watching puppets act negatively or positively towards other characters, the babies were shown puppets either giving or taking toys from these good or bad puppets. When prompted to choose their favorite characters, babies preferred puppets that mistreated the bad characters from the original scene, compared to those that treated them nicely.
The researchers also examined how older infants would themselves treat good and bad puppets. They tested 64 babies aged 21 months, who were asked to give a treat to, or take a treat away from one of two puppets one who had previously helped another puppet, and another who had harmed the other puppet. These older babies physically took treats away from the bad puppets, and gave treats to the good ones.
Hamlin, who conducted the research with Karen Wynn and Paul Bloom of Yale Universitys Dept. of Psychology, and Neha Mahajan of Temple University, says the findings provide new insights into the protective mechanisms humans use to choose social alliances, which she says are rooted in self-preservation.
Hamlin says the infant responses may be early forms of the complex behaviors and emotions that get expressed later in life, such as when school children tattle on kids who break the rules, the rush people feel when movie villains get their due, and the phenomenon of people cheering at public executions.
Hamlin says while such tendencies surely have many learned components, the fact that they are present so early in life suggests that they may be based in part on an innate foundation of liking those who give others their just desserts.
###

Editors: Watch videos from the study, featuring the animal hand puppets, at: http://cic.psych.ubc.ca/Example_Stimuli.html

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Babies embrace punishment earlier than previously thought, study suggests Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Basil Waugh
basil.waugh@ubc.ca
604-822-2048
University of British Columbia

Babies as young as eight months old prefer it when people who commit or condone antisocial acts are mistreated, a new study led by a University of British Columbia psychologist finds.
While previous research shows that babies uniformly prefer kind acts, the new study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that eight month-old infants support negative behavior if it is directed at those who act antisocially and dislike those who are nice to bad guys.
We find that, by eight months, babies have developed nuanced views of reciprocity and can conduct these complex social evaluations much earlier than previously thought, says lead author Prof. Kiley Hamlin, UBC Dept of Psychology, who co-authored the study with colleagues from Yale University and Temple University.
This study helps to answer questions that have puzzled evolutionary psychologists for decades, says Hamlin. Namely, how have we survived as intensely social creatures if our sociability makes us vulnerable to being cheated and exploited? These findings suggest that, from as early as eight months, we are watching for people who might put us in danger and prefer to see antisocial behavior regulated.
For the study, researchers presented four scenarios to 100 babies using animal hand puppets. After watching puppets act negatively or positively towards other characters, the babies were shown puppets either giving or taking toys from these good or bad puppets. When prompted to choose their favorite characters, babies preferred puppets that mistreated the bad characters from the original scene, compared to those that treated them nicely.
The researchers also examined how older infants would themselves treat good and bad puppets. They tested 64 babies aged 21 months, who were asked to give a treat to, or take a treat away from one of two puppets one who had previously helped another puppet, and another who had harmed the other puppet. These older babies physically took treats away from the bad puppets, and gave treats to the good ones.
Hamlin, who conducted the research with Karen Wynn and Paul Bloom of Yale Universitys Dept. of Psychology, and Neha Mahajan of Temple University, says the findings provide new insights into the protective mechanisms humans use to choose social alliances, which she says are rooted in self-preservation.
Hamlin says the infant responses may be early forms of the complex behaviors and emotions that get expressed later in life, such as when school children tattle on kids who break the rules, the rush people feel when movie villains get their due, and the phenomenon of people cheering at public executions.
Hamlin says while such tendencies surely have many learned components, the fact that they are present so early in life suggests that they may be based in part on an innate foundation of liking those who give others their just desserts.
###

Editors: Watch videos from the study, featuring the animal hand puppets, at: http://cic.psych.ubc.ca/Example_Stimuli.html

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/uobc-bep112511.php
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Nintendo wants to keep up Black Friday momentum (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? After a strong Black Friday showing, Nintendo now has to focus on maintaining the momentum for its products over the next five weeks of the crucial holiday season, the company's U.S. president told the Reuters Global Media Summit on Tuesday.

Reggie Fils-Aime, the president of Nintendo of America, said the company records 60 percent of its revenue during the holiday period, 10 percentage points above the industry norm.

"In the next five weeks, I need to sell a lot of Nintendo 3DS, Wii and software," he said.

Investors will be watching Nintendo's holiday sales performance more closely than ever because the company's stock price has been declining and it is forecasting its first annual net loss this year.

Fils-Aime said the company was on track to meet its holiday sales targets and blamed the soaring yen for the company's financial problems this year.

"Every dollar I send back to Japan is worth less, so for us as a business, what I need to do is to focus on selling more hardware, more software and drive revenue as best as I can because I can't impact the currency markets," he said.

Nintendo would like to keep up the pace of its Black Friday sales, when the largest retailers in the U.S. discounted video game products, using them as a loss leader to bring consumers into the stores. The majority of Nintendo's sales are in the U.S.

Wal-Mart sold a limited edition blue Wii console for $99.96 that sold out on Black Friday, for instance.

"Wal-Mart lost money on every Wii they sold. We did not lose money on it," Fils-Aime said, declining to comment on how much money the big-box retailer lost on the deal.

A Wal-Mart spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Nintendo said it sold more than 500,000 Wii units on Black Friday, along with record sales of the 3DS and new games such as "Super Mario 3D Land" and "Zelda: Skyward Sword." Its new "MarioKart 7" game which comes out in December is expected to also sell well.

Microsoft said on Tuesday it sold 960,000 Xbox consoles during the week of Black Friday, its best week of sales ever.

WII U

Nintendo's next big product launch is the Wii U, the first home console to hit the market in years and the follow-up to its smash hit Wii console.

The new console, which features a touch-screen controller and high definition graphics, will come out sometime between April and December 2012.

Fils-Aime said Nintendo has learned a lot from the mistakes it made during the 3DS launch, which lacked strong first-party titles -- meaning games made by Nintendo -- at the start.

The initial price on the 3DS was also too high, something that Nintendo will be careful about this time around, he said.

"We had to go back and reduce the price of 3DS and we certainly don't want to go through that when we launch Wii U," Fils-Aime said.

(Reporting by liana.baker; Editing by Peter Lauria, Phil Berlowitz)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111129/tc_nm/us_media_summit_nintendo

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UN scientist: fighting climate change saves costs (AP)

DURBAN, South Africa ? The U.N.'s top climate scientist cautioned climate negotiators Wednesday that global warming is leading to human dangers and soaring financial costs, but containing carbon emissions will have a host of benefits.

Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Nobel-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, summarized a litany of potential disasters at a U.N. climate conference in the South African city of Durban. Although he gave no explicit deadlines, the implication was that time is running out for greenhouse gas emissions to level off and begin to decline.

Heat waves currently experienced once every 20 years will happen every other year by the end of this century, he said.

Coastal areas and islands are threatened with inundation by global warming, rain-reliant agriculture in Africa will shrink by half and many species will disappear. Within a decade, up to 250 million more people will face the stress of scarce water.

Increasingly frequent weather disasters have imposed heavy financial burdens, with some poor countries running up 90 percent of their national debt to deal with the aftermath of storms, droughts and floods, he said.

But the Indian scientist said "many impacts can be avoided, reduced or delayed" by reducing emissions.

To stabilize carbon concentrations in the atmosphere would slow economic growth by 0.12 percent per year, he said, but those costs would be offset by improved health, greater energy security and more secure food supplies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111130/ap_on_bi_ge/af_climate_conference

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Feds crack down on sellers of fake goods (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The knockoff designer bags look close enough to the real thing that few would notice at a casual glance. Same goes for the imitation replica football jerseys or popular boots. And the online prices seem too good to pass up.

But the products are fake and the websites selling them are breaking federal law by selling copies of high-end merchandise without giving credit or money to the real designers and creators. And while the products can look as good as the real thing, federal authorities warn that buying fake merchandise can be dangerous.

"Not only is this is a direct threat to American innovation ... but it's also a public safety issue," Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director John Morton said Monday as he announced that the government had shut down 150 websites accused of selling counterfeit merchandise.

Attorney General Eric Holder and Rebecca Blank, acting deputy Commerce secretary, are set to launch a campaign Tuesday at the White House to alert the public to the dangers of buying counterfeit goods.

"This is increasingly not simply a matter of `mom and pop' violations at the corner of Fourth and Main," Morton said Monday. "We are worried about organized crime and (that profits) are going to fuel other criminal activity."

Morton would not say if organized criminal groups are suspected of running any of the seized sites to help fund other criminal acts.

Some counterfeit goods, including medications and electronics, can also pose a health risk, Morton said.

Morton and Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who leads the Justice Department's criminal division, said Monday that in the latest crackdown authorities seized 150 website domain names where fake goods were being sold to unsuspecting bargain hunters.

"This is straight crime," Morton said. "This is people being duped into buying a counterfeit."

The federal government has seized the domain names of 350 websites since first targeting online counterfeiters in June 2010. Each investigation, Morton said, has grown.

Visitors to the seized domains are now greeted with a message from federal authorities explaining that the site has been seized by the government and a warning that "willful copyright infringement is a federal crime."

Morton and Breuer said while the domain names were registered in the United States, most of the websites were run from abroad, primarily in China. No one has been charged with a crime in connection with the most recently seized domains. But Breuer said the investigations are ongoing.

Earlier this year five people were indicted in Virginia on conspiracy and copyright infringement charges for their roles in operating a website that the Justice Department said allowed people to illegally download high-quality movies and television shows.

Four people accused of running NinjaVideo.net have pleaded guilty. A fifth person is being sought.

It's unclear how much money the seized sites have made, or potentially cost legitimate companies. Breuer said since the crackdown on counterfeit sellers started last year, Internet users have gone to the seized domains more than 77 million times.

"Typically we don't track the volumes of sales of these particular sites," Morton said, adding that criminal organizations often hide ill-gotten profits. "It is very large figures. Well, well above millions."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_counterfeit_merchandise

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`Micro' is thriller about science gone wrong (AP)

"Micro" (Harper), by Michael Crichton and Richard Preston: "Micro" is a new, posthumous story from the late Michael Crichton, who died in 2008, and finished by Richard Preston, author of the non-fiction best-seller "The Hot Zone." It's a thriller about a biotech company in Hawaii and a group of students who end up stranded and endangered in a rain forest.

Nanigen MicroTechnologies is recruiting graduate students for its top-secret research. Peter Jansen receives an offer from the company. He's not surprised because his brother, Eric, works in management at Nanigen. Peter's colleagues are thrilled to be invited as well.

The day before Peter is scheduled to arrive, he receives a mysterious text message from Eric saying not to come. He goes to Hawaii anyway and learns that his brother has been murdered. A confrontation with the man responsible for Eric's death puts Peter and his friends in jeopardy. They are reduced in size to less than an inch tall.

Peter leads his friends through a terrifying new hostile landscape. Can they survive long enough to find a way to regain their size and stop a madman?

Like a typical Crichton novel, the cardboard-thin characters in "Micro" exist only to convey the science, yet somehow the novel works.

Rain forests are a new frontier for pharmaceutical possibilities, and the concept of shrinking man down to the size of a pea has been explored countless times. Yet reading the novel makes all of it seem fresh and original.

"Micro" ranks with Critchton's blockbusters "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," and Preston deserves praise for polishing the novel and making it sing.

___

Online:

http://www.michaelcrichton.com/

http://richardpreston.net/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_en_ot/us_book_review_micro

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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mexico activist's death fuels corruption debate

HERMOSILLO, Sonora?? An activist who publicly accused police officers of kidnapping his teenage son was shot to death as he drove through his hometown in northern Mexico, a slaying that instantly fueled a bitter nationwide debate over crime and corruption.

Corrupt officials were being blamed Tuesday by citizen activists who worked with Nepomuceno Moreno in a national anti-crime movement that has been calling for an end to organized crime, police abuse and a military-led government assault on drug cartels.

Patrolling 'smugglers' alley' by air along the Rio Grande

The prosecutor's office in the border state of Sonora told reporters, however, that Moreno had a criminal past and it was that, not activism, which appeared to have led to his death. Officials said Moreno was shot at least five times when he stopped his van at an intersection Monday afternoon in Hermosillo, the capital city Sonora, which borders Arizona.

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The rival accounts echoed a wider national dispute.

Officials blamed
Many Mexicans focus the blame for tens of thousands of crime-related deaths on the incompetence and corruption of federal, state and local authorities. President Felipe Calderon, in turn, has outraged crime victims and their families by saying that 90 percent of those slain in a 5-year-old government war on drug cartels were themselves involved in crime.

Moreno, a 56-year-old sidewalk seafood vendor, became one of the most visible faces of Mexico's anti-crime movement after his 18-year-old son Jorge Mario disappeared in July last year.

Saying masked police had snatched his son and two other young men, Moreno pleaded his case directly to Calderon last month in a meeting between the conservative leader and members of poet Javier Sicilia's Movement for Peace with Justice and Dignity.

Moreno also said he had been repeatedly threatened by the men who grabbed his son, whom he described as police working with organized crime.\

Mexican trucker gets 16 years for drug tunnels

Sicilia launched his movement after his son Juan Francisco was killed March 28 in the central city of Cuernavaca along with six other people in what officials called a case of mistaken identity by drug-cartel members warring with other criminals. The movement has organized a series of increasingly high-profile marches and protests throughout the country.

Since the meeting with Moreno and other victims' families, Calderon has altered some of his rhetoric about the drug war, saying that victims of violence should be the focus of national attention regardless of whether they had been involved in crime.

Sicilia said Tuesday that Moreno's relatives now feared for their lives, and he focused the blame for the killing on unidentified people in authority.

Family 'terrified'
"The family is terrified," Sicilia told Milenio television. "This is collusion with crime. Otherwise it's not possible for a man to be killed like this. ... I don't know where the state ends and organized crime begins."

A spokesman for the Sonora state attorney general's office, Jose Larrinaga Talamantes, told reporters that the principal line of investigation in Moreno's death was drug trafficking, saying the victim had been involved with organized crime at least since his 1979 arrest in Arizona for heroin smuggling and possession.

In 1997, Moreno was jailed again on drug-related charges, Larrinaga said.

"There are various lines of investigation that remain open, but the principal one is his relationship with organized crime," Larrinaga said. Moreno's son's kidnapping was also being looked at, Larrinaga said.

Violence attributed to organized crime has killed more than 35,000 people between December 2006, when Calderon sent soldiers to his home state of Michoacan in western Mexico, and the end of 2010. Authorities have provided no figures for 2011, although some groups including Sicilia's say the death toll has now climbed above 40,000.

Charges are never filed in most of the deaths.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45480587/ns/world_news-americas/

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Ryan Gosling Joins Girlfriend Eva Mendes In Paris

Actor Ryan Gosling reportedly surprised his rumored new girlfriend, actress Eva Mendes, by flying to Paris, France to take her on a romantic date. The [...]

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Luck, No. 4 Stanford beat No. 22 ND, 28-14 (AP)

STANFORD, Calif. ? Andrew Luck walked back into the overcrowded home locker room at Stanford Stadium, greeted by hugs and handshakes and serenaded with a chant that suited him just perfectly.

"Macho, Macho man!" teammates bellowed, singing the lyrics to the Village People's famous song. "I want to be a Macho man!"

Only one has earned that title on The Farm.

Luck set the school record for the most career touchdown passes and eclipsed his own single-season mark, throwing for 233 yards and four scores to lead fourth-ranked Stanford past No. 22 Notre Dame 28-14 in his home finale Saturday night.

Luck topped John Elway's record of 77 touchdown passes and helped the Cardinal (11-1) build a 21-0 halftime lead. He has thrown for 80 touchdowns in three years ? while it took Elway all four ? and 35 this season.

"There's no player in America like Andrew Luck," Stanford coach David Shaw said. "Forget about the stats. Forget about the comparisons of other guys. It doesn't matter."

Luck of the Irish? Forget it.

Luck is on Stanford's side.

The victory likely vaulted the Cardinal into consideration for an at-large BCS bowl bid for the second straight year ? with the Fiesta Bowl among the leading possible destinations ? but they will not play for a major championship this season. The lone loss to Oregon put the Ducks in the Pac-12 title game out of the North Division and crushed Stanford's dreams of a national title.

"I think one loss, that's great," said Luck, who turned down a chance to be the NFL draft's top pick this year. "We've been on a 23-2 run for a while, I think it's pretty impressive. We put ourselves in position to be in a good bowl game, and that's what we wanted to do."

Notre Dame's stumbled at the finish line again.

Tommy Rees threw an interception, lost a fumble and took a bruising blow to the ribs for Notre Dame (8-4) before getting benched. Andrew Hendrix threw for 192 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score in a second-half rally for the Fighting Irish that came up short.

Keeping Stanford close gave the Irish little satisfaction.

"We didn't come here for second prize," said Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly, who would not name a starting quarterback for the bowl game. "We got off to a slow start and battled against it. To me, the scoreboard showed 28-14 and that's not good enough. The slow start put us in a tough position."

Stanford coach David Shaw shined the spotlight on his program and his quarterback's Heisman Trophy campaign with a calculated rip of the "flawed" BCS system this week. The Cardinal's play matched his words for 30 minutes.

A sloppy second half almost took everything else Stanford had worked for this season.

Kelly benched Rees in favor of Hendrix to start the third quarter, and the move pumped some life into a stagnant Irish offense. Notre Dame took advantage of pass interference and roughing the passer penalties for its first score.

Hendrix threw a 6-yard TD to Michael Floyd to slice Stanford's lead to 21-7 halfway through the third quarter. Floyd finished with 95 catches on the year, breaking the single-season mark of 93 set by Golden Tate in 2009.

The Irish were driving for another score when Hendrix overthrew a receiver, the ball was tipped and intercepted by Michael Thomas. When Notre Dame regained possession, Hendrix was sacked by A.J. Tarpley for a 13-yard loss that sent another drive tumbling.

"Consistency is the one thing I have struggled with the most," said Hendrix, who completed 11 of 24 passes.

Only room for one quarterback to steal the show.

Luck quickly connected with Coby Fleener for a 55-yard TD pass to extend Stanford's lead to 28-7 with 5:40 remaining to put the game out of reach. Fleener also caught a 28-yard TD in the first half that gave Luck every major school touchdown record.

Stanford's Senior Day belonged to the redshirt junior.

Luck lobbed a fade to the short corner of the end zone to complete a 3-yard score to Levine Toilolo, giving Stanford a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Even he had to hold back a smile running to the sideline to a swarm of well-wishes from teammates for the records-tying toss.

But Luck lost his rhythm when a back-side blitzer closed the pocket, and he tossed a short pass that Darius Fleming intercepted and returned 35 yards. Notre Dame took over at the Stanford 10 after a 15-yard penalty on Fleener for a horse collar.

Stanford stifled the Irish on consecutive plays and forced a 20-yard field goal that David Ruffer missed wide right.

Luck followed with a 28-yard TD pass to Fleener. The tight end dragged cornerback Robert Blanton the final 10 yards into the end zone, sealing Luck's marks in the school record book.

"I think it's something I'll be able to tell my kids and grandkids when I'm watching Andrew on TV someday," Fleener said. "He's got my Heisman vote."

___

Follow Antonio Gonzalez at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/fbc_t25_notre_dame_stanford

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UK growth forecasts cut, austerity to last longer (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? The British government unveiled sharply lower economic growth forecasts on Tuesday and said it would take longer than hoped to wipe out its deficit, meaning that tough austerity measures would extend beyond 2015.

Finance Minister George Osborne warned that the British economy risked getting dragged into recession if the euro zone debt crisis was not solved.

"If the rest of Europe heads into recession it may prove hard to avoid one here in the UK," he told parliament.

"Much of Europe appears to be heading into recession caused by a chronic lack of confidence in the ability of countries to deal with their debts. We will do whatever it takes to protect Britain from this debt storm while doing all we can to build the foundations of future growth," he said.

The economy was now forecast to grow by only 0.7 percent next year, way below a March budget forecast of 2.5 percent, Osborne said, presenting figures from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility.

Growth was expected to recover to 2.1 percent in 2013.

The prospect of years of fiscal austerity will fuel anger among unions on the eve of a one-day strike by 2 million public sector workers over government spending cuts that will make them pay more and work longer for their pensions.

Borrowing will fall much less than expected because of slower economic growth, erasing any room for error in the coalition government's deficit reduction plan.

Osborne said the independent Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts showed borrowing would fall to 79 billion pounds ($123 billion) in 2014/15, against a March budget forecast of 46 billion pounds.

For next year, public sector net borrowing is now forecast to total 120 billion years, up from the March prediction of 101 billion. The structural deficit would be erased by 2016/17, Osborne said.

RECESSION RISK

The new figures bring the government broadly into line with independent forecasters.

The OECD rich nations' economic think-tank said on Monday that Britain will slip back into a modest recession early next year. It lowered its 2012 growth forecast to just 0.5 percent and urged the Bank of England to expand its money-printing program.

Despite fears that the country is being pushed back into recession, the government will not fundamentally change tack with no additional borrowing or savings announced.

Britain has enjoyed record-low borrowing costs thanks to its perceived status as a safe-haven from the euro zone debt crisis, which helps alleviate the pressure on public finances.

The yield on ten-year gilts has been trading at 2.3 percent, well below the 3.8 percent average rate projected by the OBR in March, resulting in a total debt interest saving of 22 billion pounds up to 2015/16, Osborne said.

What stimulus there is, is likely to come from monetary policy.

The Bank of England will pump an additional 75 billion pounds into the economy in coming months, a Reuters poll indicated on Tuesday, taking the total to 350 billion as it tries to revitalize growth.

"The UK is partway through a 'lost decade', and I expect that 2012 will be another difficult year," said Michael Saunders at Citi, who expects the total BoE spend to be at least 500 billion pounds -- the highest forecast in the poll.

Recognizing that he has little scope to alter Britain's short-term economic prospects, Osborne focused on measures that will boost growth in the longer term, such as promoting lending to small businesses and encouraging private sector investment in infrastructure.

He plans to tap British pension funds to provide the bulk of up to 30 billion pounds of investment in building projects, while the government will underwrite 20 billion pounds of loans to smaller companies struggling for credit.

(Editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111129/bs_nm/us_britain_budget

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