The proposal is spearheaded by Professor Brian Williams of the South African Center for Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis (SECEMA). It calls for blanket HIV testing for most of the world’s population, and those found HIV positive would be put immediately on a lifetime course of anti-retroviral drugs.

Past and Future

Professor John Hargrove, director of SECEMA in Stellenbosch, says, “What we’ve done in the past with HIV is try every manner of means that we can to stop people infecting each other. But generally that’s been by way of trying to change the way they behave, to convince them that they should use condoms, that they should only have one partner and so on and so forth,” he says.

However, that approach has not always been successful.

“In particular, we are seeing very little sign in South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana of any great change in behavior and certainly no great decline in the HIV prevalence.”

Hargrove says Williams bases the strategy on mathematical models.

“If you were in a place where you’ve got very high HIV prevalence, if you were to test the whole population, on average once a year and start people immediately on anti-retrovirals as soon as they were HIV positive, then you could actually reduce the incidence sufficiently that you would drive the epidemic to extinction within the foreseeable future. That is of the order of 30 years. I think that’s what’s radical about it.”

The logic behind it

“If you reduce the viral load, the amount of virus in the blood, then you radically reduce the infectiousness. So, if in fact you get people very soon after they are HIV positive and put them on anti-retrovirals, you reduce the aggregate viral load in the entire population. And therefore you will reduce the rate at which new infections occur,” he says.

By putting people on treatment sooner rather than later and by continuing current treatment programs, overall new infections might be held in check.

“Of course you will still have a lot of HIV-positive people in the population, but slowly as people just die out…. The mathematics of it simply indicate that if we manage to do this…this will be the logical outcome,” he says.

Targeting the most sexually active

The head of the South African Center for Epidemiological Modeling and Analysis says, for example, in Botswana the highest proportion of people on anti-retrovirals are those over 40 years old.

“But those people who are much more sexually active,” he says, “the people in their late teens and early 20s, who are HIV positive, they are very, very seldom on anti-retrovirals. So those people who are most likely to spread the infection are the least likely to be on anti-retrovirals. That’s the essential point.”

Strictly voluntary

Such a testing program could raise privacy issues in many countries. Hargrove says the strategy does not call for mandatory HIV testing.

“We are not suggesting at all that there will be any form of coercion. It would just be suggested to people very strongly that they may want to consider having an HIV test,” he says, “And that if in fact they are HIV positive, and if they want to, they will get free anti-retrovirals and they will have it for the rest of their lives.”

The idea of putting people on AIDS drugs long before their immune systems collapse has been circulating for a while. Critics say one of the problems is that such a move could break the budgets of national AIDS programs in many countries. Hargrove disagrees.

“The cost actually will be approximately the same over the next 40 years whether we continue what we’re doing right now or if we put into place what Brian (Williams) suggested we do. The big difference is that if we continue the way we’re going now and if we do not manage actually to drive down (HIV) incidence by other means, then in 40 years…we will still be faced with the same costs,” he says.

The South African professor says, however, “If we put in this more radical approach and reduce incidence to very close to zero, (in) 40 years…we will not have a problem to face.”

The plan was presented to the American Association for the Advancement of science meeting in San Diego, California.

Via

Just to be complete, there is no indication that this was anything other than an internal explosion. While the original satellite might appear in this particular view to be over China at the time of the incident, it is actually well over the Ocean.

Via

The U.S. space shuttle Endeavour is on its way to the International Space Station.

NASA launched the shuttle from the Kennedy Space Center on the Atlantic coast in Florida early Monday. A Sunday morning launch had been called off because of poor weather at the launch site.

The six astronauts aboard the shuttle arescheduled to deliver parts to the International Space Station for the last major construction operation on the orbiting outpost, which is almost complete.

Endeavour is carrying a connecting node, Tranquility Node 3, and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center that provides a 360-degree view around the International Space Station.

Following this 13-day mission, four more shuttle flights are planned before the fleet is retired at the end of this year.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in the budget he presented to Congress last week, has canceled the space agency’s plans to send astronauts back to the moon by 2020.

Via

Government estimates released Monday indicate strong growth in the industrial and services sector is helping the economy rebound after slowing in the wake of the global financial crisis.

The forecast of 7.2 percent growth for the fiscal year that ends in March comes amid growing optimism in India.

Consumers have returned to shopping malls, and sales of cars and mobile phones have picked up rapidly in recent months. Many companies are posting good profits and hiring new staff. Economists say India’s recovery has been largely driven by strong domestic consumption among its more than one billion people.

Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla says that even the agriculture sector, which has shrunk in the wake of a widespread drought last year, could revive because of good winter harvests by farmers.

“The fourth quarter we are expecting it to be much better, more robust so overall agriculture is not going to see the kind of dip which was initially out,” Chawla said.

Although farming contributes relatively little to the country’s gross domestic product, it remains a key concern because two-thirds of the country’s population depend on agriculture for a living.

However, economists say uncertainties lie ahead. The shrinking agricultural output last year has stoked high inflation and led to a huge jump in food prices. This in turn has brought pressure on the government to scale back the stimulus measures that infused billions of dollars into the economy and helped its recovery.

A top official at the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, says the government will have to contemplate tightening monetary policy as the economy strengthens.

“It has been my consistent view that if it looks that the economy is back on seven plus per cent growth path, which it clearly now is, yes, we should say the stimulus has succeeded and we should begin to phase it down,” Ahluwalia said.

Stock markets and the private sector have been wary of such a move by the government, hoping it will not set back the tentative recovery.

However, the Indian government’s estimates of a return to a high growth path are backed by international institutions such as the World Bank. In a report last month, the World Bank said that economic revival in India remains resilient despite a slow global economic recovery.

Via

Shipping containers are piled up at at a container terminal in the port of Dalian, China (11 Sep 2009 Photo: AP)

China has hit back at the United States after President Barack Obama promised to take a tougher line with Beijing over currency and trade. Meawhile, the United States is downplaying reports of rising tensions with China, saying the two countries will work together on issues of mutual concern but that they sometimes disagree.

In the latest disagreement between Washington and Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu on Thursday said the country’s currency was set at a “reasonable level.”

And he warned “accusations and pressure” would not help solve the problem.

Ma says the exchange rate is not the cause of the trade deficit between the two countries. He says China hopes the United States will regard trade and currency issues “in a balanced and fair light.”

The terse response comes a day after President Obama promised to adopt a tougher stance toward Beijing, and push for a further opening up of Chinese markets.

U.S. companies, along with many in Europe, have longed complained that Beijing’s currency policies give Chinese firms an unfair advantage.

Many trade analysts and economists say the yuan is set at an artificially low level, making Chinese goods cheap overseas.

But Beijing rejects calls for it to revalue its currency.

The issue is the latest in a growing list of grievances between the two economic powers.

Ties have been strained in recent weeks, starting with claims of Chinese cyber-attacks on U.S. Web sites, including Google.

President Obama’s plans to meet the Dalai Lama, and Washington’s deal to sell arms to Taiwan have strained relations further.

Ma repeated threats of sanctions against U.S. companies involved in the Taiwan arms deal.

Ma says China “will surely” impose sanctions against these companies due to what he calls Washington’s “blatant disregard of our opposition and representations.”

Wednesday, President Obama said he would not take a protectionist stance toward China, which is expected to become the world’s second largest economy this year.

He said to shut the U.S. off from the Chinese market “would be a mistake.”

Via

Made in China with American sports technology,
Made in China with European styling,
Made in China with software from Silicon valley
Made in China with French designers,
Made in China with engineers from all over the world
…
When it says made in China, it really means made in China, made with the world.

Video on Youtube, Youku.com

The table below shows major mine accidents happened in recent years.

Source:163.com

“That’s my story of building a street brand in China with a very small amount of money. We now sell in over 10 outlets in 3 countries. We have two of our own stores in Beijing currently.”

1, Forum. Discussion forum is the origin of China’s Internet. The real life of grass roots and Chinese traditional wisdom can only be found in those forums.Tianya.cn is the best place for understanding Chinese people and their life.

2, News. white-collar workers like Sohu.com , Netease (163.com) enjoys its success in southern China, QQ dominates the market of those simple minded young people, Sina.com.cn suits the taste of silent majority. People read news, dot com sells ads.

3, QQ as Instant Messenger. QQ (once was OICQ) is the legend in China’s IT industry. A huge number of users generates tremendous cash flow day by day. Buy more shares of QQ today, enjoy more beer of joy tomorrow.

4, SP for mobile networks. Ring tone and message services once were cash cows for many Internet pioneers. Those days of easy money have long gone.

5, 51Job.com , pronounces as “I need job”.

6, Search engine wars come and go, only Google and Baidu stand.

7, Xunlei.com . The shameless vampire sucks Internet bandwidth from innocent computer users.

8, 3721. The patriarch of malware, always be interested in users’ Internet explorer.

9, Navigation websites. Countless websites followed the way of Hao123 and 265.

10, Email, especially the groundbreaking innovation of Gmail which changed the market for ever.

11, Games. Life is short, play more, and spend more.

12, Allyes advertising network.

13, Ctrip.com . Order services for flights, airline tickets and hotels.

14, PPG/ Vancl. Online menswear retailers, featured with advanced supply chain management.

15, Dangdang, Joyo Amazon. Shopping websites.

16, Taobao. Ebay style auction platform.

17, Alipay. Online payment solution.

18, Alibaba. B2B model.

19, Online video sharing. Ku6, 56, yoku and so on.

20, Internet Communities: SNS, Web2.0, product reviews.

21, Classifieds.

22, Mobile Internet.

The news from ThatsMetro.com revealed that Hu Shuli, former chief editor of Caijing Magazine and her fellow team registered a new company named Beijing Zhidianyuanfu (智点原富: Intellectual Pivot Points & Origins of Fortune) Management Consulting Co.,Ltd in 2008. Industrial and commercial registration information shows that the majority of investors are journalists and managers from Caijing Magazine.

It is reported that after the resignation in November 9th, Hu Shuli intended to become Dean and Professor of Institute of Media & Communications, Zhongshan University in Guangzhou. She might also start the website “Caixin Net”, or establish the financial news weekly in Beijing jointly with Zhejiang news group. Financial news weekly could compete the Caijing Magazine in the same market, however it may take 3 months or longer time to get approval from the State Press and Publication Administration. There are more complications in the approval process when considering the negative impact of those unexpected news events published by Hu Shuli and her team in the past.

Been one of the founders, Hu Shuli had worked in Caijing Magazine for 11 years. Caijing Magazine once was the monthly supplement of Securities Market Weekly. Volume 250 of Caijing was published just before the the resignation of Hushuli and her fellow team.

The China Times found some earlier comments posted on IBTimes almost 20 days ago:

It is really something scandal as Ms Hu Shuli is still the chief editor of Caijing Magazine for the time being. But she and her main team registered a private co for her future leaving and future new own magazine which believed called New Cai one year before. In China, Hu Shuli almost being a red flag means Dare and Free. But now, the fact shows something we didn’t know before.
– scandal

Maybe everyone thinks Ms Hu is a pioneer fighting for free speech. But the fact shows Ms Hu is so powerful to block the webpage about the report of her company registered one year ago preparing for her own new magazine New Cai, although she is still the chief editor of Caijing now. The webpage’s life is about 3 hours from appearing to disappearing. Without Ms Hu’s government relationship background, who can do this perfect?
– Sam

Order Name Investment Contribution ratio

1 高海燕 Gao Haiyan 15.60 15.53%
2 张翔 Zhang Xiang 12.00 11.95%
3 胡舒立 Hu Shuli 5.00 4.98%
4 杨大明 Yang Daming 5.00 4.98%
5 王烁 Wang Shuo 5.00 4.98%
6 吴鹏 Wu Peng 4.44 4.42%
7 张进 Zhang Jin 4.00 3.98%
8 吴雅静 Wu Yajing 4.00 3.98%
9 傅继红 Fu Jihong 4.00 3.98%
10 张继伟 Zhang Jiwei 4.00 3.98%
11 康伟平 Kang Weiiping 3.00 2.99%
12 叶伟强 Ye Weiqiang 3.00 2.99%
13 王晓冰 Wang Xiaobing 3.00 2.99%
14 周桓 Zhou Heng 3.00 2.99%
15 左浩坤 Zuo Haokun 3.00 2.99%
16 凌华薇 Ling Huawei 3.00 2.99%
17 杨亮 Yang Liang 2.00 1.99%
18 张立辉 Zhang Lihui 2.00 1.99%
19 农颖斌 Nong Yinbing 2.00 1.99%
20 于宁 Yu Ning 1.00 1.00%
21 王以超 Wang Yichao 1.00 1.00%
22 段宏庆 Duan Hongqing 1.00 1.00%
23 戚娟娟 Qi Juanjuan 1.00 1.00%
24 李昕 Li Xin 1.00 1.00%
25 赵剑飞 Zhao Jianfei 1.00 1.00%
26 贺晓柳 He Hongliu 1.00 1.00%
27 汪弘彬 Wang Hongbin 1.00 1.00%
28 肖瑶 Xiao Yao 1.00 1.00%
29 高云鹏 Gao Yunpeng 1.00 1.00%
30 刘绯 Liu Fei 1.00 1.00%
31 曹海丽 Cao Haili 1.00 1.00%
32 李箐 Li JIng 1.00 1.00%
33 法蛮 Fa Man 0.40 0.40%