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We report such a case involving bladder herniation and subsequent entrapment after attempted closed reduction with anterior pelvic external fixation immediately treated with open reduction and internal fixation along with a review of the literature.

Source: Biotechnology BioMed

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“That is a concern,” said Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee. But, he added, “we know that replenishing capital is going to at least lay the foundation for them loaning.”

Because of the credit freeze, many businesses and consumers with good credit still can’t get loans. “If those loans don’t begin to break loose,” Mr. Bachus said, “there’s going to be criticism. … If the public response isn’t enough, there has to be a role for Congress” starting with hearings. (Mr. Bachus made the remarks in a Saturday taping of C-SPAN’s Newsmakers program. He was interviewed on the program, which airs Sunday, by the Journal’s Sudeep Reddy and Steven Dennis of Roll Call.)

Source: Wall Street Journal

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An American investment banker living in London won the lottery–and not just any lottery. He won New York’s “$1,000,000 a Year for Life” scratch-off game. Keenan Altunis, 33, said he was a “degenerate lottery player” who bought a ticket in September while he was visiting the state for a wedding.

Since he is a non-U.S. resident, he won’t have to pay federal taxes on the windfall. Still, the high-earning executive at UniCredit says the extra $931,500 a year won’t make a difference. “Is it going to materially change my life? No, I’ve been a very blessed and fortunate person.”

After all the hubub in London over a rich guy getting richer, he now says he will donate a portion to charity.

Meanwhile, in Asia, the champagne is still flowing for some execs. My colleague Jonathan Cheng discovered a birthday bash that could rival Stephen Schwarzman’s–if Stephen had been married to Coco Lee. Here is what he found:

HONG KONG–Shares of the Hong Kong blue chip Li & Fung Ltd. may be down 56% in the past year, but that didn’t stop a three-day, celebrity-studded 50th birthday bash for company President Bruce Rockowitz this past weekend.

The event–thrown by his fiancée, 32-year-old Hong Kong pop singer Coco Lee–featured a “Studio 54?-themed extravaganza at Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. Performers included singers Rihanna, Lionel Richie and Jewel; magician David Blaine; and burlesque performer Dita Von Teese. The guest list included Tommy Hilfiger, British retail tycoons Philip Green and Richard Caring, and Jaycee Chan, son of movie actor Jackie Chan.

The three-day bash started with a Thursday night dinner, followed by a private party at the Grand Hyatt dubbed “Studio 50? for about 250 friends and socialites, then a Saturday brunch show by Jewel and Mr. Blaine at the Hong Kong Country Club.

Local press called the bash “the birthday party of the century,” though a publicity firm hired by Ms. Lee for the event settled for “party of the decade.”

Ms. Lee declined through a spokeswoman to divulge the cost, saying the focus of the party was on her relationship with Mr. Rockowitz and not the cost of the affair. A spokeswoman for Li & Fung declined to comment, saying the party was a personal matter.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Rockowitz, who took off for a beach vacation with Ms. Lee shortly after the festivities, said Mr. Rockowitz was unavailable for comment.

:: Source: Wall Street Journal

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Accurate assessment is required to assess current and changing physical activity levels, and to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions designed to increase activity levels. This study systematically reviewed the literature to determine the extent of agreement between subjectively (self-report e.g. questionnaire, diary) and objectively (directly measured; e.g. accelerometry, doubly labeled water) assessed physical activity in adults.

Methods:

Eight electronic databases were searched to identify observational and experimental studies of adult populations. Searching identified 4,463 potential articles. Initial screening found that 293 examined the relationship between self-reported and directly measured physical activity and met the eligibility criteria. Data abstraction was completed for 187 articles, which described comparable data and/or comparisons, while 76 articles lacked comparable data or comparisons, and a further 30 did not meet the reviews eligibility requirements. A risk of bias assessment was conducted for all articles from which data was abstracted.

Results:

Correlations between self-report and direct measures were generally low-to-moderate and ranged from -0.71 to 0.96. No clear pattern emerged for the mean differences between self-report and direct measures of physical activity. Trends differed by measure of physical activity employed, level of physical activity measured, and the gender and weight status of participants. Results of the risk of bias assessment indicated that 38% of the studies had lower quality scores.

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that the measurement method may have a significant impact on the observed levels of physical activity. Self-report measures of physical activity both over and underestimated directly measured levels of physical activity, which poses a problem for both reliance on self-report measures and for attempts to correct for self-report - direct measure differences. This review reveals the need for valid, accurate and reliable measures of physical activity in evaluating current and changing physical activity levels, physical activity interventions, and the relationships between physical activity and health outcomes.

:: Source: Biotechnology BioMed

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The hemorrhagic shock and encephalopathy syndrome (HSES) is a devastating disease that affects young children. The outcomes of HSES patients are often fatal or manifesting severe neurological sequelae. We reviewed the markers for an early diagnosis of HSES.

Methods:

We examined the clinical, biological and radiological findings of 8 patients (4 months to 9 years old) who met the HSES criteria.

Results:

Although cerebral edema, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy (DIC), and multiple organ failure were seen in all 8 cases during their clinical courses, brain computed tomography (CT) scans showed normal or only slight edema in 5 patients upon admission. All 8 patients had normal platelet counts, and none were in shock. However, they all had severe metabolic acidosis, which persisted even after 3 hours (median base excess (BE), -7.6 mmol/L).

And at 6 hours after admission (BE, -5.7 mmol/L) they required mechanical ventilation. Within 12 hours after admission, fluid resuscitation and vasopressor infusion for hypotension was required. Seven of the patients had elevated liver enzymes and creatine kinase (CK) upon admission. Twenty-four hours after admission, all 8 patients needed vasopressor infusion to maintain blood pressure.

Conclusions:

CT scan, platelet count, hemoglobin level and renal function upon admission are not useful for an early diagnosis of HSES. However, the elevated liver enzymes and CK upon admission, hypotension in the early stage after admission with refractory acid-base disturbance to fluid resuscitation and vasopressor infusion are useful markers for an early HSES diagnosis and helpful to indicate starting intensive neurological treatment.

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OR: Les the new poo-extraction technology will cost $100.00.

EE: So the non-logoed dog poop scoop, in the real world, costs $5.00. Right?

OR: Right.

EE: But I have to buy this propriety equipment from you, right? [tied buying]

OR: Right.

EE: So I end up paying 20 times as much for the scoop, does that sum it up the situation?

OR; Yup.

EE: And if I don’t want to [as any sane independent businessperson would do]…?

OR: I can terminate you and refuse any potential buyers and other nonsense which deprives you of, say, 90% of the $100,000 you’ve sunk into your business. Sound fair, Les?

EE: So my decision is either:

1. lose $95 by saying yes or
2. lose $90,000 plus the exit costs by saying no.

Is that a fair comment?

OR: Is that a fair comment, what?

EE: Is that a fair comment…sir?

OR: Yes, Les. You’re coming along.

Sunk costs as they compound business risk are a unique and little discussed aspect of franchising. Law makers are particularly negligent in not putting each post-signing franchisee buying decision in its appropriate context. Franchisees often look stupid in hindsight because sunk costs are not taken into account.

• Context is everything in the bizarro world of a franchise relationship.

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Getty Images

Exit polls show Sen. Obama did best among two main wealth brackets–the bottom and the top. (The middle was split about evenly). According to the polls, Sen. Obama won 60% of the votes of those with family income of less than $50,000.

He also won 52% of the votes of those earning $200,000 or more. That compares with Sen. John McCain’s 46% showing for the same group. Sen. Obama’s showing among the affluent is about 15% better than Sen. Kerry’s did with wealthy voters four years ago.

(Sen. McCain won among voters in 3 of the 4 middle categories of income–or those earning $50,000 to $200,000).

That Sen. Obama did well among the well-heeled and well-educated is no surprise. Claims that Sen. Obama is an elitist popular with the elite have long been part of the GOP playbook.

But given Sen. Obama’s proposals–which are still just proposals–to raise tax rates on those earning $250,000 or more, it is striking that the affluent came out so strongly in Sen. Obama’s favor. An earlier wealth survey by the Harrison Group showed that voters with incomes of $250,000 or more were leaning strongly toward Sen. McCain, 48% to Sen. Obama’s 29%.

So what gives?

There are several explanations. First, the wealthy, like many voters, may have placed a higher emphasis on the state of the nation than the state of their wallets. Even though their taxes may be going up, their greater priority may be Sen. Obama’s promises to fix the economy, education, health care, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and overseas relations.

Another possibility is that the wealthy don’t believe Sen. Obama will go through with his tax increase–at least not right away. With the economy sliding fast into recession, some affluent voters may be betting that any tax increases will be delayed or watered down–and Sen. Obama did signal this possibility on the campaign trail. It is harder to vote against an increase in the capital-gains tax if you don’t expect any capital gains for the next year.

Finally (and perhaps least likely), the wealthy may be responding to Sen. Joe Biden’s argument that paying higher taxes is patriotic. Like Warren Buffett, some of the wealthy may feel it is time to raise their own taxes for the betterment of the country. There may be some voters–more likely those in Upper Richistan rather than those in the $200,000-plus group–who think a shared sacrifice among the rich is necessary to get the American wealth-creation machine moving again. (Among the Upper Richistani’s supporting Sen. Obama, tax policies ranked last in one earlier survey, with only 16% citing them as important. “Social issues” ranked first, with “policies dealing with wars” ranking second, at 67%, and Supreme Court nominations and health-care issues ranking next.)

Until the exit polls from Upper Richistan come in, however, we won’t know for sure.

(RICHISTAN NOTE: Jared Polis, an entrepreneur featured in Richistan in the politics chapter, was elected last night to Congress, representing his district in Boulder, Colo. For a video of a reading I gave in Denver with Jared, click here.)

:: Source: Wall Street Journal

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The plan outlined by the U.S. central bank Tuesday to effectively lend to companies to fund day-to-day operations will likely not include most auto lenders. That’s because the plan, which would involve Fed purchases of short-term debt known as commercial paper, calls for lending to companies with higher credit ratings.

A lobbyist for U.S. auto-finance companies said industry officials are discussing whether to approach the central bank about expanding the program, titled the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, to include auto lenders, whose access to credit has become further restricted amid upheaval in the markets.

“We’re hopeful that the Fed will consider purchases of other levels of commercial paper as well,” said Chris Stinebert, president and chief executive officer of the American Financial Services Association. “There’s a real lack of liquidity.”

A Federal Reserve spokesman declined to comment on any efforts by the auto industry to seek help from the central bank.

In a sign of the auto-finance industry’s troubles, GMAC, partly owned by General Motors, said on Monday it would restrict car loans to U.S. consumers with credit scores of 700 and above.

Auto lenders play a critical role because they finance the purchase of cars by both dealers and consumers. But they are facing a growing crisis from many sides, including the freezing of credit markets and the broader economic downturn.

They are becoming increasingly leveraged because of their inability to sell securities backed by auto loans. One factor is that many of these loans are for SUVs and trucks, whose values have declined as consumers turn to smaller vehicles amid high gas prices. But auto lenders say they are suffering more from a general tightening of credit markets than bad assets.

“They’re just caught in this cycle they didn’t create,” Stinebert said. He maintained that qualified consumers will still have no problems purchasing cars, but that the markets “continue to tighten.”

Congressional leaders have said in recent weeks that auto companies and their

lending arms will be eligible for the $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, which will involve the government’s purchasing troubled assets. The plan originally targeted bad home loans but auto-finance companies were among other liquidity-starved businesses who successfully lobbied to be included in the plan.

Last month, House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.), responding to a question from Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.) said he would support action from the Federal Reserve to help the auto-finance industry in unusual and exigent circumstances.

The Fed has authority to lend to nonfinancial companies and recently used that authority for American International Group and certain parts of the commercial paper market. Both cases, however, involved broader systemic concerns about the financial system and overall economy. – Josh Mitchell

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–In Atlanta, the wealthy were seeking psychiatric help for their portfolio losses. “I’ve had people who’ve always had money feeling panicked and stressed and crying and feeling a lot of loss during the past year,” Atlanta psychologist Mary Gresham said.

–Private jet-setters are curtailing their flights or downgrading to first-class commercial to save money. Destiny’s Child member Michelle Williams is flying (gasp) coach. “We all have to adjust. We just have to deal with it,” Williams said. “These prices are not going to come down.”

–One risk of letting the rich fly commercial: air rage. Mathias Guerrand-Hermes, 38 years old, an heir to the Hermes fashion fortune, appeared in a Brooklyn federal court and handed over $1 million in extra bail money in exchange for permission to take two business trips. Why so much?

Last week, Mr. Hermes was hauled into court with a cut lip and a torn shirt, accused of starting a brawl with an Air France flight crew in which he allegedly took a swing at the captain and grabbed him by the genitals.

–There was some good news for wealth creation. Afghanistan bought local rights to the TV show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” So now there will be two ways to get rich in the country: grow poppies or go on TV.

–Britain continued to obsess over “yacht-gate,” a scandal stemming from a visit of shadow chancellor George Osborne to Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska on his 238-foot yacht off Corfu. Financier Nat Rothschild claims Mr. Osborne used the visit to try to solicit a £50,000 donation for Tory party funds.

–Another rich space traveler paid a visit to the space station. A Soyuz capsule carrying Austin computer game designer Richard Garriott and two Russian cosmonauts landed in a remote area of Kazakhstan late Thursday. Mr. Garriott, 47, paid $30 million for a round-trip flight to the international space station that began Oct. 12.

–Just when you think over-the-top spending is dead, along comes a $6.5 million watch. An unnamed European billionaire has commissioned luxury Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin to make a one-of-a-kind $6.5 million timepiece. Yes, it’s complicated. It will have a perpetual calendar and leap year, star chart, celestial annual calendar, tourbillon regulator, sunrise and sunset indication, perpetual time equation, phases and age of the moon, substantial power reserve, multiple time zones and day-night indication, and lots more.

I suspect it also will have hands.

:: Source: Wall Street Journal

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