MARKETS-European health expenditure to rise 2% a year

European health expenditure is expected to rise by 2% annually, reaching around US$722 billion in 1998, compared with an annual growth rate of about 1.8% for the period 1983-1993, estimates US market research firm The Freedonia Group Inc.

In the second volume of its world healthcare study World Health Care II FE Europe (number 667, $3200), Freedonia says spending for physicians' and other alternative site services will grow most rapidly, partic- ularly in western Europe where "stricter cost containment measures will lead to the greater substitution of outpatient for inpatient care." However, although spending on hospital care will grow more slowly, it will still …

Oxford BioMedica takes hit on Phase III TroVax failure.

LONDON -- Oxford BioMedica plc's share price plunged 60.27 percent to 7.35 pence (US15 cents) on Friday when the company said the Phase III trial of its cancer vaccine TroVax would not reach its primary endpoint of overall survival in renal cancer.

As a result, the product, which was partnered with Sanofi-Aventis SA in a $690 million deal agreed to in March 2007, will not meet the terms of the FDA's Special Protocol Assessment, and a further trial will be required to register TroVax in that indication.

The news follows the fourth interim review by the data safety monitoring board, carried out at the point when 190 of the patients recruited into the 733 patient study …

ASSEMBLY HOPEFULS DISCUSS ROOTS, TAXES.(CAPITAL REGION)

In their debate Wednesday night, State Assemblyman Roy J. McDonald and Easton Supervisor Daniel B. Shaw lived up to the adage that all politics is local as they attacked downstate liberal Democrats and reminded the audience of their Washington County roots.

The two Republicans are running in the Sept. 10 primary for the GOP line in the new 112th Assembly District, which includes some of the state's richest farmland. The Democratic candidate, Patrick Phillips of Wilton, sat with the crowd of about 100 people gathered at Fort Edward High School to hear his opponents.

McDonald said if he was to cut state spending he would sacrifice the aid that goes to the New …

LAWSUIT SAYS POLICE VIOLATE CIVIL RIGHTS ALLEGES OFFICIAL INDIFFERENCE.(Local)

Byline: John Caher Staff writer

A $4 million federal civil rights lawsuit filed Friday accuses Albany police of systematically and blatantly violating the rights of minorities while city officials react with indifference.

Albany attorney Mark S. Mishler contends the city's refusal to discipline white police officers who abuse minorities has "resulted in the belief by police officers of the city of Albany that they could violate the rights of (minorities) with impunity."

Mishler documents four instances since 1984 when federal juries had found white police officers violated the rights of minorities. None of the officers was disciplined, a fact that …

Ark. cop suspended after using Taser on girl, 10

A police officer who used a stun gun on an unruly 10-year-old girl after he said her mother gave him permission has been suspended _ not for using the Taser but for not having a video camera attached when he used it.

Mayor Vernon McDaniel said officer Dustin Bradshaw was suspended Wednesday for seven days with pay. McDaniel said the suspension is for not following department procedures because he didn't have the camera on.

McDaniel wants Arkansas State Police or the FBI to look into whether the use of the Taser was proper. The girl, who hasn't been identified, wasn't injured and is now at the Western Arkansas Youth Shelter in Cecil.

Police were …

Cowboys Lead Seahawks 17-13 After 3rd

SEATTLE - Miles Austin returned a kickoff 93 yards for a score following a Seattle touchdown to give the Dallas Cowboys a 17-13 lead over the Seahawks in the third quarter of Saturday's NFC wild-card game. The Seahawks had just regained the momentum following a 15-yard touchdown catch by Jeremy Stevens when Miles broke free down the left sideline.

Patrick Crayton carried a pair of defenders and stretched into the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown late in the second quarter to help the Cowboys carry a 10-6 lead into halftime.

Crayton caught Tony Romo's pass at the 5-yard line, then ran through and over Seattle's Jordan Babineaux and Michael Boulware before stretching the …

A cost-saving low-NOx process is to be demonstrated.

Developed by Thermal Energy International Inc. (TEI; Ottawa, Canada; thermalenergy .com), the Thermalonox process will be used for the first time on a 375-MW unit of American Electric Power's 2,000-MW coal-fired power plant at Conesville, Ohio. When the unit starts up in June, it is expected to reduce the NOx levels from 1.3-million [m.sup.3]/h of fluegas (FG) by at least 75-90%, or to about 25 ppmv.

Conventional selective-catalytic reduction (SCR) requires heating FG to above 500 [degrees] F in order to activate the catalyst -- typically Pt based -- for the conversion with ammonia. In contrast, Thermalonox works by injecting a water emulsion of phosphorous (as …