Nissan Says Its Electric Leaf Gets Equivalent of 99 M.P.G

 

This week, I read an article about Nissan’s new car, Nissan Leaf. I have heard that cars made by Japanese company are popular in America, but I do not know so much. Therefore, this is a good opportunity to learn about it.

 The article is as follows:

The federal government has rated the Nissan Leaf, the battery-powered car scheduled to go on sale next month in five states, as getting the fuel equivalent of 99 miles a gallon, Nissan said Monday.

 The Environmental Protection Agency, which tests vehicles for emissions and fuel efficiency, has determined Leaf’s official range to be 73 miles on a fully charged battery, much less than the 100 miles previously claimed by Nissan.

Both figures will appear prominently on the Leaf’s window label, which shows the estimated yearly electricity cost as $561. The E.P.A. calculates annual fuel costs as $867 for the Toyota Prius hybrid and $1,669 for Chevrolet’s Malibu, which like the Leaf, is classified as a midsize car.

The E.P.A. puts vehicles through five tests to simulate varying driving conditions and levels of climate-control usage.

Because drivers cannot simply stop at a gas station and refuel, the Leaf’s range is expected to weigh heavily on shoppers’ minds. Adding to any confusion they might feel, the Leaf will have a second sticker from the Federal Trade Commission — it regulates advertising by alternative-fuel vehicles — displaying the car’s range as 96 to 110 miles.

In Japan, I think Toyota Prius is the most popular electronic car, despise there are many other hybrid car, for example, crown. This summer, I went Soen driving school. The car used at the school is prius! The school said “we are using prius!” as appeal.  Why many Japanese love prius? I think, this is because not only it is eco-friendly car, but also it is new, high technology, and cool car. I feel that Japanese think having prius as status. In addition, some people who use prius seem that they indicate they are considering environment.

At any rate, hybrid car is nice, I think. When I drive prius, I was surprised at the smoothness. Also, reading this article, I was surprised that hybrid car is progressing aggressively day by day. According to this article, yearly electronic cost of Leaf is $561! In addition to that, Leaf is very economical because lead gets equivalent of 99 mile per gallon.

However, there are some disadvantages. For example, electronic car does not make noise so much. This seems to be nice, but it is so small noise that people who are walking near the car do not notice when it comes close with them.

 Although there are advantages and disadvantages, electronic car is very attractive. I expect more and more variety of electronic cars are sold in the future.

Nick Bunkley.” Nissan Says Its Electric Leaf Gets Equivalent of 99 M.P.G”

New York Times 22 Nov.2010 :n.pag 24 Nov.2010

F.D.A. Panel Endorses a Drug to Treat Lupus

This week, I read an article about drug to treat lupus. I was interested in this article because I study pharmacy.

The article is as follows:

A federal advisory committee on Tuesday endorsed what could become the first drug approved in decades to treat lupus.

The advisory committee to the food and drug Administration recommended by a 13-2 vote that the drug, Benlysta, developed by human genome science, should be approved.

In reaching its decision, the committee weighed what some members characterized as only marginal efficacy of the drug with the desperate needs of patients with the disease.

About 30 patients, relatives of patients or patient advocates, some breaking into tears, described to the committee how lupus had devastated their lives or the lives or their loved one and implored the committee to recommend approval of the drug.

The F.D.A. is scheduled to decide on approval by Dec. 9. It usually, though not always, follows the recommendations of its advisory committees.

Benlysta, would be the first approved drug for Human Genome Sciences, a biotechnology company in Rockville, Md., that hunted for human genes in its database to discover the protein in the body that the drug inhibits. If approved, Benlysta would be one of the first drugs to result from the genomics revolution, which has largely failed so far to live up to its promise.

Analysts expect Benlysta, which will be marketed with help from GlaxoSmithKline, to achieve more than $1 billion in sales.

Before I entered into pharmaceutical faculty of Hokkaido University, I did not know how to develop drugs. However, I have much knowledge about drug, so I was interested in this article.

Today, it takes ten years to develop drug at least. First, researchers do screening, a computational technique used in drug discovery research. It takes about two years. Then, researchers survey the effect and safety of the ingredient using animals instead of human being. It takes some three years. Next, the new drug is used for human being.

Checking the new drug is safe, they wait the approval of Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

The patients, especially who are suffering from the sick that have not definite treatment, will think that it takes so long time to discover the new drug. I thought so, too before studying drug. However, it takes much time for safety. Also, a lot of medicine had discovered, so it is very difficult to discover new drug.

 To discover new drug, we should make children interested in science and make many people study drug. In addition to that, we research the new field, genome because genome has not researched so much, so there are new substances.

Andrew Pollack. ”F.D.A Panel Endorses a Drug to Treat Lupus”

New York Times 16 Nov.2010 :n pag 17 Nov.2010

First Lady’s Dance Moves Woo Indian Crowds

This week, I read an article that Mrs. Obama visited India. The summary is as follows:

While President Obama is wooing India with promises of increased trade and United Nations clout, Mrs. Obama communicated with Indians, especially with children. The combination has been unexpected success. Before official three-day began on Saturday, the evaluation is lukewarm. However, Indian public and media become exuberant after the visit.

Mrs. Obama’ s relaxed manner and enthusiasm won her high prize.

Also, carefully planned event have enabled Mrs. Obama to interact casually with children, albeit scrum of photographer and reporters. She strongly advocated the importance of education, especially for girls. This is because as many as 60 percent of children live in poverty in India, overall literacy rates hover at 65 percent and female literacy rate are as low as 33 percent in some areas of the country. This time, she said “I didn’t grow up with a lot of money. I never even imagined being the first lady of the United States. But because I have an education, when the time came to this, I was ready.”

I did not know about Michael Obama well, so this was a good opportunity to learn of her human nature. When I read this article, I think she is very nice person.

She can understand people’s pain.

The first reason is that as she said, she is not so rich when she was a child. So, now she is the first lady, she knows the feeling of the public. Other first lady, for example, Carla Sarkozy, French first lady, is thought to be liberty. (She did not come to Japan when there was Shiretoko summit in Hokkaido!)  However, compared to other first ladies like Carla, Michael seems to takes matters earnestly. I believe that she thinks other people, especially children seriously, and she wants others to live happy life from the bottom of her heart.

The second reason is that she is an African American, so I think she had had many serious troubles so far. (I think to judge people from the color of the skin is stupid!)  However, Mrs. Obama got over the difficulties. Therefore, she is tough, and understand the feeling of hardness.

In addition to that as she makes much of education, I also think education is very important. Mrs. Obama said “I never even imagined being the first lady of United States. But, because I had an education, when the time came to this, I was ready.” Education helps people. For example, educated mothers can help their children when they are sick, but non-educated mothers can not help them. Therefore, education is thought to be significant.

 Reading this article, I can understand the job of first lady and Mrs. Obama. I decided to check the news of them from now on.

Heather Timmons. “First Lady’s Dance Moves Woo Indian Crowds”

New York Times 8 Nov. 2010 : n.pag 10 Nov. 2010