the world’s biggest search engine. Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else—three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft

Their Philosophy

The Internet is getting bigger and more disorganized every day. Cuil’s goal is to solve the two great problems of search: how to index the whole Internet—not just part of it—and how to analyze and sort out its pages so you get relevant results.

Cuil’s founders worked with other search engines and knew that tinkering with old systems wouldn’t work. A fundamentally different approach was needed. So we’ve developed new architecture and algorithms that can handle the exponential growth of the Internet and organize results that reflect its enormous complexity.

Cuil believes that:
Size matters

Size matters because many people use the Internet to find information that is of interest to them, even if it’s not popular. Existing technology can’t keep up with the increasing volume of Web pages. If a search engine is incapable of indexing the Internet properly how can it hope to provide accurate search results? Imagine if the phone company decided to stop listing infrequently called numbers in the phone book. Maybe no one phones your grandmother much, but if her friend from the old neighborhood wants to get in touch, shouldn’t her number be in the book? Cuil lists all the numbers, even the ones that aren’t called much. Because one day someone will need that number.
Popularity is useful, but not always important

Popularity is useful, but has dominated search results so heavily that it gets harder and harder to find the page you want, especially if your search is a complex one. Cuil respects popular pages and recognizes that for many simple searches, popularity is an easy answer to your question. But for a deeper search, establishing relevancy is more than a numbers game. Cuil prefers to find all the pages with your keyword or phrase and then analyze the rest of the content on those pages. During this analysis we discover that your keywords have different meanings in different contexts. Once we’ve established the context of the pages, we’re in a much better position to help you in your search.
Organization is fundamental

The Internet is information; usually too much. Ten blue links is a simple concept which fails to reflect the huge diversity and variety of information available to you on the Web. Cuil organizes the Internet so you can find the information you want. We separate different ideas from each other so you can choose the one that interests you. We pick images to illustrate the idea behind each page to aid you in your choice. We include roll-over definitions and offer you ideas to refine your search. We can do all this because we believe that information is only useful when it’s sorted. Cuil’s goal is to guide you towards answers to the questions you’re not even sure how to ask.
Cuil analyzes the Web, not its users

Privacy is a hot topic these days, and we want you to feel totally comfortable using our service. Because Cuil analyzes Web pages and not click-throughs, we don’t need to know your search history and habits. So our privacy policy is very simple: when you search with Cuil, we do not collect any personally identifiable information, period. We have no idea who sends queries: not by name, not by IP address, and not by cookie. Your search history is your business, not ours. We don’t need to keep logs of our users’ search activity, so we don’t. For further details, read our Privacy Policy. Don’t worry, it’s short and to the point. No legal mumbo-jumbo.

On Sunday morning, at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee, an unidentified gunman fired a number of shots with a shotgun, killing one person, and wounding at least six others. That person who started the Knoxville church shooting was finally tackled by two parishioners and restrained until the authorities arrived.

A man wielding a shotgun entered a church and opened fire as congregants watched a youth performance Sunday, killing one person and injuring eight others, police said.

The gunman was tackled by church members and eventually taken into police custody. None of the children were injured. A hospital spokeswoman said five of the wounded were in critical condition.

Knoxville Police Chief Sterling Owen identified the man killed as Greg McKendry, 60, a longtime church member and usher at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.

« It appears Mr. McKendry was the first person he (the gunman) encountered when he walked into the sanctuary, » Owen said. « It’s going to be a while before all the facts are cleared up. »

A church member who arrived moments after the shooting said the gunman fired three times and was tackled. Steve Drevick said he spoke to several eyewitnesses and that no one at the church recognized the gunman. He did said the gunman had more ammunition on him.

Officials wouldn’t say exactly how many people helped subdue the gunman.

« It was a large group and we are thankful for them for without it, this situation could have been even worse, » Mayor Bill Haslam said.

There were about 200 people at the time of the shooting watching a youth performance being put on by 25 children.

Church member Marty Murphy told The Knoxville News Sentinel that she was about 30 to 40 feet from the shooter when the rampage began.

« We heard the first shot, » she said. « It sounded like a bomb went off. We thought it was part of the program at first. »

She said church members dove under church pews and others ran out the sanctuary.

Murphy told the newspaper some of the children were close to the shooter when the attack began.

« One little girl had blood all over her, » she said. « She was just hysterical. I don’t know how that girl is going to sleep tonight. »

Another witness told the newspaper that the man killed was a hero.

« Greg McKendry stood in the front of the gunman and took the blast to protect the rest of us, » Barbara Kemper said.

Police had cordoned off the church with yellow and red tape, and were taking statements and collecting video cameras from church members who were taping the performance. Owen said the FBI also was assisting in the investigation.

The church’s minister was on vacation in western North Carolina at the time of the shooting but returned Sunday afternoon.

« We’ve been touched by a horrible act of violence. We are in a process of healing and we ask everyone for your prayers, » the Rev. Chris Buice said in a statement outside the church.

The Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church is a community that meets to worship and work together for social change, according to the church’s Web site. Since the 1950′s, the congregation has worked for desegregation, racial harmony, fair wages, women’s rights and gay rights, according to the Web site. The congregation also has provided sanctuary for political refugees, fed the homeless and founded a chapter of the ACLU.

Chez Reavie only needed a one-under 70 on Sunday to collect his first PGA Tour title at the Canadian Open.

Reavie, who came back early Sunday morning to birdie his last hole of the third round and grab the lead to himself, finished at 17-under-par 267 for a three-shot victory.

« I’m so excited, » said Reavie, a PGA Tour rookie this year. « For this to be my first legitimate chance to win a tournament and be able to pull it off is pretty amazing. »

Nothing could stop Chez Reavie’s momentum at the RBC Canadian Open.
He became a wire-to-wire winner at golf’s third-oldest national championship by shooting a final-round 70.

It was the first career PGA Tour victory of his career.
Reavie finished three shots ahead of Billy Mayfair (68) and four up on Sean O’Hair (68) and Steve Marino (70).

Canadian Mike Weir was unable to make a Sunday charge.

The popular lefty from Bright’s Grove. Ont. closed with a 69 and finished in a tie for fifth

Discovery Channel found the perfect way to entertain its audience for a whole Shark Week. The cable network starts its 21st annual programming dedicated to the aquatic creatures on Sunday with “Mythbusters: Shark Special” (9 p.m.), one of six fresh shows that will surely lure TV viewers. Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman will scrutinize once again traditional urban tales about sharks and even build a robo-shark with a length of 16 feet.

The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, which first aired in 1987, is a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to facts on sharks. Shark Week is held annually, normally running in July or August. During Shark Week 2006, the Silver Spring, Maryland, headquarters of the Discovery Channel was outfitted to resemble a giant shark.

In 2000, six million 3D Pulfrich glasses were distributed to viewers in the United States and Canada for an episode featuring an extinct giant shark which had 3D segments.

In 2005, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from the Discovery Channel series MythBusters hosted Shark Week, and a two-hour MythBusters « Jaws Special » was premiered for the event. In 2006, Mike Rowe from Dirty Jobs hosted, and two Dirty Jobs episodes were featured, titled « Jobs that Bite » and « Jobs that Bite Harder

In Columbia Pictures’ heart-racing sci-fi adventure Zathura, two squabbling brothers are propelled into deepest, darkest space while playing a mysterious game they discovered in the basement of their old house. On their fantastic journey, they are joined by a stranded astronaut and must survive meteor showers, hostile lizard-like aliens, a rocket-propelled robot run amok and an intergalactic spaceship battle. Unless they finish the game and reach the planet Zathura, they could be trapped in outer space forever.

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/zathura/

China named its Olympic women’s gymnastics team on Friday, and the inclusion of at least two athletes has further raised questions, widespread in the sport, about whether the host nation for the Beijing Games is using under-age competitors.

Chinese officials responded immediately, providing The New York Times with copies of passports indicating that both athletes in question — He Kexin, a gold-medal favorite in the uneven parallel bars, and Jiang Yuyuan — are 16, the minimum age for Olympic eligibility since 1997.

Officials with the International Gymnastics Federation said that questions about He’s age had been raised by Chinese news media reports, USA Gymnastics and fans of the sport, but that Chinese authorities presented passport information to show that He is 16.

Online records listing Chinese gymnasts and their ages that were posted on official Web sites in China, along with ages given in the official Chinese news media, however, seem to contradict the passport information, indicating that He and Jiang may be as young as 14 — two years below the Olympic limit.

Mary Lou Retton, the Olympic all-around gymnastics champion at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, recently watched a competition video of He and other Chinese gymnasts on the uneven bars.

“The girls are so little, so young,” Retton said. Speaking of He, Retton rolled her eyes and laughed, saying, “They said she was 16, but I don’t know.”

An advantage for younger gymnasts is that they are lighter and, often, more fearless when they perform difficult maneuvers, said Nellie Kim, a five-time Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union who is now the president of the women’s technical committee for the Swiss-based International Gymnastics Federation.

“It’s easier to do tricks,” Kim said. “And psychologically, I think they worry less.”

The women’s gymnastics competition at the Beijing Games, which begin Aug. 8, is expected to be a dramatic battle for the team gold medal between the United States and China. At the 2007 world championships, the Americans prevailed by 95-hundredths of a point.

On the uneven bars, He and Nastia Liukin of the United States are expected to challenge for the individual gold medal.

In Chinese newspaper profiles this year, He was listed as 14, too young for the Beijing Games.

The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts — now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache — shows He’s age as “1994.1.1.”

Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an “intercity” competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He’s passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008.

There has been considerable talk about the ages of Chinese gymnasts on Web sites devoted to the sport. And there has been frequent editing of He’s Wikipedia entry, although it could not be determined by whom. One paragraph that discusses the controversy of her age kept disappearing and reappearing on He’s entry. As of Friday, a different version of the paragraph had been restored to the page.

The other gymnast, Jiang, is listed on her passport — issued March 2, 2006 — as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.

A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang’s national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games.

Zhang Hongliang, an official with the Chinese gymnastics federation, said Friday that perhaps Chinese reporters and provincial sports authorities made mistakes in listing He’s and Jiang’s birth dates differently from the dates given on their passports.

“The two athletes have attended international sports competitions before, and I’m sure the information is correct,” Zhang said of the athletes’ passports

more

“I want it to be everything for her that she ever dreamed of,” Newton told the San Francisco Sentinel earlier in the week. “That’s why it is Montana. It’s her dream, right there on the river … I want it to be magical.”

“I see this wonderful incredible human being we’re lucky to have in the political sphere in San Francisco, Calif.,” she said, before hinting at his potential gubernatorial aspirations. “The whole state is lucky to have him.”

London-Paris from 38,50€*

Paris welcomes you! Enjoy one of the numerous exhibitions or choose the Area you dream of to have a walk!
*Under conditions

Timetable and reservations for train tickets, purchase railcards.

Train operator in France:

SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer).  To check train times & fares & book trains within France see www.raileurope.co.uk (UK residents) or www.voyages-sncf.com (for residents of any country, but see this advice on using it).  To check for disruption affecting trains in France (in French), click here or see www.infolignes.com.  Eurostar trains from London to Paris: www.eurostar.com.  Corsican Railways.  Nice-Digne railway.

Buy French train tickets direct from SNCF

Paris bus & métro: www.ratp.fr – for a Paris metro map, select ‘plans’

Time: GMT+1 (GMT+2 from last Sunday in March to last Saturday in October)

Currency: £1 = approx 1.25 euros.   $1 = approx 0.8 euros.    Currency converter

BULLETIN
HURRICANE DOLLY INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 13B…RETRANSMITTED
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL042008
200 PM CDT WED JUL 23 2008

…DOLLY MADE LANDFALL IN SOUTH PADRE ISLAND…EXPECTED TO MOVE
FARTHER INLAND OVER SOUTHERN TEXAS LATER TODAY…

A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE COAST OF TEXAS FROM
BROWNSVILLE TO CORPUS CHRISTI…AND FOR THE NORTHEASTERN COAST OF
MEXICO FROM RIO SAN FERNANDO NORTHWARD TO THE BORDER BETWEEN MEXICO
AND THE UNITED STATES. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY
SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF CORPUS
CHRISTI TO PORT O’CONNOR.

A TROPICAL STORM WARNING AND A HURRICANE WATCH ARE IN EFFECT FROM LA
PESCA TO SOUTH OF RIO SAN FERNANDO.

FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA…INCLUDING POSSIBLE
INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS…PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED
BY YOUR LOCAL WEATHER OFFICE.

AT 200 PM CDT…1900Z…THE EYE OF HURRICANE DOLLY WAS LOCATED
NEAR LATITUDE 26.4 NORTH…LONGITUDE 97.3 WEST. THIS POSITION IS
OVER LAGUNA MADRE ABOUT 35 MILES…60 KM… NORTH-NORTHEAST OF
BROWNSVILLE TEXAS AND 30 MILES…51 KM…EAST SOUTHEAST OF
RAYMONDVILLE.

DOLLY IS NOW MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 7 MPH…11 KM/HR.
ON THE FORECAST TRACK…THE EYE OF HURRICANE DOLLY WILL BE MOVING
INLAND OVER FAR SOUTH TEXAS LATER TODAY. PERSONS ARE ADVISED NOT TO
VENTURE OUTDOORS DURING THE RELATIVE CALM OF THE EYE BECAUSE WINDS
WILL SOON INCREASE QUITE RAPIDLY.

BECAUSE A PORTION OF THE CIRCULATION OF DOLLY HAS BEEN INTERACTING
WITH LAND…THE MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO NEAR 95
MPH… 150 KM/HR…WITH HIGHER GUSTS. DOLLY IS NOW A CATEGORY ONE
HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON SCALE. STRONGER WINDS…ESPECIALLY
IN GUSTS…ARE LIKELY ON HIGH RISE BUILDINGS. A GRADUAL WEAKENING
SHOULD BEGIN SOON AS THE EYE MOVES FARTHER INLAND.

HURRICANE FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 25 MILES…35 KM…FROM
THE CENTER…AND TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 140
MILES…220 KM. HARLINGEN TEXAS MEASURED 54 MPH…87 KM/HR SUSTAINED
WINDS WITH GUSTS TO 74 MPH…119 KM/HR.

MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE REPORTED BY AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE
PLANE AT LANDFALL WAS 967 MB…28.56 INCHES.

DOLLY IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 8 TO 12
INCHES…WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF 20 INCHES…OVER PORTIONS OF
SOUTH TEXAS AND NORTHEASTERN MEXICO OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
BROWNSVILLE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR HAS ESTIMATED UP
TO A FOOT OF RAIN SO FAR OVER PORTIONS OF COASTAL FAR SOUTH TEXAS.
THESE RAINS WILL LIKELY CAUSE WIDESPREAD FLOODING ACROSS PORTIONS
OF SOUTH TEXAS AND NORTHEAST MEXICO.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 6 TO 8 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS…ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES…CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE NORTH OF WHERE THE CENTER MAKES LANDFALL.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS TODAY
AND TONIGHT.

REPEATING THE 200 PM CDT POSITION…26.4 N…97.3 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD…WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 7 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS…95
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE…967 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
400 PM CDT.

$$
FORECASTER AVILA

Hurricane Dolly was downgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday afternoon, about an hour after it made landfall on South Padre Island, Texas, the the National Hurricane Center said.
Nobody wants to be caught unprepared.

« We’re looking at seventy-mile-per-hour winds or better, so we’re going to be prepared. We have everything pre-cut and labeled, ready to put up every year,” said one Texas resident.

« We recommend that you keep half a tank of fuel all the time during hurricane season it wont cost nearly as much as when it is time to fill to the top so that you can get a safe distance from the surge zones, » said Harris County Emergency Management coordinator, Mark Sloan.

Dolly was upgraded from a tropical storm Tuesday afternoon, with wind speeds strengthening to about 136 kilometres per hour.

At 5 a.m. Wednesday, the storm’s centre was about 105 kilometres east-southeast of Brownsville, moving northwest at about 13 kilometres per hour.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the coast of Texas, from Brownsville to Corpus Christi, and in Mexico from Rio San Fernando northward.

U.S. forecasters said the hurricane’s eye should hit the coast around midday Wednesday.

The U.S. Census Bureau said that based on Dolly’s projected path, about 1.5 million Texans could feel the storm’s effects.

The National Weather Service in Brownsville, said conditions were favorable for tornadoes into Wednesday morning, especially in deep south Texas and the adjacent coastal waters

Projet de loi constitutionnelle adopté par le Congrès

Scrutin public – Table des scrutins publics

Compte rendu analytique – compte rendu intégral

Dossier législatif

La séance publique en vidéo Le scrutin public en vidéo

Radovan Karadzic, one of the world’s most wanted men, was arrested yesterday 13 years after he was first indicted by the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal.

The 63-year-old war crimes suspect faces genocide charges for his role in the massacre of more than 8,000 Muslim men and boys at Srebrenica in Europe’s worst atrocity since the Second World War, and for organising the siege of Sarajevo which claimed 12,000 lives.

Performance

• A 3.6L DI VVT V6 engine with a projected 300 hp and manual six-speed transmission is standard on LS and LT models. Choose the available six-speed automatic with TAPshift to achieve an estimated 26 mpg highway1
• A 6.2L V8 with a projected 400 hp with six-speed automatic transmission with TAPshift includes Active Fuel Management technology to achieve 23 mpg highway1
• For the top-of-the-line, the 6.2L V8 with manual six-speed transmission produces a projected 422 hp
• Four-wheel independent suspension system, including a 4.5 link rear suspension
• Variable-rate power steering with the rack mounted forward of the front axle for better weight balance and greater driver feel
• Four-wheel disc brake systems with ABS standard on all models, including four-piston Brembo calipers on SS models
• StabiliTrak Electronic Stability Control System with traction control standard on all models
• Competitive/Sport modes for the Stabilitrak system offered on SS models, including launch control on SS models equipped with the six-speed manual transmission
• Robust body structure and exceptional build quality

Design

• Sleek, heritage-inspired styling with contemporary cues and 10 available exterior colors
• Detailed interior with heritage-inspired design, excellent attention to detail and available ambient LED lighting technology
• RS Appearance Package available on LT and SS, with HID headlamps with integrated halo ring feature, spoiler, specific taillamps and 20-inch wheels2
• Family of 18-, 19- and 20-inch wheels2
• Extensive list of options and accessories for almost unlimited personalization choices

Technology

• Bluetooth wireless technology for compatible phones3
• Premium Boston Acoustics 9-speaker, 245 watt audio system with subwoofer available on select models
• USB connectivity available on select models
• Ultrasonic Rear Parking Assist available on select models (planned for December, 2009)
• Remote vehicle starting system available on select models
• Six standard airbags: Dual-stage frontal air bags, Head-curtain side-impact air bags, Front-seat-mounted, side-impact thorax air bags for driver and front passenger.4
• OnStar with one-year Safe & Sound Plan standard, also available is Turn-By-Turn Navigation5 with Directions & Connections plan

Jeremy Shockey, the rough-and-tumble Oklahoman with the fiery personality, was traded to the New Orleans Saints for a pair of draft picks in 2009 — one in the second round, one in the fifth.

The .ME Registry is about to open domain name registrations on a first-come, first-served basis, and if initial indicators are accurate, the .ME domain names will move quickly. Open Registration officially begins July 17.

The .ME Registry concluded its Land Rush Period June 26. The 20-day time span was the first opportunity for the public to apply for .ME domain names. More than 80 different accredited registrars from 24 countries are offering the catchy domain extension. To date, through Sunrise and Land Rush, the .ME Registry has received more than 30,000 .ME applications.

« In the Land Rush already, applicants from around the world will be receiving some excellent domain names such as Click-On.ME, ChatWith.ME and Optimize.ME – illustrating just a few of the catchy names being awarded, » said Predrag Lesic, the registry’s executive director. « This extension really does lend itself to creative and attractive names whether for business or personal use. »

« This has been one of the quickest, most efficient contract-to-market timelines for any domain name extension, » said Lesic. « Open Registration is a prime time to secure your dotME. »

Two-year minimums are required on all .ME domain names registered during the Land Rush and initial Open Registration periods.

Merck & Co (MRK.N) and Schering-Plough (SGP.N) said they would delay release of company earnings until after the stock market closes on Monday, in order to update investors on a new important study of their shared Vytorin cholesterol fighter.

The new study, called SEAS, compares Vytorin to placebo among patients with aortic stenosis — a narrowing of the aortic valve that can lead to heart failure. An estimated 2 percent of people over age 65 have the condition. read more

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

In the latest setback for cholesterol drugs marketed by Merck & Co. (MRK) and Schering-Plough Corp. (SGP), a new study suggested Vytorin failed to show a benefit in people with a heart-valve problem.

It was the first study to show what effect the companies’ jointly marketed cholesterol drugs had on clinical outcomes such as heart attacks. Previous studies have primarily measured the drugs’ effects on cholesterol levels and artery thickness.

The outcome could put further pressure on sales of Vytorin and Zetia, which already have taken a hit this year because a previous study raised questions about their effectiveness.

read more

Merck and Schering-Plough postponed their earnings announcements today to wait for an update on a study of Vytorin, the cholesterol drug they co-market. (A description of the study, which looked at the drug in patients with a condition known as aortic stenosis, is online here.)

Shares of both companies are down so far today. We’re watching a webcast where the researchers are going over the data.

The results of the trial show that Vytorin reduced bad cholesterol by 61%, on average, compared with patients taking a placebo. There was no change in aortic valve disease between the groups, though there was a reduction of atherosclerotic events in the treatment group. A surprising finding was that more patients taking Vytorin died of cancer (39 or 4.1%) than those taking placebo (23 or 2.5%). The researchers noted that there was no significant increase in any type of cancer and that the findings come from small numbers of events.

Here’s what they’re saying.

1:22 Terje Pedersen, the leader of the research, said the researchers would rather have presented the data at a conference or published them in a journal. But they’re releasing the data to the public today because “there are a lot of rumors out there” about Vytorin and “we found it very difficult to maintain secrecy” about the results.

1:27 He’s describing aortic stenosis. Studies have suggested that risk is related to smoking, high blood pressure and elevated bad, or LDL cholesterol — the same risk factors for heart attacks. So maybe cholesterol drugs that lower the risk for heart attacks can help with aortic stenosis.

1:34 There were two groups of patients. One group received Vytorin, the other received placebo. The primary measure was a combination of factors that included several measures of events associated with aortic stenosis and other cardiovascular problems such as heart attacks.

1:38 The treated group had a big drop in LDL cholesterol. This is “substantially lower than we have seen” with other Vytorin studies.

1:39 There was no significant difference primary endpoint. But a secondary endpoint of ischemic events was significantly lower in the Vytorin group.

1:40 A “disturbing” safety signal: The rate of cancer deaths and serious problems associated with cancer was higher in the group that took Vytorin, compared to the group that took placebos. The difference was statistically significant. It’s possible that they patients who were randomized to the placebo group had a higher risk for cancer before the study began.

1:44 Sir Richard Peto of Oxford was part of a team brought in to analyze the cancer findings. He’s on the call now. He says the results don’t look like what you would expect if the drug was causing cancer. “It was many different types of cancer,” which you wouldn’t expect to see if the drug caused a particular kind of cancer. “This isn’t the sort of drug that would be expected to produce a material effect on cancer.” And, he said, the numbers weren’t “really much beyond what could be expected to arise” by chance.

1:47 Peto’s group went back and analyzed data from other Vytorin trials. The ongoing SHARP trial and IMPROVE-IT trials “do not support” the idea that Vytorin increases the risk of cancer. Those trials are much larger than the SEAS trial being reported here.

1:50 “These trials together to not provide credible evidence” that the drug raises the risk of cancer. “We should not be diverted for fears of cancer.”

1:51 Lots of statin trials show that statins and cholesterol lowering don’t increase the risk of cancer risk, Peto says. (Vytorin is a combination of a statin and another drug.)

1:57 “There is in these data no credible evidence of an overall increase in cancer.”

2:03 “These conclusions have already been reported to regulatory agencies.”

2:09 The IMPROVE-IT trial is continuing, says a researcher who briefly joined the conference by phone.

2:19 One of the researchers notes that this is the first trial to show that Vytorin appears to lower the rate of ischemic events such as heart attacks.

2:28 IMPROVE-IT has 11,000 people enrolled and is planning to enroll several thousand more, a researcher said. Data aren’t expected until 2011. That study (described here) is comparing Vytorin against a generic statin alone.

2:31 A reporter calling in points out that the lower rate of ischemic events is a secondary endpoint. A researcher notes that the confidence intervals on that finding are wide, and more research is needed on that issue.

2:34 The notion that the cancer signal was “disturbing” was Pedersen’s first reaction to the data. But after Peto’s further analysis of the data, Pedersen no longer is disturbed by the signal.

2:52 The call ends.

Links to Other Sites

CNNMoney.com Vytorin Didn’t Slow Aortic Valve Disease – Study

Reuters Vytorin not linked to cancer in other trials-doctor

Tropical Storm Dolly entered the Gulf of Mexico, where it may strengthen into a hurricane in the next day while sparing Mexico’s state-owned oil rigs. A hurricane watch was issued for Texas’s southern coast.

Dolly’s center was about 55 miles (105 kilometers) north- northeast of Progreso, Mexico, and heading west-northwest above the area’s warm waters, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said just before 11 a.m. Miami time. Sustained winds were about 50 miles per hour.