The report said banks were being hit by homeowners breakingexisting fixed rate loans to lock in either low fixed orfloating rates which have
The report said banks were being hit by homeowners breakingexisting fixed rate loans to lock in either low fixed orfloating rates, which have tumbled amid an aggressive series ofinterest rate cuts from the central bank. The Reserve Bank of NZ has slashed its official cash rateby a total of 525 basis points to a record low 3 percent sincelast July, to counter the recession and global slowdown. As a result the proportion of floating rate loans had risento 23 percent from 14 percent. The level of fixed rate loans tobe refinanced within the next 12 months had risen to 41 percentfrom 37 percent. The report said New Zealand banks got around a third oftheir funding from offshore sources in 2008 and would need tore-enter foreign term debt markets, although they faced hurdlessuch as the threat to the country’s credit rating.
Credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s has cut NewZealand’s rating outlook to negative from stable and warned theAA-plus rating is under threat because of the deterioration inthe government’s fiscal position and ballooning current accountdeficit. KPMG’s Boyce said a plan was also needed to cope with theend of a government deposit guarantee scheme in October 2010,which has created a “wall of money” and will leave investorsuncertain what to do when the scheme ends (Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by James Thornhill). According to sources close to the Rodriguez family, the Yankees starting shortstop’s son, Nim, has been photographed at a local movie theater with teenage singing and acting sensation Miley Cyrus.Nim Rodriguez is currently dating Jenny Smith, who is in his math class. When he was contacted for a comment on the photographs, he denied allallegations, saying, “Jenny has pretty hair. She’ll always be my four square partner.”In an interview with his baseball playing father, A-Rod couldn’t believe anyone would make such accusations. Rodriguez explained, “Why would he do such a thing? I have no idea where he could have even learned about cheating in the first place.”A child expert weighed in on the situation, “For a child to have relationship issues at such a young age, usually it is caused by some sort oftraumatic event occuring during the childhood.
Knowing a parent is doing a 50-year-old pop star who’s kissed Britney Spears has been known to cause such issues in adolescents.”The pictures of Nim and Miley are set to be released in the August issue of People Magazine.The name of the movie that Rodriguez and Cyrus attended is unknown at the moment.. Ethicon Endo-Surgery Novel Investigational Notes and SSL Devices Featured in15 Presentations at SagesCincinNAti, April 22 /PRNewswire/ — Ethicon Endo-Surgery today announced thecompany’s novel, investigational* devices, including its NOTES Toolbox(TM),are featured in 15 studies being presented at the 2009 Society of AmericanGastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Annual Meeting. Setting thestage for human trials, 13 of the studies reported positive preliminaryexperiences with the devices during, or with direct application to, naturalorifice translumenal endoscopic surgery (NOTES). Two additional studiesdemonstrated a new multi-port device developed by Ethicon-Endo Surgerysuccessfully facilitated single-site laparoscopy (SSL).”The development of new technology will be integral in order to safely andresponsibly move SSL and NOTES forward,” said Daniel J. Scott MD, FACS,associate professor of surgery, University of Texas Southwestern MedicalSchool. “In particular, we found the natural orifice surgery devices developedby Ethicon Endo-Surgery addressed some fundamental limitations of theoff-the-shelf endoscopic instruments used in NOTES procedures to date. Thesenew devices overcome some of the force limitations typical of flexible devicesand may provide the operating clinician capabilities that are more in linewith laparoscopy.”The NOTES Toolbox is a comprehensive suite of devices specifically designedfor natural orifice surgery.
Highlights of the NOTES Toolbox studies presentedat the 2009 SAGES Annual Meeting include:–The Development and Testing of a Tethered, Independent Camera forNOTESand Single-Site Laparoscopic Procedures (Podium Presentation) – Foundanewly developed displaced visualization system provided surgeons a”stadium view” similar to that of a laparoscope duringpreclinical NOTES procedures in the porcine model. Study authors, ledbyImperial College (London) and Colchester General Hospital (UnitedKingdom), believe the system could help overcome visualizationchallenges and instrument congestion associated with NOTES and SSL.–A New NOTES Toolbox: Flexible Instruments for Translumenal Surgery(Emerging Tech Podium Presentation) – The study investigatorsconcludedthe NOTES Toolbox greatly expands the capabilities of the endoscopeandwill serve as an excellent foundation for future innovations. Thisstudy, in which the NOTES Toolbox was used in a porcine model, wasconducted by doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center,SahlgrenskaUniversity Hospital (Goteborg, Sweden) and Imperial College (London).–Tissue Apposition System (TAS) – New Technology to Minimize SurgeryforEndoscopically Unresectable Colonic Polyps (Podium Presentation) -Concluded the TAS, a novel technology developed by EthiconEndo-Surgeryfor the endoscopic placement of sutures, can be used safely to close adefect in the colon under laparoscopic control. Doctors from theUniversity Hospitals Case Medical Center conducted this study, whichincluded seven patients. Ethicon Endo-Surgery plans to investigate theuse of the TAS in NOTES procedures next.–Transgastric Uterine Horn Resection Using a Novel NOTES Toolbox(PodiumPresentation) – Successfully simulated a pure NOTES appendectomy in aporcine model using the NOTES Toolbox. Doctors at NorthwesternUniversity Feinberg School of Medicine led this study.–Completely Transvaginal NOTES Cholecystectomy in a Porcine Model UsingNovel Endoscopic Instrumentation (Poster Presentation) – Concluded apure NOTES cholecystectomy (gall bladder removal), without anylaparoscopic assistance, is feasible in a porcine model using theNOTESToolbox. To date, transvaginal cholecystectomy is the most commonNOTESprocedure performed in humans.
The study was led by doctors atSouthwestern Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, University ofTexasSouthwestern Medical Center.–A Novel Flexible Endoscopic Clip Applier Overcomes the Shortcomings ofCurrently Used Ligation Clips for NOTES (Emerging Tech PosterPresentation) – Determined that the Flexible Ligating Clip Applierquickly and precisely places true, zero-gap, ligating clips – thefirstflexible device of its kind to do so. The study, which involvedporcinemodels, was led by doctors at the University of California, San Diego.In the coming months, the NOTES Toolbox will be evaluated in a feasibilitytrial under an investigational device exemption (IDE) from the U.S Food andDrug Administration (FDA). The content of the NOTES Toolbox includes:–Tissue Apposition System–Steerable Flex Trocar with Rotary Access Needle–Flexible Bipolar Hemostasis Forceps–Flexible Maryland Dissector–Articulating Hook Knife–Articulating Snare–Articulating Needle Knife–Articulating Graspers–Articulating Biopsy ForcepsAbout NOTES and SSLNOTES is a new, investigational approach to minimally invasive surgery, inwhich external incisions are eliminated, potentially leading to reduced pain,a quicker recovery and a faster return to normal activities for the patient. In NOTES, surgery can be performed through a natural orifice, eliminating theneed for an external incision. To assist with visualizing the internalsurgical site, an endoscope is passed through a natural orifice such as themouth or vagina and then through an internal incision in the stomach, bladder,colon or uterus.Single-site laparoscopy (SSL) is another advanced form of minimally invasivesurgery that enables surgeons to operate almost exclusively through a singleentry point.About Ethicon Endo-SurgeryEthicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson & Johnson company, develops and marketsadvanced medical devices for minimally invasive and open surgical procedures,focusing on procedure-enabling devices for the interventional diagnosis andtreatment of conditions in general and bariatric surgery, as well asgastrointestinal health, gynecology and surgical oncology. Ethicon Endo-Surgery is actively leading the development of NOTES throughresearch to determine the most appropriate tools and technologies that mayenable safe and effective NOTES surgery.