The Missouri tot is among the youngest of just a few dozen children to try an experiment in which doctors are adapting a new technology for adults' failing hearts to the special needs of their smallest patients.

It's too early to know how well the therapy, called cardiac resynchronization, will work. But so far, a handful of youngsters are doing so well they've been taken off the heart transplant waiting list, and the hope is that others improve enough to postpone that operation.

"At least in the short term, we can improve their symptoms and quality of life," predicts Rhee, the electrophysiology chief at St. Louis Children's Hospital.

Cardiac resynchronizers, which hit the market three years ago, can dramatically help many adults with heart failure. Their hearts are weakened by age, a survived heart attack or some other disease, and get flabbier as they struggle to pump blood through the body.

Pacemakers are best known for speeding up a sluggish heartbeat. The resynchronizers are souped-up pacemakers that work differently - because in heart failure, the struggling heart beats too fast. Instead, three wires that deliver electricity are threaded deep into various parts of the heart to make the pumping chambers, called ventricles, move together in rhythm, thus increasing their power.

Children's heart failure has very different causes. Some are born with an enlarged heart or suffer a heart-damaging viral infection. Others are born with structurally abnormal hearts, and surgeries to correct those birth defects can hurt the heart's electrical system in ways that, years later, show up as weakened pumping action.

Implanting the pacemaker can be very different, too. Very young children's blood vessels are too small to thread the wires through, requiring open surgery to put the pacemaker "leads" on the outside of the heart instead of the inside. Some hearts are so small they can handle only one wire.

"We have to bend the rules a little bit and come up with new ways to use this very powerful technique," says Dr. Anne M. Dubin, a pediatric electrophysiologist at Stanford University Medical Center.

Dubin tracked about 60 cases of cardiac resynchronization performed in U.S. children at 16 hospitals, the first attempt to count. Rhee's hospital has performed 12 more.

On average, resynchronization substantially improved the heart's pumping ability, called the ejection fraction, Dubin reported at a major heart - https://www.b2bmarketing.net/search/gss/major%20heart meeting in May. Rhee reports a doubling of that crucial measure.

But about 15 percent of the child patients suffer complications at the time of the pacemaker implant, Dubin found, ranging from wires slipping out of place to infection, a stroke and a death.

"We really don't know who to do this in yet," she cautions. Still, "it's very exciting because there are so many possibilities."

Patients like Damaris Ochoa are fueling supporters' drive to improve study of the experimental option.

Her sponge-like newborn heart never properly hardened into smooth muscle, and by age 4 months Damaris had only 10 percent heart function. On a ventilator awaiting a transplant, Rhee says the baby likely had weeks to live, and infant donor hearts are rare.

Transplant candidates require a laboratory heart test that lets Rhee take the extra step of mapping spots where electrical conduction seems abnormal. The test itself can be somewhat risky - a catheter poked a hole in Damaris' soft heart and she had to be resuscitated.

But Rhee found what he thought was the right spot, and implanted a resynchronizer lead through a small cut under her left arm. Another cut near the navel holds the device's battery.

Damaris was home in Kansas City a week later, and now at age 10 months has doubled her weight to 18 pounds and 청주출장마사지 - https://www.anmapop.com/%ec%b2%ad%ec%a3%bc%ec%b6%9c%ec%9e%a5%ec%83%b5%cf... crawls around the house chasing her four siblings. "It's like nothing was ever wrong," says her father, Oscar Ochoa.

"To reverse somebody who is that far gone is pretty much unheard of," says Rhee. "It's pretty gratifying."

By Lauran Neergaard

Beijing opposes actions by foreign military ships and planes in waters near its coast that could "affect China's security interests," the military's newspaper People's Liberation Army Daily said in an editorial.

"If no one harms me, I harm no one, but if someone harms me, I must harm them," said the editorial, signed by Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, a frequent outspoken commentator on military matters.

"As far as the Chinese people and the Chinese military are concerned, these are not joking remarks," Luo wrote.

China has repeatedly criticized the drills, saying they risked heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula and ignored its objections to any foreign military exercises off its coast.

N. Korea Reportedly Fires Artillery into SeaN. Korea Threatens to Retaliate Against S. KoreaU.S., S. Korea Warn North with Anti-Sub BombsPyongyang Talks War, US Holds Drills Off Korea North Korea Threatens "Sacred War" N. Korea Threatens "Physical Response" to DrillsN. Korea Warns U.S.: Halt Exercises, Sanctions

The expected participation of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington is particularly irksome to China because of its status as a symbol of U.S. power in the Pacific and the possibility of its F-18 warplanes flying within range of Beijing.

The exercises are the second in a series of U.S.-South Korean maneuvers to be conducted in the East Sea off Korea and the Yellow Sea. No date has been announced, but they are expected to happen in the coming weeks. The first maneuvers were conducted last week.

Although the Yellow Sea consists mostly of international waters, 여수출장마사지 - https://www.toptopanma.com/%ec%97%ac%ec%88%98%ec%98%a4%ed%94%bc%ea%b1%b8... China regards it as lying within its vaguely defined security perimeter. China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement earlier this week demanding the U.S. and South Korea "take China's position and concern seriously."

While Luo's editorial mentioned no specific - http://www.hometalk.com/search/posts?filter=specific responses, China has recently given an unusual degree of publicity to a series of military drills and live-firing exercises along its eastern coastline - seen by some as a direct response to the U.S.-South Korean exercises.

The criticism comes amid renewed verbal sniping between Beijing and Washington over the South China Sea, which China claims in its entirety, along with the myriad tiny islands lying within it.

Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also have staked claims on all or some of the territory, which straddles vital shipping lanes, important fishing grounds and is believed rich in oil and natural gas reserves.

China responded with outrage when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a regional conference last month that the U.S. had a "national interest" in seeing territorial disputes in the South China Sea resolved through a "collaborative diplomatic process by all claimants."

Beijing prefers to leverage its size and strength to deal with each claimant individually and blasted Clinton's remarks as U.S. interference in its affairs.

China has also been alarmed by joint search-and-rescue exercises this week between the U.S. and Vietnamese navies, viewing it as part of efforts to build an "Asian NATO" to contain Beijing's rising influence.

Beijing opposes actions by foreign military ships and planes in waters near its coast that could "affect China's security interests," the military's newspaper People's Liberation Army Daily said in an editorial.

"If no one harms me, I harm no one, but if someone harms me, I must harm them," said the editorial, signed by Maj. Gen. Luo Yuan, a frequent outspoken commentator on military matters.

"As far as the Chinese people and the Chinese military are concerned, these are not joking remarks," Luo wrote.

China has repeatedly criticized the drills, saying they risked heightening tensions on the Korean peninsula and ignored its objections to any foreign military exercises off its coast.

N. Korea Reportedly Fires Artillery into SeaN. Korea Threatens to Retaliate Against S. KoreaU.S., S. Korea Warn North with Anti-Sub BombsPyongyang Talks War, US Holds Drills Off Korea North Korea Threatens "Sacred War" N. Korea Threatens "Physical Response" to DrillsN. Korea Warns U.S.: Halt Exercises, Sanctions

The expected participation of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington is particularly irksome to China because of its status as a symbol of U.S. power in the Pacific and the possibility of its F-18 warplanes flying within range of Beijing.

The exercises are the second in a series of U.S.-South Korean maneuvers to be conducted in the East Sea off Korea and the Yellow Sea. No date has been announced, but they are expected to happen in the coming weeks. The first maneuvers were conducted last week.

Although the Yellow Sea consists mostly of international waters, China regards it as lying within its vaguely defined security perimeter. China's Foreign Ministry issued a statement earlier this week demanding the U.S. and South Korea "take China's position and concern seriously."

While Luo's editorial mentioned no specific responses, China has recently given an unusual degree of publicity to a series of military drills and live-firing exercises along its eastern coastline - seen by some as a direct response to the U.S.-South Korean exercises.

The criticism comes amid renewed verbal sniping between Beijing and Washington over the South China - http://www.homeclick.com/web/search/search.aspx?Ntt=South%20China Sea, which China claims in its entirety, along with the myriad tiny islands lying within it.

Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines also have staked claims on all or 광주출장안마 - https://www.popanma.com/%ea%b4%91%ec%a3%bc%ec%b6%9c%ec%9e%a5%ec%83%b5%cf... some of the territory, which straddles vital shipping lanes, important fishing grounds and is believed rich in oil and natural gas reserves.

China responded with outrage when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a regional conference last month that the U.S. had a "national interest" in seeing territorial disputes in the South China Sea resolved through a "collaborative diplomatic process by all claimants."

Beijing prefers to leverage its size and strength to deal with each claimant individually and blasted Clinton's remarks as U.S. interference in its affairs.

China has also been alarmed by joint search-and-rescue exercises this week between the U.S. and Vietnamese navies, viewing it as part of efforts to build an "Asian NATO" to contain Beijing's rising influence.

NEW YORK — Immigration judges rejected a record-high number of asylum cases this year, refusing 65 percent of immigrants seeking the refugee status, according to a recent report published by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC). More than 42,000 asylum cases were decided in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2018, the most since the group began tracking the data in 2001.

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The rise marks the sixth consecutive year that the denial rate has increased, according to TRAC's data. In 2012, the refusal rate was 42 percent; 2018's rejection rate is nearly 50 percent larger, according to TRAC's data. The group obtained data from the Department of Homeland Security through Freedom of Information Act requests.

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TRAC pointed out the increase "largely reflects asylum applicants who had arrived well before President Trump assumed office."

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Immigration judges have been busier than ever before. Courts decided on 42,224 asylum cases this fiscal year, an 89 percent increase from two years ago, according to TRAC's data. There is little relief in sight: as of Sept. 30, there were more than 1 million backlogged immigration cases, including those seeking asylum.

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More in Immigration

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"I worry that people's due process is at risk and that's at play in the rise of denial rates," said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy analyst at the American Immigration Council, in a telephone interview with CBS News. "People's claims are getting denied not because it wasn't valid, but because there just wasn't enough time to collect evidence and representation in an environment that's seeking speed."

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Mr. Trump made immigration a key issue of the midterms, often tweeting about a migrant caravan traveling through Central America and Mexico and deploying thousands of troops to the southern border ahead of Election Day on Nov. 6. Days later, Mr. Trump signed an executive order barring asylum from anyone who illegally entered the country, a decree later blocked by a federal judge.

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Asylum is a specific immigration process reserved for people of any nation fleeing persecution. Asylum seekers must establish they face "credible fear" in their home country, and – in a majority of cases – are allowed to live on U.S. soil while a judge determines the validity of their claim. Mr. Trump and other proponents of stricter immigration laws say the system has been abused by migrants, calling the practice "catch and release" and have made attempts to limit the syste

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A change in immigration language from former Attorney - https://www.gov.uk/search?q=Attorney General Jeff Sessions earlier this year severely limited the ability for asylum seekers to establish persecution based domestic and gang-related violence, two forms of persecution that disproportionately impact migrants from Central Americ

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Nearly 80 percent of last year's asylum decisions were for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, countries with already historically low asylum grant rates, according to Sarah Pierce, a policy analyst at the Migrant Policy Institute, a Washington, 카지노사이트 - https://absfuels.co.za/wp/ D.C.-based think tank.

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"You're dealing with an administration that's putting a lot of pressure on immigration judges while looking skeptically at asylum and humanitarianism," Pierce said in a telephone interview Monday evening with CBS New

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Immigration judge selection continued to play a major role in asylum decisions, according to TRAC. Asylum law can have wide-ranging interpretation, leaving immigration judges with more discretion than some other areas of law, said Reichlin-Melnick. For example in San Francisco's immigration court, depending on the judge, asylum denial rates ranged from 10 percent to 97 percen

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"It's refugee roulette," Reichlin-Melnick said. "The single biggest factor on whether you win your case is just who you end up in front of."

CAIRO -- Yemen's warring parties will meet in Sweden this week for another attempt at talks aimed at halting their catastrophic 3-year-old war, but there are few incentives for major compromises, and the focus is likely to be on firming up a shaky de-escalation.

U.N. officials say they don't expect rapid progress toward a political settlement but hope for at least minor steps that would help to address Yemen's worsening humanitarian crisis.

Both the internationally-recognized government, which is backed by a U.S.-sponsored and Saudi-led coalition, and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels say they are striving for peace. A Houthi delegation arrived in Stockholm late Tuesday, accompanied by U.N. envoy Martin Griffiths. The government delegation and the head of the rebel delegation were heading to Sweden on Wednesday.

More in Yemen's Civil War

Confidence-building measures before the talks included a prisoner swap and the evacuation of wounded rebels for medical treatment. The release of funds from abroad by Yemeni President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi to pay state employees - http://www.estateguideblog.com/?s=employees in rebel-held territory is also in the works.

Yemeni scholar Hisham Al-Omeisy, who has written extensively about the conflict, said the talks would focus on "de-escalation and starting the political process."

"It's not much, but given the humanitarian situation and toxic political atmosphere currently prevalent in Yemen, it's better than nothing."

The conflict began with the Houthi takeover of the capital, Sanaa, and much of northern Yemen in 2014. The Saudi-led coalition went to war with the rebels the following March.

The war has claimed at least 10,000 lives, with experts estimating a much higher toll. Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties, and the Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea.

The fighting in Yemen has generated the world's worst humanitarian crisis. The executive director of the U.N.'s World Food Program, David Beasley, said Tuesday that 12 million people suffer from "severe hunger."

"I've heard many say that this is a country on the brink of catastrophe," Beasley said. "This is not a country on the brink of a catastrophe. This is a country that is in a catastrophe."

The mounting humanitarian needs, and outrage over the killing of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, have galvanized international support for ending the war. The United States has called for a cease-fire and reduced some of its logistical aid for the coalition. Iran has also signaled support, urging all sides "to have constructive and responsible participation in the talks."

But previous peace efforts have failed, with neither side willing to compromise.

Saudi Arabia is unlikely to tolerate what it views as an Iranian proxy on its doorstep, and the Houthis have little incentive to withdraw from the capital and other territories they have captured and held at great cost. Other armed groups taking part in the chaotic civil war, 당진출장마사지 - https://www.anmapop.com/%eb%8b%b9%ec%a7%84%ec%b6%9c%ec%9e%a5%ec%83%b5%cf... including southern separatists and local militias, will not be taking part in this week's talks.

At the same time, the two main parties could see the other as weakened, tempting them to make maximalist demands. Saudi Arabia has come under heavy U.S. pressure since the killing of Khashoggi, and the Houthis are under intense financial strain.

The impasse is on vivid display in Hodeida, a Red Sea port city where Yemen imports 70 percent of its food and humanitarian aid. Forces backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been trying to capture the city for months, but have been held off by rebels dug in on its outskirts, with neither side willing to back down.

The fighting in and around Hodeida killed nearly 1,500 civilians last month alone, and has displaced at least 134,000 families since June, according to the U.N. office for humanitarian aid.

In an appeal from Yemen, the regional director of the U.N. agency for children called for an immediate end to the years-long war.

"Yemen today is a living hell for millions of children ... there is only one massage to those who are gathering today in Sweden. That is the message of peace for this brutal war ... for that war to stop now," said UNICEF's Geert Cappelaere.

One idea likely to be discussed at the talks is a proposal for the rebels to hand over Hodeida to some type of U.N. administration. The two sides might also discuss further prisoner releases.

But the Houthis are unlikely to agree to withdraw from territory or lay down their arms, as the Yemeni government has repeatedly demanded. And Hadi's administration is unlikely to agree to a power-sharing arrangement that would grant the Houthis a larger role in government, which was one of the original aims of the rebellion.

"I don't expect much from this round," said Baligh al-Makhlafy, a Yemeni pro-government analyst attending the talks as a technical consultant. "Maybe there'll be some more exchange of prisoners or some progress on the economy, but I don't think the Houthis will leave Hodeida peacefully. They believe they have a powerful card there."

The pharmacies accuse the 15 drug makers of illegally conspiring to charge inflated prices in the United States while barring pharmacies from buying the makers' drugs at lower prices outside the country - https://www.biggerpockets.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&term=country .

"Each of the companies, all of them, are doing exactly the same thing: They're charging substantially more in the United States than they are elsewhere," Joseph Alioto, the San Francisco attorney representing the pharmacies, told KCBS Radio's Matt Bigler. "Almost all of the countries of the world are in one price range and the United States is 300 to 400 times greater."

Alioto filed the suit in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland. The suit alleges the pharmaceutical companies have hurt the pharmacies' bottom lines by violating California's antitrust and unfair business practices laws.

"While Pfizer hasn't had an opportunity to review this lawsuit in detail, any allegations of price fixing are totally without merit," said Bryant Haskins, a spokesman for New York-based Pfizer Inc., which is named in the lawsuit. "Importation of pharmaceutical products into the U.S. market is both illegal and dangerous because it increases the opportunity to introduce counterfeit or unapproved drugs into the distribution system."

The California lawsuit comes at a time when pharmaceutical companies are coming under increased scrutiny over their drug costs and marketing practices. Many of the same drugs sold in the United States are available in Canada and elsewhere for fractions of the retail prices.

"I get people that are going online and checking prices and saying 'Wow, I can buy this drug up in Canada for a third of the price you're charging me here,' and I don't have anything to respond other than the fact that I say, 'Jeez, you better go do it,'" said San Francisco pharmacist John Gelinas.

The Food and Drug Administration has repeatedly denied requests to import drugs from Canada, where the government controls prices and drugs are less expensive. It says that would open the door, through Canada, to drugs from other countries where quality control isn't as stringent as in the U.S.

Alioto says there's an overall conspiracy to create an artificial trade barrier around the U.S.

"The smoking gun obviously is very obvious, and that is the extreme price differential on the same drug," he told KCBS-AM.

The state of Vermont has filed a lawsuit against the federal agency over the issue.

Last month, Schering-Plough Corp. agreed to pay $346 million to settle charges that it paid a kickback to a health insurer in an attempt to evade a law requiring it to give its lowest prices to Medicaid, the government health program for the poor. Bayer has paid $257 million and GlaxoSmithKline has paid $86.7 million to settle similar allegations that they failed to give their best prices to Medicaid.

Other companies named in the lawsuit include Merck, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and 평택출장마사지 - https://www.anmaop.com/%ed%8f%89%ed%83%9d%ec%b6%9c%ec%9e%a5%ec%83%b5%cf%... Abbott Laboratories.

The drug industry has in the past defended its U.S. prices as a way to recoup hefty research and development costs.