Jennifer Hudson has had many triumphs in her life, including an Oscar, a Grammy and her recent loss of 80 pounds, which she says has "empowered" her. But success has not come easily for the 30-year-old singer-actress. In October 2008, she faced unspeakable tragedy when her mother, brother and 7-year-old nephew were shot to death inside their Chicago home. On Sunday night's episode of Dateline, Hudson talked about how she found the courage to go back into the spotlight after months of mourning. (Watch the video below.)
Radiation Therapy Program, BC Cancer Agency and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Abstract
PURPOSE:
To report toxicity, local control, enucleation, and survival rates for patients with peripapillary choroidal melanoma treated with proton therapy in Canada.
METHODS AND MATERIALS:
We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with peripapillary choroidal melanoma (?2 mm from optic disc) treated between 1995 and 2007 at the only Canadian proton therapy facility. A prospective database was updated for follow-up information from a chart review. Descriptive and actuarial data are presented.
RESULTS:
In total, 59 patients were treated. The median age was 59 years. According to the 2010 American Joint Committee on Cancer TNM classification, there were 20 T1 tumors (34%), 28 T2 tumors (48%), and 11 T3 tumors (19%). The median tumor diameter was 11.4 mm, and the median thickness was 3.5 mm. Median follow-up was 63 months. Nineteen patients received 54 cobalt gray equivalents (CGE) and forty patients received 60 CGE, each in 4 fractions. The 5-year actuarial local control rate was 91% (T1, 100%; T2, 93%; and T3, 59%) (p = 0.038). There was a suggestive relationship between local control and dose. The local control rate was 97% with 60 CGE and 83% with 54 CGE (p = 0.106). The metastasis-free survival rate was 82% and related to T stage (T1, 94%; T2, 84%; and T3, 47%) (p < 0.001). Twelve patients died, including eleven with metastases. The 5-year actuarial rate of neovascular glaucoma was 31% (23% for T1-T2 and 68% for T3, p < 0.001), and that of enucleation was 0% for T1, 14% for T2, and 72% for T3 (p < 0.001). Radiation retinopathy (74%) and optic neuropathy (64%) were common within-field effects.
CONCLUSIONS:
Proton therapy provides excellent local control with acceptable toxicity while conserving the globe in 80% of cases. These results are consistent with other single-institution series using proton radiotherapy, and toxicity rates were acceptable. T3 tumors carry a higher rate of both local recurrence and metastasis.
Copyright ? 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Obama administration is denying any role in the killing of an Iranian university professor working at a key nuclear facility. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
By msnbc.com staff
The assassination Wednesday of an Iranian?scientist?was similar to other killings aimed at the country's nuclear program, bringing new accusations by Iran that Israel or the United States is behind the string of attacks.
Nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, 32,?was killed?Wednesday by a magnetic bomb reportedly attached to his car by two assailants on a motorcycle in traffic. The cars of three other Iranian scientists, at least two of whom were working on nuclear activities,?were?blown up in 2010 and 2011 in similar circumstances.
Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, in charge while President?Mahmoud Ahmadinejad travels in Latin America, told state television that?"this terrorist act was carried out by agents of the Zionist regime (Israel) and by those who claim to be combating terrorism (the United States) with the aim of stopping our scientists from serving" Iran.
He said Iran's nuclear program would go on.
Iran has said it is?developing nuclear capabilities only?for energy and other peaceful purposes, but the United States and its allies accuse it of wanting to create a nuclear weapon. Four rounds of sanctions have been imposed on Iran.?On Jan. 23, European Union foreign ministers plan to discuss a possible oil export embargo, adding further pressure.
Iran urged the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon?to condemn the assassinations of scientists, calling the killings?"cruel, inhumane and criminal acts of terrorism." Iran's U.N. Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee appealed to Ban and the 15-nation council,?"Any kind of political and economic pressures or terrorist attacks targeting the Iranian nuclear scientists, could not prevent our nation in exercising this right" to pursue its nuclear program, Khazaee said in a letter obtained by Reuters.
'Unnatural' happenings The Obama administration denied any U.S. involvement. Israel did not deny involvement, and there are hints that the Jewish state at least had advance knowledge.?
The Associated Press reported that??Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz told a closed meeting of Israel's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that "2012 is expected to be a critical year for Iran." He cited "the confluence of efforts to advance the nuclear program, internal leadership changes, continued international pressure and things that happen to it unnaturally."
Gantz's testimony was leaked by a meeting participant who spoke on condition of anonymity.
On Wednesday, Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, posted on Facebook: "I don't know who settled the score with the Iranian scientist, but I certainly am not shedding a tear," according to a Reuters report.
Hazhir Teimourian, an Iran expert at the Limehouse Group of Analysts in London, stressed to Reuters that it was impossible to be certain who carried out the attack. But he said Israel was a logical candidate.
"The Israelis really have the ability and the incentive," he said.
List of attacks Iran has accused the Mossad, the CIA and Britain's spy agency of engaging in an underground campaign against nuclear-related targets, including at least four killings since early 2007. They include:
In January 2010, a physics professor, Massoud Ali Mohammadi, was killed by a bomb in a motorcycle?that blew up near his car as he left his Tehran home?for work.
In November 2010,?scientist Majid Shahriari, who managed a "major project" for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization was killed and?colleague?Fereydoon Abbasi, on the U.N. Security Council?s sanctions list for ties to the Iranian nuclear effort, was wounded when motorcyclists attached magnetized bombs to?their cars in separate parts of Tehran.
In July 2011, Darioush Rezaeinejad, who allegedly was working on a nuclear detonator, was shot in the neck outside his daughter's Tehran kindergarten.
In 2007, nuclear scientist Ardeshir Hosseinpour died of gas poisoning.
Another key attack was the release of a malicious computer virus known as Stuxnet in 2010 that temporarily disrupted controls of some Iranian centrifuges ? a key component in nuclear fuel production.
Ronen Bergman, an investigative journalist with the Yediot Ahronot daily and expert on Israeli intelligence affairs, said the Mossad has "for years" targeted enemies that include "nuclear proliferators."
"The outcome of such assassinations are the actual neutralization of the main scientists and the intimidation of those left behind," he said.
Israel measures the gains in terms of the delays they cause Iranians.
"They are not keeping to the schedules they would like to keep to," former Mossad spymaster Meir Dagan said in a recent television interview, smilingly crediting the apparent sabotage spree to "God, who controls everything."
It also provokes panic in surviving colleagues, said an Israel official, generating a phenomenon that Mossad veterans dub "virtual defection."
"It's not that we've been seeing mass resignations, but rather a sense of spreading paranoia given the degree to which their security has been compromised," the official, who has extensive Iran expertise, told Reuters.
"It means they have to take more precautions, including, perhaps, being a little less keen to stand out for excellence in their nuclear work. That slows things down."
Israeli attacks Israel has an admitted history of state-sponsored assassination and intimidation, from letter-bombs it sent German scientists serving Egypt's missile program in the 1960s to the Mossad hunt, using guns and booby-traps, for Palestinians involved in killing 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics.
More recently, Israeli air-launched missiles and special forces picked off Palestinian uprising leaders. In 1995, motorbike-borne gunmen killed Islamic Jihad chief Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta, and another suspected Mossad team smothered Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel in 2010.
Proponents of such tactics say they stave off more ruinous open war and few voices are raised in Israel in condemnation. Mabhouh had helped smuggle rockets to Palestinians, a threat Israel cited in justifying its 2008-2009 offensive on the Gaza Strip, amid international outcry at the high civilian toll.
Also on Wednesday:
Clinton cites danger:?Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, reiterating that the U.S. played no role in the killing of Roshan, said the United States is looking for an international understanding with Iran that ends its uranium enrichment program.called recent Iranian threats to close off the Persian Gulf "provocative and dangerous." She said the U.S. was committed to keeping the international waterway open. She called it "part of the lifeline that keeps oil and gas moving around the world." About 35 percent of the world's seaborne traded oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz.?
Slammed at the U.N.: France, Britain, Germany and the United States on Wednesday took advantage of a closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council to condemn Iran's decision to begin enriching uranium at an underground bunker.?"It's a worrying development," French Deputy Ambassador Martin Briens told reporters. He added that Tehran's new move was a violation of multiple resolutions of the U.N. Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.?"We see this as a step of escalation by ... Iran," Deputy German Ambassador Miguel Berger said.
Cuba visit:????Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Havana for a one-day visit. Reuters reported that Ahmadinejad was greeted by one of Cuba's vice presidents, Esteban Lazo, and was driven away in a black Mercedes ahead of a meeting with President Raul Castro.?Cuba was his third stop on a Latin American tour meant to show support from four leftist-led nations - Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador -- as Iran is increasingly isolated by tightening Western economic sanctions over its uclear program.
Reuters, The Associated Press, The New York Times and msnbc.com's Jim Gold contributed to this article.
Combination therapy shows positive response for children with ADHDPublic release date: 9-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Billingsley mbillingsley@jaacap.org 202-966-7300 x105 Elsevier
Reports new study in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Washington D.C., January 9, 2012 - While pharmacologic agents have a demonstrated efficacy in children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), some children have suboptimal response to a single pharmacologic agent. A recent study by Dr. Timothy E. Wilens and colleagues, published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), is the first randomized placebo-controlled trial designed to assess efficacy and safety of guanfacine extended release (GXR) as an adjunct to psychostimulants in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD who had a suboptimal response to a psychostimulant alone.
As reported in the article "A Controlled Trial of Extended-release Guanfacine and Psychostimulants for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," Wilens and colleagues conducted a nine week multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-optimization study, with participants in 59 study sites who continued their stable dose of psychostimulant given in the morning and were randomized to receive GXR in the morning, GXR in the evening, or placebo.
For both morning and evening administration of GXR, subjects receiving GXR plus a psychostimulant showed significantly greater improvement from baseline to endpoint, as measured by the ADHD-Rating Scale IV total score, compared with subjects receiving placebo plus a psychostimulant. In particular, the inattention subscale rating and the hyperactivity/ impulsivity subscales of the ADHD-RS-IV showed significantly greater improvements from baseline in subjects receiving GXR with a psychostimulant compared with subjects receiving placebo plus psychostimulant. Significant benefits of adjunctive administration were observed whether GXR was administered in the morning or evening. No new safety signals emerged after adjunctive administration of GXR with psychostimulants compared with psychostimulants alone.
Reflecting on their research findings, Wilens and colleagues stated, "The results of this study support the hypothesis that adjunctive administration of the selective alpha2A-adrenoceptoragonist, GXR, to a psychostimulant in subjects with suboptimal response to psychostimulants reduces ADHD symptoms over placebo with a psychostimulant."
###
The article is "A Controlled Trial of Extended-release Guanfacine and Psychostimulants for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder" by Timothy E. Wilens, Oscar Bukstein, Matthew Brams, Andrew J. Cutler, Ann Childress, Thomas Rugino, Andrew Lyne, Kara Grannis, Sharon Youcha (doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2011.10.012). The article appears in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 51, Issue 1 (January 2012), published by Elsevier.
This study was supported by Shire Development Inc., Wayne, PA.
Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Mary Billingsley at +1 202 966 7300 x105 or mbillingsley@jaacap.org. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Dr. Timothy E. Wilens at twilens@partners.org.
About JAACAP
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the official publication of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. JAACAP is the leading journal focusing exclusively on today's psychiatric research and treatment of the child and adolescent. Published twelve times per year, each issue is committed to its mission of advancing the science of pediatric mental health and promoting the care of youth and their families.
The journal's purpose is to advance research, clinical practice, and theory in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is interested in manuscripts from diverse viewpoints, including genetic, epidemiological, neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, social, cultural, and economic. Studies of diagnostic reliability and validity, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatment efficacy, and mental health services effectiveness are encouraged. The journal also seeks to promote the well-being of children and families by publishing scholarly papers on such subjects as health policy, legislation, advocacy, culture and society, and service provision as they pertain to the mental health of children and families.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV; the combined market capitalization of the two parent companies is approximately 12bn/13bn. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
Media contact
Mary Billingsley
Editorial Office JAACAP
+1 202 966 7300 x105
mbillingsley@jaacap.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Combination therapy shows positive response for children with ADHDPublic release date: 9-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Mary Billingsley mbillingsley@jaacap.org 202-966-7300 x105 Elsevier
Reports new study in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Washington D.C., January 9, 2012 - While pharmacologic agents have a demonstrated efficacy in children with Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), some children have suboptimal response to a single pharmacologic agent. A recent study by Dr. Timothy E. Wilens and colleagues, published in the January 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), is the first randomized placebo-controlled trial designed to assess efficacy and safety of guanfacine extended release (GXR) as an adjunct to psychostimulants in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD who had a suboptimal response to a psychostimulant alone.
As reported in the article "A Controlled Trial of Extended-release Guanfacine and Psychostimulants for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," Wilens and colleagues conducted a nine week multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose-optimization study, with participants in 59 study sites who continued their stable dose of psychostimulant given in the morning and were randomized to receive GXR in the morning, GXR in the evening, or placebo.
For both morning and evening administration of GXR, subjects receiving GXR plus a psychostimulant showed significantly greater improvement from baseline to endpoint, as measured by the ADHD-Rating Scale IV total score, compared with subjects receiving placebo plus a psychostimulant. In particular, the inattention subscale rating and the hyperactivity/ impulsivity subscales of the ADHD-RS-IV showed significantly greater improvements from baseline in subjects receiving GXR with a psychostimulant compared with subjects receiving placebo plus psychostimulant. Significant benefits of adjunctive administration were observed whether GXR was administered in the morning or evening. No new safety signals emerged after adjunctive administration of GXR with psychostimulants compared with psychostimulants alone.
Reflecting on their research findings, Wilens and colleagues stated, "The results of this study support the hypothesis that adjunctive administration of the selective alpha2A-adrenoceptoragonist, GXR, to a psychostimulant in subjects with suboptimal response to psychostimulants reduces ADHD symptoms over placebo with a psychostimulant."
###
The article is "A Controlled Trial of Extended-release Guanfacine and Psychostimulants for Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder" by Timothy E. Wilens, Oscar Bukstein, Matthew Brams, Andrew J. Cutler, Ann Childress, Thomas Rugino, Andrew Lyne, Kara Grannis, Sharon Youcha (doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2011.10.012). The article appears in Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Volume 51, Issue 1 (January 2012), published by Elsevier.
This study was supported by Shire Development Inc., Wayne, PA.
Notes for editors
Full text of the article is available to credentialed journalists upon request; contact Mary Billingsley at +1 202 966 7300 x105 or mbillingsley@jaacap.org. Journalists wishing to interview the authors may contact Dr. Timothy E. Wilens at twilens@partners.org.
About JAACAP
Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) is the official publication of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. JAACAP is the leading journal focusing exclusively on today's psychiatric research and treatment of the child and adolescent. Published twelve times per year, each issue is committed to its mission of advancing the science of pediatric mental health and promoting the care of youth and their families.
The journal's purpose is to advance research, clinical practice, and theory in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is interested in manuscripts from diverse viewpoints, including genetic, epidemiological, neurobiological, cognitive, behavioral, psychodynamic, social, cultural, and economic. Studies of diagnostic reliability and validity, psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological treatment efficacy, and mental health services effectiveness are encouraged. The journal also seeks to promote the well-being of children and families by publishing scholarly papers on such subjects as health policy, legislation, advocacy, culture and society, and service provision as they pertain to the mental health of children and families.
About Elsevier
Elsevier is a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services. The company works in partnership with the global science and health communities to publish more than 2,000 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and close to 20,000 book titles, including major reference works from Mosby and Saunders. Elsevier's online solutions include SciVerse ScienceDirect, SciVerse Scopus, Reaxys, MD Consult and Nursing Consult, which enhance the productivity of science and health professionals, and the SciVal suite and MEDai's Pinpoint Review, which help research and health care institutions deliver better outcomes more cost-effectively.
A global business headquartered in Amsterdam, Elsevier employs 7,000 people worldwide. The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world-leading publisher and information provider, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV; the combined market capitalization of the two parent companies is approximately 12bn/13bn. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).
Media contact
Mary Billingsley
Editorial Office JAACAP
+1 202 966 7300 x105
mbillingsley@jaacap.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? Indonesia's inability to meet the rising energy needs of its businesses, from steelmakers to hotel resorts, threatens to put the brakes on growth in Southeast Asia's largest economy.
The recent update of Indonesia's sovereign debt rating by Fitch to investment status should help attract more investors. But analysts and industry watchers fear wasteful subsidies and rampant corruption will reduce crucial investment in the infrastructure needed to supply power.
"Indonesia is not fulfilling its full potential because of these energy and infrastructure problems," said Erman Rahman, director of economic programs in Indonesia at The Asia Foundation, a San Francisco-headquartered nongovernmental organization.
"A business can't grow when it is facing blackouts a few times a week," he said.
Almost half of 13,000 companies surveyed by the foundation in 2010 and 2011 experienced power outages at least three times a week.
Indonesia is the world's largest exporter of coal and the third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), but almost one-third of its citizens have no access to electricity. In outlying regions such as Papua, the figure rises to more than half.
A World Bank report for 2011 ranks Indonesia 161st among 183 countries in the ease of businesses getting reliable electricity supply, down three places from the previous year. In this category, Indonesia has received worse grades than Congo and Albania.
Recurring blackouts this year have forced hotels on the resort island of Bali to rely on diesel generators for back-up power, which costs more than regular power supplies.
"The situation has improved, but there are still blackouts from time to time. We have to use diesel which is more expensive and adds to our costs," said a senior executive at a Bali hotel.
Due to poor transport links in the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, movement of coal is hampered by lack of railroads. A lack of pipelines is one reason why only a small percentage of Indonesia's rich natural gas deposits are being utilized to power industries at home.
"Indonesia needs to improve access to energy for the smaller islands to diversify the sources of growth now concentrated in greater Jakarta and Java," said Ferry Wong, head of research at Citigroup Securities Indonesia.
Indonesia's GDP is expected to grow by 6.3 percent next year, according to the country's central bank, while electricity demand is forecast to rise a robust 6.2 percent, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimates.
SUBSIDIES PAIN
Heavy spending on subsidies and problems with land acquisition have held back investment in infrastructure.
Analysts say that with Indonesia growing at more than 6 percent a year, it needs to spend the equivalent of 5 percent of its gross domestic product a year to keep up with growing infrastructure needs.
While a newly-passed land acquisition law makes it easier for developers to secure land to build ports and power stations, there is political and public opposition to tackling subsidies.
The country's utilities sell power to end-users at subsidized rates of $70-$75 a barrel of crude oil, well below market prices of $95-$105 a barrel, said Citigroup's Wong.
"If oil prices continue to rise, this will be a risk to Indonesia's economy because it puts a strain on the budget."
Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo said on December 13 that this year's fuel subsidy bill will total 168 trillion rupiah ($18.5 billion), up from the budgeted figure of 129.7 trillion rupiah because of increased demand and higher-than-expected average oil prices.
The government plans to remove fuel subsidies in April for private cars in Jakarta and Bali, but the selective nature of the cuts is likely to limit their effectiveness.
"Motorcycles are exempt from the subsidy (cut), and there are roughly 10 times more motorcycles than cars being sold in Indonesia," said Martin Adams, an EIU energy analyst in Hong Kong.
State utility PLN cannot cover costs at current tariffs, which the government has been reluctant to raise, capping the power firm's ability to fund investment, analysts said.
There are plans to raise electricity tariffs in 2012 by an average 10 percent on average for most customers, which would cut an estimated $1.1 billion from the state subsidy bill. But there is no certainty rates will be raised. Early this year, the government proposed a 15 percent hike, but the legislature thwarted the plan.
CORRUPTION
Underinvestment at the lower levels of government is also a problem, with only 14 percent of local government budgets allocated to infrastructure, compared with 60 percent for personnel, a study by the Asia Foundation shows.
"For road and bridge programs, the average funding allocated was only... around a quarter of the amount needed for periodic maintenance alone," said the report, "Local Economic Governance 2011", based on a survey of almost 13,000 businesses conducted for the foundation by Nielsen Indonesia.
Corruption is also a problem, and one that has been exacerbated by Indonesia's decentralization after longtime strongman Suharto resigned in 1998. Unlike during his tenure, officials in local governments far from Jakarta have the power to permit or block projects, and some provincial civil servants have grabbed the chance to enrich themselves.
"The situation is worse than I had thought, people are paying up to $10,000 to $15,000 just to get these jobs, although their annual pay is just 10 percent of that," said Rahman.
Bribery also puts off foreign investors at a time when Indonesia is seeking $100 billion of private investment to overhaul its creaking transport network.
DECLINING GAS OUTPUT
In recent years, Indonesia has shifted away from using oil towards gas to generate power as rising crude oil prices boosted subsidy bills and the country became a net oil importer in 2004.
PLN plans to cut oil's share of the energy mix to 3 percent by 2013, from about 20 percent now. Analysts estimate that producing power from oil-based fuels costs it $15 per million British thermal units (mmbtu), but gas-fired power plants would only cost $12 per mmbtu.
But the lack of gas supply has prevented companies from taking advantage of the lower-cost fuel source, since producers earn more from higher-priced exports.
Gas shortages forced Krakatau Steel, Indonesia's largest steelmaker, to shelve plans to expand production capacity, President Director Fatwa Bujang said this month.
In response to the shortage, the government in July freed private firms to import natural gas for the first time.
Indonesia will export 362 LNG cargoes this year, down 15 percent from 2010. It is building LNG import terminals with nearly 10 million tones of capacity to meet demand.
LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS
The PLN, where Nur Pamudji was appointed as director last month, wants to boost the national electrification ratio to more than 73 percent next year, from below 69 percent now.
To reduce blackouts, the utility plans to add 10,000 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity by 2014 to the existing 30,000 MW.
But even if realized, Indonesia's energy woes could still cap its economic growth in the short term.
"The government realizes that it needs to remove subsidies, improve the business environment, install more generation capacity and extend the grid, but these are all long term undertakings and we can expect only gradual movement," said EIU's Adams.
(Additional reporting by Reza Thaher; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Simon Webb)
News outlets, as well as friends and family members, began confirming the arrival of Beyonceand Jay-Z's baby girl soon after she was born on Jan. 7. But it wasn't until two days later that the proud parents made their first official statement about their bundle of joy.
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