Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Psychologist Who Studied Depression in Women, Dies at 53

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, a psychologist and writer whose work helped explain why women are twice as prone to depression as men and why such low moods can be so hard to shake, died on Jan. 2 in New Haven. She was 53.

Andrew Sacks

Susan Nolen-Hoeksema at the University of Michigan in 2003. Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema's research showed that women were more prone to ruminate, or dwell on the sources of problems rather than solutions, more than men.

Her death followed heart surgery to correct a congenitally weak valve, said her husband, Richard Nolen-Hoeksema.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema, a professor at Yale University, began studying depression in the 1980s, a time of great excitement in psychiatry and psychology. New drugs like Prozac were entering the market; novel talking therapies were proving effective, too, particularly cognitive behavior therapy, in which people learn to defuse upsetting thoughts by questioning their basis.

Her studies, first in children and later in adults, exposed one of the most deceptively upsetting of these patterns: rumination, the natural instinct to dwell on the sources of problems rather than their possible solutions. Women were more prone to ruminate than men, the studies found, and in a landmark 1987 paper she argued that this difference accounted for the two-to-one ratio of depressed women to depressed men.

She later linked rumination to a variety of mood and behavior problems, including anxiety, eating disorders and substance abuse.

“The way I think she’d put it is that, when bad things happen, women brood — they’re cerebral, which can feed into the depression,” said Martin Seligman, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, who oversaw her doctoral work. “Men are more inclined to act, to do something, plan, beat someone up, play basketball.”

Dr. Seligman added, “She was the leading figure in sex differences in depression of her generation.”

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema wrote several books about her research for general readers, including “Women Who Think Too Much: How to Break Free of Overthinking and Reclaim Your Life.” These books described why rumination could be so corrosive — it is deeply distracting; it tends to highlight negative memories — and how such thoughts could be alleviated.

Susan Kay Nolen was born on May 22, 1959, in Springfield, Ill., to John and Catherine Nolen. Her father ran a construction business, where her mother was the office manager; Susan was the eldest of three children.

She entered Illinois State University before transferring to Yale. She graduated summa cum laude in 1982 with a degree in psychology.

After earning a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, she joined the faculty at Stanford. She later moved to the University of Michigan, before returning to Yale in 2004.

Along the way she published scores of studies and a popular textbook. In 2003 she became the editor of the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, an influential journal.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema moved smoothly between academic work and articles and books for the general reader.

“I think part of what allowed her to move so easily between those two worlds was that she was an extremely clear thinker, and an extremely clear writer,” said Marcia K. Johnson, a psychology professor and colleague at Yale.

Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema lived in Bethany, Conn. In addition to her husband, a science writer, she is survived by a son, Michael; her brothers, Jeff and Steve; and her father, John.

“Over the past four decades women have experienced unprecedented growth in independence and opportunities,” Dr. Nolen-Hoeksema wrote in 2003, adding, “We have many reasons to be happy and confident.”

“Yet when there is any pause in our daily activities,” she continued, “many of us are flooded with worries, thoughts and emotions that swirl out of control, sucking our emotions and energy down, down, down. We are suffering from an epidemic of overthinking.”

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Wheels Blog: The Seventh-Generation Corvette Is Unveiled in Detroit

DETROIT — The Stingray is back, in name and in spirit.

At an invitation-only gathering hours before the North American International Auto Show was scheduled to open for press previews, General Motors introduced the 2014 Corvette, the seventh generation of Chevrolet’s hallmark sports car.

Underscoring the importance of this vehicle was Chevrolet’s revival of the long-dormant Stingray badge, a name it first used on a 1959 racecar built by G.M.’s design chief, Bill Mitchell. The hope for that original Stingray racecar was to beat Europe’s best, and G.M. still seems to be thinking along those lines.

According to G.M.’s president for North America, Mark Reuss, the latest Stingray is a potential worldbeater.

“Like the ’63 Sting Ray, the best Corvettes embodied performance leadership, delivering cutting-edge technologies, breathtaking design and awe-inspiring driving experiences,” Mr. Reuss said. “The all-new Corvette goes farther than ever, thanks to today’s advancements in design technology and engineering.”

The release of a new Corvette is always highly anticipated by auto enthusiasts; speculation about “C7″ — shorthand for the seventh generation — has run high. Would it get a twin-cam turbocharged powertrain? Would Chevy switch to an exotic midengine chassis?

In actuality, the 2014 model will again have a pushrod V-8 engine in its nose, driving the rear wheels. That conservative approach might be seen as a timid compromise from a company that has just begun to get back on solid financial footing. But the front-engine, rear-drive layout has long defined the Corvette, and this car, like its C6 predecessor, may well show its taillights to cars with specs that more closely conform to what is considered state of the art.

While automakers are quick to toss around the words “all new” to describe their latest offerings, however warmed over they might be, in this case the term is justified — the 2014 Corvette shares only two parts with its predecessor.

The C7 Corvette’s styling is in keeping with the brand’s persona, yet it projects a more aggressive image than previous generations. The clean front fascia is devoid of parking lights, and is energized by a sharp edge where it meets the hood, which is itself defined by a prominent bulge and more hard edges. The curve of the front fenders peaks at yet another edge that blends seamlessly into the body side at the A-pillar. The body’s flanks are defined by character lines that race back from vents behind the front wheel, not unlike those of previous Corvettes, but here those lines are more sharply drawn, with the upper line sweeping up and back to define the shape of the rear quarter panel. The lower character line projects from the body, forming a wing of sorts that flows out of the front fender and terminates at the rear of the door. The coupe’s roofline arcs smoothly to meet the rear spoiler, rather than terminating at the rear window, as in the C6. The individual rear taillights that have long been a part of Corvette design are now paired in a deep recess on each side. Four large exhaust pipes exit center-stage, rear.

The sheet-molded fiberglass body, with carbon-fiber hood and roof panels and carbon-nano composite underbody panels, is 37 pounds lighter than the C6’s body. It rides on a new aluminum frame that is 57 percent stiffer and 99 pounds lighter than the current model’s. The wheelbase is about one inch longer than that of the C6, and the track is almost an inch wider — changes said to provide a more stable feel at high speed.

Inside the cockpit, considerable effort was lavished on upgrading what has generally been considered a blighted zone. Optional carbon fiber trim and real aluminum combine with plastic in a wraparound configuration. The steering wheel, with a 14.1 inch diameter, is smaller than that of the previous model, and two seat choices are offered, with the competition sport version providing more side bolstering to hold occupants in place in spirited maneuvers. Indicative of the car’s purpose is the inclusion of a console-mounted steel grab bar for the passenger.

Under the hood, Chevrolet’s 6.2-liter small block V-8 — now in its fifth-generation design — produces an estimated 450 horsepower and 450 pound-feet of torque. At low speed, torque output exceeds that of the previous 6.2-liter engine by 50 pound-feet. The engine shares few parts with prior Corvette V-8s and is fitted with direct fuel injection that, in combination with other refinements, enables a high compression ratio of 11.5:1. Active Fuel Management, G.M.’s system for deactivating cylinders when they are not needed, lets the car cruise on four cylinders in some driving modes. Final fuel-economy numbers are not yet available.

Two transaxles will be offered: a 6-speed automatic with paddle-shift mode or a 7-speed manual with rev-matching capability — an electronic version of the heel-and-toe shifting techniques that competition drivers employ to enable smooth gear changes when negotiating twisty bits.

The Corvette driver will be able to select from among five driving modes: weather, Eco, Tour, Sport and Track; the default setting will be Tour. Changing modes alters 12 vehicle attributes, including throttle response, shift points, engagement of the limited-slip differential engagement, shock damping and more. Four-piston Brembo brakes provide stopping power, and electric power steering sets the course.

An optional Z51 performance package adds an electronic limited-slip differential that can continuously vary torque split between the rear wheels, dry-sump oiling, upgraded shock absorbers, a revised version of the automaker’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension-regulating system, close-ratio gears for the manual transmission, larger brake rotors and aerodynamic refinements that incorporate air-flow management for cooling of heat-stressed components.

Like its predecessor, the 2014 Corvette Stingray will be built at a G.M. plant in Bowling Green, Ky. The car is expected to arrive at dealerships in the third quarter of this year.

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A Fiery Preacher’s Arrival Shakes Pakistani Politics

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Campaign season has begun in Pakistan, with elections widely expected by mid-May that, if they proceed peacefully, would represent a democratic milestone in a country plagued by intermittent military rule.

But the starting whistle has been sounded by an unlikely figure: a tough-talking preacher who is calling for a democratic “revolution,” even if he is not eligible for election himself.

Little known in Pakistan just one month ago, the preacher, Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri, a white-bearded Sufi scholar with a taste for hard politics, has taken the country by storm in recent weeks in a campaign that has gripped the news media and jolted the traditional political mainstream.

After returning from Canada, where he has lived for seven years, Mr. Qadri made his first mark with a large rally in Lahore on Dec. 23 in which he demanded that President Asif Ali Zardari’s government resign to make way for a caretaker administration led by technocrats.

Now he is mobilizing a “million man” march that he says will reach the capital, Islamabad, on Monday, where he promises to lead a lengthy sit-in that will kick off a “moral revolution” similar to the one in Tahrir Square in Cairo that overthrew the Egyptian ruling order. “There will be no defeat,” Mr. Qadri, 61, said in a phone interview on Saturday. “This is for a spiritual and moral revolution. We will not surrender before corruption.”

That message resonates with ordinary Pakistanis weary of poor governance, dire energy shortages and sickening violence. On Saturday, ethnic Hazara Shiites in the city of Quetta blocked a road with the coffins of victims of a sectarian attack in the city on Thursday night. The death toll from the attack — the worst ever against the Hazara — has since risen to 96, according to Reuters, and the protesters said they would remove the coffins only when the army took over security in Quetta.

But Mr. Qadri’s sudden arrival on the political scene has also brought worries that he represents the interests of forces bent on derailing Pakistan’s fragile democratic order.

Questions have been raised about Mr. Qadri’s source of money — one opposition senator estimates that he has already spent $4 million on relentless television advertising — and, inevitably in a country where conspiracy theories run rife, media reports have buzzed with allegations of outside support.

Some theories focus on Western governments, particularly the United States, but most analysts point to the convergence between Mr. Qadri’s agenda and that of the powerful military, which has done little to disguise its disdain for Mr. Zardari — and even the opposition leaders who threaten to replace him.

Richard E. Hoagland, the American deputy ambassador, told reporters in Islamabad on Jan. 5 that the United States did not support any Pakistani party and denied any link to Mr. Qadri.

The planned march on Islamabad “reflects the military’s desire for regime change” and “signals that military interest in political engineering is alive and well,” said Shamila N. Chaudhary, an analyst at the Eurasia Group who formerly served as the director for Afghanistan and Pakistan on President Obama’s National Security Council.

But, Ms. Chaudhary added, the days when Pakistan’s military could seize power on a whim have passed, thanks to an aggressive news media and fiercely independent courts. “Real regime change led by Qadri is most unlikely,” she said.

Nonetheless, the government is taking him seriously. The interior minister, Rehman Malik, citing security concerns, has vowed to prevent the march from reaching the gates of Parliament in Islamabad. Security officials say a large crowd in Islamabad would provide an easy target for a suicide bombing by Islamist extremists that, in turn, could set off widespread unrest and open the door to a military intervention.

Both the military and Mr. Qadri have publicly denied working together. Others say such comments are scaremongering meant to quell a movement that taps into popular discontent.

At the very least, the situation betrays government jitters about whether it can survive until its term ends on March 17. It is expected to set elections for some time in April or May and appoint a government to take over until the vote. If a peaceful election follows, the transfer of power would represent a first in a country that has suffered three military coups over nearly six decades.

But Mr. Qadri will not be running for office — as a dual citizen of Pakistan and Canada, he is ineligible under Pakistani law.

He has been in office before, however. Before he became a citizen of Canada, he was elected to Parliament under the military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf in 2002, only to resign two years later, disillusioned. Mr. Qadri, a lawyer and scholar, moved to the Toronto area, where he concentrated on his religious work, promoting inter-faith harmony and hosting deradicalization seminars for young Muslims in the United States, Canada and Denmark, he said. According to his Web site, his organization, Minhaj ul-Quran, is active in 90 countries. Inside Pakistan, the group runs a university in Lahore and over 600 schools and colleges, he said.

Supporters are drawn by his mix of modernism and religious conservatism. Corruption is a focus of his politics, and he insists that all election candidates should be vetted by the country’s tax authorities. He is less clear, though, about his own finances. Street traders, small businesses and ordinary Pakistanis are financing his impressive drive, Mr. Qadri said. So has his family: his wife and daughters pawned their jewelry to help out, he added.

But the preacher could not name one major campaign donor, or say how much his team had spent on television advertisements. “I don’t get involved in these things,” he said.

Heated talk of democratic upsets has come and gone before in Pakistan, and the potency of Mr. Qadri’s challenge should become apparent on Monday. Ms. Chaudhary, the analyst, predicted that he was “ultimately unlikely to shape the election results.”

For his part, Mr. Qadri has moderated his demands, stressing that his goal is simply to nudge Pakistan toward more open leadership. “I can’t say that Pakistan will become America or Canada in a couple of years,” he said. “But we want a reflection of America, to put the process on track.”

Salman Masood contributed reporting from Islamabad, and Waqar Gilani from Lahore, Pakistan.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 13, 2013

An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the change in Muhammad Tahir-ul Qadri’s religiosity when he moved to the Toronto area. He concentrated on his religious work there; he did not “embrace Islam.”

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City Room: Cuomo Declares Public Health Emergency Over Flu Outbreak

With the nation in the grip of a severe influenza outbreak that has seen deaths reach epidemic levels, New York State declared a public health emergency on Saturday, making access to vaccines more easily available.

There have been nearly 20,000 cases of flu reported across the state so far this season, officials said. Last season, 4,400 positive laboratory tests were reported.

“We are experiencing the worst flu season since at least 2009, and influenza activity in New York State is widespread, with cases reported in all 57 counties and all five boroughs of New York City,” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement.

Under the order, pharmacists will be allowed to administer flu vaccinations to patients between 6 months and 18 years old, temporarily suspending a state law that prohibits pharmacists from administering immunizations to children.

While children and older people tend to be the most likely to become seriously ill from the flu, Mr. Cuomo urged all New Yorkers to get vaccinated.

On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that deaths from the flu had reached epidemic levels, with at least 20 children having died nationwide. Officials cautioned that deaths from pneumonia and the flu typically reach epidemic levels for a week or two every year. The severity of the outbreak will be determined by how long the death toll remains high or if it climbs higher.

There was some evidence that caseloads may be peaking, federal officials said on Friday.

In New York City, public health officials announced on Thursday that flu-related illnesses had reached epidemic levels, and they joined the chorus of authorities urging people to get vaccinated.

“It’s a bad year,” the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, told reporters on Thursday. “We’ve got lots of flu, it’s mainly type AH3N2, which tends to be a little more severe. So we’re seeing plenty of cases of flu and plenty of people sick with flu. Our message for any people who are listening to this is it’s still not too late to get your flu shot.”

There has been a spike in the number of people going to emergency rooms over the past two weeks with flulike symptoms – including fever, fatigue and coughing – Dr. Farley said.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Mr. Cuomo made a public display of getting shots this past week.

In a briefing with reporters on Friday, officials from the C.D.C. said that this year’s vaccine was effective in 62 percent of cases.

As officials have stepped up their efforts encouraging vaccinations, there have been scattered reports of shortages. But officials said plenty of the vaccine was available.

According to the C.D.C., makers of the flu vaccine produced about 135 million doses for this year. As of early this month, 128 million doses had been distributed. While that would not be enough for every American, only 37 percent of the population get a flu shot each year.

Federal health officials said they would be happy if that number rose to 50 percent, which would mean that there would be more than enough vaccine for anyone who wanted to be immunized.

Two other diseases – norovirus and whooping cough – are also widespread this winter and are contributing to the number of people getting sick.

The flu can resemble a cold, though the symptoms come on more rapidly and are more severe.

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Treasury Will Not Mint $1 Trillion Coin to Raise Debt Ceiling

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department said Saturday that it will not mint a trillion-dollar platinum coin to head off an imminent battle with Congress over raising the government’s borrowing limit.

“Neither the Treasury Department nor the Federal Reserve believes that the law can or should be used to facilitate the production of platinum coins for the purpose of avoiding an increase in the debt limit,” Anthony Coley, a Treasury spokesman, said in a written statement.

The Obama administration has indicated that the only way for the country to avoid a cash-management crisis as soon as next month is for Congress to raise the “debt ceiling,” which is the statutory limit on government borrowing. The cap is $16.4 trillion.

“There are only two options to deal with the debt limit: Congress can pay its bills, or it can fail to act and put the nation into default,” Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, said in a statement. “Congress needs to do its job.”

In recent weeks, some Republicans have indicated that they would not agree to raise the debt limit unless Democrats agreed to make cuts to entitlement programs like Social Security.

The White House has said it would not negotiate spending cuts in exchange for Congressional authority to borrow more, and it has insisted that Congress raise the ceiling as a matter of course, to cover expenses already authorized by Congress. In broader fiscal negotiations, it has said it would not agree to spending cuts without commensurate tax increases.

The idea of minting a trillion-dollar coin drew wide if puzzling attention recently after some bloggers and economic commentators had suggested it as an alternative to involving Congress.

By virtue of an obscure law meant to apply to commemorative coins, the Treasury secretary could order the production of a high-denomination platinum coin and deposit it at the Federal Reserve, where it would count as a government asset and give the country more breathing room under its debt ceiling. Once Congress raised the debt ceiling, the Treasury secretary could then order the coin destroyed.

Mr. Carney, the press secretary, fielded questions about the theoretical tactic at a news conference last week. But the idea is now formally off the table.

The White House has also rejected the idea that it could mount a challenge to the debt ceiling itself, on the strength of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which holds that the “validity of the public debt” of the United States “shall not be questioned.”

The Washington Post earlier published a report that the Obama administration had rejected the platinum-coin idea.

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IHT Rendezvous: Florence and Its Men's Wear Future

FLORENCE — Mayor Matteo Renzi spelled out a message that could be applied to men’s fashion as much as to this city of ancient buildings of historic beauty.

“We love our past — but the real challenge is to love our future,” said Mr. Renzi, adding that Florence today is a city of division that needs a vision.

The story from Pitti Uomo, the twice-yearly men’s fashion fair, was more upbeat: On the closing day Friday, Raffaello Napoleoni, chief executive of Pitti Immagine and its many cultural and commercial activities, said that although there was a slight fall in Italian buyers due to the spluttering economy, international visitors were up by just over 5 percent.

The powerful success of men’s wear in emerging markets since the new millennium represents both solace and a dilemma. At the trade fair, buyers are looking for the essence of men’s wear Italian-style: fine (but often innovative) fabrics, dynamic cut and an overall sense of luxury and fine living.

As the Caruso brand put it at the fair, in its witty presentation of men of different ethnic types carrying boards that said in their languages: “In men’s wear, do as the Italians do.”

Thoughtful fashion companies know that they cannot live off classics without renewing them, and that fashion has to have its roots in its heritage and tradition.

Perhaps the story was best expressed at Brunello Cucinelli, not just by the painterly mixes of blue from inky dark to pale winter sky, and by the fabric research that gave a new light weight to classics, but to the photographs on the wall. They were behind the tactile tweeds and softly fitted jackets and showed different generations interacting: grandmother and granddaughter and the male equivalent.

“I want people to think about the family liaisons,” said Mr. Cucinelli, whose clothes could be defined as for all ages, with the wearer adapting to suit.

Another way of looking at the current picture is that what once seemed old now feels fresh again. Erik Bjerkesjo, in his first runway show, held in the gilded salon of the Polimoda fashion school, actually included black satin that had been hoarded by his grandmother in the 1930s and used the tailoring skills he learned from his mother. The combination of the designer’s Swedish origins, the films of Ingmar Bergman and shoes inspired by ice skating, were an exemplary mix of imagination and experience, woven into modern design.

The Pitti fair, with its overwhelming choices of clothing types, always seems to hit the heart of the matter — as in a homage in the central forecourt to books, those dear departing paper versions with titles like “The Great Civilization” or “Cathedrals of the World” — all abandoned in a heap on the ground.

But the clothes on offer were not nostalgic, with rich, bright colors prevailing for winter 2013.

There is also a dry-eyed, even enthusiastic, acceptance of online buying, as opposed to brick-and-mortar shopping.

Curating creativity was the subject of a discussion initiated by Pitti Immagine with thecorner.com, the luxury online site powered by the YOOX Group.

As if providing the answer to every man’s (and maybe woman’s) dream, the fashion writer Angelo Flaccavento set out to create a unique and “ideal” wardrobe, choosing iconic pieces from different labels: shirts in the family tradition from G. Inglese, a Mackintosh raincoat or a Borsalino hat.

The discussion included editorial ways of styling, the influence of bloggers, and the power of images taken from the “catwalk” of the street. It all suggested that while absorbing the new media and personal sartorial visions, curating a closet is key to looking and feeling good.

Thinking of the future, not just its overwhelming Florentine past, Pitti Immagine has always looked outside its own Italian comfort zone.

While Ermanno Scervino came back from Milan to his native Florence to show his women’s and men’s wear in the famous Salone dei Cinquecento in the Palazzo Vecchio, he represented the more classic and elegant style of Italy, with beautifully crafted clothes. The only wild shot was in the digital lighting reflected on Giorgio Vasari’s monumental battle frescoes.

By contrast, Andrea Pompilio made an overeager exploration of pattern and color at his show in the Stazione Leopolda, although when the women’s wear switched to men’s, the clothes were often charming. There were smart mixes of colors and a sense of a down-to-earth world where the men carried bags filled with fresh produce.

Kenzo, the Paris-based brand founded by a Japanese designer, went back to its Asian roots with its current creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim.

“We decided to approach the jungle — and what is above us,” said Mr. Leon, referring to the puffs of white cloud printed on cyberspace blue that opened the collection, while the show’s venue above a food market represented the importance the Asian world gives to food.

The result was sportswear with a puffy feel, tempered by sharp geometric lines; or streamlined coats and suits where the clouds, perhaps in red on black or red with blue, brought an airy feeling to more formal clothes. The show suggested that the designers are giving the Kenzo brand a new aesthetic, touched with Asian vision but with an international attitude.

For Maison Kitsuné, a Paris-based company founded by the music producer Gildas Loaëc and the Japanese architect Masaya Kuroki, the show — rather than the clothes — was the focus. The music included two Scandinavian singers (well suited to a Pitti W women’s season promoting designers from Copenhagen fashion week) and also Citizens!, a London band whose music was as hip and modern as their suits were from a 1950s past.

With music loud enough to rock the frescoed ceiling of the ancient palazzo, the Maison Kitsuné “happening” offered just the required meld of glorious past with cool future.

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Softbank to sell stake in eAccess to Samsung, others: source

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan’s Softbank Corp is in final talks to sell its stake in eAccess Ltd, representing around 67 percent of voting rights, to Samsung Electronics Co and 10 others, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

The sale would ease concerns that Softbank could hold a monopoly on spectrum allocation designated by Japan’s Communications Ministry, the source said.

Softbank, which is awaiting regulatory approval to buy a 70 percent stake in No. 3 U.S. mobile carrier Sprint Nextel Corp , bought Japanese rival eAccess last October as it stepped up competition with its nearest competitor KDDI Corp .

Softbank turned eAccess into a wholly owned subsidiary on January 1 after a share exchange, using 220 billion yen ($ 2.47 billion) worth of its own shares.

After dividing eAccess shares into voting and non-voting shares, Softbank is considering reducing its ownership of eAccess voting rights to less than one-third, the source said.

Non-voting shares make up around 1 percent of overall shares. The sale of eAccess’ voting rights would total several billion yen.

Other than Samsung, likely buyers include Sweden’s LM Ericsson , Orix Corp , the source said, adding that the eAccess voting shares would be divided between companies into hundreds of millions of yen each.

Softbank said on Saturday the news was not announced by the company and that it continued to mull options regarding its share holdings.

The Nikkei business newspaper reported earlier on Saturday that Softbank was also considering selling the eAccess stake to Finland’s Nokia Siemens Networks and five Japanese leasing companies.

Softbank cutting its eAccess stake would allow the company to work around the Communications Ministry’s policy on spectrum allocation to telecom service providers and avoid suggestions of any monopoly, but still allow Softbank or eAccess to seek spectrum.

Under the policy, either a parent company, or one of its units in which it owns more than 33 percent, can apply for an allocation of spectrum.

Softbank will remain the top shareholder in eAccess but lose veto power after the sale, which is expected to close by end January and raise several billion yen, the Nikkei daily said.

(Additional reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bangalore, Writing by Mari Saito; Editing by Michael Perry)

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Durant's 42 helps send Lakers to 6th straight loss

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kevin Durant hit a 3-pointer in the final second of the first half and did a full reverse somersault to celebrate a 16-point lead. The Thunder were running the Lakers out of their own building, and not even Kobe Bryant could stop them.

Oklahoma City is again clearly among the best teams in the Western Conference, and the struggling Lakers may not have enough time left in the season to join them.

Durant scored a season-high 42 points, Russell Westbrook had 27 points and 10 assists, and Oklahoma City easily sent the short-handed Lakers to their sixth straight loss, 116-101 on Friday night.

Kevin Martin scored 15 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Thunder, who romped to a 27-point lead in the second half. Oklahoma City has won seven of nine, while Los Angeles is on its longest skid since March 2007 while playing without injured stars Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.

Oklahoma City (28-8) matched the Clippers for the NBA's best record — and the Thunder made it look easy with a virtuoso game from Durant, who had 38 points midway through the third quarter.

"Coming in here, it's tough to win no matter what," Durant insisted after the Thunder coasted down the stretch. "We did a great job of just playing together at both ends of the floor all night and not taking those guys lightly. They've got two of the best players in the world out, so we just wanted to come out and have a good game."

They had a bit more than a good game. Durant hit four 3-pointers and his usual array of athletic shots whenever he wanted, while Westbrook finished three rebounds shy of a triple-double while playing less than 35 minutes.

The Thunder only had three scorers in double figures, but that was more than enough.

Westbrook, a Los Angeles native, has little sympathy for the Lakers.

"They're not done. They have a lot more games left, and I'm pretty sure they're going to find a way to get it together," Westbrook said. "Our job is to worry about our team and our organization. It wasn't easy. I just think we did a good job of playing team basketball defensively, and it showed. Kevin took control most of the game."

The Lakers (15-21) hadn't lost this many consecutive games since the year before they acquired Gasol and embarked on a run to three straight NBA finals. With Cleveland and Milwaukee visiting over the next four days, the Lakers have a chance to get competitive again — but they're facing an uphill climb just to get into playoff contention.

"I told the team, the biggest thing is our season starts Sunday," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We've got to make a run. We've got one shot at it, and everybody needs to get ready mentally and physically. From there on, we can't make any more false steps. That's just how it is. We put ourselves in this ditch, and we're the only ones that can get it out, and hopefully we can get some guys back and start our season Sunday."

Bryant scored 28 points and Antawn Jamison added 19 against Oklahoma City, but Los Angeles looked lost and overmatched in its third straight game without Howard and Gasol.

The Thunder eliminated Bryant and the Lakers from last season's playoffs in five games, and Los Angeles has shown few signs of being able to compete with the defending conference champions this season. Injuries aren't the only problem, but Howard likely is out for at least another week with a shoulder injury, while Gasol still hasn't been cleared to return from his concussion.

"We're just very frustrated and upset about what we're going through right now, and how we're playing," Bryant said. "We're going to have to make some big adjustments if we're going to be successful. We gave up about 120 points tonight, and a lot of them were just layups and easy looks at the rim."

Steve Nash had seven points and seven assists in a quiet 30 minutes for the Lakers, who announced during the second quarter that backup big man Jordan Hill likely needs season-ending surgery on his left hip. Metta World Peace added 12 points, going 1 for 9 on 3-point attempts.

"We showed some fight, but we just were a little overmatched," Nash said. "They're bigger than us at almost every position. Kevin got hot, and we couldn't contain him in the second quarter. As the game wore on, I just think the difference in depth and quality took over."

NOTES: Before the game, Bryant and his wife, Vanessa, announced they've called off their divorce proceedings. Vanessa Bryant filed for divorce in December 2011. ... The teams meet again at Staples Center on Jan. 27. Oklahoma City also visits to face the Clippers on Jan. 22. ... Charlize Theron, Adam Sandler, Robin Thicke, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Mehmet Oz and Chad Johnson watched the game from courtside.

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Former Lab Technician Denies Faulty DNA Work in Rape Cases

A former New York City laboratory technician whose work on rape cases is now being scrutinized for serious mistakes said on Friday that she had been unaware there were problems in her work and, disputing an earlier report, denied she had resigned under pressure.

The former lab technician, Serrita Mitchell, said any problems must have been someone else’s.

“My work?” Ms. Mitchell said. “No, no, no, not my work.”

Earlier, the city medical examiner’s office, where Ms. Mitchell said she was employed from 2000 to 2011, said it was reviewing 843 rape cases handled by a lab technician who might have missed critical evidence.

So far, it has finished looking over about half the cases, and found 26 in which the technician had missed biological evidence and 19 in which evidence was commingled with evidence from other cases. In seven cases where evidence was missed, the medical examiner’s office was able to extract a DNA profile, raising the possibility that detectives could have caught some suspects sooner.

The office declined to identify the technician. Documents said she quit in November 2011 after the office moved to fire her, once supervisors had begun to discover deficiencies in her work. A city official who declined to be identified said Ms. Mitchell was the technician.

However, Ms. Mitchell, reached at her home in the Bronx on Friday, said she had never been told there were problems. “It couldn’t be me because your work gets checked,” she said. “You have supervisors.”

She also said that she had resigned because of a rotator cuff injury that impeded her movement. “I loved the job so much that I stayed a little longer,” she said, explaining that she had not expected to stay with the medical examiner’s office so long. “Then it was time to leave.”

Also on Friday, the Legal Aid Society, which provides criminal defense lawyers for most of the city’s poor defendants, said it was demanding that the city turn over information about the cases under review.

If needed, Legal Aid will sue the city to gain access to identifying information about the cases, its chief lawyer, Steven Banks, said, noting that New York was one of only 14 states that did not require routine disclosure of criminal evidence before trial.

Disclosure of the faulty examination of the evidence is prompting questions about outside review of the medical examiner’s office. The City Council on Friday announced plans for an emergency oversight committee, and its members spoke with outrage about the likelihood that missed semen stains and “false negatives” might have enabled rapists to go unpunished.

“The mishandling of rape cases is making double victims of women who have already suffered an indescribably horrific event,” said Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker.

A few more details emerged Friday about a 2001 case involving the rape of a minor in Brooklyn, in which the technician missed biological evidence, the review found. The victim accused an 18-year-old acquaintance of forcing himself on her, and he was questioned by the police but not charged, according to a law enforcement official.

Unrelated to the rape, he pleaded guilty in 2005 to third-degree robbery and served two years in prison. The DNA sample he gave in the robbery case was matched with the one belatedly developed from evidence the technician had overlooked in the 2001 rape, law enforcement officials said. He was recently indicted in the 2001 rape.

Especially alarming to defense lawyers was the possibility that DNA samples were cross-contaminated and led to false convictions, or could do so in the future.

“Up to this point,” Mr. Banks said, “they have not made information available to us, as the primary defender in New York City, to determine whether there’s an injustice that’s been done in past cases, pending cases, or allowing us to be on the lookout in future cases.” He added, “If it could happen with one analyst, how does anyone know that it stops there?”

The medical examiner’s office has said that the risk of cross-contamination was extremely low and that it does not appear that anyone was wrongly convicted in the cases that have been reviewed so far. And officials in at least two of the city’s district attorneys’ offices — for Brooklyn and Manhattan — said they had not found any erroneous convictions.

But Mr. Banks said the authorities needed to do more, and that their statements thus far were the equivalent of “trust us.”

“Given what’s happened,” he said, “that’s cold comfort.”

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Business Briefing | Retailing: Best Buy Shares Rally on Improved Holiday Sales

The Best Buy Company had better-than-expected holiday sales, setting off a gain of $2, or 16.4 percent, in its stock price, to $14.21 a share on Friday. The holiday quarter accounted for about a third of Best Buy’s revenue last year. The chain said that revenue at stores open at least a year fell 1.4 percent for the nine weeks ended Jan. 5. The company’s performance in the United States was flat. The chief executive, Hubert Joly, said in a statement that the result was better than the last several quarters. A Morningstar analyst, R. J. Hottovy, said the results showed that some of Best Buy’s initiatives, like more employee training and online price matching helped increase sales.

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