Closing arguments begin in Russian's NY arms trial
(AP)
NEW YORK ? A prosecutor at the trial of a Russian arms dealer argued Monday that the defendant was "ready, willing and able" to sell surface-to-air missiles and other heavy weaponry to a Colombian terror group, while his lawyer claimed he only wanted to unload a pair of cargo planes.
Viktor Bout, a shadowy former Soviet military officer once known in the international arms market as the Merchant of Death, was arrested overseas in an elaborate sting in 2008 and was transferred to the United States to face federal conspiracy charges alleging he believed the weapons would be used against Americans supporting the Colombian forces fighting the rebels.
Bout told contacts posing as members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, "We are together" and "We have the same enemy," prosecutor Anjan Sahni said in closing arguments in federal court in Manhattan.
Extensive wiretaps and testimony from government informants proved Bout "was ready, willing and able to carry out the massive weapons scheme," Sahni said.
Bout has pleaded not guilty and has insisted he is a legitimate businessman with a history of mainly transporting standard air cargo, including arms. His attorney, Albert Dayan, argued Monday that U.S. authorities framed his client by building their case on negotiations at meetings in Bangkok that were open to interpretation and never resulted in the exchange of any arms or money.
"You have Viktor Bout getting on an airplane, but what did he do?" Dayan said. "They don't have anything. All they have is speculation, innuendo and conjecture."
The case began when Bout, while under United Nations travel restrictions, was approached in Moscow by a close associate about supplying weapons to FARC. Bout was told that the group wanted to use drug-trafficking proceeds to pay for missiles and other weapons, making it clear it wanted to attack helicopter pilots and other Americans in Colombia, prosecutors said.
The associate, South African businessman Andrew Smulian, took the witness stand for the government as part of a plea deal and testified that Bout agreed that for a down payment of $20 million he would arrange for cargo planes to air-drop 100 tons of weapons into Colombia. The phony deal was finalized at the Bangkok meeting between Bout and two Drug Enforcement Administration informants who prosecutors said tricked Bout into believing they were FARC operatives.
The defense claims Bout spoke about supplying arms as a ruse to get the Colombians to pay him $5 million for the cargo planes.
Bout, 44, was charged with conspiracy to kill Americans and U.S. officials, deliver anti-aircraft missiles and aid a terrorist organization. He could face life imprisonment if convicted.
Obama signs order to address drug shortages
(Reuters)
WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order to make the Food and Drug Administration to step up work to identify and reduce shortages of vital drugs and urged Congress to build on his action.
In an Oval Office ceremony to sign the executive order -- the fifth in a series of unilateral White House initiatives on social and economic issues -- Obama said the administration had decided it could not wait for Congress to act.
"Congress has been trying since February to do something about this. It has not yet been able to get it done. It is the belief of this administration that ... we can't wait," he said. "I still urge Congress to move forward and build on this executive order."
(Reporting by Deborah Charles; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
The Sweet Smell of Chocolate: Sweat, Cabbage and Beef
What do you smell?: The distinctive and alluring aroma of chocolate sets off some surprising sensory signals, according to new "sensomics" research. Image: iStockphoto/AndrisTkachenko
Chocolate may be the most sought-after treat among trick-or-treaters on Halloween, with little hands grasping for all of the milk- and dark-chocolate morsels they can collect, but the details of its taste and aroma profiles have long eluded scientists.
And new science is revealing why cocoa's potent sensual properties have been so difficult to pin down. A recent analysis found that the individual aroma molecules in roasted cacao beans (the primary ingredient of chocolate) can smell of everything from cooked cabbage to human sweat to raw beef fat. Together, more than 600 of these flavor compounds melt together in just the right combination to yield the taste and scent of what we all call chocolate, according to Peter Schieberle, a food chemist at Munich Technical University and director of the German Research Center for Food Chemistry, who presented the data at this year's meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver.
Most of the molecules that comprise a food's aroma are volatile, which means they transform into gases easily at room temperature. These volatile compounds are inhaled along with the air we breathe, bringing them into contact with the 900-plus odorant receptors in the upper half of the nostril. In the early 1990s scientists Linda Buck and Richard Axel began the work that would show each odorant receptor recognized one particular compound and was linked to a specific olfactory neuron in the nostril. As a volatile aroma compound latches onto an odorant receptor, it triggers the firing of the olfactory neuron (Buck and Axel won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery). Complex aromas form when multiple volatile compounds trigger their respective olfactory neurons at the same time. The brain identifies flavor by measuring how frequently the different neurons fire.
"By the time you put four chemicals together, your brain can no longer separate them into components. It forms a new, unified perception that you can't recognize as any of those individual aromas," says Gary Reineccius, a food scientist at the University of Minnesota.
Processed foods such as chocolate, beer and tea contain thousands of aroma compounds. This multiplicity of molecules creates a mosaic of odor in the brain as each individual molecule contributes a hint of scent to the final flavor. Just as our brains can often assemble a whole picture from seeing just a sketch of an image, Schieberle and colleagues found that humans can recognize chocolate aroma using only 25 of its 600-plus volatile compounds. Of these, many are also found in much less appetizing items, including cooked cabbage, raw beef fat and human sweat, which are in turn also composed of many different volatile compounds.
Even so, not one of these 25 key compounds can be pegged as a "chocolate" aroma. "The mixture smells completely different from the individual constituents," Schieberle says. "At the moment, there is no way to predict how the final mixture will smell."
Schieberle calls the study of individual aroma and flavor molecules "sensomics," which sifts through the countless potential aroma compounds for those molecules of particular importance to human taste and smell. Schieberle's work has identified which aroma compounds from roasted cacao beans could bind to odor receptors in humans. None of them, it turned out, smell anything at all like the sweet, rich scent we identify as chocolate.
To figure out exactly which molecules contributed to chocolate aroma, Schieberle and colleagues had to pick apart chocolate aroma one molecule at a time. First, the researchers identified those volatile compounds that would react with human odor receptors and were present at high enough levels to register in the brain, which yielded 25 different molecules. These molecules included 2- and 3-methylbutanoic acids (both produce a sweaty, rancid odor), dimethyl trisulfide (cooked cabbage) and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine (potato chips). Then, they blended these rather un-chocolatey aroma molecules in different combinations and asked human study subjects to smell them. The blend that contained all of the 25 volatile aroma molecules could reliably fool the nose and brain into thinking it had smelled chocolate.
These 25 compounds are what Schieberle refers to as chocolate's chemical signature?those volatile compounds in chocolate that trigger human olfactory nerves in just the right combination "causing a signal in the brain to say 'this is chocolate,'" Schieberle says.
What we think of as "chocolate" smell is due in large part to the way in which the food is made?a process that includes both fermentation and roasting. Foods that are processed by fermentation, roasting or grilling such as wine, coffee and steak, respectively, generally contain the most aroma molecules. It is this process's conversion of otherwise odorless compounds into volatile aroma-bearing ones that helps explain this type of food's popularity. Natural, raw foods like fruits and vegetables also have an appealing aroma and taste, although their flavor profile is much simpler and usually dominated by one or two major molecules.
"That chemical really creates that flavor, and everything else kind of smoothes it and makes it pleasant," Reineccius says of these less complex foods. The combination of volatile aroma compounds as well as the sugars and salts that we taste during chewing combine to create flavor. "Some of our simpler flavors are strawberry and raspberry because they're just what nature happened to provide to keep itself living." The replication of these flavors by food chemists has previously been a process of trial and error.
The goal of his work, Schieberle says, is not to develop artificial chocolate flavorings. Rather, his goal is to find ways to tweak the cacao bean fermentation and roasting process to develop even better tasting chocolates. A recent discovery in his lab, made earlier this year, has taken a small step in this direction. Cacao beans processed in the so-called Dutch style, which adds alkali salt during roasting, have a milder, more pleasant flavor. After deconstructing the molecular makeup of this form of chocolate, the researchers knew that it contained molecules that had a pleasant "mouthfeel." And by adding a tiny bit of glucose to the cacao beans during the Dutch roasting process, Schieberle and colleagues, did not increase the sweetness of the final product, but instead created a more velvety mouthfeel in the final chocolate.
Better understanding chocolate's alluring aroma can also help with tasting technique. Let the chocolate dissolve on your tongue, Schieberle says, so that you can taste the full array of flavor compounds. As the chocolate melts in your mouth and you exhale, some of the volatile molecules will once again pass over your odor receptors, letting you get another whiff before the chocolate melts away.
A man walks near a tree down on a power line a day after a snow storm in Glastonbury, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
A man walks near a tree down on a power line a day after a snow storm in Glastonbury, Conn., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
A downed tree limb lies across power lines in Belmont, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. A snowstorm with a ferocity more familiar in February than October socked the Northeast over the weekend, knocking out power to 2.3 million, snarling air and highway travel and dumping more than 2 feet of snow in a few spots as it slowly moved north out of New England. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
A car drives on Route 2 in Belmont, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. A snowstorm with a ferocity more familiar in February than October socked the Northeast over the weekend, knocking out power to 2.3 million, snarling air and highway travel and dumping more than 2 feet of snow in a few spots as it slowly moved north out of New England. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
A house is surrounded by fall foliage colors covered with heavy wet snow in Williamstown, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
Deran Muckjian clears downed tree branches from his yard in Belmont, Mass., Sunday, Oct. 30, 2011. A snowstorm with a ferocity more familiar in February than October socked the Northeast over the weekend, knocking out power to 2.3 million, snarling air and highway travel and dumping more than 2 feet of snow in a few spots as it slowly moved north out of New England. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
SOUTH WINDSOR, Conn. (AP) ? When winter's white mixes with autumn's orange and gold, nature gets ugly.
A freak October nor'easter knocked out power to more than 3 million homes and businesses across the Northeast on Sunday in large part because leaves still on the trees caught more snow, overloading branches that snapped and wreaked havoc. Close to 2 feet of snow fell in some areas over the weekend, and it was particularly wet and heavy, making the storm even more damaging.
"You just have absolute tree carnage with this heavy snow just straining the branches," said National Weather Service spokesman Chris Vaccaro.
From Maryland to Maine, officials said it would take days to restore electricity, even though the snow ended Sunday.
The storm smashed record snowfall totals for October and worsened as it moved north. Communities in western Massachusetts were among the hardest hit. Snowfall totals topped 27 inches in Plainfield, and nearby Windsor had gotten 26 inches by early Sunday.
It was blamed for at least six deaths, and states of emergency were declared in New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts and parts of New York.
Roads, rails and airline flights were knocked out, and passengers on a JetBlue flight were stuck on a plane in Hartford, Conn., for more than seven hours. And while children across the region were thrilled to see snow so early, it also complicated many of their Halloween plans.
Sharon Martovich of Southbury, Conn., said she hoped the power will come back on in time for her husband's Halloween tradition of playing "Young Frankenstein" on a giant screen in front of their house. But no matter what, she said, they will make sure the eight or so children who live in the neighborhood don't miss out on trick-or-treating.
"Either way we will get the giant flashlights and we will go," she said.
More than 800,000 power customers were without electricity in Connecticut alone ? shattering the record set just two months ago by Hurricane Irene. Massachusetts had more than 600,000 outages, and so did New Jersey ? including Gov. Chris Christie's house. Parts of Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, Maryland and Vermont also were without power.
"It's going to be a more difficult situation than we experienced in Irene," Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. "We are expecting extensive and long-term power outages."
Thirty-two shelters were open around the state, and Malloy asked volunteer fire departments to allow people in for warmth and showers. At least four hospitals were relying on generators for power.
Around Newtown in western Connecticut, trees were so laden with snow on some back roads that the branches touched the street. Every few minutes, a snap filled the air as one broke and tumbled down. Roads that were plowed became impassible because the trees were falling so fast.
One of the few businesses open in the area was a Big Y grocery store that had a generator. Customers loaded up on supplies, heard news updates over the intercom, charged up their cell phones, and waited for a suddenly hard-to-get cup of coffee ? in a line that was 30 people deep and growing.
Many of the areas hit by the storm had also been hit by Irene. In New Jersey's Hamilton Township, Tom Jacobsen also recalled heavy spring flooding and a particularly heavy winter before that.
"I'm starting to think we really ticked off Mother Nature somehow, because we've been getting spanked by her for about a year now," he said while grabbing some coffee at a convenience store.
It wasn't just the trees that weren't fully ready for a wintry wallop.
Kerry McNiven said she was "totally unprepared" for the storm that knocked out her water and power and sent tree limbs crashing into her Simsbury, Conn., home. She was buying disposable plates and cups in a darkened supermarket, a setting that she said resembled "one of those post-apocalyptic TV shows."
"They didn't hype this one as much" as Irene, she said. "I didn't think it was going to be as bad."
In Concord, N.H., Dave Whitcher's company had yet to prep its sanding equipment before the storm dropped nearly 2 feet of snow. His crews were plowing and shoveling parking lots Sunday and would be back Monday to salt sidewalks and walkways.
"It was a bit of a surprise, the amount and how heavy it was. We should've probably come out and got a little earlier start, but we did all right," Whitcher said. He held up his shovel and added, "Me and this guy are going to get to know each other real well today."
Vaccaro, the weather service spokesman, said the snowstorm "absolutely crushed previous records that in some cases dated back more than 100 years." Saturday was only the fourth snowy October day in New York's Central Park since record-keeping began 135 years ago.
There usually isn't enough cold air in the region to support a nor'easter this time of year, but an area of high pressure over southeastern Canada funneled cold air south into the U.S., Vaccaro said. That cold air combined with moisture coming from the North Carolina coast to produce the unseasonable weather.
Though the fact that leaves were still on the trees worsened storm damage inland, the nor'easter did less damage in coastal areas than it would have in winter because warm ocean temperatures limited snowfall, Vaccaro said.
A few businesses enjoyed the early snow: Ski resorts in Vermont and Maine opened early. But it was more commonly an aggravation.
Many residents were urged to avoid travel altogether. Speed limits were reduced on bridges between New Jersey and Pennsylvania. A few roads closed because of accidents and downed trees and power lines, said Sean Brown, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.
The JetBlue passengers stranded Saturday at Hartford's Bradley International Airport were on a flight from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Newark, N.J., that had been diverted. Passenger Andrew Carter, a football reporter for the Sun Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale, said the plane ran out of snacks and bottled water, and the toilets backed up.
JetBlue spokeswoman Victoria Lucia said power outages at the airport has made it difficult to get passengers off the plane, and added that the passengers would be reimbursed.
In 2007, passengers in JetBlue planes were stranded for nearly 11 hours at New York's Kennedy Airport following snow and ice storms.
There were other flight delays in the region over the weekend, and commuter trains in Connecticut and New York were delayed or suspended because of downed trees and signal problems. Amtrak suspended service on several Northeast routes, and one train from Chicago to Boston got stuck overnight in Palmer, Mass. The 48 passengers had food and heat, a spokeswoman said, and they were taken by bus Sunday to their destinations.
Three people died in Pennsylvania because of the storm. An 84-year-old Temple man was killed Saturday afternoon when a snow-laden tree fell on his home while he was napping in his recliner. In suburban Philadelphia, an SUV spun out of control on an icy freeway, crashed through a guardrail and plunged down an embankment, killing two people early Sunday.
In Connecticut, the governor said one person died in a Colchester traffic accident that he blamed on slippery conditions. In New York, a 54-year-old Long Island woman died Sunday morning after she lost control of her car on an icy road and struck another vehicle
And a 20-year-old man in Springfield, Mass., stopped when he saw police and firefighters examining downed wires and stepped in the wrong place and was electrocuted, Capt. William Collins said.
The snow was a bone-chilling slush in New York City, and was a taste of what's to come for demonstrators camping out at Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan for the Occupy Wall Street protest.
Nick Lemmin, of Brooklyn, spent his first night at Zuccotti in a sleeping bag in a tent, wearing thermals, a sweatshirt and a scarf.
"I slept actually pretty well," he said. "It was pretty quiet."
Lemmin said he thought the early snow was actually "a good test," giving protesters a chance to deal with such weather before it sets in more permanently.
The weather was too much for protester Adash Daniel, who had already been in the park for three weeks. "I'm not much good to this movement if I'm shivering," he said as he left.
The snow was relatively light in Manhattan, as it was farther north in Albany, where a couple of dirt- and leaf-caked snowmen stood about the protesters waving "We are the 99 percent" signs for passing cars.
In Concord, 9-year-old Nate Smith had more than enough snow to make a proper snowman with his brother, but he was worried about Halloween. He wasn't sure he'd be able to go trick-or-treating, and even if he did, his werewolf costume could end up looking a little different than he had imagined.
"I might have to put on snow pants," he said.
___
Associated Press writers Noreen Gillespie-Connolly in Newtown, Conn.; Ron Todt in Philadelphia; Verena Dobnik, Deepti Hajela and Candice Choi in New York; Mary Esch in Albany, N.Y.; Holly Ramer in Concord, N.H.; and Bruce Shipkowski in Trenton, N.J., contributed to this report.
Big Buddha statue found in Cambodian 'Tomb Raider' temple
(Reuters)
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) ? A 2.4 meter (8 foot) headless Buddha statue estimated to be 800 years old was found in the Cambodian temple featured in the Angelina Jolie film, "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," officials involved in restoration work said Friday.
The sitting Buddha was uncovered by heavy rain at Ta Prohm temple in the Angkor Wat complex in Siem Reap, said Im Sokrithy, deputy director of the local department that oversees the area.
Another statue was found beside a path and that led to the discovery of the bigger statue under a tree.
The temple is undergoing a $4 million restoration by an Indian-led team.
"It is indeed a magnificent example of Khmer art," said Saurav Ray, first secretary at the Indian Embassy in Phnom Penh.
"Both statues are wonderful pieces of Angkorean art and are among the most valuable findings in recent history, beyond doubt," he said.
(Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould)
Brain imaging study: A step toward true 'dream reading'
Thursday, October 27, 2011
When people dream that they are performing a particular action, a portion of the brain involved in the planning and execution of movement lights up with activity. The finding, made by scanning the brains of lucid dreamers while they slept, offers a glimpse into the non-waking consciousness and is a first step toward true "dream reading," according to a report published online in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 27.
"Dreaming is not just looking at a dream movie," said Martin Dresler of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry. "Brain regions representing specific body motions are activated."
Lucid dreamers are aware that they are dreaming and can deliberately control their actions in dreams. The researchers realized that this learned skill presents an opportunity for studying the neural underpinnings of our dreams.
"The main obstacle in studying specific dream content is that spontaneous dream activity cannot be experimentally controlled, as subjects typically cannot perform predecided mental actions during sleep," study coauthor Michael Czisch explained. "Employing the skill of lucid dreaming can help to overcome these obstacles."
The researchers instructed participants to make a series of left and right hand movements separated by a series of eye movements upon entering a lucid dream state while their brains were scanned. Those eye movements served as a signal to the researchers of what was happening in the dream.
Those studies show for the first time that neural activity observed in the brain's sensorimotor cortex can be related to dreamed hand movements.
The discovery suggests that lucid dreaming in combination with neuroimaging and polysomnography (a more common form of sleep monitoring) may allow the transfer of more sophisticated "brain reading" tasks to the dreaming state, the researchers say. In other words, it might eventually be possible to predict dreamed content by analyzing patterns of brain activity.
Dresler says it will also be interesting to investigate brain activity at the moment a dreamer becomes lucid.
"The lucid dreamer gains insight into a very complex state: sleeping, dreaming, but being consciously aware of the dream state," he said. "This may inform us about concepts of consciousness."
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Cell Press: http://www.cellpress.com
Thanks to Cell Press for this article.
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Samsung Galaxy Nexus hands-on [updated with video]
Much hay has been made about the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the device which just a few weeks ago we were calling the Nexus Prime. If you're new around these parts, this is the big new Android phone for 2011 and at least most of 2012, thanks to it being the first with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and few Android smartphones have had such an insane level of hype to live up to. The Galaxy Nexus is supposed to be the phone that has everything -- a shiny new version of Android, combined with the best internals and display tech Samsung has to offer.
Already Internet discussion abounds, splitting hairs over this spec or that, but how does the phone look and feel in person? Is this really a perfect storm of next-generation Android and top-class hardware? Check out our full write-up and video walkthrough after the jump.
President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question about the European debt deal as he meets with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas, not shown, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
President Barack Obama answers a reporter's question about the European debt deal as he meets with Czech Prime Minister Petr Necas, not shown, Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
A Whirlpool logo is seen on a Whirlpool appliance on the Singers showroom floor Thursday, Oct. 27, 2011 in Philadelphia. Appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. says it will cut 5,000 jobs in an effort as it faces soft demand and higher costs for materials. The jobs to be cut are mostly in North America and Europe. They include 1,200 salaried positions and the closing of the company's Fort Smith, Ark., plant. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the Florida Democratic Party State Convention Friday, Oct. 28, 2011, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. Vice President Joe Biden said he and President Barack Obama have made progress on fixing the problems they inherited from Republicans, but the GOP is using obstructionist tactics to keep the administration from doing more for the economy and middle class. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama is banking on a new report detailing the income disparity in the country as further evidence of the need for his $447 billion jobs bill.
A report this past week by the Congressional Budget Office found that average after-tax income for the top 1 percent of U.S. households had increased by 275 percent over the past three decades. Middle-income households saw just a 40 percent rise. For those at the bottom of the economic scale, the jump was 18 percent.
Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address Saturday that he would pay for his jobs plan with an added tax on people who make at least $1 million a year.
Senate Republicans have blocked action on the bill, which mixes tax breaks for businesses and public works spending, because they oppose much of the increased spending and the tax on millionaires.
"These are the same folks who have seen their incomes go up so much, and I believe this is a contribution they're willing to make," Obama said. "Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress aren't paying attention. They're not getting the message."
Obama is now trying to get Congress to pass the individual components of the bill. But Senate Republicans also stalled progress on the first of those measures, $35 billion to help local governments keep teachers on the job and pay the salaries of police officers, firefighters and other emergency services workers.
Saying the country cannot wait for Congress, Obama has begun bypassing Congress and taking steps on his own that he says will encourage economic growth.
On Friday, Obama directed government agencies to shorten the time it takes for federal research to turn into commercial products in the marketplace. The goal is to help startup companies and small businesses create jobs and expand their operations more quickly.
The president also called for creating a centralized online site for companies to easily find information about federal services. He previously had announced help for people who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth and for the repayment of student loans. The White House also challenged community health centers to hire veterans.
"We can no longer wait for Congress to do its job," Obama said. "So where Congress won't act, I will."
The congressional report, based on Internal Revenue Service and Census Bureau data, was released as the Occupy Wall Street movement spreading across the country protests bailouts for corporations and the income gap.
In the weekly GOP message, Illinois Rep. Bobby Schilling urged Obama to support bills that Republicans say would help create jobs by blocking various energy and environmental regulations and streamlining administrative procedures. The bills, passed by the Republican-controlled House, await action in the Democratic-run Senate.
Shilling said the bills give the White House and Congress an opportunity to build on the common ground created by the passage of recent free-trade agreements, and a measure to void a law requiring federal, state and many local governments to withhold 3 percent of their payments to contractors until their taxes are paid. Obama included repealing that tax in his jobs plan.
"Republicans have a jobs plan, one with some bipartisan support, but it's stuck in the Senate," said Schilling, owner of a pizza parlor in Moline, Ill. "We're asking President Obama to work with us and call on the Senate to pass the 'forgotten 15' to help the private sector create jobs, American jobs desperately needed."
Health Tip: Coping With Nasal Problems During Pregnancy
(HealthDay)
(HealthDay News) -- Nasal stuffiness and nosebleeds are common during pregnancy, due to inflamed nasal tissues triggered by hormonal changes and an increase in your body's production of blood.
The womenshealth.gov website suggests how to ease nasal problems during pregnancy:
Gently blow your nose.
Run a cool mist humidifier.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Gently squeeze your nose between your thumb and forefinger for several minutes to help stop a nosebleed.
Call your doctor if nosebleeds persist and bleeding continues for longer than a few minutes.
'Trek' co-star Yelchin finds love in 'Like Crazy'
(AP)
TORONTO ? The art of improvising is what grabbed Anton Yelchin as a boy in his first acting class. He gets back to improv in his latest film, "Like Crazy," a rare drama whose dialogue was made up by the actors as they went along.
Yelchin, known for a string of acclaimed performances in independent films, along with his role as navigator Chekov in the new incarnation of "Star Trek," found that making things up came to him naturally when he started to study acting.
"I loved the improvisation part of it the most, because it was a lot like just playing around with stuff," Yelchin, 22, said in an interview at September's Toronto International Film Festival, where "Like Crazy" played ahead of its theatrical debut Friday. "There was something about it that I just felt completely comfortable doing and happy doing.
"My parents were like, OK, our kid is happy doing this. This is great. They were figure skaters and grew up going to school and skating, so for them, a person needs to have things to do. They don't just sit around the house watching TV."
Before long, people were watching child actor Yelchin on TV and then his breakout big-screen role opposite Anthony Hopkins in 2001's "Hearts in Atlantis."
Yelchin's career over the past decade would be the ideal of almost any child actor trying to make the transition to adult roles. His credits include impressive parts in such indie films as "Alpha Dog," "Fierce People" and "Charlie Bartlett," along with a role in the short-lived TV series "Huff."
The last two years alone, Yelchin's resume ranges from "Star Trek" and another huge sci-fi franchise with "Terminator: Salvation" to the vampire romp "Fright Night" and a voice role in "The Smurfs" to personal stories such as Mel Gibson's "The Beaver" and "Like Crazy," which earned the top prize at last winter's Sundance Film Festival.
"What's great about him is he can do anything. He's a chameleon. He can do bigger movies or smaller, more intimate ones," said "Like Crazy" director Drake Doremus. "There are a lot of people who can't, who can only do one or the other. And he's only 22 years old. That's what blows my mind."
In "Like Crazy," Yelchin stars as Jacob, an aspiring furniture designer in southern California who falls into a passionate romance with Anna (Felicity Jones), a Londoner studying at the same college.
The two are an ideal match, but they're forced apart after Anna overstays her student visa and is unable to return to the United States. Years of on-again, off-again long-distance romance follow with Jacob's occasional visits to London. The two take up with other lovers and build professional lives 6,000 miles apart, all the while trying to figure out how to reunite for good ? and whether they'll still be suited for one another if they do.
Aiming for authenticity, Doremus and his co-writer prepared detailed back stories on the characters but did not do a conventional screenplay, leaving the dialogue to develop naturally among the actors through a week of rehearsal and improvisation during the monthlong shoot.
Jones had seen none of Yelchin's previous work before, and she was glad for that once they began filming.
"For this type of film, I didn't want to have too many preconceptions about him, and so as I'm meeting him as Felicity, so are Anna and Jacob just getting to know each other. We didn't even meet before we were cast," Jones said. "So it felt we as the actors were going on a journey as the characters were."
The result is a heartbreaking chronicle of stymied love filled with moments of raw honesty that are very specific to the characters, yet represent emotions universal to relationships.
"Even I could relate to it, watching it myself," Yelchin said. "I remember with my ex-girlfriend, when we broke up, you remember the first time you slept together, you remember the first drink you had together. You remember the dinners you had, seeing your first movie together.
"You remember everything and it's just perfect, and you look at yourself now, and you look at the other person now, and they're just not there anymore. There's all this baggage and weight on this relationship, and if it's at the point where it's about to crumble; it's just like a different universe that you're in. The movie has so many of those moments that ring true to people."
Yelchin stars as a clairvoyant short-order cook in the upcoming Dean Koontz adaptation "Odd Thomas," and he's preparing to reprise his role as Chekov in a "Star Trek" sequel.
"What, when and where, I have no idea. They pretty much keep you in the dark until it's time to make the movie," Yelchin said. "Whatever it may be, I'm looking forward to being with those guys again."
Yelchin shares Russian ancestry with "Star Trek" counterpart Chekov. The actor was born in Russia, where his parents were skaters before coming to the United States when their son was an infant.
He had a brief flirtation with skating lessons himself before moving on to acting class.
"They were very quick to understand that I wasn't very good at it," Yelchin said. "And they weren't going to make me do it if I wasn't good, so it automatically reverted to me being a doctor or lawyer. Because, we're Russian Jews, so naturally, what does your kid do? He goes to law school or he goes to med school."
He said it took his father a little time to accept his career choice. "He still wanted me to apply to college and stuff, and I did. But this is what I wanted," Yelchin said.
Veteran injured in Oakland "Occupy" protest awake
(Reuters)
OAKLAND, California (Reuters) ? An Iraq war veteran badly wounded in clashes between protesters and police on the streets of Oakland, California was awake and lucid, hospital officials and family members said on Thursday.
Scott Olsen, a 24-year-old former Marine struck in the head during Occupy Wall Street protests on Tuesday night, had been upgraded from critical to fair condition overnight.
Olsen, 24, has become a rallying cry for the Occupy Wall Street movement nationwide and Oakland organizers said they would stage a general strike over what a spokeswoman called the "brutal and vicious" treatment of protesters, including the former Marine.
Olsen "responded with a very large smile" to a visit from his parents, Highland General Hospital spokesman Warren Lyons said at a late-afternoon press conference on Thursday.
"He's able to understand what's going on. He's able to write and hear but has a little difficulty with his speech," Lyons said.
He said doctors had not operated on Olsen yet and were waiting to see if swelling in his brain abated.
Olsen's aunt, Kathy Pacconi, meanwhile told Reuters in an email that her nephew was showing signs of improvement.
"I believe he knew his mom and dad were there and tomorrow he'll be really happy to see his sister, Melissa, because they are really close. Hopefully he'll start to improve with her visit," Pacconi said.
Occupy Oakland organizers said their strike, scheduled for next Wednesday, was intended to shut down the city.
'SHUT THE CITY DOWN'
"We mean nobody goes to work, nobody goes to school, we shut the city down," organizer Cat Brooks said. "The only thing they seem to care about is money and they don't understand that it's our money they need. We don't need them, they need us."
Spokeswomen for the city of Oakland and Mayor Jean Quan could not be reached for comment.
Brooks said a general strike was a "natural progression" following a crackdown by the city of Oakland early on Tuesday morning in which protesters were evicted from a plaza near city hall and 85 people were arrested.
Protesters sought to retake that plaza on Tuesday night and were repeatedly driven back by police using stun grenades and tear gas. It was during one of those clashes that protesters say Olsen was struck in the head by a tear gas canister fired by police.
The hospital has confirmed Olsen was hurt during the protest, but could not say how he was wounded. Acting Oakland Police Chief Howard Jordan had told a news conference his department was investigating the incident.
Olsen is believed to have suffered the most serious injury so far in confrontations between police and activists since Occupy Wall Street protests against U.S. economic inequality began last month in New York.
News of his injury ignited a furor among supporters of the protests. Activists in Oakland and elsewhere took to Twitter and other social media urging demonstrators back into the streets en masse.
More than 1,000 protesters moved onto the streets of Oakland again on Wednesday night as police largely kept their distance.
Friends say Olsen had been active in several anti-war veterans groups and had joined Oakland protesters in a gesture of solidarity after learning of the police crackdown there.
Keith Shannon, 24, who said he served with Olsen in Iraq, told Reuters his friend suffered a two-inch skull fracture.
Olsen served two tours in Iraq from 2006 to 2010 with the 3rd battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, Shannon said, adding that he and Olsen deployed together and were assigned to a tactical communications unit.
(Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb, Mary Slosson and Emmett Berg; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Jerry Norton and Eric Walsh)
Pope expresses shame for Christian violence in history
(Reuters)
ASSISI, Italy (Reuters) ? Pope Benedict, leading a global inter-religious meeting, acknowledged on Thursday "with great shame" that Christianity had used force in its long history but said violence in God's name had no place in the world today.
Benedict spoke as he hosted some 300 religious leaders from around the world - including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Zoroastrians, Taoists, Shintoists and Buddhists - in an inter-faith prayer gathering for peace in the city of St Francis.
"As a Christian I want to say at this point: yes, it is true, in the course of history, force has also been used in the name of the Christian faith," he said in his address to the delegations in an Assisi basilica.
"We acknowledge it with great shame. But it is utterly clear that this was an abuse of the Christian faith, one that evidently contradicts its true nature," he said.
It was one of the few times that a pope has apologized for events such as the Crusades or the use of force to spread the faith in the New World. The late Pope John Paul apologized in 2000 for Christianity's historical failures.
Benedict, who in his address condemned terrorism, said history had also shown that the denial of God could bring about "a degree of violence that knows no bounds." He said the concentration camps of World War Two revealed "with utter clarity the consequences of God's absence."
The Assisi gathering, held on the 25th anniversary of a historic initiative in favor of peace hosted by John Paul in 1986, this time did not include common prayer among the delegates.
"ALL RELIGIONS NOT EQUAL"
The difference reflected Benedict's more conservative view of Catholic relations with other religions. In fact, Benedict, who did not attend the 1986 meeting when he was a cardinal, later implicitly criticized it because it implied that all religions were somehow equal.
The 1986 meeting, which took place at a time of the Cold War and conflicts in Lebanon, Northern Ireland and Central America, was billed as a "meeting of prayer for peace."
Thursday's anniversary gathering in Assisi, birthplace of St Francis, one of the world's most universally recognized symbols of peace, was called a "pilgrimage" for truth and peace.
In fact, instead of praying in each other's presence, as they did in 1986, the delegates were withdrawing to various rooms around the Basilica of St Mary of the Angels in the lower part of Assisi for what the program called "silence, reflection and personal prayer."
In his morning address, the Muslim delegate, Kyai Haji Hasyim Muzadi, general secretary of the International Conference of Islamic Scholars, said:
"Reality demonstrates that many human problems on this planet in fact originate from people with religions."
A representative of African traditional religions appeared to chide the big churches.
"The time has come for the leaders of all the world's religions to have a new frame of mind in which indigenous religions are given the same respect and consideration as other religions," he said.
Thursday's gathering included four people billed as "non-believers" -- agnostics the pope said had been invited to represent people in the world who have no faith but are "on the lookout for truth, searching for God."
He said such non-believers should not be confused with militant atheists, who, he said, live in the "false certainty" that there is no God.
In the afternoon, the delegates were moving to the upper part of Assisi for another round of speeches and to pay homage at the tomb of St Francis.
Symantec forecasts sales below Street, shares drop
(Reuters)
(Reuters) ? Symantec Corp, the top maker of computer security software, failed to match Wall Street's high hopes for future sales growth even as the company benefits from a raised awareness of hackers.
The Silicon Valley-based company forecast fiscal third-quarter revenue of $1.7 billion to $1.715 billion, reflecting a 6 percent to 7 percent growth rate over last year. But that fell short of analysts' average estimate of $1.72 billion.
Symantec shares closed down 0.3 percent at $18.49 on the Nasdaq and fell a further 3.6 percent to $17.82 after hours, following the release of its second-quarter earnings.
Expectations for Symantec have been raised recently as hacking has become a top business concern, in the wake of high-profile attacks on Google Inc, Lockheed Martin Corp and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. The National Security Agency is now helping Wall Street banks with intelligence on foreign hackers.
Awareness of the need for protection is at its highest in recent years, which is helping to boost the company's results, said Symantec Chief Executive Enrique Salem in a telephone interview.
"The threats are more targeted and you are definitely getting more visibility and awareness for the issues," he said. "Individuals, small businesses, large businesses, government. Everybody is a target right now."
Symantec posted a higher-than-expected 34 percent increase in fiscal second-quarter net profit on Wednesday, helped by the surge in demand.
The company reported fiscal second-quarter net profit of $182 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with $136 million, or 17 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter
Excluding one-time items, it earned 39 cents per share, meeting the average analyst estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sales rose 14 percent to $1.68 billion. Analysts were expecting $1.66 billion.
The Mountain View, California-based software maker also forecast third-quarter per-share profit, excluding items, of 40 or 41 cents per share, close to the average analyst forecast of 41 cents.
(Reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Andre Grenon and Steve Orlofsky)
Linking of mutations in 12 genes to ovarian cancer may lead to more effective prevention
Linking of mutations in 12 genes to ovarian cancer may lead to more effective preventionPublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leila Gray leilag@u.washington.edu 206-685-0381 University of Washington
The study used a quick, accurate genome sequencing method that could become a single test to screen for a broad range of cancers
More patients with ovarian carcinoma carry cancer-predisposing mutations, and in more genes, than previously thought.
A rapid experimental method for screening genomes has located mutations in 12 genes for inherited cancers of the ovary, fallopian tubes and peritoneum (the thin tissue lining the lower abdomen).
More than one-fifth of ovarian cancers arise in women with a familial predisposition, but relying on family history would have missed one-third of the cases, said Dr. Elizabeth Swisher, senior author of a paper on these findings published online ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Swisher is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington in Seattle. She directs the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention program at the UW and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and is an affiliate researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The results of her most recent study have far reaching implications beyond the important identification of mutations linked to ovarian and related cancers.
The speedy, low-cost genome analysis method her team developed could soon be applicable to patient testing for a broad range of all known breast, ovarian, colon, pancreatic and melanoma gene mutations. A single test might be able to screen a patient for susceptibility to all these cancers.
Also, the great number of specimens that this method can analyze simultaneously could allow for large scale, population studies of cancer-causing mutations. Such studies would tell who is at risk for certain cancers and how to effectively target prevention.
The UW scientists named their sequencing method BROCA, after Paul Broca, a 19th century medical scientist who was among the first to describe inherited breast and ovarian cancer. BROCA, the researchers said, is highly sensitive and can find all classes of genetic mutations, including single substitutions, small insertions and deletions, and large rearrangements of genes.
"The BROCA test is not patented," the researchers said, and added that designs for its use in genetic studies are freely available.
At present, most tests for genes already known to be associated with breast and ovarian cancer, BRAC1 and BRAC2, are done by a lone company. The cost is about $4,000 for a non-comprehensive test accompanied by an additional test to find gene rearrangements.
As more cancer-susceptibility genes are found, it is not economical to test a person for one gene mutation, and then go back and test for another, then another. Gene-by-gene testing will eventually give way to a single test that accurately identifies all classes of those gene mutations that permit tumors to grow unchecked.
At present, the price for the BROCA chemicals is about $200. The costs are shrinking for running the genome analysis, due to the increasing number of samples that can be put through the multiple "lanes" in the sequencer.
Swisher and her team concentrated on ovarian cancer gene-detection in trying this sequencing method because ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly to affect a woman's reproductive system. It is difficult to diagnose in its early stages
Ovarian cancer and cancer of the peritoneum begin quietly. Eventually vague symptoms appear, but they mimic seemingly benign conditions, like bloating.
"Most women are not diagnosed until the cancer is has advanced to the point where the chances of a cure are small," Swisher said. "Women with early stage ovarian cancer have a better survival than those diagnosed with late stages, but current methods of detection are not effective."
The lack of effective early detection is why Swisher and her research team are looking for a more complete genetic picture of ovarian and related cancers. Learning the genetic mutations associated with these cancers could lead to tests to identify early on the women prone to these malignancies.
A quick, low cost, individual screening test for a variety of gene mutations linked to ovarian cancer would allow for effective preventive measures, the researchers said. For example, a woman whose genetic profile indicates high risk could consider an operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian types. This procedure has already been shown to decrease the overall death rate in women who have BRCA1 or BRAC2 mutations.
These particular mutations heighten the risk of ovarian as well as breast cancer. As this current study reveals, previously unknown mutations in other genes also occur in the population of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
New developments in cancer drugs that selectively wipe out cells containing certain genetic deficiencies is another major incentive for scientists to locate other mutations involved in ovarian cancer, Swisher noted. For example, the new drug class called poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors is lethal to cells missing chemicals produced by normal BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes. The PARP drugs are showing efficacy in treating ovarian cancers in patients with mutations in these genes.
The UW scientists applied BROCA to analyze the DNA from a 360 women undergoing surgery between 2001 and 2010 at the University of Washington for cancer of the ovaries, peritoneum, or fallopian tubes, or who had cancer of the ovaries as well as the uterine lining. The women were enrolled at diagnosis. Neither age of onset of the cancer nor their family history were selection factors.
Among this group of women, the researchers found 85 mutations in 12 genes. Many were loss-of-function mutations. An example of loss of function is the inability of cells to produce chemicals to suppress tumors. As the scientists expected, women with a personal history of breast cancer had an extremely high likelihood of harboring an inherited mutation. Family history of breast, ovarian, uterine, and pancreatic cancer but not colon cancer were each associated with inherited mutations.
"An observation that has major implications for clinical practice was that nearly one-third of the women with inherited mutations had no prior personal history of breast cancer and no family history of ovarian or breast cancer," Swisher noted. This high proportion of unrecognized risk, she explained, is probably due to the combined effects of small family size, female cancer genes inherited from unaffected fathers, and the simple odds of a mutated gene being inherited or not inherited.
The researcher also found that the age when these types of cancer appear was not generally associated with the likelihood of having an inherited mutation, or with the gene in which a mutation was found.
There were no significant differences in survival rates between women who had one or more of the mutations identified in this study, and women who did not have these particular mutations.
What we found overall, the researchers noted, was that more than one in five cases of ovarian carcinoma were associate with a mutation in tumor suppressor genes. In their normal form, these genes act in a way that keeps tumors from growing.
The findings of this study, the researcher concluded, point to the need to develop comprehensive testing for inherited carcinoma for all women with ovarian, peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer, regardless of their age or family history. The researchers are moving clinical science forward to a time when expensive single gene testing for thousands of dollars will be replaced by testing many genes simultaneously at low cost.
###
In addition to Swisher, the scientists on this project were Tom Walsh, Silvia Casadei, Ming K. Lee, Anne Thornton, Wendy Roeb, Sunday M. Stray, and Mary-Claire King, all of the UW Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, and Christopher Pennil, Kathy Agnew, Anneka Wickramanayake, Barbara Norquist, and Kathryn Pennington, all of the UW Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Rochelle Garcia, UW Department of Pathology.
The study, "Mutations in 12 genes for inherited ovarian, Fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma identified by massively parallel sequencing," was funded by the National Institutes of Health, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the U.S. Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program.
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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.
Linking of mutations in 12 genes to ovarian cancer may lead to more effective preventionPublic release date: 25-Oct-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Leila Gray leilag@u.washington.edu 206-685-0381 University of Washington
The study used a quick, accurate genome sequencing method that could become a single test to screen for a broad range of cancers
More patients with ovarian carcinoma carry cancer-predisposing mutations, and in more genes, than previously thought.
A rapid experimental method for screening genomes has located mutations in 12 genes for inherited cancers of the ovary, fallopian tubes and peritoneum (the thin tissue lining the lower abdomen).
More than one-fifth of ovarian cancers arise in women with a familial predisposition, but relying on family history would have missed one-third of the cases, said Dr. Elizabeth Swisher, senior author of a paper on these findings published online ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Swisher is an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Washington in Seattle. She directs the Breast and Ovarian Cancer Prevention program at the UW and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, and is an affiliate researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The results of her most recent study have far reaching implications beyond the important identification of mutations linked to ovarian and related cancers.
The speedy, low-cost genome analysis method her team developed could soon be applicable to patient testing for a broad range of all known breast, ovarian, colon, pancreatic and melanoma gene mutations. A single test might be able to screen a patient for susceptibility to all these cancers.
Also, the great number of specimens that this method can analyze simultaneously could allow for large scale, population studies of cancer-causing mutations. Such studies would tell who is at risk for certain cancers and how to effectively target prevention.
The UW scientists named their sequencing method BROCA, after Paul Broca, a 19th century medical scientist who was among the first to describe inherited breast and ovarian cancer. BROCA, the researchers said, is highly sensitive and can find all classes of genetic mutations, including single substitutions, small insertions and deletions, and large rearrangements of genes.
"The BROCA test is not patented," the researchers said, and added that designs for its use in genetic studies are freely available.
At present, most tests for genes already known to be associated with breast and ovarian cancer, BRAC1 and BRAC2, are done by a lone company. The cost is about $4,000 for a non-comprehensive test accompanied by an additional test to find gene rearrangements.
As more cancer-susceptibility genes are found, it is not economical to test a person for one gene mutation, and then go back and test for another, then another. Gene-by-gene testing will eventually give way to a single test that accurately identifies all classes of those gene mutations that permit tumors to grow unchecked.
At present, the price for the BROCA chemicals is about $200. The costs are shrinking for running the genome analysis, due to the increasing number of samples that can be put through the multiple "lanes" in the sequencer.
Swisher and her team concentrated on ovarian cancer gene-detection in trying this sequencing method because ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly to affect a woman's reproductive system. It is difficult to diagnose in its early stages
Ovarian cancer and cancer of the peritoneum begin quietly. Eventually vague symptoms appear, but they mimic seemingly benign conditions, like bloating.
"Most women are not diagnosed until the cancer is has advanced to the point where the chances of a cure are small," Swisher said. "Women with early stage ovarian cancer have a better survival than those diagnosed with late stages, but current methods of detection are not effective."
The lack of effective early detection is why Swisher and her research team are looking for a more complete genetic picture of ovarian and related cancers. Learning the genetic mutations associated with these cancers could lead to tests to identify early on the women prone to these malignancies.
A quick, low cost, individual screening test for a variety of gene mutations linked to ovarian cancer would allow for effective preventive measures, the researchers said. For example, a woman whose genetic profile indicates high risk could consider an operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian types. This procedure has already been shown to decrease the overall death rate in women who have BRCA1 or BRAC2 mutations.
These particular mutations heighten the risk of ovarian as well as breast cancer. As this current study reveals, previously unknown mutations in other genes also occur in the population of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
New developments in cancer drugs that selectively wipe out cells containing certain genetic deficiencies is another major incentive for scientists to locate other mutations involved in ovarian cancer, Swisher noted. For example, the new drug class called poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) inhibitors is lethal to cells missing chemicals produced by normal BRAC1 and BRAC2 genes. The PARP drugs are showing efficacy in treating ovarian cancers in patients with mutations in these genes.
The UW scientists applied BROCA to analyze the DNA from a 360 women undergoing surgery between 2001 and 2010 at the University of Washington for cancer of the ovaries, peritoneum, or fallopian tubes, or who had cancer of the ovaries as well as the uterine lining. The women were enrolled at diagnosis. Neither age of onset of the cancer nor their family history were selection factors.
Among this group of women, the researchers found 85 mutations in 12 genes. Many were loss-of-function mutations. An example of loss of function is the inability of cells to produce chemicals to suppress tumors. As the scientists expected, women with a personal history of breast cancer had an extremely high likelihood of harboring an inherited mutation. Family history of breast, ovarian, uterine, and pancreatic cancer but not colon cancer were each associated with inherited mutations.
"An observation that has major implications for clinical practice was that nearly one-third of the women with inherited mutations had no prior personal history of breast cancer and no family history of ovarian or breast cancer," Swisher noted. This high proportion of unrecognized risk, she explained, is probably due to the combined effects of small family size, female cancer genes inherited from unaffected fathers, and the simple odds of a mutated gene being inherited or not inherited.
The researcher also found that the age when these types of cancer appear was not generally associated with the likelihood of having an inherited mutation, or with the gene in which a mutation was found.
There were no significant differences in survival rates between women who had one or more of the mutations identified in this study, and women who did not have these particular mutations.
What we found overall, the researchers noted, was that more than one in five cases of ovarian carcinoma were associate with a mutation in tumor suppressor genes. In their normal form, these genes act in a way that keeps tumors from growing.
The findings of this study, the researcher concluded, point to the need to develop comprehensive testing for inherited carcinoma for all women with ovarian, peritoneal or fallopian tube cancer, regardless of their age or family history. The researchers are moving clinical science forward to a time when expensive single gene testing for thousands of dollars will be replaced by testing many genes simultaneously at low cost.
###
In addition to Swisher, the scientists on this project were Tom Walsh, Silvia Casadei, Ming K. Lee, Anne Thornton, Wendy Roeb, Sunday M. Stray, and Mary-Claire King, all of the UW Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Medicine, and Christopher Pennil, Kathy Agnew, Anneka Wickramanayake, Barbara Norquist, and Kathryn Pennington, all of the UW Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Rochelle Garcia, UW Department of Pathology.
The study, "Mutations in 12 genes for inherited ovarian, Fallopian tube, and peritoneal carcinoma identified by massively parallel sequencing," was funded by the National Institutes of Health, The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, and the U.S. Department of Defense Ovarian Cancer Research Program.
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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.
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Public release date: 25-Oct-2011
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