If you blink, you're gonna miss it. Hell, even if you're looking right at it, you still might not see it. But you'll definitely feel it. The Aviationist found a video of a Syrian fighter bomber flying overhead and caught it dropping a bomb pretty much right on top of the cameraman. The plane sends flares out at first but then you see a white streak heading straight towards the ground and before you know it, the camera gets smashed sideways. Scary.
We reported Wednesday that the polio outbreak in Somalia had spread to South Sudan. But health officials say that they were mistaken. There have been no polio cases in the country since 2009.
The World Health Organization said previously that it had confirmed three cases of polio in South Sudan back in August.
"There was a problem in the lab analysis," WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer told Shots Thursday in an email. "So in fact those are not [polio] cases. South Sudan is being removed from the list of infected countries.
"But given that the Horn of Africa outbreak is continuing, South Sudan remains at risk," Rosenbauer wrote. "And immunization activities continue to be implemented in the country."
The polio outbreak in Somalia is currently the largest one in the world, with 174 cases. The virus has spread to Kenya and Ethiopia, which share borders with Somalia.
South Sudan, on the other hand, is hundreds of miles from the Somali border. So the corrected information means that the spread of the virus is more limited than previously thought.
When it comes to digital camera one-upmanship, autofocus-speeds have finally usurped megapixel-counts. This is a good thing. Everyone can find a use for a faster-focusing camera, and everyone from Olympus to Panasonic to Sony has been hot-rodding their AF systems ...
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2013, file screenshot, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' main landing web page for HealthCare.gov. Members of Congress are governing themselves under President Barack Obama’s signature law, which means they have great leeway in how to apply it to their own staffs. For lawmakers, it is about a section of the law that may _ or may not _ require them to toss some staffers off of their federal health insurance and into the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. (AP Photo/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2013, file screenshot, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' main landing web page for HealthCare.gov. Members of Congress are governing themselves under President Barack Obama’s signature law, which means they have great leeway in how to apply it to their own staffs. For lawmakers, it is about a section of the law that may _ or may not _ require them to toss some staffers off of their federal health insurance and into the Affordable Care Act’s exchanges. (AP Photo/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Think you're confused by "Obamacare." It's roiling Capitol Hill behind the scenes, too.
Members of Congress are governing themselves under President Barack Obama's signature law, which means they have great leeway in how to apply it to their own staffs.
For House members and senators, it's about a section of the law that may — or may not — require lawmakers to toss some staffers off of their federal health insurance and into the Affordable Care Act's exchanges. The verdict from congressional officers is ultimately that lawmakers, as employers, have discretion over who among their staffs gets ejected, and who stays. And they don't have to say who, how many or why.
What they all say is this:
"I followed the law," said Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., echoing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and others.
But the law as written is open to broad interpretation, inspiring a bureaucratic web of memos, regulations and guidance that members of Congress say allows them to proceed on the question of staffers and coverage as they see fit. Lawmakers this week were required to finalize plans for who stays on federal insurance and who's forced onto an exchange.
The Affordable Care Act, signed into law in 2010, only requires members of Congress and their "official" staff members to get health insurance through one of the law's marketplaces, or exchanges. Guidance memos from the Senate's financial clerk and the House's chief administrative officer, obtained by The Associated Press, define "official" aides as those who work in the lawmakers' personal offices. Committee and leadership aides, then, would be exempt and could stay on the federal health insurance program.
Unless lawmakers decide otherwise.
"Individual members or their designees are in the best position to determine which staff work in the official office of each member," the memos quote from an Office of Personnel Management regulation. "OPM will leave those determinations to the members. ... Nothing in this regulation limits a member's authority" on the matter.
The decisions were layered with Washington political logic that inspired many congressional leaders, Republicans and Democrats, to put all of their aides on the exchanges.
House Speaker John Boehner and all four Senate Republican leaders are among them, putting their entire staffs into the exchanges created by a law they loathe. That allows them to slam Democrats, the new health care law's chief defenders, who are keeping leadership and committee aides on the federal health insurance program.
"If these staffers aren't 'official,' then the taxpayer shouldn't pay for their salaries or office support or anything else," said Sen. David Vitter, R-La., announcing legislation to force each congressional office to disclose the designation for each aide.
Many Democrats, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, are nullifying the hypocrisy charge by requiring all of their aides to get health insurance on an exchange.
But there are others.
Keeping the federal program for all of their staffers are House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., their spokesmen said.
And in the Senate, Democrats are split — and some are coy — about who's "official" and who's not.
"Me and my official staff are going into the D.C. exchange," Mikulski said Thursday, the deadline for deciding. She's the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, so she's got lots of staffers who aren't necessarily "official."
"The overwhelming majority of employees will be going on the exchanges," said Matt House, spokesman for Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who is in the Senate Democratic leadership. He declined to elaborate.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would only say that the Nevada Democrat is "following the law."
It all started with Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley and his amendment to Obama's health care law that would have required members of Congress and staffers to get the health coverage offered through the exchanges.
During the drawn-out debate, Democrats insisted that their goal was merely to provide uninsured Americans with the same kinds of coverage and choices that members of Congress have.
Grassley, in effect, dared his Democratic counterparts to back up their rhetoric: a "no" vote on his proposal would have undercut the argument that the law's supporters in Congress only wanted regular Americans to enjoy what they, themselves, had.
Grassley said his original intent was to put everyone who works for a member of Congress on the exchanges. But different language ultimately passed into law, and Grassley's idea isn't being applied as he intended.
In August, the Office of Personnel Management tossed the question back in Congress' lap by saying lawmakers' offices should individually decide which aides get insurance from where.
Grassley said Thursday he took the question and the "convoluted system" to the secretary of the Senate and came up with an answer. His personal staff will exit the federal insurance program and get health insurance from an exchange. But Grassley's aides on the Senate Finance Committee will remain on the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program.
Thank goodness—we can finally put to rest to all of the rumors and speculation. Google pulled the curtain on Android 4.4 KitKat Thursday, announcing the new mobile OS will appear first in the forthcoming Nexus 5 handset, which goes on sale for $349.
While we weren’t expecting a hefty update, some of the features announced in KitKat—like the newly revamped interface and new messaging features in the Hangouts app—were on our wish list. Other features, like optimization updates to help KitKat run on low-end phones, simply remind us that Google is still battling all the issues that lead to device fragmentation.
Regardless, let’s walk through some of the key features of KitKat and what you can expect when you finally get your hands on the new OS (whenever that is, because as we know, Android updates can take a long time to roll out).
A better phone dialer
GoogleNo more surprises: Google will provide info to let you know who is calling you.
You wouldn’t expect an overhaul of a dialer application to be a marquee feature, but Google has achieved the near impossible. When you’re in the dialer interface, now you can type just the first few letters of who or what you’re looking for—whether it’s a business or a friend—and the dialer will immediately bring it up. You won’t have to venture into Contacts for this essential information.
If this search functionality sounds familiar, that’s because some manufacturers already offer this feature in their own version of the Android dialer. Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, for example, helps you find the name of the person you want to call by letting you key in the first few letters of his or her name on the number pad. So perhaps the bigger news isn’t that Google overhauled its dialer applications, but that it’s looking to what third-parties are doing to give consumers what they want.
KitKat also provides a novel form of caller ID, fetching the location information of unknown numbers that call you to provide a better glimpse into who might be calling and where they’re located. This is an especially helpful addition when you consider the number of telemarketer calls that aren’t routed through an 800 number.
Fabulous interface makeover
GoogleThat navigation bar will look translucent, which should prettify the slightly doldrum Android interface.
Stock Android doesn’t have to be plain and simple. As some developers posited in our Android retrospective, KitKat includes a slightly revamped interface design. You’ll see better use of screen real-estate in applications that utilize the new “immersive” full-screen abilities, like Google Music and Books. And the new navigation bar is now translucent, so your wallpaper won’t be cropped by a colored menu bar. KitKat also sports a new condensed font.
Unfortunately, these interface changes won’t necessarily be exposed on non Nexus devices—meaning pretty much the entire universe of Android hardware. You’ll still be held hostage to whatever interface the manufacturer wants you to look at if you’re not using the developer edition of a phone.
It’s unclear how these design changes could affect interfaces like HTC’s Sense or Samsung’s TouchWiz UI, but we’re not holding our breath for substantial KitKat additions to those UIs. Third-party manufacturers will likely continue to push interfaces that match their brand, and for companies like Samsung that means gaudy icons and blue everything.
Never carry cash again
As leaks suggested, Android 4.4. KitKat will enable Google Wallet right off the bat—without the need for your carrier’s approval. And because Android is actually storing your payment information within KitKat, you won’t have to rely on NFC security elements to make a transaction.
But that’s not all: Not only will you be able to manage your credit card information from within the Settings panel and more easily pay for items anywhere NFC and Wallet is supported, but you’ll also be able to send money to friends without annoying transaction fees.
Google enabled the payment settings from within the OS to help people on Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T take advantage of its Wallet offerings, as those three carriers have banded together to use Isis as the default NFC-payment platform. We won’t know more about how Wallet works in KitKat until we physically have an Android 4.4 device in our hands, but at first glance the update looks like a win.
Okay, Google Now
GoogleLaunch Google Now any which way.
How you access Google Now varies from phone to phone. Do you hold down the home button? Do you swipe up from the bottom of the screen? Do you shake your phone vigorously while shouting at it? Hoping to simplify things a bit, Google has put Google Now front and center by adding it to the Home screen. Now, instead of entering in some variable command, you can just swipe from left to right to quickly access Google’s handy service.
The new OS also supports launching Google Now by saying, “Ok Google” while on the homescreen. It should be a helpful feature if your hands are tied up, or you would rather dictate than type. It’s kind of like the Touchless Controls on the Moto X, but with a few more hoops to jump through. Unfortunately the functionality is currently limited to the Nexus 5, so your current phone probably won’t get the feature. (But your next phone might!)
GoogleAsk Google Now to search through the Box app for a file.
Also, Google Now can now access apps when it exposes information in its search results. Let's say you're looking for a particular restaraunt. Not only will you get the usual Google results, you could also get an invitation to book a reservation via, say, the OpenTable app. This function has to be supported on the app level, but suggests an exciting new expansion of Google's digital assistant.
Indeed, by enabling easier access to Google Now, third-party manufacturers like Samsung won’t be able to hide it behind its own proprietary services. (Ever try to get to Google Now on a Galaxy S 4, only to be defaulted to S-Voice?) Google just wants you to stick with it for all of your queries.
Hangouts
You can chat with your friends through SMS in the Hangouts app.
Finally! A few days ago, Google updated its Hangouts app to let you send both SMS, MMS, and chat messages from one application. It’s the right idea, but Google is merely playing catch-up, since Apple released the all-encompassing Messages application in iOS 6 over a year ago. Google wrote in its official blog post that its intention for combining all the communication functionality into one was for added convenience.
Faster Android for aging phones
Okay, so maybe your hardware isn’t exactly top tier compared to the ones running quad-core Snapdragon processors and massive amounts of memory. Google understands your plight and has introduced a new way for manufacturers to take advantage of all the latest Android features without the typical slow downs that plague most aging hardware.
It’s called Project Svelte and it’s designed to make KitKat run smoothly and efficiently even on low-end devices with as little as 512MB of RAM. As a result, Kit Kat uses 16 percent less memory than its predecessor, Jelly Bean, and there are additional features that allow developer to disable any features that use up more memory than needed.
This may help developers make apps for low-end devices, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that all old hardware will be able to run KitKat. Not even the Galaxy Nexus will be eligible for an update, and that device is barely a year and a half old. However, the under-the-hood improvements should help the current generation of devices handle applications a bit better, like the now-aging Nexus 7 and Nexus 4. This means an overall smoother Android experience if you’re running those devices.
Under-the-hood enhancements
You may not reap the benefits of some of the other features just yet, but that’s because they’re intended for developers to embed into applications.
GoogleThere’s some weird irony in the phrase “Stay fit with KitKat.”
If you walk to work everyday, you might appreciate that Google introduced a nifty new low-power step detector that enables you to track the number of steps you walk in a day without having to leave the screen on. Developers can also take advantage of system-wide captioning abilities that can display closed captions for various content, which is a nice enhancement for the hearing impaired—and when you want to watch a video but don’t headphones nearby.
As for that printer collecting dust in the corner, if it’s Google Print-compatible you can now send documents directly to it with the built-in cloud print functionality. Android apps can print anything over Wi-Fi or from cloud-hosted services. You can also discover any available printers, change paper sizes, and choose specific pages to print.
Ubisoft has sent its online pass program to Davy Jones' locker following players' complaints over gated content in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Before, if players wanted to access the game's online multiplayer features, companion app and related bonuses they would have to input a single-use code ...
Now that we know which of Google's Nexus devices will be eligible for an update to Android 4.4 KitKat, other manufacturers are starting to speak up about their rollout plans as well. Jason Mackenzie, president of HTC America, confirmed to us in an interview that the company is going to aggressively push out the latest version of Android to the HTC One. The Google Play edition will be updated within the next 15 days, the Developer edition and unlocked versions will get it within 30 days, and the remaining SKUs in North America (including all carrier variants) will have it in 90 days or less. With the exception of the Google Play edition, HTC plans to keep its signature Sense UI at version 5.5 (which has been available on global devices running Android 4.3); and although Mackenzie couldn't go into details on how the new KitKat features will be implented in Sense, we expect to see plenty of them make an appearance in the update in some way.
HTC is still working on a rollout plan for the other devices in its portfolio, such as the One max and One mini, but Mackenzie assures us that the company will have a statement concerning those other phones in the near future. He also reiterated HTC's commitment to rapidly pushing out updates, telling us that "we're not going to [roll out updates] in a lazy fashion. We're going to make it a priority to have every dot release out on the One within 90 days."
Since Mackenzie spoke to us on behalf of the company's North American branch, we're still awaiting word on HTC's plans for its global devices. Given the fact that US operators are set to push out updates in the next 90 days, we'd be surprised if it doesn't arrive sooner on One units around the world.
LSUHSC's Noel recognized nationally for outstanding achievement
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Leslie Capo lcapo@lsuhsc.edu 504-568-4806 Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Documents danger, raises alarm about neodymium magnets and kids
New Orleans, LA Dr. R. Adam Noel, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, was selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of two recipients of the 2013 Outstanding Achievement Award. The award was presented by the Section on Epidemiology/Council on Community Pediatrics on October 27, 2013, at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting.
An LSUHSC pediatric gastroenterologist, Dr. Noel was honored for his work over the past two years on neodymium, or rare earth, magnets. After seeing several cases in a short period of time in his practice at Children's Hospital resulting from children swallowing these tiny, powerful magnets, he led an international effort to identify the incidence and dangers of these magnets to kids. Dr. Noel was the principal investigator of the first large study on the issue, a landmark study he conducted with the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition that documented a drastic increase in cases and associated illness. His research results contributed to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's action recalling neodymium magnet adult desk toys and lawsuits to compel companies to stop selling these magnet sets and comply with the recall. His work also led to similar work in Canada and abroad. At the same time, Dr. Noel has worked tirelessly to increase awareness of the dangers of these powerful magnets to protect children and families.
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LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu and http://www.twitter.com/LSUHSCHealth
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LSUHSC's Noel recognized nationally for outstanding achievement
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
31-Oct-2013
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Contact: Leslie Capo lcapo@lsuhsc.edu 504-568-4806 Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center
Documents danger, raises alarm about neodymium magnets and kids
New Orleans, LA Dr. R. Adam Noel, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, was selected by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of two recipients of the 2013 Outstanding Achievement Award. The award was presented by the Section on Epidemiology/Council on Community Pediatrics on October 27, 2013, at the American Academy of Pediatrics annual meeting.
An LSUHSC pediatric gastroenterologist, Dr. Noel was honored for his work over the past two years on neodymium, or rare earth, magnets. After seeing several cases in a short period of time in his practice at Children's Hospital resulting from children swallowing these tiny, powerful magnets, he led an international effort to identify the incidence and dangers of these magnets to kids. Dr. Noel was the principal investigator of the first large study on the issue, a landmark study he conducted with the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition that documented a drastic increase in cases and associated illness. His research results contributed to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission's action recalling neodymium magnet adult desk toys and lawsuits to compel companies to stop selling these magnet sets and comply with the recall. His work also led to similar work in Canada and abroad. At the same time, Dr. Noel has worked tirelessly to increase awareness of the dangers of these powerful magnets to protect children and families.
###
LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans educates Louisiana's health care professionals. The state's academic health leader, LSUHSC comprises a School of Medicine, the state's only School of Dentistry, Louisiana's only public School of Public Health, and Schools of Allied Health Professions, Nursing, and Graduate Studies. LSUHSC faculty take care of patients in public and private hospitals and clinics throughout the region. In the vanguard of biosciences research in a number of areas in a worldwide arena, the LSUHSC research enterprise generates jobs and enormous economic impact. LSUHSC faculty have made lifesaving discoveries and continue to work to prevent, advance treatment, or cure disease. To learn more, visit http://www.lsuhsc.edu and http://www.twitter.com/LSUHSCHealth
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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.
The Kardashian/Jenner family rented out a theme park on Oct. 29 to celebrate Kendall Jenner's upcoming 18th birthday. The birthday girl -- flanked by amicably separated mom and dad Kris and Bruce Jenner, big sisters Kim and Khloe, birthday girls Kendall, plus brothers Rob Kardashian, Brody and Brandon Jenner -- enjoyed a goofy afternoon filled with crazy rides, games and pictures to document the fun at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, Calif.
Newly-engaged Kim, who like her family members posted social media updates from the bash, shared this Keek video while on a roller coaster. "Alright, I hope this isn't too scary," said the 33-year-old reality star as the caboose slowly inched its way up a steep incline. "We better not drop our phone." Like a true pro, even as the screaming commenced, the mom to 4-month-old North West managed to keep her phone and subsequently shared the experience on social media.
Although her fiance Kanye West was unable to join the somewhat-private affair, Kardashian reciprocated the rapper's lovey-dovey, recent interview with Ryan Seacrest in her Oct. 30 appearance on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. "I'm very happy right now," she shared. The star also confessed to Leno how the fat-shaming she endured while pregnant with her first baby was damaging to her soul.
"It changed how I am in public," said the bombshell. "I've tried to live more of a private life."
Early last year, the "Rockstar" consortium backed by Apple, Microsoft, BlackBerry, Sony and Ericsson closed its purchase of thousands of patents previously owned by Nortel for $4.5 billion (around the same time Google, after failing to purchase the patents itself, closed a $12 billion deal for Motorola). That transaction cleared the DOJ as the team agreed to license the tech on "fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, as well as their commitments not to seek injunctions in disputes involving SEPs." According to Reuters, Rockstar -- along with another company, Netstar -- has picked today to file a lawsuit against Google over seven of the patents, reportedly covering the ability to match internet search terms to advertising. TechCrunch lists other lawsuits filed against cellphone manufacturers including Samsung, LG, ASUS, HTC, Pantech, ZTE and Huawei. All of these companies build Android-based devices, so it appears that despite all the other ongoing lawsuits and license agreements, it's time for another round of patent warfare to start.
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Saw Min lies still on a bed with weights on her eye after receiving local anesthesia ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Saw Min waited with hundreds of Myanmar's poorest villagers to be prepped for the simple, free surgery she hopes will restore her sight. My heart is racing," said the 38-year-old mother of five, who lost all vision in her left eye one year ago and, in the months that followed, all but 20 percent in her right. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, Saw Min lies still on a bed with weights on her eye after receiving local anesthesia ahead of a cataract operation at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Saw Min waited with hundreds of Myanmar's poorest villagers to be prepped for the simple, free surgery she hopes will restore her sight. My heart is racing," said the 38-year-old mother of five, who lost all vision in her left eye one year ago and, in the months that followed, all but 20 percent in her right. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a patient with an eye patch rests inside a makeshift mosquito-net at a Buddhist monastery following a simple operation to remove a cataract in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an “assembly line” surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, patients receive assistance after undergoing cataract surgeries at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Accurate statistics concerning public health are difficult to come by in Myanmar, which only opened up to the outside world two years ago. The World Health Organization puts blindness prevalence rates at under 1 percent, high for the region in Myanmar, but one outside survey showed it peaking at 8.1 percent in some rural areas. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 23, 2013 photo, Buddhist monks with eye patches exit a room in a Buddhist shrine following simple operations to remove cataracts in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an “assembly line” surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In this Oct. 22, 2013 photo, a woman suffering from blindness has tears dripping from her eye as she waits to enter an operation room to follow a simple surgical procedure to remove cataracts at a government hospital in Bago, Myanmar. Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with one of the highest rates of blindness in the region. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks to an "assembly line" surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions, a technique pioneered by Nepalese master surgeon Sandut Ruit. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
BAGON, Myanmar (AP) — Five decades of isolation, military rule and woeful health care have left Myanmar with a particularly high rate of blindness. Now the veil of darkness is starting to lift, thanks in part to an "assembly line" surgical procedure that allows cataracts to be removed safely, without stitches, through two small incisions.
Nepalese surgeon Sandut Ruit, who helped pioneer the technique, oversaw nearly 1,300 operations at two massive eye camps in 10 days in October, with dozens of local ophthalmologists looking on and helping.
Despite improvements over the last two decades, the vast majority still use a microincision surgical technique that requires two sutures. Doctors were confident the no-stitch procedure — cheap, easy to learn and taking as little as five minutes — would catch on quickly.
"This is a turning point in our cataract history," said Dr. Tin Win, the chief of Yangon Eye Hospital. He said his goal is to have all 60 eye centers in the nation of 60 million using the procedure by the end of next year. He says he will pass on the information to all doctors, together with training manuals and videos, at a nationwide eye conference in early November.
"If we succeed, we can double our cataract surgical rate," he said. "We can start getting rid of our cataract backlog."
Several organizations focused on preventing blindness have focused on Myanmar as a country in particular need of help. A 2005 survey conducted by the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology in the rural Meiktila district of central Myanmar found that 8.1 percent of the population there was blind.
Ruit, who travels throughout the developing world holding free mass eye camps, was working in Myanmar for the first time.
He and his team were initially scheduled to perform 1,000 surgeries, but added nearly 300 patients due to the overwhelming response by potential candidates.
After the operation, some patients expressed hope they would be able to work again. Others were eager to see the faces of their children and grandchildren.
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2013 file photo, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 23, 2013 file photo, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a media conference after a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013 sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday sharply criticized U.S. states that are defying the Pentagon by refusing to allow National Guard facilities to issue ID cards that enable same-sex spouses of military members to claim benefits.
"This is wrong," Hagel said in a speech in New York.
"Not only does this violate the states' obligation under federal law, their actions have created hardship and inequality by forcing couples to travel long distances to federal military bases to obtain the ID cards they're entitled to," he said.
Hagel said this is causing division among the military ranks.
In his remarks to an Anti-Defamation League centennial dinner speech, Hagel did not name the states that are defying Pentagon policy on this issue. But the Pentagon has cited nine: Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas and West Virginia.
The Pentagon says there are 114 Army and Air National Guard sites in those nine states that are not providing ID cards to eligible same-sex spouses.
Hagel also used his speech to announce that he has directed the Marine Corps to expedite the manufacture and delivery to Israel of V-22 Osprey aircraft, hybrids that take off and land like a helicopter and cruise like an airplane. It is to be the first overseas sale of the Osprey.
Hagel also offered assurances that the Obama administration's interest in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program is a way of testing Iranian intentions for a diplomatic solution to a matter that has been in dispute for years.
"If we can find ways to resolve disputes peacefully, we are wise to explore them," he said. Israel is skeptical of any negotiation with Iran.
Convinced Iran is pursuing the development of nuclear weapons to threaten his country, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Iranians are trying to trick the West into easing economic sanctions while still pushing forward with their nuclear program. Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.
Hagel focused much of his dinner speech on the gay rights matter, which was a central issue during the tenure of his predecessor at the Pentagon, Leon Panetta. Panetta, who retired in February, was honored at the dinner for his long career in public service.
Under Pentagon policy that took effect Sept. 3, same-sex spouses of military members are eligible for the same health care, housing and other benefits enjoyed by opposite-sex spouses. That decision followed the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in June on the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.
Some states, however, have refused to allow issuance of the necessary Pentagon ID cards on National Guard facilities.
In Oklahoma, for example, Gov. Mary Fallin ordered her state's National Guard to stop processing requests, making legally married gay couples apply for benefits on federal facilities like Tinker Air Force Base. Oklahoma in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting giving benefits of marriage to gay couples.
Hagel said these states' policies are unfair. He said he ordered the chief of the National Guard Bureau, Gen. Frank Grass, to "take immediate action to remedy this situation."
It was not immediately clear what legal authority Grass has to force the states to change course.
Hagel said he instructed Grass to meet with the adjutants general from the nine states where the ID cards are being denied at state facilities. He said those adjutants general, who work for their states' governor, "will be expected to comply" with Pentagon policy on this issue.
The American Military Partner Association, an advocacy group for gay and lesbian military members, praised Hagel's remarks.
"Secretary Hagel has made it clear the National Guard in these few rogue states are failing to live up to their obligations to military families under federal law," said Stephen Peters, the association's president. "We applaud him in showing strong leadership by ordering the National Guard in these states to comply and follow lawful direction and DoD policy."
Defense officials estimate there are 18,000 same-sex couples in the active-duty military, National Guard and Reserves and among military retirees. It's unclear how many of those are married. The Pentagon policy on equal access to benefits does not apply to unmarried gay partners of military members.
A Pentagon ban on gays serving openly in the military was dropped in September 2011.
The USS Zumwalt, the first in a new class of "stealth" destroyers.
U.S. Navy/General Dynamics
Capt. James Kirk always got the latest, most advanced ship in Starfleet, so it seems only fitting that the Navy's new stealth destroyer, the USS Zumwalt, is slated to be commanded by none other than Capt. James A. Kirk, USN.
We can only speculate about the ribbing Bethesda, Md., native might have received from fellow officers as he rose through the ranks, but it doesn't seem to have hurt his career any. The 23-year veteran of the surface fleet, who is listed as "prospective commanding officer" of the Zumwalt, never commanded the recently retired USS Enterprise (CVN-65), but he did serve as operations officer aboard another aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). Kirk was also commanding officer of the frigate USS De Wert (FFG-45) and served in various capacities aboard several other ships.
"The largest destroyer ever built for the Navy, the Zumwalt looks like no other U.S. warship, with an angular profile and clean carbon fiber superstructure that hides antennas and radar masts.
" 'The Zumwalt is really in a league of its own,' said defense consultant Eric Wertheim, author of the 'The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World.'
"Originally envisioned as a 'stealth destroyer,' the Zumwalt has a low-slung appearance and angles that deflect radar. Its wave-piercing hull aims for a smoother ride.
"The 610-foot ship is a behemoth that's longer and bigger than the current class of destroyers. It was originally designed for shore bombardment and features a 155mm 'Advanced Gun System' that fires rocket-propelled warheads that have a range of nearly 100 miles.
"Thanks to computers and automation, it will have only about half the complement of sailors as the current generation of destroyers."
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked a judge's ruling that found the New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk policy was discriminatory and took the unusual step of removing her from the case, saying interviews she gave during the trial called her impartiality into question.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the rulings by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin will be stayed pending the outcome of an appeal by the city.
The judge ruled in August the city violated the Constitution in how it carried out its program of stopping and questioning people. The city appealed her findings and her remedial orders, including a decision to assign a monitor to help the police department change its policy and the training program associated with it.
During arguments, lawyers in the case said the police department hasn't had to do anything except meet with a monitor since the judge's decision. But the city said police officers are afraid to stop and frisk people now and the number of stop-and-frisks has dropped dramatically.
The three-judge appeals panel, which heard arguments on the requested stay on Tuesday, noted that the case might be affected in a major way by next week's mayoral election.
Democratic candidate Bill de Blasio, who's leading in polls, has sharply criticized and promised to reform the NYPD's stop-and-frisk technique, saying it unfairly targets minorities. He said he was "extremely disappointed" in Thursday's decision.
The appeals court said the judge needed to be removed because she ran afoul of the code of conduct for U.S. judges in part by compromising the necessity for a judge to avoid the appearance of partiality. It noted she had given a series of media interviews and public statements responding to criticism of the court. In a footnote, it cited interviews with the New York Law Journal, The Associated Press and The New Yorker magazine.
The judge said Thursday that quotes from her written opinions gave the appearance she had commented on the case in interviews. But she said a careful reading of each interview will reveal no such comments were made.
The 2nd Circuit said cases challenging stop-and-frisk policies will be assigned to a different judge chosen randomly. It said the new presiding judge shall stay all proceedings pending further rulings by it.
After a 10-week civil trial that ended in the spring, Scheindlin ruled that police officers violated the civil rights of tens of thousands of people by wrongly targeting black and Hispanic men with the stop-and-frisk program. She appointed an outside monitor to oversee major changes, including reforms in policies, training and supervision, and she ordered a pilot program to test body-worn cameras.
The Center for Constitutional Rights, which represented plaintiffs in the case, said it was dismayed that the appeals court delayed "the long-overdue process to remedy the NYPD's unconstitutional stop-and-frisk practices" and was shocked that it "cast aspersions" on the judge's professional conduct and reassigned the case.
The city said it was pleased with the federal appeals court ruling. City lawyer Michael Cardozo said it allows for a fresh and independent look at the issue.
Stop-and-frisk, which has been criticized by civil rights advocates, has been around for decades, but recorded stops increased dramatically under Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration to an all-time high in 2011 of 684,330, mostly of black and Hispanic men. A lawsuit was filed in 2004 by four men, all minorities, and became a class action case.
About 5 million stops have been made in New York in the past decade, with frisks occurring about half the time. To make a stop, police must have reasonable suspicion that a crime is about to occur or has occurred, a standard lower than the probable cause needed to justify an arrest. Only about 10 percent of the stops result in arrests or summonses, and weapons are found about 2 percent of the time.
Supporters of changes to the NYPD's stop-and-frisk program say the changes will end unfair practices, will mold a more trusted police force and can affect how other police departments use the policy. Opponents say the changes will lower police morale but not crime.
The judge noted she wasn't putting an end to the stop-and-frisk practice, which is constitutional, but was reforming the way the NYPD implemented its stops.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Just two weeks after President Barack Obama saw his Democratic Party put up an unyielding front against Republicans, his coalition is showing signs of stress.
From health care to spying to pending budget deals, many congressional Democrats are challenging the administration and pushing for measures that the White House has not embraced.
Some Democrats are seeking to extend the enrollment period for new health care exchanges. Others want to place restraints on National Security Administration surveillance capabilities. Still others are standing tough against any budget deal that uses long-term reductions in major benefit programs to offset immediate cuts in defense.
Though focused on disparate issues, the Democrats' anxieties are connected by timing and stand out all the more when contrasted with the remarkable unity the party displayed during the recent showdown over the partial government shutdown and the confrontation over raising the nation's borrowing limit.
"That moment was always going to be fleeting," said Matt Bennett, who worked in the Clinton White House and who regularly consults with Obama aides. "The White House, every White House, understands that these folks, driven either by principle or the demands of the politics of their state, have to put daylight between themselves and the president on occasion."
Obama and the Democrats emerged from the debt and shutdown clash with what they wanted: a reopened government, a higher debt ceiling and a Republican Party reeling in the depths of public opinion polls.
But within days, attention turned to the problem-riddled launch of the 3-year-old health care law's enrollment stage and revelations that the U.S. had been secretly monitoring the communications of as many as 35 allied leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel. And with new budget talks underway, Democratic Party liberals reiterated demands that Obama not agree to changes that reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits even in the improbable event Republicans agree to increase budget revenues.
The fraying on the Democratic Party edges is hardly unraveling Obama's support and it pales when compared to the upheaval within the Republican Party as it distances itself from the tactics of tea party conservatives. But the pushback from Democrats comes as Obama is trying to draw renewed attention to his agenda, including passage of an immigration overhaul, his jobs initiatives and the benefits of his health care law.
The computer troubles that befell the start of health insurance sign-ups have caused the greatest anxiety. Republicans pounced on the difficulties as evidence of deeper flaws in the law. But Democrats, even as they defended the policy, also demanded answers in the face of questions from their constituents.
"The fact is that the administration really failed these Americans," Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., told Medicare chief Marilyn Tavenner at a hearing this week. "So going forward, there can be just no more excuses."
In the Senate, 10 Democrats signed on to a letter seeking an unspecified extension of the enrollment period, which ends March 31. "As you continue to fix problems with the website and the enrollment process, it is critical that the administration be open to modifications that provide greater flexibility for the American people seeking to access health insurance," Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., wrote.
Another Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, has called for a one-year delay in the requirement that virtually all Americans have health insurance or pay a fine.
On Thursday, White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Tavenner and the White House's designated troubleshooter for the health care web site, Jeffrey Zients, were meeting privately with Senate Democrats to offer reassurances.
Democrats who have talked to White House officials in recent days describe them as rattled by the health care blunders. But they say they are confident that the troubled website used for enrollment will be corrected and fully operational by the end of November.
The spying revelations also have created some tensions between the administration and Democrats. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and until now a staunch supporter of the NSA's surveillance, called for a "total review of all intelligence programs" following the Merkel reports.
She said that when it came to the NSA collecting intelligence on the leaders of allies such as France, Spain, Mexico and Germany, "Let me state unequivocally: I am totally opposed."
In the House, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, a Democratic member of the House intelligence committee, complained that the intelligence committees had been kept out of the loop about the collection of data on foreign leaders.
"Why did we not know that heads of state were being eavesdropped on, spied on?" she asked Obama administration intelligence officials on Tuesday. "We are the Intelligence Committee. And we did not -- we didn't know that. And now all of us, all of us, are dealing with a problem in our international relations. There will be changes."
With Congress renewing budget talks Wednesday, liberals have been outspoken in their insistence that Democrats vigorously resist efforts to reduce long-term deficits with savings in Social Security or Medicare. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who usually votes with Democrats, has been the most outspoken, saying he fears a budget deal will contain a proposal in Obama's budget to reduce cost-of-living adjustments for Social Security and other benefit programs.
Obama, however, has proposed that remedy only if Republicans agree to raise tax revenue, a bargain that GOP lawmakers involved in the discussions made clear they would reject. Moreover, leaders from both parties as well as White House officials have signaled that in budget talks, they are looking for a small budget deal, not the type of "grand bargain" that would embrace such a revenue-for-benefit-cuts deal.
Still, many liberals warn that such cuts aren't palatable even if coupled with additional revenues.
"The idea, the notion that we're going to solve this problem or it's going to be OK if we were able to raise revenue and cut this thing back at the same time, it just isn't going to fly outside of Washington," said Jim Dean, chairman of the liberal advocacy group Democracy for America.
Follow Jim Kuhnhenn at http://twitter.com/jkuhnhenn
Contact: David Cameron david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu 617-432-0441 Harvard Medical School
Patterns found in cancer's chaos illuminate tumor evolution
For more than 100 years, researchers have been unable to explain why cancer cells contain abnormal numbers of chromosomes, a phenomenon known as aneuploidy. Many believed aneuploidy was simply a random byproduct of cancer.
Now, a team at Harvard Medical School has devised a way to understand patterns of aneuploidy in tumors and predict which genes in the affected chromosomes are likely to be cancer suppressors or promoters. They propose that aneuploidy is a driver of cancer rather than a result of it.
The study, to be published online in Cell on Oct. 31, offers a new theory of cancer development and could open the door for new treatment targets.
"If you look at a cancer cell, it looks like an unholy mess with gene deletions and amplifications, chromosome gains and losses, like someone threw a stick of dynamite into the cell. It seems random, but actually previous work has shown that there is a pattern to which chromosomes and chromosome arms are alteredand that means we can understand that pattern and how or if it drives cancer," said senior author Stephen Elledge, Gregor Mendel professor of Genetics and of Medicine at HMS and professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"What we have done is to propose a new theory about how this works and then prove it using mathematical analysis," he said.
Mining for answers
For decades since the "oncogene revolution," cancer research has focused on mutationschanges in the DNA code that abnormally activate genes that promote cancer, called oncogenes, or deactivate genes that suppress cancer. The role of aneuploidyin which entire chromosomes or chromosome arms are added or deletedhas remained largely unstudied.
Elledge and his team, including research fellow and first author Teresa Davoli, suspected that aneuploidy has a significant role to play in cancer because missing or extra chromosomes likely affect genes involved in tumor-related processes such as cell division and DNA repair.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers developed a computer program called TUSON (Tumor Suppressor and Oncogene) Explorer together with Wei Xu and Peter Park at HMS and Brigham and Women's. The program analyzed genome sequence data from more than 8,200 pairs of cancerous and normal tissue samples in three preexisting databases.
They generated a list of suspected oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes based on their mutation patternsand found many more potential cancer drivers than anticipated. Then they ranked the suspects by how powerful an effect their deletion or duplication was likely to have on cancer development.
Next, the team looked at where the suspects normally appear in chromosomes.
They discovered that the number of tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in a chromosome correlated with how often the whole chromosome or part of the chromosome was deleted or duplicated in cancers. Where there were concentrations of tumor suppressor genes alongside fewer oncogenes and fewer genes essential to survival, there was more chromosome deletion. Conversely, concentrations of oncogenes and fewer tumor suppressors coincided with more chromosome duplication.
When the team factored in gene potency, the correlations got even stronger. A cluster of highly potent tumor suppressors was more likely to mean chromosome deletion than a cluster of weak suppressors.
Number matters
Since 1971, the standard tumor suppressor model has held that cancer is caused by a "two-hit" cascade in which first one copy and then the second copy of a gene becomes mutated. Elledge argues that simply losing or gaining one copy of a gene through aneuploidy can influence tumor growth as well.
"The loss or gain of multiple cancer driver genes that individually have low potency can add up to have big effects," he said.
"It's a terrific study," said Angelika Amon, a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in the project. "These novel algorithms of identifying tumor suppressors and oncogenes nicely provide an explanation of how aneuploidies evolve in cancer cells, and the realization that subtle changes in the activity of many different genes at the same time can contribute to tumorigenesis is an exciting and intriguing hypothesis."
These findings also may have answered a long-standing question about whether aneuploidy is a cause or effect of cancer, leaving researchers free to pursue the question of how.
"Aneuploidy is driving cancer, not simply a consequence of it," said Elledge. "Other things also matter, such as gene mutations, rearrangements and changes in expression. We don't know what the weighting is, but now we should be able to figure it out."
Going forward, Elledge and Davoli plan to gather experimental evidence to support their mathematical findings. That will include validating some of the new predicted tumor suppressors and oncogenes as well as "making some deletions and amplifications and seeing if they have the properties we think they do," said Elledge.
###
The research was supported by a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Innovator Award, National Institutes of Health grant U54LM008748 and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Written by Stephanie Dutchen
Harvard Medical School has more than 7,500 full-time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital-based clinical departments at 16 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew Senior Life, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System.
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Study offers new theory of cancer development
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31-Oct-2013
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Contact: David Cameron david_cameron@hms.harvard.edu 617-432-0441 Harvard Medical School
Patterns found in cancer's chaos illuminate tumor evolution
For more than 100 years, researchers have been unable to explain why cancer cells contain abnormal numbers of chromosomes, a phenomenon known as aneuploidy. Many believed aneuploidy was simply a random byproduct of cancer.
Now, a team at Harvard Medical School has devised a way to understand patterns of aneuploidy in tumors and predict which genes in the affected chromosomes are likely to be cancer suppressors or promoters. They propose that aneuploidy is a driver of cancer rather than a result of it.
The study, to be published online in Cell on Oct. 31, offers a new theory of cancer development and could open the door for new treatment targets.
"If you look at a cancer cell, it looks like an unholy mess with gene deletions and amplifications, chromosome gains and losses, like someone threw a stick of dynamite into the cell. It seems random, but actually previous work has shown that there is a pattern to which chromosomes and chromosome arms are alteredand that means we can understand that pattern and how or if it drives cancer," said senior author Stephen Elledge, Gregor Mendel professor of Genetics and of Medicine at HMS and professor of medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.
"What we have done is to propose a new theory about how this works and then prove it using mathematical analysis," he said.
Mining for answers
For decades since the "oncogene revolution," cancer research has focused on mutationschanges in the DNA code that abnormally activate genes that promote cancer, called oncogenes, or deactivate genes that suppress cancer. The role of aneuploidyin which entire chromosomes or chromosome arms are added or deletedhas remained largely unstudied.
Elledge and his team, including research fellow and first author Teresa Davoli, suspected that aneuploidy has a significant role to play in cancer because missing or extra chromosomes likely affect genes involved in tumor-related processes such as cell division and DNA repair.
To test their hypothesis, the researchers developed a computer program called TUSON (Tumor Suppressor and Oncogene) Explorer together with Wei Xu and Peter Park at HMS and Brigham and Women's. The program analyzed genome sequence data from more than 8,200 pairs of cancerous and normal tissue samples in three preexisting databases.
They generated a list of suspected oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes based on their mutation patternsand found many more potential cancer drivers than anticipated. Then they ranked the suspects by how powerful an effect their deletion or duplication was likely to have on cancer development.
Next, the team looked at where the suspects normally appear in chromosomes.
They discovered that the number of tumor suppressor genes or oncogenes in a chromosome correlated with how often the whole chromosome or part of the chromosome was deleted or duplicated in cancers. Where there were concentrations of tumor suppressor genes alongside fewer oncogenes and fewer genes essential to survival, there was more chromosome deletion. Conversely, concentrations of oncogenes and fewer tumor suppressors coincided with more chromosome duplication.
When the team factored in gene potency, the correlations got even stronger. A cluster of highly potent tumor suppressors was more likely to mean chromosome deletion than a cluster of weak suppressors.
Number matters
Since 1971, the standard tumor suppressor model has held that cancer is caused by a "two-hit" cascade in which first one copy and then the second copy of a gene becomes mutated. Elledge argues that simply losing or gaining one copy of a gene through aneuploidy can influence tumor growth as well.
"The loss or gain of multiple cancer driver genes that individually have low potency can add up to have big effects," he said.
"It's a terrific study," said Angelika Amon, a professor of biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not involved in the project. "These novel algorithms of identifying tumor suppressors and oncogenes nicely provide an explanation of how aneuploidies evolve in cancer cells, and the realization that subtle changes in the activity of many different genes at the same time can contribute to tumorigenesis is an exciting and intriguing hypothesis."
These findings also may have answered a long-standing question about whether aneuploidy is a cause or effect of cancer, leaving researchers free to pursue the question of how.
"Aneuploidy is driving cancer, not simply a consequence of it," said Elledge. "Other things also matter, such as gene mutations, rearrangements and changes in expression. We don't know what the weighting is, but now we should be able to figure it out."
Going forward, Elledge and Davoli plan to gather experimental evidence to support their mathematical findings. That will include validating some of the new predicted tumor suppressors and oncogenes as well as "making some deletions and amplifications and seeing if they have the properties we think they do," said Elledge.
###
The research was supported by a Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Innovator Award, National Institutes of Health grant U54LM008748 and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Written by Stephanie Dutchen
Harvard Medical School has more than 7,500 full-time faculty working in 11 academic departments located at the School's Boston campus or in one of 47 hospital-based clinical departments at 16 Harvard-affiliated teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those affiliates include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, Boston Children's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Hebrew Senior Life, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital and VA Boston Healthcare System.
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Share
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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.