Newer tests clarify hereditary risk of cancer

Posted on by

Patients who years ago breathed a sigh of relief because their genetic tests showed they were not at increased risk of developing cancer are not necessarily home free, said Suzanne Mahon, DNSc, genetic counselor for Saint Louis University Cancer Center.

"There is this group of people who think they don't need to worry about getting cancer and believe they don't have a high family risk of getting cancer, but unfortunately do," said Mahon, a professor in internal medicine at Saint Louis University.

Mahon says her requests for genetic testing for breast cancer have more than tripled since 2013, when actress Angelina Jolie announced she had a double mastectomy because she was at genetic risk of developing breast cancer.

Older genetic screenings were for the BRCA 1 and 2 genes, which are linked to the development of breast, ovarian, prostate, melanoma, pancreatic and other cancers.

However a new generation of genetic tests can detect as many as 25 other, less common genes that show a familial predisposition to cancer.

"It's important for people to understand what genetic test they were given and how complete they were," Mahon said.

"Many people have tested negative for BRCA 1 or 2 and mistakenly think they do not have an increased hereditary risk for developing cancer. It is possible that newer testing, through next generation platforms, could identify a less common susceptibility gene and clarify their risk."

For those who had early, less complete genetic tests, catch up panels are available to screen for other genes that raise their risk of developing cancer. "Most of these genes are associated with multiple cancers," Mahon said.

Those who could be at genetic risk of developing cancer include people who have:

Several close relatives on the same side of the family who have cancer

Read the original:

Newer tests clarify hereditary risk of cancer

Decision-support program helps keep seniors out of the emergency room

Posted on by

PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:

18-Sep-2014

Contact: Kathryn Ryan kryan@liebertpub.com 914-740-2100 Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News @LiebertOnline

New Rochelle, NY, September 18, 2014An Emergency Room Decision-Support (ERDS) program can significantly reduce ER visits and hospital admissions among older adults on Medicare. This could have important economic implications, helping to reduce the nearly 33% of avoidable ER visits that contribute to about $18 billion in unnecessary healthcare costs each year. Details of a successful ERDS program that had a positive return on investment are published in an article in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Population Health Management website until October 18, 2014.

Jessica Navratil-Strawn and colleagues from Optum (Golden Valley, MN; Ann Arbor, MI; and Phoenix, AZ), Richard Migliori MD, UnitedHealth Group (Minnetonka, MN), and Charlotte Yeh, MD, AARP Services (Washington, DC), show that participation in an ERDS program by Medicare users who previously had three or more visits to the ER within a 12-month period could improve care coordination, decrease ER visits and hospital admissions, and increase office visits compared to similar individuals not involved in ERDS. In the article "An Emergency Room Decision-Support Program That Increased Physician Office Visits, Decreased Emergency Room Visits, and Saved Money," the authors report that for every dollar invested in the ERDS program, $1.24 in healthcare costs was saved.

"While visits to the ER are climbing around the nation, we need solid research like this study to help us make important policy decisions and to better allocate healthcare resources," says Editor-in-Chief David B. Nash, MD, MBA, Dean and Dr. Raymond C. and Doris N. Grandon Professor, Jefferson School of Population Health, Philadelphia, PA.

###

About the Journal

Population Health Management is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published bimonthly in print and online that reflects the expanding scope of health care management and quality. The Journal delivers a comprehensive, integrated approach to the field of population health and provides information designed to improve the systems and policies that affect health care quality, access, and outcomes. Comprised of peer-reviewed original research papers, clinical research, and case studies, the content encompasses a broad range of chronic diseases (such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic pain, diabetes, depression, and obesity) in addition to focusing on various aspects of prevention and wellness. Tables of Contents and a sample issue may be viewed on the Population Health Management website. Population Health Management is the official journal of the Population Health Alliance.

About the Publisher

Original post:

Decision-support program helps keep seniors out of the emergency room

Food manufacturers seek GMO labeling injuction

Posted on by

BRATTLEBORO -- Contending Vermont's GMO labeling law is meant "to pacify a vocal segment of the population that opposes genetic engineering," the Grocery Manufacturers Association is asking a federal court to prevent the state from implementing Act 120 until its lawsuit against Vermont "has run its course."

Act 120, which establishes labeling requirements for what it calls genetically engineered foods, was passed by the Legislature earlier this year and signed into law in May by Gov. Peter Shumlin.

According to the motion for an injunction, because GE varieties of corn and soybean account for 90 percent of those types of plantings in the United States, Act 120 will affect most of the grocery products sold in Vermont.

"Federal law does not require food labeling to also include plant labeling because there is no rational justification for such a regime," wrote attorneys for the GMA, the Snack Food Association, the International Dairy Association and the National Association of Manufacturers. "Act 120, however, is not concerned with rational justification. It caters to beliefs and biases that a government has no business endorsing."

Not only does Act 120 not serve any legitimate governmental interests, wrote the attorneys, it violates the First Amendment and intrudes upon federal labeling requirements, and is thus preempted by the Supremacy Clause.

In addition, they wrote, the members of the associations bringing suit against the state "will suffer irreparable injury" without an injunction because they have no way "to reliably distinguish ingredients derived from genetically engineered plant varieties from those that are not."

"The changes manufacturers would need to demand from their suppliers and initiate in their own facilities to segregate ingredients require money and time -- much more time than the Act's July 1, 2016, effective date allows," wrote the attorneys.

And then there are the costs related to building out Vermont-specific supply and distribution chains that do not currently exist.

"Plaintiff's members will not be able to recoup the cost of those efforts from the State if they prevail, nor could they easily return their business to the status quo ante."

Even though the plaintiff's plan to present evidence that food produced from genetically engineered crops is safe, "vehement opposition to genetic engineering persists," wrote the attorneys. Much of that opposition is based in philosophical or religiousbeliefs, concerns about large-scale agricultural operations, or biases against certain companies, maintain the attorneys.

See the article here:

Food manufacturers seek GMO labeling injuction

Food manufacturers seek GMO labeling injunction

Posted on by

Products containing genetically modified ingredients would have to disclose that information on the back of the package near the nutritional facts under Vermont s bill. (Photo by John Herrick/VTDigger)

BRATTLEBORO -- Contending Vermont's GMO labeling law is meant "to pacify a vocal segment of the population that opposes genetic engineering," the Grocery Manufacturers Association is asking a federal court to prevent the state from implementing Act 120 until its lawsuit against Vermont "has run its course."

Act 120, which establishes labeling requirements for what it calls genetically engineered foods, was passed by the Legislature earlier this year and signed into law in May by Gov. Peter Shumlin.

According to the motion for an injunction, because GE varieties of corn and soybean account for 90 percent of those types of plantings in the United States, Act 120 will affect most of the grocery products sold in Vermont.

"Federal law does not require food labeling to also include plant labeling because there is no rational justification for such a regime," wrote attorneys for the GMA, the Snack Food Association, the International Dairy Association and the National Association of Manufacturers. "Act 120, however, is not concerned with rational justification. It caters to beliefs and biases that a government has no business endorsing."

Not only does Act 120 not serve any legitimate governmental interests, wrote the attorneys, it violates the First Amendment and intrudes upon federal labeling requirements, and is thus preempted by the Supremacy Clause.

In addition, they wrote, the members of the associations bringing suit against the state "will suffer irreparable injury" without an injunction because they have no way "to reliably distinguish ingredients derived from genetically engineered plant varieties from those that are not."

"The changes manufacturers would need to demand from their suppliers and initiate in their own facilities to segregate ingredients require money and time -- much more time than the Act's July 1, 2016, effective date allows," wrote the attorneys.

And then there are the costs related to building out Vermont-specific supply and distribution chains that do not currently exist.

"Plaintiff's members will not be able to recoup the cost of those efforts from the State if they prevail, nor could they easily return their business to the status quo ante."

Read more:

Food manufacturers seek GMO labeling injunction

NUI Galway in joint stem cell project with Mayo Clinic

Posted on by

Joint research projects by NUIG and the Mayo Clinic will focus on a number of key strategic areas, including adult stem-cell therapy, gene therapy, biomaterials and biomedical engineering, the two institutes have said. Illustration: Getty

NUI Galway and the Mayo Clinic in the US plan to collaborate on clinical trials using regenerative medicine, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two institutes.

The joint research projects will focus on a number of key strategic areas, including adult stem-cell therapy, gene therapy, biomaterials and biomedical engineering, the two institutes have said.

The Mayo Clinic and NUIGs Regenerative Medicine Institute have worked closely with each other for a number of years.

Both have licensed cell manufacturing facilities, and student and staff exchange programmes between Galway and the US will continue.

Welcoming the agreement, NUIG president Dr Jim Browne has noted that his university has Irelands only facility licensed to produce stem cells for human use.

A new clinical and translational research facility for conducting clinical trials with patients will be complete in early 2015, he said.

Read more here:

NUI Galway in joint stem cell project with Mayo Clinic

Futurist urges Chamber to be open to learning from young workers

Posted on by

Starting at the bottom and clawing your way to the top of the corporate ladder worked for baby boomers and their parents.

But, that model of success no longer applies to the modern workplace, which features workers and customers who are increasingly interconnected, culturally diverse and are playing by a different set of rules, a workplace expert said Thursday.

Seth Mattison is founder of the company Futuresight and advises corporations about emerging trends in the workplace. He provided a big-picture view of how the workplace is changing during the Billings Chamber of Commerces annual meeting.

Mattison showed a slide with a graphic detailing a pyramid-shaped corporate structure, with the chief executive at the top and a base of low-level workers reporting to middle-management supervisors, who then report to the top brass. Its a familiar structure for just about anybody who has held a job.

His next slide provided a much different picture. An almost random pattern of interconnected dots and squiggles represents how people increasingly interact with each other through the Internet and social media.

We live in a half-changed world where the structure of the organization chart still exists, Mattison said. But that often conflicts with the network of connections that are familiar to the younger generation.

Most baby boomers grew up in households where parents were the main source of knowledge. They gave orders and doled out punishment whenever the kids stepped out of line. Modern families are populated by children who have grown up with the Internet. Increasingly, youngsters are showing their teachers and parents how to use technology.

This represents a big shift in society. For the first time, the younger generation is helping older people learn and adapt to new ideas and technology, he said.

He illustrated that point by showing a series of magazine covers depicting young entrepreneurs who struck it rich while still in their teens or 20s.

How many times did you see a teenager on the cover of business publication when you were growing up? Mattison said.

Read the original here:

Futurist urges Chamber to be open to learning from young workers

Astronomers Find A Supermassive Black Hole In A Tiny Galaxy

Posted on by

The dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1 has a supermassive black hole five times more massive than the Milky Way's. (Credit: NASA, ESA and A. Seth - University of Utah, USA)

An international team of astronomers have announced that theyve discovered a supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M60-UCD1. This is the smallest known galaxy to have a supermassive black hole.

It is the smallest and lightest object that we know of that has a supermassive black hole, lead researcher Anil Seth said in a press release. Its also one of the most black hole-dominated galaxies known.

M60-UCD1 is about 50 million light-years away from Earth and is much smaller than our own Milky Way. Its one of many ultra-compact dwarf galaxies that astronomers have discovered. Its diameter is only 300 light-years 1/500th of the diameter of our galaxy. And those 300 light years are packed with 140 million stars.

Despite their compactness, these types of galaxies still tend to be more massive than astronomers would otherwise expect. This has led some astronomers to theorize that as small as they are, these galaxies may contain supermassive black holes at their center.

We had already published a study that suggested this additional weight could come from the presence of supermassive black holes, but it was only a theory, co-researcher Steffen Mieske of the European Southern Observatory said in a statement. Now, by studying the movement of the stars within M60-UCD1, we have detected the effects of such a black hole at its center.

The astronomers detected the black hole by studying images of the galaxy that had been made with the Hubble Space Telescope and the Gemini North telescope in Hawaii. These images were then studied to determine the effect of the unseen black hole and determine information about it.

Through this data, the scientists determined that the black hole has the mass of about 21 million Suns five times more massive than the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. This black hole is so massive, in fact, that it comprises about 15 percent of the total mass of M60-UCD1. By comparison, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way comprises less than about 0.01% of the galaxys total mass.

If this type of black hole is discovered at the center of other ultra-compact galaxies, it could provide a good theory for how these galaxies form in the first place.

This finding suggests that dwarf galaxies may actually be the stripped remnants of larger galaxies that were torn apart during collisions with other galaxies, rather than small islands of stars born in isolation, Seth added in a release. We dont know of any other way you could make a black hole so big in an object this small.

The rest is here:

Astronomers Find A Supermassive Black Hole In A Tiny Galaxy

U.S. pushed to protect global religious freedom

Posted on by

The United States is not doing enough to promote and protect international religious freedom, a panel of advocates warned Congress on Thursday.

Strengthening its religious freedom policies and taking more seriously the position of the ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom are just two issues the Obama administration needs to address, and a good place to start is the State Department, the panel told the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security.

SEE ALSO: Kansas City IHOP provides never-ending service of music, prayer

The work of the State Department, though noble, is ad hoc, said Tom Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown Universitys Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

As a consequence, the United States has had no impact on the global rise of religious persecution, Mr. Farr said. I cannot identify a single country under this administration that has advanced religious freedom or reduced religious persecution.

Katrina Lantos Swett, chairwoman of the U.S Commission on International Religious Freedom, said the State Departments bureaucratic culture needs to be addressed, especially considering the impending confirmation of ambassador-at-large nominee Rabbi David Saperstein.

I do think that Rabbi Saperstein will face a challenge of sorts, of confronting the culture at the State Department that has tended to sideline these concerns, Ms. Swett said. I think it is critically important the next ambassador-at-large finds a way to have direct access to the secretary [of state] and to the president.

SEE ALSO: Air Force dumps so help me God from enlistment oath

Along with giving more voice to the ambassador-at-large, she recommended the administration direct high-ranking officials to speak out on the importance of religious freedom, expand training on international religious freedom for State Department workers, and take more interest and care in designating nations as countries of particular concern, or CPC.

When you have societies that repress, oppress, you create a seabed for extremism, for violence ultimately for the export of terrorism, Ms. Swett said. We need it to become a priority at the State Department, at the administration, at Congress.

Read more from the original source:

U.S. pushed to protect global religious freedom

Qatar: New cybercrimes law endangers freedom of expression

Posted on by

A controversial new cybercrimes law that criminalizes the spreading of false news on the internet poses a serious threat to freedom of expression in Qatar, said Amnesty International.

Under the new law, the authorities may ban websites that they consider threatening to the safety of the country and punish anyone who posts or shares online content that undermines Qatars social values or general order, though the law fails to define the meaning of these terms.

The new cybercrimes law is a major setback for freedom of expression in Qatar, said Said Boumedouha, Deputy Director of Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North Africa Programme.

It contains broad and vaguely-worded provisions that fly in the face of international standards. They effectively grant the government extensive powers to punish anyone who posts or shares content that officials consider harmful to Qatars social values or national interests.

There is a real danger that legitimate, peaceful expression could be seriously undermined by this new law by facilitating arbitrary crackdown on peaceful dissent.

The law addresses hacking, forgery, intellectual property rights and other acts that are recognizably criminal under international law but also requires telecommunications providers to block access to websites or supply evidence or records at the request of the authorities.

Freedom of expression in Qatar is strictly controlled and the local press routinely exercizes self-censorship.

In one case that demonstrates the extent of the authorities grasp on freedom of expression, well-known Qatari poet Mohammed Rashid al-Ajami is serving a 15-year prison sentence for writing and reciting a poem that was considered critical of the ruling family. It did not incite hatred, sectarianism or violence. Amnesty International considers him a prisoner of conscience and has repeatedly called for his immediate and unconditional release.

Mohammed al-Ajamis case is a perfect example of how the Qatari authorities have flouted the rules on freedom of expression at their whim in the past, said Said Boumedouha.

Despite Qatars attempts to portray itself of as a progressive country committed to the respect of international human rights standards, we are seeing the authorities rolling back freedoms instead of taking steps to ensure freedom of expression is protected.

Follow this link:

Qatar: New cybercrimes law endangers freedom of expression