Mosquito genetics may offer clues to control malaria, researchers say

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ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2012) An African mosquito species with a deadly capacity to transmit malaria has a perplexing evolutionary history, according to discovery by researchers at the Fralin Life Science Institute at Virginia Tech.

Closely related African mosquito species originated the ability to transmit human malaria multiple times during their recent evolution, according to a study published this week in PLoS Pathogens by Igor Sharakhov, an associate professor of entomology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Maryam Kamali of Tehran, Iran, a Ph.D. student in the department of entomology. The discovery could have implications for malaria control by enabling researchers to detect and target specific genetic changes associated with the capacity to transmit a parasite.

Malaria causes as many as 907,000 deaths each year, mostly among children in sub-Saharan Africa. Anopheles mosquitoes, which bite mainly between dusk and dawn, transmit human malaria by spreading Plasmodium parasites that multiply in the human liver and infect red blood cells. But of the more than 400 species of mosquito belonging to the Anopheles genus, only about 20 are effective vectors of human malaria, according to the World Health Organization.

The most dangerous of these is the Anopheles gambiae mosquito species, one of seven in the Anopheles gambiae complex, which was thought to have recently evolved the ability to transmit malaria. However, Virginia Tech scientists' discoveries suggest that this species is actually genetically linked to an older, ancestral lineage.

Scientists used chromosomal analysis to compare gene arrangements for mosquitoes both inside and outside the Anopheles gambiae family to trace the evolutionary connections.

"The outside species served as a reference group for understanding the evolutionary relationship among Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes," Kamali said. "Our goal was to determine how different species arose in the Anopheles gambiae complex, as they all look identical, but have different behaviors and capacities to transmit human malaria."

When resolving the Anopheles gambiae evolutionary history, the scientists identified breaks in DNA that lead to new chromosomal arrangements, and used these rearrangements to demonstrate the repeated evolution of the ability to transmit a parasite, in a back-and-forth fashion.

"This curious stop-and-go flexibility could help us to better understand the nature of the mosquito's capacity to transmit malaria, and calls into question what is driving the genetic flexibility," Sharakhov said.

The discovery is innovative in the field of genetics research.

"The surprising aspect of the paper is the proposal of an ancestral and relatively ancient 2La polymorphism which arose in a hypothetical ancestor and has been maintained in Anopheles gambiae ever since," said Nora Besansky, the Rev. John Cardinal O'Hara C.S.C. professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame, who was not involved in the study. "If confirmed, this would certainly lend novel insight into the evolutionary dynamics of chromosomal inversions in general, not only in mosquitoes."

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Mosquito genetics may offer clues to control malaria, researchers say

San Francisco: Center of Innovation – Video

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04-10-2012 14:56 San Francisco is a leading center of innovation in health care and biosciences in the world. The combined economic impact of hospital, biomedical research and health sciences education spending is $16.7 billion and together they generate more than 100000 jobs per year -- almost one in five jobs in the City and County of San Francisco. UCSF Chancellor Susan Desmond-Hellmann, MD, MPH, Sue Currin, RN, MSN, president of the Hospital Council of Northern California and CEO of San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, and Terry Hermiston, PhD, vice president of Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals and the US Innovation Center, reflect on why San Francisco has been successful in fueling the economy, ensuring the health of its citizens and conducting groundbreaking research aimed at improving health worldwide.

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San Francisco: Center of Innovation - Video

B.C. pioneered health insurance in Canada for brief period during '30s

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While reading Chronic Condition, the new book about Canada's troubled health care system, I came across a reference to an almost forgotten chapter of B.C. history.

"To B.C. should go the honour of being the first Canadian province where something at least approximating a serious debate about public health care occurred," wrote author Jeffrey Simpson, the national affairs columnist for the Globe and Mail.

B.C. launched the country's first of many royal commissions on health care in 1919. Then in 1936, the Liberal government of premier Duff Pattullo enacted the first health insurance legislation, a rudimentary scheme that nevertheless provided basic medical coverage to many workers, their spouses and children.

What happened to it? The question sent me to the legislature library and a trove of dusty scrapbooks full of yellowed newspaper clippings, there being no Hansard in those days.

Those scrapbooks told the story of one of the most unusual debates in legislature history, distinctive because it pitted members of the governing party against each other, amid outside pressure from the business community and the medical establishment.

One Liberal, a medical doctor, denounced the proposed Health Insurance Act as "a half-baked scheme," "an abortion," "an encephalitic monstrosity" and the product of "sob sisters."

Another Liberal, a lawyer, called it "a piece of political chicanery" and threatened to resign his seat, forcing his own government into a byelection, that in his view it was bound to lose.

At different times in the two weeks of debate, a number of Liberals either voted against the legislation or vacated the chamber, that being the method of abstention.

A cabinet minister, manoeuvring to save the legislation, twice broke ranks with his own government on procedural votes. The look from his cabinet colleagues "would have fried an egg," wrote Bruce Hutchison, the legend of Canadian journalism then covering the legislature for the Province newspaper.

Still the legislation survived, an outcome that Hutchison credited to two factors in the main.

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B.C. pioneered health insurance in Canada for brief period during '30s

Court Rejects Health Care Challenge

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By Joe Rios

CREATED 9:40 AM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's lawsuit challenging the federal health care law. The Kansas City Star reports a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that Kinder lacked standing to sue because the law posed no immediate threat to his legally protected interests. Thursday's ruling did not address the constitutional challenges to the health care law. The Republican lieutenant governor said in a statement Friday that he's disappointed. But he adds that "the battle is not over" and says he's looking at other options to fight the health care law. Kinder filed the lawsuit in July 2010 in his individual rather than official capacity. Several others had joined in the lawsuit as plaintiffs.

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Court Rejects Health Care Challenge

Planning for Retirement? Don’t Forget Health Care Costs

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ITS not news that health care costs are increasing. Yet several recent studies show that few people factor those rising costs into their retirement plans.

Consider this example from an annual report from Fidelity Investments: For a 65-year-old couple retiring this year, the cost of health care in retirement will be $240,000, 6 percent more than that same couple retiring in 2011 would pay. The report assumes that the man will live 17 years and the woman 20.Most people dont realize Medicare covers much less than traditional employer plans, Sunit Patel, senior vice president in Fidelitys benefits consulting group. The $240,000 number captures the Part B premium for physician services, Part D for prescription drugs. Then there are deductibles and coinsurance, and benefits that are not covered like vision exams, hearing aids.

Another study, this one from Nationwide Financial, found that people who were near retirement routinely and wildly overestimated the percentage of health care costs covered by Medicare. It covers only 51 percent of health care services, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Robert L. Reynolds, president and chief executive of Putnam Investments, which has its own study, bluntly summed up the situation at a recent news briefing. It makes no sense at all to talk about retirement savings or lifetime replacement income without talking about health care expenses, he said.

A calculator developed by Putnam, called the Lifetime Income Replacement Tool, shows people not only how much they have saved but also how much they need to save depending on their health (cigarette smokers with diabetes need to save the least because their life expectancy is the shortest) and where they plan to retire (Louisiana is the cheapest, Alaska the most expensive) so they can live at their same income in retirement.

Moving to cheaper and possibly warmer climates is something many retirees naturally do. But while someone may be willing to move to Florida to reduce state taxes and avoid the ice and snow of the north, most people have so little awareness about the costs of health care in retirement that those costs are probably not a driving factor.

Carol and Richard Bechtel had worked in the San Jose, Calif., area, she for Stanford University and he at various technology companies. When it came time to retire in 2006, they put a lot of thought into where they wanted to live. They picked a community in Fairfield Glade, Tenn.

Cost of living was a factor. They were able to sell their home of 37 years in San Jose, pay cash for a house on a golf course, and still have money left over to put in their retirement account. Quality of life also mattered. By their account, the Bechtels are thoroughly enjoying their new community and friends. Mr. Bechtel found a hangar close to their home for his airplane, and they are closer to their son and three granddaughters in Wisconsin.

But when it came to knowing their health care expenses in retirement, they were pretty typical: they had to check on what the exact costs were. Their premiums, between Medicare, a supplementary policy through Stanford and a dental plan, will cost them $9,058.80 this year. That is a whopping 14 percent increase from the same policies in 2011. And that number does not include any out-of-pocket medical expenses, like co-payments or the costs of over-the-counter medications.

Health premiums are probably one of our biggest expenses, Mrs. Bechtel said.

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Planning for Retirement? Don’t Forget Health Care Costs

Scientists Uncover Genetic Link for Uterine Fibroids

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THURSDAY, Oct. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers who discovered genetic risk factors linked to uterine fibroids in white women say their findings will lead to new screening and treatment methods for the condition.

Uterine fibroids are the most common type of pelvic tumor in women -- they occur in 75 percent of women of reproductive age -- and the leading cause of hysterectomy in the United States. Uterine fibroids can lead to abnormal vaginal bleeding, infertility, pelvic pain and pregnancy complications.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston analyzed genetic data from more than 7,000 white women and identified variations in three genes that are significantly associated with uterine fibroids.

One of these variations occurred in a gene called FASN, which encodes a protein called FAS (fatty acid synthase). Further investigation showed that FAS protein production was three times higher in uterine fibroid samples compared to normal tissue, according to the report published online Oct. 4 in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Overproduction of FAS protein occurs in various types of tumors and is believed to be important for tumor cell survival, the study authors pointed out in a hospital news release.

"Our discovery foretells a path to personalized medicine for women who have a genetic basis for development of uterine fibroids," senior study author Cynthia Morton, director of the Center for Uterine Fibroids, said in the news release. "Identification of genetic risk factors may provide valuable insight into medical management," she concluded.

-- Robert Preidt

Copyright 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

SOURCE: Brigham and Women's Hospital, news release, Oct. 4, 2012

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Scientists Uncover Genetic Link for Uterine Fibroids

BUSM study investigates genetic variants' role in increasing Parkinson's disease risk

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Public release date: 5-Oct-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Jenny Eriksen Leary jenny.eriksen@bmc.org 617-638-6841 Boston University Medical Center

(Boston) Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) investigators have led the first genome-wide evaluation of genetic variants associated with Parkinson's disease (PD). The study, which is published online in PLOS ONE, points to the involvement of specific genes and alterations in their expression as influencing the risk for developing PD.

Jeanne Latourelle, DSc, assistant professor of neurology at BUSM, served as the study's lead author and Richard H. Myers, PhD, professor of neurology at BUSM, served as the study's principal investigator and senior author.

A recent paper by the PD Genome Wide Association Study Consortium (PDGC) confirmed that an increased risk for PD was seen in individuals with genetic variants in or near the genes SNCA, MAPT, GAK/DGKQ, HLA and RIT2, but the mechanism behind the increased risk was not determined.

"One possible effect of the variants would be to change the manner in which a gene is expressed in the brains, leading to increased risk of PD," said Latourelle.

To investigate the theory, the researchers examined the relationship between PD-associated genetic variants and levels of gene expression in brain samples from the frontal cortex of 26 samples with known PD and 24 neurologically healthy control samples. Gene expression was determined using a microarray that screened effects of genetic variants on the expression of genes located very close to the variant, called cis-effects, and genes that are far from the variant, such as those on a completely different chromosome, called trans-effects.

An analysis of the cis-effects showed that several genetic variants in the MAPT region showed a significant association to the expression of multiple nearby genes, including gene LOC644246, the duplicated genes LRRC37A and LRRC37A2 and the gene DCAKD. Significant cis-effects were also observed between variants in the HLA region on chromosome 6 and two nearby genes HLA-DQA1 and HLA-DQA1. An examination of trans-effects revealed 23 DNA sequence variations that reached statistical significance involving variants from the SNCA, MAPT and RIT2 genes.

"The identification of the specific altered genes in PD opens opportunities to further study them in model organisms or cell lines with the goal of identifying drugs which may rectify the defects as treatment for PD," said Myers.

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BUSM study investigates genetic variants' role in increasing Parkinson's disease risk

Chattanoogan.com – Chattanooga's source for breaking local news

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Phil Erli with Ringgold Telephone Company will be the featured speaker at the Walker County Chamber of Commerces October Membership Luncheon speaking on Watershed Events of Technology in the Future. The event will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 23, 11:30 a.m. at the Walker County Civic Center.

During the program Mr. Erli will discuss futurism in business. He will inform attendees on the ways technology and its growth will affect the ways in which persons conduct their business and personal lives.

Mr. Erli is a frequent speaker and has addressed many groups associated with the telephone industry including USTA, NECA, NTCA, OPASTCO, The International IP Forum and various state telephone associations. He has also spoken at the International Consumer Electronics Show on the subject of IPTV and addressed the National League of Cities on the subject of Futurism in Business.

A Promise Walk Community Center will have a featured spotlight table at the event. Attendees will be invited to visit this table during registration and after the event. The spotlight table host will also be given two minutes each to describe their organization during the program.

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Chattanoogan.com - Chattanooga's source for breaking local news

ELECTION PREVIEW: Freedom Township candidates running uncontested

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As November's general elections approach, Freedom Township Board of Trustees candidates are all going in uncontested.

Freedom Township Supervisor Dale Weidmayer, Clerk Jennifer Alexa and trustees Dennis E. Huehl and Daniel L. Schaible are incumbents and are running for their respective positions without opposition.

Treasurer candidate Rudy T. Layher is the only non-incumbent on the ballot. He won his place on the ballot during the primary elections in August by ousting then-incumbent Ken Siler.

All five candidates will likely take office after the elections unless Independent or write-in candidates come forth to gain the majority of votes.

Heritage Media emailed a questionnaire to each of Freedom Township's candidates. Weidmayer, Alexa, Layher and Schaible did not respond.

Name and city or township of residence: Dennis Huehl, Freedom Township

Occupation and educational background: Dairy and cash crop farmer and high school graduate.

Office you are seeking: Township trustee

Political affiliation: Republican

Age: 57 Continued...

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ELECTION PREVIEW: Freedom Township candidates running uncontested

Egypt: Freedom of Expression Is in Danger and the Coming Is the Most Dangerous

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ANHRI's Report on the Freedom of Expression During Mohamed Morsi's Rule

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information "ANHRI" exposes the absence of the regime's political will in Egypt, under the rule of the first civilian-elect president, to respect the freedom of opinion, expression and freedom of the press after three months of Morsi's rule. Egypt had experienced most of the violations against the freedom of expression, with its all branches, starting from the physical assaults against the critics and media-staff, legal prosecution, Hisbah cases and censorship and confiscation. Such violations arouses a lot of huge concerns regarding the future of the freedom of expression and democracy in the near future.

Despite that Dr. Mohamed Morsi did not guarantee the freedom of expression or the freedom of the press among the issues of which he promised in the first 100 days of his rule, but we know and understand that. Such understand stems from that the freedom of expression needs a long time to reconsider the importance of it. In particularly, after long years of the tyrant military rule or its a value considered by the Islamic trend, of which Morsi belongs to, as a synonymous with insolence and insult to the leaders and the rulers of the country.

Therefore, the report issued today entitled (we do not hostile or care about it: Freedom of Expression in the Rule of the First Civilian-elect President, After Three Months).

It cares primarily, despite it monitors some of the violations against freedom of expression, about

search for any indicator or evidence related to the availability of the political will to respect the freedom or expression and the freedom of the press. ANHRI did not found any of these indicators or evidences.

Today and before the first end of the 100 days of Morsi, as the first civilian-elect president after the popular revolution that was respected by all over the globe, we found ourselves in the position, with deep sorrow, to declare that what have conducted against freedom of expression does not need time to wait more, but it needs to set the alarm strongly and quickly!!

Freedom of expression, with all of its branches, is in danger in Egypt;

cases, physical assaults, confiscation, censorship, Hisbah and blockade to creativity!!

Egypt had witnessed all kinds of violations. As any progress, development in the standard of living of the citizen or protecting his civil and political rights will be counted in the favor of the president so any deterioration or violation will be counted against the president as well. The serious violations suffered by the writers, journalists and critics will be counted against the Morsi and declare the absence of the political will to respect these rights; freedom of expression on the top of it.

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Egypt: Freedom of Expression Is in Danger and the Coming Is the Most Dangerous

‘Religious freedom’ sends the wrong message to the wrong people

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Its time to speak out against religious freedom.

Or, to be precise, against its promotion and the way its used. To those of us who believe freedoms should be absolute and robust, and are ardently opposed to the persecution of people for their beliefs, this might sound like an odd proposition. What could be more benign than another freedom?

2012: Tainted

But Canada is within days of opening a federal Office of Religious Freedom (within the Department of Foreign Affairs), and its becoming apparent that this isnt a good idea for our country or the world. In fact, its very likely to contribute to the very problems we hope it might help solve.

We might as well face it: When groups of people exercise their self-proclaimed religious freedoms, terrible things tend to happen. The phrase religious freedom is evoked by Hindu nationalist parties in India to justify killing rampages in Muslim neighbourhoods, by the Buddhist-majority government of Sri Lanka to imprison members of the countrys Hindu minority, by Jewish religious parties in Israel to call for the denial of Israeli Muslims full citizenship rights, and by crowds of Salafists and Islamists in Egypt bent on ruining the lives of Coptic Christians.

For the ardent religious believer and the organized, hierarchical religious organization, religious freedom often refers to the right to restrict the freedoms of others, or to impose ones religion on the larger world.

Thats why the most important religious freedom is freedom from religion. This applies not just to those without religion. Its even more important for believers, who are most often persecuted by other faiths. In those examples of persecution listed above, its protection from a religion not more freedom for believers thats needed.

The problem is that religious freedom is deliberately vague. Does it refer to the freedom of individuals to hold religious beliefs of their choice, to speak and write openly of those beliefs without penalty, and to partake in religious rituals on private property and at places of worship?

Those are fundamental rights. Theyre already protected in constitutional freedoms of speech, thought, conscience, assembly and basic equality. That our Constitution specifies a separate freedom of religion is redundant. That we would use a government office to promote religion above other freedoms is dangerous: It implies that theyre less important.

While Canadas Office of Religious Freedom will certainly be capable of defending people against the forces of religion (and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird mentions this possibility in his speeches), it appears to be hard-wired to do something far less benign. Its advisers and board members appear to be mainly religious believers and leaders of religious congregations.

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‘Religious freedom’ sends the wrong message to the wrong people

Defender of Christianity Launches Initiative to Defend Life

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Anthony Horvath, the Executive Director of Athanatos Christian Ministries, a Christian apologetics ministry, has announced a series of projects designed to link a person's worldview to their attitudes on life issues.

(PRWEB) October 05, 2012

In 2006, Anthony and his wife were informed at the 20 week ultrasound that their daughter had spina bifida and were asked on the spot if they wanted to abort her. The choice was easy for them, even if the situation was hard. In his 2007 book, We Chose Life: Why You Should Too, Horvath says that his Christian faith enabled them to make the right decision, even in the midst of their crisis.

Since then, Horvath has been researching, writing, and speaking on the reasons for the high abortion rates of children diagnosed with birth defects such as Down syndrome, spina bifida, and cerebral palsy, to name a few. According to some estimates, 90% of all children in America diagnosed with a birth defect are aborted.

He was startled to learn to what degree these abortion rates have been spurred on by eugenics movements in the 1950s reshaping their approach in light of the bad reputation they earned thanks to Hitler and his Nazis. On his blog, Anthony explains how men like Frederick Osborn, S.C. Reed, and a host of others called for 'genetic counseling' services that would rely on 'voluntary unconscious selection' as their future strategy. In other words, getting people to abort the types of children that the eugenicists did not like, while having them think it was their idea.

These organizations are still in existence today, though their names have changed.

Horvath has launched a pro-life petition project in the hopes of spurring legislators to think more carefully about what types of things our taxes are funding. Horvath will personally deliver the petition with its signatures to legislators and their staffers at both the state and Federal level.

Athanatos Ministries has hosted online apologetics conferences for several years. The 2013 one will be specifically organized to address the connection between one's worldview and one's attitudes on life issues.

"It may be surprising to some," says Horvath, "but one's views on God have consequences for our views on Man. Our conference will develop that theme further."

For information about the petition project, people are encouraged to visit athanatosministries.org for more information. The online conference website is onlineapologeticsconference.com.

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Defender of Christianity Launches Initiative to Defend Life

Sperm selling business boom in Ghana

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Feature Article of Saturday, 6 October 2012

Columnist: Bonna, Adu

Dear Editor Kindly allow me a little space in your esteemed newspaper to publish this article in response to an article that appeared in myjoyonline.com on October 2, 2012 entitled sperm selling business boom in Ghana. Sperm donation (selling) occurs when a man donates (sells) his sperm with the intention of using it to impregnate a woman who is not his sexual partner. I prefer to use sell rather than donate as some men, like the medical student at Legon mentioned in the article who sold his sperm for GH50, 000 on five occasions to cater for his education.

Peace FM followed-up on the article by interviewing a sample of Ghanaian men and women who indicated that they are in favor of eugenics and sperm selling business. Almost all the men interviewed were ready to make business out of it whereas 80% women interviewed were willing to go through all emotional and psychological pain to achieve their child-bearing goal. It is not wrong to desire the blessing of children as we also desire the blessing of good job, good family, good friendship, and good Christian life. But when we pursue these blessings inconsistent with biblical principles, then we end up unconsciously blocking our blessings from God. A biblical look at eugenics and sperm donation business raises valid religious, social, health, and legal concerns. The process uses a common sperm retrieval technique of masturbation, which is erotic fantasy of having sexual intercourse with a woman with or without use of pornographic materials. God is not in favor of masturbation and urged Christians to get rid of sexual sins including even just looking at a woman lustfully. Jesus said do not look at a woman in a wrong way. Anyone who does that has already committed adultery with her in his heart (NIV Matt. 5: 28).

Now if a married woman buys the sperm of another man (outside the marriage bond), she is inviting the intrusion of another mans seed into herself. This act is an adulterous occurrence even if the husband consents to the act or not. The fact that another mans sperm has entered the body of a woman she is not married to brings adulterous behavior into picture although there is no physical sexual contact. Marriage is designed to be between a man and a woman (2 people) and children be born out of that union (NIV Gen. 1:28, Gen 2:24, Psalm 127:3). To buy a mans sperm means there is a third party either known or unknown in the marriage. We understand the advancement of technology and medicine in modern global world but that does not change the plan of God for his children. Another serious concern that worries me the most is accidental incest that can easily occur in our society with its dire consequences. In the 1940s a British man, Bertold Weisner fathered more than 1,500 children in a fertility clinic by donating his sperms. Studies have shown the possibility of fathering more children from other fertility clinics in Britain because there was no regulation about sperm donation at that time in Britain. The concern was a greater likelihood of accidental incest from uncontrolled sperm donation. Accidental incest occurs when two people that have the same father from sperm donations meet and/or produce a child. The family then suffers the consequences of an incest relationship despite the parents having no idea of blood relationships. Ghanas constitution forbids incest and God condemns incest in all forms and there are serious consequences of generational curse and death (NIV Gen. 19: 32 -36: 2 Peter 2: 7-8: Lev. 18:16).

There are also health and safety issues associated with sperm donation. Donors are generally required to present extensive family and personal medical histories, history of genetic disorders, as well as medical evaluation including screening for sexually transmitted diseases. There are health risks and safety issues because of inadequate testing, human errors in testing, and false presentation of family and personal medical histories. In a developing country such as Ghana where record keeping is in its infant stage how can sperm sellers family and medical records be accurately verified? Couples or potential mothers who want to have a child through sperm buying have to understand the imperfect circumstances they are putting themselves.

Legal issues can arise if the sperm donor has access to the womans identity by claiming to be the biological father of the child when the child has been successful in life. The non-biological father has no hereditary or genetic relationship with the child and legal battle may happen. Again, when disagreement occurs in the marriage it is possible for the woman to tell the husband that he is not the father of their children causing severe sadness in the mans heart. We Christians have been forewarned by God that scientific knowledge cannot add to our permanent happiness because much wisdom comes much sorrow, the more knowledge, the more the grief (NIV Ecclesiastes 1:18). Family cohesion may be threatened in the future by sperm buying. Finally, parents can feel burdened by their own multiple lies to conceal the secret from their children.

God has provided us with knowledge to avoid some of these problems with the aim of making our happiness complete. God said my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children (NIV Hosea: 4:6).

Sperm selling should never be a booming business and government should pass laws and regulations to regulate it. Couples wanting to go through this process should receive counseling from their pastors so they do not incur the wrath of God in the end. We have to understand that children are a gift from the Lord (NIV Psalm 127:3). If couples are more concerned about child-bearing rather than love sharing in marriage, then I suggest that they go for reproductive genetic testing before marrying. Some churches have introduced testing of sexually transmitted diseases in their marriage counseling programs and reproductive genetic testing can optionally be added for the would-be couples. The couples can use adoption as an alternative of receiving the child-bearing gift from God. Selected References:

Fleischman, R. (2012). A biblical look at sperm donation. Christian Life Resources for Life, and Family retrieved from www. Christianliferesources.com Ruutainen, T (2010). Anonymity and secrecy in gamete donation: Reconciling family values and individual rights. Journal of Health, Ethics, and Policy, 9 (2) from http://www.tuftscopejournal.org

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Sperm selling business boom in Ghana

Perak, Penang Inshore Fishermen Seek Action Against Trespassing Fishermen

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You are here : Bernama News

October 05, 2012 19:49 PM

Perak, Penang Inshore Fishermen Seek Action Against Trespassing Fishermen

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 (Bernama) -- Inshore fishermen in Kerian, Perak and Penang have asked the authorities to act against trespassing fishermen using the so-called "Apollo" nets which they claim harm the eco-system and undermine their catch.

The president of the Education and Welfare Association of the Malaysian Inshore Fishermen's Network (Jaring), Jamaluddin Mohamad, said today the trespassing fishermen had modified the nets into damaging and illegal aids.

"The nets were used since the 1980s under the seine net licence issued by the Fisheries Department, but the nets of today do not adhere to that classification," he said in a statement.

He urged the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) and the Fisheries Department to act immediately against the trespassing fishermen, saying the Apollo nets damaged the eco-system and fish-breeding locations.

Jamaluddin said the inshore fishermen feared for their lives because some of the Apollo net boat operators allegedly used ball firecrackers to scare away the inshore fishermen.

The authorities must address the issue because it can undermine the country's fisheries sector and threaten the livelihood of the inshore fishermen, he said.

-- BERNAMA

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State Parks in Danger

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They're beautiful, they're close to home, and they're steeped in history. But the best reason to vacation in one of our 6,624 state parks? They're fast becoming an endangered species.

California's Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve has made big news twice in the past two years. The first time came in December 2010, when scientists thought they'd discovered an unusual form of bacteria that devoured arsenic while it lurked in the mud around the lake's knobby limestone spires. But it was the second headline, five months later, that was really scary. That was when California's state parks department announced that Mono Lake itself was about to be wiped out--though by a far more mundane force.

See the State Parks Now

Mono was one of 70 parks targeted by the state in an effort to cut $22 million from California's budget gap, which totaled $9.2 billion at the time. Also on the list: Jack London's former home and writing studio in Sonoma County and a handful of old-growth redwood forests along the northern coast. All told, California was talking about mothballing about 25 percent of its 278 parks. The news hasn't been much better elsewhere. New York, Illinois, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, and Idaho have contemplated closing parks in recent years; Ohio has considered leasing some state park lands for oil and gas drilling to help raise money; and Virginia has explored corporate partnerships to keep park gates open.

What gets lost in this game of budgetary Russian roulette is how precious these lands can be. State parks, such as the ones you'll see here, often rival their national-park cousins in sheer beauty: Did you know that Niagara Falls is actually a New York state park? Last year, the nation's 6,624 state parks attracted 720 million visitors, more than twice what the national parks see, and they do it with almost $1 billion less in annual operating revenue. "Some states have had cuts of 30, 40, 50 percent or more in their operating budgets, and some budgets have been cut twice in one year," says Rich Dolesh, the vice president for conservation and parks at the National Recreation and Park Association.

Yet, true to their more-with-less ethos, state parks are finding imaginative ways to hang on. Michigan has seen some success selling annual passes to its parks system, and other states have made arrangements with communities and nonprofits to share the financial burden-at least for a while. In April 2012, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pledged $89 million for repairs and improvements to his state's parks. As for California: As of press time, 65 of the 70 endangered parks had been temporarily spared-including Mono Lake-thanks to help from the communities that depend on them. They've cobbled together private donations, volunteer staffing, and funding by city and county governments and nonprofits to try to bridge the gaps. We may not be out of the woods yet, but we're certainly sniffing out the trail.

Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve

California

This park's namesake tufa towers, limestone formations that rise from its 65-square-mile lake, are impressive from wherever you're standing. But to fully apprecate them, you've got to approach like an osprey might: coming in low over the water. Can't fly? Then bring a canoe. Up close, the spires resemble white-chalk skyscrapers, a kind of surreal city that's visited by more than a million migratory birds each year. Just don't get too close to the ospreys themselves. From April through August, the birds nest on the towers, and it's forbidden to come within 200 yards.

Like anything else this old-the lake has been around for anywhere from 760,000 to 3 million years-Mono Lake endured its share of woe long before the latest California budget struggle. Between 1941 and 1981, Mono lost half its volume and doubled in salinity after four of its five tributaries were diverted to supplement Los Angeles's water supply. Even now, it's almost three times as salty as the ocean. Yet, thanks to the Mono Lake Committee, which rallied to reclaim those lost streams in 1978, the lake is slowly filling up again. And now that the nonprofit Bodie Foundation has stepped in to help keep Mono Lake open to the public, you'll be able to witness the lake's gradual climb back to a healthy level-however long that takes. Let's hope we can say the same for the rest of California's parks.

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State Parks in Danger

Dana White suggests progress being made on Ronda Rousey vs. Cyborg Santos bout

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The UFC President told the media at the UFC on FX 5 post-fight presser that he was getting closer to making Rousey vs. Cyborg, potentially the biggest fight in women's mixed martial arts history, a reality.

How close is what could be one of the biggest women's mixed martial arts fights of all-time to being made? According to UFC President Dana White, things are heating up.

White spoke to the media at the UFC on FX 5 post-fight press conference in Minneapolis, Minn. on Friday and when asked about the state of a potential bout between women's Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and former women's Strikeforce featherweight champion Cyborg Santos, White hinted at his active involvement in trying to make the fight happen. He also suggested progress was being made.

"I think we are," White said with a wry smile Friday answering whether the bout was getting closer to being made. "You've been seeing me hanging around with Ronda a lot. So, I'm working on it."

White declined to give any potential details of the fight, including a timeline, weight class and whether the bout would take place in Strikeforce or the UFC.

Rousey has publicly stated were the bout to happen, it'd need to take place at her weight class, namely, bantamweight or 135 pounds. Santos, by contrast, has suggested she cannot cut to any weight below 145 pounds.

While there's been no public, firm commitment to any formal plan, White has expressed interest in hosting a Rousey bout in the UFC over her normal promotional home of Strikeforce. He's even gone as far as suggesting a potential Rousey vs. Cyborg bout could headline a UFC pay-per-view.

Rousey was in attendance for UFC on FX 5, but did publicly address or speak about any updates on a potential bout with Santos.

Santos, however, is currently unable to fight even if a landmark deal with Rousey and Zuffa were reached. She last competed in December of 2011 at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Masvidal where she defeated Hiroko Yamanaka by first-round TKO. The bout was subsequently overturned and she was stripped of her Strikeforce title for testing positive for stanozolol. She was fined $2,500 and suspended one year by the California State Athletic Commission.

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Dana White suggests progress being made on Ronda Rousey vs. Cyborg Santos bout