Schiff Nutrition Announces Timing of Fiscal 2013 First Quarter Results

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SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Schiff Nutrition International, Inc., (SHF), announced it intends to discuss its fiscal 2013 first quarter results on Tuesday, September 18, 2012. The company will host a conference call at 11:00 a.m. ET, featuring remarks by Tarang Amin, chief executive officer and president, and Joseph Baty, chief financial officer and executive vice president, followed by a question and answer session.

The call will be webcast at http://www.schiffnutrition.com/press_conference_calls.asp. The webcast replay will be available for 90 days. If you do not have Internet access, the dial-in number will be 888-771-4371 for domestic callers and 847-585-4405 for international callers. The participant access code is 33249843. A replay of the call will be available by dialing 888-843-7419 for domestic callers and 630-652-3042 for international callers, and entering access code 33249843. The telephone replay will be available through September 25, 2012.

About Schiff Nutrition

Schiff Nutrition International, Inc. is a leading nutritional supplement company offering vitamins, nutritional supplements and nutrition bars in the United States and abroad. Schiffs portfolio of well-known brands includes MegaRed, Move Free, Airborne, Tiger's Milk, Digestive Advantage and Schiff Vitamins. Focused on quality for 75 years, Schiffs headquarters and award-winning manufacturing and distribution facility are based in Salt Lake City, Utah. To learn more about Schiff, please visit the web site http://www.schiffnutrition.com.

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Schiff Nutrition Announces Timing of Fiscal 2013 First Quarter Results

DNA leads to arrest in cemetery thefts

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Man admits to theft at cemetery

Investigators were able to use DNA evidence to track down a man who has been accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of equipment from the Houston National Cemetery.

According to investigators, a burglar got away with a golf cart, two John Deere utility carts, tools and damaged two trucks in December of last year. The cemetery's losses totaled $36,000.

Harris County sheriff's deputies said the burglar left behind a drop of blood. Using a national database, the blood was matched to 32-year-old David Torres, a convict with arrests for theft, burglary and drugs that date back to 1997.

Torres was forced to submit a DNA sample during his last stay in jail.

"At that point, when the CODIS was done, he was brought in, presented with the evidence and he couldn't fight it. He pled guilty with no jury," said Deputy Thomas Gilliam with the Harris County Sheriff's Department.

Torres is now serving three years in prison for looting the Houston National Cemetery.

The same DNA evidence also showed that Torres was a suspect in a second burglary.

Copyright 2012 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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DNA leads to arrest in cemetery thefts

Posted in DNA

Real-time observation of single DNA molecule repair

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ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2012) DNA is constantly being damaged by environmental agents such as ultraviolet light or certain compounds present in cigarette smoke. Cells unceasingly implement repair mechanisms for this DNA, which are of redoubtable efficacy. A team from Institut Jacques Monod (CNRS/Universit Paris Diderot), in collaboration with scientists from the Universities of Bristol in the UK and Rockefeller in the USA, has for the first time managed to follow real-time the initial steps in one of these hitherto little known DNA repair systems. Working in a bacterial model, and thanks to an innovative technique applied to a single molecule of DNA, the scientists were able to understand how several actors interact to ensure the reliable repair of DNA.

Published in Nature on 9 September 2012, their work aims to better understand the onset of cancers and how they become resistant to chemotherapies.

Ultraviolet light, tobacco smoke or even the benzopyrenes contained in over-cooked meat can cause changes to the DNA in our cells, which may lead to the onset of cancers. These environmental agents deteriorate the actual structure of the DNA, notably causing so-called "bulky" lesions (like the formation of chemical bonds between DNA bases). In order to identify and repair this type of damage, the cell can call on several systems, such as transcription-coupled repair (TCR), whose complex mechanism of action still remains poorly understood today. Abnormalities affecting this TCR mechanism -- which permits permanent monitoring of the genome -- are the cause of some hereditary diseases such as Xeroderma pigmentosum, sufferers from which are hypersensitive to the Sun's ultraviolet rays and are commonly referred to as "children of the night."

For the first time, a team from Institut Jacques Monod (CNRS/Universit Paris Diderot), in collaboration with scientists at the Universities of Bristol in the UK and Rockefeller in the USA, has succeeded in observing the initial stages of TCR repair mechanisms in a bacterial model. To achieve this, they employed a novel technique for the nanomanipulation of individual molecules[1] which allowed them to detect and follow real-time the interactions between the molecules in play in a single damaged DNA molecule. They elucidated the interactions between different actors during the first steps of this TCR process. A first protein, RNA polymerase[2], usually crosses DNA without mishap, but is stalled when it meets a bulky lesion (like a train blocked on its rails by a landslide). A second protein, Mfd, binds to the stalled RNA polymerase and removes it from the damaged "rail" so that it can then replace it with the other proteins necessary to repair the damage. Measurements of the reaction speeds enabled the observation that Mfd acts particularly slowly on RNA polymerase, pushing it out of the way in about twenty seconds. Furthermore, Mfd does indeed displace stalled RNA polymerase, but then remains associated with the DNA for a longer period (of about five minutes), allowing it to coordinate the arrival of other repair proteins at the damaged site.

Although the scientists were able to explain how this system can achieve almost 100% reliability, a even clearer understanding of these repair processes is still essential in order to determine how cancers appear and subsequently may become resistant to chemotherapies.

Notes:

[1] During these nanomanipulation experiments, damaged DNA was grafted onto a glass surface on one side and a magnetic microbead on the other. The bead surface enabled the perpendicular extension of the DNA and measurement of this end-to-end extension using videomicroscopy. The binding to DNA of different proteins, and their action, is identifiable from the modification the protein generates in the structure or conformation of the DNA. This technique enables an extremely detailed structural and kinetic analysis of in vitro biochemical reactions.

[2] RNA polymerase is responsible for the reading of DNA by a gene and its rewriting in an RNA form, a process known as transcription. It has been shown that RNA polymerase does not only transcribe genes, but also the DNA between genes (until recently referred to as "junk" DNA), allowing, for example, polymerase RNA to perform its quality control by TCR on the entire genome of an organism.

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Real-time observation of single DNA molecule repair

Posted in DNA

Ex-professor pleads guilty to fatally shooting 3 colleagues at Ala. university faculty meeting

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. A former biology professor accused of pulling a gun from her purse and opening fire at a faculty meeting pleaded guilty Tuesday to killing three colleagues and wounding three others at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2010.

Amy Bishop, 47, pleaded guilty to one count of capital murder involving two or more people and three counts of attempted murder during a hearing in Huntsville. She had earlier pleaded not guilty, and her lawyers said she planned to use an insanity defense.

Prosecutors agreed to recommend a sentence of life without parole for the capital charge, and three life sentences for the attempted murder charges. Sentencing will follow a brief trial on Sept. 24 before Madison County Circuit Judge Alan Mann.

Prosecutors say Bishop opened fire at the meeting on Feb. 12, 2010. Her attorneys say Bishop had mental problems; she signed a plea agreement with a barely legible scrawl.

Bishop, who lived with her family in Huntsville before the shootings, also is charged with killing her brother in Massachusetts in 1986. The shooting of 18-year-old Seth Bishop had been ruled an accident after Amy Bishop told police she shot him in the family's Braintree home as she was trying to unload her father's gun.

But the Alabama slayings led to a new investigation and charges.

In the school shooting, police and people who knew Bishop have described the Harvard University-educated researcher as being angry over UAH's refusal to grant her tenure, a decision that effectively would have ended her employment in the biology department.

The gunfire killed Bishop's boss, biology department chairman Gopi Padila, plus professors Maria Ragland Davis and Adriel Johnson. Professors Joseph Leahy, staff aide Stephanie Monticciolo and assistant professor Luis Cruz-Vera were shot and wounded.

Debra Moriarity was in the faculty meeting at the time of the shooting and is now biology chairman at the school. Prosecutors who met with potential witnesses last Friday said there was a possibility of a plea agreement before the trial began on Sept. 24, she said.

"So I'm not totally surprised by it, but I am surprised it happened this soon," she said.

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Ex-professor pleads guilty to fatally shooting 3 colleagues at Ala. university faculty meeting

The Contrarian: Set Scientists Free to Create New Life-Forms | DISCOVER Magazine

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UT Austin 2004 Synthetic Biology competition photo.

Courtesy of Jeff Tabor and Randy Rettberg via Wikipedia

CONVENTIONAL WISDOMSynthetic biology could destabilize the environment and revive viral terrors like the killer flu of 1918.

THE CONTRARY VIEWSynthetic life is proven safe and should be unleashed.

Synthetic biology is based on identifying DNA sequences that code for specific traits and transferring them from one life-form to another, such as from fish to bacteria. The goal is to create new living things with specialties that help humans and the Earth. Sequences are catalogued, and innovators can then request one that confers special traits as simply as ordering a book online.

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Off-the-shelf molecular parts could allow synthetic biologists to create new medications and biofuels or to make microbes with the capacity to destroy pollutants and other nuisances. Researchers have built a potential malaria medication, and students have developed a prototype of a new vaccine to stop ulcers.

Shamefully, accolades that resounded a generation ago for biotechnology advancesfor instance, recombining DNA to develop human-derived insulin, which is much safer than the animal-derived products that came beforehave been drowned out by a misinformed coalition of 114 organizations, including ETC Group and Friends of the Earth. They argue the research must stop until enforceable regulations specific to synthetic biology are in place, and they insist that all alternatives to synthetic biology be considered before an experiment can advance. These demands could halt projects like those of J. Craig Venter, the biotechnologist who built the first self-replicating synthetic bacterium. He is now working on microbes that eat pollution, excrete biofuels, and more. If the coalition has its way, the world will never find out whether these organisms can help us generate energy or clean the air.

There is no documented danger from synthetic biology, yet merchants of doom emphasize fears of molecular Frankenbots instead of benefits like new drugs and energy sources. Worries about monster species are particularly absurd. It is extraordinarily difficult to construct novel organisms, and countless attempts to do so have failed.

Brent Erickson, executive vice president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, believes at the core of the opposition is a phobia of technology and genetically modified crops. They see synthetic biology as a gateway to biofuels and consider that a Trojan horse for genetically modified crops. Thats a very tangled fearmany of its products are good for humanity, he says.

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The Contrarian: Set Scientists Free to Create New Life-Forms | DISCOVER Magazine

Johns Hopkins biology professor wins top research award

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Donald Brown (Courtesy of Johns Hopkins, Baltimore Sun / September 11, 2012)

5:03 p.m. EDT, September 11, 2012

Brown, who also is director emeritus of the Carnegie Institution for Science Department of Embryology, was recognized for work he and others did in gene amplification, one process that is responsible for runaway growth of chemotherapy-resistant cancer cells. He has made other discoveries about the nature of genes but today focuses on metamorphosis in frogs.

"We were one of the first groups to purify genes of any kind," Brown said in a statement. "We learned a lot about their structure, function, and evolution before the era of recombinant DNA."

Another Hopkins affiliated biologist, Joseph Gall, won the Lasker Award in 2006 for his role as a "founder of modern cell biology." Four other Hopkins faculty have won the award for work including on brain chemistry and the discovery that vitamin A prevents blindness and infections in children in poor countries.

meredith.cohn@baltsun.com

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Johns Hopkins biology professor wins top research award

Partnership enhances biology teaching at California community colleges

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Public release date: 11-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Elaine Bible ebible@sfsu.edu 415-405-3606 San Francisco State University

When student Jeff Schinske took part in a graduate teaching fellowship through Associate Professor of Biology Kimberly Tanner's lab at San Francisco State University, the experience inspired him to teach biology. But when he graduated and became a community college instructor, Schinske found there was little professional support.

Schinske and Tanner are collaborating on a project that meets that need. With funding from the National Science Foundation, they are bringing together Bay Area community college biology instructors and helping them find innovative ways to refine their teaching.

"It can be isolating to be a community college instructor," said Schinske, who teaches biology at De Anza College in Cupertino, Calif. "Unlike K-12 teachers or university professors, you don't have a professional community centered on the grade level you teach or your field of research."

A lack of professional community isn't the only challenge.

"Much like university faculty, community college biology instructors are trained to conduct scientific research but they aren't trained how to teach," Tanner said.

She runs a range of programs for current and aspiring science educators through SF State's Science Education Partnership and Assessment Lab (SEPAL).

"I teach science instructors to be the best teachers that they can be," Tanner said. "This community partnership is an extension of that work." Community College Biology Faculty Enhancement through Scientific Teaching (CCB FEST) began in in 2010 and just received another NSF grant to support it for the next four years. The program includes monthly workshops, a summer intensive session, discussion groups and opportunities for community college faculty to partner with SF State graduate students.

The program encourages community college instructors to apply the rigor of scientific research to their teaching, collecting evidence from students about what they are learning and using that to refine how they teach. The approach is called scientific teaching.

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Partnership enhances biology teaching at California community colleges

Cytokinetics Congratulates Its Founders, James A. Spudich, Ph.D. and Ronald D. Vale, Ph.D., on their Receipt of the …

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Lasker Award Winners` Research into Molecular Motors Formed the Foundation of Company`s Research and Development Activities

South San Francisco, CA, September 11, 2012 - Cytokinetics, Incorporated (CYTK) extends congratulations to Dr. James Spudich and Dr. Ronald Vale, winners of the 2012 Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research. The Lasker Awards are among the most respected science prizes in the world. Since 1945, the Lasker Awards Program has recognized the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease.

Drs. Spudich and Vale share this award for their innovative research relating to cytoskeletal motor proteins, the protein machines that transport cargoes within cells, segregate chromosomes and divide cells, contract muscles, and enable cell motility. Dr. Spudich is the Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor in Cardiovascular Disease and Professor of Biochemistry and Developmental Biology at Stanford University. Dr. Vale is the William K. Hamilton Distinguished Professor of Anesthesia and Professor and Vice Chair of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco. Drs. Spudich and Vale are co-founders of Cytokinetics.

"Today, we extend congratulations to our founders in connection with their receipt of the prestigious Lasker Award," stated Robert I. Blum, Cytokinetics` President and Chief Executive Officer. "Their pioneering research in the biochemistry and biophysics of molecular motors formed the cornerstone of our initial discovery research at Cytokinetics. It is our company`s privilege to now carry forward biopharmaceutical programs into later stage research and development that are directed towards grievous illnesses and that continue to benefit from their valued contributions as scientific advisors."

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of novel small molecule therapeutics that modulate muscle function for the potential treatment of serious diseases and medical conditions. Cytokinetics` lead drug candidate from its cardiac muscle contractility program, omecamtiv mecarbil, is in Phase II clinical development for the potential treatment of heart failure. Amgen Inc. holds an exclusive license worldwide (excluding Japan) to develop and commercialize omecamtiv mecarbil and related compounds, subject to Cytokinetics` specified development and commercialization participation rights. Cytokinetics is independently developing tirasemtiv (formerly CK-2017357), a skeletal muscle activator, as a potential treatment for diseases and conditions associated with aging, muscle wasting or neuromuscular dysfunction. Tirasemtiv is currently the subject of a Phase II clinical trials program and has been granted orphan drug designation and fast track status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and orphan medicinal product designation by the European Medicines Agency for the potential treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a debilitating disease of neuromuscular impairment in which treatment with tirasemtiv produced potentially clinically relevant pharmacodynamic effects in Phase II trials. Cytokinetics is also conducting research on compounds that inhibit smooth muscle contractility and which may be useful as potential treatments for diseases and conditions associated with excessive smooth muscle contraction, such as bronchoconstriction associated with asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. All of these drug candidates and potential drug candidates have arisen from Cytokinetics` research activities and are directed towards the cytoskeleton. The cytoskeleton is a complex biological infrastructure that plays a fundamental role within every human cell. Additional information about Cytokinetics can be obtained at http://www.cytokinetics.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the "Act"). Cytokinetics disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements, and claims the protection of the Act`s Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Cytokinetics` research and development activities, including the properties and potential benefits of Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates. Such statements are based on management`s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, potential difficulties or delays in the development, testing, regulatory approval and production of Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates that could slow or prevent clinical development or product approval, including risks that current and past results of clinical trials or preclinical studies may not be indicative of future clinical trials results and that Cytokinetics` drug candidates and potential drug candidates may have unexpected adverse side effects or inadequate therapeutic efficacy. For further information regarding these and other risks related to Cytokinetics` business, investors should consult Cytokinetics` filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Contact: Jodi L. Goldstein Manager, Marketing & Corporate Communications (650) 624-3000

The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein.

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Cytokinetics Congratulates Its Founders, James A. Spudich, Ph.D. and Ronald D. Vale, Ph.D., on their Receipt of the ...

Space Shuttle Endeavour To Make National Ferry Flight

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LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA has announced that Space shuttle Endeavour, mounted atop NASA's modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), will make the final ferry flight of the Space Shuttle Program era when it departs Monday, Sept. 17, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida headed  to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).On Oct. 11, 2011, NASA transferred ...

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Space Shuttle Endeavour To Make National Ferry Flight

Crouse Hospital steps up its sports medicine game

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Syracuse, N.Y. -- Crouse Hospital is launching a sports medicine program led by the team doctors for Syracuse University, the Syracuse Crunch and other orthopedic experts.

As part of the program, Crouse plans to open an after-hours walk-in clinic called SportsCare Express later this month for sports injuries and other orthopedic problems that do not require hospital emergency room care.

Crouse is entering a crowded playing field. Syracuses two biggest orthopedic groups Syracuse Orthopedic Specialists and Upstate Orthopedics have sports medicine specialists. Those groups also operate similar after-hours programs that opened last year.

There is a lot of competition locally, but we think we have a good product and great physicians affiliated with us, said Bob Allen, a Crouse vice president.

Crouses sports medicine team includes Dr. Irving Raphael, head team doctor for Syracuse University athletics, and his son, Dr. Bradley Raphael, assistant team doctor for SU. Also on the team are Dr. Daniel Christina, head team doctor for the Syracuse Crunch, and Dr. Michael Wiese, an orthopedic consultant to Christian Brothers Academy, Le Moyne College and the Crunch. Dr. Paul Klawitter, a concussion management expert from Ithaca, will join the group next month.

They are among the Syracuse areas few independent orthopedic doctors not part of Syracuse Orthopedic specialists or Upstate Orthopedics.

The independent doctors are partnering with Crouse. The SportsCare Express clinic will operate out of Raphaels office at 5823 Widewaters Parkway, DeWitt.

Allen said the sports medicine program will enhance its partnership with its neighboring institution, SU. Crouse is the official hospital of SU Athletics. Injured SU athletes get top priority when they seek care at Crouses urgent care center, PromptCare, which is across the street from the hospital.

Over time Crouses goal is to develop a comprehensive sports medicine program that will include cardiology, general surgery, pain management, physical therapy and other services.

The program will serve professional, college and high school athletes as well as weekend warriors who get injured hiking, jogging or performing some other activity, Allen said.

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Told no, Libertarian candidate's camp crying foul over candidate forum

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AT A GLANCE

Candidate forums will take place at 6:30 p.m. on both Sept. 25 and Sept. 27, with doors opening at 6 p.m., at Cleary University's Johnson Center, 3750 Cleary Drive in Genoa Township.

On Sept. 25, state 42nd House District candidates incumbent Rep. Bill Rogers, R-Genoa Township, and Democratic challenger Shanda Willis; state 47th House District seat incumbent Rep. Cindy Denby, R-Handy Township, and Democratic challenger Shawn Lowe Desai; and U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, and Democrat Lance Enderle will discuss the issues.

On Sept. 27, Republican county prosecutor candidate William Vailliencourt and Democratic candidate Matt Evans; and county probate judge candidates Miriam Cavanaugh and Lori Marran will debate.

The forums are sponsored by the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus; Cleary University; Voter's Voice; the Howell Area, Greater Brighton Area and Hartland Area chambers of commerce; and the Howell Carnegie District, Brighton District, Pinckney Community Public, Hamburg Township, Fowlerville District and Hartland Cromaine District libraries.

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Told no, Libertarian candidate's camp crying foul over candidate forum

Libertarian Party appealing decision keeping presidential candidate off Michigan ballot

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Flying now is a lot different than it was before Sept.11. Not only did the government and airlines introduce a rash of new policies right after the attacks, but subsequent attack attempts and economic downturns altered flying too. Find out more about these changes, tips for getting through security and what is allowed on an airplane.

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Libertarian Party appealing decision keeping presidential candidate off Michigan ballot

Heated Disputes OverTiny Islands Worry Asia

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Hardly a day goes by without another incident involving disputes between rival Asian powers over what seem on the surface to be small, insignificant islands.

The war of words over the sovereignty of these small, rocky outcrops in the sea is in danger of sparking real clashes that could shatter hopes of a peaceful rise for this region this century and force the U.S. to intervene.

The dominant factors feeding this friction seem to be the need for new energy sources in the power hungry region, unresolved differences over who owns what after World War II and the rise of China.

Apart from one ongoing fight between Japan and South Korea over one of the islands, the one country that is involved in all these disputes is China.

I think the overwhelming reason for this situation is that for the first time in hundreds of years, China is in a position to adopt a proactive foreign policy, particularly in terms of what it calls its 'core interests,' " James Hardy, Asia-Pacific editor of IHS Janes Defense Weekly tells Fox News. "By virtue of its size and potential, China is distorting the status quo in northeast and southeast Asia."

The most dangerous confrontation at the moment is between China and Japan over control of the Diaoyu Islands, as they are known by China, or Senaku islands in Japan.

The islands are located on rich fishing waters and are potentially huge oil and gas reserves.

Last year, a Chinese fishing trawler was arrested after ramming a Japanese coast guard vessel near the islands and was apparently only released after China cut off exports of rare earth minerals crucial to the Japanese telecommunications industry.

Now, the outspoken Mayor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishiharo, who often issues provocative against China, is in danger of escalating the dispute to a more dangerous level.

First, he announced he intended to name panda cubs born by a panda on loan from China after the islands. Pandas have been shipped around the world by China to support diplomacy, but Ishihara seemed to be attempting some kind of reverse panda diplomacy.

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Heated Disputes OverTiny Islands Worry Asia

Japan buys disputed islands, China sends patrol ships

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan brushed off stern warnings by China and bought a group of islands on Tuesday that both claim, in a growing dispute that threatens to deepen strains between Asia's two biggest economies. Chinese official media said Beijing had sent two patrol ships to waters surrounding the islands to reassert its claim and accused Japan of "playing with fire" over the long-simmering row ...

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Japan buys disputed islands, China sends patrol ships

Japan buys disputed islands, China sends in patrol boats

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TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan brushed off warnings by China and bought a group of islands on Tuesday that both claim, in a growing dispute that threatens ties between Asia's two biggest economies. Chinese official media said Beijing had sent two patrol ships to waters surrounding the islands to reassert its claim and accused Japan of "playing with fire" over the long-simmering row. Tokyo insisted that ...

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Japan buys disputed islands, China sends in patrol boats

The Etch A Sketch returns: Eliot Spitzer deems Mitt Romney’s latest flip on health care a flop – Video

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10-09-2012 21:33 Consistency may be the hobgoblin of little minds, as Ralph Waldo Emerson said, but a total lack of constancy has sure created a tough situation for Mitt Romney, whose own campaign, of course, first used the Etch A Sketch metaphor to describe him, to all journalists' delight. Yesterday's new chapter in the unraveling of Mitt as a clear-thinking person came in his effort to thread the needle once again on health care. Tune in Weeknights at 8e/5p on Current TV

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The Etch A Sketch returns: Eliot Spitzer deems Mitt Romney's latest flip on health care a flop - Video

Romney's pledge shows repealing health law complex

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WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney's pledge to guarantee access to health insurance for people with longstanding medical problems highlighted the difficulty of repealing the new health care law while keeping some of its popular features.

"I'm not getting rid of all of health care reform," Romney said over the weekend on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Of course, there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I'm going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage."

Romney did not explain a significant feature of his proposal: He would explicitly guarantee insurance for people with existing conditions only if they have maintained coverage without a significant gap.

That could exclude millions of Americans with medical problems like cancer, heart disease and asthma.

This qualification was clear in a statement Romney issued in March, when he called for repeal of the 2010 law and presented his own vision for health care. Romney said then that he would "prevent discrimination against individuals with pre-existing conditions who maintain continuous coverage." Thus, aides to Romney said, he was not breaking new ground with his comments over the weekend.

Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee, said Monday, Sept. 10, that Romney's comments were misleading because they left an impression that he supported protections for people with existing conditions like those in President Barack

And what about people with medical problems who have never had health insurance or have had a gap in coverage for months or years?

Breaks in coverage are common. A recent report by the Commonwealth Fund found that 89 million Americans went without health insurance for at least one month in the period from 2004 to 2007, perhaps because they had lost jobs, been divorced or lost eligibility for a public insurance program. Of those, 23 million saw their insurance lapse more than once in the four-year period.

Romney says many of them could obtain coverage through health plans known as high-risk pools. Many states have such pools, which generally operate at a loss. And the federal government is running a high-risk pool, as a temporary measure under the new health care law, in more than 20 states.

Romney has not said whether or how he would regulate premiums or subsidize the costs of coverage in a high-risk pool.

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Romney's pledge shows repealing health law complex