Dynamic DNA helps ward off gene damage, study reveals – Phys.org – Phys.Org

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June 15, 2017 DNA double helix. Credit: public domain

Researchers have identified properties in DNA's protective structure that could transform the way scientists think about the human genome.

Molecules involved in DNA's supportive scaffoldingonce thought to be fixedgo through dynamic and responsive changes to shield against mutations, the research shows.

Experts say this finding is crucial to understanding DNA damage and genome organisation and could impact current thinking on DNA-linked diseases, including cancers.

In human cells, DNA is wrapped around proteins to form chromatin. Chromatin shields DNA from damage and regulates what genetic information can be reada process known as transcription.

Researchersled by the University of Edinburghshowed that a chemical called scaffold attachment factor A (SAF-A) binds to specific molecules known as caRNAs to form a protective chromatin mesh.

For the first time, this mesh was shown to be dynamic, assembling and disassembling and allowing the structure to be flexible and responsive to cell signals.

In addition, loss of SAF-A was found to lead to abnormal folding of DNA and to promote damage to the genome.

SAF-A has previously been shown in mouse studies to be essential to embryo development and mutations of the SAF-A gene have repeatedly been found in cancer gene screening studies.

Scientists say the findings shed light on how chromatin protects DNA from high numbers of harmful mutations, a condition known as genetic instability.

The studypublished in Cellwas carried out in collaboration with Heriot Watt University. It was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).

Nick Gilbert, Professor of Genetics at the University of Edinburgh's MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, said: "These findings are very exciting and have fundamental implications for how we understand our own DNA, showing that chromatin is the true guardian of the genome. The results open new possibilities for investigating how we might protect against DNA mutations that we see in diseases like cancer."

Cutting-edge techniques used in the study were developed by the Edinburgh Super-Resolution Imaging Consortium, which is supported by the MRC, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Professor Rory Duncan, Head of the Institute for Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering at Heriot-Watt University said: "The molecules involved in this study are as small to humans as Jupiter is large. The bespoke microscope techniques that we developed to understand these very tiny structures are important not only for this project but for all of biology."

Explore further: In fruit fly and human genetics, timing is everything

Journal reference: Cell

Provided by: University of Edinburgh

Every animal starts as a clump of cells, which over time multiply and mature into many different types of cells, tissues, and organs. This is fundamental biology. Yet, the details of this process remain largely mysterious. ...

A research group led by Hitoshi Kurumizaka, a professor of structural biology at Waseda University, unveiled the crystal structure of an overlapping dinucleosome, a newly discovered chromatin structural unit. This may explain ...

The three-dimensional arrangement of the chromosome within which genes reside can profoundly affect gene activity. These structural effects remain poorly understood, but Assistant Professor of Plant Science Moussa Benhamed ...

The DNA molecules in each one of the cells in a person's body, if laid end to end, would measure approximately two metres in length. Remarkably, however, cells are able to fold and compact their genetic material in the confined ...

Chromatin remodeling proteins (chromatin remodelers) are essential and powerful regulators for critical DNA-templated cellular processes, such as DNA replication, recombination, gene transcription/repression, and DNA damage ...

When scientists finished decoding the human genome in 2003, they thought the findings would help us better understand diseases, discover genetic mutations linked to cancer, and lead to the design of smarter medicine. Now ...

Scientists have developed a new technique for investigating the effects of gene deletion at later stages in the life cycle of a parasite that causes malaria in rodents, according to a new study in PLOS Pathogens. The novel ...

Scientists from Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the biotechnology company NAICONS Srl., and elsewhere have discovered a new antibiotic effective against drug-resistant bacteria: pseudouridimycin. The new antibiotic is produced ...

The drill holes left in fossil shells by hunters such as snails and slugs show marine predators have grown steadily bigger and more powerful over time but stuck to picking off small prey, rather than using their added heft ...

Almost all life on Earth is based on DNA being copied, or replicated. Now for the first time scientists have been able to watch the replication of a single DNA molecule, with some surprising findings. For one thing, there's ...

Researchers have identified properties in DNA's protective structure that could transform the way scientists think about the human genome.

James Cook University scientists have found evidence that even distantly related Australian fish species have evolved to look and act like each other, which confirms a central tenet of evolutionary theory.

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Dynamic DNA helps ward off gene damage, study reveals - Phys.org - Phys.Org

How population health will benefit from the journey to precision medicine – MedCity News

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Population health and precision medicine seem like such polar opposites standing 180 degrees apart. But the path to fully realizing the benefits of precision medicine stands to reap rewards for population health along the way. That was the takeaway from an interview with India Hook-Barnard, the director of research strategy and associate director of Precision Medicine at the University of California San Francisco. She talked about the balance between the two areas of healthcare in an interview in Boston after she spoke at HIMSS Precision Medicine Summit this week.

Hook-Barnard called attention to a list of projects related to precision medicine. They included the Cell Cancer Map Initiative to discover molecular networks of cancer, the University of California Data Warehouse to connect 15 million electronic health records across the University of California health system, a Biobank that seeks to simplify the informed consent process and the Scalable Precision Open Knowledge Engine.

All of these projects are helping to advance precision medicine in different ways. They will enable us to more quickly make discoveries, provide better care, but also make better decisions in public health.

She called attention to some of the work of her colleagues. Atul Butte is the first director for the Institute of Computational Health Sciences. Among his many roles, he is one of the leaders of the University of California Data Warehouse. Among their tasks are to address privacy and security issues for making data from those records accessible across health systems plugged into the University of California network.

Theyre looking at being able to repurpose drugs, what will really provide better outcomes. It will be really huge being able to connect that kind of data and use it in a healthcare space and research space.

The San Francisco Cancer Initiative, is about sharing information for what works and what doesnt work for five types of cancer with the highest cost burden: prostate, breast, liver, colorectal and tobacco-related cancers. Each will be assigned a taskforce, Hook-Barnard said. The public-private partnership launched last year with a $3 million investment from a donor to the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. The initiative is led by Dr. Robert Hiatt, the chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF. He authored a report on health disparities for cancer treatment outcomes.

Hook-Barnard described what the program seeks to accomplish using tobacco-related cancer as an example, and highlighted some of the questions the initiative seeks to address in this area. Social determinants of health will also come into play.

We know the dangers of smoking and the impact of it, yet there are certain communitiesthat are still developing lung cancer at much higher rate than others. Why is that? Is the messaging on prevention not resonating? Are cessation efforts not tailored enough to be effective? Is access to early screening for detection in certain neighborhoods [the problem]? Being able to tailor those kinds of preventive messaging, early screenings, diagnostics and access, could improve earlier access to treatment.

The Molecular Oncology initiative led by Michael Korn of UCSF is yet another initiative. The website offers this description of the UCSF500 gene panel assay the laboratory conducts.

a cutting-edge sequencing test that, in contrast with commercial cancer gene panel tests, sequences tumor DNA and the patients germline (inherited) DNA. This unique component of the UCSF500 molecular diagnostic test enables identification of genetic changes (mutations) in the DNA of a patients cancer, which helps oncologists improve treatment by identifying targeted therapies, or appropriate clinical trials, or in some cases clarify the exact type of cancer a patient has.

Although it is about using genomics in the clinic to get a more precise diagnosis, the goal of the initiative is to solve some of the wider questions that often go unanswered and to make sure that data isnt locked in a silo somewhere. What treatment(s) worked and why?

How do we capture that information to make sure that is shared and duplicated? We want to make sure those lessons, those findingsonce you have that piece of knowledge, how do you make sure it is shared with other medical centers? For precision medicine to work, it is about these different kinds of data and acquiring knowledge we need to enable data sharing.

Photo: Getty Images

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How population health will benefit from the journey to precision medicine - MedCity News

Humans of the near future – Raconteur

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A new breed of human is on its way. Transhumanists are a group who seeks to accelerate the evolution of humanity through science and technology. Oliver Pickup investigates the movement, the implications for humankind and asks, is it morally wrong to augment humans?

The worlds preeminent cyborg artist, Neil Harbisson (pictured above), has been stopped several times a day, every single day, since March 22, 2004. Its impossible for him to forget the date: that Monday, 13 years ago, he had an antenna fixed to his skull in order to hear colour. The attention generated by the unique appendage can be really tiring, London-born Harbisson admits to Raconteur. But, he believes, such sights will be the norm, and sooner rather than later thanks to the inexorable march of technology.

Initially people questioned whether my antenna was a reading light, says the 34-year-old, who sees in grayscale but can sense colours (the majority of which are beyond the visual spectrum) 360 degrees around him through audible vibrations. By 2005 those who approached me thought it was a microphone; in 2007 most reckoned it was a hands-free device; and the following year a lot of them suggested it could be a GoPro camera. In 2012 the top guess was something to do with Google Glass, and more recently a selfie stick has been popular. Lately, people shout Pokmon atme.

Similarly, officials at Her Majestys Passport Office didnt quite know what to make of Harbissons antenna to begin with. On the photograph I submitted I argued that it was not electronic equipment but a new body part, and that I felt that I was a cyborg, a union between cybernetics and organism, he continues. Im not wearing technology; I am technology. It doesnt feel that Im wearing anything, its just an integrated part of my body; its merged with my skull so it is part of my skeleton. There is no difference between an arm, my nose, an ear, or my antenna. In the end, they agreed and allowed me to appear in my passport photograph with theantenna.

Harbisson had no real issue adjusting to sleeping with an antenna atop his head, but there were other teething problems. As I had become taller, at the beginning I would bump into doors upon entering cars, and get stuck in branches of trees, he says. And I would struggle to put jumpers on. I had to become used to the organ, the body part, as well as get used to the new sense, and it took a while. Having a new sense is something that most people have never experienced. It transforms your life because you perceive absolutely everything differently.

Moon Ribas, Harbissons Catalan partner and fellow cyborg artist who he met when the pair studied at Dartington College of Arts in Devon, has two implants in her arms that allow her to perceive the seismic activity of the Earth and the Moon. Formerly, she warped her vision for a three-month period by using kaleidoscope glasses, and would wear earrings that quivered depending on the velocity of people moving behindher.

For fun, the out-there couple enjoys linking to satellites using NASAs live feed from the International Space Station. Instead of using my eyes to see the images, I simply connect the antenna to the data that comes from the satellites, and then I receive vibrations in my head, depending on the colours, Harbisson says. They have so many sensors in space that are collecting data, but no-one is actually looking at it. I feel Im a sensestronaut or a mindstronaut because my senses are in space while my body is here onEarth.

Mindstronauting aside, its been a busy year for Harbisson, and a significant one for the future of humanity, with cyborgs in the ascendancy. At Marchs South by Southwest the annual conglomerate of film, interactive media, music festivals and conferences held in Austin, Texas Harbisson, Ribas, and BorgFest founder Rich MacKinnon presented a draft of the declaration of cyborg rights and also introduced an accompanying flag which you can only detect if you can senseinfrared.

We believe it should be a universal right for anyone to have a new sense or a new organ, argues Harbisson. Many people can identify strongly with cybernetics without having any type of implant, and there has been a lot of support. There may even be a cyborg pride parade in Austin nextyear.

Additionally, in February his startup Cyborg Nest, co-founded with Ribas in 2015, began shipping its first product, North Sense a $425 DIY embeddable device that gently vibrates when the user faces magnetic north. (Mind-boggling pipeline projects, kept under wraps, reportedly include silent communication using Bluetooth, a pollution-detecting device, and eyes in the back of thehead.)

Im not wearing technology; I am technology

Cyborg Nest is just one of a growing cluster of biohacker startups offering a variety of sense-augmenting implants, with body enhancements, prosthetics and genetic modifications are increasingly popular. Pittsburgh-based Grindhouse Wetware, for instance, has been developing implantables since 2012, such as Circadia, a device that sends biometric data wirelessly via Bluetooth to a phone or tablet, and Northstar, which allows gesture recognition and can detect magnetic north (as well as the rather gimmicky feature of mimicking bioluminescence with subdermal LEDs).

What does it mean to be human? The answering of this existential puzzler has powered progression for millennia, but now, as nascent technologies fuse physical, digital and biological worlds, it has never been more complex, and critical, to define the age-old question. Alarmingly, we are hurtling inexorably towards the singularity a hypothetical point when artificial intelligence advances so much that humanity will be irreversibly disrupted. But, in fact, the migration from man to machine has alreadystarted.

Entering Sir Tim Berners-Lee the Briton who created the World Wide Web 28 years ago into a Google search throws up almost 400,000 results. That figure is almost six times fewer than transhumanism, a movement few have heard of, yet one which is beating the heart of progress, albeit beneath theradar.

The touchstone definition from a 1990 essay by Dr. Max More, the Oxford University-educated chief executive officer of Arizona-based Alcor Life Extension Foundation, states: Transhumanism is a class of philosophies of life that seek the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently human form and human limitations by means of science and technology, guided by life-promoting principles andvalues.

The benefits would be even broader across the whole of society if everybody got a little bitsmarter

A raft of tech billionaires are considered either de facto transhumanists or are fully signed up to the movement. Luminaries include Peter Thiel, the PayPal co-founder and Facebooks first professional investor worth an estimated $2.7 billion by Forbes, Elon Musk, of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX fame, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, and according to H+Pedia (an online resource that aims to spread accurate, accessible, non-sensational information about transhumanism) Facebooks CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Dr. Anders Sandberg, a research fellow at Oxford Universitys Future of Humanity Institute, suggests that transhumanism questions the human condition, and tells Raconteur: It is in many ways a continuation of the humanist project, seeing human flourishing as a goal, but recognising that human nature is not fixed. Rather than assume it is all going to be an entropic mess, transhumanism suggests that many serious problems can be solved and that we do have a chance for a greatfuture.

There are practical, utilitarian, reasons why submitting ones body to technology makes sense at least to Dr. Sandberg and his fellow transhumanists. Consider that the Government spends 85.2 billion on education every year; even a slight improvement of the results would either be a huge saving or enable much better outcomes, he continues. One intelligence quotient (IQ) point gives you about a two per cent income increase, although the benefits would be even broader across the whole of society if everybody got a little bitsmarter.

Childhood intelligence also predicts better health in later life, longer lives, less risk of being a victim of crime, more long-term oriented and altruistic planning controlling for socioeconomic status, etc. Intelligence does not make us happier, but it does prevent a fair number of bad things from divorce to suicide and unhappiness.

While Dr. Sandberg suggests that the aforementioned DIY grinder self-surgery movement problematic he is firmly in favour of self-experimentation and bodyhacking. He flags up the apparent triumph of Elizabeth Parrish, CEO of Seattle-based BioViva, who in September 2015 underwent what her company labelled the first gene therapy successful against human ageing; it was claimed that the treatment had reversed the biological age of Parrishs immune cells by 20years.

The Swede is also optimistic about the prospect of mind uploading, or whole-brain emulation, as he prefers to call it. He acknowledges that the enabling technology is decades away but believes we could become software people with fantastic benefits: no ageing; customisable bodies; backups in case something went wrong; space travel via radio or laser transmission; and existing as multiplecopies.

Little surprise, then, that Dr. Sandberg is keen on cryonics the deep-freezing of recently deceased people in the belief that scientific advances will revive them and is fully signed up for Dr. Mores Alcor, the largest of the worlds four cryopreservation facilities. It currently houses 117 patients, who are considered suspended, rather than deceased: detained in some liminal stasis between this world and whatever follows it, or does not, Irish author Mark OConnell writes in To Be a Machine on the subject of humans of thefuture.

For Dr. Sandberg, the $200,000 cost of whole-body perseveration is justifiable as it would be irrational not to take the negligible odds that technologic advances will revive him, at some point. Sure, the chance of it working is small say five per cent but that is still worth it to me, he says. And after all, to truly be a human is to be a self-changing creature.

David Wood, chairman of London Futurists, counters that question by firing a cluster of his own, asking Raconteur: Is it morally wrong to teach people to read, or vaccinate people? Is it morally wrong to extend peoples lives by using new medical treatments, or seek a cure for motor neurone disease, or cancer, or Alzheimers? They are all forms of augmentations.

Having warmed up the Scot, who boasts two degrees from Cambridge University (his thesis for the second was entitled Philosophy in the wake of quantum mechanics), launches his next salvo. Recall the initial moral repugnance expressed by people when heart transplants first took place, he continues. Or when test-tube babies were created, or when transgender operations were introduced. This moral repugnance has, thankfully, largely subsided. It will be the same, in due course, for most of the other enhancements foreseen by transhumanists.

Wood, a science-fiction lover from childhood, was switched on to transhumanism in the early 2000s, after reading The Age of Spiritual Machines, a seminal book written by futurist Ray Kurzweil, who would later be personally hired by Google co-founder Larry Page to bring natural language understanding to the organisation. Famously, the American author has predicted that the singularity is on course to happen in 2045,though many critics dismiss his forecast as fanciful anddogmatic.

We could become software people with fantastic benefits

Regardless, transhumanism is on the rise in Britain. The UK Transhumanist Association (UKTA) used to half-jokingly refer to themselves as six men in a pub, says Wood, who in July 2015 co-founded H+Pedia The UKTA was superseded, in stages, by London Futurists which covers a wider range of topics and we now have over 6,000 members in our Meetup group.

So, what does the near future hold forhumanity?

We can envision ever larger gaps in capability between enhanced humans and unenhanced humans, adds Wood. This will be like the difference between literate and illiterate humans, except that the difference will be orders of magnitude larger.

Transhumanists anticipate transcending the limitations which have been characteristics of human experience since the beginnings of Prehistory: ageing; death; and deep flaws in reasoning. Maybe once that happens, the resulting beings will no longer be calledhumans.

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Humans of the near future - Raconteur

Facebook finally, finally, finally lets you put GIFs in comments – Mashable

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Facebook finally, finally, finally lets you put GIFs in comments
Mashable
The social network supported GIF uploads in early versions of the service but discontinued it more than a decade ago. In 2015, Facebook reversed course and added support for GIF links via Giphy or other sources and added a GIF button to its Messenger.
Facebook finally lets you put GIFs in commentsGeo News, Pakistan

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Facebook finally, finally, finally lets you put GIFs in comments - Mashable

Citizenship Enrollment for the First Ever ‘Space Nation’ Is Now Open – Motherboard

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Scientists behind the 'space nation' Asgardia will take the first steps towards achieving their goals of a lawless space society later this year, when the group will launch its first satellite to trial long-term data storage concepts in orbit around the Earth.

The concept nation is calling for its first 100,000 citizens to upload 300 kilobytes of personal data each, to be stored on a satellite that will launch in September 2017.

Asgardia, founded in October 2016 by Russian computer scientist Igor Ashurbeyli, eventually wants to create a new nation in spaceinhabited by citizens called Asgardiansfree of the laws and regulations currently governing space travel and Earth-based nation states. "The essence of Asgardia is Peace in Space, and the prevention of Earth's conflicts being transferred into space," says Ashurbeyli.

At a press conference in Hong Kong on Tuesday, Ashurbeyli, joined by Jeffery Manber, CEO of satellite company NanoRacks and professor Ram Jakhu, director at the Institute of Air and Space Law at Montreal's McGill University, announced that Asgardia will launch Asgardia-1, a small, 2U-configured satellite, this Fall. The satellite will be Asgardia's first claim to a nation state in space.

The CubeSat, measuring 10cm x 10cm x 20cm, will be deployed from Orbital ATK's Cygnus cargo ship, launching from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on its eighth mission to the International Space Station.

Ashurbeyli said that the first 100,000 registered Asgardians will be able to store up to 300kb of data on the Asgardia-1 satellite.

"What comes to mind? Maybe the photo of your little cat, or of your neighbour, or your mother, or your child. Whatever comes to your mind," he said. "This will be for as long as Asgardia exists, in other words, forever."

Ashurbeyli urged Asgardians, thousands of which have registered since the announcement of Asgardia last October, to invite their families and friends to the program, too. The first 400,000 of which will receive 200kb of free storage on the Asgardia-1 satellite.

"Your names and data will forever stay in the memory of the new space humanity

And an extra one million Asgardians after this will be eligible for 100kb of data storage.

"Your names and data will forever stay in the memory of the new space humanity as they will be reinstalled on every following Asgardia satellite, orbital satellite constellation, not only in the near space but also on the Moon and anywhere in the Universe wherever Asgardia will be," declared Ashurbeyli.

According to a recent filing with the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the satellite, launching in September, will carry a 512GB solid state hard drive pre-loaded with the data from Asgardians. Data will then be uploaded and downloaded using the Globalstar satellite constellation.

The next steps for Asgardians come just next week. On June 18, voting will open for the Asgardian Declaration of Unity, the Constitution of Asgardia, Asgardia's flag, its coat of arms, and national anthem. The Parliament of Asgardia is due to be formed in six months time.

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Citizenship Enrollment for the First Ever 'Space Nation' Is Now Open - Motherboard

Local musician wins Capital District award for Best Folk Album – The Recorder (subscription)

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By Winnie Blackwood

For The Recorder

GIBSON

FORT JOHNSON An album written by a local artist that centers around dwelling on a negative past and overcoming such an obstacle received an award by the Capital District Original Music Awards.

Folk singer and song writer and resident of Fort Johnson, Cosby Gibson, won the Best Folk Album for her album, Talking to Echos, on June 5.

Gibson submitted her CD to the award organizations 15-member committee in New York City after she heard of the opportunity.

Talking to Echos, is comprised of 12 songs with half revolving around the notion of being stuck in the past and the rest about rising above it.

When people dwell in negative memories, thats also very destructive and theres nothing you can do about it, so thats why the term, talking to echos, Gibson said. Because you are just talking to echoes. Youre talking to the past, going over and over in your mind.

The album also includes four videos and an artists booklet.

What the board does is recognize individuals, such as Cosby Gibson, who have done creative music and have done it to an extent, and people appreciate it over someone else, who might be in that same genre/category, Richard Womack, a board member of the Capital District Original Music Awards, said.

Artists submit their work on a CD, which are labeled with letters in the alphabet to remain anonymous. No money is collected from the contestant, Womack said. Awards are chosen based on originality and the quality of the originality, as well as the quality of the material.

The one thing about awards is that it really raises the bar for artists, because it keeps you wanting to do quality work, even though you would anyway, Gibson said.

Once artists are picked as the winner, they must perform to ensure their work and talent are authentic.

It sounded great, performed well, Womack said of Gibsons album and performance.

This is the awards organizations second awards show, which was held on June 10. Gibson was touring that day and was unable to be in attendance.

Gibson said artists, including herself, do not use a title such as this for an ego boost, but as a way to give back to the community.

Thats important to understand because otherwise it just seems like you are running around chasing awards, which is empty, Gibson said.

People could see the title when a concert or event is announced and be attracted to attend because of it in places like a local library.

After making it to the first ballot for the 2016 Grammy nominations, Gibson used that to add weight in order to attract people to a local venue.

Right now its a little difficult for the arts because entertainment is accessible on electronics and because sometimes the economy is a little shaky, not as many people are going to these live events, Gibson said.

Even though Gibson did not make it past the first ballot for the Grammy nominations, she said next time she plans on going farther in the process.

New songs have already been written by Gibson, and her plan for her next albums theme will be joy.

People get very depressed about whats going on in their lives and to go above that to find a place of joy sometimes is the only relief, Gibson said. Maybe all that stuff is still terrible and is still going on, but you have go to somehow find joy in your life, or you are going to get worse and worse.

Other projects Gibson is working on includes her Erie Canal Tour with two tour dates left for the summer season, her performances and her Patreon account. The website allows artists to upload their work and subscribers can access it for $1.

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Local musician wins Capital District award for Best Folk Album - The Recorder (subscription)

Premiere: Learn to ‘SWERLK’ with MNDR & Scissor Sister’s New Video – Out Magazine

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"SWERLKis about celebrating life, dancing, individuality, differences, fierceness," MNDR says of her new Scissor Sisters-assisted single. "And sometimesSWERLKis even a shoulder to cry on."

Related |Scissor Sisters & MNDR Release 'SWERLK' to Honor Pulse Victims

Their new charity collaboration, "SWERLK"a combination of twerk, twirl, werk, swerve and swirlproposes a new queer dance, while also raising funds for theContigo Fundto empower Latinx communities in honor of Pulse. "TheSWERLKis not only a dance floor anthem, but it is a way of life, a mind set, and a show of solidarity," MNDR says, paying tribute to the Orlando shooting's one-year anniversary this week.

The official "SWERLK" video, premiering today on OUT, features three dancersBrad, Jackie and Evanwho're shown working through the campy, prideful choreography in a classic how-to format. "Work it if you got the nerve," MNDR sings with Scissor Sisters, as the dancers show viewers how to swirl it, twirl it, twerk it and swerve.

"We wanted to make aSWERLKdance so everyone couldSWERLK," MNDR says. "We reached out to our friend Brad Landers ('Let's have a KiKi' choreographer) and he came up with the perfect dance that everyone can get down with. Let's see youSWERLK. Upload your videos using the hashtag #SWERLK."

Learn to "SWERLK," below.

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Premiere: Learn to 'SWERLK' with MNDR & Scissor Sister's New Video - Out Magazine

ct.gov-connecticut’s official state website

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We are excited to reveal the new CT.gov! Take a quick tour to learn about the new layout and features!

Welcome to the new CT.gov! A lot has changed and we are excited to show you around. This page was created to help users understand the new layout and features.

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We welcome and encourage your feedback regarding the new CT.gov redesign. Please feel free to respond to our online polls and survey as you navigate through the new site. Thank you.

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Precision medicine demands ‘evolutionary leaps of interoperability’ – Healthcare IT News

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John Halamka, MD, was just the second human being to be sequenced in the landmark Personal Genome Project in 2008, one of the initial group of volunteers known as the PGP-10.

Back then, it cost about $350,000 for a company to do such a sequencing. Now the price tag is less than $1,000. Clearly, many advancements have been made in precision medicine over the past 10 years and that includes information technologies just not necessarily in tandem with the bold vision of genomics.

[Also:Get social data into EHRs to bring precision medicine to population health]

"We aren't as good as we need to be," Halamka said this week at the Precision Medicine Summit. "Our EHRs are not exactly friendly for clinicians and they haven't done a good job of taking things like biomarkers, genomic interpretations and decision support and turning them into action."

How is precision medicine data relayed in the EHR, for instance?

"We use a very highly interoperable standard for such material called 'PDF,'" said Halamka.

[Also:Promise of precision medicine depends on overcoming big obstacles]

Washington University bioinformaticist and genetics fellow Nephi Walton said that in one project with Epic Systems it took them 9 months to get genetic data into the EHR and that, too, was via PDF.

Healthcare has to overcome several obstacles, in fact, to harness genomic advancement in a big way. While providers can send basic clinical summaries around, those are relatively simple data points like problem lists, meds, allergies and lab results rather than the genomic data that holds promise for personalized care.

[Also:Is precision medicine a matter of national security?]

What we need are systems that allow physicians quick and accurate knowledge of genetic conditions, Walton added. The informatics is crucial. This information cant just come from whats in the literature.

Halamka said that interoperability has to make some evolutionary leaps if healthcare is going to capitalize on the ideals of precision medicine research.The good news? Hes starting to see upstarts and innovators enable more than just provider-to-provider exchange.

"I am meeting with more and more entrepreneurial 26-year-olds who are creating modules of functionality that are layering on top of electronic health records and will fundamentally provide more agility and more innovation than the EHR vendors themselves, Halamka said.

The hope, he added, is that these companies will bring to market functions that live outside the EHR and enable bidirectional data exchange through FHIR and other standards.

Walton said that genomics and artificial intelligence, for instance, are advancing so fast right now that hospitals, payers, academic medical centers and government health entities need a framework to put those emerging technologies into practice quickly to manage to maintain and deliver precision medicine information.

"The future is bright," Halamka said. And its happening quickly.

Twitter:@MikeMiliardHITN Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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California Dreams of Single-Payer Medicine – WSJ – Wall Street Journal (subscription)

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California Dreams of Single-Payer Medicine - WSJ
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I would hope that, should California's single-payer proposal pass, no resident of California will be exempt from coverage and no alternative ever be allowed.

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Regents OK $61M for UCCS sports medicine component of City for Champions – Colorado Springs Gazette

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Sports Medicine and Performance Center. North Nevada Avenue Campus of the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Courtesy of City for Champions.

The University of Colorado regents Thursday approved spending $61.4 million on a City for Champions project: the proposed William J. Hybl Sports Medicine and Performance Center at the system's Colorado Springs campus.

The regents are attending a special board meeting Thursday and Friday at UCCS.

Preliminary plans call for a 104,000-square-foot building on the east side of North Nevada Avenue, north of the Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences.

A 30-year bond will fund the building with repayment coming from several sources, including tourism dollars, and funds from the project partners, UCCS and Centura Health, which owns Penrose-St. Francis Health Services system in Colorado Springs.

Thursday's action allows the initiative to continue moving forward and obtain further approvals, including a go-ahead from the Capital Development Committee of the state Legislature.

Project design is expected to begin in the fall, with construction getting under way in July 2018 and completion by Dec. 31, 2019.

The Hybl Center is part of City for Champions - a series of projects in Colorado Springs including the U.S. Olympic Museum downtown, designed to attract thousands of visitors to the area.

In December 2013, the Colorado Economic Development Commission agreed to provide some funding for the projects under the state's Regional Tourism Act.

The Hybl Center, named in honor of a noted local philanthropist, amateur sports official and diplomatic leader, will be the first facility of its kind to combine undergraduate and graduate education with hands-on clinical practice and search in a sports medicine and performance setting.

Various bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs will be offered, and academic research will focus on such areas as human performance, cardiovascular physiology, environmental stress and others.

The center will serve tens of thousands of patients each year and provide space for human performance testing and training, biomechanics, medically based fitness, athletic training, physical therapy, sports medicine primary care and orthopedics.

Centura Health will assume financial responsibility for the performance clinics' space, equipment and staff. UCCS will be responsible for research and instruction, along with leadership and some employees for the clinics.

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Regents OK $61M for UCCS sports medicine component of City for Champions - Colorado Springs Gazette

Women are flocking to wellness because modern medicine still doesn’t take them seriously – Quartz

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Quartz
Women are flocking to wellness because modern medicine still doesn't take them seriously
Quartz
The wellness movement is having a moment. The more luxurious aspects of it were on full display last weekend at the inaugural summit of Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle brand Goop, from crystal therapy to $66 jade eggs meant to be worn in the vagina.

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Women are flocking to wellness because modern medicine still doesn't take them seriously - Quartz

Michigan Medicine health system posts better bottom line – Crain’s Detroit Business

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Michigan Medicine, the new name for the combined University of Michigan Health System and UM Medical School, posted a 5.6 percent operating margin that exceeded results over the last several years.

The Ann Arbor-based academic health group, which includes three hospitals, 125 clinics and a large faculty practice plan, earned $210 million in operating profits on revenue of $3.7 billion. Michigan's medical school generates total annual research funding of more than $470 million.

At a UM board of regents meeting Thursday, UMHS President David Spahlinger, M.D., also told regents Michigan Medicine is projecting a 5.4 percent margin on $3.8 billion revenue for fiscal 2018 that begins July 1. He said the rosy picture is due to improving quality and safety and reducing costs.

"These targets are aggressive but needed to fund our aspirations for the next five years and beyond," Spahlinger said in a statement. "We are challenging ourselves to reach those goals and give us the ability to invest in our future."

UMHS posted an operating margin of 4.6 percent in 2015 after posting deficits in 2012 and 2013.

Spahlinger, who also is executive vice dean for clinical affairs of the UM Medical School, added that the health system experienced somewhat higher patient volume than usual. No actual data was available at press time.

Projects completed in the past year include five operating rooms and five inpatient rooms to University Hospital, six patient rooms in the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital newborn intensive care unit and moving the psychiatry department into University Hospital South.

New projects underway include a new health center in west Ann Arbor set to open in fall 2017 and the Brighton Center for Specialty Care set to open in 2018.

UMHS also has been busy the past year adding affiliate hospitals. Last December, UM finalized a deal to acquire Metro Health Corp. in Wyoming. UM also owns a minority interest in MidMichigan Health in Midland.

Its UM Health subsidiary, which manages subsidiary companies, posted an operating margin of 0.2 percent on revenue of $377 million. Projected revenue for 2018 is $413 million for a slight loss of -0.3 percent margin. UM plans to make at least $40 million in capital investments at Metro Health.

From 2011 to 2015, Metro Health lost a total of $189.9 million on operations, according to American Hospital Directory Inc., a Louisville-based data company, based on Medicare cost report data. However, Spahlinger told Crain's that Metro Health earned a 2 percent margin in 2016.

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I shunned studying medicine to become a nurse. Here’s why – The Guardian

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Nurses are required to be highly skilled, educated professionals but they are still seen as handmaidens to doctors. Photograph: Medic Image/Getty Images/Universal Images Group

A nurse?

You want to be a nurse?

There it is again. The surprise, the raise of the eyebrow, the uncomfortable pause. Followed by one of two responses: the overly-enthusiastic and evidently forced good for you, or the honest but, why? Surely youd rather be a doctor?

The surprise is understandable; I dont have the most conventional background for nursing. At school I pursued both science and humanities to A-level before landing a place at Cambridge to read history of art. Wooed by the hedonism of student media, I pursued a career in entertainment television, dismissing my long-standing passion for nursing as a romantic daydream, sparked by the literature of Vera Brittain and Florence Nightingale.

However, with each year my passion grew rather than waned and I realised it was more than a passing phase. So at Christmas I decided to turn my back on an industry I had fought so hard to get into, and applied for the two-year postgraduate diploma in adult nursing.

At first I wasnt brave enough to shun societal expectation and for a while I considered applying to study graduate medicine. I recall one particular conversation with my mother where she described how shed spent her life being just a nurse and aspired for her daughter to aim higher evidence of how the longstanding prejudice surrounding the profession is passed between generations.

After working as a healthcare assistant in a busy London trust my suspicions were confirmed: it was the work of the nurses, rather than the doctors, that inspired me. Seeing nurses on the ward, I grew to appreciate the autonomy of their role; distinct, yet equally valuable as the physicians.

Unlike doctors, a nurse will spend extended periods of time with their patients, building a relationship founded on implicit trust. They are at the bedside from admission through to discharge, relieving pain, easing distress and raising the alarm at any red flags.

Consequently, they are in the best position to observe the subtleties of a patients condition and gain the most holistic understanding of their needs. This unique nurse-patient relationship, combined with intelligent communication with the physicians, is arguably at the forefront of successful treatment and recovery. Therefore, nurses are required not only to be empathetic and perceptive, but highly skilled, educated professionals who can operate independently.

Yet despite this, nurses are still widely perceived as handmaidens to doctors. The stereotypes linger, reinforced by popular culture. Take any glossy hospital hit of the last decade House, ER, Greys Anatomy. Nurses are portrayed as unskilled aides to the deity-like doctors, thats if theyre given screen time at all.

The prejudice also manifests itself in a continued gender imbalance. Just over 10% of UK registered nurses are male, a stubborn figure that barely shifts each year. Its a fact Im reminded of every time I hear the call of sister or matron echo down the ward.

The view of nurses as subordinate seems to be particularly entrenched in the UK, ironic given the founder of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, rallied against the view of nurses as devoted and obedient (a definition she scoffed might do for a horse). One nurse I work with is considering returning to Nigeria, so disheartened by the lack of trust and respect in the NHS, attitudes that do not exist in her country. Others are attracted by opportunities overseas, notably Canada and Australia, where salaries reflect the higher status of the profession.

There is hope, as the profession has evolved dramatically over the last decade and there are increasing numbers of opportunities to specialise and even prescribe. New titles, including nursing consultant, advance nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist challenge the traditional hierarchy.

However, prejudice is so deep rooted that I fear change will take decades and in some cases be met with resistance. Just last week I overheard a consultant say to an impressionable junior doctor: We dont do care, we do medicine. It wasnt so much the statement that was upsetting; it was the delivery. Tinged with disdain, the implication was obvious: the provision of care is lowly, beneath the role of the physician.

We must challenge these views and start to see nurses as partners to doctors, not inferiors. Their unique scope of practice is of equal importance and until we recognise this, we will struggle to retain and attract the brightest talent to the profession.

Join the Healthcare Professionals Network to read more pieces like this. And follow us on Twitter (@GdnHealthcare) to keep up with the latest healthcare news and views.

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I shunned studying medicine to become a nurse. Here's why - The Guardian

Hosts needed to introduce WSU med school students to Spokane – The Spokesman-Review

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UPDATED: Thu., June 15, 2017, 10:30 p.m.

Washington State University, Spokane is looking for local residents willing to help the schools inaugural class of medical students get acquainted with the community.

Sixty students in the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine will arrive in Spokane in August for their first two years of training.

WSU Spokane is looking for hosts who will periodically spend time with the students, introducing them to local leaders and helping them gain insights into the region, its culture, socioeconomic dynamics and medical needs.

The program is designed to help immerse students in the life of the Spokane community and give them a sense of what its like to live here, said Christina VerHeul, the medical schools director of communication and marketing.

The hosts will serve as an entry point to Spokane beyond the classroom walls, helping students become invested in an area where they might someday practice medicine.

The new medical schools mission is to train doctors for rural and family practices in underserved areas of the state.

To help further that goal, all of the medial students in the initial class are from Washington. New doctors often end up practicing in the cities, or the state, where they did their training, VerHeul said.

After the first two years in Spokane, the students will complete their medical training in either the Tri-Cities, Vancouver, Everett or Spokane. Fifteen students have been assigned to each of the four communities for the final piece of their training.

WSU Spokane is looking for 15 local host families in the Spokane area. So far, the program has received nine applications and needs at least six more.

If the host applicants arent selected this year, they could be considered in future years, VerHeul said.

Applicants must pass a federal background check. They also must be able to meet with students at least once during the six specified weeks over the two-year period and attend Wednesday night dinners with the students during those weeks.

The six weeks are spread out between September 2017 and March 2019. The first meeting is scheduled for the week of Sept. 3.

For students assigned to the Tri-Cities, Vancouver and Everett during the second half of their training, the hosts will also provide limited stays in their homes. The homestays will help those students get introduced to those communities before they move there for the last part of their med school training. However, overnight hosting is not needed in Spokane, VerHeul said.

People can apply for a host position on WSUs website: https://medicine.wsu.edu/community-hosting-and-homestay-program/

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Hosts needed to introduce WSU med school students to Spokane - The Spokesman-Review

Population health management makes its way to med school – American Medical Association (blog)

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With more health care data available than ever, physicians are being asked to think in broader terms. Population health management, which focuses on health outcomes for a group of individuals rather than a single patient, has become a point of emphasis as across-the-board quality health outcomes have become a more significant metric for success in medicine.

With that, what is expected of a physician has changed from the era when doctors were principally responsible for the patient in front of them, said Paul George, MD, MPHE, assistant dean for medical education and associate professor of family medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. And now as a physician, to better health care systems, you are asked to be responsible for not only the patient in front of you, but also the population of patients.

A patients well-being is often significantly impacted by social and behavioral determinantssuch as access to transportation, nutritious food options and housing. Those factors cannot be treated during an office visit.

The topic is addressed in detail in the Population Health chapter in Health Systems Science, a 2016 textbook that is the first to explore the third pillar of medical education. (The chapter was written by Natalia Wilson, MD, MPH, with co-authors Dr. George and Jill M. Huber, MD)

This reality could be a bit of shock to medical students looking at the profession from a traditional standpoint.

This whole conceptthinking also about groups of patients, using data and considering the community and the social determinants of healthis not necessarily something students came to medical school thinking they were going to be doing or learning about, said Dr. Wilson, clinical associate professor at Arizona State Universitys School for the Science of Health Care Delivery.

Within the text of Health Systems Science, population health is defined as the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.

Making that definition stick is the first step of the population health curriculum Dr. Wilson teaches to her students.

Theres a lot of misunderstanding about what population health actually means and how it pertains to health care as well as the other areas we need to be thinking about in order to improve population health, Dr. Wilson said. Basic education is needed on key concepts and how things are changing in health care delivery for a population health focus.

In addressing a more rounded approach to her students, Dr. Wilson is trying to pass along the knowledge that traditionally siloed areas such as health care delivery, public health and community organizations, will need to learn to work together for better health of patients and populations.

The significance of the lessons learned in the classroom, Dr. Wilson believes, will reveal their value over time.

One of the challenges for medical students is they are starting their education, and so have not yet had significant patient care experiences and clinical training to fully understand the context and application of this new knowledge on population health, she said.

So we are planting the seeds for these important concepts we [physicians] need to know. My suspicion is that they will increasingly understand the importance of considering the social determinants of health, using data to provide knowledge about their patient populations, and collaborating with partners to support the health of their patients and populations as they progress in their education and clinical training.

Health Systems Science,which is already in use in medical schools across the country, was co-written by experts from the AMA and faculty from 11 of the 32 member schools in the AMAsAccelerating Change in Medical Education Consortium.

The book retails for $59.99 and can be ordered from theAMA Storeand the publisher,Elsevier, as well as fromAmazonand other online booksellers. AMA members may order it from the AMA Store for $54.99. Individual chapters are available from Elseviers Student Consult platform for $6.99 each.

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University of Arizona’s Phoenix medical school receives full accreditation – Arizona Daily Star

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The University of Arizona now has two separately accredited medical schools.

UA officials announced Wednesday that the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix, which was originally a branch of the UAs Tucson medical school, was granted full accreditation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).

The LCME is the national accrediting authority for medical-education programs leading to M.D. degrees in the United States and Canada.

The accrediting authority completed its latest site visit earlier this spring. The LCME is expected to provide a comprehensive report within the next month detailing the site visit and the factors for granting full accreditation.

The full accreditation came earlier than expected. UA officials originally projected they would gain full accreditation in 2018.

The UA College of Medicine-Phoenix was created 10 years ago as a branch campus of the UA College of Medicine-Tucson, which opened in 1967.

In 2012, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix received preliminary accreditation with the LCME. That marked the point when students first were accepted as part of the separate accreditation, and also the beginning of a five-year process to full accreditation.

The next step of provisional accreditation was granted in 2015. Full accreditation was the final step.

To date, the UA College of Medicine-Phoenix has graduated 354 physicians, with classes of about 80 students per year.

During the accreditation process, more than 100 performance elements are evaluated to establish whether a medical school is in good standing.

From my standpoint, its a wonderful signal that things are going well at the College of Medicine in Phoenix, said Chic Older, executive vice president of the Arizona Medical Association, a statewide group made up of doctors, residents and medical students.

Theyve got a terrific medical school and theyve certainly become more stabilized. ... Its a medical school students can be proud of graduating from.

One year ago this month, the Arizona Medical Association asked for an investigation after a half-dozen of the Phoenix medical schools top leaders left for positions out of state. Among those departures was the schools dean, Dr. Stuart D. Flynn.

The UA recently hired a new dean to lead the school, Tennessee cardiologist Dr. Guy Reed. The UA also has a new interim senior vice president of health sciences, Dr. Leigh Neumayer, who oversees both medical schools. Neumayer replaced Dr. Joe G. N. Skip Garcia, who stepped down in December.

Older said interim dean Dr. Kenneth Ramos did an excellent job after Flynns departure and helped lead the Phoenix medical school through the accreditation.

Dr. Leigh Neumayer is clearly stabilizing things as well, Older said. This is not some kind of miracle. This is a lot of hard work by a lot of people and is what we wanted, and it will only help the state.

Having another fully accredited medical school is a key part of ensuring quality health care in Arizona in the future and also in addressing a doctor shortage. However, Older said another key is having enough residency spots and that the current level in Arizona is not enough.

There are now five medical schools in Arizona the two UA medical schools; the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine, which is opening its Arizona campus in Scottsdale this summer; and Midwestern University and A.T. Still University, which both operate osteopathic medical schools in the Phoenix area.

A sixth medical school Nebraska-based Creighton University School of Medicine has medical students doing third- and fourth-year rotations in Arizona.

Earning full accreditation is an important milestone, UA President Dr. Robert C. Robbins said in a prepared statement.

Full accreditation assures students that they are getting an outstanding education and it demonstrates to Arizona residents that the University of Arizona is graduating exceptional physicians, said Robbins, who is a cardiac surgeon.

Ramos, interim dean of the UA College of MedicinePhoenix, received a call Friday from the LCME, notifying him that the college would move from provisional accreditation status to full accreditation, UA officials said Wednesday.

This announcement acknowledges the strength and excellence of this college and our ability to transform todays students into tomorrows health-care leaders, said Neumayer.

Contact health reporter Stephanie Innes at 573-4134 or email sinnes@tucson.com. On Twitter: @stephanieinnes

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University of Arizona's Phoenix medical school receives full accreditation - Arizona Daily Star

Connecticut Sun made up for mistakes in win over New York Liberty – Norwich Bulletin

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Marc Allard mallard@norwichbulletin.com, (860) 425-4212 mallardnb

MOHEGAN Connecticut Sun guard Jasmine Thomas drove to the basket early in the fourth quarter of Wednesday nights game and was stuffed by New York Liberty center Amanda Zahui B.

Thomas didnt sulk.

She raced back on defense and was able to get a hand on the ball controlled by New Yorks Lindsay Allen, knocking it away from the Liberty player.

Were absolutely not going to give up, Thomas said with a smile. I dont like to make mistakes and Im going to make up for it anyway I can, especially when theyre fatigue mistakes. Thats when I kind of want to kick myself.

The steal led to a 3-pointer by Rachel Banham, one of three by the second-year guard that gave the Sun a 20-plus point lead.

The Sun made mistakes in their 96-76 win over the Liberty on Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena.

They also made up for them.

The Sun turned over the ball three times in the fourth quarter and, on each occasion, managed to recover.

Following another Connecticut turnover, Banham managed to stick her hand in and knock the ball away and the Sun got to the loose ball first. The third saw Thomas block a Bria Hartley shot.

Plays like those helped the shorthanded Sun (4-5) to their second convincing win in a row, having beaten Atlanta by 33 points on Saturday.

Just confidence, Thomas said. Any time we can get a win when were down with (Morgan) Tuck (out), we dont have (Alex Bentley), were down with (Lynetta) Kizer. Any time our numbers are low and we can get wins, its great especially when you can see the chemistry and the maturity of the team growing.

The Sun have won four of their last five after starting 0-4.

We played another good game from start to finish, so I think were learning how to put a full game of basketball together. Thats what were showing out there, center Jonquel Jones (19 points, 12 rebounds) said.

Connecticut has persevered through injury woes. Chiney Ogwumike was lost before the season began, while Tuck (bone bruise) and Kizer (back) have been bothered by nagging injuries.

Others have stepped up.

(Shekinna) Strick(len) has been giving us great minutes, Courtney (Williams) great minutes and you see this team going to a whole different level. We knew we were capable of it and now everyone else is seeing what were capable of, forward Alyssa Thomas said.

Last year, the confidence came late.

The Sun won eight of their last 12 games, including their final three of the season. But they missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive year.

Prior to this season, especially following the news about Ogwumikes season ending before it began with Achilles surgery, most had predicted the Sun would miss the WNBA postseason for the fifth straight year.

The general rule of thought was that with the maturation of Jones, Williams, Banham and Tuck, along with a healthy Ogwumike, the team could make a run next season.

But the Sun are a bit impatient.

Were on a little win streak, playing really well as a team, and it just adds a little extra motivation. This team wants to make the playoffs. I think were tired of being right there and not making it, Alyssa Thomas said.

The next three games will tell more of the story.

The Sun visit Minnesota to face the 9-0 Lynx on Saturday before heading to New York where the Liberty will certainly have revenge on their mind on Friday, June 23. The Sun finish up the road swing with a game in Dallas on June 25.

I feel like they keep coming, Jones said of the latest road swing. Every time you turn around, its like back on the road again. Its part of being a pro, part of being in this league and you have to play when the time comes.

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Russian billionaire’s yacht ruining tourists’ pics of Lady Liberty – New York Post

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Its not obstruction of justice but it is obstruction of Liberty.

A Russian-born billionaire has been parking his mega-yacht in front of the Statue of Liberty for the past two months and seafarers say its blocking cherished views of the symbol of freedom.

Its the peoples statue versus a persons private boat, said Roland Lewis, president of the Waterfront Alliance, a nonprofit that works to protect the areas shores. That boat is right there obstructing the parade of excursion boats that go out there to visit the statue.

The yacht, Le Grand Bleu, is owned by Russian-American oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, who got it as a gift from his friend Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch and pal of President Vladimir Putin. At 370 feet, it is one of the worlds largest private yachts.

The boat first dropped anchor in front of Lady Liberty on April 17 and spent two weeks there before retreating to Gravesend Bay for May. It returned in June and has since spent most of the month ruining tourists photos.

Its depressing. You dont see things blocking freedom and justice in America, said Craig Mahoney, 41, a visitor from Massachusetts trying to view the statue from the Staten Island Ferry.

The spot is a legal anchorage, but harbor regulars say yachts usually stay for just a day or two.

Ive been on New York Harbor for 50 years, and Ive never seen a mega-yacht anchored for such a long period of time, said Jim Chambers, a ship captain. My take is theyre just reducing the operating costs by anchoring rather than paying for dockage.

It reportedly costs thousands of dollars a day to dock at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal.

One sailor spotted a woman sipping coffee on the boats swim platform as it faced the statue.

I was just like, Oh, my god. You have a private patio in front of the Statue of Liberty where your multitude of servants brings you coffee, the mariner said.

The Coast Guard usually wont order boats to move unless they are creating an unreasonable obstacle, a spokesman said.

Shvidler was born in Russia and became a US citizen in 1994. Attempts to reach him for comment were not successful.

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Russian billionaire's yacht ruining tourists' pics of Lady Liberty - New York Post

Liberty win four straight at home – Amsterdam News

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The New York Liberty came out explosive against the Seattle Storm, but Sundays 94-86 win proved no easy romp. After an early lead, the Liberty was ahead by just three points at the half, and the Storm edged ahead in the third quarter. But New York was not having it as starters Tina Charles, Sugar Rodgers, Shavonte Zellous, Kiah Stokes and Bria Hartley kept on the pressure aided by rookie forward Nayo Raincock-Ekunwe, who contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

Theyre playing together; theyre understanding themselves; theyre learning and getting better every day, said coach Bill Laimbeer. We still have a long way to go, obviously. We have a lot of room for improvement, individually and collectively, but theyre playing well with each other.

Every player on the team is putting on their concentration cap when they come to work every day and its showing, he added. Were now experiencing a good mental stretch of playing basketball.

Raincock-Ekunwe is starting to feel at ease with the high level of WNBA play and is seeing the rewards of relentless hard work in practice. Im confident coming off the bench now, she said. I know my role on this team. Thats to go in, rebound, work hard, run the floor.

Guard Lindsay Allen is making the most of a second opportunity. The Libertys top draft pick, she was cut at the end of training camp but picked up during Epiphanny Princes absence.

We talk about fighting through adversity and staying the course, said Allen, who had five points and an assist in the win over the Storm. We had some times in the game today where things werent going our way; we werent making shots. We really dug down deepand kept doing what we do as a ball club.

It wasnt Stokes best game of the four wins, but she still scored and rebounded at the most crucial moments in the Storm game. We had to grind out this game, she said. People stepped up at different times. Thats how we ended up overcoming their runsand eventually winning the game.

With the win over Seattle, the Liberty moved to 6-3, third in the WNBA standings. The team is on the road for two games before returning to the Garden June 23.

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Liberty win four straight at home - Amsterdam News