Channel Islands bald eagle lays egg – Ventura County Star

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This is a photo from 2014 showing a bald eagle landing on a nest.(Photo: PETER SHARPE/IWS)

Let the hours of nest watching begin.

After a long fall and winter, a pair of bald eagles is back in the Sauces Canyon nest on Santa Cruz Island.

The National Park Service posted on social media that an egg had beenlaid Thursday, and a day later, the egg seemed to be doing well.

Even though Santa Cruz is about 20 miles offVentura, thepublic can get a bird's-eye view of the nestthrough a live webcam.

Last year, people watched in their kitchens and their classrooms asbald eagle chicks hatched, grew and fledged on Santa Cruz, part of the Channel Islands National Park.

Some even posted online when they felt a baby chick got too close to the edge of a nest or when it seemed to take too long for a parent to come back with food.

Officials have said it's just one of the ways that they can bring the five-island park to people who might not get a chance to visit in person.The webcam reach has grown through a partnership between the park and explore.org.

DDT contamination took a steep toll on the Channel Islands bald eagle and peregrine falcon populations, along with many other birds.

Contamination led to egg shells being so thin that they would break in the nests. While the pesticide was banned in the 1970s, its effects off Southern California lasted for decades.

Recovery efforts that ranged from releasing young birds on the islands to artificially incubating eggs outside of the nests have helped both birds make comebacks.

In 2006, a pair of bald eagles successfully bred naturally on Santa Cruz Island. It was the first time in 50 years that had happened on one of the islands.

As of last year,officials said 124 bald eagle chicks hatched naturally and fledged from nests on the Channel Islands since then.

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Channel Islands bald eagle lays egg - Ventura County Star

Forecast: Light Snow Around Boston, More On South Shore And Islands – WBUR

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March 10, 2017Updated 03/10/2017 11:59 AM

By David Goldbaum

A fast moving storm will move off the Mid-Atlantic coast today. The Boston metro area will be on the northern edge of the system, and a period of light snow can be expected, with an inch or 2 of accumulation. Higher amounts will be confined to parts of Cape Codand the Islands, where up to 7inches of snow could fall.

This storm will intensify well to our east Saturday with gusty northwesterly winds and a reinforcement of arctic air in its wake. Sunshine will prevail Sunday with temperatures moderating slightly as winds diminish.

Next week looks interesting, as another storm develops to our southwest and makes its way to the coast. Indications are that it blossoms into a major noreaster Tuesday into Wednesday. Its still too early to determine the exact strength or track, but it has the potential to bring significant snow accumulations to much of the Northeast.

Meteorologist Dave Goldbaum is in for WBUR's David Epstein.

Today: Morninglight snow, tapering to flurries this afternoon. High: 35.

Tonight: Few evening snow showers andsqualls. Clearing andwindy overnight. Lows: 10-15. Wind chills around 0.

Saturday: Partly sunny, breezy. High: 23.

Saturday Night: Clear, very Cold. Lows 5-10.

Sunday: Mostly sunny, cold. High: 26.

Monday:Mostly sunny. High: 30.

Tuesday:Cloudy with snow possibly changing to rain. Highs in the 30s.

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Forecast: Light Snow Around Boston, More On South Shore And Islands - WBUR

Policy Summit Focuses On Agenda For Cape And Islands – CapeNews.net

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More than 200 Cape and islands residents participated in a policy summit at Cape Cod Community College's Tilden Arts Center on Saturday, March 4. State Senator Julian A. Cyr (D-Truro), who represents the Cape and Islands District that includes Mashpee, hosted the event.

"Communities on Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket face unique challenges," Sen. Cyr said in a release Monday, March 7. "To move forward on housing affordability, wastewater, the opioid epidemic and so much more, we need innovative policy solutions, outside-of-the-box thinking and public participation."

The policy summit featured six working sessions centered around living, working, raising a family, aging, serving and preserving natural resources on the Cape and islands. Each session, facilitated by a local leader, featured a panel of industry experts, activists, elected officials and nonprofit directors.

The nonpartisan gathering highlighted panelists across the political spectrum, including Sen. Cyr's general election opponent, retired Air Force Brigadier General Anthony E. Schiavi.

Sen. Cyr spoke about how the challenges facing residents of the Cape and islands require inventive solutions and strong partnerships between local communities and elected officials.

"My hope is that participants are introduced to people and work they didn't know about," Sen. Cyr said. "I want every person here today to commit to one tangible action they can do to become more involved in their local community and in the policy-making process."

Sen. Cyr encouraged attendees to commit to helping a community organization, attend pending town meetings and run for public office.

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Man accused of raping CSU Channel Islands student – KEYT

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CSUCI student charged with raping...

CAMARILLO, Calif. - A California State University Channel Islands student is charged with raping a fellow student.

On Friday his arraignment was postponed and he was released from jail after posting $100,000 bail.

Cal State University Channel Islands student Jonathan Henry-Walker is charged with felony forcible rape. He was placed on interim suspension from the Camarillo campus, after three female students reported he had raped them in the fall.

There were three separate female students, Channel Islands Students, who reported that they had been raped. They were all separate incidents, and each of the three students named the same male student as the accused, said Lt. Michael Morris with the CSUCI Police Department.

The alleged rapes took place between September and October, officers say one happened off-campus, the other two happened in on-campus dorms.

What we are prepared to say is that we have information that the victims were incapacitated at that time. Whether it was drugs or alcohol or a combination there of, it is under investigation, said Morris.

Henry-Walker transferred to Channel Islands in the fall of 2016. The 23-year-old student was living on campus and majoring in psychology when the rape accusations were made.

Since the accusations he has been living at his home in San Bernardino, where he was arrested without incident on Thursday.

Students we spoke to say, they are pleased with the way the school handled the situation. They also commented that the news of the alleged rapes has not changed their opinions about living on campus.

I did hear about it because the school sends out emails from the police department, said CSUCI Junior, Joseline Centolalla. I still do feel safe in this school. The school is pretty safe at all times. You see the police cars going around at all times even at 2-3 in the morning.

I remember getting emails about this months ago about how to be safe and ways to not get in that situation. I feel really good here, and do not feel I am less safe because of it, said CSUCI Freshman Emma Thompson.

Henry-Walker remains on interim suspension while the investigation is on-going. The Ventura County District Attorneys office says it does not plan on filing additional charges against him unless it gets new information.

If Henry-Walker is convicted he would face 8 years in prison. He would also be required to register as a sex offender.

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Message in bottle from Cayman Islands reaches Galveston – Fort Worth Star Telegram

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Fort Worth Star Telegram
Message in bottle from Cayman Islands reaches Galveston
Fort Worth Star Telegram
The Galveston County Daily News (http://bit.ly/2mr5STW ) reports the message wasn't anything substantial it just contained Garza's name and contact information but he stuffed it in a Tabasco bottle and tossed it off the coast of the Cayman Islands.

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Message in bottle from Cayman Islands reaches Galveston - Fort Worth Star Telegram

Universal Studios: Skull Island: Reign of Kong review – USA TODAY

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Arthur Levine, Special for USA TODAY 7:48 a.m. ET March 10, 2017

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The attraction ends on an animatronic Kong character encountering guests, a next-gen theme park marvel. The vehicle lingers for more than half a minute within eight feet of the character, giving guests time to take in his subtle facial expressions and booming, basso profundo growls.(Photo: Universal Orlando Resort)

Everything about the new Skull Island: Reign of Kong attraction at Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure theme park is massive. Enormous gates open to let 40-foot-long, 50,000-pound, 72-passenger trackless vehicles onto the mysterious island. Humungous dinosaurs threaten to attack the passengers and send them hurtling over a cliff until an even larger, more menacing King Kong comes to their rescue. After he saves the day, the big galoot 18 feet wide, 30 feet tall from mid-chest to the top of his Escalade-sized head, a roar louder and more sternum-vibrating than anything Katy Perry could ever hope to replicate stares down the puny human survivors.

Despite the mind-boggling scale of the attraction, there's something oddly intimate about the experience. "We want you to be up-close and personal with Kong," says Mike West, executive producer at Universal Creative and lead designer of the ride. After encountering the colossal ape, I wouldn't exactly consider him my new BFF. But I would say we shared a special moment and forged a unique bond.

The journey begins in the park's Jurassic Park land. The two intellectual properties are distinct, but since they both share incongruous dinosaurs, the juxtaposition works. Guests are transported to the early 1930s and join the Eighth Wonder Expedition Company to explore the tropical island's strange happenings. "You're here to discover species of unknown origin," West says. "Which you soon discover would be better left unknown."

The long queue includes temple ruins and artifacts from the expedition's encampment. At the base, a vintage radio broadcasts ominous news reports about Skull Island. To help build suspense, live actors dressed as natives and hidden in the queue scare and surprise guests. (Note that while the ride has a height limit of 36 inches, the content is decidedly rated PG.) Universal, which presents the limited-run, acclaimed Halloween Horror Nights each season at its parks in Hollywood and Florida, is a master of haunted mazes. But this is the first time it has incorporated the "scareactor" concept into the queue of one of its regular attractions.

At the end of the queue, there is an animatronic native elder, which Adam Rivest, a Universal show producer, refers to as a "shawoman." She performs a ritual in which she apparently invokes Kong and warns visitors to hightail it out of there. So, of course they make their way to load onto the expedition vehicles that will take them to Skull Island.

The vehicles are quite impressive. They mark Universal's first use of trackless ride technology. Rivest says the system helps drive the narrative. "By removing the track, there's nothing between you and the story." Passengers literally don't know where they're going as they head out across the island.

The autonomous vehicles are also driverless, although in the context of the story, one of five fictitious characters supposedly drives and narrates each ride. Among them are a native island woman and Will Denham, a young sailor. According to the backstory conjured by Rivest and his colleagues, Denham later tells his uncle, Carl, about the peculiar goings-on at Skull Island. That inspired the expedition that was the basis for the original 1933 King Kong movie and the 2005 remake starring Jack Black.

Ruts and other intentional impediments along the vehicle's path make for a bumpy ride. On the other side of the island's gates, huge winged prehistoric creatures attack one of the scientists. Giant earthworm-like baddies then spray icky goo onto passengers, and the vehicles race farther into the island to escape the onslaught.

Universal Orlandos Skull Island: Reign of Kong now open

Universal uses a concept known as an immersion tunnel to envelop guests in the madness that follows. The vehicle is locked onto a motion base that moves in sync with action projected in 3D onto a long wraparound screen. While they are actually standing still, passengers feel as if they are careening at high speed. Kong and the T-rex brigade battle it out on both sides of the vehicle.

It's a giddy, engaging sequence that has passengers pivoting their heads back and forth to keep up with the frantic action. This part of the attraction is an update of the King Kong experience that Universal Studios Hollywood incorporates into its Studio Tour. West says that the scene is essentially the same, but Universal reanimated and re-rendered all of the media at a high-speed of 60 frames per second and in 4K ultra-high-definition. Compared to Hollywood's lower-resolution footage, the Orlando version looked noticeably brighter and sharper to me.

Whereas the California park presents Kong in the context of filmmaking and production, the goal in Florida is to immerse visitors into the world of Skull Island. In addition to the scenes that precede the fight sequence, the Islands of Adventure attraction tacks on a coda in which an animatronic Kong character encounters guests. It is reminiscent of the robotic Kongs that used to stalk guests at a defunct attraction in sister park, Universal Studios Florida, and in Hollywood before a fire on the studio's backlot destroyed the big ape.

This Kong, however, is a next-gen theme park marvel. "I think he's more advanced than any figure that's ever been created," West says. The vehicle lingers for more than half a minute within eight feet of the character, giving guests time to take in his subtle facial expressions and booming, basso profundo growls. "We really wanted to bring out his personality," adds West.

With a legacy dating back over 80 years, Kong is an icon in movies and at theme parks. Perhaps he's not as warm and cuddly as his rival, Mickey Mouse, but he's every bit as legendary. He'sfeatured in another blockbuster titled (synergistically enough) "Kong: Skull Island" that opens today.

Universal Orlando's Reign of Kong pays homage to the big guy in grand style. Should you make your own trek to Florida to join the expedition to Skull Island, I predict you'll go ape.

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Mutations in CWC27 result in a spectrum of developmental conditions – Medical Xpress

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March 10, 2017

An international team of researchers has discovered that mutations in the human gene CWC27 result in a spectrum of clinical conditions that include retinal degeneration and problems with craniofacial and skeletal development. The results appear in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

"CWC27 is a new disease-associated gene," said co-senior author Dr. Rui Chen, associate professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine.

One of the goals of the Chen lab is to identify genes involved with human retinal disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa, a condition characterized by progressive development of night blindness and tunnel vision, sometimes from the early age of 2. Retinitis pigmentosa is the most common inherited disorder of the retina; it affects nearly 1 in 4,000 people, and more than 1 million are visually impaired around the world due to this untreatable disease.

"In our search for genes linked to retinitis pigmentosa, we identified a patient with the condition more than two years ago," said co-first author Mingchu Xu, graduate student in molecular and human genetics in the Chen lab. "We identified a frameshift mutation in CWC27. The patient did not have other conditions in addition to the vision problems. To study the condition, we mimicked the human mutation in a mouse model, and at 6 months of age the mice showed retinal degeneration and no other conditions, just as we had observed in the human patient."

CWC27 is one of more than 100 genes that participate in the formation and function of the spliceosome, a molecular machine that is involved in the correct expression of the proteins that carry out the functions of all the cells in the body. Until now, most disease-associated genes of the spliceosome had been involved in two non-overlapping conditions. For instance, mutations in certain proteins of the spliceosome cause syndromes that involve mainly craniofacial and skeletal conditions, while mutations in other spliceosome genes result only in retinitis pigmentosa. CWC27 seemed to belong to the second group of genes.

Surprising results

"Interestingly, our collaborator Dr. Daniel Schorderet, director of the Institute for Research in Ophthalmology in Switzerland and co-senior author of the paper, was working with patients who have mutations in CWC27 and present with more severe clinical conditions than our patient, including craniofacial and skeletal problems in addition to problems with vision," Xu said.

"When we looked at the clinical characteristics of all the patients, we did not anticipate that they would have mutations in the same gene. Only when we looked at the genes did we realize that the spectrum of clinical characteristic in the patients was the result of various mutations in the same gene, CWC27," Chen said.

By applying exome sequencing to multiple families and modeling the disease in two mouse models the researchers were able to appreciate the spectrum of clinical conditions that mutations in the same gene can cause.

"This is the first time a mutation of a gene in the spliceosome has been described to result in an entire spectrum of clinical conditions," Xu said. "To explain why our patient presented only with vision problems, we hypothesized that the mutation in our patient's CWC27 was milder than those of other patients. By analyzing the results on mouse models and patient samples, we found that the mutant gene in our patient probably retains a residual function, while the genes in the patients of the other groups have a more severe loss of function."

"This study also shows the power of collaboration within the genetics community when looking for new disease-associated genes," Xu said. "Initially, we only identified one patient and then we collected more cases via two platforms, GeneMatcher and the European Retinal Disease Consortium. We would not have been able to present this interesting story without the contributions of researchers from nine countries. With exome sequencing accessible to more patients and researchers, these platforms will most likely speed up the process of finding the genetic causes of human diseases."

Explore further: Improving the view on the genetic causes of retinitis pigmentosa

More information: Mingchu Xu et al. Mutations in the Spliceosome ComponentCWC27Cause Retinal Degeneration with or without Additional Developmental Anomalies, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2017.02.008

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Using DNA as a Tool to Understand Human History – Penn Current

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If you want to know the secrets of human ancestry and evolution, look no further than genetics, says Theodore Schurr, a Penn professor of anthropology.

Genetics allows you to look at population dynamics, the history of genetic lineages, and relationships between individuals. With genetics, you can try to reconstruct the processes that gave rise to the human diversity we see today and determine where its roots lie, he says. Those kinds of questions interest me.

Broadly speaking, Schurrs research falls under the category of biological or physical anthropology, or the study of human behavior, bones, and biology. But thats putting it too simply. During a career that has spanned more than three decades, hes traveled the globe working with villagers in Turkey, Inuit in the Canadian Arctic, and a dozen other under-studied communities in far-flung outposts. He builds trust with the people, and then immerses himself to better understand their origins using DNA analysis. The goal is to create a comprehensive picture of each groups genetic history and the factors that have shaped it.

What Ive aimed to do with my work is to determine where there are interesting historical questions to answer using genetic data, identify patterns of diversity that we dont fully understand, and go to places where people havent yet traveled to do this kind of biological research, he says.

Some might view this kind of science as extending beyond the boundaries of anthropology, given the heavy reliance on genetics and DNA analysis. But once you look closely at how Schurr got where he is today, it makes sense.

His work-life began in the laboratory of Douglas Wallace, then at Emory University and now a professor at Penns Perelman School of Medicine and at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Together, they studied human mitochondrial genetics, at that time a new field Wallace founded, one that centers on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and biology.

Mitochondrial DNA differs from nuclear DNA in that it only comes from the mother and has a very high rate of mutation. Researchers can learn from how it interacts with nuclear DNA (which exists in cell nuclei), as well as use it to study certain diseases and reconstruct the genetic migration of women.

What Ive aimed to do with my work is to determine where there are interesting historical questions to answer using genetic data, identify patterns of diversity that we dont fully understand, and go to places where people havent yet traveled to do this kind of biological research.

It gives us a clear picture of maternal lines that extend back in time many generations, and ultimately to the ancestresses of our species, Schurr explains.

When Schurr began working as a technician in Wallaces lab, few other researchers were thinking about mtDNA. The pair co-authored the first paper showing that it could cause disease, and pioneered a new way to study it, using well-tested anthropological practices.

We only studied indigenous people. Thats critical to avoid drawing erroneous conclusions resulting from more recent migrations and genetic mixture, Wallace says. If you go back to the indigenous people, you find that they have very specific lineages that arose with the original population and are linked to the populations identity. Tads research has continued to make this critical connection between careful anthropological research and exacting molecular genetic analysis. This is true molecular anthropology, and is the approach now used around the world.

In graduate school, Schurr studied mtDNA variation in Siberia as it related to Native Americans, then began incorporating Y-chromosomes and autosomal markers into research to understand the entire familial genetic backstory. Y-chromosomes pass from father to son and complement the matrilineal mitochondrial DNA. Autosomeschromosomes that are not sex-linkedreveal information about both parents that cant be traced back to the other two ancestry signals.

Each of these different kinds of DNA gives us a slightly different picture of genetic history and the forces that have shaped it, Schurr says.

Spend any time talking with Schurr about the places hes been and the people hes met, however, and its clear the work is about much more than DNA strands and genes. Schurr tries to visit every community in person to accomplish the anthropological aspects of his work that are impossible to do remotely.

There is no substitute for actually being on location and seeing a place and what the landscape looks like, meeting the people living there, talking to them, getting a sense of their history, he says. Its personal contact, which makes the work more interesting. People all have the same questions about their history and genealogy, and their interest facilitates our efforts to elucidate them. Most communities are pretty welcoming to the researchas long as they understand the work taking place.

He cites the example of aboriginal Australians he and a team published about in late 2016 in the Journal of Human Genetics. This group was, in relatively modern history, exploited and killed by white Europeans, and in the post-colonial context, marginalized socially and politically. As such, they were reticent to participate in any sort of genetic research, leaving large gaps in the understanding of their genetic history, and by extension, modern human ancestry.

Recent policy changes have started to offer them more protections. In coordination with an aboriginal Australian researcher, and strictly following the aboriginal communities ethical guidelines, Schurr and colleagues gained access to and the trust of more than 500 such Australians. The researchers were able to conduct the first systematic mtDNA survey there, discovering new lineages.

Its a testament to how [collaborating] with communities on projects like this can be successfully done and the results are fairly extraordinary because of their participation. Its mutually beneficial, he says. You can work with individual communities on genetic studies and learn a tremendous amount by engaging with them.

Hes seen this time and again. In Turkey, research revealed that religious and ethnic backgrounds varied slightly from village to village. Some ancestry traced back to the Greeks, others to people from the Caucuses, some to invading Turkic tribes. In Trinidad, in the Caribbean, he discovered what he calls a complex genetic dance compounded by the arrival of non-natives.

The indigenous [people] have their origins in these areas, Schurr explains, but also, they themselves are the product of historical mixing of African, European, and South Asian peoples since colonial entry there.

Schurr says he tries to return to communities to share his results with participants, but if going back in person isnt possible, he finds another way to communicate his findings. He also aims to publish all his data in peer-reviewed journals or as book chapters, to build on the archive of material about the path of the worlds people.

[Theodore Schurrs] research has continued to make this critical connection between careful anthropological research and exacting molecular genetic analysis. This is true molecular anthropology, and is the approach now used around the world.

Hes been prolific: Schurr currently has three papers in press, about the genetic diversity of the Svan people in the country of Georgia, variations in Y-chromosomes in native South American populations, and a possible link between susceptibility to human papillomavirus and mtDNA in Argentinean populations. That doesnt count the four additional papers he thinks will come in the near future, and another dozen or so in development.

His methods have also made their way into clinical settings, by way of people like his former graduate student Matthew Dulik, now a director in the clinical diagnostics lab at CHOP. In Schurrs lab they worked on the genetic diversity of southern Siberias Altai-Sayan region. Dulik sequenced and analyzed mtDNA and Y-chromosomal DNA samples from indigenous Altaians, and he says he became familiar with techniques and equipment that he still uses today.

Youre always going to learn something but its also an enjoyable time, Dulik says, of working with Schurr. In his lab, there is a structure but he also gives you enough free rein to explore ideas and really lets you develop as a researcher.

Its this combination of structure and freedom, of tying together DNA analysis and genetics with anthropological practices, that has allowed Schurr to make true scientific headway. Wallace calls him a leader in the field.

Hes been extraordinarily successful. Hes done a great job, Wallace says. Hes doing a lot of really beautiful work.

Work that will, with any luck, continue to unlock the mysteries of how people became who they are in some of the farthest reaches of the world.

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For the first time ever, scientists have edited the genetic makeup of viable human embryos – Quartz

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Our genetically edited future is nigh. Chinese researchers, who have been at the forefront of experimenting with human embryos using a technology called CRISPR, are improving on their results year after year.

For the past three years, these researchers had been experimenting on non-viable human embryos, which are created when two sperms fertilize the same egg. Such embryos do not have a chance of becoming a full-grown human. Despite CRISPR being heralded as the most precise genetic copy-paste tool ever developed, its error rate had been too high to allow, ethically speaking, experiments on viable human embryos.

That has now changed. Researchers made the case that non-viable embryos were so genetically abnormal that their inaccurate results didnt give a true picture of the state of the technology. So, in a new study published in Molecular Genetics and Genomics, researchers at the Guangzhou Medical University have used CRISPR on viable human embryos. As they had hoped, the studys results are more promising than the work done in non-viable embryos.

The current aim of the researchers is to try and edit out simple genetic mutations that we know cause disease. For instance, a mutation called beta41-42 causes the blood disease beta-thalassaemia. In 2015, the attempts to remove the mutated gene were successful in fewer than one in ten cases.

In the latest study, the researchers used donated immature eggs. Usually such eggs are discarded, but if used for fertilization there have been cases that have resulted in viable embryos that went on to become full-grown humans. The researchers fertilized six such eggs with sperm from two men who each carried a different genetic mutation. One had a mutation in the gene that codes for the G6PD enzyme and causes favism (a condition where eating fava beans causes destruction of red blood cells). The other had the mutation for beta-thalassaemia.

Using CRISPR, the researchers fixed one embryo fully to cure favism, and fixed some of the cells in two other embryos. Such partial fixes result in mosaics, where if the embryo were to come to term it would result in a human having some cells in the body with the mutation and others without. Mosaicism is not ideal, but with some diseases, such as metabolic liver disease, it does result in a cure. Two embryos did not have any fixes and in one CRISPR caused wrong mutations.

It is encouraging, Robin Lovell-Badge of the Francis Crick Institute told the New Scientist, to see that viable embryos show slightly better results. But, he warned, the study was done on too few human embryos for firm takeaways just yet.

Beyond China, two other research groups in the UK and Sweden are working on CRISPR-editing viable human embryos. The New Scientist also notes rumors that three or four studies on the use of CRISPR in human embryos have been completed but not yet published. Our genetically edited future appears to be closer than most people think.

Read next: 2015 was the year it became OK to genetically engineer babies

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For the first time ever, scientists have edited the genetic makeup of viable human embryos - Quartz

Conservatives Craft Their Wish List On The GOP Health Care Bill – Huffington Post

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WASHINGTON As House Republicans prepare to bring their health care proposal to the floor, conservatives are demanding a slate of major changes that they say are necessary to bring them on board and, ultimately, pass the bill.

According to members familiar with negotiations among the House Freedom Caucus, GOP leadership and the White House, conservatives are still demanding that the rollback of the Medicaid expansion begin in 2018, not 2020, as currently written in the Republican bill.

House Republican leaders have been emphatic that they cant move up that date, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that the 2020 date to begin the Medicaid expansion phaseout was what President Donald Trump supported.

Its not a question of negotiation, Spicer said.

But, based on their own conversations with the White House, conservatives believe it is still a question of negotiation.

We had tremendous conversations with the president a couple of times yesterday, Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Friday, and we found him to be not only willing to negotiate, but a desire to really make this bill the very best it can be. His willingness to find common ground shows why The Art of the Deal is not just a distant memory of a previous life.

Meadows was joinedin the White House meetingsThursday by former HFC Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who also noted the receptiveness of the president to strike a deal.

Were still working on those changes that we think would make this bill consistent, Jordan told The Huffington Post on Friday, adding that they hadnt settled on any of their negotiations.

But based on conversations with members familiar with the negotiations, in addition to the Medicaid timeline, conservatives also want to allow insurance companies to offer plans that dont meet the coverage standards of the Affordable Care Act, which means plans could have higher deductibles or offer gaps in coverages for lower premiums.

The Republicans legislation already does some of this by repealing the rule mandating that plans cover at least 60% of medical expenses. There is some concern that other provisions on coverage would break the reconciliation status of the bill, which means those provisions would take 60 votes in the Senate to pass, but members want to look for ways to increase the number of insurance mandates and rules that could be repealed while still not violating that so-called Byrd rule.

Freedom Caucus members also want to allow people to use health savings accounts to pay their premiums, instead of just using them for deductibles and other out-of-pocket medical costs. Making that change would introduce an element of a plan by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) to allow tax-free dollars to be used to pay for insurance, which would not quite blow up the entire current GOP bill.

Finally, members want a 20-hour work requirement for able-bodied adults who are on Medicaid. That would further cut some Medicaid costs, but the idea seems based more on stereotypes than on potential savings. Thevast majority of people on Medicaid are ill, in school, already working or looking for work.

Freedom Caucus members still havent given up on overhauling a linchpin of the bill the advance refundable tax credits but some members now acknowledge that major changes to the basis of the replacement language would pretty much amount to Republicans starting over, which doesnt look apt to happen.

Still, one caucus member noted that if Republicans were willing to negotiate on the tax credits, there would be a universe of items that conservatives could give up in exchange, perhaps even lengthening the term of the Medicaid expansion past the 2020 date.

If Republicans actually adopted the changes conservatives are advocating for, however, it would instantly present the House with vote problems from moderates and even more problems in the Senate.

Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), the chairman of the moderate Tuesday Group, told HuffPost on Friday that if Republicans moved up the Medicaid expansion phaseout, it would be a big problem, and he indicated that a strong majority in the House probably every Democrat and a number of Republicans would oppose that change. If theres that discussion, they should allow an amendment on the floor to resolve the issue.

The problem for House leaders is that even if Republicans agreed to the conservative wish list, there still would be Freedom Caucus members voting against the bill.

HFC member Scott Perry (R-Pa.) noted on Friday that everyone knows there are some conservatives who are going to oppose the bill. But I think some members are more flexible, Perry said, adding that leaders needed to show some good faith and make changes that are meaningful and impactful.

Among the conservatives who appear unwilling to negotiate are Justin Amash (R-Mich.), who is upset with just about every facet of the bill and the process for the legislation, and his non-HFC buddy Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has taken to calling the legislation a stinking pile of garbage.

My calls are running 30 to 1 to oppose it, Massie said Thursday night.

Massie went on to ridicule House Speaker Paul Ryans three-pronged approach to repeal and replace, which involves passing this reconciliation bill, letting Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price handle some aspects administratively and then passing other bills (with a challenging 60-vote threshold in the Senate) to address health care costs.

Theres three baskets: Theres the repeal-and-replace basket, theres the Tom Price basket and the Easter basket, Massie said.

And there are other hard-line right members who look apt to oppose any bill resembling this plan if it maintained the 2020 date for rolling back Medicaid. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) told HuffPost on Friday that Republicans shouldnt agree to any Medicaid expansion whatsoever, and Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tenn.) suggested he couldnt support any measure that didnt address the expansion until after 2018.

Which is all to say, even if Republicans adopted the other changes conservatives wanted, without the most contentious modification, the Medicaid expansion date, there would still be a group of Republicans who would probably oppose the measure. And if Republicans did change the date of the Medicaid expansion, they would face a mutiny from moderates.

Conversely, if House GOP leadership continued to refuse to negotiate, they could probably still pick off a number of Freedom Caucus members, who are not united in their opposition to the bill.

Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) told HuffPost this week that the tax credits were a positive step, and his fellow Freedom Caucus Texan, Joe Barton, already supported the most contentious provisions in the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Barton actually had an amendment in committee to shorten the time on the expansion, but he withdrew it when Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) asked, though Barton noted Friday he had a green light to offer it for floor consideration.

On the one hand, Freedom Caucus members hope their negotiations lead to floor votes on their demands, but on the other hand, they worry House leadership will rally members against their amendments.

We dont want anybodys thumb on the scale, Perry said this week. We want an honest run at the thing.

If we lose, I guess well have to determine how that factors into our decision. But if we lose an unfair fight, thats going to be problematic.

Jeffrey Young and Jonathan Cohn contributed reporting.

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Conservatives Craft Their Wish List On The GOP Health Care Bill - Huffington Post

Trump Keeps Low Profile After Praising Health Care Overhaul – New York Times

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New York Times
Trump Keeps Low Profile After Praising Health Care Overhaul
New York Times
WASHINGTON President Trump praised House Republican leaders on Friday for their plan to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, but otherwise kept a conspicuously low profile, with a newfound silent treatment of the news media. The president's meeting ...

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Trump Keeps Low Profile After Praising Health Care Overhaul - New York Times

Your Employer-Provided Health Care Could End With The GOP’s Plan – Huffington Post

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If the GOPs proposed American Health Care Actwere to pass, companies with 50 or more employees will no longer have to offer health insurance the most common source of coverage for people under age 65.

Even if this iteration of a so-called replacement for Obamacare goes nowhere in Congress, the employer health care provision could creep back into a final version. This has barely been mentioned so far in the heated conversation about the Republican plan. But its worth examining, because it could cause a sea change in how the nations health care delivery system operates, according to industry experts.

Companies began providing workers with health insurance voluntarily after World War II because of the tax advantages.By the mid-1960s,employer-provided health insurance was pretty much universal. It was an affordable benefit for companies, and a valuable recruitment tool. But as health care costs increased and employees began to switch jobs more regularly, the system eroded.Obamacare put a mandateon the practice, requiring companies with 50 or more full-time workers to offer health care to avoid a tax.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that in 2016, about 155 million people (or about 57 percent of the population under age 65) got health coverage through their job, or a family members job. Thats an awful lot of us.

Most people just assume that companies dont need to be told to give their workers health insurance they are motivated by tax incentives and a desire to attract the best talent. And, as many point out, employers were offering health benefits voluntarily long before Obamacare made it a mandate. Why would they change just because Republicans remove the requirement?

Because it costs too much.

Those who study corporate benefits say that health insurance as an employee perk has been on the decline for years, with companies shifting more of the cost onto workers. This trend could accelerate by removing Obamacares mandate. The underlying cause is that health care costs have been rising. With higher costs come higher insurance premiums.

The share of Fortunes top companies that still pay for 100 percent of their employee health care dropped to 9 percent in 2016 from 34 percent in 2001. In most cases,employees are covering more of their health insurance premiums than in previous years. Workers with employer-sponsored health plans now contribute an average of 18 percent of the premium for single coverage, and 29 percent for family coverage,according to a study by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Tom Williams via Getty Images

Like most things involving the governments efforts to shape health insurance, theres more than one way to look at employer-sponsored health care. Eliminating the mandate may herald the end of work-based health coverage. Or not. And even if companies opt against providing insurance, that may turn out to be great for workers, if employers replace it with a tax-free stipend that employees can use to shop for benefits on their own.

Here are two ways to look at the future of employer-sponsored health insurance:

Removing the mandate is a very big deal, said Rick Lindquist, co-author of The End of Employer-Provided Health Insuranceand CEO of Zane Benefits, which assists small companies in providing benefits packages to employees. No longer requiring companies to provide insurance would be the beginning of the end of health coverage tethered to our jobs, he told HuffPost.

Before the Affordable Care Actmade it mandatory in 2014, employer-sponsored insurance coverage had been declining anyway, according to the Urban Institute. From 2000 to 2012, coverage rates fell 11 percent, to 69 percent.

Smaller companies that arent required by the ACA to offer insurance those with fewer than 50 employees have also stopped offering health coverage. Coverage rates fell 17 percent, to 52.4 percent during the same period. Its just too expensive, they say. Lindquist said he expects larger companies to follow suit as health care costs continue rising.

Even if the mandate remained, employers find it increasingly enticing to ignore. Its cheaper to pay the fine for not providing coverage than it is to follow the law and provide health benefits, Lindquist said.

He said he envisions a future where employers might provide a fixed amount of tax-free reimbursement for health insurance, and let employees find a plan that best suits them. As long as there are safeguards, like no exclusions for pre-existing conditions or age, workers may end up liking such a system better than what exists now, Lindquist said. Some employees would rather have their compensation be more flexible, and would prefer a raise to comprehensive health coverage, he said.

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an architect of the Affordable Care Act,shares the view that employer-provided health coverage is doomed. Emanuel,an oncologist, medical ethicist and academic, was a health policy adviser to the Obama administration. He predicted a few years ago that by 2025, fewer than 20 percent of workers in the private sector will receive traditional employer-sponsored health insurance.

Lindquist sees no downside to shifting health insurance away from our jobs. The big losers under such a plan, he said, would be the middlemen insurance brokers who arrange plans for companies.

They dont like it, he said.

The National Association of Health Underwriters the group that represents those brokers notes on its website that the employer-based system is highly efficient at providing American workers and their families with affordable coverage options through group purchasing. Without it, the group says, workers would likely lose a powerful advocate their employer in coverage disputes.

The Kaiser Family Foundationsays employer-sponsored coverage grew to its current dominance because of the tax advantages employers get for providing these plans. That makes providing health coverage cheaper for the company than increasing wages. Plus, a strong health care package is an enticement in recruiting and retaining talent.

But even greater affection for the practice may come from employees. Mercers Inside Employees Minds Surveyin 2015 found that 89 percent of employees regarded health coverage as important as a salary, said Joe Kra,partner and senior health consultant for the global consulting firm.

Employers will continue to respond to cost pressures and look for creative approaches to control cost, Kra said.

That means companies probably will continue to shift more costs onto workers. Even though the Obamacare penalty for not providing coverage was less than the cost of providing it, only 15 percent of employers with up to 499 employees, and just 2 percent of employers with 500 or more workers, said in 2016 that they were likely to terminate coverage within the next five years.

So, if the mandate goes away, Kra said hes not really concerned that employer-provided coverage will end.

Nor is Lydia Frank, vice president at PayScale, a compensation data and software company. She told HuffPost that top companies understand that they need to pay with purpose if they want to keep top-performing employees. Providing health benefits is an important component of the overall package, she said.

With the GOP plan under fire and revisions likely, it behooves those who get health coverage from their jobs to pay attention to what could be waiting for them: a boon or a boogeyman.

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Your Employer-Provided Health Care Could End With The GOP's Plan - Huffington Post

Middle-Schooler Who Wrote GOP Health-Care Bill Claims He Has Not Been Paid – The New Yorker (satire)

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CreditPHOTOGRAPH BY JABIN BOTSFORD / THE WASHINGTON POST VIA GETTY

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)The middle-school student who wrote the Republican health-care bill that was unveiled earlier in the week complained on Friday that he still has not been paid for his work.

Kevin Tenco, a seventh grader from House Speaker Paul Ryans congressional district, in Wisconsin, said that Ryan hired him two weeks ago to write the American Health Care Act with the promise that it wouldnt be too much work and that he would be paid handsomely for his effort.

He said I would get paid, like, five hundred dollars, and I could buy a Nintendo Switch, Tenco said.

Taking Ryan at his word, the thirteen-year-old, from Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, pulled several all-nighters to complete the health-care bill in time for its Monday unveiling.

I basically went to the Wikipedia page for Obamacare, cut and pasted a bunch of stuff and then threw in some tax cuts and whatnot, he said. It doesnt sound like a lot of work, but I was super tired by the end of it.

According to Tenco, Ryans failure to pay him in a timely fashion for writing the American Health Care Act has left him feeling really bad about our government.

I was all set to write an immigration reform bill for Congressman Ryan, but now theres no way, he said.

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Middle-Schooler Who Wrote GOP Health-Care Bill Claims He Has Not Been Paid - The New Yorker (satire)

The Note: Health care disconnect – ABC News

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TRUMPS FIRST 100 DAYS with ABCs RICK KLEIN and VERONICA STRACQUALURSI

Day No. 50

The big story: Here at the halfway point of President Trumps first 100 days, a question looms: Which version of reality to believe? The one where the House is marching toward passing the big new health care plan, with Professor Paul Ryan outlining the way? Or the one where the united force of virtually every conservative policy shop and the House Freedom Caucus kill the bill faster than you can say CBO? Theres another big disconnect: The White House says its still in listening mode, publicly and privately. We're welcoming ideas and thoughts, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said. I didnt hear anything that said its a binary choice at the White House today, said Rep. Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus. But thats not the message from Ryan and company: This is the closest we will ever get to repealing and replacing Obamacare, the speaker said Thursday. For now, theres disagreement on whether this is a real negotiation, not to mention what a compromise from here would even look like.

The sleeper story: Michael Flynn is gone from the Trump administration, but hes not forgotten and with good reason. The disclosure that Flynn was paid more than half a million dollars to lobby on behalf of the government of Turkey work he performed in the run-up and immediate aftermath of the election is a stunner. As his ties to Russian officials continue to be scrutinized, what other foreign lobbying work was he being paid for directly or indirectly as he was about to be tapped to serve as President Trumps national security adviser? Did he disclose any such contracts to the presidents team when his name was under public and private consideration? Moreover, Vice President Mike Pences icy response It is an affirmation of the president's decision to ask Gen. Flynn to resign, he told Fox News Bret Baier on Thursday raises questions about what other aspects of Flynns behavior led to his dismissal. Recall that, after he asked him to go for misleading Pence about his contacts with Russia, the president himself called Flynn a wonderful man who was treated unfairly by the fake media.

The shiny story: EPA chief Scott Pruitt is now on record contradicting his own agency, and surely the vast majority of his employees, in questioning whether carbon dioxide is contributing to global warming. I would not agree that its a primary contributor to the global warming that we see, Pruitt said, falling back on the need to continue the debate and continue the review and the analysis. That may not align fully with what he told Congress at his confirmation hearings. But it should not be the least bit surprising. Pruitt has spent much of his career trying to undermine the core of what he has called the activist agenda of the agency he now leads. The question for career EPA officials as at other agencies that now have radically different leadership is whether they would feel more comfortable staying or going, given the current direction. But no one should truly be shocked by any of this elections, as they say, have consequences.

TLDR: The GOP health care plan has moved through two House panels, but there is a disconnect in the Republican Party of whether itll pass or be killed. And after remaining relatively quiet about the health care bill (except for a tweet yesterday), Trump will be meeting with House Committee chairmen to discuss health care today.

Photo of the day: With rolled-up sleeves and a PowerPoint slideshow, Paul Ryan took on the role of professor instead of House Speaker to explain the GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare step-by-step. But what Ryan probably didnt plan for was to fall victim to Photoshop and become a viral meme. (Credit: Dan Amira)

NOTABLES

--FBI Director James Comey meets Congressional leaders on wiretapping, leaks, Russia: FBI Director James Comey traveled to Capitol Hill Thursday to meet with congressional leaders on a number of national security issues, according to senior officials familiar with the situation. Comey was anticipating questions on a range of topics, including the recent WikiLeaks release of purported CIA files, Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and President Donald Trump's assertion that former President Barack Obama ordered the wiretapping of Trump Tower last year. ABC's PIERRE THOMAS, JACK DATE and BENJAMIN SIEGEL have more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-director-james-comey-meets-congressional-leaders-wiretapping/story?id=46028619

--Inside the Senate GOP resistance to Trumpcare: Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan was rolling up his sleeves to give a presentation on the House Republican Obamacare replacement plan, on the other side of the Capitol, senators offering a full-throated defense of the bill were scarce. The House blueprint, which Ryan referred to as a "three-pronged approach" Thursday, includes some provisions that various Republican factions oppose; most notably, a plan to provide tax credits to individuals, which some critics have said amounts to a new entitlement, and an eventual cap on the amount of Medicaid funding states can receive, which worries some Republicans whose states accepted an Obama-era Medicaid expansion. ABCs ALI ROGIN has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/inside-senate-gop-resistance-trumpcare/story?id=46029688

--The road to repealing and replacing Obamacare: After the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Ways and Means Committee approved the GOPs health care plan yesterday, ABC's JOHN PARKINSON explains what happens next in the House. While Democrats have worked overtime to frustrate the legislations progress, they appear powerless so far to block its advancement. That privilege will fall to conservatives. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/road-repealing-replacing-obamacare/story?id=46021299

This Week on This Week: George Stephanopoulos goes one-on-one with White House Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney, Sunday on This Week. Plus, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., and House Intelligence Committee ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., come to This Week. And the Powerhouse Roundtable debates the week in politics, with National Review editor Rich Lowry, Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons, Republican pollster and ABC News contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson, and editor and publisher of The Nation Katrina vanden Heuvel.

Speed read with ABC's ABCs ADAM KELSEY

The 3 key provisions in the GOP health care bill that cause experts concern. Several health care industry experts have expressed serious concerns about three key areas of the Republican health care bill unveiled this week, proposed as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as "Obamacare." Some doctors and hospital groups worry that people with lower incomes or who are closer to retirement age would be likely to receive fewer tax credits from the government to help them buy their own insurance than they do through current ACA subsidies, writes ABC's MARYALICE PARKS. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/key-provisions-gop-healthcare-bill-experts-concern/story?id=45991248

Spicer's rebuke puts spotlight on Congressional budget office amid GOP health care battle. White House press secretary Sean Spicer leveled stinging criticism against the nonpartisan Congressional Budget office Wednesday, assailing its accuracy amid Democratic complaints that the agency would not have an opportunity to review the new health care legislation before a vote. "If you're looking to the CBO for accuracy, you're looking in the wrong place," said Spicer. "They were way, way off last time in every aspect of how they scored and projected Obamacare." ABC's ADAM KELSEY has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/spicers-rebuke-puts-spotlight-congressional-budget-office-amid/story?id=46017070

What the 400 additional US troops in Syria are up to. The addition of 400 Marines and Army Rangers to Syria will increase the number of American troops inside the country to 900, according to U.S. officials. Several hundred Marines have arrived in Syria to provide artillery support to U.S.-backed Syrian rebels preparing to retake Raqqa, ISISs de facto capital in Syria, a U.S. official said Wednesday. Last weekend, a contingent of Army Rangers arrived in Manbij to essentially act as a visible presence to prevent the Turkish military and Kurdish forces from fighting each other in the city retaken from ISIS months ago, explain ABC's LUIS MARTINEZ and ELIZABETH MCLAUGHLIN. http://abcnews.go.com/International/400-additional-us-troops-syria/story?id=46020582

Government ethics office 'concerned' over White House decision not to discipline Kellyanne Conway. The director of the Office of Government Ethics said he is "concerned" over the White House's decision not to discipline Kellyanne Conway for promoting Ivanka Trump's brand in a television appearance. In a letter to White House deputy counsel Stefan Passantino, OGE director Walter Shaub said the White House failed to discipline Conway despite conduct that may have violated a federal ethics rule prohibiting "using one's official position to endorse any product or service," ABC's ALEXANDER MALLIN notes. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/government-ethics-office-concerned-white-house-decision-discipline/story?id=46026063

ACLU files complaint against Jeff Sessions. The American Civil Liberties Union on Wednesday filed an ethics complaint with the Alabama State Bar against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for testimony he made about Russian officials during his confirmation hearing, ABCs TOM KUTSCH reports. Mr. Sessions made false statements during sworn testimony on January 10, 2017, and in a subsequent written response to questions on January 17, 2017, the complaint reads. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/aclu-files-complaint-jeff-sessions-russia-testimony/story?id=46036263

Sessions: Guantanamo Bay 'a very fine place' for terror suspects. During an interview Thursday with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked if either he or President Trump intend to shut down the facility. "Well, I have not favored that," Sessions said. "I've been there a number of times as a Senator, and it's just a very fine place for holding these kind of dangerous criminals. We've spent a lot of money fixing it up. And I'm inclined to the view that it remains a perfectly acceptable place. And I think the fact that a lot of the criticisms have just been totally exaggerated." ABCs DAVID CAPLAN has more: http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jeff-sessions-guantanamo-bay-nice-place-holding-terror/story?id=46035561

Tillerson steps away from possible pipeline decisions. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who previously served as the CEO of oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, has recused himself from any decisions regarding the Keystone XL oil pipeline, according to ABCs CONOR FINNEGAN. In a letter sent to the environmental group Greenpeace Thursday, a State Department deputy legal adviser writes that Tillerson decided to recuse himself in early February...from working on issues related to TransCanada's application for a presidential permit for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline." http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/tillerson-steps-pipeline-decisions/story?id=46030356

Pence: Turkey lobbying 'an affirmation' of decision to fire flynn. Vice President Mike Pence called revelations that former national security adviser Michael Flynn's lobbying efforts may have benefited Turkey an "affirmation" that President Trump was right in firing him. Flynn's lobbying firm, Flynn Intel Group, did lobbying work in the months leading up to his White House appointment that may have benefited the Turkish government, according to a filing made on Tuesday, ABCs KATHERINE FAULDERS and JORDYN PHELPS report. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/vp-pence-turkey-lobbying-affirmation-decision-fire-flynn/story?id=46029263

WHOS TWEETING?

@markknoller: It's Day 50 of his presidency. He last responded to a few questions from reporters 8 days ago; last interview 11 days ago.

@oliverdarcy: The Marine Corps' nude photo-sharing scandal is even worse than first realized, @PaulSzoldra reports http://www.businessinsider.com/nude-photo-marine-corps-pentagon-scandal-2017-3

@mj_lee: Nobody wants this GOP Obamacare bill named after them. Just asked Kevin Brady what he thinks of the names "Trumpcare" and "Ryancare."

@GlennKesslerWP: @realDonaldTrump has been president for 50 days. In that time, he has made 219 false or misleading statements. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-claims/

@bgittleson: Trump is holding a CAMPAIGN rally in Nashville next Wednesday: https://www.donaldjtrump.com/schedule/

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The Note: Health care disconnect - ABC News

Genes Plus Erratic Sleep May Raise Odds for Obesity – Montana Standard

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FRIDAY, March 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Yet more evidence of a link between poor sleep and excess weight: A new study finds that people who are genetically prone to obesity are more likely to be overweight if they have unusual sleep habits.

"These data show that in people with high genetic risk for obesity, sleeping for too short or too long a time, napping during the day, and shift work appears to have a fairly substantial adverse influence on body weight," said researcher Dr. Jason Gill of the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

Gill, who is with the university's Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences, and colleagues looked at statistics on nearly 120,000 people in the United Kingdom.

The investigators said they found that sleeping fewer than 7 hours a night or more than 9 hours a night boosts the risk of obesity among those who are especially prone to it because of their genes.

Among those with a genetic propensity toward obesity, those who slept more than 9 hours a night were almost 9 pounds heavier than similar people who slept 7 to 9 hours. Meanwhile, those who slept less than 7 hours were a little more than 4 pounds heavier than their better-rested peers, the findings showed.

Although the study doesn't establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, the researchers found this effect persisted regardless of diet, health problems or income level.

"However, the influence of adverse sleep characteristics on body weight is much smaller in those with low genetic obesity risk -- these people appear to be able to get away with poorer sleep habits to some extent," Gill said in a university news release.

The study was published March 1 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

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Genes Plus Erratic Sleep May Raise Odds for Obesity - Montana Standard

Short, Bald Men May Have Their Genes to Blame – Montana Standard

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FRIDAY, March 10, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Mother Nature may hit some men with a double whammy, as new research suggests genetic links between short stature and premature baldness.

German scientists were able to pinpoint "63 alterations in the human genome that increase the risk of premature hair loss," explained study leader Dr. Stefanie Heilmann-Heimbach, a human geneticist at the University of Bonn.

"Some of these alterations were also found in connection with other characteristics and illnesses, such as reduced body size," she said in a university news release.

In its research, Heilmann-Heimbach's team analyzed the genes of about 11,000 men with premature hair loss and another 12,000 men with no hair loss.

Besides the connection to short stature, the findings also confirmed a previously identified link between premature hair loss and an increased risk of prostate cancer.

But there was good news, too -- the study did not support a prior theory that men with premature baldness are at any higher risk for heart disease.

The study also uncovered links between a propensity to baldness in males who went through puberty relatively early, and to those with light skin color and increased bone density.

According to study co-author Markus Nothen, the latter two connections might be tied to vitamin D, because humans manufacture the bone-enriching nutrient when sunlight hits the skin.

So, the link between baldness, pale skin and tougher bones "could indicate that men with hair loss are better able to use sunlight to synthesize vitamin D," said Nothen, who directs the university's Institute of Human Genetics.

The finding might also help explain "why white men in particular lose their hair prematurely," he added.

Nothen stressed that "men with premature hair loss do not need to be concerned" by the new findings.

"The risks of illness are only increased slightly," he noted. "It is, however, exciting to see that hair loss is by no means an isolated characteristic, but instead displays various relationships with other characteristics."

The study was published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

The American Academy of Family Physicians has more on hair loss.

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Short, Bald Men May Have Their Genes to Blame - Montana Standard

Social phobia: Indication of a genetic cause – Medical Xpress – Medical Xpress

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March 9, 2017 In the Department of Genomics at the Life & Brain research center: Dr. Andreas Forstner (seated at the front), associate professor (Privatdozent) Dr. Rupert Conrad and psychologist Stefanie Rambau. Credit: Katharina Wislsperger/UKB-Ukom

People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life and maintain contact above all on the Internet. Around one in ten people is affected by this anxiety disorder over the course of their life. Researchers at the University of Bonn have now found evidence for a gene that is believed to be linked to the illness. It encodes a serotonin transporter in the brain. Interestingly, this messenger suppresses feelings of anxiety and depressiveness. The scientists want to investigate this cause more precisely and are thus looking for more study participants. The results will be published in the journal Psychiatric Genetics.

Heart palpitations, trembling and shortness of breath: those who suffer from social phobia avoid larger groups. Verbal tests or everyday arrangements are filled with fear - after all, other people could make a negative judgement. Those affected often avoid such situations for this reason. Contact is often easier over social media or anonymously over the Internet. Social phobias are among the psychiatric disorders that are triggered simultaneously by genetic and environmental factors. "There is still a great deal to be done in terms of researching the genetic causes of this illness," says Dr. Andreas Forstner from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn. "Until now, only a few candidate genes have been known that could be linked to this."

Individual base pairs can vary in the DNA

Together with the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Bonn, Dr. Forstner is conducting a study into the genetic causes of social phobia. The research team investigated the DNA of a total of 321 patients and compared it with 804 control individuals. The focus of the scientists lay on what are known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). "There are variable positions in the DNA that can exist to various degrees in different people," explains Dr. Forstner.

The cause of genetic illnesses often lies in the SNPs. It is estimated that more than thirteen million such changes exist in the human DNA. The scientists investigated a total of 24 SNPs that are suspected in the widest sense of being the cause of social phobias and other mental disorders. "This is the largest association study so far into social phobia," says associate professor (Privatdozent) Johannes Schumacher from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of Bonn.

Patients provided information about their symptoms

Over the course of the study, scientists at the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at the University Hospital Bonn will ask the patients about their symptoms and the severity of their social phobia. Their DNA is also examined using a blood sample. Whether there is a link between the signs of the illness and the genes is being investigated by the scientists using statistical methods. The evaluation of the previously collected data indicated that an SNP in the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 is involved in the development of social phobia.

This gene encodes a mechanism in the brain that is involved in transporting the important messenger serotonin. This substance suppresses, among other things, feelings of fear and depressive moods. "The result substantiates indications from previous studies that serotonin plays an important role in social phobia," says associate professor (Privatdozent) Dr. Rupert Conrad from the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy. Medications that block serotonin reuptake and increase the concentration of the messenger in the tissue fluid in the brain have already long been used to treat anxiety disorders and depression.

Subjects can participate in expanded study

The scientists now want to investigate more closely what the links are between the DNA and social phobia. "In order to achieve this goal, we need many more study participants who suffer from social anxiety," says the psychologist and study coordinator Stefanie Rambau from the Clinic and Policlinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at University Hospital Bonn. Information about the study is available at http://www.SocialPhobiaResearch.de. "Those who take part will help to research social phobia. This is the basis of better diagnosis and treatment procedures in the future," says Stefanie Rambau.

Explore further: Psychotherapy normalizes the brain in social phobia

More information: Andreas J. Forstner et al, Further evidence for genetic variation at the serotonin transporter gene SLC6A4 contributing toward anxiety, Psychiatric Genetics (2017). DOI: 10.1097/YPG.0000000000000171

Anxiety in social situations is not a rare problem: Around one in ten people are affected by social anxiety disorder during their lifetime. Social anxiety disorder is diagnosed if fears and anxiety in social situations significantly ...

Previous studies have led researchers to believe that individuals with social anxiety disorder/ social phobia have too low levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin. A new study carried out at Uppsala University, however, ...

Social phobia is the most common anxiety disorder of our time. But the current treatment regimen for patients with this diagnosis has not proven very effective. Norwegian and British researchers spent 10 years studying alternative ...

Anxiety disorders affect approximately one in six adult Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. The most well-known of these include panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive ...

(Medical Xpress) -- A recent study from the Centre for Emotional Health, Macquarie University, has found children with social phobia are judged as less attractive and are less liked by their peers, than children without anxiety ...

(HealthDay)Couples who regularly have sex tend to be happier, and now a new study suggests one reason why: affection.

Being bullied during childhood might have lifelong health effects related to chronic stress exposureincluding an increased risk for heart disease and diabetes in adulthood, according to a research review in the March/April ...

Depressed patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) are more likely to miss days of work or school than those without depression symptoms, according to the results of a new study led by the Sinus Center at Massachusetts ...

Unless he's the doctor, there isn't much a man can do in a birthing room. He can fetch ice chips or prop pillows behind the mother's back. He can suggest some Lamaze breathing"Hee hee hooooo"when the contractions intensify. ...

Researchers often observe inadequate parenting, a negative emotional climate and household chaos in families of children with ADHD. A research group at Goethe University Frankfurt and the universities of Bremen, Heidelberg, ...

A study led by Ravi Bansal, PhD, and Bradley S. Peterson, MD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has found structural differences in the cerebral cortex of patients with depression and that ...

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Social phobia: Indication of a genetic cause - Medical Xpress - Medical Xpress

OHSU gene therapy studies offer hope – and vision – to patients with eye disease – KATU

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by Stuart Tomlinson, KATU News

Even before her first birthday, Kristin Kelly Bretanas parents noticed a fluttering in her eyes. As she grew, Bretana said she was accident-prone and had trouble seeing colors.

I have difficulty seeing far away, and I have difficulty with a lot of light saturation and Im almost completely color blind, Bretena said. And I say almost because there are certain situations where I can see a color if the saturations high enough.

Eventually her doctors gave her the news: She had achromatopsia, a rare genetic disease that results when you have a mutation in a gene that codes for a protein thats very important for the function of the cones.

To see, our retinas use rods and cones. Rods we use at nighttime and in dim light, cones are what we use during the daytime and for our color vision, says Dr. Mark Pennesi, OHSU Associate Professor of Ophthalmology whos now treating Bretana for the disease with gene therapy.

With achromatopsia the rods are actually ok, but the cones have no function at all," Pennesi said. "These patients have severe vision loss, theyre legally blind and they have no color vision at all. When they go outside they can barely see. They have to wear very dark sunglasses, but in dim light they actually see very well.

Pennesi said by taking a modified virus and stripping out all the things that make you sick, doctors then inject a normal copy of the missing or diseased gene back into the eye. The modified gene can then perhaps either stop the progression of the disease, or even restore function.

We actually go inside of the eye with a very, very fine needle and create a little pocket of fluid underneath the retina and inject that modified virus, Pennesi said. The virus then attaches to the retinal cells and inserts that DNA into the cells so they can start making the protein again.

Bretana said she has come to accept her limitations.

Its something I am not allowed to forget whether it be crossing the street and realizing that I am putting my life into a persons hands who is driving down the road because I cannot see inside the cab of a car, she said. It doesnt bother me nearly as much as it used to when I was a child and struggling with issues like self-identity and self-efficacy and what-not.

Pennesi said the therapy can be used for other diseases of the eye. OHSU currently has 7 gene therapy studies underway.

Its actually a very exciting time because many of these patients for decades have been told theres nothing that can be done, Pennesi said.

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OHSU gene therapy studies offer hope - and vision - to patients with eye disease - KATU

Sickle cell cure? Patient in complete remission following gene therapy – Genetic Literacy Project

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A number of recent headlines imply a recent case study just publishedproves that gene therapy has cured sickle cell diseasea genetic disorder that incurs tremendous pain, suffering and diminished life expectancy.

Due to such limited progress in management of this condition, this team of researcherstook samples from the bone marrow of a patient with severe diseaseUsing a lentiviral vector, they transferred an anti-sickling gene into the patients stem cellswhich get put back into the patient in the hope they will multiply and replace the cells made with the defective gene.

[T]he team concludes their patient had complete clinical remission with correction of hemolysis and biologic hallmarks of the disease. Furthermore, after fifteen months, the antisickling protein remained high at approximately 50% and the patient had no crises or hospitalizations. Before, the patient required regular transfusions.

ACSHs Senior Fellow in Molecular Biology, Dr. Julianna LeMieux, puts the promise of gene therapy into even greater context for this and other disease entities:This is an incredibly promising result, even with the obvious caveat that it is only one person. Sickle Cell is a disease that is ripe for genetic advances[T]his one success story is incredibly encouraging for the sickle cell community and for moving the field of curing diseases using genetic editing forward.

[The study can be found here.]

The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post:Did Gene Therapy Cure Sickle Cell Disease?

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Sickle cell cure? Patient in complete remission following gene therapy - Genetic Literacy Project

Pfizer mulls sites for NC gene therapy plant year after Bamboo buy – BioPharma-Reporter.com

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Pfizer has confirmed it assessing potential sites in North Carolina for a gene therapy production plant.

Reports in the US press suggested Pfizer is considering either expanding its existing facility in Sanford, North Carolina or building the plant at a site nearby.

Kim Bencker, head of communications at Pfizer Global supply, told us in an emailed statement We recently announced that were moving forward with scoping potential sites in Sanford for our new gene therapy site.

She added: This work is still in the preliminary stages and we arent able to share additional detail at this time.

The move follows a little over a year after the US drug manufacturer acquired Bamboo, a North Carolina-based gene therapy developer.

The deal included a recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus (rAAV) vector design and production technology, a Phase I candidate for Giant Axonal Neuropathy and a preclinical programme targeting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Pfizer also gained a 11,000sq ft gene therapy manufacturing facility in Chapel Hill that Bamboo bought from the University of North Carolina in 2016.

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Pfizer mulls sites for NC gene therapy plant year after Bamboo buy - BioPharma-Reporter.com