SEOUL, South Korea (AP) ? North Korea is threatening to shut down a factory complex that's the last major symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.
A spokesman for the North's office controlling the Kaesong industrial complex said Saturday that it would close the factory park just across the border in North Korea if South Korea continued to undermine its dignity.
Pyongyang expressed anger over media reports that said the factory remained open because it's a source of hard currency for the North.
North Korea has previously made such threats, and Saturday's warning is part of a torrent of bellicose rhetoric in recent weeks. North Korea is angry about annual South Korea-U.S. military drills and U.N. sanctions over its nuclear test last month.
Business has been operating normally at Kaesong despite the rising animosity between the Koreas.
Karisma Kapoor, the gorgeous actress who entertained us with her moves, enviable figure and a beautiful face is married and a mother of two today. She still maintains her drop dead gorgeous looks. How? Well, that no more a celebrity secret.
Karisma is highly inspired by Victoria Beckham. This helped her lose post-pregnancy fat in no time. Today, Karisma has maintained a fit body and enviable looks just as Victoria Beckham. She eats really healthy. Her favourite cuisines include Japanese food, lots of fish, and chicken. The actress also believes in including a lot of raw vegetables and fruits in her diet.
Karisma believes in maintaining a healthy diet regime and does not starve herself. Today, she keeps a very slim physique. She does this by eating right, exercising occasionally, and running around after her two children.
Karisma Kapoor Diet Chart
Breakfast
? 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with some vegetables
Lunch
? Mango/fruit salad
Snack
? Grilled Sandwich
Or
? Dhokla
Or
Prawns
Supper
? Soup
Dinner
? Chicken breast (no skin, no sauces) and roasted veggies
Karisma believes in eating healthy. She brings variety in her food by introducing vegetable curry and brown rice or steamed fish and chicken in her regular diet chart. The actress also includes 2-3 egg whites in the day to ensure adequate protein intake.
Karisma Kapoor?s Exercise Regimen
Karisma Kapoor has always maintained a fit body. She used to swim a lot during her school days. Today, she maintains the same regime by swimming with her kids during their holidays.
Karisma also likes to practise yoga. She takes long walks the natural way. Karisma prefers to walk in the building and even take the stairs whenever possible.
The actress is not a fan of gyms. In fact, her gym routines are just to maintain a toned body. She has appointed a personal trainer who would help her workout at least 3-4 times in a week.
Today, the actress keeps her children in her priority. However, she believes that her own health and fitness is equally important and works hard for it. She makes it a point to take care of her health, hair, and skin.
After all, the insurance company has to make money. ?That has to mean that the expected value of the claims they pay out is lower than the expected value of the premiums their customers pay in. ?In some sense, then, the expected value of your insurance premium is negative.
But insurance does make everyone better off, because it covers very large costs that most people would have trouble paying. ?Even most really good savers would have a hard time replacing the value of their house, or paying off a $250,000 judgement for an auto accident. ?The expected value of those incidencts is very, very negative--more than just the value of the cash, you have to factor in the horror of being homeless or bankrupt. ?When you factor in the homelessness, the bankruptcy, and so forth, the slighly negative expected financial value is more than outweighed by the positive value of being protected against personal catastrophe. ?Not to mention the peace of mind one gets from not having to worry about homelessness, etc.
This is the magic of risk pooling. ?But notice that it's the catastrophe which makes insurance a good deal. ?You wouldn't get much value from buying "grocery insurance". ?At best, you'd be paying an extra administrative fee to route your routine expenses through an insurer, rather than paying them directly. ?At worst, you'll end up with bills skyrocketing as all sorts of perverse incentives appear. ?After all, if the insurer is paying all your grocery claims, why not load up on filet mignon instead of ground turkey?
But insurers try very hard never to sell insurance for less than the cost of your expected claims. ?If you expect to buy $10,000 worth of groceries next year, it will not charge you less than that for a "grocery policy". ?And if we all drive up the costs of grocery insurance by consuming more, the insurer can do one of two things: raise everyone's "insurance premiums" to cover a filet mignon budget, or create a list of "approved groceries" that it will cover, and start hassling anyone who tries to file an excessively expensive claim.
Sound familiar?
This is why you should always have liability insurance, but should think twice about collision damage coverage. ?It's why high deductibles are a good idea--for small expenses, it's better to self insure. ?And it's why "catastrophic" health plans, which only cover the sort of extremely expensive events that most people would have difficulty financing, are a much better deal than the soup-to-nuts plans that most people get through their employers. ?Those plans are expensive, both because they're paying for a higher percentage of your expenses, and because they drive up utilization--which means that they drive up next year's premiums even more. ?Imagine what your car insurance would cost if it covered gasoline, routine maintenance, and those little air freshener trees you hang from the rearview mirror. ?Then stop asking why health insurance costs so much.
But Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of HHS, thinks that catastrophic insurance isn't really insurance at all.
At a White House briefing Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said some of what passes for health insurance today is so skimpy it can't be compared to the comprehensive coverage available under the law. "Some of these folks have very high catastrophic plans that don't pay for anything unless you get hit by a bus," she said. "They're really mortgage protection, not health insurance."
She said this?in response to a report?from the American Society of Actuaries arguing that premiums are going to rise by 32% when Obamacare kicks in, as coverage gets more generous and more sick people join the insurance market. ?Sebelius' response is apparently that catastrophic insurance isn't really insurance at all--which is exactly backwards. Catastrophic coverage is "true insurance". ?Coverage of routine, predictable services is not insurance at all; it's a spectacularly inefficient prepayment plan.
The last two lines are why I knew from the very beginning that the promise I would get to keep my health insurance was a lie. ?Because I have true insurance, rather than a pre-payment plan for incidental health-related expenses, and the folks who wrote Obamacare think of insurance as pre-paid medical care (in fact, I believe they think of private insurance as a Trojan Horse for all-inclusive single payer government health care).
The Telegraph has had a paywall in place for international readers since November, and now its spreading the subscription model to folks in the UK. Despite the slow rollout, the price tiers are staying the same: £1.99 a month nets unlimited access to the newspaper's website and mobile apps, while £9.99 per month grants the same perks, plus use of its tablet editions. Each subscription comes with a free trial before you're charged, but you could keep your wallet shut and skate by on 20 free articles every month. If you're already subscribed to the dead tree version of the publication, however, you'll be able to reap the benefits of its digital incarnations without spending any extra pennies pence.
? *Announcements for the COE Wednesday Important Information newsletter can be sent to ronw@coe.ufl.edu by 2pm on the Tuesday prior; confirmation that your announcement has been received will be provided
Important Dates
Commencement Spring 2013
PHD, EDD Degree ceremony ~ Friday, April 26, 4:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
Master?s/ Specialist?s Degree ceremony ~ Friday, May 3, 4:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
Bachelor?s Degree ceremony ~ Saturday, May 4, 7:00 p.m. ~ Stephen C. O?Connell Center
Announcements
Education Career Networking Event and Workshops ? Next Tuesday, April 2 Attention College of Education Students!? We are very excited about the forthcoming Career Networking event, April 2, 2013, co-sponsored by the College of Education (COE) and the Career Resource Center (CRC).? The networking event, titled ?Your Future:? Network with Recruiters in Education? is designed to provide YOU an opportunity to prepare for and to be involved more intimately in educational career recruitment.? We have invited School Districts, Charter Schools and Private Schools from across Florida, including School Districts from Georgia.? Please log into your Gator CareerLink account to peruse the current list of organizations attending.? Networking with Recruiters in Education will be held 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Rion Ballroom located in the UF J. Wayne Reitz Student Union.?? Please place April 2 on your calendar.
Workshops on April 1:? On the evening before the Education Career Networking event, April 1, you are invited and encouraged to attend?two workshops focused on interviewing, and job search techniques.? The workshops are scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m in the College of Education Terrace Room.
FEA at UF Meeting & ?Hands on Mathematics: Making manipulatives for your future classroom? Social - TOMORROW, 7pm in Norman Terrace Room
FEA at UF Professional Development Workshop presented by NASA?s Educator Resource Center ? Saturday, April 6th 9am-4pm in Norman Terrace Room Florida Education Association (FEA) at UF is hosting a FREE day-long professional development workshop on Saturday, April 6th from 9am until 4pm (1-hour lunch break) in the Norman Terrace Room. The workshop will be focused on?STEM education for future elementary and secondary educators. The workshop will be led by Dr. Lester Morales, a NASA Education Specialist from the Kennedy Space Center?s Educator Resource Center. This will be an informative and hands-on workshop for UF students that expands their knowledge of STEM education and exposes them to STEM-related learning activities and resources. Students will participate in: Lunar Certification ? students will obtain NASA Lunar Rocks Certification for their classroom;Exploration Activities; Astrobiology Activities; Solar System Activities; NASA Online Simulations; Engineering Challenges and Much more! RSVP for the Event: http://feaatufworkshop.eventbrite.com. Email FEA@coe.ufl.edu if you need more information about this event.
The iPad:? innovative ways to?transform learning Dr. Kate Kemker, Apple Development Executive and former Bureau Chief of Educational Technology at Florida DOE will be hosting a session open to all faculty and students in the Terrace Room on April 16 from 9:30 ? 11:30. ?She will be sharing ways the iPad can be used to?transform learning with innovative new tools for creating, curating,?and deploying content. If you can come, please email Debbie Butler at ?dab@coe.ufl.edu.
Internship Orientation for?Spring 2014 Interns ? Thursday, April 25, 2013 Elementary & Special Ed Students who will be doing their FULL-TIME INTERNSHIP in?Spring 2014.? The Internship Orientation is scheduled for:? Thursday,?April 25, 2013?? Norman Room 250 9:30 am ALL STUDENTS
SAGE?9th Annual Research Symposium &?Elections?-?April 18 Mark your calendars! The?Student Alliance for Graduates in Education (SAGE)?will be hosting?their 9th Annual Research Symposium on Thursday, April 18, 2013 @ 12-2 pm?in the Terrace Room.?This is a great opportunity to share what you?ve been working on and network with other graduate students and faculty. Many use this opportunity to experience presenting one?s work in a supportive atmosphere before they take it to a State or National convention.?Deadline for submitting proposal forms for a poster presentation is?April 1, 2013. Join us for conversation and lunch.?For more information or questions related to the symposium, please contact Rhonda Williams (rlwms@coe.ufl.edu).?? SAGE will also hold?elections for next year?s officers at the symposium.?These positions include:?President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. If you are interested in running for office, e-mail our current President Elyse Hambacher (elyse@ufl.edu) to enter your name on the ballot.
FREE GRE WORKSHOP from the UF Teaching Center This workshop will take place on Monday ? Thursday, April 1-4? from 5:00- 7:00 p.m. each day.? We will cover the Verbal and Writing sections of the test? on Monday? & Wednesday, and the Math on Tuesday & Thursday.? Go to teachingcenter.ufl.edu, click on ?Current Test Review Schedule & Practice Exams? to register and learn the location.
UF Collegiate 4-H is having a Disney Ticket Raffle! Raffle tickets are $2 each or 3 for $5 for a chance to win 4 1-Day Park Hopper Passes to Walt Disney World! We are drawing in 3 short weeks! On April 12th. To purchase tickets find a Collegiate 4-H Member or email us at UFLC4H@gmail.com I have attached our event flyer too.
New Summer Course:? EDF 6938: The Culture of Childhood Tuesday 12:30 ? 4:45 ~ Thursday 2:00 ? 4:45 ~ Summer A: May 13 ? June 30 Course Description:? This course will pose the question from a cultural perspective: What does it mean to be a child? Students will learn that childhood (from infancy to early adolescence) is not just a developmental stage phase between birth and adulthood, but that it is culturally and socially constructed across historical periods and in different world cultures.? The purpose of this course is to provide students with the analytical and critical skills to examine changing conceptions of childhood from ancient times to the modern era, and to deconstruct images of children as presented through multiple media.?? This blended course will utilize both on campus and online sessions using a mixture of lecture, class discussions, and will include direct observation of children?s behavior at Baby Gator and PK Yonge. The course will be structured around five themes common to all human cultures to illustrate the wide variation in the ways children?s behavior can be examined in relation to cultural norms and expectations. These themes are: family/community relations, education, fantasy/play, work, and sexuality.? This course is intended for graduate students enrolled in anthropology, counselor education, early childhood and elementary education, developmental psychology, family, youth and community sciences, and the health sciences. Contact: Dr. Catherine Emihovich, 352 ? 273 ? 4472, cemihovich@coe.ufl.edu
RED 6346 Seminar in Reading:?Language and Literacies Across Academic Disciplines (Fall, 2013, Thursday Periods 7-9) This seminar is for graduate students who are interested in using evidence-based language and literacy practices to support learning and inquiry in academic subject areas. As the knowledge that students have to learn becomes more specialized and complex, the language that constructs such knowledge also becomes more technical, dense, and abstract,patterning in ways that enable content experts to engage in specialized social, semiotic, and cognitive practices. In order to effectively engage with the texts of disciplinary learning, students need to develop new reading/writing skills that are more embedded in each subject area, beyond those they have learned in the primary grades. This course illuminates some of the ways language is used in the core academic subjects of schooling and offers strategies aligned with the Common Core State Standards for helping students comprehend, compose, and critique the advanced texts of schooling.
?EDG 6017: Writing for Academic Purposes (Fall, 2013, Wednesday Periods 7-9) This seminar is designed to enhance the capacity of doctoral students from all academic disciplines to write for academic purposes. It guides students through the entire process of academic writing that includes understanding the task at hand, planning the work, conducting library research, reading to gather information, developing audience awareness, appropriating discursive resources, working with other people?s ideas and voices, and using feedback and editing to improve writing. The course focuses on exploring the ways in which language is used as a creative resource for presenting information, structuring text, embedding perspectives, developing argument, referencing sources, and addressing audience needs in academic writing. It combines focused discussion of key features and issues of academic writing with practical applications through critical analysis of model essays as well as careful critique of students? own writing. The course also provides an insider?s perspective on writing for scholarly publications, including journal/publisher selection, manuscript review process, overcoming rejections, and other tips for getting published.
Summer Course Announcement: Rating Scale Design and Analysis in Educational Research (EDF 7435) This class will guide students through the entire process of designing a rating scale/questionnaire, collecting pilot data, and analyzing the scale. Through applications of research design, psychometric models, scale evaluation, bias detection, factor analysis, and measurement of change over time, students will build on their knowledge of reliability and validity, specifically in reference to data collected from rating scales/questionnaires. The class will be particularly useful for graduate students interested in developing and/or using rating scales/questionnaires in their research, thesis, and/or dissertation. Prerequisites are EDF 6403 (or equivalent) and either EDF6434 or EDF6436.
March CRC Career Buzz Check out our latest edition of the Career Buzz to learn about our events: http://careerbuzz.tumblr.com/post/44303221763/march-faculty-staff-buzz . Don?t forget that you can create your own account for Gator CareerLink to see up-to-date employer visits, who will be attending the Summer Job & Internship Fair, etc.
Edugator T-Shirts All sizes of edugator shirts are available for a donation of $15.? Remember, you can access ECC or FEA merchandise at Production Lab hours or any ECC and FEA events.
?Events
International Children?s Book Day April 2nd has been designated as International Children?s Book Day. As part of the celebration, internationally acclaimed author/illustrator, Peter S?s will be speaking from 7:00 ? 9:00 p.m. at the PK Yonge Performing Arts Center.? S?s is one of the most? innovative and distinguished artists at work in the field of children?s literature today. He is the winner last year of the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Medal, and he is the first children?s book artist to receive a MacArthur ?genius? award.??? The celebration will also feature master storyteller Barry Stewart Mann performing his original stories and presenting workshops at various venues around town.? Stewart Mann is an award-winning storyteller, actor, and arts-in-the-schools educator who is based in the Atlanta area.? Stewart Mann was the resident storyteller on ?Recess!? ? the public radio program produced by UF?s Center for Children?s Literature and Culture.?? These free and open to the public events are sponsored by the University of Florida?s Center for Children?s Literature and Culture, the George A. Smathers Libraries and the Baldwin Collection of Historical Children?s Literature, The College of Education, P. K. Yonge Developmental Research School, the UF International Center, the Alachua County Library District and the Friends of the Library, the Lawrence W. Tyree Library at Santa Fe College, and St. Leo University.?? For further information about this program of events contact John Cech (jcech@ufl.edu) or Megan Leroy (megleroy@ufl.edu) at the Center for Children?s Literature and Culture, at 294 ? 2886.
Privileging Science over Humanities: How Privatization and Vocational Training in Higher Education Reinforce Social Stratification Sheila Slaughter (University of Georgia) ~ April 2013, 6:00-7:30 pm ~ Ustler Hall Atrium (old women?s gym) In her public lecture, Professor Sheila Slaughter will discuss the rising emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and professional fields in many public universities, and the many disparities this has created between these disciplines and the humanities. Among the disparities that will be discussed are: salaries, research funding, infrastructure, investment, course loads, and student numbers. In raising these issues, Professor Slaughter will speak to the ensuing deprofessionalization of the humanities. She will conclude by addressing how these trends may be changed.
Impact Autism is hosting a TEAxUF Conference at the University of Florida on Saturday, April 6th The goal for this ?Technology and Education in Autism? conference is to inform and inspire, starting a conversation that will have an impact on future technology and education in autism. The audience will be able to hear from entertaining speakers who range from a teen on the autism spectrum to a neurobiologist, parent, and clinician.? Each speaker will have 15 minutes to convey information they feel passionate about with goal of informing and inspiring the future of the field. This free conference will be held at the University of Florida, Health Professions Nursing and Pharmacy (HPNP) Building (1225 Center Drive, Gainesville FL 32611) beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 6th. This is the second annual autism conference the Impact Autism has hosted at the University of Florida. For more information please email impact.autism@gmail.com?or visit?www.ImpactAutismUF.org.
Join Florida Education Association (FEA) at UF! FEA is a College of Education student organization that thrives on integrity, respect, empowerment, and advocacy for education. The organization strives to provide members with professional development and community outreach opportunities, as well as to promote political activism and awareness.
Upcoming Events (all meetings/workshops held in Norman Terrace Room)
Meeting & ?Hands on Mathematics: Making manipulatives for your future classroom? Social ? Thursday, March 28th at 7pm
NASA Professional Development Workshop -?Saturday, April 6th 9am-3pm (Workshop presentation by Kennedy Space Center?s Teacher Resource Center)
Last Meeting & ?Using Kagan Strategies & Building Classroom Community? Workshop - Thursday, April 18th?at 7pm
*Join our Facebook group:?http://www.facebook.com/groups/FEAUF/?*LIKE our Face book page:?http://www.facebook.com/FloridaEducationAssociationAtUF -? Please email FEA at UF President, Valentina Contesse, at?FEA@coe.ufl.edu?if you have any questions.
ECC Spring 2013 Schedule All workshops will be held on Wednesdays at 7:00pm and will be held in the Terrace room. Listed below are the dates and topics for the Spring 2013 Semester:
April 10 ? Reading Across the Common Core Curriculum
?Opportunities
Certified English & Reading Teacher AMIkids is a non-profit dedicated to helping troubled youth develop into responsible and productive citizens.? AMIkids Gainesville is currently looking for a Certified English & Reading Teacher (Grades 6-12) to work with at risk youth at our alternative school in Micanopy.? Must possess and maintain current Teaching Certification and satisfy criminal background check.? Please email cover letter and resume to Gainesville-DE@amikids.org.
Physics position at Episcopal School of Jacksonville Episcopal School of Jacksonville will ?be hiring a full-time physics teacher for the 2013-14 school year. ?At least?2 years of secondary science teaching experience is desired but not required. ?Please submit a resume and cover letter via email to Ms. Pat Slevin, Director of Human Resources at slevinp@esj.org.
Gainesville Job Corps Center Volunteers The Gainesville Job Corps Center (GJCC) is seeking volunteers to prepare its students for academic excellence.??Currently, our students are struggling in reading comprehension, writing and math.??Our students are given the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) upon entry into the Job Corps program.??We require our students to have a TABE score at a minimum of 567 in reading and 566 in math. Students, who fail to make those?scores, take the TABE every thirty days until they meet the TABE requirements. ?Job Corps students? training day is from 8am until 4pm. Any time during the training day we would be able to avail our students for tutoring. We will provide all tutoring materials and support, the classroom and a roster of students in need of tutoring. Again, any assistance UF students can provide GJCC students will be welcomed and appreciated. ?We look forward to the partnership as we prepare today?s youths for the academic opportunities of the present and future.??Please contact Ms. Marlene Cook or Mrs. Barbara Walker at (352) 377-2555 ext. 410 (Cook) or ext. 391 (Walker).
Internship Opportunity with the Florida Museum? Volunteer Program SUMMER, 2013 The Volunteer Program Intern will work under direction of the Volunteer Coordinator to train, manage, evaluate and recognize participants in the well-established and very popular junior volunteer program.? Please see attached announcement for more information.
?The Peaceful Paths Fall 2013 shelter CHILDREN?S PROGRAM Internship announcement The Peaceful Paths Children?s Program is pleased to offer a 160 hour Fall Internship to UF students who are interested in working in a non-profit social services environment. Peaceful Paths is the local domestic violence prevention and intervention agency that serves Alachua, Bradford and Union Counties. Our agency is committed to providing services to survivors of domestic violence and their children. These services include legal advocacy, counseling, support groups, emergency food, clothing, hygiene supplies, emergency shelter and transitional housing. Interns working specifically with the child and teen program will have the opportunity to help plan and facilitate support groups and activities for children and teens that have witnessed domestic violence, learn about the effects of domestic violence on youth, and assist with gathering resources for support groups.
LeaderShape Florida 2013 LeaderShape Florida is an ethics-based leadership development experience that allows students to take their ideas and turn them into concrete goals to change and improve their communities. If you are a student leader and you want to take your skills to the next level, this is the retreat for you! It takes place May 5 ? 10 at Camp Kulaqua in High Springs, FL. For those selected, the retreat is FREE.? The priority deadline for applications is April 12. To apply visit goo.gl/yhtKo or contact Maria Mu?oz, Center for Leadership and Service at mariam@leadershipandservice.ufl.edu or 352-392-1215. For additional information see http://www.leadershipandservice.ufl.edu/leadershape.php.
Applications are DUE THIS FRIDAY to join the Center for Leadership and Service Ambassadors! Are you looking to gain leadership experience? Are you wanting to get involved with the current leadership and service events happening on campus? Are you trying to find leadership and/or service experience for your major, minor or graduate school??? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you should APPLY NOW to become and Ambassador for the University of Florida?s Center for Leadership and Service.?? We want YOU to serve as a CLS Ambassador in 2013-2014.? The Center for Leadership and Service (CLS) Ambassadors are a select group of students who are highly committed to the CLS. This group of students serves to promote the CLS and its mission on campus.? They facilitate presentations on various leadership and service topics, plan the Volunteer Organization Fairs and CLS Open House, and assist with other CLS programs and services throughout the year.? Previous experience with the CLS is not required!?? The application is available at:? http://www.leadershipandservice.ufl.edu/cls-ambassadors.php.?? Applications are due March 29th, 2013 by 4:30 p.m.?? For more information about the Ambassadors and application information, contact them at ambassadors@leadershipandservice.ufl.edu
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Archived Newsletters
If you want to read about any of the announcements, opportunities, and events posted in last week?s Wednesday Update Newsletters, or peruse previous newsletters, please visit?http://education.ufl.edu/student-services/category/student-newsletter/
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? David Petraeus apologized Tuesday night to an audience of veterans for the conduct that led to his resignation as head of the CIA following the disclosure of an extramarital affair.
"Needless to say, I join you keenly aware that I am regarded in a different light now than I was a year ago," Petraeus said. "I am also keenly aware that the reason for my recent journey was my own doing. So please allow me to begin my remarks this evening by reiterating how deeply I regret ? and apologize for ? the circumstances that led to my resignation from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends and supporters."
Dressed in a civilian's dark suit and red tie, Petraeus gave his first public speech since his resignation to about 600 people, including many uniformed and decorated veterans at the University of Southern California's annual ROTC dinner. The hero of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has remained largely in seclusion since resigning. His lawyer, Robert B. Barnett, has said that Petraeus has spent much of that time with his family.
While the speech was peppered with jokes about USC and UCLA's longstanding rivalry, he mostly talked about getting better treatment for veterans and soldiers, but stopped short of criticizing current practices.
"While our country continues to improve its support and recognition for all of our veterans and their families, we can and must do more," he said.
Petraeus received applause and a standing ovation before he began the evening's program by cutting a cake with a sword in military tradition, a task reserved for the highest ranking person in the room.
The retired four-star general's affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, was discovered during an FBI investigation into emails she sent to another woman she viewed as a rival for his attention.
"I know I can never fully assuage the pain that I inflicted on those closest to me and a number of others," said Petraeus, in a somber tone to the audience that included his wife. He also mentioned their children.
At the time the affair was made public, Petraeus told his staff he was guilty of "extremely poor judgment."
"Such behavior is unacceptable, both as a husband and as the leader of an organization such as ours," he said.
On Tuesday night, Petraeus noted the challenges of transitioning from military life to civilian life, a path he is currently navigating.
"There's often a view that because an individual was a great soldier, he or she will naturally do well in civilian world," Petraeus said. "In reality, the transition from military service to civilian pursuits is often quite challenging."
As the military leader credited with reshaping the nation's counterinsurgency strategy, turning the tide in the U.S. favor in both Iraq and Afghanistan and making the U.S. safer from terrorism, Petraeus had a friendly audience at the ROTC dinner.
At least one expert in crisis communications said that if his apology comes across as heartfelt and sincere, the public will indeed be seeing much more of him.
"America is a very forgiving nation," said Michael Levine who, among dozens of other celebrity clients, represented Michael Jackson during his first child molestation investigation.
"If he follows the path of humility, personal responsibility and contrition, I submit to you that he will be very successful in his ability to rehabilitate his image," he said.
Another longtime crisis communications expert, Howard Bragman, said Petraeus has handled the situation perfectly so far and he expects he'll continue to do so. He noted that unlike former President Bill Clinton, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards and other public figures caught in extramarital affairs, Petraeus didn't try to lie his way out of it, immediately took responsibility and moved on.
"I think the world is open to him now," said Bragman, vice chairman of the image-building company Reputation.com. "I think he can do whatever he wants. Realistically, he can even run for public office, although I don't think he'd want to because he can make more money privately."
Ahead of the speech, Petraeus drew lavish praise from USC's president, C. L. Max Nikias, who called him "arguably the most effective military commander since Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower."
"In our post 9/11 world, Gen. Petraeus' influence on our military is unmatched, and his contributions to the CIA are far-reaching," Nikias said.
While at USC, Petraeus also planned to visit faculty and students at the Price School of Public Policy, which administers the ROTC program, and USC's School of Social Work, which trains social workers in how to best help veterans returning from war.
Petraeus was presented with a gift of silver cuff links by Nikias after his speech.
___
Associated Press writer Pauline Jelinek in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
15 minutes of fame? Study finds true fame isn't fleetingPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Daniel Fowler pubinfo@asanet.org 202-527-7885 American Sociological Association
WASHINGTON, DC, March 25, 2013 True fame isn't fleeting. That's what a team of researchers led by McGill University's Eran Shor and Stony Brook University's Arnout van de Rijt conclude in a new study that appears in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.
The researchers studied the names mentioned in English-language newspapers over a period of several decades. What they found was that, contrary to popular belief, the people who become truly famous, stay famous for decades, and that this is the case whatever field they're in, including sports, politics, and other domains.
This is even true of entertainment, where it might appear that fame is likely to be most ephemeral. For example, in a random sample of 100,000 names that appeared in the entertainment sections of more than 2,000 newspapers between 2004-2009, the 10 names that showed up most frequently were Jamie Foxx, Bill Murray, Natalie Portman, Tommy Lee Jones, Naomi Watts, Howard Hughes, Phil Spector, John Malkovich, Adrien Brody, and Steve Buscemi. All have been celebrated for at least a decade and all are still much talked about today.
The finding that true fame isn't fleeting goes against most of the scholarly research until now. "There is almost a consensus among scholars in the field of the sociology of fame, that most fame is ephemeral," said Shor, an assistant professor in McGill's department of sociology. "What we've shown here that is truly revolutionary is that the people who you and I would consider famous, even the Kim Kardashians of this world, stay famous for a long time. It doesn't come and go."
Indeed, the annual turnover in the group of famous names is very low. Ninety-six percent of those whose names were mentioned over 100 times in the newspapers in a given year were already in the news at least three years before. The authors point out that this can be explained by the fact that both media and audiences are trapped in a self-reinforcing equilibrium where they must continue to devote attention, airtime, and newspaper space to the same old characters because everyone else does so as well. Talent, resources, or chance events may propel an individual into the spotlight. But, once someone becomes truly famous, they tend to stay that way. Temporary celebrity is highly unusual and is to be found primarily in the bottom tiers of the fame hierarchy, such as when people like whistle blowers become famous for a limited time for participating in particular events.
In general, big names follow career-type patterns of growth, sustenance, and gradual decay over the course of decades. "As with all sociological regularities, our claim is not absolute," said Van de Rijt, an assistant professor in Stony Brook's department of sociology. "We can all think of examples of both types, fleeting and long-term fame. Leonard Cohen is still well known today, over 40 years after he first became famous. But, Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who received instant fame after safely landing a disabled plane on the Hudson, is a name that will likely be forgotten pretty quickly. What we have shown is that Leonard Cohen is the rule and Chesley Sullenberger the exception."
The researchers, who also include Charles Ward, a software engineer at Google, and Steven Skiena, a distinguished teaching professor of computer science at Stony Brook, acknowledge that there is further work to be done with data from blogs, television, and video sharing sites like YouTube to see whether the same patterns hold true there.
###
About the American Sociological Association and the American Sociological Review
The American Sociological Association (http://www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The American Sociological Review is the ASA's flagship journal.
The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.
For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Katherine Gombay, McGill University, at (514) 398-2189 or katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
15 minutes of fame? Study finds true fame isn't fleetingPublic release date: 28-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Daniel Fowler pubinfo@asanet.org 202-527-7885 American Sociological Association
WASHINGTON, DC, March 25, 2013 True fame isn't fleeting. That's what a team of researchers led by McGill University's Eran Shor and Stony Brook University's Arnout van de Rijt conclude in a new study that appears in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.
The researchers studied the names mentioned in English-language newspapers over a period of several decades. What they found was that, contrary to popular belief, the people who become truly famous, stay famous for decades, and that this is the case whatever field they're in, including sports, politics, and other domains.
This is even true of entertainment, where it might appear that fame is likely to be most ephemeral. For example, in a random sample of 100,000 names that appeared in the entertainment sections of more than 2,000 newspapers between 2004-2009, the 10 names that showed up most frequently were Jamie Foxx, Bill Murray, Natalie Portman, Tommy Lee Jones, Naomi Watts, Howard Hughes, Phil Spector, John Malkovich, Adrien Brody, and Steve Buscemi. All have been celebrated for at least a decade and all are still much talked about today.
The finding that true fame isn't fleeting goes against most of the scholarly research until now. "There is almost a consensus among scholars in the field of the sociology of fame, that most fame is ephemeral," said Shor, an assistant professor in McGill's department of sociology. "What we've shown here that is truly revolutionary is that the people who you and I would consider famous, even the Kim Kardashians of this world, stay famous for a long time. It doesn't come and go."
Indeed, the annual turnover in the group of famous names is very low. Ninety-six percent of those whose names were mentioned over 100 times in the newspapers in a given year were already in the news at least three years before. The authors point out that this can be explained by the fact that both media and audiences are trapped in a self-reinforcing equilibrium where they must continue to devote attention, airtime, and newspaper space to the same old characters because everyone else does so as well. Talent, resources, or chance events may propel an individual into the spotlight. But, once someone becomes truly famous, they tend to stay that way. Temporary celebrity is highly unusual and is to be found primarily in the bottom tiers of the fame hierarchy, such as when people like whistle blowers become famous for a limited time for participating in particular events.
In general, big names follow career-type patterns of growth, sustenance, and gradual decay over the course of decades. "As with all sociological regularities, our claim is not absolute," said Van de Rijt, an assistant professor in Stony Brook's department of sociology. "We can all think of examples of both types, fleeting and long-term fame. Leonard Cohen is still well known today, over 40 years after he first became famous. But, Chesley Sullenberger, the pilot who received instant fame after safely landing a disabled plane on the Hudson, is a name that will likely be forgotten pretty quickly. What we have shown is that Leonard Cohen is the rule and Chesley Sullenberger the exception."
The researchers, who also include Charles Ward, a software engineer at Google, and Steven Skiena, a distinguished teaching professor of computer science at Stony Brook, acknowledge that there is further work to be done with data from blogs, television, and video sharing sites like YouTube to see whether the same patterns hold true there.
###
About the American Sociological Association and the American Sociological Review
The American Sociological Association (http://www.asanet.org), founded in 1905, is a non-profit membership association dedicated to serving sociologists in their work, advancing sociology as a science and profession, and promoting the contributions to and use of sociology by society. The American Sociological Review is the ASA's flagship journal.
The research article described above is available by request for members of the media. For a copy of the full study, contact Daniel Fowler, ASA's Media Relations and Public Affairs Officer, at (202) 527-7885 or pubinfo@asanet.org.
For more information about the study, members of the media can also contact Katherine Gombay, McGill University, at (514) 398-2189 or katherine.gombay@mcgill.ca.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Stocks were sharply lower Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 pulling back from record levels, as political uncertainty in Italy sparked fresh worries over the euro zone and the euro dropped to a four-month low.
(Read More: Early Movers: WMT, CS, BA & More)
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled nearly 100 points, dragged by Boeing and JPMorgan.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq were also sharply lower. The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, jumped above 13.
Major averages ended near their best ever levels on Tuesday, with the Dow posting a new high and S&P 500 finishing less than 2 points from its closing peak.
(Read More:Bulls Revved Up to Take Out Next Stocks Milestone)
All key S&P sectors were firmly in the red, led by materials and industrials.
On the economic front, pending home sales slid 0.4 percent in February, according to the National Association of Realtors. Economists polled by Reuters expected a 0.9 percent decline, compared with a 4.5 percent rise in the prior month.
In Europe, political deadlock continued in Italy as the country's main leadership candidate Pier Luigi's Bersani reportedly said that only an "insane person" would want to govern the nation now, adding that Italy is "in a mess and faces a difficult year ahead."
Bersani made the remark after the anti-establishment "Five Star Movement" party headed by comedian Beppe Grillo again refused to form a coalition government with Bersani, thwarting his latest attempts to form a governing alliance.
(Read More: Hey Euro Zone, You Overrate Yourself: Moody's)
A political stalemate since its inconclusive elections in late February has spiked concerns over how the country will handle its growing debt problems. Italy paid more to borrow over five years than it has since October at its latest auction, indicating worries over its financial situation.
The euro extended its losses below $1.28 against the U.S. greenback, its lowest level since late November.
Elsewhere in Europe, Cyprus is finalizing financial control measures to prevent a run on its banks, which have been shut for a week since the country agreed to a conditional 10 billion euro ($12.8 billion) bailout from international lenders. Cypriots have been lining up to withdraw cash from ATMs, with limits at 100 euros a day for some banks.
"Banks will open on Thursday ... We will look at the best way to limit the possibility of large sums of money leaving, and not imposing punitive conditions on the economy, businesses and individuals," Cypriot Finance Minister Michael Sarris said in an interview on Cypriot television.
"Cyprus is a reason to remind investors that Europe is a source of risk, but I'm not sure Cyprus itself is going to be enough [for a market pullback from the recent run-up]," said Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan. "The big picture still points to a major secular bull market being underway, with at least another four years left, led by durable goods."
Trading is likely to be thin ahead of the three-day Easter weekend. U.S. markets will be closed Friday for Good Friday.
Wal-Mart declined after the world's largest retailer said that probes into alleged foreign bribery at its stores are likely to result in a financial loss. Separately, the company said it would start using stores to get Internet orders to shoppers faster, amid growing competition from online rivals such as Amazon.com.
Boeing edged lower as its 787 Dreamliners face a temporary ban on some of the transocean flights, which would be a costly new challenge for the company.
Cliffs Natural Resources plunged to lead the S&P 500 laggards after Morgan Stanley downgraded the iron ore and metallurgical coal producer to "underweight" from "equal-weight." Rivals Alpha Natural Resources and Peabody Energy also traded lower.
Weekly mortgage applications rebounded last week as interest rates pulled back for the first time in three weeks, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Paychex and Red Hat are among notable companies scheduled to report earnings after the closing bell.
Several members of the Federal Reserve are expected to speak throughout the day, including Chicago Fed President Charles Evans and Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.
Meanwhile, crude oil inventories for last week will be released by the Energy Department at 10:30 am ET. Inventories rose by 1.31 million in the prior week.
The Treasury is slated to auction $35 billion in 5-year notes with the results available shortly after 1pm ET.
(Read More: Global 'Triple-A Ratings Club' Shrinks 60 Percent)
?By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC)
FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2008 file photo, actress Ashley Judd, a Kentucky native, speaks at a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally in Louisville, Ky. Judd announced Wednesday she won't run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky against Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, saying she had given serious thought to a campaign but decided her responsibilities and energy need to be focused on her family. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 1, 2008 file photo, actress Ashley Judd, a Kentucky native, speaks at a Democratic get-out-the-vote rally in Louisville, Ky. Judd announced Wednesday she won't run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky against Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, saying she had given serious thought to a campaign but decided her responsibilities and energy need to be focused on her family. (AP Photo/Brian Bohannon, File)
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) ? Actress Ashley Judd announced Wednesday she won't run for U.S. Senate in Kentucky against Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, saying she had given serious thought to a campaign but decided her responsibilities and energy need to be focused on her family.
The former Kentucky resident tweeted her decision.
"Regretfully, I am currently unable to consider a campaign for the Senate. I have spoken to so many Kentuckians over these last few months who expressed their desire for a fighter for the people & new leader," Judd wrote.
"While that won't be me at this time, I will continue to work as hard as I can to ensure the needs of Kentucky families are met by returning this Senate seat to whom it rightfully belongs: the people & their needs, dreams, and great potential. Thanks for even considering me as that person & know how much I love our Commonwealth. Thank you!"
Her publicist Cara Tripicchio confirmed Judd's decision.
The 44-year-old Judd had hinted last week that she was nearing a decision about the race.
Now living in suburban Nashville, Tenn., Judd has said little publicly about her intentions. However, she has been meeting with several Democratic leaders, including Gov. Steve Beshear, to discuss a possible run.
Defeating McConnell would be the Democrats' biggest prize of the 2014 election. His seat is one of 14 that Republicans are defending while Democrats try to hold onto 21, hoping to retain or add to their 55-45 edge.
The star of such films as "Double Jeopardy" and "Kiss the Girls" is known for her liberal political views and she would have been running in a largely conservative state where Republicans hold both Senate seats and five of the six seats in the U.S. House.
Former State Treasurer Jonathan Miller, a Judd supporter, said she would have been a strong candidate.
"As a Kentuckian and someone who was really enthusiastic about her as a candidate, this wasn't the news I was hoping for," Miller said. "But as her friend, from the first time we talked about the race last summer, I was very candid about the grueling nature of politics. It's become a very unpleasant business and running against Mitch McConnell would be an extraordinarily difficult and grueling experience."
McConnell, who spent some $20 million on his last election and who has already raised $10 million for the next one, had already been taunting would-be Democratic challengers in a comical online video intended to raise second thoughts about taking on a politician known as brawler. The video plays on the fact that Judd lives in Tennessee.
Republican-leaning group American Crossroads in its own online video also plays on the Tennessee angle and ties her closely to President Barack Obama, who is unpopular in Kentucky.
University of Louisville political scientist Laurie Rhodebeck said Judd certainly wasn't frightened out of the race.
"She doesn't strike me as a shrinking violet," Rhodebeck said. "I think the real issue would be how much disruption she wanted in her life. This was the kind of thing that she would have to throw herself into 100 percent in order to make it worthwhile."
Judd and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti separated early this year after marrying in his native Scotland in 2001.
Judd's decision not to enter the race leaves the Democratic Party in search of a candidate. Many of Kentucky's top Democrats, including Beshear, have said they won't run. However, a rising star within the party, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, hasn't ruled the race out. Grimes declined comment Wednesday evening through her spokeswoman, Lynn Sowards Zellen.
___
Associated Press writer Janet Cappiello contributed to this report.
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Moffitt Researchers help lead international efforts that find new genetic links to ovarian cancerPublic release date: 27-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Polacek kim.polacek@moffitt.org 813-745-7408 H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Collaboration identifies 4 new gene regions linked to ovarian cancer risk
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, including Center Director Thomas A. Sellers, Ph.D., M.P.H., and 17 other co-authors, have discovered four new regions of the genome that influence the risk for developing ovarian cancer, according to two Moffitt-led studies published in the March 27 issue of the journals Nature Genetics and Nature Communications.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women and accounts for 3 percent of all female cancers. Although mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes remain the strongest genetic risk factors for ovarian cancer, these new findings taken with previously identified common genetic variants account for approximately 4 percent of the inherited component of this disease.
The two Moffitt-led studies are part of a coordinated series of 13 publications that resulted from collaborations involving researchers who are part of the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS), the largest study of its kind to investigate the genetic basis of hormone-related cancers (ovarian, breast and prostate) by looking at DNA sequences of more than 250,000 individuals.
"Through this collaborative effort, we were able to conduct a large-scale analysis of more than 18,000 women with ovarian cancer and more than 26,000 healthy women, bringing us much closer to understanding the inherited factors that contribute to this disease," said Sellers, co-senior author on both Moffitt-led studies.
In the first study, Sellers and colleagues followed up on previous efforts where they scanned the entire genome to identify differences in the frequency of common spelling variation in the genetic code (known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) between several thousand women who developed ovarian cancer and a similar number of women without ovarian cancer. "With the much larger study population in our collaboration, we were able to identify three new genomic regions on chromosomes 8, 10 and 17 that are strongly associated with ovarian cancer risk," said Catherine M. Phelan, Ph.D., M.D., co-first author and associate member in the Cancer Epidemiology Program at Moffitt.
"We present several lines of data that point to a small number of candidate gene targets in these regions that may play a role in ovarian cancer initiation and development. This represents an important discovery for the ovarian cancer community that needs to be followed up further," said Alvaro Monteiro, Ph.D., co-author and senior member in Moffitt's Cancer Epidemiology Program.
The second study was led by first-author Jennifer Permuth-Wey, Ph.D., a molecular epidemiologist at Moffitt. This study was designed to evaluate SNPs that lie in underexplored regions of the genome that may represent binding sites for microRNAs, small molecules that have been linked to the development and progression of ovarian cancer and other malignancies.
Using the same large series of ovarian cancer and healthy control samples as the first study, Permuth-Wey and colleagues identified several SNPs that were strongly associated with the most common and aggressive type of ovarian cancer, serous ovarian cancer. The risk-associated SNPs were located in a unique region of chromosome 17 known as 17q21.31.
"17q21.31 is a gene-rich region that has previously been linked to neurological diseases, and our collaboration was the first to report a link with ovarian cancer," Permuth-Wey said.
The authors went on to evaluate the frequency of SNPs in the entire 17q21.31 region and discovered even stronger associations with ovarian cancer risk for a set of SNPs that were not known to have functions related to microRNA binding.
"Further investigation of the 17q21.31 region highlighted several candidate genes and mechanisms that may contribute to ovarian cancer development, adding to the progress we are making in understanding this disease," said Monteiro, co-senior author of this study with Sellers and Simon Gayther, Ph.D., from the University of Southern California.
Moffitt researchers also contributed to additional publications in this series of 13 papers, including two papers that focused on the link between SNPs in genes known as HNF1B and TERT and ovarian cancer risk. Jong Park, Ph.D., associate member in Moffitt's Cancer Epidemiology Program, also co-authored several publications related to prostate cancer as part of this series.
"Although the current work provides compelling evidence for these new susceptibility regions, the actual genes and the mechanisms through which they influence risk remains to be determined," Sellers said. "We are funded by the NCI GAME-ON initiative to further refine these regions and unravel the biological basis for the observed associations. We also believe there are more gene variants to be discovered, particularly those that are rare in the population, and we are actively pursuing several strategies to identify them."
The hope is that this research could someday lead to targeted ovarian cancer prevention and screening strategies, new treatments, and a better understanding of how and why ovarian cancer develops.
###
Additional Moffitt researchers who are co-authors in this series of publications include Melissa Buckley; Gregory C. Bloom, Ph.D.; Renato Carvalho, Ph.D.; Y. Ann Chen, Ph.D.; Zhihua Chen; Jin Q. Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.; David Fenstermacher, Ph.D.; Anxhela Gjyshi, M.P.H.; Heather S. Jim, Ph.D.; Johnathan M. Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D.; Xiaotao Qu, Ph.D.; Ya-Yu Tsai, Ph.D.; Aneliya Velkova, Ph.D.; and Nicholas Woods, Ph.D.
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Located in Tampa, Moffitt is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research, its contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Since 1999, Moffitt has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer. With more than 4,200 employees, Moffitt has an economic impact on the state of nearly $2 billion. For more information, visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the Moffitt momentum on Facebook, twitter and YouTube.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Moffitt Researchers help lead international efforts that find new genetic links to ovarian cancerPublic release date: 27-Mar-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Kim Polacek kim.polacek@moffitt.org 813-745-7408 H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Collaboration identifies 4 new gene regions linked to ovarian cancer risk
Researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center, including Center Director Thomas A. Sellers, Ph.D., M.P.H., and 17 other co-authors, have discovered four new regions of the genome that influence the risk for developing ovarian cancer, according to two Moffitt-led studies published in the March 27 issue of the journals Nature Genetics and Nature Communications.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer death among women and accounts for 3 percent of all female cancers. Although mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes remain the strongest genetic risk factors for ovarian cancer, these new findings taken with previously identified common genetic variants account for approximately 4 percent of the inherited component of this disease.
The two Moffitt-led studies are part of a coordinated series of 13 publications that resulted from collaborations involving researchers who are part of the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS), the largest study of its kind to investigate the genetic basis of hormone-related cancers (ovarian, breast and prostate) by looking at DNA sequences of more than 250,000 individuals.
"Through this collaborative effort, we were able to conduct a large-scale analysis of more than 18,000 women with ovarian cancer and more than 26,000 healthy women, bringing us much closer to understanding the inherited factors that contribute to this disease," said Sellers, co-senior author on both Moffitt-led studies.
In the first study, Sellers and colleagues followed up on previous efforts where they scanned the entire genome to identify differences in the frequency of common spelling variation in the genetic code (known as single nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs) between several thousand women who developed ovarian cancer and a similar number of women without ovarian cancer. "With the much larger study population in our collaboration, we were able to identify three new genomic regions on chromosomes 8, 10 and 17 that are strongly associated with ovarian cancer risk," said Catherine M. Phelan, Ph.D., M.D., co-first author and associate member in the Cancer Epidemiology Program at Moffitt.
"We present several lines of data that point to a small number of candidate gene targets in these regions that may play a role in ovarian cancer initiation and development. This represents an important discovery for the ovarian cancer community that needs to be followed up further," said Alvaro Monteiro, Ph.D., co-author and senior member in Moffitt's Cancer Epidemiology Program.
The second study was led by first-author Jennifer Permuth-Wey, Ph.D., a molecular epidemiologist at Moffitt. This study was designed to evaluate SNPs that lie in underexplored regions of the genome that may represent binding sites for microRNAs, small molecules that have been linked to the development and progression of ovarian cancer and other malignancies.
Using the same large series of ovarian cancer and healthy control samples as the first study, Permuth-Wey and colleagues identified several SNPs that were strongly associated with the most common and aggressive type of ovarian cancer, serous ovarian cancer. The risk-associated SNPs were located in a unique region of chromosome 17 known as 17q21.31.
"17q21.31 is a gene-rich region that has previously been linked to neurological diseases, and our collaboration was the first to report a link with ovarian cancer," Permuth-Wey said.
The authors went on to evaluate the frequency of SNPs in the entire 17q21.31 region and discovered even stronger associations with ovarian cancer risk for a set of SNPs that were not known to have functions related to microRNA binding.
"Further investigation of the 17q21.31 region highlighted several candidate genes and mechanisms that may contribute to ovarian cancer development, adding to the progress we are making in understanding this disease," said Monteiro, co-senior author of this study with Sellers and Simon Gayther, Ph.D., from the University of Southern California.
Moffitt researchers also contributed to additional publications in this series of 13 papers, including two papers that focused on the link between SNPs in genes known as HNF1B and TERT and ovarian cancer risk. Jong Park, Ph.D., associate member in Moffitt's Cancer Epidemiology Program, also co-authored several publications related to prostate cancer as part of this series.
"Although the current work provides compelling evidence for these new susceptibility regions, the actual genes and the mechanisms through which they influence risk remains to be determined," Sellers said. "We are funded by the NCI GAME-ON initiative to further refine these regions and unravel the biological basis for the observed associations. We also believe there are more gene variants to be discovered, particularly those that are rare in the population, and we are actively pursuing several strategies to identify them."
The hope is that this research could someday lead to targeted ovarian cancer prevention and screening strategies, new treatments, and a better understanding of how and why ovarian cancer develops.
###
Additional Moffitt researchers who are co-authors in this series of publications include Melissa Buckley; Gregory C. Bloom, Ph.D.; Renato Carvalho, Ph.D.; Y. Ann Chen, Ph.D.; Zhihua Chen; Jin Q. Cheng, M.D., Ph.D.; David Fenstermacher, Ph.D.; Anxhela Gjyshi, M.P.H.; Heather S. Jim, Ph.D.; Johnathan M. Lancaster, M.D., Ph.D.; Xiaotao Qu, Ph.D.; Ya-Yu Tsai, Ph.D.; Aneliya Velkova, Ph.D.; and Nicholas Woods, Ph.D.
About Moffitt Cancer Center
Located in Tampa, Moffitt is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt's excellence in research, its contributions to clinical trials, prevention and cancer control. Since 1999, Moffitt has been listed in U.S. News & World Report as one of "America's Best Hospitals" for cancer. With more than 4,200 employees, Moffitt has an economic impact on the state of nearly $2 billion. For more information, visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the Moffitt momentum on Facebook, twitter and YouTube.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 28-Mar-2013
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Great discussions are par for the course here on Lifehacker. Each day, we highlight a discussion that is particularly helpful or insightful, along with other great discussions and reader questions you may have missed. Check out these discussions and add your own thoughts to make them even more wonderful!