What are your views on what happens to your genomic information?

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
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Contact: Don Powell
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-122-349-6928
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Survey aims to be the largest to capture public attitudes to sharing genomic results

Would you want to know about your genetic risk for hundreds of conditions all in one go, ranging from whether you have a higher than average risk from Alzheimer's disease or diabetes or whether you are sensitive to certain antibiotics or statins? How do you feel about researchers generating this information but not sharing it with you?

An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute today launches an online survey to capture the views of as many people as possible: they hope it will be the largest collection of opinions gathered to date.

It has been standard practice for many years to conduct genetic research anonymously and not share such findings with the research participants who provided the samples. However, there is now increasing pressure to change this approach.

"We need to understand what people want from whole genome testing," says Dr Anna Middleton, Ethics Researcher from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Policy is being written worldwide on what researchers should share from genome studies and yet much of this is based on anecdote and intuition. We aim to address this by conducting an international study that asks members of the public, health professionals and researchers for their views."

Genetic analysis of a saliva or blood sample can now reveal elements of a person's past, present and future medical health.In whole genome studies, researchers can examine all 20,000 human genes in only a matter weeks to understand the genetic basis of disease.

An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK use film in an innovative online questionnaire to explore the ethical implications of whole genome research.

Participants in the survey need have no prior knowledge about genetics and anyone can participate (see www.genomethics.org). The study aims to be the largest of its kind in the world and will be used to guide policy on how genome research studies should be conducted. This survey is part of the proactive process of engaging with the public, before whole genome studies become part of health service practice.

"I have completed the ethics questionnaire as I am currently taking part in a whole genome study and I wanted my views to be heard" says Katrina Mcardle, mother of a child with developmental delay who is participating in a whole genome study.

"I am very keen to get a diagnosis for my son and the genome research may offer this, but I'm not sure I want to know lots of additional information about his future health that is unrelated to his diagnosis. Everyone should think about these issues and fill in this questionnaire."

"It is soon going to be cheaper and easier to look at all of a person's 20,000 genes in one go rather than searching for an individual gene, as currently happens," says Professor Anneke Lucassen, Consultant in Clinical Genetics, University of Southampton.

"This raises all sorts of ethical issues about what genetic results you share with people. Very soon this technology will be used in the NHS and we urgently need research that tells us what people want to know."

"This is a really exciting project using an innovative questionnaire and the integrated films really bring it to life," says Professor Mike Parker, Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Ethox Centre at University of Oxford. "The questionnaire asks for feedback on some difficult ethical issues and I will be encouraging everyone I know to participate."

###

Notes to Editors

Websites
The survey can be found at http://www.genomethics.org/

Funding
This programme is funded by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
http://www.hicfund.org.uk/

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally.

Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.

http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests.

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

---

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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.

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Don Powell
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
44-122-349-6928
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

Survey aims to be the largest to capture public attitudes to sharing genomic results

Would you want to know about your genetic risk for hundreds of conditions all in one go, ranging from whether you have a higher than average risk from Alzheimer's disease or diabetes or whether you are sensitive to certain antibiotics or statins? How do you feel about researchers generating this information but not sharing it with you?

An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute today launches an online survey to capture the views of as many people as possible: they hope it will be the largest collection of opinions gathered to date.

It has been standard practice for many years to conduct genetic research anonymously and not share such findings with the research participants who provided the samples. However, there is now increasing pressure to change this approach.

"We need to understand what people want from whole genome testing," says Dr Anna Middleton, Ethics Researcher from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. "Policy is being written worldwide on what researchers should share from genome studies and yet much of this is based on anecdote and intuition. We aim to address this by conducting an international study that asks members of the public, health professionals and researchers for their views."

Genetic analysis of a saliva or blood sample can now reveal elements of a person's past, present and future medical health.In whole genome studies, researchers can examine all 20,000 human genes in only a matter weeks to understand the genetic basis of disease.

An ethics team from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Cambridge, UK use film in an innovative online questionnaire to explore the ethical implications of whole genome research.

Participants in the survey need have no prior knowledge about genetics and anyone can participate (see www.genomethics.org). The study aims to be the largest of its kind in the world and will be used to guide policy on how genome research studies should be conducted. This survey is part of the proactive process of engaging with the public, before whole genome studies become part of health service practice.

"I have completed the ethics questionnaire as I am currently taking part in a whole genome study and I wanted my views to be heard" says Katrina Mcardle, mother of a child with developmental delay who is participating in a whole genome study.

"I am very keen to get a diagnosis for my son and the genome research may offer this, but I'm not sure I want to know lots of additional information about his future health that is unrelated to his diagnosis. Everyone should think about these issues and fill in this questionnaire."

"It is soon going to be cheaper and easier to look at all of a person's 20,000 genes in one go rather than searching for an individual gene, as currently happens," says Professor Anneke Lucassen, Consultant in Clinical Genetics, University of Southampton.

"This raises all sorts of ethical issues about what genetic results you share with people. Very soon this technology will be used in the NHS and we urgently need research that tells us what people want to know."

"This is a really exciting project using an innovative questionnaire and the integrated films really bring it to life," says Professor Mike Parker, Professor of Bioethics and Director of the Ethox Centre at University of Oxford. "The questionnaire asks for feedback on some difficult ethical issues and I will be encouraging everyone I know to participate."

###

Notes to Editors

Websites
The survey can be found at http://www.genomethics.org/

Funding
This programme is funded by the Health Innovation Challenge Fund and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
http://www.hicfund.org.uk/

The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute is one of the world's leading genome centres. Through its ability to conduct research at scale, it is able to engage in bold and long-term exploratory projects that are designed to influence and empower medical science globally.

Institute research findings, generated through its own research programmes and through its leading role in international consortia, are being used to develop new diagnostics and treatments for human disease.

http://www.sanger.ac.uk

The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. We support the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. Our breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. We are independent of both political and commercial interests.

http://www.wellcome.ac.uk

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/wtsi-way012712.php

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PFT: Irsay seeks to avoid 'sentimental' decision

Getty Images

It?s official.? In Saturday?s edition of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, ?reader representative? Ted Diadiun addressed at length the decision to remove long-time Browns writer Tony Grossi from the team?s beat.? Diadiun?s article is well-written, superficially persuasive, and apparently effective, given the number of emails we?ve received from folks who believe based on Diadiun?s article that the newspaper did the right thing.

But it doesn?t change our opinion that the Plain Dealer cowered to the Browns.? In fact, it strengthens it.

When scrutinizing an employment decision, inconsistencies in the reasons and rationalizations from the employer become extremely important.? The thinking is that, if the employer can?t tell a unified story in support of a supposedly legitimate decision, it?s possible that the employer is trying to conceal potentially illegitimate motives.? Circumstantial evidence also takes on a critical role, since the employer rarely will admit to ordering the Code Red.? Or, perhaps for these purposes, a Code Orange.

And that?s really the ultimate question.? Did the Browns order a Code Orange on Grossi?? Or, more accurately, did the Plain Dealer reassign Grossi because it believed the Browns wanted Grossi out?

Let?s consider the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies.

First, the facts.? Grossi posted on his Twitter page a message that he had intended to keep private.? In the message, Grossi called Browns owner Randy Lerner a ?pathetic figure? and ?the most irrelevant billionaire in the world.?? (Of all the billionaires in the world, technically one of them must be the most irrelevant.)? Grossi immediately deleted the tweet once he realized his mistake.? By then, however, his words had been copied and repeated across the Internet, and it was impossible to unring the bell.

Grossi apologized publicly, the Plain Dealer apologized publicly, and Plain Dealer publisher Terrance C.Z. Egger sent a written apology to the Browns and to Lerner.

Though not addressed in Diadiun?s column, the Browns responded with silence.? Apart from declining to comment in response to inquiries from PFT, the Browns and Lerner refused to take calls from Grossi, and possibly from other officials of the Plain Dealer.? Indeed, Diadiun admits that ?[n]one of the editors involved talked with anyone connected with the team? before making the decision to reassign Grossi.

Diadiun omits reference to the key question of whether the Plain Dealer tried to have such discussions.

Second, the circumstances.? Most significantly, Diadiun admits that Egger personally met with Lerner and team president Mike Holmgren on Wednesday, after the decision was made to reassign Grossi.? The fact that a meeting occurred invites speculation that the Browns cared ? or at a minimum that the Plain Dealer believed the Browns cared ? about the manner in which this situation was handled.

Third, the inconsistencies.? On Thursday, Plain Dealer managing editor Thom Fladung told 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that the ?determining factor? for the decision was the following standard:? ?Don?t do something that affects your value as a journalist or the value of your newspaper or affects the perception of your value and the perception of that newspaper?s value.?? Fladung also said that Grossi?s opinions would have been permissible if he had posted them not on his Twitter page, but in the pages of the Plain Dealer.? ?Let?s say Tony had written that Randy Lerner?s lack of involvement with the Browns and their resulting disappointing records over the years has made him irrelevant as an owner, that?s defensible,? Fladung said.? ?That?s absolutely defensible.?

But Diadiun?s item contains a contradictory quote from Plain Dealer editor Adam Simmons, who thinks that Grossi?s role as a beat writer precluded him from making the statements about Lerner in any context.? ?If it had been a columnist who wrote that, we might cringe, but that role is different,? Simmons said. ?They?re paid to offer up opinions, however prickly. But we?re not asking them to go out and cover a team in a fair and balanced and objective way, like we are with a reporter.?? (Presumably, Simmons also believes that a columnist could have offered those opinions on his Twitter page, since opinions are fair game for a columnist.)

Complicating matters is Diadiun?s attempt to reconcile the action against Grossi with his First Amendment rights.? Rather that relying on the simple ? and accurate ? notion that employees of a private, for-profit enterprise have no First Amendment rights, Diadiun draws a clumsy line between personal and professional social media.? ?Anyone who works at the paper has the right to say, write or Tweet anything they wish,? Diadiun writes.? ?But they do not have a corresponding right to say it in the newspaper or on the website or on their newspaper Twitter account.? If they do, the editors who are in charge of maintaining the credibility of the newspaper have the right to change their assignment.?

So Fladung says that Grossi could have said what he said in the paper, Simmons says that Grossi couldn?t have said what he said anywhere unless he was a columnist, and Diadiun says that Grossi could have said what he said on his own, personal Twitter page.? And no one says it?s impermissible for Grossi to secretly possess those views, even if those views (as Diadiun writes) undermine his credibility.? Under the newspaper?s view of journalistic ethics, it only becomes a problem when those views are disclosed ? which actually should make Grossi even more credible, since he has openly acknowledged his bias.

The end result is a stew of mixed messages, which invites speculation that the real reason for the move was to maintain a good relationship with the Browns.? Though there continues to be ? and likely never will be ? any evidence that the Browns told the Plain Dealer what the Browns wanted the Plain Dealer to do, some of the loudest and clearest messages can be sent through silence.

When Grossi or others from the Plain Dealer tried to call Lerner and/or Holmgren and they refused to speak, what should a reasonable person conclude?? Moreover, why would a meeting with Lerner and Holmgren even be needed if the Plain Dealer didn?t care about the team?s response to the situation?? If this decision was solely about journalistic standards and the integrity and credibility of Grossi?s coverage in the eyes of the audience given his personal views regarding Lerner, there was no reason to go to Berea and kiss rings and/or smooch butts.

That?s the fundamental disconnect.? The Plain Dealer wants us to believe it engaged in a textbook exercise in ethics while at the same time doing things like writing letters of apology to Lerner and publicly calling Grossi?s words about Lerner insulting and personally meeting with Lerner and Holmgren.

Though the Browns may not have intended to order a Code Orange, we believe that the Plain Dealer believed that it needed to remove Grossi from the beat in order to remain in the good graces of the Browns.? And we?d have far more (or, as the case may be, any) respect for this decision if the Plain Dealer would simply admit that which upon inspection of the facts, the circumstances, and the inconsistencies seems obvious.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/29/irsay-wants-to-avoid-sentimental-decision-this-isnt-fantasy-football/related/

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29 Chinese missing after militant attack in Sudan (AP)

BEIJING ? Militants apparently captured 29 Chinese workers after attacking a remote worksite in a volatile region of Sudan, and Sudanese forces were increasing security for Chinese projects and personnel there, China said Sunday.

China has close political and economic relations with Sudan, especially in the energy sector.

The Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the militants attacked Saturday and Sudanese forces launched a rescue mission Sunday in coordination with the Chinese embassy in Khartoum.

The Ministry's head of consular affairs met with the Sudanese ambassador in Beijing and "urged him to actively conduct rescue missions under the prerequisite of ensuring the safety of the Chinese personnel," the statement said.

In Khartoum, a Chinese embassy spokesman said the northern branch of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement announced that 29 Chinese workers had been captured in the attack. The spokesman, who asked not be identified, gave no other details and it wasn't clear if the militants had demanded conditions for their return.

Other details weren't given. The official Xinhua News Agency cited the state governor as saying the Sudan People's Liberation Movement attacked a road-building site in South Kordofan and seized the workers.

The Sudan People's Liberation Movement are a guerrilla force that has fought against Sudan's regime. Its members hail from a minority ethnic group now in control of much of South Sudan, which became the world's newest country only six months ago in a breakaway from Sudan.

Sudan has accused South Sudan of arming pro-South Sudan groups in South Kordofan. The government of South Sudan has called such accusations a smoke screen intended to justify a future invasion of the South.

China has sent large numbers of workers to potentially unstable regions such as Sudan and last year was forced to send ships and planes to help with the emergency evacuation of 30,000 of its citizens from the fighting in Libya.

China has consistently used its clout in diplomatic forums such as the United Nations to defend Sudan and its longtime leader Omar al-Bashir. In recent years, it has also sought to build good relations with leaders from the south, where most of Sudan's oil is located.

Chinese companies have also invested heavily in Sudanese oil production, along with companies India and elsewhere.

___

Associated Press writer Mohamed Saeed contributed to this report from Khartoum.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_china_sudan

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Android Central Editors' app picks for Jan 28, 2012

You want apps, and the Android market has plenty of them except at times finding what you want or something new can be a bit challenging. Don't worry, we have got you covered, so let's hit the break and check out some of this weeks picks.

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/FWu-OYX8Mkk/story01.htm

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Senegal opposition wants protest against president (AP)

DAKAR, Senegal ? Senegal's opposition is calling on the population to rise up against President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to run for a third term.

In a statement Saturday, the M23 coalition, which represents all the major opposition candidates running in next month's election, said the country's constitutional court had betrayed the people by ruling Wade is eligible to run again.

The decision Friday said the president can run for a third term even though the constitution was changed soon after he took office in 2000 to impose a two-term limit.

The M23 statement says "a black page has just been written in the history of our country by the decision."

Opposition candidate Macky Sall, a former prime minister under Wade, said they had given "the order" for people to take to the streets.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_af/af_senegal_election

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Temperate freshwater wetlands are 'forgotten' carbon sinks

Friday, January 27, 2012

A new study comparing the carbon-holding power of freshwater wetlands has produced measurements suggesting that wetlands in temperate regions are more valuable as carbon sinks than current policies imply, according to researchers.

The study compared several wetlands at two Ohio wetland sites: one composed of mostly stagnant water and one characterized by water regularly flowing through it. The study showed that the stagnant wetland had an average carbon storage rate per year that is almost twice as high as the carbon storage rate of the flow-through wetland.

In addition, the scientists came up with measures of carbon storage in the stagnant wetland that exceed carbon measurements recorded in recent years in various types of wetlands, suggesting to the researchers that temperate freshwater wetlands may have a significant role in worldwide strategies to offset greenhouse gas emissions.

All types of wetlands deserve more credit than they receive as carbon sequestering systems in global carbon budgets, the researchers say. However, they also say that boreal peatlands ? wetlands containing deep layers of organic matter in subarctic regions ? should not be the only wetlands favored in policy considerations.

"These numbers are a lot higher than those often used to determine policy about wetlands. All of our numbers are, in general, considerably higher than average rates of carbon sequestration for boreal peatlands, but the boreal peatland numbers rule the roost in climate change," said William Mitsch, senior author of the study and an environment and natural resources professor at Ohio State University. "Wetlands make up 6 to 8 percent of the landscape, but they hold much more than 6 to 8 percent of the world's carbon. They are the forgotten carbon sink."

Mitsch completed the study with Blanca Bernal, a graduate student in Ohio State's School of Environment and Natural Resources. The research appears online and is scheduled for future print publication in the journal Global Change Biology.

Mitsch and Bernal collected soil core samples from a forested wetland in Gahanna, in central Ohio, and from Old Woman Creek, a freshwater wetland near Lake Erie in northern Ohio. The Gahanna wetland is called a depressional wetland, or a swamp that remains saturated year-round. Old Woman Creek is part of a state park connecting an agricultural watershed with the lake that experiences pulses of water from both entry points.

They analyzed both the carbon content of the soil as well as the depth of the sediment that had stored carbon over the past 50 years.

The depressional wetland community as a whole sequestered an average of 317 grams of carbon per square meter per year (2,750 pounds of carbon per acre per year), compared to the average 140 grams per square meter per year (1,215 pounds per acre per year) stored by the flow-through wetland area. By comparison, boreal peatlands in Canada and Siberia sequester much less, at 15 to 25 grams carbon per square meter per year (130 to 220 pounds of carbon per acre per year).

Because the depressional wetland is just 59 acres, compared to the flow-through wetland's coverage of 138 acres, the total annual carbon storage for each is similar: almost 85 tons of carbon per year.

In the study, Mitsch and Bernal noted other measurements taken since 1993 in wetlands, most located in North America. In the depressional or forested wetlands in particular, the average carbon-storage measurement in this new study exceeded those other readings in every case. To Mitsch, this suggests that determining the carbon storage in swamps, and forested pools in particular, should be a priority.

"Few studies have been done in temperate wetlands other than ours, and even fewer have been done in forested wetlands like our Gahanna Woods wetland, where we measured the highest rates," Mitsch said.

In almost all cases the measurements were taken using the same methods. To determine the age of the sediments in wetlands ? and therefore the rate of carbon storage per year ? researchers use radiometric dating with cesium-137. Above-ground nuclear testing in the mid-20th century left behind the cesium-137 compound as a marker in sediments throughout the world. Based on how deep cesium-137 was detected in the soil cores, the researchers were able to date sediment from each wetland that has built up since 1964, the year the concentration of the compound reached its peak.

A backup method to determine sediment age by assessing the level of Pb-210, a radioactive form of lead, is used when cesium-137 is not a reliable marker.

The highest carbon sequestration rate ? 473 grams per square meter per year (4,100 pounds per acre per year) ? was found in the most heavily forested area of the stagnant wetland.

This suggests that the leaves, bark and wood from the trees in these areas might be less likely to decompose than are marsh plants that populate many wetland communities, Mitsch said, noting that those forest remnants dropping into the water lead to the collection of more carbon in the soil. Plants in a wetland are the key to carbon storage ? they absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. And the standing water in wetlands reduces the amount of respiration of that carbon dioxide back into the air.

"In an ecosystem that's terrestrial, especially a forest, plant life falls to the floor but the forests don't fill up with leaves because they're decomposing, returning some of that carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere," Mitsch said. "Wetlands tend to accumulate this litter over centuries, maybe over thousands of years, and they have plants and are productive systems, but they tend not to decompose everything. So carbon builds up in the soil for a long time."

Mitsch is making the case for wetlands as carbon sinks in an effort to foster preservation of wetlands, which are also coastal protection systems, buffer zones between land and waterways, and filters of chemicals in water that runs off from farm fields, roads, parking lots and other surfaces. He, Bernal and other Ohio State graduate students are conducting similar research to gauge carbon sequestration rates in wetlands based in tropical areas.

###

Ohio State University: http://researchnews.osu.edu

Thanks to Ohio State University for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117100/Temperate_freshwater_wetlands_are__forgotten__carbon_sinks

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Demi Moore Replaced By Mary-Louise Parker In 'Lovelace'

In other Demi news, Madonna reportedly reaches out to actress after her hospitalization.
By Jocelyn Vena

Demi Moore
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/ WireImage

Amidst her personal woes, Demi Moore, who had been set to play Gloria Steinem in the Linda Lovelace biopic, has been replaced by "Weeds" star Mary-Louise Parker.

Sources confirm to UsMagazine.com that the TV star will fill in for Moore, who had to drop out of the film earlier this week after she was hospitalized for "exhaustion." On Thursday, there was speculation that Chloë Sevigny would play the feminist icon when she was cast as a feminist journalist, but now it seems that those are two different roles.

"Lovelace" is currently shooting in Los Angeles with Amanda Seyfried playing the film's central character, '70s porn actress Linda Lovelace.

As the Demi drama rolls on, there are reports that Madonna reached out to the actress shortly after she was hospitalized. Moore has since been released from the L.A.-area hospital.

Sources tells E! News that the singer called her actress pal. "Madonna told Demi she was there if she needs anything," the E! source says, adding, "They're pretty tight."

The ladies last hung out during Golden Globes weekend, and they reportedly were going to see one another again over Super Bowl weekend; Madge is slated to perform during the halftime show. The status of their annual post-Oscars bash is currently up in the air.

While speculation runs rampant about why Moore was hospitalized, sources say that her ex, Ashton Kutcher, is "deeply concerned" for her. Moore is rumored to have been doing nitrous oxide before landing in the hospital. "He still cares about her and wants the best for her," the source added. "But their marriage is ending and they are both moving on with their lives."

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678022/demi-moore-mary-louise-parker-linda-lovelace.jhtml

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A Truly Protective iPhone Case for Toddlers and Parents ? by @fisherprice

Babies love the iPhone. They can?t get enough of it. Apple put something in it that makes it the so absolutely desireable for them. They want to touch it, hold it, listen to it, and even eat it.

Would you trust your spanking new iPhone with the most recent addition in your home that the stork brought in? Most people would most probably get a fake, child-safe toy phone, but if you are willing to take the risk, just get the $19.99 Laugh & Learn Baby iPhone Case.

The iPhone doesn?t like babies. It wants to get away from them. There is something about a baby that doesn?t bode well for the longevity of an iPhone. It can?t handle the gunk, the drool, the play and the drops.

The iPhone needs protection, a case like the Laugh & Learn allow the two to work together. So your baby (or babies) can both enjoy a happy life.

Not only does it protects your iPhone or iPod from disaster, it will also allow your little one to play learning games and develop their thinking skills in the process. Even better is the fact that the Home button remains blocked at all times, so that baby will be unable to make any accidental calls.

So you lock the iPhone in this Fisher Price case, and you?ve got a device protected from dribbles, drips, drools, and teething. One side benefit that you can use to convince your wife, is that it will take the device out of your hands and stop distracting you from her.

Source: Think Geek

Source: http://www.zagg.com/community/blog/a-truly-protective-iphone-case-for-toddlers-and-parents-by-fisherprice/

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First diagnosis of disease by DNA sequencing

DNA sequencing has identified difficult-to-diagnose diseases in humans ? the first time the technology has been used in a clinic.

The technique, which decodes thousands of genes simultaneously, has been used in laboratories to uncover genes related to diseases since 2009.

Now it has successfully moved to the clinic, where patients do not know what is wrong with them and may not know their family history of disease, and clinicians have few clues about which genes might be causing the problem.

Mitochondrial diseases, which affect the way the body produces energy, are notoriously difficult to diagnose. Found in at least one in every 5000 people, the diseases often involve many genes, and symptoms vary across organs. For example, common manifestations can include blindness, seizures, slow digestion and muscle pain.

Currently, diagnosing such disorders can take months or even years, and involves an invasive muscle biopsy. DNA sequencing technology may help to speed things up.

Diagnostic data

Elena Tucker and colleagues from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Sydney, Australia, along with Vamsi Mootha from Harvard Medical School, sequenced the genomes of 42 children who had traits that suggested they carry a mitochondrial disorder. To work out exactly which disorder each child carries, the team looked both at the DNA in their mitochondria and at the 100 or so genes within their nuclear DNA that have already been linked to mitochondrial diseases. They also looked at a further 1000 nuclear genes that play a part in mitochondrial biology.

To distinguish between harmless genetic variations and those that might cause a disease, the team compared the patients' genomes with databases of genetic variation recorded in the general population.

Ten of the children had mutations in genes previously linked to mitochondrial diseases, and so could be given a precise diagnosis. Mutations not previously associated with any disease were found in another 13 children. Tucker says that these patients can expect a full diagnosis once studies confirm the function of these genes.

"We are quite excited," says Tucker. "Most of these diagnoses were in children whose [illnesses] could not easily be diagnosed using traditional methods."

Needle in a haystack

Michael Ryan, a biochemist at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, who was not involved in the work, says the diagnosis rate "will improve" within the next couple of years as the list of genes known to be linked to mitochondrial diseases grows, and it becomes clearer how mutations combine to cause diseases.

"It's a fantastic study," says Matthew McKenzie at Monash University in Melbourne. Finding genetic mutations in mitochondrial patients is "like searching for a needle in a haystack", he says. "I think it was a very good result to transfer to a clinical setting."

Journal reference: Science Translational Medicine, DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3003310

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Gene Mutations May Boost Ovarian Cancer Survival: Study (HealthDay)

TUESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Genetic mutations known as BRCA1 and BRCA2 raise the risk of getting ovarian cancer, but new research shows that those same mutations may boost a woman's odds of surviving the deadly disease.

Women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer who carry the mutations have a better prognosis than women without the genetic variations, according to an analysis of 26 previous studies. The BRCA2 carriers, in particular, had a better five-year survival rate.

"Our paper provides definitive evidence that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers have improvement in survival [compared to ovarian cancer patients without the mutations]," said Kelly L. Bolton, lead author of the new analysis and a medical student at the University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine.

The study, which confirms previous findings, is published Jan. 25 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Nearly 23,000 women will get a diagnosis of ovarian cancer this year in the United States, and about 15,500 will die of it, according to the American Cancer Society. Epithelial ovarian cancer, the type Bolton focused on, occurs in the cells on the surface of the ovary.

Germline BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations are found in up to 15 percent of women with this type of cancer. A germline mutation is a gene change in a reproductive cell that can be passed on to offspring.

Data from more than 1,213 ovarian cancer patients was included in the studies reviewed. Of these, 909 had BRCA1 mutations; 304 had BRCA2 variations.

The studies also included 2,666 women who did not have the genetic mutations.

At the five-year mark, 44 percent of the BRCA1 carriers and 52 percent of the BRCA2 carriers were alive, compared to 36 percent of those without the mutation.

Bolton said the survival differences remained after the researchers took into account such factors as the stage of the cancer and age, although it was less significant among women with a family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.

Exactly how the mutations may improve survival is not known. However, Bolton and others speculate the BRCA1 or BRCA2 status may modify the response to platinum-based chemotherapy, a common treatment.

The new analysis will have important implications for future research and treatment of ovarian cancer, the authors said. Routine genetic screening of women with high-grade cancer might be warranted, they added.

Dr. Elizabeth Poynor, a gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, suggested the findings can help health care providers tailor treatment and more accurately counsel them regarding expected survival.

While not new, the information is valuable, Poynor said. "For a long time, we've known that individuals with BRCA1 or 2 actually have a better prognosis," she said. "This is not new information, it's expanded information. It's reinforcing what we already know."

More research is needed, the authors said, acknowledging some study limitations. For instance, the analysis lacked complete information on types of chemotherapy used, which might also have influenced survival.

Some co-authors reported consultancy fees from Complete Genomics Inc., a company engaged in gene sequencing, and from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Roche, Schering-Plough, Pfizer and other pharmaceutical firms.

More information

Learn how ovarian cancer is diagnosed at the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120125/hl_hsn/genemutationsmayboostovariancancersurvivalstudy

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Analysis: Obama speech puts him in campaign arena (AP)

WASHINGTON ? President Barack Obama, having watched his Republican adversaries pound him for weeks, got his turn Tuesday, using his State of the Union speech to land the first major counterpunch of the still-forming 2012 election.

It came before a prime-time audience of millions that the GOP candidates can only envy, even if their fiery debates are turning heads.

Obama didn't mention Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich in his third State of the Union address. But the GOP contenders were never far from mind. Obama demanded economic fairness for Americans on the same day that Romney revealed paying a relatively modest 14 percent in taxes on his $21 million in 2010 income.

"You can call this class warfare all you want," Obama said, chiding Republicans. "But asking a billionaire to pay at least as much as his secretary in taxes? Most Americans would call that common sense."

Obama could not use the State of the Union's formal setting for a purely political speech, of course. But he invited a symbolically telling guest to the crowded House chamber: the secretary who works for investor Warren Buffett, a billionaire who says the U.S. tax code unwisely lets him pay a lower tax rate than his clerical staff.

Obama called his new proposal for a minimum 30 percent tax on millionaires the "Buffett rule."

It would have doubled Romney's tax bill. It also dings Gingrich, who wants to eliminate the capital gains tax. As Romney noted in Monday's GOP debate in Tampa, Fla., he would pay essentially no income taxes under Gingrich's plan.

The tax quarrel is one of the philosophical differences splitting the two parties, which have grown so hostile in Congress that it's impossible for the president to pass anything but the blandest of initiatives. Last year's showdowns over spending bills and the debt ceiling brought the government to the brink of shutdowns and triggered a credit rating downgrade.

Yet a number of lawmakers, especially those elected with tea party help, answer to constituents who detest compromise and say a federal government meltdown might not be a bad idea.

Congress' GOP leaders declared Obama's ideas dead in dismissive statements early Tuesday, hours before his speech. Obama went the through the motions anyway, pitching ideas for job training, clean energy and other topics.

These issues will play a role in the general election, once the GOP picks its nominee. But the dominant issue will be Obama's handling of jobs and the economy.

That severely limits his ability to focus on his first three years in office, except for foreign achievements such as the killing of Osama bin Laden. And it forces him to argue that he still can accomplish good things despite a bitterly gridlocked legislative branch.

Until Tuesday, the Republicans' wildly unpredictable presidential race had dominated political news, leaving Obama largely on the sidelines. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and Gingrich, the former House speaker, express open disdain for the president, blaming him for nearly every lost job and foreclosed home.

Romney was particularly pointed Tuesday in Tampa, one day after a Republican debate widely seen as his best in a while.

"High unemployment and record home foreclosures," Romney said. "Debt that's too high and opportunities that are too few. This is the real state of our union. But you won't hear stories like these in President Obama's address tonight."

Obama "will make the opening argument in his campaign against a `do-nothing Congress,'" Romney said. "It's shameful for a president to use the State of the Union to divide our nation."

Actually, a "do-nothing Congress" is only one of Obama's planned campaign themes. His aides know the economy might undo him, but they also detect big vulnerabilities in the Republican candidates.

Gingrich has a long history of unorthodox ideas, combative relations with supposed allies and lucrative Washington consulting contracts, which Romney is highlighting this week.

Romney's record at the corporate-restructuring firm Bain Capital proved to be a ho-hum issue in the Republican primary. But it might trouble independent voters next fall, when Democrats would paint Romney as an uncaring plutocrat who pays low taxes and eliminates jobs with barely a thought.

The approaching campaign might emancipate Obama in a sense. The gridlocked and toxically divisive capital can be a dreary place. He may not relish another grueling year of campaigning across the country. But at least he can get away from Washington and utter a few ideas without having them immediately declared dead, foolish or worse.

Obama likes the phrase, "You campaign in poetry but govern in prose." Today's more apt rendering might be, "You campaign in Reeboks and govern in leg irons."

Running shoes surely aren't the preferred attire of any president. They'd rather use the office's power and prestige to pursue policy goals.

In Washington's poisonous atmosphere, however, running for re-election might give Obama his best chance to break free from the logjams for a while and try to recapture the enthusiasm and joy of 2008.

Romney, Gingrich or some other Republican will be waiting, eager to make him answer for a nation still trying to turn an economic corner.

___

EDITOR'S NOTE ? Charles Babington covers politics for The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politicsopinion/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_an/us_state_of_union_analysis

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UN rights chief says US must close Guantanamo (AP)

GENEVA ? The U.N. human rights chief says the U.S. government must close the Guantanamo Bay prison as President Barack Obama promised a year ago.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, says "the facility continues to exist and individuals remain arbitrarily detained ? indefinitely ? in clear breach of international law."

Obama pledged to shutter the U.S. Naval Base prison in Cuba in his annual address to Congress last year.

Pillay said Monday ? ahead of Obama's next annual speech Tuesday ? that she is deeply disappointed the U.S. government "has instead entrenched a system of arbitrary detention."

Pillay said she also is "disturbed at the failure to ensure accountability for serious human rights violations, including torture, that took place."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_un_guantanamo

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Prison Planet.com ? Health insurance company preys upon the poor ...

Mike Adams
Natural News
Monday, January 23, 2012

?Will vaccinate my baby for food!? That seems to be the goal of a program launched last year by the UnitedHealthcare health insurance company of Michigan. It has resorted to?enticing parents with junk food to convince them to inject their infants with potentially deadly vaccines containing brain-damaging chemicals. This has been revealed in a letter acquired by NaturalNews and signed by Stephanie Esters, a vaccine-pushing RN who works for UnitedHealthcare.

The letter declares ?Get a FREE $20 McDonalds, Rite Aid, Target or Meijer Gift Card when your child gets recommended shots before their second birthday.? It even goes on to offer a ?FREE ride to the doctor? for those who are so poor that they don?t own cars.

Childhood vaccines, of course, are loaded with extremely toxic chemical?adjuvants? chemicals designed to cause?neurological inflammation in order to invoke an immunological reaction. Vaccines also contain both?mercury and?aluminum, both of which are highly toxic brain poisons. This is why many children who are injected with such vaccines become?autistic virtually overnight (their brains are poisoned beyond their biological threshold).

While the fundamental science of inoculation is debatable, the adding of neuro-toxic chemicals to today?s vaccines ? which are then injected into children in huge numbers (over 100 vaccines given to a typical child) ? turns them into?chemical weapons being used to medicallyassaultinnocent children. Marrying this chemical weapons program with a junk food incentive program is the height of medical stupidity. It makes about as much sense as eating fried chicken to cure breast cancer (http://www.naturalnews.com/028631_Komen_for_the_cure_pinkwashing.html).

Such a program obviously targets lower-income families which tend to be predominantly black or Latino, according to national statistics. The RN behind this nauseating vaccinate-for-food campaign is?Stephanie Esters, an African American woman, demonstrating the?black-on-black medical violence being committed against African American children in America every day.

Rewarding vaccines with toxic junk food?

Perhaps the most outrageous part of this entire?eugenics scheme which may have already killed an unknown number of little black babies is that therewardfor being injected with neurologically-damaging chemical vaccines is a gift certificate for?disease-promoting ?dead? junk food.

It?s clearly an encouragement for parents to feed their babies?obesity-inducing junk food that will also promote diabetes (rampant among blacks), prostate cancer (super deadly among black men) and breast cancer (a huge money-maker for the criminal cancer industry which preys upon black women). Wash it down with a cocktail of phosphoric acid and aspartame ? also known as a ?diet soda? ? and then give yourself even more cancer and heart disease with some fries!

This is what United Healthcareencouragesits customers to do? Are they so stupid that they do not realize such eating habits willincreasethe health-related claims against their own company?

Obviously, if UnitedHealthcare actually wanted toimprovethe health of low-income children in Michigan, they would reward them with?a bottle of nutritional supplements or superfoods. Give the kid some organic CocoChia bars from Living Fuel! Or buy some Boku Superfood for the family!

But no, the reward for being injected with chemical vaccines is?more chemicalscourtesy of the hormone-injected, antibiotics-laced, GMO-fed toxic processed beef garbage sold by McDonald?s. Did you know their Chicken McNuggets are made with a silicone chemical that?s also used in Silly Putty? (http://www.naturalnews.com/032820_Chicken_McNuggets_ingredients.html)

Find more details about that ? and a couple hundred more astonishing facts about food ? at our?Amazing Food Fact Machine:http://www.naturalnews.com/AmazingFoodFactMachine.asp

Vaccine incentive programs increasingly prey on those living in poverty

The most disturbing trend in vaccine marketing today is that grocery stores and pharmacies are now resorting to?marketing gimmicks and giveaways to entice parents into injecting their children with potentially deadly vaccines.

Safeway stores, for example, recently announced a 10% discount off grocery purchases for those who agreed to be vaccinated on the spot. (http://www.naturalnews.com/033880_flu_shots_grocery_stores.html) NaturalNews also caught Walgreens stores rewarding their own employees with?iPad prizes if they ?recruited? customers to get injected with a vaccine shot. (http://www.naturalnews.com/033859_flu_shots_Walgreens.html)

This is all part of the?vaccine eugenics agenda, of course, which specifically targets minorities and low-income families. Obviously a well-to-do family isn?t going to be enticed by $20 worth of McDonald?s junk food, but a poorly-informed mother living paycheck to paycheck ? just barely scraping by on government assistance programs ? may be more than willing to trade the health of her child for a $20 meal at McDonald?s. Especially if all the nurses and doctors assure her that vaccines are good for her children? and vaccinesnevercause autism, she will be told.

The whole point of vaccines is, of course, to?depopulate the planet through infertility side effects or direct mortality of those receiving the vaccines. This has been openly and unambiguously admitted by the No. 1 financial contributor to vaccine research around the world ? Mr. Bill Gates. In an open, public speech recorded on video, Mr. Gates explains that vaccines can help reduce world population.

Specifically, his exact quote is:

?The world today has 6.8 billion people? that?s headed up to about 9 billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.?(http://www.naturalnews.com/029911_vaccines_Bill_Gates.html)

Watch the video yourself at NaturalNews.TV:
http://www.naturalnews.tv/v.asp?v=A155D113455FAC882A3290536575C723

Kids who get sick the most are the same ones who were vaccinated

Here?s another thing everybody needs to know about children and vaccines: The healthiest children you?ll ever meet are the ones whose parentsrefuse to vaccinated them.

Nearly all the sick kids are the very same ones who have been injected multiple times, poked and prodded by pediatricians, and whose parents follow ?conventional? medical advice about avoiding vitamins and putting their children on medication. These are the sniveling, sneezing kids who are?plagued by allergies and autoimmune disorders. They?re the kids who get diagnosed with brain tumors at age 9, or who end up with type-2 diabetes in their twenties. The toxic load of all the vaccines and medications ? combined with the total lack of real nutrition and mineralization ? puts these kids on track to be?total medical police state slaves for the rest of their lives.

And that?s the way the medical police state wants it, of course: Everybody sickened, helpless, victimized and lacking even the cognitive awareness to know what?s happening to them. Today?s vaccine rewards programs promote this outcome by pushing both toxic vaccines and disease-promoting junk foods at the same time: ?Here, poison your babies and win a free meal!? It?s sickening.

Here?s the full letter sent to parents from Stephanie Esters

Click here to see original photo of the letter:
www.NaturalNews.com/gallery/articles/vaccine-bribes.jpg

UnitedHealthcare
Great Lakes Health Plan

Get a FREE $20 McDonalds, Rite Aid, Target or Meijer Gift Card when your child gets recommended shots before their second birthday.

Dear Parent or Guardian:

Your child is not up-to-date with shots that your child needs BEFORE turning age two years. All shots are FREE.

Please call your child?s doctor right away or take your child to the local health department. It may take more than one visit to get your child caught up with his or her shots.

Need a FREE ride to the doctor or health department?
Just call 1-977-892-3995 at least 4 days before your visit.

When your child gets shots, remember to bring your child?s UnitedHealthcare GLHP Member ID card, mihealth Member ID card, shot record and this letter.

How do I get my $20 McDonald?s, Rite Aid, Target or Meijer gift card?
Just take this letter with your child to the doctor or health department. Present the backside of the letter. Get the missing shots. Your child must be eligible with GLHP at the time the shots are given. Have the staff at the doctor?s office or health department sign the form on the back of this letter. Then mail the form to us. We must get this form back no later than 30 days after your child?s second birthday. You will receive your gift card in the mail once we receive proof that your child got the shots.

Best wishes for a healthy future,
- Stephanie Esters, RN

Stephanie Esters, by the way, can be reached atsesters@uhc.comor 248-331-4369.

Stealing your baby?s blood?

Esters is also involved in a?child blood screening program. In a canned YouTube video that is obviously scripted word-for-word (so fake!), she insists they are taking childrens? blood for ?lead screening? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apZhylyJEjo).

Alex Jones fromwww.InfoWars.comhas warned for years about the theft of genetic material from babies. We?ve also reported it here on NaturalNews.com:http://www.naturalnews.com/028651_government_DNA.html

The truth is that medical personnel across the country are routinely engaged in the?theft of your baby?s DNA to be used in a government database. This isn?t some wild conspiracy theory; it?s a widely-acknowledged fact. Those who have never heard about this simply haven?t been in the loop. It?s openly admitted. All sorts of lawsuits have been filed over this, and you can read up on the issue at the?Citizens? Council for Health Freedom:http://www.cchfreedom.org/issue.php/14

Blood money

UnitedHealthcare also uses McDonald?s gift certificates to entice parents into allowing their children?s blood to be taken. As explained in the company?s own literature:

LEAD SCREENING: United-Healthcare Great Lakes quality outreach staff will call you when your child needs to get his or her second lead screening. ?Have the form signed and send it back to us. We will send you a Target or Mcdonald?s gift card. Your child?s name will also be entered in a monthly drawing for a $150 MasterCard gift card.

Source:http://www.uhccommunityplan.com/assets/Medicaid-UHC-GL-Winter-2011-Member?

That same document offers a chance to win a $150 MasterCard gift card if you make a second appointment with your doctor after becoming a new mom:

?POSTPARTUM CARE: If you have your postpartum visit on time, you can get another Target gift card. Your name will also be entered in a monthly drawing for a $150 MasterCard gift card. Call your OB doctor?s office right after you deliver your baby.?

It is in these follow-up visits, of course, that vaccines are aggressively pushed by medical staff. Across the nation, women who refuse to vaccinate their children may have both the police and Child Protective Services called to intervene and threaten to steal away their children (http://www.naturalnews.com/034684_pediatricians_child_protective_services?).

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Source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/health-insurance-company-preys-upon-the-poor-with-junk-food-reward-program-for-vaccinating-your-baby.html

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Dalglish demands response in cup semi vs. City

By STUART CONDIE

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 9:23 a.m. ET Jan. 23, 2012

LONDON (AP) -Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish wants a determined response from the players he lambasted for their weekend performances when his team takes on Manchester City on Wednesday for a place in the League Cup final.

Dalglish tore into his players after Saturday's woeful 3-1 loss at relegation-threatened Bolton and demanded a much improved display in the semifinals at Anfield.

With the club just one step away from a first final of any kind since the 2007 Champions League, Dalglish said his players were distracted by the match against City. Now they have the chance to show it was worth it.

"I was annoyed and disappointed, more so about the attitude, the commitment and the approach to the game," Dalglish said. "That wasn't us. All season we've been very complimentary about the way the boys have gone about their work but I don't think you could say that on Saturday. Their approach to the game was poor.

"Whether they had their minds on the next two games, I don't know. But every game we play is a very important game."

Liverpool leads City 1-0 from the first leg and the Anfield crowd is set to be in full voice for the visit of the Premier League leaders.

"Now we will get our minds on the Man City game," Dalglish said. "We have to solve our own problems. What do we do to put it right? Same as we always do: we work."

City is on a high after a dramatic 3-2 win over Tottenham on Sunday, but manager Roberto Mancini is keen for his players to forget about the Premier League for a couple of days and focus on what would be a second cup final in two seasons.

Although City looks to have nudged Spurs out of the title race, Mancini believes his team can further improve.

"His words in the dressing room were very profound," assistant manager David Platt said. "Regardless of the fact that it is a great victory against someone who is up there as well, he is not happy at the gift of a goal and the lapse in concentration to allow it to go in.

"He has made that clear in no uncertain terms."

In the other semifinal, Crystal Palace leads second-tier rival Cardiff 1-0 ahead of their second-leg match on Tuesday.

Cardiff, which is third in the League Championship and challenging for promotion, got a taste of cup final action when the Welsh side lost 1-0 to Portsmouth in the 2008 FA Cup final.

The players want another.

"All of the lads know how much it would mean and we're going to drive on together to try and reach Wembley," Cardiff captain Mark Hudson told the club's website. "We're fully focused on what we need to do and we're going out there to play with freedom and get the result."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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More newsGiuseppe Cacace / AFP - Getty Images

Barca awaits Real Madrid again

Real Madrid probably will abandon its defensive strategy and go on the attack against Barcelona in the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday.

Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

That's a reason?

??AC Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng is hurt again, and his girlfriend says it's because they have sex "7-10 times a week." Oh.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/44031201/ns/sports-soccer/

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Canadian man gets 18 years for credit fraud (AP)

FARGO, N.D. ? A Canadian man accused of masterminding one of the largest high-tech bank robberies in U.S. history was sentenced to nearly 18 years in prison Monday following a years-long investigation into fake debt collection agencies that prosecutors say stole the identities of about 38,000 people.

Adekunle Adetiloye was accused of organizing a scheme to open nearly 600 fraudulent bank accounts and bilk 22 major banks, potentially costing credit card firms and banks up to $5 million. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nick Chase in North Dakota, where the case was handled, said the 40-year-old had an "insatiable hunger for other people's money."

Defense attorneys had argued that their client, the only person charged in the case, was a "marginal and minimal participant" whose role was to handle mail and withdraw money from ATMs. But prosecutors and the judge believed he was central to the scheme.

Investigators said Adetiloye incorporated two different companies in Delaware ? Syspac Financial Services and Commet Consultant Inc. ? that claimed to be debt collection companies. He gained access to commercial data providers, including large-scale outfits LexisNexis and ChoicePoint that only allow access to law enforcement, financial services and debt collection companies.

With access to those data providers, Adetiloye and others obtained the personal identification information to about 38,000 people, most of whom were medical professionals, and used that information to open credit card, debit and checking accounts, prosecutors said.

Those data providers said it was only the second such breach of that scale.

"Characterizing this fraud scheme as massive, if anything, is an understatement," Chase said in court documents.

Investigators' interest in Adetiloye, a native of Nigeria, was piqued after figuring out he was unemployed and receiving welfare yet living lavishly, complete with a Range Rover vehicle, extended trips to England and an expensive condominium. Then there were two credit cards tucked away in his wallet the each bore different names ? Donald Douglas and Vincent Andriole ? that seemed to confirm suspicions that he was up to something nefarious.

The complexity of the scheme ? which took five years to investigate and litigate ? was highlighted in a sentencing phase that has lasted nearly a year and included numerous hearings and briefings, and some 12,000 pages of court documents. The case wound up in North Dakota after U.S. Bank's customer service center in Fargo intercepted calls by Adetiloye and others.

U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson handed down a 214-month prison term and scheduled a Feb. 15 hearing to discuss returning nearly $1.5 million in losses to credit card companies and banks. The judge has said losses may have been as much as $5 million.

Defense attorney Richard Henderson had asked for a sentence of fewer than 16 years for his client, who pleaded guilty to mail fraud charges. Henderson said any prison time is more difficult than it would be for American citizens because he has no family in the United States. No decision has been made about whether he plans to appeal, said Neil Fulton, lead federal public defender for North Dakota and South Dakota.

"The sentence imposed today should send a strong message to those who would seek to scam the citizens and businesses of North Dakota and the United States," U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon said in a statement released Monday. "We take the growing problem of foreign financial fraud seriously here and seeking justice for the victims of such crimes is a priority for our office."

Greg Krier, lead credit card fraud investigator for U.S. Bank, testified during the sentencing phase of the case that it was the most complex case he had ever seen. His company, which has its own fraud unit, launched special training sessions focusing on the case in hopes of catching the culprits.

The lead investigator, one of 25 people who worked on the case, put in 2,000 hours, authorities said.

Investigators initially said the operation accessed information of nearly 16,000 people, about 500 of whom had their identities stolen for the purpose of obtaining credit cards. It's alleged that more than 100 commercial mailboxes were opened under false or stolen identities.

But further investigation showed that the scheme actually accessed personal information to some 38,000 people. The government said Adetiloye went so far as to mask his handwriting after a judge ordered a test of his calligraphy.

Erickson, the federal judge, said in court documents ahead of the sentencing that the evidence "indisputably demonstrates" that Adetiloye was a leader or organizer of the scheme. The judge calculated losses to banks at about $1.5 million, but said it could have been as high as $5 million if credit limits had been maxed out.

The trauma cannot be measured, Erickson said.

"The non-monetary harm to the victims was substantial," the judge wrote. "They lost sleep, they lost time with their families, they lost time at work, and they lost their sense of security. Some victims spent hours trying to reclaim their credit record and their identities."

Court documents show that U.S. Bank suffered the most number of tainted accounts, at 130, for a total loss of about $76,000. The companies alleged to have lost the most money were Citibank, at about $271,000, and Discover, at about $248,000.

Brett Bogan, the security investigations manager at Reed Elsevier, the parent company of LexisNexis and ChoicePoint, told the court that data breaches of this type are extremely rare and knew of only one other case like it. He said the company sent out notices to more than 32,000 people whose personal information was compromised by the scheme.

"With their combined extensive and nationwide perspective, those entities place this fraud scheme at or near the top of their historical lists in terms of size and complexity," Chase said in court documents.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_us/us_credit_card_fraud

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New Google Accounts Require Gmail And G+ Accounts

Google appears to have made some changes to its account creation process. Whereas before, all it took was an email address of any kind and some basic demographic data, now you are required to create both a Gmail account and a presence on Google+. This doesn't strike me as a user-friendly change.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/AYrnl7db-go/

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RIM's Co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie Finally Step Down [Rim]

RIM's co-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie aka the keyboard loving odd couple, are finally realizing they're running BlackBerry into the ground and jumping ship before it's too late. That is, Lazaridis and Balsillie are out at RIM. Stepping down. Done. Gone. Bye bye. The new CEO of RIM will be former COO Thorsten Heins. He has quite the job ahead of him, to say the least. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/F7EaRO3lRJc/rims-ceos-finally-step-down

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