Finally, Senate unanimity on health care: Colleagues agree to move up Christmas Eve vote

By Derek Wallbank | Published Tue, Dec 22 2009 3:28 pm

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Don't look now, but Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have agreed on something involving health care reform.

In a nod to senators and staffers from Midwestern states hoping to make it home for Christmas before an oncoming winter storm, senators today agreed by unanimous consent to move up Thursday's vote on health care reform legislation to 8 a.m. from 7 p.m.

Klobuchar, before the time change was announced, said she was hoping it would be moved as a show of "civility to the body" and to assist staff members who want to head home for the holidays.

It might not matter, though. The National Weather Service said today that snow is expected to start falling in the Twin Cities sometime Wednesday afternoon, with total snowfall estimates reaching up to 2 feet. A storm of similar intensity slammed into the nation's capital this past weekend, shutting down all three Washington-area airports, as well as others up and down the Eastern seaboard. And while Klobuchar would clearly prefer to be back in snowy Minnesota for Christmas, she said she's got a backup plan in case commercial flights to the state are canceled.

"If the Midwestern blizzard comes (Louisiana Democratic Sen.) Mary Landrieu has invited me over to her house for Christmas Eve dinner — but I can tell you that Louisiana cajun shrimp isn't exactly the traditional Minnesota Christmas," Klobuchar said with a laugh, before quickly adding that she welcomed the invitation.

Research on the molecular basis of body size

Supported by GE and Science

WASHINGTON, DC — For his research about why the body parts of a single animal develop into different sizes, Michael Crickmore, a regional winner from North America, has been named the 2009 Grand Prize winner for the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists. The competition, which includes a grand-prize award of $25,000, is supported by GE Healthcare and the journal Science, which is published by AAAS, the nonprofit science society.

"I was really proud to win this prize, especially when I looked at the list of previous winners and saw not only their great graduate work but that they continued to have great postdoctoral work and now run labs of their own and make really important discoveries, and I really want to join them in that aspect," said Crickmore in a Skype interview from New York City.

Crickmore will receive his award for his research in the field of molecular biology in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday, 11 December, during an award ceremony. He received the grand prize for his essay, "The Molecular Basis of Size Differences," which is being published in the 4 December issue of Science.

"The award was established in order to recognize promising doctoral students worldwide at the beginning of their careers," said Monica Bradford, executive editor of Science. "The Prize rewards innovative scientific research in the field of molecular biology."

Michael Crickmore's prize-winning essay describes his research about why the body parts of a single animal develop into different sizes. Fingers, toes, and rib bones, for example, are all sets of structures whose members are similar in form but vary in size, and Crickmore has been investigating the particular genes underlying those unique growth processes. His research has focused on the development of certain wings and appendages on the common fruit fly, Drosophila, and showed how the regulation of particular proteins controls the sizes of those tissues.

"My essay describes my graduate work in Richard Mann's lab at Columbia University," said Crickmore. "I asked how different body parts (for example, fingers) become different sizes," he said. "I found that the production and distribution of secreted, growth controlling morphogens are altered in tissues of different sizes and that these alterations in morphogen landscapes underlie size differences."

Crickmore's studies on the signaling pathways that govern such tissue development have revealed how a delicate balance of size-regulating genes, such as dpp, tkv and dally, are maintained in the flies in order for specialized cells to form appropriately sized tissues. His findings shed light on the genetic differences between some of our physical features, like thumbs and pinky fingers, but they also raise more questions regarding the drastic size differences between animals like mice and elephants.

"The more I work with fruit flies, the more I'm impressed with them," Crickmore explained. "We can use the molecular genetic techniques of Drosophila to address some of the fundamental mysteries, even of the brain…the molecular basis of a sensation."

"I have been really impressed by the quality of the papers submitted for the GE and Science prize over the years. This year's winners are very impressive young scientists," said Peter Ehrenheim, president and CEO, Life Sciences, GE Healthcare. "We are very pleased to co-sponsor along with AAAS, a program which supports a strong pipeline of talent driving hard for discoveries that will make our world a better place."

Crickmore was born in Flint, Michigan, but as a child he moved with his mother and brother to suburban Los Angeles and finally to Philadelphia. He became serious about science only after college while working as a technician in Ken Irvine's lab at Rutgers University. Inspired by the ideas of Dragana Rogulja, an Irvine lab graduate student studying size control, Crickmore did his graduate work on size in Richard Mann's lab at Columbia University. But his long-term interests lie in understanding how the brain works, something he is now trying to address as a postdoctoctoral fellow in Leslie Vosshall's lab at The Rockefeller University in New York City, where he lives with his wife Dragana and their little boy Cy.

Each year since 1995, the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists has recognized outstanding young molecular biologists at an early stage of their careers. Some 62 regional winners and 15 grand prize winners have so far received the award, honoring exceptional thesis work in the field of molecular biology.

Applicants for the 2009 GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists earned their Ph.D. degrees in 2008 and submitted a 1,000-word essay based on their dissertations. Their essays were judged on the quality of research and the applicants' ability to articulate how their work would contribute to the field of molecular biology, which investigates biological processes in terms of the physical and chemical properties of molecules in a cell.

A judging panel selects the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Scientists grand prize winner and may present regional awards in four geographic regions: North America, Europe, Japan and all other countries. These regional winners receive $5,000 awards. In addition to the grand prize, the 2009 awards also recognize the following regional winners:

Michaela Gack (Europe): For her essay "Regulation of RIG-I-Mediated Antiviral Innate Immunity." Gack was born in Coburg, Germany. She studied molecular medicine at the Friedrich-Alexander University (FAU) Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany, and in September 2005 joined the newly established exchange program between the graduate training program of the FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg and Harvard Medical School (HMS) in Boston. Gack completed a Ph.D. project in the laboratory of Jae Jung at the New England Primate Center of HMS. Her postdoctoral studies were conducted at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Since April 2009, she has been an Independent Instructor at the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics of HMS, where she continues to investigate innate immune responses against viral infections and viral immune evasion mechanisms.

Masahiro Kitano (Japan): For his essay "Imaging of Rab5 Activity Identifies Essential Regulators for Phagosome Maturation." Kitano was born in 1980 and grew up in Bieicho, Japan, a town famous for beautiful scenic hills. He attended Kyoto University, where he received a bachelor's degree in pharmaceutical science in 2003 and a master's degree in physical and organic chemistry in 2005. A strong interest in molecular imaging led him to join Michiyuki Matsuda's laboratory at Osaka University, where he developed a biosensor to identify regulators of the phagosome maturation process. Kitano completed his doctorate in September 2008 and is currently studying the dynamics of immune cells in vivo as a Special Postdoctoral Researcher in the laboratory of Takaharu Okada at the RIKEN Yokahama Institute.

Tommy Kaplan (All Other Countries): For his essay "From DNA Sequence to Chromatin Dynamics: Computational Analysis of Transcriptional Regulation." Kaplan received his B.Sc. in Computer Science and Cognitive Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His Ph.D. research, in computational biology, focused on various aspects of transcriptional regulation, under the supervision of Nir Friedman and Hanah Margalit at the Hebrew University, and in close collaboration with Ollie Rando at Harvard/University of Massachusetts. Since 2002, Kaplan has been involved in teaching the combined B.Sc./M.Sc. program in Computer Science and Life Sciences at the Hebrew University. Currently, he is a postdoctoral fellow in Mike Eisen's lab at the University of California, Berkeley, where he develops computational models to understand the evolution and control of gene expression during the early developmental stages of fruit fly embryos. In his spare time, Kaplan enjoys mountain biking, reading, and hiking in Northern California with his wife and two sons.

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Vigils held after body of missing NC girl found

By ALYSIA PATTERSON and MARTHA WAGGONER,Associated Press Writers - Wednesday, November 18

SANFORD, N.C. – The father of a 5-year-old girl whose body was found off a rural North Carolina road regrets giving the girl's mother a chance to raise their daughter, even though she seemed to be getting her life together.

The girl's father, Bradley Lockhart, said he had a one-night stand with Antoinette Davis and mostly brought up their daughter before letting Davis take care of her.

A month later, Shaniya Davis was dead, her body dumped off a rural road and her mother accused of selling her for sex.

"Lord, I come to you with open arms and it is hard. It is hard," Lockhart said Monday night as he stood among a crowd of about 500 gathered in a store parking lot for a vigil. "Don't give up on me and don't give up on Shaniya. She's right there with you."

On Monday, searchers discovered the girl's body off a rural road, nearly a week after her mother reported her missing from a mobile home park in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville police said Tuesday that additional charges will be filed in the case, though they did not offer more specifics. An autopsy was being conducted to determine how Shaniya died.

Hundreds of volunteers who helped look for Shaniya left the search area dejected, unable to bring her home to her father, 7-year-old brother and the dolls she so loved.

"I still feel kind of sick to my stomach," said Angela Jackson, 27, of Sanford, who has a 2-month-old daughter and searched for consecutive days.

A dog trainer who was there when Shaniya's body was found said Tuesday that searchers initially overlooked the area because they saw only deer carcasses in trash bags.

Jeff Riccio of Tarheel Canine Training Inc. said his team returned to the area after getting information that Shaniya's body might be near deer carcasses. The searchers found the body Monday afternoon underneath thick vines.

"It was nothing that anybody wants to see, but I'm glad that it's over for her," Riccio said. "It was very hard for me to see that."

Shaniya's mother, 25-year-old Antoinette Davis, is charged with human trafficking and felony child abuse. She was calm and quiet during a court appearance Monday, providing one-word answers to the judge's questions. She requested a court-appointed attorney and did not enter a plea.

Her sister, Brenda Davis, 20, said she does not believe the charges.

"I don't believe she could hurt her children," said Brenda Davis, who spoke with her sister at the jail Sunday. Davis' aunt, Yvonne Mitchell, said the mother had two jobs and would never harm Shaniya.

Authorities also charged Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, with kidnapping after they said surveillance footage from a Sanford hotel showed him carrying Shaniya. Authorities said McNeill admitted taking the girl, though his attorney said he will plead not guilty.

Fayetteville police spokeswoman Theresa Chance declined to talk about additional charges. She also would not comment on a cause of death or the condition of Shaniya's body, except to say that investigators planned to retrieve it about 100 feet off the road.

"Detectives have been running off adrenaline to find this little girl and to bring her home alive," Chance said. "You have a lot of people in shock right now."

Shaniya's father said he raised his daughter for several years but last month decided to let her stay with her mother. He had pleaded for her safe return.

Lockhart told The Associated Press on Saturday that he and Davis never argued about him raising Shaniya, and Cumberland County courts had no record of a custody dispute. He said he did not know McNeill.

Davis struggled financially over the years, but she recently got a job and her own place, so Lockhart said he decided to give her a chance with their daughter.

"I should've never let her go over there," he said Saturday night.

Health Care: It ain't Over 'till it's Over

posted by Scott Gurvey, New York Bureau Chief at 1:31 PM on 11/10/09

So it's on to the Senate. And if you think it was tough getting health care reform through the House, wait until the self-proclaimed "world's greatest deliberative body" gets hold of it.
In the end, majority rules in the House. So while the process of making law resembles the making of sausage, in the end, something usually comes out. If HR 3962 were to become law, most Americas who do not have insurance will no longer have to choose between death and destitution if a serious illness arises; Americans now insured through group plans arranged by their employers will no longer have to fear being thrown to the wolves running the market for individual insurance policies if they lose their group coverage; and Americans swimming in the individual coverage pool will no longer have to fear being denied coverage or priced out of the market due to a previously existing condition, or having coverage rescinded if a claim is made. We will all be free of the fear of running into a life-time cap which means a catastrophic illness leads to bankruptcy.
This is not to say the House bill is perfect. It is to say that it is a start, a compromise which brings the United States out of the wilderness and into the community of developed nations which guarantee a basic level of access to health services to its citizens. It is significant that HR 3962 had the support of AARP and the American Medical Association. Both required compromise and their support is cautious and qualified to be sure, but still indicative of the urgency of the problem of health care reform.
One can be sure that going forward AARP will be particularly vigilant to insure that the changes in Medicare, which faces major funding cuts as part of the reform legislation, achieve cost savings through elimination of bureaucracy and fraud while maintaining the level of care America's retired deserve.
The AMA, for its part, predicates its support for HR 3962 on the passage of HR 3961, a standalone bill that would spend $210 billion (latest CBO score) to cancel the Sustainable Growth Rate Formula cuts and pays for it by adding the full cost to the deficit. That will be a tough sell in both houses. But almost every year since Medicare was enacted, Congress has stepped in to block the cuts in Medicare reimbursements mandated by the formula. It's time to get rid of it completely and deal with the fiscal impact some other way.
Just to demonstrate how close this vote was, an eleventh hour change dealt with a ban on the use of taxpayer money to pay for abortions. Even though the provision already exists for other Federal programs, this hot button issue enabled abortion opponents to add stronger limits, as they apparently held votes necessary for passage.
Over on the Senate side, the compromise and wheeling-dealing are often not enough. Nor does the majority rule. You won't find it in the Constitution, but the rules of the Senate allow a member to take the floor and hold it until he keels over from exhaustion. This filibuster has been used to delay or completely block legislation, most notably laws designed to protect the civil rights of citizens.
Already Senate opponents of health care reform vow to keep the legislation from even coming to a vote. As the great sage Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over 'till it's over."

Healthy Diet

The following basic guidelines are what you need to know to construct a healthy diet.

Eat plenty of high-fiber foods—that is, fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains. These are the "good" carbohydrates—nutritious, filling, and relatively low in calories. They should supply the 20 to 30 grams of dietary fiber you need each day, which slows the absorption of carbohydrates, so there’s less effect on insulin and blood sugar, and provides other health benefits as well. Such foods also provide important vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (plant chemicals essential to good health).

Make sure to include green, orange, and yellow fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, carrots, cantaloupe, and citrus fruits. The antioxidants and other nutrients in these foods may help protect against developing certain types of cancer and other diseases. Eat five or more servings a day.

Limit your intake of sugary foods, refined-grain products such as white bread, and salty snack foods. Sugar, our No.1 additive, is added to a vast array of foods. Just one daily 12-ounce can of soda (160 calories) can add up to 16 pounds over the course of a year. Many sugary foods are also high in fat, so they’re calorie-dense.

Cut down on animal fat. It’s rich in saturated fat, which boosts blood cholesterol levels and has other adverse health effects. Choose lean meats, skinless poultry, and nonfat or low-fat or nonfat dairy products.

Cut way down on trans fats, supplied by hydrogenated vegetable oils used in most processed foods in the supermarket and in many fast foods.

Eat more fish and nuts, which contain healthy unsaturated fats. Substitute olive or canola oil for butter or stick margarine.

Keep portions moderate, especially of high-calorie foods. In recent years serving sizes have ballooned, particularly in restaurants. Choose a starter instead of an entrée, split a dish with a friend, and don’t order supersized anything.

Keep your cholesterol intake below 300 milligrams per day. Cholesterol is found only in animal products, such as meats, poultry, dairy products, and egg yolks.

Eat a variety of foods. Don't try to fill your nutrient requirements by eating the same foods day in, day out. It is possible that not every essential nutrient has been identified, and so eating a wide assortment of foods helps to ensure that you will get all the necessary nutrients. In addition, this will limit your exposure to any pesticides or toxic substances that may be present in one particular food.

Maintain an adequate calcium intake. Calcium is essential for strong bones and teeth. Get your calcium from low-fat sources, such as skim milk and low-fat yogurt. If you can't get the optimal amount from foods, take supplements.

Try to get your vitamins and minerals from foods, not from supplements. Supplements cannot substitute for a healthy diet, which supplies nutrients and other compounds besides vitamins and minerals. Foods also provide the "synergy" that many nutrients require to be efficiently used in the body.

Maintain a desirable weight. Balance energy (calorie) intake with energy output. Exercise and other physical activity are essential.