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February NYC Jewish music gigs
Feb. 10th, 2010 04:05 pmvia examiner.com
To read the article click here
This is turning out to be a fine month for Jewish music here in New York City.
Feb. 10th, 2010
February NYC Jewish music gigs
Feb. 10th, 2010 04:05 pmvia examiner.com
To read the article click here
This is turning out to be a fine month for Jewish music here in New York City.
J-NewsLine
Feb. 10th, 2010 05:29 pmIsraeli Conservative synagogue burned
February 10, 2010
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A Conservative synagogue in southern Israel was burned.
The fire set Monday night to the Shira Hadasha synagogue in Arad in the Negev scorched the outside of the building, but was extinguished before it damaged the inside, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.
The fire was started when a flammable liquid was poured into a hole drilled in a wall, the Post reported.
The attack comes a year after another attempt to burn down the synagogue and days after an attempted break-in there, according to the Post.
Shira Hadasha is the only non-Orthodox synagogue in Arad, the Post reported. Israel has 60 Conservative synagogues.
Police have no suspects in the attack, according to the newspaper.
J-NewsLine
Feb. 10th, 2010 05:29 pmIsraeli Conservative synagogue burned
February 10, 2010
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A Conservative synagogue in southern Israel was burned.
The fire set Monday night to the Shira Hadasha synagogue in Arad in the Negev scorched the outside of the building, but was extinguished before it damaged the inside, the Jerusalem Post reported Wednesday.
The fire was started when a flammable liquid was poured into a hole drilled in a wall, the Post reported.
The attack comes a year after another attempt to burn down the synagogue and days after an attempted break-in there, according to the Post.
Shira Hadasha is the only non-Orthodox synagogue in Arad, the Post reported. Israel has 60 Conservative synagogues.
Police have no suspects in the attack, according to the newspaper.
Long-lost relative?A nearly complete genome sequence extracted from hair of a 4,000-year-old Greenland man contained mutations that offered clues to what he looked like. These genetic hints informed this artist's reconstruction of the man's face.Nuka GodfredsenA 4,000-year-old Greenland man just entered the scientific debate over the origins of prehistoric populations in the Americas.
A nearly complete sequence of nuclear DNA extracted from strands of the long-dead man’s hair — the first such sequence obtained from an ancient person — highlights a previously unknown and relatively recent migration of northeastern Asians into the New World about 5,500 years ago, scientists say.
An analysis of differences, or mutations, at single base pairs on the ancient Greenlander’s nuclear genome indicates that his father’s ancestors came from northeastern Siberia, report geneticist Morten Rasmussen of the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen and his colleagues in the Feb. 11 Nature. Three modern hunter-gatherer groups in that region — the Nganasans, Koryaks and Chukchis — display a closer genetic link to the Greenland individual than do Native American groups living in cold northern areas of North America, Rasmussen says.
A largely complete mitochondrial DNA sequence from the ancient man’s hair, extracted by the same researchers in 2008, places his maternal ancestry in northeastern Asia as well.
Danish-led excavations more than 20 years ago unearthed four fragmentary bones and several hair tufts belonging to this ancient man, dubbed Inuk. His remains were found at a site from the Saqqaq culture, the earliest known people to have inhabited Greenland. Saqqaq people lived in Greenland from around 4,750 to 2,500 years ago. One popular hypothesis traces Saqqaq ancestry to Native American groups that had settled Arctic parts of Alaska and Canada by 11,000 years ago.
Inuk’s strong genetic ties to Siberian populations raise a different scenario. “We’ve shown that this ancient individual was not related to Native Americans but derived from an expansion of northeastern Asians into the New World and across to Greenland,” says geneticist and study coauthor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen.
The team’s new comparative analysis of Inuk’s previously sequenced mitochondrial DNA indicates that the Saqqaqs diverged from their closest present-day relatives, Siberian Chukchis, an estimated 5,400 years ago. That calculation implies that ancestral Saqqaqs separated from their Asian relatives shortly before departing for the New World and rapidly traversing that continent to reach Greenland. No land bridge connected Asia to North America at that time, so migrants probably crossed the Bering Strait from what’s now Russia to Alaska by boat, Willerslev speculates.
His group also identified base pair patterns on Inuk’s nuclear DNA that are associated in modern populations with type A-positive blood and brown eyes, as well as thick, dark hair and large, flat front teeth typical of Asians and Native Americans. Inuk also possessed DNA signatures for an increased susceptibility to baldness, dry earwax characteristic of Asian populations, and a relatively slow metabolism and broad, short body commonly found in residents of cold climates.
DNA analyses of ancient humans and their ancestors usually face enormous technical challenges. Fossil bones get contaminated with the DNA of those who unearth these finds as well as with fungal and bacterial DNA. Measures to enrich ancient DNA include generating multiple samples of the same genetic sequences and isolating genetic fragments that show no signs of contamination.
Because DNA from hair contains little contamination from fungi or bacteria, Rasmussen’s team focused on Inuk’s locks. Frozen conditions following death also helped to preserve Inuk’s DNA and prevent significant contamination. The team generated 20 copies of his genome to confirm that significant contamination had not occurred.
About 84 percent of the DNA extracted from Inuk’s hair was his. Rasmussen’s team then sequenced 79 percent of Inuk’s nuclear DNA and identified more than 353,000 base pair mutations.
“It is amazing how well-preserved this ancient genetic sample is, presumably due to its rather young age and the permafrost in which it was found,” remarks geneticist Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
In contrast, 40,000- to 70,000-year-old Neandertal bones studied by Pääbo’s team have yielded genetic sequences that, because of substantial contamination, generally include no more than 4 percent Neandertal DNA. Pääbo and his colleagues recently extracted and sequenced 63 percent of the total Neandertal genome from a bone (SN: 3/14/09, p. 5). “I am envious,” Pääbo says, referring to the completeness and quality of Inuk’s recovered DNA.
Rasmussen and Pääbo agree that a major challenge will be to sequence ancient human genomes from places where remains have not been permanently frozen and most preserved genetic material consists of microbial, rather than human, DNA.
Another challenge is to gain a firmer grasp of genetic variation in modern Arctic populations, so that scientists can more precisely trace Inuk’s geographic roots. “It will become easier to make sense of the genetic data from Greenland as more and more present-day humans become sequenced over the next few years,” Pääbo says.
Found in: Anthropology and Humans
via sciencenews.org
DNA shows Greenland population has Siberian ancestry.
Long-lost relative?A nearly complete genome sequence extracted from hair of a 4,000-year-old Greenland man contained mutations that offered clues to what he looked like. These genetic hints informed this artist's reconstruction of the man's face.Nuka GodfredsenA 4,000-year-old Greenland man just entered the scientific debate over the origins of prehistoric populations in the Americas.
A nearly complete sequence of nuclear DNA extracted from strands of the long-dead man’s hair — the first such sequence obtained from an ancient person — highlights a previously unknown and relatively recent migration of northeastern Asians into the New World about 5,500 years ago, scientists say.
An analysis of differences, or mutations, at single base pairs on the ancient Greenlander’s nuclear genome indicates that his father’s ancestors came from northeastern Siberia, report geneticist Morten Rasmussen of the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen and his colleagues in the Feb. 11 Nature. Three modern hunter-gatherer groups in that region — the Nganasans, Koryaks and Chukchis — display a closer genetic link to the Greenland individual than do Native American groups living in cold northern areas of North America, Rasmussen says.
A largely complete mitochondrial DNA sequence from the ancient man’s hair, extracted by the same researchers in 2008, places his maternal ancestry in northeastern Asia as well.
Danish-led excavations more than 20 years ago unearthed four fragmentary bones and several hair tufts belonging to this ancient man, dubbed Inuk. His remains were found at a site from the Saqqaq culture, the earliest known people to have inhabited Greenland. Saqqaq people lived in Greenland from around 4,750 to 2,500 years ago. One popular hypothesis traces Saqqaq ancestry to Native American groups that had settled Arctic parts of Alaska and Canada by 11,000 years ago.
Inuk’s strong genetic ties to Siberian populations raise a different scenario. “We’ve shown that this ancient individual was not related to Native Americans but derived from an expansion of northeastern Asians into the New World and across to Greenland,” says geneticist and study coauthor Eske Willerslev of the University of Copenhagen.
The team’s new comparative analysis of Inuk’s previously sequenced mitochondrial DNA indicates that the Saqqaqs diverged from their closest present-day relatives, Siberian Chukchis, an estimated 5,400 years ago. That calculation implies that ancestral Saqqaqs separated from their Asian relatives shortly before departing for the New World and rapidly traversing that continent to reach Greenland. No land bridge connected Asia to North America at that time, so migrants probably crossed the Bering Strait from what’s now Russia to Alaska by boat, Willerslev speculates.
His group also identified base pair patterns on Inuk’s nuclear DNA that are associated in modern populations with type A-positive blood and brown eyes, as well as thick, dark hair and large, flat front teeth typical of Asians and Native Americans. Inuk also possessed DNA signatures for an increased susceptibility to baldness, dry earwax characteristic of Asian populations, and a relatively slow metabolism and broad, short body commonly found in residents of cold climates.
DNA analyses of ancient humans and their ancestors usually face enormous technical challenges. Fossil bones get contaminated with the DNA of those who unearth these finds as well as with fungal and bacterial DNA. Measures to enrich ancient DNA include generating multiple samples of the same genetic sequences and isolating genetic fragments that show no signs of contamination.
Because DNA from hair contains little contamination from fungi or bacteria, Rasmussen’s team focused on Inuk’s locks. Frozen conditions following death also helped to preserve Inuk’s DNA and prevent significant contamination. The team generated 20 copies of his genome to confirm that significant contamination had not occurred.
About 84 percent of the DNA extracted from Inuk’s hair was his. Rasmussen’s team then sequenced 79 percent of Inuk’s nuclear DNA and identified more than 353,000 base pair mutations.
“It is amazing how well-preserved this ancient genetic sample is, presumably due to its rather young age and the permafrost in which it was found,” remarks geneticist Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
In contrast, 40,000- to 70,000-year-old Neandertal bones studied by Pääbo’s team have yielded genetic sequences that, because of substantial contamination, generally include no more than 4 percent Neandertal DNA. Pääbo and his colleagues recently extracted and sequenced 63 percent of the total Neandertal genome from a bone (SN: 3/14/09, p. 5). “I am envious,” Pääbo says, referring to the completeness and quality of Inuk’s recovered DNA.
Rasmussen and Pääbo agree that a major challenge will be to sequence ancient human genomes from places where remains have not been permanently frozen and most preserved genetic material consists of microbial, rather than human, DNA.
Another challenge is to gain a firmer grasp of genetic variation in modern Arctic populations, so that scientists can more precisely trace Inuk’s geographic roots. “It will become easier to make sense of the genetic data from Greenland as more and more present-day humans become sequenced over the next few years,” Pääbo says.
Found in: Anthropology and Humans
via sciencenews.org
DNA shows Greenland population has Siberian ancestry.
Insurer Denies Life-Prolonging Treatment To Five-Year-Old Boy With Cancer
One of the worst abuses of private insurance companies is the practice of using spurious reasons to deny claims for medical treatments, which are often necessary for saving patients’ lives.
Kyler Van Nocker’s story shows that even 5-year-old kids are not exempt from this insurance company abuse. Van Nocker has neuroblastoma, which is a very rare form of childhood cancer that targets the nervous system and creates tumors throughout the body.
Due to successful treatment in 2007, Van Nocker’s cancer went into remission, giving him 12 months of pain-free life. Unfortunately, in Sept. 2008, the cancer returned, and Van Nocker was once again in need of treatment. Unfortunately, his health insurer, HealthAmerica, refused to pay for one form of treatment doctors believe could save his life (MIBG treatment) because they consider it “investigational/experimental” since it has yet to be approved by the FDA.
Yet in April 2008, the insurer approved cheaper treatment for Van Nocker that was also “experimental,” prompting Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky to ask, “So why, pray tell, is HealthAmerica playing the ‘experimental therapy’ card in the case of the MIBG treatment Kyler now needs? Gee, money couldn’t have anything to do with the decision, could it?”
Van Nocker’s parents are suing HealthAmerica, citing the fact that the company has apparently been dishonest about its criteria for the types of treatment it will cover and is denying payment for treatment in this case because of the high cost of the procedure — $110,000 pays for only two rounds of MIBG treatment. “These companies have to be brought to the courthouse to get them to do the right thing,” says the VanNockers’s family attorney. “This child needs this treatment, or else.”
The sad truth is that Van Nocker is certainly not alone in having his claim denied by a major health insurer. The California Nurses Association (CNA), a nurses’ union and health care advocacy group, recently released a comprehensive study of claims denials across California. The study found that the six largest insurers in California rejected 47.7 million claims in the first half of 2009, nearly 22 percent of all claims submitted.
The United States is the only industrialized nation without cradle-to-the-grave, universal health care. In no other developed country would a child with cancer have to go without care because an insurance company decided it was not profitable enough to cover him.
Another reason why we need Congress to do something about health care.
Insurer Denies Life-Prolonging Treatment To Five-Year-Old Boy With Cancer
One of the worst abuses of private insurance companies is the practice of using spurious reasons to deny claims for medical treatments, which are often necessary for saving patients’ lives.
Kyler Van Nocker’s story shows that even 5-year-old kids are not exempt from this insurance company abuse. Van Nocker has neuroblastoma, which is a very rare form of childhood cancer that targets the nervous system and creates tumors throughout the body.
Due to successful treatment in 2007, Van Nocker’s cancer went into remission, giving him 12 months of pain-free life. Unfortunately, in Sept. 2008, the cancer returned, and Van Nocker was once again in need of treatment. Unfortunately, his health insurer, HealthAmerica, refused to pay for one form of treatment doctors believe could save his life (MIBG treatment) because they consider it “investigational/experimental” since it has yet to be approved by the FDA.
Yet in April 2008, the insurer approved cheaper treatment for Van Nocker that was also “experimental,” prompting Philadelphia Daily News columnist Ronnie Polaneczky to ask, “So why, pray tell, is HealthAmerica playing the ‘experimental therapy’ card in the case of the MIBG treatment Kyler now needs? Gee, money couldn’t have anything to do with the decision, could it?”
Van Nocker’s parents are suing HealthAmerica, citing the fact that the company has apparently been dishonest about its criteria for the types of treatment it will cover and is denying payment for treatment in this case because of the high cost of the procedure — $110,000 pays for only two rounds of MIBG treatment. “These companies have to be brought to the courthouse to get them to do the right thing,” says the VanNockers’s family attorney. “This child needs this treatment, or else.”
The sad truth is that Van Nocker is certainly not alone in having his claim denied by a major health insurer. The California Nurses Association (CNA), a nurses’ union and health care advocacy group, recently released a comprehensive study of claims denials across California. The study found that the six largest insurers in California rejected 47.7 million claims in the first half of 2009, nearly 22 percent of all claims submitted.
The United States is the only industrialized nation without cradle-to-the-grave, universal health care. In no other developed country would a child with cancer have to go without care because an insurance company decided it was not profitable enough to cover him.
Another reason why we need Congress to do something about health care.
Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Which stories do social creatures want to share, and why?
Skip to next paragraphTierneyLab
Go to TierneyLabDo you like to share awe-inspiring articles with your friends? Or do you have other motives? Join the discussion.
RSS Feed
Now some answers are emerging thanks to a rich new source of data: you, Dear Reader.
( Read more... )Building on prior research, the Penn researchers defined the quality as an “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.”
They used two criteria for an awe-inspiring story: Its scale is large, and it requires “mental accommodation” by forcing the reader to view the world in a different way.
“It involves the opening and broadening of the mind,” write Dr. Berger and Dr. Milkman, who is a behavioral economist at Wharton.
Sociologists have developed elaborate theories of who spreads gossip and news — who tells whom, who matters most in social networks — but they’ve had less success measuring what kind of information travels fastest. Do people prefer to spread good news or bad news? Would we rather scandalize or enlighten? Which stories do social creatures want to share, and why?
Skip to next paragraphTierneyLab
Go to TierneyLabDo you like to share awe-inspiring articles with your friends? Or do you have other motives? Join the discussion.
RSS Feed
Now some answers are emerging thanks to a rich new source of data: you, Dear Reader.
( Read more... )Building on prior research, the Penn researchers defined the quality as an “emotion of self-transcendence, a feeling of admiration and elevation in the face of something greater than the self.”
They used two criteria for an awe-inspiring story: Its scale is large, and it requires “mental accommodation” by forcing the reader to view the world in a different way.
“It involves the opening and broadening of the mind,” write Dr. Berger and Dr. Milkman, who is a behavioral economist at Wharton.
