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WSOF 6: Moraes KOs Beebe Full Fight Video Highlights
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Novel mutations define 2 types of bone tumor
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PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 27-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
0044-012-234-92368
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
2 related genes underlie the development of two rare bone tumours in nearly 100 percent of patients
Scientists have made a rare discovery that allows them to attribute two types of tumour almost entirely to specific mutations that lie in two related genes.
These mutations are found in nearly 100 per cent of patients suffering from two rare bone tumours; chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of the bone.
Chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bone are benign bone tumours that primarily affect adolescents and young adults, respectively. They can be extremely debilitating tumours and recur despite surgery. Occasionally, these tumours can be difficult to differentiate from highly malignant bone cancers. The mutations found in this study may be used for diagnosis of chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour. In addition, the mutations offer a starting point into research for a specific treatment against these tumours.
"This is an exceptional, if not a once in a lifetime discovery for the team," says Dr Peter Campbell, co-lead author of the study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
"What we normally see is that the same mutations occur in many different types of tumour. These mutations, however, are highly specific to these tumours. Moreover, our findings suggest that these mutations are the key, if not the sole, driving force behind these tumours."
The team sequenced the full genomes of six chondroblastoma tumours and found that all six tumours had mutations in one of two related genes, H3F3A and H3F3B, which produce an identical protein, called histone 3.3.
Extending the study to more chondroblastoma tumours and to other bone tumours, they were able to verify that this mutation was found in almost all cases of chondroblastoma. Interestingly, the team also observed that most cases of a different type of bone tumour, giant cell tumour of bone, have a mutation in the H3F3A gene, albeit in a different position in the gene. A pattern emerged where both tumour types, chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bone, are defined by specific histone 3.3 mutations.
The team pinpointed the specificity of these mutations to affecting a single amino acid residue on the histone 3.3 protein; G34W amino acid residue underlies giant cell tumour of the bone and K36M amino acid residue underlies chondroblastoma.
"The high prevalence of these mutations in each tumour type is striking, but what's most remarkable is the unprecedented specificity of these mutations," says Dr Sam Behjati, first author from the Wellcome trust Sanger Institute. "The specificity of the mutations not only informs us about how these tumours develop, but also points to some fundamental function of these genes in normal bone development."
"Our findings will be highly beneficial to clinicians as we now have a diagnostic marker to differentiate chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bones from other bone tumours," says Professor Adrienne Flanagan, co-lead author from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, and UCL Cancer Institute. "This study highlights the importance of continuing to sequence all types of human cancer."
"We are also extremely grateful to our patients and collaborators, without their help we would not have been able to study these extremely rare diseases," adds Professor Flanagan.
###
Notes to Editors
The Skeletal Cancer Action Trust (Scat) is a small charity, based in the heart of the RNOH with the bone cancer (Sarcoma) team. Scat is unique in its offering of high performance limbs (C-limbs) to teenagers and young adults.
http://www.scatbonecancertrust.org
Publication Details
Sam Behjati, Patrick S Tarpey, Nadge Presneau et al (2013) 'Distinct H3F3A and H3F3B driver mutations define chondroblastoma and giant cell tumor of bone'
Advanced online publication in Nature Genetics, 27 October, 2013. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2814
Funding
This work was supported by funding the Wellcome Trust, and Skeletal Cancer Action Trust (SCAT), UK, and Rosetrees Trust UK.
Participating Centres
- Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1SA, UK
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY
- University College London Cancer Institute, Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Universittsklinik fr Orthopdie und Orthopdische Chirurgie, Medizinische Universitt, Graz, Austria
- Histopathology, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 4LP, UK
- Human Genome Laboratory, Department of Human Genetics, VIB and KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 box 602, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Tumour Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital,
- The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Bone Tumour Reference Centre, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Haematology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY
Selected Websites
Scat is a unique charity which supports research into the cause and treatment of musculoskeletal tumours. Scat's 'Live life to the Full' project also tries to enhance the lives of young people who have been afflicted with this disease and fund patients who suffered the terrible trauma of amputation with high performance limbs.
In addition to Scat's 'Live Life' campaign, the charity also prime pumps key research projects, particularly regarding the DNA of bone cancer and improvements in treatment. Scat believes that research is our investment in fighting back , armed with more information and knowledge, in the hope of prevention and cure. Partners include UCL and The Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Scat is an effective, small charity in the heart of the Sarcoma Unit of the RNOH that relies heavily on every donor and fundraiser in its work to change lives of bone cancer patients both now and in the future. Donations can be made via Virgin Moneygiving on the home page of
http://www.scatbonecancertrust.org
The RNOH is the largest specialist orthopaedic hospital in the UK and is regarded as a leader in the field of orthopaedics. The Trust provides a comprehensive and unique range of neuro-musculoskeletal healthcare, ranging from acute spinal injuries to orthopaedic medicine and specialist rehabilitation for chronic back pain sufferers. RNOH has the largest spinal surgery service in Europe with a third of UK spinal scoliosis surgery and two thirds of specialist peripheral nerve injury work.
http://www.rnoh.nhs.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
Contact details
Aileen Sheehy Press Officer
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 492 368
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk
[
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.
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: 27-Oct-2013
[
]
ShareContact: Aileen Sheehy
press.office@sanger.ac.uk
0044-012-234-92368
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
2 related genes underlie the development of two rare bone tumours in nearly 100 percent of patients
Scientists have made a rare discovery that allows them to attribute two types of tumour almost entirely to specific mutations that lie in two related genes.
These mutations are found in nearly 100 per cent of patients suffering from two rare bone tumours; chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of the bone.
Chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bone are benign bone tumours that primarily affect adolescents and young adults, respectively. They can be extremely debilitating tumours and recur despite surgery. Occasionally, these tumours can be difficult to differentiate from highly malignant bone cancers. The mutations found in this study may be used for diagnosis of chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour. In addition, the mutations offer a starting point into research for a specific treatment against these tumours.
"This is an exceptional, if not a once in a lifetime discovery for the team," says Dr Peter Campbell, co-lead author of the study from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
"What we normally see is that the same mutations occur in many different types of tumour. These mutations, however, are highly specific to these tumours. Moreover, our findings suggest that these mutations are the key, if not the sole, driving force behind these tumours."
The team sequenced the full genomes of six chondroblastoma tumours and found that all six tumours had mutations in one of two related genes, H3F3A and H3F3B, which produce an identical protein, called histone 3.3.
Extending the study to more chondroblastoma tumours and to other bone tumours, they were able to verify that this mutation was found in almost all cases of chondroblastoma. Interestingly, the team also observed that most cases of a different type of bone tumour, giant cell tumour of bone, have a mutation in the H3F3A gene, albeit in a different position in the gene. A pattern emerged where both tumour types, chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bone, are defined by specific histone 3.3 mutations.
The team pinpointed the specificity of these mutations to affecting a single amino acid residue on the histone 3.3 protein; G34W amino acid residue underlies giant cell tumour of the bone and K36M amino acid residue underlies chondroblastoma.
"The high prevalence of these mutations in each tumour type is striking, but what's most remarkable is the unprecedented specificity of these mutations," says Dr Sam Behjati, first author from the Wellcome trust Sanger Institute. "The specificity of the mutations not only informs us about how these tumours develop, but also points to some fundamental function of these genes in normal bone development."
"Our findings will be highly beneficial to clinicians as we now have a diagnostic marker to differentiate chondroblastoma and giant cell tumour of bones from other bone tumours," says Professor Adrienne Flanagan, co-lead author from the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, and UCL Cancer Institute. "This study highlights the importance of continuing to sequence all types of human cancer."
"We are also extremely grateful to our patients and collaborators, without their help we would not have been able to study these extremely rare diseases," adds Professor Flanagan.
###
Notes to Editors
The Skeletal Cancer Action Trust (Scat) is a small charity, based in the heart of the RNOH with the bone cancer (Sarcoma) team. Scat is unique in its offering of high performance limbs (C-limbs) to teenagers and young adults.
http://www.scatbonecancertrust.org
Publication Details
Sam Behjati, Patrick S Tarpey, Nadge Presneau et al (2013) 'Distinct H3F3A and H3F3B driver mutations define chondroblastoma and giant cell tumor of bone'
Advanced online publication in Nature Genetics, 27 October, 2013. DOI: 10.1038/ng.2814
Funding
This work was supported by funding the Wellcome Trust, and Skeletal Cancer Action Trust (SCAT), UK, and Rosetrees Trust UK.
Participating Centres
- Cancer Genome Project, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, CB10 1SA, UK
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY
- University College London Cancer Institute, Huntley Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Universittsklinik fr Orthopdie und Orthopdische Chirurgie, Medizinische Universitt, Graz, Austria
- Histopathology, Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 4LP, UK
- Human Genome Laboratory, Department of Human Genetics, VIB and KU Leuven, Herestraat 49 box 602, B-3000 Leuven, Belgium
- Department of Tumour Biology, Institute for Cancer Research, Oslo University Hospital,
- The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway
- Bone Tumour Reference Centre, Institute of Pathology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland
- Department of Haematology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge, CB2 2XY
Selected Websites
Scat is a unique charity which supports research into the cause and treatment of musculoskeletal tumours. Scat's 'Live life to the Full' project also tries to enhance the lives of young people who have been afflicted with this disease and fund patients who suffered the terrible trauma of amputation with high performance limbs.
In addition to Scat's 'Live Life' campaign, the charity also prime pumps key research projects, particularly regarding the DNA of bone cancer and improvements in treatment. Scat believes that research is our investment in fighting back , armed with more information and knowledge, in the hope of prevention and cure. Partners include UCL and The Wellcome Sanger Institute.
Scat is an effective, small charity in the heart of the Sarcoma Unit of the RNOH that relies heavily on every donor and fundraiser in its work to change lives of bone cancer patients both now and in the future. Donations can be made via Virgin Moneygiving on the home page of
http://www.scatbonecancertrust.org
The RNOH is the largest specialist orthopaedic hospital in the UK and is regarded as a leader in the field of orthopaedics. The Trust provides a comprehensive and unique range of neuro-musculoskeletal healthcare, ranging from acute spinal injuries to orthopaedic medicine and specialist rehabilitation for chronic back pain sufferers. RNOH has the largest spinal surgery service in Europe with a third of UK spinal scoliosis surgery and two thirds of specialist peripheral nerve injury work.
http://www.rnoh.nhs.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
Contact details
Aileen Sheehy Press Officer
Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK
Tel +44 (0)1223 492 368
Mobile +44 (0)7753 7753 97
Email press.office@sanger.ac.uk
[
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/2013-10/wtsi-nmd102413.php
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Can You Teach Compassion?
Photo by Robert Sorbo/Reuters
We can be healthier, live longer, and make the world a better place by exploring our potential for compassionate behavior, according to neurosurgeon James Doty, founder and director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, part of the Stanford Institute for Neuro-Innovation and Translational Neurosciences.
Where does your strong interest in compassion, altruism and empathy come from?
Having grown up in poverty with a father who was an alcoholic and a mother who was an invalid, I was exposed to suffering—lack of shelter, lack of food. Sometimes you would see people in positions of power or wealth who could intervene to help, and either would be silent observers or would turn away. And then you would see other people who would immediately reach out. Why is it that there are some who are immediately engaged, and others who turn away as soon as they see suffering because they don't want any proximity to it? That paradox stuck with me.
So much so that you founded the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University?
Yes. Later in life, when I got into a position in which I could more seriously think about this, I began conversations with my colleagues at Stanford which led to preliminary research efforts. I also wanted the Dalai Lama to come to Stanford to speak because I thought his message on the importance of compassion was compelling. He did come, and it led to individuals donating significant sums, and it began a research effort, which continues.
What is the goal of the center?
Its mission is to understand the neuroscience of compassion and altruism on a deep level, and the impact of these behaviors on health and longevity. One goal is how to maximize an individual's potential in these areas.
Why is that worth exploring?
We know that as a species we flourish and thrive when we care for others. Not only do you feel happier, but you live better, you feel better, you live longer. And it's a self-supporting activity in the sense that when you do those activities and they make you feel good, it makes you want to continue. It's a boon to humanity, but also to one's self.
Might some people still think you are simply saying "it's nice to be good"?
If we can show that you have the potential to increase your capacity for kindness and caring, and that this should result in dramatic improvements in your personal relationships, significant decrease in inflammation, improvement in cardiac function, increase in your telomere length (the DNA that protects the ends of your chromosomes), which increases longevity. ... If we can show you this proposition, then I think it is different to that.
Some people react with compassion when seeing another's suffering, and some don't. Is this divide a result of nature versus nurture?
It's an open question, but most likely a mix. You can fall back on the happiness literature and say the nature/nurture split is 50–50. We know that genes have a significant impact on behavior. For example, with a female rodent who typically would be protective of her young, if we manipulate a particular gene by turning it off, then she abandons them. We also know that variations in gene receptors for oxytocin can result in individuals being less altruistic. I suspect that, like happiness, we will find a similar split between how one's DNA and environment affects their ability to be kind and caring.
Can we all become more compassionate?
There's a small subset of people on the side of extraordinarily kind, compassionate, and that's their baseline—Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama. And then there's a fairly small group who, no matter what we do to try to potentiate their capacity for compassion, don't have that capacity. Between those extremes are the rest of us, who can probably benefit from some kind of intervention or training when it comes to our ability to be altruistic or compassionate.
So how does CCARE try to intervene?
It has a program of compassion-cultivation training courses that includes both meditation and group-focused activities. There are also other institutions in the United States and internationally that have intervention or training programs of which a large component focuses on increasing compassion.
What effect are these measures having?
There's preliminary data that people who take our eight-week course show greater compassion. We also did some work with Stanford psychologist Jeanne Tsai in which individuals went through our training and then we studied how they responded to a scenario of writing to someone in prison for murder. Some think being compassionate means you give others a free pass regarding responsibility. But what was found was that no one gave this presumed murderer a free pass. They held them to be responsible but also encouraged them that they did have a future.
Could what is being learned about altruism help us tackle challenges such as war and injustice?
Research has shown that there is a tendency, based on evolutionary aspects, for us to define a tribe or an anchor, an in-group and out-group. Ultimately this doesn't work for the greater good. To overcome these natural mechanisms, certain techniques help: simply looking at that other group, whose members you would not normally feel kinship with, and saying, "Well, it turns out that they want their children to be educated like mine. They have the same interest in seeing X, Y or Z occur, just like me." It has a profound effect on how you perceive your responsibility to others. It gives you the realization of our shared humanity and interdependence. It changes how you interact.
The Dalai Lama donated to CCARE. Can a body funded by a religious leader do good science?
The Dalai Lama has had an interest in the neuroscience of meditation for more than 30 years, and which is more recently focused on compassion. But there is not one shred of evidence that there was ever any agenda related to the promotion of Buddhism. He has very specifically separated empirical science from religious dogma in his talks.
Where does the work of CCARE go from here?
I would like to create a virtual compassion gym, where individuals get a psychological profile which takes into account what resonates with them, be it spirituality or religiosity, or other types of philosophies. Additionally, we would incorporate what we have learned from online gaming and psychology on engagement. Based on that, we would create a plan so they can strengthen their compassion muscle and then show how they benefit, both mentally and physiologically. If we've done our work correctly, the results will be strong motivators for them to continue, hopefully making their lives and society better.
How hopeful are you that the world can become a more compassionate place?
I think that we're really seeing a sea change in how people perceive their place in the world. The millennium generation is the first to grow up with 24/7 access to global information. When you see the suffering of others, you realize that those individuals could just as easily have been you. It's much easier to say, "I can't let that happen—I feel their pain." That is how humanity is going to survive.
This article originally appeared in New Scientist.
Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2013/10/stanford_compassion_and_altruism_research_james_doty_and_the_dalai_lama.html
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Ripples of fear after Dominican citizenship ruling
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Maria Julia Deguis, 10, looks out from her home in Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Maria, like with her mother and brother, is of Haitian descent and was born in the D.R., but she may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Maria Julia Deguis, 10, looks out from her home in Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Maria, like with her mother and brother, is of Haitian descent and was born in the D.R., but she may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, an elderly woman walks between homes in the village of Los Jovillos, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. The country's Constitutional Court ruled that people who were born in the D.R. after 1929 but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship under a new constitution adopted in 2010. The government is under fire from human rights advocates for the ruling they see as racist. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Abelinda Yisten Debel pauses while doing her high school homework at her home in the Los Jovillos village, known as a batey in the Monte Plata province of Dominican Republic. Yisten, 19, was born in the Dominican Republic but now may lose her citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision that ruled that people who were born in the D.R. after 1929 but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship. “It’s sad because I’m not a foreigner. I’m from here,” she said. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Oct. 1, 2013 photo, Manuel de Jesus Dandre, a lawyer and activist for Haitian migrants rights who was born in the D.R. and is of Haitian descent, shows his Dominican ID card and bar license during a news conference in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The Constitutional Court ruled that people who were born in the Dominican Republic but whose parents were not either citizens or legal residents, are not automatically entitled to citizenship, and ordered the government and the Electoral Council to compile a list of people who should be stripped of their Dominican birth certificate and identification card. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
In this Sept. 30, 2013 photo, Juliana Deguis Pierre, behind left, a Dominican woman of Haitian descent, stands inside the kitchen of her home with her daughter Mairobi and mother Maria in the Los Jovillos village, known as a batey, in the Monte Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Juliana and her daughter Maria are two of many who were born in the Dominican Republic but may now lose their citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision. (AP Photo/Manuel Diaz)
LOS JOVILLOS, Dominican Republic (AP) — In a house with no running water surrounded by vast stretches of sugar cane, Abelinda Yisten Debel studies for a high school graduation exam she might not be allowed to take.
It's not just her diploma that's uncertain. The 19-year-old Yisten also faces the prospect of not being able to marry, get a formal job, or go to a public hospital if she gets sick.
She is one of an estimated 200,000 people who were born in the Dominican Republic and now may lose their citizenship, and the rights that go along with it, because of a recent Constitutional Court decision.
The court ruled that people who were born in the Dominican Republic to parents who were neither citizens nor legal residents are not automatically entitled to citizenship under a new constitution adopted in 2010. The effects of the decision are retroactive, and come as a particular shock to people like Yisten, who has rarely ventured beyond the dirt streets of her village and never traveled farther than the capital.
"It's sad because I'm not a foreigner. I'm from here," she said at her home — two rooms in a concrete barracks-like structure, built by the government for sugar workers, where 10 families share a bathroom.
Many in her central Dominican village, Los Jovillos, and across the country are waiting to learn their fate, some afraid to leave the house for fear they may be deported by immigration authorities — most likely to Haiti since most are of Haitian descent — because they have no papers. Some have lived in the Dominican Republic for generations.
"If they grab me, I'll be in trouble because I don't know where I would go. I've never even been to Haiti," said Juliana Deguis Pierre, the woman whose legal challenge resulted in the Constitutional Court ruling Sept. 23.
The court ordered the government and the Electoral Council to compile a list within two years of people who should be stripped of their Dominican birth certificate and identification card, known as a cedula, a document issued at age 18 that is required to participate in any public activity, from holding a job to casting a ballot.
Now, fear and uncertainty grip many in the country of 10 million. The government has said it will come up with a path to legal residency, but no details have been released. It may not come in time to help those whose papers have already been confiscated. President Danilo Medina has expressed sympathy for those affected but not said how, or if, he will help them.
The government meanwhile is under fire from human rights advocates at home and abroad for a ruling seen as racist. Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and soon-to-be chairman of the Caribbean Community, urged Medina to find a solution.
"Surely, this ruling by the court is unacceptable in any civilized community," Gonsalves said in a letter to Medina. "It is an affront to all established international norms and elemental humanity, and threatens to make the Dominican Republic a pariah regionally and globally."
Nadine Perrault, a senior regional child protection adviser for UNICEF, said she remains hopeful the government will find a way to avoid what would equate to rendering thousands of people stateless, depriving them of basic social protections.
Perrault also thinks it will be extremely difficult not just to enforce the court order but to determine whose citizenship must be revoked since the ruling applies to anyone born after 1929. "This is going to be impossible to implement," she said.
Already, though, many people have essentially been cut off from society.
The Dominican Republic and Haiti have always been uneasy neighbors and many Dominicans resent the presence of so many Haitians in their country, still poor but better off in relative terms.
For many years, the Dominican Republic granted citizenship to anyone born in its territory. But starting around the 1990s, the government began denying birth certificates and the cedula to the children of people who had entered the country without papers. In 2007, the Electoral Council official ordered the denial of citizenship documents to all children born to illegal immigrants and local officials began confiscating the papers of people who already had their documents.
That's what happened to Yisten. When she turned 18, she went to an Electoral Council office with her birth certificate to obtain her cedula. They took her birth certificate, leaving her only with a photocopy as proof that she was born in the Dominican Republic. "I felt so bad, I almost cried," she says. With no cedula, she can't take the exam and graduate. She keeps studying, but doesn't know if she will be able to get her diploma.
She and her neighbors, most in similar straits, wait to see what happens next. Some in the Dominican Republic say they should just go to Haiti, but it's not clear they will be able to obtain citizenship there and the impoverished country holds little allure.
"I don't know Haiti," said Noelie Cocok, who runs a little store in Los Jovillos. "This is my country
___
Associated Press writer Ezequiel Abiu Lopez reported this story in Los Jovillos and Ben Fox reported from Miami.
___
Ben Fox on Twitter: https://twitter.com/benfoxatap
Ezequiel Abiu Lopez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ezequiel_abiu
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-10-23-Dominican%20Republic-Stripping%20Citizenship/id-47b528b408554a6183baf65512429715Related Topics: nhl school shooting
Report: Obama aware of Merkel spying since 2010
Berlin (AFP) - US President Barack Obama was personally informed of mobile phone tapping against German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which may have begun as early as 2002, German media reported Sunday as a damaging espionage scandal widened.
Bild am Sonntag newspaper quoted US intelligence sources as saying that National Security Agency chief Keith Alexander had briefed Obama on the operation against Merkel in 2010.
"Obama did not halt the operation but rather let it continue," the newspaper quoted a high-ranking NSA official as saying.
News weekly Der Spiegel reported that leaked NSA documents showed that Merkel's phone had appeared on a list of spying targets since 2002, and was still under surveillance shortly before Obama visited Berlin in June.
As a sense of betrayal spread in many world capitals allegedly targeted by the NSA, the spying row prompted European leaders late last week to demand a new deal with Washington on intelligence gathering that would maintain an essential alliance while keeping the fight against terrorism on track.
Germany will send its own spy chiefs to Washington soon to demand answers.
Meanwhile, several thousand protesters gathered in Washington on Saturday to call for new US legislation to curb the NSA's activities and improve privacy.
Merkel confronted Obama with the snooping allegations in a phone call on Wednesday saying that such spying would be a "breach of trust" between international partners.
The suspicion also prompted Berlin to summon the US ambassador -- a highly unusual move between the close allies.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported that Obama had told Merkel during their call that he had been unaware of any spying against her. It did not cite its sources.
Der Spiegel said he told her that if he had been informed of the operation he would have stopped it at once.
Other media reports said that Obama's National Security Advisor Susan Rice had also told German officials the president knew nothing of the spying.
Merkel's office declined to comment on what Obama told her during their talk.
The White House has said it is not monitoring Merkel's phone calls and will not do so in future, but it has refused to say whether the United States has ever spied on her in the past.
Two phones monitored
Bild am Sonntag said that Obama wanted to be informed in detail about Merkel, who has played a decisive role in the eurozone debt crisis and is widely seen as Europe's most powerful leader.
As a result, the report said, the NSA stepped up its surveillance of her communications, targeting not only the mobile phone she uses to conduct business for her conservative Christian Democratic Union party but also her encrypted official device.
It said US intelligence specialists were then able to monitor the content of her conversations as well as text messages, which Merkel sends by the dozen each day to key associates.
Bild said only the specially secured land line in her office was out of the reach of US spies.
The intelligence gathered was forwarded straight to the White House, without bypassing the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, according to the report.
Bild and Spiegel described a hive of spy activity on the fourth floor of the US embassy in central Berlin, a stone's throw from the government quarter, from which the United States kept tabs on Merkel and other German officials.
If the spying against Merkel began as early as 2002, it would mean the United States under then president George W. Bush targeted her while she was still the country's chief opposition leader, three years before she became chancellor.
Bild said that Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder was also in the NSA's sights because of his vocal opposition to the US invasion of Iraq.
Bush was also mistrustful of the Social Democrat because of his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the report added.
As anger simmered in Berlin over the alleged NSA action, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich sharpened his tone against Washington.
"Surveillance is a crime and those responsible must be brought to justice," he told Bild am Sonntag.
A poll for the newspaper found that 76 percent of Germans believe Obama should apologise for the alleged spying on Merkel, and 60 percent said the scandal had damaged or badly damaged German-US ties.
- Politics & Government
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- Bild am Sonntag
- National Security Agency
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Can Google actually protect vulnerable sites from attack?
Google last week announced a beta service that will offer protection from Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) to human rights organizations and media, in and effort to slow the amount of censorship that such attacks cause.
The announcement of Project Shield came during a presentation at the Conflict in a Connected World summit in New York. The gathering included security experts, hacktivists, dissidents, and technologists, in order to explore the nature of conflict and how online tools can both be a source of protection and harm when it comes to expression, and information sharing.
Protecting free speech
"As long as people have expressed ideas, others have tried to silence them. Today one out of every three people lives in a society that is severely censored. Online barriers can include everything from filters that block content to targeted attacks designed to take down websites. For many people, these obstacles are more than an inconvenience—they represent full-scale repression," the company explained in a blog post.
Project Shield uses Google's massive infrastructure to absorb DDoS attacks. Enrollment in the service is by invitation only at the moment, but it could be expanded considerable in the future. The service is free, but will follow page speed pricing, should Google open enrollment and charge for it down the line.
However, while the service is sure to help smaller websites, such as those ran by dissidents exposing corrupt regimes, or media speaking out against those in power, Google makes no promises.
"No guarantees are made in regards to uptime or protection levels. Google has designed its infrastructure to defend itself from quite large attacks and this initiative is aimed at providing a similar level of protection to third-party websites," the company explains in a Project Shield outline.
Inviting new types of attacks
One problem Project Shield may inadvertently create is a change in tactics. If the common forms of DDoS attacks are blocked, then more advanced forms of attack will be used. Such an escalation has already happened for high value targets, such as banks and other financial services websites.
"Using Google's infrastructure to absorb DDoS attacks is structurally like using a CDN (Content Delivery Network) and has the same pros and cons," Shuman Ghosemajumder, VP of strategy at Shape Security, told CSO during an interview.
The types of attacks a CDN would solve, he explained, are network-based DoS and DDoS attacks. These are the most common, and the most well-known attack types, as they've been around the longest.
In 2000, flood attacks were in the 400Mb/sec range, but today's attacks scale to regularly exceed 100Gb/sec, according to anti-DDoS vendor Arbor Networks. In 2010, Arbor started to see a trend led by attackers who were advancing DDoS campaigns, by developing new tactics, tools, and targets. What that has led to is a threat that mixes flood, application and infrastructure attacks in a single, blended attack.
"It is unclear how effective [Project Shield] would be against Application Layer DoS attacks, where web servers are flooded with HTTP requests. These represent more leveraged DoS attacks, requiring less infrastructure on the part of the attacker, but are still fairly simplistic. If the DDoS protection provided operates at the application layer, then it could help," Ghosemajumder said.
"What it would not protect against is Advanced Denial of Service attacks, where the attacker uses knowledge of the application to directly attack the origin server, databases, and other backend systems which cannot be protected against by a CDN and similar means."
Google hasn't mentioned directly the number of sites currently being protected by Project Shield, so there is no way to measure the effectiveness of the program form the outside.
In related news, Google also released a second DDoS related tool on Monday, which is possible thanks to data collected by Arbor networks. The Digital Attack Map, as the tool is called, is a monitoring system that allows users to see historical DDoS attack trends, and connect them to related news events on any given day. The data is also shown live, and can be granularly sorted by location, time, and attack type.
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White House Turns To 'Rock Star' Manager For Obamacare Fix
Jeffrey Zients was tapped to help fix problems with the Obama administration's heath care website.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
Jeffrey Zients isn't exactly a household name. But if he can cure what ails the Affordable Care Act website, he'll be one of the best-known figures in the Obama administration.
Zients (rhymes with Heinz) is the professional manager President Obama turned to in order to solve the by-now-infamous problems with the federal government's health care exchange website.
Zients was settling into his job as the head of Obama's National Economic Council when the president tapped him to help rescue the site. The 46-year old is known as a brainy problem-solver with a knack for cutting through bureaucratic knots.
It was Zients, for instance, whom Obama turned to at an earlier point to unstick the "Cash for Clunkers" initiative. That 2009-2010 federal effort to lift auto sales out of the doldrums by underwriting dealer rebates to car buyers had stalled when the computer systems were overwhelmed with requests. Zients is credited with overseeing that fix.
Zients performed a similar managerial feat to break a bottleneck on GI Bill benefits for post-9/11 vets.
"Jeff Zients is a rock star," said Vivek Kundra, who served as the Obama administration's chief information officer from 2009 to 2011. "He has an amazing ability to convene the right people, to be pragmatic about problem-solving and to focus the energy of the administration on execution. He can close the gap between the theoretical and the ability to actually deliver something meaningful."
Besides being the administration's chief performance officer during Obama's first term, Zients served two stints as acting director of the Office of Management and Budget.
His OMB experience gave him plenty of experience testifying before Congress. That should come in handy since he's likely to find himself planted for hours on end at the many hearings Congress promises to have on problems with the Obamacare website.
Fred Malek, a long-time Republican fundraiser, adviser to presidents, corporate chieftain and Zients fan, said: "I think he's very well suited for the job. Look, he's not a technology expert but that's not what you need. You have a lot of technology experts being imported to help with this fix.
"What you need is somebody who can manage a team, lead a team, figure out what the most important aspects of things are and drive them toward a positive result," Malek said.
"Jeff is a very good CEO. He works very well with people. He's highly analytical but at the same time has a very nice personal touch which enables him to get buy-in to what he wants to do, to get followership and to get people moving in the right direction," he said. "He understands the world of business. He understands the world of government. He knows enough about technology. But above and beyond everything else, he's just a damn good manager."
That said, here are few more things to know about Zients:
- He and Malek led an investor group (that included Colin Powell) that got Major League Baseball to agree to return a team to Washington. But in one of Zients' few high-profile failures, the MLB awarded the franchise to another group. Still, Malek credits Zients with getting city officials in Washington, D.C., on board with the effort, something Malek hadn't been able to achieve before Zients joined.
- He honed his management chops early and hasn't let them dull. Shortly after graduating from Duke University (summa cum laude, of course, in political science), he became a management consultant, eventually holding the chief executive officer's job and other top posts at two firms that provided corporate clients with research and management advice.
- He had a supersized payday when the two companies went public. In 2002, Fortune estimated his wealth at $149 million, which placed him 25th on its list of the richest Americans then under 40.
- His mother, Debbie Zients, thinks the world of him, telling USA Today that he "has a lot of brains up there but he's very caring and very compassionate."
(Revised at 6:08 pm.)
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