GENEVA (AP) — Officials say U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to Geneva on Friday to participate in nuclear negotiations with Iran and other major powers.
The officials say Kerry will travel to the talks after a brief stop in Israel, where he will hold a third meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's intense interest in Iran's nuclear ambitions is a likely topic between Netanyahu and Kerry as well as Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Iran's plan to cap some of the country's atomic activities in exchange for selective relief from crippling economic sanctions has been accepted by six world powers, the country's chief nuclear negotiator said Thursday.
Kerry's last-minute decision to join the talks suggests a deal could be imminent.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because Kerry has not been formally invited by the Europeans to join the talks.
While the road to Bellator 106 may have been filled with more twists and turns than a Formula One course, the outcome was an unquestionable success. Last Saturday's show, a precarious pay-per-view moved to free TV due to an eleventh hour injury by Tito Ortiz, wound up smashing Bellator's previous ratings records, peaking at 1.4 million viewers and introducing a brand new audience to the Bellator product through one of the year's best fights.
Now, days after a bloodied and battered Eddie Alvarez settled the score with Michael Chandler and set up the salivating prospect of a third fight between the two lightweight standouts, the question stands whether Ortiz's withdrawal, and the subsequent viewership increase Bellator gained from the shift away from pay-per-view, proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Viacom-owned promotion.
"Part of you looks at it and you say hindsight is 20/20," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney told MMAFighting.com. "You go, wow, we got a huge number and we had an amazing fight that a ton of people got to see that wouldn't have otherwise seen it. (They) got to be introduced to the Bellator brand at it's very highest level, so that's a huge positive.
"Of course there are some negatives, economic and otherwise for having to have changed things like we did eight days out. But the magic that Ed and Mike created inside of that cage, and the effort that gave, the power of that performance, is just something that, hopefully, opened a lot of eyes to Bellator. People who, maybe they've never seen it, they didn't watch us regularly on Friday nights, hopefully those people will come back this Friday and the next Friday and the Friday after. So when you look at it that way, it was a huge positive."
Realistically there was never any doubt about the significance of an Alvarez-Chandler rematch. Even when Ortiz and Rampage Jackson officially fronted the card, more fans viewed Alvarez vs. Chandler II as the main event than not. But even in a best case scenario, the buyrate for Bellator 106 would've likely never approached the 1.4 million mark the event drew on Spike TV -- which begs the question, why would Bellator, a promotion by all accounts on the rise, considerably limit viewership by taking its best product to pay-per-view in the first place?
"We were looking at a transition and trying to figure out when would be an appropriate time to do it," Rebney explained. "We signed a big deal with Rampage and Rampage was coming back like gangbusters in terms of his training. I was able to put Quinton in touch with the folks who did the incredible work on Kobe (Bryant's) knee vis-à-vis the blood transfusion work. So it was all kinda coming into focus, and it just looked like the right move at the time to make that change and to go in that direction.
"When you look at what happened on Saturday night, hindsight is always 20/20. Maybe if you could see into the future, you'd say this is an incredible fight. Let's put it on Spike for free and let's introduce the brand to a much bigger audience and give everybody this crazy fight for free, because maybe it'll lead to the trilogy fight, number three, that will be a pure pay-per-view fight. Who knows? But it's tough to say."
Regardless of how things played out, one takeaway from Saturday night is unquestionably true. Alvarez's next fight will be a rubber match against Chandler. And due to the frenetic nature of the first two meetings, it will easily be the most anticipated fight in Bellator history.
Though as to whether the trilogy fight will mark the last fight on Alvarez's new contract, as is widely speculated, Rebney won't say.
"There's a lot of different options on Ed's contract," Rebney explained. "Ed could be with us for a very long period of time or a shorter period of time. There's a lot of different options. We haven't gone into the specifics of what our actual settlement with Ed was, but the next fight with Ed is going to be Mike, and the next fight with Mike is going to be Ed, and then we'll see what the outcome of that fight is. That will dictate what we're going to do next."
In many ways, Alvarez seizing the belt back from Chandler was perhaps the most fitting ending one could draw up after a bitter year-long battle with Bellator locked Alvarez in the courtroom, rather than the cage. At times there seemed to be no end in sight to the dispute, as the relationship between Alvarez and Bellator officials deteriorated into a rancorous war or words, and both sides took their turn airing grievances through the media.
Yet in the aftermath of Saturday night, Alvarez has been the epitome of class, electing not to speak ill about the way everything played out.
"You'd always prefer to have situations work out without any kind of conflict," Rebney said of the courtroom standoff. "It's just human nature that if you can avoid the conflict and things can be positive, you want them to go that way. But look, it was what it was. We had an agreement, we had a specific agreement that we wanted to enforce, and hindsight now, looking back at it, to be able to put on that kind of fight, Ed made great money on Saturday night, Ed's going to have an opportunity to make great money on the third fight. Mike's going to have an opportunity to make great money. It's going to get huge coverage, a very real potential to be an main event on a big pay-per-view. It's all come around. Were there things I'd do differently? I don't know, that's a tough call. I'd have to go back and analyze every step we took.
"When you're building something like this, and you're competing in a space that's as hyper competitive as this with people, there's a reason they call it the fight business. It's not populated by a lot of people who write children's books. It's a tough business, it's a tough industry. It usually involves and engages tough people with dominant personalities. When you get people like that and they're running a business, you're going to run into conflict and you're going to have to fight for certain things."
Among Rebney's loudest critics throughout the Alvarez case was UFC President Dana White, who ultimately lost out on Alvarez's services due to Bellator's courtroom tactics.
As is his way, whether through social media or press events, White has taken more than a few shots at Rebney, who he often refers to as "Bjork." He did so again in the aftermath of Bellator 106, tweeting a congratulations to Alvarez while implying that Chandler's loss was "karma" for the way in which things were handled.
"I'm in the business of mixed martial arts. I'm not a theatrical performer. But occasionally, just like in any situation that anybody would find themselves in, people will say certain things and you just feel an obligation to respond," Rebney said.
"When [White] made the comments a month or so ago about how Bellator had no value, it was three days after his partners had paid us tens of millions of dollars for our rights in Latin America, and I just felt like I gotta say something. When you throw up a softball like that, you'd have to be a fool to not take a swing at it. And when he made the comments that he made via Twitter about karma, it was just like, look, it's not about karma. It's not about some sixth or seventh grade back-and-forth that you have when you're a kid. It's about numbers, it's about ratings. It's about putting on incredible fights for fans. That's what matters. The numbers don't lie. And coming off the heels of a show where his group did 124,000 viewers, where ours did ten times that, it just felt like, you know what, it warranted a response. I've never going to be the guy who goes off on three and four minute profanity laden tirades. That's just not me. But look, let's see how they do on [Wednesday], and then let's see how we do on Friday night.
"Let's compare numbers to numbers," Rebney continued. "That's what the business is. The business is not childish slings.
"When Bellator was very small and insignificant, he had nothing to say. When we were on ESPN Deportes and we were on FOX Sports many years ago, he had nothing to say. Now we're on the No. 1 network in the history of mixed martial arts programming, on Spike, and our ratings are in some instances beating his ratings head-to-head. Now he has a lot to say. I wonder why."
White responded to Rebney's tweet not long after it was posted, referring in part to a .gif which made the internet rounds on Saturday night. The .gif appears to show Rebney shaking his head after the decision was read in Alvarez's favor. However, Rebney dismisses the entire mini-controversy as a misunderstanding.
"It's total nonsense. Total complete and utter nonsense," Rebney said. "I was sitting cageside, sitting next to (announcer) Michael C. Williams, and Michael was reading the decision. Look, I get that we were in southern California, and I get that Michael Chandler is an Alliance guy and he trains out of southern Cal, and I get that he had probably 1,000 or more fans in attendance, but when [Williams] read the decision, and the decision was ‘and the new,' and Ed was given the decision, a lot of fans started booing. I was shaking my head at that. I couldn't believe that fans were actually booing that decision. And some idiot took a picture of me shaking my head at fans booing and then put his own or her own caption on it, which had no basis in reality.
"When two guys give that much heart and soul, and two guys sacrifice that much, it's just inappropriate to boo. I thought it was out of line and I was shaking my head like, what? How do you justify booing something like that? These guys were just willing to die inside this cage to win this fight."
Widespread misunderstanding of the .gif contributed to the idea that despite the excitement of Alvarez-Chandler II and Bellator's subsequent record ratings success, the event may have been seen as a negative. After all, Chandler, Pat Curran, and Muhammed Lawal -- three fighters who Bellator heavily marketed as stars -- all lost on Saturday night, the latter two of which lost in somewhat lethargic fashion.
Rebney, though, vehemently disagrees with that notion.
"It's the absolute opposite. It's what makes us, us," Rebney said. "The reality in Bellator is that the only thing that matters is winning. I don't have a bunch of guys in Chinese suits on their own special floor with an access key sitting behind a big shiny desk with people serving them lunch on trays, deciding who fights who, for what and when. It's just not our policy. It's not how we work. Bellator is about the upset.
"We're not orchestrating it. We're not puppet masters. We're just the purveyors of an incredible sports tournament. Guys are going to lose, guys are going to win, but that's what makes Bellator, Bellator. I have no qualms about, in my mind, who won and who lost."
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Internal Revenue Service issued $4 billion in fraudulent tax refunds last year to people using stolen identities, with some of the money going to addresses in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Ireland, according to a Treasury report released Thursday.
The IRS sent a total of 655 tax refunds to a single address in Lithuania, and 343 refunds went to a lone address in Shanghai.
In the U.S., more fraudulent returns went to Miami than any other city. Other top destinations were Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Houston.
The IRS has stepped up efforts to fight identity theft, but thieves are getting more aggressive, said the report by J. Russell George, Treasury's inspector general for tax administration. Last year, the IRS stopped more than $12 billion in fraudulent refunds from going to identity thieves, compared with $8 billion the year before.
"Identity theft continues to be a serious problem with devastating consequences for taxpayers and an enormous impact on tax administration," George said in a statement. The fraud "erodes taxpayer confidence in the federal tax system."
Thieves often steal Social Security numbers from people who don't have to file tax returns, including the young, the old and people who have died, the report said. In other cases, thieves use stolen Social Security numbers to file fraudulent tax returns before the legitimate taxpayer files.
The IRS, which takes pride in issuing quick refunds, often sends them out before employers are required to file forms documenting wages, the report said.
"The constantly evolving tactics used by scammers to commit identity theft continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing the IRS, and we take this issue very seriously," the IRS said in a statement. "The IRS has a comprehensive and aggressive identity theft strategy that focuses on preventing refund fraud, investigating these crimes and assisting taxpayers victimized by it."
Despite budget cuts, the agency said, agents have resolved more than 565,000 cases of identity theft this year, three times the number of cases resolved at the same time last year.
A separate report by George said the number of identity theft victims is on the rise as thieves get more aggressive.
Through June, the IRS identified 1.6 million victims who had their identities stolen during this year's tax filing season, the report said. That compares with 1.2 million victims in 2012.
Many of these people didn't realize they were victims until they submitted their returns, only to learn from the IRS that someone else had already used their Social Security number to file and claim a refund.
The IRS does a good job of eventually identifying the proper owner of Social Security numbers, but the process can be lengthy, the report said. For cases closed between August 2011 and July 2012, it took an average of 312 days to resolve the case and issue a proper refund, the report said.
The IRS said has resolved most of this year's identity theft cases within 120 days.
Last year, the IRS issued 1.1 million refunds to people using stolen Social Security numbers, the inspector general's report said. Those refunds totaled $3.6 billion.
Additionally, the IRS issued 141,000 refunds last year to people using stolen Taxpayer Identification Numbers, which are typically used by foreign nationals who earn money in the U.S. Those refunds totaled $385 million, the report said.
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Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap
NEW YORK (AP) — "Don't let it be forgot," goes the plaintive song from "Camelot."
It won't be, at least not on TV, where the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's assassination and the end of an era posthumously christened Camelot, is being remembered this month.
More than a dozen new documentary and information specials are among the crop of TV commemorations pegged to this half-century mark of a weekend when, as viewers will be reminded again and again, everything changed.
For anyone who has watched JFK anniversary programming at previous milestones (for instance, there were more than a dozen such shows in 2003), the categories will be familiar.
There are the tick-tock shows, tracking the final hours of Kennedy and/or his alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald:
— "The Final Hours" (National Geographic Channel, Friday at 8 p.m. EST) boasts firsthand accounts of Kennedy's trip to Dallas, narrated by actor Bill Paxton, a native Texan who as a child was on hand to see Kennedy and is captured in a photo of a crowd watching the president speak.
— "'Secrets of the Dead': JFK: One PM Central Standard Time" (PBS, Nov. 13 at 10 p.m. EST) is one of the odder specials on tap. It's no less a valentine to CBS anchor Walter Cronkite than to Kennedy, as it tries to draw parallels between the two men while portraying Cronkite, and how he led CBS' coverage, as the journalist-in-chief of the American press corps.
— "As It Happened: John F. Kennedy 50 Years" (CBS, Nov. 16 at 9 p.m. EST) is anchored by Bob Schieffer, who covered the story in Dallas that weekend.
— "The Day Kennedy Died" (Smithsonian Channel, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. EST).
— "JFK: The Lost Tapes" (Discovery, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. EST) supplements the tragic sequence of events with newly released audio recordings from Air Force One and remastered on-the-scene audio from the Dallas Police Department and other sources.
— "Lee Harvey Oswald: 48 Hours to Live" (History, Nov. 22 at 10 p.m. EST).
— "Capturing Oswald" (Military Channel, Nov. 12 at 10 p.m. EST) pays methodical tribute to Dallas police for their swift arrest of Oswald, arguably glossing over Oswald's murder two days later while in the department's custody. This special is co-produced by Kate Griendling, the granddaughter of Jim Leavelle, who was the white-hatted detective handcuffed to Oswald when Jack Ruby shot him.
Another category of JFK coverage inevitably dwells on the questions that persist surrounding the assassination:
— "JFK: The Smoking Gun" (Reelz, repeating throughout November) is based on the work of retired Australian police Detective Colin McLaren and the book "Mortal Error: The Shot That Killed JFK" by Bonar Menninger. It proposes that a Secret Service agent in the motorcade accidentally fired one of the bullets that struck Kennedy.
— "Fox News Reporting: 50 Years of Questions: The JFK Assassination" (Fox News Channel, Saturday at 9 p.m. EST), anchored by Bill Hemmer, takes a look at the controversy still haunting the FBI investigation, the autopsy report and the Warren Commission's findings.
— "NOVA: Cold Case" (PBS, Nov. 13 at 9 p.m. EST) applies modern forensics to the lingering mysteries of the assassination.
— "The Assassination of JFK (1963)" (CNN, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. EST) is part of "The Sixties," an upcoming 10-part documentary series co-produced with Tom Hanks. This first edition will explore the key conclusions of the Warren Commission.
Further investigations into the Kennedy presidency are offered by these programs:
— "JFK: A President Betrayed" (available on DirecTV on Demand starting Nov. 14) reveals how Kennedy halted a proposed pre-emptive nuclear strike against the Soviet Union that had been planned for 1963.
— "Kennedy's Suicide Bomber" (Smithsonian Channel, Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. EST) tells the story of a would-be assassin who targeted the president-elect a month before he was sworn into office.
Numerous portraits of the fallen president have come before, and for this anniversary there's yet another:
— "American Experience: JFK" (PBS, Nov. 11 and Nov. 12 at 9 p.m. EST) is a four-hour, two-part special that promises "a fresh assessment of the man" from his childhood through death.
And finally, the public is heard from, both then and now:
— "Letters to Jackie" (TLC, Nov. 17 at 9 p.m. EST) invites a roster of celebrities to read a few of the 800,000 condolence letters sent to first lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her family in the two months following the killing.
— "JFK Assassination: The Definitive Guide" (History, Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. EST) offers polling results of thousands of Americans to reveal what they do and don't believe today regarding the shooting and who was responsible (in the process uncovering what the network says are 311 distinctly different conspiracy theories).
— "Where Were You?" (NBC, Nov. 22 at 9 p.m. EST), anchored by Tom Brokaw, combines archival footage with first-person accounts of those (including famous Americans and ordinary citizens) who lived through it.
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EDITOR'S NOTE — Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore@ap.org and at http://www.twitter.com/tvfrazier.
Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
Miami Dolphins coach Joe Philbin talks to the media during a news conference after practice at the Dolphins training center in Davie, Fla., Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013. NFL officials launched an investigation to try and determine who knew what and when about the troubled relationship between offensive lineman Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin. (AP Photo/J Pat Carter)
Miami Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland, left, stands with head trainer Kevin O'Neill, right, during the NFL football team's practice Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, in Davie, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
DAVIE, Fla. (AP) — In a culture that fosters conflict, Jonathan Martin sought to avoid it.
Upset by treatment he considered abusive, the Miami Dolphins tackle let the situation fester for months before leaving the team last week. Martin's agent then complained to the Dolphins, who suspended guard Richie Incognito.
The NFL is investigating whether Incognito harassed or bullied Martin, and whether their teammates and the organization mishandled the matter.
Some say Martin, a Stanford graduate who went about his business quietly, handled the situation well. But pro football is a macho world, and some players believe Martin should have responded more firmly.
"Is Incognito wrong? Absolutely. He's 100 percent wrong," New York Giants safety Antrel Rolle said. "No individual should have to go through that, especially in their workplace.
"But at the same time, Jonathan Martin is a 6-4, 320-pound man. I mean, at some point and time you need to stand your ground as an individual. Am I saying go attack, go fight him? No. I think we all understand we can stand our ground without anything being physical."
Dolphins players have robustly defended Incognito, long considered among the NFL's dirtiest players. He's now a notorious national villain, but teammates praise his leadership and loyalty.
They've been less passionate in their support of Martin, saying he and Incognito behaved like best friends.
"They did a lot of stuff together," tackle Tyson Clabo said. "So if he had a problem with the way he was treating him, he had a funny way of showing it."
Martin is with his family in California to undergo counseling for emotional issues.
A senior partner in a New York law firm was appointed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to investigate possible misconduct and prepare a report. DeMaurice Smith, executive director of the NFL Players Association, said Thursday that he continues to be in touch with those involved.
"The NFLPA has taken steps to ensure that every one of our affected members is represented," Smith said in a statement. "It is our duty as a union to learn the full facts, protect the interests of players involved and hold management accountable to the highest standards of fairness and transparency."
The alleged bullying saga engulfing the Dolphins has shed a light on how damaging perceptions can be in the violent world of the NFL.
A Pittsburgh native, Martin is the son of Harvard graduates and his great grandfather also graduated from the school in 1924. At Stanford he protected Andrew Luck's blind side, and also majored in the classics.
Taken in the second round of the 2012 draft, Martin has what it takes physically to be an NFL player — size, skill, athleticism, intelligence. He won praise from the Dolphins for his diligent study of game and practice video.
But while has been a starter since the first game of his rookie season, Martin developed a reputation in the NFL for lacking toughness. That impression might have been reinforced by the way he handled his issues with Incognito, current and former teammates acknowledge.
"A lot of people might look at Jonathan Martin and think that he's soft because he stepped away from the game, and say, 'Why don't you just fight him?'" said Seattle Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin, who played with Martin at Stanford. "Well, if you look at it with common sense and being logical, what options did Jonathan Martin have?
"He could fight Richie Incognito. He could go and tell on the players, which we know in the football locker room doesn't go over too well. Or he could remove himself from the situation and let the proper channels take care of itself. And I think he made the intelligent, smart choice without putting himself or Richie Incognito's physical abilities in danger."
Houston Texans Antonio Smith, who has accused Incognito of dirty play since they went against each other in college, said Martin should have responded more forcefully. Smith drew a three-game suspension this year for taking Incognito's helmet and hitting him during an exhibition game.
"I don't think that in my opinion a grown man should get bullied," Smith said. "And I think that if you're realistically getting bullied, there's only one way my mom taught me and my dad taught me how to get rid of bullies. They used to always say, 'You hit a bully in the mouth. It will stop him from bullying, no matter what you hit him with.'"
Incognito's harassment of Martin included text messages that were racist and threatening, two people familiar with the situation have told The Associated Press. Incognito is white, while Martin is biracial.
Two other people familiar with the situation have said Martin talked of quitting football earlier in his pro career before leaving the Dolphins. One person said Martin considered giving up the sport because of the way he was being treated by other offensive linemen on the team. The person added that Martin now wants to continue his football career.
The Dolphins (4-4) play for the first time since the scandal broke Monday night at Tampa Bay (0-8). At least 75 reporters and cameramen tracking the case were in the locker room after Thursday's practice, but receiver Brian Hartline said the scrutiny won't prevent the team from playing well.
"It almost heightens your awareness," he said. "You know it's going to take away from your focus, so it does the exact opposite. You overcompensate to make sure you stay aware of the game."
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AP Sports Writers Tim Booth in Seattle, Tom Canavan in East Rutherford, N.J., and Kristie Rieken in Houston contributed to this report.
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AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL
___
Follow Steven Wine on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Steve_Wine
Google already hopes to prevent security threats in Chrome by blocking downloads, and it's now planning a similarly cautious approach for extensions. The company has announced that all extensions for the browser's Windows beta and stable versions must be hosted in the Chrome Web Store as of January. While developers and corporate users will still get to install add-ons from local sources, the rest of us will have to go through the official portal. The safeguard should reduce the chances that deceptive extensions hijack the app, according to engineering lead Erik Kay. Google tells us that there aren't any plans to put similar limits on other platforms, since most complaints about bad extensions come from Windows surfers. The policy could go a long way toward protecting Chrome, albeit at the expense of choice -- developers who don't want to go use the Web Store will soon be out of luck.
On Wednesday, Facebook released a digital resource center to expand its efforts against online harassment.
Facebook
On Wednesday, Facebook released a digital resource center to expand its efforts against online harassment.
Facebook
Facebook has rolled out a tool to address online harassment that some digital safety advocates are calling a beneficial, but belated, first step.
The social networking site with 1.2 billion users worldwide released a "bullying prevention hub" this week. It's essentially an online resource center with suggestions for teens, parents and educators on how to address bullying — both online and off — and take action on Facebook.
The site is also beginning to roll out more options for teens to report when posts are making them uncomfortable.
The idea is to build on Facebook's existing tools, says company spokesman Matt Steinfeld.
For example, the site unveiled social reporting in 2011, which encouraged users to send a message to a friend asking for help or ask another user to take down a photo. The latter was particularly successful, Steinfeld says: 83 percent of the time, if you reach out to a user who has a photo you don't want to be in, that user will take it off.
"We were pretty impressed when we rolled out social reporting a couple of years ago that people were willing to engage with each other, as long as we suggested some text to use," he says.
An example of the reporting tool that Facebook is in the process of making available to its users.
Facebook
An example of the reporting tool that Facebook is in the process of making available to its users.
Facebook
And Facebook hopes this will be true of bullying as well. The hub gives suggested conversation starters for victims ("Hey, NAME — that comment wasn't funny. I don't like it, please take it down"), as well as for people who are accused of bullying and people who witness it.
"There's a lot of literature on how people interact face to face. ... What we're trying to do is apply those studies to an online setting. And it's tough," Steinfeld says. "People are really hungry for help."
Innovative, Or Too Late?
Jim Steyer is CEO of Common Sense Media, an organization that promotes safe technology and media for kids, and he says he's glad to see Facebook taking positive steps toward combating online harassment. He also says this should have been done earlier.
"We think cyberbullying is an enormous challenge facing every young person," Steyer says. "Facebook has been a big part of the problem in this area."
He also says that Facebook's "ever-changing privacy policy" confuses users instead of keeping them safe.
But Facebook's Steinfeld says the company is serious about the cause. "Bullying prevention has been something we've worked on for a long time," he says. "We're the first Internet company that's putting bullying prevention resources in the heart of the product itself."
Other Internet companies are, more and more, taking the blame for recent bullying-related teen suicides.
Rebecca Ann Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl who died in September, had been harassed on Facebook, The New York Times reports. But after her mother closed Rebecca's account, the bullying returned viciously on other social messaging applications, like Ask.fm, Kik and Voxer.
London's The Telegraph also links Ask.fm — a site where people can ask each other questions, often anonymously — to several teen suicides in Britain and Ireland.
Beyond Facebook
It's part of a larger teen migration away from Facebook, Steyer says.
Last week, the company's chief financial officer, David Ebersman, told analysts that although usage among U.S. teens overall has been stable, "we did see a decrease in daily users, specifically among younger teens."
Earlier this fall, financial services firm Piper Jaffray reported that 23 percent of teens thought Facebook was the most important social network, down from 42 percent last fall. And 17 percent of teens say social networks other than Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Tumblr or Pinterest were the most important, up from only 2 percent a year ago.
According to Common Sense Media, middle-schoolers are most affected by online harassment. So will an anti-bullying campaign on Facebook affect the age group that needs it the most?
"There are enough teens still on Facebook that it could," says Jennifer Hartstein, a psychologist who works with adolescents and digital behavior. "And maybe it's a good model for other sites that teens are now going to."
Steyer says the effort will be most effective when it spreads to Instagram, which Facebook owns, and beyond. "These sites have to take way more responsibility for this."
When you've got a foot of freshly fallen snow to absorb any impact, there's no sledding stunt that seems too dangerous. It's only when you're careening down a hill towards a jump that the gravity of the situation hits you, and that's when you realize a sled with a built-in shock absorbing spring like the Yooner is a wonderful idea.
AT&T supplies information on international calls that travel over its network, including ones that start or end in the U.S., under a voluntary contract with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The CIA pays the carrier more than $10 million annually for the data, including the date, duration, and numbers involved in a call, the Times said, citing unnamed government officials. The calls include ones that are made by customers of other carriers but travel partly on AT&T's network. For calls with a U.S. participant, AT&T doesn't tell the CIA the identity of the U.S. caller and masks several digits of the domestic number, the report said.
The CIA isn't allowed to conduct domestic spying. However, the agency can hand over the masked numbers to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which can subpoena AT&T for the uncensored data, the Times said. The FBI, in turn, sometimes shares information with the CIA about the U.S. participant in a call.
The latest report is likely to heighten concerns about the U.S. government's surveillance of voice and data communications around the world. Disclosures made by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden starting earlier this year have helped to spark calls for reform of surveillance practices and rankled several U.S. allies.
In an emailed statement, the CIA said it doesn't comment on alleged intelligence sources or methods.
"The CIA protects the nation and upholds the privacy rights of Americans by ensuring that its intelligence collection activities are focused on acquiring foreign intelligence and counterintelligence in accordance with U.S. laws," said Dean Boyd, director of the CIA Office of Public Affairs. The agency is subject to oversight from multiple entities, he said.
AT&T does not comment on questions concerning national security, spokesman Mark Siegel said in a statement emailed to IDG News Service.
"In all cases, whenever any governmental entity anywhere seeks information from us, we ensure that the request and our response are completely lawful and proper," Siegel wrote. "We ensure that we maintain customer information in compliance with the laws of the United States and other countries where information may be maintained. Like all telecom providers, we routinely charge governments for producing the information provided."
Stephen Lawson covers mobile, storage and networking technologies for The IDG News Service. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @sdlawsonmedia. Stephen's e-mail address is stephen_lawson@idg.com
If a tree falls in Brazil? Amazon deforestation could mean droughts for western US
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: Morgan Kelly mgnkelly@princeton.edu 609-258-5729 Princeton University
In research meant to highlight how the destruction of the Amazon rainforest could affect climate elsewhere, Princeton University-led researchers report that the total deforestation of the Amazon may significantly reduce rain and snowfall in the western United States, resulting in water and food shortages, and a greater risk of forest fires.
The researchers report in the Journal of Climate that an Amazon stripped bare could mean 20 percent less rain for the coastal Northwest and a 50 percent reduction in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial source of water for cities and farms in California. Previous research has shown that deforestation will likely produce dry air over the Amazon. Using high-resolution climate simulations, the researchers are the first to find that the atmosphere's normal weather-moving mechanics would create a ripple effect that would move that dry air directly over the western United States from December to February.
Specifically, a denuded Amazon would develop a weather cycle consisting of abnormally dry air in the sun-scorched northern Amazon around the equator weighted by wetter air in the cooler south. Research has speculated that this pattern would be similar to the warm-water climate pattern El Nio, which during the winter months brings heavy precipitation to southern California and the Sierra Nevada region while drying out the Pacific Northwest.
The Princeton-led researchers found that the Amazon pattern would be subject to the same meandering high-altitude winds known as Rossby waves that distribute the El Nio system worldwide from its source over the Pacific Ocean. Rossby waves are instrumental forces in Earth's weather that move east or west across the planet, often capturing the weather of one region such as chill Arctic air and transporting it to another. Because the Amazon pattern forms several thousand miles to the southeast from El Nio, the researchers report, the Rossby waves that put the rainy side of El Nio over southern California would instead subject that region to the dry end of the Amazon pattern. The pattern's rainy portion would be over the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico.
First author David Medvigy, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton, explained that the findings stand as one possible outcome of Amazon deforestation in regions outside of South America consequences that scientists are working to understand. The rainforest influences various aspects of the surrounding climate, including cloud coverage, heat absorption and rainfall.
"The big point is that Amazon deforestation will not only affect the Amazon it will not be contained. It will hit the atmosphere and the atmosphere will carry those responses," Medvigy said.
"It just so happens that one of the locations feeling that response will be one we care about most agriculturally," he said. "If you change the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, where most of the irrigation for California's Central Valley comes from, then by this study deforestation of the Amazon could have serious consequences for the food supply of the United States."
Because the exact result of Amazon deforestation is impossible to know currently, the behavior and impact of El Nio provides one of the best ideas of how the loss of the Amazon could play out, Medvigy said. Studies have suggested since 1993 that an Amazon without trees will develop an El Nio-like pattern, the researchers reported. The researchers then focused on the northwestern United States because the region is typically sensitive to El Nio.
"We don't know what the world will be like without the Amazon. We know exactly what happens with El Nio it's been studied extensively," Medvigy said. "Our intention with this paper was to identify an analogy between El Nio and Amazon deforestation. There's good reason to believe there will be strong climatic similarities between the two. Research like this will give us a handle on what to expect from Amazon deforestation."
Medvigy worked with second author Robert Walko, a senior scientist in the division of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami; Martin Otte, a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division; and Roni Avissar, a University of Miami professor of meteorology and physical oceanography and dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
The high resolution of the researchers' climate model allowed them to see the otherwise subtle pull of the Rossby waves, Medvigy said. The typical model buries finer atmospheric features under a scale of about 200 kilometers twice the width of the Andes Mountains. Medvigy and his co-authors spotted the intricacies of the Amazon's future weather pattern using a resolution as fine as 25 kilometers, he said.
The researchers based their simulation on the Amazon's complete removal, an exaggerated level of destruction needed to produce a noticeable effect, Medvigy said. Nonetheless, clear-cutting of the Amazon marches on, although conservation efforts have significantly slowed deforestation in countries such as Brazil since the mid-2000s. In addition, research has shown that climate change, especially a spike in the global temperature, could wipe out as much as 85 percent of the forest.
The Amazon's fragility and vulnerability combined with its outsized sway over the climate add an urgency to better understanding how the forest's disappearance will affect the larger climate, particularly for agriculturally important areas such as California, Medvigy said.
"We know the Amazon is being deforested, but we don't know for sure what's going to happen because of it," Medvigy said. "Other scientists need to do these simulations and see if they get the same results. If they do, then policymakers will have to take notice."
###
The paper, "Simulated changes in Northwest US climate in response to Amazon deforestation," was published in the Nov. 15 edition of the Journal of Climate. This work was supported by awards from the National Science Foundation (grant numbers 1151102 and 0902197).
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If a tree falls in Brazil? Amazon deforestation could mean droughts for western US
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: Morgan Kelly mgnkelly@princeton.edu 609-258-5729 Princeton University
In research meant to highlight how the destruction of the Amazon rainforest could affect climate elsewhere, Princeton University-led researchers report that the total deforestation of the Amazon may significantly reduce rain and snowfall in the western United States, resulting in water and food shortages, and a greater risk of forest fires.
The researchers report in the Journal of Climate that an Amazon stripped bare could mean 20 percent less rain for the coastal Northwest and a 50 percent reduction in the Sierra Nevada snowpack, a crucial source of water for cities and farms in California. Previous research has shown that deforestation will likely produce dry air over the Amazon. Using high-resolution climate simulations, the researchers are the first to find that the atmosphere's normal weather-moving mechanics would create a ripple effect that would move that dry air directly over the western United States from December to February.
Specifically, a denuded Amazon would develop a weather cycle consisting of abnormally dry air in the sun-scorched northern Amazon around the equator weighted by wetter air in the cooler south. Research has speculated that this pattern would be similar to the warm-water climate pattern El Nio, which during the winter months brings heavy precipitation to southern California and the Sierra Nevada region while drying out the Pacific Northwest.
The Princeton-led researchers found that the Amazon pattern would be subject to the same meandering high-altitude winds known as Rossby waves that distribute the El Nio system worldwide from its source over the Pacific Ocean. Rossby waves are instrumental forces in Earth's weather that move east or west across the planet, often capturing the weather of one region such as chill Arctic air and transporting it to another. Because the Amazon pattern forms several thousand miles to the southeast from El Nio, the researchers report, the Rossby waves that put the rainy side of El Nio over southern California would instead subject that region to the dry end of the Amazon pattern. The pattern's rainy portion would be over the Pacific Ocean south of Mexico.
First author David Medvigy, an assistant professor of geosciences at Princeton, explained that the findings stand as one possible outcome of Amazon deforestation in regions outside of South America consequences that scientists are working to understand. The rainforest influences various aspects of the surrounding climate, including cloud coverage, heat absorption and rainfall.
"The big point is that Amazon deforestation will not only affect the Amazon it will not be contained. It will hit the atmosphere and the atmosphere will carry those responses," Medvigy said.
"It just so happens that one of the locations feeling that response will be one we care about most agriculturally," he said. "If you change the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, where most of the irrigation for California's Central Valley comes from, then by this study deforestation of the Amazon could have serious consequences for the food supply of the United States."
Because the exact result of Amazon deforestation is impossible to know currently, the behavior and impact of El Nio provides one of the best ideas of how the loss of the Amazon could play out, Medvigy said. Studies have suggested since 1993 that an Amazon without trees will develop an El Nio-like pattern, the researchers reported. The researchers then focused on the northwestern United States because the region is typically sensitive to El Nio.
"We don't know what the world will be like without the Amazon. We know exactly what happens with El Nio it's been studied extensively," Medvigy said. "Our intention with this paper was to identify an analogy between El Nio and Amazon deforestation. There's good reason to believe there will be strong climatic similarities between the two. Research like this will give us a handle on what to expect from Amazon deforestation."
Medvigy worked with second author Robert Walko, a senior scientist in the division of meteorology and physical oceanography at the University of Miami; Martin Otte, a postdoctoral fellow at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division; and Roni Avissar, a University of Miami professor of meteorology and physical oceanography and dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
The high resolution of the researchers' climate model allowed them to see the otherwise subtle pull of the Rossby waves, Medvigy said. The typical model buries finer atmospheric features under a scale of about 200 kilometers twice the width of the Andes Mountains. Medvigy and his co-authors spotted the intricacies of the Amazon's future weather pattern using a resolution as fine as 25 kilometers, he said.
The researchers based their simulation on the Amazon's complete removal, an exaggerated level of destruction needed to produce a noticeable effect, Medvigy said. Nonetheless, clear-cutting of the Amazon marches on, although conservation efforts have significantly slowed deforestation in countries such as Brazil since the mid-2000s. In addition, research has shown that climate change, especially a spike in the global temperature, could wipe out as much as 85 percent of the forest.
The Amazon's fragility and vulnerability combined with its outsized sway over the climate add an urgency to better understanding how the forest's disappearance will affect the larger climate, particularly for agriculturally important areas such as California, Medvigy said.
"We know the Amazon is being deforested, but we don't know for sure what's going to happen because of it," Medvigy said. "Other scientists need to do these simulations and see if they get the same results. If they do, then policymakers will have to take notice."
###
The paper, "Simulated changes in Northwest US climate in response to Amazon deforestation," was published in the Nov. 15 edition of the Journal of Climate. This work was supported by awards from the National Science Foundation (grant numbers 1151102 and 0902197).
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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.
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2012, file photo, Alexes Garcia makes cinnamon rolls for student's lunch in the kitchen at Kepner Middle School in Denver. The rolls are made using apple sauce instead of trans fats. Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade as nutritionists have criticized them and local governments have banned them. The Food and Drug Administration is now finishing the job as they announce Nov. 7, 2013, that it will require the food industry to gradually phase out trans fats, saying they are a threat to the health of Americans.(AP Photo/Ed Andrieski, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Heart-clogging trans fats have been slowly disappearing from grocery aisles and restaurant menus in the last decade. Now, the Food and Drug Administration is finishing the job.
The FDA announced Thursday it will require the food industry to gradually phase out artificial trans fats, saying they are a threat to people's health. Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the move could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.
Hamburg said that while the amount of trans fats in the country's diet has declined dramatically in the last decade, they "remain an area of significant public health concern." The trans fats have long been criticized by nutritionists, and New York City and other local governments have banned them.
The agency isn't yet setting a timeline for the phase-out, but it will collect comments for two months before officials determine how long it will take. Different foods may have different timelines, depending how easy it is to find a substitute.
"We want to do it in a way that doesn't unduly disrupt markets," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods. Still, he says, the food "industry has demonstrated that it is, by and large, feasible to do."
Though they have been removed from many items, the fats are still found in processed foods, including in some microwave popcorns and frozen pizzas, refrigerated doughs, cookies, biscuits and ready-to-use frostings. They are also sometimes used by restaurants that use the fats for frying. Many larger chains have phased them out, but smaller restaurants may still get food containing trans fats from suppliers.
Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind for your heart, even worse than saturated fats, which also can contribute to heart disease. Trans fats are used both in processed food and in restaurants, often to improve the texture, shelf life or flavor of foods. Diners shouldn't be able to detect a taste difference if trans fats are replaced by other fats.
To phase them out, the FDA said it had made a preliminary determination that trans fats no longer fall in the agency's "generally recognized as safe" category, which is reserved for thousands of additives that manufacturers can add to foods without FDA review. Once trans fats are off the list, anyone who wants to use them would have to petition the agency for a regulation allowing it, and that would likely not be approved.
The fats are created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil to make it more solid, which is why they are often called partially hydrogenated oils. The FDA is not targeting small amounts of trans fats that occur naturally in some meat and dairy products, because they would be too difficult to remove and aren't considered a major public health threat on their own.
Scientists say there are no health benefits to trans fats and say they can raise levels of so-called "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease — the leading cause of death in the United States.
Many companies have already phased out trans fats, prompted by new nutrition labels introduced by FDA in 2006 that list trans fats and an by an increasing number of local laws that have banned them. In 2011, Wal Mart pledged to remove all artificial trans fats from the foods the company sells by 2016.
As a result of the local and federal efforts and many companies' willingness to remove them, consumers have slowly eaten fewer of the fats. According to the FDA, trans fat intake among American consumers declined from 4.6 grams per day in 2003 to around one gram per day in 2012.
Dr. Leon Bruner, chief scientist at the Grocery Manufacturers Association, said in a statement his group estimates that food manufacturers have voluntarily lowered the amount of trans fats in food products by 73 percent.
The group, which represents the country's largest food companies, did not speculate on a reasonable timeline or speak to how difficult the move may be for some manufacturers. Bruner said in a statement that "consumers can be confident that their food is safe, and we look forward to working with the FDA to better understand their concerns and how our industry can better serve consumers."
FDA officials say they have been working on trans fat issues for around 15 years — the first goal was to label them — and have been collecting data to justify a possible phase-out since just after President Barack Obama came into office in 2009.
The advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest first petitioned FDA to ban trans fats nine years ago. The group's director, Michael Jacobson, says the move is "one of the most important lifesaving actions the FDA could take."
He says the agency should try to move quickly as it determines a timeline.
"Six months or a year should be more than enough time, especially considering that companies have had a decade to figure out what to do," Jacobson said.
___
Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mcjalonick
After taking a week to crunch the numbers, look at the data points and put together some fancy pie charts (we assume), Sony's finally ready to reveal its initial firmware upgrade plans. Five devices in the lineup made the cut to receive Android 4.4 KitKat at a to-be-determined future date, and ten ...
HPV can damage genes and chromosomes directly, whole-genome sequencing study shows
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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Contact: Darrell E. Ward Darrell.Ward@osumc.edu 614-293-3737 Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
COLUMBUS, Ohio The virus that causes cervical, head and neck, anal and other cancers can damage chromosomes and genes where it inserts its DNA into human DNA, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC James).
It's long been known that cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV) produce two viral proteins, called E6 and E7, which are essential for the development of cancer. However, they are not sufficient to cause cancer. Additional alterations in host-cell genes are necessary for cancer to develop. Here, scientists identified a new mechanism by which HPV may damage host DNA directly and contribute to cancer development.
Published in the journal Genome Research, this laboratory study used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relationship between the HPV and host genomes in human cancers.
"Our sequencing data showed in vivid detail that HPV can damage host-cell genes and chromosomes at sites of viral insertion," says co-senior author David Symer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at the OSUCCC James.
"HPV can act like a tornado hitting the genome, disrupting and rearranging nearby host-cell genes," Symer explains. "This can lead to overexpression of cancer-causing genes in some cases, or it can disrupt protective tumor-suppressor genes in others. Both kinds of damage likely promote the development of cancer."
"We observed fragments of the host-cell genome to be removed, rearranged or increased in number at sites of HPV insertion into the genome," says co-senior author Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, epidemiology and otolaryngology and the Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at the OSUCCC James. "These remarkable changes in host genes were accompanied by increases in the number of HPV copies in the host cell, thereby also increasing the expression of viral E6 and E7, the cancer-promoting genes."
HPV causes about 610,000 cancers annually worldwide, including virtually all cervical cancers, and many anogenital and head and neck cancers. How it causes cancer isn't completely understood.
The two cancer-causing proteins, E6 and E7, silence two key tumor-suppressor genes in host cells, contributing to cancer development. "E6 and E7 are critically important for the virus to cause cancer. Our findings shed light on how HPV, and perhaps other viruses, can disrupt the structure of host chromosomes and genes and thereby contribute to cancer development," Gillison explains.
For this study, Symer, Gillison and their colleagues examined 10 cancer-cell lines and two head and neck tumor samples from patients. Along with whole-genome sequencing, the scientists used several molecular assays, including RNA sequencing, spectral karyotyping (SKY) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
Key technical findings included:
The genome-wide analysis, at single nucleotide resolution, identified a striking and recurrent association between HPV integrants and adjacent genomic amplifications, deletions and translocations;
The HPV integrants mapped broadly across the human genome, with no evidence of recurrent integration into particular chromosomal hotspots;
The researchers proposed a "looping" model by which abnormal viral replication results in the extraordinary damage that occurs to host chromosomes at the sites of viral DNA insertion.
"Our study reveals new and interesting information about what happens to HPV in the 'end game' in cancers," Symer says. "Overall, our results shed new light on the potentially critical, catastrophic steps in the progression from initial viral infection to development of an HPV-associated cancer."
###
Funding from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC James), the Ohio Supercomputer Center, an Ohio Cancer Research Associate grant, the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research, supported this research.
Other researchers involved in this study were Keiko Akagi, Jingfeng Li, Tatevik R. Broutian, Weihong Xiao, Bo Jiang, Theodoros N. Teknos, Bhavna Kumar and Dandan He, The Ohio State University; Hesed Padilla-Nash, Danny Wangsa, Thomas Ried, National Cancer Institute; James W. Rocco, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only four centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials. The NCI recently rated Ohio State's cancer program as "exceptional," the highest rating given by NCI survey teams. As the cancer program's 228-bed adult patient-care component, The James is a "Top Hospital" as named by the Leapfrog Group and one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S.News & World Report.
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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.
HPV can damage genes and chromosomes directly, whole-genome sequencing study shows
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
7-Nov-2013
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]
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Contact: Darrell E. Ward Darrell.Ward@osumc.edu 614-293-3737 Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
COLUMBUS, Ohio The virus that causes cervical, head and neck, anal and other cancers can damage chromosomes and genes where it inserts its DNA into human DNA, according to a new study led by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC James).
It's long been known that cancer-causing types of human papillomavirus (HPV) produce two viral proteins, called E6 and E7, which are essential for the development of cancer. However, they are not sufficient to cause cancer. Additional alterations in host-cell genes are necessary for cancer to develop. Here, scientists identified a new mechanism by which HPV may damage host DNA directly and contribute to cancer development.
Published in the journal Genome Research, this laboratory study used whole-genome sequencing to investigate the relationship between the HPV and host genomes in human cancers.
"Our sequencing data showed in vivid detail that HPV can damage host-cell genes and chromosomes at sites of viral insertion," says co-senior author David Symer, MD, PhD, assistant professor of molecular virology, immunology and medical genetics at the OSUCCC James.
"HPV can act like a tornado hitting the genome, disrupting and rearranging nearby host-cell genes," Symer explains. "This can lead to overexpression of cancer-causing genes in some cases, or it can disrupt protective tumor-suppressor genes in others. Both kinds of damage likely promote the development of cancer."
"We observed fragments of the host-cell genome to be removed, rearranged or increased in number at sites of HPV insertion into the genome," says co-senior author Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, epidemiology and otolaryngology and the Jeg Coughlin Chair of Cancer Research at the OSUCCC James. "These remarkable changes in host genes were accompanied by increases in the number of HPV copies in the host cell, thereby also increasing the expression of viral E6 and E7, the cancer-promoting genes."
HPV causes about 610,000 cancers annually worldwide, including virtually all cervical cancers, and many anogenital and head and neck cancers. How it causes cancer isn't completely understood.
The two cancer-causing proteins, E6 and E7, silence two key tumor-suppressor genes in host cells, contributing to cancer development. "E6 and E7 are critically important for the virus to cause cancer. Our findings shed light on how HPV, and perhaps other viruses, can disrupt the structure of host chromosomes and genes and thereby contribute to cancer development," Gillison explains.
For this study, Symer, Gillison and their colleagues examined 10 cancer-cell lines and two head and neck tumor samples from patients. Along with whole-genome sequencing, the scientists used several molecular assays, including RNA sequencing, spectral karyotyping (SKY) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).
Key technical findings included:
The genome-wide analysis, at single nucleotide resolution, identified a striking and recurrent association between HPV integrants and adjacent genomic amplifications, deletions and translocations;
The HPV integrants mapped broadly across the human genome, with no evidence of recurrent integration into particular chromosomal hotspots;
The researchers proposed a "looping" model by which abnormal viral replication results in the extraordinary damage that occurs to host chromosomes at the sites of viral DNA insertion.
"Our study reveals new and interesting information about what happens to HPV in the 'end game' in cancers," Symer says. "Overall, our results shed new light on the potentially critical, catastrophic steps in the progression from initial viral infection to development of an HPV-associated cancer."
###
Funding from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC James), the Ohio Supercomputer Center, an Ohio Cancer Research Associate grant, the Oral Cancer Foundation and the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Research, supported this research.
Other researchers involved in this study were Keiko Akagi, Jingfeng Li, Tatevik R. Broutian, Weihong Xiao, Bo Jiang, Theodoros N. Teknos, Bhavna Kumar and Dandan He, The Ohio State University; Hesed Padilla-Nash, Danny Wangsa, Thomas Ried, National Cancer Institute; James W. Rocco, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute strives to create a cancer-free world by integrating scientific research with excellence in education and patient-centered care, a strategy that leads to better methods of prevention, detection and treatment. Ohio State is one of only 41 National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of only four centers funded by the NCI to conduct both phase I and phase II clinical trials. The NCI recently rated Ohio State's cancer program as "exceptional," the highest rating given by NCI survey teams. As the cancer program's 228-bed adult patient-care component, The James is a "Top Hospital" as named by the Leapfrog Group and one of the top cancer hospitals in the nation as ranked by U.S.News & World Report.
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After taking a week to crunch the numbers, look at the data points and put together some fancy pie charts (we assume), Sony's finally ready to reveal its initial firmware upgrade plans. Five devices in the lineup made the cut to receive Android 4.4 KitKat at a to-be-determined future date, and ten ...