Retooling Pap test to spot more kinds of cancer


WASHINGTON (AP) — For years, doctors have lamented that there's no Pap test for deadly ovarian cancer. Wednesday, scientists reported encouraging signs that one day, there might be.


Researchers are trying to retool the Pap, a test for cervical cancer that millions of women get, so that it could spot early signs of other gynecologic cancers, too.


How? It turns out that cells can flake off of tumors in the ovaries or the lining of the uterus, and float down to rest in the cervix, where Pap tests are performed. These cells are too rare to recognize under the microscope. But researchers from Johns Hopkins University used some sophisticated DNA testing on the Pap samples to uncover the evidence — gene mutations that show cancer is present.


In a pilot study, they analyzed Pap smears from 46 women who already were diagnosed with either ovarian or endometrial cancer. The new technique found all the endometrial cancers and 41 percent of the ovarian tumors, the team reported Wednesday in the journal Science Translational Medicine.


This is very early-stage research, and women shouldn't expect any change in their routine Paps. It will take years of additional testing to prove if the so-called PapGene technique really could work as a screening tool, used to spot cancer in women who thought they were healthy.


"Now the hard work begins," said Hopkins oncologist Dr. Luis Diaz, whose team is collecting hundreds of additional Pap samples for more study and is exploring ways to enhance the detection of ovarian cancer.


But if it ultimately pans out, "the neat part about this is, the patient won't feel anything different," and the Pap wouldn't be performed differently, Diaz added. The extra work would come in a lab.


The gene-based technique marks a new approach toward cancer screening, and specialists are watching closely.


"This is very encouraging, and it shows great potential," said American Cancer Society genetics expert Michael Melner.


"We are a long way from being able to see any impact on our patients," cautioned Dr. Shannon Westin of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She reviewed the research in an accompanying editorial, and said the ovarian cancer detection would need improvement if the test is to work.


But she noted that ovarian cancer has poor survival rates because it's rarely caught early. "If this screening test could identify ovarian cancer at an early stage, there would be a profound impact on patient outcomes and mortality," Westin said.


More than 22,000 U.S. women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer each year, and more than 15,000 die. Symptoms such as pain and bloating seldom are obvious until the cancer is more advanced, and numerous attempts at screening tests have failed.


Endometrial cancer affects about 47,000 women a year, and kills about 8,000. There is no screening test for it either, but most women are diagnosed early because of postmenopausal bleeding.


The Hopkins research piggybacks on one of the most successful cancer screening tools, the Pap, and a newer technology used along with it. With a standard Pap, a little brush scrapes off cells from the cervix, which are stored in a vial to examine for signs of cervical cancer. Today, many women's Paps undergo an additional DNA-based test to see if they harbor the HPV virus, which can spur cervical cancer.


So the Hopkins team, funded largely by cancer advocacy groups, decided to look for DNA evidence of other gynecologic tumors. It developed a method to rapidly screen the Pap samples for those mutations using standard genetics equipment that Diaz said wouldn't add much to the cost of a Pap-plus-HPV test. He said the technique could detect both early-stage and more advanced tumors. Importantly, tests of Paps from 14 healthy women turned up no false alarms.


The endometrial cancers may have been easier to find because cells from those tumors don't have as far to travel as ovarian cancer cells, Diaz said. Researchers will study whether inserting the Pap brush deeper, testing during different times of the menstrual cycle, or other factors might improve detection of ovarian cancer.


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Wall Street climbs at open on China data


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced at the open on Thursday as stronger-than-expected exports in China, the world's second-biggest economy, raised hopes for a more robust recovery in the global economy this year.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 51.22 points, or 0.38 percent, to 13,441.73. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> climbed 8.01 points, or 0.55 percent, to 1,469.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 21.80 points, or 0.70 percent, to 3,127.61.


(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Bernadette Baum)



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NATO official says more missiles launched in Syria


BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A short-range ballistic missile was fired inside Syria on Wednesday, following similar launches last week, a NATO official said on Thursday.


The official condemned as "reckless" the missile launches, which U.S. officials called an escalation of the 21-month-old Syrian civil war when their use was first spotted last month.


"The use of such indiscriminate weapons shows utter disregard for the lives of the Syrian people," he said.


The official said NATO had detected the launch of an unguided, short-range ballistic missile inside Syria on Wednesday, following similar launches on January 2 and 3. All the missiles were fired from inside Syria and landed in northern Syria, he said.


The description of the missiles fits the Scuds that are in the Syrian military's armory, but the official said NATO could not confirm the type of missile used.


The NATO official was responding to a report from a Syrian opposition activist living near the Qaldoun army base, 50 km (30 miles) north of Damascus, who said four large rockets, apparently Scuds, were fired from the base overnight.


NATO has agreed to send Patriot anti-missile batteries to protect its member Turkey from possible missile attack from Syria.


(Reporting by Adrian Croft; editing by Rex Merrifield and Sebastian Moffett)



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Netflix announces ‘Super HD’ and 3D streaming for select ISPs






Netflix (NFLX) on Tuesday announced new enhanced streaming options for users on select ISPs. Following a series of rumors that suggested as much, Netflix has confirmed the availability of “Super HD” streaming — which is simply Netflix’s branding for 1080p content — and 3D video streaming. Both services are available immediately with a huge caveat: only Netflix subscribers with Cablevision or Google Fiber Internet service have access to the new content. For those lucky subscribers, Super HD and 3D content is accessible using a number of devices including the Wii U, compatible Roku players, the Apple TV, Windows 8 PCs and select smart TVs and Blu-ray players. Netflix’s full press release follows below.



Netflix “Open Connect” Delivery Network Gains Widespread Global Acceptance
Cablevision Most Recent Major Provider to Join Open Connect
New Super HD and 3D Video Formats Available on Open Connect






[More from BGR: Apple’s next iPhone to reportedly feature larger screen and ‘brand new exterior design’]


Jan 8, 2013


LAS VEGAS, Jan. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Netflix Open Connect, the single purpose video content delivery network launched last year, is now delivering the majority of Netflix international traffic and is growing at a rapid pace in the domestic market.


In early 2012 Netflix began enabling Internet service providers (ISPs) to receive, at no cost to them, Netflix video directly at the interconnection point of the ISP’s choice. By connecting directly through Open Connect, ISPs can more effectively manage their networks and more efficiently deliver Internet services to consumers, including the more than 1 billion hours of Netflix TV shows and movies consumers watch every month.


Netflix Open Connect is now widely deployed around the world, serving the vast majority of Netflix video in Europe, Canada and Latin America, and a growing proportion in the U.S., where Netflix has over 25 million streaming members.


“Leading-edge ISPs around the world such as Cablevision, Virgin Media, British Telecom, Telmex, Telus, TDC, GVT, among many others, are already participating in Open Connect to provide the highest-possible quality Netflix service to consumers,” said Netflix Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings. “Our goal is to have all of our members served by Open Connect as soon as possible.”


“Optimum is committed to providing the highest-quality TV, phone and Internet to our customers, and our new partnership with Netflix supports this critical objective,” said James L. Dolan, president and CEO of Cablevision, the most recent major provider to join Open Connect. “With Open Connect, we are establishing a direct local connection with Netflix that delivers a higher-quality Netflix viewing experience for Optimum customers than Verizon or AT&T can provide, including access to new Netflix Super HD and 3D TV shows and movies.”


Netflix Super HD and 3D


Now available through Open Connect partners, Netflix Super HD is the highest quality video format offered by Netflix, providing an even better picture on 1080p HDTVs.


In the U.S., Netflix is also for the first time offering a small number of titles streaming in 3D through Open Connect partners. Available for 3D viewing are, among other titles, the action fantasy drama “Immortals,” Red Bull Media House’s snowboarding documentary “The Art of Flight,” and a number of titles from the Discovery/Sony/Imax joint venture 3net Studios – including the native, original 3D series “African Wild,” “Scary Tales,” and “Live Fire.” Depending on member demand, Netflix will consider adding 3D titles and expanding availability to international markets.


“These new Super HD and 3D formats are more challenging to deliver than our other video streams, which is why we will deliver them through Open Connect,” said Ken Florance, vice president of content delivery at Netflix. “Any ISP that wants to be able to deliver our new formats can do so easily and for free.”


Netflix members can verify if their ISP is part of Open Connect and provides access to Netflix Super HD and, in the U.S. only, 3D on this Web site: http://www.netflix.com/superhd


ISPs that are not yet on Open Connect can contact Netflix at openconnect.netflix.com to start their Open Connect relationship. As part of Open Connect, Netflix is also sharing its hardware design and the open source software components. These designs are suitable for any other provider of large media files and are very cost efficient.



Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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It's a Girl for Lily Allen




Celebrity Baby Blog





01/10/2013 at 08:30 AM ET



Lily Allen Welcomes Daughter Marnie Rose
PA Photos/Landov


Cue the lullabies: Lily Allen is a mom — again!


The “Smile” singer and her husband Sam Cooper welcomed her second daughter — and the baby girl shares her special day with rock legends Elvis and David Bowie. Marnie Rose arrived on Tuesday, Jan. 8, according to reports.


The couple — who wed in Gloucestershire, England in June 2011 — are already parents to 13-month-old daughter Ethel Mary.


Her rep declined to confirm the pregnancy in July, but after stepping out several times with a burgeoning belly, no official confirmation was needed when 27-year-old Allen appeared radiant on the red carpet during the British Fashion Awards in November.

On New Year’s Eve, Allen was anxious the tot would emerge soon, Tweeting she was “only planning on spending a few days of [2013] pregnant. Unlike the last 3 years.” And she said she had been sampling curries to try to force labor.


A rep for the singer (who goes by her married name Cooper) didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment or statement, but Allen appeared to acknowledge the news Thursday when she thanked fans, writing, “Quite overwhelmed by all the well wishing going on. THANKYOU everybody x x x”


One of those came from actor friend Charlie Condou, who Tweeted he had a “little cry” when Lily “told me Marnie Rose was born” on his birthday.


– Anya Leon and Simon Perry


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Report: Death rates from cancer still inching down


WASHINGTON (AP) — Death rates from cancer are continuing to inch down, researchers reported Monday.


Now the question is how to hold onto those gains, and do even better, even as the population gets older and fatter, both risks for developing cancer.


"There has been clear progress," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society, which compiled the annual cancer report with government and cancer advocacy groups.


But bad diets, lack of physical activity and obesity together wield "incredible forces against this decline in mortality," Brawley said. He warned that over the next decade, that trio could surpass tobacco as the leading cause of cancer in the U.S.


Overall, deaths from cancer began slowly dropping in the 1990s, and Monday's report shows the trend holding. Among men, cancer death rates dropped by 1.8 percent a year between 2000 and 2009, and by 1.4 percent a year among women. The drops are thanks mostly to gains against some of the leading types — lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers — because of treatment advances and better screening.


The news isn't all good. Deaths still are rising for certain cancer types including liver, pancreatic and, among men, melanoma, the most serious kind of skin cancer.


Preventing cancer is better than treating it, but when it comes to new cases of cancer, the picture is more complicated.


Cancer incidence is dropping slightly among men, by just over half a percent a year, said the report published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate, lung and colorectal cancers all saw declines.


But for women, earlier drops have leveled off, the report found. That may be due in part to breast cancer. There were decreases in new breast cancer cases about a decade ago, as many women quit using hormone therapy after menopause. Since then, overall breast cancer incidence has plateaued, and rates have increased among black women.


Another problem area: Oral and anal cancers caused by HPV, the sexually transmitted human papillomavirus, are on the rise among both genders. HPV is better known for causing cervical cancer, and a protective vaccine is available. Government figures show just 32 percent of teen girls have received all three doses, fewer than in Canada, Britain and Australia. The vaccine was recommended for U.S. boys about a year ago.


Among children, overall cancer death rates are dropping by 1.8 percent a year, but incidence is continuing to increase by just over half a percent a year. Brawley said it's not clear why.


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Wall Street edges up at open after Alcoa results


NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks opened slightly higher on Wednesday after Alcoa got the earnings season under way with better-than-expected revenue and an encouraging outlook for the year.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 36.93 points, or 0.28 percent, to 13,365.78. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 2.64 points, or 0.18 percent, to 1,459.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 7.35 points, or 0.24 percent, to 3,099.15.


(Reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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Historic old Jeddah awaits life-saving restoration


JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - In the heart of Saudi Arabia's sprawling Red Sea port city of Jeddah, centuries-old buildings tilt and buckle above the historic district's narrow alleys, withering away in the absence of decisive action to protect them.


The seventh-century historic district, with its mud and coral town houses adorned with ornate wooden balconies, holds the only remnants of the traditional architecture of the Hijaz, as the western Arabian Peninsula is known.


But while Jeddah is building the world's tallest tower as part of a modernization drive, efforts to preserve its oldest area are faltering.


"Every time I walk and see these houses it hurts," said Abir AbuSulayman, who lives in the modern part of Jeddah but lobbies for the restoration of the old city.


"I wasn't born here or ever lived in the area but I can feel how important it is and I feel proud that we have real history."


Restoration efforts have been left largely in private hands because Saudi authorities cannot by law intervene to renovate the privately owned homes in the district. Locals say the government has not shown enough interest in resolving the problem, or in breaking a logjam in financing the improvement of the area's public infrastructure.


As a result, a quarter of the houses in the district's square kilometer have collapsed, burnt down or been demolished in the past decade because home-owners cannot afford costly renovations and have little interest or incentive to do so.


Houses where the wealthiest Jeddah merchants once lived are now cheap dwellings for poor foreign laborers, beggars and illegal immigrants. Of the historic district's estimated 40,000 inhabitants, fewer than 5 percent are Saudis, the district's mayor Malak Baissa estimated.


Webs of intertwined cables cascade down the houses' dilapidated facades while satellite dishes hang from their cracked walls and rusty air conditioners protrude from their rotting wooden balconies.


A previous effort to list the historic area as a UNESCO world heritage site, which officials say would jumpstart restoration work, failed in part because there was no realistic master plan.


The government plans to resubmit its application to UNESCO this month, and this time has included proposals to encourage home-owners to restore their properties under expert guidance with loans and other financial incentives, as is the practice in some other countries with huge restoration projects.


"We are very optimistic that once it is registered everybody will come forward and be enthusiastic about (the restoration)," said Abdulgader Amir, the municipality's vice mayor for strategic planning.


CONSTANT MAINTENANCE


Jeddah's humid climate rots the houses' wood and erodes their walls, meaning they require constant maintenance. Local laws stipulate that this be done with mud and coral limestone drawn from the Red Sea, using costly traditional building techniques.


"The house will deteriorate if there is no one to take care of it. Like an old garment, if you don't patch it up it will disintegrate," said Younis al-Jazar, among the few Saudi citizens who still live in the area, where he was born and raised.


Costs of restoration vary depending on the size and extent of damage to a house, but can range from 50,000 riyals ($13,000) to over 3 million. Jazar said regular maintenance on his family home costs at least 6,000 riyals a year.


The local property market further discourages restoration efforts: new buildings in the area can command rents of 50,000 riyals a year compared with 2,400 for old houses.


"They (owners) know they are sitting on a very valuable land in the city center. They want to get rid of the old houses to build new structures," Amir said.


Of 600 old houses counted a decade ago only 450 remain.


Although the central government has instructed the city to spend $53 million to help restore the public parts of the district, the money must come from the city's own coffers, Amir said.


This is something that Jeddah, where creaking infrastructure contributed to deadly floods in 2010 and 2011, and which is completely overhauling its transport networks, cannot now afford.


"We can barely cover costs, so it's like giving something but it is not real... But we will keep asking for it," he said.


The government has bought and restored some properties in the area, including a 13th-century mosque and the house where Saudi founder Abdul Aziz al Saud lived when in Jeddah, but officials say it would be too expensive to purchase more buildings so they are now planning to provide state loans.


FRUSTRATION


Adhering to an austere version of Sunni Islam which prohibits the veneration of objects, Saudi Arabia has until recently neglected and even destroyed many of its historic sites such as homes and tombs of iconic Islamic figures in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.


It has now listed two sites, the Nabatean rock-dwellings of Madain Saleh and the ruling al-Saud family's historical capital of Diriyah, with UNESCO and is working hard to protect its heritage there.


"Here in the kingdom there was a lack of awareness and appreciation for heritage and we have, in ignorance, destroyed many sites including Old Riyadh ... but thank goodness we have passed that stage," said Ali al-Ghabban, the Vice-President of Antiquities and Museums at the Supreme Commission for Tourism and Antiquities, a government department.


Some Jeddah citizens and other people from Hijaz, which includes Mecca, Medina and the old port town of Yanbu, accuse the government of playing regional favorites, stirring old resentments dating to the al-Saud's conquest of Hijaz in 1923.


They point to the investment of at least $133 million in preserving Diriyah and compare it unfavorably with the continuing neglect of cultural sites in their cities.


Amir defended the central government's priorities, however.


"Anything historical that has to do with the government and its establishment is naturally important ... that does not mean that Jeddah is neglected. But it was just a lot easier to deal with Diriyah considering no one lives there, it is much smaller than Jeddah and the government owns the whole area," he said.


As the authorities consider how to proceed with restoration of the historic district, Jeddah residents like AbuSulayman continue to lobby for swifter action and monitor the development in the area as best as they can.


"We don't have the power to make decisions but we are here," she said. "We need help ... (and) we are willing to do more."


(Editing by Angus McDowall and Sonya Hepinstall)



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European businesses slow to go online: study






BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European businesses are not doing enough to use the internet to grow their customer base and promote products, Belgian database and marketing firm Email-Brokers said after studying 13 million websites.


Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of companies online but even in these countries 40 percent of business have no internet presence, it found.






The European Commission has estimated that companies which exploit the full potential of the internet create, on average, more than twice as many jobs.


“It is one of the ways to create employment and economic growth and it is not Star Trek, it exists today,” Email-Brokers head William Vande Wiele said.


Britain and Liechtenstein were the most advanced in terms of e-commerce – defined as being able to process orders and payments, with 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of business sites offering it, compared with 6 percent in Belgium and 9 percent in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.


Vande Wiele said many corporate websites were badly designed, and did not provide basics such as adequate contact information or company details.


In Belgium, 91 percent of all corporate websites did not meet such basic standards, compared with about 20 percent in Luxembourg and France, the study concluded.


“Sites which do not comply with such minimum standards do not inspire confidence and before buying something online a user will need a minimum level of confidence,” Vande Wiele said.


Many websites are not kept up to date, the study also found, with more than 80 percent of business sites in Belgium, Greece, Italy and Spain not updated for more than a year.


(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Dan Lalor)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Taylor Swift Steps Out in Los Angeles Post-Split















01/09/2013 at 09:45 AM EST



She's marching on!

Following the end of a whirlwind romance with One Direction heartthrob Harry Styles that took her from New York City to northern England, the ski slopes of Utah and the British Virgin Isles, Taylor Swift stepped out alone in Los Angeles on Tuesday.

The Grammy-winning singer, 23 – who just split with Styles, 18, and left the Caribbean solo – was photographed outside a friend's home in the Brentwood area of L.A.

The couple first showed off their affection during taping of The X Factor in November and even shared a kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Despite appearances, a Swift source told PEOPLE of the romance, "No one is taking it seriously."

Maybe that's why she's still smiling.

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