Families in limbo as Russia bans U.S. adoptions | russian, limbo ...

A Russian parliamentary resolution has left hundreds of American families and thousands of children in limbo after it proposed an indefinite ban on American adoptions of Russian orphans.

Seven weeks into a ground-breaking diplomatic agreement designed to regulate the adoption of Russian orphans, the parliament?s ban is seen by politicians and adoption communities as a major set-back and a potentially treaty-violating move by the Russian government. It bans American adoptions of some of Russia?s 750,000 orphans, many of whom are considered ?special needs? and require support not available in Russia, adoption agencies say. President Vladimir Putin signed the bill into law Friday, and it goes into affect Tuesday. American adoption agencies are waiting to see if hundreds of pending adoptions, some mere days from being finalized, will go through.

Russian officials in the parliament, known as the Duma, named the bill for Dima Yakovlev, an adopted Russian boy who died in the United States of heatstroke, and whose death Russian officials allege the United States did not thoroughly investigate. But, the bill is widely perceived as punitive action against a recently passed American trade and human rights bill, known as the Magnitsky Act, that targets Russian human rights violations.

Colorado resident Jan Wondra, who lives in Centennial and has an adopted Russian daugther, said the ban has created anxiety for families and children caught in the political fray. She thinks of the bill as a political catspaw, and something that stems from nationalistic fervor and pride in the Duma.

?The Russian orphans have been turned into political pawns in the this situation,? Wondra said Friday. ?They wanted to get our attention and they did.?

Families caught

For Wondra, national vice chairman for the non-profit group Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, American adoption of Russian children has long been a sensitive issue, tarnished by an increasingly complex process and the abuse of Russian children abroad.

In response to the deaths of at least 15 Russian children adopted by Americans, and further fueled by the return of a Russian boy by his adopted grandmother in 2010, the Russian government has become increasingly vigilant when it comes to foreign adoptions of its children. Today, the process requires at least three visits to Russia, Russian court appearances, and between $50,000 and $70,000 to complete. The passing of the Yakovlev Law caught many families in crucial phases of the process ? some have chosen their children, or spent money on travel and legal expenses.

?They have already met the children more than once. The children have begun to call them mama and papa,? Wondra said. ?These people consider them their children.?

There are at least 1,000 Russian orphans in the midst of an adoption, and somewhere between 50 and 100 American families who are in Russia this December on their final trip to pick up their children, Wondra said. But Putin and the Duma have not clarified some of the lingering issues for these families ? it is unknown if the Yakovlev Law will grandfather in some children whose adoptions are nearly completed. In his annual news conference last week, Putin did not elaborate on its implementation, and said he had not yet read the Duma proposal.

The political obstacles and uncertainty, coupled with lack of funding, moved the adoption agency Bethany Christian Services to cancel its Russian adoption program a couple of years ago, said Bill Blacquiere, the group?s CEO and president. But the agency, which has offices in 35 states including Colorado, has between 25 and 30 families with pending adoptions, he said.

?We don?t know what?s going to happen,? Blacquiere said Thursday. ?That?s what?s causing a lot of anxiety and some emotional trauma. We have several families, two scheduled to fly to Russia during the second week of January for their third visit to pick up their child.?

Like Blacquiere, Heidi Hendricks, vice president of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, is waiting to see how the Yakovlev Law will be enforced. The few Colorado families adopting children through the agency will not be as severely affected, Hendricks said on Thursday.

?We were one of the fortunate agencies,? she said. ?We had people just beginning (the process), or people who had just ended. That was just coincidental.?

But for Hendricks, the concern now is for the thousands of Russian orphans, and their futures.

?There?s over 700,000 children in orphanages. There?s no future and there?s not an access to a future with a family,? she said. ?All of those kids have minor special needs. They are fixed in a instant here, but there they are listed as special needs. Their futures are really taken away from them.?

Thousands institutionalized

Before Bethany?s Russian adoption program closed, Blacquiere spent time in the country teaching workers about foster care programs and promoting special education for orphans with physical or mental disabilities. Special surgeries, or special educational opportunities are some things that Russian children stand to gain by coming to America, Wondra said.

While Russian adoptions of their own children would be ideal, cultural and economic barriers often make that impossible, she added.

?Many of these children involved here are special needs children, and they will not be adopted in Russia. Russians will not adopt them.?

Although the country has suffered from a demographic crisis and children are highly valued ? the country has a national children?s day holiday ? the Russian attitude towards orphans is old-fashioned, Wondra says. Russians who adopt children typically seek babies, and Wondra has seen cases where women will fake pregnancies before they adopt a baby. Older children, on the other hand, ?don?t have a much of a chance there,? she said. Russia does not have an established foster care system, Wondra and Blacquiere said.

?Their children are in institutions, they have no foster care. They operate the way we did in the 1930s,? Wondra said.

Like orphans in the United States or other countries, Russian orphans are often the children of drug addicts or alcoholics, and many suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome. Others, who have been neglected, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Wondra maintains that, for these children in Russia, there is little hope of a good future. Although Putin stressed at his news conference the need to improve the lot of Russian orphans, this has been a concern for years, Wondra says.

?The number of children in orphanages, 750,000 ? it hasn?t come down very much in all these years,? she said. ?They age out. They have no training, no skills. How are they supposed to live??

The thought that they have given their three Russian children a better chance at life helps Greg and Donna Patchell through the trials of raising their adopted kids, some of whom suffer from PTSD and other behavioral disorders. Twelve years ago, the Patchells tried to adopt a Bosnian orphan, but when a demographic crisis shut down the country?s orphanages, they turned to Russia. They adopted three siblings, two brothers and sister, and brought them to Colorado. They struggled to communicate in mixed Russian-English and to raise children whose medical history and genetic inclinations were unknown to them. It has been no walk in the park, Donna Patchell said on Friday, and adopting Russian orphans is a serious decision.

?We just would love parents to understand that you are doing a fantastic thing,? she said. ?It?s not a fairy tale. It can be, but a lot of times it isn?t. Their lives are lot better than they would have been. But we do not view ourselves as saviors.?

The Patchells have struggled to help their oldest son overcome drug addiction, possible affects of fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as a personality disorder they call ?reactive attachment disorder.?

But still, the ban on American adoptions of Russian children calls to mind the December day when they went to village orphanage to claim their children, the Patchells said.

?We were coming back on the second trip, and you literally brought the clothes that they wear out of the orphanage,? Greg recalled. ?We were coming in with these big bags. The other kids were outside playing in the yard ? it was December. And they?d look at you and they?d freeze, and it was hard. They look as if they are thinking, ?Are you coming for me?? You have that image frozen in our brain forever.?

Adoption issue timeline:

Nov. 1: The bilateral agreement on adoptions between Russia and the United States goes into effect.

Nov. 16: The House passes the Magnitsky bill, which eliminates cold war-era trade restrictions in Russia but also holds the country accountable for human rights violations. The bill is named for Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who died in a Russian prison in 2009.

Dec. 14: President Barack Obama signs the Magnitsky Act into law.

Dec. 19: The State Duma votes to ban the adoption of Russian children into the United States. The ban is given the unofficial title of the Dima Yakovlev Law, named for a Russian child who died of heatstroke in the United States in 2008.

Dec. 21: The State Duma in Moscow officially adopts the Dima Yakovlev Law.

Dec. 28: President Vladimir Putin signs the Dima Yakovlev Law, to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/russian-149100-limbo-families.html

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Pony back with circus after Christmas kidnap

VIENNA (AP) ? A tiny pony is back at its Austrian circus home more than a week after apparently being kidnapped by a woman who wanted to give her sick daughter a Christmas surprise.

Fridolin the pony, who is only about 2 feet (60 centimeters) tall, went missing from the Vienna Christmas Circus early last week. He was found near a Vienna bus stop Wednesday.

Circus director Adolf Lauenburger told the Austria Press Agency Thursday that a woman called the circus and told officials where to find the pony. She said her daughter wanted a circus pony and she'd taken him to fulfill the girl's wishes for Christmas ? but decided she couldn't keep the animal.

Lauenburger wasn't able to identify the woman. Police were looking into the matter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-12-27-Austria-Kidnapped%20Pony/id-90e96c8797da4e45a9009a871e7e0106

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3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game |

Thursday, December 27th, 2012 at 5:40 AM ?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

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?Increase the success of your network marketing recruiting by learning how to share your business opportunity with total strangers.

?

As online marketers we get comfortable hiding behind a computer, prospecting behind the cloak of Facebook, Twitter and our Blogs. But, to become a true recruiting machine online there will be times where you will have to get out from behind the curtain, step outside of your comfort zone, and actually talk to prospects on the phone that you do not know.

Shocking but true?

As you are building a network marketing business (online or offline) you want to have a team that is willing to engage and talk to people instead of pushing links to presentation overviews.

People join opportunities not because of the products or compensation plans, but because they truly feel the person they collaborate with in business can help them achieve their goals.

Here are 3 of the most important steps to?Network Marketing Recruiting: prospecting a total stranger

Step 1 ? Pique there interest. People in the industry are pitched all the time, sometimes to the point where they miss a great opportunity because they are so quick to dismiss it as ?just another person pitching me their business?.

Asking people questions, following up with light chitchat, and leading into piquing a prospects interest is an art ? something that most people don?t have the patience or tact to use. So here is an example of how to pique a prospects curiosity and open the door to see if they are even open to reviewing a new stream of income:

Script -

?Just throwing this out there, but would you be open to doing something on the side that doesn?t interfere with what you are currently doing?

I?m just curious to see if you keep your options open when it comes to making money.?

If the prospect says yes, and is open to the idea, you can reply with a clarifying question such as this one:

?So, just out of curiosity, why would you be open to making extra income from home??

This is a great question because number one you haven?t pitched anything to them, and you now know WHY they may be interested in building their own home based business.

Lastly, instead of sharing all the great things your opportunity can do for them, let your tools and resources do the work. Take a step back and open up the door for the tools to qualify your prospect. This will do 2 things ?

1) allow you to talk to more people, and

2) it will allow you to determine just how serious someone is about your type of business.

Remember, not everyone is going to be a good fit for your company ? so before you spend your precious time telling your prospect everything there is to know about how wonderful your company and products are ? let them tell you they are interested first. This step is crucial and will save you a lot of heartache.

So here is how you can direct someone to your tools:

?That sounds great, well hey, I am heading into a conference call right now, but let me get your number and email address, and I will send you some information.?

Once you grab their contact information ? this is the time to end the conversation and ask them, ?When would be a good time to get back with you??

If you follow these simple steps, you will be able to prospect total strangers with ease. Prospecting, while it may seem scary, is simply about knowing what to say. Use the resources you have available to reach the people you bring into your business and these same resources will weed out the unqualified candidates without wasting their time or yours.

Network Marketing Recruiting is about your ability to build rapport while prospecting total strangers

The game changer for most is to get a cold market prospect to their warm market with rapport. Now this is the art of network marketing recruiting. Your ability to be outgoing and genuine is the key behind these tips!

Video blogging or vlogging makes it quick and easy for you to build rapport and offer value to your cold to warm market prospects.

Simple action steps for to take! Nework Marketing recruiting 3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game

  1. Create an online sales funnel
  2. During upsell offer as a bonus- a free coaching call
  3. coaching call- build rapport
  4. from the rapport you build guide them to the tools and resources of your network marketing program online.

Now these action steps are easy, yet require you to learn some skills for online marketing. Allow me to introduce you to the program that helped cut the learning curve in half and helped me generate over 300 leads on a part time bases for my Network Marketing recruiting?efforts.

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To our Massive Success,

Mike Penny

P.S. Be sure and leave your comments and feedback below!

Enjoy 3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game

Tagged with: blogs ? business online ? business opportunity ? chitchat ? cloak ? comfort zone ? compensation plans ? curiosity ? curtain ? Network Marketing Business ? new stream ? online marketers ? overviews ? patience ? pique ? prospects ? step 1 ? stranger ? tact ? twitter

Filed under: Network Marketing Training

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Source: http://michael-penny.com/3-tips-to-improve-your-network-marketing-recruiting-game/

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Monti urges debate on Italy election as rivals open fire

ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti posted his reform agenda online on Monday, urging Italians to join a debate on their country's future as potentially bitter election campaign gets underway two months before Italy goes to polls.

Following weeks of hesitation, Monti declared his availability on Sunday to lead a reform-minded centrist alliance to seek a second term to complete the economic reform program begun when he took office just over a year ago.

The former European Commissioner, appointed at the head of a technocrat government to save Italy from financial crisis, has now thrown off his mantle of neutrality and entered a race that will be dominated by his tough reform agenda.

Even if he confirms his entry into the campaign, Monti appears unlikely at this stage to return to office but his involvement could strengthen a centrist alliance and help shape the agenda of the next government.

The center-left Democratic Party (PD), which has pledged to maintain Monti's broad reform course while giving more help to workers and pensioners and emphasizing growth more, is favored to win but may have to strike a coalition deal with the center.

In an open letter to Italians posted online and accompanied by a 25-page policy program, Monti said he hoped that the agenda would lead to an "open reflection" that would help shape the debate ahead of the election on February 24-25.

He urged a mix of budget rigor and structural reform as well as measures to crack down on corruption and get more women and young people to work.

However the tone of the campaign has inevitably moved away from calm debate and into the murky and sometimes treacherous territory of Italian party politics, where Monti is a novice.

GLOVES COME OFF

At a news conference on Sunday, he attacked left-wing trade unions for resisting reform but reserved special criticism for his scandal-plagued predecessor Silvio Berlusconi, whom he picked on repeatedly for his "bewildering" changes of position.

Speaking to one of his own television channels, the 76 year-old media billionaire responded by saying it would be "immoral" for Monti to fight the election after governing as an unelected premier with the support of the main parties.

One of Berlusconi's chief lieutenants, Fabrizio Cicchitto, parliamentary floor leader of his People of Freedom (PDL) party, indicated that Monti's international standing and the respect he enjoys among Italy's European partners would count for little.

"He's taken aim at the PDL, which obviously has no choice but to respond in kind," he said.

Monti, a Life Senator who does not need to stand for election to parliament, has not said exactly what forces he could support but the centrist parties he has been linked with greeted his announcement with great enthusiasm.

"We're not forcing Monti but obviously if it happens, the value it adds to our project will be enormous," Pierferdinando Casini, head of the centrist UDC party, which is close to the Catholic church, told the daily La Repubblica.

A small number of centrists from both the two main parties, including former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced they were leaving their parties and would support Monti, whose reform agenda is strongly backed by Italy's business establishment.

However the centrist group lags both the center-left Democratic Party (PD) and the PDL as well as the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in opinion polls and without Monti, it has little chance of making any significant gains.

Even with the respected economics professor at its head, a centrist alliance including the UDC and other smaller parties including a new group created by Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, appears likely to struggle to pass 15 percent.

(Reporting By James Mackenzie; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monti-urges-debate-italy-election-rivals-open-fire-133020436--business.html

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Colts, Bengals make playoffs with wins

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) receives congratulations from interim coach Bruce Arians, left, after throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. The Colts won 20-13. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck (12) receives congratulations from interim coach Bruce Arians, left, after throwing a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne during the second half of an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012, in Kansas City, Mo. The Colts won 20-13. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton acknowledges Bengals fans as he walks of the field after the Bengals' 13-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in an NFL football game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

One year after putting together the NFL's worst record, the Indianapolis Colts are headed to the playoffs.

Joining them on Sunday were the Cincinnati Bengals, finishing out the field in the AFC.

The Colts (10-5) equaled the 2008 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to win at least 10 games after losing 14 or more the previous season. Top overall draft pick Andrew Luck completed a 7-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne late in the fourth quarter for a 20-13 victory at Kansas City.

Cincinnati qualified for a second straight postseason berth for only the second time in franchise history, edging archrival Pittsburgh 13-10. The Bengals have never gone to the playoffs in successive years that did not involve a strike-shortened season.

Luck finished with 205 yards passing to break Cam Newton's year-old rookie record of 4,051 yards in a season. He also extended his rookie record for fourth-quarter comebacks to seven by leading his team downfield in the closing minutes.

"Mission accomplished. That's all I can say," Colts interim coach Bruce Arians said. "Without getting emotional again, knowing that (coach Chuck Pagano) is going to be back Monday, the work week shouldn't be as stressful."

Pagano has been sidelined since a loss to Jacksonville in Week 3.

For the Bengals (9-6), Andy Dalton hit A.J. Green with a 21-yard pass in the final moments, setting up Josh Brown's 43-yard field goal with 4 seconds remaining. The loss eliminated the Steelers from contention.

"A lot of people talked about we hadn't been in in back-to-back seasons in 30 years," Green said. "I don't worry about that stuff. I've been here two years and we made the playoffs all two years. That's all we can control."

Minnesota's 23-6 win at Houston prevented the Texans from earning home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. AFC South champion Houston (12-3) still can get that by winning at Indianapolis in the season finale.

New England has won the AFC East, Denver the West. Baltimore clinched the North by beating the New York Giants 33-14, sending the defending Super Bowl champions to the brink of elimination.

Washington's 27-20 win at Philadelphia, combined with New Orleans beating Dallas 34-31 in overtime means the Redskins (9-6) will win the NFC East by beating the Cowboys next week.

But Dallas (8-7) takes the division by winning that game at Washington, which the league has flexed to prime time.

"They know what it means," coach Mike Shanahan said. "They've been working toward this opportunity to win the division. Any time you win the division, everybody knows you have a home game in the playoffs. We talked about that from Day 1. They knew what we had to do to get there. We haven't accomplished anything yet."

Green Bay clinched at least the third seed in the NFC when it routed Tennessee 55-7. The NFC North champs (11-4) still could wind up second overall in the conference and get a bye and moved into the No. 2 slot when Seattle romped over San Francisco 42-13.

"We have momentum going for us, particularly what we've done over the last nine weeks, 10 weeks," coach Mike McCarthy said of Green Bay's nine wins in the last 10 games. "So we wanted to take the next step as a football team and I felt we were able to accomplish that today."

The 49ers (10-4-1) will win the NFC West by beating Arizona next weekend. Seattle (10-5) earned at least a wild-card spot and finishes at home against St. Louis.

On Saturday night, NFC South winner Atlanta won 31-18 at Detroit to clinch home-field advantage throughout the conference playoffs.

Minnesota (9-6), Chicago (9-6), the New York Giants (8-7) and Washington could wind up with the final NFC wild card. Dallas can't get a wild card.

___

Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-12-24-FBN-Playoff-Races/id-141062a611f8445d825cd530d55a694d

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OpGen announces sequence assembly and finishing of first reference genome of domestic goat

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dan Budwick
dan@purecommunicationsinc.com
973-271-6085
Pure Communications Inc.

Whole genome mapping technology plays integral role in international study

Gaithersburg, Md.December 23, 2012 OpGen, Inc. today announced its ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System technology was used in combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to produce the first, high-quality reference genome of the domestic goat. The study, which was led by BGI-Shenzhen and Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper, titled Sequencing and automated whole-genome optical mapping of the genome of a domestic goat (Capra hircus), demonstrates the value, efficiency and cost effectiveness of OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping in de novo assemblies of large, complex genomes.

"This independent technology provides not only the validation of the genome sequencing, but also provides the large-scale chromosome structure information that cannot be detected by sequencing," said Xun Xu, Deputy Director, BGI-Shenzhen. "The experience in these genome assembly projects shows that the physical whole genome map should be the standard for any reference genome to be assembled in the future."

Goats are an important economic resource in many developing countries around the globe, including China and India. However, despite their agricultural and biological importance, breeding and genetic studies of goats have been hindered by the lack of a high-quality reference genome sequence. The goat genome is the first high-quality reference genome for small ruminate animals and may help to advance the understanding of distinct ruminant genomic features from non-ruminant species.

Although generating draft assemblies from NGS is relatively easy, finishing a sequence to the chromosome level is still difficult and costly. The findings show that a single NGS platform, when combined with Whole Genome Mapping, can produce a finished assembly much faster and less expensively than other currently available mapping strategies such as bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This approach sets the gold standard in large genome de novo assembly, eliminating the need for genetic maps which can be very time consuming.

"By incorporating Whole Genome Mapping, we were able to overcome the limitations of NGS' short read scaffolds to produce long super-scaffolds and finish the assembly to the near chromosome level," said Wen Wang, Deputy Director, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and an author of the paper. "We could not have completed the project without OpGen's technology."

In the study, OpGen's ARGUS system produced 100,000 single molecule restriction maps in three hours. This resulted in 30 times the physical coverage of the goat genome. The company's Genome Builder software generated long super-scaffolds by combining single molecule map data with sequence scaffolds generated by NGS and subsequent assembly. Specifically, the metric of assembly (N50) was improved eightfold by combining Whole Genome Mapping with NGS over NGS alone.

"While we continue to demonstrate the value of Whole Genome Mapping for assembly, quality control and validation of microbial genomes, we are pleased to expand its applications as a critical, complementary technology enabling investigators to provide complete and accurate long-range genomic information in complex, de novo projects," said Richard Moore, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OpGen and an author of the paper. "This paper is the first of many we expect to be published over the next year which will validate OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technology as a solution for the de novo assembly of the spectrum of genomes from microbes to mammals."

###

About ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System

OpGen's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System is the only commercially available technology that can provide a high-resolution, complete visual map of a whole genome and individual chromosomes. The company's unique single molecule analysis technology provides a whole genome view that complements genome assembly and enables scientists to identify highly repetitive regions, tandem repeats and translocations that are very difficult to identify and clarify with sequencing alone. Sequencing projects can now be finished and validated with less investment in time, cost and computational effort.

About OpGen, Inc.

OpGen, Inc. is a leading innovator in providing rapid, accurate genomic and DNA analysis systems and services. The company's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System, GenomeBuilder and MapIt Services provide high-resolution, whole genome maps for sequence assembly and finishing, strain typing and comparative genomics in the life sciences market. OpGen's powerful technology dramatically improves the quality of data and time-to- results by providing sequence information from single DNA molecules more rapidly and less expensively than previously possible. The company is dedicated to positively influencing individual healthcare outcomes, advancing scientific research and enhancing public health by delivering precise, actionable information and results to customers in the life science and healthcare communities. OpGen's customers include leading genomic research centers, biodefense organizations, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.opgen.com.

OpGen Contacts:

Michael Farmer
Director, Marketing
(240) 813-1284 office
mfarmer@opgen.com

Dan Budwick (Media)
Pure Communications, Inc.
(973) 271-6085


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 23-Dec-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dan Budwick
dan@purecommunicationsinc.com
973-271-6085
Pure Communications Inc.

Whole genome mapping technology plays integral role in international study

Gaithersburg, Md.December 23, 2012 OpGen, Inc. today announced its ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System technology was used in combination with next-generation sequencing (NGS) to produce the first, high-quality reference genome of the domestic goat. The study, which was led by BGI-Shenzhen and Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences was published online today in Nature Biotechnology. The paper, titled Sequencing and automated whole-genome optical mapping of the genome of a domestic goat (Capra hircus), demonstrates the value, efficiency and cost effectiveness of OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping in de novo assemblies of large, complex genomes.

"This independent technology provides not only the validation of the genome sequencing, but also provides the large-scale chromosome structure information that cannot be detected by sequencing," said Xun Xu, Deputy Director, BGI-Shenzhen. "The experience in these genome assembly projects shows that the physical whole genome map should be the standard for any reference genome to be assembled in the future."

Goats are an important economic resource in many developing countries around the globe, including China and India. However, despite their agricultural and biological importance, breeding and genetic studies of goats have been hindered by the lack of a high-quality reference genome sequence. The goat genome is the first high-quality reference genome for small ruminate animals and may help to advance the understanding of distinct ruminant genomic features from non-ruminant species.

Although generating draft assemblies from NGS is relatively easy, finishing a sequence to the chromosome level is still difficult and costly. The findings show that a single NGS platform, when combined with Whole Genome Mapping, can produce a finished assembly much faster and less expensively than other currently available mapping strategies such as bacterial artificial chromosome (BACs) or fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). This approach sets the gold standard in large genome de novo assembly, eliminating the need for genetic maps which can be very time consuming.

"By incorporating Whole Genome Mapping, we were able to overcome the limitations of NGS' short read scaffolds to produce long super-scaffolds and finish the assembly to the near chromosome level," said Wen Wang, Deputy Director, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and an author of the paper. "We could not have completed the project without OpGen's technology."

In the study, OpGen's ARGUS system produced 100,000 single molecule restriction maps in three hours. This resulted in 30 times the physical coverage of the goat genome. The company's Genome Builder software generated long super-scaffolds by combining single molecule map data with sequence scaffolds generated by NGS and subsequent assembly. Specifically, the metric of assembly (N50) was improved eightfold by combining Whole Genome Mapping with NGS over NGS alone.

"While we continue to demonstrate the value of Whole Genome Mapping for assembly, quality control and validation of microbial genomes, we are pleased to expand its applications as a critical, complementary technology enabling investigators to provide complete and accurate long-range genomic information in complex, de novo projects," said Richard Moore, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer of OpGen and an author of the paper. "This paper is the first of many we expect to be published over the next year which will validate OpGen's Whole Genome Mapping technology as a solution for the de novo assembly of the spectrum of genomes from microbes to mammals."

###

About ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System

OpGen's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System is the only commercially available technology that can provide a high-resolution, complete visual map of a whole genome and individual chromosomes. The company's unique single molecule analysis technology provides a whole genome view that complements genome assembly and enables scientists to identify highly repetitive regions, tandem repeats and translocations that are very difficult to identify and clarify with sequencing alone. Sequencing projects can now be finished and validated with less investment in time, cost and computational effort.

About OpGen, Inc.

OpGen, Inc. is a leading innovator in providing rapid, accurate genomic and DNA analysis systems and services. The company's ARGUS Whole Genome Mapping System, GenomeBuilder and MapIt Services provide high-resolution, whole genome maps for sequence assembly and finishing, strain typing and comparative genomics in the life sciences market. OpGen's powerful technology dramatically improves the quality of data and time-to- results by providing sequence information from single DNA molecules more rapidly and less expensively than previously possible. The company is dedicated to positively influencing individual healthcare outcomes, advancing scientific research and enhancing public health by delivering precise, actionable information and results to customers in the life science and healthcare communities. OpGen's customers include leading genomic research centers, biodefense organizations, academic institutions, clinical research organizations and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.opgen.com.

OpGen Contacts:

Michael Farmer
Director, Marketing
(240) 813-1284 office
mfarmer@opgen.com

Dan Budwick (Media)
Pure Communications, Inc.
(973) 271-6085


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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-12/pci-oas122012.php

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Help at hand when elderly relative's health fails

In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 photo, Barbara Newman Mannix, founder of A Dignified Life, poses for a photo outside her office in White Plains, N.Y. The company stands in for family members who can't be as close as they'd like when an elderly relative begins to decline. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)

In this Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2012 photo, Barbara Newman Mannix, founder of A Dignified Life, poses for a photo outside her office in White Plains, N.Y. The company stands in for family members who can't be as close as they'd like when an elderly relative begins to decline. (AP Photo/Jim Fitzgerald)

(AP) ? Marnie Schwartz was in California, a lawyer raising two toddlers. She was in no position to move across the country to care for her mother, who was living alone in New York and whose health was beginning to decline.

Schwartz's dilemma was similar to that faced by more and more Americans as the population spreads out, people live longer and giving up a job is out of the question.

"I needed eyes and ears closer to my mother," said Schwartz, an only child living in Malibu. "I needed someone to handle the medical, the insurance, the financial, stay on top of the daily caregiving, so the emotional strain wouldn't be overwhelming."

Those needs have fostered a niche that a variety of enterprises have been filling in recent years. Companies and individuals calling themselves advocates, care managers and advisers are willing to stand in for the family and deal with the maze of responsibilities that comes with the care of an elderly loved one.

With the aging of the baby boom generation, the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964, calls for such businesses are expected to increase over the next 20 years.

Their service doesn't come cheap and it's generally not covered by insurance. But some customers have found it's worth the peace of mind.

Schwartz found her "eyes and ears" when a childhood friend told her about A Dignified Life, a small company in White Plains, N.Y., that specializes in elder care.

"I don't know what I would have done without them," Schwartz said. "They knew where to go with all these questions I had that would have taken me 500 phone calls. They deciphered what the doctors were saying. They got a ramp built at the house. They dealt with the plumber. They remembered everything, and they did it in a really human, caring way.

"In about a year and a half, as my mother's situation got worse, they became part of our daily life," Schwartz said. And in October, as her mother's health failed, "they told me it was time to get on a plane." She was at her mother's deathbed, she said, because A Dignified Life knew when to call.

Barbara Newman Mannix, who runs the company, said "experience and empathy" are required to do the job well. She vets, hires and monitors in-home caregivers, attorneys, nursing homes and more, guides a family through the financial tangles and makes sure an elderly person's wishes are respected. She can help arrange the sale of a house and pre-plan a funeral.

For an initial, $625 four-hour consultation, her company will evaluate a family's needs and come up with an "action plan." The family can then hire the company to implement the plan on an hourly or retainer basis.

Mannix started the company after navigating the maze during her husband's fatal illness.

"You're suddenly in crisis and the normal reaction is, 'What do I do, where do I go, who do I call first?'" she said. "People are lost. But we tell them there is a way to cope, there is crisis management, there are people that will help you who do what they do all day every day."

She said many people just don't have the personality for dealing with doctors and caregivers and insurance companies.

"It's time, it's energy, it's stress, it's consternation among members of the family," she said. "There's emotional baggage, and if you have children yourself you're being pulled in both directions."

Judy Rappaport, who runs Preferred Lifestyle Services in Jupiter, Fla., said most elderly people resist moving to a son or daughter's home.

"Everybody wants to stay home," Rappaport said. "Now we do what we can to make it possible for people to stay in their homes."

Most of her company's staffers are nurses.

"When we're hired, we go in and count the pills, check the food in the refrigerator, we talk to the doctors," she said. "We get a complete picture and we write up a report in lay language. The family knows what we'll do and what it will cost right up front."

The services can get very specific.

"We had one lady who wanted to play bingo and we said, 'No problem, we can get you to bingo.' But she was a German lady and she wanted to play bingo in German," Rappaport said. "We found a place."

Jullie Gray, incoming president of the National Association of Geriatric Care Managers, said membership is now near 2,000, up from fewer than 1,600 a decade ago.

Rappaport said the average fee for her clients is between $1,500 and $2,500 a month, not including the in-home caretakers' pay.

David Cutner, an elder law attorney in Manhattan, said he worries about elderly people exhausting their assets, but added, "People who have a substantial net worth and are not thinking about government benefit programs might well want to hire this type of service."

A much less comprehensive and less costly alternative is offered by CareFamily, which prescreens in-home caregivers and matches them to customers over the Internet. On Monday, the company announced a variety of online tools through which a family can remotely monitor a caregiver's attendance, provide reminders about medications and appointments and exchange care plans and notes via email, texting or phone.

The service would be included in the average $15 an hour fee paid for the caregiver, said CareFamily CEO Tom Knox. He said it can "cut costs while ensuring that the elderly can be well taken care of ? without the need to uproot seniors and disrupt families."

Yale Hauptman, an elder law attorney in Livingston, N.J., said many different services are available. His office is often called in by advocates who discover that an elderly person needs a will or power of attorney or a trust.

"We work with people who just do health insurance, cut through red tape, deal with Medicaid," he said. "We work with daily money managers, who make sure the bills get paid. We work with geriatric care managers on the medical side.

"The type of work these people do is absolutely essential. It's a combination of families living farther apart and the fact we're living longer."

Leslie Riley of Cornwall-on-Hudson, N.Y., said that when her sister-in-law began having mental and physical problems, relatives hired A Dignified Life, even though some lived nearby.

"We had no idea where to start," she said. "Barbara came in and helped us focus on what needed to be done. How to work with the doctors in the hospital. We needed to get power of attorney, we needed to provide health care proxies, we needed to figure out how to approach the financial situation."

"She had a checklist for everything," Riley said. "I would call her lovingly efficient."

___

Online:

http://www.adignifiedlife.com

http://www.preferredlifestyleservices.com

http://www.carefamily.com

http://www.caremanager.org

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-12-22-Aging%20America-Elder%20Advocates/id-d1d375f6d66244c4a700479400abf530

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End of the world on 12/21/12? Not just yet, says the Vatican's top astronomer. ( video)

The director of the Vatican Observatory dismissed talk of a Mayan doomsday on Dec. 21, 2012, saying that the end of the Earth, if it happens, is billions of years away.

By Nick Squires,?Correspondent / December 20, 2012

A Mayan dancer performs at the Xcaret Eco Theme Park on the outskirts of Playa del Carmen, Mexico, on Wednesday. Although some say the Mayan calendar predicts the end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012, the Vatican's top astronomer is rather dubious.

Israel Leal/AP

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A Mayan prophecy that the world will end this week may have the more credulous stocking up on supplies and fleeing to "sacred" mountains in the hope of miraculous last-minute salvation by aliens.

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But while the idea that Earth could be shattered into a billion pieces by some sort of interplanetary cataclysm has worried millions of people around the world, the Holy See's chief astronomer suggests that life as we know it is unlikely to come to an end quite so soon.

In an editorial in the Vatican's official daily newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano ? in an issue whose front-page article was entitled??The end is not nigh ? at least for now? ? Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the?director of the Vatican Observatory, criticized "pseudo-prophecies" about the end of the Universe.??

?In the media and on the internet there is a great deal of talk of the end of the world, which the Mayan calendar supposedly?predicted for Dec 21. If you do a search on Google, you get 40 million results on the topic,? wrote Father Funes, a Jesuit priest from Argentina.

A 5,125-year cycle known in the Mayan calendar as the Long Count comes to an end on Friday and has been widely interpreted by cultists, New Age disciples, and believers in the esoteric as heralding the destruction of the planet.

But in a lengthy discourse on astronomy and Christian belief, he said it was ?not even worth discussing the scientific basis of these claims."

He acknowledged that the universe was slowly expanding, but that the destruction of the Earth ? if it ever happens ? will not occur for billions of years.

In any case, he said, Christians subscribe to the ?fundamental conviction that death is not the last word.?

Four hundred years after the Roman Catholic Church put Galileo on trial for heresy based on his belief that the Earth revolved around the Sun and not the other way round, the Vatican is rather more forgiving of the science of astronomy.

Its observatory is at Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the pope, which lies in the hills outside Rome. One of the oldest astronomical research institutes in the world, it also has a research facility hosted by the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona in Tucson.

Funes, who has a master?s degree in astronomy from the National University of Cordoba in Argentina as well as degrees in philosophy and theology, was made director of the observatory in 2006.

He has not been reluctant to take modern science into account when considering religious tenets. In an interview in 2008, he said it was possible that intelligent forms of life could exist on other planets in the solar system.

Aliens would still be God?s creatures, he said, in an article in L?Osservatore Romano headlined?"The extraterrestrial is my brother." The notion did not necessarily contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church, he said, arguing that to dismiss the possibility of alien life would be to underestimate God?s creative powers.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/u6rab7BSeuM/End-of-the-world-on-12-21-12-Not-just-yet-says-the-Vatican-s-top-astronomer.-video

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