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Anatomy

Anatomy of a social media ‘troll’ – Chicago Tribune

Jon Timowski has been described as a social media "troll."

In internet slang, a troll is a person who stirs the pot by purposely starting arguments, angering social media users, or posting inflammatory comments solely to provoke an emotional reaction from others.

"How do I respond to being called a troll? I really don't," said Timowski, 40, of Lowell. "It is and has been very typical, and telling, for the left to lash out to name calling."

Though he disregards such disparaging labels from his critics, Timowski views our polarized country as left versus right, liberals versus conservatives, Democrats versus Republicans. In his personal world, "snowflakes" have nothing to do with winter storms and everything to do with political storms.

In internet slang, the word snowflake is used by conservatives or Republicans to mock liberals or describe Democrats who feel they're unique when they're anything but unique. Another insulting connotation refers to snowflakes easily melting when confronted by opposing views. It's an overused insult, I say, even pass at this point.

Like most social media users, Timowski is convinced about his political and ideological convictions, which have become heightened since President Trump has been on the scene. Timowksi also is prolific with his hundreds of unrelenting comments on many people's Facebook pages, including on my public page.

For several months, Timowski has been commenting on my social media posts regarding political topics, typically with a bluster that rankles other readers. Only once did I have to tell Timowski to ease back with his name-calling or I'd have to ask him to avoid commenting on my posts. (I've told this to quite a few readers through the years.)

Timowski understood, which is more than I can say about a few other online readers.

Though Timowski and I disagree on most everything political, or so it seems, I enjoy reading his comments and sharing his impassioned voice with my online readers. I think it offers an attempt at a balance between clashing viewpoints, especially with my own viewpoints.

"My purpose for comments, especially to (readers) on the left, at first was to educate them why the right, or conservatives, look at them the way they do," Timowski told me. "It was to point out the flaws in thought and, more importantly, actions that were waking the sleeping and forgotten conservatives."

A Hammond native, Timowski is married with a son. He works in the field of safety and security with disaster planning, which restricts him from sharing his photo for this column, he said. He's been using social media since the days of MySpace which, in the fast-paced evolution of social media, certainly dates him.

On one of his recent Facebook posts on his own page, Timowski wrote, "I love how many people are against the government except on the 1st of the month."

Would you describe his post as inflammatory or informational? Purposeful or confrontational? Is it the work of a social media troll or a "conversation starter," as I've been called by some readers?

"I believe social media can be a way to debate and discuss everything under the sun," Timowski told me. "Unfortunately, it often brings out the worst in people."

This is the absolute truth, as any user has found out. This also is why I wanted to profile Timowski and others like him who have been labeled as a troll by others. I'm guessing that Timowski is not the person you may first think they are, according to his posts and comments. The same can be said for many other social media users, I believe.

It's become too easy to judge others based on only one thin slice of their life. In this case, their social media rhetoric or comments, which can be redundant to the point of exhaustion or aggravation.

For instance, I had Timowski pegged as a lifelong conservative, voting Republican in every election regardless of race or candidate. I was wrong.

"I have been a lifelong Democrat, only voting for two Republicans in a local election in my lifetime," said Timowski, who said he voted for Trump in November. "Every other race locally, state and federal have been for Democrats. I guess that means I don't affiliate, but I have leaned left throughout my lifetime thus far."

So why the change in political parties and viewpoints?

"As a lifelong Democrat, I was awakened at what area officials had let happen to my home city and others around it while the conservative areas prospered and made better financial decisions," he replied.

In the past, Timowski was, "active on liberal-leaning webpages, trying to shed light that the country was growing tired of poor behavior, violence, laziness and entitlement," he said. "I truly wanted to help the left that I had voted for my whole life to get away from these things."

"The constant corruption and indictments did not help," he added. "I began to see through, what I was told my whole life, that the rich and business leaders were the devil. After learning to let go of hatred for others' success, I decided I wanted the best business decision-makers running my tax dollars."

"While I disagree with conservative ideology on many subjects, I realize government is in fact a business and my personal life choices are to be done on a personal level away from government," Timowski said.

He also cites the "violence and ignorance" that America has witnessed this past year through so many protests and demonstrations.

"While the right, and namely Trump supporters, have shown ignorance and even some isolated cases of violence, the left has far outreached these cases with the masses," he said. "It's like much of the same results we see with Democratic stronghold areas when it comes to violent crimes. Much like my childhood city (Hammond) and northern Lake County."

Timowski and I agree on one thing.

"We all have a trillion thoughts, and speak a trillion words, but we will be judged on only a few opinions if people don't bother to learn about each other," he said.

jdavich@post-trib.com

Twitter@jdavich

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Anatomy of a social media 'troll' - Chicago Tribune

Anatomy

‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Firefighters Spinoff Probably Won’t Feature Original Cast Members – Moviefone

Get ready to see some new faces in Seattle! The planned "Grey's Anatomy" spinoff revolving around firefighters is going to feature all-new characters.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, none of the current regulars on "Grey's Anatomy" are likely to move over to the spinoff. Fans had speculated that Jason George, who plays resident Ben Warren, might star in the spinoff, since he worked closely with firefighters in the season finale. But it seems Shonda Rhimes is opting to focus on new faces.

While the news of the spinoff came as a surprise during ABC's upfronts presentation to advertisers, it's been in the works for some time.

"he discussions have been going on for a while earlier than this season. It was up to Shonda to tell us when she had inspiration for something that made sense, which was pretty recent," ABC Studios president Patrick Moran told THR.

"We talked about the elements of 'Grey's Anatomy' that seem to resonate with the audience emotional storytelling, deep human connection, a high-stakes environment and strong and empowered women and those elements will carry over to the spinoff."

The firefighters project is the second spinoff of "Grey's Anatomy," after "Private Practice." And Rhimes has had other spinoff ideas, like one about Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and his history in the military.

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'Grey's Anatomy' Firefighters Spinoff Probably Won't Feature Original Cast Members - Moviefone

Human Behavior

James Comey proves it’s basically impossible to give a perfect response to a bad boss – Quartz

Whats the right way to respond if your boss makes an inappropriateor even unethicalrequest? Former FBI director James Comey says he found himself facing just such a dilemma in February, when US president Donald Trump reportedly asked him to drop a federal investigation into the recently-fired national security adviser Michael Flynn.

[Flynn] is a good guy. I hope you can let this go, Trump said, according to a memo written by Comey shortly after the meeting. I agree he is a good guy, Comey said, opting not to address the implied request.

Some US senators seem to think Comeys response was pretty weak. Youre big. Youre strong. I know the Oval Office, and I know what happens to people when they walk in. There is a certain amount of intimidation. But why didnt you stop and say, Mr. President, this is wrong. I cannot discuss this with you.' Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked during Comeys June 8 testimony.

But management experts say its no surprise that Comey floundered in the moment. When bad bosses take us by surprise, few people respond in the way they might hope.

Its incredibly normal for people not to respond perfectly in the moment when theyre confronted with shocking behavior.Its incredibly normal for people not to respond perfectly in the moment when theyre confronted with shocking behavior, Alison Green, a management consultant and author of New York magazines popular column Ask a Manager, writes in an email. Very few of us have a perfectly polished response on the spot when we first encounter something inappropriate or unethical. And one of the most common reactions is to say something to try to normalize the situationand that is especially true when there are sticky power dynamics, as there are in this case. (As an example of this, look to all the women who deal with creeps at work by just trying to smooth over an inappropriate interactionand later realize, whoa, that was clear-cut sexual harassment.)

Indeed, Comey was clearly navigating uncharted territory. By his own admission, hed never dealt with a president like Trump before. During his testimony, he noted that he felt compelled to take notes on their one-on-one meetings, a step hed never taken with former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. I was honestly concerned that he might lie about the nature of our meeting, and so I thought it really important to document, he said. Theres also reason to think Trump was trying to make Comey fear for his job security. Before firing Comey, Trump reportedly assured him that lots of people wanted the job. Comey saw this as an attempt to create a patronage relationshipComey could stay on as FBI director if he was loyal to Trump.

Such behavior will sound familiar to anyone whos had a boss that perpetuates a culture of fear, according to Stefanie Johnson, an assistant professor of management at the University of Colorado, Boulders Leeds School of Business. And when people face harassment or intimidation at work, they dont think as clearly.

Daniel Kahnemans book Thinking Fast and Slow (and many other theories) point to the fact that our brains have two mechanismsa logical side that requires slow conscious, data-driven thought and an emotional one that results in fast, not always logical, responses, Johnson writes in an email. If someone is afraid of their leader (their leader might fire them, for example) then theyre likely to engage in this emotional response.

Basically, when we feel threatened, the logical parts of our brain shut down, according to Johnson. The part of your brain in which you weigh the costs and benefits of making a decision (like standing up for what you think is right) is dismantled. Instead, you engage in fight-or-flight. Giving an answer like Hes a good guy seems to be a flight responsehe does not want to fight with Trump.

Comey himself expressed regret about his initial response to Trump. I was so stunned by the conversation that I just took it in, he told Sen. Feinstein. I remember saying, I agree he is a good guy, as a way of saying, Im not agreeing with what you asked me to do. Again, maybe other people would be stronger in that circumstanceI hope Ill never have another opportunity. Maybe if I did it again, Id do it better.

Chances are Comey will do better if he encounters a similar scenariosimply because hes now had practice dealing with a shocking request, and has devoted thought to what a suitable response might look like. But the truth is that its hard to prepare for unexpectedly alarming behavior at work. And so Johnson suggests that if you find yourself in a similarly sensitive moment, you ask for a moment to think.

You need to remove yourself from the situation, collect yourself, maybe go out on the balcony and think about what you need to do, she says. So just say, I really cant respond to that right now, I need to put some thought into that,' and leave the room.

Another option is to signal to your boss that you wont keep the request a secret. Say, Ah, I think we should probably loop some other people in on this and see what they think, Johnson suggests. If your boss is really making an inappropriate demand, this may help defuse the situation.

And if you dont heroically shut down your boss or another overstepping coworker, theres no reason to beat yourself up. Comey did exactly what anyone should do upon coming out of a shocking encounter like thathe documented it and he reported it, says Green. But youd have to be pretty oblivious to human behavior to criticize him for not taking the president to task in the shock of the moment.

Learn how to write for Quartz Ideas. We welcome your comments at ideas@qz.com.

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James Comey proves it's basically impossible to give a perfect response to a bad boss - Quartz

Human Behavior

Harvard Cancels Admissions Offers Over Social Media Behavior – Voice of America

Harvard University says it has canceled offers to admit at least 10 students after it found they exchanged offensive memes on social media.

The universitys student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, reported the move on Monday.

The Crimson reported that the individuals connected through the Harvard College Class of 2021 Facebook group. It said they traded memes and messages with a private Facebook group, which was set up last December.

Those memes included images making fun of sexual abuse, racial minorities and the deaths of children.

For example, one student in the private group called the imagined hanging of a Mexican child piata time, The Crimson noted. Others made jokes about the Holocaust, Germanys systematic killing of Jews and others during World War II.

A Harvard spokeswoman did not comment, saying the university does not discuss the admission of individual students. The university tells accepted students that an offer of admission can be canceled for a number of reasons. They include behavior that brings into question (student) honesty, maturity or moral character."

What happened?

The Harvard Class of 2021 Facebook group had about 100 members. Later, some of them then created the smaller, private Facebook group. They shared the offensive images and messages in this group.

In April, Harvard officials sent letters to some of the members, asking them to explain their offensive posts. The students were told the school was reconsidering its offer of admission. The admissions office also said the students should not attend Harvards freshmen visiting event in April, the Crimson reported.

About a week later, at least 10 were told their offers were canceled, the newspaper said.

Jessica Zhang was a member of the larger Facebook group, Class of 2021.

A lot of students were excited about forming group chats with people who shared similar interests," she told The Crimson in an email.

She said the group began because someone posted about starting a chat for people who liked memes.

Zhang told The Crimson she did not post in the smaller group.

Cassandra Luca told the student newspaper that some members of the Class of 2021 group had suggested a group that posts more "R-rated" memes. Luca will also start taking classes at Harvard later this year.

Luca said the founders of the smaller group required students to first post shocking memes to the main group if they wanted to join the smaller group.

They were like, Oh, you have to send a meme to the original group to prove that you could get into the new one, Luca said.

Neither Zhang's nor Luca's offers of admission were canceled.

A student whose admission was canceled said the office asked the students to share with them all of the memes they sent to their private group.

This student spoke under the agreement that reporters would not use their name.

Right or wrong?

Some students, such as Luca, were unsure how they felt about the university's decision, she told The Crimson.

She said that if the students had threatened someone with harm, it would be a reason to cancel their admission offer.

But Zhang agrees with the school's decision. She told The Crimson that she respects the school's decision because "those actions really spoke about the students' true characters."

This is the second year that Harvard officials have dealt with students sharing offensive messages on the Internet. Last year, students from the Class of 2020 shared racist and sexist jokes in an unofficial Group Me chat. School officials released a statement saying the messages were unacceptable.

Harvard is one of the nation's top universities. It accepted only 5.2 percent of the nearly 40,000 students who applied for the Class of 2021.

I'm Jill Robbins.

And I'm Alice Bryant.

Alice Bryant reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Her report was based on information from the Associated Press, The Harvard Crimson newspaper and VOAs Student Union. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

________________________________________________________________

meme - n. an amusing or interesting picture or video that is spread widely through the Internet

chat / chat group - n. a group of people who communicate regularly via the Internet, usually in real time but also by email.

piata - n. a decorated container filled with candies, fruits and gifts that is hung up at parties or celebrations and hit with a stick by children until it is broken and the things inside it fall out

The Holocaust - n. the killing of millions of Jews and other people by the Nazis during World War II

moral - adj. concerning or relating to what is right and wrong in human behavior

R-rated - adj. (informal use) not meant to be seen by children under the age of 17

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Harvard Cancels Admissions Offers Over Social Media Behavior - Voice of America

Human Behavior

The Search for the Sharpest Tool in the Shed: Advanced Analytics & User Experience – Business 2 Community

Cant Take The Hunt Out of the User

While technology continues to advance, the core nature of human behavior remains the same. Yes, weve evolved; however the fact that we now use a microwave instead of starting a fire with sticks and rocks does not change the fact that we still need to eat!

All kitchen tools aside; the core nature of human behavior plays a crucial role in several aspects of the Enterprise world. Take a SharePoint or Office365 intranet portal as an example; when evaluating your employees user experience, the focus is on how comfortable the portal suits an employees needs. Having an intranet portal is meant to make employees work-life easy, organized and efficient. However, when human nature is disregarded during the creation or alteration process of a portal, the attempt to optimize employee work-life backfires as frustration leads to lack of motivation, and overall productivity- not to mention a decrease in ROI.

Recent statistics implicate just how impacting user experience is at work; 52% of people claimed that negative user experiences made them less likely to engage with a company. In addition, studies are predicting that user experience will take over price and product as the key differentiation by 2020.

The Hunters Choice

In the times where hunting and gathering were crucial practices for survival, one would choose to engage with the tool he or she deemed useful to fulfill his or her needs. In modern days, where work replaces hunting, getting an employee to engage with your intranet tool boils down to this ancient decision regarding the usefulness of a tool. The very basics of human behavior shows that three hemispheres of the brain come into play when coming to such a decision. Firstly, the reptilian brain which deals with human needs. Users have a mission, and they want to know that their portal is giving them what they need in order to complete it. Next, the emotion center of the brain, or the limbic system. In order to prevent frustration and anger from affecting work ethic, a users emotions must move in a positive direction when executing tasks. Lastly, the executive and logical branch of our brain: the neo-cortex. A user must logically conclude that their portal ranks highly in its level of usefulness.

Webcast, June 21st: 5 Keys to Operational Excellence

Hitting the Trifecta

Tapping into human nature and hitting the trifecta where all three hemispheres are satisfied becomes achievable with advanced analytics. Rather than making decisions about your portal based off of a hunch, data that provide insight on precisely where changes need to be made in order to fit the needs of users can be collected prior to making alterations. For example: advanced analytics can identify content-crammed pages that take too long to load, irrelevant content, failed searches, specific departments and users lacking engagement, exit pages, and more areas in need of improvement. These metrics highlight where needs are not being met, and where user frustration stems from. Neglect to these areas heavily influence an employees decision to further engage in the portal as it does not serve useful and efficient.

Sharp Checkup

Reaching a portals prime positive experience requires trial and error. After changes are made, advanced analytics can offer metrics that suggest the success rate of the changes, such as a spike in the average number and length of page visits. To secure that changes to the portal were successful in a manner that is more personalized to the individual user, campaigns can be implemented in the form of email, text, time-sensitive pop-up questions, and context-based pop up questions, which allow the user to add in their own insights about what is helpful or frustrating to them. The personalized campaigns strengthen an employees decision to engage with the portal as it is calming and logical to continue with a tool that is actively molding to user needs.

People may not be searching for sharper hunting tools to capture dinner, however they are still looking for the sharpest tools in technology to help them achieve success. Advanced analytics actively works with portals, improving them by analyzing user behavior and checking that needs are being met in order to provide a prime user experience.

Marketing Specialist at Intlock/ Cardiolog Analytics. Major in Psychology and a Minor in Business. The mix of my interests, business and psychology, allow me to have a great appreciation for analytic tools that look to improve the quality of "work-life" while simultaneously guiding a business to reach its maximum potential. Viewfullprofile

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The Search for the Sharpest Tool in the Shed: Advanced Analytics & User Experience - Business 2 Community

Genetics

Why Is NewLink Genetics Losing One-Third of Its Value Today? – Motley Fool

What happened

After a surprising decision by Roche Holding (NASDAQOTH:RHHBY) to exit its co-development deal on a new cancer drug, NewLink Genetics Corporation (NASDAQ:NLNK) shares were crashing 32% as of 1 p.m. EDT.

Hope that success for NewLink Genetics' IDO-inhibiting cancer drugs could get its share price back on track, following a disappointing trial failure last year, were dashed today when Roche announced it was returning rights to co-develop GDC-0919.

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

The news is a bit surprising given that Roche just presented data from a trial of GDC-0919 at the high-profile American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting this week.

However, it becomes a little less surprising when we dig into the data and discover that the benefit of adding GDC-0919 to Roche's PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor Tecentriq didn't move the needle much. The combination did improve response rates, but the improvement appears too slight for Roche to justify committing any more research to it. Specifically, the overall response rate in patients diagnosed with various solid tumor cancers was only 9%, and all responses were partial responses.

Further sealing GDC-0919's fate was that the response rate appears to trail that of Incyte's (NASDAQ:INCY) epacadostat, a drug that has the same IDO-inhibiting target as GDC-0919. At ASCO, Incyte reported that teaming epacadostat up with Merck & Co.'s (NYSE:MRK) PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda delivered overall response rates of 30% to 35% in various cancers, including kidney cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.

Roche's decision caps off a week of disappointing news at NewLink Genetics. On Jun. 2, it reported that another of its IDO-inhibitors, indoximod, failed a mid-stage breast cancer trial, casting doubt on its use in indications outside of melanoma, where results have been solid.

In April, management said that combining indoximod with Keytruda resulted in an objective response rate of 52%, and a disease control rate of 73%. Those are good numbers, but they don't appear to be much different from epacadostat, which delivered a 58% overall response rate in advanced melanoma patients when used alongside Keytruda, and a 74% disease-control rate.

Overall, IDO-inhibitors appear to work, but their efficacy might not be as strong across all cancers as hoped; undeniably, that puts peak sales forecasts for this class of drugs at risk. Only time will tell what NewLink Genetics does now that it has 100% rights to both indoximod and GDC-0919, but it may be a bit premature to assume that the company's IDO-inhibitors won't eventually make it to market.

Todd Campbell has no position in any stocks mentioned. His clients may have positions in the companies mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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Why Is NewLink Genetics Losing One-Third of Its Value Today? - Motley Fool

Genetics

Biology professor: Trump’s presidency will permanently alter human … – TheBlaze.com

A biology professor at the University of Washington in Seattle believes the stress caused by President Donald Trumps time in office will lead to a permanent change in human genetics.

Peter Ward, a professor who works in the earth and space sciences department of UWs College of the Environment, offered his bizarre prediction to Gizmodo earlier this weekwhen the publication asked a handful of evolutionary biologists, Can superhuman mutants be living among us?

Ward argued that significant traumas like abuse or military combat cancause permanent change to the human genome. He went on to suggest Trumps presidency is akin to those traumas and will have an evolutionary consequence on humanity.

Were finding more and more that, for instance, people who have gone through combat, or women who have been abused when you have these horrendous episodes in life, it causes permanent change, which is then passed on to your kids, he said. These are actual genetic shifts that are taking place within people.

Those shifts, Ward contended, can cause huge evolutionary change.

He added: On a larger scale, the amount of stress that Americans are going through now, because of Trump there is going to be an evolutionary consequence.

Earlier in his statement, the professor also predicted the U.S. military willmanipulate genetics to create some sort of superhuman soldiers.

A soldier whos much harder to bleed to death, or a soldier that doesnt need to drink as much water, or doesnt need to eat for five or six days, or doesnt need to sleep any one of these things would be an enormous advantage in warfare, he said.

This isnt the first time Ward has raised eyebrows for his ideas.

In his 2009 book The Medea Hypothesis: Is Life on Earth Ultimately Self-Destructive? Wardargued that life on earth will cause its own destruction in order to save the planet.

He argued at the time, The Christian Science Monitor reported, that life will self-destruct prematurely, many years before the sun, which he believes will begin to expand in roughly one billion years, burns the biosphere away.

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Biology professor: Trump's presidency will permanently alter human ... - TheBlaze.com

Genetics

The monk who became the ‘father of genetics’ – Catholic Star Herald

This is the first piece in a series exploring Catholicism and science.

We know well the churchs stance that reason (ratio) can never be ultimately alien or antithetical to fides (faith), for God is the Source of all Truth. A disproportionate overtaxing of the aims and abilities of human nature as the basis for all social, ethical and political realities can and has led to totalitarian systems which have been disastrous for humanity (Fides et Ratio, 46). Yet the answer to these challenges is never a flight into the feeling and experience of unmitigated fideism, with no relationship to rational reflection, for this ends in religious expression withering into myth or superstition (FeR, 48).

This series will hope to emphasize the relationship between scientific thought and religious conviction, always recognizing the distinct spheres of both because using Scripture as a proof text for a scientific claim, or enshrining a scientific hypothesis as an indubitably revealed truth, is neither good science nor good theology. Yet faith and reason are famously recognized as the two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of the Truth.

These anthropological and theological claims do not preclude us from examining the contributions people of faith have made to the progress of human knowledge in various scientific disciplines. On the contrary, they impel us to do so. And with the proliferation of television commercials for private companies offering to help us explore our genetic past and the impact it has on our children and grandchildren, there is no better place to begin than with Gregor Mendel.

Mendel was born in 1822 in what is today the Czech Republic. An Augustinian monk, he studied math and botany in Vienna. When he returned to the monastery, he experimented with pea plants and came to realize that traits were passed on in independent pairings of what he coined dominant and recessive factors (now called genes), not inherited in equal proportions from each of the preceding generations as previously thought. He is thus known as the father of genetics.

Both the ability to identify genetically inherited diseases and to engineer plant varieties for more desirable qualities (e.g., corn with optimal kernel size, shape, color, durability, and resistance to pests) are indebted to the work of Mendel.

It is well known that prayer and praise formed and supported Mendels exploratory search for truths about life on our planet. He recognized the importance of creatureliness and what this implied: both limitation to our self-determination and a relationship with the Creator and the natural world in which we live.

Like Anselm of Canterbury almost a millennium before him, Mendel saw in his rigorous investigations a path toward union with the divine. As Mendels predecessor put it: Come now, insignificant man, fly for a moment from your affairs, escape for a little while from the tumult of your thoughts. Enter into the inner chamber of your soul, shut out everything save God and what can be of help in your quest for him Come then, Lord my God, teach my heart where and how to seek You, where and how to find You. Teach me to seek you, and reveal yourself to me as I seek, because I can neither seek you if you do not teach me how, nor find you unless you reveal yourself. Let me seek you in desiring you; let me desire you in seeking you; let me find you in loving you; let me love you in finding you.

Mendel died at 61 years of age after serving as a friar, botanist, abbot, and author. It was not until decades after his quiet death in the monastery that his genius was recognized by the international academic community, and his important role in this history of human self-understanding confirmed.

Collingswood native Michael M. Canaris, Ph.D., teaches at Loyola University, Chicago.

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The monk who became the 'father of genetics' - Catholic Star Herald

Cell Biology

12-hour biological clock coordinates essential bodily functions – Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)

Some bodily activities, sleeping, for instance, mostly occur once every 24 hours; they follow a circadian rhythm. Other bodily functions, such as body temperature, cognitive performance and blood pressure, present an additional 12-hour cycle, but little is known about the biological basis of their rhythm. A team of scientists from various institutions, including Baylor College of Medicine, has revealed that, in addition to 24-hour clocks, mammals and other organisms have 12-hour clocks that are autonomous, work independently from 24-hour clocks and can be modified by external factors. Studying 12-hour clocks is important because altered 12-hour cycles have been linked to human disease. The study appears in Cell Metabolism.

Our lab has been working on how the 24-hour cycles are regulated, and we and others have shown that disturbing these clocks may lead to diseases of metabolism, said senior author Dr. Bert OMalley, chair and professor of molecular and cellular biology and Thomas C. Thompson Chair in Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine. For instance, experimental evidence shows that night-shift workers who periodically change their night and day shifts or people who travel overseas often alter their sleep cycles, and this seems to make them prone to gain weight and develop diabetes and other alterations of metabolism that may lead to disease. Its not a good idea to disturb the circadian rhythm on a regular basis.

In addition to physiological activities that cycle every 24 hours, mammals and other organisms have activities that repeat every 12 hours. For example, it has been reported that blood pressure, body temperature, hormone levels and response to therapy fluctuate in 12-hour cycles. In addition, altered 12-hour cycles have been associated with human diseases. Other researchers had identified about 200 genes that are activated in 12-hour cycles. In this study, OMalley and his colleagues set out to determine whether there was a larger number of 12-hour genes and whether their cycles followed the definition of a biological clock, that is whether they worked autonomously and their oscillation could be adjusted by the environment.

Math meets biology to indentify the bodys internal clocks

Dr. Bokai Zhu, first author of this study and a postdoctoral fellow in the OMalley lab, carried out biological analyses to determine the activity of thousands of mice genes in time. Then, co-author Dr. Clifford Dacso, professor of molecular and cellular biology at Baylor College of Medicine, and co-author and mathematician Dr. Athanasios Antoulas, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice University, applied mathematical analyses to these biological data.

We were surprised to identify more than 3,000 genes that were expressed following 12-hour rhythms. A large portion of these genes was superimposed on the already known 24-hour gene activities, Zhu said.

The 12-hour clock is autonomous and can be synchronized by external cues

Further work showed that the 12-hour rhythms of genetic activity work as biological clocks. They occur regularly and autonomously in the cells, and their oscillation can be synchronized by certain external stimuli. OMalley and colleagues discovered that 12-hour clocks are independent from 24-hour clocks. When they experimentally eliminated a 24-hour clock, 12-hour clocks continued ticking. Furthermore, the external cues that can synchronize 24-hour clocks, such as sunlight, do not affect 12-hour clocks.

Of all the genes we analyzed, two sets with 12-hour cycles stood out; those involved with protein quality control and processing, which mainly occur in a cellular structure called endoplasmic reticulum, and those related to the energy supply of the cell, which involves the mitochondria, Zhu said. The activities of the endoplasmic reticulum and mitochondria depend on each other, and we have shown here that the 12-hour genes in the endoplasmic reticulum are synchronized with the 12-hour genes in the mitochondria, which provide the energy needed for protein processing.

In addition, we found that certain liver conditions are associated with disturbed 12-hour gene expression in mice. We anticipate that further study of 12-hour cycles might lead to opportunities to improve prevention of or treatments for diseases of the liver and other organs in the future, OMalley said.

Other contributors to this work include Qiang Zhang, Yinghong Pan, Emily M. Mace and Brian York. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, the University of Houston and the Max Planck Institute.

This research was supported by grants from the NationaI Institutes of Health (U24 DK097748 and R01 HD07857), the Brockman Foundation, the Center for Advancement of Science in Space, Peter J. Fluor Family Fund, Philip J. Carroll, Jr. Professorship, Joyce Family Foundation, the National Science Foundation Grant CCF-1320866 and the German Science Foundation Grant AN-693/1-1.

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12-hour biological clock coordinates essential bodily functions - Baylor College of Medicine News (press release)