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Anatomy

Web exclusive: Anatomy of a murder trial – News – The Evening … – Hornell Evening Tribune

In this Evening Tribune special web report, Neal Simon details the testimony of one witness in the Iryn Meyers murder trial State Police Inv. Brent Bernard

Iryn Meyers Trial

Mrs. Meyers is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of first-degree arson, conspiracy, attempted insurance fraud, insurance fraud and filing a false written statement. Meyers, a native of the Philippines, has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and is currently on trial in a Steuben County courtroom.

Witness

State Police Inv. Brent Bernard. On Feb. 15, 2016, Bernard was a New York State Police investigator assigned to the Wayland, N.Y. barracks.

Why hes important

Bernard was the first law enforcement official to interview Iryn Meyers following the fire on New Galen Road that took the life of 60-year-old David ODell, a friend of both Iryn Meyers and her husband Joseph Meyers.

Based on what Iryn Meyers told Bernard, she was subsequently arrested for making a false written statement.

Also, Bernard did not testify in Joseph Meyers trial, which resulted in Mr. Meyers conviction for first-degree murder and arson.

Bernard on the stand

The investigator testified Monday before the Steuben County criminal trial jury. During direct examination he was questioned by Steuben County District Attorney Brooks Baker, and he was later cross-examined by Brenda Smith Aston, one of the two defense attorneys for Iryn Meyers.

Bernard testified that after arriving on the fire scene at approximately 9 a.m. on Feb. 15, 2016, he was told by his boss, Senior Inv. Curtis Eaton, to interview Iryn Meyers.

Bernard said Iryn Meyers was one of the few civilian bystanders at the fire scene that morning, and the intention of his interview was to learn what she knew about the victim, when she had seen him last, and to ascertain if she had any knowledge about what may have led to the fire.

According to Bernard, the pair went into a State Police vehicle to conduct the interview, as the temperature outside was frigid, hovering near 10 degrees. Bernard said the printer in the police cruiser would not print the deposition correctly, so he suggested they go to the barracks in Wayland to complete the interview. He drove them both to the barracks.

Bernard testified that Mrs. Meyers was not a murder suspect and was free to leave or decline to answer questions at any time.

Iryn Meyers Statement

According to Bernards testimony, Iryn Meyers said I have no idea how Davids house burned down.

She explained that she had been living at the ODell house for a few months, helping to take care of David as she and her husband were having marital difficulties. She said she had feared David was a danger to the house and himself, mentioning that he previously left clothes on a space heater, which had started a small fire.

Iryn Meyers told Bernard that she got off work at Finger Lakes DDSO around 11 p.m. She said she and Joe had some leftover pot roast, cuddled for a bit and eventually drove the couple miles to ODells house to pick up a bathing suit, as they wanted to pay a visit to Logans Inn and use a hot tub.

They started off for Logan Inns but decided to call ahead from the road. A call to Logans Inn from Iryns phone was placed at 1:08 a.m. During the call, the couple learned the hot tub was closed, so they went back home for the night, according the statement.

Further investigation

Bernard testified that Joseph Meyers was being questioned at the same time as his wife, but by another investigator. After comparing the couples two accounts, investigators were left unsatisfied.

A lot of little things were not matching up for something that took place (just) eight or nine hours earlier, Bernard testified.

According to Iryn Meyers deposition, her husband received a phone call from one of ODells sisters at approximately 8 a.m. on Feb. 15. The sister told Mr. Meyers that her brothers house had burned down. He told her he would drive over and see what was going on.

At approximately 8:30 a.m., according to Iryn, her husband called her and told her David ODells house had burned down.

Cross-Examination

In her opening statement last week, Aston suggested to the jury that investigators made up their minds almost instantly, focusing on arson and Iryn and Joseph Meyers with 18 minutes. Questioned by Smith about the purpose of his interview with Iryn Meyers, Bernard denied she was a target of the investigation at that point.

We were investigating a fire, he said.

Under questioning by Aston, Bernard acknowledged that not everything Iryn Meyers said between about 9 a.m. when the interview started and 2:20 p.m. when the deposition was signed was included in the final statement.

Aston asked Bernard if he was picking and choosing what to include. He responded that the final deposition was all the pertinent information that was gleaned.

What will the jury think?

Inconsistencies in Iryn Meyers statement, the prosecution says, were exposed later when law enforcement personnel seized a video surveillance system from Joseph Meyers residence. For example, surveillance video appears to show the couple getting in a car and pulling out of the property at about 7:30 a.m., on Feb. 15, 2016. They come back about ten minutes later and re-enter the residence.

The prosecution believes they made a quick trip to check out the fire damage, prior to the 8:30 a.m. call when they purportedly first heard about the fire. Also, there is no mention in Iryns statement to Bernard about this 7:30 a.m. incident.

Not so fast, the defense says.

Did you ask her if she had been to the fire scene earlier? Aston asked Bernard.

He said he did not ask her that question.

She told me where she had been, answered Bernard.

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Web exclusive: Anatomy of a murder trial - News - The Evening ... - Hornell Evening Tribune

Human Behavior

Taming ‘the terrible passions’ – Inquirer.net

While Donald Trumps mighty guns of August are locked and loaded, this piece will try to revive the protracted duel between reason and emotion.

Its a debate that never dies: What defines and animates humanity? Is it calculating reason that invented the tools and amenities of civilization, or what the painter Vincent van Gogh called the terrible passions that drove us to where we are now?

If we survey the events of history all the way to that fateful day a wily serpent tempted an innocent Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, it is undoubtedly the passions that largely rule our behavior. Rationalists may declare with certitude the unstoppable, onward march of reason to the omega of human evolution, but immortal myths and facts on the ground tell a more convincing story of an untamable animal spirit that drives human thought and action: the lust for adventure, the inordinate appetite for fighting, hurting, and dominating others in short, the desire for mate, love, revenge, power and glory.

Think of the wars, great and small, that have been fought because of matters of emotional fury. Think of the mythical thousand ships launched by the Greeks to bring back the beautiful Helen from the arms of Paris in Troy; think of the mesmerizing beauty of the Taj Mahal built by the grieving emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his beloved wife Mumtaz; recall the hundreds of millions of people who lost their lives in numberless killing fields throughout the world; and more recently, dance to the irresistible beat of Despacito which briefly united us in over four billion views. Finally, think of the staying power of the great religions of humankind, and you get some insights into human passions in all their mystery, splendor and savagery.

Sadly, the marvels of science and cybertechnologies that have reduced Earth to a small village of competing tribes have not freed humanity from its Neanderthal moorings. As in the past, its swords, guns and bombs, not plowshares and classrooms, that make the difference.

And so, unsurprisingly, we find lunatic nations like North Korea, enamored of their newfound nuclear toys, and great powers like China and America, playing out their existential imperatives on the world stage, while a fearful humanity holds its breath, knowing that any miscalculation could lead to nuclear war and global catastrophe.

Is reason really impotent when besieged by the passions? If there is one big lesson to be learned from human frailty, its that we have not learned from history. Barbara Tuchman inferred in her classic The March of Folly that governments throughout millennia have never learned how to tame the passions. Thus, since governments advent in 2000 B.C., there has been no marked improvement in it as an instrument for the rational and just management of human society. And if we cannot learn from our mistakes (follies), we are certainly doomed to repeat them.

Serious students of human behavior conclude that while the sciences have progressed by leaps and bounds, government has been at a standstill no better conducted now than 4,000 years ago.

David Hume believes that reason is and ought to be the slave of the passions and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them. Translation: Passions, not the cold logic of reason, motivate human action. Thus, in our world of dizzying technological developments, beware of the many disguises of the passions used by those in power to make their lies appear palatable and reasonable.

In the Philippine context, that could mean that propaganda its arsenal of alternative facts, half-truths, and post-truth that flood social media actually speaks the language of reason even when its aim is to fool people because its authors know that their real target is the passions. Thats what makes it so dangerous to a gullible, undiscerning public.

If there is a moral to this piece, it is that we must realize we live in a maddening world where real truth is often stranger than fiction; that in a larger sense, the conflict between the passions and reason has barely begun. The passions and reason are what make us uniquely human. They are inseparable and need each other, for good or ill.

* * *

Narciso Reyes Jr. (ngreyes1640@hotmail.com) is an international book author and former diplomat. He lived in Beijing in 1978-81 as bureau chief of the Philippine News Agency.

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Taming 'the terrible passions' - Inquirer.net

Human Behavior

The Follow-Up to Rain Room Is Brilliant and Unsettling – The Atlantic

The seven helium-filled white globes that hover, swarm, and form kaleidoscopic patterns above visitors to Londons Roundhouse are neither friend nor foetheyre inanimate drones programmed by an algorithm to move, and to respond in turn to the various movements of people below them. And yet their behavior is familiarly, unsettlingly alive. They seem curious at some points, breaking away from their pack to investigate individuals on the ground. Theyre menacing at others, gliding gracefully into imposing structures overhead. Theyre sometimes clumsy, colliding with each other and veering awkwardly upward. And theyre mesmerizing, evoking entities as disparate as birds and bacteria in the ways they gently dance and dip under the Roundhouses domed ceiling.

The balloon-drones are Zoological, a flock of autonomous, flying spheres created for the installation +/- Human by the studio Random International, the artists best known for Rain Room. That work, which debuted at Londons Barbican in 2012, helped usher in a new age of Instagram-friendly immersive artworks, attracting day-long lines when it moved to New Yorks Museum of Modern Art prior to a 15-month stint at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. But where Rain Room allowed visitors to feel omnipotent, walking freely through a room of falling water without getting wet, Zoological encourages a sense of vulnerability. The ever-shifting constellations overhead are beautiful and unsettling: They catalog and respond to human behavior. This is an artwork that you observe while aware that its observing you right back.

Art for Instagrams Sake

+/- Human includes dance performances choreographed by Wayne McGregor, devised to provoke and create new patterns of movement as the dancers and the spheres interact. During the day, visitors can simply enter the Roundhouses space and move around underneath Zoological, which is accompanied by original music composed by Warp Recordss Mark Pritchard. The score is pivotal, offering ethereal layers of electronic harmonies, and then jarring, discordant sounds of exaggerated humming or screeching. At times the room feels like a scene from Denis Villeneuves Arrival; at others like a particularly traumatic episode of Black Mirror. The drones are benign, staying out of arms reach, but their behaviorboth pre-programmed and responsiveis impossible to predict.

Zoological, as a work, seems intended to play on subconscious anxieties about everything from driverless cars to alien invasions to mutating pathogens. The ways in which the spheres rise and fall around each other mimic the ways birds fly, and bugs swarm, and computers generate graphics that move to music. Its eerily familiar, but inhuman. Random International describes the work as an amplified and physical manifestation of our lived experience in a world increasingly run by algorithms, and its rendering of our uncertain, symbiotic, increasingly dependent relationship with machines and code captures the flux of an era in which technology is evolving faster than our ability to devise ethical frameworks for it. The spheres in Zoological are harmless, but for how long?

Its perhaps less instantly gratifying and joyful than Rain Room, but much more thought-provoking. Its also of a piece with other recent works of art and entertainment that try to wrestle with how drones are changing the nature of warfare or how technology will ruin humanity if were not perpetually vigilant. Its a theme Random International has considered over and over, in a series of Swarm Studies that examine and mimic collective behavior, and in works that reflect the human form in motion as pinpricks of light. Zoological, fascinating and occasionally alarming, encourages engagement, but the underlying note is one of caution.

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The Follow-Up to Rain Room Is Brilliant and Unsettling - The Atlantic

Biochemistry

Award Supports Novel Methods to Produce Ammonia and Hydrogen – University of Arkansas Newswire

University Relations

Jingyi Chen and Lauren Greenlee

Ammonia is the world's primary raw material for nitrogen-based fertilizer production, but producing it consumes a large amount of energy1- to 2-percent of energy consumption worldwide. The National Science Foundation has awarded $450,000 to Jingyi Chen and Lauren Greenlee to develop alternative processes for producing ammonia. The research will also lead to a more refined and environmentally softer method of producing hydrogen for energy storage and fuel and chemical production.

Chen is an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, and Greenlee is an assistant professor of chemical engineering in the College of Engineering. Their work supports the NSF's goal of discovering and developing sustainable energy sources.

Conventional processes for ammonia production, primarily the Haber-Bosch thermal catalytic method, rely on hydrocarbon resources for the hydrogen needed to produce ammonia. Chen and Greenlee are developing catalytic electrochemical processes, or "electrolyzers," for an alternative method of producing ammonia and hydrogen. Specifically, they focus on a method called nitrogen reduction reaction, in which nitrogen is combined with water molecules to form ammonia. They are also studying oxygen evolution reaction, during which water splits to oxygen and hydrogen. For both methods, the researchers are seeking efficient, nonprecious-metal nanocatalysts that can operate at ambient temperature rather than the high-temperature conditions required for hydrocarbon-based technologies.

The researchers will characterize iron and nickel nanostructures as bimetal catalysts and evaluate the reactivity and selectivity of these catalysts for both electrochemical processes. They will then use x-ray absorption spectroscopy to develop methods to correlate the structure and composition of the metals with electrocatalytic activity.

The goal of the project is to design a low-cost and better performing catalytic electrolyzer that can be developed for commercial production.

By integrating research and education, the project is designed to increase student participation in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Chen and Greenlee will recruit students from under-represented groups to participate in the research program. The researchers' findings will be integrated into teaching and curriculum development for the departments of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Editor-selected comments will be published below. No abusive material, personal attacks, profanity, spam or material of a similar nature will be considered for publication.

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Award Supports Novel Methods to Produce Ammonia and Hydrogen - University of Arkansas Newswire

Anatomy

Anatomy of a crisis: The North Korea threat – POLITICO.eu

July 28, 2017

North Korea tests a ballistic missile experts say could reach the continental United States.

August 5, 2017

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passes sanctions on North Korean exports in response to its missile tests.

The United Nations Security Council just voted 15-0 to sanction North Korea. China and Russia voted with us. Very big financial impact!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2017

August 8, 2017

Trump promises Fire and Fury will meet North Korean threats.

North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

August 10, 2017

General Kim Rak Gyom, head of North Koreas strategic missile forces, outlined a plan to fire missiles into the waters around Guam and derided President Trump.

Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him.

August 11, 2017

President Trump warns U.S. military is prepared to respond to any North Korean attack.

Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2017

August 11, 2017

Guams Joint Information Center releases a fact sheet preparing for an imminent missile threat.

For years, North Korea has had the ability to launch short-range missiles at targets up to 800 miles away. But this year, North Korea successfully tested intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles. Experts now think the country is capable of hitting targets more than 7,000 miles away, which includes cities in the continental United States.

North Koreas nuclear program has grown under Kim Jong Un, while missile ranges have considerably expanded. Kim conducted 24 missile tests in 2016 and 14 tests already in 2017.

Only 2,100 miles southeast of North Korea, Guam is a strategic target because of its two American military bases Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam. There are 3,831 U.S. military personnel stationed there in addition to several B-1 bombers and fighter jets.

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Anatomy of a crisis: The North Korea threat - POLITICO.eu

Immunology

aTyr Pharma Announces Second Quarter 2017 Operating Results and Provides an Update on Innovative Immunology … – GlobeNewswire (press release)

Resolaris Demonstrated Favorable Safety Profile in Rare Muscular Dystrophy Patients in Extension Studies iMod.Fc Program for Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) on Track to Commence Phase 1 Clinical Trial Project ORCA: Leverages a New Immuno-Oncology Antibody Target Based on Physiocrine Biology

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 14, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- aTyr Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq:LIFE), a biotherapeutics company engaged in the discovery and development of Physiocrine-based therapeutics to address severe, rare diseases, today announced operating results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017.

During the first half of 2017, our team advanced three innovative, first-in-class biologics that harness Physiocrine biology in immunology, said John Mendlein, Ph.D., CEO of aTyr Pharma. For our Resolaris program, we report favorable safety data from two extension studies in patients with rare muscular dystrophies underscoring the potential for improved clinical outcomes over time based on stabilizing or improving muscle function. In addition, we plan to initiate our first-in-human clinical trial for our iMod.Fc program for ILD. Our third program, ORCA targets a novel, proprietary immuno-oncology pathway using antibodies to change levels of Resokine in tumor settings. We believe tumors utilize Resokine to evade immune system responses. Our Resolaris, iMod.Fc and ORCA programs demonstrate the power and leverage arising from our new insights in immunology and novel therapeutic modalities targeting homeostatic pathways.

Resolaris Program First Resokine Therapeutic Candidate Based on a Protein Secreted by Muscle

Safety Extension Study Results (005 and 006) aTyr recently completed two extension studies in patients with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2B (LGMD2B), adult facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), and early onset FSHD. Per protocol patients received 3.0 mg/kg of Resolaris weekly in these extension studies.

Promising Clinical Results for Resolaris in Early Onset FSHD During the quarter, aTyr announced top-line results from its Phase 1b/2 trial (003) of Resolaris in patients with early onset FSHD. Overall, 63% of patients (5/8) showed an increase from baseline in their MMT score, with a mean change from baseline of +3.8%. Resolaris was generally well-tolerated at doses up to 3.0 mg/kg once weekly in this younger patient population (patients in the trial were between the ages of 16 and 20) with no observed signs of general immunosuppression.

AAN Presentation During the quarter, Dr. John Vissing, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology, University of Copenhagen, presented a poster titled Results of a Phase 1b/2 Study of ATYR1940 in Adult Patients with Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy Type 2B (LGMD2B) and Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (FSHD) (ATYR-C-004) at the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) Annual Meeting on April 25, 2017 in Boston, MA.

Clinical Development Plan Initiation of a randomized placebo-controlled trial with Resolaris is contingent upon the identification of a PD assay and execution of a partnership related to one of our pipeline programs.

iMod.Fc Program First Fc Fusion Based Therapeutic Candidate for Lung Diseases

Clinical Development aTyr Pharma plans to commence a Phase 1 clinical program for the iMod.Fc program later this year. This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study will investigate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics (PD) of intravenous iMod.Fc in healthy volunteers.

American Thoracic Society (ATS) Presentations During the quarter, aTyr Pharma presented two posters on the iMod.Fc program at the ATS International Conference May 19 - 24, 2017 in Washington, D.C.:

In conjunction with the ATS presentations, aTyr Pharma hosted an educational webinar featuring Dr. Steven D. Nathan, M.D., FCCP, Director of the Advanced Lung Disease Program and Lung Transplant Program at Inova Fairfax Hospital, to provide disease education on interstitial lung diseases that are characterized by an immune component, such as idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), sarcoidosis, and chronic hypersensitivity pneumonitis (CHP). The webinar is available on the aTyr Pharma investor website.

Project ORCA First Antibody Antagonist to a Physiocrine Immunology Pathway

New Target in Immuno-Oncology ORCA involves a novel and proprietary target that aTyr believes is active across multiple tumor types.

Timeline aTyr plans to select an antibody as a potential IND candidate in 2017.

Second Quarter 2017 Financial Results

Research and development expenses were $8.4 million and $11.3 million for the quarters ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease of $2.9million was due primarily to a $2.2 million decrease related to Resolaris clinical trials costs and $0.6 million decrease related to manufacturing costs incurred in support of Resolaris.

General and administrative expenses were $3.5million and $4.1million for the quarters ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease of $0.6 million was due primarily to a $0.4 million reduction in professional fees.

First Half 2017 Financial Results

Research and development expenses were $17.6 million and $23.3 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease of $5.7million was due primarily to $4.2 million decrease related to manufacturing costs incurred in support of Resolaris and $2.3 million decrease related to Resolaris clinical trials costs. The decrease was partially offset by an increase of $1.0 million related to research and non-clinical development costs incurred for iMod.Fc.

General and administrative expenses were $7.5 million and $8.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease of $0.7 million was due primarily to a $0.4 million decrease in professional fees.

Financial Guidance

As ofJune 30, 2017, aTyr had$57.2 millionin cash, cash equivalents and investments and 23.8 million shares of common stock outstanding.

aTyr expects that its cash, cash equivalents and investments will be sufficient to fund its anticipated operations into the third quarter of 2018.

About aTyr Pharma

aTyr Pharma is engaged in the discovery and clinical development of innovative medicines for patients suffering from severe, rare diseases using its knowledge of Physiocrine biology, a newly discovered set of immunological and physiological pathways. To date, the Company has generated three innovative therapeutic programs based on its knowledge of Physiocrine biology in three different therapeutic areas and three different biologic modalities. aTyr has built an intellectual property estate, to protect its pipeline, comprising over 220 issued patents or allowed patent applications that are owned or exclusively licensed, including over 300 potential Physiocrine-based protein compositions. aTyr's key programs are currently focused on severe diseases characterized by immune imbalance for which there are currently limited or no treatment options. For more information, please visit http://www.atyrpharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Litigation Reform Act. Forward-looking statements are usually identified by the use of words such as anticipates, believes, estimates, expects, intends, may, plans, projects, seeks, should, will, and variations of such words or similar expressions. We intend these forward-looking statements to be covered by such safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements and are making this statement for purposes of complying with those safe harbor provisions. These forward-looking statements, including statements regarding, the potential and potential therapeutic benefits of Resolaris, iMod.Fc, or potential product candidates from Project ORCA, the ability of the Company to successfully advance its pipeline or product candidates, undertake certain development activities (such as clinical trial enrollment and the conduct of clinical trials) and accomplish certain development goals and the timing of such activities and development goals, the timing of initiation of additional clinical trials, the scope and strength of our intellectual property portfolio, our ability to receive regulatory approvals for, and commercialize, our product candidates and of reporting results from our clinical trials, and our projected cash expenditures reflect our current views about our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects, which are based on the information currently available to us and on assumptions we have made. Although we believe that our plans, intentions, expectations, strategies and prospects as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that the plans, intentions, expectations or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond our control including, without limitation, risks associated with the discovery, development and regulation of our Physiocrine-based product candidates, as well as those set forth in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and in our other SEC filings. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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aTyr Pharma Announces Second Quarter 2017 Operating Results and Provides an Update on Innovative Immunology ... - GlobeNewswire (press release)

Cell Biology

Maui High graduate spends summer turning raw data into cancer research – Maui News

Maui High School graduate Phyllis Raquinio stands by her research project on the connection between Type 2 diabetes and cancer survival rates at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center. Raquinio was one of 19 interns selected to conduct research at the center over the summer. Raquinio majors in molecular cell biology and will be a senior at UH-Manoa in the fall. University of Hawaii Cancer Center photo

Instead of enjoying a lazy, carefree vacation, Maui High graduate Phyllis Raquinio was hard at work this summer poring over cancer data, discussing how hula and physical activity can help post-survival cancer patients and learning how advertisements can play a role in the growing consumption of e-cigarettes.

Raquinio was one of 19 students selected and the only Maui graduate to conduct research as an intern at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.

I did not know a lot about cancer and wanted to learn more about it to have a better idea on how cancer research is conducted, Raquinio said via email Sunday. I was surprised to be accepted in the internship, considering how competitive it was, but I was extremely excited to start working and helping expand my knowledge of cancer.

The UH Cancer Center is one of 69 research institutions designated by the National Cancer Institute. It started an internship program in 2004, said Yvette Amshoff, education and outreach coordinator at the Cancer Center.

While many of (the interns) are interested in careers as doctors, we aim to show the many opportunities in cancer research and how research is important to enforcing new regulations, clinical practices and cancer cures in the health setting, Amshoff explained.

According to the center, interns are chosen from public and private schools from across the state and the nation in a highly competitive process. This year, 19 out of 74 applicants were selected, with an average grade point average of 3.77. Program funding comes from the National Cancer Institute, the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. and the Friends of the Cancer Center.

Interns work under the guidance of faculty members and learn about new advances in research and technology. At the end of the program, each intern submits a project on a topic of his or her choice. Joe Ramos Jr., deputy director and professor at the center, explained that students can either explore cancer biology, which takes a look at the molecular mechanisms behind cancer, or population sciences in the Pacific.

Students like Ms. Raquinio who go into the population sciences in the Pacific projects are examining how the environment (what we eat, smoke or are otherwise exposed to in Hawaii) and our genes and behaviors interact to affect cancer risk, cancer progression and survival outcomes, Ramos said.

For example, Ms. Raquinio examined how having type 2 diabetes affected survival of patients with breast cancer and colon cancer. This is part of a continuing project on this topic. If we can understand these connections better, we can better prevent people in Hawaii and the Pacific from getting cancer or improve their survival chances.

Born and raised on Maui, Raquinio graduated from Maui High School in 2014. She said a few of her friends interned at the center last summer and encouraged her to apply. While her grandfather and a close instructor suffered from cancer, Raquinio said her interest stemmed mainly from the biology behind cancer. At UH, she majors in molecular cell biology with a minor in English.

Over the summer, Raquinio worked with Dr. Gertraud Maskarinec, analyzing data from a large, multiethnic population study in Hawaii. The study included more than 215,000 participants. Of that group, 5,000 had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 7,500 had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

Phyllis was a very dedicated intern, Amshoff said. Learning how to use statistical software to analyze a large data set can be very tricky, but Phyllis caught on quickly, and now her findings are being refined to be submitted to a journal.

Raquinio said the study produced unexpected results but explained that she was still completing her paper and working to better understand the results before reporting them.

As an intern, Raquinio said she learned a lot from interns researching other topics and gained a better understanding of the process for clinical studies and why it takes a long time for treatments to be approved.

This internship has opened my mind to potentially pursuing cancer research, Raquinio said. It has helped me understand more about specific cancers, how biology plays a role, and the processes to conducting research for treating cancer.

Raquinio said she hopes to enroll in medical school after she graduates, with eventual plans to become a doctor.

Ms. Raquinio and the other students bring a fresh perspective and enthusiasm to the projects that makes working with them tremendously rewarding for the mentors, Ramos said. I am consistently impressed that these students come in with very little to no experience working in cancer research and quickly get their bearings and leave with a real appreciation for the kind of disciplined inquiry and experimentation required to make important advances in understanding and treating cancer.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.

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Maui High graduate spends summer turning raw data into cancer research - Maui News

Physiology

She is The First – HuffPost

Stanford University professor Maryam Mirzakhami, who recently came to my attention through her obituary, is the first and only woman to date to win the Fields Medal in Mathematics. She brings to my mind other women who were the first to win prestigious prizes and awards. Some of these firsts have occurred only recently. Match the woman with her accomplishment:

_____ 1. The first African-American to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry.

_____ 2. The first black woman of any nationality to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

_____ 3. In 2010, 80 years after the first Oscars were awarded, she became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director.

_____ 4. The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics.

_____ 5. The first American woman to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences.

In 1947, when biochemist Gerty Cori received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, she became the first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in the sciences and the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Today, what is known as the Cori cycle (named after Gerty and her husband Carl) describes the metabolism of carbohydrates and is important to the understanding of diabetes. Her research on enzymes led to her being the first to demonstrate that a defect in an enzyme could be the cause of a human genetic disease. Cori experienced much discrimination during her career but achieved in spite of that discrimination and received many honors. In addition to being inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame, features on the Moon and Venus have been named for her.

Author, poet and teacher Gwendolyn Brooks began writing at an early age, encouraged to do so by her mother. Her first poem was published when she was 13 and by 16, she had already published 75 poems. Much of her work reflected her life experiences in the inner city of Chicago. Her first book of poetry was published in 1945. In 1950, when she won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, she became the first African-American to receive that honor. Appointed to a position that is now called the Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, Brooks has also been inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame.

The first black woman of any nationality to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Toni Morrisons citation reads who in novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality. Morrison has written novels, plays and operas, many dealing with the black experience in America. Earlier in her career, Morrison worked in the publishing business and ensured that works by black authors were published. Her 1977 book Song of Solomon brought her national attention. Beloved, her most celebrated novel and a bestseller, was published in 1987, received the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was made into a film starring Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. Morrison spent many years on the faculty at Princeton University and has received multiple honorary degrees.

The first woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Economics, Elinor Ostroms citation reads for her analysis of economic governance, especially the commons. She received her Ph.D. in political science, unable to pursue economics as she had been denied admission to trigonometry. During her years at Indiana University and Arizona State University, Ostrom focused on issues related to collective action, trust and cooperative use in the management of common pool resources which include forests, parks, fisheries, grazing land and irrigation systems. Her later work involved human interaction with ecosystems. There is even a law named for her; Ostroms law reads A resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory. Ostroms many honors in addition to the Nobel Prize include election to the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2010, eighty years after the first Oscars were awarded, Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director. A director, producer and writer, Bigelow won the award for The Hurt Locker. Originally educated as a painter, Bigelow received her Bachelors in Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1972. Her masters degree in film was earned at Columbia University. Her first full-length feature was released in 1982. Bieglows mainstream films are generally characterized as action films. Her latest film for which she directed and produced, Detroit, is currently playing in theatres. She said There should be more women directing; I think theres just not the awareness that its really possible. It is.

Learn about more she-roes and celebrate amazing women. These women who achieved firsts are among the more than 850 women profiled in the book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America. I am proud to tell womens stories and write women back into history. I stand on their shoulders.

(Answers: 1-B, 2-C, 3-E, 4-D, 5-A)

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Physiology

AAU Physiology HOD Proposes To Girlfriend At Student Dinner Night – Information Nigeria

The head of Department of the Physiology Department, Ambrose Alli Unversity, Dr Ernest Nwoke, proposes to his girlfriend at the student dinner night.

It was a night to be remembered as the student and lecturers present were amazed with the expression of love be from the Pragmatic HOD, Dr Ernest Nwoke.

According to reports, Nwoke lost his wife and has found love again in the pretty young lady.

Congratulations to the couple.

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AAU Physiology HOD Proposes To Girlfriend At Student Dinner Night - Information Nigeria