Human Behavior

Don’t Let Your Ego Take You On A One Way Trip – Jamestown Post Journal

You did it. You were given that coveted seat in the C suite. There is no doubt that the impressive title and hefty six figure salary along with the big bonus and variable compensation package is great. However, the innate power that comes with an executive position has begun to intoxicate you, and the inflated perception of your own importance is your drug.

Although youve been around the block many times in your career journey leading up to this moment, its important to take heed before you write your own one way ticket to self-destruction. If you think it cant happen to you, think again. Not convinced? Let me share some insights for you to consider.

There are two types of leaders those who maintain their effectiveness over time and those who dont. In fact, those who dont can find themselves falling from grace as their egocentric behavior transforms them from a glory child into a destructive force. Great leaders who have true staying power understand the importance of checking their ego at the door. Other leaders are so caught up in their love affair (with themselves), they dont seem to notice that people feel uncomfortable with their stories of lavish vacations that cost more than their employees homes, or constant name dropping to showcase they hob knob with exclusive company.

Weve all seen multiple examples throughout history of people who lose their sense of reality when they are in a position of authority. Unfortunately, this is the dark side of human behavior and its been studied and written about by industrial psychologists such as in the famed Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971. This happens when people lose perspective and begin to believe they are far more important than others.

In the work world, individuals with runaway egos may have trouble admitting mistakes, or asking for help. The relationships they have with others is one-way, and they dominate most conversations talking about themselves. Their emotional intelligence is low; with little self-awareness or emotional capacity to genuinely think of others or exhibit empathy. While they may be able to go through the motions of demonstrating care for others, it is only done when it serves them well for self-promotion or advancement. When they get what they want out of the contrived interaction, they sharply change their tone in all subsequent communication leaving the person feeling used and confused.

If you think any of this might describe you, chances are you wont admit it to others. Thats ok. However, I invite you to use this article as an opportunity to reflect privately upon your intentions and the ultimate impact of your behavior on what drives you; to remain in a position of high authority.

There is little doubt that your self-serving behavior will garner quick wins early on in your new position, as youre able to push ahead aggressively with tangible results such as cost cutting measures or drastic process improvements. However, as you wrack up more interactions over time, your alpha demeanor will begin to leave others feeling annoyed, discouraged and untrusting of your true intentions. Eventually, this will turn into members of your team feeling like they have to watch their own backs because of the many times theyve heard you spew sharp tongued attacks about others, only to see you turn on the charm as you continued to use them until they were no longer needed. Individual agendas will begin to become the norm as this untrusting tone spreads. Your employees will begin to slack on completing their best work as their mistrust of you grows.

The most dangerous outcome of an out of control ego, is the path of self-destruction down which it can lead you and your organization. Chances are, in the beginning of your career, you became successful because of the relationships you built with others. However, youve allowed your success to change your perception of reality by inflating your own importance and believing in your own perfection. When this happens, you stop listening to others, asking for input and appropriately considering the human impact of your decisions. History has shown us how dangerous this can be.

Challenge yourself to rise above your ego and instead of constantly trying to dazzle others with your infinite wisdom, be a leader who will stand the test of time by bringing out the best in others. People will remember how you make them feel. Thats what sticks.

Elizabeth P. Cipolla SPHR, SHRM-SCP is a leadership communications professional specializing in the areas of leadership training, creative recruitment strategies, employment branding, professional development and executive coaching for more than 15 years. Her leadership experience comes from various industries including marketing, mass media, apparel, education, manufacturing, aerospace, nonprofit agencies and insurance. To contact Elizabeth, email her at elizabeth@catapultsuccess.com.

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Don't Let Your Ego Take You On A One Way Trip - Jamestown Post Journal

Human Behavior

How to be human: how to be comfortably aromantic – The Verge

Leah Reich was one of the first internet advice columnists. Her column "Ask Leah" ran on IGN, where she gave advice to gamers for two and a half years. During the day, Leah is Slacks user researcher, but her views here do not represent her employer. How to be Human runs every other Sunday. You can write to her at askleah@theverge.com and read more How to be Human here.

Dear Leah,

I was never the best at writing a good beginning for an email, and this sentence only serves to demonstrate the need for asking this particular first question: What's the line between self-confidence and having pride in one's self and achievements, and hubris and arrogance? How can I talk grandly of myself (which seems to be the de facto way of demonstrating self-confidence) without feeling guilty? I especially feel guilty about betraying my own belief that my life and achievements are things I primarily do for me, not to brag about or share constantly with others.

My second question is: How do I get romantically invested or interested in others? I'm around that age where almost everybody is a self-proclaimed expert in relationships, and I fail to be interested in having a relationship (with either gender, and being in a county where queer relationships are legally punishable doesn't help with the whole experimentation part). I mean my crushes were far and between, but it's been so long that I've been romantically interested in someone that I'm starting to wonder if relationships for men (especially those who are seemingly aromantic as myself) are simply about exploiting the other party for leisure, company and "fun" (which sounds rather disappointing considering how grandly everyone seems to think of "love," not to mention quite demeaning and dehumanizing of women)?

Last but not least: How to build empathy? Whether it's in oneself or others, what makes people make the effort to care about others and strive to understand them?

PS: As you might have realized not all these questions have that "one" answer, and to be honest I'm not looking for a perfect answer, just a nudge in the right direction would help, and I really can't think of anyone better on the internet to do so than you.

Sagittaire.

Hey Sagittaire,

What a great letter! I love these questions, and as you probably know, I think about each one of them rather a lot on my own. But three questions are a lot for one column, especially three different questions like this. Heres what Im going to do.

First, Ill start with some news: My column is ending this month. The Verge has decided to bring it to a close, so the next column will be my last one. Ive been thinking about how Id like to end it, and I cant think of a better way than with your last question. Ill answer your first question then, too. This means you get two columns, Sag!

Lets talk about your second question. I dont know how old you are because honestly that age where almost everybody is a self proclaimed expert in relationships could be anywhere from 15 to 105 but Im going to assume youre in your very early 20s. Maybe in your late teens? Its hard to tell, but regardless of how old you are, and despite what you may think about your own knowledge level on the subject, you already have some good insights into human behavior around relationships. Its just a matter of interpreting those insights.

Ive written before about being single and the pressures to find a relationship, and Ive also written about the ways social norms have such an impact on how we feel and behave and on how we think we should feel and behave. A lot of the bluster you hear about relationships from those self-proclaimed experts is probably as much about that pressure and those norms as it is about any actual expertise. Just as youre trying to sort out how you feel, and whether you want a relationship at all with anyone, so too are some of those people trying to do the same thing.

Its uncomfortable to feel like the only one whos inexperienced. Its easier to act like you know everything

For some people, their posturing around relationships is a way to pretend like they want what everyone else does or a way to act like they have the same set of experiences. Its very rare for someone to sit down and be honest and vulnerable like youre doing here, especially with peers and especially when those peers are other young men. So anyone with limited experience which is most of the people you know when youre younger ends up assuming that everyone else knows more, has done more, understands more. And because its uncomfortable to feel like the only one whos inexperienced or nave, its easier to act like you know everything. Its also easier to act like you want same things as everyone else, like a big intense huge love affair or a lot of no-strings-attached flings.

But you know what, Sag? Not everyone wants the same stuff. Not all women want a massive fairytale wedding, and not all men want to punch each other in the locker room as they joke about how many chicks theyre banging. Human experience and desire is so much more varied than that. Social norms and the way we talk about who we are and what we want have all changed a lot in recent years, but we are still a long way from really undoing many of the expectations and rules that have guided our behaviors for a long time. You know this better than many you live in a place where you cant even experiment and better understand your own sexuality because you fear legal repercussions.

Desires and experiences ebb and flow over the course of our lives

This is my way of saying that you cant use everyone else as a way to measure what you should want or how you should feel. I know thats much easier said than done. I myself struggle every single day with this I use my perceptions of what other people are doing, their successes, and where they are in their lives as a way to judge myself and highlight my own failures and shortcomings. But thats a terrible way to live, partly because I have no idea if my interpretation of who or what they are is real. After all, maybe theyre putting on a brave front just like I am. More importantly, though, what they do and how they do it has absolutely nothing to do with how I live my own life and what I want or accomplish. Should I want children just because other people do? Should I feel bad that other people are married but Im not? Should I feel like a failure for not having achieved particular markers of success? Nope!

Just because other people want to be in relationships or at least act like they do doesnt mean you have to. Maybe youre not someone whos really geared toward romantic relationships. Maybe you dont have the same kinds of sexual desires, or maybe you dont have much (or any) sexual desire at all. Maybe you only very, very occasionally find yourself drawn to someone in a romantic or sexual way. Maybe youre not ready. Maybe you havent met anyone who excites you. Maybe casual flings dont appeal to you. Maybe youre gay. Maybe casual flings would appeal to you if they were with men, and not women.

Desires and experiences ebb and flow over the course of our lives. This is another thing we dont talk a lot about. Lots of people go through periods during which they dont have any interest in sex or romance (or both). Sometimes they want to focus on work or on friendships or on themselves, or sometimes they just dont... feel anything? Bodies and brains shift and change, and we all find ourselves faced with new experiences and possibilities from time to time that make us question whatever it was we thought we wanted or desired.

Its absolutely possible to have fun (not just fun) and enjoy someones company (or have sex with them, or both) without having a serious relationship. Its not for everyone, though. Plenty of people of all genders and sexual orientations dont enjoy casual sex, or sex with someone theyre not emotionally invested in.

Just because other people want to be in relationships or at least act like they do doesnt mean you have to

You are right that a lot of what you hear about this topic is dehumanizing and demeaning toward women. (This is a longer, separate conversation, but its one I hope you do make space for and a topic you learn about.) But I dont think that all men only want relationships that demean women. The many social, cultural, and religious expectations and pressures around masculinity, femininity, marriage, and more make it very hard for people to talk about how they really feel and to pursue what they want. Its very difficult for women. But its also difficult for men! Men are told things like its not manly to talk about your feelings or to say you dont like casual hookups and instead long for an epic romance. Or things like good women dont love sex, so you can treat the ones who do badly. We all hear things like this. Theres a lot we need to rewire in ourselves and in our cultural norms. So I commend you for writing this letter, because I think if more people not just guys but all of us! could be more open like you are here, wed be a lot better off.

My advice to you is this: Dont force yourself to get interested or invested in romantic relationships. Try very hard to not compare yourself to everyone else or to measure yourself by what theyre doing. They might not even be doing what they say they are, or they might not want to be doing it. Instead, keep doing things that interest you and pursuing the types of relationships that fulfill you friends, community, volunteer work, spiritual practice, and so on. Thats going to make you feel much happier and more confident in who you are, and I think that will better allow you to understand yourself and what it is you want. Who knows, maybe along the way youll meet someone and find yourself with a new crush, one you want to pursue. Or maybe youll find that you simply are in fact aromantic or asexual. Any of this is okay. Its more than okay! Its who you are.

Ill see you back here next week for one last column.

Lx

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How to be human: how to be comfortably aromantic - The Verge

Genetics

Seattle Genetics to resume trials as FDA lifts clinical hold – Reuters

Seattle Genetics Inc said on Monday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration lifted a clinical hold on several early stage studies testing its experimental cancer drug.

The FDA imposed the clinical hold in December after the company reported the deaths of four people in trials testing the experimental cancer drug, vadastuximab talirine.

Seattle Genetics said on Monday the clinical hold was resolved through a comprehensive study evaluating more than 300 patients and amendments to further enhance safety.

The company said it would resume two early-stage trials and initiate a mid-stage trial of vadastuximab talirine in 2017, in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a type of blood cancer.

The drug would continue to be tested in an ongoing late-stage study in older AML patients, the company said.

AML is a type of cancer in which the bone marrow makes abnormal myeloblasts (a type of white-blood cell), red blood cells, or platelets.

Vadastuximab talirine, which has an orphan drug status from both the U.S. FDA and European regulators for the treatment of AML, is also being tested in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, another form of blood cancer.

Last month, Seattle Genetics entered into a development and licensing deal worth up to $2 billion with Immunomedics Inc to bolster its cancer drug pipeline.

Up to Friday's close, Seattle Genetics' shares had risen about 15 percent since the deal with Immunomedics.

(Reporting by Akankshita Mukhopadhyay in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

LONDON Three neuroscientists won the world's most valuable prize for brain research on Monday for pioneering work on the brain's reward pathways - a system that is central to human and animal survival as well as disorders such as addiction and obesity.

TG Therapeutics Inc said a combination of its experimental cancer drug, ublituximab, and approved treatment Imbruvica was found to be more effective in high-risk leukemia patients, compared with Imbruvica as a standalone therapy.

OncoCyte Corp, which is developing diagnostics in the fledgling field of liquid biopsies, said on Monday a 300-patient validation study of its blood test for early detection of lung cancer has confirmed the accuracy reported from a prior trial.

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Seattle Genetics to resume trials as FDA lifts clinical hold - Reuters

Genetics

History is Altoona man’s hobby, and genetics is livelihood – Altoona Mirror

Mirror photo by Cherie Hicks Michael Farrow sits in his Altoona home next to an 1850 marble fireplace that came from his aunts house in Philadelphia. The author of Altoonas Historic Mishler Theatre will receive the 2016 Angel of the Arts award from the Blair County Foundation on Saturday.

Michael Farrow was educated in human genetics and spent a career in the emerging field. But he has spent his retirement indulging his love of history and the arts, roused by youthful summers spent at his grandparents in Philadelphia.

He researched and wrote Altoonas Historic Mishler Theatre, published last year. For that, the Blair County Arts Foundation is honoring him with its 2016 Angel of the Arts award at its annual dinner on Saturday.

He devoted three years of his life to it and is giving all the proceeds to the Mishler, said Kate Shaffer, BCAF executive director.

She said the 174-page hardback book created a magnificent retrospective of the Mishlers past, present and potential.

Farrow said the award surprises him because even though he was born and mostly raised in Altoona, he went away for his college and career.

Im just somebody who came back to town (six) years ago after being gone for years, he said.

Farrow wasnt supposed to grow up here. Less than a year after he was born, his father, a medical doctor, took the family and his practice to a Boston suburb to take care of soldiers returning from World War II.

But, in 1943, when Farrow was 4, his father contracted strep throat from a patient and died; penicillin, only recently discovered, was not widely available.

The family eventually returned to Altoona, where Farrow attended Adams Elementary, Roosevelt Junior High and Altoona High, graduating in 1957. Summers were spent crisscrossing Philadelphia for its historical sites, museums and art.

For 12 years, I was immersed in all this history, said Farrow.

Although his grandparents were of Lebanese descent having immigrated in the late 19th century they lived near a neighborhood of working-class Italian immigrants, who would sit on their front stoops, talk and listen to music blaring from inside. That is where Farrow picked up his love of opera.

He bragged on the Altoona schools music programs, and he was in the band. He also spent a lot of time in movie theaters there were 10 in Altoona in the 1950s, he noted.

Farrow didnt consider music or art as a career because he was afraid he would end up as a teacher, an occupation he didnt want.

Just as he was getting his bachelors in biology from Juniata College in 1961, details of DNA were emerging, even though research had been devoted to agriculture.

Farrow then went to West Virginia University, earning his masters and doctorate in human genetics in 1970. He spent a one-year fellowship as a genetic counselor at WVU, fielding questions from mothers in the regions hollows and researching drugs used in leukemia patients.

Genetics was an up and coming field and the more I got into it, I found it fascinating, he said.

Drug companies began studying how their drugs and chemicals affected human genetics. Farrow went to work for Wyeth in Philadelphia, creating its first genetics lab and conducting tests to determine the toxicologic effect of chemicals and drugs on bacteria, animals and humans.

Then the federal Environmental Protection Agency began researching the effects of pesticides on humans and contracted with research companies to set up testing procedures. Farrow left Wyeth for Washington, D.C., and got in on the ground floor of breakthrough government research.

He worked for several contractors, building genetics laboratories, developing testing protocols and researching the effects of pesticides and drugs on humans. He spent the last two dozen years of his career working to get drugs and chemicals registered for government controls.

Farrow retired in 2005 and decided five years later to return to Altoona to be near his siblings after his mother died.

He delved into history research, publishing his first book on all those movie theaters he had visited as a youngster. Now Showing: A History of Altoona and Blair County Theatres was published in 2013 and sold out in two months.

Then he took a month off before starting Altoonas Historic Mishler Theatre.

Farrow now works on myriad projects for the Blair County Historical Society and its Baker Mansion, as a board member, and researching historical venues and conducting lectures and tours, such as historical neighborhoods and churches.

The fourth-generation Lebanese-American also plans to write a history on the 100 or so families that immigrated from Lebanon and Syria to Altoona well over a century ago.

If you really love something that doesnt have a lot of opportunities, make it your hobby and make a living at something you love as well, he said.

That hobby, he said, also helps him support causes that he loves.

I like Altoona and all the arts. They need money, he said. How can I support them if Im not a millionaire? I can lend my talent. Plus I get a high finding the history and these little unknown tidbits that are fascinating.

Mirror Staff Writer Cherie Hicks is at 949-7030.

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History is Altoona man's hobby, and genetics is livelihood - Altoona Mirror

Genetics

Uncovering genetic links to the development of pulmonary disease – Medical Xpress

March 6, 2017 Credit: Shutterstock

Building on EU-funded research, scientists have identified genetic traits that heighten the risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is an incurable progressive lung condition that kills over 5 million people every year. While smoking remains the single most important risk factor, genetics also clearly plays a key role; only one in four smokers are likely to develop COPD.

Understanding why some people are more predisposed to developing COPD than others is important because it could lead to more effective diagnoses and treatments. For example if identified early, genetic risk factors can be used as biomarkers, and high risk individuals advised to avoid smoking to prevent the onset of COPD.

Genetic breakthrough

Scientists recently made a significant breakthrough in this direction. Building on some of the pioneering findings of the EU-funded COPACETIC project, an international team of researchers carried out a comprehensive genomic analysis and were able to identify 13 new genetic regions associated with COPD. In addition, they also discovered four genetic regions that were not previously associated with any lung function trait.

An overlap between genetic risk of COPD and two other lung diseases asthma and pulmonary fibrosis was found. These discoveries will enable scientists to identify high risk individuals and focus on new biological pathways to deliver therapies for patients with this disease.

'These findings would only be possible with the kind of large collaborative efforts that supports this study. Not only do the results build on our knowledge of COPD, but also reveal potential links with other lung diseases, like pulmonary fibrosis and asthma and can form the underpinnings of a precision medicine strategy for the treatment of more than one lung disease,' said Dr. James Kiley, Director of the Division of Lung Diseases of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the US.

Building on knowledge

With scientific progress a continual process of building upon previous discoveries , these advancesin the field of COPD and genetics grew from important ground work carried out by COPACETIC. In this project, a consortium of researchers from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Poland conducted a genome-wide scan of individuals at high risk, collecting genetic material from thousands of smokers and non-smokers from across Europe.

Genome-wide association scans (GWASs) for COPD found approximately 350 DNA variations that were subsequently examined. Studies were also carried out to identify genes involved in chronic mucous hypersecretion and factors including, but not limited to, genetics leading to lung function decline. Baseline studies showed that COPD resulted from airflow obstruction or tissue damage, but not both.

These international efforts to better understand the genetics behind COPD have shown that while smoking remains the number one causal factor (and that stopping smoking is vital if COPD patients hope to get better), cessation on its own may not be enough to stave off the disease. While it is clear that genetics does play a role in who develops the disease, the task now is to find efficient ways of using biomarkers to identify those individuals, and to develop targeted therapies.

Explore further: World lung health study allows scientists to predict your chance of developing COPD

More information: Project website: http://www.copacetic-study.eu/english

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Genetics

DNA Genetics adds Andrimner as distribution partner in Southern Europe – National Hog Farmer

DNA Genetics is pleased to announce an agreement has been reached with Andrimner for the exclusive distribution of genetics to Spain, Italy and Portugal.

This partnership fits our strategy to be an international genetics company, says Brett Bonwell, CEO of DNA Genetics. Working with a growing, innovative organization like Andrimner, we can leverage our success in North America to this progressive swine market.

The transfer of genetics, both live animals and semen, is already under way from North America to southern Europe for multiplication. DNA Genetics maternal and terminal lines will be available there in the near future. This will provide producers in southern Europe with the fastest-growing genetics in North America, and help them compete in the global marketplace.

Andrimner plans to announce their new partnership with DNA Genetics at the Figan International Fair, a leading international livestock production trade show, being held in Zaragoza, Spain, in March.

Soren Hertel, CEO of Andrimner, says, Andrimner can provide pork producers with the highest quality genetics, and has the support of DNA Genetics, a company with a great understanding of the swine sector. We are looking forward to working with DNA Genetics for many years to come.

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DNA Genetics adds Andrimner as distribution partner in Southern Europe - National Hog Farmer

Genetics

Genetics impacts feelings of anxiety surrounding mathematics – The Ticker

Different levels of anxiety complement different activities, report scientists who have previously studied anxiety. Likewise, anxiety induced by mathematical activities comes in varying levels, but researchers now conclude that anxiety surrounding mathematics, in particular, may be genetic.

Researchers from Kings College London tested anxiety levels in participants while they completed tasks, such as reading a map and solving simple geometry problems.

The population sample consisted of nearly 1,500 pairs of twins who were selected from the Twins Early Development Study, a twin study based in the United Kingdom. The researchers contacted over 16,000 families with twins born between 1994 and 1996 to take part in the study. Currently, 10,000 twins are still in the process of contributing to the study. Each family resides in either England or Wales.

Researchers selected twins to measure anxiety surrounding mathematics as a genetic predisposition. Each twin shared at least 50 percent of the DNA with the other twin. Each set of twins was evaluated using The Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item Scale, a test used to determine anxiety disorders in clinical cases. GAD-7 results help identify signs of panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and social anxiety. The scale asks participants to rate seven problems on a scale of one to four, which respectively covers the range between not at all bothered to bothered nearly every day.

Kings College researchers had study participants test anxiety levels through certain tasks, including geometry problems. Photo by: Calvin Rong

Researchers also modified the Abbreviated Math Anxiety Scale to specifically determine the level of anxiety caused by mathematics. The AMAS uses a five-point scale to determine how anxious participants are when confronted with nine math-related activities. Examples include reading a math book or listening to a math lecture. All of the participants had already left school, so researchers also slightly modified the examples.

The researchers also tested a measure of spatial anxiety among the participants. Spatial thinking involves activities such as mental navigation, mental rotation and spatial visualization. The test asked participants to rate how comfortable they were with finding their way around meandering streets, using a shortcut without a map and following instructions to get to a new location. To measure rotation and visualization, participants were asked about their comfort level with completing a jigsaw puzzle or mentally rotating objects and figures.

Regarding gender differences and anxiety associated with math, the study writes: Socio-cultural factors, such as the gender stereotype surrounding mathematics and, more generally, [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] subjects may contribute to these observed sex differences in anxiety. For example, women who value mathematics, and are acquainted with the social stereotype that women tend not to do as well as men in mathematics, tend to be the most sensitive to the pressure of gender stereotype and to feel anxious about mathematics.

The study examines the link between spatial and mathematical abilities and success in STEM fields and concludes that anxiety may prevent people from reaching success in those professions. Lack of motivation to perform these skills may also deter people from exercising or trying them.

The researchers identified and accounted for different forms of anxiety, such as general anxiety, mathematical anxiety and spatial anxiety.

The results consistently revealed that each form of anxiety showed a strong genetic connection to each individual twin who participated in the study, indicating that anxiety may be a genetically determined quality. Differences in spatial anxiety, in particular, were not pinpointed to a cause. However, researchers speculate that the difference in twins levels of spatial anxiety can be attributed to the fact that they take part in different extracurricular activities and have different teachers or different groups of friends.

Anxiety associated with math directly correlates with less involvement in math-based programs. It also disables and discourages students from pursuing or further developing math skills.

This study can further assist in helping to pinpoint anxiety-inducing factors in children and students in an academic setting. It can help educators and parents predict the topics in which anxiety will most likely arise and whom it will most likely affect. This may enable educators to prepare interventions to help students get over this anxiety and increase their individual performance in areas where math is required or expected.

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Genetics impacts feelings of anxiety surrounding mathematics - The Ticker

Genetics

Genetics a key focus of new Morayshire monitor farmers – Press and Journal

Farmers toured plots of winter barley at Corskie.

Getting livestock genetics and crop varieties right is the focus at the new Moryashire monitor farm.

Corskie Farm at Garmouth, near Fochabers, which is run by Iain Green in partnership with his parents and his two eldest daughters Laura and Jemma, recently held its first meeting as the new monitor farm for Morayshire.

The farming enterprise comprises a well-known pedigree herd of Simmental cattle, commercial cattle, pedigree sheep, indoor pigs and arable cropping.

It is one of nine farms taking part in the new monitor farms programme, which is being run jointly by Quality Meat Scotland and AHDB Cereals and Oilseeds.

Funded by a 1.25million grant from the Scottish Government, the scheme aims to help improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of Scottish farm businesses.

Speaking to more than 100 local farmers who attended the first monitor farm meeting, Mr Green said he was keen to get the most out of genetics, whether it be for crops or livestock.

We always strive to improve what we do, whether thats genetics or new cereal varieties. The main thing for me is to either increase outputs and reduce costs or reduce costs and keep outputs rising, said Mr Green.

Visitors to the meeting were given a tour of the farm, including a look at a field of hybrid winter variety plots including Sunningdale, Bazooka, Volume and Belfry.

Although winter barley is not commonly grown in Morayshire, the Greens say its high yield produces feed for the pig enterprise and an early entry for forage crops for the out-wintered commercial cows.

Mr Green said two challenges currently facing the farm were the ventilation in the large cattle shed and the importance of synchronising computer programmes for electronic tagging.

He said: I hope the monitor farm management group will come up with some challenges for our farm. Its good to have outside eyes looking at what were doing.

Im keen to try new things. You never know there might be some way of adding value to the cereals we grow, or finishing all the cattle on farm, rather than selling store.

Farmers wishing to get involved with the project are asked to contact Samantha Stewart on 01343 548 789 or Derek Hanton on 01463 233 266.

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Genetics a key focus of new Morayshire monitor farmers - Press and Journal

Embryology

Lab-grown humans soon – Times LIVE

Cambridge University researchers mixed two kinds of mouse stem cell and placed them on a 3D scaffold. After four days of growth in a tank of chemicals designed to mimic conditions in the womb, the cells formed the structure of a living mouse embryo.

The breakthrough has been described as a "masterpiece" in bioengineering that might eventually allow scientists to grow human embryos without sperm or an egg.

Growing embryos would help researchers study the early stages of human life so they could understand why some pregnancies fail but the research is likely to raise questions about what constitutes human life.

Currently scientists can carry out experiments on embryos left over from IVF treatments but they are in short supply and must be destroyed after 14 days.

Scientists say that being able to create unlimited numbers of embryos in the lab could speed up research and perhaps overcome some of the ethical boundaries.

"We think that it will be possible to mimic a lot of the embryological development events occurring before 14 days using human stem cells," said the university's Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, who led the research.

"We are very optimistic that this will allow us to study key events of this critical stage of human development without having to work on [IVF] embryos. Knowing how development normally occurs will allow us to understand why it so often goes wrong."

The embryos were created using genetically engineered stem cells coupled with extra-embryonic trophoblast stem cells, which form the placenta in a normal pregnancy.

Previous attempts to grow embryos using only one kind of stem cell proved unsuccessful because the cells would not assemble into their correct positions. But scientists discovered that when they added the second "placental" stem cells the two types of cell began to "talk to each other", telling each other where to assemble.

Together they eventually melded to form an embryonic structure, with two distinct clusters of cells at each end and a cavity in the middle in which the embryo would continue to develop. The embryo would not grow into a mouse because it lacked the stem cells that would make a yolk sack.

However, such work raises ethical questions about the "sanctity" of human life and whether it should be manipulated or created in the lab. Critics warn that allowing embryos to be grown for science opens the door to designer babies and genetically modified humans.

David King, director of the watchdog group Human Genetics Alert, said: "What concerns me about the possibility of artificial embryos is that this might become a route to creating genetically modified or even cloned babies.

"Until there is an enforceable global ban on those possibilities, as we saw with mitochondrial transfer, this kind of research risks doing the groundwork for entrepreneurs, who will use the technologies in countries with no regulation."

UK scientists will need to get permission from the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority before attempting to create human embryos using the technique, and experts have called for international dialogue before research can be allowed to progress.

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Lab-grown humans soon - Times LIVE

Anatomy

Anatomy Of A Takedown: William F. Buckley Jr. Vs. George Wallace – WBUR

wbur Commentary National Urban League President Vernon Jordan Jr., left, and William F. Buckley Jr., host and inquisitor of the public television show Firing Line, find something to laugh about at the 15th birthday celebration of the show in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 1981. Jordan was one of 48 guests on the show who had come to celebrate with Buckley. (Kaye/AP)

Now that congressional Democrats have settled on legislative total war on Trump, some progressives are worried the artillery is wreaking collateral damage on the presidents working-class base. [D]emocrats often sound patronizing when speaking of Trump voters, demonizing them along with their disdain-deserving leader, lamentsNew York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof.

For an example of what concerns him, check out the comments thread to a recent Cognoscenti column urging empathy for the president and his backers. A progressive backlash against preaching empathy for Trump is unsurprising; the anger in some comments against the uneducated people and forgotten men supporting him is something else. In a polarized era of neighbors, family members and protesters screaming at each other over Trumpism, another writer asserts, There is little doubt about our need to find language that illuminates the dark abyss separating those who approve of our new presidents words and executive orders and Cabinet appointments from those appalled by them.

...you might askwhich words should be weaponized to resist an anti-immigrant, anti-environment, anti-safety netchief executive, andshould they be fired at his supporters as well?

If youre in the latter camp, as I am, you might askwhichwords should be weaponized to resist an anti-immigrant, anti-environment, anti-safety netchief executive, andshould they be fired at his supporters as well? To answer this, I found an instructive model from a half-century ago, when another populist double-talker was confronted by a famous wordsmith.

In January 1968, William F. Buckley Jr. featured segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace on Buckleys "Firing Line" interview show. You couldnt have paired an odder couple: Buckley, the Yale-educated, sesquipedalian guru of modern conservatism, and Wallace, the farmers son whod futiley blocked the schoolhouse door five years earlier against black students at his states university. The mens' dust-up, broadcast as Wallace readied a third-party presidential bid, today plays like a toned-down foretaste of the long-runningpublic television program "The McLaughlin Group," with repeated interruptions and efforts to out-snark one another. (Said asmiling Buckley:Youre telling me stuff that I knew when I was 3 years old, governor.)

The program, archived byStanford Universitys Hoover Institution, corroborates the observationthat Wallace was Trump before Trump becameTrump, down to the surly, just-bit-into-a-lemon grimaces at what he calls the pseudo-intellectual Buckley. The latter, coolly, sometimes self-deprecatingly, but relentlessly swatting Wallaces denials of racism, was, admittedly, a problematic defender of racial equality. In 1957, hed suggested that the white South was entitled to thwart African-American aspirations ...because for the time being, it is the advanced race. Like Wallace, Buckleyopposed the 1960s civil rights legislation, a stance hed recant years later.

Destiny, if not Buckley, intended for the Wallaceinterview to beredemptive (the hosts stated goal was to expose Wallace as a non-conservative, not rehash his renowned racial views).

Ive never said that you should have segregation of the school system or any other, Wallace said.

What steps did you take to encourage the enfranchisement of the Negro back before the [federal] government got on your back?" Buckley countered. " Its a clear part of the historical recordthat the South not only didnt encourage its Negroes to vote, but encouraged them not to vote.

In another exchange, when Wallace defended his home region as more law-abiding than the North, Buckley parried that southern law enforcement techniques were, to say the least, unusualthe Ku Klux Klan, for instance...

What does this decades-old brawl teach us about handling Trump? The lesson for liberals seething at the president is that there are more ways to skin a strongman than just venting rage. As necessary as the outrage-fueled mass protests against Trump are, Buckley shows how calm reason andhumor can also dismantle a foe. Anger can go too far; smart liberals know that actions such as blocking Education Secretary Betsy DeVos from visiting a school only sink toTrumps puerile incivility and risk turning off some people who might be open to theirviewpoint.

For their part, Trump voters must understand that theydont get a pass just because theyre genuinely pissed. Wallaces voters sincerely feared their ebbing white privilege; Buckley still called out collective Dixie racism. Today, its fair game to note the data showing that too many Trump supporters are indeed bigots, their Wallace-like disclaimers notwithstanding.

Of course, they're not all bigots.Kristof reminds us that some Trump folks voted for Barack Obama. But their support is even more confounding.If Trump is a con man peddling preposterous promises (Mexico will pay for that wall; Obamacare can be replaced with equal but cheaper coverage; climate change is a dismissible hoax), how gullible can his voters be?

...it's fair gameto hold a reality-reflecting mirror to Trump's supporters when their views are abhorrent or just plain ignorant, as Buckley did with segregationists.

Democratic discourse depends on a common frame of reality among citizens of differing views. I spoke to one pro-Trump friend during the campaign, trying to understand her politics, only to find they relied on half-truths and misinformation.Buckley was right: The voters blow it sometimes, as he said in the Wallace interview.

Should the opposition emulate Trumps rudeness?No.But it's fair gameto hold a reality-reflecting mirror to Trump's supporters when their views are abhorrent or just plain ignorant, as Buckley did with segregationists.

Wallace found the KKK remark insulting to his people. It certainly was. But below-the-belt? I doubt African-Americans living under Jim Crow would have thought so.

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Rich Barlow Cognoscenti contributor Rich Barlow writes for BU Today, Boston University's news website.

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Anatomy Of A Takedown: William F. Buckley Jr. Vs. George Wallace - WBUR