Genetics

University of Arizona professor: Genetics could help treat heart disease – KTAR.com

PHOENIX Genetics may hold the key to treating heart disease, according to a University of Arizona professor.

Scientists have identified genetic markers that can predict if a person is likely to be diagnosed with heart disease, which is the No. 1 killer for both men and women nationwide.

University of Arizona professorDr. Robert Roberts said since genetic markers do not change throughout a persons life, this new discovery is so far the most accurate method ofpredicting heart disease.

Whileheart disease has been proven to be preventable by decreasing conventional risk factors, such as quitting smoking,about 50 percent of heart disease risk is in a persons genes.

Scientists are developing a genetic test that can find these markers using either blood or saliva, Roberts said, adding in the next few years, they will be able to treat people without symptoms who have genetic risks.

Genetic testing will tell us if you are at risk, he said. If you are at risk [then] we can start treatment immediately.

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University of Arizona professor: Genetics could help treat heart disease - KTAR.com

Genetics

Ovarian Cancer and Genetics – News-Medical.net

Women who have a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer are more likely to be affected by cancer of the ovaries, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cavity. This is thought to be due to a mutation in one of the genes that are involved in the regulation of cell growth and replication in these areas, which can be inherited from the parents.

It is estimated the 10-15% of ovarian, fallopian tube, or peritoneal cancers are associated with an inherited genetic mutation. The remaining majority of cases of cancer are linked to a genetic mutation that is acquired by the individual in their lifetime.

The BReast CAncer 1 (BRCA1) and BReast CAncer 2 (BRCA2) genes have been identified as genes that are linked to an increased risk of the development of both breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Everybody possesses these genes in their body because they play an important role in the regulation of cell growth in the breasts and ovaries, but a mutation in one or both of these genes increases the likelihood that an individual will be affected by breast or ovarian cancer.

A woman with a mutation in the BRCA2 gene has a lifetime risk of 10-20% of developing ovarian cancer. This is approximately ten times higher that the risk of an average woman, which is 1-2%.

Other genes that have been linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer include:

There are various genetic conditions that are linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer development. These include:

For women who have a raised risk of ovarian cancer due to the inheritance of a gene that is linked to causing the condition, there are several steps that can be taken to reduce their risk.

For example, some women may choose to have their ovaries and fallopian tubes to be removed. This helps to reduce the risk of cancer in these areas, as well as the risk of some types of breast cancer due to decreased production of estrogen, which usually occurs in the ovaries. The risk of ovarian cancer can be reduced by 70-96% and the risk of breast cancer by 40-70%.

However, this surgical procedure should not be considered unless a woman is certain that she does not wish to bear any children in the future because the removal of the ovaries will render her infertile.

Genetic testing is available for women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer to detect mutations in the genes that are known to raise the risk of cancer. It is important for patients to be aware of the benefits and negative aspects of being tested before they undergo the examination.

Reviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, MSc

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Ovarian Cancer and Genetics - News-Medical.net

Genetics

Sunderland: A heart update when your genetics turn on you – East Idaho News

From the Editor 0Updated at 3:08 pm, February 14th, 2017 By: Nate Sunderland, EastIdahoNews.com We Matched

My son Michael, 10, acting like the genetic test was no big deal. He didnt even flinch when the needle went in. Then he bragged about his bravery for the next several hours.

For the last several months, members of the EastIdahoNews.com team have received a surprising number of inquiries about whether I died following my heart transplant in October.

Im not dead. Obviously.

And since so many of you have asked for an update: Im happy to provide one and on Valentines Day. You know, because of hearts and stuff.

The truth is, not a whole lot has really changed since the transplant. Im still living in Utah in a kind of recovery limbo as my body gradually regains its strength and adapts to this new heart.

Doctors are routinely tweaking my massive dose of daily medications to ensure organ rejection doesnt set in. Its a process that will likely take a year or more.

One of weird parts of constantly tweaking medications is the funky side effects.

For one, I get tremors. I shake and shiver constantly for no apparent reason. I feel temperatures differently. I get random chills and when I touch something semi-hot like getting into a hot shower it initially feels like Im dousing myself in flames. Even just going outside in the sun makes my skin feel like its on fire.

There is also constant tingling in my hands, feet and oddly lips. My wife also says the steroids Im on make me moody and emotional, but Im fairly certain thats not true.

Thankfully, the side effects have been relatively benign for me. There are many transplant patients who have much more severe side effects, so I cant really complain.

The worst part of transplant recovery are the biopsies a process where they stick catheters down through an artery in your neck so they can cut out tiny pieces of your heart to test. Its creepy but fascinating to watch a tiny claw on a monitor cut away at your heart.

This is what a heart biopsy looks like. Thats a very tiny claw poking around my heart, which cuts off millimeter chunks for study. The pieces are pulled through a catheter in my neck. And those wires? Thats where my sternum was wired shut after my transplant surgery.

Biopsies are used to check for organ rejection. I used to get a biopsy weekly, but the further I get from transplant the less often I have to get them. Now I see my doctors a couple of times a month and get a biopsy and a battery of other tests once a month.

Thats mostly it. Besides the tests and appointments, the majority of time is spent working on the internet in my hotel room or at physical therapy where Im striving to regain my muscles.

The only major development that has come out of the last couple months is that I now know what actually caused my initial heart failure.

Jacob, 3, was the most apprehensive about the test and it took me and two nurses to hold him down to draw the blood. There were tears, but it was over quickly.

Not long after my transplant, my wife and I went to my doctor, concerned our three boys might be at risk for heart complications in the future. Physicians told me to get a genetic test.

I was told given the limited research into genetic disorders that cause heart problems, there was only a 20 percent chance the test would find a gene mutation that could cause heart failure. If the test came back negative, it would mean either I didnt have a mutation or that they just couldnt identify one.

Turns out Im one of the lucky (or perhaps unlucky) few to get a positive genetic test.

In technical terms, I have a c. 84482delC (p. Pro28161Leufs*13) mutation in my TTN (pronounced Titan) gene, which caused familial dilated cardiomyopathy, which is inherited person-to-person in an autosomal dominant manner.

Thats about as clear as mud, huh?

In laymans terms everyone has two copies of all their genes one from mom and one from dad. One copy of my TTN gene contains a mutation, causing it to unravel, which resulted in my heart essentially becoming deformed.

As a result of the malformed heart, I ended up in heart failure. When I didnt respond to treatment, I essentially started dying. Thankfully, the transplant saved my life.

The mutation isnt expected to cause me any more problems, since my new heart has a different set of genes. But my children each have a 50 percent chance of the same mutation occurring in their bodies.

Thats a scary thought.

My son Xander, 7, doesnt like needles but he got through the genetic test just fine.

So this last week, we got them tested and are awaiting the results. If any of my children do share the gene mutation, there are things we can do to forestall and treat their hearts to avoid the same situation I find myself in.

But it will be a lifelong change for them with regular heart tests and/or procedures probably forever.

We should get the test results back by the end of the month.

We are keeping our fingers crossed. And in the meantime were taking this recovery day by day.

Again, I want to thank everyone for the continued support. This trial has lasted for months and months now, and although it seems like forever, it does feel like things are gradually returning to normal.

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Cell Biology

George Klein (19252016) – Nature.com

Gunnar Ask

George Klein, with his wife, Eva, discovered foundational phenomena in cancer research. He showed that normal cells carry genes, now known as tumour suppressors, that prevent cancer. He also worked out how the immune system comes to recognize and eliminate cancer cells.

Klein, who died on 10 December at the age of 91, had a youth filled with daring and peril. From a HungarianJewish family, he escaped being sent to a Nazi labour camp and from Russian patrols during the Second World War. He began medical studies in Budapest at the end of the war. In 1947, against all odds, a well-connected colleague arranged for Klein and a few other students to visit universities in Sweden. He was offered a place in the laboratory of the renowned cell biologist Torbjrn Caspersson at the Karolinska Institute.

Klein risked a return to communist Hungary to marry Eva, a fellow medical student he had known for mere weeks, and brought her back with him. The necessary documents typically took months to assemble, but he and Eva acquired them over a single workday using persuasion, pluck and bribes. They completed their PhDs at the Karolinska and maintained research groups there until about a month before George's death.

In 1957, a chair was created for him in tumour biology, a research field that he had helped to establish. The department of tumour biology that ensued was international and influential. Most of today's leading cancer researchers who are over 50 have had some interaction with George and his department. Seven secretaries wrangled his large correspondence. He invented social media before the technology existed.

A seminal paper published in 1960 (G. Klein et al. Cancer Res. 20, 15611572; 1960) dissected the essential basis of modern tumour immunology. Before it, researchers thought that all cancers carried a common antigen that the immune system could recognize. The Kleins and their colleagues used a chemical carcinogen to induce tumours in mice, surgically removed these and immunized the animals with irradiated cells from their own tumours. Next, the group inoculated mice with viable cancer cells and demonstrated that the immune system would only reject cancerous cells if they came from the original tumour.

This clarified the field: the immune system could recognize and reject cancers, in a way that was specific to each individual. A year later, Klein's team wrote a paper showing the other side of the coin (H. O. Sjgren et al. Cancer Res. 21, 329337; 1961). Tumours caused by the mouse polyomavirus do indeed share a common antigen. This paved the way for the general observation that tumours caused by or carrying viruses share common antigens that the immune system can target.

The Kleins' experimental success rested on two cornerstones. One was the establishment of a large colony of inbred mouse strains essential for tumour transplantation studies. After an early sabbatical at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, George brought back 200 inbred mice on the return flight to found the colony.

The other was that the Kleins were among the first to apply concepts of population dynamics to cancer cells. This approach led to the demonstration of genes for tumour suppression (with their colleague at the Karolinska Francis Wiener and cell biologist Henry Harris) in the 1970s, at a time when it was not even clear that cancer had a genetic basis. This anticipated the modern view of cancer as resulting from the Darwinian evolution of cancer cells. Consecutive mutations in multiple genes increased the ability of wayward cells to survive, proliferate and evade checks against their growth.

Other seminal contributions included the prediction that translocations between chromosomes could activate oncogenes and the discovery of the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear proteins, which are crucial in the viral transformation of normal cells to a cancerous state. Their team (with Rolf Kiessling, then a graduate student at the Karolinska) also discovered, in 1975, natural killer cells, which can eliminate both cancerous and infected cells.

George showed an unusually high intellectual presence that mesmerized younger researchers. The tumour-biology department broke the boundaries of classic disciplines: it integrated genetics and mouse studies with cell biology, immunology and the study of infectious agents.

George also published books on the humanities, philosophy and popular science. Topics ranged from the Holocaust, atheism and religion to mysteries in cell biology and personal portraits of his heroes in science, music, poetry and literature. He was a leading public intellectual, often on Swedish television and in newspapers. His last book, Resistance (Albert Bonniers Frlag, 2015; published in Swedish), won the prestigious Gerard Bonnier prize for the best essay collection of that year. It deals with resistance to extremism and to cancer. Throughout his life, George was preoccupied with the thin borders between evil and good, and health and disease.

He was an admired lecturer for general and scientific audiences. His preferred format was conversation with an interesting opponent. There was a time when most major international cancer conferences concluded with his creative remarks. Many are those who can witness how much they were affected by bouncing ideas and results around with George.

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George Klein (19252016) - Nature.com

Biochemistry

Chemistry Seminar by Fr. Gerald Buonopane – Seton Hall University News & Events

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

By Nicholas Snow

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Rose Mercadante Seminar Series is pleased to present a seminar entitled "Effect of Cold Plasma Processing on Sweet Basil and the Chemistry of its Essential Oils" by Fr. Gerald Buonopane, Dr. Cosimo Antonacci and Dr. Jose Lopez of the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Physics of Seton Hall University.

The seminar will take place in the Helen Lerner Amphitheater, Science and Technology Center, Seton Hall University at 5:45 P.M. on Tuesday February 21, 2017. Refreshments are available at 5:30 PM.

This interdisciplinary research project, which focuses on the emerging field of plasma agriculture, seeks to better understand the chemical and physical effects of cold plasma processing on plants and their essential oils. Cold plasma processing has been shown to be a rapid, economical, and pollution-free method to improve plant seed performance and crop yield. Essential oils are aromatic oily liquids extracted from different parts of plants, such as the leaves, flowers, and roots. Among the various beneficial properties of essential oils is their demonstrated antioxidant effect directly applicable to foods that are prone to oxidative consequences such as poor flavor, bad odors, and spoilage. Antioxidants, either synthetic (e.g., butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT) or natural (e.g., Vitamin C), are routinely added to processed foods to inhibit or delay oxidation. Essential oils are examples of natural antioxidants. Although synthetic antioxidants like BHT and BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) are very effective, they have been shown to be potentially harmful to human health with demonstrated evidence of causing cancer in laboratory animals. As a result, food scientists have been seeking alternative natural compounds as substitute antioxidants, such as essential oils. We have observed a growth effect in our preliminary studies treating basil plants with cold plasmas. We have also observed that plasma treatment increases the antioxidant activity of essential oils. Our preliminary work further revealed a difference in the composition of individual antioxidant components between the plasma-treated and non-plasma-treated basil. In follow-up studies, we seek to better understand cold plasma's physical and biochemical-molecular effects on basil plants.

Ordained as a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark in 2006, Fr. Gerry's area of specialization is food chemistry. He earned a B.S. in Biology from Northeastern University (1978), a M.S. in Nutritional Science from the University of Connecticut (1981) and a Ph.D. in Food Science from Penn State University (1988). Prior to seminary and the priesthood, Fr. Gerry held a number of positions in academia, the federal government (USFDA), and in the food and pharmaceutical industries. His research areas of interest are: Chemical Deterioration of Food Lipids: Oxidative Reactions; Essential Oils as Natural Antioxidants; and Cold Plasma Treatment of Botanicals and Essential Oils.

Dr. Cosimo Antonacci holds BS and PhD degrees in Chemistry from Seton Hall University. He is currently Undergraduate Laboratory Manager in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he supervises all activities in the department's teaching laboratories. He is an active researcher in biochemistry with ongoing collaborations in Biochemistry, Biological Sciences and Physics.

Professor Jose L. Lopez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, USA. He earned a B.S. in Physics from Saint Peter's University in Jersey City, New Jersey in 2000, an M.S. in Physics in 2003 and a Ph.D. in Physics in 2006 from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.

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Chemistry Seminar by Fr. Gerald Buonopane - Seton Hall University News & Events

Anatomy

Grey’s Anatomy: Minnick faces uphill battle at Grey Sloan – EW.com (blog)

Eliza Minnick hasnt made the best first impression at Grey Sloan.

Not only did Minnick (Marika Dominczyk) basically oust Richard (James Pickens Jr) as the head of the surgical residency program, but she also essentially got Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) suspended. So when Minnick implements Phase 2 of her teaching methods during Thursdays episode of Greys Anatomy, the doctors of Grey Sloan wont take it very well. EW turned to Dominczyk to get the scoop:

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Eliza is implementing her next phase of teaching. What does that entail? MARIKA DOMINCZYK: That entails 100 percent using Elizas method, which means the residents get to go to work and the attendings are way more hands-off. Its going to be like a real trial of this method that Eliza believes is tried and true, and the only way to move the hospital forward.

How will the attendings take to the next phase? Theyre not going to like it. Its going to take a little bit of arm twisting to get there. Not many of them like Eliza.

What is it like for you to play a character who is so universally hated right now? Its so funnybecause,honestly, I dont look at it that way. As an actor, its so much fun to play this character for me, because Im not like Eliza, Im not Type-A. Im not Eliza, so as an actor, its been the best and so fun to walk in and do this. Greys has such an enormous fanbase that I wasnt aware of. I take it all with a grain of salt. I look at Twitter. I feel like it would be so boring if you just loved everybody all the time. Thats my personal opinion. I think its fun and I think she shakes it up a bit.

Do I think that her social graces are on point? Not necessarily. [Laughs] Would I behave the way she does? I wouldnt. But, at the end of the day, shes doing it because she super believes that her way is the best way. She got hired to do this job and shes going to do it. Eliza said, Im not here to make friends, and she believes that. Would she like to make friends? Im sure. She cant right nowbecause her No. 1 goal is to do the job she was hired for. Unfortunately, thats not a job people like her having.

Is she finding any other allies at the hospital? She kind of finds an ally slowly. It goes a little bit back and forth. Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) has been in her corner sort of, kind of. Edwards (Jerrika Hinton) really likes her there. The people that want to learn and progress have been a little more open than some others, but its still like treadingwater. Its been slow trying to get people on her side.

Do you think she can ever win the doctors over? I dont know if she can. Just like with the fans, theres so much history, I think theres so much history on the show within the hospital. I dont know if they would all be like a kumbaya, love Eliza [situation]. Shes the type of character thats not for everybody. Her bedside manner is not the best, so I dont know. I hope so.

Eliza clearly has feelings for Arizona, so whats that challenge like for her because shes hated by the doctors who side with Richard (James Pickens Jr.)? Does she feel like theres any hope for a relationship with Arizona? I think she does, and thats part of her appeal and part of why people dont like her, because she doesnt get it. For her, work is just work and this is what happens at work; people may or may not like it. When shes not at work, shes just who she is and likes who she likes, but not everybody operates that way; not everybody can separate the two. Eliza is the kind of character that believes that she can separate the two, so its no big deal. She doesnt think about maybe how others dont operate the same way.

Stay tuned after Thursdays episode for more from Dominczyk on whats next for Eliza and Arizona.Greys Anatomy airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Anatomy

Conor McGregor Credits Certain Part Of Anatomy For His Confidence, Skill – NESN.com

Love him or hate him, Conor McGregor sure is entertaining.

The Notorious has become one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts thanks to his hisswagger and incredible fighting skills. And his knockout ability has claimed some of the biggest names in the sport, including Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 to claim the lightweight title.

So how exactly does McGregor do it? If youre good at reading dashes, youll get a kick out of his answer during a recent interview with GQ.

Its all in the n. Its all in the b s. I just have confidence that comes from my big b s, and I know when I smack you, youre going down, he told GQ. And thats it.

Well, thats quite the description.

That answer came after he described his knockout ability when it comes to his rivalry with Nate Diaz.

No ones work is clean like my work, McGregor said. My shots are clean. My shots are precise. Look at Nate. Nate was 200 pounds. When I hit him down, it was exactly like if a sniper took aim at someone in between their eyeballs and let the thing rip. The way he dropped, it was like a sack of s. So thats a power I have.

Of course, thats not exactly how it went the first time when Diaz shockingly beat McGregor, but point taken.

Just something else for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to ponder if their super fight ever happens.

Thumbnail photo viaAdam Hunger/USA TODAY Sports Images

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Conor McGregor Credits Certain Part Of Anatomy For His Confidence, Skill - NESN.com

Anatomy

Study Explores ‘Anatomy Of An Auto Shopper’ – MediaPost Communications

Luxury car drivers do not behave the same way as drivers in other segments when they are off the road, according to a study released Feb. 15.

One surprising statistic was that luxury car shoppers were 55% more likely to frequent Costco than non-luxury car shoppers," says Jon Schulz, CMO of Viant. Conventional wisdom might lead folks to assume that non-luxury car shoppers would have a higher penetration at a warehouse discount store like Costco.Retail habits can often surprise even the most seasoned advertising professional.It definitely pays to do your homework here.

Viants "Anatomy of an Auto Shopper" explores the unique characteristics of four key shopper segments: luxury car, non-luxury car, utility vehicles (CUV/SUV), and truck.

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The report covers everything from make/model/brand affinities by ethnic groups to how these preferences impact shopping habits (CPG products and retail location).

The utility segment is surging as the car segment continues to hover near historic lows.Eighty-two percent of respondents age 35+ are utility drivers, compared to 67% of car drivers and 69% of truck drivers. Nearly two-thirds of these customers prefer domestic brands, which spells opportunity for some and a challenge for others.Given the rapid growth, this is clearly a group that auto marketers want to get much more familiar with, Schulz tells Marketing Daily.

Since they are migrating from non-luxury car, they share some traits, but also have some very unique characteristics which make them a bit more challenging to pinpoint, he adds.

The top utility vehicle choice among African Americans, Caucasians, and Hispanics is the Ford Explorer, whileAsians favor the Honda Odyssey.For the luxury car segment, the top choice for Asians, Caucasians, and Hispanics is the BMW 3-Series, whileAfrican Americans prefer the Cadillac CTS.The Honda Accord is the most prevalent non-luxury car for all ethnicities.

Marketers are already sold on the accuracy and targeting of people-based marketing, but thats only been available within a few walled gardens. Giving them the ability to now target like this across the open Web, where people are spending the majority of their time, will help move the needle for marketers, Schulz says.

For example, understanding grocery product or retailer preferences, and actual transactional datacan inform partnership opportunities and/or cross-promotion, Schulz says. Certainly, TV viewing habits of targeted shoppers can inform media plans and better align spending not only on TVbut across all channels, to the actual behaviors of desired customer segments. There is still an art to advertising, but adding deterministic data into the mix makes approaches more scientific and measurable.

One automaker that appears to already be mindful of these findings is Nissan.

We cited a Nissan example in the study around their efforts to grow share with the Hispanic auto buying market, Schulz said. These types of highly targeted campaigns with custom creative drive measurable results. It is definitely easier to simply run a few different creative messages to everyone, it just doesnt provide the same impact.Audience segments can behave very differently and require custom approaches.

There is a definitive shift among consumers away from traditional broadcast and cable television consumption to streaming services, OTT and online video.

Our study reinforces the shift to live sports and news programming and away from more traditional prime-time programming for both better audiences and to minimize the DVR impact, Schulz says. TV still commands a large pool of advertising dollars despite falling ratings and high cost per point.

Big television platforms like the Super Bowl have experienced declining viewership over the last two years, yet the cost of a 30-second ad has gone up over 10% in that time period.

You see similar patterns where programs are getting fewer viewers, yet the cost is increasing, Schulz says. This will not last, as more advertisers are focused on ROI from their advertising spend and thus are starting to shift to mobile and other platforms where the users are spending their time.

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Anatomy

The Anatomy of Hain Celestial Group’s Drop and Why You Should Proceed With Caution – Motley Fool

Hain Celestial (NASDAQ:HAIN)seemed like a perfectly positioned company. As consumers learned more and more about where their food came from, the organic movement only became more powerful.

That's why, in November 2014, I invested my own money in the stock. But as I did more research on the company, I became wary of a narrowing moat. When I sold my shares in January 2016, it was long before accounting issues and an SEC investigation were brought to light, sinking the stock even further this week.

Image source: Getty Images.

As I gained more experience as an investor, I began to look very skeptically at the growth-via-acquisition strategy. While there are certainly success stories,the graveyard of value-destroying acquisitions is constantly growing.

Hain is the poster child for this strategy. Under the leadership of founder and CEO Irwin Simon, the company has grown by buying up popular organic brands that had made a name for themselves independently. With the cash and scale that Hain could provide, the thinking went, these brands could flourish on a national and international platform that would otherwise take decades to accomplish.

The problem is, you have to have an excellent system in place to manage all of the disparate businesses, and it seems Simon did not have such an infrastructure. One review by a former employee on Glassdoor.com offered a detailed warning back in October 2015:

Having a young, natural product brand adhere to a strict corporate budget can be detrimental to its survival. On several acquisitions, Hain failed to achieve continued rates of growth on behalf of the acquired brand mostly because it could not fund new projects... Hain's current acquisition model essentially operates on limiting up front costs as much as possible; they slim down an acquired brand's team to the bare minimum, which only allows for the brand to sustain rather than grow its market segment.

That's crucial, because if the brands that Hain is acquiring don't produce the type of growth that the company expects, it means that it likely overpaid for them in the first place. This eventually leads to significant goodwill writedowns.

As you can see below, the company's goodwill -- and long-term debt -- has been growing steadily over the past six years.

Data source: Hain Celestial annual and quarterly reports.

With that as the context, we can fast-forward to last summer. As investors were preparing to review the company's annual report, Hain said it would not be able to file in a timely manner. At the time, the company's statement seemed benign: "the Company identified concessions that were granted to certain distributors in the United States," and it simply needed to clear up the matter.

Indeed, in November, it appeared it might be in the clear. A release stated that the company "found no evidence of intentional wrongdoing in connection with the Company's financial statements."

The problem, however, is that quarterly filings have been besieged by delay after delay. It has been over 285 days since the company last published financial statements, over 180 days since the accounting issues were first disclosed, and 90 days since an apparent "all clear" was issued, signaling no intentional wrongdoing.

That's a long time with absolutely no information for investors to digest. And this week, things seemed to worsen. The company saidin a post-market Friday news dump that the scope of its own investigation was widening and that it wouldn't be providing the missing quarterly reports promptly. It also said that the SEC had opened a formal investigation, though when it started is not certain.

So what are we left with? It's impossible to value the business based on traditional metrics. We have no idea how accurate the numbers from the past are, and we have absolutely no data to go on over the past three quarters.

Using the last four quarters that we do have, the company now trades at 17 times earnings and 21 times free cash flow. If it turns out that there's nothing nefarious about what it's been doing and the brands are stronger than I'm giving them credit for, it would make today's prices seem pretty fair. However, with uncertainty reaching a fever pitch, investors need to accept that this is as much a guessing game right now as anything else. Proceed with caution.

Brian Stoffel has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Hain Celestial. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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The Anatomy of Hain Celestial Group's Drop and Why You Should Proceed With Caution - Motley Fool

Anatomy

The Olivia Nelson-Ododa Blog: Season-ending injury, staying positive, Grey’s Anatomy and more – USA TODAY High School Sports

Winder-Barrow (Winder, Ga.) forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa is the top ranked player in the ESPN HoopGurlz 100 for 2018 and has everyone from Connecticut to South Carolina to Maryland and many others all giving chase. Now Nelson-Ododa has agreed to give USA TODAY exclusive access into her world by chronicling everything from intimate details about her recruitment to her everyday life in a blog.

Hi world!

This is Olivia with my first blog so I hope you guys like it.

Sadly, Im done playing for the year.

I had a knee injury on Jan. 31 and its been tough to sit out for sure.

Right now we know that its not anything major like MCL or ACL, but I have an appointment this week so well know more about recovery time and things like that.

Im just working on staying positive and being there for my team as we go into the playoffs.

I feel like I was playing really well this year and I was excited about the playoffs coming up. I was working on the weaknesses in my game and I felt like everything was growing in a positive direction then the injury happened.

Like I said, Im just trying to stay positive because I know that Ill be back.

Im definitely excited about summer ball.

I try not to pay a lot of attention to rankings, but being No. 1, Im really motivated to stay there. I know that other players are hungry and theyre coming for that so I use that as motivation to work on my skills and fix any holes I feel that I have in my game.

I want to be the best and even though Im ranked No. 1 I work like Im not.

My recruitment is going pretty well right now, Ive got offers from UConn, Stanford, South Carolina, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Maryland, UCLA and a lot of other schools.

Right now Im focusing on developing relationships with coaches and trying to get out to see some of the schools.

But the best part for me is just talking to them and getting to know them away from the court.

Like I bonded with the coach from FSU over our love for dogs. I have a black lab, a mini-pit bull and a German Shepherd so she wanted to see pics of the dog and all that.

I thought that was cool.

Sometimes it can get stressful dealing with all of the coaches, but I tell myself, Youd rather have to put up with all of this than to not have any schools calling.

One thing I do is use Sunday as my family day, so Im not calling any coaches on that day. Thats been good for me.

Since Im so close Ill occasionally go and see Georgia Tech and Georgia games. I went to South Carolina last month to see the game against Alabama. I dont have any visits planned now, but I want to get out to see more schools now that I have more time.

School is going pretty well. I started my second semester and even though classes are challenging theyre definitely a lot less stressful than last semester so thats a positive.

My favorite subjects are English, Social Studies and Science; my least favorite would be Math.

I do have to tell everyone that I just started watching Greys Anatomy on Netflix and Im loving it! I know Im really late with that, but if you havent seen it go check it out!

OK guys thanks for reading my first blog.

Stay tuned for the next one. Ill be back again soon.

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The Olivia Nelson-Ododa Blog: Season-ending injury, staying positive, Grey's Anatomy and more - USA TODAY High School Sports