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A link to PBS:
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http://www.pbs.org/aboutpbs/news/20050713_africanamericanlives.html
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Monday, July 18, 2005
by topic... Arts & Drama History Home & Hobbies Life & Culture News & Views Science & Nature
PBS News [ Back to Press Releases ]
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES, A FOUR-HOUR DOCUMENTARY SERIES TRACING BLACK HISTORY THROUGH GENEALOGY AND DNA SCIENCE, TO PREMIERE FEBRUARY 2006 ON PBS
Renowned Scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Serve As Series Host
Co-Produced By Thirteen/WNET New York And Kunhardt Productions
Beverly Hills, CA, July 13 - A compelling combination of storytelling and science, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is an unprecedented four-hour series on PBS that takes Alex Haley's Roots saga to a whole new level. The series will profile some of the most accomplished African-Americans of our time, using genealogy and DNA to trace their roots down through American history and back to Africa. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois professor of the Humanities and chair of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will premiere in February 2006 on PBS. The series is a co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York and Kunhardt Productions Inc.
Dr. Gates will provide access to the day-to-day lives of several prominent African-Americans, drawing on photographs, film clips, music, and early personal records, while a team of researchers, genealogists and forensic DNA analysts will conduct investigations into their family histories. By spotlighting African-American role models, the series hopes to inspire millions to consider their own heritage, and underscore for all Americans the importance of knowing their past, in order to unlock the future.
"This is one of the most exciting projects in which I have been involved," said Dr. Gates. "No television series has explored black roots both in America and in Africa and used DNA research to investigate the origins of individual African-Americans. AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be a great way to introduce young people to the marvels of archival and scientific research and their practical applications. I hope that this project will encourage them - and all Americans, especially those of African descent - to explore their roots."
"PBS is thrilled to be working with Dr. Gates again," said Jacoba Atlas, senior vice president and co-chief programming executive for PBS. "AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES, following in the tradition of projects like Wonders of the African World and America Beyond the Color Line, demonstrates PBS's ongoing commitment to presenting the diverse experiences of all Americans - as well as its commitment to programs that can't be found anywhere else."
"We're incredibly excited about this project, which will be unlike anything viewers have experienced before," said Tamara E. Robinson, vice president and director of programming for Thirteen/WNET. "AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be extremely dramatic television, but with an important purpose, as viewers will join these women and men as they unearth revealing new truths about their heritage."
For some Americans, the essential question "Where do I come from?" cannot be answered; their history has been lost or stolen. But through its genealogical detective work and groundbreaking DNA analysis, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will not only provide a transformational discovery for several prominent African-Americans, but also serve as an example for all Americans of the empowerment derived from knowing their heritage.
To reconstruct the family trees of its participants, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is working in conjunction with Ancestry.com, a leading Internet-based genealogy firm with one of the largest online collections of family history records. Among the scientists involved in the series' DNA analysis is Dr. Rick Kittles, an associate professor at Ohio State University and co-founder of the ancestry-tracing firm African Ancestry, Inc., whose database contains over 20,000 lineages from more than 389 indigenous African populations; molecular geneticist Dr. Bruce Jackson of the non-profit African-American DNA "Roots Project"; and Dr. Mark Shriver, associate professor of Anthropology & Genetics at Penn State University. Innovative new analytical techniques are also being developed for the project by DNA Print Genomics Inc. in conjunction with the Santa Clara-based biotechnology firm Affymetrix.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be accompanied by a community outreach and educational component. Furthermore, a vibrant companion Web site will feature a beginner's guide to tracing one's own family tree, giving visitors step-by-step guidance in how to research their own past. The online component will also provide background on the science and scholarship featured in the series, extended interviews with series guests, and interactive learning tools that will appeal to all age levels.
Major funding for AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is provided by The Procter & Gamble Company and The Coca-Cola Company.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is a co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York and Kunhardt Productions. The project's producers are Leslie Asako GladsjØ and Jesse Sweet. Its senior producers are Leslie D. Farrell, Graham Judd and Dyllan McGee. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., William R. Grant and Peter Kunhardt are executive producers.
About PBS
PBS is a private, nonprofit media enterprise that serves the nation's 348 public noncommercial television stations, reaching nearly 90 million people each week. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is the leading provider of educational materials for K-12 teachers, and offers a broad array of educational services for adult learners. Video resources for educators are available at www.shoppbs.com/teachers. PBS's premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet. PBS is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
About Thirteen/WNET New York
Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Wide Angle, Stage on Screen, Secrets of the Dead, and Cyberchase - as well as the work of Bill Moyers - to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The Thirteen Walking Tours, New York Voices, and Reel New York. With educational and community outreach projects that extend the impact of its television productions, Thirteen takes television "out of the box." And as broadcast and digital media converge, Thirteen is blazing trails in the creation of Web sites, enhanced television, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, educational software, and other cutting-edge media products. More information about Thirteen can be found at: www.thirteen.org.
About Kunhardt Productions
Kunhardt Productions Inc. is an independent production company with a reputation for innovative programming and high editorial standards. Founded in 1989 by ABC News veteran Peter W. Kunhardt, the company's critically-acclaimed programs have garnered many awards, including a National Emmy. Recent productions include Mandate: The People and the President for PBS; and Freedom: A History of US, an eight-hour PBS series based upon Joy Hakim's award-winning books. Other notable works include: My Brother and I, a one-hour documentary (Bravo 2003) based on Robert Kennedy's oral history of President Kennedy's administration; In Memoriam, a one-hour co-production with HBO and Brad Grey Television; Violence: An American Tradition (HBO, 1995-nominated for two national Emmy awards); The American President, a ten-hour PBS series profiling the forty-one Presidents of the United States; The Perfect Baby (an ABC News/Barbara Walters Special on genetic engineering, 1990-winner of the National Association of Science Writers Award); and JFK: In His Own Words (HBO, 1989-winner of a national Emmy award for outstanding programming).
About The Procter & Gamble Company
Two billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers®, Tide®, Ariel®, Always®, Whisper®, Pantene®, Bounty®, Pringles®, Folgers®, Charmin®, Downy®, Lenor®, Iams®, Crest®, Actonel®, Olay®, Clairol Nice 'n Easy®, Head & Shoulders®, and Wella®. Since the early 1900s, P&G has developed and supported programs to enrich the lives of African-Americans. Throughout the United States, local P&G programs and partnerships have had a positive impact - fulfilling aspirations, providing opportunity, and preserving the rich culture of African-Americans. For more information on P&G's longstanding and committed relationship with the African-American community and the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands, visit www.pg.com/diversity.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five soft drink brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light soft drinks, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1 billion servings each day. For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our website at www.coca-cola.com .
###
CONTACT:
Donna Williams, Thirteen/WNET New York; 212.560.8030; williamsd@thirteen.org
Gloria Park, Thirteen/WNET New York; 212.560.2063; parkg@thirteen.org
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This exposure for DNAG is invaluable. I can't say it would compare to "ROOTS" in ratings because it's on PBS. But I can almost guarantee it will be a course adjunct in many schools. Doctor Gates has published, and it might be interesting to find out the Who's Who he might be suggesting for inclusion in the show. Adding this collaboration to DNAG's list of partners is not to be sneared at.
Stakddek
DorseyE: TRY THIS
http://tinyurl.com/73j2t
It's not working for me either now. Of course it did work once or twice, and that's what I cut and pasted. I copied the address and pasted it to a post here. Then I listed the post, clicked the link and then copied the text. Went back and opened the post to edit and inserted the text I copied from the link.
If it closed up, I'm sorry. That's why I bother to copy the text! Some real interesting morsels in there.
Stakddek
CHEER UP:
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http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20050718005....
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July 18, 2005 12:42 PM US Eastern Timezone
Procter & Gamble and Coca-Cola to Underwrite AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES, a New PBS Series Tracing Black History Through Genealogy And DNA Science, Premiering February 2006
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 18, 2005--
Renowned Scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. To Serve As Series Host Four-Hour Documentary Co-Produced By Thirteen/WNET New York And Kunhardt Productions
The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE: PG) and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) will underwrite AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES, an unprecedented four-hour series on PBS that takes Alex Haley's Roots saga to a whole new level. Hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., W.E.B. Du Bois professor of the Humanities and chair of African and African-American Studies at Harvard University, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will air February 2006 on PBS. The series is a co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York and Kunhardt Productions Inc.
Through a compelling combination of storytelling and science, the series will profile some of the most accomplished African-Americans of our time, using genealogy and DNA to trace their roots down through American history and back to Africa. Dr. Gates will provide access to their day-to-day lives, drawing on photographs, film clips, music, and early personal records, while a team of researchers, genealogists and forensic DNA analysts will conduct investigations into the family histories of these contemporary women and men. By spotlighting African-American role models, the series hopes to inspire millions to consider their own heritage, and underscore for all Americans the importance of knowing their past, in order to unlock the future.
"This is a unique program and we're very pleased to be underwriting it," said Berrece Andrews, associate director of multicultural external relations at Procter & Gamble. "Our support of the AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES project is part of a broader Procter & Gamble program aimed at touching the lives of African-Americans with relevant programming. With our family of consumers, suppliers, and employees becoming more and more diverse everyday, Procter & Gamble's success is dependent upon understanding the communities where we live and work. The series is a very creative way to inspire hope and understanding for this and the next generation."
"For more than three decades, Coca-Cola North America has created advertising and supported television programming that recognizes the unique contributions of African-Americans to the culture and history of our country," said Ingrid Saunders Jones, senior vice president, corporate external affairs, The Coca-Cola Company. "This extraordinary program, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES, will allow and encourage African-Americans to connect with their own history, and we are very glad to be part of this experience."
"This is one of the most exciting projects in which I have been involved," said Dr. Gates. "No television series has explored black roots both in America and in Africa and used DNA research to investigate the origins of individual African-Americans. AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be a great way to introduce young people to the marvels of archival and scientific research and their practical applications. I hope that this project will encourage them - and all Americans, especially those of African descent - to explore their roots."
"We're incredibly excited about this project, which will be unlike anything the viewing public has experienced before. AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be extremely dramatic television, but with a real purpose," said Tamara E. Robinson, vice president and director of programming for Thirteen/WNET. "We're delighted and gratified that The Procter & Gamble Company and the Coca-Cola Company have decided that this series deserves substantial corporate support. It's commitments like these that make important, relevant programming possible in this increasingly competitive television landscape."
For some Americans, the essential question "Where do I come from?" cannot be answered; their history has been lost or stolen. But through its genealogical detective work and groundbreaking DNA analysis, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will not only provide a transformational discovery for several prominent African-Americans, but also serve as an example for all Americans of the empowerment derived from knowing their heritage.
To reconstruct the family trees of its participants, AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is working in conjunction with Ancestry.com, a leading Internet-based genealogy firm with one of the largest online collections of family history records. Among the scientists involved in the series' DNA analysis is Dr. Rick Kittles, an associate professor at Ohio State University and co-founder of the ancestry-tracing firm African Ancestry, Inc., whose database contains over 20,000 lineages from more than 389 indigenous African populations; molecular geneticist Dr. Bruce Jackson of the non-profit African-American DNA "Roots Project"; and Dr. Mark Shriver, associate professor of Anthropology & Genetics at Penn State University. Innovative new analytical techniques are also being developed for the project by DNA Print Genomics Inc. in conjunction with the Santa Clara-based biotechnology firm Affymetrix.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES will be accompanied by a community outreach and educational component. Furthermore, a vibrant companion Web site will feature a beginner's guide to tracing one's own family tree, giving visitors step-by-step guidance in how to research their own past. The online component will also provide background on the science and scholarship featured in the series, extended interviews with series guests, and interactive learning tools that will appeal to all age levels.
Major funding for AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is provided by The Procter & Gamble Company and The Coca-Cola Company.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN LIVES is a co-production of Thirteen/WNET New York and Kunhardt Productions. The project's producers are Leslie Asako Gladsjo and Jesse Sweet. Its senior producers are Leslie D. Farrell, Graham Judd and Dyllan McGee. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., William R. Grant and Peter Kunhardt are executive producers.
About The Procter & Gamble Company
Two billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R), Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Bounty(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R), Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Actonel(R), Olay(R), Clairol Nice 'n Easy(R), Head & Shoulders(R), and Wella(R). Since the early 1900s, P&G has developed and supported programs to enrich the lives of African-Americans. Throughout the United States, local P&G programs and partnerships have had a positive impact - fulfilling aspirations, providing opportunity, and preserving the rich culture of African-Americans. For more information on P&G's longstanding and committed relationship with the African-American community and the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands, visit www.pg.com/diversity.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company is the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five soft drink brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light soft drinks, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1 billion servings each day. For more information about The Coca-Cola Company, please visit our website at www.coca-cola.com.
About Kunhardt Productions
Kunhardt Productions Inc. is an independent production company with a reputation for innovative programming and high editorial standards. Founded in 1989 by ABC News veteran Peter W. Kunhardt, the company's critically-acclaimed programs have garnered many awards, including a National Emmy. Recent productions include Mandate: The People and the President for PBS; and Freedom: A History of US, an eight-hour PBS series based upon Joy Hakim's award-winning books. Other notable works include: My Brother and I, a one-hour documentary (Bravo 2003) based on Robert Kennedy's oral history of President Kennedy's administration; In Memoriam, a one-hour co-production with HBO and Brad Grey Television; Violence: An American Tradition (HBO, 1995--nominated for two national Emmy awards); The American President, a ten-hour PBS series profiling the forty-one Presidents of the United States; The Perfect Baby (an ABC News/Barbara Walters Special on genetic engineering, 1990--winner of the National Association of Science Writers Award); and JFK: In His Own Words (HBO, 1989--winner of a national Emmy award for outstanding programming).
About Thirteen/WNET New York
Thirteen/WNET New York is one of the key program providers for public television, bringing such acclaimed series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, Charlie Rose, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Wide Angle, Stage on Screen, Secrets of the Dead, and Cyberchase - as well as the work of Bill Moyers - to audiences nationwide. As the flagship public broadcaster in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut metro area, Thirteen reaches millions of viewers each week, airing the best of American public television along with its own local productions such as The Ethnic Heritage Specials, The Thirteen Walking Tours, New York Voices, and Reel New York. With educational and community outreach projects that extend the impact of its television productions, Thirteen takes television "out of the box." And as broadcast and digital media converge, Thirteen is blazing trails in the creation of Web sites, enhanced television, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, educational software, and other cutting-edge media products. More information about Thirteen can be found at: www.thirteen.org.
About PBS
PBS is a private, nonprofit media enterprise that serves the nation's 348 public noncommercial television stations, reaching nearly 90 million people each week. Bringing diverse viewpoints to television and the Internet, PBS provides high-quality documentary and dramatic entertainment, and consistently dominates the most prestigious award competitions. PBS is the leading provider of educational materials for K-12 teachers, and offers a broad array of educational services for adult learners. Video resources for educators are available at www.shoppbs.com/teachers. PBS's premier kids' TV programming and Web site, PBS KIDS Online (pbskids.org), continue to be parents' and teachers' most trusted learning environments for children. More information about PBS is available at pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet. PBS is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia.
Contacts
Press:
Thirteen/WNET New York
Donna Williams, 212-560-8030
williamsd@thirteen.org
or
Gloria Park, 212-560-2063
parkg@thirteen.org
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Stakddek
Dmceng:
The answer is the closing price for today. Unless sure and certain revenue from some source is announced by DNAG, the value of the company going forward is not apparent to the majority of investors, speculators. A promise of "we're working on that" does not convince a speculator to risk funds for an indeterminate term. They want action and immediate reward, at least as a prospect. Let's see where the price is at the end of next week. Investors had high hopes, and still believe, but it's a rough row to hoe. No prognostication on the share price. But I wouldn't be buying at .17 based on current prospects.
Stakddek
Reviewed the filing and nothing jumped out, except of course the plan for the use of funds. It will be a way to keep DNAG on the track for two, maybe three years depending on other sources of revenue being created or bought on board. Yhe biggest if may be the opportunity to gain a controlling intrest of Biofrontera. That 51% plus what we already own would be a major control of the company.
What's good and what's bad in the filing are going to be defined by our personal slant on DNAG. The boiler Plate is of course depressing. The dilution as outlined is depressing. The probability of a lower share price brought on by dilution requiring addittional dilution is classic death spiral financing.
No Patents have been issued to protect our "jewels". That process has recentley had two "final rejection" letters, but Doctor Frudakis feels the matter is far from over. Okay, but I don't think it means we're closer to getting a Patent issued than we were before a final rejection. It sure put more twists in the road.
We are dependant on the services of our key personel, and they ain't insured. They can leave any time they want. They may say "up yours" if the heat gets to high and stroll.
Other than that, the doors are open for two more years, and if things start to look good for DNAG, maybe many more.
Let's hope out patience is rewarded.
I didn't try to take the filing apart line by line. What I commented on is what I felt were the salient points, and how they look to me.
Stakddek
If the Biofrontera deal had proceeded earlier we'd have a new board member. The math looks very favorable for DNAP in acquiring less for even less? All in all, things are happening. A capable pipeline is growing. Devolopment strategies from drug inception to final testing are being put in place. We also share in Biofrontera existing pipeline.
All we need now is to put a foot in genetic cosmetics and use the resources in this global conglamorate to market a product formulated for the consumers particular genes, even at a broad level. For a more personalized approach, your - cream - lotion - hair conditioner - sun block - tanning aid - etc, formulated for your more specific genotype at an additional charge.
What do we need? Revenues. How do we get them? Sell something. (Not shares). Is cosmetics out of left field for DNAG to consider? -- We did consider a company in the past. Couldn't hurt with the right marketing. "DNA-Por-Vou"?
I'd rather we returned some money to the company by selling an honest quality product than diluting our shared ownership of the DNAG that remains.
let's keep the doors open and our real concerns going, but do something about revenues to reduce the dilution that is required for these pipeline expansions.
Stakddek
Hopeful: Yes it's very tough watching and watching, waiting and waiting. Makes us otherwise complacent types irratible. We get on each others nerves. Now we can start sniping at each other or we can accept that we might need to be reminded of some groundwork that could be part of a fuzzy picture that's just beginning to get clear.
Of course it may be murky beyond our ability to lay all the puzzle pieces in the right order! WE al contribute what we can, and sometimes something clicks that we feel is worth mentioning again. Most of these posts for verification, clarification, and as a basis fordiscussion of our thoughts. None of us wants any reasonable ideas that pop up stifled. In the absence of earth shaking positive news from DNAG, we have to keep laying those puzzle pieces down to try to fit them together. Ann has always been a stalwarth here and her contributions should not be dismissed in such a dogmatic manner.
Stakddek
Here's one reason for added capacity.
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http://webreprints.djreprints.com/1234560907772.html
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PAGE ONE
April 26, 2005 Dow Jones WebReprint Service®
Family Business
For Utah Billionaire,
Search for Roots
Is Blooming Field
Mr. Sorenson's DNA Tests Tie People to Their Forebears;
Battle for Biggest Database Finnish Genes Found in Idaho
By GEORGE ANDERS
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
SALT LAKE CITY—James Sorenson loved his 1999 trip to Norway retracing the steps of distant ancestors. When he got home, he invited geneticist Scott Woodward to his office and told him: "Let's analyze all of Norway's DNA!"
The scientist gulped. Both men recall that Dr. Woodward stared across a conference table and declared: "That would cost $500 million. I don't think you can afford it."
Mr. Sorenson shot back: "Oh, yes I can."
The 83-year-old entrepreneur is a billionaire several times over thanks to his development of plastic catheters and heart-monitoring equipment plus a half-century of wise investments. Mr. Sorenson ended up dropping the Norway idea, but he did so to pursue an even greater ambition. He wants to dominate the fast-growing field of connecting people with their roots through genetic testing.
Sorenson scientists are popping up everywhere from California to Cameroon to build a database of human DNA. So far, they have convinced 50,000 people from nearly 100 ethnic groups to hand over DNA samples and family lineages.
The data belong to the nonprofit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. But the man who made a killing on Utah real estate and Abbott Laboratories stock also sees a glint of profit potential in his latest obsession. A Sorenson company called Relative Genetics Inc. is selling tests for $50 and up that help people figure out where they fit in the database—and sometimes connect with specific ancestors who lived hundreds of years ago.
Gold Rush
New technology is setting off a genealogy gold rush inconceivable in an earlier era when people had to rely on old courthouse records and half-remembered family lore. Scientists now have several ways of using DNA to determine ancestry. The simplest involves the Y chromosome, which is found only in men and accumulates small changes over the centuries. If men have nearly identical Y chromosomes, it means they share a recent ancestor going up the male line. Another method uses mitochondrial DNA, which passes from a mother to her children. It can be used to determine ancestry through the female line.
Such tests used to cost thousands of dollars apiece. Now they're relatively cheap—and some entrepreneurs see both scientific and commercial potential. This month, the National Geographic Society announced it was teaming up with International Business Machines Corp. and Family Tree DNA of Houston to build a database of 100,000 samples from ethnic groups around the world. National Geographic is selling a service—for $99.95 plus shipping and handling—in which people can send in their own DNA and find out where they fit on humanity's family tree. For example, it might show that a person's ancestors on the male line came out of Africa, through Central Asia and into a particular part of Europe.
Family Tree DNA and several other U.S. companies already offer more narrowly focused services designed to help amateur genealogists solve family riddles. African Ancestry Inc. of Washington, D.C., uses DNA to help individual black Americans figure out what part of Africa their ancestors came from. Trace Genetics Inc. of Richmond, Calif., provides a similar service for Native Americans, among others.
To this race, Mr. Sorenson brings nearly 60 years of experience as one of America's most prolific entrepreneurs. The son of a Mormon livestock-yard operator, he was born in 1921 and grew up in a tar-paper shack in Yuba City, Calif. He hoped to become a doctor, but instead spent part of World War II as a Mormon missionary in Maine. After 11 years at Upjohn pitching drugs to doctors he formed a series of health-care companies. Some of his designs for surgical masks and plastic catheters still are used in hospitals today. In 1980, Mr. Sorenson sold his medical-device company to Abbott Laboratories for $100 million of Abbott stock. He kept the shares and profited greatly as they soared.
As a Mormon, Mr. Sorenson belongs to a faith that places great emphasis on family history, sometimes with the goal of posthumously baptizing ancestors. For most of his career, though, genealogy seemed too humdrum to command his attention. His wife, Beverley, took the lead, filling their home with pictures of their 47 grandchildren and various forebears. In an interview, she proudly noted that she is a descendant of John Taylor, leader of the Mormon church in the 1880s.
Eventually, Mr. Sorenson's views changed. "The older you get, the more you feel connected with those who came before," he says. "You even start to hear your dad's voice when you speak."
In the 1990s Mr. Sorenson helped relatives develop charts of his forebears as far back as 15th-century Switzerland. He got his feet wet in the genetics business by acquiring a DNA-testing service called GeneTree in 1997, focusing on paternity issues. And he befriended Dr. Woodward of Brigham Young University, who was analyzing sheepskin DNA in ancient parchments. "I told him: 'Scott, why don't you study people instead?' " Mr. Sorenson recently recalled.
Dr. Woodward soon embraced the idea of building a database that could rival anything in academia. After Mr. Sorenson got back from his trip to Norway in 1999, the two settled on a plan for the Sorenson foundation. It would collect small samples of many populations, focusing on the Y chromosome. Once typical profiles for each one were established, people could plug in their own data and figure out what region their forebears along the male line might have come from.
The idea didn't stop there. Dr. Woodward decided to get detailed genealogies from those who contributed their DNA. Eventually, he figured, some people would be able to submit their DNA sample and find a connection not just to a region but also to a specific ancestor. To protect donors' privacy, the Sorenson team decided not to release details about anyone born in the past 100 years.
In early 2000, notices began appearing on BYU's main campus in Provo, Utah, inviting students to visit Dr. Woodward's office so they could contribute blood samples and at least four generations of family history, including birthdates and country of origin. Unsure whether anyone would bother, Dr. Woodward offered participants $10 apiece for their trouble.
Right away, Dr. Woodward's office was mobbed. Seventy students hovered outside the door at 9 a.m. on the first sampling day, March 6, 2000. It took eight hours to process them all. That stampede repeated itself daily for months.
While BYU students' enthusiasm helped generate thousands of samples in the first few months, it also left the project overweighted with people of Anglo-Saxon, Germanic or Scandinavian origin. Seeking greater diversity, one of Dr. Woodward's graduate students, Ugo Perego, pored through Census Bureau data in search of unusual immigrant enclaves in the U.S.
Starting in 2001, Mr. Perego visited towns such as Red Lodge, Mont., to sample people of Finnish origin, Malad City, Idaho, for Welsh-Americans, and New Bedford, Mass., for Portuguese-Americans. To get past airport security with his attaché cases full of test tubes, Mr. Perego recalls that he had to get a letter from the Centers for Disease Control.
When a Mexican politician visiting Utah offhandedly suggested studying the indigenous Totonac population, Sorenson researchers rushed days later to a remote corner of eastern Mexico. No matter that researchers hadn't heard of the Totonac until then. They returned with more than 100 DNA samples.
Most of the Sorenson effort overseas targets countries of ancestral significance to many Americans, such as Nigeria and China. Sorenson scientists also decided in 2003 to emulate other geneticists' adoption of a painless alternative to blood sampling. A brisk mouthwash rinse, it turned out, could collect enough cheek cells to generate reliable lab results.
In 2003, the project severed its ties with Mormon-affiliated BYU and relocated to Mr. Sorenson's corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City. The university was running out of lab space, and the switch helped allay any concerns among non-Mormons that the project might have a religious agenda.
Leaving BYU also gave Mr. Sorenson free rein to develop the business side of his genealogy project. In 2001 he had started Relative Genetics as a for-profit company to handle the samples coming in from the Sorenson foundation. Within months, it started selling testing services to the public, looking for business among those curious about their ancestors.
The more data that the Sorenson researchers gather, the more they crave. "We started out believing that 100,000 samples would give us a good cross-section of the world," says Dr. Woodward. Now the foundation's latest forecasts call for 500,000 within five years. It is also beginning to expand into mitochondrial DNA, the kind that traces the female line.
Customers who get their Y chromosome tested at Relative Genetics can log on to the Sorenson foundation's Web site and find out for no additional charge what other families have similar genetic markers. Disclosures are most extensive for likely matches with people born at least 100 years ago. For example, the database might show that a man is closely related to a man of the same surname born in England in 1860. Because of a rule barring release of detailed information for people born in the past 100 years, Web-site visitors can't get names and phone numbers of living people who might be distant cousins. Eventually, the foundation may set up ways for limited contacts to occur if all parties want them.
Other research centers are growing fast, too. Family Tree DNA has gathered 31,000 samples so far, and it groups this data into 8,000 surname files so that amateur genealogists can figure out how they relate to people with the same or similar surnames. "If someone's last name is Mauch, they can look at Mock, Mok, Mauck and plenty of other variants in our database," says Bennett Greenspan, chief executive of the Houston company. Sorenson site users are guided only toward the best genetic matches, without the same freedom to probe many surnames.
The new National Geographic-IBM venture has a more academic focus. It is led by Spencer Wells, a leading advocate of the theory that all modern humans descend from a small group that lived in Africa about 60,000 years ago. Dr. Wells hopes his data will fill in large blanks in the history of human migrations since then. People who send DNA samples to National Geographic won't be able to connect with specific relatives; they'll only get a general sense of the path their ancestors took in the last 60,000 years. (Separately from its regular business line, Family Tree will conduct the DNA tests on National Geographic's behalf.)
Bonnie Schermer, a novelist in Mishiwaka, Ind., suspected for years that her grandfather kept separate families in North Carolina and the Midwest. Last year, she met Sorenson researchers at a genealogy gathering and they offered to test free of charge genetic samples of Ms. Schermer's father and a North Carolina man she thought might be a descendant of her grandfather. Their DNA markers were essentially identical.
Ms. Schermer says the news was a shock at first. But now, she says, it gives her a deeper understanding of her past and "more sympathy for our ancestors and their frailties." It also has led her to make friends with her long-lost North Carolina cousins.
In other cases, Sorenson data has disproved theories about family ties. Dr. Woodward dealt last year with a Pennsylvania family. The family had grieved for decades about a male relative who wandered away from his parents during a New York City visit as a toddler in 1910, and was never seen again. They speculated he had ended up in an orphanage. If so, the Pennsylvanians thought that a casual acquaintance—the son of a New York orphan—might be their cousin.
The orphan's son closely resembled the Pennsylvanians in appearance. When DNA tests were run, however, it became clear the two families weren't connected. "They were disappointed," Dr. Woodward recalled, "but at least they had an answer."
Mr. Sorenson has made a discovery of his own: One of his distant ancestors probably was a Russian Jewish bookkeeper named Jakob Levinsohn. "I guess I'm a member of the tribe of Levi," he says.
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May not be a racehorse our DNAG but, sure can carry a load!
Stakddek
Pointman:
I don't use E-Trade. And even if I did, I don't think I could answer your question. Just figure that no matter how important it is to you, it's a matter of little significance to some other folks. They'll get to it when they get to it.
Good Luck. Stakddek
Hey Team: Is this an explanation???
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http://archneur.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/62.9.noc50009v1
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Early Release Article, posted July 11, 2005 Original Contribution
• Articles in PubMed by
•Dodd ML
•Ahlskog JE
• Contact me when this article is cited
Topic Collections
• Parkinson Disease/ Parkinsonian Disorders
• Psychiatry
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Drug Therapy
• Adverse Effects
• Topic Collection Alerts
Pathological Gambling Caused by Drugs Used to Treat Parkinson Disease
M. Leann Dodd, MD; Kevin J. Klos, MD; James H. Bower, MD; Yonas E. Geda, MD; Keith A. Josephs, MST, MD; J. Eric Ahlskog, PhD, MD
Arch Neurol. 2005;62:(doi:10.1001/archneur.62.9.noc50009).
ABSTRACT
Background Pathological gambling is a rare potential complication related to treatment of Parkinson disease (PD). However, the etiology of this behavior is poorly understood.
Objective To examine the relationship between medical therapy for PD and pathological gambling.
Methods In our routine movement disorders practice (2002-2004), we encountered 11 patients with idiopathic PD who had recently developed pathological gambling. We assessed the relationship to their medical therapy and compared them with cases identified by systematic review of the existing literature on pathological gambling and PD.
Results All 11 patients with PD and pathological gambling were taking therapeutic doses of a dopamine agonist; 3 of these patients were not treated with levodopa. In 7 patients, pathological gambling developed within 3 months of starting to take or escalating the dose of the agonist; in the other 4 with a longer latency, gambling resolved after the agonist use was discontinued. Pramipexole dihydrochloride was the agonist in 9 of 11 cases in our series and 10 of 17 in the literature (68% in total).
Conclusions Dopamine agonist therapy was associated with potentially reversible pathological gambling, and pramipexole was the medication predominantly implicated. This may relate to disproportionate stimulation of dopamine D3 receptors, which are primarily localized to the limbic system.
Published online July 11, 2005 (doi:10.1001/archneur.62.9.noc50009).
Gambling is common in our society, with multiple outlets, such as casinos, Internet Web sites, local sports betting, and so on. Gambling behavior, however, may become pathological, defined as failure to resist gambling impulses despite severe personal, family, or vocational consequences. Pathological gambling is classified as an impulse control disorder according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) criteria.1
Parkinson disease (PD) is primarily treated by drugs that restore or improve brain dopaminergic neurotransmission. Brain dopamine also plays a central role in the behavioral reward system of both humans and animals, reinforcing a myriad of both productive and counterproductive behaviors.2-4 It has been implicated in mediating the reward of gambling behavior.5-7
Several recent reports have linked PD dopamine replacement therapy to pathological gambling.2, 8-14 Within the last 3 years, 2 of us (J.H.B. and J.E.A.) encountered 11 patients with PD and pathological gambling in our routine neurology practice (movement disorders). The gambling addiction had recently developed and was temporally related to use of dopamine agonist drugs.
All patients were seen and prospectively tabulated in the routine practice of the Mayo movement disorders clinic (Rochester, Minn) between 2002 and 2004. All had idiopathic PD and were levodopa or dopamine agonist responsive. All met DSM-IV-TR criteria for pathological gambling. The gambling history was forthcoming during routine clinical interview of the patient (or family member). There was no a priori attempt to routinely screen for gambling behavior.
All patients had levodopa-responsive PD and were Hoehn-Yahr stage 2 to 3; the demographics at the time of their pathological gambling are presented in Table 1. None of the patients were thought to have dementia by the neurologist, although formal cognitive testing was not consistently performed. A Mayo Clinic staff psychiatrist evaluated 7 of the 11 patients. Gambling was often time-locked to initiation or discontinuation of dopamine agonist therapy, as summarized in Table 2, and as illustrated by the following representative patients.
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Table 1. Demographic Features of Consecutive Patients With Parkinson Disease (PD) and Pathological Gambling*
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Table 2. Gambling Addiction and Parkinson Disease (PD) in Relationship to Medication Use*
REPORT OF PATIENTS WITH PD
Patient 1
This 53-year-old, married registered nurse had previously gambled once in 5 years. Pramipexole dihydrochloride was added to her therapy to control motor fluctuations, and within 3 months after reaching the maintenance dose of 4.5 mg/d, she experienced a strong compulsion to gamble at casinos. She started going about once a week (with moderate losses) and insisted this was an unusual behavior for her. Pramipexole therapy was tapered off, and she reported almost immediate cessation of her gambling compulsions.
Patient 2
This 54-year-old, married pastor previously gambled at a local casino about once every 4 or 5 years, spending about $20 a visit. Pramipexole therapy was subsequently initiated and escalated to 4.5 mg/d to control mild motor fluctuations. By the second year taking this dose, he began to gamble almost daily and over several months lost about $2500, which he kept secret from his wife. He reluctantly brought this up to his neurologist, who tapered off his pramipexole therapy. Within a month after stopping pramipexole therapy, he reported no interest in gambling.
Patient 4
This 63-year-old man previously gambled at casinos about once every 3 months with no overspending. Two months after reaching the target dose of 4.5 mg of pramipexole daily his gambling habits increased substantially. He gambled 2 to 3 times per week, with an "incredible compulsion" even when he "logically knew it was time to quit." He described this as a "unique behavior" and stated that he "had never experienced anything like this before." The patient recognized that pramipexole "may very well be the culprit," so he discontinued taking it on his own. Within 1 month of not taking pramipexole, his gambling habits were "back to baseline" and were no longer problematic.
Patient 5
This 41-year-old, married computer programmer reported never gambling in his life. His parkinsonism was well controlled, but pramipexole therapy was added because of his young age. Within 1 month of reaching a dose of 4.5 mg/d, he described being "consumed" with the need to gamble on the Internet, losing $5000 within a few months. In addition to gambling, he compulsively purchased items that he did not need or want, plus he was fixated on having sex with his wife several times daily. After seeing his neurologist for a routine visit, he was advised to taper his pramipexole use; instead, he discontinued it abruptly. Two days later, he recognized a rapid resolution of the desire to gamble, which he described "like a light switch being turned off." There was no recurrence of gambling or any other of his compulsive behaviors over the next several months of follow-up.
Patient 6
This 52-year-old, married man was initially treated with pramipexole monotherapy and later, carbidopa/levodopa was added. To improve motor function, his pramipexole dose was titrated to 2 mg 3 times per day. However, the patient on his own continued to titrate the medication up to 4.5 mg 3 times per day. Subsequently, his wife phoned his neurologist, reporting that her husband had begun to gamble "uncontrollably," losing more than $100 000. Prior to this, he gambled only occasionally with losses less than $400 at a time. In addition, he developed compulsive eating (gaining 50 lb) and an obsession with sex, engaging in extramarital affairs and pornography. His pramipexole therapy was tapered off, and within 1 month after stopping, he reported that "all the problems are gone," with a loss of interest in gambling and pornography. His wife reported that "I have my old husband back"; "he’s back to his old self."
Patient 7
This 50-year-old, married man had no history of gambling before taking ropinirole hydrochloride. He had initially been treated with pramipexole but was then treated with ropinirole, which was titrated up to 7 mg 3 times per day. One month after reaching this dose, he began to gamble compulsively, staying at casinos for days at a time, feeling "unable to pull myself away from the tables" and ultimately joining and attending Gamblers Anonymous for a brief time. In addition, his wife noted that for that same period he had increased sex drive, was drinking alcohol more frequently, and was eating excessively. After describing these behaviors to his neurologist, the ropinirole dose was reduced, with dramatic improvement; he stopped gambling and reverted to having sex once weekly instead of 4 times daily.
Patient 10
This 68-year-old man reported no history of gambling. About 30 months after initiating pramipexole monotherapy, he developed a new and escalating interest in gambling, losing more than $200 000 at casinos over 6 months. In addition, he had delusional thoughts about his wife’s fidelity, became hypersexual, and had episodes of leaving town for days without anyone knowing his whereabouts. Within 2 months of reducing his pramipexole therapy by 50%, his compulsion for gambling was substantially attenuated; after 6 months, he denied feeling any need to gamble or engage in other compulsions.
SUMMARY
Pathological gambling developed in 7 of these 11 patients within 1 to 3 months of achieving the maintenance dose or with dose escalation of dopamine agonist therapy. None developed new gambling or an increase in gambling while receiving levodopa monotherapy. The other 4 patients did not report compulsive gambling until 12 to 30 months after initiating dopamine agonist therapy; however, in those cases, gambling resolved within months after discontinuing agonist treatment with stable doses of levodopa. Three patients were treated with a dopamine agonist without levodopa. Of these 11 patients, 4 had never gambled before beginning dopamine agonist treatment.
Additional behavioral problems simultaneously developed in 6 patients and resolved as the pathological gambling subsided. These included compulsive eating with weight gain, increased alcohol consumption, increased spending, and hypersexuality (manifest as increased interest in pornography, extramarital affairs, or increased libido bothersome to the spouse).
These 11 patients developed pathological gambling only after starting therapy with a dopamine agonist, either pramipexole (9 of 11 cases) or ropinirole (2 of 11 cases). The gambling resolved when the dopamine agonist was tapered or discontinued in 8 of the 11 cases; follow-up was not available in the other 3 cases. Although levodopa therapy might have been a contributory factor, none developed these problems when receiving levodopa monotherapy, and 3 patients had not been treated with levodopa. The relationship of pathological gambling to dopamine agonist therapy in these cases is striking.
The association of dopamine agonist treatment with pathological gambling does not reflect disproportionate use of agonists in our practice. In our movement disorders clinic, many patients aged 50 years, and nearly all older than 60 years, initially start with carbidopa/levodopa therapy rather than a dopamine agonist; dopamine agonists are typically added later to treat levodopa complications.
In view of the striking association with dopamine agonist therapy, we elected to compare our experience with that in the medical literature. We performed a MEDLINE search with the general term gambling or the text word gamble and cross-referenced that with the general term Parkinson disease as well as the text word parkinson. This produced 9 references, of which 6 contained descriptions of pathological gambling in PD, plus a listing of medications2, 10-14; these are presented in chronological order in Table 3. The largest series (N = 12) is not shown in the table since medications were not specified, other than to indicate that all were receiving levodopa therapy.9 What is apparent from Table 3 is that all patients with PD and pathological gambling were taking a dopamine agonist and all but 1 was receiving levodopa therapy. Included in Table 3 is a retrospective report of all PD cases from 1 clinic during the prior year; pathological gambling was documented in 1.5% of 529 patients treated with pramipexole and 0.3% of pergolide mesylate–treated patients but none receiving levodopa monotherapy.11 This article, as well as others from this systematic review, revealed that all patients were taking a dopamine agonist but none were receiving levodopa monotherapy.
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Table 3. Published Studies—Gambling and Parkinson Disease (PD) Drugs*
All of the commonly prescribed dopamine agonists have been associated with pathological gambling, as presented in Table 3. Pramipexole, however, is disproportionately represented in both our series (82% of our patients) and in prior reports (59% of patients in Table 3). Pramipexole is a unique drug that is highly selective for the dopamine D3 receptor, with an affinity at least 2 orders of magnitude greater than for other receptors.15-18 The other 2 drugs most commonly implicated in this and prior series are pergolide and ropinirole; these account for 25% of all 28 cases from our series plus the literature (Table 3). These 2 drugs are also relatively selective for the D3 receptor, although their specific affinity for the D3 receptor is less than pramipexole.16, 18 Thus, 93% of the agonists implicated in this and the prior series (Table 3) were relatively selective for the D3 receptor. This suggests a pharmacologic substrate for this gambling behavior, which makes intuitive sense in view of the localization of D3 receptors to limbic areas of the brain.19
Giovannoni and colleagues8 described a pervasive behavioral syndrome associated with inappropriate self-administration of ever-increasing amounts of dopaminergic drugs, which they termed hedonistic homeostatic dysregulation. The excesses of dopaminergic treatment resulted in severe dyskinesias and often hypomania or manic psychosis; 2 of their cases developed pathological gambling. One of our patients displayed clinical features similar to these patients, with self-escalation of pramipexole use to the extremely high dose of 13.5 mg/d, associated with a variety of addictive behaviors (patient 6). None of our other patients, however, fit criteria for this syndrome and were unlike their description. Rather, in our patients, the gambling behavior was more circumscribed, although 6 patients simultaneously developed other inappropriate behaviors, which included hypersexuality in 4 patients.
In summary, dopamine agonist drugs appear to be uniquely implicated as a cause of pathological gambling. Both our series and prior reports have especially linked this to administration of the selective dopamine D3 agonist pramipexole. Disproportionate stimulation of dopamine D3 receptors might be responsible for pathological gambling in these PD cases.
Correspondence: M. Leann Dodd, MD, Department Of Psychiatry and Psychology, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 (dodd.maryellen@mayo.edu).
Accepted for Publication: April 15, 2005.
Author Contributions: Study concept and design: Dodd, Geda, and Ahlskog. Acquisition of data: Dodd, Klos, Bower, and Ahlskog. Analysis and interpretation of data: Dodd, Klos, Geda, Josephs, and Ahlskog. Drafting of the manuscript: Dodd, Klos, and Ahlskog. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: Dodd, Klos, Bower, Geda, Josephs, and Ahlskog. Administrative, technical, and material support: Dodd and Klos. Study supervision: Dodd, Bower, Geda, Josephs, and Ahlskog.
Author Affiliations: Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology (Drs Dodd and Geda) and Neurology (Drs Klos, Bower, Josephs, and Ahlskog), Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fourth Edition, Text Revision ed. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association, 2000.
2. Gschwandtner U, Aston J, Renaud S, Fuhr P. Pathologic gambling in patients with Parkinson's disease. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2001;24:170-172. MEDLINE
3. Zald D, Boileau I, El-Dearedy W, et al. Dopamine transmission in the human striatum during monetary reward tasks. J Neurosci. 2004;24:4105-4112. ABSTRACT/FULL TEXT
4. Knutson B, Adams C, Fong G, Hommer D. Anticipation of increasing monetary reward selectively recruits nucleus accumbens. J Neurosci. 2001;21:RC159. MEDLINE
5. Schultz W. Getting formal with dopamine and reward. Neuron. 2002;36:241-263. MEDLINE
6. Ibanez A, Blanco C, de Castro IP, Fernandez-Piqueras J, Saiz-Ruiz J. Genetics of pathological gambling. J Gambl Stud. 2003;19:11-22. MEDLINE
7. Shizgal P, Arvanitogiannis A. Neuroscience: gambling on dopamine [comment]. Science. 2003;299:1856-1858. ABSTRACT/FULL TEXT
8. Giovannoni G, O'Sullivan JD, Turner K, Manson AJ, Lees AJ. Hedonistic homeostatic dysregulation in patients with Parkinson's disease on dopamine replacement therapies [see comment]. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2000;68:423-428. ABSTRACT/FULL TEXT
9. Molina JA, Sainz-Artiga MJ, Fraile A, et al. Pathologic gambling in Parkinson's disease: a behavioral manifestation of pharmacologic treatment? Mov Disord. 2000;15:869-872. MEDLINE
10. Seedat S, Kesler S, Niehaus DJ, Stein DJ. Pathological gambling behaviour: emergence secondary to treatment of Parkinson's disease with dopaminergic agents. Depress Anxiety. 2000;11:185-186. MEDLINE
11. Driver-Dunckley E, Samanta J, Stacy M. Pathological gambling associated with dopamine agonist therapy in Parkinson's disease. Neurology. 2003;61:422-423. FULL TEXT
12. Montastruc JL, Schmitt L, Bagheri H. [Pathological gambling behavior in a patient with Parkinson's disease treated with levodopa and bromocriptine] [in French]. Rev Neurol Paris. 2003;159:441-443. MEDLINE
13. Avanzi M, Uber E, Bonfa F. Pathological gambling in two patients on dopamine replacement therapy for Parkinson's disease. Neurol Sci. 2004;25:98-101. MEDLINE
14. Kurlan R. Disabling repetitive behaviors in Parkinson's disease [see comment]. Mov Disord. 2004;19:433-437. MEDLINE
15. Piercey MF. Pharmacology of pramipexole, a dopamine D3-preferring agonist useful in treating Parkinson's disease. Clin Neuropharmacol. 1998;21:141-151. MEDLINE
16. Perachon S, Schwartz JC, Sokoloff P. Functional potencies of new antiparkinsonian drugs at recombinant human dopamine D1, D2 and D3 receptors. Eur J Pharmacol. 1999;366:293-300. MEDLINE
17. Hubble JP. Pre-clinical studies of pramipexole: clinical relevance. Eur J Neurol. 2000;7(suppl 1):15-20. MEDLINE
18. Gerlach M, Double K, Arzberger T, Leblhuber F, Tatschner T, Riederer P. Dopamine receptor agonists in current clinical use: comparative dopamine receptor binding profiles defined in the human striatum. J Neural Transm. 2003;110:1119-1127. MEDLINE
19. Sokoloff P, Giros B, Martres MP, Bouthenet ML, Schwartz JC. Molecular cloning and characterization of a novel dopamine receptor (D3) as a target for neuroleptics. Nature. 1990;347:146-151. MEDLINE
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Stakddek
I didn't notice any DNAG involvement. Up our alley?
Face recognition: Seven Degrees of separation?
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http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050711/115494.html?.v=1
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IRIS International Listed on Russell Indices
Monday July 11, 8:41 am ET
CHATSWORTH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 11, 2005--IRIS International, Inc. (NASDAQ: IRIS - News), a manufacturer and marketer of automated IVD urinalysis systems and medical devices used in hospitals and reference clinical laboratories worldwide, today announced that it has been listed on the new Russell Microcap(TM) Index as well as the small-cap Russell 2000® and broad market Russell 3000® indices.
ADVERTISEMENT
The listings are the result of Russell's reconstitution of its family of U.S. indices on June 24. IRIS' membership in the Russell 3000, which remains in place for one year, means automatic inclusion in the Russell 2000. Russell's transparent, objective approach in the reconstitution process is based on weighted market capitalization.
"We are pleased that IRIS' stock has qualified for inclusion in the new Russell Microcap Index and the Russell 2000 and 3000, which will further increase IRIS' visibility with institutional managers and investors," stated President and Chief Executive Officer Cesar Garcia
The Russell Microcap Index is comprised of the smallest 1,000 securities in the small-cap Russell 2000 Index plus the next 1,000 companies, based on a ranking of all U.S. equities by market capitalization. This new index offers managers and other investors a comprehensive, unbiased barometer to compare their performance against the genuine microcap marketplace of stocks. The end result is a group of indexes widely used as benchmarks by investment managers and institutional investors in the development of their investment strategies. Investment managers who oversee these funds, purchase shares of members stocks according to that company's weighting in the particular index. Currently, more than $2.5 trillion in assets are benchmarked to Russell indices.
About Russell
Russell, a global leader in multi-manager investment services, provides investment products and services in more than 39 countries. Russell manages more than $135 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing $2.3 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Singapore, Sydney, Auckland and Tokyo.
THE COMPANY
IRIS International, Inc. (www.proiris.com) is a leader in automated urinalysis technology with systems in major medical institutions throughout the world. The Company's newest generation iQ®200 Automated Urine Microscopy Analyzer, utilizing image flow cytometry, patented Automated Intelligent Microscopy (AIM) technology and neural network-based particle recognition, achieves a significant reduction in the cost and time-consuming steps involved in manual microscopic analysis. The Company's StatSpin® subsidiary, based in Norwood, Mass., manufactures innovative centrifuges and blood analysis products. Advanced Digital Imaging Research, LLC (ADIR), based near Houston, Texas, is the Company's imaging research and development subsidiary.
SAFE HARBOR PROVISION
This news release contains forward-looking statements made in reliance upon the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company's views on future commercial revenues, market growth, capital requirements, and new product introductions, and are generally identified by phrases such as "thinks," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," and similar words. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are inherently subject to uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statement. These statements are based upon, among other things, assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management, including management's own knowledge and assessment of the Company's industry, competition and capital requirements. Other factors and uncertainties that could affect the Company's forward-looking statements include, among other things, the following: the acceptance by customers of our new iQ®200 product platform, our substantial expansion of international sales and our reliance on key suppliers, the potential need for changes in long-term strategy in response to future developments; future advances in diagnostic testing methods and procedures, as well as potential changes in government regulations and healthcare policies, both of which could adversely affect the economics of the diagnostic testing procedures automated by the Company's products; rapid technological change in the microelectronics and software industries; and increasing competition from imaging and non-imaging based in-vitro diagnostic products. The Company refers interested persons to its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and its other SEC filings for a description of additional uncertainties and factors that may affect forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no duty to update its forward-looking statements.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
IRIS International, Inc.
Cesar Garcia, 818-709-1244 Ext. 123
or
The Wall Street Group, Inc.
Ron Stabiner, 212-888-4848
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: IRIS International, Inc.
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Stakddek
I think there is an error in the forecast.
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The growth plan is set to sign up different sports leagues weather professional, minor, college or high school levels.
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Stakddek
Mathematically:
DNAP /20 = DNAG
Team posted the close, so hopefully the opening price for DNAG will be 20 * .0079. ( .158). Of course if you had 100000 shares that is reduced by dividing by 20, (or multiply by .05).
You now have 5000 shares. DNAG is keeping the authorized shares to utilize for acquisitions, salary, and financing of ongoing operations. The reduction in the portion of DNAG that our shares represent will only occur as the shares are expended for funding, acquisition or salary. At the current time, with the information I have, there are a number of shares promised to Dutchess for financing. These shares will be what reduces our "portional share" of all of DNAG, as and when they are distributed. They will have this effect at (I believe) an accelerated rate compared to the previous selling for finance that has been the substanance of DNAP for the last 5 years.
To rescue us, a firm source of revenue must be assured. A patent or two in the barn wouldn't hurt either. AS DNAG expands operations and staff, or makes acquisitions, the cost of staying in business will increase.
We will have a good idea of where DNAG is going when we see how shares are granted to the management. If they have faith in where we are going, they will keep the bank of authorized shares sacrosanct, and only nibble at the edges. If they decide to play Pirates of the Carribbean, we all know that the glue factory is the next stop for our DNAG.
Stakddek
Early Electric Experiments -- NOT FOR FROGDREAMING!
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http://www.geocities.com/bioelectrochemistry/galvani.htm
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[excerpted portion}
Numerous ingenious observations and experiments have been credited to him; in 1786, for example, he obtained muscular contraction in a frog by touching its nerves with a pair of scissors during an electrical storm. Again, a visitor to his laboratory caused the legs of a skinned frog to kick when a scalpel touched a lumbar nerve of the animal while an electrical machine was activated. Galvani assured himself by further experiments that the twitching was, in fact, related to the electrical action. He also elicited twitching without the aid of the electrostatic machine by pressing a copper hook into a frog's spinal cord and hanging the hook on an iron railing. Although twitching could occur during a lightning storm or with the aid of an electrostatic machine, it also occurred with only a metallic contact between leg muscles and nerves leading to them. A metallic arc connecting the two tissues could therefore be a substitute for the electrostatic machine.
In a very careful series of experiments in which he fastened "brass hooks in their [the frogs'] spinal cord to an iron railing which surround a certain hanging garden of my house" Galvani noticed that the frogs' legs went into contractions "not only when the lightning flashed but even at times when the sky was quiet and serene." In the contact between the brass hooks and the iron railing, Galvani came tantalizingly close to the contact theory later advanced by his fellow-countryman, Allesandro Volta. However, Galvani chose to interpret his results in terms of "animal electricity," which proclaimed that the structure of the muscle retained a "nerveo-electrical fluid" similar to that of an electric eel.
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Credit to Ben Franklin who I believe was a step or two ahead of Galvani during this era.
Stakddek
Pennyworld: If we know that CTKH is not a 152g, and Hilal knows it's not a 152g, doesn't he leave himself and his advisor attorney open to SEC action for not filing in compliance with the law? This has nothing to do with shareholders bringing this to Hilals attention. He and (assumed his legal advisors) filed the 152g when the company fell under that law. Now they don't. It would appear a communication to the SEC is required. Just what is the time frame for the 152g to remain in effect? In other words how long has Hilal and his legal resource been aware of the number of stockholders who are not "insignificant". (Is one share insignificant?) Am I insignificant? How many shares do I have to control to be more than insignificant? What do I have to do to be an active shareholder? I thought owning the stock was enough. Any answers? I hope the answer is not a reverse split to drive us all into insignificance!
Stakddek
Good Morning America High Blood Pressure. The Doctors, one of them, mentioned we can't tailor medicine to a particular individual. Perhaps someone can mention the work DNAP is doing to these "authors". They might find the input interesting. The story ran in the East Coast EDT around 8:30AM.
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July 6, 2005— If there is one number to know when it comes to your health, it's your blood pressure.
Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz, authors of The New York Times best seller "You: The Owner's Manual," say that blood pressure is the key to healthy arteries, and arteries are the key to aging.
The average national blood pressure is too high, according to Oz and Roizen. They said the ideal blood pressure is 115/75. The average is 130/86.
The doctors talked about several simple steps to lower your blood pressure:
• Lose 10 percent of your body weight
• Exercise 30 minutes a day
• Manage your stress
• Every day, eat nine servings of fruits and vegetables, which are high in potassium, folate and calcium
+++++++++++++++++++++
In the Spirit of Independence Day!
++++++++++++++++++
http://www.freestarmedia.com/hotellostliberty1.html
++++++++++++++++++
Below is our letter to begin the development process.
Read our press release explaining the project here.
Monday, June 27, 2005
Mr. Chip Meany
Code Enforcement Officer
Town of Weare, New Hampshire
Fax 603-529-4554
Dear Mr. Meany,
I am proposing to build a hotel at 34 Cilley Hill Road in the Town of Weare. I would like to know the process your town has for allowing such a development.
Although this property is owned by an individual, David H. Souter, a recent Supreme Court decision, "Kelo vs. City of New London" clears the way for this land to be taken by the Government of Weare through eminent domain and given to my LLC for the purposes of building a hotel. The justification for such an eminent domain action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest as it will bring in economic development and higher tax revenue to Weare.
As I understand it your town has five people serving on the Board of Selectmen. Therefore, since it will require only three people to vote in favor of the use of eminent domain I am quite confident that this hotel development is a viable project. I am currently seeking investors and hotel plans from an architect. Please let me know the proper steps to follow to proceed in accordance with the law in your town.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Logan Darrow Clements
Freestar Media, LLC
++++++++++++++++++
AND HERE IS WHY!
+++++++++++++++++++
Below is our press release on the Lost Liberty Hotel Project.
Read our letter starting the project here.
Press Release
For Release Monday, June 27 to New Hampshire media
For Release Tuesday, June 28 to all other media
Weare, New Hampshire (PRWEB) Could a hotel be built on the land owned by Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter? A new ruling by the Supreme Court which was supported by Justice Souter himself itself might allow it. A private developer is seeking to use this very law to build a hotel on Souter's land.
Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.
On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.
Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land.
The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."
Clements indicated that the hotel must be built on this particular piece of land because it is a unique site being the home of someone largely responsible for destroying property rights for all Americans.
"This is not a prank" said Clements, "The Towne of Weare has five people on the Board of Selectmen. If three of them vote to use the power of eminent domain to take this land from Mr. Souter we can begin our hotel development."
Clements' plan is to raise investment capital from wealthy pro-liberty investors and draw up architectural plans. These plans would then be used to raise investment capital for the project. Clements hopes that regular customers of the hotel might include supporters of the Institute For Justice and participants in the Free State Project among others.
# # #
Logan Darrow Clements
Freestar Media, LLC
Phone 310-593-4843
logan@freestarmedia.com
http://www.freestarmedia.com
+++++++++++++++++++
I don't think I'd like the village I live in to emminent domain me out of house and home to put in a gas station. I wouldn't like to lose, say a lakefront home because a developer would like to put in a time share complex. Even worse would be someone being ED'ed for spite. But that could never happen right??
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Stakddek
Geneology Competition:
++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.geogene.com/highres/home.html
++++++++++++++++++++
About Us
From a simple mouth swab, our testing laboratory at the University of London is able to compare your DNA with the genetic information of thousands of men and women worldwide. We can reveal how your own family history fits into the global family tree that unites the human race. On your personalised genetic heritage wallchart, you will discover how your personal ancestral lineage is descended from the earliest journeys of modern humans as they began to spread out from our African motherland to people the world.
GeoGene was started by Zeena Eate in 2003 and was formally launched in 2004. She became fascinated by genetic ancestry research after hearing how scientists were now able to use a person’s DNA to trace ancestral lineages back more than 100,000 years. GeoGene’s aim is to make this cutting-edge technology available to everyone, offering anybody the opportunity to discover his or her own prehistoric heritage.
President Zeena Eate
“I became involved in genetic ancestry research around Christmas 2002, after a chance conversation in a pub in Dublin. We were chatting about the notion of “Six Degrees of Separation” – the theory that anyone in the world can be related to anyone else using no more than six steps: friends, neighbours, colleagues, etc.” Find out more...
Scientific Director Dr Simon M Cutting
Our scientific team is headed by Dr Simon M Cutting. Simon earned his PhD at Oxford University before being awarded a post-doctoral fellowship to carry out research at Harvard. He is now Head of Biomedical Sciences at Royal Holloway, University of London. Find out more...
Business Manager Chris Eglington Find out more...
Art Director Paula Keogh
Editor James Clark Find out more...
Web site Designed and Developed by www.webmama.co.uk
GeoGene Inc.
425 Market Street
Suite 2200
San Francisco
CA 94105
USA
Ph +1 415 955 0522
Fax +1 415 651 8898 GeoGene
Thornton House
Thornton Road
Wimbledon
SW19 4NG
UK
Ph +44 20 8405 6425
Fax +44 870 7620711
GeoGene Inc. 3719949
GeoGene is the trading name of Greendale Services Ltd.
Company Number 04481978.
VAT Number 798 5222 81.
Data Protection Number Z7655119
+++++++++++++++++++
Stakddek
Link for more biometrics sources:
++++++++++++++++
http://www.findbiometrics.com/Pages/links.html
++++++++++++++++
You'll have to go to the page to link Thru...
++++++++++++++++
Center for Identification Technolgy Research (CITeR)- National Science Foudation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) focusing on Biometrics
Air Force Automatic Identification Technology (AF AIT PMO)
Asia Pacific Smart Card Association (APSCA)
Association for Automatic Identification and Mobility Solutions (AIM)
Association for Biometrics
Association of Security Consultants
Auto ID
Automatic Data Capture Association - Australia (ADCA)
BioAPI Consortium
Biometric Digest
Biometric Market Intelligence
Biometric Research Center, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Biometric System Lab
BioSec is an Integrated Project with Partners from nine countries with a focus on scientific/technological such as 3D biometrics and aliveness detection and user-centred acceptance, usability and legal framework.
CAST-Competence Center for Applied Security Technology
CATA Biometrics Group
Center for Identification Technolgy Research (CITeR) National Science Foudation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) focusing on Biometrics
Department of Defense Biometrics Management Office
Department of Homeland Security
dmoz - Open Directory Project:Biometrics Resources
ENISA - European Network and Information Security Agency; ENISA aims to ensure a high level of network and information security within the Eupoean Community contributing to the development of a network and information security culture.
European Biometrics Forum (EBF) is a network of some of Europe’s key experts and biometric organisations which focus on establishing a realistic vision for the future of the biometrics industry in Europe.
European Smart Card Industry Association (EuroSmart)
FBI Latent Print Unit
FBI's INTEGRATED AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM IMAGE QUALITY SPECIFICATIONS (PRODUCTS CERTIFIED FOR COMPLIANCE)
Forensic & Biometrics Gateway at(WVU) West Virginia University
Free Fingerprint Imaging Software
George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia: SCP Network Security Certificate Program Including Biometrics and PKI
IDtrack- European Association for Sure & Secure Identification, Barcelona, Spain. Its mission is to communicate, guide and coordinate activities for the reliable and secure implementation of new technologies of identification and traceability.
Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System(IAFIS)
International Biometric Group
International Biometric Industry Association
International Card Manufacturers Association (ICMA)
International Center for Disability Resources on the Internet
M1 Biometrics
National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center
National Science & Technology Council Interagency Working Group on Biometrics
PITO - Police Information Technology Organisation UK
Security Industry Association (SIA)
Smart Card Alliance
The Advanced Card Technology Association of Canada
The Association for Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC)
The Biomedical Signal Analysis Laboratory, joint at Clarkson University and West Virginia University
The Biometric Consortium serves as a focal point for research, development, testing, evaluation, and application of biometric-based personal identification/verification technology.
The Biometric Foundation (TBF)
The Biometric Institute
The Biometric Knowledge Center (BKnC) at West Virginia University (WVU)
The Center for Biometric Research and Testing (CBRT), Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASIA),
The Center for Unified Biometrics and Sensors (CUBS),University at Buffalo,The State University of New York
The Connecticut Biometric Web Page
The Forensic Science Initiative at (WVU)West Virginia University
The Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH)
The International Association for Identifcation (IAI)
The International Association for Pattern Recognition (IAPR)
The International Biometrics Society
The NATIONAL BIOMETRIC SECURITY PROJECT(NBSP)
The RnD Team: Canadian Research & Development Tax Credit Specialists
The UK Biometrics Working Group (BWG)
The Western Identification Network, Inc. (WIN)- multi-state AFIS network
Transportation Security Adminstration
United States Naval Academy, Electrical Engineering:Biometrics LAB Research
WebHostPicks.com - Your Online Web Hosting Directory
West Virginia University/FBI Forensic Identification Degree Program
XML Common Biometric Format (XCBF) Working Draft, October 24, 2002
+++++++++++++++++
Stakddek
Hi Frog: I recall you had stated in the past that you had or had participated in some patents. Did you perchance have the "final rejection letter" mailed from the patent examiners affecting your applications in any of those cases?
I would think the final rejections are not a many splendored thing when you have so much effort and money involved in the process. And of course not knowing the circumstances that caused the Patent Office actions, I can't begin to guess how much angst was warranted.
I haven't read the Dutton Report, but the comments by others here seem to indicate that they, "Dutton" considered the Patent Application(s) lost with no chance for further process. I wasn't at the stockholder meeting so I can't comment on Doctor Frudakis's comments or emotions. I still don't know if his comment was answering the Dutton report or the Patent Office Letters. In one case it would appear to be a fair reaction as to Dutton misunderstanding the process, and possibly Dutton not even knowing the particulars of the final rejections.
On the other hand I guess some people would like to make a case for a deliberate and malicious lie, told to shareholders so Doctor Frudakis and DNAP could rake more coins from the depleted piggy banks of us widows and orphans. Of course he would be making his statement in the light of the questioner being aware of the lettrs of rejection announced by the Patent Office and announced on the web site. I would imagine if the intent was to mislead the shareholders, (and all the other entities DNAP is doing business with), he might have been better talking about DNAPS involvement in cold fusion or or anti-gravity. It's scary when people seem to take things the wrong way. I hope no one is seeking a class action suit against DNAP based on these comments. Of course I guess if you hired a sharp lawyer he would claim it was "part of a pattern of ongoing behavior" but then DNAP has always had those disclaimers on all the communications from the company.
I can tell you are very concerned with this. Your postings seem so, well anxious.
Stakddek
Thanks Bors. Continuing Education never stops. EOM
I saw from the header bar above these posts that the people joined SEMA. Do they still belong? Do the wheels they manufacture just get an approval from SEMA because they are members, or do they test them? (the wheels?)
Does the National Highway and Saftey Administration have to approve them? Or are the wheels for just off-road use and not highway?
Many modern wheels just have pop out centers. Couldn't they make those too? Some people might just like centers for the wheels they already have.
Stakddek
Bors: err Hydrogen is smaller. lighter, and harder to contain. But easily generated on board. And can be converted to power in a fuel cell. Source could be water/ice ballast, Just don't know if energy to reclaim hydrogen and oxygen from ice/water would provide any advantage over lotsa'batteries and solar array. Can airship be attitude controlled to offer greatest surface area of solar cells to sunlight?
Stakddek
OT: Background & update: Greenwich Pharma:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=19936520
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (VQPH.OB) And Greenwich Pharmaceuticals Sign Letter Of Intent To Merge
MONMOUTH JUNCTION, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 4, 2005-- Acquisition of Two Potent Anti-Cancer Compounds Positions VioQuest as a Significant Player in the Development of Oncology Therapeutics VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (OTCBB: VQPH) ("VioQuest") signed a non-binding letter of intent to complete a merger transaction with Greenwich Therapeutics, a privately-held New York biotechnology company focused on the development of novel compounds with broad therapeutic applications in oncology. In the proposed merger, VioQuest would acquire two anti-cancer agents - Sodium Stibogluconate (SSG) and API-2. As a result of the proposed merger, the stockholders of Greenwich Therapeutics will receive up to approximately 47% of VioQuest Pharmaceuticals on a fully diluted, post-merger basis. Approximately one-half of the additional equity will be set aside in escrow, and will only be released incrementally upon the achievement of certain clinical milestones relating to Phase I and Phase II clinical studies for each compound. Daniel Greenleaf, VioQuest's President and CEO, stated, "In the past several months, VioQuest has refined its business strategy to expand into the development of therapeutics while maintaining a commitment to our existing chiral chemistry (Chiral Quest) business. The proposed acquisition of Greenwich provides a solid oncology pipeline of two very promising compounds. SSG is now in a Phase I/II clinical trial at the renowned Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center and could reach clinical proof-of-principle quickly, since the drug demonstrated promising therapeutic efficacy in several pre-clinical studies. API-2, the second drug, is entering Phase I/II clinical trials at Moffitt Cancer Center and has been shown to significantly inhibit tumor growth associated with Akt overexpression. The proposed merger creatively shares clinical risk with Greenwich shareholders as the escrowed shares are only issued if certain achievement-based milestones are reached by the drugs."
(See Story from BioSpace.com) (5/4/05)
Related Companies
Greenwich Pharmaceuticals:
Profile , News
VioQuest Pharmaceuticals, Inc.:
Profile , News , Full Quote
Related News
News Categories: Mergers and Acquisitions
Disease Categories: Cancer (misc)
Related Clinical Development Pipelines
Clinical Development: Cancer (misc)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BioSpace News Reader
> Next story: NitroMed, Inc. (NTMD) Release: FDA Approves BiDil(R) For Treatment Of Heart Failure In Black Patients
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stakddek
The Globe and Mail: -Comment- thought.
+++++++++++"
The Florida firm, for example, is now developing 3-D technology to read gene types to infer physical traits such as hair texture, skull shapes or the distance between the eyes. Dr. Frudakis predicted that such technology might allow them within the decade to generate a crude sketch of a suspect from a DNA sample.
"+++++++++++++
We are working currently with a base group of 2500 "fuzzies", the photos for our current forensic customers.
We buy a 3D technology that can accurately map bioinformic data utilizing a special camera system.
The resultant 3d data has been integrated into DNAP's needs at an impressive rate.
Every felon in police custody requires fingerprinting and a mug shot at the time of incarceration. (Certain biometric information is also gathered, like height weight and eye color).
Efforts have been and continue to be underway to utilize computer software to analyze bioinformic information from video tapes. eg. Cognitec (spell).
Red light and speeding tickets are being issued to registered vehicle owners when those vehicles are "photoed" breaking pertaining codes. Identity is from vehicle registration data. "plates". The speeding violation carries "no points" to the vehicle owners "drivers license" because the driver is not identified in the photos.
Companies are marketing and selling polarizing filters and spray on materials to obscure the "plate" identities to electronic devices.
The George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey utilizes "EZ-Pass" (a toll paying by vehicle transponder) info to assist in traffic control. Speed of vehicles across bridge. When trip times lenghten, alpha numeric display traffic signs inform motorists of the delays. The "Port Authority" is involved in the operation of all major Bridges Tunnels and Airports in the New York City Metro area.
The FBI keeps a DNA registry of known and unknown offenders by DNA.
SO WHAT IF:
DNAP and 3D are going to be the system of choice for the FBI to do the "mug shot" for the CODIS update? This would certainly expand the 2500 original photobase by quite a few wouldn't it now? And since you have all those new secure ID cards being issued, a standard has to be set to keep the photos acquires made to an approved standard to be easily interoperable. So everybody might just settle on one camera system to gather the data. Can anyone say National ID card? Can anyone say VISA? Can anyone say Bank Card. International Drivers Cards?
Stakddek
-- Imagine all your pictures with a little electronic fleck in one corner. The fleck would contain a "color bar chart, lighting chart and other data" to allow consistent display of the image on different monitors or different printers. (different inks and paper). This Fleck info would allow very consistent images as to brightness and color to be displayed from any monitoring or printing device. Of course for detailed or evidentiary pictures, a little "test card" would be placed in the field of view of the acquiring device to insure that variations in devices, lighting sources, and natural light intrusion could be eliminated as varying factors. Just would have to be a little portion of a measuring stick used in the photo, etc. Some outfits send them out to law enforcement as promotional items.
Application for microdisplay screens:
++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.microopticalcorp.com/Products/HomePage.html
++++++++++++++++++++++
Caution: These eye glasses may blow your mind
Web posted at: 6/6/2005 1:2:40
Source ::: AFP
{Picture}
A woman trying a pair of video-screen eye glasses bundled with a cutting-edge multimedia cellphone, developed by US company MicroOptical for France Telecom. The glasses contain two tiny screen that, when worn, optically fuse into one.
PARIS: The world of consumer electronics is chock-a-block with new-fangled gizmos in search of a market, but occasionally something comes along which looks like being a sure fire hit.
France Telecom is betting that a pair of video-screen glasses bundled with a cutting-edge multimedia cell phone made by Samsung, unveiled this weekend at the European Research and Innovation Exhibition in Paris, is the real deal.
Developed by US company MicroOptical, specialists in portable electronic eyewear, the France Telecom glasses contain two tiny screens that, when worn, optically fuse into one. The big-screen effect is stunning, especially when combined with built in stereo earpieces.
France Telecom subsidiary Orange is providing the content ranging from movies, high-speed Internet access and even eventually television.
The feather-weight glasses can also be plugged directly into any device with a video port, such as a DVD player.
There are many "virtual reality" glasses and "head-mounted displays" on the market, but most are cumbersome and none have been designed work with telecommunication devices such as cell phones. Many have been discontinued.
France Telecom will roll out its bundled package in France before the end of the year, says project leader Martin Conan. And the price tag? "We have not yet determined the exact business model or how much is will cost the consumer," corporate communications officer Cathy Excoffier said at the three-day exhibition.
Judging from other devices on the market, it won't be cheap. But the obvious target is the travelling businessperson sitting out a flight delay or zipping through the French countryside on a TGV.
As the screens are off-set from the eyes by a couple of centimetres, the viewer is able to stay in touch with his environment.
++++++++++++++++
This company also makes many other dispay devices. I imagine they need very high quality surfaces for these displays.
Stakddek
This is a reply to OTCdillutions post 369999 on RB. Wouldn't post on RB This Morning. "Your post is highlighted below". Yeah right!
OTCdillution: Frog had commented in post 28392 on I-HUB about the Statin Patent's value.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "
Posted by: frogdreaming
In reply to: Blue Juggernaut who wrote msg# 28297 Date:6/23/2005 12:32:51 PM
Post # 28392 of 28457
Blue, I would like to expand a little on this theme.
<b.It’s extremely hard to quantify patent revenue from afar without having DNAPrint’s strat plan. However, considering that statins, as a group, are the world’s most prescribed drugs, you could discern that the statin patent could pay nicely.
This is one of the foundation blocks that keep investors interested in this stock through all of the turmoil. It is the 'mother lode' who's very existance is a comfort.
The concept, while seemingly straightforward, is nevertheless a little nebulous. The basic assumption is that a drug classifier will be used to test patients 'before' they take a specific statin drug to determine the suitability of that specific drug to that specific patient. So far so good.
This current discussion however, is a little bit removed from that, as it talks about the revenue potential of the statin 'patent'. First one must understand that the 'revenue' will come from the classifier itself, not the patent. All the patent will do is protect the classifier from competition, the classifier will need to be completed in order for any revenue to occur. The patent will not generate revenue. It may impact share value, but not revenue.
If we turn our attention then back to the classifier we need to assess it's value, not in a vacuum, but in relationship to the current status quo. Currently, statins are prescribed, taken for a brief period, the patient is tested to see if the precursors of liver damage are evident, and the drug is either approved for that patient or not, based on the test.
In this case there is very little risk to the patient, there is a simple and relatively inexpensive test, and there is no delay in therapy. This is the status quo for the majority of statin patients. Those that have issues with the test sometimes have to loop through the process a couple of times with different drugs, some patients exhibit other symptoms that have to be addressed.
While it is often the case that we concentrate on the low percentage of exceptions, the reality is the economic value needs to consider the entire market. For DNAP to gain a foothold in this arena they need to provide a service that is noticeably better and economically more valuable than the existing and accepted process.
If the statin classifier (once completed) does not delay the access to therapy and if it can be offered at a competetive price to the entire market, (Meaning, not just more economical for those patients who need to loop through the existing process more than once, but more economical for the entire market, with the exceptions amortized out over the entire population) then it can be a viable and lucrative product.
Just remember it is not sufficient to have a great solution, it is also necessary to have a problem in need of such a solution. There is nothing more frustrating than having a profound and clever solution but no appropriate problem to solve with it.
regards,
frog
+++++++++++++++++++++++"
Stakddek comment follows, not Frogdreaming content!
I take the Statins so I have to have blood tests every three months. Is it at all possible if DNAP worked this Statin Response a little harder, a correllation to susceptability would keep me away from the vampires? Statins are being superprescibed, and after the recent suggestion from the "independent researchers" that everyone should be as low as -- some ridiculous level -- , I can see more and more of us retired and gettin' paunchy boomers going on new and higher doses. When the patents expire on the current products, they'll (*pharma*), just add fluoride so they have a new product, with an increased and patent ptotected revenue stream, and we'll have strong teeth to slurp our gruel in the poor house! I guess if you look at it as they might, it's good for business to keep us alive as long as possible, so they can wrest those two last pennies from our copper covered eyes.
Stakddek
GEOB: No apology necessary. I actually took it as a further play on my put on basher personnae! Which was a continuation of an earlier "on the scene report"! Now of course the clown face smile direction is going to be predicated on DNAPS "performance" before the next stockholder meeting! It will not be a face I paint, but rather DNAP.
If you only new how many hours I spent standing outside the pricipals office! I guess I spent to much time enjoying Red Skelton and Emmett Kelly. Snuck out to the TV in the livingroom to watch the original Tonight show with alternating hosts Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs. Loved Soopy Sales. Bought all the Buchannan & Goodman records, Vaughn Meader and Bob Newhart, Allen Sherman and the Smothers Brothers. Even a Python fan. (Nudge nudge). -- Still think Stan Freburg was the best.
Was just hoping to ease the uncomfortable weight- err wait, nervous energy before the real reports started to flow. Doctor who did my coronary artery stents said I was still joking with them even when I was under anasthetic. Just my nature. Must be in the genes.
Stakddek
Sb; 4x4; Thank you for your efforts that for you both, I'm sure, followed "one of those days" that with emotional peaks and valleys was quite arduous. I'm sure we'll hear from other attendees, and the reports of the meeting from these varied perspectives will allow us all to evaluate the future with DNAP. From what you two have reported, it sounds good, and maybe EPO is not as well appreciated as it might be. Mister Gabriel at least feels that it is of such a high value that he will not risk it lightly.
The flavor of your reports is quite valuable to those who could not attend. A little seasoning helps to flesh out news. You both achieved a "stand back" from personal editorializing and reported the news. You noted the "seasoning" when it was perspective. We have starved for morsels all day, so special thanks for putting in the extra hours to provide us a filling repast.
You may not recognize your own reports once the spin doctors have at them, so thanks for keeping the faith with your fellows.
Now we don't want to burden you, but where the heck is breakfast?!?
Thanks folks.
Stakddeck
Baher Slant: As we have no news yet from our on the scene reporters I will try to appropriately slant the few early reports:
At the DNAP shareholders meeting today a circuslike athmosphere prevailed. Despite the best efforts of management to play a new tune (on instruments provided), the attendees where left out in the cold light of day. The news was as revolting as the food, as few could swallow it and were forced to keep thier mouths full. This obviously lessened the shareholders ability to question management about DNAPs future. The greasy food even prevented the dialing of cell phones or computer keyboards, and many PDA styli where lost in the unkempt lawn. The situation has grown ominous and our favorite reporter is so taken aback by the proceedings that he is unable to comment. He has resorted to gutterral utterances akin to some anger management mantras. At last report there was not even a mention of sanitary facilities. These early reports have been expanded to include material that can not be confirmed. Stay Tuned for more slanted reports. You know they are coming.
Stakddek
MUMMY Business:
++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.cbc.ca/disclosure/archives/040113_nef/test.html
++++++++++++++++++++++++
CBC News: Disclosure
Blockbuster Science> More 'Daddy' than 'Mummy'?> Printer Version
Broadcast: January 13, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, commissioned a rare DNA test on the mystery mummy to determine its gender. He kindly faxed Disclosure a copy of the results.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We wanted to talk to Dr. Fletcher, but finding a mummy hunter isn’t easy.
According to the geneticist who carried out the test, it’s a man-mummy.
DNA Test [PDF] - see the Sex Identification Report conducted for Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).
After seeing the DNA report, we wanted to talk to Dr. Fletcher more than ever. But finding a mummy hunter isn’t easy.
We strolled the crumbling ramparts ... We scoured the ancient edifices ... We tried several times to talk to her, but we were told Fletcher was refusing all interviews about the Nefertiti controversy. Surely she’d want to know her mummy was now looking a little ... manly?
We pinned a copy of the DNA report to Dr. Fletcher's door and headed west to tell the folks at Discovery about the DNA test.
We did finally unearth Fletcher’s home address on the Yorkshire coast. But wouldn’t you know, Dr. Fletcher wasn’t home.
So we left her a copy of the DNA report and headed west to tell the folks at Discovery about the DNA test.
How would they take the news that Nefertiti was shaping up as the drag queen of the Nile?
Disclosure’s Mark Kelley sat down with Discovery’s Vice President of Production, Phil Fairclough:
FAIRCLOUGH: The position from all of the human remains experts that examined the body was that it was the skeleton of a female. If there is new evidence which suggests otherwise I would be delighted to see it and we will follow that story.
KELLEY: I’ve got a good story for you, I guess. I mean have you seen the DNA study that Dr. Hawass did on that?
FAIRCLOUGH: No, I haven’t seen the DNA study but I’d be delighted to see it and if there is new evidence which suggests that there is DNA and that the DNA is male--
KELLEY: Take a look; it’s only two pages.
FAIRCLOUGH: Well I can’t, I can’t actually decipher that but if Dr. Hawass has got evidence that this is a male then we’d be delighted to analyze that evidence and publicize that evidence.
KELLEY: But what happens to the film, do you then keep running the film? Because you want scientific accuracy here and if ... this mummy is more a daddy ... Do you then pull it, pull the film?
FAIRCLOUGH: If there is more evidence to be revealed then the program will be updated.
Then again, maybe not. When versions of Nefertiti Resurrected went to air recently in the United Kingdom and Canada, there were no new elements added.
next: Links and Documents
::TOP::
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Originally Broadcast January 13, 2004 / Watch the story [Real Media]
Blockbuster Science: Mainpage
Introduction / Chasing Nefertiti / Who is Dr. Joann Fletcher?
Resurrecting the Debate / More 'Daddy' than 'Mummy'?
Links and Documents / Credits
Disclosure Homepage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Terms of Use / Privacy / Copyright / Other Policies
Copyright © CBC 2004
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Stakddek
Okay. Dumb Question Time:
Should DNAP consider Genelink as an acquisition target. They appear ripe and it does broaden our markets.
Thanks for info on 02. cent shares being consolidated along with the rest of us. I take the 8k as Gospel on the initial payment. I was unsure how the 02 cents would be handled.
Expectation of revenue from Trace: If they are willing to sell it to DNAP at what appear to be very favorable terms, and DNAP is keeping the principals and main employees on board, is it safe to assume that the revenues for Trace are not earth shaking? If so DNAP does not have an expectation of revenue from Trace, unless synergy produces volume that requires the DNAP facility to shoulder the overflow. Obviously the addittion of the two reknowned individuals to the DNAP stable of talent is not to be sneared at. That may be worth the money by itself. The DNAP west (Trace) will have to be self supporting, but as a certified location, under new ownership but with the same management and employees, that may not be any speed bump.
I wonder if there is a blockbuster being held for the shareholder meeting.
It was nice to hear Doctor Gabriel mention Doctor Frudakis during his interview. Two patent refusals to appeal. Doctor Frudakis has many more busy days ahead!
Stakddek
GAbriel interview was reassuring.
An 8k has been filed for TRACE. The monetary arrangement is just as said in the Press Release. I can only state that it looks to good to be true. The only kicker of course is the 5 million shares for .02 cents. But, the purchase of the outstanding sharres of Trace was accomplished with the filing of the 8k for 25000000 shares of DNAP. You do the math. I imagine the employment aggreements are healthy for the personnel retained, and so any revenue DNAP might derive will be expended for Trace normal operations. Of course if DNAP goes to $1.00 a share and they exercise those 2 cent 5000000 buys, I don't think we would care to much. (Even with a consolidation). My take on Trace then is that we bought it for the 25 million shares at around .01 cent a share. If we make a few inroads as being "the place to go" to get it all done as a "one stop shop", the name DNAP will be very very well known.
Stakddek
PS: While researching Trace, (and not having to do with trace)I ran across a hint somewhere that the Nefertiti mummy the History or Discovery Channel highlighted last year DNA tested as male. -- Just a rumor????
Miss Scarlet:
I for one will never doubt your ability to see through the mantle of respectability donned by the curmudgeons. I do feel at times you are overly generous and forgiving, but that alas is one of my shortcomings, and only serves to highlight the magnamicity with which you treat all denizens of IHUB. I can recall no post of yours where you resorted to crude vernacular or even hinted at more than a subtle reproach. I think you have a very good idea of what is wheat and what is chaff and you (spell) "coquetishally" allow all the "boys there fun" while you absorb the game and prepare to show that Royal Flush! Our board is brightened by your presence.
Stakddek
Thanks Vern:
You can't generate a fuzzy photo of a poster from a post where there is no DNA to examine, but you sure can tell a lot about character. You sure have the skill! I guess there are few here who don't get the scam they perpetrate, and heaven knows the welcome has been long overstayed. I guess with things coming together in the DNAP puzzle we will have new crew or ID's to aid or replace the senior bashers. I hope they have developed a new script, as I'm getting tired of the reruns.
Stakddek
My post 28203 Links to the appropriate web site. That is their language. I believe there is an ability to appeal, and again, since we don't know the particulars, we can assume either the whole patent is based on junk science, too broad, or form 731 was not filled out in quadruplicate with biodegradeable ink applied with a quill pen. Hence, the final rejection is not "final" until DNAP decides not to pursue the application.
That's my read of the language. Obviously the weight DNAP puts on the application will be in dollars paid to patent attorneys and independent expert costs. The Patent Office may have decided the application was too broad and denied it for lack of specificity. Someone was going on vacation, and this was a neat way to postpone dealing with DNAP 'til they got back. Please feel free to create any Top 10 or 25 list you want. Until DNAP closes the book on this application, it is still in the running, and perhaps with the reasons for rejection specified, the turnaround time will be less.
Stakddek
Altarboy: From an earlier post I made today, the "final rejection" is not quite "final". The ball is now in DNAP's court. Perhaps some extra scientific minds can be beneficial? I hope they can find some people with vast experience to contribute. Maybe they can trace some down?
The cost of the current acquisition may be open to conjecture, but somewhere there is a contract with the "I"s dotted and the "T"s crossed. Until we see it, we can assume all we want, but unless you assume "worst case - best case" in your examples and set both forth, your flavoring the stew to suit a particular taste. Could it be the folks coming aboard saw something that we are not privy too? Something they understand and we do not? Something that makes the deal sweet now and a great deal sweeter in the future?
Let us pray! It aint over til The fat priest sung "Ite et Missa est." Ain't happened yet.
Stakddek
test flights? "I shot an arrow in the air, it came to earth..."
SIMULATION! SIMULATION! SIMULATION!
Better to simulate disasters and learn with limited risk. How extreme a ballasting system, motor power and efficiency at altitude, how power exaustive will be stationkeeping? Can the airship move through it's fluid environment the way a fish swims through it's environment? Can it withstand shear if that problem arrises? Better to find out on the ground than risk pouring millions into a fleet of flattened mylar pancakes. NASA has been launching high altitude balloons for years. We've paid now for that experience. To fail to use it to it's full benefit would be calamatous.
Stakddek
"Measure Twice, Cut Once".
Compensation for TRACE:
"Trace shareholders exchanged all of the outstanding shares of Trace for 25,000,000" DNAP shares.
At a share price of about .012 to be consolidated with the rest of us? Or at a price of (15 to 1) consolidation of about .16 cents a share. This would of course represent a significant difference in the price being paid. Now I do not address the .02 cents a share 5 million addittional shares. Would this be "consolidation" adjusted?
The math on this deal is not really addressed in the PR. Obviously it has gone beyond the letter of intent stage. We'll have to wait and see the appropriate filings on this, or if rhose filings are to be delayed, get some answers from DNAP about the financials involved, as there is apparentley a revenue stream from our new acquisition. It will be interesting to see just how much this "west coast" toehold will cost us. Doctor Frudakis had made the decision to locate in Sarasota, feeling the "climate" would be beneficial. This going for a toehold on the left coast may be a very viable and who knows, we might just end up benefiting greatly from this arrangement, if the two new members of DNAP are not raking us for sweet sweet finanancials, but rather willing to join in with the existing board for the betterment of all in the future. The financial details that are involved here will trll us much about the future of DNAP, and our portion of it.
Stakddek
Patent Final Rejection:
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http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxr_1_113.htm
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§ 1.113 Final rejection or action. - PATENT RULES
§ 1.113 Final rejection or action.
(a) On the second or any subsequent examination or consideration by the examiner the rejection or other action may be made final, whereupon applicants, or for ex parte reexaminations filed under § 1.510, patent owner's reply is limited to appeal in the case of rejection of any claim (§ 1.191), or to amendment as specified in § 1.114 or § 1.116. Petition may be taken to the Director in the case of objections or requirements not involved in the rejection of any claim (§ 1.181). Reply to a final rejection or action must comply with § 1.114 or paragraph (c) of this section. For final actions in an inter partes reexamination filed under § 1.913, see § 1.953.
(b) In making such final rejection, the examiner shall repeat or state all grounds of rejection then considered applicable to the claims in the application, clearly stating the reasons in support thereof.
(c) Reply to a final rejection or action must include cancellation of, or appeal from the rejection of, each rejected claim. If any claim stands allowed, the reply to a final rejection or action must comply with any requirements or objections as to form.
[24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959; 46 FR 29182, May 29, 1981; revised, 62 FR 53131, Oct. 10, 1997, effective Dec. 1, 1997; revised, 65 FR 14865, Mar. 20, 2000, effective May 29, 2000 (adopted as final, 65 FR 50092, Aug. 16, 2000); para. (a) revised, 65 FR 76756, Dec. 7, 2000, effective Feb. 5, 2001; para. (a) revised, 68 FR 14332, Mar. 25, 2003, effective May 1, 2003]
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Stakddek