Saturday, July 31, 2010

Who is Patient N?


The DNA donor was selected from a large pool of more than 1,300 volunteers who are participating in an unpublished genotyping survey of Russia’s ethnic populations. The goal of that study is eventually to analyze 4,000 people from about 40 nationalities living around Russia and surrounding territories, from Uzbekistan in central Asia to the Arctic Ocean in the north, and from the Pacific to Poland in the west (essentially spanning the former Soviet Union).
“Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we could put different individuals into various ethnic groups governing this geographical distribution,” says Prokhortchouk. “You can distinguish Russians as an ethnic group from Tatars or Poles, Siberia, and so on.”
Based on the PCA, Patient N was selected as an archetypal Russian genome. “Mathematically speaking, he’s Russian!” says Prokhortchouk. “I don’t know anything about his parents or what language he speaks or where he lives, but I know that under mathematical rules [PCA], he’s Russian!”
He is also a renal cancer patient, which provides a further rationale for studying this genome. That work is ongoing. The Prokhortchouk and Skryabin labs are part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (see Nature, April 2010). Preliminary analysis of the renal cancer focused on SNPs that have been associated in genome wide association studies [GWAS] in renal cancer. “Using linkage disequilibrium, you can trace the SNPs [in the Patient N genome] close to the marker SNPs and go to particular exons in particular genes.” One of those looks particularly interesting, he said, but declined to elaborate.
Although the decision to publish in an unknown Russian journal, which is not yet recognized in PubMed, stifled media attention abroad, the paper attracted considerable media attention inside Russia when it was published last year. The big question on reporters’ minds was: Who is Patient N? “They thought it was Prime Minister Putin. It’s not true!” said Prokhortchouk. Speculation was not unreasonable, given that according to Wikipedia, the institute director Kovalchuk’s brother is described as the “personal banker” to Putin.
(read more...)

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

On Books and Rats


Firmin is the runt of a litter of rats born in the basement of Pembroke Books, a ramshackle old bookstore run by the equally shambolic owner Norman Shine. Forced to compete for food, Firmin ends up chewing on the books that surround him. Thanks to his unusual diet, he acquires the miraculous ability to read. He subsequently develops an insatiable hunger for literature and a very unratlike sense of the world and his place in it. He is a debonair soul trapped in a rat's body¿
But a literary rat is a lonely rat and, spurned by his own kind, he thinks he recognises a kindred soul in Norman. Firmin seeks solace in the Lovelies of the local burlesque cinema and in his own imagination. But the days of the bookshop and of the close community around it are numbered. The area has been marked out for urban regeneration and soon the faded glory of the bookshop, the low-life bars, loan agencies and pawn shops will face the bulldozers.
Brilliantly original and richly allegorical, Firmin is brimming with charm and wistful longing for a world that treasures its seedy theatres, one-of-a-kind characters, and cluttered bookshops.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Writer Who Couldn't Read or Чукча - писатель


"In January of 2002," writes the neuroscientist Oliver Sacks, "I received a letter from Howard Engel, a Canadian novelist describing a strange problem."
On July 31, 2001, Engel woke up, dressed, made breakfast, and then went to the front door to get his newspaper. "I wasn't aware," he says in our NPR interview, "that it was any different from any other morning."

But it was. When he looked at the front page — it was the Toronto Globe and Mail, an English-language journal — the print on the page was unlike anything he had seen before. It looked vaguely "Serbo-Croatian or Korean," or some language he didn't know. Wondering if this was some kind of joke, he went to his bookshelf, pulled out a book he knew was in English, and it too was in the same gibberish.
Engel had suffered a stroke. It had damaged the part of his brain we use when we read, so he couldn't make sense of letters or words. He was suffering from what the French neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene calls "word blindness." His eyes worked. He could see shapes on a page, but they made no sense to him. And because Engel writes detective stories for a living (he authored the Benny Cooperman mystery series, tales of a mild-mannered Toronto private eye), this was an extra-terrible blow. "I thought, well I'm done as a writer. I'm finished."
Sacks describes Engel's struggles in a forthcoming book, The Mind's Eye, to be published later this year. The surprise here is that brains are more plastic than one would suppose; even if one part of a brain is compromised by a stroke, a person can sometimes improvise and get another still healthy part of the brain to substitute and help out.
(read more...)

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Books That Are Out to Get You...


מצא עוד סרטים כאלה ב-Ein Hod עין הוד

Do you know that there is a certain sub-genre (sub-sub-genre?) of murder mysteries concerned with the world of authors, manuscripts, rare and deadly books - with the emphasis on deadly books?. Typically, they feature an indefatigable hero leaping around libraries in a race against time, unearthing cyphers, ancient manuscripts and clues hidden in old books.
Thrillers like this belong to a popular sub-genre called bibliomysteries, and as the name suggests, they all concern some sort of bookish skull-duggery. Book lovers love them but if you’re tempted to read one here are a few words of warning. Books can be fatal, as this eager reader is about to discover:
(read more...)

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Exlibris: a visual poem


short film teaser EXLIBRIS by Maria Trenor
Exlibris is a visual poem which pays tribute to old books, the shops that sell them and the pleasure of reading, through a single copy of "Don Quixote." Short film teaser edited by Josep Bedmar - Lacomida visuals

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Synchronized Swimming... Disgusting...?


According to Israeli law all 18 year olds are drafted to the military. This film follows a young woman, a member of Israel’s national Synchronized Swimming team, during her last year before being drafted.

תערוכה חדשה בגלריה של התוכנית הבינלאומית ללימודי אוצרות של
סמינר הקיבוצים
MUTE הפוליטיקה של השקט
האמנים המשתתפים : דיוויד גראבס, אמנון וולמן, דופראס - עידו גוברין וליאורה בלפורד, אוסקר אבוש, אוהד מילשטיין, דורית ברק, טלי מאייר, זמיר שץ וג'ין דאונינג
אוצרת: ליאורה בלפורד

פתיחה: 08.07.10 ב- 20:00 *
נעילה: 12.08.10
רח' קלישר 5, תל אביב
שימו לב- שעות הפתיחה שונות מהרגיל: א-ה 17.00 - 22.00
ביום שישי 10.00-15.00
בשבת סגור
התערוכה תהיה סגורה בין התאריכים 12.07-22.07
Mute- the politics of no sound
A new exhibition in the curatorial Studies Program Galler
Curator: Liora Bedford
Participating artists:
Amnon Wolman, David Grubbs, Dorit Barak, Duprass – Ido Govrin & Liora Belford, Jeanne Dunning, Ohad Milstein, Oscar Abush, Tali Mayer, zamir shatz
Opening event: 08/07/10, 20.00
Open through 12/08
Kalisher 5, corner of Tzadok Hacohen, Tel Aviv
Opening hours: sun-thurs- 17.00-20.00
fri- 10.00-15.00. sat- closed
the exhibition will be closed between 12/07-22/07
התערוכה מבקשת להציג את הרגע שבו אדם מפגין חוסר מעש ואילמות לנוכח פעולה המנוגדת לרצונו או לערכיו. הרגע הזה, בין אם במודע ובין אם לא, הוא מסוכן כי הוא מכיל בתוכו אשליה של חופש מחשבה, של בחירה אמיתית.
במקום בו יש שקט, חייבים להתקיים במקביל 2 כוחות – שתיקה והשתקה. הפוליטיקה של השקט - כלומר הכוחות האחראים לעיצוב חברה שקטה - מצביעה (בעיקרה) על הקול השולט, הנשמע, אך יותר מכל מלמדת על המנגנון המשמר או השואף לשמר את מאזן הכוחות. השתיקה מתקיימת כאשר מתנהל מאבק בין גורמים שכוחם אינו שווה. הפוליטיקה של השקט מאופיינת יותר מכל בכוחניות והאלימות אשר מופעלים על ידי המחזיק בעמדת הכוח, אך מי שנותן בסופו של דבר את התוקף לאלימות לגיטימית, הם דווקא שאר המשתתפים בשיח, אלה שבוחרים באילמות ובחוסר מעש. אלה המקבלים את חוקי השדה ואת ההיררכיה ללא כל ביקורת. באדישות.
הפעולות של הרבים משכפלות תדיר את דפוסי הכוח ומנציחות את הסדר הרצוי לכוח השליט, עד לנקודה שבה חוקי השדה מתקבלים כדרך הטבע, כדבר שאין לערער עליו. זוהי שתיקה פאסיבית אשר אין צורך להפעיל עליה כל פעולת השתקה נוספת. כוחו של ההמון בעיצוב ובהבניית ערכיו של הפרט הוא אדיר, עד שנדמה כי הפרטים עצמם משוכפלים. חושבים אותו דבר, נראים אותו דבר. הגבול בין הפרטי לציבורי כבר לא רלוונטי.
בערב הפתיחה תוקרן אסופת הוידאו קול קורא אשר עוסקת ביחסי הכוחות בשדה האמנות. האסופה מציגה עבודות של אמנים שהשמיעו את קולם כנגד חוקי השדה ומערך יחסי הכוחות המקובל בו:
רפי לביא, שי לי עוזיאל, ענן צוקרמן, וקרן רוסו.
Ohad Milstein (Hebrew: אוהד מילשטיין‎; born 1973) is an Israeli documentary filmmaker, photographer and video artist, located in Israel Tel Aviv. His films are often experimental in form and are highly meticulous visually. Milstein studied Cinema at Tel Aviv University from 1996 to 2000, and Photography & art at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design from 2003 to 2005. As A film maker Milstein has a distinctive cinematic language combining art and documentary cinema in an innovative revolutionary Para documentary genre. His film Obsession premiered at the 2008 DocAviv Film Festival. His Film 50.14N 41.46W (the point in which the RMS Titanic ship sunk, attended in international film and video dance festivals in Greece, Spain & Russia.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Mans vīrs Andrejs Saharovs


How does the “brains” of the Soviet regime, an academician, the “father” of hydrogen bomb, an outstanding intellectual for whom even in the Kremlin all the doors were open can become an irreconcilable champion of human rights and prisoners of conscience and an internationally renown enemy of this system? The film My Husband Andrey Sakharov answers to this question in an intriguing yet subdued, even intimate form – by confronting the views of the witnesses of those times and Sakharov’s colleagues. His widow Yelena Bonner and the last secretary general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev are two brightest participants of this indirect debate in the film, which not only by presenting facts and their interpretations and forceful poeticism of the documentary footage makes one think about the games of power and guarantees of human freedom that is a topical theme not only in Russia.

Фильм режиссера Инары Колмане «Мой муж Андрей Сахаров», снятый латвийской студией фильмов «Deviņi» совместно с французскими кинодокументалистами, был отмечен премиями на многих международных фестивалях. В 2007 году в номинации полнометражный документальный фильм эта лента была удостоена главного приза Латвийского национального кинофестиваля «Большой Кристап». Интерес к личности легендарного советского академика Андрея Сахарова и по сей день остается большим во всем мире. С одной стороны, Сахаров отец водородной бомбы, с другой - непримиримый критик идеологии СССР, узник совести, сосланный под домашний арест в закрытый для иностранцев город Горький...
Мне посчастливилось быть знакомой с Андреем Дмитриевичем лично. Не стану преувеличивать - чай с академиком Сахаровым и его женой Еленой Боннер на их легендарной московской кухне я не пила. Более того, с Е.Боннер, главной героиней фильма «Мой муж Андрей Сахаров», никогда даже не встречалась. Тем не менее, коль скоро именно в Латвии снят такой фильм, осмелюсь рассказать и о своем знакомстве с Сахаровым. Благо случилось это знакомство во время того злополучного Съезда народных депутатов СССР, когда Горбачев сгонял академика Сахарова с трибуны под улюлюканье и топот ног агрессивно-послушного большинства Съезда. Итак, 2 июня 1989 года. Москва, Кремль...


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Emanuel Yakobson on BBC Беседы с генетиком Эммануилом Якобсоном Part 1 2


Features associated with germline CDKN2A mutations: a GenoMEL study of melanoma-prone families from three continents.
Goldstein AM, Chan M, Harland M, Hayward NK, Demenais F, Bishop DT, Azizi E, Bergman W, Bianchi-scarra G, Bruno W, Calista D, Albright LA, Chaudru V, Chompret A, Cuellar F, Elder DE, Ghiorzo P, Gillanders EM, Gruis NA, Hansson J... expand author list, Hogg D, Holland EA, Kanetsky PA, Kefford RF, Landi MT, Lang J, Leachman SA, Mackie RM, Magnusson V, Mann GJ, Bishop JN, Palmer JM, Puig S, Puig-butille JA, Stark M, Tsao H, Tucker MA, Whitaker L, Yakobson E, Lund Melanoma Study Group, Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) collapse author list
Journal of medical genetics 2007 Feb; 44(2)
BACKGROUND: The major factors individually reported to be associated with an increased frequency of CDKN2A mutations are increased number of patients with melanoma in a family, early age at melanoma diagnosis, and family members with multiple primary... expand abstract melanomas (MPM) or pancreatic cancer. METHODS: These four features were examined in 385 families with > or =3 patients with melanoma pooled by 17 GenoMEL groups, and these attributes were compared across continents. RESULTS: Overall, 39% of families had CDKN2A mutations ranging from 20% (32/162) in Australia to 45% (29/65) in North America to 57% (89/157) in Europe. All four features in each group, except pancreatic cancer in Australia (p = 0.38), individually showed significant associations with CDKN2A mutations, but the effects varied widely across continents. Multivariate examination also showed different predictors of mutation risk across continents. In Australian families, > or =2 patients with MPM, median age at melanoma diagnosis < or =40 years and > or =6 patients with melanoma in a family jointly predicted the mutation risk. In European families, all four factors concurrently predicted the risk, but with less stringent criteria than in Australia. In North American families, only > or =1 patient with MPM and age at diagnosis < or =40 years simultaneously predicted the mutation risk. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in CDKN2A mutations for the four features across continents is consistent with the lower melanoma incidence rates in Europe and higher rates of sporadic melanoma in Australia. The lack of a pancreatic cancer-CDKN2A mutation relationship in Australia probably reflects the divergent spectrum of mutations in families from Australia versus those from North America and Europe. GenoMEL is exploring candidate host, genetic and/or environmental risk factors to better understand the variation observed. collapse abstract
מצא עוד סרטים כאלה ב-Ein Hod עין הוד

Features associated with germline CDKN2A mutations: a GenoMEL study of melanoma-prone families from three continents.
Goldstein AM, Chan M, Harland M, Hayward NK, Demenais F, Bishop DT, Azizi E, Bergman W, Bianchi-scarra G, Bruno W, Calista D, Albright LA, Chaudru V, Chompret A, Cuellar F, Elder DE, Ghiorzo P, Gillanders EM, Gruis NA, Hansson J... expand author list, Hogg D, Holland EA, Kanetsky PA, Kefford RF, Landi MT, Lang J, Leachman SA, Mackie RM, Magnusson V, Mann GJ, Bishop JN, Palmer JM, Puig S, Puig-butille JA, Stark M, Tsao H, Tucker MA, Whitaker L, Yakobson E, Lund Melanoma Study Group, Melanoma Genetics Consortium (GenoMEL) collapse author list
Journal of medical genetics 2007 Feb; 44(2)
BACKGROUND: The major factors individually reported to be associated with an increased frequency of CDKN2A mutations are increased number of patients with melanoma in a family, early age at melanoma diagnosis, and family members with multiple primary... expand abstract melanomas (MPM) or pancreatic cancer. METHODS: These four features were examined in 385 families with > or =3 patients with melanoma pooled by 17 GenoMEL groups, and these attributes were compared across continents. RESULTS: Overall, 39% of families had CDKN2A mutations ranging from 20% (32/162) in Australia to 45% (29/65) in North America to 57% (89/157) in Europe. All four features in each group, except pancreatic cancer in Australia (p = 0.38), individually showed significant associations with CDKN2A mutations, but the effects varied widely across continents. Multivariate examination also showed different predictors of mutation risk across continents. In Australian families, > or =2 patients with MPM, median age at melanoma diagnosis < or =40 years and > or =6 patients with melanoma in a family jointly predicted the mutation risk. In European families, all four factors concurrently predicted the risk, but with less stringent criteria than in Australia. In North American families, only > or =1 patient with MPM and age at diagnosis < or =40 years simultaneously predicted the mutation risk. CONCLUSIONS: The variation in CDKN2A mutations for the four features across continents is consistent with the lower melanoma incidence rates in Europe and higher rates of sporadic melanoma in Australia. The lack of a pancreatic cancer-CDKN2A mutation relationship in Australia probably reflects the divergent spectrum of mutations in families from Australia versus those from North America and Europe. GenoMEL is exploring candidate host, genetic and/or environmental risk factors to better understand the variation observed. collapse abstract #[Gene silencing RNAi technology: possible application to therapy] Vestin A, Weinstein J, Davidov E, Sidi Y, Yakobson EA Harefuah 2006 Feb; 145(2) RNA interference (RNAi), i.e. gene silencing, or gene expression down-regulation is the process whereby a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) induces the homology-dependent degradation of cognate messenger RNA (mRNA). When dsRNA is introduced into cells, an ... expand abstractRNA-induced silencing complex (RISC) is assembled. RISC serves as cellular machinery that is responsible for the specific mRNA degradation. This process results in the subsequent reduction of the specific protein translated from appropriate mRNA. Short RNA duplexes (21 nucleotide), called small interfering RNA (siRNA), have become the major tool for induction of gene silencing. With the human genome mapped and sequenced, attempts are currently being made to manipulate the expression of genes involved in viral diseases, carcinogenesis and other disorders with the aim of developing novel therapies. collapse abstract # Search for germline alterations in CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 of 42 Jewish melanoma families with or without neural system tumours. Marian C, Scope A, Laud K, Friedman E, Pavlotsky F, Yakobson E, Bressac-de paillerets B, Azizi E British journal of cancer 2005 Jun; 92(12) To gain insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in the inherited predisposition to melanoma and associated neural system tumours, 42 Jewish, mainly Ashkenazi, melanoma families with or without neural system tumours were genotyped for germline ... expand abstractpoint mutations and genomic deletions at the CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 loci. CDKN2A/ARF deletion detection was performed using D9S1748, an intragenic microsatellite marker. Allele dosage at the p14ARF locus was analysed by quantitative real-time PCR employing a TaqMan probe that anneals specifically to exon 1beta of the p14ARF gene. For detecting point mutations, dHPLC and direct sequencing of the coding sequences of CDKN2A/ARF and CDK4 was used. No germline alterations in any of the tested genes were detected among the families under study. We conclude that in the majority of Ashkenazi Jewish families, the genes tested are unlikely to be implicated in the predisposition to melanoma and associated neural system tumours. collapse abstract # Search for genetic variants associated with cutaneous malignant melanoma in the Ashkenazi Jewish population. Loo JC, Paterson AD, Hao A, Shennan M, Peretz H, Sidi Y, Hogg D, Yakobson E Journal of medical genetics 2005 May; 42(5) # A single Mediterranean, possibly Jewish, origin for the Val59Gly CDKN2A mutation in four melanoma-prone families. Yakobson E, Eisenberg S, Isacson R, Halle D, Levy-lahad E, Catane R, Safro M, Sobolev V, Huot T, Peters G, Ruiz A, Malvehy J, Puig S, Chompret A, Avril MF, Shafir R, Peretz H, Bressac-de paillerets B European journal of human genetics : EJHG 2003 Apr; 11(4) We have screened for CDKN2A germline mutations in 49 Jewish families with two or more cases of melanoma. The Val59Gly mutation, one of the three different alterations identified among these families, was also detected independently in two kindreds fr... expand abstract
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Saturday, July 3, 2010

Good Luck Gia @ Erez


After a pause of a month since their Carroll Gardens space was transformed from an genuine old time pharmacy into a faux old-time "farmacy" and soda foundation by Discovery Channel "Construction Intervention" reality series, The Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain is finally open for business.

The place was fully stocked and fully manned with soda jerks, all wearing black t-shirts that said "Jerk" in big letters and paper hats. (You can buy the shirts and hats if you wish.) The shelves held local producers like North Fork Chips, McClure's Pickles, Rick's Picks and other things.

And the old wooden drawers that once held pills are now filled with candy like Lemonheads and Double Bubble gum. The menu (above and below) is simple and features ice cream, sundaes, ice cream sodas, black & whites, shakes, sparkling sodas and, or course, egg creams.
(read more...)

Friday, July 2, 2010

The 100 Greatest



Here is a List of Movies Cited in the Above Video

0’00 - Roxanne, Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Gleaming the Cube, The Princess Bride, A Fish Called Wanda, Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, Casino, Three Amigos, A Clockwork Orange

1’05 - Dolemite, Glengarry Glen Ross, Bad Santa, The Witches of Eastwick, The Big Lebowski, In Bruges, Full Metal Jacket, There Will Be Blood

2’05 - Toy Story, Casablanca, Encino Man, The Women, Predator, Army of Darkness, They Live, Uncle Buck, Big Trouble in Little China, New Jack City, Billy Madison

3’00 - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Departed, Carlito’s Way, In the Loop, Glengarry Glen Ross, Stand By Me, Grosse Pointe Blank, Duck Soup, Caddyshack, Planes Trains & Automobiles

4’00 - South Park, Napoleon Dynamite, Mean Girls, The Breakfast Club, As Good as It Gets, The 6th Day, Step Brothers, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Full Metal Jacket, City Slickers, Road House, True Grit, Shot Circuit

5’00 - Raging Bull, The Usual Suspects, Snatch, Caddyshack, The Last Boy Scout, Ghostbusters, The Sandlot, As Good as It Gets

6’00 - 48 Hrs, In Bruges, Silver Streak, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Fish Called Wanda, Goodfellas, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Mist, Trading Places

7’00 - The Warriors, Point Break, Gangs of New York, Reservoir Dogs, The Breakfast Club, The Cowboys, Full Metal Jacket, Dodgeball, Donnie Darko, Scarface, The Good the Bad and the Ugly

8’00 - Anchorman, Tropic Thunder, Sexy Beast, In the Loop, Get Shorty, Blazing Saddles, The Way of the Gun, Blade: Trinity, Clerks, The Boondock Saints, The Exorcist, What About Bob?, Weird Science

9’00 - Con Air, True Romance, In the Loop, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Lake Placid, The Front, Gone with the Wind
Link

"Hava Nagila" (Hebrew: הבה נגילה) (lit. Let us rejoice)



Many of us have danced to Hava Nagilah. But how many of us know where it comes from? Here is a charming excerpt from a forthcoming documentary (featuring the co-creator of "Friends," Harry Belafonte, and Leonard Nimoy!) that has the story.


http://www.indiegogo.com/Hava-Nagilah-What-Is-It
This video is a fundraising clip forfilm Hava Nagilah: What Is It? If you'd like to support the making of the film, please make a tax-deductible donation at:
http://www.indiegogo.com/Hava-Nagilah-What-Is-It
Everyone who gives $18 or more will get a credit on the film!