JUST STRIKE: A COMMANDER'S GUIDE TO PREEMPTIVE SELF-DEFENSE

The imminence requirement for preemption can make all the moral difference in deciding to launch a lethal strike. Influenced by Michael Walzer’s just war criteria for preemption, I provide three necessary conditions to strike first in self-defense. A commander must justifiably believe three things: that an unjust aggressor is poised to attack, that her capacity to avert an attack is constrained by an imminent decision point or last window of opportunity, and that preemption is part of a moral-risk proportionate strategy. In any event, a commander must decide to preempt or not preempt under conditions of uncertainty. As such, I incorporate and supplement Seth Lazar’s rights-based expected utility approach to lethal action.http://archive.org/details/juststrikeacomma1094559688Outstanding ThesisMajor, United States Air ForceApproved for public release; distribution is unlimited

The Population Structure of Ten Newfoundland Outports

This is the published version. Copyright 2000 Wayne State University Press.Island populations are most informative in the study of the genetic structure of human aggregates. These populations are often of small size, thus violating the Hardy-Weinberg assumption of infinite size. Some geographically isolated island populations are further subdivided by religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic factors, reducing their effective sizes and facilitating genetic changes due to stochastic processes. Because of extreme geographic and social isolation, fishing communities or outports of Newfoundland have been investigated for genetic micro-differentiation through the founder effect and genetic drift (Crawford et al. 1995). The purpose of this paper is to examine the population structure of 10 Newfoundland outports using the allelic frequencies derived from 12 red cell antigens. To achieve this goal, first we calculated gene frequencies using maximum-likelihood estimation procedures. Second, we used /{-matrix methods to explore population differentiation. Third, we regressed mean per-locus heterozygosity on genetic distance from the gene frequency centroid to identify the most isolated populations. On the basis of this information, the three outports of Seal Cove, Island Harbor, and Tilting were found to be genetically differentiated from the other small populations. Moreover, religious and geographic subdivisions appear to explain the observed genetic variation

Secretory carcinoma of the breast containing the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene in a male: case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: Secretory carcinoma (SC) of the breast is a rare and indolent tumor. Although originally described in children, it is now known to occur in adults of both sexes. Recently, the tumor was associated with the ETV6-NTRK3 gene translocation. CASE PRESENTATION: A 52-year-old male was diagnosed with secretory breast carcinoma and underwent a modified radical mastectomy. At 18 months the tumor recurred at the chest wall and the patient developed lung metastases. He was treated concurrently with radiation and chemotherapy without response. His tumor showed the ETV6-NTRK3 translocation as demonstrated by fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). CONCLUSION: SC is a rare slow-growing tumor best treated surgically. There are insufficient data to support the use of adjuvant radiation or chemotherapy. Its association with the ETV6-NTRK3 fusion gene gives some clues for the better understanding of this neoplasm and eventually, the development of specific therapies

Population History and Gene Divergence in Native Mexicans Inferred from 76 Human Exomes.

Native American genetic variation remains underrepresented in most catalogs of human genome sequencing data. Previous genotyping efforts have revealed that Mexico's Indigenous population is highly differentiated and substructured, thus potentially harboring higher proportions of private genetic variants of functional and biomedical relevance. Here we have targeted the coding fraction of the genome and characterized its full site frequency spectrum by sequencing 76 exomes from five Indigenous populations across Mexico. Using diffusion approximations, we modeled the demographic history of Indigenous populations from Mexico with northern and southern ethnic groups splitting 7.2 KYA and subsequently diverging locally 6.5 and 5.7 KYA, respectively. Selection scans for positive selection revealed BCL2L13 and KBTBD8 genes as potential candidates for adaptive evolution in Rarámuris and Triquis, respectively. BCL2L13 is highly expressed in skeletal muscle and could be related to physical endurance, a well-known phenotype of the northern Mexico Rarámuri. The KBTBD8 gene has been associated with idiopathic short stature and we found it to be highly differentiated in Triqui, a southern Indigenous group from Oaxaca whose height is extremely low compared to other Native populations

Transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) and HFE mutational analysis in non‐C282Y iron overload: identification of a novel TfR2 mutation

Blood. 2002 Aug 1;100(3):1075-7. Transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) and HFE mutational analysis in non-C282Y iron overload: identification of a novel TfR2 mutation. Mattman A, Huntsman D, Lockitch G, Langlois S, Buskard N, Ralston D, Butterfield Y, Rodrigues P, Jones S, Porto G, Marra M, De Sousa M, Vatcher G. SourceGenes, Elements, and Metabolism Program, Children and Women's Hospital of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Abstract Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is classically associated with a Cys282Tyr (C282Y) mutation of the HFE gene. Non-C282Y HH is a heterogeneous group accounting for 15% of HH in Northern Europe. Pathogenic mutations of the transferrin receptor 2 (TfR2) gene have been identified in 4 Italian pedigrees with the latter syndrome. The goal of this study was to perform a mutational analysis of the TfR2 and HFE genes in a cohort of non-C282Y iron overload patients of mixed ethnic backgrounds. Several sequence variants were identified within the TfR2 gene, including a homozygous missense change in exon 17, c2069 A-->C, which changes a glutamine to a proline residue at position 690. This putative mutation was found in a severely affected Portuguese man and 2 family members with the same genotype. In summary, pathologic TfR2 mutations are present outside of Italy, accounting for a small proportion of non-C282Y HH

The Okavango; a river supporting its people, environment and economic development

The Okavango basin comprises the Cuito and Cubango active catchment areas in Angola, in addition to the Kavango–Okavango non-active catchment in northern Namibia and Botswana. The Okavango River water and its ecosystem resources are critically important sources of livelihoods for people in the basin. Pressures from livelihoods and development are already impacting on the environment. These pressures may increase in the future due to the rapid increase in population, the peace process and associated resettlement activities in Angola, and major development initiatives in Botswana and Namibia. For instance, possible future increase in water abstraction from the Okavango River may affect the long-term environmental sustainability of the Okavango Delta by minimizing channel shifting and thereby reducing spatial biodiversity. The paper argues that while conservation of the natural environment is critical, the pressing development needs must be recognized. The reduction of poverty within the basin should be addressed in order to alleviate adverse effects on the environment. The paper recommends that the development of sustainable tourism and community-based natural resource management initiatives may be appropriate strategies for reaching the Millennium Development Goals of poverty alleviation and achievement of environmental sustainability in the Okavango Basin. These initiatives have a comparative advantage in this area as demonstrated by the performance of the existing projects

The driver landscape of sporadic chordoma.

Chordoma is a malignant, often incurable bone tumour showing notochordal differentiation. Here, we defined the somatic driver landscape of 104 cases of sporadic chordoma. We reveal somatic duplications of the notochordal transcription factor brachyury (T) in up to 27% of cases. These variants recapitulate the rearrangement architecture of the pathogenic germline duplications of T that underlie familial chordoma. In addition, we find potentially clinically actionable PI3K signalling mutations in 16% of cases. Intriguingly, one of the most frequently altered genes, mutated exclusively by inactivating mutation, was LYST (10%), which may represent a novel cancer gene in chordoma.Chordoma is a rare often incurable malignant bone tumour. Here, the authors investigate driver mutations of sporadic chordoma in 104 cases, revealing duplications in notochordal transcription factor brachyury (T), PI3K signalling mutations, and mutations in LYST, a potential novel cancer gene in chordoma

HER2 overexpression and amplification is present in a subset of ovarian mucinous carcinomas and can be targeted with trastuzumab therapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The response rate of ovarian mucinous carcinomas to paclitaxel/carboplatin is low, prompting interest in targeted molecular therapies. We investigated HER2 expression and amplification, and the potential for trastuzumab therapy in this histologic subtype of ovarian cancer.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HER2 status was tested in 33 mucinous carcinomas and 16 mucinous borderline ovarian tumors (BOT)). Five cases with documented recurrence and with tissue from the recurrence available for testing were analyzed to determine whether HER2 amplification status changed over time. Three prospectively identified recurrent mucinous ovarian carcinomas were assessed for HER2 amplification and patients received trastuzumab therapy with conventional chemotherapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Amplification of HER2 was observed in 6/33 (18.2%) mucinous carcinomas and 3/16 (18.8%) BOT. HER2 amplification in primary mucinous carcinomas was not associated with an increased likelihood of recurrence. The prospectively identified recurrent mucinous carcinomas showed overexpression and amplification of HER2; one patient's tumor responded dramatically to trastuzumab in combination with conventional chemotherapy, while another patient experienced an isolated central nervous system recurrence after trastuzumab therapy.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>HER2 amplification is relatively common in ovarian mucinous carcinomas (6/33, 18.2%), although not of prognostic significance. Trastuzumab therapy is a treatment option for patients with mucinous carcinoma when the tumor has HER2 amplification and overexpression.</p