Daily Archives: March 16, 2021

One in 7 Caribbean-born individuals with either breast or ovarian cancer had hereditary disease with an actionable pathogenic variant, which provides the opportunity for the utilization of targeted therapeutics and precise prevention strategies, according to results from a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.1

Results from the research indicated that of 1018 patients, 98.1% (n = 999) had breast cancer, while 2.1% (n = 21) had ovarian cancer. Moreover, of the 1015 patients for whom data were available, 14.2% (n = 144) were found to have a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant in a gene associated with hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer syndrome. Notably, 64% of patients who had these variants had them in BRCA1, 23% had them in BRCA2, 9% in PALB2, and 4% in RAD51C, CHEK2, ATM, STK11, and NBN.

Patients in the Bahamas were noted to have the highest proportion of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers at 23%; this was followed by Barbados (17.9%), Trinidad (12%), Dominica (8.8%), Haiti (6.7%), Cayman Islands (6.3%), and Jamaica (4.9%).

This genetic association study was a large, unique, and multinational study of breast and ovarian cancer in the Caribbean population. Pathogenic variants in the breast cancer genes of BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 are common causes of breast cancer in Caribbean women, Sophia George, PhD, research assistant professor at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Health System, and colleagues, wrote. People of African descent are understudied and undertested in both the breast and gynecologic cancer settings. Targeted genetic testing of only BRCA1 and BRCA2 is insufficient in Caribbean women, and panel multigene testing should be recommended.

Approximately 40 million individuals reside in the Caribbean and most patients are of African descent with genetic admixture of Indigenous, Asian, Indian, European, and Middle Eastern immigrants. Importantly, breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-associated deaths in these women; in fact, in some countries, young women are disproportionately affected by this.

In light of the high rates of breast and ovarian cancer that have been observed in the Caribbean, and the relatively young age of patients at the time of presentation, investigators set out to identify the rate of inherited breast and ovarian cancers in select countries within the Caribbean as a way to derive a better understanding of different disease variants region wide.

To do this, investigators planned to consider the odds of harboring a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant when individuals are diagnosed with these diseases at an early age. They also performed multigene testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer genes in individuals who resided in 7 Caribbean countries: the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The cross-sectional Caribbean Womens Cancer Study was conducted between June 2010 and June 2018 in 1018 patients with invasive breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer who resided in the Caribbean. Individuals were identified by the following: treating physicians, local cancer societies, hospital and pathology records, and outpatient oncology clinical records of the individual islands. Investigators also recruited participants through the use of different media outlets.

To be eligible for enrollment, patients had to have a pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer, at least 1 grandparent born in 1 of the 7 selected countries, and they had to be able to provide consent, as well as a saliva sample.

All samples collected from patients underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification to allow for the identification of all classes of variants. All individuals were initially screened for BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51 variants in the phase 1 portion of the research.

In phase 2, those residing in the Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, and Haiti received full NGS of 30 genes. Those residing in Jamaica and Trinidad who had a family history of either cancer, were less than 40 years of age, and tested negative for the variants examined in phase 1, were re-examined using a multipaneled test.

Following these test results, participants were identified to be have pathogenic variants, or those that directly contribute to disease development; to have likely pathogenic variants, or those with greater than 90% certainty that the variant will cause disease; or to have a variant of unknown significance (VUS).

Of the 1018 participants enrolled to the study, the majority (n = 996) were women, 21 female individuals had ovarian cancer and 3 men had breast cancer. Notably, 86% of patients with breast cancer had a self-detected mass and sought medical attention, underscoring the fact that disease detection via mammogram was uncommon.

More than half of the women who were diagnosed with breast cancer (63%) were premenopausal, and the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 46.6 years. The mean age in those diagnosed with ovarian cancer was 47.6 years. Discrepancies of age and population-based cancer registries in Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbados were noted.

Of 607 patients with a documented disease stage at diagnosis, 33.4% had stage III disease and 5.9% had stage IV disease. Those residing in Haiti had the highest percentage of advanced-stage disease, at 64.7%, while the lowest percentage was noted in Cayman Island residents, at 11%.

A total of 144 variant carriers was identified in the study cohort. Among the carriers for breast cancer, the mean age was 40.7 years; these individuals were significantly younger than those who did not have germline variants, according to the study investigators (P = .03). Approximately 44% (n = 29/66) of carriers were diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) vs 21.1% of noncarriers (P <.001).

Moreover, 50.5% of participants were found to have a family history of either a first- or second-degree relative with breast cancer, while 11.3% had relatives with ovarian cancer. Approximately half of those with VUS had a family history of breast cancer, while 8.5% had a history of ovarian cancer. Any family history of breast cancer was linked with a BRCA1 variant (odds ratio [OR], 4.87; 95% CI, 2.82-8.42; P <.001) or a BRCA2 variant (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.40-6.71; P = .005).

Specifically, of the individuals born in the Caribbean who had breast cancer, having a first- or second-degree family member with the disease was linked with having any BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline variant (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.24-2.01; P <.001). Having a BRCA1 variant was found to be more strongly associated with TNBC vs a BRCA2 variant (OR, 6.33; 95% CI, 2.05-19.54; P = .001).

These data may be useful in screening, increasing awareness of cancer risk, and encouraging risk reduction strategies in people of Caribbean origin and their unaffected family members, the study authors concluded. Awareness of the heightened risks among these patients may help minimize morbidity and maximize care in a group already overburdened with well-described cancer health disparities.

This article was originally published on OncLive as, "1 in 7 Caribbean Adults With Breast or Ovarian Cancers Have Actionable Pathogenic Variants."

Originally posted here:

Study Explores Actionable Pathologic Variants in Caribbean Women With Breast or Ovarian Cancer - http://www.oncnursingnews.com/

Though world travel remains a distant dream as the winter of the pandemic melts into spring, Stony Brook Universitys foodservice team is helping the cooped-up campus community make a virtual getaway through food.

Students therewho in the past would have been plotting a spring breakare as stir crazy as the rest of us. And so, the dining teams new series, Global Night, has proven a nice bright spot, complete with a taste of Cuba, featuring a few chefs creations.

Related: 8 ways food service chefs unleash ground porks versatility

With travel restrictions due to COVID, Global Night is a great way to take students on a culinary journey around the world, says Van Sullivan, executive director, Faculty Student Association at Stony Brook University. Sullivan and the team have also been fighting cabin fever with an interactive fitness challenge.

See how Stony Brook and others are switching over to island time with ingredients like plantains, mojo sauce, jerk chicken, pulled pork (or cauliflower steaks for plant-based eating), black beans, yucca and more.

Related: Not the same old grind: Ground pork flavors up the menu

Contact Tara at [emailprotected]

Follow her on Twitter @Tara_Fitzie

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11 ways onsite chefs are beating cabin fever with Caribbean cuisine - Food Management

Im more convinced than ever now that The Crown has no place in The Caribbean. Not even Netflix can change that.

Like millions during this godforsaken pandemic, Ive watched enough of the streaming service to make me wonder if I miss Derry Girls more than I do my own grown children. And Ive slurped the four seasons of The Crown like so many bottles of Cabernet or claret, as the Brits would say.

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A big caveat about The Crown is that its story lines require as much fact-checking as a Donald Trump tweet. But one twist the writers didnt fabricate was Queen Elizabeth IIs solidarity with the British Commonwealth countries many of which she reigns over and most of whose leaders are Black or non-White to help end apartheid in South Africa.

READ MORE: Tit for Tat for Trump in the Bahamas: Now Americans Are the 'Very Bad People"

So kudos to the Queen. And I took that into account as I pondered the accusations of racism thatve been added to the royal familys haunted house of dysfunction after Harry and Meghans interview with Oprah this week.

Still, I have to say this about the royal couples very believable charge that Buckingham Palace was wringing its silk-gloved hands over the hue of their mixed-race child: its only strengthened my belief that Commonwealth countries that still recognize Her Highness as their head of state at least the 10 in the Western Hemisphere should ditch her.

Monday, the day after the Oprah bombshell, was Commonwealth Day. Im sure a lot of folks in the 54 Commonwealth nations, including Canada and many in the Caribbean, sang God Save the Queen. But Im just as sure a lot of them groaned, God, why do we still have a queen? Not just due to the Harry-and-Meghan tell-all, but because of simmering, 21st-century sentiment in those former British territories that commonwealth is just a more polite word for colonialism.

That shadow is one big reason Barbados, a Commonwealth member widely considered the most British of Caribbean islands, announced in September that its replacing Elizabeth with a Barbadian head of state.

The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind, Barbados Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason said. The island, she pledged, will be a republic by the time it celebrates the 55th anniversary of its independence from Britain in November.

GOING QUEEN-LESS

Dominica went queen-less in 1966; Guyana in 1970; Trinidad and Tobago in 1976. Jamaica and a few other Caribbean-under-the-Crown nations are now strongly considering it. I hope they do cut the crown cord, for reasons both practical and principled.

After covering the Caribbean for more than 20 years, Im still racking my brain to figure out what lofty benefits these small island nations derive from having a Windsors tiara-ed portrait on their dollar notes. Or did I miss the Queens announcement last month that shes leading a drive to donate COVID-19 vaccine doses to her Caribbean subjects? Oh, wait, that was India a former British colony schooling the British monarchy in how to help its former colonies.

Prince Harry and wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, talking to Oprah Winfrey

The bottom line is that these countries dont need the Queen and that jettisoning her could and likely would have a psychologically liberating effect on their democracies. It would be a statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving, as Mason asserted, and a definitive divorce from the legacy of slave-trading overlordship that first made the West Indies barnacled to England 400 years ago.

If Harry and Meghans allegations of royal racism are a reminder of that, so be it. But White, non-Caribbean denizens of the Western Hemisphere also have a stake in this.

The anachronistic idea of monarchy even the figurehead brand thats pasted on Commonwealth states should be anathema to the New World. A fundamental precept of the Americas is our rejection of Old World aristocracy, of the acridly unjust notion that birth defines worth. Another is sovereignty: a head of state across the Atlantic has no business being a head of state here.

The fact that one still is in the Caribbean the New World nexus and in Canada seems very wrong.

So, especially after the Harry-and-Meghan scandal, I hope Netflixs The Crown devotes a plot line to that very point in Season 5. Ive got a bottle of claret waiting.

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The Crown Has No Place In The Caribbean No Matter What Netflix Shows Me - WLRN

The Daily Beast

ALEXEY DRUZHININKremlin-backed mercenary soldiers who worked for the Wagner Group could be tested in the Russian courts for the very first time after an all-star team of human rights lawyers filed a case in Moscow accusing the militants of the torture and beheading of a man in Syria.In a legal criminal complaint announced Monday on behalf of the victim, Muhammad Hamdi Bouta Taha al-Abdullah, attorneys representing the victims brother allege that six Russian citizens who worked on a contract to secure a Russian-Syrian operated gas plant were behind the 2017 killing. The lawsuit marks the first known attempt to bring to account anyone linked to the highly secretive network of covert operators financed and managed by close inner-circle associates of President Vladimir Putin.Opponents of the dark money paramilitary outfit hope an attack through the courtswhich they expect to take all the way to European Court of Human Rightswill expose the scale of the abuses carried out by the shadowy forces used to conceal the Kremlins off-the-books military adventures all over the world. After more than a year of government stonewalling and dodging allegations about the case, advocates for the victim say, Russian authorities will now be forced to go on record no matter what.Hopefully, this will open the door for all the crimes committed by the Wagner Group not only in Syria, said Mazen Darwish, one of several human rights activists pressing for justice in the case and director general of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.In a phone interview with The Daily Beast on Saturday, Darwish said that the case against the six Wagner Group paramilitaries is being lodged under articles in the Russian criminal code that call for the prosecution of anyone implicated in torture, grievous bodily injury, and murder. They cant say that this is just a political issue or propaganda because we are bringing this case in Russian courts, under Russian law. Were going to Moscow, to their territory, to their courts, and to their jurisdiction, Darwish said.Allegations of the Wagner Groups involvement in the torture and murder of al-Abdullah, who is better known by his nicknames, Hamdi or Hamadi Bouta, first emerged in June 2017 when a two-minute long video clip of the killing surfaced in an anonymous post on a Reddit subchannel popular with military geeks. The post didnt provide much commentary, only a link to a graphically violent video shot with a shaky hand on a cell phone that showed several Russian speaking men dressed in desert military uniforms taking turns beating a man who has since been identified as Bouta with a sledgehammer.Lawyers and human rights advocates involved in the Moscow case say the complaint marks an important first step toward bringing Russian mercenaries affiliated with the Wagner Group to account for a host of war crimes committed not only in Syria but Libya and the Central African Republic, where several related firms linked to a well-connected Kremlin insider and a one-time Russian intelligence official have reportedly been operating since at least 2017.The brief filed on Friday in connection with Boutas case contends that the Russian government holds effective control over the Russian private military contingent that killed Bouta during operations at the al-Shaer gas plant.Known colloquially as the Wagner Group, the contingent has been linked to a network of Russian firms that U.S. and European authorities say are financed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a key player in Putins inner circle known as Putins chef. Although the Wagner Group has been implicated in several violations of international law, including skirting a UN arms embargo in Libya, the Moscow legal filing on Boutas case marks the first time that any official complaint has been brought in court against the private security contingent in connection with an alleged war crime.Last month, the FBI placed Prigozhin on its Most Wanted list in connection with his alleged role in interfering in American elections in 2016 and 2018, offering a $250,000 reward for information leading to his arrest The U.S. government has also sanctioned Prigozhin for his alleged ties to Russian mercenaries affiliated with the Wagner Group.The legal case in Moscow turns on four separate video clips depicting several Russian-speaking men beating, decapitating, and burning a badly mutilated man at the al-Shaer gas plant, a central node in a multimillion-dollar joint oil and gas deal forged between the Syrian government owned General Petroleum Corporation and Stroytransgaz, a Russian state-run hydrocarbon engineering firm headed by Gennady Timchenko, a longtime Putin associate.Neither Timchenko nor Prigozhin are expressly named in connection with Boutas killing.Media and think tank reports indicate that natural gas extraction by EvroPolis, a firm Prigozhin holds a stake in according to U.S. authorities, generated about $162 million from al-Shaer and several other nearby gas fields in 2017, the same year Bouta was killed.Representatives for Stroytransgaz and Prigozhins main company Concord Consulting and Management did not respond to requests for comment made before lawyers representing Boutas family went public with details of the Moscow court filing on Monday.After the first video was anonymously posted in June 2017 three more were posted in November 2019 and began circulating widely on Russian social media platforms.Within days of the second tranche of videos being posted by open source investigators on Twitter, reporters with al-Jessr Press, a Paris-based media outlet that reports on Syria, published the very first account of Boutas killing. A few days later, Novaya Gazeta, one of Russias only remaining independent daily news outlets, published a report naming Stanislav Dychko as one of several Russian nationals depicted in the video. The report also revealed that at least one of the Russian-speaking men in the video had fought in the embattled region of Donbas in eastern Ukraine before traveling to Syria to work for a contingent affiliated to the Wagner Group.Bouta was born in August 1986 in the Syrian province of Deir Ezzor in a village not far from where one of his alleged assailants, Vlaidslav Apostol, was killed only months after beating Bouta with a sledgehammer. Apostols family have reportedly confirmed that he worked as a private security contractor in Syria, and that he was one of several hundred Russians killed in a U.S. airstrike in the northeastern Syrian province of Deir Ezzor.After his brief stint in the Syrian Arab Army, Bouta went to work in the construction industry, working primarily as a bricklayer. He married and started a family. When the civil war began, he traveled to Lebanon to find construction work after the situation in Syria deteriorated and large parts of Deir Ezzor came under ISIS control, according to an account of Boutas final days given to lawyers by his family.After working for a time in Lebanon, Bouta decided to return to his family in Deir Ezzor. On March 27, 2017, Bouta traveled across the border from Lebanon into Syria at the Beirut-Damascus crossing with a group of young men from his village. Syrian authorities arrested Bouta as he crossed the border and turned him over to members of the Syrian military. At this point, members of the group Bouta was traveling with notified Boutas brother-in-law, who was in Lebanon at the time, that the Syrian military had taken Bouta into custody.Bouta later got in touch with his brother-in-law directly and told him that members of the Syrian Arab Army had taken him to the al-Draij military camp, a well-known deployment hub for Wagner Group fighters. Before he was killed, Bouta said Russian speaking soldiers had press ganged him and several others in custody at al-Draij into fighting contingents deployed to Homs to seize and protect oil and gas infrastructure.Syrias government controls oil, gas, and mineral production and export, and Syrias General Petroleum Company sets strategy for exploration and development and supervises national subsidiaries, including the Syrian Petroleum Company (SPC) and Syrian Gas Company (SGC). But, as in many other developing countries, Syrias nationalized energy sector is highly reliant on external backing from foreign firms for capital-intensive upstream investment in exploration and development.Stroytransgaz, or STG, the company headed by Kremlin-insider Timchenko, is one of the largest such investors, and in February it secured a $22 million production sharing agreement with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, according to The Syria Report, an online journal that tracks economic developments in the country.Ilya Novikov, one of the Russian attorneys who filed the ground-breaking legal complaint, said in a written statement that he and his co-counsel Petr Zaikin, decided to initiate the case after a demand for Russias Investigative Committee, the countrys top prosecutorial body, apparently fell flat.Novikov said that Novaya Gazeta asked the Investigative Committee to open an inquiry into the murder, but the committee ignored the request. This has forced us, as human rights defenders, to turn to Russian investigative authorities, Novikov said. Indeed, this is a repeat of what happened 20 years ago, when enforced disappearances, torture and extrajudicial executions committed during the armed conflict in the Northern Caucasus were likewise not investigated.Mazen Darwish, one of several human rights activists pressing for justice in Boutas case and director general of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, said that Russian authorities have about 40 days to respond to the initial court filing.The case is being lodged jointly by lawyers and advocates associated with Darwishs organization, the Memorial Human Rights Center in Moscow, and the International Federation for Human Rights in Paris. If for some reason the case does not go forward in Moscow, Darwish said, it is likely that he, Novikov and others will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.In 2018, American authorities filed criminal charges against Prigozhin for alleged financial ties to the internet troll farm accused of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential elections. It was unclear, however, whether that case would move forward after federal prosecutors working under the Trump administration dropped charges against Prigozhins St. Petersburg-based firm Concord Consulting and Management in connection with the case. But, a federal arrest warrant issued for Prigozhin in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 16 would seem to indicate renewed interest at the Department of Justice in seeing Prigozhin brought to account.Under a 2019 U.S. law known as the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act, anyone connected to war crimes in Syria under Assads regime could be subject to sanctions. While it is not clear whether U.S authorities would pursue further sanctions against Prigozhin, Timchenko, or any of the other entities implicated in reporting and legal filings on Boutas case the facts certainly suggest that American investigators in Washington will be tracking its outcome closely.Read more at The Daily Beast.Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside goes deeper on the stories that matter to you. Learn more.

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Nancy Grace on UK woman who went missing from yacht off Caribbean - Yahoo News

Marooned at home all winter and with no spring break travel in the cards this year, I figured at least I can get a taste of the warm Caribbean waters by way of my kitchen. This seafood stew is my way of transporting myself there. It has a broth-like base packed with island flavor bright with lime, fragrant with thyme, and spicy with Scotch bonnet pepper.

That base, which colorfully features yellow bell pepper and tomatoes as well, comes together quickly and easily, but its nice that it can be made ahead so it is ready when you are. And when that time comes, just add large chunks of fish fillet and shrimp to the pot, and simmer for a few minutes until they are just cooked through.

In keeping with the island vibes, I suggest using warm water fish such as red snapper or mahi mahi, but any firm white fish fillet will work. You could also substitute additional fish or scallops for the shrimp, if you prefer.

The half Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper called for gives the stew a medium-spicy heat thats prominent but not overwhelming feel free to use more or less to taste (a little goes a long way), or substitute a milder chile such as jalapeo.

Served over rice with a fresh spray of cilantro leaves, its a healthful meal that has a sunny excitement to it, and if I close my eyes I swear I can hear the palm trees rustling in the breeze.

2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola, grapeseed or avocado oil

1 medium yellow onion (about 8 ounces), diced

1 medium yellow or orange bell pepper (about 8 ounces), diced

1 celery stalk, sliced

Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, seeded and thinly sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated

1 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup canned no-salt-added diced tomatoes with juices, or 1 cup fresh diced tomatoes with juices

1 cup seafood stock or water

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus more to taste

1 pounds skinless red snapper, mahi mahi or other white fish fillet, cut into 1-inch pieces

8 ounces large shrimp (about 12 shrimp), peeled and deveined

cup fresh cilantro leaves

Cooked rice, for serving (optional)

In a large Dutch oven or a large, deep skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, Scotch bonnet or habanero and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened somewhat but have not browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and cook for 30 seconds more. Add the tomatoes, seafood stock or water and the lime juice, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit and the flavors are melded, about 10 minutes. (If not planning to eat right away, you can let the stew cool completely, then cover and refrigerate until needed.)

Gently stir in the fish and shrimp, raise the heat to medium, cover and cook, stirring gently occasionally, until the seafood is just cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Taste, and season with additional salt and lime juice, if desired. Divide the stew among bowls, garnish with cilantro, and serve with rice, if desired.

Yield: 4 servings

Make ahead: The stew may be made up to the point of adding seafood, then refrigerated for up to 5 days.

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Caribbean-inspired seafood stew brings warm island vibes to the table - The Spokesman-Review

West Indies cricket legend Sir Vivian Richards and former greats Richie Richardson and Jimmy Adams on Sunday thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing coronavirus vaccines to the Caribbean region.

In a video message, Richards described India's assistance as a kind gesture and said the region is looking forward to continued relationship with India.

The video message has been posted on Twitter by Indian High Commission in Georgetown, Guyana.

"Thanks India for the wonderful contribution made to our country which is the vaccine. Thank you so much on behalf of Antiguan and Barbudan people," said Richards.

"Thank you very much Prime Minister Modi and thanks tothe High Commissioner to our region. We also thank all the people of India for such a kind gesture," he added.

The Carribbean nations have received coronavirus vaccines from India under its mega initiative to help countries across the world to deal with the pandemic.

External Affairs Minister S Jaiishankar tweeted the video message of Richards with a comment.

"For those who love Old Cricket and New India. Perhaps even for those who understand neither cricket nor India," said Jaiishankar.

In a separate video message, former captain of West Indies cricket team Richie Richardson too thanked Modi for providing the vaccines.

"On behalf of the government and people of Antigua and Barbuda, I would like to thank Prime Minister Modi for his kind generosity in offering us 40,000 Oxford AstraZeneca COVID19 vaccine. We are extremely grateful to you and your country sir," said Richardson.

Another West Indies former cricketer, Jimmy Adams too thanked India for providing the vaccines.

"We are all deeply grateful to the government of India and on behalf of the people in the Caribbean I would like to thank you for this great initiative," said Adams.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Vivian Richards thanks PM for India giving Covid jabs to Caribbean nations - Business Standard

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The largest and smallest mammals in the Caribbean have been the most vulnerable to extinction, a new study shows.

The findings, published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B, help predict future extinction risk and inform the conservation strategies needed to prevent future biodiversity loss.

Most past studies have found that larger mammals go extinct more often, so the new findings are unusual. The researchers looked at past extinction patterns across the Caribbean mammal fauna to understand the factors that predispose species to extinction. With mammal extinction, what researchers found is that size does indeed matter in life.

The islands of the Caribbean have long been a source of fascination for scientists and conservationists. They were once home to a diverse array of land mammals including sloths, primates, unusual insectivores, and giant rodents, but the arrival of different waves of human colonists from around 6,000 years ago onwards instigated the largest series of human-caused mammal extinctions since the end of the last Ice Age.

Only 11 native Caribbean rodents and two insectivores still survive todayincluding the two solenodons, large shrew-like mammals that have the unique ability to inject venom into their prey using modified grooved teeth.

Both solenodon species are the only representatives of an ancient mammalian lineage that diverged from the ancestors of all other living mammals during the time of the dinosaurs, approximately 76 million years ago.

Liliana M. Dvalos, a professor in the ecology and evolution department at Stony Brook University, designed and completed the statistical analyses that led to the findings. Carrying out the study at the level of mammal populations instead of species, allowed the teams methods to account for the effect of varying environmental conditions across different islands on species chances of survival.

Conducting a huge-scale analysis that included records of extinction patterns for 219 land mammal populations across 118 Caribbean islands, the study went beyond previous research into Caribbean mammal extinctions, which has largely focused on reconstructing last-occurrence dates for extinct species and matching them with specific historical events.

The current study instead sought to identify wider ecological patternssuch as the relationship between body mass and extinction riskthat influence a mammals chance of survival in response to human activities.

They found that medium-sized Caribbean mammalslike the solenodonshave been less sensitive to extinction compared to both their smaller and larger counterparts.

The overall discovery will likely reflect the fact that larger species were more vulnerable to past human hunting, whereas smaller species were more vulnerable to predation or competition from species such as mongooses and rats.

To answer questions such as what traits predispose species to survival? or what island features are associated with extinction? we studied each population on an island as a natural experiment, Dvalos says.

With enough of them, patterns that have often been discussed but couldnt quantify start to emerge. Without the large database of many natural experiments in the Caribbean and powerful computing approaches, there is no way to answer these questions, Dvalos says.

The analyses also showed that Caribbean mammals of all sizes were less likely to survive on the earliest-colonized islands by humans and more likely to survive on tiny, low-elevation offshore islands, meaning that their future survival could be at risk from climate change and rising sea levels unless measures are put in place to protect these vital natural refuges.

Preventing the extinction of highly endangered species requires an awareness of not only the immediate risks to their survival, but also the history of human-caused biodiversity lossand the unique insights that the past can provide about species vulnerability or resilience under differing conditions, says Samuel Turvey of the Zoological Society of London.

The Caribbean islands are home to unique mammalian biodiversity, which has tragically been almost completely wiped out by past human activities. Our study clearly highlights the importance of learning from the past to make the future betterwe must use information from the historical, archaeological and recent fossil records to inform current-day conservation, or else we risk losing these remarkable species forever.

The National Science Foundation funded the work.

Source: Stony Brook University

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Biggest and smallest Caribbean mammals are most at risk of extinction - Futurity: Research News

Sarah Jessica Parker will do a lot of things on screen, but she won't get naked. Ever.

The actress spoke of her no-nudity contract clause as she gets ready to reprise her role as Carrie Bradshaw in the "Sex and the City" reboot titled "And Just Like That."

"Some people have a perks list and they are legendary. They have to have white candles in their room. I don't have a crazy list like that. I've just always had a no-nudity clause," she told The Sun. "I'm a modest person. You couldn't pay me enough to have someone pretend they were me doing a nude scene. No body doubles that's part of my contract."

Sarah noted that producers often tried to get her to strip down in her early acting days, but she always took a firm stance. One time she sobbed because of the pressure she felt. Luckily for her, she had people willing to go to bat for her.

"There was so much pressure for me to take my clothes off. They were like, 'Sarah's going to be nude tomorrow', and I was like, 'I'm not going to be nude,'" she said. "My agent sent a car and a plane ticket to the film set and said, 'If anybody makes you do anything that you are not comfortable doing, you don't.'"

"I know how lucky I am that there was someone in this case, a man who stepped in," she added.

Considering her resume and power within the industry, SJP is now in a position to tell producers what she feels comfortable doing. In "And Just Like That," which also stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, SJP answers to almost nobody as an executive producer.

"I'm excited about being back with Cynthia and Kristin and on the streets of New York," she said. "It's very possible that a great actress will join us, and she will have a huge impact and we'll want to be with her more, the audience will want to see her more. I'm just very excited."

While reuniting with her friends is certainly gratifying, Sarah is also looking forward to her wardrobe.

"Some of the happiest memories I have are fittings for the show. I worked 18 to 20-hour days for years," she said. "After filming, I would go into fitting at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. for three to five hours because you'd be doing two episodes back to back. At points, I was wearing 20 to 30 costumes per two episodes. But they were so much fun and I did whatever I was told. I would try on anything. No matter how ridiculous."

"We'd double over laughing sometimes because so much of the stuff was from thrift stores and vintage shops and pulled from the most peculiar and outrageous spots," she continued. "Sometimes Michael Patrick, the director, would be like, 'What are you wearing?' And I would be like, 'Just trust me on this'. Like the bird in the veil or the dress in Paris, from a thrift store. We had no reason to put that dress on, we could not rationalize it but it was beautiful and knew the audience will love it."

With the new mini-series, designers will be clamoring to dress Sarah and her costars, which is far from the way things used to be on "Sex and the City."

"In the beginning we had a very tiny budget," Sarah said. "Nobody would loan us anything. I mean, nothing. We couldn't get a bag, we couldn't get a flip-flop."

And Just Like That everything changed.

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A-Rod flies to Caribbean to be with J.Lo amid 'rough patch' reports - Wonderwall

One in 7 Caribbean-born individuals with either breast or ovarian cancer had hereditary disease with an actionable pathogenic variant, which provides the opportunity for the utilization of targeted therapeutics and precise prevention strategies, according to results from a study recently published in JAMA Network Open.1

Results from the research indicated that of 1018 patients, 98.1% (n = 999) had breast cancer, while 2.1% (n = 21) had ovarian cancer. Moreover, of the 1015 patients for whom data were available, 14.2% (n = 144) were found to have a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant in a gene associated with hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer syndrome. Notably, 64% of patients who had these variants had them in BRCA1, 23% had them in BRCA2, 9% in PALB2, and 4% in RAD51C, CHEK2, ATM, STK11, and NBN.

Patients in the Bahamas were noted to have the highest proportion of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers at 23%; this was followed by Barbados (17.9%), Trinidad (12%), Dominica (8.8%), Haiti (6.7%), Cayman Islands (6.3%), and Jamaica (4.9%).

This genetic association study was a large, unique, and multinational study of breast and ovarian cancer in the Caribbean population. Pathogenic variants in the breast cancer genes of BRCA1, BRCA2, and PALB2 are common causes of breast cancer in Caribbean women, Sophia George, PhD, research assistant professor at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center of the University of Miami Health System, and colleagues, wrote. People of African descent are understudied and undertested in both the breast and gynecologic cancer settings. Targeted genetic testing of only BRCA1 and BRCA2 is insufficient in Caribbean women, and panel multigene testing should be recommended.

Approximately 40 million individuals reside in the Caribbean and most patients are of African descent with genetic admixture of Indigenous, Asian, Indian, European, and Middle Eastern immigrants. Importantly, breast cancer is a leading cause of cancer-associated deaths in these women; in fact, in some countries, young women are disproportionately affected by this.

In light of the high rates of breast and ovarian cancer that have been observed in the Caribbean, and the relatively young age of patients at the time of presentation, investigators set out to identify the rate of inherited breast and ovarian cancers in select countries within the Caribbean as a way to derive a better understanding of different disease variants region wide.

To do this, investigators planned to consider the odds of harboring a pathogenic or likely pathogenic variant when individuals are diagnosed with these diseases at an early age. They also performed multigene testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancer genes in individuals who resided in 7 Caribbean countries: the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Barbados, Dominica, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago.

The cross-sectional Caribbean Womens Cancer Study was conducted between June 2010 and June 2018 in 1018 patients with invasive breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer who resided in the Caribbean. Individuals were identified by the following: treating physicians, local cancer societies, hospital and pathology records, and outpatient oncology clinical records of the individual islands. Investigators also recruited participants through the use of different media outlets.

To be eligible for enrollment, patients had to have a pathologic diagnosis of breast cancer and/or ovarian cancer, at least 1 grandparent born in 1 of the 7 selected countries, and they had to be able to provide consent, as well as a saliva sample.

All samples collected from patients underwent next-generation sequencing (NGS) and multiplex ligationdependent probe amplification to allow for the identification of all classes of variants. All individuals were initially screened for BRCA1, BRCA2, PALB2, and RAD51 variants in the phase 1 portion of the research.

In phase 2, those residing in the Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, and Haiti received full NGS of 30 genes. Those residing in Jamaica and Trinidad who had a family history of either cancer, were less than 40 years of age, and tested negative for the variants examined in phase 1, were re-examined using a multipaneled test.

Following these test results, participants were identified to be have pathogenic variants, or those that directly contribute to disease development; to have likely pathogenic variants, or those with greater than 90% certainty that the variant will cause disease; or to have a variant of unknown significance (VUS).

Of the 1018 participants enrolled to the study, the majority (n = 996) were women, 21 female individuals had ovarian cancer and 3 men had breast cancer. Notably, 86% of patients with breast cancer had a self-detected mass and sought medical attention, underscoring the fact that disease detection via mammogram was uncommon.

More than half of the women who were diagnosed with breast cancer (63%) were premenopausal, and the mean age at the time of diagnosis was 46.6 years. The mean age in those diagnosed with ovarian cancer was 47.6 years. Discrepancies of age and population-based cancer registries in Trinidad and Tobago and the Barbados were noted.

Of 607 patients with a documented disease stage at diagnosis, 33.4% had stage III disease and 5.9% had stage IV disease. Those residing in Haiti had the highest percentage of advanced-stage disease, at 64.7%, while the lowest percentage was noted in Cayman Island residents, at 11%.

A total of 144 variant carriers was identified in the study cohort. Among the carriers for breast cancer, the mean age was 40.7 years; these individuals were significantly younger than those who did not have germline variants, according to the study investigators (P = .03). Approximately 44% (n = 29/66) of carriers were diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) vs 21.1% of noncarriers (P <.001).

Moreover, 50.5% of participants were found to have a family history of either a first- or second-degree relative with breast cancer, while 11.3% had relatives with ovarian cancer. Approximately half of those with VUS had a family history of breast cancer, while 8.5% had a history of ovarian cancer. Any family history of breast cancer was linked with a BRCA1 variant (odds ratio [OR], 4.87; 95% CI, 2.82-8.42; P <.001) or a BRCA2 variant (OR, 3.07; 95% CI, 1.40-6.71; P = .005).

Specifically, of the individuals born in the Caribbean who had breast cancer, having a first- or second-degree family member with the disease was linked with having any BRCA1 or BRCA2 germline variant (OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.24-2.01; P <.001). Having a BRCA1 variant was found to be more strongly associated with TNBC vs a BRCA2 variant (OR, 6.33; 95% CI, 2.05-19.54; P = .001).

These data may be useful in screening, increasing awareness of cancer risk, and encouraging risk reduction strategies in people of Caribbean origin and their unaffected family members, the study authors concluded. Awareness of the heightened risks among these patients may help minimize morbidity and maximize care in a group already overburdened with well-described cancer health disparities.

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1 in 7 Caribbean Adults With Breast or Ovarian Cancers Have Actionable Pathogenic Variants - OncLive

Executive summary

Children migrate with their families and independently. According to the most recent global estimates, the total number of child migrants is approximately 31 million. Thirteen million children are refugees and 936,000 are asylum-seekers. Meanwhile, 17 million children have been forcibly displaced inside their own countries and are considered internally displaced persons (IDPs). Access to inclusive and equitable education is a major challenge for these children.

Currently, the Latin America and Caribbean region is experiencing the largest external displacement crisis in its recent history the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis. By the end of 2019, at least 4.8 million refugees and migrants had left Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of). At least 25 per cent of the Venezuelan refugees and migrants are children and adolescents many of whom are experiencing school disruptions. It is estimated that the crisis has caused over 1 million children to drop out of school in 2018. Moreover, 3.9 million Venezuelans were living in other Latin American and Caribbean countries by the end of 2019, generating significant resource and capacity challenges to educational systems across the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses additional challenges. By November 2020, 137 million boys and girls across the region were missing out on their education, due to the prolonged closure of schools. While in other parts of the world, schools have gradually reopened, in Latin America and the Caribbean, the majority of classrooms remain closed with no immediate prospect of reopening. The implications are troubling, especially for migrant and refugee children.

Through a systematic review of the empirical literature, this study collates evidence from Latin America and the Caribbean and across the world to facilitate a better understanding of the multifaceted linkages between education and migration. The study leverages global and regional evidence to: (i) estimate gaps in educational outcomes between migrant/refugee children and children from local communities; (ii) identify structural barriers to education for migrant/refugee children at the macro-level (educational system), the meso-level (school organization and local communities), and the micro-level (individual and interpersonal characteristics of children and parents with a migration background); (iii) detect promising practices in migrant/refugee education, and (iv) inform relevant policies and practices in Latin America and the Caribbean, in the COVID-19 era and beyond.

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Lifting Barriers to Education During and After COVID-19 - Improving education outcomes for migrant and refugee children in Latin America and the...