Saturday, June 26, 2010

relative 399.rel.002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Here we provide recommendations to improve predictions and support continued growth of this industry.


(Ng, Murray, and Venter, 2009). My thinking was that the industry-friendly bias affords reduced skepticism of the article’s criticisms of the industry. Additionally, the Ng et al. (2009) article references a “ … statement of conflicting interests … “ which adds to its persuasiveness. The bottom-line?

Agreement on risk predictions by DTC [direct to consumer] companies does not necessarily imply that the predictions are accurate or meaningful, and at this point in time [October 2009], we cannot determine who has the ‘best’ predictions. To effectively assess the clinical validity of these genetic tests the community needs more prospective studies with tens or hundreds of thousands of individuals that measure the predictive value of known markers. [Footnotes omitted.] Such studies are useful because they consider risk markers simultaneously, measure the interaction between different markers and do not assume a risk model. It may be practical to prioritize common diseases with significant health impact because of the large numbers of individuals and the expense associated with prospective studies.



(Ng et al., 2009). Apparently, then, the connection between the DTC predictions and expected realty is -- hopefully – an educated guess. Tellingly, when Ng et al. (2009) submitted the DNA of five people to two of the largest DTC companies, at best

… only two-thirds of relative risk predictions qualitatively agree between 23andMe and Navigenics.


Ethically, then, how does one assess handling this level of results’ ‘meaning’? In a nutshell, one of Wright and Keoese’s (2010) conclusions is:

However, to offer such tests to interested citizens who wish to investigate their own genomes or participate directly in the research process, is appropriate so long as providers are transparent about the evidence base for the test and offer appropriate levels of support.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hope 551.Hop.992 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Dolores and Bob Hope have been married over fifty years, and throughout those memorable years she has shared the joy of giving to the world. Her dedication to home, family, the Roman Catholic Church and her many charitable endeavors for the unfortunate of the world notes Dolores Hope as one of the world's great humanitarians.

One of her most active philanthropies is her service to the Eisenhower Medical Center at Palm Desert, California. From 1968 to 1976, much of the hospital's early achievements are credited to the efforts of Dolores Hope. She presently is Chairman of the Board for the hospital, serves on the Board of Directors of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. and gives unstinting support to her husband's many humanitarian works.

Friday, May 14, 2010

earned 886.ear.993 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Although Lillian Beam describes herself as having four major obstacles-"I'm black, I'm a woman, I'm little and I'm intelligent"-she has not been deterred in her quest for achievement. As initiator and administrator of the annual World Econoculture, an ambitious program to expand world trade and economic relationships through cultural understanding, Dr. Beam has spread her influence across the globe.

Beam, who earned a B.A. from Ohio State in 1947, did not begin her career until her sixth child was three years old. In 1970 she completed her Master's in Education, and in 1975, her Ph.D. in Human Behavior and Psychology at United States International University.

At present, Beam is the president of the Educational Cultural Complex. She plans to retire in March.

Beam's affiliations include the Western Association of Black American Affairs, the National Black Presidents Round Table, and San Diego City Schools' Integration Task Force, the Mexican-American Foundation, and AFRICARE.

Monday, May 10, 2010

vanquished 554.van.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

I didn't think we would be completely vanquished, but I knew we would pay a very, very high price. I wasn't sure that the Egyptians would cross without any casualties; I knew that they would pay a high price and that their crossing would be stopped, but I didn't know, like on the Syrian front, where they were stopped by night-fall. On the Egyptian border, on the other hand, the Egyptians had great success: they crossed very easily, and we paid a very high price. And I didn't have a picture of our situation 24 or 48 hours after the reserves arrived, but I knew we were in a situation which could hardly be fixed, and I knew that we would pay a very high price for these hours, when our small army stood before two enormous armies attacking full force.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

trying 442.try.002002 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

After living four years in the controlled regimen of juvenile jail, Ricky Davis had difficulty functioning as a free adult.

He worked a series of short-term jobs — as a Shoney's restaurant cook, a construction worker, and at a car wash, gas station, truck stop and manufacturing plant, according to the Kansas City newspaper.

Something always went wrong: He didn't like working nights; his boss was abusive; the commute was too much.

Davis, never long on motivation, turned to the quick and dirty money that crime can provide. But he was a failure at that, too.

He was caught a number of times by authorities in several northwest Missouri counties. A file full of cases was combined into a single prosecution, and in February 1984, Davis was convicted of burglary, theft and receiving stolen property.

Not yet 22 years old, he was sentenced to three years in prison.

In trying to stave off hard time, Davis had snitched on a pal. As a result, he was a marked man behind bars and served his time in protective confinement, segregated for his own safety from the prison population.

He was paroled in April 1986, after 26 months. But freedom was fleeting.

It isn't clear whether Davis had had violent episodes earlier in life. Records of the specific offenses that led to juvenile custody are not public.

But in October 1987, Davis was accused of raping and sodomizing a woman at knifepoint at the home of his mother near Lexington, Mo., in Lafayette County 45 minutes east of Kansas City.

Davis first denied the allegation then later claimed he had had consensual sex with the woman. Eventually, though, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison, where he celebrated every consecutive birthday from ages 24 to 40.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Deuterium 339.deu.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Deuterium is in some ways the opposite of helium-4 in that while helium-4 is very stable and very difficult to destroy, deuterium is only marginally stable and easy to destroy. Because helium-4 is very stable, there is a strong tendency on the part of two deuterium nuclei to combine to form helium-4. The only reason BBN does not convert all of the deuterium in the universe to helium-4 is that the expansion of the universe cooled the universe and cut this conversion short before it could be completed. One consequence of this is that unlike helium-4, the amount of deuterium is very sensitive to initial conditions. The denser the universe is, the more deuterium gets converted to helium-4 before time runs out, and the less deuterium remains.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

patrolman 339.pat.003 Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Early in the morning of 27 Dec 80 (approximately 0300L) two USAF security police patrolmen saw unusual lights outside the back gate at RAF Woodbridge. Thinking an aircraft might have crashed or been forced down, they called for permission to go outside the gate to investigate. The on-duty flight chief responded and allowed three patrolmen to proceed on foot. The individuals reported seeing a strange glowing object in the forest. The object was described as being metallic in appearance and triangular in shape, approximately two to three meters across the base and approximately two meters high. It illuminated the entire forest with a white light. The object itself had a pulsing red light on top and a bank(s) of blue lights underneath. The object was hovering or on legs. As the patrolmen approached the object, it maneuvered through the trees and disappeared. At this time the animals on a nearby farm went into a frenzy. The object was briefly sighted approximately an hour later near the back gate.