Genetic overlap seen between mental disorders

   (NIH) - 8/23/2013 - The largest genome-wide study of its kind has determined how much five major mental illnesses are traceable to the same common inherited genetic variations. Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health found that the overlap was highest between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; moderate for bipolar disorder and depression and for ADHD and depression; and low between schizophrenia and autism. Overall, common genetic variation accounted for 17-28 percent of risk for the illnesses.
   “Since our study only looked at common gene variants, the total genetic overlap between the disorders is likely higher,” Naomi Wray said. Wray is with the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and co-led the multi-site study by the Cross Disorders Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC), which is supported by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

   “Shared variants with smaller effects, rare variants, mutations, duplications, deletions, and gene-environment interactions also contribute to these illnesses,” Wray said.

   Wray, Kenneth Kendler of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Jordan Smoller, M.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and other members of the PGC group reported on their findings on August 11 in the journal Nature Genetics.
   “Such evidence quantifying shared genetic risk factors among traditional psychiatric diagnoses will help us move toward classification that will be more faithful to nature,” Bruce Cuthbert said. Cuthbert is director of the NIMH Division of Adult Translational Research and Treatment Development and coordinator of the Institute’s Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) project, which is developing a mental disorders classification system for research based more on underlying causes.
   Earlier this year, PGC researchers — more than 300 scientists at 80 research centers in 20 countries — reported the first evidence of overlap between all five disorders. People with the disorders were more likely to have suspect variation at the same four chromosomal sites. But the extent of the overlap remained unclear. In the new study, they used the same genome-wide information and the largest data sets currently available to estimate the risk for the illnesses attributable to any of hundreds of thousands of sites of common variability in the genetic code across chromosomes. They looked for similarities in such genetic variation among several thousand people with each illness and compared them to controls — calculating the extent to which pairs of disorders are linked to the same genetic variants.
   The overlap in heritability attributable to common genetic variation was about 15 percent between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, about 10 percent between bipolar disorder and depression, about 9 percent between schizophrenia and depression, and about 3 percent between schizophrenia and autism.
   The new found molecular genetic evidence linking schizophrenia and depression, if replicated, could have important implications for diagnostics and research, say the researchers. They expected to see more overlap between ADHD and autism, but the modest schizophrenia-autism connection is consistent with other emerging evidence.
   The study results also attach numbers to molecular evidence documenting the importance of heritability traceable to common genetic variation in causing these five major mental illnesses. Yet this still leaves much of the likely inherited genetic contribution to the disorders unexplained — not to mention non-inherited genetic factors. For example, common genetic variation accounted for 23 percent of schizophrenia, but evidence from twin and family studies estimate its total heritability at 81 percent. Similarly, the gaps are 25 percent vs. 75 percent for bipolar disorder, 28 percent vs. 75 percent for ADHD, 14 percent vs. 80 percent for autism, and 21 percent vs. 37 percent for depression.
   Among other types of genetic inheritance known to affect risk and not detected in this study are contributions from rare variants not associated with common sites of genetic variation. However, the researchers say that their results show clearly that more illness-linked common variants with small effects will be discovered with the greater statistical power that comes with larger sample sizes.
   “It is encouraging that the estimates of genetic contributions to mental disorders trace those from more traditional family and twin studies. The study points to a future of active gene discovery for mental disorders," NIMH Genomics Research Branch Chief Thomas Lehner said.
   Source: National Institutes of Health

Health Data Exchange Growing, New Study Finds

  (NIH) - 8/10/2013 - New research, published on August 5 in Health Affairs, from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), shows that health information exchange (HIE) between hospitals and other providers jumped 41 percent between 2008 and 2012.
   The research – authored by National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Farzad Mostashari, M.D., and ONC researchers – indicates that six in 10 hospitals actively exchanged electronic health information with providers and hospitals outside their organization in 2012.
   The research suggests that electronic health records (EHRs) and health information organizations (HIOs) are complementary tools used to enable health information exchange. Stage 2 Meaningful Use, which requires eligible hospitals to exchange with outside organizations using different EHR systems and share summary of care records during transitions of care, can help accelerate hospital use of HIE as a means to enhance care quality and safety.
   “We know that the exchange of health information is integral to the ongoing efforts to transform the nation’s health care system and we will continue to see that grow as more hospitals and other providers adopt and use health IT to improve patient health and care,” said Dr. Mostashari. “Our new research is crystal clear: health information exchange is happening and it is growing. But we still have a long road ahead toward universal interoperability.”
   Highlights of the new study show:
   Fifty eight percent of hospitals exchanged data with providers outside their organization in 2012 and hospitals’ exchanges with other hospitals outside their organization more than doubled during the study period.
   Hospitals with basic EHR systems and participating in HIOs had the highest rates of hospital exchange activity in 2012, regardless of the organizational affiliation of the provider exchanging data or the type of clinical information exchanged.
   The proportion of hospitals that adopted at least a basic EHR and participated in an HIO grew more than five-fold from 2008 to 2012.
   Between 2008 and 2012, there were significant increases in the percent of hospitals exchanging radiology reports, laboratory results, clinical care summaries, and medication lists with hospitals and providers outside of their organization.
   Eighty four percent of hospitals that adopted an EHR and participated in a regional HIO exchanged information with providers outside their organization.
   One area that the research found needs more attention is that of care summaries and medication lists. The research found that only about one-third of hospitals exchanged clinical care summaries or medication lists with outside providers.
   To see state-level estimates for several of the measures included in the new study, visit ONC’s Health IT Adoption and Use dashboard at http://dashboard.healthit.gov/. The abstract of the Health Affairs study can be found athttp://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/8/1346.abstract .

   Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services release.

Investment Fund Chief Pleads Guilty in Scheme

   NEW YORK - July 19, 2013 - Abdul Walji and Reniero Francisco, the chief executive officer and president, respectively, of Arista LLC (Arista), a California investment fund, pleaded guilty on July 2 in New York federal court to defrauding and misappropriating nearly $10 million from more than 35 investors by misrepresenting the nature and performance of the fund, and issuing fraudulent account statements to investors to cover up massive losses, announced Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
   Walji also pleaded guilty to perpetrating a multi-million dollar fraudulent scheme with pension plan funds that he managed through three California-based trusts: Allied Benefits Inc., Allied Benefits Trust, and Stone Lamm Trust (collectively, the Trusts). Both defendants were charged in December 2012, and pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote.
    “Abdul Walji and Reniero Francisco told one lie after another in order to squeeze millions of dollars out of their investors, even as they misappropriated nearly $10 million, including at least $2.7 million solely for their own personal benefit,” Bharara said. “Walji even went a step further and orchestrated a second scheme that ultimately cost his victims another approximately $9.5 million. With today’s guilty pleas, they will begin to be held responsible for their actions and repay those wronged by their unlawful conduct.”
   According to the three-count superseding information to which Walji pleaded guilty, the indictment to which Francisco pleaded guilty, the defendants’ plea agreements and other documents in the public record:    
   The Arista Fraudulent Scheme :
   Arista began operations as an investment firm in February 2010, with its principal place of business in Newport Coast, Calif. In April 2011, Arista became a registered commodity pool operator with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and a National Futures Association member.
    In early 2010, Walji and Francisco began to solicit individuals to invest in Arista. From 2010 through 2011, the defendants carried out their fraudulent scheme through three methods. First, Walji and Francisco misrepresented to several Arista investors the nature of the company’s investments and the returns that investors would receive from investing in Arista. For example, Walji and Francisco falsely told investors that their money would be invested in safe, risk-free securities, when in fact much of the money was invested in options and futures. Second, Walji and Francisco sent fraudulent account performance statements to Arista investors that misrepresented the value of their investments. In an effort to secure additional contributions, the defendants also concealed Arista’s trading losses, and told investors that they were profiting from their investments when they were actually losing money. Finally, Walji and Francisco misappropriated at least $2.7 million from Arista’s investors through fees to which they were not entitled, and which Walji and Francisco diverted for their own personal benefit. Based on their false representations, Walji and Francisco collected nearly $10 million from over 35 investors, and they ultimately misappropriated a large portion of the money.
    From early 2008 through June 2013, Walji also perpetrated a separate fraudulent scheme using pension plan funds that he administered. Similar to the scheme set forth above, Walji executed his fraudulent scheme through three principal methods. First, Walji made oral misrepresentations to existing and potential clients of the Trusts concerning: (i) the nature of the Trusts’ pension plan investments; (ii) the investment value and past performance of the pension plans; and (iii) the source of funds distributed to plan participants who had reached retirement and/or who had requested distributions. Second, Walji distributed fraudulent statements to clients concerning the value of their accounts and the prior performance of their pension plans in order to forestall redemption requests, induce new clients to contribute to the plans, and induce existing clients to make additional contributions. As selected clients reached retirement age or requested disbursements, Walji sent those clients money that he represented to be proceeds of their individual pensions, when in fact he knew that the purported disbursements were often funds contributed by other clients. Third, Walji misappropriated approximately $300,000 of client funds for his personal use. In total, this scheme caused losses to approximately 35 additional victims in an aggregate amount of approximately $9.5 million.
   Walji, 60, of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, one count of commodities fraud, and one count of securities fraud. The securities fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; the commodities fraud charge carries a maximum sentencing of 10 years in prison; and the conspiracy charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Francisco, 57, of Newport Coast, Calif., pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud and one count of securities fraud.
   In connection with their guilty pleas, Walji consented to forfeit $13.6 million and Francisco consented to forfeit $4.1 million. The defendants also agreed to forfeit the proceeds of several bank and trading accounts.
   This case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David I. Miller and Christopher D. Frey are in charge of the prosecution. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Monteleoni is in charge of the asset forfeiture related to the prosecution.
   Source: Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force

Domestic Surveillance Practices Are Indefensible

                     By Steve Rensberry

                          Commentary

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   (RPC) - 7/4/2013 - The massive data mining practices currently being undertaken by agencies in the United States are like a knife in the heart to a free and open society.
   Irrespective of the government's stated intent that it means us no harm and that they are only seeking to protect us from terrorism, the mass surveillance and collection of an entire population's Internet communications and phone records--and who knows what else--is deeply damaging to the body politic.
   The goal, it would seem, is not merely to apprehend criminals and punish them when others are hurt, but to predict the behavior of all of us through an analysis of both our behavior and thoughts -- gleaned from the words we use and the things we share and derived from digital algorithms and selected criteria hatched behind guarded doors and the walls of secretive agencies. There is nothing inherently wrong with taking reasonable steps to prevent crime, but what is freedom worth without the basic right to free and open communication? Digital communication is all but ubiquitous in a modern society.
   The government, and the National Security Agency in particular, has no justifiable reason in digging for data on innocent Americans, or in collecting metadata that contains details of who people talk to, what they read and what they do in the digital world. Certainly the objective of fighting terrorism can be accomplished with far less intrusive means, that respects our privacy.
   What we now know is that every email you send to your relatives, every phone call you make and receive, every business dealing,  financial transaction and text message that you make using electronic communication, will now be analyzed, scanned, profiled and stored indefinitely for easy access by agents snooping for dirt.
   Who will be watching the watchers?

   It is not Google the search engine you will be using to search the Internet. It is, for all practical purposes, a government search engine. The same can be said for Yahoo, Microsoft's Bing, Facebook and all the rest of today's Internet giants who are now routinely ordered to hand over records containing some of the most personal electronics transactions we make.
   Entrusting our data with private-sector corporations is one thing. Having it collected and stored by powerful government agencies as though we were common criminals who need constant surveillance is another thing entirely.
   David Rosen, writing about "6 Government Survillance Programs Designed to Watch What You Do Online," noted in June of 2012 the growing list of methods by which the U.S. government tracks, without probably cause, the behavior and habits of its own civilians. These include a procedure by the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property section to gather data from social networking sites in order to "establish motives and personal relationships"; the IRS practice of using sites such as Facebook and Google to investigate taxpayers; an effort by the Director of National Intelligence to obtain a mechanism to "integrate all online information,"; a Defense Department effort involving a "Social Media Strategic Communications (SMISC) program; and an FBI effort to develop an "FBI Social Media Application," program.
   Add to these a long list of other government surveillance projects such as the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative; PRISM; DCSNet: Main Core: NSA Call Database; Intelligence Community (IC); Financial Crimes Enforcement Task Force: Terrorist Finance Tracking Program; Tailored Access Operations and Boundless Informant .
   A June 15, 2013 story by the Associated Press entitled "PRISM part of a much larger government surveillance program,"  cites a program called US-98XN which predates the PRISM program and which it says has been collecting data on U.S. citizens from private sector companies for years.

   Other past efforts have included Project Echelon, the Total Information Awareness System, the COINTELPRO program and Spygate.
   Computer and digital technology has provided us with tremendous freedom to express our ideas and to communicate, all at speeds that would have been unimaginable just 20 years ago. We can send, receive and store practically an endless number of photos, documents and messages.
   But it's a freedom that clearly has become a two-edged sword.
   It's sad and unfortunate, but the days of deep encryption, digital privacy fences, multiple aliases and the serious mistrust of everything we see and hear, appear poised to grow exponentially.
   Unless things change, the days of a free and open Internet, of corporations that can be trusted to safeguard our data for an exchange of services and revenue, would appear all but dead. (Edited with corrections, July 5, 2013)

For further reading:

NSA spying FAQ

Spying on Americans

NSA: It Would Violate Your Privacy Right To Say If We Spied On You
In NSA Surveillance, Echoes of World War I
Revealed: NSA program collects 'nearly everything a user does on the internet'