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Setauket Harbor: In the last decade, Shore Road along Setauket Harbor has flooded approximately a half a dozen times a year, which is more than in the past due to astronomical tides. “All coastal communities will be increasingly impacted by rising sea level, and sea level rise goes hand in hand with climate change,” George Hoffman of the Setauket Harbor Task Force said. “One way to identify the areas that will be impacted is to look at the areas that are now impacted by storms and astronomical tides. All the low-level shore areas in the Three Village community are the most vulnerable. And, they tend to be the areas that we like to go down to, along the shore, such as beaches and docks and harbor areas. It is projected that in the next hundred years as sea level continues to rise that we will see portions of Route 25A flooding during storm events that we haven’t seen before.” Photo by Maria Hoffman

By Sapphire Perera

I haven’t been to school in 13 days and I don’t know when I’m going back. Many of the shelves in the grocery stores are empty, toilet paper is sold out and everyone is self-quarantining. This panic and fear are due to the outbreak of the most current pandemic — the coronavirus, also known as COVID-19. This new strain of coronavirus originated in China and has spread globally. While it seems improbable that there’s a connection between pandemics and climate change, past pandemics prove otherwise. This connection shows us that for every action, there is a reaction.

Interview with Dr. Lisa M. Chirch

Dr. Lisa M. Chirch is a associate professor of medecine at the University of Connecticut who specializes in infectionous diseases.

SP: Sapphire Perera; LC: Lisa Chirch

SP: Due to habitat loss, there is evidence of vector transference between wild animals and livestock. Do you think this will eventually involve household pets, which may be more susceptible to loss of native immunity? 

LC: Good question, and very important to those of us with household pets we adore as part of the family. To date, it is unclear whether viral infections such as COVID-19 can infect dogs and cats, or whether they would become ill if infected. It really depends on the specific organism and how they infect, which tissues are targets, which receptors are used for cell entry, etc. Certainly, the potential for domestic animals to be affected is present, and we should probably be taking similar precautions with our beloved pets as with our family members whom we want to protect.

SP: Extreme changes in global weather patterns are one factor of climate change. With increases in climate change and warmer weather, do you feel that future pandemics will originate in places such as North America and Western Europe instead of Asia and Africa, as they did with the 1918 Spanish flu?

LC: Throughout history, pandemics have originated from sites all over the world. Pandemics originate when humans are exposed to “novel” organisms we have never seen before, exposing populations without immunity. Over time these have frequently been related to the animal/human interface in some way, with organisms “jumping” from one species to another, and in the worst-case scenario, becoming efficient at human-to-human transmission. So, to the extent that climate change drives animals and humans further together, it drives the possibility of further epidemics. Importantly, climate change has more immediate and tangible effects on infectious diseases in humans that have been recently notable, such as the appearance of certain mosquito-borne arboviruses in the southern U.S. (dengue, chikungunya, Zika), and tick-borne illnesses migrating northward as well, with the associated northward movement of the tick species that carry them.

Sapphire Perera

Climate change has made our winters shorter and the weather unseasonably warm. This global increase in temperature is just one of the causes of climate change, and directly affects vectors i.e., disease-carrying organisms such as mosquitoes, ticks, fleas and flies. These vectors spread diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, West Nile virus, and yellow fever which are some of the worst pandemics. The global increase in temperature is driving these vectors further from the equator and into the northern hemisphere. For instance, the United States has seen increased cases of dengue and malaria in Florida, California and Texas. Europe and the U.S. may soon be subjected to the same epidemics that plague people in equatorial climates. In contrast, other regions that usually struggle through the worst of the pandemics and epidemics will see a decrease in the number of outbreaks.

The increase in temperature, rainfall and humidity also creates more breeding grounds for vectors, leading to the easier spread of diseases. This was exemplified by India’s monsoon season from 1994 to 1996. The excessive monsoon rainfall and high humidity in the Punjab region of India led to an increase in malaria epidemics in places such as Rajasthan, Manipur, Nagaland and Haryana. Recent studies have shown that El Niño has actually increased the malaria epidemic risk in India by about fivefold. El Niño scientists have discovered increases in incidences of cholera, Zika, chikungunya, and hantavirus with El Niño occurrences. 

Deforestation is another cause of climate change that brings vectors closer to urban communities.  Sonia Shah, the author of the book “Pandemic,” says in her article in The Nation, “When deforestation threatens the survival of wild species, there are more opportunities for animal microbes to adapt to human bodies.” One example from the many pandemics that we’ve had in the past is the Ebola outbreak. In places such as Central and West Africa, there have been serious deforestation and habitat losses for bats, which are vectors for Ebola. These bats started inhabiting places closer to urban populations which, in turn, increased the likelihood of Ebola outbreaks. Studies in 12 countries have actually shown that it is twice as common to have vector mosquitoes in deforested areas than in intact forests. 

Apart from bringing vectors close to human communities, climate change is introducing prehistoric diseases to mankind. In 2016, the Russian city of Yakutsk saw the outbreak of anthrax during a heat wave in Siberia. The thawing permafrost soil there released long-dormant bacteria and viruses that had been trapped in the ice for centuries. One 12-year-old boy died and at least 20 people were hospitalized from infection. Scientists speculate that more diseases lie beneath the ice and with the rising global temperature, we may see the reemergence of diseases such as smallpox, the bubonic plague and the 1918 Spanish flu.

Since January, there has been a significant universal decrease in social and economic activity. The results from this are astounding. First of all, since there has been slower economic activity, there has been a drop in carbon dioxide emissions. In Hubei province in Central China, there has been a drop in air pollution as the cloud of nitrogen dioxide evaporated in February. Italy saw similar results in its environment pertaining to nitrogen dioxide levels. Additionally, the once-murky canal water in Venice is now so clear that you can see the fish below. In countries all over the world, we are seeing changes like this. Unfortunately, it’s taking a pandemic brought about by climate change to reduce climate change.

Sapphire Perera is a junior at Port Jefferson high school. The “Turtle Island,” as the name for this ongoing column refers to the Native American mythology about North America existing on the back of a great turtle that bears every living being on its spine.

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For the first time, people could choose to complete the U.S. Census online, by phone, or by mail. Stock photo

By Lisa Scott

Covid-19 is affecting every aspect of our lives. Businesses are being told to reduce staffing or if deemed “non-essential” to shutter altogether; unemployment claims are soaring; individuals are being urged to practice “social distancing” or simply stay home if possible; parents are experiencing a growing concern about their children’s education as school closings seem indefinite; necessary medical resources remain in short supply; and the most vulnerable among us — the homeless — are reaching new levels of despair and hopelessness. 

However, even though we are told that the situation “will get worse before it gets better,” it is vitally important that we focus on planning ahead for both our personal well-being and that of our communities.

Stock photo

Lost in the relentless bad news is the immediate AND long term importance of our decennial Census. The 2020 Census will determine congressional representation, inform hundreds of billions in federal funding every year, and provide data that will impact communities for the next decade. Each one of us should educate ourselves, prioritize our response, and support efforts to ensure that ALL members of our communities are aware and participating in the Census. 

According to the New York Times, “Even at its smoothest, the decennial census is among the most sprawling and complicated exercises in American society, mandated by the Constitution to count every person in the nation, whether in homes, prisons or under freeway viaducts; whether citizens or undocumented immigrants in hiding. The 2020 census already was destined to be an even more daunting venture — the first ever conducted mostly online, in a deeply polarized nation where mistrust of the government and immigrants fearful of authorities could make an accurate count harder than in recent memory.”

A few basics: You should have already received the census invitation in the mail. You can easily complete the survey via online, telephone or USPS mail, whether or not you received the invitation. Visit https://2020census.gov/en/ways-to-respond.html for a clear explanation of this part of the process and to submit your response. Telephone responses are encouraged at 844-330-2020 (English) and 12 languages are also supported (these phone numbers are on the website).

The Census period runs from mid-March until late August. You will receive several reminders if you haven’t responded, including a paper questionnaire in early April and a follow up in person. 

All 2020 Census responses are kept confidential and private. Under Title 13 of the U.S. code, the Census Bureau cannot release any identifiable information about you, your home, or your business, even to law enforcement agencies. Your responses cannot be shared and cannot be used against you by any government agency or court in any way. The answers you provide are used only to produce statistics. You are kept anonymous.

Many consider the Census an invasion of our privacy or worse, thus ALL of us should more clearly understand the representation and resource allocation impact if we don’t complete the survey. In 2017 the Census Bureau examined the 2015 distribution of funds based on the 2010 Census, and included those federal programs using Census Bureau data to distribute funds in one of three ways: selection and/or restriction of recipients of funds, award or allocation of funds and monitoring and assessment of program performance. 

The 2017 study https://2020census.gov/content/dam/2020census/materials/partners/2020-01/Uses-of-Census-Bureau-Data-in-Federal-Funds-Distribution.pdf found more than $675 billion thus distributed, up from more than $400 billion in a 2009 study. The 2020 could have nearly $1 trillion at stake, and our communities will suffer if our negligence denies us our “fair share.”

The U.S. Constitution mandates that the country count its population once every 10 years. The results are used to adjust or redraw electoral districts, based on where populations have increased or decreased. State legislatures or independent bipartisan commissions are responsible for redrawing congressional districts. 

By April 1 of the year following the decennial census, the Secretary of Commerce is required to furnish the state officials or their designees with population counts for American Indian areas, counties, cities, census blocks, and state-specified congressional, legislative, and voting districts. Thus, in mid 2021, our New York State Legislature will receive the data from which they will redistrict and redraw lines. Our number of Congressional seats will also be reflected; it is expected that New York State may lose a seat because of uncounted populations. 

We ALL need to complete the census — our representation and our share of federal and state resources are at stake!

Lisa Scott is president of the League of Women Voters of Suffolk County, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, visit www.lwv-suffolkcounty.org or call 631-862-6860.

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Roast Chicken. Stock photo

By Barbara Beltrami

I never thought I’d be living through a time of pandemic virus and quarantines. In light of that, writing about food seems rather frivolous.  Or does it? After all, we still have to eat and build our resistance, and we have to eat well.  

With cabin fever, boredom and fear occupying our very existence, there seem to be very few pleasures left to us. So why not turn to food, the comfort that never quits. If your pantry, fridge and freezer are well stocked, and I hope they are, it’s a good time to take to the stove and oven and revitalize your cooking and baking skills, your appetite and your spirits.  

This is a time for comfort food. Make some soups and freeze them; skim off some broth for future use (just in case). Use up leftovers in casseroles and stews; revert to the habits of our ancestors who wasted nothing. Bake a batch of cookies or brownies and whip up some soothing puddings and custards. Clean out the pantry, fridge and freezer to make room for new additions. Use long forgotten items, if they’re still okay, as the inspiration for creative concoctions. 

Here are two recipes for the ultimate in comfort food, Roast Chicken and Pot Roast.

Roast Chicken

Roast Chicken. Stock photo

YIELD: Makes 4 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

One 3 to 4 pound chicken, trimmed of excess fat, rinsed and patted dry 

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 475 F. Remove innards and rub inside cavity generously with salt and pepper. Place chicken, breast side down, on a rack in a roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, herbs (sage, rosemary and parsley work well) and salt and pepper. Drizzle half the oil mixture over chicken, then turn so breast side is up and drizzle remaining mixture over it. 

Roast until breast starts to brown, about 8 to 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 325 F. Baste with pan juices and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 160 to 165 F, about 50 to 60 minutes. 

When chicken is ready, tip pan so juices run from cavity into pan, remove bird to platter or cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, transfer juices to small saucepan and skim off as much fat from juices as possible. Reheat juice and pour over carved chicken. Serve hot or warm with rice or potatoes and a salad or green veggie. (Reserve carcass for chicken soup.)

Pot Roast

YIELD: Makes 6 to 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

One 3 1/2 to 4 pound beef brisket

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1/4 cup oil

4 smashed garlic cloves

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped

6 carrots , peeled and cut into large chunks

2 celery ribs, cut into quarters

1 bay leaf

2 cups dry red wine

3 cups beef or vegetable broth

One 14 ounce can whole plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped with their juice

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 325 F. In a large Dutch oven heat the oil over medium-high heat. Season the brisket with salt and pepper and add it to the pot, fat side down. Cook until dark brown, about 5 minutes; turn and cook 5 more minutes. Remove and set aside. Add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery and bay leaf, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions are transparent and start to brown, about 10 minutes. 

Return brisket to pot, add wine, broth and tomatoes, cover and place in oven. Cook, turning once, for 3 hours. Remove brisket, remove celery and bay leaf from pot and discard. Mash vegetables in pot, then over medium-high heat, cook veggies and liquid until reduced and somewhat thickened, about 10 minutes. Return brisket to pot; over medium-low heat, cook in liquid until heated through, about 10 minutes. Remove brisket from pot, slice, place on platter and smother with liquid. Serve immediately with noodles or mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

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Photo by John Turner

By John L. Turner

This is the first of a two-part series.

Like most people I’ve always liked to collect things. Some objects were mainstream — baseball cards and comic books as a kid, for example, but some were decidedly not. As an adult I’ve had a prolonged passion for old bird books dating from the end of the nineteenth century through the beginning of the twentieth.

Looking around my study from where I write this, I realize I have a lot of objects that fit the latter “non-mainstream” category — deer antlers, assorted shells and other marine objects, mammal skulls, numerous pine cones, and a bird nest or two lying scattered along the leading edge of the shelves that hold the beloved bird books.

I also realize these objects, collected from countless outdoor explorations, represent a window to the world of nature that lays accessible on the other side of each of our front doors.

I’ve especially liked to collect items found along the shore, of which we have a lot. I have a favorite piece of driftwood, its edges rounded and softened from years in the elements. In it sits two species of whelk shells — Knobbed and Channeled Whelk, both species of sea snails native to Long Island’s marine waters.

Knobbed Whelk gets its name from knobs or projections that lay along the coil situated on the top of the shell; the Channeled Whelk’s name comes from a coiled channel or suture that runs along the inside edge of the spiral. These two species are closely related, belonging to the same genus; sometimes referred to as conch, they are the source of scungilli, the Italian dish especially popular around the holidays.

If you spend anytime strolling along the shoreline of Long Island Sound you’ve probably seen further evidence of whelk — their tan-colored egg cases washed up in the wrack line. Complex objects they are, consisting of upwards of a dozen or more quarter-sized compartments, connected by a thread, reminiscent of a broken Hawaiian lei.

If you find an egg case shake it vigorously; if it sounds like a baby’s rattle you’ll be rewarded by opening up one of the leathery compartments, because the objects causing the sound are many perfectly formed, tiny whelks. 

As I recently found out, you can identify the whelk species by the shape of the egg case compartments — Channeled have a pinched margin like what a chef does to a dumpling while the margins of Knobbed have an edge like a coin. How an adult whelk makes this highly complex structure with several dozen baby whelks in each unit is a complete mystery to me.

On the shelf next to the driftwood is another egg case ­— this one from a skate and, as with whelk egg cases, it’s often found as an item deposited in the beach’s wrack line. Black, with a shine on its surface, it is rectangular with four parentheses-like projections sticking out from the four corners. Skates, related to sharks, are distinctive shaped fish with “wings” and several species are found in the marine waters around Long Island including Winter, Barndoor, and Little Skates. 

The cases are sometimes called “mermaids purses,” a wonderfully colorful name, although I’ve never seen any items a mermaid would carry inside one. If you look closely you can see the broken seam, along one of the shorter edges, where the baby skate emerged.

The distinctive shell of Northern Moon Snails are another common item found by beachcombers and a common item on my shelf — with four prized specimens, including the largest I’ve ever seen, they are the second-most common item I have. (Various pinecones are the most common but that’s for a future column).

Moon snails are shellfish predators, possessing a massive foot that’s 3x to 4x the size of the shell when it spreads out that it uses to push through sand. If you’ve ever picked up a clam or mussel shell with a round little hole through it you’ve just picked up a Moon Snail victim. They use a specialized “tongue” called a radula to rasp their way into the shell of a bivalve. Once through the shell, the snail secretes a weak acid that helps dissolve the tissue of the clam or mussel which the snail slurps up.

Twice while beach combing I’ve found other evidence of a Moon Snail — a sandy, semi-circular collar made of sand grains held together by gluelike mucus the snail secretes. These are egg masses, an intact one shaped like a nearly closed letter “C” (the two I found were half of that as they are fragile and easily broken). Each collar contains scores of snail eggs which develop and hatch if not predated by smaller snails like oyster drills and periwinkles.

Rounding out the discussion of my study’s marine objects are two other shells: Jingle Shells and Slipper Shells — the first a bivalve, the second a species of snail. Jingle shells, get their name from the jingling sound they make if you shake a few together in your hand and are used to make wind chimes you’ll sometimes see hanging from beach houses. They are beautiful and iridescent, coming in several different colors — orange, yellow, white, and grey. Jingle shells are also known as “mermaid’s toenails.”

Slipper shells are also fascinating animals. All slipper shells start off as male but as they mature they become female. They often stack with the larger females on bottom and the smaller males on top, making the species a “sequential hermaphrodite.” Occasionally you’ll see a slipper shell attached to a horseshoe crab. These gifts and others await you on a stroll along Long Island’s hundreds of miles of shoreline.

A resident of Setauket, John Turner is conservation chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, author of “Exploring the Other Island: A Seasonal Nature Guide to Long Island” and president of Alula Birding & Natural History Tours.

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Stock photo

By Leah S. Dunaief

Leah Dunaief

Hello. Here we are again, one week later and still in the midst of COVID-19. In fact, we are in a lot deeper. I’m sure, even if we here in New York are used to being the center of everything, that it doesn’t make you a little bit happy to know we are at the epicenter of the United States pandemic. 

By the way, have you figured out how novel coronavirus morphed into  COVID-19? It was pointed out to me that the CO comes from corona, the VI from virus and the D stands for disease. The number 19 represents 2019, the year it emerged and flung itself on the unsuspecting population of the world. In fact, this new coronavirus was named by the World Health Organization.

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Robert Burns wrote that saying, and well before COVID-19. Only he said it more elegantly in “To a Mouse.” What the Scottish poet wrote was, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men/Gang aft awry.” Well, I suspect you too, like me, are feeling awry or off-balance. 

This past Sunday was to be our 44thth annual People of the Year celebration at the Three Village Inn in Stony Brook. There we would have handed out certificates and expressed appreciation to those who had worked to make our lives better during 2019. Instead all such gatherings were shut down for fear of contagion. Breakfast and luncheon appointments were cancelled, meetings were postponed indefinitely, children were home from shuttered schools and colleges, and supermarkets were swept clean of all animal protein and, would you believe, toilet paper.

This whole subject has got to be the dark comic relief of the times we are living through, as I have mentioned before. Who would have imagined that social status could be determined by how many rolls of toilet paper one possesses? Never mind Rolls Royces! Open your bathroom cabinet and let’s see how many rolls you’ve got in there. I’m happily receiving all sorts of cartoons on the subject. The latest one shows a typical family of four: — husband, wife, daughter and son, — in a subterranean room, up to their waists in rolls of the stuff, and the father asking, “Did anyone bring any food?”

There are things I have learned since this all began. I’m not talking about the big stuff, like what’s really important in life. No, more basic things. I never thought, when washing my hands, that I should also be including my wrists. I considered washing my hands to be just my hands. Now I soap up to above my wrist bone for the requisite 20 seconds, then rinse thoroughly. So if you see me and the front of my blouse is a little wet, you’ll know that I was diligent.

But you probably won’t see me, and I won’t see you because of self-isolation and social distancing. From six feet away, you won’t be able to judge the condition of my blouse. 

And by the way, how is your unsocial life going? Under the heading of learning new things, I have participated in my first Zoom session. And my second. And my third. The meetings were with the sales staff, and although we couldn’t share the cookies or pretzels usually brought by sales people to the meetings, we did get to see each others’ faces and hated the sight of our own necks.

All joking aside, I am as worried about the survival, among others, of small businesses in our villages as I am about the virus. That includes our business. It is short-term survival when revenues only trickle in and expenses continue rushing out. 

We know what we do, by delivering the latest news and vital information, is essential for the community. And in fact, so is what the other businesses do, for they make up the hearts of our villages. The government has just offered help for us to survive. We hope it arrives in time. 

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METRO photo

By Daniel Dunaief

Daniel Dunaief

You know those glasses you wear at the eye doctor when you have to identify images that stand out on the card in your hand? These days, I feel as if I’m wearing them everywhere I go.

Take, for example, my trip to the supermarket. Before coronavirus, I often nodded to the people who stock shelves and chatted with the cashiers, acknowledging them but perhaps not appreciating them sufficiently. Nowadays, the entire food services crew stands out.

The people who worked on the farms that grew the products, the ones who went to the factory that refined it, the drivers who transported it to the stores and, eventually, the residents of our community who placed it on the shelves are making it possible for us to feed our families.

Each time I shop, I would walk around giving the local supermarket workers a hug, but that would violate social distancing, and would be pretty awkward.

Then, there are the pharmacists, who stand in their white lab coats mixing our medicines. We need them, now more than ever, to ensure we get the right amount of the right drugs.

Of course, even when I’m not seeing the doctors, nurses, police, and other first responders, I’m well aware of the front line in the battle against the pandemic. Each one of these people is putting their lives on the line when they interact with people who may carry an infection for which their bodies have no resistance, no matter how much coffee they drink or how much they hope they are invincible. With coronavirus glasses, I see them perform their heroic jobs each day, despite the concerns they may have about bringing the disease home to their families or limiting their contact with their relatives.

Fortunately, we are not so isolated that most of us can’t see important people in our lives through FaceTime. Many people contributed to the development of the phones that have become an extension of our bodies. The ones who made the futuristic Jetsons’ notion, in the animated sitcom, of seeing people as we talked to them have made it possible for us to connect from any distance, even if the ones we wish to hug are waiting out the storm in their living room next door.

Scientists throughout the world are working tirelessly to figure out the best ways to treat people lined up in hospitals or to create a vaccine that will protect us in the future. I am privileged to talk to scientists every day, although I haven’t spoken to any of the ones working on a treatment or vaccine. These researchers come from everywhere, are indifferent to national borders, and often are driven to make new discoveries, help humanity and make a difference in the world. Those of us who receive treatments or a vaccine for which they made a contribution can assure them that what they do matters.

The entire team involved in heating, cooling and lighting my home also stand out, as do the ones who created magnificent and inspiring films, books, and home entertainment.

Each day, people like Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) and County Executive Steve Bellone (D) work tirelessly and visibly on our behalf. On Bellone’s daily media calls, he has remained level-headed, determined, and focused during the difficult balancing act of trying to protect our health while working to revive the economy, once the crisis clears.

I’m sure I’ve left many people off the list who deserve appreciation. In fact, if you, the reader, would like to share a few of the people whose work and dedication you appreciate, please write in and share your thoughts to [email protected].

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From left, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone (D). Photo from the governor’s office

In the panic of the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic that killed, by several differing estimates, 50 to 100 million people worldwide, nobody trusted anybody, whether it was their neighbors or even their friends or family. The distrust started early when the government started lying to them, telling them it was just another standard flu, not to be worried about. 

Once people saw men and women bleeding from their mouths and noses in the middle of the street, they knew it wasn’t just a mild influenza. The level of trust was so bad there were reports people starved in their homes, with nobody willing to bring them food in the most rural areas of this country.

A crisis requires clear leadership. It cannot be politically motivated. It cannot be muddled in the daily sparring of political actors. It has to be precise, meaningful and factual. 

We here at TBR News Media are thankful that some officials are doing just that today in our time of crisis. 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has to be commended for his response to the coronavirus crisis. Cuomo laid his cards on the table. He has been upfront about getting people statistics and updates on what the state is doing. He has made more and more drastic decisions in order to curb the number of infected people within the state.

“If you are upset by what we have done, be upset at me,” he said at a March 17 press conference. “County executives did not do this. The village mayor did not do this. The city mayor did not make these decisions. I made these decisions.”

Cuomo added, “The buck stops on my desk … I assume full responsibility.”

By owning the problems these executive decisions have caused, the governor has accepted the responsibility for everything that is happening and will happen. 

That doesn’t just take guts, that takes a true sense of civic responsibility and leadership.

We agree with that. We need only look at Italy to see just how destabilizing the disease can be if it’s left unchecked for too long. Doctors and nurses there have been made to triage, making decisions that mean life and death for some patients rather than others. 

We should also laud County Executive Steve Bellone (D), who on his daily calls with the press has been forthcoming in all details related to COVID-19. His answers have so far been consistent, and we hope such reliable communication continues.

There is no way to know the true impact of everything going on here long term. As expansive testing makes its way onto Long Island, finally, the number of known cases has spiked. We have not seen the end of it, nor really the peak, medical experts have warned.

That’s not even mentioning the economic impacts. Companies, both large and small, being shuttered for weeks on end could mean many thousands of unemployed people in just a few short months regardless of stimulus packages from Congress. Business owners have had to limit hours and foot traffic, or otherwise close completely. Many of those storefronts may never open their doors again.

There’s something strange about how mankind seeks strong leadership in trying times. There have been more than one book and movie about how people have handed power over to tyrants when the stage is set for mass upheaval. 

But this is a case of officials doing what they were elected to do. Every measure is instigated with a calm reassurance with a note of trying to make things better. This is New York at its best. We saw it with 9/11, and we’re seeing it here again. 

That is the kind of leadership we need now.

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Above, from left, Kenneth Kaushansky, Dean of the Renaissance School of Medicine; Anissa Abi-Dargham; Henry Tannous; Ute Moll; and Michael Bernstein, Interim President of SBU.

By Daniel Dunaief

A heart and lung doctor, a researcher who works on imaging for schizophrenia and a scientist working with a mutation that affects cancer last month received endowed inaugural chair positions at Stony Brook University.

Ute Moll is the Renaissance Endowed Professor in Cancer Biology, Anissa Abi-Dargham is the Lourie Endowed Chair in Psychiatry and Henry Tannous is the General Ting Feng Cheng Endowed Chair in Cardiothoracic Surgery.

In addition to adding the prestigious titles and winning support from local benefactors and philanthropists, the three researchers will each receive annual financial support from their positions that will sustain their research and education efforts. TBR News Media is highlighting the research from each of these standout scientists.

Ute Moll

Ute Moll

A native of Germany, Ute Moll, who is studying the six most common mutated forms of the highly researched p53 gene, is grateful for the donors, the funds and the recognition. “It’s pretty prestigious to have an endowed chair or professorship attached to your name or title,” she said 

Moll described the p53 mutations as the “most common mutation in cancer.” She has been working with a mouse model. The p53 R248 hotspot is the single most common variant in all p53 altered tumor types, which occurs in about 66,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients in the United States each year.

If these mice also have a gene called Myc, they get either liver or colon cancer. By receiving an estrogen derivative drug called Tamoxifen, which is used in breast cancer, the active, mutated version of the p53 gene is turned off when another gene called Cre recombinase is activated. By removing the p53 gene, the mice live two to three times longer than they would have.

In a typical mouse, cancer can cause over 100 tumor nodules, leaving almost no normal liver. When Moll and her colleagues turned off the mutant gene, the size of the cancer is much more limited, with only a few remaining nodules.

One particular mouse lived for more than two months, eventually dying of an unrelated lymphoma. The liver, however, which had an infection across the entire organ, didn’t show a single trace of a tumor. It was completely normal, despite the ubiquitous tumor nodules before treatment.

Thus far, targeting this mutated p53 is a concept Moll and her colleagues have developed in pre-clinical mouse models of lymphoma, colon and liver cancer, but it doesn’t yet have a clinical application. 

Liver cancer used to be relatively rare in the population, driven largely by infection from hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as through alcoholism. Amid an epidemic of obesity, people are developing a chronically inflammatory liver condition, which increases the incidence of liver cancer.

Anissa Abi-Dargham

Anissa Abi-Dargham

A specialist in Positron Emission Tomography (or PET) imaging for schizophrenia, Anissa Abi-Dargham is pleased with the opportunity to deploy the funds for her work at her discretion.

“The beauty of these funds is that they are totally flexible,” she explained, adding that she plans to use the funds to pursue new research ideas that might not otherwise get funding until she can use data to prove a concept or principal. 

“This is really a great honor because it means that the institution believes in you and wants to invest and retain you,” she said.

In her work, Abi-Dargham has been using imaging to see what is causing dopamine dis-regulation, either with too much or too little of the neurotransmitter. 

She is looking at two systems that may explain the imbalance: the cholinergic system and the kappa opioid system.

Abi-Dargham had been at Columbia University for 20 years before joining Stony Brook over three years ago. She appreciates the school investing in a state-of-the-art imaging center. “The people in charge of this imaging center are very much investing in promoting imaging for neuroscience and psychiatry,” she said.

Based on her findings in schizophrenia, other investigators in the United Kingdom have documented dopamine levels before schizophrenia symptoms begin.

She hopes her research discovers biomarkers that can be used to predict who is going to convert to having schizophrenia.

Patients do better when the onset of symptoms is later in their lives because their more mature brain has fostered better organized life, skill sets, and relationships.

She is also testing whether other markers, such as a neuromelanin, which is a metabolite of dopamine and binds iron-like materials, will show up on a Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan before the disease.

Henry Tannous

Henry Tannous

Henry Tannous joined Stony Brook University in 2016 and is excited to be a part of the current team and to help shape the future of clinical practice and research.

Tannous called the endowed chair position an “absolute honor.” It will not only allow him to continue with his current work, but it’s also going to enable him to expand his research. He will also use some of the funds to provide continuing education for his staff.

The financial support will allow him to hire research assistants and access national databases. Tannous and his research team of cardiothoracic and lung scientists use registries from the New York State Department of Health registry and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, each of which provides the data for a price.

With his lung work, Tannous focuses on state 1 lung cancer. Traditionally, he said, people have received a diagnosis late in the development of the disease. Over the past few years, doctors have diagnosed patients at an earlier point.

Earlier diagnoses became more prevalent after Medicare approved lung cancer screening in 2015, which picked up more cases while patients were still in the earlier stages, when the cancer might otherwise be asymptomatic.

“We would like to know more about how the disease affects [patients] and their quality of life,” Tannous said. His lab has a collaboration with Mount Sinai Hospital to learn more about the effect of the disease on the lives of the patients.

With his heart research, he’s focusing on aortic disease and is testing the limits of the Trans Catheter Aortic Valve Replacement.

Photos courtesy of SBU

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Potatoes Duchess

By Barbara Beltrami

Everybody loves potatoes. Everybody cooks potatoes, and everybody eats potatoes (unless they’re on a crash diet). Mashed, baked, home fries, French fries, roasted, chips, salad, boiled and steamed and more. They lend themselves to so many preparations and cooking methods that it’s no wonder they’re the staple of many diets and figure largely in cuisines all over the world. 

But good as potatoes are, even they get boring. So here are a few recipes that take potatoes to a new level where they are so delicious that they’re sure to nudge over even the crispiest of French fries and the creamiest of mashed potatoes. One is for a rösti, a Swiss version of a large potato pancake. Another is for Hasselbacks, russets cut accordion-style, drenched with butter and olive oil and cooked to golden perfection. And the third is for Duchess potatoes, mashed and then baked to fluffy scrumptiousness.

Rösti

YIELD: Makes 3 to 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound potatoes, peeled

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

DIRECTIONS: 

In a large bowl or food processor coarsely grate potatoes; thoroughly mix in salt and pepper; let mixture sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a second bowl (and don’t worry about any discoloring). 

Over medium-high heat, pour oil into heavy 8-inch skillet; test oil by dropping in a potato shred, and if it sizzles, it’s ready. Being careful of a few inevitable spatters, gently drop mixture by handfuls into hot oil, starting with center of pan and moving outward to edges; using the back of a spoon or spatula, flatten into an even pancake. Lower heat but keep it high enough to maintain a good sizzle (don’t let bottom brown too quickly), about 15 minutes. 

Carefully slide rösti onto a dinner plate; keep skillet over heat. Put another dinner plate over rösti and holding the two plates tightly together, invert them so brown bottom of pancake is now on top. Remove top plate and slide rösti back into skillet, brown side up. Continue cooking until potatoes are tender and new bottom is browned, about 6 to 8 minutes. Slide onto platter, cut into wedges and serve hot with meat, poultry or fish and a green vegetable.

Potatoes Duchess

YIELD: Makes 4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

Ground nutmeg to taste

2 eggs lightly beaten with 2 egg yolks

DIRECTIONS: 

In a large pot of boiling salted water cook potatoes, covered, until soft but not mushy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain potatoes and dry them by shaking them in pan over heat. Put potatoes through a sieve or ricer, add butter, salt and pepper, nutmeg, eggs and egg yolks; beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until very smooth and fluffy. Preheat broiler; place potato mixture in a pastry bag and pipe into desired shapes or portions in a shallow baking pan or cookie sheet; place under broiler to brown on top. Serve immediately with a fine cut of beef or delicate fish.

Hasselbacks

YIELD: Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup snipped chives

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup minced flat leaf parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

6 russet potatoes

DIRECTIONS: 

Preheat oven to 425 F. In a small bowl whisk together the butter, olive oil, garlic, parsley and salt and pepper. Lay potatoes on a cutting board and place the handles of two wooden cooking spoons alongside them lengthwise (this will prevent your cutting all the way through to their bottoms). Cut potatoes into quarter-inch slices leaving 1/4 inch at bottom so they are still attached. Place potatoes in a shallow baking pan and, being sure to get into crevices, brush evenly with butter mixture. Bake until crisp and tender, about one hour. Serve immediately with grilled meat, poultry or fish.

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