Uruguay, a tiny country on South America’s east coast, is bordered by Argentina and Brazil. This is a country with the highest per-capital beef consumption in the world, where cattle outnumber people four to one.
The chivito (translates as “little goat”) is the national sandwich of Uruguay, which is jam-packed with flavor and ingredients. Thin, grilled slices of beef are covered with mozzarella, lettuce, tomatoes, bacon and a fried egg. Many optional toppings including onions, olives, peppers, pickles, mayonnaise and ketchup have also found their way into the sandwich.
Uruguay is South America’s fourth biggest wine producer (after Argentina, Chile and Brazil), but currently less than 5 percent of its bottles are exported. There are about 190 wineries with 22,500 acres of vineyards planted to sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, viognier, albariño, merlot, cabernet franc and cabernet sauvignon.
But the grape Uruguay is most famous for is tannat, a thick-skinned, dark grape capable of producing incredible dark, rich and full-bodied red wines. Tannat, originally from the Madiran district near Bordeaux, France, has 6,500 acres planted, making Uruguay the world’s largest producer.
Beginning in 2018, every bottle of wine from Uruguay will carry a QR code on the label, which can be scanned to reveal everything you need to know about the wine, including soil and vineyard parcel number.
I had an opportunity to taste some of the wines and here are my notes. (Note: Serve all recommended cheeses at room temperature for optimum enjoyment.)
2011 Viña Progreso “Elisa’s Dreams” Tannat. Very dark fruit with plenty of structure, fruit flavor and balance. Pair this wine with some Gouda.
2011 Alto de la Ballena “Tannat 85 percent; Viognier 15 percent.” Bouquet of blackberries, black tea and cocoa. Full-bodied and perfumed with flavors of black cherries. Pairs well with Applewood, a smoked cheddar cheese from England.
2011 Alto de la Ballena “Cabernet Franc.” Deep, garnet colored with a full bouquet and taste of berries, black currants and cherries. Full-bodied and loaded with tannin. Serve with a piece of Cantal cheese from France.
2011 Alto de la Ballena “Merlot.” Bright ruby color with a luscious bouquet of spicy cherries and cinnamon. Medium bodied with flavors of plums and spices. Try with some fontina cheese from Italy.
2015 Bodega Garzón “Sauvignon Blanc.” Perfumed bouquet of citrus, grapefruit and pineapple. Dry with flavors of green apple, melon and mint. Pairs well with feta cheese from Greece.
2015 Bodega Garzón “Albariño.” Tropical overtones with pineapple and papaya in abundance. Flavors of white peach, kiwi, apricot and citrus. Hints of jasmine and litchi. Serve with Bel Paese cheese from Italy and plain crackers.
2014 Bodega Garzón “Tannat.” A full bouquet and taste of black raspberries, black currants, cocoa, dried plums, spices, raisins and coffee. The aftertaste is long and quite pleasing. Don’t miss it! A wedge of your favorite blue cheese would work quite well.
Bob Lipinski, a local author, has written 10 books, including “101: Everything You Need to Know About Whiskey” and “Italian Wine & Cheese Made Simple” (available on Amazon.com). He conducts training seminars on wine, spirit and food and is available for speaking engagements. He can be reached at www.boblipinski.com OR [email protected].
Have you ever known anyone who didn’t like the classic basil pesto? Easy to prepare in a matter of minutes, pesto is a no-fuss-no-cook-no-mess-no-fail concoction that is the invention of some ancient culinary genius in Genoa.
Pesto means sauce in Italian and although basil pesto is by far the best known and most popular version, it can actually be made from a variety of herbs and other ingredients. There are six basic ingredients to making pesto. There is the main ingredient such as basil or something with an intense distinctive flavor along with nuts, cheese, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper. How much? Good question. It’s one of those things that you do by eye and taste. Although once in a while I tweak the amounts a little. I generally use a handful of the main ingredient, a handful of the nuts, a handful of the grated cheese, one clove of garlic, enough oil to give the pesto the right silky consistency and salt and pepper, to taste.
That being said, I will nevertheless provide you with a few recipes I like. In addition to the classic basil pesto, there are arugula and walnut pesto and sun-dried tomato and olive pesto, to name but a few I’ve tried. Though there’s no space to write about them all here, you might like to use the following recipes as models and also try mint and almond pesto, cilantro and pumpkin seed or spinach and hazelnut. Traditional old-fashioned Italian cooks claim the only real way to make pesto is to pound and grind it together with a mortar and pestle and would be mortified to know that I puree it all in my electric food processor. And while pesto is best loved when paired with pasta, it is also a fabulous embellishment for chicken, fish, omelets, crostini, vegetables and soups.
Basil Pesto
Basil Pesto
YIELD: Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
½ cup pignoli nuts
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
One garlic clove
Coarse salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS: In an electric food processor puree all ingredients except the salt and pepper. Pause occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl, then continue pureeing until mixture reaches a silky consistency. Remove from processor bowl and stir in the salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature with spaghetti, gnocchi or a pasta that has a lot of grooves to hold the pesto; crostini, grilled fish, chicken, pork or veggies or as a garnish to soup.
Arugula and Walnut Pesto
Arugula and Walnut Pesto
YIELD: Makes 2 cups
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups arugula leaves
½ cup walnut pieces
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS: In an electric food processor, scraping sides of bowl often, puree all ingredients except salt and pepper. When mixture has achieved a slightly bumpy texture, remove from bowl and stir in salt and pepper. Serve at room temperature with grilled beef, veggies, fowl or pork, on rye bread crostini, over wide noodles or rigatoni or as a garnish to soup.
Sun-dried Tomato and Olive Pesto
Sun-dried Tomato and Olive Pesto
YIELD: Makes 2½ cups
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
½ cup pitted oil-packed black olives
½ cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¹/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
One clove garlic
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS: In an electric food processor, scraping sides of bowl often, puree all ingredients until mixture achieves a finely ground consistency. Serve at room temperature over pasta, on crostini or crackers, on grilled chicken, fish or veggies or as a garnish to soup.
Organizers of the 3rd annual Genome Engineering: The CRISPR-Cas Revolution event, from left, Maria Jasin, Jonathan Weissman, Jennifer Doudna and Stanley Qi. Photo courtesy of CSHL
By Daniel Dunaief
One day, the tool 375 people from 29 countries came to discuss in late July at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory may help eradicate malaria, develop treatments for cancer and help understand the role various proteins play in turning on and off genes.
Eager to interact with colleagues about the technical advances and challenges, medical applications and model organisms, the participants in Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s third meeting on the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system filled the seats at Grace Auditorium.
Jason Sheltzer. Photo from CSHL
“It’s amazing all the ways that people are pushing the envelope with CRISPR-Cas9 technology,” said Jason Sheltzer, an independent fellow from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who presented his research on a breast cancer treatment.
The technology comes from a close study of the battle between bacteria and viruses. Constantly under assault from viruses bent on commandeering their genetic machinery, bacteria figured out a way of developing a memory of viruses, sending out enzymes that recognize and destroy familiar invaders.
By tapping into this evolutionary machinery, scientists have found that this system not only recognizes genes but can also be used to slice out and replace an errant code.
“This is a rapidly evolving field and we continue to see new research such as how Cas1 and Cas2 recognize their target, which opens the door for modification of the proteins themselves, and the recent discovery of anti-CRISPR proteins that decrease off-target effects by as much as a factor of four,” explained Jennifer Doudna, professor of chemistry and molecular and cell biology at the University of California at Berkeley and a meeting organizer for the last three years, in an email.
Austin Burt, a professor of evolutionary genetics at the Imperial College in London, has been working on ways to alter the genes of malaria-carrying mosquitoes, which cause over 430,000 deaths each year, primarily in Africa.
“To wipe out malaria would be a huge deal,” Bruce Conklin, a professor and senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of California in San Francisco and a presenter at the conference, said in an interview. “It’s killed millions of people.”
Carolyn Brokowski. Photo by Eugene Brokowski
This approach is a part of an international effort called Target Malaria, which received support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
To be sure, this effort needs considerable testing before scientists bring it to the field. “It is a promising approach but we must be mindful of the unintended consequences of altering species and impacting ecosystems,” Doudna cautioned.
In an email, Burt suggested that deploying CRISPR in mosquitoes across a country was “at least 10 years” away.
CSHL’s Sheltzer, meanwhile, used CRISPR to show that a drug treatment for breast cancer isn’t working as scientists had thought. Researchers believed a drug that inhibited the function of a protein called maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase, or MELK, was halting the spread of cancer. When Sheltzer knocked out the gene for MELK, however, he discovered that breast cancer continued to grow or divide. While this doesn’t invalidate a drug that may be effective in halting cancer, it suggests that the mechanism researchers believed was involved was inaccurate.
Researchers recognize an array of unanswered questions. “It’s premature to tell just how predictable genome modification might be at certain levels in development and in certain kinds of diseases,” said Carolyn Brokowski, a bioethicist who will begin a position as research associate in the Emergency Medicine Department at the Yale School of Medicine next week. “In many cases, there is considerable uncertainty about the causal relationship between gene expression and modification.”
Brokowski suggested that policy makers need to appreciate the “serious reasons to consider limitations on nontherapeutic uses for CRISPR.”
Like so many other technologies, CRISPR presents opportunities to benefit mankind and to cause destruction. “We can’t be blind to the conditions in which we live,” said Brokowski.
Indeed, Doudna recently was one of seven recipients of a $65 million Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency award to improve the safety and accuracy of gene editing.
The funding, which is for $65 million over four years, supports a greater understanding of how gene editing technologies work and monitors health and security concerns for their intentional or accidental misuse. Doudna, who is credited with co-creating the CRISPR-Cas9 system with Emmanuelle Charpentier a scientific member and director of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin, will explore safe gene editing tools to use in animal models and will specifically target Zika and Ebola viruses.
“Like most misunderstood disruptive technologies, CRISPR outpaced the necessary policy and regulatory discussions,” Doudna explained. The scientific community, however, “continued to advance the technology in a transparent manner, helping to build public awareness, trust and dialogue. As a result, CRISPR is becoming a mainstream topic and the public understanding that it can be a beneficial tool to help solve some of our most important challenges continues to grow.”
Visitors enjoyed a wine and cheese party on the Airslie lawn during the event. Photo from CSHL
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory plans to host its fourth CRISPR meeting next August, when many of the same scientists hope to return. “It’s great that you can see how the field and scientific community as a whole is evolving,” Sheltzer said.
Doudna appreciates the history of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, including her own experiences. As a graduate student in 1987, Doudna came across an unassuming woman walking the campus in a tee-shirt: Nobel Prize winner Barbara McClintock. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, this is someone I revere,” Doudna recalled. “That’s what life is like” at the lab.
Brokowski also plans to attend the conference next year. “I’m very interested in learning about all the promises CRISPR will offer,” she said. She is curious to see “whether there might be more discussion about ethical and regulatory aspects of this technology.”
Copy of drawing of the Strong house in Mount Misery. This house, circa 1796, replaced the original house, which burned. Photo from Long Island Forum
By Beverly Tyler
First in a two-part series.
May 1, 1790, Selah Strong of Setauket shared his Patriot views with Robert Heaton of London.
“Almost every one is partial in favour of their own government, and perhaps you will charge me with being prejudiced in favour of ours, but it is my opinion, that this government is much better calculated for the enjoyment of our Civil Rights, than the Constitution of Great Britain.”
Strong was born Dec. 25, 1737, in a house built by his father Thomas at Mount Misery, now Belle Terre, Long Island. His mother Susannah was the daughter of Samuel Thompson, a family connection that extended from the community of Setauket to the Town of Brookhaven where Jonathan Thompson and his sons Samuel and Isaac, and Selah Strong served as town trustees before and after the Revolutionary War. Strong was elected a trustee of the Town of Brookhaven each year from 1767 to 1777, and as a representative to the first Provincial Congress of New York in 1775.
Samuel and Susannah Thompson’s son Jonathan and his son Dr. Samuel Thompson served in Long Island militia companies in 1775, and most likely as captains in the Continental Army in Connecticut during the Revolutionary War, as they were refugees to Connecticut following the British occupation of Long Island in August 1776. Strong was a captain in Colonel Josiah Smith’s regiment in 1775 and Captain of the Brookhaven minutemen in 1776. A refugee as well, Strong also most likely served as a captain in the Continental Army in Connecticut.
Jonathan Thompson was married to Mary Woodhull, Revolutionary war spy Abraham Woodhull’s aunt. To add more intrigue to the extended family lines, Jonathan Thompson’s second son Isaac, who lived in what is now Sagtikos Manor in Bay Shore, remained on Long Island during the war and is believed to have been a spy for the Culper Spy Ring in Setauket. President George Washington spent the second night of his Long Island trip in 1790, at “the home of Squire Thompson,” to thank the spies who had provided much needed intelligence during the war.
In 1760, Strong married Anna Smith, great-granddaughter of the Lord of the Manor William “Tangier” Smith. The Smith homestead was on Little Neck, now Strong’s Neck, in Setauket. After the British took control of Long Island in 1776, many Long Island patriots became refugees in Connecticut. The couple remained on Long Island with their five children, probably at Strong’s family home at Mount Misery. Strong was still a town trustee. However, in the election of 1777 he and Jonathan Thompson were replaced by more Loyalist-leaning Brookhaven Town residents.
In January of 1778, Strong was arrested and imprisoned in a sugarhouse prison in Manhattan “for surreptitious correspondence with the enemy.” Strong’s position as a Patriot captain and outspoken town leader probably made it easy for someone, possibly a Loyalist Brookhaven town trustee, to suggest that Strong might be a person of interest to the British authorities. At some point his wife Anna, known to her family and friends as “Nancy,” obtained his release by appealing to her Loyalist relative in Manhattan. Strong did not then return to his home on Long Island but became a refugee in Connecticut and probably a great help to the soon to be developed Culper Spy Ring in Setauket.
It is easy to connect Strong with the Culper Spy Ring as one of the known spies was Nathaniel Ruggles. Ruggles was placed as a spy at Old Man’s (Mt. Sinai) by Benjamin Tallmadge, General Washington’s chief of intelligence.
Long Island Historian Kate Wheeler Strong, great-great-granddaughter of Anna Smith Strong, wrote the following article in her 1941 “True Tales,” published by the Long Island Forum. “It is evident that my great-great-grandfather (Selah Strong) must have helped Nathaniel Ruggles, one of Washington’s Spies. This is shown by an abstract from a will of Ruggles dated 1793, left in my great-great-grandfather’s keeping. In appointing him one of his executors Ruggles wrote: ‘I appoint my worthy patron Selah Strong Esq. Late judge of the COUNTY of Suffolk who hath snatched me from the jaws of my adversaries and befriended me in every difficulty as far as was consistant with his duty as an honest man.’”
Beverly Tyler is Three Village Historical Society historian and author of books available from the society at 93 North Country Road, Setauket. For more information, call 631-751-3730 or visit www.tvhs.org.
MEET IMOGEN! This pretty little girl is Imogen, a 5-year-old shepherd mix who recently arrived at Kent Animal Shelter from Thailand, rescued from the dog meat trade where she had little to no chance of survival. She’s safe now and would love to finally have a place to call home. Please come meet this sweet girl today and show her how great life can be! Imogen comes spayed, microchipped and up to date on vaccines. Kent Animal Shelter is located at 2259 River Road in Calverton. For more information on Imogen and other adoptable pets at Kent, please call 631-727-5731 or visit www.kentanimalshelter.com.
Walking may reduce the need for dialysis. METRO photo
Are activity and exercise the same?
By David Dunaief, M.D.
Dr. David Dunaief
Let’s begin with a pretest. I want to make it clear that a pretest is not to check whether you know the information but that you have an open mind and are willing to learn.
1) Which may have the most detrimental impact on your health?
a. Smoking
b. Obesity
c. Inactivity
d. A and C
e. All have the same impact
2) People who exercise are considered active.
a. True
b. False
3) Inactivity may increase the risk of what? Select all that apply.
a. Diabetes
b. Heart disease
c. Fibromyalgia
d. Mortality
e. Disability
With the recent wave of heat and humidity, who wants to think about exercise? Instead, it’s tempting to lounge by the pool or even inside with air conditioning instead.
First, let me delineate between exercise and inactivity; they are not complete opposites. When we consider exercise, studies tend to focus on moderate to intense activity. However, light activity and being sedentary, or inactive, tend to get clumped together. But there are differences between light activity and inactivity.
Light activity may involve cooking, writing, and strolling (1). Inactivity involves sitting, as in watching TV or in front of a computer screen. Inactivity utilizes between 1 and 1.5 metabolic equivalent units — better known as METS — a way of measuring energy. Light activity, however, requires greater than 1.5 METS. Thus, in order to avoid inactivity, we don’t have to exercise in the dreaded heat. We need to increase our movement.
What are the potential costs of inactivity? According to the World Health Organization, over 3 million people die annually from inactivity. This ranks inactivity in the top five of potential underlying mortality causes (2). The consequences of inactivity are estimated at 1 to 2.6 percent of health care dollars. This sounds small, but it translates into actual dollars spent in the U.S. of between $38 billion and $100 billion (3).
How much time do we spend inactive? Good question. In an observational study of over 7,000 women with a mean age of 71 years old, 9.7 waking hours were spent inactive or sedentary. These women wore an accelerometer to measure movements. Interestingly, as BMI and age increased, the amount of time spent sedentary also increased (4).
Inactivity may increase the risk of mortality and plays a role in increasing risks for diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and fibromyalgia. It can also increase the risk of disability in older adults.
Surprisingly, inactivity may be worse for us than smoking and obesity. For example, there can be a doubling of the risk for diabetes in those who sit for long periods of time, compared to those who sit the least (5).
By the way, the answers to the pretest are 1) e; 2) b; 3) a, b, c, d and e.
Let’s look at the evidence.
Does exercise trump inactivity?
We tend to think that exercise trumps all; if you exercise, you can eat what you want and, by definition, you’re not sedentary. Right? Not exactly. Diet is important, and you can still be sedentary, even if you exercise. In a meta-analysis — a group of 47 studies — results show that there is an increased risk of all-cause mortality with inactivity, even in those who exercised (6). In other words, even if you exercise, you can’t sit for the rest of the day. The risk for all-cause mortality was 24 percent overall.
However, those who exercised saw a blunted effect with all-cause mortality, making it significantly lower than those who were inactive and did very little exercise: 16 percent versus 46 percent increased risk of all-cause mortality. So, it isn’t that exercise is not important, it just may not be enough to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality if you are inactive for a significant part of the rest of the day.
In an earlier published study using the Women’s Health Initiative, results showed that those who were inactive most of the time had greater risk of cardiovascular disease (7). Even those who exercised moderately but sat most of the day were at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Moderate exercise was defined as 150 minutes of exercise per week. Those at highest risk were women who did not exercise and sat at least 10 hours a day. This group had a 63 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease (heart disease or stroke).
However, those who sat fewer than five hours a day had a significantly lower risk of cardiovascular events. And those who were in the highest group for regular exercise (walking seven hours/week or jogging/running four to five hours/week) did see more benefit in cardiovascular health, even if they were inactive the rest of the day. Sitting longer did not have a negative impact on the individuals in the high exercise level group.
Worse than obesity?
Obesity is a massive problem in this country; it has been declared a disease, itself, and it also contributes to other chronic diseases. But would you believe that inactivity has more of an impact than even obesity? In an observational study, using data from the EPIC trial, inactivity might be responsible for two times as many premature deaths as obesity (8). This was a study involving 330,000 men and women.
Interestingly, the researchers created an index that combined occupational activity with recreational activity. They found that the greatest reduction in premature deaths (in the range of 16 to 30 percent) was between two groups, the normal weight and moderately inactive group versus the normal weight and completely inactive group. The latter was defined as those having a desk job with no additional physical activity. To go from the completely inactive to moderately inactive, all it took, according to the study, was 20 minutes of brisk walking on a daily basis.
All is not lost!
In another study, which evaluated 56 participants, walking during lunchtime at work immediately improved mood (9). This small study clearly shows that by lunchtime activity changed mood for the better, increasing enthusiasm and reducing stress when compared to morning levels, before participants had walked. Participants had to walk at least 30 minutes three times a week for 10 weeks; pace was not important.
So what have we learned thus far about inactivity? It is all relative. If you are inactive, increasing your activity to be moderately inactive by briskly walking for 20 minutes a day may reduce your risk of premature death significantly. Even if you exercise the recommended 150 minutes a week, but are inactive the rest of the day, you may still be at risk for cardiovascular disease. You can potentially further reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease by increasing your activity with small additions throughout the day.
The underlying message is that we need to consciously move throughout the day, whether at work with a walk during lunch or at home with recreational activity. Those with desk jobs need to be most attuned to opportunities to increase activity. Simply setting a timer and standing or walking every 30 to 45 minutes may increase your activity levels and possibly reduce your risk.
References: (1) Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 2008;36(4):173-178. (2) WHO report: https://bit.ly/1z7TBAF. (3) forbes.com. (4) JAMA. 2013;310(23):2562-2563. (5) Diabetologia 2012; 55:2895-2905. (6) Ann Intern Med. 2015;162:123-132, 146-147. (7) J Am Coll Cardiol. 2013;61(23):2346-2354. (8) Am J Clin Nutr. online Jan. 24, 2015. (9) Scand J Med Sci Sports. Online Jan. 6, 2015.
Dr. Dunaief is a speaker, author and local lifestyle medicine physician focusing on the integration of medicine, nutrition, fitness and stress management. For further information, visit www.medicalcompassmd.com or consult your personal physician.
Numerous trucks arrive at a construction site, each doing their part to make a blueprint for a building into a reality. In a destructive way, molecules also come together in cancer to change cells that cause damage and can ultimately kill.
Researchers often know the participants in the cancer process, although the structure of each molecule can be a mystery. Determining how the parts of an enzyme work could allow scientists and, eventually, doctors to slow those cancer players down or inactivate them, stopping their cell-damaging or destroying processes.
Recently, Michael Airola, who started his own lab at Stony Brook University early this year and is an assistant professor of biochemistry and cell biology, published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which he showed the structure of an important enzyme that contributes to cell growth regulation in cancer and other diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease.
Called neutral sphingomyelinase, this enzyme produces ceramide, which allows cancer cells to become metastatic. Finding the structure of an enzyme can enable scientists to figure out the way it operates, which can point to pharmacological agents that can inhibit or deactivate the enzyme.
“We are trying to understand the link between structure and function to try to get the first sort of snapshots or pictures of what these enzymes look like” in the on and off states, said Airola. In his research, he showed what this enzyme looked like in its off or inactive state.
Airola joined Stony Brook Cancer Center Director Yusuf Hannun’s lab as a postdoctoral researcher in 2010, when Hannun was working in Charleston, South Carolina, at the Medical University of South Carolina. When Hannun moved to SBU in March of 2012, Airola joined him, continuing his postdoctoral research.
Michael Airola in April in New Orleans aboard the steamboat Natchez on the Mississippi River with his family, wife Krystal Airola, four-year-old Harper and two-year-old Grady. Photo from Michael Airola
Airola conducted his research at Stony Brook and Brookhaven National Laboratory, where he used a technique called X-ray crystallography, which shows the structure of crystallized molecules. Getting this enzyme to crystallize took considerable effort, especially because it has what Airola described as a floppy segment between two rigid structures.
Those floppy pieces, which Airola said aren’t the active sites of the enzyme, can interfere with the structural analysis. To see the important regions, Airola had to cut those flexible parts out, while fusing the rest of the enzyme into a single structure.
The crystallization took almost three years and was a “very difficult process,” Airola recounted. “To get proteins to crystallize, you need to get them to pack together in an ordered fashion.” He said he needed to develop some biochemical tricks to delete a large part in the middle of the protein. “Once we found the right trick and the right region to delete, we were able to crystallize the protein in about three months.”
Airola said he took considerable care to make sure removing the floppy or flexible region didn’t disrupt the function of the enzyme. Hannun and Airola are co-mentoring Prajna Shanbhogue, a graduate student who is in the process of discovering molecules that activate and inhibit the enzyme.
Hannun was pleased with the work Airola did in his lab, which he suggested was a “challenging type of research. Getting to a structure of a protein or enzyme (a specific type of protein) can take several years and is never guaranteed of success, but the rewards can be tremendous,” Hannun explained in an email, adding that Airola was a “critical contributor” and introduced structural biology to his group.
While Airola will continue to work on this enzyme, he is exploring another enzyme, in a collaboration with Hannun and John Haley at Stony Brook, that is involved in colon cancer.
Airola, two graduate students and three undergraduates in his lab are focusing considerable energy on an enzyme involved in the production of triglycerides.
Airola recently received a three-year, $231,000 grant from the American Heart Association to study lipins, a class of enzyme that plays a role both in heart disease and in diabetes. As he did with the enzyme that makes ceramide, Airola is developing a way to understand the structure and function of the triglyceride enzyme. He’d like to find out how this enzyme is regulated. “We’re trying to see if we can inhibit that enzyme, too,” he said.
Airola has “some creative ideas about using information from lipin proteins in plants and fungi, which have a less complex protein structure than mammalian lipins but catalyze the same biochemical reaction,” Karen Reue, a professor in the Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and a collaborator with Airola, explained in an email.
Reue’s lab will complement Airola’s work by conducting physiological analyses of the various “minimal” lipin proteins in processes that the mammalian proteins perform, including triglyceride biosynthesis.
While lipin proteins are necessary for metabolic homeostasis, Reue said a reasonable but still challenging goal might be to modulate the enzyme’s activity for partial inhibition in areas such as adipose tissue, while allowing the triglycerides to perform other important tasks.
Airola lives in East Setauket with his wife Krystal Airola, who is doing her residency in radiology at SBU, and their two children, four-year-old Harper and two-year-old Grady. The couple, who is expecting a third child next month, enjoy living in East Setauket, where they appreciate that they have a forest in their backyard and they can enjoy the water in Port Jefferson and West Meadow Beach.
When Airola’s postdoctoral position ended, he did a broad, national search for his next position and was delighted that he could remain at Stony Brook. “We love the area,” he said. “The research and science here are fantastic.” Airola’s collaborators are optimistic about the prospects for his research.
He is an “up and coming structural biologist that has already made important contributions to the field of lipid biology” Reue said and is a “creative and rigorous scientist with a bright future.”
Portability refers to the ability of a surviving spouse to make use of a deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exclusion amount.
By Nancy Burner, ESQ.
The estate tax concept known as “portability” is permanent as a result of the enactment of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. Portability allows a surviving spouse to use a deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exclusion (up to $5.49 million in 2017).
For those dying after Dec. 31, 2011, if a first-to-die spouse has not fully used the federal estate tax exclusion, the unused portion called the Deceased Spousal Unused Exclusion Amount, or DSUE amount, can be transferred or “ported” to the surviving spouse.
Thereafter, for both gift and estate tax purposes, the surviving spouse’s exclusion is the sum of (1) his/her own exclusion (as such amount is inflation adjusted) plus (2) the first-to-die’s ported DSUE amount.
For example: Assume H and W are married, and H dies in 2017. H owns $3 million and W owns $9 million in assets. H has the potential of leaving up to $5.49 million free from federal estate tax to a bypass or credit shelter trust. This would avoid federal estate tax in both spouses’ estates.
However, because H only has $3 million in assets, he does not take full advantage of the entire $5.49 million exclusion. Prior to portability, $2.49 million of H’s exclusion would have been wasted. With portability, his remaining $2.49 million exclusion can be saved and passed to W ‘s estate, increasing the amount she can leave her beneficiaries free from federal estate tax. With a 40 percent federal estate tax rate, this would save W’s estate approximately $996,000 in federal estate tax.
With this plan, the estate would also avoid New York State Estate Tax at the husband’s death since the current exclusion is $5.25 million. The assets in this bypass trust would escape federal and New York estate taxation at W’s subsequent death.
In order for the surviving spouse to be able to use the unused exemption, the executor of the first-to-die’s estate must make an election on a timely filed estate tax return. A timely filed return is a return filed within nine months after death or within 15 months after obtaining an automatic extension of time to file from the IRS.
Normally a federal estate tax return is only due if the gross estate plus the amount of any taxable gifts exceeds the applicable exclusion amount (up to $5.49 million in 2017). However, in order to be able to elect portability, a federal estate tax return would have to be filed even if the value of the first-to-die’s estate was below the exclusion amount.
The problem occurs when the first spouse dies and no estate tax return was filed. In that event, the second-to-die spouse could not use the deceased spouse’s unused exemption. In the above example, the second spouse’s estate would have paid an additional $996,000 in federal estate tax if the election was not made. What if the first spouse dies, no estate tax return is filed, and no election was made on a timely basis? Does the surviving spouse lose the exemption?
In June 2017, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2017-34. The revenue procedure is a simplified method to be used to make a late portability election. The IRS is making this simplified method available for all eligible estates through Jan. 2, 2018. The IRS is also making the simplified method of this revenue procedure available after Jan. 2, 2018, to estates during the two-year period immediately following the decedent’s date of death.
To be eligible to use the simplified method under the revenue procedure the estate must meet the following criteria:
(1) The decedent: (a) was survived by a spouse; (b) died after Dec. 31, 2010; and (c) was a citizen or resident of the United States on the date of death.
(2) The executor was not required to file an estate tax return based on the value of the gross estate.
(3) The executor did not file an estate tax return within the time required.
(4) The executor either files a complete and properly prepared United States estate (and tax return) on or before the later of Jan. 2, 2018 or the second annual anniversary of the decedent’s date of death.
For those that had spouses pass away after Dec. 31, 2010, portability can be a valuable estate planning tool to save a significant amount of federal estate tax on the death of the second spouse.
If a surviving spouse has assets that are close in value to the current federal exclusion amount, it is important to examine the records of the deceased spouse to make sure that a portability election was made on a timely filed federal estate tax return. If no return was filed, and no estate tax return was required to be filed, based upon this IRS revenue procedure it’s still not too late to elect portability. The surviving spouse must act quickly as the deadline is fast approaching and 2018 will be here before we know it.
Nancy Burner, Esq. practices elder law and estate planning from her East Setauket office.
Like the weather this season, peaches have been remarkably good. If you read my column last week, you’ll remember that I talked about peaches and what ideal desserts are wrought from them. And I also promised you another column about them this week. Well, you’re in for a treat because I’m going to tell you about what wonderful ingredients or complements peaches are for savory dishes.
I’ll bet you’re thinking, “No thanks, I think I’ll just stick with the those peachy desserts.” That’s what I said the first time I was introduced to peaches in a savory dish. But then I became a convert, and you will too after you’ve tasted refreshing peach, arugula, Gorgonzola and pecan salad; peach salsa; and ginger-peachy pork chops.
And by the way, none of this means you can’t have peach dumplings, peach crisp, peach shortcake, peach pie, peach cobbler, peach ice cream or just sliced fresh peaches in wine for dessert. Hey, when they’re this good, you have to go for their gold.
Peach, Arugula, Pecan and Gorgonzola Salad
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS: 1 small head radicchio, washed and shredded or chopped
1 bunch arugula, washed
1 large peach, sliced
¼ cup chopped pecans
¹/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS: In a large bowl, toss together the radicchio, arugula, peach and pecans. In a small bowl, vigorously whisk together the oil, vinegars, cheese, salt and pepper. Just before serving drizzle liquid mixture over radicchio mixture, toss to thoroughly coat, and serve immediately at room temperature with grilled chicken, beef, pork or shrimp.
Peach Salsa
YIELD: Makes 3 to 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1 large peach, pared and chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
½ cup seeded chopped jalapenos
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Salt and ground pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS: Toss all ingredients together; serve at room temperature. Best if served immediately but can be prepared a couple of hours in advance. Serve with taco chips, crackers, grilled beef or chicken.
Ginger-Peachy Pork Chops
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon vegetable, canola or peanut oil
4 medium pork chops
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ cup orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ cup broth
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 large firm peaches, sliced
1 tablespoon candied ginger, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts (optional)
DIRECTIONS: In a medium skillet heat the oil. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper. With the heat on medium high, brown the meat, about 2 minutes per side. While the chops are browning, in a medium bowl combine the brown sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, orange and lemon juices and set aside.
Remove the pork chops from the pan and set aside. Add the broth, grated ginger, garlic, liquid mixture and peaches to the skillet. Cook, stirring frequently, over high heat until the sauce is thickened, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the pork chops, cover, reduce heat to low and cook until meat is cooked through and peaches are soft, about 10 minutes. Place chops on a platter, spoon sauce over them and sprinkle with candied ginger and peanuts. Serve with rice and stir-fried bok choy, broccoli and snap peas.
On the way back home from a wedding I presided at in Breckenridge, Colorado, I sat next to a man who was very wise. He was a well-established attorney who split his time between a home in South Florida and one in Lake Tahoe. In his life, he raised four extraordinary children. They all graduated from Ivy League schools across the country and have developed extraordinary career jobs.
However, what he was most proud of was the people they have become. He spoke of each of his three sons and his one daughter as compassionate, sensitive human beings, who possess a profound concern for each other and for their respective communities. He spoke with great pride on the community service projects in which each of his children are involved.
We spoke of the challenges of parenting children today. He spoke of the civil discourse that exists and how disrespectful and demeaning it is. But in spite of all of that he talked about the difference a positive family environment makes in the life of the family. He spoke about his family and the climate of respect and diversity of opinion that was encouraged and respected.
After spending two hours with this man, I realized that he leads by his example — that his children are a powerful reflection of how he and his wife have celebrated their married life these past 34 years. As I reflected on our conversation on my drive home from the airport, I realized that despite our harsh landscape, change and transformation can take place if people have a positive role model to look up to.
So many people have expressed deep frustration regarding the present state of affairs in our nation. There may be a lot of talk, but there is still an awful lot of silence and inaction. If we are concerned about what’s happening in our country, or shall I say what is not happening, then it’s time for us to take action. It’s time to challenge the political machinery that is poorly responding to our social agenda.
Elected officials from both sides of the aisle are failing us miserably. We constantly hear the word “obstructionist” on a daily basis. Honestly, I think our whole system is infected with obstructionism. Those who lead us have lost their way. They are not standing up for what is important to all of us as American citizens. It matters little what your party affiliation might be — we need our leaders to work together to create a health care plan that provides quality health care for all, especially the most vulnerable among us.
We need to overhaul our tax system. It should not benefit the rich but rather justly benefit the working middle class. Our schools are wastelands of human potential. We used to lead the world with educational opportunities. At best, our educational system is mediocre. Our economy is vital to our survival; our president is working diligently on strengthening it. However, in this age of technology we need to create more job training programs that prepare people to make the transition to technology and our digital age.
Finally, we are a nation founded on diversity and difference. We need to work harder at respecting the dignity of every human person — and those who have been elected need to lead in this regard by their example.
“We must become the change that we hope for!” — Mohandas Gandhi
Fr. Pizzarelli, SMM, LCSW-R, ACSW, DCSW, is the director of Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson
Beginning in 2018, every bottle of wine from Uruguay will carry a QR code on the label, which can be scanned to reveal everything you need to know about the wine, including soil and vineyard parcel number.
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
YIELD: Makes 3 to 4 servings.
YIELD: Makes 4 servings.
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