Given a paragraph, generate a claim that is supported by the given paragraph. 1) The claim must contain information from within the paragraph. 2) A sentence within the paragraph can be used as a claim. 3) The claim should not have contradictions within the paragraph. 4) The claim should be at most one sentence long.
--------
Question: There are four slashes among the women’s siblings, others among her immediate family, and most family members’ symbols are partially colored in. Each partially filled circle represents a cancer diagnosis. Each slash indicates a death. Although white women get breast cancer more frequently, it’s usually diagnosed later and is more severe in African American women. Breast cancer death rates among black women were about 40 percent higher than among white women between 1999 and 2013, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Ricks-Santi, director of the Hampton University Cancer Research Center, and another Hampton colleague, John McDonald, recently received a $446,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the genetics behind breast cancer diagnoses in African American women. In particular, they’re trying to refine genetic tests that don’t seem to be as effective for black women as white. “I wanted to make sure that there was equity in the way that genetics and genomics was being applied across populations,” Ricks-Santi said. She has a longstanding interest in cancer research, dating back to when she was a kid. Her family has a history of cancer; her father has prostate cancer. That led her to pursue an undergraduate degree at Hampton University and a Ph.D. from Georgetown University. She worked as a post-doctoral fellow in a joint cancer studies program between Georgetown and Howard University. There, she saw a trend among genetic tests for breast cancer, particularly the most common ones, BRCA 1 and 2. They are sometimes an indicator for some of the hardest to treat forms, and they’re also correlated with other kinds of cancer in men and women. At Georgetown’s cancer center, which Ricks-Santi said served mostly white and affluent patients, BRCA tests often helped doctors decide if women were candidates for preventative treatment or if they needed additional testing. At Howard’s cancer center, which served more black patients, BRCA tests often came back inconclusive. This, Ricks-Santi said, makes it hard for oncologists to come up with specific, informed approaches for patients of color. “You can’t do that if you’re not identifying the right risk factor, the right gene,” said Melissa Gomes, a mental health nurse practitioner and a co-investigator on the study. “You can’t make that personalized approach if it wasn’t based on a population that included you.” The study that Ricks-Santi and McDonald are leading uses family history and genetic data from 300 breast cancer patients at Howard, along with relatives without cancer diagnoses and other types of cancer. Ricks-Santi will conduct statistical research to find candidate genes that could provide a better test. McDonald, an assistant professor of physics, will then conduct the laboratory phase of the study, injecting those genes into cancer cells in Petri dishes to determine exactly what kind of effect those have. They’re also working with Hampton University students on the project, who will be paid with grant money. “It’s nice to create that pipeline of researchers that look like the population we want to study,” Gomes said. This round of funding lasts for three years. But they’re already looking toward the next phase. That’s where Gomes’ experience comes in, whose background is clinical psychiatry. She sees patients four days a week. In a second study, once they’ve isolated some possible genes, they want to control for those genes and then investigate social circumstances that might contribute to breast and other kinds of cancer. Gomes hopes to use her background in psychiatry and patient care to help build connections in Hampton Roads in addition to helping with the social research. “Nurses are considered one of the most trusted health professionals,” Gomes said. “I think that the community trusts us and they value their opinion.” Ricks-Santi is hopeful about this holistic approach, citing her father’s own experience. Because of the small size of his tumor, they took a more wait-and-see approach to treatment. He moved to Puerto Rico for six months to relax. It seemed to work. His prostate-specific antigen levels, an indicator of that kind of cancer, dropped significantly and have stayed stable. “It’s scary and exciting,” Ricks-Santi said. “There’s so many possibilities.” ___ Information from: Daily Press, http://www.dailypress.com/

Answer: University studies cancer risk and testing for black women.


Question: The new rules, which have been opened to the public for consultation, will involve the establishment of a comprehensive “management system” covering the production, sale, utilization and recycling of thin plastic film in the countryside. Chinese farmers, mostly in the arid north and west, cover fields with vast amounts of “plastic mulch” to help maintain soil moisture and protect against pests. The technique has played an important role in boosting yields and raising the quality of crops, the agriculture ministry said in a notice. “But because of excessive use and inadequate recycling, agricultural-use plastic film pollution in some regions has been getting worse and worse, and it has already become a major environmental problem holding back the green development of agriculture,” the ministry said. In areas of northwest China that made use of plastic mulch, contamination rates stood at an average of 36 kilograms per hectare, with the figure as high as 138 kilograms in some regions, it said. The new rules would force farmers to use only film that meets quality standards, and they must also collect plastic waste from fields before its expiry date and deliver to approved recycling outlets. They will also be encouraged to reuse old film. China is said to use about 2 million tonnes of plastic film every year to cover around 200,000 square kilometers of farmland, an area the size of Belarus. But government researchers say the recycling rate stands at just 180,000 tonnes. If uncollected, the plastic waste eventually degrades the soil and could also infiltrate crops, with one parliamentary delegate from Shandong warning in March that some of the province’s exports of ginger and spinach had been contaminated. Beijing is aiming to make around 90% of its total farmland safe for agriculture by the end of next year, part of its efforts to guarantee food security.

Answer: China drafts new rules to control rural plastic pollution.


Question: The demonstrators opposed to the pipeline and a marine export terminal in Oregon demanded that Gov. Kate Brown publicly oppose the project, which she refused to do. Southern Oregon Rising Tide, which organized the protest, said the 21 arrested by Oregon State Police spent the night in jail and were out by 5 a.m. Friday. In a statement the Oregon State Police said the 21 were arrested on trespassing charges after being asked to leave. The proposed marine terminal, in Coos Bay, would allow export of American liquid natural gas to Asia, and would have a 230-mile (370-kilometer) feeder pipeline from an interstate gas hub in southern Oregon’s Klamath County. A federal agency has issued a final environmental impact statement on the controversial proposal to build the pipeline and it concluded that there would be no significant impact on the state’s waters, wildlife and minimal risk of a pipeline accident. The lengthy report was issued earlier this month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. On Thursday protesters flooded into the Oregon State Capitol and staged a sit-in at the governor’s office before police arrested 21 of them for trespassing. The protesters, who demanded Brown take a public stand against the pipeline, were jailed overnight and released early Friday. Brown, a Democrat, refused to oppose the project that the protesters say will encourage further use of fossil fuels that leads to global warming, and risk spoiling the land and ocean with spills. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s final impact statement said it believes the Canadian company behind the Jordan Cove Project, Pembina Pipeline Corporation, will manage risks. Pembina Pipeline Corporation says the project will bring investments, property tax revenue and jobs. The proposed marine terminal, in Coos Bay, Oregon, would allow export of American liquid natural gas to Asia, and would have a 230-mile (370-kilometer) feeder pipeline from an interstate gas hub in southern Oregon’s Klamath County. The federal agency said that before construction, Jordan Cove should file spill containment system drawings showing containment for all hazardous fluids including all liquids handled above their flashpoint. Over 600 species of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife live in the project area. Constructing and operating the project would temporarily and permanently affect these species, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, and mammals, the impact statement said. “Displacement, and impacts on other behaviors as well as the loss of habitat would increase the rates of stress, injury, and mortality experienced by wildlife,” the report said. But mitigation projects proposed by the Jordan Cove and required by the Forest Service means the project would not significantly impact wildlife and aquatic resources, the agency said. Jared Margolis, senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the group is concerned about what it called a lack of adequate analysis on several aspects of the project. “Jordan Cove would be a disaster for local streams and rivers that people and wildlife rely on, but regulators appear willing to ignore these impacts to bring dirty fracked gas to market,” Margolis said. In a statement, the company said the final environmental impact statement “represents a significant step forward for this investment in Oregon.” The impact statement represents the final step in the federal environmental review process before an order is issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approving the project, expected in February 2020, Jordan Cove said. People opposed to the project have vowed to keep up protests, and recalled the demonstrations against a pipeline in North Dakota. The project is still undergoing permitting processes by the state. But in August, the Trump Administration in proposed streamlining approval of gas pipelines and other energy projects by limiting states’ certification authorities under the Clean Water Act. ___ Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky

Answer:
Pipeline protesters at governor’s office arrested, released.