Archive for December, 2012

Surname Forum Activity
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KETTERING: Elizabeth J. “Betty” Corban, 60 year resident of Kettering, Ohio, died December 26, 2012, in Newark, Ohio, where she had been staying since 2011.

Born September 11, 1920, a daughter of Robert L. and Gladys M. (Crawford) Manley, Betty grew up in Columbus, Ohio and on her Crawford grandparents’ farm near Arcanum, Ohio.

She graduated from University School in 1938 and attended her beloved Ohio State University.

Betty spent the great majority of her adult life in Kettering, Ohio where she was a very active member of Southern Hills United Methodist Church, and enjoyed many years of memberships in Eastern Star, card clubs, garden club, musical and PTA activities.
She worked for many years as secretary to her husband, Realtor Wallace J. Corban, who predeceased her.
She thoroughly loved social and sporting activities, and travelled extensively after retirement.
She found joy everywhere, and pursued and shared it enthusiastically, especially so at Christmas.

Betty also was preceded in death by her parents, a son, John W. Corban, and her brother, Robert H. Manley.

She is survived by daughter, Nancy L. (Harvey) Hallenberg, of Boynton Beach, Florida; son, William V. (Earlene R.) Corban of Granville, Ohio; sister, Mary Brown of Amarillo, Texas; grandchildren Amy E. (Corban) Menster; Todd A. (Gretchen) Corban; Leif (Lily) Ingsson; Wendy L. (Bart) Williams; and John E. (Kristin) Hofferberth; eleven great-grandchildren, Nick Menster, Katie Menster, Allie Corban, John Corban, Erik Ingsson, Ana Ingsson, Caleb Ingsson, Jason Williams, Kelly Williams, Hannah Hofferberth and Nathan Hofferberth, and nieces and nephews.

If you wish to make a contribution in her honor, please consider Southern Hills United Methodist Church, 2287 South Dixie Highway, Kettering, Ohio 45409

The family will receive friends from 10:00 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. Saturday, December 29, 2012 at Routsong Funeral Home, 81 North Main Street, Centerville, Ohio 45458, with service following.
Burial at Ithaca Cemetery, Ithaca, Ohio.

Condolences may be sent to the family by signing the Guestbook at ww.routsong.com.
.Published in the The Advocate on December 28, 2012
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On Thursday, December 20, 2012, 23andMe and LabCorp (Laboratory Corporation of America) were sued for patent infringement in Delaware by Australian company Genetic Technologies Limited.

Specifically, Genetic Technologies has alleged that 23andMe and LabCorp infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,615,342, entitled “ACTN3 genotype screen for athletic performance.”  The complaint is available here.

ACTN3 (Alpha-actinin-3) is an actin-binding protein encoded by the ACTN3 gene.  A particular mutation in the ACTN3 gene (rs1815739; R577X) results in a deficiency of the ACTN3 protein.  The non-mutant version of the gene is associated with sprint performance, the mutant version is associated with endurance.

23andMe does analyze the rs1815739 SNP in their tests (see “Speed Gene: Fact or Fiction?”). My own rs1815739 SNP genotype, for example, is TT, meaning that I have no working copies of ACTN3 in my fast-twitch muscle fibers.  From the complaint:

23andMe’s marketing materials describe in detail the ACTN3 gene testing that LabCorp has and is performing for 23andMe. More specifically, those marketing materials indicate that LabCorp analyzes and detects the single nucleotide polymorphism rs1815739, which is also referred to as R577X, in the ACTN3 gene. The rs1815739 polymorphism alters position 577 of the α-actinin-3 protein. The marketing materials also indicate that the Defendants associate athletic performance with the ACTN3 gene, which is “turned on in a type of muscle fiber used for power-based sports.” The testing method includes analyzing a sample obtained from a human for the presence of one or more genetic variations in the ACTN3 gene and detecting the presence of two 577R alleles (i.e., rs1815739(C,C)) at the loci encoding amino acid number 577 of the ACTN3 protein.  Defendants then use the presence of two 577R alleles to predict the potential sprinting, strength, or power performance of the human because the presence of two copies of the 577R allele is positively associated with potential sprinting, strength, or power performance. Thus, Defendants’ ACTN3 testing directly infringes upon one or more claims of the ’342 Patent.

Although Genetic Technologies did not identify which claims of the ‘342 patent it is asserting against 23andMe and LabCorp, only claims 1-8 are specifically genetic testing claims.  For example, claim 1 of the patent is a method claim:

1. A method to predict potential sprinting, strength, or power performance in a human comprising:

a)      analyzing a sample obtained from the human for the presence of one or more genetic variations in α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene;

b)      detecting the presence of two 577R alleles at the loci encoding amino acid number 577 of the α-actinin-3 (ACTN3) protein; and

c)      predicting the potential sprinting, strength, or power performance of the human, wherein the presence of two copies of the 577R allele is positively associated with potential sprinting, strength, or power performance.

 

The patent lists Kathryn Nance North (see here and here) as the sole inventor of this method.  The 2003 study that reported a link between ACTN3 and athletic performance (full text online here) lists six authors along with Professor North, including genetics blogger Daniel MacArthur.  Daniel wrote about ACTN3 a few years ago at Genetic Future.

What Now?

If the case isn’t immediately settled, then 23andMe and LabCorp will likely challenge the validity of the ‘342 patent on various grounds.  A quick review of the prosecution history (the back-and-forth with the patent office before the application issued as a granted patent) reveals that the patent application had very few prior art issues during prosecution, being challenged primarily by North’s earlier paper on ACTN3, instead encountering challenges under 35 U.S.C. 112 (enablement).

It is also likely that this patent will be challenged under the Mayo v. Prometheus holding, in which the Court held that not only is a law of nature itself unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 101, but so is the application of that law of nature if the application merely relies upon elements already known in the art. In Mayo, the law of nature was the relationship between “concentrations of certain metabolites in the blood and the likelihood that a dosage of a thiopurine drug will prove ineffective or cause harm.”  Undoubtedly this case will examine whether the natural relationship between genetic variations in ACTN3 gene and the “potential sprinting, strength, or power performance” of a human is a similar law of nature.  If so, the question then becomes whether the claim of the ‘342 patent recites more than just that law of nature and the general instruction to apply it.  Based on the claim set forth above, this will be a significant challenge for the ‘342 patent.

 

 

 

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Every year Google reviews thousands of apps and selects their top picks—we’re pleased to share that our Ancestry app for Android is one of Google’s top picks of 2012!

A recent update to the Ancestry app for Android introduced hints so members can make new family discoveries from the convenience of their phone or tablet. The app automatically syncs with members’ trees on Ancestry.com so they can view or update their tree anywhere.

It’s an honor to be one of Google’s top picks, but we’re not finished yet. We still have a lot of plans to improve the mobile experience and a list of feature requests from our members to work through.

A big thanks to the product and development teams who played a part in the apps making.

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Hope you had a wonderful holiday! Just dropping in quickly to let you know that Ancestry.com is
providing free access to 30 collections through Saturday, Dec. 29. More than 300 million
select records from the collections added or updated to Ancestry.com this year are
available, including the 1940 United States Federal Census.

To access the records, visit Ancestry.com/2012.

Happy searching!

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Have you ever wanted a quick and easy way to view and share your family tree right from your desktop?  Announcing Ancestry for Windows 8 which was released into the new Windows Store on November 30th and was subsequently updated on December 12th.

The Ancestry app provides an attractive and innovative way to experience and show off your tree.  Editing in the app is not supported yet, so to edit or build your tree, there are launch points that take you to Ancestry.com on the web.  Any changes you make to your online tree on Ancestry.com will show up back in the desktop Ancestry application.

The Ancestry App for Window 8 consists of four main areas:

1.     The Hub is the home base for the Ancestry app and provides access to several aspects of your tree and information about Ancestry.com.

 

• People—Some of the most recently updated people in your tree are displayed in a collage in the “People” section of the hub.  You can tap or click one of the people displayed to see more information about that person or tap or click the “People” heading to access a list of all the people in your tree.
• Top Hints—A list of hints associated with the people displayed in the collage.  Just tap or click a hint to see more information about it and view the associated historical record, if any.
• Photos—A collage of recently accessed photos is displayed after the list of hints.  Tap or click any photo to see it in more detail or tap or click the “Photos” heading to see a collage of all photos in your tree.
• Ancestry Info—After your tree information, the Hub also presents lists of posts from Facebook and Twitter, information about your message board favorites, links to Ancestry videos, new collections, and other Ancestry properties.

 

You can use the swipe up or swipe down gestures (or right-click) from the Hub to access other trees or to open the current tree on Ancestry.com

2.     The People List gives you access to all of the people in your tree.

 3.     The Person Page—Tapping or clicking on a person in the Hub or the Person List will display that person’s details on the Person page.

 

 

The person page displays a picture and the vital facts of the person’s life along with his or her immediate relationships (fathers, mothers, spouses, children), followed by a list of Ancestry hints, a map and other photos associated with the person.

4.     The Photo List shows all of the photos in your tree as a collage.  Just tap or click on any of them to see a larger view

In its current form, the Ancestry app for Windows 8 does not support in-app editing.

Rather it is intended to provide an interesting and attractive way to experience, view, and show your family tree.  But this is just the beginning for Ancestry on Windows 8.  There will be more improvements to come.  In the meantime, you can easily access and edit your tree by using the swipe up or swipe down gestures (or right-click) and then choosing the option to “Open on Ancestry”.

Remember that building your tree on Ancestry is completely free.  Many people have the misunderstanding that you must have a paid subscription in order to use this app or to build your family tree on Ancestry.  A subscription is only required if you want to search and view results from Ancestry’s vast database of historical records and family trees.  But there is no charge for building your tree with your own information.

We hope this new app will be a valuable ongoing asset to your Ancestry experience.

 

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Contributed by Paula Spencer Scott, Caring.com senior editor

Worried about how to keep a conversation moving along when visiting an older adult in a nursing home or assisted living? Sometimes it’s helpful to focus not on what you should say but on *how to encourage stories* instead.

Storytelling can be a wonderful, no-pressure way to spend warm time together. People with memory or hearing trouble will feel less social pressure. Best of all, you just might learn some never-heard-before tales and tidbits about your relative or your family history.

Some ideas for seamless storytelling:

Consider bringing mementos as starting points. Ask for help with photo albums, a family tree, or an old marriage certificate, for example. Say, “I’ve been wondering about . . . ” “I need your help figuring out . . . ”

Make it easy, not like a test. Avoid peppering your loved one with detail-focused questions (“Who’s that? Where was this? Do you remember?”), especially if memory loss is a problem. Better: “Is this Aunt Jane? She’s so tall!” “Did you like growing up on a farm?”

If your loved one blanks or resists broad questions, go more narrow. Instead of asking, “What was it like in the war?” you might ask, “Were you nervous traveling overseas for the first time when you enlisted?” “Did you ever think we’d join the war?”

Ask about superlatives: “Who was your first boyfriend?” “What’s the longest you ever wore your hair?” “What’s the fastest car you ever drove?” “Did you have a favorite birthday?”

Remember these three little words: “Tell me about . . . “Often the best way to get someone talking isn’t by direct questioning. “Tell me about . . . ” invites stories in a nonthreatening, non-quiz-like way.

For people with dementia, try encouraging free-associated stories. Reminiscence therapy encourages creativity and stories with the pressure of “getting it right” removed. Look at photos in magazines, on postcards, or in picture books together. Ask open-ended questions that encourage a story, such as, “Why do think she’s wearing a dress like that?” “Did you ever have a dog like this one?”

For more ideas about how to spend time with an elderly loved one, see 11 Tips for a Terrific Visit

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Over the years, I find two enjoyable aspects to researching my family are meeting distant cousins who are also into genealogy, and getting the chance to trade our research. I have been surprised by how close genealogy can bring two people together who would otherwise just be considered strangers.

Research has brought many amazing people into my life who have become just as close as my immediate family; we’ve helped each other break through roadblocks and identified unknown faces in family photos, as well as shared letters, family stories, research and laughs. We found excitement in collaborating on all of our hard work and watching the joy we brought to each other through it.

Unfortunately though, like everything else in life, there are also people who like to ruin the fun for others. If you have been researching your family long enough, you have likely come into contact with a genealogy grinch or two. They always have an excuse to not share their information – even after you’ve sent all of yours. Sometimes they don’t bother with excuses; they just flat out refuse to share any of their photos, records, etc. This is by far my biggest pet peeve when it comes to genealogy.

While most were happy to answer questions and add their photos, records and stories – thrilled someone cared and wanted to be a part of it – others promised to send their information but never followed through. However, they took great pride in showing off their work at family reunions and get-togethers. I have also had some people say flat they didn’t have pictures of particular people, only to find out they did. I could never wrap my head around this need to keep everything for themselves. I mean, it’s not like I was expecting them to just hand over all of their original documents and photos when I only wanted copies.

There are so many ways to share information now that there really is no excuse. From making photocopies, scanning, burning a disk, emailing, to uploading your tree and photos for sharing on sites like Ancestry.com, the options are endless. So why be the grinch ruining it for everyone else?

If you are guilty of being a genealogy grinch, stop and remember why you got into genealogy in the first place. Chances are you wanted to get to know your family’s past, keep your lost loved ones alive and hoped to learn a bit about yourself along the way.

Now ask yourself: Why would you want to be a dead-end for someone else who is hoping to do the same?

By Kris Williams
Twitter: KrisWilliams81

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Days like 12/12/12 make us feel like life is all about the numbers. Since we embarked on this adventure six weeks ago, we have been consumed by numbers like miles per gallon, time and distance to our next destination, exit numbers, entrance fees, opening and closing times, travel time and of course counting to make sure we have all five of our kids.

Now, as we keep rolling forward on this adventure, the numbers just keep growing. We are now in Texas, and as the largest state in the lower 48, it is full of really big numbers. To get to this point, we have now traveled over 4,000 miles, camped in seven Walmart parking lots, collectively lost two teeth, been hospitalized once, made at least 10 repairs on our motorhome, and eaten out 100 times more than we ever did at home. BUT, I am beginning to understand that our family history adventure is about so much more than the numbers. For example, we just visited The 6^th Floor Museum in Dallas, Texas where Lee Harvey Oswald carried out the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. As I saw and heard the sights and sounds of that fateful day, I thought of when my Dad told me exactly where he was and how he felt just after noon on November 22, 1963. I gained a whole new perspective as I experienced the 6^th Floor Museum through my Dad’s eyes.

As we continue to travel from place to place, I am most excited for the chance to gain a new appreciation for my current and past family’s experiences.  As we walk where they walked and visit the times and places of our history, our ancestors are becoming less like numbers and a lot more like living, breathing people with feelings just like us and that is what makes this an adventure we will never forget.

Follow the Brown Family and their adventures at http://www.ancestry.com/adventure

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Before we began this adventure, we talked to a number of seasoned travelers about our plans to go across the country in a motorhome as a family. We were surprised to hear in response from these road warrior veterans a number of warnings about the challenges of hitting the road. After our visit to Little Rock we believe every word.

We were trying to make up for lost time since we had stayed longer than expected in Memphis and Nashville, but we knew we couldn’t go through Little Rock without seeing Central High School and the Old State House. As we pulled into town, it was late afternoon and we went straight to Central High. We knew before we left home that this trip would give us opportunities to teach our kids about different races and cultures and the important principle that “all men are created equal”. We are never sure if our children really understand or remember much from all the stops we are making along the way, but for some reason, even though we were at what seemed like a pretty normal high school, they seemed to appreciate what the Little Rock Integration Crisis of 1957 was all about. We had already begun learning about the civil rights movement in Memphis when we visited the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. Now, as we visited a school where children were affected by the evils of racism, it seemed to have an even deeper level of meaning for our kids.

Next stop was the Old State House and it was really beautiful, but unfortunately we didn’t have as much time there as we would have liked. We hit the road in the dark with our sites set on Dallas, Texas when we heard a strange noise and felt a big bump in the rear of our motorhome. We limped along the road and up the off-ramp into Benton, Arkansas until we could find a place to get our big rig out of traffic. It was here that we discovered that both of our rear airbags had broken away from the axle and needed to be replaced. To make a very long story short, we were stuck there in that parking lot for three days before we could get the part and the mechanic and the motor home all in the same place at the same time. It wasn’t a very complicated repair, but it was expensive, and not much fun hanging out under the motor home for several hours in the grease and the 27 degree weather. However, this cloud did have a silver lining. We also had more time to experience and enjoy Little Rock. On Saturday we went to The Big Dam Bridge, the William Clinton Presidential Museum and had a great dinner at The Flying Fish Restaurant downtown. On Sunday we made new friends at church and were invited to Sunday dinner at their home. Although it is a strange experience to camp in a parking lot for three days, the owners of the property were very kind and even called us on Sunday afternoon to ask if there was anything they could do to help us! All in all we look back on our experiences in Little Rock with a smile. We experienced another great city and overcame some difficult challenges that brought us closer together, and have grown to appreciate the people whose generosity, concern and kindness have made our lives just a little sweeter.

See when the Brown Family is coming to your hometown here: http://www.ancestry.com/adventure