0531-Power shortage issue turns into national agenda

Nation is expected to face worst-ever power shortages this summer

By Seo Jee-yeon

The power shortage issue, triggered by the suspension of two nuclear reactors Tuesday due to the use of substandard components, is turning into a key national agenda as the country is expected to face the worst-ever lack of electricity summer this year.

The sudden shutdown of the Shin-Kori Reactor 2 in Busan and Shin-Wolsong Reactor 1 in North Gyeongsang Province increased the number of nuclear reactors suspended to 10, which raises a severe power shortage issue.

Korea currently runs 23 reactors, generating 30 percent of the nation’s total electricity generation.

“Ten reactors suspended take about 10 percent of the nation’s total power generation capacity,’’ an official from the Korea Electric Power Corp. said.

Considering the fact that Korea maintains a five to 10 percent reserve power rate and it takes three to six months for a change of parts or for a regular check-up, the power loss due to stoppage of multi-reactors at the same time could cause a blackout in the summer peak season.

This is why Trade, Industry and Energy vice Minister Han Jin-hyun, who is responsible for the nation’s energy policy, warned against a possible unprecedented supply shortage this in August when the summer heat peaks.

In the course of developing measures to cope with a power crisis, Hyun visited the National Assembly on Wednesday to explain of measures to prevent a possible power outage during the summer.

Following a regular policy coordination meeting among ministries slated for Friday, Prime Minister Chung Hong-won will make an announcement for the public to update them on how serious power shortage issue will be during this summer and to ask for help from citizens to join the upcoming power saving campaign, the Office for Government Policy Coordination said.

Industry watchers predicted the government will launch a large-scale power saving campaign nationwide, while asking corporations to cut power consumption.

”There is no means to significantly boost our generation capacity in a short period of time. We have no choice but to manage power demand to avoid a possible power crisis,’’ Han said.

The ministry forecast power demand is expected to go up to 79 million kilowatts this year, up from 77.27 million kilowatts last year.

Meanwhile, with the shutdown of the reactors, the nation’s total power generation capacity is expected to drop to about 77 million kilowatts. Therefore, at least, the government has to cut more than 20 million kilowatts power consumption during this summer.

0530-What Makes a Risk-Taker

Paul Cusma manages his clients' money cautiously, so the retirees among them "don't have to go back to work," says the Tampa, Fla., financial adviser. In the investment realm, "I'm always planning for a rainy day," he says.

But off the job—watch out. Mr. Cusma, 36, rides one of the fastest motorcycles on the highway for "an adrenaline boost," he says, adding: "If you lose focus for one second, you crash and burn and die." He also traveled to Russia to ride in a MiG fighter jet at more than 1,000 miles per hour, soaring as high as 70,000 feet. "I don't want to wake up one day and realize I forgot to live my life," he says.

You might not think of yourself as a risk-taker. Think again. Recent studies using new experimental tools are upending the old belief that a person's appetite for risk is mostly inborn and unchanging. In fact, the reasons people take crazy gambles are far more complex. People who are cautious in some contexts may embrace risk in others, depending on factors such as their familiarity with the setting and their emotions at the time. The findings are exploding old stereotypes—that women are innately more cautious than men, for example, or that teenagers are inevitably risk-seekers.

"It has been surprising to learn what a wide variety of reasons people have for risk-taking," says Elke Weber, a professor of international business at Columbia University and a leading researcher on risk. Understanding the roots of risk-taking can guide people in making better decisions, she says. Some long to advance in their careers or have new adventures but overestimate the hazards. Others race quickly and without thinking into dangerous risks.

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• Quiz: What Are Your Biggest Risk Areas?
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Getting to know your surroundings can change how you size up a risk. "Most people overestimate the probability of something going wrong" when they venture into unfamiliar turf, says Margie Warrell, a Melbourne, Australia-based authority on risk-taking who has coached many U.S. executives and employers. "They also overestimate the consequences of things going badly," says Ms. Warrell, author of "Stop Playing Safe." With experience, they become more realistic, and learn they can handle the consequences of failure. "The more often we step out of our comfort zone, the more we build our tolerance for risk-taking," she says.

Mr. Cusma is an athlete who practices martial arts and works out regularly, lending him confidence in handling physical risks. Adventures like taking the MiG flight, set up in 2009 through a Sarasota, Fla., travel company called Incredible Adventures, provide an emotional outlet, he says.

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Sophie Casson (5)

Sometimes an environment can shape risk-taking behavior. Jennifer Bellinghausen of Austin, Texas, a full-time caregiver to her disabled mother, isn't a risk-taker and never thought of getting a tattoo. The 39-year-old mother of two is terrified of needles and devotes her time to her family. But when she ventured into Mom's Tattoos in Austin several years ago with a friend who was getting one, the atmosphere in the shop changed her mind. Owner Deborah Obregon was so friendly that "it was like we were instant best friends," Ms. Bellinghausen says. Ms. Obregon and another tattoo artist chatted with her for more than an hour, and Ms. Bellinghausen eventually took the plunge and got a 3-inch ankle tattoo of "a little kitty cat," she says. "It surprised me; I'm not a risk-taker," she says.

Effects of 'Culture of Honor'

Strong emotions also spur risk-taking, research shows. Men who subscribe to a "culture of honor" and believe they must defend their manhood or keep others from pushing them around are more likely to start an argument or attack a fellow motorist in a fit of road rage, says a 2012 study in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Other research shows that experiencing discrimination or rejection leads people to take more chances.

Ione Fletcher Kleven was annoyed one spring night in 2010 when she heard a fight break out in the front yard of her Castro Valley, Calif., home. She was determined to protect a garden she and her grandson had just planted there.

The 67-year-old portrait artist isn't usually a risk-taker. She dislikes flying, never gambles and has been married to her husband Oliver for 49 years. When she opened the door, her eyes met those of a helpless, screaming 14-year-old boy who was being beaten and stabbed by two burly men. "I felt a rush of heat up my spine," says the 5-foot-6-inch grandmother, "and I started running" straight toward the assailants. "I got so mad I scared myself."

She grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled him from under his attackers, screaming in their faces, "Get out of here!" Her husband, a 6-foot former Marine, stepped onto the porch, and the attackers fled. The wounded teen recovered after surgery and several months' rehabilitation. Ms. Kleven is still surprised at the gamble she took, she says. "I don't want to hurt anybody. But that night I would have ripped their heads off."

Past studies typically measured people's appetite for risk by asking them to make choices in a laboratory setting between receiving a set amount of cash and playing a lottery with varying odds of winning different amounts of money. Men tended to make riskier choices in these experiments, which led researchers to conclude the women in general have less appetite for risk. The reality may have been that men typically are more used to taking financial risks.

Researchers have developed new tools to measure the nuances of risky behavior, and their findings have dashed that stereotype. A scale developed at Columbia University gauges risk-taking not only in the financial domain but in social, ethical, recreational and health areas. Researchers have found risk-takers in one realm may be timid in others.

Women feel more comfortable than men taking social risks, such as moving to a new city or wearing unconventional clothes, according to studies using this new, domain-specific risk-taking scale. When researchers factor in differences in how men and women perceive various kinds of risks, women are no more risk-averse than men, Dr. Weber says.

'Cold' vs. 'Hot' Decision-Making

Another experimental tool, called the Columbia Card Task, enabled researchers to discover that teens aren't always the dangerous risk-takers they are believed to be. The task presents subjects with a computer image of several rows of cards face down. They earn money by turning over a winning card with a smiley face, but they lose a lot of money if they turn over a losing card with a frowning face. A "cold version" of the task invites calm, rational decision-making by having participants decide all at once how many cards to turn over. A "hot version" arouses more tension and emotion by requiring subjects to turn cards over one by one.

The task's creator, Bernd Figner, an assistant psychology professor at Radboud University in the Netherlands, likens the cold version of the test to making a single decision about car-insurance policies with varying deductibles and coverage limits. The hot version is like going out to a bar for a drink, then deciding with each new round whether to have another, he says. "In the hot state, people are more likely to do risky things they will later regret."

Teens take plenty of risks during the hot version of the task, Dr. Figner's research shows. But even a reckless teenager becomes sober as a judge during the cold version of the task in a laboratory. Helping teens understand how emotions can affect their choices—for instance when they're feeling peer pressure or the pull of a strong temptation during a night out—could help reduce risk-taking.

0529-More tax haven revelations made

Hanjin Shipping Chairwoman Choi Eun-young and former Hanjin Shipping Holdings CEO Cho Yong-min have operated a paper company in an offshore tax haven, as well as four other high-profile figures from affiliates of other conglomerates, an online news outlet said Monday.

Their names were disclosed by the outlet, Newstapa, which is working with the U.S.-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), in a second announcement of people on a list of 245 Koreans who it claims are operating paper companies in offshore tax havens. The first announcement was made last Wednesday.

Five other figures on the list were Hwang Yong-deug, president of Hanwha Station Development; Lee Deog-kyu, former director of Daewoo International; Yoo Choon-sik, former chief of Daewoo Motor’s local affiliate in Poland; and former SK Securities Vice President Cho Min-ho and his wife Kim Young-hye.

Following the two announcements, the National Tax Service (NTS) is expected to speed up its investigation into offshore tax evasion allegations against conglomerates.

According to the news outlet, Choi and Cho of Hanjin established Wide Gate Group in the British Virgin Islands in October 2008. “Choi is registered as a shareholder and Cho as a director. Of the 50,000 shares of Wide Gate Group, Choi holds 90 percent of them and Cho, 10 percent,” Newstapa chief Kim Yong-jin said.

As to the revelation, Hanjin Shipping said that Choi and Cho jointly set up the paper company for personal purposes unrelated to Hanjin. “But they did not need the firm, so they sold all the shares in November 2011,” the company said in a press release.

Hwang established Five Star Aku Trust in the Cook Islands in February 1996 when he was working at Hanwha’s Tokyo office.

“When we contacted Hwang, he claimed he knew nothing about the paper company, and has avoided contact since. Hanwha Group said it was Hwang’s own business and the group had nothing to do with it. But today (Monday) the group changed its claim and said Five Star Aku Trust is a paper company set up by Hanwha Japan, the group’s affiliate,” Kim said.

Lee set up Contour Pacific in the British Virgin Islands in July 2005. “Lee told us that establishing a paper company requires more than a director’s decision. But Daewoo International claimed the paper firm has nothing to do with it,” he said.

Yoo established Sun Wave Management there in April 2007. “Yoo was one of eight shareholders of the company. He claimed he invested $60,000 in it. Sun Wave Management’s largest shareholder, CayDa Capital Group, was also a paper company set up on the British Virgin Islands.”

Cho of SK opened Crossbrook in the British Virgin Islands in January 1996. “The firm issued one share, and Cho’s wife obtained it from an unidentified bearer in October 2003,” Newstapa said.

Although the news outlet said it would not cooperate with the government, the NTS said it would look into whether the mentioned conglomerates and figures committed any illegality such as tax evasion through the paper companies.

The first list included Lee Soo-young, chairman of OCI; Lee’s wife; the wife of former Korean Air Vice Chairman Cho Joong-geon; DSDL Chairman Cho Wook-rae; and Cho’s eldest son.

Newstapa said it would continue disclosing more people on the list after a confirmation process, with the third announcement due Thursday. It is rumored that the third list includes names of politicians.

0528-Turbocharge Your Career Before Breakfast

By LAURA VANDERKAM

When we think of our jobs, we tend to think of things we have to do. There are meetings that consume much of the day, and emails about scheduling those meetings that consume all the pockets of time in between.

You may have things on your wish list ? time to think, time to create ? but who has space in a packed schedule for that?

You do. You just have to get up earlier.

Successful people know that mornings are generally, a great time for getting things done. Emergencies have yet to brew and only the most masochistic offices schedule conference calls for 6 a.m.

Research into the science of willpower is finding that our supply of self-discipline is most robust after a good night’s sleep. That makes it easier to tackle tasks that require focus and internal motivation ? more so than at any other point in the day.

If you get up early, you can start the day with big wins. That’s true with personal priorities like exercise, but it’s true for professional priorities too.

Debbie Moysychyn started a new job a little over a year ago building a division of healthcare education at Brandman University. But she soon noticed that her workday featured a lot of interruptions. Part of this was by design. She was trying to establish a collaborative culture and had an open-door policy with her team, so viewed from that perspective, these “interruptions” were the most important part of the day! The problem was that she had other things to do too and the disjointed nature of her schedule meant she never got far.

The solution to her dilemma lay in a quirk of her personal life. Her teenage daughter played water polo and needed to be in the pool before 7 a.m. So instead of going home after taking her to the pool, Moysychyn started going to the office to tackle a top priority for each day. By scoring a big win early, she could relax when colleagues visited her later on. “I can accomplish more before breakfast than I used to do in a day,” she told me. Well, maybe not quite, she relented, “but I am checking long-standing things off my to-do list.”

Charlotte Walker-Said, a history post-doc at the University of Chicago, works between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. on a book about the history of religious politics in West Africa. She reads journal articles and writes pages before dealing with her teaching responsibilities. “Once you start looking at email, the whole day cascades into email responses and replying back and forth,” she says. These early morning hours devoted to scholarship are key for staying true to her long-term plans. “Every day I have a job,” she says. But “in the morning, I think I have a career.”

If you’re worn out by the daily grind, waking up early to do more work can seem like a tall order. That’s why it’s important to choose professional projects that you actually enjoy.  People don’t do well long-term with suffering. And that means, the only way you’ll make popping out of bed a habit is if you want to do it. So pick something you love!

So what’s on your professional want-to-do list? Maybe it’s starting a blog, or doing the kind of art clients never demand in your graphic design job. Maybe it’s working on a book, or even laying the groundwork for a new career. Feeling inspired yet?

The hours before most people are eating breakfast are available to all of us if we choose to use them. Successful people do just that.

Live Chat: Join Laura Vanderkam and WSJ’s Careers and Management deputy editor Francesca Donner at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday for get-up-early success strategies.  Ask your questions now.

Laura Vanderkam is the author of the new e-book “What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast.”

0527-He Says Run. She Says Lift.

A wife and husband argue about the best way to stay in shape. And the winner is…

When it comes to exercise, he says aerobic—and I say resistance.

Running is my husband's thing; weight training is mine. Our running joke is that we have a Running Argument: a debate over which type of workout, his or mine, provides the optimal benefit for health and fitness as we age.

Journal Report

• Insights from The Experts
• Read more at WSJ.com/Encore

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• Sometimes, Second Careers Are a Leap of Faith
• A Dilemma in the Hunt for Breast Cancer
• Insights on Finding Contentment in Later Life
• How Golfers Can Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Shorter Drives

Yes, the easy answer is some of both. But achieving that balance can be difficult. And many people don't seem to recognize the importance of each type of exercise in later life.

I have always known that it's love (of me, not just of running) that drives my husband Phil, the marathoner, to try to convince me that cardio is king for staying heart healthy and that I should do more of it. He's fond of quoting Kenneth Cooper, the fitness guru who invented the word "aerobics." Among Phil's favorite sound bites: "I don't criticize weight training—as long as it is not a substitute for aerobic training."

Video: What's Your Workout?

A series on how executives keep in shape.

Jodi Richard, owner of the New York City restaurant Atera, uses her rock climbing workouts as a tool in managing the juggle of her home and career life

Jason Yim, CEO of Trigger, a media company that produces Web sites and games for Hollywood movies, started practicing Muay Thai boxing and kickboxing two years ago. He's cracked a few ribs, but he's says its a great workout for the body and mind.

• See more exercise videos in the series.

As for me, the gym rat, I'm a firm believer that strength training is my ace in the hole for keeping my bones and muscles—and quality of life—strong. Which is why I push Phil to make room in his schedule for the gym, not just training runs. "It's especially important for boomers of a certain age, like us, dear," I'll purr, adding that Dr. Cooper himself, now age 81, recommends increasing the amount of time spent doing resistance training with each decade of life.

Two Jolts, Countless Squats

Once upon a time, in my 20s, I, too, used to run (Don't tell Phil!), until an ankle injury sidetracked me to walking. For a good part of my 30s, I didn't seem to have time to be anything but out of shape. Then I came across a medical study showing that exercise might help reduce the risk of cancer of the colon, the disease that felled my mother when she was only 58. Teetering on the brink of 40, I first asked myself: How can I afford the time to exercise? Then I rephrased it: Could I afford not to find that time?

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Ryan Snook

It was that jolt that led me to enter a gym for the first time in years. And it was another jolt to realize just how much time and effort would be required, given the years of inactivity, to shed my excess weight and rebuild my stamina.

But I took it slowly, learning (and relearning) physical skills and movements as I began trying and working out on different machines. When I reached the limit of what I could figure out on my own, I turned for help to a personal trainer—and that's when I got hooked on the challenges and empowerment (both physical and mental) of doing dead lifts, squats and shoulder presses, and using dumbbells, barbells and kettlebells.

Phil, meanwhile, is just as dedicated to his running at 66 as he was three decades ago.

Doing It All

At the same time, though, neither of us can ignore the growing amount of research about fitness and aging. The science is increasingly clear: Older adults need both strength training, to help replenish and maintain the muscle mass and (for women especially) the bone density our bodies lose each year as we age, and cardio to help guard against the risks of clogged arteries in the heart and brain.

And that is what our Running Argument has ultimately succeeded in getting us to do. Phil keeps running, I keep pumping my iron, and we both keep talking. But much better, we've spurred each other on. Phil now goes to the gym at least once a week for strength training. I've become an avid walker. I'll even quote Dr. Cooper now and then: "We do not stop exercising because we grow old—we grow old because we stop exercising."

We're in it for the long run, Phil and I. And the effort is worth its weight in extra years of running—and walking—around town together.

Ms. Cole is a writer in New York. She can be reached at encore@wsj.com.

0522-Web Browsers Are Reinvented

File-sharing, Apps and Voice Commands Change How Internet Is Used

By JESSICA E. LESSIN

Bloomberg News

Google, which develops Chrome, has developed technologies that can be used for voice-recognition browsing.

Mobile phones, wearable devices and self-driving cars are generating buzz as the future of technology. But the old Web browser is being reinvented too, in a trend with implications for how consumers work and entertain themselves online.

The Web browser is being reinvented, with companies from Google to small startups adding new features such as the ability to synch across devices, Jessica Lessin reports. Photo: Google.

Companies from Google Inc.GOOG +3.25% to small startups are introducing new features, such as taking and syncing notes and files within the browser, voice-recognition, video calls and messaging. They are also reinventing the browser for newly connected devices like cars.

In one new front of experimentation, browser company Maxthon Ltd. will next month offer users the ability to sync downloads and local files across devices via its browser, in potential competition with file-sharing services like Dropbox Inc. Consumers will be able to download or send the data to a cloud storage account or other device running the browser from a drop-down menu within the browser. The company already offers the ability to take and sync notes in the browser.

Maxthon

Browser company Maxthon Ltd. will next month offer users the ability to sync downloads and local files across devices via its browser.

The little-known software, which Maxthon says has some 120 million monthly users, more than half of them in China, aims to capitalize on consumers' desires to access their files from a range of devices. The company offers browsers for desktops, mobile phones, tablets and even in-car systems. Earlier this year, Maxthon announced a deal with Pioneer Electronics to enable users to browse the Web from an in-car touch-screen device.

"It's clear we're shifting to a multi-device world and that creates a lot of pain points," says Karl Mattson, vice president and general manager of Maxthon, which has about 220 employees. "The browser is the natural frame for this," he says.

The browser industry may have appeared staid in recent years, with the market dominated by tech giants such as Microsoft Corp., MSFT +0.94% Google andApple Inc. AAPL -3.38% Microsoft's Internet Explorer remains the market-share leader for desktop browsers, according to Net Applications, with a 56% share of the desktop market globally. Apple's Safari browser leads on mobile phones and tablets, with 59% share, thanks to the popularity of the iPhone and iPad.

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Bloomberg

Sundar Pichai, senior vice president of Chrome and Apps at Google, speaks during the Google I/O conference in San Francisco, Calif.

But behind the scenes, many companies have quietly been enhancing and reimagining the Web browser, as new technologies have made it possible to do numerous activities in the browser instead of through software downloaded to a computer or mobile device. The set of new programming techniques enabling the features is often referred to as HTML5.

Companies have opened up to "add-ons" and apps, allowing users to access features like games and third-party software from a homescreen. Earlier this year, Google, which develops the Chrome browser, released software that allows developers to add voice-recognition to their Web pages, so users can browse the Web by speaking. It also released a Chrome app for its Google Keep note-taking service that syncs notes directly with its Google Drive storage service.

Microsoft has been tailoring its Internet Explorer browser for touch, focusing on making it responsive and fast for tablets like its Surface. The latest version of Internet Explorer also is designed to work well with its SkyDrive storage service.

Maxthon

A Maxthon browser

Apps have stolen some thunder from browsers, especially as consumers find apps faster and more convenient to use than the Web. That has spurred some of the latest browser innovation.

Jay Sullivan, chief operating officer of browser maker Mozilla Corp., says browsing is going to become more social through new and easy ways to share what people are browsing with friends. "It will be more lively, quick and fun," he says.

Mozilla's Firefox browser has rolled out new features, such as the ability to integrate with social-networking sites so users can see updates and messages from Facebook Inc. FB -1.74% within the browser's frame. It is also testing the feature with Sina Corp.'s SINA +0.64%Weibo for Chinese users.

Mozilla also is working on embedded communication features. For instance, consumers could open up a chat screen within their browser and drag a video from a Web page into the screen to share immediately. Mozilla is also trying to persuade websites to adopt a new identity system called Persona that aims to eliminate passwords. It allows users to log into websites using existing accounts and passwords.

Past attempts to spiff up browsers haven't always taken off. Onetime Web-browser startup Rockmelt, which once trumpeted its integration with Facebook, says its desktop browser had 4.5 million users but will be discontinued in the next few months. It has changed course to become a discovery service for finding interesting Web content.

Tim Howes, Rockmelt co-founder and chief technology officer, said in a statement that "browsers today are just big dumb windows in [consumers'] way."

Some new browser features, like file-sharing, aim to replicate functions or Web services that are already easy to access across multiple devices through services like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Mr. Mattson of Maxthon says integrated features are more convenient for users. He likens some of the stand-alone services to "using a five-pound hammer to kill a mosquito" when something simpler within the browser will do.

Write to Jessica E. Lessin at jessica.lessin@wsj.com

0521-Actress's Move Shines Light on Preventive Mastectomy

Experts Say Jolie Raises Awareness of Genetic Cancer Risk, but Caution Not All Women Need Testing

By MELINDA BECK and RON WINSLOW

Cancer experts said Angelina Jolie's decision to have a preventive double mastectomy because of a heightened genetic risk for breast cancer should encourage women to look into their family history for the disease.

But they cautioned against the need for all women to routinely order a genetic test for breast cancer and noted that there are less-aggressive options to consider for those who do test positive for a genetic mutation tied to breast cancer.

Flow Physical Therapy & Yoga founder Amy Shapses joins Lunch Break to look at how news of Angelina Jolie's elective double mastectomy could shape public perceptions of the procedure, and what women can expect after undergoing breast cancer surgery. Photo: AP.

In an essay in the New York Times that drew wide attention, the 37-year-old actress said she had her breasts removed earlier this year after testing positive for a mutation in what is called the BRCA1 gene. Ms. Jolie had the test because her mother died at age 56 after a decadelong battle with cancer.

Every year, about 232,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer and 40,000 die from the disease. The National Cancer Institute says that mutations in the two BRCA genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, account for less than 10% of all breast cancers. They also account for about 15% of ovarian cancers.

However, women who have one or both mutations have about a 60% risk of breast cancer during their lifetimes, compared with 12% for women without such mutations, according to the NCI. Women with a BRCA mutation are also likely to develop the disease at a younger age and are more likely to get it in both breasts. Some studies put the risk as high as 87%, the figure Ms. Jolie cited as leading to her decision.

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Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

Angelina Jolie.

For all women, the average lifetime risk of getting ovarian cancer is 1.5%. That rises to between 40% and 60% with a BRCA1 mutation, and to between 16% and 27% with BRCA2.

"Women should be empowered by family-history knowledge and BRCA knowledge," said Isabelle Bedrosian, a breast surgeon at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. But a clear family history should be determined before getting tested, she said.

Tests for both BRCA mutations are marketed by Myriad Genetics Inc. MYGN -1.67%of Salt Lake City, which said such testing costs about $3,340. It is covered by major health insurers and managed-care organizations in the U.S., although generally only when women have a significant family history of breast or ovarian cancer as well as other criteria.

Dr. Joseph Dayan, Beth Israel director of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Research, joins Lunch Break to discuss how Angelina Jolie's announcement that she had a preventative double mastectomy could change the conversation about options for young women facing the same risks. Photo: Getty Images.

"These are single, rare gene mutations that most people don't have," said Marisa Weiss, director of breast health oncology at Lankenau Medical Center near Philadelphia and founder of Breastcancer.org. Some women who hear about Ms. Jolie's case might feel they should get the test, she says, "but the reality is that only a small percentage of women actually qualify for it, based on the guidelines."

Women with the mutations who choose to have both breasts removed protectively reduce their risk of developing breast cancer by about 90%, or down to a 5% lifetime risk, since some breast tissue remains. Women who have the mutations and opt to remove just the ovaries before menopause cut the risk of developing breast cancer by 50%.

A Stanford University study published last year based on a computer simulation estimated that removing both breasts and ovaries after a positive BRCA test results in gains of life expectancy of up to 10.3 years for BRCA1 and 4.4 years for BRCA2 mutation carriers.

When to Test

BRCA mutations are rare, but some factors add to the risk:

• Diagnosis of early onset or triple-negative breast cancer
• A known BRCA mutation within the family
• A first-degree relative with cancer in both breasts
• A first- or second-degree relative with breast cancer diagnosed at 45 or younger
• Two or more relatives with breast cancer on maternal or paternal side
• A male relative with breast cancer
• Ashkenazi Jewish descent

Source: National Comprehensive Cancer Network

But preventive surgery isn't the only option. Some doctors advise very close monitoring, with screenings via ultrasound or MRIs twice a year. In a study of 288 women from 2001, the drug tamoxifen reduced breast-cancer incidence among healthy BRCA2 carriers by 62% compared with a placebo, though it didn't reduce breast-cancer incidence among healthy women with BRCA1 mutations. The drug can cause blood clots and other side effects.

Whether women have the mutations or not, maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, limiting alcohol and not smoking can also reduce breast-cancer risks, experts say.

Ms. Jolie's disclosure comes as growing numbers of women are electing to have healthy breasts removed protectively. Some women without the BRCA mutations who are diagnosed with cancer in one breast decide to have both removed even though data suggest their risk of getting the disease in their second breast is low.

In such cases, doctors say, women are driven by factors including fears of developing cancer and advances in breast-reconstruction surgery—which Ms. Jolie had. Recent research at MD Anderson failed to find "any evidence that removal of the opposite breast improved their survival," Dr. Bedrosian said.

Write to Melinda Beck at HealthJournal@wsj.com and Ron Winslow atron.winslow@wsj.com

0520-[New York Times Editorial] An unfair barrier to employment

Sixty-five million Americans have criminal records that might cause them to be denied jobs, even for arrests or minor convictions that occurred in the distant past.

Last year, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reaffirmed a longstanding ruling that it was illegal to screen out employees unless the offense was directly related to the job.

The problem, however, has become so acute that a growing number of states and municipalities have explicitly prohibited public agencies ― and in some cases, private businesses ― from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until the applicant reaches the interview stage or receives a conditional job offer.

In addition, many jurisdictions now require employers to show that the disqualifying offenses are directly related to the position in question.

Laws or administrative directives of this nature have been enacted in 50 cities and counties and in eight states, according to a recent analysis by the National Employment Law Project, a research and advocacy group.

Other states are joining the effort to remove unfair barriers to employment.

Bills that would give ex-offenders a fairer shot at getting a job are pending in six state legislatures: California, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina and Rhode Island.

Maryland’s governor, Martin O’Malley, signed a background check bill last week.

It prohibits state agencies from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history until the person has been given an opportunity for an interview and a chance to prove his or her worth.

The bill includes exemptions for positions in law enforcement.

These measures are propelled in part by concerns about the civic damage that results from shutting otherwise qualified people the job market, banishing them to the margins of society ― and, in some cases, driving them back to jail.

0516-When Computer Games May Keep the Brain Nimble

A new study reveals that adults who played a video game helped their mental agility more than adults who did crossword puzzles. Your Health columnist Sumathi Reddy and University of Iowa public health professor Fred Wolinsky join Lunch Break with details. Photo: Double Decision.

The computer game's concept is relatively simple. Find the matching motor vehicle and road sign amid a series of increasing distractions. Succeed and the challenge gets quicker and harder.

Cognitive-training games like this one, Double Decision, are designed to improve brain functions and are at the center of a growing body of research looking at their effectiveness as scientists strive to find ways to ward off the cognitive declines that usually come with age.

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A government-funded study published this month found that playing Double Decision can slow and even reverse declines in brain function associated with aging, while playing crossword puzzles cannot. The study builds on an earlier large trial which found that older people who played various cognitive games had better health-related outcomes, driving records and performed better at everyday tasks such as preparing a meal.

Such research has led groups like AARP, the big seniors group, to jump on board and offer discounts for certain games that have shown proven benefits.

Doctors who work with the elderly say they get many questions about so-called brain games and exercises. Despite promising study results, some doctors say there still isn't enough evidence to prove such exercises will help people in everyday life.

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"What they do is they train you with a computer program to do better on a test" of cognitive function, said Barbara Messinger-Rapport, director of the Center for Geriatric Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. "But does that mean you do better on real-life activities that utilize those skills such as driving …or managing your medications?"

Fredric Wolinsky, lead researcher for the latest study and a professor at the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa, said previous studies have demonstrated there are real-world benefits to playing certain computer games, including a reduction in depression symptoms. A study published in 2011 as part of a multi-year, government-funded trial, known as ACTIVE, showed that participants followed for six years had a 50% lower rate of motor-vehicle accidents following cognitive training, said Dr. Wolinsky, who didn't participate in that research. The study appeared in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Posit Science

The computer game Double Decision helped boost players' brain function, a study found. Doing crossword puzzles had no such benefit.

The latest study, called the Iowa Healthy and Active Minds Study, published this month in the online journal PLOS ONE, was a randomized controlled trial involving 681 healthy people. Participants were divided into two age groups—from 50 to 64, and 65 and over. People in each group were assigned either to play Road Tour, which has since been renamed Double Decision, or to do computerized crossword puzzles; some did the exercises in the lab and others at home.

Double Decision briefly displays an image of a vehicle and a particular road sign. As the screen continually shifts, and assorted vehicles and road signs come and go, players must watch out for and identify the particular vehicle and sign that appeared at the game's start. The game becomes more challenging as players advance levels, forcing them to quicken their mental speed as distractions multiply and images become harder to distinguish. The study, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, involved playing the game a minimum of 10 hours over a five-to-eight-week time period. One group played for an additional four hours after 11 months.

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Before beginning the study, participants were given standard cognitive tests, many involving executive-function tasks such as concentration and shifting from one mental task to another. The results were ranked relative to the average performance on those tests for the participants' age group.

The same tests were administered a year later. People assigned to do crossword puzzles showed typical cognitive one-year declines, Dr. Wolinsky said. But the groups who played the computer game showed a clear improvement compared with the normal loss of cognitive function as people age. The amount of improvement ranged from two to seven years, depending on which executive function was being tested. People who worked at home improved at the same rate as those who were in the lab.

Improvements in the younger group matched those among the older participants. "That's really important," said Dr. Wolinsky. It suggests "we are able to start the recovery process sooner, rather than waiting until the cognitive decline has become so large."

The study followed similar research—the ACTIVE trial—also sponsored by the NIH. In that trial, about 2,800 elderly participants showed improved memory, reasoning and visual processing speed after playing an earlier version of the Double Decision game, said Dr. Wolinsky, who also worked on that earlier research.

The ACTIVE study also tested the time it took to do daily activities, like preparing a meal, and performance tests, such as reading price tables to pick the best telephone provider, Dr. Wolinsky said. Participants showed improved performance compared with those who didn't get such cognitive training.

In the latest study, Dr. Wolinsky said he chose to use the updated Double Decision game in part because it is available for home users. In comparing computer-game use with another activity, he said he chose crosswords because many older people enjoy the puzzles and the general perception is that they keep the brain and mind active and engaged.

San Francisco-based Posit Science Corp., the company that makes Double Decision and other brain games, expects soon to participate in multisite studies looking at the impact such games could have in delaying or possibly preventing the onset of Alzheimer's disease, said Michael Merzenich, a professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco and chief scientific officer of Posit Science.

AARP recently began offering its members discounts on several Posit Science games, said Deborah Abernathy, director of AARP Brain Health. "Their exercises, specifically, we found were very helpful. They're fun, they're short and they're easy to do and they're online," she said.

Dr. Wolinsky said he doesn't currently have a financial relationship with Posit Science. He did consulting work with the company for a total of 15 days from 2007 to 2009 as part of the analysis of the earlier ACTIVE study, he said.

Dr. Wolinsky said the next study he expects to pursue will use functional MRI imaging to measure changes in the brain in people participating in cognitive-training exercises, he said.

P. Murali Doraiswamy, a professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., said the Iowa study was one of the best and most rigorous to show the benefits of brain training in older age. But a problem with brain-training games is that people often get bored and don't continue with them. "It's a very promising area," he said. "I think what we have to do is we have to make the games fun."

Write to Sumathi Reddy at sumathi.reddy@wsj.com