A community forum Thursday about Marion County's role in the state's health care overhaul attracted about 100 people interested in learning more about the new system and voicing their concerns.
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Monthly Archives: May 2012
Health care move panned
Change leaves care of disabled patients on Medicaid to trio of managed care companies
For the second time in two years, the state Department of Health and Human Resources is under fire for plans to change how it handles the care of tens of thousands of vulnerable West Virginians.
Critics worry the agency is in a rush to turn over the care of a group of 57,000 elderly or disabled Medicaid patients to three health insurance companies.
The critics question whether DHHR has carefully thought out the plan. And they wonder if the companies are experienced enough to deal with the vulnerable population they are about to be handed.
Beginning in December, the state will gradually begin moving patients who receive Supplemental Security Income into managed care. Managed care, like a private sector HMO, attempts to coordinate health care while controlling costs.
The three companies - Carelink, The Health Plan and Unicare - already manage care for 170,000 Medicaid recipients. Medicaid is the state and federal health insurance program for low-income people.
But SSI recipients have a different and more expensive set of medical needs than the normal welfare population. To qualify for SSI, a person must be aged, blind or disabled, a category that includes people with serious mental disorders.
"This is our most fragile population and probably also our most costly population," said DHHR spokesman John Law.
That means managing their care could be more challenging than for other patients.
There are basically two reasons to put people into managed care.
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More Mental Health Care Urged for Kids Who Self-Harm
FRIDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- Doctors have long known that some kids suffering severe emotional turmoil find relief in physical pain -- cutting or burning or sticking themselves with pins to achieve a form of release.
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Column: Health care obstacle for McPherson’s poor
Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to sit in on a health care panel discussion organized by STEPMC. STEPMC is a nonprofit organization that provides support to families in poverty as they try to better their circumstances. STEP has a Big View committee, which I recently joined as a volunteer, that attempts to look at overreaching community issues that tend to keep families in poverty. During more than a year, the STEPMC families, called Circle leaders, designated lack of affordable health care as one of their greatest barriers to success. The individuals who sat on this panel included, Rob Monical, CEO at McPherson Hospital; Matt Schrader, therapist at Prairie View; Shelia Gorman MD in McPherson; Marla Ullom-Minnich MD in Moundridge; and Ken Cotton, dentist. One of the repeated themes of the discussion was a desire to have an urgent care clinic in McPherson. Area communities, such as Newton and Lindsborg, both have opened clinics with extended evening and weekend hours. Urgent care clinics generally offer similar services to doctors offices. The extended hours mean residents with minor ailments, such as ear infections, can avoid costly trips to the emergency room, which can cost in hundreds of dollars. The members of the panel said there has been no discussion to this point about creating an urgent care clinic in McPherson. Panel members said it likely would need to be a cooperative effort between the hospital and the local physicians. The urgent care model has been successful in metropolitan areas for some time. It is a waste of our community health care dollars to rely solely on the emergency room for minor illnesses and injuries that come up during nonbusiness hours. Such a clinic would not only be a benefit to McPhersons poor, but all community residents. The audience asked several questions about the possibility of bringing specialists into the community, specifically a pediatrician and an OB/GYN. Monical and Gorman explained bringing a specialist into a community is more difficult than residents might imagine. Recruiting a single specialist to a rural community is difficult enough, but most specialty practices need a least two physicians so that they can alternate nights on call. This means the community must have the patient load to support two physicians, not just one. The lack of specialists in the community means many community members must travel outside of the community to receive treatment. For some, this may be a minor inconvenience, but for families in poverty, this can be a serious problem. Many families in poverty have no or unreliable transportation or have few funds for gasoline, which makes travel outside the community to see a physician difficult. Monical said the hospital has worked with physicians to establish traveling clinics in McPherson and will continue to evaluate the possibility of bringing specialists to the community. If you dont have insurance, you may not be able to access a physician at all. Circle leaders said they had been refused service because of problems with billing and lack of insurance. Emergency rooms cant legally refuse service to individuals, and Gorman said she was disturbed to find physicians were refusing patients who did not have insurance. Patients who do not have insurance already are billed at the highest rate in the health care system. Insurance companies negotiate lower rates for those of us who have insurance, but if someone doesnt pay the full price, there cant be a negotiated lower price. Unfortunately, that ends up being the poor. McPherson is a prosperous community, and the fact there are members of the community who are denied access to health care based on their socio-economic status is unconscionable. Chad Clark, director of the McPherson Healthcare Foundation, discussed the establishment of a community health care fund that could help those who do not have insurance with health care costs. The hospital also provides thousands in charitable funds to those in need every year. However, for families who rely on minimum wage or low-wage jobs for income, health insurance remains out of reach. Health care will continue to be an issue for these families until some greater global solution to make health insurance more accessible is found.
Cristina Janney is the managing editor of The McPherson Sentinel. She can be reached at cristina.janney@mcphersonsentinel.com.
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Why Genetic Tests Don’t Help Doctors Predict Your Risk of Disease
Your DNA may hold valuable information about your health, but current genetic tests can't improve doctors' ability to predict your risk of major disease.
Don Bishop / Getty Images
Our genome the blueprint for what makes us who we are can provide valuable clues about our health and potentially help us predict our risk for various diseases. But a new study shows that knowledge of our DNA isnt actually as revealing as doctors hoped.
In a report published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health found that incorporating genetic information did not improve doctors ability to predict disease risk above and beyond standard risk factors, including things like family history, lifestyle and behavior. So, having detailed genetic information didnt change doctors prevention or treatment plans.
For most people, your doctors advice before seeing your genetic test for a particular disease will be exactly the same as after seeing your tests, Peter Kraft, a co-author of the paper and an epidemiologist at the Harvard School of Public Health, said in a statement.
The researchers looked at risk factors both genetic and environmental for three common, chronic diseases, breast cancer, Type 2 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. All conditions are known to be influenced by some genetic and some lifestyle factors. The researchers wanted to determine whether adding information about the interplay of these factors would improve the sensitivity of disease risk prediction.
(MORE: Genetic Testing for Kids: Is It a Good Idea?)
For breast cancer, the scientists created a simulation that included 15 common genetic variants associated with increased risk of the disease, along with environmental factors, such as a womans age at first period, age when she gave birth to her first child and the number of close relatives affected by breast cancer. For Type 2 diabetes, researchers included 31 genetic variants, as well as lifestyle factors like obesity, physical activity, smoking status and family history of diabetes. Finally, for rheumatoid arthritis, they considered 31 genetic variants and two major lifestyle risk factors smoking and breast-feeding.
The researchers analyzed whether interactions among the genes, or interactions between genes and environmental factors, significantly changed the risk profile for any of these diseases. The disease models generated a variety of statistical combinations of genetic and environmental factors, but none produced any marked improvement in predicting disease risk over the lifestyle factors alone.
So, while genome sequencing has become a popular buzzword in medicine, the researchers conclude that given our current limited ability to interpret the genome or understand the complex interplay between genes and environment, getting genetic tests or whole-genome sequencing may not be as helpful as it could be when it comes to informing our health decisions. Even with the current list of 15 genetic variants associated with breast cancer, for example, scientists cant tell which variants are driving disease or are necessary to cause it, and which are merely along for the ride.
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Why Genetic Tests Don’t Help Doctors Predict Your Risk of Disease
Study: Knowing Genetic Makeup May Not Help Predict Disease Risk
BOSTON The great promise of the Human Genome Project is that if we can crack the genetic code in each of our cells, we may be able to predict what diseases we might get and prevent them. But more than a decade into this project, no medical miracles have been produced. Now, a new study by the Harvard School of Public Health has more disappointing news. WBURs All Things Considered host Sacha Pfeiffer spoke with the studys senior author, Peter Kraft, an associate professor of epidemiology at Harvard.
Sacha Pfeiffer: Your study looked at one of the possible key reasons for why simply mapping the human genome as huge a scientific accomplishment as that is might not alone be enough to start curing or preventing diseases. What else have researchers thought might be necessary to do that?
Peter Kraft: Weve actually been fabulously successful, in the last five years especially, in finding genetic variants that are associated with disease risk. But when people looked and asked the question, Do these actually help us predict whos going to be at high risk? the answer was mostly no. And one of reasons that might have been is that people looked at these variants in isolation, one at a time. But if you considered how they work together, and how they work together with the environment, to influence cancer risk or disease risk generally, people thought that might help boost the predictive ability.
So in terms of how genes work with other genes, or how genes react if you smoke, or if youre overweight, or if youve taken hormones that kind of thing?
Right, exactly. So the models up till now have assumed that a gene is a gene and its effect is the same whether you smoke or not. But, of course, that may not be the case and in fact probably isnt the case.
And so in your study you took those factors into account environmental and lifestyle factors. What did you find?
We sort of played a thought experiment and said, What if we knew how actually these things worked together? And given that information we tried to predict who was at high risk and who was at low risk. And we found that even knowing that information, which were a long way from knowing and understanding but even if we knew it, the change in the risk estimates would not be all that great. Its giving us a 1 to 3 percent increase of our ability to detect people who are at high risk.
Is that not a very useful increase?
Well, it depends on the context, but not necessarily. It seems to be in the range where your decision as a patient and your clinicians recommendations wouldnt really change that much. So given what they knew before they drew your blood and looked at your genetics, their recommendation would probably be the same.
So your study tells us that if we get our genes mapped, we might learn a little bit more if were at risk of a disease, but not very much to help our doctors. So where does that leave us in terms of our hopes for the Humane Genome Project and this idea that we could create personalized medicine customized for every individual?
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Study: Knowing Genetic Makeup May Not Help Predict Disease Risk
Nobelist Speaks Out on Genetic Modification, Synthetic Biology, Stem Cell Research
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Sir Richard Roberts, the eminent British biologist and Nobel Prize laureate, said today European opposition to genetically modified organisms is political rather than scientific in nature.
He also said "personal medicine" based on human genome research holds large-scale promise to improve the health of the world's people on an individualized basis.
Roberts, who won the Nobel in 1993 for his shared discovery of split genes, made his remarks at the Astana Economic Forum, a global conference of scientists, academics, multinational executives and government leaders.
"On a political level, governments must embrace genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and not give way to European prophets of doom, who oppose the use of GMOs for purely political reasons," said Roberts. "It is important to note there is a complete absence of evidence that GMOs can cause any harm. Indeed to any well-informed scientist, traditionally bred plants seem much more likely to be harmful than GMOs."
Roberts predicted growing knowledge of the human genome will yield better medical treatments and diagnostics. "It is just as important that we learn more about the bacteria that colonize our bodies since they are an essential part of what it means to be human," he said.
He also predicated synthetic biology will enable scientists to build novel microorganisms from "scratch."
"Most exciting is the promise of stem cells where the challenge is to understand how they drive their differentiation into all of the other cell types in our bodies," Roberts said. "While I do not advocate prolonging life indefinitely, I am very much in favor of ensuring that as we age, the quality of our life does not diminish."
The annual Astana Economic Forum this year has drawn thousands of participants from more than 80 nations to this rapidly growing Central Asian nation. There has been much focus at the current sessions on the Greek financial crisis and turbulence in the Euro currency, in addition to the broader economic, scientific and international trade issues that are a traditional mainstay at Astana.
Deal making is a big part of both the official and the unofficial agenda at Astana. Multinationals represented include Chevron, Toyota, Nestle, Microsoft, BASF, Total, General Electric.
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Nobelist Speaks Out on Genetic Modification, Synthetic Biology, Stem Cell Research
Knowing genetic makeup may not significantly improve disease risk prediction
Public release date: 24-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Marge Dwyer mhdwyer@hsph.harvard.edu 617-432-8416 Harvard School of Public Health
Boston, MA Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have found that detailed knowledge about your genetic makeupthe interplay between genetic variants and other genetic variants, or between genetic variants and environmental risk factorsmay only change your estimated disease prediction risk for three common diseases by a few percentage points, which is typically not enough to make a difference in prevention or treatment plans. It is the first study to revisit claims in previous research that including such information in risk models would eventually help doctors either prevent or treat diseases.
"While identifying a synergistic effect between even a single genetic variant and another risk factor is known to be extremely challenging and requires studies with a very large number of individuals, the benefit of such discovery for risk prediction purpose might be very limited," said lead author Hugues Aschard, research fellow in the Department of Epidemiology.
The study appears online May 24, 2012 and will appear in the June 8, 2012 print issue of The American Journal of Human Genetics.
Scientists have long hoped that using genetic information gleaned from the Human Genome Project and other genetic research could improve disease risk prediction enough to help aid in prevention and treatment. Others have been skeptical that such "personalized medicine" will be of clinical benefit. Still others have argued that there will be benefits in the future, but that current risk prediction algorithms underperform because they don't allow for potential synergistic effectsthe interplay of multiple genetic risk markers and environmental factorsinstead focusing only on individual genetic markers.
Aschard and his co-authors, including senior author Peter Kraft, HSPH associate professor of epidemiology, examined whether disease risk prediction would improve for breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis if they included the effect of synergy in their statistical models. But they found no significant effect by doing so. "Statistical models of synergy among genetic markers are not 'game changers' in terms of risk prediction in the general population," said Aschard.
The researchers conducted a simulation study by generating a broad range of possible statistical interactions among common environmental exposures and common genetic risk markers related to each of the three diseases. Then they estimated whether such interactions would significantly boost disease prediction risk when compared with models that didn't include these interactions since, to date, using individual genetic markers in such predictions has provided only modest improvements.
For breast cancer, the researchers considered 15 common genetic variations associated with disease risk and environmental factors such as age of first menstruation, age at first birth, and number of close relatives who developed breast cancer. For type 2 diabetes, they looked at 31 genetic variations along with factors such as obesity, smoking status, physical activity, and family history of the disease. For rheumatoid arthritis, they also included 31 genetic variations, as well as two environmental factors: smoking and breastfeeding.
But, for each of these disease models, researchers calculated that the increase in risk prediction sensitivitywhen considering the potential interplay between various genetic and environmental factorswould only be between 1% and 3% at best.
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Knowing genetic makeup may not significantly improve disease risk prediction
DARPA's Synthetic Army
DARPA, the science arm of the US Department of Defense, is trying to find a way to create a streamlined manufacturing process for purpose-specific engineering of plants and animals, reports Popular Science's Rebecca Boyle. This program, called Living Foundries, "sets up an assembly line paradigm for life and its constituent parts," Boyle says. "Under this program, genetic engineering would no longer be limited to modification of existing organisms instead, scientists would be able to concoct anything they wanted from scratch, using a suite of ingredients and processes that could apply in any situation." And DARPA's first grants for the program have just been announced $15.5 million spread among six institutions and companies, including the J. Craig Venter Institute. This last pick is particularly appropriate, she says, given the group's work in synthetic biology.
The purpose of the grants is to build a basic library of modularized parts that can be used in assembling various organisms, Boyle says, like wires or circuits that can be used to build electronics. "The ultimate goal is a genetic starter set that could be snapped together like so many Legos, forming any system the military might require," she adds.
Our sister publication GenomeWeb Daily News has more on the project here.
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New genetic method pinpoints geographic origin
LOS ANGELES Understanding the genetic diversity within and between populations has important implications for studies of human disease and evolution. This includes identifying associations between genetic variants and disease, detecting genomic regions that have undergone positive selection and highlighting interesting aspects of human population history.
Now, a team of researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Israel's Tel Aviv University has developed an innovative approach to the study of genetic diversity called spatial ancestry analysis (SPA), which allows for the modeling of genetic variation in two- or three-dimensional space.
Their study is published online this week in the journal Nature Genetics.
With SPA, researchers can model the spatial distribution of each genetic variant by assigning a genetic variant's frequency as a continuous function in geographic space. By doing this, they show that the explicit modeling of the genetic variant frequency the proportion of individuals who carry a specific variant allows individuals to be localized on a world map on the basis of their genetic information alone.
"If we know from where each individual in our study originated, what we observe is that some variation is more common in one part of the world and less common in another part of the world," said Eleazar Eskin, an associate professor of computer science at UCLA Engineering. "How common these variants are in a specific location changes gradually as the location changes.
"In this study, we think of the frequency of variation as being defined by a specific location. This gives us a different way to think about populations, which are usually thought of as being discrete. Instead, we think about the variant frequencies changing in different locations. If you think about a person's ancestry, it is no longer about being from a specific population but instead, each person's ancestry is defined by the location they're from. Now ancestry is a continuum."
The team reports the development of a simple probabilistic model for the spatial structure of genetic variation, with which they model how the frequency of each genetic variant changes as a function of the location of the individual in geographic space (where the gene frequency is actually a function of the x and y coordinates of an individual on a map).
"If the location of an individual is unknown, our model can actually infer geographic origins for each individual using only their genetic data with surprising accuracy," said Wen-Yun Yang, a UCLA computer science graduate student.
"The model makes it possible to infer the geographic ancestry of an individual's parents, even if those parents differ in ancestry. Existing approaches falter when it comes to this task," said UCLA's John Novembre, an assistant professor in the department of ecology and evolution.
SPA is also able to model genetic variation on a globe.
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Researchers develop new genetic method to pinpoint individuals' geographic origin
Public release date: 23-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Wileen Wong Kromhout wwkromhout@support.ucla.edu 310-206-0540 University of California - Los Angeles
Understanding the genetic diversity within and between populations has important implications for studies of human disease and evolution. This includes identifying associations between genetic variants and disease, detecting genomic regions that have undergone positive selection and highlighting interesting aspects of human population history.
Now, a team of researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, UCLA's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Israel's Tel Aviv University has developed an innovative approach to the study of genetic diversity called spatial ancestry analysis (SPA), which allows for the modeling of genetic variation in two- or three-dimensional space.
Their study is published online this week in the journal Nature Genetics.
With SPA, researchers can model the spatial distribution of each genetic variant by assigning a genetic variant's frequency as a continuous function in geographic space. By doing this, they show that the explicit modeling of the genetic variant frequency the proportion of individuals who carry a specific variant allows individuals to be localized on a world map on the basis of their genetic information alone.
"If we know from where each individual in our study originated, what we observe is that some variation is more common in one part of the world and less common in another part of the world," said Eleazar Eskin, an associate professor of computer science at UCLA Engineering. "How common these variants are in a specific location changes gradually as the location changes.
"In this study, we think of the frequency of variation as being defined by a specific location. This gives us a different way to think about populations, which are usually thought of as being discrete. Instead, we think about the variant frequencies changing in different locations. If you think about a person's ancestry, it is no longer about being from a specific population but instead, each person's ancestry is defined by the location they're from. Now ancestry is a continuum."
The team reports the development of a simple probabilistic model for the spatial structure of genetic variation, with which they model how the frequency of each genetic variant changes as a function of the location of the individual in geographic space (where the gene frequency is actually a function of the x and y coordinates of an individual on a map).
"If the location of an individual is unknown, our model can actually infer geographic origins for each individual using only their genetic data with surprising accuracy," said Wen-Yun Yang, a UCLA computer science graduate student.
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Researchers develop new genetic method to pinpoint individuals' geographic origin
RetroSense Therapeutics Completes pre-IND Meeting for RST-001
ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
RetroSense Therapeutics, a gene therapy company dedicated to vision restoration, announced completion of a pre-IND meeting with the Center for Biological Evaluation and Research (CBER) division of the FDA that took place on May 22nd 2012 regarding RetroSenses lead biologic, RST-001 for vision restoration in retinal degenerative conditions.
The purpose of the meeting was to obtain CBERs guidance for the clinical path to a Biologics License Application (BLA) for RST-001 in the US, and clarity on the steps required for Investigational New Drug (IND) submission. The discussions included manufacturing criteria, the scope and design of the preclinical studies, and the scope and design of Phase I and IIa clinical trials.
Sean Ainsworth, CEO, noted,"We were quite encouraged by the FDA's feedback and comments and identified nothing that will hinder our path to the clinic. RetroSense remains on schedule to bring RST-001 to the clinic safely and expeditiously.
Peter Francis, MD, PhD, Clinical Director, led the meeting. Dr. Francis stated, It was a successful, productive interaction with the FDA. We were thankful to have representation by Foundation Fighting Blindness, who have been supportive of our novel approach to vision restoration.
We are very excited about the potential for this innovative treatment to restore vision in people who are blind from retinal degenerations, says Stephen Rose, Ph.D., chief research officer, Foundation Fighting Blindness. It is an elegant and powerful approach to overcoming devastating eye diseases.
About RetroSense Therapeutics
RetroSense Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a game-changing gene therapy to restore vision in patients suffering from blindness due to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (advanced dry-AMD). There are currently no FDA approved therapies to improve or restore vision in patients with these retinal degenerative conditions. RetroSense is led by a team of seasoned veterans with deep experience in taking products from the discovery stage through to the clinic. For more information about RetroSense, visit http://www.retro-sense.com/.
About Foundation Fighting Blindness
The Foundation Fighting Blindness is a national non-profit organization driving research that will lead to preventions, treatments and cures for retinitis pigmentosa, macular degeneration, Usher syndrome and the entire spectrum of retinal degenerative diseases that affect more than 10 million Americans. Since 1971, the Foundation has raised over $450 million as the leading non-governmental funder of retinal research. Breakthrough Foundation-funded studies using gene therapy have restored significant vision in children and young adults who were previously blind, paving the way for using this method to treat a variety of retinal degenerative diseases, and proving a cure is in sight. With a network of 50 chapters, the Foundation also provides support, education and resources to affected individuals and their families in communities across the country.
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RetroSense Therapeutics Completes pre-IND Meeting for RST-001
Gene therapy can correct forms of severe combined immunodeficiency
Public release date: 24-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Sarah Jackson press_releases@the-jci.org Journal of Clinical Investigation
Severe combined immunodeficiency is defect in the immune system that results in a loss of the adaptive immune cells known as B cells and T cells. Mutations in several different genes can lead to the development of severe combined immunodeficiency, including mutation of the adenosine deaminase (ADA) gene. Traditional treatment options, such as enzyme replacement therapy, are of limited efficacy, but bone marrow transplant from a compatible donor leads to a better response. A recent clinical trial indicated that gene therapy to insert the correct ADA gene in the patient's own bone marrow cells can also lead to a good response.
However, patients were noted to have defects in B cell tolerance, meaning that some B cells that react to antigens from the body fail to be eliminated, leading to an autoimmune response. Dr. Eric Meffre and colleages at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and Alessandro Aiuti in Milan, Italy joined together to better understand why patients developed B cell tolerance problems. They found that loss of the ADA gene directly contributes to B cell tolerance problems and that these defects are mostly corrected after gene therapy. Their results point to a previously unknown role for ADA in B cell response and support the use of gene therapy as an effective treatment option for ADA-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency patients.
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TITLE:
Defective B cell tolerance in adenosine deaminase deficiency is corrected by gene therapy
AUTHOR CONTACT:
Eric Meffre Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA Phone: 1-203-737-4535; Fax: 1-203-785-7903; E-mail: eric.meffre@yale.edu
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Gene therapy can correct forms of severe combined immunodeficiency
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Video: Was Facebook's I.P.O. Fair?
Peter Lattman and Michael de la Merced discuss why some investors are crying foul on Facebook's I.P.O. Some are wondering whether the process was really fair and who is to blame for the stock's poor performance.
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New Exhibition: Syd Mead
Syd Mead describes himself as a futurist designer. After all, his perspective of the future is what has come to define that vision for the rest of us. His work is instantly recognizable in the film ?Tron,? ?Bladerunner,? ?Alien" for ?Mission Impossible III.? Mead has designed it all ? from Ford cars to The New Yamato toy characters to commissioned futuristic concept vehicles. He also designed ...
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Today's Scuttlebot: Zuckerberg's Hoodie, and Nightmare in Belize
The technology reporters and editors of The New York Times scour the Web for important and peculiar items. Thursday's selection includes Facebook announcing a new camera app, a 19-year-old entrepreneur moving in to AOL to work on his start-up and the software founder John McAfee's story of how his home was raided and he was arrested in Belize.
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Today's Scuttlebot: Zuckerberg's Hoodie, and Nightmare in Belize
Leo forum at de Baron
Leos from SMK Cochrane (from left) Haw Yong Hong, Tan Kah Meng, Lee Boon Keat, Melissa Kee Pei Rou, Cheang Ke Qian and Lee Suit Yee.
That's because "Retro & Futurism" has been picked as the theme of the Forum's Fellowship Night, whereby the Leos are requested to dress appropriately for the occasion.
Among the costumes that the Leos will be donning are from the prehistoric era, ancient Greek period, 1930s Chicago where mobsters and molls prevail, Chinese dynasties and so on.
Among the participants are eight Leos from SMK Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur, led by their club president Melissa Kee Pei Rou. The others are Cheang Ke Qian, Lee Suit Yee, Wong Feng Qing, Liew Jie Yin, Tan Kah Meng, Haw Yong Hong and Lee Boon Keat.
Leos arriving earlier in the day will get to join a tour of the Langkawi Geopark.
Sunday will see the incoming key officers attending schools for new presidents, secretaries, treasurers and members of the boards of directors. This will be followed by the various sub-district Leo Forums where there will be award presentations for outstanding members.
The evening will see all the Leos proceeding to the Langkawi Sports Complex for the banquet dinner, which will be themed "Starry, Starry Night", and where the top awards will also be given out.
Past international director Ellis Suriyati Omar will be speaking on the forum's theme of "Fly Beyond Dreams, We Believe!" to the participants at de Baron Resort on Monday.
This will culminate in the closing ceremony where mementos will be presented. By Ricky Yap
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Freedom foremost at Freddys
School wins best musical award and Hannah Arnold is named best actress. Matt Gurniak is chosen as best actor. Freedom High School was the big winner of the night at the Freddy Awards with a total of five awards, including best musical for its toe-tapping production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie."
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Want Freedom from Vendor Lock-in? Survey Says: Choose Open Source
It's no secret that open source software is playing an increasingly prominent role in businesses around the globe, but a recent survey has uncovered a few surprising findings about adopters' motivations for choosing it.
Specifically, freedom from vendor lock-in is now users' top reason for choosing open source software, according to the 451 Group.
While we had seen vendor lock-in fade as a factor and cost as paramount two or three years ago, today vendor lock-in has become much more of a factor for customers, explains 451 Group analyst Jay Lyman in a Tuesday blog post announcing the results.
We believe this has to do with cloud computing and customers desire to maintain flexibility as they figure out how to best leverage cloud resources, Lyman added.
451 Group participated on the Future of Open Source Survey 2012 with North Bridge Venture Partners and Black Duck Software, garnering 740 responses from a variety of vendors and non-vendors in the industry.
Among the key results of that study was the finding that more than 50 percent of software acquired in the next five years will be open source software. Last year, in fact, was already a record year for open source investment, which increased by 49 percent to $675 million, the study found.
Survey respondents also said that open source is leading rather than following the pack when it comes to the cloud, big data, mobile apps, and enterprise mobility, in particular.
Perhaps most interesting of all, though, is that, when asked what are the top factors that make open source software attractive, a full 60 percent of respondents identified freedom from vendor lock-in as the top motivating factor.
Lower acquisition and maintenance costs (51 percent), better quality (43 percent), and access to source code (42 percent) were also among the top motivators mentioned.
The survey also showed that cost, which we also equate to time and efficiency, is always a strong factor, with 62 percent of respondents identifying reduced cost of development and maintenance as the main reason they use open source or initiate projects, Lyman added.
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Want Freedom from Vendor Lock-in? Survey Says: Choose Open Source