Camana Bay | Grand Cayman | Real estate areas | Cayman Islands Sotheby’s – Video

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Camana Bay | Grand Cayman | Real estate areas | Cayman Islands Sotheby #39;s
http://www.sircaymanislands.com/eng/camana-bay http://www.sircaymanislands.com Camana Bay - Imagine a location where you really don #39;t ever have to leave -- a spot where luxury homes blend...

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Camana Bay | Grand Cayman | Real estate areas | Cayman Islands Sotheby's - Video

Reading human history using ancient chicken DNA and chili peppers

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The most likely wild chicken ancestor, photographed in India.

More than 10,000 years ago, our ancestors began to expand their organization offood productionpurposefully promoting certain plants and animals they found tasty or useful. Over time, they domesticated those species, inserting human preferences into the process of natural selection.

We know today that agriculture and domesticated species arose separately in different regions around the world. Grains, beans, and livestock appear to be some of the earliest species domesticated in Southwest Asia, for example. But many questions remain about why humans shifted from hunting and gathering to agriculture and how the process of domesticatingspecies unfoldeda process that, in cases like wheat and rice, appears to have taken more than a thousand years.

A special section in this weeks Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciencesdelvedinto what science has discovered about domestication and how toprovide answers to ourremaining questions about the lives of prehistoric people and their relationship with the plants and animals around them.

In one of the examples explored inPNAS, scientists turned to chickens in their search for answers to an age old question.

It's not the questionyoure probably thinking of. The jurys still out on which came first, as well as motivations for road crossing. Instead, scientists were looking to see if certain traits commonly found in modern chickenswere the same traits selected for whenancient humans beganthe domestication process.

To study the origins of these traits, the scientists compared the DNA in modern chickens to samples obtainedfrom archeological sites ranging from 200 years BC to the 18th century.

In chickens, traits that are considered hallmarks of domestication include yellow skin. This iscommonly found in most modern breeds, and it is caused by a recessive allele inthe gene that breaks down orange-yellow compounds known as carotenoids. However, its absent in the chicken's primary ancestor, the Red Jungle Fowl, which still lives in Asia and looks a lot like a chicken. Another key trait associated with domestication is a mutation in a thyroid hormone receptorthe jungle fowl lacks it, but almost all modern chicken breeds have it.

In the past, many researchers concluded that these traits must have been selected long ago by our ancestors as they first domesticated chickens. But the in-depth genetic analysis showed that they onlybecame common in chicken breeds relatively recentlywithin the past couple hundred years.

The significance here goes far beyond chicken genetics. Its so tempting to trust neat little evolutionary storiesall the chickens have the same hormonal mutation, that must have been one of the things our ancestors selected for long, long agowhen it very well might be random chance. The genetic process of domestication cant just be assumed from modern data.

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Reading human history using ancient chicken DNA and chili peppers

Rising to the Challenge: Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care And Education (Live Session) – Video

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Rising to the Challenge: Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care And Education (Live Session)
At the live session of our April Fuqua Faculty Conversation, Ronnie Chatterji answered your questions regarding the Challenge of costs in Health Care and Education.

By: FuquaSchOfBusiness

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Rising to the Challenge: Bending the Cost Curve in Health Care And Education (Live Session) - Video

Health Care Reform Webinar: Update for Employers on Key New Pay or Play Reporting Regs Under ACA – Video

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Health Care Reform Webinar: Update for Employers on Key New Pay or Play Reporting Regs Under ACA
The IRS has recently issued two important sets of final regulations under the Affordable Care Act. The first is regarding the employer pay or play penalty and the second is regarding the new...

By: Miller Johnson

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Health Care Reform Webinar: Update for Employers on Key New Pay or Play Reporting Regs Under ACA - Video

Covered California executive director says improving health care literacy is state's primary task

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By Lou Fancher

Oakland Tribune Correspondent

OAKLAND -- The only thing harder than rolling out President Barack Obama's health care law is changing the health care industry culture, Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee said Thursday night at the Barbara Lee & Elihu Harris Lecture at Merritt College.

Despite exceeding expectations by enrolling 3.3 million Californians in Covered California's marketplace of insurance programs or Medi-Cal during its first six months, he said the initiative was "relatively succeeding" and "only just beginning."

"When we look back 10 years from now, we'll say, 'Can you imagine a day when we didn't have (universal) health care?'" Lee said.

Under President Obama's Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare," 8 million Americans have signed up for coverage. In California, Covered California operates as an independent part of the state government tasked with guiding residents through the new health insurance marketplace. An open enrollment period ended on March 31: uninsured people who missed the deadline and do not experience a "qualified life event" allowing them to enroll will face a penalty of $95 or 1 percent of their income. The next open enrollment period begins Nov. 15 for coverage beginning Jan. 1.

According to Lee, improving health care literacy remains Covered California's primary task. He said of the millions who signed up, there are still "millions who did not get across that line to get coverage." Citing statistics, like the 100,000 Californians who went bankrupt in 2013 due to medical bills, Lee said the tax penalty wasn't what the uninsured should fear, it was America's ongoing, enormous medical costs.

Dr. Coyness Ennix Jr., founder and past president of the Bay Area Society of Thoracic Surgeons, brought more than 30 years of experience as a thoracic surgeon to the discussion. He said the cost of his birth in Tennessee in 1942 totaled $7: a $3 deliver fee and a $4 clinic fee.

"But then things changed," Ennix said, citing historical, escalating medical costs and attributing them to less choice, less competition and the influence of hospital consolidation and the insurance industry.

"You've heard reasons the costs in the United States are so high, but the true reason is right under our noses. The U.S. consumers have had no centralized negotiation and no leverage to keep health care providers from charging whatever they want," he said.

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Covered California executive director says improving health care literacy is state's primary task

Consumer Reports: Your guide to the new insurance rules

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The new health care law has improved a lot of things about health insurance, according to Consumer Reports. You can't be turned down or charged extra if you have a pre-existing condition, all types of basic health services are covered, plans can't cap annual or lifetime benefits and most preventive care is free. But your insurance can still be complicated, and if you don't follow the rules you can run into "gotchas" that can cost you an arm and a leg.

Dr. Orly Avitzur, medical adviser to Consumer Reports, lists five questions you need to answer before you see a doctor.

1. Is he or she in my plan's network? That seemingly simple question is anything but. Many practices participate in more than a dozen insurance plans. The list on the health plan's website might not be up-to-date, so it's best to double-check first with the doctor's billing office with the exact name of your plan.

2. What are the limitations and exclusions? All plans have to cover "essential health benefits," such as physicians, hospitals, drugs, maternity care, mental health care, tests, emergency care and rehabilitation, but specifics might vary. You'll find those details in the standardized Summary of Benefits and Coverage form that all plans must supply. Look to see if any services have limitations (such as a ceiling on physical therapy visits) or aren't covered at all (such as acupuncture, dentures or hearing aids).

3. Do I need a referral or prior authorization? With many HMOs, you need to get approval from your primary care physician to see other doctors or obtain certain tests or procedures. If you don't, the plan won't pay. Don't wait until the last minute, because offices are inundated with requests.

4. Will this test be covered? A common reason for a claim denial is that an insurance company deems a service "not medically necessary." You can save yourself an unwanted bill by checking ahead of time with the insurance company and your doctor's billing office. Keep detailed notes on whom you spoke with and what they told you.

5. How will my medication be covered? Every health plan has its own formulary, or list of preferred drugs, typically organized into as many as four tiers in ascending order of price. Tier 1 usually includes generic medication. You'll probably be required to pay more for a prescription when a higher-tier brand-name product is dispensed. When starting a new drug, check your plan's formulary to see what tier it's in. If it's expensive, ask your doctor or pharmacist if a similar drug in a lower tier would work as well.

Payment Terms

You'll pay your share of health care costs in the following ways.

1. Out-of-pocket limit. The most you'll have to spend from your own pocket for medical care in the policy year. Once you hit that limit, your health plan will pick up 100 percent of any additional costs until year's end. The maximum allowable "OOP" for 2014 is $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a household.

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Consumer Reports: Your guide to the new insurance rules

The Internet of Things. Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at FutureDay 2014 (excerpt) – Video

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The Internet of Things. Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at FutureDay 2014 (excerpt)
Nightmare or Nirvana? This is a brief except from my talk at Future Day 2014 in Istanbul, see http://gerd.fm/1mZmwGd for details, slides and full version. Th...

By: Gerd Leonhard

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The Internet of Things. Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at FutureDay 2014 (excerpt) - Video