Health care website security concerns raised

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WASHINGTON -- Defending President Barack Obama's much-maligned health care overhaul in Congress, his top health official was confronted Wednesday with a government memo raising new security concerns about the trouble-prone website that consumers are using to enroll.

The document, obtained by The Associated Press, shows that administration officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were concerned that a lack of testing posed a potentially "high" security risk for the HealthCare.gov website serving 36 states. It was granted a temporary security certificate so it could operate.

Security issues are a new concern for the troubled HealthCare.gov website. If they cannot be resolved, they could prove to be more serious than the long list of technical problems the administration is trying to address.

"You accepted a risk on behalf of every user...that put their personal financial information at risk," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., told Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during questioning before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "Amazon would never do this. ProFlowers would never do this. Kayak would never do this. This is completely an unacceptable level of security."

Sebelius countered that the system is secure, even though the site has a temporary certificate, known in government parlance as an "authority to operate." Sebelius said a permanent certificate will only be issued once all security issues are addressed.

Added spokeswoman Joanne Peters: "When consumers fill out their online...applications, they can trust that the information they're providing is protected by stringent security standards and that the technology underlying the application process has been tested and is secure. Security testing happens on an ongoing basis using industry best practices."

A security certificate is required before any government computer system can process, store or transmit agency data. Temporary certificates are allowable, but under specific circumstances.

Earlier, the secretary said she's responsible for the "debacle" of cascading problems that overwhelmed the government website intended to make shopping for health insurance clear and simple.

"Hold me accountable for the debacle," Sebelius said during a contentious hearing. "I'm responsible."

Sebelius is promising to have the problems fixed by Nov. 30, even as Republicans opposed to Mr. Obama's health care law are calling in chorus for her resignation. She told the committee that the technical issues that led to frozen screens and error messages are being cleared up on a daily basis.

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Health care website security concerns raised

Health care scrutiny tests White House

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By: Christina Bellantoni and Katelyn Polantz

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she takes full responsibility for the deficiencies in the health care website at a hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

In politics, everyone has bad days.

Wednesday certainly wasn't the worst one President Barack Obama has seen, but his signature domestic achievement was on trial before House Republicans in charge of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius diffused some of the fireworks early in her testimony by taking responsibility for some of the failures of HealthCare.gov in the rollout of the federal insurance exchanges this month.

"Hold me accountable for the debacle. I'm responsible," she said.

As Sebelius spoke, HealthCare.gov was down, giving television networks carrying the hearing an opportunity to do one of those unfortunate split screens.

The president was on the road to trumpet the Affordable Care Act, and defended his administration while saying it can do better.

And a new poll from NBC News/Wall Street Journal found Mr. Obama's approval rating had declined to "an all-time low."

Senior political editor Mark Murray writes that just 42 percent approve of the president's job performance, a drop of five points from last month. And the survey found 51 percent disapprove.

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Health care scrutiny tests White House

Fidelity Biosciences helps launch company focused on gene therapy products

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By Chris Reidy/Globe Staff/October 31, 2013

Fidelity Biosciences, a venture capital firm that is a subsidiary of the parent company of Fidelity Investments, and REGENX Biosciences announced the formation of Dimension Therapeutics, a Cambridge-based gene therapy company focused on developing novel treatments for rare diseases such as hemophilia.

Dimension has completed an undisclosed Series A financing led by Fidelity Biosciences.

In conjunction with its launch, Dimension has entered into an exclusive license and collaboration with REGENX. Through that arrangement, Dimension has acquired preferred access toNAVvector technology and rights in REGENX product programs in multiple rare disease indications.

Gene therapy is a fundamental method of disease intervention, changing a patients genetic code to treat genetic disease, and in some cases providing a potential lifelong benefit following a single treatment, Thomas R. Beck, MD, executive partner at Fidelity Biosciences and interim chief executive of Dimension Therapeutics, said in a statement. A core challenge for gene therapy has been the development of safe, efficient vectors to enable delivery of the replacement gene to the correct cells and tissues of the patient to yield benefit. We believe REGENXNAVvectors are the most promising approach forin vivogene therapy and represent the potential for transformative therapy for patients.

Copyright 2013 Globe Newspaper Company.

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Fidelity Biosciences helps launch company focused on gene therapy products

'Bubble kid' success puts gene therapy back on track

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Five children with a genetic disease that wipes out their immune system have successfully been treated with gene therapy

Editorial: "Gene therapy needs a hero to live up to the hype"

MOST parents dream of a 5-week-old baby who sleeps through the night, but Aga Warnell knew something was wrong. Her baby, Nina, just wasn't hungry in the way her other daughters had been.

Within weeks, Nina became very ill, says her father, Graeme. She was admitted to hospital with a rotavirus infection. Then she picked up pneumonia.

It turned out Nina had a condition called severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). She had been born without an immune system due to a genetic defect. It is also known as "bubble boy" disease, since people affected have to live in a sterile environment. "The doctors said 'you need to prepare yourself for the fact that Nina probably isn't going to survive'," says Graeme.

A year-and-a-half later, Nina is a happy little girl with a functioning immune system. She has gene therapy and its latest improvements to thank for it.

SCID was the first condition to be treated with gene therapy more than 20 years ago. A virus was used to replace a faulty gene with a healthy one. But in subsequent trials, four young patients were diagnosed with leukaemia two years after receiving a similar treatment. An 18-year-old also died following a reaction to a virus used in gene therapy for a liver condition. It was the start of a rocky road (see "Trials and tribulations of gene therapy").

Gene therapy has come a long way since, and Nina's case, along with others, mark a turning point: researchers seem to have found a safer way of manipulating our genes.

Preliminary results for the first two children to receive the improved SCID gene therapy 18 months ago were presented at the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy conference in Madrid, Spain, last week. The children's immune systems have continued to improve since receiving the treatment, says Bobby Gaspar of Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, who led the trial.

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'Bubble kid' success puts gene therapy back on track

Business Forecaster and Global Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote Indianapolis YPO Event

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Chicago, IL (PRWEB) October 31, 2013

Following on the heels of successful keynote presentations to Harrisburg, PA chapter of the YPO and the St. Louis chapter of the World Presidents' Organization (WPO), popular keynote speaker, renowned global futurist, technology forecaster and best-selling author, Jack Uldrich has been selected to deliver a keynote talk to the Indianapolis chapter of the YPO. Uldrich will be speaking on Why Future Trends Demand Unlearning.

The material presented in the two keynotes will be based on a combination of Uldrich's best-selling books, Jump the Curve; 50 Essential Strategies to Help Your Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technologies and his latest book, "Higher Unlearning: 39 Post Requisite Lessons for Achieving a Successful Future." The interactive speech, which has been tailored specifically to the Indianapolis region, is designed to provide local and regional business leaders a solid and thought-provoking foundation upon which to continue creating their own future. An overview of some of Uldrichs ideas can be found in this short video clip, Why the Future of Healthcare Will Require Unlearning, which Uldrich delivered to executives at United Healthcare.

Uldrich will also provide an overview of how technological change is upending long-standing business models and discuss why future trends will demand unlearning. Uldrich, who has been hailed as "America's Chief Unlearning Officer," will conclude his talk by reviewing the negative consequences of not embracing the concept of unlearning. Throughout his talk, he will use vivid analogies and memorable stories, drawn from a wide spectrum of industries, to ensure his message of unlearning "sticks" with his audience. A sample of some Uldrichs ideas on the future can be found in this chapter, A Tailored Fit: The Future of Retailing, from his latest book, Foresight 2020: A Futurist Looks Ahead to Ten Trends That Will Shape the Coming Decade.

In the past year, Uldrich has addressed hundreds of business groups around the world, including delivering customized keynote presentations to Eaton, Invensys, United Healthcare, Franklin Templeton, Optus, Bausch and Lomb, the European Association of International Educators and scores of other corporations, associations and organizations.

Parties interested in learning more about Jack Uldrich, his books, his daily blog or his speaking availability are encouraged to visit his website at: http://www.jumpthecurve.net. Media wishing to know more about the event or interviewing Jack Uldrich can contact him directly at 612-267-1212 or jack(at)schoolofunlearning(dot)com.

Uldrich is a renowned global futurist, technology forecaster, best-selling author, editor of the monthly newsletter, The Exponential Executive, and host of the award-winning website, http://www.jumpthecurve.net. He is currently represented by a number of professional speakers' bureaus, including Leading Authorities and Executive Speakers Bureau.

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Business Forecaster and Global Futurist Jack Uldrich to Keynote Indianapolis YPO Event

David Whitley – Freedom | The Voice of Germany 2013 | Blind Audition – Video

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David Whitley - Freedom | The Voice of Germany 2013 | Blind Audition
David Whitley bildet den sensationellen Abschluss der dritten Blind Audition. 4 Buzzer für den Mentor von Cassandra Steen und Max Herre... Mehr Auftritte fin...

By: The Voice of Germany - Offiziell

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David Whitley - Freedom | The Voice of Germany 2013 | Blind Audition - Video

Christopher Webber – MediaGoblin, Blender, and Network Freedom in Graphics – Video

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Christopher Webber - MediaGoblin, Blender, and Network Freedom in Graphics
GNU MediaGoblin is a free software media hosting platform, comparative to a Flickr or YouTube/Vimeo that anyone can run. It also includes a 3D model type tha...

By: BlenderFoundation

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Christopher Webber - MediaGoblin, Blender, and Network Freedom in Graphics - Video

#Tong Kooi Ong blogs* A boost for media freedom

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FREEDOM of speech and freedom of choice are fundamental human rights that should be enjoyed by every man. In a democratic society, we also expect media independence and press freedom. Freedom of the press means freedom of communication and expression through mediums including various electronic media and published materials. Logically, this includes the right to a permit to print.

Indeed, freedom of the press is also about property rights. These properties are printing presses, auditoriums, billboards, radio equipment, computer networks and so on. Property rights is a necessary condition for market economies to work.

Yesterdays Court of Appeal decision rejecting the government's appeal against the High Court ruling that publishing a newspaper is a right, not a privilege, is commendable. The consistent decision delivered by both the High Court and Court of Appeal is a move in the right direction.

Intervening in the application for a publishing permit on the basis of limiting competition is a flawed argument. Monopolistic behaviour will only breed inefficiencies and deprive the public from the freedom of choice, and in this context, the access to more print options. It is also inconsistent with the new Competition Act.

Media owners should be given the right to compete on a level playing field. Let the newspaper fend for its own survival. It is time to stop protecting status quo and embrace a more inclusive economic and social policy for the sake of the country.

Tong Kooi Ong is executive chairman of The Edge Media Group. Feedback is welcomed at http://www.tongkooiong.com

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#Tong Kooi Ong blogs* A boost for media freedom

The Cyborg Foundation: we urge you to become part-machine

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Moon Ribas and Neil Harbisson from The Cyborg Foundation urged the audience at Pioneers Festival to consider experimenting with cyborgism.

Both Ribas and Harbisson use technology to extend their perceptions. Harbisson, who was born colourblind, has developed a tool involving a head-mounted camera and bone conduction audio, to turn the colours of the world into sounds.

"I was born completely colourblind and always wanted to extend my senses and perceive what colour is," he said. He mentioned the critical culture role that colour, for example with things like Yellow Pages, the Pink Panther, James Brown and countries like Greenland. He showed how the flags of France, Ireland and Italy look identical to him and how frustrating it was when trying to navigate colour-coded maps, such as London's Tube Map.

With his Eyeborg device, he can transform the world around him (as viewed through a webcam) into sound. "Each colour has a specific note," he explained. After wearing the device for many years, his brain "got used to hearing colour and now it's an extra sense". He can even now perceive infrared and ultraviolet.

One of the benefits of this approach is that now every object, painting, scene or even someone's face can become a piece of music. He can walk through the supermarket and hear a symphony. "I can dress as a song," he said, pointing out that his garish tie actually corresponded to a piece of music he liked. "I can now compose music with food. So you can create a specific song [using different coloured ingredients] and eat your favourite song."

"My sense of beauty has changed. Beauty doesn't depend on the shape of someone's face but on the combination of colours," Harbisson explained. "You might look beautiful but sound terrible!"

Similarly Ribas, a choreographer, wanted to augment her senses in some way. She started by developing a device -- Kaleidoscopic Vision -- that allowed her to perceive colour but not shape. But she realised that colour wasn't as important to her, so wanted to investigate movement. Her resulting Speedborg device embedded in earrings used infrared to monitor how quickly people were moving around her. The speed at which bodies shifted was relayed to her with a vibration motor. She also added a sensor to her back to produce 360-degree perception.

After the Speedborg, Ribas experimented with creating a Seismic Sense that would allow her to perceive seismic activity around the world, by linking up to a website that monitors such earthly movements. "Every time there is a small earthquake it makes a little vibration in my arm. I can tell if it's small or big," she said.

The duo concluded their talk by defending cyborg rights: both managed to convince the passport offices (of the UK and Spain) to allow them to feature their equipment in their ID pictures. "It's an extension of my sense and so it should be included. So they allowed me to be photographed with my electronic eye," explained Harbisson.

The pair also believes that cyborgism may help us identify with other species, such as animals that have senses like bone conduction (dolphins), the ability to perceive ultraviolet (insets) or have antennae.

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The Cyborg Foundation: we urge you to become part-machine

Facebook Has A New Artificial Intelligence Unit And Is Working On Speech Recognition

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AP

Mark Zuckerberg, not talking to his Facebook app ... yet.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg gave out some dramatic news on his Q3 earnings call with analysts yesterday afternoon: Facebook has a new Artificial Intelligence unit and, separately, the company is working on a new speech recognition product.

(That news was largely overshadowed by the revelation that for the first time the company had seen a slight decline in usage by U.S. teens.)

It's not clear how the AI and speech projects are linked. But traditionally, the "Turing test" for artificial intelligence is how well a machine responds to a conversation, so it would not unexpected for the two projects to be developed in tandem. Also, Zuckerberg talked about them one after the other on the call.

In almost the same breath, Zuckerberg talked about Facebook's search developments, "Post Search" and "Graph Search." He noted that Facebook now has an index of 1.2 trillion Facebook posts, and they are all searchable. He inferred that, somehow, the AI product would be driven by the post index:

In the last quarter, we started testing what we call host search allows you to search all the unstructured text and posts that people have ever made on Facebook. About 1.2 trillion more posts. The folks on the team who have worked on web search engines in the past tell me that the Graph Search corpus is bigger than any other web search index out there. It's still early for Graph Search, because it's still in beta, only in English and we haven't launched our mobile version yet, but it's something I am really excited about.

So that's the context. A little later, Zuckerberg discussed the launch of the AI project:

In September, we formed the Facebook AI Group to do world-class artificial intelligence research using all the knowledge that people have shared on Facebook. The goal here is to use new approaches in AI to help make sense of all the content that people share so we can generate new insights about the world to answer people's questions.

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Facebook Has A New Artificial Intelligence Unit And Is Working On Speech Recognition

Primo Vision System -A time-lapse solution that fully supports physiology. (Japanese voice over) – Video

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Primo Vision System -A time-lapse solution that fully supports physiology. (Japanese voice over)
Dr. Csaba Pribenszky from Vitrolife is one of the inventors of the Primo Vision System, a time-lapse solution that fully supports physiology. In this presentation he talks about the advantages...

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Primo Vision System -A time-lapse solution that fully supports physiology. (Japanese voice over) - Video

Google’s Calico Venture Aims to Prolong Human Healthy Life

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Following its self-driving cars and wearable devices projects, Google is now set to draw on its data analytics expertise to help combat aging.

At a time when the so-called regenerative medicine industry is estimated at close to $1.6 billion and anti-aging products make up one of the few markets which remain resistant to economic cycles, Google is investing in long-term basic research in an attempt to achieve results with real impact in the medical field. The company has already delivered itsFlu Trendsservice, which enables forecasting of flu epidemics by combining geolocation data and research based on key words. Now the search engine giant is continuing to build out a service ecosystem, using the masses of data it collects to help improve public health and underpin medical research. With its latest project the California Life Company, or Calico Google is looking to increase average human lifespan by 20 to 100 years! Given Googles status as a groundbreaker, this new move might well encourage other Internet players to get interested in the life-extension industry as well.

Making good use of available data

Googles expertise in this area resides in its capacity to gather and process large quantities of wide-ranging relevant data through its core business its search engine and the various adjacent activities and services which it has developed over the years. As Harry Glorikian, founder of life sciences consulting firm Scientia Advisorsputs it, this is not just one set of data, but multiple forms: search data, GPS data, all sorts of other pieces, electronic breadcrumbs that you produce all out there to get a picture of you. This data could be paired with each person's genome; a partial genome can be mapped today using the 23andmeservice, another Google research investment. The objective of the programme is to directly attack the causes of chronic illness, aging, and at the most basic level cell non-regeneration. Google is looking long term and is in a position to take advantage of the immediate and growing availability of essential data, while many laboratories such as GSK invest millions of dollars a year in applied research before abandoning a particular line of enquiry under pressure from investors.

Calico could for example draw inspiration from theHuman Genome Project,comparing healthy elderly peoples genomes with those of people of similar age but in deteriorating health. According to Daniel Kraft, Chair of the Medicine & Neuroscience track at NASA Research Park-based learning institution Singularity University, which has collaborated many times with Google on medical research projects, these new personal data-hungry services are likely in the near future to confront society with a Faustian dilemma. As the availability of masses of data, helping to ensure more effective research and treatment, will clearly be of benefit to everyone, how far should we insist on, or relax, data protection and privacy rules? We are also now seeing related avenues of progress arising from the Quantified Self industry. California-basedVital Connecthas developed connected biometric sensors to gather the most accessible human data. Calico is in any case likely to benefit from the recent rollout of the US Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which looks set to substantially increase the number of US citizens undergoing medical tests on a regular basis and subscribing to a medical insurance scheme.

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Google’s Calico Venture Aims to Prolong Human Healthy Life

Hilton Pattaya Receives Recognition in 2013 World Travel Awards For Asias Leading Design Hotel

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Travel and Lifestyle Press Releases Wednesday October 30, 2013 10:34

Bangkok--30 Oct--Hilton Pattaya

Hilton Pattaya today announced that it has been named Asias winner at the 2013 World Travel Awards for Asias Leading Design Hotel. The award was presented at the 20th World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia gala ceremony at Anantara Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa in Dubai on October 1, 2013.

This highly coveted design award is testament that Hilton Pattaya stands out as a distinctive, best in design and luxurious hotel that will excel in the keenly competitive hospitality industry in Thailand and Asia, said Rudolf Troestler, general manager, Hilton Pattaya. Our team members commitment and dedication towards quality and memorable guest experiences are set as the highest priority and our aim is to set new benchmarks in hotel stays in the hospitality world.

Graham E. Cooke, president and founder, World Travel Awards said, These are hotly contested regions for our World Travel Awards, and these winners continue to serve as an example of the most luxurious and innovative brands with unique hospitality products and services. Tonights recipients strive to set the highest possible bar to raise the standards of excellence in travel and tourism and it has been an honour to hold our ceremony here in Dubai, regarded as the gateway to and from the East.

Hailed as The Oscars of the Travel Industry, World Travel Awards celebrates its 20th Anniversary this year and is acknowledged across the globe as the ultimate travel accolade, and aims to celebrate those brands that are pushing the boundaries of industry excellence. WTAs global media partner network includes International Herald Tribune, TV5Monde, CNBC Arabiya, Newsweek, World Travel Channel, Outlook Traveller, Travel & Leisure China, Khaleej Times, Trade Arabia, TTN, Trav Talk India, Publituris, ABTA Magazine, ASTA Network, Breaking Travel News, eTurboNews, Travel Daily News International, Focus on Travel News, Passport Magazine and National Geographic Traveller. This global media partner network has a monthly readership of 1.7 million and a TV audience reach of 90 million.

Hilton Pattaya is one of Hilton Worldwides managed properties in Thailand that offers stunning guest rooms set in the heart of the city overlooking Pattaya Beach and the Bay, perched atop Southeast Asias Largest Beachfront Shopping Complex, Central Festival Pattaya Beach.

Hilton Worldwide manages nine other properties in Thailand including Conrad Bangkok, Millennium Hilton Bangkok, Hilton Pattaya, Hilton Hua Hin Resort & Spa, Conrad Koh Samui, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, DoubleTree Resort by Hilton Phuket Surin Beach and the recently opened DoubleTree by Hilton Sukhumvit Bangkok and Hilton Sukhumvit. It will open the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok in 2015.

Read more about recent and upcoming Hilton Hotels & Resorts openings at http://news.hilton.com/openings. To view an interactive map featuring the Hilton Hotels & Resorts development pipeline visit http://news.hilton.com/map.

lebua has recently acquired still further proof of its success on the international hospitality front, when the brand this month received two different awards from Cond Nast Traveler US and Cond Nast Traveller UK. For lebua at State...

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Hilton Pattaya Receives Recognition in 2013 World Travel Awards For Asias Leading Design Hotel

Spirituality and family caregiving

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A Minnesota nonprofit is inviting area spiritual leaders and family caregivers to Calvary Evangelical Free Church for an exploration of family caregiving and spirituality.

Organizers working with Joni and Friends hope Rochester communities of faith will increase their outreach to families living with physical, developmental and mental challenges.

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Spirituality and family caregiving

Holistic approach blends spirituality, nutrition, conventional treatments

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Holistic medicine takes a whole-person approach to healing - not only is the chemistry of the body considered, so is the workings of the patient's mind and spiritual health.

At one time this approach was considered out of the realm of conventional medicine, but today many physicians are adopting certain tenants of the holistic approach in their practice.

"Spirituality is a huge piece of how we address the stress in our lives," said Dr. Thomas Golemon, chairman and professor for the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. "What's the most important thing to you and who's on your side when the chips are down?"

Golemon said he always has quietly addressed spirituality with his patients as an important piece in the puzzle of good health. Having a spiritual and social framework that helps patients deal positively with the difficulties of life is important.

"Certainly we know that mood, and how people address their lives does make a difference in how people get well," he said. "Your environment is important - do you belong to a church or a synagogue or do you have someone who can support you? All this stuff plays into what your blood pressure is doing."

But a good support system and a positive attitude is not the only thing - it's much more complicated than that. "Optimistic people still die of cancer," Golemon said. It's important for people to be selective in their use of alternative medical treatments - some things are good, but some can have negative consequences, Golemon said.

"Sometimes when I look at people's medicine lists, there are five, six, eight diet supplements there - a lot of time those supplements interact with the other medicines they are taking," Golemon said. "Is it good for them to be taking all these trace metals? I don't see the data for that."

Conventional medicine is research-based - in other words, doctors don't recommend treatments that have not been proven effective through scientific study. A few years ago studies pointed to fish oil as being good for the heart, and doctors began recommending that their patients take fish oil supplement. But while pills are convenient, it's not the same as consuming the real thing.

"Eating a fatty fish is much better than taking a pill of the oil from a fish," said Dr. Jeff Leman, family practice doctor and associate program director of the family medicine residency program.

Diet has become one tenant of holistic medicine wholeheartedly adopted by conventional medicine. Many studies have proven that patients can greatly improve their health - and in some cases cure disease - by consuming the right foods. Thirty years ago, this was a pretty radical idea.

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Holistic approach blends spirituality, nutrition, conventional treatments