Health care visionary calls for telemedicine, coordinated patient care during Crain's summit in Troy

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Originally Published: October 29, 2013 11:58 AMModified: October 29, 2013 3:16 PM

Maureen Bisognano

A national leader in improving health care called for a more expansive and holistic approach to patient care during her keynote address at Crain's 5th Annual Health Care Leadership Summit today at the San Marino Club in Troy.

Maureen Bisognano, CEO of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, is a major proponent of health care organizations hospitals, physician groups and insurers that develop innovative programs to improve the health of populations they serve, enhance patient care experiences and also reduce per capita costs. Her book, Pursuing the Triple Aim, explores these topics.

"We need to move outside of the walls of hospitals" to coordinate care for people in their homes and other health care settings, said Bisognano, adding that engaging patients in their own care should be a key goal for the health care delivery system.

At a recent Institute of Medicine panel discussion, Bisognano said the value of patient engagement was seen as "the next biggest blockbuster drug."

Under the current health care delivery system, Bisognano said patients visit their primary care doctors for a variety of reasons to help manage high cholesterol or because their knee hurts. For patients with more serious chronic diseases, patients spend more than 5,000 hours each year taking care of themselves, and only a fraction of that time is spent talking with or visiting their providers.

"Doctors (should say) patients are the team captain and the rest of you are coaches," Bisognano said. "We need to optimize (physician) visits, but we also need to engage" doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other providers in a coordinated team approach.

"When we do that, we are really getting at the triple aim," she said.

For example, some pharmacists and health care organizations are using iPads or other wireless video devices to communicate with patients in real time. This telemedicine approach that can apply for many health care settings can help patients understand their medications, answer questions and identify potential drug interactions and other problems.

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Health care visionary calls for telemedicine, coordinated patient care during Crain's summit in Troy

Health Care Software Provider Replacement Cycle Accelerates as Complexity and Consolidation Create New Sector Winners …

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67 WALL STREET, New York - October 29, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Health Care IT Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: HIT Consolidation Activity - Electronic Health Records Implementation - Affordable Care Act - Healthcare IT Consolidation Trends

Companies include: Cerner Corp. (CERN), Allscripts-Misys Healthcare So (MDRX), Quality Systems Inc. (QSII), MedAssets, Inc. (MDAS), Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC), Community Health Systems, Inc. (CYH), Health Management Associates I (HMA), Omnicell Inc. (OMCL) and many others.

In the following excerpt from the Health Care IT Report, a leading analyst discusses the coming consolidation and new developments in the sector for investors:

TWST: Could you define the health care IT space for us in your mind?

Mr. Carpio: I define it as any company that uses technology in the health care arena in order to either improve costs, improve outcomes, or improve the efficiency of health care delivery or outcomes. There are the pure-play companies that solely do electronic medical records and billing management, but there are also other health care companies that are in the space. For example, the HMOs have health care IT assets in the space that I also track. The hospitals have health care IT assets internally that they use in the space. And then there are other, more edgy companies that offer analytics data on the Web, as well as those who offer mobile apps and other products and services that are more geared toward the consumer.

TWST: How would you characterize the industry over the last 12 months or so?

Mr. Carpio: The industry was very active in the last 12 months, and I think we're in a sustainable period of activity going forward. We're seeing some big changes in the space. We're seeing a very big replacement cycle coming along. A lot of the health care providers have realized that the software they use to meet prior government regulations, such as the HITECH stage 1 regs, are inadequate for stages 2 and 3, and also inadequate for meeting ICD-10 and other future requirements. So there is going to be significant replacement cycle. On the physician side, from a third to half of the installed base could be looking for a new system, and on the hospital side, we're looking at a third or even more hospitals looking for replacement systems.

The second major trend is consolidation within the space. We're going to see a lot of the vendors who can't meet the capital expenditure requirements for creating bigger and better systems falling away. On the physician side, we've got 300-plus vendors right now. I could envision that easily going down to 50 to 100 vendors, and ultimately 50 vendors of critical mass, over a 12- to 18-month period. So you've got a land-grab opportunity coming for the surviving vendors.

The third big trend is a growing focus on data analytics, population health and the use of mobile apps going forward...

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Health Care Software Provider Replacement Cycle Accelerates as Complexity and Consolidation Create New Sector Winners ...

Health Care IT Software Replacement Cycle Accelerates as Complexity and Consolidation Create New Sector Winners …

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67 WALL STREET, New York - October 29, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Health Care IT Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: HIT Consolidation Activity - Electronic Health Records Implementation - Affordable Care Act - Healthcare IT Consolidation Trends

Companies include: Cerner Corp. (CERN), Allscripts-Misys Healthcare So (MDRX), Quality Systems Inc. (QSII), MedAssets, Inc. (MDAS), Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC), Community Health Systems, Inc. (CYH), Health Management Associates I (HMA), Omnicell Inc. (OMCL) and many others.

In the following excerpt from the Health Care IT Report, a leading analyst discusses the coming consolidation and new developments in the sector for investors:

TWST: Could you define the health care IT space for us in your mind?

Mr. Carpio: I define it as any company that uses technology in the health care arena in order to either improve costs, improve outcomes, or improve the efficiency of health care delivery or outcomes. There are the pure-play companies that solely do electronic medical records and billing management, but there are also other health care companies that are in the space. For example, the HMOs have health care IT assets in the space that I also track. The hospitals have health care IT assets internally that they use in the space. And then there are other, more edgy companies that offer analytics data on the Web, as well as those who offer mobile apps and other products and services that are more geared toward the consumer.

TWST: How would you characterize the industry over the last 12 months or so?

Mr. Carpio: The industry was very active in the last 12 months, and I think we're in a sustainable period of activity going forward. We're seeing some big changes in the space. We're seeing a very big replacement cycle coming along. A lot of the health care providers have realized that the software they use to meet prior government regulations, such as the HITECH stage 1 regs, are inadequate for stages 2 and 3, and also inadequate for meeting ICD-10 and other future requirements. So there is going to be significant replacement cycle. On the physician side, from a third to half of the installed base could be looking for a new system, and on the hospital side, we're looking at a third or even more hospitals looking for replacement systems.

The second major trend is consolidation within the space. We're going to see a lot of the vendors who can't meet the capital expenditure requirements for creating bigger and better systems falling away. On the physician side, we've got 300-plus vendors right now. I could envision that easily going down to 50 to 100 vendors, and ultimately 50 vendors of critical mass, over a 12- to 18-month period. So you've got a land-grab opportunity coming for the surviving vendors.

The third big trend is a growing focus on data analytics, population health and the use of mobile apps going forward...

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Health Care IT Software Replacement Cycle Accelerates as Complexity and Consolidation Create New Sector Winners ...

Health care fight stretches into a Four Years War

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The health-care political fight has become a Four Years War, and that hasnt been good for either side Sebelius on the hot seat as she testifies before House Energy and Commerce Committee beginning at 9:00 am ET Obama speaks in Boston at 3:55 pm ET to make two health-care arguments: 1) implementation got off to a slow start there, too; and 2) the experience shows that reform can work Misleading rhetoric on health care all around New national NBC/WSJ poll comes at 6:30 pm ET National Review vs. Erick Erickson and how it illustrates the divide inside the GOP And new Quinnipiac poll shows McAuliffe up by just four points, 45%-41%.

By Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Jessica Taylor, NBC News

*** The Four Years War: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius testifies on Capitol Hill today about the health-care websites rocky rollout, while President Obama heads to Massachusetts to remind the public that implementing health-reform there didnt go smoothly at first, either. Given these two events -- as well as the partisan back-and-forth over the law -- its worth emphasizing that this health-care war has now lasted four-plus years. There was the drafting of the law during 2009-2010. The 2010 midterms. The 2012 Supreme Court fight. The 2012 presidential race. Now the implementation battle of 2013. And its worth noting that this Four Years War hasnt been good for either side. For the White House and Democrats, it has distracted from other second-term priorities theyd rather talk about (like the economy or immigration reform). Does anyone think Obama would be in Boston today if implementation was going swimmingly? Whats more, the rocky rollout has only helped to reinforce the idea that government isnt very efficient and can sometimes be incompetent. For Republicans, the current story has been a blessing (masking the partys ideological struggles), and they would like nothing more than for the 2014 midterms to be about health care. But what they are doing is litigating the past rather than telling Americans where they would like to take the country. Remember, the GOPs low poll numbers were coming out well before the government shutdown. The party is simply being defined by what it is NOT for; it is very hard to explain to the average American what the Republican Party stands for these days.

Evan Vucci / AP

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius arrives in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Monday, Oct. 21, 2013, for and event with President Barack Obama on the initial rollout of the health care overhaul.

*** Sebelius on the hot seat: As mentioned above, HHS Secretary Sebelius testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee beginning at 9:00 am ET. As NBCs Daniel Arkin notes, Sebelius will acknowledge the problems with the federal health-care website and pledge to fix them, according to her advance testimony. "The initial consumer experience of HealthCare.gov has not lived up to the expectations of the American people and is not acceptable," she is expected to say. "We are committed to fixing these problems as soon as possible." More from the secretary: "By enlisting additional technical help, aggressively monitoring errors, testing to prevent new issues from cropping up, and regularly deploying fixes to the site, we are working to ensure consumers' interaction with HealthCare.gov is a positive one, and that the Affordable Care Act fully delivers on its promise." Essentially, Sebelius will be saying much of the same thing the head of CMS said yesterday, except today the questions will be even more pointed and Sebelius answers will be even more scrutinized. This is a big credibility test for the secretary, who needs a good performance if simply to restore confidence about her abilities inside the West Wing, let alone for the public.

*** Obama: Remember Romneycare? Meanwhile, President Obama delivers remarks at 3:55 pm ET from Faneuil Hall in Boston, where the Massachusetts health-reform was signed into law in 2006. He is expected to make two arguments: 1) implementation got off to a slow start there, too (with just 123 individuals signing up for coverage in the first month of enrollment); and 2) that the experience there shows that health-care reform can work. But as NBCs Ali Weinberg notes, there was ONE BIG difference between what Massachusetts passed and what Obama signed into law: The Massachusetts law was a bipartisan effort, and both Democrats and Republicans worked to ensure it was implemented well. "I think part of the reason it went well here in Massachusetts is because we had such wide agreement that it was a good idea," said Jonathan Gruber, professor of economics at MIT and a key adviser for both the Romney and Obama health-care plans. Gruber said he still has confidence that the tide of public opinion will turn in favor of the national health law. "I believe enough in the laboratories of democracy in America that the fact that it's going to go well in some states is going to put pressure on these other states to realize they're denying their citizens the fundamental value of the Affordable Care Act," he said. That said, dont miss this Boston Globe headline greeting Obama today: Beseiged President Obama heads to Boston.

*** Misleading health-care rhetoric all around: As we wrote yesterday, President Obama put himself into a corner when he declared, If you like your health-care plan, youll be able to keep your health-care plan, period. It was a promise, as weve discovered, that was impossible to keep, particularly given the small fraction of Americans who buy their insurance on the individual market. And then there was promise the administration made regarding the website; in fact, during briefings with reporters and lawmakers, they were almost bragging about how good the website was going to be. But lets not forget all of the misleading and dishonest rhetoric in this entire health-care debate. Socialism! (when it turns out that private insurance companies are the ones providing the coverage). Death panels! (when that was never true). Obama is cutting your Medicare (when the cuts were to providers rather than beneficiaries and when House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan adopted those same cuts to help balance his budget). Theres no doubt that the presidents promise deserves scrutiny -- even three or four years later but lets not pretend they occurred in a vacuum, either. Its a reminder that the health-care debate over the last four years has usually focused more on side issues than the heart of the actual law. And too many times, over-the-top things were said in order to deal with the politics of the moment rather than actually debate the law itself.

*** NBC/WSJ poll day! What are Americans impressions of the health-care rollout? What are their attitudes about Obama and Republicans two weeks after the government shutdown? Tune in beginning at 6:30 pm ET for answers from our brand-new NBC/WSJ poll.

*** National Review vs. Erick Erickson: The intense scrutiny over the health-care website and law has obscured another political story over the last few days: The ideological civil war inside the Republican Party is well underway. In addition to the Senate Conservative Fund airing a new TV ad against Mitch McConnell in Kentucky, National Review is now battling with prominent conservative blogger Erick Erickson. In National Review, editors Ramesh Ponnuru and Rich Lowry penned a long piece arguing that in order to enact change, conservatives need to win elections and thus broaden their appeal. There arent enough conservative voters to elect enough officials to enact a conservative agenda in Washington, D.C. or to sustain them in that project even if they were elected. The challenge, fundamentally, isnt a redoubling of ideological commitment, but more success at persuasion and at winning elections. That prompted a response from Erickson, who charged that National Review is choosing to sit either with the establishment or on the sidelines. Like much of the Republican Leadership, National Review wants to win majorities before unleashing hell, but history shows us repeatedly that Republicans never unleash hell once they have the majority. They become well-fed denizens of power, using it to reward friends and influence people, instead of willingly surrendering it to shrink the leviathan.

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Health care fight stretches into a Four Years War

New Gene Therapy Treatment Helps Fight Prostate Cancer, Asons Solicitors Comment

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Bolton, UK (PRWEB UK) 29 October 2013

According to the BBC, the University Hospital in Birmingham are trialing a new gene therapy hospital treatment, aiding in the fight against prostate cancer (1). The pioneering treatment could help prevent the incidence of surgical errors, increasing the success rate associated with treating the disease.

It is believed, that if the treatment works, surgery for prostate cancer will become a thing of the past, eliminating the surgical errors associated with the procedure.

According to the BBC, the University Hospital in Birmingham is among the first to trial the new treatment, stimulating the bodys own immune system to attack the tumor (1). With studies on mice showing complete eradication of the cancer, hopes are high for the imminent human trials.

A new form of gene therapy, the treatment requires a virus to be injected directly into the prostate cancer tumour; a gene attached to the virus (GM-CSF,) is then released, activating the body's own immune system, attracting white blood cells to attack the cancer (1). As reported by the BBC, the virus also carries an enzyme - nitroreductase - which sits inside the cancer cell.

Two days after the injection, the patient in question will be put on a drip, which contains a cancer drug (CB1954), which is initially inactive. When the drug comes into contact with the enzyme, it reacts and starts killing the cancer cells. The inactive drug, CB1954, does not harm cells which do not have the enzyme inside, protecting the healthy tissue surrounding the tumour (1).

Urology Specialist, Prashant Patel, is hopeful that gene therapy could provide real hope for patients who are running out of treatment options (1).

"I have to stress that this is only a phase one safety trial to test that there are no side effects. However, we are excited by this."

"If this works, 15 to 20 years from now, we could be using the patient's own immune system in this way to fight early onset prostate cancer so that patients won't need painful treatments or even surgery."

Considering the procedure, Asons Executive, Laura Williams

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New Gene Therapy Treatment Helps Fight Prostate Cancer, Asons Solicitors Comment

Researchers identify way to increase gene therapy success

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29-Oct-2013

Contact: Mary Ellen Peacock maryellen.peacock@nationwidechildrens.org 614-355-0495 Nationwide Children's Hospital

Scientists in The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital have found a way to overcome one of the biggest obstacles to using viruses to deliver therapeutic genes: how to keep the immune system from neutralizing the virus before it can deliver its genetic payload. In a study published recently in Molecular Therapy, researchers found that giving subjects a treatment to temporarily rid the body of antibodies provides the virus safe passage to targeted cells, allowing it to release a corrective or replacement gene to treat disease.

Gene therapy is among the most promising treatment options for such genetic disorders as muscular dystrophy, congenital blindness and hemophilia. Scientists also are investigating gene therapy as a cure for some cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, viral infections and other acquired illnesses. To get the therapeutic gene into cells, researchers have turned to viruses, which deliver their genetic material into cells as part of their normal replication process. Time and time again, these efforts have been thwarted by the body's own immune system, which attacks the viral vector. The therapeutic genes aren't delivered and disease rages on.

Now, a team led by Louis G. Chicoine, MD, Louise Rodino-Klapac, PhD, and Jerry R. Mendell, MD, principal investigators in the Center for Gene Therapy at Nationwide Children's, has shown for the first time that using a process called plasmapheresis just before delivering a virus-packed gene therapy protects the virus long enough for it to enter the cell and deliver the gene.

Plasmapheresis, widely used to treat patients with autoimmune disorders, removes blood from the body, separates the plasma and cells, filters out antibodies, and returns the blood to the patient. The antibody loss is temporary; the body begins producing new antibodies within a few hours of the procedure.

In a study of a gene therapy designed to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Drs. Chicoine and Rodino-Klapac used plasmapheresis in a large animal model, then injected a virus packed with a micro-dystrophin gene. When they examined the levels of micro-dystrophin gene expression in the animals, they found a 500 percent percent increase over gene expression in animals that did not receive plasmapheresis. Dr. Mendell, director of the Center for Gene Therapy, helped conceive of this treatment for DMD patients based on experience with autoimmune diseases such as myasthenia gravis and inflammatory nerve diseases.

"Right now, gene therapy seems to work best in patients who have no antibodies for the virus being used to deliver the gene," Dr. Mendell says. "That limits the number of patients who can benefit from gene therapy."

Using plasmapheresis would increase the potential for gene therapy, Dr. Chicoine adds, by eliminating one obstacle of immune reaction.

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Researchers identify way to increase gene therapy success

The Pentagon May Retire "Yoda," Its 92-Year-Old Futurist

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52454291 story Posted by timothy on Tuesday October 29, 2013 @01:36PM from the as-he-himself-foresaw dept. Daniel_Stuckey writes "Of all the weapons the Pentagon relies on to defend the United States, one of the strangest and most secretive is Andrew Marshall, a 92-year-old man who's spent the last 40 years staring into the future trying to predict the next big threat to America. Known fondly as "Yoda" to his many fans in Washington, Marshall heads up the Office of Net Assessmentthe Defense Department's think tank tasked with taking a long view, out-of-the-box approach to defense strategy. In his role as the Pentagon's visionary sage, Marshall is credited with predicting the fall of the Soviet Union, the rise of China's global prominence, the role of autonomous weapons and robots in warfare, and even helping end the Cold War. Now, facing budget cuts, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is considering reorganizing or possibly even shuttering the futurist think tank, Defense News recently reported." You may like to read: Post

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The Pentagon May Retire "Yoda," Its 92-Year-Old Futurist

Sen. Patrick Leahy Officially Introduces The USA FREEDOM Act In The Senate

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Earlier this month, Sen. Patrick Leahy began circulating a piece of legislation called The USA FREEDOM Act. We knew what the legislation would do, but we didnt know any of the specifics until today.

The Hill reports that Sen. Leahy has finally introduced The USA FREEDOM Act, or the Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ending Eavesdropping, Dragnet-collection, and Online Monitoring Act, into the Senate this afternoon. The legislation, which enjoys 16 co-sponsors in the Senate, clocks in at 118 pages and seeks to reform both the NSA and the FISA court. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, otherwise known as the congressman who wrote the original Patriot Act, has also introduced sister legislation in the House with more than 70 co-sponsors.

The government surveillance programs conducted under the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act are far broader than the American people previously understood. It is time for serious and meaningful reforms so we can restore confidence in our intelligence community, Leahy said. Modest transparency and oversight provisions are not enough. We need real reform, which is why I join today with Congressman Sensenbrenner, and bipartisan coalitions in both the Senate and House, to introduce the USA FREEDOM Act.

So, what exactly does the USA FREEDOM Act do? First and foremost, it ends the bulk collection of Americans phone records under Section 215 of the Patriot Act. Currently, the NSA uses an interpretation of Section 215 handed down by the FISA court that allows it to indiscriminately collect Americans phone records.

Section 215 is not the only thing that needs reform and Leahy knows it. His legislation would also reform Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act a law that allows the NSA to collect Americans Internet communications without a warrant. Under the USA FREEDOM Act, there will be stricter limits placed on the kind of online communications that can be collected, and it will also require the NSA to obtain a court order prior to conducting back door searches looking for the communications of U.S. persons in databases collected without a warrant under Section 702.

The legislation would also improve oversight and transparency by reforming two key components of the intelligence community the FISA court and data request reporting. For the former, the legislation would appoint a public privacy advocate that would argue in favor of pro-privacy in front of the FISA court. As for the latter, the legislation would permit companies to publish the number of data requests they receive from the federal government. It would also require the government to report these numbers itself.

Finally, the USA FREEDOM Act would implement new sunset dates for both the FISA Amendments Act and National Security Letters to bring their expiration in line with the 2015 sunset date for Section 215. The reasoning is that Leahy believes having all three sunset in the same year will force Congress and the executive branch to address every part of the NSA and FISA in one go instead of having years between them.

Following 9/11, the USA PATRIOT Act passed the judiciary committees with overwhelming bipartisan support. The bill has helped keep Americans safe by ensuring information is shared among those responsible for defending our country and by enhancing the tools the intelligence community needs to identify and track terrorists, Sensenbrenner said. But somewhere along the way, the balance between security and privacy was lost. Its now time for the judiciary committees to again come together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the law is properly interpreted, past abuses are not repeated and American liberties are protected. Washington must regain Americans trust in their government. The USA FREEDOM Act is an essential first step. I would like to thank Congressmen Conyers and Amash, Congresswoman Lofgren, Chairman Issa and others for working with us to draft this important legislation and encourage all my colleagues to support it.

Now, before you go off and petition your local lawmakers to pass this law, you might want to check out Sen. Patrick Leahys statement on his bill. Its an excellently written piece on how he feels about the NSA and what he hopes the legislation will accomplish.

[Image: Patrick Leahy]

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Sen. Patrick Leahy Officially Introduces The USA FREEDOM Act In The Senate

Freedom Act to End NSA Data Collection Introduced

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Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., is one of the sponsors of a bill that would end the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' communications records.

Patriot Act author Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy , D-Vt., introduced the USA Freedom Act on Tuesday with the help of some co-sponsors previously opposed to the bill's goal of ending the bulk data collection by the National Security Agency.

[READ:Did the White House Approve Surveillance on Merkel?]

The Freedom Act would end the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' communications records by amending Section 215 of the Patriot Act, making numerous amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and creating a privacy advocate to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, who could argue civil liberties concerns and appeal court decisions. The full text of the bill is available online.

Sensenbrenner was the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, occurred, and was one of the original authors of the Patriot Act. In a statement on Monday introducing the Freedom Act, Sensenbrenner said the surveillance powers granted to intelligence agencies in the Patriot Act have kept Americans safe "but somewhere along the way, the balance between security and privacy was lost."

"It's now time for the judiciary committees to again come together in a bipartisan fashion to ensure the law is properly interpreted, past abuses are not repeated and American liberties are protected," Sensenbrenner said. "Washington must regain Americans' trust in their government."

Since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden began disclosing government phone and email surveillance practices in June, members of congress have introduced a stack of proposals calling for increased transparency and oversight of the agency. In a statement on Monday Leahy said "modest transparency and oversight provisions are not enough."

[BROWSE: Editorial Cartoons on the NSA]

"The government surveillance programs conducted under the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act are far broader than the American people previously understood," Leahy said. "It is time for serious and meaningful reforms so we can restore confidence in our intelligence community,"

The highly anticipated bill to end the NSA's dragnet collection of phone records, and increase oversight, transparency, and accountability on domestic surveillance, is poised to set off another showdown in Congress between privacy rights and the national security needs of data surveillance. The House defeated by 12 votes a proposed amendment to the defense appropriations bill in July that would have restricted the NSA's collection of phone records and metadata, known as the Amash amendment because it was introduced by Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich.

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Freedom Act to End NSA Data Collection Introduced

Rand Paul: Eugenics possible with today’s technology

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LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) Tea Party hero Rand Paul warned scientific advancements could lead to eugenics during a Monday visit at Liberty University, looking to boost the political fortunes of fellow Republican Ken Cuccinellis bid for governor.

During a visit to the Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell, Paul looked to energize conservative supporters by warning that genetic tests could identify those who are predisposed to be short, overweight or less intelligent so that they could be eliminated. With one week remaining before Election Day, Cuccinelli is hoping the joint appearance with the U.S. senator from Kentucky will encourage the far-right flank of his party to abandon third-party libertarian spoiler Robert Sarvis.

In your lifetime, much of your potential - or lack thereof - can be known simply by swabbing the inside of your cheek, Paul said to a packed sporting arena on Libertys campus. Are we prepared to select out the imperfect among us?

Some states ran eugenics programs that sterilized those considered defective in the 1900s, though all were abandoned by the 1970s after scientists discredited the idea.

Campaigning later in the day on Virginia Techs campus, Democrat Terry McAuliffe renewed criticism of Cuccinelli as a candidate who doesnt believe in science and sought to remind voters that Cuccinelli unsuccessfully sued a University of Virginia researcher under the states anti-fraud law.

He doesnt believe in climate science, McAuliffe said. So Cuccinelli, a skeptic of climate change, went on what McAuliffe called a witch hunt against Michael Mann, McAuliffe said.

The University of Virginia, a public school, spent $600,000 to defend itself. The state Supreme Court dismissed Cuccinellis complaint.

We cannot grow Virginias economy by suing scientists, McAuliffe added.

Meanwhile, former President Bill Clinton said genetics is helping doctors identify individuals at greater risk for illness and advising them to get tested earlier. Clinton, a McAuliffe pal who is campaigning with him, said the science is saving lives, not costing them.

We are now learning things that will help us deal with Alzheimers and various kinds of cancers. Weve already identified the genetic markers that are high predictors of breast cancers, said Clinton, who as president announced the first map of the human genome.

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Rand Paul: Eugenics possible with today’s technology

Cyborg Cockroaches For Kids? Get The Christmas List Ready

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View of giant cockroaches (Blaberus giganteus) on display during an exibition at the Explora Park in Medellin, Antioquia department, Colombia on February 5, 2013. This species, usually found in tropical forests of South America, prefer high humidity and low light habitats, live about 20 months and are omnivorous. (credit: RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

DETROIT (WWJ) Cockroaches arent on the typical childs Christmas list, but an Ann Arbor company is hoping to change that with a cyborg device meant to turn the creepy crawlers into scientific entertainment they can control with a smartphone.

Backyard Brains has developed a Kickstarter project, the RoboRoach,that allows one to cut live cockroaches and implant electrodes to control the insects movements. One hundred and eighty three people have pledged $12,339 exceeding the $10,000 goal to fund the project.

Its like a remote-controlled car in the body of a live bug, the game Operation writ large. But the creators want it to be taken seriously, with Greg Gage saying his product advances the study of neural circuits, allowing students to make scientific discoveries.

Twenty percent of the world will have a neurological disorder with no known cure and so what we are trying to do is get kids interested in neuro-science at an early age and and we can actually capture those kids and turn them into neuro-scientists and actually help us cure these diseases, said Gage.

PETA doesnt see it like that.PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is crying fowl and believes the RoboRoach kit should be declared illegal. PETA counsel Jerrod Goodman claims it promotes the practice of veterinary medicine without a license by altering an animal from its normal condition.

This cruel and inhumane product instructs children to, without anesthesia, send down various parts of a living cockroachs body, Goodman said in a statement Tuesday. They stab a syringe through the animal, force electrodes into the animal, and superglue apparatuses to the inside and the outside of the cockroachs body.

According to Backyard Brains website, The RoboRoach circuit is not a toy, but a tool for studying neural circuits and allows for students to make discoveries about electrical micro-stimulation.

Cockroaches are intelligent animals, they have learning and memory capacities, Goodman said. They have sophisticated social lives with each other and they can feel pain. Its not okay to pull the wings off of flies and its not okay to teach children to torture and mutilate cockroaches. You can hate and dislike someone all you like, but it doesnt make it okay to torture them.

According to Backyard Brains website, the cockroaches are anesthetized and the purpose of their product is to enable better retention of neuroscience concepts compared to traditional book based teachings.

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Cyborg Cockroaches For Kids? Get The Christmas List Ready

Gujarat to spend Rs.120 crore to develop 10 beaches

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Panaji, Oct 29 (IANS) Gujarat will invest Rs.120 crore on developing its beaches, Gujarat's state tourism corporation chief Kamlesh Patel said Tuesday.

"Our plan is now to promote beaches. We have identified ten beaches across the state where we will invest Rs. 120 crore in order to create infrastructure and promote these places as beach tourism destinations," Patel said.

Patel, who heads the Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Limited (TCGL) , was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a tourism promotion campaign organised by the corporation to promote fairs and festivals in Gujarat.

He said that the development of the beaches would be carried out on a public private partnership basis, where the investment by the state government itself will be next to nothing.

Gujarat would be the second state in western India after Karnataka to exploit its beaches with the help of the private sector. Panambur in northwestern Karnataka was one of the privatised beach project promoted by the Karnataka government, which aims to emulate the Goa beach experience within its own border.

Gujarat has a coastline which stretches nearly 1,600 km and the state has nearly 10 beaches along the stretch.

Patel also said that festivals and fairs helped promote socio-cultural-religious unity.

"The way Gujarat has promoted its tourist destination along with its traditional fairs and festivals at national as well as global level is an example for the rest of India," Patel said.

Gujarat attracted over 2.4 crore tourists in 2012-13.

Originally posted here:

Gujarat to spend Rs.120 crore to develop 10 beaches

STAR WARS Battlefront Update – Ep 2 – Artificial Intelligence in Video Games – Video

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STAR WARS Battlefront Update - Ep 2 - Artificial Intelligence in Video Games
The Robots are watching you. :0 Some education on our Robot buddies. Lets talk basic hype for sequels, reboots etc. This video really can apply to any game o...

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STAR WARS Battlefront Update - Ep 2 - Artificial Intelligence in Video Games - Video