Minecraft – Survival Lava Islands – Ep1 W/ Smellypoopface, Buderp, KFC770 – Video

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Minecraft - Survival Lava Islands - Ep1 W/ Smellypoopface, Buderp, KFC770
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Health care explained

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Non-partisan forum held to explain the Affordable Health Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare.

Terms like "Obamacare" and "Health care reform" are often tossed around without clear definition or explanation of what they mean.

On Sunday afternoon, the York branch of the NAACP #2294 and York's Jewish Community Center co-sponsored a free, nonpartisan forum designed to explain the Affordable Health Care Act, more popularly known as Obamacare.

"There are a lot of facets to the Affordable Health Care Act that will affect individuals and families. The more familiar people are with what is included within the law, the more prepared they will be to make decisions," said Dr. Kenneth Woerthwein, a retired York-area physician who helped plan the event.

Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, senior policy advisor and former president of the National Physicians Alliance, offered an informed overview of the Affordable Health Care Act, which was signed into law on March 23, 2010 and will be fully implemented in January 2014.

"I think there is a lot of frightening misinformation regarding this new law, particularly with seniors. I encourage everyone to take an hour of their time and educate themselves," Arkoosh said.

She explained how the law will affect Medicare and Medicaid programs, and what changes will follow for seniors, families and individuals, especially women.

Afterward, she noted that those who already have access to health insurance and Medicare shouldn't notice many changes beyond minor adjustments. What

However, the law also allows for the creation of health insurance marketplaces, or "exchanges," where they can shop for affordable coverage, beginning on Oct. 1. Under the act, insurers can no longer deny coverage for pre-existing conditions and young adults can stay on parental insurance until age 26.

Arkoosh said that while the Affordable Health Care Act comes with a price tag of $1 trillion dollars, Americans spent $2.6 trillion on health care in 2012. Economists are hopeful that the law will have a "stabilizing" influence on the health care industry, she said.

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Health care explained

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Helps Physicians and Patients Talk About Health Care Decisions

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WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) has been awarded a two-year grant from the ABIM Foundation to advance the organizations Choosing Wisely campaign. The goal of this effort is to encourage physicians and patients to discuss medical tests and procedures that may be unnecessary, and in some instances cause harm. Reducing unnecessary medical care can improve quality for Massachusetts patients.

The Massachusetts health care environment provides a fertile ground for Choosing Wisely to take hold, said Barbra G. Rabson, executive director of MHQP. As a Commonwealth we have made it a priority to find ways to achieve high quality and affordable care.

As a multi-stakeholder organization with a long history of focusing on improving quality, patient experience and appropriate use in Massachusetts, MHQP plans to integrate the Choosing Wisely program into its existing initiatives and will disseminate the lists from participating specialty societies to help physicians and patients talk in partnership about making important health care decisions.

"More care is not necessarily better care, said John McDonough, Professor of Public Health Practice and Director of the Center for Public Health Leadership at the Harvard University School of Public Health. The Choosing Wisely campaign provides concrete evidence and steps that both patients and providers can take to make sure that patients get the right care in the right way, and only that."

The grant extends the reach of the ABIM Foundations nationally renowned Choosing Wisely campaign, a program aimed at helping physicians, patients, and other health care stakeholders work together to ensure an appropriate level of care is delivered at the right time and in the right setting. To do so, Choosing Wisely has compiled lists from various medical specialty societies of evidence-based recommendations to aid physician-patient conversations about what is necessary and appropriate care.

"The Choosing Wisely recommendations are developed based on clinical evidence, and endorsed by physicians to help support conversations with patients," said Dr. Judith Melin, Associate Chief Quality Officer, Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and member of MHQP's Physician Council. These patient-physician conversations are a key part of providing care that is high-quality and focused on the patient's needs."

Consumer Reports has partnered with the specialty societies to develop patient engagement materials that can aid patients and their families to better understand when care is helpful or can cause more harm than good. These materials will help patients talk with their doctors about their choices and allow them to make better informed decisions about their care.

Patients and their families want and need to have information like this readily available if they are to become better partners informed about care, says Lucy Costa, a member of MHQPs Patient and Public Engagement Council. With a strong mission that includes patient engagement and collaboration, MHQP is the right organizations to lead Massachusetts stakeholders in spreading the messages of Choosing Wisely.

To advance the Choosing Wisely campaign MHQP will:

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Massachusetts Health Quality Partners Helps Physicians and Patients Talk About Health Care Decisions

Health Care Price Growth Plummets to 1.1 Percent

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ANN ARBOR, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

National health care prices grew 1.1 percent in April 2013 relative to April 2012, the lowest reading since November 1997 and a whopping five-tenth drop from the March rise. The 12-month moving average, at 1.8 percent, is the lowest since 1.7 percent recorded in September 1998. National health expenditures, which reflect both prices and utilization, grew 4.2 percent, remaining in the vicinity of the record low levels seen annually since 2009.

Meanwhile, health care employment extended its recent moderation with 11,000 new jobs in May 2013, about half the 24-month average of 23,000. Health sector job growth in the first 5 months of 2013 averaged 18,000 per month, compared to 28,000 per month during the same period in 2012, with most of the slowdown seen in hospitals. With total nonfarm jobs in May growing by a solid 175,000 jobs, the health sector share of total employment dropped slightly to 10.72%, off the revised all-time high of 10.73% seen in April 2013.

These data come from the June Health Sector Economic IndicatorsSM briefs released by Altarum Institutes Center for Sustainable Health Spending. The briefs, covering health care spending, utilization, prices, and employment are at http://www.altarum.org/HealthIndicators.

Economy-wide disinflation continues to be reflected in lower health care price growth, and evidence is accumulating that 2013 will be a year of slower health sector job growth, said Charles Roehrig, director of the Center. Recent media announcements of hospital intentions to shed jobs bolster this conclusion. With pressure from sequestration and a still underperforming economy, our research suggests health spending growth will also remain low for the remainder of 2013.

The health spending share of GDP was 18.1 percent in March, stable from the 18 percent range it has exhibited since the recession ended in June 2009 (after spiking from the pre-recession 16.4% rate). Implicit per capita health care utilization averaged 1.4 percent growth over the last 12 months suggesting a small rebound from the exceptionally low, first quarter of 2012 results.

Altarum Institute (www.altarum.org) integrates objective research and client-centered consulting skills to deliver comprehensive, systems-based solutions that improve health and health care. Altarum employs more than 400 individuals and is headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., with additional offices in the Washington, D.C., area; Atlanta, Ga.; Portland, Maine; and San Antonio, Texas.

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Health Care Price Growth Plummets to 1.1 Percent

National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association Receives U.S. Orphan Drug Designation for Novel Gene Therapy

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BOSTON, June 13, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association (NTSAD) for development of the first-ever treatment for Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff, rare diseases that are fatal in young children and extremely debilitating in their late-onset form.

The gene therapy in development would correct an enzyme deficiency that causes the progressive neurodegeneration that marks these diseases. Both Tay Sachs and Sandhoff are lysosomal storage diseases, a group of more than 50 genetically inherited disorders characterized by deficiency of a vital enzyme that prevents the proper breakdown of undigested material inside cells.

Orphan drug designation, which is intended to facilitate drug development for rare diseases, provides substantial benefits to the sponsor, including the potential for funding of certain clinical studies, study-design assistance and several years of market exclusivity for the product upon regulatory approval.

"This orphan drug designation is a giant step forward in our efforts to bring hope to Tay-Sachs patients and their families, as today there are no treatments," said NTSAD President, Shari Ungerleider. "Gene therapy has the potential to be a one-time transformative therapy for patients suffering from rare neurodegenerative genetic disorders such as Tay-Sachs. NTSAD, along with its funding partners, is committed to advancing the clinical and commercial development of our gene therapy platform because of the potential life-changing benefit it could have for patients and their families."

Based on promising results of animal studies that have been ongoing since 2007, the Tay-Sachs Gene Therapy Consortium research team is completing pre-clinical studies in advance of a Phase I clinical trial.

About the Tay-Sachs Gene Therapy Consortium

The Tay-Sachs Gene Therapy (TSGT) Consortium was founded in 2007 to advance human clinical trials in the quest for a gene therapy treatment for Tay-Sachs and Sandhoff diseases. The multidisciplinary team, led by Miguel Sena Esteves, Ph.D., recipient of the 2011 Outstanding New Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, includes scientists and clinicians from Auburn University, Boston College, Cambridge University-UK, Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and New York University Medical School.

About NTSAD

The oldest rare disease advocacy organization in the nation, National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases Association (NTSAD) was founded in 1957 by concerned parents whose children were affected by Tay-Sachs disease or related rare genetic lysosomal storage diseases and leukodystrophies. Today NTSAD continues its multifaceted support of affected families and funds research seeking a treatment or cure. NTSAD also pioneered the development of community education about carrier screening programs for Tay-Sachs and related diseases, which became models for all genetic diseases. More information is available at http://www.ntsad.org.

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National Tay-Sachs & Allied Diseases Association Receives U.S. Orphan Drug Designation for Novel Gene Therapy

Scientists find one lab virus in millions that could improve gene therapy for retinal diseases

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From millions of random mutations, scientists identify a virus that could make gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases safer and more effective.

A new delivery mechanism shuttles gene therapy deep into the eyes retina to repair damaged light-sensing cells without requiring a surgeon to put a needle through this delicate tissue. The approach could make it substantially easier to treat inherited forms of eye disease with this approach.

Although still largely experimental, gene therapy is gradually moving to the hospital. The technology is involved in some 2,000 completed and ongoing clinical trials, and last December the European Union approved a gene therapy treatment for a metabolic disorder (see Gene Therapy on the Mend as Treatment Gets Western Approval). But until recently, most gene therapy has involved using naturally occurring viruses to deliver a genetic payload, says David Schaffer, a biomedical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, and a 2002 MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35, who was involved in the work. These viruses have evolved to succeed in a natural setting, and we are using them to do something completely different, he says.

The naturally occurring viruses that have been used to deliver therapy to the eye must be injected directly into the damaged retina, which can cause additional damage by detaching light-detecting photoreceptors from their supporting layer. To build a better system, Schaffer and colleagues turned to whats known as directed evolution. The researchers produced millions of random variations of the adeno-associated virus, a harmless virus often used as a vector for gene therapy. From this vast pool, they ultimately identified the single strain that was the best at delivering new genes into damaged retinas. The work is published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Working with mice that had two different genetic forms of retinal disease, the Berkeley researchers injected the millions of viruses into the fluid that fills the main body of the eye. From this fluid, naturally occurring adeno-associated viruses cannot reach the light-sensing cells of the retina because they get caught up on other surrounding cells. But by removing the rodent retinas and examining them, the team was able to identify strains that with mutations that enabled them to reach the critical tissue. Repeating the process led them to the strain that was most successful at reaching mouse photoreceptors.

In one of the conditions the group studied, called X-linked retinoschisis, a bad copy of a gene that makes a glue-like protein causes layers of the retina to rip apart, resulting in loss of vision. The experiments suggest that a working version of that gene, carried in the lab-identified virus, could potentially reverse that damage.

The virus carried it across the whole retina, and as the retina glued itself back together, its response to light returned, says John Flannery, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was also involved with the work. The team also found that the viral vector was able to deliver a gene into the retina of a monkey, although not as effectively as in mice. The researchers are currently using directed evolution to find the best strain for delivering genes to primate retinas.

Directed evolution now has been used by a number of groups, and its turning out to be a very robust way to find vectors that have novel properties that could be useful in gene-therapy settings, says Mark Kay, director of the Human Gene Therapy program at Stanford University School of Medicine. The technique has already been used to identify engineered viruses that can better deliver gene therapies to the heart and other tissues, says Kay, and its likely to become more widely used in the future.

The next big hurdle, Kay adds, will be to test these DNA-delivering viruses in patients. Lab animal results dont always replicate in humans, even when using close species, he says.

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Scientists find one lab virus in millions that could improve gene therapy for retinal diseases

Easy and effective therapy to restore sight: Engineered virus will improve gene therapy for blinding eye diseases

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June 12, 2013 Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed an easier and more effective method for inserting genes into eye cells that could greatly expand gene therapy to help restore sight to patients with blinding diseases ranging from inherited defects like retinitis pigmentosa to degenerative illnesses of old age, such as macular degeneration.

Unlike current treatments, the new procedure is quick and surgically non-invasive, and it delivers normal genes to hard-to-reach cells throughout the entire retina.

Over the last six years, several groups have successfully treated people with a rare inherited eye disease by injecting a virus with a normal gene directly into the retina of an eye with a defective gene. Despite the invasive process, the virus with the normal gene was not capable of reaching all the retinal cells that needed fixing.

"Sticking a needle through the retina and injecting the engineered virus behind the retina is a risky surgical procedure," said David Schaffer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of the Berkeley Stem Cell Center at UC Berkeley. "But doctors have no choice, because none of the gene delivery viruses can travel all the way through the back of the eye to reach the photoreceptors -- the light sensitive cells that need the therapeutic gene.

"Building upon 14 years of research, we have now created a virus that you just inject into the liquid vitreous humor inside the eye, and it delivers genes to a very difficult-to-reach population of delicate cells in a way that is surgically non-invasive and safe. "It's a 15-minute procedure, and you can likely go home that day."

The engineered virus works far better than current therapies in rodent models of two human degenerative eye diseases, and can penetrate photoreceptor cells in monkeys' eyes, which are like those of humans.

Schaffer said he and his team are now collaborating with physicians to identify the patients most likely to benefit from this gene delivery technique and, after some preclinical development, hope soon to head into clinical trials.

Schaffer and John Flannery, UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology and of optometry, along with colleagues from UC Berkeley's Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute and the Flaum Eye Institute at the University of Rochester in New York, published the results of their study on June 12 in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Harnessing a benign virus for gene therapy

Three groups of researchers have successfully restored some sight to more than a dozen people with a rare disease called Leber's congenital amaurosis, which leads to complete loss of vision in early adulthood. They achieved this by inserting a corrective gene into adeno-associated viruses (AAV), and injecting these common but benign respiratory viruses directly into the retina. The photoreceptor cells take up the viruses and incorporate the functional gene into their chromosomes to make a critical protein that the defective gene could not, rescuing the photoreceptors and restoring sight.

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Easy and effective therapy to restore sight: Engineered virus will improve gene therapy for blinding eye diseases

Virus That Evolved in the Lab Delivers Gene Therapy into the Retina

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From millions of random mutations, scientists identify a virus that could make gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases safer and more effective.

Special delivery: Eight weeks after the new virus was injected into the eye of a monkey, the activity of a fluorescent gene it delivered can be seen in spots across the retina.

A new delivery mechanism shuttles gene therapy deep into the eyes retina to repair damaged light-sensing cells without requiring a surgeon to put a needle through this delicate tissue. The approach could make it substantially easier to treat inherited forms of eye disease with this approach.

Although still largely experimental, gene therapy is gradually moving to the hospital. The technology is involved in some 2,000 completed and ongoing clinical trials, and last December the European Union approved a gene therapy treatment for a metabolic disorder (see Gene Therapy on the Mend as Treatment Gets Western Approval). But until recently, most gene therapy has involved using naturally occurring viruses to deliver a genetic payload, says David Schaffer, a biomedical engineer at the University of California, Berkeley, and a 2002 MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35, who was involved in the work. These viruses have evolved to succeed in a natural setting, and we are using them to do something completely different, he says.

The naturally occurring viruses that have been used to deliver therapy to the eye must be injected directly into the damaged retina, which can cause additional damage by detaching light-detecting photoreceptors from their supporting layer. To build a better system, Schaffer and colleagues turned to whats known as directed evolution. The researchers produced millions of random variations of the adeno-associated virus, a harmless virus often used as a vector for gene therapy. From this vast pool, they ultimately identified the single strain that was the best at delivering new genes into damaged retinas. The work is published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Working with mice that had two different genetic forms of retinal disease, the Berkeley researchers injected the millions of viruses into the fluid that fills the main body of the eye. From this fluid, naturally occurring adeno-associated viruses cannot reach the light-sensing cells of the retina because they get caught up on other surrounding cells. But by removing the rodent retinas and examining them, the team was able to identify strains that with mutations that enabled them to reach the critical tissue. Repeating the process led them to the strain that was most successful at reaching mouse photoreceptors.

In one of the conditions the group studied, called X-linked retinoschisis, a bad copy of a gene that makes a glue-like protein causes layers of the retina to rip apart, resulting in loss of vision. The experiments suggest that a working version of that gene, carried in the lab-identified virus, could potentially reverse that damage.

The virus carried it across the whole retina, and as the retina glued itself back together, its response to light returned, says John Flannery, a neurobiologist at the University of California, Berkeley, who was also involved with the work. The team also found that the viral vector was able to deliver a gene into the retina of a monkey, although not as effectively as in mice. The researchers are currently using directed evolution to find the best strain for delivering genes to primate retinas.

Directed evolution now has been used by a number of groups, and its turning out to be a very robust way to find vectors that have novel properties that could be useful in gene-therapy settings, says Mark Kay, director of the Human Gene Therapy program at Stanford University School of Medicine. The technique has already been used to identify engineered viruses that can better deliver gene therapies to the heart and other tissues, says Kay, and its likely to become more widely used in the future.

The next big hurdle, Kay adds, will be to test these DNA-delivering viruses in patients. Lab animal results dont always replicate in humans, even when using close species, he says.

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Virus That Evolved in the Lab Delivers Gene Therapy into the Retina

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Boasts Standing Room Only Turnout at the 16th Annual American Society of Gene and …

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STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, Inc. (ACGT), http://www.acgtfoundation.org, https://twitter.com/acgtfoundation, and https://www.facebook.com/acgtfoundation, today announced that its inaugural Symposium Gene and Cell Therapy For Cancer held recently at the 16th Annual American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, boasted more than 300 attendees.

We are strongly encouraged by the significant progress that is being made in the area of cell and gene therapies for cancer, said Barbara Netter, ACGT President and Co-Founder. She added, It has been a little over a decade since ACGT provided seed money in the form of grants to Young Investigators to conduct this critical lifesaving research. Today, we are joined by multi-national pharmaceutical companies that are investing in this research, further reinforcing the importance of our continued investment.

The ACGT Symposium, co-chaired by Xandra O. Breakefield, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital, outgoing ASGCT President, and Savio L.C. Woo, PhD, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, both ACGT Scientific Advisory Council members, featured four members of ACGTs Scientific Advisory Council who showcased the significant progress that is being made and future potential for cell and gene therapies for cancer. ACGT was also well represented at the Conference, with six other scientists presenting at other panels, and several others as authors of abstracts. ACGT is also proud to note that three of its Young Investigators have also been recognized by ASCGT as Outstanding New Investigators.

Speakers and Topics Included:

ACGT is the nations only not-for-profit organization solely dedicated to cell and gene therapy research for all types of cancer. To donate, please visit http://www.acgtfoundation.org or call 203.358.8000.

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Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy Boasts Standing Room Only Turnout at the 16th Annual American Society of Gene and ...

The Future of Business: Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at Luxembourg Business Compass Event – Video

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The Future of Business: Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at Luxembourg Business Compass Event
This is the entire presentation I held at the Luxembourg Business Compass Event, presented by KMPG Lux and the Wort daily newspaper, see more details here http://gerd.fm/11aWilo You can...

By: Gerd Leonhard

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The Future of Business: Futurist Speaker Gerd Leonhard at Luxembourg Business Compass Event - Video