Libertarian could win bloc in Maine

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LEWISTON If you're like most Maine voters, you've probably never heard of Gary Johnson.

If you have, you're likely a die-hard Libertarian, a political reporter and/or under the age of 40.

But the former two-term governor of New Mexico and Libertarian Party candidate for president may play a bigger role in Maine's 2012 election cycle than many could have guessed when Johnson entered the race as a Republican in April 2011.

Johnson provides a segment of Maine's young Republicans with an option to Mitt Romney after their efforts to boost the presidential campaign of Texas Rep. Ron Paul were thwarted by several controversial decisions, first by the Maine GOP and then by the Republican National Committee.

Johnson also holds appeal for a sizable segment of Maine voters who are more left-leaning than the Democratic candidate on the ballot. His support of medical marijuana, his message on peace and his support of ending U.S. military involvement abroad resonates with many.

While it's not the first time Maine has had a Libertarian Party candidate on the ballot, it may be the first time that candidate draws enough votes to officially establish the party in Maine. Typically, a Libertarian Party candidate for president will pick up between 0.25 and 0.5 percent of the vote.

"Gary Johnson will significantly outpace that,"Jim Melcher, a political science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington predicted in an email message Friday. Melcher wrote that one recent poll that suggested Johnson would pull between 2 and 3 percent of the vote.

"He has tuned his appeal to sound very much like Ron Paul, with calls to audit the Federal Reserve, and I think a lot of Paul's backers are listening to him," Melcher said. "Many seem to still be bitter about their battles with Romney's forces."

A recent YouTube promotional video, narrated by Johnson, features images of Paul and touts Johnson's endorsement of Paul in 2008. And during one of two nationally televised pre-primary Republican Party debates, Johnson said if he were the GOP nominee, he would select Paul as his running mate.

"(Paul's) efforts have changed America; they've changed me," Johnson says in the video. "The revolution he ignited in the hearts and minds of millions of Americans will not fade away."

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Libertarian could win bloc in Maine

Libertarian files complaint over debate exclusion

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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Libertarian candidate for Texas' open U.S. Senate seat has filed a federal complaint saying he was unfairly excluded from a debate between Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Paul Sadler.

Cruz and Sadler meet Tuesday night in a debate hosted by WFAA in Dallas. They are seeking to succeed retiring Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Libertarian John Jay Myers alleges in a Sept. 25 complaint to the Federal Communications Commission that WFAA's criteria for inviting candidates was based on "partisan favoritism."

Myers says the station told him it used five criteria, including holding previous elected office. He says Cruz doesn't meet all the requirements.

Cruz was appointed state solicitor general, serving from 2003 until 2008. Sadler is an ex-state representative.

Myers plans to respond to his opponents' debate comments via YouTube.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Libertarian files complaint over debate exclusion

South China Sea: U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For?

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U.S. Navy

Aircraft carriers USS John C. Stennis, front, and USS George Washington sail in formation with an escort vessel during a training exercise in waters near Guam, earlier this month.

TOKYO Its probably just a coincidence; no need to worry yet. But the U.S. has quietly assembled a powerful air, land and sea armada not far from where Japan and China are squaring off over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Two Navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force have begun operating in the Western Pacific, within easy reach of the Senkaku Islands. Thats where Japanese and Chinese patrol boats are engaged in an increasingly tense standoff.

Chinese vessels have repeatedly entered territorial waters around the small islands in recent weeks and Coast Guard vessels from Japan and Taiwan fired water cannons at each other last week. The islands are controlled and administered by Japan, but claimed by both China and Taiwan.

No warships have been directly involved in the confrontations, so far. But China has vowed to continue sending patrol vessels into territorial waters and Japan has assembled scores of Coast Guard vessels to defend the islands.

The U.S. hasnt taken sides in the ownership dispute, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called for cooler heads to prevail. Nonetheless, U.S. officials have stated clearly that the Senkakus fall under the U.S.-Japan security treaty, which would require the U.S. to come to Japans aid in case of attack.

Navy officials confirmed Sunday that the USS George Washington carrier strike group has begun operating in the East China Sea, near the disputed islands. The USS John C. Stennis group is only slightly further away in the South China Sea. Each carrier is armed with more than 80 warplanes, and strike groups typically include guided-missile cruisers and destroyers, submarines and supply ships.

In the nearby Philippine Sea, some 2,200 Marines are embarked aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard and two escorts. The Marines are equipped with amphibious assault vehicles, light armored vehicles, artillery, helicopters and Harrier fighter jets.

Carrier groups and Marine task forces often operate alone, so the convergence of the three groups in a relatively small part of the Pacific represents an unusual concentration of firepower. All three are fresh from training exercises in and around Guam. Those exercises included live-fire with missiles and joint beach landings by U.S. Marines and Japanese ground troops.

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South China Sea: U.S. Fleet Nears Disputed Islands, But What For?

Northern Islands residents safe from tropical storm

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Wednesday, October 03, 2012

The seven residents of Pagan and Alamagan in the Northern Islands are safe and secure even as Tropical Storm Maliksi intensified in the last two days.

Francisco L. Kaipat, community worker at the Northern Islands Mayor's Office, said yesterday that they communicated with the residents of both islands via radio frequency yesterday and last Monday.

Of the seven residents, five stay on Pagan while the other two live on Alamagan, he said.

Kaipat said they get in touch with these residents through their weekly scheduled radio conference every Monday and Thursday.

During days when there is a weather disturbance, however, Kaipat disclosed that they contact the Northern Islands population more frequently to check on their safety.

Kaipat noted, though, that the residents experience a hard time communicating via radio since the gadget uses batteries that are charged using solar panels.

If there's no sun, they can't charge the battery, he added.

Kaipat said they made contact with the Northern Islands residents on Monday to inform them about the latest weather bulletin from the Emergency Management Office.

Based on their latest communication with these residents, they were already experiencing strong winds and high surf due to Tropical Storm Maliksi, he said.

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Northern Islands residents safe from tropical storm

Perhentian Islands: Resort round-up

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By Chris Wotton

MALAYSIAS Perhentian Islands in the South China Sea, around ten miles off the northeastern coast of western Malaysia and just forty miles south of the border with neighbouring Thailand, offer that picture perfect image of paradise you may have dreamt about endless stretches of fine white sand, clear blue sea and an equally blue sky overhead. Coral, sea turtles, jellyfish and small sharks all call the reef around the islands home, and it is easy to see why so many people both foreign tourists and Malays alike come here to relax.

Perhentian islands. Pic: Gemma Bardsley, Flickr.

Between the two main islands, Perhentian Besar meaning big Perhentian and Perhentian Kecil meaning small Perhentian, and the even smaller, uninhabited islands Susu Dara, Serenggeh and Rawa, this is an area of indisputably outstanding natural beauty that in the most part is well protected thanks to being designed part of the Pulau Redang National Marine Park. This makes littering, fishing and coral collection all illegal. Other than a communications tower on each island, there are no structures with more than two floors, only further adding to the natural beauty of the islands.

So where to stay? Accommodation is generally aimed at budget travellers which is good news for those wanting to keep costs down. There are, though, more and more top end options springing up should you wish to splash out for a more indulgent experience.

Perhentian islands by sunset. Pic: Gemma Bardsley, Flickr.

Flora Bay Resort, on the larger Perhentian Besar island, is set in the middle of the unspoilt white sand beach at Teluk Dalam, with a southern facing position that affords views of Lang Tengah, Redang and other nearby islands there are certainly worse views to wake up to! Rooms are just a few steps from the lapping waves and, like the majority of resorts on the Perhentian Islands in high season, enjoy a twenty four hour electricity supply.

Tuna Bay Resort offers beachfront wooden cabins shaded by coconut palms, some practically within touching distance of the sea and others further back with an equally stunning jungle backdrop. Air conditioning, covered terraces and tasteful bamboo furniture offer additional comfort.

Bubu Resort on Long Beach, on the smaller Perhentian Kecil island, boasts the luxurious Grape Tree Spa, where you can really make the most of your time away on the Perhentians and enjoy indulgent spa treatments from Thai and Swedish massages through to aromatherapy, foot reflexology, cucumber aloe vera face and body wraps and waxing treatments all to the backdrop of the soothing lap of waves on the white coral sand on the beach beside your spa bed. How much bliss can you ask for?

A taxi boat waiting off the Perhentian islands. Pic: Mike Villiger, Flickr.

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Perhentian Islands: Resort round-up

Why China, Japan dispute islands once home to just albatross feathers and fish

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For most of human history, the five rocky islets in the eye of the current diplomatic storm between China and Japan have sat in remote and irrelevant obscurity, lapped by the tropical waters of the East China Sea.

Today, leaders in Beijing are calling the barren islands "China's sacred territory since ancient times," and in Tokyo they're calling them "clearly an inherent territory of Japan."

But for generations of humbler folk on both sides, the islands have meant one thing: fish. The Chinese name for the island group, Diaoyu, means "catch fish." The Japanese name for the largest island, Uotsuri, means "fish catch."

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There may be oil and gas in nearby waters, according to some surveys, making ownership of the islands and their adjacent exclusive economic zone even more attractive.

But all the tiny islands themselves have ever been good for is albatross feathers (for the fashion trade) and a Japanese-owned fish-processing plant that operated for the first 40 years of the past century.

Japan bases its claim to the islands, which it calls the Senkaku, on a cabinet decision in January 1895 whereby because there was no trace of anyone else controlling them they were deemed "terra nullius," nobody else's, and Tokyo incorporated them into its territory.

China disputes that claim, pointing to 15th-century accounts of sea voyages by Chinese envoys and a 17th-century map of China's sea defenses, among other documents, to show that "the Diaoyu islands were first discovered, named, and exploited by the Chinese," in the words of a Foreign Ministry statement.

RELATED What is behind the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute?

Beijing says that Japan seized the islands as it was winning the Sino-Japanese war in 1895, and that they were part of another territory that Japan won in that war, Formosa (now Taiwan). At the end of World War II, Japan was forced to return Formosa to China, and Beijing has argued that it should have handed the Diaoyu/Senkaku over as well. (Taiwan also claims sovereignty over the islands.)

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Why China, Japan dispute islands once home to just albatross feathers and fish

China and Japan face off: Tiny islands, big dispute

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The China and Japan face off over five islands has sunk relations to a 40-year low - the worst since diplomatic relations began. But the sabre rattling is just for show, say analysts.

The Great Hall of the People, the heart of Beijing's ceremonial political life, should have been ringing last month with toasts and speeches to fete the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Japan.

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But the banquet rooms sat silent, the celebrations canceled.

The two neighbors' ancient enmity had ensnared them again, this time in a territorial dispute over a handful of remote islands.

Hotheads on both sides of the East China Sea were calling for war. Even the coolest heads could not rule that prospect out.

"Relations are worse than they have ever been in 40 years," says Liu Jiangyong, a professor of Japanese politics at Tsinghua University in Beijing. "I don't see much chance of a war; but I think Japan is preparing for one, and we should, too."

The possibility of armed conflict between the world's second- and third-largest economies is enough to scare governments around the globe. It is especially alarming to the United States, whose alliance with Japan would draw it into any fighting.

Beijing and Tokyo both claim sovereignty over five islands in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyu in China and as the Senkaku in Japan, which administers them.

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China and Japan face off: Tiny islands, big dispute

GENETICS Journal Highlights for October 2012

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Newswise Bethesda, MDOctober 1, 2012 Listed below are the selected highlights for the October 2012 issue of the Genetics Society of Americas journal, GENETICS. The October issue is available online at http://www.genetics.org/content/current. Please credit GENETICS, Vol. 192, October 2012, Copyright 2012.

Please feel free to forward to colleagues who may be interested in these articles.

ISSUE HIGHLIGHTS

Energy-dependent modulation of glucagon-like signaling in Drosophila via the AMP-activated protein kinase, pp. 457466 Jason T. Braco, Emily L. Gillespie, Gregory E. Alberto, Jay E. Brenman, and Erik C. Johnson How organisms maintain energetic homeostasis is unclear. These authors show that the actions of a known cellular sensor of energythe AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)cause release of a glucagon-like hormone in Drosophila. They further show that AMPK regulates secretion of adipokinetic hormone. This suggests new roles and targets for AMPK and suggests metabolic networks are organized similarly throughout Metazoa.

The relation of codon bias to tissue-specific gene expression in Arabidopsis thaliana, pp. 641649 Salvatore Camiolo, Lorenzo Farina, and Andrea Porceddu This article reports systematic differences in usage of synonymous codons in Arabidopsis thaliana genes whose expression is tissue specific. The authors propose that codon bias evolves as an adaptive response to the different abundances of tRNAs in different tissues. Integrity and function of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae spindle pole body depends on connections between the membrane proteins Ndc1, Rtn1, and Yop1, pp. 441455 Amanda K. Casey, T. Renee Dawson, Jingjing Chen, Jennifer M. Friederichs, Sue L. Jaspersen, and Susan R. Wente Budding yeast face an unusual challenge during cell division: they must segregate their chromosomes while the nuclear envelope remains intact. Consequently, mitosis begins with insertion of the duplicated spindle pole body (a.k.a. centrosome) into the nuclear envelope, a process that parallels the generation of new nuclear pore complexes. These authors report data that suggest new mechanisms for linking nuclear division and transport.

Cellular memory of acquired stress resistance in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pp. 495505 Qiaoning Guan, Suraiya Haroon, Diego Gonzlez Bravo, Jessica L. Will, and Audrey P. Gasch Cells can retain memory of prior experiences that influence future behaviors. Here, the authors show that budding yeast retains a multifaceted memory of prior stress treatment. Cells pretreated with salt retain peroxide tolerance for several generations after removal of the initial stressor. This is due to long-lived catalase, produced during salt treatment and distributed to daughter cells. These cells also display transcriptional memory dependent on the nuclear pore subunit Nup42 that functions to promote reacquisition of stress tolerance in future stress cycles.

Genomic variation in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster, pp. 533598 Charles H. Langley, Kristian Stevens, Charis Cardeno, Yuh Chwen G. Lee, Daniel R. Schrider, John E. Pool, Sasha A. Langley, Charlyn Suarez, Russell B. Corbett-Detig, Bryan Kolaczkowski, Shu Fang, Phillip M. Nista, Alisha K. Holloway, Andrew D. Kern, Colin N. Dewey, Yun S. Song, Matthew W. Hahn, and David J. Begun This article greatly extends studies of population genetic variation in natural populations of Drosophila melanogaster, which have played an important role in the development of evolutionary theory. The authors describe genome sequences of 43 individuals taken from two natural populations of D. melanogaster. The genetic polymorphism, divergence, and copy-number variation revealed in these data are presented at several scales, providing unprecedented insight into forces shaping genome polymorphism and divergence.

Estimating allele age and selection coefficient from time-serial data, pp. 599607 Anna-Sapfo Malaspinas, Orestis Malaspinas, Steven N. Evans, and Montgomery Slatkin The relative importance of the four fundamental processes driving evolutiongenetic drift, natural selection, migration, and mutationremains undetermined. These authors propose a new approach to estimate the selection coefficient and the allele age of time serial data. They apply their methodology to ancient sequences of a horse coat color gene and demonstrate that the causative allele existed as a rare segregating variant prior to domestication. This illuminates the debate on the relative importance of new vs. standing variation in adaptation and domestication. DNA replication origin function is promoted by H3K4 di-methylation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, pp. 371384 Lindsay F. Rizzardi, Elizabeth S. Dorn, Brian D. Strahl, and Jeanette Gowen Cook What defines a DNA replication origin? It is becoming increasingly apparent that post-translational modifications of nucleosomes near replication origins help mark them and control their activity. The genetic analysis presented in this article implicates di-methylated histone H3 lysine 4 (stimulated by histone H2B monoubiquitination) as part of the definition of active replication origins. Since these histone modifications are highly conserved, these findings are relevant to genome organization in other eukaryotes.

Comparative oncogenomics implicates the Neurofibromin 1 gene (NF1) as a breast cancer driver, pp. 385396 Marsha D. Wallace, Adam D. Pfefferle, Lishuang Shen, Adrian J. McNairn, Ethan G. Cerami, Barbara L. Fallon, Vera D. Rinaldi, Teresa L. Southard, Charles M. Perou, and John C. Schimenti This study of a mouse model of genomic instability indicates that NF1 (Neurofibromin 1) deficiency can drive breast cancer. ~ 63,000 people in the United States annually will develop breast cancer with an NF1 deficiency. Together with evidence that NF1 depletion confers resistance of human breast cancer cells to tamoxifen, these findings suggest therapeutic strategies for patients with NF1-deleted tumors.

ABOUT GENETICS: Since 1916, GENETICS (http://www.genetics.org/) has covered high quality, original research on a range of topics bearing on inheritance, including population and evolutionary genetics, complex traits, developmental and behavioral genetics, cellular genetics, gene expression, genome integrity and transmission, and genome and systems biology. GENETICS, a peer-reviewed, peer-edited journal of the Genetics Society of America is one of the world's most cited journals in genetics and heredity.

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GENETICS Journal Highlights for October 2012

Report: Overhaul offers key insurer growth chance

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The health care overhaul is poised to pour billions of dollars into an insurance industry thirsty for customers, according to health care consultant PwC.

The massive federal law aims to cover millions of uninsured people and will take a major step toward that goal in 2014, when the government starts offering tax credits to help many Americans buy coverage through online exchanges. Those exchanges will act as virtual marketplaces for customers to comparison shop for the right coverage.

PwC estimated in a report released Tuesday that 12 million people will find coverage on these exchanges in 2014 and pay a total of $55 billion in premiums for coverage. It projects that those totals could rise to 29 million people and $205 billion in premiums by 2021.

PwC says most of this money will be new, but some will represent premiums shifted from other parts of the insurance market. For instance, the total may include people who had coverage through their employer but switched to buying a policy on the exchange.

The actual numbers also will depend on how many states decide to expand Medicaid coverage like the overhaul requires. Medicaid is the state and federally funded program that provides coverage for the needy and disabled. The Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that individual states could opt out of this expansion.

Nevertheless, the exchanges and the subsidies will present a "huge market opportunity in health care," said Ceci Connolly, managing director of PwC Health Research Institute.

Private health insurance offered by companies like UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Aetna Inc. is the main form of coverage for people under 65 in the United States. Insurers have struggled in recent years to increase their enrollment as companies clamped down on hiring or cut jobs and reduced the number of people covered by their plans.

The overhaul's exchanges will open the market to customers who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private coverage.

"These are the people who've been crowded out of the insurance market through the relentless drive to increase premium and pass along higher cost of health care to the consumer," said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst who covers health insurers for CRT Capital group. She wasn't involved with the PwC study.

The overhaul will tax health insurers, and it restricts how they set up their coverage. But it also provides what Skolnick called "the last great frontier for health plans to add membership."

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Report: Overhaul offers key insurer growth chance

Would Sears’ Health-Care Approach Work for Your Business?

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Call it coverage without the middle man. Last week, two major companies announced plans to shift their health-care model, giving more control to employees.

Sears and Darden Restaurants Inc. plan to implement a new way of providing benefits to workersgiving them a flat sum of money and allowing them to choose their coverage and insurer from an online marketplace, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Journal reported Darden claims employees will have the same contribution out-of-pocket that they currently have for the same level of coverage, and those who choose more coverage will have to up their own payments to cover the difference. The same goes for those who choose less coveragetheir out-of-pocket costs will drop. The plans are still considered employer-sponsored, rather than individual coverage.

But would the flat-rate model ever work for small businesses?

This model would be efficient for small employers depending on how they are attempting to compete in the job market, according to Gary Kushner, president of Kushner & Company. Benefits are obviously a competitive advantage, especially at a smaller company. However, he said, under Obamacare there is no penalty for not offering coverage for businesses with fewer than 50 workers.

Offering workers a flat amount to go shop in an online exchange may work best for a company like Sears or Darden, with many part-time workers, because they are not necessarily looking for lifers.

"Lets say I am a McDonald's franchisee. I am going to hire all sorts of people, training takes a short period of time, and I don't need to provide expensive benefits to attract and retain. Having that defined contribution may make financial sense for different employers, where the overall HR strategy is not about pursuing lifetime career employees, he said.

Diane Pfadenhauer, president of EPA Advisors, said that while it is unclear how employers will handle the changes that will occur under Obamacare, one thing is sure-- they will do whatever is cheapest. If that means offering plans via Web exchanges until the state-sponsored exchanges kick in for small companies in 2014, its a potential solution.

"Employers are more inclined, as the cost of health care goes up every year, to pass that cost along to their employees," Pfadenhauer said.

However, large companies like Sears have more buying power when approaching insurance companies. They will be receiving better rates than smaller companies without a doubt, she said.

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Would Sears’ Health-Care Approach Work for Your Business?

The Flaws That Will Bring Down Obama’s Health-Care Plan

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The debate over President Barack Obamas health-care law has taken another twist. Now conservatives and libertarians are defending it, while the administration tries to toss part of the legislation out.

The reason for this role reversal is that the drafters of the law outsmarted themselves and handed their opponents a weapon. Now they would like to pretend the law doesnt say what it does.

Obamas plan makes tax credits available to people who get health insurance from exchanges set up by state governments. If states dont establish those exchanges, the federal government will do so for them. The federal exchanges, however, dont come with tax credits: The law authorizes credits only for people who get insurance from state-established exchanges. And that creates some problems the administration didnt foresee, and now hopes to wish away.

Legislative debate over the law didnt go into great detail about these provisions. We can surmise what happened, though. Supporters of the legislation wanted to encourage states to set up the exchanges. So they offered the states a deal: If they did so, they would get to write their own rules, and their citizens would be able to get the tax credit. The states would also gain extra flexibility on Medicaid spending. The laws supporters also expected the health-care law to become more popular over time.

That hasnt happened. Many states are determined in their opposition, and few of them have set up exchanges. If they dont do so, the tax credits dont go into effect and the federally established exchanges wont work: People wont be able to afford the insurance available on them without the subsidy.

States have another incentive to refrain from setting up exchanges under the health-care law: It protects companies and individuals in the state from tax increases. The law introduces penalties of as much as $3,000 per employee for firms that dont provide insurance -- but only if an employee is getting coverage with the help of a tax credit. No state exchanges means no tax credits and thus no employer penalties. The law also notoriously penalizes many people for not buying insurance. In some cases, being eligible for a tax credit and still not buying insurance subjects you to the penalty. So, again, no state exchange means no tax credit and thus fewer people hit by the penalty.

The administrations response to the impending failure of its signature legislation -- a failure resulting entirely from its flawed design -- has been to ignore the inconvenient portion of the law. In May, the Internal Revenue Service decided it would issue tax credits to people who get insurance from exchanges established by the federal government. It has thus exposed firms and individuals to taxes and penalties without any legal authorization. Obviously, that situation sets the stage for lawsuits.

The plaintiffs will have a strong case. Jonathan Adler and Michael Cannon -- two libertarians, the first a law professor at Case Western Reserve University and the second a health-care analyst at the Cato Institute -- have done more than anyone to bring attention to this issue. They point out that every health bill advanced by Senate Democrats clearly made tax credits conditional on states establishment of exchanges. They have also uncovered that during the debate over the bill, Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, explicitly said the same thing.

Supporters of the health-care law may be tempted to dismiss the challenge to the IRS. That would be to repeat a mistake. They were contemptuous of the constitutional case against the law, too. Timothy Jost, a Washington and Lee University law professor, even wrote that the attorneys who brought the suits should face professional sanctions for filing frivolous cases. In the end, the Supreme Court sided with the plaintiffs on their constitutional claims, in one case by a 7-2 margin, upholding the law only by removing parts of it.

There will be many more court battles over the health- care law, because it involves so many legally dubious expansions of bureaucratic power. In addition to the IRS move, there are lawsuits against the administrations ruling that almost all employers must provide coverage for contraception and sterilization, a decision that conflicts with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The law also creates a board of experts to control health-care costs, a move that is sure to bring legal action on separation-of- powers grounds.

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The Flaws That Will Bring Down Obama’s Health-Care Plan

Inmate family speaks about health care problems

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PHOENIX (CBS5) -

Some serious concerns have surfaced recently about the healthcare of Arizona's inmates.

Monday the company that the Arizona Department of Corrections contracted to care for inmates issued a statement about the claims.

Allegations surfaced nearly two weeks ago when the Arizona Department of Corrections said some of the inmates are not getting their medication, are being exposed to hepatitis C and said one even committed suicide. According to the DOC, it all happened under the watch of Wexford Health Sources.

Wexford Health Sources was contracted by the DOC in July to care for the inmates.

"I understand they are in there because they did something to get in there, but that's no reason to decline them healthcare," said Freddie Bowman.

Bowman said her son has been in the Florence Prison since 2005 and has had a recent incident where he did not get the treatment he needed.

"He had little white blisters from the strep throat all in there and he couldn't eat," she said.

Bowman said it was days before her son got care and by then the doctor "diagnosed him with having a high fever and very sick," she said.

Another family member of an inmate, Ana Hebner, had a similar story.

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Inmate family speaks about health care problems

Thousands Will Learn, Experience Why Health Care is Personal at the 2012 Cerner Health Conference

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KANSAS CITY, Mo., Oct. 2, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cerner (CERN) will host more than 10,000 people in Kansas City for the 27th annual Cerner Health Conference (CHC). Clients, partners and associates representing 21 different countries, will gather to learn about key issues affecting health care, collaborate with peers and gain hands-on experience with innovative health care solutions and services. The conference begins on Oct. 6 and runs through Oct. 10.

The 2012 theme, Because it's personal, speaks to all of the experiences we have in health care - as providers, parents, spouses, suppliers, researchers and individuals. Cerner, our clients and our partners want to make the system better, safer and more efficient for our families, our community and ourselves.

Cerner clients will lead the majority of the more than 240 diverse education sessions, providing more than 750 available continuing education credits. CHC 2012 will also offer seven in-depth sessions highlighting some of the health care industry's most debated issues, such as population health, quality outcomes and health care reform.

CHC 2012 General Session Speakers

Stay Connected at CHC 2012

About Cerner

Cerner is contributing to the systemic change of health and care delivery. For more than 30 years Cerner has been executing its vision to make health care safer and more efficient. We started with the foundation of digitizing paper processes and now offer the most comprehensive array of information software, professional services, medical device integration, remote hosting and employer health and wellness services. Cerner systems are used by everyone from individual consumers, to single-doctor practices, hospitals, employers and entire countries. Taking what we've learned over more than three decades, Cerner is building on the knowledge that is in the system to support evidence-based clinical decisions, prevent medical errors and empower patients in their care.

Cerner(R) solutions are licensed by approximately 9,300 facilities around the world, including more than 2,650 hospitals; 3,750 physician practices covering more than 40,000 physicians; 500 ambulatory facilities, such as laboratories, ambulatory centers, cardiac facilities, radiology clinics and surgery centers; 800 home health facilities; 40 employer sites and 1,600 retail pharmacies.

Certain trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the "Marks") set forth herein are owned by Cerner Corporation and/or its subsidiaries in the United States and certain other countries throughout the world. All other non-Cerner Marks are the property of their respective owners. Nasdaq: CERN. For more information about Cerner, please visit http://www.cerner.com, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

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Thousands Will Learn, Experience Why Health Care is Personal at the 2012 Cerner Health Conference

Gazzang Launches zNcrypt for Health Care™, Providing Endpoint Security for Vulnerable Patient Data

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

More than 70 percent of reported health care breaches totaling 15.6 million health records are due to lost, stolen or improperly disposed devices1, a staggering fact as more medical organizations embrace the efficiencies of mobile computing. Unprotected regulatory data left on servers, notebooks, USB drives, tablets and smart phones can lead to millions in fines and permanently damage a health care providers reputation.

Today Gazzang announced zNcrypt for Health Care, a data encryption and key management solution that secures electronic protected health information (ePHI) and enables hospitals, clinics, insurance providers and other organizations that handle sensitive patient data to maintain HIPAA compliance.

We are pulling in mountains of survey data from patients, doctors and other hospitals, as well as internal data including patient ID numbers and in some cases DICOM files, all used to enhance patient care, said Michael Hess, senior technologist, University of Michigan. While only some of this data falls under HIPAA regulations, weve taken security a step further, making it a best practice to encrypt all our data at rest. Gazzang zNcrypt makes this easy, delivering an amazing amount of flexibility and performance right out of the box.

Gazzang zNcrypt for Health Care protects ePHI by transparently encrypting and securing data written to disk. Because the data is encrypted at the file system level, organizations do not have to modify their databases or applications and data performance and availability are maintained.The solution includes robust key management and process-based access controls that store the keys separate from the encrypted data and prevent unauthorized access. Gazzang zNcrypt can be deployed either in the cloud or on-premises.

Stories about hacking collectives and social engineering command most of the headlines, but when it comes to data breaches in the health care industry, the majority of cases involving data loss and non-compliance are due to lost or stolen of hardware, said David Tishgart, director of product marketing at Gazzang. Data encryption and advanced key management render a compromised disk useless to a data thief, because the information is indecipherable. Encryption also provides health care organizations with 'safe harbor,' protecting them from the expensive and often embarrassing disclosure required under the HITECH Act.

Gazzang is hosting a webinar with the University of Michigan on Oct. 11, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. ET. Click Securing Sensitive Patient Data to register.

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About Gazzang

Gazzang provides data security solutions and operational diagnostics that help enterprises protect sensitive information and maintain performance in cloud environments. The company has over 200 customers across multiple industries including SaaS providers, financial services, technology, health care and public sector organizations. Gazzang is backed by Austin Ventures and Silver Creek Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.gazzang.com.

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Gazzang Launches zNcrypt for Health Care™, Providing Endpoint Security for Vulnerable Patient Data

Health-Care Costs Keep 1 in 3 Americans From the Doctor

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By Shannon Pettypiece - 2012-10-02T12:19:32Z

Health-care costs are keeping patients away from the doctor with about 1 in 3 Americans saying they put off a medical treatment or regular checkup because of the expense.

Medical costs were the most important factor in making a health-care decision for 27 percent of people, outweighing advice from their physician, according to a survey of 800 people by New York-based Hill & Knowlton Strategies. The results were released today at the Bloomberg Healthcare Innovations Conference in New York.

The price of insurance premiums have risen 97 percent since 2002 with families now contributing about $4,300 a year to employee-sponsored health plans, according to a report last month by the Commonwealth Fund. Still, most Americans said they arent willing to cut back on choice to save money and dont want companies to scale back innovation to keep costs down.

What the public needs and what it ultimately values - and will pay for -- are not always the same thing, said Susan Thiele, U.S. health-care practice director at Hill & Knowlton. In this environment, its critical to understand shifting public opinion so that new advances are developed and positioned in a way thats meaningful to consumers.

In the survey, 45 percent of people said they worried a lot about paying medical bills in the event of a catastrophic illness or accident, and 36 percent said they are very concerned with paying for health-insurance coverage. When asked what the biggest problem facing health care in the U.S. was, 53 percent said cost.

Most respondents werent concerned about having access to the latest and most cutting-edge treatments. Instead, they said they would rather see companies come up with innovative ways to lower costs rather than finding new medicines or cures.

Of those surveyed, 85 percent had public or private health insurance and 11 percent were temporarily unemployed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Shannon Pettypiece in New York at spettypiece@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net

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Health-Care Costs Keep 1 in 3 Americans From the Doctor

Health-Care Gain Defies $11 Billion Medicare Threat: Muni Credit

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By Brian Chappatta - 2012-10-02T04:01:00Z

Municipal bonds sold by hospitals and health-care providers are rallying the most since 2009, defying a potential $11 billion drop in Medicare funding from federal budget cuts that loom in three months.

Health-care bonds have gained 9.5 percent this year and hospital debt 9.1 percent, making them the best-performing revenue securities, Standard & Poors indexes show. The segments are beating the broader $3.7 trillion muni market by the most in three years.

The rally is poised to continue as Federal Reserve efforts to hold down interest rates spur investors to add relatively risky, higher-yielding assets. Hospital and health-care debt has an average S&P rating of A-, seventh-highest. At the same time, some bondholders are betting President Barack Obamas health- care law will limit hospitals unpaid bills.

Health care still tends to have more yield than its similarly rated counterparts, said Paul Brennan, a senior portfolio manager in Chicago at Nuveen Asset Management, which oversees about $90 billion in munis. Investors may continue to look to lower-rated bonds for yield, which is what the Fed is trying to get the market to do.

Health-related bonds have benefited from the biggest rally in four years in high-yield munis. The difference in interest rates between securities with a BBB grade, two steps above junk, and AAA securities narrowed to 1.1 percentage points in August, the smallest since 2008, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Investors are adding the debt to boost returns with muni yields rates near the lowest in a generation.

The U.S. central bank said last month that it would hold its target interest rate near zero through mid-2015 as it attempts to stimulate the economy.

The Fed is a formidable opponent and its rippling through everything, said Patrick Morrissey, who helps oversee about $2.2 billion in fixed income at Great Lakes Advisors in Chicago. Were forced into what could be perceived as riskier sectors.

Even with this years gains, health and hospital yields are higher than any other type of revenue debt, except bonds sold by local agencies for corporate borrowers or industrial projects.

The 2.95 percent interest rate on 10-year health-care bonds rated AA compares with 2.22 percent on similarly rated general- obligations, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

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Health-Care Gain Defies $11 Billion Medicare Threat: Muni Credit

Henry Schein Raises Awareness Of The Importance Of Early Detection Of Breast Cancer And Supports The American Cancer …

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MELVILLE, N.Y., Oct. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC), the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners, is honoring National Breast Cancer Awareness Month by raising awareness of the importance of early detection through the Company's seventh annual 'Think Pink, Practice Pink' program, in partnership with the American Cancer Society (the "Society").

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20121002/NY84567)

Through the 'Think Pink, Practice Pink' program, Henry Schein offers a wide selection of "pink products" ranging from health care consumables and practice supplies to apparel and gift items to its Dental, Dental Laboratory, Medical, and Special Markets customers. Through the end of December, a portion of the sales of these special products will be donated to the Society through the Henry Schein Cares Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that supports and promotes dental, medical, and animal health by helping to increase access to care globally. Over the past seven years, Henry Schein's 'Think Pink, Practice Pink' program has raised more than $500,000 for cancer care.

"Our 'Think Pink, Practice Pink' program exemplifies Henry Schein's unique model of social responsibility, through which we create opportunities for our Team Schein Members, supplier partners, and customers to participate in a shared effort to 'help health happen,'" said Stanley M. Bergman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Henry Schein, Inc. "Working together, we can exponentially enhance the impact that any one of us could have alone."

Henry Schein provides free health and disease screenings for Team Schein Members throughout the year, including mammograms, as part of Henry Schein's wellness and prevention program. Every year, there have been a number of Team Schein Members who have had diseases or conditions discovered as a result of these screenings.

"Early detection followed by prompt treatment saves lives. It is that simple," said Mr. Bergman. "We are proud to partner with the American Cancer Society to raise awareness and support individuals undergoing treatment, and proud to provide health screenings to our own team, underscoring our deep belief in the importance of wellness and prevention, a fundamental pillar of Henry Schein Cares, our global corporate social responsibility program."

Through 'Think Pink, Practice Pink,' Henry Schein helps the Society raise awareness of breast cancer and other cancers, and supports care provided through Hope Lodge. Hope Lodge is a network of free temporary housing services throughout the country where cancer patients and their loved ones are given a comfortable and supportive place to stay during their treatment and are provided with information to help them make decisions about disease treatment. The Henry Schein Cares Foundation dedicated the Henry Schein Cares Welcome Center at the American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Jerome L. Greene Family Center in New York City in 2010.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, during which the Society and many national public service organizations, professional associations, and government agencies spread the message that early detection of breast cancer followed by prompt treatment saves lives. As part of the 'Think Pink, Practice Pink' program, Team Schein Members will celebrate National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a number of activities at Henry Schein's world headquarters in Melville, N.Y. Team Schein Members will wear pink on October 11, and be provided with essential information about breast cancer detection. Team Schein Members also contribute their own funds on October 11, to be donated to the Society.

About Henry Schein, Inc.Henry Schein, Inc. (HSIC) is the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, medical and animal health practitioners. The Company also serves dental laboratories, government and institutional health care clinics, and other alternate care sites. A FORTUNE 500 Company and a member of the NASDAQ 100 Index, Henry Schein employs more than 15,000 Team Schein Members and serves approximately 775,000 customers.

The Company offers a comprehensive selection of products and services, including value-added solutions for operating efficient practices and delivering high-quality care. Henry Schein operates through a centralized and automated distribution network, with a selection of more than 90,000 national and Henry Schein private-brand products in stock, as well as more than 100,000 additional products available as special-order items. The Company also offers its customers exclusive, innovative technology solutions, including practice management software and e-commerce solutions, as well as a broad range of financial services.

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Henry Schein Raises Awareness Of The Importance Of Early Detection Of Breast Cancer And Supports The American Cancer ...

Power of the Dream Ventures Acquires Genetic Immunity

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BUDAPEST, HUNGARY--(Marketwire - Sep 28, 2012) - Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. ( OTCBB : PWRV ) is pleased to announce the acquisition of Genetic Immunity, Inc., a Phase III clinical stage biotechnology company with experimental nanomedicines that will lead to the next generation of immunotherapies, in a market that is projected to reach $11.00 billion by 2018.

Genetic Immunity's lead product candidate is an immune boosting drug for HIV, which is now only treated by antiretroviral drugs that decrease the ability of the immune system to fight with the virus. DermaVir HIV-specific Immunotherapy is the first of a new line of curative nanomedicine products developed for the treatment and eradication of HIV. In addition, Genetic Immunity has implemented a Predictive Genomic Biomarker as companion diagnostics to accurately predict potential responder patients to DermaVir treatment. Such innovations towards personalized medicine increase the treatment effect and reduce the cost of pivotal trials in full compliance with the FDA's initiatives to improve products for patients (Driving Biomedical Innovation, 2011). In addition, following a successful DermaVir trial on HIV-infected adults, the US government is sponsoring a Phase II pediatric clinical trial.

DermaVir is the first therapeutic vaccine that consistently boosts broadly directed central memory T-cells in human subjects. This immune response has been correlated with containment of viremia in Elite Controllers. The Phase II randomized, multicenter, placebo controlled trial conducted in Germany established the optimal DermaVir dose and provided data that demonstrates the killing of HIV-infected cells. Therefore, the eradication of HIV or the conversion of progressors to Elite Controllers via DermaVir immunization became a testable hypothesis.

"This acquisition milestone is the result of our collaboration for a common goal to sell stock in Genetic Immunity to the public. The acquisition of a private company by a public one corresponds to a novel IPO, and offers tremendous upside potential for all the shareholders of Genetic Immunity and PWRV. Starting today, financial market participants will have an opportunity to determine the price of our business. We are eager, because comparable technology companies trade at over half a billion dollar valuation. On a more personal note, I believe that Genetic Immunity's platform technology is a once in a lifetime opportunity. For the first time we are truly in reach of eradicating a highly infectious disease. We are proud to be a part of the process whereby the innovations presented by Genetic Immunity can become publicly available," commented Viktor Rozsnyay, CEO of Power of the Dream Ventures.

"Through this highly innovative financial transaction, Genetic Immunity achieves its corporate objective to become a publicly traded company and to retain the control over the business. The financial and technological synergy between the two Companies provides for substantial growth opportunity and high return on investment to our shareholders," said Dr. Julianna Lisziewicz, CEO of Genetic Immunity.

With the acquisition Genetic Immunity becomes a 100% wholly owned subsidiary of Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc.

About PDV Power of the Dream Ventures, Inc. is a leading technology holding company. We identify and harness the unique technological prowess of Hungary's high-tech industry, turning promising ideas and ready to market products/technologies into global industry leaders. We focus on developing, acquiring, or co-developing technologies that originate exclusively in Hungary. For more information, please visit http://www.powerofthedream.com

About Genetic Immunity Genetic Immunity is a clinical stage technology company committed to discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing a new class of immunotherapeutic biologic drugs for the treatment of viral infections, cancer and allergies. The Company's two distinguished technology platforms will revolutionize the treatment of these chronic diseases. Our Langerhans' cell targeting nanomedicines are exceptional in both safety and immune modulating activity boosting specific Th1-type central memory T cells. Such immune responses differ from antibodies induced by vaccines. These are essential to eliminate infected cells or cancerous cells, and balance the immune reactivity in response to allergens. Our IT team generated a complex algorithm to match the mechanism of action of our drugs with clinical efficacy. In the future, we will predict the clinical and immunological benefits of our drugs based on the patient's disease and genomic background. The unique mixture of our technologies represents the next generation of personalized but not individualized medicines ensuring a longer and higher economic return.

Genetic Immunity's primary focus is the development of DermaVir that acts to boost the immune system of HIV-infected people to eliminate infected cells that remain in the reservoirs after successful antiretroviral treatment. Three clinical trials conducted in the EU and US showed that DermaVir immunizations were as safe as placebo and only four sequential patch treatments required to reduce the HIV infected cells in the blood within 24 weeks.

In 1988 Drs. Lisziewicz and Lori founded Genetic Immunity in the US after they described the 1st patient whose immune system was boosted to control HIV after treatment interruption (Lisziewicz et al. New England Journal of Medicine 1999) that lead to the invention of DermaVir. The Company's innovative technology team directed by Dr. Lisziewicz, a champion of immune busting therapies, is now headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. For more information please visit http://www.geneticimmunity.com

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Power of the Dream Ventures Acquires Genetic Immunity