Most actively traded companies on the TSX
Some of the most active companies traded Friday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:Toronto Stock Exchange (16,561.12, down 6.30 points)Hydro One Ltd. Instalment Receipts (TSX:H.IR). Utilities. Down 73 cents, or 2.98 per cent, to $23.77 on 6.7 million shares.Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB). Healthcare. Down 31 cents, or 3.47 per cent, to $8.62 on 6.2 million shares.UrtheCast Corp. (TSX:UR). Online media. Up nine cents, or 39.13 per cent, to 32 cents on 5.4 million shares.Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Aerospace, rail equipment. Up one cent, or 0.19 per cent, to $5.41 on 4.7 million shares.Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE). Oil and gas. Down nine cents, or 0.64 per cent, to $13.91 on 3.9 million shares.Canopy Growth Corp. (TSX:WEED). Healthcare. Down $1.08, or 2.78 per cent, to $37.77 on 3.5 million shares.Companies reporting major news:Callidus Capital Corp. (TSX:CBL). Financial Services. Down $1.51, or 28.60 per cent, to $3.77 on 301,570 shares. The company, which specializes in financing for companies that are unable to obtain loans from conventional lenders, eliminated its dividend to shareholders to help fund loan growth.
ALL MAJOR POWER faults have been cleared with only small pockets of outages remaining after yesterday’s storm.At the peak of the disruption 25,000 homes and business were without power but the ESB have said that they expect operations to be back to normal by this evening.Some parts of Donegal, however, where there has been significant disruption, may take longer to be repaired.The ESB say that conditions in Donegal’s coastal areas such as Dungloe and Arranmore remain “challenging” which will cause delays.Faults in the midlands and south will be restored by this afternoon while in the Ennis area, which has been hit with a lot of low voltage faults, it is expected that power will be restored by tea-time.ESB say they now have the restoration process “under control with few new faults emerging”.Customer service manager Mike Fitzgerald apologised for the service interruptions:Though a rural network, like Ireland’s, is vulnerable to severe weathers, ESB Networks is continually working to reduce customer interruptions. Customers who are still without supply can be assured that we are doing everything possible to get it restored.Met Éireann are advising people that weather warnings are still in place but are less serious than yesterday. Winds are expected to strengthen tomorrow and reach average speeds of between 65km/h and 80 km/h, gusting up to 110km/h to 130km/h per hour.The Road Safety Authority is repeating its advice to motorists to be extra vigilant for falling branches and other dangers arising from the severe weather.Read: Weather warning downgraded – but 110km/h winds expected >Read: What’s the severe ‘red alert’ weather like where you are? >
Minister Coveney @simoncoveney & Ambassador Kelly @jimkelly2006 light @NiagaraFalls green, leading up to #StPatricksDay #GlobalGreening pic.twitter.com/hkQ2NsGpbJ— Tourism Ireland (@GoToIrelandCA) March 12, 2017 To celebrate St Patrick’s Day, there will be parades in Ottawa, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.Read: Online voting could be introduced as part of Irish diaspora voteRead: ‘Sinn Féin’s approach is ridiculous’: Fianna Fáil is planning for a united Ireland Monday 13 Mar 2017, 2:55 PM Getting ready for a performance after the parade in Ottawa @IrlEmbCanada pic.twitter.com/yeHIDGx3My— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) March 11, 2017 Source: Simon Coveney/Twitter 13 Comments By Gráinne Ní Aodha Source: Tourism Ireland/Twitter This is just one of over 200 famous landmarks and iconic sites which will go green this week, as part of Tourism Ireland’s annual Global Greening initiative.4.5 million Canadians claim Irish heritage, with seven million people in Canada recorded as immigrants. http://jrnl.ie/3284841 17,568 Views Visiting Ireland Park famine memorial, Eireann Quay Toronto w/ Min @simoncoveney & Robert Kearns @IrelandParkTO pic.twitter.com/U43Oy5cW8Q— Jim Kelly (@jimkelly2006) March 12, 2017 NIAGARA FALLS WENT green last night to prepare for St Patrick’s Day this Friday.Housing minister Simon Coveney is in Canada at the moment as part of the ‘Promote Ireland’ programme around St Patrick’s Day – helping to grow tourism to Ireland.And to welcome him, Canadian authorities turned the giant waterfall green – as is expected by the Irish community. Niagara Falls went green last night Over 200 iconic sites will ‘go green’ this weekend to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Share Tweet Email1 Source: Jim Kelly/Twitter Mar 13th 2017, 2:55 PM Short URL Tweet thisShare on FacebookEmail this article
Esposito says Hachette also is looking to expand the systems’ capabilities into areas like digital image tagging and ingestion, as well as classified advertising management. “There are more ways to get content into our DAM in a more usable, quicker way,” he says. Production 2.0Implementing the SendMyAd ad portal with the DALiM TWiST workflow engine was only one part of an expansive effort to overhaul Hachette’s entire production operation. Starting in the second half of 2008, Hachette stopped generating analog proofs and went to a virtual proofing system for all of its magazines, and either eliminated or moved several processes in-house, and outsourced others.“Once you’re on virtual proofing, you can decide what functions take place internally that can be automated, like paging—converting the page to a PDF file, and decide what doesn’t belong internal, like the labor-intensive creative parts that can be done offshore, which is what we’re doing,” says Esposito. “You’re doing two things there: You’re taking advantage of low-cost labor rates for certain functions and taking advantage of time differences. When we leave work, our people in Shanghai are just starting their day. When we send them files at the end of the day we’ll have them first thing the following morning. We’re saving time and money.”It also allowed a more dynamic workflow. “The biggest change was migration from the static handover of production tasks to our prepress vendors to a dynamic and fully-controlled production workflow environment,” says Robert Fenikowski, Hachette’s premedia manager. Fenikowski oversees premedia at Elle, Elle Decor, Cycle World, Car and Driver, Road & Track, and Women’s Day and its special publications. “Before, we had defined production stages and workflows; art direction, editorial, color approvals, output, prepress, revisions, final approval and transmit. That was inefficient and vulnerable to process fluctuations.”One of the key components of making those kinds of changes, according to Esposito, is to create a core standardized operation plan that’s flexible from magazine-to-magazine. “Our department became the central production hub with consolidated workflow procedures to service all needs of our magazine departments, regardless of location, time zone or final product,” says Fenikowski. “We put together new procedures for our editorial and art departments. Art directors interact directly with our vendors on image and color approval. We created ‘virtual color shows’ using Web cameras and ICS Remote Director. This way, our art directors can better articulate what they need and have support from color specialists.”Fenikowski says Hachette took advantage of certain automation features in its layout programs, like auto page numbering in inDesign, page section definitions and scripting the entire file generation process. “That allows us to preflight and normalize files for naming convention, file integrity and save time by correcting files, before delivering them to the workflow,” he says.Esposito declined to say exactly how much but says Hachette’s prepress costs are down “well more” than 50 percent as a result of the streamlining so far. That includes a significant reduction in headcount associated with the restructuring but Esposito declined to say how many production positions were eliminated.And BeyondAnother key is strategically sourcing processes across platforms. “InDesign, for example, especially the CS4, is capable of delivering multiple platform content,” Esposito says. “You can use it deliver mobile content, for Web sites and for print. If that becomes an environment where that’s a hub, you can begin to shift functions around. Figure out how to use the tool collectively and how that changes job functions.”Cycle World recently launched a mobile application that took six weeks to develop. “It was done collectively with print and Web involved,” Esposito says. “Our production manager developed a workflow plan and we stayed on time and made it happen. We couldn’t have done that in such a short amount of time before.”Esposito says Hachette is working toward standardizing the roles between production, editorial and art teams across its magazines. “It’s the next level of efficiencies,” he says. ”A lot of the structures in place now were built in the early 1990’s when organizations were adopting desktop publishing technologies. The technological capabilities available today offer many opportunities to displace functions and re-engineer the process to achieve very high levels of productivity.” As part of a major effort to revamp its operations, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. decided to bring advertising management in-house and in March implemented the SendMyAd ad portal, supported by a DALiM TWiST workflow engine. Hachette rolled out the systems—integrated by digital prepress company Blanchard Systems—to advertisers in April. Since then, the publisher says it has realized a 30 percent increase in production efficiency.“We were working with a number of other vendors to develop an ad portal that we were using internally for about a year, that we didn’t want to roll out until we knew which way the industry was going or cause confusion for our advertisers,” says Michael Esposito, Hachette’s vice president of operations. “We saw that SendMyAd was really building market share and liked the features and thought it was easy to use.”The systems allow Hachette to accept ads digitally online. SendMyAd delivers ads within Hachette’s required specifications while the DALiM TWiST production automation system serves as the workflow engine. Partial page ads are placed in an editorial page and converted to PDF X1/a files for final production.“There’s less redundancy with this automation,” Esposito says. “We’re getting content into the company in a way that’s closer to our specs, which nearly eliminates the need to go back to the advertiser.”
Nayanthara and Aishwarya Rai.PR HandoutMani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan seems to be getting bigger and better! After roping in a couple of big names from Kollywood and from Bollywood that include Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, the director is rumoured to have approached none other than Lady Superstar Nayanthara.Grapevine has it that Nayanthara has been offered an all-important role in Ponniyin Selvan. If the rumours have to be believed, Mani Ratnam has approached her for the character of Poonguzhali, wife of Madhurandhaka Uthama Chozha.She is a courageous woman and her character brings a lot of twists and turns to the storyline. Apart from her, the cast comprises of Amitabh Bachchan (Sundara Chozhar), Aishwarya Rai Bachchan (Nandhini), Jayam Ravi (Arulmozhi Varman), Keerthy Suresh (Kunthavai Naachiyaar), Chiyaan Vikram (Aditya Karikaalan) and Karthi (Vanthiya Devan).Ponniyin Selvan is based on the historical novel penned by Kalki Krishnamurthy. It is widely considered as one of the greatest novels written in Tamil.Mani Ratnam had set his eyes long ago and was supposed to start a few years ago. Indeed, he had signed Mahesh Babu, Vijay and many other leading names from South India. But the movie was put on hold due to budget constraints.With the Baahubali series showing the potential of the pan-Indian market, the director seems like decided to revive his long-pending project with a fresh cast.Lyca Productions, which funded Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar’s magnum opus 2.0, is producing the Tamil flick.
Brazil’s biggest diversified steelmaker Cia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) said on Monday it signed a deal giving it a consolidated 87.52% stake in a new joint venture, Congonhas Minerios SA, with a group of Asian partners.Partners including Japan’s Itochu, Nisshin Steel Co Ltd, JFE Steel Corp and Kobe Steel Ltd, as well as South Korea’s Posco Ltd and Taiwan’s China Steel Corp will hold a combined 12.48% stake in Congonhas.Congonhas combines CSN’s Casa de Pedra iron ore mine with Namisa, another joint venture between CSN and Asian steelmakers. The stakes were calculated on the venture’s estimated value of $16 billion and debt of $850 million, which had been on CSN’s balance sheet.The project is seen as a way to ease tensions among partners in Namisa, in which CSN has failed to fulfil a multiyear expansion plan. The new deal would free CSN from paying a $3 billion penalty to its Asian partners and reduce the debt on its balance sheet.Congonhas also includes logistic assets, including the Tecar terminal at the Itaguai port in Rio de Janeiro and an 18.63% stake in the railway line MRS Logistica, which CSN now holds. It will also have a 40-year supply contract to sell iron ore to CSN and the Asian partners. CSN also secured a long-term contract to import raw materials through Tecar.
.Bangla daily Prothom Alo has re-launched its epaper version after around six months.The readers, however, would have to pay subscription fee for the popular service, according to Prothom Alo authorities.Anyone can subscribe the epaper in following link https://epaper.prothomalo.com/ and read all the six editions (Nagar, Chattogram, South, North, Sylhet and Mymensingh editions).The subscription fee is Tk 50 for one month ($1 abroad), Tk 250 for six months ($5 abroad), Tk 400 for one year ($8 abroad).The readers can pay the amount through mobile banking, Visa card, debit or credit card or Master card. However, those who subscribe in July will be able to read all the six editions free for the current month.As the widely-circulated newspaper, Prothom Alo has always been working to keep the readers’ demand in mind the daily initiated its e-paper version.The service was, however, shut down in January this year. But the Prothom Alo authorities have taken the decision of re-launching the version considering readers’ interest.The Prothom Alo authorities said, more services would be added in the epaper version in the future. Readers can contact through this email epaper@prothom-alo.info or following number +8801708411997 for any queries regarding the Prothom Alo epaper.
In this 2 September 2015 photo, a rig is seen in the Tamar natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of Israel. The discovery of natural gas fields off its Mediterranean coast has provided Israel a geopolitical boost with its neighbors. It’s tightened relations with Arab allies and built new bridges in a historically hostile region—even without significant progress being made toward peace with the Palestinians. Photo: APA decade after discovering natural gas fields off its Mediterranean coast, Israel is starting to feel the geopolitical boost.Its newfound riches have fostered economic bonds with its neighbors, tightening relations with Arab allies, and built new bridges in a historically hostile region — even without significant progress being made toward peace with the Palestinians.Last week’s inclusion of Israel into the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Forum in Cairo — a consortium aiming to cut infrastructure costs and lower prices — marked the first time Arab countries accepted Israel into such a regional alliance, sparking excitement in the country that its long-held hope of finally also making “economic peace” with Egypt and Jordan was fast approaching.“I think this is the most significant economic cooperation between Egypt and Israel since the signing of the peace treaty 40 years ago,” Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz told The Associated Press during his visit. “The discovery of significant gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean has also political value because it brings all of us … together to cooperate with each other.”The forum, which also includes Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the Palestinian Authority, aims to emerge as a mini-OPEC of sorts and highlights how Israel has been leveraging its newfound gas reserves into a powerful tool to expand its immersion into a region that has increasingly come to see Iran and Turkey, rather than Israel, as their greatest rivals.With the expected gas boon, Israel plans to wean itself off coal and emerge as an unlikely energy exporter — providing both an economic and political lift.In the coming months, Israel will begin exporting gas to Egypt as part of a $15 billion deal signed last year to provide 64 billion cubic meters of gas over a 10-year period that will help turn Egypt into a regional energy hub.The first batches will come from the operational Tamar field and later from the far larger Leviathan field, set to go online later this year. Israel already delivers gas to the Palestinians and to Jordan, with whom Israel’s Delek Drilling and its U.S. partner, Noble Energy, signed their first export agreement in 2016 — a $10 billion, 15-year deal to provide 45 billion cubic meters of gas.“This gives Israel an additional element to its relations with its neighboring countries. When you add an economic facet to the security cooperation it strengthens the bond and gives it stability,” said Oded Eran, a former Israeli ambassador to Jordan and to the European Union, and a senior researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute of National Security Studies.Still, he said economic interests alone aren’t enough to fully integrate Israel into the Middle East. Arab nations without formal peace accords with Israel would need to see at least some progress on the Palestinian front before normalizing relations, he said.Israel has peace agreements with only two Arab countries — Egypt and Jordan. But warming ties with Israel remain unpopular on much of the Arab street, and the gas exports have sparked sporadic protests in Jordan. The Palestinians, pleased at being invited into the consortium, hope to develop their own gas fields off the coast of Gaza but for now are required by international agreements to acquire their fuel from Israel.Sameer Abdallah, a former Palestinian economy minister, said they import from Israel “because we have no alternative but once we can change that, of course we will.”The gas appears to have helped Israel grow closer to Arab governments and other Mediterranean countries that share its concern over what they perceive as the rising power of Iran and Turkey in the region.Just as Noble Energy was discovering the massive gas fields in Israeli and Cypriot waters, Cyprus in 2010 suddenly banned Turkish flotillas seeking to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza from using its shores — a stunning about-face after months of turning a blind eye to ships that were creating a diplomatic nightmare for Israel.Cypriot officials said at the time that Gaza-bound vessels were prohibited from leaving because of “vital national interests.”Relations have since soared. Israel now holds annual trilateral summits with Greece and Cyprus, which have become its geographical conduits to the West. The two also conduct joint military operations with Israel, and just a short flight away, have replaced Turkey as the Israelis’ preferred holiday destinations.The countries recently said they would sign an agreement for a $7 billion project to build a pipeline to carry natural gas from the eastern Mediterranean to Europe.Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides has said he believes “hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean can become what the coal and steel was for the European community” — a reference to how in the 1950s, coal and steel brought European countries together economically and politically.Eran, the former Israeli diplomat, cautioned against investing so heavily in what he called “an economic adventure.” Even with the recent discoveries, he said the joint reserves were still not enough to create a strong enough economic lever to challenge global energy providers.Still, the upside of finally having natural resources of its own has been so appealing that the Israeli government has pushed forward even against stiff domestic opposition from environmental and social welfare activists.Critics, including prominent opposition lawmakers, say a controversial 2016 agreement over royalties is skewed in favor of the energy tycoons. More recently, local activists have been urging Noble Energy to move its proposed shoreline gas rig farther out to sea for fear of what they call catastrophic consequences of spreading toxic water and air pollution toward their homes.Noble and the Israeli government say it’s an irresponsible scare campaign and have countered with an aggressive ad campaign extolling the virtues of Leviathan, which it has dubbed “the national Cap: roject.”
Thanks to Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, we’ve seen plenty of innovation as of as of late, when it comes to gaming devices. But the Wiimote, PlayStation Move, Kinect, and even the 3DS all pale in comparison to the sheer breakthrough innovation that Sony is offering the world with its latest invention–the Toylet.The new technology is urinal-based, challenging players/pee-ers to compete in four different urine-based mini-games while doing their business. The games included pee quantifier “Manneken Pis;” image eliminator “Graffiti Eraser;” “The North Wind and Her,” in which the player attempts to lift a woman’s dress with his urine; and “Milk From Nose,” which pits two milk-squirting sumo wrestlers against one another.The games have been installed in four Japanese metro stations, where they’ll be up in a test run until the 31st. The games also include a USB port, so player can download their high scores to a flash drive. But please, wash your hands when you’re finished. Screenshots after jump.
Advertisement reddit user u/JiggediJao just uploaded a different angle and it’s hilarious. pic.twitter.com/rSSNsg40sC— Flintor (@TheFlintor) January 6, 2018 Following a gut-wrenching loss to Canada in the Final of the World Junior Hockey Championships, Swedish team captain Lias Andersson wasn’t in the mood for souvenirs commemorating the defeat.After receiving his silver medal in the postgame ceremony, Andersson took off the mark of second-place shame and tossed it to a fan in the stands. One man’s precious metal is another Swede’s trash. Some people will say this shows a lack of respect, but when you don’t give the losing team a second to cool off, things happen.If you’re not first, you’re last. In Sweden, too.Lias Andersson gets his silver medal presented to him. Andersson takes it off and throws it into the stands! Emotions hitting the brink! pic.twitter.com/v8tmoqJDxa— NHL Daily 365 (@NHLDaily365) January 6, 2018
News | February 06, 2015 Brain Scans Predict Effectiveness of Depression Talk Therapy Brain connectivity study points toward new image-based diagnostic model ensuring best treatment This image shows connectivity between the anterior insular cortex brain region (red and green spheres) and the middle temporal gyrus (orange-red gradient). Greater connectivity between these regions predicted better response to talk therapy for people with depression. Image courtesy of Andrew Crowther/Gabriel Dicther, Ph.D., UNC School of MedicineFebruary 6, 2015 — University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine researchers have shown that brain scans can predict which patients with clinical depression are most likely to benefit from a specific kind of talk therapy.The study, which was published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, is the first to use a technique known as resting-state functional brain connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fcMRI) to identify differences in brain wiring that predict therapeutic responses to talk therapy.The research shows that brain scans could ultimately be used as a diagnostic tool to determine the best course of treatment for the millions of Americans that suffer from depression.”In the future, we will be able to use non-invasive brain imaging technology to match patients with the treatment option that has the best chance of lifting their depression,” said senior author Gabriel S. Dichter, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and psychology. “In my mind, that’s as important as developing new treatments. We already have a lot of excellent treatments but no way to know which one is best for a particular patient.”Dichter added that if doctors can identify the best treatment immediately, then doctors and patients could avoid months of trial and error, thus dramatically reducing the often-debilitating effects of depression for patients and their families.Major depressive disorder, also known as clinical depression, is now the second leading cause of disability worldwide. Approximately 1 in 6 people will experience at least one bout of depression, and many will suffer multiple bouts over the course of their lives. Although antidepressant medications, different kinds of talk therapies and brain stimulation can be effective, 40 percent of people are not helped by the first treatment they try. As a result, Dichter said, it can take patients multiple attempts with different treatments before they experience any relief.The researchers recruited 23 patients with major depressive disorder who were not yet being treated. The patients underwent rs-fcMRI, which visualizes the coordinated activity of various brain regions within known functional networks of neurons while the brain is not engaged in any particular tasks. By using this technique, the researchers could identify brain regions that light up or activate in unison. This, in turn, could help them uncover networks of activity that might be linked to certain behaviors or responses to therapy.After the patients were scanned, they met with counselors for an average of 12 weekly talk therapy sessions using a method known as behavioral activation talk therapy. Whereas other forms of talk therapy might involve analyzing childhood experiences or altering thought processes, behavioral activation talk therapy focuses on the immediate behaviors associated with depression, such as difficulty getting to work on time or not spending time with loved ones. During the talk therapy sessions, patients set goals to address these behaviors.Andrew Crowther, a graduate student in UNC’s neurobiology curriculum and first author of the Neuropsychopharmacology paper, then analyzed the data to spot relationships between brain connectivity and responses to treatment. He found two connectivity patterns that stood out among patients who benefited most from talk therapy.First, these patients had greater connectivity between the anterior insular cortex — a prune-sized region involved in assigning importance to events — and the middle temporal gyrus — a flattened section of brain tissue that plays a role in the subjective experience of emotion.Second, patients had stronger connections between the intraparietal sulcus — a snake-like structure involved in maintaining focus — and the orbital frontal cortex — a crescent-shaped brain region behind the eyes involved in assigning positive or negative values to events.”There’s a complex interplay between the regions of the brain that are involved in cognitive control and those regions involved in understanding how something is going to feel,” said Dichter, who is also a member of UNC’s Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities.”We’ve known for a long time that atypical connections between those regions are involved in depression, but now we know that they can also be involved in how a person responds to talk therapy.”Dichter and his colleagues plan to extend their imaging studies to explore responsiveness to other forms of talk therapy, anti-depressant medications, and brain stimulation.For more information: www.med.unc.edu FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint分享 News | Pediatric Imaging | August 14, 2019 Ultrasound Guidance Improves First-attempt Success in IV Access in Children August 14, 2019 – Children’s veins read more News | Colonoscopy Systems | August 06, 2019 Rise in Early Onset Colorectal Cancer Not Aligned With Screening Trends A new study finds that trends in colonoscopy rates did not fully align with the increase in colorectal cancer (CRC) in… read more Image courtesy of Imago Systems Technology | Interventional Radiology | August 16, 2019 Profound Medical Receives U.S. FDA 510(k) Clearance for Tulsa-Pro Profound Medical Corp. announced it has received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to… read more News | Radiation Therapy | August 15, 2019 First Patient Enrolled in World’s Largest Brain Cancer Clinical Trial Henry Ford Cancer Institute is first-in-the-world to enroll a glioblastoma patient in the GBM AGILE Trial (Adaptive… read more Related Content News | Neuro Imaging | August 16, 2019 ADHD Medication May Affect Brain Development in Children A drug used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) appears to affect development of the brain’s… read more Technology | Neuro Imaging | August 07, 2019 Synaptive Medical Launches Modus Plan With Automated Tractography Segmentation Synaptive Medical announced the U.S. launch and availability of Modus Plan featuring BrightMatter AutoSeg. This release… read more News | Brachytherapy Systems | August 14, 2019 Efficacy of Isoray’s Cesium Blu Showcased in Recent Studies August 14, 2019 — Isoray announced a trio of studies recently reported at scientific meetings and published in medica read more News | Artificial Intelligence | August 13, 2019 Artificial Intelligence Could Yield More Accurate Breast Cancer Diagnoses University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that… read more News | Mammography | August 14, 2019 Imago Systems Announces Collaboration With Mayo Clinic for Breast Imaging Image visualization company Imago Systems announced it has signed a know-how license with Mayo Clinic. The multi-year… read more News | Cardiovascular Ultrasound | August 07, 2019 Contrast Use in First Transthoracic Echocardiogram for Heart Failure Reduces Repeat Testing Heart failure is the fourth most common cause for all admission to U.S. hospitals, and it is the most common reason for… read more Images of regions of interest (colored lines) in the white matter skeleton representation. Data from left and right anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) were averaged. Image courtesy of C. Bouziane et al.
Feature | May 04, 2015 | Dave Fornell Sustainable Growth Rate is Repealed Elimination of SGR, designed to improve physician Medicare payments, eliminates need for annual temporary fixes to flawed law Body language expert Traci Brown spoke at the AHRA 2019 meeting on how to identify when a person is not being honest by their body language. She said medical imaging department administrators can use this knowledge to help in hiring decisions and managing staff. In a rare showing of bipartisan support, on April 14, 2015, Congress repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) and approved a new framework to allow Medicare to transition from its current fee-for-service payment system to a value-based reimbursement system. The legislation (H.R. 2) eliminates the threat of annual cuts in Medicare payments to providers that were required under the SGR, which was approved more than a decade ago to control skyrocketing Medicare costs.All medical societies and providers have lobbied for years to repeal the SGR, arguing it reduces Medicare reimbursements below the cost needed to provide services to patients. The legislation headed off a 21 percent cut in the doctors’ pay that was set to go into effect in 2015. There was fear that many providers might not provide services to Medicare patients if the cuts went into effect.The SGR, originally instituted in 2003, has been patched 17 times in the years since then, and a 21 percent rate reduction for all physicians was scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2015, if legislation was not passed. The permanent SGR fix will yield a new Medicare payment system that should stabilize reimbursement with a focus on higher-quality care. H.R. 2 changed the language of the SGR to an end date of 2014. It was originally planned to be in use until 2025. The bill calls for the consolidation of performance programs with a new merit-based incentive payment system. The new law, the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Act, permanently amends Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to repeal the flawed SGR formula and reforms the Medicare physician payment system. The House approved the bill March 26, by a vote of 392-37. The Senate gave final approval of the bill April 14 in a 92-8 vote. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.The legislation will increase physician pay by 0.5 percent in the second half of 2015, and then an additional 0.5 percent annually from 2016 through the end of 2019. The 2019 rates would be maintained through 2025 with no additional increases. The bills also include comprehensive structural changes to Medicare’s reimbursement model that would promote physician participation in clinical quality improvement activities and value-based, quality care that would take full effect in 2019. In addition, current Medicare programs that reward use of electronic health records (EHR), quality reporting, the value-based modifier and meaningful use would be merged by 2019 to encourage participation and reduce the administrative burden. The total package for the SGR fix is estimated to cost more than $200 billion over the next 10 years, of which approximately $70 billion would be offset by additional Medicare policy changes. Medical Societies Support RepealNumerous medical societies released statements in support of the passage of the bill.“Previous short-term SGR fixes have too often been paid for out of technical component reductions in diagnostic imaging,” said Bibb Allen, M.D., FACR, chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR) Board of Chancellors. “It is long past time to put some stability into the physician payment system. However, infinite policy details must be worked out to ensure it is implemented appropriately. The legislation moves us away from fee-for-service to value-based alternative payment models, most not yet designed, but this is the future and the future is now.”The ACR said the SGR formula has plagued physicians by threatening drastic reimbursement reductions each year since 2001. Congress has responded by consistently applying short term patches to avert the reimbursement reductions, but these have been largely paid for through reductions to other physician services, such as the technical component for diagnostic imaging. “With its strong passage of H.R. 2, the House has shown it can act in a bipartisan manner to pass legislation that solves a longstanding problem,” said American College of Cardiology (ACC) President Kim Allan Williams Sr., M.D., FACC. “The SGR has created a cycle of short-term fixes causing administrative burdens for practices and uncertainty for clinicians and Medicare patients. After more than a decade, it is time to end this flawed payment formula and focus on providing quality patient care. Today is an exceptional day for Medicare patients and for the medical professionals who care for them, thanks to the long-awaited permanent repeal of the flawed sustainable growth rate formula.”Williams said the Senate has accomplished a major feat by passing legislation that ends a cycle of delays and patches in the law, which has created uncertainty for Medicare patients and clinicians for more than a decade. “Congress has proven it can take bipartisan, bicameral action to solve seemingly insurmountable problems,” Williams said. “We applaud the members in the House and Senate for coming together to implement true Medicare reform while extending funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which offers access to healthcare for many children, including those with complex cardiovascular conditions.”Bruce Haffty, M.D., FASTRO, chair of the American Society for Radiation Oncology’s (ASTRO) Board of Directors, stated that repealing the SGR has been an ASTRO priority for years. “Passage of this legislation represents a long-awaited, historic victory for our patients,” he said. “Permanently repealing the SGR and replacing it with a stabilized reimbursement plan focused on quality will strengthen Medicare and allow us to enhance cancer care for the more than 1 million patients treated with radiation therapy each year. We commend the strong bipartisan leadership in the House and Senate, and President Obama for this extraordinary achievement that will ensure that patients have access to the care that they need. We are excited to turn the page on the SGR and to work with Congress and the president on additional needed Medicare reforms, including stabilizing specific radiation oncology payments and protecting patients and the integrity of the Medicare program by closing the physician self-referral loophole.“We are at a turning point for our nation’s healthcare system,” Haffty continued. “Permanently fixing the SGR with the comprehensive plan outlined in this legislation would be significant. A stabilized reimbursement plan would strengthen Medicare and allow us to improve quality faster for our patients.”Creating a Merit-based Payment SystemThe law includes several reforms to the Medicare payment system, moving it from a fee-for-service to a fee-for-value model. The legislation directs the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish an eligible professional merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS). This is to include methodology for assessing the total performance of each MIPS eligible professional according to performance standards; providing for a composite performance score for each provider; and using this composite performance score of the MIPS provider for a performance period of a year to determine and apply a MIPS payment adjustment factor.A “MIPS eligible professional” is defined in the legislation as a physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or a certified registered nurse anesthetist. These professionals will be measured with criteria set in the performance categories of quality, resource use, clinical practice improvement activities and meaningful use of certified EHR technology, in determining the composite performance score used for reimbursement. Performance Criteria Being MeasuredQuality measures will be established and upgraded annually for each specialty based on input from professional societies and organizations involved in each specialty area. These lists of quality measures will be made available no later than Nov. 1 each year and go into effect as of Jan. 1 of the coming year. Any new measures are required to be published in the final list of measures published each year in specialty-appropriate, peer-reviewed journals to explain each measure and the method for developing and selecting the measure, including clinical and other supporting data.Quality measures as defined and used by qualified clinical data registries will also play a role in determining what measures are considered for each specialty. When considering resource use, professionals will be evaluated on how efficiently they use resources, such as imaging exams or diagnostic testing. Part of the evaluation will be an accounting for the cost of drugs prescribed under Medicare Part D.Clinical practice improvement activities will include several subcategories, including the following: The subcategory of expanded practice access will include same-day appointments for urgent needs and after-hours access to clinician advice. A category for population management will review monitoring of health conditions of individuals to provide timely healthcare interventions, or participation in qualified clinical data registries. The subcategory of care coordination will include timely communication of test results, timely exchange of clinical information to patients and other providers, and use of remote monitoring or telehealth. The subcategory of beneficiary engagement will include the establishment of care plans for individuals with complex care needs, beneficiary self-management assessment and training, and using shared decision-making mechanisms. The subcategory of patient safety and practice assessment will include thorough use of clinical or surgical checklists and practice assessments related to maintaining certification. Each specialty professional organization will identify ways to improve clinical practice or care delivery activities that are likely to result in improved outcomes.For meaningful use of EHRs, the legislation emphasizes the application of outcome measures. Global outcome measures and population-based measures might be considered. The HHS is supposed to consider the circumstances of professionals who typically furnish services that do not involve face-to-face interaction with a patient (i.e. radiologists). Assessing Performance ScoresThe legislation calls for the HHS secretary to develop a methodology for a composite assessment of the total performance of each MIPS eligible professional, according to the defined performance measures and activities yet to be specified. The composite assessment (using a scoring scale of 0 to 100) will be applied to each professional for a performance period of one year. Any professional who fails to report on an applicable measure or activity that is required to be reported will be treated as achieving the lowest potential score applicable.Reporting quality measures through the use of EHR technology will automatically qualify the professional as satisfying the clinical quality measures reporting requirement in their annual assessment. Starting with the second year of MIPS reporting, the evaluation system may take into account the improvement of the professional to enable higher payments.For the first and second years for which the MIPS applies to payments, the overall assessments will be based on 30 percent for quality, 30 percent for resource use, 25 percent for meaningful EHR use and 15 percent for clinical practice improvement activities. However, the HHS secretary is given flexibility in the law to weight these performance measures differently for some types of professionals where the application of some standards may not be as important. This can include a weight of zero if a measure does not apply to a specific specialty. PaymentsEach year, the HHS Secretary will specify a MIPS adjustment factor in the payments for each MIPS eligible professional. The legislation defines these as 4 percent in 2019, 5 percent in 2020, 7 percent in 2021, and 9 percent in 2022 and subsequent years. Additional payment factors may be added for outstanding performance. In the case of items and services furnished by MIPS professionals during a year (beginning in 2019), the amount otherwise paid will be multiplied by one, plus the sum of the MIPS adjustment factor divided by 100. If applicable, the additional MIPS adjustment factor determined for outstanding performance will be divided by 100.Physician Performance Will be PublishedHHS is supposed to make available all professional performance measures for all providers in an easy to understand format on the Physician Compare website of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This will include the composite score for each MIPS eligible professional and their scores in each performance category. HHS will offer professionals the opportunity to review and submit corrections for the information prior to the information being made public.Beginning July 1, 2018, HHS will enable Web portal access so professionals can view services and items provided to their patients for which payment is made. Help in Rural or Underserved AreasHHS will provide quality improvement organizations or regional extension centers to offer guidance and assistance to professionals in practices of 15 or fewer employees. Priority will be given to practices located in rural areas, areas with a shortage of health professionals, medically underserved areas and practices with low composite scores. To enable this effort, CMS will have $20 million in funding available from 2016 through 2020. Progress Report to CongressBy Oct. 1, 2021, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) is supposed to submit a report to Congress evaluating the MIPS payment system. This will include recommendations to improve the program. Editor’s note: You can read the entire H.R. 2 bill at: http://1.usa.gov/1OarGxM FacebookTwitterLinkedInPrint分享 Key Topics for Radiology Administrators at AHRA 2019Video Player is loading.Play VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time 0:00/Duration 7:33Loaded: 2.15%Stream Type LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time -7:33 Playback Rate1xChaptersChaptersDescriptionsdescriptions off, selectedCaptionscaptions settings, opens captions settings dialogcaptions off, selectedAudio Trackdefault, selectedFullscreenThis is a modal window.Beginning of dialog window. 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Videos | Radiology Business | August 02, 2019 VIDEO: Key Topics for Radiology Administrators at AHRA 2019 Association for Medical Imaging Management (AHRA) President … read more Feature | Radiology Business | July 18, 2019 | By Stefanie Manack and Judy Zakutny Finding A Common Data Language for Radiology Approximately 30 percent of a hospital or health system’s profit comes from imaging according, to… read more John Carrino, M.D., M.Ph., presents “Challenges and Opportunities for Radiology to Prove Value in Alternative Payment Models” at AHRA 2019. Photo by Greg Freiherr Feature | Radiology Imaging | July 29, 2019 | By Greg Freiherr Imaging Market in U.S. Could Rise In Coming Years The coming years may be good for the medical imaging community in the United States. But they will not be easy. read more Feature | Information Technology | July 31, 2019 | By Greg Freiherr How Smart Devices Can Improve Efficiency Innovation is trending toward improved efficiency — but not at the expense of patient safety, according to… read more Image by rawpixel from Pixabay Demand for ultrasound scans at U.S. outpatient centers could grow by double digits over the next five years, according to a speaker at AHRA 2019. A variety of factors, however, could cause projections for this and other modalities to change. Graphic courtesy of Pixabay Feature | Radiology Business | July 23, 2019 | Greg Freiherr Liars in Radiology Beware! Can you tell when someone is lying? read more Feature | Radiology Business | July 22, 2019 | By Greg Freiherr Payment Models Seek Traction in Transition from Volume Efforts to reform healthcare are booming, b read more Related Content News | Radiology Imaging | July 22, 2019 AHRA and Canon Medical Systems Support the 12th Annual Putting Patients First Program For the past twelve years, Canon Medical Systems USA, Inc. has partnered with read more Videos | AAPM | July 23, 2019 VIDEO: Bridging Diversity in Medical Physics to Improve Patient Care Cynthia McColl… read more News | Radiology Business | August 01, 2019 Philips Completes Acquisition of Carestream Health’s HCIS Business … read more News | Radiation Oncology | July 17, 2019 CMS Proposes New Alternative Payment Model for Radiation Oncology The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposal for an advanced alternative payment model (APM)… read more
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – A Saudi Arabian activist group is urging international rights organizations to seek fact-finding visits with a jailed Shiite cleric. His arrest on anti-state charges has sharply escalated tensions in Saudi Arabia’s restive eastern region.Sunday’s statement by the Al-Sharaq Human Rights Center expresses concern for Sheik Nimr al-Nimr, claiming he has not been allowed to see lawyers or relatives since his arrest earlier this month. Saudi officials had no immediate comment.Authorities say al-Nimr was arrested after a gunbattle in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich eastern province, where security forces have clashed with minority Shiite protesters demanding greater rights from the country’s Sunni monarchy.On Friday, the Interior Ministry said a militant gunman was killed during an attack on a police station in the region.(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.) Think Tank analyzes the second round of Democratic debates Top Stories Sponsored Stories Meghan McCain to release audiobook on conservatism, family More Valley freeways to be closed this weekend for improvements
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Go back to the e-newsletterUniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection has announced its partnership with Questex Travel Group to deliver a new trade portal featuring e-learning, an enhanced loyalty programme, sales tools and resources for travel advisors that will be hosted through Questex’s Travel Agent University.This new private label trade portal will be available directly and via Travel Agent University’s (TAU) active member community of over 50,000 certified members, the largest in the industry. Expected launch date for the Uniworld portal will be early 2017. The announcement was made today by Uniworld’s new President & CEO Ellen Bettridge at Virtuoso Travel Week.Uniworld’s unique portal will enable agents to participate in robust education, earn rewards, be privy to exclusive deals, as well as have access to valuable sales tools, webinars, videos, itineraries and other company assets to help increase their sales.“Partnering with Questex’s lauded Travel Agent University will allow us to deliver the most elite e-learning programming and resources directly to the agent,” said Bettridge. “This portal will give our travel agent partners a robust opportunity to immerse themselves in the Uniworld brand, and enable them to increase their revenue through knowledge.”Leading the industry, Uniworld offers itineraries in spectacular destinations throughout Europe, Russia, and Asia and has been highly recognised for its incredible service and product delivery. The award-winning boutique river cruise collection demonstrates the highest standards in luxury river cruising through shore excursions, world-class gourmet cuisine, and impeccable hospitality.“Uniworld offers a luxury product that our top-notch graduates on Travel Agent University will be eager to explore as they refine their craft and stay relevant through continuing brand education. We look forward to delivering the tools needed for agents to better connect their customers to Uniworld’s unique travel experiences,” said Kimberly Newbury, Managing Director for Questex Travel Group’s Learning & Loyalty division.The Travel Agent University platform features a mobile responsive design offering agents the ability to work from anywhere, intuitive navigation, and a valuable resource centre complete with sales enablement tools, the ability to track activity, and rewards.Launched in 1993, Travel Agent University is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week and graduates an agent from a course every five minutes.Go back to the e-newsletter
Bora Bora, French Polynesia – Reported by Elite Traveler, the private jet lifestyle magazineFrench Polynesia may be a midpoint between America and Southeast Asia, but a special menu at the St. Regis Bora Bora is transporting guests on the island all the way to street markets in Vietnam and food stalls of Thailand.This fall, acclaimed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is heating up the hotel’s Lagoon restaurant with Asian fusion offerings from Spice Market, his beloved establishment in New York City. Like the original Manhattan masterpieces, the culinary gems on the St. Regis special menu are inspired by the chef’s travels to Southeast Asia. Paired with coriander yogurt sauce, the spiced chicken is transformed from street food to epicurean fare, and the steamed rock lobster gets an authentic upgrade with butter-fried garlic, ginger and dried chili.For thirsty patrons, Resort Executive Chef Sebastien Le Gall has also brewed up some spicy new libations to go with the plated selections he handpicked for the special menu. For a limited time, Lychee Raspberry Bellinis, Ginger Margaritas, and Spice Market Sangrias will add a spirited kick to the tranquil ocean views from the over-water restaurant.Available until November 13, 2011www.stregisborabora.com/lagoon