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Monthly Archives: April 2014

WHO’s first global report on antibiotic resistance reveals serious, worldwide threat to public health

“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi. An increasing number of governments around the world are devoting efforts to a problem so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine. A post-antibiotic era – in which common infections and minor injuries can kill – far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st Century. This WHO report – Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance 2014 – produced in collaboration with Member States and other partners, provides for the first time, as accurate a picture as is presently possible of the magnitude of AMR and the current state of surveillance globally. The report makes a clear case that resistance to common bacteria has reached alarming levels in many parts of the world and that in some settings, few, if any, of the available treatments options remain effective for common infections. Another important finding of the report is that surveillance of antibacterial resistance is neither coordinated nor harmonized and there are many gaps in information on bacteria of major public health importance. Strengthening global AMR surveillance is critical as it is the basis for informing global strategies, monitoring the effectiveness of public health interventions and detecting new trends and threats. As WHO, along with partners across many sectors moves ahead in developing a global action plan to mitigate AMR, this report will serve as a baseline to measure future progress.”

For First Time Over 50 Percent of Current Year Models Get More Than 23 MPG

“For the first time ever, over 50 percent of the current year’s vehicles get more than 23 miles per gallon (mpg) according to the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). After categorizing 1,099 2014 passenger vehicle models into 10 different mpg rating categories, CFA concludes that 2014 is a historic year for automakers. This finding is especially significant… Continue Reading

New on LLRX – Fargo Brings An Outliner to Your Browser

Via LLRX.com – Fargo Brings An Outliner to Your Browser – Elmer Masters explains the pragmatic as well as technological value of Dave Winer’s new full featured outliner, Fargo. Fargo runs in your web browser and stores your data in your Dropbox folder. According to Masters, this combination of browser and cloud puts the outliner everywhere, making it a… Continue Reading

NIST Revises Guide to Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) in Networks

“The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released an update to a document that helps computer administrators maintain the security of information traveling across their networks. The document, NIST Special Publication 800-52 Revision 1: Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration, and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations, updates the original SP 800-52, released in 2005. Sensitive data—from… Continue Reading

Point of Sale disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors – final report

“The Joint Forum released today its final report on Point of Sale Disclosure in the insurance, banking and securities sectors. The report identifies and assesses differences and gaps in regulatory approaches to point of sale (POS) disclosure for investment and savings products across the insurance, banking and securities sectors, and considers whether the approaches need to be further aligned… Continue Reading

CBO’s Major Recurring Reports

“We’ve created a new collection to make it easier to find our major recurring reports. Looking for our Budget and Economic Outlook or Analysis of the President’s Budget? This new collection has links to versions of those reports that we’ve published since 2000 along with our other major recurring reports. Some documents you’ll find include: Budget and Economic Outlook… Continue Reading

Google Stops Scanning Student Emails, Ends Data Collection for Advertising

Via EPIC: “Google has announced it will stop scanning student emails for advertising purposes. Google has also stated that it will no longer display new advertisements in its Apps for Education. Google’s announcement follows the demise of inBloom, a private company that acquired student data from school districts across the country. Amid public backlash, inBloom announced it was shutting down.… Continue Reading

House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee Mark Released

“The House Armed Services Committee today released legislative language scheduled to be considered by the Subcommittee on Readiness at their markup tomorrow.  By releasing the legislative language ahead of the mark, Chairman McKeon is complying with House disclosure rules and overseeing the most transparent process in Congress for composing national security legislation. Read the Readiness Subcommittee Mark.… Continue Reading

The 2013 Chief Executive Study

Women CEOs of the last 10 years “For 14 years, Strategy& has examined CEO turnover and the incoming class of CEOs at the world’s largest 2,500 public companies. We focus on incoming and outgoing CEOs – rather than all CEOs – because determining what happens at critical decision points can help us understand what companies are looking for in their CEO and how… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Advanced Imaging Tech, Commercial Aviation, Financial Literacy, NIH, Nuclear Weapons, OPM

ADVANCED IMAGING TECHNOLOGY: TSA Needs Additional Information before Procuring Next-Generation Systems, GAO-14-357:  Published: Mar 31, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2014. COMMERCIAL AVIATION: Status of Air Service to Small Communities and the Federal Programs Involved, GAO-14-454T:  Published: Apr 30, 2014. Publicly Released: Apr 30, 2014. DEFENSE ACQUISITIONS: Addressing Incentives is Key to Further Reform Efforts, GAO-14-563T: Published: Apr 30, 2014. Publicly Released:… Continue Reading

A Primer on the GCF Repo® Service

A Primer on the GCF Repo® Service, April 2014. Number 671. Paul Agueci, Leyla Alkan, Adam Copeland, Isaac Davis, Antoine Martin, Kate Pingitore, Caroline Prugar, and Tyisha Rivas. “This primer provides a detailed description of the GCF Repo® Service, a financial service provided by the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation. The primer is composed of an introductory note and two separate papers. The first paper… Continue Reading

Monetary Policy Coordination and the Role of Central Banks

IMF – Monetary Policy Coordination and the Role of Central Banks, by Rakesh Mohan and Muneesh Kapur, April 2014. “The unconventional monetary policies (UMPs) pursued by the advanced economies (AEs) have posed macroeconomic challenges for the emerging market economies (EMEs) through volatile capital flows and exchange rates. AE central banks need to acknowledge and appreciate the… Continue Reading