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Author Archives: Sabrina I. Pacifici

Secret Service seeks software to monitor current and historical social media data

Via NextGov: “The Secret Service is purchasing software to watch users of social networks in real time, according to contract documents. In a work order posted on Monday, the agency details information the tool will collect — ranging from emotions of Internet users to old Twitter messages. Its capabilities will include “sentiment analysis,” “influencer identification,” “access to historical Twitter data,” “ability to detect… Continue Reading

HHS releases new data and tools to increase transparency on hospital utilization and other trends

“With more than 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors, data scientists, researchers, policy experts, government employees and more in attendance, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing new data and launching new initiatives at the annual Health Datapalooza conference in Washington, D.C. Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing its first annual… Continue Reading

DARPA research program focusing on traumatic brain injuries

Via DefenseTech: “The Pentagon has ambitious plans to develop a prosthetic for the brain that, if successful, will restore memory functions lost to troops who suffered brain injuries as well as people losing their pasts to Alzheimer’s disease. The Restoring Active Memory — or RAM — is just one project among a broad, multi-agency program underway… Continue Reading

Launch of openFDA Beta Research Project

“OpenFDA offers easy access to FDA public data and highlight projects using these data in both the public and private sector to further regulatory or scientific missions, educate the public, and save lives. OpenFDA is specifically designed to make it easier for developers, researchers, and the public to access and use the many large, important, health… Continue Reading

Liquidity Risk and U.S. Bank Lending at Home and Abroad

Federal Reserve Bank of New York – June 2014  Number 676 – Authors: Ricardo Correa, Linda Goldberg, and Tara Rice “While the balance sheet structure of U.S. banks influences how they respond to liquidity risks, the mechanisms for the effects on and consequences for lending vary widely across banks. We demonstrate fundamental differences across banks without foreign affiliates versus those with foreign… Continue Reading

Measles cases in the United States reach 20-year high

Measles — United States, January 1–May 23, 2014 – Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) Early Release May 29, 2014 / 63(Early Release);1-4 “Two hundred and eighty-eight cases of measles were reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States between Jan. 1 and May 23, 2014. This is the largest number of measles… Continue Reading

Enterprise Risk Management and the Financial Reporting Process

Cohen, Jeffrey R. and Krishnamoorthy, Ganesh and Wright, Arnold, Enterprise Risk Management and the Financial Reporting Process: The Experiences of Audit Committee Members, CFOs, and External Auditors (May 30, 2014). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2444397  “The financial crisis has brought to the forefront the need for companies to effectively manage their risks. One approach that has gained… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Medicare Physical Therapy, Passport Fraud

MEDICARE PHYSICAL THERAPY: Self-Referring Providers Generally Referred More Beneficiaries but Fewer Services per Beneficiary, GAO-14-270: Published: Apr 30, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 2, 2014. STATE DEPARTMENT: Pervasive Passport Fraud Not Identified, but Cases of Potentially Fraudulent and High-Risk Issuances Are under Review, GAO-14-222: Published: May 1, 2014. Publicly Released: Jun 2, 2014. Continue Reading

EPA Clean Power Plan Proposed Rule

“On June 2, 2014, EPA proposed a commonsense plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants. States, cities and businesses across the country are already taking action to address the risks of climate change. EPA’s proposal builds on those actions and is flexible – reflecting that different states have a different mix of sources and… Continue Reading

Leveraging Market Power Through Tying and Bundling: Does Google Behave Anti-Competitively?

Benjamin Edelman, HBS Working Paper Number: 14-112. May 2014. Via SSRN – http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2436940 “This paper presents a series of incidents in which Google used tying and bundling to expand its dominance in a number of online markets and into additional markets. The author assesses whether these incidents raise concerns under antitrust law, and concludes that they do.… Continue Reading

Business Adapts to a New Style of Computer

Are companies ready for billions of everyday objects to join the Internet? MIT Technology Review – Antonio Regalado on May 20, 2014. “The Internet of things is especially important for companies that sell network equipment, like Cisco Systems. Cisco has been enthusiastically predicting that 50 billion “things” could be connected to communications networks within six years, up from… Continue Reading

UN Member States on the Record

“This site is about UN Documents related to UN Member States. It provides links to selected UN databases, websites, and other information resources, in order to make the record of Member States’ activities at the UN more accessible. Information available for each Member State includes: the key documents related to its membership in the UN; statements made before the principal organs; draft resolutions sponsored; periodic reports… Continue Reading