I began my blog about 2 years ago (1 June 2010).  I did so for a few reasons.  The first reason was to meet as many people as I could, to explain things as I see them, and share my knowledge.  It’s the curse of being an ex-academic; one who teaches, researches, publishes, and engages in discussions with knowledge-seeking folks.

The second reason was to afford my friends a respite.  Up until I really started my blog, it would not be unusual for them to received three, four, five six articles a day- with highlights, comments, and diatribes, keeping them advised of issues I felt they needed to understand- and solve with me.  (I still send my clients these kind of notes- but they want and expect them- it’s part of the the service we provide and for which they pay.)  Now, my friends may only receive one or two notes a day.

The third reason was to engage new people- literally.  To demonstrate to  folks the capabilities folks at Adjuvancy have that could be placed at your disposal (you, the reader).  Whether you need to grow your business, to harness more creativity and productivity from your staff, to insure that your bottom line is a greater percentage of your gross revenue (which includes the taxes you pay), to solve a specific problem in operations (manufacturing or distribution, included), to develop a new product or design… These are things we do for our clients each and every day- and we would love to include you in that universe.  (Check out our website- please-  to see what we can provide you.)

What I didn’t count on was meeting new friends.  Ones with whom I “speak” at least twice a week.  And, that’s what this particular blog post is about.  One of those people.  Lisa Brandel, self-termed “Widow Lady”.

Lisa used to write a blog- which is how I met her.  I read her plaints, her loves, her thoughts- and we began communicating.  And, became friends.  Don’t fret- she hasn’t stopped writing, she just shares her thoughts (along with a poster or two of pithy verbiage) on Facebook now.  Posting to one of the seven groups of friends I have developed.  My Blogworld, moderated by Govind Joshi.

Not only does Lisa write, but she is an artist.  One who shares her art to help make this world a better place.  (OK, now you know what we really have in common.)  You can even help these causes by buying some of her- and her fellow artists- doors or prints.  The Doors of Encouragement project.  You can help make this world a better place- and enjoy some glorious art at the same time.

Oh, and thank you, Lisa.  Very much.  For this glorious piece of art, that is among my other pieces, with love and pride in my home.

Share this:

You are reading Tribute by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

I was speaking with someone about some information she heard on the Anderson Cooper TV show.  While that show was about divorce (four key errors that will indicate you are bound to divorce), Dr. Gottman mentioned something that intrigued her.  That feelings of contempt (which is a form of stress) damages one’s immune system.

I explained to her this fact has been known for a while.  Back in 2000, with a MacArthur grant, a group of researchers at Ohio State University found that stressful situations affect our immune system.  It turns out that stress disrupts the communication between various elements of our body- the nervous system, the endocrine system, and our immune system.  Once the chemical messages have been blocked, these three vital systems no longer can work in concert.

Data indicate that glucocorticoids (stress hormones) are produced continually in low amounts when the body is subjected to long-term stress.  These hormones react upon the thymus (where lymphocytes, a critical component of the immune system, are produced) and also inhibit cytokine and interleukin productions (which affect the ability of our white blood cell functions).

So, why was this person interested in this issue.  She works with caregivers, typically family members caring for an ailing spouse or an ailing parent.  And,  we know that these caregivers have long-term stress issues.  Oh, they love the people for whom they care, but it’s still stressful.  And, those folks in the sandwich generation and older that provide care for loved ones have higher than average levels of cortisol (a stress hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands).  And, it is possible that this activity causes the adrenals to secrete fewer antibodies (which, in this case, were responding to the influenza vaccine, as reported by Drs. Desai and Chibnall [St. Louis University Medical School] in the Lancet)

In addition, some caregivers for Alzheimer’s patients (spouses) have been found to have lowered T cell activity. (To learn more about T cells in the immune system, check here.  The post also has a good diagram.) These lymphocytes affect cellular immunity.  The problem is the caregivers affected most are those that have the least amount of additional help and the fewest number of friends.  (In other words, they were isolated, which augments the stress levels.)

We also know that massages reduce our stress levels.  (No. not that kind- not going there!) And, data exists proving that massages are associated with more responsive immune systems.  (You can find a layman’s explanation here.)

So, these are all the reasons why caregivers need to insure they have some time off.  To recoup.  To reduce the stess levels in their bodies.  And, they need to insure that they have the time to interact with friends, which also elevates our general happiness levels.  So, they can stay healthy- and care for their loved ones.

An earlier version of this blog was a guest post (23 April 2012) on Sequoia Senior Solutions blog.  SSS provides assistance to elderly patients and their families (in Northern California) with affordable and reliable caregivers.

Share this:

You are reading Stress affects our Immune Response by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

I attended a regional entrepreneurial meeting today (remember, this post is emanating from my queue, so this really happened about a month ago), listening to Mark Dumas tell his story.  How he started his company, how he grew his company, and how he sold his company.  And, what was remarkable about his story is how it was really unremarkable.

No, that does not mean Mark wasn’t unremarkable.  I found him entertaining, honest, and open.  Someone I would love to spend a few hours with over dinner.

But, his entrepreneurial story was pretty familiar.  Because, in my own way, I’ve lived it.  And, many of my clients have done the same.   He started out working on a project or two- doing what he loved AND satisfying the clients’ needs.   As his reputation grew- and his clients recognized his value, they gave him more and more work- so he needed to hire folks.  And, he hired the best he could find.

He had no desire to be a manager, since he did not like talking in public.  He was an engineer, remember?  But, he did communicate with his staffers.  And, his passion was infectious and they shared his vision and his mission.

He “sold” his clients, too.  Because he had the passion to solve their problems.  So much so, that his business grew and he sold it for $ 46 million after 8 years. Of course, it didn’t hurt that he was operating in a rarefied niche- one that was new, one that was needed, one that growing, and one with few competitors.  Not that he did not make mistakes- but he learned from them.

One of our companies was the same.  It actually came about we licensed the technology to another firm.  Which decided to pull out of the market- leaving us with the product, the technology- and a guarantee to provide the product to our our clinical partners at no charge until the product was commercially available.  Or, as one of my board members declared, “Boy, we in a heap of trouble.  And, you’ve got 30 days to extricate us from this mess.”

I paid attention to those marching orders (since I had no desire to continue that parade off the plank).  I tried to convince a few  potential partners to take over the product, to no avail.   Simultaneously, I was churning the numbers to set up a new company to supply the product.  (After all, if that new company failed after a year, we were still off the hook.)   And, I ran the numbers again and again.

I showed the numbers to my girlfriend.  (Note:  She was working on the same project and was a techie, too.)  And, then I showed them to my second (at the local office).  Who also thought we were missing something- somewhere.   But, I didn’t see any holes- and I’d been advising clients for years how to grow a company, how to comply with regulations, how to hire employees… Was I sure I could follow my own advice?

And, we took the plunge.  90 days from the day our client pulled out.  We had a small production plant to produce the medical grade saline solution, ready to handle our first customers (which were the clinical centers guaranteed to get the product).    Which we outgrew in 90 days.   And, that was outgrown in 180 days.  When we built a second plant on the West Coast.

All along, we had no salespeople.  (Remember my blog about our transporting the new company care from Charlottesville to Long Beach?)  We had our initial team (myself, my second [who became the COO of the new company after a while]), my girlfriend, and three others).  But,  I (and my second- also an engineer) sold the product – which was perfect for our potential customers- because of our quality standards, its ease of use- and our passion to solve our customers’ issues.   Our motto resonated with our customers:  Our competitors offer you products.  We provide you solutions…

How do YOU reach your customers/clients?

Share this:

You are reading An Entrepreneur’s Story… by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

Map of the geographic boundaries of the various United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A ruling this past month for the Ninth Circuit (AK, WA, OR, CA, MT, ID, HI, NV) will change a lot of employer actions – and may make those of us living in the rest of the US reconsider our practices.

The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) was first passed in 1986, which protected Federal computers from various acts.  It has been amended more than a few times, including by the Patriot (sic) Act and the 2008 Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act.    It now covers acts- and the conspiracy to perform certain acts.  It now also covers financial institutions, the US Government or any computer used in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce/communication- including those computers outside the US that can affect these covered entities.  Given these facts, you can see that this act covers almost every company’s computers. Unless, of course, you reside in the area governed by the Ninth Circuit.

The Court held that workers can’t be charged with criminal violations of the CFAA, if they misuse electronic data for which they had normal access as part of their employment.  (US v. Nosal, 10-10038 [10 Apr 2012, 9^th cir.]  This was a 9-2 decision, by the way).  Let’s make this clearer by providing the facts of this case.

David Nosal, who was at one time employed by Korn/Ferry (an executive search firm) decided to start a competing business after he left KF’s employ.  He asked his old pals at KF to download data from the confidential database for his uses.  These pals were legally authorized to peruse and examine the database- but not for this purpose, of course.  They clearly understood that the company policy stipulated that the database was for “company use only”.

Given these transgressions, Nosal was indicted on 20 counts of mail fraud, trade secret theft, conspiracy, and CFAA violations.  The thought was he aided and abetted Korn/Ferry employees to exceed authorized access, with the intent to defraud.

Nosal’s position was that the CFAA only applies to hackers- and not to employees who misappropriate data to which they have access.  Now, we get to the Talmudic argument.   The CFAA defines “exceeds authorized access” as meaning “to access a computer with authorization and to use such access to obtain or alter information in the computer that the accesser is not entitled so to obtain or alter”.  No one altered the data; hence, the case was basically dismissed.  (Of course, they did “obtain” the data.)

Chief Just Kozinski (who wrote the opinion) stated that it was Congress’ intent to limit this act to outsiders, and not to those who may already have access to such data.  If his interpretation were not maintained, then the CFAA “would make criminals of large groups of people who who have little reason to suspect they are committing a federal crime”.

Kozinski further acknowledged that this conflicts with the Fifth, Seventh and Eleventh Circuits- which courts he admonished to reconsider their opinions.  He also cited the fact that District Courts in New York, Maryland, Arizona, and Georgia have held positions in concert with this majority opinion.    This is employer-employee or company-consumer relationships; as such they are subject to tort or contract law and not criminal law.  Had this opinion not been issued, this would have “federalized” trade secret misappropriation (as it relates to computers)- and that has traditionally been a State right.

What is does mean for sure is that corporations need to find better ways to secure their databases.

Share this:

You are reading Database Theft is Not Criminal? by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

The economy is changing.  And, as the economy improves, companies can be in trouble- unless they have been well managed with talented leaders.   Because those employees who feel they’ve been betrayed or let down by the company will leave.  Statistics show that during upturns between 30 and 50% of the talented individuals depart.  And, it also is a function of the employee’s age, gender (1/3 of the men will stay for more money, but less than ¼ the women would do so), tenure, and how many months since their last promotion and/or salary bump.  It also reflects if the employee feels left out of the loop (the manager has too many employees in his/her group), how much travel is involved in the position, the hours worked, the weekends they need to be present, as well.

Here is an example that can provide an idea of the loyalties that exist in a fairly well managed firm.  (It also is not that atypical from firms we would classify as just adequately led.)  The employees rated their chances of leaving the firm on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being most likely to depart.

As you can see, as the economy improves, this firm is in danger of losing its most experienced staff- with whom the corporate history and knowledge resides.

This kind of “map” results from companies that spend lots of attention on their new hires.  As such, those who have been there for a while feel neglected.  And, their salaries are condensed compared to the new hires.  Moreover, those in the middle can sense if they are not on the fast track to success- and, if they are talented, they are more likely to abandon ship at the first opportunity that presents itself.

The  time to react is before the employee has a chance to leave.  And, as far as we are concerned, the time to react is from day one- and every day thereafter.  One not only has to insure talented staff aren’t neglected, but that all staff are provided the tools to maintain their passions.

We need to insure that we provide context for their tasks and goals.  They need to know the connection to the vision and mission of the enterprise.  And, we, as the leaders, must maintain focus on the strategy- insure that the stated strategy is the one that obtains and not just fancy words on paper.  Our projects, tasks, and goals must be aligned with our strategy- and the staff must understand that.

And, given the current political situation, we must insure that our staff doesn’t feel we have a fairness issue.  We can’t have some employees accountable and not others, nor can there be  inconsistency in pay rates. We, as leaders, must insure we provide face-to-face communication with our teams.  (If we can’t get there, we need to use video conferences or Skype-like systems.)   If these matters are not effectively handled, an entitlement mentality will develop; but worse than that, less discretionary effort will be applied to achieve goals and tasks.

Leadership is an influence process.  We have to proactively manage the situation- the efforts and mindset of our staff- and their hearts.  With meaning and purpose aligned to the projects and tasks, we all feel emotionally attached to the effort.

Leaders must praise and encourage effort- as well as employee contributions.  We must work to remove- or at least minimize- hurdles in our staff’s way.  It’s the way to keep employee spirits inspired- and to survive the improving economy with our best talent intact- and have them remain passionate for our cause.

Share this:

You are reading Follow the Leader? Only if s/he leads… by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

Most of you know I consider myself a chemical engineer first.  Oh, I’ve got lots of other hats- but I approach almost every problem using my chemical engineering training.  Which is why I use Bayesian statistics to make decisions.  Don’t panic- it is scientific, but, at least its veneer is simple to comprehend- it is basically normal logic. It works for scientific analysis, project management, even for vacation planning.

Basically, one assigns (or knows) confidence levels to the various choices or conditions.  Starting with the concept that a perfectly true statement (I am a human being) has 100% confidence level and a completely false statement or lie (I have been to the moon) has a 0 % confidence level.  The problem comes about when one must assign confidence levels (or degrees of plausibility) to those items where the choices are not perfectly clear.

So, if I know that if you don’t file your income taxes, the odds are pretty good you’ll be caught.  Say that probability is 99%.   But, if you don’t file your income taxes and you are an independent contractor, the probability of being caught is a function of whether you got a 1099 mailed to you.  No 1099- the probability is 60 to 90% (pretty wide range).  If someone issued you a 1099, then the probability of being caught approaches 100%.  (We’ll leave it at 99%, for now.)

But, there’s another issue afoot.  If you only have W-2 wage income, and your stated deductions are for 0 person (on your W-9), the IRS knows the odds of you owing them money is pretty low.  As a matter of fact, the odds are that you are due a refund.  So, the probability that the IRS will contact you drops way down- say to 25%.

The independent contractor is generally going to owe money.  The higher the gross income, the higher amount owed.  Because it’s not just income taxes that the IRS will collect, but Social Security and Medicare taxes (currently around 14.5%) on your net income.   Well, that number is exciting to the IRS, and you will serve as an  example to others, with their point of view.  So, that’s why the odds I originally assigned to this case were 99% and above.

As you can see, these are all constructs in the mind.  I don’t have the IRS computer codes at my disposal which will really set the probabilities.  And, if my original facts are wrong (I thought you requested 0 deductions on your paycheck, but either you or your employer made the mistake of saying you have 5 exemptions for withholding), then all my other modeling is incorrect.

And, therein lies the reason why we must always check and recheck the basic assumptions.   Because all it takes is one wrong assumption (or fact) to bring down the whole deck of cards.  It’s why most criminals get caught- they assume they are the smartest one in the bunch and base all their actions on that wrong assumption.

Share this:

You are reading Gut feeling? by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

Related posts:

1. Tax Myths of the Rich
2. It’s not the ides of April this year
3. Go Directly to Jail. Do NOT Pass Go!

You take a shower.  As you come out, you notice beads of water all over your body.

Nothing’s wrong.  Your body was designed that way.  Your skin contains materials that repel water, to keep you protected.  Those hydrophobic compounds (phospholipids)  that surround your cells are membranes of polyvalent phosphatidyl choline (PC).

Now, Dr. Donald Brooks (Centre for Blood Research, University of British Columbia- Pathology and Chemistry departments) led a research group from all three affiliations (comprised of Drs. Yu, Liu, Janzen, Chafeez, Horte, Chen, Kaintahn, and Kizhakkedathu) that altered the configuration of these PC membranes.  With reversed polarization, they (choline phosphate [CP])  now are hydrophilic- they attract water.  The researchers reported their results in Nature Materials.

The reverse polarization membranes were attached to and surrounded various polymers (hyper-branched polyglycerols).  And, because their polarity has been reversed, they easily attach to liposomes and cell membranes.  The strength of these bonds are a function of the density of CP groups per molecule.

These CP macromolecules then can serve two purposes.  The first concept is that they should be able to stop bleeding pretty rapidly, since they can bind exposed blood cells together.  I envision this type of product of great use to those undergoing blood-thinning therapy (coumadine, dabigatran)  [more information on Coumadin and its alternatives here] or those suffering from hemophilia.

The second use for these compounds could be for drug delivery of larger polymers.  By attaching the CP membranes to the drugs, tissues could absorb the CP bound materials, allowing for larger compounds to be delivered to the body tissues.

Share this:

You are reading The Flip Side? by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

So, here it comes- or not.  The PPACA (Obamacare) stipulates that health care insurers are required to justify their health care premiums.  And, should they spend less than 80% of those premiums on benefits (this is called the medical loss ratio ) for small companies and individuals or 85% of  large company insurance costs on benefits, they are “legally overcharging” these subscribers.

And, surprise of surprises- they are.  Now comes the next question.  The rebates are required this year- but that date is after the Supreme Court will announce its ruling on the validity of the various components of the act.  The current law stipulates the insurance company notify the Federal government by June, with the payments due by August. One can bet that the insurers will do absolutely nothing until the Supreme Court ruling is issued.

How much money are we talking about?  About $ 1.3 billion in excess premiums. Given that total health care is $ 2 trillion a year, this does not sound like much.  But, those health care costs includes all expenditures, including Medicare, Medicaid, unfunded care, and private payments.  Medicare and Medicaid cover about $ 900 billion of the total health care costs.  And, 60% of all employees (especially for the larger firms) are covered by “self-insured plans”, where the employers never use insurance (except as a stop gap ‘safety net”) and pay for health care costs directly.  Now, that rebate is looking to be a much larger component of what we all thought we were fairly paying.  (The numbers are about 6% of the total $ 21 billion in profits that the insurers reported for 2011.)

Of that $ 1.3 billion in excess premiums, about 1/3 ($426 million) is due to those who paid for their own health care.  About ½ ($541 million) will go to the larger company plans, with the remainder accruing to smaller companies ( $337 million).  These numbers were determined by the Kaiser Family Foundation.   (Note that Goldman Sachs [via Matthew Borsch] has done a similar analysis, arriving at a slightly smaller total of $ 1.2 billion.)

Don’t get too excited, though- employees will not see those rebated funds, since they are the property of the employers.  (It is possible some pass-through should be afforded employees.)  Kaiser estimates that about 1/3 of all individual policies (those paid for by the insured directly) will receive rebates, to the tune of about $127, with 28% of employees at small firms accruing about $ 76 in excess premiums and 19% of the larger firms’ employees involving about $ 72 in excess premiums.  However, these are national averages and the overcharges vary state by state.

Some of the big payers will be United Health, which will owe more than $ 300 million (of their $ 28.8 billion in premiums), Aetna, which will owe $ 177 million (on $ 11 billion in total premiums), and Wellpoint with $ 94 million ( $33.2 billion overall).   Other firms required to refund premiums will include BlueCross ( $ 250 million) and Coventry Health Care ( $ 50 million).

Now, we just have to wait for the opinion…

Share this:

You are reading Healthcare Rebates? by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.

Leadership.   Many of us talk about it.  Some of us exercise it.  We all need to learn more about it- not because we will all be leaders, but so that we can understand and recognize true leadership- and follow those who can help us reach new heights.

candid photo of Jonathan Netanyahu (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have a list of my heroes.  I’ve written about some of them.  Today, I’ll share another one with you.  One whose name you may not know (but should), but one whose actions I’ll bet you know.   Yonatan Netanyahu.

Yoni was born in Israel and migrated (temporarily) to the United States and then returned home.  He was infused with charisma, and knew that leadership was part of his mission in life.  From an early age, when he led scouts.   He graduated from Cheltenham High School (Philadelphia, PA) in 1964 as a soccer star.  You might recognize that school- it’s where Mr. October graduated- that same year- as a football star.  And, while Reggie Jackson hurt his knees and turned to baseball, Yoni left high school to return to Israel.  The land he loved and cherished.

Where he led a crack unit to help disarm the salient Egyptian forces at the start of the 6 Day War (June 1967).  Where he led another group to help stop the Syrian advance during the Yom Kipur War, six years later.  During which action, he became injured- losing part of his mobility in his left elbow.  And, still returned to the Army.  To the crack “Unit” (think of “The Unit”, the TV show created by David Mamet and Shawn Ryan or Seal Team 6).

Yoni led the Unit on a daring rescue mission.   Some 4000 km away from their base at Sharm El Sheikh (in the Sinai) to Entebbe.  Where they rescued- completely and totally- every one of the Jewish hostages (whether Israeli or not) from the Air France flight bound for Paris from Tel Aviv that had been hijacked by Palestinian Terrorists.  Yoni led the first group of 30, whose task was to exit the Hercules aircraft (the first of four such planes), kill the terrorists and any Ugandan troop blocking their way , free the hostages, and fly every one of them to Israel.    Yoni was the only casualty.

Forget the movies you’ve seen- those dramas (Operation Thunderbolt, Raid on Entebbe, Assault on Entebbe, etc.) may tell a wonderful story.  But,  Jonathan Gruber and Ari Daniel Pinchot have brought us one of the best documentaries I have seen in a long time- weaving together the stories of the times and of Yoni.  Using the words of Yoni himself, from collected letters he wrote home, to friends, to his family, and to the two women who clearly still love him- read aloud to perfection by Marton Csokas.

(Think about this folks.  Yes, parents and siblings may save letters written to them.  Wives and lovers may save them, too.   But, who saves letters from friends?  Only those who recognize that the letter writer is destined for greatness.)

You do so yourself a disservice to pass up this opportunity to learn about leadership, doubt (yes, leaders have doubts, too), duty, heroism, inner turmoil, and love.  All real characteristics of leaders.  Describing- but not glorifying- a leader.  One from whom we can learn much.  Catch “Follow Me” (which itself has captured more than a few awards)- in theaters around the US and the world now.  Honor yourselves, Yoni, Marton, Jonathan, and Ari with this 84 minute opportunity.

.

(By the way- ‘Follow Me’- that’s the mantra of Israeli military leaders.  [The phrase began with Matisyahu Maccabee, during the revolt against the Romans.]  Israeli military commanders lead the way and their troops follow.  Just like we want all our leaders to show the way.)

Share this:

You are reading Follow Me by Cerebrations, originally posted on Cerebrations. If you have enjoyed this post, please follow Dr. Roy A. Ackerman on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+!

No related posts.