LIFE Expands in Diagnostics Market

Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) along with Quidel Corporation (QDEL) recently received a 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") to market a new Clostridium (C.) difficile test of Quidel with Life Technologies' Real-Time PCR Instruments. These products will be used together to fight hospital-acquired infections, commonly known as C. difficile bacterial infection (CDI). This approval complements Life Technologies’ ongoing strategy to expand in the growing diagnostics market with innovative clinical assays and molecular testing products.

The life-threatening CDIs are commonly observed among the growing number of elderly population, especially those who are on a prolonged antibiotic regimen and are on extended hospital stays. The recent data by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is quite shocking, as it shows that there are as many as 14,000 deaths annually attributed to CDI in the U.S., costing around a billion in excess treatment to the national healthcare system. Thereby, both the companies strongly believe in the need for a speedy and efficient diagnosis and as a result, are optimistic about the prospects of their new venture in this field of development.

Recently, Life Technologies undertook various measures to strengthen its diagnostics franchise. Last September, the company launched Pervenio Lung RS, a lab-developed test distinguishing high-risk from low-risk early stage lung cancer patients. Last month, the company received 510(k) clearance for its 3500 Dx Genetic Analyzers and SeCore HLA typing kits.

According to the company, the Applied Biosystems 3500 Dx/3500xL Dx CS2 Genetic Analyzers, Invitrogen SeCore HLA Sequencing Kits and uTYPE Dx HLA Sequence Analysis Software constitute the first 510(k)-cleared, sequence-based system for HLA typing in the U.S. Moreover, the 3500 Dx is the only 510(k)-cleared Sanger sequencer commercially available for the diagnostics market. Relying on the clearance, Life Technologies expects further development of assays using the 3500 Dx. In addition, the company has plans to submit its next-generation sequencing instrument, the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM), for 510(k) clearance.
Recently, Life Technologies entered a Master Development Agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb for companion diagnostic projects. The collaboration with Bristol-Myers is in line with the company’s strategy of building partnerships with pharmaceutical majors for companion diagnostic development including the participation in early-phase clinical trials.

Earlier, the company formed a companion diagnostic partnership with GlaxoSmithKline's (GSK) MAGE-A3 cancer immunotherapy and has an assay development partnership with Gen-Probe.

The company also strengthened its diagnostics franchise with three recent tuck-in acquisitions – Compendia Bioscience (Oct 8, 2012), Navigenics (Jul 16, 2012) and Pinpoint Genomics (Jul 25, 2012). Life Technologies expects a compounded annual growth rate ("CAGR") of 15% for its molecular diagnostic franchise through 2016.

Life on Mars! Unless it's E.T., Who Cares?

If a microorganism were found on Mars, would anyone care?

NASA scientists announced on March 12 that the Red Planet could have supported ancient life — though they don't yet have evidence that it did. A sample of rock drilled by the Curiosity rover revealed conditions that could have supported ancient microbes at some point in the distant past.

The news of even potential life made headlines, and there's no doubt the discovery of actual microbial life on Mars would, too. But the impact of finding life on another world might not be as Earth-shattering as one might think, experts say. That's mainly because the life probably wouldn't be asking to be taken to our leader.

"People don't get excited about microorganisms," said Chris McKay, an astrobiologist at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.

Life on Mars?

For scientists, Mars life would be a big deal, McKay told LiveScience. Even more paradigm-altering would be to find that life on Mars originated independently.

It's plausible that Mars and Earth exchanged material in their early days, and that life found on Mars could have arisen from the same source as life on Earth. Such a discovery would be intriguing, McKay said, but "not as profound as finding that there's life on Mars and finding that it represents a second genesis."

"If we find on Mars evidence for a second genesis, that changes everything," he said. [Photos: Curiosity Finds Habitable Martian Site]

Life evolving twice in the same solar system would suggest that life is common throughout the universe, McKay explained. Such a discovery would be huge for biologists, who would suddenly have an entirely new type of biology to study.

McKay doesn't envision any major shifts in philosophy among the public in response to such a discovery, though. The discovery of microorganisms on another planet wouldn't necessarily spur the need to re-evaluate humanity's place in the universe, for example.

"I would put it along the lines of the discovery of the Higgs boson," McKay said, referring to the particle theorized to explain where other particles get their mass. "It would be that sort of level of event. It would be out in the public and people would be like, 'Oh, wow,' but mostly it would be something that scientists would get into."

Physicists announced last week they had confirmed the newfound particle discovered with experiments in the Large Hadron Collider was indeed a Higgs boson, with other physicists expressing their excitement and exhilaration of the discovery.

Life versus life

Indeed, some data suggests that even the discovery of intelligent extraterrestrials wouldn't shake human society beyond its ability to cope. One survey of more than 1,300 religious individuals released in 2011 found that believers were extremely confident that the discovery of intelligent aliens wouldn't shake their faith. [7 Theories on the Origin of Life]

"Theologians and religious leaders who have looked at this, it's surprising to me that they have so little to say — almost as if it's not interesting," said Ted Peters, a theologian at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif., who led the study.

Mars microbial life would be unlikely to have much of a theological impact, Peters told LiveScience. Most religious traditions hold that life is the creation of God, but don't commit to an exact explanation of how God did it. Life's origin could happen through chemistry multiple times throughout the solar system and not conflict with these worldviews, Peters said.

The discovery of intelligent life somewhere in the universe would be far more theologically significant, Peters said. Such a discovery could throw open fundamentally spiritual questions, he said: Are the aliens spiritual? Do they have a sense of morality, empathy or love?

Intelligent aliens could also provide answers about the evolution of religious belief, Peters said. Some scientists hold that religion is a primitive way of explaining the world, and that science will replace it, he said. If super-intelligent aliens were to both embrace science and God, it might disprove that evolutionary theory.

Discovering intelligent life would also be scientifically valuable, above and beyond any discovery that microbes evolved on Mars, McKay said. There are three big steps that get you to a species like humans: The origin of life, the evolution of complex life such as plants and animals, and, finally, the development of intelligence.

"We don't have any expectation that, on Mars, life did the other two steps," beyond possibly originating, McKay said. "Communicating with extraterrestrial intelligence takes us to the end of that comparison, so we immediately know that all three steps occurred."

Mars Could Once Have Supported Life: What You Need to Know

Mars was capable of supporting microbial life in the distant past, scientists announced today (March 12).

They reached this conclusion after studying the latest observations from NASA's Curiosity rover, which just analyzed the first-ever sample collected from the interior of a Red Planet rock.

Here are answers to a few basic questions about Curiosity's discovery, and what it means about the Red Planet's past and the rover's future.

What exactly did Curiosity find?
Last month, Curiosity drilled 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) into a rock on a Martian outcrop that mission scientists have dubbed "John Klein."

The rover's onboard Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin) and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments found some of the chemical ingredients for life in the collected powder, including sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon. The mix of compounds also suggests that the area may have contained chemical energy sources for potential Red Planet microbes, researchers said.

In addition, the sample contains clay minerals, indicating that the rock was exposed to a benign aqueous environment — such as a neutral-pH lake, for example — billions of years ago.

To be clear, Curiosity found no evidence that life has ever existed on the Red Planet. But its results suggest that the John Klein site could have supported microbes long ago, if they ever evolved on Mars or were transported there.

So what? Didn't we already know that ancient Mars was wet?
Scientists have known for years that water flowed or pooled on the surface of Mars in the ancient past. But there's more to habitability than the mere existence of liquid water.

For primitive microbial life to survive, a site must also have the right chemical makeup and a potential energy source, researchers say. And all of these ingredients were apparently present at John Klein.
Doesn't the right chemical makeup include organic compounds? Did Curiosity find any of those?

The SAM instrument can detect complex organics — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it — and Curiosity is looking for these molecules on Mars, but it hasn't found anything conclusive yet.
The rover did detect two simple chlorinated organics at John Klein, as it did in a scoop of soil at another site called Rocknest late last year. There's no sign of complicated, long-chain organics such as amino acids yet, however.

But such molecules are not necessary for life to thrive, Curiosity scientists said. Here on Earth, many microbes do just fine by incorporating inorganic carbon — such as that contained in carbon dioxide — into their metabolic processes. And SAM did detect carbon dioxide in the John Klein sample.
"That's what we're real excited about," Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena, told reporters Tuesday.

How sure is the Curiosity team about all of this?
Pretty sure. Scientists typically are careful people loath to go out on a limb about their findings (with good reason, as their colleagues will quickly snap that limb in two if it's not sturdy enough). But there was no hemming and hawing about John Klein's long-ago habitability.

"We have found a habitable environment that is so benign and supportive of life that probably — if this water was around and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it," Grotzinger said.
Does this mean life could survive on Mars today?

Curiosity's new results don't really speak to this issue, instead shedding light on Mars as it existed three billion years ago or so.

The Red Planet is much drier and colder today, making it considerably less hospitable to life as we know it. However, some researchers think Mars may still be capable of supporting microbial life, perhaps in damp, protected pockets underground.

Is Curiosity's mission over now? Hasn't it done what it set out to do?
Curiosity's main goal was to determine if the area around its landing site — Mars' huge Gale Crater — has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. And the 1-ton rover has indeed checked that box, just seven months after touching down.

However, the Curiosity team has no plans to quit now. They want to keep searching for signs of complex organics and investigate other sites, to gain a better understanding of how the Gale Crater area has changed over time. The John Klein site is not even the rover's final destination; at some point, Curiosity will turn its wheels toward interesting deposits at the base of Mount Sharp, the mysterious 3-mile-high (5 kilometers) mountain that rises from Gale Crater's center.

Scientists continue to stress that Curiosity's mission is discovery-driven, meaning they'll shape their plans around whatever the robot finds as it rolls across the Martian surface.

"Mars has written its autobiography in the rocks of Gale Crater, and we've just started deciphering that story," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Mars Could Once Have Supported Life: What You Need to Know

Mars was capable of supporting microbial life in the distant past, scientists announced today (March 12).

They reached this conclusion after studying the latest observations from NASA's Curiosity rover, which just analyzed the first-ever sample collected from the interior of a Red Planet rock.

Here are answers to a few basic questions about Curiosity's discovery, and what it means about the Red Planet's past and the rover's future.

What exactly did Curiosity find?
Last month, Curiosity drilled 2.5 inches (6.4 centimeters) into a rock on a Martian outcrop that mission scientists have dubbed "John Klein."

The rover's onboard Chemistry & Mineralogy (CheMin) and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments found some of the chemical ingredients for life in the collected powder, including sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon. The mix of compounds also suggests that the area may have contained chemical energy sources for potential Red Planet microbes, researchers said.

In addition, the sample contains clay minerals, indicating that the rock was exposed to a benign aqueous environment — such as a neutral-pH lake, for example — billions of years ago.
To be clear, Curiosity found no evidence that life has ever existed on the Red Planet. But its results suggest that the John Klein site could have supported microbes long ago, if they ever evolved on Mars or were transported there.

So what? Didn't we already know that ancient Mars was wet?
Scientists have known for years that water flowed or pooled on the surface of Mars in the ancient past. But there's more to habitability than the mere existence of liquid water.

For primitive microbial life to survive, a site must also have the right chemical makeup and a potential energy source, researchers say. And all of these ingredients were apparently present at John Klein.
Doesn't the right chemical makeup include organic compounds? Did Curiosity find any of those?

The SAM instrument can detect complex organics — the carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it — and Curiosity is looking for these molecules on Mars, but it hasn't found anything conclusive yet.
The rover did detect two simple chlorinated organics at John Klein, as it did in a scoop of soil at another site called Rocknest late last year. There's no sign of complicated, long-chain organics such as amino acids yet, however.

But such molecules are not necessary for life to thrive, Curiosity scientists said. Here on Earth, many microbes do just fine by incorporating inorganic carbon — such as that contained in carbon dioxide — into their metabolic processes. And SAM did detect carbon dioxide in the John Klein sample.
"That's what we're real excited about," Curiosity chief scientist John Grotzinger, of Caltech in Pasadena, told reporters Tuesday.

How sure is the Curiosity team about all of this?
Pretty sure. Scientists typically are careful people loath to go out on a limb about their findings (with good reason, as their colleagues will quickly snap that limb in two if it's not sturdy enough). But there was no hemming and hawing about John Klein's long-ago habitability.

"We have found a habitable environment that is so benign and supportive of life that probably — if this water was around and you had been on the planet, you would have been able to drink it," Grotzinger said.
Does this mean life could survive on Mars today?

Curiosity's new results don't really speak to this issue, instead shedding light on Mars as it existed three billion years ago or so.

The Red Planet is much drier and colder today, making it considerably less hospitable to life as we know it. However, some researchers think Mars may still be capable of supporting microbial life, perhaps in damp, protected pockets underground.

Is Curiosity's mission over now? Hasn't it done what it set out to do?
Curiosity's main goal was to determine if the area around its landing site — Mars' huge Gale Crater — has ever been capable of supporting microbial life. And the 1-ton rover has indeed checked that box, just seven months after touching down.

However, the Curiosity team has no plans to quit now. They want to keep searching for signs of complex organics and investigate other sites, to gain a better understanding of how the Gale Crater area has changed over time. The John Klein site is not even the rover's final destination; at some point, Curiosity will turn its wheels toward interesting deposits at the base of Mount Sharp, the mysterious 3-mile-high (5 kilometers) mountain that rises from Gale Crater's center.

Scientists continue to stress that Curiosity's mission is discovery-driven, meaning they'll shape their plans around whatever the robot finds as it rolls across the Martian surface.

"Mars has written its autobiography in the rocks of Gale Crater, and we've just started deciphering that story," said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program at the agency's headquarters in Washington.

Sun Life Grows Dental Biz

In an effort to grow its dental business, the life insurer Sun Life Financial Inc. (SLF) has announced it will provide its customer facility on the United Concordia Alliance network. The network has replaced the Advantage Plus Network. The service will be provided by Employee Benefits Group unit of Sun Life Financial.

The United Concordia Alliance network will thereby provide its customers with 27% more dental provider access points than the old network.

Sun Life already has an active presence in the dental insurance markets. It sells dental preferred provider organization (PPO) plans in all states in the U.S., with coverage for employees and dependents.

The plan is packaged in such a way that customers can tailor make it according to their requirements regarding deductibles, benefit waiting periods, coinsurance levels, and plan maximums. Extra benefits offered by the plan are built-in routine care, orthodontia for children and adults, and an annual maximum rollover benefit.

The company will have a braod penetration in the dental insurance markets, given that United Concordia network has 96,000 providers at more than 246,000 access points throughout the U.S.

Other players in the same industry providing dental plans are MetLife Inc. (MET), Humana Inc. (HUM) and CIGNA Corp. (CI).

During the recently reported fourth quarter earnings the company witnessed a strong growth in its Employee Benefits Group business, on the back of increased sales.

Sun Life is a leading Canadian life insurance company, with an active presence in the U.S. Over the long term we believe the company will be able to generate superior returns for its investors given a proactive approach to managing and mitigating fundamental issues.

Save the Date: Revitas to Host Life Sciences Industry Summit in Philadelphia

Revitas's annual Industry Summit: Life Sciences will be held on November 5-6, 2013 at the Four Seasons Philadelphia. This industry event features a combination of thought leadership tracks, keynote speakers, and user best practice sessions designed to showcase the power of Enterprise Revenue Dynamics.

Capitalizing on the success of last year's Summit, the 2013 Revitas Industry Summit: Life Sciences event will bring together approximately 250 Revitas customers, partners, industry professionals, and executives to learn and share best practices, and network with colleagues and industry experts.

The event will focus on the complex issues facing life sciences companies in contracting, pricing, and compliance. Last year’s industry keynote presenter Adam J. Fein, Ph.D., Founder and President of Pembroke Consulting Inc. and author of the Drug Channels website, spoke about how government regulation, shifting market lines, and increased transparency have challenged the life sciences. The 2013 Summit will push that conversation forward, addressing how the industry is handling global revenue management issues, where it is heading in 2013 and beyond, and how life sciences organizations can better manage their commercial and government contracting strategies through Enterprise Revenue Dynamics.

“Over the past year, the life sciences industry has gained some clarity through the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act ruling, but this clarity is fraught with complex regulations and new challenges,” said Al Smith, President and COO of Revitas. “Back by popular demand, the Revitas Industry Summit: Life Sciences will be an epicenter of thought leadership on the current life sciences landscape. With a global client base of midsize and large-scale companies across multiple industries, we understand the challenges of channel distribution in international markets. We’re bringing together executives and operational leaders of the foremost pharmaceutical companies to share global revenue management trends, strategies for emerging growth companies, opportunities for generics manufacturers, and forecasting and accrual tactics that will help these companies strengthen their businesses to drive revenue growth while maintaining rock-solid compliance.”

Life Fitness' Open API Changes Future of Mobile Fitness Apps, Personalized Workouts

Climb 100 floors on the stairclimber and earn a free smoothie? According to Life Fitness, the global leader in commercial fitness equipment manufacturing, these scenarios represent the new wave in fitness technology. Life Fitness introduces LFopen, the fitness industry's first and only open API (Application Programming Interface), that is changing the way exercisers interact with fitness equipment and, as a result, the future of fitness facilities.

As the first equipment-maker to open its product platform to all developers last October, Life Fitness boasts the only true open API in the fitness industry. In contrast to select partnerships with app developers, Life Fitness has made portions of its product code accessible to all developers around the world, without restrictions. This truly open integration benefits fitness facility owners looking to provide their customers with greater access to content and personalization, app developers and exercisers.

Tech Demand and All-Access App Development
According to a global survey conducted by Life Fitness last year*, access to mobile technology is extremely important for exercisers. In fact, one-third of survey respondents said they would be willing to switch gyms to gain access to WiFi, docking stations, video, audio or online content on equipment.

Using LFopen, app makers can tap into consumers' desires for fitness technology to build an endless spectrum of personalized fitness applications that work directly with Life Fitness workout equipment. Life Fitness' open API gives customers and developers access to the same API Life Fitness used to develop its own Life Fitness app and tracking website, LFconnect, with no restrictions or partnerships involved.

"Opening up our API was a bold decision, but one that allows the best creative minds to unleash their talents and develop applications we could never have dreamed up," said Chris Clawson, president, Life Fitness. "Providing an open platform means that we, as a fitness equipment manufacturer, can focus on our strength of building the best workout equipment on the market, while developers use their expertise to create engaging, motivational and personalized applications for exercisers."

As a result, exercisers can download any app with LFopen integration to create a customized gym experience tailored to their preferences. Both Android and iOS users can take advantage of apps since Life Fitness is the only fitness manufacturer whose platform is compatible with both operating systems.

Mobile Apps as the New Customer Clincher
From integration with front desk systems to enhancing on- and off-product experiences at the gym, facilities can use LFopen to attract, retain and grow with exercisers in a hyper-personalized way. Facilities can work with developers to create facility-branded apps that leverage workout presets, workout results, real time monitoring and more.

"There is a lot of confusion surrounding the term 'open API' and what it means for fitness facilities," said Clawson. "As the leader in fitness technology, we're looking forward to defining this term and showing facility owners how it can, and will, impact the future of fitness and, ultimately, their business' bottom line."

March 14th Webinar
Life Fitness will host a global webinar on the benefits of open API, led by Clawson, at 1 p.m. Eastern on Thursday, March 14th. Clawson will give details on open platform strategies and how the "open" movement will affect the fitness industry, from facility owners to app developers and exercisers. To sign up for the LFopen webinar, please register online at: www.lifefitness.com/openwebinar.

Study finds declining life span for some women

A new study offers more compelling evidence that life expectancy for some U.S. women is actually falling, a disturbing trend that experts can't explain.

The latest research found that women age 75 and younger are dying at higher rates than previous years in nearly half of the nation's counties — many of them rural and in the South and West. Curiously, for men, life expectancy has held steady or improved in nearly all counties.

The study is the latest to spot this pattern, especially among disadvantaged white women. Some leading theories blame higher smoking rates, obesity and less education, but several experts said they simply don't know why.

Women have long outlived men, and the latest numbers show the average life span for a baby girl born today is 81, and for a baby boy, it's 76. But the gap has been narrowing and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shown women's longevity is not growing at the same pace as men's.

The phenomenon of some women losing ground appears to have begun in the late 1980s, though studies have begun to spotlight it only in the last few years.

Trying to figure out why is "the hot topic right now, trying to understand what's going on," said Jennifer Karas Montez, a Harvard School of Public Health sociologist who has been focused on the life expectancy decline but had no role in the new study.

Researchers also don't know exactly how many women are affected. Montez says a good estimate is roughly 12 percent.

The study, released Monday by the journal Health Affairs, found declining life expectancy for women in about 43% of the nation's counties.

The researchers, David Kindig and Erika Cheng of the University of Wisconsin, looked at federal death data and other information for nearly all 3,141 U.S. counties over 10 years. They calculated mortality rates for women age 75 and younger, sometimes called "premature death rates," because many of those deaths are considered preventable.

Many counties have such small populations that even slight changes in the number of deaths produce dramatic swings in the death rate from year to year. To try to stabilize the numbers, the researchers computed some five-year averages. They also used statistical tricks to account for factors like income and education.

They found that nationwide, the rate of women dying younger than would be expected fell from 324 to 318 per 100,000. But in 1,344 counties, the average premature death rate rose, from 317 to about 333 per 100,000. Deaths rates rose for men in only about 100 counties.

"We were surprised" by how much worse women did in those counties, and by the geographic variations, Kindig said.

The study wasn't the first to reach those conclusions. Two years ago, a study led by the University of Washington's Dr. Christopher Murray also looked at county-level death rates. It too found that women were dying sooner, especially in the South.

Some other studies that focused on national data have highlighted steep declines in life expectancy for white women who never earned a high school diploma. Meanwhile, life expectancy seems to be growing for more educated and affluent women. Some experts also have suggested smokers or obese women are dragging down life expectancy.

The Murray and Kindig studies both spotlight regional differences. Some of the highest smoking rates are in Southern states, and the proportion of women who failed to finish high school is also highest in the South.

"I think the most likely explanation for why mortality is getting worse is those factors are just stronger in those counties," Murray said, adding that abuse of Oxycontin and other drugs also may add to the problem.

Some also think the statistics could reflect a migration of healthier women out of rural areas, leaving behind others who are too poor and unhealthy to relocate. That would change the rate, and make life expectancy in a county look worse, explained Bob Anderson of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics

"We shouldn't jump to the conclusion that more people are getting sicker in these geographic areas than previously," he said.

But that is open to debate. Migration didn't seem to affect male death rates. Murray disagrees with the theory, saying he has tracked a great deal of movement from urban areas to less-populated counties.

Life Inside the Aaron Swartz Investigation

Once your life is inside a federal investigation, there is no space outside of it. The only private thing is your thoughts, and even they don't feel safe anymore. Every word you speak or write can be used, manipulated, or played like a card against your future and the future of those you love. There are no neutral parties, no sources of unimpeachable wisdom and trust.

It is the loneliest of lonely things to be surrounded by your loved ones, in danger, and forced to be silent.

May you never experience a Federal investigation. I did, and it consumed me, and changed everyday that will come after it for the rest of my life.

It all began with a call from Aaron Swartz on a jail-room phone. This essay is my attempt to explain what happened between that call and my friend's suicide. This will not be the final word on Aaron's story, nor is it intended to be.

Two years later, these are the events as I remember them, and the feelings as I knew them.

* * *

Aaron and I were best friends. We'd been the voice in each other's ears and silent textual companions online for more than four years. We were a daily presence for each other, no matter the number of miles that separated us.

RELATED DOCUMENTATION

If you haven't been following the Aaron Swartz case, see the Editor's Note for context.
A letter from Quinn Norton to prosecutor Steve Heymann
Norton's reflection on the case shortly before meeting with prosecutors
Norton's subpoena
For the first year, we lived together. Being just roommates lasted less than a month, and we entered a powerful and sometimes difficult relationship which we decided would only last a year. We spent the next three years trying and failing to cleanly end our romance. He was an incredibly secretive person, private about our life together, his thoughts, and the events of his life. I was a nosy reporter, always trying to get things out of him. He would never tell me how much he was paid in the Reddit sale, and his reticence came a running joke between us: me prying, cajoling, pressuring, and Aaron, never giving in.

On January 6, 2011, I got a call on my mobile phone from a number I didn't recognize. Usually I don't answer unknown numbers. This time I did. I heard Aaron's voice: scratchy, distant, nearly inaudible. He'd been arrested. I didn't ask him what happened. I only asked him what he wanted me to do.

He needed bail. He had a lawyer, Andy Good, in Boston. I had to get a hold of this lawyer and find someone to bail him out. I found a local friend, who went and got out $1,000 to post Aaron's bail. I didn't ask any questions. Neither did my friend.

The rest of January went on in a strange haze. Neither of us seemed able to believe this was serious. Aaron eventually told me it was computer related, something about a wiring closet at MIT -- explaining only the contents of his arrest record.

I am a journalist of hackers. They are my beat and my friends, so I'd seen people harassed and persecuted. Some piece of research or conference presentation would suddenly become an investigation, phone calls and meetings with lawyers. We came to expect raids, surveillance, and threats from powerful men who couldn't tell the good guys from the bad in my world.

February brought the inevitable raid. The Secret Service came to his house and his office at the Harvard Ethics Center and took hard drives and computers. Aaron's phone was taken. He got an iPhone to replace it. I asked him if I could have his old phone when he got it back. He said, "Sure. It might be a while."

I knew that Law Enforcement could be terrible about getting things back in a timely manner. But I couldn't yet imagine it would be years, or that there might be a trial. Most of these cases, even the PACER affair that had interrupted life and scared us in 2009, resolved with the police simply going away.

In early March I was staying at a friend's loft in the Bay Area. Someone knocked at the door of the loft, and I ran downstairs, still dressed in my pajamas, and answered the door. It was a tall man and a short woman in blazers and unmatched trousers. They had the dowdy cleanliness of law enforcement. They said they were from the Secret Service and that they wanted to ask me a few questions. Shocked and unsure of myself, I let them in to talk to me. One should never, ever do this.

They asked about Aaron, I told them I didn't know anything. They pointed out that he'd called me, and asked what he told me. I told them I hadn't asked anything about his arrest, and they were incredulous.

Eventually I ran out of things to tell them, and they produced the real reason for their visit: a subpoena. The prosecution wanted my communications with Aaron, anything we'd shared, any time I'd talked about JSTOR or MIT or the case with anyone. It was pages of demands for my digital life with Aaron, the private world we'd shared. There was a grand jury date listed as well: "YOU ARE COMMANDED," it read.

I had to Google grand jury to find out what it was.

I did know I'd need a lawyer. I went to a lawyer friend and explained I was broke. She thought of someone she'd worked with once in Boston and gave him a call about helping with my case, pro bono. I didn't understand how any of this worked. In time, I would dub the case the "World of Shit I Don't Know."

A week before the Secret Service came to the door, my car was rear-ended by a school bus. The car itself was totaled, but I thought there'd been no injuries, just a little soreness in my neck. Within a few weeks the stress of the case and the neck pain would develop into a cycle of torturous daily migraines, a pain so rich it blotted out thought for hours a day. It was the second time this had happened to me, the first being in 2007. In both cases the standard complement of migraine medications weren't very effective: only opioids worked, and my doctor put me on Vicodin.

And so, scared, naive, and in pain, I met my lawyers Adam and Jose, from the firm Fish and Richardson in a beautiful and shiny building next door to and towering over the federal courthouse. The building looked like a modernist space station, the Jetsons with cleaner lines and an endless sense of power and money. I am a hackerspace girl who has grown up broke, sometimes too broke to eat, with a drug dealing Vietnam vet dad. I felt immediately and continually out of place. I met my lawyers many times, but I never felt comfortable.

In that first meeting, I told them I would be a good client and that I was deeply grateful for their help. I was. They told me not to talk to Aaron, that I shouldn't stay with him. I did anyway. Sometimes we just needed to hold each other. Sometimes we needed to say something. But we tried to and mostly obeyed the proscriptions on talking abut the case.

As strange as it seems now, when I was first subpoenaed, Aaron was more worried about me than him, and both of us were worried about Ada, my seven-year-old daughter. She was the light of both of our lives, and we wanted to make sure none of this would touch her. The problem was my computer. It contained interviews and communications with confidential sources for stories going back five years. The subpoena didn't actually call for my computer, but materials on my computer. Jose and Adam implied that if the prosecutor didn't think I was being honest, he might move against me, seize things.

And if the prosecutor took my computer, I would have to go to jail rather than turn over my password. I had no choice. I'd been logging all of my communications for years, professional and personal. Aaron knew this, and he was furious at me for it when he read the subpoena. It was a kind of impersonal fury, not directed at me and my decisions, but the situation itself. "Why did you log?" he asked me repeatedly. I told him that it had kept me sane in my divorce. But he already knew that, he'd been there.

These days, I not only don't log, I refuse to talk to anyone who does. I often refuse to communicate without encryption. But I had to continue to log during the investigation. I was told that changing my behavior while being investigated could be held against me, because in an investigation it is suspicious to learn from your mistakes.

Aaron and I sat together in his place one night in March. He could see I was scared and he held me. He told me that Steve Heymann, the prosecutor, had offered a deal: three months in prison, three months in some sort of halfway house, and three months probation, and one felony count. He told me he would take it if I wanted him to.

We talked about it, about what a felony count would mean to him, to his life and his dreams in politics. I thought about my father, sent away to state penn when I was 17, and how it had crushed him. He'd not lasted long after prison.

To be a felon in this country is to be a pariah, to be unlistened to. Aaron wanted more than anything to speak to power, to make reforms in the very system that was attacking him now. In most states a felon can't even vote. The thought of him not voting was unfathomable.

But the truth is I wanted him to take the plea deal and end it. I wanted to not be scared anymore, to not deal with these people anymore. Nine months didn't seem so long, and I came very close to asking him to do it. But I looked at him, and I thought about PCCC (the first of his political action groups), Demand Progress, and Washington DC, and all the work he'd done. "If you want to fight it, you should fight it," I told him. I told him I would support him.

I've spent many nights this year, awake, wishing I'd been a little more selfish that day. We were at the mercy of a man we didn't know and who we'd never met. We were in his power, but we didn't know it yet.

Aaron said Steve had been furious when he turned down the plea. He sometimes screamed at my smiling and compliant lawyers over the phone until they visibly shrank in their seats, glancing uncomfortably at each other.

Despite this, my lawyers very much wanted to play nice. They explained there were two ways to approach a prosecutor, hostile and friendly. They told me they didn't know this prosecutor, but that they favored a cooperative approach.

I wanted to be friendly and cooperative -- it was how I got through life. I didn't know anything the prosecution cared about, and I thought that maybe I could talk Steve out of the prosecution, or at least into not being so harsh. This was so obviously a ridiculous application of justice, I thought. If I just had the chance to explain, maybe this would all go away. My lawyers told me this was possible. They nursed this idea. They told me Steve wanted to meet me, and they wanted me to meet him. They wanted to set up something called a proffer -- a kind of chat with the prosecution. Steve offered me a "Queen for a day" letter, granting me immunity so that the government couldn't use anything I said during the session against me in a criminal prosecution.

I went home and started researching what a proffer actually was, and how it might work. I learned that the "Queen for a day," or proffer, letter was often used by targets of the investigation to negotiate deals of lighter sentencing in exchange for information; in short, it was the mechanics of snitching. I was outraged and disturbed. I didn't want a deal, I didn't want immunity, I just wanted to sit down and talk about the whole terrible business, to tell them why this case wasn't worth their time, and Aaron didn't deserve their attention. I didn't need a deal, and in fact, given that I had nothing to offer the government's case, I didn't think I even qualified for it.

I asked my lawyers to refuse, and we fought about it, repeatedly. They brought up things from my past that could be used against me; not criminal behavior per se, even they admitted, but they wanted me to have immunity. I had a terrible headache, and eventually gave in.

Aaron was furious. He told me not to meet Steve. But no one, including Aaron, would tell me why. No one would tell me even how to get out of it. And still I had an unshakable belief that if I could just somehow explain all this it would go away. I delayed once, too sick to go. My lawyers told me Steve was furious at my medical delay. I might be arrested. I told Aaron, and others, that I wanted to talk to Steve human to human.

As I learned more and more about the proffer, I realized it wasn't the straightforward sit down and chat Adam and Jose had told me it was. There were different types -- some quite positive -- but there seemed to be no way to tell what I was walking into. Aaron told me his lawyer was angry too, that I was being an idiot. I began to wonder (stupidly, and to myself) if he thought my contempt arrest would help his case. He wondered, loudly, whose side I was on.

My lawyers were starting to get into fights with other lawyers, sometimes screaming fights, and the lawyers' stories weren't matching up. I was getting more ill, headaches everyday and unable to get properly treated due to insurance problems. My thoughts of talking the prosecutors out of this foolish attack on Aaron were fading, even as Jose and Adam still encouraged me to try.

Mid-April was our lowest moment together, but still Aaron would come to my place to read. This was so like him. He'd grab a book like we were touching Safe in an endless and bitterly exhausting game of tag, pull my arms around him, and read to me. Sometimes, we'd fall asleep like that. It felt as if these moments were what kept us both alive.

But other times, the case would come back, intruding on our touch, creating space between us and filling it.

I knew by the week of the proffer that it wasn't what I wanted, but I saw no choice. I thought that I would be raided or possibly arrested if I tried to back out, that my lawyers would terminate their relationship with me, that I would be out on my own. All the time I was trying to hold it together for the outside world.

Aaron was not just terrified for himself, he was terrified of something happening to me. We talked about how Ada would be if I went to jail. As the proffer approached, even he turned to helping me, trying to figure out how to make the best of it.

I insisted again to Aaron that I would be kept safe by my total ignorance on the matter. He was never comforted. We accused each other and forgave each other nearly daily. We were so angry: him at my proffer, the logs I'd kept, at the person closest to him being compromised. And me, I was terribly angry at the very thing I said would keep me safe: my ignorance of his JSTOR activities. Why hadn't he told me anything? Why had he let me get sideswiped by all of this? Why, above all and for the love of God, had he gotten caught?; It was always my first rule of doing anything that power might frown upon in any way: Don't get caught.

A friend in New York told me about an old Scandinavian word exported to Scotland -- fey -- that specifically referred to the sense of the doomed approaching their last battle, unable to do anything but go forward. I wandered around gently repeating it to myself. I would argue for Aaron with the prosecution, but I knew I was too weak and sick to make the showing I'd hoped for. I was fey.

* * *

On April 13th Jose and Adam and I went to the courthouse, finding our way to a small windowless fluorescent office stacked with disused file boxes in the corners. Our office chairs barely fit around a table. A friend had given me a tweed skirted woman's suit to wear for the day. It was slightly too big, and it made me feel small and awkward. We were trying to make me look respectable, non-threatening, like one of them. We were dressing me up to walk into the lion's den. (Apparently, lions call for tweed.)

We were six at the table: my two lawyers, Steve's two Secret Service men, me, and Steve. Everyone was in suits except for Steve, who kept us waiting for a few minutes, and came in dressed in fleece and plain pants, all casual power.

I made it clear to everyone before we started that I was on Vicodin, per my doctor's orders. I produced medical records, which everyone ignored. Steve said we could take breaks any time I needed to. One of the agents and Adam took out identical legal pads to take notes on at opposite ends of the table. I was given water, and we began.

At first they didn't ask me about Aaron. They were questioning me, trying to get me to admit I knew something. They made me retell everything Aaron had told me, but it was all taken directly from their own arrest record. The harsh questioning about me threw me off balance.

They leaned in and loomed over me physically, calling me a liar, scowling and pausing and narrowing their eyes at me. I was cowed. Much of the time I spent telling them the same things, that I didn't know what he'd been doing, that I never asked what the arrest was for when he called me. They told me that was unnatural; they didn't believe me. I wanted to say, "Of course I wouldn't ask! There was a chance I'd be dealing with you people."

They said I must have known something because I was connected with hackers. They knew this, they told me, because they'd read everything I'd ever written online. I bit my lip. I fought the urge to say "If I'd known, we wouldn't be here. There's no chance you would know a thing."

They said they knew we were close because they'd found a car seat in his apartment. I really did look at them like they were idiots at that point. We'd been together for years. A simple google query would show more than a car seat.

Steve asked if there was anything I knew of to suggest why Aaron would do this, or what he thought about academic journals. I cast around trying to think of something, something that made sense to them, when Aaron had just gathered these datasets for years, the way some people collect coins or cards or stamps.

I mentioned a blog post. It was a two-year-old public post on Raw Thought, Aaron's blog. It had been fairly widely picked up by other blogs. I couldn't imagine that these people who had just claimed to have read everything I'd ever written had never looked at their target's blog, which appeared in his FBI file, or searched for what he thought about "open access" They hadn't.

So this is where I was profoundly foolish. I told them about the Guerrilla Open Access Manifesto. And in doing so, Aaron would explain to me later (and reporters would confirm), I made everything worse. This is what I must live with.

I opened up a new front for their cruelty. Four months into the investigation, they had finally found their reason to do it. The manifesto, the prosecutors claimed, showed Aaron's intent to distribute the JSTOR documents widely. And I had told them about it. It was beyond my understanding that these people could pick through his life, threaten his friends, tear through our digital history together, raid his house, surveil him, and never actually read his blog. But that seemed to be the fact of it.

It was also beyond my imagination that they could find something generous and good and think this made their case, that this was what made this case more important than all the ones they hadn't pursued. I told them academics hated the system as it existed -- everyone did, except Elsevier. I even talked about the US government mandating open access. They looked bored. The manifesto was their one happy moment in a session of frustration, anger, and veiled threats of prosecution for me. All of it -- what they cared about, what made them angry, what made them happy -- made no sense to me at all.

Steve asked if I had any last comments. I said yes. I told them I'd done this because I believed that people should be able talk plainly and be able to resolve things. I told them they were on the wrong side of this case, of history. I told them that I was trying to behave with honor, and that despite all the insults they'd thrown at me, I still believed that they could understand and see the right thing to do. I told them Aaron was an amazingly good person, that his work touched their lives everyday. I told them this case was ridiculous, I told Steve not to do this. They listened in silence. At the end of the proffer, Steve asked if I had any questions. I said yes, that I wanted to know why he was doing this. He told me that he couldn't tell me yet, but that he had good reasons. Steve told me he would tell me eventually.

I'm still waiting.

Several hours after the proffer, as Aaron and I sat in the Luna Cafe in Cambridge, it had not sunk in that I'd accidentally betrayed someone I loved. It was so mind-numbingly stupid on the part of these powerful men, these elites of law enforcement, that I couldn't conceive that I'd actually harmed Aaron.

Aaron was incredibly angry with me. I pointed out that any journalist worth a damn would have the manifesto in no time; he agreed, but said these guys weren't as smart as journalists. I said the press would uncover it when the case went public. He told me, as he had so many times before, that the press wouldn't be interested in the case. We were both wrong.

"I just went in there to tell them you were a good person, and to not do this," I told him.

"Why didn't you?" he asked me, still angry.

"I did." He looked away.

I told him I couldn't live with the thought I'd hurt him. And once again I pleaded with him. Why didn't you talk to me, let me help? I could have kept him safe. I could have at least tried. He got up and walked out, angry.

What was done was done, and we had to learn to live with it. We fought, and I apologized for the proffer. I'd done the wrong thing. I was sorry. I wanted him to apologize back, not for doing it, not for the nightmare we were living through now which I never accepted as his fault. I just wanted him to say sorry for getting caught.

Aaron told me that Steve had been viciously gleeful to Andy about the manifesto, that he'd said Aaron would never get as good a deal as he'd turned down now that they had that bit of evidence.

Later I listened to Aaron on the phone with a journalist describe downloading 400,000 law journal articles to do text analysis revealing what kind of legal research was being funded by what kind of companies in 2008, and publishing an academic paper at Stanford about it, all as explanation of why he might have downloaded the JSTOR articles. It was the best answer legally to the question I'd been asked in that small fluorescent room surrounded by big men. Listening to him say that I felt my insides collapse.

More Than 400 'Life of Pi' Visual Effects Artists Protested The Oscars

"Life of Pi" may have been a big Oscar winner Sunday night, but those responsible for bringing the CGI-filled film to life aren't celebrating.  
During one of the oddest moments of the awards, VFX supervisor Bill Westenhofer was played off the Oscar stage to the "Jaws" theme while accepting his award for "Life of Pi."

The gesture came off overtly rude to critics and VFX artists considering Westenhofer was only 45 seconds into his speech.  

The average speech of the past decade has clocked in at closer to two minutes.  

The "Jaws" music began playing during his mention of Rhythm & Hues VFX studio.  

Rhythm & Hues is the studio responsible for bringing the CGI-filled "Life of Pi" to the big screen. It took 600 of its artists to animate Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, in the film.  

It's also known for its work on "Snow White And The Huntsman" and bringing a pig to life in "Babe." 

Earlier this month, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and laid off more than 200 employees without pay. 

It's not the first VFX company to have trouble in the past few months. 
Digital Domain Media Group (DDMG), the company responsible for helping to bring "Titanic" to life on the big screen, filed for bankruptcy back in September. They were soon bought for $37 million by Beijin's Galloping Horse and  Mumbai-based Reliance Capital. 

Later in the press room, Westenhofer said he was trying to address a bigger issue on stage regarding the importance of VHX in films. 

" It’s ironic that when visual effects are dominating the box office, visual effects are struggling," said Westenhofer. "We’re artists, and if we don’t fix the business model we may lose something.” 

Earlier in the day, while the primary focus during the Oscars was on the red carpet, not far off, more than 400 VFX professionals protested the event. 
Called the "Piece of Pi" protest, plan, protestors held signs with slogans including "End The Subsidies War" and the one below:

VFX artist Todd Vaziri  created two images  showing how the film would look without its special effects. Here's one of them:

The image quickly caught on and began  spreading around the Internet , and has inspired more artists to illustrate visuals conveying a similar message.

Now the band of artists are calling for a possible world wide walk out of VFX professionals on March 14—known as "Life of Pi Day."  

Among the four awards for "Life of Pi" Oscar night, two of them were for Cinematography and Visual Effects.  

Pacific Life Announces a New Solution for De-Risking Pension Plans: Pacific Secured Buy-In

Pacific Life has launched Pacific Secured Buy-In, adding yet another dimension to the company’s already comprehensive portfolio of pension risk-transfer products.

“We’re very excited to announce this complement to our pension de-risking product suite,” says Richard Taube, vice president, Institutional & Structured Products for Pacific Life. “Pacific Secured Buy-In enables plan sponsors to de-risk their pension obligations and stabilize their corporate balance sheets and income statements without affecting plan termination. For plan sponsors who want to de-risk and without recognizing settlement losses, this is the solution they may need.”

Pacific Secured Buy-In also provides plan sponsors with flexibility for the future. The product allows the plan sponsor to convert to a Pacific Transferred Buy-Out℠ contract at any time and at no additional cost. The conversion completely transfers all future benefit obligations from the plan sponsor to Pacific Life.

With the addition of Pacific Secured Buy-In, Pacific Life's suite of risk-transfer products provides solutions for a wide range of pension de-risking scenarios. The product suite includes Pacific Insured LDI℠, a first-of-its-kind guaranteed alternative to best-efforts liability-driven investing strategies. Launched last year, Pacific Insured LDI provides plan sponsors with a unique guaranteed match of plan assets to plan liabilities. It does not require up-front payment like a buy-in or buy-out product, and it does not trigger settlement losses.“With our full suite of pension de-risking products, we have seen an increased interest from plan sponsors, consultants, and brokers,”adds Taube.“Regardless of a plan’s funded status and whether or not the ultimate goal is plan termination, Pacific Life can offer a pension de-risking solution.”

Life Partners Holdings, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend

Life Partners Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq GS: LPHI), parent company of Life Partners, Inc., announced that it would pay a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share to be paid on or about March 15, 2013 for shareholders of record as of March 8, 2013.

Life Partners is the world’s oldest and one of the most active companies in the United States engaged in the secondary market for life insurance, commonly called “life settlements.” Since its incorporation in 1991, Life Partners has completed over 147,000 transactions for its worldwide client base of over 29,000 high net worth individuals and institutions in connection with the purchase of over 6,500 policies totaling approximately $3 billion in face value.

Life, love, adventure are home's decor

Life is an adventure for Joanne Good. Take a look around the home she shares with Ted Good, her husband of 62 years. Memories of the life they built together are woven into the fabric of their comfortable home.

Traveling through Europe with their two children in a green Porsche. Summers spent in their Minnesota log cabin. All that Joanne Good has loved in life is evident throughout her home.

Now, as she serves as a 24/7 caregiver for her husband, Good is fortified by the memories that surround her.

"Everything has a memory," said Good, a retired interior designer who lives with her husband in SaddleBrooke, just north of Catalina.

The Goods traveled the globe before Ted suffered a stroke 35 years ago at age 55, and retired from Sears Foundation in Chicago. Joanne Good, who studied theater in college, had raised her children and was returning to theatrical pursuits when Ted fell ill.

"I thought I'd better get a day job," Good recalled. She got a degree in interior design, and launched her new career at age 55. She was a member of the American Society of Interior Designers before the Goods retired to SaddleBrooke 15 years ago.

She loved making the homes of others beautiful. Now she enjoys filling every corner of her home with memories of her many adventures.

"I like things that make you happy when you look at them," she said, as snow fell outside her living room window in large, soft flakes.

Among her favorite pieces are two folding space dividers, one in the family room, one in the master bedroom. Good turned the basic pieces into memories of the family's travels. Using Mod Podge, she covered them with maps, photos, postcards, tickets and other memorabilia from their journeys.

"We brought our children to Europe three times," said this great-grandmother.

"They make me happy when I walk by," she said of the customized dividers. "It brings back a memory."

Good is always working on a project, and there isn't much she cannot do with a little paint and fabric. From his wheelchair, Ted Good watches his wife work.

"Just try it," is Good's motto. "If it doesn't work out, so what. What have you got to lose?"

Fabric is an important feature in each room. Good uses yards of fabric and even tablecloths to create draperies, valances, covered headboards, throw pillows, chair coverings and lampshades.

"I have shown all of my granddaughters how to make curtains," she said.

Good started painting about 20 years ago, and her art fill the home. Her paintings are very personal - a still life of her grandmother's treasured silver coffee service purchased in 1912, angels in a desert sky, a glimpse of her dream bedroom.

In her dining room, Good painted the words "Life is an adventure" in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Norwegian.

Family history is found in every room. Good, who has no fondness for traditional end tables, uses a metal Railway Express Agency delivery truck that was her husband's childhood toy, circa 1930, as an end table. Her mother's toddler chair and her own silver baby cup adorn the room.

A silver box embellished with angels holds treasures on the coffee table, including a handwritten letter from her mother. Photos of loved ones fill a silver bowl.

Down the hallway, a third bedroom opens into a casita that the Goods added on. Some of the plans were drawn up by Joanne Good.

Included in the guest quarters are a living room, full kitchen and private patio with a stunning mountain view.

Good added a whimsical white chandelier with red accents over the kitchen sink, making washing dishes a bit more tolerable. The chandelier is stunning against the red wall and matching red window shade.

Memorabilia from World War II, where Ted Good served as a B-24 pilot, are found in the casita.

Joanne Good finds great joy in her handiwork in the master bedroom. She used fabric and paint to coordinate the retreat, complete with a cozy table and chairs - a perfect spot for an afternoon cup of tea.

Always the practical child of the Depression, Good uses inexpensive items that she personalizes to dress up a room. She created a stand for her television in the bedroom.

Good topped two file cabinets with a wooden board, covered with fabric that drapes to the floor and topped with glass for a pretty place for the television to sit.

She purchased two inexpensive white armoires and projected a floral image that she painted. A white chest at the end of her bed is painted with her father's family crest, as well as a painting of the family's log cabin in Minnesota.

But perhaps most striking in the bedroom is a brightly-colored mural that was painted in 1978 in the Good's Chicago home by muralist Betty Sitbon, before she became well-known.

The mural was painted on wallpaper, and the Goods were able to move it to their home here.

The mural tells the story of their lives. Joanne Good, in only her birthday suit, looks out her boudoir window at a young, debonair Ted. Playing in the distance are their children, Stephen and Susie. Far off in the distance is their Minnesota cabin, and an airplane, representing Ted's love of flying. Included in the mural are family photo albums, passports, favorite books and other cherished items.

"All of those things make me happy to look at," Good said.

Another mural moved from Chicago is a scene from a family expedition through Europe in a green Porsche.

The memories embedded in the home serve as a bit of diversion as Good provides full-time care for her husband.

Life Technologies to Present at Barclays Global Healthcare Conference

 Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) today announced it will present at Barclays Global Healthcare Conference on March 13 at 11:15 a.m. ET. Ron A. Andrews, Life Technologies' President of Medical Sciences, will present on behalf of the company. The company will webcast the presentation, which will be available for three weeks following the conference, on the Life.

Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) is a global biotechnology company with customers in more than 160 countries using its innovative solutions to solve some of today's most difficult scientific challenges. Quality and innovation are accessible to every lab with its reliable and easy-to-use solutions spanning the biological spectrum, with more than 50,000 products for agricultural biotechnology, translational research, molecular medicine and diagnostics, stem cell-based therapies, forensics, food safety and animal health. Its systems, reagents and consumables represent some of the most cited brands in scientific research including: Ion Torrent™, Applied Biosystems®, Invitrogen™, Gibco®, Ambion®, Molecular Probes® and Novex®. Life Technologies employs approximately 10,400 people and upholds its ongoing commitment to innovation with more than 4,000 patents and exclusive licenses. LIFE had sales of $3.8 billion in 2012.

Canada's Great-West Lifeco buys Irish Life for $1.7 billion

Canadian life insurer Great-West Lifeco bought state-rescued insurer Irish Life for 1.3 billion euros ($1.7 billion) on Tuesday in a deal that increases its presence in Ireland and lightens the Irish government's debts.

Ireland last year paid the same amount to take over Irish Life, formerly the insurance arm of bailed-out Irish Life & Permanent, after the euro zone debt crisis forced the suspension of its sale in late 2011.

Great-West Lifeco, which was the lead candidate to buy the group before pulling out of the original sale process, said it would merge Irish Life, the country's largest life and pensions company, with its own Irish unit, Canada Life.

"It allows us to achieve - with a single transaction - the leading position in life insurance, pensions and investment management," Great-West Lifeco chief executive Allen Loney said in a statement.
The Winnipeg-based company, which will fund the deal via an issuance of around $1.25 billion subscription receipts, said it would add approximately C$215 million ($212.90 million) or 10 percent to its consensus forecast earnings in 2014.

The sale, expected to close in July, will also help push the Irish government's debt to just below 120 percent of GDP this year from an estimate in December that it would peak above 121 percent, the country's finance ministry said.

It follows a 1 billion euro sale of debt in part-owned Bank of Ireland last month as the government begins to cut its exposure to the financial sector that it bailed out with 64 billion euros when a property crash ravaged the economy.

The deal provides Irish taxpayers with a full return on their investment in Irish Life, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said, adding that an additional dividend of 40 million euros would be paid to the state prior to completion.
"Today's investment by a company of their stature is a significant vote of confidence in the Irish economy and I am sure that this will lead to further investment," he said.

New group accident insurance plan from Colonial Life helps provide financial protection from the unexpected

Colonial Life has introduced a new group accident insurance plan that helps provide financial protection to working Americans who have an accidental injury. The new product, available to employers with 10 or more eligible employees, features optional coverage that pays for 24 health screening tests for employees or pays benefits if employees are hospitalized.

Accident insurance can help offset today’s rising deductibles and out-of-pocket medical costs.

Every 10 minutes, more than 700 Americans suffer an injury severe enough to seek medical help.1 And medical help comes with an expensive price tag.
Today’s employee bears a greater financial responsibility for medical costs with increased deductibles, bigger copayments and shrinking coverage. In fact, the number of employees with a $1,000 or greater annual deductible in their health plans has tripled in the past six years.2

Accident insurance provides lump-sum and daily benefits for covered accidents that can help pay nonmedical expenses and medical costs not covered by major medical insurance, such as lost income from not being able to work, rehabilitation, caregiver fees, travel costs, deductibles and coinsurance. Accident plans typically cover services such as doctor’s office visits, hospital admissions, emergency treatment, fractures, dislocations, surgery, rehabilitation, occupational therapy, X-rays and medical imaging.3 Benefits are paid directly to individual policyholders unless they specify otherwise, regardless of any other insurance they may have.

Battling life-threatening illness has changed Colleen Jones’s view on life

Watching her during this week's Scotties Tournament of Hearts Jones still has the drive and determination that helped her win three Canadian women's curling championships and two world titles. But a brush with death has given her a different perspective on the world.

Life changed for the veteran curler from Halifax back on Dec. 4, 2010, when she was struck with bacterial meningitis. That's an inflammation of the protective membranes covering the brain and spinal cord.

According to the Centers for Disease Control in the United States most people will recover but it can cause brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disabilities. It can also be fatal.

"I think there was the pre-meningitis me and the post-meningitis me," said the 53-year-old who is the second and vice-skip on Mary-Anne Arsenault's Nova Scotia rink. "I am less an A-type personality. I'm now A-minus, maybe a B-plus."

Jones is making a record 21st appearance at this week's Scotties. It's also is her first time back at the Canadian women's championship since 2006.

"I'm glad to be back," she said. "By the same token if it hadn't worked out, that's sort of life. It's not every day that when you are 53 you get an opportunity to come back and play in this event. You know time is no longer on your side. That's the reality."

For Arsenault, having Jones on her rink is like slipping on a pair of comfortable shoes.
"She is very spunky," said the massage therapist who played second on Jones's 2004 world championship team. "She adds a flavour for sure and a lot of years of ice calling.

"It's nice to have her in my corner."
Jones now looks at life through the eyes of someone who almost had everything taken away. That's brought some things into focus.

"Like any person that is going through an illness the last thing you ever think about is anything but let's survive," said the veteran television announcer.

"After that you come back with a new perspective on everything . . . enjoying the small moments and living more moment to moment, staying present all the time. Do I do that every day? No. But I try to do that every day. I try to live a less stressful life. I try to take time for the things that are really important."
Jones said she will never lose her competitive spirit, but it might be more controlled.

"I think you are born with that fire and it never goes away," said the mother of two sons. "When I step on the ice I'm excited, I'm nervous and I really want to win. That drive, I don't know if that will ever leave me.

"That's always been a battle for me, to have this perspective of balance and blissfulness. I want that but it's a total polar opposite to what I need to compete well. That polar opposite leaves in me the drive to win, that killer instinct."

Jones likes the person she has become. There was nothing really wrong with the old one, it's just the new model is a little more finely tuned.

"I didn't mind the old one but I do like living life with awareness and living with a mindfulness," she said. "I buy into the fact having more isn't important. Just being is what matters."

Jones accepts this year's Scotties could be her last. At the same time she won't stop believing the Arsenault rink has a chance to qualify for the 2014 Winter Games and she could add an Olympic medal to her collection.

"There's lots of room for pushing to do more," Jones said. "I think age is really just a number. Experience is a powerful tool. We're lucky enough to play in a sport where you could play a long time.

"As an old country tune by Toby Keith says, I'm as good once as I ever was."

Life in prison for rights violators in Argentina

Seven retired military officers were sentenced to life in prison for rights abuses committed during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship, officials said Saturday.

The seven were found guilty of kidnapping, torture and homicide in the case of 69 people who were held at navy bases in the city of Mar del Plata, 400 kilometers (250 miles) south of Buenos Aires.

The case was brought by relatives of victims and rights groups including the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

Sixteen people were originally indicted, but two died before the trial could end and a third was absolved for health reasons, the Center of Judicial Information, an office attached to Argentina's Supreme Court, said in a statement.

Retired army general Alfredo Arrillaga and six retired navy officers -- Juan Jose Lombardo, Raul Alberto Marino, Roberto Pertusio, Rafael Guinazu, Jose Lodigiani and Mario Forbice -- were all sentenced to life in prison..

Four other members of the navy were sentenced to 25, 14, 12 and three years respectively, while two top civilian police prefects were sentenced to 14 and 10 years respectively.

The sentence was handed down on Friday, the Judicial Information office said.
Some 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and killed in what became known as Argentina's "dirty war," according to rights groups. Victims included Montonero guerrillas, labor union activists, students, leftist sympathizers and in some instance, their relatives and friends.

A blanket pardon for crimes committed during the dictatorship was overturned in 2003, paving the way for scores of lawsuits.

The 28th March of Resistance of Mothers and Grandmothers of the Disappeared on December 11, 2008 at Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires. Seven retired military officers were sentenced to life in prison for rights abuses committed during Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship, officials said Saturday.

Life Time Fitness Announces Date for Release of Fourth Quarter 2012 Financial Results

Life Time Fitness, Inc. (LTM), The Healthy Way of Life Company, today announced that the Company is scheduled to release its fourth quarter and full-year 2012 financial results on Thursday, February 21, 2013. A conference call to discuss the results will be held at 10:00 a.m. ET.

Bahram Akradi, chairman, president and chief executive officer, Michael Robinson, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and John Heller, senior director, investor relations and treasurer, will host the call.

The conference call will be webcast live and may be accessed via the Company's Investor Relations section of its website at lifetimefitness.com. A replay of the call will be available beginning at approximately 2:00 p.m. ET on February 21, 2013.

Life Technologies Announces Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2012 Results

Life Technologies Corporation (LIFE) today announced results for its fourth quarter for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012. Non-GAAP revenue for the fourth quarter was $999 million, an increase of 3 percent over the $970 million reported for the fourth quarter of 2011. Excluding the impact of currency, revenue growth for the quarter was 4.5 percent compared to the same period of the prior year. Full year 2012 revenue was $3.8 billion, an increase of 2 percent over 2011. Excluding currency, revenue growth was also about 2.2 percent over the prior year.

"We started the year with a promise to our shareholders to grow our underlying business, invest in growth markets and regions, deliver on a balanced capital deployment strategy and introduce innovative new products to serve our customers even better. I am extremely pleased that our team remained focused and delivered against this promise, growing revenue and earnings for the thirteenth year in a row," said Gregory T. Lucier, chairman and chief executive officer of Life Technologies.

"We finished the year strong with fourth quarter revenue growth ahead of our expectations at 4.5 percent driven by strength in our Ion Torrent business, which recorded its highest revenue quarter ever. We also achieved a solid return to growth in our Research Consumables business and continued strong performance in our Bioproduction business. We expect the strength we saw across all regions and end markets as we exited 2012, including continued double digit growth in emerging markets, to provide momentum in 2013."
"With $662 million in free cash flow, we were able to return a significant amount of capital to shareholders. We ended the year having repurchased $635 million, or 13.8 million shares in total, well above our 50 percent target.  Additionally, we have already repurchased $105 million, or 2 million shares, year-to-date in 2013."

"Looking ahead to 2013, we expect another significant increase in our Ion Torrent business sales for the third consecutive year and expansion in our applied and emerging markets to drive revenue growth of 3 to 5 percent over 2012 results of $3.8 billion.  If sequestration is implemented, we estimate it would reduce our revenue by approximately 1 percent and we would expect to be at the low end of our guidance range, at 3 percent growth for 2013. We are guiding to non-GAAP EPS in a range of $4.30 to $4.45, which would result in 8 to 12 percent growth over 2012 results."

Life Technologies reported results compared to the quarter and fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2011. Results are non-GAAP unless indicated otherwise. A full reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures to GAAP can be found in the tables of today's press release.

Analysis of Fourth Quarter and Fiscal 2012 Results
Fourth quarter revenue increased 3 percent over the prior year, or 4.5 percent excluding the impact of currency. Full year 2012 revenue increased 2 percent to $3.8 billion. Revenue growth for the quarter and the full year were driven by strong sales from the Ion Torrent business and growth in the company's Research Consumables and Bioproduction businesses, partially offset by expected declines in SOLiD® sales and qPCR royalty revenue.

Gross margin in the fourth quarter was 64.6 percent, a 20 basis point increase compared to the same period of the prior year primarily driven by manufacturing productivity, partially offset by a higher mix of instrument sales and unfavorable currency rates. Full year gross margin was 65.6 percent, an increase of 40 basis points, primarily due to improved product mix and higher realized price, offset by the decrease in qPCR royalties and unfavorable currency rates.

Operating margin was 29.9 percent in the fourth quarter, approximately 70 basis points lower than the same period of the prior year. Operating margin was primarily impacted by unfavorable currency rates and expenses related to our acquisitions in molecular diagnostics. Full year operating margin increased 20 basis points to 29.2 percent. The increase was driven primarily by an increase in gross margins and improvement in currency, partially offset by higher expenses related to our acquisitions in molecular diagnostics.

The tax rate was 27.2 percent for the fourth quarter and 27.6 percent for the full year.
Fourth quarter EPS increased 6 percent to $1.11. Full year EPS increased 7 percent to $3.98.  Fourth quarter and the full year were negatively impacted by $(0.03) due to the timing of the 2012 federal R&D tax credit benefit being moved from the fourth quarter of 2012 to 2013. The company's fourth quarter and full year 2012 guidance had assumed the reinstatement and benefit of the federal R&D tax credit by the end of 2012.

Diluted weighted shares outstanding were 175.8 million in the fourth quarter, a decrease of 8.8 million shares over the prior year. The decrease was a result of the continuation of the company's share repurchase program, partially offset by shares issued for employee stock plans. The company repurchased $100 million or 2.0 million shares in the fourth quarter.

Cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter was $221 million. Fourth quarter capital expenditures were $48 million, resulting in free cash flow of $173 million. The company ended the quarter with $276 million in cash and short-term investments.

Business Group Highlights
Research Consumables revenue was $409 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 2 percent compared to the prior year. Excluding the impact from currency, revenue for the business group grew 4 percent. Full year revenue increased 1 percent to $1.6 billion, or 2 percent excluding the impact from currency. Growth for the quarter and full year was mainly driven by strong performance in our cell culture, sample prep and benchtop products.

Genetic Analysis revenue was $401 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 2 percent over the same period last year. Excluding the impact from currency, revenue increased 4 percent. Full year revenue was flat at approximately $1.5 billion, or up 1 percent excluding the impact from currency. Growth for the quarter and the full year was primarily driven by a substantial increase in our Ion Torrent business, including sales of the Ion PGM™ instruments and Ion Proton™ System, partially offset by an expected decline in SOLiD instrument sales and in qPCR royalty revenue.

Applied Sciences revenue was $190 million in the fourth quarter, an increase of 8 percent over the same period last year. Excluding the impact from currency, revenue increased 10 percent. Full year revenue increased 7 percent to $719 million, or 8 percent excluding the impact from currency. Growth for the quarter was primarily driven by increased sales in Bioproduction and Forensics products. Growth for the full year was primarily driven by increased sales in Bioproduction.

Regional revenue growth rates excluding currency for the fourth quarter compared to the same quarter of the prior year were as follows: the Americas were flat, Europe grew 5 percent, Asia Pacific grew 18 percent and Japan grew 6 percent. Full year growth rates excluding currency were as follows: the Americas declined 1 percent, Europe grew 2 percent, Asia Pacific grew 13 percent and Japan grew 3 percent.

Fiscal Year 2013 Outlook
Subject to the risk factors detailed in the Safe Harbor Statement section of this release, the company provided its expectations for fiscal year 2013 financial performance. The company expects revenue growth, excluding currency, of 3 to 5 percent over 2012 revenues of $3.8 billion. If sequestration is implemented, it would reduce revenue by approximately 1 percent and the company would expect be at the low end of the guidance range, at 3 percent growth for 2013. The company expects non-GAAP EPS to be in a range of $4.30 to $4.45.  At December month end rates, currency negatively impacts revenue by $(2) million and non-GAAP EPS by about $(0.01). The company will provide further detail on its business outlook during the webcast today.
Webcast Details

The company will discuss its financial and business results as well as its business outlook on a webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET today. This webcast will contain forward-looking information that includes a discussion of "non-GAAP financial measures" as that term is defined in Regulation G. For actual results, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and information reconciling these non-GAAP financial measures to the company's financial results determined in accordance with GAAP, as well as other material financial and statistical information to be discussed on the webcast will be posted on the company's investor relations website at https://ir.lifetechnologies.com.

Irish Life offers free €500m of life cover

Irish Life plans to give up to €500m of life assurance for free for up to 20,000 adults to highlight the importance of having cover.

The company will give cover of €25,000 for a year to 20,000 adults.

Irish Life has also published its findings from a study on customer attitudes to life assurance. Key findings from the survey of 1,000 people include:

* 60% of adults in Ireland do not have life insurance which often means that dependants could face significant financial problems in the event of their death;

* 56% of people say they could struggle financially in the event that something would happen to them. This is an increase of 10% (from 46% to 56%) from March 2011.

* 34% of adults assume the cost of cover is significantly more expensive than it typically is — they assume that €100,000 of cover will cost more than €50 a month.

Gerry Hassett, chief executive, Irish Life Retail, said: "In fact, for €100,000 cover with our Term Life Insurance plan, the price could be less than a third of that amount — just €15 per month for an adult aged 40 or younger, over a 10-year term who is a non-smoker and is in good health.

"Life insurance should be at the core of every family’s financial planning. Last year, Irish Life paid out €83m in death claims to 1,168 families. However, what may surprise people is that over half of this amount, €45m, was paid in respect of people younger than 55 years old, which is the upper age limit on our Free Parent Insurance promotion."

Now Browsing | The L.A. Art Book Fair

New Yorkers who love books and art look forward each year to Printed Matter’s N.Y. Art Book Fair. Now the event has a West Coast companion: Printed Matter’s first L.A. Art Book Fair opens today, at the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen Contemporary space in downtown Los Angeles. The fair’s director, AA Bronson, is an artist who is the former president of Printed Matter, a nonprofit organization devoted to publications by artists, and who conceived the original fair in 2005.

Bronson has long wanted to bring the art book fair to L.A., because it is where so many of his New York exhibitors are based. “Los Angeles is a hotbed of alternative publishing,” he says, “even though many people in the art world might not think of L.A. as a serious place for publishing.” Putting to rest once and for all the notion that Angelenos don’t read and that they all spend their time surfing or perfecting their tans, Bronson has assembled an impressive roster of exhibitors (220 from over 21 countries), events and special installations for the fair’s L.A. debut.

The online bookshop Book Stand’s display focuses on books about plants, including “the southwest,” a new booklet featuring the artist Ye Rin Mok’s photographs of unusual vegetation that she encountered on an impromptu drive through Utah and Arizona. Marc Jacobs’s Bookmarc, one of L.A.’s few independent bookstores, will host a book signing with the illustrator Jean-Philippe Delhomme for “The Unknown Hipster Diaries,” and small Los Angeles publishers like Iko Iko, other wild, and the L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urbanism will display their wares alongside those of many of the city’s museums. Because L.A. is considered “the center of the zine universe,” says Bronson, he invited the curator Darin Klein to organize “Zine World,” a series of exhibitions and events focusing on cult classics like “Skate Fate” and “Bedwetter,” while Printed Matter added an exhibition of pioneering zine makers like Raymond Pettibon, Dash Snow, Mark Gonzalez and Ari Marcopoulos.

The L.A. Art Book Fair is a “smorgasbord for sure,” says Bronson, who hopes it will become an annual event. “It’s become its own thing. We knew it would be very different from the N.Y. fair and we didn’t try to shape it, but allowed it to take its own shape. There are lots of layers to the city’s art book world that are waiting to be discovered.”

The fair is free and open to the public from Feb. 1 through Feb. 3 at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, 152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles. See the book fair’s Web site for detailed event schedules as well as a list of neighborhood restaurants.

Joint Life Insurance: Policies Built for 2

Married couples looking for a way to lower the cost of life insurance or to make sure their estate is protected from taxes when they die may want to consider joint life insurance.

Not as common as individual life insurance, joint policies are designed to enable two people, typically spouses, to share in one life insurance plan. Joint life insurance comes in two flavors: first-to-die, which pays out to the surviving spouse after the first dies; and second-to-die, or survivorship, which pays a death benefit to the heirs after both spouses are gone.

"First-to-die and second-to-die generally have different purposes," says Steven Brostoff, a spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based trade association the American Council of Life Insurers. "Second-to-die can be used to help pay estate taxes and/or to provide a financial legacy to children, while first-to-die is more suited for young couples with children -- to replace lost income or services provided by the deceased parent."

Consumers may purchase a joint policy either as term life insurance, covering only a set number of years; or permanent life insurance, protecting one or both spouses for an entire lifetime. The most common way joint life insurance is sold is as permanent universal life, with a "cash value" savings component that grows, say insurance experts. "About 80% is in a version of universal life," says Kevin Finneran, a vice president with New York-based insurer MetLife.

Second-to-Die Protects Your Heirs
Second-to-die, or survivorship, life insurance is offered by a handful of insurers and is typically geared toward affluent people concerned about the potential for hefty estate taxes on what they leave behind. For 2013, the estate-tax exemption will be $5.25 million for individuals and $10.5 million for married couples, which means an estate has to be worth more than the threshold for the tax to kick in.

"Because estate taxes are only applicable to a small percentage of (very wealthy) people that die each year, those policies are very large," says Elaine Tumicki, corporate vice president of product research for LIMRA, an insurance and financial services trade group based in Windsor, Conn. The policies make up "a relatively small piece of the insurance market," she adds.

It's not unreasonable to estimate that a $1 million joint survivorship policy would be 20% cheaper than two $500,000 individual life policies, Finneran notes. Premiums and savings will vary based on the insurer and the age and health of the persons being insured.

Besides being economical, another benefit of a second-to-die policy is that it provides a level of protection to those whose health might bar them from getting their own individual life insurance policy. "It can be a way for a person who would not qualify for a single life policy to get some coverage, assuming the other spouse is insurable," Finneran says.

First-to-Die Helps Maintain a Lifestyle
First-to-die joint life insurance is less common than second-to-die, but it is sold by some better-known insurers. For example, State Farm offers a joint universal life policy in which the death benefit is paid when the first spouse dies. Coverage starts at $100,000 and is available for people ranging in age from 20 to 85.

A first-to-die policy may be the right product for married people who want a surviving spouse to be able to maintain a certain lifestyle but wants to pay less than the cost of two individual polices.
"It's only paying out once, so naturally it will be less than two payouts" and that makes the cost lower, says Brostoff, of the American Council of Life Insurers.

But don't expect a first-to-die policy to be substantially cheaper than two individual policies. There isn't enough of a market yet for this particular type of joint life insurance to drive premiums drastically lower, says Finneran. Plus, since there is only one payout, there may be a need for the surviving spouse to spend money on new coverage after the other dies.

Divorce Can Break Up the Joint
Whenever anyone considers a first-to-die or survivorship policy, one of those "let's not go there" but must-be-addressed questions is: What happens if there's a divorce?

In the event that the two members of a covered couple decide to go their separate ways, these insurance plans can come with optional riders or clauses that provide for the right to split the policy into two individual ones. Keep in mind that there can be restrictions on when the policy may be split, says Finneran, of MetLife. In some cases, a couple must be divorced for a certain length of time before the right to split the policy can be exercised.

Experts advise couples shopping for joint life insurance not to sign up for any policy before making sure a divorce clause is included. If it's not, find a different policy. You want a joint life policy that will allow you to disengage, says Tumicki, of LIMRA.

"Getting divorced is a very difficult question the couple needs to resolve before they purchase the (joint life insurance) policy," Brostoff adds. "Even though you don't want to think about it, it does happen."

Oceanside Selected as the 2013 Life Time Tri Championship Event

Life Time (NYSE: LTM), the Healthy Way of Life Company, today unveiled that the 2013 Life Time Tri championship event will be held on Sunday, October 20, 2013 in Oceanside, Calif. In its inaugural year, Life Time Tri Oceanside is expected to host more than 1,500 of triathletes as the final of 12 Life Time Tri events across the country.

“Oceanside is recognized worldwide as a sought-after triathlon destination,” said Kimo Seymour, vice president, Life Time Athletic Events. “Nestled between San Diego and Los Angeles, Oceanside is a challenging, scenic course—a truly unique experience for triathletes of all abilities—and the perfect conclusion to our 2013 Life Time Tri schedule.”

Life Time Tri Oceanside will start with a 1.5-kilometer swim in the waters of Oceanside Harbor, which has an average water temperature of 63-65 degrees in late October. Athletes will enjoy an ocean front transition before starting a 40-kilometer bike course along the San Luis Rey Mission Expressway. The 10-kilometer run course follows white, sandy beaches allowing for a spectator-fueled finish adjacent at the historic Oceanside Pier. To keep Life Time Tri Oceanside accessible to athletes with a concentration on short course format, as well as beginner athletes, the event also will feature a shorter sprint distance race.

“We are honored that Oceanside has been chosen from among some of the country’s most spectacular destinations to host Life Time Tri’s championship event,” said Leslee Gaul, chief executive officer and president, Visit Oceanside. “With its accessibility to major west coast markets, stunning beauty and tourism infrastructure, Oceanside will resonate with both athletes and spectators alike.”

Along with professional athletes from around the world, Life Time Tri events attract more than 25,000 elite and age group athletes each season. Professional and elite triathletes will compete in international-distance and relay team competitions on courses. To keep Life Time Tri races accessible to athletes of all ages, kids events are available in select markets.

To register for any of the Life Time Tri events, visit lifetimetri.com, the official website of Life Time Tri. You also can stay updated with the latest information from Life Time Tri on Twitter by following @LifeTimeTri and by liking the Life Time Tri Facebook page.

Life insurers eye Asia deals to boost profit - Moody's

European and U.S. life insurers will seek takeovers in booming Asia and put more money into riskier assets this year to bolster flagging profits, Moody's said on Monday.

The outlook for developed world life insurers is negative, Moody's said in its annual overview of the sector, with investment income under pressure from rock-bottom rates, and sales wilting as stagnant economies force consumers to retrench.

Life insurers will likely respond by buying up rivals in faster-growing emerging markets, and by increasing their investment in riskier assets that yield higher returns, Moody's said.

Recent emerging market acquisitions by European insurers include Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) 's takeover of Thailand's Thanachart Life in November (Xetra: A0Z24E - news) last year, and Zurich Insurance Group's purchase of Santander (Madrid: SAN.MC - news) 's Latin American insurance unit in 2011.
Insurers seeking to boost their investment returns could put more money into equities, infrastructure or direct commercial loans.

Sovereign and corporate bonds, traditionally seen as low risk, accounted for 62 percent of European life insurers' investment portfolios at the end of 2011, according to Moody's.

Central banks in the United States and Europe slashed interest rates close to zero to prop up the economy in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis, dragging down bond yields, and eating into insurers' investment income.

Life insurers in Germany and France, whose best-selling products are savings policies that offer customers guaranteed minimum returns, have been hardest hit. Many are cutting their guarantees and trying to sell more alternative products where investment risk is borne by the customer.

U.S. and European life insurers face a further threat this year from potential sovereign debt crises, amid lingering worries over the creditworthiness of peripheral euro zone countries, Moody's said.

Last year, Moody's downgraded the credit rating of Spanish and Italian insurers, and also changed the outlook for pan-European players Allianz, Axa (Paris: FR0000120628 - news) and Aviva (LSE: AV.L - news) to negative, reflecting their heavy exposure to bonds issued by critically-indebted euro zone nations.