The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Intel Collaboration

The Michael J. Fox Foundation and Intel Join Forces to Improve Parkinson’s Disease Monitoring and Treatment through Advanced Technologies

Islamabad, August 19, 2014. — The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) and Intel Corporation announced today a collaboration aimed at improving research and treatment for Parkinson’s disease — a neurodegenerative brain disease second only to Alzheimer’s in worldwide prevalence. The collaboration includes a multiphase research study using a new big data analytics platform thatdetects patterns in participant datacollected from wearable technologiesused to monitor symptoms. This effort is an important step in enabling researchers and physicians to measure progression of the diseaseand to speed progress toward breakthroughs in drug development.

Data is collected from Parkinson's patients via wearable devices, and housed in an open platform for analysis that may lead to new insights and improvements in care via a new partnership between Intel and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

“Nearly 200 years after Parkinson’s disease was first described by Dr. James Parkinson in 1817, we are still subjectively measuring Parkinson’s disease largely the same way doctors did then,” said Todd Sherer, PhD, CEO of The Michael J. Fox Foundation.“Data science, wearable computing and data from other sources hold the potential to transform our ability to capture and objectively measure patients’ actual experience of disease, with unprecedented implications for Parkinson’s drug development, diagnosis and treatment.”

Anonymous patient data is aggregated and analyzed for new insight into Parkinson's disease via a new partnership between Intel and the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

 “The variability in Parkinson’s symptoms creates unique challenges in monitoring progression of the disease,” said Diane Bryant, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Data Center Group. “Emerging technologies can not only create a new paradigm for measurement of Parkinson’s, but as more data is made available to the medical community, it may also point to currently unidentified features of the disease that could lead to new areas of research.”

Pakistan sees a rise in remittances this Ramadan

Pakistan sees a rise in remittances this Ramadan

Islamabad-Pakistan, August 04, 2014: Xpress Money, one of the world’s most dependable money transfer brand, saw a 15 percent rise in remittances to Pakistan, on account of Eid-UL-Fitr. This is a positive indicator in line with the Government’s effort to strengthen the foreign exchange reserves of the country. 

There has been an increasing trend of Pakistani expats starting to save and send back a little extra money from June onwards for Ramadan, Eid ul Fitr and Eid ul Azha. To set the festive mood and bring smiles to their families and friends back home, remittances for the month of June 2014 were US $ 1,499.28 mn, higher by 28.56 % as compared to June 2013 (US $ 1,166.19 mn)[i]. 

Mr. Rizwan Ali Hamdani, Country Manager – AFPAK, Xpress Money said, “Traditionally, remittance inflows increase during the Holy Month, which concludes with the festivities of Eid-ul-Fitr. On an average, semi-skilled workers remit about 70- 80% of their earnings each month, however, during Ramadan they try and save 10% more to send back to their families to celebrate the festival with grandeur.” Workers manage to save the extra money by making fewer calls home and by cutting down on their meal expenses by attending Iftars organized by Mosques and Corporates. 

To add value to their efforts, Xpress Money is currently running the ‘Win Everyday’ promotion wherein customers transferring money to Pakistan from UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, UK, Malaysia, Greece, Maldives and Brunei, can win PKR 25,000 daily and PKR 5,00,000 at the end of the promotion, which concludes on August 12, 2014. 

“Eid is a special festival for me and my family. Each year I save for this occasion so that I can send more money home. Besides saving, I also aim to capitalize on the on-going promotions to get that extra money”, said Abdul Mansoori, a factory worker from Pakistan working in KSA.