BELLEVUE, Wash., Nov. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Viome Life Sciences, a mission-driven systems biology company aiming to help individuals improve their health, today announces its raise of $54M in a pre-series C convertible funding with participation from existing investors and new investors. This raise follows a $56M series B round announced in November 2019, bringing Viome's total funds raised to date to over $125M.

The latest round of funding will support expanded clinical research targeting aggressive cancers and chronic diseases, eventually leading to the development of early-stage diagnostics and therapeutics. Viome Life Sciences has partnered with leading medical clinics to research pancreatic cancer, bile cancer, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancers, gynecological cancers, and head, neck, and shoulder cancers. The results of the clinical trials will be used to expand the ability of Viome Life Sciences' proprietary mRNA platform to screen for early-stage cancers. Viome Life Sciences is also doing clinical research using its proprietary mRNA platform to develop much-needed therapeutics targeting Alzheimer's, metabolic diseases, and mental health.

This fresh capital validates a year of tremendous growth by the health and life sciences leader and will be used to accelerate the development of Viome's mRNA platform focused on prevention, diagnosis, and therapeutics for chronic disorders, cancers, and aging. Viome Life Sciences recently hired healthcare veteran Dr. Emmanuel Hanon (former Global Head of R&D, Vaccine, at GSK) to drive this effort, and under his leadership, the company received FDA breakthrough device designation for its mRNA technology and AI platform to screen for early-stage oral cancer and throat cancer. Most recently, Viome and GSK announced a clinical validation trial and expansion of their partnership to develop new therapeutic interventions for select cancers and autoimmune diseases.

Viome has relocated its lab operations to a state-of-the-art, 25,000 sq. foot laboratory in Bothell, Washington, to support its exponential increase in consumer demand. With this relocation, Viome has been able to increase capacity by 10 times when processing samples and reduce the turnaround time for results down to 2 weeks or less. The increased capability has also supported Viome's recent expansion to 15 new countries: Australia, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden.

"The technological advancements that Viome has been able to make in the last year are nothing short of remarkable, and would not be possible without the support of our dedicated team. With each new development, we are getting that much closer to making illness optional and empowering individuals to own their own health and wellbeing," said Viome Life Sciences Founder & CEO Naveen Jain. "We are privileged to have the continued support and backing from our investors and board, and look forward to an even more dynamic year ahead."

Returning investors for this round include Khosla Ventures, West River Group, Glico, Physician Partners, and Bold Capital Group, showing their continued support and confidence in the company's growth and success. Ocgrow Ventures also participated in this round as a new investor. Harish Consul, Founder & CEO of Ocgrow Ventures will be joining as a Board Observer.

"Viome is rapidly scaling to become a global leader in the longevity space, to promote better health outcomes today and our future generations, with exceptional innovation," said Harish Consul, Founder & CEO, Ocgrow Ventures."The Viome team continues to accelerate leading AI-driven techniques to analyze gut microbiome data, which is leading to breakthrough new discoveries to help solve the root causes of so many chronic diseases to benefit all humanity."

"The future of healthcare is individual and personalized, and few companies have been driving innovation in this space as rapidly as Viome," said Vinod Khosla, Founder & CEO of Khosla Ventures. "We are proud to support Viome's efforts to find early diagnostic and potential therapeutics for chronic disorders and cancers."

"Viome has made incredible progress in a short amount of time toward solving some of the biggest healthcare problems facing our society today," said Erik Anderson Founder & CEO of West River Group. "We are proud to be able to support Viome in working toward a world without chronic diseases and cancers."

"Extending the healthy, human lifespan is a goal I share with my dear friend Naveen Jain, and his continued exploration of gene expression through Viome's proprietary mRNA technology is helping to make this a reality," said Dr. Peter Diamandis, Co-Founder of Bold Capital Partners. "Since its founding, Viome has set and achieved audacious goals and I am excited to see what Naveen is able to achieve in the next five years."

About Viome Life Sciences

Viome Life Sciences is a mission-driven systems biology company founded in 2016 totackle the epidemic of chronic diseases, cancer, and aging. To help individuals improve their health and to better understand the root of chronic diseases, Viome is strategically split into two divisions. Viome Consumer Services is focused on growing its established consumer products including tests, nutrition plans, and supplements. Viome Health Sciences is devoted to advancing its precision diagnostics and therapeutics platform. By conducting mRNA analysis at a mass scale, Viome is digitizing human biology and ultimately stopping the onset and progression of chronic diseases. Recently, Viome garnered FDA Approval for its unique mRNA technology and AI platform to detect cancers and has already successfully developed over 30 predictive models for some of the most prominent chronic diseases. For more information, visit https://www.viomelifesciences.com/

Media Contact

Kendall Donohue

viome@factorypr.com

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Viome Life Sciences Raises $54M To Accelerate Development of its mRNA Platform for Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapeutics for Chronic Disorders,...

Who does not want to live a long, happy and healthy life? Unfortunately, there is no one formula that promises to increase your lifespan. However, there are some factors that can aid longevity. Developing habits that are conducive to a long life does help. As per research published in the journal Frontiers in Ageing Neurosciences, one lifestyle habit has been highlighted as the way to achieve longevity. As per the research paper titled, "Human longevity is associated with regular sleep patterns, maintenance of slow the first step towards working for longer life". Here are the three main findings of the study. - The maintenance of slow-wave sleep in the oldest-old individuals when compared to older adults.- The existence of strictly regular sleep patterns among the oldest old individuals.

- The occurrence of a favourable lipid profile in these individuals.

The signature of sleep ECG in the brain of oldest-old individuals was also described. These findings support the role of sleep and lipid metabolism control in the maintenance of longevity in humans.

For the unversed, a lipid profile is a blood test that measures the amount of cholesterol and triglyceride in the blood. High levels of triglyceride in the blood can increase one's risk of heart disease.

Thus, regular sleep can reduce the risk of heart disease, which is a major killer worldwide.

Here are some simple steps to sleep better:

Make a sleep schedule and stick to itGo to bed and wake up at the same time every day. Plan to sleep for at least 7-8 hours each day.

Say no to caffeine and nicotine before bedtimeNicotine, caffeine and alcohol can disrupt your sleep. Also, avoid heavy and spicy foods to avoid indigestion and get a peaceful sleep.

Create a restful environmentDark, cool and quiet places without a buzz of electronic activity help one fall asleep. Do not put a TV in your bedroom.

Say NO to day-time naps

Read more:
Living longer: This one daily habit is linked to a longer lifespan (and is free) - Times of India

According to the engineer and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, in the next ten years we are likely to experience as much technological change as in the past 100 years. The technologies of the fourth industrial revolution are set to become far more widespread and accessible. They will also converge in ways that create new value.

Companies and governments around the world are developing modernization strategies to use these new technologies, which include artificial intelligence, cloud-based services and internet of things. The success of any organization's digital transformation, however, is not entirely dependent on state-of-the-art technology; it depends on human capital, too. This is one aspect of technological change management that persistently gets forgotten.

Human security as an after-thought

Security is often an after-thought in technological design and implementation, despite the grave threat cyber attacks pose to business continuity, service delivery and intellectual property protection. With the rise of more advanced encryption and security protocols, malicious actors have increasingly sought to compromise the weakest link the human beings who interact with these systems. It is no surprise that ransomware attacks have increased threefold in just the first half of 2021. The cybersecurity skills gap becomes more acute as new technologies create more complex digital supply chains. Here are some key ways to increase human security:

According to the 2020 Forums Future of Jobs report, skills gaps in the local labour market and the inability to attract the right talent remain among the leading barriers to the adoption of new technologies. Building a future-proof workforce will depend on properly defining the skills needed, and providing opportunities for people to train. The cybersecurity sector needs a diverse range of experience, expertise and thinking to tackle the enormous challenges ahead.

Skills gaps and the inability to attract the right talent remain among the leading barriers to the adoption of new technologies.

Image: World Economic Forum

While science and technology skills remain an important foundation, analytical skills are equally important in dealing with big data. Marketing and communication skills are also needed to work with business stakeholders, as are legal skills, when it comes to interpreting complex regulatory policies.

Solving the workforce challenge will require business leaders to rethink and define effective systems for upskilling individuals and capabilities. Building this workforce of the future will rely on partnerships between businesses, government agencies and academic institutions.

2. Security awareness as a core element of workplace upskilling

Today some new graduates are already finding that they need to upskill even at the beginning of their first job. Many companies have understood that the longevity of higher education is decreasing, and that in order to maintain relevant expertise in their workforce, they need to be proactive about upskilling. The American telecommunications company AT&T, for example, has dedicated $1 billion to upskilling and educating its workforce.

What is still lacking, however, is a prioritization of cybersecurity awareness. People outside the IT and cybersecurity functions need training in this area in order to make better decisions on the design, the operation and oversight of digital infrastructure. As organisations adopt new technology, software and digital processes they need a cybersecurity education plan to keep employees informed and aware of any dangers.

The World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity is leading the global response to address systemic cybersecurity challenges and improve digital trust. We are an independent and impartial global platform committed to fostering international dialogues and collaboration on cybersecurity in the public and private sectors. We bridge the gap between cybersecurity experts and decision makers at the highest levels to reinforce the importance of cybersecurity as a key strategic priority.

Our community has three key priorities:

Strengthening Global Cooperation - to increase global cooperation between public and private stakeholders to foster a collective response to cybercrime and address key security challenges posed by barriers to cooperation.

Understanding Future Networks and Technology - to identify cybersecurity challenges and opportunities posed by new technologies, and accelerate forward-looking solutions.

Building Cyber Resilience - to develop and amplify scalable solutions to accelerate the adoption of best practices and increase cyber resilience.

Initiatives include building a partnership to address the global cyber enforcement gap through improving the efficiency and effectiveness of public-private collaboration in cybercrime investigations; equipping business decision makers and cybersecurity leaders with the tools necessary to govern cyber risks, protect business assets and investments from the impact of cyber-attacks; and enhancing cyber resilience across key industry sectors such as electricity, aviation and oil & gas. We also promote mission aligned initiatives championed by our partner organizations.

The Forum is also a signatory of the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace which aims to ensure digital peace and security which encourages signatories to protect individuals and infrastructure, to protect intellectual property, to cooperate in defense, and refrain from doing harm.

For more information, please contact us.

3. Hire personnel with a combination of technology expertise and mentoring capability

It is not enough to have a digital transformation plan that meets deadlines and budgets. It needs to be implemented in a way that is compatible to an organizations culture. People are the most important assets in an organization, and as such it is important to consider where they sit in the different technology adopter categories.

People are the most important assets in an organization, and it is important to consider where they sit in the different technology adopter categories.

Image: http://blog.leanmonitor.com/early-adopters-allies-launching-product/

It is not uncommon for some people to resist technological change in their personal life or at work. There should be designated staff to facilitate technology education, and to offer coaching to staff during any technological transition. These people should be effective communicators who are versed in technological change management, technology and risk management. They need the right personality to support employees as they grapple with new technology and new risks.

The unprecedented growth of new technologies reminds us that our digital systems are an intractable part of the way business is done in the 21st century. These digital systems must include not only technical cybersecurity measures, but also a thoughtful analysis of the workforces skills and how it contributes to a sustainable culture of security.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Here's why closing the skills gap is key to digitalization - World Economic Forum

If you require a lot of motivation to get yourself to exercise, take comfort in this fact: You're not actually lazy. At least that's according to Harvard biologist Daniel Lieberman, Ph.D., author of Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding. He says you're totally normal and behaving the way that human beings naturally evolved to behave.

"We evolved to be physically active, but exercise is a special kind of physical activity," he explained to The Harvard Gazette. "It's voluntary physical activity for the sake of health and fitness. Until recently, nobody did that. In fact, it would be a kind of a crazy thing to do because if you're a very active hunter-gatherer, for example, or a subsistence farmer, it wouldn't make sense to spend any extra energy going for a needless five-mile jog in the morning. It doesn't help you."

Fast forward to 2021, and you need exerciseand you need to fight your instincts not to. So the first order of business is to be kinder to yourself, and know that you're inherently hardwired to avoid it. The next thing to do? Follow these simple tricks for convincing yourself to hit the gym. Trust us: Your body will thank you later. And for more great exercise advice, don't miss the Secret Side Effects of Lifting Weights for the First Time, Says Science.

Ticking off many achievable targets keeps people motivated, says Mark Davis, a researcher at the University of Bristol, in England. In a study of 78 adults, Davis gave half the subjects a modest fitness goal (walk 2,500 steps daily) and the others an ambitious goal (10,000 steps). Result: The participants with the easier target were 27 percent more likely to keep exercising. And if you love to walk, make sure you know about The Secret Cult Walking Shoe That Walkers Everywhere Are Totally Obsessed With.

"Your training partner needs to be someone who will hold you accountable," says Jack Raglin, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology at Indiana University. An old study by Raglin found that 92 percent of couples who went to the gym together continued to do so after a year. By contrast, couples who worked out separately had a 50 percent dropout rate. And for more amazing exercise advice, don't miss the Unexpected Side Effects of Working Out in the Morning, Say Experts.

"Eliminating boredom is one of the most important factors for maintaining the longevity of a fitness program," says Chris Jordan, C.S.C.S. A study of 61 people at the University of Florida found that people who varied their workouts were 15 percent more likely to exercise regularly than those who stuck to one workout.

The music will help you exercise longer and more intensely without even realizing it. Anew study just released by the University of Edinburgh reports that when it comes to going for a run or jog, music helps you overcome mental adversity so much more easily. Read more about this study here.

Research conducted at Springfield College in Massachusetts found that people who cooled down for 5 minutes at the end of a bike workout rated it easier than when they did a workout of equal intensity that didn't include a cool down. It suggests that if the last thing you do is pleasant, you're more apt to repeat your workout. And if you're inspired to lift now, make sure you're aware of The Single Greatest Weightlifting Move for Shedding Pounds, Says Science.

Read more from the original source:
Secret Tricks for Convincing Yourself to Exercise, Say Experts | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

In 2019, Guinness World Recordsawarded the "world's oldest animal on land" to a certain creature located in South Atlantic. The award was given to Jonathan, an enormous tortoise that had been living on the island of St. Helena for almost two centuries now.

Guinness World Records selected Jonathan as the winner of the title due to the tortoise being born during Queen Victoria's era way back in the 1830s. Jonathan was 80 years old when the famous ship Titanic sank, and by the time it got the world record, the tortoise was at its 187 years of age.

(Photo: Brady Knoll from Pexels)

Jonathan is an example of a creature under the family of turtles that had been recorded with staggering longevity. According to Florida SouthWestern State College biology expert and turtle ecologist Jordan Donini in a Live Sciencereport, sea turtles have a life span of 50 to 100 years, while box turtles are more enduring and can live beyond a century. Donini added that the maximum life span of most sea turtle species is still uncovered.

Turtles have the best longevity among the animal kingdom due to numerous biological and evolutionary explanations. In the Live Science interview, Arkansas State University reptile expert and physiology professor Lori Neuman-Lee said that in terms of evolution, the turtles have simply adapted to the common food chain activity that was being conducted for many years.

Some animals like snakes and raccoons are fond of turtle eggs, and the only way to escape this chain is for the turtles to pass down their genes. Along with procreation, turtles learned how to live longer than they do and breed consecutively.

The turtles' longevity in biological explanation, on the other hand, is much more complicated than their straightforward evolutionary history. According to Neuman-Lee, turtles are also composed of telomeres, a genetic material that houses genomes by acting as a protective cap on DNA's end strands or chromosomes.

ALSO READ: Congenital Heart Disease and Autism in Children Possibly Caused by Sperm Mutation in Older Men

The function of telomeres is to protect the chromosomes in case of cell division. However, these protective caps get smaller and degrade over time, creating an effect on the chromosomes and eventually halting DNA replication. What is devastating about this genetic process is that when DNA stops replicating, tumors and cell anomalies develop.

Telomeres in turtles, however, have a lower rate of decay. Compared to the protective caps in human chromosomes, the telomeres of turtles do not shorten quickly and can deflect any significant changes brought by a negative effect during DNA replication.

The turtles are not yet fully examined, and other factors that could explain their longevity are still a puzzle for experts. However, some scientific theories have been formulated regarding the turtle's long life. Through the series of experiments and observations, the scientists are able to build a hypothesis that will possibly help us understand the longevity of turtles in the future.

Among the investigations on the near-immortality feature of turtles is the recently published article in the journal arXiv, titled "Concurrent Evolution of Anti-Aging Gene Duplications and Cellular Phenotypes in Long-Lived Turtles."

RELATED ARTICLE: Plant-Animal Mutualism: Coevolution of Fruit Bats and Pepper Plants Linked to Biological Scent Sensory Ability

Check out more news and information on Biologyin Science Times.

Original post:
Turtles Can Live From the Victorian Era up to Present; Reason Behind the Longevity of Turtles Explained - Science Times

New Jersey, United States,-Verified Market Research recently released a new report titled Precision Medicine Software MarketSize Report, Growth and Forecast 2021-2028, Breakdown Data by Company, Key Regions, Types and Applications. The report has been compiled using primary and secondary research methodology that will provide a precise and precise understanding of the Precision Medicine Software market. Analysts used a top-down and bottom-up approach to assess the segments and properly assess their impact on the Precision Medicine Software market. The report offers a market overview which briefly describes the market situation and major segments. It also mentions the best players represented in the Precision Medicine Software market.

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On-Premise Cloud-Based

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Rare Diseases Oncology Pharmacogenomics Others

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Verified Market Research is a leading Global Research and Consulting firm that has been providing advanced analytical research solutions, custom consulting and in-depth data analysis for 10+ years to individuals and companies alike that are looking for accurate, reliable and up to date research data and technical consulting. We offer insights into strategic and growth analyses, Data necessary to achieve corporate goals and help make critical revenue decisions.

Our research studies help our clients make superior data-driven decisions, understand market forecast, capitalize on future opportunities and optimize efficiency by working as their partner to deliver accurate and valuable information. The industries we cover span over a large spectrum including Technology, Chemicals, Manufacturing, Energy, Food and Beverages, Automotive, Robotics, Packaging, Construction, Mining & Gas. Etc.

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Precision Medicine Software Market Size 2021 Global Analysis, Trends, Forecast up to 2028 - The Market Writeuo - The Market Writeuo

Combining the directorial skills of Simon Stone, the screenplay adaptation by Moira Buffini and the cinematography of Mike Eley, The Dig portrays a dynamic, true story intertwining themes of history and modern existential longing with dramatic scenes concerning life, death, love and family.

The Netflix film, released Jan. 29, is an adaptation of John Prestons 2007 novel of the same name and is based on a true story. Taking place in the rustic countryside of Suffolk, England on the eve of World War II, self-taught archaeologist Basil Brown, played by Ralph Fiennes, embarks on a dig to uncover whats believed to be ancient Anglo-Saxon ruins potentially dating as far back as the Vikings or further.

The site lies on the vast estate owned by Edith Pretty, played by 2013s The Great Gatsby star Carey Mulligan. Pretty is a widow left with one son and a dream to dig up three large, grassy, hill-like mounds located in the fields. Though the archaeologist is unconvinced theres anything significant to be found, attempted grave robberies have convinced Pretty theres something extremely valuable hidden within.

Brown, a local archaeologist with the Ipswich Museum, leads the Sutton Hoo excavation, with Peggy Piggott, played by Lily James. Hes portrayed as a modest working man with vast knowledge of the land. His soil expertise is what leads Pretty to hire him in the first place.

Given the politics of the time period, the dig site is seen as an area of national interest as Britain was preparing to protect the countrys ancient ruins from German air raids.

The story shifts toward a more intimate focus, concerned with family and belonging, when Prettys young son Robert, played by Archie Barnes, grows increasingly fond of Brown. The two are portrayed almost as father and son, bringing the narrative closer to one of community rather than national glory.

The Dig captures a unique perspective of existentialism, with the story taking place during Britains mobilization before wartime. It keeps audiences reflecting on the significance of human legacy, wondering what will be left of us after we are gone.

As the characters on screen are forced to come to terms with their own mortality in an age of destruction and uncertainty, we get a better understanding of the significance of these ancient runes that are still standing a testament of humanitys longevity.

Aside from matters of historical and ancestral significance, The Dig is a nod to the struggles that affect ordinary people of today, with overtones of love, lust and heartbreak.

What keeps viewers satisfied throughout the film is the unchanging and breathtaking scenery of the Suffolk countryside. Eley yields cinematographic mastery by capturing the lush wheat fields of eastern England, combined with enticing pan shots of the site to emphasize how massive this project is, yet also how seemingly small of a role it plays in the full history of the nation.

Stone keeps audiences holding their breaths by turning a story of national history into a heartfelt drama that so accurately touches on struggles that afflict people of all backgrounds.

Its worth mentioning the film has received some criticism for sexist portrayal of characters, for ageism despite the whimsical setting and for fictionalizing some of the truth.

Be that as it may, it was worth the watch.

At surface level, The Dig seems like a story of historical drama, but it takes audiences into deep-cutting, emotionally luring instances of love, loss, triumph and human connection.

Link:
REVIEW: 'The Dig' is captivating, beautiful exploration of past The Daily Free Press - Daily Free Press

By Conor Morris, for theNortheast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative

There was one bright spot in the darkness of the coronavirus pandemic in Cleveland last year: Fewer people were homeless and living on the streets.

Chris Knestrick, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH), said his group estimates that there was a roughly 30 percent decrease in the number of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness in Cleveland in the second half of 2020, a drop from an average of 124 people to 85. Unsheltered means people living outside, in tents or on the street and not in homeless shelters.

While there were still hundreds of people in Clevelands homeless shelters, thats still a positive statistic, Knestrick said.

To achieve the reduction, a lot of relatively unprecedented things had to happen in Cleveland, Knestrick said: A large amount of rental assistance to prevent people from becoming homeless; a moratorium on evictions locally and later federally; and money to support putting homeless and unsheltered people into five hotels.

Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless (NEOCH)

Before most of these measures were in place, in the first half of 2020, Cleveland saw a slight increase in the average number of people experiencing homelessness living outside the shelter system, 17 percent higher compared to the first half of 2019. That number dropped in the second half of 2020, after the pandemic-related rental assistance began and more hotels were brought online, Knestrick said.

The decrease happened despite expectations that the number of unsheltered homeless people would increase due to the pandemic, Knestrick said. While none of the efforts mentioned were perfect solutions to homelessness, they did help, he said.

This feat begs the question: Can Cleveland government, nonprofits and volunteers keep up this support into 2021 and beyond? Elsewhere, some cities, like Austin, Texas, have permanently purchased hotels to continue these kinds of initiatives.

The Northeast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative asked Knestrick about the work done in 2020 to keep people experiencing homelessness off the streets in Cleveland, and the potential longevity of these measures. [Editors Note: The Cleveland Street Chronicle, which is supported by NEOCH, is a member of NEOSOJO.]

Some people might not know what the homeless situation looks like in Cleveland generally speaking, so, where are people living and has that changed much during the pandemic?

More and more people were having a housing crisis in our community and seeking emergency shelter. Before the pandemic, our community had a strong response to homelessness. But it was mostly designated toward large shelters in our community.

When the pandemic hit in March, we quickly realized that congregate living situations like large shelters are a huge risk for our people, who oftentimes already have preexisting conditions and suffer from many of the things that make COVID-19 a deadly virus for people.

Through leadership, through the continuum of care [body of agencies responding to homelessness] and also with great leadership from the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, we quickly began to place people into hotels to de-congregate the shelters [so that they] could practice safe distancing in some way.

One of the statistics I had seen previously was there was a 30 percent decrease in unsheltered homelessness in Cleveland during 2020. Can you just walk me through how that happened?

The 30 percent is an estimate, its hard to have exact data on real human beings in our community. People come and go out of homelessness at any given time.

Thats something were always checking because we need to make sure we know where people are to provide [them] with supplies to survive the winter and to really encourage them to go into shelter and to move towards permanent housing.

I think one of the lucky things that we saw, as CARES (Act) money came in and we were able to afford non-congregate living settings and took advantage of that, we saw people much more apt to engage in our services.

As people are working just to survive outside, theyre out there hustling and doing their thing and its a lot harder to engage and contact people. I think hotels offered us an opportunity to build really deep relationships with people and to accompany them into a housing process in a way that was new to us.

Weve also [permanently] housed, since March, over 70 people in our community [who were unsheltered]. We were able to accompany them as they worked to figure out how to end their housing crisis or homelessness [and get into stable housing, like rentals].

Were there any other lessons learned from Clevelands response to homelessness from 2020? Can any of this be replicated into the future?

I think if we look at the eviction moratorium that was issued by our local government, evictions were down and I think they continued to be down after a federal moratorium on eviction happened. In our minds, what we learned is, how do we give tenants more rights and opportunities to prevent eviction? [We had] a robust housing assistance program that was put in place to really prevent homelessness this year. I think it begs the question, can we really see that robust housing assistance, coupled with policies that protect tenants [continued]?

One of those things that we [saw this year] is a really deep conversation around homeless prevention, and thats a new thing in our community. Before COVID-19 and the pandemic, homeless prevention was not possible because there was no funding for it. I think its really about how we are going to move forward and build policies and gain resources to help prevent people from entering into homelessness?

Previously, with unemployment we did expect a large boom in the homeless population and that has not happened. Were far from done with the pandemic. But I think weve realized that robust homeless prevention in our community is really needed and a really important resource that we havent had in the past.

Why hasnt that kind of funding available for homeless prevention in the past? Is it a federal problem, a local problem, a state problem?

Its all three. We have talked a lot with our local officials over time about the need for, for example, a flexible, shallow [small] housing subsidy in our community for folks who are housing insecure [which has not happened yet].

I think it comes down to having a living wage. A mother of two making minimum wage in our community would have to work 75 hours a week to afford a two-bedroom in our community [according to RentCafe.com, average rent is $1,134 per month in Cleveland], which is an impossible feat. So we know that housing assistance and homeless prevention is needed but weve never seemed to quite prioritize it like we have during the pandemic.

I really think its a question of political will.

Is there enough funding to continue running the five hotels for the homeless for the rest of 2021?

I dont think the funding has been appropriated for all of the year. We definitely know that we can get through all of the winter season using hotels. Were looking at whats happening in Washington during this time.

I think were super excited that Marsha Fudge has been selected to be the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] secretary. I think it really depends on if a CARES Act [stimulus] is going to be continued to be moved and allocated throughout the year for us to continue to do it. Will our local government continue to prioritize it? I think they will, they have. But I think the question we really need to think about is, we dont want to go back to normal.

We want to come back to a place thats better than where we left it. Because where we left it was shelters were full to capacity everywhere and more and more people were experiencing homelessness. Trying to get to a place where we come out of the pandemic better and more equipped to get more people into housing is the way to go.

If anyone wants to help out people who are homeless in our community, what should they do?

First and foremost, treat people with dignity all the time. Whether theyre homeless or whether theyre your neighbors or the people you live with.

The person thats downtown in Public Square is a member of our community as much as a person who lives in one of the condos or big buildings down there. Continuing to engage and get to know them and learn their stories is really what I encourage everyone to do.

If youre interested in supporting or learning more about our work, you can go to our website, its NEOCH.org. I think were always looking for support in many different ways.

Conor Morris is a corps member withReport for America. You can email him atcmorris@advance-ohio.com, or find him onTwitter. This story is sponsored by theNortheast Ohio Solutions Journalism Collaborative, which is composed of 20-plus Northeast Ohio news outlets, including ideastream

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In Cleveland, Unsheltered Homelessness Decreased In 2020. Can It Continue? - ideastream

That is Andrew Steeles thesis in Ageless

Feb 6th 2021

Ageless. By Andrew Steele. Doubleday; 352 pages; $29. Bloomsbury; 20

OLD AGE is a massacre, wrote Philip Roth, long before the pandemic underscored its hazards. Even those who count as young must often watch the ineluctable drift of loved ones into decrepitude. Andrew Steele has a hopeful message for all those facing this prospect (ie, everyone). Old age neednt be a massacre; in fact, old age neednt even be old.

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Mr Steeles thesis in Ageless is that ageing can be curedand, at least in part, that it very soon will be. The giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands show no age-related decline, in some ways seeming as youthful at 170 as at 30. Mr Steele thinks this phenomenon, known as negligible senescence, is within humanitys grasp, too.

Whether or not readers are persuaded that ageless humans could ever be more than a theoretical possibilityand it is a stretchthis book will convince them that discounting the theoretical possibility altogether is based on nothing but prejudice. Western art may have something to do with it, bristling as it is with morality tales about the folly of wanting to turn back the clock; but there is actually no good reason to assume an upper limit to longevity, or that ageing must come with decline. And there is quite a lot of evidence to the contrary. Without the rich worlds denizens really noticing, a life that ends after the biblical three score years and ten has already come to seem a life cut short; instead, 90 is now seen as a good innings.

This prejudice held back the field of biogerontology for a very long time, but in the past few decades some scientists have cast it aside. This has enabled them to see that the real folly lies in the attempt to cure the diseases of old age one by one, rather than tackling their underlying causeageing itself. Now they are trying to understand that process in all its extraordinary complexity, and to intervene much earlier.

They have many tools at their disposal, and Mr Steele, who has a background in computational biology, evaluates them expertly and with verve. They range from drugs that mimic the life-extending effects of dietary restriction to gene-editing tools such as CRISPR and computer models that simulate whole biological systems. Such models may eventually prove the key that unlocks the inner Methuselah in everyone, by revealing both the limits to these systems and their redundancies: what can be tweaked, and what had best be left alone.

Temporarilyand with a bitter ironycovid-19 has slammed the brakes on this burgeoning area of research. But Mr Steele thinks its first dividends will emerge within a couple of years, perhaps in the form of senolytic drugs that clear the accumulating cellular detritus of a long life. He makes the valid point that if, for every year of scientific endeavour, a year could be added to the average human lifespan, old age would recede into the future at the same rate as todays population approached it. That would itself be quite a milestone on the road to negligible senescence.

This interim goal is easily within reach, he claims. Many scientists agreeand are among those who have chosen to take experimental anti-ageing drugs. For some of these treatments they have calculated that the risks are small, compared with the potential benefits. The true sign that a scientific revolution is in the offing is that the scientists themselves have bought into it. Whether that revolution is desirable is a different question, which it may fall to a new generation of artists to answer.

This article appeared in the Books & arts section of the print edition under the headline "Who wants to live for ever?"

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Who wants to live for ever? - Ageing can be curedand, in part, it soon will be | Books & arts - The Economist

The Lunar New Year will be welcomed Monday afternoon when UC Irvine hosts a special virtual celebration of the Year of the Ox.

The festivities are free and open to the public and are expected to include a dragon dance and feeding of the lion in addition to performances from artist Abigail Washburn and world-famous guzheng musician Wu Fei.

There will also be a virtual wishing tree and guests will be able to make a wish for prosperity, happiness and longevity by writing a wish on a red wishing card and taking a selfie with it. Wishing cards and more details on the event can be read at humanities.uci.edu.

Registration is required to attend and the event will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 8.

The Lunar New Year is on Feb. 12.

Laguna Beach hires recruiting firm for city manager searchLaguna Beach has begun the recruiting process in search of the seaside communitys next city manager.

John Pietig, the presiding city manager of Laguna Beach, announced the first week of January that he plans to retire in June. His service to the city has spanned 20 years.

The Laguna Beach City Council, which makes the appointment for the position of city manager, has hired the recruiting firm Bob Murray & Associates to carry out a search for candidates to serve as the citys top executive. City officials said the estimated cost for the executive recruiting firms services is less than $30,000.

This is one of the most important positions in the city, and hiring the recruiting firm will allow us to thoroughly evaluate both internal and external candidates for the City Manager position, Laguna Beach Mayor Bob Whalen said in a statement.

Pietig began his run with Laguna as assistant city manager, and he has served as city manager for the last decade. According to Whalen, the City Council aims to name his replacement in May.

Laguna Beach Dems to host OC Supervisor race talk Attorney Ashleigh Aitken will address the 6:30 p.m. Feb. 10 meeting of the Laguna Beach Democratic Club, a Zoom meeting that is open to the public. The events topic is the upcoming Orange County Board of Supervisors election, what role the board plays in running the county and how it allocates its $7.5 billion budget.

We should all be informed about and weigh in on how our tax dollars are being allocated by the Board of Supervisors, Gwen McNallan, president of the club, stated in a news release.

To learn more about the club, or to register for Wednesdays Zoom meeting, visit thelbdems.com.

OC emergency rental assistance program accepting applicationsThe County of Orange is accepting applications through the month of February for an Emergency Rental Assistance program for eligible renters struggling with unpaid rent or utilities bills during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Launched this week and funded by a $65.5 million allocation from the U.S. Department of Treasury, the program aims to provide financial assistance to those whose combined household income is at or below 80% of the countys average median income.

In Orange County, the median income is approximately $71,750 for an individual, $82,000 for a two-member household, $92,250 for three people and $102,450 for a four-person household. For more information on household size, visit era.211oc.org.

Residents of Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine may not participate in Orange Countys assistance program, as those cities have population sizes over 200,000 and maintain their own local city programs, according to a release issued last week by the Orange County Health Care Agency.

The Emergency Rental Assistance program does not apply to homeowners with past-due mortgage payments, utilities or energy costs. Funds may only be granted to renters.

Applicants will need to provide a photo ID, a copy of their lease agreement, proof of income affected by COVID-19, such as an unemployment letter or a letter from an employment detailing reduced hours or pay and proof of unpaid rent or utilities, such as documentation from a landlord or utility company stating an amount owed or overdue.

To learn how to apply, call 2-1-1 to receive assistance in multiple languages, visit era.211oc.org or text ERA to 898211.

Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation accepting applications through March 2A range of college scholarships are available to children or stepchildren of a Marine or Navy corpsmen, chaplain or religious programs specialist attached to a Marine unit who have a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 (on an unweighted 4.0 scale) and whose family has an adjusted gross income of $106,000 or less for 2021-22.

Scholarships are available for those pursuing an associates or bachelors degree, attending or planning to attend a college or career training school listed on the National Center for Education Statistics College Navigator website during the 2021-22 academic year.

Career and technical education scholarships are also available for students planning to attend a non-degree certificate program or vocational training 12 months or less at a community college or private career school listed on the College Navigator website.

Applications may be submitted through March 2. For more information, visit mcsf.org/apply.

Laguna Beach Festival of Arts 2021 grant applications due March 5Nonprofit organizations with programs promoting fine arts in and around the city of Laguna Beach are welcome to apply for a series of art grants through the Festival of Arts Foundation beginning Feb. 8.

The Foundation, established in 1989 to preserve and promote fine arts and other artistic endeavors in the area, will be accepting applications through March 5.

The FOA Foundation is proud to be able to assist local non-profit art organizations during these challenging times, Foundation President Bob Earl said in a statement. We hope that these funds will help to continue the programs that educate our community on the importance of art and cultural experiences.

Applications can be submitted online at foapom.com/grants. For information on eligibility, grant awards and the application process, contact Bob Earl at (949) 494-4132.

Laguna Beach school board appoints Michael Conlon to assistant superintendentThe Laguna Beach Unified School District has named Michael Conlon its assistant superintendent of human resources and public communications, according to district officials.

Conlon, who was serving as the director of human resources for the district, was appointed to the role at the board meeting on Jan. 28, at which the board considered reorganizing into a format with three assistant superintendents.

A statement from the district said that the decision would not result in an increase in staff. Jeff Dixon is the assistant superintendent of business services, and the district plans to hire an assistant superintendent of instructional services.

Michael [Conlon] has continued to demonstrate his focus on continuous improvement for himself and our community, District Supt. Jason Viloria said in the release. He is committed to developing positive relationships with staff and problem-solving conflicts when they occur. He has proven to be an effective human resources leader and administrator whose work is characterized by a genuine concern for the entire school community.

Back Bay products Mo Kenney, Tanner Pulice earn mens water polo honorsNewport Harbor High alumnus Mo Kenney earned Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week honors this week, while Corona del Mar High product Tanner Pulice was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week.

Both Kenney and Pulice are freshmen for the UCLA mens water polo team.

In his collegiate debut, Kenney scored a game-high five goals on Jan. 30 to lead the No. 2-ranked Bruins to a 15-9 home win over No. 5 Pepperdine. Four of the goals were even strength, and one came on the power play. He needed just six shots to score the five goals.

Pulice had two goals and two assists in the victory, also winning a sprint and drawing an exclusion.

Cal senior football player Michael Saffell, an Edison High alumnus, has been named the Pac-12 Football Scholar Athlete of the Year.

Saffell, a center, started on the offensive line for the Golden Bears each of the last three years, earning honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors in 2020. He began his career at guard before moving to center as a junior.

Due to COVID-19, he is eligible for a fifth year of competition, and he has opted to return in 2021.

Saffell earned his bachelors degree from Cals Haas School of Business in three-and-a-half years, graduating in December with a 3.62 undergraduate GPA. He was accepted into the universitys Master of Information and Data Science program, which he began in January.

Orange County SC shirt sales to benefit OC Educational Arts AcademyThe Orange County Soccer Club has started the JuntosMsFuertes campaign, hoping to combine the communitys passion for soccer and the arts to support diverse nonprofit organizations.

A custom shirt has been created in collaboration with a local artist, and all net proceeds from its sale will go to the Orange County Educational Arts Academy.

Located in Santa Ana, the institution serves about 630 students, ranging from transitional kindergarten to eighth grade.

Hugo Cesar Chavarria was the Southern Californian artist called upon to create the design for the shirt, which depicts action in an Orange County Soccer Club game with landmarks like the Santa Ana Water Tower and the Great Park Balloon in Irvine in the background.

The shirts are limited edition and will be on sale through February. The cost is $20 per shirt, and they can be purchased at the following link: bit.ly/OCSCDASH.

Sage Hill School accepting applications for 2021-22 school year through Feb. 15Sage Hill School, a nonprofit, non-denominational independent high school is accepting applications for students in grades 9-12 for the 2021-22 school year through Feb. 15.

Having reopened its doors to students in September five days a week, Sage Hill offered classes virtually or in-person during the 2020-21 school year.

For more information on programs, or to apply online, visit sagehillschool.org and click on the Admission tab. For all candidates who apply by the Feb. 15 deadline, first-round decisions will be announced the last week of February.

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Around Town: UC Irvine to host a virtual celebration Monday to ring in the Year of the Ox - Los Angeles Times

The UK Government commissioned an independent, global Review on the Economics ofBiodiversity in Spring 2019. The report urges policymakers to start valuing ecosystems and says GDP encourages unsustainable growth.

Businesses and governments around the world will have to rethink economic growthas a measure of success if they want to make good on pledges to stop thedestruction of the natural world, according to a UK government-backed reportpublished today.

Commissioned by the UK government in 2019, the Review on the Economics of Biodiversity led by University of Cambridge economistProfessor Sir ParthaDasgupta lays out keyrecommendations for reversing manmade declines in biodiversity that areundermining the productivity, resilience and adaptability of our natural. Itwarns that this historic decline has placed economies and livelihoods at risk.

The study supports the assertions that environmental groups have been making fordecades that humanity has mismanaged its natural assets, and our demands onnature now far exceed its capacity to supply resources and vital services. TheReview calls for the expanding and improvement of protected areas, increasedinvestment into nature-based solutions, the creation or improvement of policiesto eliminate damaging consumption of natural assets. and the incorporation ofnatural capitalaccountingand proper valuation of ecosystemservicesinto all national accounting systems.

This year is critical in determining whether we can stop and reverse theconcerning trend of fast-declining biodiversity, said UK Prime Minister BorisJohnson. I welcome Professor Dasguptas Review, which makes clear thatprotecting and enhancing nature needs more than good intentions it requiresconcerted, co-ordinated action.

Join us as JUST Capital's Lorraine Wilson and author Michelle Holliday discuss viable pathways to stakeholder capitalism, justice and regeneration at our next virtual event, SB'21 Trend Watching February 23.

As co-host of COP26 and president of this yearsG7, we are going to make sure the natural world stays right at the top ofthe global agenda. And we will be leading by example here at home as we buildback greener from the pandemic through my Ten-PointPlan.

The Review also calls for ending the use of Gross Domestic Product (GDP)infavor of different metrics that would embed natural resources into todayseconomic accounting, as part of a shift towards a more accurate and inclusivemeasure of wealth.

Truly sustainable economic growth and development means recognising that ourlong-term prosperity relies on rebalancing our demand of natures goods andservices with its capacity to supply them, Dasgupta says. It also meansaccounting fully for the impact of our interactions with nature across alllevels of society. COVID-19 has shown us what can happen when we dont do this.Nature is our home. Good economics demands we manage it better.

The critical role of biodiversity in the longevity of life as we know it hasbeen on the business worlds radar for the past few years and has spawned aflurry of ambitious and promising efforts to help us course correct at scale. In2017, the Natural Capital Impact Group developed a healthy ecosystemmetric based on the impact of a company on the quality and quantity of biodiversity,soil and water designed to aid in business decision-making. In 2019, a group ofconservation scientists, NGOs and indigenous leaders urged governments to adopta Global Deal forNature,to tackle the interlinked crises of biodiversity loss and climate change;Adobe and Pantone joined forces on a Glowing, Glowing,Gonecampaign highlighting the global danger signaled by fluorescing coral reefs; anda diverse group of influential international organizations launched a coalitioncalledBusiness forNature,aimedat ensuring that a clear understanding of the relationship between nature,people and economies became integrated into all economic sectors, and at alllevels of decision-making a need echoed in the Dasgupta report.

A countrys GDPhas long been debunked as a measure of human welfare as it ismerely a measure of the size of its economy, not an indicator of itswellbeing.Several alternatives to GDP have been put forward over the years asbetter alternatives for assessing welfare. They include theIndex ofSustainable Economic Welfare,theGenuine Progress Indicator,GrossNational Happiness, theHumanDevelopment Index,and theComprehensive Net National Product,amongothers. These methodologies either (a) also quantify the size of economies intheir own ways, or (b) do not quantify the size of economies at all and insteadrate or rank them in their own fashion.

In 2017, Center for SustainableOrganizations founder MarkMcElroy proposed a new way of measuring and reporting the performance of wholeeconomies calledAggregate CapitalSufficiency(ACS) an extension ofmulticapitalism, a new form of capitalism thatinterprets economic performance in terms of impacts on all vital capitals(natural, human, social, etc) and not just one of them (economic).ACS enablesus to measure and report thesustainabilityof an economy, not just its sizeor its inhabitants well-being.

In 2020, WWF projected a US$10T hit to the global economy by2050if global biodiversity loss remained unchecked. In the past year, globalcompanies includingKering,Natura,Procter &Gamble,TimberlandandWalmarthave embedded commitments to preserve or restore biodiversity into theirsustainability strategies but governments need to embrace this way of thinkingfor the necessary changes to take hold.

Published Feb 2, 2021 7am EST / 4am PST / 12pm GMT / 1pm CET

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Landmark Review Calls for Nature to Be at the Center of Economic Decision-Making - Sustainable Brands

New York, Feb. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Paints And Coatings Global Market Report 2021: COVID 19 Impact and Recovery to 2030" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p06018803/?utm_source=GNW 87 billion in 2020 to $216.9 billion in 2021 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5%. The growth is mainly due to the companies rearranging their operations and recovering from the COVID-19 impact, which had earlier led to restrictive containment measures involving social distancing, remote working, and the closure of commercial activities that resulted in operational challenges. The market is expected to reach $258.45 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 4%.

The paints and coatings market consists of the sales of paints and coating by entities (organizations, sole traders or partnerships) that mix pigments, solvents, and binders into paints and other coatings, such as stains, varnishes, lacquers, enamels, shellacs, and water-repellent coatings for concrete and masonry, and/or produce allied paint products, such as putties, paint and varnish removers, paint brush cleaners, and frit. The paints and coatings market is segmented into water borne coatings; solvent based coatings; powder coatings and other paints and coatings.

Asia Pacific was the largest region in the global paints and coatings market, accounting for 55% of the market in 2020. North America was the second largest region accounting for 18% of the global paints and coatings market. Eastern Europe was the smallest region in the global paints and coatings market.

Biocides are being used in paints to enhance their longevity and to maintain their quality. Biocide additives have been designed to protect paints from getting damaged during storage or to keep fungi and algae from growing on the applied paints. The market for biocides in paints will continue to grow due to the switch from solvent based to water based paints as they are not hazardous for human health and environment, and minimize fungal and algae growth. However, replacement of traditional biocides based on chlorine and formaldehyde with environmental friendly biocides add to the costs of paint production. For instance, some of the major companies using biocide in paint manufacturing include The Dow Chemical Company, Troy Corporation, BASF SE, Thor Group and AkzoNobel N.V.

The outbreak of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has acted as a significant restraint on the paints and coatings market in 2020 as supply chains were disrupted due to trade restrictions and consumption declined due to lockdowns imposed by governments globally. COVID 19 is an infectious disease with flu-like symptoms including fever, cough, and difficulty in breathing. The virus was first identified in 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei province of the Peoples Republic of China and spread globally including Western Europe, North America and Asia. Steps by national governments to contain the transmission have resulted in a decline in economic activity with countries entering a state of lock down and the outbreak is expected to continue to have a negative impact on businesses throughout 2020 and into 2021. However, it is expected that the paints and coatings market will recover from the shock across the forecast period as it is a black swan event and not related to ongoing or fundamental weaknesses in the market or the global economy.

There is a rapid growth in consumption of paints and coatings in many industries. Paints and coatings are widely used in the automotive, construction and manufacturing industries. For instance, global buildings construction market is expected to increase from $6.6 trillion in 2019 to $8.4 trillion in 2022. Similarly, global transportation manufacturing market is expected to increase from $6 trillion in 2019 to $7.8 trillion in 2022 . Decorative paints and coatings are widely used in buildings and construction whereas protective paints and coatings are linked closely to the automotive, major appliance and industrial equipment industries. Therefore, growth in end-user industries is expected to drive the paints and coatings market during the forecast period.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p06018803/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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Paints And Coatings Global Market Report 2021: COVID 19 Impact and Recovery to 2030 - GlobeNewswire

Dr. Sonya Gordon and Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm.

Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences

Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is the second most-common acquired cardiac disease in dogs.

In its early stage, called the preclinical stage, dogs are apparently healthy to their owners, but beneath the surface, DCM causes a progressive enlarging and weakening of dogs hearts. Over time, dogs with DCM will progress to the diseases clinical phase and develop congestive heart failure (fluid in the lungs).

But what if owners of dogs with DCM had the ability to extend the amount of quality time they spend with their beloved four-legged friends?

Through The REPAIR Study (Rapamycin Treatment inPreclinical Canine Dilated Cardiomyopathy), cardiologists at the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (CVMBS) Small Animal Teaching Hospital (SATH) are investigating the use of the drug rapamycin in dogs with preclinical DCM.

Rapamycin, which will be distributed by the Ireland-based company TriviumVet, is a drug that affects both the immune system and metabolism; it has been shown to improve heart function and reverse age-related changes in rodents with heart disease.

The primary objective of our study is to determine if rapamycin is safe for use in dogs with preclinical DCM, as well as to evaluate the effects of this medication on heart size and function in these dogs, said Dr. Elizabeth Malcolm, an SATH cardiology resident whose work on The REPAIR Study is part of her residency research.

To complete this study, the SATH is looking to enroll 12 dogs with preclinical DCMno more than six Doberman Pinschers (the breed most commonly affected by DCM) and up to two dogs of any other breed.

Eligible dogs must be older than 3 years, be on a stable dose of pimobendan (Vetmedin) for at least 60 days prior to the screening examination, have no evidence of congestive heart failure, and not be receiving diuretic (furosemide) medication.

We know that despite proof that pimobendan (Vetmedin) can delay the onset of heart failure and death, disease progression is relentless and dogs with DCM are still destined to die from this disease, said Dr. Sonya Gordon, cardiology professor, Eugene Chen Chair in cardiology and principal investigator for The REPAIR Study. Pimobendan treatment works by reducing heart size and improving function, essentially resetting the clock; however, that clock continues to tick. We are optimistic that the addition of rapamycin will yield additional benefits that translate into increased health span and lifespan in dogs with preclinical DCM.

For this study, we require participants to continue to receive pimobendan because it is proven to be beneficial and represents the current standard of care; we are just adding rapamycin, Gordon said. Living longer is great, but the real goal is to live betterthats what health span is all about; it is the part of life when you feel great, even if you have disease.

As a cardiology resident, I see firsthand how devastating DCM is for patients and their owners. While pimobendan is an important medication that has been shown to have significant beneficial effects in dogs with DCM, we must continue to investigate additional therapies with the potential of increasing longevity, as well as enhancing the quality of life in dogs with this heartbreaking disease, Malcolm said.

Those selected to participate in the trial will take a pill three times a week and will be required to visit the SATH for enrollment screening, as well as three additional times over six months.

While this trial will hopefully lead to larger studies, its important for owners to know that if the drug works, their dogs would be eligible to continue to receive chronic treatment with rapamycin, Gordon said.

There will be no cost to owners of dogs participating in this trial; TriviumVet, the sponsor, will cover the costs for diagnostic testing, rapamycin, and Vetmedin for the duration of the study.

This is a really stand-up company. They are all about the dogs and they have a potential game changer here, because if it works its going to have a far-reaching impact, Gordon said. If we move forward with a larger study after this investigational study, Texas A&M will serve as the lead investigational site.

Rapamycin has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for human use and has been used safely for decades. While cardiac disease such as DCM is not among the labeled indications for which the drug is currently prescribed in humans, Gordon and Malcolm believe this trial could have important implications in human medicine given the similarities of heart disease among dogs and humans.

We are delighted to be able to bring our proprietary, novel veterinary rapamycin formulation to clinical trials in dogs and cats for a multitude of diseases, said TriviumVet CEO Louise Grubb. Our partnership with Texas A&M for The REPAIR Study has been an incredible synergy given their cardiology expertise and passion for research. The potential of this drug is far-reaching and we look forward to continuing our research with Texas A&M across cardiology and other target disease areas.

Owners with dogs diagnosed with preclinical DCMincluding those diagnosed within the past two yearsthat are interested in enrolling their dogs in this study should email tamucardiology@cvm.tamu.edu with REPAIR Study in the subject line.

For more information, including the list of exclusion criteria, visit the CVMBS Clinical Trials webpage.

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Texas A&M Seeks Dogs With Cardiac Condition For Study On Heart Drug - Texas A&M University Today

Christmas trees aredead or dying. But some conifers and other trees theoretically could live forever, according to a recent essay that reviews accumulating evidence on extremely long-lived treesand calls for more scientifically rigorous methods to determine their age and study their longevity.

Across the board, trees do not die so much as they are killed, write the authors of the review essay, entitled On Tree Longevity. Their killers are external physical or biological factors rather than old age alone. That is, there is no evidence that harmful genetic mutations pile up over time or that trees lose their ability to produce new tissue.

Trees can indeed live indefinitely, but this does not happen, says co-author Franco Biondi, an ecoclimatologist and tree-ring scientist at the University of Nevada, Reno. Because eventually an external agent, biotic or abiotic [a living thing or a nonliving one such as a physical condition], ends up killing them.

Tree killers include environmental threats such as droughts, wildfires, harsh weather and pestsas well as human threats such as logging and fires set to clear forests for hunting or pastureland, write Biondi and his co-author Gianluca Piovesan of the University of Tuscia in Italy. Their essay was published in the August issue of New Phytologist.

Tree longevity interests researchers in part because trees and other plants remove carbon from the atmosphere for photosynthesis, and older trees are thought to store more carbon than younger ones. The persistence of trees could thus play a role in slowing climate change (although rising temperatures caused by global warming also can put a strain on trees, making them more vulnerable to environmental threats). The rings of old trees can also serve as an invaluable record of climate history, with wider rings indicating better years.

Scientific models designed to study tree longevity have made incorrect assumptions, including the idea that highly shade-tolerant late-successional trees, which are found in older ecosystems that have developed larger trees and a lot of shrub cover, are longer-lived, the essay also notes. For example, extremely long-lived bristlecone pine trees are known to live in wide-open landscapes of the West and in ecosystems that have not changed much for thousands of years.

David Stahle, a geographer and tree longevity researcher at the University of Arkansas, who was not involved in the review essay, used words such as excellent and comprehensive to describe it. But he takes issue with the assertion that trees can potentially live forever. The likelihood, all things being equal, that trees are immortal seems improbable to me, he says. I love the idea. Its a romantic idea, but, I mean, come on.

The hypothesis of tree immortality has grown popular in the past 20 years as researchers continue to report having found little to no genetic evidence of aging in extremely old trees meristem (tissue that generates new cells), Stahle says. And this is one of the review essays most important points, he adds. But evidence of aging could be out there and just not yet found.

Adverse conditions, including the harsh, rockylandscapes populated by stands of bristlecone pines, can kill trees. But not all disturbances are bad for trees in the long run, the essays authors write. Many extremely old trees occur in mountain regions with limited soil and tough climate conditions. Biondi says it is as if trees that live a long time, up to thousands of years, abide by the axiom that which doesnt kill you makes you stronger. Many long-lived trees grew up in environments in which they had to compete for resources, such as water in dry stands of trees or sunlight in dense forests with leafy treetops or crowns, Biondi says.

Earlier in this century, an individual Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) in Californias White Mountains was dated using tree-ring analysis, or dendrochronology, and found to be more than 5,000 years old. That would make it the oldest known living organism on Earth that reproduces sexually, according to various sources. The age determination was made by the late Tom Harlan of the University of Arizona, who performed detailed analysis on a core sample taken from the tree in 1957. That estimate has not been confirmed by other researchers, according to a list of extremely old trees created by Rocky Mountain Tree-Ring Research, a nonprofit organization in Fort Collins, Colo. If we set aside that individual, the oldest living tree would be an around 4,850-year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine known as Methuselah, which is also located in the White Mountains, according to the nonprofits list.

The uncertainty about the oldest living tree perhaps illustrates larger questions about nailing down tree agesa point that the review essay tackles. Some scientists estimates of tree ages draw on unreliable data and methods, including anecdotal reports, Piovesan and Biondi write. The most reliable age-determination methods are analyses of tree rings, with help from radiocarbon dating when necessary, they add. Stahle agrees.

Some popular tree species chopped down for sale as Christmas trees, such as Colorado blue spruces, can live for hundreds of years, Stahle says. But commercial forestry requires neither cutting short the lives of ancient and culturally valued trees nor practicing clear-cutting or other forms of deforestation. More sustainable practices include harvesting only individual trees in a stand or forest while maintaining the cover each tree provides, the water quality it protects and the carbon it sequesters. We can do all these things, and we are, Stahle says. There are good actors and bad actors in the production of forest timber for society.

View original post here:
Trees Have the Potential to Live Indefinitely - Scientific American

Jul 3rd 2021

CAIRD COLLECTIVE, LUNA

Editors note: This year What If?, our annual collection of scenarios, considers the future of health. Each of these stories is ction, but grounded in historical fact, current speculation and real science. They do not present a unied narrative but are set in dierent possible futures

THEY CAN, at times, look somewhat sinister, their faces oddly small for their heads, their white ear tufts jutting out almost aggressively. Their ability to throw themselves at people across seemingly unfeasible distances can be unsettling, and their buzzing and shrieking takes a lot of getting used to, as does their smell. But the members of the Caird collective will not hear a word spoken against the marmosets with whom they share their spaces at the Moons South Pole. As they sit in their insulated caves hoovering moondust out of the animals tails, few of the Cairders can imagine their life on the rim of Shackleton crater without themand none wants to. The marmosets of the Moon are the first and best example of what has turned out to be a fundamental fact of space flight: that the further humans get from Earth, the more they benefit from the companionship of other Earthly animals.

The marmosets were originally brought to the Moon as unwilling participants in a vital research project. Marmosets are lighteven under Earth gravityand reasonably easy to care for, but they have placentas much more like those of humans than any other animal their size, and reasonably short gestation periods. That made them ideal for looking at a fundamental question: can humans have healthy pregnancies in the low gravity of the Moon, where things weigh only one-sixth what they do on Earth?

In the 2020s and 2030s, the years of what the novelist Wil McCarthy called the Rich Mans Sky, questions of obstetrics and gynaecology received remarkably little attention. For many, the idea of staying in space long enough for such things to matter made little sensespace stations in Earth orbit and bases on the Moon were places for fixed-length work contracts and research sojourns, or for tourism. Babies were no more of an issue than they were in isolated 20th-century Antarctic research outposts.

There were, as it happens, a few babies born in Antarctica even back then, when its ice cover was all but intact. The Argentine and Chilean governments both saw the creation of natives on the continent as a way to establish sovereignty and arranged births to that end. But there was no reason to think that Antarctica was inimical to pregnancy and infancy. The long-term health effects of low gravity and microgravitywhich for those in orbit include brittle bones, muscle wasting and eye diseasewere something else. Adults could counter some of these effects with treadmills and tension cords. But as the title of an early paper on the subject succinctly put it, The fetus cannot exercise like an astronaut.

Even those, like Elon Musk, who talked of permanent settlements on Mars spent little time working on the question. It was left to a small team of scientists in the Japanese modules of the Artemis base founded in 2029 by America and its allies to explore the question experimentally with the help of marmosets, gene-splicing technology, intra-uterine monitoring devices and a giant centrifuge.

They had some success. Like human fetuses, marmoset fetuses spend most of their gestation with a density equal to that of the amniotic fluid around them, a neutral buoyancy that leaves them indifferent to local gravity; only relatively late on do differences due to gravity start to crop up. After a few years of trial and error, and some dainty gene-editing to rebalance the rate at which bones grow when not stressed through use, the researchers developed a regime involving hormone treatments for the mothers and regular late-pregnancy sessions in their custom-made room-sized centrifuge, known as the marmo-go-round. This reliably produced pups with strong-enough bones and muscles and little by way of deformity, though their tails were impressively long even by marmoset standards.

Unfortunately, in 2038 that research was interrupted by the geopolitical meltdown of the wolf-and-wimp war and then by the 26 months of the Great Grounding. With all powered flight within or through the Earths atmosphere prohibited, the various Moon bases seemed doomed even after they agreed to pool their resources to create what became known as the Polynational James Caird Collective. With all the groups biotech know-how turned to increasing food production and nutrient recycling, the marmosets were at first ignored and then freed to roam within the bases. Their effect on morale was instantaneous and profound.

The importance of companion animals to the mental health of people engaged in a homeless lifestyle was well documented in pre-war societies. It has been suggested that the effect of the marmosets on the Caird collective was similar; cut off from Earth, the humans were more homeless than any group of people had ever been before. Caring for, playing with and grooming marmosets also became a basis for bonding between humans, many of whom had not known each other before the Grounding, and some of whose countries had been adversaries in the war. By the time the mysterious entity responsible for the Great Grounding finally abandoned its control of the Earths air-traffic-control and missile-defence systems, allowing traffic with the Moon to resume, the marmosets had become an indispensable part of the settlers new identity and society. Few believe that a lack of companion animals was, in itself, the reason that the Mars base failed during the Grounding. But it surely did not help.

The bond between the Moons larger and smaller primates persisted even as the rigours of separation came to an end. Almost all Cairders still dislike spending any significant time deprived of marmoset company. They cuddle them and relish their low-gravity acrobatics. In a joking way that seems, at some level, not to be a joke, they treat the abnormally long tails of the Moon-born marmosets as a sign of providence, holding the tail-fur to be particularly good at picking up moondust. The dust, which can cause lung disease, infiltrates their habitats despite all the airlock precautions; its suppression is a constant battle. Whether hoovering it out of tails which accumulate it in the manner of a feather duster is in fact more effective than the settlements electrostatic air-filtration systems is open to question. But it is clearly more therapeutic. And the marmosets enjoy the attention.

The oldest Earth-born marmoset, New Mrs Chippy (who is, despite his name, male) enjoys an honorary seat on the collectives council. He has now reached the age of 31 with no obvious signs of ageing other than a pelt almost as white as his ear tufts. This is seen as a good omen for human longevity among those Cairders who refuse to countenance a return to Earth. In Japan, by contrast, laboratory marmosets rarely make it past their 21st birthday.

The most salient biological, as opposed to sociological, novelty among Moon-born marmosets is a very high prevalence of adolescent-onset blindness. The constellation of eyesight problems known as Spaceflight Associated Neuro-ocular Syndrome (SANS) has been studied since early this century. In adult humans SANS normally develops only during long stays in the microgravity conditions of space stations; it is rare and mild among humans on the Moon. But in marmosets born in low gravity it develops swiftly and severely at the onset of puberty and leads to almost complete loss of vision.

There is as yet no agreed explanation for this pathology. Some researchers believe it is not in fact gravity-related but the result of an off-target effect of the gene editing which realigned the calcium pathways used in bone growth, but it is hard to square this with the similarity to SANS as experienced by genotypical adult humans. Others think its onset could be avoided if newborn pups were required to spend more, or all, of their time in the simulated Earth-normal gravity of the centrifuge. But it has proved hard to test this hypothesis. Infants that have spent any time at all in lunar gravity are greatly distressed by the rigours of the centrifuge and will not suckle when put into it. And Cairders are unanimous in their opposition to anything that causes marmosets distress.

The blind marmosets are not badly off. Their sibling groups and human companions provide what little practical support they need. And they are happier than sighted marmosets to travel in the pouches which many Cairders have incorporated into the suits they use for working on the lunar surface. Sighted marmosets are clearly disturbed by the harsh monochrome landscape, even when emotionally supported with the amplified sound of their companions heartbeat.

Sudden-onset SANS leaves the question of whether human children can be born and raised on the Moon unanswered. It is sometimes suggested that a blind woman happy with the idea of a child who might also be blind could choose to join the collective and explore the issue. But bringing a child to term would require a centrifuge capable of holding a grown human, rather than a 250-gram marmoset. There is no appetite among Cairders for devoting resources to such a project, and their juche ethic of self-sufficiency will not let them accept funding for such experiments from Earth. Thus how well humans may eventually be able to breed on alien worlds remains unknown, even today.

That they will take animal companions with them, though, now seems certain. And some of those companions will surely have shocking-white ear tufts, odd little faces and very long tails.

Full contents of this What If?Freedom to tinker, October 2029: What if biohackers injected themselves with mRNA?The other epidemic, June 2025: What if America tackled its opioid crisis?A tale of two cities, June 2041: What if a deadly heat wave hit India?You are what you eat, January 2035: What if everyones nutrition was personalised?iHealthy, September 2028: What if smartphones become personal health assistants?Mrs Chippys benediction, February 2055: What if marmosets lived on the Moon?*Novel treatments, August 2050: What if dementia was preventable and treatable?Rage against the machine, December 2036: What if an AI wins the Nobel prize for medicine?Germ of an idea: What if germ theory had caught on sooner?

This article appeared in the What If? section of the print edition under the headline "Mrs Chippys benediction"

Originally posted here:
What if marmosets lived on the Moon? - The Economist

Japanese longevity

The feature about ikigai and Japanese longevity (in particular Okinawa, December 5) is most interesting and useful. Ikigai is essentially about maintaining a positive mental attitude, physical and mental activity and avoiding overeating.

Japan remains at the top of human longevity league while Sardinia is said to be home to the highest percentage of European centenarians. A recent British study of this Sardinian phenomenon claims these long-lived individuals live in hilltop villages, are active most of the day, do not make much use of cars, their diet is mainly vegetables and goat cheese based, and are free from chronic disputes and anger.

Japanese longevity is not just related to ikigai but also to their traditional diet of fish, vegetables, green tea and no animal meats and dairy produce. Several decades ago, US medical statistics identified that, whereas Japanese living in Japan had low rates of heart disease, breast and prostate cancer, compared to the US, Japanese residents in America acquired similar disease patterns to other Americans within two generations. This suggested the diet in Japan was an important factor in Japan residents longevity.

Two important dietary factors contributing to Japanese longevity are thought to be fish and a fermented soya product. Fish, particularly from cold waters, is rich in omega-3 fat, which has anti-inflammatory and anti-coagulant properties besides lowering blood triglycerides levels (the worst factor in cholesterol tests). Fermented soya, which the Japanese call natto, has blood clot loosening properties.

The dietary combination of fish and natto would, therefore, be expected to be just as an effective (if not superior and safer) alternative to aspirin and cholesterol-lowering pharmaceuticals (statins). In the West, if one is not eating fish on a daily basis, one can replicate this Japanese dietary pattern with pure fish oil (marine omega-3) and nattokinase capsules.

Nattokinase is natto in capsule form and, if not available locally, can be purchased online from European suppliers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, US laboratory animal studies and a combined US and Chinese university field study in China produced evidence incriminating excessive animal-derived foods as the main promoter of cancer.

The traditional Japanese diet, containing little or no animal-derived food, probably also contributes to their longevity by lowering cancer risk. Furthermore, soya beans (and all beans and lentils) contain substances which lower breast and prostate cancer risk.

ALBERT CILIA-VINCENTI former European Medicines Agency scientific delegate, Attard

In the run-up to the Christmas season, or holiday festivities, if you will, a shadow has been cast that temporarily diminished the sparkle of led lights and Christmas cheer. The European Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli sought to issue some sugar-coated equality guidelines which were, fortunately, withdrawn following scathing criticism from various quarters within the European Union.

This move coming from Dalli takes me to revisit one of my favourite movies, The Nightmare Before Christmas. In Tim Burtons stop-motion animated masterpiece, the grotesque but charismatic character Jack Skellington naively tries to fuse Halloween with Christmas, going so far as to send his minions to capture Father Christmas and replacing presents with Halloween versions, which shock and terrify children and parents.

After realising his folly, Jack the Pumpkin King sets things right by reversing his actions and restores Christmas to its normal state.

Dalli has, likewise, attempted to distort the meaning of Christmas and its symbolism to suit her vision of equality but retracted her steps because of the negative backlash. However, while Skellingtons motivations may have been comical and well-intentioned, those of the commissioner could be different.

I distinctly recall, a few years back, the first draft of the Equality Bill, issued when Dalli was a minister for equality in Malta, which included a rather sinister definition of pregnancy: the state of a person who has within the ovary or womb an implanted embryo, which gradually becomes developed in the latter receptacle.

After the social partners protested against this mad scientist definition of pregnancy, which, underhandedly, attempted to separate the mother from the child, the definition was later changed to a more humane woman with child. Yet, the attempt to strip the concept of a pregnancy of any human element was evident, understood and exposed.

More recently, Dalli bragged about how she deceived the electorate by disguising the true intentions of the Labour Party electoral manifesto through the use of obscure terminology. It seems to me that Dalli harbours opinions to which she is perfectly entitled but would go to any lengths to see these ideas imposed on the rest of society, even by stealth and Macchiavellian tactics.

The proposed guidelines by the European Commission also tried to dissuade the use of names like Mary because of their Christian connotations, under the guise of promoting multiculturalism. Why my mothers name, which Leonard Bernstein in the classic West Side Story describes as all the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word, should have the effect of brandishing a crucifix to a vampire on some people eludes me.

Multiculturalism should be all-embracing. If Frank Zappa chose to name his daughter Moon Unit, I love his music no less, though I still prefer the name Mary to Moon Unit.

The EU has to grapple with striking a balance between its historical and cultural roots and a rapidly changing sociocultural environment. Yet, there is no need to resort to a sledgehammer approach to accept the new by obscuring the history and traditions that unite the countries within the Union.

The branding of the Union its flag is also an affirmation of predominantly Christian culture and values, even if the Union and member states are secular. The blue background and yellow stars are a direct reference to the biblical Mary, not Moon Unit.

In time, this may be challenged by the likes of Commissioner Dalli. Who knows, in future, we may remove the 12 yellow stars that can represent the apostles, the zodiac or the 12 labours of Hercules and replace them with a deconstructed foetus as a symbol of equality!

JOSEPH FARRUGIA Attard

Letters to the editor should be sent to editor@timesofmalta.com. Please include your full name, address and ID card number. The editor may disclose personal information to any person or entity seeking legal action on the basis of a published letter.

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Letters to the editor - December 12, 2021 - Times of Malta

Peter Wohlleben manages a forest in the Eifel Mountains of Germany. Hes most familiar with the struggles and strategies of beeches and oaks. And from decades of observing, studying, living, breathing, and walking among the trees, he has come to discover a parallel world that is invisible to most of us.

Modern forestry is principally concerned with producing lumber. It was Wohllebens job to size up hundreds of trees a day with an eye toward the marketplace. It was only when, in the mid-90s, he began to organize survival training and log-cabin experiences for tourists that he began to wake up to the mystery, variety, complexity, and wonder of trees.

He wrote about that awakening in the 2015 bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World (Greystone Books, $17).

The Foreword by scientist, explorer, and conservationist Tim Flannery sets the tone:

One reason that many of us fail to understand trees is that they live on a different time scale than us. One of the oldest trees on Earth, [Old Tjikko], a spruce in Sweden, is more than 9,500 years old. Thats 115 times longer than the average human lifetime.

Trees, it turns out, are social. Theyre sophisticated communicators. They experience pain, have memories, and live with their children.

Trees can taste and smell. Certain trees release chemicals to alert their neighbors that a threat in the form, for example, of a leaf-eating giraffe is at hand. Others, when under attack by insects, send out chemical signals to attract predators that will eat the insects.

Trees exchange nutrients through their root systems, including with their competitors. The system is to everyones advantage, because a grouping of trees creates an ecosystem that, among other things, can regulate temperature, store water, and generate humidity.

Sick members of the community are nursed and nourished; its as if trees, too, exist as part of a Mystical Body. So strong is the instinct toward collective health that a kind of equalization principle is at work, whereby more robust trees work to strengthen the weak.

As with humans, trees that grow in isolation generally fail to thrive. And as in the human world, hierarchies exist certain trees are favored. A tree will voluntarily curtail the growth of branches that would otherwise impinge upon the light needed by a neighboring friend, but have no problem in crowding out a nonfriend. Roots of friends become intertwined to such an extent that they sometimes even die together.

Trees register pain by means of electrical signals at the site of the wound. Chemical signals are also transmitted through fungal networks that form around the root tips.

Trees know how to conserve energy: They can go through periods where they sleep, then, possibly after several years, wake. Mother trees purposely limit the amount of light available to their children, as slow growth makes for longevity.

Trees store water in order to survive hot summers and drought. Wohlleben considers the mystery of how that water makes its way from the trees roots all the way up to their leaves.

Insects, butterflies, bees, foraging animals, birds: all depend upon and, in a kind of complex, intricate dance, interact with the trees pollen, seeds, leaves, nuts, and flowers.

Old Tjikko is a tree in Fulufjll in Sweden which is claimed to be the oldest tree in the world, by age of its root system. (Wikimedia Commons)

Over time, Wohlleben developed a new way of managing forests that is both more productive and more profitable: more humane, you could say.

He goes so far as to speak of love among trees.

Some may object to such anthropomorphization but universally acclaimed childrens author Hans Christian Andersen took things a step further.

In fact, this is the perfect time of year to read, or re-read his short story The Fir Tree.

Andersens young tree lived in a beautiful forest. The sun shone, the soft air fluttered its leaves, and the little peasant children passed by, prattling merrily, but the fir tree heeded them not.

The tree was so restless, in fact, that it took no pleasure in the warm sunshine, the birds, or the rosy clouds that floated over it every morning and evening. Sound familiar?

In winter, when the snow glittered on the ground, the fir saw that other, bigger, trees were chosen to be cut down and carried away by laughing bands of revelers. Oh, if I could but keep on growing tall and old! the fir tree thought. There is nothing else worth caring for in the world!

After several years, the trees fondest wish is granted. On Christmas Eve, it finds itself in a lavish home, decorated with golden apples, figs, toys, and glowing candles. For one night, the children enjoy their orgy of food and gifts. The next day the tree is relegated to a dark corner of the attic, where it yellows, dries, and is at last hauled out, unceremoniously chopped into tiny pieces, and burned.

Moral: Lets enjoy that warm sunshine, those rosy clouds, and the friends and family with whom the good Lord has graced us now! Wishing one and all a blessed Christmas.

Original post:
The hidden lives of trees - Angelus News

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PerkinElmer, a global leader committed to innovating for a healthier world, today announced that its Horizon Discovery CHOSOURCE CHO-K1GS knockout cell line licensed by Trinomab Biotech. Co., Ltd. (www.trinomab.com), of Guangzhou, China was used to help produce and bring to clinical trial the worlds first, fully native human monoclonal neutralizing antibody (mAb) drug candidate to fight tetanus toxin.

Officially approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) and Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC), the phase I clinical trial in Australia is expected to be completed in August 2021. Leveraging Horizons CHOSOURCE cell line, which includes a gene-edited Glutamine Synthetase (GS) knockout Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) K1 cell line and well-established GS expression system, Trinomab was able to get its drug candidate from DNA sequence to clinical manufacturing more quickly and easily.

Trinomab Biotech explained: Since implementing the CHOSOURCE CHO-K1 knockout cell line in our drug development workflow in March 2019, we have been able to hit the ground running and develop this mAb drug candidate against different diseases including the first in-human mAb in phase I trial in Australia against tetanus toxin. These efforts have shown how easy and effective the Horizon cell line was to implement and adapt to our processes. We are pleased with the results and continue to build our drug pipeline using the CHOSOURCE CHO-K1 cell line.

We are delighted that the CHOSOURCE cell line has been part of Trinomabs pioneering efforts to combat disease and are pleased to be working with other organizations in China and around the globe to move drug science and new therapeutic candidates forward, commented Jess Zurdo, Global Head Bioproduction in PerkinElmers Horizon business.

The CHOSOURCE platform, designed for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and biosimilar companies of all sizes, is recognized by the industry and regulators as optimized for high yield bioproduction and is licensed by more than 80 organizations globally. More than nine biotherapeutics expressed in these cell lines, including Trinomabs, have progressed to investigational new drug (IND) filings.

For further information on PerkinElmers Horizon Discovery CHOSOURCE technology please visit: https://horizondiscovery.com/en/chosource.

About PerkinElmer

PerkinElmer enables scientists, researchers, and clinicians to address their most critical challenges across science and healthcare. With a mission focused on innovating for a healthier world, we deliver unique solutions to serve the diagnostics, life sciences, food, and applied markets. We strategically partner with customers to enable earlier and more accurate insights supported by deep market knowledge and technical expertise. Our dedicated team of about 14,000 employees worldwide is passionate about helping customers work to create healthier families, improve the quality of life, and sustain the wellbeing and longevity of people globally. The Company reported revenue of approximately $3.8 billion in 2020, serves customers in 190 countries, and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Additional information is available through 1-877-PKI-NYSE, or at http://www.perkinelmer.com.

About Trinomab

Trinomab is a biopharmaceutical start-up focused on the research and development of new, fully native human antibody drugs to fight infectious, autoimmune, and other diseases as well as malignant tumors. The core technology of the company is a fourth-generation antibody HitmAb, a proprietary technology platform. Additional information is available at http://www.trinomab.com.

Read the rest here:
PerkinElmer's Horizon Discovery CHOSOURCE Cell Line Supports Trinomab Biotech's Development of the World-First, Tetanus Toxin mAb Drug for Clinical...

Wearing a dark polo-shirt, his jovial, unlined features are a good advertisement for the medicine he is peddling. His dark hair has only the odd streak of grey. He looks relaxed but then perhaps a holiday in Tuscany, from where he is calling, will do that for anyone.

As he waves his arms, another possible reason for his youthful demeanour becomes clear: he is plastered in wearable devices smart watches and rings which track his heart rate and sleep patterns. I just took out my continuous glucose monitor. His latest health check-up was just a couple of months ago. I didnt even have the colonoscopy, he says, deadly serious. The combination of full-body MRI and colo guard [an at-home colon cancer screening kit] was enough

I nod sagely as though I too have just pooed into a sample bucket and sent it off to a lab.

But hes not wrong that such tests do form part of an ongoing medical revolution. Early diagnostics prevention not cure are increasingly hardwired into healthcare provision, if only because stopping people becoming sick is vastly cheaper for governments than treating them once they do.

Many of us will already be surfing this wave of consumer health tech gadgets, from trackers in smartwatches to fingertip oxygen monitors deployed during Covid. In Youngs book they are producing a wealth of data which, when allied with growing computing power to crunch through it, form the first great pillar of how life will be extended in the near time. How can he be wrong? Personalised, predictive medicine is already with us.

Gene editing, organ regeneration and what he calls longevity in a pill are his other great hopes. The first of these, too, is here today. A renegade Chinese scientist has already created the first gene-edited humans twins born in 2018 whose DNA was tweaked to confer resistance to HIV. And I remain marked by an interview in 2019 with Sophie Wheldon, then a 21-year-old student from Birmingham whose life was saved by Car-T, a novel therapy which genetically modified her own white blood cells to attack her otherwise untreatable leukaemia.

Organ regeneration is more far-fetched, more far-off, even if Young has put his money where his mouth is, investing in Lygenesis, a company trying to grow functioning new organs (to replace failing old ones) using a patients own lymph nodes. So far the company is working on growing livers, but Young says they have many more organs in the pipeline. Human trials start in November.

As for longevity in a pill, such hopes are pinned on drugs like metformin, usually administered for diabetes, which in some patients can have a beneficial effect on other body systems too. But despite thousands of ongoing trials, its still far from being released as a regulated anti-ageing drug. That doesnt deter Young. When we perfect such processes, he believes, living to 150 or 200 years old will become as simple as getting vaccinated today. For the moment, however, and as Young himself admits, regular exercise is, for most of us, safer and more effective.

Indeed, there is no getting around the boring, unchanging truths of staying well longer. Young is most proud of the books final chapter, which offers 10 top tips to take advantage of the longevity revolution. Quit smoking is second on the list. Dont drink too much is there, too. Sleep and eat well. This is hardly revolutionary, though he is also a keen advocate of fasting (Every week Im fasting 36 hours from Monday evening to Wednesday morning), and plant-based diets. (I eat meat probably once every two or three weeks).

He thinks that such steps will help him overcome the cancer barrier, and the heart disease barrier, which is somewhere around 60 and 65 years. But he knows that hurdling those only means crashing into the neurodegenerative diseases barrier, which is around 80 or 90 years.

But there is a tech solution to dementia too, he thinks. And this is where things get more outlandish. If we want to help people to fight Alzheimers or neurodegenerative diseases, he says, integration between human brain and computer is the only way to solve it. He talks of Elon Musk, whose company Neuralink is working on just such a brain-machine interface with the goal of enabling people with paralysis to directly use their neural activity to operate digital devices. He mentions digital representations of the elderly avatars which could continue, compos mentis, as the physical persons dementia deteriorates, or even live on after they die. It sounds loopy, until he talks movingly of his grandfather, who died in 1995 and to whom he was close. He was instrumental for me. I would love to have the opportunity to have 30 minutes with a [digital copy] of him in the virtual world. Theres so many questions I would still like to ask.

See the article here:
Would you really like to live to be 200? - Telegraph.co.uk

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The World Health Organizationreportedthelife expectancy of an Indian to be 70.8 yearsin its 2019-20 report. Over the lasttwocenturies, Indias life expectancy has increased consistently but is still lower than the global averageof73.4 years.

Human life expectancy depends on multiple factors.A 2018review studyassessing life expectancy in low and medium human development index countries investigated health indicators of83 nations from the World Bank, WHO, United Nation Development Fund and UNICEFdatabases. The authors reported socio-economic status, healthcare system, adult literacy rate, disease burden, andthe interaction of these factorsas major determinants of life expectancy.

Unhealthy food choicesand associated risks are among the leading causes of death globally.According totheWHOs latestfactsheet(13 April 2021), noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) contribute to 71per centof global deaths. Annually, around 15 million peoplebetween30and60 years ofagedie prematurely from NCDs85per centofthese deathsare from lower and middle-income countries. Cardiovascular diseases are the most prevalent cause of death acrossthe world, followed by cancers, respiratory diseases, and diabetes. These four groups alone are responsible for 80per centof all premature deaths. Potential risk factors for NCD include lack of physical activity, poor dietary choices, excessive consumption of alcohol, tobacco, stress, etc.

Also read: Women in India live longer than men but dont have healthier lives, finds new report

A2020 studyby Manika Sharma and colleagues comparingtheIndian diet with the EAT-LancetCommissionreference diet included samples from1.02 lakhhouseholdsinIndia and found that whole grains were contributing significantly more calories than the EAT-Lancet recommendations, whereas the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes, meat, fish and eggs were much lower. Protein share was only 6-8per cent,compared tothe 29 per cent recommendation.These outcomes were independent of the socio-economic status of Indian households.Even the rich Indians werenot found to consume optimum amounts of fruits, vegetables, and proteins in their diet. In fact, an average Indian household consumesmore calories from processed foods than fruits. Authors concluded the average Indian diet as unhealthy, lacking essential food groups.

Another national-levelcross-sectional surveyin2017-18 bythe National NCD Monitoring Surveystudiedthe prevalence of risk factors in 12,000 Indianadults.Itrevealedthat32.8per cent of respondentsused tobacco, 15.9per centconsumed alcohol, 41.3per centwere not physically active, 98.4per centconsumed less thanfiveservings of fruits and vegetables per day. The study also reported an elevated risk of blood glucose and cardiovascular diseases among participants.

Also read: In Indias booming junk food market, there is little room for nutrition

Blue Zones, aconceptdeveloped by National Geographic Fellow and author Dan Buettner, are thefiveregions of the world where people live longer, lead physically and mentally healthy lives,and aremore active compared to the rest of the world. Tolive longer, the Blue Zones adoptednineevidence-based lifestyle modalities that arethought to slowthe ageing process, diet being one of the most importantcomponents.

The Blue zone diet is wholeandmostly plant-based.Ninety five per centof the daily Blue zone diet is composed of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, legumes, nuts, olive oil, berries, oats, and barley. The diet recommends avoiding meat and dairy, sugary drinks, with no room for processed foods.

In contrast to the standard diet composition,Sardinia, one of five Blue Zones,followsa variation of the Mediterranean diet that includes all Blue Zone food groups along with moderate intake of fish and fewer intake of dairy, alcohol, and red meat.

Plant-based Blue Zone diets are rich in antioxidantsandanti-inflammatory polyphenols, which are reported topreventchronicillnessessuch as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

A 2015reviewby G.M. Pes and colleagues mapped historical evidence linked to male longevity among the Sardinian population and found that an inter-community nutrition transition to consuming more fruits and vegetablesandmoderate consumptions of meat led to significant health benefits to the ageing population by reducing mortality risk.

However, a wholesome, nutritious, antioxidant-rich diet isnt the only secret behind the Blue Zone longevity. Thepeopleliving therealso engagein high levels of physical activity, have low-stress levels, more social engagement, and a sense of well-being.

Eating like a Mediterranean is recommended as a part of longevity diet for the Indian population that includes more raw fruits and vegetables in salads; whole grains instead of polished rice; legumes, pulses, and beans in form of sprouts, salads, less spicy curry; healthy fats from nuts, seeds, olive oil, coconut, and avocado; along with limited intake of meat and sweets.

All processed foods like refined sugar, refined wheat flour, biscuits, instant noodlesshouldbe gradually eliminated from the daily diet.

Also read: Two-third Indians with non-communicable diseases fall in 26-59 age group, survey finds

Include these elements of the Mediterranean diet in your meals:

-Oats, barley, jowar, bajra, ragi, kodo millets, quinoa

-Dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, lettuce, drumstick leaves

-Nutslikealmonds, walnuts, figs

-Seedslikeflax, chia, pumpkin, sunflower, beans

-Legumeslikenavy beans, fava beans, chickpeas, lentils

-Dairyproducts likelow-fat cheese, yogurt, milk

-Fishlikesardines, salmon, trout, sea fishes

-Herbs and spiceslikemint, rosemary, sage, garlic, thyme, basil, and oregano.

To summarise, a vibrant, nutritious eating plan along with regular physical activity, sound sleep, and stress-free life is the key to acquiringa disease-free, long life.

Indians can start practising this one day at a time.

Dr Subhasree Ray is Doctoral Scholar (Ketogenic Diet), certified diabetes educator, and a clinical and public health nutritionist. She tweets @DrSubhasree. Views are personal.

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How can Indians live longer? We need the Blue Zone diet - ThePrint