THE PERFORMANCE THAT best summarizes Sigourney Weaver isnt one of the many in which she hurtled through the cosmos in androgynous outfits and questionable haircuts with an ill-tempered brood of extraterrestrial lizards in pursuit. It isnt the time she pretended to be an ape so that gorillas would trust her or to be human so that Melanie Griffith would. It isnt when she was thrown in the slammer or possessed by a ghost or nearly garroted by Harry Connick Jr., of all people, in a public restroom, of all places.

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Its when Stephen Colbert came for her. In a skit on The Late Show in April 2017, he sat imperiously at a reception desk in a doctors office on some far-flung space station, and Weaver, dressed as that lizard-evading star-trekker in the Alien movies, rushed in.

The xenomorphs! she yelled. Theyve breached their containment facility! One of the creatures, she added, was stuck inside her.

That really sounds like a conversation for your ob-gyn, Colbert replied.

Frustrated, she explained that she was Ellen Ripley, the woman who single-handedly saved humanity every five to eight years for the last three decades. And, she warned: I can feel this thing about to burst out of my chest!

Maam, Colbert deadpanned, I had a burrito for lunch, and I dont want to tell you where thats about to burst out.

With what must have been a herculean effort, Weaver kept a straight face. Instead of following Colberts lead and winking at the audience, she treated them to a complete reanimation of her celluloid alter ego from a series of sci-fi classics that introduced a whole new archetype: the female action hero. Here was Ripley in all her customary urgency, all her apocalyptic dread, as if Weavers involvement in the Alien franchise hadnt ended with its fourth chapter in 1997 and these breezy minutes on a cheesy set with goofy props were its fifth.

The actress demonstrates her range as she shares a couple of wisecracks. By Flora Hanitijo

She wasnt on Colberts show to promote some new project. She had no larger agenda, no careerist scheme. She was just there for the weird adventure of it. Thats the essence the wonder of Weaver: Shes always there, with total commitment, for the weird adventure of it. She says yes to one oddball dare after another. Then she takes the plunge.

And, despite the clich, plunge is the right word. In Avatar 2, which is largely finished but not scheduled for release until December 2022 to be followed by several planned sequels she shot many of her scenes underwater. Never mind that she was closing in on 70. (Shes now 71.) Or that the preparation included dives in Key West, Fla., and in Hawaii, where she reclined on the ocean floor while manta rays glided over her. Or that she needed to train with an expert who had coached elite military divers so that she could hold her breath, after a big gulp of supplemental oxygen, for more than six minutes. That made the part more attractive to her. My hope is that what I receive from the universe is even more outrageous than anything I can think of, she told me. I dont really say to myself, Well, you cant do this. Or, You cant do that. Let me at it! And well see.

There are female screen actors of her generation who are better at melancholy (Sissy Spacek), madness (Sally Field) or malice (Glenn Close). There are a few, including Jessica Lange and Meryl Streep, with a larger gallery of legendary roles. But are there any more exuberantly and eccentrically game than Weaver, who took her mix of regal beauty and formal training she studied at Yales graduate drama school in the mid-1970s alongside Streep in such wildly surprising directions?

THERES AN UNDERAPPRECIATED current of mischief in Weaver thats manifest in an eye-catching detail in her midtown Manhattan apartment, where we met for a long, socially distanced conversation this past summer. In a grand multipurpose room that provides excellent views of the East River, between a proper dining-room table and an elegant arrangement of couches, dangles a swing: a thick wood bench attached by ropes to the high ceiling. Its a declaration that she doesnt take herself too seriously, and to review her filmography more than 50 movies over nearly 45 years, beginning with a fleeting, mute appearance on Woody Allens arm in Annie Hall in 1977 is to realize that it says the exact same thing.

Between Alien in 1979 and Aliens in 1986, she did a French-language comedy, One Woman or Two, which co-starred Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous sex therapist. She did a poltergeist comedy, Ghostbusters, which co-starred Bill Murray and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. (Thats when she was possessed.)

Serious roles, silly roles, roles steeped in romance, roles drenched in sweat: She set no trajectory. Established no pattern. Even at her commercial peak, she took minor roles, as in Working Girl, in 1988, which gave her a fraction of the screen time of Griffith and Harrison Ford. That performance led to an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress in the same year that she was nominated for best actress for her portrayal of the doomed primatologist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist. Her co-stars in Gorillas were the silverback mountain gorillas of Rwanda, where much of the movie was shot. She just plopped herself down in the jungle among them. Of course, I had to pay attention, she said, as the babies were climbing all over me and urinating on me and pulling my hair. I was very careful never to touch them with my human hands, because the mothers, although they looked like they were eating and not paying attention, would have been right over there. The experience made her a passionate conservationist and environmentalist, and she beams at the memory. It was the closest thing to absolute joy that Ive ever felt on the planet just to be with them. Theyre so grounded, compared to us. They have such smart priorities: eating, sleeping, copulating.

Her other best actress nomination came two years earlier, for the sequel Aliens, which also put her through paces well beyond the norm. It was a tough shoot, physically, said James Cameron, who wrote and directed it. She was running around this complicated set, and there were valves and handles sticking out, and shed crack into them with her arm or shoulder or hip. I remember her just being black-and-blue after a couple of weeks. Thats why Cameron, who later recruited her for 2009s Avatar, didnt have to worry that she would balk at the soggy challenges of Avatar 2. She balks at nothing.

The reason isnt some innate confidence. Its because she felt pulled actually, pushed is more like it along an unorthodox path. Its because she had something to prove. And its because shes tall.

I WAS THIS tall when I was 11, she told me, meaning about an inch shy of six feet. Like a giant spider. She was Susan Weaver then, and her parents actually sent her to a doctor for tests. I think they were afraid Id just keep growing, she said. She didnt, but her height defined her, then and forevermore, as someone who spilled over the edges, who was bold by dint of biology and had no choice but to chart an outsize course. Small wonder that she later ditched Susan in favor of Sigourney, after a character in The Great Gatsby. She needed a less diminutive name.

She grew up in Manhattan, where her father was a television executive, and went to boarding school in Connecticut before earning an English degree from Stanford and then attending Yale. Her acting teachers there told her that she was talentless, then amended that verdict slightly. They said, We take it back, but you can only do comedy dont ever try to do any drama, she recalled.

And so she did comedy and absurdist comedy at that, acting in the Off Broadway productions of the playwright Christopher Durang, a close friend from graduate school. She told me that to understand her loopy assignments later on, I just had to understand her loopy assignments then, such as Titanic, a Durang one-act where she says she got her confidence back through playing a multiple schizophrenic who keeps a hedgehog in her vagina. After that, she said, anything else seemed pretty tame.

Movie agents would come to check her out onstage and deem her too statuesque to be easily cast. But eventually, she got auditions, including for Alien, which she didnt recognize as a future blockbuster. Her attitude when she met its director, Ridley Scott, then a novice with only one prior movie under his belt, was skeptical. I was wearing trousers with hooker boots that went over my knees, and I think they were at least three inches high, she said. Why I was doing that, I dont know. Maybe I thought it was science fiction-y. Scott asked her for her opinion about the script. Very bleak, she answered, adding that a sex scene (later cut) was utterly implausible.

But Scott was intrigued. And he pulled out these extraordinary black-and-white renderings of the alien in all of his erotic elegance, she said. I realized that Id never seen anything like this on the screen. It was so beautiful and so menacing. From that moment, I was hooked.

Alien made her a star, and she soon found herself opposite Mel Gibson in 1982s The Year of Living Dangerously. Although hes shorter than she is, when we went to the opening in Los Angeles, he encouraged me to wear the highest heels I could, she recalled, sharing the story because it was so exceptional. Many male actors, producers and directors conspicuously sat down the second she entered a room, lest they find themselves standing beside her and failing to measure up.

She wavered on doing a sequel to Alien. Then she read Camerons Aliens script. Hed constructed the entire story around Ripley and taken the character to a new level. In Alien, shes merely the lone survivor of the crew thats picked off, one by one, by a monster that she finally dispenses with at the end, as she heads home to Earth. But in the sequel, she leads a platoon of warriors back into space to check on colonists who may have met the same fate as her former crew. Its as much a war movie as anything else, with a woman as the general, and her gender isnt the chink in her armor. Its the very metal, giving her a humility and humanity missing in some of the men around her. That idea, coupled with Weavers ardent and un-self-conscious performance, made Aliens a feminist milestone. Weaver has served as a sort of cinematic godmother to Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider series, Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games movies and many others.

And she conveyed motherhood so well that Cameron was able to take it out of the movie. When he wrote and shot Aliens, there were scenes that establish that Ripley had a daughter who died while the character was off floating in space in a state of age-arresting stasis. That heartbreak is supposed to explain her fierce protectiveness of a little girl that the platoon later discovers on the decimated colony. But while editing the movie, Cameron realized that Weaver had utterly sold that bond independent of any back story, so he cut those early scenes.

It was while making Aliens that she began to think a lot more about becoming a mother herself, and a few years later, she and her husband, the theater director Jim Simpson, had their daughter, Charlotte, whos now 30. Weaver slowed down a bit, putting her career in a family-centered gear not uncommon among actresses of her generation, some of whom, like Spacek and Debra Winger, never really revved all the way up to full speed again, while others, like Streep and Weaver, with their formal training in theater, snapped back into trouper mode. For Weaver, the break wasnt hard or unusual: From the start, she had come and gone as she pleased, never settling on a fixed image, never lingering for long in Hollywood. She spent extensive time with her family in a remote residence on more than 400 acres deep in upstate New Yorks Adirondack Mountains that she bought in 1986.

She goes on long hikes and is never happier than when shes swimming in the lake, in spite of the snapping turtles, said Selina Cadell, an English actress and director who has been a close friend of hers for more than 40 years. The image of Weaver imprinted in Cadells brain is from the day they met in London, where Weaver joined her and a mutual friend of theirs at an outdoor pub. I saw this very gazelle-like creature leaping through the traffic in a rather dangerous way, Cadell told me, and the next thing I know, shed leapt over the wall and was sitting beside us. And I was so impressed with her exuberance and her folly all at once. I thought, This is an interesting woman.

Determinedly so. Both her height and that criticism from Yale which clearly haunted her, because she circled back to it in our conversations left her feeling like an outsider unsuited to or unworthy of certain assignments, such as the romantic leads then typically reserved for shorter or blonder actresses. But she simultaneously longed to show, with an array of other assignments, how suited and worthy she could be, in her own way: to play all kinds of parts of women who were different, who didnt fit in, she said. And she wasnt about to pass on something because it was too commercial or too much of a genre piece, not if there was something reasonably intriguing there for her. She was never going to be pretentious.

THE ACTOR Kevin Kline, with whom she has made three movies, told me that their long friendship is fueled in part by the gratitude each of them feels for the others ego-lancing teasing. During their first screen collaboration, the 1993 White House comedy Dave, she furtively positioned various members of the crew behind him and had pictures taken of them reacting to him by yawning or dozing off. She put together this photo album the amount of work that went into it was extraordinary, Kline said. Ive never quite witnessed anything like it. It was an extravagant practical joke.

But that same unstuffy sensibility meant that she often didnt go after or get some of the flashy Oscar bait that peers did. When I first met and interviewed her in 1994, she confessed that she sometimes complained to her agent, who also represented Streep: I want an Out of Africa. I want a Sophies Choice. But I never did anything about it, she told me back then. I always felt a little bit illegitimate. Whenever they talked about serious actresses, I always felt that I had one foot in the land of Arnold Schwarzenegger, one foot in the land of Ivan Reitman and maybe a toe in the land of Meryl Streep and Glenn Close.

Funnily, she was then promoting the movie Death and the Maiden, in which she had the starring role a torture survivor who takes her alleged torturer captive that Close had played in the stage version on Broadway. Death belonged to a string of movies in the 1990s that suggested an uptick in Weavers confidence. If Streep and Close have allowed themselves to become more playful over time, Weaver allowed herself to become a little more serious. She was a mesmerizingly icy adulteress in 1997s The Ice Storm, in which she and Kline teamed again, and a woman wrongly imprisoned for child abuse in 1999s A Map of the World, the movie of hers that she most wishes more people had seen. These characters, like previous ones, were outsiders, but of a more somber, less flamboyant sort. She by no means jettisoned the old mischief, and mixed in with her smaller, quirkier movies in the 1990s and 2000s was crowd-pleasing fare (such as Copycat, the 1995 thriller that paired her with Connick Jr.) and comedies (the 1999 cult favorite Galaxy Quest, which parodied the sci-fi genre that made her a superstar).

If anything, the eclecticism that defined Weavers career from the start has grown more pronounced. Over the past decade, she has done Broadway (Durangs modern-day Chekhov spoof Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, which premiered in 2012) and cable television (Political Animals, that same year, in which she played a secretary of state with shades of Hillary Clinton). In film, she has straddled genres as diverse as horror and animation. She has toes everywhere, even the most unexpected crannies. Shes done cameos on the English television comedy Doc Martin and the French television comedy Call My Agent! She has played or poked fun at herself in SpongeBob SquarePants and on Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. The idiosyncratic nature of her career, she told me, has made aging easier, because her parts never depended on dewiness. And she never encountered the sexual harassment or humiliation that so many actresses have come forward to describe. She was Ripley, after all. Ive been very lucky, in a way, starting out in this business by playing a woman who runs around with a flamethrower, she said.

She was lucky, too, that she got into the business back then, because actors brands are now so much more narrowly defined and so much more painstakingly maintained, their presence on social media absorbing as much strategic thought as their actual professional development. Weaver and, as it happens, Kline represent an entirely different ethos, a compulsion to stretch in this direction because you last stretched in another one, an understanding that variety is the handmaiden to longevity or at least to longevity in a happy, mentally healthy state.

She has three movies tentatively scheduled for release later this year or early next. Theres Ghostbusters: Afterlife, about which shes permitted to say exactly nothing; My Salinger Year, in which her supporting turn as J.D. Salingers literary agent recalls Streeps Devil minus the Prada; and The Good House, in which she plays a successful small-town realtor who becomes involved with a local handyman (Kline, again) as her closet alcoholism finally catches up with her.

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She has to be almost as mum about Avatar 2 as about the next Ghostbusters, so she couldnt say why the action is so aqueous. But she volunteered that she and other members of the cast had to learn not to squint or clamp their mouths shut both natural reactions when youre submerged during take after take in a gigantic water tank. She had weights around her waist and professional divers who sped her back to the surface for air at brief, regular intervals.

I asked her: You never said, during filming, This is insane?

I had some concerns, she replied. But thats what the training was for. And I really wanted to do it. I didnt want anyone to think, Oh, shes old, she cant do this.

Is there anywhere left for any of Weavers toes to go? She excitedly mentioned a planned movie based on a 2014 play by Brian Watkins, My Daughter Keeps Our Hammer. I play a very obstreperous mother whose best friend is a sheep, she said. The two of them watch soap operas together.

Let other stars do starrier stuff. They miss out on the xenomorphs, the livestock and the laughs. And in the end, they dont walk any taller.

Styled by Jason Rider. Hair by Serge Normant at Statement Artists using Serge Normant. Makeup by Brigitte Reiss-Andersen at A-Frame using Dior Beauty. Set design by Stefan Beckman at Exposure NY. Production: Prodn. Manicure: Megumi Yamamoto for Susan Price NYC. Digital tech: Nick Brinley. Photo assistants: Alex Hopkins, Peter Duong and Nicholas Krasznai. Set assistant: Emma Magidson. Tailor: Carol Ai. Stylists assistant: Zane Li.

Excerpt from:
Sigourney Weaver Goes Her Own Way - The New York Times

This years World Statistics Day celebration has an added significance for UNDP: 2020 also marks the 30th Anniversary of the first Human Development Report (HDR) and its key measure of well-being, the Human Development Index (HDI).

The HDI was developed to challenge the idea that a nations progress could be assessed by its economic growth (usually measure by Gross Domestic Product). Now is not the place to highlight the shortcomings of GDP as a measure of human wellbeing, suffice it to say that Simon Kuznets, the Nobel Prize winning economist who helped develop the concept in the 1930s, explicitly warned the government not to use it as a measure of wellbeing. Yet that is precisely what started to happen around the world.

As was famously observed Not everything we count counts, and not everything that counts is counted, the HDI was published to steer discussions about development progress away from GPD towards a measure that genuinely counts for peoples lives.

Introduced by the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) thirty years ago to provide a simple measure of human progress built around peoples freedoms to live the lives they want to the HDI has gained popularity with its simple yet comprehensive formula that assesses a populations average longevity, education, and income.

This office has always recognized the limitations of the HDI a measure as crude as GDP but not as blind to human lives. Over the years, however, there has been a growing interest in providing a more comprehensive set of measurements that capture other critical dimensions of human development.

To respond to this call, new measures of aspects of human development were introduced to complement the HDI and capture some of the missing dimensions of development such as poverty & inequality and gender gaps. Since 2010, HDRO has published an Inequality-adjusted HDI, which adjusts a nations HDI value for inequality within each of its components (longevity, education, and income) and, jointly with OPHI, a Multidimensional Poverty Index that measures deprivations directly.

Similarly, the Offices efforts to measure gender inequalities began in the 1995 HDR on gender, and recent reports have included two indices on gender, one accounting for differences between men and women in the HDI dimensions, the other a composite of inequalities in empowerment and well-being. Currently we are joining forces with UN Women to develop new gender-related human development composite indices by making a distinction between well-being and empowerment.

Other indices, statistical tables, and statistical dashboards have also been added to provide a more comprehensive perspective of the relevant data to assess countries human development.

Yet there is still much to be done. And HDRO is setting out on an ambitious agenda to rethink human development metrics.

First, we would like to introduce human development metrics to account for what the 2019 HDR referred to as enhanced capabilities aspects of life, such as access to the internet, that are becoming more and more essential to life in the 21st century.

Second, agency peoples ability to have control over their own lives is a crucial part of human development that needs to be measured. The current HDI speaks to a set of capabilities essential for basic well-being, but it does not encompass many of the things that enhance agency.

Third, many people expect the HDI to tell us more about the sustainability of human development in an era when human activity is pushing the planets systems to the breaking point. Very few people had even heard of climate change in 1990, nor predicted the collapse of global biodiversity that we are now witnessing. These areas while very difficult to measure are vital to humanitys future.

We are working alongside experts from different disciplines including sustainability science and earth system science to better capture environmental and sustainability factors in our human development metrics.

Yet we must not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. The HDI, and metrics of human development more broadly, are meant as signalling devices that provide policymakers and citizens with information to evaluate choices and discuss development performance. Therefore, the expansion of human development metrics should be built on a foundation of reaffirming the original intent of the human development approach - as rough and ready measures of how countries fare on indicators that relate to human development and sustainable development goals.

In the end, the world still needs an index that can embrace the complexities of development but is also simple to understand and straightforward to interpret.

Read more:
Measuring development progress beyond income - UNDP

Roots Analysis has announced the addition of Microbiome Therapeutics Market, 2015-2030 report to their offering. The report provides a comprehensive study on the current landscape and the future outlook of the evolving pipeline of products in this area. While the field has garnered the interest of several companies, there are no approved microbiome drugs available in the market yet; Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is the only commercially available procedure till date.

However, the development pipeline of microbiome therapeutics has several promising candidates that are likely to result in commercial success stories in the foreseen future.

Ishita Nanda, the principal analyst, said, Among other elements, the report also elaborates on new microbiome based diagnostic solutions being developed and the upcoming opportunities in this market for different stakeholders.One of the key objectives outlined for this report was to understand the future potential of the market. This was done by analyzing:

Nanda added, The study provides a detailed market forecast and opportunity analysis for the short-mid term (2015-2022) and long term (2022-2030). Our opinions and insights, presented in this study, were influenced by several discussions conducted with experts in this area. These included senior representatives at Assembly Biosciences, Da Volterra, Metabiomics, MicroBiome Therapeutics and Rebiotix.

The 218 page report includes detailed profiles and an assessment of the microbiome therapeutics programs of many companies including:

Details of some other firms developing microbiome related diagnostics and companion diagnostics have also been captured. Examples include (in alphabetical order) Admera Health, Biocartis, Enterome Bioscience, Human Longevity, Metabiomics, Microbiome Diagnostics, Viomer, Whole Biome.

For additional details, please visithttp://www.rootsanalysis.com/reports/view_document/microbiome-therapeutics-market-2015-2030/117.htmlor email[emailprotected]

About Roots Analysis

Roots Analysis is a specialist market research company, sharing fresh and independent perspectives in the bio-pharmaceutical industry. The in-depth research, analysis and insights are driven by an experienced leadership team which has gained many years of significant experience in this sector. If youd like us to help you with your growing business needs, get in touch at[emailprotected]

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Microbiome Therapeutics Market: What's the Future Potential? Roots Analysis - Eurowire

Chances are youve got a friend or family member who swears by KETO, or if you havent, then youve almost certainly heard of the myriad of celebrities who follow the diet religiously.

KETO has become more than a diet nowadays, its a way of life. Many restaurants offer extensive keto options on their menus, withSkinnys Bar and Grillin Bondi being Australias first KETO CAFE! Everything on their menu is low-carb, gluten-free and sugar-free. Sounds good, right?

Well before you hop in your car and make the mad dash to Bondi to grab a carb-free cheeseburger, let us see if the KETO hype stands up to science.

So, what is KETO? KETO stands for ketogenic. A ketogenic diet involves consuming as little carbs as possible, so the body is forced to enter a state of being called ketosis. Essentially, this means that it burns the bodysfat storesrather than thecarbohydratesa human consumes on a daily basis.

DoctorMarcelo Camposfrom Harvard Medical School explains it like this:Most cells prefer to use blood sugar, which comes from carbohydrates,as the bodys main source of energy. In the absence of circulating blood sugar from food, we start breaking down stored fat into molecules called ketone bodies (the process is called ketosis).

Once you reach ketosis, most cells will use ketone bodies to generate energy until we start eating carbohydrates again. The shift, from using circulating glucose to breaking down stored fat as a source of energy, usually happens over two to four days of eating fewer than20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Keep in mind that this is a highly individualized process, and some people need a more restricted diet to start producing enough ketones.

Because it lacks carbohydrates, aketogenic dietis rich in proteins and fats. It typically includes plenty of meats, eggs, processed meats, sausages, cheeses, fish, nuts, butter, oils, seeds, and fibrous vegetables.

Because it is so restrictive, it is really hard to follow over the long run. Carbohydrates normally account for at least 50% of the typical American diet.

One of the main criticisms of this diet is that many people tend to eat too much protein and poor-quality fats from processed foods, with very few fruits and vegetables. Patients with kidney disease need to be cautious because this diet could worsen their condition.

Additionally, some patients may feel a little tired in the beginning, while some may have bad breath, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and sleep problems.

Despite the recent hype, the ketogenic diet is not something new. In medicine, it has been used for almost 100 years to treatdrug-resistant epilepsy, especially in children.

In the 1970s, Dr. Atkins popularized his very-low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss that began with averystricttwo-week ketogenic phase. This is where the KETO craze all began, and over the years, other fad diets incorporated a similar approach for weight loss.

Now that we know what the ketogenic diet involves, lets look at how safe it is for humans to follow.

According to Doctor Campos,We have solid evidence showing that a ketogenic diet reduces seizures in children, sometimes as effectively as medication. Because of these neuroprotective effects, questions have been raised about the possible benefits for other brain disorders such asParkinsons,Alzheimers, multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders, autism, and even brain cancer.

However, there are no human studies to support recommending ketosis to treat these conditions.

According to the worlds leading low-carb diet blogger and podcasterJimmy Moore, author ofKeto Clarity, the ketogenic diet seems to be quite beneficial for effectively treating a range of other health conditions, including metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), heartburn (GERD) nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), Type 2 diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

On the subject of Type 2 diabetes, Halle Berry began speaking out in support of the keto diet in 2017. She explained in an appearance onLive With Kelly and Ryanthat shes a good candidate for the diet because shes diabetic.

Halle also spoke toPeopleabout KETO. I eat healthy fats all day long, avocado, oil, coconut oil and I use butter, but dont have any sugar. So when your body gets trained to burn fats, its constantly on fat-burning mode thats the secret,she noted.

A ketogenic diet also has been shown to improve blood sugar control for patients with type 2 diabetes, at least in the short term. However, there is a lot of controversies when doctors have considered the effects of KETO on cholesterol levels.

A few studies show some patients have an increase in cholesterol levels, in the beginning, only to see cholesterol fall afew months later. However, there isno long-term researchanalyzing its effects over time on diabetes and high cholesterol, at least as of now.

Back to Ms. Bond for a minute. Berry is just one of many celebs who swear by theKETO dietto help them combat health conditions naturally, with others who seemingly swear by the diet for staying slim and trim.

It would seem weight loss is the primary reason many people use the ketogenic diet. Previous research shows good evidence offaster weight losswhen patients go on a ketogenic or very low carbohydrate diet compared to participants on a more traditional low-fat diet, or even aMediterranean diet.

However, that difference in weight loss seems to disappear over time, as the KETO way of living is hard to keep up long term. And this is where we hit a crossroads.

If you want to lose weight, the fastest route to drop the kilos is often taken, without much consideration on long term effects or any advice taken from a doctor or dietician on proper eating.

KETO is often promised to get you slim quicker, as low-carb diets are famous for quick fat loss. The person will often lose a considerable amount of weight on KETO, then afterwards, go back to their normal way of eating. The weight slowly comes back and, then we go diet again; usually even more restrictedly than the first time. It is often much harder to lose the second time on a diet, and each time we restrict our bodies heavily, our metabolisms are put under a lot of stress. This process is called yo-yo dieting and can be harmful long term.

Studies have shown that most people who participate in the KETO diet, end up gaining the weight back faster than those who follow other restrictive diets. Why is that? Firstly, metabolic needs are largely based on body composition. Muscle uses more energy than fat, thus higher muscle mass means higher caloric needs.

Leading Dietician and Nutritionist Emily Baum explains KETO yo-yo dieting like this:

Quick weight loss often means losing muscle mass, not just fat loss. Most, if not ALL Fad diets are typically unsustainable so that when the diet is over, your body composition is now completely different to before. You now have less muscle, which means you now have to consume fewer calories than before the diet to maintain your new weight. People then resume their normal eating patterns and gain weight very quickly. This causes people to blame carbs or whatever food group they eliminated. When in reality, you changed your body composition, thus your caloric needs have changed. This is where KETO can potentially become dangerous.

So, is it eliminating carbohydrates the key?

It would seem that the KETO Diet is unsustainable long term; therefore, there are no long-term studies supporting that a keto diet is healthy, in particular for losing weight or decreasing morbidity rates.

So what can we take away from all this?

If you dont have a pre-existing health condition, (mentioned above), or havent been advised to eat KETO by a Doctor, Specialist or Dietician, perhaps following a traditionalMediterranean dietis the answer to optimal health, longevity and weight loss that stays off.

This way of eating combines a good combination of healthy fats and healthy, complex carbs. By including a larger food group, this ensures cravings are kept at bay, all the while getting all the nutrients you need to feel satiable and happy.

So, what are you waiting for! Lets get to cooking thosegemista(stuffed capsicums) and roast lamb with Greek salad. Happy healthy carb consuming!

See the article here:
KETO Diet: Is It Just Hype Or A New Way Of Life? - Greek City Times

The Wisconsin Partnership Program at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health has announced its 2020 Community Impact Grant awards for initiatives that aim to advance health equity and improve health and well-being throughout Wisconsin.

Initiatives that address the health of Black men and women, prevent suicide among Wisconsin farmers and promote economic stability and restorative justice are among the six award recipients.

Anne Pankratz608-216-5637apankratz2@wisc.edu

The award recipients address issues that are key to our societal well-being: health disparities, including those directly worsened by COVID-19, and the impact of racism on health, saidAmy Kind, MD, PhD, chair of Wisconsin Partnership Programs Oversight and Advisory Committee. By addressing the building blocks of healthincluding social connection, employment, economic stability and access to carethese initiatives have the potential to forge new and innovative paths that dismantle barriers to achieving health.

The grants were awarded by the Oversight and Advisory Committee, following a multi-stage competitive application and review process.

The goal of this initiative is to improve population health by reducing health problems that are fueled by civil legal injustices. The initiatives approach combines technology and community-based programming to address legal problems that are barriers to employment, economic stability and health and well-being.

Civic legal issues like child support, consumer and medical debt and evictions, influence economic and employment stability, housing access and poverty, and chronic stress, and impact families and individuals who often dont have the resources to address these issues effectively. This grant team aims to transform the legal aid system, court procedures and the policy environment through community-driven policy and a technology response to make legal services more accessible to Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Dane County (LIFT Dane), Racine County (LIFT Racine) and statewide (LIFT Wisconsin). By addressing issues that can be resolved with a legal intervention, through a system that is modern and accessible, this initiative will work to improve health and well-being for people throughout the state.

Academic partners: The Center for Patient Partnerships, UW-Madison Institute for Research on Poverty

Through the creation of the Well Black Women Institute (WBWI), the Foundation for Black Womens Wellness will connect, train and empower Black women to reshape the conditions in which they live, work and play. Through this Institute, the Foundation will prepare women as health equity leaders to address the persistent health and birth outcome disparities plaguing Black women in Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, Black women face higher death rates, lower life expectancy and some of the highest rates of infant mortality. Black families experience chronic stress caused by systemic racism and economic instability. These health challenges have been further exacerbated by COVID-19 and racial unrest. The WBWI will harness the talent and experience of Black women and provide them with the tools and training to become systems change leaders who can inform and promote policies and solutions to change how Black women experience health and well-being.

Academic partner: Population Health Institute

This project is designed to make a substantial and long-lasting impact on the social emotional health of African American/Black students enrolled in the McFarland School District both now and into the future. While McFarland consistently ranks high among districts academically, their African American/Black students are not meeting critical health indicators as compared to their White counterparts. To address these disparities, this initiative will implement and expand the Natural Circles of Support program, in close partnership with student, school leaders, teachers, and families to change the conditions that perpetuate racial disparities and create a learning environment that ensures equity.

The project, with plans to expand beyond McFarland, will work to increase engagement and belonging, expand equity and improve teacher support and relationships with Black students to create conditions that support all students ability to reach their full potential.

Academic partner: Wisconsin Center for Education Research

This initiative, designed for and by Black men, aims to improve the mental-emotional health and well-being of Black men in Southeastern Wisconsin in order to achieve higher quality of life and longevity.

In Wisconsin, African American men have a life expectancy seven years shorter than white men and are more likely to report serious psychological stress and feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness. Black men face health equity issues including low mental health literacy and education, stigma around mental health problems and lack of access to mental health support services. Their stress has been further heightened by the dual crises of COVID-19 and racial injustice. The initiative will normalize and destigmatize mental health issues in the Black community, improve access to mental health supports and help men address the historical and current health inequities they are experiencing.

Academic partners: UW-Madison School of Human Ecology; University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, UW School of Medicine and Pubic Health

With this grant, the Southwestern Wisconsin Community Action Program will address the urgent mental health needs of Wisconsin farmers and work to reduce suicide risk in this population by developing a comprehensive range of interventions to create a system of support designed to foster farmer resilience. The grantee will work to strengthen the social connections in rural communities, educate farmers about farm diversification and financial stabilization and work to make mental health services more accessible and acceptable for farmers and their families.

In Wisconsin, farmers, families and farmworkers face health inequities due to challenges in rural communities including lack of healthcare providers and services, lack of insurance and often a stigma around mental health issues. Stressors like farm foreclosures, weather events, supply chain breaks and the COVID-19 pandemic threaten their health and well-being. This work responds to the mental health crisis facing farmers, and to their growing awareness and willingness to seek support and help from trusted resources within their farming communities.

Academic partners: UW-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, UW-Madison Division of Extension; Center for Community and Nonprofit Studies

This grant aims to support citizens returning to their communities post-incarceration by providing technology skills, employment training and networking opportunities critical for achieving economic stability while fostering healing and dignity. Investing in individuals to create positive change in their lives and the lives of their families is at the heart of this effort. Providing access to long-term earning potential and career growth opportunities while addressing the diversity gap in the tech industry by helping to provide qualified candidates to area employers is a critical component of this grant.

According to Healthpeople.gov, men and women with a history of incarceration are worse in mental and physical health than the general population. The added hardship and adversity created by COVID-19 and the countrys health crisis of racism adds to their health challenges. This grant will work to improve health and health equity for returning citizens by providing support as they transition to life back in their communities. The initiative will engage returning citizens in the YWeb training program, and incorporate restorative justice into its approach and process, to help support and heal individuals and families.

Academic partner: Center for Community and NonProfit Studies

COVID has shown us that the challenges we face go far beyond what the health sector or academia can address alone. These challenges require inclusive partnerships that depend on leadership and action at the community-level. As a longstanding member of the OAC, I have seen firsthand the value of community experience and engagement, said Katherine Marks, OACs representative for urban health. I look forward to seeing these partnerships progress over the next five years.

Since its inception, the Wisconsin Partnership Program has been committed to reducing health disparities, said Kind. This years awards recognize leadership from across our states communities. By supporting these teams and listening to their ideas, we can continue to make strides toward advancing health equity and resolving the health disparities facing our state.

Learn more about community grant programs and past recipients (pdf)

The Wisconsin Partnership Program at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health is committed to improving the health of Wisconsin residents through investments in research, education and community partnerships. The Wisconsin Partnership Program was established in 2004 with funds from the conversion of Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin to a for-profit corporation. To date, Wisconsin Partnership Prorgamhas awarded 539 research, education and community grants totaling more than $254 million.

Excerpt from:
Wisconsin Partnership Program announces $6 million in Community Impact Grant awards to health equity initiatives - University of Wisconsin-Madison

Theglobal longevity and anti-senescence therapies marketshould grow from $329.8 million in 2018 to $644.4 million by 2023 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% during 2018-2023.

Get PDF Sample Copy of this Report to understand the structure of the complete report: (Including Full TOC, List of Tables & Figures, Chart) @https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/11698

Report Scope:

The scope of this report is broad and covers various therapies currently under trials in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. The market estimation has been performed with consideration for revenue generation in the forecast years 2018-2023 after the expected availability of products in the market by 2023. The global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market has been segmented by the following therapies: Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Other therapies which includes stem cell-based therapies, etc.

Revenue forecasts from 2028 to 2023 are given for each therapy and application, with estimated values derived from the expected revenue generation in the first year of launch.

The report also includes a discussion of the major players performing research or the potential players across each regional longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market and current trends within the industry.

The report concludes with a special focus on the vendor landscape and includes detailed profiles of the major vendors and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market.

Report Includes:

71 data tables and 40 additional tables An overview of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2017 and 2018, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2023 Country specific data and analysis for the United States, Canada, Japan, China, India, U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Middle East and Africa Detailed description of various anti-senescence therapies, such as senolytic drug therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and other stem cell therapies, and their influence in slowing down aging or reverse aging process Coverage of various therapeutic drugs, devices and technologies and information on compounds used for the development of anti-ageing therapeutics A look at the clinical trials and expected launch of anti-senescence products Detailed profiles of the market leading companies and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market, including AgeX Therapeutics, CohBar Inc., PowerVision Inc., T.A. Sciences and Unity Biotechnology

Summary

Global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market deals in the adoption of different therapies and treatment options used to extend human longevity and lifespan. Human longevity is typically used to describe the length of an individuals lifetime and is sometimes used as a synonym for life expectancy in the demography. Anti-senescence is the process by which cells stop dividing irreversibly and enter a stage of permanent growth arrest, eliminating cell death. Anti-senescence therapy is used in the treatment of senescence induced through unrepaired DNA damage or other cellular stresses.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market will witness rapid growth over the forecast period (2018-2023) owing to an increasing emphasis on Stem Cell Research and an increasing demand for cell-based assays in research and development.

An increasing geriatric population across the globe and a rising awareness of antiaging products among generation Y and later generations are the major factors expected to promote the growth of global longevity and anti-senescence market. Factors such as a surging level of disposable income and increasing advancements in anti-senescence technologies are also providing traction to the global longevity and anti-senescence market growth over the forecast period (2018-2023).

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the total geriatric population across the globe in 2016 was over REDACTED. By 2022, the global geriatric population (65 years and above) is anticipated to reach over REDACTED. An increasing geriatric population across the globe will generate huge growth prospectus to the market.

Senolytics, placenta stem cells and blood transfusions are some of the hot technologies picking up pace in the longevity and anti-anti-senescence market. Companies and start-ups across the globe such as Unity Biotechnology, Human Longevity Inc., Calico Life Sciences, Acorda Therapeutics, etc. are working extensively in this field for the extension of human longevity by focusing on study of genomics, microbiome, bioinformatics and stem cell therapies, etc. These factors are poised to drive market growth over the forecast period.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market is projected to rise at a CAGR of REDACTED during the forecast period of 2018 through 2023. In 2023, total revenues are expected to reach REDACTED, registering REDACTED in growth from REDACTED in 2018.

<<>>https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/covid-19-analysis/11698

The report provides analysis based on each market segment including therapies and application. The therapies segment is further sub-segmented into Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Others. Senolytic drug therapy held the largest market revenue share of REDACTED in 2017. By 2023, total revenue from senolytic drug therapy is expected to reach REDACTED. Gene therapy segment is estimated to rise at the highest CAGR of REDACTED till 2023. The fastest growth of the gene therapy segment is due to the Large investments in genomics. For Instance; The National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.) had a budget grant of REDACTED for REDACTED research projects in 2015, thus increasing funding to REDACTED for approximately REDACTED projects in 2016.

Read more:
Longevity And Anti-Senescence Therapy Market Projected size Witness Vigorous Expansion by 2023 - Eurowire

What is Intermittent Fasting? A diet plan that has become quite popular among millennials these days, intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that alternates between periods of eating and fasting. In this diet plan, a person is fasting for long stretches of time that can go up to 12-18 hours which helps in weight loss, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, controlled diabetes, and also helps in improving immunity.

While some people claim that intermittent fasting can be a safe and healthy way to shed excess weight, others dismiss it as ineffective and unsustainable. Several studies show that this type of diet boosts weight loss via several mechanisms. It has a simple logic when a person eats after a long time gap, he consumes fewer calories which helps you to lose weight.

Intermittent fasting may boost your metabolism which eventually helps you lose weight as increase calorie burning throughout the day. This fasting reduces body weight by up to 8% and decreases body fat by up to 16% over 312 weeks.

Intermittent fasting has many other benefits on the human body which include Improve heart health, Support blood sugar control, Decrease inflammation, Increase longevity, Protect brain function, and Increase human growth hormone.

It should be noted by Intermittent fasting people have actually lost a lot of weight. It has been shown to boost metabolism and fat burning while preserving lean body mass, all of which can aid weight loss. If you are planning to lose weight and burn fat this can be the safest way but it might not work for everyone.

Note: Water is really essential for the body. It keeps you hydrated and gives you a feeling of being full. While many commit the mistake of not drinking enough water while intermittent fasting, it is advised otherwise.

Coarse grains, millets must for balanced diet

Japans Diet starts extraordinary session to elect new Prime Minister

Continued here:
How helpful is intermittent fasting for weight loss? Heres all you need to know - Newsd.in

Not everyone at the CI Human Capital Summit was in the room some joined via Zoom. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 28778260)

FORMER UK Cabinet minister Sir Vince Cable and a former head of the Number 10 policy unit were among the big hitters speaking at the Future of Work event.

Beau Sejours David Ferguson Hall held around 175 delegates, with some speakers joining via Zoom. It was an impressive illustration of how to host a hybrid event.

The morning session highlighted the economy, the importance of wellbeing and longevity. Keynote speaker Baroness Camilla Cavendish, author of Extra Time: 10 Lessons for an Ageing World, spoke about a whole new stage of life which I call extra time2, which is basically an extended middle age.

The former director of the Number 10 policy unit added that there are now many people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s who are healthier, more energetic and more capable than before. She also spoke about multi generational workforces, with what could be four generations working together.

Older people, she said, are going back to work, sometimes 10 years after officially retiring, for financial reasons or simply because they miss the camaraderie and structure of work. For the first time in history, she said, there are more people aged 65+ in the world than those aged five and under. Longer lives and falling birth rates are a challenge, she concluded.

After a networking lunch, the next session focused on flexible working, technology, lifelong learning and skills of the future. Joining remotely, Sir Vince Cable the former leader of the Liberal Democrats and cabinet minister felt that lifelong learning is no longer on the political agenda, with universities coming before further education, and adult education being at the bottom of the pile.

The panellists also discussed life after furlough, with Peter Cheese, chief executive officer of the CIPD, saying that we must build on core and transferable skills. We need to build a sustainable workforce in the future, we cant leave it to chance.

The panel were asked: How do we persuade employers and workers to devote the necessary time to develop skills? Mr Cheese replied that we need to reinvent learning in the workplace, and that we were moving into a different world of digital and embedded learning.

We need to re-image and rethink learning, he said.

On technology, the panel said FinTechs are taking a positive approach to AI, selling it as a service, for example, in anti-money laundering. However, the audience was warned that data is vital, as AI is only as good as the customer data. They were also warned that it would be white collar workers in Guernsey whose jobs would be vulnerable to AI, as Lukas Ryll from Cambridge University said that job losses [to AI] are expected to be largest in investment management.

Fellow panellist John Cope (strategy director, UCAS) said that the fourth industrial revolution (AI) is snowballing quicker than previous revolutions, which tended to hit the lower paid or specific industries. AI affects all industries, high and low payers.

The fifth revolution (Bio-tech) is also on the near horizon. The AI revolution will sweep all before it, he said. But teamwork, the ability to solve problems and human skills will remain.

Sir Vince added that there is always a tendency to panic regarding the impacts of new technology, but usually more jobs are created.

The final session of the day saw panellists talk about the gig economy, unemployment and Guernsey PLC. Justin Bellinger, director at Sure, said that any gig economy relies on supply and demand and connectivity.

Read more:
The way work is going... - Guernsey Press

The University of California strives to reflect diversity in its students, faculty and staff. With the largest proportion of applicants to the UC System now students of color, it is critical that UC San Diego recruit more diverse faculty to better reflect the statewide population, and to foster an inclusive campus climate. To underscore its commitment to advancing faculty diversity, the University of California Office of the President has funded two major initiatives at UC San Diego through the UC Advancing Faculty Diversity (AFD) grant program.

An interdisciplinary cluster hiring project will recruit 10-12 faculty whose research is focused on racial/ethnic disparities in STEM fields with a significant focus on the Black Diaspora and African American communities. UC has provided $500,000 in one-time funding to assist with aspects of the recruitments. The new faculty will be located in the Division of Physical Sciences,Division of Biological Sciences, Jacobs School of Engineering, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences,School of Medicine,the new Wertheim School of Public Health and Human Longevity Science, Scripps Institution of Oceanography,andthe Halcolu Data Science Institute.

Building on the Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusions existing infrastructure of faculty affinity networks, a second initiative will seek to improve retention of underrepresented faculty through activities such as coaching for faculty mentors and coalition building. UC San Diego was awarded $200,000 in one-time funding to launch this project on our campus. The Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion, a unit of the UC San Diego Office for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, managed the submission of both grants, and is a key partner in both initiatives.

Thandeka Chapman, a professor in Education Studies, is one of the project leads for the grant whose proposal, Advancing Diverse Faculty, Curricula and Research through a Cluster Hire at UC San Diego, seeks to recruit 10+ new faculty through a multidisciplinary cluster hire at the intersection of race/ethnicity and STEM. In addition to increasing faculty diversity in fields where faculty of color are underrepresented, the cluster would advance research on and for communities of color; diversify course offerings affiliated with the African American Studies Minor and the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) course requirement; and provide valuable mentoring for UC San Diego students.

Today, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic where social disparities translate into disparate health outcomes, this innovative proposal is both timely and globally relevant. UC San Diego leadership, including Chancellor Pradeep Khosla and EVC Elizabeth Simmons, are committing to 10-12 full-time employees (FTEs) for this initiative, and hiring under this cluster is one of only three hiring freeze exceptions that the Chancellor is allowing this year.

The interdisciplinary cluster hire represents a renewed commitment in academia to address complex racial/ethnic and social issues and ideas in STEM from cross-disciplinary perspectives, said Chapman. It is our hope that through their efforts at UC San Diego, these new faculty members will benefit and enhance all aspects of our academic programming by giving students, faculty and staff opportunities to engage in critical issues of race and STEM that trespass traditional school and departmental silos, and work towards transformative change for underrepresented racial minorities and low-income communities.

Education Studies Professor Makeba Jones, also a principal investigator (PI) for the project, added, It is vital to say that at its core, this effort is much more than a cluster hire; its a systemic effort to address racial inequities on campus for African American undergraduate and graduate students by creating a cadre of scholars who focus on the African American Diaspora in the areas of medicine, health and the environment. Faculty will not only produce innovative research in STEM fields related to African American communities, they will also be involved in teaching undergraduates through the African American Studies minor and majoras well as mentoring both undergraduates and graduate students.

Faculty recruitment doesnt end with the hiring process. A proposal by Associate Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Frances Contreras and Mardestinee Perez, director of Faculty Development and Diversity, entitled A Holistic Strategy for Academic Success and Retention at UC San Diego resulted in University of California funding to improve campus climate and retain faculty as part of the systemwide AFD program. The proposal seeks to improve the retention of underrepresented faculty through a holistic strategy of support, connection and leadership development. New efforts will complement ongoing institutional efforts to improve department culture and academic leadership.

An issue that is often overlooked, particularly when we examine faculty diversity, is the critical issue of retention which is often intertwined with the state of the university and department climate, said Contreras. If faculty are engaged and able to thrive in their work environment, they are more likely to remain at UC San Diego and establish their academic careers and national reputation. Our efforts focus on helping faculty exercise their personal agency in navigating their department and this campus, while also assisting the campus to develop and examine infrastructures, processes and practices to improve department climates.

Perez oversees all programming at the UC San Diego Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion, a key campus entity for faculty retention efforts. Having a diverse faculty enriches research and teaching, increases innovation and adds cultural value to the campus. If we are going to invest time and resources in faculty recruitment, we need to pay attention to retention. It is important that we create an environment where faculty want to stay, not just because UC San Diego is a prestigious institution, but because they feel good about working here and they feel valued. We need to create that sense of belonging, and not lose opportunities for connection and supportespecially during this virtual workenvironment.

Contreras added, We are working to ensure that our cadre of diverse faculty want to call UC San Diego their academic home for the long term, said Contreras. They can help us to build a dynamic faculty network committed to the public mission of our university to both generate knowledge while also cultivating future generations of thought, industry and community leaders.

To learn more about efforts to advance faculty diversity at UC San Diego, visit the Center for Faculty Diversity and Inclusion.

Originally posted here:
Grants Totaling $700K Fund Two Major Projects Aimed at Advancing Faculty Diversity - UC San Diego Health

My girlfriend, Emily, is always telling me I have to read this or watch that. I usually resist. I have my own obsessions to indulge, like quantum mechanics. Whats annoying is that her recommendations, when I grudgingly comply with them, often turn out to be sound.

This happened with two of Emilys recent picks. One is The Social Dilemma, a documentary on Netflix. It sounded boringanother expose of the perils of social media. Ho hum, old news. But the film gripped me. Its an in-depth look at how big tech companies, by amassing more and more data on us, are getting better and better at manipulating us, with devastating results.

The film has several strands. One envisions, with actors, how social media hurt an American family. A teenage girl, stung by a casual online remark about her ears, sinks into depression, while her older brother tumbles into the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. The film also depicts evil AI algorithms, played by three versions of a single creepy actor, ensuring that the teenage boy remains addicted to his smartphone.

These dramatizations were a little hokey. The most compelling, and disturbing, component of the documentary consists of interviews with tech insiders worried about what they have wrought. Actually, worried is too bland a word. These veterans of Google, Facebook, Twitter and other companies are freaking out. Some think digital technologies, unregulated, might destroy civilization.

Google, et. al. equip legions of brilliant engineers with vast databases and powerful AI programs to make their products as addictive as possiblethat is, to maximize the time we spend staring at a screen. The designers of these devices find them irresistible, too. Tim Kendall, former head of monetization for Facebook, recalls that after spending all day trying to boost his firms profits, he went home to his wife and kids and could not stay off his phone. Knowing what was going on behind the curtain, I still wasnt able to control my usage.

The more time we spend on our screens, the more the companies learn about us, the more money they make from advertisingcommercial and politicaltailored to our fears and desires. And once they deduce what news and (mis)information we like, or might like, online sites feed us more of it, confirming our biases. If you begin a search on, say, climate change, Google may suggest different results depending on what it knows about you and others where you live, according to a former Google designer.

This data-driven pandering not only keeps us glued to our devices. It has also contributed to the proliferation of fake news and conspiracy theories and to social schisms in the U.S. and elsewhere. We end up living in parallel universes with radically different views of global warming, race, gender, immigration, crime, abortion and COVID-19.

Some techies believed, initially, that they were creating a better world. Our entire motivation was Can we spread positivity and love in the world?, says Justin Rosenstein, who helped design Facebooks like button. The possibility that teens would be getting depressed when they dont have enough likes, or it could be leading to political polarization, was nowhere on our radar.

Yes, digital technologies yield vast benefits. During the pandemic I keep in touch with friends and family via e-mail and Zoom, and I teach my classes online. I can do research for this articlerewatching Social Dilemma and looking up reviews on my laptopright here in my apartment. When I tire of brooding over the downside of tech, I can binge on Community and Arrested Development.

Our digital era is a blend of utopia and dystopia, says Tristan Harris, who left Google to cofound The Center for Humane Technology (a phrase that sounds increasingly oxymoronic). I can hit a button on my phone and a car shows up in 30 seconds and I can go exactly where I need to go. That is magic. But Harris fears techs ill effects are outweighing its benefits. If we dont agree on truth, he says, or even that there is such a thing as truth, were toast.

One pundit insists that newspapers, radio and television didnt destroy civilization, and neither will smart phones. Another retorts that smart phones are far more addictive than previous information technologies. When many of us wake up in the morning, he notes, the only question is whether we check our phones before we pee or while we pee. And modern methods of surveillance and persuasion make those employed in the predigital era look laughably crude.

Toward the end of the film, Social Dilemma identifies capitalism as the ultimate cause of the ills wrought by big tech. Rosenstein, the Facebook designer, notes that capitalism promotes short-term thinking based on this religion of profit at all costs. This approach, which views nature as something to be mined, literally and metaphorically, for monetary gain, has given us climate change and other environmental threats.

The successful big-tech firms have figured out how to mine our attention. Were more profitable to a corporation, Rosenstein says, if were staring at a screen, staring at an ad, then if were spending our time living our life in a rich way. Rosenstein and others say the government must regulate tech firms to limit the harm they do; the companies cannot be trusted to regulate themselves.

Shoshana Zuboff, a psychologist at Harvard Business School, contends that companies should not be free to gather and sell information on customers without their consent. These markets undermine democracy and they undermine freedom, and they should be outlawed, she says. This is not a radical proposal. There are other markets that we outlaw. We outlaw markets in human organs. We outlaw markets in human slaves.

These calls for reform bring me to Emilys other recommendation, an infamous 50-year-old essay, The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, by economist Milton Friedman. The New York Times, which printed the essay in 1970, just republished it along with commentary from scholars and businessfolk.

The essay had a huge impact on economics as well as business and politics. As the Times puts it, Friedmans libertarian economics influenced presidents and inspired greed is good. Friedmans manifesto is crediting with catalyzing the swerve of the U.S. and other western democracies toward free-wheeling capitalism, which governments encouraged with lower taxes.

Friedman rebuked calls for corporations to seek social goals, such as eliminating discrimination, avoiding pollution and whatever else may be the catchwords of the contemporary crop of reformers. Those who express support for these goals, Friedman asserted, are preaching pure and unadulterated socialism and undermining the basis of a free society. Note Friedmans equation of freedom with corporate freedom.

It is governments job, Friedman argued, to impose rules on businesses that promote general welfare, but such restrictions should be minimal. By freely pursuing profits in competition with each other, with minimal government interference, businesses produce goods, services and jobs that benefit all of society. So Friedman and his many free-market acolytes have claimed.

We are now reaping the consequences of Friedmans vision in the form of industries that pursue profits regardless of the social costs. These include big pharma, which foists drugs on us that often make us sicker; big oil, which has thwarted efforts to counteract global warming; and now big tech, which represents the apotheosis of Friedmans ideology.

Economist and Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz comments in the Times that the fallacies of Friedmans ideology are more obvious than ever. Stiglitz asks: Should Mark Zuckerberg let Facebook users spread wanton disinformation if it increases his bottom line? Friedman would say yes. Economic theory, common sense and historical experience suggest otherwise.

Friedmans rhetorical style reminds me of Marx. Both men exude supreme confidence in their judgments, the kind of confidence that inspires zealotry in devotees. Marx predicted that capitalism, by elevating profit above all other values, would inevitably bring about its own destruction. Friedman said capitalism would give us unbounded freedom and prosperity. Right now, Marx is looking more prescient.

Near the end of Social Dilemma, an interviewer asks tech-visionary-turned-critic Jaron Lanier to peer into our future. If we go down the current status quo, Lanier replies, for lets say another 20 years, we probably destroy our civilization through willful ignorance. We probably fail to meet the challenge of climate change. We probably degrade the worlds democracies, so they fall into some bizarre autocratic dysfunction. We probably ruin the global economy. We probablyhe shrugsdont survive. Asked what he fears most, Kendall, the former Facebook executive, replies, In the shortest time horizon? Civil war.

Give capitalism its due. As I acknowledge in a recent book, capitalism has boosted longevity and prosperity over the last two centuries. But our fanatical commitment to Friedman-style capitalism has burdened us with acute inequality, dysfunctional health care, surging climate change and vicious political polarization. Meanwhile we keep robotically swiping our smart phones as things fall apart.

I try to resist alarmism, as a general rule, but alarmism feels like realism lately.

Oh, and Emily, thanks a lot for those recommendations.

Further Reading:

Revolt against the Rich

The Coronavirus and Right-Wing Postmodernism

Does Optimism on Climate Change Make You Pro-Trump?

Did Thomas Kuhn Help Elect Donald Trump?

See also A Pretty Good Utopia (profile of economist Deirdre McCloskey in my free online bookMind-Body Problems)

Read this article:
Big Tech, Out-of-Control Capitalism and the End of Civilization - Scientific American

By Ernie Marshall

Some years ago, I took a walk along a stretch of Reedy Branch, a tributary making its way to the Tar River, with a tree specialist to pick his brain about the trees we encountered. There were a lot of old trees, virgin forest perhaps since the area was once farmland back when farmers didnt attempt to clear and farm the bottomlands or floodplains. We talked about the different look of aging trees, coming near the end of their lifespan of a century or more. Their crowns thin out, less full with fewer branches and less foliage, they often develop some lean, no longer have that straight and tall look and the oaks and hickories no longer bear nuts. They seem to look old, as if imitating our changes with age, a bit bent over and balding. They even seem to get a look of wisdom earned with age. Everything in nature ages just as do we.

Some trees are quite aged, being the oldest living things on Earth. Redwoods get to be at least 2000 years old and sequoias over 3000. Both are topped by the bristle pine, which lives 5000 years or more.

Longevity in nature is a very wide spectrum. Most herbaceous plants live only a few months, then disperse seeds to start anew. Many insects live only a matter of days or weeks. The tiger swallowtail sipping nectar in your garden may be gone tomorrow. At the other extreme, stars go through a cycle from birth to demise that lasts billions of years, when they burn all of their hydrogen and perhaps go out with a bang as a dazzling supernova. (No cause for alarm, our sun should last another five billion years, being about half way through its life span.)

Aging is not to be confused with immortality, the fact that all of us will die at some point. Aging is part of life, death is lifes opposite. We tend to think that we fear our own death. Perhaps what we fear is dying, an end stage of the life process. I think the first century B.C. Roman philosopher Lucretius summed it up by saying we have nothing to fear in our death, because when I am here death is not, and when death is here I am not. Mark Twain puts it this way: The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.

To make more interesting comparisons between the life spans of living things and get closer to home, let us consider what has been called the heartbeat hypothesis that all mammals whose longevity ranges roughly from the pygmy shrew that lives only a year or so to the bowhead whale that may live 200 years live for the duration of about one billion heartbeats.

Consider the following instances:

Pygmy shrew 1.02 billion total heartbeats (1300 bpm, 1.5 year average lifespan)

Mouse 1.31 billion (500 bpm, 5 years)

Cat 1.18 billion (150 bpm, 15 years)

Human 2.24 billion heartbeats (60 bpm, 71 years)

Horse 0.93 billion (44 bpm, 40 years)

Elephant 1.03 billion (28 bpm, 70 years)

Notice that the larger the animal gets, the slower its pulse rate. A cat is roughly 100 times larger than a mouse, but its heart rate is about a third as rapid as that of the mouse. The pygmy shrew, with it very rapid pulse, burns itself out in a year or so.

Note who breaks the one billion heartbeat rule us, humans. We get something like twice what other species get. If we followed the rule, our life expectancy would be 35 years instead of 71 years. (It is commonly thought that human life span has increased through history. It seems not, that the Bible three score and ten is fairly constant, considering only death from old age, not disease, accident, death in tribal warfare, death in childbirth, etc.).

There is a plethora of hypotheses about why our species is an exception to the one billion heartbeat rule. I will leave you to ponder or research this. I would like instead to ponder the one billion heartbeat rule.

Heartbeats seem a better measure of life than years, the pulse of a life sustaining organ in our bodies, rather than Earths annual trip around the sun.All of a sudden we have a yardstick for the lives of us and our fellow mammals.Or do we?

My dog Bullitt ages at about seven times the rate that I do. Does that mean because of his more rapid heartbeat (and metabolism) that he experiences time differently? Does his lifetime feel as long as mine?Does he experience a difference in my wife and I being away for an hour for an errand and our being a way for a weekend?Humans seem hyperconscious of time.We make plans for the future and remember the past (or worry and regret). Does my dog just live in the moment, an ever-repeated present?

Despite our dependence on watches and calendars, the experience of time with humans is largely subjective.An hour spent in a hospital waiting room for news about cancer or a newly arriving baby seems much longer.An hour with a cherished friend seems much briefer.

And since Einstein, there is no longer a cosmic yardstick in physics for the universe at large for measuring time. (The question what time is it on the moon? is totally meaningless.)

Oh my, a stroll along a stream bank looking at trees has led us to bumping into Albert Einstein. Time to conclude thiscolumn. May you have a long life, age well and fill your time with bright and memorable moments.

Editors Note: This column originally appeared in The Coastland Times in September 2020.

Ernie Marshall taught at East Carolina College for thirty-two years and had a home in Hyde County near Swan Quarter. He has done extensive volunteer work at the Mattamuskeet, Pocosin Lakes and Swan Quarter refuges and was chief script writer for wildlife documentaries by STRS Productions on the coastal U.S. National Wildlife Refuges, mostly located on the Outer Banks. Questions or comments? Contact the author at marshalle1922@gmail.com.

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The Nature Corner: Aging - The Coastland Times - The Coastland Times

NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Capt. Franz Almeida has a practiced eagle's eye, honed over thousands of flight hours as a pilot. Junaid Mian, RPh, understands the challenges inherent to maintaining human health through the lens of work as a pharmacist. Both followed unique paths, which led them to angel investing. The two met at the NY chapter of the Harvard Business School.

Together they identified a yawning gap between space technology and biotechparticularly longevityverticals. They recognized that the world's economy is in the throes of change so radical that future generations will see the 21st century as a clear delineation marking a decidedly Earthbound humanity split from humanity that can freely live in and explore space.

The space economy explosion is happening, and there is no better time to invest than as early on as possible during that explosion. The latest estimates of the global space economy are well over $400 billion, and if growth continues to accelerate, many analyses point to a $1 trillion space economy just around the corner. The human longevity market is nearly as massive: A Merrill Lynch analysis revealed that the sector generates over $110 billion annually now and is growing to over $600 billion by 2025.

Without massive and ongoing investment and progress across both space technology and human longevity verticals, we will never be able to truly unlock the potential that our Solar System, and our galaxy, holds.

"A big part of why progress against aging used to be so slow was that so few experts on aging had an engineer's way of thinking. The convergence of those communities is making all the difference."

Aubrey de Grey, VP of New Technology Discovery at AgeX Therapeutics, Inc and Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation and Human Longevity advisor at SP8CEVC

And that's where Junaid Mian, RPh, and Capt. Franz Almeida comes in. The pair's varied perspectives have been a decisive match when it comes to examining the potential in merging investments across the space tech and human longevity verticals. Almeida and Mian are launching a new Rolling Fund in partnership with AngelList, with an exacting focus on solving the problem that is the future of humankind.

Under the umbrella of SP8CEVC, LPs will be able to gain exposure to deals to empower growing ventures in space technology and human longevity. Why these two rather specific categories? Simple: Moving to an economy based on the resources of our entire Solar System enables a much more substantial timeline for humanity's existence, and biotechnology work in longevity enables people to live and work in space.

The SP8CEVC partners who initially started with a traditional fund structure have chosen to use AngelList's rolling fund Reg 506(c) model to open up investment possibilities in these most critical verticals. As a series of quarterly pooled investment funds, SP8CEVC will give investors access to their deal flow quarterly on a subscription basis.

This new structure accelerates the pace of investing and, as a benefit, also helps promote innovation in those businesses.

The SP8CEVC team launched yesterday at TechCrunch Sessions: SPACE 2020. Investors and LPs interested in setting the pace for future advancement can have access to SP8CEVC's deal flow before anyone else here.

Media Contact:Franz Almeida917-287-5674261710@email4pr.com

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Introducing the Launch of SP8CEVC's Rolling Fund in Partnership with AngelList - Salamanca Press

Digital health The pandemic will accelerate the further digitalisation of the healthcare industry, particularly with a focus on telemedicine, mobile health and medical technology (medtech).

Medtech is a broad sector that encompasses the use of any technology that can save or improve the quality of life of individuals suffering from a multitude of health conditions. Simply put, medtech may range from familiar objects such as syringes and hearing aids to more sophisticated devices such as medical robots, body scanners, intraocular lens and replacement joints for knees and hips.

For example, the outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis has revealed many countries willingness to deploy medtech as part of the national efforts to deal with a public health emergency situation. In China, for instance, medical robots are used to provide support to frontline medical workers by aiding them in the cleaning and disinfection of hospital wards and publicly shared spaces, measurement of patients temperature, distribution of medical supplies to patients, delivery of food to both patients and health workers, reduction of the workload of medical staff, and minimising of contact between people so as to lower the risk of cross infection. Other examples include Belgium, Italy and South Korea, which have also turned to medtech to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. In particular, medical robots have been deployed in hospitals and public places of these countries to distribute hand sanitiser and to ensure that face masks are properly worn.

Genomics It may be easy for us to get emotionally worked up as a result of the intensive media coverage of the current pandemic, along with the unprecedented implementation of lockdowns worldwide, and think that Covid-19 is the worlds only health challenge.

But of course, medical professionals are also silently fighting battles against other deadly diseases, and it is vital not to lose sight of that fact.

In particular, cell and gene therapies have increasingly emerged as a promising treatment option for a myriad of complex clinical conditions. These may include genetic disorders that arise from malignant mutations in our DNA, such as cancer and sickle-cell disease, as well as non-genetically acquired diseases, such as Ebola, the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the bubonic plague.

Extended longevity The growing prevalence of chronic diseases associated with the increasing share of the greying population will have profound implications for the healthcare systems for decades to come. It is therefore in this context that assistive technologies that enable healthcare professionals to continuously monitor the health conditions of the elderly should become even more important in the future.

Older patients can benefit in a number of ways from the progressive uptake of digital-health technologies. Not only can healthcare specialists help ageing individuals reduce the likelihood of contracting more severe forms of chronic diseases through the early detection of health abnormalities, but hospital admissions can also be avoided, thereby relieving pressure from healthcare systems and keeping a lid on burgeoning medical costs.

Thanks to digital-health technologies, data related to patients blood oxygen saturation, heart rate and blood pressure can be measured via remote monitoring tools such as wearables and transmitted from the comfort of the patients homes to their physicians in real time. In other words, senior citizens no longer have to undertake long journeys to see their medical providers or endure long queues and big crowds at clinics and hospitals for simple medical examinations, especially in countries where geographical constraints, public transport and healthcare systems pose additional challenges.

The road aheadThe future of healthcare will be shaped by favourable structural trends and developments in the industry. In particular, areas that are related to digital health, genomics and extended longevity should see further upside potential over the longer term, given the political tailwinds, momentous demographic forces around the world, the rise of chronic diseases associated with ageing, as well as the growing financial burden of medical care.

Dr Damien Ng is the Next Generation analyst at Bank Julius Baer

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Three trends defining the future of healthcare - Gulf Business

Nov. 17 (UPI) -- Want to live a long and healthy life? Experts in human longevity often stress the importance of staying active.

But new research suggests more sedentary animals -- species that stay put, avoiding long distance travel -- enjoy comparatively longer lifespans.

The findings, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, suggest animal species that migrate tend to "live fast and die young."

For the study, scientists at the University of Exeter analyzed the development patterns and lifespans of some 1,300 mammal and bird species. They found species that migrate develop faster, reproduce earlier and generally live shorter lives than their more stationary peers.

Their analysis may explain why many migratory species are on the decline.

"Many species migrate over long distances and this requires substantial amounts of energy," lead study author Andrea Soriano-Redondo said in a news release.

"This energy cannot be used for other purposes such as self-maintenance or reproduction, so we would expect animals to adjust the amount of energy they use for these things," said Soriano-Redondo, a conservation biologist and research fellow at Exeter.

Instead of investing their energy in survival, migrating species focus on reproducing earlier and faster. The ability to generate offspring more rapidly may help migrating species offset the risks posed by their fast-paced lifestyle.

Researchers gauged the "pace-of-life" of hundreds of bird and mammal species by considering their longevity, age of female sexual maturity and the number of times a species can reproduce each year.

Several studies have highlighted the dangers climate change poses to migrating species. The latest research suggests changes in temperature and seasonal patterns can amplify the risks of what was already a perilous lifestyle.

"We have long thought that migration is a risky behavior," said study co-author Stuart Bearhop.

"Animals often take a chance when they migrate, hoping to find the right conditions in their destination. In the case of birds that migrate to the High Arctic, they arrive in spring and have a short window in which to breed," said Bearhop, professor of biology at Exeter's Center for Ecology and Conservation.

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Migrating species tend to 'live fast and die young' - UPI News

Global Precision Medicine Software Market 2020- This Research report will cover the impact of COVID-19 on this industry.

Global marketers Business Study provides the Precision Medicine Software industry market analysis with product scope, market revenue, forecast, growth rate, sales volume, and value. The study also describes the global players in the market and segmented by regions, type, and applications with forecast until 2026.

The Precision Medicine Software Market Research report sheds light on past research and provides accurate forecasts for the future, including other factors that influence growth rates. This comprehensive report provides a comprehensive analysis of influencing factors such as market dynamics (demand, supply, price, quantity, and other specific conditions), SWOT, PEST, and PORTER analysis which support the growth of the Precision Medicine Software industry.

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The analysis covers all aspects of the global analysis of the Precision Medicine Software market structure and reveals how the different market segments are growing in terms of consumption, production, sales, volume, and other important aspects. Analysts have also segmented the global market by products, applications, and Precision Medicine Software regions.

Leading Players List:

SOPHiA GENETICS SA (Switzerland)N-of-One, Inc. (US)Gene42, Inc. (Canada)LifeOmic Health, LLC (US)Translational Software, Inc. (US)IBM Watson Group (US)2bPrecise LLC (Israel)Roper Technologies(US)Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands)Qiagen(Germany)Foundation Medicine, Inc. (US)Pfizer, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc.(US)NantHealth, Inc. (US)Allscripts(US)Sunquest Information Systems Inc. (US)Human Longevity, Inc. (US)Abbott Laboratories(US)Tempus Labs, Inc. (US)GlaxoSmithKline plc(UK)Sanofi S.A.(France)Fabric Genomics (US)Syapse, Inc. (US)PierianDx, Inc. (US)Flatiron Health, Inc. (US)AstraZeneca plc(US)

Global Precision Medicine Software Market segments:

Global Precision Medicine Software Market By Type:

Cloud-basedOn-premise

Global Precision Medicine Software Market By Application:

Healthcare providersResearch centers & Government institutesPharmaceutical & Biotechnology companiesOther end users

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Global Precision Medicine Software Market Professional Survey 2020 by Manufacturers, Share, Growth, Trends, Types and Applications, Forecast to 2026 -...

President Moon Jae-in expresses appreciation for Samsung Biologics` 1.7 trillion won and Celltrion`s 500 billion won investments in biologics industry, promises 1.7 trillion won national budget for biohealth industry in 2021, at a memorandum of understanding ceremony held at Yonsei University Global Campus in Songdo, Incehon, on Wednesday. (Yonhap)

Samsung Biologics will pour 1.7 trillion won ($1.54 billion) into its new Plant 4, and Celltrion 500 billion won to its Global Life Science Research Lab and Plant 3. The Government also pledged 1.7 trillion won budget in 2021 for bio health industry, which is a 30 percent increased budget compared to last years, reflecting the growing interest from the Korean government to build up the national ecosystem for biologics industry. By 2023, the total amount of private investments for biohealth industry will amount to 10 trillion won, the Korean government projected.

President Moon Jae-in personally attended the memorandum of understanding ceremony Wednesday at Yonsei University Global Campus in Songdo to encourage and promise governmental support in the private companies endeavors.

Also among the attendees were Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, Industry Minister Sung Yoon-mo, Science Minister Choi Ki-young, Health Minister Park Neung-hoo and Drugs Minister Kim Gang-lib, as well as Incheon Mayor Park Nam-choon. Heads of parts and equipment companies Junghyun Plant and Wiatek and students in biologics and relevant fields were also included.

Koreas action plan for a more robust bio industry ecosystem is to inject 1.7 trillion won from the budget in 2021, up 30 percent from that assigned a year prior, and to foster specialized future experts and collaboration with small and medium-sized companies.

In the world market, the biologics industry is notching an annual average growth rate of 4 percent, higher than makers of ships at 2.9 percent and automakers at 1.5 percent, according to the government agencies.

Taking this into consideration, the biohealth players in Korea are seeking to create synergy by building an ecosystem for biologics in Songdo.

There are now over 60 bio-related companies in Songdo, including both Korean and global firms. These firms employ some 7,000 workers.

By 2023, about 10 trillion won of investment is expected to be made in the city by some 40 health care and venture capital firms, resulting in an annual 20 percent growth of manufacturing capacity and the additional employment of approximately 9,300.

The government envisions growing a workforce of some 47,000 in biologics by 2025 in a joint effort with the industry and academia. To that end, at Yonsei University Global Campus a center to foster biologics processing experts will be established.

In the big picture of nationwide efforts to grow the biologics industry, regional bio clusters of Songdo in Incheon, Wonju in Gangwon Province, Osong in North Chungcheong Province and Daegu will increase collaboration.

The governmental budget of 1.7 trillion won will prioritize pharmaceuticals, medical devices and digital health care, in that order.

Samsung Biologics groundbreaking ceremony for Plant 4 takes place Wednesday in Songdo, Incheon. (Samsung Biologics)

Projected to begin partial manufacturing from 2022 and full operations in 2023, Plant 4 will have capacity of 256,000 liters. This surpasses the record of Samsung Biologics Plant 3 as the largest biologics manufacturing plant in the world with 180,000 liters.

The Super Plant alone will sprawl across 238,000 square meters, nearing the combined land size of Samsung Biologics Plants 1, 2 and 3 combined, at 240,000 square meters.

The company will inject 1.74 trillion won to build the massive plant, and employ an additional workforce of 1,850.

Once Plant 4 is complete, Samsung Biologics will purchase another slab of land in Songdo to start a second campus of its facilities, Samsung Biologics CEO Kim Tae-han said at the ceremony.

Celltrions proposed Global Life Science Research Center (Celltrion)

The antibody maker is not stopping there -- Celltrion Chairman Seo Jung-jin said at Wednesdays event that the company is mulling Plant 4 in the near future, with aims to expand its total production output to 600,000 liters as fast as the company can manage.

If executed, this plan would triple Celltrions current manufacturing capacity of 190,000 liters in a single generation. According to Seo, Celltrion is mulling facilities of 200,000 liters in Songdo, with the rest located overseas.

Global Life Science Research Center will complete construction by July 2022 and accommodate 2,500 additional researchers. Plant 3 will have its groundbreaking in 2021 and finish building by May 2023.

How we compete against multinational companies with more than a century of history is through advanced technology and our fighter spirit, Seo said.

Celltrion will carry out in stages investments of 40 trillion won through 2030.

Celltrion began in 2002 as a six-person startup. This year, it is on track to place No. 30-35 among some 300,000 biologics companies in terms of operating profit.

With Samsung Biologics and Celltrions investments, Korea as a nation will have the capacity to manufacture 910,000 liters of biologics a year. Songdo as a city will have the worlds biggest manufacturing output of biologics substances.

The reason we must combine forces in the bio industry is clear, because it is something we can be good at, said President Moon Jae-in at the ceremony.

The answer to humanitys wishes to live long healthily lies in the bio industry, Moon said. And so long as human longevity continues to lengthen, the bio industry will always be a future growth driver.

Just a few years ago, biologics was an area with a great hurdle. When the free trade agreement between the US and Korea was signed, we expected bio to suffer among the worst blows, Moon said.

But now the Republic of Korea is rewriting history for the bio industry. For now, we only account for 2 percent of the world bio market. But armed with global No. 2 capability to manufacture biopharmaceuticals, we now have the growing confidence that we can achieve greater goals, Moon said.

Heading forward, Koreas Industry, Science and Health ministries would work to combine electronics, chemicals, energy, manufacturing, data, networks, artificial intelligence and semiconductors with biotechnologies.

This is anticipated to bring forth innovative research on human-augmented robots, cerebral computer interfaces, eco-friendly plastics, functional fibers, renewable green energy and breakthroughs in manufacturing models leveraging microorganisms.

Big data with biotech will enable customized personal treatments, while communications will enable real-time patient monitoring. Artificial intelligence will help conduct research more quickly, with semiconductors and software technologies aiding in early diagnoses.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)

Read more:
Korea plans up to W10tr investment for biohealth by 2023 - The Korea Herald

The global longevity and anti-senescence therapies market should grow from $329.8 million in 2018 to $644.4 million by 2023 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% during 2018-2023.

Report Scope:

The scope of this report is broad and covers various therapies currently under trials in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. The market estimation has been performed with consideration for revenue generation in the forecast years 2018-2023 after the expected availability of products in the market by 2023. The global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market has been segmented by the following therapies: Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Other therapies which includes stem cell-based therapies, etc.

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Revenue forecasts from 2028 to 2023 are given for each therapy and application, with estimated values derived from the expected revenue generation in the first year of launch.

The report also includes a discussion of the major players performing research or the potential players across each regional longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market and current trends within the industry.

The report concludes with a special focus on the vendor landscape and includes detailed profiles of the major vendors and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market.

Report Includes:

71 data tables and 40 additional tables An overview of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2017 and 2018, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2023 Country specific data and analysis for the United States, Canada, Japan, China, India, U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Middle East and Africa Detailed description of various anti-senescence therapies, such as senolytic drug therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and other stem cell therapies, and their influence in slowing down aging or reverse aging process Coverage of various therapeutic drugs, devices and technologies and information on compounds used for the development of anti-ageing therapeutics A look at the clinical trials and expected launch of anti-senescence products Detailed profiles of the market leading companies and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market, including AgeX Therapeutics, CohBar Inc., PowerVision Inc., T.A. Sciences and Unity Biotechnology

Summary

Global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market deals in the adoption of different therapies and treatment options used to extend human longevity and lifespan. Human longevity is typically used to describe the length of an individuals lifetime and is sometimes used as a synonym for life expectancy in the demography. Anti-senescence is the process by which cells stop dividing irreversibly and enter a stage of permanent growth arrest, eliminating cell death. Anti-senescence therapy is used in the treatment of senescence induced through unrepaired DNA damage or other cellular stresses.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market will witness rapid growth over the forecast period (2018-2023) owing to an increasing emphasis on Stem Cell Research and an increasing demand for cell-based assays in research and development.

An increasing geriatric population across the globe and a rising awareness of antiaging products among generation Y and later generations are the major factors expected to promote the growth of global longevity and anti-senescence market. Factors such as a surging level of disposable income and increasing advancements in anti-senescence technologies are also providing traction to the global longevity and anti-senescence market growth over the forecast period (2018-2023).

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the total geriatric population across the globe in 2016 was over REDACTED. By 2022, the global geriatric population (65 years and above) is anticipated to reach over REDACTED. An increasing geriatric population across the globe will generate huge growth prospectus to the market.

Senolytics, placenta stem cells and blood transfusions are some of the hot technologies picking up pace in the longevity and anti-anti-senescence market. Companies and start-ups across the globe such as Unity Biotechnology, Human Longevity Inc., Calico Life Sciences, Acorda Therapeutics, etc. are working extensively in this field for the extension of human longevity by focusing on study of genomics, microbiome, bioinformatics and stem cell therapies, etc. These factors are poised to drive market growth over the forecast period.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market is projected to rise at a CAGR of REDACTED during the forecast period of 2018 through 2023. In 2023, total revenues are expected to reach REDACTED, registering REDACTED in growth from REDACTED in 2018.

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The report provides analysis based on each market segment including therapies and application. The therapies segment is further sub-segmented into Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Others. Senolytic drug therapy held the largest market revenue share of REDACTED in 2017. By 2023, total revenue from senolytic drug therapy is expected to reach REDACTED. Gene therapy segment is estimated to rise at the highest CAGR of REDACTED till 2023. The fastest growth of the gene therapy segment is due to the Large investments in genomics. For Instance; The National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.) had a budget grant of REDACTED for REDACTED research projects in 2015, thus increasing funding to REDACTED for approximately REDACTED projects in 2016.

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Longevity and Anti-senescence Therapy Market: Opportunities, Demand and Forecasts, size COVID-19 2023 - ICOTodayMagazine

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, Precision Medicine Software Marketby Delivery Mode (On-premise and Cloud-based), Application (Oncology, Pharmacogenomics, Rare Diseases, and Others), and End User (Healthcare Providers, Research Centers & Government Institutes, and Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2019-2026

The global market size of Precision Medicine Software Market is $XX million in 2018 with XX CAGR, and it is expected to reach $XX million by the end of 2026 with a CAGR of XX% from 2019 to 2026.

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Precision medicine is an emerging medical approach undertaken by medical practitioners for the treatment of a patient, followed with medical decisions, treatments, practices, or products being tailored to the individual patient. Appropriate or optimal therapies may be employed based on variability in the patients genetic profile, environment, and lifestyle for each person. The diagnostic testing can be based on the context of an individuals genetic profile or other molecular or cellular analysis.

The emergence of precision medicine has addressed the dire need for better diagnostic and analytical tools. Precision medicine software combines the clinical and molecular data to provide with valuable insights to determine the ideal therapeutic course of treatment. Moreover, it provides with a wide range of applications in both the diagnostics and clinical areas for better understanding of diseases such as cancer, searching for new biomarkers, researching new therapies, repurposing existing drugs, and stratifying patients for clinical trials.

The precision medicine software market is segmented on the basis of delivery mode, end user, application, and region.

Based on delivery mode, the precision medicine software market is classified into on-premise and cloud-based systems.

Depending on end-user, it is categorized into healthcare providers, research centers & government institutes, and pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies.

By application, it is segregated into oncology, pharmacogenomics, rare diseases, and others.

Region wise, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

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The Major Key Players Are:

Synapse, Inc., Allscripts Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (2bPrecise LLC), Roche Holdings, Inc. (Foundation Medicine, Inc.), Fabric Genomics, Inc., Sophia Genetics SA, PierianDx, Inc., Qiagen N.V. (N-of-One, Inc.), Human Longevity, Inc., Roper Technologies, Inc. (Sunquest Information Systems, Inc.), Gene42, Inc.

The other players in the value chain includes:

Translational Software, Inc., LifeOmic Health, LLC, NantHealth, Inc., Tempus Labs, Inc., Flatiron Health, Inc., IBM Watson Group, and Koninklijke Philips N.V.

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business -consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of Market Research Reports and Business Intelligence Solutions. AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa5933 NE Win Sivers Drive#205, Portland, OR 97220United StatesToll Free (USA/Canada):+1-800-792-5285, +1-503-894-6022, +1-503-446-1141UK: +44-845-528-1300Hong Kong: +852-301-84916India (Pune): +91-20-66346060Fax: +1-855-550-5975help@alliedmarketresearch.comWeb:https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com

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Precision Medicine Software Market Is Expected To Witness Lucrative Growth Over The Forecast Period Till 2026 - re:Jerusalem

Health care in the United States is in poor health, its quality steadily declining since the 1960s. According to the World Economic Forum , in the 1950s the United States ranked first among the developed nations in the quality of health care. But now, despite enlisting renowned physicians, public health experts, economists, business leaders, and specialists in the treatment of ailing systems, we rank near the bottom.

What is the explanation? Is something being overlooked in the current effort to improve medical care? Do we not understand the cause of this fatal condition? The authors believe it is the importance of relationships that is being ignored; the physician-patient relationship, family relationships, and relationship systems in the community. Four key elements in our current health care system are responsible for this failure to acknowledge these critical relationships.

Interchangeability of parts

The foundation of the Industrial Revolution was the ability to create interchangeable parts. For example, workers on an assembly line build excellent automobiles cost-effectively. Health care administrators are using that model in medicine. The model of industrialized medicine works poorly when dealing with human beings, and is cost-effective only in the short run. Patients and practitioners are not interchangeable parts. Patients and their illnesses are too complex for a one-size-fits-all design. A health care model that does not recognize each patient as a unique person existing in a unique network of relationshipswith medical practitioners, family, and communityresults in increasingly poor outcomes, as the data demonstrate.

Systematic ignoring of the physician-patient and physician-family relationships

Treatment outcomes decline when patients see a different physician at each visit. The industrialized model excludes the importance of relatedness between physician and patient, losing the stabilizing relational linkages. For example, patients in hospitals cared for by their primary care physician are more likely to be discharged home and less likely to die within 30 days than those cared for by hospitalists who do not have an ongoing relationship with the patient and family.

The lack of sustained relationships between physicians and patients, and physicians and families, in the context of their community, impairs the effectiveness of treatment. It is costly to the physicians sense that their work is meaningful, and thus costly to physician morale. Systems that fail to attend to the physician-patient relationship lead to decreased treatment effectiveness, physician burnout, early retirement, and increased rates of physician suicide.

Healing is more likely in the context of families than healing in isolation

Without attention to context, our words, actions, and experience have no meaning. Family and community relationships are the context of our patients lives. Strong social connections are associated with increased longevity. For example, marriage is a protective factor against cardiac disease and the death of a spouse is associated with increased rates of physical illness in the surviving spouse. For individuals with a chronic illness, treatment without consideration of family and community appears simpler and more efficient, but leads to sterile, out-of-context, uninformed treatment, blinding both the patient and the physician from seeing both the illness and the solution.

The undermining and erosion of family and community

Regulations and reimbursement systems that reduce the medical interaction to a specific procedure diminish the involvement of families and communities in a patients recovery. The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), for example, which was established to protect patient confidentiality, immediately became an obstacle to communication with the people in the patients life who can help with follow-up appointments, medication adherence, continuity of care, and emotional support.

Treating the correct condition

The 4 elements described point to both the fatal condition and its solution. Attention to the whole person, focusing on relationships with physicians and nurses, patients and families, and the web of community relationships available in every community to every patient, helps people get and stay healthy. Any potential solution to the health care system that ignores relationships will always be ineffective. If industrial medicine worked, and at this point weve done that experiment, costs would not be rising, patients and physicians would not be dissatisfied, and health would be improving.

Dr Copansis Adjunct Associate Professor, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH.Dr Rahmaniis training director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of Florida.

*Members of the Research Committee, Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry also include Dr John Beahrs, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland; Dr Allan Josephson, (Former) Professor and Chief, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Louisville School of Medicine; Dr David Keith, Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, NY; Dr Patrick Malone (19442016); Dr Alan Swann, Professor of Psychiatry, Baylor College of Medicine, and staff psychiatrist, Houston VA Medical Center; Dr William Swift, Emeritus Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison; Dr Johan Verhulst (19382019); and Dr Douglas Kramer, Emeritus Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, and Chair, GAP Research Committee.

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What's Wrong With Health Care in the United States? - Psychiatric Times

Right wing of a cave nectar bat (Eonycteris spelaea) extended to show the forearm, plagiopatagium, and supplying vasculature. Credit: Zhu Feng, Duke-NUS Medical School

Study confirms bats adopt multiple strategies to reduce pro-inflammatory responses, thus mitigating potential immune-mediated tissue damage and disease. Findings provide important insights for medical research on human diseases.

Bats act as reservoirs of numerous zoonotic viruses, including SARS-CoV, MERS CoV, Ebola virus, andmost likelySARS-CoV-2, the pathogen behind the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, the molecular mechanisms bats deploy to tolerate pathogenic viruses has remained unclear.

Now scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, have discovered novel molecular mechanisms that allow bats to tolerate zoonotic viruses without getting sick. Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the study suggests that bats adopt unique strategies to prevent overactive immune responses, which protects them against diseases caused by zoonotic viruses.

The team examined three bat speciesPteropus alecto (black fruit bat), Eonycteris spelaea (cave nectar bat), and Myotis davidii (Davids myotis bat)and identified mechanisms that balance the activity of key proteins that play a major role in mediating immunity and inflammatory responses in mammals. These mechanisms enable bats to harbour and transmit zoonotic pathogens without setting off the detrimental consequences of immune activation.

One of the mechanisms bats use is to reduce the levels of caspase-1, a protein that triggers a key inflammatory cytokine protein, interleukin-1 beta (IL-1). Another mechanism they employ hampers the maturation of interleukin-1 beta cytokines through a finely-tuned balancing between caspase-1 and IL-1.

Suppression of overactive inflammatory responses improves longevity and prevents age-related decline in humans. Our findings may offer potential insights to the development of new therapeutic strategies that can control and treat human infectious diseases, said Professor Wang Linfa, senior and corresponding author of the study from Duke-NUS Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) Programme.

This study exemplifies the world-class research led by our talented faculty to advance fundamental scientific knowledge. Professor Wangs research is all the more important in the context of COVID-19, by contributing to a greater understanding of how zoonotic diseases persist in nature, and potentially aiding new approaches to managing future outbreaks, said Professor Patrick Casey, Senior Vice-Dean for Research, Duke-NUS Medical School.

Reference: Complementary regulation of caspase-1 and IL-1 reveals additional mechanisms of dampened inflammation in bats by Geraldine Goh, Matae Ahn, Feng Zhu, Lim Beng Lee, Dahai Luo, Aaron T. Irving, and Lin-Fa Wang, 26 October 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2003352117

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New Research Uncovers Why Bats Excel As Viral Reservoirs Without Getting Sick - SciTechDaily