Category Archives: Life Extension

UK government has admitted it is in the dark about how many of the citizens who downloaded the NHS Test and Trace App have since deleted it or switched off Bluetooth for the app, rendering it obsolete.

The costly App, which finally came to market last summer after dithering by politicians, is designed to help combat the spread of Covid-19 by registering entry into a venue where close proximity is likely, pinging other users within Bluetooth range, and advising on self-isolation should the users come close to someone testing positive for COVID-19.

Yet in a telling written answer to Parliament yesterday, Jo Churchill, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, said:

"We do not hold data on the number of people who have deleted the app or the number of people with the app but with Bluetooth turned off. We are currently considering what further metrics we may be able to publish about app usage."

The app is coming under pressure for doing the very thing it was designed to do. As cases of COVID-19 surge in the UK with the economy reopening on 19 July, the code is telling more and more people to self-isolate.

A poll published by The Guardian found that around one in five one-time app users had already deleted it; among those aged 18-34 that ratio rose to around a third.

The motivation for scrubbing the inconvenient bit of code is clear: people needing to work.

The Financial Times has reported that as the particularly virulent delta variant sweeps across parts of the UK, many companies are missing a fifth of their staff due to self-isolation.

"Labour shortages have hit factories, shops and warehouses, with workers 'pinged' by the NHS Covid app and told to self-isolate for 10 days if they have come into contact with an infected person," the pink newspaper said.

The industry lobby group CBI is also pressuring the government to change the rules for self-isolation when individuals come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Given the app's difficult gestation, in which an attempt to build a central database was abandoned in favour of a distributed approach (from dominant mobile operating system vendors Apple and Google), it is alarming that the government is seemingly uninterested in how it is being used, especially as it has proved effective.

According to a study in Nature earlier this year, the app and resulting self-isolation may have avoided 284,000 cases from its launch on 24 September 2020 to the end of December 2020, during a time when it was used regularly by approximately 16.5 million people or 28 per cent of the total population in Britain.

The 22bn Test and Trace programme was, however, criticised in March by the Public Accounts Committee - a spending watchdog comprised of MPs from across the political divides - for failing to limit the number of lockdowns. MPs said there was "no clear evidence" to judge its success, i.e - no data.

Who is using the simple and potentially life-saving app now is anyone's guess, according to Churchill.

"Data saves lives" was the mantra of former UK health secretary Matt Hancock before a CCTV camera revealed to world+dog his predilection for indiscretion. Data saves lives, it seems, unless it is a political or economic inconvenience, in which case the government seems to think it best to move on.

Deloitte has been awarded a 24m 9-month extension to disaggregate its work on COVID-19 test platform. The IT and consultancy megacorp bagged the contract extension without competition to support NHS Digitals Covid-19 National Test Service.

Contract extension, until April 2022, is for digital solution design, build and live service of a digital platform, ordering portals and mobile applications, according to the tender notice.

The services provided under this contract support the digital and data journey for COVID-19 testing, currently amounting to millions of tests each week, and have introduced new capabilities as the testing programme has evolved to support the pandemic response, the document said.

NHS Digital said the work under the contract would now include the provision of services to disaggregate the solution, removing interdependencies and facilitating the formation of independent services capable of transition to replacement suppliers.

However, only one supplier is in line for that work, given the bespoke nature of the digital testing platform.

NHS Digital awarded the 51m IT contract to Deloitte in February without prior notice or competition at the same time the UK government faced a legal challenge for Deloittes work on a "management" contract. The total value of the COVID-19 work now stands at 75m. Nice work if you can get it.

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How many Brits have deleted life-saving track and trace app from their phones? No idea, junior minister tells MPs - The Register

COLLEGE STATION, Texas Moments after a high-rise condominium building in Surfside, Fla., was nearly leveled in a devastating collapse late last month, emergency workers began sifting through concrete and twisted metal for any sign of survivors.

Their urgent mission was not a haphazard scouring of the debris, but a carefully orchestrated plan learned after specialized training in urban search-and-rescue operations. Many of the men and women working around the clock in Florida first spent hours practicing for similar situations in Disaster City, Texas, a one-of-a-kind instructional facility that includes debris from real-world disasters.

There, on a sprawling 52-acre center operated by the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service near the flagship campus in College Station, rescue workers learn how to listen for the muffled sounds of survivors, safely lift debris and dig passageways to reach them.

A visit to the training facility last week offered a window into the delicate balance that rescue workers face as they search for survivors amid teetering, often unsafe structures and in grim piles of concrete, steel and personal items. The operation at the Champlain Towers South in Surfside has drawn comparisons to the recovery efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in 1995.

It takes specialized equipment, specialized training and specialized people it takes those three things to do this kind of response, said Paul Gunnels, the rescue program director at the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. When you talk about heavy rescue, it takes a little bit of time to get everything in there.

Elite rescue teams from across America and the globe have traveled to the site to train for delicate rescue missions like the operation in Surfside, where the partial collapse of the condo building nearly two weeks ago was among the deadliest disasters of its kind in the United States. At least 36 people have been recovered from the site, and more than 100 remain missing.

In Disaster City, emergency workers, including rescuers with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, train in structures that were modeled after real-life events, officials said, including the Oklahoma City bombing and the Mexico City earthquake of 1985, which killed thousands.

During a routine exercise last week, Matt Winn, a logistics foreman at the center, surgically inserted a search camera the shape of a long stick in the direction of a voice, which came from a crevice in a summit of rubble. A video screen the size of an iPad revealed what appeared to be a man caught under a mountain of concrete.

The man, a fellow Disaster City expert, soon emerged from a fabricated tunnel. Though the rubble might look dangerous, the scenes at the site were carefully engineered for everyones safety, Mr. Winn said.

Standing nearby, Mr. Gunnels, his supervisor, said that a real-life scenario might have proved a lot more challenging.

Once someone is found, he said, rescue leaders must triage the structure and evaluate the safest route. Every single step, often literally, is carefully considered. Stepping on a shaky piece of concrete can very quickly further destabilize what remains of the structure and endanger both the victims and rescuers, Mr. Gunnels said.

Miami Condo Collapse

July 7, 2021, 1:32 p.m. ET

Training here, he added, is a fluid road map and not a script. Rescue leaders must also closely study weather conditions, such as rain and wind, which can alter rescue efforts, as was the case in the first several days in Surfside, as thunder, lightning and heavy rain threatened the site, and over the weekend as officials prepared for possible landfall of Tropical Storm Elsa.

With the precision of a mountain climber, Mr. Gunnels stepped carefully on a heap of debris the equivalent of a three-story building. He eyed the pieces of concrete, as large as a wall and as small as a baseball glove, and twisted rebar and explained his options.

First, he said, there is a listening device, a technologically advanced system akin to a game of telephone that can capture the sounds of someone breathing, moving slowly under debris or calling out for help. (Sounds are often muffled under large piles of rubble.)

Then there is the airbag, an inflatable cushion that can lift heavy pieces of concrete, not unlike a superpowered fictional character. Rescue workers follow this step by stacking pieces of wood on top of each other, a process known as cribbing, that allows them to create a tunnel to get to victims.

Other times, a 50-pound four-legged rescuer is everyones best bet. On this day last week, Matt Young, an instructor, called on an 8-year-old mixed-breed Labrador named Zapp, who jumped over the pile and followed the scent of human skin that had been placed under the rocks. It took him seconds to locate it, to cheers and calls of Good boy! from Mr. Young.

Disaster City was created in 1998 with a $70 million grant from the Justice Department. These days, a majority of training costs are funded by enrollment tuition, he said.

Over time, it has grown to include scenarios from past tragedies. In one section, a large slab of concrete is collapsed on the side of a parking lot, where mangled cars look as if they were chewed up by monstrous rubble. Trainees must figure out a way to secure it so they can enter the ruins and locate volunteers acting as trapped victims, not unlike what rescue workers did in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing.

At the entrance, visitors are welcomed by a sign that reads Disaster City next to a cluster of battered trains, some of which were donated after enduring their own disasters. With street names like Disaster Drive and Rescue Drive, the site has elements of an urban area or a movie set.

The larger center, known as Emergency Services Training Institute, includes firefighting, incident command and hazardous-materials simulations and trains about 120,000 students a year, both online and in person, many of them emergency responders seeking to expand their skills, such as how to create tunnels under piles of concrete and to control large fires.

Walking around the simulations often takes Mr. Gunnels, a former firefighter, back to some of the nearly 30 disasters he has responded to, including the destruction of the World Trade Center and a devastating bonfire collapse that killed 12 people in College Station more than two decades ago.

Last week, Mr. Gunnels was careful to not address the continuing rescue efforts in Florida. But he said he understood how painful it must be for the families who probably felt as if the operation was taking too long.

His mind traveled back to 1999, when as a lieutenant for a local fire department, he rushed to the scene of the bonfire and made contact with the last person found alive under the heavy pieces of logs. Every disaster is different, he said, but they all require patience from both the people trapped and their anxious relatives waiting on the sideline.

He said, for example, that it took more than eight hours to free the last survivor, John Comstock, in the bonfire collapse. He recalled vividly sticking his head where Mr. Comstock was and offering both hope and a warning. Sir, you are going to have to mentally prepare yourself, he said he told him. You are going to be here a long time.

You learn that there are things out of your control, Mr. Gunnels said. And I have to do it the best I can.

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In Disaster City, Texas, Rescues Are a Way of Life - The New York Times

The world is witnessing a new, dangerous nuclear arms race. Tensions are rising between the Great Powers. As the US, Russia, and China rush to modernize their nuclear arsenals, the trip wire is becoming more taut by the day.

Observation and communication satellites and systems are increasingly vulnerable to attacks. All three countries are fielding stealth and hypersonic nuclear delivery systems designed to evade detection. The risks of a false alarm or a political miscalculation has always haunted the nuclear landscape, and they do even more today.

Last week, legislation was introduced in the US House of Representatives to address the misguided nuclear modernization strategy the US is currently employing and chart a safer, more cost-effective course for our modernization efforts one that is predicated on deterrence rather than dominance.

As long as nuclear weapons exist, we must have a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. However, simultaneous modernization efforts across all three legs of the nuclear triad exceed that scope and are an unnecessarily costly and risky way to achieve our deterrence requirements.

The current US nuclear modernization strategy includes the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD), the B-21 bomber, the Columbia-class submarine, the Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) air-launched cruise missile, the sea launched nuclear cruise missile, and new nuclear warheads.

The costs of these projects are extraordinary: a 2017 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report estimated that the 30-year cost of nuclear weapons spending would be $1.2 trillion ($1.7 trillion adjusted for inflation).

As the Government Accountability Office recently noted, the current plan to modernize every part of the US nuclear arsenal simultaneously is a recipe for schedule delays and cost overruns.

The ICBM leg of the triad deserves special attention. The total price tag to procure the GBSD is projected to be at least $95 billion, and up to $264 billion when accounting for total life-cycle costs. A pause in the GBSD will help defray short-term costs for the Air Force and will also defer a long-term expenditure.

Additionally, the W87-1, the warhead that is being designed for the GBSD, will cost at least $12 billion to build and is not part of the estimated GBSD procurement cost of $95 billion. To build new warhead cores for the W87-1, the National Nuclear Security Agency (NNSA) is expanding plutonium pit production, which will cost at least another $9 billion through the late 2020s according to the Congressional Budget Office.

We do not need a new ICBM to provide a robust deterrent. The existing Minuteman III (MMIII) ICBM which the GBSD is scheduled to replace can serve until 2040 with one more life extension.

Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, then-Air Force deputy chief of staff for Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, noted in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee that we have ''one more opportunity'' to conduct life extension on the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, indicating the technical feasibility of extending the Minuteman III missile.

Other independent experts have confirmed the feasibility of a MMIII life extension. In fact, the Air Force intends to do just that. It will upgrade and extend the life of existing MMIII missiles while it is replacing others with the GBSD. The swap out plan is an admission that the life extension is possible and has already been factored into the existing plan.

Maintaining and upgrading the current Minuteman III missile is not only technically possible it is also cost-effective. According to a 2017 CBO report, it would cost $37 billion less to maintain the MMIII than developing and deploying the GBSD through 2036.

It's clear that replacing the Minuteman III for the GBSD is a wasteful and costly undertaking that is not in our national security interest. That's why we are supporting the "Investing in Commonsense Ballistic Missiles (ICBM) Act of 2021," which was introduced in the US House of Representatives last week by Congressman Garamendi.

This bill will simply pause the development of the GBSD, and the associated W87-1 nuclear warhead, and life extend the Minuteman III until 2040 something that is both technically feasible and more cost-efficient. This extension provides time for arms control negotiations and additional debate on the utility of a ground-based system, which may make this program unnecessary.

This legislation will help deescalate the modern nuclear arms race and prevent the unnecessary spending of billions of taxpayer dollars. That's why nine members of Congress joined Garamendi's "ICBM Act" as original cosponsors, and it's why 12 policy experts and arms control associations have joined us in endorsing the legislation.

The "ICBM Act" will strengthen our national security and save billions of tax-payer dollars by:

As a former US secretary of defense, governor of California, and current chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness, we have an intimate understanding of this issue and the urgency with which we must address it.

We have visited the launch sites. We have met the young Air Force captains who sit in the buried bunker ready to turn the launch keys for atomic bombs capable of destroying a city three times the size of Hiroshima. It sobers the mind and underscores the need to chart a new course for our modernization strategy before we cross a line from which we cannot return.

Bill Perry is the former US secretary of defense who served under President Bill Clinton. Jerry Brown is the former governor of California and is currently the executive chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. John Garamendi is the US Representative for California's 3rd Congressional District and chair of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness.

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Spending $2 trillion on new nuclear weapons is a risk to more than just your wallet - Business Insider

Orbital transfer and servicing providers are bracing for a space tug of war as they jostle for position in an increasingly crowded market.

Newcomers are flooding into a space tug industry that has only emerged in recent years, pushing their own ideas to give operators greater flexibility for deploying and maintaining satellites.

At one end of the spectrum, companies such as Spaceflight, Exolaunch and Momentus are devising tugs that satellites attach to on the ground before they are transported to custom orbits post-launch. These services enable customers to cut costs by reducing a satellites onboard propulsion, or by removing it altogether and hosting the payload on the tug sometimes called an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV).

At the other end, Northrop Grumman and Astroscale are among those offering tugs that dock with already launched satellites to change orbits, enlarge fuel reserves or give them the ability to deorbit safely.

Just a handful of space tug ventures have managed to provide commercial services. On the post-launch servicing side, only U.S. aerospace defense giant Northrop Grumman has provided services to an in-orbit customer to date.

Even still, consolidation is widely expected to already be in the cards for the fast-evolving market.

Italys D-Orbit completed what it said was the worlds first commercial last-mile delivery service Oct. 28, after its In-Orbit Now (ION) vehicle dropped off 12 satellites for Planet over two months.

While regulatory delays have entangled plans by Silicon Valley startup Momentus to offer similar services, Seattle-based Spaceflight deployed 15 spacecraft from the debut flight of its Sherpa-FX space tug in January.

Spaceflight, which brokers rideshare launch services for satellite operators, plans to launch another Sherpa-FX on the SpaceX Transporter-2 mission scheduled at the end of June.

That mission will also include its new, electric propulsion-powered OTV Sherpa-LTE.

Spaceflight expects to fly another next-generation OTV called Sherpa-LTC, which will use chemical propulsion, on a separate SpaceX mission later this year.

Space tugs have the potential to fundamentally change the smallsat market, Spaceflight vice president of engineering Phil Bracken said.

With on-orbit propulsive capabilities, orbits that were once out of reach, due to cost or propulsion capabilities, will be viable options which addresses a growing market need for orbit diversification.

Until recently, most small satellite customers were just trying to prove their technology, choosing bulk deployments on large rockets when most orbits were desirable for this.

However, as the small satellite market matures, they are increasingly looking for specific orbits for optimal, revenue-generating services.

Sometimes their technology calls for extreme final orbit states that rideshare services or even dedicated small launch vehicles cannot reach, added Bracken.

He said early tug missions will focus on inclination changes, or smaller altitude adjustments, but a wider range of services will emerge as more OTVs prove capabilities. These include on-orbit transportation from low Earth orbit (LEO) to medium, geostationary, lunar orbits and beyond.

This growing market opportunity recently prompted Germanys Exolaunch, which also brokers rideshare missions, to announce plans to conduct flight tests for its own space tugs next year.

Like Sherpa, Exolaunchs Reliant tugs will first combine with satellites on the ground before sending them to custom orbits post-launch.

In 2023, the company aims to flight test a Reliant Pro configuration capable of making additional adjustments, including the inclination of a satellites orbit.

In the future, Exolaunch hopes its tugs will be able to dispose of space junk before they deorbit after completing their primary mission.

These plans come as the commercial small satellite market matures and proves to not be just a series of one-off launches, according to Exolaunch chief operating officer Alexander Kabanovsky.

Putting satellites into orbit has become predictable, reliable and more affordable, Kabanovsky said.

As a result, the number of satellites slated to go up into space is growing exponentially and individual orbits have become more desirable. With that immense growth also comes the question of management of space debris, responsible use of space and de-orbiting end-of-life satellites to the fore.

D-Orbit has also outlined plans to tackle debris one day with its OTVs, which currently also offer hosted payload services after finishing their satellite deployments, putting the Italian company and Exolaunch in the middle of a space tug market offering cradle-to-grave services.

The satellite-servicing and debris-removal sectors are less developed than the segment of the market aimed at helping small satellites and other secondary payloads reach their final destinations.

However, landmark in-orbit servicing achievements by Northrop Grumman in GEO, and an upcoming demo mission this year in LEO from Astroscale, are propelling the market forward.

Northrop Grummans Mission Extension Vehicle-2 (MEV-2) successfully attached to Intelsats 10-02 spacecraft April 12 to extend its life, marking the first time a servicer has docked with an in-service commercial satellite in GEO.

A year earlier, its predecessor MEV-1 attached to Intelsats IS-901 satellite, lifting the sidelined spacecraft out of GEO graveyard orbit and back into service.

The success of these two missions is showing the industry that in-orbit servicing is now a reality, according to Joe Anderson, vice president of Northrop Grummans SpaceLogistics subsidiary.

We see the future for in-orbit servicing and the possibilities it brings growing exponentially over the next few years, Anderson said.

MEV-1 and MEV-2 will remain docked for five years before moving to a customer it has yet to book.

In the meantime, the company plans to launch more in-orbit servicing products in 2024 that will work in tandem with each other: a Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) and Mission Extension Pods (MEPs).

The MRV aims to carry out more advanced in-orbit servicing tasks such as installing an MEP, a smaller life extension service that is less expensive than an MEV.

These products will introduce additional capabilities to the market including on-orbit repair, augmentation, assembly and detailed inspection while still offering life extension services, Anderson said.

Our vision is that satellites launched after 2025 will include servicing interfaces that will enable them to be serviceable, maintainable and upgradeable.

Tokyo-based Astroscale also expects servicing interfaces will be fitted to future satellites that make it easier for tugs to carry out missions.

The venture was close to performing its first end-to-end test of key technologies for in-orbit debris removal in early June, with an ELSA-d servicer spacecraft launched to LEO in March.

With a paradigm shift underway, moving from the traditional launch-it-and-leave-it approach to space to one where were building in-space logistics and infrastructure, youre seeing innovative companies moving into this market to take advantage of new demand signals, Dave Fischer, Astroscales vice president of business development and advanced systems, said.

The growing momentum behind space tugs is encouraging others to get hitched to the market.

Two former Blue Origin and NASA engineers founded Kent, Washington-based Starfish Space in late 2019 to launch an all-electric tug called Otter as early as 2023.

Co-founder Trevor Bennett said Otter saves costs by being smaller than others under development, which will enable Starfish to operate a network of them in space for on-demand satellite servicing. Our two core missions will be satellite-life-extension-as-a-service and space-debris-removal-as-a-service, Bennett said.

For life extension this is effectively a subscription model, while for debris removal it looks more like requesting an Uber or Lyft ride.

Starfish and Astroscale are developing servicing businesses for multiple orbits.

Astroscale is exploring business models where value for customers can meet sustainability targets for the space environment.

That could mean multiyear contracts for extending the life of a single satellite in GEO, or it could mean management services across an entire fleet of satellites in multiple orbits, Fischer said.

For government customers, we envision both service models, as well as more traditional sales of spacecraft for government operation.

Anderson of SpaceLogistics said its Mission Extension Pods will include the price of being installed by one of its Mission Robotic Vehicles.

These two products are based on the Mission Extension Vehicles currently in orbit, however, unlike them the MRV will have two dexterous robotic arms.

The MEP is much smaller at about the size of a minifridge, compared with the MEV and MRV that are around the size of a small SUV, and its structure is also simpler because it is only capable of performing orbit control.

Other robotics services such as inspections and repairs are provided as a service fee based on [change in velocity] required, time and complexity of the mission, Fischer continued.

Some form of consolidation is widely expected to take place in the increasingly crowded space tug market.

Although SpaceLogistics has not yet booked follow-on customers for the two satellite servicers currently in operation, Anderson said it sees demand for more than 10 life extension missions a year in GEO.

SpaceLogistics expects to service up to five of these each year with the upcoming launch of its Mission Extension Pods and their robotic installers, leaving room for other providers.

However, Anderson pointed to how consolidation is historically a big part of the aerospace industry.

With such a big influx of startup companies in such a new market area, we should not be surprised by consolidation; especially between companies with complementary capabilities, he said.

And while Spaceflights Bracken said pre-life space tugs are a great offering to expand capabilities and final orbit opportunities for customers, which can reduce the need for onboard propulsion equipment, he noted these are only helpful some of the time.

A customer looking to send a relatively uncomplicated satellite to sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) at 500 kilometers, for instance, might find the lowest launch cost with a rideshare mission because that orbit is heavily serviced.

More often than not, traditional missions will still suit most customers needs, deploying directly from the launch vehicle to the desired orbit, Bracken said.

Because of this, there isnt likely room in the industry for dedicated space tug providers, thus consolidation can be expected.

For Exolaunchs Kabanovsky, the greatest challenge and simultaneously the largest opportunity is to continue to prove that space is economically sustainable.

The additional challenge will be to find cost-effective solutions to large problems, space debris being only one of them, Kabanovsky said.

Keeping investment capital flowing into the industry despite the failures that the industry will inevitably face, will be another interesting issue to overcome.

This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of SpaceNews magazine.

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Space Tugs as a Service: In-orbit service providers are bracing for consolidation - SpaceNews

California is famous for its avocados, and avocados are a famously fickle fruit, ripe one moment and a ball of brown sludge the next.

Apeel Sciences is out to change that. The food science company has spent nearly a decade perfecting an edible coating that can be applied to fruits and vegetables to extend shelf-life by days, weeks or even months.

Slowing down the natural decay process offers benefits to consumers, certainly, but it also reduces food waste, and allows growers and vendors more flexibility in how they transport and sell produce.

Food waste is a massive global problem. By some estimates, a third or more of all food (valued at roughly $2.6 trillion) is thrown out enough food to feed 3 billion people. Cutting food waste entirely could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 8%.

For Jenny Du, Vice President of Operations and co-founder of Central Coast-based Apeel, the company's vision represents a perfect mixture of environmental and humanitarian impact.

Du was born and raised in Canada and initially began her career working to develop film-forming technologies that could be used to protect fiber optic sensors to detect water pollution. For her post-doc work, she was drawn to the University of Southern California-Santa Barbara for its photovoltaic research programs. It was there that she met her friend and eventual co-founder James Rogers.

"James had been working on this idea in the background and had pitched it at a UCSB New Venture Competition," said Du, referring to the school's annual contest where students and faculty work together to launch new businesses. "As he talked about the need and the inspiration for the technology, personally it hit some important notes. For me it was about, 'How do I put my energies towards meaningful work?'"

For produce especially, getting products to consumers before it spoils relies on complex global supply chains. Some foods, like asparagus, are only ripe for a few days, meaning they have to be transported by air instead of on a cargo ship, drastically increasing their carbon footprint.

Apeel's technology works by reinforcing the existing outer layer of fruits and vegetablesthe peel, in other words. Produce spoils as the plant's cells lose water and oxidize. The peel slows this process down, but not indefinitely.

"All plants were underwater at some point, but then they evolved to be surface level, terrestrial plants. In order for that to happen, they needed the formation of a peel," explained Du. "With that in mind you think about what that peel is made of."

Using the natural properties of the peel as a guide, scientists at the company have created edible, plant-based coating that dramatically extend shelf lives for eight different types of fruits and vegetables. And people are taking notice.

"This type of technology could be a 'game-changer' if these perishables have a longer shelf life," said Pedro Reyes, an associate professor of operations and supply chain management at Baylor University. Produce often requires refrigeration to extend its life. If that food could just sit on the shelf, it may ease the demands on energy, logistics and warehousing that could ripple throughout the supply.

Apeel produce is available in thousands of grocery stores in six different countries and the company claims its coating technology has saved more than 69 million pieces of produce from being wasted. Its success has attracted $360 million of investment to date, led by such heavy-hitters as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Viking Global Investors, Andreessen Horowitz and Upfront Ventures. In 2020, the 467-person company was valued at over $1 billion.

The company's strategy moving forward is relatively simple: Get more produce into more stores and expand into new types of fruits and vegetables. In the U.S., it has partnered with Kroger as part of their Zero Waste Zero Hunger initiative, which aims to reduce food waste and eliminate hunger in hundreds of communities across the country. But it enjoyed the greatest success in European markets, which Du attributes to the European Commission's climate-focused policies (a partnership with the Danish produce wholesaler Nature's Pride doesn't hurt either).

Apeel is hoping to move into emerging markets in Africa and Asia, as reflected by their recent partnership with the World Bank-owned International Finance Corporation, which specializes in creating economic growth in the developing world.

It's also looking to expand its reach into other parts of the supply chain. In May this year, Apeel acquired San Francisco-based ImpactVision, a company that specializes in hyperspectral imaginga technique that allows users to see inside produce and can reveal the food's ripeness and details about nutritional content. It's all part of Apeel's drive to more precisely align supply with demand.

"We see a future in providing more digital solutions and being a more embedded partner to players in the supply chain," Du said. "So now that they have the edible coating and shelf-life extension technology, how do you make decisions? What do you do with that additional time?"

Lead art by Ian Hurley.

Related Articles Around the Web

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Apeel Sciences Wants To End Food Waste by Extending the Shelf Life of Your Produce - dot.LA

SUZHOU, China, July 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- CStone Pharmaceuticals ("CStone", HKEX: 2616), a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of innovative immuno-oncology therapies and precision medicines, today announced that the investigational new drug (IND) application of CS2006/NM21-1480 has been accepted by the Center for Drug Evaluation, National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China. CS2006/NM21-1480 is a monovalent trispecific antibody-based molecule targeting PD-L1, 4-1BB and HSA. Its unique molecular design and innovative mechanism of action help reduce toxicity and improve efficacy. As a potential best-in-class drug, CS2006/NM21-1480 is a new immuno-oncology therapy that could be potentially used as a monotherapy or in combination with multiple treatments.

The clinical program of CS2006/NM21-1480 will further deepen and expand CStone's Pipeline 2.0 strategy. With a forward-looking perspective, CStone has developed an innovative Pipeline 2.0 that consists of assets with first-in-class or best-in-class potential in emerging therapeutic categories.

Dr. Archie Tse, Chief Scientific Officer of CStone, said, "The acceptance of the IND application for CS2006/NM21-1480 marks a significant milestone in CStone's Pipeline 2.0 strategy. In April, 2020, CS2006/NM21-1480 was approved for early clinical development in the U.S. and the study is now well underway. Moving forward, we will step up efforts to drive the development of CS2006/NM21-1480 and other high-quality new drugs to benefit cancer patients."

CS2006/NM21-1480 is designed to bind to 4-1BB and activate T cells only when engaging with PD-L1 on the surface of tumor cells, potentially preventing liver toxicities observed in clinical trials with agonistic monospecific and bivalent anti-4-1BB antibodies.

Compared to other PD-L1/4-1BB bispecific antibody candidates, CS2006/NM21-1480's unique monovalent structure and ultra-high-affinity PD-L1-binding is expected to lead to better safety and higher efficacy. Furthermore, half-life extension via the HSA-binding motif in CS2006/NM21-1480 enables lower-frequency dosing schedules for patients. CS2006/NM21-1480 is anticipated to be effective against tumors with a wide range of PD-L1 expression-levels and may overcome primary and/or acquired resistance to anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapies. Therefore, CS2006/NM21-1480 represents a leading class of next-generation cancer immunotherapies and a new backbone molecule for combinations.

Story continues

CS2006/NM21-1480 was discovered and engineered by Numab Therapeutics ("Numab"), CStone's partner, using its proprietary cap technology and MATCH platform. CStone and Numab signed an exclusive regional licensing agreement for the development and commercialization of the drug candidate. Pursuant to the terms of the licensing agreement, CStone will fund the research and development of CS2006/NM21-1480 up to completion of an initial Phase Ib clinical trial. In exchange, CStone obtains exclusive rights from Numab to develop and commercialize CS2006/NM21-1480 in Greater China (including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan), South Korea and Singapore. Numab retains all CS2006/NM21-1480 rights for the rest of the world. Upon completion of CStone's funding period, no further financial obligations will be owed by either party.

About CStone

CStone Pharmaceuticals (HKEX: 2616) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on researching, developing, and commercializing innovative immuno-oncology and precision medicines to address the unmet medical needs of cancer patients in China and worldwide. Established in 2015, CStone has assembled a world-class management team with extensive experience in innovative drug development, clinical research, and commercialization. The company has built an oncology-focused pipeline of 15 drug candidates with a strategic emphasis on immuno-oncology combination therapies. Currently, CStone has received three drug approvals in Greater China, including two in Mainland China and one in Taiwan. CStone's vision is to become globally recognized as a world-renowned biopharmaceutical company by bringing innovative oncology therapies to cancer patients worldwide.

For more information about CStone, please visit: http://www.cstonepharma.com

Forward-looking statement

The forward-looking statements made in this article only relate to events or information as of the date when the statements are made in this article. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or publicly revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this article completely and with the understanding that our actual future results or performance may be materially different from what we expect. All statements in this article are made on the date of publication of this article and may change due to future developments.

SOURCE CStone Pharmaceuticals

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CStone announces China NMPA acceptance of IND application for CS2006/NM21-1480, a PD-L1/4-1BB/HSA multi-specific antibody-based molecule, marking...

Melanie Thomas, Flagler County Extension Director| The Daytona Beach News-Journal

A food allergy is an acquired hypersensitivity reaction to what is normally considered a safe food. Food allergies occur more often in children than in adults: 5%-8% of those age 4 or under and about 2% of adults are affected. Together, about 11 million Americans suffer from some degree of food allergy. Those with severe reactions may experience what is known as anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock. Annually, around 30,000 people receive life-saving emergency treatment and 150 fatalities occur.

While most food allergies in adults are caused by a small group of foods or food products, early in life food allergies can be caused by a wider variety of foods. About 90% of reported food allergies in children under the age of 4 are caused by dairy products, tree nuts, eggs, wheat and wheat products, peanuts, or soy and soy products.

Dairy, eggs, and soy allergies are commonly outgrown; peanut allergies are almost never outgrown. As an adult, the big eight foods (and their products) account for 90% of food allergies: cereals containing gluten (wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, or their hybridized strains and products), crustaceans, milk, eggs, tree nuts, fish, soybeans and peanuts.

A true allergy is caused by a person's immune system reacting to a food when first eaten. The body "remembers" that food and, when it is eaten again, the immune system overreacts in an excessive and potentially life-threatening way.

Although often misdiagnosed as a food allergy, food intolerance is different. Symptoms of food intolerance usually involve discomfort after eating the causal food, such as bloating, abdominal pain and sometimes diarrhea. Specifically, food intolerance is due to a problem with a persons metabolism, not their immune system. Lactose intolerance, for example, is caused by the inability to produce the digestive enzyme (lactase) that breaks down the sugars found in milk and other dairy products (lactose).

Studies suggest that 10% to 20% of adult Americans incorrectly believe that they or someone in their family has a food allergy. Proper medical authorities should be consulted for confirmation and guidance.

Allergic reactions to food may cause symptoms within seconds of consumption or the symptoms may take up to several hours to develop. Symptoms can occur locally or can be spread over the body or in multiple locations. Redness, itching and swelling (inflammation) are the most well-known and commonly associated symptoms, although several other types of symptoms are possible.

Symptoms associated with the digestive tract may include any one or more of the following:

The greatest danger of a hypersensitivity reaction, or anaphylactic response, is the possibility that air passageways will swell closed and suffocate the victim, or that the victim will go into shock, a state of decreased blood flow that is potentially life-threatening.

If a person has an allergy to a particular food, any meal with that food present, even as a flavoring, may cause an allergic response. If a person is allergic to peanuts, they will be sensitive to the consumption of any food that has peanuts or peanut products (peanut butter, peanut oil, chopped or diced peanuts, etc.) as an ingredient. Treatment or processing of a food does not affect its ability to cause an allergic response. It is important to carefully read food labels and ingredient lists if a person has a known food allergy.

For more information about this or other health and wellness topics, contact Melanie Thomas, Director of UF/IFAS Extension Flagler County at 386-437-7464 or e-mail mlthomas@ufl.edu.

Source: Keith R. Schneider, Rene Goodrich-Schneider, Soohyoun Ahn, Susie Richardson, Ploy Kurdmongkoltham, and Bruna Bertoldi; Food Allergies, FSHN0513, University of Florida

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EXTENSION NOTES What are food allergies and how are they managed? - Daytona Beach News-Journal

Global Oral And Dental Probiotics Industry Research Report, Growth Trends and Competitive Analysis 2020-2027

According to this latest study, the 2021 growth of Oral And Dental Probiotics market will have significant change from previous year. By the most conservative estimates of global market size (most likely outcome) will be a year-over-year revenue growth rate of XX% in 2021, from USD XX million in 2020. Over the next five years the Oral And Dental Probiotics market will register a XX% CAGR in terms of revenue, the global market size will reach USD XX million by 2027.

This report presents a comprehensive overview, market shares, and growth opportunities of the Oral And Dental Probiotics market by product type, application, key manufacturers and key regions and countries. Market Players & Competitor Analysis: The report covers the key players of the industry including Company Profile, Product Specifications, Production Capacity/Sales, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin 2020-2027 Segmentation by type:

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Top key players @ NatureWise, Blisprobiotics, Hyperbiotics, Lallemand Health Solutions, Life Extension, Now Foods, and Oragenics

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Global Oral And Dental Probiotics Market: Regional Segment Analysis

This report provides pinpoint analysis for changing competitive dynamics. It offers a forward-looking perspective on different factors driving or limiting market growth. It provides a five-year forecast assessed on the basis of how they Oral And Dental Probiotics Market is predicted to grow. It helps in understanding the key product segments and their future and helps in making informed business decisions by having complete insights of market and by making in-depth analysis of market segments.

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The report includes six parts, dealing with:

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5 United States

6 Europe

7 China

8 Japan

9 Southeast Asia

10 India

11 Central & South America

12 International Players Profiles

13 Market Forecast 2019-2025

14 Analysts Viewpoints/Conclusions

15 Appendix

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Global Oral And Dental Probiotics 2021 Size, Status and Global Outlook NatureWise, Blisprobiotics, Hyperbiotics, Lallemand Health Solutions, Life...

By an edhat reader

*All are Welcome*

Wednesday, July 21, 2021, 7:00pm

The Steps of the Santa Barbara Mission

The Santa Barbara community is invited to spend an evening in remembrance of Hal Conklin, whose life has left a lasting impact on so many near and far. Hal was a beloved public servant, friend, family man, and leader whose devotion to Santa Barbara has left a lasting impact. He served as city Mayor from 1993-1994 and on the City Council from 1977-1993, and he helped found the Community Environmental Council, of which he was also a former executive director. Hal was instrumental in the reopening of Stearns Wharf, the extension of Chase Palm Park, the building of Paseo Nuevo, and the restoration of the Granada Theater. The Granada Theater offered this fond tribute to Hals life: he was the heart of Santa Barbara. Hals love for the arts also extended to his work as a co-author for a weekly film commentary called Cinema in Focus where over 1,500 reviews have been published.

The public is invited to join us at the steps of the Mission on Wednesday, July 21, at 7 pm. Provided seating is limited, so for your own comfort please bring a blanket or lawn chair, jacket or mask, as needed.

In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to the Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara with the memo Hal Conklin Memorial. Memories and photos of Hal can be shared with the family at https://www.newlywords.com/hal-conklin-memorial using the access word Conklin. Memories and photos will be honored and preserved for the Conklin family.

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Celebrating the Life of Hal Conklin - Santa Barbara Edhat

A proposed project involving the characterization of a new breeding line of tomatoes developed by theTexas A&M AgriLifebreeding program at Weslaco could further enhance Texas reputation for growing exceptional produce, according toTexas A&M AgriLife Researchscientists.

The development of flavorful, nutritious and firm tomatoes with a long shelf life, good appearance and high yield is the holy grail of tomato improvement, said Carlos Avila, AgriLife Research vegetable breeder based at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Weslacoand principal investigator for the project.

Co-principal investigators are Kevin Crosby, AgriLife Research vegetable breeder at Texas A&M University, and Vijay Joshi AgriLife Research vegetable system physiologist at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Uvalde.

Avila said tomato genes such as colorless non-ripening, NOR, and ripening inhibitor, RIN, have been used successfully in modulating fruit firmness and extending the shelf life of commercially available tomatoes, but have fallen short in other areas.

Unfortunately, besides the beneficial effect on delaying softening, these genes negatively affect fruit color, flavor and nutritional value, Avila said. As a result, there is a general concern that most modern tomato cultivars have lost their flavor. This affects both consumption and supermarket sales.

He also noted most commercial cultivars are susceptible to tomato yellow shoulder, a disorder characterized by discolored regions under the fruits skin that reduce its quality and negatively impact consumer acceptance.

The disorder can range from very mild with some internal spotting to quite severe with large areas that are hardened and yellow to white, Avila said.

Carlos Avila, Texas A&M AgriLife Research vegetable breeder.

Texas A&M AgriLife

The teams goal is to produce a long-shelf-life tomato with all the positive traits and characteristics both the produce industry and consumers desire without negatively impacting taste and color.

He said the new year-long project is a continuation of the 2019 project Novel Tomato Fruit Firmness Trait: Breeding for Long Shelf Life While Conserving Flavor Is Now Possible.

For the first year of this project, we evaluated and characterized fruit firmness for trait stability in three locations Weslaco, Uvalde and Bryan-College Station, Avila said. We also developed F1 hybrids, evaluated their shelf life at different storage conditions and developed F2 mapping populations. Our successful accomplishment of these objectives and the very promising data we obtained directed us toward additional lines of investigation in this new project.

Avila said the firmness trait in the newly developed TAM-SP18-157 line is different from NOR- and RIN-gene-carrying commercial tomato cultivars in that it produces extraordinarily firm tomatoes while conserving both flavor and color.

It does this because the ripening process is not inhibited, Avila said. When used as a parental line, the resulting F1 hybrids have shown improved firmness, enhanced sugar and acid content, and higher amounts of dry matter and fruit yield.

The new line produces a firm tomato that does not leak when sliced or diced and has a uniformly red color traits highly desired by both the industry and consumers, he said.

This second-year project will focus on production and multi-location testing, along with trait characterization for marker-assisted breeding and registration of the TAM-SP18-157, Avila said.

Field trials at Weslaco and Uvalde during the 2019 spring season demonstrated TAM-SP18-157 has an excellent combining ability when used as a parent for hybrid cultivar development.

When crossed as a male pollen donor with soft tomato lines, the resulting F1 hybrids increased fruit firmness in 30% of the tomatoes, dry matter in 15%, sugar content in 11%, and acidity in 10%, as compared to the soft tomato parents, Avila said. Additionally, F1 hybrids showed a 67% increase in the yield, indicating TAM-SP18-157 can be used as a parent to improve both tomato quality and yield.

Joshi said one of the aspects of his work on the new project will be to analyze and quantify the amount of glutamic and aspartic acids in the new tomato line.

We have already harvested some of the tomatoes grown here at the Uvalde center for testing and will be checking them for these two aroma-active amino acids that are integral to tomato flavor, he said.

The fruit firmness in the TAM-SP18-157 breeding line is superior to what was expected. The tomatoes average compression peak indicates a fruit 70% firmer compared to the average firmness in the Texas A&M tomato breeding population.

This additional firmness provides for a longer shelf life, even when the tomato is harvested when completely ripe, Avila said. This allows the tomatoes to fully develop their flavor and nutritional content while staying fresh for a longer period.

Initial testing also showed TAM-SP18-157 is highly resistant to tomato yellow shoulder disorder.

Yellow shoulder is not a delayed ripening, but an actual disorder of the affected tissue in which green chlorophyll in these regions fails to develop red pigment, Avila said. In this instance, the practice of letting the fruit remain on the vine longer so it can color up does not work. Neither does increasing the quantity of potassium fertilizer once there is abundant fruit hanging due to the disorder showing up very shortly after fruit set.

Comparison of Zapotec tomato with yellow shoulder disease to the improved breeding line of tomato developed by Texas A&M AgriLife.

Texas A&M AgriLife

Crosby said he will continue his first phase research by addressing flavor and heat stress aspects of tomato development as well as disease resistance.

He said the initial research indicated early potassium applications can reduce symptoms of the yellow shoulder disorder, though it is necessary to apply a larger amount than what would normally sustain yield, which would increase production costs.

In this new project, fruit from 400 individual F2 plants will be collected to evaluate firmness and yellow-shoulder-resistance-traits inheritance using probability tests, Crosby said.

The valuable traits of TAM-SP18-157 can be used to substantially improve fruit firmness and resistance to yellow shoulder while also retaining flavor and improving dry matter, sugar content, acidity, shelf life and yield in fresh and specialty high-value heirloom tomato cultivars.

But to introduce these novel traits for continuous cultivar development, the genetic bases need to be understood and molecular markers linked to the trait need to be developed, Avila said.

He said trait characterization will be performed on TAM-SP18-157, F1 hybrids and the developed F2 population to determine genetic versus environmental components and develop molecular markers linked to the traits.

Juan Landivar, director of the Texas A&M AgriLife center in Weslaco, said the successful characterization and introduction of these traits into commercial cultivars has the potential to revolutionize fresh tomato consumption in a similar way as the Texas A&M mild jalapeo and sweet 1015 onion traits did for their respective commodities.

These peppers and onions that were developed previously brought a lot of attention and consumer interest, which translated to improved sales and greater awareness of Texas as an innovator in the development of new lines of produce, Landivar said. We expect the new tomato improvements will do much the same.

More important, he said, the development of flavorful and nutritious tomatoes with a long shelf life, good appearance and high yield would lead to healthy lives and livelihoods improved through ensuring an abundant supply of nutritious foods.

Avila said he hopes new project results will lead to a publication of trait characterization and breeding line description for TAM-SP18-157 in a suitable scientific journal for public release, and the seed would ultimately be registered and made available through a material transfer agreement.

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In Search Of The 'Holy Grail' Of Tomatoes - Texas A&M Today - Texas A&M University Today