Category Archives: Life Extension

Reprinted with the kind permission of Life Extension.

July 21 2017.A study reported on July 18, 2017 in the journalPLOS ONEfound positive effects for supplementation with whey protein in combination with calcium, creatine, omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamin D in the muscles of older men. The gradual loss of muscle that occurs with aging known assarcopeniais associated with frailty, falls and disability in late life. "Older people who do little to prevent the progression of sarcopenia drift toward a state where they find activities of daily living, like rising from a chair or ascending stairs very difficult or maybe impossible," observed lead researcher Stuart Phillips, who is a professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University.

The study included 49 men aged 70 years and older who received the whey-based supplement combo or a placebo for six weeks. At the end of the six-week period, the participants continued their regimens while engaging in a resistance and high-intensity interval training program for 12 weeks. "We chose that combination of exercises to get a maximal benefit in terms of fitness and muscle strength" explained coauthor Gianni Parise.

At the end of the first six weeks, those who received whey experienced an increase in lean body mass as well as strength. While both groups experienced gains in strength during the second phase of the study, those who received the whey-based supplement combination had greater upper body strength than the control group.

"The results were more impressive than we expected," reported first author Kirsten Bell. "Clearly, exercise is a key part of the greatly improved health profile of our subjects, but we are very excited by the enhancements the supplement alone and in combination with exercise was able to give to our participants."

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Whey protein supplementation could help maintain muscle during aging - ProHealth

TransCanada Corp. said it still expects commercial support for its controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, tamping down speculation that it was having trouble finding customers for thelong-delayed line.

Keystone XL, which was rejected by the Obama administration before being revived by President Donald Trump this year,would boost TransCanadas dividend growth, the company said in a statement Friday. Media reports in recent weeks said that the company was having trouble signing up customers for the pipeline, conceived to help move crude from Albertas oil sands to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.

TransCanada said earlier this year that it was working to sign new shippers following years of delays. Given the time it took to gain federal approval, TransCanada said it expected some shippers to reduce their volume commitments and that other new customers would be introduced. The company said on Thursday that its soliciting additional commitments to ship oil on Keystone XL.

Weve had good support from our legacy shippers, which gives us a good base to launch this open season, Paul Miller, TransCanadas president of liquids pipelines, said on a conference call.

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The open season closes on Sept. 28, with the results of the process expected to be finalized in late November, Miller said. The company should also receive its regulatory decisions from Nebraska around that time and will weigh both of those factors in determining whether to proceed with the line, he said. If TransCanada decides to move ahead on Keystone XL, it would need six to nine months to prepare for construction and about two years to build it, he said.

The shares were up 0.2 percent at C$63.66 as of 1:44 p.m. in Toronto. Calgary-based TransCanada gained 5 percent this year through Thursday.

Success in advancing Keystone XL or other growth initiatives such as the Bruce Power life extension may augment or extend the companys dividend growth outlook, Chief Executive Officer Russ Girling said in the statement. The company plans to increase its annual dividend at the upper end of an 8 percent to 10 percent range through 2020.

Keystone won votes of confidence from the chief executive officers of Canadian oil producers Cenovus Energy Inc. and Suncor Energy Inc. this week. The CEOs both said they support Keystone and that the Canadian energy industry needs more pipeline capacity. Suncor confirmed that it plans to ship its products on Keystone.

Albertas oil producers have long warned that a lack of pipeline space was hurting their prospects. That pipeline pinch may start to hit the industry later this year as Suncors massive Fort Hills oil-sands project starts to produce oil and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. completes another phase of expansion at its Horizon mine.

Looking beyond Keystone, TransCanada is spending C$2 billion ($1.6 billion) to expand its natural gas pipeline network in Western Canada. The upgrades to the Nova Gas system will include 171 miles (275 kilometers) of new pipeline, additional compression and new metering stations.

The company said on Friday that it was applying to the National Energy Board to expand capacity on its Canadian Mainline, which carries natural gas from producers in Alberta to markets in the nations east. The company would spend about C$160 million on the project, which is underpinned by 15-year contracts.

TransCanadas second-quarter profit was 76 Canadian cents a share, excluding some items. Theaverage estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was 68 cents.

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TransCanada Confident It Will Find Customers for Keystone XL - Bloomberg

WASHINGTON As the Coast Guard continues to push for funding to modernize an aging fleet and handle a lack of personnel, a government watchdog agency is calling attention to the services serious need for strategic planning.

The Coast Guard has been producing five-year capital investment plans, or CIP, for Congress since 2012, but the GAO found that these reports are not accurate at a time when forward-looking strategy is vital.

The CIP does not prioritize future acquisitions, resulting in projections that are much larger than requested or received funding, the GAO said.

Senior Coast Guard officials have said the service needs $2 billion for acquisitions while in the White House budget, the service requested $1.1 billion for fiscal year 2017 and $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2018, according to the GAO.

To address this, the service has reduced its capabilities and pushed acquisitions to the future without measuring the negative effects or a realistic, prioritized plan for the future.

Since 2014, the GAO has recommended that the Coast Guard develop a 20-year plan to identify all necessary acquisitions and the funding needed for fielding them. The Department of Homeland Security agreed with the advice but has not produced the plan or said when it will be available.

This GAO recommendation comes after a dramatic response to a presidential budget proposal that slashed the Coast Guards budget by $1 billion. The reaction from advocates and lawmakers spurred U.S. President Donald Trumps budget chief to go back to the drawing board and throw out the cut.

The Coast Guardsonly active heavy icebreaker, the Polar Star, is nearing the end of its expected service life and the service plans to implement a limited service life extension estimated to cost $75 million.

However, there are concerns that even with the extended service life of the Polar Star, the funding for the acquisition would coincide with 2019 funding requests for the acquisition of an offshore patrol cutter, a massive acquisition that would occupy up to two-thirds of the budget. According to GAO, the Coast Guard has not said how it will prioritize these acquisitions.

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GAO: Coast Guard lacks vital strategy for funding, acquisitions - DefenseNews.com

(SOUTH AFRICA)

Hundreds of green schools desks made from recycled plastics will be given to primary schools in South Africa as part of a pioneering circular economy project.

TheVirtuous Circleinitiative, which draws inspiration from the UNSustainable Development Goalsharnesses breakthrough technology to recyclemultilayer packaging used in food pouches to make the double school desks. The packaging comes from food pouches given to the primary kids, calledFUTURELIFE Smart food.

Nearly three quarters of a million of the pouches have been distributed in less than 12 months to schools across South Africa. The Virtuous Circle project has striven to show that themultimaterial multilayer packaging, generally deemed too difficult to be reused, can be recycled.

The project is being spearheaded by an international multi-stakeholder collaboration group, including global science firm DuPont, packaging giantAmcor,Woolworths Foods, FUTURELIFE, NGO Wildlands andRural Waste Poverty Alleviation Solutions (RWPA).

Andrew Venter, CEO of Wildlands, said: In the short term, the reality is that multimaterial multilayer packaging is necessary for its role in food life extension. As such, we need to find immediate solutions that allow for the associated post-consumer waste to be collected and processed. This is a real challenge as this material is currently not recycled. If solutions such as the Green Desk based upcycling of this waste are not adopted, then we will continue to see this post-consumer film waste polluting our rivers and oceans, until alternative recyclable packaging solutions are found.

And there is a huge need, as figures from theTutu Foundation reveal that in South Africa alone there is a shortage of three million school desks, while across Africa it is 90 million.

Innovative partnerships that look at different angles of the same overall challenge are key to driving forward the circular economy,said Tom McLaughlin, Responsible Sourcing at Woolworths Foods.

Green DeskplasticsrecyclingSouth AfricaVirtuous Circle

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Circular project a class act - Innovators Magazine

Sentient Science announced that Toronto, Ontario-based growth equity firm,Georgian Partners, will fund $22.5 million in a Series B, growth-stage investment in the materials science-based software as a service company. Sentients expansion in thewind-energy market,providing prognostic health monitoring and life-extension actions for fielded wind turbines will soon be available to commercial customers in theaerospaceandrailmarkets.

Funds will be used to provide new technical, security, and software capabilities withinDigitalClone Live. Operators use DigitalClone Live to understand when failures can be expected in their turbine fleet.

Capital funds will be used to provide new technical, security, and software capabilities withinDigitalClone Livefor the continuation of rapid market growth from 20,000 wind turbines to 100,000 globally, and then to one-million rotating assets as more commercial operators and suppliers in aerospace and rail come on line.

Hiring plansinclude an additional 70 employees, including a chief financial officer, vice president of software, software developers, and sales and marketing staff in the offices located in United States, Europe and China.

We incentivize our employees with pre-IPO stock options, so were very strategic in who we bring in as partners. Were very excited and proud to be working with Georgian Partners, who is another important partner on our journey to IPO, said Ward Thomas, CEO & President of Sentient Science. I am incredibly thankful to our customers in the wind, aerospace and rail markets, and for our brilliant staff and management team who are truly the smartest people in the room.

Together, they made Q2-2017 our largest sales quarter in our companys history, while promoting clean energy. I would like to thankSimon Chongof Georgian Partners, for his commitment to help us further our agenda to significantly lower the cost to operate equipment through life extension actions, said Thomas. Sentient Sciences network effect increases the demand for longer life assets and components, and ultimately changes the way the world buys and sells aftermarket products and services through our SaaS platform. This is all completely differentiated, based on materials science versus just big data from sensors.

Sentientsmanagement teamincludesEd Wagner, BS, Chief Digital Officer;Dr. Nathan Bolander,Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer;Jason Rios, MBA, VP of Aerospace;Gerald Curtin, MBA, Vice President of Asset Actions and Delivery; andAaron Russell, MBA, Finance.

Ward and his impressive team at Sentient Science have a unique technology and business model that lowers the cost of energy through supply and demand integration, said Simon Chong, Managing Partner at Georgian Partners. Their DigitalClone Live software fits perfectly with our thesis area for artificial intelligence, and we look forward to working with Sentient to expand technical capabilities and added value within the core applications.

For more information on Sentient Science and to view the full article, click here.

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Sentient Science raises $22.5 million in Series B growth-stage funding with Georgian Partners - Windpower Engineering (press release)

MONTREAL, July 26, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ -SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) announces a contract award on the Fine Ash Dam 6 Project in Secunda for Sasol Group Technology in South Africa.

SNC-Lavalin's scope of work for this project includes the structural, mechanical electrical, instrumentation and piping (SMEIP) construction services for the new facility. This will consist of the installation of approximately 15 km of piping, 370 tons of steel, and various mechanical and electrical equipment.

The Fine Ash Dam 6 Project is to support the life extension of the Sasol Secunda operations facilities by constructing a new fine ash dam. This will take the ash generated by the Secunda operations, in stages, to the new Ash Dam 6 as Fine Ash Dam 5 is decommissioned. The construction of the project will be completed in a number of phases and this award is part of the first phase, with a peak workload forecast for September 2017 and an average team size of 125 people. Fine Ash Dam 6 will be constructed in accordance with the latest environmental requirements with the final phase being completed in 2021.

"We are delighted to be awarded work with Sasol, providing solutions to this logistically complex project," said Martin Adler, President, Oil & Gas "We are currently mobilizing and at the peak workload expect a team of up to 250. With our strong track record in training and development within the local community, we expect 80% of our craft team members to be from the local area. We look forward to executing the first phase and hope to continue working with Sasol through the latter phases of the project."

About SNC-LavalinFounded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a global fully integrated professional services and project management company and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure. From offices around the world, SNC-Lavalin's employees are proud to build what matters. Our teams provide comprehensive end-to-end project solutions including capital investment, consulting, design, engineering, construction, sustaining capital and operations and maintenance to clients in oil and gas, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure and power. http://www.snclavalin.com

SOURCE SNC-Lavalin

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SNC-Lavalin awarded contract on Sasol's Fine Ash Dam 6 Project in South Africa - Markets Insider

In the 20th century, thanks largely to clean water and antibiotics, the American lifespan increased by 30 years. Who doesnt want even more, if new technologies like gene editing and nanomedicine can safely put them within our grasp? As Neo.life describes it, its the most important story today: how biology and technology are coming together to help us all live healthier, happier, and longer lives. But the challenge for all of us, no matter our age, is to not frame it as an anti-aging story. Heres a pro-aging take on each of those modifiershealthier, happier, and longer livesstarting with life extension itself.

Aging isnt something debilitating that bushwhacks us somewhere north of mid-life. Aging is living and living means aging. Nor is aging a disease; otherwise life, too, would be a disease. As British journalist Anne Karpf put it to NPRs Brian Lehrer, You can no more be anti-aging than anti-breathing. Part of the distinction is semantic: make the target age-related functional decline, not aging. The root cause of aging is the passage of time, not cell senescence. At the end of all that living, we die. If the goal is to prevent death, whether by freezing ourselves in cryonic vats or by achieving what scientist Aubrey de Grey calls longevity escape velocity, lets describe it accurately: not anti-aging but anti-dying.

Dont get me wrong. Im intrigued by the regenerative potential of tissues and organs, and all in favor of more research into the biology of aging. Until we understand what happens to our cells and organ systems far better than we do now, no health promotion strategy will have much of an effect on average life expectancy and maximum lifespan. More years of healthy life would be wonderful. But just as the enemy is disease, not aging, the goal needs to be health, not youth.

I like the way bio-entrepreneur Craig Venter puts it in a Neo.life article called The Anti-Aging Habits of Longevity Experts: Im trying to use the best of scientific knowledge to be as healthy as I can for as long as I can. Like all the experts quoted in that story, Venter is engaged in the most effective anti-aging behavior of all: pursuing a goal. Long-term studies show that even with brains full of plaques and tangles, some people stayed sharp to the end. What did they have in common? A sense of purpose. Whats the biggest obstacle to having a sense of purpose in late life? A culture that tells us that getting older means shuffling offstage. Aging with purpose means rewriting that script.

A growing body of fascinating research shows that attitudes toward aging have measurable effects on how our minds and bodies function. People who dont equate aging with disability and decline walk faster, do better on memory tests, and are more likely to recover fully from severe disability. Thats why the World Health Organization is developing a global anti-ageism campaign: to extend not just lifespan but healthspan. Not coincidentally, people with positive feelings about getting older also live longerand they live better. How worried are you about getting older, and why? Has what you dreaded come to pass? Check your age bias. It segregates us, pits us against each other, and fuels needless fearsand it might be your biggest health risk.

Even in Silicon Valley, tied with Hollywood as the most ageist place on the planet, people know that tans and Teslas arent what make us happy. What does? Aging itself. Study after study shows that people are happiest at the beginnings and the ends of their lives; Google U shaped happiness curve. You dont have to be a Buddhist or a billionaire, because the curve is a function of the way aging itself affects the brain. We get better at dealing with negative emotions like anger, envy, and fear. The knowledge that time is short makes us focus on the present and spend our time more wiselyand living in the present is why the very young and very old enjoy life the most. Thats what the mindfulness mania is constantly reminding us, and why so many myths couple immortality and misery.

As wise people across countries and cultures continue to remind us, theres no present if theres no ending. Not dealing with dying is a way of not dealing with living. Who wants more life, if it indeed becomes ours for the taking, if it comes without self-awareness or fulfillment or contentment? More reason to drop the anti-aging rhetoric, and the denial that fuels it. It keeps us from enjoying the present, and it feeds the narrative that aging well means looking and acting like younger versions of ourselves. Only the well-off can pursue that strategy, which is doubly discriminatory for womenand futile.

Perhaps, not too long from now, well be able to make the body of an octogenarian function as well as of that of a 30-year-old. Thatll be fantastic, especially if the advances become accessible to all. But 85 wont be the new 30. Itll be the new 85. And even the fittest octogenarians will be second-class citizens until we challenge the last socially sanctioned prejudice. Making the most of the new longevity means ending ageism.

Why does anti-aging sound normal and pro-aging sound weird? Because were brainwashed by a ruthless consumer culture. Who says wrinkles are ugly? The multi-billion-dollar skin care industry. Who says perimenopause and Low T and mild cognitive impairment are medical conditions? The trillion-dollar pharmaceutical industry. Unless you count sunscreen, no anti-aging remedies are effective, and many have proven harmful. Aging is not a disorder. Yes, it strips us of cartilage and shortens our telomeres, but it also confers confidence, contentment, even grace. You cant live longer without getting olderand thats a very good thing.

This post originally appeared in Neo.life, a new publication covering the ways that technology is helping us live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

Sign up for the weekly email at http://www.neo.life. You can follow Ashton Applewhite at her blog This Chair Rocks.

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Embracing aging can lead to a longer and happier life - Quartz

Dr. Robert Burns Moves into a New Role

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture has chosen a new leader for UT Extension, and hes home grown.

Dr. Robert Burns is a native of Walland, Tennessee, who holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering, an M.S. in environmental engineering and a B.S. in agricultural engineering all from UT. He will manage UT Extensions statewide educational and outreach program that helps ensure the success of the states $4.3 billion+ agricultural industries. UT Extension also coordinates with local, state and federal agencies regarding public health issues and youth development.

UT Extension works with local governments to provide educational services regarding agricultural production, natural resource management and family and consumer sciences through an array of adult learning opportunities. UT Extension also manages Tennessee 4-H, the states branch of the USDAs national youth development and leadership program. With more than 176,000 members and volunteers, Tennessee 4-H is among the nations largest 4-H programs.

Im excited to welcome Dr. Robert Burns to the leadership team of the UT Institute of Agriculture as the Dean for UT Extension. His knowledge of Tennessee agriculture, his passion for positive youth development and his commitment to Tennessee families will serve him well in this role, said Tim Cross, Chancellor of the UT Institute of Agriculture. I look forward to working with him as he advances our Extension educational programs.

Burns has been serving UT Extension for the past seven years, first as Assistant then as Associate Dean, managing agricultural and natural resource and community economic development programs in all 95 counties in the state. His other previous experience includes serving on the faculty of Iowa State University and as a National Conservation Engineer with USDA-NRCS. He also spent nine years on the faculty of the UT Institute of Agriculture as a water quality specialist supporting county-based programming on animal waste management and nutrient management for livestock and poultry operations. He succeeds Cross, who was promoted to serve as UTs Chancellor for Agriculture in January of this year. Dr. Delton Gerloff, head of the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, has served as interim Dean of Extension.

In announcing the appointment to staff and faculty, Cross stated, Among Roberts responsibilities as dean will be to build on the impacts UT Extension has already made, ensure programming continues to be relevant, and to successfully secure the resources needed to achieve excellence. He will also work with our other units to ensure a strong collaborative environment for the Institute.

Burns grew up on a Blount County beef cattle and tobacco farm and first became acquainted with UT Extension when he joined 4-H in the fourth grade. A self-proclaimed product of the land-grant educational system, he is excited to begin his new role.

I have seen and understand the positive impact that Extension educational programs can have on peoples lives, and I am honored to have the opportunity to serve and support our UT Extension staff to help make Tennessee a better place to live, work and raise a family. As Dean of Extension, Burns will expand his role in offering real life solutions to Tennesseans and beyond.

Burns will begin his appointment August 1.

Through its mission of research, teaching and extension, the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture touches lives and provides Real. Life. Solutions.ag.tennessee.edu.

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UT Institute of Agriculture appoints new dean for UT Extension - Winchester Herald Chronicle

Roanoke County Administrator Tom Gates got a vote of approval Tuesday when the supervisors green-lighted a two-year extension of his contract.

I, for one, am very happy to vote to continue to work with our current county administrator, said Chairman Joe McNamara, later praising the work Gates has done to execute a proactive strategic plan and build the countys quality of life.

Every football team needs a quarterback, McNamara said. There are only so many franchise quarterbacks, and I think we have one.

Under his contract extension, hell continue to receive the same annual pay bumps offered to all county staff a rise of 1.5 percent this year.

But Roanoke County will also substantially beef up its contribution to Gates deferred compensation plan. The countys annual pay-in for that fund will rise from $16,986 to $24,154 a total added investment of $7,168 per year.

The updated contract was ratified by the board of supervisors Tuesday on a 4-1 vote with Hollins District Supervisor Al Bedrosian dissenting. Bedrosian cited concerns about the rate of the compensation package increase and the cost to taxpayers.

Gates direct salary for the coming year will be $187,837. Overall, his direct salary has risen by 6 percent up from a first-year wage of $177,007 since he joined the county three years ago.

That is consistent with the total, cumulative pay raises offered to all county staffers during those years.

The board agreed to take part in the refinancing of a 2011 bond issuance to capture slightly lower interest rates.

The county forecasts it could save a total of about $227,000 over the remaining 14 years of the bonds life.

The bond was issued through a state authority to help pay for the Cave Spring Middle School expansion project.

The state will manage the refinancing but local consent was required.

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Roanoke County Administrator Tom Gates receives two-year extension - Roanoke Times

La'el Collins is finally getting paid.

The Cowboys offensive lineman agreed to a two-year contract extension Tuesday worth $15.4 million, a source informed of the deal told NFL Network's Mike Garafolo. Collins, 23, can now roughly recoup his lost salary from a wild 2015 draft where he would have been considered a first-round pick.

Collins slid out of the draft altogether after his name arose in connection with the murder of a 29-year-old pregnant woman in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In the waning rounds of the 2015 draft, Collins' representatives instructed teams not to pick the former LSU star so that he could sign where he wanted in free agency and be able to reach a second contract sooner. Collins was never considered a suspect in the case, though many teams stayed away while scrambling for information.

Dallas came calling and welcomed the talented blocker into the best offensive line in football. Now, he's expected to dig in as the club's right tackle this season following the retirement of Doug Free.

While it was a wayward path for Collins, his career and life now seem back on track. The deal extends Collins through the 2019 season and still gives him the chance to sign a substantial deal well before he hits age 30.

After starting 11 games during his rookie season, Collins made three starts last year before sustaining a significant big toe sprain. He was eventually placed on injured reserve in early October and re-activated in January.

The deal is a tremendous show of faith given less than a season's worth of work. However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones knows he cannot take any chances when an up-tempo running game drives the team's offense. Good, young offensive line help is hard to find these days and Collins' new deal reflects as much.

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Cowboys OT La'el Collins agrees to two-year extension - NFL.com