Archive for the ‘Life Extension’ Category

PICKERING, Ontario, Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) is proud to congratulate Ontario Power Generation on the opening of its Centre for Canadian Nuclear Sustainability CCNS Innovation and Collaboration Space in Pickering Ontario.

OCNI is also pleased to announce that it as signed a Community Partner Agreement of the CCNS under which OCNI will work closely with the CCNS in mobilizing Ontarios strong nuclear supply chain to develop the unique tooling and remote handling systems required for nuclear decommissioning activities.

OCNI, working out of its head office in Pickering just down the road from CCNS Innovation Hub, will use its extensive international network in collaborating with the CCNS to development export opportunities for innovative nuclear decommissioning solutions generated by the CCNS and its partner organizations in the nuclear supply chain.

The Canadian Nuclear Decommissioning Capabilities Catalog being prepared for OCNI will enable the CCNS to identify unique decommissioning competencies across the Canadian supply chain for deployment on OPGs Pickering decommissioning project as well as on offshore decommissioning projects, said OCNI President and CEO, Dr. Ron Oberth.

The CCNS welcomes OCNI as a community and industry partner and looks forward to engaging with OCNI and its many member companies who have developed unique capabilities in reactor deconstruction and nuclear materials management through work on refurbishment and life extension projects on CANDU reactors at Darlington, Bruce, Argentina and South Korea, added Carla Carmichael, OPGs Vice President of Decommissioning Strategy and lead for the CCNS. With its long history and experience, the Canadian nuclear supply chain is well poised to lead and advance innovations in the next phase of the nuclear lifecycle.

Organization of Canadian Nuclear Industries (OCNI) is an association of more than 220 Canadian suppliers to the nuclear industry that employ more than 15,000 highly skilled and specialized engineers, technologists, and trades people. OCNI companies design reactors, manufacture major equipment and components, and provide engineering services and support to CANDU nuclear power plants in Canada as well as to CANDU and Light Water Reactor (LWR) plants in offshore markets.

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OCNI congratulates the Centre for Canadian Nuclear Sustainability (CCNS) on the opening of its Innovation and Collaboration Space in Pickering -...

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bentley Systems, Incorporated, (Nasdaq: BSY), the infrastructure engineering software company, has announced the winners of the Year in Infrastructure 2020 Awards. The annual awards program honors the extraordinary work of Bentley users advancing design, construction, and operations of infrastructure throughout the world.

Sixteen independent jury panels selected the 57 finalists from over 400 nominations submitted by more than 330 organizations from more than 60 countries.

Bentley Systems acknowledged 19 Year in Infrastructure 2020 Awards winners and 14 Special Recognition awardees on October 21 during the Year in Infrastructure 2020 Conference, held virtually for the first time. To see the Year in Infrastructure 2020 Awards finalists present their projects, click here.

The Year in Infrastructure 2020 Special Recognition awardees are:

Advancing Project and Asset LongevityHDRMarc Basnight BridgeDare County, North Carolina, United States

Advancing Bridge Asset Performance ModelingUlsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST)A Smartwatch on the BridgeUlsan, Ulju-gun, South Korea

Advancing Industrial Asset Performance ModelingThe Institute of Engineering and Ocean Technology/Oil and Natural Gas Corporation LimitedChallenges in Addressing Life Extension of Ageing Platforms in Western Offshore of IndiaMumbai, India

Comprehensiveness in Industrial Digital TwinsVolgogradnefteproekt, LLCEthane-Containing Gas Processing Complex Construction SupportUst-Luga, St. Petersburg, Russia

Comprehensiveness in Transportation Digital TwinsPT. WASKITA Karya (Persero) TbkRailway Facility for Manggarai to Jatinegara: Package A - Phase II ( Main Line II )South Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia

Comprehensiveness in Urban Digital TwinsJSTI Group Co., Ltd.Hengjiang Avenue Rapid Transformation ProjectNanjing, Jiangsu, China

Comprehensiveness in a Connected Data EnvironmentRoads & Transport Authority (RTA)Collaborative Information System Implementation - Whole Lifecycle Common Data EnvironmentDubai, United Arab Emirates

Advancing Virtualization through Digital TwinsNetwork RailOvercoming Challenges Under COVID-19 LockdownWales and Western Region, United Kingdom

Advancing Model-based Delivery through Digital TwinsNYS Department of TransportationModel Based Contracting - NYS RT 28 over the EsopusMount Tremper, New York, United States

Advancing Mixed-Reality WorkflowsLiaoning Water Conservancy and Hydropower Survey and Design Research Institute Co., Ltd.Chaoyang Underground Pumping Station Project of the LXB Water Supply Project Phase IIChaoyang, Liaoning, China

Advancing Sustainability Digital TwinsShanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd.Shanghai Electric Environmental Protection Group Technology Renovation and Expansion Project for Nantong Thermoelectric Waste IncinerationNantong, Jiangsu, China

Advancing Sustainable ArchitectureSwatch Ltd., Shigeru Ban, Itten+Brechbhl AGSwatch HeadquartersBiel, Bern, Switzerland

Advancing Sustainable EnergyGuangdong Hydropower Planning & Design InstituteGuangdong Yangjiang Pumped Storage Power StationYangjiang, Guangdong, China

Advancing Sustainable WaterJacobsSan Jose HeadworksSan Jose, California, United States

The winners of the Year in Infrastructure 2020 Awards for going digital advancements in infrastructure are:

4D Digital ConstructionDPR Construction2019 LSM DS Tech UpgradeDurham, North Carolina, United States

BridgesChongqing Communications Planning, Survey & Design Institute Co., Ltd.,Guizhou Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd.,Guizhou Bridge Construction Group Co., Ltd.Digital Design and Construction of Taihong Yangtze River BridgeChongqing, China

Buildings and CampusesVoyants Solutions Private LimitedBangladesh Regional Waterway Transport Project 1 Shasanghat (New Dhaka) IWT TerminalDhaka-Shasanghat, Narayanganj, Chandpur, and Barisal; Bangladesh

Digital CitiesCity of HelsinkiDigital City of SynergyHelsinki, Finland

Geotechnical EngineeringGolder Associates Hong Kong Ltd.Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link Tunnel, Southern LandfallHong Kong

Land and Site DevelopmentAAEngineering GroupDzhamgyr Mine - Project Implementation in Extreme ConditionsTalas Region, Kyrgyzstan

ManufacturingMCC Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Ltd.BIM Technology-Based Construction of Digital Plant for Iron & Steel Base in Lingang, Laoting of HBIS Group Co., Ltd.Tangshan, Hebei, China

Mining and Offshore EngineeringAAEngineering GroupDigital Twin of AKSU Plant: From Concept to StartupAksu, Akmola Region, Kazakhstan

Power GenerationShanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Co., Ltd.Shanghai Electric Environmental Protection Group Technology Renovation and Expansion Project for Nantong Thermoelectric Waste IncinerationNantong, Jiangsu, China

Project DeliverySwecoSweco | Digitalisation with BIMUnited Kingdom

Rail and TransitPOWERCHINA Huadong Engineering Corporation LimitedInnovative Application of Digital Engineering Technology in Shaoxing Rail and Transit ConstructionShaoxing, Zhejiang, China

Reality ModelingKhatib & AlamiGeo-enabling Reality Model Tips and TricksMuscat, Oman

Road and Rail Asset PerformanceRoads and Transport Authority (RTA)Collaborative Information System Implementation - Whole Lifecycle Common Data EnvironmentDubai, United Arab Emirates

Roads and HighwaysSichuan Road & Bridge (Group) Co., Ltd.BIM Technology Application on Chengdu-Yibin ExpresswayChengdu, Sichuan, China

Structural EngineeringWSPWSP Overcomes Complex Challenges with Bentleys Technology to Deliver Principal TowerLondon, England, United Kingdom

Utilities and CommunicationsSterlite Power Transmission LimitedSterlite BIMTripura, India

Utilities and Industrial Asset PerformanceShells QGC businessEvolution of Engineering Data, Documents and Information ManagementBrisbane, Queensland, Australia

Water and Wastewater Treatment PlantsHatchAshbridges Bay Treatment Plant OutfallToronto, Ontario, Canada

Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater NetworksDTK Hydronet SolutionsDigital Water Network Engineering & Asset Management of Dibrugarh Water Supply ProjectDibrugarh, Assam, India

All awards finalists and winners

Detailed descriptions of all nominated projects are in the print and digital versions of Bentleys 2020 Infrastructure Yearbook, which will be published in early 2021. To review the past editions of this publication, access Bentleys Infrastructure Yearbooks.

Image: YII 2020 Awards Trophy and Yearbook

Caption: All Year in Infrastructure 2020 Award winners, finalists, and nominees will be featured in the 2020 Infrastructure Yearbook, which will be published in early 2021.

About Bentley Systems

Bentley Systems (Nasdaq: BSY) is the infrastructure engineering software company. We provide innovative software to advance the worlds infrastructure sustaining both the global economy and environment. Our industry-leading software solutions are used by professionals, and organizations of every size, for the design, construction, and operations of roads and bridges, rail and transit, water and wastewater, public works and utilities, buildings and campuses, and industrial facilities. Our offerings include MicroStation-based applications for modeling and simulation, ProjectWise for project delivery, AssetWise for asset and network performance, and the iTwin platform for infrastructure digital twins. Bentley Systems employs more than 4,000 colleagues and generates annual revenues of more than $700 million, in 172 countries. http://www.bentley.com

2020 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley, the Bentley logo, AssetWise, iTwin, MicroStation, and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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Bentley Systems Announces Winners of Year in Infrastructure 2020 Awards - Business Wire

ST. PAUL, Minn. Chrysal International is announcing a partnership with Verdant Technologies to bring a step change solution to the floral industry. This new product, a 1-MCP-based solution, will be available across the industrys international markets with initial focus on Colombia, one of the largest floral growers in the world, and Miami, one of the largest receiving areas in the United States for floral products.

Chrysal International is committed to offering innovative solutions for the floral supply chain, from growers to consumers. Through our partnership with Verdant Technologies, we are expanding our product offering to our customers and are able to explore new possibilities in the industry. It is exciting for us to be part of this new venture, said Peter Vriends, CEO of Chrysal International, the worldwide market leader in flower food and post-harvest flower and plant care.

For Verdant Technologies, an emerging leader in the biotechnology industry, a partnership

with Chrysal is an exciting introduction of HarvestHold to the floral market segment.

Chrysal has a long history of providing premium flower care products with proven results for growers, packers, supermarkets, florists and consumers. This along with Chrysals mission to reduce waste in the horticultural supply chain make their partnership a natural fit, said Gordon Robertson, Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer of Verdant Technologies.

Chrysal and Verdant Technologies are actively working together to bring a patented 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) based solution to market that delivers superior stability, efficacy and consistency throughout the horticultural supply chain.

1-MCP has proven to be an effective tool to extend the quality of fresh cut flowers and potted plants to date, said Jon Fobes, President of Verdant Technologies. What Chrysal and Verdant are developing is a shelf-stable solution and superior delivery method for 1-MCP. Our product is extremely reliable, easier to store, does not require wetting and can be applied where it is needed throughout the supply chain process.

Chrysal and Verdant Technologies have focused their technologies around the 1-MCP products flexibility, which will allow Chrysals global customer base of growers and packers to spend more time getting more product to market and lessen the impact of horticultural wastage.

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Chrysal is a global company. The flexibility of our product makes it a global product with the reach and ability to be applied anywhere in the world at any step of the supply chain process, said Robertson. We have ideas. Chrysal is aware of the challenges in the industry. By working together, we can solve the immediate needs of their customers and develop future solutions to make the global floral industry more efficient, sustainable, and deliver better quality products.

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About Verdant Technologies

Verdant Technologies is an emerging leader to the biotechnology industry, offering HarvestHold product life extension technology for floral and produce products. Verdant Technologies and its partners work hand-in-hand to reduce negative environmental impacts while delivering fresher, more nutritious produce and enhanced florals to more people in more places. Verdant Technologies has corporate offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, visitwww.verdant-tech.com.

About Chrysal International

Chrysal is a main driving force in the flower and plant industry and worldwide market leader in flower food and post-harvest flower and plant care. Whether you grow, transport, sell, or simply enjoy the beauty of cut flowers and potted plants in your own home, Chrysal has products to keep them looking fresh for longer. Through more than 85 years of experience and innovation, a commitment to quality and an on-going search for sustainable solutions, we aim to meet our customers needs today and tomorrow. The result? Flowers and plants that last longer, happy customers and, in the end, a more beautiful world.Chrysal. Nurturing beauty.For more information about Chrysal International, visitwww.chrysal.com.

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Chrysal International and Verdant Technologies Announce Partnership - PerishableNews

Black Cumin Seed Oil Market research report is the new statistical data source added by A2Z Market Research.

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Global Black Cumin Seed Oil Market Research Report 2020 2026

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The province's oil and gas association is heralding anew drilling contract in the Flemish Pass as a rarevictory for the struggling Newfoundland and Labrador offshore oil industry.

CNOOC Petroleum North America is set to create a single exploration well in the area next spring.

"It is certainly positive news for our industry and for the supply and service sector that Noia represents," said Charlene Johnson, chief executive officer for the Newfoundland and Labrador oil and gas industries association.

The Chinese company has contracted U.K.-based Stena Drilling Ltd. to drill the Pelles A-71 well, with work starting between April and June2021, and lasting for some 90 days.

The company will use the Stena Forth, a harsh-environment drill ship capable of drilling in water depths up to 3,000metres. The campaign will create roughly 370 direct and indirect jobs, said Johnson, and inject tens of millions into the province's economy.

It's the latest step in efforts to expand oil production beyond the four producing fields in the Jeanne d'Arc Basin.

But it's the only exploration activity planned for next year, despite some $4 billion in exploration commitments having been made by oil companies in recent years.

The global pandemic has threatened that activity, and industry boosters are hoping CNOOC's continued confidence in the offshore will motivate other oil majors to take similar action.

"We would love to see more than one well being drilled next year," said Johnson.

Johnson is hoping thata program announced by the provincial government last month will encourage companies like CNOOC, BP and others to drill more wells in frontier areas like the Flemish Pass and the Orphan Basin intheir quest to find the next big discovery.

The province has promised to provide cash to companies to help defer the cost of an exploration well, which can cost up to $100 million each.

The money will come from downpayments made by companies on exploration projects that have been defaulted because the work was not done in a specified period of time, typically six years.

A company must hand overa 25 per cent down paymentonwork commitments to the offshore petroleum board when it is awarded exploration rights on a land parcel. As such, the board is now holding roughly $1 billion in cash from oil giants like ExxonMobiland BP.

Under this new program, if companies forfeit that cash, the province will use it to entice other companies to drill wells.

It's conceivable that up to $46 millionin security payments could become available next year alone, with thatfigure steadily increasing in future years.

The province is still working out the details of how companies can access these funds, and no approvals have yet been made.

In a statement to CBC News, an official with the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology said CNOOC is "very interested" in the program.

Johnson is hoping the program will be the incentive needed for CNOOC to do a second or even a third exploration well next year.

But she said it's vital for the province to reveal the program parameters as soon as possible so companies can have some certainty.

"That may have an impact in terms of influencing the number of wells next year if it's attractive enough," she said.

CNOOC has a 100 per cent working interest in two exploration licenses, and has described the area it plans to explore as "world-class" with a "large hydrocarbon potential."

The company has already acquired 3D seismic information on the area it plans to drill, andhas said it aims to "build long-term, sustainable success in the region."

CNOOC had planned to drill what's known in the business as a wildcat well this past spring and summer in the same area, using the Stena IceMax at a reported daily fee of $299,000.

But that campaignwas shelved because of thepandemic.

It was one of a long list of setbacks that have rocked the oil industry this year.

With oil prices cratering this past spring because of a combination of the pandemic and an oil price war between Russia and Saudi Arabia, oil companies began slashing spending.

Drilling on the Hibernia platform and work on a series of extension tiebacks have been suspended, a long-planned life extension project for the Terra Nova FPSOis under review, Equinor's Bay du Norddevelopment has been deferred, and the West White Rose extension project is stalled at roughly 60 per cent completion.

As a result, the industry has been shedding jobs in large numbers, and the supply and service sector is reeling, said Johnson.

With climate changes worries as a backdrop, there's widespread agreement that the transition away from hydrocarbons will occur in the coming decades in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

That's why it's vitally important that exploration drilling is intensified, said Johnson, so the province and its citizens can benefit from the resource before it's too late.

The sooner new discoveries are made, she said, the sooner construction on new oil producing platforms would commence.

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador

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Drilling contract seen as an N.L. oil industry win following a series of pandemic setbacks - CBC.ca

Global Oral Probitoics Market Report Details Out Market Overview, Market Valuation, And Future Market Prospective

The Oral Probitoics markets growth and development is significantly skyrocketing due to the current modernization and innovative futuristic scopes. TheOral Probitoics marketreport mentions all the details regarding the latest techniques that are followed in order to meet the customers demand and supply. Some of the most important and intricate data including the market share, supply and demand statistics, growth factors, and investment dynamics are mentioned in such a clear format that the clients can grab the growth and development facets from the dossier for a piece of better global market knowledge. The current report helps open new doors for the global Oral Probitoics market. Some of the vital players NatureWise, Now Foods, DS Healthcare, Higher Nature, NutriPreme, Candidabiotix, Hyperbiotics, Jarrow Formulas, Life Extension, Natren, UltraCruz, Aqua Flora that are at present dominating the global platform include.

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Global Oral Probitoics Market Overview Target Audience for the Oral Probitoics Market Economic Impact on the Oral Probitoics Market Global Oral Probitoics Market Forecast Business Competition by Manufacturers Production, Revenue (Value) by Region Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type Market Analysis by Application Cost Analysis Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy, and Downstream Buyers Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders Market Effect Factors Analysis

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By some accounts, Timothy Leary is the most productive and prolific evangelist for psychedelic drugs in human history. At the height of the 1960s counterculture, he was a prophet (or a pied piper, depending on who you ask) who inspired millions of young people to take LSD and go out of their minds.

He coined a mantra, Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out, which was adopted as a PR slogan and a life philosophy for scores of hippies. He sparked and featured in classic works by The Beatles, The Who, Allen Ginsberg and The Moody Blues. He was also a womanizer and a brazen narcissist, as well as an IQ-tested genius. President Nixon reportedly called him the most dangerous man in America.

Though he died 24 years ago, in 1996, there may be no better time to consider Timothy Learys life and legacy. Thousands are turning on to the psychedelic renaissance every year, and when they dive deeper into the LSD wormhole theyll no doubt land on Learys name as one of the guys responsible for it all.

As a clinical psychologist at Harvard University, Leary worked on the Psilocybin Project with his colleague and friend, Richard Alpert, and a close circle of graduate students. Their controversial studies aimed to demonstrate the therapeutic and mystical applications of psychedelics, but Leary and Alpert were eventually fired amid allegations they had pressured students into taking hallucinogens. Leary later took his studies to the Millbrook Estate, a 64-room mansion in New York, where he and a communal group freely experimented with LSD and spiritual practice.

By the end of his life, Leary had left a sizeable mark on American culture. He had influenced psychedelic rock, the hippie trail, spiritual seekers, Steve Jobs, Silicon Valley, painters, poets and the very scientists leading the psychedelic renaissance today. At the same time, Leary's careless peddling of LSD as an intense aphrodisiac it could give women several hundred orgasms, he claimed and something children could enjoy dealt sometimes life changing blows. Many under Leary's influence were guided on voyages from which they never returned.

On what would have been the month of his 100th birthday, VICE presents an oral history of Timothy Learys long, strange trip, via interviews with those who knew, loved and hated the man.

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

1955: Leary wasnt always drawn to drugs. He started his career as a strait-laced psychologist who researched personality theory and preferred Martini and red meat to pills. But something was missing. Things came to a head in 1955 when his first wife took her own life on his 35th birthday, leaving Leary a single father to two young children.

He had a traumatic childhood, too, with an abusive father, an absent mother and a conman grandfather rendering him deeply suspicious of authority figures. It seems a rebellion was only a matter of time. Robert Forte, the author of Outside Looking In and a longtime friend of Learys, shares more:

When Frank Barron [a psychologist and friend of Learys] first told him about psychedelic drugs, Tim said, I'm not going anywhere near that ship. And I think you should stay away from it, too, Frank.

He had to talk Tim into it. It took a year for Frank to convince him to do it. But also, Tim was very against authority, and there was a lot of it in the 1950s in American society. When you put him in with an authority figure, he would kind of go nutty. That was the way his psyche was set up since he was a young boy.

I found some letters that Tim wrote to his mother when he was at West Point [school], about what his goals in life were. He just wanted to have a good time. He wanted to be famous. He just wanted to have a normal, healthy, happy life.

Summer, 1960: Leary has his first psychedelic trip in Cuernavaca, Mexico, with psilocybin mushrooms. The trip is a life-changing experience. It was in Cuernavaca that he met Michael Maccoby, a psychology researcher who'd just left Harvard.

Tim had asked me if I wanted to experience hyperconsciousness. I said, Tim, theres white magic, and theres black magic. Black magic is when you get something and pay the price later. White magic, you do the work first.

Autumn, 1960: Leary returns to Harvard and re-acquaints himself with Richard Alpert, a faculty member who would become his right-hand man in psychedelic research, and eventually rechristen himself as Ram Dass. Leary and Alpert found the Harvard Psilocybin Project, a pioneering programme of studies into psilocybins potential to map the fineries of human consciousness.Don Lattin, author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club and Changing Our Minds, remembers the Harvard Psilocybin Project:

It was revolutionary from the beginning. From the very, very beginning. They were never really doing the serious clinical trials with psychedelics that had already been happening in the 1950s. No, they had a whole other idea, an agenda.

[From his first trip], Leary was convinced that psychedelics were going to revolutionise the practice of psychology, psychiatry, and change the world.

Elliot Aronson was a Harvard faculty member they contacted for advice:

The [first] major time I heard about psilocybin was at a lunch with Alpert and Tim. Tim was talking in a rather grandiose way about all that psilocybin could accomplish. And so I made a snide crack: All that from a little mushroom? or whatever it was he had in his hand.But he was serious. And he didn't like my joking about it. And he was right. It was a powerful little mushroom, a powerful little pill.

1962: Leary and his colleague Walter Pahnke devise the Marsh Chapel Experiment, to test psilocybins ability to trigger religious experiences. Leary and the graduate students also dose themselves with the drug. Reverend Randall Laakko looks back on the test as a participant:

I got down to the door and I busted out of there and went out into the side yard of the chapel. And Leary came out after me. I just wanted to immerse myself in life and the world. I buried my face in the shrubs and I took a big bite out of the leaves. They were very bitter. I probably spat them out.

When we were starting to come down, I lay on the floor for a while. Leary was laying right beside me. I remember the smell of his hair. I reached on to his body with my hand, and he took it gently. It was just a sense of oneness with everything.

Allan Cohan, a member of Learys Harvard circle, says: Interestingly, all of this is now being rediscovered by psychologists at Johns Hopkins University, for example, who are using psychedelics for depression, for end of life experiences, etc. I wish they'd consulted us. We could have saved them a lot of time.

Towards the end of 1962, Leary and the Harvard group begin to question their aims. They found the International Federation for Internal Freedom (or IFIF) to support their research.Paul Lee, a Harvard theologian, a participant at Marsh Chapel and a member of the Leary circle, reflects on the crews aims:

There was a big discussion about whether to go underground with it and make it a kind of secret initiation issue, or go public. But Leary was an Irish revolutionary and he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. So it went that way. It simply became a tsunami.

As Leary and Alpert evangelised other faculty members, some tried it and had terrible experiences, remembers Allan Cohan. But Leary, when faced with that even when we had a suicide or two said, Well, in the exploration of outer space, you're going to lose some astronauts. Same with inner space. There was a lot of care and concern from Alpert. But Leary was simply willing to take many more risks.

Herbert Kelman was a department member at the time:

The faculty organised a meeting. It was packed, absolutely packed. I outlined why these drug experiments Leary was conducting were lax in scientific validity. They weren't doing research at all.

We heard of graduate students having mental health issues. There were a couple of students in that class who had bad trips. I can't remember any details, but somebody who was on the brink [anyway] almost tumbled from a window.

1963: After failing to arrive at classes, Learys contract at Harvard is terminated. He seeks the support of benefactors like Peggy Hitchcock, the heiress to the Mellon fortune. She gives Leary and his circle a sprawling estate, Millbrook, from which to conduct further research.

When I first met Tim, I thought he was one of the most interesting people I'd ever met, says Peggy Hitchcock. I thought he was absolutely fascinating. I fell in love with him quickly, and we had a funny kind of swinging door relationship. But his relationship with his kids convinced me we couldnt be together.

He tried to be a good father. But really, when he got involved with psychedelics and everything, I mean, he really wasn't. Teenagers need a parent. He wasn't able to be there for them. [Tims] daughter later committed suicide in jail and his heart was really trashed. His son never, never spoke to him again. Hardly.

Years later [in 1992], when we reconnected, we spent most of the night talking. He was staying at a hotel. And that was as close as I ever got to his talking to me about the sadness in life.

1963-66: Millbrooks early years are promising. Publishing research, holding talks and staging retreats, it places emphasis on integration and non-drug-related spiritual practice. Leary founds his own religion, The League for Spiritual Discovery, which holds LSD as its primary sacrament. Bill Richards, who now works as a psychedelics researcher at John Hopkins, looks back on those days at Millbrook:

It was fun. It was loose. It was a little bit chaotic, but it was warm and genuine and playful and open to new ideas, you know, and appreciative of the transcendental state of consciousness. The seminars I attended there were really very sober, academically-oriented workshops. So, you know, Millbrook wasn't just a bunch of crazy hippies having a party.

This would change. Returning from a trip to India, Leary found that Millbrook had descended into a psychedelic squat.Ted Druch, who lived in an ashram on the Millbrook site, remembers how out of control things got:

Millbrook was a gold rush. But with Timothy Leary and acid instead of gold. There were horses painted psychedelic colours running through the woods. Girls were running around naked, fucking everything in sight. Tim Leary had an aura. But he really was an asshole.

We ended up having a huge fight with Leary. He was into this God will provide, everything will provide. Everything will come. You never have to worry about anything kind of attitude. Except the problem was that we didn't have money to put oil in the furnace. His daughter even fled and moved into our ashram. We gave her a room, and she spent the next five days in her room crying.

Over the course of two years, things went from bad to worse. The cops got involved. Dutchess County was a Republican stronghold and we went through about a year of constant raids.

Vanessa Hollingshead is the daughter of Michael Hollingshead, the man who first gave Leary LSD:

I never liked living at Millbrook Mansion. Most of the time, Leary, my dad, hippie men and women, everyone, was on something.

I [accidentally] did between nine and 19 hits of acid at five years old. I didn't even know what was going on. It was on sugar cubes. I was jumping up and down on a trampoline and all of a sudden I looked down and I just saw all these coloured fluorescent worms. I started screaming and Britta [my dads girlfriend] grabbed me off the trampoline. I remember them holding me up and giving me a shot of [the anti-psychotic medicine] Thorazine right in the behind.

1967: Alpert leaves for India, where he met his guru. Leary moves to the West Coast and finds a largely receptive audience among the burgeoning hippie movement. It was at the historic Human Be-In in San Francisco in January of that year where Leary coined his famous mantra, Turn on, tune in, drop out, remembers Jay Stevens, the celebrated author of Storming Heaven__**:**

[In Tim], LSD found the perfect salesman: charming, personable, able to coin phrases. He was an advertising genius in a way. He could have made a lot of money in advertising.

Eugene Schoenfeld was Learys personal physician at the time:

I remember the moment when Tim came out with the 'turn on, tune in, drop out' slogan. A lot of young people followed his advice and dropped out. In fact, I said to him a little bit afterwards, 'You've got a PhD. I have a medical degree. And all these kids are dropping out of college. You know, is this good? He just shrugged it off. It was a great slogan. But, I mean, he would take acid before giving public talks. So sometimes, unless you were in the same state, it just seemed like gibberish, you know?

Bill Richards has other thoughts:

I think it should be Turn on, tune in, jump in work within the structures of society to change them.

James L Penner, the author of Timothy Leary: The Harvard Years__**, says Learys famous slogan has been misread:**

It's not simply drop out of society and never pay attention to politics or anything, and go be a hermit. He asks us to drop out of the games we play. I'm playing the professor game. You're playing the journalists game. He was playing the Timothy Leary game all the time himself. And psychedelics allow you to step back from the game and question it, deflate it, not take it so seriously.

1967: Learys advocacy for psychedelic drugs reaches fever pitch during the 1967 Summer of Love. He is adopted as the spiritual leader of the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a drug ring that manufactured Orange Sunshine, the world-famous acid strain that fuelled the counterculture.

Michael Horowitz was Learys close friend and personal archivist:

I and at least 5 million other people can say that we would never have taken LSD if it weren't for Tim Leary. He used to quip later in his life, I turned on 5 million people and only 5,000 ever thanked me.

In the history of every religion, it's the priests who controlled the sacraments, whatever the sacrament happened to be. In the mid-20th century, the priests were the psychiatrists. Leary was a psychologist who became a shaman.

Norman Watt was Learys replacement at Harvard. A researcher in schizophrenia, he became acquainted personally with the costs of Learys revolution.

I met many [casualties]. I treated them in hospitals and veterans hospitals in California and Ohio and elsewhere. There were so many. And the research was still beginning. Its only in the decades since that weve learnt about how LSD impacts the nervous system of human beings. It's all come out since then.

James Kent, a psychedelic thinker and host of the Dose Nation podcast, reflects on Learys negative impact:

How dangerous was Tim? I don't think he was Manson dangerous. But he helped make Manson, no doubt. There would be no Charlie Manson without Tim Leary.

1970: The War on Drugs is launched. LSD is made federally illegal and many promising avenues in psychedelic research are banned.Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, says:

Learys reputation is pretty low [among psychedelic scientists]. I think that a lot of people blame him for the crackdown. But I really think the crackdown on psychedelics happened because psychedelics were going right. They motivated people to get involved in social justice activities, protests. And Tim did a lot of good work generating people to have those kinds of experiences. I think, on balance, he did way more good than harm. Though I fault him for twisting the data in his studies.

Robert Forte agrees:

Well, it's such bullshit. He didn't ruin research. Yeah, he was outrageous. But I mean, the government was the one that fucking ruined research with their idiotic move. How come nobody is saying that? Tim didn't just tell people to take psychedelic drugs. The most continuous message throughout his whole life was to question authority and think for yourselves.

After running for Governor of California during which he got The Beatles to write Come Together as his campaign song Leary is arrested in 1970 on drug charges after two stubbed roaches are found in his car ashtray. He is sentenced to ten years in jail.

He didn't do anything, nothing, to ingratiate himself with any kind of establishment, says Peggy Hitchcock. He didn't care. And so, of course, when they arrested him, that was just the way it was going to happen. I kind of knew it was going to happen. It was a question of time. No one can say 'Fuck you' to everybody all the time. It just doesn't work.

Leary escapes from jail and is shipped by a radical left wing group, The Weather Underground, to Algeria. He makes his way to Switzerland and lives in exile, but is captured in 1973 and taken back to the USA by the CIA. He faces nearly a century behind bars.

I knew Joanna Harcourt-Smith [Tims new wife] very well, remembers Eugene Schoenfeld. But when she moved to San Francisco, I noticed that she would be asking questions about people's drug habits, for example. And one time she asked me how she could obtain a large quantity of LSD. It just didn't seem right. As it turned out, Joanna was scooping up the information because she and Timothy were cooperating with the federal government.

When I first heard the rumours, I didnt believe it. When I found out? Shock, dismay, disappointment. Yes, all those things. I visited Tim in prison. He certainly did not have a posh cell like some of the Mexican drug lords had in their prisons, but he was protected, I think, especially after he began cooperating with the feds.

I really just reduced my contact with him greatly [after this].

Doug Rushkoff, a writer and later friend of Learys, is more balanced:

Towards the end [of his life], a lot of journalists were really getting into whether or not he had turned in the Weathermen to the CIA. And he was a little upset by that. But he told the CIA stuff only what they already knew or stuff that was no longer current. And, you know, there are always these efforts to recast heroes.

1976: After his early release from prison in 1976, Tims work moves to other areas: space exploration, life extension and, predominantly, computers and technology.

You've got to understand that his work with psychedelics was sort of like a greatest hit, says Zach Leary, Tims son. You go see a rock and roll band play their hit single, but their career is about so much more than that. And that was very much the same with him. Tune in, turn on, drop out, the psychedelic years, were really just one step on a much larger path and a much larger vision.

Anytime somebody came around who was really trying to wax nostalgic about [that time], he would get really feisty. He'd say, 'Hey, man, that's the past. You're on some old trip, man. It's not 'tune in, turn on, drop out' anymore. Its 'turn on, boot up, jack in' now."

From the 80s onward, he saw technology as the next psychedelic, the new LSD, recalls Doug Rushkoff. He believed that that digital would be as powerful or more powerful, and plus you don't have to eat it. They just log on.

1996: At 75 years old, on the 31st of May, Leary dies in the Hollywood Hills. Amid the growth of early PC and cyberpunk culture, he had enjoyed a resurgence in popularity.

I remember the day he died, says Zach. We all knew that was going to be the day. I was very clear. We were being guided by Ram Dass [Alpert] on the telephone.

Doug Rushkoff was there, too. In the last half hour or so of his life, he started to say, 'Why not?' And he repeated 'Why not?' in all these weird ways. 'Why not? Why not? Why not? Why not?' 'Why not die?' he was suggesting. 'You know, this is it.' And in life, when someone is telling you not to do something, ask 'Why not?' That's the core question.

2020: Early reports suggest that psychedelic use has increased considerably amid the pandemic lockdown. Doug Rushkoff wonders what Tim would have thought.

He was saying 'tune in, turn on' and all that, but he was painfully aware of the downside to people doing psychedelics in the wrong set and setting without proper tutelage.

But, I mean, of course he'd be happy that maybe it took a pandemic and the crash of capitalism or something for people to have the safe time and space to explore and seize the opportunity. You know, it's like, 'Oh, wait a minute, I'm going to be alone in my house or in my apartment with my girlfriend for the next month. Let's take acid and fuck a lot.' I don't think he would think that's a bad thing. It's a sacred thing.

James L. Penner agrees: He would have advocated tripping during a time of popular upheaval and political unrest like today. No doubt. Think of the cataclysms of the 60s and how often he tripped then. I mean, he was optimistic to a fault. He always felt that tripping could provide insight and a life-changing experience like the one he had [in Mexico].

@EdPrideaux

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Timothy Leary Turns 100: Americas LSD Messiah, Remembered By Those Who Knew Him - VICE UK

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Theres so much going on in the markets, that its hard to know where to start and what to look for. On the red side of the ledger, its clear that the headwinds are gathering. House Democrats are still rejecting the $1.8 trillion coronavirus aid and stimulus package put forth by the White House, saying that President Trumps proposal does not go far enough. The House Dems are pushing their own $2.2 trillion stimulus. At the same time, both Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson have paused their coronavirus vaccine programs, after the latter company reported an adverse event in early trials. This has more than just investors worried, as most hopes for a return to normal hang on development of a working vaccine for the novel virus.And earnings season is kicking off. Over the next several weeks, well see Q3 results from every publicly traded company, and investors will watch those results eagerly. The consensus is, that earnings will be down year-over-year somewhere between 20% and 30%. With this in mind, weve used theTipRanks databaseto pull up three dividend stocks yielding 6% or more. Thats not all they offer, however. Each of these stocks has a Strong Buy rating, and considerable upside potential.Philip Morris (PM)First on the list is tobacco company Philip Morris. The sin stocks, makers of tobacco and alcohol products, have long been known for their good dividends. PM has taken a different tack in recent year, with a turn toward smokeless tobacco products, marketed as cleaner and less dangerous for users health.One sign of this is the companys partnership with Altria to launch and market iQOS, a heated smokeless tobacco product that will allow users to get nicotine without the pollutants from tobacco smoke. PM has plowed over $6 billion into the product. Given the regulatory challenges and PR surrounding vaping products, PM believes that smokeless heated tobacco will prove to be the stronger alternative, with greater potential for growth.No matter what, for the moment PMs core product remains Marlboro cigarettes. The iconic brand remains a best seller, despite the long-term trend of public opinion turning against cigarettes.As for the dividend, PM has been, and remains, a true champ. The company has raised its dividend payment every year since 2008, and has reliably paid out ever quarter. Even corona couldnt derail that; PM kept up its $1.17 quarterly payment through 2020, and its most recent dividend, paid out earlier this month, saw an increase to $1.20 per common share. This annualizes to $4.80, and gives a yield of 6%.Covering PM for Piper Sandler, analyst Michael Lavery likes the move to smokeless products, writing, We remain bullish on PM's strong long-term outlook, and we believe recent iQOS momentum throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has been impressive. iQOS has had strong user growth and improving profitability, and store re-openings could further help drive adoption by new users.Lavery rates PM shares an Overweight (i.e. Buy), and his $98 price target implies a one-year upside of 24%. (To watch Laverys track record, click here)Overall, the Strong Buy consensus rating on PM is based on 9 reviews, breaking 8 to 1 in Buy versus Hold. The shares are priced at $79.10 and their $93.56 average price target suggests an 18% upside potential. (See PM stock analysis on TipRanks)Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son (NTB)Butterfield is a small-cap banking firm based in Bermuda and providing a full range of services to customers on the island and on the Caymans, the Bahamas, and the Channel Islands, as well as Singapore, Switzerland, and the UK. Butterfields services include personal and business loans, savings accounts and credit cards, mortgages, insurance, and wealth management.Butterfield saw revenues and earnings slide in the first half of this year, in line with the general pattern of banking services globally the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on business, and bankers felt the hit. Earnings in the last quarter of 2019 were 87 cents per share, and by 2Q20 were down to 67 cents. While a significant drop, that was still 21% better than the expectations. At the top line, revenues are down to $121 million. NTB reports Q3 earnings later this month, and the forecast is for 63 cents EPS. Along with beating earnings forecasts, Butterfield has been paying out a strong dividend this year. By the second quarter, the dividend payment was up to 44 cents per common share, making the yield a robust 7%. When the current low interest rate regime is considered the US Fed has set rates near zero, and Treasury bonds are yielding below 1% NTBs payment looks even better.Raymond James Donald Worthington, 4-star analyst with Raymond James, writes of Butterfield, robust capital levels [provide] more than sufficient loss absorption capacity in our view for whatever credit issues may arise. Its fee income stability has proven valuable given the impacts of declining rates on NII, where the bank has actively managed expenses to help support earnings. We continue to believe its dividend is safe for now given its low-risk loan portfolio, robust capital levels, and our forecast for a sub-100% dividend payout even under our stressed outlook.These comments support the analysts Outperform (i.e. Buy) rating, and his $29 price target suggests a 15% upside for the coming year. (To watch Worthingtons track record, click here)Overall, NTB has 4 recent reviews, which include 3 Buys and a single Hold, making the analyst consensus rating a Strong Buy. This stock has a $29 average price target, matching Worthingtons. (See NTB stock analysis on TipRanks)Enviva (EVA)Last on our list is an energy company, Enviva. This company holds an interesting niche in an essential sector, producing green energy. Specifically, Enviva is a manufacturer of processed biomass fuel, a wood pellet derivative sold to power generation plants. The fuel is cleaner burning than coal an important point in todays political climate and is made from recycled waste (woodchips and sawdust) from the lumber industry. The companys production facilities are located in the American Southeast, while its main customers are in the UK and mainland Europe.The economic shutdowns imposed during the corona pandemic reduced demand for power, and Envivas revenues fell in 1H20, mainly due to that reduced demand. Earnings remained positive, however, and the EPS outlook for Q3 predicts a surge back to 45 cents in line with the strong earnings seen in the second half of 2019.Enviva has shown a consistent commitment to paying out its dividend, and in last quarter the August payment the company raised the payment from 68 cents per common share to 77 cents. This brought the annualized value of the dividend to $3.08 per share, and makes the yield 7.3%. Even better, Enviva has been paying out regular dividends for the past 5 years.Covering this stock for Raymond James is analyst Pavel Molchanov, who rates EVA as Outperform (i.e. Buy) and sets a $44 price target. Recent share appreciation has brought the stock close to that target.Backing his stance, Molchanov writes, Enviva benefits from an increasingly broad customer base, and there is high-visibility growth via dropdowns. In the context of the power sector's massive coal retirements including (as of September 2020) 34 countries and 33 subnational jurisdictions with mandatory coal phase-outs (To watch Molchanovs track record, click here.)Envivas Strong Buy consensus rating is based on 4 Buys and 1 Hold. Its share price, which has gained in recent sessions, is $42.60, and as mentioned, it has closed in on the $44.80 average price target. (See EVA stock analysis at TipRanks)To find good ideas for dividend stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.

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New Comprehensive CBD Alternative from Life Extension, Introducing Endocannabinoid Support, without THC or Hemp - Yahoo Finance

DetailsCategory: More NewsPublished on Friday, 16 October 2020 13:41Hits: 187

SAN DIEGO, CA, USA and FREISING, Germany I October 15, 2020 I Life Science Newswire Antlia Bioscience, Inc., a privately owned biopharmaceutical company located in San Diego, California, and XL-protein GmbH, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company located in Germany, are pleased to announce a strategic slliance using XL-protein's proprietary PASylation technology for plasma half-life extension to develop a novel, long-acting, peptide therapeutic treatment for chronic heart failure. Brian Johnson, Antlia Biosciences CEO commented, "chronic heart failure is a significantly unaddressed medical condition and a major public health concern. XL-protein's PASylation technology will allow us to safely and effectively translate our peptide into a meaningful therapeutic option for patients with chronic heart failure. "PASylation is an excellent biological solution for plasma-half extension of therapeutic peptides, and we believe that PASylation offers a simpler manufacturing process and superior pharmacological properties," commented Claus Schalper, CEO of XL-protein. "We are excited to work with Antlia Bioscience to further exploit the potential of our technology and to develop new therapeutic options for the treatment of chronic heart failure." Financial terms of the agreement have not been disclosed.

About PASylation Technology

'PASylation' involves the genetic fusion or chemical conjugation of a therapeutic protein or pharmaceutically active compound with a conformationally disordered polypeptide of defined sequence comprising the small natural amino acids Pro, Ala, and/or Ser. Due to the biophysical size effect, the typically rapid clearance via renal filtration of the original drug can be retarded by a factor 10-100, depending on the length of the PAS chain. PAS sequences are highly soluble while lacking charges, they are biochemically inert, non-toxic and non-immunogenic, they offer efficient recombinant protein production in a variety of biotechnological host organisms, and they show high stability in blood plasma but are biodegradable by intracellular proteases.

About XL-protein GmbH

XL-protein is a German biotech company commercializing its ground-breaking PASylation technology, which enables the design of biopharmaceuticals with extended plasma half-life and enhanced action. Based on a strong proprietary technology position, XL-protein focuses at the preclinical as well as clinical development of PASylated proteins in diverse disease areas. XL-protein is engaged in a growing number of partnerships with international pharmaceutical and biotech companies at various levels.

For more information, please visit: http://www.xl-protein.com

About Antlia Bioscience, Inc.

Antlia Bioscience is a San Diego-based biotech developing groundbreaking peptide-based therapies to treat cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Using PASylation and other state-of-the-art techniques, we turn promising peptides into groundbreaking therapies. We are driven to make a profound difference in the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and believe that our efforts will result in a paradigm shift in how cardiovascular and metabolic diseases will be treated in the future.

For more information, please visit: antliabio.com

SOURCE: Antlia Bioscience

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XL-protein and Antlia Bioscience Announce Collaboration to Develop Long-acting Peptide Therapy of Chronic Heart Failure using PASylation Technology |...

If Im telling the truth, Ive been outside my apartment maybe three times this weekand thats a generous estimate.

Since I started strictly working from home, Ive accepted the fact that the inside of my not-so-spacious New York apartment is where youll find me for the foreseeable futurewhich also means my former Florida gal days of soaking up ample vitamin D are far, far behind me.

But it turns out Im not the only one lacking in vitamin D, and its not just a WFH-specific problem either. According to Michael A. Smith, MD, director of education at Life Extension, many people in the U.S. have insufficient vitamin D levels (more on the difference between deficient and insufficient below), and they have for some time.

These insufficiencies are nothing new to 2020, Dr. Smith says. Its more the product of an issue that were starting to recognize now.

In fact, a recent study showed that up to 30 percent of aging adults are actually vitamin D deficient, and sunlight alone is not likely enough to increase their vitamin blood levels to any significant degree, says Dr. Smith.

These insufficiencies are nothing new to 2020.

Lacking vitamin D isnt the only way I recognized spending more time at home might be affecting my health. Given the heightened stress of 2020 in general, I havent been totally feeling like myself. So, I decided to chat with Dr. Smith about what I can do about it.

Stress can zap your body of all vitamins and minerals, Dr. Smith says. Stress is an activator of your system. It turns on your drive for fight or flight. And, since theres a vitamin D receptor in every type of cell in the human body, he explains, its connected to many of those systems.

According to Dr. Smith, the easiest first step to get my well-being on track is supplementing, so after chatting with him, I picked up Life Extension Vitamin D3 to try for myself. Supplementation can bring you into optimal range quicker, and sustain you there over time, Dr. Smith adds. Sign. Me. Up.

Although somestudies suggest as much as 42 percent of the U.S. population is deficient in vitamin D, Dr. Smith says examining vitamin Dinsufficiencyis more useful for correcting the problem.

There are two words: deficiency and insufficiency, which are the two official medical words for low levels,' Dr. Smith says. Most people dont meet the medical definition of deficiency, instead, there is a widespread insufficiencyso were really just talking about people who are suboptimal. And suboptimal isnt your goal here.

My biggest question was: How can you tell when youre actually insufficient? According to Dr. Smith, the signs are different for different people, but they tend to show up during cold and flu season and can include cold symptoms, fatigue, and mood changes, among other things. People tend to be lower in mood in fall and winter months, but it might be even a little worse for someone who is insufficient, Dr. Smith says.

I didnt feel like I could pin-point my exact vitamin D insufficiency signals (my mood goes up and down all the time), but that doesnt mean there might not be consequences later on, according Dr. Smith. Its important to understand that vitamin D is such a key nutrient for so many body processes, he says. You need sufficient levels of it to support heart, immune, and bone health. Heres to taking measures now that my 50-year-old self will thank me for.

Now that I know the importance of vitamin D for both my immediate and long-term health, I recognized I needed to make a few changes. Off the bat, Dr. Smith suggested trying to reduce the stress in my life. Stress is a zapper of energy and micronutrients, he says. For people who deal with it, its not uncommon to truly be [vitamin D] insufficient because their body is just on all the time.

Some of the best ways to reduce stress, according to Dr. Smith, are going outside and exercisingtwo things that on their own also help to increase your vitamin D levels (and two things I could definitely do more of).

Another way to target stress is to use supplements to promote better relaxation. In addition to vitamin D (which can also help maintain healthy blood pressure), Dr. Smith suggested I take a multivitamin (for overall health), melatonin (to ensure Im getting high-quality zzzs), and Life Extension Enhanced Stress Relief, which helps to raise more relaxation hormones and battles that always-on feeling, Dr. Smith says.

Coming out of my chat with Dr. Smith, I have two main goals: Sticking to an easy-but-effective supplement routine (already on it), and spending at least 30 minutes a day outside. A walk around my city block might not be the same as a sunny stroll down the beach, but Im about to be well on my way to Florida-levels of vitamin D.

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These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

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Im Definitely Getting Less Vitamin D Since Ive Been Cooped Up IndoorsBut What Does That Actually Mean? - Well+Good

On-orbit service and logistics startup Astroscale has raised a $51 million Series E funding round, bringing its total raised to date to $191 million thus far. The Japan-based company has been focused on delivering new solutions for orbital end-of-life meaning ways to make orbital operations more sustainable by offering easy ways to safely de-orbit spacecraft after the end of their useful service life, clearing up some of the growing orbital debris problem thats emerging as more companies create satellites and constellations.

Astroscale has since expanded its mission to also include extending the life of geostationary satellites another key ingredient in making the orbital operating environment more sustainable as we look toward a projected exponential explosion in orbital activity. The startup announced earlier this year that it was acquiring the staff and IP of a company called Effective Space Solutions, which was in the process of developing a space drone that could launch to provide on-orbit servicing to large, existing geostationary satellite infrastructure, handling tasks like refueling and repairs.

ESS has formed the basis for Astroscale Israel, a new international office for the globe-spanning Astroscale that will be focused on geostationary life extension. Todays funding was led by aSTART, and will be used to help the company continue to establish its global offices and increase the team to more than 140 people.

Astroscales end-of-life orbital debris-removal technology is set to get its first demonstration mission sometime in the second half of this year, with a launch aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. The system uses two spacecraft that find and latch on to target debris to be de-orbited.

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Astroscale raises $51 million in Series E funding to fuel its orbital sustainability ambitions - TechCrunch

Even a casual observer of the contemporary global strategic environment will concur that nuclear weapons are very much back in the picture as several countries including the United States and China seek to modernize their arsenals and develop new capabilities. With many nuclear powers pushing their envelope and, in some cases, luck, and the future of arms control under stress, the current nuclear environment is defined by several challenges around proliferation and escalation risks.

To understand them better, The Diplomat spoke to Vipin Narang, associate professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and member of MITs Security Studies Program. Narang, also a nonresident scholar in the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is author of Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era (Princeton University Press, 2014).

In your opinion, what are the top three nuclear challenges the world faces today?

First, vertical proliferation, and specifically renewed great power nuclear competition and arms racing, threatens to upset decades of trends that enhanced strategic and crisis stability. Russian and Chinese modernization programs largely driven by Americas large conventional and nuclear counterforce capability and the unfulfilled fantasy of American national missile defenses aim to survive an American strike and penetrate defenses. That has led to a variety of programs, including hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear-powered cruise missiles, and the oldie but goodie building up mobile capabilities. The US threatens to respond in kind with the withdrawal from the INF Treaty and the prospect that New START is not renewed with Russia. All of these developments threaten to disturb strategic stability.

Second, horizontal proliferation. However, we face not just the looming risk of adversarial proliferation states such as Iran but also of allied proliferation, in states such as South Korea, Germany and even Japan, due to concerns surfaced during the Trump administration that the United States may not indefinitely provide credible extended deterrence. In addition, a third class of states, frenemies like Saudi Arabia, who have promised to acquire nuclear weapons if their primary adversary (Iran in this case) does are also flirting with the idea and capabilities for at least a nuclear hedge. We may be on the cusp, in the next decade or two, of a cascade of new nuclear weapons powers.

Third, 75 years after the last wartime use of nuclear weapons, todays nuclear weapon states seem less chastened by the prospect of nuclear use and escalation and are increasingly pushing the line against other nuclear weapons powers, attempting to break free of the constraining effects of being deterred. The last year has seen some disturbing firsts: India bombing the undisputed territory of another nuclear weapons power at Balakot for the first time in history, and Turkey an American ally which hosts US nuclear weapons at Incirlik firing at American troops. The problem with the threat that leaves something to chance, is that it leaves something to chance. And as nuclear states push the line against other nuclear states, even if they do not want a war war may find them. That is, nuclear powers are increasingly running the risk that they may stumble into a war, and that would put us in uncharted territory.

You have warned against Trumps North Korea strategy (if one can call it that) and have been consistently pessimistic about the prospect of denuclearization there. As a new administration takes over in January, what advice would you give the new president about Kim Jong Un and his nukes?

I have long argued that Kim Jong Un will not voluntarily surrender his nuclear weapons program and taking it away by force as some like John Bolton [the former US national security advisor] continued to advocate even after North Korea tested an ICBM and purported thermonuclear weapon is exceptionally dicey. But that does not mean that we cannot try to slow down the growth of the program, seek caps on certain capabilities, and keep the rhetorical fiction of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula as an end goal that we accept is unlikely to ever be achieved.

In fact, it appears that this deal Yongbyon in exchange for some sanctions relief was on the table at Hanoi. If verified and completed, that would have shut off North Koreas only known source of plutonium and tritium production, and a nontrivial proportion of its uranium enrichment. This could have slowed the growth of the nuclear program and shaped the future composition of the force by starving it of further plutonium and potentially tritium (for thermonuclear weapons). But Trump walked away, claiming it was too small a deal. Instead, we got no deal and Kim Jong Un continues to expand and improve his nuclear and missile force.

I suspect we will look back at Hanoi with regret, though it is possible a similar deal may resurface. If it does, I believe we should take it. Slow, cap, rollback, and eliminate (even if we never get there) for corresponding measures, in tandem, is a sensible formula to manage a nuclear North Korea.

We recently saw North Korea flash a new missile capability during its annual parade. Any thoughts on what the missile may portend in terms of where Kim sees his nuclear capabilities going in the future?

For a year, Kim Jong Un had been promising a new strategic system, and on October 10 we discovered that it was a new heavy transportable liquid fuel ICBM, based on its Hwasong-15 ICBM. This new missile is one of the worlds largest mobile liquid fuel missiles and the key feature is the large payload it can seemingly deliver, such as potentially penetration aids or multiple warheads, to defeat American national missile defenses which may not work well today, but which adversaries such as Russia, China and North Korea fear may work tomorrow.

This new missile was not a surprise, and largely represents a continuing evolution of North Koreas growing missile and nuclear capabilities. It is designed to solve one of two North Korean strategic problems: penetrating American missile defenses. There were questions about whether North Korea could develop warheads compact enough for MIRVs (multiple warheads on a single missile), but the size of this missile obviates some of that problem your cars can be bigger if you build a gigantic garage. However, the missile is so big and slow, and takes so long to potentially fuel, that it may exacerbate the other problem survivability but I think we should fully expect that North Korea is also working on capabilities to address that concern, such as a mobile solid fuel ICBM that is easier to hide and prompter to launch. In fact, we may have seen tantalizing hints of that capability as well in the parade, and that would represent a bigger leap for the program. In any event, these developments and improvements which are still away from being operational are precisely what normal nuclear powers do, and further suggests that Kim Jong Un has no intention of surrendering his nuclear weapons program.

We have heard a lot from the Trump administration of late about Chinas nuclear ambitions. How do you assess the trajectory of Chinas nuclear weapons and delivery platforms, as well as its doctrine?

Lets start with the facts: China has maybe 200 nuclear weapons that can range the continental United States, very few of which are deployed during peacetime. The United States, by contrast, has well over a 1,000, depending on your accounting, that are ready within minutes to range mainland China. This does not even account for the warheads in the stockpile that can be quickly uploaded to American ICBMs and SLBMs which are not fully MIRVd under New START. So even a doubling of Chinas strategic nuclear force still leaves it multiples lower than the United States and Russia.

My main reaction to Chinese nuclear modernization is: What took it so long to start? For decades, it lived with a posture of plausible retaliation with maybe two dozen ICBMs that could range the continental United States. With growing conventional and nuclear counterforce capabilities, and the unrelenting pursuit of national missile defenses which can in combination threaten to neutralize Chinas second strike capability, by eliminating a large portion of the ICBMs and relying on missile defenses to intercept the residuals the question is why China only started investing in mobility and numbers and penetration aids/hypersonics in the last decade or so. To me, all of these developments are Chinas delayed effort to guarantee assured retaliation. Chinas massive buildup in conventional short-range ballistic missile capabilities obviates the need for it to rely on nuclear weapons in a theater scenario, though scholars such as Caitlin Talmadge have pointed out that we cannot sleep on the risks of inadvertent Chinese nuclear escalation. But, I see continuity in overall strategy, and a delayed effort to develop the capabilities and deployment patterns mobility, penetration, SSBNs to implement that strategy with greater assurance.

What do you make of the hype around hypersonics? What about claims around artificial intelligence and nuclear command and control?

The pursuit of hypersonics is again driven by the unfulfilled fantasy of working national missile defenses. Presently, long range missile reentry vehicles, and certainly maneuverable reentry vehicles, which are decades-old technology, are perfectly sufficient to penetrate American missile defenses. And all of these reenter the atmosphere at hypersonic speeds. The advent of the new generation of hypersonics are actually slower than long range reentry vehicles. But some are air breathing and can maneuver and porpoise at very high altitudes in the event missile defenses ever work. So, at least in the medium term, Im a skeptic that these capabilities fundamentally alter the strategic balance. Russia and China do not face a penetration problem at the moment, so hypersonic glide vehicles only have marginal value at the moment.

Similarly, there is a lot of hype over AI and command and control, but a lot remains to be seen whether it affects a states ability to maintain command and control or disrupt it. AI may help solve some detection and ISR problems, but the general cat-and-mouse game of emerging technologies and counter-responses is a decades-old phenomenon.

What do you think about future arms control measures for emerging technologies?

Like all arms control measures, the empirical record suggests they will emerge and be adhered to when both states view them as being in their interests, which is unsatisfying and tautological but also the reality. States with an asymmetric advantage in a particular technology will oppose limits on it, while those that fear it will seek those limits. The zone of overlap generally emerges when both or all sides perceive a benefit in capping or limiting that capability either amongst themselves or collusively to prevent the diffusion of technology to other states. I am not an arms control skeptic so much as an arms control realist.

How do you assess the prospects of the New START treaty being extended, if Trump is reelected next month?

Ultimately, I do think New START will be extended no matter who wins the election. I think the Trump administration is attempting to play chicken with New START to try to pressure Russia into limiting, for example, its tactical nuclear weapons capability. But ultimately, a New START extension is in Americas interest: arms controllers love it because it is arms control and counter-forcers should love it because it provides a cap and accounting on the systems they have to eliminate. The only constituency that opposes New START are arms racers who believe that an arms race with Russia is good and easy to win. But in the current economic climate, there may be little appetite for a renewed arms race, or even persistent uploading of warheads from the stockpile. And Russia has an interest in New START for similar economic and management reasons. It is possible that a second Trump administration would only extend New START for one year and attempt to negotiate something stronger or multilateral in that year he may in fact try to do this before the election itself. I do not think there is any chance of China joining a multilateral equivalent of New START it would either be an invitation for it to build to parity with the US and Russia, or force it to agree to inequitable limits, which it will never do. But I do think we will see an extension of the bilateral New START at the end of the day. But whether it is for one or five years remains to be seen.

Would a Biden administration, come January, roll back some of Trumps nuke modernization plans?

The Democrats, in general, seek a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent for the United States and Americas allies at an affordable cost. Although there was a loose bipartisan consensus for the modernization program, there are some components that may be revisited. For example, the ICBM replacement, the ground based strategic deterrent, could be forsook for another life extension of Minuteman III, which may save some cost. I do think certain capabilities, such as the low yield SLBM and the nuclear sea launch cruise missile, could be rolled back. But those are not so much part of the modernization program as particular capabilities that the Trump administration believed filled a deterrent gap, which I suspect many in a Biden administration remain unconvinced ever existed

To your mind, have India and Pakistan learnt the wrong lessons about escalation after Indias February 2019 Balakot air strikes and Pakistans retaliatory action?

I hesitate to judge what lessons either side may have privately taken away from Balakot, but at least publicly both sides seem to underestimate the role that pure luck played in keeping the crisis from further escalating. I think, for example, that if Indian fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman had been killed when his MiG-21 was shot down, or if he had died in Pakistani custody, or if there was a delay in his return and Prime Minister Narendra Modi carried out an alleged surface-to-surface missile strike, the crisis could have quickly escalated as domestic political pressure to hit back boiled over. Even in this case, where neither state wanted a broader war, both sides do seem to underestimate the risk that they came very close to stumbling into one. In general, Indias frustration with Pakistans continued use of terror against the Indian homeland is leading it to see how far it can push the line against another nuclear weapons power. That frustration is understandable, but it does not mean that pushing the line is risk-free.

I am disappointed you did not ask me about my hobby horse: the sanctity of Indias No First Use (NFU) declaration! At this point, no one believes the absoluteness of Indias NFU declaration though it sort of remains official doctrine including, most importantly, Indias government itself.

Read the article in The Diplomat.

See more here:
Vipin Narang on the global nuclear landscape: hype and reality | News - MIT News

Earlier this month, FoodBytes! Pitch announced that 45 companies will participate in the start-up discovery platform, which provides corporate leaders and investors exposure to a group of innovative start-ups, with opportunities for deeper interaction and networking throughout the year.

The FoodBytes! Pitch competition, which has been running for five years, will be staged virtually in 2020 due to COVID restrictions.

Participants were chosen from nearly 340 submissions from across the globe and six European applicants made the cut.

A predominant focus among start-ups based in Europe is digitising the supply chain, from farm to fork, Rabobank noted.

Greven said that this is reflective of the challenges faced by food corporates, who have had to evaluate their distribution strategies in recent years.

According to a report from Rabobanks supply chain experts, many US and European food companies have been ramping up discussions on distribution strategies in the past few years. The main reason for this is a rise in logistics costs due to an increasing variety of distribution channels and stricter fulfilment requirements set by customers. In Europe specifically, as corporates look to drive cost efficiency, the outsourcing of food logistics is once again growing, the investment expert told us.

Start-ups are bringing innovative solutions to the table, as reflected in the latest FoodBytes! cohort.

Switzerlands Koa, for instance, focuses on providing digital tools to smallholder farmers in order to create a transparent cocoa product. Meanwhile, Norwegian Farmforce is working to create a mobile platform to secure sustainable sourcing for farmers. At the consumer end of the chain, UK start-up Good Club aims to provide consumers with a go-to online market for sustainable food products.

As well as addressing efficiency and cost, supply chain technologies are helping to strengthen the food system and build a more resilient and sustainable supply chain, Greven continued. All of these technologies address various and important areas across the supply chain from loss mitigation (shelf-life extension and food safety), food e-commerce (accessibility and transparency), and connected marketplaces that help close the gap between farmers and consumers.

The ability of agile start-up innovators to develop new and pioneering approaches to the table has driven investment in the space. Indeed, Greven noted:Half of capital invested into European food and ag start-ups in 2020 has been to midstream technologies focused on supply chain efficiency and digitisation."

This figure is higher than the level seen in the US, where that number is closer to 40%, she added.

Biotechnology and cellular solutions also offer the opportunity to re-think how we produce food and source materials.

New understandings of the role biosciences can play in the food industry can help address major challenges from agricultural production to food quality and health and nutrition.

Were seeing excitement from our community of experts and corporates surrounding the development of next gen food technologies, Greven observed.

Greven said that the rapid development of this sector means that applications from biotech companies to FoodBytes! are also increasing.

Our biotech applications globally are on the rise in 2019 and 2020, biotech companies comprised of 10% of applications received, double that of the two years preceding.

This years FoodBytes! saw a total of three start-ups two of whom are European focused on cell-based meat and fermented protein.

CellulaREvolution has developed cell-culturing meat technology utilising a cell coating to facilitate the continuous production of proteins, rather than in batches, working with clients across the fields of cultured meat, cell therapy and biologics. NovoNutrients upcycles industrial carbon dioxide waste into food system ingredients. While Future Meat Technologies has developed a cell-culturing meat technology utilising the rapid growth of connective tissue cells to reach high densities before turning the cells into cultured muscle and healthy fats.

Elsewhere, innovators are looking at how fermentation technologies and bioreactors can be used to create ingredients without depleting natural resources. One of our selected start-ups for 2020, Michroma, is a perfect example this Argentinian based company produces next-generation natural ingredients in a sustainable, cost-effective and scalable way to brew food colorants, mycoprotein and more alternatives, Greven noted.

The 45 selected startups hail from 15 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, the UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, India, Israel, Nigeria, Norway, Peru, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.

Consumer food and beverage (CPG):

Food and beverage products made with upcycled ingredients are a top trend among FoodBytes! 2020 CPG startups, who are also pioneering innovations including edible spoons to reduce plastic waste, a distilled spirit made from upcycled whey byproduct, and plant-based cheese and egg products.

Food tech:

The shortlisted food tech startups have developed technologies for cell-based meat production, natural coatings that extend produce shelf life, and sustainable, antimicrobial packaging made from crustacean shells to replace plastic. Food safety technologies, advanced nutrition products and online marketplaces also address relevant needs in the wake of COVID-19.

Ag tech:

The shortlisted ag tech startups have developed solutions that address soil and water sustainability, farm efficiency and labour needs. Their innovations include technology that transforms air pollution into fertilizer, animal feed that reduces methane emissions, a method of growing rice out of water and on-farm robotics to combat labour shortages and worker safety concerns.

Each of the three winners (CPG, food tech, and ag tech) will receive a $10,000 prize, while FoodBytes! Pitch corporate members will also offer additional consulting to support winning startups, including:

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Digitalisation, distribution and biotech: Rabobank talks next gen food tech innovation - FoodNavigator.com

The spotlight remains on the potential of antibody therapies as a possible way out of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, with the US government investing millions in a hopeful from AstraZeneca and president Donald Trump recovering from coronavirus after receiving a rival therapy from Regeneron.

Thanks to a drug cocktail including Regenerons antibody therapy, Trump says he is back on his feet after becoming infected with the virus around the end of last month.

Trump has hailed the Regeneron therapy as a cure for the virus, but the companys CEO Leonard Schleifer was quick to point out that the scientific evidence is not there to support the claim.

Regenerons therapy is based on two antibodies the company has developed to neutralise the virus.

The thinking is that by having a double therapy, the chances of the virus developing resistance to both parts of the drug are reduced.

Like rivals Eli Lilly, Regeneron is in talks with the FDA to get an Emergency Use Authorisation based on the data it has gathered so far.

But CEO Leonard Schleifer said in a TV interview that there is a long way to go before the drug is fully approved.

Schleifer told CBS News Face the Nation: So the presidents case is a case of one, and thats what we call a case report, and it is evidence of whats happening, but its kind of the weakest evidence that you can get.

The real evidence has to come about how good a drug is and what it will do on average has to come from these large clinical trials.

Its just low down on the evidence scale that we really need.

Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer

Antibody therapies could also be used prophylactically, to protect people at high risk of getting the disease such as healthcare workers, or vulnerable people in areas where there are large numbers of cases.

AstraZeneca is to begin phase 3 trials of a long-acting antibody therapy combination in the US and other countries, to prevent infection happening and as therapy for those already infected.

AZs long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, AZD7442, will advance into two phase 3 clinical trials in more than 6,000 participants at sites in and outside the US in the next few weeks.

The LAABs have been engineered with AstraZenecas proprietary half-life extension technology to increase the durability of the therapy for six to 12 months following a single administration.

The combination of two LAABs is also designed to reduce the risk of resistance developed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The LAABs have been engineered with AstraZenecas half-life extension technology to increase the durability of the therapy for six to 12 months following a single shot.

Like Regenerons therapy the combination of two LAABs is also designed to reduce the risk of resistance developed by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The US government agency, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has invested $486 million in the project.

One trial will test whether AZD7442 can safely and effectively prevent infection in up to 5,000 people, and the second trial will test post-exposure prophylaxis and pre-emptive treatment in around 1,100 people.

AZ is planning additional trials to evaluate AZD7442 in approximately 4,000 patients for the treatment of COVID-19.

The company plans to supply up to 100,000 doses starting towards the end of 2020 and the US Government can acquire up to an additional one million doses in 2021 under a separate agreement.

Visit link:
Spotlight on COVID-19 antibody therapies after Trump's recovery - - pharmaphorum

Bruce Power and the Town of Saugeen Shores are working with researchers from the University of Guelph to learn more about the challenges and opportunities facing employers and people working or looking for work in Saugeen Shores.

As COVID-19 has added new difficulties to the challenges many were already facing in the local labour market, this research project will help provide critical considerations and recommendations to the Town of Saugeen Shores and local employers to support future investments and programming to support the local economy.

"Council looks forward to the results of this study as we explore evidence-based solutions to challenges faced by employers and job seekers," said Mayor Luke Charbonneau. "We encourage residents and non-residents to take part and share their experiences with the researchers."

"We are proud that our Life Extension Program is creating unprecedented opportunity in our community, however, opportunity and challenge often ride together and we want to ensure we are doing our part in seizing the opportunities and meeting the challenges and we believe this research will help to achieve that," said John Peevers, Bruce Power's Director of Community, Media Relations and Economic Development.

The research team is currently recruiting participants to share their experiences through interviews. People interested in participating in the project are encouraged to complete a pre-screening process by visiting http://bit.ly/GettingToWork2020.

The Getting to Work research initiative is part of a Mitacs Accelerate Internship being completed by Ashleigh Weeden (PhD Candidate, University of Guelph), funded by Bruce Power and the University of Guelph, and supported by the Town of Saugeen Shores. Mitacs-supported projects support partnerships between academics, industry, and communities to respond to critical challenges and foster a more innovative Canada.

The Getting to Work research initiative is supported by an Advisory Committee composed of local stakeholders and nationally recognized experts in rural research, including:

" Dr. Ryan Gibson - Associate Professor & Libro Professor in Regional Economic Development, School of Environmental Design & Rural Development, University of Guelph

" Heather Hyde - Economic Development Officer, Town of Saugeen Shores

" John Peevers - Director, Community Relations & Economic Development, Bruce Power

" Dr. Karen Foster - Associate Professor, Sociology & Social Anthropology, Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Sustainable Rural Futures for Atlantic Canada, and Director, Rural Futures Research Centre, Dalhousie University

" Gemma Mendez-Smith - Executive Director, Four County Labour Market Planning Board

" Kimberley Inniss-Petersen - Executive Director, Saugeen Shores Chamber of Commerce

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Saugeen Shores, Bruce Power and University of Guelph teaming up for labour survey - 92.3 The Dock (iHeartRadio)

Classification society DNV GL and FPSO specialist Bluewater are undertaking a pilot project to use hybrid digital twin technology to predict and analyse fatigue in the hull of an FPSO in the North Sea.

The project aims to validate and quantify the benefits of creating a virtual replica of the FPSO to optimise the structural safety of the vessel and enhance risk-based inspection (RBI), a decision-making methodology for optimising inspection regimes. The pilot underpins Bluewaters mission to take a proactive, responsible approach to safety and environmental care in its operations.

Bluewaters Aoka Mizu FPSO, currently in operation in the Lancaster field, west of Shetland, will be used. To date, the pilot test has shown encouraging results.

DNV GLs combination of domain experience, inspection capabilities and digital analytics and modelling, enables the monitoring of the assets hull structure during operation without dependence on costly routine inspection regimes. Termed Nerves of Steel, the underlying concept permits the use of various data sets (external environmental data or local sensor data) combined with digital models of the asset, to develop a hybrid replica model of the vessels structure. This can be used in real-time to monitor the assets condition, identify and monitor high risk locations, and plan targeted and cost-efficient maintenance and inspection activities.

Hybrid twin technology uses a combination of numerical design models and data from actively recorded strain gauge sensors on board the FPSO. These sensors allow for a full understanding of the accumulative loading and current state of the FPSO structure. The technology blends computer-simulated modelling with real-time data, which is then streamed to the operator via DNV GLs Veracity data platform or an existing data transfer solution.

By informing and enhancing the RBI process, operators can reduce operational costs and time, providing significant improvements in safety, thereby extending the lifespan and integrity of assets. With fluctuating oil price and the impact of Covid-19 on travel, delivering a mirror image of an asset from the safety of shore needs to be trusted and of value, said Koheila Molazemi, Technology and Innovation Director, DNV GL Oil & Gas.

DNV GLs visual dashboard presents data to Bluewater on stresses in the hulls structure, alongside information that can be used to identify areas with relative higher risk of cracks or deformities to occur. The information, which is constantly recorded, can be accessed and analysed to inform decision-making and implement inspection based on risk priority.

The trial will expand on traditional FPSO integrity management strategies, which are based on software-based assumptions made at the design stage as well as current inspection record to enhance RBI decision-making. The pilot with Bluewater is expected to provide new insight and smarter ways of managing risks and costs related to structural integrity management.

This is DNV GLs third pilot project evaluating the performance of hybrid digital twin technology. With global support from the advisors experts in Singapore, the UK and Norway, the first involved defining a repair procedure for a FPSO flare tower. Another trial, which is still ongoing, is being performed on a fixed offshore platform.

Like an insurance policy, the hybrid digital twin can potentially save millions by avoiding the costly and possibly catastrophic repercussions of ill-informed integrity management by pre-empting and preventing detrimental damage. For an asset operating in a harsh environment, where the loads play an important part in the possible degradations of the asset, using data from the site as a basis for optimised inspection planning, alarms for extreme events and asset suitability for life extension is crucial, added Francois-Xavier Sireta, Technical Lead for Naval Architecture and Principal Engineer, DNV GL Oil & Gas.

Peter van Sloten, Department Head Technology Management, Bluewater said, We decided to extend our digital twin programme to include our FPSO Aoka Mizu. Our ambition for the structures largely matched with the novel digitalisation services of DNV GL. We are therefore pleased to team up with DNV GL to develop a tool to monitor the structural integrity of this most versatile FPSO, designed and proven to operate in harsh environments with high uptimes and a maintained, strict regulatory and safety regime. This will enhance the safety and enables an optimised inspection regime.

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DNV GL and Bluewater to use digital twin to analyse FPSO fatigue - ShipInsight

Once upon a time there was afour-year-old girlnamed Emilywhohad an English accent andliked playing with toy cars.Do you like her cars?She was just a stick figure with pigtails and a yellow triangle for a torso, buther extraordinary liferippled through the cosmosin aseeminglylimitlessnumber of strange directionsforcenturies after it was over. And possibly also before it began.

Of course,certain wrinkles in the fabric of space-timemake it hardtosay for sure when either of those things really happened. All we know is that Emilywas visited by a third-generation adult clone of herself at thebeginning of DonHertzfeldtsbeloved 2015 short World of Tomorrow,and spirited away on a whirlwind tour of the hilariously fucked up digital future that awaited her and all of the various back-up Emilysinto which she would dump her consciousness after her body stopped working.

It was a future shaped by the grotesque horrors that had resulted from humanitys various attempts at life extension: Consumer-grade time travel that glitched people into space, mentally deteriorated clones who fell in love with inanimate objects, solar-powered moon robots who were cursed to keep chasing after the sunlight forever and coped with their pain by sending depressive poetry back to the Earthlings who programmed them. By the time Emily Prime (Hertzfeldts surreptitiously recorded niece) and her maybe homicidal adult clone (animator Julia Pott) arrived back where they began just 16 minutes later, their circular odyssey along the fringes of whats to come had somehow resolved into a profound meditation on the infinite possibility of the present and how much of our lives we forfeit to what could be or what might have been. Now is the envy of all of the dead.

Its anotionthatHertzfeldtdeepened and expanded uponwith2017sbrilliantWorld of Tomorrow Episode II: The Burden of Other Peoples Thoughts, which found Emily Prime and an incompleteback-upclone plonking aroundthewasteland of thelattershalf-formed self-consciousnesswith the samemorbid wonder that the first installment zinged through outer space. Ittoldan implosivestory of identity and confabulation andmemory tourists a story about holding on tosome preciousessence ofourselves even whenit feels like the universe is trying to dissolve us together, or finding one when it feels like youre a clone in search of someone to be. Or, you know, when thats literally what you are.Episode II played like a distorted mirror image of World of Tomorrow in a way that made the twoshortfilms seem like a perfect, self-containedcouplet.

WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE THREE: THE ABSENT DESTINATIONS OF DAVID PRIME from don hertzfeldt on Vimeo.

Hertzfeldt could have left it there, secure in the knowledge that hed created one of the defining sci-fi series of this young century. But there was no way he was just going to pack up his toys and call it a day after mashing The Jetsons and Brazil into the kind of digital sandbox that someone could play in until the Earth blew up without ever growing bored of the existential crises it allowed them to imagineer along the way.

The Emilys are inexhaustibly entertaining characters, and though Episode II was another closed loop of atale, its non-linearnarrativeleft people reeling with ideasabout what might happen to this little girl and her ever-expandingarmyofbrain-damagedadult clones in afuture where even the most ordinary peoplecouldecho through eternity.If Carl Sagan was right to saywere all made of star-stuff, how beautiful andderangedmightthat actually look like on a long enough timeline one knotted by time travel, andlittered with people whoseorigins are ascloseand irrationalas the square root ofa prime number?

And so we arrive at World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime, aminiature34-minute epic thatstandson its owneven as itretrofitsthe previous installmentswith new layers that make them seem even morepoignantin hindsight. That title alone is probably enough to give Hertzfeldt fans some indication as to where this chapter might take us, but Episode Three opens with a flurry of sight gags so lucid and funny that series neophytes arent at any risk of getting lost in space; the laughter should be enough to localize most people, and everyone else can rest easy in the knowledge that the second half of the movie comes with its own flow charts.

A stick figure named Davidfloats through the traffic of deep space on a cramped ship thats barely any larger than his body; surrounded by the infinite wonder and mystery of the cosmos, he busies himself with a little online shoppingon his neural display(Why not?? reads the tagline for a pair of human gills).Suddenlyamessage appearsa memory that was buried deep in his subconscious as a child and time-lockeduntil the invention of interstellar travel. Its anEmily, and she needs David to travel to a remote alien planet in order to retrievea beacon that contains some very important information.Compelledby the dj vuofmaking contact with a stranger he recognizes as if she were his own shadow, Davidwordlesslyheeds Emilys request.

Theres only one problem: The relatively primitive computer that runs his brain doesnt have enough memory to handle a giant message from the future, and so David has to continually delete basic motor functions as he makes his way to whatever it is Emily left behind for him to find. Hilarity ensues. The first half of Episode Three might be the single funniest stretch of Hertzfeldts immaculate filmography, as Davids gradual debilitation marries the mortal anxiety of Its Such a Beautiful Day with the cartoon hyper-violence of Rejected in an ever-darkening crescendo of delectable chefs kiss moments. Its no surprise that Hertzfeldt distills the tragicomic absurdity of being alive in 2020 better than any other filmmaker has thus far (after all, hes been doing it for the last two decades).

But its what happens after David is able to download the rest of Emilys message that makes Episode Three such a vital and unexpected addition to this tantalizingly open-ended saga. The trail of where and when David goes from there quickly knot into Hertzfeldts most intricate narrative, as Emilys usual exposition gives way to the World of Tomorrow series first stretch of action-driven storytelling (but not before Pott delivers another of the peerlessly droll voice performances that give these movies their malformed heart, the Summer Camp Island creator twirling from sanguine to sociopath and back again as she prattles off dystopic jargon like a psychic college professor with brain worms).

Hertzfeldtjunkies will delight at how David Primes absent destinationsweave through the series previous chapters and answer LaJete-like questions about its lore that you may never have thought to ask; other cinematic universes could learn a thing or two fromhow seamlessly this movie is tailored to fititsbroader mythology. Everyonenewcomers includedcan Marvel at the elaborate time crisis thatHertzfeldtis able to execute. Its farcically complicatedstuff thatwends its way throughthe space between time,touches uponthe grandfather paradox,and builds toashootoutthat puts Tenet to shame withjust a handful of stick figures, but thehumanlogic ofthe heart-stopping final beatis clear enoughthat youwontneed a subreddit to explain the goosebumps on your skin(the films rich soundscape helps seal the deal, while Taylor Barrons eye-popping composite work allows thisto becomeHertzfeldtsmost tactile work so far).

And the World of Tomorrow series emotional undertow remains as powerful as ever. Hertzfeldt has always used Vonnegut-esque gallows humor to lower our defenses and make us laugh at things that might otherwise be too dark to even think about, but Episode Three in its own beautiful, demented way clarifies how that confrontationally mordant streak allows the Emilys to show us an ugly kind of hope worth keeping. The (almost) six years since the original World of Tomorrow premiered at Sundance have done so much to challenge the idea that now is the envy of all of the dead, and yet Hertzfeldts clones invariably twist the coldness of the universe and the constant threat of oblivion that comes with it into something perversely life-affirming.

At a time when technocratic futurism is pulling us forward while authoritarian regimes are holding us back, theres never been so much nauseating currency to the axiom that we should all strive to live in the moment. But Hertzfeldt knows thats easier said than done. For all of the bittersweet koans that litter his films, theres nothing prescriptive about his work. The original World of Tomorrow even ends with the Emily clone instructing Emily Prime on how to live her best life, but as any time-traveler should know she might have already lived it.

Time is a prison of living things, David tells us, and like any prison, we arealways looking for a way out. Theimpulse to escape will never change, it will only grow weirder.And yet, time is also a conduit for the abstract consequences that living thingsleave behind like messages in a bottle: Moments and memories thatfloat through the universe on butterfly wings, andare beautiful not for how they remain intact, but rather for how theyresublimated intothe star-stuff of a world that wouldnt be the same without them.Hertzfeldtsopen-ended fable(dont you dare call it a trilogy)is able to have so muchfun with the fact that were all going to die horrible deaths one daybecause its rooted inthebeliefthat weve alwaysbeen immortal.

That Emily Prime doesnt appear in Episode Three only makes it all the more obvious how shes hiding in the margins of every frame how even the least assuming of people (much like the profound short films that might be made about them) can pinball through space-time in ways that no one can imagine. Well, almost no one. Death is not a destination, Hertzfeldt offers, it is the absence of one. Ive never been more excited to see what detours he takes us on next.

World of Tomorrow Episode Three: The Absent Destinations of David Prime is now available to rent on Vimeo.

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World of Tomorrow Episode Three Review: The Best Sci-Fi Series of the 21st Century Goes Epic - IndieWire

Arms Control:

U.S. President Donald Trump: The Trump administration has withdrawn the U.S. from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and (almost) the 1992 Open Skies Treaty. It has loosened the Missile Technology Control Regimes restrictions on selling armed drones to foreign governments amid concerns about Chinas defense relationships in the Middle East. As of press time, administration officials have been unwilling to extend the 2010 New START nuclear pact with Russia, which expires in February, insisting that a new version include Russias growing arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons and China, whose smaller arsenal is rapidly expanding and which appears unwilling to sign such an agreement.

Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden: Favored by arms control advocates, Biden has promised to renew New START and would likely accept Russias offer to extend it five years without preconditions. He also said he would rejoin the Iran nuclear deal if it returned to full compliance described in the agreement. While Trump has loosened restrictions on the use of landmines by the U.S. military in conflict areas, Biden has said the move unnecessarily puts civilians at risk and that he would reverse it.

Nuclear weapons:

Trump: Its expected the current president would stay on his path of modernizing all three legs of the nuclear arsenal something that has bipartisan support in Congress despite growing budget pressure. Trump deployed the W76-2 submarine-launched, low-yield nuclear warhead to counter a similar Russian weapon, and he has plans for a submarine-launched cruise missile, or SLCM. Trump approved a $44.5 billion nuclear weapons budget request in fiscal 2021 an increase of about 19 percent meant for the W76-2, several ongoing nuclear warhead life extension programs, a future W93 submarine-launched ballistic missile warhead, and the expansion of the production of plutonium pits for nuclear warheads to at least 80 per year.

Biden: Biden signaled he would scale back Trumps buildup. The Democratic nominee for president is opposed to the W76-2 and an SLCM. Biden would face pressure from the left to drop plans to build a new nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile force, replacing the Minuteman III fleet fielded in 1970, though he has not announced a position on it. Biden said he would review a policy reserving the option of using nuclear weapons first.

Defense budget:

Trump: The Pentagons five-year defense plan indicates it will request flat defense spending after 2021, and under pressure from coronavirus-related expenses the budget is widely expected to stay flat regardless of who is president. Trump championed record national defense top lines of $700 billion in 2018, $716 billion in 2019 and $733 billion for 2020, and he created the new Space Force. He has also diverted billions of defense dollars to fund a southern border wall, and in 2018 he backed off a proposal for a $750 billion defense budget, calling it crazy.

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Biden: Biden said Trump abandoned all fiscal discipline when it comes to defense spending, and while he doesnt foresee major U.S. defense cuts if elected, he would face pressure from the left to make them. To affordably deter Russia and China, Biden said he would shift investments from legacy systems that wont be relevant to smart investments in technologies and innovations including in cyber, space, unmanned systems and artificial intelligence. He also wants to boost neglected nonmilitary investments, such as diplomacy, economic power, education, and science and technology.

Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran:

Trump: Both candidates have railed against endless wars, and both have vowed to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan. After engaging in peace talks with the Taliban, the U.S. cut its troop presence to 8,600 in June, with plans to go to 4,500 by November and no troops by the spring. For Iraq, Trump plans to go from 5,200 troops to 3,000 by November. On Iran, Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal and reimposed crippling trade sanctions as part of a maximum-pressure campaign. The administration recently warned allies it may target leaders of Iran-backed militias that have targeted U.S. forces and diplomatic posts in Iraq.

Biden: Biden has vowed to bring U.S. combat troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, likely leaving residual counterterrorism forces. His camp favors small-scale operations (maybe led by special forces) rather than large, open-ended troop deployments, which he agrees would require the informed consent of the American people. Biden, who voted for the Iraq War when he was a senator, said during his current campaign that he played a key role in the Obama administrations drawdown of 150,000 U.S. forces from Iraq. On Iran, he said he would commit to preventing the country from acquiring a nuclear weapon, offer a diplomatic path while maintaining targeted sanctions, and work closely with Israel to ensure the American ally can defend itself against Iran and its proxies.

Arms sales:

Trump: Increasing U.S. arms sales has been a central focus of Trump and his administrations foreign policy. Hes moved to speed up the review process for major arms sales, made it easier to export firearms, eased the criteria for selling armed drones under the Missile Technology Control Regime and directed U.S. diplomats to advocate for American weapons purchases. He advanced several sales suspended under the Obama administration which played into a clash with Congress over sales to Saudi Arabia and other parties to the war in Yemen. Though Trump has touted the economic benefits of U.S. arms sales abroad, the idea is also to provide partners with American alternatives to Russian and Chinese weapons in order to maintain American influence.

Biden: While Biden hasnt made his views clear about arms sales overall, he said he would end U.S. military and other support for the Saudi-led war in Yemen. As he reassesses the U.S.-Saudi relationship, he would end weapon sales to Riyadh (which has historically been the top partner for U.S. military sales). We will make clear that America will never again check its principles at the door just to buy oil or sell weapons, Biden said. On firearm exports, his campaign said he may reverse a Trump administration rule that moved jurisdiction from the State Department to the Commerce Department.

NATO and Europe:

Trump: Among Trumps earliest foreign policy stances was a pledge to get allies to pay their fair share, particularly by getting NATO members to spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense by 2024. That percentage of GDP is a NATO-backed goal. Trump often mischaracterizes that pledge as allies being delinquent in paying the U.S. funds. Trump has also pushed for tough trade rules with European nations, which has led to tensions with European capitals.

Biden: Biden and his advisers have drawn a contrast with Trump, pledging to rehabilitate frayed alliances. Biden has hit Trump for straining relations between the U.S. and Europe. He said the next president must salvage our reputation, rebuild confidence in our leadership, and mobilize our country and our allies to rapidly meet new challenges, pledging that he would take immediate steps to renew U.S. democracy and alliances, protect the United States' economic future, and once more have America lead the world. Biden plans to review troop movements out of Germany if he takes office, according to a top foreign policy aide.

Great power competition:

Trump: The Trump administrations National Defense Strategy announced a new era of great power competition. But while that includes Russia on paper, the administrations economic and military focus has squarely focused on China; the rhetoric from Trump has only increased following the COVID-19 outbreak, which the Republican president has called the China virus. Militarily, the Pentagon is attempting to shift focus and investments toward Pacific priorities, while also withdrawing forces from Europe.

Biden: While in the Senate, Biden pushed for better relations with China through increased commercial ties. But he now views China as the greatest strategic challenge to the United States and our allies in Asia and in Europe, one of the few areas in which he and Trump agree. Biden has called Chinese President Xi Jinping a thug and pledged swift economic sanctions against China if it tries to influence American companies or citizens. While Trump has bragged about having a good relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, expect a different tone from Biden should he occupy the White House. The former vice president has described Trump as subservient to Putin," and has talked about telling Putin directly: I dont think you have a soul.

Information about the candidates was compiled from a series of sources including: Defense News; Military Times; Al-Monitor; Arms Control Association; Center for International Policy; CNBC; CNN; Council for a Livable World; Defense One; Foreign Affairs; Forum on the Arms Trade; Los Angeles Times; Military Officers Association of America; New York Times; New Yorker Magazine; Reuters; Stars and Stripes; The Associated Press; Vox; Washington Examiner; and Washington Post.

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Find out where Trump and Biden stand on defense and security issues - DefenseNews.com

Equinox Gold(TSX: EQX; NYSE: EQX) has announced an increase in reserves and resources at its Mesquite open-pit heap leach gold mine in California, about 56 km east of Brawley, and 84 km northwest of Yuma in Arizona.

According to the junior mining company, estimated proven and probable reserves increased by 142,267 oz. of gold as of Jun. 30, up 28% from the previous estimate in Dec. 2019, and now stands at 37.8 million tonnes grading 0.54 gram gold per tonne for 658,000 oz. contained gold. The estimate, the company said, is net of mining depletion amounting to 68,267 oz. gold during the first half of 2020.

Measured and indicated resources are estimated at 66.7 million tonnes grading 0.39 gram gold for 837,000 oz. of gold, a 94% increase from the Dec. 2019 estimate of 432,000 ounces.

Inferred resources rose by 193,000 oz. to 69.2 million tonnes grading 0.32 gram gold for 703,000 oz. of gold, a 38% increase over the same period.

The mid-year update, the company said, incorporates an additional 77 drill holes over 10,785 metres of bedrock drilling, 661 holes totalling 36,785 metres of drilling targeting historical dumps, and updated geologic and grade-shell domains.

At the end of 2019, the company had identified approximately 36 million tonnes of potentially mineralised material from previous operations that had not been drill tested and initiated a 35,000-metre exploration drill program.

Drilling in the Big Chief, Midway, and Brownie waste dumps at Mesquite yielded significant gains in mineral resources, the company reported. Indicated resources in the dumps increased more than four-fold to 22.7 million tonnes grading 0.22 gram gold for 160,000 oz. contained gold and inferred resources rose by 31% to 36.6 million tonnes grading 0.22 gram gold for 225,000 ounces. The increase did not reflect the depletion of resource material contained in the 2019 mineral resource that had already been stacked on the leach pad, the company noted.

Drilling in 2019, the company reported, confirmed that the dump material overlying the Brownie deposit area contained gold resources and that in-situ mineralisation was present adjacent to and extending from the resource pit.

A follow-up 13,897 metre drill program on the Brownie deposit was undertaken to test the potential to extend mineralisation along strike and down dip. Highlights included 35.1 metres grading 0.51 gram gold; 33.5 metres grading 0.66 gram gold; 52.6 metres grading 0.85 gram gold; and 44.2 metres grading 0.58 gram gold.

The results, the company said, increase its confidence in the geological model and highlight the potential for further expansion potential to the north, northwest, and southeast of existing resources.

Exploration efforts at Mesquite in the first half of 2020 more than replaced mined reserves and significantly increased mineral resources, providing additional mine life at what has been our best-performing mine this year, Scott Heffernan, Equinoxs executive vice president of exploration, stated in a press release.

Drilling in the Brownie deposit also yielded excellent results and points to the potential for a multi-year mine life extension from in-situ mineralization and overlying mineralized dumps.

At press time in Toronto, Equinox was trading at $15.62 per share within a 52-week trading range of $6.60 and $17.99.

The company has around 241 million common shares outstanding for a $3.8-billion market capitalization.

Excerpt from:
Equinox Gold updates reserves and resources for Mesquite mine in California - The Northern Miner

Private equity company The Carlyle Group has taken legal advice from Latham & Watkins on its acquisit...

Private equity company The Carlyle Group has taken legal advice from Latham & Watkins on its acquisition of the Colombian operations of American hydrocarbon exploration company Occidental Petroleum, for approximately USD 825 million.

White & Case acted as Occidentals legal counsel with Bracewell advising Carlyle International Energy Partners (CIEP), which is providing equity for the transaction.

Of the entire purchase price, USD 700 million is due up front. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020, subject to meeting customary closing conditions.

Colombia Onshore, which has been present in Colombia for over 40 years, holds its most significant operations in the Llanos Norte Basin in the Department of Arauca, as well as the Middle Magdalena Basin in the Department of Santander.

The former CEO of BP, Tony Hayward, who collaborates with The Carlyle Group to help drive its upstream investments in Colombia, will become the executive chairman of Colombia Onshore following the acquisition, a role to which he will bring a wealth of experience amassed over years in the sector, said head of CIEP, Marcel van Poecke, in a statement.

Hayward expressed gratitude at the prospect of returning to lead a major Colombian oil and gas business, highlighting that Colombian Onshore has a significant presence in all of Colombias principal hydrocarbon basins with a portfolio of attractive onshore investment opportunities from production to development and exploration.

Following the acquisition, The Carlyle Group intends to take on a strategic plan involving field life extension and a focus on operating efficiency, while developing Colombia Onshores environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.

Hayward added that the company has an exemplary track record in ESG - one that [it] will look to continue and improve on, also stating that he is looking forward to continuing the business strategic partnership with [Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed] Ecopetrol, formerly known as Empresa Colombiana de Petrleos.

London-based corporate partners Sam Newhouse and Simon Tysoe led Latham & Watkins advisory team, alongside New York-based partner Tony Del Pino and associates, Hector Sants, Alan Rozen, Evelyne Girio, James Thomson, Amrita Ahuja, and Pierre-Axel Aberg.

The Carlyle Group enlisted Simpson Thacher & Bartlett on raising EUR 6.4 billion for its Carlyle Europe Partners V fund, in October last year.

See more here:
Ex-BP CEO will lead The Carlyle Group's newly acquired Colombia Onshore - ICLG.com

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Oral & Dental Probiotics Market is projected to witness substantial growth by 2026 | Now Foods, Hyperbiotics, Oragenics, Life Extension examined...

The first of six replacement steam engines arrives at Koeberg. Photo: EE Publishers

On the basis of a three-month shorter delivery time, the R5-billion steam generator replacement contract was finally awarded to French state-owned nuclear contractor, Areva, which, after running into financial difficulties, is now controlled by French national electricity utility, Electricite d France (EDF).

This followed an extended High Court, Appeal Court and Constitutional Court battle in South Africa, in which Westinghouse (ultimately unsuccessfully) tried to challenge the irregular contract award to Areva on the grounds that the claimed urgency of the life extension was deliberately contrived by Eskom in order to wrongfully award the contract to Areva.

At the time when Koeberg was built between 1976 and 1985, Framatome (the predecessor to Areva) manufactured the two 900 MW nuclear reactors and the six associated steam generators at Koeberg, using designs licensed from Westinghouse.

Both Eskom and Areva claimed that it was absolutely critical for the safe operation of the power plant, and for the security of electricity supply in South Africa, that the steam generators should be finally replaced during the so-called X23 outage at Koeberg in 2018.

This was cited by Eskom as the reason for awarding the contract to Areva, where an allegedly contrived three-month float in Arevas project plan was indicated as the deciding factor. This, despite Westinghouse having met all the technical and commercial requirements, with a lower contract price, and a guarantee to meet the 2018 completion date on pain of substantial penalties.

However, all has not gone well for Areva in executing the project.

Areva is said to have experienced serious manufacturing quality problems with the steam generator forgings in France. In view of the claimed time criticality of the project, to resolve these issues Eskom and Areva agreed that the uncompleted forgings would be air-freighted to China where an Areva partner would complete the manufacture.

Apparently, each of the six steam generator forgings required the hiring of a Russian Antonov freighter aircraft (six flights in total) to fly the forgings from France to China. However, according to an impeccable source, after taking a closer look at the forgings, Arevas Chinese partner decided to scrap them and start again from scratch.

One can only speculate as to why it was not considered more economical for Areva to fly engineers from the Chinese manufacturer to France to examine the steam generator forgings, as opposed to flying all six steam generators to China for the inspection, prior to them being scrapped in China.

A former senior nuclear executive at Eskom commented to this writer at the time that: This was the most expensive transport of scrap metal in the history of humankind.

Eskom confirmed to EE Business Intelligence last week that: The forgings did not meet the expected quality standards and could not be accepted, and therefore they were scrapped by the contractor at their own cost.

According to Eskom, the contractual delivery date of all six steam generators was February 2018, with the contractual completion date for the replacement of all six steam generators being the end of 2019.

However, with all the delays in the project, including restarting manufacture of the steam generators from scratch in China, delivery of the first three steam generators for Unit 1 at Koeberg is only starting now in September 2020, with those for Unit 2 only scheduled for delivery in the third quarter of 2021.

Regarding the actual replacement of the steam generators, Eskom now says that: Installation is aligned with the outages scheduled for 2021 and 2022 respectively for the two Koeberg reactor units (Unit 1 and Unit 2). No mention is now made by Eskom of the criticality for completion in 2018 cited by Eskom at the time as the reason for placing a more expensive contract with Areva.

While not answering specific questions on the cost overruns arising for the project, Eskom insists that: The estimated cost-to-completion for the project is within the original budget approved in 2014. Of course, this is not very helpful because the original budget approved in 2014 is not disclosed, and may have been significantly higher than the contract price.

However, it seems clear that Eskom has in fact paid a premium for the replacement by Areva of the steam generators at Koeberg on the basis of a claimed three-month shorter completion time, when in fact completion will be some three years longer.

Areva has previously not responded to queries regarding the scrapping of the generators.

DM/EE Publishers

Further reading:

[1] A very tender process: Eskoms Koeberg contract ruled unlawful, by Aimee Clarke and Chris Yelland, EE Publishers, 13 January 2016

[2] Westinghouse opposes Eskom, Areva appeal to Concourt, and lodges counter appeal, by Aimee Clarke and Chris Yelland, EE Publishers, 4 February 2020

[3] Eskom changing the goalposts and rules of the game at half-time?, by Aimee Clarke, EE Publishers, 26 May 2016

[4] Eskom and Westinghouse respond to article in Energize magazine and other publications, by Chris Yelland, EE Publishers, EE Publishers, 7 June 2016

[5] Eskom wins Concourt judgement, EE Publishers, 21 December 2016

More here:
Steam generators for Koeberg: the most expensive transport of scrap metal in the history of humankind - Daily Maverick

The federalgovernment is in the market for another used icebreaker that could be converted for use by the Canadian Coast Guard on the Great Lakes much to the dismay of shipbuilders across the country.

A request for proposals to acquire an existing light icebreaker was posted on the government's procurement website in mid-September.

The timing is interesting.Federal decision-makers have known for five years that the coast guard needssuch a vessel for the region.

The request for proposals which closes at the end of October was posted as U.S. lawmakers began to push bipartisan legislation through Congress to strengthen the U.S. Coast Guard's capacity to break ice and keep commerce flowing on the Great Lakes.

The plan for Canada to buy a used icebreaker follows a separate decision by Transport Canada to purchase a used ferry from Spain on an emergency basis.

The Canadian Marine Industry and Shipbuilding Association (CMISA), which represents most of the marine suppliers and shipyards across the country, said both decisions represent a loss of domestic jobs and at least $250 million in federal spending that could have gone into a Canadian economy hard hit by the coronavirus.

"We're of the strong belief that vessels such as light icebreakers can and should be built in Canada," said Colin Cooke, president and chief executive officer of the shipbuilding association.

"We have the capacity. We have the skilled trades. We have the expertise, the technical expertise. We have the shipyards. And that was what the point of the National Shipbuilding Strategy was all about."

That shipbuilding strategy is supposed to direct governmentwork to Canadian shipyards.Cooke said the plan to purchasean existing icebreaker and the deal to acquire a former Spanish ferry would both be unacceptable in normal times but they're even lessacceptablenow.

"We are in a COVID time when we're looking for all sorts of ways to make sure that people are employed, that businesses are able to survive I won't say thrive, I will say survive through the lockdowns caused by this pandemic," he said.

Public Services and Procurement Canada was asked for comment last Thursdaybut did notrespond.

The tender for the light icebreaker, posted online Sept. 18, describes the purchase as a necessaryinterim step for the coast guard to "bridge the gap while awaiting the delivery of dedicated new vessels."

Significantly, the request for proposals noted that the need for such a ship was identifiedfive years ago around the same time a comprehensive analysis warned that the coast guard icebreakingfleet was in dire straits and in need of immediate replacement.

"In 2015-16 the CCG identified a requirement for interim icebreaking capabilities to fill gaps in capacity resulting from ships being temporarily withdrawn from service" for refit and life extension, said the tender.

Two years ago, the Liberal government concluded a deal worth $827 millionwith Chantier Davie of Levis, Que., which operates the Davie shipyard, to refit three medium-sized commercial icebreakers for the coast guard.

Tim Choi, a University of Calgary shipbuilding expert, saidthis recent tendersuggeststhe federal government isoperating on the flawed assumption that there is an abundance of used icebreakers on the market.

The deal with the Davie shipyard was an anomaly and federal officials "got lucky" last time because there happened to be three vessels available, he said.

Choisaid he believes the federal government isn'tlikely tobe sofortunate this time:his research suggests there may beonly one light icebreaker out therethat would fit in the bill in Finland and it's notclear the Finns are ready to part with it.

"There are very few requirements for a vessel like that outside of Canada and the United States in the Great Lakes, St. Lawrence region," said Choi. "It's not like there's a used car lot where you can just go out and buy these things."

The shipbuilding association said it can make a strong case for a fast-track build in Canada.Choi said he believes procurement services may be forced in that direction anyway because of market conditions.

In mid-September, three U.S. senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Todd Young (R-IN) and Gary Peters (D-MI) introduced the Great Lakes Winter Commerce Act.

The bipartisan legislation is expected to codify the U.S. Coast Guard's icebreaking operations on the Great Lakes and, more importantly, increase the size of its fleet.

"Inadequate icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes is costing us thousands of American jobs and millions in business revenue," said Baldwin in a statement. "We must boost our icebreaking capacity in the Great Lakes to keep our maritime commerce moving."

Continued here:
Shipbuilding industry pushes back as federal government shops for used icebreaker - CBC.ca

NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Daxor Corporation (NYSE MKT: DXR), an investment company with innovative medical instrumentation and biotechnology operations focused on blood volume measurement, today announces compelling new data demonstrating further beneficial use of Daxors blood volume analysis technology presented during the Heart Failure Society of Americas Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting 2020.

New data titled, Cost-effectiveness Analysis of Early Blood Volume-Guided Management in Hospitalized Heart Failure Patients studied the economic benefits of the use of blood volume analysis in the population of heart failure patients, one of the largest cost-drivers of the national healthcare system. The data showed an extremely cost-effective incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $10,200 which was 80% less costly than other therapies that are considered good value by common quality metrics. The data also revealed an average life-extension of 2.32 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) in addition to the cost savings.

The use of Daxors BVA-100 blood test in heart failure outcomes in this compelling study showed exceptional value by not only improving patient life span, but also at a cost which is significantly less than other commonly used therapies. Daxors blood test for use in treating heart failure is demonstrably better for patient life extension outcomes compared to many other treatment regimes, while also driving excellent economic value for hospital systems, said Jonathan Feldschuh, Daxors Chief Scientific Officer.

Jean Oertel, VP of Commercialization and Customer Experience at Daxor stated, This important data shows the full power of our diagnostic technology with the ability to achieve better outcomes at reduced costs. The value of Daxors BVA-100 blood test for hospital systems and payers managing heart failure is covered by both public and private insurance with CPT/APC coding, something that many other approved tests never achieve even years after market clearance by the FDA.

About Daxor Corporation

Daxor Corporation (NYSE: DXR) is an innovative medical instrumentation and biotechnology company focused on blood volume measurement. We developed and market the BVA-100 (Blood Volume Analyzer), the first diagnostic blood test cleared by the FDA to provide safe, accurate, objective quantification of blood volume status and composition compared to patient-specific norms. The BVA technology has the potential to improve hospital performance metrics in a broad range of surgical and medical conditions, including heart failure and critical care, by informing treatment strategies, resulting in significantly improved patient outcomes. Our mission is to partner with clinicians to incorporate BVA technology into standard clinical practice and improve the quality of life for patients. For more information, please visit our website at Daxor.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this release may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including without limitation, statements regarding the impact of hiring sales staff and expansion of our distribution channels. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject to risks and uncertainties. Many factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this release, including, without limitation, those risks associated with our post-market clinical data collection activities, benefits of our products to patients, our expectations with respect to product development and commercialization efforts, our ability to increase market and physician acceptance of our products, potentially competitive product offerings, intellectual property protection, FDA regulatory actions, our ability to integrate acquired businesses, our expectations regarding anticipated synergies with and benefits from acquired businesses, and additional other risks and uncertainties described in our filings with the SEC. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date when made. Daxor does not assume any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Netflixs Hope Frozen documentary follows a family in Thailand that turns to science in their fervent desire that their daughter may one day live again. It is a surprisingly poignant portrait of familial love and grief.

In Hope Frozen: A Quest to Live Twice, filmmaker Pailin Wedel masterfully documents the compelling story of the Naovaratpong family, comprised of the father, Sahatorn, his wife Nareerat and their teenage son Matrix, who suffer the terrible loss of their beloved two-year-old daughter Einz from ependymoblastoma, a rare and aggressive brain cancer.

During Einzs illness, her father frantically uses his science background (he is an engineer) to try and learn on the fly and discover a cure for his ailing daughter as she deteriorates.

After a dozen surgeries and 20 chemotherapy and radiation treatments, it becomes readily apparent that time is running out for little Einz. In response, Sahatorn then turns his attention to cryogenics, in the hope that he could freeze his daughter after death, in order to one day re-animate her when a cure for her disease is found.

Immediately following Einzs heart-breaking demise, doctors from the Alcor Life Extension Foundation go about cryogenically freezing her. Once that process is completed, Einzs body is sent from Thailand to storage in Arizona.

This story sounds like some bizarre science fiction, but Hope Frozen masterfully turns this strange tale into a morally and ethically complex story that is intensified by the emotional power of grief.

In addition, the film raises a plethora of profound philosophical questions, but to its credit it never presumes to know the answers.

The film ponders such matter as what is consciousness? Is consciousness attached to the body? Are memories kept intact when someone is cryogenically frozen? Is that frozen body really a person or just a collection of flesh and bones? Can death be scientifically defeated? Will cryogenics even work? Can people be re-animated in the future? Will a cure for cancer ever be found?

These questions are made even more complicated by the familys fervent faith in science coupled with their spiritual belief in Buddhism. This results in the family grappling with issues such as will freezing Einz stop her from reincarnating? And is cryogenics just imprisoning Einzs soul in a lifeless body?

The most intriguing member of the Naovaratpong family is the son Matrix, a smart and sensitive young man haunted by his sisters death.

At his fathers prodding, Matrix is a scientific genius who dedicates his life to finding a way to bring his sister back to life. Ever the big brother, he even becomes a novice Buddhist monk in an attempt to try and protect his dead sisters soul.

Like his mother and father, Matrix will never shed the painful burden that is the death of Einz. The Naovaratpongs simply cant let go of their daughter, of the dream of her future and of their grieving wound.

By cryogenically freezing Einz, the family freezes themselves into a perpetual state of hope and grief this keeps Einz fresh in their minds. Their hope and grief are all they have left so they do not want to let them go. As long as hope for her return and grief for her loss are frozen in place, Einz lives on.

As the film progresses, the story takes on multiple twists and turns that makes for interesting viewing particularly a scene where Matrix calls home after a trip to America but the most fascinating part of the film is the love for Einz that is at the core of it.

You can question the familys decision to cryogenically freeze their daughter and their quest to keep the hope of her alive in the face of death, I know I did, but what I never did was question the purity of their motives or the profundity of their love.

As a parent, it is impossible to watch Hope Frozen and not have compassion and empathy for Sahatorn, Nareerat and Matrix. Their love for Einz is exquisitely beautiful to witness even when it is wildly contorted by grief and despair.

The familys devotion to science in the form of cryogenics in the hope of overcoming death is no different than any other faith taking center stage in an existential crisis. Faith is our shield against the slings and arrows of life and the inevitability of our own annihilation.

The Naovaratpongs wrap themselves in the cloak of science in order to maintain the illusion that Einz will rise from the dead, just as a Catholic like myself clings to that same delusion that death can be conquered through Gods love and power.

This need to believe in something, anything, to make the colossal pain of grief, and the terrifying prospect of the eternal abyss of death, subside, is all too human, and is strikingly highlighted in Hope Frozen.

This is a deeply moving documentary because it reminds us that life is fleeting and that love isnt everything its the only thing.

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The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

Read more from the original source:
Intimate & heart-wrenching: The compelling story of parents who cryogenically freeze their dead 2-year-old child - RT