StemCell Therapy

The Herald

Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations EditorThe mere mention of genetically modified foods (GMOs) has stirred emotions and popular consternation around the issue of altered foods, with concerns over health and its effects on the environment. So much has been said about GMOs, with various people on opposing sides making various claims substantiated and unsubstantiated.

The result has been fear, confusion and meaningless propaganda.

Fear of new technology has generated mixed feelings marked by initial scepticism followed with embrace and adoption after noting the benefits.

Despite a blanket ban on GMOs in Zimbabwe, scientists have been doing research on GMO crops for years benefiting other countries which they have been sharing their findings with.

Darlington Mutetwa, a Quton plant breeder, has spearheaded efforts to promote the growing genetically modified cotton in Nigeria, Malawi and other African countries.

Renowned University of Zimbabwe biochemist Prof Idah Sithole-Niang has also been at the forefront of promoting the growing of GM crops from maize, cowpeas, Bt cotton and others globally without much recognition back home.

The same goes for a number of top Zimbabwean academics who are working in various top global companies using biotechnology to promote the development of various agricultural and medical products.

All this has been going on without Zimbabwe benefiting from its talent and the emerging technology, simply because the country is not willing to adopt the new technologies.

Zimbabwe, for long has been a hostile place for researchers testing genetically modified crops.

Through a combination of regulations, bureaucracy, mistrust and fear, the Government has barred the commercial planting of a transgenic crops.

Anti-GM activists have also added to the woes, but under the new dispensation, things are changing.

Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Amon Murwira has been bold and aggressive in terms of re-orienting the education system under five terms of reference which includes teaching, research, community engagement, innovation and industrialisation.

He has come out strongly and supported science and technology development to promote the new products, platforms and solutions that embed best practice to support the countrys industrial and technological development.

The space is opening up for scientists who are keen on GM crop development.

And, recently, the National Biotechnology Authority of Zimbabwe organised the biosafety sensitisation and consultative workshop to demystify biotechnology and GMOs for parliamentarians and other stakeholders.

The hosting of the event was supported by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africas Development/African Biosafety Network of Expertise (AUDA-NEPAD/ABNE), an African Union (AU) organisation responsible for supporting the building of functional biosafety regulatory systems in African Union member states.

All this demonstrates the opening up of space for scientists and the international research community to play their part in creating an enabling environment for Zimbabwe to adopt new technologies that can enhance agricultural productivity.

Years of unnecessary anti-GMO debate in Zimbabwe has missed the mark.

We should not just single out GMOs for criticism, but also look at the impact of the vast amount of chemicals nitrogen fertilisers and synthetic pesticides used in our conventional agricultural system.

These also have serious implications on health and the environment. Our scientists are quite clear about GM technology that it is not a silver bullet solution, but one crop strategy we can employ to enhance our crop yields and reduce our costs.

Our own biochemists, Prof Christopher Chetsanga and Prof Sithole-Niang, have spoken out eloquently on the subject and outlining the potential benefits of GM crops.

They have said that Zimbabwe should go step by step and start with GM cotton as plunging into GM food crops totally may be too risky and controversial.

They are saying Zimbabwe should at least move to do trials for Bt cotton to boost cotton production.

Government wants to prioritise digitisation and technology and innovation in order to achieve meaningful development in the country and the region.

To meet the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Zimbabwe and the SADC region, our country has pledged to promote emerging technologies in a number of fields such as robotics, artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, quantum computing, big data, biotechnology, fifth generation wireless technology and 3D printing.

Prof Sithole-Niang says if the growing of genetically modified cotton is allowed in Zimbabwe it could be a boon for the State.

She says if we adopt GM cotton we can save up to US$90 million a year in terms of reduced production cost.

The country, she argues, could also get $40 million in incremental revenue every year through improved crop yields and reduced cost of production.

Zimbabwe was the first country in Africa to conduct confined field trials for GM cotton and maize around 2000 before the country put a blanket ban on GM crop trials and food by 2005.

And as a result, biotechnology experts say the country has lost out on the potential benefits of new agricultural technologies that can significantly boost yields, incomes and improve livelihoods.

Zimbabwe has not adopted GMO crop technologies, but established the National Biotechnology Authority in 2006 to regulate research, transport, import, manufacture, safe handling and use of organisms and products of modern biotechnology.

In its Second Science, Technology and Innovation Policy released in March 2012, the country identified biotechnology as one of the most promising tools that can help increase food productivity, enhance the health and wellness of society and boost manufacturing output.

While Zimbabwe is delaying the adoption of GM crops, other countries such as South Africa have been growing GM maize, soyabean and cotton for nearly two decades with latest statistics indicating plant hectarage of some 2,7 million hectares.

There has been a massive spread of GMO products in Zimbabwe and across the entire SADC region which include maize, cotton and soyabean, livestock feed, tobacco, bananas, potatoes, poultry products and vegetables.

South Africa has embraced GMOs and as the regions strongest economy it has been impossible to stop the penetration of GMO foods.

Worse still, with drought ravaging Zimbabwe and most other SADC countries, food aid has come from the US and China, which are now among the biggest producers of GM maize.

No matter what we do, Zimbabwe cannot stop the emergence and movement of new technologies. We only have to adopt the new technologies and take the necessary biosafety measures to minimise the potential risks.

We are legging behind.

In 2018, Sudan cultivated 243 000 ha of Bt cotton, eSwatini 250ha, while in 2019 Ethiopia planted Bt cotton on more than 500 000ha, according to the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA) 2018 report.

Nigeria, Malawi and Kenya have given cultivation approvals for Bt cotton. More than 70 percent of cotton traded global is GM cotton.

India and China are among some of the biggest producers of Bt cotton where Zimbabwe imports some of its clothing materials from.

As a country we are consuming GMO products and it only makes sense to get on the train and start growing GM cotton for a start.

We have the technical expertise and what we need are resources and the political will.

Debate on GMOs is quite controversial and anyone who touches GMOs gets burned. People are so worked up on both sides that no matter what you say, someone will criticise you. We should raise concerns using facts. We should utilise scientists to drive our own biotechnology agenda.

We should not lose ourselves to fear and confusion.

Biotechnology is big business and as a country we should harness it for our benefit. Cuba, South Africa, China, US, Sudan, Egypt and many other countries are using biotechnology for their benefit.

Zimbabwe should allow our scientists to conduct confined field trials for genetically modified crops as part of efforts to find innovative solutions to some of the pressing problems facing the countrys agricultural sector.

We have the capacity to do it. Our universities are training biotechnology students who are being taken outside and benefiting other countries.

Why should we waste our resources and fail to tap on the benefits of this technology when we have the capacity to harness it?

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Why Zim must harness benefits of biotechnology - The Herald

The Evolution of Biomarker Use in Clinical Trials for Cancer Treatments: Key Findings and Implications, which relied on automated analytical techniques and manual curation to examine all oncology trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov for the inclusion of various biomarkers, reveals that 55 percent of clinical trials for cancer treatments conducted in 2018 involved the use of biomarkers, compared to just 15 percent in 2000. The biomarkers most commonly associated with trials conducted between 2016 2018 include immune-related markers such as CD19, CD4 and PD-1/PD-L1 as well as genetic drivers of cancer such as KRAS, ROS1, and FGFR.

"The accelerating shift in drug development documented in the study has profound implications for key stakeholders across the health care spectrum, including the pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries, providers, payers, and, most importantly, patients, who, in the future, will benefit from earlier detection and more effective treatments," PMC President Edward Abrahams wrote in the foreword for the report.

To examine the pharmaceutical industry's perspective on the emergence of these and other personalized treatment strategies as well as issues related to costs, prices and access, Meg Tirrell, Reporter, CNBC, will moderate a keynote fireside chat titled "Innovation in the Era of Personalized Medicine" with Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee, Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, during PMC's 15th Annual Personalized Medicine Conference at Harvard Medical School, which will take place from November 13 14, 2019. The chat and the subsequent panel discussion featuring representatives from an academic medical center and industry as well as Dr. Stoffels and Alex Vadas, Ph.D., who co-authored the report on behalf of L.E.K., will explore the implications of the findings and the related regulatory, reimbursement, and research challenges.

About the Personalized Medicine Coalition:The Personalized Medicine Coalition (PMC), representing innovators, scientists, patients, providers and payers, promotes the understanding and adoption of personalized medicine concepts, services and products to benefit patients and the health system. For more information about PMC, visit http://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org.

About L.E.K. Consulting:L.E.K. Consulting is a global management consulting firm that uses deep industry expertise and rigorous analysis to help business leaders achieve practical results with real impact. We are uncompromising in our approach to helping clients consistently make better decisions, deliver improved business performance and create greater shareholder returns. The firm advises and supports global companies that are leaders in their industries including the largest private and public-sector organizations, private equity firms, and emerging entrepreneurial businesses. Founded in 1983, L.E.K. employs more than 1,400 professionals across the Americas, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. For more information, go to http://www.lek.com.

Contact: Christopher J. WellsPersonalized Medicine Coalitioncwells@personalizedmedicinecoalition.org 202-589-1755

SOURCE Personalized Medicine Coalition

http://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org

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Study Documents Biopharmaceutical Industry's Increased Investment in Personalized Cancer Treatments, Including Immunotherapies, Underlining Importance...

BINYAMINA, Israel, Oct. 31, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- OncoHost, global leader in host response profiling for improved personalized cancer therapy, announced today that a review titled, The Pro-Tumorigenic Host Response To Cancer Therapies now appears in Nature Reviews Cancer.

Authored by Prof. Yuval Shaked, co-founder and chief scientific advisor at OncoHost, and professor of Cell Biology and Cancer Science at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, the piece explores the host-mediated pro-tumorigenic response focusing on immunological, angiogenic and metastatic responses to cancer therapy.

Although the initial treatment phase is often successful in cancer therapy, eventual resistance, characterized by tumor relapse or its spread, is all too frequent. To date, the majority of studies devoted to investigating resistance focus on tumor-related changes that contribute to therapy resistance and tumor aggressiveness. Prof. Shaked analyzes how the unique host response to different cancer therapies may promote therapy resistance. In the review, he summarizes the ongoing literature on this important newly explored research direction, and its clinical implications.

"While chemotherapy treatments are primarily used to minimize and stop cancer growth, a growing body of evidence suggests current cancer treatments can negatively shift the balance within the tumor microenvironment and in fact facilitate or support tumor progression. When the net-outcome is in favor of host pro-tumorigenic effects, it is more likely that the tumor will progress," said Prof. Shaked. "By focusing on host response impact itself, we can improve our understanding of how a given drug or cancer treatment can influence tumor progression to better identify which treatments may result in improved outcomes. Additionally we can determine the possible mechanisms or drug combinations that can delay relapse or progression."

"Despite recent significant progress and clinical success in new immunotherapy modalities, only a small percentage of patients actually benefit from such therapies. Assessing the host response in these patients may help predict outcomes or suggest combination therapy to increase the likelihood of response," said Dr. Ofer Sharon, MD, CEO of OncoHost. "This paper sheds light on the importance of host response within mainstream oncology, and its ability to better identify appropriate cancer treatments, which vary for each individual. OncoHost is gratified to play a key role in transforming this research into insight to help clinicians improve personalized combinatorial drug approaches."

OncoHost combines life-science research and advanced machine learning technologies to provide insight into the host-mediated response of conventional cancer treatments, as well as new treatment modalities including immunotherapy, in order to maximize the individual success of cancer therapy. The company utilizes proprietary proteomic analysis to characterize, analyze and predict patient response to treatment, enabling physicians to determine personalized treatment strategies that result in improved outcomes and reduced side effects.

About OncoHost

OncoHost combines life-science research and advanced machine learning technology to develop personalized strategies to maximize the success of cancer therapy. Utilizing proprietary proteomic analysis, the company aims to understand patients' unique response to therapy and overcome one of the major obstacles in clinical oncology today resistance to therapy. OncoHost's Host Response Profiling platform (PROphet) analyzes proteomic changes in blood samples to monitor the dynamics of biological processes induced by the patient (i.e., the host) in response to a given cancer therapy. This proteomic profile is highly predictive of individual patient outcome, thus enabling personalized treatment planning. PROphet also identifies potential drug targets, advancing the development of novel therapeutic strategies and rationally-based combination therapies. For more information, visitwww.oncohost.com. Follow OncoHost on LinkedIn.

Press Contact

Ellie HansonFinn Partners for OncoHost+972-54-467-6980ellie.hanson@finnpartners.com

View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oncohost-nature-reviews-cancer-article-outlines-host-response-analysis-as-new-tool-for-precision-medicine-in-oncology-300948987.html

SOURCE OncoHost

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OncoHost: Nature Reviews Cancer Article Outlines Host Response Analysis as New Tool for Precision Medicine in Oncology - P&T Community

Helomics subsidiary begins sequencing retrospective ovarian cancer cases from UPMC-Magee collaboration, advancing POAIs CancerQuest 2020 initiative

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI) (Predictive Oncology or the Company), focused on applying artificial intelligence (AI) to personalized medicine and drug discovery, today announces that its Helomics subsidiary has begun to sequence tumor cases from its UPMC Magee collaboration (http://nnw.fm/4uKXL).

Helomics partnership with the UPMC Magee Womens Hospital focuses onanalyzing the genomic and drug response profiles of women with ovarian cancer to build AI-driven predictive models terms of therapy response. This collaboration is a key benchmark in Predictive Oncologys Cancer Quest 2020 project as it takes a retrospective look at around 400 ovarian cancer cases that were profiled for drug response by Helomics, for which UMPC Magee has outcome data.

These retrospective ovarian cancer cases were profiled Helomics as early as 2010; hence, we have 10 years worth of drug treatment data, survival and other outcome measures we are gathering from Magees clinical databases, stated Helomics CTO Dr. Mark Collins. We are now sequencing these cases, looking at both the tumor mutations (genome) as well as tumor gene expression (transcriptome) to build a comprehensive multi-omic picture of the tumor. We are also using deep learning on histopathology images of the tumor tissue (tissue-omics) to add an additional dimension to this multi-omic profile. We believe the combination of the rich multi-omic profile of the tumor and clinical outcome data will allow us to build an AI-driven model of ovarian cancer capable of predicting the tumor drug response and patient outcome (prognosis).

This first AI-driven predictive model will be highly valuable in partnerships with pharma companies to drive the discovery of new targeted therapies for ovarian cancer. Once clinically validated, Predictive Oncology expects it will use this predictive model for clinical decision support, helping guide oncologists to better target therapies based on the patients tumor profile.

About Predictive Oncology

Predictive Oncology (NASDAQ: POAI) is an AI-driven company focused on applying artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery. The Company applies smart tumor profiling and its AI platform to extensive genomic and biomarker patient data sets to predict clinical outcomes and, most importantly, improve patient outcomes for cancer patients of today and tomorrow.

Predictive Oncology currently has approximately 150,000 clinically validated cases on its molecular information platform, 38,000+ specific to ovarian cancer. The Companys data is highly differentiated, having both drug response data and access to historical outcome data from patients. Predictive Oncology intends to generate additional sequence data from these tumor samples to deliver on the clear unmet market need across the pharmaceutical industry for a multi-omic approach to new drug development.

For more information, visit the Companys website at http://www.predictive-oncology.com.

Contact:Gerald Vardzel Jr.Helomics Corporation, PresidentA division of Predictive Oncology Inc.91 43rdStreet, Suite 110Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15201412.432.1508GVardzel@Helomics.com

Corporate Communications:NetworkWire (NW)New York, New Yorkwww.NetworkNewsWire.com212.418.1217 OfficeEditor@NetworkWire.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain of the matters discussed in the press release contain forward-looking statements that involve material risks to and uncertainties in the Companys business that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Such risks and uncertainties include (i) risks related to the recent merger with Helomics, including the fact that the combined company will not be able to continue operating without additional financing; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of the merger; costs associated with the merger may be higher than expected; the merger may result in disruption of the Companys and Helomics existing businesses, distraction of management and diversion of resources; and the market price of the Companys common stock may decline as a result of the merger; (ii) risks related to our partnerships with other companies, including the need to negotiate the definitive agreements; possible failure to realize anticipated benefits of these partnerships; and costs of providing funding to our partner companies, which may never be repaid or provide anticipated returns; and (iii) other risks and uncertainties relating to the Company that include, among other things, current negative operating cash flows and a need for additional funding to finance our operating plan; the terms of any further financing, which may be highly dilutive and may include onerous terms; unexpected costs and operating deficits, and lower than expected sales and revenues; sales cycles that can be longer than expected, resulting in delays in projected sales or failure to make such sales; uncertain willingness and ability of customers to adopt new technologies and other factors that may affect further market acceptance, if our product is not accepted by our potential customers, it is unlikely that we will ever become profitable; adverse economic conditions; adverse results of any legal proceedings; the volatility of our operating results and financial condition; inability to attract or retain qualified senior management personnel, including sales and marketing personnel; our ability to establish and maintain the proprietary nature of our technology through the patent process, as well as our ability to possibly license from others patents and patent applications necessary to develop products; Predictive Oncologys ability to implement its long range business plan for various applications of its technology; Predictive Oncologys ability to enter into agreements with any necessary marketing and/or distribution partners and with any strategic or joint venture partners; the impact of competition, the obtaining and maintenance of any necessary regulatory clearances applicable to applications of Predictive Oncologys technology; and management of growth and other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Companys reports filed with the SEC, which are available for review at http://www.sec.gov. This is not a solicitation to buy or sell securities and does not purport to be an analysis of Predictive Oncologys financial position. See Predictive Oncologys most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, and subsequent reports and other filings at http://www.sec.gov.

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Predictive Oncology Reaches First Milestone in Building AI-driven Predictive Models of Ovarian Cancer - Yahoo Finance

Cat Wise:

Brittani Powell is now-cancer free, thanks to the clinical trial. But she was lucky. According to the Food and Drug Administration, only about 30 percent of clinical trial participants for cancer drugs come from minority groups. The rest are white.

In an era of precision medicine, when drugs are being developed for and tailored to specific segments of the population, diversity is essential, because some diseases and drugs impact racial groups in different ways.

George Ocampo has been part of the Lazarex push to reverse those numbers. He couldn't work during five grueling rounds of chemo for pancreatic cancer. A clinical trial for a new treatment, two hours from home, didn't seem like an option.

Lazarex has footed the bill for his trips to the University of California, San Francisco, the gas, tolls, parking, and hotel stays, while he participated in the trial. They also pay for airfare for those traveling longer distances.

Those seemingly small interventions have helped Ocampo and other patients access cutting-edge care they otherwise wouldn't have received.

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Why diversity in clinical trials is matter of life or death - PBS NewsHour

For senior Hasaan Hayat, a Lyman Briggs student with dual majors in neuroscience and human biology, the opportunity to work in a cutting-edge laboratory as an undergraduate researcher both confirmed his interests in technology and medicine and helped illuminate his career path.

For about a year, Hayat has been contributing to research in the lab of Ping Wang, an affiliate with MSUs Precision Health Program, or PHP. Precision medicine, a component of PHP, is a fairly recent field of biomedicine. This field develops personalized, patient-specific therapies and treatments, often incorporating tools like molecular imaging, nanoparticle technology and artificial intelligence to produce better outcomes for patients.

Through research like that of Wang, tools and technologies can be developed to detect disease sooner and treat it earlier, achieving better outcomes and reducing healthcare costs. PHP at MSU aims to transform the approach to healthcare from reactive to proactive by focusing on disease prediction, prevention and early detection.

Hayat has been interested in technology and human biology for as long as he can remember. After he joined Wangs lab, he became especially intrigued by the use of artificial intelligence, or AI, in the field of precision medicine.

As a child, I only dreamed of working on such technology myself due to its complexity and mass potential, but I also feared it, thanks to dystopian films such asTerminatorandiRobotwhere the sentient machine is always portrayed as the bad guy, he said. However, I find that AI can be a crucial, beneficial tool for analysis and monitoring of patients in a more modern field of medicine, specifically in oncology, radiology and stem-cell transplants.

Researching in Wangs lab has provided Hayat a unique platform to investigate the intersection of technology and biology. One specific study involved the application of deep learning in non-invasive imaging for monitoring tumor response to chemotherapy.

With help from Wang and Moore, Hayat put together an abstract of his work titled, Molecular imaging and analysis of uMUC1 expression levels in response to chemotherapy in an orthotopic murine model of ovarian cancer, and submitted it to the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2019, or WMIC 2019, in Montreal, Canada.

The WMIC 2019 program committee invited Hayat to present this research as an oral presentation, which is a high honor for the attendees. Hayats paper was one of the highest-rated abstracts at the conference and he won the Student Travel Award.

Hayat was grateful and energized by the experience of presenting at an international research conference.

The congress was phenomenal. I was able to hear about some amazing research and innovations in the field of medicine and molecular imaging/biology, he said. Networking with knowledgeable individuals from top institutions all over the world was a highlight of the event, and I am thankful to PHP and MSU for this opportunity.

Hayat was originally drawn to MSU for its many research opportunities, and specifically to Lyman Briggs College, because of its solid foundations in science.

I admire Lyman Briggs for its creative and innovative approach to STEM fields, and its focus on preparing students for success in graduate school, he said. The faculty at Lyman Briggs are very supportive and ensure that students have a clear understanding of core scientific concepts.

As for the future, his work with the Precision Health Program is inspiring him to go to medical school.

I aim to pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. after I graduate, a decision that has been heavily reinforced by the research I am doing at the Precision Health Program, and my mentor and PI, Dr. Wang, who himself is an M.D.-Ph.D. I salute the cutting-edge work that is performed here, he said. In the future, it is a dream and vision of mine to bring novel, innovative therapies and technologies such as AI and nanomedicine to the clinic in order to provide tools for physicians to use and to improve patient outcomes.

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Briggs undergrad researcher wins award at international conference - MSUToday

Household messes are the number one reason pet owners have considered giving their four-legged pal away, according to new research.

They may well be one of the family, but what happens when our little furry companions are incredibly mischievous? A poll of 2,000 cat and dog owners revealed 42 percent have thought about giving away their pet as a result of their messy antics.

These beloved animals are getting into the trash and tearing up their owners furniture. Seven in 10 have had their furry friends destroy something in their home.

In fact, 56 percent of those studied revealed theyve come home to a destroyed item of clothing or one of their pets toys torn to shreds while a further 52 percent have been welcomed home to find a totally destroyed couch.

The study, conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Fuzzy Pet Health, examined the experiences of dog and cat owners and uncovered that 44 percent have come home to their pet tearing up the toilet paper in the bathroom.

But thats not all: Nearly half (48 percent) have had their four-legged friends get into the garbage and leave a massive mess for them to clean up, or had their pets get ahold of paper and eat it adding to the mess.

Dog and cat owners really never know what they are coming home to after leaving their furry friends home alone. Forty-three percent have had their pet have an accident in the house or chew through blankets and comforters upon their return home.

Some respondents, however, had other reasons for considering giving their pet away. Two in five say allergies became an issue for someone in the household while a further 39 percent say they didnt know the animal would need so much attention.

That being said, there are a number of things cat and dog owners have done to avoid giving their pet away even for the 35 percent who think their furry friend suffers from behavioral issues.

Fifty-six percent of those who ever considered giving their pet away became more patient with their pet, while a further 52 percent put in the effort to get a trainer for their four-legged companion.

But thats not all dog and cat owners did to avoid the heartbreak of giving up their pet. Over half (51 percent) of those who have ever considered giving their pet away or up for adoption used supplements to help their pet feel better overall.

Stress in pets is much more prevalent than we know, said Dr. Lisa Lippman, Fuzzy Pet Healths New York lead veterinarian. We have created Fuzzy Health Packs a monthly personalized medicine plan tailored to your pets needs which includes options for pets with anxiety.

To help their pets while away from home, another 43 percent have invested money in a pet-sitter/walker to ensure their pet was properly cared for and to avoid coming home to a disaster.

It turns out, 56 percent of the cat and dog owners studied say they think their pet knows they are guilty when they do something wrong in the house.

Thats probably why a staggering 64 percent worry their pet will get up to no good when they leave them home alone.

It is no wonder, then, that 61 percent of the dog and cat owners surveyed consider their pet to be mischievous.

Other key contributing factors to anxiety and stress in pets can be boredom, needing physical and/or mental stimulation and lack of training, continued Dr. Lippman. Owners expect pets to just listen when they want them to, but through training, clear lines of communication can be opened which ultimately will strengthen the human-animal bond.

With the average dog and cat owner having to deal with over $260 worth of house damage caused by their pet, it should come as no surprise that stress is part of a pet owners life.

In fact, three in 10 of those surveyed say they experience more stress since getting their furry companion.

Seventy-six percent of the dog and cat owners studied say they feel stressed when returning home because of their pets past destruction of items in the home.

With this stress comes concern about the decision to have a pet. Unfortunately, 36 percent have gone through the heartbreaking consideration of giving up their current pet.

Top five mischievous pet behaviors

Top five most common things pets destroy

Top 10 reasons pet owners considered giving pet away

Top five reasons pets behave poorly

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Why some Americans choose to give away their pets - New York Post

In the presence of Genevieve Fioraso, former Minister of Higher Education and Research, Patrick Bourdet, founder and former CEO of Orano Med and the participation of Marc Penaud, General Manager of Toulouse University Hospital, EVEON gathered recently all its partners to celebrate a decade of growth and innovation at the service of practitioners, caregivers and patients.

EVEON, which originated in Grenobles INP engineering school and CEA-Leti, designs, develops and manufactures smart medical devices for the automation of the preparation and delivery of therapeutic treatments. With teams specialized in microfluidics, mechanics, electronics, optics, software, plastics processing, the company offers to its customers and partners a strong technological and scientific synergy.

Its expertise has just been recognized again this month by Forbes magazine (French article of October 7, 2019) which ranks EVEON as the 3rd most inventive French company in the medical technologies category.

EVEON aims to become a key player in automatic, secure and connected medical devices for preparation and delivery of drugs. Improving patients' quality of life, increasing treatment compliance, facilitating the marketing and adherence of complex treatments, reducing the loss of active substances, allowing data recording and transmission, are at the heart of its challenges to respond to a strong trend for personalized medicine and the development of targeted treatments.

Increasing numbers of therapeutic drugs are being developed as biological medicines in lyophilised form, to be reconstituted immediately before injection. Thanks to its unique technological platform, Intuity, EVEON facilitates the handling, preparation (lyo, dilution, liquid-liquid, etc.) and administration (injection, spray, nebulisation, placing drops,...) of drugs as close as possible to the patient.EVEON is involved in the entire development cycle of devices, working on drugs still in clinical trials or already on the market, from the design stage, systems engineering, software and wireless communication development, qualification and assembly, through to market launch and regulatory authorisation.

These solutions meet the particular specifications of its customers, pharmaceutical laboratories, hospital centers and medical device manufacturers, seeking innovative, intuitive and connected devices in line with the needs of patients and practitioners.

EVEON announced last spring the delivery of the first functional prototypes based on its Intuity Ject device. Developed in partnership with a pharmaceutical laboratory, Intuity Ject offers a unique alternative for the preparation and simple, precise injection of lyophilised biological drugs from a bottle or cartridge. The devices designed by EVEON can be adapted to all standard pharmaceutical industry containers and in particular allow the self-administration of a drug contained in a vial. It is important to point out that these two key devices, Intuity Mix for the automatic preparation of drugs, and Intuity Ject, the injection device, have each won prizes at Pharmapack event, awarded by a jury of pharmaceutical laboratories, in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Based on its technological platform, EVEON also develops automatons that can be used by hospitals specialized in nuclear medicine, such as the advanced platform used by the Nancy University Hospital to set up a new radiopharmaceutical treatment unit. EVEON has several projects involving the handling of radioisotopes.

EVEON is also expected, as in 2018, to record a growth of more than 50% in its turnover in 2019.

With a number of co-development and exclusive medical device manufacturing agreements, EVEON will be entering an industrialization phase in 2020. A fundraising campaign is under way to enable it to strengthen its developments and acquire the necessary resources.

Press contact :Charlotte Reverand | cre@eveon.eu | +33 476 414 833 | @EVEON_SAS

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EVEON celebrates its 10th anniversary and is ranked by Forbes as the 3rd most inventive French company in the medical technologies category -...

Sao Paulo Oct 31, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Fleury SA earnings conference call or presentation Friday, October 25, 2019 at 2:00:00pm GMT

Fleury S.A. - CEO & Member of Board of Executive Directors

Fleury S.A. - Chief Financial, IR and Legal Officer & Member of Board of Executive Directors

* Frederico P. Mendes

UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Head of LatAm Research & Latin America Consumer Analyst

Good morning, and thank you for holding. At this point, we would like to welcome you to the Fleury Group referring to the results of third quarter '19. We have with us today Mr. Carlos Marinelli, the CEO; Mr. Fernando Leo, the CFO, IRO and Legal Officer. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) This event is also being broadcast simultaneously through webcast and can be accessed at the address http://www.fleury.com.br/ri, where the respective presentation can be found. You can watch the slides at your own convenience. The replay of the event will be available soon after closing. (Operator Instructions)

Before proceeding, we would like to clarify that forward-looking statements made during the conference call referring to the business outlook, projection, operation and financial goals, are based on the beliefs and premises of the management as well as on information currently available to the Fleury Group. These forward-looking statements are no guarantees of performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and premises and, therefore, refer to events that may or may not occur. Investors and analysts should understand that general conditions, sector conditions and other operating factors could affect the future results of the Fleury Group and lead to results that differ materially from such statements.

We would now like to give the floor to Mr. Carlos Marinelli, who will begin the presentation. You may proceed, sir.

Carlos Alberto Iwata Marinelli, Fleury S.A. - CEO & Member of Board of Executive Directors [2]

Good morning, and I would like to start out by thanking all of you for your presence at our conference results for the third quarter '19. We continue to enhance our brand portfolio. We have observed an organic growth of our service units this quarter, and we have reached the highest level in the last 4 quarters, presenting a growth of 8.7%. This result reinforces our belief in the assertive strategy medically and in terms of care, allied to a culture of efficiency and excellent management.

It is important to highlight that this growth took place despite the timid resumption of the economy. It is true that the recent figures of evolution and the generation of formal employment leave us quite optimistic, showing there is still a trend that have been accumulated since 2012.

In the evolution of our business platform and health, we have not come to a standstill. We are building, testing and implementing technologies and services to guarantee our move forward toward more integrated solution, where the diagnostic sector is a key part of care, treatment and personalized and precision medicine. The foundations necessary to guarantee a robust service platform continue to be a priority of investment for an environment to activate data, intelligent service and agile workflows.

We now go on to the presentation on Slide #3, where we show you the main financial highlights of the third quarter. I would like to underscore that for purposes of comparison, these figures do not present the IFRS 16 effect. Gross revenue had a growth of 10.8%, totaling BRL 818 million. We highlight that this increase, among others, was impacted by an acceleration in the growth of the Fleury brand, with an expansion of 6.7% in the quarter. This is the third consecutive quarter in which we have an enhancement in the brand growth.

Cancellations represented 1.4% of gross revenue and remained stable vis--vis the same period in the previous year. The EBITDA reached BRL 196 million, with a growth of 8.2%. EBITDA margin reached 26%.

Net income attained BRL 96 million, presenting a growth of 4.9%. Operating cash flow totaled BRL 213 million, with an expansion of 22.6%. Return on invested capital without goodwill reached 38%.

We now go on to Slide #4, where we show you the operational highlights for the quarter. Upon the close of the third quarter '19, the Net Promoter Score of our brands reached 77.7%, stable vis--vis the previous year and maintaining that high level of differentiation for which our services are recognized and preferred.

In October, we celebrated a contract for the acquisition of the Diagmax Group in Recife that will be under assessment by the anti-trust agency. Before conclusion, the Diagmax Group acts mainly in diagnoses through images through 6 service units in the metropolitan region of Recife, State of Pernambuco. This acquisition will allow the Fleury Group to expand its presence strategically in the region, increasing its popularity to 17 service units and strengthening its exam portfolio, expanding our share relevantly in terms of diagnosis per image. This acquisition is aligned with our strategy of increasing our presence in markets with an economic growth that is above average, with a great potential of carrying out strategic partnership to guarantee care coordination and a full-service portfolio.

I would also like to highlight that this quarter, we began the consolidation of results of 31 service units of the Lafe brand recently acquired in Rio de Janeiro. As part of the integration, in August, we began to process the exams of all the service units at our own technical area in Rio de Janeiro, significantly enhancing the quality of this process in the Lafe brand and guaranteeing a significant evolution of results in this operation.

At the beginning of November, we will conclude the integration of all of the back-office and front office in terms of operation. We understand that the integration of systems and processes is very important for our business and it enables us to attain high-quality and efficiency levels.

With this integration, 100% of our operations will be on a sole system, presenting the same accuracy of image diagnosis at all regions and we will also have real-time access to all the information produced at the service unit. Even more importantly, we will guarantee the integration of information of the Lafe client to our data lake and an integral connection with our digital strategy for intelligence in terms of our data.

For the strategic pillar of personalized and precision medicine, we have taken perhaps the most important step in terms of the supply of services. Previously, the consultations were carried out only in the city of So Paulo. Presently, we are offering this in the cities of Porto Alegre and Salvador.

Genetic counseling is one more element of our health platform with a view to better understand the clinical position of our patient and the risk of developing hereditary diseases and the potential of transmitting these genetic conditions to future generations. All of this within a continuous care continuum with our team of geneticists, offering consultancy, pre and post exam to physicians, patients and partners. The creation of a genetic database and its use is one of the solutions, the genomic solutions of the Fleury Group and a strategic part to leverage our health platform in a future scenario where precision and personalized medicine will not only bring benefits to patients but also more cost-effective clinical outcomes.

Also connected to our platform, through Santcorp, we inaugurated the first of a series of shared sites for primary care. This solution allies convenience, geographic distribution and high satisfaction of clients already present at the a+ units in So Paulo, benefiting the user who is seeking a solution for health without the high cost of complex structure.

This structure has 3 exclusive rooms that are totally dedicated to triage, clinical care and medication for the Santcorp clients. This model places our customer at the center of care, delivering high efficiency for low-complexity care situations that are more frequent day after day. All of this integrated care that is continued and coordinated is always based on the analysis of timely data and the history of patients, and brings into reality that great potential to change the relationship model between patient and the value change of health.

Finally, I would like to mention the awards that were received by the company throughout the third quarter, showing the strength of the company in the execution of excellency. We won the prize, the best in the stock market organized by InfoMoney, in partnership with Ibmec and Economatica in the health category. We were also acknowledged by the award Empresas Mais of the O Estado de S. Paulo journal and we have achieved a second place in the category of corporate governance for publicly listed companies and the second place in the health sector. Besides this, we were in the first position in the best place to work at Infojobs.

I would now like to give the floor to Fernando, who will continue on with the presentation of results. I am at your disposal for questions at the end.

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Fernando Augusto Rodrigues Leo, Fleury S.A. - Chief Financial, IR and Legal Officer & Member of Board of Executive Directors [3]

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Thank you, Carlos, and a good day, to all of you. We continue on with the presentation on Slide #5, where we show you the performance of gross revenue in a consolidated way. The gross revenue in the quarter increased 10.8%, attaining BRL 818 million. The service units had an increase of 11.7%, with an increase in share of 83% to 85% of the gross revenue for the group. B2B operations grew 5.9% in the quarter, representing 15% of the consolidated revenue. In the 9 months, the amount of growth was 8.8%, with an expansion of 9.1% in the service units and 7.2% in the B2B operations.

In Slide #6, we see in greater detail the growth of the brand portfolio. The graph to the left shows you the total graph of 11.7% in Patient Service Center, 8.7% in organic growth. The Fleury brand expanded 6.7%, presenting for the third consecutive quarter an improvement in its growth. This performance reflects the mix of internal actions, among which, a strengthening of the medical relationship and an improvement in the conversion of setting up exams. Besides this, we have observed a stabilization in the number of beneficiaries with access to the premium market.

Another important impact in the brand performance was a better mix of exams carried out, along with an expressive increase of revenues with genomic exam. The Rio de Janeiro brands increased 21.1%, 8.2% of this increase was organic. The organic performance presented reflects the entrance of new plans as well as the expansion of offer for diagnosis through images. And the Rio de Janeiro brands this quarter, we consolidated the Lafe brand into our results. With the closing of the acquisition that took place in May of this year, we consolidated 4 months of their results.

In the a+ brands So Paulo, the expansion was 19.9% of revenues, arising mostly from growth concentrated in the units inaugurated between 2017 and 2018. That is still in the initial stage of maturity. The regional brands that takes into account operations in the south, north, east and federal district had a growth of 4.4%. An important part of this increase is due to the brand's IRN in Natal and the a+ in Recife that had a 2-digit growth in the revenues. In the graph to the right, we show you the performance of our brand portfolio for the 9 months.

In Slide #7, we highlight the cancellations and net revenues. In the graph to the left, we observed the cancellation indicator showing that we have maintained a high level of efficiency, reaching 1.4% for the quarter and for the 9 months of the year.

To the right of the slide, we see a growth of 10.6% of net revenue in the quarter, totaling BRL 755.7 million, and 8.7% increase for the 9 months of the year.

In the next slide, we will present the main financial indicators. And I would like to highlight that in January of 2019, we adopted the IFRS 16 leasing with a goal of having better comparability amongst periods. We will show the indicators in the next slide without the IFRS 16 effect. Now if you need further details on the impacts of IFRS 16, please look at our financial statements or the earnings release.

In Slide #8, to the left, we highlight the evolution of costs. In the quarter, we had an increase of 12.4%, representing a loss vis--vis constant net revenues of 130 basis points. The cost with direct material and exam intermediation grew 23.8% with a loss in terms of net revenue of 120 basis points. This effect in this line is related to the mix of exams carried out in the quarter with a reduction in the share of the automation section that has a higher margin and the increase of share of specialized sections and hospitals. The specialized section has a main field, genomic exams. With personnel medical services and occupation presented an improvement in efficiency, mitigating the effects that I have just mentioned.

Medical Services and occupation once again has that improvement in efficiencies. To the right of the slide, we present our operational expenses. This quarter, we obtained, an increase of 7.2%, with a gain vis--vis the expenses and net revenue of 34 basis points. What can also be observed in this slide is the evolution for the 9 months of the year in terms of costs and expenses.

In Slide #9, in the graph to the left, we observed that EBITDA attained BRL 196.5 million in the quarter, with a growth of 8.2%. The EBITDA margin reached 26%, a retraction of 58 basis points vis-a-vis the third quarter '18.

As explained in the previous slide, the pressure on the EBITDA margin arises from the cost of services rendered, partially mitigated by the gain in efficiency and operating expenses. Additionally, the inclusion of the Lafe brand in the results of the quarter has also contributed for -- to the pressure observed in the EBITDA margin. If we exclude the effects of the Lafe brand, the pressure on the EBITDA margin would be 21 basis points vis--vis the third quarter '18, and the margin would reach 26.4% in the quarter.

In the graph to the right, we show you the accumulated comparison of EBITDA. Excluding the nonrecurring events that occurred in the second quarter '19, we reached BRL 583.8 million with a growth of 6.9% and a margin of 26.7%.

In Slide #10, we show you the graph to the left with net income during the period reaching BRL 94.8 million, a growth of 4.9% vis--vis the same period 2018. The net margin was 12.5% compared to 13.2% in the third quarter 2018.

To the right, we show you the accumulated comparison of net income. Excluding the effects that are not recurrent, we reached BRL 281.9 million, a growth of 3.1% and a net margin of 12.9%.

In Slide #11, to the left, we show you the operating cash flow graph recording BRL 212.8 million in the quarter, an increase of 22.6%. The conversion to operating cash into EBITDA reached 108.3%. This quarter, the average term of receivables reached 66 days, a reduction of 2 days vis--vis the third quarter '18, with a positive impact on accounts receivables.

To the right of the slide, we present to you the CapEx for the quarter that totaled BRL 40.40 million, a reduction of 58.4% when compared to the third quarter of 2018. This reduction happens mainly in the new units, the expansion of the offer in existing units and technical areas due to the decrease of investments with the opening of new units.

I would like to inform you that in October, we inaugurated a new unit of the a+ brand in So Paulo in Moema with approximately 680 square meters of service area. This new unit has a complete diagnosis area, including magnetic resonance. The company has inaugurated 54 units as part of its expansion plan, a number equivalent to 74% of the lower point of our guidance until 2021.

In Slide #12, in the graph to the left, the ROIC without goodwill reached 38%. Adjusted for nonrecurring events that happened in the second quarter of 2019 and the effect of the acquisition of the Lafe brand, the result was 39.7%. To the right, we show you the evolution of Net Promoter Score reaching 77.7%.

Finally, on Slide #13, we include the events that have already been confirmed with the market for the coming months.

We would now like to open the floor for questions and answers. Thank you very much for your attention.

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) The first question is from Mr. Joseph from JPMorgan.

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Joseph Giordano, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Senior LatAm Healthcare Analyst [2]

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The first question refers to Lafe. Fernando referred to the impact of consolidating Lafe. I would like to ask you when you expect that Lafe will operate in an aligned fashion in the Rio de Janeiro operation when the margin will become more normalized?

The second question refers to your new avenues of growth. How much does the genomic part represent in your brand portfolio? It has given a good push the Fleury brand. And secondly, how these new initiatives, led by Santcorp and others, have contributed to the revenues of the company?

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Carlos Alberto Iwata Marinelli, Fleury S.A. - CEO & Member of Board of Executive Directors [3]

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This is Carlos Marinelli, and I would like to answer your questions and speak more about our genomic initiatives and then Fernando will refer to what is happening with Lafe.

When it comes to the issue of genomic, we have an enormous pressure of seeing how the market responds to our genomic solution. This is a business unit with a very rapid growth. Nowadays, in 2019, it represents 2% of the revenues of the group, once again, all concentrated on genomics. And we have fast growth. The greater challenge in this area are the effects that we have mentioned, the impact on gross margin. It is a highly specialized section that requires a great deal of investment in equipment but also specialized people. And therefore, it is natural that as we're focused on genomics and growth, at this point, we have greater pressure on our gross margin.

But this is the goal precisely. The goal is to become leaders in genomics throughout Brazil, as we already are, and to continue to grow this market. We're convinced that this is a market that will add to the traditional diagnostic medicine, and it will enhance the outcome for patients in the future connected to our health platform. It will help us in terms of information, how to use information, and we will have an ever more greater participation in the life of the patients, especially in the long term. This is something we will continue to invest in.

At present, it has had an impact on our gross revenue, but everything is under control. And of course, we are working hard on efficiency so that this can become an ever important part of the company.

In terms of Santcorp, we inaugurated the first unit in the shared site. It was working in another way. This is a purely Santcorp shared site, and there will be other inaugurations in the coming months. This is an initiative that we're also focusing on because of the growth. Santcorp is an operation with a dynamic that is different from others. It is highly connected. It has the ability of generating strong business, and we see the enormous attraction on the part of several of our customers in the health area. Companies that offer with post-payment also desire these services. And the leverage of the platform will be very strong. And soon, we will announce another inauguration in terms of the shared site.

This is still a small operation. It's marginal in our business. But it has that characteristic. The isolated revenues of Santcorp are one thing, but the impact and the future impact on the company growth will become decisive in our business. Therefore, we continue to focus on growth in genomics as well as in the part of Santcorp. And we firmly believe that these are strategic initiatives that are pillars of our growth strategy for our platform. And we believe that they will attain maturity very quickly, showing our capacity to leverage growth.

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Fernando Augusto Rodrigues Leo, Fleury S.A. - Chief Financial, IR and Legal Officer & Member of Board of Executive Directors [4]

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This is Fernando. Regarding Lafe, we have 2 main factors in terms of integration. The first is to have in-house exams that will be processed by the technical area. This already happened in the third quarter.

And secondly, the elimination of systems that will happen now at the beginning of November. In the third quarter, we continue to have costs that relate to the Lafe models of BrandZ, where they work with outsourced services. We're still carrying these expenses, and these expenses were partially mitigated in the last month. This is something that will no longer appear in the fourth quarter. And what will be different in the fourth quarter will be a fuller integration into our system.

We hope that this effect or this carry effect of cost linked to Lafe will be lower compared to the third quarter, and that we will enter the first quarter of 2020 with an operation that is much more similar to what we have in terms of margins.

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Operator [5]

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Our next question is from Thiago Macruz from Ita BBA.

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Thiago Capucci Macruz, Ita Corretora de Valores S.A., Research Division - Research Analyst [6]

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The first question is the following. You mentioned an improvement in the premium market and some in-house measures that you have taken to improve the relationship with physicians or doctors. Could you give us more details on the ramp-up of these initiatives? What will this represent for the penetration of the company? And how will this help other issues in the company?

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Carlos Alberto Iwata Marinelli, Fleury S.A. - CEO & Member of Board of Executive Directors [7]

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Thank you for your question. I -- we do have several initiatives, and we have perhaps a dozen initiatives and we have specific projects to work on the Fleury brand. With this, as we mentioned, there are dozens of initiatives each of which contribute towards the relationship with doctors, consultancy with doctors, bringing customers closer. And we have initiatives such as the intensification of integration. We do have projects that are being intensified by specialty, allowing greater comfort to the requesting physician in terms of the reading of the diagnosis of their patients. We are saving a great deal of time for the physicians in their offices, we're conveying information, communication and generating greater knowledge regarding their patients or customers.

When it comes to our specialized units, in a short while, we're going to be launching a revitalization of the pediatrics area with new personnel in our children's area. And of course, this represents a great deal of comfort for the parents of these children. We have also invested heavily in our relationship with pediatrician. We have a very effective relationship. This is a specialty that demands rapid communication, comfort when it comes to the parents, and this has been enhanced significantly.

Simply to mention one more. This week, we worked in the field of technology on thyroid. This was very successful. We had 200 physicians in So Paulo learning more about our technological evolution. And besides these 3, we have dozens of initiatives, each of which is building higher penetration into the market for the Fleury Group and as we can observe when it comes to our increase in market share in this market segment.

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Operator [8]

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The next question is from Mr. Gustavo Oliveira from UBS.

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Gustavo Piras Oliveira, UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - Head of LatAm Research & Latin America Consumer Analyst [9]

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I would like to go back to the question about the genomic processes and gain an understanding of how you're thinking about this business and the impact it has had on your gross revenue.

2 questions in the short term, especially. Your contribution margin in this product is negative presently. Therefore, I don't truly understand what is happening. Perhaps it is a process of a problem with pricing or because it doesn't have a great scale. And this will not happen in 1 or 2 years when we think about the rollout.

The second question refers to what you're thinking about this project as part of your health platform. It's very easy if you can think that this product will continue to grow with a negative margin. And if you project the gross margin going forward, will this truly continue to grow with this negative impact now? And which will be the impact on the total platform, which are the data that you will collect and the additional services that you will offer?

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Edited Transcript of FLRY3.SA earnings conference call or presentation 25-Oct-19 2:00pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

Latest posts by Ethan Taylor (see all)

According to the latest study conducted by Trends Market Research (TMR) the global market for precision medicine is anticipate grow manifold, reflecting a robust CAGR of over XX% during 2018 to 2025.

Rapid augmentation of the medicine industry across the globe will certainly benefit the global market forprecision medicine. In addition, factors such as growing infrastructural development, higher investments, streamlined drug approval systems along with companion diagnostics are expected to favor the overall market growth during the assessment period. Cost-effective DNA profiling and increasing prevalence of carcinogenic diseases worldwide are additional factors that are projected to propel the market growth. Moreover, apt storage of genome data is of great significance to the global market for precision medicine as demand for data medicare is on the rise. However, acute data storage capacity, data privacy breach and discrepancies in funding systems and hefty price tag of personalized drugs may deter the market growth in the near future.

Enquiry More About This Report:https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/3437

The global market for precision medicine has been categorized into various parent segments that are further segmented into smaller sub-divisions.

On the basis of technology, next-gen sequencing, bioinformatics and drug discovery technology are expected to be the technologies highlighting the expanding the market width in forthcoming years. Based on applications, the oncology segment is expected to witness an overwhelming growth and is estimated to reach US$ XX Billion over 2025, reflecting a staggering XX% CAGR. This is primarily owing to increasing prevalence of tumor-related disease amongst the global geriatric population. On the other hand, increasing cases of arthritis will favor the growth of immunology segment, which is expected to surpass US$ XX Million in revenues by 2025 end.

Vendor News

Key players operating in the global market for precision medicine include Eli Lilly And Company, Novartis AG, AstraZeneca and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings. Most of the companies are implementing market strategies involving mergers, tie-ups and acquisitions. Increasing collaboration between healthcare and IT is expected to deliver fruitful gains to the market, expanding the overall business canvas for the stakeholders in the upcoming years.

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The popularity of precision medicine has grown significantly across various parts of the world, hence on the basis of region, the markets for precision medicine in Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) is set to achieve new figures of growth over the next eight years. Precisely, the market in North America is expected to present new lucrative opportunities, occupying over XX% share of the market during the forecast period. In addition, the region is estimated to surpass a market valuation of over US$ XX Million by the end of 2025.

The US and Canada will be the heavyweights of the global market owing to the existence of well-established medical industries in both the countries. In Europe, the market is expected to witness a steady growth and will increase its revenues charts close to US$ XX Million, riding on a healthy CAGR of over XX% during the assessment period. This is largely due to the increasing demand for precision medicines in countries such as France, UK, Italy and Germany. The Asia Pacific region is another region which is considered to be full of business potentials. The region is projected to increase at over XX% CAGR to reach approximately US$ XX Million by 2025 end. The market in APAC will be heavily dominated by Japan, while, India and China will compete for the second spot. Likewise, the in Latin America the market is expected to surge at a pace in terms of revenue over 2025. However, MEA will witness a sluggish growth of the market which is attributed to the lack of initiatives for conductive extensive research and development activities.

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Precision Medicine Market to Witness a Healthy Growth during 2018-2025 - Guru Online News

The vanilla in your favorite bakery cupcake was probably made with petrochemicals. Lets ferment it ... [+] instead.

The demand for natural products is growing, along with consumers increasing attention to the environment and their health. Consumers are seeking brand alternatives that help them make better, more responsible choices, whether to reduce landfill waste or select healthier ingredients.

Companies like General Mills, Hersheys, and Nestl have heard the message and vowed to eliminate artificial ingredients from foods and replace them with natural ingredients. So say goodbye to your blue Trix cereal and artificially flavored sodas.

The problem is, there isnt enough natural to go around.

Take vanilla, for example, the most popular flavor on the planet. The flavor comes from a molecule called vanillin, the main compound extracted from the vanilla bean. According to Chemical & Engineering News, about 85% of vanillin is chemically synthesized. Less than 1% actually comes from real vanilla, which involves arduous hand cultivation and harvesting from vanilla orchids, mostly in Madagascar.

And just as demand for real vanilla is increasing, production is falling. With demand on the upswing, trade in the worlds most popular flavor is way out of balance, and getting worse.

Biology has an app for that

A few weeks ago, Boston-based biomanufacturing company Conagen and global chemical giant BASF announced a new partnership to address this problem. Conagen is lending BASF its expertise in fermentation, the ancient technique used in brewing beer and baking bread that uses microorganisms like bacteria or fungi to convert one substance into another. In this case, Conagen has cultivated a microbe that can take glucose and turn it into the valuable substance vanillin.

Fermented vanillin is the exact same molecule you would get from a vanilla bean. Fermentation has the added advantage of producing pure, reliable ingredients. And because the fermented product is equivalent to what you get from nature, it can be labeled natural flavoring.

With BASF, Conagen will help BASF scale up its vanillin fermentation process, which BASF will market for use in natural flavorings like chocolate, strawberry, and caramel. The partnership will strengthen BASFs biotechnology in the natural food and flavors ingredients market.

To understand why this is a big deal, you first have to understand who BASF is.

The biggest company youve never heard of

BASF is the largest chemical maker in the world, with 63 billion in revenues in 2018. Its based in Germany but has facilities all over the world, supplying companies in the pharmaceutical, construction, textile, and automotive industries with the chemical building blocks of modern industry. Most of us have never heard of these chemicals, or can even pronounce them, but all of us are probably familiar with one of BASFs 90,000 partners, including many well-known consumer brands.

Despite its size and global presence, BASF has a low public profile. Theres a great old marketing campaign circa 1991 that captures this very well: At BASF, we dont make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.

If you ask me, synthetic biology is a lot like that: It doesnt necessarily change the kind of things you buy, its just making them greener, better, and less expensive. Conagen is just the latest example of how companies in this space are disrupting value chains and providing fully integrated solutions to others, making plug-and-play biomanufacturing possible.

The partnership is just one example of how companies like BASF no. 115 on the Fortune Global 500 are being transformed by the convergence of tech and bio and the growing bioindustrial revolution.

Vanillin is just a tiny example. There is a huge industrial demand for other flavors, such as orange (valencene) and grapefruit (nootkatone).

Then theres the fragrance industry, which relies on more exotic scents like musk (muscone), skunk (crotyi mercaptan), and ambergris (ambrox) to create those exquisite fragrance combinations we treasure at the perfume counter. In the old days, it was necessary to kill animals to obtain fragrance ingredients like musk. Thats now illegal, and the development of synthetic musks for the fragrance industry is credited with saving the musk deer from extinction.

Conagen is one of several companies working to meet the demand for natural flavors and fragrances. Many of the biggest flavors and fragrances companies (Firmenich, Givaudan, Robertet, and Takasago among them) are partnering with synthetic biology companies like Ginkgo Bioworks, Evolva, Amyris, and Conagen to produce sustainable ingredients.

This is bigger than food

And even though the entire flavors and fragrances market is estimated at over $20 billion,food is just one small area where synthetic biology can enable us to sustainably biomanufacture precision chemicals. The pharmaceutical industry stands to win, too.

For example, Conagen just launched a glycoprotein platform that could transform the immunotherapy and antibody-drug market the kind of drugs that help your native immune system better identify and respond to all sorts of diseases, including cancer. This is the category of drugs that includes monoclonal antibodies a market segment estimated at $100 billion alone.

Conagens biotechnology platform would reduce the time and capital to develop these drugs in the pharmaceutical industry. As a result, the technology would reduce costs, and patients reap the savings.

As synthetic biology drives down R&D costs and makes industrial scale-up cheaper and more agile, a new era of pharma will pursue a widening range of diseases beginning with so-called orphan diseases (affecting 200,000 or fewer people) and continuing to personalized medicine.

Smaller drug companies could also get in on the act.

As Conagen CEO Oliver Yu explained to me, The R&D at the bench level is only the first part of developing a product. Once you have developed a proof of concept, its a long way to go to get to the finished product. Over the past decade, Yu has built a vertically integrated team of experts in fermentation and industrial biomanufacturing that enable companies with a good idea to scale it to commercial levels.

Yu looks around and sees his industry becoming more product-oriented, and it's a good sign. There are companies making probiotics, there are companies using synthetic biology to treat disease, there are companies making DNA and RNA and enzymes to address specific illnesses and health concerns. So theres a lot we can do.

The focus of Conagen is always on the product, Yu said.

Industry trends in natural ingredients, and the cost of inaction

Companies that are slow to get on the natural ingredients bandwagon may pay a price. Take Johnson & Johnson, which reported a 20% decline in the sales of its flagship baby product brand, with its CFO stating that it looks like Millennial moms are trying a lot of new organic natural premium-type brands. It announced very robust plans to relaunch its 124-year-old brand.

Others who have been more sensitive to consumer demand have created their own sustainable product lines. In 2016 Procter & Gamble launched Tide Pureclean, which its CFO said already holds a 7% share of the pure and naturals segment and is driving over 150% of the natural segment growth. It recently went a step further in introducing EC30, a wafer-like replacement to liquid cleaners that stands to reduce carbon emissions on a global scale.

Keeping it real

Above all else, some experts believe that transparency and authenticity are key in the natural products market.

Consumers want to know exactly whats in their products and how they are made. They want to be empowered to make informed decisions for themselves about how well a product represents their lifestyle values. Consumer brands and biotechnology companies must understand those human values and strive to meet them as genuinely as possible, even in the face of our increasingly tech-driven world.

Synthetic biology is delivering consumers new choices that are more sustainable, more efficient, and less expensive. And who knows, they might just be more delicious.

Acknowledgement: Thank you to Kevin Costa for additional research and reporting in this post.

Please note: I am the founder ofSynBioBeta, and some of the companies that I write about, including Conagen, are sponsors of theSynBioBeta conference(click herefor a full list of sponsors).

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Better Than Nature: Why Fermenting Vanilla Is Good For Consumers, The Environment, And The Economy - Forbes

As an aside to this article, reference is made to an ongoing global promo for the nomination of persons as Anti-Corruption Heroes of 2019, for the Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani International Anti-Corruption Excellence (ACE) Award.

The promo features the December 2018 presentation of the award to Mr. Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The high-point of the ceremony, held in Putrajaya, Malaysia, was not in the presentation with the plaque, but in the introduction of Ribadu as a man who refused a $15 million bribe.

That case involved a former Nigerian governor, who the EFCC, under Ribadu, was investigating over a monumental fraud in his eight-year rule of his state.

To possibly kill the investigation, the suspect offered Ribadu a $15 million bribe, but he turned it down, and deposited the hefty sum with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a potential exhibit.

Sadly, the invitation for nomination for the 2019 ACE Award coincides with fresh attempts to ease Ibrahim Magu from the EFCC, where hes been Acting Chairman since November 2015.

Thus, the Ribadu anecdote serves to refresh our memory that, save the coming of Magu, the anti-corruption war thats at its nadir when he took over would have long been dead, and forgotten.

The EFCC, as the toughest job in the polity, is the single body that shines the light in the dark places where corruption and the corrupt cohabit to undermine the citizens patrimony.

Shining that light to expose their cohabitation is an arduous and risky task, demanding only the strong-willed to superintend. As the maxim goes, If you fight corruption, corruption will fight back.

And corruption in Nigeria is fighting back, with the non-confirmation of Magu aimed at stopping the crusade from uprooting corruption or reducing the scourge in the system.

The Senate of the Eighth National Assembly, conniving with outside forces located mainly in the government at national and sub-national levels, frustrated the confirmation of Magu.

The Senate, hiding behind unfavourable security reports by the Department of State Services (DSS), declined to confirm him twice, and yet pressured President Muhammadu Buhari to sack him.

Can the Director of the DSS, an aide, be more concerned about the screening than President Buhari, who nominated Magu twice despite the so-called unfavourable security reports?

If the rules were/are followed, Magu would be substantive Chairman of the EFCC, as the 1999 Constitution (as amended) does not envisage him to get approval of the Senate.

Section 171(1) of the Constitution provides that: Power to appoint persons to hold or act in the offices to which this section applies, and to remove persons so appointed from any such office, shall vest in the President.

Section 171(2)(a-e) states the offices to which this section applies, while subsection (d) designates the office as the Permanent Secretary in any Ministry or Head of any Extra-Ministerial Department of the Government of the Federation howsoever designated.

Does section 171(1)(2)(d) apply to Ibrahim Magu, who heads an Extra-Ministerial Department of the Government of the Federation in the EFCC?

Absolutely, argues Kabir G. Ibrahim, a legal practitioner and anti-corruption activist, who, in an article published by several websites in March 2017, dealt with the constitutional, statutory and judicial position of the law regarding the Magu saga.

He said: Flowing from the above constitutional provision, it is safe to posit that once the President appoints a person as Chairman of the EFCC, such person does not require the confirmation of the Senate

Citing the position of the law, as decided by Ayoola JSC (as he then was) in a case, I.N.E.C. v. Musa (2003) 3 NWLR (Pt. 806) 72 at 158 and 199, Mr. Ibrahim contends that in covering the field, the National Assembly cannot arrogate to itself powers that impeach the Constitution.

The Supreme Court ruling: Howsoever it is described, where the Constitution has covered the field as to the law governing any conduct, the provision of the Constitution is the authoritative statement of the law on the subject.

The supremacy of the National Assembly is subject to the overall supremacy of the Constitution. Accordingly, the National Assembly which the Constitution vests powers cannot go outside or beyond the Constitution

Why is Magu the sustained scorn of the lootelite (elite looters)? Because he remains the only pain in their butt. Their fear is his reiteration in January 2019 that the EFCC would secure more convictions than it did in 2018 when it got 312 convictions.

The records are not yet out, but another reason for wanting him out is what many Nigerians didnt know: Magu is one of the backbones of the acclaimed successes of the Ribadu era at the EFCC.

Hes described as a tougher cop than Ribadu. Hes patient, and interrogates suspects non-stop for hours, to wear them down. So, they would prefer to be quizzed by other interrogators.

Heres to show Magus toughness, as a lawyer told TheCable. Ribadu had asked him to release someone from detention and ask him to come back. But Magu, while saluting Ribadu, said, We shall release him, Sir, after he has answered our questions.'

Magu is about the longest top serving investigator in the EFCC, possessing a trove of dossiers on politically-exposed persons (PEPs), including, perhaps, the 23 completed case files of the 31 governors that Ribadu said were under investigation in 2006.

Hence, those who want him out are former and serving governors, lawmakers, ministers and heads of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs); alleged cabals in the Presidency; and financial suckers in the private sector. So, as currently constituted, remove Magu from the EFCC, and these manipulators of the system for individual and group interests would have a field day stealing the nation blind.

Rather than answer to their charges, they parrot being witch-hunted. But Magu seems deaf to such nuances, focusing on the political determination, and exhortation of President Buhari that, If we do not kill corruption, corruption will kill us.

And Magus message: My dream is to leave a better Nigeria, free of corruption to the next generation. We cannot continue the way we are going; otherwise, there will be no Nigeria for the next generation.

Will his traducers allow him to achieve this self-imposed dream he vows to pursue with his last breath? Well, only President Buhari can determine that by renewing his mandate at the EFCC.

International convention forbids Magus removal midway into his tenure as Chairman of the Commonwealth Conference of Heads of Anti-Corruption Agencies in Africa. Doing so could also dent the image of Buhari as coordinator of Africas anti-corruption war.

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Shades of corruption in Nigeria - New Telegraph Newspaper

Americans are living longer thanks to medical and public health advances and greater access to health care. If youre a 65-year-old man in the U.S., you can expect to live another 20 years. American women can expect to live even longer to age 86.5.

While this is good news for most of us, increased longevity also creates new challenges. After we turn 65, our risk of developing dementia doubles every five years. By age 85, nearly one in three of us will have the disease. The impact on women is even greater.

New Milken Institute research estimates that by 2020, roughly 4.7 million women in the U.S. will have dementia, accounting for nearly two-thirds of everyone living with the disease. Women often experience a double whammy. Not only are they more likely to get the disease, they are also more likely to take on most caregiving responsibilities for spouses, parents, in-laws and friends.

Women caregivers are more likely to be impacted financially as they leave jobs or miss work to care for family members. Our analysis predicts that the economic costs of treatment, care and lost productivity due to women suffering from Alzheimers and dementia will total $2.1 trillion by 2040, representing over 80 percent of the cumulative costs.

Communities of color face an even greater threat. Older African Americans have the highest risk of dementia, followed by American Indians/Alaska Natives and Latinos. This increased risk, coupled with income differences and cultural attitudes toward family caregiving, results in communities of color shouldering more direct care for people living with dementia than white populations.

Ive experienced firsthand the devastating impacts of Alzheimers disease on families. My dad and his three siblings were diagnosed within a 10-year time frame. As in most families, the emotional and economic strains fell primarily on the women.

My Aunt Trudy, a Julliard-trained concert pianist, began showing signs of dementia in her early 70s. She had chosen her career over a family as many women of her generation had to do. Trudy had no kids, husband, or much savings, so my family patched together a mix of paid and volunteer caregivers to provide her meals, rides, and companionship.

After it became too much of a strain on our finances, young families, and work lives, we had to place her in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid a harrowing decision made by countless Americans every day. Aunt Trudy maintained her indomitable spirit until the end. When she could no longer speak, she could still play the piano by heart, to the delight of many who sang tunes beside her.

Unfortunately, 10 years since Aunt Trudy died, Alzheimers is the only disease among the top-10 causes of death in the U.S. with no known cure. Recent Phase III drug trial failures this year represented a setback in research.

But thanks to increased National Institutes of Health funding to study Alzheimers disease, researchers today understand better dementias pathology. Perhaps most hopeful for those of us at high risk for dementia, emerging evidence shows that despite family history and personal genetics, lifestyle changes such as a diet, exercise, and better sleep can improve brain health.

Increased participation by women in clinical trials has helped us understand why more women than men have dementia. Researchers believed dementia is primarily connected to longer life expectancy. But new studies have linked it to biological differences, such as hormonal imbalances, that change brain chemistry.

With no cure in sight, we must double our efforts to reduce the risk and cost of dementia. At the Milken Institute, we work to solve significant global problems. That is why we are making recommendations to improve brain health, reduce gender and racial disparities, and ultimately change the trajectory of this devastating disease.

Most importantly, we must spread awareness of how individuals, communities, and health professionals can improve cognitive function and brain health for all ages. If we can delay the onset of dementia by only five years, we can cut the incidence in half.

With more women working full-time and family size decreasing, we must increase efforts to create a dementia-capable workforce to effectively identify people with dementia, tailor services to meet their needs and those of their caregivers, and ensure those living with dementia get the right care at the right time. The high costs of care for Medicare beneficiaries with dementia are linked to avoidable hospitalizations, poor coordination across care teams, and ineffective care transitions.

We offer many more ideas in the new report, Reducing the Cost and Risk of Dementia: Recommendations to Improve Brain Health and Reduce Disparities. We are in a race against time. We want to ensure that all of us will be singing songs by heart and enjoying our family and friends as we age. To provide a better future for millions of Americans impacted by dementia, we must act now.

Nora Super is senior director of the Milken Institute Center for the Future of Aging. She previously was executive director of the White House Conference on Aging.

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Dementia impacts women more and new approaches are needed | TheHill - The Hill

Report byProf. Tissa Wijeratne MD FRACP FRCP (Edin) FRCP (London) FAHA FAAN (USA)

An exciting second day in Dubai started at 7.00 am with a masterclass in Neuro-Opthalmology. It was attended by a packed audience presented with an interestingassortment of cases by Dr Gordon Plant and Dr Vivek Laal.

The Plenary lecture on Reading in the Brain: Mapping the massive impact of literacy on brain circuits" was delivered by Prof. Stanislas Dehaene.

Dr Adrian Owen delivered the second plenary lecture on The Gray Zone and Brain Death."

Professor Russel Foster delivered the Soriano award lecture on light, circadian rhythms and sleep, mechanisms to new therapeutics. The first part of this brilliant lecture considered the discovery and clinical importance of the third photoreceptor system of the eye. The second part of the talk went on to discuss the connection between photoreceptor signal light, clockwork and sleep. He went on to discuss the detailed molecular changes during the circadian rhythm.

Dr Tedros, Director-General, World Health Organisation,delivered a video message on the WHO and recent collaborative outcomes.

Professor Raad Shakir, Immediate past president, WFN delivered the important news on ICD-11 and its impact on the future of neurology.

Professor William Carroll, President WFN delivered a lecture on the global role of World Federation of Neurology. Professor Bo Norrving delivered the much-awaited news on the implications of the reclassification of stroke as a neurological disease.

The WFN- Young neurologists, trainees and medical students informal gathering was a great success. Professor Tissa Wijeratne moderated the discussion. There was active participation. WFN trustees and the high-level leadership was available for the discussion and future of this group looks promising.

The number of parallel sessions covering dementia, headache disorders, movement disorders, MS and demyelinating disorders, dementia, neurooncology, advocacy, stroke medicine were highly successful.

The rest is here:
Highlights from Day Two of the World Congress of Neurology 2019 - WFN News

New York City, NY: October 29, 2019 Published via (WiredRelease) Global (United States, European Union and China) Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market Research Report 2019-2028. The MarketResearch.biz analyses the report based on customer demand, supply and demand status, competitive market scenario and industry policies. The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market report covers all the minute details related to the industry like Technological Developments, Growth Opportunities, Threats to Market Growth, Innovative Strategies and Futuristic Market Trends.

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Global Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Market Future 2019-2028 Including Threats, Futuristic Trends, Share, Size and Growth Opportunities - TheLoop21

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You are your habits. Every single one of us has habits that impact our lives, but theyre not always good ones. Smoking cigarettes is a habit, after all, and so is watching television for hours on end. These bad habits can prevent us from reaching our potential, but they can also cut our lives short.

Of course, the opposite is also true. The good, positive habits many of us have habits like exercising regularly, eating nutritious meals, and meditating can make our lives better in immeasurable ways. This is especially true if youre old enough to see why habits matter but still young enough to make your positive habits count.

As you age, you will rely on your habits more and more. As our physical and mental abilities ebb and flow with age, our habits takeover as an autopilot. Build great habits and those will be the autopilot youll rely upon to remain healthy, active, and engaged.

Heres a good example of positive habits at work: Recently on my retirement podcast, we profiled a listener who was navigating a health crisis (her husband had cancer). You can hear her resilience radiate during the show. Their habit of being proactive has helped them continue to live even with the difficult situation. The couple loves cycling, but his condition has made him weak. But with the aid of an electric mountain bike, he is still able to hit the trails. That attitude has served them well.

Build poor habits and your autopilot can lead you to a constant struggle to maintain altitude. Here I think of an older client named Roxanne who smoked for decades, never exercised, and has a poor relationship with her children. Roxanne is now a widow in her early 80s who struggles to get out of bed every day. Her bad habits dictate how she sees the world and her view of the power she has in it.

The Best Habits to Help You Live Well in Retirement

If youre in your 50s or 60s, you may have twenty, thirty, or even forty-plus years of retirement ahead of you. This simple fact means that the habits youre able to pick up and stick with could make a marked difference on your physical health once you enter the final stretch of your life on this planet. When it comes to your longevity, also consider recent research published in the Journal Circulation which shows that around 60% of early deaths can be attributed to lifestyle factors, including those bad habits we talked about. Based on my observation, even if someone doesnt die early from their bad habits, their joy in life is diminished. To put it more bluntly, they live just as long but dont get to enjoy life the way the rest of us do.

On my retirement podcast, I am constantly talking about how retirement shouldnt be about survival it should be about thriving and enjoying life during a season when you have the time and hopefully the money to live the way you want.

Longevity may be the underlying goal, but what about the quality of your existence? Even if youve had not-so-great habits in the past, now is the time to establish good ones. Here are some habits that could lengthen your lifespan and help you rock your retirement now and later:

Regular Exercise

Plenty of research shows that regular, vigorous exercise is crucial when it comes to maintaining your physical health as you age. This means you should go out of your way to take part in difficult, uncomfortable exercise that feels like work. In other words, you arent helping yourself that much if you hop on the treadmill and watch The Price is Right while you walk at a snails pace.

In addition to strength and endurance training, your exercise habit should also include stretching. In my eyes, stretching is a lot like flossing because everyone knows they should do it but few people actually do.

The less flexible you are, the more likely you are to fall, break your hip, and wind up in a nursing home like Aunt Karen. Make sure youre exercising and stretching your body because thats the best way to protect yourself against preventable injuries and the physical signs of aging.

Do Something Meaningful

Having a purpose in life may be more important than people realize, but your purpose doesnt have to be something over-the-top or mind-blowing. For some people, their purpose is being an awesome grandparent, volunteering for an organization that matters to them and hardly anyone else, or maybe even learning a skill like woodworking or gardening. It doesnt matter so much what your purpose is as long as you have one.

On the flip side, not having a purpose can lead to bad habits that can affect your longevity and your mood. Think of it this way: When you have nothing to do, you might wind up sitting in front of the tube all day, or worse, diving into the pointless void of social media.

Train Your Mind

As you get older, training your mind is just as important as training your body. Your body carries you around, but your mind also needs training to stay in great shape.

Constantly learn and challenge yourself so you can stay sharp and potentially even avoid diseases like dementia. While brain-engaging activities like Sudoku or puzzles can help, learning anything can make a positive impact.

Consider this: Research analyzed by John Hopkins Medicine recently showed that staying in school longer reduced the prevalence of dementia in the United States, particularly among those ages 65 and older.

Maintain a Healthy Weight

Eat well and pay attention to the food youre putting in your body. Take special care to consume foods that support your mental health and spiritual well-being while staying away from empty calories and foods that make you feel unwell. (Im looking at you, refined sugar!)

A recent article from Catharine Paddock, Ph.D. in Medical News Today also suggests keeping your body mass index (BMI) under 25% if possible.

Cultivate a Positive Mental Attitude

If your glass half full or half empty? Your current outlook on life can play a huge role in how well your mind and body hold up. According to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, people who embrace positive stereotypes about aging are more likely to recover from a disability.

Improve Your Mood

Depression and anxiety can become rampant as we age. Do anything you can to improve your mood whether that includes exercise or stimulating mental activities. Go for walks in the park, get back out in the dating scene, or volunteer for a cause you love or basically anything that will make you feel better about yourself and the world.

Stay Social

If you dont have an expansive social network, you may wind up having one by default your family. This can be a good thing if your family members are happy and successful, but not so much if they arent.

If you find your default social network is overly negative, look for ways to build a new one. Try to make friends with younger people who may have different interests than you, and be sure you continue cultivating friendships you already have or may have had in the past.

Remember: Who you allow in your inner circle matters just as much as who you dont allow.

Own Your Life

Finally, take steps to be a participant in life, not a spectator. Stay out and about instead of sitting at home and watching the world pass you by.

This can be a difficult feat in todays internet age where we can see what other people are doing on the hour without even leaving the couch. But sitting on the sidelines wont help you maintain optimal physical or mental health.

Make sure youre not just watching other peoples stories; get out and create your own.

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Longevity And Retirement: 8 Great Habits To Rock Life As You Age - Forbes

In the ever-evolving skilled nursing landscape, one thing has always remained a constant: the quest for longevity.

We tend to view longevity from the perspective of the patient or resident. For example, a skilled nursing facility that touts their large population of centenarians is associated with an exemplary level of quality care and services. This distinction is considered a metric of their success. To be sure, there is much merit to this and indeed, Ive brought attention to it myself.

Id like to posit that this same logic may be equally applied to the longevity of a healthcare employee, particularly in the skilled nursing arena.

Those of us whove run successful skilled nursing facilities are intimately familiar with the challenges of finding and retaining good staff in all departments. To care for elderly people is a difficult, daunting and sometimes thankless task. It isnt for the faint of heart, and one must have the mental fortitude and requisite compassion to apply and survive as an employee in this line of work.

It is for this reason that websites offering seamless employee recruitment tools flourish in our industry.

With this perspective in mind, allow me to introduce you to Bea Ross and her amazing and heartwarming story.

Beatrice Bea Ross of Wayne, NJ, passed away last month at the age of 91. She was a charming and delightful woman of singular character.

To know her was to love her.

Bea began her professional career in March of 1974 at the Regency Gardens Nursing and Post-Acute Rehabilitation Center in Wayne.

Though her official role was in the front office and bookkeeping departments, she was so much more than that. She would engage in arts and crafts with the residents, cook with them, bake with them and reminisce with them, always in her unassuming and sincere way.

She remained a loyal and devoted Regency Gardens employee for the next 44 years!

Thats three years longer than Ive been alive, which helps place things in perspective for me.

Forty-four years as an employee in a skilled nursing facility is almost unfathomable.

Indeed, it is more than just a testament to longevity, but also to the mutual respect, qualifications and compassion on the part of the employee and the facility.

Both are to be commended for their accomplishments.

But most of all, the amazing story of Bea Ross and Regency Gardens Nursing Center should act as a clarion call to our entire industry.

It is proof that longevity in our healthcare lexicon is possible and meaningful on both ends of the equation. We can achieve great things together by retaining not only our residents, but also our employees.

Judah Gutwein LNHA, is CEO of SkyCare Media

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A new perspective on longevity - Marketplace Experts - McKnight's Long Term Care News

While we have long known that neural activity in the brain is responsible for disorders such as dementia and epilepsy, recent research conducted by scientists in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School (HMS) has shown that it also plays a role in human aging and life span.

The study was published in Nature on Oct. 16. Researchers observed mice, worms, and human brains and found that a lot of activity in the brain is correlated with shorter life spans. As such, suppressing brain activity extends life spans. This is the first piece of evidence that supports the hypothesis that nervous system activity impacts longevity in humans. Past studies have demonstrated that portions of the nervous system affect animal aging, but no prior work has shown similar effects in humans.

An intriguing aspect of our findings is that something as transient as the activity state of neural circuits could have such far-ranging consequences for physiology and life span, said study senior author Bruce Yankner, professor of genetics at HMS and co-director of the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging in a HMS press release.

A chain that affects longevity, the insulin and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) signaling pathway, is apparently where neural excitation acts. An integral portion of this signaling cascade is RE1-Silencing Transcription (REST), a protein that the Yankner Lab has shown prevents brains from developing dementia and other disorders.

Neural activity is defined as all of the electrical currents and transmissions contained within the brain. Neural excitation can result in many outcomes such as a muscle twitch or a change in our mood. As for mood, the study has not yet shown if someones thoughts, personality, or actions change their lifespan.

An exciting future area of research will be to determine how these findings relate to such higher-order human brain functions, said Yankner.

Yankner and his colleagues looked at gene expression patterns in donated tissue from people who died between the ages of 60 and 100. None of these adults had dementia.

They found that those who were alive for more than 85 years expressed neural excitation genes to a lesser extent than those who died between the ages of 60 and 80. In order to test if these results were due to correlation or causation, the researchers conducted many experiments on C. elegans, genetically altered mice, and more brain tissue.

They found that blocking REST, a protein responsible for suppressing gene expression and neural activity, caused higher neural activity and earlier deaths. Centenarians brains contained more REST than those who died earlier.

Thanks to this study, the development of new therapies that can treat conditions involving neural excitation such as Alzheimers disease or bipolar disorder is imminent. In addition, the scientists have found that some forms of medicine like drugs that target REST or some actions such as meditation may be capable of increasing lifespan through the modulation of neural activity. Since human variation in neural activity may have both environmental and genetic causes, this study has opened up future avenues for therapeutic intervention.

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Neural activity plays an important role in longevity - CMU The Tartan Online

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The key question you must answer before claiming Social Security benefits or developing a retirement plan is: How long will retirement last? Another way to phrase the question is: What is my life expectancy?

You can start to answer this question by using the average life expectancy for your age group. You also can use that only as a starting point. There are ways to arrive at a better estimate of life expectancy.

The Society of Actuaries and the American Academy of Actuaries jointly developed a free online tool, the Actuaries Longevity Illustrator (ALI).

The actuaries sorted through the data and concluded that a reasonable estimate of an individuals life expectancy can be determined from four factors: age, gender, smoking habits and whether current health is poor, average or excellent. You enter these factors in the ALI, and it gives you an answer.

But it gives you more than a simple estimate of life expectancy. The ALI results show you the probability of living to different ages. In addition, a couple can enter the data for each individual. The ALI will present the probability of life expectancies for each spouse. It will answer the questions How long can we expect to live as a couple? and By how many years might one spouse outlive the other?

The ALI is one way to obtain a personalized estimate of life expectancy. Another type of tool to consider that purports to estimate individual life expectancy is one of the online calculators that are based on questionnaires.

These calculators generally are free and available on the Internet. They usually ask a series of questions about your health and lifestyle. Some ask only a few basic questions while others ask a greater number of questions about lifestyle and recent medical tests.

The most popular of these calculators seems to be Living to 100. Social Security has a life expectancy calculator on its website, and many life insurance companies also do. The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has a calculator that received good reviews. You can access several of the well-regarded calculators in one place at http://www.lifeexpectancycalculators.com. You also can search for life expectancy calculators or something similar on your favorite web search engine.

While better than life expectancy tables and averages, the calculators also have many shortcomings.

Some of the calculators arent updated to reflect the latest research and findings often enough. Many, in a quest to be user-friendly, limit the questions they ask, leaving out issues that others consider important. Most, for example, dont ask if a person ever had cancer.

Some of the calculators make arbitrary decisions. For example, research shows that calcium-rich diets improve bone density and reduce hip fractures late in life. But the research doesnt show how much a calcium-rich diet and avoiding hip fractures increase life expectancy. Yet, at least one calculator asks about calcium in the diet and arbitrarily adjusts life expectancy based on the answer. The calculators also rely on self-reported information from the users, which can be incomplete or inaccurate.

Perhaps most important, the online calculators generally treat each factor in isolation and adjust life expectancy higher or lower based on each answer. In the real world, factors often interact. Two or more factors together can increase or decrease life expectancy more than each factor alone.

Online calculators are valuable tools, and are better ways to estimate life expectancy than the methods most people use. But I recommend that if you go this route you use more than one calculator. Youll see different results, sometimes differences of a decade or more. Then, you decide how to use the different results.

You also can consider one of the scientific services. These services involve your submitting some genetic material, usually either saliva or blood. You might need to go to a medical lab or similar facility to have the blood sample taken. The service will examine your DNA or various blood panels and compare the results to those in its database.

These services purport to offer a more scientific and personalized estimate of longevity. Some also say they can point to health or medical issues. Your life expectancy might be extended by having these issues addressed now instead of later when other symptoms arise.

These are new services, so they are a long way from having a record of accurately estimating the longevity of people who are likely to live another couple of decades or more.

Visit link:
Better Ways To Estimate How Long Retirement Will Last - Forbes

We all wonder about those long lifespans recorded at the beginning of Genesis. For example, we are told that Adam lived 930 years, that Shet lived 912 years, and that Metushelach lived 969 years. How have Jewish sources understood these numbers over the centuries?

The first Jewish source to address this issue was Josephus (late first century). Here is his statement in Antiquities, book I:

Nor let the reader, comparing the life of the ancients with our own and the brevity of its years, imagine that what is recorded of them is falseFor, in the first place, they were beloved of God and the creatures of God Himself; their diet, too, was more conducive to longevity: it was then natural that they should live so long. Again, alike for their merits and to promote the utility of their discoveries in astronomy and geometry, God would accord them a longer life

Now I will survey the views of our Geonim and Rishonim.

R. Saadiah Gaon (10th cent.) discusses this issue in his introduction to Tehillim. He writes that the longevity of these early generations was part of Gods plan for the rapid proliferation of mankind on the earth. The longer people lived, the more children they could have. It would seem that he believed that everyone in those early generations lived a long lifespan.

R. Yehudah Ha-Levi (12th cent.) discusses the issue in the Kuzari (sec. 95). He believes that it was only the individuals listed who lived long. Each of the individuals listed was the heart and essence of his generation and was physically and spiritually perfect. The Divine Flow was transmitted from one generation to another through these exceptional individuals.

Rambam, in a famous passage in the Guide to the Perplexed (II, chap. 47) writes: I say that only the persons named lived so long, whilst other people enjoyed the ordinary length of life. The men named were exceptions, either in consequence of different causes, as e.g., their food or mode of living, or by way of miracle.

Ramban (comm. to Gen. 5:4) quotes Rambams view and then disagrees, calling Rambams words divrei ruach. Ramban writes that the individuals with long lifespans named in the Bible were not exceptional in their lifespans. Rather, the entire world had long lifespans before the Flood. But after the Flood, the world atmosphere changed and this caused the gradual reduction in lifespans.

Most of the Rishonim who discussed the issue thereafter followed the approach of either the Rambam or the Ramban. Either way, they were taking the Genesis lifespan numbers literally. (An underlying factor that motivated Rishonim to accept the Genesis lifespan numbers literally was that the count from creation was calculated based on these numbers.)

Josephus had mentioned that one of the reasons that God allowed their longevity was to promote the utility of their discoveries in astronomy and geometry. This idea of longevity to enable the acquisition of knowledge and make discoveries (and write them to be passed down) is also included in several of our Rishonim. See, e.g., the commentary of the Radak to Gen. 5:4 and of the Ralbag to Gen. chap. 5 (p. 136), and the Rashbatz, Magen Avot, comm. to Avot 5:21.

Rashbatz also mentions the idea that the early generations were close in time to Adam and Adam was not born from a tipah seruchah like the rest of us, but was made by God from the earth. Those early generations inherited his superior bodily constitution.

Another idea found in some of our Rishonim is that those early individuals did not chase after taavat ha-guf, which reduces the lifespan. See, e.g., the commentary of the Radak to Gen. 5:4.

But there were some Rishonim who were unwilling to take the Genesis lifespan numbers literally.

The earliest such source that we know of was R. Moses Ibn Tibbon (late 13th cent). He suggests that the years given for peoples lives were actually the years of malkhutam ve-nimuseihim, i.e., the dynasties and/or customs that they established.

Another figure who took such an approach was R. Levi ben Hayyim (early 14th cent.). First he mentions several of the possibilities to explain the longevity, e.g., good and simple food and marrying late (!). But then he concludes that in his opinion the names mentioned were just roshei avot. In other words, the number of years given for each individual reflects the total of the years of the several generations of individuals named for that first individual.

R. Nissim of Marseilles (early 14th century) was another who did not take the numbers literally. He took the same approach as R. Moses Ibn Tibbon. The numbers did not indicate the lifespan of the specific individuals named. Rather, it included the total years of the descendants who followed his customs and lifestyle.

The most interesting approach I saw was that of R. Eleazar Ashkenazi ben Nathan ha-Bavli (14th century), in his work Tzafnat Paneach, pp. 29-30. First, R. Eleazar refers to the view that perhaps the individual numbers were not to be taken literally, and points to other statements in the Torah that were not meant to be taken literally, e.g., 1) the Land of Israel was flowing with milk and honey, and 2) the cities in Canaan were fortified up to the Heaven.

But then R. Eleazar suggests the following creative approach. In listing these individual numbers, the Torah was merely recording the legends about these figures, even though they were not accurate. The important thing was to provide data from which the total years from Creation to Matan Torah could be derived, so that the people would be able to know the length of time between these two periods. Even though the numbers for the individual lifespans were not accurate, the Torah made sure that the total that would be arrived at would be accurate. (In contrast, when it came to events from Avraham and forward, the Torah was careful to preserve a more accurate accounting.)

In modern times, one Orthodox scientist who has written much on this topic is Prof. Natan Aviezer of Bar-Ilan Univ. He discusses this topic in a post at their parshah site for Noach, 1998. There he explains that modern science has figured out that aging is largely caused by genes, and not by a wearing out of our bodies. He then suggests that when God stated at Gen. 6:3 that man would be limited to 120 years, this was when God first introduced the gene for aging into the human gene pool.

If you have not found any of the above answers satisfying, I have some good news. R. Saadiah Gaon writes (Emunot Ve-Deot, ch. 7) that in the era of the redemption the human lifespan will be approximately 500 years. Presumably, at that time we wont be bothered by those long lifespans in Genesis anymore!

I would like to acknowledge that most of the material above came from an article by Prof. D. Lasker of Ben-Gurion Univ. in Din Yisrael, vol. 26-27 (2009-10).

Mitchell First aspires to longevity and hopes his children can tolerate him for that long.

Link:
The Longevity of the Ancients Recorded in Genesis - Jewish Link of New Jersey