StemCell Therapy

Global microbiome sequencing marketis expected to rise to an estimated value of USD 3455.33 million by 2026, registering a healthy CAGR in the forecast period of 2019-2026. This rise in market value can be attributed to the focus of various researchers on utilization of this technology in the development of personalized medicine and dietary applications.

For the growth of any business, Microbiome Sequencing market research report plays a very important role. You can get an in-depth market analysis with this report to thrive in this competitive environment. Microbiome Sequencing market report is sure to lend a hand in enhancing sales and improving return on investment (ROI). Estimations of CAGR values, market drivers and market restraints helps businesses decide upon several strategies. DBMR team provides you the Microbiome Sequencing market research report with commitment that is promising and the way in which you anticipate. As it is a third-party report, Microbiome Sequencing report is more unprejudiced and hence provides a better picture of what is really happening in the market.

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Few of the major competitors currently working in the global microbiome sequencing market areBIOLOG; Cosmosid Inc; Illumina, Inc.; Metabiomics Corp.; Oxford Nanopore Technologies; BaseClear B.V.; BGI; BioMathematica; Charles River; CoreBiome, Inc.; Clinical-Microbiomics A/S; Diversigen; Eurofins Scientific; LABCYTE INC.; Leucine Rich Bio Pvt Ltd.; Microbiome Insights; MICROBIOME THERAPEUTICS, LLC; Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.; Molzym GmbH & Co. KG; Norgen Biotek Corp.; Phase Genomics Inc.; QIAGEN; Resphera Biosciences, LLC; Shoreline Biome; StarSEQ GmbH; Viome, Inc.; Zymo Research among others.

Key Developments in the Market:

Market Drivers

Market Restraints

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Segmentation: Global Microbiome Sequencing Market

By Sequencing Technology

By Component

By Targeted Disease

By Application

By Research Type

By End-User

By Laboratory Type

ByGeography

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Global Microbiome Sequencing Market By 2027 Emerging Technology, Opportunities, Analysis And Future Threats With Key Players Like Oxford Nanopore...

Neurological Biomarkers Market Research Report is a Proficient and In-Depth Study on the Existing State of Neurological Biomarkers Industry. This Report Focuses on the Major Drivers, Restraints, Opportunities and Threats for Key Players. It also Provides Granular Analysis of Market Share, Segmentation, Revenue Forecasts and Regional Analysis till 2025.

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Neurological Biomarkers Market Structure, Industry Inspection, and Forecast 202 - News by aeresearch

September 06, 2020

Doug McDaniel has spent much of his life sifting through decades worth of data online, scouring old newspapers and tracking down primary sources in hopes of documenting the athletic history of Mount Airy City Schools.

McDaniels meticulous research has connected Granite City student-athletes, coaches and fans of today with those of the past century. His work began primarily in football, but has since spread to sports across the board.

In all his trips down the rabbit hole, McDaniel has unearthed some of the most successful athletes in state history that also called Mount Airy home.

The 1973 graduate of Mount Airy High thought hed discovered the best athletes from the citys history, especially in football and basketball, by now. If someone told McDaniel there was someone he missed in his research, McDaniel would be skeptical to say the least.

Never in his life was McDaniel so elated to recently learn he was wrong.

As it turns out, a world class athlete named Ted McBride sat just a few pews away from McDaniel at Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. The two knew each other for the better part of 50 years.

McDaniel just happened to run across an old article about McBride within the past year. McDaniel considered McBride a dear friend, but he had no clue McBride possessed such an incomparable resume. It included state championships, a few All-American selections and a pair of Olympic medals.

There was no question then that McBride deserved to be known as a true legend.

I think hes the best athlete that Surry County has ever known and maybe will know, McDaniel said.

McDaniel isnt the first to believe this, either. In a 1957 article from The Mount Airy News, author Joe Griffin said the following:

When one surveys the historical annals in search of who was probably the best athlete ever to emerge from the Granite City, he can hardly overlook the performances of a young deaf athlete by the name Ted McBride.

You name it, he did it

Ted Lee McBride was born Nov. 29, 1934, to parents Benson Boss and Kate McBride.

He grew up in a big, white frame house across from the old Flat Rock High School. According to McBrides widow, Eugenia, he attended school at Flat Rock until his mother realized he was not progressing.

As a result, his mother decided the best thing to do was to send McBride to the North Carolina School for the Deaf in Morganton.

She told me, That was the hardest thing I ever had to do, to leave my son; and I couldnt go back for two weeks, Eugenia McBride said, stressing how beneficial the move was to her sons life. Ted credits that to his success. He had good parents and good teachers that influenced him a whole lot.

McBride started attending the school in 1946. Because he wasnt fluent in sign language, McBride had a lot of catching up to do in school. As a result, he didnt enter high school until 1950, just a few months shy of 16.

School officials learned very quickly they had a star in the making. Griffins article stated that McBride was tall, fast and, most importantly, humble.

You name it, he did it, Eugenia said.

McBride morphed into an all-time great in football, basketball and track.

As a tight end and defensive end, McBride helped the school record three perfect seasons in 1951, 1953 and 1954. McBride earned All-American honors in three straight seasons from 1952-54. The school had an overall record of 22-2 during that three-season span.

The schools undefeated season in 1954 was good enough to rank them third in the nation. In addition to being named an All-American for a third time, McBride was named National Player of the Year by Silent Workers, a national magazine popular with the deaf population.

McBride also served as the schools basketball center during his high school years. He led the team in rebounding for most of his high school career and was named a member of the All-American Second Team by Silent Workers.

Track and Field was the latest of McBrides sporting endeavors, picking it up in 1953. It went on to be the sport in which he experienced the most success after high school.

While at the North Carolina School for the Deaf, McBride set numerous school records in hurdles as well as the pole vault. He led the team to a national championship and was named the top individual performer in the Asheville Relays the top state event in track.

McBride captured three state championships in the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association, which didnt merge with the N.C. High School Athletic Association until 1977.

Olympic Medalist

McBride aged out of high school sports in 1955. As he finished school, McBride played basketball in an industrial league in Morganton. He led the team to a 13-2 record and was named to the all-league team.

He later represented South Carolina in the National Deaf Tournament that year. Teams from across the country convened in Washington, D.C. McBride helped South Carolina finish second in the tournament.

Graduation came in 1956. He ended up staying in Morganton to work in the maintenance department.

The completion of high school did not mark the end of McBrides athletic career. In fact, he arguably made the biggest impact after school.

The United States was tasked with assembling a team for the 1957 Deaflympics in Milan, Italy.

From Griffins article: He was so well liked and respected that, when NCSD was given an invitation to enter an athlete for competition in the Deaf Olympics [sic], Ted was the unanimous choice.

Fundraisers in both Morganton and Mount Airy helped raise the $1,200 necessary to send McBride to Italy. He was set to compete in the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles.

McBride stood tall at the international competition just as he had at every other level.

The 110-hurdles was McBrides specialty. He finished the race in 16.2 seconds to earn the gold medal. This was 0.8 seconds faster than the previous Deaflympics world record.

Competing in the 400-hurdles was new to McBride, as schools in the states only went up to 300 meters at the time. This was the first time hed competed in such a race competitively, and he still managed to grab a medal. He earned a bronze medal with a time of 56.7 seconds, just 0.2 seconds behind the silver medalist.

McBrides two medals helped Team USA win the overall track and field event. He was featured in publications such as The New York Times and in stories by the United Press.

His athletic career slowed following the Deaflympics. McBride earned an All-District award from the National Basketball Congress of America in 1959. He was later inducted into the North Carolina School for the Deaf Athletic Hall of Fame in 1979 and then the Southeast Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame in 2012.

Ted McBride is right up there with anybody as far as greatness goes, McDaniel said. I challenge anybody to have his credentials of athletic achievement. Not just countywide, not just statewide and not just nationwidebut internationally.

He was just Ted

Given McBrides incredible athletic past, its almost unfathomable to think most people never had a clue about it.

Eugenia McBride explained her husband was always humble and more interested in other peoples lives and stories. In fact, she said when they got married all of his medals and awards were in a shoebox in the trunk of his car.

He didnt brag about this, Eugenia McBride said. He was just Ted; a Mount Airy boy. If someone asked, he would tell you about it, but he never brought it up. Thats about the only way I know to describe it.

When he looked at you and he smiled I dont know how to explain it, McDaniel said. Its like a smile of caring and of love. Like saying, When Im looking at you, youre the most important person on earth.

Eugenia and Ted met through the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church. A couple in the congregation had a daughter that was about to graduate from Ted McBrides old school and wanted to attend a church in Mount Airy that had an interpreter.

We had a missionary come to the church and God just called me, she said. I got a call to go to that alter at the end of the service to commit to learning sign language. I couldnt have done it without God.

The first teacher Eugenia McBride had left the church when she had been learning for a while, saying now was the time to immerse herself in sign language. So, she and a few women from church went to beg her future husband to teach them and he agreed.

Shortly after they began dating and eventually married in 1970.

I tell everybody I married the teacher, Eugenia said.

Together, the two had a daughter, Rebecca, that is now married to Brad Calloway. Rebecca and Brad have two children in college: Hayden and Haley.

Ted McBride went on to work at Pike Electric and was well respected as a master electrician, McDaniel said. He attended church every week he was able and always cared for his friends and family.

Eugenia McBride said that being deaf did not bother Ted, and that he didnt see it as a handicap. Rather, it was just the way life was. Whether in athletics or when raising a family, McBride worked hard and never took shortcuts. It he was going to do something, it was going to get done right, Eugenia McBride said.

I get a little emotional about Ted McBride because he was such a dear friend of ours, McDaniel said. He would kind of get you started about what youre doing and never wanted to talk about himself. He just kind of deferred everything away from him. To be more like Ted McBride is what we should all strive for.

Up here we didnt even know about his past, and down there in Morganton hes a legend. He needs to be a legend up here, and he needs to be talked about.

Read more here:
County seeking broadband need response - Mount Airy News

On September 11, 2020 at about 5:07 a.m., Tara Trunfio (24), from Colorado, was arrested for Assault in the Second Degree and Resisting Arrest.

Investigation reveals that on September 11, 2020 at about 3:46 a.m., Hana Patrol officers were assigned to the 4590 Hana Highway, regarding a female with a stab wound. It was alleged that Trunfio had earlier stabbed the victim while at the end of Ulaino Road.

Trunfio was located at the very end of Uluino Road. After advisement of her Constitutional Rights and being told she was under arrest, Trunfio physically and verbally resisted. A struggle ensued. Trunfio was taken into custody and transported to the Hana Police Station. She was assessed by Medic 6. Neither Trunfio nor Officers sustained or reported any injuries as a result of this incident.

Trunfio was later transported to the Wailuku Receiving Desk for processing.

On September 11, 2020 at about 11:01 a.m., Trunfio was formally charged for Assault in the Second Degree and Resisting Arrest. Her bail is set at $7,000. As of 12:15 p.m., she remains in Police Custody.

Press Release 9-120-20 Maui Police Department

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Colorado woman arrested for Assault in the Second Degree and Resisting Arrest - Maui Time

Owning a Jersey herd that produces 8100 litres at 5.75%BF and 4.01%P (780kg fat plus protein), can prove problematic knowing where to turn to continue improving performance. But for Andrew Hastie and his family at Alderston Mains near Haddington in East Lothian, the answer has come through a marriage of focussed management, high quality genetics and up-to-date milking technology.

Having experienced success through a combination of the Viking Jersey and robotic milking during a gradual switch over the last three years, the Hasties have decided to follow this process to its logical end. This year, they will add their final two Lely Astronaut A5 robots, bringing their total to six (2 x A4 and 4 x A5), and theyll complete the switch to using genetics exclusively from the Viking countries (Sweden, Finland and Denmark).

With a modest acceptance that the herds production is nearer the top than the bottom, Mr Hastie remarks: Were not really far ahead of the average when you go to Denmark.

And therein lies the overriding reason for the familys choice of genetics, which sees the Vikings gradually take over from all other bloodlines.

The farms foundations were laid in the 1950s when grandfather, David Hastie, started the herd with native UK Jerseys. Since that time, Andrew and his parents, Gordon and Vivian, and brother, David, have fine-tuned both the farm and the herd, to reach the exceptional performance of today.

Over that period, the farm has switched from a mixed enterprise to one thats purely focussed on dairy, with all grass and arable crops across its 400 acres now grown exclusively for the 360-head herd. With a target of increasing the herd to 430 head, the plan is to consolidate numbers at this level.

Weve always enjoyed the Jersey and found her to have robustness and some health benefits over the Holstein, says Mr Hastie. We operate a sort of hybrid system where we want high yields but like the cows to go outside for exercise and grazing even with the robots as we feel its good for their health and keeps our feed costs down in summer.

Close attention has always been paid to the type of genetics that will best meet the farms targets, which began in the earliest days of the herd.

My grandfather was an early adopter of artificial insemination; hed use the best bulls he could get from the USA, New Zealand and Denmark and we continued breeding this mixture for a long time, he said.

Around 15 years ago we dropped the New Zealand bulls, largely because their genetics is driven by milk solids weight-based contracts, which are not quite like our own.

The USA we felt was at the other extreme, and our experience was that the taller, leaner and more angular animals didnt live so long.

We feel the Viking breeding programme has the balance just right, with cows which look long-lasting and producing high quality milk. They are particularly suited to our contract with Grahams Family Dairy, where we need to produce at least 5% fat for the Gold Top range.

In some past summers we had been slightly short of butterfat but find the VikingGenetics bulls are helpful in boosting that.

Around 18 months ago the farm also switched to sexed dairy semen which is now used alongside Aberdeen Angus beef.

Also opting to introduce genomic testing for heifers, Mr Hastie says this is giving an early indication of genetic potential across a range of traits.

When you have a cow on the ground you have a good idea of how she should breed, he says. But with a heifer, all you have is the animals pedigree, so a genomic test adds accuracy for many different traits.

There are also traits on the VikingGenetics bar chart which you dont normally have, he adds. This includes hoof health and saved feed index, which are helping us to breed cows with better feet and more efficiency.

We only started genomic testing recently but plan to test all 200 of our heifer calves born each year, he says. This supplies a linear bar chart, just like youd have for a bull, and you can see straight away what you need to improve.

It also ranks the heifers on the Nordic Total Merit [NTM] index, which is not unlike the UKs PLI [Profitable Lifetime Index].

Also using VikMate, the VikingGenetics mating program, Mr Hastie is able to set his own targets and receive a best-choice mating for each animal in the herd.

He says: If I want to focus on a particular trait, I can change that myself when running the program. This could be for hoof health, stature, milk quality or any other trait.

In fact, were already seeing big improvements in feet and legs through corrective breeding and starting to see changes in other areas.

This includes reducing udder depth and strengthening udder support we think theyll remain higher for longer and making other changes to help robotic milking.

This has involved a change of mindset and were now looking to widen rear teat placement as well as lengthen teats something we didnt do in the past.

We have also moved away from selection for production, now keeping our focus on health and functional traits. We have found that the milk is there, even without looking for it, which allows us to focus improvement on other areas.

Also aiming to improve the herds management and efficiency, the next robots to be installed will help in this endeavour.

He says: Our sixth robot will be a grazing robot, which will be used exclusively by our late lactation cows. Theyll be in strawed yards in winter and graze in summer, only receiving concentrates while at grass, when theyre having no total mixed ration.

Im confident well maintain their yields and should manage body condition score better. I think it will save 1-2 per head each day in feed costs for the last 30-40 days of lactation.

Asked how the Viking-bred cattle have impacted profitability, he believes its too early to say with any precision.

In a few years, when nearly all the herd is Danish, Ill be able to tell you but all I can say now is that we are very pleased.

FARM facts

360 milking Jerseys rising to 430 in year-round calving system

Production at 8100 litres at 5.75%BF and 4.01%P (780kg fat plus ptn)

All breeding switched to VikingGenetics for longevity and milk quality

Four A4/A5 Lely robots, increasing to six, including one grazing robot

Sexed semen produces 200 Jersey heifers/year for replacements and sale

Genomic testing introduced for all Jersey heifer calves this year

TMR fed to all milking groups except late lactation, plus concentrates to yield

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Viking genetics and robots working together at Alderston Mains - The Scottish Farmer

When it comes to healthy eating, one size does not fit all. Japanese cooking, with its emphasis on rice, fish, and vegetables, may not be the best diet for everyone, but it is marvelously suited to the physiology of the Japanese, writes physician and writer Okuda Masako.

The popularity of Japanese cuisine has soared in recent decades, and one reason is undoubtedly its healthful image. The average lifespan of the Japanese people climbed rapidly after World War II. By around 1980, Japan had the highest life expectancy of any country in the world, and it still ranks near the top. (The worlds oldest living person is also a Japanese woman.) Amid a slew of investigations into the secrets of Japanese longevity, attention quickly centered on the benefits of washoku, traditional Japanese cooking.

My research and experience have taught me that the optimal diet depends on a variety of hereditary and environmental factors. But there is no denying that washoku has contributed to the health and longevity of the Japanese people. Let us begin by examining how.

In terms of health and long life, the biggest physiological factor the Japanese have going for them is a low risk of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis occurs when fats and other substances build up along the walls of arteries, restricting or even blocking blood flow. In the brain, such a blockage is known as a cerebral infarction (stroke); in the heart, it is called a myocardial infarction (heart attack). The incidence of myocardial infarction in Japan is among the lowest in the world.

Scientists believe that both genetics and diet play a role in protecting Japanese arteries. One factor is a high level of good cholesterol, or HDL (high-density lipoproteins), in the blood. In a 2008 study, Japanese HDL levels were found to be roughly 10% higher than those of white Americans on average. Another reason is that fish is a big part of the traditional Japanese diet, and fish contains EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), two polyunsaturated fatty acids that help prevent hardening of the arteries. Since ancient times, the Japanese have been eating oily fish like mackerel, sardines, yellowtail tuna, and eel, which are abundant off the coast of Japan and are rich in EPA and DHA. In a 2015 study, the average concentration of DHA in Japanese maternal milk was determined to be up to six times that found in Western countries and about twice that found in China.

A second major contributor to Japanese health is the gut microbiota, the many and varied microorganisms living in the intestinal tract. A 2016 analysis of the intestinal microbiota of subjects from 12 countries found that the Japanese had the highest counts of beneficial bifidobacteria. (Interestingly, the gut microbiome of the Chinese subjects was closer to that of the Western subjects studied.) This can probably be attributed to the high fiber content of the traditional Japanese diet, with its emphasis on grains and vegetables. Dietary fiber provides a good nutritional environment for beneficial microbes and helps cleanse the gut of the harmful substances that unhealthy bacteria produce. Since it takes a generation or more to permanently alter the gut microbiota, todays Japanese probably owe their intestinal health to the dietary habits of their parents and grandparents.

All of this might lead one to the conclusion that eating washoku will automatically make one healthier. Unfortunately, it is not quite so simple. In general, the traditional diets that developed in various parts of the world were optimally adapted to the local environment and the needs of the native population. The physiology of the native population, in return, adapted to the diet.

There are obvious physical differences between Japanese people and Westerners. But the differences go beyond hair texture and eye color. There are also disparities in musculature, body fat, and body temperature, as well as various factors that affect digestion and metabolism of alcohol: hormone and enzyme secretion, the shape of the stomach, the composition of the gut flora, and so forth. Race is not just skin-deep.

The Japanese stomach is adapted to consumption of grain.

Figure 1 illustrates the stomach shapes typically found in Japanese people on the one hand and people of Westerners extraction on the other. The differences are the result of disparities in the traditional diet.

The Japanese have long relied on rice and other grains as their dietary staple. Grains are a good source of energy, but whole grains in particular take time to digest because of their high fiber content. The Japanese stomach is vertically elongated so as to store, mix, and break down such food before it continues on into the intestines. The intestines, in turn, are rich in the kinds of bacteria that help digest and extract nutrition from starchy foods.

By contrast, the traditional European diet, with its emphasis on meat and dairy products, is considerably higher in protein and fat. Since protein and fat are digested primarily in the intestines, the food needs to move more rapidly from the stomach to the gut. The digestive system evolved to deal with these demands. For example, a large quantity of stomach acid is produced so that the stomach can process the food quickly; comparatively thicker stomach muscles then push it smoothly into the intestines.Plenty of enzymes and other fluids are secreted to aid the digestion of fat and protein inside the intestines.

It has long been known that the ability of adults to digest milk varies by ethnicity and region. The bodys capacity to digest the lactose in milk hinges on continued production of the enzyme lactase. The map in figure 2 shows the global distribution of lactose-intolerant adults in various parts of the world, with higher concentrations indicated by darker shades. While most people in the British Isles and Scandinavia digest milk easily, close to 90% of adults in Southeast Asia and East Asia (including Japan) have trouble with it.

Darker shades indicate regions with higher rates of adult lactose intolerance.

Such differences in physiology can translate into serious health problems when people adopt different diets and lifestyles. One example involves vitamin D, which is essential to bone health, among other things. Vitamin D is produced inside the body when the skin is exposed to the suns ultraviolet rays, but it can also be obtained from dietary sources like oily fish. It has been suggested that Africans, who evolved in a part of the world where year-round UV exposure is high, may be less well equipped to absorb vitamin D from dietary sources, and this may be why African Americans tend to have relatively low vitamin-D levels. Some experts have warned that African Americans need to adjust their diets to avoid health problems resulting from vitamin D insufficiency. The optimum diet for any person depends on genetic makeup, as well as lifestyle and environment.

Genetics also influences the way our bodies accumulate fat. One characteristic of the Japanese constitution is the tendency to accumulate visceral adipose tissue, or fat inside the abdominal cavity, as opposed to the subcutaneous fat that collects under the skin. Unfortunately, visceral fat is the more worrisome kind.

Cross-sections showing the distribution of abdominal fat in representative Japanese (left) and Westerners (right) subjects.

This is a fairly recent phenomenon, mind you. In earlier times, obesity was relatively rare in Japan, and the incidence of chronic diseases associated with visceral fatincluding type 2 diabetes, along with other diseases like breast cancer and colon cancerwas correspondingly low. That began to change in the 1960s to 1980s, as the Japanese diet became increasingly westernized, leading to higher fat consumption and lower intake of fiber. And with more people doing deskwork and leading sedentary lifestyles, lack of exercise contributed to the rise of obesity and the accumulation of visceral fat. The result has been a significant increase in disease, raising concerns for the future.

Extensive studies have revealed that a traditional Japanese dietlow in meat and dairy products, high in soybeans and fish, and high in fiber from grains, vegetables, and seaweedis tied to very low accumulation of visceral fat. In other words, washoku is ideally suited to the physiological traits of the Japanese people, protecting them from their innate tendency to accumulate visceral fat. Without knowing the science, our forebears managed to develop, preserve, and pass down a dietary culture perfectly adapted to our own metabolism.

Washoku has other health benefits as well. Soybeans, green and yellow vegetables, and small fish eaten whole all help to build strong bones. Lifelong consumption of soy foods also contributes to the relativelylow incidence in Japan of diabetes, breast cancer, and colon cancer, all ailments linked closely to visceral fat levels, as compared with the West

One notable weakness of the Japanese diet as it has developed in the past two or three centuries is the overwhelming preference for polished rice. For the health-conscious, I would recommend brown rice, which has seven times the dietary fiber of white rice and contains substances that help the body burn visceral fat.

In recent years, science has made considerable progress in identifying genetic differences among ethnic groups. In 2016, a Japanese team of researchers released the first Japanese reference genome panel (JRG v1), a whole-genome assembly representing the genes of a typical healthy Japanese. Comparison with the human reference genome has revealed millions of single-nucleotide differences, many of which doubtless reflect significant differences in nutrition physiology. We need to abandon the one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition and consider what diet works best for each ethnic group.

Nowadays, the Japanese people are able to enjoy delicious cooking from every part of the world. That is a splendid thing, as long as we keep in mind that washoku is the bedrock of our much-admired health and longevity.

(Originally written in Japanese. Banner photo: Dairy and meat products figure heavily in the Western diet, while the traditional Japanese diet has much to offer in the area of human health. Pixta.)

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Nutrition and the Wisdom of Ethnic Cuisine: A Japanese Doctor's Perspective - Nippon.com

Would knowing the date of your death influence your actions? It did for Tiberius Caesar. Convinced by the court astrologer Thrasyllus that he had many years of life ahead of him, the paranoid old emperor chose to postpone the murder of his heir Caligula.

But by believing Thrasylluss prediction and letting his guard down, Tiberius inadvertently gave Caligula enough time to poison him first. The rest, as they say, is history which Thrasyllus had altered by deliberately overestimating his employers life expectancy.

While many of us are unlikely to find ourselves in Caesars position, knowing how many years we have left may influence many aspects of our life including when to retire, whether to take a long-awaited vacation, and even whether to opt for certain medical treatments.

My Longevity, a newly developed app from researchers at the University of East Anglia, now allows each of us to be our own life expectancy astrologer. But how much trust should we place in these predictions?

Simply put, life expectancy is how long, on average, members of any given population can expect to life. This is different from lifespan, which is the maximum length of time any member of the species can survive.

Although lifespan has changed very little if at all global life expectancy has soared by more than 40 years since the beginning of the 20th century. This was achieved through a combination of scientific discoveries and public health measures that drove down infant mortality. In the UK, life expectancy at birth is now over 80 years.

Life expectancy depends a lot on where you grow up or live. So the more a disparate population can be broken down into sub-populations who have traits in common but which are still large enough to be statistically significant the more accurate predictions become. Doing this might involve subdividing the population by sex (on average females live longer than males) or smoking status (for obvious reasons) or both.

The team of researchers used a sophisticated version of this approach when developing their app, informed by its previous research. This allows its app to factor in the life expectancy effects of controlled and uncontrolled high blood pressure, the presence of related illnesses such as cardiovascular disease or rheumatoid arthritis, ongoing treatment with statins, and serious risk factors, such as high cholesterol.

Developing the app has involved dealing with some problems along the way in estimating potential health benefits for the overall population based on those seen in clinical trials. This is because discrepancies exist between trial subjects and populations for a number of reasons but usually they are cases of what is known as tight segmentation working against you.

For example, a clinical trial of the effects of orange juice in sailors with scurvy will show profound benefits because they are a tight segment with vitamin C deficiency. But anyone expecting to see the same beneficial effects on health from prescribing orange juice to everyone taking a boat trip today is going to be deeply disappointed.

How seriously you should treat the predictions from an app of this type is basically a function of how accurately it reflects the sub-population into which you best fit. I compared my life expectancy prediction from My Longevity with calculators provided by the UK Office for National Statistics and those of two insurance companies. The predictions varied from 84-90 years. As Im 54, this may not have been a completely fair test of My Longevity because the data the team has used makes the app most accurate for the over 60s.

The major reason life expectancy calculators spit out such different figures is because there are a wide range of factors influencing the results. Being married increases your life expectancy compared to being single, as does being happy. In addition to smoking, levels of fruit and vegetable intake influence life expectancy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, levels of alcohol consumption and exercise make a profound difference to life expectancy. These are concrete lifestyle changes people can make which can add years to their lives.

The East Anglia research team hopes that access to its calculator will encourage users to adopt healthier lifestyles. Although there is some evidence that framing behaviours in terms of their effects on life expectancy is an effective way of encouraging people to embrace healthier lifestyles, superficial discussions of health and longevity often assume that everyone will seek to maximise life expectancy if only they are fed enough of the facts about it.

However, human motivation is emotional and intuitive at its core and is shaped by what a person most values in life. Propositions that accord with a persons values are typically supported. Those that dont are either ignored or rejected.

Another common mistake made by those promoting behaviour change is to assume their own dominant values are shared by the people they want to adopt the behaviour in question. This approach will only convince people who already think and feel like them. But the more developers of such apps recognise that users will only adopt certain behaviours according to their values and beliefs, the more useful these apps will be.

More here:
Longevity app calculates your life expectancy but will it make us healthier? - The Conversation UK

Editors note: This is Part 2 of a four-part series on longevity in the High Country. The series is being produced in partnership with The Aspen Times, Vail Daily, Glenwood Post Independent, Summit Daily News and Steamboat Pilot & Today. Read more at steamboatpilot.com/longevity.

DENVER It isnt noticeable at first, starting with changes to the brain that the brain can compensate for, meaning no real impact on day-to-day functions or cognition.

But as time passes, the brain can no longer compensate for these changes and the damage its experiencing. Subtle problems with memory and thinking begin to pop up. Subtle turns to noticeable. Noticeable turns to inhibiting the ability to carry out everyday activities and eventually to requiring around-the-clock care.

This is the broad view progression from pre-clinical to severe Alzheimers disease, a degenerative brain disease that becomes worse with time and age and is the most common cause of dementia, as explained by the Alzheimers Association.

In Colorado, an estimated 76,000 people are living with Alzheimers dementia, and that number is expected to increase 21% to 92,000 by 2025, a 2020 Alzheimers Association report states. As of July 2019, 14.6% of Coloradans or roughly 840,000 people were 65 or older, U.S. Census data shows.

But while generally speaking its been shown that living in higher altitude communities in places like Steamboat Springs can lead to a more active, healthier lifestyle and even prolonged life, how does living at altitude impact and correlate with degenerative brain diseases that cause dementia, like Alzheimers?

In short, the answer is complicated and not well researched by scientists and clinicians, as explained by Dr. Huntington Potter, director of the Alzheimers and Cognition Center at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus.

As far as I know, there isnt a lot of evidence one way or another about high altitudes versus low altitudes for Alzheimers disease risk, Potter said. We cant say one way or another whether high altitude is a risk factor for Alzheimers.

Alzheimers disease is namely the result of the accumulation of the protein fragment beta-amyloid outside of neurons in the brain and of an abnormal form of the protein tau inside neurons, as described by the Alzheimers Association.

At the Alzheimers and Cognition Center, which is part of both the CU Anschutz Medical Campus and School of Medicine, clinicians and researchers are dedicated to discovering effective early diagnostics, preventions, treatments and ultimately cures for Alzheimers disease and related neurodegenerative disorders, according to its website.

For Potter, that means looking at biomarkers or diagnostic proteins in the blood that can help clinicians predict the disease earlier and conducting projects that look at the longitudinal sort of lifespan of people with Alzheimers disease and other research that can quickly be translated to better care, treatment and hopefully a cure.

Right now, the center is studying a drug called Leukine, which preliminary data shows may actually improve Alzheimers disease in the short term, Potter explained. The center also is studying other drugs that attack the disease, which so far are looking very promising as well.

Leukine may be the first one we found that looks promising, but we have several coming up that look promising as well, Potter said. Its been a tremendous privilege to work with all of the clinicians and scientists and scientist clinicians at the Alzheimers and Cognition Center, and were absolutely determined to make Colorado one of the places that discovers the cure for Alzheimers disease.

When it comes to looking at the potential correlation between living at high altitude and the risk for Alzheimers and other dementia-inducing diseases, Potter and Dr. Peter Pressman of the Alzheimers and Cognition Center said it would take great effort, time and funding to research.

Pressman, who is a behavioral neurologist and researcher with the center, said on top of securing and carefully selecting a large group of people living at altitude to participate in a study, researchers would also have to follow that group for around a decade to get meaningful results, which is not impossible but not easy.

Its easy to fund a study for a few years. People give you money to do something for two to three years, but two to three years is not enough time for a process as slow as Alzheimers and dementia to really even pick up, Pressman said. Im not saying thats not possible, its doable, but it would take some effort.

Looking at this potential correlation between living at high altitude and risk of Alzheimers dementia and others is not just a difficult feat for Colorado researchers little research with concrete findings exists nationally and globally as well.

One study published in 2015 by Dr. Stephen Thielke in JAMA Psychiatry looked at deaths attributed to Alzheimers dementia reported in 58 counties in California to try to determine whether rates of dementia were associated with average altitude of residence. The study found that the counties at higher elevation generally had lower rates of dementia mortality.

Oxidative abnormalities have been long proposed to be central to the pathogenesis of dementia, the study research letter states. One group of researchers previously found that hypoxia prevents neurodegeneration in rats in experimental Alzheimer disease and hypothesized that adaptation to induced hypoxia may prevent dementia. To our knowledge, our work is the first to find epidemiological evidence for such effects. Additional work is needed to determine whether this relationship holds in other populations.

But beyond this study, there isnt much conclusive evidence for or against a correlation, as emphasized by Dr. Brent Kious, a psychiatrist, assistant professor and researcher with both University of Utah Health and the schools Department of Psychiatry.

Kious has studied the link between living at high altitude and major depressive disorder, anxiety and suicide and said he and his research team have been interested in the impact of altitude on the incidence and median age of onset of Parkinsons disease, but has not studied this impact or the effects of altitude on dementia risk.

However, Kious said decrements in cognitive performance due to chronic exposure to moderately high elevation might not necessarily translate into an increased risk of dementia, since the symptoms of dementia depend both on baseline cognitive performance and on pathological neurodegenerative processes.

It is not clear whether altitude would affect those neurodegenerative processes or not, though there is some reason to think that they involve oxidative damage so relative hypoxia might slow them, Kious said via email. However, he went on to note that relative and prolonged hypoxia has also been associated with dementia risk, too. In any case, a good epidemiological study of the association between altitude and dementia should control for things that might be associated with both.

While there may not be good data for or against high altitude as an Alzheimers and dementia risk factor, there is evidence that people living in more rural communities do not have the same access to dementia care and treatment as those living in urban areas.

According to the 2020 Snapshot of Rural Health in Colorado, produced by the Colorado Rural Health Center, 721,500 people are living in rural Colorado and 19% of the rural population is age 65 or older. Rural is defined as a non-metropolitan county is no cities over 50,000 residents, the snapshot report says.

While there are some dementia care resources in more rural Colorado communities, the Alzheimers and Cognition Center is working to do more to develop meaningful relationships with health care providers and dementia patients in the states mountain communities as part of its mission.

According to Pressman, who is heading this charge on behalf of the CU center, a lot of projects are in the planning stages and process of acquiring funding but include virtually educating medical providers, nurse practitioners and primary care doctors on Alzheimers and general healthy brain aging and mutual, participatory research with rural Colorado communities and communities of color.

Pressman explained that a lot of research related to Alzheimers overwhelmingly is based on middle class, well-educated, white participants. And so while researchers think they know a lot about the disease in general, they really only know about the disease related to this demographic group.

Through the centers outreach and efforts to better connect with underrepresented communities, Pressman hopes to conduct better science and better serve the larger Colorado community.

What motivates me is trying to do good work, trying to do good science and to makes sure our results actually represent real life, Pressman said. We want to make sure were helping everybody, not just a niche group, and that our services are available equitably to as many people as possible.

Although theres no clear correlation between living in higher altitude, mountain communities and dementia and Alzheimers risk, it is clear that as Americas aging population reaches 65 and older, these medical conditions will remain a relevant risk for seniors.

Maddie Vincent is a reporter at The Aspen Times. She can be reached at mvincent@aspentimes.com.

See the article here:
The Longevity Project Part 2: An unclear correlation Colorado clinicians and researchers talk Alzheimer's risk, care in mountain communities -...

Which risk factors pose the greatest threat to a retirees finances?

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (CRR) recently published a paper taking a deep dive in search of answers.

The researchers looked at five factors and offered objective answers, as well as subjective answers from retiree interviews.

They considered five risk factors: longevity risk (outliving your money); market risk (investment losses); health risk; family risk (unforeseen need of a family member); and policy risk (such as cuts to Social Security benefits).

Survey participants viewed market risk as the greatest threat, due to the participants exaggeration of market volatility, according to the survey authors.

The CRR study suggests retirees should reassess the risks.

Objectively, the study found longevity risk, followed by health risk, to be the most serious factors.

So, could it be that the scariness of stock market crashes clouds our judgment?

Could it be we worry too much about market risk because its here and now, while living very long or developing health problems is something that may happen later, if at all?

If your account statement shows a large drop, you know exactly how big a hit youve taken. It poses an immediate and measurable risk to your finances.

If your doctor tells you your cholesterol is too high or that you need to lose weight well, you may feel fine, so how bad can it be? Doctors are programmed to warn about that stuff, anyways.

Sometimes, I hear people men in particular pooh-pooh the chance of their living a long life. They may say something to the effect of my dad died before 80; I likely wont last much longer. As if heredity were the only, or even dominant, factor.

Read more from the original source:
Jorgen Vik: What are the five greatest threats to your retirement finances? - The Daily Progress

National life expectancy data is not a suitable tool for retirement planning, an expert has warned.

Joseph Lu, director of longevity science at Legal & General Retail Retirement Income, made the warning at this week's FTAdviser webinar The Long and Short of Longevity Risk.

He said: National life expectancy data is not suitable for planning as it implies there is a one in twochance of outliving the figure.

"It doesnt account for health, wealth and other important factors.

If we would like a 90 per cent chanceof achieving life-long financial security, for age 65, plan for living to 100. This means planning for 35 years."

But he added: "It is not just the length of life that matters. I would also want to think about health which in turn determines needs in retirement.

Mr Lu highlighted recent research by the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association, which showed that a couple would need almost 29,100 each year to achieve a moderate retirement, but 47,500 for a comfortable retirement.

His sentiments were echoed by Bruce Guthrie, professor of general practice at the University of Edinburgh, who said although statistics can help, they are not a guarantee.

He said: Prediction tools can help focus a clinicians mind and focus a patients mind, but these tools should not be certainty.

During the webinar, advisers heard how statistical models can be built into the client's planning process but that these should be part of an overall conversation with the individual, as there are many behavioural and personal biases around longevity and mortality that will need to be factored into pension planning.

Jon Scannell,distribution director for Legal & General Retail Retirement Income, noted that it is useful to pay attention to a variety of factors. He told listeners there were 'four Ls' that could prove a good starting-point for conversations around making the pension pot last.

These are: "Legacy, Liquidity, Lifestyle and Longevity". The challenge is for advisers to be able to balance client expectations for retirement with the facts around lifestyle, health, mortality and the various other risks that can have an effect on a pension pot.

The webinar, which was sponsored by L&G and is available online for a month, also discussed the impact of talking to clients about life expectancy, and how advisers can de-risk their business.

aamina.zafar@ft.com

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Longevity risk: The key questions answered - FT Adviser

Dr. Hinohara was still treating patients and clocking 18-hour workdays up to a few months before he passed away. He clearly loved what he did, and he was fortunate to have a sense of purpose saving lives.

Possibly my favorite piece of wisdom he shared was the concept that when you have a long life expectancy, you can spend the first 60 years working for you and your family, then the next 40 years working for the greater good and contributing to make the world a better place giving you a sense of greater purpose.

Remember the Gallup Work Engagement Study?

Lets be realistic about the world we live in today. Only 1 in 5 people truly love their work like Dr. Hinohara did. Most big companies call you family, but in the end, they serve their shareholders. Surplussing is one of the new and more despicable terms for sugarcoating when a company needs to lay people off theres a surplus of humans here, so lets reduce the surplus. Not to mention, from ages 55 to 65, you may not have the choice to keep working at your primary job.

The result? One in 5 people in the U.S. downright hate their jobs, another 3 in 5 could take it or leave it. So, 4 out of 5 workers dont share Dr. Hinoharas love of work and a sentiment to never retire.

Keep in mind I wrote You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think, so Im a little biased toward Americans being able to stop working at their current job long before age 105. However, one of the main components thats paramount to an early and happy retirement is having multiple activities/projects/endeavors that youre passionate about working on. I call these, core pursuits. Its something that Dr. Hinohara clearly had down pat.

Put core pursuits at the center of your retirement planning.

First of all, losing the dignity of work isnt easy for most people. Remember the study from Harrys that said the No. 1 predictor of a mans happiness is his job satisfaction and his feeling of impact at his company and career? Americans, both men and women, love to work and love to earn if their productivity is channeled in the right direction.

It isnt easy to replicate the energy, challenge and accomplishment you get from work its almost like rigorous exercise. The workout or run may hurt, but it makes you stronger, and healthier. In some respects, continuing to work, particularly at something you enjoy doing, offers similar benefits.

Just look at Jimmy Buffett. He made a living of singing about wastin' away again in Margaritaville, but when you look at the empire that hes built with his music, beverages, real estate, restaurants and other merchandise, its easy to see that this guy works his tail off to sell the idea of a relaxing life to others. And based on his success and his reported half-a-billion dollar net worth, its clear that hes not just in it for the money these days.

The end result of working similar to a long run or workout at the gym is very difficult to replace. So, the HROBs Happiest Retirees on the Block of the world re-create their work stimulation by deploying a long series of core pursuits.

Maybe yoga, gardening, fishing, hiking, biking, running, walking, golfing, going to church, crafting or art ends up not being enough. Thats OK. Maybe you can transition your skills into a very involved volunteer role or lower-paying nonprofit job. Maybe its starting your own small business. Consider a teaching, coaching or mentoring role. Write a book. Start a website. Join a band. Become a tour guide or historian in your town. Put your cooking skills to use to feed your community. Your core pursuits can lead you to a more fulfilling future while adding life to your years.

Get going and get growing.

I get what Dr. Hinohara was saying, but beyond following a sparse diet and taking the stairs, his advice to work forever just wont work for most Americans. We have to work and save so we can have the economic freedom to follow our passions. Its something thats typically unrealistic if you have a new mortgage and are trying to raise a family. Happy retirees find themselves in the opposite position. They can take on a job or career thats focused on feeding their soul rather than financing their family.

Remember Dr. Hinoharas reflection that once youve raised your family, the next phase of your life (60-plus) can be focused on you and the greater good around you.

Curiosity killed the cat, but a lack of curiosity is what kills the happy retiree.

Wes Moss has been the host of Money Matters on News 95.5 and AM 750 WSB in Atlanta for more than 10 years now, and he does a live show from 9-11 a.m. Sundays. He is the chief investment strategist for Atlanta-based Capital Investment Advisors. For more information, go to wesmoss.com.

DISCLOSURE

This information is provided to you as a resource for informational purposes only and is not to be viewed as investment advice or recommendations. This information is being presented without consideration of the investment objectives, risk tolerance, or financial circumstances of any specific investor and might not be suitable for all investors. This information is not intended to, and should not, form a primary basis for any investment decision that you may make. Always consult your own legal, tax, or investment adviser before making any investment/tax/estate/financial planning considerations or decisions.

Original post:
Wes Moss: You dont have to work forever, but you can use your talents - Atlanta Journal Constitution

For instance, the bacteria on your mask may make its way to your hands, and it could then spread from here.

That said, its advisable to wash your hands before you take off your mask. Its also best that you dont touch the front of the mask as you take it off. Rather, take it off by unlooping or untying the strands from your ears, making sure to avoid touching the front.

Mistake #5: Youre Wearing the Wrong Size

Theres no point in wearing a face mask if it doesnt fit well. If its too small, then youre probably leaving your nose exposed and if its too loose, then viral particles are more likely to get in through the side openings. Whats more, if your mask doesnt fit well then youre going to be constantly readjusting it, which then increases the risk of contamination.

Your mask should fit snugly on your face, but not so tight to the point where it makes it difficult to breathe normally.

Additionally, facial hair may make it harder to wear a mask so you may want to think about trimming your beard.

Read the original here:
12 Face Mask Mistakes You Need To Stop Making - Longevity LIVE - Longevity LIVE

2020 Lexus GS350: Does GS stand for Grandpa's Sedan?

Price: $58,335 as tested. The All-Weather Package added $290; 19-inch wheels, $660; power trunk, $400; park assist, $500; heated steering wheel and open-pore trim, $800. More mentioned throughout.

Conventional wisdom: Car and Driver liked the "refined driving dynamics, huge trunk, extensive range of standard features," but not that "fuel economy trails that of several rivals; Apple CarPlay and Android Auto aren't offered; underwhelming cabin design."

Marketer's pitch: "Experience amazing."

Reality: It's a Grandpa Sedan, but maybe he knows a thing or two, right?

What's new: I've never been convinced that the latest thing is always the best. I take the long-term approach to life and tend not to be an early adopter. Best to stick with simple and familiar.

Well, the GS may not be so simple, but it's certainly familiar. The latest generation of GS was introduced for the 2016 model year, and its age is really starting to show. And while the 2020 is the end of the GS line, don't write it off your list just yet.

Up to speed: The 3.5-liter V-6 engine creates 311 horsepower, plenty of oomph for a standard sedan. The translates into nice acceleration, with a 0 to 60 of 5.8 seconds, according to Car and Driver.

On the road: I had a rare opportunity (these days) to take the GS350 out on a longish trip, to visit Sturgis Grandma 1.0 while she recuperates from a broken hip.

The all-wheel-drive test model handled the turnpike smoothly, but without giving any real reason to get excited. It's a four-door sedan from Toy er, Lexus, and it actually felt a lot like last generation's Avalon, a real road sailor of the old Ford LTD variety. I thought it would feel better out on the open road, somehow smoother and ready to cruise, but I found the GS350 liked to wander and waver.

The GS350 really shone, though, closer to home. No, it didn't make winding country roads a delight, but it sure felt smooth and sure-footed on the more gentle bends, and hill-climbing is a real strength. Sport mode makes the handling tighter, but the acceleration turns a little too wild.

Shifty: The pricey luxury sedan does it all with last generation's gearbox. That's a six-speed automatic driving the wheels.

The vehicle seemed to rely on downshifting for a lot of braking and often seemed to get "stuck" in a lower gear in a variety of situations. For instance, say you were coming upon a state trooper parked by the side of the road, so you needed to let off the gas in a hurry because, lo, the car just got away from you there. So while suddenly scooting back toward the high 60 mph range, the vehicle chose fourth gear. And stayed there. An unwelcome phenomenon, indeed both the gear selection and the, uh, roadside reminder.

Driver's Seat: Like most Lexii, the GS350 certainly offers drivers a comfortable saddle. The Premium Package ($1,760) turns the leather seats warm or cold at the touch of a button (and also offers rain sensing wipers and rear sunshade). It's roomy and spacious with a lot of dashboard in view, like Grandpa's old LTD as well.

Friends and stuff: The rear seat provides a comfortable space, but not nearly as roomy as the bulky exterior of the sedan would have you believe. Though legroom invites stretching, a low front seat nibbles away foot room while a low roof tightens headroom.

Cargo space is cavernous 18.4 cubic feet.

Play some tunes: The Mark Levinson stereo system ($1,180) features 17 speakers, 835 watts, and premium surround. Sound quality is about an A-, great at high volumes but not much in a more normal range.

Lexus gives this vehicle last generation's infotainment controls, though, and that's a good thing. Today's standard-issue touchpad can be a challenge to direct, but the GS350 gets the old joystick control. Bump up, down, left, or right to move around the screen. Better than a touchpad, but it still requires too much attention to be effective. Our eyes are supposed to be on the road, right, Lexus?

Night shift: The interior lights cast a friendly, subtle glow. LED headlights shine clearly and in the right places, a feature not often standard with the LEDs.

Fuel economy: I averaged 23 mpg in a long highway test and a couple of short runs near home. Feed the GS350 premium, natch.

Where it's built: Aichi, Japan.

How it's built: Consumer Reports predicts the GS350 reliability to be a 5 out of 5.

In the end: If you're in the market for a luxury sedan with comfort, some decent handling, and a good chance at longevity, the end of the GS line may give you a shot at a bargain and a Lexus without a stereo touchpad control.

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The Lexus GS350: longevity for a bargain - News from southeastern Connecticut - theday.com

Creating a vaccine that would be injected into the arms of millions of people is a usually a years-long endeavor. Not only is the process slowed by trial and error and first-time failures, it's also traditionally restricted by rigorous clinical trials that in their final stages can give public health authorities a reasonable idea of whether a vaccine is safe and effective.

But not even a full year after the first infection from the novel coronavirus in China was documented, the White House is now saying a vaccine could be fast-trackedas soon as early November.

A safe, effective shot produced so rapidly would be unprecedented. It could also save tens of millions of Americans from falling ill with Covid-19 and prevent countless deaths. And the U.S. could desperately use a shot in the arm in its losing fight against the outbreak: Nearly 6.5 million Americans have been diagnosed with the virus -- with some severely sickened-- and nearly 200,000 have been killed.

But what if a hastily rolled out vaccine that skips the final stages of study turns out to have unforeseen problems -- either with safety or efficacy? What happens, for example, if millions of vials are distributed of a prematurely OK'd vaccine and then it turns out to be inferior to a better one that completes all trials months later? What if fading antibodies mean a vaccine's protection wears off after only a short time -- a possibility that can't be known with trials only carried out over several months? Would your own physician even recommend a fast-tracked vaccine if it lacked key data that would be typically expected for review?

To sort through these questions, we asked Dr. Otto O. Yang, a veteraninfectious disease expert and medical doctor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Yang specializes in clinical infectious diseases, and his laboratory focuses on T-cell immunology in HIV infection, as it relates to developing immune therapies and vaccines for HIV and other diseases and infections.

While it would be impossible to predict which of the dozens of vaccine candidates might be most likely to see early approval, said Yang, the two leading candidates could be themRNA nanoparticle vaccine byModerna (MRNA) - Get Reportand therecombinant adenovirus one byOxford University and AstraZeneca (AZN) - Get Report.

"From the limited amount of data Ive seen" that's publicly available, said Yang, "it looks like both vaccine candidates generate the right types of antibodies that we would expect to be effective at preventing infection. And, they both generate T-cell responses, which could be effective in more than one way."

But there are many other factors at play in creating a Covid shot -- and there could be unexpected consequences of speeding through vaccine approvals or just running with the first one that looks acceptable.

Yang was reached by phone this week by TheStreetto discuss these vaccine projects, the possibility for a fast-track OK and potential pitfalls. The following is an edited version of the interview.

TheStreet: Specifically, looking at the vaccine project by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, Ive heard some concern that it might prevent the development of full-blown disease in patients, but might not prevent the spread of the virus from one person to another. What are your thoughts?

Yang: Its a theoretical possibility. So, if a vaccine doesnt fully protect somebody from getting infected, its possible they could get a milder infection. Even with the flu vaccine that we get annually, in some cases it appears to make infection milder, even if it doesnt protect you from getting infected. But I think its most likely that even if somebody did get infected, the immune responses that would be put in place by the vaccine would probably reduce symptoms and reduce severity. If so, it would most likely reduce the degree to which somebody is contagious. Its a theoretical concern, but not something that I would be that worried about.

TheStreet: In a general sense, weve seen reports about, and youve researched, the potential for fading of antibodies. Is there a concern that there could be a vaccine that is safe and it seems to work and then, say six months down the road, somebody gets infected, though they were vaccinated?

Yang: Its definitely a possible scenario. Potentially dropping antibodies might mean that immunity will wane, but its not entirely clear that thats true. The fact is that immunology is kind of a black box and we dont know for sure that antibodies are the whole story for protecting somebody from infection. The data are worrisome that protection will be short-lived for natural infection. And there recently have been increasing news reports of people getting reinfected. That does raise concerns for the longevity of protection from a vaccine, and, of course, short-term vaccine trials are not going to be able to tell us about longevity.

That does raise concerns for the longevity of protection from a vaccine, and, of course, short-term vaccine trials are not going to be able to tell us about longevity.

But one of the big unknowns is whether the vaccine could actually do a better job at making antibodies or T-cell responses than natural infection itself. The study that we did on dropping antibodies was on people who were naturally infected and had fairly mild disease. It is clear that people with more severe infection have fairly high antibody levels, so a vaccine could look more like that like a person who has a more severe infection and fairly high levels of antibodies.

The other thing is, we dont know if the virus actually has mechanisms to interfere with immune response. Many viruses have evolved to have ways to blunt the immune response to enhance their survival. From an evolutionary standpoint, if the immune system is trying to do something to reduce the virus, then the virus can evolve to counter that. If thats the case with this virus if immune response is short-lived because the virus is actively doing something to the immune system to cause that a vaccine could theoretically do better, because the vaccine is not the whole live virus. It might not have that negative impact on the immune system. Well have to just wait and see.

TheStreet: Do you think fast-tracking a vaccine by, say, skipping or shortening the final clinical trials, would be warranted? Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, China and many other countries have proven that the spread of Covid-19 can be mostly controlled with public health measures.

Yang: So, theres the ideal, theoretical answer, and theres the practical answer. Unfortunately, we are much less like Taiwan or New Zealand, than we are like Brazil. From the standpoint that this country has been unable to implement effective public health measures, for whatever reason, that makes the urgency for a vaccine higher. Ideally, we would be able to get the pandemic under control to an acceptable level and take our time with the vaccine. But theres added urgency, because, for various reasons, were unable to do that theres not enough public buy-in, theres not enough political leadership. Whatever the reasons, were unable to contain it, and the pandemic is just burning on and lives are being lost, so that adds greater urgency for a vaccine

TheStreet: Would you take a fast-tracked vaccine would you recommend it to friends or family?

Yang: It would really depend on what data were available ... safety data being No. 1., and, of course efficacy. I would say that I would certainly be cautious and hesitant, because I feel that the Food and Drug Administration has lost a lot of its credibility, because of its bowing to political pressures. Its already made major fumbles during this pandemic. So I would go with what experts say, and if there is not enough available data to make me feel comfortable to recommend it, then I would say dont take it. Because, as you pointed out, with the right measures, you can prevent spread and you can(potentially)protect yourself from getting infected. So, until its clear that a vaccine is safe and effective, we can each protect ourselves.

TheStreet:That brings up another question. Lets say a vaccine is fast-tracked and millions of doses are produced, and, then, say, several months later, a problem is discovered with the vaccine. At the same, lets say, another vaccine that finishes all its trials comes along and it looks great. Would that pose a logistical problem for distributing the latter, better vaccine could it cause a vaccine production traffic jam?

Yang: Yes, in more ways than one. Lets, for argument, say one vaccine is 50% effective and the other is 75% effective, what do you do? What do you do with all these 50% effective vaccine vials you have sitting around? Is there going to be motivation to get them out and get them used? It raises all sorts of questions about what would happen. What would be the threshold for saying you just throw out the first vaccine which would be at a huge cost? Another point to raise is potentially the first vaccine could interfere with the second. The first vaccine might steer your immune responses in ways that are less effective than the second would have. To some extent, the immune system tends to be trained in a certain way, and once its trained, its hard to get it to change. Theoretically, there could be interference.

Potentially the first vaccine could interfere with the second.

Theres a concept in immunology called original antigenic sin. The concept is that the immune system tends to want to react to something the same way every time, so if you challenge it with something that looks very similar, but is not exactly the same, it will still stick to the original way that it responded. That is the explanation for Dengue fever. Dengue fever is a disease where you get very mild illness the first time you are exposed, and if you get exposed again, to a second strain, then you can get hemorrhagic Dengue fever, which is a very severe, life-threatening infection, and that is because the immune system is still stuck on the first strain and unable to adapt to the second strain. So, you can see something like that happening, as well. Its not that straightforward.

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Fast-Tracking Covid Vaccine 'Is Not That Straightforward' - TheStreet

A new grant will look at the effects of aging caused by antiviral therapies in individuals with HIV.

People living with HIV are fortunate that effective therapies are now available that dramatically reduce mortality for those infected with that virus. Despite the effects of antiviral therapy on longevity, people living with HIV are showing signs of accelerated aging.

University of Alabama at Birmingham College of Arts and Sciences Department of Biology Chair Steve Austad, Ph.D., received a National Institutes of Health five-year grant for $3.7 million to study the intersection of HIV and aging.

People with HIV using antiviral therapy are experiencing earlier onset of age-related diseases including heart disease, cancer and dementia. The grant through a collaboration of multiple institutions led by UAB, the University of Washington and Wake Forest University is designed to provide interdisciplinary training to researchers and clinicians in both HIV and aging biology. Investigators will use the knowledge gained from research working at the junction of aging and HIV biology to improve clinical treatment and care of people living with HIV.

Further, the grant will provide pilot grant support for projects involving molecular links between HIV infection and aging. Researchers will collaborate with the UAB Center for AIDS Research and the McKnight Brain Institute.

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$3.7 million grant awarded to UAB to study antiviral therapies and accelerated aging - The Mix

White House coronavirus advisor Anthony Fauci on Friday said life may not get back to normal in the U.S. until late 2021 when a COVID-19 vaccine could be widely distributed.

During an interview with MSNBCs Andrea Mitchell Reports, the nations top infectious diseases expert said hes confident a vaccine could receive emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration by the end of this year or early 2021, but it will take some time before it becomes widely available.

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By the time you mobilize the distribution of the vaccinations, and you get the majority, or more, of the population vaccinated and protected, thats likely not going to happen to the mid or end of 2021, Fauci told MSNBCs Andrea Mitchell.

If you're talking about getting back to a degree of normality which resembles where we were prior to COVID[-19], it's going to be well into 2021, maybe even towards the end of 2021, he said.

Movie theaters, gyms and other public spaces are reopening in some states, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo this week announced New York City would resume indoor dining with limited capacity on Sept. 30. New York has managed to keep its coronavirus infections rate under 1 percent for more than 30 days.

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Fauci said he had some concerns about restaurants reopening.

If you go indoors in a restaurant, whatever capacity, 25, 50 percent or what have you, indoors absolutely increases the risk, Fauci said. I am concerned when I see things starting to move indoors, and that becomes more compelling when you get into the fall into winter season when you essentially have to be indoors.

He said areas that want to get back to being able to sit inside a restaurant should get the community level of infection to the lowest level possible.

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have plateaued around 40,000 daily new cases and 1,000 deaths a day. Fauci during a panel discussion with doctors from Harvard Medical School Friday said that number is still an unacceptable baseline and hed like to see the number of daily cases fall to 10,000 or less.

As of Friday, more than 6.4 million people in the U.S. have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 192,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

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Fauci says it may take more than a year to return to 'a degree of normality' | TheHill - The Hill

More than500,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The AAP report found children represent about 9.8 percent of the more than 6.3 million coronavirus cases recorded in the U.S. The report includes data from 49 states, New York City, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.

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More than 70,000 coronavirus infections were recorded among children in the two weeks between Aug. 20 and Sept. 3, bringing the total number of cases in kids to more than 513,000. Puerto Rico, as well as Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana showed the highest increases.

Nine states tallied more than 15,000 cases in children while half of states reported 7,000 child cases.

The AAP said data from 42 states and New York City showed 103 children died from COVID-19 between May 21 and Sept. 3, making up just 0.07 percent of total coronavirus deaths in the U.S. Only 0.02 percent of child coronavirus cases resulted in death.

At this time, it appears that severe illness due to COVID-19 is rare among children, the AAP report said. However, states should continue to provide detailed reports on COVID-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations, and mortality by age and race/ethnicity so that the effects of COVID-19 on childrens health can be documented and monitored.

Evidence suggests children who contract the virus are less likely to experience serious illness than adults. There have been several instances in which children who tested positive for the coronavirus also developed a rare inflammatory illness.

The report from the AAP was released as millions of kids made their way back to school this week for the fall semester.

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More than 500,000 children in the U.S. have tested positive for coronavirus since pandemic began, report finds | TheHill - The Hill

E-cigarette use among U.S. youth fell this year for the first time in three years following last years outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths. But officials warn rates still remain unacceptably high, according to a federal report released Wednesday.

A national survey foundless than 20 percent of high school students and 4.7 percent of middle school students recently used e-cigarettes and other vaping products. Thats a decline from the 27.5 percent of high schoolers and 10.5 percent of middle school students who said they vaped in 2019.

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The National Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in partnership with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found about 3.6 million youth in the U.S. reported using e-cigarettes this year, a drop from 5.4 million last year.

Teen rates fell between 2015 and 2016 before spiking.

Expertsbelieve media reports about vaping-related illnesses likely contributed to the decline in use among teens, as well as flavor bans and higher age limits.

A series of cases were reported last year in which teens fell ill and even died due to vaping injuries.

Although the decline in e-cigarette use among our Nations youth is a notable public health achievement, our work is far from over, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Robert Redfield said in a statement. Youth e-cigarette use remains an epidemic, and CDC is committed to supporting efforts to protect youth from this preventable health risk."

Officials found that pre-filled cartridges remained the most commonly used product, but disposable e-cigarette use increased 1,000 percent among high school students and 400 percent among middle school students since last year. Most users reported using flavored e-cigarettes, and the use of menthol flavor was prominent.

The FDA earlier this year prohibited flavors such as candy, fruit and mint from small vaping devices like Juul. The policy, however, exempted disposable e-cigarettes that often contain fruity flavors.

Health advocates said the Trump administration missed the opportunity to make greater progress against youth vaping when it failed to clear the market of all e-cigarettes.

The evidence couldnt be clearer: As long as any flavored e-cigarettes are left on the market, kids will get their hands on them and we will not solve this public health crisis, Matthew Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.

The annual survey includes more than 20,000 middle and high school students. This years survey was shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic, but researchers said they gathered enough information to be comparable to past years. They said it is unclear how the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting youth vaping.

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Vaping by US teenagers saw steep drop this year: survey | TheHill - The Hill

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, including a well-rounded diet is crucial to prolonging your lifespan.

You could also boost your lifespan by doing regular exercise. Its the miracle cure weve all been waiting for, according to the NHS.

Making some small diet or lifestyle changes could help to increase your life expectancy and avoid an early death.

One of the best ways to make sure that you live longer is to regularly play tennis, it's been revealed.

READ MORE: How to live longer - flowers to boost longevity

But playing any team-based sport could also have a lasting effect on your lifespan, they added.

The social aspect to these types of activities may be the key to increasing the length of your life.

For both mental and physical well-being and longevity, were understanding that our social connections are probably the single-most important feature of living a long, healthy, happy life, says study cardiologist, Dr James OKeefe.

If youre interested in exercising for health and longevity and well-being, perhaps the most important feature of your exercise regimen is that it should involve a playdate.

Meanwhile, you could also make sure that you live longer by making just a few changes to your daily diet.

Olive oil is one of the best cooking oils to use, as it forms part of a heart-healthy diet, according to medical website WebMD.

All non-tropical vegetable oils, including olive, corn, peanut and safflower oils, have added benefits for your heart.

A heart-healthy diet could also help patients to lose weight, if they're overweight.

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How to live longer - the very best exercise to add years onto your lifespan - Express

Stem cells offer hope as a promising treatment option for various diseases and are the future of medicine. Embryonic stem cells, have been at the heart of many debates globally, in view of the embryonic destruction or manipulation that their generation may require. Converging between research and law, patent law and policy grant yet throw their own challenges to obtaining exclusivity.

In India, in addition to satisfying the criteria of novelty and inventive step, inventions need to fall outside the realm of Section 3 of the Patents Act, to be patentable. Presenting an additional bar to patentability, Section 3 enlists inventions which are not patentable. Owing to this section it is oftentimes the case that the claim scope granted in India is quite different from that granted in other jurisdictions.

Public order and morality

Over the years, the Indian Patent Offices perspective on the issue of patentability of inventions involving embryonic stem cells, appears to have changed. This change in stance is apparent from the changes in the Manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure. The 2005 draft of said guidelines treated the use of human or animal embryos for any purpose against public order and morality and prohibited the same from patentability. This restriction however, was removed from the subsequent draft of the guidelines and has not reappeared ever since.

Inspite of this change in the guidelines, the Patent Office till date raises the public order and morality objection under section 3(b) of the Patents Act, on stem cell related inventions (both methods and stem cell products). The concern most frequently expressed is the possibility of destruction of human embryos. The prosecution history of several cases shows that an objection on public order and morality has been raised even if the claims do not call out embryonic stem cells but the specification mentions the possibility of use of embryonic stem cells. The objection is frequently overcome by excluding any reference to embryonic stem cells from the claims and by disclaiming the use of embryonic stem cells in the operation of the invention.

However, the approach of treating stem cell research against public order and morality appears to be in contrast to public policy in India. The National Guidelines for Stem Cell Research (published by ICMR and DBT under the Ministry of Science and Technology) prescribe conditions subject to which research on stem cells should be conducted. The conditions include verification that the blastocysts used are spare embryos. The guidelines also permit establishment of new human embryonic stem cell lines from spare embryos subject to the approval of certain committees. Clearly, these government guidelines permit safe and responsible stem cell research, including research on embryonic stem cells.

Moreover, it is a well-known fact that not every invention involving embryonic stem cells would necessitate destruction of human embryos and a lot of research is based on embryonic stem cell lines. Therefore, the indiscriminate imposition of objections under Section 3(b) requires change.

Parts of Plants or Animals and Products of Nature

While claims relating to methods of isolation and propagation of stem cells are frequently granted, the Indian Patent Office appears to have never granted even a single application with claims directed to stem cells per se.

This brings us to another common objection frequently encountered in stem cell applications, namely, Section 3(j) which prohibits from patentability plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than micro-organisms but including seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals. Another commonly encountered objection is of Section 3(c) which bars the patentability of any living thing or non-living substance occurring in nature.

There is no judicial precedent that could throw light on what exactly constitutes parts of plants and animals under Section 3(j). The Patent Office considers any cell or tissue derived from plants or animals as parts of plants or animals leading to refusal of cell claims under this ground. Claims related to compositions comprising stem cells are also frequently refused as the compositions are treated as indirectly claiming stem cells. There have been some exceptions though, such as patent number 333231, where a composition comprising stem cells was granted.

A moot issue here is whether cells are actually parts of animals/plants or whether they can be treated as microorganisms. While the Patents Act permits the patentability of microorganisms (that do not occur in nature), the term microorganism has not been defined in either the Act or the manuals that the Patent Office has issued so far. In fact, even the TRIPS agreement which mandates member states to grant patents in relation to microorganisms does not define the term. The European Patent Office recognizes all generally unicellular organisms with dimensions beneath the limits of vision which can be propagated and manipulated in a laboratory. (T 0356/93) as microorganisms.

Since the Patents Act does not limit the scope of the term microorganism and if one were to accept the literary or dictionary meaning of the term microorganism, it would appear that the Patents Act does not prohibit from the scope of patentability cells, which are not visible to the naked eye or which are so small that they require a microscope for viewing.

Moreover, stem cells like induced pluripotent stem cell and human parthenogenetic stem cells, which are somatic cells or oocytes that have been induced to develop the characteristics of unrestrained propagation and ability to develop into any cell type, are markedly distinct from the parent cell from which they are derived and are new cell types altogether. Such cells are indeed creations of man and cannot qualify as an animal part. They are also not living substances that occur in nature and being purely man made fall outside the prohibitory restraint of Section 3(c).

In the absence of judicial precedents and well defined guidelines, the law in India in relation to patentability of stem cell research is at a nascent stage. The Indian Patent Office has been following an unwritten code in the examination of these applications but the approach currently adopted is debatable. It is important to offer robust patent protection to encourage innovation in all fields. While there has been some change in the Patent Offices approach to patentability of stem cells and claims related to methods of producing, culturing and isolation of stem cells, culture media for stem cells, etc., are commonly granted, there is still a lot that can be patented but is currently not. Hopefully, India will see some judicial precedents in the future that will clarify the patentability issues that this field is struggling with.

This article was first published by Legal Era

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Patenting Stem Cell Inventions in India- What to Expect? - Lexology