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EAU 2020: ProPSMA Study: A Prospective Randomised Multi-Centre Study of PSMA-PET/CT Imaging for Staging High Risk Prostate Cancer Prior to…

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(UroToday.com)As part of the Game-Changing Session 1 plenary presentation at the 2020 European Association of Urology (EAU) Virtual Annual Meeting, Dr. Michael Hofman presented results of the proPSMA study which was recently published in the Lancet.1

For patients with intermediate and high-risk localized prostate cancer who are being considered for local therapy, pre-treatment staging is important to exclude or at least characterize the burden of metastatic disease. To date, bone scintigraphy and abdominopelvic computed tomography have been utilized even though there are known issues related to poor sensitivity. Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) based imaging using PET/CT fusion has been increasingly used for patients with recurrent prostate cancer. In the proPSMA study, Dr. Hofman and colleagues set to determine the role of PSMA PET/CT in pre-treatment staging.

They performed a multi-center, two-arm randomized controlled trial among men with histologically confirmed prostate cancer who were being considered for curative intent radical prostatectomy or radiotherapy. To be eligible for inclusion, men must have had at least one high-risk factor including prostate-specific antigen (PSA) greater than or equal to 20 ng/mL, ISUP grade group 3-5, or clinical stage T3 or greater. Patients who had undergoing staging investigations (apart from prostate MRI) within eight weeks prior to randomization were excluded.

Following enrollment, patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to either conventional imaging performed using bone scan and CT or PSMA PET/CT. Randomization was stratified according to the center. Patients who were randomized to conventional imaging underwent an abdominopelvic CT scan with contrast as well as a technetium-99m bone scan with SPECT CT of chest, abdomen, and pelvic in keeping with the standard of care. These investigations were assessed in aggregate to determine the presence of findings of interest. For patients randomized to PET/CT, gallium-68 PSMA-11 PET/CT was performed. In patients who had fewer than three unequivocal sites of metastasis, cross-over imaging for confirmation was performed within 14 days. Confirmatory testing following imaging was performed at the discretion of the treating physician and included biopsy confirmation.

The primary study outcome was the accuracy of first-line diagnostic imaging for the identification of either pelvic nodal or distant metastatic disease. Accuracy was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. The reference standard was a composite panel of histopathology, imaging, clinical, and biochemical characteristics.

The authors estimated a sample size of 300 total patients to achieve a power of 85% to distinguish between conventional imaging with an AUC of 0.65 (sensitivity 0.65 and specificity 0.65) and PET-CT with an AUC of 0.90 (sensitivity 0.90 and specificity 0.90) assuming an event rate of 25% of patients harboring nodal or distant metastatic disease and a two-sided type I error of 0.10.

Between 20017 and 2018, the authors randomly assigned 302 patients of whom 300 received assigned first-line imaging. In keeping with the prostate cancer population, the median age was 68 years, 293 men had ISUP grade 3 or higher, 65 had PSA 20 ng/mL or higher, and 82 had clinical stage T3 or T4. 96% (146) of men assigned to conventional imaging underwent subsequent second-line PSMA PET-CT.

Assessment of the reference standard was possible in 295 (98%) of men, including 87 of whom had evidence of nodal or distant metastasis. Of these, hard criteria were used to define disease in 20 men.

In the primary outcome assessment, PSMA PET-CT had a 27% absolute greater AUC for accuracy compared to conventional imaging (95% confidence interval [CI] 23-31): 92% (95% CI 88-95%) vs. 65% (60-69%). Conventional imaging had both a lower sensitivity (38% vs. 85%) and also a lower specificity (91% vs. 98%).

The authors performed a sensitivity analysis in which all lesions rated as equivocal were considered positive. This changed the results only marginally with an absolute difference of 28% (95% CI 23-33%). These results were also consistent in subgroups of patients with pelvic nodal disease and those with distant metastasis. Further posthoc subgroup analysis showed an incremental benefit for PSMA PET-CT in men with Gleason Grade Group (GGG) 4-5 disease, those with GGG less than or equal to 3, and those with a PSA of 20 ng/mL or greater.

Further, equivocal findings were more common in men undergoing conventional imaging (23%) compared to those undergoing PSMA PET-CT (7%).

Prior to treatment, the results of conventional imaging studies resulted in treatment change for 23 men (15%, 95% CI 10-22) while the results of PSMA PET-CT resulted in treatment change for 41 (28%, 95% confidence interval 21-36). These changes included both a transition from curative intent to palliative intent treatment in 20 patients (14%) and also a change in treatment approach in 22 (14%). These data demonstrate the clinical utility of utilizing PSMA PET-CT in this clinical space.

Further, conventional imaging was associated with a higher radiation dose (19.2 mSv compared to 8.4 mSv; absolute difference 10.9 mSv, 95% CI 9.8-12.0 mSv0. PSMA PET-CT was not associated with any adverse events and reporter agreement was high for both nodal (kappa 0.87, 95% CI 0.81-0.94) and distant metastatic disease (kappa 0.88, 95% CI 0.94-0.92).

Presented by:Michael S. Hofman, MBBS (Hons), FRACP, FAANMS, Professor of Molecular Imaging, The University of Melbourne, Nuclear Medicine Physician, Centre for Cancer Imaging, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Written by:Christopher J.D. Wallis, MD, PhD, Urologic Oncology Fellow, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Twitter: @WallisCJDat the Virtual 2020 EAU Annual Meeting #EAU20, July 17-19, 2020

Reference:

1.Hofman, Michael S., Nathan Lawrentschuk, Roslyn J. Francis, Colin Tang, Ian Vela, Paul Thomas, Natalie Rutherford et al. "Prostate-specific membrane antigen PET-CT in patients with high-risk prostate cancer before curative-intent surgery or radiotherapy (proPSMA): a prospective, randomised, multi-centre study."The Lancet(2020).

Related Content:Watch:PSMA PET/CT Imaging for Staging High-risk Prostate Cancer Prior to Curative-intent Surgery or Radiotherapy (proPSMA) - Michael Hofman and Declan Murphy

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EAU 2020: ProPSMA Study: A Prospective Randomised Multi-Centre Study of PSMA-PET/CT Imaging for Staging High Risk Prostate Cancer Prior to...

Most countries face nuclear imaging supply issues, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem – Health Imaging

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Scott and colleagues received responses from key society contacts in the International Atomic Energy Agency database. For North America, Latin America and Australia the data represented 91.3% to 100.0% of nuclear medicine camera sites. Half of locations in Africa were represented, but European responses were low, which likely affected the survey results.

In addition to Mo-99/Tc-99 supply issues, respondents noted problems reliably obtaining cold kits, which are used to simplify radiopharmaceutical production and enable consistency across varying sites. More than half of the 33 radiopharmaceutical kit manufacturers provide to only a single country and eight provide kits to two countries.

Additionally, all countries said they lack trained and qualified staff, including clinicians, radiochemists and physicists, to perform tasks such as quality assurance and proper labeling. This also hampered their ability to offer complex procedures, Scott et al. noted.

Issues also extended into specific radiopharmaceuticals, with only 28 countries indicating they offered PET services. Low and low-middle income countries had the fewest number of sites. The most widely used agent is 18F-FDG, but non-FDG tracers were limited in most countries due to high cost, no access to a cyclotron, and regulatory restrictions, among other reasons.

Most respondents also do not have access to therapeutic tracers, such as 123I, 123I-MIBG and 131I-MIBG, because of costs and supply or distributor issues.

The data obtained in this survey project clearly shows that all countries have issues of radiopharmaceutical access and availability, although the capability to address these issues varies according to the size of the country, funding and nuclear medicine infrastructure, the group noted.

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Most countries face nuclear imaging supply issues, and COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem - Health Imaging

Trump says the European Union was ‘formed in order to take advantage of the United States’ – Business Insider – Business Insider

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President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed the European Union was formed to take advantage of the US and argued that the US's European allies had "never treated us well."

His comments came during a long campaign-style speech covering a series of unrelated topics in the White House's Rose Garden.

The event had been billed as an announcement of new actions on China, but Trump instead spoke for roughly an hour about military spending, illegal immigration, and his friendship with Mexico's president while launching attacks on Joe Biden.

When he turned to talk about Europe, he said: "Don't forget we're in competition with China, and with many other countries throughout the world. We're in tremendous economic competition, including Europe, which has never treated us well."

"The European Union was formed in order to take advantage of the United States," he said. "Formed to take advantage of the United States. I know that. They know I know that, but other presidents had no idea."

The earliest iteration of what is now called the European Union was formed in 1950, in the aftermath of World War II, when Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands formed the European Coal and Steel Community.

The organization was intended to promote trade links as well as foster political cooperation to put an end to the bloody European conflicts that had characterized the first half of the 20th century.

Trump has often criticized multilateral institutions such as the 27-member EU, which he's accused of seeking to undermine the US by operating as a single trading bloc.

In 2018, he identified the EU, a major US ally, as one of the country's biggest foes. "Well, I think we have a lot of foes," he told CBS News. "I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn't think of the European Union, but they're a foe."

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Trump says the European Union was 'formed in order to take advantage of the United States' - Business Insider - Business Insider

Donald Trump Is America’s Abusive Dad – The Daily Beast

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Legendary filmmaker Judd Apatow really liked Donald Trumpwhen he was on TV.

I watched [The Apprentice] all the time because I found it so hilarious that all of his opinions were so wrong and everyone he would fire was always for the wrong reason. It was so terrible and crazy that it was fun to watch, Apatow says on the latest episode of The New Abnormal.

These days, Apatow isnt laughing. When you're in show business, you meet people like Trump, you meet people who literally don't exist in the same dimension as you; they're just gone. And that's what he's like. He's like Cosby in a way, these people who are completely deluded and they've been famous and all of their wishes are attended tothey lose complete touch with reality, Apatow adds, calling Trump the abusive parent to the country.

Then! Washington Post media editor Margaret Sullivan weighs in on the Bari Weiss controversy. If Bari was truly bullied at work, then that's very regrettable and I'm sorry to hear that, but she was not forced to resign. I guess you could say cancelled herself, says Sullivan, author of the new book Ghosting the News.

Plus! How many minutes will Trumps new campaign manager last? WTF is up with the Trumps and Goya beans? How did Molly possibly survive an entire day without Twitter?! And how is the Apatow family holding up during quarantine?

For the first month or two, it's like, Oh my God, we're getting all this like special family time. But now heading into month five, they're like, I gotta get the fuck outta here, Apatow says. Even my cats are like, When are you going to get out of here? I have a life without you here.

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Donald Trump Is America's Abusive Dad - The Daily Beast

Colten Brewer impresses in Red Sox scrimmage – The Boston Globe

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Brewers curveball had a lot of depth, most notably getting Jonathan Lucroy to chase for Brewers only strikeout.

As the Sox look to remedy their depleted pitching staff, Brewer, in some fashion, has been mentioned as part of the antidote. The Sox will likely use an opener in the fifth spot in the rotation, and possibly the fourth. Though its uncertain how the Sox will use Brewer, hes considered someone who can eat up innings, perhaps as the pitcher who follows an opener.

I feel really good with him coming in [after the opener] and giving us three, four innings, Roenicke said. Thats something we just have to figure out.

Roenicke noted that Brewer would offer a different look from an opener.

If youre used to the bullpen, you know you have not much heads-up of when you come into a game and when you get loose, Roenicke said. Thats different when the day before you know youre going to be that guy, so that night youre anxious about it. We just have to figure out who those guys are.

When it comes to who might be the opener(s), Roenicke said hes met with the front office and they have some pitchers in mind, though Roenicke wouldnt disclose them.

Workmans struggles

Brandon Workman was recently named the closer heading into this abbreviated season, a role in which he found success last year. Workman struck out 104 batters in 71 innings in 2019, allowing just 29 hits and posting a 1.88 ERA with 16 saves.

In this camp, however, Workman has struggled, and those struggles continued Thursday. He allowed three straight hits, including a double off the Green Monster that drove in Lucroy. Another run scored on a ball in the dirt that got by catcher Kevin Plawecki. With two outs in the inning, Workman walked Alex Verdugo. He failed to record the final out after reaching his pitch limit.

Despite Workmans hiccups, Roenicke isnt worried.

I dont want to say its never a concern, but we know what he did last year, Roenicke said. He threw the ball well the first camp we had in Florida, so I dont expect there to be anything different. Its just, right now, hes missed location and our hitters right now arent missing anything.

Coming along

Plawecki had to learn and then relearn the pitching staff after spring training was shut down. After spending much of his career with the Mets, and then the Indians in 2019, there was a learning curve. Plawecki also was trying to make an impression, battling with Lucroy for the backup catcher spot behind Christian Vasquez.

Though Lucroy has remained consistent throughout baseballs reboot, Plawecki is beginning to come along, too, adding two hits in the scrimmage.

It kind of clicked for me timing-wise again, said Plawecki, who got off to a slow start in summer camp. I feel back to where I was in spring. Its a good feeling. Im seeing the ball well. I just want to continue to have good at-bats.

Theres a chance the Red Sox could keep both Lucroy and Plawecki, with Lucroy getting some playing time at first base, too.

Its always good to have depth, Plawecki said. Whoever is back there, the goal is to win that day, especially in a shortened season. We have a good group of guys.

Tent city

The Red Sox built tents adjacent to both dugouts that will be utilized by players and coaches so they can socially distance during games. Just nine players and three coaches will be allowed in each dugout at a time, so the Sox spent this week building the structures. On Thursday, the team took even more precautions, removing some of the seats in the tent area so players and coaches could spread out more The start time for tomorrows scrimmage has been moved to 7 p.m. Ryan Weber turned in a solid outing, tossing five innings and allowing two runs, on a Rafael Devers homer. Weber threw 82 pitches, 53 for strikes According to a major league source, Josh Ockimey and Bobby Poyner are expected to be added to the Sox player pool and be assigned to Pawtucket. Friday is assignment day and major league sources have previously confirmed five other additions to the pool: Jeter Downs, Tanner Houck, Bryan Mata, Jarren Duran, and Jason Groome.

Alex Speier of the Globe staff contributed to this report.

Julian McWilliams can be reached at julian.mcwilliams@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @byJulianMack

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Colten Brewer impresses in Red Sox scrimmage - The Boston Globe

Here comes the Suns: Swans thrill but Gold Coast sparkle again – The Age

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It may be in small doses but that is all one can reasonably ask of a side with nine players aged 21 or under and missing several of their best.

Prize pick Dylan Stephens was able to stream away from stoppages before unleashing his left boot. Ryley Stoddart looks to have progressed since being given a sample of the top level in 2018-19.

Debutant Elijah Taylor, who is wearing the No.37 made famous by Adam Goodes and who lived with Lance Franklin after being recruited, also made things happen when he was near the ball.

Skipper Luke Parker, with 27 possessions and seven clearances, was among the best but the Swans midfield without Josh Kennedy was beaten, particularly at the stoppages.

"We need to get that [support] from the new generation of midfielders coming through," Longmire said.

"They need to be able to pick up the slack that's left and take it on board. I'm sure they're learning a lot off Luke but he needs a hand as well."

As bleak as it may appear for the Swans, they need look no further than their opposition to see how quickly things can change. The whipping boys of the competition for the past decade, the Suns are primed to make a run for the finals.

Langer stressed to Stuart Dew's team the importance of resilience on the road after the Suns had lost two in a row away.

Nick Blakey competes for the ball with Ben King.Credit:Getty

"One of the things that resonated and we grabbed on to was when you are away, you want to make it worthwhile and get a win," Dew said. "If you are going to spend time away, let's make it count."

Matt Rowell might be out but young gun Izak Rankine, in just his second game, is turning heads. He produced another goal of the week contender and will give football fans plenty to smile about in the years to come.

Their mature recruits Brandon Ellis and Hugh Greenwood gave them extra muscle in the clinches, an area the Swans of yesteryear were strong in but not anymore.

After the eyesore of last week, the Swans adopted a more aggressive approach, daring to bite off the kick into the corridor to open up play.

Though costly at times, it gave their forwards better chances to fly at the ball and keep it alive if they could not mark.

"We get some pay for it when it comes off. The other side of it is if you don't execute, there's scoring shots against on turnover," Longmire said.

"There's some good signs when we did it. We have to make sure we do it a bit more often with a bit more efficiency."

In a Buddy-less forward line, which was also missing Sam Reid, Tom McCartin not only competed with his customary endeavour in the air, he also clunked a few in his first game back from concussion. How he develops will be crucial to the success of the next generation of Swans.

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The move of Aliir Aliir into attack had moderate success, yielding two goals, though it's difficult to think Longmire would have pulled the tactical change if the Swan was in better form.

In both the first and second quarters, the Suns threatened to take the game away only for the Swans to rally.

The Swans' injury toll worsened with defender Colin O'Riordan hurting his hip, though they dodged a bullet with Will Hayward, who returned to the field after hyper-extending his knee.

The young Swan brought the crowd to their feet with a curling snap on the run from 50 on the three-quarter-time siren.

Andrew Wu writes on cricket and AFL for The Sydney Morning Herald

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Here comes the Suns: Swans thrill but Gold Coast sparkle again - The Age

‘What are you thinking?’: CFO Jimmy Patronis invites Elon Musk to Florida on Tax Day – Florida Politics

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Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis sent a letter to Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday explaining why Florida is the best state to host his multi-billion dollar electric car company.

Musk in recent months has grown increasingly frustrated with the high taxes and stiff shutdown orders impacting his factory in Alameda County, California. So much so, he has threatened to relocate his factory.

In the two-page letter, Patronis made his case as to why Florida is the right prescription for all his woes.

With Tax Day Upon us you must be saying to yourself, What are you thinking?, Patronis wrote. No doubt, youve got to wonder whether all those taxes you pay in California are really worth it. As Floridas Chief Financial Officer, Im here to remind you that there is no time like the present to consider moving your businesses to the Sunshine State. Youre passion for changing the world for the better can best succeed in a state that supports and promotes free enterprise.

Patronis used more than flattery to lure the Spacex CEO. He also made a fiscal case as to why Florida is the best landing pad for the business in the country.

As a Florida resident you wouldnt be subject to state income taxes, Patronis continued. Also, depending on how many of your businesses are organized, you may realize up to a 50% savings on Corporate Income taxes as Floridas 4.4% corporate income tax is half of Californias 8.84% rate.

Patronis also highlighted the states overall financial health in comparison to California. Florida has yet to touch its Budget Stabilization Fund. California, however, has already burned through $9 billion of its rainy day fund.

For a successful businessman like yourself, California has no problem raising taxes and fees in poor economic times, so prepare yourself, for the inevitable shakedown by politicians and bureaucrats who have never had to worry about making payroll, Patronis explained.

The letter from Patronis to Musk does not come as a cold call. On Twitter, Patronis has frequently reached out to Musk, sending pictures of Floridas white sand beaches while mentioning the fiscal highlights of the state.

Patronis even launched a website inviting Floridians to add their name to an online welcome card for Musk.

Join me in inviting Elon Misk to Florida where he can reopen Tesla without lawsuits and the threat of imprisonment, the welcome card said in May.

Patronis has been a public and vocal critic of high tax states. In recent weeks, he casted stones at the tri-state area, who he describes as the Haven of High Taxes.

As he told Musk, Florida would never do such a thing.

Unlike California, Florida wont take your business for granted, Patronis wrote. California leaders arent interested in helping your success; theyre interested in your submission to their authority.

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'What are you thinking?': CFO Jimmy Patronis invites Elon Musk to Florida on Tax Day - Florida Politics

The Future of Cloud Computing: Impact on Businesses, Workforces, and Societies – The Ritz Herald

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Over the past couple of years, there has been a lot of talk about cloud computing. What started off as a fleeting technology has now become a multi-billion dollar industry, with titans like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services providing services to approximately 3.6 billion users worldwide. Believe it or not, around 45% of the worlds population has accessed some form of cloud computing over the past year.

Needless to say, this trend has major implications for businesses, workforces, and societies around the world. Whether end-users realize it or not, almost everything in their digital world is now connected to the cloud in one way or another. More importantly, cloud computing is set to become even more pervasive as technology giants and scrappy startups continue to invent new ways to organize, process, and present information remotely.

To highlight the exciting future of cloud computing, lets dive into the impacts that this revolution in information technology will have on businesses, workforces, and societies alike.

Impact on Businesses

Whether or not you realize it, if youre in business today then youre also in the business of cloud computing. Cloud data centers are projected to process 94% of business workloads by 2021. This rapid transition is affecting all areas of business, from frontline employees to C-suite executives and everyone in between. Key impacts that cloud computing will have on businesses in the near future include:

Clearly, the future of cloud computing is set to offer impressive benefits to businesses around the world. Along these same lines, cloud-based software is sure to positively impact individual employees and entire workforces as well.

Impact on Workforce

The backbone of every business is its workforce. While economists have been predicting the impacts of automation for years, its safe to say that employees will still play a critical role in future business success. To this end, its worth highlighting a few of the notable benefits that cloud computing provides workforces:

At the end of the day, employee attitudes and productivity can make or break the future of a company. While cloud computing wasnt developed to improve employee sentiments, it provides several upsides that naturally benefit the workforce.

Impact on Societies

The rapid growth of cloud computing is a natural extension of modern innovations. Technology experts anticipate that in the future, cloud computing will pair with 5G connectivity, the internet of things (IoT), and big data to completely redefine how people go about their daily lives. At the risk of sounding like a science-fiction novel, here are some of the exciting impacts that these technology pairs will have on societies around the world:

These trends highlight the disruption created by cloud computing and related technologies. While the future is uncertain, rest assured that the continued rise of cloud computing will provide many benefits to businesses, workforces, and societies alike. The benefits highlighted above are only a few of the exciting developments that will come to pass. One thing is for certain: theres no better time than today to adopt cloud computing in your business, workforce, or personal life.

Dr. Gaddam is a seasoned entrepreneur, angel investor, and author. Dr. Gaddam s greatest accomplishment lies in raising ERP Analysts, Inc. from a two-person organization to eighty-five-million-dollar firm. ERP Analysts, Inc. has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies by Inc. 5000 for ten years, Deloitte Fast 500, & Business First Fast 50 for several years. ERP Analysts is recognized as a Best Places to Work in Ohio for several years (www.erpagroup.com). Dr. Gaddam graduated the Doctor of Management (DM) from Case Western Reserve University, MBA from the Ohio State University, and the Owner President Management program (OPM 43) from Harvard Business School. He is the author of the book Destination Success: Discovering the Entrepreneurial Journey and also co-author of Roadmap to Success, with Deepak Chopra, Ken Blanchard, and other entrepreneurial leaders.

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The Future of Cloud Computing: Impact on Businesses, Workforces, and Societies - The Ritz Herald

Cloud Computing in Automotive Market 2020 Analysis, Growth by Top Companies, Trends by Types and Application, Forecast to 2025 – Cole of Duty

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Global market size forcloud computing in automotive industryis anticipated to reach USD 9.62 billion by 2025. The major driver for the adoption of cloud computing services is the cost efficiency over the traditional on-premise infrastructure. Additionally, the massive growth in data generation through multiple business functions and specific focus on customer-centric applications for improved customer engagement are some of the other factors driving the growth for the cloud computing market. Rapid development and integration of technologies such as IoT, AI, and Blockchain have enhanced the adoption of cloud computing services across the industries.

Cloud computing is referred as on-demand delivery of database, computing power, applications, storage and other IT resources with help of internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. It caters to an enterprise by offering access to databases, servers, storage and an array of application services over the Internet. A cloud services providers such as Amazon Web Services own network-connected hardware significant for application services, while end-user enterprises provision and use what they need via web applications.

Get more insights at:Global Cloud Computing in Automotive Market 2019-2025

Geographically, the Asia- Pacific region is the major contributor to the overall cloud computing market in the automotive industry followed by Europe and North America region. Key factors such as heavy digital transformation movement, strong economic growth, high internet penetration, and favorable government initiatives are driving the adoption for the cloud computing services in the APAC region. The region is also expected to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period driven by huge demand and strategic developments by key vendors such as AWS and Microsoft.

North America and Europe are mature markets in terms of cloud computing services adoption, owing to very early adoption. Due to this cloud providers are focusing on new revenue streams coming from developing cloud markets in Asia, Africa, and South America. Rapid technological advancements in the regions of South America and the Middle-East & Africa region will propel the demand for cloud computing services in the respective regions. South America will be the next cloud market after the Asia Pacific, especially in thriving economies such as Brazil and Argentina.

The leading cloud providers in 2019 are same as the previous year. The infrastructure-as-a-service segment is dominated by Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. However, development and integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT and Blockchain have opened new avenues for others. Following list highlights the top cloud vendors with revenues for the year 2018.

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https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/cloud-computing-in-automotive-market

Segment Overview of Global Cloud Computing in Automotive Market

Regional Overview, 2015-2025 (USD Billion)

Now manufacturers highly rely on Information Technology for smoothening of their industrial supply chain as well as managing dealer/ distribution network. In such cases, the cloud could aid service providers to become adaptable and more flexible to logistical and market demands. On the other hand, technology can help manufacturers to manage cost-effective supply chains for the better growth of an organization. The cloud computing offers extensive flexibility in terms of cost and mainly the agility which is required in the supply-chain process to support potential growth.

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Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.

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Cloud Computing in Automotive Market 2020 Analysis, Growth by Top Companies, Trends by Types and Application, Forecast to 2025 - Cole of Duty

Xamin Whitepaper Reveals How Moving to The Cloud Helps Financial Institutions Secure Their Remote Workforce – Yahoo Finance

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Managed IT service provider releases whitepaper on mobile and cloud computing as a part of its latest series

Xamin, a leading provider of managed IT services for highly regulated and reputation-sensitive companies, launched today the fourth whitepaper in its five-part series, "Rise of the Remote Workforce: Its Time to Embrace Mobile & Cloud Computing," which aims to help financial institutions better understand and implement cloud technologies.

To support the mobile, remote workforce of the future, digital transformation through cloud adoption will be key for financial institutions to achieve better reliability, scalability, security and compliance. With the recent increase in remote and flexible work options, more financial institutions are implementing (or considering a move into) cloud and mobile computing, but may struggle with security and compliance concerns, especially community banks and credit unions.

Addressing these issues directly, Xamins latest whitepaper tackles institutions main cloud and security concerns, and discusses how the pace of cloud adoption will increase. The whitepaper provides an in-depth analysis into the barriers financial institutions face when moving to the cloud, including staffing challenges as qualified IT professionals can be hard to find and difficult to retain. In fact, 46 percent of firms reported that they lacked basic cloud platform expertise. The paper also offers solutions, best practices and compliance controls, so financial institutions can stay up-to-date with mission-critical security requirements, industry regulations and ensure they are working with SOC-certified technology partners.

"In this part of our whitepaper series we break down the need for new mobile and cloud computing options when employing a remote or flexible workforce," said Jonathan Smith, President and CEO of Xamin. "As more financial institutions move to the cloud, community banks and credit unions will face inevitable security concerns and roadblocks. Xamin helps design, implement and monitor solutions that ensure on-going compliance and ideal technological positioning, preparing institutions for the rise in the remote workforce."

For more information on expanding the cloud infrastructure and achieving digital transformation to support a remote workforce, download Xamins free whitepaper.

About Xamin

Founded in 1999, Xamin offers industry leading managed IT services to financial institutions as well as other highly regulated and reputation-sensitive industries. The organization provides a suite of technology solutions including infrastructure, security, cloud, data protection and professional services. Xamin specializes in transforming IT to a revenue driving capability for an organization rather than a cost and compliance challenge. Its consultative, "white glove" approach ensures its services meet the needs of the customer and auditors. Xamin has committed annually to the examination and reporting of controls in a service organization under the SOC2 Type II certification. For more information, visit http://www.xamin.com.

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Xamin Whitepaper Reveals How Moving to The Cloud Helps Financial Institutions Secure Their Remote Workforce - Yahoo Finance

How Companies Should Expand In The Asian-Pacific Market – International Business Times

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KEY POINTS

Admittedly, when my company, Templafy, planned its expansion into the APAC market, we didnt factor a global health crisis into our strategy. Our services enable large organizations to automate compliance (both brand and legal) and increase productivity across teams, and theyve always had healthy organic interest from the region. Following extensive planning, we were due to launch our APAC headquarters out of Sydney, Australia earlier this year, when the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic hit. However, despite the odds being against us, I believe our APAC expansion has gone better than we could have ever anticipated.

Startups today are increasingly conservative with their growth endeavors, which leaves many business leaders perceiving global expansion as going against the grain. But Templafy has only experienced increasing momentum since expanding. This isnt a fluke nor is success in the APAC region unique to our business. The region boasts demographic diversity and a number of emerging markets that are undergoing a rapid digital transformation, providing ample opportunity for investment.

But that doesnt mean expansion into the APAC market is right for every organization. You must perform ample due diligence to determine if investment in this corner of the world is right for your business. That starts with developing an understanding of current innovation needs and cultural distinctions across the APAC region. And even once youve done all your homework, you must be ready for the unexpected.

Innovation is top of mind for APAC organizations

The APAC market has recently accelerated its adoption of cloud computing to meet a growing need for innovation and growth, especially with remote technologies. Cost was previously a key driver, but has become less important. There is an understanding that cloud computing not only facilitates more flexibility and personalization of product and service offerings, but also enables businesses to potentially deploy new services faster something thats become of greater interest for businesses in light of COVID-19. Companies in the region have realized that integrating cloud computing into their technology initiatives can provide benefits beyond cost savings. It can give them a competitive advantage through accelerating innovation and improving customer engagement, all of which boosts revenue.

This growing need for innovation means nearly every organization in the region is going through some form of digital transformation. CIOs and CEOs are aligned on their agendas especially as remote productivity becomes paramount. Organizations are adapting their processes for risk, procurement and governance to suit the cloud. Theyre investing in people with the necessary knowledge of engineering as well as skills in designing business focused use cases. Most importantly, they need the partnerships, products and services to accomplish successful transformation.

3 things to consider before expanding into APAC

Use the following three questions as guideposts for you and your team when planning an APAC expansion.

1. Is there organic interest or a small customer base in the region? An existing customer base or clear interest is of course helpful, but its not necessarily essential. You can also gauge interest by assessing your competition. Is there demand or a hole in the market that you can capitalize on? Ensure this next geographic endeavor is logical before moving forward.

At Templafy, we started in Europe before opening operations in the U.S. with great success. Then, we found investing early in the APAC region where we already had a small but growing customer base made the most sense. That said, the market is saturated with players, so be sure youre adequately prepared to differentiate your product or service offerings.

2. Can you commit to the culture? There are many benefits to having an office in an APAC time zone, especially if your company already has a European and U.S. presence. Business in this region is relationship-based, which means a top-level team on the ground and in the same time zone is essential for quality partnerships. A soft expansion, one without a physical office, isnt enough to build long-term relationships and credibility in this region.

Investing in the right people who are looking to build a business along with you is also crucial. At Templafy, we focus on hiring team players who think long-term and have high emotional intelligence. We hand-picked the top performers from our global offices to form part of the landing team and then hired locally. This is to retain the best parts of our Danish origins while integrating with local culture, unifying both worlds. With a top tier team in our new APAC office, we were confident that Templafy would establish a presence, build awareness and fully understand local customer needs from day one.

3. Are your strategies flexible and adaptable? This question is perhaps the most important. COVID-19 has forced us to adapt our strategy early on and reminded us of the old adage: Change is the only constant. Make sure your business is prepared to adapt to change, including remote work. Ensure your APAC employees can be productive and efficient even when they arent in the office by investing in processes, partnerships and technology to support all possible future scenarios.

Outside of a potential second wave of remote totality, approach expansion with the mindset that plans might and should change. Our plan at the beginning of the year was completely different from our current operation plans. Such adaptation may arise as you gain new regional knowledge. Countries like Australia, Singapore, Japan and India foster distinct business environments with unique cultures, customs and customer behaviors. In Singapore, it's common for employees to begin work at noon and continue later into the night. Meanwhile, in Australia, employees prefer an early start in order to have more home time in the evening hours. Your strategies need to be adaptable to these local nuances and any other obstacles that might stand in your path.

Opportune investment awaits in the APAC region

Global expansion is daunting, especially at a time when many organizations are risk averse. At Templafy, weve found the risk was worth the reward: The APAC region is full of opportunity. Organizations in the market are seeking out partners with the products and services necessary to support digital transformation and bring their businesses into the future. Consider what this opportunity could mean for your business. Are you ready to take the next step?

Kavita Herbert is Regional Director ofAPAC at Templafy

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How Companies Should Expand In The Asian-Pacific Market - International Business Times

A disconnect between MSPs and cloud: The cloud opportunity – TechTarget

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Dave Sobel is the host of the podcast "The Business of Tech" and co-host of the podcast "Killing IT." In addition, he wroteVirtualization: Defined. Sobel is regarded as a leading expert in the delivery of technology services, with broad experience in both technology and business.

This week, Sobel discusses why most MSPs aren't really in the cloud like they believe, especially if all they offer is email. There are three levels of cloud that providers can offer and there is an opportunity there for MSPs.

Transcript follows below

The cloud has dominated the conversation for ages. This video is not another "why the cloud is important" conversation, because if you don't buy it at this point, there's likely nothing I can do for you.

I'm also not referring to the idea of simple cloud services, such as putting your email in the cloud or forklifting a server into a virtual machine. I'm thinking about the classic definition, focused on on-demand availability without direct active management by the user, and includes an elastic nature, where you can provision as required. This is not a server in a data center.

In a recent video, I modeled what I would do if I was launching an MSP today. The exercise is useful to understand even what a theoretical competitor looks like. In that, I also outlined that for my toolkit, I would use anything that wasn't cloud -- and I specifically said fully cloud native.

As a loose general principle, those non-cloud systems would be the inverse of cloud computing -- and thus involve as a critical element administration of the infrastructure by the user (or the user's proxy, the system administrator). As such, you have a model of tools that assume things like hardware access, or complete system access or operating system access. In the enterprise they look a lot like tools from Nagios, SolarWinds or ManageEngine. There are multi-tenancy focused tools that tech providers use to roll up that offering for multiple SMBs, and that's typically the managed services provider space.

The basic building blocks are servers, operating systems and network infrastructure. Which, notably, aren't in the cloud. As that has all been abstracted away, the general model doesn't work. It's why those tools don't naturally fit into a cloud world. Additionally, you have a different set of problems. With the cloud, configuration and policy management are the model, rather than individual pieces of hardware. The complexity is so much larger. The number of combinations and scenarios and capabilities is simply staggering.

First, the really basic services. The easy one is email. This is super foundational, but it's only the beginning, and often providers stop here. They make sure cloud email works, maybe some cloud file sharing, and then they move right along, making the cloud just their Microsoft Small Business Server circa 2008 and nothing more.

The second level of value is moving into actually making these systems useful. It's one thing to put Teams on someone's desk -- it's another to build out integrated workflows, making automation work across departments, to ensure that data flows correctly and then ensure it's always being securely managed. Building team collaborative workspaces where users are really working on documents in real time is actually a lot harder than just putting the application on someone's desktop.

Finally, the third level is true business process automation, which in SMB is often the implementation -- and integration -- of those additional line-of-business applications into those core systems. Here is where my core premise of building a fresh provider started.

If you've only done the first, let me say -- you're not really in the cloud. There's way more to this, and this alone is not the cloud. This is actually the worst parts of the cloud -- this is the lowest margin delivery, and the lowest margin services.

With this understanding of the three levels, we can actually understand where the disconnect happens.

All three of these levels are generally not served by any of the skills nor technologies that a typical technology provider focused on the SMB can leverage. That RMM? AV? Next gen security? Backup system? All essentially irrelevant in all three of these levels. Take your long list of typical providers that have helped build the very typical MSP . . . and they aren't taking you any of these places.

This is where the disconnect really begins. Every vendor out there will wrap themselves in a cloud blanket, and most of them really don't help you here.

When you look at the enterprise -- and please don't think I think they are the answer, just a place to look -- you can see entire clusters of vendors that have offerings that look nothing like what I see serving the small customer. Datadog, DivvyCloud, Splunk, New Relic and a long list of companies look entirely different. They don't even use the same lingo.

Looking at the DevOps space is much the same -- Buddy, Jenkins, PagerDuty, Docker, another whole list of technologies that solve core needs that are needed, particularly in that third level, and they remain out of reach. If you don't know any of these tools, don't worry -- my point isn't to have you go run and feel you need to buy those. It's to tell you that there are entire solution spaces that, while not ready for the SMB, are still addressing needs that you have.

The tool providers are so focused on security they aren't moving anywhere near this. One of the dirty little secrets -- if you move to a full cloud stack, that stuff is all so much less relevant. Secure your business in the cloud and you don't have to worry about this. MSPs, they need you distracted. It's better for them. It doesn't hurt its far easier to just integrate traditional endpoint security products than focus on real cloud management.

So, I'd be remiss if I didn't observe for vendors listening . . . this is a huge opportunity. There are needs in the SMB, and it's not being met.

Now, to those providers who aren't able to start fresh. What do you need to think about? To start, I want you to look at your profit and loss and break down how much you actually spend on tools as a proportion of your revenue. What is it? 4%? 5%? It's way less than you think it is.

Why do we care? Because it's so much a disproportionate amount of your attention versus your revenue. Particularly because there isn't a tool to solve this problem, you need to put it into relative importance. Sure, this would be better with a tool, and maybe there will be one, but we can't wait for that to solve this problem.

You're going to have to devote some labor to this, and that's more expensive. The way you can reduce that cost is being hyper focused on process. The good news is that you're good at process, and additionally, process means you'll be ready for a tool when it comes along.

Also good news: This problem needs a process, not a tool. The reason that the tools I mentioned for enterprise exist is to help automate process, but those processes have to exist to be automated.

Even more good news is that the investment in this process is actually the beginnings of your secret sauce. Being able to do this over and over repeatedly is how you can stand out, and how later jobs will become quite profitable, as you're still going to charge a premium for this. This is all complicated stuff and of super high value, so its value won't diminish.

Let me also break you of a habit. You'll want this to be recurring revenue. You'll want to package this up as a service to start. Don't. It's not that. This is project work. Sorry, but it is. Project work doesn't have to be a bad thing, and trust me, it's ongoing. Once you are knee deep in someone's business process, they are going to want you there. Just understand that this isn't something you will immediately package up and sell on a monthly subscription.

And that's ok. Really. You're not abandoning recurring revenue, and you're not giving up on those ideas. You're also not abandoning those service lines, because you need those to do this work as a solid foundation.

You're just not starting that way.

Let me also observe that there is real money in this. This is transformative stuff, and so the lack of commoditization that makes a perfect monthly recurring revenue package is exactly what makes this valuable and much higher margins. I'll that higher margin work -- it's really good work. It's far more profitable than on-premises work. Your ability to replicate and standardize is so much clearer and the ability to really automate here is also very powerful. Assuming no automation, you can still easily standardize due to the lack of physical configuration alone -- much less the ability to save states and create templates.

If you need help, two obvious ways to get it. First, call your distributor. They have whole services wings that are able to help you here. Second, partner. There are other providers doing business consulting like this, and you can work with them to develop this capability.

Let's recap. The disconnect is real -- it's because of the distinctly different tools needed. Your current vendors are not solving this problem for you. Email in the cloud is not enough. And this is a big deal -- this is huge opportunity.

About the authorDave Sobel is the host of the podcast "The Business of Tech," co-host of the podcast "Killing IT" and authored the bookVirtualization: Defined. Sobel is regarded as a leading expert in the delivery of technology services, with broad experience in both technology and business. He owned and operated an IT solution provider and MSP for more than a decade, and has worked for vendors such as Level Platforms, GFI, LOGICnow and SolarWinds, leading community, event, marketing, and product strategies, as well as M&A activities. Sobel has received multiple industry recognitions, including CRN Channel Chief, CRN UK A-List, Channel Futures Circle of Excellence winner, Channel Pro's 20/20 Visionaries and MSPmentor 250.

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A disconnect between MSPs and cloud: The cloud opportunity - TechTarget

Polish scientist involved in breakthrough work linking coronavirus effects to genes – The First News

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Doctor Karolina Chiakowska: part of team researching the link between the virus and genes. Uniwersytet Medyczny w Biaymstoku/Facebook

A Polish researcher has helped make a breakthrough in coronavirus research linking how people react to the virus to their genes.

As countries around the world struggle to control the COVID-19 epidemic, teams of researchers are busy trying to understand the virus, from who is most at risk to it to how people become immune to it. The outcome of this research could help protect vulnerable groups and save thousands of lives around the world.

Now an international team, which includes Polish bio-technologist Doctor Karolina Chiakowska, has made an important discovery: peoples susceptibility to the coronavirus depends on their genes.

Based at the Medical University of Biaystok in eastern Poland and the company Imagene.me, which is also located in that city, Chwiakowska specialises in the analyses of disease-related changes in gene expression levels and DNA methylation, especially cancers and metabolic disorders. She is also interested in epigenetic age perturbation.

Her work is part of an international effort looking into why people react differently to the coronavirus.Jakub Kaczmarczyk/PAP

Recently, Chwiakowska has been working with international research consortium the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (HGI), a bottom-up collaborative effort in the human genetics community to generate, share and analyse data to learn the genetic determinants of COVID-19 susceptibility, severity and outcomes. The research was conducted in 50 countries simultaneously.

This means that a team of researchers from one side of the world has ongoing access to the results of other scientists working on the same problem, said Chwiakowska.

The researchers found that genes located in the third human chromosome could be key to determining why people react differently after being infected with the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus and experience the COVID-19 illness in different ways. This was discovered by analysing the DNA of 2,000 infected people in Spain and Italy.

The large-scale genomic analyses confirmed the relationship between genetic variability in this region of the human genome and severe COVID-19, she said.

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Polish scientist involved in breakthrough work linking coronavirus effects to genes - The First News

How old is your dog? New equation shows how to calculate its age in human years – NBC News

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Common wisdom has long held that each dog year is equivalent to seven human years. But a new equation developed to measure how a dog ages finds the family pup may be a lot older than we realize.

Researchers studying chemical changes to canine DNA found that dogs age very quickly during their first five years and much more slowly later on.

The findings, published recently in the journal Cell Systems, calculate that a 5-year-old dog would be pushing 60 in human years.

Puppies age super quickly, said Trey Ideker, the studys senior author and a professor of genetics at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. By the time a dog is a year old, at a molecular level, hes much more like a 30-year-old human. Retrospectively, we did know these things. It didnt make any sense that the equivalent to a 7-year-old human would be able to have puppies.

Ideker and colleagues noticed that dogs, just like humans, have chemical marks on their DNA, called methylation marks, that change with age.

The genome itself doesnt change with age, Ideker said. "What does change is marks on the genes that control a dog or human's growth pattern."

The methylation marks, or as Ideker calls them wrinkles on the genome, change in predictable ways as we and dogs age.

We are able to quantify this at the molecular level and tell how fast someone is aging, and we can align it across dogs and humans, Ideker said. But we dont know exactly what it all means.

To find the mathematical relationship connecting dog aging to human aging, Ideker and his colleagues studied 104 Labrador retrievers whose ages ranged from weeks-old puppies to 16-year-old dogs.

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When they compared the dog DNA data to information from humans, the researchers came up with a new equation to figure out the dog's comparable human age.

The equation: 16 ln(dog age) + 31 = human age.

For iPhone calculators that have the natural logarithm, or "ln," function, first type in the dog's age. Then hit the "ln" button. Multiply that result by 16; then add 31.

If you're using Googles scientific calculator: First, hit "ln," then type in the dogs age, then equal it out. Next, multiply by 16, and then add 31.

Using that equation:

By this time, dog aging has slowed down, so an 8-year-old dog is like a 64-year-old human.

According to this equation, the average 12-year Labrador lifespan is equivalent to a human living to about 70.

Ideker suspects there will be some variation based on dog breed but that they will all follow a similar pattern.

The new dog-age math has given Ideker some pause when he thinks about taking his own dogs on runs: He now realizes his 6-year-old dog is actually pushing 60 in human years.

Margret Casal, a specialist in veterinary genetics, said the new calculations match what shes observed in her dog patients.

It validates what a lot of other researchers have been saying, said Casal, a professor of medical genetics, pediatrics and reproduction at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Researchers knew the 1-to-7 comparison was off, but they did not know what the specific relationship was, she added.

It will be interesting to look at different breeds," Casal said. "We know that some smaller breeds live longer and some larger ones dont live quite as long.

For owners hoping to help a beloved dog live as long as possible, Casal offered a few tips:

Lastly, take your dog for yearly wellness visits.

Thats really important, Casal said. I can say as an owner of a dog, sometimes you dont see something is wrong and your vet might be able to see it better.

Linda Carroll is a regular health contributor to NBC News and Reuters Health. She is coauthor of "The Concussion Crisis: Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic" and "Out of the Clouds: The Unlikely Horseman and the Unwanted Colt Who Conquered the Sport of Kings."

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How old is your dog? New equation shows how to calculate its age in human years - NBC News

Tim Farron says it’s the job of liberals to defend JK Rowling’s explosive views on trans rights and trans bodies – PinkNews

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Tim Farron has called on liberals to defend liberalism (Christopher Furlong/Getty)

Former Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has argued that liberals should be fighting for JK Rowlings right to express anti-trans views.

Writing in a blog on Medium, Farron argued for the need to reclaim a genuine liberalism in our debate and allow people to voice offensive views, even if those views strike at the heart of [your] identity.

Simply fighting for your own rights is never enough, he claimed, suggesting that true liberals would fight for the freedoms of extremists rather than cancelling them.

Take the recent Twitter storm surrounding JK Rowling, he said. The first people to defend her should be the liberals.

Not because they agree with her they may think she is utterly wrong but because liberalism fights for the rights of those with different views to be heard.

It takes time to listen, seeks to understand other perspectives and only then if both sides maintain their positions agree to disagree respectfully.

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale has frequently been forced to defend his own offensive views, which often appear to contradict those of his liberal party.

His two-year stint as Lib Dem leader was marred by accusations of homophobia as he refused to answer whether he believed homosexual sex to be a sin.

He came under fire earlierthis week after it was revealed that he accepted 75,000 in donations from an organisation whose Christian director tweeted in support of conversion therapy.

Farrons register of interests show he received a donation from Faith in Public which provided him with a policy adviser two days a week, worth an estimated maximum value of 9,100.

According tothe Independent, the organisation also donated the services of two policy advisers the previous two years at a total value of 50,319, as well as the services of a public relations company to the value of 15,000.

It is currently Lib Dem party policy to ban the vile practice of conversion therapy.

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Tim Farron says it's the job of liberals to defend JK Rowling's explosive views on trans rights and trans bodies - PinkNews

Liberal thinking | Letters – Rutland Herald

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The people in Rutland and the state who claim to be leaders go from the ridiculous to the sublime. You let a few people dictate to the public what is right in their eyes only changing a school's mascot known as the Raiders to the rattlesnakes is absurd.

What's next? You going to tell veterans who fought in World War II, Korea and Vietnam, that they can't wear their hats? People protested the Vietnam War, a war I proudly served in like so many others. Let them try and take my hat off.

This state has already said they are going to vote for Biden. You voted twice for Obama who put us deep in debt we will never get out of. You voted for Hillary who stole from you and you voted for Clinton who was an adulterer. And you continue to vote for Bernie Sanders who does nothing.

People wonder why other people aren't moving to Vermont because of high taxes, no real jobs and foolish leadership. And now Rutland is losing GE. Vermont was the 14th state to sign the declaration because of wayward thinking. I also bet the students and faculty at Rutland High School don't know what school spirit is. We have the best police force in the state but because of regulations brought on by liberals, their hands are almost tied.

Twenty-one years ago, Rutland was thriving, people were happy, places to eat and shop and a mall, but today, the mall has gone downtown, is almost empty, with no population to go to these places, they close up and move. But Vermont still thinks like a liberal, just keep raising taxes.

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Liberal thinking | Letters - Rutland Herald

A Review of OverBit – A Seychelles-based Crypto Margin Trading Platform in Forex and Metals Using Bitcoin – bitcoinke.io

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Overbit is a powerful, cryptocurrency trading platform positioned to be a global leader. This interestingly innovative trading platform allows cross-market trading in which clients can also dabble in forex and metals if they wishwhile using Bitcoin.

As a trader, Overbit gives you numerous opportunities to explore the world of cryptocurrency. It enables you to make professional trading choices while earning some money at it. The interface of Overbit is easy to use and interactive. It integrates seamlessly with your smartphone, tablet, or desktop.

SEE ALSO:Bitcoin Adoption in Africa is Setting All-Time Highs Every Week, Say Crypto Analysts

Overbit is suited for all levels of traders whether newbies, intermediate or experienced, and is already becoming a popular platform in the trading community.

How to Use Overbit in Trading Cryptocurrency

Overbit only uses cryptocurrency as the main trading asset.

The platform offer a significant amount of leverage to its traders up to 100x depending on the instruments you use. This allows you to leverage while trading against other forms of currency and instruments.

To start, you have to deposit some Bitcoin in your Overbit account.

You can make long or short trades against other instruments such as USD, JYP, and EUR using Bitcoin or its value equivalent. Overbit offers you all the current prices, and the amount needed for a trade is also visible to you.

To execute a trade on Overbit, here is the process:

With Overbit, you dont have to worry about depositing or withdrawing fees on your Bitcoin because there is none.

Overbit is simple yet professional. Creating an accountis simple and straight-forward with no complex actions needed. The endless possibilities it offers in cross trading crypto and other instruments is also a big win. Its a promising trading platform and an excellent entryway into the world of cryptocurrency trading, especially if you are a beginner.

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A Review of OverBit - A Seychelles-based Crypto Margin Trading Platform in Forex and Metals Using Bitcoin - bitcoinke.io

Medias games with the White House are by design – Boston Herald

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Anyone who has been tuning in to the televised press briefings has heard White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany refer to journalistic curiosity or more specifically, the lack thereof.

But make no mistake, the press is far from lazy or uninterested.

In fact, the media has never been sharper.

Dont let their constant mistakes fool you.

Whether it is a Washington Post retraction or a blue checkmarks Twitter correction those errors are not the result of a sloppy press.

They are the result of a determined one.

The media knows exactly what it is doing. And if youve been paying attention, then you do, too.

If reporters are failing to dig deeper into certain issues, it is not due to laziness.

On the contrary, when the news outlets bend over backward to ignore a story, you can rest assured they are extremely interested in it.

For example, if we were living in a normal, non-President Trump world, the unmasking of Gen. Michael Flynn would be a massive story.

The FBI framing a four-star general as part of a plan to overthrow a duly-elected president well, it makes Watergate look like childs play.

Instead, the press puts on a weak performance for their dwindling Trump-Deranged audience.

Rather than veer from their Get Trump narrative, they pretend they dont understand what all the fuss is about.

In May, CBS News Radio correspondent Steven Portnoy asked the press secretary, What the president calls Obamagate, what is it? What are the elements of that crime?

As convincing as he might be, furrowed brow and all, this reporter is far from a dolt.

Portnoy likely knows far more than most about Obamagate.

But his question is effective for his base. It reaffirms the idea that Trump is a paranoid nut in the White House who is obsessed with made-up scandals.

Unfortunately for the confused Portnoy, McEnany had no issues breaking down the criminal elements of what took place in the scandal-free Obama administration.

Look, there were a number of questions raised by the actions of the Obama administration. The Steele dossier, funded by the Democratic National Committee, an opposition political party to the president, was used to attain FISA warrants to listen in on conversations of people within the Trump campaign. There was the unmasking of the identity of Michael Flynn.

She later went on to say, We know that the identity of this three-decade general was leaked to the press a criminal leak to the press of his identity in violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

Is it any wonder that McEnany finished off her response by informing Portnoy that his question was only the second she received about the topic?

In law, the rule of thumb is that you dont ask a question you dont already know the answer to.

In todays media, it is a bit more sinister Dont ask a question you dont want the American people to hear the answer to.

It is the same reason the media can whip themselves into a lather over the number of scoops of ice cream the president is eating but has little to no interest in Tara Reade.

Their job is deciding what stories are considered important in the mainstream.

Right now, nothing is more critical in the minds of Chuck Todd and Jake Tapper than taking down Trump.

So they write their think pieces about Russian agents and fake dossiers.

They obsess over Stormy Daniels and how Trump drinks his water.

And by avoiding asking real questions, they never get real answers thus avoiding some big problems for their preferred candidate.

Speaking of, when Joe Biden finally drifts his way over to a podium, the press gives him an open mic to remind America that Orange Man is indeed still bad.

Journalists wield a powerful tool.

They can bring scandals to the forefront of Americas news cycle.

But perhaps more powerful than that, they can shove stories into the background.

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Medias games with the White House are by design - Boston Herald

Bill makes space for alternative medicine – The BVI Beacon – BVI Beacon

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While debating a bill that would update oversight for the practice of medicine, dentistry and alternative care in the territory, members of the House of Assembly also took a broader look at the future of Virgin Islands health care over the past week.

The Medical Amendment Act, 2020 would set specific qualification standards for medical professionals seeking licence to practice in the Virgin Islands.

The 47-page bill saw its second and third readings July 2 after it was presented by Deputy Premier Carvin Malone, the minister of health and social development.

The House voted in favour of the bill on July 7 after making some substantial amendments in closed-door committee based on detailed input from health professionals, according to Mr. Malone. The bill, however, wont take effect or be made public until it receives assent from the governor.

During the debate, Premier Andrew Fahie said that as government maps out medical care it will be important to allow for the integration of alternative forms of medicine.

The bill includes practitioners in fields beyond typical medicine, who could get licensed through the Allied Health Practitioners Register.

For example, the bill defines a naturopath as a person who is trained in a therapeutic system that employs the use of natural forces, such as light, health, air, water and massage and other natural remedies but does not prescribe drugs, pharmaceuticals or substances for ingestion for the treatment of health conditions.

Mr. Fahie said there is a balance to be found between traditional and natural medicine.

The reason Im going into natural medicine is that we have to start to be pioneers, he said.

The bill also more explicitly outlines what constitutes professional misconduct, such as practising without the appropriate licence.

Other infractions include improper relations with a patient; knowingly betraying a patients confidence except in extenuating circumstances; knowingly abandoning a patient in danger; issuing a false medical certificate; acting as a specialist without proper registration; wilfully misrepresenting the effectiveness of a treatment; and knowingly practising while intoxicated.

One amendment would up the $3,000 fine for submitting false information to the registry to $5,000.

Meanwhile, if the head of a corporate body knowingly commits an offence under the bill, that person would be liable on summary conviction to a maximum $5,000 fine and up to three years imprisonment.

Fees for new registration and licensing would see an increase under the new bill.

Full registration for a medical or dental practitioner would cost $200, a two-year licence $500. A specialist registration would cost $300, a two-year licence $750. Other temporary, provisional and special fees are outlined as well.

An overseeing council would be given authority to waive special registration fees for medical professionals called in during a state of emergency or disaster, or for a council-approved specific purpose.

The transition wouldnt be immediate, though.

Medical or dental practitioners who are already registered wouldnt have to renew for a year after the act comes into effect.

If a practitioners licence lapses, they would have to pay a $500 penalty fee in addition to the cost of the renewed licence.

Contending that it is impossible to discuss the future of medicine in the VI without talking about funding, opposition member Mitch Turnbull pointed to some issues with the National Health Insurance system.

We have a system that could and should work, but it has to be funded properly and timely, he said.

He expressed concern for the long-term financial stability of the system, explaining that NHI is currently costing government so much that it is unsustainable.

According to figures from Mr. Malone, the territory of fewer than 30,000 spends in excess of $90 million on health care annually, around $42 million of which is funded by a subvention from the government to the BVI Health Services Authority.

Were still putting seed money in NHI, Mr. Malone said.

This bill did not specifically address insurance, but it is one of a series of anticipated acts and policies guiding the future of medicine in the VI.

When such big-picture financial issues crop up, Mr. Turnbull said they trickle down to everyday interactions, with some medical practices experiencing lengthy delays getting paid by NHI. The premier agreed that NHI reform is needed.

If it is not reviewed, it will bankrupt the VI, he said.

Mr. Fahie said he believes the fund wasnt allowed to build up properly to facilitate future growth.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Malone said the House went the extra mile in exploring non-traditional practices with its amendments. He indicated that several other health-related bills would be coming down the pipeline as well, including ones dealing with mental health and private hospital licensing.

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Bill makes space for alternative medicine - The BVI Beacon - BVI Beacon

Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecast…

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Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Size By Product Analysis, Application, End-Users, Regional Outlook, Competitive Strategies And Forecast...