Velocity has launched a new healthtech fund for early-stage startups. In its first close, the fund has reached 80 percent of its $1 million USD target.

Were on pace to create high impact global healthtech juggernauts for Canada based out of the Waterloo Region.

The Velocity Health Tech Fund represents the incubators second pre-seed fund and will make investments of $50,000 to support founders working in areas such as medical devices, therapeutics, diagnostics, digital health, and emerging health sector spaces. The fund, formed in partnership with Communitech, will also invest in the winners of the Velocity Fund Pitch Competition.

Velocity has not explicitly disclosed the funds LPs, but a press release named Dave Caputo, a past-chair of the board at Communitech and Richard Weinstein, an ophthalmologist based in Kitchener, as individual investors in the fund.

The rise in health technology companies incubating at Velocity reflects an increasing number of founders wanting to dedicate their energy and passion to simultaneously capture not only revenue from a multi-trillion dollar market, but also an opportunity to improve longevity and manage or cure disease, said Adrien Ct, Velocitys executive director.

RELATED: Outgoing director Jay Shah reflects on burnout as Velocity evolves leadership structure

The number of healthtech companies at Velocity has increased over the last six years, and over one-third of its incubated companies were in the healthtech sector in 2019. There are currently 27 healthtech startups being incubated at Velocity, and a third of those are in the process of, or have already completed, preclinical studies, while two are in human clinical trials.

Velocity stated that it has been reshaping its work to better meet the needs of healthtech companies. Last year, healthtech giant PerkinElmer moved its Canadian demonstration lab to Velocitys space. The incubator also said it has furthered its engagement with research labs likely to have healthtech spinouts, and has added business advisors with more healthtech experience.

In November, alumni and current companies of Velocity reached more than $1 billion CAD in venture capital since the incubator was launched 11 years ago. Velocity claims that since 2013, its incubated healthtech companies have gone on to raise over $50 million CAD in private investment.

More early-stage investment is required to fuel a thriving healthtech startups scene, said Caputo. Combined with the benefits of Velocitys highly differentiated startup resources and Communitechs scale-up programs, were on pace to create high impact global healthtech juggernauts for Canada based out of the Waterloo Region.

As our world faces growing (and already massive) challenges in human health, the commercialization of health technologies will be essential, Ct added. Simply put, its good business.

Image source Velocity

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Velocity launches and announces first close of pre-seed healthtech fund - BetaKit

ALAMEDA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX; NYSE American: AGE), a biotechnology company focused on developing therapeutics for human aging and regeneration, announced a new paper co-authored by two AgeX scientists that could lead to new insights into the fundamental mechanisms of aging and why super-centenarians not only live the longest, but also experience extraordinary healthspans; an extension of the healthy years of life that compresses morbidity to a very short period near the end of life. The paper, Induced pluripotency and spontaneous reversal of cellular aging in supercentenarian donor cells, is published online in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications from Elsevier. The senior author is Dana Larocca, PhD, VP of Discovery Research at AgeX, and the first author is Jieun Lee, PhD, Scientist at AgeX.

Clearly, we can learn a lot about aging and longevity from the longest of the long-lived, the supercentenarians, and we hope that this paper accelerates such research, commented Dr. Larocca. Now that we have converted the cells of one of the longest-lived people in history, a deceased 114-year-old American woman, to a young pluripotent state, researchers can do so with cells from other supercentenarians. The goal is to understand specifically how these extreme agers manage to avoid the major chronic illnesses of aging better than any other age group including centenarians. We can essentially put their cells in a time machine and revert them to an earlier state, then study their biology to help unlock the mysteries of super-longevity. Scientists have long wondered, and now we know that we can indeed reset the developmental state and cellular age in the oldest of the old.

By way of comparison, the paper also describes undertaking a similar process with cells from two other donors: an eight-year-old with a rapid-aging syndrome commonly known as Progeria, and a 43-year-old, healthy disease-free control (HDC) subject. The paper notes that the supercentenarians cells reverted to induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells at the same rate as the HDC subject and the Progeria patient. However, there may be some negative impact of extreme age on telomere resetting as this did not occur as frequently in the supercentenarian as in the other two donors.

The donated cells were from the longevity collection, a cell bank established by the NIHs National Institute on Aging.

About AgeX Therapeutics

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly-defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies in the body. AgeX is developing its core product pipeline for use in the clinic to extend human healthspan and is seeking opportunities to establish licensing and collaboration agreements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms.

For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its subsidiaries particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in the Risk Factors section of AgeXs Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

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AgeX Therapeutics Researchers Publish Paper on the Age Reprogramming of Super-Centenarian Cells - Business Wire

Studying is something most of us dread. From stress to wandering thoughts, it is easy to get lost on where to begin when there is so much information in front of you. To help prevent pre-test anxieties and to help you ace your next exam, here are some ways that you can perfect your study routine in the most effective ways possible.

The most obvious skill to acquire is note taking, and it is better to write notes on a notepad instead of typing on a digital device. The main issue with typing as a form of note taking is that students are more likely to type what they hear without putting any critical, cognitive thinking into it. Note taking can be simplified into the key points of the lecture, that way you can separate unimportant information into key concepts for the most effective results. It is also good to talk with your professor if you feel as if you arent grasping a certain concept or you are confused, that way your notes are complete when it comes time to study.

Having an organized space often leads to having a more organized mind. The cleanliness of your workspace can have a positive effect on your mindset when it is time to start the studying process. This means having a clean desk, keeping a planner and calendar with important dates and keeping your classes separate in terms of notes, folders and notebooks. Placing sticky notes on pages or concepts you want to return to can help your textbooks stay organized before an exam. If your textbook is online, highlighting key points to come back to works just as well.

Although tricky, unplugging from social media during study time not only saves time but also helps improve the longevity and speed of information retention. Apps such as Offtime of Flipd can lock you out of social media for a certain amount of time, which helps enforce studying if you have a bad habit of checking your phone frequently.

Cramming for tests last minute may be tempting, but this only increases stress and limits the amount of information you retain. You will also be more successful if you start studying bits and pieces at a time. It is often recommended that after getting done with a section, review the topics discussed instead of saving it for the few days before the test when you have a ton of work due on top of exam preparation.

Although hard to believe, there is a thing such as over-studying. This can be easily solved by scheduling specific times to go to the library or your dorm to study. Schedule what chapters you will be studying and key concepts, that way you do not intake more information than your brain can handle in one sitting. Time management is key to being a successful test taker. Taking a break from studying is crucial. We are human, not machines. Studying in intervals helps reset your brain and allows you to relax. Try reviewing for 50 minutes and then taking a 10 minute break to refresh, grab a drink, stretch or close your eyes.

While studying is important, so is your physical and mental health. Taking care of your body by eating a nutritious meal or taking a hot shower can make all the difference in preparing for that upcoming exam.

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Study habits to help you ace your next exam - The Maine Campus

By 2050, the worlds over-65s will outnumber the under-15s for the first time in history. The root cause of this is simple: infant mortality has decreased. In 1910, about 15% of British babies died shortly after being born. By 1950, this had dropped to about 3%, and last year it was about 0.3%. This reduction is a global trend that only grouches fail to hail as a triumph.

But success brings its own problems. Every surviving baby is a potential pensioner, and by the age of 85, nobody is disease free. Being old is not in itself a problem, but being old and ill is quite another matter.

Over 40% of the UKs National Health Service (NHS) budget goes on the over-65s. Spending on a patient in their mid-80s is more than seven times higher that on someone in their mid-30s. Unless we improve healthy lifespan, by 2050 either healthcare expenditure will become impossibly high or care standards unacceptably low.

Conscious of this, the British government has set itself a commendable target for everyone to have five extra years of healthy, independent life by 2035 and to narrow the gap between the richest and the poorest. The second part of the sentence is key. Simply committing to increase the average healthy lifespan, as the European Union did some years ago, carries the risk that you hit your target by making the healthiest healthier.

Avoiding this is crucial for the UK where the health gap between rich and poor is bad (24% fewer of the poorest British people are in good health relative to the richest) compared with countries such as New Zealand and France (where the gap is only 5%-10%).

An authoritative new report, The Health of the Nation, from the All Party Parliamentary Group for Longevity lays out potential measures the UK government could take, and some traps to avoid, to meet its target. Drawing on contributions from many disciplines, there is something in it for everyone, from what you can do personally to stay healthy, through what your doctors can do to help you, to what scientists can do to help your doctors.

What you can do should come as no surprise. Stop smoking which would cut UK health inequalities in half if everyone did so. Drink less alcohol although you probably shouldnt be a teetotaller. And stay a healthy weight and get enough exercise.

The trap with encouraging people to adopt healthy behaviour, for example by running a lose-weight campaign, is that the people who diet as a result tend to be health-conscious folk already worried theyre fat. So catch everyone measures, such as hiking the prices of beer and cigarettes, have a better chance of raising average lifespan by reducing health inequality. Just dont expect smokers to thank the government for doing it.

Your doctors could help by putting more effort into preventing illness. The NHS focuses on healing the sick. It is extremely efficient at this but spends only 5% of its budget on prevention. This is because its key targets are for treating disease, not enhancing wellness. (Surgeons arent paid for the operations they didnt need to perform.)

One recommended way around this is to shift NHS performance metrics and money away from payment by activity towards payment for meeting population health status targets, such as blood pressure. Healthcare systems worldwide are looking to do this, but the potential for unintended consequences is high. For example, it is not implausible that linking financial incentives to a healthy population would create incentives for doctors not to diagnose people as sick.

Scientists can help because the single greatest risk to your health is your number of birthdays or, in other words, the operation of the mechanisms causing ageing. Social circumstances and individual behaviour affect ageing, but its underlying biological drivers affect every tissue in the body.

Fortunately, we now know that a few fundamental processes cause both ageing and age-related disease. For older people who are already sick, this breakthrough in understanding could add decades to healthy life expectancy.

It took 50 years to establish that senescent cells cells that dont divide or support the tissues of which they are part caused ageing but less than five to develop a drug cocktail that removes them from humans. So the first anti-ageing drugs are coming. But to get them to the clinic fast enough to meet the governments target, the new report recommends establishing a dedicated British Institute for Ageing to lead scientists, entrepreneurs and industrialists in a unified effort.

The global race to patent anti-ageing treatments is firmly on, the human need for them undoubted, and the nations that already have such dedicated agencies are out in front. So this last recommendation is one every country on Earth without these institutions will be well advised to carefully consider.

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Adding five healthy years to UK life expectancy how to achieve it - The Conversation UK

Chinese researchers found that two new genes can prevent healthy aging, which provides a theoretical basis for delaying brain aging, according to a report by Science and Technology Daily.

The research published in Nature was jointly carried out by two research teams from the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai, CAS.

Previous studies found that longevity genes do not necessarily delay the behavioral deterioration of animals in aging, which means increasing longevity is rarely accompanied by an extended healthspan.

Through screening of genes that regulate behavioral deterioration in aging Caenorhabditis elegans and the examination of human databases, researchers found that the expression of two genes, BAZ2B and EHMT1, increases with age and correlates positively with the progression of Alzheimer's disease, said the research paper.

The research further showed that reducing the function of BAZ2B can improve cognitive function and behavioral ability of aging C. elegans or mice.

Considering the large species differences between human beings and animals, there is still great uncertainty as to whether the study can be applied to human beings, the researchers said.

Read more:
New genes preventing healthy aging in China - Free Press Journal

Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in Central and Eastern Europe, debates ensued regarding the nature of systemic change. Did the domino-like, state-by-state collapse of communism across the region constitute a revolution, a restoration, or even, in the clever 1989 formulation of British historian Timothy Garton Ash, a refolution, combining the elements of reform and revolution? Franois Furet and Jrgen Habermas both suggested there was nothing new inherent in either the programs or ideals of 1989.[i]

One important feature united the commentators in this discussion: the commitment to non-violence on the part of key domestic and international players in most states save for a short-lived civil conflict in Romania (from the nomenklatura to dissidents domestically, as well as the restraint of both Western leaders and then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev).

In 2003, I argued that 1989 represented a revolution in the very idea of revolutionsimultaneously self-limiting with far-reaching impact via a principled commitment to non-violence. In states ranging from Serbia in 2000, Ukraine in 2004 or 2014, Iran in 2009 to Egypt in 2011, the idea of peaceful or velvet revolution became part of the civil resistance playbook in responding to or even unseating authoritarian leaders.[ii]

However attractive the model of non-violent revolution that 1989 represented, it is unlikely to be replicated in the near future, despite the growth of academic and activist research and support for non-violent resistance. Recent efforts of replicating 1989 have been whole or at least partial failures.

Serbia, while democratic, sits uneasily at the edge of the European Union. Ukraine has strengthened democratic institutions yet is simultaneously mired in a frozen conflict in Donetsk and Luhansk, having already lost the Crimean Peninsula to unwelcome Russian annexation. The 2009 Green Revolution in Iran and the 2011 Arab Spring in Egypt have been defeated.

The current constellation of multipolar great power politics makes international agreement on conflict resolution difficult either through the United Nations or regional security organizations. The decline in the soft power attractiveness not only of the United States but even of liberal democracy more generally given the rise of populist, illiberal, nativist and nationalist sentiment has undermined the legitimacy of the democratic project.

An international legal regime and transitional justice paradigm dis-incentivizes unpopular authoritarians to peacefully step away from power. The fraught operationalization/moral hazard associated with the doctrine of Responsibility to Protect, have made non-violent revolutions far less likely as a model for the future. Given the disastrous consequences of the UN-sponsored Libyan mission and the conflict in Syria ending decidedly in Bashar al-Assads favour, order and basic human security are currently more fundamental than questions of regime type, citizen engagement or the more expansive protection of human rights.

More generally, contemporary authoritarian states are far deadlier and more punitive than their post-Stalinist East European predecessors in their response to resistance and dissent.

The current constellation of political, economic and social forces intersect to structurally render a repeat of 1989, or some form of non-violent revolution, nearly impossible. Why might a return of revolution or attempted revolutionary change with violence be more likely, given that 1989 proved that dramatic change could occur without recourse to violence?

Obviously, there are no simple answers or monocausal explanations, and more case-specific and comparative research needs to be done on unsuccessful efforts. Jennifer Welsh, responding to Fukuyamas thesis about the end of history, suggests that we are in the midst of a return to history, one aspect of which is increasing and increasingly barbaric levels of violence, xenophobia, and inequality. Here, I sketch out some of the factors that currently render the structural and ideological conditions for a repeat of 1989 specifically or for a non-violent revolution more generally, unlikely to be repeated in the short to medium term.

The United States is not in the same position of global leadership. Almost a decade after 9/11 and multiple military interventions later, the reputation of the remaining superpower is tarnished. The United States has entered a period of relative weakness if not outright decline (at least in terms of soft power), even prior to the election of Donald J. Trump. Failure to deliver sustainable security and better governance have precipitated ongoing regional and transnational security concerns, even leaving aside substandard economic performance in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The United States is not as well regarded in former Soviet or communist states as it was in the 1970s and 1980s in Central and Eastern Europe, let alone in contemporary North Africa or the Middle East. The failure to deliver on the promises of regime change, especially when aided and abetted by military coalitions of the willing, has been profound.

The attractiveness of American soft power took a hit under the presidency of George W. Bush and is taking a further nosedive under Donald J. Trump. Moreover, the post-intervention political failure of Iraqaided and abetted by the disastrous policies of de-Baathification and the disbanding of the Republican Guardwas arguably the single biggest contributing factor leading to the rise of ISIS.

We are also witnessing the return of great power politics, in an increasingly multipolar world where global and regional leaders can effectively delegitimize internal dissent and checkmate revisionist politics within neighbouring states within their zone of influence. Indeed, such approaches mesh neatly with nationalist revisionism and populism, as we have seen in Russia, China, and India.

The Arab Spring, even if what has occurred is regarded as round one in a longer game, has been largely a failure. What began as street protests against rulers whose longevity was well past their best-before date (Mubarek in Egypt or Gaddafi in Libya) did not usher in a successful revolution, refolution or a fourth wave of democratization in the Middle East and North Africa. To be sure, the Internet and social media functioned as a force multiplier in getting millions into the streets, but speed cannot replace the slow building of movements and coalitions that focus on the de minimus consensus needed both strategically and tactically to sustain oppositions over the long haul.

2011 proved that you cannot replicate 1989 in hyperdrive. Zeynep Tufekci discusses how digital technologies, have generated tactical freeze whereby the adhocracy and leaderlessness of movements make it difficult to establish either concrete or negotiable demands.

Asef Bayat outlines some of the paradoxes of limited or refolutionary approaches that the Arab Spring painfully made clear. Citizen activists feel more entitled to higher expectations, while their very creative disruption renders delivery on such expectations difficult in the short term. Minimally, non-violent or even minimally-violent people power approaches are supposed to keep basic services functioning, yet there develops a powerful quest to transform those very institutionsexpelling their bosses, altering rules of the game, and bringing in new bloodas a way to inculcate new political order.

States such as China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, and Egypt, are far less tolerant of dissent than the rulers of late communism. Post-Stalinism repressed or limited choices but were relatively safe and secure. After the 1950s dissidents were arrested but not tortured, and national party-states avoided purge trials and executions. Increasingly contemporary Russia also stifles the effectiveness of opposition and any serious challenges to the ruling hegemony.

Under late communism, law may have been deeply politicized, but law existed, and a rational process of technocratic bureaucratization ensured a social safety net for all and advanced education and economic opportunities for many (especially for the nomenklatura). Both the instrumental demonization of communism for political ends and communo-nostalgia exist, both of which make any honest and clear-eyed assessment of the past in terms of popular discourse difficult.

As Aviezer Tucker points out, only rough justice was possible during and after the transition, either in terms of retribution or restoration, given the overall costs and procedural challenges involved Such processes have fed conspiracy theories about the nature of change in 1989 as well as generating real grievances and legitimation challenges.

There may here now exists a different calculus for potential withdrawal from power for unpopular authoritarians. Given the advancement of international criminal law, the existence of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and the ex post facto creation of hybrid courts for crimes of the past (such as in Cambodia) there simply is no soft landing in the south of France (as there was for Jean-Franois Duvalier of Haiti) or Hawaii (as was the case for Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines)the brutal and human rights-abusing authoritarians of yesteryear.

A different incentive structure is in play. Gorbachev may have won the Nobel Prize, but in the Putinesque and even populist calculus in contemporary Russia, he was also responsible for the dissolution of the Soviet Unionthus ending superpower status and bringing shame and economic disaster on the nation.

Bashar al-Assad had no choice but to fight for his version of Syria and has effectively won. Had he not, his own personal alternative would have been permanent exile and inability to travel anywhere given the increasing reach of universal jurisdiction.[iii] It is hard to imagine Kim Jong Un willingly give up power, or any domestic forces of non-violent dissent having a chance of success. North Korea is remarkably autarkic, relatively immune to even the smartest of sanctions.

We need to examine whether the ICC generates a reverse effectwhereby potential indictment increases the stakes and the personal survival of the authoritarian leader as an autonomous individual is at stakenot the case in either 1989 in Eastern Europe or 1991 in the Soviet Union.

Authoritarians themselves are proving to be adept and able students of the history and practice of non-violent regime changeand are ever more determined to avoid the conditions that made such change possible. During and after Irans failed Green Revolution in 2009, the regime actively searched for and discounted anything that smacked of velvet revolution, and responded not only with violent reprisals, but also a series of show trials resulting in periods of long imprisonment and even execution.

The Iranian fixation with prohibiting a velvet revolution and ongoing Russian accusations of deliberate government sponsorship of the coloured revolutions happily coexist with conspiracy theory regarding the tentacles of American global domination. Indeed, the United States unwittingly fed this narrative via its post-9/11 interventions and the triumphalist discourse both in government and academic circles about winning the Cold War.

The assumption that the replication of 1989 is both possible and desirable ignores much of the unique character of the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, where there was a wilfully retreating hegemon, oppositions-in-waiting given the decades-long cultivation of dissent, weak and non-performing governments, in some cases previous experiences with democracy, shared cultural and historical experiences with Western European democratic states, and populations willing to literally exit, voice and loyalty.

These are not small differences. Non-violence worked to a large degree in 1989 not only because of the discipline and social trust among the non-government and opposition forces but because the leaders-in-withdrawal hesitated to use violence and could rely neither on the USSR nor likely even on their own security forces.

This article is an extract of a longer paper titled Rethinking 1989 as Revolutionary Recipe presented by Barbara J. Falk to the Association for the Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies. Register for free to download a PDF version below.

[i] Furet (quoted by Ralf Dahrendorf) stated that with all the fuss and the noise, not a single new idea has come out of Eastern Europe in 1989. Habermas referred to the events of 1989 as the nachholende revolutionusually translated as rectifying but also with the sense of looking backwards, implying nothing new or original.

[ii] Velvet as appended to Revolution first appeared to describe the peaceful, non-violent negotiated transfer of power in Czechoslovakia in November-December 1989.

[iii] Assad would be not subject to indictment by the International Criminal Court given Syria is not a state party, but there is currently an International Documentation Center collecting forensic and other evidence that could be used in future prosecution(s).

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Rethinking the Revolutionary Recipe Barbara J. Falk - Visegrad Insight

Up-To-Date Research on Anti-Senescence Therapy Market 2020:

Anti-Senescence Therapy Market Report presents an outline of the related market comprising types, applications and top producers with new technology, characteristics, and market chain with the investigation and newest market trends and expansion. Further, the Anti-Senescence Therapy Market research report explains potential industry supply, value, market demand, competition and its study of top players with industry estimate from 20202026. At present, the global Anti-Senescence Therapy market is chiefly driven by a number of outstanding firms. The major market players are executing different growth strategies counting new product launches, strategic partnerships & collaborations, operational & geographical expansions, joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions, and sales to grab the superior business position.

Companies Included: Unity Biotechnology, Siwa Therapeutics, Calico LLC, AgeX TherapeuticsInc, Numeric Biotech, Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), Cleara Biotech, OisinBiotechnologies, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Sierra Sciences, Proteostasis Therapeutics, Senolytic Therapeutics, Allergan

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Acquire Market Research is a market research-based company empowering companies with data-driven insights. We provide Market Research Reports with accurate and well-informed data, Real-Time with Real Application. A good research methodology proves to be powerful and simplified information that applied right from day-to-day lives to complex decisions helps us navigate through with vision, purpose and well-armed strategies. At Acquire Market Research, we constantly strive for innovation in the techniques and the quality of analysis that goes into our reports.

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Global Anti-Senescence Therapy Market is estimated to Grow at the Highest Growth Rate till 2026 | Key players: Unity Biotechnology, Siwa Therapeutics,...

Free-to-play has existed for two decades now, so why do questions persist over its sustainability? Sam Forrest argues that the model can be profitable, provided that operators focus on engaging players for the long term and treat payers and non-payers fairly

Two decades ago, the South Korea-based company, Nexon, pioneered a new model known as free to play (FTP). It was widely believed to be the answer to combating piracy, one of the most prevalent issues in the industry at the time.

The logic tracked well why would you steal what you can get for free? No one could have predicted the widespread and enduring success of the model, which has since been regularly modified and improved to suit the changing needs of the industry.

FTP titles drove the bulk of spending last year, accounting for 80% of total digital game spending in 2019 according to Nielsens SuperData Research Group.

While once solely associated with casual mobile and PC games, FTP has since made its mark on the console market, attracting global attention for premium titles including Fortnite: Battle Royale, Dota 2 and League of Legends.

The core methodology behind the FTP model is that players can access most of the content within a gaming title without incurring any costs, while those players who want to progress through the game more quickly or access additional content can pay for the pleasure.

Despite a large portion of their content being free to users, developers still make a profit as, in the vast majority of FTP games, the paying players subsidise the FTP players. The truth in this claim is apparent in a recent 2019 monetisation report from Swrve, which states that 64.5% of total revenue comes from the top 10% of paying users.

Prioritising fair playPaying users can purchase perks that they would not have access to as a free player, resulting in access to hidden features or obtaining superficial cosmetic items such as new skins or gadgets.

So, how do developers ensure equality among payers and players? Guaranteeing that FTP and paying players are treated equally within the game, beyond what they pay for, is a tricky task. While paying players are an integral revenue stream for developers, the active player base that comes from FTP has immense value within the game.

If the two distinct player bases are treated fairly, it creates longevity in the game, allowing it to grow in terms of liquidity and revenue.

Evidence of this strategy being successful can be seen in a number of online games. In the social casino genre, KamaGames Pokerist allows paying players to buy virtual chips that permit them to play for longer or to access pro tables where chip requirements are high.

In terms of equality for all players, however, the companys random number generator guarantees that, regardless of how many chips are purchased, the odds of winning remain the same for all players. While the purchased chips facilitate continued access to the game, the act of buying chips in no way enhances a players chances of winning, nor skews the odds of winning in their favour.

There is a brief and recent history of games developers unfairly prioritising paying users, providing them with significant in-game advantages not available to others.

When this occurs beyond allowing paying players to access diverting content such as a mini game or more creative skins, the gaming world is quick to accuse developers of diverging from FTP to a pay-to-win model.

For true gaming enthusiasts, this anger stems from the knowledge that, no matter how many hours they spend toiling away in their chosen game, they are incapable of reaching the same level of success as that of a paying user. In effect, the free experience is cheapened to such an extent that the prospect of winning is rendered impossible.

Anyone even remotely within the sphere of gaming is aware of how global organisations have inspired a widespread backlash following the over-milking of in-game microtransactions. For EA, Star Wars Battlefront II should have been one of the biggest gaming success stories of 2017.

Yet, its onerous and expensive microtransactions, on top of an initial cover charge, instigated an animosity in gamers that spread industry-wide like wildfire. First-week sales were 60% down on Battlefront I, hitting the companys share price and leading it to overhaul its approach to microtransactions.

Talk of loot boxes and microtransactions have the industry buzzing, with many now regularly targeting operators who prioritise microtransactions over gameplay, or worse, those who may encourage a gambling mentality among impressionable players. This global criticism has resulted in several countries banning games that host loot boxes.

This confluence of events, along with the appearance of EA and Epic Games at the UK Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, serves as a warning of what can happen when titles quietly attempt to transform from an FTP or pay-to-play game to a pay-to-win scenario.

Why bankroll free players?Some question how the FTP model can be profitable for developers, even when executed perfectly, as the majority of users wont ever part with a single cent. While its clear that FTP is not foolproof, empires have been built by those who can crack the formula.

Companies such as KamaGames, Supercell, Tencent and Niantic can boast annual revenues in the millions (and, for some, billions). In many cases, it has been done without the impressive budget of AAA titles.

The fact is, despite 72% of players only ever making one purchase and 47.7% of purchases being made on the first day of installation, according to Swrve, the sheer number of players that these titles attract ensures profit.

For developers, one of the greatest advantages of FTP will always be that it creates a recurring revenue stream instead of solitary, one-off payments. Also, in exposing a higher number of players to the game, the likelihood of down the funnel conversions increases as players continue to enjoy the game and become more invested.

This is why operators who adopt this model are becoming increasingly more devoted to introducing mechanics which guarantee continued, long-term engagement. On its most basic level, and as far as it relates to the traditional mobile standard of FTP titles, players can either slowly grind and progress through a games content for free or choose to pay and speed up their progression.

Outside of revenue garnered from direct monetary transactions, for some developers, customer data such as social media and demographic information is of notable value. This data can highlight the type of user, in terms of gender, age or even income, who is most interested in their product, allowing operators to direct future campaigns and promotions at this audience.

Furthermore, when you are looking at a multiplayer game, the most vital contribution non-payers make is simply their engagement with the game. Their presence alone is enough to champion the argument for the FTP model. After all, little can compare to the challenge of going head-to-head against an authentic human rival and emerging the undisputed victor.

Through increasing player liquidity, non-payers enhance the overall quality of experience for the payers and have rightfully earned their place within the game.

The ideal FTP title is fair, enhances gameplay for payers but doesnt create a negative experience for non-paying users. Yet, just like a simple app game, mastering FTP has proven to be harder than it looks.

Sam Forrest, the director of global communications for KamaGames, is a highly proficient PR and communications veteran with over 25 years of experience in the interactive entertainment sector. Throughout his career, he has worked with a wide number of well-known global entertainment brands including Disney/Pixar, WWE, UFC, DreamWorks, Nickelodeon, Hasbro and Marvel.

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Finding value in F2P - iGaming Business

How the Earth's health impacts human health will be the topic of the Spring Aquatic Academy at the Aquarium of the Pacific.

The four-session program will be on Wednesday evenings in March. Each session runs from 7 to 9 p.m. and features scientists and professors with expertise in the topics.

Dr. Jonathan Patz, Professor and Director, Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin, will present at the first session on March 4, talking about how the way climate change is dealt with will impact our health as individuals and a species. The other three sessions drill down to specifics, from increases in infectious diseases to crop failures due to climate change.

The aquarium typically sponsors two aquatic academies a year. Last fall, the program addressed human longevity.

Cost for the series is $40 for adults, $25 for students and aquarium members. Continuing education credit through Cal State Long Beach is available with an additional $10 fee. All classes are at the aquarium, 100 Aquarium Way.

For more information and to sign up, go towww.aquariumofpacific.org/events/info/aquatic_academy.

Read more:
Long Beach Aquatic Academy Focuses On Health Earth's And Ours - Gazette Newspapers

With ongoing workforce shortages in the technology sector, much has been said about the need for government to get more creative in its IT recruiting efforts. But theres a second half of the equation that often gets overlooked. As recruiting gets ever more competitive, theres a growing need for enhanced IT resiliency.

CIOs need to look at workforce planning for the long term. Its no longer enough for IT to just keep the lights on, maintaining a functional and secure infrastructure. In a successful IT team, skilled professionals need defined pathways, continuous training opportunities and a sense that government offers them a place to build a career within a positive work culture.

In a sense, demographic changes work in favor of state and local efforts to promote IT longevity. For a generation of workers who saw their parents work lives disrupted by the recession, a long-term career in government may look tempting. In government agencies, you dont get fired easily. They also have defined benefits: You have a timeline to retirement, you have safety over time, said David K. Johnson, a Forrester principal analyst serving chief information officers. Two big sources of uncertainty are wiped off the table.

In order to leverage that advantage, government CIOs need to work hand-in-glove with human resource professionals. They must emphasize ongoing training and build a strong workplace culture. They also need to meet emerging demands for a flexible workplace. And then theres the money: When corporate dollars lure top talent away, government has to raise the stakes, without busting the budget.

All this may sound like a tall order, but workforce resiliency is an IT imperative. With state and local government spending more than $107 billion a year on technology according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, a stable workforce is a must-have, and it starts with a solid relationship between IT and HR.

In Fulton County, Ga., the top HR executive considers himself a lead partner in promoting IT resilience.

We try to have conversations on a monthly basis to figure out what their needs are, said Kenneth L. Hermon Jr., chief human resources officer. When we hear that they are losing a database administrator to Dekalb County for $2,000, HR can scour all our counterparts and develop a retention policy. Then if we hear an employee is leaving for another entity, IT has the ability to counter that offer.

When such relationships dont emerge organically, experts say the burden falls to IT leadership to initiate stronger ties. Its the role of the CIO to build a more proactive and consistent relationship with HR, so that they fully understand the challenges that IT is facing, said Gartner analyst Alia Mendonsa. When the two are working in sync, a powerful synergy can occur. IT can provide HR with modernized management tools, and HR in turn can provide key market information to help make compensation packages more competitive.

When IT and HR are teaming effectively, one of the first areas they will likely address is training a key component in the overall formula for IT resilience.

Because IT is a moving target, most technology professionals rank ongoing training among their top professional concerns. Some 63 percent of government entities devote funds to employee development, according to the Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) 2019 workforce survey.

On the flip side, a lack of skills enhancement will undermine team longevity. When government employees are frustrated, its because they dont have the basic tools they need to do their job, Johnson said.

In Cabarrus County, N.C., CIO Todd Shanley offers a range of online training opportunities, and he backs up those classes with a comprehensive training plan developed in collaboration with supervisors and staff members. What does the county need, what are you interested in? Then we build the plan around the places where those come together, he said.

Hermon said that Fulton County has been focused more acutely on employee development lately, specifically as a part of its IT employee retention efforts. You might have been here for five or 10 years, and weve never sent you to a formal certification program or a training program, he said. It was obvious to us that employees were clamoring for those kinds of things. They wanted us to show that we believe in them and that we would invest in them.

In Tennessee, Chief Learning Officer Antonio Meeks oversees a four-tier certificate program, a pyramid of learning that includes both nontechnical and technical skills. For IT professionals, it is a strategic methodology for developing employees and ensuring they can be successful in their roles, he said.

People arent required to follow the path, but for those seeking advancement within the department, it helps to have a well-defined avenue for training opportunities. Its a way of letting employees know that you are invested in them, you are invested in their growth and invested in their development, Meeks said. We know that 90 percent of millennials think learning and development opportunities are a reason to stick with an organization, so this is a driver for retention.

He noted that while practical skills factor high on the states training regimen, IT leaders also need to put a heavy emphasis on the soft side. We are shoring up their people skills: working with others, team building, he said. Theres nothing worse than having to go to the mean IT person in order to get things done, or the IT person who makes you feel like you are dumb for asking the question.

In addition to training and certification, HR and IT have another area of common interest: They can work collaboratively on job classifications in order to ensure the right people are in the right places, and are receiving appropriate compensation.

The duties for a person in technology can change pretty frequently, and we need to refresh those duties so that when we look at the market, the job description truly aligns with the work that person is performing, Shanley said.

In addition to ensuring accurate salaries, job reclassification can be used as a means to hang on to rising talent. We grew someone off our help desk to support our physical security systems, Shanley said. We saw what he was interested in, and were able to pull him in that direction. To retain that individual long term, we reclassified a position in order to give him those additional responsibilities.

This kind of strategic use around job classification can be a boon to long-term personnel management.

When people have a sense that they are working outside their classification, they can get frustrated if they feel like they are being asked to do things that were never part of the job description, said Gerald Young, senior research associate at the Center for State and Local Government Excellence. If you can reclassify a position and bring it up to date, there can be recognition and perhaps even compensation for those additional tasks.

These specific areas of overlap between HR and IT, areas such as training and job classification, can also be seen in a broader context. They are part of the cultural fabric of the institution. That fabric not just what we do, but who we are and how we work forms the backbone of any IT resiliency effort. In order for people to stay around long term, they need to feel personally invested in the enterprise.

To that end, its worth taking a deeper look at the ways in which that culture gets communicated. The ins and outs of employee engagement are another key element in the overall retention effort.

For Joe Cudby, engagement begins with the work itself.

The language I use with my team is play, said Cudby, Indianas chief technology officer. When you can find something that is really interesting and engaging, then you can deal with the other things a challenging culture or lower compensation. If the work is engaging and you can see the impact of what you do, that can compensate for a lot.

He says the best way to foster that sense of engagement is to give people choices in their work. Hell define the big job, the major task at hand, and then invite his team members to carve out for themselves the bits that seem most interesting. When I give people the opportunity to have some selection in what they would do, they tend to be more engaged in it, he said.

Across state and local government, the most successful employee engagement efforts are those that start with the employees themselves. Rather than pushing information from the top down, successful agencies invite workers to take the lead.

This is a participatory model, one that listens and encourages ideas to be explored and implemented, Young said. Those employees are more likely to feel valued within the organization.

This approach goes beyond empowering employees to try out new approaches or take on new tasks. Its about letting them voice their ideas and concerns, their satisfactions and dissatisfactions along the way, Young said. You need an organizational culture that can hear from them and grow as a result.

In Fulton County, Ga., Hermon makes that tangible with an employee engagement survey, conducted annually for each of the past four years. Hes not alone: 29 percent of respondents in the SLGE report said they use such tools.

Hermon said the key to success is not just listening, but also acting on what he hears. We try to fix the things that can be fixed quickly and we put plans in place to tackle the others, he said. Responsiveness in turn drives engagement: People feel empowered when those above respond to their concerns.

Its about developing trust between myself and the IT people, Hermon said. We also have chat sessions where we invite employees from the IT department, with no managers in the room, so that they can speak freely and can tell us what is on their minds.

Others look to drive engagement through transparency. When people have a solid understanding of whats going on across the IT shop, the theory goes, they are more likely to be personally invested in the outcomes.

In Cabarrus County, for example, Shanley uses wellness dashboards to track the progress of a wide range of projects. When people have a better understanding of what is going on in the entire environment, it improves the mood across the entire department, he said.

State and local IT leaders can listen thoughtfully and create a supportive culture. They can offer training and partner with HR to shape career paths. But lets get down to brass tacks: Can they let you work from home, or pay you more? These are arguably harder questions, but some are finding practical answers.

We have a good cross-section of IT people who telecommute, Hermon said. But weve learned from the mistakes of industry. We set a maximum of three straight days of telecommuting, so you still get that level of accountability and those interactions with colleagues.

Cudby has been working from home for years and he encourages his staff to do the same. But he admits it is a balancing act. When its all in the cloud and nothings on prem, I dont need you to be physically here to do your work, he said. But we need to teach managers new ideas about accountability how to work in that kind of environment and how to manage in that kind of environment.

Striking that balance is critical to long-term success. While just 56 percent of government workers say their pay is competitive, 88 percent say their benefits are on par with industry, Young said. Flexible work, including work-from-home and flexible scheduling, helps to drive that stat.

Money can be trickier theres only so much but some have found creative ways to close the gap. For example, some 40 percent of state and local entities encourage retention with merit-based salary increases, according to the SLGE survey.

Fulton County has implemented raises of up to 3 percent every three years based on departmental performance. We wanted to incentivize the entire workforce to work as a team, so every department had to tie their specific goals to the countys broader goals, Hermon said. The compensation piece is important. Our salaries will never be private-sector levels, but we need them to be competitive.

In Cabarrus County, HR conducts a salary survey every two years and adjusts pay rates accordingly. In Tennessee, the average employee salary has gone up $5,000 over the past five years. We are really working on that, including looking at IT and reclassifying positions, which has led to salary increases, Meeks said.

Money fixes a lot of things, but its not the only factor on the table. Even when salaries are stuck, there is much that IT leaders can do to position state and local government as an employer of choice.

Government is constrained financially, but pay is only one dimension of satisfaction, Johnson said. You can provide training and growth opportunities that people couldnt get in the private sector. You can give them the chance to build their skills and to find something meaningful in their work.

All that together can add up to an IT team that is resilient over the long haul.

Originally posted here:
Government Finds New Ways to Develop and Retain Talent - Government Technology

PLYMOUTH - Jae Dunn has been quietly working behind the scenes to make the towns 400th anniversary later this year a success. And when the opportunity to make a longer lasting impression arose, the local woman knew she must have a part.

While local students celebrated recess last week, Dunn was one of a dozen women taking a hands-on class in embroidery that will leave her mark on history for generations and generations to come even if it is just a couple of large letters on a piece of fabric.

Using skills she learned at her grandmothers knee as a child, Dunn spent two days last week stitching the letters P and L to the prologue panel of the Plymouth Tapestry, a heroically scaled commemorative embroidery interpreting the people and events central to the founding of Plymouth in 1620.

Based on the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidery project that was crafted in 1066 to celebrate the Norman Conquest of England, the Plymouth tapestry will tell the story of Plymouth from its native American origins to the arrival of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving.

When finished, it will feature 20 six-foot panels and span 120 feet. But it is its longevity, not length, that has undeniable appeal.

What motivated me first is its outrageously beautiful," Dunn said. "But the thought of leaving something around, something that should be around for the 500th anniversary, that really appealed to me. This is a real, tangible thing that will last long after Im gone.

Plymouth CRAFT offered stitchers the opportunity to have a hand in the project, running two three-day workshops at Pilgrim Hall Museum that taught basic stitches and allowed needle workers like Dunn to work on the title panel.

The class included a visit to the home of Elizabeth Creeden of Wellingsley Studio, who turned her 17th century home on Sandwich Street into a tapestry workshop.

With the help of local historians, Creeden has been designing the panels for years. A team of volunteer stitchers has been helping her embroider the six-foot sketches since last fall.

Two of the panels are complete and were in Pilgrim Hall as inspiration for last weeks Plymouth CRAFT class. Pilgrim Hall expects to unveil four of the panels for the public later this spring. The entire 120-foot tapestry is slated for completion and unveiling in the fall of 2021 for the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving.

Participants in the class included two nationally known embroiderers who have been working with Creeden on the project. Kathy Neal and Barbara Jackson have traveled to Plymouth from their homes out of state repeatedly to help stitch.

For the class they spent the first morning of both sessions teaching their students a half dozen or so stitches like the reverse chain, the alternating stem stitch and invisible couching that will go into the prologue piece a six-foot title page that feature the likeness of the Mayflower.

Local historian Ginny Davis provided the drawing of the ship. It was on a linen napkin she has from 1957, when Mayflower II, the replica of the ship that carried the Pilgrims to America, sailed from England to Plymouth.

Davis husband, Karl Lekberg, already had a hand in the project. He built the custom wooden frames being used to hold the fabric panels during stitching.

Davis got a glimpse of the project as a result and, like Dunn, knew she wanted to be part of something so grand. What she didnt realize was the peace it would bring.

They gave us little panel to practice on, then we sat down to stitch. It was a transformational experience. I didnt even get tired. I got energized. It was like meditation for me, Davis said. Its something that truly makes you feel like youre tied to the past and the future.

Davis said she used the stem stitch almost exclusively to stitch letters during her session. Even that was exacting work, as every line had to be straight and without split strands.

It was very painstaking, but also they can be taken out," she said. "Even the best of the stitchers have taken their stitches out. Sometimes they do a piece and come back the next day and start over.

Celia Nolan traveled from Hull to stitch on the project. A volunteer knitter for Plimoth Plantation, Nolan stitched as a child and thought it would be fun to get back into needlework on such a momentous project. She was also perfectly happy to perfect a single stitch if thats what was needed.

Its an amazing project that looks backward and will last long into the future - something my children can go look at and their children, Nolan said.

She stitched the first T in Massachusetts and most of the Y in Plymouth. Like many of her classmates, Nolan said she is hopeful that her skills might be deemed worthy enough for a call up to Sandwich Street and a chair at one spot on the main tapestry panels.

The H in Plymouth belongs to Caitlin Doyle.

The Hingham woman learned to embroider on her own using online resources after graduating from college a few years ago and was looking for a way to turn a solitary hobby into more of a social occasion.

Since learning about the Bayeux Tapestry, Doyle also dreamed of having a hand in a story telling tradition that started so long ago and commemorates so much human history.

The Bayeux has lasted a thousand years even after being forgotten in a chest for a few centuries," she said. "The Plymouth Tapestry will be cared for with a museums meticulous love and attention from the beginning, so who know how much longer than that it could last?

The Plymouth Tapestry experience was a wonderful way to practice this beautiful art that ties us to people past and present, all over the world, and I am proud to have a part of it. Also, Im so excited to bring everyone I know to see it on display say, Look how great the letter H in Plymouth is - I did that!

Rich Harbert can be reached at rharbert@wickedlocal.com.

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A stitch in time: Plymouth Tapestry Experience traces history of Native Americans and Pilgrims - The Patriot Ledger