Clearday Announces $3.2 Million Opportunity Zone Investment, New Headquarters, and Northeast San Antonio Site Transformation – Benzinga

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First-of-its-kind investment for District 10 will be headquarters for multiple Clearday businesses and will offer innovative longevity care services at revitalized Northeast Corridor location

Clearday, Inc., a leading innovator in longevity care and wellness services, has made the first Opportunity Zone (OZ) investment in San Antonio District 10. With the investment, totaling a minimum of $3.2 million, Clearday has acquired and is transforming the medical building property located at 8800 Village Drive, adjacent to the Northeast Baptist Hospital campus. Upon completion of the building renovation, Clearday will consolidate its corporate headquarters as well as those of its Memory Care America subsidiary and other affiliate businesses at the site.

The company also announced that the first floor of the Northeast Corridor site will serve as the flagship location of Clearday Clubs, an innovative new daytime care destination serving those with Alzheimer's, dementia or other lifestyle limiting chronic health conditions. Clearday will launch the flagship Club along with Clubs in New Braunfels and Kerrville later this Spring, with plans for additional locations across Central Texas through the balance of 2020.

Clearday develops innovative options that address the widening gap between the longevity care needs of older Americans and the availability of affordable, high-quality care options. Each day, 10,000 Americans turn 65, and over 35 million people in the U.S. provide unpaid care to an adult over 50. The new daytime-only Clearday Club concept offers a high-quality care environment and uplifting member experience, at a price point less than 25% of the daily cost of residential care options.

"At Clearday, we are building an innovative, enduring business serving a great human need making excellent care more accessible and affordable for our loved ones as they age," said Clearday Chairman and CEO Jim Walesa. "We are thrilled to make this Northeast Corridor location the epicenter of our mission."

The federally designated Opportunity Zone program was initiated under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and is designed to spur investment in lower-income communities by providing investors with tax breaks on capital gains if they reinvest the capital within the zones.

City Councilman Clayton Perry played an instrumental role in bringing the Clearday OZ investment to the District 10 community, helping Clearday identify the property and drive enthusiasm for the project among city officials and local businesses.

"This Clearday investment meets the true spirit of Opportunity Zone investing and will deliver revitalizing impact to our neighbors here in District 10 and all over San Antonio," said Perry. "The investment brings multiple growing businesses to the Northeast Corridor, along with a new, high-profile elder care facility that will provide both jobs and badly-needed, affordable senior care services to the local community."

ABOUT CLEARDAY

Clearday is an innovative longevity care and wellness company, with a modern, hopeful vision for making high quality care options more accessible, affordable, and empowering for older Americans and those who love them. Through our subsidiary Memory Care America (MCA), we operate a network of highly rated residential memory care communities in four U.S. states. With our Clearday Clubs concept, we are bringing the same standard of excellence found in our MCA residential facilities to a daytime-only community model that is dramatically less expensive than residential care options. Learn more about Clearday, Clearday Clubs at myclearday.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200221005420/en/

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Clearday Announces $3.2 Million Opportunity Zone Investment, New Headquarters, and Northeast San Antonio Site Transformation - Benzinga

Precision Medicine Software Market Growing Rapidly with Significant CAGR of +10% by 2026 Syapse, Allscripts, Qiagen, Roper Technologies, Fabric…

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Precision Medicine Software Market research report has been published by A2Z Market Research to give desired insights to drive the growth of businesses. The report initiated with study introduction which is followed by statistical details of the market that reveals the current market status and future forecast. The analysts have scrutinized the market drivers, confinements, risks, and openings present in the overall market.

The Global Precision Medicine Software market size was increased to xx million US$ from xx million US$ in 2015, and it will reach xx million US$ in 2026, growing at CAGR of +10 % between 2020 and 2026.

Precision medicine software enables stakeholders in the healthcare sector to provide personalized treatment plans to patients based on their genetic content. It combines clinical and genetic data to deliver targeted patient care. It also provides a wide range of applications in both the diagnostic and clinical areas of care delivery.

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Some of the Top Companies Profiled in this Report includes: Syapse, Allscripts, Qiagen, Roper Technologies, Fabric Genomics, Foundation Medicine, Sophia Genetics, PierianDx, Human Longevity, Translational Software, Gene42, Lifeomic Health.

This report provides a detailed and analytical look at the various companies that are working to achieve a high market share in the global Precision Medicine Software market. Data is provided for the top and fastest growing segments. This report implements a balanced mix of primary and secondary research methodologies for analysis. Markets are categorized according to key criteria. To this end, the report includes a section dedicated to the company profile. This report will help you identify your needs, discover problem areas, discover better opportunities, and help all your organizations primary leadership processes. You can ensure the performance of your public relations efforts and monitor customer objections to stay one step ahead and limit losses.

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Global Precision Medicine Software Market Research Report 2020 2026

Chapter 1 Precision Medicine Software Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

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Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

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Precision Medicine Software Market Growing Rapidly with Significant CAGR of +10% by 2026 Syapse, Allscripts, Qiagen, Roper Technologies, Fabric...

Wired Health announces first nine speakers – Med-Tech Innovation

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Wired Health will return to London for itsseventhyear onWednesday25thMarch 2020, welcomingglobal leaders in the health, pharmaceutical, patient care and digital health sectors.

The event is designed for executives seeking to engage with transformational technologies challenging the health industry, from neuroscience to treating cancer and delaying ageing, to the use of AI in health with a focus on the innovations that are rapidly changing medicine and patient care. Delegates attending Wired Health will have the opportunity to network with individuals from the sector, including physicians, senior healthcare executives, innovators and investors, disruptors and incumbents.

Wired has announced the first nine speakers:

Robert Hariri, founder, chairman and CEO, Celularity

Hariri is the former CEO of Celgene and co-founder of Human Longevity. His latest venture is Celularity, has raised $250 million to develop stem cell technology to treat cancer and delay ageing. Hariri is an accomplished surgeon, biomedical scientist, jet engineer and serial entrepreneur.

Mei Mei Hu, co-founder and CEO, United Neuroscience

Hu is developing a vaccine for Alzheimer's. Her company's goal is to democratise brain health by pioneering a new class of medicine called endobody vaccines, which are fully synthetic and train the body to safely and efficiently treat and prevent neurological disease. In 2019, Hu was honoured by TIME Magazine in their "100 Next List," and by Fortune Magazine as one of their "40 Under 40" innovators.

Heidi Larson, professor of anthropology, risk and decision science; director, The Vaccine Confidence Project Dept. Infectious Disease Epidemiology, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Larson is the director of the WHOs Vaccine Confidence Project, an initiative tackling the anti-vax movement. Larson headed UNICEFs strategy for the introduction of new vaccines and is the Principle Investigator of the project ensuring deployment, acceptance and compliance of an Ebola vaccine trial in Sierra Leone.

Indra Joshi, director of AI, NHSX

Joshis experience stretches across policy, digital health, national project strategy and implementation and is a Founding Member of One HealthTech which campaigns for the need and importance of better inclusion in health technology.

Samuel Tisherman, professor, Department of Surgery and the Program in Trauma, University of Maryland School of Medicine; director, Center for Critical Care and Trauma Education, R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland

Tisherman is working to save patients dying from trauma by placing them in suspended animation. He is conducting a clinical trial of this Emergency Preservation and Resuscitation, which uses hypothermia to "buy time" for resuscitative surgery.

Rachel Clarke, palliative care physician for the National Health Service, former journalist, activist and author

Clarke is the bestselling author ofYour Life in My Hands, a book about her experiences as a doctor for the NHS. Her new book,Dear Life, is about palliative care and dealing with her father's terminal cancer diagnosis exploring love, loss, grief, dying and what really matters at the end of life.

Angela Saini, science journalist, broadcaster and author

Saini is an award-winning British science journalist and broadcaster. She regularly presents radio and television programmes on the BBC, and her writing has appeared in New Scientist, the Guardian, The Sunday Times, and WIRED.

Maja Pantic, professor of affective & Behavioural Computing, Imperial College London and Research Director, Samsung AI Centre Cambridge

Pantic is one of the world's leading experts in the research on machine understanding of human behaviour including vision-based detection, tracking, and analysis of human behavioural cues like facial expressions and body gestures, and multimodal analysis of human behaviours like laughter, social signals, and affective states.

Godfrey Nazareth, president and CEO, X-Biomedical, Inc.

Nazareth is a biomedical engineer developing next-gen medical simulation systems and surgical visualisation technology, with collaborations including the US Military, American Heart Association, University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. On a personal note, Nazareth proactively battles classical ALS; and uses a variety of self-built assistive devices to function, operate, and interact at the highest levels possible.

Additional names will be announced over the coming weeks.

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Wired Health announces first nine speakers - Med-Tech Innovation

Lifestyle secrets of some of the worlds oldest people – Daily Nation

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By ELVIS ONDIEKIMore by this Author

The fact: Kenya's second president, Daniel arap Moi, died on Tuesday at a ripe age.

It was 95 on paper, but his son Raymond and Press Secretary Lee Njiru have argued that Mois actual age was more than 100 years.

The circumstances: that Moi was a man who observed a healthy and traditional diet is a well-known fact.

It is also known that his elder brother, Paulo, lived to 104 and his sister, Rebecca, died at 100.

And so a debate ensues: what guarantees longevity? It could be the right genes, a proper diet, exercise, good medication or a combination of all those.

But there is no single clear-cutting factor from the stories of the people who have lived for a century and beyond. We gathered different world-views on the matter.

NUTRITIONIST: Diet is the key to longevity

According to Gladys Mugambi, a nutritionist working with the Ministry of Health, a proper diet is a major determinant of how long a person lives.

I cannot attribute it to vegetarian or meat consumption but to eating variety of foods in the right amounts accompanied by appropriate physical activity, she told Lifestyle.

Mois famous breakfast of tea or porridge with boiled green maize will definitely offer points to ponder for the lot that cherishes wheat products and fried goodies at their breakfast table.

Abraham Kiptanui (then-State House comptroller) would make sure there was tea and green maize, Mois one-time Cabinet Minister Kalonzo Musyoka told Nation in 2014.

Regardless, Moi was not entirely vegetarian. Njiru told documentarist Salim Amin two years ago that the former president ate meat like a lion.

I have heard people say that Moi does not eat meat, but the centrality of Mois food is meat, said Njiru.

Other things like vegetables and ugali are additions. He slaughters an animal every day, mostly merino sheep. His (longevity) is not a matter of food but genetics.

Mugambi advocates for eating from the major food groups, with starchy foods at the centre of the diet.

Asked how smoking and taking alcohol affects a persons lifespan, the nutritionist said the two substances are more harmful to individuals who do not eat well and who are living a stressful life.

One of Kenyas famous centenarians, former Attorney-General Charles Njonjo, said in 2015 that he doesnt entirely keep off alcohol.

I dont drink much, he told Business Daily. If Im to drink, it will be just a bottle of beer and maybe a cider, thats it.

Then there is the case of Nepalese woman Batuli Lamichhane, who may have shown the world that smoking is not a life limiter after all.

She was 112 years old in 2016 when she revealed that she smoked about 30 cigarettes every day.

She told reporters that she smoked leaf rolls made of tobacco. She, however, noted that she was a very active woman, who walked up and down a steep terrain in Nuwakot, Nepal.

We could study these individuals to establish what has kept them surviving with the unhealthy habits of alcohol and smoking. The amount of alcohol taken, the frequency and the speed could be keeping Njonjo going; I do not know, reasoned Mugambi.

Genetics could also contribute. There are people who take a lot of alcohol and they do not get the negative effect, but why should one take a chance with his or her life in trying such bad and addictive habits? She posed.

The principle of eating right was employed by the person captured by Guinness World Records (GWR) as the man who lived longest.

Jiroemon Kimura, a Japanese, died aged 116 years and 54 days in December 2012. Since birth recording began, no man has lived longer than that.

His personal motto was eat light to live long, and he believed the key to his longevity is to be a healthy, small eater, reads his entry on GWR.

EX-CATHOLIC PRIEST: Observing a routine is a good path to longevity

One of the longest-living Catholic priests in history is Fr Jacques Clemens, a Dutch clergyman who died in March 2018 aged 108.

Reuters reported in 2016 that Fr Clemens secret for clocking 100-plus years was the routine he observed.

Every day he rises at 5.30am, and every night he goes to bed by 9.00pm. Fr Clemens manages to stick by his strict regimen regardless of the demands on his schedule, the news agency said.

Writer Peter Economy opined on Inc.com that observing routine is helpful in many ways.

When we have a set time for resting our bodies every day, we are much more likely to have good, consistent control of our bodies homeostasis. Maintaining stability, as we well know, is the way to long-term success in anything. Our health is no exception to this rule, reasoned the writer.

Moi was also known for his strict routine. Njiru told Lifestyle in 2016 that during his 24 years as president, and even after, Moi was an early riser, who did not start his days activities later than 6.30am.

Even after retirement, Njiru noted, Moi would still wake up early, mostly to handle the schools and farms he was running. Under normal circumstances, he does not wake up later than 6am.

PSYCHOLOGIST: Childhood influences determine the length of ones life

Drawing from the story of Moi, developmental psychologist John Oteyo says what happens early in life has an impact on a persons sunset years.

Because Moi was orphaned at an early age and was raised by his elder brother, Oteyo reasoned, a lot of useful values were inculcated in him.

Becoming vice-president, president and handing over power peacefully added to his earlier fulfilment and contentment that he enjoyed in retirement, Oteyo told Lifestyle.

This psychological tranquillity gained from earlier life and with his strict dietary, lifestyle behaviours, good medical care and religious orientation could have contributed to his joyous and long life, added Oteyo, a lecturer at the Psychology Department at Kenyatta University.

The person as an adult depends on experiences he had in early childhood, he noted, citing a poem by William Wordsworth that has a line that says 'the child is father of the man'.

He was, however, quick to note that a lot more factors come into play.

Predictors for longevity include correct dietary behaviour, avoiding sedentary behaviour, which means engaging in physical activity, psychological well-being (emotional; cognitive and mental wellness), spiritual wellness, good medications, genetic predisposition and resilience, said Oteyo.

WORLDS OLDEST PERSON: The secret is religion, routine, and all that jazz

The person recognised by Guinness World Records as the oldest human alive is Kane Tanaka, a Japanese woman who was 117 years and 35 days old when this article was written on Thursday.

Kane was born prematurely on January 2, 1903, the same year the Wright brothers became the first to achieve powered flight! says her entry on GWR.

It adds: She normally wakes up at 6am, and in the afternoon often studies subjects such as maths. One of Kanes favourite pastimes is a game of Othello, and shes become an expert at the classic board game, often beating rest-home staff.

When officials from Guinness World Records visited her to present her the certificate of the oldest person alive in January 2019, she was given a box of chocolates, which she immediately opened and started eating.

Gerontology Wiki, a blog about the worlds documented supercentenarians, says Tanakas favourite foods include chocolate and pop beverages.

She loves to write poetry and she can still remember her trips to the United States. She attributes her longevity to her faith in God, the blog notes.

Guinness World Records says Tanaka has had several operations, including one for cataracts and another for colorectal cancer, but she is still going strong.

AMERICAN CENTENARIAN: Youll live long if you dont marry

Having a spouse is considered a ticket to bliss and an assurance of a shoulder to lean on, but Louise Signore thinks it shortens your life.

As the American woman celebrated her 107th birthday in July 2019, she told CBS New York that she could not have lived that long had she been married.

I never got married. I think thats the secret. My sister says, I wish I never got married, she told the publication.

She noted that she exercised and danced like married people, and so she believed she never missed out on anything couples did. After my lunch, I would play bingo. So I had a full day, she said.

But there appeared to be a matter of genetics at play because Signores younger sister, who had married earlier, was 102 years old then.

Moi never remarried after parting ways with his wife, and Njonjo did not marry until he was 52.

Their stories often feature in discussions about the place of marriage in a man's life.

A number of studies have been done on marriage versus a person's lifespan, with varying results.

According to one study done on 100,000 persons across Europe that was released in 2006, marriage helps husbands to an extra 1.7 years, but it knocks 1.4 years off the average wifes lifespan.

One of the factors singled out in the research headed by a German professor was that marriage brought on women the stress of balancing workplace responsibilities with their home-keeping requirements.

THE PERSON WHO LIVED LONGEST: Being so wealthy as to not need a job could have been a factor

The person listed by Guinness World Records as having lived the longest and with verifiable birth records is Jeanne Louise Calment, a Frenchwoman who was 122 years and 164 days old when she died in 1997.

She was born on February 21, 1875, around 14 years before the Eiffel Tower was constructed, says a post on the GWR website.

One of the distinct features in her life story is that she was married to a wealthy distant cousin and as such, she did not have to work for a living.

That may have played a part in her extraordinary longevity. She was free to swim, play tennis, cycle (she was still cycling until the age of 100) and roller-skate, all of which promoted excellent good health, the post on GWR adds.

Diet was also a key point in Louises life. Her diet was good, too, rich in olive oil (which she also rubbed into her skin), and she restricted herself to a modest glass of wine every now and then. But she also had a sweet tooth, with a particular fondness for chocolate. She ate almost 1kg of it each week, says GWR.

And she loved her cigarettes. Jeanne had smoked from the age of 21 and only quit when she was 117. She was able to walk on her own until she was one month before her 115th birthday, when she fell and fractured her femur. Thereafter, she needed a wheelchair to get around, it adds.

Louise is also said to have had a tranquil state of mind and with a great sense of humour.

She is quoted to have said: If you cant do anything about it, dont worry about it.

With that attitude, Louise lived to exceed the scientifically set limit of human longevity and to set an age record that has not been broken for 23 years.

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Illuminating the Hidden Forest, Chapter 29: Trees and the art of aging | – theberkshireedge.com

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To read the previous chapters of Illuminating the Hidden Forest,click here.

Jan. 16, 2020

Scientists have recently discovered ginkgo trees more than 600 years old in China. This is very old for a tree, even for a tree whose forebears have been around for 2,000 years. They asked, What kept this tree alive for so long, and could it possibly live forever?

What the biologists discovered is that the trees cambium, the active vascular layer beneath the bark, can continue making new cells indefinitely. The cambium of these ancient trees look as youthful and healthy as trees say, 560 years younger.

This is not to say that trees dont die. Forest floors are littered with dead and decaying trees, downed by wind, lightning, bugs, fire, arboreal disease and other falling trees, not to mention overlogging. But it does suggest that in the absence of human and natural threats to arboreal life, trees dont necessarily decline with age. The cambium can maintain the vital forces of life even as the body of the tree decays around it.

A hollowed living tree, photo by Carolyn Newberger

In my walks in the woods, I sometimes come across large and venerable trees with cracked and hollowed trunks that, in season, carry leafy canopies above. In such a tree behind my house, in pensive moments, I stand inside the trunk with my ear to the cambium and listen for what I dont know, but I seem to find serenity inside that ancient mother tree, who continues to generate life and growth despite age and injury.

We humans and other creatures of the animal and insect world, it seems, are programmed to decline in age. But is our decline inevitable? In some ways we share characteristics with trees. A vascular system carries moisture and nutrients through our bodies. A skin that protects our insides from the outside world surrounds us. Of course, were also different in countless ways, but as with the trees cambium, we have one organ that drives the work of our human body. Curiously, that organ shares a name with the tree.

The outside layer of our brains, cortex, is Latin for bark. Cerebral cortex is the bark of the brain. Rather than insulate the brain from the outside world as bark does for the tree, however, our cortex is the largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system, functionally more akin to a trees cambium than to its enveloping bark.

Remarkably, the likeness to a trees cambium doesnt end there. The cortex and other parts of the brain continue to generate new cells and connections throughout life, even into our 80s and 90s. A 78-year-old (like me!) can have as many young neurons as a 20-year-old. In addition, he or she has a wealth of memories to draw from (perhaps helping to explain a longer retrieval time) and of life experiences to understand and interpret what life has to offer. In other words, older people cannot only stay smart, they can become wiser. Mental decline in a healthy nonagenarian is not a given. Yet even if the minds decline isnt inevitable, it needs to be fed. Reading, thinking, debating, hearing new songs, savoring new tastes and meeting new people in new places can all feed the neuronal generation that helps keep our brains young and healthy.

As I reflect from my niche inside the ancient tree behind my house, the tree seems to be hugging me. I feel a spiritual connection not only with this patient and enduring soul, but also with the forest and, as well, with the universe of living things beyond. We all grow old. Someday we shall all die, even the gingkoes persisting through the centuries.

Yet while we are here, we can cherish the intelligence and endurance that keeps life pulsing on. We must protect the resources to feed, sustain and develop the life the ginkgoes and we are privileged to enjoy. That means not only taking care of our bodies, but also taking care of the planet that sustains us all, from the forests to the oceans, from the rivers to the plains, from the mountains to the valleys and to all their inhabitants.

To read more about the gingkoes and our regenerating brains, here are some references:

Multifeature analyses of vascular cambial cells reveal longevity mechanisms in oldGinkgo bilobatrees, Li Wang,et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Jan. 13, 2020.

Casella, Carly, https://www.sciencealert.com/this-ancient-tree-species-is-virtually-immortal-and-we-finally-understand-how

NIH Directors Blog, https://nih.gov/2018/04/10/new-evidence-suggests-aging-brains-continue-to-make-new-neurons/

Daniel Levitin, Everyone Knows Memory Fails as You Age. But Everyone is Wrong, NYTimes, Jan. 10, 2020, https://nyti.ms/2scpG4J

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Illuminating the Hidden Forest, Chapter 29: Trees and the art of aging | - theberkshireedge.com

‘Re-decentralizing the web’: U of T researcher helps build a more egalitarian internet – News@UofT

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Jack Jamieson wants to build a better, more egalitarian internet in effect, helping to realize the vision of the technologys early pioneers.

The PhD candidate in the KMDI-Semaphore research institute at the University of Torontos Faculty of Information works alongside a community of software developers and enthusiasts who are building the IndieWeb, a community of individual websites connected together as an alternative to corporate platforms.

Ive been building websites for over two decades and became frustrated that the web has become so dominated by large corporate platforms, Jamieson says. In return for easy-to-use social media, online experience is increasingly characterized by targeted advertising, and individuals choices are limited by platform algorithms.

My research examines efforts to re-decentralize the web what does this work involve and how can designers and researchers pursue a future internet that is egalitarian, accessible, and not exploitative?

Much of the optimism about the early web was the potential for individuals to have their own websites. Hence, the IndieWeb proposes a return to personal websites and has built tools to enhance these sites with the best features of social media without surrendering ownership or control to corporate platforms.

By setting up a personal website with some basic IndieWeb technologies, people can communicate directly with one another with no platform in between, sending replies, liking posts and other social media actions.

There are a lot of different projects attempting to build new, decentralized systems for the internet, Jamieson says. What drew me to IndieWeb specifically is its commitment to building upon the existing web rather than inventing completely new systems. Building upon the existing web allows more accessibility for developers and web hobbyists to contribute since they can build small modules to fit their own needs.

Working with supervisor Rhonda McEwen, an associate professor in the Faculty of Information and U of T Mississaugas Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology, Jamiesons research focuses the IndieWeb communitys efforts to put human values at the forefront of design. He says the group has much to teach about building technologies that articulate positive social values related to individual autonomy, inclusiveness, and community.

IndieWebs approach is supported by recent scholarship and media coverage that has highlighted the political and ethical issues posed by big tech since the decisions made by social media designers can affect millions or billions of users.

Sometimes decisions that work for one group cause problems for another, Jamieson notes. Design ideas that make sense in Silicon Valley dont translate everywhere sometimes with serious consequences.

On a technical level, IndieWeb is composed of many small parts that allow individuals to build what works for them. Users can then figure out how to interoperate with others who favour a different approach a strategy that builds inclusivity since there is no attempt to impose a one-size-fits-all solution.

To take one example: Jamiesons research looks at how IndieWebs users can build software to control their own social timelines, orthe feed of posts from people they follow. Thats unlike most social media platforms, which use sophisticated algorithms to promote content the software deems most engaging.

Unfortunately, hate speech, misinformation or simply types of content we dont want to see are often considered engaging by these algorithms, Jamieson says.

Another benefit, according to Jamieson: My software runs a social timeline on ones own server, so theres no company tracking who you are following, inserting ads or otherwise making decisions about what you read.

One of the key takeaways from the project is the importance of IndieWebs community.

For a movement that emphasizes individual autonomy, IndieWebs events and community support networks are the driving force behind its longevity, Jamieson says.

This is significant for building a system that is well-maintained since social networking systems require constant adaptation to accommodate new users, changing practices and to remain compatible with ever-changing third parties.

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EDITORIAL: Theres much to celebrate at the onset of a new decade – Las Vegas Review-Journal

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For many, the birth of a new year is a time for reflection and optimism, an occasion for hopeful resolution and personal reset. But these are not normal times. Seemingly endless political conflicts have created a climate of anger, anxiety and agitation in many quarters, leading to a heightened pessimism about the future.

But while our disputes have indeed become more vitriolic and divisive, its important to take a more complete and thoughtful inventory of the times. For as we start 2020, the nation and the entire world has many reasons to celebrate.

Just about every measure of human welfare is improving except one: hope, John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister noted in an op-ed in Saturdays Wall Street Journal.

This disconnect, they believe, stems from the fact that people tend to emphasize the bad over the good. Our minds and lives are skewed by a fundamental imbalance that is just now becoming clear to scientists: the negativity effect, the authors write, adding, We focus so much on bad news, especially in a digital world that magnifies its power, that we dont realize how much better life is becoming for people around the world.

Over the past 25 years, for instance, the number of people living in extreme poverty as defined by the World Bank has dropped by a remarkable 75 percent.

In his book Fewer, Richer, Greener, Laurence Siegel of the CFA Institute argues that markets and democratic institutions have led to dramatic improvements in living standards. As the world becomes richer, he forecasts, population growth will slow and cause less stress on the ecosystem.

Mr. Siegel provides reams of solid data for similarly heartening global trends, writes Ronald Bailey of Reason magazine. Crop productivity, food availability, life expectancy and education are increasing; violence is in decline. As for the pessimists, Mr. Siegel has a message: Let us not teach our children that apocalyptic thinking is right thinking. (It) has always been wrong as a forecast, and it will continue to be wrong. Life has improved tremendously in the past 250 years (and) it will continue to improve in almost every dimension; health, wealth, longevity, nutrition, literacy, peace, freedom and so forth.

Despite the turmoil in Washington, the United States remains a beacon of hope and opportunity for the world. The Constitution will continue to withstand the stress tests of Beltway hyperpartisanship.

By rationally looking at the long-term trends instead of viscerally reacting to the horror story of the day, youll see theres much more to celebrate than to mourn, write Mr. Tierney and Mr. Baumeister. No matter who wins the presidential election, the average person in America and the rest of the world will in all likelihood become healthier and wealthier.

And thats a reason to toast 2020 rather than to fear it.

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EDITORIAL: Theres much to celebrate at the onset of a new decade - Las Vegas Review-Journal

Looking for answers in the circadian rhythm – The Week Magazine

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Long before Apple watches, grandfather clocks or even sundials, nature provided living things with a way to tell time.

Life evolved on a rotating world that delivered alternating light and darkness on a 24-hour cycle. Over time, cellular chemistry tuned itself to that rhythm. Today, circadian rhythms governed by a master timekeeper in the brain guide sleeping schedules and mealtimes and influence everything from diet to depression to the risk of cancer. While an Apple watch can monitor a few vital functions such as your heart rate, your body's natural clock controls or affects nearly all of them.

"Circadian rhythms impact almost every aspect of biology," says neuroscientist Joseph Takahashi of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Lately, research by Takahashi and others has suggested strategies for manipulating the body's clock to correct circadian-controlled chemistry when it goes awry. Such circadian interventions could lead to relief for shift workers, antidotes for jet lag, and novel treatments for mood disorders and obesity, not to mention the prospect of counteracting aging.

Prime weapons for the assault on clock-related maladies, Takahashi believes, can be recruited from an arsenal of small molecules, including some existing medical drugs.

"Researchers are increasingly interested in developing small molecules to target the circadian system directly for therapeutic gains," Takahashi and coauthors Zheng Chen and Seung-Hee Yoo wrote in the 2018 Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

In sophisticated life-forms (such as mammals), central control of the body's clock resides in a small cluster of nerve cells within the brain's hypothalamus. That cluster, called the suprachiasmatic nucleus SCN for short is tuned to the day-night signal by light transmitted via the eyes and the optic nerve.

But the SCN does not do the job alone. It's the master clock, for sure, but satellite timekeepers operate in all kinds of cells and body tissues.

"There isn't just an SCN clock in the brain," Takahashi said at a recent meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. "There are clocks throughout the entire body. Every major organ system has its own intrinsic clock."

The proliferation of clocks throughout the body makes circadian chemistry relevant to various behaviors and physiological processes, such as metabolism and blood flow. Maintaining healthy physiology requires all the body's various clocks to be synchronized by signals (in the form of hormones and nerve impulses) from the SCN. SCN signals govern the timing of genetic activity responsible for the production of numerous clock-related proteins. Studies mainly in mice have shown how those proteins participate in complex chemical feedback loops, perpetuating rhythmic genetic activity in which proteins are first produced and then degraded to drive circadian cycles. Similar chemistry operates in humans.

Key molecular players in keeping the body's clocks ticking are the proteins known as CLOCK and BMAL1. Studies of liver cells in mice show that CLOCK partners with BMAL1 to regulate gene activity, driving all the important circadian chemical reactions. "Generally in many cells you see a similar kind of picture, in the brain or other tissues," Takahashi said.

The CLOCK-BMAL1 tandem activates genes that produce several forms of the circadian proteins period and cryptochrome. In mice, that process starts work in daytime, leading to a substantial buildup of period (PER) and cryptochrome (CRY) by evening. At night, PER and CRY migrate into the cell's nucleus and block the action of CLOCK-BMAL1, thereby halting production of PER and CRY themselves. PER and CRY amounts then diminish as other molecules degrade them. By morning, PER and CRY levels drop so low that CLOCK and BMAL1 are no longer disabled and can begin producing PER and CRY anew.

Many other molecules participate in circadian chemistry; the exact molecular participants differ from tissue type to tissue type. In the (mouse) liver alone, the activity of thousands of genes fluctuates on a circadian schedule.

An hourglass uses the flow of sand to mark time. The body uses the build-up and flow of proteins to keep its rhythms. Although there are numerous different players in the bodys many clocks, the workings of the circadian proteins period (PER) and cryptochrome (CRY) (and their counterparts CLOCK and BMAL1) exemplify the kind of feedback loop that keeps the body in sync with the day-night cycle.

While signals from the SCN set the daily schedule for circadian chemistry, various small molecules, such as many medicinal drugs, can disrupt cellular timing. (That's one reason certain drugs such as blood thinners and chemotherapy treatments are more or less effective depending on the time of day that they are administered.) Researchers have identified dozens of small molecules that can influence circadian processes.

Some such molecules change the length of the circadian period. Some alter the precise timing of specific processes during the cycle. Others help maintain robust signals for synchronizing the body's clocks. Circadian signaling weakens with age, possibly contributing to many age-related disorders such as impaired metabolism or sleep problems.

Among the common drugs that exert effects on the circadian system are opsinamides, sulfur-containing compounds that suppress the amount of light input into the SCN. Nobiletin, found in the peels of citrus fruits, manipulates circadian rhythms to improve metabolism in obese mice. (Nobiletin also counters tumors and inflammation.) Resveratrol is a well-known compound that alters the activity of certain clock genes, with some possible human health benefits.

Scientists have discovered a long list of existing medicines and small molecules now under investigation that act on or influence the bodys circadian system.

Today's challenge, Takahashi and coauthors say, is to identify the precise targets where small molecules exert their influence. Knowing the targets should help researchers find ways to repair defects in the circadian system or alleviate temporary inconveniences such as jet lag.

Jet lag occurs when sudden changes in time zone generate a mismatch between the body clock's expectations and the actual day-night cycle (not to mention timing of meals and social activities). While it is usually just an annoyance for travelers, shift workers face long-term consequences for working when the body clock advises sleep. Shift workers, Chen, Yoo, and Takahashi point out, are at risk for sleep problems, gastrointestinal disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer and mood disorders. Molecules tested in mice have shown promise for reconciling expectations with reality, getting the clock back in phase with the body's environment.

Clock malfunction also affects the body's disease-fighting immune system, and certain clock components have been identified as potential targets for alleviating autoimmune disease and excessive inflammation. Other recent studies have shown that molecular intervention with clock components can aid proper functioning of mitochondria, the cellular structures responsible for energy production.

While most of the details about circadian chemistry come from studies in mice, studies of human sleep disorders indicate that the basic circadian story is similar in people. A mutation in the human gene responsible for making one of the period proteins has been linked, for example, to familial advanced sleep phase disorder. (In people with that mutation, the normal sleep-wake cycles shift by several hours.) Other research has shown that a variant version of the human gene for cryptochrome protein increases the risk of diabetes.

An especially intriguing possibility is that body clock management could provide strategies for slowing down aging.

Many studies have shown that aging in some animals can be slowed by restricting food intake. Fewer calories can lead to longer lives. But work by Takahashi and others has found that (in mice, at least) timing of ingesting the calories can be almost as important as the quantity.

Mice allowed to eat a normal amount of calories, but only within restricted hours, have lived about 15 percent longer than usual, Takahashi reported at the neuroscience meeting. In humans, that would correspond to a life span increase from 80 years to 92.

"We're super excited about these results, because these are the first experiments to show that you can extend life span by restriction of time of nutrient intake only without a reduction of calories," Takahashi said.

"For us it's much easier to restrict the time that we eat than the amount that we eat. Now if you can do both, that's even better. I think that this, I hope, could have benefit for human health and longevity in the future."

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine, an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews. Sign up for the newsletter.

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Looking for answers in the circadian rhythm - The Week Magazine

The secret of Homo sapiens evolution? Migration, diversity, mixing – and meaning – Pressenza, International Press Agency

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In tandem with attempts to resist the waves of migration produced by wars, poverty and climate change humanity has been on a quest to find the first, unique modern human, a mitochondrial Eve from which we are all descendants. But the big surprise has been that although there is little doubt that humans originally evolved in Africa, genetic analysis points out rather to groups that separated for different reasons, evolved genetically and culturally in different directions and then came back together mixing both the genetic material and the newly acquired skills. The common ancestors of todays modern humans lived a lot earlier than it was thought and science is leaving the door open for even older findings as the fossil register shows an incomplete picture.

For example, a 2017 finding in Morocco threw into question the idea that modern humans originated in East Africa. Those bones were significantly older than any others ever found.

Researchers determined that the bones unearthed in Moroccos Jebel Irhoud region are 315,000 years old roughly 100,000 older than the bones previously considered oldest modern human fossils. (Those fossils, found in Ethiopia, were roughly 196,000 years old.)

The remains were also found in a different area of Africa than most other ancient human bones: North Africa instead of East Africa. That suggests our earliest ancestors may not have lived in just one part of the continent.

There is no Garden of Eden in Africa, or if there is, it is all of Africa, anthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin, who led the Morocco expedition, said at the time.

Silo described evolving systems that go through stages of differentiation, complementation and synthesis, before moving to a new differentiation. Here we seem to have a rather nice example.

Furthermore, genetic analysis has revealed that the ancestors of modern humans interbred with at least five different archaic human groups as they moved out of Africa and across Eurasia. According to Dr Joo Teixeira, Australian Research Council Research Associate, ACAD in Science Daily.

While two of the archaic groups are currently known the Neanderthals and their sister group the Denisovans from Asia the others remain unnamed and have only been detected as traces of DNA surviving in different modern populations. Island Southeast Asia appears to have been a particular hotbed of diversity.

There was an evolutionary leap in those first humans, perhaps accelerated by the merging of the diverging hominid/human groups and exposure to different environments through migration. Learning to use fire initiated the technological revolution of changing materials found in nature, such as clay, ore and sand into other materials with different properties, such as ceramics, metals and glass. At the same time a revolution of consciousness was taking place, that changed the whole society through collective communication, starting from pictorial representations that eventually led to the principles of written language, showing the evidence for evolving abstract thinking paired with allegorical mental processes that seem to have promoted also the development of a spiritual drive. So humans were no longer brought up mainly in a natural environment but rather in a cultural one, that is, historical/social. This accelerated evolution beyond anything seen in nature before. The initial spark of intentionality, the capacity to structure the world and thinking in an intentional way, grew and continued acting from the depths of human consciousness pushing the species towards achievements and transformations without any limits, sketching the first questions about meaning. And this takes us to today.

Humanity 2.0 approaching

We are again, like our ancestors, distributed around large geographical areas, divided into nations, races, ethnic groups and corporations, all competing for resources. Two opposing tendencies serve as the backdrop of todays human relationships. On the one hand the nationalistic, racist, white supremacist, anti immigration ideologies with their many levels from the mildly fearful following right wing populist leaders to the frankly active neonazis. On the other hand we have the progressives, welcoming diversity and immigration, promoting solidarity, human rights, equality, the protection of the environment and searching from a new economic system away from destructive capitalist neoliberalism. In between all possible shades and combinations. Polarisation grows at the time of elections and other political crises thanks to the rhetoric of the power-thirsty leaders and softens up during events that bring people together.

But the profound search for meaning, for that which helps us make sense of our own existence continues through the waxing and waning of external events, violence, preposterous leaders and our apparently incomprehensible small place in the Universe.

In this way humanity is preparing itself for its next evolutionary leap which is likely to take place when all humans are connected and nobody is left out of the inspirational wave that shook our ancestors and set the spark of intentionality in their psyches circa 300,000 years ago.

We dont know when this will happen but we can see how the horror of the violence unleashed but certain actors, those who dehumanise others and impose draconian conditions, often work as awakeners. But the green shoots of a new sensibility can be seen everywhere, in new political thinking, in youth movements, in a new spirituality based on experience rather than belief and away from the dogma of old religions, in a search for meaning in life.

A few days ago Pressenza published a comprehensive presentation about the Psychology of New Humanism by Victor Piccininni. He states that This process does not stop and it is perhaps in 1945, with the developments of Victor Frankl, creator of Logotherapy, that it finds its highest dimension. In his work Frankl highlights the spiritual dimension of the human being and stresses that it is the lack of meaning that is the main root of human suffering. This psychotherapy of the meaning of life is based on an active consciousness in search of meaning.

Coincidentally (or not?) the theme kept turning up in different unrelated publications

Steve Taylor ,Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Leeds Beckett University writing for The Conversation posits that Human life is not a meaningless space between birth and death, spent trying to enjoy ourselves and forget about our predicament. I believe that human life and the world mean much more than that. And this is not because I am religious I am not.

Instead, my perspective is informed by my scientific research over the past ten years with people who have undergone what I call suffering-induced transformational experiences.

These experiences include being diagnosed with terminal cancer, or suffering bereavements, or becoming seriously disabled, or losing everything through addiction or having close encounters with death during combat.

What all these people had in common is after undergoing intense suffering, they felt they had woken up. They stopped taking life, the world and other people for granted and gained a massive sense of appreciation for everything.

They spoke of a sense of the preciousness of life, their own bodies, the other people in their lives and the beauty and wonder of nature. They felt a new sense of connection with other people, the natural world and the universe.

They became less materialistic and more altruistic. Possessions and career advancement became trivial, while love, creativity and altruism became much more important. They felt intensely alive.

In this case the awakeners were not obnoxious sociopathic politicians but personal suffering. It is indeed of great interest to discover that crises can lead to new meanings, but we also need to be careful not to extol suffering in itself, and promote it as something good for the soul that we should seek even when things are OK.

Another perspective on the theme of meaning comes from a study published by Science Daily which examines meaning in life and its relationship with physical, mental and cognitive functioning: Over the last three decades, meaning in life has emerged as an important question in medical research, especially in the context of an ageing population. A recent study by researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine found that the presence of and search for meaning in life are important for health and well-being, though the relationships differ in adults younger and older than age 60.

Many think about the meaning and purpose in life from a philosophical perspective, but meaning in life is associated with better health, wellness and perhaps longevity, said senior author Dilip V. Jeste, MD, senior associate dean for the Center of Healthy Aging and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. Those with meaning in life are happier and healthier than those without it.

The results also showed that the presence of meaning in life exhibited an inverted U-shaped relationship, while the search for meaning in life showed a U-shaped relationship with age. The researchers found that age 60 is when the presence of meaning in life peaks and the search for meaning of life was at its lowest point.

When you are young, like in your twenties, you are unsure about your career, a life partner and who you are as a person. You are searching for meaning in life, said Jeste. As you start to get into your thirties, forties and fifties, you have more established relationships, maybe you are married and have a family and youre settled in a career. The search decreases and the meaning in life increases.

After age 60, things begin to change. People retire from their job and start to lose their identity. They start to develop health issues and some of their friends and family begin to pass away. They start searching for the meaning in life again because the meaning they once had has changed.

Although showing the connection between meaning and health is extremely important, in this case researchers have equated meaning in life with what the Psychology of New Humanism has described as provisional meanings: people. objects, jobs, that may be temporary, ephemeral. In the words of the old Sufi saying, we possess only that we cannot lose in a shipwreck. The presence of a deeper and more permanent meaning guides a different search opening up to other regions of human consciousness.

Kenan Malik for The Observer makes comparisons between uber Christian 17th Century John Miltons Paradise Lost and its less than holy 20th Century counterpart, Philip Pullmans His dark materials. He concludes Reasoned argument and clarity are an indispensable part of our quest for knowledge. So are stories and their ambiguities. They are a celebration of the human capacity to find meaning and a recognition that meaning is not something to be discovered but something that humans create. From Adam and Eve to Lyra and Will*, it is that search for meaning that enchants, excites, moves and inspires.

Perhaps what is missing from this potpourri of views about meaning and how to get it- wholly understandable in our individualistic society- is that meaning is connected to the sense of internal unity and coherence arising from helping others. Many celebrities, to their own surprise, have discovered meaning in empathising and developing acts of solidarity towards others, something ordinary people are much more aware of.

In spite of the efforts of anti migration forces humanity is again mixing, coming together with its new complexity and different paths to answer the great questions. There has been a long period of differentiation and a new complementation is in motion. This convergence of diversity is at the root of the new leap we are about to take, no matter how solid the meaningless dehumanising system appears to be.

* His dark materials characters

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The secret of Homo sapiens evolution? Migration, diversity, mixing - and meaning - Pressenza, International Press Agency

The Decade Of The Microbiome – Forbes

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The microbiome is the collection of microbes in an ecosystem, whether that's the human gut or a ... [+] boreal forest.

Microbiome. Today, its a household word.

But a decade ago, microbiome was unheard of, unless you were a specific type of scientist. The microbiome is the collection of microbes in an ecosystem, whether in the human gut or a boreal forest.

These community of microbes were incredibly difficult to study before the rise of sequencing technology, which became cheaper at a pace faster than Moores law throughout the 2010s. The availability of this technique cascaded into a boom in products and academic research centered around the microbiome.

Industry

Turn on the TV, and the word microbiome shows up in commercials for household products. Microbiome research has also come with the creation of countless startups and companies looking to create products to improve our lives, from probiotic formula that could help infants get the right microbiome to daily probiotics to boost health in adults.

However, microbiome science is a new field, and one of the challenges is performing cross-cutting research that can link changes in the microbiome to mechanistic changes or outcomes. Consumers, in particular, face challenges trying to determine if a product really elicits a change, or if the change in the microbiome doesnt actually change the outcome they are looking for.

Academic Research

With the rise of microbiome research centers across the country, two biologists at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) decided to create and lead the Microbiome Centers Consortium. Research across multiple fields using techniques and methods related to microbiome science is rapidly changing. The UCI biologists thought that a consortium to share innovations, challenges, and solutions could improve the quality and quantity of academic microbiome research.

Now, researchers from ecologists to immunologists use the microbiome in their research, thanks to the various centers that provide expertise and instruments at their universities.

Health: Researchers are studying the community of microbes that are in and on our bodies. In our bodies, the microbiome plays a role in our health, including mediating metabolic and inflammatory disorders, cancer, depression, infanthealthand longevity.

Ecosystems: Lets not forget the microbiome of the air, soil, and oceans. In ecosystems, the microbiome performs irreplaceable ecosystem services, from breaking down dead material to forming the foundation of energy available to living beings. Microbes in the air help seed clouds, which could impact the clouds reflectivity and how much rain they bring. Microbes form beneficial partnerships with corals. Understanding the role of the environmental microbiome could help us better predict processes, such as carbon cycling.

What exciting new discoveries and solutionsfrom improving human health to climate change mitigationwill microbiome science in the 2020s bring to society?

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How to get ageing populations to invest in their health – World Economic Forum

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Looking back 150 years, the proportion of elderly in Japans population was only a few per cent; now it exceeds 27%, making Japan the worlds top super-aged society. In 2060, it will exceed 38% and remain at this level in the future, retaining its top spot. OECD countries and many emerging economies including China will follow suit at their own respective speeds. The transition is a great outcome of public health and medicine.

A super-aged society is a natural consequence of longevity and we should celebrate it; on the other hand, our new challenge is healthy longevity or how we can be healthy, active and happy until the very end of our lives. Japanese data on the elderly, gathered by Dr Hiroko Akiyama of the University of Tokyo, suggests that health status at 65 is a strong indication of quality of life for the rest of life. In the 70-year-lifespan model, where people die in their 60s or 70s, health is not as big an issue for working-age people; in the 100-year lifespan model, one should continuously invest in ones health from as early a point as possible to maintain ones health after retirement. But how?

The Fourth Industrial Revolution offers good news on this front. Now, it is much easier than ever before to gather indicators of what affects ones health. We can gather genomic data, daily vitality data, health check data and medical treatment data. We can also gather data regarding lifestyle, social connectedness and financial activity all at a lower cost. Then artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data analysis can help us to understand our health more accurately and easily, and maintain it cost-effectively. We have rich new solutions for healthier lives.

The issue is the motivation or incentive for ordinary people to invest in their health before becoming elderly. Health geeks with rich health literacy invest in their health, using new technology but we observe quite a number of ordinary people with less health literacy. How can we inspire such uninterested people toward health investment or prevention before becoming sick?

The traditional approaches are from government, insurers or healthcare providers. National or local governments encourage members of their populations to improve health literacy and to receive health checks. Insurers may change member premiums and conditions, based on the member's health status or lifestyle. Hospitals and medical doctors are in a good position to advise locals. However, governments tend to lack resources, insurers cannot reach non-members and hospitals cannot cover people who dont come to hospitals.

Governments can enforce obligations for ordinary individuals or businesses to take care of their health. A typical example of this is regulation for occupational health. While the requirement level and compliance level differs country by country, we observe employers obligations to secure employee safety and health in offices and factories in many countries. However, while a legal obligation is good at securing minimum standards, it is not good at encouraging best practices. An obligation is necessary but insufficient.

We need to use incentives for both individuals and businesses to realize better occupational health. A public-private partnership programme called Health and Productivity Management (H&PM) started in Japan six years ago. It encourages CEOs and company management to invest on a voluntary basis in their employees' health for productivity and creativity purposes. The return of that investment is healthier employees with energy and enthusiasm and better evaluations from the labour market, capital markets, customers and society, all of which improves the value of the company. Now, more than 2,300 large companies and 35,000 SMEs in Japan have implemented H&PM.

External evaluation strengthens the return of investment. The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Tokyo Stock Exchange select 35 listed companies from 26 sectors (based on the results of a yearly survey) for the H&PM stock selection competition. in addition, Nippon Kenko Kaigi, a large business and medical federation including the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Japan Medical Association, nominates 3,300 companies as certified H&PM companies.

So far, we have observed positive outcomes from H&PM. In the past five years, certified H&PM companies have outperformed other ordinary companies on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, according to an analysis by Tokyo Mitsubishi and Morgan Stanley Securities. Some institutional investors such as AXA Insurance have started considering H&PM as one element of environment, social and corporate governance (ESG).

While direct evidence is lacking, logically speaking, H&PM will have positive external effects on the rest of society and the economy, since healthier employees become healthier citizens and active consumers. Considering new business trends such as the SDGs, ESG or stakeholder capitalism, some companies are now more focused on these external effects than on the financial returns derived.

Countries with the largest populations aged 60 and above

H&PM is not unique to Japan: Johnson & Johnson started H&PM decades ago and say one dollar invested generates 3 dollars in return. The US Chamber of Commerce issued a report that poor occupational health reduces GDP by 8.2%, 7%, 5.4% in the US, Japan and China respectively. In 2019, Business 20 (B20) included H&PM into its proposal to the G20. H&PM is a good strategy for improving occupational health in emerging economies with fewer initial resources. Sri Lanka started an H&PM awards programme in 2019.

It is fair to say that the rapid expansion of H&PM in Japan faces a unique challenge owing to the countrys labour shortage. As an ageing society, Japan lacks younger individuals as human resources, which makes recruitment a very important business issue. The same is true for the need to retain trained staff and convincing them not to resign. While H&PM works very well in this regard, such a labour shortage may happen in many countries as they age.

Increasing human productivity is one of the hot topics among global businesses amid rapid industrial structural change. I believe, H&PM is a new, positive strategy for realizing healthy longevity which will prove effective in many companies and economies.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with our Terms of Use.

Written by

Kazumi Nishikawa, Director, Healthcare Industries Division, Commerce and Service Industry Policy Group, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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Purdue taking part in life-long study of dogs health and aging – WTHR

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WTHR) Researchers are looking for America's oldest dog.

They don't want to teach him new tricks, but they are hoping he could teach them a few things.

And your dog could be part of their life-long scientific study that's looking to learn from pets nationwide.

More than 40 scientists and researchers from across the United States including one from Purdue University are looking for dogs to participate the national study of the general health and wellness of dogs.

The Dog Aging Project will be looking at dogs of all breeds and mixes from across the nation. This is the first major longitudinal study involving dogs, and it's scheduled to last at least 10 years.

We are going to look at a lot of different aspects of dogs lives that affect their health and longevity, says Audrey Ruple, a veterinary epidemiologist at Purdue.

Dogs are good models for humans, she says. They have similar genetics, share our environment, and they also have similar diseases and health issues. We will be asking, How do dogs age healthfully? in order to help better understand how we can age healthfully, too.

Dogs of all age ranges, breeds and sizes are eligible to participate in the study. Owners go online to register their dogs, then create a personal profile to track health, home life, diet, environment and lifestyle.

Dogs will need to make regular veterinarian visits every year. If a dog is assigned to a specific group, the owners may get a kit for their veterinarian to collect blood, urine or other samples during the annual visit.

Participation is voluntary and there is no cost to participate.

Its important to get dogs from all parts of the U.S. because of the different environmental factors present, Ruple said. And were trying to find the oldest dog in America, as well.

All dogs registered will be eligible to participate in various studies. The group conducted a soft launch with 4,500 dogs registered earlier this fall. Recently, the researchers reached 75,000 dogs for the study.

Our study population just keeps growing and growing and growing, Ruple said.

Researchers hope to find out more details on how genetics, demographics and environmental factors such as chemical exposures and noise pollution impact health and longevity.

Ruple says one goal of the study is to not just improve the health and longevity of dogs, but also extend those findings to improve human health. By studying aging in dogs, we hope to learn how to better match human health span to life span so that we can all live longer, healthier lives, Ruple said.

Funding for the Dog Aging Project comes from the National Institute of Aging, a part of the National Institutes of Health, as well as from private donations.

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Purdue taking part in life-long study of dogs health and aging - WTHR

Federal Agencies, Nonprofits and Global Companies Connect with Tech Entrepreneurs, Investors at Innovation in Longevity Summit Convened in Nation’s…

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WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Washington Innovation in Longevity Summit (WIN) happening here December 9-10 at the National Press Club and produced by Mary Furlong & Associates, is the only conference that brings together a highly curated audience focused on solutions, partnerships, best practices and trends driving the $7.6 trillion U.S. longevity economy. The event is unique in that it selects the top innovators in aging technology backed by leading longevity market investors to share insights, learn from and connect with the federal agencies, private companies,nonprofits and media as well as potential global partners seeking impactful and sustainable innovation to support longer lifespans worldwide.

"The longevity economy offers vast domestic and global potential for investors and entrepreneurs but there are challenges for entrants to the space," said Mary Furlong, executive producer of WIN and CEO of Mary Furlong & Associates. "Our summit is carefully curated to help attendees navigate regulatory, privacy and reimbursement issues and remain at the forefront of trends in aging while also helping innovators scale their solutions with the right U.S. and international partners."

Furlong added, "The private companies, federal agencies and nonprofits who attend also benefit by connecting with this curated collection of innovators. Since technology moves fast and so many players enter the space on a daily basis, it is a resource drain for organizations to meet with every start-up company so attending this conference cuts through the clutter to identify best of breed and pursue quicker yet quality partnerships."

Joining the notable keynote speakers Nancy LeaMond of AARP and George Vradenburg of UsAgainstAlzheimer's, will be an impressive line-up of panel speakers from the federal government: James Parker, senior advisor to the Secretary for Health Reform and director of the Office of Health Reform at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services; Melanie Egorin, deputy health staff director, U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means; Todd Haim, chief of the Office of Small Business Research, National Institute on Aging and Vijeth Iyengar, brain health lead and technical advisor to the Deputy Assistant Secretary

for Aging at the Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human

Services. They join lead investors in the longevity market, Dan Hermann, president and CEO, head of Investment Banking forZiegler Link-Age Longevity Fund and Jake Nice, principal,Nationwide Ventures; along with top aging technology entrepreneurs such as CareLinx, Posit Science, Ageless Innovation, PS Salon & Spa and 12 global companies from countries including Japan, Israel and Sweden.

"Through its small business programs, the National Institute on Aging at the National Institutes of Health provided more than $100 million in funding to start up organizations in FY 2019 alone," said Todd Haim, Ph.D., chief, NIA Office of Small Business Research. "For successful applicants, our programs are an excellent source of seed funding for the further development of innovations geared toward older adult health and well-being."

The full agenda and summit details are here. Summit registration is available here. Key sponsors for the Summit include: AARP, Ageless Innovation, CareLinx, Center for Aging + Brain Health Innovation, Sodexo, Thrive Alliance, Posit Science, Audio Cardio, LivPact, Care Predict, Stay Smart Care, LLC., AloeCare, Embodied Labs, Nationwide, It's Never Too Late, VitalTech and Home Instead.

About Mary Furlong & AssociatesFor 17 years, Mary Furlong & Associates (MFA), headquartered in the San Francisco Bay area, has developed strategies for marketing and business development for companies focused on opportunities with the senior and baby boomer markets and the longevity economy. Dr. Furlong is the executive producer of three conferences annually: What's Next Boomer Business Summit, Silicon Valley Boomer Venture Summit, and Washington Innovation in Longevity Summit. She also co-produces What's Next Canada and is scheduled to add a fourth conference in Paris, France, focused on international aging.

Contact Information:Ben Adkins230490@email4pr.com502.619.4267

SOURCE Mary Furlong & Associates

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Longevity And Anti-Senescence Therapy Market 2018 Overview, Consumption, Supply, Demand & Insights – Downey Magazine

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The global longevity and anti-senescence therapies market should grow from $329.8 million in 2018 to $644.4 million by 2023 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% during 2018-2023.

Report Scope:

The scope of this report is broad and covers various therapies currently under trials in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. The market estimation has been performed with consideration for revenue generation in the forecast years 2018-2023 after the expected availability of products in the market by 2023. The global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market has been segmented by the following therapies: Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Other therapies which includes stem cell-based therapies, etc.

Get Sample Copy Of The [emailprotected]https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/sample/11698

Revenue forecasts from 2028 to 2023 are given for each therapy and application, with estimated values derived from the expected revenue generation in the first year of launch.

The report also includes a discussion of the major players performing research or the potential players across each regional longevity and anti-senescence therapy market. Further, it explains the major drivers and regional dynamics of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market and current trends within the industry.

The report concludes with a special focus on the vendor landscape and includes detailed profiles of the major vendors and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market.

Report Includes:

71 data tables and 40 additional tables An overview of the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market Analyses of global market trends, with data from 2017 and 2018, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2023 Country specific data and analysis for the United States, Canada, Japan, China, India, U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Australia, Middle East and Africa Detailed description of various anti-senescence therapies, such as senolytic drug therapy, gene therapy, immunotherapy and other stem cell therapies, and their influence in slowing down aging or reverse aging process Coverage of various therapeutic drugs, devices and technologies and information on compounds used for the development of anti-ageing therapeutics A look at the clinical trials and expected launch of anti-senescence products Detailed profiles of the market leading companies and potential entrants in the global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market, including AgeX Therapeutics, CohBar Inc., PowerVision Inc., T.A. Sciences and Unity Biotechnology

Request For Report [emailprotected]https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/discount/11698

Summary

Global longevity and anti-senescence therapy market deals in the adoption of different therapies and treatment options used to extend human longevity and lifespan. Human longevity is typically used to describe the length of an individuals lifetime and is sometimes used as a synonym for life expectancy in the demography. Anti-senescence is the process by which cells stop dividing irreversibly and enter a stage of permanent growth arrest, eliminating cell death. Anti-senescence therapy is used in the treatment of senescence induced through unrepaired DNA damage or other cellular stresses.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market will witness rapid growth over the forecast period (2018-2023) owing to an increasing emphasis on Stem Cell Research and an increasing demand for cell-based assays in research and development.

An increasing geriatric population across the globe and a rising awareness of antiaging products among generation Y and later generations are the major factors expected to promote the growth of global longevity and anti-senescence market. Factors such as a surging level of disposable income and increasing advancements in anti-senescence technologies are also providing traction to the global longevity and anti-senescence market growth over the forecast period (2018-2023).

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the total geriatric population across the globe in 2016 was over REDACTED. By 2022, the global geriatric population (65 years and above) is anticipated to reach over REDACTED. An increasing geriatric population across the globe will generate huge growth prospectus to the market.

Senolytics, placenta stem cells and blood transfusions are some of the hot technologies picking up pace in the longevity and anti-anti-senescence market. Companies and start-ups across the globe such as Unity Biotechnology, Human Longevity Inc., Calico Life Sciences, Acorda Therapeutics, etc. are working extensively in this field for the extension of human longevity by focusing on study of genomics, microbiome, bioinformatics and stem cell therapies, etc. These factors are poised to drive market growth over the forecast period.

Global longevity and anti-senescence market is projected to rise at a CAGR of REDACTED during the forecast period of 2018 through 2023. In 2023, total revenues are expected to reach REDACTED, registering REDACTED in growth from REDACTED in 2018.

The report provides analysis based on each market segment including therapies and application. The therapies segment is further sub-segmented into Senolytic drug therapy, Gene therapy, Immunotherapy and Others. Senolytic drug therapy held the largest market revenue share of REDACTED in 2017. By 2023, total revenue from senolytic drug therapy is expected to reach REDACTED. Gene therapy segment is estimated to rise at the highest CAGR of REDACTED till 2023. The fastest growth of the gene therapy segment is due to the Large investments in genomics. For Instance; The National Human Genome Research Institute (U.S.) had a budget grant of REDACTED for REDACTED research projects in 2015, thus increasing funding to REDACTED for approximately REDACTED projects in 2016.

Report [emailprotected]https://www.trendsmarketresearch.com/report/analysis/BCC/global-longevity-and-anti-senescence-therapy-market

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Longevity And Anti-Senescence Therapy Market 2018 Overview, Consumption, Supply, Demand & Insights - Downey Magazine

OU voice students learn about the importance of vocal health – 2019 – School of Music, Theatre and Dance – News – OU Magazine – News at OU

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For Oakland University voice students, the human voice is more than just a way to communicate its also a precious instrument that must be maintained in order for them to continue sharing their passion for performing.

Voices are like feet in a way no one thinks much about their feet until they have a problem with them, but when they do, it suddenly becomes all they can think about, said John-Paul White, a distinguished professor of music at Oakland University. Its much the same with our voice. We take it for granted until it doesnt work right, and then we realize how very important it is.

How much more so for a performer, especially a professional whose living depends on their voice, White added. Maintaining vocal health is so much easier than having to fix a problem once is has occurred.

Dr. Drake Dantzler, associate professor of music at OU, agreed.

For any singer, their body is their instrument, Dantzler said. Proper health and vocal maintenance is important for successful singing and performing. We teach our students to maintain proper hydration, to avoid diuretics, to avoid smoking and second hand smoke, and to keep their bodies healthy.

Beyond those baseline lifestyle choices, we also work to create a vocal routine that establishes the habits for vocal longevity. Those exercises are based around established vocal science, and new research is emerging all the time.

This past summer, Dantzler and his wife, Dr. Alta Dantzler, an assistant professor of music at OU, participated in the National Center for Voice & Speech (NCVS) Summer Vocology Institute at the University of Utah, where they completed the first part of a three-part certification.

Vocology is the study of the habituation of the human voice, or how we use our voices for singing, Drake Dantzler said. It contains detailed studies in vocal health, anatomy, physics and applied practice.

Recently, more than 40 Oakland University voice students had an opportunity to learn more about their own vocal health when Dr. Adam Rubin and Dr. Juliana Codino from the Lakeshore Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Center treated them to a free baseline videostroboscopy on Nov. 11.

Videostroboscopy is an examination that uses high-speed light flashes that enable the scope (camera) to see the vocal folds in slow motion, White said. The vocal folds vibrate very quickly, much too fast for the naked eye to see. For example, at the pitch A 440 they vibrate 440 times per second. Stroboscopy enables the laryngologist to see the condition of the vocal cords in much greater detail.

Dantzler called the procedure a tremendously valuable tool for performers.

All performers, like any athlete, will experience some form of distress during their career, he said. By having a baseline stroboscope, the doctor that evaluates their vocal folds will be able to make a much more detailed analysis of the chord movement, and hence a more accurate diagnosis. To be able to provide this to our students, free of charge, is a wonderful opportunity, and we thank Lakeshore ENT for their expertise and time.

Caroline Roberts, a senior vocal performance major with a pre-med concentration, was among the OU students who underwent the procedure on Nov. 11.

It was fascinating to see how my own vocal cords operate, along with the amazing technology used to track vocal health, she said. This visit was especially exciting for me because I hope to be a laryngologist in the future. I believe my education as a vocal performance student will set me apart in this field, since I can empathize with my future patients.

Also in November, several OU voice students had an opportunity to visit the Gross Anatomy Lab in Hannah Hall, where they were able to view an excised human larynx, as well as breathing musculature, with Dr. Rebecca Pratt, a professor of anatomy in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine.

The anatomy lab was a remarkable opportunity for our students to gain a detailed idea of the physiology of the human voice, Dantzler said. While our students have seen models and drawings, there is no replacement for a physical larynx.

The students excitement and wonder was palpable, and there was no question that high level comprehension was present, he said. Students were connecting questions and ideas from their Voice Tech classes, as well as gaining a broader understanding of the instructions they receive in lesson.

Voice student Gillian Tackett, who visited the anatomy lab on Nov. 12, said the experience was amazing.

To be honest, I wasnt sure how I would feel being in a room with deceased donors and looking at body parts, but being able to see and even touch the parts of the body that are extremely vital to what we do as singers was life changing, she said. When I was holding a human larynx in my hands, I realized that this might be the closest I would ever get to really touching my instrument.

For performers, maintaining that instrument their voice is critically important.

Vocal health begins with awareness, Tackett said. Once we have that knowledge, we can begin to properly use and maintain a healthy voice. Here at Oakland, were very fortunate to have voice faculty who are so supportive and eager to help us learn every aspect of what it means to be a singer and that has to include vocal health.

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

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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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The human body isn’t running at 98.6 degrees anymore. (And it hasn’t been for 150 years.) – The Daily Briefing

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The average human body temperature has steadily declined since the 19th century, according to a study published earlier this month in eLife, raising questions about whether the "normal" human body temperature is actually lower than 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, Nicholas Bakalar reports for the New York Times' "Well."

According to researchers, the common claim that human body temperature averages 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit originated with a study by the German doctor Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich, who repeatedly measured the temperatures of 25,000 people in Leipzig in 1851. But researchers questioned whether that data truly represented average body temperature in the modern age.

To find out, they examined 677,423 human body temperature measurements from three databases to determine how body temperatures have changed over time. Human body temperatures serve as "a crude surrogate for basal metabolic rate which, in turn, has been linked to both longevity (higher metabolic rate, shorter life span) and body size (lower metabolism, greater body mass)," the researchers noted.

The databases spanned 157 years of measurement. The first database contained temperature readings obtained from 23,710 Civil War veterans between 1862 and 1930. The second database contained temperatures readings for 15,301 individuals collected by CDC's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1971 to 1975. The third database contained temperature readings for 150,280 individuals collected by the Stanford University from 2007 to 2017.

Overall, the researchers found the average human body temperature has decreased by 0.03 degrees centigrade, or about 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit, per birth decade. Pointing to the findings, Bakalar in the writes, "Today, a temperature of 97.5 may be closer to 'normal' than the traditional 98.6."

According to the researchers, "men born in the early 19thcentury had temperatures 0.59C higher than men today, with a monotonic decrease of 0.03C per birth decade." Meanwhile, women's average body temperatures have decreased by 0.32C since the 1890s, at a similar rate of 0.029C per birth decade.

The researchers said the decline in the average human body temperature could not be explained by differences in measurement techniques. They explained that the decrease in average body temperature occurred annually within each of the three databases and that they found identical declines between the two modern databases, which presumably involved the same equipment and measurement techniques.

While it's unclear what drove the decline in body temperatures, the researchers did offer a few possible explanations. Namely, the researchers pointed to advancements in heating and air conditions, which help maintain constant temperatures; reductions in chronic inflammation; and improvements in dental care, medical care, and sanitation.

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The human body isn't running at 98.6 degrees anymore. (And it hasn't been for 150 years.) - The Daily Briefing

Cycling Without Age Gives Seniors Access to Biking in Cities Around the Globe – Next City

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When Ole Kassow was three, his father was diagnosed with MS. We couldnt do the same things that other fathers and sons, we couldnt fish or play soccer, Kassow recalls. But he was really good at putting a positive spin on many things. We invented imaginary superhero glasses wed just turn our thumbs and fingers into little glasses and wed go around and Id pull him in his wheelchair with my bike. In many ways, thats where the seed for Cycling Without Age, a non-profit that uses tri-shaw bikes to take seniors living in care facilities out for rides in cities across the world, was first planted.

What started with Kassow in Copenhagen in August of 2012 has since blossomed into a global network of more than 1,643 Cycling Without Age chapters in 42 countries, including over 300 chapters and counting in the U.S. With my dad, I saw what it does to a person when you lose mobility, Kassow says, noting that many people lose friends when theyre no longer able to engage in the activities they once loved.

After seeing an elderly man sitting on a bench one August day, Kassow got to thinking how much mobility and access to community he could provide to seniors through something as simple as a bike ride. I was dedicated to seeing this man back on a bike. I hired this old tri-shaw and showed up at a care home and began taking elders out for rides, Kassow says. It wasnt exactly cycling: The seniors dont pedal or steer, as those tasks are left up to a volunteer. But the riders get all of the adventure, freedom, and wind in their hair that a traditional bike ride provides.

Kassow quickly saw a slew of unanticipated benefits as well. Seniors who were described as loners who had all but given up on talking suddenly became chatty with everyone from the staff member accompanying them to their bike driver once again as the world became exciting again from their three-wheeled perch. I think what it does is that it allows people to get access to relationships again, Kassow says, musing on the fact that there isnt anything in the [UNs] human rights charter about relationships, even though I just read a book by Susan Pinker that talked about the important role social relationships play in longevity and happiness.

Kassow has since come to see relationships as something of a human right that his organization works to restore through bike rides, an idea that the city of Copenhagen was eager to support. The city funded Kassows first five bikes, a boon because the tri-shaw bikes essentially pedicabs where the seat is in front of the cyclist, rather than behind the organization relies on can cost $7,000 $10,000. In April of 2013, Kassow hosted a joint ride where everyone, regardless of age or mobility, was invited. Over 100 people showed up. It was a cold, clear, frosty day and it was fantastic, he recalls. A lot of people who came said that they wanted to join as volunteers. From there it was a matter of experimenting to figure out how it was going to work.

Largely through word of mouth, the program spread to different care homes across Copenhagen and eventually to different cities as well. Kassow eventually developed a train the trainers methodology so that each new chapter would be able to support the development of other chapters without requiring Kassows direct involvement.

In late 2014 Kassow was invited to give a TED Talk in Copenhagen. Thats when the Cycling Without Age really began to spread, leading to something like 10 new chapters popping up over the course of just a few months. This was also when Kassow left his consulting business to focus on Cycling Without Age full time.

Chapters, like Kalynn McLains in Meridian, Idaho, are still popping up today.

What started as an adventure in testing out electric bikes with her mother in law in October 2017 ended with the duo stumbling across a chapter kickoff in nearby Eagle, Idaho. The Eagle chapter didnt take off, despite having already acquiring a tri-shaw. The woman eventually donated it to McLain. It kind of fell into my lap. I hadnt intended to start a chapter, but I couldnt say no, she says.

With the hardest part acquiring the tri-shaw behind her, McLain set out to establish her chapter by filing with the state and getting logistics like an insurance policy in order. In April of this year McLain began offering rides in partnership with a local assisted living facility.

Once I started working with them, other facilities started asking about it. What I ended up doing was working through the parks and rec department to be able to ride in parks and on pathways around the city, she says. McLain and her stable of volunteers now meet seniors shuttled from their facilities at parks where the rides take place. They get outdoors and it gets them talking to people of different generations and telling their stories, she says.

Currently its McLains handful of volunteers who give most of the rides while she hangs back.

Across the 109 rides that the Meridian chapter gave this season, McLain is most pleased by the seniors who come back time and time again, especially largely nonverbal residents from memory care facilities who have burst into words on their ride.

I had one ride, McLain says, where the staff was asking the resident if she was enjoying the ride and she suddenly said, Yes! Im loving it! The staff member turned to me and was like, Did you hear that?! It was the first time that resident had spoken in some time, all inspired by the ride Cycling Without Age was able to provide.

Cinnamon Janzer is a freelance journalist based in Minneapolis. Her work has appeared National Geographic, U.S. News & World Report, Rewire.news, and more. She holds an MA in Social Design, with a specialization in intervention design, from the Maryland Institute College of Art and a BA in Cultural Anthropology and Fine Art from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

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Cycling Without Age Gives Seniors Access to Biking in Cities Around the Globe - Next City

Can red lights, sleep cages and ice baths really extend life spans? – yoursun.com

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In the predawn darkness, you can see an eerie red glow shining from the windows of the Hudson, Wisconsin, home of Thaddeus Owen and his fiance, Heidi Sime.

The couple are awake, having slept in their Faraday cage a canopy over their bed that blocks electromagnetic fields like the Wi-Fi signals or radiation from cellphone towers, which they believe are harmful.

Their primal sleeping environment also has special pads under the bed that are supposed to mimic the effect of sleeping on the ground under the influence of the Earths magnetic field, thus combating Magnetic Field Deficiency Syndrome.

Their house is bathed in red light because they think white incandescent, LED and fluorescent lighting robs them of sleep-regulating melatonin hormones. They wear special sunglasses indoors for the same reason, blocking the blue light from computers, cellphones or televisions when its dark outside.

Their morning routine includes yoga in a shielded, infrared sauna designed to create an EMF-free ancestral space, and putting tiny spoonfuls of bitter white powders under their tongues. These are nootropics, so-called smart drugs, which are supposed to improve focus, mood or memory.

When day breaks, they go out in their yard and face the rising sun Thaddeus in shorts and no shirt, Heidi in a sports bra and yoga pants doing Qigong in the snow and 25-degree air.

Getting early-morning sunlight, they believe, will correctly set the circadian rhythm of their bodies. Exposing their skin to the freezing temperatures, they hope, will help release human growth hormone, stimulate their immune system and trigger the body to burn fat to heat itself.

Forget Blue Zones. This is what your morning looks like if youre biohacking your way to an optimal you.

DIY HUMAN ENGINEERING

Biohacking is a DIY biology movement that started in Silicon Valley by people who want to boost productivity and human performance and engineer away aging and ordinary life spans. Think of it as high-tech tinkering, but instead of trying to create a better phone, biohackers are trying to upgrade to a faster, smarter, longer lasting, enhanced version of themselves.

Owen, 44, describes it as a journey of self-experimentation, using practices that are not talked about by mainstream media and your family doctor. His aim is to combine the latest technology and science with ancient knowledge to modify his environment, inside and out.

My entire goal is to basically age in reverse, he said.

Owen, who is from New York, studied chemical engineering in college. He worked for Procter & Gamble, helping to create beauty care products, and for pharmaceutical firms, developing manufacturing processes.

Now he works from home, managing worldwide product regulations in the sustainability department for office furniture company Herman Miller. But he moonlights as a biohacking guru.

He started a Twin Cities biohacking Meetup group that organizes weekly cold-water immersions at Cedar Lake in Minneapolis. Hes given a TEDx talk urging audience members to wear blue-light-blocking glasses indoors at night.

He founded the website primalhacker.com and he and the 45-year-old Sime (who also goes by the name Tomorrow) run a website called thaddeustomorrow.com, where they market biohacking products like red light panels, a baby blanket that blocks EMF radiation and a $5,499 Faraday cage sauna thats the same type used by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Owen said he relies on tons of research to support avoiding blue light at night and the healing properties of the early morning sun.

WHATS THE DEAL WITH BLUE LIGHT?

The Harvard Health Letter, for example, said that blue light from devices, LED and compact fluorescent bulbs can throw off the bodys circadian rhythm, affect sleep and might contribute to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Some studies have shown that exposing people to cold temperatures burns calories and repeated cold-water immersions might stimulate the immune system.

And those infrared saunas? They dont appear to be harmful and maybe they do some good, according to Dr. Brent Bauer, an internal medicine expert at the Mayo Clinic.

But being healthy really doesnt need to be that complicated, according to Dr. Michael Joyner, a human performance specialist at the Mayo Clinic.

All these things sound great, Joyner said of the biohacks. Theres a ring of what I call bioplausibility to them.

But Joyner said its often hard to find evidence that biohacking practices actually work and that most Americans would be healthier if they just followed basic advice: go for a walk, dont smoke, dont drink too much and dont eat too much.

But Owens goal is not to be merely healthy.

I want my biology to be shifted to that supernormal range, where Im optimally healthy, he said.

When he started biohacking about 12 years ago, Owens goal was to improve his sleep. As a competitive athlete, he was fit, but he had problems with anxiety and insomnia.

So he started wearing special glasses to block blue light. His co-workers used to think he was odd. Now Owens company is asking him for advice on what kind of lighting should be used in work settings to keep employees healthy. And his sleep and anxiety problems have gone away.

I went from being the weird guy to being consulted, he said.

We all sort of watch what he does, said Gabe Wing, director of sustainability at Herman Miller and Owens boss. Wing said Owen has influenced some co-workers to try blue-light-blocking tools.

When Owen first got into it, he didnt know of any other biohackers in the Twin Cities. Now there are more than 500 people in the Biohackers Twin Cities Meetup group.

Although many biohacks seem odd now, Owen is convinced that some of them will become common practices.

This whole blue light thing, its not going away, he said. More research comes out every day and its becoming more mainstream.

Owen and Sime have five of their children, ages 8 to 17, living with them. The kids wear blue-light-blocking glasses when they watch TV, but theyre OK with it, the couple said.

I think cellphone radiation is going to be the new lead, asbestos and smoking, said Owen, who turns his Wi-Fi off at night, keeps his cellphone in a special Faraday pouch when he sleeps and sometimes wears radiation-proof underwear.

(The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences says scientific evidence has not conclusively linked cellphone use with any adverse human health problems, although scientists admit more research is needed.)

Owen eats what he describes as a local, seasonal diet: local vegetables, fruits, nuts and honey during the growing season. Thats followed by a high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet in late fall and early winter. Then an all-carnivore diet in late winter, including animals hes raised at a friends farm.

Owen doesnt have a particular longevity goal, unlike biohacker and Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey, who has said he wants to live to at least 180.

Owen just wants to be healthy and independent for as long as he lives.

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

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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.

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