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Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Applications, Types and Future Outlook Report 2020-2027 – Bulletin Line

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

New Jersey, United States,- The research report on Complementary And Alternative Medicine market comprises of insights in terms of pivotal parameters such as production as well as the consumption patterns alongside revenue estimations for the projected timeframe. Speaking of production aspects, the study offers an in-depth analysis regarding the manufacturing processes along with the gross revenue amassed by the leading producers operating in this business arena. The unit cost deployed by these producers in various regions during the estimated timeframe is also mentioned in the report.

Significant information pertaining to the product volume and consumption value is enlisted in the document. Additionally, the report contains details regarding the consumption graphs, Individual sale prices, and import & export activities. Additional information concerning the production and consumption patterns are presented in the report.

In a word, the Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market report provides major statistics on the state of the Complementary And Alternative Medicine industry with a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market. In the end, Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market report delivers a conclusion which includes Research Findings, Market Size Evaluation, Global Market Share, Consumer Needs along with Customer Preference Change, Data Source. These factors will raise the growth of the business overall.

Regions Covered in the Global Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market:

The Middle East and Africa (GCC Countries and Egypt)

North America (the United States, Mexico, and Canada)

South America (Brazil etc.)

Europe (Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)

Asia-Pacific (Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

Highlights of the Report:

Accurate market size and CAGR forecasts for the period 2020-2026

Identification and in-depth assessment of growth opportunities in key segments and regions

Detailed company profiling of top players of the global Complementary And Alternative Medicine market

Exhaustive research on innovation and other trends of the global Complementary And Alternative Medicine market

Reliable industry value chain and supply chain analysis

Comprehensive analysis of important growth drivers, restraints, challenges, and growth prospects

The scope of the Report:

The report offers a complete company profiling of leading players competing in the global Complementary And Alternative Medicine marketwith a high focus on the share, gross margin, net profit, sales, product portfolio, new applications, recent developments, and several other factors. It also throws light on the vendor landscape to help players become aware of future competitive changes in the global Complementary And Alternative Medicine market.

Reasons to Buy the Report:

About Us:

Market Research Intellect provides syndicated and customized research reports to clients from various industries and organizations with the aim of delivering functional expertise. We provide reports for all industries including Energy, Technology, Manufacturing and Construction, Chemicals and Materials, Food and Beverage, and more. These reports deliver an in-depth study of the market with industry analysis, the market value for regions and countries, and trends that are pertinent to the industry.

Mr. Steven Fernandes

Market Research Intellect

New Jersey ( USA )

Tel: +1-650-781-4080

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Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Applications, Types and Future Outlook Report 2020-2027 - Bulletin Line

Brazil Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Segments and Supply Demand Forecast 2020-2027 – Bulletin Line

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

The report covers the forecast and analysis of the Brazil Complementary and Alternative Medicine market on a global and regional level. The study provides historical data from 2015 to 2018 along with a forecast from 2019 to 2027 based on revenue (USD Million).

The study includes drivers and restraints of the Brazil Complementary and Alternative Medicine market along with the impact they have on the demand over the forecast period. Additionally, the report includes the study of opportunities available in the Brazil Complementary and Alternative Medicine market on a global level.

Download Sample of This Strategic Report:https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10172662

In order to give the users of this report a comprehensive view of the Brazil Complementary and Alternative Medicine market, we have included a competitive landscape and an analysis of Porters Five Forces model for the market. The study encompasses a market attractiveness analysis, wherein all the segments are bench marked based on their market size, growth rate, and general attractiveness.

The report provides company market share analysis to give a broader overview of the key players in the market. In addition, the report also covers key strategic developments of the market including acquisitions & mergers, new service & product launches, agreements, partnerships, collaborations & joint ventures, research & development, and regional expansion of major participants involved in the market on a global and regional basis.

The study provides a decisive view of the Brazil Complementary and Alternative Medicine market by segmenting the market based on type, age group, disease indications, distribution channel, and regions. All the segments have been analyzed based on present and future trends and the market is estimated from 2019 to 2027. The regional segmentation includes the current and forecast demand for North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa.

A combination of various technologies will pave the way for the market growth in Brazil over the forecast timeline. Moreover, the occurrence of non-contagious ailments like heart disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes, and depression will propel the market growth during the period from 2019 to 2027. In addition to this, the complementary & alternative drugs approach for treating these non-communicable ailments will create lucrative growth avenues for the industry in other developing regions also. Apart from this, the integration of therapies like acupuncture and magnetic interventions will further boost the complementary and alternative medicine industry in Brazil.

Based on the type, the market for complementary and alternative medicine in Brazil is divided into Traditional Alternate Medicine Therapy, Diet and Herbal Based Therapy, Mind Therapy, Body Therapy, and Energy Healing Therapy. In terms of age group, the industry is classified into Infant, Adults, Adolescent, and the Elderly.

Request For Full Report:https://www.kennethresearch.com/sample-request-10172662

On the basis of disease indications, the market is divided into Arthritis, Neurology, Cancer, Cardiology, Asthma, and Diabetes. In terms of distribution channel, the market is segmented into Direct Sales, Distance Correspondence, and E-Distribution.

Some of the key players in the market include Optum, Inc., Ach, Quantum-Touch, and Herboflora.

About Kenneth Research

Kenneth Research is a reselling agency providing market research solutions in different verticals such as Automotive and Transportation, Chemicals and Materials, Healthcare, Food & Beverage and Consumer Packaged Goods, Semiconductors, Electronics & ICT, Packaging, and Others. Our portfolio includes set of market research insights such as market sizing and market forecasting, market share analysis and key positioning of the players (manufacturers, deals and distributors, etc), understanding the competitive landscape and their business at a ground level and many more. Our research experts deliver the offerings efficiently and effectively within a stipulated time. The market study provided by Kenneth Research helps the Industry veterans/investors to think and to act wisely in their overall strategy formulation

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Brazil Complementary And Alternative Medicine Market Segments and Supply Demand Forecast 2020-2027 - Bulletin Line

#VisualAbstract: Treating latent tuberculosis infection with four months of rifampin versus nine months of isoniazid – 2 Minute Medicine

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

1. When compared to 9 months of isoniazid, 4 months of rifampin was a non-inferior alternative treatment of latent tuberculosis (TB) that was both cheaper and lead to lower healthcare usage amongst adult and pediatric patients in high-, middle-, and low-resource health systems in 9 nations.

2. Choosing rifampin represented a cost savings of 38% to the health system

Evidence Rating:1 (Excellent)

Study Rundown:Isoniazid, an inhibitor of mycobacteria cell wall synthesis, is the standard of treatment of latent TB. Rifampin, a more costly medication, is generally reserved for active TB treatment along with ethambutol and pyrazinamide. This study demonstrated that while rifampin is more expensive, its shorter treatment length and fewer adverse events resulted in a lower total cost across study sites. Ultimately this represented a cost savings to the health system of roughly one-third of the cost of isoniazid. The studys applicability was strengthened by its multi-centered approach that included representative countries across GDP. The failure to include individual cost burden limited the studys ability to fully account for possible barriers to treatment.

Click to read the study in Annals of Internal Medicine

In-Depth[randomized controlled trial]:This multicenter, prospective, open-label randomized controlled trial examined the cost of treatment for latent TB with isoniazid and rifampin across 9 diverse study countries (Australia, Benin, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Guinea, and Indonesia). Participant eligibility was determined by documented skin test or QuantiFERON test, clinical risk factors, and clinician treatment recommendation. Baseline characteristics were attained from each participant including blood tests, chest radiography, and clinician medical assessment as were health data from routine follow ups with clinicians (which included attaining a complete blood count and liver function test). Six-thousand twelve adults and 829 children were included in the final modified intent-to-treat analysis with roughly half of the population originating from African countries. Seventy-one percent of adults and 82% of children completed treatment and 229 participants experienced an adverse event. The total cost of 9 of months of isoniazid was higher than 4 months of rifampin across all 9 study sites. Total cost was also higher in high-income countries when compared to middle-income or African countries. Cost components were heterogeneously distributed amongst the 3 income groups: routine follow-up visits made up 30 50% of total cost in high- and middle-income countries compared to roughly 15% of the cost in African countries. After multivariate analysis, the total average cost of rifampin was $340 (CI 95% $330 to $350) which represented a 38% savings for the health systems.

20202 Minute Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. No works may be reproduced without expressed written consent from2 Minute Medicine, Inc. Inquire about licensinghere. No article should be construed as medical advice and is not intended as such by the authors or by 2 Minute Medicine, Inc.

#VisualAbstract: Treating latent tuberculosis infection with four months of rifampin versus nine months of isoniazid - 2 Minute Medicine

Letter: Reaping what you sow | Letters to the Editor – Arizona Daily Star

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Re: the July 23 letter "Vote because your life depends on it."

The letter illustrates that some of the distrust of the medical profession that is hindering the fight against COVID-19 has been well-earned. Women with chronic debilitating symptoms are dismissed as psychiatric cases, while people of color cannot get treatment for pain. Research into the devastating epidemics of chronic fatigue syndrome, Lyme disease, and autism is underfunded in favor of research into expensive treatments for rare diseases. The CDC and Dr. Fauci's NIAID ignore evidence that Lyme bacteria can persist in the body and cause years of disability, fail to develop accurate tests for Lyme, and discredit labs that offer better tests.

This neglect drives many patients into alternative medicine, where some find healing and some learn distrust of Western science, including vaccines. Perhaps the public's maddening response to the pandemic will lead to a re-evaluation of medicine's practices and priorities.

Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.

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Letter: Reaping what you sow | Letters to the Editor - Arizona Daily Star

Thailand approves use of marijuana in local health promotion hospitals – The Thaiger

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

The blending of marijuana with other pharmaceutical products for the purpose of medical treatment is being given the go-ahead by the Thai government. Nation Thailand reports that the Ministry of Public Health has approved 17 formulations for use in local health promotion hospitals.

Sub-district Health Promoting Hospitals are hospitals that are operated by either the MOPH or Department of Local Administration and were initially called health stations. These hospitals only have primary care capabilities and often serve villages within districts. Almost all of these hospitals do not accept inpatients and usually have no doctor on duty for the entire time. Wikipedia

Dr. Marut Jirasrattasiri, from the Department of Traditional Thai Medicine and Alternative Medicine, says over 60,000 patients have expressed interest in being treated with medicinal marijuana, with the department approving the drug for use.

Currently, 4 hospitals are understood to be participating, 3 of which are in the north-east of the country. These are Khlong Muang Hospital in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Chiang Phin Hospital in the province of Udon Thani, Ban Na Yao Nuea Hospital in Sakon Nakhon province, and Ban Na Pak Khow hospital in the southern province of Phatthalung.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand

Thailand approves use of marijuana in local health promotion hospitals - The Thaiger

Balloon-expandable covered stent reveals promise as endovascular alternative to surgery in treatment of arterial emergencies – Vascular News

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

This advertorial is sponsored by Bentley.

Maria Antonella Ruffino, a vascular interventional radiologist at Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Citt della Salute e della Scienza in Turin, Italy, tells Vascular News about her teams growing clinical experience with covered stents as a platform that offer a minimally invasive solution for arterial emergencies. Ruffino gives an insight into the advantages of covered stents in such cases, their potential limitations, and which ones may be a favourable option for emergency treatment.

Arterial emergencies, such as bleeding, pseudoaneurysm, dissection, or fistula are potentially life-threatening conditions. Spontaneous or iatrogenic arterial emergencies require prompt diagnosis and treatment. During the last few decades, the treatment of these lesions has shifted from emergency open surgery to an endovascular approach, and the latter is rapidly becoming part of the treatment algorithm.

What are the advantages of using covered stents in such emergency cases?

The main endovascular approaches include use of covered stents and embolisation. A key advantage of using a covered stent in an emergency case, when compared to embolisation, is that a stent graft guarantees the immediate exclusion of the lesion without the sacrifice of the target vessel, avoiding the risk of non-target embolisation, which can result in ischaemic complications and rebleeding. Preservation of flow is crucial particularly in districts with a terminal vascularisation, without collaterals, such as the limbs and kidneys. Additionally, this also applies to the liver, where it is uncertain whether extrahepatic arteries provide sufficient collateral circulation in case of hepatic artery occlusion.

What is your clinical experience with covered stents?

At our centre, we started using the BeGraft peripheral stent graft (Bentley, Hechingen, Germany) in June 2015. In the beginning, we used it for iliac procedures in elective cases of severe aortoiliac occlusive disease. Subsequently, we expanded this to include cases of rupture or dissection, and for severe complications that can present when long, calcified iliac occlusions are treated. The availability, wide sizing range, goodtrackability and conformability of these stent grafts and their low profile (6F compatible up to 8mm diameter) led us to extend their use to other vessels in case of arterial injuries. Since 2018, we have also used the BeGraft aortic stent graft, which has allowed us to treat vessels of larger diameters. Our cardiology colleagues already use the BeGraft coronary stent.

During the last few years, we have treated many emergency cases with the BeGraft stent graft family. These include iliac ruptures or renal pseudoaneurysms which are quite common but also more complex cases, like common carotid artery bleeding or penetrating aortic ulcer rupture.* In these last two scenarios, in particular, where we needed a large stent graft (12mm), we have experienced first-hand how a larger diameter BeGraft stent can perform in tortuous anatomies, thanks to its good trackability and low profile, as it can be used with small vascular sheaths (9F in these cases).

Part of our experience, which focused on iatrogenic arterial injuries, has been recently published in Medicine, reporting a technical success of 100% and a clinical success of 88%. No device- or procedure-related deaths, nor major complications were reported. There was no patency loss at mid-term follow-up (average FU 390 +/- 168 days).1

Are there any limitations associated with the use of covered stents for emergency cases?

Almost all arterial lesions can be treated with covered stents, except for those without anatomic suitability, such as very distal lesions, or those without an adequate proximal and distal neck. Similarly, arterial lesions that are located in vessels of a calibre not suitable for stenting cannot be treated with covered stents. Finally, in case of tortuous anatomy or at a joint, when possible, a self-expandable covered stent is the preferred option.

What are your must-have sizes of covered stents for emergencies?

Arterial emergencies can present with a variety of lesions that can be very different in aetiology and characteristics, and located in vessels that can vary significantly in size. This is why we require a wide array of differently sized stent grafts in order to select the most suitable one. It is, therefore, difficult to say which sizes are a must-have.

Our experience shows that, in the case of arterial injuries, the proper sizing of the stent graft is essential to achieve technical and clinical success, without complications and recurrences, which further highlights the importance of having a wide range of stent grafts on shelf to treat arterial emergencies, and the BeGraft family has the broadest covered stent platform in the market.

Overall, endovascular treatment with BeGraft covered stents, with preservation of distal flow, is minimally invasive, safe, and effective in the management of arterial injuries and emergencies. Furthermore, all the aforementioned device characteristics allow for the rapid treatment of the lesion, even in case of tortuous anatomy.

*The usage of the BeGraft aortic for treatment in the carotid artery or PAU is off label.

References

Case images

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Balloon-expandable covered stent reveals promise as endovascular alternative to surgery in treatment of arterial emergencies - Vascular News

PolyA-miner accurately assesses the effect of alternative polyadenylation on gene expression – Baylor College of Medicine News

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Image courtesy of HK Yalamanchili/Liu lab/Nucleic Acids Research, 2020

Researchers with an interest in unraveling gene regulation in human health and disease are expanding their horizons by closely looking at alternative polyadenylation (APA), an under-charted mechanism that regulates gene expression.

APA is about modifying one of the ends, called the 3-prime end (3end), of RNA strands that are transcribed from DNA. The modification consists of changing the length of a tail of adenosines, one of the RNA building blocks, at the 3end before RNA is translated into proteins, said first author Dr. Hari Krishna Yalamanchili, a postdoctoral associate in the lab of Dr. Zhandong Liu at Baylor College of Medicine. This adenosine chain helps to determine how long the messenger RNA lasts in the cell, influencing how much protein is produced from it.

The interest in APA has resulted in the development of several 3 sequencing (3Seq) techniques that allow for precise identification on APA sites on RNA strands. But what researchers are missing is a robust computational tool that is specifically designed to analyze the wealth of 3Seq data that has been generated.

Until now, researchers have been using traditional RNA sequencing computational tools to analyze the 3Seq datasets. Although this approach produces results, it does not maximize the potential amount of information that can be extracted from that data, Yalamanchili said. Here we developed a computational tool that precisely analyzes 3Seq data. We call it PolyA-miner.

Yalamanchili and his colleagues used their new computational tool to analyze existing 3Seq datasets. PolyA-miner not only reproduced the analyses achieved with traditional computational tools, but also identified novel APA sites that were not detected with the other analytical approaches.

We were surprised when the PolyA-miner analysis of a glioblastoma cell line dataset identified more than twice the number of genes with APA changes than were initially reported, Yalamanchili said.

I think that the most exciting part of this new tool is that it enables us to precisely reflect gene-level 3 changes and to identify many more APA events than before. With other analytical approaches, we underestimate the effect and number of poly-adenylation events, said Liu, associate professor of pediatrics and neurology at Baylor and the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Childrens Hospital.

This development has tremendous implications for basic research and for the potential translation of scientific findings into the clinic. APA is considered a major mechanism for RNA regulation that has strong relevance both in cancer and neurological diseases. PolyA-miner can assist scientists looking to identify the genetic causes of these diseases by determining whether there are differences in APA between diseased and normal cells. With this new analysis, scientists can take a fresh look at existing genomic datasets that may provide an answer to the cause of human conditions, as well as studying newly developed datasets.

Previously, people knew about APA changes, but did not consider them to be major contributors to gene regulation mainly because we lacked the computational tools to determine APAs overall influence on gene expression, Yalamanchili said.

PolyA-miner has shown that APA seems to play a larger role in gene regulation than we had previously thought.

Read the complete article in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.

Other contributors to this work include Callison E. Alcott, Ping Ji, Eric J. Wagner and Huda Y. Zoghbi. The authors are affiliated with one or more of the following institutions: Baylor College of Medicine; Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Childrens Hospital; University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Houston.

Financial support for this project was provided by Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas (RP170387), Houston endowment, Chao endowment, Huffington foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NRI Zoghbi Scholar Award, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (F30NS095449), National Institute of General Medical Sciences [R01-GM134539) and the National Cancer Institute (R03-CA223893-01).

By Ana Mara Rodrguez, Ph.D

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PolyA-miner accurately assesses the effect of alternative polyadenylation on gene expression - Baylor College of Medicine News

11 ways to have more energy in the mornings – Medical News Today

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Morning fatigue is normal for many people. While it is important to focus on underlying causes to ensure good quality sleep, there may be ways to energize the body and help someone feel more awake in the mornings.

In this article, we discuss tips that may help a person feel energetic in the morning or wake up quicker.

Someone who drinks water first thing in the morning helps provide their body with the hydration it needs to start the day. It can also ward off any sleepiness from mild dehydration. A common symptom of dehydration includes fatigue.

When a person drinks water, it stimulates other organs and systems in the body, and may encourage a more wakeful state.

Some people prefer a glass of warm water, or water with lemon and cinnamon, to further stimulate the body.

Someone who performs simple stretches helps warm up their muscles and promote circulation in the body, which could aid waking up in the morning. Many people stretch instinctively, such as moving their arms over their head, or extending their legs in bed.

A person who takes 5 minutes to stretch or perform some simple yoga poses may help awaken their muscles and body.

Exercise while tired may not sound appealing, but it can stimulate the body, get the blood flowing, and help make a person feel more alert. The workout does not have to be intense.

Simple activities, such as a short brisk walk, dancing to music, or even a few jumping jacks, can help get the heart and breathing rate up, which can wake the body up faster.

Breathing exercises can stimulate the body, as it raises oxygen within the circulation, which could make a person feel more awake.

Long, deep breaths, or guided breathing meditation techniques may help someone feel more awake and alert.

When someone wakes up to an abrupt alarm, the temptation to snooze for a few extra minutes may feel good, but it could make them feel more tired when they wake up again.

As they try to fall back asleep, they are unlikely to feel the benefits of rest, and may instead experience sleep inertia. This is the feeling of confusion and fatigue after waking up.

For many people, it may be better to immediately get out of bed and start their day when the alarm clock goes off.

If this is difficult, a person can try to keep the alarm out of reach from the bed. If they place the alarm across the room, they will be less likely to snooze, as they physically need to get out of bed and turn it off.

Cold showers in the morning may energize and invigorate. While warm showers tend to relax the body and mind, cold water may do the opposite.

A 2016 study suggests that an increased norepinephrine concentration occurs from having a cold shower.

A study in North American Journal of Medical Sciences notes that cold water causes the deeper tissue blood vessels to dilate, which increases heart rate, blood flow, and circulation. Therefore, cold showers may stimulate the body to wake up and be more alert, causing a person to feel energized.

If a person does not wish to have a cold shower, they can splash cold water on their face. This may produce a similar stimulating effect.

Some scents tend can quickly make a person feel awake or brighter, though effects vary from person to person.

Simple smells such as brewing coffee, fresh peppermint, or lemon zest may help energize someone almost instantly.

An animal study in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine suggests that some smells may help reduce fatigue, including essential oils of:

While the study focuses on sluggishness from exercise fatigue, the same oils may help invigorate someone in the morning.

While breakfast is important to energize the body, it may have the opposite effect if someone eats a large meal. People who consume a big breakfast may notice they feel more sluggish as the body digests their meal.

They may also rely on stimulants, such as caffeine, to give them energy.

Learn more about why people feel tired after eating.

A smaller and healthful breakfast may help people start their day quicker and sustain their energy levels. They could try porridge, cereals, eggs, fruits, and vegetables.

Learn more about the best foods to eat for energy.

Stimulants are a simple way to get an energy boost in the morning. Caffeinated drinks, such as coffee and tea, are popular breakfast choices because they are effective.

However, many people can experience a caffeine crash after a few hours, and energy levels may drop to even lower than before.

A study in Open Access Journals of Clinical Trials notes that while cognitive abilities can receive a boost with caffeine, these levels reduce around 5 hours afterward. This could encourage someone to consume higher quantities of caffeine to stay awake or alert.

This can also affect sleep for that evening, and result in more fatigue the next morning.

While it may seem difficult at first, a person who avoids stimulants in the morning may have more natural energy throughout the day.

A person who takes in sunlight after waking up, for example, during a morning walk, may feel more energized. This is because the short wavelength blue light found in sunlight stimulates the brain.

A study in the Journal of Biophotonics notes that this short wavelength light is important to suppress melatonin in the brain, which is a hormone that makes a person sleepy.

The best way to ensure someone gets energy in the morning is to ensure good sleeping habits. People who wake in the morning and feel tired may wish to look at their nighttime routines, and make changes to help them get better rest.

Some research suggests that more than a third of adults in the United States do not get enough regular sleep.

Some general sleep tips include:

There are several ways to help someone get more energy in the morning. While these tips will work for many people in the short term, it is important to create long-term habits that help them feel energized throughout their day.

A person can practice a combination of good sleep habits and morning routines to help them muster enough energy in the morning.

See more here:

11 ways to have more energy in the mornings - Medical News Today

Seven ways Swindon town centre could be improved by 25m bid for government cash – Swindon Advertiser

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

A 25 MILLION plan which would help transform the town centre has taken a step forward.

Seven projects have been identified by experts from the public, private and voluntary sector in Swindon as the council bids for a share of the 3.6 billion Towns Fund.

Should it succeed, it would spend the money on making land ready for new homes and offices at Kimmerfields, regenerating the David Murray John Tower, creating a Brunel Centre market hall, refurbishing the Health Hydro, fitting out space at the Carriage Works to support the digital economy and upgrading the streets around the Railway Village.

These have been selected from 20 projects suggested by a dozen different organisations in response to a call by the council for suitable schemes. Swindon is one of 101 places invited to make a bid.

Richard Newland, chairman of the Town Deal board and a director at Nationwide Building Society, said: The board has done a fantastic job of pulling this investment plan together at such short notice because we recognise the importance of being one of the first places in the UK to submit a bid to the government.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought many economic challenges and this funding would be a huge boost to Swindon and help to stimulate further investment in the town, creating jobs and greater prosperity for the people who live here.

We believe we have a strong bid and we will be submitting the investment plan to the government shortly.

The draft Town Investment Plan will be submitted at the end of the week and a decision by government is expected by the end of the year.

Whitehall asked that funding proposals should drive long-term economic and productivity growth through town centre regeneration and investment in connectivity, land use, economic assets including cultural assets, skills and enterprise infrastructure.

A report to the Town Deal board, made up of councillors, business people and members of the community and voluntary sectors started with praise for Swindons many accomplishments.

It read: If you bank with Nationwide, use Intel products, travel by train, fly in an A330, drive a Mini or a Honda Civic, have ever visited a National Trust property, watched Tim Peakes progress through space, or have simply benefited from scientific or medical research, youve probably got Swindon to thank.

But the report adds that growth has largely happened on the edge of town and says the bid will try and rectify this.

It read: Swindon is among the most productive towns and cities in the country, but little of the wealth generated in Swindon is retained in the town or its borough. Where Swindon has grown, this has been concentrated on its outer edges.

This has diminished the town centres role as the cultural, commercial, and civic heart of the town. It is now characterised by a relatively poor post-war built environment, vacant retail units, and several conspicuous undeveloped brownfield sites.

The seven places the money would be spent:

Project 1: Kimmerfields Enabling Infrastructure (6m)

Bringing forward further residential and commercial development to the north of the Parade shopping centre between Corporation Street and Fleming Way, and adjacent to the bus station. The Kimmerfields site would be serviced with new utilities infrastructure, estate roads and landscaping, and public realm and green space.

Project 2: Heritage Action Zone streets and spaces (3m)

The upgrade of a major thoroughfare from Swindon Railway Station into the Great Western Historic Area. This will create greater links between existing centres of economic activity in Swindon. Upgrading this route will involve public realm improvements along Station Road, Sheppard St and London Road, and improvements to the tunnels at Sheppard Street and Bristol Street.

Project 3: Health Hydro refurbishment (5m)

A complete refurbishment of the Health Hydro, one of two key Grade II* listed heritage assets in Swindons Railway Village. Facilities include a 33m pool, gym, exercise rooms, Turkish Baths and alternative medicine practitioners, all within a historic setting.

Project 4: Carriage Works regeneration (5m)

Expanding on the regeneration of the Grade II listed Carriage Works building, which is being restored as a business incubation centre and office space.

Project 5: Create Studios at Carriage Works (0.4m)

Fit out one of the new units at the Carriage Works to create a landmark media production facility, including film and sound studios, teaching and workshop spaces, a cafe and more.

Project 6: David Murray John Tower regeneration (5.5m)

Regenerating the town centres most significant landmark building. The office accommodation is now considerably dated with no prospect of a commercial let. The residential element (floors 9 and above) have seen some modest investment in infrastructure over the years but the building, requires a significant refit.

Project 7: Brunel Centre Market Hall (0.1m)

Creating a modern, vibrant market hall which will create opportunity for deli counters, creative industries, and artisan producers to benefit from a modern market feel and fit within a well-designed building.The market will support growers and producers and make the best of local skills.

Continued here:

Seven ways Swindon town centre could be improved by 25m bid for government cash - Swindon Advertiser

Nihilism or Enlightenment? My Journey to Understanding the Point of Critical Thinking – The Octant

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Story by| Jan Bronauer, Contributing Writer

Illustration by| Xie Yihui, Staff Editor

*note* : This article contains citations which can be accessed at the end.

Sometimes I wish you and your brother werent so smart because then you wouldnt break your head over all these problems, my mother once said to me. This was during a conversation when I had just returned home from my semester abroad, and when I was overflowing with new questions about the world. During that semester, I had learnt about the structural causes of issues such as racism, underdevelopment, or corruption, and I couldnt help but wonder what I was to make of this newly gained awareness. The structural nature of these issues seemed to defy any feasible solution, and one way to cope with what I learned was to question the role which wealth, education and convenience play in our lives. But this was difficult in a society where convenience is worshipped and luxury is an essential good. At the time, many things in my life seemed in flux. It seemed as if critical thinking had turned on itself and debilitated me in the process.

Conversations with my peers confirmed that I am not the only one who has experienced such debilitation during their time at Yale-NUS College. In fact, the very purpose of the Common Curriculum is to promote critical, creative and active thinking [1], thereby inherently exposing students to the risk of feeling debilitated by what they study. But we cannot say that we have not been warned.

In Philosophy and Political Thought 2, Hannah Arendt cautions us that nihilism is a danger inherent in the thinking activity itself [2]. She defines nihilism as the inversion, and not just the questioning, of the values in our society. As such, nihilism is a possible, but not inevitable, outcome of the thinking process [3]. More dangerous than nihilism, therefore, is non-thinkingthat is, the absence of questioning our preconceived values [4]. If we fail to question the content of the values and rules in our society, we risk committing actions in the name of obedience which we did not mean to commit. Therefore, Hannah Arendt warns us that nihilism is a possibility of critical thinking, but that the more dangerous prospect is not to think critically at all.

Friedrich Nietzsche, by contrast, famously declared that God is dead and announced the hour of the great contempt, when our long-held values and beliefs are dissolved. This hour seemed near as I was talking to my mother about the beliefs and values I had come to question [5]. It seemed as if I started to lose the fabric that connected me with everyone around me. I was Lu Xuns Madman; the pathological and the normal at the same time. I had shattered the true world which I had lived in throughout my childhood, and I was glaring into an abyss altogether devoid of truth. In his declaration, Nietzsche was not talking about the death of God Himself, of course, but about the realization that any true world is inherently an illusion. This realisation is the hour of the great contemptthe emergence of nihilism. But, unlike Arendt, Nietzsche tells us that nihilism is a normal condition [6] and even a necessary step towards enlightenment. It seems, then, that nihilism may be a desirable component of a liberal arts education after all.

Before jumping to this conclusion, we must understand that Nietzsche only refers to active nihilism as desirable, and explicitly rejects a passive, submissive and resigned kind of nihilism. In short, he condemns defeatism and praises vitality in embracing the uprooting of our values and beliefs. Ironically, this process of uprooting norms is the very ideal of the typical liberal arts student, but it seems to offer little purpose in the real worlda world where there is no truth to be found. This gives rise to the ultimate liberal arts contradiction: We are meant to work hard towards worldly success, yet we learn to undermine this very notion of success we are meant to work hard for.

After we become aware of this contradiction, we face a choice: Either we hold on to an illusion and achieve worldly success, or we live our life without any such success. Since I like to believe that a liberal arts education cannot possibly leave us at such an unfavorable crossroads, I propose that there is a third option: we embrace the illusion while remaining aware of its illusory nature. In other words, we maintain a subjective real world while accepting that there is no true world.

At this point, let me answer why we should concern ourselves with this talk about truth in the first place? First, the earlier we experience the hour of the great contempt, the sooner we can reconcile the abolition of the true world with our own personal lives. This entails, for instance, realizing that our dream of becoming a politician, a banker, or a musician is our own original notion of success. In this way, we tailor our own life to ourselves. Yes, this tailor-made notion of success is an illusion, but it exists in our subjective real world and is therefore inherently meaningful (insofar as our life itself is inherently meaningful).

Second, understanding the impossibility of truth makes us humbler and more resilient. For instance, if someone were to call us out for aspiring to be a banker, we can acknowledge their accusations because, in a way, they are right. There is no denying that chasing after anything in lifeeven living life itselfinevitably requires some degree of illusion. We cannot possibly defend our ambition as the right thing to do because there simply is no right thing to do. All we can say is that it is the right thing to do for us and at this particular point in time. This is clearly a subjective judgement, and so is the other persons accusation against us. But who am I to say that my notion of success is more right than theirs? Therefore, to be called out on our illusions must not surprise us; if it does, we have failed to identify the illusion as such.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, separating the true world from the real world creates conscious subjectivity; that is, subjectivity which we are aware of but choose to hold on to. Perhaps we can agree that it is oddly liberating to read a novel which we are not required to read. At last, we can let ourselves devour the pages without calculation or the fear that we missed something important. What matters most is the feeling we get from living through the plot. Life is similar. Even while knowing that things such as love, success, and joy are merely illusory pleasures, we can embrace the subjective impact they have on us. With the abolition of the true world, we have maintained a world of feelings that is untouchable, because it is subjective. Nobody can tell me whether or not I feel love for someone because this feeling is self-contained within me. The real world, then, is within each of us.

As disorienting as this time of debilitation was, I am ultimately grateful for it. I have grown more resilient and rooted in lifean illusory life, but a life nonetheless. Even if critical thinking turns on itself, who is it really that turns on our critical thinking? Correct, our critical thinking. The key is to overcome this endless process of mutual suspicion, to understand and accept the unknowability of truth, and to be satisfied with subjectivity instead. We came into this life wanting oranges, but life gave us lemons. This liberal arts education has taught me how to make lemonade.

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Nihilism or Enlightenment? My Journey to Understanding the Point of Critical Thinking - The Octant

Review: Ronald Beiner’s Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right – Merion West

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

During the past few years before, I had struggled withand then firmly said goodbye tothe Catholicism of my upbringing, and I was searching for a new philosophy of meaning that did not seem to depend on so many leaps of faith.

Introduction

When I was in the second year of my undergraduate degree, I was utterly enamored with the German philosopher Martin Heidegger. It would not be overstating it to say I thought he was the greatest philosopher in history (not that I had read that many then!). Perhaps the timing in my own life contributed. During the past few years before, I had struggled withand then firmly said goodbye tothe Catholicism of my upbringing, and I was searching for a new philosophy of meaning that did not seem to depend on so many leaps of faith. Heideggerand, to a lesser extent, Friedrich Nietzscheseemed to promise just that. In their philosophies was thinking that directly and consistently spoke about Being, existence, nihilism, and many of the other big spiritual questions that consumed me. At the same time, my formal studies were dedicated to human rights law and cosmopolitanism, much of it inspired by the horrors of the Holocaust, which had liquidated millions of Jews, LGBTQ persons, Roma, and others. So imagine my horror upon discovering that two of my intellectual heroes were so closely aligned with the Nazi movement; worse, Heidegger had actually joined the Nazi Party and had insisted others do the same. Needless to say, I took considerable comfort from authors such as Hannah Arendt and Jacques Derrida, who insisted that there was no need to let this association cloud ones appreciation for Heidegger as a philosopher. One simply needed to detach the treasure trove of philosophical riches from the nasty politics, which were not that important anyways.

Ronald Beiners excellent, recent book Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right would no doubt have been a disappointment to my younger self, who was determined to insulate his intellectual heroes from reprisal. Beiner insists that we need to take the problems of Nietzsche and Heideggers politics far more seriously than we typically do. This is particularly true for progressive thinkers, who have been strangely willing to draw liberally from the two German firebrands, while ignoring the reactionary bent of their views. Troubling though this may be, Beiners case is very compelling. By the end, one is left with little doubt that Nietzsche and Heideggers politics needs to be seriously rethought.

Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Far Right

The great majority of men have no right to life, and serve only to disconcert the elect among our race; I do not yet grant the unfit that right. There are even unfit peoples.

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power

For a long time, the standard approach of progressive admirers of Nietzsche and Heidegger has been something halfway between creative interpretation and acting as a public relations agent. Nietzsche and Heidegger were not political thinkers, the line goes. They were concerned with metaphysics, the history of philosophy, the problem of nihilism, and other issues far beyond the nitty gritty of the political realm. Yes, they do occasionally make problematic statements, and there is that little embarrassment of Heidegger joining the Nazi party and making anti-Semitic remarks. However, it is important to remember that they grew up as rural Germans in conservative households and simply held many of the unfortunate but predictable prejudices shared by most men and women of their time. When invoking their work, make the requisite apologias and then move on to discussing the real philosophical meat.

Beiner minces no words in insisting that we stop relying on these well-worn tropes. He points out that many of the more ambitious commentators on the far-right, including Richard Spencer, have long found a great deal of intellectual solace in Nietzsche and Heidegger. And Beiner suggests that it is time to accept that there are reasons for this attraction. As Beiner puts it:

Highly relevant to the contemporary neofascist revival is the fact that since the Enlightenment, a line of important thinkers has considered life in liberal modernity to be profoundly dehumanizing. Thinkers in this category include, but are not limited to, Maistre, Nietzsche, Carl Schmitt, and Heidegger. For such thinkers, liberal modernity is so humanly degrading that one ought to (if one could) undo the French Revolution and its egalitarian ideal and perhaps cancel out the whole moral legacy of Christianity. For all of them, hierarchy and rootedness are more morally compelling than equality and individual liberty; democracy diminishes our humanity rather than elevating it. We are unlikely to understand why fascism is still kicking around in the twenty-first century unless we are able to grasp why certain intellectuals of the early twentieth century gravitated towards fascism

From here, Beiner does a deep dive into Nietzsche and Heideggers work that spans several hundred pages. He points out that the conventional excuse that they were largely disinterested in politics does not bear out when examining their writings closely. Nietzsche wrote voluminously on history, morality, and civilizational traits, with plenty of commentary on contemporary 19th century politics peppered throughout. He was also infamously sexist, famously declaring in Thus Spoke Zarathustragoest thou to woman? Bring a whip. In his 1889 work Twilight of the Idols, Nietzsche even comes to mourn the decline of the patriarchal family, claiming that all rationality has clearly vanished from modern marriagethe rationalist of marriagethat lay in the husbands sole juridical responsibility, which gave marriage a center of gravity, while today it limps on both legs. He endlessly critiques the vulgar egalitarianism of liberal modernity, invoking a more ancient ideal of a noble aristocracy that rose above the mediocrity of the herd and its banal needs. Nietzsche was also unafraid to call for force to bring about an end to liberalism, constantly invoking martial rhetoric when describing the new philosophers who would bring about the future. By the end of Beiners long chapter on the formidable German, he has assembled a damning array of textual evidence showing that whatever else he was, Nietzsche was a reactionary figure. And he was a figure who condemned a huge array of modern political systems for their egalitarianism and soft concern for the well-being of the unworthy mediocrities. Nietzsche desired for these political systems to be replaced by harder, stratified hierarchies, where the strong would be uninhibited by obligations towards the weakwhether these weak be women, the sick, a wide variety of other cultures, etc.

Beiners case against Heidegger is less rhetorically provocativein part because one rarely sees Nietzsches flights of rhetorical excess in dense technical works such as Being and Time. Nevertheless, Heideggers work is, in many respects, even more disturbing. Nietzsche never lived to see his work bastardized by the Nazis in films such as Triumph of the Will, which featured Adolf Hitler descending from the clouds like a modern Zarathustra trucking down his mountain. Heidegger, though, not only joined the Nazi Party; he actively worked to further its ends for several years. Even after being sidelined and growing more conflicted in the late 1930s, Heidegger never left the Party until it ceased to exist following the Allied occupation of Germany. Heidegger never apologized for his involvement or offered much in the way of an explanation, beyond some tactless whataboutism-style arguments chiding the Allies for the damage wrought against the German people.

Beyond these now well-known biographical facts, Beiner delves into Heideggers philosophy for an explanation for his damning political decisions. Perhaps the most original analysis is his take on Heideggers 1946 Letter on Humanism, which was written and published shortly after the Second World War in response to Sartres existentialism. Beiner reads Heidegger as offering a rather strange history of Western civilization as read through the filter of its philosophers. Modern times are radically banal because we have been influenced by second-rate thinkers who have forgotten to think Being. This is, of course, a classic Heideggerian injunction, which is also legendarily obscure. As Beiner approaches it, Heidegger sees modernity as radically fallen since it places the human being at the center of Being itself. The consequence is that we no longer shudder at the mystery of existence but, instead, appropriate the world for our vulgar and selfish purposes. This explains why in his 1953 book Introduction to Metaphysics, Heidegger castigated liberal capitalism and communism as metaphysically the same. Despite all of the overstated differences between liberal defenders of capitalism and their opponents on the political left, both ultimately agree that the point of existence is to more efficiently design and distribute better refrigerators.

By contrast, to truly think Being we need to exist in strikingly unmodern environmentslike Heideggers beloved Black Forest; and we would need to engage in a more authentic way of living with the world as a whole, unmediated by the selfishness of humanistic reason. Beiner points out that Heidegger often tries to cast this in humble, pastoral termsinvoking images of German peasants and soldiers with a distinct capacity to commune with Being. But this humility concealed a deep-rooted arrogance and ethnocentrism. The converse of Heideggers noble and conservative German peasants, who are in touch with being, is the rest of the world, which is radically fallen and incapable of producing anything of great value. Only the German volk, for Heidegger, was capable of enacting the spiritual renewal of Europe, which is why Heidegger supported the Third Reich until its dying days.

Most disturbing in all of this is Heideggers lack of repentance for such a colossal error, which was excused or even justified by an appeal to philosophical pretension. In his posthumous works, one sees Heidegger musing that one must approach history in epochal termsand that the fullness of time will vindicate his decisions. We can only hope that, like many of Heideggers prophecies, this turns out to be untrue.

Conclusion

The one weakness of Beiners book is that he never spends much time connecting his analysis of reactionary philosophers to the contemporary era and to the return of the far-right. There are some scattered comments on how Nietzsche and Heideggers work has been picked up and interpreted by figures such as Spencer and former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon. However, for the most part, the reader is left to draw the connections independently, which is somewhat frustrating given the promise of the title and the initial chapter. But this fact does not detract from what is an exhilarating and crisp intellectual takedown of two major philosophers. Beiner stresses that his critiques should not be taken as a recommendation to ignore or not read Nietzsche and Heidegger. He points out his own deep fascination with their work, and he encourages the reader to learn from it what one may. But Beiner is all too correct that one ought not try to foist a politically correct version of these two German philosophers on the world, stripped of all the nasty and worrying politics. Nietzsche and Heidegger may have been brilliant men, but they were also aligned with some of the most sinister movements of their time. Wrestling honestly with that fact can help us better understand our own strange politics.

Matt McManus is a professor of politics at Whitman College and the author of The Rise of Post-Modern Conservatism, among other books. He can be added on Twitter via @mattpolprof

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Review: Ronald Beiner's Dangerous Minds: Nietzsche, Heidegger, and the Return of the Far Right - Merion West

Cell and Gene Therapy Tools, and Reagents: Global Markets – Yahoo Finance

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

NEW YORK, July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Report Scope: The scope of this study encompasses an investigation of the markets cell and gene therapy tools such as GMP proteins, media, cell separation and activation reagents, viral and non-viral, cytokine release syndrome monitoring products, GMP antibodies, leukapheresis instrumentation, immunoassays (multiplex and singleplex) and bioreactors.The analyst examines each tool type, determines its current market status, examines its impact on future markets, and presents forecasts of growth over the next five years.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05938974/?utm_source=PRN

Technological issues, including the latest trends, are discussed. The analyst examined the industry on a worldwide basis, from both application and demand perspectives, in the major regions of the world.

Report Includes: - 77 data tables - An overview of the global market for immunoassay-based cell and gene therapy tools, and reagents within the life sciences industry - Analyses of the global market trends, with data corresponding to market size for 2017-2019, and projections of compound annual growth rates (CAGRs) through 2024 - Information about in vitro diagnostics (IVD), its background and importance of IVD testing - Discussion on prevalence of infectious disease, metabolic disorders and chronic ailments as drivers of immunoassay testing market - Description of recent technologies such as chemiluminescent immunoassays (CLIA), fluorescent immunoassays, multiplex assays and rapid diagnostic technologies - Evaluation of market potential for immunoassay-based cell and gene therapy tools and reagents, current market size and market forecast, and market share analysis of the leading players engaged - Patent review and new developments, R&D efforts, industrial changes with emphasis on recent investments, and current state of the immunoassay technology - Company profiles of the key market participants, including Bio-Rad Laboratories, Cytiva Life Sciences, Luminex Corp., Millipore Sigma, Thermo Fisher Scientific and STEMCELL Technologies

Reasons for Doing this Study: Gene and cell therapy are emerging as important tools to treat human health.Techniques such as CAR-T therapy have emerged as key ways of treating many different types of cancers.

The promise of gene therapy using technologies such as CRISPR is starting to be realized in clinical trials, and markets are scaling up to treat other diseases as well, particularly rare gene- based diseases.As these therapies are coming to the fore, a new market for tools to develop these therapies using standard methodologies is emerging.

This report will cover what those tools are, how they impact the larger life science tools market, and how they will evolve over the next five years.

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05938974/?utm_source=PRN

About Reportlinker ReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

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Cell and Gene Therapy Tools, and Reagents: Global Markets - Yahoo Finance

‘Gene therapy engine’ Forge debuts with $40M and Tim Miller at the helm – FierceBiotech

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Six months after departing Abeona, Tim Miller, Ph.D., is on his next chapter: Forge Biologics, a gene therapy biotech thats providing manufacturing and development services to other companies while working on its own pipeline. To fuel this dual mission, Forge picked up $40 million from the Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Fund and Drive Capital.

Forge is the brainchild of Miller and a confluence of gene therapy experts who saw a widening gap between the growth of the industrys gene therapy pipeline and its capacity to actually manufacture the treatments, Miller told Fierce Biotech.

Those experts include Jaysson Eicholtz, who previously oversaw gene therapy manufacturing for Nationwide Childrens Hospital; Erandi De Silva, Ph.D., who led program management at Myonexus Therapeutics; and Maria Escolar, M.D., the University of Pittsburgh professor who developed Forges lead program. The trio are Forges chief operating officer, chief strategy officer and chief medical officer, respectively.

RELATED: Novartis, Sarepta tap Dyno to unearth new gene therapy vectors

We came together with the idea that if we did this hybrid play, what you end up with is a development engine that helps secure the needs of additional clients, serving as an end-to-end solution provider, but also being able to do that for ourselves and build out our pipeline through that engine capacity, Miller said.

Like other companies with a hub-and-spoke model, Forge comprises a core that offers vector design know-how, adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector manufacturing and an experienced management team, and will set up subsidiary entities around therapeutics, Miller said.

Forges 175,000-square-foot manufacturing site is already up and running, but the series A funding will boost its capacity and enable cGMP manufacturing by the middle of 2021.

The cash will also propel Forges lead program, FBX-101, which combines an AAV gene therapy with an umbilical cord bone marrow transplant. Forge is developing it for infants with Krabbe disease, a neurodegenerative disorder that destroys myelin, the fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers in the brain and nervous system. The combination approach could address a challenge in using AAVs to deliver gene therapies: Some people have developed a natural immunity to this type of virus, rendering an AAV gene therapy ineffective.

RELATED: ElevateBio reels in $170M to push 6 cell, gene therapy programs

The transplant is solving for two problems at the same time, Miller said. Youre not going to see an immune response against the protein expressed from the gene therapy approach. And youre able to remove a lot of the immune response to AAV capsids overall.

Beyond Krabbe disease, Forge has two more AAV gene therapies, but its not divulging which diseases they are for. And it could pick up more programs as it signs on more clients.

Those clients could be biopharma companies looking for a manufacturing partner, but they could just as easily be an academic center with programs its looking to spin out or a disease foundation that wants to use its proceeds to advance a gene therapy program, Chris Garabedian, manager of the PXV Fund, told Fierce Biotech.

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'Gene therapy engine' Forge debuts with $40M and Tim Miller at the helm - FierceBiotech

Encoded Therapeutics Closes $135 Million In Series D Funding – Pulse 2.0

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Precision gene therapy company Encoded Therapeutics, Inc. (Encoded) announced it has raised $135 million in an oversubscribed Series D round of funding. And the company also announced that its lead asset ETX101 was granted Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of SCN1A+ Dravet Syndrome.

Dravet syndrome is a rare, severe genetic disorder that occurs in about 1 in 16,000 births worldwide. The disorder is characterized by uncontrolled seizures, ataxia, significant developmental delays, and an increased risk of early mortality due to sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP). The majority of Dravet Syndrome cases are caused by loss-of-function mutations in the SCN1A gene. And current treatments reduce seizures but do not address the underlying cause of the disorderSCN1A haploinsufficiency.

GV (formerly Google Ventures) led the Series D round of funding with participation from Matrix Capital Management, ARCH Venture Partners, Illumina Ventures, RTW Investments, Boxer Capital, Nolan Capital, HBM Genomics, Menlo Ventures, Meritech Capital, Farallon Capital Management, SoftBank Vision Fund 21, and several additional unnamed Encodeds discovery engine combines biological and computational approaches for identifying and screening human DNA sequences known as regulatory elements at a high throughput scale. And the resulting multi-dimensional large scale datasets are leveraged to design optimal gene therapy expression cassettes which more precisely control transgene expression.

By recapitulating natural patterns of gene expression, the resulting gene therapy vectors are able to provide maximal therapeutic benefit, minimize off-target expression, and address genetic disorders that were previously Encoded also announced that ETX101 was granted Orphan Disease and Rare Pediatric Disease Designation by FDA. Both programs offer incentives for the development of therapeutics for underserved populations.

The proceeds of the Series D round of funding will be used to conduct clinical trial activities including a natural history study to better understand the progression of SCN1A+ Dravet Syndrome as well as first-in-human trials for ETX101. And the funds will support progression of the companys pipeline of gene therapies being evaluated for additional pediatric CNS disorders.

David Schenkein, M.D., general partner and co-leader of GVs life sciences team, will join the Encoded Board of Directors as an observer in connection with the funding round.

KEY QUOTES:

I am incredibly proud of the progress our organization has made over the past year. We have built an outstanding team, further advanced ETX101 towards the clinic, applied our technology to a series of pipeline programs, and expanded our capabilities to become a fully integrated organization. We are grateful to our investors for supporting our vision to transform patients lives with cell type-selective genetic medicines.

Encoded co-founder and chief executive officer Kartik Ramamoorthi, Ph.D.

Since 2019, our company has attracted some of gene therapys most experienced executive leaders to prepare ETX101 for the clinic and beyond. This well-rounded team has made significant advances in manufacturing, clinical development, and regulatory affairs for ETX101. By coupling these with an innovative discovery engine, Encoded is advancing its preclinical pipeline of gene therapies to patients suffering from devastating pediatric CNS diseases.

Encoded board chairman Sean Nolan.

Encodeds cutting edge platform has the potential to impact a broad range of diseases across different organ systems. Importantly, Encoded has translated this innovation into a one-time, first-in-class precision gene therapy candidate for the treatment of SCN1A+ Dravet Syndrome, a devastating pediatric disease with significant unmet medical need. I am enthusiastic to work with this top-tier team in their mission to treat these underserved patients and advance a portfolio of innovative medicines.

Dr. Schenkein

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Encoded Therapeutics Closes $135 Million In Series D Funding - Pulse 2.0

Wave Nature of Molecules Displayed Through a New Method | TechQuila – TechQuila

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

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The wave nature of small particles is common knowledge to people who have studied physics up to the High School level. Considered one of the basic tenets of quantum mechanics, it is the only way that researchers can explain the bizarre behaviour of extremely small particles that are not being observed.

Amongst the other mysteries that quantum mechanics seemingly presents us with, the wave and particle nature (also known as dual nature) of the particles is a central one. The truth is, we do not know why this happens. However, it does not stop us from utilizing these properties to our advantage.

Ever since this bizarre property of particles came to light, efforts have been made to better understand why and how a particle can exhibit wave nature. In a majorly successful venture, physicists have just found a new way to demonstrate the wave nature of extremely large molecules by showing how they ripple with the same uncertainty as the small ones.

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The new study has recreated an old experiment with an added twist to it. They have achieved a wave-like diffraction pattern in two different organic chemicals. The new experiment will not only help us demonstrate the dual nature of these molecules but could also provide some advancement in the field of imaging materials.

In the experiment, the researchers used the antibiotic ciprofloxacin as the organic material. The researchers used a laser to create a mist of the organic material, which was made up of individual atoms numbering around 40 to 60. In the other experiment, the organic material used was a dye called phthalocyanine.

As is done in the classical double-slit experiment, the mist was passed through a series of narrow openings, and then a second laser was used, after which the mist was deposited on a screen. The results were fascinating as the mist displayed the classical wave interference pattern, which is observed in the Double slit experiment.

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The idea that things can behave as particles and waves is an interesting one. More than that, it has some serious consequences for physics as we know it. Ever since Louis de Broglie proposed the idea that everything can have wave-like properties, the idea has become mainstream. This experiment is just the latest one in a long line of attempts to exhibit the wave nature of particles much bigger in size than an electron or a photon.

Greece Says ‘Illegal’ Actions of Turkey Threaten NATO Cohesion – The New York Times

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

ATHENS Greece's foreign minister on Tuesday said 'illegal' behaviour of Turkey in the Eastern Mediterranean was threatening the cohesion of NATO and Ankara's relations with the European Union.

Greece has long-running tensions with Turkey over a host of issues ranging from air and sea boundaries to ethnically-split Cyprus. Attempts by both Cyprus, a close ally of Greece, and Turkey at natural gas exploration in overlapping areas in the east Mediterranean have brought those disputes into sharper focus.

"The illegal and provocative behaviour of Turkey has a serious backlash not only to peace and stabiity in the Eastern Mediterranean but to the cohesion of NATO and to its relations with the European Union," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said after a meeting with his German counterpart Heiko Maas in Athens.

(Reporting By Michele Kambas)

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Greece Says 'Illegal' Actions of Turkey Threaten NATO Cohesion - The New York Times

Russia and NATO are increasing their military activity in the Arctic – Business Insider – Business Insider

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Russian and NATO forces have ramped up their activity in the Arctic, seeking to bolster their presence in a region set to grow as a venue for "great power competition" as receding ice and rising temperatures make it more accessible.

But increasing military activity by each side has worried the other. While the potential for conflict in the Arctic is considered low, the risk remains that a crisis elsewhere could spill over into conflict there, and both sides are making sure they can fight in harsh Arctic conditions.

Much of the recent activity has been in the European Arctic, where Russia and NATO members are in close proximity.

British navy frigate HMS Kent; US Navy guided-missile destroyers USS Roosevelt, USS Porter, USS Donald Cook; and supply ship USNS Supply in the Arctic Ocean, May 5, 2020. Royal Navy/LPhot Dan Rosenbaum

Exercise Trident Juncture in late 2018 saw a US aircraft carrier above the Arctic Circle for the first time since the 1990s, and US Navy ships have traveled into the high north several times since then most recently in May, when Navy surface ships sailed into the Barents Sea for the first time in over 30 years.

That exercise was "a show-and-tell game aimed at demonstrating credibility of access and operation in a potentially contested environment, as well as improving maritime domain awareness," Mathieu Boulegue, a research fellow at the UK's Chatham House think tank, said in late June.

Russia called the exercise "provocative" and held its own live-fire exercise days later, but overall its response was "tepid," Boulegue said, adding that Moscow may feel validated that "after years of remilitarizing the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, the perceived threat of NATO and US deployments is 'finally' coming true."

US bombers have also ventured into the high north several times in late 2019 and continuedto do so during the first half of 2020, often exercising with NATO allies.

"The Arctic remains a key area for us to continue to best understand how we will operate up there, and key to me for that is how we operate with our partners," Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of US Air Forces in Europe, told Insider during a Defense Writers Group event in June.

US airmen conduct a landing zone survey at Jan Mayen Airfield, Norway, November 19, 2019. US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Kyle Yeager

US airmen traveled to an island in the Norwegian Sea in late 2019 to see if military transport aircraft could land there, causing immediate alarm in Russia. Harrigian said it was "crystal clear" that US partners have the best understanding of the Arctic, "so our reliance on them, and the interaction, as demonstrated by our visit up there to learn from our partners, is really going to be key to our success."

Russia has deployed sophisticated defensive weaponry around the European Arctic, part of its defense of the "bastion" where it would want to deny access to opponents in a conflict. Russia's powerful Northern Fleet, based on the nearby Kola Peninsula, has also increased its operational tempo and range at sea and in the air.

Russia's Ocean Shield exercise in late 2019 saw 70 warships take part in drills across the Arctic and northern Europe, and Northern Fleet aircraft have also flown farther south than usual several times already this year, including a flight all the way to the Bay of Biscay, off the coast of France.

Those flights are a message, according to Tobias Ellwood, chair of the defense select committee in the British House of Commons.

Russian fighter aircraft during training in the Arctic. Russian Ministry of Defense

"My district is on the very south coast of the UK. We've seen these [Russian] aircraft do a full circle around Ireland and the UK ... and then fly all the way back," Ellwood said at another recent CSIS event. "So this is all a statement of intent, to say that, 'we are growing and growing, don't mess with us.'"

More recently, the Northern Fleet kicked off its largest exercise of the year. Vice Adm. Aleksandr Moiseev, the fleet's commander, said the drills "are defensive in nature and are not directed against anyone" but added that the "actions of our forces are planned taking into account the international situation."

The US-UK exercise in the Barents was "uncomparable" to the scale and nature of recent Russian exercises, Katrazyna Zysk, head of center for security policy at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies, said at a recent CSIS event.

Russian aircraft have simulated attacks on Norway and Russia's neighbors have accused it of interfering with GPS. "There is not certainly about the intentions behind these kind of activities," Zysk said.

A US Air Force F-22s intercepts a Russian Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, March 9, 2020. NORAD

The Arctic north of the Pacific is generally less tense than the European Arctic and often sees US-Russian cooperation on issues like waterway management.

But Russia has pursued modernization there as well, upgrading runways and bases and opening new or refurbished facilities on nearby islands, according to Alexey Muraviev, a professor at Australia's Curtain University.

"They're effectively building up the radar shield but also intercept capability that would allow them to engage or deter any surprise aerial attacks," Muraviev said in late June. Wrangel Island, 300 miles from Alaska, has the easternmost radar in the "protective dome" of radars covering Russia's northern coastline.

While there don't appear to be plans to base sizable military units on the the Arctic perimeter, "what the Russians do is practice a lot of maneuver, so they've been staging naval deployments along the Northern Sea Route," and Russia's Pacific Fleet plans to stage a large-scale amphibious exercise in the Arctic later in the year, Muraviev said.

A strategic missile aircraft from the Russian Aerospace Forces takes off for a flight over the Chukotka, Bering and Okhotsk seas. Russian Ministry of Defense

US officials, with Russia in mind, have focused on Alaska as a prime vantage point and an important training area. Alaska is already home to ballistic-missile-defense systems, and the Air Force is ramping up the number of F-35s based there.

While the Far East is relatively calm, tensions elsewhere influence military activity there.

US and Canadian aircraft intercepted Russian aircraft entering the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone at least nine occasions in the first half of this year an increase from the average of six or seven intercepts a year since Moscow restarted long-range aviation patrols in 2007.

The uptick is a response to strained US-Russian relations, to Moscow's dismay over the collapse of major arms-control agreements, and, in part, to increased NATO military flights around the Baltic and Black seas, Muraviev said.

It's "an application of political-military pressure" by Moscow, Muraviev said. "What is happening in Russia's Western regions can get a mirror reflection [in] Russia's increased activity in the Far East."

"The Russians do flex their muscles in a variety of ways, and they certainly look at their strategic bomber force as a form of power projection, similar to naval capability," Muraviev added. "In fact, to some extent, they substitute a limited number of ocean-going vessels by increasing the operational tempo of their strategic bombers."

An underwater anti-sabotage detachment on combat duty at the Northern Fleet's main base in Severomorsk, on Russia's Kola Peninsula, February 1, 2019. Lev FedoseyevTASS via Getty Images

Russia announced in June that the Northern Fleet would become its own military district on January 1, 2021.

"The North Command (OSK Sever) was already half-autonomous in-between the Central and Western military districts," Boulegue said. "But now it's official: Russia will get its 5th military district, which means even more attention to anything Arctic."

There are a number of reasons Russia would want more military capability across the Arctic. It has the world's longest Arctic coastline and derives about one-quarter of its GDP from the region. Russian economic interests stretch across the region, especially the Northern Sea Route, which Moscow sees a valuable corridor for shipping between the Atlantic and Pacific.

Russia's military is also typically the best suited for operating in the harsh conditions in the Arctic, but its activity still worries the neighbors.

Russia's exercise tempo "has gone through the roof" without clarity about its goals, Heather Conley, senior vice president for Europe, Eurasia, and the Arctic at CSIS, said a recent event.

US soldiers sprint across a flight line toward their objective during an exercise in Deadhorse, Alaska, March 13, 2018 US Air Force/Airman 1st Class Isaac Johnson

"There is a lack of transparency. There's a lack of confidence-building measures. We don't ... completely understand Russia's interest and intentions," Conley added, arguing for a forum to discuss military issues in the region.

Russia, for its part, sees NATO military activity and other efforts to counter it as signs it's "being squeezed from the United States on the Alaska side [and by] NATO from the European side," Mike Sfraga, director of the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center think tank, said at an event in March.

Keeping track of what the US and NATO might be doing across the Arctic "is a significant concern" for the Russians, Sfraga added.

Adding military capabilities and infrastructure to secure economic interests is "quite rational," Sfraga said. "All good nations protect their assets and their interests."

"Our question is trying to get a handle on are there other motives, like any other nation, in terms of projecting force, influencing areas outside of their national boundaries, and that kind of thing," Sfraga said.

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Russia and NATO are increasing their military activity in the Arctic - Business Insider - Business Insider

Maritime Security Issues in the Baltic Sea Region – Foreign Policy Research Institute

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

In June, NATO conducted a scaled down version of its annual BALTOPS naval drills in the Baltic Sea. But with a heavy emphasis on land-based deterrence since re-independence, the Baltic states and NATO alike have been largely plagued by what experts refer to as sea apathy or sea blindness. This has led to gaps in capabilities, strategy, and procurements, as well as vulnerabilities related to critical infrastructure under sea and onshore.

In the Baltic Sea Region, the maritime status quo favors Russia. Though its Baltic Fleet is not particularly impressive, Russia could use it to harass military and civilian activity at sea and take surprise offensive military action. In the case of the latter, there is very little that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania could do to prevent Russia from projecting power into their port facilities, territorial waters, exclusive economic zones, or other littoral areas. Likewise, in the event of grey zone activities (i.e., hostile activities which generally fall below the threshold of war) and/or surprise offensive military action, there is very little that the Baltic states or NATO could do to stop Russia. Combine that with Russias anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities based in Kaliningrad and the logistical chokepoint of the Suwaki Gap, and the strategic calculus for NATO in the Baltic theater becomes extraordinarily difficult.

The Baltic states face myriad hybrid and conventional threats from Russia in the maritime domain. NATO as a whole is unprepared for Russian aggression at sea. Given the economic and strategic importance of the Baltic Sea itself to the Baltic states and NATO, this situation must be remedied. By strategizing procurements, crisis response, and coastal defense, the long-standing condition of sea blindness can be reversed.

Map of the Baltic Sea highlighting narrow access, outlying islands and archipelagos, and jagged coastlines in some localities.

The Baltic Sea is a narrow, confined sea with many jagged shorelines, scattered islands, and other operational hazards. In Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, coasts are poorly marked and the waters along these coasts are unusually shallow. In relation to other seas, the Baltic is generally shallow, and low salinity results in further complicated conditions for sailors. Alongside the low salinity, salt pockets are common in the Baltic Sea. These pockets have a higher salinity than the surrounding water, creating spots where sound waves deflect. This causes problems for sensors and other navigational and surveillance equipment. Combined with cold winters, the low salt content in the Baltic Sea results in high levels of surface ice. Shipping is confined to channels through the Baltics bottlenecks and turns as a result of outlying islands and the unusual characteristics of the water itself.

Bottlenecks, such as the Danish Straits and the entrances to the Gulfs of Riga, Finland, and Bothnia, allow for easy and complete surveillance of the local maritime situation. Each of these routes is heavily traveled, and closely monitored and thoroughly surveyed. However, the geography of the many archipelagos and larger islands creates difficulties for permanent surveillance and provides opportunities to evade observation. As retired Swedish Navy Captain Bo Wallander noted, Its easy to hide if you are an aggressor here; there are short transit times and short reaction times, leaving defenders with little time to react. The islands, especially those belonging to Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Estonia thus hold critical strategic significance. They are ideal bases, supply hubs, staging areas, and jumping off points for special operations or surprise ambushes. Likewise, bottlenecks may also be blockaded and mined to establish local sea control or denial.

As of 2017, the Russian Baltic Sea Fleet stationed in Kronstadt and Baltiysk features two tactical submarines, two destroyers, six frigates, 23 patrol and coastal combatant vessels, 12 mine warfare and mine-countermeasure vessels, four amphibious tank landing ships, and nine other smaller amphibious landing craft. This fleet has largely been neglected, but has seen modernization programs since 2007. Its Steregushchiy class corvettes are equipped with advanced stealth, radar and electronic warfare systems, and have missile systems that can strike targets on land with precision a capability new to the fleet. Likewise, the naval infantry brigade attached to the Baltic Sea Fleet has seen improvement and equipment modernization in recent years, and there are plans to increase Russias submarine presence in the region.

Though the Baltic Sea Fleet is the weakest of the Russian fleets, the geography of the Baltic Sea combined with Russian naval air force and missile capabilities in the region render the battlespace anything but easy for NATO. Further, the Baltic Sea Fleet is more than capable of surprise offensive action or hybrid warfare measures. As Russia has generally sought to economize the use of force and control the intensity of what it views to be an ongoing conflict with the West by hybrid means, it is critical to address the gaps Russia could exploit in the Baltic states and NATOs security posture in the Baltic Sea Region.

Air power, especially anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capabilities, are where Russia shines in the Baltic Sea Region. In the Western Military District, Russia maintains 27 combat air squadrons, six attack helicopter squadrons, and a division of airborne infantry. In terms of overall quantity and quality, NATO maintains superior air forces, but Russia maintains a local advantage, which is reinforced by its A2/AD systems. These include its surface-to-surface Iskander Ballistic Missiles, Kalibr cruise missiles, SA-21 Growler surface-to-air-missiles, and long-range integrated air defense S-400 systems. Likewise, Russia maintains the K-300 Bastion-P coastal defense system in Kaliningrad. According to the Center for International Maritime Security, this system is capable of searching, detection, tracking and classification of sea-surface targets by active radar; over-the-horizon detection, classification, and determination of the coordinates of radiating radars, using the means of passive radar detection and ranging.

Map: Effective ranges of Russian A2/AD missile systems. Illustration by Matthew Thomas, map by Cartographer of the United Nations, Creative Commons.

Additionally, Su-27 fighter aircraft and Su-24 attack aircraft may be called into action and scrambled to contest Baltic Sea access at a moments notice. Sea mines may also be used as a component of the broader A2/AD system, as Russia could take advantage of the bottlenecks and chokepoints in the Baltic Sea, and could do so relatively cheaply and with plausible deniability given the number of mines still buried from the world wars.

The Russian A2/AD systems can reach far flung destinations from Kaliningrad. All of Lithuania and nearly all of Poland and Latvia are in-range, as are parts of Denmark, Germany, Sweden, and Estonia. However, as Michael Kofman of CNA and the Kennan Institute points out, Russian strategy generally prefers an offensive posture with a damage control defense, rather than developing purely defensive capabilities. This means that A2/AD will largely be used in an offensive capacity. This is generally well understood, but, as Russian strategic thinking generally views purely defensive capabilities as cost prohibitive, there are likely vulnerabilities in the systems which make up A2/AD. Thus, as Kofman argues, A2/AD may be defeatable. However, it is still a critical component of Russias posture in the Baltic Sea Region, and a major challenge to military logistics in the event of war in the Baltic theater. If Russia could quickly seal off access by land over the Suwaki Gap and complement this achievement by rendering the Baltic Sea closed to surface and air traffic, it could effectively isolate the Baltic states from the rest of NATO.

As a broader institution, NATO does not maintain a forward presence at sea the way that it does on land. The Baltic states themselves operate very small navies with a primary focus on mine-hunting and clearing. While Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have built an extraordinary expertise in this area, they have done so without much attention to other capabilities beyond constabulary measures such as counter-smuggling. None of the Baltic states could deny Russia access, even if all their individual naval assets and sea-borne weaponry were combined. Poland has a moderately sized navy, but the serviceability of its combat ships is questionable. Germany has a substantial naval force in terms of quantity, but it operates well beyond the Baltic Sea. It, too, has been largely neglected and, like Poland, its combat ships may not be ready for action.

The Danish navy is perhaps the most prepared of the NATO member states along the Baltic Sea, but it is modestly sized and, like Germany, operates beyond the Baltic Sea as well. While Finland and Sweden are not NATO members, they are key partners in the region and would undoubtedly play a role in the battlespace should conventional conflict emerge. They have modest naval capabilities tailored to their environment, but Finlands forces are small and structural problems complicate cooperation between the Swedish navy and coast guard.

On the air side, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are deficient, but the NATO air-policing mission largely fills that gap for peacetime operations. Given the local air force presence within Russias Western Military District, however, even this would likely be inadequate in case of attack. The other Baltic littoral states, including Finland and Sweden, offer a decent range of tactical airpower, including a number of F-16s and F-18s, and Denmarks F-16 contingent has recent high-end operational experience in Iraq and Libya. Further, the US has demonstrated in the recent Spring Storm exercises an ability to quickly respond to a crisis scenario in the Baltics with airpower from the continental United States. Likewise, European NATO allies will also be able to respond quickly with airpower. Thus, the primary gaps for NATO and its partners Sweden and Finland are in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and the surface and subsurface domains in the Baltic Sea Region.

Individual states ISR capabilities vary, but the Baltic states, NATO, and their partner states Sweden and Finland do not have shared, integrated, and continuous awareness at sea. NATO first achieved a complete picture of the air, surface, and subsurface domains in the Baltic Sea during BALTOPS 2017, a basic condition which should be a continual reality. There are decent cooperative organizations for the objective of improving situational awareness, interoperability, and information sharing among members at the regional and EU level, but these have had varying levels of efficacy. Many are not well attuned to facing hybrid threats, and thus it is possible that Russia could exploit this weakness by using commercial or research vessels for mine laying or grey zone activities. Likewise, geographic factors hamper ISR. For example, Swedens radar capabilities are hindered by weather and in some regions, such as Stockholm, a complex archipelagic coast. In the case of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, there is both a lack of situational awareness and a lack of any coordinated means of processing and responding to threats. Reports also point to varying levels of success with information sharing. Given their security environment, these issues are critical. Throughout the region, there is a need for a unified picture of the air, surface, and subsurface domains, but currently this does not exist. The maritime domain contains major critical infrastructure components and this lack of awareness opens the door for Russian hybrid activity in the particularly vulnerable Baltic states.

The littoral areas of the Baltic Sea Region are home to a host of critical energy infrastructure. In Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, key gas interconnectors and facilities such as the Klaipda LNG terminal are located at sea or onshore and are poorly guarded, if at all. Likewise, the sea itself contains critical communications cables which are unburied and unhidden. If Russia could disrupt energy supply and communications, it could wreak havoc on societal resilience. By wearing down societys ability and willingness to resist aggression, Russia stands to have much to gain. Likewise, Russia has been known to harass civilian and military activity at sea and conduct military operations within other countries exclusive economic zones. Port and supply chains are also vulnerable to Crimea-esque little green men operations and, perhaps more likely, cyberattack. These vulnerabilities could be exploited to complement overt aggression or to simply cow political leaders into making policy decisions in line with the Kremlins objectives. As hybrid activities tend to fall below the threshold of war, they also challenge NATOs solidarity and commitment to Article V, which states that an attack on one member constitutes an attack on all.

For the Baltic states and NATO, the maritime domain is a critical component of the broader battlespace in the event of conflict with Russia. In terms of logistics, it is critical to maintain supply and communication lanes through the Baltic Sea. By attacking from both land and sea, Russia could attempt to put the Baltics in a chokehold, isolated from the rest of NATO. Likewise, it is a probable theater for hybrid activity full of vulnerabilities, which, if exploited, could complement overt offensive action or serve as a tool of political subversion and coercion. But, with a renewed focus on the maritime domain, problems addressed can be remedied or at least mitigated and managed. To improve security in the maritime domain in the Baltic Sea Region:

The current state of affairs in the maritime domain in the Baltic Sea Region is not ideal for NATO. Russia maintains a local advantage in both hybrid and conventional capabilities. In the event of conventional conflict, Russia could attack from both sides and use its A2/AD capabilities to cut off the Baltic states from the rest of NATO in a rapid, modern Anaconda Plan. Hybrid vulnerabilities can be put to the test at peacetime for subversion and coercion. (However, Russia does not view the current state of affairs to be peacetime, but rather a continuously fluctuating conflict, as seen through its perceptions of NATO and its activities in the grey-zone.) These could also be exploited to complement overt, conventional aggression to break down societal and governmental structures. But, by addressing critical gaps in procurements, capabilities, and strategy, this condition can be improved. If NATO seeks either to avoid war or come in as defenders rather than liberators, it is essential that the maritime domain finally receive the attention it deserves.

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a non-partisan organization that seeks to publish well-argued, policy-oriented articles on American foreign policy and national security priorities.

Five NATO ships entered the port of Odessa – FREE NEWS

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

Five NATO ships entered the port of Odesa as part of the Sea Breeze exercise. They will stay there until July 28, according to the local newspaper.

Commander of the Naval Forces of the Armed forces of Ukraine Alexey Neizhpapa on Monday said that the international exercise Sea Breeze-2020 has begun in the Black sea. In total, it was planned to involve about 2,000 people from nine countries, more than 20 ships, as well as planes and helicopters. In addition to Ukraine and the United States, the military of Bulgaria, Georgia, Norway, France, Romania, Spain, and Turkey participate in Sea Breeze 2020.

Early this morning, five NATO ships headed by the flagship of the SNMG2 group entered the port of Odesa. First, about 7 oclock (coincides with Moscow time), moored in the naval base South, which is in the Practical Harbor, corvettes-the Romanian Kontradmiral Sebastian (Board 264) and the Bulgarian Bodry (Board 14). By 9 oclock, the main sea Breeze strike force began to arrive at the port. Frigates Spanish (SNMG2 flagship) F101 Alvaro de Bazan, Turkish F243 Yildirim and Romanian F222 Regina Maria were moored at berths 18, 19 and 20, the newspaper writes.

It is noted that four ships, in addition to the Spanish one, have already visited Odessa.

Alvaro de Bazan is equipped with an analog of the American combat information and control system aegis. The ships primary strike weapon is the Harpoon anti-ship missiles. Also, it has 48 MK 41 vertical launch shafts for various missiles, torpedo launchers, and artillery weapons. Bazan carries one SH-60 Seahawk anti-submarine helicopter. The ships will stay in Odessa until July 28, the message reads.

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Five NATO ships entered the port of Odessa - FREE NEWS

OCC Gives Banks Keys to the Crypto Kingdom – JD Supra

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Danzig

On July 22, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) published an Interpretive Letter (the Letter) declaring that national banks and federal savings associations (collectively, national banks) may provide cryptocurrency-related custody and other services.[1] The announcement marks a revolutionary moment for the cryptocurrency industry where, until now, custody has been provided by crypto-specialist firms, typically under a state trust license.

In the Letter the OCC notes that, although providing custody for cryptocurrencies differs in several respects from other custody activities[2], such services are a modern form of traditional bank activities. As an example, there is no physical possession of cryptocurrencies. Instead, a national bank holding cryptocurrencies on behalf of a customer is actually taking possession of the cryptographic access keys to that unit of cryptocurrency, that is, private keys. According to the OCC, by providing these services, banks can continue to fulfill the financial intermediation function they have historically played.

Moreover, national banks crypto custody services may extend beyond passively holding private keys. As expressed by the OCC, the custody function is a gateway to providing a whole host of other cryptocurrency services that are appropriate for custody customers. National banks may also facilitate customers cryptocurrency and fiat currency exchange transactions, transaction settlement, trade execution, recording keeping, valuation, tax services, and reporting. Basically, national banks may become full service cryptobanking providers. We note, however, that the Letter does not authorize national banks to open FDIC-insured deposit accounts denominated in cryptocurrencies.

The OCC cautions national banks that comprehensive control systems need to be in place to manage risks of this business. In addition, as part of its ordinary supervisory process, any national bank looking into conducting cryptocurrency custody services should consult with the OCC supervisors.

Furthermore, it should be noted that additional requirements may apply depending on the nature of the cryptocurrency being custodied. As the Letter notes, different cryptocurrencies may also be subject to different OCC regulations and guidance outside of the custody context, as well as non-OCC regulations. For example, cryptocurrencies that are considered securities for purposes of federal securities laws may be subject to the OCCs regulations on recordkeeping and confirmation requirements for securities transactions, as well as securities laws and regulatory requirements overseen by the SEC and FINRA.

Importantly, the OCC is authorizing these services within the existing authorities that national banks possess. There is no new regulation or guideline or other new law that needs to be put into place before this authority can be relied upon.

The Party is Just Getting Started Whos invited?

National banks now need to decide how to enter this new line of business. The OCC notes that depending on their risk appetite and business model, national banks may offer to store copies of their customers private keys while permitting the customer to retain their own copy, while others may generate new private keys which would be held solely by the institution on behalf of the customer. National banks may provide these services in non-fiduciary capacity, meaning merely holding a customers private key and related records, or in a fiduciary capacity, such as an investment advisor, a trustee, an executor of a will, or any similar capacity in which the bank possesses investment discretion on behalf of the customer. Due to the undeveloped financial infrastructure presently available for cryptocurrency, custodying in a fiduciary capacity presents both major business opportunities for national banks as well as compliance and technology challenges.

In the past, money center banks have been cautious in dealing with cryptocurrency counterparties, in part due to the perception that the regulators held a skeptical view of the industry and would, at exam time, be tougher on such relationships. The OCC has tried to head this view off by specifically stating in the Letter that national banks can work within any lawful business and that cryptocurrency custody actives constitute such a lawful business. We believe that this shift in a key regulators tone can have consequences also in other financial institutions who may now take a more positive attitude towards cryptocurrencies.

What about state-chartered banks? Because many state laws, New York included, have so-called wildcard statutes that permit state banks to conduct all the same activities as national banks, the Letter has broader application than just national banks. Nonetheless, the prudential conditions stated in the Letter demonstrate that banks will need to devote a serious effort to perform these services.

We expect that those few banks already servicing the cryptocurrency business will quickly move to take full advantage and expand their services. Larger banks with existing robust institutional custody businesses are likely to follow suit.

The Letter provides opportunities also for many foreign banks that have branches in the U.S. While most branches do not have trust powers, the OCC letter allows for non-trust related use of this express authority with respect to nonfiduciary custody services.

One of the roadblocks in the security token market has been the lack of qualified custodians, such as banks and brokerdealers. Qualified custodians are important actors with respect to cryptocurrencies deemed to be securities under federal securities laws, such securities tokens, that require in certain cases the use of a qualified custodian for maintaining client funds and securities. Here again, national banks have an opportunity to play a role. We also expect that expanding the universe of qualified custodians will provide a necessary boost to the budding securities token market.

Frenemies Warming Relationship

Given that Brian Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency and head of the OCC, hails from the virtual currency world, it is not a shock that the OCC would be supportive of the industry and as banks become more expert in the complexities of the cryptocurrency business we expect that this first step will presage a number of new bank and cryptocurrency opportunities.

The Letter may stand as a turning point in the notorious frenemy relationship between banks and cryptocurrency. Banks entering the industry full pelt could have two significant consequences. First, it is possible that more merchants and consumers will find a lower barrier to using cryptocurrencies in everyday transactions. Second, it may rebuff those prognosticators who have maintained that banks would be made obsolete and disintermediated by new cryptocurrency-related businesses and technologies. If you cannot beat them, join them.

We recommend that any institutions looking to take advantage of the Letter and its direct and indirect consequences carefully consider the new business opportunities available and be attentive to applicable laws, rules, and standards in this highly regulated area.

* * * * *

[1] The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Interpretive Letter #1170, July 22, 2020, available at https://www.occ.treas.gov/topics/charters-and-licensing/interpretations-and-actions/2020/int1170.pdf.

[2] In general custody involves the holding, directly or indirectly, client funds or securities, or having any authority to obtain possession of them. See, for example, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 Rule 206(4)-2(d)(2).

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OCC Gives Banks Keys to the Crypto Kingdom - JD Supra

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