We need to take steps toward building a consensus definition of biological aging – STAT

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Ive been committed to understanding the biology of aging since I was a teenager, and my education and career took aim at this problem from many angles. One aspect that still perplexes me is that there isnt a good, easily communicable answer to this simple question: What is biological aging?

When it comes to biological aging research or, to use a fancier term, translational geroscience, scientists finally have a pretty good understanding of the major components of aging. But theres no consensus definition of it that consolidates the existing framework.

Why do we need such a definition of biological aging? A good definition can grab the essential characteristics of an entity and put them to good use. Two examples illustrate this.

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Here is an example from medicine, published this month in Nature: Cancer is a catch-all term used to denote a set of diseases characterized by autonomous expansion and spread of a somatic clone. That is a more exact way of saying, Cancer is a disease caused by uncontrolled division of abnormal cells. This definition captures the universal mechanism behind all cancers. As such, it also offers therapeutic options. No matter how diverse cancers get, keeping them under one umbrella is easier compared to the broad-spectrum of biological aging.

A definition from mathematics is also instructive: The derivative of a function is the measure of the rate of change of the value of the function dependent on changes in the input. It is a solid definition as it offers a procedure to compute the extreme values of a function.

Here are three consecutive steps empirical, philosophical, and computational that can be taken to create a good definition of biological aging:

The empirical step involves collecting what is already out there. Over the years, researchers have invented their own idiosyncratic definitions of biological aging, though these generally miss parts of the story.

Scientists often start papers with a summary referring to the consensus knowledge in the field and then ask the particular question they want to address and highlight the results. These summaries, which often contain definitions, are important educational windows into science, used by mainstream media to publicize results and form relevant narratives.

To illustrate the empirical step, I extracted four definitions from scientific papers exploring different aspects of aging that reveal the conceptual mess around defining biological aging.

Aging is characterized by a progressive loss of physiological integrity, leading to impaired function and increased vulnerability to death came from a 2013 paper in the journal Cell by Carlos Lpez-Otn and colleagues.

Aging underlies progressive changes in organ functions and is the primary risk factor for a large number of human diseases was the definition in a 2019 report in Nature Medicine by Benoit Lehallier and colleagues.

Aging is a progressive decline in functional integrity and homeostasis, culminating in death was used in a 2019 review of the genetics of aging in Cell by Param Priya Singh and colleagues.

Finally, a 2020 paper in Nature Medicine on personal markers of aging by Sara Ahadi and colleagues offered this: Aging is a universal process of physiological and molecular changes that are strongly associated with susceptibility to disease and ultimately death.

I analyzed several components of these definitions of biological aging, as indicated by the column headers in the table below, and identified some recurring themes. The final column indicates logical connections between these components.

This analysis offers two lessons, one negative and one positive. The negative lesson is that some definitions have hardly any overlap, as seen in I and II its apples and oranges. The positive lesson is that the recurring themes suggest the possibility of creating a core definition for biological aging using a bottom-up, empirical approach by analyzing many attempted definitions.

However, I dont believe that such a process would be sufficient.

The myriad definitions of biological aging help identify some necessary components of it. But an aggregated mash-up wont guarantee a formally correct and useful definition. Identifying the content itself is not enough, especially when dealing with such a complex and lifelong process. Just because we have found most of the puzzle pieces does not mean we can put the puzzle together without a clue to its shape.

This is where the philosophical step comes into the picture. Here, biologists will benefit from recruiting people trained to come up with a formal definition: philosophers, mathematicians, computer scientists, and the like.

The philosophical step involves identifying a list of criteria that a consensus definition of biological aging should meet. I believe that such a definition should meet at least these five criteria:

Completing the empirical and philosophical steps would yield a good starting point for a well-formed definition that captures the essentials of biological aging.

A consensus definition that meets both content and formal criteria, achieved through the empirical and philosophical steps, might help stabilize not just scientific consensus but consensus on public policy. Here the main issues are the relationship between biological aging and disease; and regulatory, clinical, and social aspects of healthy longevity. But a completed computational step will give us actual tools, helping the biomedical technology that advances healthy lifespans.

Applicability is perhaps the most important feature of a good definition, and this where the computational step comes in. The definition should suggest future experiments and, even more important, lend itself to computability so a formal model of biological aging can be built from it. Such a model can be used to simulate and compute biological aging scores based on input data and assess the effects of planned or real interventions to slow or stop negative aging processes.

Biomedical researchers now have a solid core of knowledge on biological aging, but do not have a working consensus definition to consolidate and represent this core knowledge and capture this so far elusive life process. The lack of an unambiguous and computable formal consensus definition of biological aging severely limits the applicability of this core knowledge to design comprehensive interventions to slow or stop negative aging processes.

A confident answer to the question What is biological aging? in humans will help us ensure that complexity does not hide any magical mysteries. Controlling that complexity to maximize a healthy lifespan wouldnt need a magic wand, either.

Attila Csordas is a longevity biologist and philosopher and the founding director of AgeCurve Limited, based in Cambridge, U.K.

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We need to take steps toward building a consensus definition of biological aging - STAT

Results from a new study suggest that Bmal1 gene is not an essential regulator of circadian rhythms – Mirage News

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PHILADELPHIA The Bmal1 gene, found throughout the human body, is believed to be a critical part of the bodys main molecular timekeeper, but after deleting it in animal models, researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that tissues continued to follow a 24-hour rhythm. The team also found these tissues could follow that circadian rhythm the 24-hour molecular clock that influences a variety of daily functions from sleep to metabolism even in the absence of outside stimulus that can influence the cycle, like light or temperature changes. These results indicate that, while the Bmal1 gene may heavily influence some circadian rhythm, the process is controlled by a more complex system, and that other drivers of the biological clock exist. The research published this month in the journal Science.

Using skin fibroblasts and liver slices from mice, tissues that are regularly part of circadian rhythm research, Penn researchers deleted Bmal1 and isolated the tissue from light, temperature, and other outside factors that trigger 24-hour activities. Even in that condition, the tissues still showed normal 24-hour oscillations or circadian reactions for two to three days at the gene and protein level of cells. The finding shows that current understanding of circadian rhythms is not complete and lays the groundwork for researchers to shine a spotlight on approximately 30 specific genes and proteins that appear to function regularly with or without the Bmal1 gene.

Circadian rhythms are really a hierarchical system in our bodies, and the Bmal1 gene appears to be important for making the brain clock tick. This brain clock is in a place called the suprachiasmatic nucleus, and is like the conductor of an orchestra, said Akhilesh B. Reddy, MA, MB, BChir, PhD, a professor of Pharmacology at Penn. We found that, surprisingly, if you remove the conductor (by deleting the Bmal1 gene), the musicians the tissues in the body can continue to keep playing at their own 24-hour tempo. So while an active conductor does influence and guide the orchestra, the absence of the conductor doesnt mean that all circadian processes fail to take place. The tissues and cells in the body (the musicians) still have natural rhythm.

Many tissues are affected when normal sleep patterns arent followed, and therefore the circadian rhythm is disturbed. Skin cells require sleep in order to perform vital repairs. People who work night shifts, often change shifts, or frequently travel may experience changes to their metabolism, leading to glucose intolerance and may, over time, develop type-2 diabetes. And while the reason is not clear, women who work night shifts have an increased likelihood of developing breast cancer.

Cells throughout our bodies are performing certain functions during wake hours and others during sleep hours, Reddy said. Uncovering all the specific molecular mechanisms that influence circadian rhythms is imperative in order to develop treatments targeting the health issues that arise when the rhythm is altered, like in shift work.

In the near future, Reddy and his colleagues plan on investigating the 30 or so specific proteins they found that can operate with or without Bmal1s presence.

While the results suggest our understanding of molecular circadian rhythms as a scientific community is incomplete, were excited to now move closer to a fuller understanding of previously unknown processes that control our bodies internal clocks, said Reddy.

This work was performed in collaboration with Penns Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics. Additional Penn authors include Sandipan Ray and Utham K. Valekunja.

This study was supported by the European Research Council (281348, MetaCLOCK), the EMBO Young Investigators Programme, the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, a Wellcome Trust Senior Fellowship in Clinical Science (100333/Z/12/Z), and also the Francis Quick Institute, which receives its core funding from Cancer Research UK, the UK Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust (FC001534).

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Results from a new study suggest that Bmal1 gene is not an essential regulator of circadian rhythms - Mirage News

Space Station 13 – The official website for Space Station 13

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Space Station 13 is a community developed, multiplayer round-based role playing game, where players assume the role of a crewmember on a space station. Together they must keep the station running smoothly, whilst dealing with antagonistic forces who threaten to sabotage the mission.

At the beginning of each round, players select a crew member role on the station. These range from high up positions like the captain and heads of staff, to engineers, scientists, medical doctors, security officers, all the way down to the lower responsibility roles such as the janitor and lowly assistant. At round start, one or more players will be given an antagonistic role at random, and a secret objective thats very likely to cause disruption to the mission at hand.

When the crew arent turning on each other through sheer paranoia, they will face various dangers depending on the round: Sleeper agents hell bent on sabotage, shape-shifting aliens, RPG toting syndicate operatives and more. Not to mention the occupational hazards of working in space, such as decompression, meteor showers, radiation storms, airlock mishaps, rogue AI and catastrophic engine failure.

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Space Station 13 - The official website for Space Station 13

Cygnus cargo ship delivers cheese, candy and science gear to space station astronauts – Space.com

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A Northrop Grumman Cygnus cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday (Feb. 18) to make a special delivery of cheese, candy and science gear for NASA.

The uncrewed Cygnus NG-13 spacecraft was captured with a station robotic arm by NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, one of three Expedition 62 crewmembers currently living aboard the orbiting lab. Northrop Grumman launched the Cygnus spacecraft into orbit on an Antares rocket on Saturday (Feb. 15) from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Virginia.

"Cygnus capture complete," Morgan radioed NASA's Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as he plucked the gleaming silver Cygnus from space at 4:05 a.m. EST (0905 GMT). The two spacecraft were sailing 265 miles (426 kilometers) above southeast Russia at the time.

Related: See amazing launch photos of Antares and Cygnus NG-13!More: Bacteria & bone: Here's the science launching on Cygnus NG-13

Northrop Grumman named the Cygnus NG-13 spacecraft the "S.S. Robert H. Lawrence" after the late Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., who made history in 1967 as the first African American ever selected to be an astronaut when he was picked to fly for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory, a planned military space station. But Lawrence died in a training accident later that year and never had the chance to fly in space.

"As the first African-American to be selected as an astronaut by a national space program, Robert defined possible against the odds when he was selected for the U.S. Air Force's Manned Orbital Laboratory project in 1967," Morgan said after capturing the Cygnus. "Tragically,Major Lawrence died in an aircraft training accident that same year. But while Robert never launched into Earth orbit, he remains a valuable symbol of progress and inclusion in human spaceflight, and it's our honor to welcome the S.S. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. aboard the ISS."

The Cygnus NG-13 spacecraft is carrying more than 7,500 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of science experiments, supplies and other vital gear for the station's three-person Expediton 62 crew. In addition to Morgan, the crew includes NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, who commands the mission.

Cygnus is delivering some novel science gear to the station, including 20 different experiments. Among them is Mochii, a small scanning electron microscope that is the first ever in space. It will help astronauts find out what materials are made of in orbit, rather than waiting months for an analysis on the ground. Other equipment will be used for bone loss studies and to test viruses that can target specific bacteria as a potential future medication.

Among the science experiments are some very special treats for the astronauts. There's fresh fruit and candy to satisfy the crew's sweet tooth.

And then there's the cheese.

For the first time, NASA's Food Lab at the Johnson Space Center was able to pack some hard cheeses in a cooler-like "cold bag" for the astronauts. The station crew has been requesting Parmesan and other hard cheeses since September as an alternative to the butter-like spread currently available. But finding a fresh hard cheese just before a launch, and then keeping it fresh for the days-long trip to the station was a challenge.

The Cygnus NG-13 cargo ship is connected to the International Space Station's Unity module on an Earth-facing port as a sunset begins in space on Feb. 18, 2020.

An uncrewed Northrop Grumman Cygnus NG-13 cargo ship is captured by a robotic arm at the International Space Station to deliver more than 7,500 lbs. (3,400 kilograms) of supplies to the orbiting laboratory on Feb. 18, 2020.

This NASA graphic shows the location of the Cygnus NG-13 cargo ship on the Unity module after its arrival at the International Space Station on Feb. 18, 202. Visiting Russian spacecraft are also shown.

Ryan Dowdy, food systems manager at the Food Lab, told Space.com his team was able to find Wisconsin sharp cheddar, Parmesan and Fontina cheeses (about two wedges each) from a local supermarket and develop a new process to add them as "late stowage" 24 hours before launch. They were packed in refrigerated cold bag just like the fruit (and some biological science gear) and launched to the station.

Dowdy said his team was not able to find Manchego cheese, a special crew request, as previously reported, but does hope it will give the astronauts a little reminder of home.

"The cheese that we do send normally in the standard menu is a shelf stable cheddar cheese spread," Dowdy said. "And that is worlds of away from a wedge of Parmesan cheese, as you can imagine. Sending this is a reminder of home."

Email Tariq Malik attmalik@space.comor follow him@tariqjmalik. Follow us@Spacedotcom, Facebook and Instagram.

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Cygnus cargo ship delivers cheese, candy and science gear to space station astronauts - Space.com

SpaceX will fly space tourists on Crew Dragon for Space Adventures – Space.com

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SpaceX just inked its first deal to launch space tourists into orbit on a Crew Dragon spacecraft.

The private spaceflight company founded by billionaire Elon Musk has signed an agreement with the U.S. space tourism company Space Adventures to launch up to four passengers on an orbital trip aboard a Crew Dragon space capsule.The mission would last up to five days and could launch as early as late 2021, Space Adventures representatives told Space.com.

"This historic mission will forge a path to making spaceflight possible for all people who dream of it, and we are pleased to work with the Space Adventures team on the mission," SpaceX President and COO Gwynne Shotwell said in a statement from Space Adventures.

Video: Space Adventures' SpaceX orbital spaceflight explainedIn photos: The world's first space tourists

Under the agreement, Space Adventures will use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon vehicle to fly up to four passengers to Earth orbit. The trip will not visit the International Space Station. Instead, it will remain in orbit as a free-flying spacecraft.

"This will provide up to four individuals with the opportunity to break the world altitude record for private citizen spaceflight and see planet Earth the way no one has since the Gemini program," Space Adventures representatives said in the statement.For comparison, the space station orbits the Earth at an average altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers).

"Honoring our combined histories, this Dragon mission will be a special experience and a once in a lifetime opportunity capable of reaching twice the altitude of any prior civilian astronaut mission orspacestation visitor," said Eric Anderson, chairman of Space Adventures, said in the statement.

To date, Space Adventures has arranged eight orbital trips to the International Space Station for seven wealthy customers: Dennis Tito in 2001; South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth in 2002; American entrepreneurs Greg Olsen in 2005 and Anousheh Ansari in 2006; Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi (twice) in 2007 and 2009; computer game developer Richard Garriott in 2008; and Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte in 2009.

In photos: A behind-the-scenes look at SpaceX's Crew Dragon spaceship

Those spaceflights all cost tens of millions of dollars, with Laliberte's flight costing a reported $35 million for his 11-day trip. The passengers, called "spaceflight participants," flew to and from the station on Russian Soyuz space capsules under agreements between Space Adventures and Roscosmos, Russia's space agency.

SpaceX or Space Adventures did not announce exact pricing for the Crew Dragon tourist flight, but the cost per seat is expected to be in the same range of other commercial spaceflight opportunities.

As for timing, it's likely that the free-flying Crew Dragon flight will launch only after SpaceX begins flying NASA astronauts to and from the International Space Station. Those trips are expected to begin later this year.

SpaceX (and rival Boeing) have multi-billion-dollar contracts to fly astronauts on round trips to and from the space station. In 2019, SpaceX performed a successful uncrewed test flight to the station with Crew Dragon, following it up with a launch abort test last month.

The Crew Dragon spacecraft is a reusable space capsule designed to carry up to seven people on trips to and from Earth orbit. SpaceX missions for NASA will launch the capsule on a Falcon 9 rocket, visit the International Space Station for months, then return to Earth for a splashdown in the Atlantic Ocean.

In December, Boeing launched an uncrewed test flight of its own Starliner capsule, but it failed to reach the space station due to software and communications issues. Boeing and NASA are investigating that flight to determine if another uncrewed flight will be required.

Meanwhile, Space Adventures is also working with Roscosmos to fly two space tourists to the International Space Station on a dedicated Soyuz spacecraft in 2021. Roscosmos announced the agreement with Space Adventures last year.

"Creating unique and previously impossible opportunities for private citizens to experiencespaceis whySpaceAdventuresexists," Anderson said. "Since its maiden mission in 2010, no engineering achievement has consistently impressed the industry more than the Dragon/Falcon 9 reusable system."

Editor's note: This story, originally posted at 10 a.m. EST, has been updated to include mission duration, timing and cost details from Space Adventures.

Email Tariq Malik attmalik@space.comor follow him@tariqjmalik. Follow us@SpacedotcomandFacebook.

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SpaceX will fly space tourists on Crew Dragon for Space Adventures - Space.com

Kongsberg contributing to broadband connection for the International Space Station – Space Daily

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Kongsberg equipment is to enable broadband transmission for the International Space Station (ISS) - significantly improving communication between the ESA astronauts manning the station and earth. - This is a great benefit for the personnel onboard, and Kongsberg is proud to deliver technology to the project, says Ingelin Dropping, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg's Space and Surveillance division.

February 14th the ESA Columbus Ka-Band Terminal (COLKa) started its journey to the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting earth. Here, the terminal will be installed on the European Columbusmodule, a science laboratory which is part of the ISS. It will then enable continuous signaltransmission to the ground via the European Data Relay Satellite (EDRS) system.

"This will enable the European astronauts and scientists to exchange important information with ground stations in real time. They will benefit from higher bandwidth communications, faster delivery of scientific data and high definition video imagery, thanks to this terminal," says Ingelin Dropping, Executive Vice President of Kongsberg's Space and Surveillance division.

The terminal is to be delivered to the International Space Station as part of the Northrop Grumman's thirteenth contracted commercial resupply services mission. Northrop Grumman launched their Cygnus spacecraft aboard an Antares rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia, supplying will ISS with several tons of cargo.

International teamworkKongsberg has been part of the team developing the terminal, through its Space and Surveillance division's environment in Horten, Norway. The project has been headed by MDA Space and Robotics Limited, the UK division of MDA, the world leading Canadian space equipment manufacturer.

"Our Space Electronics team in Horten, formerly known as Norspace, has developed, manufactured and delivered frequency converters. They are critical parts of the Columbus Ka-band Inter-Satellite Link (ISL) terminal provided by MDA. The terminal itself offers the astronauts greater capacity and availability of broadband connection, as it is capable of speeds of up to 400mbps downlink and 50mbps uplink," says Ellen Tuset, Vice President Division Space in Kongsberg.

COLKa has been designed and integrated by MDA in the UK with both internal investment and funding provided by the UK Space Agency though the ESA Human Spaceflight program. Both Kongsberg and Antwerp Space have supported the project with significant investments in the development of key subsystems.

Related LinksKongsberg Space and Surveillance DivisionSatellite-based Internet technologies

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This damage-proof hoodie is made with the same ceramic technology used on the space station – Yanko Design

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To put things in perspective the only material tougher than the ceramic used in Vollebaks latest jacket is literally diamond.

Making the worlds most indestructible clothing does require constant reiteration, and Vollebaks constantly believed in pushing the boundaries of material science. Having made hoodies out of everything from Kevlar to carbon nanotubes, Vollebak now returns with a material so resistant to wear and tear, its used on the international space station. The ceramic hoodie comes with an aramid layer (Kevlar is an aramid) and is further coated with a layer comprising more than 60,000 matte-black ceramic particles that allow it to be theoretically destruction-proof, but still breathable and flexible. The hoodie builds on one of Vollebaks most popular items, the Ceramic T-Shirt, which was developed in 2017 and has, since then, been taken into jungles, warzones, and live volcanoes.

The Ceramic Hoodie is designed to be protective yet comfortable. The fabric is tough but breathable and comes with an inner fleece lining and waterproof zippers. Each hoodie is equipped with a layer of ceramic coating thats as thin as a human hair, and soft to the touch, but is abrasive-resistant enough to make it the toughest garment not just on earth, but arguably on the space station too!

Designer: Vollebak

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This damage-proof hoodie is made with the same ceramic technology used on the space station - Yanko Design

NASA Highlights Science on 20th SpaceX Resupply Mission to Space Station – PRNewswire

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WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA will host a media teleconference at 1 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 20, to discuss select science investigations launching on the next SpaceX commercial resupply flight to the International Space Station.

Audio of the teleconference will stream live online at:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

SpaceX is targeting 1:45 a.m. Monday,March 2, for the launch of its Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket fromSpace Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

To participate in the teleconference, media must contact Kathryn Hambleton at 202-358-1100 orkathryn.hambleton@nasa.govby 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 20, for dial-in information.

Participants in the briefing will be:

SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft also will carry crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory to support the Expedition 62 and 63 crew for the20th mission under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services contract.

The space station is a convergence of science, technology, and human innovation that demonstrates new technologies and enables research not possible on Earth. The orbiting laboratory has been occupied continuously since November 2000. In that time, 239 people, and a variety of international and commercial spacecraft, have visited the orbiting laboratory. The space station remains the springboard to NASA's next great leap in exploration, including future human missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars.

For launch countdown coverage, NASA's launch blog, and more information about the mission, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/spacex

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Learning space exploration history with LEGO Ideas 21321 International Space Station – Brick Fanatics

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Learning can be fun, it turns out, as an Aerospace Engineering student has demonstrated with LEGO Ideas 21321 International Space Station.

Twitter user and Aerospace Engineering student Ian Benecken has used LEGO Ideas 21321 International Space Station to tell the real-life story of the International Space Station. Starting with the launch of the first modular, he explains the history of the technological marvel and reveals how it came to be in its current state.

On November 20th 1998 the first #ISS module #Zarya aka #FGB was launched from #Kazakhstan with a #ProtonK rocket. It was built in Russia but funded by @nasa but operated by @roscosmos. Its purpose is cargo storage, he begins.

Brick Fanatics reviews LEGO Ideas 21321 International Space Station

Then, two years on: On August the 6th 2000 the very first unmanned #Russian #Progress resupply capsule launched to the still unmanned #ISS #ProgressM1-3 2 days later on August 8th 2000 it docked to the aft end of #Zvesda. The #ISS looked like this from now on:

The full thread on Twitter is well worth perusing, illustrating how these detailed LEGO models provide an enjoyable creative pursuit, but also provide a tangible connection to real-world history.

Another three LEGO Ideas sets are on the way later this year the Playable Piano, Sesame Street and the Pirate Bay, with two more recently confirmed for production Winnie the Pooh and Medieval Blacksmith.

To continue to support the work of Brick Fanatics, please buy your LEGO sets from LEGO.com and Amazon using our affiliate links.

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International Space Station flyover to light up Valentines sky over WA – The West Australian

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As far as romantic nights out go, you can barely go past a night gazing at the stars.

Tonight, just in time for Valentines Day, West Australians will be treated to a spectacle in the night sky.

The International Space Station will fly over tonight and, according to the experts at the Perth Observatory it will be glow particularly bright for the most romantic night of the year.

It will be visible over WA between 8.37pm and 8.41pm.

Matt Woods said the space station flew over WA monthly but rarely is it so bright.

It happens to be that because its about 450km above Earth, its still receiving light from the sun and were in the right place at the right time to see it so bright, Mr Woods said.

Valentines Day night is proving to be popular for Perth stargazers, so much so, that loved-up couples had been put on to a waiting list for a special event at the observatory tonight.

I think even if theyre not thinking it all the time, people really are pretty amazed by whats in the universe, he said.

It also gets you massive brownie points.

If youll be too busy gazing into your lovers eyes to look at the stars tonight, the space station will also make two appearances at 7.50pm tomorrow and at 7.51pm on Monday.

But, stargazers will have to keep their fingers crossed for clear skies with stormy conditions and showers forecast tonight and partly cloudy conditions over the weekend. The clouds are forecast to clear in time for Monday.

Space enthusiasts will gather at Curtin University on February 29 for Astrofest, which is one of their biggest events of the year.

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International Space Station flyover to light up Valentines sky over WA - The West Australian

Spacestation Gaming break the NA Rainbow Six Siege tourney drought – ESPN

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It had been 1,106 days since a North American team won a major tournament in Rainbow Six Siege, and on Sunday night, it looked like that counter would tick up to 1,107.

In front of a hometown crowd at Place Bell in Montreal, the home of Siege game developer Ubisoft, a North American team was about to lose again. A few days early, that seemed impossible. A troika of NA squads -- Spacestation Gaming, Team SoloMid and DarkZero Esports -- were nestled in the upper bracket of the tournament, a fast pass to the final that appeared to be an almost assured all-American affair. Yet DarkZero was eliminated by Brazil's Ninjas in Pyjamas, who then went on to take down TSM in the semifinal.

Once the final began, everything began to unravel for North America's last hope. Their map choice, Villa, which the Ninjas had been shying away from and seemed to be a slam dunk victory for Spacestation, turned upside down almost immediately. Before the fans in the venue could even catch their breath, the first map of the grand final was over, the Brazilians tying up the best-of-five series with SSG getting an auto-win for having qualified from the upper bracket without losing a match.

The next map, Border, was more of the same. If you believe in momentum in sports, the Ninjas had all of it. SSG were ransacked in a second straight map with the stunned crowd not knowing how to react outside of the pockets of Brazil fans in the arena, screaming for Ninjas to bring its country their first Siege world title home. On the map that would have brought them the title, they once again jumped out of the gate, pushing themselves a couple of rounds from lifting The Hammer, the aptly named trophy given to each year's best Rainbow Six Siege team.

Up 5-3 and on the verge of pushing the series to a match point, it came down to a one-on-one duel. SSG's captain, Javier "Thinkingnade" DeAndre Escamilla, was chunked down to a single hit point, but he somehow pulled through, clutching from the depths of defeat and sparking the Montreal crowd to rise from their seats.

And once they were up, they didn't sit down. From that single play that could have gone to Ninjas on any other day in the year, SSG never looked back, the fans propelling them to a comeback victory to win the series in five games. The team's newest addition, Troy "Canadian" Jaroslawski, an icon in the Siege community who was part of the last North American team to win a major title in 2017 at the inaugural Six Invitational, was there to put a dagger into the streak of futility.

"It's f---ing amazing, there are no other words," Canadian told ESPN minutes following his second world championship victory. "I've been working for it for so long. Ever since I blew a lead at the 2018 [world championship], I've been working, putting everything I have into it to get back. This ... made it all worth it."

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For Canadian, the 1,000-plus day record without a North American championship has been a curse. Where other players have come in and out of the spotlight, as the de facto face of his region since he began playing, it's stuck with Canadian every step of the way. From social media posts to post-match interviews, every loss at a premier tournament has been followed up by questions of when would he, and North America, win again.

During the 2018 Six Invitational, Canadian's Evil Geniuses team were in an almost unbeatable position against rival European organization PENTA. Up two games in the five-match series, he was one win away from winning back-to-back world titles and cementing himself in the history of the fledgling game as its first legend. He would be called the greatest of all time. The best. Instead, EG were reverse-swept and PENTA, who later became G2 Esports, became the team that would win back-to-back world championships, while Canadian was labeled a choker.

Since then, Canadian's career became one of tragedy. Like Sisyphus, doomed to roll a giant boulder up a hill for eternity to only have it come crashing down on him, Canadian was in a forever loop of potential to only end in dismay. At the 2019 world championship, he was confident and ready to get revenge against the now-G2 Esports, a year removed from the reverse-sweep. Canadian didn't even make it to the semifinals, where he would have played G2, falling in the quarterfinals and having to answer once again what went wrong.

After bombing out at another major tournament, the Raleigh Major, Canadian needed a change. Spacestation Gaming, a team made up of talented and flexible players, needed an in-game leader. So he left Evil Geniuses, the core with which he won his first title and was built through friendship, a decision with only one goal on his mind -- lifting The Hammer in Montreal.

"[I've changed] my attitude and how I handle myself as a captain," Canadian said. "I think I've definitely caused some problems on my past team, EG, where I could be condescending and hard to work with. I don't think it was horrible or the guys on EG thought it was horrible either, but it definitely could have been better. Towards the later days of EG, I really tried to work on it, but once I joined SSG and got into the right environment I think, I really kinda shined through. I think I've become a whole new person and teammate, and I think it's for the best."

Along with the end of its three-year championship drought, the North American Siege scene had more good news during the weekend. In the developer's yearly panel before the grand final, where Ubisoft shares the changes to the game and esports leagues across the globe for the upcoming year, they announced that an offline domestic league for 10 North American professional teams would begin following its Proleague final this coming May in So Paulo, Brazil.

It's a new era for Canadian and North American Siege as a whole. While it wasn't an all-NA final like it could have been, the region was by far the strongest during the 2020 world championship, with three of its teams finishing in the top six and the only team that failed to make it out of the group stages, Team Reciprocity, was more unlucky than unskilled. With up-and-comers like eUnited, an old guard in Evil Geniuses and the four teams that impressed in Montreal, the newfound offline North American Proleague could become the new standard.

"I'd like to think that North America has always had the potential to rise to the top and that 2019 was just an outlier stumble for NA teams," Che Chou, the senior director of esports at Ubisoft, said to ESPN. "I don't know that anything we've done structurally in NA has affected the success of the NA teams here at SI, but what I do know is that the reason SSG, TSM and DarkZero have done so well through groups is because they're great organizations who invest in their players, all of whom are hungry to win."

North America, often ridiculed, has been redeemed. A bright future on the horizon, an offline league only enhancing the strength of the region as a whole.

Canadian, liberated from his past failures and now changing not only as a player but as a person, will now take his rightful place among the greats as a two-time winner and three-time finalist. One of, if not the best, in-game leader in Rainbow Six Siege history until someone steals the title from him.

It's Feb. 16, 2020, and it has been 0 days since a North American team won a major tournament in Rainbow Six Siege.

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Spacestation Gaming break the NA Rainbow Six Siege tourney drought - ESPN

The $50+ Billion Consulting Industry Supporting Healthcare That You May Not Know About – Forbes

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The healthcare services market is a $50 billion+ industry, and continues to grow exponentially without any signs of slowing down. However, daily consumers may not be aware of this market, as these firms provide services, advisement, and innovative technology to various healthcare organizations, rather than to patients directly. These healthcare organizations include large hospital systems, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, and even organized physician groups. Therefore, albeit the financially impressive size of this industry, the majority of the work and the significant value that these service firms provide is often shrouded behind the successes of these larger clients. The fact that much of this value occurs behind-the-scenes often delivers the false public perception that healthcare consulting is solely focused around the implementation of electronic health systems, when in reality, the industry entails a volume of other services as well. So, what do these firms do exactly, and why is this such a robust market?

Perhaps the biggest buzzword of this decade, digital health has become routine business for any professional services firm that is involved in healthcare.The U.S. Food & Drug Administration provides a wide scope when defining what fits within the category of digital health, including: mobile health (mHealth), health information technology (IT), wearable devices, telehealth and telemedicine, and personalized medicine. Congruently, consulting companies have been quick to form entire verticals within their healthcare practices to focus on servicing these specific areas. And this is for good reason. The mobile health market is estimated to reach nearly $22 billion dollars by 2023. The healthcare artificial intelligence market is just as robust,and is projected to reach $19+ billion dollars by 2026. The telemedicine market boasts the most impressive figure, estimated to reach $130 billion by 2025.

The unifying factor between all of these different avenues remains the same: an extremely complex learning, implementation, and acclimation curve. Hospital systems and healthcare entities that do not want to fall behind on these new streams of market share, revenue, and patient populations have no choice but to engage professional services firms to learn how they can pivot their existing capabilities into these new ventures. Healthcare consulting firms will be able to provide this dedicated expertise.

Mobile and digital health tools are playing an increasing role in patient care.

While digital health is a massive growth opportunity, many healthcare entities are struggling to simply grow and maintain their fundamental and existing business areas. This is another area where healthcare consulting firms can often add value: expertise in market competitiveness, operational efficiency, and enterprise performance remains the bread and butter business for the vast majority of these firms. Global consulting firm Bain & Company discusses a valuable client story:a large pharmaceutical company engaged the consulting firm to cut costs while still tangibly maintaining and growing its product pipeline. Another case entailed a governmental entity engaging the Boston Consulting Group to transform its entire healthcare approach, working with the consulting firm to implement a system that emphasizes preventive care, high provider quality, and efficient care delivery models.

Much of the approach to all of these cases were similar. At the most basic level, industry experts from the consulting firms worked to understand the client needs, the requirements of the specific market consumers being served, the needs of the business entities, and any other outlying variables related to the issue at hand. Once these factors were understood and established, these experts worked with stakeholders to provide strategic recommendations and implement key frameworks for the clients to use moving forward.

SWOT Analysis: A commonly used tool to determine business and market strategy.

The common fallacy that many continue to contemplate: why hire outside consultants to resolve an internal problem? But the reality is that healthcare is too agile of a market, with political, economic, and consumer demands creating nearly instantaneous market shifts.Hospital systems, pharmaceutical companies, physician groups, and other patient centered players have very different expertise areas, and should remain focused on the actual delivery of healthcare to the community. These entities cannot be expected to also have unlimited knowledge in operational efficiency and enterprise success. Rather, there is a need to delegate this expertise. This has paved the way for healthcare consulting to become an entire industry in and of itself, an industry which continues to work behind-the-scenes to contribute to and support a dynamic and robust healthcare ecosystem.

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The $50+ Billion Consulting Industry Supporting Healthcare That You May Not Know About - Forbes

The Health System Wed Have if Economists Ran Things – The New York Times

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Imagine if American health policy were established by the consensus of health economists. What would the system look like? A survey of nearly 200 Ph.D. health economists working in the United States provides some clues.

The survey, presented at the American Society of Health Economists conference in Washington last summer, was conducted by the health economists John Cawley of Cornell University, Michael Morrisey of Texas A&M and Kosali Simon of Indiana University.

Whether the Affordable Care Act should be repealed has been one of the highest-profile health policy issues ever since its passage in 2010. Health economists are clear on this: They strongly reject repeal, with 89 percent opposing the idea.

Health economists also overwhelmingly (81 percent agreement) said the A.C.A.s individual mandate in which people paid a fine if they chose not to be insured was essential for its success. Without it, they said, the people who sign up would disproportionately be sicker, causing insurance to become ever more expensive. This phenomenon, also known as adverse selection, could collapse the market.

The need for an individual mandate is consistent with both economic theory and research and seemed sensible at the time of the survey in 2018. But its necessity is less clear today. The tax cuts signed into law at the end of 2017 reduced the penalty for not having coverage to zero last year, yet marketplaces have by and large remained stable.

A popular feature of the A.C.A. is that insurers cannot raise premiums for pre-existing conditions. Health economists appear to agree with this, with 80 percent saying premiums should not be higher for those with genetic defects (the polls wording).

But nearly 70 percent of health economists are comfortable charging people more if they engage in unhealthy behaviors that lead to higher health costs. The A.C.A. allows marketplace plans to do just that based on smoking. The idea that people should pay for the consequences of their personal choices sin taxes, basically has some intuitive appeal. (Another sin tax would be to increase taxes on soft drinks, an idea favored by 62 percent of health economists.)

But disciplines other than economics view health behaviors differently. Addictions, in particular, are often viewed as diseases, not informed choices. Adult addiction to nicotine usually stems from decisions made as a teen, which are shaped as much or more by circumstances than rational thought, said Michael Stein, chair of the Health Law, Policy & Management Department at Boston University School of Public Health. Charging a higher premium for a smoker is punishing someone with a disease, so why this disease?

Various ideas to cut costs in Medicare and Medicaid have been proposed in recent years. Health economists generally oppose those changes.

The poll asked them if they favored converting Medicare into a program based in part on income. That would mean that full Medicare coverage would not be available to everyone upon reaching 65, but only to those whose incomes are below some cutoff. This idea is opposed by 71 percent of health economists.

A related idea for Medicare is to convert it to a voucher-based program. This would establish a set amount the government would pay for your coverage so that you could shop for a health plan. Most health economists (61 percent) also oppose this idea. This is in step with the broader public, according to most polls over the years.

Raising the age of Medicare eligibility is the least opposed of the polled ideas for changing the programs eligibility or benefits; around half reject it. But only 28 percent favor it, with 22 percent not providing an opinion. The most recent polls of Americans on this issue indicate that a slim majority reject it as well.

It may surprise some that economists, who normally prefer market-based approaches to government programs, are so supportive of Medicares current structure. Though they recognize the value of free markets, economists also believe that market failures are harmful, the polls conductors told me. In some cases, such as health insurance for the elderly, many economists think that society does best when government provides services directly.

Another way to improve Medicares finances would be to raise taxes. A slim majority (52 percent) of health economists favor doing so.

While Medicares coverage policy or financing hasnt changed recently, Medicaid has undergone considerable changes. One is work requirements. As of last summer, 16 states have proposed or put in work requirements for Medicaid eligibility. The change has been the subject of lawsuits, and was dealt a defeat before a federal appeals court panel on Friday. Seventy-seven percent of health economists do not believe work requirements should be part of Medicaid.

The Trump administration said recently that it would permit block grants for some of the funding the federal government sends to state Medicaid programs. Medicaid block grants, long proposed by Republicans, would provide states a fixed amount of money for Medicaid instead of an open-ended funding program. About 70 percent of health economists oppose the idea.

Employer-sponsored health insurance is not subject to taxation. That results in $250 billion in lost tax revenue per year, and many economists say this leads to excessively generous health insurance plans, contributing to wasteful health care spending. Health economists, by and large, dislike this big tax break only 14 percent of them favor the current tax treatment of employer-sponsored health insurance. But theyre just about the only group that feels that way. Reflecting public sentiment, a provision in the Affordable Care Act that would have partly undone this tax break the so-called Cadillac tax was repealed at the end of last year.

Many of todays conversations about reducing health spending focus on prescription drugs. A good deal of drug spending ends up as profits for the pharmaceutical industry drug company profit margins above 15 percent are not uncommon. One justification for high profits is that they motivate additional investment, spurring innovation.

A plurality of health economists seem to question this argument. Forty-eight percent disagree with the statement that drug company profits are necessary to incentivize the optimal level of research and development. Twenty-eight percent agree with that statement, and 24 percent gave no opinion.

Health economists overwhelmingly (93 percent of them) say that if employers were to spend less on health insurance, wages and other benefits would increase. In other words, when employers appear to pay for health benefits, at least some of that comes from workers wages. The evidence is on the economists side, but it doesnt necessarily mean that wages would go up one dollar for every dollar premiums went down. It might for some workers, but not for all.

If health economists were in charge of the health system, not a lot would change, with some notable exceptions. Medicaid would not have work requirements (which would be unpopular among conservatives in some states), and taxes would go up for Medicare and for employer-based health insurance (which would make it unpopular among just about everybody).

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The Health System Wed Have if Economists Ran Things - The New York Times

Democrats Plan to Highlight Health Care and Jobs Over Investigating Trump – The New York Times

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Since then, the matter has only escalated. Mr. Barr, in an extraordinary rebuke of the president on Thursday, said Mr. Trumps Twitter attacks on the Justice Department made it impossible for him to do his job. Mr. Trump fired back on Friday, asserting via tweets that he had a legal right to interfere in Justice Department cases.

And Mr. Boltons book, which is scheduled to go on sale on March 17, could yield additional revelations about the presidents behavior with respect to Ukraine and revive calls for Mr. Bolton to testify.

At the same time, cases related to other House investigations of the president, including examinations of his finances and whether he violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting payments from representatives of foreign governments who frequent his hotels, are working their way through the courts.

The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether Mr. Trump can block the release of his financial records; a ruling is expected by June. An appeals court is considering whether Mr. Trump can order his advisers, including Donald F. McGahn II, the former White House counsel, from complying with congressional subpoenas.

Still, Representative Katherine M. Clark, Democrat of Massachusetts and vice chairwoman of the Democratic caucus, said Democrats believed the cure for Mr. Trumps behavior runs through the ballot box.

A lot of this is going to be up to making sure that we are successful in November, she said.

Democrats say they have never taken their eyes off their legislative agenda, in particular lowering health care costs. Even as they voted to impeach Mr. Trump, Democrats teamed up with him on a new trade deal with Mexico and Canada.

Before they left for recess, Democrats unveiled a $760 billion infrastructure plan that they have said is aimed at jump-starting bipartisan talks with the administration on how to fix the nations crumbling roads, rails and bridges. Geoff Garin, a Democratic pollster, said the plan would give Democrats something tangible to talk about in their home districts. But the chances of any election-year deal with Mr. Trump on the issue are vanishingly remote.

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Democrats Plan to Highlight Health Care and Jobs Over Investigating Trump - The New York Times

Off duty health care workers save mans life after he collapsed at gym – WNEM Saginaw

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Off duty health care workers save mans life after he collapsed at gym - WNEM Saginaw

How AI is transforming public health system management in emerging economies – Healthcare IT News

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Achieving universal health coverage requires the consistent delivery of high-quality healthcare services at scale, which is itself dependent on a workforce that operates in the most efficient way. In the context of overburdened health systems in emerging economies, however, this is particularly challenging.

To help healthcare leaders better manage their health resources and support improved performance, BroadReach Group has been successfully deploying its proprietary, cutting-edge technology in some of these markets.

In South Africa, the company is working with the Department of Health in the Ugu district of KwaZulu Natal (KZN), as part of the Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)s HIV control initiatives, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Ugu has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the world, with 27% of its population testing HIV positive. In 2019, it achieved the remarkable milestone of meeting its 90-90-90 targets, established by UNAIDS in 2013 to help end the AIDS epidemic, which state that:

As of December 2019, the Ugu district had achieved the following:

This was no easy feat, particularly given the health-resource constraints experienced in the public health sector. BroadReach Consulting has supported the Department of Health as a certified implementing partner of Vantage Technologies, using a combination of AI-enabled technology, health programme management best practices and change consulting to help guide them towards achieving their 90-90-90 targets. Ugu was the first district in the country to reach this milestone.

The right people were given the right information, recommended next best actions, and step-by-step support to implement them and to create scalable, consistent, system-wide transformation. The ripple effect of directed individual action cascaded across the entire health system to enable oversight and improved results.

Last month, BroadReach Founding Partner Dr John Sargent spoke at the HIMSS DM Cambridge Summit about the role of AI-enabled technology in improving the management of the public health system in emerging markets.

Below, you can see Dr Sargent talk about their approach on HIMSS TV.

More information about the event can be found here.

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How AI is transforming public health system management in emerging economies - Healthcare IT News

Extracting data to deliver value-based care – Healthcare IT News

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Founded in 2016, Precision Driven Health is a research partnership between New Zealands health IT sector, health providers and universities, aimed at improving health outcomes through data science. Ahead of the HIMSS20 conference, Kevin Ross, CEO of the organization, talks about the significance of data in delivering value-based care and the real challenges of collaboration between different stakeholders in data.

What are your thoughts on value-based care (vs the traditional fee-for-service model) and what can be done with healthcare data to create more value and personalized care for patients?

Value-based care is far preferable to a fee-for-service model, as long as we agree on value, and can be transparent in our approach. At its extreme, a fee-for-service model rewards someone who takes many attempts to get it right, whereas value-based care rewards the delivery of what matters in the most efficient way. Data has a huge role to play in this, particularly in helping to define and analyze the most appropriate metrics for value.

Data allows us to use a common language for value, and can make transparent the link between the activities undertaken in healthcare, and the value that is received by consumers. When data can be shared, people can see more clearly what they are receiving, and what is having the greatest impact. A fee-for-service tends to lead toward giving the same care for everyone, as we get good at efficiently delivering a particular procedure or program.

Data science allows us to analyze what works for different people, and if the objective is to deliver value, then the world of possibilities opens up. One person may benefit from medication, while another benefits from improvements to their living circumstances; value-based care gives us a framework to consider these in a common way.

As CEO of Precision Driven Health, what are some of the lessons learnt through coordinating collaborations between health professionals and data scientists in applying data science to enable precision health to become a reality?

Everyone is keen to collaborate and learn from each other, but there is often a lot of work up front to establish common language and understanding. We come with our biases, and are often unaware of how much they influence our thinking and expectations. I find that most people oversimplify the role of another collaborator and assume that it will fit into their own way of viewing the world.

For example, a data scientist thinks of a clinician as having a very transactional role of translating data into a diagnosis or next decision. While this may describe some of the core information exchange in clinical care, it is in reality only a small part of what happens and much of what happens is not captured in tidy data science language. Similarly, our clinicians often think that data science is one of two extremes either magic (just throw some data into a pot and out will come an answer), or predictable (the data will show that if we change X then Y will be improved). A good data science process involves a lot of workshopping, trial and error, human input and compromise.

What are your observations on the development of precision health in New Zealand? What opportunities do you see?

New Zealand has excellent quality data, enabled through a single identifier per person, known as the National Health Index. This allows twenty years of digital records to be linked and analyzed for historical patterns. Combining this data about a diverse population with excellent data scientists, clinicians and software developers, New Zealand is well positioned to be a testbed for innovations in precision health. Having a single-payer health system also helps to ensure that the best care for an individual usually corresponds with economic benefits to the whole system.

However, despite all of these advantages, the task is still very difficult. Healthcare changes slowly, and we must build public trust for/in new uses of data, and new ways of delivering care. Our clinical carers are not trained in data science, and our data scientists are new to healthcare so the changes that are readily seen in other industries have not yet taken hold on a large scale.

How do you think the use of healthcare data has led to better health outcomes in New Zealand? Could you give us some examples?

New Zealand has linked healthcare data to other government service data, including housing, education, justice. This has allowed us to understand the link between health and other social circumstances. As one example, a local health board has invested in improving the quality of homes in the neighborhood, to reduce the rates of respiratory issues caused by mold.

At the other end of the system, we have developed a localized calculator for the outcomes from elective surgery, developed based on all surgeries in the past ten years. We can now use this information for anyone considering a procedure, and explain what the outcomes are like for people like them. For minority groups who are not represented well in international studies, this allows a much better-informed conversation between surgeon, patient and family that helps to make the best long-term decisions.

Kevin Ross is a panelist at the HIMSS20 AsiaPac Summits Panel Discussion titled Preparing Data and Redesigning Metrics for Value-Based Care, scheduled for Wednesday, March 11 from 8.30am to 9.30am in room W240C. Additional registration is required click here for more details on the HIMSS20 AsiaPac Summit.

He is also the speaker for the session titled Ethical Machine Learning scheduled for Tuesday, March 10 from 1.30pm-2.30pm in room W207C.

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Extracting data to deliver value-based care - Healthcare IT News

HSA, FSA, HRA: What’s the difference? – KARE11.com

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These three health care accounts have some similarities - and some very important differences.

There are a lot of acronyms when it comes to saving for your health care expenses. HSA, FSA, HRA. Which one should you choose?

Jonathon Hess of Athos Health, our Health Care Hacker, breaks down some of the differences.

HSA - Health Savings Account

FSA - Flexible Spending Account

HRA - Health Reimbursement Account

So, which one should you choose?

If you have the choice, Hess thinks you should alwayschoose the Health Savings Account (HSA). Some of the key reasons? It's your money, it rolls over so you never lose it, and it doubles as a retirement account.

If you have a question about your health care expenses, send it to us athealthcarehacks@kare11.com. We'll try to address it in the future episode.

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HSA, FSA, HRA: What's the difference? - KARE11.com

Efforts to expand veterans health care options continue – New Jersey Herald

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Efforts to alleviate long travel and wait times and appointment backlogs faced by military veterans at the VA Medical Center in East Orange have taken a small step forward with the approval of an alternate hospital site in Paramus where they can now receive care, but it may be awhile before a similar local alternative is offered in the Sussex/Warren county region.

The latest development, announced Friday by U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., follows the June 2018 passage of federal legislation known as the VA MISSION Act. The law whose name is an acronym for "Maintaining Internal Systems and Strengthening Outside Networks" established a Community Care program intended to allow eligible veterans to receive care from non-VA facilities within their own communities.

At an October meeting with Vincent Immiti, director of the New Jersey Health Care System for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the congressman discussed issues faced by veterans seeking care at the VA hospital in East Orange including appointment delays of 30 days or more as well as frequent and abrupt appointment cancellations, often with little or no advance notice or explanation.

At the time, the congressman secured a commitment from Immiti to expedite the designation of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus as a VA-approved community care provider so it, too, could begin accepting patient referrals for eligible veterans. According to Friday's announcement, covered veterans may now specify an eligible non-VA facility from which they would like to receive care, so long as the care is clinically necessary and not feasibly available through another VA facility.

"I've heard from veterans across the Fifth District who have had to drive over an hour, only to be met by long wait times and canceled appointments," said Gottheimer, who touted the fact that veterans in Bergen County would now have access to an alternate facility closer to home.

However, given the drive time of over an hour from most of Sussex and Warren counties to get to Paramus, it is not yet clear how much this announcement will help the veterans of northwest New Jersey.

Gottheimer previously had said he hoped to enable additional healthcare referrals to be made through Newton Medical Center and other local facilities, but so far it hasn't happened. With representatives of Newton Medical Center unavailable for comment Monday because of the Presidents' Day holiday, it could not immediately be determined how much progress, if any, has taken place on that front.

John Harrigan, president of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 1002 in Vernon, said in a phone conversation Monday that he would love it if veterans could access more healthcare services locally. "It would be great if somebody could work with the VA and do that," he said.

Currently, veterans have access to a VA outpatient clinic in Newton that operates mostly by appointment from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. In addition to offering specialty referrals, the facility offers primary care and prescription services along with limited psychiatric and mental health services. For veterans like Harrigan who reside in northern Sussex County, an additional VA outpatient clinic also is located in Port Jervis, N.Y.

Harrigan said veterans can also receive basic, primary and prescription drug services on a walk-in basis at a CVS Minute Clinic in Sparta. Still, he said, being able to obtain specialty care at a local hospital or other facility would be of immeasurable value to veterans, particularly those with limited transportation options.

Gottheimer has said previously that he would like to see that become a reality for veterans from Sussex and Warren counties as well as those residing in Bergen County. We must always have the backs of those who have had ours, the brave men and women who have served our nation and defended our freedoms, he said.

Eric Obernauer can also be contacted on Twitter: @EricObernNJH or by phone at 973-383-1213.

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Efforts to expand veterans health care options continue - New Jersey Herald

Urgent Care continues; Ask for other local health care options – Waukon Standard

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Veterans Memorial Hospital Urgent Care is available seven days a week and designed for treating injuries or illnesses requiring immediate care, but not serious enough to require an emergency department visit.

Examples of what a patient may seek Urgent Care for could include back pain; bladder or urinary tract infection; cough; cuts, scrapes and bruises; diarrhea; fever, colds and flu; ear pain, swimmers ear, ear infection, or wax removal; insect or tick bite; joint pain; minor burn; nausea/vomiting; pink eye; rash; seasonal allergies; sinus and upper respiratory infection; sore or strep throat; strains/sprains; sudden back or neck pain; urinary problems or vaginal irritation/discharge. Most insurance does cover urgent care visits. Patients can usually expect to pay a copay or deductible for visits to Urgent Care treatment centers.

Urgent Care is offered every Monday through Friday evening from 5-9 p.m. and Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Patients may enter through the main entrance of the hospital and ask for urgent care. A registered nurse will assess each patient and decide if urgent care or ER is the level of care they need.

In addition to utilizing Urgent Care, Veterans Memorial Hospital also encourages community members to ask their provider if their care can be provided close to home, at Veterans Memorial Hospital. Many of the hospitals skilled care, surgical, maternity, laboratory, rehab and x-ray patients among others would have been sent elsewhere for their care, had they not specifically asked for local care.

Here is a list of some of the services patients can ask for locally for convenience:

Laboratory - Veterans Memorial Hospitals Laboratory has the ability to draw and run many lab tests locally. Specialists from out of town often require blood work prior to an appointment. Often those tests can be run locally and the results sent electronically the same day the blood is drawn. Weekly INR testing can also be completed by the hospitals lab as well as wellness testing which is provided daily from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday through Friday.

X-ray/Radiology Services - CT scans, mammograms, dexa bone densitometry scans, and ultrasounds are available the same or the next day.

Nuclear Medicine - Cardiac stress tests are available every Thursday at Veterans Memorial Hospital.

Respiratory Therapy - Pulmonary function testing is available the same or next day, overnight oximetry tests available within one or two days and sleep studies are scheduled within a month or less.

Rehabilitation - Physical therapy, Occupational therapy and Speech therapy can all begin within one to two days.

Nutrition and Diabetes - Consultations for nutrition or diabetes can also begin within one or two days.

We want everyone in our local communities to ask for local options before leaving the area for their health care, states Mike Myers, Administrator of Veterans Memorial Hospital. So many services can be provided close to home. Its convenient, top notch and our friendly staff truly shows how neighbors can care for neighbors.For questions on local medical testing and services, call Veterans Memorial Hospital at 563-568-3411.

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Urgent Care continues; Ask for other local health care options - Waukon Standard