Monthly Archives: January 2020

A New Zealand life science expert has unlocked the longevity code Ezz brand NMN has realized gene anti-aging – Press Release – Digital Journal

Posted: January 10, 2020 at 3:43 pm

Do you know how the genes of the long-lived differ from those of ordinary people?Do you know how to supplement longevity factors effectively?The year 2020 has just begun, and the global life science community has already caused a sensation. Auckland Genetics Research Center, the worlds top life science research institution, has published its research results, and announced the official unveiling of the secret to long life.

New Zealands latest finding

Centenarians have longevity codes in their bodies

Through the research of 100 people over the age of 100 in New Zealand, we found that they lived longer mainly because they were genetically different from us.Dr. Van Blith Merion from Auckland Genetics Research Center said that they found that APOE and FOXO3A, two genetic factors that contribute the most to longevity, were found in the genes of centenarians, and have successfully developed orally-consumed supplements that can stimulate the growth and synthesis of these two life factors, making it possible for ordinary people to achieve the effect of longevity.

The reporter learned that this is by no means alarmist, but has a rigorous scientific argument and has obtained the consensus of the entire life science community. It is reported that this two longevity factors have different division of labor, APOE can make the bodys lipid metabolism healthier, and FOXO3A, on the other hand, can block cell division cycle, repair DNA damage, promote cell autophagy, enhance the antioxidant capacity of cells, and prevent cell canceration. In addition to carry this kind of gene like centenarians, ordinary people can also synthesize these two gene factor components in the bodies through an enzyme called NAD+.

Everyone is born with NAD+, which is also the reason why our young people are generally in good health. However, for every ten years of age, the content of NAD+ in the body decreases by half, and by the age of 40, many human bodies are unable to produce NAD+ on their own, leading to cellular senescence,Dr. Van Blith Merion said.

Ezz brand NMN come on the market

Compound NMN products allow ordinary people to enter the age of longevity

Because of the larger molecular weight, how to increase the content of NAD+ in the body by supplementing the precursor substance NMN of NAD+ has become the research focus of Auckland University of Technology. For this, Auckland Genetics Research Center, invested heavily in expert resources and huge funds. And after a hard struggle, the research center eventually made a breakthrough, and developed the worlds most advanced compound NMN supplements - EZZ brand NMN.

According to clinical trial data, EZZ brand NMN solves the problem of poor absorption of traditional NMN products, and greatly improves the retention of NAD+ active ingredients in the body after two hours after taking orally by adopting the compound formula, so as to increase the contents of the two longevity factors APOE and FOXO3A in the body, reduce blood lipid, repair damaged cells, prevent cell cancer, and play the effect of gene anti-aging. According to clinical blind test, compared with traditional NMN products, the efficacy of this compound product can be increased by more than 10 times.

Industry insiderssaid that with the launch of the new EZZ NMN supplements by Auckland Genetics Research Center, a new era of low-cost, high-purity NMN has arrived. Since then, every person can use the money for a cup of coffee per day to help the body achieve the purpose of delaying aging, let the body function keep refreshat all times, and eliminate all kinds of diseases of the elderly. It is reported that effective NMN products are expected to extend the life of ordinary people by 30 percent or more.

Media ContactCompany Name: EZZ Pty LtdContact Person: AndyEmail: Send EmailCountry: GermanyWebsite: ozezz.com.au

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How to live longer: Eating this delicious treat could increase your life expectancy – Express

Posted: at 3:43 pm

Living a longer and healthier life most relates to ones diet. Experts recommend eating at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day, basing meals on higher starchy foods like potatoes, bread and rice, having some dairy or dairy alternatives, eating some protein, choosing unsaturated oils and spreads, and drinking plenty of fluids. Getting enough of the recommended amount of physical exercise and avoiding smoking and drinking can lead to a longer life. However, there is also a delicious treat one can add into their diet, and if eaten in moderation, it may also help to increase life expectancy.

How dark chocolate could help you to live longer

Losing weight

In his book, Eat Chocolate, Lose Weight, Will Clower explained how Bettina piece of dark chocolate 20 minutes before and five minutes after a meal can help cut a persons appetite by an impressive 50 percent.

According to Mr Clower, this is because chocolate triggers the hormones that tell the brain its full.

DONT MISS

Brain power

Dark chocolate helps to improve blood flow to the brain and researchers have found that it could even help with Alzheimers.

In a trial published by Nature Neuroscience, it was discovered that the high flavanol found in dark chocolate helped to enhance debate gyrus (DG) function.

DG is the region of the brain in which declines are associated with human ageing.

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Your blood type may influence your vulnerability to norovirus, the winter vomiting virus – The Conversation US

Posted: at 3:43 pm

In the last few months, schools all over the country have closed because of outbreaks of norovirus. Also known as stomach flu, norovirus infections cause watery diarrhea, low-grade fever and, most alarming of all, projectile vomiting, which is an extremely effective way of spreading the virus.

Norovirus is very infectious and spreads rapidly through a confined population, such as at a school or on a cruise ship. Although most sufferers recover in 24 to 48 hours, norovirus is a leading cause of childhood illness and, in developing countries, results in about 50,000 child deaths each year.

Interestingly, not everyone is equally vulnerable to the virus, and whether you get sick or not may depend on your blood type.

I am a microbiologist, and I got interested in norovirus because, while norovirus symptoms are distressing under any circumstances, my encounter with the virus was particularly inconvenient. During a seven-day rafting trip down the Grand Canyon, the illness passed through the rafters and crew, one by one. Obviously, the wilderness sanitary facilities were not the best to cope with this outbreak. Luckily, everyone, including me, recovered quickly. It turns out that norovirus outbreaks on Colorado River rafting trips are common.

As debilitating as the illness it causes can be, the norovirus particle is visually beautiful. It is a type of virus known as non-enveloped or naked, which means that it never acquires the membrane coating typical of other viruses, such as the flu virus. The norovirus surface is a protein coat, called the capsid. The capsid protects the norovirus genetic material.

The naked capsid coat is one factor that makes norovirus so difficult to control. Viruses with membrane coatings are susceptible to alcohol and detergents, but not so norovirus. Norovirus can survive temperatures from freezing to 145 degrees Fahrenheit (about the maximum water temperature in a home dishwasher), soap and mild solutions of bleach. Norovirus can persist on human hands for hours and on solid surfaces and food for days and is also resistant to alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

To make things worse, only a tiny dose of the virus as few as 10 viral particles is needed to cause disease. Given that an infected person can excrete many billions of viral particles, its very difficult to prevent the virus from spreading.

When norovirus is ingested, it initially infects the cells that line the small intestine. Researchers dont know exactly how this infection then causes the symptoms of the disease. But a fascinating aspect of norovirus is that, after exposure, blood type determines, in a large part, whether a person gets sick.

Your blood type A, B, AB or O is dictated by genes that determine which kinds of molecules, called oligosaccharides, are found on the surface of your red blood cells. Oligosaccharides are made from different types of sugars linked together in complex ways.

The same oligosaccharides on red blood cells also appear on the surface of cells that line the small intestine. Norovirus and a few other viruses use these oligosaccharides to grab onto and infect the intestinal cells. Its the specific structure of these oligosaccharides that determines whether a given strain of virus can attach and invade.

The presence of one oligosaccharide, called the H1-antigen, is required for attachment by many norovirus strains.

People who do not make H1-antigen in their intestinal cells make up 20% of the European-derived population and are resistant to many strains of norovirus.

More sugars can be attached to the H1-antigen to give the A, B or AB blood types. People who cant make the A and B modifications have the O blood type.

Norovirus evolves rapidly. There are 29 different strains currently known to infect humans, and each strain has different variants. Each one has different abilities to bind to the variously shaped sugar molecules on the intestinal cell surface. These sugars are determined by blood type.

If a group of people is exposed to a strain of norovirus, who gets sick will depend on each persons blood type. But, if the same group of people is exposed to a different strain of norovirus, different people may be resistant or susceptible. In general, those who do not make the H1-antigen and people with B blood type will tend to be resistant, whereas people with A, AB, or O blood types will tend get sick, but the pattern will depend on the specific strain of norovirus.

This difference in susceptibility has an interesting consequence. When an outbreak occurs, for example, on a cruise ship, roughly a third of the people may escape infection. Because they do not know the underlying reason for their resistance, I think spared people engage in magical thinking for example, I didnt get sick because I drank a lot of grape juice. Of course, these mythical evasive techniques will not work if the next outbreak is a strain to which the individual is susceptible.

A norovirus infection provokes a robust immune response that eliminates the virus in a few days. However, the response appears to be short-lived. Most studies have found that immunity guarding against reinfection with the same norovirus strain lasts less than six months. Also, infection with one strain of norovirus offers little protection against infection from another. Thus, you can have repeated bouts with norovirus.

The diversity of norovirus strains and the impermanence of the immune response complicates development of an effective vaccine. Currently, clinical trials are testing the effects of vaccines made from the capsid proteins of the two most prevalent norovirus strains.

In general, these experimental vaccines produce good immune responses; the longevity of the immune response is now under study. The next phase of clinical trials will test if the vaccines actually prevent or reduce the symptoms of norovirus infection.

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Building a Sustainable Business Model with The Latest Tech – TechNative

Posted: at 3:43 pm

In todays highly-competitive business environment, even the largest, most profitable organisations struggle to maintain business longevity

To increase their chances of long-term success, companies must transform themselves into sustainable enterprises, capable of adapting to changing priorities, markets and customer demand.

European organisations often lead the way. KPMGs latest Change Readiness Index ranks business action on rapid change based on an Enterprise Sustainability metric, which takes into account factors such as carbon emissions per unit of GDP and the energy mix used by the business community. The ranking places Switzerland first overall, and in terms of Enterprise Sustainability, for the second consecutive year. European countries fill five other places in the Enterprise Sustainability top ten.

There are three areas around which discussions and debates about the sustainable enterprise tend to be focused: the environmental impact or footprint of the business, the need to create a sustainable business model and why a sustainable workforce is critical. The focus on reducing environmental impact by reducing energy usage, emissions and introducing smarter practices in the workforce is important. However, businesses also need to make certain that their specific business model is sustainable. They need an approach that sustains resources within the business over time.

From the outset, planning for the long-term is key, which is becoming increasingly difficult when factors such as market demand and competition are constantly shifting. To achieve longevity, organisations need to apply sustainability principles in everything they do.

Resources both people and other assets are crucial. Sustainable businesses focus on making those resources sustainable over time and that means being willing and able to adapt the business model to match changed priorities.

In line with this, true sustainability is often about understanding the market landscape and ensuring the business proposition is aligned to shifting customer demand. To be sustainable, smart organisations must reflect on addressing customer and societal needs, often without even knowing in advance what the optimal solution might be. In todays age of automation, building a sustainable business model will almost certainly involve digital transformation.

That could mean the introduction of machine learning and AI-powered systems that diagnose problems in advance, enabling quick intervention and problem resolution. It could involve the combination of historical data, data analytics and key algorithms to quickly detect anomalies and notify the relevant people quickly, enabling businesses to reduce costs by addressing and resolving any inefficiencies in the process, as well as stay compliant by quickly identifying where the business may be in breach of the rules and rapidly rectifying this.

These examples highlight the sustainability benefits that digitally-driven innovations can bring to businesses. However, when organisations move to digital technologies, they need to have a plan b in place to be able to keep the business up and running in the event that systems and networks are brought down or experience a security breach. A recent cyber- attack on Norsk Hydro, a global aluminium producer, forced the company into desperate measures. The entire workforce 35,000 people had to switch to pen and paper as a result. Production lines shaping molten metal were switched over to manual functions, and in some cases, long-retired workers came back in to help colleagues run things the old-fashioned way.

Every business can look to reduce their environmental impact and make changes to their business model to drive long-term sustainability. However, if they do not put practices in place to cultivate sustainable employees, they risk undoing that good work.

To drive a more sustainable workforce, leaders must cultivate an environment that helps its people to be empowered, productive and resilient. Technology can play a key role here in indicating just how positive and sustainable workplace culture is.. Businesses need insights into their workforces that span levels, departments and entities and its important to link talent data with enterprise information. The answer is a global system of records able to harmonise data generated by different sources, providing key insight into problems or issues. It is this type of reporting which drives sustainability.

Companies must apply the digital mindset to HR and workplace processes to support productivity and growth or risk becoming obsolete. SAP SuccessFactors, a leading cloud-based HR solution, is an integrated environment encompassing all HR processes that is driven by data and analytics and the ideal path to sustainable smart HR.

By helping to ensure employees are happy and have greater wellbeing at work, organisations can increase long-term business viability. Employees that are happy are less likely to leave, thus lower attrition rates make organisations more sustainable.

This approach to building a sustainable workforce will only truly work, however, if everyone in the business is committed and open to change. There must be business-wide sponsorship to creating and maintaining a sustainable work culture and this may involve cultural and operational change.

As we look to the future, it is likely that predictive analytics will become ever more important in maintaining a happy, sustainable workforce. As an example, an employee applies for maternity leave through the organisations HR system. This employee life event triggers the HR department to start offering communications specific to that employee, so for example, asking: have you thought about childcare vouchers? Have you thought about the return-to-work programme or our part-time working options?

In rolling out concepts such as this one, employee well-being is prioritised. Ultimately, the strength of a company lies in the health of its people, especially in the professional services industry where human capital is the companys added value. When employee well-being isnt up to par, the business suffers across the entire value chain, making burnout a business critical challenge, and driving down overall levels of sustainability into the bargain. But businesses that focus on a sustainable workforce and ally that with a sustainable business model and environmentally-friendly business practices are likely to be here for the long-haul.

Richard Seel is Managing Director, Supply Chain & Logistics (UK & US),delaware. delawareis a fast-growing, global company that delivers advanced solutions and services to organisations striving for a sustainable, competitive advantage.delawareguides its customers through their business transformation, applying the ecosystems of its main business partners, SAP and Microsoft.delawarecontinues to service its customers afterwards, assuring continuity and continuous improvement. For more information, please visitwww.delaware.co.uk

Featured image: Sergey Panychev

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Dig It: Reflecting on history of Kamloops area – Kamloops This Week

Posted: at 3:43 pm

Upon the start of a new decade, it seems timely to reflect on the long history of human occupation and the archeological record in British Columbia.

The longevity of the archeological record in the Southern interior, including Kamloops, specifically and the province of British Columbia as a whole is extensive.

The earliest recorded sites in the province confirming human occupation date to more than 14,000 years ago. To put that in perspective, the oldest sites in the province were occupied more than 9,000 years before the pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England were constructed.

Archeological sites are defined as the physical remains left behind by people from the past.

There are in excess of 50,000 archeological sites currently recorded in British Columbia. That number grows almost daily as development continues throughout the province and previously unidentified archeological sites are discovered as a result.

Archeologists are required to update the provincial heritage register maintained by the Archaeology Branch once a new archeological site is discovered or an existing site is expanded.

Archeological site types in the Kamloops area are diverse and plentiful. Common site types include subterranean house pits, burials, rock shelters, hunting blinds, cache pits for food storage, earth ovens, culturally modified trees, cultural trails, fish weirs, rock art and scatters of stone and bone artifacts.

The oldest recorded sites currently identified in B.C. are found along the west coast.

While much of the province was covered in thick glacial ice until about 10,000 years ago, the coastline and associated islands and inlets were ice-free first, thereby creating habitable environments.

In the Kamloops area, the oldest sites date to about 10,000 years old, coinciding with the glacial ice retreat.

As more research continues throughout the province, it is inevitable that additional archeological sites will be identified and the dates of the earliest human occupation will be further refined.

When comparing dates of 10,000 or more years of Indigenous occupation to settler history in this area, the time difference is stark.

The first European to set foot in the Kamloops area arrived in 1811. Settler history spans just over 200 years in the Kamloops area, while Indigenous groups have been living here for millennia.

As an archeologist working in the Southern Interior, it is often exciting and humbling to discover and hold an artifact that was manufactured thousands of years ago.

The Kamloops area has a rich history that spans thousands of years before the most recent 200 years of settler occupation in the region.

As the year 2020 was rung in across the world, its a fitting time to consider and appreciate the long and diverse history of the Kamloops region prior to the arrival of the first Europeans.

Phoebe Murphy is a Kamloops-area archeologist. Interested in more? Go online to republicofarchaeology.ca. Dig It is KTWs regularly published column on the history beneath our feet in the Kamloops region.A group of archeologists working in the area contribute columns to KTWs print edition and online at kamloopsthisweek.com.

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The marriage that overcame the evils of Nazism – Catholic Herald Online

Posted: at 3:43 pm

Last LettersBy Freya and Helmuth James von Moltke (translated by Shelley Frisch)NYRB, 432pp, 14.99/$18.95

In any society the number of people who are prepared to suffer for their beliefs and principles is generally very small. This is especially true in times of persecution, as was the case in the Third Reich, where overt opposition to the Nazi regime meant imprisonment and death.

Count Helmuth James von Moltke and his wife, Freya, were one such couple.

A member of the Prussian nobility and an Anglophile, he had trained as a lawyer and was opposed to the Nazis from the beginning. He was conscripted to work in the foreign division of the armed forces High Command at the start of the war, and he did what he could to uphold international legal standards, defend dispossessed Jews and safeguard the treatment of prisoners of war.

He arranged meetings with other principled opponents of the regime at his ancestral home in Kreisau, Silesia, starting in 1940, to discuss and prepare for a democratic post-war Germany after the Third Reich had been defeated. It was these meetings of the Kreisau Circle, which were discovered after the plot to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944, that ultimately led to Moltkes conviction for defeatism. After a brief trial in the Peoples Court under the notorious Nazi judge Roland Freisler, he was hanged on January 23, 1945.

These 150-odd letters between Moltke and his wife cover the last four months of his life.They were often exchanged daily through the unassuming courage of Harald Poelchau, the chaplain at Tegel prison in Berlin, who risked his life in smuggling them in and out. Slightly abridged to exclude repetitions, some details of his forthcoming trial and censored communications, they provide an extraordinary testament to love, Christian faith and steadfastness in the face of almost certain death. They are also passionately, palpably, personal; it is understandable that Freya, who survived her husband by 65 years, chose to delay their publication until after her own death in 2010.

She addresses the serious, indeed sombre tone of the letters, observing: If you live in the face of death, you operate at a deeper and higher level at the same time.

Nonetheless, this stark realisation brings their correspondence intensely alive, as if they are determined to live each days letter-writing to the full, in the knowledge that their time will be short. Both seriously committed to their Christian faith, they regularly share scriptural passages, especially the Psalms and New Testament, for the supernatural solace and hope of eternal life they provide.

Moltke, who had been imprisoned some months before the July Plot, had to rely on his wifes descriptions of her life at Kreisau, raising their two small sons, as she tirelessly juggled her commitments to them and to him, in her regular exhausting train journeys to Berlin. Apart from a brief, intense bout of depression, he maintained his spirits and dignity throughout. He was sustained by Freyas untiring efforts to mitigate the outcome of his trial and by their closeness as a couple.

Freya often writes with gratitude at the great gift they have been given: enough time to exchange their deepest thoughts and emotions and to prepare for the future when she would have to raise their sons, then aged seven and four, alone. Remarkably, there are no recriminations, no futile longings for might-have-beens, and no bitterness at the events that have landed them in this situation. It is as if their temperaments, their common sense of purpose and their shared Christian hope in the afterlife have combined to prepare them to face the greatest ordeal of their married life in the noblest and most courageous way.

Moltke comments in one heartfelt exchange, We are truly not entitled to more life, because we have had so much good come our way recognition that it is the spiritual intensity of life rather than longevity that ultimately matters. Thinking of the future, he also reflects that his wife will be maintaining the spiritual legacy of those of us who die, urging her to try to make it fruitful. For her part, Freya is resolute that God does not want death to split us apart. Indeed, she remained loyal to her husbands memory; after Germanys reunification Kreisau, which had become part of Poland after the war, became an international meeting place for students across Europe to live, study and debate together. This was in no small part due to Freyas energy and focus.

Moltke wonders whether our little sons will read these letters and understand them some day. His hope also came to pass; this edition of their letters was edited by their older son, Helmuth Caspar, alongside Dorothea and Johannes von Moltke, the children of his brother Konrad. Not merely of historical interest, this intensely moving correspondence deserves a place in any anthology of great letters; it reminds us that whatever vile regime comes to dominate human affairs, there will always be noble souls to witness to a different, higher form of human conduct.

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What happened to Robert Vance on Manifest? NSA director rises from the dead – Monsters and Critics

Posted: at 3:42 pm

7th January 2020 12:22 AM ET

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On NBCs hit sci-fi series Manifest, Robert Vance was the NSA director who was giving the survivors of Flight 828 a hard time.

However, over the course of the first season, Vance came around and seemed to realize there were bad things afoot and started to help the passengers.

See, there were 11 missing passengers from Flight 828 that UDS took and was experimenting on. In the episode, Dead Reckoning, Michaela, Jared, Vance, Ben, and Fiona head to the warehouse hoping to find them.

When Cal shows up and finds a hidden door, a shootout takes place and the 11 missing passengers are freed. However, Vance, Jared, and Laurence are caught in an explosion and all of them die.

The funeral for Robert Vance takes place in the next episode, called Crosswinds.

As people should expect in science fiction, and especially science fiction that includes people seemingly escaping death, dont believe everything that you see.

In the first episode of Manifest Season 2, titled Fasten Your Seatbelts, Robert Vance turns out to still be alive.

As with any explosion that does not result in a dead body pulled out of the wreckage, never assume someone is dead. Remember, he was loaded into an ambulance and the police said he didnt make it. That does not mean it is true.

Robert Vance is a spy and he can disappear if he wants to, and that appears to be what the show pulled off as the second season begins.

Ben was taken near the end of the Manifest Season 2 premiere and he ended up face-to-face with Vance.

Now that Vance is presumed dead, he can help Ben and the passengers better than he could as a government employee. In an underground manner, and thanks to his experience as a spy, Vance could be their most valuable ally now.

Of course, Robert Vance was gone for a while and there is no telling what he was up to while everything was going down last season after his death.

Manifest airs on Mondays at 10/9c on NBC.

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US troops forewarned of Iran’s missile attack by Iraq and NSA – Infosurhoy

Posted: at 3:42 pm

The Iraqi Prime Minister revealed today that Iran gave him a tip-off about last nights missile strikes, giving time for troops to scramble to bunkers.

US troops also got a heads up warning from Americas advanced detection system.

Iran fired more than a dozen missiles at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and the Erbil base in Iraqi Kurdistan in the early hours of Wednesday local time.

PM Adel Abdul Mahdi received a call from Tehran warning him an attack was imminent in retaliation for the US killing of its highest ranking general, his spokesman said.

CNN, citing an Arab diplomatic source, said that Iraqi officials then passed the information on to US troops before the attack began.

US troops were also alerted to the dangerusing an early warning system, an official revealed.

This is believed to refer to the little-knownNational Security Agency base at Fort Meade, Maryland, which gathers real-time intelligence on missile launches.

The Iraqi PM said he was told by Iran itwould only target locations where U.S. forces were present but did not specify the locations, his spokesman said.

However, as the missiles were raining down on the US bases, he also received a call from Washington to tell him what they knew of the assault.

The NSAs base at Fort Meade, the Defense Special Missile and Aerospace Center (DEFSMAC) uses a range of satellites, radar and heat detection to gather intelligence on missile launches as they happen.

The early warning system worked, an official toldUSA Today.

So far no casualties have been reported, the Pentagon issued a statement last night saying, We are working on initial battle damage assessments.

Those in harms way at theAin al-Asad airbase are understood to have taken cover in bunkers throughout the bombardment, putting in place well-drilled practices.

Buildings were still being searched to find possible casualties, an official said.Iraqi officials confirmed there had not been any casualties among their forces.

President Donald Trump tweeted thatall is well and so far so good as the damage and casualties continued to be assessed.

The Iraqi military said 22 missiles were fired in total 17 at the Asad base, two of which failed to explode, and five more that struck Erbil International Airport.

US officials put the total slightly lower at 15 ten of which hit Asad, one which hit Erbil, four which failed in flight.

The Fort Meade base evolved during the Cold War and detected Iraqs launch of Scud missiles during the first Gulf War, NBC reported.

The 22 missiles fired last night are believed to be a combination of the Qiam-1s orFateh-110s.

The majority of those used are believed to be the Fateh-110, which can travel 180 miles or 300km and have a payload of around 500lb.

Reports also suggest the Qiam-1 was also used, a short range ballistic missile produced by Iran which can travel 500 miles and carry 750lb warheads.

The Fateh-110 is an Iranian-designed, short-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile that can be launched from any location.

While the Qiam-1 was specifically built to target U.S. bases in the Middle East, which have encircled Iran, according to Iranian sources.

When it was launched the Fateh-110 was described by Iranian defence minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami as 100-percent domestically made agile, stealth, tactical (and) precision-guided.

Both missiles are reported to have been fired from Tabriz and Kermanshah provinces in Iran.

Ain al-Asad air base was first used by American forces after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein, and later saw American troops stationed there amid the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.

It houses about 1,500 U.S. and coalition forces.

About 70 Norwegian troops also were on the air base but no injuries were reported, Brynjar Stordal, a spokesperson for the Norwegian Armed Forces said.

The rockets used in the attack, according to Iranian TV, were Fatteh-110 ballistic missiles, which have a range of 186 miles or 300km.

The Pentagon had earlier said the missiles were clearly launched from Iran to target U.S. military and coalition forces.

Irans Revolutionary Guards admitted to firing the rockets in retaliation for last weeks killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

They reported the operations name was Martyr Soleimani and it took place just hours after the slain generals funeral.

Irans foreign minister Javad Zarif called the attacks self-defense but said they did not seek escalation but would defend itself against further aggression.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a branch of the Iranian Armed Forces, reportedly said Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei was personally in the control center coordinating the attacks.

In the immediate aftermath, they warned U.S. allies in the Middle East that they would face retaliation if America strikes back against any Iranian targets from their bases.

We are warning all American allies, who gave their bases to its terrorist army, that any territory that is the starting point of aggressive acts against Iran will be targeted, they said. It also threatened Israel.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said after the attacks that the missile strikes were an act of war and said Trump had all the power he needed to act.

This is an act of war by any reasonable definition, Graham told Fox News Sean Hannity.

The President has all the authority he needs under Article II to respond.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tweeted that the U.S., as well as the rest of the world, cannot afford war.

Closely monitoring the situation following bombings targeting U.S. troops in Iraq. We must ensure the safety of our servicemembers, including ending needless provocations from the Administration and demanding that Iran cease its violence. America & world cannot afford war, she tweeted.

The missiles strikes prompted the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration to ban U.S. carriers from operating in the airspace over Iraq, Iran, the Gulf of Oman and the waters between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

That decision came just hours before a Ukrainian passenger plane bound for Kiev fell from the sky just outside of Tehran sparking speculation it was shot down, killing all 170 passengers on board.

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The Top Biotech Trends We’ll Be Watching in 2020 – Singularity Hub

Posted: at 3:41 pm

Last year left us with this piece of bombshell news: He Jiankui, the mastermind behind the CRISPR babies scandal, has been sentenced to three years in prison for violating Chinese laws on scientific research and medical management. Two of his colleagues also face prison for genetically engineering human embryos that eventually became the worlds first CRISPRd babies.

The story isnt over: at least one other scientist is eagerly following Hes footsteps in creating gene-edited humans, although he stresses that he wont implant any engineered embryos until receiving regulatory approval.

Biotech stories are rarely this dramatic. But as gene editing tools and assisted reproductive technologies increase in safety and precision, were bound to see ever more mind-bending headlines. Add in a dose of deep learning for drug discovery and synthetic biology, and its fair to say were getting closer to reshaping biology from the ground upboth ourselves and other living creatures around us.

Here are two stories in biotech were keeping our eyes on. Although successes likely wont come to fruition this year (sorry), these futuristic projects may be closer to reality than you think.

The idea of human-animal chimeras immediately triggers ethical aversion, but the dream of engineering replacement human organs in other animals is gaining momentum.

There are two main ways to do this. The slightly less ethically-fraught idea is to grow a fleet of pigs with heavily CRISPRd organs to make them more human-like. It sounds crazy, but scientists have already successfully transplanted pig hearts into baboonsa stand-in for people with heart failurewith some recipients living up to 180 days before they were euthanized. Despite having foreign hearts, the baboons were healthy and acted like their normal buoyant selves post-op.

But for cross-species transplantation, or xenotransplants to work in humans, we need to deal with PERVsa group of nasty pig genes scattered across the porcine genome, remnants of ancient viral infections that can tag along and potentially infect unsuspecting human recipients.

Theres plenty of progress here too: back in 2017 scientists at eGenesis, a startup spun off from Dr. George Churchs lab, used CRISPR to make PERV-free pig cells that eventually became PERV-free piglets after cloning. Then last month, eGenesis reported the birth of Pig3.0, the worlds most CRISPRd animal to further increase organ compatibility. These PERV-free genetic wonders had three pig genes that stimulate immunorejection removed, and nine brand new human genes to make themin theorymore compatible with human physiology. When raised to adulthood, pig3.0 could reproduce and pass on their genetic edits.

Although only a first clinical propotype that needs further validation and refinement, eGenesis is hopeful. According to one (perhaps overzealous) estimate, the first pig-to-human xenotranplant clinical trial could come in just two years.

The more ethically-challenged idea is to grow human organs directly inside other animalsin other words, engineer human-animal hybrid embryos and bring them to term. This approach marries two ethically uncomfortable technologies, germline editing and hybrids, into one solution that has many wondering if these engineered animals may somehow receive a dose of humanness by accident during development. What if, for example, human donor cells end up migrating to the hybrid animals brain?

Nevertheless, this year scientists at the University of Tokyo are planning to grow human tissue in rodent and pig embryos and transplant those hybrids into surrogates for further development. For now, bringing the embryos to term is completely out of the question. But the line between humans and other animals will only be further blurred in 2020, and scientists have begun debating a new label, substantially human, for living organisms that are mainly human in characteristicsbut not completely so.

With over 800 gene therapy trials in the running and several in mature stages, well likely see a leap in new gene medicine approvals and growth in CAR-T spheres. For now, although transformative, the three approved gene therapies have had lackluster market results, spurring some to ponder whether companies may cut down on investment.

The research community, however, is going strong, with a curious bifurcating trend emerging. Let me explain.

Genetic medicine, a grab-bag term for treatments that directly change genes or their expression, is usually an off-the-shelf solution. Cell therapies, such as the blood cancer breakthrough CAR-T, are extremely personalized in that a patients own immune cells are genetically enhanced. But the true power of genetic medicine lies in its potential for hyper-personalization, especially when it comes to rare genetic disorders. In contrast, CAR-Ts broader success may eventually rely on its ability to become one-size-fits-all.

One example of hyper-tailored gene medicine success is the harrowing story of Mila, a six-year-old with Batten disease, a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that is always fatal and was previously untreatable. Thanks to remarkable efforts from multiple teams, however, in just over a year scientists developed a new experimental therapy tailored to her unique genetic mutation. Since receiving the drug, Milas condition improved significantly.

Milas case is a proof-of-concept of the power of N=1 genetic medicine. Its unclear whether other children also carry her particular mutationBatten has more than a dozen different variants, each stemming from different genetic miscodingor if anyone else would ever benefit from the treatment.

For now, monumental costs and other necessary resources make it impossible to pull off similar feats for a broader population. This is a shame, because inherited diseases rarely have a single genetic cause. But costs for genome mapping and DNA synthesis are rapidly declining. Were starting to better understand how mutations lead to varied disorders. And with multiple gene medicines, such as antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) finally making a comeback after 40 years, its not hard to envision a new era of hyper-personalized genetic treatments, especially for rare diseases.

In contrast, the path forward for CAR-T is to strip its personalization. Both FDA-approved CAR-T therapies require doctors to collect a patients own immune T cells, preserved and shipped to a manufacturer, genetically engineered to boost their cancer-hunting abilities, and infused back into patients. Each cycle is a race against the cancer clock, requiring about three to four weeks to manufacture. Shipping and labor costs further drive up the treatments price tag to hundreds of thousands of dollars per treatment.

These considerable problems have pushed scientists to actively research off-the-shelf CAR-T therapies, which can be made from healthy donor cells in giant batches and cryopreserved. The main stumbling block is immunorejection: engineered cells from donors can cause life-threatening immune problems, or be completely eliminated by the cancer patients immune system and lose efficacy.

The good news? Promising results are coming soon. One idea is to use T cells from umbilical cord blood, which are less likely to generate an immune response. Another is to engineer T cells from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)mature cells returned back to a young, stem-like state. A patients skin cells, for example, could be made into iPSCs that constantly renew themselves, and only pushed to develop into cancer-fighting T cells when needed.

Yet another idea is to use gene editing to delete proteins on T cells that can trigger an immune responsethe first clinical trials with this approach are already underway. With at least nine different off-the-shelf CAR-T in early human trials, well likely see movement in industrialized CAR-T this year.

Theres lots of other stories in biotech we here at Singularity Hub are watching. For example, the use of AI in drug discovery, after years of hype, may finally meet its reckoning. That is, can the technology actually speed up the arduous process of finding new drug targets or the design of new drugs?

Another potentially game-changing story is that of Biogens Alzheimers drug candidate, which reported contradicting results last year but was still submitted to the FDA. If approved, itll be the first drug to slow cognitive decline in a decade. And of course, theres always the potential for another mind-breaking technological leap (or stumble?) thats hard to predict.

In other words: we cant wait to bring you new stories from biotechs cutting edge in 2020.

Image Credit: Image by Konstantin Kolosov from Pixabay

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All-Female League Of Legends Team Announced By Team Singularity – TheGamer

Posted: at 3:41 pm

Team Singularity turns heads yet again with their recent release of a new EuropeanLeague of Legendsteam to represent their organization.

But what makes this announcement unique is that it's an all-female team, which changes things up a bit. Team Singularity introduces six talented professional gamers into their organization to be the full frontal face of their organization for the competitive scene of League of Legends.

Players:

*Adelina Cathrine Nlsn

*Ida Emprez Pedersen

*Joanna Ravea Kinga Janeczek

*Anette Pjush Holm

*Popescu Ali Alexandra Cristina

*Katarzyna Ayrine Gadowska

RELATED:G2 Esports Forms League Of Legends Academy Team Called G2 Arctic

Team Singularity CEO,Atle S. Stehouwer, gave the newly-introduced andformer players a warm welcome, assured that success was right around the corner for the organization and the all-female roster:

Im pleased to announce that we have decided to once again open our Female League of Legends team and have teamed up with three of our former players to make a competitive roster we believe have what it takes to get on top of the European female scene. This is the first step of a bigger plan trying to aid the consistency of the female League of Legends scene and community, but more on that matter in the end of January.

Old-time players Adelina Nlsn and Anette Holm of Team Singularity expressed great excitement for the new roster and journey with the organization:

After taking a few months break from playing I am very excited to be doing this again, and of course it feels even better that it is with girls and an organization I know and trust. I am quite hopeful for the team ,and lastly, I am happy to be back in Singularity where I know I will always have a place," stated Adelina.

Anette echoed that enthusiasm. With two new players, we have worked through a lot to get here and Im hoping that it will all pay off and that we do well. It is good to be back in a place I am familiar with and trust!

An all-female esports team is a rarity in this day and age, with only quite a few groups being present now. By and large, men still dominate the scene.But with 2020 being a new decade, it's only right that with it comes more new changes. For Team Singularity, this isn't the first time they've decided to add a female team to their organization.

Team Singularity had an all-female team in the past named Singularity Female, which included the newly-introduced players now, Cathrine, Ida, and Ravea. But in the roster's activity last year, the team participated in the Women's Esport League Division 1: Division 1 and placed fourth out of eight teams. With the evident success the team had in theirLeague of Legends competitive run, it took half a year for the ceased team to come back and for natural standards to break, yet again.

This is a major step for equality in the esports scene. We're getting closerto a more widespread adoption of gender inclusive practices across games.

NEXT:Riot Games Teases League Of Legends Season '2020' Details

Source: Team Singularity

Watch and Learn: An Interview With Victor Folmann, CEO and Founder of GamerzClass

Jay is an eighteen-year-old happy-go-lucky guy that loves writing about gaming and esports. Although Jay is new to the professional scene, he has covered esport and gaming news for the likes of VPGame, Esportz Network, Madskil, FortnitEsports.GG, and currently The Gamer. Additionally, Jay is obsessed with gaming, having played almost every popular MOBA, FPS, and MMORPG game out there. If you want to invite Jay to a game of CS: GO, Dota 2, or even League of Legends, you can find him on his Twitter @LunariaThe7th.

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All-Female League Of Legends Team Announced By Team Singularity - TheGamer

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