Archive for the ‘Life Extension’ Category

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Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Market Is Set for a Rapid Growth and is Expected to Reach USD Billion by 2027| Haotian Pharm, Absorb Health, Life Extension,...

It's not entirely clear where the seven aircraft are coming from. An OV-10D+, known by its old U.S. Navy Bureau Number (BuNo) 155493, and an OV-10G, also referred to by its BuNo, 155409, are among the Broncos that Blue Air Training is buying, according to Warbird News.

The Navy first acquired 155493 as an OV-10A in 1968 and it was among the fleet assigned to the service's famous Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4), also known as the "Black Ponies," during the Vietnam War. It was later transferred to the U.S. Marine Corps, where it was later converted into the OV-10D configuration with its distinctly longer nose, as well as uprated engines and other improvements. All of the Marine OV-10Ds were further upgraded into D+s in the 1990s with strengthed wings, updated wiring, and other improvements as part of a service-life extension program.

The Marine Corps, which was the last U.S. military service to fly the Bronco on a widespread basis, retired the last of its examples in 1995. The Air Force sent its remaining OV-10s to the bone yard four years earlier.

The U.S. State Department's Air Wing, which you can read about in more detail in this past War Zone story, eventually acquired 155493, among other OV-10s, and had Marsh Aviation put it through another upgrade and modification program to turn it into an herbicide sprayer aircraft to support counter-narcotics operations. Beyond the spray equipment, the most visible change was the addition of four-blade propellers to the plane's two engines.

Read the rest here:
The Bronco Is Back! A Fleet Of OV-10s Will Help Train Air Force Forward Air Controllers - The Drive

Yuri Molchan

Major crypto platform founders support anti-aging research, saying that a bigger population could live even with finite resources

Ethereums Vitalik Buterin, IOTAs David Snsteb and Trons Justin Sun are discussing anti-aging research andsupporting it. Buterin admittedthat thisidea is weird for many peoplethese days, though, he also calledaging a humanitarian disaster.

In the course of a recent discussion of weird ideas on Twitter, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, suggested discussing anti-aging research, calling aging a humanitarian disaster.

He stated that every two years, as many people die from aging as didin World War 2. Additionally, he saidthat theissue burdens social systems and families. Buterin hopes that soon scientists will be able to significantly extend the human life span.

When asked about the planet getting overpopulated and the issue of the resources coming to an end, the Ethereum co-founder stated:

On average a new person contributes more to the resources available to existing humans than they deplete. (This is due to their productive labor, scientific research, the change they become the next Norman Borlaug, etc...)

We are nowhere near any theoretical bounds on our ability to use those resources. Our efficiency in using limited resources has increased by orders of magnitude in the last two centuries, and can rise orders of magnitude more.

Must Read

IOTA founder, David Snsteb, has responded, saying that in 2020 the discussion on life-extension measures should not at all be considered a weird idea, unlike it was fifteen years ago, in 2005.

Now, Snsteb tweeted, this should be the universal common sense position.

The Tron founder Justin Sun briefly joinedthe discussion.

In an exclusive interview with U.Today, the IOHK CEO and Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also shared his take on the subject of anti-aging.

While describing possible trends of the future, he mentioned a largely growing market of life extension products and services. He recalled thewell-known example of a jellyfish that can regenerate and thus live forever.

So there's probably going to be a considerable amount of improvement in regenerative biology and an improvement in a human lifespan extension and new therapies and medicines to keep us healthy into our deep old age. So then what does that mean? It means you have a human race that doesn't recycle every 80 years. They may last a lot longer.

He also suggestedthat as the anti-aging trend likely gets wider and stronger, there will be fewer religious people accepting death as a natural part of human life.

See the article here:
Vitalik Buterin Wants to Rid Humanity of Aging, David Snsteb and Justin Sun Join In - U.Today

Great Panther Mining (GPL +0.4%) says that it aims to ramp up exploration, expand its resources and improve its finances

GPL said that in 2020, the firm would invest a minimum of $11M aimed at realizing exploration potential at its assets, with particular focus on mine life extension at the Brazil mine and a possible re-start of the Guanajuato Mine

Q4 revenue came in at $65.6M, +381% Y/Y, reflecting the acquisition of Tucano.

Net loss was $28.1M, as mine operating earnings were offset by an impairment of Tucano goodwill.

Great Panther said it could not yet provide company-wide guidance for 2020 but could offer operating guidance for both Tucano and the GMC mines.

For Tucano, 2020 planned production is between 120,000 and 130,000 gold ounces - up around between 13% and 23%.

At GMC, planned production is between 1.2M to 1.4M silver equivalent ounces, a decline of ~7% to 20%

Previously: Great Panther Mining EPS misses by $0.06, beats on revenue (March 31)

Original post:
Great Panther Mining focusing on exploration, resource expansion and finances for 2020 - Seeking Alpha

MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ:XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disease, today announced it has entered into a technology license agreement with Vir Biotechnology, Inc., in which Vir will have non-exclusive access to Xencors Xtend Fc technology to extend the half-life of novel antibodies that Vir is investigating as potential treatments for patients with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

The COVID-19 crisis requires urgent and coordinated action by the biotechnology industry to develop new drugs and vaccines. Xtend Fc technology has demonstrated, in multiple antibodies and through numerous human clinical trials, the ability to extend antibody drug half-life and reduce dosing frequency in patients, an important feature in anti-viral therapy for pandemic use, said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer at Xencor. We are committed to broadly using Xtend technology, and our other XmAb tools, to rapidly develop potential treatments for COVID-19. Virs antibody candidates, supported by their deep infectious disease expertise, are a promising approach for treating coronavirus infections.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vir will be solely responsible for the activities and costs related to research, development, regulatory and commercial activities. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Xencor and Vir previously entered into a separate technology license agreement in August 2019, in which Xencor provided a non-exclusive license to Xtend technology for Vir's use in developing and commercializing antibodies as potential treatments for patients with influenza and hepatitis B virus infection.

Xencor continues to evaluate the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ongoing and planned clinical studies. The Company is currently maintaining preestablished guidance on 2020 corporate milestones and will provide additional updates as needed.

About Xtend XmAb Fc Technology

Xencors Xtend XmAb Fc domains increase circulating half-life by increasing binding affinity to the receptor FcRn. FcRn is present inside lysosomes in endothelial cells lining the blood vessels and functions to rescue antibodies from the degradation that makes most proteins short-lived in circulation. Half-life extension can be exploited to potentially improve therapeutic antibody performance in several ways, such as increasing dosing interval or decreasing drug quantities at the same dosing interval compared to a parent antibody. Xtend technology is currently in multiple clinical-stage programs and one approved therapy, Alexions Ultomiris (ravulizumab-cwvz).

About Xencor, Inc.

Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. Currently, 15 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb technology are in clinical development internally and with partners. Xencor's XmAb antibody engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action. For more information, please visit http://www.xencor.com.

Xencor Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, the quotations from Xencor's president and chief executive officer and any expectations relating to Xencor's technology, clinical trials, patient outcomes, future product candidates, research and development programs, regulatory and commercialization activities, partnering efforts and business. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements and the timing of events to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such risks include, without limitation, the risks associated with the process of discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics and other risks described in Xencor's public securities filings. For a discussion of these and other factors, please refer to Xencor's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 as well as Xencor's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on Xencor's current information and belief as well as assumptions made by Xencor. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Xencor undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law.

Go here to see the original:
Xencor and Vir Biotechnology Enter License Agreement for Use of Xtend XmAb Antibody Technology in Investigational Antibodies to Treat COVID-19 -...

USS America was the third Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier and the third ship in the US Navy to bear the name. Initially commissioned as attack aircraft carrier CVA 66, she was redesignated as multi-purpose aircraft carrier CV 66 on Jun. 30, 1975. Decommissioned on Aug. 9, 1996, the USS America spend the following years at the Naval Inactive Ships Facility in Philadelphia.

On Apr. 19, 2005, the carrier left Philadelphia under tow on its final mission. The America was towed off the east coast where the ship was finally disposed of during a classified SinkEx.

The USS America is the only supercarrier ever sunk, either on purpose or in combat. Blake Horner, Mechanical Engineer, explains why on Quora It took four weeks and they ended up having to scuttle her from on board due to her not sinking. She is not only far larger than WWII battleships, but she is also a lot tougher. While she does not have the heavy armor the battleships of yore had, she does have a double layered hull, meaning weapons have to push through alternating layers of steel and empty pockets to reach her internals.

On top of that, her internal compartmentalization was far better than that of battleships. She is so large, there are so many more rooms that must be filled in order to make her sink than that of a battleship.

Additionally, thanks to modern technology, most bombs, torpedoes and missiles actually have smaller warheads than what they used against WWII vessels. And in the process of the tests, they were actually using controlled explosives, not actual weapons.

The whole point of the tests was to make future carriers more survivable, as well as see how warships reacted to underwater explosion and damage. Clearly, after taking a beating for four weeks, they can survive a LOT due to just their sheer bulk. But at the same time, the tests were not meant to truly sink her immediately. Thus, there was no shoot to kill mindset of the naval officers conducting the test, versus the whole point of attacking enemy battleships was to sink them.

America lasted so much longer because A) they were not trying to sink her immediately (though they did end up having to board her to make her sink) and B) her sheer bulk made it a lot harder to sink by being able to absorb damage better than battleships.

Americawas planned to be sold for scrapping. However, she was chosen to be alive-fire testand evaluation platform in 2005, to aid the design of future aircraft carriers. There was some objection to a ship being named after the U.S. being deliberately sunk at sea, and a committee of her former crew members and other supporters attempted to save the ship for use as amuseum ship.Their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In a letter to them, then-Vice Chief of Naval OperationsAdmiralJohn B. Nathmanexplained:

Americawill make one final and vital contribution to our national defense, this time as a live-fire test and evaluation platform.Americas legacy will serve as a footprint in the design of future carriers ships that will protect the sons, daughters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren ofAmericaveterans. We will conduct a variety of comprehensive tests above and below the waterline collecting data for use by naval architects and engineers in creating the nations future carrier fleet. It is essential we make those ships as highly survivable as possible. When that mission is complete, theAmericawill slip quietly beneath the sea. I knowAmericahas a very special place in your hearts, not only for the name, but also for your service aboard her. I ask that you understand why we selected this ship for this one last crucial mission and make note of the critical nature of her final service.

Horner concludes:

Economically, it was the smallest loss to the original cost ratio versus any of theNimitzclass, or even its sister ships of theKitty Hawkclass (USS America never really went through the Navys Carrier Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) and therefore, the ship was in bad shape during its last years of service. In the early 1990s the America even had one of her flight deck elevators fall with an S-3B aircraft and several blueshirts on it. Additionally, the carrier suffered steam and fuel leaks and also in the early 1990s, returning home from deployment the carrier cut through a Hurricane destroying large parts of the flight deck catwalks.). America was conventionally powered, meaning they did not have to worry about the nuclear radiation of aNimitzclass. It was of similar size and design to theNimitzso they could learn just as much as they would from sinking one of those in preparation for theFordclass. There were no plans for using her as a potential reactivation ship (one that could come back to service) or as a museum, as she was in very bad condition in comparison to her sisters. It resulted that the potential benefits far outweighed the loss, as the lessons learned from sinking her would allow the Navy to perfect theGerald R.Fordclass, which was under development. It was just a logical decision in allowing the vessel to serve in one last capacity, without having to pay for tearing her apart or letting her sit as a museum. And hopefully, it worked.

Photo credit: Photographers Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg / U.S. Navy

Read this article:
Heres why it Took four Weeks to Scuttle USS America, the Only Supercarrier Ever Sunk - The Aviation Geek Club

* From Gov. Pritzkers press conference

Even though weve moved past the point of pure containment, it remains a priority to further build our testing abilities in part to understand the presence and spread of COVID 19 across the state. In our last testing announcement on the 24th, we were running about 2000 tests per day across our three state labs, our four commercial labs and our 15 hospital labs. Today were now averaging around 4000 tests per day. And in total we have now run nearly 28,000 tests here in Illinois with 30 Hospital and clinical laboratories now up and running.

Within the next 10 days we believe that we will be up to 10,000 tests per day. Again, were at 4000 today. That marker 10,000 is significant because its the number of tests per day that the scientists and experts tell us that we need to get a truly holistic understanding of the virus in each of our hundred and two counties.

Right now were working with roughly the same data that the majority of states are working with. That gives our state a rough picture of the viruses landscape across our state and in our municipalities by extrapolating the data using modeling largely based on the viruses spread in other countries. This 10,000 a day marker will give us the data to run a more mathematically significant model that offers us improved insight into how well our interventions are working. Ultimately, my goal is to reach a large enough testing capacity, where were able to test. Everyone who needs a test on a regular basis. But for right now all of the experts point to 10,000 tests as the standard that we need to achieve again.

Again, I want to be frank with you, where we are now is not where I want to be. Every day we arent hitting 10,000 tests or more is another day that were not able to get answers that help us get past this current crisis.

And to be clear though, loss of essentially the entire month of February in the effort to scale up robust testing, and the exponential spread that followed, was a profound failing of the federal government. State leaders have spent every day since then, trying to correct for this foundational mistake.

Nationally, there have been some improvements in testing, but we still have so far to go. The United States is still trailing other countries in testing on a per capita basis, several times over. In all the states we are working to fill the gap.

But the most frustrating part of this gap is, its not just in the past. The White House has promised millions of tests for weeks now and theyre just not here. To be clear, I also welcome the testing capacity when it actually arrives, but Im not going to wait on promises from the federal government that may never be fulfilled. We need this testing capacity now, so were building it ourselves in Illinois.

Heres how were getting there. All three of our state labs are running a second shift of technicians to run samples, and well be adding a third shift when we can get our hands on an even larger supply of the reagent and viral transport media, and other material elements needed beyond the swabs themselves.

Second, and this is key, were acquiring additional laboratory robotics to load our 12 real time PCR machines at a multi thousand unit increase in single day capacity. Were getting our first two machines on loan. And well have them up and running by Tuesday, and we expect the others later this week. This technology is crucial, as it replaces manual loading and shrinks down the bottleneck for results. Were working with the University of Illinois discovery partners Institute to ensure our staffing and logistics reflects this increased capacity, as well as exploring options with the Illinois State Police to utilize their manpower to move materials and equipment to maximize daily capacity at each of our three state labs.

You also might have heard that Friday, Abbott Laboratories, an Illinois company announced a portable five minute rapid test for COVID 19. That same night I picked up the phone and I spoke with the president of Abbott, and the CEO of Abbott separately to ask that Illinois be first in line. Im proud to say that they expressed their real dedication to taking care of their home state, and will be very helpful to us here in Illinois as their production ramps up. In a parallel effort, were collaborating with our university and hospital partners to ensure Illinois commercial testing can grow as fast as possible.

As for our drive-thru testing, weve added a fifth facility since our last testing update the Illinois National Guard, really truly an amazing group, the Illinois National Guard has opened up a second state run drive thru testing facility in McLean county yesterday, joining our Harwood heights community based testing site in northwest Chicago, and the three federal HHS sites in Bolingbrook North Lake and Joliet. Our state run sites have been a huge success. And in addition to our McLean county site. Were investigating additional areas around the state to launch potential drive thru locations symptomatic first responders healthcare workers seniors and all people with underlying health conditions will be able to visit these sites.

* Federal red tape and delays

Still, due to the federal government requiring federal personnel representation at our two state drive throughs we remain tied to a 250 test cap at each of these locations. We know theres greater need at our longer running Harwood Heights site. Weve been hitting 250 tests by just the early afternoon, and having to turn people away. Wed like to be able to test more than 400 people a day at these sites and think that we can. We have the capacity to do so. So were pushing the federal government to change their requirements and allow us to test more than 250 people were turning people away that we just shouldnt have to. And we asked the federal government to remove their restriction.

Were also pressuring the federal government on the return timelines of these tests. The private labs contracted by the federal government are taking four to seven days, sometimes even up to 10 days to turn around results. That is far too long. Were doing it much faster in the state of Illinois, with the capacity that we have.

* Evictions

Were seeing news stories out of other states about nurses being thrown out of apartments or are denied the ability to rent their apartments out of fear of exposure by other tenants. Weve not yet specifically heard of instances like that here in Illinois. But let me be very clear, that will not be tolerated in our state. I want to remind everyone that evictions are prohibited during this disaster to begin with. But I also want to make sure that landlords are not inappropriately terminating leases. So let me say this here in Illinois we are fortunate to have a very strong community of attorneys that are ready to fight for nurses and for all healthcare workers to make sure that their rights are protected. If any healthcare workers encounter this situation. They should immediately contact the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for assistance.

* On to questions for the governor. Why havent construction projects been halted? Some are complaining that they are working too close together on the sites

Well, its certainly up to the companies that are doing the construction to make sure that people are social distancing that are working there. There should be an opportunity at most construction sites to do that. But to the extent that theyre not able to, that is a concern certainly for me and it should be for the owners of the companies that people are operating those construction sites. So anybody that is concerned about that certainly should be reporting that to the Department of Public Health or letting my administration know, because there is, remember that much of what is being done is essential work thats been determined at least as essential under our order and we dont want anybody to be at risk but but we also want to make sure that were, you know, continuing the necessary work across the state. So please, anybody thats experiencing that should let us know.

Again, please pardon all typos.

* Asked about closures of local parks and forest preserves

Those decisions are being made on a city by city, county by county basis, and should be by the locals there.

* Reached the peak?

No we have not hit the peak here in Chicago, or in the state of Illinois and were going to continue to see an increase unfortunately of cases, and likely deaths.

* There have been a lot of reports nationally about the PPE shelf life extension program. Has the federal government let Illinois extend the shelf life of COVID 19 intensive supplies and how big is that stockpile?

All of the PPE that we have in the state anything that is expired or deemed to be expired is being checked its being sampled and checked. According to the regulations for extending that shelf life so were trying to be very careful about any PPE thats being distributed that has any extension and making sure that were keeping our healthcare workers safe. I should also add though that were running through PPE at a reasonable clip across the state. Were also acquiring millions of units PPE. Most of what we are acquiring is being shipped out to locations where theyre running through the PPE so I would expect that in many places theyll be using the PPE that was recently acquired recently manufactured. And were going to continue to make those acquisitions, so youll be seeing even more PPE but weve checked with all of our local health departments and continue to talk to the hospitals and health care centers to make sure that the end nursing homes and other locations where we need PP to make sure that people have what they need. And that were supplying them with anything that they may need, especially in the near future.

* Governor, people downstate need to hear from you in person. And provided you and your staff can travel safely without becoming ill, when will you be back downstate?

I appreciate the question and I always love to be in downstate Illinois. I was there just a week ago I think, it seems like about a month or two ago, but thats the way time is moving right now. In Murphysboro, in Springfield, and elsewhere and I am in Carbondale, so Im going to, I am not reticent to travel. And I certainly will try to find a moment in the near future.

I would just remind you, though, that the virus has been so severe in North Eastern Illinois in the in Chicago in the collar counties. Ive tried to make sure that Ive been on hand to make decisions here about the thousands and thousands of people that have been affected here, while also looking seriously at the areas of the state like St Clair and Madison counties, like Jackson County Peoria and Champaign where theres been a rising number of cases. But Im glad somebody asked and Im always glad to travel and I will do so and sometime in the near future.

* The University of Washington projected the COVID 19 apex in Illinois at April 16, and forecasted 2454 deaths by August. Do those figures and other data in this analysis align with the current state projections?

We have our own statisticians and and modelers that along with the scientists and experts here, we have now taken that University of Washington data and melded in some of the conclusions that they reached, looked at the data sets that they had, and tried to make sure that were doing the right thing in terms of our modeling here in Illinois. Were not concluded, every day theres new information that goes into these models. But I think that it is fair to say that most of the models that Ive seen and weve seen a number of them show that well be peaking sometime in April in Illinois. And were not yet close to that, you know, we have weeks to go.

* Is it a foregone conclusion that our medical infrastructure will be vastly overwhelmed in a few weeks? What are you going to do about it?

Oh my goodness. That is my number one concern is to make sure that we dont have our medical capacity overwhelmed. But I must say when you look at New York, when you look at other places in the country, and you see how fast the beds are filling, the ICU beds, hospitalizations and so on. You cant help but feel that they have been running as hard as they can to create capacity and to mitigate and put in orders.

So, in terms of the mitigation efforts that we put in place, I am pleased that we were able to be early, or at least to do it as quickly as possible. And that has helped us to drop the number of cases that we think will hit the hospitals going forward.

But I must tell you that theres not enough capacity today. That is why you see us building out facilities across the state, thats why you see us putting in triage centers. Were building, our national guardsmen and others are putting up tents and other facilities at 10s of dozens of hospitals across the state to make sure that were able to keep people separate, that the epidemic doesnt fly through an emergency room for example. And then were building out capacity at some hospitals to just literally add beds in an on to facilities that already exist, and then McCormick Place and the hospitals that were looking to turn on in the next couple of weeks.

* Question for IDPH Director: If you dont have adequate testing yet and were already roughly halfway through the stay at home order, then how do we measure the rate of transmission? Do we have any evidence to suggest that the spread is slowing?

In addition to testing, we also have the hospital data. Every day, we collect the number of people who are admitted with COVID disease, who have coded like disease, who maybe havent had their testing. Were checking the amount of people with these illnesses that require ICU admission that require the use of a ventilator. And so following those numbers as well, that gives us a track and actual good data in terms of how this is growing and how this is spreading and how our capacity might be reached and how much more we will need. So those data are additional data points that we can use for the modeling that can supplement what we dont have with widespread testing.

-30-

Adding I shouldve added this. The question for the IDPH Director was: What information can you tell us about the nine month old who has died? Is it known how the baby contracted the virus, have the parents tested positive? And what is the status of the other infant who tested positive?

The investigation of the infant that we reported about yesterday is still very fresh. We are trying to gather all the data before speaking. I know that theres a lot of concern as hearing about the death of an infant who also had COVID. And so we really want to get a complete report.

Gov. Pritzker also responded

I would remind parents out there that this is highly uncommon. I mean, it really is highly uncommon. That isnt to say that that every infant is safe, but it just is. Its so uncommon that, at least when I started to do the work and listen to the experts about it, I got at least some comfort in the idea that this is not something that we should expect to hear a lot more of, because its just not happening very often at all.

* Some hospitals nationally are continuing to do elective surgeries because they have to worry about their bottom line. How does that fit in with the coronavirus directives in Illinois?

Well, first of all, we, you know, we had to make space for theres an elective surgery somebody can put off, then we had to ask people to do that. And we realized that it has a financial impact on hospitals. But I have to say, first to the credit of the hospitals, that was not their primary concern when they heard that we were considering it they understood that we needed to do this. And many of them wanted to let us know how quickly they could get to a state where theyre not doing elective surgeries. And so Im very proud of those institutions and I thank them very much for their willingness. There is a significant financial impact on the hospitals and thats why the last relief package had a large amount over 100 billion dollars. That was dedicated to hospitals and health centers precisely in part because the impact of COVID 19 on hospitals, has been, I mean, you know, severe, and theyre doing the work anyway theyre theyre doing it and theyre, you know theyre losing money doing everything that theyre doing, but theyre saving peoples lives and Im so grateful for that were gonna work very hard with our federal delegation to help take care of the hospitals that have stepped up. All of them have

Originally posted here:
Your Illinois News Radar Pritzker says 4,000 tests per day being done, 10K tests per day in ten days - Bemoans federal red tape - Warns landlords...

This article was originally published here

Trends in disease incidence and survival and their effect on mortality in Scotland: nationwide cohort study of linked hospital admission and death records 2001-2016.

BMJ Open. 2020 Mar 25;10(3):e034299

Authors: Timmers PRHJ, Kerssens JJ, Minton J, Grant I, Wilson JF, Campbell H, Fischbacher CM, Joshi PK

AbstractOBJECTIVES: Identify causes and future trends underpinning Scottish mortality improvements and quantify the relative contributions of disease incidence and survival.DESIGN: Population-based study.SETTING: Linked secondary care and mortality records across Scotland.PARTICIPANTS: 1967130 individuals born between 1905 and 1965 and resident in Scotland from 2001 to 2016.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospital admission rates and survival within 5years postadmission for 28 diseases, stratified by sex and socioeconomic status.RESULTS: Influenza and pneumonia, Symptoms and signs involving circulatory and respiratory systems and Malignant neoplasm of respiratory and intrathoracic organs were the hospital diagnosis groupings associated with most excess deaths, being both common and linked to high postadmission mortality. Using disease trends, we modelled a mean mortality HR of 0.737 (95% CI 0.730 to 0.745) from one decade of birth to the next, equivalent to a life extension of ~3 years per decade. This improvement was 61% (30%-93%) accounted for by improved disease survival after hospitalisation (principally cancer) with the remainder accounted for by lowered hospitalisation incidence (principally heart disease and cancer). In contrast, deteriorations in infectious disease incidence and survival increased mortality by 9% (~3.3 months per decade). Disease-driven mortality improvements were slightly greater for men than women (due to greater falls in disease incidence), and generally similar across socioeconomic deciles. We project mortality improvements will continue over the next decade but slow by 21% because much progress in disease survival has already been achieved.CONCLUSION: Morbidity improvements broadly explain observed mortality improvements, with progress on prevention and treatment of heart disease and cancer contributing the most. The male-female health gaps are closing, but those between socioeconomic groups are not. Slowing improvements in morbidity may explain recent stalling in improvements of UK period life expectancies. However, these could be offset if we accelerate improvements in the diseases accounting for most deaths and counteract recent deteriorations in infectious disease.

PMID: 32217562 [PubMed as supplied by publisher]

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Trends in disease incidence and survival and their effect on mortality in Scotland: nationwide cohort study of linked hospital admission and death...

Life ExtensionPower/Ability to:

extend one's life

The power to extend one's life. Sub-power of Lifespan Manipulation. Variation of Immortality. Opposite to Life Reduction.

User can somehow extend their or others' lifespan significantlyor maybe even indefinitelyin order to live longer.

By continuously bathing in the Lazarus Pits, Ra's al Ghul (DC Comics) has extended his life for over 600 years.

Paradise Herbs (Dragon Ball Super) extend the life of whoever eats them, and are the source of Master Roshi's longevity.

Toki (Fist of the North Star) was able to use his knowledge of pressure points to extend the mortally wounded Rei's life by a few days.

By continuously lengthening her telomeres, Tomiko Asahina (From the New World) has extended her life for over 200 years.

Master Son (Gintama) using Qi Gong to manipulate his lifespan, having lived in the battlefield for more than two centuries.

The Elixir of Life (Harry Potter) will extend the drinker's lifespan, so long as they continue to consume it, but it won't cease their body from getting older, so they will continue to age, and will eventually be completely dependent on the Elixir to live.

Madara Uchiha (Naruto) extended his life past his natural lifespan by attaching himself to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, but his body continues to age.

Lachesis (Valkyrie Crusade) can extend the years of life of anyone she wants as much as she wants.

Heart of Atlantis (Atlantis: The Lost Empire) provides phenomenal longevity, with the ability to extend an individual's lifespan by almost 500 times.

The Elixir of Life (SCP Foundation) is a liquid SCP-1440 won from the Small Death that could extend even the sickest person's life with a single drop until SCP-1440 used all of it to save various people from dying.

Perrinia immortalis/"Blood Orchid" (Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid), contains a unique, naturally generated chemical that extends an organism's telomeres, enabling them to live longer...

... the main reason why the anacondas are unnaturally larger then they should be because they keep growing till they die.

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Life Extension | Superpower Wiki | Fandom

Todays offshore floating units are built to last, as technologies and industry standards evolve and operating conditions change. Extreme environmental conditions can accelerate normal wear-and-tear and lead to units structural damage during installation or operation.

To ensure continuous performance, asset owners, operators and designers have to address these challenges early in the design process, and manage them during units life extension modifications. To achieve this, they require assistance in identifying and prioritizing the best life extension measures.

We evaluate the units design, assess its strength and fatigue-related damage in accordance with industry standards. We verify if the unit fatigue life exceeds its operational life in order to determine if potential extension can be considered.

To ensure assets integrity, Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore conducts a variety of comprehensive assessments on your offshore unit. We then suggest structural modifications based on global unit model to support change management decisions and extend its operational life expectancy.

veristarinfo@bureauveritas.com

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Life extension | Marine & Offshore

Overview

Vitamin E benefits range from antioxidant protection to promoting a healthy inflammatory response, and gamma tocopherol is one of the most important forms of vitamin E. Studies show the combination of alpha and gamma tocopherol supplementation appears to be superior to supplementing with either form alone for inhibiting oxidative stress and inflammatory factors.

Scientific journals highlight gamma tocopherol as one of the most important forms of vitamin E for optimal benefits.

Gamma E Mixed Tocopherols Benefits

Most commercial vitamin E supplements contain little, if any, gamma tocopherol. They instead rely on alpha tocopherol as the primary ingredient. However, it is gamma tocopherol (not the alpha form) that quenches peroxynitrite, a free radical that plays a major role in the development of age-related decline.

Product Details

Sesame Lignans: The Super Vitamin E Booster

Research suggests that adding sesame lignans to gamma tocopherol may enhance vitamin E activity. Sesame lignans have been shown to boost antioxidative activity in tissues by elevating the levels of vitamins C and E.

We have fortified our popular Gamma E Tocopherol supplement with standardized sesame lignans. Consumers obtain superior benefits at a much lower cost. This formula provides potent doses of gamma tocopherol along with sesame lignan extract to augment the antioxidant effects of gamma tocopherol.

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Life Extension, Gamma E Mixed Tocopherols, 60 Softgels - iHerb

Expired Life Extension Coupons:About Life Extension:

LifeExtension is a health-oriented company that focuses on quality, purity, and potency. Their quality control standards are very high and even earned GMP registration from NSF International. For 35 years, LifeExtension has been faithfully giving scientific solutions to potency. Though founded in the 1980s, the founders of Life Extension have been actively involved in the anti-aging industry since the 1960s.

The company produces very informative publications on their website https://www.lifeextension.com/ . Some of these include; Disease Prevention & Treatment Book, as well as Life-Extension Magazine. There is also the Daily Health-Bulletin and the LifeExtension Update Email-newsletter. Apart from availing information, they also offer over 300 high-quality vitamins and nutritional supplements together with skin care products which they research on, or on whose research they fund. They offer to ship products both in the US and internationally.

Shipping costs are different, depending on the method that you choose. However, the rate is constant all over the US, and so a customer is free to order as many goods as possible without worrying over shipping. They offer 100% customer satisfaction guarantee and have a very standard approach to quality assurance.

To use LifeExtension coupons, shop for an item by adding it to your cart on the top right corner of LifeExtension home page. Click on View my Cart and then add your code into the Discount code then click Apply Discount to redeem your code.

For maximum benefit from LifeExtension, ensure you subscribe to their newsletter for health deals and news, shop from the On Sale section of the Products tab, and follow them on social media to know of latest products and events.

LifeExtension has other awards such as the LifeExtension Dollars (L.E Dollars) which comes with many benefits. If you join the Health-Rewards Program, you will stand a chance of winning LE Dollars every time you make a purchase. These LE Dollars can be redeemed for extra discounts at checkouts, and as a reward member, you are also entitled to exclusive discounts, free consultations, and a free magazine subscription for a whole year.

LifeExtension coupons come in printable and online formats and can save you up to more than 60% on special promotion offers. Keep on using their products and subscribing to their publications to get coupons. Furthermore, you can even get shipping coupons from LifeExtension, so just keep checking.

To find information concerning LifeExtension and all their products, it is best to visit their website https://www.lifeextension.com/ to see all their products and services.

Besides their website, you can follow them on Social Media with the following links:

Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LifeExtension?_rdc=1&_rdrTwitter: https://twitter.com/LifeExtensionPinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lifeextension/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lifeextension/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/LifeExtensionVideosBlog: https://blog.lifeextension.com/

The LifeExtension call center is operational for 24 hours and seven days a week. They have dedicated customer care staff that will respond to all your queries and address your concerns related to orders, as well as change of shipping address and many more. To contact the LifeExtension customer support center, call them toll-free on 1-800-678-8989 or 1-800-544-4440 for immediate response and 001-954-766-8433 for International customers.

Other contacts that you may reach for specific concerns are:

Wellness Specialists 1-800-226-2370Nutrition Center 954-766-8144 or 1-888-895-4771

To get very quick responses to your questions, view Frequently-Asked Questions on their FAQ page https://www.lifeextension.com/faq. If you cant seem to get through using all the means listed above, leave them a message at http://health.lifeextension.com/LEFSurvey/ContactUs.aspx and you will get a response within 1 to 2 business days.

Owing to their thorough quality assurance policy, LifeExtension products are rarely returned because the level of customers dissatisfaction is negligible. However, if you are displeased or you feel your body is not reacting well with the product you purchased, feel free to contact customer care for expert advice.

After communicating with customer care and you still want to return the product, you can return and get a replacement or refund within 12 months after purchase. Their return policy is very simple and liberal.

You can contact their customer support to find out if your product is eligible for a refund. Also, specify if you are after replacement or a refund so that you get advised accordingly. Once youve shipped your product back on the address below, Contact customer support to alert them of the return so that they can be on the lookout.

The return address for products is

Product ReturnsLife-Extension Northeast-FulfillmentAttention: Returns150-Fieldcrest AveEdison NJ 08837

For blood test returns, call wellness specialists on 800-226-2370

Unlike their competitors, LifeExtension does gives you a whole 12 months grace period to decide whether you want to continue or discontinue the use of the product.

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Life Extension Coupon - March 2020 - $10 off and free shipping

Telit, a global enabler of the Internet of Things (IoT), announced a partnership with Cleantron that provides a turnkey, end-to-end solution for optimizing the performance and cycle-life of Cleantrons battery packs. The partnership is the latest example of how Telit enables solution providers in any verticalincluding security, agriculture, retail, health care and moreto quickly and cost-effectively leverage IoT to optimize and differentiate their products and services.

Cleantrons new connected battery pack solution provides remote monitoring of the batterys health, temperature, voltage, current and state of charge data, which are critical for maximizing performance and cycle-life. Users also can track each batterys location, providing additional key insights into the status of high-value mobile/portable assets such as medical equipment, Industry 4.0 equipment and light electric vehicles.

Cleantron is using Telit solutions for its P4 Battery Packdesigned for use in light electric vehicles and industrial applicationswith the potential for expanding them across its entire portfolio. The solution is based on ME910C1-WW and Telit OneEdge:

When businesses want to harness the power of IoT, they turn to Telit, said Alon Segal, Senior Vice President, Software & Services, Telit. Cleantron is a prime example of Telits ability to provide all of the software, services and devices that a business needs to quickly and cost-effectively implement IoT.

Our partnership with Telit means that Cleantron customers can now get the real-time data they need to maximize the performance and cycle-life of the batteries that their vehicles, AGVs or other valuable equipment they depend on, said Maarten Kelder, CTO of Cleantron. Telit is the ideal choice because it provides everything we needmodules, cellular service and all of the toolssaving us time and money versus building our connected battery pack solution in house from scratch.

Telit is a global leader in Internet of Things (IoT) enablement, with an extensive portfolio of wireless connectivity modules, platforms, virtual cellular IoT operator services, and professional services, empowering hundreds of millions of connected things to date, and trusted by thousands of direct and indirect customers, globally. With nearly two decades of IoT innovation experience, Telit continues to redefine the boundaries of digital business, by delivering secure, integrated end-to-end IoT solutions for many of the worlds largest brands, including enterprises, OEMs, system integrators and service providers across all industries, enabling their pursuit of enterprise digital transformation.

Cleantron, located near Amsterdam is a specialist Producer of Li-ion Battery Modules for Industry 4.0, Light Electric Vehicles and the Automotive Sector. Having developed Cell Sensing Technology and Sense Making Algorithms, Cleantron uses advanced Battery Management Systems for, by example, Cycle-life Extension and Fast Charging.

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Optimizing Lifetime and Health for Batteries in the Field - Cleantron - Energy Industry Review

CALGARY, Alberta, March 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Suncor released a corporate update today, including revised 2020 corporate guidance for capital, operating costs and production outlook, reflecting the significant decline in the crude oil price and uncertainty surrounding the economic impact of COVID-19.

The simultaneous supply and demand shocks are having a significant impact on the global oil industry. We are adjusting our spending and operational plans to be prepared in the event the current business environment persists for an extended period of time, said Mark Little, president and chief executive officer. Our business model and financial strategy are designed to withstand volatile environments.

Suncors business model is built on long life, low decline assets and capturing the full value of the barrel through integration. This model, paired with disciplined adherence to financial management and capital allocation, has consistently delivered value to shareholders while maintaining a strong balance sheet. Suncors credit metric history and strong levels of liquidity through various cycles are evidence of this discipline.

A key strategy for weathering the unprecedented market challenges is remaining focused on creating maximum value from production, rather than being volume focused. Suncor believes this is critical to creating long term shareholder value and that the integrated model is an important competitive advantage. With growing global oil inventories, Suncors ability to upgrade, refine, and sell production to consumers through its retail network will continue to generate significant value.

Our actions to respond to these unprecedented market challenges will result in reductions in capital spending and operating costs as well as a significant increase to the financial liquidity of the business in 2020, as detailed below.

CAPITAL GUIDANCE UPDATE

The revised capital program is expected to be between $3.9 and $4.5 billion, a $1.5 billion or 26% decrease compared to the original 2020 capital guidance midpoint. The updated capital spend is concentrated on sustaining capital and continuing with a limited number of low capital intensity, value creating projects, as follows:

Suncors original capital guidance was $5.4 to $6.0 billion, with approximately 50% allocated to economic investment and 50% to sustaining capital. By the end of Q1 2020, Suncor is expected to have spent approximately $1.3 billion in capital. In order to sustain the financial strength of the business within the current economic environment, it is crucial to reduce the capital budget. Suncor is able to make these reductions because of the flexibility previously built into the budget. The targeted reductions include a combination of reducing economic investment and sustaining capital by deferring and cancelling projects, while maintaining a focus on safety and asset reliability over the long term.

The Syncrude / Suncor interconnecting pipelines, deployment of autonomous haul trucks at Fort Hills, and investments in technology for the Supply and Trading business and core business systems will continue to be funded and proceed on schedule. The Cogeneration Facility at Base Plant, Forty Mile Wind project, and some offshore E&P step out development timelines have been extended for up to two years. The operator of West White Rose has announced that work has been suspended for an indefinite period. We have also deferred new in-situ well pads until financial conditions improve and cancelled several small economic investment projects across the business.

PRODUCTION & OPERATING COST GUIDANCE UPDATE

Across the company, Suncor remains committed to the health and safety of all personnel, and on the safety and continuity of the operations. To limit the risk and transmission of COVID-19, only location essential personnel are working at Suncor sites and offices.

It is evident that as a result of significant efforts to limit the impact of COVID-19 through social distancing and having non-essential personnel stay home across many countries around the world, petroleum demand has declined. This is particularly true for jet fuel and gasoline. Product demand in Canada is starting to decline and is expected to continue over the next few quarters. Suncor has begun to adjust refinery utilisations as a result. Due to significant uncertainty, we have not yet updated our guidance in this area, although we anticipate it will be lower. An update will be provided on the first quarter earnings call in early May.

Suncors updated upstream production guidance includes the best estimate, at this time, of the impact on crude markets of lower global product demand and industry wide lower refinery utilizations. Global upstream production will need to be reduced or remain in storage unsold. However, this is highly uncertain and is directly related to how long it will take to significantly reduce the global threat of COVID-19.

The value over volume strategy maximizes integration of Suncors upstream production through its upgraders and refineries, while reducing exposure to Alberta bitumen prices. This results in higher per barrel margin even though unit costs may be higher.

Crude by rail is now uneconomic and our updated guidance excludes any production volumes associated with rail transportation under the Province of Albertas Special Production Allowance program. Mandatory production curtailment is assumed to continue through 2020, which results in some assets operating at less than efficient rates.

Fort Hills continues to be disproportionately impacted by mandatory production curtailment with the asset operating at lower than optimal facility utilization. The Fort Hills partners have agreed to reduce Fort Hills to a one train operation, running at full utilization. This will increase cash flow, particularly when bitumen prices are extremely low, as we are able to significantly reduce variable costs. However, unit costs for the remaining production will be higher because of this decision as a result of fixed costs being covered by lower volumes. These assets have far less flexibility versus Suncors in-situ assets to ramp up and down. The partners will continue to monitor market conditions and re-evaluate these decisions as market conditions change.

The Syncrude annual coker turnaround was planned in Q2 but is now deferred until Q3 with a minor impact on volumes. The impact of COVID-19 on Suncors planned maintenance schedules is currently being assessed. This includes evaluating alternate options for the Terra Nova Asset Life Extension, as Spain is no longer able to accommodate the dry dock slot due to that countrys COVID-19 response. MacKay Rivers return to operations has been intentionally extended to May due to COVID-19 concerns and low bitumen prices.

Suncor is also reducing total operating expenditures across the business by more than $1 billion versus $11.2 billion of expenditures in 2019. Updated asset-based cash cost per unit guidance below reflects the revised production guidance and reduced operating expenditures.

Guidance for Oil Sands operations and Syncrude cash operating costs per barrel remain unchanged at $24.00 - $26.50 (US $17.00 - $18.75) and $35.00 - $38.00 (US $24.75 - $27.00), respectively. Fort Hills cash operating costs per barrel have been updated and are now expected to be $34.00 - $37.00 (US $24.00 - $26.25).

The production guidance table below is inclusive of the planned reductions in production volumes as Suncor continues to execute the strategy of generating value over volume.

Suncor'scorporate guidanceprovides management's outlook for 2020 in certain key areas of the company's business. Users of this forward-looking information are cautioned that actual results may vary materially from the targets disclosed. Readers are cautioned against placing undue reliance on this guidance.

CORPORATE & FINANCIAL UPDATE

Safety is at the core of Suncor values. As a result, the Investor Showcase, previously planned for May 2020, has been deferred to manage the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The AGM will be held on May 6th, 2020 but the Board and full executive team will not be present in person at the meeting. Unlike prior years, the AGM will not be open to the general public and will be limited to registered shareholders only. Suncor is discouraging physical attendance and instead requests shareholders view the meeting via webcast with details to be provided at a later date.

The corporate target of $2 billion of incremental free funds flow by 2023 continues to be a critical target of Suncors by enhancing margin, improving business processes, and reducing operating and sustaining capital costs. However, in order to maintain balance sheet strength, financial flexibility and liquidity, the execution timeline of a number of these initiatives has been revised, as outlined in the capital section above. As a result, full achievement of the $2 billion target is anticipated to be delayed by up to 2 years to 2025.

Disciplined capital allocation remains core to delivering value to shareholders. Given the current business environment, share repurchases have been suspended.

Suncors strategy of maintaining a strong balance sheet and liquidity throughout all market environments remains a key focus. As of December 31, 2019, Suncor had approximately $6.7 billion of liquidity, no debt maturities in 2020, $1.4 billion in 2021, and $225 million in 2022. As of March 31, 2020, Suncor has significantly increased its liquidity securing an additional $2.3 billion of credit facilities with its key banking partners. This increased financial flexibility ensures the company will have access to adequate financial resources should it be required.

Our strategy has been, and continues to be, to drive shareholder returns through our integrated model while maintaining financial strength and flexibility, said Mark Little. Our actions are intended to ensure the long-term health of our business while reliably delivering critical energy to consumers.

LEGAL ADVISORY FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements in this news release include references to: Suncor's belief that its business model and financial strategy are designed to withstand volatile environments; the belief that remaining focused on creating maximum value from production, rather than being volume focused is critical to creating long term shareholder value and that Suncor's integrated model is an important competitive advantage in achieving this; the expectation that, with growing global oil inventories, Suncors ability to upgrade, refine and sell production to consumers through its retail network will continue to generate significant value; the expected impacts of Suncor's actions to respond to the unprecedented market challenges; the expectation that Suncor's capital spending program will be between $3.9 and $4.5 billion (and the expectations of where that spending will be directed and the timing of the various capital projects); Suncor's commitment to the health and safety of all personnel, and on the safety and continuity of the operations; expectations for the first quarter of 2020, including total upstream production of approximately 743,000 boe/d, Oil Sands operations production of approximately 378,000 bbls/d, Synthetic Crude Oil production of approximately 331,000 bbls/d, Bitumen production of approximately 47,000 bbls/d, Fort Hills production of approximately 80,000 bbls/d, net to Suncor, Syncrude production of approximately 175,000 bbls/d, net to Suncor, E&P production of approximately 110,000 boe/d, Suncor Refinery Throughput of approximately 445,000 bbls/d, Suncor Refinery Utilization of 96% and Refined Product Sales of approximately 545,000 bbls/d; Suncor's expectations relating to product demand and the impacts it may have on refinery utilizations; that Suncor's value over volume strategy will reduce exposure to Alberta bitumen process which will result in higher per barrel margins even though unit costs may be higher; operations; the expected impact of the Government of Alberta mandatory production curtailments and assumption relating to the duration thereof; the expected impacts of the decision to reduce Fort Hills to a one train operation; Suncor's expectations with respect to planned maintenance and turnarounds, including the timing thereof and the impact of such maintenance and turnarounds; that MacKay Rivers return to operations will occur in May; the plans to reduce total operating expenditures by more than $1 billion across Suncor's business; Suncor's $2 billion incremental free funds flow target, including the projects that are expected to drive Suncor towards this target and the timing of achieving this target; Suncor's expectations around production, including planned average upstream production of 740,000 - 780,000 boe/d and planned ranges for Oil Sands operations (410,000 435,000 bbls/d), made up of Synthetic Crude Oil (310,000 325,000 bbls/d) and Bitumen (100,000 110,000 bbls/d), Suncor's working interest in Fort Hills 55,000 65,000 bbls/d), Suncor's working interest in Syncrude (165,000 180,000 bbls/d) and Explorationand Production (100,000 115,000 boe/d); Suncor's expected Oil Sands operations cash operating costs, projected to be in the range of $24.00 - $26.50 (US $17.00 $18.75) per barrel; expected Fort Hills cash operating costs, projected to be in the range of $34.00 - $37.00 (US $24.00 $26.25) per barrel; expected Syncrude cash operating costs, projected to be in the range of $35.00 $38.00 (US$24.75 $27.00) per barrel; Suncor's expected Refinery Throughputs (440,000 460,000 bbls/d) and Utilization (95% 99%) and Suncor's expected Refined Product Sales (530,000 560,000 bbls/d); the timing of upcoming debt maturities; Suncor's belief that its financial flexibility ensures the company will have access to adequate financial resources should it be required; and Suncor's belief that its actions will ensure the long-term health of its business while reliably delivering critical energy to consumers. In addition, all other statements and information about Suncor's strategy for growth, expected and future expenditures or investment decisions, commodity prices, costs, schedules, production volumes, operating and financial results and the expected impact of future commitments are forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "guidance", "outlook", "will", "expected", "estimated", "focus", "planned", "believe", "anticipated", "forecast", "target" and similar expressions.

Forward-looking statements are based on Suncor's current expectations, estimates, projections and assumptions that were made by the company in light of its information available at the time the statement was made and consider Suncor's experience and its perception of historical trends, including expectations and assumptions concerning: the accuracy of reserves and resources estimates; commodity prices and interest and foreign exchange rates; the performance of assets and equipment; capital efficiencies and cost-savings; applicable laws and government policies; future production rates; the sufficiency of budgeted capital expenditures in carrying out planned activities; the availability and cost of labour, services and infrastructure; the satisfaction by third parties of their obligations to Suncor; the development and execution of projects; and the receipt, in a timely manner, of regulatory and third-party approvals.

Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some that are similar to other oil and gas companies and some that are unique to Suncor. Suncor's actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by its forward- looking statements, so readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on them.

Assumptions for the Oil Sands operations, Syncrude and Fort Hills 2020 production outlook include those relating to reliability and operational efficiency initiatives that the company expects will minimize unplanned maintenance in 2020. Assumptions for the Exploration and Production 2020 production outlook include those relating to reservoir performance, drilling results and facility reliability. Factors that could potentially impact Suncor's 2020 corporate guidance include, but are not limited to:

Suncor's MD&A, together with Suncor's most recently filed Annual Information Form, Form 40-F and Annual Report to Shareholders and other documents Suncor files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities describe the risks, uncertainties, material assumptions and other factors that could influence actual results and such factors are incorporated herein by reference. Copies of these documents are available without charge from Suncor at 150 6th Avenue S.W., Calgary, Alberta T2P 3E3; by email request toinvest@suncor.com;by calling 1-800-558-9071; or by referring tosuncor.com/FinancialReportsor to the company's profile on SEDAR atsedar.comor EDGAR atsec.gov. Except as required by applicable securities laws, Suncor disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES

Oil Sands operations cash operating costs, Fort Hills cash operating costs, Syncrude cash operating costs and free funds flow are not prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). These non-GAAP financial measures are included because management uses the information to analyze business performance, including on a per barrel basis, as applicable, and it may be useful to investors on the same basis. These non-GAAP financial measures do not have any standardized meaning and, therefore, are unlikely to be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies. These non-GAAP financial measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. These non-GAAP financial measures are defined in the Non-GAAP Financial Measures section of the MD&A and, for the period ended December 31, 2019, are reconciled to the comparable GAAP measure in the MD&A. Oil Sands operations cash operating costs of $24.00 - $26.50 (US $17.00 - $18.75) per barrel is based on the assumptions that: (i) Suncor will produce 410,000 435,000 bbls/d at Oil Sands operations (of which 310,000 325,000 bbls/d will be synthetic crude oil and 100,000 110,000 will be bitumen); and (ii) natural gas used at Suncor's Oil Sands operations (AECO - C Spot ($CAD)) will be priced at an average of $1.75/GJ over 2020. Fort Hills cash operating costs of $34.00 - $37.00 (US $24.00 - $26.25) per barrel is based on the assumptions that: (i) Fort Hills production (net to Suncor) will be 55,000 65,000 bbls/d; and (ii) natural gas used at Fort Hills (AECO - C Spot ($CAD)) will be priced at an average of $1.75/GJ over 2020. Syncrude cash operating costs of $35.00 - $38.00 (US $24.75 - $27.00) per barrel is based on the assumptions that: (i) Syncrude will produce 165,000 180,000 bbls/d of synthetic crude oil (net to Suncor); and (ii) natural gas used at Syncrude (AECO - C Spot ($CAD)) will be priced at an average of $1.75/GJ over 2020. The Syncrude cash operating costs per barrel and Fort Hills cash operating costs per barrel measures may not be fully comparable to similar information calculated by other entities (including Suncor's Oil Sands operations cash operating costs per barrel) due to differing operations.

Suncor Energy is Canada's leading integrated energy company. Suncor's operations include oil sands development and upgrading, offshore oil and gas production, petroleum refining, and product marketing under the Petro-Canada brand. A member of Dow Jones Sustainability indexes, FTSE4Good and CDP, Suncor is working to responsibly develop petroleum resources while also growing a renewable energy portfolio. Suncor is listed on the UN Global Compact 100 stock index.Suncor's common shares (symbol: SU) are listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges.

For more information about Suncor, visit our web site atsuncor.com, follow us on Twitter@Suncorortogether.suncor.com

Media inquiries:833-296-4570media@suncor.com

Investor inquiries:800-558-9071invest@suncor.com

Link:
Suncor Energy provides a corporate update including revised 2020 capital program, operating costs and production outlook - GlobeNewswire

The Defense Department shifted many of its domestic bases to "health protection condition" Charlie on Sunday, the latest in a series of moves to protect military forces, families and bases from coronavirus. HPCON Charlie also known as "substantial threat of sustained community transmission" is the fourth highest of five levels.

Though Pentagon officials continue to insist that the coronavirus pandemic has had no impact on operational readiness of the armed forces, behind the scenes military exercises and deployments are being scaled down and canceled, and plans are being put in place to sustain essential operations. That includes the so-called triad of bombers, land-based missiles and submarines that make up the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Last week, the head of U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Adm. Charles A. "Chas" Richard, said that nuclear readiness was unaffected by coronavirus. The nuclear forces, he said, "remain ready to execute" their war plans despite coronavirus and that the pandemic has had "no impact to our ability" to carry out missions.

Adm. Richard said that his Omaha, Nebraska-based command "had plans in place that we have updated and are executing,'' to deal with a pandemic. The nuclear force, he said, was designed to operate isolated for long periods of time.

But an active force that is constantly kept on alert is also one that is more exposed. According to a military tally compiled as of Sunday and reviewed by Newsweek, units feeding STRATCOM have a cumulative 106 uniformed personnel not on duty due to coronavirus, either because of confirmed cases or "protective self-quarantine." Six bases are listed where bombers, missiles, aerial refueling tankers and supporting command and communications units that support the nuclear force are reporting coronavirus cases, according to the data compiled by the Defense Department.

One positive case of coronavirus was reported Saturday at Whiteman air force base in Johnson County, Missouri, where the B-2 stealth bomber force is deployed. Three of those bombers returned to base over the weekend from a "deterrent" mission deployment to Europe. That mission, observers say, was cut short in comparison with previous bomber deployments.

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The United States currently has a total of about 850 nuclear warheads on alert 400 nuclear-armed land-based intercontinental missiles in three western states, and 450 warheads on five ballistic missile submarines in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. These are the weapons that are ready to instantly respond to presidential commands, according to the Federation of American Scientists. An additional 1,300 warheads can be brought up to alert status quickly on four or five additional submarines and on 60 nuclear-configured B-2 and B-52 bombers at bases, all in a matter of a few days.

Last week, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein said that the nuclear deterrent has had no changes in its operations due to coronavirus.

An example of those operations is the deployment of the three B-2 stealth bombers to Europe on March 8, the bombers and their maintainers first landing at Lajes Field in the Azores, an archipelago of nine islands 850 miles off the coast of Portugal. The next day, the bombers flew to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire in the southwest U.K. There, they conducted various practice missions over the North Sea on March 12, an Icelandic Air Policing mission on March 16 and 17, over the North Sea on March 18, and then over the Arctic Ocean on March 20. The bombers practiced flying with British, Dutch and Norwegian fighter planes, practicing escort and the procedures for the bombing of Russia.

"A credible deterrent for the high North region," Lt. Gen. Steven Basham said, in describing the operations. "Operating B-2s in the Arctic allow us to shape that environment by demonstrating our resolve to deliver combat power anywhere in the world if called upon."

"The world expects that NATO and the U.S. continue to execute our mission with decisiveness, regardless of any external challenge," said Gen. Jeff Harrigian, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

As for the nuclear arsenal itself, the Department of Energy, which is responsible for the nuclear warheads, said last week that it would continue "its National Essential Functions, Primary Mission Essential Functions, and Mission Essential Functions" despite coronavirus shifts to telework and other social distancing operations.

No nuclear warheads are currently being produced, the production run of the W76 Trident submarine missile warhead life extension program ending last December. The nuclear warhead producers were to have shifted the production line to producing a new bomb the B61 Mod 12 starting this month, but because of technical hold-ups, production of that warhead has now been delayed until late 2021.

Instead, the Department is in a constant cycle of keeping the existing stockpile of bomber and missile warheads healthy. Nuclear weapons expert and observer Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists says that includes "taking apart and surveying existing warheads in the stockpile" at the rate of about a dozen or so warheads per month. This is primarily accomplished at the Pantex plant in Amarillo, Texas, though the two nuclear laboratories Los Alamos in New Mexico and Livermore in California also get involved in more complex and problem cases discovered in what are called "surveillance" activities. The current U.S. nuclear stockpile is made up of seven different basic types of warheads, and some sampling of each is shipped from active bases back to Pantex and the laboratories in a complex and secret ongoing process.

Kristensen says that though there have been few signs of how coronavirus is impacting nuclear forces, the B-2 mission in Europe was "dramatically shortened" in comparison with previous years. "Last fall when they deployed the B-2s, they were there [at RAF Fairford] for a month," he says. Kristensen is been closely following bases where nuclear weapons are deployed, as well as the operations of the force, expecting that there will be significant changes if the virus persists in its growth.

Though U.S. European Command says its readiness remains high "for the foreseeable future," it admits it is already curtailing numerous military exercises due to coronavirus. In the coming months, Gen. Tod Wolters, overall European commander says, it is likely that between 30 and 65 percent of exercises will be reduced or canceled. Other commands have similarly canceled or postponed Russia-oriented military exercises, including a Red Flag exercise planned for Alaska and a high-profile test of a new all-domain warfighting system planned for next month, one that would have practiced the integration of nuclear, conventional, cyber and space weaponry.

"My organization is designed to be able to operate isolated for long periods of time," STRATCOM commander Adm. Richard insists.

The 3,000 person headquarters in Omaha has taken steps to institute social distancing, and it has shifted some people and functions to alternate and subordinate commands, improving redundancies and guarding against spread of the virus.

Though alerts, exercises, and the shuffling around of warheads continues, a senior officer at U.S. Strategic Command (who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to public speak on the matter) says that everyone is anticipating that there will be significant changes are coming. "There isn't a command headquarters, including STRATCOM," the senior officer says, "where there aren't people with coronavirus symptoms or in self-quarantine."

For now, Kristensen says, "probably the healthiest people in America are those who are coming back from the longest submarine patrols," which currently last as long as 78 days.

They've been underwater since almost the beginning of the year.

Read the original here:
The U.S. Military's Behind-the-Scenes Moves To Protect Nuclear Readiness Amid Coronavirus - Newsweek

Cancer services should be rationed to patients with the highest chance of survival if hospitals become overwhelmed with coronavirus, a new NHS protocol states.

It warns the frequency of treatments such as immunotherapy could be halved and long-term follow-up postponed indefinitely, as staff are diverted to fight Covid-19.

Published by NHS England last week, the document also predicts that access to CT scanners crucial for some cancer diagnoses could be limited because of their use by coronavirus patients.

Although its authors state that disruption of cancer services remains an unlikely scenario, they warn: We need to consider the small possibility that the facility for cancer services may be compromised due to a combination of factors including staff sickness and supply chain shortages among others.

In the event of disruption to cancer services, clinicians may also need to prioritise treatment for those most in need.

It comes after Prime MinisterBoris Johnson warned the NHS is facing an Italian-style crisis(as illustrated in the below video), and cancer patients in London alleged that their treatment plans have been postponed within the last few days.

Meanwhile on Saturday the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) issued a new framework for intensive care which effectively allows doctors to ration precious beds and ventilators to those with the greatest chance of survival.

Hospital bosses were given permission by NHS England last Tuesday to suspend all non-urgent treatment, to ready services for a flood of Covid-19 patients that appears already to have started, particularly in London.

However, health leaders have promised to protect urgent services such as cancer.

Under the new protocol, cancer patients in hospitals under pressure from coronavirus will be grouped into one of six categories, with treatments rationed accordingly.

They range from, at the top, curative therapy with a greater than 50 per cent chance of success, to, at the bottom, non-curative therapy with an sub-50 per cent chance of palliation, or temporary tumour control yielding less than one years life extension.

One patient with advanced bowel cancer at the Royal Free hospital in London, who falls into category five, said she had been informed last week that her next batch of treatment, due to start in the next three to six weeks, would not take place for at least three months.

Its incredibly stressful, to be honest, she told The Telegraph.I wasnt told why the delay was happening but I cant believe that this outbreak wont affect treatment.

Friends I have made in the unit say their treatment plans have been altered as well.

The Royal Free denies that any treatments are being delayed by the coronavirus outbreak, insisting that cancer services are running normally.

The new NHS cancer protocols are predicated on the expectation that a surge of coronavirus cases would deprive cancer services of some personnel, due both to staff illness and redeployment, and equipment.

It even quotes an Italian doctor involved in fighting coronavirus in northern Italy, Daniele Macchine, who said: There are no more surgeons, urologists, orthopaedists, we are only doctors who suddenly become part of a single team to face this tsunami that has overwhelmed us.

This reflects the expectation, prompted by a letter from Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty earlier this month, that clinicians would have to work outside their normal areas of training.

Cancer doctors faced with hospital flooded with Covid-19 patients are urged to consider using 4-weekly or 6-weekly immunotherapy regimens rather than two-weekly and three-weekly, and considering treatment breaks for long-term treatments when risk of coronavirus is high.

Even where NHS cancer services are available, the new guidance published on Saturday from the Nice advises patients to consider delaying treatment because of their heightened risk from Covid-19.

These include those whose immune systems have been weakened by treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

To deal with the expected surge in patients with Covid-19, the health service has struck a deal with private hospitals to make use of 20,000 staff and 8,000 beds. An extra 1,200 ventilators will also come into circulation from next week.

The new Nice guidance asks doctors to score patients on an nine point clinical frailty scale [CFS] as they might normally do.

At one end of the scale, with a score of one, are the Very Fit people who are robust, active, energetic and motivated, and who exercise regularly. At the other end, with a score of nine, are the Terminally ill.

This weekend a senior director a London acute trust said the NHS was only in the "foothills" of the outbreak.

He told Health Service Journal: The trusts in outer London seem to be hit much worse at the moment, probably about two weeks ahead of the rest of the country. Barnet, Lewisham and Greenwich, Epsom and St Helier, North Middlesex and Hillingdon are all struggling.

I was in denial about the seriousness of this virus a couple of weeks ago, but not anymore things are going completely nuts.

A spokesman for the Royal Free London said: "All cancer services are running as normal and treatments are not being delayed by the response to the Covid-19 outbreak."

Read more from the original source:
Cancer services may be rationed to those most likely to survive, says NHS report - Telegraph.co.uk

Meghan FriedmannNew Haven Register, Conn.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. North Branford Fire Chief William Seward was alarmed when he got the news: his department, which runs the towns ambulance service, would only receive one box of 35 respirators from the strategic national stockpile.

Whats more, all of those masks which Seward picked up today in Essex are expired.

Its beyond belief, Seward said. Although the town currently has enough supplies on hand, Seward worries about what will happen if COVID-19 cases spike a few weeks down the road, he said.

North Branford is not alone.

Two East Haven firefighters and their families were quarantined for two weeks Friday after the pair of first responders assisted a 79-year-old man who became the towns first confirmed case of COVID-19, the town said in a statement.

East Haven Fire Chief Matthew Marcarelli is worried that if too many members of his team get sidelined because of exposure, they wont be able to fight fires, he said.

The department is supporting them and their families and both firefighters are doing well, Marcarelli said.

Marcarelli was told that all of the 144,000 respirators in the states strategic stockpile are expired by at least 10 years, he said, adding that his department was allotted 220 respirators. They were all expired, and they were all sized small, he said.

And I dont know why any of this is coming as a surprise to the state, Marcarelli said. Theres been a pandemic plan since 2001.

The state is a major source of the respirators, which are currently difficult to find, according to Marcarelli.

Further down the Shoreline, Guilford got 110 respirators also expired, according to Assistant Fire Chief Michael Shove.

A memorandum from Lisa Bushnell, strategic national stockpile coordinator for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, indicates that in terms of personal protective equipment, many towns in the state are only receiving expired respirators at this time.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) is in possession of expired N95 respirators manufactured in 2006 that were not granted a shelf-life extension by the federal government, the memo says. We requested that the federal government consider an extension given the national PPE shortage, which was not granted. These expired Kimberly Clarke N95 respirators will not provide the appropriate protection factor of non-expired N95s, but are likely to minimally provide protection equivalent to a surgical face mask.

Hearst Connecticut Media obtained a copy of the letter, dated Thursday. Bushnell directed press inquiries to DPH spokesman Av Harris, who did not respond to a request for comment.

The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security divides Connecticut into five regions, according to its website. The memorandum about the expired respirators went out to Region 2 towns, according to an email to which the record is attached.

Thirty Connecticut towns make up Region 2, according to the DEMHS website.

Guilford Assistant Fire Chief Michael Shove confirmed that his town is also facing a challenge in terms of access to PPE. Eligible for 105 respirators, his department received more equipment than the North Branford Fire Department but, again, all those respirators were expired, Shove said.

The state used each departments call volume to determine how many respirators they would receive, according to the email sent to Region 2 towns.

But the North Branford Fire Department transports more than 900 patients annually, Seward said, adding that the respirators are not reusable.

Whats more, medical experts today expanded the possible symptoms associated with COVID-19 so as to include certain gastrointestinal issues, according to Seward. That means personal protective equipment may be necessary for more calls, Seward said.

Shove confirmed Sewards account.

Although calls in North Branford are currently less frequent than normal, if COVID-19 cases surge, Seward said, the lack of personal protective equipment will be a challenge for us.

And its not just respirators first responders need. They also require gear like gloves and gowns, Shove said.

Shove hopes that Connecticut is able to prevent the surge in COVID-19 cases, or that manufacturers can ramp up PPE production, he said.

Hes not worried about the next two weeks, but he is worried about having sufficient supplies thereafter.

We could definitely use supplies, but theres nowhere to get supplies, he said, adding that many departments are in the same boat. All the chiefs have been vocal ... but the thing is, you cant change the past.

Shoves team will make the most of what they have, he said.

2020 the New Haven Register (New Haven, Conn.)

See more here:
Conn. first responders stunned to receive only expired respirators - EMS1.com

Given the market volatility from the spread of COVID-19, the outlook for gold remains uncertain. Nevertheless, gold exploration and mine development remain important drivers of mining activity. Here are eight companies with exposure to gold and precious metals.

Bear Creek Mining

Bear Creek Minings Corani silver-lead-zinc project in southern Peru. Credit: Bear Creek Mining.

Bear Creek Mining (TSXV: BCM; US-OTC: BCEKF) wholly owns the 57-sq.-km Corani silver-lead-zinc deposit in Perus Andes mountains, 160 km from Cusco.

In November, the company released an updated feasibility study for a potential 27,000 tonne per day open-pit operation, extracting ore from the Este, Minas and Main pits. The study envisioned a mine that would produce an average of 9.6 million oz. of silver, 98 million lb. of lead and 69 million lb. of zinc annually over a 15-year life. With life of mine all-in sustaining costs of US$4.55 per oz. of silver produced and US$579 million in initial capital, the associated projects net present value estimate, at an 8% discount rate, comes in at US$369 million.

Separate zinc and lead concentrates would be produced on site, with additional contained silver for trucking to the Matarani port, located 632 km away.

The latest study includes a contractor mining scenario, with a third-party in charge of ore and waste haulage as well as equipment maintenance. Bear Creek has key permits in place for the shovel-ready project.

The latest study was an update of a report previously completed in 2017. Modifications included a redesign of haul roads, rerouted construction access, a reduced footprint of the process plant and increased throughputs of 27,000 tonnes per day, up from the previous 22,500 tonnes per day.

The total reserve statement for the project is unchanged at 139.1 million tonnes grading 50.3 grams silver per tonne, 0.9% lead, and 0.59% zinc for a total of 225 million oz. silver, 2.7 billion lb. lead and 1.8 billion lb. zinc. Additional measured and indicated resources stand at 96.7 million tonnes grading 27.9 grams silver, 0.38% lead and 0.26% zinc with a further 39.9 million tonnes at 37.2 grams silver, 0.58% lead and 0.4% zinc inferred.

Bear Creek plans to engage in discussions with potential project finance participants to allow its board to make a construction decision. In February, the company closed a $16.6-million bought deal financing.

Bear Creek Mining has a $115.7-million market capitalization.

GoGold Resources

GoGold Resources (TSX: GGD) holds the Parral tailings and Los Ricos projects in Mexico.

The producing Parral project in Chihuahua state features 21.3 million tonnes of tailings from historical mining operations near an urban area. Due to sub-optimal historic recovery flowsheets, significant amounts of both silver and gold remain in this material. A 2013 pre-feasibility study outlined a reserve of 20.3 million tonnes grading 38.4 grams silver per tonne and 0.31 gram gold per tonne for a total of 35 million oz. silver-equivalent.

After an 18-month financing and construction period, GoGold started production activities at the site in June 2014. Subsequently, in February 2015, the company acquired the nearby Esmeralda tailings property, adding measured and indicated resources of 5.8 million tonnes of 49 grams silver and 0.26 gram gold for a further 12.6 million silver-equivalent ounces.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, Parral produced 584,988 silver-equivalent oz. at all-in sustaining costs of US$14.59 per oz. and GoGold expects to maintain this level of output throughout 2020.

In January, the company commissioned a sulphidization-acidification-recycling-thickening (SART) plant at Parral to regenerate the cyanide and produce a copper sulphide product. The SART technology allows companies to manage and recycle process cyanide.

In March of last year, GoGold entered into an option agreement to acquire the 225-sq.-km Los Ricos project in Jalisco state from private owners. In August, the company accelerated the acquisition by paying a total of US$7.1 million for the acquisition in cash and shares over a 24-month period.

Los Ricos features extensive historic underground development with epithermal mineralization. Last year the company completed 17,400 metres of diamond drilling at the site, mostly around historic mining areas.

Latest drill highlights from the site included 21 metres of 219 grams silver-equivalent from the Los Ricos quartz vein within the San Juan area, as well as 10.7 metres of 235 grams silver-equivalent from a shallow hole testing the el Abra outcrop.

Two main exploration efforts are underway at Los Ricos: the South project that includes the Main site area with drilling around historical mines and new targets, and the North project, which includes four targets.

In February, the company closed a $25 million bought deal with proceeds intended for exploration at Los Ricos as well as for corporate purposes.

GoGold has a market capitalization of $86.6 million.

Mako Mining

Mako Mining (TSXV: MKO) is developing the San Albino gold project in Nicaragua, located 173 km north of the capital city of Managua.

The proposed San Albino open pit is high-grade. A 2015 resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment for the project outlined in-pit indicated resources of 656,000 tonnes grading 7.13 grams gold per tonne for a total of 150,400 oz. with additional inferred resources of 880,000 tonnes of 6.78 grams gold totaling 192,000 ounces. A total of 148,600 of these ounces are in oxides with a further, predominantly sulphide, 2.2 million inferred tonnes grading 8.47 grams gold for a total of 595,800 oz. out of pit.

The PEA outlined a 500 tonne per day staged open pit to underground operation at an initial capital cost of $21.1 million, average annual payable gold-equivalent production of 41,300 oz. and all-in gold-equivalent sustaining costs of $395 per ounce. The associated net present value estimate for the project, at a 5% discount rate, came in at US$173.9 million, with a 1.7-year payback period.

In July of last year, the company closed a $27 million rights offering with Wexford Capital, a U.S.-based investment firm and Makos controlling shareholder with a 50.9% stake, to start construction at San Albino. In addition, in February of this year, Mako also closed a US$15.5 million unsecured term loan with Wexford.

Mako provided a mine construction update in November last year. At that time, the company had just purchased a 1,000 tonne per day crusher and was looking at available second-hand mills. Mako started pre-stripping waste at the future San Albino pit in February and said it will start mining of mineralized material this month.

Mako is currently targeting completion of the process plant construction by this summer with a first gold pour expected in late summer.

In September 2017, the company received a permit to construct and operate a mine at the site with throughputs of up to 500 tonnes per day.

San Albino is located within the companys 150-sq.-km land package, which covers a 23-km strike of the Corona de Oro gold belt. The existing deposit remains open both on strike and at depth. In March, Mako released drill results from the Bayacun zone at the Las Conchitas area, about 2.5 km south of the San Albino construction site. Highlight intercepts included 3.1 metres of 32.73 grams gold and 3.4 metres of 30.61 grams gold. Drilling at Las Conchitas this year is aimed at defining near-surface, high-grade mineralization to delineate a resource with additional work planned for high-grade targets within the companys land package.

Mako Mining has a $189.7-million market capitalization.

Minera Alamos

Minera Alamos Santana gold project in Sonora state, Mexico. Credit: Minera Alamos.

Minera Alamos (TSXV: MAI) is developing the wholly owned Santana open-pit heap leach gold project in Mexicos Sonora state, with additional upside from the pre-development La Fortuna asset in the state of Durango.

In January, the company announced that it had started construction activity at the 85 sq. km project, which is estimated to take about six to eight months to complete. This initial operation is forecast to generate approximately 25,000 oz. to 30,000 oz. of gold annually. Minera Alamos currently estimates the capital cost for construction of the heap leach project at approximately $10 million.

The planned Santana mine would have a 5,000 tonne per day to 6,000 tonne per day design capacity. At the end of January, the company entered into a purchase agreement for a crushing, screening and agglomeration system for the mine for staged payments totaling $1.2 million.

In the first quarter, Minera Alamos started preparing for construction of the leach pads and holding ponds. To date, the company has mined about 50,000 tonnes on a trial basis with recovered gold grades at over 0.67 gram gold per tonne.

In December 2019, the company announced a $14 million combined royalty and equity financing package with Osisko Gold Royalties (TSX: OR). The financing included a $6 million private placement, a $5 million sale of a perpetual 3% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on Santana, with a further $3 million available in financing from Osisko during construction and start-up of Santana. Osisko Royalties currently holds 18.7% of the companys shares.

In September 2019, surface rock sampling at the project identified additional gold-silver surface anomalies: the Gold Ridge zone, which has been traced for about 1,000 metres of strike and over widths of 200 metres. This discovery is roughly 2-3 km away from the planned heap leach facilities. In addition to Gold Ridge, exploration targets include the Divisadero, Benjamin and Zata zones where rock samples have also returned anomalous gold values. Drilling is ongoing with plans for approximately 2,500 metres to 3,000 metres in each quarter of this year.

Minera Alamos also holds the 62-sq.-km La Fortuna project in Durango state. A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) from 2018 outlined an open-pit operation producing an average of 50,000 gold-equivalent oz. annually over a five-year mine life. With all-in sustaining costs pegged at US$440 per oz. and a pre-production capital outlay of US$26.9 million, the associated projects net present value estimate, at a 7.5% discount rate, came in at US$69.8 million.

Permitting for La Fortuna is underway with an estimated 12-month build period. Minera Alamos envisions development of this asset once construction at Santana is complete. The company has also identified additional zones of mineralization at the project.

Minera Alamos has a $87.4-million market capitalization.

OceanaGold

A truck exits a portal at OceanaGolds Waihi gold mine on New Zealands North Island. Credit: OceanaGold.

OceanaGold (TSX: OGC) holds three operating gold mines in New Zealand and the U.S. as well as the Didipio gold-copper mine in the Philippines, which suspended processing operations in October.

In 2020, the company expects to produce 360,000 oz. to 380,000 oz. of gold at all-in sustaining costs of US$1,075 to US$1,125 per oz.

The Haile open pit in South Carolina is currently the companys largest production contributor, expected to churn out 180,000 oz. to 190,000 oz. of gold this year at AISCs of US$1,080 to US$1,130 per oz. The mine, which started pouring gold in 2017, has an estimated mine life reaching out to 2033. In the near term, the company is also working towards upping open pit operations through accelerating mining activities, increasing productivities, updating mine plans and deploying a larger mining fleet.

OceanaGold is also completing optimization work on an underground mine plan for the Horseshoe underground with an expansion at Haile in mind. It plans to provide details of these studies in the second half of this year.

The Macraes underground and open pit operations in New Zealand are forecast to contribute 160,000 oz. to 170,000 oz. this year. The complex has been producing for over 29 years and the company is currently targeting a mine life extension at the project through ongoing exploration and planning work. A pre-feasibility study for the Golden Point underground project at the site is underway, expected in the second half of the year.

The companys Waihi underground mine, also in New Zealand, is forecast to produce 18,000 oz. to 20,000 oz. in 2020. Last year, OceanaGold received the go-ahead to develop the Martha Underground within the Waihi district, below the past-producing Martha pit and accessible through existing underground infrastructure, which would extend the life of this mine by at least ten years. First production is expected in the second quarter of next year, and anticipated to ramp up to the 90,000 oz. to 100,000 oz. per year level. Additional exploration is underway at the WKP past-producing project, located 10 km from the Waihi plant; drill results there have included 25.4 metres of 38.7 grams gold per tonne and 8.7 metres of 24.5 grams gold.

At Didipio, governed by a Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the Philippine government, the office of the president is currently reviewing the FTAA renewal application, with a notice of renewal submitted in March 2018, but has not issued a decision timeline. The FTAA became renewable for a 25-year term in June 2019. The mine remains in a state of operational readiness. Last year it produced 83,913 oz. of gold and 10,255 tonnes of copper.

OceanaGold has a $777.9-million market capitalization.

Roxgold

The processing plant at Roxgolds Yaramoko gold mine in Burkina Faso. Credit: Roxgold.

Roxgold (TSX: ROXG) is an Africa-focused gold producer and developer with assets in Burkina Faso and Cote dIvoire.

The companys 1,100 tonne per day Yaramoko operation in Burkina Faso, 200 km southwest of Ouagadougou, features the 55 Zone and Bagassi South underground mines. This year, the two operations are expected to produce a total of 120,000 oz. to 130,000 oz. of gold at AISCs of US$930 to US$990 per oz. with similar anticipated production at lower AISCs, in the range of US$750 to US$850 per oz., expected in the two following years.

Yaramokos total reserves are at 2.5 million tonnes grading 8.24 grams gold per tonne for a total of 658,000 ounces. The majority of these are contained within the 55 Zone, an area with a history of resource replacement, where high-grade, dipping shoots have been traced down to a depth of 1.2 vertical kilometres. In the second half of this year, Roxgold plans to complete a 14,000-metre infill program from underground at this site to drill resource extensions at depth and test parallel structures.

In April 2019, Roxgold acquired the Seguela project in Cote dIvoire, 240 km northwest of Yamoussoukro. Current indicated resources for the project are at 7.1 million tonnes grading 2.3 grams gold for a total of 529,000 oz. with and an additional 5.2 million inferred tonnes at 2.8 grams gold containing 471,000 ounces.

Roxgold envisions development of the Antenna deposit at the site with additional contributions from satellite pits situated along the main structures of the Boulder-Agouti trend. In April of last year, the company started a 24,000 metre drill program testing six potential target areas, five of which returned meaningful gold intercepts. Overall, there are 28 targets identified within the Seguela holdings.

Infill and step-out drilling completed at Antenna since the January 2020 resource update has confirmed a high-grade core with extensions to this mineralization at depth and along strike. Highlight intercepts included 11 metres of 3.3 grams gold as well as 28 metres of 1.7 grams gold; both of these start at surface. The results will be incorporated into an upcoming preliminary economic assessment for Seguela, expected in the second quarter of 2020.

On the exploration front, the companys Boussoura project in Burkina Faso, 180 km south of Yaramoko, lies within the Houde gold belt. Boussoura permits cover an area of 250 sq. km with a further 250 sq. km covered by earn-in agreements. Main targets at the site are Fofora in the north and Galgouli in the south: the former hosts artisanal workings over an area of 9 sq. km with over nine veins identified whereas the latter features 1 km of artisanal workings over a primary target vein. Two rigs are currently working at Boussoura.

Roxgold has a $263.8-million market capitalization.

Wesdome Gold Mines

The Kiena mine site in Val DOr, Quebec. Credit: Wesdome Gold Mines.

Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX: WDO) operates the Eagle River complex nearby Wawa in Ontario and also holds the Kiena project in Quebec.

This year, its guidance is for 90,000 oz. to 100,000 oz. of gold at all-in sustaining costs of US$985 to US$1,049 per ounce.

The majority of this production is expected to come from the Eagle River underground mine with a minor contribution from the Mishi open pit at the Eagle River complex.

The Eagle River underground operation and Mishi pit feed a central 850 tonne per day mill at Eagle River with additional exploration underway to extend existing zones of mineralization and identify new lenses.

In February, the company announced exploration results from the Ontario asset, with drilling extending the Falcon zone as well as the 303 Lens. The latter is a potential source of short to medium-term mill feed. Intercepts of note included 3 metres of 49.4 grams gold per tonne from Falcon as well as 6.4 metres of 49.1 grams gold from the 303 Lens.

The Kiena complex in Val dOr has been on care and maintenance since 2013 and contains a permitted, 2,000 tonne per day mill, a 930 metre shaft, and a ramp system that extends to 1,050 metres depth. Total measured and indicated resources at the property are at 2.8 million tonnes grading 8.67 grams gold for a total of 788,100 oz. with further inferred resources of 2.9 million tonnes at 8.51 grams gold for 798,100 oz.; approximately half of these resources are contained within the higher-grade Kiena Deep A zone.

This year, the companys $19.8-million exploration budget is allocated towards 85,000 metres of drilling at Kiena and a total of 152,500 metres at Eagle River.

A preliminary economic assessment is underway evaluating a restart of Kiena, which is expected in the second quarter. In February, Wesdome also released drill results from this project, which extended the Deep A zone down plunge. Highlights from step out work included 10 metres of 114.8 grams gold and 17.2 metres of 25.3 grams gold.

The company also holds the Moss Lake property, covering 36 km of strike along the Shebandowan greenstone belt, 100 km west of Thunder Bay in Ontario. The property hosts measured and indicated resources of 1.4 million oz., with additional inferred resources of 1.8 million ounces. Current resources grade 1.1 grams gold.

Wesdome has a $852.8-million market capitalization.

Yamana Gold

Pit activity at Agnico Eagle Mines and Yamana Golds Canadian Malartic gold mine in Quebec. Credit: Yamana Gold.

Yamana Gold (TSX: YRI; NYSE: AUY) is a gold and silver producer with operations in Canada and South America. This year it expects to generate 990,000 gold-equivalent oz. on a company-wide basis.

The companys largest gold contributor is the Canadian Malartic open-pit mine in Quebec, which is expected to churn out 330,000 oz. of gold this year for Yamana at all-in sustaining costs of US$820 to US$850 per gold-equivalent ounce. Yamana has a 50% stake in the asset with Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX, NYSE: AEM ) also at a 50% ownership. The two companies operate the mine through a partnership. Exploration is also underway at this asset to evaluate additional deposits and prospective areas.

In Chile, Yamana owns the El Penon gold-silver underground mine, which is expected to contribute 162,000 oz. of gold and 4 million oz. of silver in 2020 at AISCs of US$930 to US$960 per gold-equivalent ounce. Earlier this year, the company was able to increase its gold and silver reserves for the asset, net of mining depletion, and also up its gold measured and indicated resources by 66%.

The companys Jacobina complex of underground mines in Brazil is forecast to generate a further 162,000 oz. of gold this year at AISCs of US$860 to US$890 per oz. A two-phase expansion is underway for this project, with the first phase increasing output to the 170,000 oz. per year range and the second, pending approval, potentially ramping the asset up to the 225,000 oz. per year rate. A pre-feasibility study is underway to assess optimal expansion scenarios.

In Argentina, Yamanas Cerro Moro complex is forecast to produce 117,000 gold oz. this year with a further 7.5 million oz. of silver at AISCs of US$970 to US$1,000 per oz. The Minera Florida underground mine in Chile is anticipated to generate 86,000 oz. of gold in 2020 at AISCs of US$1,130 to US$1,160 per oz.

In addition to its producing mineral assets, Yamana holds the Agua Rica copper-gold-silver-molybdenum deposit in Argentina with a feasibility study expected by the end of this year. The company is evaluating strategic options and partnerships to maximize the value from this asset.

Yamana also holds an 8.75% stake in Equinox Gold (TSX: EQX; NYSE: EQX), a company with six producing gold mines, and in, February, the company sold its royalty portfolio to Nomad Royalty (TSXV: GV) for a total of US$65 million.

In March, the company announced a partial temporary demobilization of its workforce at Cerro Moro in Argentina due to the COVID-19 virus. As of presstime, the company was not expecting this ramp-down to have a meaningful impact on its production guidance for the year.

Yamana Gold has a $3.6-billion market capitalization.

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Global Gold Snapshot: Eight companies to watch - The Northern Miner

The comment was made by Anders Sandberg, a senior research fellow at the universitys Future of Humanity Institute. His work focuses on the potential risks future technology could pose to human civilisation.

Mr Sandberg has also spent decades involved with the transhumanist movement, which consists of people who believe humans can and should use technology to artificially augment their capabilities.

Speaking to Express.co.uk he argued humans in the future could enjoy greatly expanded lifespans and could even have their brains uploaded onto computers for safekeeping.

Asked how long humans could live Mr Sandberg replied: There is no fundamental ceiling but you are going to need to solve certain problems.

Accidents is the first one cryonics wont help you if a bus runs over you and turns you into mush.

Even if ageing and disease is not a problem you need to handle accidents and probably that means having some form of backup copies. You need some form of uploading or artificial body.

Probably the human brain cant handle that much information so you need to extend it as you get older.

You want to remember what needs to be remembered and maybe put other stuff in cyber storage.

Transhumanists believe humans can halt the ageing process and natural death.

According to Mr Sandberg this is one of the most provocative aspects of their programme.

He explained: Transhumanists have essentially since day one been saying we should really extend the human lifespan and this is perhaps one of the most controversial claims ever made.

We get way more pushback when talking about life extension than cloning or uploading into computers or going to space or taking drugs to become a more moral person.

Thats nothing compared to the potential of oh you might live much longer than you expected.

READ MORE:Academic explains how humans could become part mechanic cyborgs'

That is kind of dreadful to many people so they get very upset and start defending disease, sickness and death very strongly.

Its weird because if one believed their arguments we should be shutting down hospitals left and right and having people naturally and painfully die which of course people dont normally do. Normally we are very keen on having good hospitals and ambulances.

Mr Sandberg is the co-founder of Swedish thinktank Eudoxa and previously chaired the Swedish Transhumanist Association.

Transhumanist ideas have been gaining ground over recent years, with transhumanist political parties emerging in countries across the world including the UK.

An American transhumanist, Zoltan Istvan, recently ran against Trump for the 2020 Republican Presidential nomination.

Mr Sandberg also suggested advances in AI and drugs that improve human abilities are likely to play a role in the future.

READ MORE:US Presidential hopeful plans to ABOLISH DEATH using technology

He asserted: Its very likely artificial intelligence is going to become extremely powerful relatively soon.

Not necessarily the kind of self-willed Hal like being but at least very smart services that can solve problems for us which might speed things up.

I also have been working quite a lot on the ethics of cognitive enhancement. What about making ourselves smarter?

The good news is there are various things like smart drugs that might be helpful for certain mental tasks.

The bad news is there doesnt seem to be anything that really boost intelligence itself. That seems to be very complicated and we dont understand the brain well enough.

Oxford Universitys Future of Humanity Institute was founded in 2005 to focus on the opportunities and threats that could emerge for the human species.

It is headed by Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, who grabbed wide attention with his 2014 book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies.

Asked what the world could look like in 40 years time Mr Sandberg replied: think a time traveller going 40 years into the future is first going to be super disappointed because it looks almost the same.

On the surface I think its going to be very similar theres going to be vehicles moving around, maybe without any drivers, there are going to be houses around and so on and then they start interacting with people and theyre going to realise this society works completely differently.

We most likely are going to have quite a lot of enhancements around that are regarded as everyday.

People are not going to think that the morning cognition enhancing pill is any weirder than the morning coffee they might even be the same thing.

The existence of a lot of machine learning and probably nanotechnology making a lot of material way more alive than they used to.

Link:
Oxford academic claims future humans could live for thousands of years - Express.co.uk

The expired box of 35 respirators the North Branford Fire Department Chief William Seward says his team received on March 20, 2020 from the national stockpile amid the coronavirus crisis.

The expired box of 35 respirators the North Branford Fire Department Chief William Seward says his team received on March 20, 2020 from the national stockpile amid the coronavirus crisis.

Photo: Contributed Photo / William Seward

The expired box of 35 respirators the North Branford Fire Department Chief William Seward says his team received on March 20, 2020 from the national stockpile amid the coronavirus crisis.

The expired box of 35 respirators the North Branford Fire Department Chief William Seward says his team received on March 20, 2020 from the national stockpile amid the coronavirus crisis.

Guilford, East Haven, North Branford receive expired respirators from national stockpile

North Branford Fire Chief William Seward was alarmed when he got the news: his department, which runs the towns ambulance service, would only receive one box of 35 respirators from the strategic national stockpile.

Whats more, all of those masks which Seward picked up today in Essex are expired.

Its beyond belief, Seward said. Although the town currently has enough supplies on hand, Seward worries about what will happen if COVID-19 cases spike a few weeks down the road, he said.

North Branford is not alone.

Two East Haven firefighters and their families were quarantined for two weeks Friday after the pair of first responders assisted a 79-year-old man who became the towns first confirmed case of COVID-19, the town said in a statement.

East Haven Fire Chief Marcarelli is worried that if too many members of his team get sidelined because of exposure, they wont be able to fight fires, he said.

The department is supporting them and their families and both firefighters are doing well, Marcarelli said.

Marcarelli was told that all of the 144,000 respirators in the states strategic stockpile are expired by at least 10 years, he said, adding that his department was allotted 220 respirators. They were all expired, and they were all sized small, he said.

And I dont know why any of this is coming as a surprise to the state, Marcarelli said. Theres been a pandemic plan since 2001.

The state is a major source of the respirators, which are currently difficult to find, according to Marcarelli.

Further down the Shoreline, Guilford got 110 respirators also expired, according to Assistant Fire Chief Michael Shove.

A memorandum from Lisa Bushnell, strategic national stockpile coordinator for the Connecticut Department of Public Health, indicates that in terms of personal protective equipment, many towns in the state are only receiving expired respirators at this time.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) is in possession of expired N95 respirators manufactured in 2006 that were not granted a shelf-life extension by the federal government, the memo says. We requested that the federal government consider an extension given the national PPE shortage, which was not granted. These expired Kimberly Clarke N95 respirators will not provide the appropriate protection factor of non-expired N95s, but are likely to minimally provide protection equivalent to a surgical face mask.

Hearst Connecticut Media obtained a copy of the letter, dated Thursday. Bushnell directed press inquiries to DPH spokesman Av Harris, who did not respond to a request for comment.

The state Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security divides Connecticut into five regions, according to its website. The memorandum about the expired respirators went out to Region 2 towns, according to an email to which the record is attached.

Thirty Connecticut towns make up Region 2, according to the DEMHS website.

Guilford Assistant Fire Chief Michael Shove confirmed that his town is also facing a challenge in terms of access to PPE. Eligible for 105 respirators, his department received more equipment than the North Branford Fire Department but, again, all those respirators were expired, Shove said.

The state used each departments call volume to determine how many respirators they would receive, according to the email sent to Region 2 towns.

But the North Branford Fire Department transports more than 900 patients annually, Seward said, adding that the respirators are not reusable.

Whats more, medical experts today expanded the possible symptoms associated with COVID-19 so as to include certain gastrointestinal issues, according to Seward. That means personal protective equipment may be necessary for more calls, Seward said.

Shove confirmed Sewards account.

Although calls in North Branford are currently less frequent than normal, if COVID-19 cases surge, Seward said, the lack of personal protective equipment will be a challenge for us.

And its not just respirators first responders need. They also require gear like gloves and gowns, Shove said.

Shove hopes that Connecticut is able to prevent the surge in COVID-19 cases, or that manufacturers can ramp up PPE production, he said.

Hes not worried about the next two weeks, but he is worried about having sufficient supplies thereafter.

We could definitely use supplies, but theres nowhere to get supplies, he said, adding that many departments are in the same boat. All the chiefs have been vocal ... but the thing is, you cant change the past.

Shoves team will make the most of what they have, he said.

meghan.friedmann@hearstmediact.com; 781-346-5236; Mark Zaretsky contributed to this report.

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Guilford, East Haven, North Branford receive expired respirators from national stockpile - New Haven Register

HP 3D printing helps to unleash new levels of creative expression from the human heart to a Triceratops

- HP highlights collaboration with cutting edge artist Amy Karle in honor of International Womens Week

- Karle leverages HPs 3D printing to create custom works of art in various materials and full color for world renowned museums such as the Smithsonian and Mori Art Museum

- The artists work seeks to explore how technology could be utilized to unlock human potential

HP Inc. news

PALO ALTO, Calif., March 20,2020 /CSRwire/ -This Womens History month, HP is showcasing a collaboration withAmy Karle, a leading artist, provocateur and futurist. Regarded as one of the most influential women in the 3D printing industry today and one of theBBCs 100 Women,Amy Karle is leveraging the power of 3D printing to reinvent creating art in amazing new ways. HPs 3D Printing & Digital Manufacturing organization and HP Labs are working together with Amy Karle to provide the most advanced 3D printing solutions to make her creative art expression a reality.

I love the exploration and development that 3D printing offers: a new opportunity for thinking, a new way to reshape what we create, and a completely new approach to expression in which digital, physical and biological systems are interwoven, said Amy Karle. HP 3D Printing enables me to bring this vision to life by opening up new artistic possibilities not achievable before.

Amy Karles mission is to positively impact others, raise consciousness and contribute to social, political, and technical development by making and sharing her work. As an artist and designer, Karle uses HP Multi Jet Fusion technologies which include the Jet Fusion 5200 and 580 printing systems to build her pieces, creating art that catalytically examines material and spiritual aspects of life and opens minds to future visions of how technology could be utilized to unlock human potential.

Amy Karle Smithsonian Collaboration: Regeneration Through Technology Sculpture Series

Leveraging Smithsonian 3D scan data of a fossilized Triceratops skeleton as the basis of inquiry into the past, present, and future, Karle recently debuted artworks inspired by scans the Smithsonian Digitization Office made of an object in the collection of the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History in conjunction with the launch of theSmithsonian Open Access Initiative.

The basis for this collection by Karle is Hatcher, a 66-million-year-old Triceratops skeleton in the National Museum of Natural History who made history as the first digital dinosaur. In the context of cutting-edge digital, biotechnological, computational, and additive manufacturing developments, Karle expands on Hatchers legacy by opening an inquiry into what representation and composite with computer-assisted technology means for us now and into the future. See Karles artworks for this collaboration, Deep Time and The Far Future,3D printed by HP here. For more about the Smithsonian collaboration, clickhere.

view a full slidgeshow of Amy's work here

Amy Karle The Heart of Evolution?

Questioning human modification at the dawn of the biotech era, and how future organs and the augmented body could be created and function in the future, Karles The Heart of Evolution? sculpture takes shape of what heart vasculature could look and work like with enhanced design, housed in the mechanical womb of a scientific bioreactor. The artist chose a heart shape because it is a major organ often associated with the emotions to heighten the viewers awareness of synthetic biology's potential implications on humanity and evolution - both positive (for healing and enhancing) and negative.

The work questions life, death, life extension, enhancement, and transformation at a time of humans and technology merging. The work points to the importance of considering and collaboration with living systems; and serves to open minds to visions of how design, generative engineering, 3D printing, and bioprinting can heal and enhance humanity. Now on display at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan, see photos of Karles The Heart of Evolution? 3D printed by HP in the image gallery and watch thisvideo.

About Amy Karle

Amy Karle attended Alfred University and Cornell University, where she received degrees in Art and Design and Philosophy. Karle is co-founder of Conceptual Art Technologies and has shown work in 46 exhibitions worldwide. She is the inventor of registered active patents, service marks and trademarks in medical and technology categories.

Amy works as a full-time artist expressing experiences in visual forms, often designing technologies to improve the body and functions of the human in the process. She has been named one of the Most Influential Women in 3D Printing and her bioart work has contributed to the establishment of a new discipline in the art world. The long-term goals of her work are to continue to pioneer in the bioart field and make contributions to healthcare and mind-body medicine in the process.

About HP

HP Inc. creates technology that makes life better for everyone, everywhere. Through our portfolio of personal systems, printers, and 3D printing solutions, we engineer experiences that amaze. More information about HP Inc. is available atwww.hp.com/go/3Dprinting.

Jennifer Baumgartner, HP Inc.Jennifer.Baumgartner@hp.com

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HP Collaborates With Amy Karle, Leading 3D Printing Artist and Futurist - CSRwire.com

Rio Tintos Kennecott mine near Salt Lake City, Utah, has been impacted by a 5.7-magnitude earthquake close to the town of Magna.

All employees have been safely accounted for and evacuated from the potential risk areas. At this stage the company has identified limited damage to the operation or risk to the surrounding community.

A detailed inspection of the complex is currently being conducted, in conjunction with the local emergency services and Utah Department of Transportation.

As a precaution, all operations have been temporarily halted and, in line with standard procedures pre-agreed with the Utah Department of Transportation, State Road 201 has been temporarily closed while the inactive South (Magna) tailings storage facility is inspected.

This is an inactive historic tailings storage facility that is stable and being actively monitored and managed, under a plan reviewed and endorsed by a panel of independent geotechnical experts and Utahs dam regulatory authorities.

Rio Tinto Copper & Diamonds chief executive Arnaud Soirat commented: The safety of our employees and wider community is our first priority and having ensured that all our employees are safe and the operations are shut, we are now working with the local emergency services and regulators to ensure the asset is safe before resuming any operations.

SEE ALSO:

Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi operation slowed by coronavirus

Rio Tinto investing $1bn to meet new climate change targets

Inmarsat delivers remote tailings dam monitoring with real-time analysis

Read the latest issue of Mining Global here

In DecemberRio Tinto announceda $1.5bn investment to expand the Kennecott copper mineextending operations to 2032.

The move reflects a growing trend for miners to invest in strategic mineral projects across the United States.The investment will further extend strip waste rock mining and support additional infrastructure development in the second phase of the South Wall Pushback project, to allow mining to continue into a new area of the ore body and deliver close to one million tonnes of refined copper between 2026 and 2032. It will also allow further exploration of the deposit and options for mine life extension.

For more insights on mining topics - please take a look at the latest edition ofMining Global.

Follow us onLinkedInandTwitter.

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Rio Tinto halts operations at Kennecott following earthquake - Mining Global - Mining News, Magazine and Website

The Scorpion HMD is just one facet of what is turning out to be one potent and efficient aggressor jet. The six fully configured F-5ATs Tactical Air now has on strength also sport the multi-mode Nemesis pulse-doppler radar from Duotech. This system takes up the majority of the jet's nose, with the guns having been removed. The radar is designed specifically for the adversary mission and is fully fused with the aircraft's Garmin 3000 avionics suite.

Nemesis is superior in range to the AN/APG-66 radar that is found in a competitor's A-4s and in older F-16s, some of which are going to be joining the private aggressor industry, and has the ability to simulate various enemy radars and missile systems. It is also designed for extreme reliability and has the potential to have its mechanically scanned array (MESA) antenna to be converted to a more capable active electronically scanned array (AESA) antenna in the future.

Duotech is also supplying the radar warning receiver suite for the F-5AT, which provides a high degree of passive situational awareness. The system, dubbed Argus, can be easily integrated onto certain aircraft, like the F-5, using existing apertures and has 360 degree, wideband threat detection capability.

The jets are also set to receive a proprietary data-link that will allow them to share information freely among themselves, including targeting and weapons data, and it will support secure communications. This could be extremely useful if an AESA radar gets installed in some of the company's F-5ATs. With the data-link, just one jet equipped with a more advanced radar could share all its information with other F-5ATs, making it a big force multiplier. Currently, the air combat maneuvering instrumentation (ACMI) pod the F-5ATs carry, the Cubic's P5 model, offers limited aircraft-to-aircraft data-link capabilities, including the sharing of position data, which is highly useful for the aggressor role.

These features are in addition to the airframes being overhauled by Northrop Grumman and the Garmin 3000 large panel display glass cockpit being installed, as well as hands-on throttle and stick controls, and other enhancements.

The software that runs on the Garmin system and handles data-fusion and tactical information was also developed specifically for the aggressor mission. It's called Venom and comes from L3Harris.

In a press release, L3Harris described Venom as such:

"Venom integrates the latest air-to-air capabilities using commercial off-the-shelf components, providing pilots desired look, feel and operation in the cockpit. The suite enables third-generation platforms to operate as a fifth-generation platform, and more realistically emulate modern adversaries.

The Venom suite continues L3Harris work in adversary mission systems by integrating a high-resolution tactical situation display, presenting radar and datalink track information, threats, system status and weapons engagement information with the Garmin G3000 Integrated Flight Deck touch controller and bezel key interfaces. This provides pilots an intuitive, cutting-edge capability for performing adversary training missions. Scaleable, reconfigurable and adaptable, Venom enables platforms to maintain relevance by easily and affordably incorporating new or desired adversary capabilities."

Guthals noted just how reliable the F-5AT configuration is. Four jets now operating out of Fallon accomplished three sorties each on a single day last week. That's impressive reliability by today's tactical fast jet standards.

Clearly, the Navy has taken notice as to what Tactical Air has accomplished with the F-5AT conversion and is looking at doing something very similar to its own comparatively antiquated F-5Ns, of which the service is buying more second-hand from Switzerland. Tactical Air is actually helping to manage that upgrade program for the Navy, so it is very likely that a similar, if not nearly identical configuration will eventually find its way into the Navy two F-5 equipped aggressor squadronsVFC-13 and VFC-111and the Marine's single F-5 aggressor unitVMFT-401.

As for the longevity of Tactical Air's 'super Tiger IIs' of sorts, they came from surplus Jordanian stocks and apparently had very low flight time to begin with, with around 2,000 hours on each of them. Guthals notes that the F-5s are good for roughly 7,000 hours as originally designed and can go significantly beyond that with a service life extension.

All told, it is fairly remarkably what Tactical Air has achieved with its F-5TA initiative. The little planes pack an incredible amount of current-day tech that is specifically designed for aggressor operations, not repurposed from combat applications, into highly reliable, proven, efficient, and enduring design. The Navy also gets to take advantage of its development work by upgrading its own F-5s, which remain the backbone of the Navy and Marine Corps' aggressor force.

The Navy passed over another aggressor company that proposed using the F-16 platform for the NAS Fallon contract due to Tactical Air's efficient plan. Time will tell just how good of a decision that was, but as it sits now, Navy pilots are facing an enhanced F-5 adversary that is better adapted to the aggressor mission than ever before and Air Force pilots are likely to be slugging it out with the F-5AT soon, as well.

Contact the author: Tyler@thedrive.com

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Private Aggressor F-5 Fighter Force Is Flying With Helmet Mounted Displays - The Drive

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, March 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Share Natur International Corp., (OTCQB:NTRU), a "farm-to-functional" producer of natural and organic plant-based foods and beverages including full and broad spectrum CBD (cannabinoid) and terpene-blended consumer products, today announced that Dr. Nina Storms has resigned from the company's Board of Directors for personal reasons, effective February 21. The Board has voted to appoint Karen Brink to the position, effective immediately.

Dr. Storms is the visionary behind the present strategy of Share Natur International.

Commenting on her resignation, Dr. Storms said, "I believe that this is the right moment for me to resign from the Share Natur board. This change stems from personal reasons, but also importantly, my seat will now be filled with someone from a younger generation, my daughter Karen Brink, who can contribute as the company continues working to secure a leading market position. I have been fortunate to work with my esteemed board members, all of us have worked closely together to ensure the success of Share Natur. I am very thankful for this great opportunity."

Spencer Chesman, CEO of Share Natur International, commented, "I have become quite close to Nina and her family and truly appreciate all of her efforts in positioning Share Natur in the ever expanding health and wellness business arena. Nina has a vast network and is knowledgeable in corporate environments and strategy, and I am sure she will continue to maintain these contacts to the benefit of Share Natur. I understand her motivation to resign from the constraints that a board seat can bring and I look forward to her continued support. Her contribution to the company in concert with the other board members has been selfless and the company has benefited tremendously, we will miss her everyday guidance."

Karen Brink added, "I am honored to assume a seat on the Board of Directors of Share Natur. I have worked in the company for some time now and strongly believe in its potential, direction and strategy. I understand my mother's motivation to leave the board at this time and am grateful to have learned so much from her as we worked together on many projects during the last few years."

Li Zeng, a member of the Share Natur International Executive Management Team, stated, "I have been very privileged to work and learn from Nina. Uniquely, she was able to understand, absorb and integrate the Chinese culture and mannerisms, unlike many others, with those of Share Natur, which has a more western approach. As one of the Chairmen of CQ News, the second largest media station in China, I look forward to Nina's continued support and advice."

About Share Natur International Corp.

Share Natur, founded in 2015 to market "farm-to-functional" natural and organic plant-based foods and beverages, expanded its product portfolio this past year to include full and broad spectrum CBD (cannabinoid) and terpene-blended consumer products. With the portfolio expansion, Share Natur is moving swiftly to place relevant consumer goods in multiple health and wellness categories including food and beverage, snacks, health and beauty, supplements, sports and animal care. Share Natur personalizes nutrition and strives to enhance one's quality of life by utilizing the forces of nature, driven by science.

Share Natur applies the most advanced and emerging hi-tech health methodologies as it markets nutritious, delicious and fresh-tasting products. By applying innovative technologies to the breeding of its plant sources, the extraction of its ingredients, and delicate shelf life extension, Share Natur ensures the peak of freshness, and supplies nutrient-dense products that are superior to competitors' offerings. The company remains astute to relevant "snackification" trends and goes to market through Europe's leading retailers, foodservice partners and online eCommerce subscription models. For additional information, please visit http://www.int.natur.eu.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this release that are not based on historical fact are "forward-looking statements." While management has based any forward-looking statements included in this release on its current expectations, the information on which such expectations were based may change. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, as a result of various factors including those risks and uncertainties, some of which are described in the Risk Factors and in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations sections of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, which can be found on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. We urge you to consider those risks and uncertainties in evaluating our forward-looking statements. We caution readers not to place undue reliance upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. Except as otherwise required by the federal securities laws, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to publicly release any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein (or elsewhere) to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Contacts:

PCG Advisory Inc.Jeff Ramson+16467624518jramson@pcgadvisory.comOrLaurens FelderhofCMO, Share Natur+31639262609ir@natur.eu

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Share Natur International Announces Resignation of Dr. Nina Storms, Founder and Company Visionary, from Board of Directors - Benzinga

The U.S. Navys plan for a bigger fleet is collapsing before our eyes.

To save money, the Navy is canceling an effort to add 10 years to the service lives of its 27 oldest Arleigh Burke-class destroyers. The fleet announced the extension back in 2018.

Decommissioning the old Burkes after 35 years of use instead of 45 years means the fleet will lose a large proportion of its surface combatants starting in 2026 or 2027. First-in-class USS Arleigh Burke, DDG-51, commissioned in 1991.

A Burke is around 500 feet long, displaces around 9,000 tons of water and packs around 90 missiles in vertical launchers.

Defense News was among the first news outlets to report on the cancellation of the service-life extension. The change is the latest decision to weigh on the Navys plan to expand the fleet, which in early 2020 operates 295 front-line ships.

The Navy since late 2016 has wanted to grow to 350 or 355 ships, including 12 aircraft carriers, 156 surface combatants and 66 attack submarines.

"To continue to protect America and defend our strategic interests around the world, all while continuing the counter terrorism fight and appropriately competing with a growing China and resurgent Russia, our Navy must continue to grow," Ray Mabus, Pres. Barack Obamas long-serving Navy secretary, explained while announcing the expansion plan in December 2016.

The plan began to collapse in late 2019 as the Navy came to terms with flattening budgets, the rising cost of ship-construction and maintenance and the poor performance of several new ship types.

Will we get to 355 ships? Vice Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Robert Burke said in October 2019. I think with todays fiscal situation, where the Navys top line is right now, we can keep around 305 to 310 ships whole, properly manned, properly maintained, properly equipped and properly ready.

In a sudden reversal following years of increasing ship-construction, the Navy in its $207-billion 2021 budget proposal asked for just eight new front-line vessels, down from 12 or 13 in previous years. The Navy also has proposed to decommission early four of its new Littoral Combat Ships as well as several cruisers and amphibious ships.

Amid the uncertainty, the sailing branch has delayed its annual shipbuilding plan and other force-structure projections, drawing rebukes from lawmakers who, in the absence of firm plans, increasingly dictate U.S. naval force-structure by way of annual appropriations.

In written testimony that the Navy submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, the services assistant secretary for research, development and acquisition James Geurts said performing service life extensions on Burkes wasnt cost-effective.

Service-life extensions can be targeted, physical changes to specific hulls to gain a few more years, or a class-wide extension based on engineering analysis, Geurtss testimony reads. The Navy has evaluated the most effective balance between costs and capability to be removing the service-life extension on the DDG-51 class.

The earliest Burkes -- 27 Flight I and early Flight II vessels -- have an expected hull life of 35 years, Defense News explained, citing internal Navy documents. USS Arleigh Burkes hull life could expire in 2026 or shortly thereafter. Thereafter, the fleet could lose three or more Burkes annually for around a decade.

Later Flight IIA and Flight III destroyers have 40- or 45-year hull-lives. The Navy is still building new Flight III Burkes at a rate of around two per year. The service so far has ordered 77 Burkes of all flights.

With shipbuilding plans in chaos, the Navy increasingly is counting on small, cheap robotic ships to rescue it from a major contraction.

Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly in early December 2019 codified this policy in his SECNAV Vector 1 memo, which called for an integrated plan to achieve a 355 (or more) ships, unmanned underwater vehicles and unmanned surface vehicles for greater global naval power, within 10 years.

USNI News was the first to report on Modlys memo.

The Navy in its 2020 budget request asked Congress for the first installment on a $4-billion acquisition of 10 large unmanned surface vessels and nine unmanned submarines. Boeing is developing the robotic submarines, using its 51-feet-long Orca submersible as a starting point.

The sailing branch hasnt yet selected a shipyard to build the unmanned surface vessels. The USVs could be similar to the Sea Hunter robot ship that the Navy has been testing since 2016. Sea Hunter is 132 feet long.

Under the Navys current rules, unmanned vessels do not count as part of the front-line fleet. That policy is likely to change.

David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is theauthor of the graphic novelsWar Fix,War Is BoringandMachete Squad.

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Kiss These US Navy Destroyers Goodbye - The National Interest