Pandemic

Alveo Technologies Is Developing Groundbreaking Avian Influenza Molecular Test for Poultry in Partnership with x-OvO, Royal GD, and Pharmsure

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2024

ALAMEDA, Calif., Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alveo Technologies, Inc. (Alveo), a leader in molecular sensing and diagnostics with its proprietary be.well technology platform, today announced it is working with experts and leaders in the poultry industry to launch a rapid, accurate, in-the-field multiplex panel to test for all relevant strains of avian influenza, initially focusing on Group A, H5, H7, and H9. To help codevelop and distribute the tests, Alveo has partnered with industry leaders x-OvO, Royal GD, and Pharmsure International Ltd. The company expects to release their first product in the poultry diagnostic space, in EMEA in the first half of 2024.  

Key Points: 
  • To help codevelop and distribute the tests, Alveo has partnered with industry leaders x-OvO, Royal GD, and Pharmsure International Ltd.
  • The avian flu test will be Alveo's first product to launch into the agricultural sector since Alveo announced its open platform and partnering strategy last year.
  • In addition to avian flu, Alveo is partnering to develop test panels for many other pathogens impacting the agriculture industry.
  • "We've been working closely with Alveo in a deep collaboration to develop these highly valuable assays for Avian Influenza," said Wim Kieftenbeld, Director Business Development at Royal GD.

'Cli-fi' might not save the world, but writing it could help with your eco-anxiety

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 8, 2024

But even outside of being directly effected, there is evidence that mere awareness of climate change can be detrimental to your mental health and wellbeing.

Key Points: 
  • But even outside of being directly effected, there is evidence that mere awareness of climate change can be detrimental to your mental health and wellbeing.
  • If just knowing about climate change is emotionally difficult, what is it like spending years focusing on and writing about the topic?

What can a genre do?


Cli-fi has been touted as one of the ways to help save the world, with an emphasis on how imagining our future might make us reconsider our relationship to the natural world.

  • Fictions in this genre have primarily imagined dystopian worlds where the very worst has happened and humanity is (often barely) surviving in flooded or desolate wastelands.
  • These apocalyptic visions are meant to serve as warnings, to galvanise us to action, making sure this bleak future doesn’t happen.
  • This seems a good idea in theory, but do dystopian fictions help us engage with the climate crisis?

Waking in the night

  • Their responses made it clear that writing about a climate-changed future does more than bring up the anticipated negative emotions.
  • Writers of climate fiction are often drawn to the genre because they are already thinking about the climate and feeling anxious.
  • I had waking patches in the night over that time, where I’d be very intensely imagining something and grieving it […] But to be fair, I do that anyway.
  • But many of the writers spoke of the writing process as helping, not exacerbating, their anxiety.
  • We have to imagine ten years in the future and we have to imagine 50 years in the future.


Read more:
Writing can improve mental health – here's how

Theraputic benefits

  • The mental health and wellbeing benefits of creative writing have been established.
  • Studies have explored how writing can reduce anxiety in those affected by natural disasters.
  • Yet, as the writers quoted here have shown, the imaginative process of crafting fictional narratives about difficult topics comes with its own benefits.
  • In discussing their findings from one of the few studies to focus on the wellbeing effect of writing fictional narratives, Catherine Deveney and Patrick Lawson state: “it is in the craft of writing, the combination of technique and emotional catharsis, that some of the therapeutic benefits of writing can be found”.
  • We need to shift from worrying about the effects of cli-fi texts to thinking about the benefits of writing creatively as we imagine our possible futures.


This research receives funding from Assemblage Centre for Creative Arts at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia. Alex Cothren and Amy T Matthews do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

NIH Deploys Picodya's B-Matrix In Vitro Diagnostics Platform to Detect Global Viral Threats

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 8, 2024

TEL AVIV, Israel, Jan. 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Picodya, creator of the first hybrid in vitro diagnostics (IVD) solution for multiplexed point-of-care testing (xPOCT), announced today the deployment of its B-Matrix™ technology in National Institutes of Health (NIH) laboratories. This deployment may enable large-scale global serologic surveillance with real-time monitoring of the immune status of human populations and detection of viral outbreaks, which could further the PREMISE goal of establishing a preemptive repository of candidate immunobiological countermeasures.

Key Points: 
  • Picodya's B-Matrix™ platform is the first xPOCT IVD solution that performs both molecular and immunoassays from many body fluids on a singleplatform.
  • The hybrid and scalable technology aims to deliver lab-comparable test results in a single patient encounter, considerably shortening the diagnostic timeline.
  • "We appreciate the significant benefits the B-Matrix™ platform could bring to the PREMISE program, enabling multiplex testing at scale with high accuracy.
  • The B-Matrix diagnostic system is currently being adopted by global research facilities to help streamline timelines and reduce costs.

Genesco Reports Comparable Sales

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 8, 2024

Mimi E. Vaughn, Genesco board chair, president and chief executive officer, said, “Following a positive start to the holiday season, sales decelerated in the weeks approaching Christmas, as consumer shopping trends remained choppy and peak shopping days were not enough to offset the lulls in between.

Key Points: 
  • Mimi E. Vaughn, Genesco board chair, president and chief executive officer, said, “Following a positive start to the holiday season, sales decelerated in the weeks approaching Christmas, as consumer shopping trends remained choppy and peak shopping days were not enough to offset the lulls in between.
  • While consumer appetite for key items remained strong, there was less interest in boots, which are a meaningful part of our winter assortment.
  • Positively, momentum remained strong at Johnston & Murphy, helping to counter the lower-than-expected results at Journeys, and our online businesses continued to post solid gains.
  • With fourth quarter sales trending below our expectations, we now expect total year adjusted EPS to be in the range of $0.65 to $0.85 compared with our prior view for a range of $1.50-$2.00.

Smart Pole Market to grow by USD 12.48 billion from 2022 to 2027, Growth Driven by multiple functionalities offered by Smart Poles- Technavio

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 8, 2024

The potential growth difference for the smart pole market between 2023 and 2027 is USD 12.48 billion.

Key Points: 
  • The potential growth difference for the smart pole market between 2023 and 2027 is USD 12.48 billion.
  • Get deeper insights into the market size, current market scenario, future growth opportunities, major growth driving factors, the latest trends, and much more.
  • Buy the full report here
    What are the main growth drivers in the Smart Pole Market?
  • The Smart Pole, with integrated LED lighting powered by solar panels, exemplifies multifunctionality, boosting market expansion.

Payrolls Continued to Grow in December

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 5, 2024

NEW YORK, Jan. 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today's jobs report revealed that the labor market continued its growth in December, adding 216,000 persons to nonfarm payrolls. However, with downward revisions to both October and November data (cumulatively −71,000), the three-month average job growth declined to 165,000—well below the start of 2023, when monthly job growth was 312,000 (Chart 1). The softer trend in job gains align with earlier data showing companies are pulling back on hiring as interest rate increases have raised the cost of capital and slowed the economy. 

Key Points: 
  • As we continue to anticipate a short and shallow recession later this year, hiring will likely continue to slow going forward.
  • The anticipated weakness in the labor market will pale in comparison to that experienced during the Great Recession and the Pandemic.
  • Job growth was strong in 2023, with 2.7 million nonfarm payroll gains for the year, but clearly slower than the 4.5 million additions in 2022.
  • Moreover, hiring in the second half of 2023 was far less robust than in the first half.

Novartis expands production of Pluvicto™ with addition of its largest and most advanced radioligand therapy manufacturing facility in Indianapolis

Retrieved on: 
Friday, January 5, 2024

The 70,000-square foot site, the company’s second US location, is designed specifically for RLT manufacturing and is now the largest and most advanced Novartis facility of its kind in the world.

Key Points: 
  • The 70,000-square foot site, the company’s second US location, is designed specifically for RLT manufacturing and is now the largest and most advanced Novartis facility of its kind in the world.
  • The Indianapolis site represents the next phase of RLT manufacturing growth as this new addition brings substantial supply increases for the foreseeable future.
  • “The intricate process of providing RLTs to patients within hours of production requires precision manufacturing expertise to bring these medicines to individuals who critically need them,” said Steffen Lang, President, Operations, Novartis.
  • Novartis is committed to expanding the radioligand therapy platform to shape the future of RLT as a treatment class.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Reports Fiscal 2024 First Quarter Results

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, January 4, 2024

On a pro forma basis, the segment's businesses grew sales at a combined rate of 12 percent in the quarter, led by VillageMD and Shields.

Key Points: 
  • On a pro forma basis, the segment's businesses grew sales at a combined rate of 12 percent in the quarter, led by VillageMD and Shields.
  • Adjusted operating loss, which excludes certain costs related to stock compensation expense and amortization of acquired intangible assets, was $96 million compared to $152 million in the year-ago quarter.
  • Adjusted EBITDA loss of $39 million improved by $84 million versus the prior year quarter reflecting growth across all businesses and cost discipline.
  • WBA will hold a conference call to discuss the first quarter results beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time today, January 4, 2024.

United States Artificial Intelligence Markets, Competition, and Forecasts 2023-2028: Proliferation of Automobile Industry, Increasing Implementation in Smart Homes, Shift Towards Smart Manufacturing

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024

The United States Artificial Intelligence Market is expected to increase during the forecast period due to the increasing penetration of digital technologies along with the heavy investment in research & development by tech giants fueling the growth of United States Artificial Intelligence Market.

Key Points: 
  • The United States Artificial Intelligence Market is expected to increase during the forecast period due to the increasing penetration of digital technologies along with the heavy investment in research & development by tech giants fueling the growth of United States Artificial Intelligence Market.
  • Moreover, the use of AI in automotive manufacturing will increasingly overlap with the development of sustainable smart cities.
  • which has led to the rising growth of the United States Artificial Intelligence Market in coming years.
  • Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies present in United States Artificial Intelligence Market.

AI is our ‘Promethean fire': using it wisely means knowing its true nature – and our own minds

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 3, 2024

But whether that future will prove utopian, apocalyptic or somewhere in between is anyone’s guess.

Key Points: 
  • But whether that future will prove utopian, apocalyptic or somewhere in between is anyone’s guess.
  • In February, ChatGPT set the record as the fastest app to reach 100 million users.
  • Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

AI’s black box problem

  • The black box metaphor explains why people’s beliefs about AI are all over the map.
  • Predictions range from utopia to extinction, and many even believe an artificial general intelligence (AGI) will soon achieve sentience.
  • Read more:
    A year of ChatGPT: 5 ways the AI marvel has changed the world

    But this uncertainty compounds the problem.

AI, computation, logic and arithmetic

  • It runs on computers, and so is automated computation.
  • In the late 19th century, mathematicians Richard Dedekind and Giuseppe Peano proposed a set of axioms which defined arithmetic in terms of logic, and inspired attempts to ground all mathematics on a secure formal basis.
  • Read more:
    Forget dystopian scenarios – AI is pervasive today, and the risks are often hidden

Deep structure of perception

  • This structure is like coloured glasses that shape our perception in particular ways, so that our experience of the world is ordered and manageable.
  • Read more:
    Arithmetic has a biological origin – it's an expression in symbols of the 'deep structure' of our perception

    We showed by mathematical proof that when the deep structure of perception was assumed to limit the possibilities, arithmetic was the result.

  • Although the deep structure of perception is shared with other animals and so a product of evolution, only humans have invented mathematics.

A Copernican revolution of the mind

  • Kant claimed his philosophy was a “Copernican revolution of the mind”.
  • The mind is more than computation; the brain is not a computer.
  • Rather, computation – the basis for AI – is, like mathematics, a symbolic expression of the mind’s nature and creativity.

Promethean fire

  • The idea we can transcend our biological nature and achieve immortality by uploading our minds to the cloud is only fantasy.
  • In this way, AI is truly our Promethean fire, a gift to humanity stolen from the gods as in Greek mythology.
  • Like Alice, we need to wake up from the dream and recognise the reality and power of our minds.


Randolph Grace receives funding from the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Marsden Fund