University of Virginia

• "Springbok has the potential to significantly enhance how we understand, manage, and treat RC tears and improve surgical outcomes.
• Springbok's technology overcomes these two challenges through the use of AI and innovative analysis methods, described in recent studies in Radiology: Artificial Intelligence and Scientific Reports .
• Leveraging its proprietary muscle analytics, Springbok's AI technology produces an enhanced RC analysis from standard MRIs that are acquired within the clinical workflow.
• "Phase I demonstrated implementation viability of our new analysis, proving it was both valuable and practical within the clinical setting.

• These minute particles can penetrate deeply into the body and have been linked to many serious illnesses.
• The new rule sets an annual limit of 9 micrograms per cubic meter of air, down from the previous level of 12 micrograms.
• Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA is required to set air pollution standards at levels that protect public health.

1. An alarming array of health effects

• Subsequent research has linked fine particulates to a much broader range of health effects.
• They termed fine particle pollution an urgent global health threat.
• “Developed countries have made progress in reducing particulate air pollution in recent decades, but much remains to be done to further reduce this hazard,” they observed.

2. Aging the brain

• Medical researchers are looking closely at air pollution as a possible accelerator of brain aging.
• “When we compared the brain scans of older women from locations with high levels of PM2.5 to those with low levels, we found dementia risk increased by 24% over the five years,” Chen wrote.
• More alarmingly, “(T)hese Alzheimer’s-like brain changes were present in older women with no memory problems,” Chen noted.

3. Disadvantaged communities have dirtier air

• As researchers in environmental justice have shown, facilities such as factories and refineries often are concentrated in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
• This means that these areas are exposed to higher pollution levels and face heavier related health burdens.
• Regulations put in place under the Clean Air Act have greatly reduced levels of harmful air pollutants across the U.S. over the past 50 years.
• “In 1981 PM2.5 concentrations in the most polluted 10% of census tracts averaged 34 micrograms per cubic meter,” the authors reported.

4. Fine particle pollution hurts wildlife too

• Like the proverbial canaries in coal mines, wild animals can show effects of exposure to pollution that offer broader warnings.
• Cornell University conservation biologist Wendy M. Erb was studying wild orangutans in Indonesian Borneo when that island suffered large-scale wildfires.
• “Using passive acoustic monitoring to study vocally active indicator species, like orangutans, could unlock critical insights into wildfire smoke’s effects on wildlife populations worldwide,” she observed.

• NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., Jan. 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- New State Capital Partners ("New State") today announced it has hired Jason Levy as a Vice President and Yanre Wu as an Associate.
• New State is a middle market private equity firm with over a decade of experience partnering with entrepreneurially minded management teams, typically as first institutional capital.
• Most recently, Mr. Levy was a Vice President at AOS Capital and prior to that, held positions as a Senior Associate at Guardian Capital Partners and an Investment Banking Associate at Fairmount Partners.
• Ms. Wu joins New State from BofA Securities, where she was an Associate in the Consumer and Retail Group.

• CORONA, Calif., Dec. 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Monster Energy Up & Up, the largest and longest-running college music tour, has announced Disco Lines as the Spring 2024 headliner.
• "I get hit up all the time asking me to play colleges, but unfortunately, I don't have enough time in my schedule to play all of them," says Disco Lines.
• "So, I am partnering up with the Monster Energy Up & Up Festival so I can play at some colleges in 2024.
• The Up & Up Spring 2024 national competition kicks off on February 20th at 4 p.m. EST, with the winning festivals set to take place from March through May.