Day: November 16, 2021

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InDevR Launches ArrayMax Mixer for Even Faster VaxArray Assay Times

Featured Image for InDevR, Inc.

Featured Image for InDevR, Inc.

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — InDevR, Inc., a life science tools company providing powerful analytical technologies to support the development and production of vaccines and biotherapeutics, announced commercial availability of its new ArrayMaxTM Mixer to provide significantly reduced assay times for its VaxArray® Portfolio of immunoassay kits.

Current VaxArray Assays include kits for influenza, coronavirus, measles/rubella, and polio, and provide vaccine manufacturers faster characterization of identity, quantity, and stability parameters during manufacture and release of vaccine products. The ArrayMax Mixer significantly improves mixing over static incubation or traditional orbital shakers during assay execution using either antibody or antigen samples. In internal validation studies comparing ArrayMax to original VaxArray protocols, similar or improved analytical performance was obtained using new ArrayMax-executed VaxArray protocols and up to an 85% reduction of time to result was obtained.

In a small 6″x 6″ footprint, this convenient new tool provides the possibility to generate VaxArray results in a fraction of the time compared to traditional ELISA, providing a total assay time of less than one hour for currently available VaxArray Kits. As an example, the VaxArray Influenza Seasonal HA Assay previously had an approximate 2.5 hour time to result including sample preparation. Using the ArrayMax Mixer, the total assay time was reduced to < 30 minutes, which provides a 5x faster time to result. Coupled with high throughput multiplex detection of several analytes simultaneously, VaxArray allows incredibly fast, best-in-class immunoassay detection of vaccine products or serology analytes. InDevR also offers custom immunoassay kits for measurement of up to nine analytes, and ArrayMax enables all of these measurements in ~1 hour.

Erica Dawson, CTO of InDevR, noted, “Our VaxArray Assay Kits already provide significant advantages over outdated, laborious, and error prone techniques such as SRID, TCID50, and ELISAs. This further reduction in total assay time for the VaxArray Kits will benefit any vaccine development or manufacturer in bioprocess development, optimization and monitoring, as well as vaccine release testing. We are excited to continue empowering vaccine producers by further expanding our portfolio.”

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Media Contact:

Terry Salyer, CCO

Phone: 650-520-8251

Email: salyer@indevr.com

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Lumiiis Announces The Dingles NFT Launch, Paying Daily Rewards, Available on Solana

Launching November 2021, Dingles by The Secret Order of Lumiiis is a collection of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) on the Solana blockchain that pays daily rewards in the form of LumiiiTokens, the official governance token of the Lumiii ecosystem.

Lumiii

TORONTO, Nov. 15, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Secret Pirates Entertainment Inc., the creators of The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ franchise — a decentralized edutainment ecosystem built on the Solana (SOL) blockchain — announces the launch of The Dingles, a collection of 7,777 generative non-fungible tokens (NFTs) featuring the wild Dingles of Dingledum. It will launch Nov. 13, 2021.

This limited NFT collection has a total supply of 7,777 on Solana. Owning a Dingle NFT gives holders access to the Lumiiis’ world of Dingledum, providing passive rewards in the form of LumiiiTokens, as well as chances to win even more physical and digital collectible assets. The rarest Dingles — those featuring gold foil backgrounds — will become characters in the Secret Order of Lumiiis series.

The NFTs are priced at 1.8 SOL each.

Each Dingle is unique. They are programmatically generated through the blockchain from over  100 possible traits and accessories including face wear, hair, clothing, jewelry, zombie features and more. Owners of the NFTs have commercial rights and ownership over their assets.

“We are excited to share these NFTs that provide a new and fun way for holders to get involved with our project as we continue to develop this pathway for people to participate in the creative process,” said Ali Badshah, co-president, CEO and creator of the Lumiiis franchise. “We urge people to participate and look forward to growing our community as we introduce a revolutionary way for kids and parents to explore the exciting world of DeFi and blockchain together.”

In The Secret Order of Lumiiis, The Dingles of Dingledum overuse and over-consume. They get distracted easily, cause a whole bunch of global issues and have finally pushed Dingledum past the tipping point. They are an allegory for humanity and represent the foolish in all of us. Like humanity, the Dingles can use all the help they can get.

About Secret Pirate Entertainment Inc.

Secret Pirates Entertainment Inc. is a Canadian global media and gaming company marketing consumer products across all age groups. Founded in 2021 by Ali Badshah and Mehdi Rahman, Secret Pirates’ mandate is to democratize the global arts and entertainment industry through social utility and decentralized technologies.

About The Secret Order of Lumiiis

The Secret Order of Lumiiis™ and The Lumiii Franchise aim to introduce crypto storytelling to the world. Co-Founded by ACTRA Award-nominated actor, showrunner, and comedian Ali Badshah and international business leader Mehdi Rahman, Lumiiis by Secret Pirates Entertainment Inc. demystifies the blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi) for kids and adults through education, entertainment, gaming and easy-to-use crypto offerings across over 11 international markets. Launching in Fall 2021, Toronto-based Lumiiis will deliver the first-of-its-kind decentralized edutainment ecosystem, powered by the blockchain.

To learn more about Lumiiis and LumiiiTokens visit Lumiii.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Tiffany Kayar
tiffanyPR@newswiremail.io

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‘Old friends?’ For Xi and Biden, not necessarily

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Reuters

BEIJING/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping greeted U.S. President Joe Biden as “old friend” at the start of their first video meeting, using an expression that Biden has pushed back on. In China, the expression “lao peng you” connotes fondness and shows a level of familiarity and trust, and when said by Xi, 68, reflects a shared history that dates to August 2011, when the two held hours of conversations and travelled in Sichuan province – before either had reached the highest office. Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization, said Xi’s use of the expression… Continue reading “‘Old friends?’ For Xi and Biden, not necessarily”

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AU Sets Up Nairobi Situation Room to Help Africa Mitigate Disasters

With the Earth becoming warmer and weather events more extreme, the African Union has set up a disaster operation center in Nairobi to help monitor major hazards and provide regional early warnings for drought, floods, extreme rainfall, food insecurity, and pests like the desert locust.

Major floods have become more common in Africa and show how vulnerable the continent is to climate change, even though it’s the lowest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.

To cope with such disasters, the African Union has set up a centralized monitoring and early warning system for the continent. The Nairobi Disaster Operation Center for the East African region is the continent’s first weather “situation room.”

“Council of the ministers within the member states sat and said we need to have a disaster operation center in Nairobi, which will focus mainly on early warning systems,” said Jully Ouma, a geographic information system analyst at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, or IGAD, in Nairobi. “So, that gave birth to the establishment of this office so that we look at broader aspects of different disasters within the region.”

The center — located at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center — uses East Africa Hazards Watch, a system developed by the center for collecting and sharing multi-hazard data with member countries.

“The system works automatically so that it ingests in the data set,” Ouma said, adding, “We have a super computing system within ICPAC, so there is less human attachment to it. It is also near real time. So, in every 10 days it updates itself and then we see the conditions of drought.”

The center provides climate information and early warnings to 11 East African countries. Officials say local communities must be ready to respond quickly to save lives and minimize damage.

“So, we must equip the communities themselves to be able to respond to a disaster in its first hours at least,” said Amjad Abbashar, regional director for Africa at the U.N. Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. “And so, I think we owe it to them to set up these early warning systems and ensure that it is functional, and that people who are vulnerable to disasters are able to access that information in a timely way, to save lives and property.”

The situation room in Nairobi covers and reports on drought and floods. Another one in Niger, set to open this month, will monitor extreme rains and cyclones. The information collected at both sites will be distributed by the situation room at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa.

“We are responding to a very complex situation,” said Gatkuoth Kai, technical coordinator for disaster risk reduction at the Africa Union Commission. “Over the years, we have seen disasters increasingly becoming borderless. But even when a hazard is localized, the intensity easily overwhelms the national response. And in this situation, the Pan African solidarity is required. Therefore, having this situation room is going to facilitate that African solidarity.”

As Africa experiences more extreme weather, officials say early warnings and early action will help limit its impact.

Source: Voice of America

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China-funded Mahosot Hospital Phase I handed over

Nov 11 witnessed the handover of Mahosot Hospital Project phase I between Chinese Ambassador to the Lao PDR Jiang Zaidong and Minister of Health Bounfeng Phoumalaysith in the presence of representatives of relevant authorities.

The health development project is funded with grant support from the Chinese government as China’s largest international health aid package.

“This is a major and very important project because it is the construction of a modern hospital that will help improve healthcare quality in the Lao PDR, particularly in Vientiane. Besides to building the healthcare facilities, the project will also equip the hospital with modern medical equipment and provides training on hospital management and medical treatment for local staff,” said the minister.

The hospital sits on an area of 50,000 sq m (5 ha) with construction actually carried out on an area of over 30,000 sq m.

The China-funded project has been split into two phases with phase I designed for the construction of one 8-storey building and one 4-floor building. Meanwhile, phase II has been dedicated for the development of two buildings – one five-storey building and one four-floor one.

The 600-bed hospital project is expected to be fully completed as the largest and modern and energy efficient hospital in the Lao PDR by the end of 2022.

Source: Lao News Agency

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Canada Landslides Leave 1 Dead, 2 Missing, Port’s Rail Access Cut

The port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest, said on Tuesday that all rail access had been cut by floods and landslides farther east that killed at least one person and left two others missing.

Two days of torrential rain across the Pacific province of British Columbia touched off major flooding and shut rail routes operated by Canadian Pacific Rail and Canadian National Railway, Canada’s two biggest rail companies.

“All rail service coming to and from the Port of Vancouver is halted because of flooding in the British Columbia interior,” port spokesperson Matti Polychronis said.

At least one person was killed when a mudslide swept cars off Highway 99 near Pemberton, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) to the northeast of Vancouver.

Search and rescue crews were combing through the rubble for signs of survivors or additional casualties, officials said.

Vancouver’s port moves C$550 million ($440 million) worth of cargo each day, ranging from automobiles and finished goods to essential commodities.

The floods temporarily shut down much of the movement of wheat and canola from Canada, one of the world’s biggest grain exporters, during a busy time for trains to haul grain to the port following the harvest.

This year drought has sharply reduced the size of Canada’s crops, meaning a rail disruption of a few days may not create a significant backlog, a grain industry source told Reuters.

Del Dosdall, senior export manager at grain handler Parrish & Heimbecker, said he expected some rail service could be restored by the weekend. Another industry source said he expected the shutdown to last weeks.

Floods have also hampered pipelines. Enbridge shut a segment of a British Columbia natural gas pipeline as a precaution.

The storms also forced the closure of the Trans Mountain pipeline, which carries up to 300,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Alberta to the Pacific Coast.

Copper and coal miner Teck Resources Limited said the floods had disrupted movement of its commodities to its export terminals, while potash exporter Canpotex said it was looking for alternatives to move the crop nutrient overseas.

Directly to the south of British Columbia, in Washington state, heavy rains forced evacuations and cut off electricity for more than 150,000 households on Monday. The U.S. National Weather Service on Tuesday issued a flash flood warning in Mount Vernon, Washington, “due to the potential for a levee failure.”

Some areas of British Columbia received 20 centimeters (8 inches) of rain on Sunday, the amount that usually falls in a month.

Authorities in Merritt, some 200 km (120 miles) northeast of Vancouver, ordered all 8,000 citizens to leave on Monday as river waters rose quickly, but some were still trapped in their homes on Tuesday, said city spokesman Greg Lowis.

Snow blanketed the town on Tuesday and some cars could be seen floating in the flood waters still up to 1.22 meters (4 feet) high. The towns of Chilliwack and Abbotsford ordered partial evacuations.

Rescuers equipped with diggers and body-sniffing dogs started dismantling large mounds of debris that have choked highways.

The landslides and floods come less than six months after wildfires gutted an entire town, as temperatures in the province soared during a record-breaking heat dome.

Source: Voice of America