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Essex Uni joins with Kaplan for pathway college
 The college, which will open in September, will be based at the university’s campus in Colchester, and will have the capacity for 450 international students.

In addition to teaching study skills, the college will offer a variety of courses, including foundation certificates and pre-masters for humanities, science and health, and social sciences.

Pre-sessional English will be taught from the summer of 2019,

It will also offer International Year One for business and economies.

And pre-sessional English will be taught from the summer of 2019, for direct entry to university programs.

This is not the first time that Kaplan and the University of Essex have had worked together, having had a joint venture in the online learning space for the past 10 years.

Kaplan Online Learning delivers the University of Essex Online distance learning courses, and was awarded The PIEoneer Award for public / private partnership of the year.

The Kaplan Higher Education Academy also offers degree programs from the University of Essex in Singapore.

Linda Cowan, managing director, Kaplan International Pathways, said: “The high levels of academic provision and student support that we provide for our online students are the best foundation on which to develop this new on-campus pathway college to prepare international students for university study at one of the UK’s most innovative and exciting universities.”

The University of Essex is spread across three campuses in Colchester, Southend and Loughton.

This marks Kaplan’s 10th pathway partnership in the UK, in addition to its colleges in the US, Australia, China and Japan.

Output: Kaplan and the University of Essex will partner to open a pathway college to prepare international students for degree studies. The college will open its doors next year to 450 international students, offering foundation courses and pre-masters programmes at the University’s Colchester campus. Kaplan Online Learning has been delivering the University of Essex’s online distance learning courses for 10 years, receiving a PIEoneer award for the partnership.


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Drive.ai raises $15m for autonomous vehicle development
 Autonomous vehicle startup Drive.ai secured $15 million in funding to help the company expand its leadership team, develop its technology, grow business partnerships and open its first international office in Singapore.

The financing was led by Southeast Asia transportation and mobile payments platform Grab, though others participated as well. The funds build on Drive.ai’s June series B funding round which raised $50 million.

“Self-driving is the global space race of our time, so we’ve had our eyes set on international deployment since the start. This focus is reflected in our investor base, with investors from around the world, and now with Grab,” CEO Sameep Tandon said in a press release. “Grab is an early adopter of autonomous vehicle technology in Singapore, and we are excited to have their support as we open our Singapore office.”

By opening an office in Singapore, the company plans to work with the government and local businesses on development opportunities as well as possibly deploying vehicles in the country. Grab also plans to help Drive.ai with its Asia operations and the evaluation of the local market for its products.

“We look at Singapore as a country, it’s been a technological juggernaut. When innovations happen in the region, basically they start in Singapore and then move out to other places within the region, whether it’s Indonesia, Vietnam or China,” Tandon told Tech Crunch. “What’s also really interesting to us about Singapore is they have this sort of existential problem here – for them autonomous driving is not a matter of ‘if,’ it’s a matter of ‘when.’ They have this high population density in a very small physical area, and the extra challenges that go along with that.”

Drive.ai offers a self-driving software that allows autonomous vehicles to learn new driving scenarios and routes through a deep learning-first approach. It is partnering with other businesses to deploy its technology, such as in its recent partnership with Lyft to provide autonomous ridesharing services.

Output: Self-driving vehicle start-up Drive.ai has secured $15m of investment in a funding round led by southeast Asia-based ride-hailing and mobile payments business Grab. The funds will be used to expand the Silicon Valley-based company’s leadership team, develop its technology and find new business partnerships. Drive.ai also aims to open its first international office in Singapore, where the firm will work with the government and local businesses to develop opportunities for its self-driving vehicle technology. The latest funds build on Drive.ai’s $50m series B funding round last June.


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Imagining A Single-Payer Health System In California
 About Capitol Desk Capitol Desk delivers the latest in health care policy and politics from Sacramento and around the state. Have an idea? Let us know.

With the crumbling of the latest GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, many Americans seem more willing to discuss what a single-payer system might look like and whether it is desirable — or even possible.

Use Our Content This story can be republished for free ( details ).

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently introduced a Medicare-for-All Act, which would gradually expand the government-financed system to the general population while eliminating private insurance companies and consumer cost sharing, such as copays and deductibles. Although the bill is backed by 16 Democratic senators, including California’s Kamala Harris, observers predict it has no chance of moving through a Republican-controlled Congress.

California lawmakers took a fresh look at single-payer health care this year through SB562, a proposal to create one government-financed program that covers all Californians. That bill stalled, but debate will continue this fall in legislative hearings. A grass-roots campaign is underway to put a plan to finance such a system before voters.

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“It is time to have those discussions [as] to how we actually get everyone covered, and get them covered in a way that they can afford to pay for care when they need it,” said Jen Flory, policy advocate with Western Center on Law & Poverty, a group that supported the single-payer bill in concept.

But Rob Lapsley, president of the California Business Roundtable, expressed concerns about the enormous costs of building such as system, saying “the numbers matter.” He said a government-financed health care system for all cannot be allowed to endanger funding for other public services — like education and public safety — which ensure a high quality of life in California.

Flory and Lapsley were among the consumer advocates and industry players who last week sat side by side in Sacramento to debate the merits and challenges of universal health care coverage, whether through a single payer or other means.

The discussion occurred during a conference in Sacramento last week called “Health Care In Crisis,” organized by Capitol Weekly and the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. California Healthline/Kaiser Health News Sacramento correspondent Pauline Bartolone moderated the discussion.

Other panelists included Dr. Paul Song, co-chair of the Campaign for a Healthy California, a coalition that formed to support California’s single-payer effort, and Mark Sektnan, president of the Association of California Insurance Companies.

Output: With the crumbling of the latest GOP plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, many Americans seem more willing to discuss what a single-payer system might look like and whether it is desirable — or even possible.


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More Than 150 Seniors Get Free Hepatitis A Vaccine Amid Outbreak in San Diego
 More than 150 seniors received free Hepatitis A vaccines at a clinic in East Village Thursday, amid one of the worst outbreaks in San Diego County history.

The local nonprofit, Serving Seniors, offered the vaccines to seniors at no charge, following warnings from health experts that the outbreak may continue for up to six months and claim more victims.

Thursday morning, the Serving Seniors' center located on 525 14th Street provided the free shots between 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. According to Serving Seniors, they received overwhelming demand from seniors to get the shot after their first free vaccination event a few weeks ago.

They plan to offer the second part of the vaccination to seniors at no cost in spring 2018, Serving Seniors officials said. Protection from the disease kicks in within a couple weeks after receiving the vaccine. Immunity lasts for 20 years to life following the second dose.

Serving Senior officials said seniors should take the vaccine very seriously because they are a high-risk group. Hepatitis A is extremely transferable and potentially deadly to seniors and others with compromised immune systems.

The nonprofit will continue serving seniors with ongoing education, internal protocols, vaccines and sanitization stations.

San Diego County health officials declared a local public health emergency on Sept. 1. As of Sept. 26, seventeen people have died and 461 cases of Hepatitis A have been confirmed in San Diego County. There were 315 hospitalizations out of those cases.

Health care providers have given more than 42,000 hepatitis vaccinations as of Sept. 23, according to the organization. That marks an increase from nearly 23,000 about a week ago.

The most common ways to get Hepatitis A are close contact with an infected person, exposure to contaminated food or drink or eating shellfish harvested from sewage-infested water.

It takes two to seven weeks for the illness to start showing symptoms after exposure, organization officials said. The vaccines were offered in collaboration with the County of San Diego.

Output: More than 150 seniors received free Hepatitis A vaccines at a clinic in East Village Thursday, amid one of the worst outbreaks in San Diego County history.


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The High Price of Failing America’s Costliest Patients
 Even patients with whom I have the best rapport would probably rather not see me so often.

Sometimes I readmit a patient I cared for just weeks before in the hospital. “Nice to see you again,” I offer with a smile. The usual response, loosely paraphrased: I’d rather be anywhere else.

This reflects not some deep deficiency in my bedside manner (I think), but rather an essential truth about medicine: People want health, not health care. And those who require the most health care and get the least health — high-need, high-cost patients with multiple or severe medical conditions — feel this most acutely.

Leaving aside the moral compulsion to improve the quality and efficiency of their care, there is an overwhelming financial imperative to do so. It’s well known that the country’s staggering health care costs are not evenly distributed. Just 1 percent of patients account for 20 percent of costs, and 5 percent of the population accounts for nearly half the nation’s health care spending.

But exactly who these patients are — and how we can better meet their needs — is less clear.

Misaligned Financial Incentives

One emerging definition, based on research, focuses on people with three or more chronic conditions who have a functional limitation, such as difficulty dressing, bathing, feeding themselves, walking, taking medications or using transportation.

Output: Even patients with whom I have the best rapport would probably rather not see me so often. Sometimes I readmit a patient I cared for just weeks before in the hospital. “Nice to see you again,” I offer with a smile. The usual response, loosely paraphrased: I’d rather be anywhere else.


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Dems see 2018 gains in repeated Obamacare repeal tries
 “I think they are falling into an enormous trap of their own making. And have at it,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.). “I think they’re going to pay a very heavy price for this.”

Obamacare also has proven a uniquely unifying issue for Democrats, from the red-state Joe Manchin wing to the liberal Bernie Sanders end of the party. Activist groups that are otherwise prone to occasional clashes with party leaders have also linked arms to help Democrats defeat repeated Republican repeal efforts, and any fresh repeal attempt close to the midterms would likely spark another kumbaya moment.

“Everybody, from the most progressive to the most moderate, would be glad to vote to retain the progress we’ve made on health care and to prevent people’s lives from being thrown into chaos,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) said.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee homed in on the anti-repeal message after the Senate’s latest push sputtered earlier this week, blasting out a reminder that all but 20 House Republicans backed the GOP’s repeal plan in May.

DCCC spokesman Tyler Law declared that no matter what happens to the GOP’s drive to uproot Obamacare, Democrats would work hard to hang the unpopular House-passed repeal bill around their rivals’ necks.

“This issue is going to remain front and center because it’s so personal,” Law said. “And I would also add it’s going to be front and center because Republicans are stubbornly saying, ‘We are going to continue over and over again to try and take your health care away.’”

That commitment from Republicans who are still openly entertaining a return to the repeal debate before 2019 has deep roots, however. GOP donors and conservative activists who have propelled the party’s seven-year push to dismantle Obamacare are not content to declare it dead for good, particularly when Trump’s party is only in the early stages of its tax reform efforts.

Republicans dismissed the idea that Democrats can capitalize on Obamacare repeal.

“House Democrats have made bold claims about their electoral prospects before only to fail miserably — this is no different,” Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, said in a statement. “Their embrace of single-payer health care has ensured that their unabashed loyalty to the progressive base, at the expense of working class families, will be the defining issue of this cycle.”

Waiting until next year, Republicans wager, will give them more time to shape a more successful “replace” element for their Obamacare repeal-and-replace plan.

“Democrats have been able to use the issue, mostly because the messaging on our side hasn’t been great, but the fact is that health care in the U.S. — everyone, Democrats, Republicans, recognize something needs to change. Obamacare isn’t working,” one GOP strategist said. “With more time, Republicans are going to be able to craft a plan that more folks can agree on within the caucus, and it will give them more time to sell it to the general public.”

There’s also the problem that continued failure by Republicans on their years-long campaign pledge could keep base voters home next Election Day. Proponents of the latest repeal bill were open about anger among GOP donors and the grass roots.

But after watching Republicans reap the political gains of campaigning against Obamacare, Democrats are convinced the tables have turned. Connolly singled out Rep. Darrell Issa and other politically imperiled California Republicans as particularly at risk if the GOP attempts to bring back Obamacare repeal next year. The 14 California House Republicans who voted for their party’s repeal bill “went off the cliff for solidarity, irrespective of the impact on their constituents,” he said.

Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take back the House. They’re eyeing 23 Republican seats in districts Hillary Clinton won and argue at least 50 more GOP seats could be competitive in the right environment.

Voters rated health care and the economy as the two most important issues when picking their member of Congress in the latest POLITICO/Morning Consult poll, released this week.

The overarching theme — vote for Democrats or Republicans will keep trying to take away your health care — could also help mask some of the party’s own divisions over health care, Democratic strategists say.

Progressives, including multiple 2020 presidential contenders and 60 percent of House Democrats, have in recent weeks rallied around the Medicare-for-All push from Sanders (I-Vt.). But Democratic leaders and several vulnerable House Democrats have shied away from the proposal, wary of alienating centrist voters in districts that will be critical in the push to win back the lower chamber next year.

Republicans raced to play up the internal Democratic divide after Sanders’ splashy rollout earlier this month, aiming to turn it into a campaign-trail albatross for the minority. But a broader message focused on GOP repeal efforts could help deflect the spotlight away from some of those differences and force Republicans to go on defense.

Indeed, progressive organizers who have not hesitated to criticize Democratic leaders say their grass roots won’t be caught off guard again by another repeal push.

“We don’t want to see this come back, but our groups have said time and time again that every time Republicans have put forward an attempt to repeal, they would step up,” said Angel Padilla, policy director at the liberal group Indivisible. “We don’t think that’s going to change. And we think it’s going to affect who controls Congress.”

Democrats also argue that bipartisan Senate talks to stabilize Obamacare will only help their case heading into the midterms. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.) resumed talks Wednesday to try to salvage their bipartisan health care plan, an effort that was quashed by GOP leadership when the repeal plan seemed to have legs.

But Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) has already rejected the talks, saying any bill they come up with would never pass in the House. Democrats say that stonewalling only strengthens their case to voters in the coming months.

“The politics for us is really clear and really simple,” Schatz said. “In the end, they’ve got to do what they think is right, but Round Seven [of repeal] doesn’t seem like the right slogan for 2018.”

Output: To the Republicans vowing to keep their Obamacare repeal drive alive for as long as it takes, Democrats say: Please, and thank you.


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Medicare chronic care bill passes in Senate: 4 things to know
 The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Tuesday night to improve care coordination for patients with multiple chronic conditions.

The bill, the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic Care Act of 2017, aims to improve at-home care, increase Medicare Advantage flexibility, give ACOs more options and expands telehealth capabilities.

"This bill provides new options and tools for seniors and their doctors to coordinate care and makes it less burdensome to stay healthy," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement.

Here are four things to know about how the CHRONIC Care Act would reform Medicare.

1. It extends the ACA's Independent at Home program. This program was started in 2012 under the ACA as a demonstration to allow primary care teams to provide at-home care for 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries with complex chronic conditions. Due to the success of the demonstration, the CHRONIC Care Act would extend the program for two more years and increase the number of participating beneficiaries to 15,000.

2. The bill expands flexibility for Medicare Advantage. Specifically, the bill would allow MA plans in all states to participate in the Value-based Insurance Design model, which allows MA plans to tailor benefits to specific patient groups, particularly those with chronic conditions. Currently MA plans must offer uniform benefits. The CHRONIC Care Act would also allow MA plans to offer a greater range of supplemental benefits for services that address the underlying causes of illness, such as fitness, counseling or alternative therapies. Additionally, the bill would permanently authorize MA Special Needs Plans for patients who are institutionalized, dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid or who have severe chronic illness.

3. The bill loosens ACO regulations. Under the legislation, ACOs would be allowed to provide incentive payments to beneficiaries for certain primary care services; it would allow for prospective, rather than retrospective, beneficiary assignment for Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs; and it would give Pioneer ACOs and MSSP Tracks 2 and 3 ACOs more options to provide telehealth and receive reimbursement for those services.

4. Lastly, the CHRONIC Care Act would broaden telehealth options for Medicare and MA plans. In addition to adding more pathways for telehealth reimbursement for ACOs, the bill would allow MA plans to include more telehealth options, and it would expand telestroke care and telemedicine for dialysis care. Under the bill, dialysis patients could conduct e-visits from home in lieu of an in-person monthly appointment, so long as they visit their provider face-to-face once every three months.

Now that the Senate has passed the bill, the House will take up discussion of the CHRONIC Care Act.

More articles on leadership and management:

Noventis to help restore park damaged in Hurricane Harvey

Mercer appoints Janis Koltun principal in Minneapolis office: 3 things to know

Dr. Atul Gawande: 'Even people bankrupted by their healthcare costs said it wasn't a right'

Output: The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Tuesday night to improve care coordination for patients with multiple chronic conditions.


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Aging as a gift instead of a burden requires attitude change
 Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Chicago Tribune.

When I saw the program Aging is the Only Way to Live at The Community House, I headed over. The title intrigued me: it seemed both banal and fresh.

I absolutely agree that aging gets a bad rap in our culture, that our effort to appear youthful, to color our hair, smooth our wrinkles and feature fit physiques can be a full-time job. Some of us are obsessed with living longer and healthier, yet to be aged is not necessarily to be venerated and celebrated.

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Here are some of the things I found out. First, and most importantly, the program was part of the Active Adults offerings from The Community House, which offers quite a bit of programming to that group including a computer club, card groups, book clubs, trips and tours and other gatherings.

It also offers this regular monthly roundtable discussion held the fourth Wednesday of every month with coffee and doughnuts at 9:30 a.m. and a speaker or discussion at 10 a.m. The program I attended was one of those.

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The day I went, more than 20 people showed up ready to participate, and while they may not have all known one another they were welcoming and friendly. I sat with Tom Paulick of Oak Brook and Jim Gordon of Hinsdale. Kate Vogts, director of the Active Adults opened the talk.

Our speaker was Dr. Richard W. Bimler, a gentleman who had spent many years as a Lutheran minister, and who has three children and seven grandchildren. He also has written several books — maybe as many as 17 — including one entitled "Joyful Aging." He is also known as an "AHHA man," which stands for Ambassador of Health, Hope & Aging.

"It is always good to celebrate aging," he said, and here was a perspective the program gave me: aging is a gift. We all need to learn to "celebrate God's gift of aging." Death happens all around us, he said, and death is part of life. So, yes, while one day we will all die, today we can live.

Proclaiming his age as 77 and 1/12th, Bimler said our culture sees aging as a burden. He asked people in the room to share their ages: 77, 89, 93, 84, 74. There was a certain amount of pride in those numbers, but ask someone a little farther down the scale, and she might be more reticent about producing the number (ahem).

With our society aging rapidly — he estimated that 10,000 people were to turn 65 years old that day alone — we need to change our attitude about growing older. There are also numerous opportunities for various professions to serve those growing older. If aging is not a blessing, "Whatever your faith — if it is not a blessing, then where do you go with that?"

Another point I came away with was that it's not just the young who need to change their attitudes.

"Don't pretend everything is fine," Bimler said.

Some days your body aches, you don't move as quickly, some parts are deteriorating, but that doesn't mean there is no hope. Laugh. Laugh at yourself, take joy and pride in the process. Accept limitations with grace.

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Think about those people who mentored you, who impressed and affected you, and try and be that person in the lives of others, he advised.

Last, I liked Bimler's ideas about retirement. He doesn't call the "end" of one's career or profession "retirement." Rather, he calls that state "re-positioning." Those who have identified so closely and carefully with what they do may find the end of work hard, and may have to move to a new phase of life. We are human beings, he said, not human doings.

"I have been a do-er all my life," he said. "I gotta keep doing stuff." We have to learn to "be" for others. We don't always have to "do" for them.

Never in the history of the world have there been this many older adults. Bimler sees that as a blessing.

There is a certain amount of wisdom and joy in this population, and I hope we can capture it. Bimler referenced a Japanese saying to illustrate this point: The setting sun is no less beautiful than the rising sun.

Output: When I saw the program Aging is the Only Way to Live at The Community House, I headed over. The title intrigued me: it seemed both banal and fresh.


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HRL Labs devises high-strength aluminium 3D printing process
 Working with Metal

For the longest time, metal-based manufacturing has been difficult and costly. High-strength aluminum alloys are difficult materials to work with for additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing. Now, researchers from HRL Laboratories have developed a new method that allowed them to 3D print high-strength aluminum and weld previously unweldable material.

"We're using a 70-year-old nucleation theory to solve a 100-year-old problem with a 21st century machine," Hunter Martin, a PhD student at the University of California, Santa Barbara and engineer at HRL's Sensors and Materials Laboratory, said in a press release.

The HRL researchers came up with a method they've called nanofunctionalization, where nano-functionalized powders are fed to a 3D printer. This is applied in thin layers which are heated by a laser to solidify into a three-dimensional object. During melting and solidification, the structures produced using this method don't crack and are able to maintain their full alloy strength, thanks to the nanoparticles acting as nucleation sites for the intended alloy microstructure.

"Our first goal was figuring out how to eliminate the hot cracking altogether. We sought to control microstructure and the solution should be something that naturally happens with the way this material solidifies," Martin said.

Finer and Stronger Structures

High-strength alloys like aluminum — including types like Al7075 and Al6061 — are currently used in engineering aircraft and automobile parts, like in airplane fuselages. However, current methods are largely expensive and are unable to allow finer manipulation of these materials. Click to View Full Infographic

Now, with this HRL's new nanofunctionalization technique that's easily scalable, it's possible to 3D print these high-strength alloys in all shapes and sizes. This allows faster, cheaper, and more detailed manufacturing using high-strength materials. Furthermore, because melting and solidification in 3D printing is akin to welding, their technique makes it possible to weld previously unweldable alloys.

To determine which particles had the properties they needed, the HRL team asked help from Citrine Informatics. "The point of using informatics software was to do a selective approach to the nucleation theory we knew to find the materials with the exact properties we needed," HRL's Brennan Yahata explained. "Once we told them what to look for, their big data analysis narrowed the field of available materials from hundreds of thousands to a select few. We went from a haystack to a handful of possible needles."

Output: Researchers from California’s HRL Laboratories claim to have developed a new and more efficient method of 3D printing high-strength aluminium. Through a process they call “nanofunctionalisation”, powders are fed to a 3D printer in thin layers and then heated by a laser to solidify into a three-dimensional object. The new process enables the structures to maintain their full alloy strength. This new method may result in faster, cheaper and more detailed manufacturing using high-strength metals and alloys.


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Vanguard Group plans expansion into China
 People on the Bund in Shanghai look across to the financial district. China’s private fund market was worth US$1.53 trillion at the end of August but the process for foreign companies to enter the fray will not be easy. Photo: AFP

Output: US-based mutual fund giant Vanguard Group is planning on selling products to mainland Chinese clients as the country eases up to foreign operators. The asset manager is also planning onshore products in China as part of this push. The Chinese fund market is reportedly worth $1.5tn, but is already saturated with more than 20,000 asset managers operating. Vanguard's US fund rival Fidelity Investment already operates an onshore bond fund in China, which it launched in May. The fund is, to-date, the only onshore offering in China operated by a foreign asset manager.


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Palliative care telehealth firm Iris Plans raises $5.1m to expand
 A telehealth startup that helps patients with palliative care and advance care planning is expanding after raising $5.1 million. Palliative care is a type of care focused on lessening the symptoms and stress caused by a serious illness.

Austin, Texas-based Iris Plans uses videoconferencing technology to connect people facing serious illnesses with trained facilitators who provide disease-specific education, help with decision-making and assist in completing and distributing advance health care directives. A patient’s thoughts and plans are documented and shared with their loved ones, physicians, the hospital system they use, and are also available online.

The financing round was led by New York City-based Activate Venture Partners and Austin-based LiveOak Venture Partners, both of which invest in digital health care companies. Oakland, California-based Better Ventures also joined the round. This was the company’s first round of financing.

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Iris Plans’ service is delivered through partnerships with national health care providers and insurance companies, who cover all of the cost for their members. Iris Plans currently serves a customer network of health plans and systems, accountable care organizations and nursing facilities, including senior living and home health care provider Brookdale Senior Living (NYSE: BKD) and Humana. The startup also last year teamed up with University of Utah Health Plans, which has more than 155,000 members.

Iris Plans will use the new funding to improve and streamline its technology platform and hire more developers, marketers, IT staffers and other employees.

The startup will also expand its national partnerships with health care providers and payers, according to Dr. Stephen Bekanich, co-founder and chief medical officer of Iris Plans.

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“We are in advanced discussions with a variety of health plans and health care providers spanning across the country and expect to be growing our footprint from coast to coast in the coming months,” Bekanich tells Home Health Care News.

Written by Tim Regan

Output: Texan palliative care start-up Iris Plans has raised $5.1m in its first funding round, led by Activate Venture Partners and LiveOak Venture Partners, with participation from Better Ventures. Iris Plans' videoconferencing platform helps connect patients facing serious illness with trained professionals; it also enables patients to share thoughts and plans with doctors, health systems and loved ones. The funding will be used to improve the technology and for hiring as the company looks to grow its footprint and expand national partnerships.


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UK online broker introduces chatbot for business customers
 Broker says aim is to provide faster and simpler service for customers.

Online broker ConstructaQuote has developed an interactive chatbot for potential customers searching for information on business insurance.

The Caerphilly-based broker, which specialises in offering business insurance to SMEs across the UK, said the aim was to provide current and potential customers with a faster and simpler way to request information on insurance policies.

A Chatbot is a computer program that simulates how a human would behave when having a chat, and the broker noted that the

Output: ConstructaQuote, a UK-based online insurance broker, has introduced a chatbot to aid with client interactions. The chatbot is predominantly aimed at SME clients searching for insurance for their businesses. The goal is to speed up the time potential clients take in finding insurance policies which fit their needs.


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DOE looks to compensate baseload generators
 Dive Brief:

The Department of Energy pushed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday to boost compensation for generators providing baseload power supplies, proposing the most significant overhaul in the nation's competitive power markets in over a decade.

DOE filed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) under the Federal Power Act to enhance grid resilience, directing FERC to "accurately price generation resources necessary to maintain reliability and resiliency." The rule would provide for "recovery of costs of fuel-secure generation units frequently relied upon to make our grid reliable and resilient."

The filing comes after the completion of a grid reliability study from DOE that urged federal regulators to explore boosting compensation for baseload generators. The NOPR directs FERC to act within 60 days.

Dive Insight:

Released at the end of August, the Department of Energy's grid study concluded that the reliability of the bulk power system is strong today, but changes in the resource mix could present challenges in the future. The report urged federal regulators to begin examining how to better compensate generators for the services they provide for reliability and resilience if it finds reliability is threatened.

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) stresses that the grid is not at risk today, with its CEO telling Congress this month that reliability measures are strong and improving.

Even so, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has been beating the reliability drum in recent days, describing resilience from outages as a national security issue, saying his agency could act to preserve the diversity of the fuel mix and ensure that baseload generation stays online. Coal and nuclear plants across the country are under threat of retirement in the face of competition from cheaper natural gas and renewables.

On Friday, the DOE took a significant step toward those goals, outlining what would be the biggest overhaul in competitive energy markets since their establishment in the late 1990s.

Under the NOPR, generating units in wholesale power markets that have a 90-day fuel supply onsite would be eligible for "full recovery of costs." The plants must be able to provide ancillary and reliability services, be compliant with environmental regulations, and not be subject to cost-of-service recovery by a state.

The rule requires power market operators to "establish just and reasonable rate tariffs for the recovery of costs and a fair rate of return."

The NOPR does not detail precisely how the generators would be compensated or who would pay, but its general structure would give immediate assistance to coal, nuclear and hydroelectric generators, which all have multi-day fuel supplies onsite.

DOE draws on themes from the grid study to justify the rule, saying it is necessary to protect from "energy outages expected to result from the loss of this fuel-secure generation" and because of "recognition that organized markets do not pay generators for all the attributes they provide."

FERC regulators, who must implement the NOPR, have expressed support for revising plant compensation for resilience attributes. Acting Chairman Neil Chatterjee has said repeatedly that coal plants are not rewarded properly for their attributes today, and told lawmakers this month that the issue is a top priority for the commission. Pending FERC nominees have also expressed support for reforms based on generation attributes.

FERC, however, is an independent agency, and is not required to implement any specific provision of the DOE NOPR. Former commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, a Democrat, stressed that "FERC doesn't have to do anything."

"I would set [the NOPR] over to the side someplace under a pile of papers because it would be something that I wouldn’t even consider or entertain," he said on a phone call.

The new NOPR is likely to please operators of coal and nuclear plants. Earlier this year, the CEO of Exelon, the nation's largest nuclear generator, urged DOE and FERC to boost baseload compensation in an interview with Utility Dive.

“[Nuclear] provides more benefits than just megawatts," CEO Chris Crane said. "The resiliency, fuel diversity — it's important that is factored into price formation.”

The NOPR presses FERC to act within 60 days, but Chatterjee and other commissioners have stressed the agency's independence, and the acting chairman indicated during FERC's monthly meeting that he does not want to move forward on major issues until the final two vacancies at the agency are filled.

When FERC does act, it will need to build a regulatory record with input on how generation attributes should be valued. Already, some energy lawyers have expressed skepticism that the agency can finalize a new rule using the DOE's directives as a framework.

"I would say this is not a proposed rule that could form the basis of a final rule," said Ari Peskoe, senior fellow in electricity law at Harvard Law School's Environmental Policy Initiative. "Usually proposed rules have far more detail that would provide a basis for comments on specific aspects of the proposal and that's not really here."

The vagueness of DOE's proposal will mean FERC will "essentially need to start over" to frame a workable rule, he added.

"I think if FERC is serious about doing this it can't possibly meet the timeline outlined by DOE," Peskoe said. "It will essentially have to use this as a prompt for comments and then from that actually develop a proposed rule."

Output: The US Department of Energy (DOE) has suggested a radical overhaul of the country's competitive energy markets by filing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR), calling for an increase in compensation for energy generators providing baseload power supplies. The NOPR proposes "recovery of costs and a return on equity" for plants that have “a 90-day fuel supply on site", which they argue would enable the plants “to operate during an emergency, extreme weather conditions, or a natural or man-made disaster.”


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Insurers see investments as increasingly important: BlackRock
 More insurers are turning to their investment portfolios as a larger source of profitability, according to the results of a survey commissioned by BlackRock.

BlackRock's sixth annual global survey of 300 senior insurance executives found that two-thirds of insurers believe that rethinking their investment portfolios will be essential to improving or even just maintaining the future profitability of their business. Meanwhile, 41% of respondents are facing growing pressure to generate a greater contribution from investments to their overall profitability.

The survey, conducted in July, shows that 66% of insurers believe that reassessing their investment portfolios will be vital to improving future profitability. Historically, only 28% of respondents have made generating higher investment returns their top priority.

Most respondents — 84% — said embracing private market or alternative assets will be a key component in improving investment returns, while nearly 70% see "significant room" to improve their management of portfolio risk and capital efficiency.

Insurers are moving toward private market assets, including illiquid assets, with 39% saying they are looking to increase their allocation to private market assets, up from just 16% in 2016.

Meanwhile, 34% of respondents plan to increase their allocations to commercial real estate equity, which scores the highest of all private market asset classes, followed by infrastructure equity and private equity, both at 33%.

Changes to asset allocation have already played a role. More than half of respondents — 57% — said the most effective investment action they have taken to increase profitability was to increase their exposure to private or alternative assets.

Asset allocation trends also signal a move away from fixed income. Just 9% of respondents intend to increase allocations to government bonds, compared to 47% in 2016, while the proportion intending to reduce exposure has risen to 31%, from 3% last year. Respondents' appetite for municipal bonds is also much weaker, with just 9% planning to increase allocations, compared to 42% last year.

Output: Insurers are increasingly looking to rely on their portfolio returns for profitability, according to a survey from BlackRock. The survey, which questioned 300 global insurance executives, saw 66% of respondents say a reassessment of their investment portfolio was vital for future profitability. As a result, insurers are embracing the private markets with 84% of respondents noting they are looking to make an allocation to these types of investments.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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London mayor calls for ban on polluting wood burners
 Wood-burning stoves could be banned in some areas to combat air pollution under proposals by the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Khan has written to Michael Gove, the environment secretary, to request extra powers to improve air quality in the capital, including measures to tackle solid-fuel burning and construction pollution. The proposed measures include minimum emissions standards for vessels on London’s waterways and heavy construction machinery like diggers and bulldozers.

Wood-burning stoves, which would be banned under the proposals for urban areas with poor air quality, are increasingly popular – 1.5m have been sold across Britain. They are most popular in south-east England, where 16% of households have them, compared with 5% nationally.

It is estimated that between a quarter and a third of all of London’s fine-particle pollution comes from domestic wood burning. In January, during a period of very high air pollution, it contributed half the toxic emissions in some areas of the capital, according to King’s College London research.

Khan said: “Non-transport sources contribute half of the deadly emissions in London, so we need a hard-hitting plan of action to combat them similar to moves I am taking to reduce pollution from road vehicles.

“With more than 400 schools located in areas exceeding legal pollution levels, and such significant health impacts on our most vulnerable communities, we cannot wait any longer, and I am calling on government to provide the capital with the necessary powers to effectively tackle harmful emissions from a variety of sources.”

The mayor has asked the environment department to amend the Clean Air Act to allow for the creation of zero-emission zones where the burning of solid fuel is not allowed from 2025 onwards.

When asked to comment on Khan’s letter, a Defra spokesperson told the Guardian: “We are determined to improve air quality and have put in place a £3bn plan to reduce roadside emissions.

“Next year we will publish a comprehensive Clean Air Strategy which will address all sources of air pollution. We are also raising consumer awareness about the impact of burning wood on health and working with industry to help reduce harmful emissions.”

The mayor’s proposals come after he triggered London’s emergency air quality alert on Wednesday for the seventh time in thirteen months. Polluted air from the continent combined with toxic air in London to create dangerous levels of pollution.

Output: London mayor Sadiq Khan may ban wood-burning stoves parts of London to tackle air pollution. Khan has requested additional powers to improve the air quality in the city from environment secretary Michael Gove. The mayor’s proposals include the imposition of emissions standards for boats and ships on London's waterways, and for heavy construction machinery, as well as the possible stove ban. Between a quarter and a third of the capital’s fine-particle pollution comes from domestic wood burning. Approximately 1.5 million wood-burning stoves have been sold in the UK, with 16% of households in south-east England owning one, compared to 5% nationally.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Twitter links nearly 200 accounts to Russian propaganda
 Like Facebook before it, Twitter has acknowledged that, during the US presidential elections, it collected hundreds of thousands of dollars for ads supporting Russian media messaging, and that it has identified Twitter accounts tied to Facebook profiles known for promoting pro-Russia views.

Or another way of putting it: Twitter made a load of cash from groups seeking to swing the White House race to suit their agenda.

In a post to its public policy blog on Thursday, Twitter said three accounts associated with Russia Today (RT), spent $274,100 in US ads in 2016. The ads, it said, mostly promoted RT tweets about its news stories. RT is strongly linked to the Russian government, and is seen as a relatively influential mouthpiece for the Kremlin.

The troll haven and bot bastion also said it found that out of 450 Facebook profiles identified by that company, 22 also had Twitter accounts. Twitter said it suspended those accounts not already banned for rules violations.

It also said it identified 179 additional related or linked accounts and took action against those found to have violated terms of service rules.

Allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election have been a contentious issue since the vote count. Facebook's recent disclosure that it accepted over $100,000 in divisive ads has alarmed US lawmakers and forced CEO Mark Zuckerberg to confront an issue he dismissed in November.

Thus it was that Twitter public policy veep Colin Crowell spoke before the House and Senate Intelligence Committees on Thursday about fake news, potential election interference and Twitter's attempts to mitigate manipulation.

'Enormous lack of understanding'

News reports suggest Crowell's performance was poorly received. Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) is said to have expressed disappointment with Twitter's presentation.

According to CBS, Warner said, "The notion that their work was basically derivative, based upon accounts that Facebook had identified, showed [an] enormous lack of understanding from the Twitter team of how serious this issue is – the threat it poses to democratic institutions – and again begs many more questions than they offered."

Via Twitter, Warner said he was working with Minnesota Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar to draft legislation to make the source of election ads more evident.

For Facebook, ignorance is the business model: Social net is shocked – SHOCKED – that people behave badly READ MORE

Twitter enumerated the various measures it takes to fight spam, bots, and assorted forms of abuse, noting that its automated systems catch 3.2 million suspicious accounts globally each week – more than twice the amount detected last year. At the same time, the company all but acknowledged it can no longer manage miscreants on its own, by welcoming regulatory intervention.

Its stance is all the more surprising given the digital ad industry's persistent insistence that self-regulation is enough.

"We note recent calls for increased public disclosure with respect to political advertisements on social media, including Twitter," the company said in its post. "Twitter supports making political advertising more transparent to our users and the public."

Lawmakers appear to need no encouragement, at least among Democrats. In a letter sent a week ago to the head of the Federal Elections Commission, 20 Democratic senators ask for rules [PDF] to prevent illicit foreign spending to influence US elections. ®

Output: Twitter has confirmed it has identified nearly 200 accounts that promoted Russian propaganda during the US presidential election, with the social platform garnering $274,100 in advertising revenue from three accounts associated with Russia Today. Twitter said it has taken action against accounts found in violation of its policies, which were discovered following Facebook's revelation of propaganda accounts linked to Twitter handles.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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ProShares applies to launch long and short bitcoin ETFs
 One of the largest sellers of exchange-traded funds has filed for two bitcoin ETFs.

ProShares, which has about $29 billion in assets under management, filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a ProShares Bitcoin ETF and ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF.

The two ETFs plan to track bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and will trade on NYSE Arca, according to the filing. However, those futures products aren't available yet.

In early August, the Chicago Board Options Exchange said it plans to offer bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter or early next year, pending review by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

CBOE confirmed with CNBC Thursday that is still the case.

The absence of the CBOE's bitcoin futures product has proved a stumbling block for another major ETF company, VanEck, in its attempt to create a similar bitcoin futures ETF. VanEck, which ranks 9th in the ETF industry, according to ETF.com, filed a letter Wednesday with the SEC to withdraw its application for a bitcoin ETF.

According to the letter, SEC staff told VanEck Vectors ETF Trust on a September 20 call that the commission's policy is to not review a registration statement for a fund whose underlying instruments are not yet available.

The SEC staff then requested VanEck withdraw its August 11 application for the bitcoin ETF "until such time as the underlying instruments in which the Fund intends to primarily invest (i.e., bitcoin futures contracts) become available for investment," the letter said.

The SEC declined to comment to CNBC.

ProShares had no comment and referred CNBC to the public filing.

ProShares, which ranks 10th in the ETF industry, according to ETF.com, is known for selling specialized funds that bet on both the long and short side of the trade.

Bitcoin surged this year from below $1,000 to briefly above $5,000 as investors bet the digital currency will gain greater acceptance globally as a store of value, attracting the attention of many on Wall Street.

The digital currency traded above $4,100 Thursday, still up more than four times in price for the year, according to CoinDesk.

However, the digital currency can be quite volatile. Bitcoin dropped more than 30 percent in March after the SEC rejected the Winklevoss brothers' application for a bitcoin ETF, and SolidX Partners' application for a bitcoin exchange-traded product.

The SEC said in April it is reviewing its rejection of the Winklevoss brothers' application, and bitcoin has since more than recovered from that plunge.

Output: US-based exchange traded fund shop ProShares has applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission to offer two ETFs offering long and short positions in bitcoin. The ETFs will track bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) and will be traded on NYSE Arca in Chicago. CBOE has said it intends to offer bitcoin futures late in 2017 or early next year.


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Hedge fund Acadian ends social media experiment with Bing
 Quant firm Acadian Asset Management has wound down the partnership it formed in March with Microsoft’s Bing Predicts. The $91 billion US asset manager says it has not found a way to turn social media data into useful signals for a medium-term investment algorithm.

Acadian was hoping to use macroeconomic signals generated by Bing Predicts’ social media and internet search, such as US retail sales and consumer sentiment, in its macro models in particular, while Bing Predicts had intended to use

Output: US-based quantitative hedge fund Acadian has ended a partnership with Microsoft's Bing Predicts after failing to yield meaningful macro signals to use in its investment process. The firm had been working with Bing to process online and social media data with the hope of finding useful signals to use in algorithms. The asset manager now says it prefers more traditional methods of data collection and processing.


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Disability robotics firm Kinova eyes expansion after raising $20m
 Kinova Robotics, a Canadian provider of robotics for the disabled, raised $20 million USD ($25 million CAD) that will fund product development, market expansion and production optimization. The financing came from Fonds Manufacturier Québécois, the KTB Network, Foxconn and BDC Capital.

“We want our users to achieve the extraordinary with our robots — creating more value for themselves and our society,” CEO Charles Deguire said in a statement. “The financial support, broad expertise and geographic coverage of our experienced partners gives us additional resources to accelerate our growth, quickly and strategically establish our presence in new markets, develop an extended line of breakthrough products and propel our advanced manufacturing capabilities.”

Specifically, the company plans to use the funds to transition into three new areas of service robotics: collaborative robots for inspection and pick and place operations, manipulators for mobile platforms and medical robots for research and therapies.

“We firmly believe that our technology and expertise can help improve patient care,” Deguire said. “We are looking to build partnerships with hospitals, governments and other players in the industry so that our products contribute to the healing of patients.”

In addition, Kinova aims to open offices outside Canada, namely in Asia and the U.S., to better supply its customers with the technology. Earlier this year, the company opened an office in Germany, and it is also looking to increase its production efficiency through automation.

“We are proud to support Kinova, a highly innovative Canadian company with a mission to provide life-changing service robots to people,” Jean-Philippe Poissant, director of growth and transition capital at investor BDC Capital, said in the release. “Our financial support will enable this young and dynamic team to continue investments in research and development, all while enabling them to realize their ambitious growth plan.”

Output: Canada's Kinova Robotics has raised $20m to finance the further development of its robotic aids for the disabled and expand into Asia and the US. The funds were invested by Fonds Manufacturier Québécois, the KTB Network, BDC Capital and Foxconn. Kinova said it will use the proceeds to develop collaborative robotic devices for inspections and pick-and-place operations, manipulator robots for mobile platforms, and robots for medical research and treatment.


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Timex incorporates Barclaycard bPay chip in watch
 Timex is to release a watch capable of making contactless payments by incorporating the Barclaycard bPay chip into the leather watchstrap.

The Timex Fairfield watch comes with a £159 price tag and enables users to make tap-and-go purchases of £30 and under at over 490,000 locations across the UK. Wearers will also be able to track their spending, top up their balance, and take control of their contactless payments using the dedicated bPay app or website.

Duncan Harris, Timex UK sales and marketing director, says: “We are excited at the possibilities this technology offers consumers in payment solutions and will continue to work with our partners in bringing this to more of our collection."

The release of the smart timepiece follows a range of contactless innovations from Barclaycard including: launching the world’s first contactless car key with DS Automobiles earlier this month, partnerships with Tappy and DCK that embedded bPay into jewellery and watches, and a payments fashion accessories range with Topshop.

Tami Hargreaves, director of innovation and partnerships at Barclaycard Mobile Payments comments: “September marks the 10th anniversary of Barclaycard introducing contactless payments to the UK and our partnership with Timex represents another exciting way ‘touch and go’ technology can be simply and stylishly integrated into fashion and accessories.”

Output: Watchmaker Timex is to launch the Timex Fairfield watch, which can complete contactless payments with the aid of a Barclaycard bPay chip inserted into the leather watch strap. The watch will cost £159 ($211) and will enable contactless purchases of £30 and under at more than 490,000 UK locations. Owners will be able to monitor spending, add more funds and control their payments using the bPay app and website. Barclaycard has already teamed up with DS Automobiles to offer a contactless payment car key with DS Automobiles and with Tappy and DCK to offer bPay-enabled jewellery and watches.


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National Australia Bank links payments process to SWIFT tracker
 Source: NAB

In a global first, National Australia Bank has implemented connectivity to the new SWIFT gpi Payments Tracker via Application Programming Interface (API).

Over 100 of the world’s largest transaction banks have now all signed on to the SWIFT global payments innovation (gpi) initiative, which provides same-day settlement with real-time payments tracking.

NAB General Manager of Payments, Paul Franklin, said the introduction of SWIFT gpi means NAB can provide greater transparency to customers, and certainty of the status of their payment.

“We are continually looking for opportunities to deliver better customer experiences, and key to this is collaborating with like-minded organisations and leveraging API technology in a safe and secure environment,” Mr Franklin said.

“We went live with our SWIFT gpi using API connectivity earlier this month, and it’s already delivering real benefits.”

“We’re providing our international partner banks with real time updates when their payments are credited to NAB customer accounts, and our customers will soon have direct access to tracking of their international payments - and many more features.”

“NAB is making bold changes to its cross-border payments to significantly improve the customer experience, and leading the way with the adoption of API’s in an effort to address and exceed customer expectations.”

The API links the SWIFT gpi Tracker database with the bank’s systems, and subsequently integrates the tracking information to their client portals and applications.

“Adopting SWIFT gpi will fundamentally transform the way customers and financial institutions do cross-border payments, and NAB is proud to be a global leader in this initiative,” Mr Franklin said.

SWIFT Head of Payments Markets APAC, Michael Moon, said APIs have become core to banking infrastructure to meet customer needs.

“We’re delighted NAB is the first bank worldwide to adopt API technology to access the SWIFT gpi Tracker. They’re clearly committed to building a rich source of APIs to leverage SWIFT gpi capabilities on top of their SWIFT rails.”

“We look forward to building our ecosystem with NAB to enable opportunities for innovation and improved experiences for their customers,” Mr Moon said.

Output: National Australia Bank (NAB) has linked into the SWIFT global payments innovation (dpi) system, enabling same-day payment settlement with real-time tracking. The bank hopes to provide greater payments transparency for its customers through the link. An application programming interface (API) provides a bridge between the SWIFT gpi Tracker database and the bank’s systems, client portals and other applications.


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South African insurer adds Facebook chatbot
 Simply Financial Services adds a chatbot

Recent entrant, selling into SA’s life insurance market, Simply Financial Services is a new entrant to the South African life insurance market.

Part of the company’s aim to shake up the market is its chatbot, Sam, developed from its quoting engine and allowing customers to get a quick quote via Facebook messenger in a matter of seconds.

The chatbot has been used for over 600 messages and quotes already. People also use the chatbot to ask questions about their policies or ask for callbacks at specific times.

“As a disruptive fintech company, we love to explore conversational commerce opportunities,” says Anthony Miller, CEO of Simply Financial Services. “We believe in meeting the customer where they are – and Facebook is increasingly that place, where people play, learn, and buy products that they need.”

The Simply chatbot is one of several ways that customers can get in touch — intentionally designed so that people can use the channel that works best for them. Simply’s website, for example, has a live chat functionality, which is well utilised – people ask all sorts of questions here – about the products, company, the details of cover and more.

“While we are not allowed to sell life insurance via Facebook yet, we use our chatbot to demonstrate the incredible value that customers can get – if they click through to our website,” Miller says.

“Simply’s chatbot is a continuation of our brand value and company philosophy, to offer easily accessible and affordable life insurance products and to simplify our touch points with our customer,” he adds.

Forrester Research, in its report “Bots aren’t ready to be Bankers — August 31, 2016”, cautions that, although chat bots are developing rapidly, customer experience is not; and that many fail to effectively meet users’ needs due to poor infrastructure and lack of fundamental understanding of artificial intelligence (AI).

Miller, however, remains bullish about the chatbot and its role within the business both now and going forward.

“Futurologists reckon we’ll need less of the human touch as we develop algorithms to enable “robo advice” — improving service and reducing fees in the process,” he says.

“We believe our value proposition, in terms of the products and the nature of the market we are targeting, is synergistic with the chatbot and the services it can deliver to our customers.”

Output: South African life insurer Simply Financial Services has introduced a chatbot, which its customers can use via Facebook. The bot uses information from the firm's quoting engine and is aimed at providing clients with instant quotes. It can also be used by customers to get more information about their policies.


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Toyota, Mazda and Denso to create EV company
 Toyota President Akio Toyoda nd Mazda President and CEO Masamichi Kogai at a joint press conference on August 4, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan.

Toyota is establishing a new venture to develop electric vehicle technology with partner Mazda , seeking to catch up with rivals in an increasingly frenetic race to produce more battery-powered cars.

Policymakers in key markets like China are aggressively pushing a shift to electric cars over the next two to three decades, pressuring traditional automakers to crank up their electric vehicle (EV) plans — just as declining battery costs enable more power to be packed into cars.

Toyota said in a statement the new company will develop technology for a range of electric cars, including minivehicles, passenger cars, SUVs and light trucks.

Toyota will take a 90 percent stake in the joint venture, called EV Common Architecture Spirit, while Mazda and Denso , Toyota's biggest supplier, will each take a 5 percent stake.

The plans build on a partnership announced in August when Japan's biggest automaker agreed to take a 5 percent stake in Mazda and two said they would jointly develop affordable electric vehicle technologies.

Output: Japanese car manufacturers Toyota and Mazda along with car parts maker Denso, are to form a new entity called EV Common Architecture Spirit. The company will develop a wide range of electric vehicles (EVs), from smaller cars to light trucks. Toyota will take a controlling 90% stake, while Mazda and Denso will each hold a 5% share. Toyota bought a 5% stake in Mazda last month, when the two firms announced their intention to collaborate on affordable EVs.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Toyota, Mazda and Denso to create EV company
 More automakers are partnering in preparation for an electric car future. Mazda and Toyota are next, joining with Denso Corporation to form a new company that will develop electric vehicle technologies.

The deal, announced today, comes about a month after Toyota said it would take a 5 percent stake in Mazda and that the two would pursue electric vehicles and necessary research and development, along with other automotive strategies together. The new company is called EV Common Architecture Spirit Co Ltd., and Toyota will own 90 percent, while Mazda and Denso will each have a 5 percent share. Vehicles produced through the new company will also use Toyota’s modular platform architecture that’s being used in models such as the Prius and 2018 Camry. Everything from small cars to SUVs are planned, according to the news release.

Electric vehicles of all sizes are planned

While Toyota has been a gas-electric hybrid pioneer for two decades now, one of the world’s largest automakers has been surpassed by smaller rivals introducing fully electric vehicles for mass production. Its plug-in hybrid Prius Prime has just 22 miles of range on a full charge, roughly half of a Chevrolet Volt’s electric-only range.

Mazda has also pledged an allegiance to the internal combustion engine with its SkyActiv-X gasoline engines — promising diesel-like fuel economy with significantly reduced emissions — set to appear in their production cars over the next few years. But it needs a plug-in to comply with California’s zero-emissions vehicle mandate, as well as looming federal fuel economy average target. Mazda has said it will start selling an electric vehicle of some kind in 2019.

Output: Japanese car manufacturers Toyota and Mazda along with car parts maker Denso, are to form a new entity called EV Common Architecture Spirit. The company will develop a wide range of electric vehicles (EVs), from smaller cars to light trucks. Toyota will take a controlling 90% stake, while Mazda and Denso will each hold a 5% share. Toyota bought a 5% stake in Mazda last month, when the two firms announced their intention to collaborate on affordable EVs.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Wanda Commercial rating cut to junk by S&P after asset sales
 Dalian Wanda Group Co's biggest unit had its credit rating cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings, raising the risk of higher borrowing costs overseas just as the Chinese conglomerate grapples with greater regulatory scrutiny.

S&P lowered its score on Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties Co to BB, two steps below investment grade, from BBB. The move comes after Wanda agreed in July to sell the bulk of its theme parks and hotel assets to Sunac China Holdings Ltd and Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Wanda Commercial's dollar bonds due in 2024 dropped the most in a month.

"We expect Wanda Commercial's market position in its property development segment to weaken following the transition," S&P said. Wanda Commercial delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange in September 2016, with the aim of eventually relisting on mainland. "The prospects of the company's Ashare listing are unclear, and information risks have heightened."

The downgrade, which could make it costlier for Wanda to borrow money overseas, is the latest setback for billionaire Wang Jianlin. His companies have been selling assets, delaying or shelving deals amid scrutiny from Chinese authorities, who are clamping down on capital outflows. In the past couple of months, Wang agreed to sell most of Wanda's hotels and themepark assets for 63.75 billion yuan ($9.6 billion) and scrapped plans to buy a plot of land in central London.

Wanda Commercial couldn't immediately comment when contacted by phone about the downgrade.

Dalian Wanda Group－the parent of the property subsidiary－has faced increased scrutiny from the Chinese government on their overseas investments, as authorities try to slow capital outflows to prevent the yuan from weakening.

"We agree with S&P－there are too many uncertainties in relation to Wanda's strategic change and no clear picture of its future plan," said Chuanyi Zhou, a credit analyst in Singapore at Lucror Analytics. "Not to mention the possible nonbusiness risks. The borrowing cost is likely to be higher."

The company's offshore bonds have suffered, as analysts at banks including BNP Paribas SA have said investors should exit them. The 2024 notes issued by Wanda Properties International, a unit of Wanda Commercial, have lost 2.9 percent this year, the worst performer among high-yield dollar bonds from Chinese issuers in Bank of America Merrill Lynch indexes.

The price of the securities slid 0.5 cent on the dollar, set for the sharpest decline since Aug 28, to 99.9 cents as of 12:08 pm in Hong Kong, according to prices compiled by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg

Output: Dalian Wanda's subsidiary – Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties – has had its credit rating cut to junk by S&P Global Ratings. The downgrade could make it more expensive for the company to borrow money overseas just as it is struggling with heightened regulatory scrutiny. Its score is now BB, which is two steps below investment grade. This followed Wanda agreeing to sell a majority of its theme parks and hotel assets to Sunac China Holdings and Guangzhou R&F Properties. One Singapore-based analyst commented: "We agree with S&P－there are too many uncertainties in relation to Wanda's strategic change."


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Ikea buys on-demand labour services platform TaskRabbit
 Ikea has bought the gig economy odd-jobs company TaskRabbit, becoming the latest retailer to move into offering services alongside products.

Jesper Brodin, the president and chief executive of Ikea Group, said the Swedish homeware chain was responding to increasing urbanisation and a shift to digital shopping that challenged traditional retail.

“We need to develop the business faster and in a more flexible way. An acquisition of TaskRabbit would be an exciting leap in this transformation,” he said.

TaskRabbit, based in San Francisco and set up in 2008, operates in 40 cities in the US and the UK, connecting customers through its app with home maintenance tradespeople who can handle furniture assembly, decorating, cleaning and deliveries.

Users flag jobs they want doing, and taskers, as the company refers to them, can select work nearby, apparently choosing the rate at which they will be paid.

TaskRabbit will continue to operate as an independent company within the Ikea Group and link up with other retailers. The value of the deal was undisclosed.

Ikea joins the likes of John Lewis and Debenhams in seeing services as a route to growth.

John Lewis launched its Home Solutions service this month after signing up 150 independent tradespeople, all of whom were vetted by the department store. After being tested in Milton Keynes, the service is being extended to Bristol, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Gloucester and Taunton.

Brodin said: “We will be able to learn from TaskRabbit’s digital expertise, while also providing Ikea customers additional ways to access flexible and affordable service solutions.”

The acquisition takes Ikea into the gig economy, with TaskRabbit workers classed as independent contractors who work when they want, where they want and at rates they set, but are not necessarily entitled to a minimum wage or holiday pay.

Other gig economy employers, including Uber and Deliveroo, have faced court action over the treatment of their workers, some of whom say they are not independent contractors and should receive holiday pay.

The buyout comes after Ikea tested recommending TaskRabbit workers to assemble furniture for customers late last year at some of its London stores.

TaskRabbit was founded by the former IBM software engineer Leah Busque. The company has struggled to expand and partnered up to offer its services via Amazon last year.

Output: IKEA has acquired TaskRabbit, a mobile labour marketplace, to offer services that complement its products. The move comes in response to the rise of digital shopping and increasing urbanisation, according to Jesper Brodin, chief executive at IKEA. TaskRabbit links consumers with tradespeople for performing ad-hoc tasks, such as furniture assembly and deliveries. IKEA trialled the platform across some of its London locations in 2016, with successful results. TaskRabbit will operate independently under IKEA's ownership.


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Lidl commits to removing products containing microbeads
 Lidl has removed all products containing microbeads from its UK stores as it clamps down on plastic pollutants across its own label and branded ranges.

“Plastic pollution is one of the most serious threats to the health of our oceans and an issue we are taking very seriously,” said Lidl UK corporate responsibility manager Mark Newbold.

“For us, eradicating microbeads from all our products is a small but important step in our journey to continually reduce our plastic footprint and the wider environmental impact of our products.”

Last September the government pledged to ban microbeads from cosmetics and cleaning products by the end of this year. According to Greenpeace, 663 species of marine wildlife are affected by plastic pollution.

The discounter joins other retailers including Tesco and Waitrose in committing to remove microbeads.

Lidl also plans to phase out plastic-stemmed cotton buds and replace them with new biodegradable stems by the end of the year.

In July, Lidl stopped selling single use carrier bags and introduced a new 5p reusable bag..

Output: Supermarket Lidl has removed all products containing microbeads, tiny pieces of plastic added to cosmetic products, from its UK stores. Last September, the UK government committed to banning microbeads, which contribute to marine pollution, from cosmetics and cleaning products by the end of 2017. Other supermarkets, including Tesco and Waitrose, have already pledged to remove the beads from their stock. Lidl, which stopped selling single-use plastic bags in July, has also committed to replacing plastic cotton buds with biodegradable alternatives by the end of the year.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Livestock methane emissions underestimated
 Revision of annual, per-animal CH 4 emissions factors and other livestock C fluxes

The 2006 IPCC CH 4 emissions factors were revised by (1) collecting updated regional input information (Tables 1, 2) and (2) following the Tier 2 equations for enteric fermentation and manure management CH 4 emissions [4] with the updated inputs. This resulted in new emissions factors suitable for Tier 1 bottom-up inventory based estimates. To revise enteric fermentation emissions factors for lactating dairy cows, for example, Equations 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.6, 10.8, 10.11, 10.13, 10.14, 10.16, 10.18b, and 10.21 were used with input from Tables 10.2, 10.4, 10.5, 10.8, 10.12, 10.A.1 [4] (Table 1). To revise manure CH 4 emissions factors for dairy cows, meat/other cattle, and swine, Equations 10.23 and 10.24 were used with input from Tables 10.17, 10A-4, 10A-5, 10A-7, and 10A-8 [4] (Table 2). Some information on total dry matter intake and/or gross energy intake and manure production are also provided by IPCC; these quantities were also updated and used to create complete livestock C budgets (see below). Manure production for cattle was estimated from updated regional animal body weights, assuming that dairy cattle produce 2205 kg manure dry matter per animal unit per year, and meat/other cattle produce 1510 kg manure dry matter per animal unit per year [29]. Manure production for swine was estimated using IPCC 1996 regional swine body weight and manure production information [3] along with revised (recent) regional body weights, based on the approximation that intake scales with a three-fourths fractional exponent of body mass [30]:

Table 1 Dairy cow enteric fermentation emissions factor inputs Full size table

Table 2 Cattle and swine manure management emissions input factors used for this study, as compared with those used/published by IPCC Full size table

$${\text{manure}}\text{-}{\text{production}}_{\text{revised}} = {\text{ manure}}\text{-}{\text{production}}_{{ 1 9 9 6 {\text{IPCC}}}} \times \, \left[ {{\text{weight}}_{\text{revised}} /{\text{weight}}_{{ 1 9 9 6 {\text{IPCC}}}} } \right]^{0. 7 5}$$ (1)

To evaluate our bottom-up approach to estimating C stocks and fluxes, the equations and default inputs were first used to recalculate the IPCC 2006 CH 4 emissions factors. Literature search results were then used to revise inputs and recalculate these equations.

For dairy cow enteric fermentation CH 4 emissions factors, revisions focused on changes in mature animal weight, percent of animals that are stall fed as opposed to grazing/ranging for feed, annual milk productivity, changes in total feed intake, and on reported values of Y m (the CH 4 conversion factors for feed energy intake during enteric fermentation). For these calculations, we assumed that mature lactating dairy cows do not gain or lose weight, so that net energy for growth takes a value of zero. For enteric fermentation CH 4 emissions from meat/other cattle, we use recently reported emissions factors from national UNFSCCC reports where available, and where such information was not available, we calculated revised factors based on changes in animal body weight only. This approach was taken due to the complexity and variability in important management factors for meat cattle, particularly in industrialized systems (e.g. type of diet provided, timing of placement from pasture to feedlot, slaughter age and weight).

For manure management CH 4 emissions factors, revisions focused on changes in animal weight at slaughter, changes in total feed intake and feed digestibility, and changes in the percentage of manure managed in various manure management systems (e.g. deposited on pasture, drylot storage, short-term pit storage, long-term anaerobic lagoon treatment), and MCFs (methane conversion factors, the CH 4 conversion factors for manure volatile solids during manure storage and/or treatment) for different manure management systems at various temperatures. Because of the difficulty in obtaining recent information for all regions of the world, we did not revise B o (the amount of CH 4 produced per quantity of manure volatile solids). Manure management CH 4 emissions factors were revised for (1) lactating dairy cattle; (2) meat/other cattle (encompassing meat and dairy calves and heifers and all other cohorts of non-lactating cattle grown for slaughter, replacement, breeding, or other purposes, weighted using mean weights and reported population cohorts), and (3) swine (encompassing farrowing sows, nursing piglets, and feeders, weighted using mean weights and reported population cohorts). For meat/other cattle in the US, where in recent years animals weighed 27–45 kg at birth [31], were weaned at ~260 kg [31], were placed on feedlots at ~317 kg [32], and were slaughtered at ~610 kg [33], the amounts of manure managed on pasture and on feedlot were weighted by average cohort masses accordingly.

Uncertainty analysis

We employed IPCC 2006 Uncertainty Approach I: Propagation of Error [34] to arithmetically combine the uncertainties associated with livestock carbon fluxes of interest:

Where uncertain quantities are to be combined by multiplication, the standard deviation of the sum will be the square root of the sum of the squares of the standard deviations of the quantities that are added, with the standard deviations all expressed as coefficients of variation, which are the ratios of the standard deviations to the appropriate mean values…Where uncertain quantities are to be combined by addition or subtraction, the standard deviation of the sum will be the square root of the sum of the squares of the standard deviations of the quantities that are added with the standard deviations all expressed in absolute terms … [34]

When the uncertainties being combined can be considered independent, their standard deviations or coefficients of variation are added in quadrature (i.e. the square root of the sum of the squares of each standard deviation or coefficient of variation) [35]. This has the effect of reducing overall propagated uncertainty. We added in quadrature when propagating uncertainties within a livestock type, because we independently assembled separate estimates of the various carbon fluxes and their uncertainties (e.g. intake, manure production, milk production, CH 4 emissions) except for CO 2 , which is calculated by subtraction. We then used these uncertainties to calculate fractional standard deviations (equal to the coefficient of variation, the standard deviation divided by the mean value) for each per-animal carbon flux quantity in each global region. However, when combining uncertainties across livestock types within a nation or from multiple nations to the regional or global level, the uncertainties were simply added (not in quadrature), because these estimates are not independent [35]—i.e. the livestock in all nations within a region share the same carbon flux estimates, emissions coefficients, and uncertainties, and all livestock within a nation share many regional attributes. Using the arithmetic sum, as opposed to adding in quadrature, results in larger uncertainties, which may be considered more conservative.

Uncertainty on all non-CH 4 quantities is derived from the coefficients of variation (the standard deviation/mean value of the quantity) that we calculated for these quantities in previous work [2]. Uncertainty on IPCC livestock CH 4 emissions factors is given as ±30% [4], and is defined as representing ±1.96 times the standard deviation of the mean [34]. In order to be combined mathematically [34, 35] with our estimates of uncertainty on other C fluxes, we used 15.3% (30% divided by 1.96) as the uncertainty for all calculated CH 4 quantities.

Derivation of annual livestock C fluxes, including emissions of CO 2 and CH 4

We assumed a linear transition from IPCC 2006 emissions to revised emissions factors during the years 1990–2012:

$${\text{f}}_{\text{yeari}} = {\text{f}}_{\text{IPCC}} + \, \left( {{\text{ f}}_{\text{revised}} - {\text{f}}_{\text{IPCC}} } \right) \cdot \left( {{\text{Y}}/ 2 2 { }} \right)$$ (2)

where f yeari is the flux of CH 4 , feed, or other C containing quantity per animal in the year of interest; f IPCC is the flux of CH 4 , feed, or other C quantity per animal given or calculated from data provided by 2006 IPCC guidelines [4]; f revised is the revised flux of CH 4 , feed, or other C quantity per animal (resulting from this work); and Y is equal to 0 for years before 1990, to (year—1990) for 1990–2012; and to 22 for years after 2012.

Livestock carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions associated with respiration were estimated as the deficit between the C contained in annual livestock feed intake and the sum enteric fermentation CH 4 emissions, production of milk or eggs, and manure production. Similarly, CO 2 emissions associated with manure management were estimated as the difference between total manure C production and manure management CH 4 emissions, assuming that all manure C is emitted as either CH 4 or CO 2 within one year of production.

Livestock populations

Annual national livestock populations of meat and milk-producing cattle, meat and milk-producing buffaloes, meat and egg-laying chickens, swine, sheep, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl, goats, horses, mules, asses, camels, and other camelids (i.e. llamas and alpacas) were compiled for years 1961–2013 from FAOSTAT [36]. Annual producing populations of egg-laying chickens and milk-producing cattle and buffalo were subtracted from conspecific total populations to estimate populations raised for meat production. For all calculations made here, the dairy cattle livestock populations include only milk-producing mature dairy cows; calves, heifers, breeding steers, and any other dairy cattle ‘replacements’ are categorized with meat/other cattle. For nine large countries (Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico, and the Russian Federation), state- or province-level livestock population data were compiled for available years between 2000 and 2011 [37, 38], and used to improve the spatial distribution of inventory data. For the United States, livestock populations were refined to the county level using National Agricultural Statistical Service Census and Survey data [39]. Livestock in all other nations of the world are constrained at the national level only.

Livestock C fluxes and CH 4 emissions

Accounting of livestock C fluxes was conducted as described in Wolf et al. [2]. Annual per-animal dry weight feed intake, dry weight manure production, manure C content, milk and egg production C, and manure management and enteric fermentation CH 4 emissions are from IPCC [4] or were estimated from existing literature. Livestock dry matter intakes were assumed to be 44% C by weight. The difference between total livestock feed intake C and total C produced or emitted by live animals (i.e. the sum of C contained in manure, enteric fermentation CH 4 , and milk and eggs) approximates the amount of C respired in the form of CO 2 over a given year, excluding C stored in livestock biomass. Although herd sizes do change over time, C stored in livestock biomass is assumed constant in this effort. Similarly, the difference between total manure C content and manure management CH 4 provides an estimate of CO 2 released by livestock manure management, all of which is assumed to be emitted in the same year of manure production.

Estimating livestock consumption of fodder and forage

For purposes of tracking the use of all harvested crop C and estimating amounts of livestock forage, total livestock feed was disaggregated into fodder (i.e. biomass harvested by humans from croplands) and forage (i.e. biomass grazed or scavenged by livestock from non-cropland sources) [2]. Fodder was further subdivided into (a) market feed items derived from primary harvests (e.g., grains, brans, crop by-product feeds), derived from FAO [36] (food balance: commodity balances, crops primary equivalent, feed category), (b) hay and fodder crops (e.g., harvested quantities of alfalfa, clovers, grasses, corn and sorghum silage) derived from FAO [36] (production: crops, crops primary list), including maize, alfalfa, and other grains, grasses, legumes, roots, and vegetables denoted as produced for forage and/or silage; category no longer available), and (c) crop residue feed, consisting of crop residue collected from the field for livestock feed, estimated from annual production of several utilized crops [2]. Annual national quantities of all market feed items and hay crops available were converted into units of C using fractional item-specific dry weights and C contents [2]. The crop residue feed quantities were estimated by applying crop-specific regional percentages of residues collected for feed [40] to the crop- and country-specific estimates of annual residue production. Total annual available fodder per nation is the sum of market feeds, hay and fodder crop production, and crop residues collected for feed. At the national level, annual available fodder was subtracted from total livestock feed intake requirement (calculated from national annual populations and per-animal feed intake values) to approximate national livestock forage intake, including grazing and scavenging. Because national quantities of market feeds and hay crops were not available for years after 2011 at the time of download, fodder and forage intake for 2012 and 2013 were estimated using average available quantities for each country over 2005–2011.

Downscaling and spatial distribution of C fluxes

Livestock C fluxes were downscaled and spatially distributed to 0.05 × 0.05 degree resolution using the MODIS Land Cover Type 5 data product for year 2005, following methods documented by West et al. [41] and Wolf et al. [2]. Downscaling started with the reconciling of land class areas between satellite-based land cover in 2005 and crop harvest area inventory data in each year from 2000 to 2011. Cropland area in 2005, based on MODIS, was compared to the sum of area inventoried for harvest per geopolitical region. The MODIS cropland areas were then adjusted to equal the sum of harvested areas for respective geopolitical regions and years. Cropland area was expanded or contracted as necessary, using a global kernel density representing the combined density of cropland and distance of each grid-cell to the nearest cropland region. Based on reconciled land cover information within each nation, state or province, or county, a separate amount of area was allocated to livestock. The livestock area requirement per nation, state/province, or county was derived from the livestock population therein, along with estimated area per animal required for each livestock type, for housed and free-ranging animals, and regional estimates of the proportion of animals that are free-ranging. Livestock were spatially distributed to grasslands, based on the livestock area requirement, per nation, state/province, or county. If there was insufficient grassland area, livestock were then distributed to shrubland areas. If grassland and shrubland areas together were smaller than the estimated required livestock area, the livestock area requirement was reduced to a smaller housed-animal area requirement value, thereby increasing livestock density. Respective carbon fluxes were subsequently applied to spatial livestock distributions.

Output: Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that has 28 times the “global warming potential” of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, produced by global livestock were 11% higher in 2011 than estimates from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change predicted, according to a new study. Two-thirds of methane results from human activity, primarily the production and transport of coal, oil and gas, livestock flatulence and the decay of organic waste in landfills. Changing livestock numbers, breeding and management have resulted in higher emissions. The sharpest changes have been seen in Africa, Asia and Latin America.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Livestock methane emissions underestimated
 Paris (AFP) –

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Emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from livestock are larger than previously thought, posing an additional challenge in the fight to curb global warming, scientists said Friday.

Revised calculations of methane produced per head of cattle show that global livestock emissions in 2011 were 11 percent higher than estimates based on data from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change.

Periodic reports by the IPCC, drawing from thousands of scientists, help leaders take action on climate change, which has begun to wreak weather havoc around the globe.

"In many regions, livestock numbers are changing, and breeding has resulted in larger animals with higher intakes of food," said Julie Wolf, a researcher in the US Department of Agriculture and lead author of a study in the journal Carbon Balance and Management.

"This, along with changes in livestock management, can lead to higher methane emissions."

Earlier estimates, she added in a statement, were based on "out-of-date data".

After rising slowly from 2000 to 2006, the concentration of methane in the air has climbed 10 times more quickly in the last decade, according to earlier research.

Besides natural sources such as peatland, wetlands and termites, methane from human activity -- approximately two-thirds of the total -- is produced in two ways.

The odourless and colourless gas leaks during the production and transport of coal, oil and especially natural gas.

In roughly equal measure, it also comes from the flatulence of ruminants such as cattle and sheep, as well as the decay of organic waste, notably in landfills.

- 'Hidden climate change cost' -

Methane accounted for about 16 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015, according to the IPCC.

Carbon dioxide -- produced mainly by the burning of fossil fuels -- accounts for more than three-quarters of planet-warming emissions.

"As our diets become more meat and dairy-rich, so the hidden climate cost of our food tends to mount up," said University of Edinburgh professor Dave Reay, reacting to the study.

"Cows belching less methane may not be as eye-catching as wind turbines and solar panels, but they are just as vital for addressing climate change."

The new study boosts the "estimate of human-induced emissions of methane from all sources by about four percent," said University of Leeds professor Piers Forster, who was not involved in the research.

Methane is far more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas, capturing more of the Sun's radiative force. But it persists for less time in the atmosphere.

Taking that into account, scientists calculate that over a 100-year period the "global warming potential" of the gas is 28 times greater than for carbon dioxide.

The study noted that methane emissions from livestock have risen most sharply in the rapidly developing regions of Asia, Latin America and Africa.

By contrast, the increase has slowed sharply in the United States and Canada. In Europe, emissions of the gas have declined.

A sharp rise in methane pollution could jeopardise the goal -- enshrined in the 196-nation Paris climate pact -- of capping global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), a consortium of 81 scientists warned in December.

"Such a target will become increasingly difficult if reductions in methane emissions are not also addressed strongly and rapidly," they wrote in an open letter.

© 2017 AFP

Output: Emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that has 28 times the “global warming potential” of carbon dioxide over a 100-year period, produced by global livestock were 11% higher in 2011 than estimates from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change predicted, according to a new study. Two-thirds of methane results from human activity, primarily the production and transport of coal, oil and gas, livestock flatulence and the decay of organic waste in landfills. Changing livestock numbers, breeding and management have resulted in higher emissions. The sharpest changes have been seen in Africa, Asia and Latin America.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Amazon’s Echo Show loses YouTube in public row with Google
 Google has abruptly pulled its YouTube app from Amazon’s Echo Show device as part of a broiling feud which has now gone public.

Google pulls YouTube from Amazon’s Echo Show as competitive spirit turns nasty

The root issue is a long running spat between the technology giants after Google accused Amazon of ‘violating its terms of service’ leading to a ‘broken user experience’ which has yet to be resolved despite exhaustive negotiations.

Output: Google has pulled YouTube from Amazon’s Echo Show device following a dispute over user experience and terms of service. The Echo Show is a voice-activated device featuring a screen, launched by Amazon in June as part of its Echo range. Google claimed that the Echo Show did not offer the full range of YouTube functionality, with video recommendations and channel subscription options missing from the service, and called the user experience "broken". Google has said it hopes to resolve the dispute shortly.