Open enrollment for Medicare and prescription drug plans will begin Oct. 15 for coverage in 2019 and close Dec. 7. One change this year is that seniors can try a Medicare Advantage plan for up to three months and if they don’t like it, they can switch to another Advantage plan or enroll in traditional Medicare.

IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO) is a world leader in critical information, analytics and solutions for the major industries and markets that drive economies worldwide. The company delivers next-generation information, analytics and solutions to customers in business, finance and government, improving their operational efficiency and providing deep insights that lead to well-informed, confident decisions. IHS Markit has more than 50,000 business and government customers, including 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500 and the world’s leading financial institutions. Headquartered in London, IHS Markit is committed to sustainable, profitable growth.

Sure. Wamsi, overall, we’re really pleased with our gross margin performance. We said at the beginning of 2018 that we’re investing intensely, and that would lead to significant growth and margin expansion in the back half, and that’s exactly what happened. Our sales were up 16% in the back half over the first half, and our gross margins expanded about 150 basis points. And we expect, going forward, continued strong margin performance both in dollars and percentages, but it does get somewhat muted by investments that we’re making. And the good news is, those investments are for committed growth in Optical Communications, GPF, and then Auto Glass, and we’re gonna start seeing those investments starting in Q2, the benefits of those investments, and it’s gonna expand from there.

Material-based strategies to direct stem cell–based tissue repair focus mostly on controlling integrin adhesion receptor–related signaling through alterations in surface chemistry, stiffness, and nanotopography (5–12). These approaches have provided marked results, most notably in the area of bone cell, osteoblast, and differentiation. However, these materials are highly engineered, nonbiocompatible, or very delicate, and thus, translation remains a hurdle. Furthermore, these material-based approaches typically do not control GF binding and activity. Therefore, materials that mimic and exploit GF interactions with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins such as fibronectin (FN) may provide novel substrates for localized, low-dose delivery with high potency (1).

“Transformation on this scale is tough, and we are operating in a difficult retail environment. We face challenges and we are addressing them. Our main challenge is Castorama France and we shared our action plan to fix it at the half year. Our action plan is now implemented for this year. We have accelerated our move to an everyday low price strategy and have launched a new marketing campaign to make it visible to our customers, however there is no quick fix.

Centralized manufacturing and distribution was invented to improve the poor efficiencies of DEcentralized manufacture and distribution. So basically, this guy has taken a perfectly good solution to a long-forgotten problem, and reinvented the original problem for it!

The cessation of the activities detailed above will allow a significant release of working capital (in the order of £7m before exit costs) and result in a reduction in Net Debt, which at the end of July 2018 was £41m (being better than our previous estimate of £46m). One-time restructuring costs to be incurred during FY19 are expected to be of the order of £3m.

We previously showed how B16F0s cultured in a spiral shape containing a high perimeter/area express higher levels of MIC markers at both convex and concave perimeter features (15). To compare angiogenesis-related gene expression for B16F0s cultured in spiral-patterned or nonpatterned gels or glass substrates, we analyzed a panel of VEGF signaling genes and genes regulated by HIF1 (Fig. 2A). The results show higher levels of expression in cells cultured on spiral-patterned gels relative to those cultured on nonpatterned gels and glass substrates. Previously, we revealed that integrin α5β1, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways, and STAT activity play an important role in melanoma cancer cell plasticity, influencing their metastatic and tumorigenic characteristics when cultured in interfacial regions (15). To explore possible mechanotransduction pathways that enhance the MIC phenotype and angiogenic potential at perimeter features, we treated B16F0s with blocking antibodies to integrins α5β1 and αvβ3 and inhibitors for cytoskeletal tension (blebbistatin and Y27632), MAPK [p38, extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK), and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK)], bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) (Noggin), or glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK-3) (CHIR). To prevent these blocking antibodies or inhibitors from influencing hMVEC tubulogenesis, we treated B16F0s for an initial 3 days of culture, added fresh medium after washing twice with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), and then collected the fresh conditioned medium after the remaining 2 days of culture (fig. S6A). After B16F0 conditioned medium was added to these treatments, tube formation significantly decreased with blocking antibodies to integrin α5β1 (~0.45-fold) or αvβ3 (~0.59-fold) and treatment of patterned cells with Y27632 (~0.60-fold) or ERK (~0.64-fold) (Fig. 2B). On the basis of these results, we speculate that integrin-mediated adhesion and cytoskeletal tension may augment the emergence of a MIC state and angiogenic potential. Thus, we cultured cells for 5 days on patterned gels with or without treatments (α5β1, αvβ3, Y27632, and ERK) for flow cytometric analysis to compare the expression of putative MIC markers CD271 and STAT3. Similar to the tubulogenesis results, treated cells cultured in spiral patterns show lower levels of CD271 and STAT3 compared to untreated cells (Fig. 2C). To confirm the effect of Jarid1B, which is known as a marker of MICs, we used short interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence gene expression (fig. S6B). The results show that cells cultured with Jarid1B siRNAs lead to decreased tubulogenesis as a measure of angiogenic potential (Fig. 2D). Because genes regulated by HIF1 were up-regulated for cells cultured on patterned gels, we used a HIF1α inhibitor to explore its effect on the angiogenic potential of B16F0s. Moreover, hydrocortisone and heparin sodium salt (HSS) were used because they were previously used as angiogenesis inhibitors and inducers of endothelial character. Patterned cells treated with the HIF1α inhibitor (~0.55-fold) or hydrocortisone (~0.61-fold), but not with HSS (~0.75-fold), showed a significantly reduced angiogenic potential (Fig. 2E). Together, these results confirm a role for topology at the interface of melanoma cells in promoting the MIC state and a proangiogenic secretome that promotes tubulogenesis of endothelial cells in Matrigel.

If commercial 3D printers-for-rent facilities don’t already exist they soon will. It shouldn’t be too hard to 3D print capsules to put the API in. (hmm… I wonder if the standard PLA is digestible?) Where would this be useful in the real world? Well, if you consider it real world, a manned Mars mission… maybe.

In the year 2012, Asia-Pacific region was the second largest market for acrylic acid and would remain in that position till 2018. The European market was the largest consumer for acrylic acid derivatives in 2012, whereas, North American market was the largest consumer of acrylic acid in 2012. The demand trend for acrylic acid and its derivatives is expected to increase gradually in Asia-Pacific till 2018. Developing countries in Asia-Pacific region such as, China and South Korea represent the prominent markets for acrylics. The rising disposable income levels of the individuals, growing population, and strong economic conditions support promising growth in super absorbent polymers. These conditions have attracted many global players such as BASF (Germany), Dow Chemical Company (U.S.), Nippon Shokubai (Japan), and others to venture into these markets with local production facilities. This has driven the demand for acrylic acid and its derivatives in the region significantly. Due to increasing population, improving lifespan, and other demands have significantly improved the demand and growth of super absorbent polymers market. The major application of SAP is found in personal disposable hygiene products such as baby diapers, adult protective underwear, and sanitary napkins. It is also used for blocking water penetration in underground power or communications cables, horticultural water retention agents, control of spill and waste aqueous fluids, and artificial snow for motion picture and stage production. The super absorbent polymers have already started gaining a significant market share among acrylic polymers globally. Even the water treatment polymers have high potential for deep penetration rate in the developing countries. The SAP and WTP are widely preferred across the globe. Surface coatings are the largest application for acrylic acid and its derivatives, accounting for almost half of the overall acrylic acid and its derivatives market in 2012. Due to increasing population and improved lifestyle, the applications have significantly increased the demand for acrylic acid and its derivatives in the past few years. Many of the acrylic acid manufacturers and thereby OEM providers are shifting their focus towards developing regions. This would help the acrylic acid and its derivatives market to grow in developing countries. On the contrary, the demand for plastic additives is growing on a long run and hence the demand for co-monomers would grow at a slower rate.

It sounds useful for a fantastic chemogenomics world where each patient is getting their genome sequenced, personal drug designed, and where each phenotype is rare enough (or even completely new) for pharma to bother to produce drugs on scale. For point-of-care synthesis of baclofen it doesn’t make sense.

1. “The American Energy Drink Craze in Two Caffeinated Charts”, Roberto A. Ferdman, Quartz, March 26, 2014.