Washington — Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has renewed the two-year charter for OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Occupational Safety and Health.

The EWDS19-921KIT Portable Eyewash Starter Kit is a fully compliant portable eyewash station.

Polartec, a Milliken & Co. brand, a Spartanburg, SC-based creator of innovative and sustainable textile solutions, has announced new roles and responsibilities for veteran employees Ramesh Kesh and Eric Yung.

Perth, Australia — Around 1 out of 4 Australian workers experience ringing in the ears – called tinnitus – and those in the construction, automotive, transportation and agricultural industries may be at higher risk, results of a recent study suggest.

Lansing, MI — If you rely on caffeine to provide a brain boost after a poor night of sleep, findings of a recent study from researchers at Michigan State University may give you a jolt.

Washington — Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su has renewed the two-year charter for OSHA’s Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health.

The Sauce Starters undergo a minimal cooking process that maintains the closest flavor to a fresh tomato. 

Smoothie Starter™ could transform morning rituals, offering consumers an organic and convenient base to create nutrient-dense smoothies in seconds

The first in a series of capital investment projects to support its growing acidulants business, Bartek is expanding capacity and capabilities to allow for greater flexibility and support of its food, beverage, and confectionery; animal nutrition; and industrial customers. 

Bartek’s investment in both its team and facilities reinforces its position as the leader in malic and fumaric acid globally and aligns with its mission to facilitate growth and increase global reach to better serve existing customers and markets while opening up new ones.

The reactor will expand the company’s maleic anhydride capacity ahead of anticipated long-term growth in the global acidulants market. It further integrates Bartek’s upstream raw material production with its downstream finishing capacity.

This expansion closely follows the previously announced 4,000 MT malic acid expansion completed in 2019, as well as the installation of a new 22,500 MT maleic anhydride reactor, which will also be operational by Q1 2021.

Bartek Ingredients commenced construction of a state-of-the-art, vertically integrated facility that will become the world’s largest malic and food-grade fumaric acid production plant. 

Among those in attendance at the groundbreaking were Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and Member of Provincial Parliament for Hamilton East, Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Lisa Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Chad Collins, Member of Federal Parliament for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek.

Some foods and ingredients that can help improve both sleep and brain function. Think favorites from the simple— tart cherries, seeds (especially pumpkin seeds), nuts (almonds and walnuts), and kiwi fruit—to the more exotic, like schisandra, turmeric, and saffron.

Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc., announced the opening of its new North American corporate headquarters at 250 East Devon Avenue in Itasca, Ill. The new space is designed to accelerate Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition's commitment to delivering high-quality ingredient solutions that drive value for customers.

Officials praise the new location as more efficient with state-of-the-art equipment upgrades. Moreover, they said it’s designed to accommodate future growth, expansion, and increased output—all without sacrificing lead times.

As business leaders and local governments struggle to navigate changes in the commercial real estate market to address a forever changed landscape of urban needs, Chobani is embracing a new vision for how businesses can invest in and deliver sustained impact for their home community.

Confidence in the market for new multifamily housing showed mixed results year-over-year in the third quarter, according to results from the Multifamily Market Survey (MMS) by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The new 158,000-sq.-ft. building also houses Emmi Roth’s new state-of-the-art conversion facility, which will cup, bag, wedge, shred and crumble the company’s cheese products for a variety of brands.

The new headquarters has allowed GoVerden to double the size of its staff to support the company’s double-digit growth over the past three years.

Phrases such as “artificial intelligence” and “machine learning” are dominating headlines – and boardroom discussions – but what do they really mean? And more importantly, what can they do for food and beverage manufacturers?

MÜNZING’s new facility in Clover, S.C. is situated on a swath of land that was formerly a tree farm, offsetting the company’s carbon footprint.

Children's Geographies; 10/01/2023
(AN 173035621); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Children's Geographies; 06/01/2024
(AN 178088787); ISSN: 14733285
Academic Search Premier

Four residents of a central Minnesota mobile home park are suing its owner, claiming a faulty sewer system caused sewage to back up into their homes. The suit also claims the park’s owners installed inaccurate water meters that wildly overcalculated the amount of water residents used, and deceived them into signing new leases with stricter terms.

What if it was WADA employees who opened sample bottles of Russian athletes and then arranged a major provocation against Russia in cooperation with the International Olympic Committee? This could be possible, taking into consideration the fact that the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into cases of corruption inside the IOC immediately after Federal Security Bureau and Foreign Intelligence Service officers visited the United States. Representatives of the US Justice Department announced the beginning of investigation into corruption in such international sports organizations as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Football Federation (FIFA), the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and the National Olympic Committee of the United States, The New York Times newspaper wrote. Soon afterwards, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne made a positive decision regarding 28 appeals from 39 Russian athletes, whom the IOC had suspended from from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. It looks like the anti-doping campaign against Russia could be a major a political operation, the goal of which was to discredit Russia and its president in front of the whole world.

While retailers understand the need to move towards increased first-party data collection and personalised shopper engagement, many remain concerned about building privacy-centric experiences that meet consumers’ growing demands for the responsible use of their data, the latest research from Wunderkind, the AI-driven performance marketing solution, warns.

Descartes Systems Group has released findings from its 2024 Home Delivery Sustainability Report: The Environmentally Conscious Consumer Under Pressure survey, which examined online consumer sentiment of retailers’ sustainability practices around their delivery operations.

Supply chain agility critical to success in biggest retail golden quarter for years. Chris Clowes, executive director at global supply chain and logistics consultancy, SCALA, discusses how the agility of supply chain and logistics operations will be critical for businesses looking to make the most of this year’s golden quarter...

Tinkoff's new headquarters occupies ninety thousand square metres in two high-rise towers — of 13 and 20 storeys — at the AFI Square business centre on Gruzinskiy Val. Called Tinkoff Space, the company's new headquarters is designed in the style of Western big tech firms such as Google and Amazon. It includes a flexible workspace, a private clinic offering a full range of healthcare services, cafes and restaurants, a consumer services centre, a beauty salon, a free-of-charge fitness centre for company employees, as well as relaxation areas: a green garden space filled with real plants, norki (dedicated rest areas) and meditation rooms. According to Stanislav Bliznyuk, Chairman of Tinkoff's Management Board, the company decided to relocate due to its growing headcount:

Vladislav Bakalchuk, co-founder of one of Russia's largest marketplace platform Wildberries, announced an attempted gangster-style takeover of the company. The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video of his conversation with Bakalchuk on his Telegram channel. Bakalchuk said that in early July, Russ Outdoor company, headed by Levon and Robert Mirzoyan, tried to take over the assets of Wildberries by means of legal schemes. According to the co-founder, they deceived his wife, Tatyana Bakalchuk, after which she left home without an opportunity to see her husband to discuss what was happening. The marketplace merged with Russ Outdoor Company in June; the shares of both companies in the business were approximately equal.

Checkout finance provider, Divido, has launched two new product capabilities ‘Divido Analytics’ and ‘Split Capability’, allowing merchants to have greater understanding and flexibility over their checkout finance experience.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine plan to strike important targets in Russia with 600-km Storm Shadow cruise missiles, sources at US intelligence services say. The selected targets allegedly include: the fleet in Novorossiysk; the presidential residence in Sochi; the air defense system in Sevastopol; defense and gunpowder factories; headquarters located from the south of Russia to Moscow; Moscow and St. Petersburg; transport interchanges used for the traffic of military equipment and fuel for the Russian army. It was earlier reported that Paris discussed a possibility to allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to strike Vladimir Putin's residence in Sochi, as well as military facilities deep in Russia. Earlier, The Telegraph and The Guardian also reported that the UK authorized Storm Shadow strikes on Russian territory without official public approval.

As the peak festive sales season approaches, retailers face greater cybersecurity risk during the fourth quarter than any other time of year. Last year the average cost of a data breach jumped up 10% between 2023 and 2024. For retailers the cost has increased beyond the global annual average and sits at an 18% YoY increase ($2.96m).

[Inter-Korea] :
A new survey finds that three-quarters of South Koreans believe unification of the two Koreas is necessary.  According to the national unification survey for the third quarter released by the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council on Monday, 74-point-six percent of respondents answered in the ...

[more...]

[Science] :
South Korea and the United States will conduct joint studies related to the Artemis moon exploration program. According to the Korea AeroSpace Administration on Wednesday, it has signed a study agreement on the Artemis program with U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA). The agreement ...

[more...]

The structure of cis- or trans-bridged [GeF5]− anionic chains have been investigated [Mallouk et al. (1984). Inorg. Chem. 23, 3160–3166] showing the first crystal structures of μ-F-bridged penta­fluoro­germanates. Herein, we report the second crystal structure of trans-penta­fluoro­germanate anions present in the crystal structure of sodium trans-penta­fluoro­germanate(IV) bis­(hy­dro­gen fluoride), Na[GeF5]·2HF. The crystal structure [ortho­rhom­bic Pca21, a = 12.3786 (3), b = 7.2189 (2), c = 11.4969 (3) Å and Z = 8] is built up from infinite chains of trans-linked [GeF6]2− octa­hedra, extending along the b axis and spanning a network of penta­gonal bipyramidal distorted Na-centred polyhedra. These [NaF7] polyhedra are linked in a trans-edge fashion via hy­dro­gen fluoride mol­ecules, in analogy to already known sodium hy­dro­gen fluorides and potassium hy­dro­gen fluorides.

Source: Bryce Adams 11/04/2024

O3 Mining Inc. (TSXV:OIII; OTCQX:OIIIF) updated the timeline for its flagship Marban Alliance gold project in Quebec and closed a small equity financing, reported CIBC analyst Bryce Adams in an Oct. 30 research note.

"With the updated shareholder register and continued derisking of Marban, we expect that the takeout potential for O3 shares increases within the next two years," Adams wrote.

O3 Mining is the third iteration of the successful Osisko Mining Inc. (OSK:TSX) model, focused on acquiring, exploring and developing mineral properties in Canada.

168% Return Implied

The Canadian company was trading at the time of the report at about CA$1.12 per share, and CIBC's target price on it is CA$3 per share, noted Adams. These figures reflect a potential return for investors of 168%.

O3 Mining has an Outperformer rating.

PEA Coming this Quarter

Adams presented O3's timeline for Marban Alliance and noted it aligns with CIBC's projections. The next step is completion of a preliminary economic assessment (PEA), slated for Q4/24, "which we expect will be reported on a standalone basis, with upside from potential toll milling agreements," the analyst wrote. G Mining Services now is the lead consultant on the PEA.

Next, a feasibility study will be done based on the PEA and the 2022 prefeasibility study. Targeted dates are Q1/25 to start it and Q2/25 to finish it.

Also in Q1/25, baseline environmental studies are slated for completion. Impact studies are to be started in Q2/25, and filing is slated for Q1/26.

More Strategic Investments

O3 Mining completed a non-brokered private placement of CA$1.4 million with Sidex LP and NQ Investissement Minier, two mining investment funds sponsored by the Quebec government, reported Adams. Subsequently, O3 closed a follow-up offering of US$76,800 to the company's strategic investor at the same terms.

"We view these as smaller issuances, and after model updates, our net asset value per share estimate is now one penny lower at CA$4.48 per share," Adams wrote.

O3 Mining will use the proceeds to drill at Kinebik, where it continues to consolidate land. This project shares the same formation as Hecla Mining Co.'s (HL:NYSE) Casa Berardi mine and Gold Fields Ltd.'s (GFI:NYSE; GFI:JSE) Windfall project.

Takeout Target Potential

Through its acquisition of Osisko, Gold Fields gained 100% ownership of Windfall (it previously had acquired 50% from Osisko in 2023) and 17% of O3 Mining, Adams pointed out. Gold Fields also unsuccessfully made a bid for Yamana Gold Inc.'s (YRI:TSX; AUY:NYSE; YAU:LSE) interests in the Canadian Malartic mine in Quebec earlier in 2023 and "has indicated further growth interest in Quebec."

"With Measured and Indicated resources of 2,400,000 ounces (2.4 Moz) and Inferred resources of 0.6 Moz at its flagship Marban project and near-term final permitting submission, O3 has above average takeout potential," purported Adams.

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Many hospitals around the country, including Medstar Washington Hospital in Washington DC., have started sharing their prices online in compliance with a recent federal rule.; Credit: DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images

A colonoscopy might cost you or your insurer a few hundred dollars — or several thousand, depending on which hospital or insurer you use.

Long hidden, such price variations are supposed to be available in stark black and white under a Trump administration price transparency rule that took effect at the start of this year. It requires hospitals to post a range of actual prices — everything from the rates they offer cash-paying customers to costs negotiated with insurers.

Many have complied.

But some hospitals bury the data deep on their websites or have not included all the categories of prices required, according to industry analysts. A sizable minority of hospitals have not disclosed the information at all.

While imperfect and potentially of limited use right now to the average consumer, the disclosures that are available illustrate the huge differences in prices — nationally, regionally and within the same hospital. But they're challenging for consumers and employers to use, giving a boost to a cottage industry that analyzes the data.

While it's still an unanswered question whether price transparency will lead to overall lower prices, KHN took a dive into the initial trove of data to see what it reveals. Here are five takeaways from the newly public data and tips for how you might be able to use it to your benefit

1) As expected, prices are all over the map

The idea behind the requirement to release prices is that the transparency may prompt consumers to shop around, weighing cost and quality. Perhaps they could save a few hundred dollars by getting their surgery or imaging test across town instead of at the nearby clinic or hospital.

Under the Trump-era rule, hospitals must post what they accept from all insurers for thousands of line items, including each drug, procedure or treatment they provide. In addition, hospitals must present this in a format easily readable by computers and include a consumer-friendly separate listing of 300 "shoppable" services, bundling the full price a hospital accepts for a given treatment, such as having a baby or getting a hip replacement.

The negotiated rates now being posted publicly often show an individual hospital accepting a wide range of prices for the same service, depending on the insurer, often based on how much negotiating power each has in a market.

In some cases, the cash-only price is less than what insurers pay. And prices may vary widely within the same city or region.

In Virginia, for example, the average price of a diagnostic colonoscopy is $2,763, but the range across the state is from $208 to $10,563, according to a database aggregated by San Diego-based Turquoise Health, one of the new firms looking to market the data to businesses, while offering some information free of charge to patients.

2) Patients can look up the information, but it's incomplete

Patients can try to find the price information themselves by searching hospital websites, but even locating the correct tab on a hospital's website is tricky.

Typically, consumers don't comparison-shop, preferring to choose convenience or the provider their doctor recommends. A recent Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker brief, for instance, found that 85% of adults said they had not researched online the price of a hospital treatment.

And hospitals say the transparency push alone won't help consumers much, because each patient's situation is different and may vary from the average— and individual deductibles and insurance plans complicate matters.

But if you do want to try, here's one tip: "You can Google the hospital name and the words 'price transparency' and see where that takes you," says Caitlin Sheetz, director and head of analytics at the consulting firm ADVI Health in the Washington, D.C., metro area.

Typing in "MedStar Health hospital transparency," for example, likely points to the MedStar Washington Hospital Center's "price transparency disclosure" page, with a link to its full list of prices, as well as its separate list of 300 shoppable services.

By clicking on the list of shoppable services, consumers can download an Excel file. Searching it for "colonoscopy" pulls up several variations of the procedure, along with prices for different insurers, such as Aetna and Cigna, but a "not available" designation for the cash-only price. The file explains that MedStar does not have a standard cash price but makes determinations case by case.

Performing the same Google search for the nearby Inova health system results in less useful information.

Inova's website links to a long list of thousands of charges, which are not the discounts negotiated by insurers, and the list is not easily searchable. The website advises those who are not Inova patients or who would like to create their own estimate to log into the hospitals' "My Chart" system, but a search on that for "colonoscopy" failed to produce any data.

3) Third-party firms are trying to make searching prices simpler – and cash in

Because of the difficulty of navigating these websites — or locating the negotiated prices once there — some consumers may turn to sites like Turquoise. Another such firm is Health Cost Labs, which will have pricing information for 2,300 hospitals in its database when it goes live July 1.

Doing a similar search for "colonoscopy" on Turquoise shows the prices at MedStar by insurer, but the process is still complicated. First, a consumer must select the "health system" button from the website's menu of options, click on "surgical procedures," then click again on "digestive" to get to it.

There is no similar information for Inova because the hospital has not yet made its data accessible in a computer-friendly format, said Chris Severn, CEO of Turquoise.

Inova spokesperson Tracy Connell said in a written statement that the health system will create personalized estimates for patients and is "currently working to post information on negotiated prices and discounts on services."

Firms like Turquoise and Health Cost Labs aim to sell the data gathered from hospitals nationally to insurers, employers and others. In turn, those groups may use it in negotiations with hospitals over future prices. While that may drive down prices in areas with a lot of competition, it might do the opposite where there are few hospitals to choose from, or in situations where a hospital raises its prices to match competitors.

4) Consumers could use this data to negotiate, especially if they're paying cash

For consumers who go the distance and can find price data from their hospitals, it may prove helpful in certain situations:

• Patients who are paying cash or who have unmet deductibles may want to compare prices among hospitals to see if driving farther could save them money.
• Uninsured patients could ask the hospital for the cash price or attempt to negotiate for the lowest amount the facility accepts from insurers.
• Insured patients who get a bill for out-of-network care may find the information helpful because it could empower them to negotiate a discount off the hospitals' gross charges for that care.

While there's no guarantee of success, "if you are uninsured or out of network, you could point to some of those prices and say, 'That's what I want,'" says Barak Richman, a contract law expert and professor of law at Duke University School of Law.

But the data may not help insured patients who notice their prices are higher than those negotiated by other insurers.

In those cases, legal experts say the insured patients are unlikely to get a bill changed because they have a contract with that insurer, which has negotiated the price with their contracted hospitals.

"Legally, a contract is a contract," says Mark Hall, a health law professor at Wake Forest University.

Richman agrees.

"You can't say, 'Well, you charged that person less,'" he notes, but neither can they say they'll charge you more.

Getting the data, however, relies on the hospital having posted it.

5) Hospitals still aren't really on board

When it comes to compliance, "we're seeing the range of the spectrum," says Jeffrey Leibach, a partner at the consulting firm Guidehouse, which found earlier this year that about 60% of 1,000 hospitals surveyed had posted at least some data, but 30% had reported nothing at all.

Many in the hospital industry have long fought transparency efforts, even filing a lawsuit seeking to block the new rule. The suit was dismissed by a federal judge last year.

They argue the rule is unclear and overly burdensome. Additionally, hospitals haven't wanted their prices exposed, knowing that competitors might then adjust theirs, or health plans could demand lower rates. Conversely, lower-cost hospitals might decide to raise prices to match competitors.

The rule stems from requirements in the Affordable Care Act. The Obama administration required hospitals to post their chargemaster rates, which are less useful because they are generally inflated, hospital-set amounts that are almost never what is actually paid.

Insurers and hospitals are also bracing for next year when even more data is set to come online. Insurers will be required to post negotiated prices for medical care across a broader range of facilities, including clinics and doctors' offices.

In May, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services sent letters to some of the hospitals that have not complied, giving them 90 days to do so or potentially face penalties, including a $300-a-day fine.

"A lot of members say until hospitals are fully compliant, our ability to use the data is limited," says Shawn Gremminger, director of health policy at the Purchaser Business Group on Health, a coalition of large employers.

His group and others have called for increasing the penalty for noncomplying hospitals from $300 a day to $300 a bed per day, so "the fine would be bigger as the hospital gets bigger," Gremminger says. "That's the kind of thing they take seriously."

Already, though, employers or insurers are eyeing the hospital data as leverage in negotiations, says Severn, Turquoise's CEO. Conversely, some employers may use it to fire their insurers if the rates they're paying are substantially more than those agreed to by other carriers.

"It will piss off anyone who is overpaying for health care, which happens for various reasons," he says.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation).

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

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