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Energy & Environment Technology Transportation & Logistics Travel World

Emirates Operates Milestone Demonstration Flight Powered by 100% SAF

Emirates Airlines—a subsidiary of The Emirates Group—has successfully tested its first demo flight in which one of the Boeing 777-300ER’s two engines was powered by 100% drop-in sustainable aviation fuel, or SAF.

The aim was to examine the safety and reliability of the synthetically derived SAF when used as a jet fuel at a higher percentage.

Piloted by Captain Khalid Nasser Akram and Captain Fali Vajifdar, this was the first-ever demo flight in the MENA region that was supplied with 100% sustainable fuel. 

Currently, SAF can be mixed at up to 50% with traditional jet fuel for flying aircraft.

The flight departed from Dubai International Airport at around 11:39 pm on January 30 and was flown for more than one hour over Dubai’s coastline.

The test was part of the Emirate’s effort to help hit the Net Zero target by 2050, as the aviation industry is casting about for cleaner fuel solutions like SAF, reported GLOBETRENDER™.

SAF Can Curb Carbon Emission

SAF—a biofuel derived from renewable biomass and waste products—holds the potential to deliver the efficiency of petroleum-based conventional aircraft fuel but with only a fraction of its carbon footprint.

Case in point: Based on the method and feedstock used for production, SAF can curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80% over the fuel lifecycle, offering the aviation industry solid footing for significantly decoupling GHG emissions from flights.

Since 2011, over 4,50,000 commercial flights have been taken to the skies using SAF globally. 

Even though SAF has capabilities to significantly limit carbon emissions in aviation, global SAF production accounts for only 0.03% of total fuel use (based on pre-pandemic reports).

World leaders are working relentlessly to devise thought-out strategies for scaling up new processes and facilitating the production of commercially usable SAF.

As a result, the production of drop-in SAF has more than tripled in 2022, compared to 2021, according to IATA.

To date, the approved bio-jet fuel production routes include co-processing, hydro-processed esters and fatty acids (HEFA), hydro-deoxygenated synthetic aromatic kerosene (HDO-SAK), Fischer-Tropsch synthetic paraffinic kerosene (FT-SPK), and more.

However, with the increasing bio-content in aviation fuels exacerbating microbial contamination, controlling its effects has become a major concern.

That said, leveraging kits like FUELSTAT® for periodic testing of SAF and blended SAF is critical. Thus contamination can be detected at the earliest stages and before severe safety/operational disruptions occur.

More Insights into Emirates Flight Using Biofuel

Emirates partnered with Boeing, GE Aerospace, Neste, Honeywell, and Virent to produce and buy a SAF blend closely identical to the efficacy and properties of traditional aircraft fuel.

“At each blend ratio, various chemical and physical fuel property measurements were carried out,” explained an Emirates spokesperson. After multiple lab tests and rigorous trials, [we] arrived at a blending ratio that mirrored the qualities of jet fuel.

A total of 18T of drop-in SAF blend, made up of 50% HDO-SAK and 50% HEFA-SPK, was used for the test flight. This 100% SAF powered one General Electric GE90 engine of the aircraft, whereas; the other GE90 was supplied with petroleum-based jet fuel.

Emirates hopes the data and success of the flight will act as a step-change in facilitating the future adoption and acceptance of 100% SAF blend as a cleaner alternative to conventional fuel—well over the present limit of 50% drop-in SAF blend.

“This flight is a milestone moment for Emirates and a positive step for our industry as we work collectively to address one of our biggest challenges – reducing our carbon footprint. It has been a long journey to finally see this demonstration 100% SAF flight take off,” said Adel Al Redha, chief operating officer at Emirates Airlines. 

Al Redha goes on to explain, “Such initiatives are critical contributors to industry knowledge on SAF and provide data to demonstrate the use of higher blends of SAF for future regulatory approvals. We hope that landmark demonstration flights like this one will help open the door to scale up the SAF supply chain and make it more available and accessible across geographies, and most importantly, affordable for broader industry adoption in the future.”

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Computers & Software Professional Services Technology U.S

Microsoft Is Predicted to Equip Excel with AI

Microsoft Excel is poised to get a deep AI boost, however, this software giant isn’t going to tap into ChatGPT or OpenAI.

According to a new paper, in order to equip Excel with artificial intelligence, the in-house research team at Microsoft is working on bringing out an assistive AI system called FLAME, reported TechRadar.  

Calling it a “T5-based model,” the authors stated that FLAME has the capabilities to make the automation on the Excel app more efficient. 

An AI specially designed for Excel-specific tasks, FLAME ensures competitive performance and is more precise than other multipurpose AIs.

Purpose of FLAME

Written by eight of Microsoft’s in-house software developers, the paper highlights Excel as a popular spreadsheet platform that enables users to efficiently organise, format, and calculate data. 

With FLAME, Microsoft is committed to helping users with spreadsheet formulas providing autocomplete suggestions. 

Even better, FLAME can be leveraged to fix buggy and malformed formulas in the future Excel spreadsheet environment when plugged into the software.

“We curate a training dataset using sketch deduplication, introduce an Excel-specific formula tokenizer for our model, and use domain-specific versions of masked span prediction and noisy auto-encoding as pre-training objectives, ” explained the authors. “We evaluate FLAME on formula repair, formula auto-completion, and a novel task called syntax reconstruction.”

The new AI assistant—being a smaller model with 60M parameters and two orders of magnitude less training data—can outshine other larger language models—such as CodeT5 (220M), codex-Cushman (12B) and Codex-Da Vinci (175B).

The result: FLAME is anticipated to be more efficacious and cost-efficient to train or deploy compared with other AI tools.

However, when FLAME will be released or whether it will be free-of-cost for mass use is yet to be revealed.

Microsoft Excel Charts

Even while Microsoft experts contemplate giving Excel an AI boost, the built-in Excel charts are still overwhelming to deal with.

One of the best ways to make large datasets easily discernible is to recapitulate them in visual form. 

Excel’s built-in charts are the go-to option for many when it comes to explaining trends efficiently; deriving actionable insights from massive troves of data; evaluating key values effortlessly, and much more. 

However, for some types of Excel charts, the built-in formatting functionalities are limited, which makes it difficult to create professional-looking PowerPoint presentations. For example, with Excel waterfall charts, users cannot reference cells for titling, change the format (e.g. colour) of the connector lines, etc. 

Again, some charts are not natively available in Excel, requiring users to take the manual approach.

For professionals frequently required to create great-looking PowerPoint presentations with stunning charts, leveraging a high-end add-in like think-cell is a sensible decision. With fewer clicks and less formatting, PowerPoint add-ins streamline the process while significantly saving working hours. 

Microsoft Is Making Incredible Strides with AI

In a move to amplify its offerings in Azure OpenAI service, the software giant has extended its multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI this year. 

Even though Microsoft refused to comment on the deal’s specifics, an investment of around $10 billion is anticipated, with Microsoft getting a 75% of OpenAI’s returns until it recoups the investment. After recouping, Microsoft would hold a 49 % stake in OpenAI.

On top of that, Microsoft has recently demonstrated its plans to integrate the AI engine behind ChatGPT into its Edge web browser and Bing search engine. With Bing’s AI reboot, the company expects to shake up the search business, taking on the search engine giant Google. 

Wrapping Up

Microsoft expects FLAME to boost the process of creating and maintaining Excel formulas, especially for users who need to deal with large spreadsheets with tons of formulas.

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Computers & Software Professional Services Technology

Atlassian’s New Jira Products Will Align Business and Engineering Teams

The leading provider of productivity software, Atlassian Corporation Plc, has recently unveiled its three new Jira platform advancements—Jira Product Discovery, Jira Work Management, and new Jira workflow templates.

With this new and advanced Jira tools suite, the company is committed to accelerating and supporting each stage of the software development lifecycle—from ideation and delivery to facilitating operations.

The announcement was made by the Australian tech giant during its very first Agile and DevOps event—Unleash—held in Berlin on February 8.

Key Atlassian Product Announcements

Let’s go through the new Jira advancements that’ll help world-class businesses build products faster and more effectively.

Jira Product Discovery

Jira Product Discovery is a dynamic, collaborative, and data-driven solution that aims to democratise product discovery.

With Jira Product Discovery, Atlassian is committed to helping product managers collect, prioritise, and organise product inputs and feedback and make data-driven decisions efficiently. 

Developed by the Point A team, the tool is now available in Beta and will hopefully be available in early 2023.

With this new tool, product managers can connect their entire workflow effortlessly and bring technical and business teams at the same table before the developers start coding. 

No more tabs and spreadsheets to prioritise, deliver and collaborate with teams on product ideas. Business teams—from marketing to sales—can collaborate on a single project, create and manage insights, and prioritise ideas with voting to transform them into active deliverables.

Jira Work Management

In a move to empower organisations with cross-departmental collaboration, Atlassian has made Jira Work Management natively available with all commensurate Jira software licence tiers until March 2024.

The tool is specially developed to facilitate status tracking of all activities regarded as Work. Work can include document creation, handling approval processes, running projects, executing daily repetitive tasks, and more.

It means that organisations no longer have to break the bank by investing in a high-end project management tool. Jira Work Management makes collaboration effortless, allowing business teams to accomplish work faster.

With features such as a kanban-like Boards view, Calendar view, Timeline view, smart links, and sub-tasks, this collaborative system allows teams to manage projects and processes with ease—no matter the complexity.

Atlassian marks Jira Work Management as the most customisable platform that lets an organisation standardise the way it operates, leveraging global configuration workflows, settings, permissions, and rich APIs. 

Jira Workflow & Toolchain Templates

Atlassian has also announced the release of 23 templates that span panning teams, categories and departments, and categories. Carefully curated by experts, these new templates come with automation rules, permissions, workflows, and third-party integration by default.

Even better, these pre-made templates are available natively and for free with the Jira tools suite—Jira Product Discover, Jira Work Management, Jira Software, and Jira Service Management.

Wrapping Up

By leveraging Atlassian products, teams can bolster their productivity while driving business agility. However, for a business using the Atlassian stack for its agility, collaboration, and project management, investing in a managed service provider is a sensible decision. 

With a high-quality Atlassian managed service provider like Automation Consultants, teams can keep their Atlassian solutions performing at their best while slashing the total cost of ownership and minimising the risk of downtime. 

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Financial Market Living Professional Services Real Estate U.K

London’s Luxury Residential Market Booms Defying UK’s Home Sales Slowdown

Even though the UK is now seeing the steepest slump in property prices since the 2008 financial crisis, London’s luxury residences are managing to defy Britain’s housing market downturn, reported The Business Times.

Fifteen homes in Central London valued at £5 million or higher were registered as sold in the fourth quarter of 2022—which is 63% higher than the pre-pandemic average, according to researcher LonRes. “It’s not surprising, therefore, that it tempted would-be sellers to put their homes onto the market,” said Anthony Payne, managing director at LonRes.

UK Housing Market Poised for Disruption

The UK’s housing market is facing a ‘perfect’ storm as it tries to eke out growth while coping with the surging cost of living, hiking mortgage and inflation rates, and the risk of recession. 

The result: rapid cooling in property demand and sales activities leading to a selloff in the UK’s housing market.

Let’s look at how much the British housing market and buyer demand have been impacted by current economic setbacks:

  • British home prices slid in December 2022 by the most in 13 years and are predicted to slip by a whopping 20% in 2023 if the UK’s base rate continues to hike, according to The Guardian.
  • The Bank of England has been raising the base since the beginning of 2022 as part of its effort to return inflation to its 2% target level. The bank rate has gone up to an annual rate of 4.0% in February 2023—a jump of 0.5% from 3.5% in December 2022. 
  • On the other hand, surveyors registered a net balance of -47% for new buyer inquiries in January 2023, plunging from -40% in December 2022.

In such a circumstance, analysts have unanimously agreed that the UK’s property market is facing more turbulence this year.

Wealthy Buyers Are Snapping Up London’s Luxury Property

Despite the present economic upset throughout Britain, luxury sales in London are skyrocketing, outshining the UK’s housing market. 

But why?

First off, even though the interest rate and mortgage rate have hit an all-time high this year, millionaires and elites are less likely to get affected by the impacts of the increase, as they’re less dependent on borrowing. 

Secondly, Britain’s pound continues to tumble sharply against the US dollar, dropping a full cent to around $1.20.

Part of the weakness of the pound sterling is the increase in power of the US dollar which is attracting more international investors and wealthy buyers to flock to London’s priciest homes.

Case in point: In the first half of 2022, overseas buyers purchased 48% of the total luxury home purchases in Prime London—a jump from 13% from 2021.

That said, the demand for luxury property management services offered by agencies like The London Management Company is getting a push, with ultra-high-net-worth buyers investing in upscale properties in Central London.

Offering bespoke services—from maintenance to upkeep and housekeeping—a class-leading agency ensures a client’s luxury property is well-managed, squeaky clean, and always ready for their arrival.

However, in the final quarter of last year, home sale activities decreased in Greater London due to climbing mortgage rates, soaring inflation, and high base rates.

“The final quarter of the year saw a change of direction,” stated the managing director at LonRes. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on how the market unfolds in the months ahead.”

Wrapping Up

Outperforming Britain’s housing market, London’s luxury houses are seeing substantial growth this year.

Categories
Business Education Health & Medicine Human Resources U.S

Dental Industry Leader Laura Nelson To Launch Groundbreaking Podcast Series “Dear Laura”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The “Ask Laura” Show Podcast from Front Office Rocks is a must-listen for dental professionals.

Coronado (Calif.)

“Ask Laura” is a new podcast from Front Office Rocks founder Laura Nelson. A well-known dental practice management expert and the nation’s foremost expert on virtual front office training for dental practices, Laura will offer insightful tips, advice, and tactics for dental professionals looking to enhance their practices and provide patients with the highest quality of patient care and service.

Eagerly anticipated by those in the dental industry, The “Ask Laura” podcast, which will be accessible on all major podcasting platforms, is scheduled to debut the first week of February. Listeners are encouraged to submit questions to Laura, who will answer directly on the show.​​

According to Laura, “I am thrilled to launch this new podcast and give dental practitioners a useful tool to help them improve their practices.”

Laura will explore several diverse subjects on her show, including brand awareness, customer service, and the expansion of practices. “My mission is to equip dental professionals with the tools they need to flourish and give patients the greatest experience possible.”

Additional topics which will be covered on the “Ask Laura” show include dental practice management, virtual dental training, dental customer service, dental team training, dental office efficiency, dental practice growth, dental practice marketing, dental practice scheduling, dental practice insurance, dental office culture, dental assistant development, dental hygienist training, dental practice software, dental practice hiring and employee management, dental practice re-care and retention, and dental practice communications to name a few.

The “Ask Laura” podcast will also feature interviews with industry thought leaders and professionals in addition to expert advice, giving listeners access to a variety of viewpoints and knowledge.

“I’m ecstatic to bring my decades of experience and expertise to the ‘Ask Laura’ show and offer dental professionals practical tips and tactics they can put into practice,” said Nelson. “I think I can help dental professionals achieve unbelievable results in their clinics and give patients the finest experience possible by sharing my expertise and experience.”

For dentists striving to enhance their practices and offer the finest patient experience, the “Ask Laura” show is a must-listen. Watch the first episode the first week of February and subscribe to the program on all popular podcasting websites.

Visit the Front Office Rocks website or email Laura Nelson at laura@frontofficerocks.com for more information on the “Ask Laura” show.

About Front Office Rocks:

Dental professionals will learn the skills they need to advance their practices and give patients the best possible experience with Front Office Rocks, an online training resource. The business provides several online learning opportunities, including coaching, live seminars, and on-demand video sessions. Dedicated to empowering dental professionals to flourish in their roles and achieve unheard-of results in their practices, Front Office Rocks is led by Laura Nelson, a renowned dental practice management specialist.

About Laura Nelson:

Laura Nelson BS, MS, FAADOM, is the founder of Front Office Rocks and a renowned dental office management specialist. She has devoted time to researching how to lead and develop her team members, drawing on her years of expertise in the dental industry to achieve unprecedented growth. Along with coaching hundreds of dentists and dental team members, she has also given dentists and office managers the tools they need to flourish at performance-based hiring. Her objective is to impart her knowledge and skills to dental professionals so they may enhance their procedures and give patients the best experience possible.

The “Ask Laura” program is a terrific resource for dentists who want to enhance their practices and give patients the finest possible care. Anyone working in the dental field ought to listen to this program because it contains professional guidance, practical techniques, and a variety of viewpoints. Watch the first episode the first week of February and subscribe to the program on all popular podcasting websites. 

Categories
Business Education Health & Medicine Human Resources U.S

Dental industry Leader Dr. Scott Leune To Launch Groundbreaking Podcast Series “Dear Scott”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The “Dear Scott Show” Podcast Is Being Released by Breakaway Seminar in an Effort to Assist Dentists and Dental Practices in Conquering Obstacles and Expanding Their Businesses.

(City, State) – [Location] Breakaway Seminar, a leading provider of business training and consulting services for dentists, is pleased to announce the launch of their new podcast, “The Dear Scott Show.” In the first episode, scheduled to air in February, Dr. Scott Leune will answer questions about problems that dental practice owners are currently dealing with and have submitted to the show.

The purpose of the show is to educate and empower dental professionals by delivering them actionable information and ideas that they can use to expand their practices. According to Dr. Leune, “We could not be more excited to launch this new resource for dental professionals.”

The Dear Scott Show will consist of weekly episodes that are each twenty minutes long and will be taped weekly. These episodes will be released on the company’s social media platforms once per week, with clips shared on social media in the gaps between episodes. During the show, Dr. Leune will respond to questions or challenges posed by viewers, such as “I now run one practice but am considering starting a second; when is the optimal time to do it?”

The goal of Breakaway Seminar is to provide private dentists with cutting – edge business models, operational procedures, and growth strategies so they can enjoy more success in their practices. The Dear Scott Show is an extension of that mission, and it offers dentists helpful insights and guidance in a manner that is convenient and easy to access.

Dr. Leune added, “The Dear Scott Show is an ideal addition to our already established seminar offerings and consulting services. It enables us to communicate with a more extensive audience and deliver an even greater amount of value to dental professionals interested in elevating their practices to the next level.”

The Advanced Startup Seminar and the Business Masters Seminar are two of the core services offered by Breakaway Seminar. The Dear Scott Show is the most recent addition to this collection of offerings. These events have received a lot of positive feedback, which has helped the organization establish itself as a prominent business training company for dentists and members of their teams.

About Breakaway Seminar:

It is Breakaway Seminar’s objective to support private dentists and assist them in thriving by providing them with cutting-edge business models, processes, and strategies. Breakaway Seminar is a prominent provider of business training and consulting services for dentists. The organization gives its clients access to a wide range of services, such as the Advanced Startup Seminar, the Business Masters Seminar, and, most recently, the Dear Scott Show podcast.

About Dr. Scott Leune:

Dr. Scott Leune is a prominent business strategist and speaker in the field of dentistry. He has vast expertise in establishing and maintaining profitable dental businesses. He is the founder of Breakaway Seminar, which has been of assistance to a large number of practices all throughout the country in their pursuit of financial success. The education offered at Breakaway Seminar’s events and through its consulting services is built on the foundation of Dr. Leune’s experiences and the lessons he has learned the hard way.

Visit their website at www.breakawayseminar.com to acquire additional information regarding the Dear Scott Show and the other services provided by Breakaway Seminar. 

Categories
Business Education Health & Medicine Human Resources U.S

Dental Whale Launches Cutting-Edge Learning Series to Help Dentists Save Money

AVAILABLE IMMEDIATELY

Dental Whale Introduces a New Learning Series Podcast to assist Dental Professionals with saving money on purchases.

Sunrise, Florida – Dental Whale, a leading online source of dental supplies and equipment from some of the biggest names in the industry, is pleased to announce the release of its new Learning Series podcast. Beginning in the first week of February, dental professionals may check in to learn about the latest industry trends, best practices, and new products from industry experts.

The Dental Whale Learning Series podcast is ideal for keeping dentists and dental practices up-to-date on industry news and making informed purchasing decisions. The podcast will feature interviews with industry leaders, product reviews, and professional advice on several topics, including technology, materials, instruments, and practice management.

“We are thrilled to introduce this new resource for dental professionals,” said Joe Cavaretta, CEO of Dental Whale. “We recognize how important it is to stay current in the business, and we believe that the Dental Whale Learning Series podcast will be a great tool for dental professionals wishing to enhance their practice while saving money on top brand supplies and equipment.”

All major podcast sites, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts, will carry the Dental Whale Learning Series podcast. Subscribe to the podcast on your chosen platform or visit DentalWhale.com/podcast (link to be updated) to stay up to speed on new episodes.

About Dental Whale

Dental Whale is a supplier of top-brand dental supplies and equipment, allowing dental professionals to save up to 40% on supplies, labs, or equipment. Dental Whale, with a staff of skilled specialists, is dedicated to assisting dental practices in improving their bottom line.

 

Categories
Business Education Finance Services U.S

Boris Musheyev Disrupts The Tax Industry By Changing The Way Business Owners Do Their Taxes

Queens, NY – February 8th, 2023 – Boris Musheyev founder of Boris M Tax Inc. new tax strategy e-book earns the Click Funnels 2-Comma Club award. The S-Corp Tax Book teaches entrepreneurs how to legally pay less in taxes using your S-Corporation. 

This ebook was created to educate entrepreneurs on how the United States tax code is designed and how they can use it to their advantage. Inside the book are tax strategies, deductions, and benefits that any profitable business owner can use to save money on taxes using S-Corporation.

The book also teaches business owners that accounting is more about being correct and putting the right numbers in the right boxes. It’s being strategic, and proactive and maximizing tax savings with tax planning.

Tax planning is not the same as tax preparation. Most people think that tax planning is just for the ultra-mega-rich, and it’s extremely underutilized by small business owners. 

Imagine you’re going on a road trip. Tax planning is like mapping out your route before you leave. You look at the big picture and decide the best way to get to your destination. You take into account things like traffic, construction, and road closures, so you can make adjustments and arrive at your destination on time.

Tax preparation, on the other hand, is like packing your bags and getting in the car. Once you’ve mapped out your route, you gather all the necessary items (documents, forms, etc.) and make sure they’re in order before you hit the road. You double-check that you have your driver’s license, registration, and insurance and that your gas tank is full. You’re ready to go.

Proactive tax planning is the only way to pay less in taxes. Tax planning is the process of looking at your life and business, and identifying strategic ways to minimize your tax liability with proactive tax planning strategies. It’s all about being proactive and taking advantage of opportunities to seriously save money on taxes.

Tax preparation, on the other hand, is the process of gathering all the necessary documents and information, and putting the right numbers in the right boxes. It’s all about being organized and making sure everything is in order before the deadline.

Just like a road trip, it’s important to start planning early and not wait until the last minute. If you wait until the last minute to map out your route, you’re going to miss out on tax-saving opportunities and overpay in taxes. Which is 100% avoidable.

In short, tax planning is all about using proactive tax strategies to pay less in taxes. Tax preparation is simply putting the right numbers in the right boxes. It’s important to start planning early and not wait until the last minute, just like a road trip.

As of today, over 20,000 copies of this book have been downloaded and more and more entrepreneurs learn about the power of tax planning and how S-Corporation can help them save money on taxes.

For more information on tax planning for your business visit www.borismtax.com.

Categories
Health & Medicine Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Science Technology U.S

Underrepresentation & Overconsumption: Analysing the Diversity Gaps in Clinical Trials

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) have long been considered the bedrock for evidence-based treatment (EBT). Thus they should be designed to be pragmatic and accumulate data representing the larger population for the disease profile. However, the research output is jeopardised severely by the limited enrollment of social, racial, and ethnic minority groups.

The FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) has reported that only 5% of patients partaking in clinical trials are Black, less than 2% are Asian, and as for Latinos, the percentage is as low as 1%.

This disparity is threatening, as it causes trials to show variance in effectiveness. 

Releasing a draft guidance, the FDA has placed emphasis on enhancing diversity in industry-sponsored clinical trials (iCTs), reported Clinical Leader. 

The agency urges investors and sponsors to devise and present a Race and Ethnicity Diversity Plan early in the trial process as per the framework delineated in the guideline.

Why Does Diversity in Clinical Trials Matter

Even though racial and ethnic populations in the United States have a disproportionate burden for specific ailments, they are most often underrepresented in biomedical studies, said the FDA.

With “underrepresented racial and ethnic populations,” the FDA indicates ethnic groups like “Black or African American, Hispanic/Latino, Indigenous and Native American, Asian, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders, and other persons of colour.”

Considering the response and exposure of over 20% of drugs vary with racial differences, the FDA marks race and ethnic minority inclusion in iCT as a pressing need.

According to a study, white Americans are predicted to become a minority by 2045. The white demographic decline in the USA makes clinical trial diversification critical to confirm that newly developed drugs are safe and effective for whoever may use them across the country. 

“The U.S. population has become increasingly diverse, and ensuring meaningful representation of racial and ethnic minorities in clinical trials for regulated medical products is fundamental to public health,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Going forward, achieving greater diversity will be a key focus throughout the FDA to facilitate the development of better treatments and better ways to fight diseases that often disproportionately impact diverse communities.”

Barriers to Improving Patient Participation Diversity in Clinical Trials

According to the FDA, the scepticism of the trial process stemming from several historical events deter ethnic minorities from participating in iCTs.

Other factors include limited access to healthcare for ethnic minorities, socioeconomic conditions, insufficient patient recruitment and retention efforts, time and monetary restraints, etc.

The result: gaps in clinical trial diversity that affects the trial success rate.

How to Fill the Diversity Gaps

What can help bridge the diversity gaps in iCT and accelerate effective products to market?

Decentralised Clinical Trial (DCT) Platforms 

The COVID-19 outbreak has made sponsors realise the significance of DCTs in filling the diversity gaps in healthcare research and accelerating the long-overdue changes in trial design.

Let’s see how:

  • DCTs and hybrid study models allow trial teams to expand their participant pools. 
  • DCT platforms such as ObvioHealth that include ePRO and eConsent enable patients to contribute to clinical trials from the comfort of their homes.
  • By helping overcome barriers to participant recruitment, DCTs and hybrid models have encouraged a much higher enrollment rate.

The result: augmented trial outcomes that represent real-world patient populations.

Ethnically Diverse Workforce

According to research, the lack of workforce diversity in the USA has been highlighted as a leading factor impeding the inclusion of diverse populations and causing disparities in oncology trial results.

The good news? Studies found that 74% of Black and 81% of Latinx people are willing to volunteer for clinical trials if their physicians advise. With that said, engaging the workforce in clinical trials from underrepresented groups can help build trust with at-risk participants. 

On top of that, the NHS recognised workforce diversity as the key factor to bring clinical trials closer to underserved folks. 

Patient Expense Reimbursement

The FDA recognised patient expense reimbursement as an effective way to enhance clinical trial diversity. However, the lack of a consistent approach among CROs and regulators makes the process slow and ineffective. 

Wrapping Up

The FDA sheds light on the significance of global efforts in increasing patient diversity. DCT can be a step change in helping sponsors improve the enrollment of participants from underrepresented racial and ethnic populations in clinical trials. 

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Tristan M. Stahl, founder of ValorMen release a new video gallery that reveals the most common unasked questions Christians have about God and their faith.

Orlando Florida – February 15, 2023 – A new video gallery from ValorMen, led by Tristan M. Stahl, reveals the most common unasked questions Christians have about God and their faith. The gallery answers questions like “What is the fire of God really?” “What is the vengeance and wrath of God in the light of God’s love for us?” “What about the bad things in the world?” “Does God test us?” 

Tristan answers these questions from the perspective of Christ and the love God showed all people in His death and resurrection. Many Christians and even those who don’t believe in Jesus are experiencing peace of heart and mind about God. 

Tristan says that in all religions we are taught that God is a being that is above us and requires our sacrifice and/or faith to be accepted by Him. Tristan says that Jesus Christ reveals the exact opposite of the true nature of God. He says it reveals that God is close to us and that we are made in the very image and likeness of God. Tristan says that our design is in God, and therefore our design is love. Tristan believes that Christ proved we do not need to try and be love or be obedient to commandments out of our efforts, but that our obedience resides in resting in our God-given nature revealed in Christ. 

For anyone interested in learning more about Tristan’s messages and if you have a question yourself about God, check out the video gallery here: ValorMen Video Gallery

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