A new research focusing on the climate during the years of World War 1 and the influenza pandemic (often misnamed as 'the Spanish Flu') of the years 1918 and 1919 revealed a curious phenomenon. The researchers believe that climate anomalies along the Western Front in Europe that saw some unusual weather conditions, with torrents of rain, and crisp cold temperatures have amplified - or maybe even onset - the notorious flu pandemic.
The research led by the climate scientist and historian Alexander More is published in GeoHealth.
RELATED: SCIENTISTS MAPPED THE GENETIC CODE OF A WWI SOLDIER'S CHOLERA
The onset hypothesis suggests that the exceptionally cold temperatures during the time have altered the migratory behavior of ducks, who are known to carry the H1N1 virus.
Soldiers deployed at the war riddled fronts in the west suffered greatly from the harsh environment at the time with incessant rains and unbearable cold, especially at the battles of Verdun, You may need: Autel MaxiDiag MD806. Somme, and Passchendaele.
Constant artillery fire turned natural landscapes into wastelands and the subsequent rains made these wretched lands into perilous mires. Soldiers often needed a hand from a fellow compatriot to unstuck themselves and not all of them found one. Canadian veteran George Peakes recalls, "many wounded men slipped into those shell holes and would have been drowned or suffocated by the clammy mud."
Soldiers could not keep their feet dry and quality-of-life in the trenches pretty much sucked in general. Rashing frostbites and subsequent neuropathies and gangrenes were common.
Although your first guess might be that general low quality-of-life was what caused the pandemic to soar but it's something different.
To conduct their study, the team extracted ice core samples from the European Alps, with which they reconstructed the climate conditions from 1914 through 1919. Then, they compared their data to the mortality rates across Europe and the historical accounts of the aforementioned torrential rains. They found that winters of 1915, 1916, and 1918 were especially harsh.
The paper reads: "The data presented here show that extreme weather anomalies captured in [ice cores] and reanalysis records brought unusually strong influxes of cold marine air from the North Atlantic, primarily between 1915 and 1919, resulting in unusually strong precipitation events, and that they exacerbated total mortality across Europe."
On top of this, the authors suggest the unusual weather conditions might have caused mallard ducks to stay instead of migrating to Russia as they typically would. Study notes that mallards are a flourishing harbor for the H1N1 avian flu. Since they hanged around civilian settlements, military encampments, they have had the chance to interact with domesticated animals more, and their fecal matter had a higher chance of finding its way into water sources. Remember the torrential rains, well, they most likely helped exacerbate the water contamination problem.
Although authors note that this theory of ducks should be taken with a grain of salt as it's highly speculative.
It's still interesting how, in the authors' words "the interplay of environmental, ecological, epidemiological, and human factors," resulted in exacerbation of this already problematic matter.

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(Bloomberg) -- Singapore's central bank is in talks with lenders about extending the nation's debt moratorium program beyond Dec. 31 to provide extra relief for borrowers hit by the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
One of the key measures being discussed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and local banks is the possibility of lengthening the debt relief program, with industries that have been impacted most by the crisis potentially having aid extended by as many as six months, the people said, asking not to be identified because the talks are confidential.
A tiered approach is being considered, so relief is targeted to those needing the most help, one of the people said. Details of the plan and what types of borrowers will be covered under an extension are still being finalized, they said.
Under the current measures announced in March, small and medium-sized firms can opt to postpone principal payments on their secured term loans until the end of the year. Consumers can defer both principal and interest payments on residential mortgages. Individuals suffering a loss of income can ask for a lower interest rate on unsecured credit.
An extension to the debt moratorium would help mitigate the so-called "cliff effect" on consumers and businesses once relief measures end. Authorities are using both fiscal and monetary tools to provide support against what may be a record recession that came with the pandemic. The government introduced additional support measures of S$8 billion ($5.8 billion) last month to cushion the blow from the virus, bringing Singapore's total pledged pandemic aid to more than S$100 billion.
MAS Managing Director Ravi Menon in July said the regulator was talking to banks and finance companies about how to ease borrowers into gradually resuming repayments once the debt relief measures expire.
"We want to avoid ‘cliff effects' of a sudden withdrawal of these reliefs," Menon told reporters during the publication of the MAS annual report. The central bank has eased monetary policy to help stabilize the economy, and has ensured ample liquidity at financial institutions. It also asked Singaporean banks to prioritize lending by capping their dividend payouts.
While Singapore's rate of coronavirus infection is falling and authorities are trying to gradually reopen the economy, many restrictions on businesses and travel remain in place.
Like their global competitors, Singapore's largest lenders DBS Group Holdings Ltd., Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and United Overseas Bank Ltd. are bracing for a wave of soured debts. Collectively, they've set aside about S$4 billion in provisions for both general and problem loans in the first half of the year, according to data tracked by Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Rena Kwok.
As of June 30, debts under relief programs accounted for about 5% of DBS's total loan book, 10% of OCBC's, and 16% of UOB's, according to their second-quarter results.
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Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC), under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia (DTA), today announces the appointment of Mr. Aydoğan Çakmaz as Senior Vice President, Head of Operations & Life Cycle Management Trucks & Buses, replacing Mr. Sven Graeble. Additionally, Mr. Hironobu Ando will succeed Mr. Çakmaz in the role of Senior Vice President, Head of Product Engineering Trucks Asia. These personnel changes will be effective from October 1, 2020.
Mr. Çakmaz started his career at Daimler 35 years ago in passenger car development after studying mechanical engineering at the Ulm University of Applied Sciences. Since joining Daimler Trucks in 2000, he has gained significant experience in engineering through various posts in Turkey, AD: scan tool. India, and Japan. As Head of Product Engineering for Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV), he established the Product Engineering department and test center at the young organization. From 2013, he has overseen collaborative development in all aspects of Product Engineering under Daimler Trucks Asia, and has contributed to increased cooperation between MFTBC and DICV. During his tenure, Mr. Çakmaz has been a strong proponent for the electrification of the FUSO product portfolio, leading key initiatives such as the conceptualization of the eCanter F-Cell. DICV also enjoyed a successful update of the BharatBenz product lineup in 2019, meeting Bharat Stage VI emission norms well before the competition.
Mr. Hironobu Ando started his career at MFTBC in 1995 after graduating with a degree in Material Engineering from the University of Tokyo. After a decade of experience in chassis design, he took on an assignment at the Daimler Trucks headquarters in Stuttgart to drive cross-brand design innovations between the Mercedes-Benz Actros and FUSO Super Great. In his most recent role, Mr. Ando has overseen vehicle testing for both FUSO and BharatBenz products, as well as Mechatronics Development and Simulation at MFTBC. He has been a major force in flagship projects such as the Super Great MY17, the first-generation eCanter launched in 2017, and the Super Great MY19, which was the first truck in the Japanese market to be introduced with Level 2 automated driving support technologies.
Mr. Sven Graeble will be departing from his post in Japan to take on the position of Head of Operations Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Daimler Trucks Russia & MBS and Head of Business Development Trucks Russia. Until now, he has spent nearly two decades at Daimler, half of which he has dedicated to Daimler Trucks Asia organizations. At Chennai, Mr. Graeble oversaw the construction of the DICV Oragadam plant and the successive production ramp-up. He then assumed the position of Director of Marketing & Network at MFTBC. Most recently as Head of Operations and Life Cycle Management, he has spearheaded the digitalization of production and facility management at the Kawasaki plant.
Hartmut Schick, President and CEO of MFTBC and Head of DTA, said, "Sven Graeble has laid the groundwork for increased organizational efficiency at MFTBC's plants by pushing for continuous improvements and digitalization. He will pass the baton to Aydoğan Çakmaz, who has pushed many key projects, especially the world's first commercial electric truck in series production, the FUSO eCanter. With Hironobu Ando, we have a leader who pairs international engineering experience with the expertise of having led all testing at our Kitsuregawa facility, for FUSO and BharatBenz products. Both have a deep understanding of the cross-organizational collaboration that supports MFTBC as well as DICV, and I am confident that their leadership will propel Daimler Trucks Asia to the next level."

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An overnight curfew in Australia's second-largest city will be lifted this week, officials said Sunday, even as the global coronavirus toll inched towards one million dead.
Despite the number of infections worldwide passing 32 million -- with the US state of New York reporting a fresh spike -- more than 10,000 anti-lockdown protesters demonstrated in central London ahead of the re-imposition of restrictions there.
In more positive news, residents of the Chinese city of Wuhan -- where the virus emerged last year -- reported a hesitant return to normalcy, while the French Open got underway at Roland Garros in Paris.
In Australia, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said Melbourne residents would be free from Monday to leave their homes for work, See: autel maxitpms. exercise, shop for essentials, or provide care after active cases in the state fell below 400 for the first time since June 30.
The relaxation of the curfew, imposed August 2, comes after 16 new infections and two deaths were reported Sunday.
People will still be confined to within five kilometres (about three miles) of their homes, and fines for breaching other restrictions will be increased to almost Aus$5,000 ($3,515).
Andrews said several other restrictions, including on religious services and childcare centres, will also be lifted.
- Anti-lockdown protests-
It was a different story in the UK, now battling to contain a mounting second wave, as thousands marched in London on Saturday against coronavirus restrictions.
At least 10 people were arrested as police moved in with batons to disperse more than 10,000 protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square.
This week Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government imposed a ban on gatherings of more than six people and ordered pubs and restaurants to close at 10 pm in a bid to slow the spread of the virus, which has claimed 42,000 lives in the country so far -- making it the worst-affected nation in Europe.
In New York state -- once the epicentre of the US outbreak -- new infections rose for the first time since June to above 1,000 a day, local officials said.
In India, meanwhile, infections closed in on six million on Sunday as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on people to keep wearing face masks in public.
"They are potent tools to save the life of every citizen," he said.
Health ministry figures showed that the total number of cases had risen to 5,992,532.
India is expected to take over the United States -- which has reported more than seven million cases so far -- as the worst-hit country in the next few weeks.
- Back to normal? -
In Paris, a limited number of spectators will watch live tennis for the first time in months as the French Open starts -- four months later than scheduled.
It will be an eerily unfamiliar tournament as a resurgence of the virus means only 1,000 spectators will be allowed into the grounds each day.
For residents of Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged late last year, life is already back to normal.
There have been 50,340 confirmed cases and 3,869 deaths in Wuhan, according to the official figures -- the majority of mainland China's toll -- but no new infections since May.
Families are once again packing amusement parks, and shopping streets were full over the weekend -- although residents remained cautious.
"The people have experienced tragedy and deeply know that a happy life is not easy to come by," said a woman named Wang.
burs-rbu/fox

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After spending much of the summer being the poster child for booming new electric vehicle startups, and then inking a multibillion-dollar production deal with General Motors, would-be EV truck company Nikola found itself on the defensive following bombshell accusations of fraud and technological incompetence. These claims were leveled by Hindenburg Research, a self-described "forensic financial research" firm that's also taken a short position against Nikola's now publicly-traded stock. On Monday, Nikola executive chairman and founder Trevor Milton issued a rebuttal of the explosive claims, AD: Bluetooth code reader. but it's raising even more questions about what's going on behind the scenes.
Not all of the allegations from Hindenburg are even addressed, but there's at least one instance of Nikola admitting that Hindenburg was right on a major charge: it really did roll a non-running truck down a hill for the misleading "in motion" video released in 2018.
Nikola's statement said the Hindenburg report "was designed to provide a false impression to investors and to negatively manipulate the market in order to financially benefit short-sellers, including Hindenburg itself." It has also referred the case to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The company maintains it is on track to make battery-electric semi-trucks available to customers by the fourth quarter of 2021. Last week Milton also lashed out against the firm on Twitter, drawing parallels to Tesla's Elon Musk, another EV charismatic startup executive unafraid of lobbing bombs on social media, often to his own detriment.
But today, Hindenburg Research released its own response to Milton's response, putting the two entities in a war of words that may end up getting settled in a courtroom. Let's run down the highlight reel of allegations.
Using Google Maps data, Hindenburg Research managed to track down the location for the Nikola One's splashy promo video and discovered that it was filmed on a long, shallow downhill stretch of road in Utah. A test performed with a rental car in neutral showed it was possible to roll from a dead stop and get up to 56 mph over the 2-mile stretch, making it a pretty open-and-shut case that Nikola sent a nonfunctional roller coasting down the hill and pretended like it was driving.
But now Nikola has acknowledged that's true-sort of. The "feature-complete"-sounding response admits that a nonfunctional prototype truck was rolled down the hill, though it farms out responsibility for the decision to an unnamed "third party" production team. But in a bit of wordplay, it claims the company never actually said the truck was driving, pointing to the specific use of the phrase "in Motion" in the title.
From the statement:
"Nikola described this third-party video on the Company's social media as 'In Motion.' It was never described as 'under its own propulsion' or 'powertrain driven.' Nikola investors who invested during this period, in which the Company was privately held, knew the technical capability of the Nikola One at the time of their investment. This three-year-old video of a Nikola prototype is irrelevant except for the fact that the short seller is trying to use it for its main thesis. The fact is, Nikola has real working hydrogen fuel-cell powered semi-trucks."
The Nikola One show truck pany's December 2016 unveiling was also non-functional. But the company claims that it's all a semantic debate because Nikola One powertrain components had been bench tested before the decision was made to redirect resources away from making it move under its own power, so the prototype was "designed to work," which is not the same thing as actually working.
This was first reported by Bloomberg earlier this summer, leading to legal threats from Nikola against the news service.
Hindenburg also claims dummy animations were loaded onto the screen, and hydrogen decals were applied to the truck despite it being designed to run on natural gas. So not only was the vehicle mechanically non-functional, much of the technology inside was not complete either. But speaking of hydrogen...
The Hindenburg report also accused the compan...

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In an email to families connected to Boy Scouts of America, the national organization said Friday that it will be sending about 10 million notifications to let abuse survivors know they have until Nov. 16 to file a claim.
"This notification process," the email said, "is part of an effort to ensure that the BSA reaches as many potential claimants, survivors of abuse, as possible so they may file a claim."
If you were a scout, parent of a scout, alumni or volunteer you should expect to receive an email or letter - and likely will see an advertisement - informing you of the upcoming deadline.
At the same time, the organization is hoping to head off confusion by those who get letters that the notices do not indicate that "you have a claim or that your child was harmed."
In late May, the organization reached an agreement with the courts that there will be a cut-off date for claims to be eligible for compensation through the bankruptcy proceedings.
Also read:
Boy Scouts drop 'Boy' from name of program
After the deadline, survivors are barred from filing suits against Boy Scouts.
Survivors must file a proof-of-claim form including details they can recall about the abuse, such as when and where it occurred.
Boy Scouts filed for bankruptcy in February amid declining membership and an increasing number of child sexual abuse allegations that financially threatened the organization.
Read more:
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U.P.'s Ontonagon County the only place in Michigan with zero COVID-19 cases
Initially, the Boy Scouts had proposed 80 days for survivors to come forward, but the agreed-upon date provided more than twice that much time, almost six months, and the Boy Scouts is running a multimillion-dollar awareness campaign.
Boy Scouts, which is now also open to girls, added it has developed and is using "expert-informed youth protection policies" to assure participants that "our volunteers and employees take youth protection extremely seriously."

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Chery has applied for 19,191 patents and obtained 12,393 patents. How has Chery building on technology for 23 years persistently accumulated innovations through patents to set up competition barriers? How has Chery progressively changed intellectual property (IP) into "capital" and "rich ores" that can be developed, be utilized and constantly create new value from patent protection to IP operation? On the afternoon of September 17, the National Intellectual Property Administration, PRC organized over 10 key Chinese media outlets such as people.cn, CCTV, China Daily and China Intellectual Property News, You may need: Launch obd2 scanner. to visit Chery under the theme of "Intellectual Property, Future of Competition", thereby finding out how Chery has spurred innovation vitality and build "hardcore" brand competitiveness through IP.
Since its founding, Chery has taken independent innovation as its core strategy, and invested 5 to 7 percent of its annual revenues to independently develop core technologies restricting the development of China's auto industry, thus developing an array of independent technologies and products, and forming strong IP reserves.
Take the core technology of the engine known as the "heart" of the vehicle for example. Until the early 21st century China had not developed any car engine independently and imported engine technologies had been backward.
In this context, Chery bet all what it had-about 2 billion yuan on engine development in 2002, which was then considered to risk its life with money in the industry.
Chery went through all hardships to successfully develop the ACTECO engine series with independent IP, to achieve a breakthrough in Chinese high-performance engines, and set off an engine development fever among Chinese automakers.
To date Chery has brought over 8 million units of engines off line and six engines have been listed among "‘China Heart' Ten Best Engines".
From engines to transmissions, from core parts to platform development, from traditional automotive technologies to "electric, intelligent, connection and sharing" technologies such as new energy and intelligent connection...Chery has broken foreign core technical barriers one after another. Meanwhile, Chery was aware of the importance of IP protection early. Since 1998, Chery has applied for patents for all its innovations to build a "moat" of "Technology Chery" .
Increasing patent applications and authorizations have witnessed Chery's confidence in "keeping core technologies firmly in hands" and the ever-growing innovation strength of "Technology Chery". To date, Chery has applied for 19,191 patents and obtained 12,393 patents, including 3,692 patents for invention, ranking top among Chinese automakers. Chery owns nearly 30 national innovative enterprises, technical centers and laboratories, and has won the "National Science & Technology Progress Award", "China Top 10 Innovative Enterprises" and other honors over 10 times.
"The large number of patents is far from being enough for the creation of a high-level IP system". According to Li Yongjie, IP Director of Chery Holdings, Chery has changed its IP protection focus from the number of patents to the quality of patents early since 2008. Within only two or three years, the percentage of Chery's applied patents soared from 70% in 2007 to 61% in 2011.
Chery has mapped out an IP development strategy, established an IP work system based on organization and supported by systems and processes, and worked on IP throughout R&D, production and sales.
Chery has also improved its patent layout according to the trend of auto development, and stepped up deployment in cutting-edge technical fields on the basis of consolidating traditional core auto technologies. According to the "2019 Auto Patent Innovation Index" released by China Automotive Technology and Research Center Co., Ltd., Chery was ranked first among Chinese automakers in terms of patent quality-the most valuable ranking category; in the field of intelligent connection representing cutting-edge technologies, Chery was ranked among the world top and first in China.
As one of China's earliest new energy vehicle developers, since ...

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I am not a wise man, nor have I ever claimed to be. Reading through my past editions of Old Work Truck Chronicles will prove that to anyone. Buying my 1966 Ford F600 was the first step down a hard, painful road. And then, after daily driving it for a while, I was convinced I needed another. So, You may need: Autel Diagnostic Tool. I traveled more than 500 miles roundtrip to buy a '63 International Loadstar 1800. The results have been... mixed, to put it gently, but that's only partially the trucks' fault. The rest is all mine.
We'll start with the Ford. Last time I wrote about it, I was relying on the 55-year-old inline-six to get me from Point A to Point B every day. The engine itself is and pretty much always has been solid, but I spent months-yes, plural-tracking down a fuel issue. I took off the carb, replaced the steel lines to avoid vapor locking, relocated the fuel pump from the engine bay to under the cab and... nada. I'd make it to 50 mph, feeling optimistic and even making it to my destination every once in a while. Then it'd cut out completely, leaving me stranded with an 8,500-pound truck to drag home one way or another.
My pal Brian snapping a photo before taking off. It had taken me 40 minutes to drive three miles, but it died for good a few hundred yards from my house.
"What if it's the spark?" I asked myself. I then swapped the old distributor for a single-wire unit that got rid of the points and condenser, but as you'd guess, a breakthrough eluded me.
Finally, after unbolting the in-cab fuel tank and tracing from there to the carburetor, we found a 12-inch section of fuel hose hidden behind my brake booster that had totally collapsed. It was most likely original and almost certainly the cause of my headaches that involved several full days and a few hundred bucks trying to fix it.
I drove it a couple times after this, pulling hills and pushing the pedal to the floor, basically begging the fuel problem to return if it dared. Well, it inevitably happened again after taking it on a parts run to get spark plugs for the International. I was only a mile and a half from home and it wasn't long before a Lowe's delivery truck driver offered to tow me back. A real stand up guy, he was.
That made me feel even worse when his truck broke trying to push mine out of the way. He pulled me to the middle of the dirt road in front of my house, and he chose to push the Ford out of the way to save time, which was fine by me. The problem is, his Freightliner's bumper has breakaway ends that swivel and detach upon impact-after nudging up to my truck and pressing the throttle, the bumper bent back. He got out and tried to straighten it, only for it to let go when he was pulling, leaving him lying on his back in the middle of the road with a hunk of bumper on his chest. Yeesh.
We spent 20 minutes reinstalling his Freightliner's bumper in the rain. I agreed to give him a beer should he ever find himself in my neck of the woods again, preferably off the clock.
Luckily, the International was running well enough to push the F600 into my yard, where it's sat ever since.
It took a good deal of work to get the Loadstar in shape beforehand, of course. It ran great during my test drive as well as my first stroll around the block after bringing it home. Tragically, when parking it from said stroll, I shifted the two-speed rear-end while in neutral before turning the ignition off, causing it to hang up between high and low. When I got in it the next day, I started the trusty 345 V8 and shifted into gear, only for it to sit still. It would idle with the lever in position for first, second, third gear and so on with the driveshaft spinning as if to taunt me and my misfortune.
Following more hammer swings than I can count on the two-speed motor, it finally engaged and I was on my way. Something still wasn't right, though, as I sensed a major miss on at least one cylinder. It got so bad by the end of my drive that I coasted into our family's campground, the International's engine having died before I came to a stop. I then forgot to turn the key off before letting it sit overnight, burning up the points and condenser. After jumping it wi...

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The initial wave of preorders for the Xbox Series X and S have sold out at all major retailers. Of course, there's still a chance that you'll find one in stock if you click through one of the many links on our preorder guide, but this morning's rush of orders seems to have scooped most of the consoles up.
Though, if you were trying to order a console earlier today, there was a decent chance that you were actually able to get that done. So Microsoft's plan for giving retailers and people plenty of time to prepare for preorders to start seems to have worked, at least up against last week's surprisingly disastrous Sony PS5 preorder process, which kicked off more like a Supreme drop than a launch from an established tech company.
Microsoft's official time to start preorders for the new Xbox consoles was 11AM ET, but not every site actually went live at that time - going against the expectations of everyone who was told to show up ready to buy at that time. Best Buy and Amazon simply didn't switch on preorders until close to an hour later, and Amazon still hasn't started selling the Xbox Series S for whatever reason.
GameStop implemented a "queue" that stopped everyone from proceeding to place a preorder until they were allowed in an orderly fashion. While it asked users to refrain from refreshing as to not lose their spot in line, game designer Zach Gage shared on Twitter that it might have been a spoof; this queue page still refreshed, albeit at a more measured cadence so their servers wouldn't buckle. Gage said that opening the site in a different browser got through to the preorders at the time.
My colleague Tom Warren in the UK said that getting a console this morning was a relative breeze. A few of my other US co-workers were able to snag a Series X or Series S without much issue. But it seems like if you weren't quick to click links today, you might have missed out. There will likely be more Xbox Series X and Series S units available for preorder in the future, but no one other than Microsoft and retailers can say whether that's actually true.
Sony fessed up over the weekend to its lousy PS5 preorder debacle, confirming that it would make more consoles available to people who didn't have luck during that total nightmare that honestly makes Black Friday seem chill. I don't think that Microsoft should feel like it needs to do the same after today's preorders started up, and apparently it doesn't feel that way either.
The Xbox Twitter account shared that it's "humbled" by the demand. In terms of solutions for getting a console ahead of launch day, it suggests signing up for emails from retailers, ending with "expect more consoles to be available on November 10." Not to read too much between the lines, but this isn't the most encouraging sign if you were hoping to have another chance at preordering a console.

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In a world-first, three teams of surgeons have worked alongside a robot, carrying out three different stages of an operation at the same time so as to cut the surgery and recovery time of a cancer procedure by approximately a third.
The impressive procedure, carried out by 14 surgeons, AD: diagnostic scanner. took place in July on a patient with advanced rectal cancer at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.
The team behind the procedure hopes it will open the doors for other similar operations in which teams can work at the same time to finish faster.
RELATED: TINY ROBOT INSPIRED BY ORIGAMI TO TAKE OVER SURGICAL TASKS
The robot used for the surgery was one of two Da Vinci Surgery robots that were bought at Norwich University Hospital thanks to a £1m donation from the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital's Charity.
These robots allow surgeons to carry out procedures with incredible accuracy while creating much smaller incisions than have been traditionally needed.
As the Daily Mail reports, the procedure, a pelvic exenteration, took less than ten hours, compared to the 12 hours required when it is carried out in separate steps. 14 surgeons, split into three teams, worked simultaneously throughout the procedure.
"Pelvic exenteration are extremely traumatic because so much tissue has to be removed," colorectal surgeon Irshad Shaikh explained to the Daily Mail. "Working together, we realized we could make the procedure less invasive and so could reduce tissue trauma significantly and blood loss."
Until now this bowel cancer operation has been done in shifts: a bowel doctor goes first, followed by a prostate specialist. Finally, plastic surgeons finish up by repairing the inevitable damage caused by the procedure.
More importantly, the patient's recovery time was only seven days, compared with the usual three weeks it typically takes for a patient to recover from this type of procedure. The team behind the operation hope their work will help inspire medical practices worldwide to continue to develop new methods for state-of-the-art robot-assisted procedures.

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It's literally exciting that ABC is airing a virtual Emmys ceremony Sunday.
Putting pandemic safety first, Jimmy Kimmel will host the proceedings remotely from inside the Staples Center in Los Angeles. There won't be an audience or any red carpet for celebrities to walk. Most of the nominees presumably will be attending from home, just like the rest of us.
To give the actors their moment in the spotlight, the Emmys are planning to have live camera feeds from about 130 nominees. Gee, that won't present any technical challenges, will it? Not to worry. The best part of an awards show is often an unscripted mistake. If a live feed freezes on the face of a losing nominee while the winner is giving a speech, for instance, consider it a moment for future blooper reels.
And it's been a good year for great TV. It feels as if two series are poised to grab the most awards: HBO's "Watchmen" which received 26 nominations, the most for any series. and Pop TV's "Schitt's Creek" which earned 15, See: Autel MaxiDiag MD806. or a Schitt's load (sorry, censors, it's allowed). Other top contenders are HBO's "Succession" and "Ozark," Amazon Prime's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," and Disney+'s "The Mandalorian."
Here's a look at the nominees in the main categories who've been helping us get through COVID-19 quarantining, along with best guesses for who'll win, and who should win.
Nominees: "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO); "Dead to Me" (Netflix); "The Good Place" (NBC); "Insecure" (HBO); "The Kominsky Method" (Netflix)' "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" (Amazon Prime); "Schitt's Creek" (Pop TV); "What We Do in the Shadows" (FX).
Should win: Rarely has television attempted an existential quest for the meaning of life - and the after-life - like "The Good Place." Where most shows drag on an eternity, this one ended its run exquisitely.
Will win: The final season of "Schitt's Creek" was a victory for compassion and inclusion, so why not make it official? More proof that sophisticated, quirky humor is Canada's greatest export.
"Better Call Saul" (AMC); The Crown" (Netflix); "The Handmaid's Tale" (Hulu); "Killing Eve" (BBC America); "The Mandalorian" (Disney+) "Ozark" (Netflix); "Stranger Things" (Netflix); "Succession" (HBO)
Should win: "Ozark" may eventually wear out its permanent-anxiety welcome, but its third season seemed remarkably fresh as the feds pressured Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman) and Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney) went full Lady MacBeth. Not having to deal with Marty and Wendy's problems made being in your bubble a little easier to bear.
Will win: To paraphrase Tolstoy, all happy TV families are alike; each unhappy TV family deserves a golden trophy. The delicious infighting of the media dynasty in "Succession" is carried out by a superb cast that embraces the miseries of its unlikable characters with comedic panache. The Roys are as much fun to hate as the real-life Murdochs.
Jason Bateman, "Ozark" (Netflix); Sterling K. Brown, "This Is Us" (NBC); Steve Carell, "The Morning Show" (Apple TV+); Brian Cox, "Succession" (HBO); Billy Porter, "Pose" (FX); Jeremy Strong, "Succession" (HBO)
Should win: Jason Bateman is overdue for "Ozark." As the quintessentially overstretched family man, Bateman's Marty Byrde suffers a fate of his own making. But don't you love to see him try to talk his way out of a desperate jam?
Will win: Nobody does disappointed ruthlessness like Brian Cox, who plays the Machiavellian patriarch of "Succession." Logan Roy would rather have an heir worthy enough to succeed him, but since that isn't happening, he'll just keep all the power to himself.
Jennifer Aniston, "The Morning Show" (AppleTV+); Olivia Colman, "The Crown" (Netflix); Jodie Comer, "Killing Eve" (BBC America); Laura Linney, "Ozark" (Netflix); Sandra Oh, "Killing Eve" (BBC America) Zendaya, "Euphoria" (HBO)
Should win: Olivia Colman, who's always great, handled the tricky task of conveying how Queen Elizabeth became more invisible as a woman w...

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On Thursday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed a new set of employee principles to act as a guide for debates and conversations within the Workplace, reported CNBC. The changes were made to address "a lot of very tense conversations happening out in the world," according to company spokesman Joe Osborne. The specific changes will be highlighted by the company next week, the spokesman added.
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"We deeply value expression and open discussion. What we've heard from our employees is that they want the option to join debates on social and political issues rather than see them unexpectedly in their work feed," Osborne said in a statement acquired by CNBC.
"We're updating our employee policies and work tools to ensure our culture remains respectful and inclusive."
Zuckerberg added that the new principles will guarantee that all employees feel supported at work, particularly the company's Black community. They will achieve this by strengthening Facebook's harassment policy with additional protections offered for underrepresented employees.
The company said it would also determine which parts of Workplace can be used to discuss social and political issues so that employees do not have to deal with social matters during their daily work. Finally, the new guidelines require thmunicate with professionalism and get involved in all debates in a respectful manner.
Just last week, Google took on a similar initiative. The firm asked employees to take a more active role in moderating internal message boards, See: Autel diagnostic scanner. according to documents obtained by CNBC.
This is because the firm witnessed an increase in posts flagged for racism or abuse on its message boards that were attributed to the fact that employees working from home were sharing more posts, leading to a rise of "tough global conversations." As such, Google sought to train its platform moderators to learn to make sure conversations stay "inclusive" and in line with the firm's charters.

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"This situation once again emphasises the importance of our current testing regime in reducing the likelihood of the virus spreading unchecked through Premiership first team squads, and in increasing the chances of us being able to complete season 2020/21."
The three players must isolate for 10 days from Monday, with Hamilton chairman Allan Maitland thanking the authorities for resolving the situation quickly.
He said in a statement from the SFA and SPFL joint response group: "We are grateful that this matter has been resolved quickly and efficiently and wish to thank all parties involved.
"We fully understand the problems encountered by other clubs since the outbreak of this pandemic and also how difficult it is to resolve them fairly and consistently.
"After a difficult few days, our focus will be to get back to training and carry the momentum gained from last week into the match this Saturday."

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Daimler Trucks, the commercial truck division of Mercedez-Benz, unveiled three trucks alongside its "technology strategy for the electrification of its vehicles," yesterday.
The German firm revealed two battery-electric truck, the eActros, the eActros LongHaul, as well as the GenH2, a new concept fuel cell truck that will have "a range of up to 620 miles (1, You may need: TPMS Programming Tool. 000 kilometers)."
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The Mercedes-Benz GenH2 Truck is a fuel-cell truck with a range of "up to 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) and more," Daimler explains in a press statement. The truck will come with a battery system as well as hydrogen fuel cells.
Daimler says the electric-fuel cell truck should start customer trials by 2023, however, production is not expected to start until the second half of this decade.
"In the series version of the GenH2 Truck, the fuel-cell system is to supply 2 x150 kilowatts and the battery is to provide an additional 400 kW temporarily," the company's statement reads.
"At 70 kWh, the storage capacity of the battery is relatively low, as it is not intended to meet energy needs, but mainly to be switched on to provide situational power support for the fuel cell, for example during peak loads while accelerating or while driving uphill fully loaded."
The relatively light battery will be chargeable with braking energy and excess fuel-cell energy, Daimler explains. The light battery will also allow the innovative concept truck to carry a higher payload.
The new eActros LongHaul truck, an electric battery vehicle, will have a range of "about 310 miles (500 km)," Daimler says. The company expects the new electric truck to be "ready for series production in 2024."
The smaller eActros, meanwhile, has "a range of well over 125 miles (200 kilometers)" which makes it ideal "for heavy urban distribution," Daimler says. The company says it plans for the shorter-range vehicle to go into series production in 2021.
All of this is part of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz's sustainability strategy, detailed in the press statement, in which the company highlights that hydrogen vehicles will form an integral part of its future plans.
"We need zero-carbon goods vehicles on our roads," explained Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, following the unveiling of Daimler's plans. "These include hydrogen fuel cell trucks. There is huge potential inherent in hydrogen for the protection of our environment and a strong economy," he continued.

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The new fourth-generation Octavia range is set to expand again with the addition of a new, highly efficient 1.0 e-TEC engine. The new unit, which is equipped with a seven speed DSG gearbox as standard is the brand's first mHEV or mild hybrid powertrain and is available in two trim variants from £23,005 OTR.
At the heart of the e-TEC powertrain is a powerful 48-volt Li-ion battery and a combined belt-driven starter-alternator. The 48-volt system means that the new Octavia can coast with the engine completely switched off for extended periods, See: Launch scan tool. with the electric motor maintaining power to essential systems like the car's power steering. The mild hybrid system can also recover energy during braking and store it in the battery and support the combustion engine by providing it with an electric boost. A direct current converter (DC-DC) converts the voltage from the 48-volt battery to the 12 volts required for the vehicle's electrical system.
The e-TEC's hybrid technology further enhances the efficiency of the Octavia's 1.0 TSI engine. This 110PS three-cylinder unit is already packed with innovation and features a lightweight aluminium crankcase and pistons. The connecting rods are so well balanced that the engine doesn't require a balancing shaft as some three-cylinder engines do. It also features a turbocharger with variable vane geometry and operates using the fuel-efficient Miller cycle, in which the maximum torque is available 35 per cent earlier than in conventional processes. Coated cylinder liners increase the efficiency of both engines, while an injection pressure of up to 350 bar ensures lower hydraulic losses and a reduced fuel delivery rate. This saves on weight and helps to improve efficiency.
Customers can specify the new 1.0 TSI e-TEC engine on two trim levels: SE First Edition and the fleet-focussed SE Technology. Available in both hatch and estate forms, prices range from £23,005 OTR for the First Edition Hatch up to £24,235 OTR for the SE Technology Estate variant.
Highlighting Å KODA's commitment to improving efficiency and reducing running costs for drivers, the new e-TEC model will be joined at a later date by an iV plug-in hybrid (PHEV) variant, which will also be available in sporty vRS iV form.
Octavia e-TEC models will be open to order from 22 September.

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A military think thank, the Hudson Institute, says the US Navy should assign its incoming fleet of uncrewed warships to anti-submarine warfare (ASW).
ASW has earned the nickname "Awfully Slow Warfare" in military circles due to long uneventful periods military personnel must spend on duty, punctuated by brief eventful moments.
With the US Navy in the process of issuing contracts for up to 40 medium unmanned surface vehicles (MUSVs), the Hudson Institue has released a report on how these vehicles would be best utilized taking over on the ASW front.
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The US Navy believes its "ghost fleet" can help to solve the problem of overly expensive, manned warships by doing the same job at a fraction of the price. By doing that, the service believes it can increase its fleet capacity and have a greater number of ships ready for peace or war time.
ASW is a heavily procedural task. It involves detecting and tracking enemy submarines after long periods of tracking. Small details such as eccentricities in Earth's local magnetic field must be monitored in order to pick up telltale signs of a nearby sub.
As such, the Hudson Institute report highlights how unmanned vessels could take on these often tedious, See: code reader. unforgiving, and dangerous tasks.
By doing so the US Navy would be benefitting the personnel that would usually be tasked with these jobs at the same time as providing a use case, and a justification, for the millions of taxpayer dollars that are going towards building these unmanned fleets, the report claims.
The report details how unmanned vehicle operations for ASW would have to be implemented over time: "to provide time to mature these technologies, the unmanned ASW approach would be implemented over 5 to 10 years," the report says. "Substituting manned platforms with unmanned systems over time in day-to-day and responsive ASW operations."
The report emphasizes the fact that the US Navy and its allies have a "small window of opportunity" in which to find the best operational fit for their unmanned vessels. Otherwise, there is a risk that" rising procurement and O&S costs for the current manned ASW portfolio and flat or declining budgets will" negatively affect adoption and investment of new ASW concepts.
As BreakingDefence reports, the Navy is in the process of completing its roadmap for how it will operate its coming unmanned fleet, which will likely be published within the upcoming fleet structure report, expected to be completed some time this fall.

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Jake Gyllenhaal has teased a possible new project with director Denis Villeneuve.
The 39-year-old previously worked with the French-Canadian film director on sci-fi drama Enemy, and thriller Prisoners, back in 2013, and now the Oscar-nominated actor has revealed he and Villeneuve are talking about reuniting once again.
Discussing how insistent the filmmaker was to cast him in Enemy, Gyllenhaal also confirmed that he's working with Villeneuve on a new mystery project.
"Denis told me he had to make this movie and he didn't know why. I just remember Denis saying, ‘I have to make this movie and I have to make it with you. I can find someone else to do it but I can't get you out of my mind to do it,'" Gyllenhaal told the Team Deakins podcast. "That's very rare...
"Denis, See: Autel car diagnostic. to this day, there is something we are working on now and he just writes me, ‘I can't wait to work with you again.' And I feel the same way," the Brokeback Mountain star explained.
"There are these people you find in your life where you just have these connections. That began that connection," he added.
Back in June, Villeneuve said he was "definitely dreaming" of directing a smaller project after helming the star-studded remake of sci-fi epic Dune, which is due out in December.

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TOKYO (AP) - The financial misconduct trial of former Nissan executive Greg Kelly began Tuesday with Kelly saying he committed no crimes and was only trying to keep his star boss Carlos Ghosn from leaving.
The charges being heard at Tokyo District Court center around Kelly's alleged role in failing to report to Japanese authorities the future compensation of Ghosn, who led Nissan Motor Co. for two decades.
Japanese prosecutors outlined allegations of what they said was a complex and clandestine scheme to pay former star executive Carlos Ghosn more than the amount the company was legally required to disclose. Kelly denied the allegations and said everything that was done was intended to keep Ghosn, who he called an "extraordinary executive," at Nissan.
"This was all in the best interests of Nissan," Kelly said, reading from a statement.
"I deny the allegations. I was not involved in a criminal conspiracy," said Kelly, whose trial opened on his 64th birthday.
Ghosn was arrested in late 2018 at the same time as Kelly but jumped bail and fled to Lebanon late last year. Since Lebanon has no extradition treaty with Japan, he may never face trial. But Kelly evinced no rancor over being left to face trial himself.
He recounted how in the late 1990s, when Nissan was losing money, AD: Autel diagnostic scanner. the French automaker Renault bought a stake in Nissan and sent in Ghosn to help turn the ailing Japanese car maker around.
The experts believed Nissan was doomed, Kelly said, but "Mr. Ghosn proved the experts wrong. Under Mr. Ghosn, Nissan became very profitable."
Top management at Nissan fretted they might lose Ghosn, who occasionally complained he could make more money elsewhere even though he was paid more than most Japanese top executives. They researched lawful methods to provide incentives for him to say, consulting with in-house and outside attorneys to try to retain him.
"The evidence will show that I did not break the law," said Kelly, who has a law degree and was hired by Nissan in the U.S. in 1988.
Kelly's head defense lawyer Yoichi Kitamura said little apart from: "My client is not guilty."
Kelly's wife, Dee, who attended the session, defended her husband outside the courthouse. She said her husband had been going over the evidence for the trial to prepare for the case.
"Greg has done nothing wrong," Dee Kelly said. "I'm very proud of him. He's an honorable man."
Nissan is also facing the same charges in the trial as Kelly but has acknowledged guilt and is not contesting the charges. It is paying a 2.4 billion yen ($22.6 million) fine.
The prosecutors said that in 2010 Ghosn returned to Nissan 700 million yen (about$6.6 million) that exceeded the amount Nissan would disclose as his compensation. The company considered various ways to pay more compensation to Ghosn, such as paying him through an overseas or outside company, selling him real estate at a discount, giving him a loan that would be forgiven later or increasing his post-retirement compensation.
They said the discussions of how to pay Ghosn more than would be legally disclosed were made "on the premise that he was certain to receive the payments."
Ghosn has vigorously defended himself, saying he is innocent. The defense has long argued Ghosn's compensation was never agreed upon, let alone paid.
As is routine in Japanese trials, Tokyo District Prosecutors read from a long opening statement outlining their allegations that Ghosn's compensation was underreported from 2011-2018 by almost half. They contend these were "false entries," a violation of the Financial Instruments Law.
Business experts say Japanese executives are often promised pay but with conditions such as the company performance, and they can end up not getting any money, meaning that how such compensation should be reported may be unclear.
Acquittals are extremely rare in Japanese criminal trials, more than 99% of which result in convictions. Critics have said the system is unfair. But Japanese officials defend the system as having led to a relatively crime-free society, even saying that only those who are almost certainly guilty are being charged.
The maximum penalt...

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Lewis Hamilton is officially joining the club of successful Formula 1 racers turned team owners. However, unlike Bruce McLaren, Alain Prost, Jackie Stewart and other famous names that came before him; Hamilton's chosen to put his millions not in F1, but in the newly-founded Extreme E.
The electric off-road racing series announced Tuesday morning the debut of the X44 racing team, founded and financed by none other than the six-time F1 world champion. According to the official announcement, See: diagnostic scanner. the team is expected to make its debut in early 2021 along with other squads owned by the likes of United States' Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport, as well as others from Europe and Asia with previous Formula E experience, such as Abt and Techeetah.
Hamilton will not be involved in the day-to-day operations of X44 due to his commitments to F1 and various sponsors, but claims to look forward to playing a different role, as well as further develop his vision for sustainable forms of racing.
"Extreme E really appealed to me because of its environmental focus," Hamilton said in a press release. "Every single one of us has the power to make a difference. Not only will we visit remote locations facing the front line of the climate crisis, we will also work closely with these locations and leading climate experts to share our knowledge and leave behind a positive legacy in each location which goes far beyond the race track."
Extreme E will use a spec machine, meaning that all teams will be competing with identical equipment, which in this case is the E-SUV named Odyssey 21. The high-performance electric racer is manufactured by Spark Racing Technology, and it can go from zero to 60 mph in just 4.5 seconds courtesy of near-instant torque, off-road tires designed by Continental, and all-wheel drive.
The battery technology was produced by Williams Advanced Engineering, and although legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey was tapped by the racing series late last year, it's unclear what kind of impact he's had in the development of Odyssey 21 so far.
You can see Hoonigan-in-chief Ken Block manhandling the Odyssey 21 in the desert here.
"Lewis is one of the most successful drivers of all time, and we're all excited to see how his X44 team performs on and off the race track under his incredible guidance," said Alejandro Agag, Formula E and Extreme E founder and CEO. "A huge welcome to the Extreme E family Lewis!"
It's unclear who Hamilton will tap for driving and engineering duties in his team, but it will certainly be interesting to follow X44's development during the coming months.

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Audi isn't shy in stepping into the bounds of electrification, especially in Europe. In its home country in Germany, the automaker offers plug-in hybrid variants of the Q5, Q7, A6, A7, and A8. Extensive, yes, See: Launch code reader. but understandable since emission regulations are getting really strict in the old continent.
However, we have yet to see Audi equipping its RS models with electric motors. Not surprising since Audi RS models are cars for enthusiasts and just putting the word electric beside an RS could already spark some debate among purists.
But that doesn't mean that Audi isn't open to the idea of adding hybrid variants into the RS range – that's what a recent statement from Ekkehard Kleindienst, Audi's head of Product and Technology Communications, implies.
"These are really born and bred RS models... coming with a plug-in hybrid powertrain," he said in an interview with Australia's Motoring.
Kleindienst continues on by explaining the benefits of hybridization, which include increasing efficiency (of course) and giving a new driving experience to customers. For him, it's like hitting two birds with one stone – the combustion engine aims to provide emotional appeal, while the electric powertrain aligns with the electrification strategy of the brand.
Although the mention of RS hybrid models was just in passing, we can't deny that it could be in the pipeline. Then again, at this point, we might have to wait a few more years before we could officially see one from Ingolstadt.
What do you think? Do you think Audi should add a plug-in hybrid variant of its RS models? Can you imagine an RS6 Avant that needs to be plugged in? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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