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These Four Crypto Assets Are Primed To Erupt in July, According to Trader Aaron Arnold – The Daily Hodl

Closely-followed crypto analyst Aaron Arnold is naming four digital assets that he says are more ready than any to catch fire this month.

In a new video, the host of Altcoin Daily starts off his list with Cardano (ADA), which according to the analyst, currently has undeniable growth potential.

Arnold takes note of Cardano leading the crypto space in total value locked up via staking. With over $31 billion worth of ADA now being staked in the protocol, the trader says further price appreciation is likely on the horizon.

The widely followed influencer also mentions that Grayscale, the worlds largest crypto-focused asset manager, made Cardano its third-largest allocation in its Digital Large Cap Fund.

Make no mistake about it, [Grayscale] adding Cardano is a big green flag.

Coin number two on Arnolds list for this month is Ethereum (ETH). The crypto analyst reminds his 869,000 subscribers that ETH supply on exchanges is currently at its lowest since November 2018.

He also references statements from JP Morgan predicting that coming upgrades to Ethereum could spark a new $40 billion industry for staking that the leading smart contract platform is poised to lead.

I mean honestly, this is Etheruems cycle to lose in my opinion. Ive been saying that for a while. I mean the people, the excitement, the infrastructure, the people supporting Etheruem, its huge.

Arnolds third crypto pick for July is decentralized oracle network Chainlink (LINK). The trader cites Chainlinks long list of integrations as one bullish catalyst that could send it blasting off into the stratosphere in the near future.

As long as the crypto space remains in a bullish trend, Arnold says LINK will be one of the hottest projects on the market.

What they have since inception is undeniable, from their integration to their ecosystem. As long as Bitcoin, as long as cryptocurrency is in a bull market, which I believe it is, Chainlink is going to do very very well because what they do is so big and so undeniable.

The Altcoin Daily hosts last crypto asset that he says is ready to explode this month is the worlds leading digital asset, Bitcoin. Arnold references a tweet from on-chain analyst Willy Woo about how the Federal Reserve may be relying on Bitcoins branding to promote their own ideas for the new digital economy.

The crypto trader notes that long-term holders of Bitcoin who are willing to tough it out through some turbulence tend to come out of it on top. According to him, Bitcoin holds the title of the ultimate mover of the crypto markets.

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Future of local cryptocurrency mining still in limbo – The Ithaca Voice

TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y.The future of cryptocurrency mining in Tompkins County remains uncertain as efforts by activists and politicians once again have fallen just shy of the support needed to ban the controversial practice. In particular, Dr. Anna Kelles recent bill in the New York State Assembly, which sought to put a three-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining, was approved by the Senate but did not make it through the assembly.

Bills can take years to pass, Kelles, who represents the 125th district in the State Assembly, which includes much of the county, said. This one is just particularly time-sensitive so there are going to be negative consequences of not passing it this past term because if any mining facilities are set up this year, they will be grandfathered in and not be affected by the moratorium.

Concerns surrounding cryptocurrency mining are primarily based on the process environmental impacts as the acquisition of the digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, are not mined in the traditional way natural resources are mined, but instead are uncovered by computers with special programs solving math equations which in turn unencrypt or mine the cybercash.

In order to run these computer programs, large amounts of energy are needed, leading to the creation of data mining hubs or facilities with massive amounts of computing technology insidea practice already happening in the Finger Lakes and a possibility for the newly converted Cayuga Power Plant in Lansing.

A prime example of the cryptocurrency mining industrys utilization of upstate facilities is clearnearby a previous coal-fired power plant on Seneca Lake has already become a mining hub, owned by Greenidge Generation. It currently houses 7,000 cryptocurrency mining machines and, according to WENY News, plans to expand their operations which will require four new buildings. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the town of Torrey have approved this expansion.

The why of why I did this was not to put a pause and a study on one facility, Kelles said, but acknowledging that there is a trend and it could hit like wildfire and single handedly undo our environmental goals, that we havent even obtained, and make it impossible to reach our [Climate Leadership] goals.

One of the biggest issues with mining is the enormous amounts of energy it requires to run the computer programs and mining facilities in general. For example, according to a BBC report, Bitcoin mining alone uses more electricity in a year than the entire country of Argentina.

A CNBC report stated that Bitcoin mining also makes up around 35.95 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, not to mention there is also an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 tons of electronic waste produced by the mining each year.

On Seneca Lake, on top of just energy usage and toxic emissions there is the issue of water quality and increased water temperature. According to Kelles research, cryptocurrency mining pulls in about 139 million gallons of water a day from Seneca, which is around 40 to 60 degrees on average and it circulates the water through the building in order to counter the heat produced by the energy production. This was confirmed by Yvonne Taylor of the Seneca Lake Guardian.

It provides a free coolant system to them but its not free to us and its not free to the environment, Kelles said. It dumps the water back out up to 86 degrees in the summer and up to 108 degrees in winter, that is their permit.

This water is then dumped into a trout stream. At around 70 degrees trout can start showing signs of severe stress which can affect their fertility, spawning and their mortality rates. An impact like this could harm the trouts ecosystem and the agritourism that the Finger Lakes region thrives on. Water intakes for the facility are also a problem.

The DEC told Greenidge that they should have wedge wire screens on those intake pipes to prevent fish and other aquatic life from being sucked into those pipes and killed, Taylor said. They have yet to install those screens.

The increase in water temperature also increases the risk and frequency of harmful algal blooms (HABs) on Seneca. HABs is also a problem in the Finger Lakes region as a whole, not just on Seneca Lake. Thus, environmental activists and like minded politicians fear what may happen if the same technology is implemented on Cayuga.

Vice President of Development at Heorot Power Management, a subsidiary of Beowulf Energy, Jerry Goodenough publicly declared last year that the company has no intention of using the retired coal plant for cyber currenciesthough that is not to say that without legal barriers the company couldnt change its mind. It is also apparent the company has interests in blockchain and cryptocurrency as the former coal power plant they first took over in Montana mines Bitcoin.

We know in the past that there was a plan to develop a data center there very soon which they call them data centers, Taylor said. Thats the greenwash tacky name for these mining facilities and then you quickly discover what theyre really doingtheres no registration or monitoring or way to find out and thats what happened at the Greendige facility.

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Greenidge Generation Announces Letter of Intent to Expand Bitcoin Mining Operation to Site in South Carolina – Yahoo Finance

Greenidge Intends to Locate Second Fully Carbon Neutral Cryptocurrency Mining Operation in Spartanburg

DRESDEN, N.Y., July 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenidge Generation Holdings, Inc. announced today that it plans to develop its next bitcoin mining operation in South Carolina. Consistent with Greenidge's longstanding commitment to environmental leadership in power generation and cryptocurrency operations, the Spartanburg facility will be fully carbon neutral. Greenidge expects to commence mining operations in Spartanburg in late 2021 or early 2022.

Greenidge has signed a Letter of Intent with LSC Communications, an Atlas Holdings' portfolio company, to execute a 10-year lease for Greenidge to utilize a portion of the property owned by LSC. The site, a retired printing plant, previously drew approximately 80MW of power and has expansion potential beyond that capacity. Greenidge plans to make use of existing electrical infrastructure at the location, with opportunities for continued growth.

Approximately two thirds of the electricity at the site is sourced from zero carbon sources such as nuclear power, making it an attractive location for Greenidge. Greenidge has committed to offsetting the operation's remaining carbon footprint, building on its record in New York State of operating a fully carbon neutral mining business. Greenidge also announced earlier this year that it will invest a portion of its mining profits in renewable energy projects across the country.

"This is an important step in Greenidge's strategy to build upon our unique expertise in environmentally sound bitcoin mining at additional locations across the country," said Jeff Kirt, Chief Executive Officer of Greenidge. "We have a superior team with proven expertise in this emerging field. LSC's Spartanburg site, with its favorable energy mix, capacity potential and business-friendly climate, is the ideal next location for us. The site's existing electrical infrastructure should allow us to commence our data mining buildout almost immediately."

Story continues

About Greenidge Generation Holdings, Inc.

Greenidge Generation Holdings, Inc. ("Greenidge") is a vertically integrated bitcoin mining and power generation company. Greenidge currently operates one facility in Upstate New York, with plans to expand to a second location in South Carolina in the upcoming months. Greenidge's New York facility is an environmentally sound operation that has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years and employs dozens of skilled associates, creating attractive new blockchain jobs and serving as an anchor for the local economy.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Exchange Act, as amended. These forward-looking statements are typically identified by terms and phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "predict," "project," "should," "will," or similar expressions.

These forward-looking statements include references to assumptions and relate to the future prospects, developments, and business strategies of Greenidge. These forward-looking statements are largely based on the current expectations and projections about future events and trends that are expected to affect the financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and short-term and long-term business operations and objectives of Greenidge. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the current and future build out and acquisition plans of Greenidge.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to: (i) the ability to recognize the anticipated objectives and benefits, including tax benefits, of the proposed transaction; (ii) changes in applicable laws, regulations or permits affecting Greenidge's operations or the industries in which it operates, including regulation of the energy industry or regarding cryptocurrency; (iii) risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms with regard to growth strategies or operations; (iv) fluctuations in the market pricing of cryptocurrencies; (v) loss of public confidence in cryptocurrencies; (vi) the potential of cybercrime, money laundering, malware infections and phishing, and the costs associated with such issues; (vii) the potential of cryptocurrency market manipulation; (viii) the economics of mining cryptocurrency, including as to variables or factors affecting the cost, efficiency and profitability of mining; (ix) the availability, delivery schedule and cost of equipment necessary to maintain and grow the business and operations of Greenidge, including mining equipment, (x) the possibility that Greenidge may be adversely affected by other economic, business or competitive factors, including factors affecting the industries in which it operates or upon which it relies and is dependent; (xi) an inability to expand successfully to other facilities, mine other cryptocurrencies or otherwise expand the business; (xii) any potential litigation involving either or both of Greenidge or Support.com, Inc. ("Support.com") in connection with their pending previously announced merger transaction (the "proposed merger"); (xiii) costs and expenses relating to cryptocurrency transaction fees and fluctuation in cryptocurrency transaction fees; (xiv) Greenidge's single operating facility may realize material, if not total, loss and interference as a result of equipment malfunction or break-down, physical disaster, data security breach, computer malfunction or sabotage; (xv) other risks and uncertainties related to the business plan, business strategy, acquisition strategy and buildout strategy of Greenidge; (xvi) the potential economic fallout resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak. The actual results, performance, or achievements of Greenidge could differ materially from the results expressed in, or implied by, any forward-looking statements.

Greenidge does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, the occurrence of future events, changes in assumptions or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

Participants in the Solicitation

Support.com and its directors, executive officers, other members of management and employees may be deemed participants in the solicitation of proxies from Support.com's stockholders with respect to the proposed merger. A list of the names of those directors and executive officers and a description of their interests in Support.com will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed merger (as further described below) and will be available at http://www.sec.gov. Additional information regarding the interests of such participants will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed merger when available.

Greenidge and its directors, executive officers, other members of management and employees may also be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the shareholders of Support.com in connection with the proposed merger. A list of the names of such directors and executive officers and information regarding their interests in the proposed merger will be included in the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed merger when filed with the SEC.

No Offer or Solicitation

This press release is not and shall not constitute a solicitation of a proxy, consent, or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed merger. This press release shall also not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any states or jurisdictions in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. No offering of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is not for release, publication or distribution, in whole or in part, in or into, directly or indirectly, any jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful.

Additional Information, Disclaimer and Where to Find More Information

In connection with the proposed merger, Greenidge has filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-4 (the "Registration Statement"), which includes a preliminary proxy statement of Support.com and a prospectus in connection with the proposed merger. The definitive proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents will be mailed to shareholders of Support.com as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed merger. Stockholders of Support.com and other interested persons are advised to read the preliminary proxy statement/prospectus, and amendments thereto, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus in connection with Support.com's solicitation of proxies for the special meeting to be held to approve the proposed merger, and other documents filed with the SEC by Greenidge and Support.com, because these documents will contain important information about Support.com, Greenidge, and the proposed merger. Stockholders will also be able to obtain copies of the Registration Statement and the proxy statement/prospectus, without charge, by directing a request to: Support.Com, Inc., 1521 Concord Pike (US 202), Suite 301, Wilmington, DE 19803. These documents, once available, and Support.com's annual and other reports and proxy statements filed with the SEC can also be obtained, without charge, at the SEC's internet site (http://www.sec.gov).

Cision

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A better way to fight fraud with data analytics – Reuters

A page from the PPP loan application for financial support due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in New York. May 7, 2020. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

In order to keep the US economy afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than $4 trillion was pumped into the economy through various government programs. The money had to be distributed as quickly as possible, so in just a matter of weeks, pandemic stimulus checks were sent, new emergency loan programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and others started processing loans by the thousands and applications for unemployment compensation skyrocketed.

Check out all the articles in the latest issue of .

Fraudsters know a good opportunity when they see one. Almost instantaneously, fictitious businesses began applying for PPP loans; bogus websites started selling fake or nonexistent Personal Protective Equipment; and thousands upon thousands of people tried to collect unemployment checks in any way they could through synthetic identities, stolen Social Security numbers, shell company shenanigans and more.

In 2020, the US Department of Justice reclaimed $360 million in fraud related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, but hundreds of additional cases are currently under investigation, and the Small Business Administrations Inspector General (SBA IG) has reported receiving tens of thousands of fraud tips. By comparison, the total number of fraud tips the SBA IG received in 2019 was 800.

Considering that the federal government is preparing to inject another $1.9 trillion into the US economy in 2021, it is perhaps unsurprising that Thomson Reuters 2021 Government Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Study found that 93% of frontline government administrators at the state and local level expect fraud in 2021 to be the same or worse as in 2020.

The same in this case may not sound all that bad, but it is really quite alarming. Indeed, it would mean that government employees will continue to be overwhelmed and have insufficient resources and inadequate technology to do their jobs. Further, billions of taxpayer dollars will land in the hands of criminals worldwide, and thousands of American citizens in need of assistance will not receive it.

A worse scenario is hard to imagine, but more than half of government employees surveyed in the report said thats precisely what they expect in 2021.

Attack of the cyber-gangs

Government administrators often get a bad rap, but to be fair, they faced an almost impossible task last year. When the shutdowns began in March 2020, more than 32.5 million people filed for unemployment within the first two months of the pandemic, and administrators handling those claims were processing an average of 10 to 15 times their normal workload. In order to distribute unemployment funds as quickly as possible, controls had to be relaxed, which not surprisingly created a golden opportunity for fraudsters.

Even in the best of times, however, most government agencies are using outdated technology to fight a class of criminals that is getting smarter and more technologically sophisticated by the day. Almost two-thirds of government employees said their most pressing issues were budget constraints and lack of resources, the report noted. Only half of those respondents said they felt confident they had adequate resources to fight fraud, waste and abuse, and 45% said their primary tool for screening new vendors and contractors was a simple Google search.

Clearly, government administrators do the best they can with the resources they have but most of the technology available to them is incapable of detecting or preventing fraud before a great deal of money already has been stolen. Indeed, most fraud-prevention efforts are focused on investigations after a suspected fraud scheme has been uncovered and the stolen funds are long gone.

The power of data analytics

Most government agencies rely on anonymous tips, whistleblowers and alert administrators to identify suspicious patterns of behavior that may indicate fraud. The problem with that approach is that program administrators dont necessarily know what to look for, dont have enough time to devote to fraud prevention and arent technologically equipped to identify anything but the most common and egregious indications of fraud.

Behavioral analytics, a discipline that can be applied very effectively to identify patterns of fraudulent behavior that might otherwise go undetected, is a growing specialty among fraud investigators. For example, when sophisticated fraudsters target unemployment benefits, they dont create one or two bogus applications they flood the system with hundreds or thousands of fake applications in the hope that someone will slip up and send them money. But if, say, 6,000 applications use the same address or P.O. box (which is not uncommon), a system equipped with the proper analytical tools can easily flag the anomaly and send an alert.

Take another example: Suppose it takes an average of eight minutes to fill out an unemployment application online, and a flood of applicants suddenly start filling out the form in 30 seconds. Again, behavioral analytics can identify and alert authorities to such a deviation from the norm well before any human observer might catch on.

In actual practice, properly programmed data-mining software can identify all sorts of suspicious or anomalous patterns that an overworked, under-equipped administrator might never detect. Further, the software can run 24/7 in the background or be integrated with a case-management system to identify trends and patterns affecting the program, providing an extra layer of security. Unfortunately, almost two-thirds of state and local government employees dont use any kind of matter-management software or analytics to help them prevent fraud, according to the report.

The question is: Why?

A more cost-effective option: preventive analytics

Its no secret that preventive fraud measures are more cost-effective than after-the-fact investigation. For years, the US Government Accountability Office as well as industry groups like the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) have been issuing reports on best practices for fraud risk management, where the benefits of using proactive analytics as part of a dedicated fraud-prevention program are almost always highlighted. In fact, a 2018 ACFE report estimated that risk-assessment programs using proactive data analytics had reduced fraud losses by more than 50%.

Given that the US Treasury may end up pumping more than $2 trillion into the economy in 2021, and fraudsters already have had a year to test vulnerabilities in current government systems, its a fair bet that billions more will be lost in the pandemic shuffle.

A modest investment in data analytics could save some of this loss. It could also give government administrators on the front lines of the pandemic crisis a fighting chance against criminal opportunists who view government benefit programs as their own personal ATM.

Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias. Thomson Reuters Institute is owned by Thomson Reuters.

Jon Coss is Vice President in Risk, Fraud & Compliance at Thomson Reuters, where he manages Pondera Solutions, which Thomson Reuters acquired in March 2020. Coss has spent the last 26 years working with government agencies to improve operations and decision-making through the use of analytics technologies.

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Federal procurement fraud occurs more often than you might think – Federal News Network

Best listening experience is on Chrome, Firefox or Safari. Subscribe to Federal Drives daily audio interviews onApple PodcastsorPodcastOne.

One might be surprised to learn the FBI has opened more than two dozen grand jury investigations this year alone related to federal contracting fraud. Its Procurement Collusion Strike Force is using some up to date techniques like data mining for contractors honest ones, that is it all means the need for strong compliance programs. For more,Federal Drive with Tom Temin spoke to Jon Jacobs and Alex Canizares, partner and senior counsel, respectively, from the law firm Perkins Coie.

Tom Temin: And lets begin at the beginning here, and tell me a little bit about this phenomenon of contracting fraud. Is this mostly something that happens with collusion among contractors? Or is it something that happens between the government and contractors as a rule?

Jon Jacobs:Yeah, the kind of fraud were talking about here, Tom, is contractor-to-contractor collusion. So what the Strike Force is focusing on is bid rigging, price fixing or market allocation among contractors who are bidding for federal contracts. They will get together beforehand, and they will decide who is going to win a particular bid, the one whos going to submit a higher or complimentary bid will know what the prearranged winner is going to bid. And so its all set up so competition is eliminated. The agency, the federal government is not involved. So this is very different than say kickbacks to federal contractors in order to steer contracts a certain way.

Tom Temin:Sure. And then I guess, for the contractors involved, the ones who agree to lose then get some sort of consideration, I guess, for the winners in general?

Jon Jacobs:They do. These bid-rigging conspiracies are often set up so that if Alex and I are the two natural bidders for a contract, well get together and Ill say, Alex, let me have this one, please bid above this certain price, and the next ones yours.

Tom Temin:And I guess the question is, how often does this happen? I mean, theres a couple of dozen out of what 15- 20,000 contracting actions a year and 2,000 of them roughly are protested. I mean, this is a big business. So I guess Im asking in general, is the system in the United States corruption-free with exceptions? Or is it tend to be maybe the noncorrupt ones are the exceptions?

Alex Canizares: According to the FBI, which issued a report in March of this year, this is a significant issue. They cite a study that says that about 20% of procurement is tainted by some sort of bid rigging. And whether or not that study is true, if you think about $500 billion-plus of federal procurement activity every year, this is something that is going to have a significant impact. And this Procurement Collusion Strike Force recognizes that, kind of renews the focus that the law enforcement community has.

Tom Temin:By the way, your numbers a little out of date during the pandemic, it was more like $639 billion. So theres a lot of room for collusion I guess, drug companies and mask companies or whatever. And is it generally more on to the extent we know, on the DoD side or the civilian side?

Alex Canizares:Well, its really everything. I mean, I think the areas of focus for this particular Interagency Task Force include Defense. There was just another indictment announced last week in the Defense context, but also health care. And you mentioned the pandemic, and I think the significant increase in federal spending and response to the pandemic heightens the concern. And its not specific to COVID but if you think about infrastructure, thats another area I think well see renewed focus on, especially with talks underway about increased spending on transportation and infrastructure. But really, its not agency-specific, its not just DoD. These are many, many law enforcement agencies, and inspectors general and different agencies that are now on heightened alert for this issue.

Tom Temin:And, Jon, you did have experience in the Justice Department earlier in your career. Is there any clue that a contracting officer can discern that might tip him or her off that somethings un-kosher going on here?

Jon Jacobs:Yes. And actually, the Antitrust Division as a part of this new initiative has published the so-called red flags of collusion on their website. And the red flags are designed for contracting officers to know what to look for. Its not completely comprehensive, but some of the examples are, are there a small number of bidders for this particular kind of contract? Because obviously, its easier to collude if you dont have a large number. Are there similar-looking bid proposals? Is there similar handwriting, similar typographical errors? Does it look like the different bids were prepared by the same person because believe it or not, sometimes these conspirators arent careful enough. And its very suspicious when you lay them all out in the table. And then take a look at the patterns not only the prices, but the patterns of winning. As I said before, the way these bid rigging conspiracies usually work is, if Alex and I are supposedly competing, were rotating. And so if it looks like Alex is winning about 50%, Im winning about 50% thats a red flag.

Tom Temin:Sounds like high school construction contract. Were speaking with Jon Jacobs and Alex Canizares. They are partner and senior counsel at the law firm Perkins Coie. And tell us more about the FBI task force. Its an interagency affair. Whos involved and maybe a little bit about the data mining and data experts theyve gotten on board?

Alex Canizares:Well, its not just the FBI, its actually led by the Antitrust Division within the Department of Justice. FBI is a principal law enforcement agency thats involved. But youve actually got a total of 29 either U.S. attorneys offices or agencies, and that includes the inspectors general who already have their own oversight function looking for this sort of conduct. I do want to mention one aspect of the red flags, which is important here, too, which is contracting officers that conduct competitive procurements are already required by statute and regulation to be on the lookout for this sort of antitrust activity. And so when they are reviewing contract proposals in a procurement, theyre already supposed to notify the Department of Justice for this sort of thing. What this particular task force does, is really two things. One is bring new cases. And the other part is really bring about more awareness, educate people, and train people, and theyve done a significant amount of training in that regard.

Tom Temin:Alright, so lets get to some of the advice your law firm has put forth for contractors that dont want to be seen as doing this. And also, I guess theres the situation where it could occur because of some employees, but you can protect the corporation, even if those people get punished and go to jail somehow. So what should contractors do to stay out of this?

Jon Jacobs:Yeah, the very first thing I would advise is to update your compliance program. That is particularly important for avoiding any kind of antitrust offense and particularly recently, given some DOJ guidance, and theres at least a couple of reasons for this. I mentioned the so-called leniency program and then Alex, maybe you can describe the recent availability of deferred prosecution agreements that are available to those with otherwise effective compliance programs. So the Antitrust Division has a leniency program. And what that is, is if you are the very first individual or company to notify the Antitrust Division of a conspiracy that it has not heard about before, you get complete immunity. You will not be charged, you wont be fined, your executives wont go to jail. Remember, the antitrust laws do involve jail terms, potentially, for executives that participate in this activity. Now, youre still going to have to cooperate and that can be quite an effort. Youre going to have to hire a lawyer, unfortunately, youre going to have to proffer your facts of your internal investigation, youre going to have to produce documents and make your executives available for an interview with the criminal prosecutors. But its also available only for the first to contact the DOJ. There is a race for leniency. So its important if you see something right away, say something.

Tom Temin:Is there, by the way, any qui tam possibility for someone that might be lower down in the company that blows the whistle on this?

Jon Jacobs:There absolutely is and some of my criminal cases started with a qui tam complaint.

Tom Temin:Got it, okay and what else?

Alex Canizares:Well, one of the things that contractors can really do to kind of mitigate the risk of this sort of enforcement activity is to, as Jon says, build a robust compliance program, have those internal controls in place, but also be specifically aware of the risks that the DOJ is looking at. These same red flags of collusion are things that companies within their own company can sensitize their employees to. Thats the procurement folks, thats the people who are doing the business development and that sort of thing. And it also means having a very specific reporting mechanism. So if people see something, they can bring it to the attention of the appropriate person. The False Claims Act, in terms of qui tam is another aspect of this. Its not particularly within the purview of this program. But its certainly reasonable to expect that if people are identifying potential fraudulent activity that could result in a False Claims Act matter.

Tom Temin:Alright, and a couple of lightning round questions here at the end, does this tend to be as far as you can tell more in the services or in the products acquisition area?

Alex Canizares:I would say its not limited to either one. I think that the areas that were looking at now, in terms of recent announcements, we had one very recently in the infrastructure sector that was more service oriented. But really, I think theres likely to be cases on both sides of that fence.

Tom Temin:And the second question is, more and more contracting dollars are going through government wide acquisition contracts as GWACs as task orders, as opposed to full an open. And so is it more an occurrence in full and open competition, or do you find it in the GWAC task orders also?

Alex Canizares:Its an interesting question. I dont think its off the table in terms of a GWAC context. I mean, as you say, there are situations and its not limited to the GWACs but where sole source contracting is perfectly permissible. The concern in this particular area is where competition is required. And I think thats where companies, particularly if theyre engaged in teaming arrangements, need to be very sensitized to what the risks are.

Tom Temin:Alex Canizares is senior counsel at the law firm Perkins Coie, thanks so much.

Alex Canizares:Thank you.

Tom Temin:And Jon Jacobs is a partner there. Thank you very much.

Jon Jacobs: Thank you, Tom.

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NASA’s Mars helicopter Ingenuity could keep flying the Martian skies for months – Space.com

The future of aerial Mars exploration looks bright.

NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity, which landed inside Mars' Jezero Crater with the agency's Perseverance rover in February, has now completed eight Red Planet flights. That's three more than the maximum targeted for the 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) chopper's original technology-demonstration mission and Ingenuity isn't done yet.

The little rotorcraft's current extended-mission activities, which center on showcasing the potential of Mars helicopters to serve as scouts for rovers, will "continue for at least a few more months, with a cadence of a couple of flights a month," Perseverance project scientist Ken Farley, a geochemist at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, said last Monday (June 21) during a webcast meeting of NASAs Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG).

Video: Watch NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity fly in 3D

Balancing the needs of a helicopter and rover mission simultaneously requires a complicated "dance," and the upcoming Ingenuity flights will give members of both teams valuable practice, Farley said. (Ingenuity and Perseverance are separate missions, but the helicopter relies on the rover which is just now digging into its life-hunting, sample-gathering work as a communications relay.)

"Along the way, we hope to acquire reconnaissance imagery of places that we cannot go," Farley said. "And we are also using the helicopter to develop terrain meshes that could, in the future, allow rovers to drive across landscapes that they cannot actually see from their mast-mounted cameras."

To date, the farthest distance that Ingenuity has traveled on a single sortie is 873 feet (266 meters; achieved on Flight 4, on April 30), and the longest it has stayed aloft is 140 seconds (Flight 6, May 22). The Ingenuity team would like to shatter both of those marks in the next few months, if possible.

"We've gone 266 meters; we're looking to stretch that to a kilometer [0.6 miles]," Ingenuity operations lead Teddy Tzanetos, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, said during the MEPAG meeting on June 21.

"That would mean three minutes flight time total," Tzanetos said. "And that would really be pushing the limits of what the technology demonstrator is capable of, in terms of a flight vehicle."

The helicopter team will also prioritize scouting regions of interest to Perseverance, such as the geologic unit on the floor of Jezero known as Stah, and mining the reams of scientific and engineering data generated by Ingenuity, Tzanetos added.

The data-mining work could inform the design of Ingenuity's successors, which are already starting to take shape as concepts at least. For example, engineers have begun drawing up plans for a much larger, much more capable rotorcraft called the Mars Science Helicopter, Tzanetos said during his MEPAG talk.

The Mars Science Helicopter is a joint project involving JPL, NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and the defense contractor AeroVironment. The envisioned craft would sport six rotors, weigh about 66 lbs. (30 kilograms) and be able to carry science payloads weighing up to 11 lbs. (5 kg) or so, Tzanetos said. (Those are the weights here on Earth; the hexacopter would be lighter on Mars, whose gravity is just 38% as strong as our planet's.)

The Mars Science Helicopter would be capable of flying about 6.2 miles (10 kilometers) in a single sortie, Tzanetos said. Such an aircraft would be able to explore "locations that rovers couldn't access, like cliffside walls, or difficult-to-traverse terrains, or even down into caves," he said.

Again, the Mars Science Helicopter is just a concept at the moment, not a full-fledged mission. But thanks to Ingenuity's ongoing work, the hexacopter might find its way to the Red Planet at some point in the not-too-distant future.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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NASA's Mars helicopter Ingenuity could keep flying the Martian skies for months - Space.com

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Will All End Well for This Popular Reddit Biotech? – Motley Fool

On June 28, shares ofCel-Sci (NYSEMKT:CVM) plunged nearly 70% peak-to-trough before recovering. The reason behind the wild price action couldn't be more obvious -- the company's pivotal phase 3 study involving its Multikine immunotherapy did not meet its primary endpoint of improving the overall survival (OS) of head and neck cancer patients.

Cel-Sci had been extremely popular among traders of the r/WallStreetBets community due to its short interest -- standing as high as 24% before the data release. The stock also has a cult following outside of that. There is even a website with detailed instructions on how to make short-sellers cover all of their bets. Is there any hope left for shareholders?

Image source: Getty Images.

Unfortunately (or rather, fortunately, depending on the lens one looks through), it looks like the shorts have won, and the hunters have now become the hunted. Despite the clinical trial lasting 9.5 years, Multikine was unable to demonstrate a 10% benefit in improving patients' OS.

This is the company's flagship drug candidate. Cel-Sci has no product revenues and only around $50 million in liquid assets. By all measures, the stock should be going to zero after the plunge from its $1 billion market cap before the data readout.

It took over a year for results to come out after the trial finished. In retrospect, that gave the company ample time to data-mine and look for "potential" therapeutic signals.

Via a post-hoc subgroup analysis, the company uncovered that patients who received Multikine followed by surgery and radiotherapy, but not chemotherapy, had an OS improvement of 14.1% after five years, compared to those who just received surgery and radiotherapy. The survival benefit disappeared after accounting for patients who also received chemotherapy. Based on this, the company anticipates that it can meet regulatory requirements for a Biologics Licensing Application (BLA) submission.

If the data mining here seems confusing, consider this analogy. A political candidate lost in the midterm elections. Instead of acknowledging defeat, he instead cites data from one sub-district that overwhelmingly voted for him as evidence that he actually "won."

Let's think about Cel-Sci's story for a minute. Its plan to seek approval for Multikine effectively suggests that patients would need to forgo chemotherapy for Multikine to have a significant effect. I do not think that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could ever approve a drug based on such a scheme, but Cel-Sci is going ahead with its FDA filing anyway.

The stock has attracted a huge meme following, and it has not tanked to single digits after the disappointing data readout. Some investors probably moved all-in and are hoping for a good river card (the FDA submission) to complete a busted hand (reverse their fortunes).

At this point, however, it's almost a given that Multikine will go nowhere. The data says it all. In addition, while the Multikine trial was still ongoing, next-generation immunotherapy checkpoint inhibitors like Opdivo and Keytruda entered the market. In the case of the former, it reduced the risk of death in patients with head and neck cancer by 30%. On a side note, it did not take a decade for Opdivo to achieve that efficacy. All of this makes it pretty clear that for investors thinking about the long term, Cel-Sci is a biotech to avoid.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the official recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. Were motley! Questioning an investing thesis -- even one of our own -- helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

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Business Intelligence: How far and deep can it go to change the way organisations work? – Business Insider India

A wily banker in the mid-1800s made it a point to gain knowledge of political instabilities in Europe and thereby predicted the market. During his time, Sir Henry Furnese became successful and infamous for his corrupt practices. However, his deals were recorded by Richard Millar Devens as a train of business intelligence. You would ask why?

The idea and the concept of using data to gain an advantage over competition, is still in vogue and gaining ground. It has travelled from using data on computers, to floppy disks (where data could travel), to the internet and the cloud. Currently, the BI as it is now called, uses AI and ML to make the reams of data and make it available to decision makers who no longer need to depend on instinct alone.

In spite of the endless promise, a number of BI adoptions have not produced the desired results. This reflects more about the way most traditional businesses work, rather than the technology itself, since most departments within a company refuse to share data, that creates silos, which breaks the philosophy of BI to - democratize data.

The IT departments become proprietary owners of data. To break these walls, the technology too evolved from technical BI to self-service BI wherein sales teams, product development teams, marketing teams access BI for their daily decision making.

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The ultimate goal is to enable end-user BI wherein every user can access BI without having to go through an engineering team. The trends in BI that point to end user BI are Auto Narratives where insights/outcomes are delivered in natural language; BI Bots where users can ask and receive insights from specialized bots; mobile analytics which can provide insights all day, all year; Collaborative BI where users collaborate on BI platforms to gain insights; and Data governance which ensure data data quality for unstructured data, informed Abhishek Rungta, Founder and CEO of Indusnet Technologies.

The business of intelligence The magic word that has made BI even more intelligent is AI. The confluence of both technologies is where computer intelligence meets business decision making. It is very important for companies to move and use data. In most cases, 70% of data is never used by companies. There are riches in niches, and data can help you explore those niches or hidden gems within the company in different contexts. Added Abhishek Rungta

The data story needs to make immediate sense. Indus Net Technologies is focusing on predictive analytics, which uses data mining, modeling, and machine learning to determine the probability of future outcomes. With these predictive analytics, healthcare companies are able to deliver personalised healthcare, with focus on individual patients and a greater understanding of trends for larger cohorts.The applications here extend to the financial world too, with banks having greater outlook in designing market specific products, where business performance is predicted to a high degree of accuracy, while delivering a keener understanding of risks involved and preventing fraud. McKinsey, in their Insurance 2030 report predicts that by In 2030, underwriting as we know it today ceases to exist with a majority of underwriting being automated owing to intelligence.

AI and BI can come together to build a truly intelligent business where all its processes are guided data and its management. Apart from capturing data, analyzing it and help create decision making models and empowering employees with data, it can go many steps further. For one, the systems can be taught to learn decision making via machine learning and lead to assisted intelligence that can shift the direction of a business and how it successful it can be.

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ALPK2 acts as tumor promotor in development of bladder cancer through targeting DEPDC1A – DocWire News

This article was originally published here

Cell Death Dis. 2021 Jul 1;12(7):661. doi: 10.1038/s41419-021-03947-7.

ABSTRACT

Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in the urinary system. The development and improvement of treatment efficiency require the deepening of the understanding of its molecular mechanism. This study investigated the role of ALPK2, which is rarely studied in malignant tumors, in the development of bladder cancer. Our results showed the upregulation of ALPK2 in bladder cancer, and data mining of TCGA database showed the association between ALPK2 and pathological parameters of patients with bladder cancer. In vitro and in vivo experiments demonstrated that knockdown of ALPK2 could inhibit bladder cancer development through regulating cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, and cell migration. Additionally, DEPDC1A is identified as a potential downstream of ALPK2 with direct interaction, whose overexpression/downregulation can inhibit/promote the malignant behavioral of bladder cancer cells. Moreover, the overexpression of DEPDC1A can rescue the inhibitory effects of ALPK2 knockdown on bladder cancer. In conclusion, ALPK2 exerts a cancer-promoting role in the development of bladder cancer by regulating DEPDC1A, which may become a promising target to improve the treatment strategy of bladder cancer.

PMID:34210956 | DOI:10.1038/s41419-021-03947-7

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Digital transformation is crucial to the future of mining in South Africa – African Mining Market

Mining has played a crucial role in South Africas economy for the best part of two centuries. And while it may not play as big a role as it once did, it still contributed R400-billion to GDP in 2020 and employed more than 450 000 people. But if the sector is to remain competitive at a global level, it has to evolve particularly when it comes to embracing digital transformation.

While South Africas unique circumstances should be taken into account, especially when it comes to factors such as the orebody depth and labour intensity of the countrys mining operations, that doesnt mean that mining companies should shy away from digital transformation. The application of digital technologies, both in their current form and in future digital forms such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), big data analytics, and the Internet of Things (IOT) is increasingly pivotal to mining success. The players in the space which understand that and use these technologies as enablers are the ones most likely to thrive going forward.

Those were the overriding messages at a webinar hosted by Joburg Centre for Software Engineering (JCSE) at Wits University, which included speakers from mining houses, software builders that specialise in solutions for the mining industry, and Huawei.

When we look at mining, what people dont comprehend is that the mining value chain is extremely complex, says Alex Fenn, Head of Technology and Innovation at Sibanye Stillwater. The infrastructure varies from space to space, meaning that achieving digital transformation is far less simple than it would be in a factory, for instance.

That does not, however, mean that it doesnt hold benefits.

Digital transformation is a key enabler to value delivery that is both incredibly specific as well as all encompassing, he adds. The aggregated benefits across the value chain are huge. Thats why were working towards becoming a digital first organisation that creates cultures, structures, and processes which support digital transformation.

Practically, Pierre Swart, CEO of mining software specialist Accutrak, agrees with this whole-view approach to digital transformation.

He does, however, believe that optimising data is crucial to any digital transformation initiative.

Everything, for me, boils down to the optimisation of data at the end of the day, he says. If we have accurate data, we can analyse it to identify patterns, or when patterns break. We can create business improvement tools and start to use predictive algorithms that can tell us that something will likely happen before it does.

That kind of data optimisation cannot, however, occur without the necessary levels of connectivity.

As Gys Malan, Solutions Manager, Huawei, points out:

What one absolutely cannot miss when it comes to thinking about a digitally-transformed mine is connectivity.

Unfortunately, he adds, this is something that sometimes get neglected when mines try to embrace digital transformation.

Here, Malan says, its important to understand that a typical mine may need a combination of several different technologies to meet its connectivity needs.

Its important that you have different options for transporting the data from sensors embedded in different parts of the mine to upper layer platforms, he says.

He also points out that its important to be able to integrate the data from different platforms to create a central data lake, which allows for easier central decision making.

At Huawei we assist our mining clients to achieve these objectives with a variety of products and services, he says. When it comes to connectivity, for instance, our 5G and private LTE offerings allow for large amounts of data to be transmitted at very low latencies.

While these forms of connectivity are important, Malan still believes that Wi-Fi and Fibre have important roles to play in mines across the globe. Whether its connectivity or any other aspect of digital transformation, he cautions against anyone pegging their bets on any single technology.

We have to diversify the communication technologies that we use based on environmental factors and application requirements, he says.

If mining is to continue playing an important role in South Africa, then it must digitally transform. As the webinar speakers demonstrated, however, thats not just about adopting new technologies but being selective and using them in the way that best suits a particular mines needs and aspirations.

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