Category Archives: Longevity

"There is a major risk of boredom and fatigue. In order to mitigate that aspect, thats why we leave 30 to 40-percent outside of the bundled package so that we can take on new challenges."

- Final Fantasy XIV's Naoki Yoshida shares his advice for thriving in the live games space.

Final Fantasy XIV producer and director Naoki Yoshida sat down with The Washington Post recently to explore exactly what makes the game as successful as it has become, and why Square Enix is hopeful it'll continue to forge forward with new content and even more players.

Part of the secret, Yoshida tells The Washington Post, lies in how the team handles the traditionally tight development cycles needed to support a live game. He explains that, for Final Fantasy XIV, roughly one third of a new piece of content or update's development time is set aside to focus on innovation.

In doing so, developers are given the room they need to keep players on their toes with new concepts while also staving off some of the burnout that otherwise comes with repetitive cycles. This starts at the earliest stages of planning new content.

For creating our instance dungeon, we would need our game design to come up with the actual content of the plan and that would probably take about 10 business days, and then we would report that for proper approvals which cost another 30 days, and then well route that to the programmers, which would take them about two weeks to program in the mechanics," says Yoshida. "Its very clear as to how much cost and time well take with each component of the package that we have for our planners and the management.

He tells The Washington Post that 60 to 70 percent of a development cycle is for the standard work expected of any update. Meanwhile, the rest of the time is set aside for developers to explore new ideas and concepts.

With that being said, there is a major risk of boredom and fatigue. In order to mitigate that aspect, thats why we leave 30 to 40-percent outside of the bundled package so that we can take on new challenges, think of new pieces of content we can deliver," continues Yoshida. "And sometimes well make use of that space over multiple patches to bring something larger scale. So by doing so, we still have a sort of stability in our 60 or 70 percent regular content.

Check out the full interview with The Washington Post for more from Yoshida on Final Fantasy XIV's development, how XIV has evolved through its lifetime, and his advice for other developers in the live games space.

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The secret to Final Fantasy XIV 's longevity lies in the room its devs are given to innovate - Gamasutra

When thinking of these superfoods, blueberries often spring to mind, and with their impressive study results on improving the ageing process, blueberries should become a staple in everyone's daily diet. It's common knowledge that fruits and vegetables are extremely healthy for you. Certain fruits are in fact known as superfoods due to their numerous health benefits including helping to boost your longevity.

In one study, fruit flies were shown to live 10 percent longer when fed a regular diet containing blueberry extract.

Not only did the fruit flies live longer but they also showed improved levels of physical activity.

These enhancements arise both from increased tolerance of oxidant stress and from beneficial changes in the way certain important genes are expressed.

It was also shown that after supplementation with blueberry extract, these organisms lived an average of 28 percent longer, and the maximum life span increased by 14 percent.

The supplemented animals showed a 20 percent reduction in an age-related protein that impairs function, and vastly improved tolerance of stress in their environment.

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In addition to extending the life span of whole organisms, blueberries and their extracts slow ageing in individual tissues, providing wide physiological benefits, said Lifespan.

The health site added: Along with increasing all around longevity, blueberries can specifically decrease the risk of various degenerative diseases that reduce the human life spans.

Blueberry extracts have many positive effects that may help you lose weight and keep it off.

Studies show that animals fed blueberry extracts while on a high-fat diet had lower overall weight gain, and smaller accumulations of body fat, than control animals.

Importantly, the loss of body fat is especially prominent in the abdominal areas and the liver; fat in those areas poses the greatest risk of cardiovascular disease and other life-shortening complications of obesity.

Blueberry extracts promote sugar uptake into muscle cells, where it can be used as energy, rather than being stored as fat.

Berries are not only superstars for brain longevity, they also help with keeping the memory sharp.

Studies have found that a group of healthy elderly people performed better on cognitive tests when ingesting a daily dose of wild blueberry juice.

Blueberries are packed with polyphenols, a group of compounds which includes anthocyanins, the nutrient that gives blueberries their colour.

Anthocyanins are powerful medicine for the brain as they reduce inflammation, help neurons communicate, and regulate how the brain utilizes glucose for energy.

Along with other antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, eating blueberries can increase your total antioxidant intake to help reduce premature ageing.

Blueberries are high in antioxidants which help protect the skin from damage and promotes skin healing.

Meaning blueberries help with keeping both your inside and outside glowing with good health.

From improving brain health, helping with weight loss, improve the ageing process and boosting longevity; its a no brainer that blueberries should be included in your daily diet.

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How to live longer: Blueberries may reduce age-related diseases to boost longevity - Express

The roaring 90s were a heyday for the music biz especially for bands in the college and alt-rock sectors. Record deals were given out like candy to any group falling under that newly burgeoning musical umbrella. A worthy beneficiary of the craze for quirk and cool was Local H. They first got together in 1987 while in high school officially forming Local H in the first year of the 90s, setting themselves apart by usually performing as a duo.

Led by singer/guitarist Scott Lucas (the only regular member), the Illinois-based band ended up with an unlikely hit on alt-rock and modern rock radio with 1996s Bound for the Floor, which propelled Local H from the underground to the mainstream adjacent. The angst-driven song was perfect for the time (and would never get on mainstream radio today) and ended up charting at No. 5 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Theyd also have another pair of hits with Eddie Vedder (which includes the classic line, If I was Eddie Vedder/would you like me any better?) and Fritzs Corner landing on the Billboard Mainstream and Alternative Charts. They also had a stint opening up for Stone Temple Pilots on their 1996 fall tour.

Record biz politics ultimately derailed Local Hs chance at further widespread fame, but Lucas carried on. Over 30 years into the bands career, Local H endures. They continue to release music, like last years strong LIFERS album that featured fellow alt-rock luminary Juliana Hatfield and was produced by Steve Albini and Andy Gerber.

We caught up with Lucas, who reflected on the bands biggest hit, LIFERS and who would replace Eddie Vedder today as the title name in that eponymous song.

SPIN: LIFERS is a concept album, but also seems like an apropos title for an album about a duo of guys who, somehow, continue to soldier on in the music biz. Was that the double intent?Scott Lucas: That kind of IS the concept. We wanted this record to feel like a concept record without actually being a concept record at least in any technical sense. Kind of like The White Album. Thats not really a concept album, but in the way it feels plugged into the general mood of its time it certainly comes off like a concept record. But it isnt, even though in my mind, it feels more like a concept record than Sgt. Peppers. So I was very sure to make lyrical references to things that were going on in this country, but without mentioning any names so to speak. You want your record to be just as timeless as it is timely, so making something where youre screaming Fuck Trump for 11 tracks might not have the staying power or resonance that youd hope for. But once we had Juliana singing on the record, that made us think about the people we were surrounding ourselves with not just with this record, but in everything we try to do with our, um, career. These people that we look up to. That inspires us. Suddenly this idea of lifers became very interesting to us. And knowing that even that word itself has a double edge is it somebody who refuses to give up? or is it somebody whos just a loser? That became the concept.

What was it like working with Juliana Hatfield, John McCauley of Deer Tick and Steve Albini?Great! The thing with Juliana and John is, theyre friends. So it was just a matter of asking them to do something on the record while hoping that they wouldnt say no. It was the same thing with John Haggerty. But with Albini, I didnt know him at all. And I was kind of afraid of him. I mean, Id read his interviews. I knew he didnt suffer any bullshit. But Haggerty, who knows him very well, just laughed at me when I told him I was intimidated by Steve. He was like, Fuck that. You should work together. And he was right, of course.

Was this done prior to the pandemic?Yup. This was all in 2019. The idea was to take a year off from touring, make the record, and then tour the shit out of the record in 2020. Our timing. Impeccable as always.

What was the inspiration for Winter Western?I dont remember. Ha! I remember theres a line about raids before the dawn, and I know that had something to do with one of Trumps cronies. But I just love the imagery of Western movies that take place in winter. Like McCabe And Mrs. Miller. I do know that the song was just okay until we had the idea to ask Juliana to sing on it. After that, the song just clicked. I seriously got chills the first time I listened to her vocal. She sounds so cool on darker, heavier songs. Especially tunes that are in F#minor. Not to get too far in the weeds, but it is the saddest of all keys.

If you were to rerecord Eddie Vedder now, who would be the person highlighted in the song title?Shit. Taylor Swift?

Ha! Whats it like to hear Bound for the Floor on rock radio or satellite radio all these years later?Awesome. I remember a few years ago hearing Bound played on the Loop, here in Chicago. A great classic rock station that is now, sadly, no longer with us. We were sandwiched between Boston and Tom Petty. I thought that was pretty fucking cool.

Looking back, does it seem like more of a miracle that you were able to make a second album with a major label?There was some stuff going on behind the scenes that I wasnt really aware of at the time. But we were really rushed into making our second record by our A&R guy. I now know that was because we were a C-hair away from being dropped. I remember being told that we needed to sell 100,000 copies of our second record or else wed be dropped. That was the only time in my life that I counted sales. Once we got past 100,000 I said Fuck it. Lets make record number three.

Over 30 years in, are you surprised that not only youre still making music, but continue to do so in front of enthusiastic fans?Sometimes I feel like George Bailey in Its A Wonderful Life. I get the sense that people are constantly trying to frame our career as some kind of tragedy. But it just isnt so. We were never really cut out for the big leagues. Its just not us. There may not be a whole lot of people that dig us, but the ones that do holy shit! Ill never make a record good enough to deserve those people.

What are your thoughts on the current civil rights movement?Well. I certainly dont get why Black Lives Matter is supposed to be a controversial statement. I dont even understand why were discussing it. I was watching Blazing Saddles the other day and it struck me how beautiful that movie is. There was this moment in the 70s where it seemed like we could have some open and honest and even hilarious conversations about race in this country. But in America we cant have nice things, so the 80s came up and strangled the fuck out of that idea. I guess we have a lot of unfinished business in this country when it comes to race. Its fucked up.

Did you march or protest?I did not. I was driving across the country when that happened here in Chicago. But I had this idea for a noise rock jam called 8:46. And I remember thinking Whats the point? Surely, someone else will come up with the same idea and do it better. But that didnt happen. So I sat on it for a second. And that was a mistake, but I was like, who needs to hear this shit from us? Then I watched that Dave Chappelle special while I was driving through Kentucky and it devastated me. I realized that it didnt matter if somebody else had the same idea. In fact, it would be pretty cool if everybody on the planet released someTHING called 8:46. We went in and recorded our version the next week.

Local H's Scott Lucas performs in Los Angeles, 2018 CREDIT: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images

Are you optimistic about the state of the country?No. Are you? I dont know what to tell you.

Not really, no. On a lighter note, whats been your favorite pandemic discovery?My dog.

Is there a future for guitar rock anymore?Is Annie Clark (St. Vincent) not guitar rock? Is Phoebe Bridgers not guitar rock? The future of guitar rock is happening right now, guys like me are just too stupid to see it.

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Local Hs Scott Lucas on the Bands Longevity and Copacetic Career - SPIN

Genes are not all when it comes to surviving for a long time. Research has shown that you can make a variety of easy lifestyle improvements that can help prolong your existence, and some of themcan surprise you.

(Photo: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM - FEBRUARY 22: Senior Citizens participate in the Kelvinside weekly tea dance, 22 February 2005, Glasgow, Scotland. There are 11.22 million pensioners in the UK - 4.19 million men and 7.03 million women. The so-called 'grey' vote will be important in the forthcoming election, with all the major political parties canvassing senior citizens' votes.

So, how is it feasible to live longer? It is vital to remain mentally healthy and to keep your immune system healthy.

To support you live a long life, here are several ways:

The idea thatphysical exerciseis healthy for you is no mystery. Exercise helps you sustain stable body weight and reduces your blood pressure, all of which relate to heart well-being. The world's leading cause of death is a decreased chance of heart failure.

The latest study indicates that it can help improve lifespan to partake in one to three glasses of some form of alcohol per day. Studies have also shown thatheavy drinkerstend to have a greater chance ofearly deaththan light drinkers, as do abstainers.

Stress triggers a drug named cortisol to be released from the body. This hormone can raise blood pressure and induce abdominal fat storage at high levels, all of which can contribute to an elevated risk of heart disease.

A2008 reportshowed that those who watch six hours of TV a day are expected to die 4.8 years younger than someone who doesn't, on average. It also noticed that every hour of TV viewed reduces life expectancy by 22 minutes after the age of 25.

Television facilitates the world's inactivity and disengagement, which can both reduce the lifetime.

Consumption of red meat is related to anincreased chanceof cancer and heart failure. Swapping the steaks with healthier proteins, such as fish, will improve durability.

If you can't bear the thought of a steak-free life, health advantages can also be incurred by your intake of fewer than two to three servings a week.

ALSO READ:How Can Gaining Weight Help People Live a Longer Life?

It's not quite a revelation here. Alcohol, which you already know well, greatly raises the cancer risk.

Getting a furry-friend contributes to reduced depression, improved tolerance, and areduced risk of cardiac disease. They will even inspire you to be more healthy, based on the form of a pet.

A correlation between coffee consumption and longer life has been identified instudies.Although the reasons for this are not completely obvious, the high antioxidant levels of coffee may play a role. However, note, soaking your cup of joe in sugar and whipped cream may negate any health advantages it could have.

Japan has theworld's longest total life span, and the Japanese-natives of the Ryukyu Islands-stop eating when they are 80 percent complete, the longest living. Limiting calorie consumption ensures that the body is less tired overall.

Meditation contributes to theelimination of depressionand the decreasing of blood pressure. Study shows that it may also improve the activity of a longevity-associated enzyme.

It can providemajor health effectsand even prolong your life by spending as little as 15 minutes a day finding your zen.

Beingoverweightplaces tension on your digestive system, which raises your heart attack risk. It can raise the risk of cancer as well. It is vital for cardiac health and lives a long and stable life to maintain a healthy weight.

ALSO READ:People May Live Longer But Sicker -- Study

Check out more news and information onMedicine and Healthon Science Times.

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How to Live Longer: Here Are a Few Best Ways to Boost Longevity - Science Times

Biologists have estimated that the human body has the potential to last 120 years, if not abused and properly cared for.

WISDOM, discipline, and lifestyle play a great role in peoples longevity. The COVID-19 pandemic is a good example. While seniors, especially those with health issues, are more prone to get infected, a great majority of them have been so careful and vigilant, they have eluded the virus, compared to careless, arrogant younger ones who were not so disciplined, got infected, many of them dying anyway, in spite of what their genetic code for lifespan was.

According to the University of Minnesota, deaths among young people, ages 25 to 44 in New York, was around 38% as of December 17, 2020. Thats almost half of the death rate for seniors. Indeed, a healthy lifestyle impacts longevity.

COVID-19 cases worldwide have reached almost 110 million, with about 2.5 million deaths; USA nearly 28.5 million cases and almost half a million deaths; and the Philippines about 553,000 and around 12,000 deaths.

Almost 180 million doses of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide. In the USA, about 55 million, or about 11.6 percent of the US population, have received the vaccine. Around 12.6 million doses a day are being administered.

Only about a century ago, the average lifespan of American men was 46, and today it is 78.93, an added bonus of 32.93 years, according to statistics from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Biologists have estimated that the human body has the potential to last 120 years, if not abused and properly cared for. The fountain of youth appears to be a healthy lifestyle.

How we live will forecast 75% of how far we can get.

There are a few strategies proven by scientific researches which can maximize longevity.

The studies also calculated how many added years each regimen will confer upon the person who uses any of them. While the benefits are not cumulative, the more strategies one uses, the greater the chance of enjoying a longer life.

For instance, cutting down on the use of cell phone while driving adds 45 seconds to your life for each call you do not make. According to Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier of the University of Toronto, everyday, 99 years of life are lost because of driving accidents while one driver is on the phone.

Having sex often, if possible, and live longer. Studies revealed that there is an inversely proportional dose-response relationship between orgasms and heart problems. The more sex, the lesser the risk of suffering a heart malady. One study of 918 men showed that those who had sex the most often had 50% less risk of death from heart ailment.

Cutting down on calorie intake (amount of food you eat) by one third of what you now eat, can lower cholesterol and increase your life by 2 to 3 years. Leaving the dining table less than full is a healthy practice.

A UCLA School of Public Health study shows that men who took 300 mg vitamin C or more a day, lived 5.5 year longer than those whose intake was less than 50 mg. Getting enough vitamin C from vegetables and fruits is the best way of doing it.

Helping your spouse take care of your children has been found to increase longevity.Lowering the cholesterol from 239 to 200 adds 6 months to one lifespan, and dropping a high level of 300 down to 200 gives an additional 4 years to life. This can be achieved by diet, exercise, and if needed, by cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Go to church twice a week and extend your life to 7-14 years longer, as reported in Demography. Besides, learning abstinence from tobacco and alcohol, religion in this case also provides strong social and psychological ties and other good practices conducive to a healthier lifestyle.

A research has shown that an active social life can add nearly 10 years to life. Those with practically no friends, minimal social contacts, live 4.5 years shorter.

Among 10,000 men studied, those who have the highest level of aerobic fitness lived 8.7 years longer than those least-fit individuals.

Having regular medical check-up increases longevity by 2 to 3 years, by preventing diseases and detecting diseases in their early, curable, stages.

Eating less red meat extends life up to 9 years. A diet of fish, soy, legumes and beans, and other vegetables, increases life expectancy by 13%. Limiting red meat to 3 ounces twice a week, if not eliminating it totally, in exchange for chicken meat, will do the trick.

Get a dog and walking him every day will add 5 years to your life. The studies at the Cooper Institute reported that men who walked briskly for 30 minutes a day, five times a week, prolong their lifespan by five years.

Those who abstained from tobacco live five years longer, compared to smokers. Alcoholics die at least 8 years sooner than disciplined imbibers or non-drinkers.

A normal or medically-controlled blood pressure increases your longevity by five to 5.3 years. The standard normal blood pressure level, which used to be 120/80, has been lowered to about 115/70. You can cut your risk of dying by 13% in the next two decades by ignoring fast food fries/hamburger chains, as borne out by a study on 3,000 men. Also, controlling body weight to normal confers between 8 to 20 added months to longevity.

***

Philip S. Chua, MD, FACS, FPCS, a Cardiac Surgeon Emeritus based in Northwest Indiana and Las Vegas, Nevada, is an international medical lecturer/author, a Health Public Advocate, and Chairman of the Filipino United Network-USA, a 501(c)3 humanitarian and anti-graft foundation in the United States. Visit our websites: philipSchua.com and FUN8888.com Email: scalpelpen@gmail.com

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Lifestyle and longevity - Malaya

It is thought that one or more catalysts are involved in 95% of all commercially created chemical products at some stage in their manufacturing process. This has an estimated global economic impact of around $15 trillion each year.1

Image Credit: Shutterstick/RHJPhtotoandilustration

For plastics manufacturing, petroleum refining, food and biofuel production and numerous other core chemical manufacturing processes, heterogeneous catalysts are crucial. Thermal degradation or sintering of the active material leads to catalyst performance decreasing and deactivating over time, which is a huge cost driver for chemical manufacturing.

Catalyst deactivation associated with decreased product yields and higher energy usage associated with regenerating or replacing spent catalysts costs billions in lost revenue each year.

Atomic-level control over the catalyst composition and structure will produce high-performance catalysts that cannot be acquired using conventional synthesis techniques. ALD supplies an opportunity for surface engineer active catalyst sites to supply inherent stability, selectivity and performance.5

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) has been shown to be as cost-effective and improve catalyst performance dramatically in a large range of applications.

ALD coatings supply lifetime and selectivity enhancements to catalysts, which in turn supplies better performance. The stabilizing nature of ALD coatings decreases metal catalyst leaching or sintering that would otherwise lower the reaction surface area and performance.

ALD on catalysts benefits are as follows:

There are three ALD techniques that are frequently employed in catalyst applications:

1) ALD of the active catalyst on high-surface area supports2) ALD of an undercoat for increased lifetime and catalyst selectivity and3) ALD of an overcoat to increase selectivity and limit thermal degradation

Image Credit:Forge Nano

ALD has been discovered to be helpful in depositing catalyst materials like Rh, Fe, Ir, Pt, Pd, Ni and Ru onto ultra-high surface area base supports. The high surface energy of the catalyst materials enables small islands to form on the base support and create a high dispersion of active material while maintaining ultra-low loading for lower material costs.

ALD is able to penetrate ultra-high aspect ratio pores in catalyst supports and obtain uniform deposition, unlike wet chemical synthesis methods.6 ALD can also be controlled for near surface deposition for the creation of eggshell structured catalysts.

Utilizing ALD to produce an interface layer underneath the active catalyst will also help sustain thermal stability and increasedlifetime. ALD can be employed to alter surface acidity/basicity and stop the dissolution of the active catalyst into the substrate material by depositing a thin film onto a high surface area substrate without adversely influencing morphology or pore size.5

ALD altered substrates showed better catalytic activity, lifetime and selectivity for oxidative dehydrogenation of propane compared to alumina substrates or bulk silica in one instance.7

ALD is also useful for depositing uniform films as a protective overcoat onto the catalyst while also enhancing the catalytic performance. Depositing thin oxide films like ZrO2, Al2O3, NbOx, TiO2, NiO, or Co3O4 protects catalyst integrity throughout high temperature reaction conditions while stopping metal sintering, degradation and leaching.1,4,5

In one instance, alumina ALD overcoat layers enhanced and preserved the catalytic activity of Pd nanoparticles while stopping sintering up to temperatures of 500oC.8

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Forge Nano.

For more information on this source, please visit Forge Nano.

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Improving Catalyst Performance and Longevity with Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) - AZoM