Latest news with #Nesta
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Supermarkets could be forced to ensure shoppers make healthier food choices in a bid by ministers to tackle the obesity crisis
Supermarkets could be forced to ensure shoppers make healthier food choices in a bid by ministers to tackle the obesity crisis. Plans are being drawn up for supermarkets to promote fruit and vegetables to customers instead of fattening items like crisps and chocolate, according to the i newspaper. This will be done using nudge tactics to convince shoppers to make healthier choices during their weekly shop. The proposals are believed to be part of Health Secretary Wes Streeting 's ten-year NHS plan which is due to be published next week. Under the shopping policy, the largest retailers will be forced to record data which shows how successful they are in convincing consumers to swap out fattening items for healthier alternatives. It could result in supermarkets adjusting the layout of their stores so healthy items are displayed more prominently. Retailers have the ability to reformulate their own-brand products to make them more healthy as well as change signage and marketing to make nutritious foods look more appealing, according to policymakers. Details of the proposal are yet to be completely signed off but officials believe that providing supermarkets with clear targets on encouraging shoppers to make better choices could help reduce obesity levels in the country. The plans are based on a ten-year obesity blueprint which was developed by think tank Nesta. 'We urgently need to reshape our food system so that the healthier option is the easiest option for everyone, regardless of where you buy your food,' it said in its report. 'By implementing ambitious yet achievable mandatory health targets for retailers, we can make real progress towards these goals and start turning the tide on obesity once and for all.' Labour MPs have been asking the Health Secretary to adopt the proposals privately and all major supermarkets have been briefed on it. One Labour MP, who supports the policy, said: 'These are really simple things that you can change, and it may mean giving supermarkets a bit of a hit. But it's how you get people to make changes to their behaviour. 'It's a bit like the smoking in pubs. People were dead against it and then when they did it, even smokers supported it - that switch in behaviour that is seen as unthinkable, but that's how you change things.'
Korea Herald
3 days ago
- Health
- Korea Herald
£7.5 million Longitude Prize on ALS launches
LONDON, June 25, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Longitude Prize on ALS, a £7.5 million global challenge prize, has launched to incentivise and reward cutting edge AI-based approaches to transform drug discovery for the treatment of ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), the most common form of MND (motor neurone disease). ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that damages the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, leading to severe muscle degeneration. There is a 1 in 300 chance that a person will develop MND – around 90% of cases will be ALS. Although some very limited treatments exist to slow the progression of ALS for a short time, its complexity means there are no long-term treatments and no cure. For the first time, however, AI advances mean innovators have the opportunity to outpace the disease. Tris Dyson, Managing Director, Challenge Works, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2023 said: "ALS is astonishingly complex which is why it has been so difficult to develop treatments that truly fight this hideous disease. Tireless fundraising in the last decade has created a wealth of data on ALS that just didn't exist before, and we are at a turning point. "In the last year, Tofersen, the first drug treatment to show real promise for people with the very rare inherited form of MND (affecting around 2% of patients), shows that the disease is no longer a black box that we cannot penetrate. We are now on the right path for treatments for all MND patients – including those of us living with ALS. The real game changer though is the rapid advancement of AI. It means we can turn the path into a superhighway. "Never before have we had the power to unlock the complexity of MND, and in particular ALS, and accelerate along the road to long-term treatments, and, I hope one day, a cure. The Longitude Prize on ALS makes this possible, convening the largest data set of ALS patient data of its kind ever made available and rewarding researchers to use AI to identify the most promising drug targets." The Prize is principally funded by the Motor Neurone Disease Association and designed and delivered by Challenge Works, supported by Nesta. Additional funders include Nesta, the Alan Davidson Foundation, My Name'5 Doddie Foundation, LifeArc, FightMND, The 10,000 Brains Project, Answer ALS and The Packard Center at Johns Hopkins. Seeking innovators from across medical research, biotech, techbio, pharmaceuticals and AI, the Prize will initially reward the 20 most promising entrants with £100,000 each in early 2026. Teams will be judged on the potential for their approach to identify and validate drug targets driving understanding of the disease and supporting onward translation into drug discovery. The entry window closes on 3 December 2025. The 20 successful entrants will be named in the first half of 2026. Lucy Hawking, journalist and daughter of the MND Association's late Patron, Prof. Stephen Hawking said: "The Longitude Prize on ALS is an important step towards increasing our understanding of motor neurone disease, and specifically ALS. I hope the Longitude Prize will encourage the use of AI by researchers and scientists to gain new insights into this devastating condition and advance the search for treatments and a cure. For people living with the disease, their families, friends and carers worldwide, this would bring so much relief and joy. My father lived with MND for over 50 years, the longest known survivor with this condition and his great wish was that one day, a cure would be found. I'm proud to support the Longitude Prize and wish all entrants the very best." Tanya Curry, Chief Executive, the Motor Neurone Disease Association said: "Empowering some of the brightest minds across science and technology to come together, the Longitude Prize on ALS will initiate transformative change for people living with motor neurone disease. We are investing as a principal funder as enabling such collaborations, as well as the level of unprecedented data we're working to unlock, marks the start of a significant milestone for drug discovery, the MND Association and wider MND community in how we understand and consequently tackle the disease." Successful applicants will gain access to the largest collection of ALS patient data of its kind via DNANexus, hosted on Amazon Web Services, provided in partnership with Project MinE, Answer ALS, New York Genome Center (NYGC), ALS Compute and the ALS Therapy Development Institute. Ten teams will progress to a second stage, receiving £200,000 in 2027 to build the evidence base for their proposed therapeutic targets. In 2028, five teams will then receive £500,000 to undertake validation of the highest potential identified targets. The £1 million grand prize will be awarded in 2031.
The Independent
5 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Scheme to give heating engineers free heat pumps ‘boosts confidence' in the tech
A trial giving heating engineers a free heat pump for their own homes is to be rolled out to thousands of people after it boosted professional support for the tech. The 'start at home' pilot by innovation agency Nesta to support heating engineers to install their first heat pump in their home found it boosted their technical knowledge, understanding of living with the technology, and confidence in promoting them to customers. Experts warn large-scale deployment of clean electric-powered heat pumps is key to replacing the widespread use of gas boilers in homes to reduce carbon emissions as part of targets to cut greenhouse gases to 'net zero' by 2050. That means installing round 450,000 heat pumps in existing homes a year by 2030, requiring 38,000 more installers trained and confident to install heat pumps before then, Nesta said. But while the number of heating engineers and plumbers who are training as heat pump installers is on the rise, that is not translating into a large active workforce focused on the technology, a report by Nesta warned. It pointed to research by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) suggesting only 27% of newly trained installers have gone on to complete an installation within a year. Many struggle with finding their first heat pump customer – which would allow them to achieve the certification needed to access government installation grants – while many still lack confidence in designing and installing systems, or even in the effectiveness of the technology, the report said. Meanwhile, demand for work on gas boilers and general plumbing continues, providing greater certainty and familiarity. So a pilot in partnership with the Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers' Federation (SNIPEF) recruited 36 heating engineers from across Scotland, with half of them offered training on heat pump installation and the other half offered the training and a free heat pump to install in their home. All the 18 participants who installed a heat pump in their home reported an increase in understanding of heat pump system design and installation – with 13 saying they had a substantial gain in knowledge. And 11 reported a significant increase in confidence in heat pumps as a home heating technology, gaining confidence that they do work. Living with heat pumps in their own homes also provided the engineers with more confidence and insight to advise customers, such as the issues they might have and how to solve them. Nesta has now launched a government-grant funded programme to scale up the start-at-home scheme across Britain by signing up 5,000 heating engineers in the first 12 months, each of whom will receive expert support and a free heat pump to install in their own home. Nesta's Benoit Siberdt, who led the start at home project, said: 'Giving heating engineers a free heat pump translated to more confidence in the technology and more credibility with customers. 'We think by scaling this nationally we can smash a big barrier to growing the heat pump installer workforce. 'We want plumbers and boiler installers to become advocates for heat pumps and we increase our chances of that if they trust the technology.' Ryan Beattie, director of Thermatek Heating and part of the pilot, installing a heat pump in his home near Edinburgh, said the project was 'invaluable to both my business and to me personally'. 'The route to becoming registered to install heat pumps is not always easy. The project has created a pathway through a confusing landscape. 'I'm now officially a registered heat pump installer and can offer government funding on our installs. 'We have two customers already in the quote stage and I'm excited to see what the future holds,' he said.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
AC MILAN v MONZA: THE OFFICIAL LINE-UPS
AC Milan v Monza is our final dance of the season. Kick-off at San Siro is at 20:45 CEST, and we will wear our 2025/26 Home Kit for the first time. Here are the sides selected by the two coaches: AC MILAN (3-4-2-1): Maignan; Tomori, Gabbia, Pavlović; Musah, Loftus-Cheek, Reijnders, Bartesaghi; Pulisic, João Félix; Jović. Subs.: Sportiello, Torriani; E. Royal, Florenzi, Hernández, Jiménez, Terracciano, Thiaw; Bondo, Fofana; Abraham, Camarda, Chukwueze, Leão, Sottil. Coach: João Costa. MONZA (3-4-3): Pizzignacco; Pereira, Caldirola, Carboni; Birindelli, Bianco, Akpa Akpro, Kyriakopoulos; Ciurria, Keita, Caprari. Subs.: Mazza, Turati; Brorsson, Izzo, Leković, Palacios, Postiglione; Castrovilli, Colombo, Martins, Sensi, Vignato, Zeroli; Mota, Petagna. Coach: Nesta. Referee: Rutella from to the AC Milan WhatsApp channel!
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
AC MILAN v MONZA: MATCH PREVIEW
AC Milan are getting ready to face Monza on Serie A Matchday 38, scheduled for Saturday 24 May at 20:45 CEST at San Siro. Conceição's team will try to end a complicated season with victory. This is our Match Preview: LATEST FROM MILANELLO The Rossoneri are fresh off a 3-1 away defeat to Roma, seeing their European hopes come to an end just like their good streak of results against Bologna (3-1), Genoa (2-1) and Venice (2-0). In the Coppa Italia, the Rossoneri showed good growth, but lost out in the Final at the Olimpico. However, the team are determined to put an end to the season in the best way possible in front of their home fans. Conceição and Gimenez are suspended, Chukwueze and Walker are unavailable, but Hernández and Bondo are both back, so we will likely see a few changes to the side. LATEST FROM MONZA It has been a very difficult season for Monza, having spent pretty much the whole year in last place. Their relegation was confirmed well in advance of the end of the season. Last weekend, the Brianzoli lost 3-1 at home to Empoli just after winning their first game in a long time, 2-1 against Udine. Monza will try to finish the season with a positive performance and a surprise at San Siro. Nesta uses a 3-5-2 with Pizzignacco in goal, Bianco in the middle and Caprari up front; look out for Castrovilli, Mota and Baldé. Nesta said: "On one hand I am glad the season is ending, even though I'm happy here in Monza. We have always had different issues, but they've all been good experience. AC Milan are a great team, they have strong players. Something hasn't gone well we already thinking of how to improve". PRE-MATCH NUMBERS The team who has won the most points from behind (AC Milan - 22), and the team with the least points recovered (Monza - 4) will face each other. AC Milan are the team with the most long balls into the striker (90), whereas Monza have the least (29). AC Milan and Monza have never drawn in Serie A, with four Rossoneri wins and one for Monza. There is an average of 3.2 goals per match. With a goal, Christian Pulisic would equal his goal-scoring record in Europe's Top 5 leagues (12 with AC Milan in 2023/24), but with a goal-contribution he would set a new record: 20 involvements in Serie A 2024/25 (11G, 9A), just like last year (12G+8A). WHERE TO WATCH AC MILAN v MONZA ON TV In Italy, the game will be broadcast on DAZN. To watch it in a different country, you can check out the "Where to Watch AC Milan on TV" section under "Abroad". On the Rossoneri's channels, matchday coverage on Milan TV will begin at 20:00 CEST, leading up to kick-off, followed by interviews and a press conference with Sérgio Conceição. Don't miss our coverage on the AC Milan Official App, our social media channels and WhatsApp. LATEST FROM SERIE A The referee will be Daniele Rutella from Conegliano, making his Serie A debut. The linesmen will be Prenna and Arace, with fourth official Santoro, VAR Ghersini and AVAR Guida. Matchday 38 opened on Friday with Como 0-2 Inter and Napoli 2-0 Cagliari. On Saturday, Bologna vs. Napoli is at 18:00 CEST with AC Milan vs. Monza at 20:45 CEST. On Sunday Atalanta vs. Parma, Empoli vs. Hellas Verona, Lazio vs. Lecce, Torino vs. Roma, Udinese vs. Fiorentina and Venezia vs. Juventus will all be played at 20:45 CEST. Standings: Napoli* 82; Inter* 81; Atalanta 74; Juventus 67; Roma 66; Lazio 65; Fiorentina and Bologna 62; AC Milan 60; Como* 49; Torino and Udinese 44; Genoa 40; Cagliari* 36; Hellas Verona 34; Parma 33; Lecce and Empoli 31; Venezia 29; Monza 18. * = one more game playedThe new PUMA Home Kit 2025/26 is available: buy it now!
