Monday, September 13, 2021

The mystery of the flexible shell

PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUTE

An international research team with participation of the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI has revealed a secret about a marine animal's shell: The researchers have deciphered why the protective cover of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis becomes extremely soft in water and gets hard again in the air. The study appears today in the journal Nature Communications.

The brachiopod Discinisca tenuis lives on the west coast of Africa.I It has a mineral-rich shell that protects it from harmful environmental influences. Bathing the shell in water leads to a structural change in the material: The flat, hard shell becomes so flexible that it can even be folded up without breaking. With the help of the Swiss Light Source SLS, the researchers have deciphered exactly how this transformation takes place.

The phenomenon was discovered by chance a few years ago by Fabio Nudelman, a materials chemist currently at the School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Maggie Cusack, who was recently appointed president of Munster Technological University in Ireland, had provided Nudelman with shells of the brachiopod Discinisca tenuis, which originally came from Namibia. When he wanted to wash the hard object, it suddenly became soft and flexible in contact with water. The shell had absorbed liquid and thereby changed its structure. The process was reversible: When the shell dried, it became hard and brittle again.

Together with colleagues from six countries, Nudelman set out to discover what exactly takes place during this unexpected transformation. "In its composition, the shell resembles bone," he explains. "But bone doesn't change its structure when it gets wet." The same goes for clams: If the animals need to adapt the properties of their shell to different environmental conditions, they normally have to rework the material in a lengthy and energetically costly process, by resorbing and redistributing minerals. It doesn't work simply through the absorption of water.

Hybrid material with a special trick

It was so-called cryo-tomography, performed at the Swiss Light Source SLS, that "opened the door to reveal the secret," says Johannes Ihli, a PSI researcher at SLS. With this technique, the researchers examined the material as if under a very high-resolution microscope, and in fact at extremely low temperatures. "At room temperature it would not have been possible, since the high-energy X-ray light would immediately alter the sensitive shell structure," Ihli explains.

The brachiopod's shell, which is no more than half a millimetre thick, consists of a hybrid material: mainly inorganic mineral in which organic polymers made from proteins and sugars are embedded. Bones, clam shells, and teeth are structured in a similar way out of a mixture of organic and inorganic material. The mineral that constitutes the main component of the shell is a type of fluoroapatite – similar to the material that makes up the enamel of our teeth.

Tiny nanocrystals of this material are arranged in layers. Nudelman compares it to brick walls: "In this analogy, the bricks are the nanocrystals, and the mortar between the bricks consists of organic molecules such as chitin and proteins." As the researchers observed, this "mortar" can absorb large amounts of water, causing it to swell up. Through the storage of water, it changes its structure: It becomes soft, and the bricks become movable with respect to each other. "Then water acts like a lubricant between the individual nanocrystals," Ihli explains. "The crystals can then slip against each other." Through this movement, the shell becomes flexible. The researchers found a network of pores in the shell that was especially effective in guiding water inside and rapidly distributing it throughout the material.

Evolutionary advantage

Discinisca tenuis lives in large clusters in tidal zones on the coast where, depending on the tide, the animals are exposed to strong waves or calm waters. The researchers speculate that it is probably advantageous if the animals can quickly adapt the softness or hardness of their shell to the respective situation: "This could prevent damage to the shell and thus be a key to the animals' survival," they write in the study. The phenomenon may even be more widespread than suspected: "We don't know how many other animal species there might be that have this kind of property," says Nudelman.

Aside from biology and evolution, the newly gained insights are also of interest for materials science: The development of a hard, brittle material whose stiffness can be controlled could hold promise for many applications. Sports clothing or helmets, for example, might be able to flexibly adapt to movements and always offer the protection required depending on the impact. Harnessing this phenomenon could also prove useful in developing bone-replacement materials.

Text: Paul Scherrer Institute/Brigitte Osterath

About PSI

The Paul Scherrer Institute PSI develops, builds and operates large, complex research facilities and makes them available to the national and international research community. The institute's own key research priorities are in the fields of matter and materials, energy and environment and human health. PSI is committed to the training of future generations. Therefore about one quarter of our staff are post-docs, post-graduates or apprentices. Altogether PSI employs 2100 people, thus being the largest research institute in Switzerland. The annual budget amounts to approximately CHF 400 million. PSI is part of the ETH Domain, with the other members being the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology, ETH Zurich and EPFL Lausanne, as well as Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Empa (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) and WSL (Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research).

Participating research institutions

Paul Scherrer Institute PSI, Villigen, Switzerland
University of Bayreuth and Bavarian Polymer Institute, Bayreuth, Germany
ETH Zurich and University of Zurich, Switzerland
University of Bologna, Italy
University of Edinburgh, UK
Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, UK
University of Cambridge, UK
Center for Functional Nanomaterials and National Synchrotron Light Source II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York, USA
Munster Technological University, Cork und Kerry, Ireland

Contact

Dr. Johannes Ihli

Laboratory for Macromolecules and Bioimaging

Paul Scherrer Institute, Forschungsstrasse 111, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland

Telephone: +41 56 310 40 50, e-mail: johannes.ihli@psi.ch [German, English]

Dr. Fabio Nudelman

School of Chemistry

University of Edinburgh, David Brewster 26 Road, Edinburgh EH9 3FJ, United Kingdom

Telephone: +44 131 650 7533, e-mail: fabio.nudelman@ed.ac.uk [English, Portuguese, Hebrew]

Original publication

Mechanical Adaptation of Brachiopod Shells Via Hydration-Induced Structural Changes

J. Ihli, A.S. Schenk, S. Rosenfeldt, K. Wakonig, M. Holler, G. Falini, L. Pasquini, E. Delacou, J. Buckman, T.S. Glen, T. Kress, E.H.R. Tsai, D.G. Reid, M.J. Duer, M. Cusack, F. Nudelman

Nature Communications, 10 September 2021 (online)

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-25613-4

JOURNAL

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-021-25613-4

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

10-Sep-2021

Iron supplements not linked to cognitive improvements for kids

A study in rural Bangladesh has concluded that preventive iron treatment has no impact on young children’s development

Peer-Reviewed Publication

WALTER AND ELIZA HALL INSTITUTE

Iron supplements not linked to cognitive improvements for kids — IMAGE: A STUDY IN RURAL BANGLADESH HAS CONCLUDED THAT PREVENTIVE IRON TREATMENT HAS NO IMPACT ON YOUNG CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT. view more
CREDIT: IMAGE COURTESY OF WEHI

A study in rural Bangladesh has concluded that preventive iron treatment has no impact on young children’s development.

Iron supplements are administered to young children worldwide to prevent anaemia, in line with global guidelines.

Led by WEHI Associate Professor Sant-Rayn Pasricha, in collaboration with Dr Jena Hamadani from the International Center for Diarrheal Diseases Research Bangladesh and Professor Beverley-Ann Biggs from the Doherty Institute, and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the study measured the impact of iron supplements on child cognitive function, behaviour and development.

At a glance

A randomised controlled trial of 3300 children in rural Bangladesh has concluded that while iron supplements improve anaemia in children, these interventions had no impact on cognitive function, behaviour or development.
This study is expected to help inform future global health policy guidelines about the use of iron interventions for hundreds of millions of children worldwide.

Supplements show no impact on development

Iron was provided to eight-month-old children, as both iron drops and home fortification packets (multiple micronutrient powders), and neither intervention improved child development, although both improved anaemia.

The study measured children’s cognitive, language and motor development, as well as behaviour, and growth, including height and weight, and found iron supplements had no impact on any of these areas of development.

Associate Professor Pasricha said the research could lead to major changes in global nutrition policy.

“We have been administering iron supplements to young children worldwide for decades in the belief that it had a positive impact on their development, without proper evidence it was actually beneficial,” he said.

“What we have demonstrated, is that while iron supplements improved anaemia in children, these interventions had no impact on growth, cognitive function, behaviour or development.”

“This has implications for how we treat iron deficiency and anaemia in babies and young children worldwide.”

Guiding future global health policy

Associate Professor Pasricha said anaemia in young children has long been linked with poor health outcomes and developmental delays.

“This led to policies of universal distribution of iron interventions to children, based on the assumption that iron would reverse poor child development,” he said. “Our rigorous study shows this is not the case.”

The study also evaluated adverse side effects in children who took the iron supplements preventatively.

Dr Hamadani said for some of these children the supplements may do more harm than good.

“In children taking iron supplements who did not have anaemia, they may actually have had increased presentations to clinics due to episodes of diarrhoea, possibly indicating iron interventions were doing more harm than good,” she said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends iron supplements are given to all young children in low and middle-income countries where anaemia is common.

“We need to carefully reconsider the use of these interventions based on this study,” Associate Professor Pasricha said.

“It also puts into question the need to screen otherwise healthy, asymptomatic children for anaemia.”

Professor Biggs said she expected the findings to inform future global health policy guidelines about the use of iron interventions in young children.

“This study may also help inform guidelines for the treatment and prevention of anaemia in Indigenous populations in Australia,” she said.

###

This work was made possible with funding from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the Government of Bangladesh, Global Affairs Canada, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and the Victorian Government, with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in the United Kingdom.

JOURNAL

New England Journal of Medicine

DOI

10.1056/NEJMoa2034187

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Benefits and Risks of Universal Iron Interventions in Infants

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

8-Sep-2021

Two departing FDA leaders among scientists who say Covid-19 vaccines do not currently 'show a need for boosting'

The current evidence on Covid-19 vaccines does not appear to support a need for booster shots in the general public right now, according to an international group of vaccine scientists, including some from the US Food and Drug Administration and the World Health Organization.

A health worker prepares a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services in Jerusalem, on March 2, 2021.

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN

"Current evidence does not, therefore, appear to show a need for boosting in the general population, in which efficacy against severe disease remains high," the scientists write in a new opinion piece, published Monday in the medical journal The Lancet.

The authors of the paper include two senior FDA vaccine leaders, Dr. Philip Krause and Marion Gruber, who will be stepping down in October and November, the FDA announced late last month. No further details were released about their retirements, although they sparked questions about whether the departures would affect the agency's work.

The FDA and other public health agencies around the world continue to examine evidence on Covid-19 vaccine efficacy and the role booster doses of vaccine might play in improving immunity against the disease.

For the new paper in The Lancet, the scientists note that they reviewed randomized trials and observational studies on Covid-19 vaccines and consistently find that "vaccine efficacy is substantially greater against severe disease than against any infection; in addition, vaccination appears to be substantially protective against severe disease from all the main viral variants. Although the efficacy of most vaccines against symptomatic disease is somewhat less for the delta variant than for the alpha variant, there is still high vaccine efficacy against both symptomatic and severe disease due to the delta variant."

The scientists note that there is an opportunity right now to study variant-based boosters before there could be a widespread need for them. But they also argue in their paper that the current Covid-19 vaccine supply could "save more lives" if used in people who are not yet vaccinated than if used as boosters. In early August, the World Health Organization called for a moratorium on booster shots until at least the end of September.

"To date, none of these studies has provided credible evidence of substantially declining protection against severe disease, even when there appear to be declines over time in vaccine efficacy against symptomatic disease," the scientists write in their paper.

"The limited supply of these vaccines will save the most lives if made available to people who are at appreciable risk of serious disease and have not yet received any vaccine. Even if some gain can ultimately be obtained from boosting, it will not outweigh the benefits of providing initial protection to the unvaccinated," the scientists write. "If vaccines are deployed where they would do the most good, they could hasten the end of the pandemic by inhibiting further evolution of variants."

The paper published just shy of a month after US federal health officials announced plans for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine to be offered this fall, starting September 20, subject to authorization from the FDA and sign off from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA's Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee is meeting this Friday to discuss vaccine makers Pfizer and BioNTech's application to administer their Covid-19 vaccine as a third dose, or "booster" shot, to people ages 16 and older.

"The message that boosting might soon be needed, if not justified by robust data and analysis, could adversely affect confidence in vaccines and undermine messaging about the value of primary vaccination. Public health authorities should also carefully consider the consequences for primary vaccination campaigns of endorsing boosters only for selected vaccines," the scientists write in their new paper. "Booster programmes that affect some but not all vaccinees may be difficult to implement—so it will be important to base recommendations on complete data about all vaccines available in a country, to consider the logistics of vaccination, and to develop clear public health messaging before boosting is widely recommended."

Overall, the views in the new opinion paper do not reflect the views of the FDA, the agency told CNN in an emailed statement Monday.

"As noted in the article, the views of the authors do not represent the views of the agency. We are in the middle of a deliberative process of reviewing Pfizer's booster shot supplemental approval submission, and FDA as a matter of practice does not comment on pending matters before the agency," an FDA spokesperson said. "We look forward to a robust and transparent discussion on Friday about that application."

WHO push to wait on boosters

Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated his call for wealthy nations to refrain from boosting their Covid-19 vaccinations until shots are available to more of the world. He urged countries to wait until at least the end of the year -- a longer timeline than WHO's initial call to wait till the end of September.

"Low and lower-middle income countries are not the second or third priority. Their health workers, older people, and other at risk groups have the same right to be protected," Tedros said.

"I will not stay silent when the companies and countries that control the global supply of vaccines think the world's poor should be satisfied with leftovers."

White House press secretary Jen Psaki then reiterated the Biden administration's view that the US can offer Covid-19 booster shots to Americans this fall while at the same time working to provide vaccines to people around the world who have not yet received a shot.

"Our view is that this is a false choice," Psaki told reporters at a White House briefing. "And the United States has donated and shared about 140 million doses with over 90 countries -- more than all other countries combined."

Sask. uses emergency powers to move health staff, quashing union talks
Saskatchewan’s government has invoked emergency powers to redeploy thousands of health-care workers to the COVID-19 pandemic’s front lines.

© Provided by Star Phoenix Premier Scott Moe speaks at a press conference to provide an update on COVID-19 measures in the province. Photo taken in Saskatoon, SK on Friday, September 10, 2021.

The order, issued Monday, quashes negotiations between the Saskatchewan Health Authority and unions representing the province’s health-care workers, who hoped a deal could be reached before swaths of members were potentially moved out of their existing jobs.

“We’re deeply disappointed,” said CUPE 5430 president Sandra Seitz. “We were in discussions with the SHA. We’re disappointed that they would take such a heavy hand.”

Seitz and leaders of other unions — the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, SEIU-West, SGEU and the Health Sciences Association of Saskatchewan — spent days in discussion with the SHA about potentially resurrecting the letter of understanding that allowed thousands of workers to flit between different jobs to meet the needs of the pandemic in its earlier waves.

That was before Saskatchewan lifted its COVID-19 public health measures. Now, public health teams face unprecedented case counts without the full force of the health-care system helping them, and emergency room staff say they’re faced with a wave of patients as chronic fatigue contributes to understaffing.

Premier Scott Moe and SHA CEO Scott Livingstone said on Friday that they had returned to the bargaining table with unions to restore a letter of understanding to divert staff to emergency rooms and other settings. Moe said “help is on the way.”

Livingstone said there was a 160 per cent increase in unfilled shifts in July compared to the same month in 2020, and that COVID-19 case loads are expected to worsen. He said diverting staff would necessitate a “service slowdown” in other parts of the health-care system that, in some cases, will result in 100 per cent of certain services being cancelled.

“Case numbers are going up. They’re going up significantly, and they’ve already occurred — we just don’t know (about) them yet,” Livingstone said.

Union leaders have agreed the workloads in emergency rooms are untenable, but have raised concerns about resurrecting the old letter of understanding as a solution. SUN President Tracy Zambory said in a previous interview that she felt the letter was abused to force staff to frequently do work outside the terms of the collective agreement.

When asked if her union was considering a legal challenge, Seitz said it was too soon to answer.

In a prepared statement, Health Minister Paul Merriman thanked unions and workers, saying “they are all committed to continue problem solving and working together to meet the challenge of the pandemic.”

The Opposition NDP said invoking emergency powers was a sign of the government’s failure to control the spread of COVID-19. In a joint statement, labour critic Carla Beck and health critic Vicki Mowat said Moe “should have been working collaboratively with health-care workers throughout the summer to ensure these necessary agreements were in place.

“Instead, we now have arrangements being imposed on workers, record numbers of new COVID-19 cases, and non-COVID patients being forced to go without needed treatments. All of this could have been prevented if Scott Moe had listened to the experts and focused on controlling the fourth wave.”
Related

Health-care unions in talks with SHA on renewing pandemic protocols

Sask. to cancel many elective surgeries; must bargain with unions on staff redeployment

Joni Mitchell Signs With Reservoir to Administer Her Publishing Catalog

Joni Michell

Reservoir Media, Inc. has announced a new publishing administration deal with iconic singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell. The agreement will see the independent music company administering Mitchell’s entire songwriting catalog worldwide, including all 19 of her studio albums.

While the award-winning Canadian talent retains the ownership of her publishing catalog, the administration of its songs has bounced around various publishing entities in the past. Most recently, Mitchell’s catalog had been administered worldwide by Sony Music Publishing since the two parties struck a deal in 1997.

Long considered one of the most influential artists and writers of the 20th century, Mitchell has penned songs ranging from jazz to folk to pop since she began releasing music over five decades ago, including “Big Yellow Taxi,” “Woodstock,” “A Case of You,” and more. Though she has penned hits across multiple decades, she is perhaps most revered for her 1971 album Blue, a stunning account of womanhood and one that is often considered to be among the best albums of all time. Following its 50th anniversary earlier this year, Mitchell released a slew of new demos and outtakes from her Blue era in celebration of its ongoing success.

Other classic albums by Mitchell include the Blue followup For the Roses (1972), as well as Court and Spark (1974), Hejira (1976) and late-career releases like Turbulent Indigo (1994) and Both Sides Now (2000).

In total, the prolific artist has released 19 studio albums and has earned nine Grammy awards for her work, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002. She has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Later this year, Mitchell will be honored as a recipient of the 2021 Kennedy Center Honor at a ceremony in Washington D.C.

Mitchell’s new agreement with Reservoir Media arrives shortly after the company’s IPO this summer, making it the first U.S.-based independent music company and first U.S.-based female founded and led music company to be publicly traded. However, the Reservoir Media stock was off to a rocky start, slipping by 4.9% in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange, opening at $9.49 and closing at $9.03.

In a recent statement, Mitchell notes she is “looking forward to working with Reservoir.” Reservoir Founder & CEO Golnar Khosrowshahi adds, “Joni is a musical pioneer and a once-in-a-lifetime creator, and we look forward to safeguarding her catalog and championing her legacy.”

Bioscience firm claims will bring back extinct woolly mammoth

AFP

It is the elephant in the genomics room: can extinct species be resurrected? One bioscience firm insists they can, announcing Monday its intent to use emerging technology to restore the woolly mammoth to the Arctic tundra

Woolly mammoths may yet walk the Arctic again, if biosciences firm Colossal is able to use gene-editing techniques to bring back the extinct species

New company Colossal, capitalizing on a partnership with a Harvard geneticist, said its species "de-extinction" effort has the potential to anchor a working model for restoring damaged or lost ecosystems and thereby help slow or even halt the effects of climate change.

"Never before has humanity been able to harness the power of this technology to rebuild ecosystems, heal our Earth and preserve its future through the repopulation of extinct animals," Colossal chief executive and co-founder Ben Lamm, an emerging technology entrepreneur, said in a statement.

"In addition to bringing back ancient extinct species like the woolly mammoth, we will be able to leverage our technologies to help preserve critically endangered species that are on the verge of extinction and restore animals where humankind had a hand in their demise."

Woolly mammoths roamed much of the Arctic, and co-existed with early humans who hunted the cold-resistent herbivores for food and used its tusks and bones as tools.

The animals died out about 4,000 years ago. For decades, scientists have been recovering bits and pieces of mammoth tusks, bones, teeth and hair to extract and try to sequence the mammoth's DNA.

Colossal says it aims to insert DNA sequences of woolly mammoths, collected from well-preserved remains in the permafrost and frozen steppes, into the genome of Asian elephants, to create an "elephant-mammoth hybrid."

Asian elephants and woolly mammoths share a 99.6 percent similar DNA makeup, Colossal says on its website.

Company co-founder George Church is a renowned geneticist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, who is using pioneering techniques, including CRISPR technology, to advance species de-extinction.

"Technologies discovered in pursuit of this grand vision -- a living, walking proxy of a woolly mammoth -- could create very significant opportunities in conservation and beyond," Church said in the statement.

The woolly mammoth's vast migration patterns were seen as critical to preserving the Arctic region's environmental health.

Colossal says restoring the beasts has the potential to revitalize the Arctic grasslands, a vast region with major climate change-combatting properties, such as carbon sequestering and methane suppression.

Colossal is funded in part through a $15 million seed round from investors and says its advisors include leaders in bioethics and genomics.

mlm/sw

CP (TSX:CP) Stock Wins Kansas City Bid! Here’s What Investors Should Know
Amy Legate-Wolfe

It’s official. Over the weekend, Kansas City Southern (NYSE:KSU) accepted Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP)(NYSE:CP) $31 billion offer. The cash-and-stock acquisition beat out top rival Canadian National Railway (TSX:CNR)(NYSE:CNI). Shares of CP stock have fallen 4% since last week, and CNR stock is down 6% in the last week as of writing.

But is it all over?

What happened?

The United States’s Surface Transportation Board (STB) became the tie breaker in this battle for the ultimate North American railway. The STB stuck to its guns, declaring CP stock the clear choice. CNR stock now has until Friday to submit a better offer or lose the deal entirely. However, given that its offer before was already much higher than CP stock’s, it looks like the STB won’t be changing its mind, so neither will KCS.

So what?

This deal is huge. The winner of the KCS deal would create the first direct railway line that would link Canada to the United States and down to Mexico. Future investors are likely to see a massive increase in shares and revenue from the deal, whichever side it lands on.

However, it’s clear why some investors are simply unhappy with the deal. It’s more than just a touch expensive. Hedge fund TCI management pressured CNR stock to abandon the deal. It would simply put too much stress on the company. In fact, the leader of the fund, Chris Hohn, launched a bid to oust CNR chairman Robert Pace, CEO John-Jacques Ruest, and other directors, stating the deal was set up to fail from the very beginning.

Meanwhile, it stands to gain a lot of cash from the break up. CNR stock would receive US$700 million as a break-up fee and then another US$700 million that it paid early to convince KCS to pass on the CP stock deal. So, a total of US$1.4 billion could be coming the company’s way.

CP stock, meanwhile, became the winner (for now) thanks to no rail overlap. CNR stock has parallel lines that operate over a central portion of the United States. So, CP stock would make far more sense in that vein.

Now what?

CP stock will have to pay out this heavy bill. And while it’s less overall than the CNR stock deal, the company does get a $300 per share in cash and stock. That’s higher than the $275 per share cash and stock originally declared by the railway companies in March. So, shares have started dropping, as investors know that in the near future, CP stock is likely to have to start putting revenue in other areas besides its dividend.

So, these rail stocks will likely continue to be part of headlines for at least this week. We’ll either get another bid from CNR stock this coming Friday, or perhaps management will call it quits. We have yet to hear from the company on either side as of writing.

But long-term investors should note: true, the deal is expensive in either case. However, this new line goes through heavy agriculture and oil services in the United States. The revenue coming from this deal will be massive. So, pay attention. There’s a reason both companies have been fighting so hard.

The post CP (TSX:CP) Stock Wins Kansas City Bid! Here’s What Investors Should Know appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

More reading
CN Railway (TSX:CNR): Why Investors Hate the KSU Deal
CN Rail Stock Could Surge Further on Activist Involvement
The 3 Best Canadian Stocks to Buy in September 2021
CNR (TSX:CNR) Stock or CP (TSX:CP) Stock: Which Should You Buy?
Should You Follow Billionaires Into Railroad Stocks?

Fool contributor Amy Legate-Wolfe owns shares of Canadian Pacific Railway Limited. The Motley Fool recommends Canadian National Railway.

The unfolding of the Kansas City Southern takeover saga

(Reuters) - Kansas City Southern said it planned to accept Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd's $27.2 billion cash-and-stock acquisition offer as superior to its $29.6 billion deal to sell itself to Canadian National Railway Ltd.

A freight train of KCS Railway Company is pictured in Toluca

This comes after the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) rejected a temporary "voting trust" structure last month that would have allowed Kansas City Southern shareholders to receive the $325-per-share cash-and-stock consideration under the deal with Canadian National without having to wait for full regulatory approval.

Below are the events that unfolded over several months as Canadian National and Canadian Pacific locked horns to take control of Kansas City Southern to create the first railway spanning the United States, Mexico and Canada, as they stand to benefit from a pick-up in trade.

MARCH 21: CANADIAN PACIFIC AGREES TO ACQUIRE KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN

Canadian Pacific agreed to acquire Kansas City Southern in a $25 billion cash-and-stock deal, which would be the largest ever combination of North American railways by transaction value.

MARCH 22: FARM GROUPS SHOW SUPPORT FOR CP-KCS DEAL

Farm groups said Canadian Pacific's deal to buy Kansas City Southern would create a rail network from Canada to Mexico that could smooth the flow of their goods to market.

APRIL 20: CANADIAN NATIONAL TRUMPS CP'S OFFER

Canadian National offered to buy Kansas City for about $33.7 billion, trumping Canadian Pacific's buyout offer for the railroad operator. Canadian National said it was willing to match the terms of Canadian Pacific's offer for Kansas City Southern.

APRIL 21: CN KICKS OFF REGULATORY APPROVAL PROCESS FOR KCS DEAL

Canadian National informed the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which oversees freight rail service and rates in the United States, that it planned to file an application, seeking permission to combine with Kansas City Southern.

APRIL 21: CANADIAN PACIFIC RULES OUT RAISING BID FOR KCS

Canadian Pacific's Chief Executive Keith Creel said the company would not raise its bid for Kansas City Southern and that bigger rival Canadian National's offer is "not a real deal". Creel said the company was not ready to put its "balance sheet at risk."

APRIL 22: CN SHOWS CONFIDENCE IN DEAL GETTING APPROVAL

Canadian National informed Kansas City Southern's board about its confidence in winning regulatory approvals for its offer for the U.S. railroad.

APRIL 23: LAWMAKER WARNS AGAINST RAILROAD CONSOLIDATION

Senior U.S. lawmaker said the potential acquisition of the Kansas City Southern should set off "alarm bells" about industry consolidation, warning Wall Street would make money from railroad consolidation, but the U.S. economy and workforce will suffer.

APRIL 24: U.S. REGULATOR GIVES CP EARLY WIN IN TAKEOVER WAR

The STB granted a waiver to Canadian Pacific's bid for Kansas City Southern, which means the deal would not be subjected to the tougher railroad merger rules the regulator put in place in 2001. At the same time, Kansas City Southern said its board had determined that a competing offer from Canadian National could be expected to lead to a "superior proposal."

APRIL 26: RAIL CUSTOMERS PICK SIDES IN THE TAKEOVER WAR

North America's freight rail customers, from grain shippers to logistics companies, chose sides as the takeover war continued. Canadian National filed 409 letters of support with the STB, almost at par with Canadian Pacific's stated level of support. Some companies like Coca-Cola Co and Conagra were publicly supporting both rail bids.

MAY 1: CP OBJECTS TO CANADIAN NATIONAL's BID

Canadian Pacific filed a formal objection stating Canadian National's rival bid for Kansas City does not qualify to be exempted from tougher merger rules as the CN-KCS deal would greatly expand the size of the fifth largest U.S. Class 1 railroad.

MAY 6: STB APPROVES CP'S VOTING TRUST FOR KCS DEAL

The STB approved the voting trust for Canadian Pacific's proposed acquisition of Kansas City. Canadian Pacific had earlier agreed to bear most of the risk of the merger deal not going through. Canadian Pacific was going to buy Kansas City shares and place them in an independent voting trust, insulating the acquisition target from its control until the STB cleared the deal.

MAY 13: KCS DECLARES CN BID SUPERIOR TO CP DEAL

Kansas City Southern accepted Canadian National's bid, leaving Canadian Pacific with five business days to make a new offer. If Canadian Pacific were to table a new offer, a bidding war could ensue.

MAY 14: DOJ SAYS CANADIAN NATIONAL BID A GREATER RISK TO COMPETITION

The U.S. Department of Justice said Canadian National's bid for Kansas City Southern appears to pose greater risks to competition than an agreement with Canadian Pacific.

MAY 18: SHAREHOLDER URGES CANADIAN NATIONAL TO AMEND KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN DEAL

Billionaire hedge fund manager Chris Hohn urged Canadian National Railway to abandon its bid for Kansas City Southern unless the Canadian railroad operator changed its agreement to drop a key feature that could invite more regulatory scrutiny.

MAY 20: CANADIAN PACIFIC ASKS KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN TO REJECT RIVAL OFFER

Canadian Pacific asked the U.S. railroad operator to reject rival Canadian National Railway's takeover offer, saying there was no longer any basis to terminate the CP-KCS agreement.

MAY 21: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN STICKS TO CANADIAN NATIONAL OFFER

Kansas City Southern reiterated that Canadian National Railway's offer was "superior".

MAY 26: CANADIAN NATIONAL TO DIVEST KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN'S 70-MILE RAIL OVERLAP

Canadian National Railway agreed to divest Kansas City Southern's 70-mile rail line between New Orleans and Baton Rouge to eliminate the only overlap between the two railroad operators.

AUG. 10: CANADIAN PACIFIC CHALLENGES CANADIAN NATIONAL WITH $27 BLN KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN BID

Canadian Pacific presented a new $27 billion offer for U.S. peer Kansas City Southern.

AUG. 12: KANSAS CITY DOES NOT RECOMMEND CANADIAN PACIFIC'S NEW PROPOSAL, STICKS WITH CN

Kansas City Southern's board determined that the unsolicited proposal received from Canadian Pacific Railway does not constitute a "superior proposal" to its agreement with Canadian National.

AUG. 12: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN TO DELAY CANADIAN NATIONAL DEAL VOTE

Kansas City Southern said it would delay a shareholder vote on its deal to sell itself to Canadian National if the STB has not delivered its decision by Aug. 17.

AUG. 31: STB REJECTS CANADIAN NATIONAL'S VOTING TRUST STRUCTURE

STB rejected Canadian National's voting trust structure that would have allowed the railroad to proceed with its $29 billion proposed acquisition of Kansas City Southern.

SEPT. 1: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN PUTS OFF SHAREHOLDER MEET

Kansas City Southern to adjourn a shareholders meeting that was set to vote on its deal with Canadian National Railway. The railroad operator did not specify when the rescheduled meeting would be held. Additionally, the company said it was working with Canadian National to evaluate the options available and would re-evaluate Canadian Pacific's offer.

SEPT. 1: CP CHIEF UNLIKELY TO OFFER KANSAS CITY $300/SHARE AFTER SEPT. 12 DEADLINE

Canadian Pacific Railway CEO said the company would not be as willing to offer Kansas City $300 per share should the U.S. railroad operator's board fail to decide on the offer by its Sept. 12 deadline.

SEPT. 4: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN TO BEGIN TALKS WITH CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY

Kansas City Southern said it will initiate talks with Canadian Pacific as CP's unsolicited proposal to acquire it could reasonably be expected to lead to a better proposal than one made by Canadian National Railway.

SEPT. 7: CANADIAN NATIONAL SHAREHOLDER TO NOMINATE FIVE DIRECTORS TO COMPANY'S BOARD

Billionaire Chris Hohn's TCI Fund Management said it intends to nominate directors to replace about half of Canadian National's board, after its costly attempts to buy Kansas City Southern were dealt a blow by the U.S. regulator.

SEPT. 12: KANSAS CITY SOUTHERN PLANS TO ACCEPT CANADIAN PACIFIC'S BID

Kansas City Southern said it planned to accept Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd's $27.2 billion cash-and-stock acquisition offer as superior to its $29.6 billion deal to sell itself to Canadian National Railway.

(Reporting by Shreyasee Raj in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Maju Samuel)

Why takeovers rather than arms may be the talk of UK defence fair

Jasper Jolly

THE GUARDIAN

Defence industry bosses have missed out on a year’s worth of hobnobbing with customers at trade fairs like the Farnborough and Paris air shows, but will have the chance to make up for lost time this week when Europe’s biggest arms fair returns to the ExCeL centre in London.

Police stand between protesters and the ExCeL centre in London where the controversial DSEI arms fair begins on Tuesday.

Amid tight security and demonstrations by protestors, a vast array of weaponry will be on sale at the UK’s most controversial trade fair, DSEI, which opens on Tuesday. However, it is the purchase of UK companies that is likely to occupy the thoughts of bosses – and the government – in one corner of the arms fair.

Exhibitors supplying some of UK’s most sensitive defence equipment – from Meggitt, which makes fighter jet wheels, to Ultra Electronics, whose communications gear is found on nuclear submarines – are being snapped up by foreign buyers. They promise to join a string of once-mighty defence and industrial companies, from GKN to Cobham, that have fallen prey to takeovers in recent years.

That flow of deals has prompted concerns over the “hollowing out” of British manufacturing, and the government’s apparent inability – or reluctance - to prevent the sale of some of the UK’s longest-established defence businesses. Those takeovers have also shone a light on promises made by buyers, from preserving jobs to sustaining investment in Britain, and whether they amount to anything. The government has wavered between a desire to promote post-Brexit Britain as a free market open to global business and pleasing voters in newly won areas of the country with a traditional reliance on manufacturing jobs.© Photograph: Penelope Barritt/REX/Shutterstock

The approach has tilted towards the active end under Boris Johnson. The government has intervened in a takeover on national security grounds 15 times since the Enterprise Act was introduced in 2002. But five of those have occurred in the last two years, and legislation taking effect on 4 January will make it easier to intervene on security grounds.

Yet Kevin Craven, the chief executive ADS Group, an aerospace and defence industry lobby group, said the new powers were late.

“One could argue that the capacity and the legislative framework to make these decisions with regard to national sovereign capability has not been present,” he said. “So inevitably these considerations come late in the day and it’s hurried.”

The government has set up a new directorate within the Ministry of Defence to focus on industrial strategy after the pandemic highlighted the armed forces’ reliance on global supply chains that could easily fall apart.

According to Jeremy Quin, the defence procurement minister, the new strategy will help to “retain onshore critical industries we need for our national security” while promoting the UK as a “science superpower”.

By any measure it has been an extraordinary period of buyouts and takeover approaches of UK companies, including the supermarket chains Asda and Morrisons, the property developer St Modwen and the infrastructure builder John Laing. Private equity firms have backed 16 take-private deals so far in 2021, with a combined value of $46bn (£33bn), according to the data company Refinitiv. This is well above the previous records of $41bn and $32bn in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Rock-bottom borrowing costs and weaker valuations versus US rivals have put big industrial companies, with decades of expertise and strategic importance, into play.

Meggitt claims technological heritage stretching back to instruments for hot air balloons in the 1850s; it is likely to be bought by the US company Parker-Hannifin for £6.3bn. Instruments made by a predecessor to Ultra received the Titanic’s mayday call in 1912; it is subject to a £2.6bn bid by the aerospace group Cobham. Cobham, which was founded by the British aviation pioneer Alan Cobham in 1934, was itself taken over by the US private equity firm Advent last year in a £4bn deal.

The Advent-backed buyout of Ultra Electronics, which makes technically and militarily sensitive “sonobuoys” for submarine hunting, is likely to be a key test of how muscular the government’s approach will be.

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, ordered Ultra to withhold information on what products it maked for the MoD while the Competition and Markets Authority investigated whether there were national security implications that warranted the deal being blocked.

Bidders’ promises are now under intense scrutiny. Advent said it would honour Cobham’s existing government contracts and also keep R&D in the UK, but that has not prevented the sale of most of the British company’s assets within 18 months of the takeover. Melrose promised to keep its headquarters and some research and development in the UK – but still closed British aerospace and automotive factories. Workers at one of those plants – GKN Driveline in Erdington, Birmingham – are going on strike in protest, but more than 500 will be made redundant next May.

Kevan Jones, a Labour MP on parliament’s defence committee, said the acquisition spree, coupled with the failure to insist that work on big government contracts stayed in the UK, could eventually end up “hollowing out” the UK’s research and development abilities. He cited the example of Cobham’s recent break-up, which he said was “avoidable”.

Other nations such as the US or France are “very protective” of their industries and see retaining domestic manufacturing abilities as part of national security, in contrast to the UK, Jones added. “I’m not closing the door to foreign investments, but we’ve got to make sure there are firm commitments in terms of jobs.”

SEE

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for PERMANENT ARMS ECONOMY

RUNAWAY

Afghan withdrawal raises questions about United States, Gulf Arab official says

"If there is a geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan, we will see Pakistan and China on one hand and we will see India, Iran and Russia on the other hand I don’t think the Americans are going to be a part of the geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan."

LONDON (Reuters) - The United States' chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan has raised questions for its Arab allies in the Middle East about whether or not they can continue to rely on Washington, a senior Gulf Arab official said on Monday.

Taliban walk in front of a military airplane a day after the U.S. troops withdrawal from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul

U.S. allies fear the Taliban's return and the vacuum left by the West's chaotic withdrawal will allow militants from al Qaeda to gain a foothold in Afghanistan 20 years after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"Afghanistan is an earthquake, a shattering, shattering earthquake and this is going to stay with us for a very, very long time," the Gulf Arab official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the diplomacy.

"Can we really depend on an American security umbrella for the next 20 years? I think this is very problematic right now – really very problematic."

Gulf Arab allies of the United States find the way that U.S. foreign policy appears to oscillate with "180-degree shifts" problematic and fears that militants will gain a foothold in Afghanistan, the official said.

The official said that the withdrawal of the United States had sent a message to militants across the world that all they had to do was to continue their fight.

"We don’t know how this Afghan regime will turn out – we think most probably it will be the same Taliban. Slightly more world savvy but not by much," the official said.

The official said that if there was to be a geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan it would be between China and Pakistan on the one hand and Russia, Iran and India on the other.

The United States, the official said, would not be part of that struggle.

"If there is a geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan, we will see Pakistan and China on one hand and we will see India, Iran and Russia on the other hand," the official said.

"And I don’t think the Americans are going to be a part of the geopolitical struggle over Afghanistan."

THE ROBOTS ARE ~~COMING~~ ALREADY HERE

Robodog patrols data center and checks server temps. Requires no treats or bathroom breaks

Veronica Combs 9 hrs ago

Novva Data Centers and engineering students at Brigham Young University have built a new security guard with a photographic memory and a keen sense of temperature. The engineering students started with the four-limbed robot built by Boston Dynamics and customized its hardware and software to fit the data center's requirements.

Novva Data Centers has a new member of its security team:

WIRE, a customized version of Spot, the dog robot from Boston Dynamics.

Image: Novaa Data Centers

© Image: Novva Data Centers

WIRE--short for Wes' Industrious Robot Employee--completes regular security checks of the facility to monitor temperature levels and make sure all the humans in the building are supposed to be there.

The robot greets people it recognizes by name. If the robot does not recognize an individual in the facility, it alerts central command, takes note of the person and their position, and captures an image.

SEE: Patrol bot hits the ground roving to assist with COVID-19 safety protocols and more (TechRepublic)

WIRE runs various prescribed missions at regular and random patterns on its own. If for some reason it loses connectivity, it automatically lays down or sits. If it falls over, it can automatically right itself. A human can manually override the dog to investigate or go off course if needed.

Novaa CEO Wes Swenson said the company's use of these robots will evolve with the machines themselves.

"With the eventuality that 'limbs' will evolve with future generations, they will be able to open doors for one another and go through security portals, similar to humans," he said. "We envision them assisting with payloads in the near future as well."

SEE: See Spot help: Smart follow system could offer new industrial robotic applications (TechRepublic)

If the robot detects an abnormal temperature, it registers the anomaly with central command. Central command then validates and correlates the anomaly via SNMP monitors. The company uses the robot's monitoring data to perform statistical process control to improve environmental and mechanical management.

Engineering students at BYU customized Boston Dynamics' Spot as part of a capstone project.

"We've been able to work with Boston Dynamics in a way that we've come up with issues on Spot's side that Boston Dynamics has been able to fix for other owners and help progress this state-of-the-art robot," Derek Benham, a computer engineering student at BYU, said in a video interview about the project.

Student Ken Flinders said a user records missions for WIRE and then selects which ones to run in a specific order.

Novva plans to deploy up to four dogs at the Utah data center to cover the entire facility. The company's 100-acre campus in West Jordan has 180 MW of capacity and uses a waterless cooling system and renewable energy. The company recently completed the first phase of a building plan for a 1.5 million square foot data center. Novva Data Centers provides wholesale and multi-tenant colocation infrastructure services to local, national and international customers.

Swenson said the robot is working inside for now, but he expects to expand its patrols to the entire campus at some point.

The Utah data center also uses an automated drone stationed outside in a weatherized and heated vestibule. It is equipped with 4k live video, infrared, FLIR, and night vision to run missions day and night.

The drone can detect cars, heat signatures from humans, air leaks and temperature anomalies, according to the company. The drone flies pre-programmed routes that include no fly zones and minimum and maximum height elevations.

Swenson said future security plans will synchronize aerial and ground efforts between the robot and the drone.