Archives for May 3, 2019

Bioengineers 3D print complex vascular networks

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They’ll be essential to 3D-printed organs and replacement tissues.

Bioengineers are one step closer to 3D printing organs and tissues. A team led by Rice University and the University of Washington have developed a tool to 3D print complex and “exquisitely entangled” vascular networks. These mimic the body’s natural passageways for blood, air, lymph and other fluids, and they will be essential for artificial organs.

For decades, one of the challenges in replicating human tissues has been figuring out a way to get nutrients and oxygen into the tissue and how to remove waste. Our bodies use vascular networks to do this, but it’s been hard to recreate those in soft, artificial materials.

This new tool overcomes those challenges by printing thin layers of a liquid, pre-hydrogel solution, which becomes solid when it’s exposed to blue light. This allowed the scientists to create biocompatible gels with intricate internal architecture similar to the human body’s vascular networks.

The researchers relied on other open-source projects to create their tool — called the stereolithography apparatus for tissue engineering, or SLATE. And as a way of giving back, they’ve made SLATE open source, as well. Their findings were published in Science this week, and all of their experiment data is free and open to the public. While the researchers say we’re just beginning to understand the complex form and function of the body’s structures, they hope this will help make 3D-printed organs a viable option sooner rather than later.

Tesla adds Lane Departure Avoidance that works when Autopilot is off

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The update is rolling out to Model 3s first.

While Tesla continues to tout the benefits of its Autopilot driving assist and insist that true self-driving capability is close to release, its latest updates work even when Autopilot isn’t on. As described in a blog post, Lane Departure Avoidance and Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance use the cameras, sensors and radar in its cars to avoid dangerous situations. Other manufacturers use their car’s driving assist sensors in similar ways, and it’s good to see Tesla enhancing safety at all times. The features are coming to Model 3 cars first, and eventually all of its cars built after October 2016, which are the ones equipped with NVIDIA-powered Autopilot 2.0 hardware or newer.

When the new hardware first rolled out, it lacked some of the earlier setup’s safety features including basic lane departure warnings, but eventually added them with calibration and updates. Even with the updates, the Autopilot system has also faced controversy due to accidents and claims drivers aren’t paying enough attention while the system is enabled — today’s post notably specifies that “Autopilot is designed to reduce fatigue by helping drivers stay in their lane, while also ensuring that they keep their hands on the wheel.”

Tesla

Now, it adds Lane Departure Avoidance, which expands the warning system with corrective steering that guides their car back if the system detects it’s leaving without the turn signal activated. As this is for use without Autopilot enabled, if the driver doesn’t have their hands on the wheel then it will send various alerts instead, and if cruise control is on, it will slow down and turn the hazard lights on. Drivers can opt to have the feature on or off at any time, and it works when the car is going between 20 MPH and 90 MPH.

Emergency Lane Departure Avoidance is slightly different, in that it’s automatically enabled whenever you start driving, although it can be disabled for the current trip. If it detects that the car is veering out of its lane and could hit something, or go entirely off the road, this is the part of the technology that will automatically direct it back into the lane to avoid an accident.

Stocks to Watch: First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (FEN) and Sanofi (SNY) in the spotlight

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The price of First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (NYSE:FEN) went up by $0.12 now trading at $22.22. Their shares witnessed a 24.76% increase from the 52-week low price of $17.81 they recorded on 2018-12-24. Even though it is still -7.07% behind the $23.79 high touched on 2018-07-19. The last few days have been rough for the stock, as its price has decreased by -1.16% during the week. It has also performed better over the past three months, as it added around 6.26% while it has so far retreated around -2.63% during the course of a year. The stock of FEN recorded 18.7% uptrend from the beginning of this year till date. The 12-month potential price target for First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund is set at $35. This target means that the stock has an upside potential to increase by 57.52% from the current trading price.

7 institutions entered new First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (NYSE:FEN) positions, 22 added to their existing positions in these shares, 39 lowered their positions, and 13 exited their positions entirely.

First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (FEN) trade volume has decreased by -28.42% as around 61,357 shares were sold when compared with its 50-day average volume of traded shares which is 85,722. At the moment, FEN is witnessing a downtrend, as it is trading -0.75% below its 20-day SMA, 3.3% above its 50-day SMA, and 4.45% above its 200-day SMA. The company runs an ROE of roughly 0%, with financial analysts predicting that their earnings per share growth will be around 0% per annum for the next five year. This will be compared to the 0% decrease witnessed over the past five years.

The first technical resistance point for First Trust Energy Income and Growth Fund (NYSE:FEN) will likely come at $22.28, marking a 0.27% premium to the current level. The second resistance point is at $22.35, about 0.58% premium to its current market price. On the other hand, inability to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $22.04, the lower end of the range. FEN’s 14-day MACD is -0.31 and this negative figure indicates a downward trading trend. The company’s 14-day RSI (relative strength index) score is 53.33, which shows that its stock has been neutral. The 20-day historical volatility for the stock stands at 12.99 percent, which is high when compared to that of the 50-day’s 12.93 percent.

The shares of Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) has decreased by -0.73%, and now trading at $43.41 on the Wall Street in the intra-day deal, with their shares traded now around 723,525. This is a decline of -415,057 shares over the average 1,138,582 shares that were traded daily over the last three months. The stock that is trading at $43.41 went higher by 15.98% from its 52-week low of $37.43 that it attained back on 2018-05-09. The stock recorded a 52-week high of $45.62 nearly 174 days ago on 2018-11-09.

SNY stock hasn’t performed well over the past 30 days, as it lost -2.01% while its price plunged by 0% year-to-date (YTD). Looking at the last few days, it has been good for the stock, as it rose 4.65% over the last week. The stock’s 12-month potential target price is now at $52. This means that the stock price might likely increase by 19.79% from its current trading price. 3 out of 4 Wall Street analysts which represents 75% rated the stock as a buy while the remaining 25% rated it as a hold, with 0% of analysts rating it as a sell.

Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY) has been utilizing an ROE that is roughly 0%, with stock analysts predicting that the company’s EPS for the next five years will go up by 8.1% per year, following the 4.8% raise that was witnessed during the past five years. The stock at the moment is on a uptrend, trading 1.35% above its 20-day SMA, 0.67% above its 50-day SMA, and 0.36% above its 200-day SMA. In percentage terms, the aggregate Sanofi shares held by institutional investors is 7.8%. 77 institutions jumped in to acquire Sanofi (SNY) fresh stake, 218 added to their current holdings in these shares, 225 lowered their positions, and 50 left no stake in the company.

The stock’s 9-day MACD is 1.26 and this positive figure indicates an upward trading trend. The company’s 9-day RSI score is 59.33, which shows that its stock has been neutral. The 20-day historical volatility for the shares stand at 22.51 percent, which is more when compared to that of the 50-day’s 17.14 percent. On the daily chart, we see that the stock could reach the first level of resistance at $43.7, sporting a 0.66% premium to the current level. The next resistance point is at $43.99, representing nearly 1.32% premium to the current market price of Sanofi (SNY). On the other hand, failure to breach the immediate hurdles can drag it down to $43.09, the lower end of the range.

Stocks to Watch: Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX:CG) Up +7.23%

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At close of market on Wednesday, Centerra Gold Inc. (TSX:CG) stock finished trading at +7.23%, bringing the stock price to $7.27 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $7.07 and a high of $7.39.

The company’s stock was traded 3,985 times with a total of 858,123 shares traded.

Centerra Gold Inc. has a market cap of $2.13 billion, with 292.46 million shares in issue.

Centerra Gold Inc a gold mining and exploration company engaged in the operation, exploration, development and acquisition of gold properties in Asia, North America and other markets worldwide. The company manages its reportable operating segments by a combination of geographic location and products. The Kyrgyz Republic segment includes the operations of the Kumtor Gold Project. The Turkish segment represents the development of the Öksüt Project. The North America Gold- Copper segment represents the operations of the Mount Milligan Mine. The North America Molybdenum segment includes the operations of the Langeloth processing facility and care and maintenance activities of the Endako and Thompson Creek Mines.

Stocks to Watch: Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX:MFI) Up +2.62%

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At close of market on Wednesday, Maple Leaf Foods Inc. (TSX:MFI) stock finished trading at +2.62%, bringing the stock price to $31.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $31.21 and a high of $32.29.

The company’s stock was traded 1,741 times with a total of 505,835 shares traded.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has a market cap of $3.95 billion, with 124.37 million shares in issue.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc is a consumer packaged-meats company, originally from Canada. The company produces prepared meats and meals, fresh pork, and poultry and turkey products. The firm also has agribusiness operations. These operations supply livestock to the meat products business operations. The company’s main markets are Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Japan. The key brands are Maple Leaf and Schneiders, Maple Leaf Prime Naturally, Shopsy, Mitchell’s Gourmet Food, Larse, Parm, and Hygrade.

Stocks to Watch: Empire Company Limited Non-Voting Class A Shares (TSX:EMP.A) Up +1.25%

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At close of market on Wednesday, Empire Company Limited Non-Voting Class A Shares (TSX:EMP.A) stock finished trading at +1.25%, bringing the stock price to $29.96 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock price saw a low of $29.75 and a high of $30.28.

The company’s stock was traded 2,030 times with a total of 694,523 shares traded.

Empire Company Limited Non-Voting Class A Shares has a market cap of $5.2 billion, with 173.65 million shares in issue.

Empire Co Ltd key businesses are food retailing, investments, and other operations. The food retailing division operates through Empire’s subsidiary Sobeys and represents nearly all of the company’s income. This segment owns, affiliates, or franchises more than 1,500 stores in 10 provinces, under retail banners including Sobeys, Safeway, IGA, Foodland, FreshCo, Thrifty Foods, Lawton’s Drug Stores, and multiple retail fuel locations. The company’s investment and other operations segment includes the investment in Crombie REIT, which is an open-ended Canadian real estate investment trust, as well as Genstar Development Partnership.