Chart: Data Protection Fines Reach Record High in 2023

Source : Statista

Humour

Chart: U.S. Employee Quits Rate Return to Pre-pandemic Levels

Source : Axios

Chart: Japan Real Wages YoY Continue to Decrease for the 13th month in April, 2023

Source : Nikkei

Real Estate Association in S. China Calls for Industry Players Not to Assist Illegal Practice of ‘Zero, Negative Down Payments’

The Shenzhen Real Estate Intermediary Association in South China’s Guangdong Province released a notice on Friday, cautioning local agencies to avoid participating in or assisting the illegal practices of “zero down payment” and “negative down payment,” which have sparked discussion among homebuyers.

Some real estate agencies have been marketing homebuying with “zero down payment” or “negative down payment” so that consumers not only don’t need to pay for down payment but also can obtain funds for future renovation, according to media reports.

One real estate agency based in Shenzhen reportedly was telling clients that if a property is evaluated at 5.7 million yuan ($806,828) the owner would sell it at 5.2 million yuan, the homebuyer could then buy the property in full using a bank loan of 5.7 million yuan while using the remaining 500,000 yuan for renovation, cnr.cn reported.

As for the so-called “negative down payment,” the report said that it is executed through developers using down payment installments and returning down payment to buyers or setting a relatively high contract price for consumers to apply for a larger bank loan.

If the funds returned to the buyer from the developer, or the bank loan secured against the property exceed the original down payment, the a “negative down payment” is “achieved,” per the report from cnr.cn.

The Shenzhen Real Estate Intermediary Association on Friday issued the reminder to caution the market, stressing that the so-called practices of “zero down payment” and “negative down payment” violate China’s financial and credit policies. It warned local agencies and practitioners to strictly abide by the principle that “houses are for living in, not speculation,” calling for review and adjustment of agency management and prohibiting any form of participation in similar practices.

If local agencies and practitioners are found to have been involved in offering assistance in implementing these illegal practices, the association will immediately report these parties to the competent administrative departments for investigation and punishment in accordance with the law.

The so-called “negative down payment” is essentially the creation of a fictitious purchase agreement, which in turn inflates the purchase price of a home in order to fraudulently obtain a larger loan for the down payment, Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, told the Global Times.

Yan stressed the importance for financial regulators to monitor the situation, aiming to prevent the emergence of financial instability or financial risk, calling for a greater effort to regulate fraudulent contracts, falsified loan materials, and lax bank audits.

Yan also noted that the concept of a “negative down payment” is illegal and comes with high risk. The leverage will be easily raised if a home purchase is not backed by a real down payment, burdening subsequent payment pressure for homebuyers and resulting in a higher risk of mortgage default.

Chinese authorities issued a notice in 2017, strictly banning domestic developers and real estate intermediaries to engage in illegal practices such as providing down payment financing or down payment installments.

Earlier in May, Huizhou in Guangdong issued a notice to further strengthen regulation and on property sales tackling the aforementioned illegal practices, according to media reports.

Source : Global Times

Infographic: The Global Uranium Mining Industry

Source : Visual Capitalist

Why Do Some People Live to be a 100? Intestinal Bacteria May Hold the Answer

Some people live longer than others – possibly due to a unique combination of bacteria in their intestines, new research from the University of Copenhagen concludes.

“We found great biological diversity in both bacteria and bacterial viruses in the centenarians. High microbial diversity is usually associated with a healthy gut microbiome. And we expect people with a healthy gut microbiome to be better protected against aging related diseases,” says researcher behind new study. Photo: Unsplash.
We are pursuing the dream of eternal life. We fast to stay healthy. And each year, we spend billions of kroner on treatment to make sure we stay alive. But some people turn 100 years old all by themselves. Why is that?

Researchers from the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research at the University of Copenhagen have set out to find the answer.

Studying 176 healthy Japanese centenarians, the researchers learned that the combination of intestinal bacteria and bacterial viruses of these people is quite unique.

“We are always eager to find out why some people live extremely long lives. Previous research has shown that the intestinal bacteria of old Japanese citizens produce brand new molecules that make them resistant to pathogenic – that is, disease-promoting – microorganisms. And if their intestines are better protected against infection, well, then that is probably one of the things that cause them to live longer than others,” says Postdoc Joachim Johansen, who is first author of the new study.

Among other things, the new study shows that specific viruses in the intestines can have a beneficial effect on the intestinal flora and thus on our health.

“Our intestines contain billions of viruses living of and inside bacteria, and they could not care less about human cells; instead, they infect the bacterial cells. And seeing as there are hundreds of different types of bacteria in our intestines, there are also lots of bacterial viruses,” says Associate Professor Simon Rasmussen, last author of the new study.

Joachim Johansen adds that aside from the important, new, protective bacterial viruses, the researchers also found that the intestinal flora of the Japanese centenarians is extremely interesting.

“We found great biological diversity in both bacteria and bacterial viruses in the centenarians. High microbial diversity is usually associated with a healthy gut microbiome. And we expect people with a healthy gut microbiome to be better protected against aging related diseases,” says Joachim Johansen.

Once we know what the intestinal flora of centenarians looks like, we can get closer to understanding how we can increase the life expectancy of other people. Using an algorithm designed by the researchers, they managed to map the intestinal bacteria and bacterial viruses of the centenarians.

“We want to understand the dynamics of the intestinal flora. How do the different kinds of bacteria and viruses interact? How can we engineer a microbiome that can help us live healthy, long lives? Are some bacteria better than others? Using the algorithm, we are able to describe the balance between viruses and bacteria,” says Simon Rasmussen.

And if the researchers are able to understand the connection between viruses and bacteria in the Japanese centenarians, they may be able to tell what the optimal balance of viruses and bacteria looks like.

Optimising intestinal bacteria

More specifically, the new knowledge on intestinal bacteria may help us understand how we should optimise the bacteria found in the human body to protect it against disease.

“We have learned that if a virus pays a bacterium a visit, it may actually strengthen the bacterium. The viruses we found in the healthy Japanese centenarians contained extra genes that could boost the bacteria. We learned that they were able to boost the transformation of specific molecules in the intestines, which might serve to stabilise the intestinal flora and counteract inflammation,” says Joachim Johansen, and Simon Rasmussen adds:

“If you discover bacteria and viruses that have a positive effect on the human intestinal flora, the obvious next step is to find out whether only some or all of us have them. If we are able to get these bacteria and their viruses to move in with the people who do not have them, more people could benefit from them.”

Even though this requires more research, the new insight is significant, because we are able to modify the intestinal flora.

“Intestinal bacteria are a natural part of the human body and of our natural environment. And the crazy thing is that we can actually change the composition of intestinal bacteria. We cannot change the genes – at least not for a long time to come. If we know why viruses and intestinal bacteria are a good match, it will be a lot easier for us to change something that actually affects our health,” says Simon Rasmussen.

The study, “Centenarians have a diverse gut virome with the potential to modulate metabolism and promote healthy lifespan”, has been published in Nature Microbiology.

Source: University of Copenhagen

Nvidia: The $1 Trillion Company That Started at Denny’s

Grace Mayer wrote . . . . . . . . .

Great ideas are born from unlikely places — like Nvidia’s origin: The idea for the global chip maker, which just hit a $1 trillion market value this week, was born in a booth at a Denny’s.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Nvidia cofounder Chris Malachowsky talked about how he and his cofounders, Jensen Huang and Curtis Priem, came up with the idea for the company over Grand Slam breakfasts and too many cups of coffee in a Denny’s in San Jose, California. An Nvidia spokesperson confirmed to Insider that the founders held the conversations at the 2484 Berryessa Road location.

“We were not good customers,” Malachowsky told the Journal. “We were going to show up for four hours and drink 10 cups of coffee.”

While many companies are now scrambling to catch up with the AI craze, Nvidia was tapping into this part of the industry long ago. Then, the AI and PC gaming markets were still in their early stages — or “$0 billion markets,” as Huang, who is also Nvidia’s CEO, refers to them, as reported by the Journal.

Now, 30 years later, Nvidia’s chips are essential to powering many artificial intelligence technologies, including language models like ChatGPT and Bard. The company’s AI tools are transforming the video game experience. Nvidia also recently announced plans to develop computer-generated advertisements with advertising giant WPP.

With a soaring stock price, and more growth anticipated, Nvidia is well-poised to continue to profit off of the AI boom, Insider’s Matthew Fox previously reported.

The humble beginning of Nvidia’s story also bears a resemblance to other tech origin stories. Facebook was developed in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the first Apple computer out of the Jobs family’s garage.

Source : Business Insider