Daily Business Report-May 15, 2019
SDSU and the National Indian Gaming Commission have entered into a three-year agreement. This is the Commission’s first partnership with an academic institution.
SDSU begins collaboration with
National Indian Gaming Commission
The National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) and San Diego State University’s Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming in the L. Robert Payne School of Hospitality and Tourism Management have entered into a three-year agreement that is meant to create a data collection process to measure approaches to compliance, place tribal gaming regulation into the larger perspective of federal case law and self-determination, and demonstrate the economic impact of tribal gaming on communities.
The announcement marks the first time the NIGC has partnered with an academic institution. Notably, The Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming at SDSU offers the nation’s only four-year degree program in tribal casino operations management.
“This agreement represents two of the three pillars of the Sycuan Institute’s vision: to produce academic research related to tribal government gaming and to engage in public policy work related to tribal casino operations and regulation,” said Katherine Spilde, endowed chair of the Sycuan Institute. “Of course, the findings and publications from this collaboration will also contribute to the Institute’s third pillar: our degree in tribal casino operations management.”
The NIGC is the federal regulatory body that works with tribal governments across the nation to ensure compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). In the official agreement with SDSU, the NIGC will coordinate with the Sycuan Institute in the collection and development of non-confidential data and analysis.
“The development and analysis of data will ultimately help support the health and stability of the tribal gaming industry in a data-driven manner,” said NIGC Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri. “This MOU is a great starting point, and we are excited to work with such a well-regarded academic and nonprofit institution on both assessing the impacts of the last 30 years under IGRA, as well as analyzing current Indian gaming-related data so that we may continue to perform our mission at NIGC as efficiently and effectively as possible.”
“It is a really big honor to work with the NIGC because they need to work with institutions and organizations with an understanding of the unique attributions of the tribal government gaming industry,” said Spilde. “It is exciting that SDSU was selected because it recognizes the investment by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation to create the only degree program that focuses on tribal gaming.”
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It’s in the Weeds:
Herbicide linked to human liver disease
Glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Monsanto’s popular weed killer Roundup, has been linked to liver disease in animal models. In a new study, the first of its kind, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine report an association between the herbicide and negative effects upon the human liver.
In a study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, a team led by Paul J. Mills, professor and chief in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health at UC San Diego School of Medicine, examined glyphosate excretion in the urine samples of two patient groups — those with a diagnosis of NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a type of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or NAFLD), and those without. The results, they found, were significant: Regardless of age, race, body mass index (BMI), ethnicity or diabetes status, glyphosate residue was significantly higher in patients with NASH than it was in patients with a healthier liver.
The findings, coupled with prior animal studies, said Mills, suggest a link between the use of commercial glyphosate in our food supply, which has increased significantly over the past 25 years, and the prevalence of NAFLD in the United States, which too has been on the rise for two decades.
“There have been a handful of studies, all of which we cited in our paper, where animals either were or weren’t fed Roundup or glyphosate directly, and they all point to the same thing: the development of liver pathology,” said Mills. “So I naturally thought: ‘Well, could it be exposure to this same herbicide that is driving liver disease in the U.S.?’”
The study examined urine samples of 93 patients. Forty-one percent were male; 42 percent were white or Caucasian; 35 percent were Hispanic or Latino. Average BMI was 31.8. Patients were originally recruited as part of a larger study at the UC San Diego NAFLD Research Center conducted between 2012 and 2018. Liver biopsies were used to determine the presence or absence of NAFLD while classifying the subjects by cohort.
Mills plans to next put a group of patients on an all-organic diet and track them over the course of several months, examining how a herbicide-free diet might affect biomarkers of liver disease.
For individuals not working in the agricultural or horticultural industries, consuming genetically modified food and non-organic wheat and oats are the primary sources of glyphosate exposure. Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the United States; it was developed and patented by agrochemical giant Monsanto in the 1970s and its sales represent approximately 50 percent of the company’s annual revenue.
“The increasing levels [of glyphosate] in people’s urine very much correlates to the consumption of Roundup treated crops into our diet,” said Mills. But while researchers say this study shows a link between herbicide exposure and liver disease in human subjects, Mills said much work remains to be done. “There are so many synthetic chemicals we are regularly exposed to,” he said. “We measured just one.”
Co-authors on the paper include: Cyrielle Caussy, MD, PhD, and Rohit Loomba, MD, MHSc, at UC San Diego.
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Local International Rescue Committee
to benefit from JPMorgan Chase award
JPMorgan Chase has announced a new $125 million global investment in the financial health of low-income women, immigrants, people of color and the aging. In San Diego, among other U.S. cities, JPMC will make a $600,000 commitment to the local International Rescue Committee. This will provide refugees and immigrants affordable small-dollar loans and coaching to meet their goals, such as accessing education or starting a business.
This will also create of fintech solutions and financial coaching programs to help people increase their savings, build credit, reduce debt and achieve their financial goals.
Through collaboration with community organizations, the investment also will help inform the creation of products and services that can make banking more accessible to more people.
“When we create opportunities that make prosperity possible for more people, we become stronger as a country,” said Thasunda Brown Duckett, CEO of consumer banking at Chase. “Our firm is being intentional in our approach by bringing together our people, our products and branches, our digital tools, and our community investments so we can serve everyone, including those who need it most.”
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Construction starts on Vantage Point
industrial project in Poway
Ryan Companies and DWS Group have broken ground on Vantage Point, a new state-of- the-art, infill logistics/distribution development in Poway. Vantage Point consists of a new Class A, 533,950-square foot, two-building project and is the largest spec development of its kind in mid-San Diego County in 20 years. It is also the only industrial project in all of San Diego County offering warehouse space for lease with 36-foot minimum clear heights. Onsite amenities consist of two large outdoor break areas, an indoor bicycle storage room, and six electric vehicle charging stations.
Kidder Mathews commercial real estate brokers, Mickey Morera and James Duncan, have been selected as the leasing agents for Vantage Point.
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Belgium companies vie for General Atomics’
support for SkyGuardian RPA development
Nineteen Belgium-based companies will present their ideas and cutting-edge capabilities to a panel of technical experts from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems
(GA-ASI) with the goal of selection to support the development of MQ-9B SkyGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) for Belgium.
The outreach event, called “Blue Magic Belgium,” follows the government of Belgium’s approval for Belgian Defense to negotiate acquisition of GA-ASI’s SkyGuardian to meet the nation’s RPA requirements.
The 19 companies will be broken into two groups with one group presenting today in Liège and the second group on May 16 in Sint-Truiden. The goal of the events is to increase the number of Belgian technology companies that can provide research and development and innovation to support GA-ASI.
The companies participating in Blue Magic Belgium will be Aerosimulators, Airobot, Altran, ALX Systems, Any Shape, Arcadia Industries, Capual, Coexpair, Feronyl, Hexagon, KuLeuven, Mockel, MSC Software, Simtech, Sirris, Spacebel, Unifly, (UN)MANNED and VeroTech.
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Martin Amen joins Cubic’s Nuvotronics business
Cubic Corporation announced that its Cubic Mission Solutions business division appointed Martin J. Amen as vice president of strategy and business development for the recently acquired Nuvotronics business. Amen will be responsible for overseeing the Nuvotronics business development team as well as defining and implementing its product line growth strategy to align with CMS’ long-term vision. He will report to Mike Twyman, president of Cubic Mission Solutions.
Amen has held roles of increasing responsibility at Northrop Grumman, Logicon and Eagle Technology and is a seasoned expert in the full-lifecycle development and integration of large-scale hardware and software systems. Amen brings over 25 years of experience in profit and loss roles, leading global growth strategies and successfully securing new business opportunities.
Prior to joining Cubic, he was the senior director of secure network operations for Northrop Grumman. He also served as the director of satellite and network systems, leading programs in strategic markets such as military and commercial satellite communications; electronic warfare; radio frequency spectrum management; live, virtual and constructive networks; deployed tactical communications; and hardware/software integration.
Amen received his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Northwest Missouri State University and has a master’s in information systems from Webster University. He also holds an MBA from George Mason University.
