Daily Business Report: Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022
Autonomous aircraft manufacturer Natilus selects
Pratt & Whitney to supply engines for cargo aircraft
Natilus, a San Diego-based company producing the world’s first purposefully designed and manufactured autonomous aircraft for air freight transport, has selected Pratt & Whitney Canada to supply the engines for the first of the Natilus family fleet: the N3.8T.
The company is initially producing the N3.8T as a prototype and as long-term short-haul air cargo feeder. The first N3.8T aircraft is under production and is scheduled to fly in 2024.
“Natilus has designed and developed a blended-wing autonomous aircraft that can offer services at a fraction of the cost of today’s transport, while reducing negative impacts on our environment. We wanted to select an engine supplier that shares our vision of innovation, safety and efficiency,” said Aleksey Matyushev, Natilus co-founder and CEO. Pratt & Whitney Canada is recognized and respected for their worldwide support of customers, while the PT6A engine is the benchmark in reliability and has an unmatched history of performance with low TBO (Time between Overhauls).”
“The selection of the PT6A-67D to power Natilus’ innovative cargo aircraft further asserts the dependability, versatility and flexibility of the PT6 turboprop engine family, the world’s most popular engine in its class,” said Nicholas Kanellias, vice president of general aviation for Pratt & Whitney Canada.
Today, there are only two ways to move cargo internationally: by air and by sea. Accordingo to Natilus, the difference between the cost and time of these two modes of transportation is dramatic, with sea freight currently 13 times less expensive, but 50 times slower in delivery. Natilus said it intends to revolutionize the air transport industry by providing the timeliness of air freight at an affordable cost reduction of 60 percent to increase the competitiveness of the air cargo market.
Top Photo: Rendering of the Natilus N3.8T aircraft. (Courtesy of Natilus)
Guest Commentary:
Care Court plan gets backing from San Diego cities, county
By San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and Board of Supervisors Chair Nathan Fletcher
California has a fragmented, inadequate mental health care response system, for which no single government entity is in charge of guaranteeing that people grappling with severe mental illness get care. Our society’s efforts to deal with this human tragedy have been a failure. We need a new approach.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed a new way, outlined in Senate Bill 1338. The governor’s CARE Court plan has earned the support of San Diego County and all the mayors of its 18 cities.
We see the reality of our troubled mental health care system all too often on the streets of San Diego County: A man, self-medicated with drugs and alcohol, lying half naked, passed out in the doorway of a small business. A woman, shuffling down the sidewalk, screaming profanities at voices that only exist in her mind. An emaciated man sitting exhausted on a park bench, a gaping wound on his leg festering from inattention.
The city and county of San Diego have collaborated on better ways to deliver behavioral health services. We’ve invested in mobile crisis-response teams and created new facilities such as crisis-stabilization units and low-barrier shelters. CARE Court, however, presents us a new opportunity to help a small but highly visible segment of our homeless population — people who do not have the support they need to properly manage their mental health and get on a better path.
Scripps Research awarded grant to map
undiscovered part of the central nervous system
Across science and medicine, the brain remains one of the most mysterious and complex parts of the human body. Scripps Research associate professor Giordano Lippi, PhD, has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative to develop a new technology that reveals a major neural component and enhances our understanding of human brain function.
The highly regarded grant will provide $2.3 million in funding over one year, split evenly through a collaboration between Lippi’s lab and the Gene Yeo lab at the University of San Diego. This funding will help advance a technology system that maps the brain’s “translatome”—the full collection of mRNAs (the genetic material that carries protein-coding information) that are highly translated into proteins (the effectors of all functions in the cell).
SDSU welcomes record-setting class of 2026
Following a record number of applications, San Diego State University is on track to welcome the largest class of first-year students to the campus community this fall.
Between October and December of 2021, SDSU received nearly 77,000 first-time student applications, the highest number ever. This number, combined with additional funding from the California State University system has made it possible for SDSU to admit and enroll the largest class of first-time students in university history – at nearly 6,500 students. These students are from around the region, country and world representing 45 different states and 46 countries.
The largest class of first-time students also bring with them high-grade point averages with the average GPA at about 3.9. Of these high achieving students, more than 1,900 are from the local service area, an increase of 23 percent from last fall.
Climate change projected to increase atmospheric
river flood damages in the United States
A research team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography has found that flood damages triggered by atmospheric river storms may triple from $1 billion a year to over $3 billion a year by the end of the century unless action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
The damages could be limited to $2 billion a year if intermediate reductions in emissions are achieved, the researchers said.
“The threat of a megaflood in the western United States is very real,” says lead author Tom Corringham, a climate economist at Scripps Oceanography’s Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E). “As atmospheric rivers become more intense, flood damages are on track to triple by the end of the century, but it’s not too late to limit the risk. Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions could significantly reduce projected damages.”
The study results appeared Aug. 12 in the journal Scientific Reports.
How the brain gathers threat cues and turns them into fear
Salk scientists have uncovered a molecular pathway that distills threatening sights, sounds and smells into a single message: Be afraid. A molecule called CGRP enables neurons in two separate areas of the brain to bundle threatening sensory cues into a unified signal, tag it as negative and convey it to the amygdala, which translates the signal into fear.
The research, published in Cell Reports on Aug. 16, 2022, may lead to new therapies for fear-related disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or hypersensitivity disorders such as autism, migraines and fibromyalgia.
“The brain pathway we discovered works like a central alarm system,” says senior author Sung Han, assistant professor in Salk’s Clayton Foundation Laboratories for Peptide Biology. “We were excited to find that the CGRP neurons are activated by negative sensory cues from all five senses—sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. Identifying new threat pathways provides insights into treating fear-related disorders.”
Mexican fruit fly quarantine declared in Valley Center
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) declared a 77-square-mile quarantine covering Valley Center and surrounding areas on Aug. 19 after discovering several Mexican fruit flies (MXFF), an agricultural pest that can infect more than 50 types of fruit, including citrus, avocados, and a wide variety of tropical fruit.
CDFA officials said anyone growing or packing “host” fruit inside the quarantine area — commercially or in private yards — are urged not to move fruit off their properties. Local residents and home gardeners affected by the quarantine should consume homegrown produce on-site, to include canning, freezing or juicing and should not move host items from their property. Residents with questions are encouraged to call the consumer hotline at (800) 491-1899.
Fruit on the host list include all types of tropical citrus, but also includes certain varieties of avocados, guava, pomegranate, and many exotic fruits that are grown in the area.
The quarantine area is bordered on the north by Pauma Valley; on the south by Lake Wohlford; on the west by the Moosa Canyon; and on the east by Rincon Reservation.
State Legislature approves two-year extension
of a property tax exclusion for solar projects
The California Legislature has approved a two-year extension of a property tax exclusion for solar projects, providing stability to solar companies facing significant uncertainty around project development as they work to help California meet its climate targets.
“The Legislature’s action to extend the solar property tax exclusion is a critical step to ensure California remains at the forefront of America’s clean energy transition,” said Rick Umoff, senior director and counsel at the Solar Energy Industries Association. “Since the state instituted the exclusion, California’s solar market has grown to be the largest in the nation, employing over 70,000 people and driving more than $70 billion into local economies statewide.”
Umoff added that the extension will provide companies with much-needed certainty to keep building solar and storage projects.
The measure has been sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Dinosaurs in San Diego
Tickets go on sale Friday for the North American tour of “Jurassic World: The Exhibition,” opening Oct. 21 at the Westfield Mission Valley Mall. The exhibition is presented by Round Room Live and Cityneon, and is produced in conjunction with Universal Live Entertainment.
Tickets can be purchased at JurassicWorldExhibition.com/sandiego/.
The exhibition is a family-friendly immersive 20,000-square-foot experience based on one of the biggest blockbusters in cinema history. Visitors walk through the world-famous “Jurassic World” gates, explore richly themed environments and encounter life-sized Velociraptors, a Brachiosaurus, and the most fearsome dinosaur of all, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex. Guests will be able to imagine what it would have been like to roam among these breathtaking creatures and even interact with new baby dinosaurs, including “Bumpy” from the popular animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous. Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is produced by Universal, DreamWorks Animation and Amblin Entertainment, and is currently streaming on Netflix.
Bill to enhance San Diego River
Conservancy passes Assembly
The State Assembly passed Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins’ SB 1027, legislation that would expand the jurisdictional boundary of the San Diego River Conservancy (SDRC) to include the entire watershed of the San Diego River. The bill also expands the SDRC’s governing board to include a member of the El Cajon City Council and amends the definition of tribal nation to directly reference the Kumeyaay Bands associated with the area.
The SDRC was established in 2002 by legislation sponsored by then-Assemblymember Christine Kehoe to manage, restore, protect, and conserve the riparian and estuarine habitat along the San Diego River.
“This expansion will not only help the San Diego River Conservancy holistically restore and protect our watershed ecosystem, but will continue a legacy of conservation of this beautiful and delicate resource,” Atkins said.
Cue Health collaborates with Fresenius Kidney Care
Cue Health Inc., a health care technology company, announced a new collaboration with Fresenius Kidney Care to provide the most accurate COVID-19 self-test to certain patients and clinical care teams.
People who are immunocompromised have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 throughout the pandemic and remain highly dependent on measures that reduce the likelihood of infections, including vaccination. Cue can be used by vulnerable patient populations and their care partners to detect and treat COVID-19 early, often before complications arise and hospitalization is required.
This is especially important in remote locations where timely and accurate results are critical for making clinical treatment decisions. Fresenius Kidney Care in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, and Saipan will use the Cue Health Monitoring System and Cue COVID-19 Test to screen employees and test symptomatic immunocompromised patients in-center and at-home.
California Lawyers Association to honor
best of legal profession in San Diego
Lawyers Club of San Diego, DTO Law and lawyer Tristan E. H. Higgins will be among the honorees at the California Lawyers Association’s annual meeting Sept. 15 at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. The awards include legacy awards that were once given by the State Bar of California, the regulatory body for attorneys.
Lawyers Club of San Diego and DTO Law will each receive Diversity Awards for their efforts to promote diversity in the legal profession or among peers.
Tristan E.H. Higgins, a San Diego lawyer, speaker and diversity and inclusion effort, will receive the California Lawyers Foundation Distinguished Leadership Award.
Manscaped appoints chief revenue
officer, chief marketing officer
Manscaped, he global men’s grooming company and lifestyle consumer brand, has announced the appointment of Marcelo Kertész to chief marketing officer and Dave Estrin to chief revenue officer. Previously serving as the company’s SVP of content, brand and design, and SVP of global marketing and customer experience, respectively, Kertész and Estrin have played integral roles in the company’s growth and global brand recognition during its most formative years.
Kertész has more than 20 years of diverse creative, branding and design experience – and an unmatched knack for developing strategic results-driven content. With more than 25 years of dynamic marketing experience at a range of global direct-to-consumer brands and media companies, Estrin maintains a deep understanding of customer connection, market opportunity, and growing global revenue streams.
