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Recovery of testing for heart disease risk factors post-COVID remains patchy November 26, 2024 PLOS Routine screening to detect risk factors for heart disease dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and some key measurements, such as blood pressure readings, may still lag behind pre-pandemic levels, according to a new study. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email Routine screening to detect risk factors for heart disease dropped sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and some key measurements, such as blood pressure readings, may still lag behind pre-pandemic levels. These findings are reported in a new study by Frederick Ho and Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK, and colleagues published November 26 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine . During the COVID-19 pandemic, patients went without routine face-to-face health checks, which are important for detecting common cardiometabolic conditions, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Previously, it was unknown whether these health checks had recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Researchers looked at how often clinicians took measurements of 12 risk factors for cardiometabolic disease between November 2018 and March 2024, using records from more than 49 million adults in England. They saw a sharp drop in the numbers of measurements being performed from March 2020 to February 2022, but most of the risk factor measurements returned to normal by 2022 to 2023. Blood pressure measurements were an exception, and as of March 2024 were still not back to normal, especially in patients belonging to lower socioeconomic levels. The findings from the new research confirm previous studies showing that patients missed important routine health checks during the pandemic lockdowns. This lack of screening for cardiometabolic conditions likely explains previous observations that fewer patients received preventive prescriptions, like drugs to lower blood pressure, during the pandemic. The long-term disruption of blood pressure screening identified by the study could lead to missed opportunities for treatment, increasing the risk of cardiovascular events, such as heart attacks and strokes, or even death. This could also exacerbate existing health disparities for lower-income patients. The authors add, "These data alert us to potential missed opportunities to measure key risk factors for chronic diseases, which are on the rise in the UK in an alarming way. Health care workers need better ways to more efficiently capture and then act upon changes in risks to prevent important diseases. The use of new technologies to capture data and better empower patients to make important lifestyle changes are needed." Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS . Note: Content may be edited for style and length. Journal Reference : Cite This Page :Eagle Point Credit Management LLC ("Eagle Point Credit" or the "Adviser"), a specialist credit asset manager with over $10 billion of assets under management, 1 announced that Eagle Point Institutional Income Fund (the "Fund") generated a net return of 9.9% over the 12-month period ending October 31, 2024. 2 In addition, the Fund's total assets, inclusive of available borrowings under a revolving credit facility, have exceeded $150 million. During the month of October 2024, the Fund completed its 28 th consecutive monthly distribution payment, which represented a 10.2% annualized distribution rate. 3 The Fund's net asset value per share as of October 31, 2024 was $9.96. The Fund's sources of financing include a revolving credit facility and term preferred stock, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "EIIA." The Fund's primary investment objective is to generate high current income, with a secondary objective to generate capital appreciation, by investing primarily in diversified pools of senior secured loans called collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs"). As of October 31, 2024, the Fund's portfolio of 74 CLO equity investments provided exposure to 1,365 different U.S. companies across 61 different industries. 4 The Fund is a non-traded closed-end fund registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and it currently offers its shares on a continuous basis via monthly closings. Please refer to the Fund's website at www.EPIIF.com for additional information. About Eagle Point Credit Management LLC Eagle Point Credit, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, is a specialist investment manager focused on income-oriented credit investments in niche and inefficient markets, including CLO Securities, Portfolio Debt Securities, 5 Regulatory Capital Relief transactions and Strategic Credit investments. As of September 30, 2024, Eagle Point Credit and its affiliates managed over $10 billion of assets under management (including committed but undrawn capital). Learn more about Eagle Point Credit at www.eaglepointcredit.com . Forward-Looking Statements This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described in the Fund's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Fund undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Securities Disclosure This press release is provided for informational purposes only, does not constitute an offer to sell securities of the Fund and is not a prospectus. Such offering is only made by the Fund's prospectus, which includes details as to the Fund's offering and other material information. Securities are offered through Eagle Point Securities LLC, a member of FINRA and SIPC, and an affiliate of Eagle Point Credit. Investing in the Fund involves risk of loss of some or all principal invested. Speak to your tax professional prior to investing. This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation to purchase any security. Please refer to the prospectus available at www.EPIIF.com for additional information about the Fund. An investor should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the Fund carefully before investing. Risk Disclosures and Important Information The Fund is designed as a long-term investment, not a trading vehicle. Past performance is not indicative of, or a guarantee of, future performance. Shares of the Fund are not traded on an exchange and therefore the Fund's shares have no liquidity. The Fund invests a significant portion of its assets in CLO equity and junior debt securities; these may have more acute risks than other types of credit instruments. An investment in the Fund is speculative and entails substantial risk, including the possible loss of some or all of one's investment. There can be no assurance that the Fund's investment objectives will be achieved. An investment in the Fund is not appropriate for all investors and is not intended to be a complete investment program. The Fund utilizes leverage, which uses various financial instruments or borrowings to increase potential return on the Fund's investments. The use of leverage involves risk, including possible high volatility and declines of the Fund's NAV, as well as fluctuating dividends and distributions. The Fund invests primarily in below-investment grade or unrated securities, commonly called "high yield" or "junk" bonds. Such investments may not pay interest or repay principal when due. _______________________________ 1 As of September 30, 2024, includes committed but undrawn capital and assets managed by Eagle Point Credit Management LLC and certain of its affiliates. 2 Past performance is not indicative of, or a guarantee of, future performance. Total return reflects the percent change in NAV per share from the beginning of the period, plus the amount of any distribution per share declared in the period. Return calculation assumes reinvestment of distributions pursuant to the Fund's distribution reinvestment plan and is net of all Fund expenses, including general and administrative expenses, transaction related expenses, amortization of offering costs, management and incentive fees, and expense limitation being in effect during the performance periods (if any). The Fund charges a maximum upfront sales load of 6.75%. Total return does not reflect the Fund's upfront sales load. If reflected, the Fund's total return would have been lower. Return information is not a measure used under GAAP. Valuations based upon unaudited reports may not correspond to realized value and may not accurately reflect the price at which assets could be liquidated. Performance reflects certain expense limitation arrangements in effect during the periods shown. Absent these arrangements, the Fund's performance would have been lower. Certain expenses paid by Eagle Point Credit Management or its affiliates on the Fund's behalf are subject to reimbursement by the Fund for up to three years (which reimbursement would have the effect of reducing the Fund's performance). Performance does not reflect the impact of federal, state or local taxation to which an investor may be subject. 3 Annualized distribution rate reflects distributions paid during the month ending in October 2024 annualized and divided by the prior quarter end net asset value. The annualized distribution rate is not a guarantee of future returns and future performance may vary. The timing and frequency of distribution payments is not guaranteed. Such variance may be material and adverse, including the potential for full loss of principal and no distributions. In considering returns, investors should bear in mind that historical performance is not a guarantee, projection or prediction and is not indicative of future results. Actual net returns in any given year may be lower than the historical returns. Investment return and principal value of any investment will fluctuate and may be worth more or less than the amount initially invested. Distribution payments are not guaranteed. Distributions may be comprised of any combination of 1) net investment income and/or 2) net capital gain, and, if the Fund distributes an amount in excess of net investment income and net capital gains, a portion of such distribution will constitute a return of capital. A distribution comprised in whole or in part by a return of capital does not necessarily reflect the Fund's investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." A return of capital distribution may reduce the amount of investable funds. The actual components of the Fund's distributions for U.S. tax reporting purposes can only be finally determined as of the end of each fiscal year of the Fund and are thereafter reported to shareholders on Form 1099-DIV. 4 The information presented herein is on a look-through basis to the CLO equity held by the Fund as of October 31, 2024 (except as otherwise noted) and reflects the aggregate underlying exposure of the Fund based on the portfolios of those investments. The data is estimated and unaudited and is derived from CLO trustee reports received by the Fund relating to October 2024 and from custody statements and/or other information received from CLO collateral managers and other third party sources. Information relating to the market price of underlying collateral is as of month end; however, with respect to other information shown, depending on when such information was received, the data may reflect a lag in the information reported. As such, while this information was obtained from third party data sources, October 2024 trustee reports and similar reports, other than market price, it does not reflect actual underlying portfolio characteristics as of October 31, 2024 and this data may not be representative of current or future holdings. Industry categories are based on the S&P industry categorization of each obligor as reported in CLO trustee reports to the extent so reported. Certain CLO trustee reports do not report the industry category of all of the underlying obligors and where such information is not reported, it is not included in the summary look-through industry information shown. As such, the Fund's exposure to a particular industry may be higher than that shown if industry categories were available for all underlying obligors. In addition, certain underlying obligors may be re‐classified from time to time based on developments in their respective businesses and/or market practices. 5 Eagle Point Credit defines "Portfolio Debt Securities" primarily as debt and preferred equity securities or instruments (including debt and preferred securities which are convertible into common equity) issued by funds and investment vehicles, such as BDCs, registered closed-end investment companies, unregistered private funds, REITs and sponsors of such vehicles, to finance a portion of their underlying investment portfolios. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241121242368/en/ © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Calamos Investments Closed-End Funds (NASDAQ: CHI, CHY, CSQ, CGO, CHW, CCD and CPZ) Announce Monthly Distributions and Required Notifications of Sources of DistributionMoo Deng’s zoo enclosure getting an upgrade — thanks to a secretive crypto billionaire’s big donation
United States sevens star Ilona Maher will join Bristol in January for the rest of the season with the aim of appearing at next year's World Cup. Maher, the game's most popular player on social media with over eight million followers including 4.6m on Instagram, was a standout performer in the Eagles' bronze-medal finish at the Olympics during the summer. The 28-year-old plays centre and wing and her arrival will bolster Bristol's pursuit of the Premiership Women's Rugby title. "It's a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal," head coach Dave Ward said. "She is one of the biggest names in women's sport - let alone rugby - and we believe she will add real value to our programme on and off the field. Her ability ball in hand will give our attack a new dimension." Trending Maher has spent the last three years in the USA's sevens programme but is seeking to relaunch her 15s career with the 2025 World Cup taking place next autumn. Also See: Get Sky Sports - nine dedicated channels Stream Sky Sports with NOW Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV , streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app , giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.OTTAWA—In a rush to provide emergency loans to small businesses during the , the federal government pushed out a program that lent more than $3.5 billion to ineligible recipients, gave too much control to a single private contractor, and failed to ensure public money was not wasted, according to a new report from the auditor general. The program in question, the Canada Emergency Business Account (CEBA), doled out $49.1 billion in loans to almost 900,000 small businesses during the pandemic, with more than 40 per cent of the recipients in Ontario. In a tabled Monday in the House of Commons, Auditor General Karen Hogan concluded the program moved quickly in response to the pandemic crisis, disbursing loans in a matter of days when health measures forced hundreds of thousands of businesses to shut down. But Hogan also found that the federal government failed to properly manage the program in handing it over to an arms-length Crown corporation, Export Development Canada (EDC). Hogan concluded the Department of Finance failed to provide “effective oversight” of more than $853 million in administrative spending in a way that left an “accountability gap” over the program. She also raised concerns about the government’s willingness to collect more than $1 billion in unpaid loans from ineligible recipients, and over her findings that EDC outsourced too much control over management and spending to a single private company that got paid more than $300 million. “When you have an accountability void, there’s people who aren’t keeping eyes on the dollars anymore, there is bad management decisions that go unchallenged, and ultimately no spending limit put on a big program,” Hogan said at a press conference Monday. CEBA was created in the spring of 2020, as the Liberal government was spending huge sums of money on emergency pandemic supports. The program gave small businesses interest-free loans of $40,000 to $60,000 and promised to forgive up to $20,000 of that money if the loan was paid back on time. Hogan’s report said that, as of March 31 this year: $28.2 billion in loans had been repaid; $12.4 billion had been forgiven; $8.5 billion still had to be repaid; and $100 million had been written off. The Conservatives, long critical of the Liberal government’s deficit spending, said Monday that Hogan’s report uncovered a new “boondoggle” that helped a company that had reportedly used dozens of workers based in Brazil to help with the program. “More proof today that this prime minister — this weak prime minister — has lost control of spending,” Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said in the House, describing CEBA as giving out “so-called loans” to ineligible businesses. Moments later, Bloc Québécois MP Nathalie Sinclair-Desgagné called it a “scandal” that a single corporation received so much money to administer the program. The government defended the program as a “lifeline” for small businesses during the pandemic. In a press release, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland and Small Business Minister Rechie Valdez also pushed back on Hogan’s report, stating it failed to “properly acknowledge that CEBA was designed and delivered” during that crisis. Hogan, meanwhile, credited the government for working with speed, but argued the public should still expect programs to be well-run — especially when they are designed to exist for years. “I would expect a basic level of due diligence and monitoring of expenditures, regardless of whether a pandemic exists,” Hogan said Monday. In her report, Hogan determined that EDC relied heavily on a single private contractor, the global IT firm Accenture, which received a sole-source contract without competition, was paid 92 per cent of $342 million in contract spending that flowed through program, the report said. EDC was “dependent” on Accenture because it determined it did not have the “internal resources” to deliver the CEBA loans itself, Hogan’s report said. This “extensive reliance” raised risks, Hogan concluded, with Accenture involved in setting the scope of work and prices that EDC would pay for it. Contracts for the first three year’s of the company’s work were “primarily drafted by Accenture,” and didn’t contain conditions like preserving the ability for EDC to transfer the program to another vendor, the report said. There were also “persistent delays in planning” for the eventual collection of unpaid loans, which prompted EDC to involve Accenture in the decision to hire the company’s own subsidiary to do the work — something Hogan flagged as a “conflict of interest that EDC did not manage.” Another example of the reliance on Accenture was the call centre created to provide information about program applicants. The centre was supposed to last for four months and cost $2.78 million, but as of March 31 this year it was still open and had cost about $23.2 million, Hogan’s report said, concluding EDC did not adequately monitor costs that skyrocketed from an average of $31 per call in 2020 to a peak of $589 per call in April 2023. Hogan called on EDC to improve how it manages these contracts, which the Crown corporation has agreed to do. EDC’s head of communications and public affairs, Todd Winterhalt, said in a statement Monday that the agency is “very proud” of its work, and that it needed to use third-party contractors to build and operate the program. “EDC welcomes the opportunity to continuously improve our practices,” the statement said. The report also raised questions about the government’s plan to collect loan payments if businesses fail to pay them back on time. Hogan found that EDC’s plan lacked “key elements” like forecasted costing beyond the current fiscal year, and checks to monitor how successfully loans will be recouped. Hogan also concluded that EDC underestimated the number of ineligible businesses that received these loans and must pay it back. The report said that, by October 2021, EDC confirmed almost 51,000 recipients were ineligible and had to repay the money by the end of 2023, but as of March 31, 2024 only around half of them had done so — representing about $1.1 billion. But Hogan’s office performed its own eligibility verifications and found that possibly another 26,000 businesses received loans — worth a total of $1.5 billion — even though they should have been ineligible based on documentation provided, the report said. Another 19,800 businesses were not technically eligible but allowed to receive money because of “unclear” application rules, Hogan’s report added. This decision cost an extra $146 million in forgiven loans, the report said. The report said EDC has agreed to consider potential options to recover the forgiven portions of loans given to ineligible small businesses, but Hogan during her press conference said she remains concerned about government’s alleged “reticence” to recover these funds.SANTA CLARA – George Kittle will charge Monday night onto the only home field he’s known as one of the NFL’s marquee players, the 49ers’ crowd will go wild, and the stage will be set, yet again. The show goes on, even if the 49ers (6-9) are ending their NFC Championship reign and perhaps passing the torch to Levi’s Stadium’s final visitors this season , the Detroit Lions (13-2). Kittle is 33 yards shy of his fourth 1,000-yard season, in an eight-year career that will garner him more All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors. “I’m just very excited I got to spend eight years with the San Francisco 49ers, hopefully will continue to play here, because it’s a storied franchise,” Kittle said Friday when asked about his place among NFL all-time time ends. This won’t be his farewell game, right? Look, he isn’t saying that, and he said to wait until the offseason to publicly ask him about his contract, which runs through 2025 at a $14.4 million salary — a few million shy of Travis Kelce’s market-leading price among tight ends. After Christian McCaffrey and Trent Williams leveraged their elite play into extensions prior to this season, it’s obvious Kittle can and should do the same, for a franchise indebted to his production, leadership and standard-setting ways as a seven-time captain. “Dude, he’s been great to me regardless of the circumstances of winning or losing,” Brock Purdy said. “He sees something in me that’s pretty good. And he’s just been nothing but great encouragement to me. He’s real to me, about what I can do and where I can get better. He’s real and that’s why I love him.” For all the anticipation of Purdy’s blockbuster extension that can come as soon as the season ends, Kittle can strong-arm the 49ers’ brass into a deal more than any other player, all due respect to pending free agents Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, Aaron Banks, and Talanoa Hufanga. “More than anything, he’s a guy that’s going to do anything for you when you step on the field. Off the field he’s got your back,” Purdy added. “And for our team, man, we’ve been in some tough situations this year and that dude has been one of the dudes that comes to work every single day.” Kittle’s work this game likely will be to help block amid a patchwork offensive line with three new starters. That role is not taken lightly by Kittle, nor is his more renowned efforts as one of the franchise’s all-time best receivers. “Hopefully I can eventually catch T.O.,” said Kittle, whose 528 receptions and 7,241 yards rank third in 49ers’ receiving history behind only Jerry Rice and Terrell Owens. “I don’t think I’ll ever catch Jerry Rice on anything but that’s totally fine, I’m OK with that. I don’t think I want to play that long.” Kittle trails Owens by 64 catches and 1,331 yards for the No. 2 spots behind Rice (1,281 catches, 19,247 yards). He is the only tight end in 49ers history to reach the 1,000-yard mark, doing so in 2018, ’19, ’23, and, with 33 more yards, this season. The only other tight ends in NFL history with four 1,000-yard seasons: Kelce (seven), Tony Gonzalez (four), Rob Gronkowski (four), and, Jason Witten (four). “I’ll look back on that whenever I’m done playing,” said Kittle, noting his longevity is “until the wheels fall off or until my wife tells me to stop playing.” This season, he leads the 49ers with 68 catches, 967 yards and eight touchdowns. His perennial goal: 75 catches, 1,000 yards, 10 touchdowns. “I’d rather be winning football games but to have that (1,000-yard milestone) as a cherry on top is awesome,” Kittle said. “The more seasons you can stack up like that, the more fun things you can do down the road.” It’s a road that leads to Canton, Ohio and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Disclaimer: Kittle wrote a foreword for Cam Inman’s recently published book “The Franchise: San Francisco 49ers”. ©2024 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at mercurynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.