RED DEER ADVOCATE Monday, Nov. 10, 2014 A9
Toronto company offers digital medical TSX set for studies, articles further gains D I L B E R T
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS p’s web widget is offering doctors and researchers help in digitally navigating the staggering volume of medical studies and articles being published each day around the world. “Everything starts with the information overload problem. Today, there are now over 4,000 new articles that are published per day, and that’s just in biomedicine alone,” says Paul Kudlow, a Toronto-based physician-scientist and founder of TrendMD (www.trendmd.com), a startup financially backed by MaRS Innovation and the Ontario Centres of Excellence. Kudlow says the amount of published medical research is growing and is spread throughout an estimated 27,000 medical journals, making it nearly impossible to keep up with the latest developments. “What’s the point in publishing something if there is no guarantee that your intended audience will see it?,” says Kudlow. In 2012, Kudlow, grappling with the traditional ways to publicize his research, came up with the idea of TrendMD, an online tool that gives readers a way to find content relevant to their interests, while giving publishers, institutions, industry and authors the ability to target their audience. TrendMD’s business model is based on clicks, and there are two streams of revenue — publishers and sponsors. Publishers place the TrendMD widget at the end of articles published on their websites, at no cost. Using the article content as a guide, the widget then recommends links to related studies elsewhere in the journal — keeping the reader engaged in their area of interest for as long as they want to read and, in turn, making money for the journal with every click. Sponsors, on the other hand, pay to have their content added to TrendMD’s widget after their study is reviewed by the startup’s in-house team. A scientist or doctor, for example, would pay TrendMD a minimum of $20 to have their studies accessed a maximum of 100 times. But the more they pay, the more clicks are available to readers. Each time a reader clicks on a link, 20 cents is deducted from the sponsor’s payment. Of that, 10 cents goes to the host journal, with the rest going to TrendMD. Kudlow estimates that TrendMD has about 250,000 articles indexed from about 200 journals that have signed up with the widget, a number he says is growing at five per cent per week. These articles will only show up within that host publishers
TRENDMD
INVESTORS WONDER IF ENERGY SELL-OFF OVERDONE
site, meaning the widget on the British Medical Journal’s articles draws only from that site. On the sponsored side, which includes advertisers submitting content to TrendMD for promotion across the network, there are about 850 scholarly articles. With all of this content, TrendMD generates approximately nine million scholarly article recommendations to 2.5 million readers per month, said Kudlow. T he widget is installed across a network of about 200 premium scientific, technical, and medical journals and blogs, including BMJ, Landes Bioscience (Taylor and Francis), and the Journal of Medical Internet Research. “We want to ensure that every piece of scholarly content gets in front of the right audience, so that it has the best chances of generating the impact it deserves,” he says. “In some cases we may grow the audience by 10,000 people that otherwise would have never seen their work.” The “eureka” moment for Kudlow and his partner Dr. Gunther Eysenbach came in 2012 when they stumbled upon a widget that personalized web content, generated by a company called Outbrain. As soon as they saw the widget, they knew it would be a perfect fit for scholarly publishing. In 2013, Kudlow’s application to UTEST — a joint software testing venture between the University of Toronto and MaRS Innovation — received $30,000 in seed funding in exchange for five per cent of the company. After months of testing, TrendMD launched in May 2014. The company has received more than $530,000 in funding from investors such as the Ontario Centres of Excellence, MaRS Innovation and outside interests. Dr. Scott Lear, a Health Sciences professor at Simon Fraser University, says that trying to keep up with the torrent of new medical research is overwhelming. “I get inundated with emails and alerts and the like and nowadays it’s like there’s so much information out there, that it becomes more overwhelming than informative,” he says. Kudlow says that, up until about a decade ago, the distribution of scholarly content had not kept up with the shift to online from print. Yet some researchers and doctors are resistant to change in the industry, arguing that the current system is still effective.
STOCK MARKET LOOK AHEAD to date before stocks started to sell off in Canada and the U.S. in September. The energy sector is still down year TORONTO — The Toronto stock to date, with prices depressed by a market could be in for further gains U.S. dollar that has strengthened conthis week, feeding off last week’s fourth siderably amid significant economic consecutive advance on the TSX amid deterioration in Europe and the end of economic data that showed steady em- the latest quantitative easing program ployment growth in the United States by the Federal Reserve. “As the dollar goes up, it (oil) beand a rebound in oil prices off threecomes much more expensive in the year lows. Otherwise, it looks to be a relatively emerging markets that have been the quiet week for economic data as Can- source of a lot of demand growth,” obada’s quarterly earnings season also served King. King thinks this is a good opportustarts to wind down after a string of well-received reports that helped the nity for investors to add to their energy Toronto market claw itself partway sector holdings for the simple reason back from the worst of the October that supply and demand fundamentals are sound. sell-off. “As long as you have positive globThe TSX ended last week up 0.5 al economic per cent or 78 growth you points, leavI’M SURPRISED THAT OIL HAS will grow your ing the marSOLD OFF AS HARD AS IT HAS. demand every ket up 7.85 single year,” per cent for THE PENDULUM ALWAYS he said. the year. The SWINGS TOO FAR AND THAT’S On the ecoDow industrinomic front, als jumped 184 CERTAINLY THE CASE HERE.’ the main Canapoints or 1.05 per cent. — CHRIS KING, dian items are PORTFOLIO MANAGER housing starts The gain MORGAN, MEIGHEN AND ASSOCIATES f o r O c t o b e r , came amid which come a muted reout on Monday, sponse to American jobs data that narrowly and Statistics Canada’s September surmissed expectations as 215,000 posi- vey of manufacturing shipments, out tions were created in October, a bit shy Friday. In the U.S., the consumer will be in focus with October retail sales of the 235,000 that had been forecast. The TSX energy sector was a star and November consumer sentiment performer, rising about three per cent data, both coming out on Friday. On the TSX, investors will digest at the end of a volatile week where oil prices hit the lowest levels since 2011 earnings from home improvement reas buyers reasoned the recent sell-off tailer RONA (TSX:RON) on Tuesday, of energy companies had been over- energy giant Encana (TSX:ECA), miner Iamgold (TSX:IMG) and grocer Loblaw done. “I am surprised that oil has sold Cos. (TSX:L) on Wednesday and insuroff as hard as it has,” said Chris King, er Manulife Financial (TSX:MFC) on portfolio manager at Morgan, Meighen Thursday. Positive corporate earnings from and Associates. “The pendulum always swings too far and that’s certainly the the likes of Canadian Natural Resources (TSX:CNQ), auto parts giant Magna case here.” King said consumers shouldn’t get International (TSX:MG) and Air Canatoo comfortable about oil prices mov- da (TSX:AC) helped boost the TSX last week. ing below US$80 a barrel. Craig Jerusalim, portfolio manag“We’re definitely not in for an era for that. Oil really should be back in er at CIBC Asset Management, noted the $95 level based on supply and de- that “it’s been a solid quarter revenue wise.” mand.” “Revenues have been growing in the The pendulum had swung hard the other way last the summer when prices high single digits and earnings have hit around US$105 a barrel, leaving the been growing almost double that,” he energy sector up about 20 per cent year said. BY THE CANADIAN PRESS
Asia trip a test for Obama’s clout on world stage AFTER HEAVY MIDTERM ELECTION LOSSES
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protests in Hong Kong. Climate change, a big concern in smog-filled Beijing, and China’s aggressive behaviour toward its neighbours are also on Obama’s agenda. Douglas Paal, who headed Asia policy under President George W. Bush at the National Security Council, said Chinese leaders have signalled that this visit will determine whether to keep working with Obama or just wait him out. “If he comes in and tries to be tough with them, they’ll see that as putting a period on co-operation with Obama,” said Paal. He added, “They see Hillary Clinton coming.”
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WASHINGTON — His influence at home fading, President Barack Obama is looking abroad to China, the opening stop of a three-country trip that will test his ability to play a commanding global role during his final two years in office. Once Obama was treated like a superstar on the world stage. But the president will arrive in Beijing on Monday under far different conditions, with his most powerful days behind him. At home, Republicans are still rejoicing at having pummeled Obama’s party in the midterm elections, relegating Democrats to the minority in both chambers of Congress. His counterparts in Asia surely have noticed. The trip also marks one of Obama’s final chances to deliver on his goal to amplify America’s influence in Asia and the Pacific. In China, Myanmar and Australia, leaders may render a judgment on whether Obama’s lofty ambitions in the region have been sidetracked by crises in Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East. “This is going to be a tough trip for the president,” said Ernest Bower, an Asia expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He said Asian leaders were viewing Obama’s visit with this question in mind: Who is the president after the midterm elections? “They’ll be trying to discern whether he has the commitment and political capital to follow through,” Bower said. Even before the election, Obama’s commitment to the region and his ability to boost U.S. clout there was in doubt in many capitals. U.S. allies such as Japan and South Korea have pressed for a greater American presence, partly to counter China’s growing influence. Yet Obama’s mission against the Islamic State group and his government’s Ebola response have diverted U.S. military and financial resources elsewhere. “The president remains deeply committed to his Asia rebalancing strategy, and its implementation will remain a top priority throughout the second term,” said his national security adviser, Susan Rice. During his three days in China, Obama planned to give a speech about U.S. ties to Asia at the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit and meet with President Xi Jinping. U.S. presidents often immerse themselves in foreign affairs during their last years in office, when the focus on the next presidential race saps the energy from their domestic efforts. After last week’s elections, White House officials spoke optimistically about Obama’s prospects for clinching trade deals in
Asia and elsewhere now that Republicans are set to control Congress. Under Obama, U.S. trade negotiators for years have been pursuing the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a major trade pact being negotiated with 11 nations. The talks repeatedly have blown past their deadlines, and other nations have been wary about Obama’s ability to push a deal through Congress, where Democrats are sensitive to the concerns of labour unions. But with Republicans in charge, Obama’s prospects may have increased — so the argument goes. Republicans tend to support trade deals as a way to boost the U.S. economy, and GOP leaders have spoken positively about giving Obama the power to submit a final deal to an up-or-down vote, preventing last-minute amendments that could sink it. China is not part of the talks, and is pursuing its own free trade deals in the region. What’s more, Chinese leaders have viewed Obama’s focus on Asia with suspicion, fearing an attempt to contain China’s growth and influence in the region. In a sign of the political climate facing Obama in China, state-run media have been mocking him in the days before his visit. “Obama always utters ’Yes, we can,’ which led to the high expectations people had for him,” read an editorial in the English-language Global Times. “But he has done an insipid job, offering nearly nothing to his supporters. U.S. society has grown tired of his banality.” Another reminder of the tensions in the region came hours before Obama left on Saturday when North Korea released two American detainees after Obama’s spy chief made a secret mission to Pyongyang to secure their release. In his meetings with Xi, Obama plans to address human rights issues, officials said, including the treatment of journalists as well as pro-democracy
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BYTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS