NewzIntel.com

Category: Education

  • MIL-OSI USA: Lab-synthesized botanical compound shows promise for fighting aggressive breast cancer

    Source: US Government research organizations

    Chemists created a new process for synthesizing complex natural compounds that can also boost their efficacy and therapeutic potential

    Chemists funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation have developed a new process to synthesize a plant-based compound that shows effectiveness against triple-negative breast cancer cells. According to the American Cancer Society, triple-negative breast cancer is one of the most aggressive types of breast cancer and accounts for 10-15% of all breast cancer cases. The process also increases the compound’s potency against these cancer cells and provides a method for it to be mass-produced to enable further testing as a potential treatment.

    The new process can also be used broadly to help discover new medicines by synthesizing and testing other complex organic compounds. The findings were achieved by Emory University researchers and published in The Journal of the American Chemical Society.

    The compound — called phaeocaulisin A — is extracted from the flowering plant Curcuma phaeocaulis, a relative of ginger and turmeric used for centuries in traditional medicine.

    “We not only efficiently replicated a complex natural product, we also improved upon it by turning it into a more potent compound,” says Mingji Dai, professor of chemistry and co-lead of the study.

    “It is only the first step in a long process,” says Yong Wan, professor of pharmacology and chemical biology and study co-lead. “But the new analogue of phaeocaulisin A we have reported shows promising efficacy against triple-negative breast cancer cells, which are very aggressive and challenging to deal with.”

    The study describes how the unique molecular structure of phaeocaulisin A works against triple-negative breast cancer by inhibiting it as a particularly effective anti-inflammatory agent. Wan and Dai were drawn to understand this property and improve upon it with their lab-synthesized analogue version.

    Credit: Sarah Woods, Emory University

    Mingji Dai (right), professor of chemistry at Emory University, and Yong Wan (left), professor of pharmacology and chemical biology at Emory School of Medicine, invented a reaction to streamline the total synthesis of a compound, phaeocaulisin A, extracted from a plant used for centuries in traditional medicine.

    Other chemists have synthesized phaeocausilin A before by using a 17-step method. But Wan and Dai wanted to find a more efficient way. In the process, they devised a new type of chemical reaction to create complex molecules: palladium-catalyzed carbonylation, which uses low-cost and widely available carbon monoxide as a resource. This discovery also cuts down their total synthesis of phaeocausilin A from 17 to 10 steps.

    “The icing on the cake,” says Dai, “is that the chemical reaction we invented holds potential for widespread use in organic chemistry to make many other compounds for drug discovery.”

    “What is so exciting to me about this work is that this methodology can be broadly applied to other synthetic targets. These reactions enable chemists to rethink strategies for how to piece together molecules, like building a Lego set with a different, shorter, set of instructions,” says John Jewett, program director in the NSF Division of Chemistry, which supported the research.

    The chemists say the compound and this method will require years of further research to evaluate its full potential. That said, it’s already shown possibilities for production at scale, and in preparation for commercial therapeutic use.

    “My lab’s focus is to find ways to integrate basic research into translational research,” Wan says. “We are not only trying to understand the mystery of mechanisms behind cancer. We also want to bring strategies to neutralize cancer to the clinical bedside.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: How the Industry of Drones is Evolving Rapidly with New Trends and Technologies Emerging Regularly

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    PALM BEACH, Fla., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — FN Media Group News Commentary – Experts in the drone industry are excited about its future. One such player said: “As we soar into a new era of technological innovation, drones are rapidly becoming a significant part of our everyday lives. From aerial photography to package delivery and from environmental monitoring to emergency response, drones are revolutionizing numerous industries.” They continued: “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are at the forefront of drone technology advancements. Companies… are leading the way in this area with drones that can navigate complex environments autonomously using AI.  The market for AI in drones is expected to grow significantly, impacting sectors like agriculture, construction, and security. According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the market size for drones with AI is expected to grow from $2.1 billion in 2022 to $6.5 billion by 2027. The trend towards increased autonomy in drone technology is gaining momentum.  Companies are developing drones that can perform complex tasks without human intervention, such as detecting leaks, inspecting pipelines, and even charging themselves. This increased autonomy is expected to boost efficiency and productivity in various sectors, including agriculture, construction, and logistics. For example, autonomous drones can be used for precision agriculture, where they can monitor crop health, apply fertilizers, and even harvest crops. The enormous commercial potential is why the global precision agriculture market size is expected to reach $19.24 billion by 2030.”   Active Companies in the drone industry today include ZenaTech, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZENA), AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV), Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT).

    MarketsandMarkets added: “Drone swarming, the coordinated operation of multiple drones, is another emerging trend. Each drone in a swarm operates autonomously yet in harmony with the others, allowing the swarm to cover larger areas and perform tasks more efficiently than a single drone. Companies… are pioneering this technology, using it to create stunning light shows at live events. However, the potential applications of drone swarming extend far beyond entertainment. For example, in search and rescue operations, a swarm of drones can cover a large area to search for signs of life, allowing rescue teams to locate and reach victims more quickly. This technology could prove invaluable in the aftermath of natural disasters, where time is of the essence. The world of drones is evolving rapidly, with new trends and technologies emerging regularly. These advancements are opening up new applications and markets, from agriculture and construction to healthcare and entertainment. As we continue to explore the potential of these versatile machines, it’s clear that drones will play an increasingly important role in our future.”

    ZenaTech (NASDAQ:ZENA) ZenaDrone Tests Proprietary Camera Enabling IQ Nano Drone Swarms for US Defense Applications and Blue UAS Submission – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces that its subsidiary ZenaDrone is testing a new proprietary specialized camera that enables more efficient indoor applications such as inventory and security management, when utilizing IQ Nano drone swarms for commercial and US defense applications. The new camera prototype developed by its Taiwan component manufacturing subsidiary, Spider Vision Sensors, in collaboration with its certified electronics manufacturing partner, Suntek Global, will enable faster and more precise collection of data including multiple bar codes simultaneously scanned by multiple drones in a drone swarm. The company plans to apply for Blue UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) certification that lists and validates drones for military and government use.

    “Our Spider Vision Sensors subsidiary in collaboration with Suntek Global, has helped us speed up development of customized and specialized cameras required for our innovative drone swarm applications for commercial and defense customers. This partnership will continue to be invaluable as we develop our NDAA-compliant supply chain and received Blue UAS certification which will allow military and federal agencies to directly purchase our drones.,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    Military and Defense departments use small autonomous indoor drones like the 10X10 inch IQ Nano for various applications such as inventory management, indoor building reconnaissance, search and rescue, training simulations, and explosives detection. ZenaDrone is also engaged in a paid trial which includes developing drone swarm applications for inventory management and security applications with a multinational auto parts manufacturer customer.

    A drone swarm is a coordinated group of autonomous drones that communicate and work together using AI and real-time data sharing, to perform tasks collaboratively without direct human control. Drone swarms enhance efficiency, accuracy, automation, and performance compared to a single drone. Autonomous drones can rapidly scan thousands of bar codes or RFID tags per second with high accuracy, providing real-time visibility into inventory without disrupting workflows. A drone swarm can also cover more ground simultaneously, dramatically reducing inventory audit times and manual labour while providing near-total inventory visibility.

    An AI drone swarm for indoor security and surveillance enhances coverage, response time, and efficiency by autonomously patrolling large areas, detecting threats, and providing real-time situational awareness. Unlike stationary cameras or human patrols, drone swarms can dynamically adapt to security breaches, track intruders, and coordinate movements to eliminate blind spots. AI-driven analytics enable them to identify anomalies, recognize faces, and detect unauthorized activity with high precision, reducing false alarms and improving security decision-making. Their autonomous nature minimizes human labor costs while ensuring 24/7 monitoring in complex environments like warehouses, data centers, or commercial facilities.

    The ZenaDrone IQ Nano is available in 10×10 and 20×20-inch sizes, designed to perform regular and frequent inspections such as bar code or RFID scanning, facility maintenance inspections, security monitoring, 3D indoor mapping and other applications inside a warehouse, distribution, or plant facility. It is designed for autonomous use featuring integrated sensors, high-quality cameras, data collection and analysis including AI methodologies. Weighing 1.5kg and with a flight time of at least 20 minutes before utilizing the automatic battery recharging station, it is designed for hovering stability and safety with obstacle avoidance capabilities.   Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.financialnewsmedia.com/news-zena/

    In Additional ZENA News: ZenaTech’s (NASDAQ:ZENA) Expands Ireland Office Offering Drone as a Service (DaaS) Including Precision Agriculture to a European Market Growing at 28.6% Annually – ZenaTech, Inc. (FSE: 49Q) (BMV: ZENA) (“ZenaTech”), a technology company specializing in AI (Artificial Intelligence) drones, Drone as a Service (DaaS), enterprise SaaS, and Quantum Computing solutions, announces it will be expanding operations and opening a new, larger office and its European Headquarters in Dublin, Ireland. The new hub will facilitate the Company’s drone sales and DaaS drone services — including precision agriculture solutions — to a growing UK and European market. The Company anticipates the official grand opening during the summer of 2025.

    Strategically located near Dublin Airport and accessible via all major motorways, the new office location will serve a growing customer base in Ireland and enable growth across Europe, catering to agriculture as well as construction, renewable energy — including wind and solar farms — golf courses, racecourses, and warehouse and logistics.

    “Expanding our Dublin office and establishing a European HQ marks a new chapter in our strategy to scale our drones and DaaS offerings globally while servicing the fastest growing agricultural drone markets located in Europe. Our AI-powered drone solutions are designed to boost crop yields while reducing operational costs and provide smart, data-driven insights — empowering crop monitoring and health assessment, nutrient and resource optimization, and profitability,” said CEO Shaun Passley, Ph.D.

    The European agricultural drone market was valued at approximately USD 4.6 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 43.23 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28.58% according to Market Data Forecast . This growth is fueled by the adoption of drones for crop spraying, mapping, pest control, seeding, and remote sensing, which enhance productivity and resource efficiency in farming. Growth is also supported by favorable European government policies and a strong focus on sustainable farming practices.    Continued… Read this full release by visiting: https://www.zenatech.com/newsroom/

    Other recent developments in the drone industry include:

    To meet the emerging air threats of today and the rapidly evolving threats of tomorrow, AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVAV) recently announced Titan 4, the next generation of its battle-proven, warfighter-trusted Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) technology. Titan 4 is a smaller, lighter, more powerful, highly extensible Radio Frequency (RF)-based solution to detect and defeat Group 1 and 2 drone threats.

    Titan 4 is portable and mission-adaptable—supporting mobile, dismounted, or fixed-site use—and can deploy in under five minutes to identify and neutralize threats, creating a protective dome around personnel and infrastructure. Titan 4 is 17% lighter and 73% smaller than its dual-chassis predecessor, now integrated into a single compact chassis as compared to its dual-chassis predecessor. It offers nearly 250% more transmit power with 540W of total output over six RF bands to address both current and emerging threats. For enhanced airspace awareness, AV has integrated its Titan-SV system within Titan 4 to provide operators with AI/ML-backed passive, long-range precision threat detection.

    Ondas Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ONDS), a leading provider of private industrial wireless networks and commercial drone and automated data solutions, recently announced it has secured a $3.4 million order for its Iron Drone Raider Counter-UAS system from renowned European defense contractor for their governmental end client. This marks the initial deployment of the Iron Drone Raider in Europe and represents a major milestone in the global expansion of Ondas’ counter-UAS business.

    “Ongoing geopolitical instability and the rapid proliferation of hostile drone technologies have intensified the urgency for effective counter-UAS capabilities across NATO-aligned and partner nations,” said Eric Brock, Chairman and CEO of Ondas. “This order reflects the rising global demand for autonomous aerial defense systems that can be rapidly deployed, scaled, and adapted to modern threat environments. Iron Drone Raider delivers a differentiated solution for military and homeland security operators charged with safeguarding critical infrastructure and civilian populations from increasingly sophisticated aerial threats.”

    Palladyne AI Corp. (NASDAQ: PDYN), a developer of artificial intelligence software for robotic platforms in the defense and commercial sectors, and Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCAT), a drone technology company integrating robotic hardware and software for military, government, and commercial operations, recently announced a significant testing milestone in their ongoing collaboration—the completion of an autonomous, cross-platform collaborative flight involving three diverse heterogeneous drones.

    During this most recent testing, which leveraged Red Cat’s Teal 2 and Black Widow drones and the Palladyne™ Pilot AI software, each platform operated using onboard edge computing and constrained communication protocols without reliance on centralized infrastructure to communicate. The system enabled real-time, distributed detection and tracking of multiple dynamic and static ground objects—including humans and vehicles—in different regions of interest, providing a single operator with comprehensive situational awareness. The two companies previously announced a successful two-drone flight operation in January 2025, and Palladyne AI announced a single-drone testing scenario in December 2024 to autonomously identify, prioritize, and track terrestrial targets.

    About FN Media Group:

    At FN Media Group, via our top-rated online news portal at www.financialnewsmedia.com, we are one of the very few select firms providing top tier one syndicated news distribution, targeted ticker tag press releases and stock market news coverage for today’s emerging companies. #tickertagpressreleases #pressreleases

    Follow us on Facebook to receive the latest news updates: https://www.facebook.com/financialnewsmedia

    Follow us on Twitter for real time Market News: https://twitter.com/FNMgroup

    Follow us on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/financialnewsmedia/

    DISCLAIMER: FN Media Group LLC (FNM), which owns and operates FinancialNewsMedia.com and MarketNewsUpdates.com, is a third party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated in any manner with any company mentioned herein. FNM and its affiliated companies are a news dissemination solutions provider and are NOT a registered broker/dealer/analyst/adviser, holds no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security. FNM’s market updates, news alerts and corporate profiles are NOT a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. The material in this release is intended to be strictly informational and is NEVER to be construed or interpreted as research material. All readers are strongly urged to perform research and due diligence on their own and consult a licensed financial professional before considering any level of investing in stocks. All material included herein is republished content and details which were previously disseminated by the companies mentioned in this release. FNM is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers.  Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment when investing in stocks. For current services performed FNM has been compensated fifty one hundred dollars for news coverage of the current press releases issued by ZenaTech, Inc. by the Company. FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.

    This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may,” “future,” “plan” or “planned,” “will” or “should,” “expected,” “anticipates,” “draft,” “eventually” or “projected.” You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and FNM undertakes no obligation to update such statements.

    Contact Information:

    Media Contact email: editor@financialnewsmedia.com – +1(561)325-8757

    SOURCE: FN Media Group

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: New reports examine the economic and social impacts of nuclear decommissioning in Scotland A new study led by the National Decommissioning Centre, in collaboration with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), shows that Scotland’s £25 billion nuclear decommissioning programme could deliver significant long-term economic and social benefits at both national and local levels over the next 90 years and beyond.

    Source: University of Aberdeen

    A new study led by the National Decommissioning Centre, in collaboration with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), shows that Scotland’s £25 billion nuclear decommissioning programme could deliver significant long-term economic and social benefits at both national and local levels over the next 90 years and beyond.
    The research has highlighted potential economy-wide gains in employment, skills development, household income and consumption offering a positive outlook for communities impacted by the decommissioning process. The study has helped inform politicians and key policy makers on the opportunities and has contributed to the formation of a cross-party committee on nuclear decommissioning in the Scottish Parliament.
    As part of the wider project, the University of Aberdeen’s Just Transition Lab carried out a complementary study to build clear linkages on the broader debates on the Just Transition and report on how local communities in Caithness view the decommissioning process at Dounreay.
    As one of the UK’s key nuclear decommissioning sites, Dounreay plays a crucial role in the NDA’s long-term efforts to safely decommission early nuclear facilities. It has been a stable employer since it was established in the 1950s but the decommissioning process brings uncertainty for the surrounding communities about the future.
    This part of the study found that there are significant impacts of winding down the anchor institution central to high-skilled and high-income employment in the region and that there is a need for a Just Transition in the area. The report found that there is a lack of clarity on how this will be achieved.
    Interviews were carried out with residents and stakeholders in Caithness and North Sutherland directly impacted by decommissioning at Dounreay. The responses were that the issues are compounded by underinvestment in essential infrastructure, rural depopulation, and remoteness. At the same time, the presence of the skilled workforce as well as the increased interest in the region’s renewable energy resources means that decommissioning can be a driver for building future skills and capacities for economic diversification and local resilience.
    Just Transition Lab researchers examined the policy framework of a Just Transition, focusing on how the decommissioning processes align with national and regional visions for a net zero focused economy, how the process of change is engaging with community aspirations for the local economy, and how the policy drivers for a Just Transition are recreated in a remote rural community that faces significant change.
    The researchers also conducted key informant interviews to examine the impacts of decommissioning at Dounreay and the increasing onshore and offshore wind production in Caithness on the local community.
    The findings underscore the necessity for a timely and coordinated approach to regional socio-economic planning in Caithness and North Sutherland. A key aspect of the study is the development of a Just Transition indicator framework tailored to Caithness and North Sutherland. Despite some uncertainties, stakeholders view the decommissioning process as a stabilising force for the region, highlighting its potential to mitigate socio-economic disruptions.
    Dr Daria Shapovalova from the Just Transition Lab said: “This research provides a much-needed framework for planning a Just Transition in regions undergoing significant change. It’s a crucial step toward ensuring that local communities are not left behind in the shift to a sustainable, low-carbon economy. Just Transition context means not only the continuation of employment in the energy sector but also wider community impacts in health and wellbeing, housing, transport and more.”
    Malcolm Stone from the National Decommissioning Centre said: “Whilst it is recognised that the energy sector is undergoing a transition, how the transition will be a ‘just’ one for society is understood less. By considering the impact of decommissioning at the Dounreay facility in Caithness, this far sighted research commissioned by the NDA provides valuable evidence to aid decision makers and the wider community in understanding the complexities of the energy transition, highlighting opportunities for employment, economic diversification and societal impacts.”
    Heather Barton NDA said: “It has been great to engage with another area of the University of Aberdeen, the Just Transition Lab, through our partnership with the NDC. A real strength of working with the NDC is that there are numerous areas where we can collaborate to achieve our goals of decommissioning the UK’s nuclear sites safely, securely, sustainably and cost effectively. This study will help inform politicians and policy makers on key economic development opportunities and enable discussions around support for communities including skills and training.”

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Chinese research isn’t taken as seriously as papers from elsewhere – my new study

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Peng Zhou, Professor of Economics, Cardiff University

    My new research suggests there is a stubborn pattern in academic publishing. My co-author and I examined some 8,000 articles published in the world’s most reputable economics journals to study citations, which are where academics cite previously published research in their papers. We found papers whose lead author had a Chinese surname received on average 14% fewer citations than comparable papers written by those with a non-Chinese name.

    This supports similar findings from previous studies in chemistry and other natural sciences, suggesting that citation prejudice is a cross-disciplinary problem.

    In reaching that conclusion, we put our raw findings through every test we could think of to rule out other explanations. Our first thought was that maybe Chinese-authored papers are more recently published on average than non-Chinese-authored papers, and therefore less cited. However the same citation gap holds for papers published in all years.

    Average citations of economic articles by author ethnicity:

    Another obvious guess is that Chinese-authored papers are of lower quality. Some readers will have heard about the issue of China’s “paper mills”, companies which have in recent years been churning out research papers based on fraudulent findings for Chinese universities. There are reports that this may have made some western academics more reluctant to take Chinese research seriously, but these are largely a problem for low-quality journals.

    We only looked at articles published in the top journals (rated as 4 or 4* in the ABS journal rankings). Each paper has gone through a strict process of editorial review, often taking a couple of years, so they are far less likely to have been produced by high-volume paper mills. Additionally, almost half of the Chinese authors in our sample were affiliated outside China, so paper-mill allegations against Chinese authors are not relevant in our observations.

    Alternatively, you may be wondering if Chinese authors’ papers are less citable because of a language barrier in the writing. Again, this shouldn’t be an issue when all these papers which have been strictly quality-assured by peer reviews and editorial reviews. The writing styles of Chinese authors in these journals do not seem significantly different from non-Chinese authors.

    We probed still more possibilities to explain the apparent discrimination, controlling for different factors and so on. But each time, the citation gap persisted – and sometimes became larger.

    Eventually we gave up trying to falsify the hypothesis, and turned to understanding why this ethnic discrimination exists.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. Join The Conversation for free today.

    Why do economists discriminate?

    Picture the market for ideas as a miniature galaxy. Each paper is like a planet with its own mass, based on its quality, the authors’ stature and the perceived importance of the topic. Citations are like gravity, tugging knowledge towards these planets; the heavier the planet’s mass, the stronger the pull.

    Yet gravity also fades with distance, in this case meaning not kilometres but culture – language, networks and the subtle signals that tell us who feels familiar. It may be that the farther away a scholar seems on the cultural map, the weaker their intellectual pull.

    Our findings show this “cultural distance” at work. Interestingly, the same thing happens in both directions: the ratio of Chinese-authored references is significantly higher in Chinese-authored papers than in non-Chinese-authored papers.

    Our next step was some detective work to deduce who exactly is discriminating. We identified four “suspects”: journal editors, reviewers, publishers, and finally citers.

    If discrimination began with journal editors, they should only be publishing Chinese-led papers of comparably higher quality than other papers they publish. If so, you would expect these superior papers to be cited more, not less, which is at odds with the evidence.

    As for reviewers, most journals adopt a “double-blind” approach where reviewers and authors don’t know each other’s identities. If reviewers don’t know when they’re dealing with a Chinese author, they cannot be discriminating against them. Similarly, publishers are not usually allowed to intervene in editorial decisions, so they cannot be discriminating either.

    This leaves the citers as the main discriminators, those who read academic papers and cite them in their own work. To get a clearer picture of what is happening, we compared three pairs of subgroups: Chinese versus non-Chinese, top economists versus non-top economists, and those with US university affiliations versus non-US affiliations.

    We concluded that non-Chinese top economists from non-US institutions are the ones least likely to cite authors with Chinese surnames. This seems surprising given US rivalry with China, but actually it is a natural consequence. For US economists to study their biggest opponent, you would expect them to cite studies about China –and most are done by Chinese authors.

    Mitigating the discrimination

    One way of reducing the “Chineseness” of authorship is co-authoring with a non-Chinese academic. However in academic writing, a citation convention is that when a paper has over three authors, you only keep the surname of the first author (who is also the lead researcher). For example, a paper written by Zhang, Smith and Armstrong in 2025 will simply become “Zhang et al. (2025)”. Therefore bringing in more non-Chinese academics will make no difference.

    Another way of diluting “Chineseness” is for the lead author to become affiliated with a US institute. Per our study, this reduces the citation bias by 16%. However, obtaining such a US affiliation is not always feasible.

    This led us to conclude that the best way of reducing discrimination is to reduce the amount of author information in citations. For example, journals can request for citations to be by initials (“BG 1957”) or numeric codes (1, 2, 3), as market leaders like Nature already do. Journals can also use a digital object identifier (DOI), for example “10.1234/example.article”, instead of disclosing author names in published references.

    This may not solve the problem of papers not being cited in the first place, but it can reduce the likelihood of subsequent citation bias as readers no longer know the surnames of cited papers.

    Discrimination is self-sabotage. Each time we discount a paper because the surname feels “foreign”, we put the brakes on our own progress. This slows insight, muffles debate and leaves the world poorer in ideas.

    Peng Zhou does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Chinese research isn’t taken as seriously as papers from elsewhere – my new study – https://theconversation.com/chinese-research-isnt-taken-as-seriously-as-papers-from-elsewhere-my-new-study-255794

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: How proposed changes to higher education accreditation could impact campus diversity efforts

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jimmy Aguilar, PhD Candidate in Urban Education Policy, University of Southern California

    An executive order seeks to remove ‘discriminatory ideology’ in universities. Critics contend it politicizes the accreditation process. Abraham Gonzalez Fernandez via Getty Images

    President Donald Trump on April 23, 2025, signed an executive order that aims to change the higher education accreditation process. It asks accrediting agencies to root out “discriminatory ideology” and roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives on college campuses.

    The Conversation asked Jimmy Aguilar, who studies higher education at the University of Southern California, to explain what accreditation is, why it matters and how the Trump order seeks to change it.

    What is accreditation and how does it work?

    Accreditation is a process that evaluates whether colleges and universities meet standards of academic rigor, institutional integrity and financial stability.

    In the United States, there were 88 accrediting agencies during the 2022-23 school academic year.

    The agencies are formally recognized by the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

    Accreditation is not a one-time stamp of approval, but a continuous process.

    At its core, accreditation is a guarantor of quality in higher education.

    The process involves self-assessment and peer review visits.

    Colleges typically undergo a full review every five to 10 years, depending on the accrediting agency.

    Institutions must meet standards for curriculum, faculty, student services and outcomes, and provide documentation.

    Then, federally recognized accrediting agencies review the documentation.

    Teams, often comprised of peer reviewers from other colleges, conduct campus visits and evaluations before granting or reviewing accreditation.

    Why do universities need to be accredited?

    Accreditation assures students, employers and the public that an institution meets basic academic standards.

    It also signals credibility and secures federal financial support.

    Without it, colleges cannot access key funding sources such as Pell Grants and federal student loans.

    The funding is essential for college budgets and students’ access to higher education.

    Accreditation is also required for professional licensure in fields such as teaching, nursing, medicine and law.

    It also helps ensure that students can transfer credits between institutions.

    What does Trump’s executive order do?

    President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025, in Washington.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

    The executive order would reshape the college accreditation system, aligning it with the administration’s political priorities. Those priorities include the rollback of DEI initiatives.

    The order seeks to use federal oversight to weaken institutional DEI policies and priorities. It also promotes new standards aligned with the administration’s interpretation of “merit-based” education.

    The executive order also directs the Department of Education to penalize agencies that require colleges to implement DEI-related standards.

    The Trump administration claims that such standards amount to “unlawful discrimination.”

    Penalties may include increased oversight or loss of federal recognition. This would render the accreditation seal meaningless, according to the executive order.

    The order also proposes a broad overhaul of the accreditation process, including:

    • Promoting “intellectual diversity” in faculty hiring. The executive order argues that promoting a broader range of viewpoints among faculty will enhance academic freedom. Critics often interpret this language as an effort to increase conservative ideological representation.

    • Streamlining the process for institutions to switch accreditors. During Trump’s first term, his administration removed geographic restrictions, giving colleges more flexibility to choose. The new executive order goes further. It makes it easier for schools to leave agencies whose standards they disagree with.

    • Expanding recognition of new accrediting agencies to increase competition.

    • Linking accreditation more directly to student outcomes. This would shift focus to metrics such as graduation rates and earnings, rather than commitments to diversity or equity.

    A 2023 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in university admissions has been a point of contention in the debate over diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education.
    Joe Daniel Price/Getty Images

    The executive order singles out accreditors for law schools, such as the American Bar Association, and for medical schools, such as the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

    The order accuses them of enforcing DEI standards that conflict with a 2023 Supreme Court ruling that outlawed affirmative action in university admissions.

    However, the ruling was limited to race-conscious admissions. It did not directly address faculty hiring or accreditation standards.

    That raises questions about whether the order’s interpretation extends beyond the scope of the court’s decision.

    The ruling has nonetheless been a point of contention in the debate over diversity, equity and inclusion.

    The American Association of University Professors and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law have denounced the executive order.

    The groups argue that it threatens to politicize accreditation and suppress efforts to promote equity and inclusion.

    Nevertheless, the order represents a push by the federal government to influence higher education governance.

    Jimmy Aguilar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. How proposed changes to higher education accreditation could impact campus diversity efforts – https://theconversation.com/how-proposed-changes-to-higher-education-accreditation-could-impact-campus-diversity-efforts-255309

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Humans are killing helpful insects in hundreds of ways − simple steps can reduce the harm

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Christopher Halsch, Ecologist, Binghamton University, State University of New York

    Dragonflies, just like bees and butterflies, face threats that humans can help prevent. Christopher Halsch

    Insects are all around us – an ant on the sidewalk, a bee buzzing by, a butterfly floating on the breeze – and they shape the world we experience. They pollinate flowering plants, decompose waste, control pests, and are critical links in food chains.

    Despite how much humans rely on insects, our actions are reducing their populations in many parts of the world. A recent study found that the United States lost more than 20% of its butterflies over the past two decades. Sadly, this rate of decline is not unusual. Many studies have found that insect populations are declining at 1% to 2% per year.

    To understand why this is happening, Status of Insects, an international research group we are part of, reviewed 175 recent studies on the causes of insect decline. We found hundreds of potential causes that are all highly connected, almost all of which stem directly or indirectly from human activities.

    The drivers of insect decline are connected

    The causes of insect decline are led by a few major sources: intensive agriculture, climate change, pollution, invasive species and habitat loss. Some drivers are bigger threats than others, but all of them play a role in causing insect declines.

    Importantly, many insects experience more than one of these stressors at the same time.

    The Mitchell’s satyr butterfly relies on prairie wetlands, many of which have been drained or altered, and is now critically endangered. Its greatest threats are habitat loss and insecticides from agricultural areas. This one was spotted in Michigan.
    U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

    Urban risks

    Picture a moth in a city park. It is threatened by habitat loss as the city grows, but its habitat may also be threatened by invasive plants that escape from gardens. At the same time, it is suffering from the effects of pollution – light, air and noise pollution are common in urban areas.

    Light pollution is especially important for moths because they are attracted to artificial lights at night, and so are their predators. Spiders, for example, have learned to hunt in lit areas. When moth species that fly at night spend a lot of time around lights, they can expend a lot of energy, leaving less for other activities, such as pollinating plants.

    In addition to being pollinators, moths also control plant growth by eating leaves during their caterpillar stage. And they provide food for many species of birds and bats, which play their own important roles in ecosystems.

    Risks on farmland and orchards

    Intensive agriculture is one of the most commonly discussed drivers of insect decline. It is also heavily connected to other causes.

    Consider native bees in agricultural areas. As agriculture expands, their native habitat is reduced. Agricultural landscapes also tend to have high levels of chemical pollution – especially insecticides, fungicides, herbicides and fertilizers. Insecticides are designed to disrupt insect physiology and can directly harm bees, while herbicides indirectly disrupt bees by removing plants that provide food.

    Flowers, and the insects that rely on them, can fall victim to chemicals used on farms.
    Dixit Motiwala/Unsplash, CC BY

    Often, U.S. farms also use honeybees, native to Europe, for pollination. These introduced bees are easier to manage but can spread diseases and parasites into native bee populations.

    Native bees may be able to survive one of these threats, but all three together present a much bigger challenge.

    Polluted water can also harm insects

    Humans often focus on insects such as bees and butterflies because they are more visible, but many insects spend much of their life underwater, where they face another set of threats.

    For instance, dragonflies are aquatic when they are juveniles. The threats at this stage of life are no less severe but are entirely different from those facing adults.

    When water levels in streams or ponds decrease, that reduces young dragonflies’ habitat. These insects can also be threatened by water pollution from runoff and increases in water temperature with climate change.

    Successful conservation considers all the risks

    These connections mean humans must be thoughtful about conservation.

    Well-meaning actions such as reducing pollution or controlling invasive species can help, but they will have little effect if there is no habitat for insects to return to. Restoring habitat can have widespread benefits and potentially help insects respond to other threats.

    Many insects play important roles in humans’ lives. Caterpillars, for example, help keep plant growth under control.
    Christopher Halsch

    There are more insect species on Earth than species in any other plant or animal group. They can be found almost everywhere you look.

    Yet public attention is mostly focused on pollinators. That can leave other insects facing unaddressed human threats.

    Preserving and restoring water resources such as wetlands, lakes and streams is vital for aquatic insects like dragonflies. Many other insects spend much of their lives underground. Soil-dwelling insects, such as some beetles and flies, serve important functions, like decomposing dead plant material.

    Successful conservation also considers species throughout their life cycles. For instance, planting pollinator gardens provides nectar for adult hoverflies – an important but often overlooked pollinator. But a garden alone would not necessarily provide food for their larval stage, when many hoverflies decompose plant and animal matter.

    How to help insects

    The simplest way to help insects is by providing high-quality habitats.

    This includes supporting a variety of native plants that can provide both nectar and leaves, which are food for many herbivorous insects throughout their lives.

    A good habitat also provides places for insects to nest, such as bare ground or leaf litter. Bigger patches are better, but even small gardens can be helpful.

    Wildflower gardens can help insects thrive.
    California Native Plant Society/Flickr, CC BY

    At the same time, limiting exposure to other threats is important. Actions such as dimming artificial lights at night and reducing the use of pesticides can help.

    There are many reasons for insect decline, making population recovery an imposing challenge. But there are also many ways – large and small – that people, cities and companies can reduce the harm and help these valuable critters thrive.

    Christopher Halsch has received funding from the USDA NIFA (2022-67011-36563).

    Eliza Grames receives funding from the National Science Foundation (DEB 2225092).

    – ref. Humans are killing helpful insects in hundreds of ways − simple steps can reduce the harm – https://theconversation.com/humans-are-killing-helpful-insects-in-hundreds-of-ways-simple-steps-can-reduce-the-harm-255844

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: ‘Grit’ and relentless perseverance can take a toll on brain health − particularly for people facing social stresses like racism

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Darlingtina Esiaka, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science, University of Kentucky

    Persistence without rest may tax brain health. ljubaphoto/E+ via Getty Images

    For many people, grit – the perseverance and passion for long-term goals – is a virtue. It is also a key ingredient in overcoming challenges, achieving success and maintaining resilience.

    Studies have linked grit with success in goal attainment, improved psychological well-being and increased life satisfaction.

    But despite conventional narratives equating this type of psychological persistence with well-being, brain research is beginning to show that mustering grit in the face of adversity may also have some unexpected detrimental effects – particularly for communities that are already under chronic stress.

    As a behavioral scientist studying Alzheimer’s disease and brain health in Black communities, I use techniques such as brain activity monitoring to examine risk factors and early signs of cognitive decline. My research along with other work is beginning to uncover that pushing through can create a level of stress that actually taxes brain health.

    The paradox of grit, active coping and brain health

    Grit has become a central idea in psychology. Researchers have mainly focused on its positive features, describing it as a quality that helps people work hard, stay strong during tough times and keep trying even when things are difficult. Active coping is a similar concept defined as addressing problems directly and actively seeking solutions. Studies have linked it to lower stress, better health and feeling more in control.

    Traits such as grit and active coping are strategies used to manage stress, and they are traditionally seen as protective factors for well-being.

    But perseverance may also come with risks that can contribute to poor brain health outcomes. Consider the concept of John Henryism, developed by an epidemiologist named Sherman James in the 1970s.

    John Henryism is a coping strategy characterized by persistent, high-effort striving in response to chronic stressors, particularly among marginalized groups. It is named after the legendary African American folk hero John Henry, who worked himself to death in a contest against a steam-powered drill. In the folk tale, John Henry exemplifies how people may engage in prolonged, high-effort coping, often at the expense of their health. James used the folklore to symbolize the relentless effort to overcome structural and systemic barriers.

    For example, imagine someone in their early 40s who works two physically demanding jobs to support their family and prevent homelessness. They believe relentless effort is the only path to stability, despite experiencing chronic fatigue and pain. Over time, this sustained strain may lead to high blood pressure, stroke and depression – all of which have been linked to cognitive decline.

    This statue of John Henry stands in Talcott, W.Va., above the Big Bend Tunnel on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. Many people believe the events described in the folktale took place here.
    Ken Thomas via Wikimedia Commons

    John Henryism has been linked to negative health outcomes, including increased risks of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and early mortality. It has also been linked to the risk of poor brain health.

    Perseverance and the risk of cognitive impairment

    My colleagues’ and my recent work supports the idea that high-effort coping such as grit can contribute to neurocognitive wear and tear. Being constantly under stress can essentially overwork certain parts of the brain. This damage can build up to make it harder for the brain to learn new things, remember information and stay sharp as a person gets older.

    In our study published in January 2025, we asked 158 Black men living in the U.S. to participate in an online survey. The survey measured grit by asking how much participants agreed with statements like “I finish whatever I begin.” It also asked participants to report how often they experienced episodes of memory loss and confusion and to rank whether these episodes were becoming more frequent.

    We found that men with higher levels of grit reported greater cognitive difficulties such as trouble concentrating, forgetfulness and feeling mentally fatigued, despite their strong motivation to persevere. While our study couldn’t determine whether grit causes these difficulties, it raises important questions about whether sustained, high-effort coping might come at a cognitive cost over time.

    A concept called allostatic load provides one possible explanation for the link between perseverance and the cognitive decline we observed in our study. Allostatic load is the wear and tear on the body that builds up over time due to dealing with stress.

    I believe individuals who push through adversity against all odds may experience allostatic load more acutely. Their persistent coping could intensify physiological strain over time, contributing to earlier onset of cognitive decline. This explanation aligns with previous work, which has shown that prolonged exposure to stress can accelerate cognitive decline and negatively affect memory and executive function.

    Facing frequent stressors such as racism, discrimination, economic challenges and limited access to health care with intense levels of perseverance may encourage people to push through these challenges without adequate recovery. That can cause chronic stress that damages brain health.

    Continuously exerting mental and emotional effort without relief may also result in cognitive overload and diminish people’s ability to sustain mental resilience. This burden accelerates brain aging and increases the risk of cognitive decline.

    Unlike the occasional stress of meeting a deadline or completing a difficult project, this type of overexertion is more like waking up every day already exhausted, yet pushing through multiple jobs, financial worries and family responsibilities with little rest or support. Over time, this constant mental strain may wear down the brain’s ability to recover and maintain clarity, even when the person appears outwardly resilient.

    Rethinking perseverance

    Researchers are beginning to build a more nuanced understanding of perseverance that challenges the conventional wisdom that it is always beneficial. This perspective also redefines the notion of strength in the face of adversity.

    In this more realistic definition, perseverance can include self-care and rest. Knowing when to take a break or prioritize self-care is a practical strategy for maintaining cognitive health in the face of challenges.

    Also, practices such as meditation, deep breathing and guided relaxation can help regulate stress responses and reduce cognitive strain. And beyond personal resilience, leaning on social support and meaningful connections can be just as crucial for long-term brain health.

    Darlingtina Esiaka receives funding from National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer’s Association. She is the founder of Black in Gerontology and Geriatrics Network.

    – ref. ‘Grit’ and relentless perseverance can take a toll on brain health − particularly for people facing social stresses like racism – https://theconversation.com/grit-and-relentless-perseverance-can-take-a-toll-on-brain-health-particularly-for-people-facing-social-stresses-like-racism-251585

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: When doctors don’t believe their patients’ pain – experts explain the all-too-common experience of medical gaslighting

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Elizabeth Hintz, Assistant Professor of Health Communication, University of Connecticut

    Medical gaslighting stems from centuries of gender bias in medicine. SimpleImages/Moment via Getty Images

    For people with chronic gynecological pain conditions, pain can be constant, making everyday activities like sitting, riding a bicycle and even wearing underwear extremely uncomfortable. For many of these people – most of whom identify as women – sexual intercourse and routine pelvic exams are unbearable.

    Endometriosis and vulvodynia, or chronic genital pain, are common gynecological conditions that can cause severe pain. They each affect about 1 in 10 American women.

    Yet many women face skepticism and gaslighting in health care settings when they seek care for this type of pain.

    We know this well through our research on social cognition and on how people with misunderstood health conditions manage difficult conversations with their doctors and family, as well as through volunteer work alongside people living with these conditions.

    We’ve consistently found that medical gaslighting around chronic gynecological pain is a complex societal problem, fueled by holes in medical research and training.

    ‘It’s all in your head’

    A 2024 study of patients who went to a clinic for vulvovaginal pain – pain experienced in the external female genitals and vagina – found that 45% of these patients had been told that they “just needed to relax more” and 39% were made to feel that they were “crazy”. A staggering 55% had considered giving up on seeking care.

    These results echo what one of us – Elizabeth Hintz – found in her 2023 meta-synthesis: Female patients with chronic pain conditions frequently hear this “It’s all in your head” response from doctors.

    Another study followed patients in two different major U.S. cities who were seeking care for vulvovaginal pain. The researchers found that most patients saw multiple clinicians but never received a diagnosis. Given the challenges of seeking medical care, many patients turn to social media sources like Reddit for support and information.

    These studies, among others, illustrate how people with these conditions often spend years going to clinician after clinician seeking care and being told their pain is psychological or perhaps not even real. Given these experiences, why do patients keep seeking care?

    “Let me describe the pain that would drive me to try so many different doctors, tests and treatments,” a patient with vulvovaginal pain said to her doctor. For her, sex “is like taking your most sensitive area and trying to rip it apart.”

    “I can now wear any pants or underwear that I want with no pain,” said another patient after successful treatment. “I never realized how much of a toll the pain took on my body every day until it was gone.”

    The World Health Organization estimates that at least 1 in 10 women suffers from endometriosis, yet many doctors miss it or dismiss it.

    Medical gaslighting

    Many patients worldwide experience medical gaslighting – a social phenomenon where a patient’s health concerns are not given appropriate medical evaluation and are instead downplayed, misattributed or dismissed outright.

    Medical gaslighting is rooted in centuries of gender bias in medicine.

    Women’s reproductive health issues have long been dismissed as psychological or “hysterical.” Genital and pelvic pain especially has been misattributed to psychological rather than biological causes: A century ago, Freudian psychoanalysts incorrectly believed that female sexual pain came from psychological complexes like penis envy.

    These historical views help shed light on why these symptoms are still not taken seriously today.

    Consequences of medical gaslighting

    In addition to the physical toll of untreated pain, medical gaslighting can take a psychological toll. Women may become isolated when other people do not believe their pain. Some internalize this disbelief and can begin to doubt their own perceptions of pain and even their sanity.

    This cycle of gaslighting compounds the burden of the pain and might lead to long-term psychological effects like anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress symptoms. For some, the repeated experience of being dismissed by clinicians erodes their sense of trust in the health care system. They might hesitate to seek medical attention in the future, fearing they will once again be dismissed.

    Although some chronic gynecological pain conditions like endometriosis are gaining public attention and becoming better understood, these dynamics persist.

    A funding crisis

    Part of the reason for the misunderstanding surrounding chronic gynecological pain conditions is the lack of research on them. A January 2025 report from the National Academies found that research on diseases disproportionately affecting women were underfunded compared with diseases disproportionately affecting men.

    This problem has gotten worse over time. The proportion of funding from the National Institutes of Health spent on women’s health has actually declined over the past decade. Despite these known disparities, in April 2025 the Trump administration threatened to end funding for the Women’s Health Initiative, a long-running women’s health research program, further worsening the problem.

    Without sustained federal funding for women’s health research, conditions like endometriosis and vulvodynia will remain poorly understood, leaving clinicians in the dark and patients stranded.

    Disparities in care

    As hard as it is for any female patient to have their pain believed and treated, gaining recognition for chronic pain is even harder for those who face discrimination based on class or race.

    One 2016 study found that half of the white medical students surveyed endorsed at least one false belief about biological differences between Black and white patients, such as that Black people have physically thicker skin or less sensitive nerve endings than white people. The medical students and residents who endorsed these false beliefs also underestimated Black patients’ pain and offered them less accurate treatment recommendations.

    Research shows that medical students and residents often hold false beliefs about biological differences between Black and white patients.
    FG Trade Latin/E+ via Getty Images

    Studies show that women are more likely to develop chronic pain conditions and report more frequent and severe pain than men. But women are perceived as more emotional and thus less reliable in describing their pain than men. Consequently, female patients who describe the same symptoms as male patients are judged to be in less pain and are less likely to be offered pain relief, even in emergency settings and with female clinicians. Compared to male patients, female patients are more likely to be prescribed psychological care instead of pain medicine.

    These lingering erroneous beliefs about gender and race are key reasons patients’ pain is dismissed, misunderstood and ignored. The very real-life consequences for patients include delayed diagnosis, treatment and even death.

    Practical steps to disrupt medical gaslighting

    Correcting these problems will require a shift in clinical training, so as to challenge biased views about pain in women and racial minorities and to educate clinicians about common pain conditions like vulvodynia. Research suggests that medical training needs to teach students to better listen to patients’ lived experiences and admit when an answer isn’t known.

    In the meantime, people navigating the health care system can take practical steps when encountering dismissive care.

    They can educate themselves about chronic gynecological pain conditions by reading books like “When Sex Hurts: Understanding and Healing Pelvic Pain” or educational information from trusted sources like the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health, the International Pelvic Pain Society and the International Society for the Study of Vulvovaginal Disease.

    Although these steps do not address the roots of medical gaslighting, they can empower patients to better understand the medical conditions that could cause their symptoms, helping to counteract the effects of gaslighting.

    If someone you know has experienced medical gaslighting and would like support, there are resources available.

    Organizations like The Endometriosis Association and the National Vulvodynia Association offer support networks and information – like how to find knowledgeable providers. Additionally, connecting with patient advocacy groups like Tight Lipped can provide opportunities for patients to engage in changing the health care system.

    Elizabeth Hintz volunteers with Tight Lipped, a non-profit patient advocacy organization by and for people with chronic vulvovaginal and pelvic pain.

    Marlene Berke volunteers with Tight Lipped, a non-profit patient advocacy organization by and for people with chronic vulvovaginal and pelvic pain.

    – ref. When doctors don’t believe their patients’ pain – experts explain the all-too-common experience of medical gaslighting – https://theconversation.com/when-doctors-dont-believe-their-patients-pain-experts-explain-the-all-too-common-experience-of-medical-gaslighting-250770

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Trump speaking poorly of other presidents is uncommon, but not unheard of, in American presidential history

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Peter Kastor, Professor of History & American Culture Studies, Washington University in St. Louis

    While most former presidents do not speak out about their successors after they leave the White House, Donald Trump is not the first president to criticize his former political opponents while in office. Trigger Photo/Getty Images Plus

    Former presidents don’t criticize their successors in public.

    Or do they?

    Former Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden have all criticized President Donald Trump in recent months.

    In April 2025, Obama, for example, spoke about the importance of preserving the international order, meaning the system of rules, norms and institutions that have been active since World War II. He said: “And this is an important moment, because in the last two months, we have seen a U.S. government actively try to destroy that order and discredit it. And the thinking, I gather, is that somehow, since we are the strongest, we’re going to be better off if we can just bully people into doing whatever we want.”

    Biden also offered his own negative comments on April 15: “In fewer than 100 days, this new administration has done so much damage,” he said in his first public remarks since leaving office.

    Some commentators have called these former presidents’ remarks “unprecedented.”

    Many Americans are accustomed to former presidents not speaking about – let alone criticizing – the current president.

    As a scholar of the presidency, I know that most presidents stay quiet about their successors, regardless of what the current president does or says. They do this to avoid undermining both their own reputations as well as the stability of the presidency itself.

    But I am also struck by the fact that this tradition is not as entrenched as former presidents might claim or as many Americans believe.

    President Jimmy Carter and his Republican challenger, Ronald Reagan, shake hands as they meet on a debate stage in 1980.
    Bettmann/Contributor/Getty Images

    Presidents who bucked the norm

    President George Washington established the precedent that presidents retire after two terms and steer clear of public statement. John Quincy Adams, the sixth U.S. president, established a different model.

    After Adams lost his bid for reelection in 1828 to Andrew Jackson, he served in the House of Representatives from 1831 through 1848. Congress is an unusual perch for a former president, but it’s a place where criticizing sitting presidents and their policies is part of the job. Adams had plenty of criticism there for his successors, including Jackson and James K. Polk.

    Nearly half a century later, President Teddy Roosevelt was disappointed that his hand-picked successor, William Howard Taft, failed to live up to Roosevelt’s vision of reform. Roosevelt went from criticizing Taft privately in political circles to campaigning against him publicly in 1912, aiming to win a nonconsecutive second term. Democrat Woodrow Wilson eventually won that election, beating out Taft and Roosevelt.

    Richard Nixon, who, in 1974, became the only president to resign from office, wrote a series of books in the 1980s and 1990s that sought to redeem his own sullied image by casting himself as a visionary statesman. Nixon’s books also included plenty of unsolicited advice – and implicit criticism – for Democratic and Republican presidents alike.

    Before becoming the beloved elder statesman of the former presidents club in 1980, Jimmy Carter earned the ire of his successors for his outspokenness. He said that President Ronald Reagan’s administration was an “aberration on the political scene” and said that one of Clinton’s political pardons was “disgraceful.”

    With the exception of Roosevelt, these former presidents who criticized their successors all felt they had something to prove. Anxious to redeem their legacies, they did not retire quietly.

    A healthy foray into retirement

    So why don’t we all know these stories, and instead believe that past presidents simply keep their mouths shut?

    Americans have long treated presidential retirement as a symbol of a healthy democracy. And that story of retirement emphasizes how former presidents often leave politics behind them.

    The trajectory of presidents finding peace and contentment in retirement, surrounded by friends and family, is an appealing way for presidential biographers to end a story. These stories have included narratives about Harry Truman taking a cross-country road trip only months after leaving the White House in 1953, and George W. Bush taking up painting.

    In reality, former presidents have led complex lives of happiness and loss, withdrawal and engagement. The energy and ambition that brought them to the White House often make retirement difficult. And, over the long history of the presidency, former presidents have become increasingly public figures.

    Former Presidents Bill Clinton, left, George W. Bush and Barack Obama are seen with Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush at the inauguration of Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
    Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

    A shifting role

    Another important factor in the growing prominence of former presidents is how their roles have recently changed.

    Beginning in the 1990s, former presidents and first ladies tried to publicly show friendship and agreement with their counterparts.

    George H.W. Bush and Clinton, for example, teamed up to raise money for disaster relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in South and Southeast Asia. In 2017, Bush’s son George W. Bush, himself a former president by that time, called Clinton his “brother with a different mother.”

    Former first lady Michelle Obama and Barack Obama have publicly thanked George W. Bush and Laura Bush for helping their family adjust to life in the White House. Michelle Obama has also become known for her personal friendship with George W. Bush.

    And as medical advances enabled former presidents to live longer than ever, the relationships within a growing former presidents club became the subject of books, movies and television segments.

    All of these stories had the same message – that all presidents are committed to their country. Likewise, the amiable relationship between former and sitting presidents shows that if party leaders could overcome partisanship in the name of unity and friendship, so too could other Americans.

    In a remarkable moment, for example, three presidents from two different parties – Clinton, George W. Bush and Obama – came together for a video before Biden’s 2021 inauguration to call for unity in a moment of crisis.

    Following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, they used their connection as presidents to tell a national story. As Bush said, “Well, I think the fact that the three of us are standing here talking about a peaceful transfer of power speaks to the institutional integrity of our country.”

    “America’s a generous country, people of great hearts. All three of us were lucky to be the president of this country,” Bush continued.

    The Republican former president looked at the Democrats on either side of him and smiled.

    Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton speak together in 2021.

    A new kind of presidential relations

    While friendships between presidents became more common in the 1990s and 2000s, Clinton and especially Trump were doing something different by the 2016 election.

    In 2016, Clinton became an active partisan in support of his wife, Hillary Clinton, during her unsuccessful bid for president.

    Both Clintons remained public critics of Trump long after he assumed office in 2017.

    For his part, Trump as a politician and then president immediately dismissed the notion of friendship with his predecessors and former competitors. He was quick to condemn Hillary Clinton – and especially Obama – in the early years of his first presidency.

    No sooner did Trump lose the 2020 election than he was heaping public scorn on Biden with an energy that only increased after Trump entered the 2024 race.

    Trump’s criticism of Biden did not stop after his 2024 victory, with the White House issuing statements like a pledge “to turn back the economic plague unleashed by the Biden Administration.”

    Trump has escalated attacks on other presidents. But he was not the first to criticize his successors or predecessors.

    Peter Kastor does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Trump speaking poorly of other presidents is uncommon, but not unheard of, in American presidential history – https://theconversation.com/trump-speaking-poorly-of-other-presidents-is-uncommon-but-not-unheard-of-in-american-presidential-history-255568

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: FDR united Democrats under the banner of ‘liberalism’ − but today’s Democratic Party has nothing to put on its hat

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Kevin M. Schultz, Professor of History, University of Illinois Chicago

    President Franklin D. Roosevelt, left, popularized the term ‘liberal’; President Lyndon Johnson may have caused its demise. FDR: AFP/Getty; LBJ: Bettmann/Getty

    If Donald Trump has taught Americans anything, it’s that political parties can shift positions on any number of issues and retain strong support. Republicans had once been aggressive Cold Warriors, standing shoulder to shoulder with allies against Russia, but now they are isolationists. They once favored so-called “free markets,” but now they support tariffs. And they once supported cutting budget deficits, but now they balloon those deficits with tax cuts.

    Same party, different policies.

    This accords with recent scholarship showing that American political parties don’t have much ideological coherence around concepts such as “freedom” or “equality” but instead are more like social groups with strong communal bonds such as common sympathies and common enemies.

    It turns out that political parties are mostly just people rooting for their side, the way you might support a sports team. It doesn’t matter whether your team changes tactics. You still root for them.

    People do switch allegiances, but it often takes a traumatic event to stop seeing fellow partisans as good, reasonable people.

    Republicans right now have strong tribal belonging that begins and ends with a single question: Do you support President Trump? They have a banner to march under: MAGA. And a song: “God Bless the U.S.A.” They live, laugh and love to own the libs. Their signs and symbols are simple and amusing. And they are effective.

    The Democrats have nothing. No leader, no banner to march under, no signs and no symbols.

    They used to.

    In 1960, scholar Charles Frankel dived into the meaning of the politically important word ‘liberal’ in a commentary for The New York Times.
    New York Times archive

    The liberal past

    In the past, Democrats had a word to describe their sensibility: “liberal.” But now: RIP, liberal. No one, it seems, wants to be a liberal anymore.

    In my research on uses and abuses of the word liberal, I discovered that liberalism is a relatively new word in American politics, really starting only in 1932.

    That year, presidential candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt was searching for a way to fend off Republican accusations that his New Deal was “socialism,” a word with radical connotations.

    Liberalism as a word predates FDR’s usage, but he redefined it to signify the government regulation of capitalism and the use of the state to provide citizens with basic economic security.

    When in 1932 FDR accepted the nomination for president, he declared the Democratic Party “the bearer of liberalism,” by which he meant undertaking “planned action” while fighting for “the greatest good to the greatest number of our citizens.”

    FDR pitted his liberalism against his opponents, whom he labeled “conservatives.” The U.S. has had the liberal-conservative divide ever since.

    FDR’s successor, Democrat Harry Truman, recognized the power of the term, extravagantly claiming, “The liberal faith is the political faith of the great majority of Americans.”

    President John F. Kennedy gloried in the word, too, defining a liberal as “someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people.”

    In 1960, philosopher Charles Frankel argued that liberalism as defined by FDR was a banner under which every Democrat marched, concluding that “anyone who today identifies himself as an unmitigated opponent of liberalism … cannot aspire to influence on the national political scene.”

    Shifting meanings

    Not for long.

    For one thing, in the 1950s the word shifted meaning to better accord with the times, as it had done several times in the past. During the post-World War II economic expansion, “a large part of the New Deal public,” historian Richard Hofstadter wrote in 1954, “have become home-owners, suburbanites and solid citizens.”

    Liberals therefore shifted liberalism. No longer were liberals solely about providing jobs and Social Security. They also demanded increased access to higher education, medical care and civil rights, and the elevation of popular culture.

    In 1956, future presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. called this shift one from “quantitative” to “qualitative liberalism.”

    President Lyndon Johnson put this into effect in the mid-1960s. Johnson developed anti-poverty programs such as Head Start, but he also created cultural programs such as PBS, expanded civil rights and passed Medicare and Medicaid.

    “We are a great and liberal and progressive democracy,” Johnson declared in 1966.

    But Johnson’s qualitative liberalism came with costs. The programs expanded the federal bureaucracy, which by the late 1960s became noted for being ineffective and overly regulatory.

    Civil rights laws were perceived as threatening to the white working class. And Johnson’s liberalism became wedded to the war in Vietnam, where by 1969 more than 500,000 Americans were fighting to protect liberalism from the supposedly creeping arms of communism.

    Soon, the knives were out for liberals.

    3 lines of attack

    First, right-wing thinkers had already begun to portray liberals as little more than quasi-communists pushing for civil rights beyond most Americans’ desires.

    In 1955, conservative impresario William F. Buckley Jr. founded the magazine National Review to create “a responsible dissent from the Liberal orthodoxy.” He titled his 1959 book “Up from Liberalism” and spent 217 of the book’s 229 pages attacking liberals.

    Then leftist thinkers took their shot, imagining liberals as little more than beards for capitalism and foreign policy hawks.

    Left-wing novelist Norman Mailer summed up this sentiment in 1962, writing, “I don’t care if people call me a radical, a rebel, a red, a revolutionary, an outsider, an outlaw, a Bolshevik, an anarchist, a nihilist or even a left conservative, but please don’t ever call me a liberal.”

    Left-wing author Norman Mailer said in 1962 that people could call him a Bolshevik, an anarchist, a nihilist, ‘but please don’t ever call me a liberal.’
    Fred Stein Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images

    Civil rights advocates took their turn, seeing liberals as halfway friends, unwilling to fully embrace equality. Historian Lerone Bennett Jr. wished liberals “a fond farewell” in 1964. In that same year, writer James Baldwin called white liberals an “affliction.”

    With attacks coming from multiple sides, by the 1970s Democrats ran from the label. And without defenders, enemies redefined liberals, first as out-of-touch elitists, then as allies of corporations ignoring the demands of working people, and eventually, today, as woke snowflakes.

    In 2009, political scientists examining a hundred years of polling data found that, starting in the mid-1960s, decreasing numbers of Americans referred to themselves as liberal. And because partisanship is a social dynamic, when the club began to shrink, the researchers wrote, it turned into “a spiral in which ‘liberal’ not only is unpopular, but becomes ever more so.”

    The researchers also found that most Americans still supported “‘liberal’ public policies” such as “redistribution, intervention in the economy, and aggressive governmental action to solve social problems.” Americans, apparently, just hated the label.

    “Owning the libs” has been the glue keeping together the Republican Party ever since.

    From ‘abundance’ to ‘Waymo’

    Democrats are now searching for a new label. What can replace liberalism?

    New York Times columnist Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, who writes for The Atlantic, have proposed “abundance liberalism.” Other New York Times writers have also been busy envisioning this future. Reporter and editor David Leonhardt suggested “democratic capitalism.” Columnist Thomas Friedman improbably went with “Waymo Democrat,” referring to self-driving Waymo cars as a placeholder for an embrace of technological innovation.

    More realistically, political analyst E.J. Dionne and historian James Kloppenberg are writing a history of “social democracy” as a potential rallying cry for Democrats, pointing to its use by the most popular politician in America, Bernie Sanders.

    Whatever emerges, it’s helpful to remember that before 1932, hardly anyone in the U.S. used the word “liberal” to describe any kind of politics. Now, without finding a new emblem to rally behind, Democrats may be doing little more than battling that other neologism: MAGA.

    Kevin M. Schultz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. FDR united Democrats under the banner of ‘liberalism’ − but today’s Democratic Party has nothing to put on its hat – https://theconversation.com/fdr-united-democrats-under-the-banner-of-liberalism-but-todays-democratic-party-has-nothing-to-put-on-its-hat-255362

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Recycling asphalt pavement can help the environment − now scientists are putting the safety of recycled pavement to the test

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Jingtao Zhong, Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering, University of Tennessee

    The composition of the asphalt mixture making up a road can determine how safe it is for cars to drive on. Tarik Seker/iStock via Getty Images Plus

    More than 90% of paved roads in the U.S. are made of asphalt, which is constructed with nonrenewable materials such as petroleum. One way to make paving more sustainable is to recycle old pavement. When roads break down and need repaving, transportation agencies can recycle their old pavement into a reusable material called reclaimed asphalt pavement, or RAP. This method reduces carbon emissions and conserves natural resources.

    Nearly 95% of new asphalt pavement projects in the U.S. incorporate RAP.

    However, researchers don’t know as much about the long-term safety and durability of RAP as they do about new pavement.

    So, can engineers make roads more sustainable without compromising safety? As civil engineering researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, we’re working with our state’s transportation department to help answer this question.

    RAP and friction

    Asphalt pavement is composed of asphalt binder and aggregates. Asphalt binder is typically sticky and black petroleum-based material that acts as glue, holding the pavement together.

    Aggregates are solid materials, such as crushed stone, gravel or sand. The pavement manufacturers coat these aggregates with asphalt to bind them together and create a durable road surface. But both of these materials are nonrenewable.

    One way to reduce the demand for new aggregates is by recycling old pavement. Contractors use a milling machine to grind up the existing pavement surface. The milled material is then reused: The old aggregates and asphalt binder from the road become part of the new mixture. These old materials are often blended with new binder and additional aggregates to make sure they can perform well.

    Why study RAP’s properties?

    One challenge with using RAP is that its properties vary significantly. RAP typically look black, since they are fully coated in asphalt. Researchers have a hard time visually inspecting them to identify the aggregate types, shapes or textures. But we developed testing procedures to measure these properties.

    The road’s ability to grip the tires, known as skid resistance, keeps vehicles from skidding or hydroplaning during wet conditions. Skid resistance is typically quantified by measuring a coefficient of friction between the tire and the pavement surface.

    Pavement friction is the force that resists the motion between a vehicle’s tire and the pavement’s surface. More friction means a vehicle is less likely to skid.

    Understanding RAP’s skid resistance-related properties is important because these attributes affect how safe the pavement is, especially when it’s wet.

    Nearly 75% of weather-related accidents occur on wet pavement. At low speeds, most of the skid resistance between a tire and the pavement comes from the texture of the aggregates.

    Most friction research has tested new aggregates. RAP needs to maintain good frictional properties to be as safe as the original, but until now, researchers haven’t fully investigated whether it does.

    How we study RAP’s properties

    Our research team developed a two-step process to better understand RAP’s safety performance. First, we extract the aggregates from the RAP. Then, we measure the frictional properties of those aggregates, since they play a key role in pavement skid resistance.

    To remove the black asphalt coating and expose the actual surface of the aggregates, we use two simple methods. The first is a mechanical method, where we crush the RAP using a hammer to expose the surface inside. The second is a chemical procedure, where we use a solvent to dissolve asphalt and leave the aggregates for further testing.

    Once we’ve cleaned the aggregates, we analyze their chemical composition and see how it relates to friction. One factor we look for is the hardness of the minerals in the aggregate. Harder minerals, such as silica, provide better friction as they keep their texture better over time instead of wearing down under traffic.

    We also use an aggregate image measurement system, which takes high-resolution images and analyzes the shape, angularity − the sharpness of the aggregate particles − and surface texture of the aggregates. These properties relate directly to skid resistance.

    Understanding the frictional properties of RAP − and, specifically, how silica content affects skid resistance − helps engineers determine whether an RAP mixture is safe for a road’s curves or intersections. These insights can guide how much RAP transportation departments can use, and where, without compromising safety. We hope our research will lead to solutions that reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources and keep roads safe over time.

    Jingtao Zhong receives funding from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (State project number RES2023-15).

    Baoshan Huang receives funding from the Tennessee Department of Transportation (State project number RES2023-15).

    – ref. Recycling asphalt pavement can help the environment − now scientists are putting the safety of recycled pavement to the test – https://theconversation.com/recycling-asphalt-pavement-can-help-the-environment-now-scientists-are-putting-the-safety-of-recycled-pavement-to-the-test-252348

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Basic research advances science, and can also have broader impacts on modern society

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Bruce J. MacFadden, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Florida

    As charismatic animals, sharks can stimulate interest in science, research and technology. Florida Museum (Kristin Grace photo)

    It might seem surprising, but federal research funding isn’t just for scientists. A component of many federal grants that support basic research requires that discoveries be shared with nonscientists. This component, referred to as “broader impacts” by the National Science Foundation, can make a big difference for K-12 students and teachers, museumgoers, citizen scientists and other people interested in science, while also helping the scientists themselves give back to the taxpayers that fund their work.

    Basic research, often done because of a curious scientist’s interest, may not initially have a direct application, like developing the smartphone or curing a disease. But these discoveries build important knowledge in the natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and related disciplines.

    The U.S. is a world leader in scientific and technological innovation. On the federal level, the National Science Foundation, or NSF, is one of the primary funders of this kind of basic research. In 2022, the federal government funded 40% of all basic research done in the U.S., with the remainder coming from other sources, including the business sector.

    During World War II, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to position the U.S. for strategic and economic leadership worldwide. He commissioned physicist Vannevar Bush to develop a vision for the future of U.S. science and technology. His 1945 report, “Science: the Endless Frontier,” became the blueprint for government-funded basic research. In 1950, Congress created the National Science Foundation to promote the progress of science, advance national prosperity and welfare and secure the national defense.

    Vannevar Bush historically said that ‘without scientific progress, no amount of achievement in other directions can insure our health, prosperity and security as a nation in the modern world.’
    Office for Emergency Management Defense

    During the early decades of NSF, the 1950s until the late 1990s, proposals were mostly evaluated based on the quality of the science and the scientists doing the work. But then, the foundation created a new system, still in place today.

    Thus, each NSF research proposal is now peer-reviewed based on two criteria: intellectual merit, or the quality and novelty of the science and track record of the research team, and “broader impacts” – related activities that disseminate the discoveries to general audiences.

    Intellectual merit is about advancing science knowledge and innovation, while broader impacts describe why people who aren’t scientists should care, and how society could benefit from this research.

    Another pragmatic aspect to broader impacts is that taxpayers pay for these activities, so it’s important for them, and Congress, to understand their return on investment. These broader impacts activities communicate about, and engage the public in, research in a variety of ways.

    While researchers usually understand the intellectual merit of their NSF-funded projects, these broader impacts can be challenging to characterize.

    Broader impact activities

    Since childhood, I’ve had an interest in paleontology — the study of fossils and what we can learn from them about prehistoric life. This field is primarily basic research — adding to knowledge about ancient life. As a scientist conducting basic research, I’ve felt the responsibility to give back to society through broader impacts activities, and I’ve seen many of the benefits that these activities can have.

    My primary area of interest has been extinct mammals of the Americas, particularly the 55-million-year-old record of fossil horses on this continent. For years, NSF supported my discoveries about this interesting group of animals. Fossil horses are a classic example of evolution — in books and museum exhibits.

    A fossil horse from the Ice Age on display at the Florida Museum. Fossil horses are a classic example of evolution — both in books and museum exhibits.
    Florida Museum (Mary Warrick photo)

    Many people are generally interested in horses, so it’s easy to attract their attention with this charismatic group. They also are often surprised to learn that prehistoric horses were native to North America for millions of years. Then, during historical times, they were first introduced by humans onto the continent about 500 years ago.

    Over the years, my research team has used grant-funded broader impact activities to teach people about these fossil horses and our research. One example included working with K-12 science teachers to develop lesson plans. The students measured fossil horse teeth and explored how their teeth adapted to feeding on grasses. We’ve also developed exhibits on fossil horses and studied how they communicate science to museum visitors.

    Science teachers have joined our fieldwork to collect fossils along the Panama Canal during its recent expansion. I’ve given many talks and collaborated with fossil clubs and their members throughout the U.S. We’ve also promoted projects like Fossils4Teachers where fossil collectors donated their fossils and worked alongside K-12 teachers to develop lesson plans that were implemented back in the teachers’ classrooms.

    The Fossils4Teachers professional development workshop, hosted by the Florida Museum in 2017, is one example of a broader impacts activity.
    Florida Museum (Jeff Gage photo)

    We’ve also been able to activate peoples’ interest in other animal groups — such as fossil sharks. Through our Scientist in Every Florida School program, we gave middle school teachers study kits with real fossil shark teeth. Their students learned to identify the shark teeth and then trained computers to identify the teeth using machine learning, a type of artificial intelligence.

    Students study fossil shark teeth through a program at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
    Florida Museum (Megan Higbee Hendrickson photo)

    Broader impact outcomes

    Broader impacts activities like these can have a variety of short- and long-term outcomes. More than 50 million people visit natural history museums in the U.S. annually. Activities that promote museums can reach large numbers of people in their pursuit of lifelong learning.

    More broadly, participatory science interest groups can allow people to learn about science while informing basic research projects. Within the field of natural history, a few popular examples include the Merlin app and the iNaturalist app, both of which have millions of active observers. Merlin encourages people to submit their observations of birds, and iNaturalist accepts sightings of plants, animals and fossils, which researchers can carefully vet and use as data.

    Many of the K-12 teachers my team has worked with report that they feel more confident teaching the new science content that they learned from our collaborations.

    Interestingly, although much of the research on science professional development focuses on the teachers, scientists also report a high level of satisfaction and improved communication skills after working with these teachers, both in the field and back in the classroom.

    Basic research benefits for society

    Generations of U.S. scientists have greatly benefited from federal investments in basic research. In the 75 years since NSF’s founding, the organization has funded hundreds of thousand projects to advance science and technology.

    These have supported basic research discoveries and also the training and career development of the tens of thousands of scientists working on these projects annually.

    Many prominent scientists have gone on to be productive leaders and innovators in the U.S. and internationally. NSF has funded more than 268 Nobel laureates.

    While NSF invests in the discovery of foundational knowledge about the natural world, funded projects have not traditionally had direct applications for societal benefits. To be sure, however, many of NSF’s projects – for example, on lasers and nanotechnology – started out as curiosity-driven basic research and ended up with immense applications for technological innovation and economic prosperity.

    For example, mapping the Earth’s ocean floor’s magnetic properties during World War II helped scientists understand how the crust moves and mountains form. This led to the plate tectonic revolution in the earth sciences. This line of basic research then led to an important application: predicting the probable location of high-risk earthquake zones worldwide.

    None of these downstream applications and benefits to society would have been realized without basic research discoveries supported by federal agencies such as NSF, and the further value added through broader impacts activities.

    Bruce J. MacFadden has received funding from the U. S. National Science Foundation.

    – ref. Basic research advances science, and can also have broader impacts on modern society – https://theconversation.com/basic-research-advances-science-and-can-also-have-broader-impacts-on-modern-society-252983

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: HSE University Signs Cooperation Agreements with Leading Universities in China

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: State University Higher School of Economics – State University Higher School of Economics –

    On May 8, 2025, in Moscow, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, strategic agreements were signed between the National Research University Higher School of Economics and two of China’s largest universities, Peking University and Tsinghua University. The ceremony was attended by HSE Rector Nikita Anisimov, Tsinghua University Party Committee Secretary Qiu Yong, and Peking University President Gong Qihuang. The signing took place as part of the official visit of the Chinese delegation to Russia, timed to coincide with the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory.

    The agreements will be an important step in the development of a strategic partnership between Russia and China aimed at creating a unified scientific space and institutional strengthening of the BRICS association. Particular emphasis is placed on fundamental disciplines, reflecting the desire of both countries to support advanced research that lays the foundation for technological breakthroughs.

    The agreement between HSE and Peking University is dedicated to the development of scientific cooperation in the field of natural sciences: physics, chemistry, and advanced materials. The universities agreed to implement a joint research project, “Development of highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells.” The project became one of the winners of the HSE competition “International academic cooperation” The Higher School of Economics is participating in it Scientific and educational laboratory of quantum nanoelectronics Moscow Institute of Electronics and Mathematics named after A.N. Tikhonov.

    HSE and Peking University also signed an agreement to create a BRICS Research Platform. This is a joint scientific space within which Russian and Chinese researchers will analyze key areas of scientific work, the activities of multilateral institutions, global governance processes, and interactions between Russia and China in the field of international relations.

    The Higher School of Economics signed a cooperation agreement with Tsinghua University aimed at developing academic, cultural and educational ties. This will create a basis for implementing joint programs, including scientific, student exchange, etc.

    HSE University is one of the leading Russian universities today, focused on developing a comprehensive Russian-Chinese partnership. The Higher School of Economics cooperates with more than 40 leading educational and scientific organizations in China. The university offers many bachelor’s, master’s and professional retraining programs focused on studying and working with China. About 1,300 HSE students study Chinese, more than 300 students from China study at HSE, including on exchange programs.

    HSE plans to expand cooperation formats and launch new initiatives with universities and research centers in China, focusing on the development of fundamental sciences and strengthening international scientific dialogue.

    Nikita Anisimov, Rector of the National Research University Higher School of Economics

    “The Higher School of Economics and Chinese universities are already linked by successful joint work, and recently, during the visit of the HSE delegation to China, we reached an agreement on further expansion of this partnership. We are confident that our new agreements with Peking University and Tsinghua University will not only help expand bilateral ties and enrich science in its advanced areas, but will also give an additional impetus to further deepening Russian-Chinese cooperation in general. It is noteworthy that the BRICS dimension is now added to our scientific interaction with Chinese partners: the countries of the association play a key role in the formation of a new multipolar global architecture, and their interaction and influence on the international situation require comprehensive, deep expert understanding.”

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: China’s inbound consumption rises on back of eased tax refund processes

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    China witnessed a vibrant surge in inbound tourist consumption during the recent May Day holiday as more foreign visitors flocked to Chinese attractions and left with full shopping bags, driven by the country’s recently optimized tax refund policies.

    Central bank data has revealed that the number of transactions made by inbound visitors and processed through card payment giant China UnionPay or NetsUnion Clearing Corporation, a Chinese online payment clearing house, increased nearly 245 percent over the five-day holiday that ended on Monday, with the total transaction value up over 128 percent year on year.

    On mobile platforms, popular Chinese payment app Alipay reported a 180 percent rise in inbound tourist spending between May 1 and 3, while WeChat Pay recorded nearly tripled foreign user transaction volume and value figures in China compared to the same period last year.

    This rise in inbound consumption is the fruit of China’s latest push to encourage foreign tourist spending. In late April, the country introduced a package of measures to optimize its departure tax refund policy, including lowering the minimum purchase threshold for refunds, raising the cash refund ceiling, expanding the network of participating stores, and widening the range of products available.

    Overseas travelers in China can now claim a tax refund if they spend at least 200 yuan (about 27.75 U.S. dollars) at a single store in a single day and meet other relevant requirements, with refunds available in multiple forms, including mobile, bank and cash payments. The upper limit for cash refunds has been raised to 20,000 yuan.

    China’s metropolises led the shopping surge. From May 1 to 5, Beijing welcomed some 104,000 inbound tourists — up 42.4 percent year on year — whose spending saw a 48 percent year-on-year increase.

    In Shanghai, tax-refund-on-departure sales jumped 120 percent in value during the holiday, and the amount of tax refunded increased 130 percent. So far, 1,013 enterprises have registered for departure tax refund services, covering more than 3,300 branded stores.

    China’s streamlined tax refund process has also had an impact on figures. Right before this year’s May Day holiday, taxation authorities in Shanghai introduced self-service machines that allow foreign shoppers to submit most of their transaction details for their tax refund applications by scanning their passport and receipts.

    In the southwestern city of Chengdu, a refund-upon-purchase service which allows eligible tourists to receive tax refunds instantly at retail outlets rather than waiting until they leave the country, has benefited many foreign tourists during the holiday.

    “It’s so convenient, and I’m planning to buy more,” said a tourist from Singapore who received a refund of over 4,000 yuan when he bought two pieces of luggage at Chengdu IFS, one of the biggest shopping malls in the city.

    “Providing overseas travelers with a greater variety of shopping options and more convenient tax refund services will stimulate inbound consumption and support China’s high-standard opening-up and economic growth,” said Chen Binkai, vice president of the Central University of Finance and Economics.

    China introduced its departure tax refund policy for overseas travelers in 2015. Inbound tourist spending has increased over the years as China opens wider to global visitors by facilitating visas, payments and accommodation.

    The country now grants unilateral visa-free entry to people from 38 countries, and has extended its visa-free transit period to 240 hours for travelers from 54 countries. About 380,000 foreigners entered China under these arrangements during the May Day holiday, a year-on-year increase of 72.7 percent.

    China is also accelerating its development of international consumption center cities to stimulate inbound spending further. The country is working to transform five cities — Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing — into major shopping centers.

    In 2024, the number of inbound foreign travelers to the five cities doubled compared to the previous year. Together, they now account for nearly 70 percent of the country’s departure tax refund stores and more than half of imported consumer goods.

    “China’s inbound consumption holds great growth potential,” said Vice Commerce Minister Sheng Qiuping, noting that last year, spending by overseas visitors contributed about 0.5 percent of the country’s GDP, compared to 1 to 3 percent in major economies. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Record-breaking Canton Fair highlights China’s trade resilience

    Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News

    Defying global trade headwinds, the just-concluded 137th China Import and Export Fair set multiple records, demonstrating great vitality in foreign trade and injecting fresh momentum into global trade development.

    Also known as the Canton Fair, the event, which concluded on Monday in south China’s Guangdong Province, attracted over 288,000 overseas buyers, a 17.3 percent increase from the session of the same period last year and a new high, according to the China Foreign Trade Centre (CFTC), the organizer of the fair.

    Another record high was set by the number of leading multinational purchasing enterprises participating in the fair — reaching 376.

    “The fair’s phenomenal turnout demonstrates international buyers’ strong endorsement of high-quality ‘Made in China’ products and underscores China’s pivotal role in global supply chains,” said Mao Yanhua, director of the Institute of Regional Openness and Cooperation at Sun Yat-sen University.

    WIDESPREAD OPTIMISM

    “I’m continually impressed by China’s technology and unmatched manufacturing excellence. This inspires our great optimism about the economic prospects of China,” said Osama Alrefaei, China general manager of Alrefaei trading company from Saudi Arabia, who attended the session.

    At the 136th Canton Fair last year, Alrefaei inked a collaboration agreement with a Chinese baby products supplier. They are currently finalizing the terms of cooperation to jointly create a new baby product brand, which will be sold in Saudi Arabia.

    Among the record-breaking participation of over 288,000 overseas buyers at the 137th Canton Fair, there were over 170,000 first-time attendees, up 14.6 percent year on year.

    “This is our first time participating in the fair, and our focus is on processing machinery and equipment,” said a purchasing manager with DF import and export company from Vietnam. “With China’s ‘technology toolbox,’ more and more Southeast Asian countries are accelerating their transformation from assembly workshops to manufacturing hubs.”

    Despite the current complex international situation, overseas buyers demonstrated strong confidence in China and Chinese products, with many emphasizing their visit was more than just symbolic — the 137th Canton Fair has recorded 25.44 billion U.S. dollars in on-site intended export deals.

    According to the organizer, the international buyers come from 219 countries and regions. Purchasers from countries participating in Belt and Road cooperation totaled 187,450, up 17.4 percent year on year and representing 64.9 percent of all overseas buyers.

    “The fair holds an irreplaceable position in our business ecosystem,” said Davut Taser, general manager of Hometraz Trading Company from Türkiye, which has been participating in the Canton Fair for 25 years.

    Taser noted that many of the company’s core components come from China, calling such complementary cooperation “a vivid reflection of global industrial chains.”

    PRODUCT UPGRADE

    According to Chinese exhibitors at the 137th Canton Fair, products with exceptional quality, innovative features, and strong brand recognition have gained particular favor among international buyers, further boosting their confidence in pursuing diversified market expansion.

    After ordering 100 mobile smart panels manufactured by Shenzhen KTC Commercial Display Technology Co., Ltd. at the fair, a thrilled international purchaser even wanted to take away the company’s exhibition samples as well.

    “The market has voted — our innovative products are worth the price,” said Liu Feng, general manager of the commercial sales department of the Guangdong-based company. “We have completed our technology reserves and will deploy them when market conditions mature, aiming to attract more clients from emerging markets such as Central Asia, the Middle East, and South America.”

    As buyers arrive with higher expectations, Chinese companies are responding with more diverse and higher-quality products and services. Zhang Sihong, deputy director of the CFTC, noted that this edition of the Canton Fair has seen a surge in new technologies, innovative designs, advanced materials, and cutting-edge manufacturing processes.

    A total of 4.55 million exhibits were showcased, including 1.02 million new products, 880,000 green and low-carbon products, and 320,000 smart products.

    Deevesh Khatri, business development manager of Emerald Appliances from Dubai, has been visiting the Canton Fair with his father for over a decade, and now 99 percent of the firm’s suppliers are sourced from the event.

    “It’s like a one-stop supermarket and an industry think tank,” he said. “Here, we spot trends, expand our network, and even reinvent our business models.”

    Established in 1957, the Canton Fair is held twice a year in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong. It is the longest-running of several international trade events in China and has been hailed as the barometer of China’s foreign trade.

    According to the General Administration of Customs, China’s total goods imports and exports in yuan-denominated terms expanded 1.3 percent year on year in the first quarter of 2025. 

    MIL OSI China News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Secrets of the Thames: mudlarking treasures showcase history of London’s river and the people who scour its banks

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Thomas Lucking, PhD Candidate in History, University of East Anglia

    Twice a day, every day, the tides of the River Thames rise and fall, revealing a foreshore that, in the middle of London, has been a focus of human activity for millennia.

    Making use of the limited windows of time in which the riverbank is exposed, devoted hobbyists known as mudlarks scour the river’s edge for historic and interesting finds. The mudlarks, through their dedication, have assembled impressive collections of objects, each of which adds yet another small piece of London’s history to the archaeological record.

    Secrets of the Thames, a new exhibition at the London Museum Docklands presents an insight into the fascinating world of mudlarking. It draws together more than 350 finds recovered from the river alongside the stories, insights and experiences of the mudlarks themselves.

    The result is an engaging exhibition that makes use of the objects on display to tell the story of the Thames and London through time, and the people who search for them, giving the visitor an all-round insight that goes beyond being a room of objects in cases.

    Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. Sign up here.

    The objects on display are more than simply a group of interesting items – although there are certainly plenty of objects that require time and attention to fully appreciate.

    They are also a record of the ways the Thames has been used and viewed over the years. And together, they tell the story of the mudlarks that put the hours into finding these objects. For those who wish to see a variety of the more ancient objects from London, this exhibition tides things over until the London Museum Smithfield opens in 2026.

    The beginning of the exhibition explores the history of mudlarks on the Thames. The term was coined in the late 18th and 19th centuries to refer to the poor who scavenged for objects such as scrap metal and coal.

    Historic accounts, paintings and other objects provide glimpses into this time, including descriptions of some of these early mudlarks. Their stories and motivations for being on the Thames contrast sharply with the mudlarks of today. Those early mudlarks were effectively scavenging to survive. But over time an appreciation of the number of historic objects revealed by the tides saw mudlarking evolve into a hobby for those who wanted to search for small pieces of the city’s history.

    Today, a permit is needed to mudlark on the Thames, provided by the Port of London Authority (PLA).

    The changing ways the Thames has been used and viewed over time is revealed in the next space. Displays are arranged to showcase objects exploring different themes, including the river as a place of religious significance, a place of travel and trade and a place to dispose of the countless tons of rubbish generated by the inhabitants of London down the centuries.

    Indeed, the cases themselves sit within a reconstructed foreshore having seemingly been washed across the room by the tidal waters, complete with historic and not-so-historic objects emerging from the mud. The objects on display cover a wide timescale, from prehistoric flint tools through to modern religious offerings, all of which have been pulled from the mud of the Thames.

    Modern mudlarks

    It is in the next space that the modern mudlarks themselves are brought into sharper focus. A mock-up of someone’s home display, complete with drawers filled with a range of objects, hints at the dedication and organisation required for these searchers.

    Video interviews with mudlarks are played, explaining the enjoyment they take from their wanderings on the river. Alongside is a display explaining the role of the Portable Antiquities Scheme in recording the objects, preserving the information and context of where they were found. Each object adds a piece to the archaeological jigsaw.

    Underlying all of this is the tidal nature of the Thames, which both continually turns the foreshore and allows access for the mudlarks. A large model of the moon provides a space to sit and reflect at the end of the exhibition. A further small room shows a video of mudlarking on the Thames, allowing visitors to immerse themselves into the sight and sounds of the river. It offers an understanding of why people are drawn to its banks.

    The overall impression of the exhibition is a mixture of appreciation for the variety of objects that have been recovered from the river, with every aspect of human life represented.

    The thematic approach taken to displaying many of the objects brings the shared habits and customs of human life down the centuries to the fore. In objects such as the Roman jewellery, we see items that would look perfectly at home being worn by anyone walking the banks of the Thames today.

    The modern human connection with the river is also clear to see through the mudlarks, whose dedication gives them a unique perspective on what may at first glance appear to be a muddy riverbank, but through their searching, reveals a far richer and deeper history.

    Secrets of the Thames is at the London Museum Docklands until March 1 2026.

    Thomas Lucking is an AHRC-funded PhD researcher.

    – ref. Secrets of the Thames: mudlarking treasures showcase history of London’s river and the people who scour its banks – https://theconversation.com/secrets-of-the-thames-mudlarking-treasures-showcase-history-of-londons-river-and-the-people-who-scour-its-banks-256006

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Could psychedelics help you to drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Rebecca Harding, PhD Candidate, Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, UCL

    Master1305/Shutterstock

    Psychedelics like LSD and psilocybin (the active ingredient in magic mushrooms) are gaining increasing attention in psychiatry. Studies suggest they may offer therapeutic benefits for conditions such as depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive disorder, eating disorders and addiction.

    Our research team is investigating whether N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a fast-acting psychedelic, can help people reduce alcohol consumption.

    Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance in the UK, partly because it is legal, widely available and deeply ingrained in social culture. While many people can enjoy alcohol in moderation, a significant number struggle to control their drinking. For these people, excessive alcohol consumption can lead to serious physical, mental and social consequences.

    Traditional treatments don’t work for everyone, which is why we’re exploring alternatives, such as psychedelics, that might enable people to change their behaviour in a single, transformative experience.

    Get your news from actual experts, straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily newsletter to receive all The Conversation UK’s latest coverage of news and research, from politics and business to the arts and sciences. Join The Conversation for free today.

    DMT is metabolised rapidly in the body. When administered intravenously, the effects kick in almost immediately, typically within one to two minutes. However, these effects are short-lived, lasting only ten to 20 minutes.

    Despite its brief duration, many users describe the experience as intensely profound. They often report vivid visions, complex patterns and a sensation of entering a different reality. In some cases, the experience leads to a complete shift in how they think, feel and perceive the world. For many, the experience is deeply meaningful and transformative.

    But what happens in the brain during this time, and how might it influence long-term behaviour, such as reducing alcohol consumption?



    Read more:
    Psychedelic drugs can be almost as life altering as near-death experiences

    Neuroplasticity and addiction

    Our team is particularly interested in how psychedelics like DMT might help in the context of addiction. One theory is that psychedelics can temporarily enhance neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to form new neural connections. This temporary boost could open a window of flexibility, allowing some people to be more open to change.

    For someone stuck in the cycle of heavy drinking, this enhanced plasticity might help them break old habits and develop healthier behaviour. Essentially, it could offer the brain an opportunity to “rewire” itself and disrupt the unhealthy patterns that underlie addiction.

    We’re also focusing on the brain’s reward and motivation systems, which play a key role in addiction. These systems influence behaviour associated with pleasure, including eating, sex and drinking alcohol.

    In people with alcohol use disorder, these systems become hypersensitive to alcohol-related cues, often at the expense of other rewarding experiences. Some early research suggests psychedelics may help “reset” these reward pathways. We’re testing this theory to see whether DMT can reduce alcohol consumption by recalibrating the brain’s reward system.

    To explore these possibilities, we’ve designed a study with heavy drinkers who are motivated to reduce their alcohol intake. Every participant undergoes a thorough screening to ensure they’re fit for the study and all sessions are conducted in a highly controlled, clinical setting with medical professionals and experienced researchers overseeing the process.

    The study involves three visits to our lab at UCL. On the first and third visits, we use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity and observe how different regions of the brain interact.

    During the scans, participants watch emotionally engaging films, which offer a more natural way to study brain responses compared to abstract tasks. This helps us assess how DMT might impact brain function in real-life, emotionally charged situations.

    On the second visit, participants are randomly assigned to receive either DMT, a placebo, or a non-psychedelic drug (D-cycloserine or Lisuride). These non-psychedelic substances are believed to promote neuroplasticity without inducing the full psychedelic effects of DMT.

    The study is double-blind – neither the participants nor the researchers know which substance is being administered. This helps eliminate bias and ensures that the results are as reliable as possible.

    Additionally, we measure changes in brain activity during the drug infusion using electroencephalography (EEG). EEG tracks the brain’s electrical signals and could help us predict which participants are most likely to benefit from DMT.

    Participants also complete a range of psychological assessments, including questionnaires and tasks that measure memory, attention, mood and decision-making. This data will help us understand how changes in brain function might relate to changes in drinking behaviour.

    What we’re hoping to discover

    We’re still in the process of collecting data, but we’re excited to see whether DMT can lead to meaningful reductions in alcohol consumption. As researchers, it’s crucial that we stay objective and allow the evidence to guide our conclusions. By keeping the study “blinded” until all results are in, we ensure that our findings are unbiased and reliable.

    If DMT proves effective in helping people reduce their alcohol consumption, particularly for those who have struggled with other treatments, it could pave the way for a new approach to addiction therapy. Even if the results are inconclusive, they will still provide valuable insights into the potential role of psychedelics in addiction treatment and open up new avenues for future research.

    It’s important to emphasise that this research is taking place in a safe, controlled environment. Psychedelics are potent substances, and their effects can be unpredictable, especially outside of clinical settings. They are not a “magic bullet” and are not suitable for everyone. The controlled setting allows us to study their effects while minimising risk to participants.

    That said, we believe psychedelics offer a unique opportunity to better understand the brain and its capacity for change. By examining how transformative experiences can influence behaviour, we hope to contribute to the development of more effective treatments for addiction and other mental health conditions.

    Ravi Das receives research funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UK), Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) and Wellcome Leap (USA).

    Rebecca Harding does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Could psychedelics help you to drink less alcohol? Our new study aims to find out – https://theconversation.com/could-psychedelics-help-you-to-drink-less-alcohol-our-new-study-aims-to-find-out-255454

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Russia looks to frame war as an inevitable part of life on Victory Day

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jennifer Mathers, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Aberystwyth University

    Russia celebrates the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the second world war on May 9. But while the cameras will focus on the assembled ranks of elderly war survivors watching the military parade in Red Square, Moscow, the focus of senior officials is on Russia’s children and young people.

    Patriotism in Vladimir Putin’s Russia is built on exaggerated respect for key moments in the country’s history. These moments have been chosen to create a specific story about Russia. This is a story about Russia’s military might, the ability of its citizens to endure almost unimaginable suffering for the motherland, and the inevitability of victory over its enemies.

    Victory Day gives the Kremlin a chance to retell that story. It also allows the state to assure Russians that they, like their ancestors, will be victorious in the so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine. Moscow describes this war as the modern-day equivalent of the fight against Nazi Germany.

    With fewer witnesses to that historic victory still alive, the Kremlin’s ability to manipulate society by drawing on this important memory depends on the willingness of the next generation to embrace the state’s official history. And Russian political figures are worried that young people nowadays are disconnected from their heritage.

    A poll conducted in December 2022 by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre found that 76% of Russians aged 14 to 24 believe they have a good understanding of the history of their country. But the results of an alternative poll from June 2023 show that 70% of Russia’s young people do not know enough about their nation’s history.

    Vladimir Medinsky, the chairman of the Interdepartmental Commission of Historical Education of Russia, reflected on the issue at a forum on how to interest young people in Russian history in 2023. He said: “What needs to be done to make our children interested in history? To make interesting historical performances, to make historical films.”

    Russia’s leaders seek to address this perceived disconnect through military patriotic education. This is a system of surrounding children and young people with state-approved messages about Russia’s historic military victories and the role of its armed forces in making their country respected – and feared – around the world.

    These messages are conveyed through textbooks and in lessons at school. But one of the challenges for the Russian state is finding ways of making this material attractive enough for young people to want to engage with it.

    Putin himself has indicated that he understands this challenge. At a meeting with the Russian non-profit society Znaniye (Knowledge) on April 30, the Russian president argued that “it is crucial to have both an opportunity and skills to communicate the truth about past years and decades: sincerely, compellingly and – if I may say so – in a way that truly resonates”.

    Patriotic youth groups are an important vehicle for delivering military patriotic education in fun and exciting ways. These groups organise activities including games and competitions, as well as more immersive activities such as role-playing and re-enactments. These activities are designed to create a deeper engagement with the events of the past.

    One group, Victory Volunteers, emphasises collecting personal accounts from war veterans to add to the historical record. It also actively brings young people and war veterans together so that the heroes of future wars can be inspired by real-life stories of wartime heroism.

    Listening to these first-hand testimonials is intended to enable young people to deepen their understanding of the experience of war, including its hardships and tragedies.

    Yunarmiya (Young Army) is probably Russia’s best-known military patriotic youth group. It works with young people to develop their appreciation of history. But its focus on dressing its members in uniforms and training them in practical military skills has captured the attention of the world’s media.

    These skills include military-style activities such as marching in formation, learning how to assemble and disassemble weapons, and how to fire them.

    The Russian state also supports military patriotic education through the presidential grants fund. Hundreds of charities, youth groups and local societies apply to the fund twice a year, with the winners reportedly chosen by Putin himself.

    Many of the successful applications involve activities to raise young people’s awareness of historical memory, especially the memory of war.

    In 2022, for example, the historical reconstruction club Volnitsa received funding to organise a memorial march “in the footsteps of the winners” to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Bogucharsky region of Russia (near the border with Ukraine) from Nazi occupation.

    The successful application emphasised the emotional intensity of the reenactment and its educational effects on young participants.

    Events like the 80th anniversary of Victory Day have a significance for the Kremlin that goes beyond the speeches, parades and pageantry of the day itself. They are part of an effort by the Russian state to shape the expectations and behaviour of the next generation of its citizens.

    By encouraging young people to feel a personal connection to Russia’s history of war, Moscow hopes to ensure that society will regard war as an inevitable part of life. The scale of this effort suggests that Putin and other senior officials anticipate the need for a society willing to make sacrifices so that Russia can achieve victories in future wars.

    The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Russia looks to frame war as an inevitable part of life on Victory Day – https://theconversation.com/russia-looks-to-frame-war-as-an-inevitable-part-of-life-on-victory-day-255751

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Black students are increasingly less likely to get a first or 2:1 than their white peers

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By David Mba, Vice-Chancellor, Birmingham City University

    Andrii Zastrozhnov/Shutterstock

    Black students are increasingly less likely to get a first or 2:1 than their white peers, according the latest Ethnic Representation Index for higher education in England and Scotland.

    This need for better representation for students was the impetus behind the development of the index, first launched in 2022. I began it while deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Arts London, with the intention of creating a consistent methodology and agreed metrics to measure the progress of universities in England and Scotland in addressing institutional racism, as well as to examine the sense of belonging and inclusion among Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) staff and students.

    The index exposes the so-called “awarding gap” – that’s the difference between the proportion of white and BAME students awarded a first class or 2:1 degree. For Black and other ethnic minority students in England, it now stands at 14.1%, up from 12.3% the previous year. Indeed, 76% of universities in England and a similar proportion of universities in Scotland have a gap of more than 10%.

    For Black students in particular, the gap is even greater. It now stands at 21.6%, up from 19.3% in England. In Scotland, 81% of universities have a Black awarding gap of over 25%.

    Despite this, though, the index does show some encouraging signs. This is its third and latest iteration, which I co-authored with Chris Lloyd-Bardsley, Adam Weigel and Sandra Longville at the University of Arts London, covers the 2022-2023 academic year.

    According to data from the National Student Survey, the gap in reported satisfaction rates between white and students from ethnic minority backgrounds has narrowed over the last few years. Black students reported a better university experience than their white peers.

    Staff representation

    Staff, by and large, are becoming more representative of the student body. For instance, 20.2% of academics and 33.3% of undergraduates in England are from ethnic minority backgrounds.

    This is by no means parity, but it is progress when we consider that, in the last index, 18.5% of academics were from ethnic minority backgrounds. Representation among professional services staff, professors, senior managers and governors increased, too.

    Progress has also been made in Scotland. Black and ethnic minority students comprise 11.6% of the undergraduate student body there, 16% of postgraduate researchers – and 15.4% of academics. Representation among executive board members also increased.

    Interestingly, irrespective of the near parity in minority ethnic student and academic populations in Scotland, the awarding gaps are still high. This could in part be due to the concentration of staff and students from minority ethnic groups in different departments, schools and subject areas. So, while the overall representation looks equal, minority ethnic staff populations may be concentrated in only a few areas.

    Nonetheless, addressing the awarding gap isn’t entirely about representation.

    Some universities are signed up to the Race Equality Charter: an award provided to institutions addressing problems faced by ethnic minority staff and students. Universities can apply for a bronze or silver award depending on progress.

    At the time of developing this year’s index, 52 universities had achieved an award. I am pleased to note that 77% of these increased the proportion of Black and ethnic minority academic staff relative to students and 65% increased their proportion of Black academics.

    Yet while universities have made progress in some areas, it has stalled in others. In some cases, it has even retreated. The ethnicity pay gap measures the average gap across all university staff, including academic staff and professional services staff. The ethnicity pay gap increased this year by 0.4 percentage points to 6%. At some universities, gaps as high as 27.4% were reported.

    In Scotland, the figures are better, but a pay gap of 1.9% nevertheless persists.

    Mixed success

    And while representation may have increased among academics and professorial staff, the same cannot be said for the highest echelons of management. In England, Black and ethnic minority representation among executive teams fell from 7.7% to 7%. Black representation in England also fell, to only 0.7%.

    In Scotland, ethnic minority representation among executives increased, but Black representation fell. There are no reported Black executive board members in Scotland.

    For students in England, the disparity in continuation rates (the proportion of students who continue their studies into a second year) is 1.3 percentage points between Black and ethnic minority and white students. The disparity in completion rates (the proportion of students who can be tracked through to the end of their qualification) is 2.7 percentage points.

    For Black students in particular the gap is even greater. There is a continuation rate gap of 2.5 percentage points and a completion rate gap of 4.5 percentage points between Black and white students. Some universities in England reported completion rate disparities for Black students of over 15%.

    Moreover, Black and ethnic minority graduates in England are 2.5 percentage points less likely to be in employment or further study 15 months after graduating than their white peers, though this does mark a slight improvement of 0.4 percentage points from last year.

    Students from an ethnic minority background have previously been shown to worry that the absence of lecturers from a similar background could have an effect on their achievement, as well as their sense of belonging at university, their engagement with their course. For these students, having a teacher that looks like them can have a transformational impact.

    We may be tempted to believe the path toward equality in higher education is straight and narrow. Make the commitment, put in place the strategy, the rest will follow. This is evidently not the case. We should gain some comfort that universities are making progress in some areas. However, it is disappointing that higher education institutions have fallen back elsewhere.

    David Mba does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

    – ref. Black students are increasingly less likely to get a first or 2:1 than their white peers – https://theconversation.com/black-students-are-increasingly-less-likely-to-get-a-first-or-2-1-than-their-white-peers-255546

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Manchester City Council appoints new Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services 

    Source: City of Manchester

    Manchester City Council is pleased to announce that Sean McKendrick has been appointed to the role of Strategic Director of Children’s and Education Services. 

    As strategic director, Sean will be part of the Council’s senior leadership team responsible for the care and stewardship of children and young people across the city, as well as spearheading initiatives that will improve the lives of young people as they grow up in Manchester, supporting their long-term happiness and prosperity. 

    During the rigorous external recruitment process a range of engagement sessions took place including a Youth Panel interview, and visits to a family hub, a local school and Manchester Youth Hub, providing Sean the platform to demonstrate the skills which meant he was the right candidate for this role. 

    Sean has been serving as the Council’s acting strategic director of children’s and education services since May 2024. 

    With close to three decades of experience working in children’s services and local government, Sean has a proven track record of being able to deliver high quality family-focused services which improve outcomes for children and young people. 

    Qualifying as a social worker more than 30 years ago he began his extensive and varied career in Glasgow working for the city council there. In Glasgow he played a lead role in  the integration of health and social care, led significant transformation in youth justice services and played a national role in influencing legislation and Scottish Government policy in its approach to working with women involved with  the criminal justice system.

    Sean joined Manchester City Council in 2017 as the Council’s Deputy Strategic Director for Children’s Services. He led a service and partnership approach which oversaw significant practice and service change and remains focussed on continuous service improvement. 

    Councillor Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council said: “Sean has done a fantastic job as our interim director and I am delighted to welcome him into the role on a permanent basis. Sean brings both experience and insight to the role and I am confident that he will be a great asset to our senior leadership team. 

    “We recently launched our 10-year strategy for the city, based on the thoughts and ambitions of more than 10,0000 Mancunians, who told us what they wanted for the future of themselves and their families. It puts children front and centre of our priorities over the next ten years and commits to making every one of them feel that their health, wealth and happiness are improved because they are Mancunian. 

    “We have big ambitions in Manchester, and we know all too well how important it is that we foster and support the next generation of Mancunians. Whether it is our work to being a UNICEF recognised Child Friendly City, or the recent commitments we set out in the Our Manchester Strategy 2025-2035, we know that any future success we all share has to start with the youngest in our society.” 

    Sean McKendrick, Strategic Director of Children’s Services and Education said: “I am incredibly honoured and proud to have been appointed to this role. Manchester means a great deal to me especially as the values and ambitions it has for children and its residents align closely to my own. I want to make sure that every child growing up here feels safe, heard, cared for, healthy and able to live their best lives. I look forward to guiding that ambition recognising the value young people play in realising these ambitions. 

    “I have devoted my professional career to supporting, championing and helping young people I am looking forward to leading our service and partners in the next stage of our improvement.” 

    Chief Executive of Manchester City Council, Tom Stannard, said: “Sean was the outstanding candidate for this role and his track record spoke for itself when the time came to make this appointment.  

    “He shows a deep understanding of both the opportunities and challenges that we face in Manchester and gave us confidence that working alongside our partners he will be able to lead further improvements in services for children and families in Manchester, building on the excellent record of improvement he has led in the City since 2017. 

    “We know this will be a big task however based on his experience and clear passion for this job I have every confidence that he will succeed over the years to come, and I look forward to working with him as part of Manchester’s new Corporate Management Team.” 

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI: Occupancy Analytics Leader Lambent Adds Two Higher Ed Veterans to its Board of Advisors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    BOSTON, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Occupancy analytics software company Lambent today announced the addition of two new members to its Board of Advisors. Robert Wynkoop, Vice President of Operations and Finance at Covenant College, and Maria O’Callaghan-Cassidy, former Senior Associate Vice President, Campus Operations at the University of Richmond, join Lambent’s advisory board to help build on the company’s success working with higher education institutions and corporations. Both bring an invaluable perspective on how occupancy analytics can help optimize organizations’ approaches to real estate investment and space management while also providing employees, students and visitors with the best possible experiences in those spaces.

    “Rob and Maria both bring a great mix of operational and finance experience across higher education, government and corporate real estate,” said Julie Roberts, Lambent’s Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “Rob also has first-hand experience and success with the Lambent Spaces platform. That combination provides a really valuable perspective as we look to expand the value and footprint of our solutions across corporate and higher ed campuses.”

    In his role as Vice President of Operations and Finance at Covenant College, Wynkoop oversees finance and accounting, business operations, facilities and maintenance, human resources, and technology services. Before joining Covenant in 2024, he spent 11 years at Purdue University, where his team managed space administration, real estate and development, logistics and procurement services on campus and at the Purdue University Airport, the Purdue Memorial Union, and Purdue Conferences. While at Purdue, Wynkoop oversaw the implementation of the Lambent Spaces occupancy analytics platform that currently helps manage over one million square feet on its West Lafayette campus. That implementation has assisted Purdue in avoiding approximately $30 million in operating expenses through better space utilization. Earlier in his career, Wynkoop served at the Indiana Department of Administration (IDOA) under Governor Mitch Daniels, holding the position of commissioner from 2010 to 2013.

    O’Callaghan-Cassidy brings extensive experience in higher education facilities management and campus operations. Most recently as Senior Associate Vice President of Campus Operations at the University of Richmond, she led a team of 400+ professionals across dining services, campus business services, facilities operations, architecture and campus operations budget and finance. Previously, she spent 25 years at The Wharton School where she rose through the ranks from Manager of Scheduling and Facilities Services to Senior Director of Operations to Executive Director of Design & Construction and Facilities Planning and Operations.

    About Lambent
    Lambent is an occupancy analytics software company helping corporate and higher ed campuses optimize space utilization, facilities operations and real estate investments. Its SaaS platform, Lambent Spaces, leverages existing data sources such as Wi-Fi and sensors to provide anonymous and predictive analytics to inform decisions related to utilization, workplace experiences, planning, scheduling, and maintenance. The software delivers actionable intelligence so facilities professionals and space planners can make better use of the spaces they have. For more information, visit https://lambentspaces.com/.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Allied Energy Corporation Advances Gas Supply Infrastructure to Support Bitcoin Mining Partner at Thiel Site

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    • AGYP advances gas-to-power site for sustainable Bitcoin mining operations
    • Trapped gas converted to energy for off-grid AI & data infrastructure
    • Thiel site prepares final testing and computing equipment delivery
    • Natural gas solutions support decentralized computing and edge centers

    CARROLLTON, Texas, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Allied Energy Corporation (OTC: AGYP) (”AGYP”), a Texas-based energy company focused on revitalizing underutilized domestic oil and gas resources, is pleased to provide a project update from the Thiel site where AGYP and its partner, Louis Energy Inc., are building out the infrastructure to deliver natural gas to support off-grid computing applications for Louis Energy Inc.

    Key Infrastructure Achievements: Turning Trapped Gas into a Strategic Asset

    AGYP and Louis Energy Inc. have been actively preparing the Thiel site to safely and efficiently channel natural gas to mobile containers for high-density computing. Completed milestones include:

    • Delivery of second modular computing container
    • Installation of on-site mobile office
    • Electrical installation preparation between Generator 2 and Container 2
    • Perimeter security fencing underway
    • Gas supply systems under validation
    • Generator test scheduled (pending P-5 approval)
    • On-site technicians conducting diagnostics and testing

    Planned Operational Advancements: Preparing for Final Integration

    AGYP is entering the final phase of its infrastructure buildout at Thiel, including:

    • Final cable installations and system optimization
    • Delivery of 10 pallets of computing equipment scheduled for next week
    • Wi-Fi connectivity via Starlink
    • Generator testing and operational clearance
    • Surveillance system installation
    • Gas system gauges and fittings to be pressure tested

    Once regulatory approvals are received, the site will begin formal gas-to-power operations.

    The Bigger Picture: Trapped Gas – An Untapped National Resource

    Stranded and flared gas—once considered a waste byproduct—is rapidly gaining traction as a sustainable, low-cost power source for decentralized infrastructure. AGYP’s work at the Thiel site is part of a broader push to transform U.S. energy usage:

    Use Cases for Trapped Gas Beyond Data Mining:

    • AI & Machine Learning Compute Farms – Powering high-density GPU systems
    • Agritech – Supporting controlled-environment agriculture in remote areas
    • Hydrogen Production – Fueling clean hydrogen from hydrocarbon sources
    • Remote & Emergency Operations – Delivering mobile energy to military and disaster response sites
    • Rural Electrification – Bringing energy to underserved communities through microgrids
    • Data & Edge Centers – Supporting low-latency applications with local infrastructure

    National Opportunity:

    • Over 1.4 billion cubic feet/day of gas is flared or vented in the U.S.
      (Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2024)
    • Enough trapped gas exists to power over 10,000 MW of digital infrastructure
      (Source: Digital Wildcatters & Giga Energy)

    States like Texas, North Dakota, New Mexico, and Wyoming are seeing regulatory and ESG-driven momentum to utilize this untapped energy source.

    “We’re positioning AGYP at the center of a new energy economy—where natural gas isn’t wasted but redirected toward powering real-world innovation,” said George Montieth, CEO of AGYP.

    What’s Next for AGYP?

    With Thiel nearing full operational status, AGYP is actively exploring additional partnerships and deployment models to expand its gas-to-power strategy to other high-potential sites. In addition, further updates regarding the company’s carbon capture, gas monetization, and off-grid computing ventures will be provided in the coming months, as previously outlined in AGYP’s February 27, 2025 update.

    AGYP remains committed to turning America’s trapped gas into a strategic energy advantage.

    About AGYP:

    Allied Energy Corp. is an energy development and production company acquiring oil & gas reserves in some of the most prolific hydrocarbon bearing regions of the United States. The Company specializes in the business of reworking & re-completing ‘existing’ oil & gas wells located in the thousands of mature oil & gas producing fields across the United States. The Company applies its knowledge, experience, and effective well-remediation technologies to achieve higher production volumes, longer well life, and more efficient recovery of the proven and available oil and gas reserves in the fields/projects in which it has acquired an ownership interest. The Company will utilize updated technologies such as hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), drilling of lateral (“horizontal”) legs in productive zones, and utilizing new cased hole electric logging to locate bypassed pays, all to enhance daily rates and oil & gas recoveries. By acquiring interests in a growing number of selected projects in various regions, Allied Energy Corp. is diversifying its exposure and effectively minimizing risk as it pursues corporate growth, top line & bottom-line revenues to the benefit of all stakeholders. There are proven, recoverable reserves contained in the many aging oil & gas fields that have been bypassed by companies moving away from these fields in search of deeper, more plentiful, but more costly reserves. The Company plans to concentrate on bypassed oil and gas as there is less competition and, as mentioned above, the costs are considerably less. Additionally, the company will acquire interests in marginal wells that can be acquired at minimal cost, of which there are 420,000 wells in the U.S. Quoting Barry Russell, President of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (“IPAA”) – “With approximately 20 percent of American oil production and 10 percent of American natural gas production coming from marginal wells, they are America’s true strategic petroleum reserve.”

    Safe Harbor Statement:

    This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements that are within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has tried, whenever possible, to identify these forward-looking statements using words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “potential” and similar expressions. These statements reflect the Company’s current beliefs and are based upon information currently available to it. Accordingly, such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or advise in the event of any change, addition or alteration to the information catered in this Press Release, including such forward-looking statements.

    Contact:

    Allied Energy Corporation
    Phone: 972-632-2393
    Email: info@alliedengycorp.com
    X: https://x.com/AlliedEnergyCo1

    Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/805afac9-47b6-422a-a74e-41ed9df311b3

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/bf09204b-baac-49fe-974f-47b7e199e3a5

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/11283726-53b0-48cf-9160-09bcd53a59ec

    https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2a26cbf3-3990-4f81-8304-8e79d831567a

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Brag House Holdings, Inc. Files Form 10-K and Reaffirms Strategic Vision for Gen Z Engagement Through Gaming

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Brag House Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: TBH) (“Brag House” or the “Company”), a media-tech company at the intersection of gaming, college sports, and digital brand engagement, today announced the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024.

    The Company reaffirmed its confidence in the execution of its strategic plan to redefine digital engagement for casual college gamers and brands seeking to connect with the Gen Z demographic. As outlined in the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Brag House continues to develop a first-of-its-kind digital platform where casual college gamers can compete, support their schools, engage in spirited banter, and win prizes in a safe, inclusive environment.

    “We are creating more than a platform—we are building a new sports medium,” said Lavell Juan Malloy II, CEO and Co-Founder of Brag House. “By merging gameplay with school spirit, our student-led tournaments, proprietary Bragging Functionality, and interactive experiences offer Gen Z an entirely new way to engage with college rivalries.”

    The Company highlighted its landmark strategic partnership with Learfield, which launched in April 2025 in collaboration with Florida Gators Athletics. The partnership represents a significant revenue-generating opportunity and marks the first step in a nationwide rollout designed to scale across Learfield’s network of over 200 collegiate institutions.

    The Company reaffirmed its strategic focus by highlighting the launch of a landmark initiative with Florida Gators Athletics and Learfield’s Florida Gators Sports Properties, as announced in its April 28, 2025 press release titled “Brag House, Florida Gators Athletics, and Learfield Announce Strategic Partnership to Create New Digital Sports Medium for Gen Z.” This innovative collaboration introduces a new digital sports medium for Gen Z—merging school spirit, gaming, and live sports into immersive experiences, as detailed below.

    The debut activation, known as the Brag Gator Gauntlet, kicks off in May 2025 at the University of Florida. This flagship series introduces:

    • Live and digital gaming activations aligned with real-world sporting events;
    • NIL-integrated content featuring student-athletes to amplify authenticity and school pride;
    • Branded loyalty tokens and cross-channel sponsorship opportunities across digital and on-campus platforms.

    By uniting Brag House’s gamified platform with Learfield’s nationwide network of collegiate institutions, this initiative redefines how fans and students engage with college sports. It also opens up high-impact, measurable opportunities for brands to reach Gen Z through student-led tournaments, influencer-driven campaigns, and serialized content. The Company believes this model will generate high-ROI advertising opportunities and serve as a foundation for future data-driven insights, enabling brands to engage Gen Z with greater precision, authenticity, and scale.

    “Our development and marketing strategy is laser-focused on high-impact, revenue-producing milestones,” added Malloy. “We are investing strategically in infrastructure while maintaining disciplined cost controls expected of a public company.”

    The Company’s near-term strategic goals include:

    • Scaling Learfield-based activations across multiple universities;
    • Deploying digital rewards through Loyalty Tokens and Bragging Functionality;
    • Advancing key platform technology modules to operational beta;
    • Leveraging proprietary data for brand-focused SaaS revenue generation.

    Brag House remains confident in its long-term growth trajectory and will continue providing shareholders with updates as key milestones are reached.

    About Brag House
    Brag House is a leading media technology gaming platform dedicated to transforming casual college gaming into a vibrant, community-driven experience. By seamlessly merging gaming, social interaction, and cutting-edge technology, the Company provides an inclusive and engaging environment for casual gamers while enabling brands to authentically connect with the influential Gen Z demographic. The platform offers live-streaming capabilities, gamification features, and custom tournament services, fostering meaningful engagement between users and brands. For more information, please visit www.braghouse.com.

    Forward-Looking Statements
    This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined within Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements in this press release, include, but are not limited to statements relating to the ability to generate revenue from strategic partnership with Learfield; the ability to generate any revenue, return on investment, or any specific outcomes related to scheduled or unscheduled activations or immersive experiences; the ability to deliver anticipated platform growth, including through anticipated development roadmap or scalable model; the timeliness of any anticipated beta versions; the ability to generate revenue from anonymized behavioral insights or other proprietary data; the effectiveness of marketing strategies and strategic investments on revenue; the availability or value of any digital rewards and functionality; the feasibility of near-term strategic goals; or the impact on growth of near or long-term trajectories. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “may,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “could,” “intends,” “target,” “projects,” “forecasts,” “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “potential,” “continue,” “assumption” or “judgment” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions that concern our expectations, strategy, plans or intentions. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

    Although the Company believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable when made, the Company cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the Company’s actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by the Company’s forward-looking statements, which include, but are not limited to: the Company’s history of recurring losses and anticipated expenditures raises substantial doubts about its ability to continue as a going concern; the Company’s loss of or a substantial reduction in activity by one or more of its largest clients, vendors and/or sponsors could materially and adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations; the Company’s revenue model may not remain effective, and the Company cannot guarantee that its future monetization strategies will be successfully implemented or generate sustainable revenues and profit; technology changes rapidly in the Company’s business and if it fails to anticipate or successfully implement new technologies or adopt new business strategies, technologies or methods, the quality, timeliness and competitiveness of the Company’s amateur tournaments or competitions may suffer; the Company relies on information technology and other systems and platforms, and any failures, errors, defects or disruptions in the Company’s systems or platforms could diminish its brand and reputation, subject it to liability, disrupt its business, affect its ability to scale its technical infrastructure and adversely affect its operating results and growth prospects..

    Additional factors include those described in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024, including under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and “Business,” in the Company’s subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, including under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and in our subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    A forward-looking statement is neither a prediction nor a guarantee of future events or circumstances. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Unless required by federal securities laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated, to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the statements are made.

    Investor Relations Contact:
    Adele Carey
    VP, Investor Relations
    ir@thebraghouse.com

    Media Contact:
    Fatema Bhabrawala
    Director of Media Relations
    fbhabrawala@allianceadvisors.com

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Siebert Financial Appoints Industry Veteran Fredrick Scuteri as Chief Operating Officer of its Broker-Dealer Subsidiary

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Siebert Financial Corp. (NASDAQ: SIEB), announced the appointment of Fredrick Scuteri as Chief Operating Officer of its broker-dealer subsidiary Muriel Siebert & Co., LLC. In this role, Scuteri will oversee day-to-day operational functions, trading infrastructure, and platform modernization efforts as the firm continues to scale its brokerage services.

    Scuteri brings nearly three decades of experience across institutional trading, asset management, and broker-dealer operations. Prior to joining Siebert, he served as Chief Operating Officer of DriveWealth Institutional, following the firm’s acquisition of Cuttone & Co. He also held the role of Vice President and Head of Trading Operations and Treasury at AQR Capital Management, where he led operations team proving global, multi-asset class coverage for over 250 trading accounts.

    “Siebert Financial has a legacy of resilience and reinvention,” said Scuteri. “I look forward to building on that foundation by bringing scalable, tech-forward solutions to our operations. My focus will be on streamlining workflows, increasing transparency, and applying automation and AI to help future-proof the business, without compromising the firm’s commitment to client service and regulatory excellence.”

    Under Scuteri’s leadership, Siebert will expand its operational capabilities and continue investing in infrastructure to support growth across institutional and retail channels.

    “Fred brings both depth and range to this role,” said John J. Gebbia, CEO of Siebert Financial. “He understands the intricacies of capital markets and, more importantly, he knows how to execute. His ability to turn complexity into clarity is exactly what we need at this stage for the growth of Siebert.”

    “Having someone with Fred’s operational rigor and fintech expertise is a significant advantage,” added John M. Gebbia, Principal at Siebert Financial. “He’s already thinking several steps ahead, whether it’s about optimizing capital, improving workflows integrating AI-automation, or preparing our systems for scale. We’re excited to have him on board.”

    Scuteri is a FINRA-registered Financial Operations Principal (Series 27) with degrees in Finance, an MBA from St. John’s University, and, lately, certifications in Generative AI and Advanced Prompt Engineering from Vanderbilt University.

    About Siebert Financial Corp.
    Siebert is a diversified financial services company and has been a member of the NYSE since 1967 when Muriel Siebert became the first woman to own a seat on the NYSE and the first to head one of its member firms.

    Siebert operates through its subsidiaries Muriel Siebert & Co., LLC, Siebert AdvisorNXT, LLC, Park Wilshire Companies, Inc., RISE Financial Services, LLC, Siebert Technologies, LLC, and StockCross Digital Solutions, Ltd, and Gebbia Media LLC. Through these entities, Siebert provides a full range of brokerage and financial advisory services, including securities brokerage, investment advisory and insurance offerings, securities lending, and corporate stock plan administration solutions, in addition to entertainment and media productions. For over 55 years, Siebert has been a company that values its clients, shareholders, and employees. More information is available at www.siebert.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
    The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs and expectations, are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements preceded by, followed by, or that include the words “may,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” “target,” “project,” “intend” and similar words or expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

    These forward-looking statements, which reflect beliefs, objectives, and expectations as of the date hereof, are based on the best judgment of the management of Siebert. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are made. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements, including, without limitation, the following: economic, social and political conditions, global economic downturns resulting from extraordinary events; securities industry risks; interest rate risks; liquidity risks; credit risk with clients and counterparties; risk of liability for errors in clearing functions; systemic risk; systems failures, delays and capacity constraints; network security risks; competition; reliance on external service providers; new laws and regulations affecting Siebert’s business; net capital requirements; extensive regulation, regulatory uncertainties and legal matters; failure to maintain relationships with employees, customers, business partners or governmental entities; the inability to achieve synergies or to implement integration plans; and other consequences associated with risks and uncertainties detailed in Part I, Item 1A – Risk Factors of Siebert’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and Siebert’s filings with the SEC.

    Siebert cautions that the foregoing list of factors is not exclusive, and new factors may emerge, or changes to the foregoing factors may occur that could impact its business. Siebert undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except to the extent required by the federal securities laws.

    Media Contact
    Deborah Kostroun, Zito Partners
    deborah@zitopartners.com
    +1 (201) 403-8185

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5ec79525-8910-4122-a10b-0e856542cab0

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: International companies to host live webcasts at Deutsche Bank’s Depositary Receipts Virtual Investor Conference on May 15, 2025

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Deutsche Bank today announced the lineup for its Depositary Receipts Virtual Investor Conference (“dbVIC”) on Thursday, May 15, 2025 featuring live webcast presentations from international companies with American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programs in the United States.

    Representatives from participating companies based in China, Hong Kong, Philippines, Denmark, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom will respond to questions during formal presentations. The conference is targeted to all categories of investors and analysts interested in international companies.

    There is no fee for participants to log in, attend live presentations and/or ask questions.

    Pre-registration is suggested. Please register here: www.adr.db.com/dbvic

    Conference Agenda May 15th, 2025 (US Eastern Standard Time):

    • 8:00 AM: Bavarian Nordic A/S (Nasdaq Copenhagen: BAVA, OTC: BVNRY)  
    • 8:30 AM: Viomi Technology Co., Ltd (NASDAQ: VIOT)
    • 9:00 AM: Infineon Technologies AG (Xetra: IFX, OTC: IFNNY)
    • 9:30 AM: Clicks Group Ltd (JSE: CLS, OTC: CLCGY)
    • 10:00 AM: First Pacific Company Ltd (HKEX: 142, OTC: FPAFY)
    • 10:30 AM: HUTCHMED (China) Limited (AIM: HCM, NASDAQ: HCM, and HKEX:13)
    • 11:00 AM: 51Talk Online Education Group (NYSE American: COE)
    • 11:30 AM: Yiren Digital Ltd. (NYSE: YRD)
    • 12:00 PM: ABB Ltd. (SIX: ABBN, OTC: ABBNY)
    • 12:30 PM: Belite Bio, Inc  (NASDAQ: BLTE)
    • 13:00 PM: Epiroc AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: EPIA, OTC: EPOAY)
    • 13:30 PM: International Airlines Group (LSE: IAG, MAD: IAG, OTC: ICAGY)
    • 14:00 PM: BDO Unibank, Inc (PSE: BDO, OTC: BDOUY)
    • 14:30 PM: iHuman Inc. (NYSE: IH)

    The presentations will be available for replay after the conference.

    In addition to specializing in administering cross-border equity structures such as American and Global Depositary Receipts, Deutsche Bank provides corporates, financial institutions, hedge funds and supranational agencies around the world with trustee, agency, escrow and related services. The Bank offers a broad range of services for diverse products, from complex securitizations and project finance to syndicated loans, debt exchanges and restructurings.

    For further information, please contact:
    Dylan Riddle
    Deutsche Bank AG
    Press & Media Relations
    Tel. +12122504982
    Cell. +1(904)3866481
    Email dylan.riddle@db.com

    Deutsche Bank provides commercial and investment banking, retail banking, transaction banking and asset and wealth management products and services to corporations, governments, institutional investors, small and medium-sized businesses, and private individuals. Deutsche Bank is Germany’s leading bank, with a strong position in Europe and a significant presence in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

    Deutsche Bank is sponsoring the Deutsche Bank Depositary Receipt Investor Conference solely for informational purposes. Deutsche Bank does not prepare, review, approve or edit any presentations, statements, documents or other information or materials, whether in written, electronic or verbal form, provided by any company participating in such conference, and disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of any such information or materials. Deutsche Bank is not promoting, endorsing or recommending any company participating in the conference.

    The Depositary Receipts have been registered pursuant to the US Securities Act of 1933 (the “Act”) on Form F-6. The investment or investment service which is the subject of this notice is not available to retail clients as defined by the UK Financial Conduct Authority. This notice has been approved and/or communicated by Deutsche Bank AG New York. The services described in this notice are provided by Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas (Deutsche Bank) or by its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in accordance with appropriate local registration and regulation. Deutsche Bank is providing the attached notice strictly for information purposes and makes no claims or statement, nor does it warrant as to or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of the details contained herein and does not undertake an obligation to update or amend this information. Deutsche Bank, its subsidiaries and/or affiliates disclaims any and all liability to fullest extent permitted by law, whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise, which any of them might otherwise have in respect of the above information. This announcement appears as a matter of record only. Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein constitutes an offer or solicitation by Deutsche Bank or any other issuer or entity for the purchase or sale of any securities in the United States, nor does it constitute an offer or solicitation to any person in any other jurisdiction. No part of this notice may be copied or reproduced in any way without the prior written consent of Deutsche Bank. Past results are not an indication of future performance. Copyright© May 2025 Deutsche Bank AG. All rights reserved.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: During his working visit to the LPR, Marat Khusnullin visited a number of sites and laid flowers at the memorial to the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945

    Translation. Region: Russian Federal

    Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.

    During a working visit to the LPR, Marat Khusnullin laid flowers at the memorial to the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945.

    Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin made a working visit to the Luhansk People’s Republic, during which he visited a plant, a training center, and also checked the pace of restoration of a five-story building.

    “I got acquainted with the work of the Lugamash enterprise, which is engaged in the production of railway locomotives and rolling stock. In 2023, the Territorial Development Fund included the company among the top ten in the register of participants in the free economic zone. The preferential conditions of the SEZ made it possible to begin modernizing and technically re-equipping production, increase the number of employees and raise the level of wages. I believe that this enterprise has very great prospects. And on those sites that are not used, it is necessary to create a technology park so that there is an opportunity to work in other areas of the regional industry,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.

    Marat Khusnullin laid flowers at the memorial on the plant grounds dedicated to the memory of the Heroes of the Front and Rear of 1941–1945.

    In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister checked the progress of the restoration of an apartment building in the Vatutina quarter, to which 64 families are expected to return after the summer, and assessed the progress of the renovation of the building of the military training center at the V. Dahl Luhansk State University.

    “The head of the center, Colonel Mikhail Basanov, said that the main tasks of this institution are the implementation of military training programs and work on military-professional orientation of young people. The conditions for such an important matter must be appropriate – they are created by the “Single Customer”. They plan to hand over the facility in June, so that it will be possible to train about 300 cadets at a time,” noted Marat Khusnullin.

    At the end of the trip, a meeting was held on the development of the region.

    “I can say with satisfaction that the republic is coping with all the tasks set. This speaks of the systematic work of the team of the head of the LPR Leonid Pasechnik and the chairman of the LPR government Yegor Kovalchuk, which will continue to allow the implementation of the planned plans to bring the standard of living in the LPR to the average Russian level,” the Deputy Chairman of the Government concluded.

    Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Join us on 5/22 for a Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar: “How to Handle AI? – Italian National Regulation in the Context of European Law”

    Source: US Global Legal Monitor

    The following is a guest post by Dante Figueroa, a senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress covering Italian, Vatican, Roman, and Canon law. Dante has previously published the following posts: From Summorum Pontificum to Traditionis Custodes: Changes in Liturgical Matters at the Catholic Church, Vatican Criminal Law and Recent Money Laundering Cases, Collections and Digitization Projects of the Vatican Apostolic Library, and The Roman Senate as Precursor of the U.S. Senate, among others. 

    Please join us on May 22, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. EDT for another entry into our Foreign and Comparative Law Webinar series with our “How to Handle AI? – Italian National Regulation in the Context of European Law” webinar. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new reality the world is facing in the 21st century. Most know about it, but few understand it properly, and even fewer dare to predict the implications of AI in all aspects of life.

    In this context, current developments and innovations concerning AI pose meaningful challenges to governments and the private sector, in particular in the area of fundamental human rights. For instance, the inclusion of Algorithmic Decision-Making (ADM) processes in various aspects of human endeavors, such as policing, employment, health care, business, and criminal justice, may reinforce and even create new barriers to fairness in society.

    Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (“AI Act”) is the world’s first regulatory framework on AI. This regulation offers a comprehensive legislative framework for using AI, with broad coverage and allocated duties and obligations based on a hierarchy of risks to health, safety, and fundamental human rights. Accordingly, the AI Act contains regulatory tools available to member states and private actors with the ultimate purpose of shielding real or perceived disruptions caused by AI on contemporary societies. Other European Union (EU) regulations also tackle AI, including the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the “Digital Services Act.”

    In this context, the webinar will analyze the aforementioned EU’s AI regulatory framework, from a legal and ethical perspective, to understand the challenges posed by AI innovations to the traditional human-centered environment. Particular attention will be given to the recent European Court of Justice’s decision in the “Schufa case.”

    Italy is not unaware of the many challenges posed by AI in various sectors of life. On April 23, 2024, the Council of Ministers approved a draft of a legislative bill dedicated to AI. Most recently, on March 20, 2025, a legislative bill was introduced into the Italian Senate concerning AI. However, no enacted legislation on AI currently exists in Italy.

    Accordingly, the webinar will also ponder the current and future implications of both EU and tentative domestic legislation on AI for Italy.

    Register here. 

    The main speaker will be Roberto D’Orazio, who is a senior legislative analyst at the Italian Parliamentary Library, and will present alongside Dante Figueroa, senior legal information analyst at the Law Library of Congress. Dante has a J.D. degree from the University of Concepcion, Chile, an LL.M. from the University of Chile, and an LL.M. from American University in Washington, D.C. He is fluent in Spanish, English, French, and Italian, and conversant in German and Portuguese.

    To learn about other upcoming classes on domestic and foreign law topics, visit the Legal Research Institute. Please request ADA accommodations at least five business days in advance by contacting (202) 707-6362 or [email protected].

    Subscribe to In Custodia Legis – it’s free! – to receive interesting posts drawn from the Law Library of Congress’s vast collections and our staff’s expertise in U.S., foreign, and international law.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Live Oak Bancshares Announces Appointment of Patrick T. McHenry to Board of Directors

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    WILMINGTON, N.C., May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Live Oak Bancshares announced the appointment of Patrick T. McHenry to its board of directors effective May 21, 2025. McHenry has also been appointed to the board of directors of Live Oak Bank.

    “It is a privilege for Live Oak to have the astute financial and policy expertise of Patrick’s caliber join our board of directors,” said Live Oak Bancshares Chairman and CEO James S. (Chip) Mahan III. “His service to the U.S. government, and experience as former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, will be a valuable addition to our leadership as Live Oak continues its mission to be America’s small business bank.”

    McHenry currently lives in Washington, D.C. and serves as an advisor on public policy, financial services, fintech, and artificial intelligence matters, in addition to serving as a distinguished fellow at Georgetown University’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy. He spent 20 years in Congress and is the former Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and U.S. Representative for North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District. During his time leading the committee, McHenry drove a robust legislative agenda focused on cryptocurrency, capital formation, AI, fintech, data privacy, and corporate governance issues, among other topics.

    “Small business is a critical component of the U.S. economy, and I have long respected Live Oak Bank’s approach to supporting the capital needs of American entrepreneurs,” said McHenry. “There is a unique culture at Live Oak–one driven by an embrace of innovation and technology, two things that inspired much of my public policy work over the last 20 years. I am delighted to be part of the journey Chip and the team are on to serve small businesses in my home state of North Carolina and around the country.”

    In addition to his role as Chairman of the Financial Services Committee, McHenry previously served in House Republican leadership as the Chief Deputy Whip and also served as Speaker Pro Tempore of the House in October of 2023. He is a native of Gastonia, NC and a graduate of Belmont Abbey College.

    About Live Oak Bancshares
    Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE: LOB) is a financial holding company and parent company of Live Oak Bank. Live Oak Bancshares and its subsidiaries partner with businesses who share a groundbreaking focus on service and technology to redefine banking. To learn more, visit www.liveoak.bank.

    Contact:
    Claire Parker
    Live Oak Bank, Corporate Communications
    910.597.1592
    claire.parker@liveoak.bank

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI: Obra Capital Announces Promotion of Peter Polanskyj to Chief Investment Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    NEW YORK, May 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Obra Capital, Inc. (along with its affiliated registered investment advisors, collectively “Obra”), an asset management firm with a specialized approach to alternative investing, today announced that Peter Polanskyj, Senior Managing Director and Head of Structured Credit, has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer.

    Since joining Obra in 2022, Mr. Polanskyj has been a key member of the leadership team, supporting the guidance and execution of the firm’s growth strategy and the development of both its platform and enhanced product set. In April 2024, he supported the launch of Obra’s first ETFs, creating investment options with access to a wide variety of securitized products. In December 2024, Mr. Polanskyj helped lead a $400 million close of Obra’s inaugural Collateralized Loan Obligation offering (“CLO”), further diversifying the firm’s strategies in alternative assets and structured credit to provide a range of solutions aimed at delivering long-term value for investors.

    In addition to new product launches, Mr. Polanskyj has demonstrated a proven track record of prudent capital stewardship, leveraging over 28 years of experience investing in a variety of structured investments to achieve a net growth rate for Obra’s insurance special situations strategy that has outpaced the firm’s initial expectations. In his new role, he will chair Obra’s Investment Committee, with oversight of the firm’s operations across its portfolio.

    “I’m thrilled to welcome Peter to fill this role on Obra’s leadership team,” said Blair Wallace, President and Chief Executive Officer. “He has contributed to the rapid growth of our platform by adeptly navigating a nuanced area of the market, launching unique products and providing strong performance for our investors. His specialized experience and skillset will be critical as we look to build on our momentum across credit and insurance investment opportunities.”

    Mr. Polanskyj added, “I am proud of the work we have done developing the capabilities that our investors are looking to access across insurance and credit. As I step into this new role as CIO, I look forward to continuing to work with Blair and the team to develop our platform and deliver for investors.”

    In addition, Matt Roesler has been promoted to Senior Managing Director and Head of Multi-Sector Credit. He continues to lead the management of Obra’s multi-sector credit, liability-driven and other insurance portfolios. Greg Nicolls has been promoted to Senior Managing Director and Head of Business Development and Investor Relations.

    Prior to joining Obra, Mr. Polanskyj was a Managing Director and Head of U.S. CLO Management at Sculptor Capital (formerly known as Och-Ziff), where he oversaw the creation, securitization and management of CLOs and similarly structured products. In his time with the firm, he grew this business from inception in 2012 to approximately $15 billion in assets in 2022. Prior to that role, he worked at Morgan Stanley in a variety of capacities, including as a strategist focused on credit, structured credit, equity derivatives and capital structure arbitrage. Previously, Mr. Polanskyj was a reinsurance actuary with a focus on property and casualty. Mr. Polanskyj holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Mathematics from Rutgers University, where he was named a Henry Rutgers scholar, and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia Business School.

    About Obra Capital

    Obra is a specialized alternative asset management firm with approximately $5.6 billion in capital under management as of March 31, 2025. Obra provides investment products and solutions across insurance, multi-sector credit, asset-based finance and longevity investment strategies. Obra aims to generate long-term value and attractive returns for investors through a variety of funds and separate accounts. With capabilities in investing, originating, structuring and servicing, Obra strives to provide differentiated investment opportunities and capital solutions for investors worldwide. Obra owns and operates a CLO management business, a commercial real estate lending platform and an auto finance company. For more information about Obra and its registered investment advisors, please visit www.obra.com.

    Media Contact:
    Dan Gagnier
    Gagnier Communications
    Obra@gagnierfc.com
    646-569-5897

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI Economics: RBI imposes monetary penalty on Shree Warana Sahakari Bank Limited, Warananagar, Maharashtra

    Source: Reserve Bank of India

    The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has, by an order dated May 05, 2025, imposed a monetary penalty of ₹2.00 lakh (Rupees Two Lakh only) on Shree Warana Sahakari Bank Limited, Warananagar, Maharashtra (the bank) for contravention of the provisions of Section 26A read with Section 56 of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (BR Act). This penalty has been imposed in exercise of powers conferred on RBI under the provisions of Section 47A(1)(c) read with Sections 46(4)(i) and 56 of the BR Act.

    The statutory inspection of the bank was conducted by RBI with reference to its financial position as on March 31, 2024. Based on supervisory findings of contravention of statutory provisions and related correspondence in that regard, a notice was issued to the bank advising it to show cause as to why penalty should not be imposed on it for its failure to comply with the said statutory provisions. After considering the bank’s reply to the notice, RBI found, inter alia, that the following charge against the bank was sustained, warranting imposition of monetary penalty:

    The bank had failed to transfer eligible unclaimed amounts to the Depositor Education and Awareness Fund within the prescribed time.

    This action is based on deficiencies in statutory compliance and is not intended to pronounce upon the validity of any transaction or agreement entered into by the bank with its customers. Further, imposition of monetary penalty is without prejudice to any other action that may be initiated by RBI against the bank.

    (Puneet Pancholy)  
    Chief General Manager

    Press Release: 2025-2026/284

    MIL OSI Economics –