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Category: Health

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: DH reminds public that online registration system for dental general public session launches next week

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    DH reminds public that online registration system for dental general public session launches next week
    DH reminds public that online registration system for dental general public session launches next week
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         The Department of Health (DH) today (December 23) reminded the public that an online registration system for dental general public session (ORDGP) will come into operation next Monday (December 30) and that the existing preliminary registration arrangements for dental general public sessions will cease from the same day. Members of the public will no longer need to queue in person at the relevant dental clinic to obtain a disc quota.      “The ORDGP will come into operation on December 30. The starting time for the online registration for balloting will be advanced from the originally proposed 9.30am to 6am, while the closing time will remain unchanged, i.e. 11.30am, to make it easier for members of the public in need of emergency public dental services to register for public dental services at designated dental clinics on the next working day,” said a spokesman for the DH.      He added that the DH has long been providing free emergency dental treatments to the public, through designated sessions in 11 government dental clinics on a quota basis, to deal with prescriptions for pain relief, tooth extraction or other emergencies such as an oral abscess.      Following the launch of the ORDGP, members of the public in need of emergency public dental services can access the ORDGP via the eHealth mobile application or the DH’s Dental Public Session website to register under their real name for public dental services at designated dental clinics on the next working day. Each person can only register once per day during the above-mentioned registration period. Quotas will be allocated by computer ballot. If the following day is a Saturday or a public holiday, ORDGP will not accept registrations.      The system will conduct balloting immediately after the online registration is closed. People who are successfully allocated a quota will receive a confirmation notification via SMS with the ID “#DH-DENT GP”. They can also log into the ORDGP to check the ballot result after 12.30pm on the same day, or call the hotline on 2892 2111 to check from 9am to 5pm during office hours.      “To cater for the needs of the elderly, half of the quotas will be allocated on a priority basis to elderly people aged 65 or above. Elderly people, who are not allocated a priority quota in the first round, will join other registered persons for the allocation of the remaining quotas by ballot,” the spokesman said.      To allow members of the public to understand more about the online registration process, the DH has uploaded the relevant introduction and demonstration videos to the Dental Public Session website today for public viewing.      Anyone who needs assistance registering may visit any dental clinics with dental general public session between 8.30am and 11.30am to register with the assistance of on-site staff, without using their own personal mobile phone or computer.      Members of the public who are allocated a quota must bring the originals of their identity documents used for registration to the designated dental clinics on the specified date and time to receive dental services. Citizens registered with eHealth and their family members/carers can also view their relevant attendance records on the eHealth app.      If any quota remains unallocated after balloting, the ORDGP will provide the public with a list of relevant dental clinics. Members of the public can make appointments on a first-come, first-served basis by calling the remaining quota registration hotline (tel: 2892 2577) between 2pm and 5pm on the same day, or between 7.45am and 9.15am on the service day of the general public session for the remaining quotas (if available).      The DH has established an extensive district network to assist those in need, including District Health Centres, District Health Centre Expresses, Neighbourhood Elderly Centres and the District Elderly Community Centres under the Social Welfare Department, District Councillors’ offices, Community Care Teams and dental clinics run by 15 social welfare institutions or non-governmental organisations. The DH has completed a number of online briefing sessions this month to introduce and demonstrate the relevant registration steps and process to the staff members of the above district networks.      During the initial period of commissioning the ORDGP, apart from operating an enquiry hotline (tel: 2892 2111) from 9am to 5pm on weekdays during office hours, the DH will also provide additional enquiry hotline service hours from 9am to 1pm on five public holidays (including January 1, 5, 12, 19 and 26, 2025) for answering enquiries from members of the public.      The spokesman emphasised that the public dental services are dedicated for those in need of emergency dental treatments only. Given the limited quotas, it is hoped that the service will not be abused. The DH will closely monitor the operation and the effectiveness of the ORDGP.      Separately, the service hours of general public session for Mona Fong Dental Clinic will be changed from Thursday afternoons to Thursday mornings with effect from January 2, 2025, which will be the same as the other 10 clinics with general public sessions. Please visit the website for addresses and service hours of the 11 dental clinics under the DH with general public sessions. 

     
    Ends/Monday, December 23, 2024Issued at HKT 16:45

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: expert reaction to govt setting out plans for a complete ban of neonicotinoids

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    Experts commented on the Government’s plans to completely ban neonicotinoids. 

    Dr Philip Donkersley, Senior Researcher in Ecology and Evolution at Lancaster University, said:

    Is this evidence-based?

    “The hazards posed by neonicotinoid pesticides to pollinators have been established by a number of high impact research articles for nearly a decade. There is no question that restricting their use can have significant benefits to both domesticated and wild pollinators.”

    How significant a change is this to the rules we have currently?

    “There are no significant changes to current policy, which will be of benefit to farmers, giving them at least the entirety of 2025 to change their pest management plans accordingly is a good thing for farmers. Current policy in the UK to allow neonic use under specific conditions has arguably failed, given that the conditions have been consistently met since the policy was adopted (i.e. It was entirely legislative, not functional). Going forward, a policy of absolute moratorium brings us closer in line with European standards.”

    Why are neonics still used, and what will farmers need to use instead? 

    “Neonics are used because of their ease of application, high efficacy and availability from suppliers. Some farmers may argue a moratorium will drive them to using more hazardous pesticides, like the pyrethroids, however with proper government guidance, a policy basis and direct financial support, a drive towards regenerative agricultural methods, combined with natural enemy protections and integrated pest management practices will be as good, if not better for the farm finances, productivity, and environmental sustainability. We know this works from both European and global farming communities – massively reducing pesticide use brings back natural enemies like spiders, parasitoid wasps, lacewings etc, which in turn kill off pest species.”

    What will be the effect on pollinators and crops? 

    “With any restriction of pesticide use, there will be a lag period, where the environment on the farm needs to recover, the farm productivity will be damaged due to sudden increases in pest abundance. However, over the long term, we see a gradual increase in pollinator health and farm finances. Governments should direct support farms during this period in order to safely permit them and their business to make the transition towards a more regenerative farming practice.”

    Prof Giles Budge, Modelling Evidence and Policy Research Group, Newcastle University, said:

    “I would welcome any legislation that protects our managed and unmanaged pollinator communities. However, as a society we must always consider the costs and benefits of any policy change. Sometimes new policies that are well meaning may have unintended consequences to the sustainability of our food production system, as well as our insect communities. Oilseed rape is a great example. Seed-coated neonicotinoids were banned from use on oilseed rape without time to formulate a clear plan for what alternatives might be available to manage both aphid and cabbage stem flea beetle pests.

    “The story has positive and negative outcomes. First, the abruptness of the ban led to disruptive innovation in the industry, and seed companies were quick to produce cultivated varieties of oilseed rape which are resistant to turnip yellows virus, the main reason for controlling the aphid. However, many farmers switched to using multiple pyrethroid sprays to save their oilseed rape crops from damage by cabbage stem flea beetles. Pyrethroid sprays were ineffective against cabbage stem flea beetles, which were resistant, but highly effective against non-target insects. Crops were lost and the planted area of oilseed rape has dropped. Fewer planted oilseed rape crops has removed an important source of pollen and nectar for our pollinators, and challenged the farming community to find alternative crops and ways of working.

    “The outcome for food production is that we have moved from a net surplus of oilseed rape production, where we exported, to a need to import oilseed rape into the UK in order to meet our needs. Our food security has been compromised, and the irony is that some oilseed rape imports are grown in countries where the use of neonicotinoid seat coatings has continued! A policy that sought to protect our pollinators has seemingly moved the problem abroad, impacted our farming community, and decreased our food security.

    “I reiterate that I would welcome any legislation that protects our managed and unmanaged pollinator communities, but we need to ensure our farmers can continue to grow our food in a sustainable way. We need to take ownership of any issues with the sustainability of our food production, but we also need to ensure that our farmers have access to viable and sustainable solutions.”

    Prof Linda Field, Emeritus Fellow, Protecting Crops and the Environment, Rothamsted Research, said:

    “On the face of it, this would seem to be a measure that will help bees and other pollinators that can potentially be affected by neonicotinoids. However, this effect may be small given that bees do not forage in sugar beet crops, where the previous emergency authorisation has been applied.

    “It should also be borne on mind that if neonicotinoids are not used in sugar beet in the UK, then the aphid that carries virus disease in this crop can’t be controlled, as it is resistant to alternative insecticides. This is very likely to result in reduced production of beet sugar and the need for more imports of cane sugar.

    “The impacts of pesticide and pesticide stewardship requires broad farm-system landscape assessment. A single intervention is inevitably linked to many other factors that ultimately dictate any net gain or loss on biodiversity.”

     

    Prof Dave Goulson, Professor of Biology (Evolution, Behaviour and Environment), University of Sussex, said:

    “It is refreshing to see that the new government is sticking by its commitment to end all use of “bee killing pesticides”, by which it means the three neonicotinoids imidacloprid, thiamethoxam and clothianidin.

    “These chemicals have been banned from agricultural use in all the EU and the UK since 2018. Until 2023 Europe allowed “emergency authorizations” in special circumstances, but these are now illegal in Europe. However, for the last four years the previous UK government granted emergency authorisation for the use of thiamethoxam on sugar beet. In doing so they ignored the science and went against the clear advice of the Health & Safety Executive and Expert Committee on Pesticides.

    “Farmer across Europe grow sugar beet successfully without neonics. Only the UK has been allowing them, becoming the dirty man of Europe. Let’s hope this is finally coming to an end.

    “By way of background, neonics are highly potent neurotoxins, lethal to bees and all other insects at miniscule doses. They are often used as seed dressing, but only about 5% of the chemical is absorbed by the crop. The rest pollutes the soil and soil water. Neonics are highly persistent, so soils remain contaminated for years. Neonics leach from soil into streams, harming aquatic life. They are also sucked up from the soil by hedgerow wildflowers and farm trees, contaminating all parts of the plant including pollen and nectar, and hence poisoning pollinators. This is why the EU introduced a ban on neonics in 2018, after prolonged evaluation of all the evidence by EFSA.

    “Let’s not forget that sugar is very bad for us (diabetes, obesity etc.). We have been poisoning our soils, streams and bees to grow a product that makes us ill. Healthy crops could be grown on the land used for sugar beet. Government could extend sugar taxes to reduce our consumption.”

    Dr Katie Powell, Butterfly Conservation Postdoctoral Researcher and British Ecological Society English Policy Group committee member, said:

    Is this evidence-based?

    “Yes. There is ample evidence that neonicotinoids have devastating lethal and sub-lethal effects on wildlife, both directly and indirectly through being passed through the food chain. Although the current method of applying neonicotinoids for emergency use is through seed-coatings, which is supposedly directed at target species (namely aphids), ‘beneficial’ insects feed on these target species and so non-target organisms – like ladybirds and hoverflies – are inadvertently exposed to neonicotinoids. Insects feeding on the pest species that are targeted by neonicotinoids include some pollinating insects such as hoverflies. Also, flowering plants grown near to neonicotinoid coated seeds, or subsequently grown in soil used to grow sugar beet where seeds have been treated, can carry through the pesticide to pollinators like bees at a later stage. This can then have population-level consequences and contribute to their decline. As well as this, leaching and accumulation of neonicotinoids from treated seeds into soils and waterways occurs, impacting the development of soil organisms and aquatic wildlife.”

    What will farmers need to use instead?

    “The worry is that farmers will turn to the use of boom spraying using other approved pesticides; this should not be what farmers turn to as an alternative, as this may be equally damaging to insects and other wildlife when applied in a non-targeted way. Approaches like Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and the development of genetic approaches to pest resistance and virus forecasting need to be further developed to replace widespread pesticide use. The government should plough research into these approaches to support farmers after the ban.”

    What will be the effect on pollinators?

    “The ban should have a positive effect on pollinators in the long-term, as well as benefits for lots of other insects like pest-controlling ladybirds and parasitic wasps which will have a chance to recover from the toxic effects of neonicotinoids. These beneficial insects naturally keep the pests that neonicotinoids aim to control in check through predating on them. Some of these beneficial predator species are also pollinators. Insect (and pollinator) declines are caused by a range of interacting factors, made worse by unsustainable use of pesticides. To bolster against population crashes and build resilience in populations against other drivers like extreme weather events, it is crucial to remove as many drivers of decline as possible and for habitat to be improved in order to support species of insect, including bees, butterflies and moths.  As populations start to recover from low levels due to their living conditions being improved, there is a greater chance they will be robust against other drivers like climate change.”

     

     

    Declared interests

    Giles Budge: “I declare no personal interest.”

    Katie Powell: “I am involved in a campaign with Butterfly Conservation on this topic.”

    For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Import of poultry meat and products from areas in US and UK suspended

    Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region

    Import of poultry meat and products from areas in US and UK suspended
    Import of poultry meat and products from areas in US and UK suspended
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         The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (December 23) that in view of notifications from the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) about outbreaks of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in areas in the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK), the CFS has instructed the trade to suspend the import of poultry meat and products (including poultry eggs) from the relevant areas with immediate effect to protect public health in Hong Kong.     The relevant areas are as follows:UK—-Norfolk County(1) King’s Lynn & West Norfolk DistrictUS—-State of California(2) Marin County(3) San Joaquin CountyState of South Dakota(4) Beadle County(5) Charles Mix County(6) Faulk County(7) Hutchinson County(8) McPherson County(9) Moody County(10) Spink CountyState of Iowa(11) Sioux County(12) Palo Alto CountyState of North Dakota(13) Bottineau County(14) McHenry County(15) Ransom CountyState of Tennessee(16) Gibson CountyState of Utah(17) Piute County(18) Sanpete County     A CFS spokesman said that according to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong imported about 63 470 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat, and about 17.2 million poultry eggs from the US, and about 900 tonnes of chilled and frozen poultry meat and about 990 000 poultry eggs from the UK in the first nine months of this year.     “The CFS has contacted the American and British authorities over the issues and will closely monitor information issued by the WOAH and the relevant authorities on the avian influenza outbreaks. Appropriate action will be taken in response to the development of the situation,” the spokesman said.

     
    Ends/Monday, December 23, 2024Issued at HKT 17:47

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    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Scientific Library of the State University of Management: Review of the Results of the “Department Weeks”

    Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: State University of Management – Official website of the State –

    Last year, on the initiative of the rector’s advisor Sergey Chuev, for the 105th anniversary of the State University of Management, the Scientific Library of the State University of Management launched the project “Department Weeks in the Scientific Library”. Every two weeks, the departments, replacing each other, organized conferences, round tables, discussions, quests, book presentations in their areas of activity and other events.

    “Department Weeks” attracted the attention of both the staff and students of the State University of Management, as well as guests of the Scientific Library, creating an atmosphere of lively exchange of knowledge and ideas. This happened, among other things, thanks to the work of the head of the information and bibliographic department Olga Fomakina and the chief bibliographer Olga Korshunova, who with special attention and care selected literature for exhibitions of the works of the department scientists. Their professionalism and creative approach made the project not only popular, but also a real scientific event. In total, 1,180 books were presented at the exhibitions. Each exhibit was not just a book, but a window into the world of scientific discoveries and achievements, arousing genuine interest and inspiration in all visitors.

    This academic year, the following departments presented their achievements:

    Department of Philosophy (September 9–22); Department of Mathematical Methods in Economics and Management (September 23–October 6); Department of Economics and Management in Construction (October 7–20); Department of Physical Education (October 21–November 3); Department of Public and Municipal Administration (November 4–17); Department of Environmental Management (November 18–December 1); Department of Management in International Business and Tourism Industry (December 2–15).

    The Department of Philosophy participated in the project twice. In September, a tour of the Scientific Library was organized for students of the Institute of Personnel Management, Social and Business Communications. Candidate of Cultural Studies, senior lecturer of the department Liana Popova introduced them to the teaching aids, monographs and other publications of the department.

    The Department of Mathematical Methods in Economics and Management held a tour for first-year students of the educational program “Business Mathematics and Data Analysis”. Deputy Head of the Department, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor Inna Kramarenko introduced them to the works of the department’s scientists, including the works of the head of the department Olga Pisareva and the founder of the department Vasily Dudorin.

    The Department of Economics and Management in Construction organized a round table for its employees and students studying in the educational programs implemented by the department, “Scientific and educational potential of the department as a basis for developing competencies.” The head of the department, candidate of economic sciences, associate professor, corresponding member of the REA Olga Astafieva gave a welcoming speech, outlining the development trajectories of the implemented educational programs in the bachelor’s and master’s programs. Senior lecturer Yuri Tikhonov introduced the participants to the history of the department, famous scientists and important textbooks that have become the main ones in their disciplines. Professor of the department, candidate of economic sciences, professor Tatyana Shemyakina discussed with students the importance of books in the modern educational process.

    Teachers of the Department of Physical Education Ekaterina Gracheva, Denis Kokorev and Dmitry Savchenko organized a lecture for first-year students on the topic of “Physical Activity in a Student’s Life”, discussed in detail the basics of a healthy lifestyle and its components and talked about the physiological processes that occur in the human body under the influence of various types of physical activity. The participants of the event talked about why physical activity is important, how it affects a person’s mental health and mental performance and what consequences a sedentary lifestyle leads to. For students of the 1st-3rd years, a lecture “Stress and Health” was held on the possible consequences of stress on human health and the necessary skills to increase stress resistance in a student’s daily routine. The lecture was given by Associate Professor of the Department, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor Irina Merkulova. The event was prepared and organized by Associate Professor of the Department, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor Tatyana Siverkina and Senior Lecturer Tatyana Vedishcheva.

    The Department of Public and Municipal Administration participated in the project for the third time. As part of the “Department Weeks” in November, senior lecturer of the department Elena Yamchuk held a round table on the specifics of managing joint-stock companies with state participation. An open lesson with 2nd-year students of the “Public and Municipal Administration” program on working with the “ConsultantPlus” system as part of studying the discipline “State Regulation of the Economy” was held with the participation of professor of the department, doctor of economic sciences, associate professor Nadezhda Matveeva. The head of the department, adviser to the rector’s office, candidate of historical sciences, associate professor Sergey Chuev and deputy head of the department, associate professor of the department, candidate of economic sciences Mikhail Polyakov organized an open assessment of the knowledge of 4th-year students of the “Public and Municipal Administration” program, accompanied by experts from the National Accreditation Council for Business and Management Education. Mikhail Polyakov also held a foresight session with 4th year students on the topic: “Increasing the level of investment attractiveness of small towns” and a strategic session on the topic: “The role of public organizations in the interaction of civil society and politics in the social sphere”.

    The Department of Nature Management, with the active participation of Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor Ekaterina Shamaeva, enthusiastically prepared an exhibition of scientific works of its employees and books devoted to issues of nature management. Of particular interest was the series of publications on national security issues “Russia’s Security. Legal, Socio-Economic and Scientific-Technical Aspects”, presented by Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation Yakov Vishnyakov.

    The project ended with events of the Department of Management in International Business and Tourism Industry.

    On December 6, in the Scientific Library, Associate Professor of the Department, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor Svetlana Grishaeva held a Discussion Club “Doing Russian Business with Chinese Partners” with 3rd-year students of the Management program of the International Business educational program. The participants discussed effective communication strategies with partners and China, including existing barriers and stereotypes about the specifics of working with Chinese businessmen, worked out cases of various situations of interaction between Chinese and Russian partners and considered typical mistakes in building Russian-Chinese business.

    On December 7, at the Boiling Point of the State University of Management, senior lecturer of the department Anna Firsova organized a business game “Creating Inclusive Tourist Routes” for 4th-year students majoring in “Hotel Business” of the educational program “Hotel and Restaurant Business”. Students, divided into teams, developed a tourist route for a certain category of tourists (for example, for people with limited mobility, vision, hearing, cognitive impairment) based on a study of the needs of the selected category of tourists and determining the main points of the route that should be accessible and interesting for them. As a result of the presentation of the developed routes, student teams selected the best tourist routes that can be implemented in real inclusive tourism projects.

    On December 11, in the Scientific Library, senior lecturer of the department Anna Zbarskaya held a seminar in English “Cross-cultural aspects in the hospitality industry”, which was dedicated to the importance of studying the cultures of different countries and the formation of cultural intelligence for successful business communications. Third-year students of the “Hotel Business” program of the “Hotel and Restaurant Business” discussed the main theoretical issues related to cross-cultural communications, including such concepts as culture, models and types of cultures, culture shock, etc., presented their results of the analysis of different countries and their cultures, considered strategies for effective intercultural communication and ways to overcome cross-cultural problems during negotiations and doing business in the hotel industry.

    The Scientific Library of the State University of Management congratulates everyone on the upcoming holidays and looks forward to seeing everyone at its events in the New Year!

    Subscribe to the TG channel “Our GUU” Date of publication: 23.12.2024

    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 Global: Eating red meat may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes – not a lot of people know that

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gulshanara (Rumy) Begum, Senior Lecturer in Nutrition & Exercise Science, University of Westminster

    Red meat has been a part of diets worldwide since early man. It is an excellent source of protein, vitamins (such as B vitamins) and minerals (such as iron and zinc).

    However, red meat has long been associated with increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer and early death. What may not be so well known is the link between red meat consumption and type 2 diabetes.

    A paper published in the Lancet in September 2024 highlighted this link to type 2 diabetes using data from the Americas, the Mediterranean, Europe, south-east Asia and the Western Pacific (20 countries included).

    This recent study, with nearly 2 million participants, found that high consumption of unprocessed red meat, such as beef, lamb and pork, and processed meat, such as bacon, salami and chorizo, increased the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

    The researchers also highlighted a link between the consumption of poultry and the incidence of type 2 diabetes, but the link was weaker and varied across the populations.

    Type 2 diabetes is a serious public health issue affecting 462 million people globally. It occurs when our bodies don’t make enough insulin or can’t use insulin well.

    Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a small leaf-shaped gland that sits behind the stomach and just in front of the spine. Insulin helps blood glucose enter cells, which stops levels from rising in the blood.

    In type 2 diabetes, due to our body not having enough insulin or inability to use the insulin (also referred to as “insulin resistance” or “impaired insulin sensitivity”), blood glucose reaches high levels, causing symptoms such as extreme thirst, increased need to pass urine and feelings of tiredness. Long-term health issues include nerve damage, foot problems and heart disease.

    The underlying mechanisms linking red meat intake with type 2 diabetes are unclear. Mechanisms could relate to the function of the pancreas, insulin sensitivity or a combination of the two.

    Possible mechanisms

    Red meat has high levels of saturated fat and is low in polyunsaturated fats, which could disrupt insulin sensitivity.

    Research has also shown that a high protein intake from animal sources (compared to vegetarian sources) can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, possibly due to the high levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) in animal protein.

    BCAA include the amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine. In a small study, short-term BCAA infusions increased insulin resistance in humans. Similar findings were shown in larger human studies.

    High levels of plasma BCAA can have various origins. These connections between red meat, BCAA, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are worth exploring further.

    Another potential mechanism involves gut microbiota, the collection of microbes in our gut.

    Our microbiota metabolises choline (a water-soluble essential nutrient) and L-carnitine (an amino acid found naturally in food), both of which are abundant in red meat, producing trimethylamine. Increased trimethylamine has been associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

    How we cook meat may also add to this conundrum. Cooking meat at high temperatures, such as grilling and barbecuing, can produce harmful compounds called “advanced glycation end products”.

    These compounds can damage cells due to oxidative stress (caused by unstable atoms called free radicals), lead to inflammation (which can be damaging if it occurs in healthy tissues or lasts too long) and insulin resistance.

    Red meat is a great source of iron. But some studies have shown long-term iron intake or iron overload, particularly haem iron (iron from animal-based sources), may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes.

    Eat less red meat

    According to a World Health Organization report, in the last 50 years, global consumption of all types of meat has increased. In some wealthy countries, such as the UK, red meat consumption appears to be stable or declining. Although there is a lot of variation in meat consumption between and within countries.

    In the UK, people are advised to consume no more than 70g (cooked weight) of red meat per day and to avoid eating processed meat. A similar recommendation is given across many countries.

    With the winter holidays around the corner and the festive gatherings in full swing, reducing red meat consumption will be difficult, especially for those who really like the taste. So enjoy these moments without worrying, and where possible, try to consume fibre-rich vegetables with red meat.

    Small steps can be taken to reduce your red meat intake by having smaller portions or choosing a day in the week that is meat free (meat-free Mondays, say), or substituting some (or all) of the meat in recipes with chicken, fish, beans, lentils or the like.

    And for those days you do eat red meat, try poaching, steaming or stewing it – it’s healthier than grilling or barbecuing.

    Gulshanara (Rumy) Begum 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. Eating red meat may increase your risk of type 2 diabetes – not a lot of people know that – https://theconversation.com/eating-red-meat-may-increase-your-risk-of-type-2-diabetes-not-a-lot-of-people-know-that-245495

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Five ways to beat loneliness this winter

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Dorothy Yen, Professor in Marketing and Lead on the Happy to Chat project, Brunel University of London

    Tricky_Shark/Shutterstock

    For some people, loneliness can feel overwhelming, especially during winter, but small steps toward connection can make a significant difference. Research shows that micro conversations with strangers can help improve wellbeing and reduce feelings of loneliness.

    This explains why in the UK, the new charity Happy to Chat is trying to encourage people to talk to each other when out and about. In Sweden, a similar scheme – the Say Hi campaign – was also launched in winter 2023 to promote small talks among people in their neighbourhoods.

    Most studies on the benefits of talking to strangers have focused on younger people, leaving a big question mark over how older adults experience these everyday interactions. Yet, this is a group that could stand to benefit the most. The World Health Organization estimates that one in four older adults face social isolation, which can seriously affect their health, happiness, and even how long they live.

    Our research shows that most older people in the UK have a positive attitude towards the idea of small talk when out and about. They see it as being neighbourly, an act of kindness, a way to brighten someone else’s day. Popular spots for these chats include bright, public spaces, like shopping centres, garden centres, libraries, community events, university campuses, or even while waiting for public transport.

    Feeling confident is important; it’s not just about starting a conversation or keeping it going. It’s also about feeling safe and in control. That confidence isn’t the same for everyone, though. Older women, in particular, were more concerned about potential challenges such as personal safety or dealing with an awkward or uncomfortable chat.

    A safe and secure environment can make all the difference in their choice of whether to engage in small talk when out and about. So, it is important that we all make an effort in creating a friendly environment, combating loneliness together through small and meaningful conversations. With that in mind, here are five ways to beat loneliness this winter and build those much needed connections.

    1. Join the ‘happy to chat’ movement

    A simple conversation can go a long way in making both you and others feel more connected. The “happy to chat” initiative in the UK encourages people to sit at designated benches or wear ‘happy to chat’ badges that signal their openness to friendly talks with those passing by. Our research shows that these badges work wonders as ice breakers, making it easier to strike up a conversation. Whether you’re at a park, garden centre, café, or on public transport, a little small talk can brighten your day and build a sense of community.

    2. Volunteer for a local charity

    Giving back not only benefits others but can also create a sense of purpose and connection. Many organisations seek extra hands during the winter, especially for holiday drives, food banks or programmes supporting older people. Volunteering is a great way to meet like-minded people while spreading warmth and joy.

    3. Take part in community activities

    From Christmas carol singing to craft workshops and winter walks, your local area is probably buzzing with events this season. Joining in these activities is a natural way to socialise and meet new people. Have a look at your community centre or local general practitioners notice boards. Neighbourhood gatherings or shared hobbies make connecting with others feel effortless and fun.

    4. Stay active and embrace the outdoors

    Exercise has proven mental health benefits, including reducing feelings of loneliness. Bundle up and take a brisk walk in the park, or join a local fitness class or walking group, where you can enjoy the fresh air while having small talks with others. Outdoor winter activities like ice skating may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but having a visit to seasonal markets can also provide opportunities to interact with others.

    5. Reconnect with friends and family

    The holiday season is a perfect time to reach out to loved ones or people you may have lost in touch with. But don’t forget that loneliness can be all year around. Drop a postcard to say hello, schedule a call or meet-ups, even if it’s just for a quick coffee. If you can’t meet in person, virtual gatherings can still help you feel connected and cared for.

    What is not recommended?

    Although pets can provide companionship, they require long-term commitment, time and care. Getting a pet solely to combat loneliness during the winter isn’t a good idea.

    Pets are for life, not just for the holiday season, and taking on this responsibility without careful thought can lead to challenges for both you and the animal. Instead, consider alternative ways to connect, like volunteering at an animal shelter or spending time with friends who have pets.

    Loneliness can feel overwhelming, especially during winter, but small steps toward connection can make a significant difference. By reaching out to others and engaging in your community, you can transform this season into one of warmth, companionship and joy. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple smile or a friendly conversation to turn someone’s day around – including your own.

    Christina Victor receives funding from ESRC, Dunhill Medical Trust, Wellcome Trust, Alzheimer’s Society, NIHR

    Dorothy Yen 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. Five ways to beat loneliness this winter – https://theconversation.com/five-ways-to-beat-loneliness-this-winter-245630

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI: Enlight Announces the Financial Close for Project Roadrunner

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    The debt financing package includes $550 million of construction loans

    Roadrunner consists of 290 MW of solar generation and 940 MWh of energy storage capacity, and is expected to reach full COD by the end of 2025

    TEL AVIV, Israel, Dec. 23, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Enlight Renewable Energy Ltd. (“Enlight”, “the Company”, NASDAQ: ENLT, TASE: ENLT.TA), a leading global renewable energy platform, today announced that the Company has arranged the debt financing (the “Debt Financing”) for project Roadrunner (“Roadrunner” or “the Project”), located near Tuscon, Arizona, USA.

    As part of the Debt Financing, Enlight, through its subsidiary Clenera Holdings LLC, has entered into a loan agreement with a consortium of four leading global banks including BNP Paribas Securities Corp, Crédit Agricole, Natixis CIB, and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (Nord/LB), totaling $550 million, which are expected to convert into a $290 million term loan and $320 million of tax equity funding upon the Project’s COD. The term loan is structured with an amortization tenor of 20-25 years and is to be fully repaid 5 years from the Project’s COD (mini perm). The loans are subject to an all-in interest rate of SOFR + 1.5%-1.75%, which rises by 0.125% after four years. Paragon Energy Capital served as Clenera’s exclusive financial advisor on the transaction.

    During the Project’s construction period, the Company’s equity investment is expected to amount to 10% of the expected total Project cost of $610 million. The debt financing arrangements are expected to enable the Company to recycle the entire equity investment upon COD subject to minimum project coverage ratios. The Company expects to conclude a tax equity transaction during 2025, noting that the project has secured safe harbor status.

    Roadrunner (also known as Apache Solar II) is the second-largest project in Enlight’s history, consists of 290 MW solar generation and 940 MWh of energy storage capacity, and is expected to reach full COD by the end of 2025. Construction at the 1200-acre site has already begun, and all procurement contracts have been signed. The Project has a 20-year busbar power purchase agreement covering its entire output with the Arizona Electric Power Cooperative (AEPCO), and is expected to generate revenues of $51-54 million and EBITDA1 of $41-44 million in its first full year of operation. A summary of the Project’s financial information appears in the tables below:

    (as expected at COD)

    Total project cost

    Term debt

    Upfront tax equity

    Sponsor equity upon COD
     

    $ 610 million

    $ 290 million

    $320 million

    $0
     

    Total project cost net of tax equity

    Revenues in first full year

    EBITDA in first full year1
     

    $ 290 million

    $51-54 million

    $41-44 million

    1EBITDA is a non-IFRS financial measure. This figure represents EBITDA for the project and excludes all ITC and PTC proceeds, as well as the impact of a potential tax equity transaction. The tax equity partner’s share is expected to range between 10-15% of the Project’s EBITDA during the first years of operation.

    Roadrunner is being built in the Sulphur Springs Valley region near Tucson, Arizona. Arizona possesses one of highest rates of growth in data centers in the U.S., driving a significant increase in the demand for electricity. The area’s high altitude, mild weather, and very high irradiance make it especially suitable for a utility-scale solar plant. The Project is located in a sparsely populated area and integrates with the larger Apache Generating Station, a diverse energy complex used by AEPCO.

    After the completion of Apex in Montana and Atrisco in New Mexico, Roadrunner is one of several major solar and energy storage projects that Enlight and Clenera are now constructing in the U.S. These include Country Acres (392 MW and 688 MWh) and Quail Ranch (128 MW and 400 MWh). Along with additional projects planned to be built in the years to come, these projects are driving Enlight’s massive expansion into the U.S. renewable energy market. This is best illustrated by the growing run rate of Enlight’s U.S. revenue base, which is expected to reach $195-207 million annually after the completion of the projects now under construction.

    The Company’s next projects in Arizona are Snowflake (600 MW and 1,900 MWh) and CO Bar (1,211 MW and 824 MWh). The two mega projects have almost completed their development phase, and are scheduled to begin construction in the coming months. Each of the two projects are set to achieve grid connection of 1.0 GW, one of the largest in the US. These grid connections generate potential additional development opportunities in the future through the Company’s “Connect and Expand” strategy, which seeks to leverage existing interconnect infrastructure with additional generation capacity.

    Nir Yehuda, CFO of Enlight, commented, “We appreciate our financial partners’ support and commitment in arranging the debt financing for project Roadrunner, which has made it possible for us to progress with its construction. Roadrunner is expected to begin commercial operation by the end of 2025. We look forward to continued collaboration on Country Acres and Quail Ranch, projects which we are now in the process of building and financing.”

    “We are grateful to have established our business as a reliable partner for these financial institutions,” said Adam Pishl, President and CEO of Clenera. “We have demonstrated our ability to build projects on time and on budget, and manage operational solar and storage farms that generate consistent long-term returns. It is exciting to close this deal and fuel our continued growth with projects across America.”

    Aashish Mohan, Co-Head of Energy, Resources & Infrastructure Americas, at BNP Paribas, commented, “BNP Paribas is proud to have supported Clenera and Enlight as Coordinating Lead Arranger on this landmark clean energy project financing. Supporting premier platforms like Clenera squarely fits our energy transition ambitions, and we look forward to partnering with the company again as they continue to execute on their high-quality pipeline.”

    Daniel Feigin, Head of Energy & Infrastructure Group, North America at Crédit Agricole CIB, said, “Crédit Agricole CIB’s collaboration with Enlight and Clenera on this landmark project in Arizona is a testament to the power of partnership and innovation. Roadrunner will provide clean, low-cost energy and storage. We are honored to have played a crucial role in helping a world class developer bringing this project to financial close and contributing to our mission of facilitating clean power generation and economic growth.”

    Nasir Khan, Managing Director & Head of Infrastructure & Energy Finance Americas at Natixis CIB, said, “We are thrilled to announce the successful close our first transaction with Enlight and Clenera, and would especially like to thank the teams for their professionalism and partnership over the past several months. Natixis CIB is committed to driving the energy transition through financing high-quality landmark projects such as Roadrunner, and we look forward to seeing it reach completion in the next year.”

    Sondra Martinez, Managing Director and Head of Originations at NORD/LB New York, commented, “Nord/LB is thrilled to support Clenera and Enlight on the Roadrunner transaction. This transaction represents our commitment to partnerships and supporting clients as they advance the energy transition.”

    About Enlight Renewable Energy

    Founded in 2008, Enlight develops, finances, constructs, owns, and operates utility-scale renewable energy projects. Enlight operates across the three largest renewable segments today: solar, wind and energy storage. A global platform, Enlight operates in the United States, Israel and 10 European countries. Enlight has been traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange since 2010 (TASE: ENLT) and completed its US IPO (NASDAQ: ENLT) in 2023. Learn more at enlightenergy.co.il.

    Investor Contact

    Yonah Weisz
    Director IR
    investors@enlightenergy.co.il

    Erica Mannion or Mike Funari
    Sapphire Investor Relations, LLC
    +1 617 542 6180
    investors@enlightenergy.co.il

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. We intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements as contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements contained in this press release other than statements of historical fact, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s expectations relating to the Project, the PPA and the related interconnection agreement and lease option, and the completion timeline for the Project, are forward-looking statements. The words “may,” “might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “target,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “possible,” “forecasts,” “aims” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, though not all forward-looking statements use these words or expressions. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, the following: our ability to site suitable land for, and otherwise source, renewable energy projects and to successfully develop and convert them into Operational Projects; availability of, and access to, interconnection facilities and transmission systems; our ability to obtain and maintain governmental and other regulatory approvals and permits, including environmental approvals and permits; construction delays, operational delays and supply chain disruptions leading to increased cost of materials required for the construction of our projects, as well as cost overruns and delays related to disputes with contractors; our suppliers’ ability and willingness to perform both existing and future obligations; competition from traditional and renewable energy companies in developing renewable energy projects; potential slowed demand for renewable energy projects and our ability to enter into new offtake contracts on acceptable terms and prices as current offtake contracts expire; offtakers’ ability to terminate contracts or seek other remedies resulting from failure of our projects to meet development, operational or performance benchmarks; various technical and operational challenges leading to unplanned outages, reduced output, interconnection or termination issues; the dependence of our production and revenue on suitable meteorological and environmental conditions, and our ability to accurately predict such conditions; our ability to enforce warranties provided by our counterparties in the event that our projects do not perform as expected; government curtailment, energy price caps and other government actions that restrict or reduce the profitability of renewable energy production; electricity price volatility, unusual weather conditions (including the effects of climate change, could adversely affect wind and solar conditions), catastrophic weather-related or other damage to facilities, unscheduled generation outages, maintenance or repairs, unanticipated changes to availability due to higher demand, shortages, transportation problems or other developments, environmental incidents, or electric transmission system constraints and the possibility that we may not have adequate insurance to cover losses as a result of such hazards; our dependence on certain operational projects for a substantial portion of our cash flows; our ability to continue to grow our portfolio of projects through successful acquisitions; changes and advances in technology that impair or eliminate the competitive advantage of our projects or upsets the expectations underlying investments in our technologies; our ability to effectively anticipate and manage cost inflation, interest rate risk, currency exchange fluctuations and other macroeconomic conditions that impact our business; our ability to retain and attract key personnel; our ability to manage legal and regulatory compliance and litigation risk across our global corporate structure; our ability to protect our business from, and manage the impact of, cyber-attacks, disruptions and security incidents, as well as acts of terrorism or war; changes to existing renewable energy industry policies and regulations that present technical, regulatory and economic barriers to renewable energy projects; the reduction, elimination or expiration of government incentives for, or regulations mandating the use of, renewable energy; our ability to effectively manage our supply chain and comply with applicable regulations with respect to international trade relations, tariffs, sanctions, export controls and anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws; our ability to effectively comply with Environmental Health and Safety and other laws and regulations and receive and maintain all necessary licenses, permits and authorizations; our performance of various obligations under the terms of our indebtedness (and the indebtedness of our subsidiaries that we guarantee) and our ability to continue to secure project financing on attractive terms for our projects; limitations on our management rights and operational flexibility due to our use of tax equity arrangements; potential claims and disagreements with partners, investors and other counterparties that could reduce our right to cash flows generated by our projects; our ability to comply with tax laws of various jurisdictions in which we currently operate as well as the tax laws in jurisdictions in which we intend to operate in the future; the unknown effect of the dual listing of our ordinary shares on the price of our ordinary shares; various risks related to our incorporation and location in Israel; the costs and requirements of being a public company, including the diversion of management’s attention with respect to such requirements; certain provisions in our Articles of Association and certain applicable regulations that may delay or prevent a change of control; and other risk factors set forth in the section titled “Risk factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and our other documents filed with or furnished to the SEC.

    These statements reflect management’s current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this press release. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance and events and circumstances reflected in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. Except as may be required by applicable law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Early Alert: Nephroscope Sheath Issue from Trokamed GmbH

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 3

    This communication is part of the Communications Pilot to Enhance the Medical Device Recall Program. The FDA has become aware of a potentially high-risk device issue. The FDA will keep the public informed and update this web page as significant new information becomes available.

    Affected Product

    The FDA is aware that Trokamed has issued a letter to affected health care providers indicating certain endoscope sheaths have updated use instructions as a result of a potentially high-risk device issue:

    • Mini PCNL Sheath
    • All lots of the following Mini PCNL Sheath models:
    Description Trokamed REF Number UDI
    Sheath, 20 Fr., 130 mm WA2PS20S 04251303810926
    Sheath, 20 Fr., 160 mm WA2PS20L 04251303810919
    Sheath, 18 Fr., 130 mm WA2PS18S 04251303810865
    Sheath, 18 Fr., 160 mm WA2PS18L 04251303810872

    What to Do

    • On November 26, 2024, Trokamed sent all affected customers an Urgent Field Safety Notice recommending the following actions:
      • Do not use the Mini PCNL sheath as a suction and irrigation device.
      • Temporarily remove the nephroscope from the shaft to clear it and flush out kidney stone fragments.
      • Replace the instructions for use with the updated version provided by Trokamed and dated “2024-11-27”
    • Check this web page for updates. The FDA is currently collecting information about this potentially high-risk device issue and will keep the public informed as significant new information becomes available.

    Reason for Early Alert

    The previous instructions for use provided with the device did not clearly describe that the sheath is not to be used for suction and irrigation. If the device is used for suction or irrigation, it could result in reduced outflow through the shaft due to blood, tissue, and kidney stone fragments, which may quickly build up pressure within the kidney that may lead to kidney rupture.

    Trokamed has reported 1 death associated with this issue.

    Device Use

    The Mini PCNL Sheath is part of a nephroscopy accessory set intended for minimally invasive procedures, including examining kidneys and removing kidney stones or other blockages. The sheath is a reusable, surgically invasive device for short-term use. It is designed to bring instruments, telescopes, and fluids to the surgical site.

    Contact Information

    Customers in the U.S. with adverse reactions, quality problems, or questions about this recall should contact Trokamed at k.troendle@trokamed.de or +49 770492440.

    Unique Device Identifier (UDI)

    The unique device identifier (UDI) helps identify individual medical devices sold in the United States from distribution to use. The UDI allows for more accurate reporting, reviewing, and analyzing of adverse event reports so that devices can be identified more quickly, and as a result, problems potentially resolved more quickly.

    How do I report a problem?

    Health care professionals and consumers may report adverse reactions or quality problems they experienced using these devices to MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: NCDHHS Invests $20 Million in Transportation Program for People Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis

    Source: US State of North Carolina

    Headline: NCDHHS Invests $20 Million in Transportation Program for People Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis

    NCDHHS Invests $20 Million in Transportation Program for People Experiencing a Mental Health Crisis
    hejones1

    The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services today announced a $20 million investment made possible by the NC General Assembly in Non-Law Enforcement Transportation, a promising practice of providing trauma-informed transportation for people in mental health crisis who need to be transported from emergency rooms to residential treatment. In the past, much of this transportation was provided by law enforcement; but non-law enforcement transportation provides a safe, therapeutic alternative for people already in mental health distress. 

    “People in crisis need health care, not handcuffs,” said NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley. “This program helps people experiencing a mental health crisis receive safe transportation to the inpatient care that they need.”

    Currently, many counties across North Carolina rely on law enforcement to transport individuals experiencing a mental health crisis.  This often involves the use of police vehicles, lights, sirens and, in some cases, handcuffs — all of which can unintentionally turn a routine transfer into a traumatic experience. The new transportation program aims to decriminalize and destigmatize the process of seeking mental health care.

    “We want people and families feeling comfortable reaching out for mental health crisis support when they need it,” said Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, Director of the NCDHHS Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Use Services. “Knowing a person may be transported in police custody can be a deterrent for people reaching out for the care that they need. This new program is part of our work to strengthen the North Carolina mental health crisis system, ensuring people in crisis can access support without fear or stigma.”

    NCDHHS is working closely with many community partners to ensure the mental health crisis transportation program is designed to effectively reduce the burden on law enforcement to conduct mental health-related transportation services and ensure officers can focus on their core responsibilities.

    The new transportation program will initially operate in two regions of the state, which will be identified through a competitive request for proposal process. The RFP is now open, allowing qualified transportation vendors to apply for funding. Eligible transportation vendors can access and apply for the RFP on the NCDHHS website. 

    The initiative is part of NCDHHS’s broader $835 million investment to transform North Carolina’s behavioral health system, including efforts to build a crisis response system, decrease emergency department boarding times and provide faster access to care for all North Carolinians in need of mental health treatment.

    El Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte anunció hoy una inversión de $ 20 millones hecha posible por la Asamblea General de Carolina del Norte en Transporte No Policial, una práctica prometedora de proporcionar transporte informado sobre el trauma para las personas en crisis de salud mental que necesitan ser transportadas de las salas de emergencia al tratamiento residencial. En el pasado, gran parte de este transporte era proporcionado por la policía; pero el transporte no policial proporciona una alternativa segura y terapéutica para las personas que ya tienen problemas de salud mental.   

    “Las personas en crisis necesitan atención médica, no esposas”, dijo el secretario de Salud y Servicios Humanos de Carolina del Norte, Kody H. Kinsley. “Este programa ayuda a las personas que experimentan una crisis de salud mental a recibir transporte seguro a la atención hospitalaria que necesitan”.

    Actualmente, muchos condados de Carolina del Norte dependen de la aplicación de la ley para transportar a las personas que experimentan una crisis de salud mental. Esto a menudo implica el uso de vehículos policiales, luces, sirenas y, en algunos casos, esposas, todo lo cual puede convertir involuntariamente una transferencia de rutina en una experiencia traumática. El nuevo programa de transporte pretende eliminar la penalización y el estigma del proceso de búsqueda de atención de salud mental.

    “Queremos que las personas y las familias se sientan cómodas buscando apoyo para crisis de salud mental cuando lo necesiten”, dijo Kelly Crosbie, MSW, LCSW, directora de la División de Salud Mental, Discapacidades del Desarrollo y Servicios de Uso de Sustancias del NCDHHS. “Saber que una persona puede ser transportada bajo custodia policial puede ser un elemento que desanime a las personas que buscan la atención que necesitan. Este nuevo programa es parte de nuestro trabajo para fortalecer el sistema de crisis de salud mental de Carolina del Norte, asegurando que las personas en crisis puedan acceder al apoyo sin miedo ni estigma”.

    El NCDHHS está trabajando en estrecha colaboración con muchos socios comunitarios para garantizar que el programa de transporte de crisis de salud mental esté diseñado para reducir efectivamente la carga de las fuerzas del orden público para llevar a cabo servicios de transporte relacionados con la salud mental y garantizar que los oficiales puedan concentrarse en sus responsabilidades principales.

    El nuevo programa de transporte operará inicialmente en dos regiones del estado, que se identificarán a través de un proceso competitivo de solicitud de propuestas. El proceso de solicitud de propuestas (RFP, por sus siglas en inglés) ya está abierto, lo que permite a los proveedores de transporte calificados solicitar fondos. Los proveedores de transporte elegibles pueden acceder y aplicar para el RFP en el sitio web del NCDHHS. Haga clic aquí para ver la aplicación.

    La iniciativa es parte de la inversión más amplia de $ 835 millones del NCDHHS para transformar el sistema de salud conductual de Carolina del Norte, incluidos los esfuerzos para construir un sistema de respuesta a crisis, reducir los tiempos de espera en el departamento de emergencias y proporcionar un acceso más rápido a la atención para todos los habitantes de Carolina del Norte que necesitan tratamiento de salud mental.

    Dec 20, 2024

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Statement from Premier Pillai on the Council of Federation Fall 2024 meeting

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    Statement from Premier Pillai on the Council of Federation Fall 2024 meeting
    zaburke

    Premier Ranj Pillai has issued the following statement:

    “This week, I had the privilege to join Premiers for the Council of the Federation Fall 2024 meeting in Toronto. We discussed key priorities for the coming year, uniting our voices on issues that matter to all Canadians, including Canada-U.S. relations, health care and energy security.

    “Canada-U.S. relations were a central focus of our discussions. For the Yukon, this means continuing to strengthen our relationship with Alaska, which benefits both sides of the border. Premiers are committed to working hard to avoid any potential U.S. tariffs and agreed on the need to accelerate achieving the NATO defence spending target of two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP). Arctic security was also highlighted in these discussions, and I look forward to raising our interests during the Premiers’ mission to Washington, D.C. in February 2025.

    “For Yukoners, improving health care is a top priority. Our government is working to address the health workforce shortage by supporting recruitment and retention efforts. I know that Minister of Health and Social Services, Tracy-Anne McPhee, along with many health system partners, highlighted our progress in the first annual report on the Health Human Resources Strategy. Premiers continue to stress the need for more resources to tackle the Substance Use Health Emergency, which continues to deeply impact communities across the territory. Faster access to prescription medicines was also an important part of the Premiers’ discussion, and I look forward to seeing progress on this file, led by our respective health ministers.

    “Energy security was another major topic of discussion. As emerging technologies create new opportunities, we must work together to ensure energy is reliable, affordable, and sustainably produced. Critical minerals and energy corridors will play a crucial role in securing Canada’s future prosperity.

    “In addition to the Council of the Federation meeting, I was honoured to once again join Premier of Nunavut P.J. Akeeagok and Premier of the Northwest Territories R.J. Simpson to discuss northern priorities on the national stage. Arctic security, infrastructure and critical minerals were at the top of the agenda. We emphasized the need for more federal investment in these areas to address the unique challenges faced by northern communities. The North must have a seat at the table when it comes to decisions that impact our future. I would like to thank Premier P.J. Akeeagok for his work as chair over the past year and look forward to hosting the 2025 Northern Premiers’ Forum as incoming chair.

    “Attending the Council of Federation is an important opportunity to amplify Yukoners’ voices and advocate for the North. I am honoured to join Premiers in promoting collaboration and remaining committed to working together. I am proud of our continued partnership on these crucial issues and thank Premier Ford for hosting us in Toronto.”
     

    Media contact

    Laura Seeley
    Cabinet Communications
    867-332-7627
    laura.seeley@yukon.ca 
     

    News release #:
    Related information:
    Premiers Discuss Important Issues for Canadians
    Government of Yukon addresses Health Human Resources challenges
    Statement from Premier Pillai on meeting with northern Premiers

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Health, medical research supported

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    The Health Bureau today said the Government provides comprehensive and dedicated support for health and medical research projects, research infrastructure and research capacity building in Hong Kong through setting up the Health & Medical Research Fund (HMRF).

    Making the statement in regard to some recent media reports on the Government’s funding support for infectious diseases-related research, the bureau emphasised that the Government has all along been highly supportive of the local health and medical sector to conduct health and medical research, including those related to infectious diseases.

    The bureau noted that funding commitment to the HMRF, established in 2011, has been increased repeatedly and the approved amount has increased to $4.22 billion to support Government-commissioned programmes and investigator-initiated projects. Among them, those related to infectious diseases research amount to $1.2 billion.

    Such projects involved six commissioned programmes on infectious diseases with approved funding of $792 million, covering COVID-19, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), influenza, avian flu, swine flu and other respiratory infectious diseases, human papilloma virus and anti-microbial resistance research.

    The above-mentioned commissioned programmes include a total of $556 million since April 2020 to support 105 individual COVID-19 related research studies from bench to bedside and at the community level through application of new technologies.

    These studies provide new evidence to support the Government to promptly tackle the COVID-19 epidemic by formulating health policies, identifying the transmission chains, implementing control measures, improving clinical management as well as developing and promoting the vaccination programme.

    One of the research projects successfully developed the sewage testing approach for quantitative detection of SARS-CoV-2, providing an important indicator for the Government to keep track of virus activity in the community during the COVID-19 epidemic.

    For investigator-initiated projects, infectious disease has always been one of the thematic priorities. As of end September 2024, a total of about 400 research studies have been funded amounting to $424 million.

    Such studies covered the prevention, detection, diagnosis and management of various infectious diseases, such as the hepatitis virus, tuberculosis, AIDS, and those related to preparedness and response to a pandemic and epidemic.

    The Government encourages researchers to continue to leverage the HMRF to amplify the value of their research projects into full play and usher in considerable and sustainable positive impacts on health policy making and implementation with their research outcomes and to unleash new quality productive forces.

    On combating infectious diseases, the Government will continue to support the health and medical sector in conducting related research in order to enhance the capacity in surveillance, early detection, prevention and control.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: VA begins early-stage planning for the next Federal Electronic Health Record rollout in mid-2026, continues ongoing improvement efforts at existing sites

    Source: US Department of Veterans Affairs

    Skip to content

    WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs announced that it is beginning early-stage planning to deploy the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR) system to four Michigan facilities — Ann Arbor, Battle Creek, Detroit, and Saginaw — in mid-2026.

    This decision comes after VA made critical improvements to the EHR system during a pause in deployments announced in April 2023, which has helped the system better serve Veterans and clinicians — and resulted in improved Veteran trust at all sites that use the EHR. These improvement efforts will continue unabated while VA begins early-stage deployment efforts in Michigan.

    “We paused deployments of the EHR for more than a year and a half to listen to Veterans and clinicians, understand the issues, and make improvements to the system,” said VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher. “As a result of those efforts, Veteran trust and system performance have improved across the board. Now, we’re ready to begin planning for new deployments in 2026 — while continuing to improve at all existing sites.”

    “VA is ready to begin planning for the next Federal EHR deployments in 2026, while at the same time remaining committed to the continuous improvement efforts that have been our focus for the past 18 months,” said Acting Program Executive Director of the EHRM Integration Office Dr. Neil Evans,. “We’re going to keep listening to and learning from Veterans and VA staff every step of the way.”

    During the Reset period, VA paused future deployment activities to focus entirely on improving the Federal EHR at sites where it is currently in use. Throughout this process, VA has listened to Veterans and VA staff, taken steps to understand the issues, updated contracts to better hold Oracle Health accountable, made hundreds of improvements to the system, and instituted a simpler and more effective process to address concerns when they arise. As a result of these efforts, the EHR has improved significantly for Veterans and clinicians, including:

    • Increasing Veteran trust in VA health care at all facilities with the EHR: Veteran outpatient trust scores have increased at all EHR sites since the beginning of the Reset period — reaching 93 % at Columbus VA, an 11.6% increase since Q1 2023; 88% at Walla Walla VA, a 4% increase since Q1 2023; 92% at Mann-Grandstaff VA, a 3.5% increase since Q1 2023; 85% at Roseburg, a 5.2% increase since Q1 2023; and 89% at White City VA, a nearly 6.5% increase since Q1 2023. Additionally, Veteran trust at the North Chicago VA has increased to 90.8% from 90.2% since Federal EHR deployment in Q2 2024. These improvements are the result of direct surveys of Veterans and their experience with VA outpatient care.
    • Dramatically decreasing outages, which disrupt patient care: Since January 2024, there has been a significant decrease in outages for the Federal EHR — with the system functioning 100% of the time for 10 of the last 16 months, and 99.8% of the time or better in the remaining months. As of early this month, it has been more than 200 days since the last outage.
    • Decreasing the number of interruptions for clinicians, therefore minimizing slowdowns for Veterans: The average user now experiences near zero interruptions (freezes or delays, for example) per day.
    • Increasing clinician and staff satisfaction: Clinician and staff satisfaction with the Federal EHR has increased each year since 2022 — including increases in agreement in employee surveys with the phrases “the EHR is available when I need it” and “this EHR enables me to deliver high-quality care.”
    • Launching the EHR successfully in Chicago: During the Reset period, VA launched the Federal EHR in North Chicago because it is a joint facility with DOD. This launch has been successful, with the facility rapidly increasing in productivity and use — outperforming previous rollouts. 

    VA will kick off pre-deployment activities in the coming weeks. Given the time it will take to prepare to activate the Federal EHR, these facilities are expected to go live with the system in mid-2026.

    For more information about VA’s overall EHR modernization effort, visit https://www.ehrm.va.gov/.

    Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov

    Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.

    Contact us online through Ask VA

    Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.

    Learn about our chatbot and ask a question

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    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rachel Blaser, Professor of Neuroscience, Cognition and Behavior, University of San Diego

    A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) off Croatia in the Mediterranean Sea. Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

    We named him Squirt – not because he was the smallest of the 16 cuttlefish in the pool, but because anyone with the audacity to scoop him into a separate tank to study him was likely to get soaked. Squirt had notoriously accurate aim.

    As a comparative psychologist, I’m used to assaults from my experimental subjects. I’ve been stung by bees, pinched by crayfish and battered by indignant pigeons. But, somehow, with Squirt it felt different. As he eyed us with his W-shaped pupils, he seemed clearly to be plotting against us.

    A common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) in Portugal’s Arrábida Natural Park.
    Diego Delso/Wikipedia, CC BY-SA

    Of course, I’m being anthropomorphic. Science does not yet have the tools to confirm whether cuttlefish have emotional states, or whether they are capable of conscious experience, much less sinister plots. But there’s undeniably something special about cephalopods – the class of ocean-dwelling invertebrates that includes cuttlefish, squid and octopus.

    As researchers learn more about cehpalopods’ cognitive skills, there are calls to treat them in ways better aligned with their level of intelligence. California and Washington state both approved bans on octopus farming in 2024. Hawaii is considering similar action, and a ban on farming octopus or importing farmed octopus meat has been introduced in Congress. A planned octopus farm in Spain’s Canary Islands is attracting opposition from scientists and animal welfare advocates.

    Critics offer many arguments against raising octopuses for food, including possible releases of waste, antibiotics or pathogens from aquaculture facilities. But as a psychologist, I see intelligence as the most intriguing part of the equation. Just how smart are cephalopods, really? After all, it’s legal to farm chickens and cows. Is an octopus smarter than, say, a turkey?

    A deepwater octopus investigates the port manipulator arm of the ALVIN submersible research vessel.
    NOAA, CC BY

    A big, diverse group

    Cephalopods are a broad class of mollusks that includes the coleoids – cuttlefish, octopus and squid – as well as the chambered nautilus. Coleoids range in size from adult squid only a few millimeters long (Idiosepius) to the largest living invertebrates, the giant squid (Architeuthis) and colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis) which can grow to over 40 feet in length and weigh over 1,000 pounds.

    Some of these species live alone in the nearly featureless darkness of the deep ocean; others live socially on active, sunny coral reefs. Many are skilled hunters, but some feed passively on floating debris. Because of this enormous diversity, the size and complexity of cephalopod brains and behaviors also varies tremendously.

    Almost everything that’s known about cephalopod cognition comes from intensive study of just a few species. When considering the welfare of a designated species of captive octopus, it’s important to be careful about using data collected from a distant evolutionary relative.

    Marine biologist Roger Hanlon explains the distributed structure of cephalopod brains and how they use that neural power.

    Can we even measure alien intelligence?

    Intelligence is fiendishly hard to define and measure, even in humans. The challenge grows exponentially in studying animals with sensory, motivational and problem-solving skills that differ profoundly from ours.

    Historically, researchers have tended to focus on whether animals think like humans, ignoring the abilities that animals may have that humans lack. To avoid this problem, scientists have tried to find more objective measures of cognitive abilities.

    One option is a relative measure of brain to body size. The best-studied species of octopus, Octopus vulgaris, has about 500 million neurons; that’s relatively large for its small body size and similar to a starling, rabbit or turkey.

    More accurate measures may include the size, neuron count or surface area of specific brain structures thought to be important for learning. While this is useful in mammals, the nervous system of an octopus is built completely differently.

    Over half of the neurons in Octopus vulgaris, about 300 million, are not in the brain at all, but distributed in “mini-brains,” or ganglia, in the arms. Within the central brain, most of the remaining neurons are dedicated to visual processing, leaving less than a quarter of its neurons for other processes such as learning and memory.

    In other species of octopus, the general structure is similar, but complexity varies. Wrinkles and folds in the brain increase its surface area and may enhance neural connections and communication. Some species of octopus, notably those living in reef habitats, have more wrinkled brains than those living in the deep sea, suggesting that these species may possess a higher degree of intelligence.

    Holding out for a better snack

    Because brain structure is not a foolproof measure of intelligence, behavioral tests may provide better evidence. One of the highly complex behaviors that many cephalopods show is visual camouflage. They can open and close tiny sacs just below their skin that contain colored pigments and reflectors, revealing specific colors. Octopus vulgaris has up to 150,000 chromatophores, or pigment sacs, in a single square inch of skin.

    Like many cephalopods, the common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) is thought to be colorblind. But it can use its excellent vision to produce a dizzying array of patterns across its body as camouflage. The Australian giant cuttlefish, Sepia apama, uses its chromatophores to communicate, creating patterns that attract mates and warn off aggressors. This ability can also come in handy for hunting; many cephalopods are ambush predators that blend into the background or even lure their prey.

    The hallmark of intelligent behavior, however, is learning and memory – and there is plenty of evidence that some octopuses and cuttlefish learn in a way that is comparable to learning in vertebrates. The common cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis), as well as the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) and the day octopus (Octopus cyanea), can all form simple associations, such as learning which image on a screen predicts that food will appear.

    Some cephalopods may be capable of more complicated forms of learning, such as reversal learning – learning to flexibly adjust behavior when different stimuli signal reward. They may also be able to inhibit impulsive responses. In a 2021 study that gave common cuttlefish a choice between a less desirable but immediate snack of crab and a preferred treat of live shrimp after a delay, many of the cuttlefish chose to wait for the shrimp.

    Cuttlefish perform in an experiment adapted from the Stanford “marshmallow test,” which was designed to see whether children could practice delayed gratification.

    A new frontier for animal welfare

    Considering what’s known about their brain structures, sensory systems and learning capacity, it appears that cephalopods as a group may be similar in intelligence to vertebrates as a group. Since many societies have animal welfare standards for mice, rats, chickens and other vertebrates, logic would suggest that there’s an equal case for regulations enforcing humane treatment of cephalopods.

    Such rules generally specify that when a species is held in captivity, its housing conditions should support the animal’s welfare and natural behavior. This view has led some U.S. states to outlaw confined cages for egg-laying hens and crates too narrow for pregnant sows to turn around.

    Animal welfare regulations say little about invertebrates, but guidelines for the care and use of captive cephalopods have started to appear over the past decade. In 2010, the European Union required considering ethical issues when using cephalopods for research. And in 2015, AAALAC International, an international accreditation organization for ethical animal research, and the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations promoted guidelines for the care and use of cephalopods in research. The U.S. National Institutes of Health is currently considering similar guidelines.

    The “alien” minds of octopuses and their relatives are fascinating, not the least because they provide a mirror through which we can reflect on more familiar forms of intelligence. Deciding which species deserve moral consideration requires selecting criteria, such as neuron count or learning capacity, to inform those choices.

    Once these criteria are set, it may be well to also consider how they apply to the rodents, birds and fish that occupy more familiar roles in our lives.

    Rachel Blaser 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. Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures – https://theconversation.com/octopuses-and-their-relatives-are-a-new-animal-welfare-frontier-heres-what-scientists-know-about-consciousness-in-these-unique-creatures-241978

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Givinostat conditionally approved to treat patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD)

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has today (20 December 2024) granted a conditional marketing authorisation for the medicine givinostat (Duvyzat) to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

    Givinostat is a nonsteroidal drug indicated for the treatment of patients aged 6 years of age and older with all genetic variants of DMD.

    DMD is a muscle wasting condition that causes progressive muscle weakness. It usually only affects boys and those assigned male at birth.

    It’s caused by alterations in a protein called dystrophin. This causes muscle fibres to break down. They’re replaced by fibrous or fatty tissues that cause the muscle to gradually weaken.

    Around 100 boys are born with DMD each year, and there are about 2,500 people living with the condition in the UK at any one time.

    Julian Beach, MHRA Interim Executive Director, Healthcare Quality and Access, said:

    Keeping patients safe and enabling their access to high quality, safe and effective medical products are key priorities for us.

    We’re assured that the appropriate regulatory standards for the approval of this medicine have been met.

    As with all products, we will keep its safety under close review.

    Givinostat comes as an oral suspension to be taken twice daily.

    It is a drug from a family of molecules called HDAC inhibitors (histone deacetylase) which reduce in­flammation and fibrosis in muscle tissues. HDAC inhibitors also promote muscle regeneration and slow down the progression of DMD.

    This approval is supported by evidence from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 18-month study involving 179 ambulatory patients with DMD who were given a placebo or givinostat for 18 months. Further data is required for the efficacy in non-ambulatory patients and will be subject to review following completion of additional clinical trials, as detailed in the condition associated with approval.

    The study found that participants treated with givinostat over an 18-month period took significantly less time to climb four stairs compared to those given placebo.

    A secondary efficacy endpoint was the change from baseline to month 18 in physical function as assessed by the North Star Ambulatory Assessment (NSAA) — a scale commonly used to rate the motor function in boys with DMD who are capable of walking. Compared to placebo, patients treated with givinostat saw less worsening in their NSAA score after 18 months.

    The most common side effects of the medicine (which may affect more than 1 in 10 people) include abdominal pain, decrease in blood platelet count (which can increase risk of bleeding), diarrhea, elevated levels of triglycerides (a type of blood fats), fever, nausea and vomiting. The prescribing information for givinostat advises healthcare providers to assess patients’ platelet counts and triglyceride levels prior to initiating treatment. During treatment, regular monitoring of platelet counts and triglycerides is recommended to determine whether dosage adjustments are necessary.  Additionally, givinostat may lead to QTc prolongation, a condition where the heart takes longer than normal to recharge between beats, which can elevate the risk of irregular heart rhythms. Patients with certain heart conditions or those taking other medications that prolong QTc intervals should avoid using givinostat.

    As with any medicine, the MHRA will keep the safety and effectiveness of givinostat under close review.  Anyone who suspects they are having a side effect from this medicine are encouraged to talk to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and report it directly to the Yellow Card scheme, either through the website (https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/) or by searching the Google Play or Apple App stores for MHRA Yellow Card.

    ENDS

    Notes to editors 

    1. The new conditional marketing authorisation was granted on 20 December 2024 to Italfarmaco S.p.A. More information can be found in the Summary of Product Characteristics and Patient Information leaflets which will be published on the MHRA Products website within 7 days of approval.

    2. Giovinostat has been conditionally approved through the International Recognition Procedure (IRP). A conditional marketing authorisation is an early temporary license in which we may accept less completed clinical studies than would be necessary to issue a full marketing authorisation, provided the manufacturer clearly indicates when complete clinical data will be available. However, CMA post-approval conditions are determined on a case-by-case basis, and don’t have to be limited to providing further clinical data. A CMA lasts for one year and can be renewed annually.

    3. For more information about Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), visit: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/muscular-dystrophy/

    4. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the UK by ensuring they work and are acceptably safe.  All our work is underpinned by robust and fact-based judgements to ensure that the benefits justify any risks.

    5. The MHRA is an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care.

    6. For media enquiries, please contact the newscentre@mhra.gov.uk, or call on 020 3080 7651.

    Updates to this page

    Published 20 December 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Europe: In Rome, in the Holy Land and throughout the World. Vademecum to obtain Indulgences in the Jubilee Year 2025

    Source: Agenzia Fides – MIL OSI

    Friday, 20 December 2024

    by Gianni ValenteRome (Agenzia Fides) – In 2025, the Catholic Church will once again celebrate the Jubilee Year, a special time of remission and forgiveness, designed as an opportunity to intensely experience healing and liberation from sins and debts that oppress life and soul.The possibility of requesting and obtaining indulgences constitutes a central aspect of the Jubilee tradition. As Pope Francis points out in the Bull of Indiction of the Jubilee 2025 (Spes non confundit, § 23): «Not by chance, for the ancients, the terms “mercy” and “indulgence” were interchangeable, as expressions of the fullness of God’s forgiveness, which knows no bond».Below is a brief vademecum with the fundamental indications on how to request the gift of indulgences during the Jubilee, both in Rome, in the Holy Land and anywhere in the world.WHAT IS AN INDULGENCE«An indulgence is the remission before God of temporal punishment for sins whose guilt is already forgiven [i.e., for which absolution has already been obtained by confessing, ed.], which a properly disposed member of the Christian faithful gains under certain and defined conditions by the assistance of the Church which as minister of redemption dispenses and applies authoritatively the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints» (Codex Iuris Canonici, can. 992).WHAT IS TEMPORAL PUNISHMENTSin has a double consequence. Grave sin deprives us of communion with God and therefore makes us incapable of eternal life, the privation of which is called the “eternal punishment” of sin. On the other hand every sin, even venial, entails an unhealthy attachment to creatures, which must be purified either here on earth, or after death in the state called Purgatory. This purification frees one from what is called the “temporal punishment” of sin” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1472).This second consequence of sin, that is, temporal punishment, to which one may still be obliged despite the forgiveness of sins obtained in Confession, can be fullfilled either here on earth (with voluntary prayers and penances, with works of piety, mortification and charity), or in the afterlife, in purgatory.WHAT IS PLENARY INDULGENCEPlenary indulgence in itself completely remits the temporal punishment resulting from sins that have already been forgiven as to guilt. This remission, in the case of mortal sins, necessarily requires sacramental Confession.WHO CAN OBTAIN INDULGENCESIndulgences can be obtained by all baptized persons who are not in a state of excommunication. However, to receive them, the faithful must be in God’s grace, that is, without mortal sin. This is because the debt of the temporal punishment can only be cancelled after the remission of the guilt and eternal punishment caused by sin, which is achieved through the sacrament of Confession.In cases where confession is not possible, sincere contrition, with the intention of accessing the sacrament of penance as soon as possible, may be sufficient to achieve remission.It is also essential to have the intention of obtaining the indulgence. The benefit of the indulgence is only granted to those who request it consciously and with the purpose of receiving it, with a positive attitude.HOW IS A PLENARY INDULGENCE OBTAINEDTo obtain a Plenary Indulgence, in addition to performing the specific act to which the Church has granted this grace, the following conditions must always be met:- Confession: confession must be individual and complete, that is, without deliberately omitting any sin.- Receive Eucharistic Communion.- Pray according to the Pope’s intentions: for example, an Our Father and a Hail Mary.HOW CAN EVERY FAITHFUL RECEIVE THE DAILY PLENARY INDULGENCE DURING THE JUBILEE OF THE YEAR 2025?The norms for granting the plenary indulgence during the Ordinary Jubilee of the Year 2025, published on May 13, 2024 by the Apostolic Penitentiary, presided over by Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, establish the specific acts that can lead to the acquisition of the daily plenary Indulgence throughout the Holy Year.In addition to fulfilling the usual conditions (detachment from sin, even venial; sacramental confession; Eucharistic communion and prayer according to the intentions of the Holy Father), the faithful will be able to perform a series of specific acts that will allow them to receive the plenary indulgence each day of the Jubilee. These acts are listed below:* PILGRIMAGES AND VISITS TO HOLY PLACESThe faithful can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence if they make a pilgrimage to any holy Jubilee place. During this pilgrimage, they must actively participate in one of the following activities: Holy Mass, or Stations of the Cross, or the Recitation of the Holy Rosary or the Akathist hymn, or a Penitential Celebration, which concludes with the individual confession of the penitents.- IN ROME AND IN ITALYIf they are in Rome, to request the Plenary Indulgence, the faithful can make a pilgrimage to at least one of the four Major Papal Basilicas (Saint Peter’s – the Vatican Basilica, Basilica of Saint John Lateran, Basilica of Saint Mary Major and Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls).On the special occasion of the Jubilee Year, in addition to the places of pilgrimage mentioned above, it will also be possible to visit: Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem), Basilica di San Lorenzo al Verano (The Basilica of Saint Lawrence “Outside the Walls” lies next to the Verano Cemetery), Basilica di San Sebastiano (Basilica of Saint Sebastian, stops that complete the visit known as “the seven Churches”, so dear to St. Philip Neri), il Santuario del Divino Amore (The Sanctuary of Divine Love), la chiesa di Santo Spirito in Sassia (the church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia), la chiesa di San Paolo alle Tre Fontane (Church of St. Paul of Three Fountains – site of the Martyrdom of the Apostle), the Christian Catacombs; in addition, it will be possible to visit (and carry out the pious practices provided there) the churches on the jubilee routes dedicated to the Iter Europaeum and the churches dedicated to the Patronesses of Europe and to the Doctors of the Church, respectively: Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Santa Brigida in Campo de’ Fiori, the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, the church of Trinità dei Monti, Basilica of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere, Basilica of Sant’Agostino in Campo Marzio).In Italy, jubilee pilgrimages can also be made to the two minor Papal Basilicas of Assisi: Basilica di San Francesco d’Assisi (Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi) and Santa Maria degli Angeli. And the papal basilicas of: Madonna di Loreto (Our Lady of Loreto) della Madonna di Pompei (Our Lady of Pompei), and Sant’Antonio di Padova (Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padu).- IN THE HOLY LANDIn the land of Jesus, it will be possible to make Jubilee pilgrimages and ask for plenary indulgence by visiting at least one of the three Basilicas of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, of the Nativity in Bethlehem, of the Annunciation in Nazareth.- WORLDWIDEIn other ecclesiastical circumscriptions, the faithful can obtain the jubilee indulgence if, individually or in a group, they devoutly visit any sacred place (minor basilicas, cathedral churches, Marian shrines) designated as a Jubilee place by each diocesan Bishop, as well as national or international shrines, indicated by the Episcopal Conferences. There, for an appropriate time, they must dedicate time to Eucharistic adoration and meditation, concluding with the Our Father, the Profession of Faith in any of its legitimate forms and invocations to Mary, Mother of God.Sincerely repentant faithful who, for serious reasons, cannot participate in pilgrimages and pious visits (for example, cloistered monks and nuns, the sick and those in prison) can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence under the same conditions if, united in spirit with the faithful present, especially at the moments when the words of the Supreme Pontiff or the diocesan Bishops will be disseminated through the media, they recite the Our Father, the Profession of Faith and other prayers in conformity with the purposes of the Holy Year.* WORKS OF MERCY AND PENANCEIn addition to making pilgrimages or pious visits to the Jubilee sites, the faithful can obtain the jubilee indulgence through:- Participation in POPULAR MISSIONS;- Participation in SPIRITUAL EXERCISES or FORMATION MEETINGS on the texts of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, held in a church or other suitable place.- Performing Corporal and Spiritual WORKS OF MERCY.- Performing PENITENTIAL ACTS, such as:a) Rediscovering the penitential value of Fridays, by abstaining for at least one day from useless distractions (induced, for example, by the media and social networks) and from superfluous consumption (for example, by fasting or practicing abstinence according to the general norms of the Church and donating a proportionate sum of money to the poor).b) Supporting works of a religious or social nature, especially in favor of the defense and protection of life in all its phases, of abandoned children, of young people in difficulty, of the elderly in need or alone, of migrants from various countries.c) Dedicate an appropriate part of one’s free time to voluntary activities of interest to the community or to other similar forms of personal commitment.Despite the general rule according to which only one Plenary Indulgence can be obtained per day (cf. Enchiridion Indulgentiarum, IV ed., norm. 18, § 1), the Instruction issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary with the norms for receiving Plenary Indulgences during the Jubilee Year 2025 states that “the faithful who have performed the act of charity in favor of the souls in Purgatory, if they legitimately approach the sacrament of Communion for the second time on the same day, may obtain a Plenary Indulgence twice on the same day, applicable only to the deceased (it is understood within a Eucharistic celebration). (Agenzia Fides, 20/12/2024)

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    MIL OSI Europe News –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF condemns RSF violent attack on Bashair Teaching hospital in South Khartoum

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Khartoum – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemns the violent incursion by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) into the emergency room of Bashair Teaching hospital in South Khartoum, Sudan, on 18 December. The attackers fired weapons inside the emergency ward, directly threatened medical staff, and severely disrupted lifesaving care. MSF urgently calls on RSF to respect the neutrality of medical facilities and the safety of healthcare workers.

    This latest attack follows an earlier incident on 11 November, when armed fighters stormed the hospital, fired shots, and killed a patient receiving treatment. These repeated violations of the neutrality of healthcare facilities and the sanctity of medical care are unacceptable.

    “Several RSF soldiers entered the emergency rooms and some of them started firing against medical personnel, threatening patients and MSF and Ministry of Health staff,” says Samuel David Theodore, MSF’s head of mission in Sudan.  

    “Luckily, no one was injured but everyone is extremely affected by this traumatic aggression inside the hospital. Attacks against medical facilities and health personnel are unacceptable, hospitals must remain safe spaces, free from violence and intimidation. Staff cannot have their lives threatened whilst they provide care,” he says. 

    The bullet marks left by the Rapid Support Forces inside the emergency room of Bashair Teaching hospital in South Khartoum, Sudan, 19 December 2024.
    MSF

    Bashair Teaching hospital is one of the last functioning healthcare facilities in South Khartoum amidst the ongoing conflict. MSF staff have tirelessly maintained lifesaving activities under exceptionally difficult conditions.

    “Bashair Teaching hospital is a lifeline for thousands of people in South Khartoum,” says Claire San Filippo, emergency coordinator for Sudan. “MSF support is critical for countless men, women, and children affected by this devastating conflict.  However, the safety of our patients and staff is paramount. Attacks like these severely compromise our ability to continue operating.”

    Since the beginning of June 2024, MSF has conducted 12,396 emergency consultations, 2,510 patients were admitted in the maternity ward, and 4,490 children were screened for malnutrition at Bashair Teaching hospital in South Khartoum. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Prime Minister announces changes to the Ministry

    Source: Government of Canada – Prime Minister

    The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today announced changes to the Ministry. The new Ministry will deliver on what matters most to Canadians: making life more affordable and growing the economy.

    Building on the work done since 2015 to invest in Canadians, the team will continue to move forward on housing, child care, and school food while working to put more money back in people’s pockets.

    The changes to the Ministry are as follows:

    • Anita Anand becomes Minister of Transport and Internal Trade
    • Gary Anandasangaree becomes Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and Minister responsible for the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency
    • Steven MacKinnon becomes Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour
    • Ginette Petitpas Taylor becomes President of the Treasury Board

    The Prime Minister also welcomed the following new members to the Ministry:

    • Rachel Bendayan becomes Minister of Official Languages and Associate Minister of Public Safety
    • Élisabeth Brière becomes Minister of National Revenue
    • Terry Duguid becomes Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for Prairies Economic Development Canada
    • Nate Erskine-Smith becomes Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities
    • Darren Fisher becomes Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence
    • David J. McGuinty becomes Minister of Public Safety
    • Ruby Sahota becomes Minister of Democratic Institutions and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
    • Joanne Thompson becomes Minister of Seniors

    These new ministers will work with all members of Cabinet to deliver real, positive change for Canadians. They join the following ministers remaining in their portfolio:

    • Terry Beech, Minister of Citizens’ Services
    • Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence
    • François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
    • Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Public Services and Procurement and Quebec Lieutenant
    • Karina Gould, Leader of the Government in the House of Commons
    • Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change
    • Patty Hajdu, Minister of Indigenous Services and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Northern Ontario
    • Mark Holland, Minister of Health
    • Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development
    • Gudie Hutchings, Minister of Rural Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency
    • Marci Ien, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
    • Mélanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs
    • Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities
    • Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Finance and Intergovernmental Affairs
    • Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard
    • Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
    • Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Minister of Tourism and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec
    • Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
    • Mary Ng, Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development
    • Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King’s Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada
    • Ya’ara Saks, Minister of Mental Health and Addictions and Associate Minister of Health
    • Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage
    • Jenna Sudds, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development
    • Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business
    • Arif Virani, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
    • Jonathan Wilkinson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources

    Quote

    “Our team is focused on the things that matter most to you – making life more affordable, growing the economy, and creating good jobs for the middle class. Together, we will keep building a strong future for the middle class, and for all Canadians.”

    Quick Facts

    • Since 2015, the Ministry has made real progress for the middle class and those working hard to join it – from lifting hundreds of thousands of children out of poverty with the Canada Child Benefit to delivering on our promise of $10-a-day child care and the National School Food Program.
    • With the changes announced today, the Ministry retains a total of 38 ministers, in addition to the Prime Minister. In keeping with the precedent set in 2015, there is an equal number of women and men.
    • The Cabinet is the central decision-making forum in government, responsible for its administration and the establishment of its policy. Its members are each responsible for individual portfolios or departments.

    Associated Link

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Rapid Health Agrees to Pay $8.2M for Allegedly Billing Medicare for Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests That Were Not Provided to Beneficiaries

    Source: US State of California

    Covid Test DMV LLC, doing business as Rapid Health (Rapid Health), a pharmacy located in Los Angeles, has agreed to pay the United States $8,242,860 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly submitting or causing the submission of false claims to Medicare for over-the-counter (OTC) Covid-19 tests that were not provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

    Between April 2022 and May 2023, Rapid Health distributed OTC Covid-19 tests in connection with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) OTC Covid-19 Test Demonstration Project (Demonstration Project). During the Demonstration Project, Medicare Part B beneficiaries could request OTC Covid-19 tests from participating providers, and CMS would reimburse those providers for up to eight OTC Covid-19 tests per Medicare Part B beneficiary per month at a fixed rate of $12 per test.

    The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Rapid Health knowingly submitted or caused the submission of claims to Medicare for OTC Covid-19 tests that Rapid Health never provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare patients could order OTC Covid-19 tests from Rapid Health during the Demonstration Project through Rapid Health’s website. When Rapid Health received an order, it was supposed to process the order, generate a shipping label, and send the OTC Covid-19 test to the beneficiary. The United States alleged that issues with Rapid Health’s processing procedures caused Rapid Health to bill orders to Medicare without shipping the test to the beneficiary, and that although Rapid Health was aware of these issues it nevertheless continued to bill Medicare for tests that were not shipped.

    “The Demonstration Project was designed to increase the availability of OTC Covid-19 tests to Medicare beneficiaries in an unprecedented time of need,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Providers that knowingly billed for tests that were never given to patients failed to support the goals of the project and defrauded the American taxpayers.”

    “This outcome serves as a reminder of our unwavering commitment to combat health care fraud and investigate those who allegedly attempt to exploit and defraud Medicare and other federally funded health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “With our local, state and federal partners, HHS-OIG will continue to work aggressively to ensure the dependability and the integrity of the Medicare program.”

    The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and HHS-OIG.

    Trial Attorney Lindsay DeFrancesco of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section handled the matter.

    On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Justice Department in partnership with agencies across the federal government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international actors committing civil and criminal fraud and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

    Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud affecting COVID-19 government relief programs can be reported by visiting the webpage of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section, which can be found here. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can also report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Rapid Health Agrees to Pay $8.2M for Allegedly Billing Medicare for Over-the-Counter COVID-19 Tests That Were Not Provided to Beneficiaries

    Source: United States Attorneys General

    Covid Test DMV LLC, doing business as Rapid Health (Rapid Health), a pharmacy located in Los Angeles, has agreed to pay the United States $8,242,860 to resolve allegations that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by knowingly submitting or causing the submission of false claims to Medicare for over-the-counter (OTC) Covid-19 tests that were not provided to Medicare beneficiaries.

    Between April 2022 and May 2023, Rapid Health distributed OTC Covid-19 tests in connection with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) OTC Covid-19 Test Demonstration Project (Demonstration Project). During the Demonstration Project, Medicare Part B beneficiaries could request OTC Covid-19 tests from participating providers, and CMS would reimburse those providers for up to eight OTC Covid-19 tests per Medicare Part B beneficiary per month at a fixed rate of $12 per test.

    The settlement announced today resolves allegations that Rapid Health knowingly submitted or caused the submission of claims to Medicare for OTC Covid-19 tests that Rapid Health never provided to Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare patients could order OTC Covid-19 tests from Rapid Health during the Demonstration Project through Rapid Health’s website. When Rapid Health received an order, it was supposed to process the order, generate a shipping label, and send the OTC Covid-19 test to the beneficiary. The United States alleged that issues with Rapid Health’s processing procedures caused Rapid Health to bill orders to Medicare without shipping the test to the beneficiary, and that although Rapid Health was aware of these issues it nevertheless continued to bill Medicare for tests that were not shipped.

    “The Demonstration Project was designed to increase the availability of OTC Covid-19 tests to Medicare beneficiaries in an unprecedented time of need,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Providers that knowingly billed for tests that were never given to patients failed to support the goals of the project and defrauded the American taxpayers.”

    “This outcome serves as a reminder of our unwavering commitment to combat health care fraud and investigate those who allegedly attempt to exploit and defraud Medicare and other federally funded health care programs,” said Special Agent in Charge Maureen Dixon of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “With our local, state and federal partners, HHS-OIG will continue to work aggressively to ensure the dependability and the integrity of the Medicare program.”

    The resolution obtained in this matter was the result of a coordinated effort between the Justice Department’s Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, and HHS-OIG.

    Trial Attorney Lindsay DeFrancesco of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section handled the matter.

    On May 17, 2021, the Attorney General established the COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force to marshal the resources of the Justice Department in partnership with agencies across the federal government to enhance efforts to combat and prevent pandemic-related fraud. The task force bolsters efforts to investigate and prosecute the most culpable domestic and international actors committing civil and criminal fraud and assists agencies tasked with administering relief programs to prevent fraud by, among other methods, augmenting and incorporating existing coordination mechanisms, identifying resources and techniques to uncover fraudulent actors and their schemes and sharing and harnessing information and insights gained from prior enforcement efforts. For more information on the department’s response to the pandemic, please visit www.justice.gov/coronavirus.

    Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud affecting COVID-19 government relief programs can be reported by visiting the webpage of the Civil Division’s Fraud Section, which can be found here. Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can also report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form.

    The claims resolved by the settlement are allegations only. There has been no determination of liability.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI: Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    FORESIGHT VENTURES VCT PLC
    (FORMERLY THAMES VENTURES VCT 1 PLC)

    Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report
    30 September 2024

    FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

    £72.7m
    Total net assets
    as at 30 September 2024

    1.1p
    Dividend paid
    26 July 2024

    42.1p
    NAV per share
    as at 30 September 2024

    CHAIR’S STATEMENT

    “I present the Company’s unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report for the six months ended 30 September 2024.”

    Post-period activity
    Before discussing the period to 30 September 2024, I would like to welcome our new Shareholders who have been issued shares in the Company as part of the merger with Thames Ventures VCT 2 plc (“TV2”). The merger completed on 15 November following a General Meeting held on 8 November. As part of the merger, the Company has been renamed Foresight Ventures VCT plc, and TV2 has been placed into members’ voluntary liquidation. I am also pleased to welcome Andrew Mackintosh, previously a director of TV2, who has now been appointed to the Board of the Company following completion of the merger.

    The Company’s Net Asset Value (“NAV”) per share has been reset to 100.0p and the merger has resulted in an enlarged company with net assets of £110 million. The Board believes this will bring a number of benefits to the Company, such as greater scale to raise and deploy capital into new and existing portfolio companies, as well as improved liquidity for dividends and buybacks.

    On 15 November, the Company launched an offer for subscription to raise £5 million (with an over-allotment facility of a further £5 million). The promoter’s fee will be waived for applications made by existing shareholders of any Foresight VCT. New investors, who do not benefit as existing investors but who make an application by 20 December 2024, will, however, benefit from the offer costs being reduced by 1.0% of the amount subscribed.

    Net Asset Value and dividends
    As at 30 September 2024, the Company’s NAV per share stood at 42.1p, a decrease of 4.0p (or 8.7%) over the period. After adding back the dividend paid in the period of 1.1p per share, the decrease was 6.3%.

    The Company’s policy is to seek to pay annual dividends of at least 4% of net assets per annum. During the period, on 26 July 2024, the Company paid an interim dividend of 1.1p, taking total dividends paid in respect of the year ended 31 March 2024 up to 2.1p per share, equivalent to 4.1% of the opening net assets of the previous financial year. This took the total dividends paid since the merger with Downing Absolute Income VCT 1 plc, Downing Absolute Income VCT 2 plc, Downing Income VCT plc, Downing Income VCT 3 plc and Downing Income VCT 4 plc in November 2013 to 47.6p per share.

    The Company offers its Shareholders the opportunity to participate in a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme, whereby they may elect to receive shares, credited as fully paid, instead of receiving dividends in cash. If you wish to participate, please contact the registrar, City Partnership, at the details provided on page 30 of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report.

    Investment performance and portfolio activity
    A detailed analysis of the investment portfolio performance over the period is given in the Investment Adviser’s Review.

    In brief, during the six months under review, the whole portfolio showed investment valuation losses of £9.4 million. Despite this disappointing overall performance, there were some highlights; a total of £2.9 million of proceeds were received from the sale of Data Centre Response Limited, as well as deferred consideration totalling £0.6 million, producing realised gains of £2.2 million. The Investment Adviser also completed two follow-on investments totalling £1.1 million.

    Responsible investing
    The Board notes the commitment of the Investment Adviser, Foresight Group, to being a “Responsible Investor”. Foresight places environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) criteria at the forefront of its business and investment activities in line with best practice and in order to enhance returns for their investors.

    Further detail can be found on page 17 of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report.

    Special administration of the Company’s custodian of quoted assets
    As previously reported, since September 2020 the Company has used IBP Capital Markets Limited (“IBP”) as custodian for its quoted investments. Appointing a custodian is a requirement of the FCA, and IBP is an FCA authorised and regulated wholesale broker, providing custody services and access to equity and fixed income securities for non-retail clients (which includes the Company).

    On 13 October 2023, the FCA published a supervisory notice under section 55L(3)(a) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, imposing certain restrictions on IBP. On the same date, IBP applied to the High Court and special administrators were appointed.

    As noted in the Annual Report, on 19 July 2024, around 80% of the quoted investment portfolio was returned to the Company, meaning normal management and trading of these positions was resumed. The remaining 20% will be returned following the conclusion of court proceedings, the timing of which is currently anticipated to take place in the second half of 2025, unless additional claims are submitted or the outcome of the court proceedings in terms of a final distribution is any different. The Company will communicate with Shareholders if there is any new information which materially impacts the numbers presented in this report.

    Share buybacks
    The Company continues to operate a policy of buying in its own shares that become available in the market at a 5% discount to NAV (subject to liquidity and regulatory restrictions). Subsequent to the merger, the Board intends to reduce this target discount to 2.5% in future.

    During the period the Company purchased 5,522,581 shares for cancellation at an average discount of 5.0%, which represented 3.1% of shares in issue at the date of the last Annual Report.

    Share buybacks are timed to avoid the Company’s closed periods. Buybacks will generally take place, subject to demand, during the following times of the year:

    • August, after the Annual Report has been published
    • September, prior to the Half-Yearly reporting date of 30 September
    • January, after the Half-Yearly Report has been published
    • March, prior to the end of the financial year

    The Company retains Panmure Liberum as its corporate broker to assist in operating the share buyback process and ensuring that the quoted spread on the Company’s shares remains at a reasonable level. Contact details for Panmure Liberum are on page 30 of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report.

    Management charges and performance incentive
    The annual management fee is an amount equal to 2.0% of net assets. There is no change to the management fee or secretarial fee post-merger. From 1 October 2024, the Investment Adviser took over responsibility for management of the Quoted Growth portfolio from Downing LLP. The team at Downing LLP continues to advise the Company on the Yield Focused portfolio under a subcontract agreement with Foresight Group LLP.

    A new performance incentive scheme was formally approved by Shareholders as part of the merger on 15 November 2024. This scheme, in brief, means a performance fee would be payable to the Investment Adviser at the end of each performance period, subject to a total return hurdle. The fee would be equal to the lesser of: (i) 20% of distributions attributable to the relevant performance period; or (ii) 20% of the increase in the total return which is higher than the hurdle. The Board believes this new scheme will provide additional motivation for the Investment Adviser to drive enhanced shareholder value.

    Board composition
    As noted in the Annual Report, Chris Kay resigned as a Director of the Company on 6 June 2024. Post period end, Andrew Mackintosh has joined the Board from TV2 subsequent to the merger. Andrew is chair of UKI2S, a government-backed venture capital fund supporting companies from the UK’s scientific research base. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was awarded a CBE in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to Science and Technology, and to Enterprise Development, and we are delighted to have him on board.

    The Board now comprises four Non-Executive Directors, which the Board considers to be an appropriate number for the current size of the VCT. All of the Directors are independent of the Investment Adviser, with the exception of Chris Allner who is considered non-independent by virtue of being a partner at Downing LLP, the previous investment adviser to the Company, which still provides some services to our new Investment Adviser.

    VCT sunset clause
    I am pleased to report that new regulations have been made to extend the UK’s VCT scheme by ten years to April 2035, following the European Commission’s confirmation that they would not oppose the continuation of the scheme. This now removes any recent uncertainty and will help support further investment by the VCT sector in early-stage companies.

    Outlook
    At the date of the merger the Company’s NAV per share had increased to 42.6p, as a result of valuation uplifts in the Quoted Growth portfolio, as well as favourable exchange rates on our US investments. With an offer for subscription now out to raise further funds, in addition to the cash boost on acquiring the assets of TV2, and a refreshed performance incentive scheme to greater motivate the Investment Adviser, we look forward to seeing an increase in deployment to enhance the portfolio and returns to Shareholders. Whilst the macroeconomic environment has been challenging for the last two years, the Investment Adviser is cautiously optimistic that 2025 will provide more positive conditions for our portfolio companies. The downward trajectory of inflation and interest rates should lead to increasing confidence and encourage investors to return to the market.

    Atul Devani
    Chair

    20 December 2024

    INVESTMENT ADVISER’S REVIEW

    “We present our Investment Adviser’s Review for the six‑month period ended 30 September 2024.”

    Unquoted Growth
    Portfolio summary
    At 30 September 2024, the Company held total unquoted investments of £44.4 million, split £34.5 million Unquoted Growth and £9.9 million Unquoted Yield Focused. Details of the Unquoted Yield Focused portfolio performance are set out on page 8 of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report.

    The Unquoted Growth portfolio comprises 29 companies, across a range of sectors. Following a challenging period for the year ended 31 March 2024, with the portfolio unfavourably impacted by the downturn of the UK economy, the six months ended 30 September 2024 has been similarly disappointing, resulting in an overall unrealised investment valuation loss of £2.2 million in the portfolio.

    Investment activity
    There were no new investments made during the period ended 30 September 2024. The Company made follow-on investments in two Unquoted Growth companies during the period, totalling £1.1 million:

    FundingXchange Limited (£750,000), a fintech platform delivering SME lenders insights into their portfolios. This investment was made concurrently with a £5.0 million investment from Barclays as part of a £6.0 million round. This transformational investment will allow the company to build on early commercial success and deepen the strategic and commercial relationship with Barclays.

    Rated People Limited (£375,000), an online marketplace connecting homeowners and local tradespeople. This investment allows the strengthened management team to implement the necessary product and operational changes to enable a return to growth and a cash-generative business model.

    There was one realisation during the period ended 30 September 2024:

    DSTBTD Limited (trading as Distributed) was sold for £1 to ILX Group. No proceeds were returned to the Company, which was a disappointing result for the team, but a favourable outcome to an administration process, which was a real possibility after a proposed funding failed to come together.

    Key portfolio developments
    There were some material write downs in the Unquoted Growth portfolio during the period, and some companies have continued to struggle in the challenging macroeconomic environment. However, there have also been some positive movements in valuation. This has resulted in a net total realised and unrealised investment valuation loss of £3.0 million in the period, including £0.7 million in unrealised foreign exchange losses.

    Of the total investment loss, total losses of £6.5 million were offset by gains of £3.5 million. The most significant movements are noted below.

    The largest gain in value was in Ayar Labs, Inc, a silicon photonic chiplet developer used in next-generation AI data centers of the major hyperscalers and cloud-service providers. The valuation increased by £1.9 million, including foreign exchange losses, as a result of a new funding round.

    Other unrealised valuation gains included:

    Rated People Limited, an online marketplace connecting homeowners and local tradespeople, increased in value by £596,000. This was due to a follow-on funding round enhancing the Company’s share of proceeds on any liquidity event. It is also worth noting that the company is now trading profitably and under new leadership.

    Carbice Corporation, Inc has developed a suite of products based on its carbon material, used primarily as thermal management solutions to enable greater thermal conductivity. The valuation increased by £401,000, including foreign exchange losses, as a result of the recent closure of a funding round that increases the prospect of growth and, ultimately, a positive realisation for investors.

    Four other companies in the Unquoted Growth portfolio made up investment valuation gains of £603,000.

    There were also a number of valuation losses reported in the period. The greatest loss was in Cambridge Touch Technologies Ltd, a company developing pressure sensitive multi-touch technology, which reduced in value by £1.9 million as a result of a challenging funding environment for deep tech companies. As noted above, DSTBTD Limited (trading as Distributed) was sold for £1 to ILX Group during the period. No proceeds were returned to the Company, resulting in a realised loss of £775,000.

    Other investment valuation losses included:

    Vivacity Labs Limited, a provider of Artificial Intelligence sensors to monitor and control traffic flows, was written down to nil value in the period, a decrease in value of £960,000, following a new funding round. The investment round (that we chose not to participate in) generated penal terms for shareholders not participating in the funding round and resulted in the write down.

    Masters of Pie Limited, developer of “Radical”, a software solution that enables remote sharing and collaboration on large data sets, was reduced by £700,000 as a result of a challenging period for the company from a trading perspective. It is hoped that this situation will improve in Q4 2024, albeit the position remains challenging.

    Virtual Class Ltd (trading as Third Space Learning), a platform offering personalised online lessons from specialist tutors, decreased in carrying value by £466,000, driven by significant budgetary pressure experienced by UK schools, a key customer group. It is hoped that early international sales (in the US) will somewhat offset challenges in the UK market.

    Parsable, Inc., a provider of software to improve operational efficiencies in the industrial and manufacturing sectors, has seen a valuation decrease of £460,000, including foreign exchange losses. During the period, an offer to acquire Parsable was received that, whilst at a valuation lower than we expected, was accepted by the Board, and the valuation has been aligned with anticipated proceeds.

    Bulbshare Limited, a company that enables brands to build communities from their existing customers to gather consumer insights, was exited post period end. The valuation was reduced by £371,000 in line with the exit proceeds received.

    Trinny London Limited, a multi-channel female beauty and skincare brand, was reduced in value by £354,000 due to a decline in comparable market valuation multiples. Despite this, the business increased revenue during the period and remains profitable.

    CommerceIQ, Inc., the pioneer in helping brands win on retail e-commerce channels, decreased by £221,000 in the period, including foreign exchange losses. Whilst CommerceIQ’s revenues increased during the period, market valuations for similar businesses declined and, consequently, the valuation fall is a reflection of wider market conditions.

    Four other companies in the Unquoted Growth portfolio made up valuation losses of £340,000. Aside from Vivacity Labs Limited, no other investments were written down to nil during the period.

    Post period end activity
    After the period end, the Company completed two new investments totalling £1.6 million into Dragonfly Technology Solutions Ltd (£600,000), a predictive analytics business, and Alison Technologies Ltd (£978,000), a developer of an innovative AI marketing insights tool. The Company also completed two follow-on investments totalling £1.1 million into Maestro Media Limited (£750,000) and Virtual Class Ltd (£300,000). The Company received £1.1 million in proceeds from the exit of Bulbshare Limited in October.

    At the date of the merger, the Unquoted Growth portfolio had seen positive foreign exchange movements totalling £421,000.

    Outlook
    Whilst the macroeconomic environment has been challenging for the last two years, we are cautiously optimistic that 2025 will provide more positive conditions for our portfolio companies. The downward trajectory of inflation and interest rates should lead to increasing confidence and encourage investors to return to the market. From an exit perspective, the IPO market is unlikely to open up in the short term, but we are seeing signs that PE and trade buyers will be more active in 2025, offering potential liquidity opportunities for portfolio companies.

    In addition to the anticipated improved macro environment, we believe the merger with Thames Ventures VCT 2 plc has created a company well placed for success, with a very clear investment mandate (exclusively investing in private technology businesses) and benefiting from more streamlined company reporting and administration.

    Foresight Group LLP
    20 December 2024

    Yield Focused portfolio
    Downing LLP continues to advise the Company on the Unquoted Yield Focused portfolio under a subcontract from Foresight Group LLP.

    Downing presents a review of the Yield Focused portfolio for the six months ended 30 September 2024. At the period end, the Yield Focused portfolio consisted of seven active investments, all of which are unquoted, with a total value of £9.9 million.

    Divestment activity
    During the period, the focus was on investment realisations from the Yield Focused portfolio, which resulted in proceeds of £2.9 million from the exit of Data Centre Response Limited, a provider of power solutions and maintenance services to data centres. There were no new or follow-on investments.

    Realisations in the period ended 30 September 2024

        Total Cost at date Exit Total
        invested of disposal proceeds return
    Company Detail (£) (£) (£) (£)
    Data Centre Response Limited Full disposal 557,441 557,441 2,916,694 2,916,694

    Key portfolio developments
    The Yield Focused portfolio reduced in value by £113,000 during the period, with one company, Data Centre Response Limited, recognising a gain of £494,000 on exit, as noted above, and four companies recognising unrealised losses of £607,000:

    Pilgrim Trading Limited, an operator and owner of two children’s nurseries in West London, decreased in value by £437,000 after two periods of unsuccessful marketing proved the last independent valuation of the business to be unachievable in current market conditions. Consequently, the independent valuation has now been heavily discounted.

    Kimbolton Lodge Limited, a nursing and care home in Bedfordshire, decreased in value by £67,000 to bring the valuation in line with the anticipated proceeds from a sale process that is currently underway.

    Doneloans Limited, which holds a portfolio of secured loans, decreased in value by £67,000 driven by the cost of its own funding marginally exceeding interest receivable from its borrowers.

    SF Renewables (Solar) Limited, which built and operates a solar plant in India, was reduced by £36,000 in line with the exit proceeds received post period end.

    Outlook
    With one exit during the period and another shortly after period end, there were six investments remaining in the Yield Focused portfolio at the time of writing. Downing is actively seeking to progress exits from both Kimbolton Lodge and Pilgrim Trading, though the latter is currently looking less likely to materialise. Given current market conditions, sales of the higher value, hotel-related investments, Baron House Developments and Cadbury House Holdings, are expected to take some time to complete. The recovery of value from Doneloans is linked largely to the sale of Pilgrim Trading, which is the lender’s largest loan, but additional recoveries are anticipated from other borrowers over the next 12 months.

    Downing LLP and Foresight Group LLP
    20 December 2024

    Quoted Growth portfolio
    For the six months to 30 September 2024, Downing LLP continued to advise the Company on the Quoted Growth portfolio under a subcontract from Foresight Group LLP. From 1 October 2024, Foresight Group LLP took on full responsibility for management of the Quoted Growth portfolio.

    Investment activity
    Markets continued to be volatile through the reporting period. The impending Budget dominated market behaviours, particularly the FTSE AIM Index, where fears over an abolition of IHT reliefs on AIM shares adversely affected the market. In the end, this fear was overcooked, and the FTSE AIM All Share rallied 4% on the day of the Budget, as it was announced that reliefs on AIM shares would remain, albeit at half the relief previously enjoyed. Since the Budget, the new concern has been focused on the impact of National Insurance increases, which have weighed heavily on UK Small and Mid-Cap companies. There is a general acceptance that inflation will still be a looming threat and hence interest rates will remain higher for longer.

    There were no investments or realisations made during the six months to 30 September 2024.

    Key portfolio developments
    At 30 September 2024, the Quoted Growth portfolio was valued at £13.4 million, comprising 36 active investments. Over the six-month period, the portfolio produced net valuation losses of £4.7 million, offset by £3.8 million received in dividends from the portfolio. Two companies, valued at £78,000 at year end, have been written down to nil during the period.

    The most significant loss was incurred in Tracsis plc, a provider of transport technology, which saw valuation losses of £2.4 million during the period due to a profit warning, citing delays on rail infrastructure spend incurred due to the early election. This was exacerbated by contract delays in their US business.

    This was offset by valuation gains elsewhere in the portfolio, where Anpario plc, a specialist manufacturer and distributor of natural sustainable feed additives for animal health, nutrition and biosecurity, increased by £680,000 net of £46,000 dividends received, reflecting an improvement in trading post supply chain issues experienced during the inflationary period post covid.

    A net gain of £615,000 was made in Downing Strategic Micro‑Cap Investment Trust plc, where special dividends of £3.7 million were made during the period, as part of the managed wind-down of the Trust. Since the period end, a further special dividend of 2.2p, equating to £133,000, has been received by the Company.

    Meanwhile Cohort plc, the parent company of six businesses providing a wide range of services and products for British, Portuguese and other international customers in defence and security markets, booked an unrealised gain of £558,000. This mirrored profit upgrades, contract renewals and strong financial results. This momentum has continued post period end.

    As at 17 December 2024, the valuation of the Quoted Growth portfolio had decreased by £226,000 (-1.7%).

    IBP Capital Markets Limited
    As noted in the Annual Report, the Company recovered c.80% of its total Quoted Growth portfolio on 19 July 2024, with the remaining c.20% to be recovered following court proceedings, currently anticipated to take place in the second half of 2025. Up until July, the ability to trade the portfolio continued to be restricted and hence there has been limited ability to manage exposures within the portfolio. The Company is now able to trade its positions, having been unable to do so since October 2023.

    Post-period end activity
    Post period end, ahead of the Budget, shares were sold in 14 of the Company’s Quoted Growth portfolio holdings. Notably, holdings in Anpario plc and Craneware plc were reduced, as well as in Impact Healthcare REIT plc, a non-qualifying holding. As previously communicated to Shareholders, the strategy going forward is to realise the Quoted Growth portfolio over time, which will free up funds to be redeployed into Unquoted Growth holdings.

    Outlook
    A number of the Quoted Growth companies in the portfolio have been consistently overoptimistic about hitting milestones for product development, revenues and ultimately profits. Given competition for capital amongst the wider portfolio of venture capital holdings, Foresight took the difficult decision to reduce a number of these positions. Achieving a total sale of individual holdings has not been possible, given that 20% of the Company’s Quoted Growth assets are still tied up in the custodian IBP Capital Markets Limited (“IBP”), which remains in special measures. While this is frustrating, as it does not allow portfolio management to be conducted across the entire portfolio should changes need to be made, we are able to make them to substantially all of the holdings.

    The Quoted Growth holdings have reduced as a percentage of the Company’s total assets, but we firmly believe that by making these changes we have increased the overall quality and see an encouraging future, despite an uncertain macroeconomic background.

    Downing LLP and Foresight Group LLP
    20 December 2024

    UNAUDITED HALF-YEARLY RESULTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENTS

    Principal risks and uncertainties
    The principal risks faced by the Company are as follows:

    • Investment performance
    • Regulatory
    • Operational
    • Economic, political and other external factors

    The Board reported on the principal and emerging risks and uncertainties faced by the Company in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024. A detailed explanation can be found on pages 26 to 28 of the Annual Report and Accounts, which is available on the Investment Adviser’s website www.foresightgroup.eu/products/foresight-ventures-vct-plc or by writing to Foresight Group at The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG.

    In the view of the Board, there have been no changes to the fundamental nature of these risks since the previous report and these principal risks and uncertainties are equally applicable to the remaining six months of the financial year as they were to the six months under review.

    Directors’ responsibility statement
    The Disclosure and Transparency Rules (“DTR”) of the UK Listing Authority require the Directors to confirm their responsibilities in relation to the preparation and publication of the Half-Yearly Financial Report.

    The Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge that:

       a)   The summarised set of financial statements has been prepared in accordance with FRS 104
       b)   The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.7R (indication of important events during the first six months and description of principal risks and uncertainties for the remaining six months of the year)
       c)   The summarised set of financial statements gives a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company as required by DTR 4.2.4R
       d)   The interim management report includes a fair review of the information required by DTR 4.2.8R (disclosure of related parties’ transactions and changes therein)

    Going concern
    The Company’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position, are set out in the Strategic Report of the Annual Report. The financial position of the Company, its cash flows, liquidity position and borrowing facilities are described in the Chair’s Statement, Strategic Report and Notes to the Accounts of the 31 March 2024 Annual Report. In addition, the Annual Report includes the Company’s objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital; its financial risk management objectives; details of its financial instruments; and its exposures to credit risk and liquidity risk.

    The Company has adequate financial resources at the period end and holds a diversified portfolio of investments. As a consequence, the Directors believe that the Company is well placed to manage its business risks successfully.

    The Directors have reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus they continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the half-yearly financial statements.

    The Half-Yearly Financial Report has not been audited nor reviewed by the auditors.

    On behalf of the Board

    Atul Devani
    Chair

    20 December 2024

    UNAUDITED INCOME STATEMENT
    For the six months ended 30 September 2024

      Six months ended
    30 September 2024
    (Unaudited)    		 Six months ended
    30 September 2023
    (Unaudited)    		 Year ended
    31 March 2024
    (Audited)
     
     
      Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total Revenue Capital Total
      £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
    Realised gains/(losses) on investments — 2,202 2,202 — (5,203) (5,203) — (8,015) (8,015)
    Investment holding (losses)/gains — (10,311) (10,311) — 1,028 1,028 — 3,465 3,465
    Income 4,187 — 4,187 1,065 — 1,065 906 — 906
    Investment management fees (404) (404) (808) (449) (449) (898) (863) (863) (1,726)
    Other expenses (482) — (482) (376) — (376) (1,346) — (1,346)
    Return/(loss) on ordinary activities before taxation 3,301 (8,513) (5,212) 240 (4,624) (4,384) (1,303) (5,413) (6,716)
    Taxation — — — (24) 24 — — — —
    Return/(loss) on ordinary activities after taxation 3,301 (8,513) (5,212) 216 (4,600) (4,384) (1,303) (5,413) (6,716)
    Return/(loss) per share 1.9p (4.8)p (2.9)p 0.1p (2.5)p (2.4)p (0.7)p (3.1)p (3.8)p

    The total columns of this statement are the profit and loss account of the Company and the revenue and capital columns represent supplementary information.

    All revenue and capital items in the above Income Statement are derived from continuing operations. No operations were acquired or discontinued in the period.

    The Company has no recognised gains or losses other than those shown above, therefore no separate statement of total recognised gains and losses has been presented.

    The Company has only one class of business and one reportable segment, the results of which are set out in the Income Statement and Balance Sheet.

    There are no potentially dilutive capital instruments in issue and, therefore, no diluted earnings per share figures are relevant. The basic and diluted earnings per share are, therefore, identical.

    UNAUDITED RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENTS IN SHAREHOLDERS’ FUNDS
    For the six months ended 30 September 2024

      Called-up Share
    premium    		 Capital redemption Special Capital Revaluation Revenue  
      share capital account reserve reserve reserve reserve reserve Total
      £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000 £’000
    As at 1 April 2024 1,775 2,522 71 86,901 (10,791) 6,057 (4,619) 81,916
    Share issues in the period 7 301 — — — — — 308
    Expenses in relation to share issues — (46) — — — — — (46)
    Repurchase of shares (55) — 55 (2,340) — — — (2,340)
    Realised gains on disposal of investments — — — — 2,202 — — 2,202
    Investment holding losses — — — — — (10,311) — (10,311)
    Dividends paid — — — — (1,953) — — (1,953)
    Management fees charged to capital — — — — (404) — — (404)
    Revenue return before taxation for the period — — — — — — 3,301 3,301
    Taxation for the period — — — — — — — —
    As at 30 September 2024 1,727 2,777 126 84,561 (10,946) (4,254) (1,318) 72,673

    Distributable reserves at 30 September 2024 total £51,490,000 (31 March 2024: £58,151,000).

    UNAUDITED BALANCE SHEET
    As at 30 September 2024

    Registered number: 03150868

      As at As at As at
      30 September 30 September 31 March
      2024 2023 2024
      (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
      £’000 £’000 £’000
    Fixed assets      
    Investments held at fair value through profit or loss 57,746 65,871 67,393
    Current assets      
    Debtors 8,467 7,393 7,570
    Cash and cash equivalents 7,097 13,580 7,559
    Total current assets 15,564 20,973 15,129
    Creditors      
    Amounts falling due within one year (637) (1,077) (606)
    Net current assets 14,927 19,896 14,523
    Net assets 72,673 85,767 81,916
    Capital and reserves      
    Called-up share capital 1,727 1,770 1,775
    Share premium account 2,777 2,252 2,522
    Capital redemption reserve 126 71 71
    Special reserve 84,561 85,122 86,901
    Capital reserve (10,946) (5,627) (10,791)
    Revaluation reserve (4,254) 3,619 6,057
    Revenue reserve (1,318) (1,440) (4,619)
    Equity shareholders’ funds 72,673 85,767 81,916
    Net Asset Value per share 42.1p 48.5p 46.1p

    UNAUDITED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
    For the six months ended 30 September 2024

      Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
      30 September 30 September 31 March
      2024 2023 2024
      (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
      £’000 £’000 £’000
    Cash flow from operating activities      
    Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (5,212) (4,384) (6,716)
    Loss on investments 8,109 4,175 4,550
    Increase in debtors (1,768) (891) (1,134)
    Increase in creditors 59 82 304
    Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities 1,188 (1,018)  (2,996)
    Cash flow from investing activities      
    Purchase of investments (1,125) (2,209) (4,394)
    Net proceeds on sale of investments 2,917 3,295 3,433
    Net proceeds on deferred consideration 543 419 637
    Net cash inflow/(outflow) from investing activities 2,335 1,505 (324)
    Cash flows from financing activities      
    Proceeds of fundraising — 1,586 1,585
    Expenses of fundraising — (7) (7)
    Repurchase of own shares (2,340) (2,270) (2,964)
    Equity dividends paid (1,645) (1,498) (3,017)
    Net cash outflow from financing activities (3,985) (2,189) (4,403)
    Net outflow of cash in the period (462) (1,702) (7,723)
    Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds      
    Decrease in cash and cash equivalents for the period (462) (1,702) (7,723)
    Net cash and cash equivalents at start of period 7,559 15,282 15,282
    Net cash and cash equivalents at end of period 7,097 13,580 7,559

    Analysis of changes in net debt

      As at
    1 April 2024
    £’000    		 Cash flow
    £’000    		 At 30 September
    2024
    £’000
     
     
    Cash and cash equivalents 7,559 (462) 7,097

    NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED HALF-YEARLY RESULTS
    For the six months ended 30 September 2024

    1
    The Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies set out in the statutory accounts of the Company for the year ended 31 March 2024. Unquoted investments have been valued in accordance with IPEV Valuation Guidelines.

    2
    These are not statutory accounts in accordance with s436 of the Companies Act 2006 and the financial information for the six months ended 30 September 2024 and 30 September 2023 has been neither audited nor formally reviewed. Statutory accounts in respect of the year ended 31 March 2024 have been audited and reported on by the Company’s auditor and delivered to the Registrar of Companies and included the report of the auditor which was unqualified and did not contain a statement under s498(2) or s498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. No statutory accounts in respect of any period after 31 March 2024 have been reported on by the Company’s auditor or delivered to the Registrar of Companies.

    3
    Copies of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report will be sent to Shareholders via their chosen method and will be available for inspection at the Registered Office of the Company at The Shard, 32 London Bridge Street, London SE1 9SG.

    4 Net Asset Value per share
    The Net Asset Value per share is based on net assets at the end of the period and on the number of shares in issue at the date.

        Number of shares
      Net assets in issue
    30 September 2024 £72,673,000 172,715,260
    30 September 2023 £85,767,000 176,968,887
    31 March 2024 £81,916,000 177,546,529

    5 Return per share
    The weighted average number of shares used to calculate the respective returns are shown in the table below.

      Number of shares
    Six months ended 30 September 2024 176,320,908
    Six months ended 30 September 2023 179,310,912
    Year ended 31 March 2024 178,234,061

    Earnings for the period should not be taken as a guide to the results for the full year.

    6 Income

      Six months ended Six months ended Year ended
      30 September 30 September 31 March
      2024 2023 2024
      £’000 £’000 £’000
    Income from investments      
    Loan stock interest 240 920 424
    Dividend income 3,827 145 415
      4,067 1,065 839
    Other income 120 — 67
      4,187 1,065 906

    7 Investments held at fair value through profit or loss

      Unquoted Growth
    investments
    £’000    		 Unquoted
    Yield Focused
    investments
    £’000    		 Quoted Growth
    investments
    £’000    		 Total
    £’000
     
     
     
    Book cost at 1 April 2024 39,760 13,651 23,241 76,652
    Investment holding losses at 1 April 2024 (3,374) (751) (5,134) (9,259)
    Valuation at 1 April 2024 36,386 12,900 18,107 67,393
    Movements in the period:        
    Purchases 1,125 — — 1,125
    Disposal proceeds — (2,917) — (2,917)
    Realised (losses)/gains on disposals1 (775) 2,360 — 1,585
    Foreign exchange losses (669) — — (669)
    Investment holding losses2 (1,554) (2,473) (4,744) (8,771)
    Valuation at 30 September 2024 34,513 9,870 13,363 57,746
    Book cost at 30 September 2024 40,110 13,094 23,241 76,445
    Investment holding losses at 30 September 2024 (5,597) (3,224) (9,878) (18,699)
    Valuation at 30 September 2024 34,513 9,870 13,363 57,746
    1. Realised gains on investments in the Income Statement include realised gains relating to deferred consideration receipts totalling £617,000 from StorageOS Inc (£419,000), Efundamentals Group Limited (£96,000), Firefly Learning Limited (£74,000), DIA Imaging Analysis Limited (£14,000) and Imagen Limited (£14,000).
    2. Investment holding losses in the Income Statement include unrealised losses which are a result of the deferred consideration debtor decrease of £871,000. The debtor movement reflects the recognition of amounts receivable in respect of DIA Imaging Analysis Limited (£45,000) and Firefly Learning Limited (£8,000), offset by receipts in respect of StorageOS Inc (£419,000), Efundamentals Group Limited (£96,000), Firefly Learning Limited (£74,000), Imagen Limited (£14,000) and DIA Imaging Analysis Limited (£14,000). Amounts were previously recognised as receivable but written down at 30 September 2024 in respect of Efundamentals Group Limited (£295,000), JRNI Limited (£8,000) and Imagen Limited (£4,000).

    8 Contingencies, guarantees and financial commitments
    As outlined in note 17 to the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024, the Company has used IBP Capital Markets Limited (“IBP”) as custodian for its quoted investments since September 2020. Appointing a custodian is a requirement of the FCA; IBP is an FCA authorised and regulated wholesale broker, providing custody services and access to equity and fixed income securities for non-retail clients (which includes the Company). On 13 October 2023, the FCA published a supervisory notice under section 55L(3)(a) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, imposing certain restrictions on IBP. On the same date, IBP applied to the High Court and special administrators were appointed.

    During the period since, the Investment Adviser has been actively collaborating with the special administrators to reach a resolution, which has involved reconciling quoted stocks held with IBP (“Custody Assets”) and cash held with IBP (“Client Money”). As at 13 October 2023, the Company held Client Money of £1.1 million (1.2% of indicative NAV on the same date), and Custody Assets of £16.9 million (19.5% of indicative NAV on the same date).

    With regard to Custody Assets, whilst the final outcome remains subject to change, particularly as additional claims may be made, there have so far been two differences of value identified, together totalling a variance of £0.28 million, which was provided for at 31 March 2024. It was announced on 17 May 2024 that the special administrators would be making an interim distribution of 80% of eligible Custody Assets, and the transfer of these to the new custodian completed on 19 July 2024. The Company is now able to trade these assets on the quoted market. The remaining 20% withheld will be distributed as part of a Final Court Approved Distribution Plan, unless additional claims are made resulting in a break.

    With regard to Client Money, a progress report was released on 12 April 2024 which identified a potential 44% cash shortfall equating to £0.46 million of Client Money held by the Company which was provided for at 31 March 2024. Any further deduction for fees relating to the special administration process is unknown at this point, but from the information available these are anticipated to be in the region of £0.14 million payable by the Company. These fees were accrued for as at 31 March 2024 and there has been no further adjustment to this estimate. The total potential exposure based on information available to date is therefore currently estimated to be £0.88 million, representing 1.2% of NAV at 30 September 2024.

    As noted, the outcome remains subject to change with the final distribution plan being shared following the court proceedings. Timing of this is currently anticipated to take place in the second half of 2025. The Company will communicate with Shareholders if there is any new information which materially impacts the numbers presented in this report.

    9 Related party transactions
    No Director has an interest in any contract to which the Company is a party other than their appointment and payment as Directors.

    10 Transactions with the Investment Adviser
    Details of arrangements with Foresight Group LLP are given in the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024, in the Directors’ Report and notes 4 and 5. All arrangements and transactions were on an arm’s length basis.

    Foresight Group LLP was appointed as Investment Adviser on 4 July 2022 and earned fees of £808,000 during the period to 30 September 2024 (30 September 2023: £898,000; 31 March 2024: £1,726,000).

    Foresight Group LLP is the Company Secretary (appointed on 1 September 2023) and received, for accounting and company secretarial services, fees of £75,000 during the period to 30 September 2024 (30 September 2023: £80,000; 31 March 2024: £156,000).

    At the balance sheet date there was £nil due to Foresight Group LLP (30 September 2023: £nil; 31 March 2024: £nil).

    11 Post-balance sheet events
    On 5 November 2024, the Company purchased for cancellation 2,197,967 ordinary shares of 1p at a gross price of 42.37p per share.

    On 15 November 2024, the Company merged with Thames Ventures VCT 2 plc (“TV2”). A total of 86,637,164 shares in the Company were issued to TV2 shareholders at the price of 42.629237024071200p per share. Following this allotment, the Company redesignated 147,531,473 of its issued ordinary shares as deferred shares, which were immediately repurchased and cancelled in order to re-base the NAV per share of each of ordinary share to 100.0p.

    A copy of the Unaudited Half-Yearly Financial Report will be submitted to the National Storage Mechanism in accordance with UK Listing Rules (“UKLR”)11.4.1 / UKLR 6.4.1 and UKLR 6.4.3.

    END

    For further information, please contact:

    Company Secretary
    Foresight Group LLP
    Contact: Stephen Thayer Tel: 0203 667 8100

    Investor Relations
    Foresight Group LLP
    Contact: Andrew James Tel: 0203 667 8181

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 8245, Rural Hospital Stabilization Act

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 8245 would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to award grants to certain rural hospitals to promote the availability of services. Hospitals could use those grants to recruit new staff or acquire equipment, for example. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not affect direct spending or revenues. The bill would authorize $20 million annually over the 2026‑2029 period for the new program. CBO estimates that implementing the bill would increase spending subject to appropriation by $80 million over the 2025-2034 period; any related spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds. The bill contains no intergovernmental or private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 8246, Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 8246, the Second Chances for Rural Hospitals Act, would allow critical access hospitals and certain small rural hospitals that closed between January 1, 2014, and December 26, 2020, to reopen as rural emergency hospitals. Those facilities would qualify for additional Medicare payments, including higher reimbursement rates and annual facility payments, depending on their distance from other hospitals. Based on an assessment of the number of additional locations that would become eligible for monthly payments, CBO estimates that enacting the bill would result in about 6,000 additional monthly payments to rural emergency hospitals, increasing Medicare fee-for-service spending by $2 billion. That change also would increase payments to Medicare Advantage plans. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 8246 would increase total direct spending by $3.4 billion over the 2025‑2034 period and that enacting the bill would not affect revenues. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: H.R. 8816, American Medical Innovation and Investment Act of 2024

    Source: US Congressional Budget Office

    H.R. 8816, the American Medical Innovation and Investment Act of 2024, would modify rules for determining national and local coverage in Medicare’s programs and revise certain Medicare payments and benefits. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would decrease net direct spending by $129 million over the 2025-2034 period. The bill would provide $5 million to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which CBO estimates would increase direct spending by the same amount over the 2025-2034 period to implement changes to the national and local coverage process. The bill also would expand Medicare coverage for the home infusion of drugs. CBO estimates that enacting that provision would reduce direct spending by $134 million over the 2025-2034 period. The bill also would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct a four-year demonstration project offering medically tailored, home-delivered meals to beneficiaries with heart disease, diabetes, or other conditions. CBO estimates that enacting the medically tailored meals demonstration would not significantly affect direct spending over the 2025‑2034 period. CBO estimates that enacting the bill would not affect revenues.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: UConn Nursing Graduates its Largest BS/CEIN Nursing Class

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts was packed with family, friends, and supporters of this year’s largest BS/Certificate of Entry into Nursing (CEIN) graduating class on Tuesday, Dec. 17. 

    CEIN students go from having a bachelor’s degree in another field to becoming a licensed Registered Nurse (RN) in Connecticut in just one year. It is a rigorous accelerated program, (the longest-running one of its kind in the state), that provides a pathway for students of all ages and backgrounds to join the nursing profession. 

    Achieving this feat in such a compact time frame requires an enormous level of dedication, especially for students who are returning to higher education after a gap period, caretaking, or working – sometimes all three. 

    The program is offered in Storrs as well as at three of UConn’s regional campuses – Stamford, Waterbury, and Avery Point – and runs from January to December. 

    Class of 2024 BS/CEIN graduates enjoying some sun before heading onto stage

    This cohort was the 22nd accelerated nursing class to graduate from the School of Nursing. In keeping with tradition, the ceremony began with a greeting from Del Siegle, Ph.D., MS, BS, University Marshal who serves as the Lynn and Ray Neag Endowed Chair for Talent Development. 

    The School of Nursing’s Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson, Ph.D., RN, FAHA, FAAN led the processional welcome and introduced this year’s commencement speaker Lucinda Canty, Ph.D., CNM, FACNM, FAAN, FADLN, recipient of the Excellence in Nursing Leadership Award.  

    We chose to be nurses. We chose to be the ones in scrubs, the ones at the bedside, the ones who care deeply and serve selflessly. – David Broughton, ’24 (NUR), CEIN Class President

    This year’s Pellegrina (Peggy) Lacovella Stolfi Clinical Teaching Awards went to Melissa Rembish, MSN, RN-BC, (Health Assessment Instructor); Sherene Fagon, RN, MSN, C-EFM, (Population-based Course Instructor); and Lori-Anne Lowry, MSN, RN-CVBC, CNL, (Adult Care/Community Health Instructor). 

    CEIN’s class president, David Broughton, delivered a speech of encouragement and hope to his fellow graduates. “We’re ready not only because we’ve gained the knowledge and skills, but because we have the resilience, the heart, and the support of each other,” Broughton said. “Yet, in a world filled with choices, we all found our way to the same path. We chose to be nurses. We chose to be the ones in scrubs, the ones at the bedside, the ones who care deeply and serve selflessly.” 

    Students from all four campuses lined up to enter the stage and receive their pins – some from family members, friends, and spouses. Elizabeth Mayerson, DNP, FNP-BC, CNE, president of the Sigma Theta Tau Mu Chapter, presented the candidates; over 80 CEIN students (more than half) were inducted into this international honor society in November, which has more than 10,000 active members worldwide. 

     

    Nine students received acknowledgement for their veteran or active-duty service, and students with a 4.0 GPA, (who are automatic members of the American Holistic Nurses Association), were recognized for their excellence in academic achievement. The Sigma student award was received by Stamford student Morgan Moltzau. 

    As you transition from nursing student to professional nurse, always remember that you are UConn nurses, our best and our brightest, and that we will always be proud of you. – Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson

    After each student crossed the stage, the UConn Nursing PRAXIS pledge was led by president of the School of Nursing alumni board, Diana Filipek-Oberg, BSN. Vice provost for health sciences, Amy Gorin, Ph.D., followed with the time-honored Conferral of Degrees before closing remarks by Dean Dickson. 

    Dean Dickson imparted a message of pride and inspiration as these students enter the next chapter in their nursing journey. “As UConn nurses, you are essential to the future of nursing and of health care,” she said. “You are well-prepared to care for individuals, families, and communities from diverse backgrounds to optimize well-being. As you transition from nursing student to professional nurse, always remember that you are UConn nurses, our best and our brightest, and that we will always be proud of you.” 

    She went on to say, “Graduates – I charge you now to fully assume the responsibilities of your new status … to build upon the foundation of knowledge through a commitment to lifelong learning and to seek out opportunities through practice and service to exemplify the vision of UConn Nursing: innovative, evidence-based, and caring nurses transforming health care and promoting health equity for all.”

    In response, the words of class president David Broughton ring true. “We are the UConn Husky Nurses, today, tomorrow, and forever, and we carry that pride with us as we step forward into our futures.” 

    To learn more about UConn’s second bachelor’s degree in nursing program, visit Home | Certificate Entry into Nursing (CEIN) Program. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Syria transition may fail if support lifeline is delayed, says IOM chief

    Source: United Nations 4

    Humanitarian Aid

    The head of the UN migration agency stressed on Friday that Syria is in no position to take back millions of Syrians following the fall of the Assad regime, while there is an urgent need to “re-evaluate” sanctions impacting the war-ravaged country.

    “We are not promoting large-scale returns; the communities frankly are just not ready to absorb the people who are displaced and would come home…it will overwhelm the country,” said Amy Pope, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). “Many have returned to find their find their homes reduced to rubble,” she noted.

    Speaking in Geneva shortly after returning from Damascus where she held talks with representatives of the caretaker authorities, Ms. Pope described how 14 years of war had destroyed “hospitals, schools, community centres” and much else.

    “Rebuilding homes is just one part of the solution, but [Syrians] also need access to healthcare and essential services to feel secure and lay the foundations for recovery.”

    More than half of Syria’s population has been displaced, some 16.7 million people need humanitarian assistance and well over six million Syrian refugees have sought shelter abroad.

    ‘Enormous’ need for funds

    “The needs for funding – both financial resources, political resources – are going to be enormous,” Ms. Pope continued, confirming that IOM “will be part of any effort to help address the situation there”, including potentially at an upcoming Syria reconstruction conference planned by the French Government in January.

    And yet the task of rebuilding and investing in Syria following the overthrow of the Assad regime by Hayat-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters and others, remains complicated by sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union, following the violent repression of pro-democracy protests in 2011 that escalated into civil war.

    On Thursday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for international solidarity with Syrians “until conditions are met for all sanctions to be removed” by the Member States that imposed them, while also insisting on the urgent need to deliver humanitarian aid and support efforts to rebuild the economy.

    Echoing that appeal, IOM’s Ms. Pope described the impact of sanctions in Syria, where “people do not have access to cash…they do not have access to credit”.

    Goods are exchanged rather than purchased and salaries “are extremely low and often insufficient to meet their most basic of needs…So, to rebuild the situation, there will be a need to re-evaluate those sanctions.”

    Human rights must be paramount

    Also briefing in Geneva, UN human rights office (OHCHR) spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan insisted that “whoever is in power, the obligations of the States remain the same, and that is protection of all human rights for all Syrians. When it comes to sanctions, it is important that any sanctions imposed by any party take into consideration the importance of humanitarian aid for the civilians. This should not be affected in any way.”

    Providing insight into her high-level meetings in Damascus, Ms. Pope described a “sense of openness” to the international community and a willingness to engage with it – a message that was “echoed throughout by all members of the caretaker government to all parties, whether they were other members of the diplomatic corps or other members of the UN family”.

    Mass poverty

    IOM has been unable to operate in Syria since 2018. Today, more than 90 per cent of Syrians live below the poverty line and 800,000 people have been newly displaced in recent weeks, presenting a massive new humanitarian emergency.

    “Frankly, across the board we’ve had some pretty serious challenges meeting those humanitarian needs, largely because of the barriers put in place by the Assad government, but also because of the ongoing conflict,” Ms. Pope explained, in reference to ongoing clashes across Syria.

    Important as immediate relief aid is for Syria, the IOM chief said that it should be accompanied by a “stabilizing” of the situation in Syria.

    This would need to involve “justice, reparation and inclusivity”, she said, but also housing, land and property rights that are “key and at the heart of community stabilization in the context of the returns that we anticipate”.

    Healthcare in peril

    Meanwhile, echoing deep concerns over the scale of needs and “tremendous hardships” that Syrians still face, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) launched an appeal on Friday to raise $56.4 million over the next six months.

    Displaced communities continue to live in overcrowded conditions in formal camps and shelters, with too little to eat and succumbing to respiratory infections and other communicable diseases including diarrhoea and scabies, warned Dr. Christina Bethke, Acting WHO Representative in Syria.

    Speaking from Damascus, Dr. Bethke described one WHO assessment team’s mission to Idlib in the northwest of the country. They spoke to “dedicated surgeons who have worked tirelessly during this escalation over the last three weeks, often under attack and in order to save lives. One surgeon shared the words of these patients, saying, ‘We finally sleep at night, no longer worrying about being bombarded.’”

    Funding for WHO’s appeal will sustain critical health services during the transition period, including 141 health facilities in northwest Syria that are at risk of “imminent closure in the coming weeks”, owing to a lack of resources.

    “The health infrastructure is severely strained and we saw in just three weeks during this escalation 36 attacks on health care have been reported and over half the country’s hospitals are non-functional,” Dr. Bethke said.

    Soundcloud

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: U.S. Attorney’s Office and FBI Announce Second Superseding Indictment, Bringing Additional Kidnapping and Assault Charges Against Serial Murderer, Kidnapper, and Sexual Abuser Labar Tsethlikai

    Source: Office of United States Attorneys

    ALBUQUERQUE – Federal prosecutors have filed six additional charges against Labar Tsethlikai for kidnapping and assault with a dangerous weapon.  The additional charges are part of a larger series of violent crimes committed by Tsethlikai against Native American men across New Mexico between 2022 and 2024.  The added charges correspond to 5 additional victims.

    Labar Tsethlikai, 51, an enrolled Member of Zuni Pueblo, now faces a 17-count second superseding indictment charging him with five additional counts of kidnapping and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon as follows:

    • Count 5: Kidnapping of John Doe 3 on or about May 19, 2023, in Indian Country, McKinley County, New Mexico
    • Count 11: Kidnapping of John Doe 6 on or about August 24, 2023, in Indian Country, McKinley County, New Mexico
    • Count 12: Assault with a dangerous weapon (baseball bat) against John Doe 6 on or about August 24, 2023, in Indian Country, McKinley County, New Mexico
    • Count 13: Kidnapping of John Doe 7 on or about September 7, 2023, in Indian Country, McKinley County, New Mexico
    • Count 14: Kidnapping of John Doe 8 on or about September 15, 2023, in Indian Country, McKinley County, New Mexico
    • Count 16: Kidnapping of John Doe 10 on or about April 5, 2024, in Bernalillo County, New Mexico

    In total, the second superseding indictment identifies 11 victims of Tsethlikai.  The investigation is ongoing.

    Tsethlikai was initially charged with second degree murder on April 25, 2024. On July 31, 2024, a federal grand jury charged Tsethlikai in an 11-count superseding indictment with two counts of kidnapping resulting in death, one count of first-degree murder, one count of first-degree felony murder, four counts of kidnapping, one count assault with intent to commit murder, one count of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and one count of aggravated sexual abuse:

    • Count 1: On October 22, 2022, Tsethlikai allegedly kidnapped and murdered John Doe 1.
    • Count 2: On January 18, 2024, Tsethlikai allegedly murdered John Doe 2 willfully, deliberately, maliciously, and with premeditation.
    • Count 3: On January 18, 2024, Tsethlikai allegedly killed John Doe 2 during the commission of a kidnapping and sexual abuse.
    • Count 4: On January 18, 2024, Tsethlikai allegedly kidnapped John Doe 2 and death resulted.
    • Count 6: On June 15, 2023, Tsethlikai allegedly kidnapped John Doe 4.
    • Count 7: On June 15, 2023, Tsethlikai allegedly assaulted John Doe 4 with the specific intent to commit murder.
    • Count 8: On June 15, 2023, Tsethlikai allegedly assaulted John Doe 4, and the assault resulted in serious bodily injury.
    • Count 9: On July 13, 2023, Tsethlikai kidnapped John Doe 5.
    • Count 10:  On July 13, 2023, Tsethlikai allegedly sexually abused John Doe 5 by force and threats, and the sexual act consisted of contact between the penis of Tsethlikai and the mouth of John Doe 5.
    • Count 15: On February 16, 2024, Tsethlikai allegedly kidnapped John Doe 9 using interstate facilities and instrumentalities.
    • Count 17: On April 11, 2024, Tsethlikai allegedly kidnapped John Doe 11 using interstate facilities and instrumentalities.

    If convicted, Tsethlikai faces a mandatory life sentence or death for the kidnapping resulting in death and first-degree murder charges, up to twenty years imprisonment on the assault with intent to murder charge, up to ten years imprisonment on the assault resulting in serious bodily injury charge, and any number of years up to life for the kidnapping and aggravated sexual abuse charges.

    U.S. Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez, and Raul Bujanda, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, made the announcement today.

    The Gallup Resident Agency of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Albuquerque Field Office, led by Special Agent Mark Stephenson, is investigating this case with assistance from the Albuquerque Police Department’s Homicide Unit, Sex Crimes Unit, and Air Support Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew J. McGinley and Mark A. Probasco are prosecuting the case, with victim support provided by the FBI’s Victim Services Division, the United States Attorney’s Office Victim Witness Unit, and Utah Navajo Health Systems, Inc., Victim Services. 

    The FBI continues to investigate Tsethlikai’s involvement in crimes against other victims. If you have reason to believe you or someone you know may be a victim, or have information about Tsethlikai, please call the FBI at (505) 889-1300 or submit tips online at tips.fbi.gov.

    Labar Tsethlikai is approximately 5’7” and weighs 180 pounds. He is heavyset, has short brown hair, brown eyes, and wears glasses. He sometimes wears a gold bracelet. He is from Zuni, but travels extensively around New Mexico, including Gallup, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe. He is believed to work in the Native American jewelry industry and may be a Zuni jewely artist.

    This case is part of the Department of Justice’s Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which aims to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people through the resolution of MMIP cases and communication, coordination, and collaboration with federal, Tribal, state, and local partners.  The Department views this work as a priority for its law enforcement components.  Through the MMIP Regional Outreach Program, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify MMIP cases and issues in Tribal communities and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. This prosecution upholds the Department’s mission to the unwavering pursuit of justice on behalf of Indigenous victims and their families.

    # # #

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Christmas can be stressful for many people – here’s what can help you get through the festive season

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jolel Miah, Senior Lecturer, Health Psychology, University of Westminster

    Stress during the holidays doesn’t have to be inevitable. Kaspars Grinvalds/ Shutterstock

    Christmas is a season of joy and togetherness. But for many, it’s also one of the most stressful times of the year.

    Stress arises from an imbalance between the demands placed on us and our ability to cope with those demands. Psychologically, stress is linked to how we cope in situations – and whether we view them as challenging, threatening or manageable. The more challenging or threatening we see a situation to be, the more likely we are to feel stressed out.

    It makes sense, then, that Christmas is such as stressful time of year for many.

    The pressure to make the holidays “perfect”, spending more money than we perhaps should to fulfil expectations, the struggle to balance work and study commitments with holiday shopping, decorating and socialising can leave us feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

    For others, Christmas highlights feelings of loneliness, grief or estrangement from loved ones. The season can be a painful reminder of lost relationships, financial hardships, or unmet life goals – and this can amplify feelings of inadequacy or sadness.

    Family visits can also bring tension as we’re forced to interact with relatives whose views or habits may clash – leading to conflicts or rehashing unresolved disputes.

    But while some stress during the holidays is inevitable, there are many things you can do to cope – and even prevent this stress in the first place.

    Plan ahead

    When our brains know what to expect, they require less energy to find solutions. This makes it easier to navigate any challenges we may face. And by planning or thinking ahead, it allows us to take control of our thoughts and minimise potential stressors.

    Before the holidays roll around, try spending time thinking about things which tend to be sources of stress to you – and make a plan for how you prevent this stress.

    For instance, if cooking Christmas dinner is a source of stress for you, perhaps making a list of specific tasks you can delegate to certain family members will help take some of the pressure off of you.

    Set boundaries

    It’s important to learn to say “no”, rather than agreeing to everything that might be asked of you. Understanding and respecting your own boundaries will help you allocate your time and resources more effectively – reducing stress.

    This skill takes time to develop but can significantly benefit your long-term wellbeing. The more confident we become in our abilities to manage the challenges we face, the better we become at setting boundaries – ultimately becoming better at managing stress.

    Some boundaries you might set at Christmas could include setting a budget limit for presents so you aren’t stressed about over-spending or limiting the number of social engagements you attend so you don’t get burnt out.

    Manage expectations

    It’s important to recognise that not everything is within your control. While there are many things you can plan and prepare for at Christmas, there are just as many things that are out of your hands. For example, you can’t control the way other people may behave at your Christmas dinner, or the way someone may react to a present you’ve bought them.

    Setting realistic expectations for the holidays and accepting there are things you just can’t control is key in managing stress levels.

    Take time to reflect

    Another helpful way to manage holiday stress is to pause and connect with your feelings.

    Writing down your thoughts may help alleviate stress.
    Ground Picture/ Shutterstock

    Write down your thoughts on a piece of paper. Then pause and really think about how your feel. Giving your brain a moment to process what’s happening can help you moderate your feelings. Keeping a journal can help improve your thoughts and mood, offering a constructive outlet for emotions.

    If you’re finding it difficult to get on with friends and family during the holidays, pause before reacting or saying something you might not mean. This will help you get your emotions under control and may help to reduce your stress.

    Coping after the holidays

    Some people may experience low mood after the holidays – often termed the “post-festive blues” or “post-holiday blues”.



    Read more:
    Why do we feel so ‘blah’ after Christmas?

    The holiday season often brings a mix of joy and stress, creating emotional highs that leave our bodies feeling drained and exhausted once it’s over. It’s important to recognise that these feelings are a natural response to the demands of the festive period – not a reflection of personal inadequacy. Taking the time to acknowledge and accept that our bodies and minds are simply recovering is a crucial step toward moving forward positively.

    There are many strategies you can use to manage these post-holiday blues. Activities such as regular exercise, setting realistic and achievable goals, and reconnecting with others can significantly improve our mood and boost “happy hormones” such as endorphins.

    By consciously planning ways to re-energise and stay connected, we can shift our focus from any lows we may have experienced over the holidays to a more balanced perspective as we step into the new year.

    Jolel Miah 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. Christmas can be stressful for many people – here’s what can help you get through the festive season – https://theconversation.com/christmas-can-be-stressful-for-many-people-heres-what-can-help-you-get-through-the-festive-season-246097

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Nurses need care too – how curbing self-sacrifice can prevent burnouts

    Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ester Ellen Trees Bolt, Post-doctoral Researcher, University of Leeds

    PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock

    Reflecting on my mother’s decade-long nursing career, I often wonder why so many nurses leave the profession after just a few years.

    In the UK, the shortage of nurses has reached alarming levels. Fewer students are enrolling in nursing programmes, and nearly half of newly registered nurses leave within five to ten years.

    Meanwhile, the demand for healthcare continues to grow, as outlined in England’s NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan, which sets out how the NHS will ensure there are enough nurses and doctors to support patients.

    The problem is not confined to the UK: nursing faces a global crisis. The high turnover of skilled professionals has serious implications for healthcare systems worldwide.

    The Netherlands is also experiencing troubling trends, with predictions of a significant healthcare staffing shortfall in the coming decades.

    Burnout is one of the most pressing reasons behind this exodus of nurses from the profession.

    Culture of self-sacrifice

    I interviewed nurses in the Netherlands about their workplace experiences including burnout for my research.

    And I found that one of the main reasons nurses leave is because of the profession’s culture of self-sacrifice. While empathy, compassion, and dedication are hallmarks of nursing, these qualities can lead to them working too hard. Nurses often push themselves so hard to meet their patients’ needs that they neglect their own health. Nursing often reinforces the culture of self-sacrifice, with an unspoken expectation that nurses should prioritise patients’ needs.

    My research shows that nurses are actively seeking employment to avoid burnout, but this often involves changing employers – a decision that is personally and organisationally intense and costly. I argue that, to ensure they remain in the workforce long term, nurses should be trained in setting boundaries and prioritising self-care.

    Nurses, particularly in long-term care, frequently form strong emotional bonds with their patients, which makes it challenging to draw boundaries between professional responsibilities and personal attachment. Interviews with nurses highlight the emotional toll of this. Several nurses mentioned feeling guilt when calling in sick, knowing their patients and colleagues depend on them. Some described how increased workloads, due to colleagues’ absences, eventually left them too overworked to continue. Others reported being constantly contacted to work extra shifts, even on their days off, due to staffing shortages caused by absenteeism and turnover.

    These stories reflect the relentless pressure nurses face. For many, the instinct to help others is both a source of pride and a path to burnout. When nurses don’t to set boundaries, their bodies often force them to stop – through illness and exhaustion.

    How to change

    Although nurses are the backbone of healthcare systems, the profession is undervalued and often viewed as less professional compared to other medical roles. This perception disrespects the complexity of nursing and discourages young people from entering the field.

    To address these issues, nurses need more support from employers and colleagues, including doctors and HR teams. Public campaigns must celebrate nursing as a highly skilled and indispensable profession, challenging outdated stereotypes.

    Burnout prevention also requires systemic changes. Nursing education must teach self-care and boundary setting as essential skills. Research indicates that nurses often report improved mental health and job satisfaction after switching employers, suggesting that organisational culture is pivotal in retaining staff – and that some workplaces are already leading the way.

    Self-sacrifice culture is a double-edged sword. While it reflects the compassion and dedication that define nursing, it poses a serious threat to the sustainability of the profession. To retain nurses, they need to be viewed as true professionals and be acknowledged for the value they deliver to the overall care processes. By fostering a culture that values personal boundaries, supports wellbeing, and elevates the professional identity of nursing, we can ensure that nurses are cared for just as much as they care for others.

    Failure to act will have far reaching consequences not just for nurses but for patients and healthcare systems around the world.

    Ester Ellen Trees Bolt 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. Nurses need care too – how curbing self-sacrifice can prevent burnouts – https://theconversation.com/nurses-need-care-too-how-curbing-self-sacrifice-can-prevent-burnouts-244312

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Canada: Updating Alberta’s approach to homelessness

    Source: Government of Canada regional news

    [embedded content]

    Over the past decade, new challenges with rural homelessness, the drug crisis and more meant that Alberta’s approach to addressing homelessness became outdated. To better respond to those needs, in 2022 the province committed to testing and implementing a new, coordinated approach to combatting homelessness through Alberta’s Action Plan on Homelessness.

    To continue this progress and finish implementing Alberta’s Action Plan on Homelessness, Alberta’s government will be streamlining grant administration for housing with supports and providing provincial funding directly to front-line service providers, including Indigenous-led organizations. By designating the coordination of supports to Alberta’s government, the government will be in a better position to address homelessness-related issues in communities across the province. Additionally, directly funding front-line service providers will help those providers strengthen their wraparound supports for Albertans experiencing homelessness. This funding, which will remain stable, helps people experiencing homelessness move into and maintain stable housing with access to the wraparound supports they need.

    “Our government has invested an unprecedented amount of funding and effort into addressing homelessness in Alberta. As shown by the success of our navigation centres and other innovative approaches, our government’s efforts to better coordinate supports are making a positive difference for vulnerable Albertans. I look forward to expanding our valuable partnerships with front-line service agencies across the province as we continue to follow through on our commitments.”

    Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

    To improve the coordination of these wraparound supports and achieve better outcomes for those seeking help, Alberta’s government is also working to improve the accuracy of data collection on a provincial scale. Alberta’s government will continue to work closely with front-line service providers, municipalities and community partners to ensure minimal disruption in services as this improved delivery model is implemented.

    These new efforts build on the success of earlier initiatives by the government, including the introduction of new supports like Indigenous-led shelters, women-only shelter spaces, and expanded recovery services. Building on this work, Navigation and Support Centres in Edmonton and Calgary have been essential to providing thousands of Albertans with wraparound supports, including government ID, addiction treatment, mental health services, employment skills training and housing.

    All of this work is possible because Alberta’s government has made unprecedented investments to fund these new supports, with Budget 2024 investing almost $210 million in emergency shelters and housing with supports.

    “When funding for emergency shelters and housing is meant to support Indigenous peoples, it should be delivered by Indigenous-operated organizations. While community-based organizations have served some of our people in times of need, they have not historically delivered in ways that reflect our knowledge and cultural practices. Providing these funds directly through the Alberta Government will allow our Indigenous-operated organizations an opportunity to receive grants and deliver services that are not only effective, but also rooted in the cultural understanding and traditions of our communities.”

    Chief Cody Thomas, Enoch Cree Nation

    As Alberta looks to the future, an expert panel is being established to help shape the province’s long-term approach to combatting homelessness. While the province has made progress on better supporting the most vulnerable, Alberta’s homelessness-related issues have evolved in recent years. The panel is tasked with ensuring Alberta’s long-term approach continues to meet the needs of Albertans experiencing homelessness, with an increased focus on Indigenous communities, rural needs, complex addictions and mental health. Co-chaired by Justin Wright, the MLA for Cypress-Medicine Hat, and Robin James, the chief administrative officer of the Lethbridge Housing Authority, the panel will advise the province on how to continue to reduce homelessness across Alberta. Additional members of the panel will be announced at a later date.

    “I am honoured to be appointed as co-chair of the panel, and I look forward to undertaking this important work. It is critical that rural communities have the supports they need to appropriately address homelessness to achieve better outcomes for those seeking help.”

    Justin Wright, MLA for Cypress – Medicine Hat

    “Lethbridge Housing Authority welcomes this announcement as an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships with front-line service providers. We have seen great success in Lethbridge and southern Alberta as a result of our work alongside Alberta’s government, and we look forward to continuing this important work.”

    Robin James, CAO, Lethbridge Housing Authority

    “The Calgary Drop-In Centre supports thousands of vulnerable Calgarians each year, and we look forward to continuing this work in partnership with Alberta’s government. These changes will make a difference and ensure we can continue to support vulnerable Calgarians, creating hope and stability into the future.”

    Sandra Clarkson, CEO, Calgary Drop-In Centre

    Quick facts

    • In 2023-24, more than 8,000 Albertans were provided with housing and supports, including 1,800 people newly admitted to housing programs.
    • In 2024-25, the province is investing almost $210 million overall into homelessness initiatives in Alberta, including:
      • $116 million in 2024-25 to support the operation of homeless shelter spaces.
      • $101.5 million to support local programs designed to move people out of homelessness and into stable housing linked with appropriate supports. This funding will now be directly distributed to service providers by the Alberta Government.

    Related information

    • Action Plan on Homelessness
    • Coordinated Community Response to Homelessness Task Force Report

    Related news

    • Alberta shelters are ready for winter (Nov. 21, 2024)

    Multimedia

    • Watch the news conference

    MIL OSI Canada News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Nationwide Lawsuit Filed in Rhode Island Alleging CVS Knowingly Dispensed Controlled Substances in Violation of the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act

    Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) State Crime News

    PROVIDENCE, RI – In a civil complaint unsealed today in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, the Justice Department alleges that CVS Pharmacy, Inc., and various subsidiaries (collectively, CVS) filled unlawful prescriptions in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs for some of the unlawful prescriptions in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA). CVS is the country’s largest pharmacy chain, with more than 9,000 pharmacies across the United States.

    The government’s complaint alleges that, from October 17, 2013, to the present, CVS knowingly filled prescriptions for controlled substances that lacked a legitimate medical purpose, were not valid, and/or were not issued in the usual course of professional practice. Among the large quantities of unlawful prescriptions that CVS allegedly filled were prescriptions for dangerous and excessive quantities of opioids, early fills of opioids, and “trinity” prescriptions, an especially dangerous and abused combination of drugs made up of an opioid, a benzodiazepine, and a muscle relaxant. CVS also allegedly filled large quantities of prescriptions for controlled substances written by prescribers it knew to be engaged in “pill mill practices” – that is, prescribers who issue large numbers of controlled substance prescriptions without any medical purpose. According to the complaint, CVS ignored substantial evidence from multiple sources, including its own pharmacists and internal data, indicating that its stores were dispensing unlawful prescriptions. 

    The complaint alleges that CVS’s violations resulted from corporate-mandated performance metrics, incentive compensation, and staffing policies that prioritized corporate profits over patient safety. CVS set staffing levels far too low for pharmacists to both meet their performance metrics and comply with their legal obligations. CVS also allegedly deprived its pharmacists of crucial information (including by, for example, preventing pharmacists from warning one another about certain prescribers) that could have reduced the number of unlawful prescriptions filled. The complaint alleges that CVS’s actions helped to fuel the prescription opioid crisis and that, in some particularly tragic instances, patients died after overdosing on opioids shortly after filling unlawful prescriptions at CVS.

    “Opioid deaths remain a scourge on communities across Rhode Island and the nation, robbing families of loved ones and leaving a path of devastation in their wake,” said Zachary A. Cunha, U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island. “This lawsuit alleges that CVS failed to exercise its critical role as gatekeeper of dangerous prescription opioids and, instead, facilitated the illegal distribution of these highly addictive drugs, including by pill mill prescribers. When corporations such as CVS prize profits over patient safety and overburden their pharmacy staff so that they cannot carry out the basic responsibility of ensuring that prescriptions are legitimate, we will use every tool at our disposal to see that they answer for it.”

    “Our complaint alleges that CVS repeatedly filled controlled substance prescriptions that were unlawful and pressured its pharmacists to fill such prescriptions without taking the time needed to confirm their validity,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M. Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “The practices alleged contributed to the opioid crisis and opioid-related deaths, and today’s complaint seeks to hold CVS accountable for its misconduct.”

    The government alleges that by knowingly filling unlawful prescriptions for controlled substances, CVS violated the CSA and, where CVS sought reimbursement from federal healthcare programs, also violated the FCA. The complaint alleges that CVS’s actions helped to fuel the prescription opioid crisis. If CVS is found liable, it could face civil penalties for each unlawful prescription filled in violation of the CSA and treble damages and applicable penalties for each prescription reimbursed by federal healthcare programs in violation of the FCA. The court also may award injunctive relief to prevent CVS from committing further CSA violations, including ordering appropriate changes to corporate compliance programs and policies.

    “When lives are destroyed or lost to opioid abuse, it doesn’t matter if the supplier is a street-level dealer, a pill mill, or a nationwide corporation,” said Jessica D. Aber, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Our laws regarding the distribution of opioids and other controlled substances are clear and apply to everyone. We will pursue whatever legal action is necessary to stop any enterprise, regardless of size, that places profit over the safety of our citizens.”

    “CVS is alleged to have dispensed large amounts of highly addictive opioid medications to persons they knew had no medical need for them. Simply put, they put profits over their obligation to keep their customers safe,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “A pharmacy is the final step in the pharmaceutical distribution process that is in place to keep customers safe. In the fight against the opioid epidemic, DEA will continue to be relentless in holding those accountable who violate our drug laws and place our communities in danger whether they are a criminal cartel or large pharmacy chain.”

    “Pharmacies and pharmacists are critical partners to ensure controlled substances are dispensed lawfully and safely to the public,” said Deputy Inspector General Christian J. Schrank of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG is committed to holding individuals and entities that dispense these controlled substances improperly and without legitimate medical purpose accountable.”

    “Protecting TRICARE, the healthcare system for military members and their dependents, is a top priority for the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS),” stated Special Agent in Charge Patrick J. Hegarty, DCIS Northeast Field Office. “Today’s filing demonstrates DCIS’ ongoing commitment to partner with the Department of Justice and our law enforcement partners to investigate health care providers that submit false claims to TRICARE and put its beneficiaries at risk.”

    Whistleblower Hillary Estright, who previously worked for CVS, filed an action on October 17, 2019, under the qui tam provisions of the FCA. Those provisions authorize private parties to sue on behalf of the United States for false claims and share in any recovery. The Act permits the United States to intervene and take over such lawsuits, as it has done here.

    The case is captioned United States ex rel. Estright v. Health Corporation, et al., No. 1:22-cv-222 (D.R.I.).

    The United States’ intervention in this matter underscores the government’s commitment to combating health care fraud. One of the most powerful tools in this effort is the False Claims Act. Tips and complaints from all sources about potential fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement can be reported to HHS, at 800-HHS-TIPS (800-447-8477).

    The United States’ enforcement action is being litigated by attorneys from the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Rhode Island (First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara M. Bloom and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kevin Love Hubbard and Rachna Vyas), the Justice Department Civil Division’s Consumer Protection Branch (Assistant Directors Amy L. DeLine and C.B. Buente, Senior Litigation Counsel Donald Lorenzen, and Trial Attorneys Benjamin Cornfeld and Amanda K. Kelly) and Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section (Trial Attorneys Claire L. Norsetter, Joshua Barron, and Megan F. Engel), as well as the Eastern District of Virginia (Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clare Wuerker and John Beerbower), the District of Hawaii (Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sydney Spector and Tracy Weinstein), and the Eastern District of Texas (Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Gillingham and Adrian Garcia).

    The DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, Washington, D.C. Field Division, HHS-OIG, and DCIS conducted the investigation. Several other offices provided substantial assistance in the investigation, including the United States Attorneys’ Offices for the Southern District of California, the Northern District of Ohio, DEA’s Office of Chief Counsel, DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, Los Angeles Field Division, the Office of Personnel Management, the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General, and the FBI.

    The claims asserted against the defendants are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.

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    MIL Security OSI –