AUSTIN, Texas, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Asure Software, Inc. (“Asure” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ASUR), a leading provider of cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions, announced today that the Company will hold a conference call on Thursday, May 1, 2025 at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time to discuss its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. Financial results will be issued via press release prior to the call.
Asure Chairman and CEO Pat Goepel as well as CFO John Pence will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Date: Thursday, May 1, 2025 Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (3:30 p.m. Central time) U.S. dial-in: 877-407-9219 International dial-in: 201-689-8852 Confirmation: 13753139
Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time of the conference call. An operator will register your name and organization.
The conference call will also be webcast on the investor relations section of Asure Software’s website here. A replay of the webcast will be available.
About Asure Software Asure Software (Nasdaq: ASUR) provides cloud-based Human Capital Management (HCM) software solutions that assist organizations of all sizes in streamlining their HCM processes. Asure’s suite of HCM solutions includes HR, payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, payroll tax management, and talent management. The company’s approach to HR compliance services incorporates AI technology to enhance scalability and efficiency while prioritizing client interactions. For more information, please visit www.asuresoftware.com.
MENLO PARK, Calif., April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Joveo, the global leader in AI-led, high-performance recruitment marketing and candidate engagement, announced today that its Unified Analytics dashboard has been named Best Talent Intelligence Solution by Lighthouse Research & Advisory in the 2025 HR Tech Awards. The annual awards program recognizes the most innovative and impactful HR technology solutions across the globe.
The Best Talent Intelligence Solution category highlights technology that empowers employers to leverage data and insights for more strategic and informed talent decisions. Joveo’s Unified Analytics dashboard stands out for delivering real-time visibility into recruitment marketing performance and costs across all sources, hiring funnel effectiveness, labor market analytics, and competitive insights, in a single pane of glass. This makes it possible for talent acquisition (TA) teams to act fast and spend smarter.
“Joveo’s Unified Analytics platform brings clarity and control to recruitment marketing with unmatched visibility across spend, source, and strategy,” stated Ben Eubanks, Chief Research Officer, Lighthouse Research & Advisory. “Employers reduce cost per application by more than 20% and slash manual reporting time by 90% after switching to Joveo, gaining the ability to optimize campaigns in real time. This is a standout example of analytics that truly enable smarter hiring decisions.”
Joveo’s award-winning solution centralizes data from job boards, social media channels, ATS, talent CRM, career sites, and landing pages into a single source of truth — helping TA leaders uncover inefficiencies, predict outcomes, and drive better results.
“This recognition validates our vision of enabling data-led recruiting with real-time, AI-driven insights,” said Kshitij Jain, Founder and CEO of Joveo. “Unified Analytics is more than a dashboard — it’s a decision engine. It gives our customers a clear view into performance, pinpoints issues, explains why they occurred, and offers actionable recommendations. We’re thrilled to see our customers achieve measurable improvements in cost, speed, and quality of hire, and to be recognized by Lighthouse Research & Advisory for the impact we’re having on talent teams around the world.”
The 2025 HR Tech Awards, now in its sixth year, are judged by an independent panel of industry practitioners, educators, and consultants. Less than 2% of HR technology vendors are recognized each year, making this win a testament to Joveo’s innovation and proven impact.
For more information about Joveo’s award-winning platform and Unified Analytics, visit www.joveo.com.
About Joveo
As the global leader in AI-led, high-performance recruitment marketing, Joveo is transforming talent attraction and recruitment media buying for the world’s largest employers, staffing firms, RPOs, and media agencies. The Joveo platform enables businesses to attract, source, engage, and hire the best candidates on time and within budget.
Powering millions of jobs every day, Joveo’s AI-driven recruitment marketing platform uses advanced data science and machine learning to dynamically manage and optimize talent sourcing and applications across all online channels, while providing real-time insights at every step of the job seeker journey, from click to hire.
Every day, people are constantly learning and forming new memories. When you pick up a new hobby, try a recipe a friend recommended or read the latest world news, your brain stores many of these memories for years or decades.
But how does your brain achieve this incredible feat?
The human brain is made up of billions of nerve cells. These neurons conduct electrical pulses that carry information, much like how computers use binary code to carry data.
These electrical pulses are communicated with other neurons through connections between them called synapses. Individual neurons have branching extensions known as dendrites that can receive thousands of electrical inputs from other cells. Dendrites transmit these inputs to the main body of the neuron, where it then integrates all these signals to generate its own electrical pulses.
It is the collective activity of these electrical pulses across specific groups of neurons that form the representations of different information and experiences within the brain.
For decades, neuroscientists have thought that the brain learns by changing how neurons are connected to one another. As new information and experiences alter how neurons communicate with each other and change their collective activity patterns, some synaptic connections are made stronger while others are made weaker. This process of synaptic plasticity is what produces representations of new information and experiences within your brain.
In order for your brain to produce the correct representations during learning, however, the right synaptic connections must undergo the right changes at the right time. The “rules” that your brain uses to select which synapses to change during learning – what neuroscientists call the credit assignment problem – have remained largely unclear.
Defining the rules
We decided to monitor the activity of individual synaptic connections within the brain during learning to see whether we could identify activity patterns that determine which connections would get stronger or weaker.
To do this, we genetically encoded biosensors in the neurons of mice that would light up in response to synaptic and neural activity. We monitored this activity in real time as the mice learned a task that involved pressing a lever to a certain position after a sound cue in order to receive water.
We were surprised to find that the synapses on a neuron don’t all follow the same rule. For example, scientists have often thought that neurons follow what are called Hebbian rules, where neurons that consistently fire together, wire together. Instead, we saw that synapses on different locations of dendrites of the same neuron followed different rules to determine whether connections got stronger or weaker. Some synapses adhered to the traditional Hebbian rule where neurons that consistently fire together strengthen their connections. Other synapses did something different and completely independent of the neuron’s activity.
Our findings suggest that neurons, by simultaneously using two different sets of rules for learning across different groups of synapses, rather than a single uniform rule, can more precisely tune the different types of inputs they receive to appropriately represent new information in the brain.
In other words, by following different rules in the process of learning, neurons can multitask and perform multiple functions in parallel.
Future applications
This discovery provides a clearer understanding of how the connections between neurons change during learning. Given that most brain disorders, including degenerative and psychiatric conditions, involve some form of malfunctioning synapses, this has potentially important implications for human health and society.
For example, depression may develop from an excessive weakening of the synaptic connections within certain areas of the brain that make it harder to experience pleasure. By understanding how synaptic plasticity normally operates, scientists may be able to better understand what goes wrong in depression and then develop therapies to more effectively treat it.
These findings may also have implications for artificial intelligence. The artificial neural networks underlying AI have largely been inspired by how the brain works. However, the learning rules researchers use to update the connections within the networks and train the models are usually uniform and also not biologically plausible. Our research may provide insights into how to develop more biologically realistic AI models that are more efficient, have better performance, or both.
There is still a long way to go before we can use this information to develop new therapies for human brain disorders. While we found that synaptic connections on different groups of dendrites use different learning rules, we don’t know exactly why or how. In addition, while the ability of neurons to simultaneously use multiple learning methods increases their capacity to encode information, what other properties this may give them isn’t yet clear.
Future research will hopefully answer these questions and further our understanding of how the brain learns.
William Wright receives funding from National Institutes of Health (NINDS) and the Schmidt Sciences Foundation.
Takaki Komiyama receives funding from NIH, NSF, Simons Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)
U.S. Representatives Don Beyer (D-VA), Mike Levin (D-CA), and Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) were joined by 45 additional Members of Congress including Ranking Member of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Ranking Member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee Gerry Connolly (D-VA) to call for the immediate termination of the “Department of Government Efficiency’s” (DOGE) use of unauthorized AI systems, emphasizing the significant security risks posed and potential criminal liability involved. The lawmakers also expressed deep concerns with lack of oversight over AI usage, sharing of non-public or sensitive data, and with Elon Musk’s conflicts of interest as a federal contractor and founder and owner of xAI.
The lawmakers wrote:
“We write to express concern about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems within this Administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), without standards or regard for sensitive data. We understand AI’s potential for modernization and efficiency improvements within the federal government, and support implementation of AI technologies in a manner that complies with existing data security and software development, acquisition, and usage laws, and that provides proper transparency, vetting, and oversight over the use of such AI technologies. We are specifically concerned about reports of Elon Musk and DOGE’s monitoring and sharing of federal employee and non-public federal data using AI tools, and reports of intentions to use sensitive data to train private AI models. These present serious security risks, self-dealing, and potential criminal liability if not handled correctly, and have the potential to undermine successful and appropriate AI adoption.
“In addition, DOGE’s reported use of AI technologies on sensitive information raises significant concerns about data security. Musk’s DOGE team at the Office of Personnel Management reportedly used AI systems to analyze emails from a large portion of the two million person Federal workforce describing their previous week’s accomplishments—without model transparency and without addressing major concerns about security or conflicts of interest. Alarmingly, sensitive data from across the Department of Education was also reportedly fed into an AI system, including data with personally identifiable information for people who manage grants, as well as sensitive internal financial data. Without proper protections, feeding sensitive data into an AI system puts it into the possession of a system’s operator—a massive breach of public and employee trust and an increase in cybersecurity risks surrounding that data. Generative AI models also frequently make errors and show significant biases—the technology simply is not ready for use in high-risk decision-making without proper vetting, transparency, oversight, and guardrails in place.
“Sharing of such data would constitute a major data privacy and data security risk. Specifically, we are concerned that sharing such data outside of federal systems or lawfully vetted contracts may run in violation of laws such as the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. These laws set requirements for the federal government’s collection and use of personal information and sensitive data— including through establishing limits on agency information sharing, and requirements for data minimization, disclosure limitations, cybersecurity, transparency, and privacy impact assessments for developing or procuring information technology. In addition, the federal government is legally obligated to comply with codified requirements for vetting software and cloud products and services across the federal government, through programs such as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
“It is clear that DOGE’s use of AI clearly does not meet the standards the previous memoranda set. Worse, existing AI systems like CamoGPT have been used in the misguided purging of federal materials from references to achievements of Americans of color and women, including the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen. It is not clear how the use of CamoGPT meets the Congressional authorization for AI usage provided in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, but it is alarming that the result of such usage by this Administration was referred to as an error—raising questions about the appropriateness of and lack of sufficient oversight of its use.
“While we support the federal government integrating new, approved AI technologies that can improve efficiency or efficacy, we cannot sacrifice security, privacy, and appropriate use standards when interacting with federal data. We also cannot condone use of AI systems, often known for hallucinations and bias, in decisions regarding termination of federal employment or federal funding without sufficient transparency and oversight of those models—the risk of losing talent and critical research because of flawed technology or flawed uses of such technology is simply too high. We ask that you immediately terminate any use of AI systems that have not been approved by FedRAMP or equivalent formal approval procedures or that do not comply with existing laws. In addition, we ask that you do not use any AI system to make employment termination decisions relating to civil servants.”
Full text of the letter follows below, and a signed copy is available here.
–
Dear Director Vought:
We write to express concern about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems within this Administration’s “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE), without standards or regard for sensitive data. We understand AI’s potential for modernization and efficiency improvements within the federal government, and support implementation of AI technologies in a manner that complies with existing data security and software development, acquisition, and usage laws, and that provides proper transparency, vetting, and oversight over the use of such AI technologies. We are specifically concerned about reports of Elon Musk and DOGE’s monitoring and sharing of federal employee and non-public federal data using AI tools, and reports of intentions to use sensitive data to train private AI models. These present serious security risks, self-dealing, and potential criminal liability if not handled correctly, and have the potential to undermine successful and appropriate AI adoption.
A DOGE staffer who is also currently employed at SpaceX reportedly created an “AI assistant” for DOGE staff, powered by Musk’s xAI Grok-2 model—this model was hosted on a subdomain of the staffer’s external website, raising both security concerns and conflict of interest issues. In addition to privacy and security concerns, Musk stands to profit from access to government data or contracting opportunities that are not available to competitors or the public. Increased access to sensitive government data would set his AI models at an unfair competitive advantage over other AI service providers—the conflicts of interest become exponentially worse if Musk pursues further contracts to become a major provider of government AI services.
Further, DOGE reportedly used a chatbot named “GSAi” based on Anthropic and Meta models with the stated intent of analyzing contract and procurement data via a centralized system consolidated under GSA, which would pose similar security and conflict of interest problems. Giving Musk’s teams access to sensitive government data on other contracts across the federal government is especially problematic when considering Musk’s business interests with SpaceX —already a major government contractor—as well as with SpaceX subsidiary Starlink, Tesla, and elsewhere.
In addition, DOGE’s reported use of AI technologies on sensitive information raises significant concerns about data security. Musk’s DOGE team at the Office of Personnel Management reportedly used AI systems to analyze emails from a large portion of the two million person Federal workforce describing their previous week’s accomplishments—without model transparency and without addressing major concerns about security or conflicts of interest. Alarmingly, sensitive data from across the Department of Education was also reportedly fed into an AI system, including data with personally identifiable information for people who manage grants, as well as sensitive internal financial data. Without proper protections, feeding sensitive data into an AI system puts it into the possession of a system’s operator—a massive breach of public and employee trust and an increase in cybersecurity risks surrounding that data. Generative AI models also frequently make errors and show significant biases—the technology simply is not ready for use in high-risk decision-making without proper vetting, transparency, oversight, and guardrails in place.
Sharing of such data would constitute a major data privacy and data security risk. Specifically, we are concerned that sharing such data outside of federal systems or lawfully vetted contracts may run in violation of laws such as the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014. These laws set requirements for the federal government’s collection and use of personal information and sensitive data— including through establishing limits on agency information sharing, and requirements for data minimization, disclosure limitations, cybersecurity, transparency, and privacy impact assessments for developing or procuring information technology. In addition, the federal government is legally obligated to comply with codified requirements for vetting software and cloud products and services across the federal government, through programs such as the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP).
In 2023, OMB established memoranda to help implement requirements to vet and approve AI technologies for federal use, such as OMB memoranda M-24-10 and M-24-18, which directed federal agencies to use AI only after developing tests and guidelines to ensure that its use would not compromise privacy and cybersecurity. These memoranda recognized the sensitive nature of the information the federal government handles every day and the significant privacy risks of using unvetted AI technologies on such information—including the risk of sharing personally identifiable or otherwise sensitive information with the AI model deployers. While these memoranda were recently revised through OMB’s M-25-21 and M-25-22, the new memoranda retain some provisions on data security and data privacy, including calls against using non-public data for training commercial AI models. These memoranda also define employment decisions for federal employees as a high-impact AI use application.
It is clear that DOGE’s use of AI clearly does not meet the standards the previous memoranda set. Worse, existing AI systems like CamoGPT have been used in the misguided purging of federal materials from references to achievements of Americans of color and women, including the Navajo Code Talkers and the Tuskegee Airmen. It is not clear how the use of CamoGPT meets the Congressional authorization for AI usage provided in the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, but it is alarming that the result of such usage by this Administration was referred to as an error—raising questions about the appropriateness of and lack of sufficient oversight of its use.
While we support the federal government integrating new, approved AI technologies that can improve efficiency or efficacy, we cannot sacrifice security, privacy, and appropriate use standards when interacting with federal data. We also cannot condone use of AI systems, often known for hallucinations and bias, in decisions regarding termination of federal employment or federal funding without sufficient transparency and oversight of those models—the risk of losing talent and critical research because of flawed technology or flawed uses of such technology is simply too high. We ask that you immediately terminate any use of AI systems that have not been approved by FedRAMP or equivalent formal approval procedures or that do not comply with existing laws. In addition, we ask that you do not use any AI system to make employment termination decisions relating to civil servants.
It is important to understand the extent to which this administration’s reckless disregard for legal authorities and necessary security protocols has extended into use of AI systems. Thoughtful adoption of AI is of strategic national importance. Please provide responses to the following questions by no later than April 25, 2025:
Has DOGE or the Trump Administration used AI technologies powered by xAI’s models?
What new AI software has been deployed and used by this Administration that was not used by a previous administration? Provide a list.
Include whether each is on the CISA or DISA authorized technologies list or FedRAMP approved services list, and the date such technology or service was added.
Include how this Administration’s use of each of such technologies is in compliance with laws such as the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014.
Of the models used in the past two months, who has access to the information submitted to such models and how is oversight being conducted?
Please provide the level of clearance, authorization, and training they have received.
Please provide whether they are a special government employee or what category of employee they are.
Have the “Grok” models used or the AI technologies used in “GSAi” gone through a federal procurement process prior to use?
Describe the process such technologies were subject to, and provide documentation.
As many AI deployers collect information on the prompts input into their AI models, and use those prompts and their inferences to train their models, how are you ensuring that no deployers of any AI technologies that DOGE or the Trump Administration may use engage in this practice?
Has DOGE or the Trump Administration to date used any AI technology to make or recommend an employment decision about a federal employee?
If so, which technologies has the Department or Administration used?
If so, how many federal employees did the Department or Administration use AI technology to make or recommend an employment decision about?
Has DOGE or the Trump Administration to date used any AI technology to make or recommend a decision regarding a contract or federal funding?
If so, which contracts and/or which funding? Please provide the search query and rationale for the decision.
Have Musk or DOGE employees used government datasets that are not publicly accessible in the training of any non-Federal AI technologies, including for any “Grok” models?
Has DOGE or the Trump Administration to date shared any government datasets that are not publicly accessible with any services, sites, or actors that are not approved by FedRAMP or in a way that is not in compliance with the Privacy Act of 1974, the E-Government Act of 2002, the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014, or any other relevant laws governing data security?
The name, agency or department of origin, and a timespan of the information covered in the dataset;
A description of the static or dynamic data sources and scope of the data accessed for the analyses performed; and
A description of the content of the data accessed, including data types and known features. This should include identification of any metadata collected (such as associated users, IP addresses, locations, or timestamps).
10. Do any DOGE servers or websites incorporate AI technologies not previously approved under the requirements set by M-24-10 or M-24-18, or agency guidance in compliance with those memoranda, or not on the CISA or DISA authorized technologies list or FedRAMP approved services list? If so, provide a list. 11.What steps has the Trump Administration taken to ensure that Musk and all DOGE employees are not using their federal government role to enrich themselves personally or the companies in which they hold ownership or maintain affiliation, including through sharing of data?
Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Nanette Diaz Barragán (CA-44)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 27, 2025
Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov
DENVER, COLORADO — Today, Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44) joined the 36th Annual Women in Aviation International (WAI) Conference for a featured conversation with the Air Line Pilots Association’s (ALPA) First Vice President, Captain Wendy Morse.
During their conversation, Congresswoman Barragán and Captain Morse made clear their support for women pilots in response to a current narrative about women pilots not being as qualified or as capable as their male counterparts. They also spoke about the need to protect the gains made by women flight professionals and to continue the work to increase and advance the role of women in the aviation industry.
“The Women in Aviation International Conference was an opportunity to show unequivocal support from the halls of Congress for our pilots and reinforce the fact that all pilots have to meet the same rigorous standards and qualifications, regardless of race or sex,” said Congresswoman Barragán. “Thousands of dedicated pilots fly passengers around the country every day in a display of their skill and professionalism. The industry upholds the highest standards for all of its pilots, and it’s important to recognize that fact and to let the general public know that, when they board a plane, they should have confidence in whoever is in the cockpit.”
“There is no shortcut to the flight deck. All pilots are held to the same rigorous qualifications and are trained and evaluated to the same uncompromising standards. Women aviators have consistently proven their exceptional capabilities in this demanding profession, bringing valuable perspectives and talents to flight operations worldwide,” said Morse. “ALPA is grateful for such thoughtful and engaged leaders like Rep. Barragán who works tirelessly to help us break down barriers for women in aviation and ensure that there is room for everyone who has the passion and dedication to become a qualified airline pilot,” said Captain Wendy Morse.
The WAI Conference runs through Saturday, March 29, and features keynote speakers including astronaut and bestselling author Emily Calandrelli, Royal Australian Navy’s first female pilot Natalee Johnston, former U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Michelle “Mace” Curran, Joby Aviation President of Operations Bonny Simi, and three-time Paralympic medalist Amy Purdy.
The WTO Secretariat presented to members the key findings of a report launched in November 2024 entitled “Trading with intelligence: How AI shapes and is shaped by international trade”. The report discusses how AI may shape the future of international trade by reducing trade costs, improving productivity and expanding economies’ comparative advantages.
WTO members underscored the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on global trade and acknowledged the need to examine its impact on trade policies and development. Members highlighted that the WTO has a role to play in this area by fostering regulatory coherence and building capacity regarding AI, especially for developing economies.
Members also spoke about the importance of AI in enhancing trade facilitation measures aimed at reducing costs and increasing efficiency in cross-border trade by streamlining customs procedures and adopting digital technologies.
Members also highlighted the role of the WTO as a forum for discussion, exchange of best practices and collaboration with other stakeholders, including international organizations and experts, on the intersection between international trade and AI.
The next meeting is scheduled for 15 May. It will focus on the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions.
“Anusandhan” National Research Foundation (ANRF) to anchor upscaled collaborations involving private players, says Dr Jitendra Singh; ANRF to Anchor India’s Scientific Future: Dr. Jitendra Singh Charts Roadmap for Cross-Ministry Collaboration
‘No More Silos’: Dr. Jitendra Singh Pitches Unified Scientific Vision
From Lab to Market: Govt Taps ANRF to Turn Research into Scalable Public Goods with commercial viability
Dr. Jitendra Singh Chairs Joint Review Meet of All Science Ministries, Charts Unified Innovation Roadmap
Posted On: 17 APR 2025 10:19PM by PIB Delhi
In a significant move aimed at transforming India’s scientific research and innovation ecosystem into a collaborative and commercially viable enterprise, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology; Earth Sciences and Minister of State for PMO, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Space, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh today called for positioning the newly constituted “Anusandhan” National Research Foundation (ANRF) as a critical organisation for all science ministries and departments across the government and declared that ANRF has been envisaged to anchor upscaled collaborations involving private players.
Chairing a high-level joint meeting of all the science Ministries and departments in Govt of India at the National Science Centre here today, the Minister laid out a vision for aligning research outcomes across departments with national priorities, private sector participation, and market readiness.
At the core of this shift, said Dr Jitendra Singh, is the aspiration to build a unified research strategy that breaks silos, avoids duplication and delivers tangible, scalable benefits to society. “All the science ministries must work with the intent to deliver market-relevant, public-good products,” he emphasised, adding that ANRF will not only act as a coordinating body but also serve as a catalyst to bring in private sector investment and innovation.
The ANRF’s newly appointed CEO, Dr.Shivkumar Kalyanaraman, outlined a bold roadmap that envisions catalytic funding models, deep private sector integration, and AI-led scientific acceleration. The agency is set to model its functioning on globally successful institutions like the NSF and DARPA, launching cross-ministerial missions focused on economic growth and societal impact.
Notably, ANRF is set to launch a “Small Business Deep Tech Innovation” programme inspired by global best practices, aimed at supporting startups and MSMEs in scaling technologies for real-world application. In a bid to maximise national research infrastructure, ANRF will also roll out a “Cloud of Research and Innovation Infrastructure” to allow deep-tech startups and institutions to access underused equipment across the country.
The foundation’s AI-for-Science initiative is another key highlight, focusing on using AI to model scientific equations in physics, chemistry, and biology — a leap expected to drastically shorten the time from theory to practice in core scientific domains.
Dr. Jitendra Singh underscored the importance of projects with visible public utility, citing CSIR’s HANSA-NG aircraft, the Department of Atomic Energy’s Bharat Small Modular Reactors, and space-based applications as models to emulate.
The HANSA-NG, a two-seater trainer aircraft developed indigenously by CSIR-NAL, is already witnessing strong market interest with 110 orders and production lined up in collaboration with Pioneer Clean Arms Pvt Ltd. Dr. Jitendra Singh noted the project’s potential to reduce India’s dependency on expensive foreign pilot training, and suggested roping in private airlines and aerospace component manufacturers to scale up production beyond Bengaluru.
Similarly, the Department of Atomic Energy is developing the Bharat Small Modular Reactor (BSMR), a 200 MW pressurised water reactor intended for industrial applications and grid-independent power generation. These initiatives demonstrate the type of innovation the Minister wants the ANRF to incubate and scale.
India’s space programme also featured prominently in the review. From the recent success of the SPADEX satellite docking to the development of reusable engine technology and advanced space exploration missions, the Department of Space reported rapid strides, including preparations for India’s human spaceflight mission by 2040.
Across the spectrum — whether it’s ocean mining technology from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, bio-manufacturing hubs by DBT, or cutting-edge chips and AI solutions in partnership with semiconductor labs — the government is pushing for synergy, scalability, and sustainability.
Concluding the meeting, Dr. Jitendra Singh reiterated that the future of Indian science lies in integration and innovation. “The time for working in silos is over. We must institutionalise collaboration and deliver solutions that matter,” he said, signalling a new era for India’s science ecosystem — one where policy, private investment, and research institutions converge under the stewardship of ANRF.
The meeting was attended by Tarun Kapoor, Advisor to the Prime Minister; Hari Ranjan Rao, Additional Secretary in the PMO; Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology; Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology; Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, Director General, CSIR and Secretary, DSIR; Dr. V. Narayanan, Chairman, ISRO and Secretary, Department of Space, along with other senior officials.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs Reviews Tribal Welfare Schemes in Delhi Three-Day National Review Charts Roadmap for Holistic Tribal Development
Emphasis on Ground-Level Execution of PM-JANMAN & DhartiAabaJanjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan
Special Focus on Education, Empowerment, and Tribal Heritage
Posted On: 17 APR 2025 10:13PM by PIB Delhi
Government of India remains steadfast in its commitment to the holistic development of tribal communities across the country. A comprehensive suite of initiatives—ranging from scholarships, Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS), Article 275(1) grants, PM-JANMAN, DhartiAabaJanjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), to livelihood programs and Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs)—continue to drive inclusive growth and empowerment among tribal populations.
In line with this vision, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs conducted a three-day National Review and Orientation Meeting from 15th to 17th April 2025 in New Delhi, under the chairmanship of Shri VibhuNayar, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the guidance of Hon’ble Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Shri JualOram. The review brought together Principal Secretaries, Tribal Welfare Secretaries, Directors, and senior officials from States and Union Territories to evaluate progress and recalibrate strategies for accelerated implementation.
In his inaugural address, Secretary Shri VibhuNayar stressed the importance of district- and block-level capacity building and robust institutional mechanisms to ensure effective on-ground execution& IEC Campaign ofPM-JANMAN and DAJGUA.
Key Highlights:
PM-JANMAN, launched on 15th November 2023 from Khunti (the birthplace of Bhagwan Birsa Munda), aims to uplift 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) across 30,000 habitations, providing comprehensive last-mile delivery of housing, water, sanitation, education, healthcare, nutrition, and digital connectivity for approximately 45 lakh beneficiaries.
DAJGUA, a convergence-based initiative across 17 Union Ministries, targets the transformation of 63,843 tribal villages in 549 districts, impacting over 5.5 crore tribal citizens through 25 integrated interventions.
States have been directed to achieve complete saturation of interventions under PM-JANMAN by 15th November 2025, marking the 150th birth anniversaryofBhagwan Birsa Munda.
Emphasis was placed on village-wise tracking, physical completion, and quarterly progress reporting ending June 2025, with certification from Gram Sabhas as a mandatory milestone for saturation.
States were encouraged to replicate best practices from high-performing districts and bring lagging areas at par through knowledge-sharing and convergence.
States were encouraged to start IEC Campaign & Benefit saturation camp for DAJGUA in coming few weeks.
States were encouraged to sanction interventions under DAJGUA at faster pace.
Elevating Quality of Education through EMRS
The review laid strong emphasis on improving academic and infrastructural standards in Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS). The Ministry’s vision is to transform EMRS into centres of academic excellence, nurturing future tribal leaders and innovators.
Action Points:
Recruitment and continuous training of qualified teachers
Infrastructure upgrades and smart classroom facilities
Integration of experiential learning and 21st-century skills
Enhanced student and staff welfare mechanisms
State-wise progress on each EMRS construction was closely reviewed
Expanding Access and Efficiency in Scholarships
To ensure no tribal student is left behind, the Secretary urged states to step up efforts to increase awareness and timely disbursal of pre- and post-matric scholarships.
Directives to States:
Ensure timely and transparent disbursal
Remove bureaucratic and procedural bottlenecks
Integrate all states into the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) or states having portal to integrate NSP portal throughAPI-based systems
Ensure disbursal at the beginning of the academic year to maximize impact
Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh: A Year of Impactful Action
Recognizing the year as Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh, Shri VibhuNayarhas given special emphasis to States and TRIs to organize thematic events/ activities / campaigns / initiatives that honour tribal heritage while promoting social and economic inclusion. The key themes include:Education & Skill Development, Health & Nutrition, Livelihood & Entrepreneurship, Preservation of Tribal Art, Culture, and Language, Infrastructure and Service Delivery.
A whole-of-government approach—involving collaboration with Line Ministries, State Departments, NGOs, and Corporates—was advocated to ensure deeper engagement and measurable impact.
Preserving Tribal Arts, Culture, and Languages: Adi Sanskriti& Adi Vaani
The Secretary emphasized accelerating theinitiatives like Adi Sanskriti and Adi Vaani.
Adi Sanskriti Project focuses on creating quality content for Tribal Art Academy, Digital Repository, and Tribal Haat to curate and promote tribal art, cuisine, rituals, and cultural expressions.
Adi Vaani, an AI-driven multilingual translation platform, is being leveraged to overcome language barriers in education and governance.
States have been instructed to identify low-resource tribal languages for AI-based documentation and development.
Combating Sickle Cell Disease: Centers of Competency
As part of the National Mission to Eliminate Sickle Cell Anaemia, the Ministry announced the establishment of Centers of Competency in tribal regions. These centres will act as hubs for screening, treatment, capacity building, and community outreach.
The three-day review culminated in a renewed commitment to inclusive, technology-driven, and community-centric approaches to tribal development. The roadmap ahead emphasizes:
Stronger inter-ministerial convergence
Capacity buildingat every administrative level
Active community participationfor sustainable outcomes
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs continues to lead with vision and resolve, ensuring that
tribal citizen becomes a key stakeholder in India’s growth storyTop of Form
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted Independent Drive Tests (IDT) in cities/highways/Railway/Coastal area of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh LSA), City & Railway route of Shimla (Himachal Pradesh LSA), Alappuzha & Alappuzha Backwaters (Kerala LSA), Dehradun (UP-West LSA), Rajkot (Gujarat LSA), Highway route of Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur, Railway route from Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar and Coastal area of Paradeep (Odisha LSA). Drive tests were conducted to assess the quality of service provided by Cellular Mobile Telephone Service providers for voice and data services in February 2025.
In IDT, the performance of M/s Bharti Airtel Ltd., M/s BSNL/MTNL, M/s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. and M/s Vodafone Idea Ltd., providing services in a Licensed Service Area (LSA) through various technologies (like 2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G) for voice and data, has been measured by conducting drive test. The observations presented in drive test reports represent the performance of the service providers on the area/ route under test on the day/ time of conducting the drive test.
The following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Voice as well as Data service were assessed for the networks of all Telecom service providers operating in the region:
Voice services:
Call setup success rate
Drop call rate (DCR)
Speech Quality using MOS (mean opinion score)
Downlink & Uplink packet (voice) drop rate
Call Silence Rate
Coverage (%)- Signal strength
Data Service:
Data Throughput (Downlink and uplink both)
Packet drop rate (Downlink & Uplink)
Video streaming delay
Latency
Jitter
The details of drive tests conducted in the six areas are given below:
The detailed reports are available at TRAI website www.trai.gov.in. For any clarification/information, Shri Tejpal Singh, Advisor (QoS-I) TRAI may be contacted on email: adv-qos1@trai.gov.in or at Tel. No. +91-11-20907759.
(Atul Kumar Chaudhary)
Secretary
Annexure-A
Drive test route Map: (Alappuzha City & Alappuzha Backwaters- Kerala LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Alappuzha & Alappuzha Backwaters under Kerala LSA.
Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
Drive test route Map: (Dehradun City- UP West LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Dehradun City under UP West LSA. Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
Drive test route Map: (Shimla – Himachal Pradesh LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Shimla City and Railway route from Shimla to Kalka under Himachal Pradesh LSA.
Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
Drive test route Map: (Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur Highway & Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar Railway Route & Paradeep Coastal area – Odisha LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur Highway & Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar Railway Route & Paradeep Coast under Odisha LSA.
Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
Drive test route Map: (Hyderabad City- Andhra Pradesh LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Hyderabad City under Andhra Pradesh LSA. Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
1. Drive test route Map: (Rajkot City- Gujarat LSA)
This route map indicates the routes covered in independent drive test in Rajkot City under Gujarat LSA.
Legends for the Drive Tests route & area are as below
2. Performance against key QoS parameters:
CSSR: Call setup success rate (in %), CST: Call setup time (in milli seconds), DCR: Drop call rate (in %) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score.
Summary-Voice Service
Call Setup Success Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call setup success rate of 99.85%, 91.75%, 99.86% and 100.00% respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Call Setup Time: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call setup time of 1.25, 1.56, 0.72 & 0.77 seconds respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Drop Call Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have drop call rate of 0.00%, 0.90%, 0.14% & 0.15% respectively in Auto selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Call Silence/Mute Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have silence rate of 0.00%, 6.95%, 0.56% & 0.56% respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G).
Mean Opinion Score (MOS): Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have MOS score of 4.02, 2.91, 3.91 & 4.53 respectively.
Source: Hong Kong Government special administrative region
“HK SciFest 2025”, organised by the Science Promotion Unit of the Hong Kong Science Museum (HKScM), will be held from tomorrow (April 18) to April 27. The HKScM is collaborating with over 50 partners, including government departments, universities and science organisations, launching over 100 science programmes, including science workshops, lectures, seminars, film screenings, and site visits. Most activities are free, and members of the public are welcome to join.
“HK SciFest” is one of the largest popular science events in Hong Kong. Addressing the opening ceremony today (April 17), the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Manda Chan, said although Hong Kong is geographically small, the city has generated numerous scientific research initiatives and innovations that benefit the global community. Notable examples include optical fibre networks which are capable of receiving and transmitting vast amount of information in a wink, and non-invasive prenatal diagnosis that provides safer and more accurate assessments to detect the risk of genetic disease in fetuses. With the theme of “Local Contributions in Science”, this year’s “HK SciFest” aims to showcase the vibrant ecosystem of scientific research in Hong Kong, and the collective efforts of local science institutions and organisations in popularising scientific knowledge and driving the development of science and technology through a wide range of programmes.
Other officiating guests today included the Chairperson of the Science Sub-committee of the Museum Advisory Committee, Professor Alexander Wai Ping-kong, and the Museum Director of the HKScM, Mr Lawrence Lee.
Part of the Ground Floor Exhibition Hall of the HKScM will be converted into a “Science Bazaar” with more than 10 activity booths, where members of the public can enjoy a fun and educational science experience. Activities include a virtual autonomous vehicle driving game, a drone display, a virtual reality game to tour Geoparks in Hong Kong, local animal specimens, and learning how to identify the authenticity of gems using scientific methods. There will also be hands-on science demonstrations, mini-exhibitions and mini-workshops.
Other highlighted activities of the festival include Croucher Science Week, which will invite science communicators from around the world to host onsite science performances and workshops to explore techniques for coral propagation and reef rehabilitation and to assemble a model electric tricycle. In addition, lectures about saving sea turtles in Hong Kong and the application of artificial intelligence in daily life, film screenings of sci-fi films “Interstellar” (2014) and “A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001), guided tours at the Volcano Discovery Centre, and much more. For details of the activities and registration, please visit www.hk.science.museum/scifest2025/?lang=en.
Earlier, TRAI had released revised QoS Regulations namely “The Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wirelines and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024 (06 of 2024)’ on 02nd August 2024. These regulations have become effective from 1st October, 2024 and applicable for both access and broadband services provided on wireline as well as wireless media.
The regulations mandate that every service provider shall create or upgrade their system within six months of notification of these regulations for collection of primary data, its storage, processing, performance report generation and their online submission to the Authority.
Accordingly, the Authority, vide Direction dated 19.09.2024 and 03.01.2025, mandated the service providers to submit the performance monitoring report (PMR) of various services like access service (wireless), access service (wireline) and broadband (wireline) service within a period of fifteen (15) days from the end of the reporting period in the prescribed format.
In a major step towards automation of processes and ease of doing business for the service providers, the Authority has implemented digital and paperless process for submission of QoS performance monitoring report by the telecom service providers. PMR data submission for access service (wireless) has been automated through Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) considering the large size of data whereas PMR for access service (wireline) and broadband (wireline) service are being submitted through a user-friendly interface provided on PMR portal. In a significant milestone, PMRs for the quarter ending March 2025 have been submitted through the automated route by all the telecom service providers.
The automation of PMR submission helps to reduce human errors in the reports, simplifies the process, and minimizes the effort required by service providers.
For any clarification/information, Shri Tejpal Singh, Advisor (QoS-I) TRAI may be contacted on email: adv-qos1@trai.gov.in or at Tel. No. +91-11-20907759.
NEWS RELEASE: HAWAI‘I MARCH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 2.9 PERCENT
Posted on Apr 17, 2025 in Latest Department News, Newsroom
STATE OF HAWAIʻI
KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ANDTOURISM
KA ʻOIHANA HOʻOMOHALA PĀʻOIHANA, ʻIMI WAIWAI A HOʻOMĀKAʻIKAʻI
RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS DIVISION
JOSH GREEN, M.D. GOVERNOR
KE KIAʻĀINA
JAMES KUNANE TOKIOKA
DIRECTOR
KA LUNA HOʻOKELE
EUGENE TIAN
CHIEF STATE ECONOMIST
HAWAI‘I MARCH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 2.9 PERCENT
Jobs Increased by 11,800 Year-Over-Year
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2025
HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) today announced that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for March was 2.9 percent, compared to 3.0 in February. In March, 666,600 persons were employed and 19,900 were unemployed, for a total seasonally adjusted labor force of 686,500 statewide. Nationally, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in March, up from 4.1 percent in February.
The unemployment rate figures for the state of Hawai‘i and the U.S. in this release are seasonally adjusted in accordance with U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) methodology. The not-seasonally adjusted rate for the state was 2.4 percent in March, compared to 2.8 percent in February.
Industry Payroll Employment (Establishment Survey)
In a separate measure of employment, total nonagricultural jobs increased by 2,500 month-over-month, from February 2025 to March 2025. Job gains were experienced in Leisure & Hospitality (+1,300); Other Services (+300); and Construction (+100). Job losses occurred in Manufacturing (-100); Information (-100); Professional & Business Services (-100); Private Education & Health Services (-100); Trade, Transportation & Utilities (-200); and Financial Activities (-200). Within Leisure & Hospitality, job expansion occurred in Food Services & Drinking Places. Government employment went up by 1,600 jobs, primarily due to above average seasonal hiring of workers at both the Department of Education and the University of Hawai‘i system. Year-over-year, nonfarm jobs have gone up by 11,800, or 1.8 percent.
Technical Notes:
Labor Force Components
The concepts and definitions used by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program are the same as those used in the Current Population Survey for the national labor force data:
Civilian labor force. Included are all persons in the civilian noninstitutional population ages 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed. (See the definitions below.)
Employed persons. These are all persons who, during the reference week (the week including the twelfth day of the month), (a) did any work as paid employees, worked in their own business or profession or on their own farm, or worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise operated by a member of their family, or (b) were not working but who had jobs from which they were temporarily absent because of vacation, illness, bad weather, childcare problems, maternity or paternity leave, labor-management dispute, job training, or other family or personal reasons, whether or not they were paid for the time off or were seeking other jobs. Each employed person is counted only once, even if he or she holds more than one job.
Unemployed persons. Included are all persons who had no employment during the reference week, were available for work, except for temporary illness and had made specific efforts to find employment sometime during the four-week period ending with the reference week. Persons who were waiting to be recalled to a job from which they had been laid off need not have been looking for work to be classified as unemployed.
Unemployment rate. The unemployed percent of the civilian labor force [i.e., 100 times (unemployed/civilian labor force)].
Seasonal Adjustment
The seasonal fluctuations in the number of employed and unemployed persons reflect hiring and layoff patterns that accompany regular events such as the winter holiday season and the summer vacation season. These variations make it difficult to tell whether month-to-month changes in employment and unemployment are due to normal seasonal patterns or to changing economic conditions. Therefore, the BLS uses a statistical technique called seasonal adjustment to address these issues. This technique uses the history of the labor force data and the job count data to identify the seasonal movements and to calculate the size and direction of these movements. A seasonal adjustment factor is then developed and applied to the estimates to eliminate the effects of regular seasonal fluctuations on the data. Seasonally adjusted statistical series enable more meaningful data comparisons between months or with an annual average.
Current Population (Household) Survey (CPS)
A survey conducted for employment status in the week that includes the twelfth day of each month generates the unemployment rate statistics, which is a separate survey from the Establishment Survey that yields the industry job counts. The CPS survey contacts approximately 1,000 households in Hawai‘i to determine an individual’s current employment status. Employed persons consist of 1) all persons who did any work for pay or profit during the survey reference week, 2) all persons who did at least 15 hours of unpaid work in a family owned enterprise operated by someone in their household and 3) all persons who were temporarily absent from their regular jobs, whether they were paid or not. Persons considered unemployed are those that do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the prior four weeks and are available for work. Temporarily laid-off workers are counted as unemployed, whether or not they have engaged in a specific job-seeking activity. Persons not in the labor force are those who are not classified as employed or unemployed during the survey reference week.
Benchmark Changes to Local Area Unemployment Statistics Data
Statewide and sub-state data for 2019 to 2024 have revised inputs and data for 1990 to 2024 have been re-estimated to reflect revised population controls and model re-estimation.
Change to Monthly Employment Estimates
This release incorporates revised job count figures for the seasonally adjusted series. The revised data reflects historical corrections applied to unadjusted super sector or sector-level series dating back from 2018 through 2024. For years, analysts with the state of Hawai‘i Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Research and Statistics Office have developed monthly employment estimates for Hawai‘i and its metropolitan areas. These estimates were based on a monthly survey of Hawai‘i businesses and analysts’ knowledge about our local economies. Beginning with the production of preliminary estimates for March 2011, responsibility for the production of state and metropolitan area (MSA) estimates were transitioned from individual state agencies to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
For Hawai‘i, this means the transition of statewide, Honolulu and Kahului-Wailuku MSA estimates for both the seasonally adjusted and not-seasonally adjusted areas are produced by BLS. State agencies will continue to provide the BLS with information on local events that may affect the estimates, such as strikes or large layoffs/hiring at businesses not covered by the survey and to disseminate and analyze the Current Employment Statistics (CES) estimates for local data users. BLS feels this change is designed to improve the cost efficiency of the CES program and to reduce the potential bias in state and area estimates. A portion of the cost savings generated by this change is slated to be directed toward raising survey response rates in future years, which will decrease the level of statistical error in the CES estimates. Until then, state analysts feel this change could result in increased month-to-month variability for the industry employment numbers, particularly for Hawai‘i’s counties and islands. BLS can be reached at 202-691-6555 for any questions about these estimates.
The not-seasonally adjusted job estimates for Hawai‘i County, Kaua‘i County, Maui, Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i are produced by the state of Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Labor Force Estimates for Small Areas
Labor Force estimates for the islands within Maui County (Maui, Moloka‘i and Lānai) are produced by the state of Hawai‘i Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Seasonally Adjusted Labor Force and Unemployment Estimates for Honolulu and Maui County
BLS publishes smoothed seasonally adjusted civilian labor force and unemployment estimates for all metropolitan areas, which includes the City and County of Honolulu and Maui County.
BLS releases this data each month in the Metropolitan Area Employment and Unemployment news release. The schedule is available at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/metro.toc.htm.
Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization
Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization for States, 2024 annual averages (percent)
Area
Measure
U-1
U-2
U-3
U-4
U-5
U-6
United States
1.5
1.9
4.0
4.3
4.9
7.5
Hawai‘i
0.8
1.1
3.1
3.2
4.0
6.4
The six alternative labor underutilization state measures based on the Current Population Survey (CPS) and compiled on a four-quarter moving-average basis defined as:
U-1, persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-3, total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (this is the definition used for the official unemployment rate);
U-4, total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers;
U-5, total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers*, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers; and
U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part-time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.
*Individuals who want and are available for work, and who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months (or since the end of their last job if they had one within the past 12 months) but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the four weeks preceding the survey, for such reasons as childcare or transportation problems, for example. Discouraged workers are a subset of the marginally attached.
Please note that the state unemployment rates (U-3) that are shown are derived directly from the CPS. As a result, these U-3 measures may differ from the official state unemployment rates for the latest four-quarter period. The latter are estimates developed from statistical models that incorporate CPS estimates, as well as input data from other sources, such as state unemployment claims data.
###
Media Contacts:
Dr. Eugene Tian
Chief State Economist
Research and Economic Analysis Division
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
Phone: 808-586-2470
Email: [email protected]
Laci Goshi
Communications Officer
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism
What you need to know: Following Governor Newsom’s state of emergency proclamation to protect communities from catastrophic wildfire, a new online fast-track process now makes it faster to get state-level approvals – in as little as 30 days – for critical forest and vegetation management projects.
SACRAMENTO – A new online streamlining request process cuts bureaucratic red tape and now makes it faster to get state approval to implement forest and vegetation management projects, which are critical to reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires. This new process will shorten project approvals to as little as 30 days – saving a year or more of review and red tape for more complicated projects.
This builds on consecutive years of intensive and focused work by the State of California to confront the severe ongoing risk of catastrophic wildfires, and most recently Governor Newsom’s emergency proclamation. Full information on project eligibility and the suspension request form are available here.
The new process to accelerate critical wildfire safety projects advances some of the essential actions identified in the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force’s ambitious 25 key deliverables for 2025, and builds on statewide efforts to move fast to prepare communities ahead of peak wildfire season by promoting key safety measures such as hardening homes and creating defensible space.
Peak fire season is still ahead of us, yet this year has already been marked by some of the most destructive wildfires in California’s history. We need to move faster and go bigger.
This new streamlined process, which builds on historic investments and nation leading actions to confront catastrophic wildfires, cuts red tape to fast-track more wildfire projects than ever before.
Governor Gavin Newsom
Faster permitting without compromising environmental protections
The new process will allow practitioners across the state to move faster without compromising important environmental protections. A new Statewide Fuels Reduction Environmental Protection Plan (EPP) has been developed to enable critical wildfire safety projects to proceed expeditiously while protecting public health and the environment. The EPP requires applicants to comply with best management practices and measures to minimize impacts to environmental resources while completing fuels reduction projects, ensuring the safeguarding of water and air quality, tribal cultural resources, and special-status species and their habitats.
Expanding prescribed and cultural fire
In addition to streamlining permitting, leaders from across the state have already come together in response to the Emergency Proclamation to start developing recommendations on specific actions to expand and expedite the implementation of prescribed and cultural fire. On April 11, a virtual briefing provided an overview on the execution of the Proclamation and provided the public an opportunity to share recommendations for expanding beneficial fire.
Building on unprecedented progress
New, bold moves to streamline state-level regulatory processes builds long-term efforts already underway in California to increase wildfire response and forest management in the face of a hotter, drier climate. A full list of California’s progress on wildfire resilience is available here.
Highlights of achievements to date include:
Historic investments — Overall, the state has more than doubled investments in wildfire prevention and landscape resilience efforts, providing more than $2.5 billion in wildfire resilience since 2020, with an additional $1.5 billion to be allocated from the 2024 Climate Bond.
On-the-ground progress — More than 2,200 landscape health and fire prevention projects are complete or underway, and from 2021-2023, the State and its partners treated nearly 1.9 million acres, including nearly 730,000 acres in 2023.
Increasing transparency — The Governor’s Task Force launched an Interagency Treatment Dashboard to display wildfire resilience work across federal, state, local, and privately managed lands across the State. The Dashboard, launched in 2023, provides transparency, tracks progress, facilitates planning, and informs firefighting efforts.
Hardening communities — Adding to California’s nation-leading fire safety standards, Governor Newsom signed an executive order to further improve community hardening and wildfire mitigation strategies to neighborhood resilience statewide. Since 2019, CAL FIRE has awarded more than $450 million for 450 wildfire prevention projects across the state and conducts Defensible Space Inspections on more than 250,000 homes each year.
Leveraging cutting-edge technology — On top of expanding the world’s largest aerial firefighting fleet, CAL FIRE has doubled its use of Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) and the state is utilizing AI-powered tools to spot fires quicker.
Press Releases, Recent News
Recent news
Apr 17, 2025
News What you need to know: California’s Organized Retail Crime Task Force recovers nearly 41,000 stolen items valued at $4.4 million, leading to 383 arrests. SACRAMENTO – Citing ongoing progress to takedown organized retail crime statewide, Governor Gavin Newsom…
Apr 16, 2025
News What you need to know: California today filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump’s authority to unilaterally enact tariffs, which have created economic chaos, driven up prices, and harmed the state, families, and businesses. SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom…
Apr 15, 2025
News What you need to know: The passage of Proposition 1 by California voters adds rocket fuel to Governor Gavin Newsom’s transformational overhaul of the state’s behavioral health system. These reforms refocus existing funds to prioritize Californians with the most…
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – FRAILYN ARGUETA-JERONIMO, a/k/a “Frailyn Argeta-Jeronimo,” (“ARGUETA-JERONIMO”) age 25, a native of Guatemala, was indicted on April 11, 2025, for re-entry of a removed alien, in violation of Title 8, United States Code, Section 1326(a), announced Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.
According to the indictment, ARGUETA-JERONIMO was found in the United States on March 27, 2025, having reentered the United States without authorization from the Attorney General of the United States, after being previously deported on February 6, 2020.
ARGUETA-JERONIMO faces up to two years imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, up to one year of supervised release, and a mandatory special assessment fee of $100.00 for re-entry of a removed alien.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson reiterated that an indictment is merely a charge and that the guilt of the defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline), a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson praised the work of the United States Border Patrol in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney Carter K.D. Guice, Jr. of the General Crimes Unit is in charge of the prosecution.
Defendant used 62 accounts across nearly 30 online platforms to harass and impersonate victims; Posted thousands of fake, AI-generated, or photoshopped pornographic images of the victims and their personal information
BOSTON – A Plymouth, Mass. man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to cyberstalking more than a half dozen Massachusetts women between 2008 and 2024. Two of the victims were minors when the defendant began cyberstalking them. The defendant preyed on women in his life, exploiting their relationships and going to great lengths to betray and terrorize them.
James Florence Jr., 37, pleaded guilty to seven counts of cyberstalking and one count of possession of child pornography. U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns scheduled sentencing for July 23, 2024. Florence was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in September 2024 and has remained in custody since.
Beginning as early as 2008, Florence engaged in elaborate, sustained online harassment campaigns that included hacking into victims’ personal accounts, creating more than 60 accounts across nearly 30 platforms which he used to disseminate thousands of doctored or AI-generated sexually explicit images.
According to court filings, Florence targeted women he knew personally, as well as acquaintances, stealing photos from their accounts, digitally altering them to appear nude or engaged in sexual acts and then posting them publicly alongside their names, home addresses and other identifying details. For nearly all seven victims, Florence’s cyberstalking campaigns included:
Creating “imposter” social media accounts designed to appear as if they were operated by the victims themselves;
Posting sexually explicit, AI-generated or photoshopped images of victims, often tagging the victims’ real accounts to maximize exposure;
Publishing victims’ personal information, including driver’s license photos, home addresses and professional affiliations, with messages urging others to humiliate and expose them;
Using hacked and compromised personal accounts to surveil victims and gain access to additional private content;
Attempting to sell doctored nude images of one victim online; and
Setting up notifications to monitor any changes to victims’ online biographies.
Florence often prompted strangers to contact the victims directly – with some unknown senders demanding that the victims produce real sexually explicit content under threat of distributing the doctored images to friends, family and professional contacts. For one of the victims, Florence used the name, image and other personal identifying information to program at least three AI-driven chatbots to interact with strangers across multiple platforms in sexually explicit conversations and disclose how to contact or find the victim. For another victim, he created a false online persona describing her sexual preferences, fabricated stories about sex toys and equipment in her home and posted her home address inviting strangers to contact her for sex. Florence also designed a collage of digitally altered images depicting one victim nude, which he posted to a website alongside her full personal information, encouraging viewers to “Post & Share Her Everywhere. Make The Whore Famous.”
Many of Florence’s victims continue to receive harassing and threatening messages from unknown individuals who encountered the content he created and distributed online.
Additionally, the following items were uncovered during a search of Florence’s residence in Plymouth in September 2024:
Dozens of pairs of women’s underwear and socks stolen from his victims;
A custom phone case featuring the image of one of the victims;
At least 11 digital wallpapers of his victims stored on his phone;
At least one photo of a victim taken when she was a minor; and
62 images and four videos of child sexual abuse material, depicting minor female victims between the ages of approximately eight and 15 years old.
According to court filings, Florence has significant knowledge of computers having previously been employed at software companies as well as at an emerging technology organization where he performed work for the United States government. With this knowledge, he employed a variety of tactics to evade law enforcement – via VPN services, anonymous overseas “revenge porn” websites and encrypted foreign email providers that do not respond to U.S. legal process or retain identifying records.
The charge of stalking by electronic means provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of possession of child pornography provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, at least five years and up to a lifetime of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and James Crowley, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. The Plymouth Police Department and Plymouth Fire Department provided valuable assistance in the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke A. Goldworm of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jagannath Biswakarma, Senior Research Associate, School of Earth Sciences and Cabot Institute for the Environment, University of Bristol
Nearly 17% of the world’s croplands are contaminated with “heavy metals”, according to a new study in Science. These contaminants – arsenic, cadmium, lead, and others – may be invisible to the eye, but they threaten food safety and human health.
Heavy metals and metalloids are elements that originate from either natural or human-made sources. They’re called “heavy” because they’re physically dense and their weight is high at an atomic scale.
Heavy metals do not break down. They remain in soils for decades, where crops can absorb them and enter the food chain. Over time, they accumulate in the body, causing chronic diseases that may take years to appear. This is not a problem for the distant future; it’s already affecting food grown today.
Some heavy metals, such as zinc and copper, are essential micronutrients in trace amounts. Others – including arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead – are toxic even at low concentrations.
Some are left behind by natural geology, others by decades of industrial and agricultural activities. They settle into soils through mining, factory emissions, fertilisers or contaminated water.
When crops grow, they draw nutrients from the soil and water – and sometimes, these contaminants too. Rice, for instance, is known for taking up arsenic from flooded paddies. Leafy greens can accumulate cadmium. These metals do not change the taste or colour of food. But they change what it does inside the body.
The quiet health crisis beneath our crops
Long-term exposure to arsenic, cadmium, or lead has been linked to cancer, kidney damage, osteoporosis, and developmental disorders in children. In regions where local diets rely heavily on a single staple crop like rice or wheat, the risks multiply.
The Science study, led by Chinese scientist Deyi Hou and his colleagues, is one of the most comprehensive mapping efforts. By combining recent advances in machine learning with an expansive dataset of 796,084 soil concentrations from 1,493 studies, the authors systematically assessed global soil pollution for seven toxic metals: arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, nickel, and lead.
The study found that cadmium in agricultural soil frequently exceeded the threshold, particularly in the areas shaded in red in this map:
A map of the aggregate distribution of seven heavy metals reveals lots of hotspots around the world. Hou et al / Science
The authors also describe a “metal-enriched corridor” stretching from southern Europe through the Middle East and into south Asia. These are areas where agricultural productivity overlaps with a history of mining, industrial activity and limited regulation.
How science is reading the soil’s story
Heavy metal contamination in cropland varies by region, often shaped by geology, land use history, and water management. Across central and south-east Asia, rice fields are irrigated with groundwater that naturally contains arsenic. That water deposits arsenic into the soil, where it is taken up by the rice.
Fortunately, nature often provides defence. Recent research showed that certain types of iron minerals in the soil can convert arsenite – a toxic, mobile form of arsenic – into arsenate, a less harmful species that binds more tightly to iron minerals. This invisible soil chemistry represents a safety net.
In parts of west Africa, such as Burkina Faso, arsenic contamination in drinking and irrigation water has also affected croplands. To address this, colleagues and I developed a simple filtration system using zerovalent iron – essentially, iron nails. These low-cost, locally sourced filters have shown promising results in removing arsenic from groundwater.
In parts of South America, croplands near small-scale mines face additional risks. In the Amazon basin, deforestation and informal gold mining contribute to mercury releases. Forests act as natural mercury sinks, storing atmospheric mercury in biomass and soil. When cleared, this stored mercury is released into the environment, raising atmospheric levels and potentially affecting nearby water bodies and croplands.
Cropland near legacy mining sites often suffers long-term contamination but with the appropriate technologies, these sites can be remediated and even transformed into circular economy opportunities.
Evidence-based solutions
Soil contamination is not just a scientific issue. It’s a question of environmental justice. The communities most affected are often the least responsible for the pollution. They may farm on marginal lands near industry, irrigate with unsafe water, or lack access to testing and treatment. They face a double burden: food and water insecurity, and toxic exposure.
There is no single fix. We’ll need reliable assessment of contaminated soils and groundwater, especially in vulnerable and smallholder farming systems. Reducing exposure requires cleaner agricultural inputs, improved irrigation, and better regulation of legacy industrial sites. Equally critical is empowering communities with access to information and tools that enable them to farm safely.
Soils carry memory. They record every pollutant, every neglected regulation, every decision to cut corners. But soils also hold the potential to heal – if given the proper support.
This is not about panic. It’s about responsibility. The Science study provides a stark but timely reminder that food safety begins not in the kitchen or market but in the ground beneath our feet. No country should unknowingly export toxicity in its grain, nor should any farmer be left without the tools to grow food safely.
Jagannath Biswakarma 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.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
A study published in Science looks at global soil contamination by toxic metals.
Dr Lucie Buchi, Senior Lecturer in Crop Ecology at the NRI, University of Greenwich, said:
“While the results of the study seem alarming, the 10×10 scale of the grid cells that the study was based on does not allow any practical application at a local scale. The authors make note of this in the paper: ‘The present study is based on average metal concentrations on a 10-km grid, which is more reflective of diffusive and regional pollution rather than site-specific conditions. The data may be sufficient for risk screening purposes but are inadequate to support risk mitigation. Soil remediation needs to rely upon site-specific delineation of lateral and vertical extent of soil pollution, as well as a better understanding of metal sources, fate and transport dynamics, and bioavailability’.
“Their map also seems to show low risks in the UK, except for a hotspot in the south and Ireland, but the scale of the figure doesn’t allow to understand where it is actually. And again, with a resolution of 10 x 10 km, nothing can be concluded for any particular fields. But farmland in the hotspot would probably need to be careful, but these regions are probably already known for heavy metal presence.
“The authors conclude ‘We hope that the global soil pollution data presented in this report will serve as a scientific alert for policy-makers and farmers to take immediate and necessary measures to better protect the world’s precious soil resources.’, and I think this is what it is, more of an alert about a global problem, but which requires further investigation at smaller spatial scales.”
Prof Oliver Jones, Professor of Chemistry, RMIT University, said:
“I am in two minds about this paper. On the one hand, it takes a clever scholarly approach, and soil pollution is a serious issue in many parts of the world; on the other hand, I feel some of the conclusions are perhaps a little preliminary.
“The authors have not generated new data but combined data from existing studies together and then used some very complex data processing methods to predict concentrations of selected metals across a wider area. This method has generated some interesting insights – such as the potential “metal-enriched corridor” across low-latitude Eurasia (although I think blaming this corridor on multiple ancient cultures might be overspeculative). However, there are also issues here. For example, the authors refer to “toxic metals” throughout the paper, even in the title. This is a little misleading because detection is not the same as relevance. Everything is toxic at the right dose, even water. It would be better to just say ‘metals’ and then discuss concentrations if/where appropriate rather than suggesting everything is toxic right from the title.
“The authors also refer to metal concentrations in soil. The fact that some places on Earth have high levels of metal contamination in their soils and that this could have effects on humans is not new. However, the amount of a compound in the soil does not automatically correlate with the amount that ends up in plants grown in the soil or the amount that people or animals that might eat those plants might eventually be exposed to. According to the supplementary data of the paper, the probability of many of the metals exceeding human health thresholds is low in most cases (including the UK). Context and nuance are important in toxicology and environmental health, as are local conditions. Thus, while certainly worth discussion, the question of whether metal pollution actually threatens agriculture and human health at a global scale is, I think, far from proven”.
Dr Wakene Negassa, Soil Chemist, The James Hutton Institute, said:
Does the press release accurately reflect the science?
“The press release accurately captured the important ideas presented in the published paper.
Is this good quality research? Are the conclusions backed up by solid data?
“The authors did not present original research but reviewed previously published studies. Nevertheless, reviewing existing literature is a conventional and valuable approach for identifying research and technology gaps. What sets this review apart is the authors’ use of artificial intelligence to identify global hotspots of soil pollution, distinguishing it from traditional mapping and review papers. Such global analyses are essential for technological and policy interventions of addressing global soil pollution by heavy metals. Although soil pollution from anthropogenic activities has not been widely addressed, databases like Web of Science (WOS) and the National Library of Medicine (PubMed) have indexed over 2,000 related publications since 1960. As the authors conclude, “We hope that the global soil pollution data presented in this report will serve as a scientific alert for policy-makers and farmers to take immediate and necessary measures to better protect the world’s precious soil resources.”
How does this work fit with the existing evidence?
“This work aligns with existing evidence, as soil pollution has become a global concern. Although the authors did not include a detailed account of polluted areas, a recent review by Khan et al. (2021) reported over five million soil pollution sites worldwide (Khan et al., 2021; DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2021.126039)
Have the authors accounted for confounders? Are there important limitations to be aware of?
“One major limitation of this review is that the authors did not present the chemical forms (speciation) of heavy metals. It is not the total concentration of heavy metals that determines their potential as pollutants, but rather their bioavailable forms—those that can be taken up by plants and transferred through the food chain to animals and humans. Additionally, the magnitude of global soil pollution may be greater than what is reported in the review, as the authors themselves acknowledge, due to a lack of comprehensive data from many countries.
What are the implications in the real world? Is there any overspeculation?
“As mentioned in previous responses, the actual extent of global soil pollution may far exceed what is presented by the authors, due to limited data availability and likely underestimation.
What is the significance of heavy metal contamination in croplands – how does it affect food and/or biodiversity?
“Soil pollution by heavy metals disrupts plant cellular functions and enzyme activities, resulting in reduced growth and yield, as well as shifts in soil microbial populations. Consuming food or feed grown on contaminated soils, or direct exposure to such soils, poses significant health risks, including kidney damage, neurotoxic effects, and increased carcinogenic potential.
What is the relevance of this study for UK agriculture and/or public health?
“It is also worthwhile to investigate UK agricultural soils, as over half a century of intensive farming practices, including continuous use of agrochemicals and the application of various agricultural and urban waste materials, may have led to the accumulation of heavy metals. This could pose potential risks to plant, animal, and human health and ecosystem services.”
Prof Mark Tibbett, Chair of Soil Ecology, University of Reading, said:
“After many years working post-mining landscapes and in industries that supply metals to soil in organic wastes, it has been intuitively obvious to me that our food production and natural ecosystems are commonly replete with toxic metal, often of human origin. This comprehensive analysis, which seems long overdue, provides clear and worrying empirical evidence of the extent and expanse of this global issue. It is clear that anthropogenic toxic metals are a global and growing pollution issue in our soils, with human activities at the core of the patterns seen.”
Prof Chris Collins, Professor of Environmental Chemistry, University of Reading
“This is a very useful study and highlights the issue of global soil pollution. Congratulations to the authors for compiling such a large data set. Although as the authors state the real issues only potentially exist in Eurasia rather than worldwide. It should be noted that presence in soil does not mean the crop grown in that soil will absorb and be contaminated by an element as this depends on the chemical form. The authors do acknowledge this along with other exposure factors e.g. if crops are for human consumption. The study will be of use in identifying those areas where edible crops should be avoided and alternatives, e.g. biomass crops, should be grown. The UK is relatively unaffected (Fig 2B). There are some areas e.g. the SW but this is known and is probably arsenic which is in a form not freely transferred into crops.”
Dr Liz Rylott, Senior Lecturer, Department of Biology, University of York, said:
“Deyi Hou and colleagues used cutting edge technologies to globally map the distribution of toxic metals. Their findings reveal the deeply worrying extent these natural poisons are polluting our soils, entering our food and water, and affecting our health and our environment.
“Of concern are cadmium, copper, nickel and lead, and the metalloid arsenic. Often collectively called heavy metals, these elements cause a range of devastating health problems, including skin lesions, reduced nerve and organ functions, and cancers. While some of the contamination is due to naturally occurring geological outcrops of these metals, much of the pollution is from mining and associated industrial activities. As our drive for technology-critical metals to build the green infrastructure required to tackle climate change (wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries and photovoltaic panels) will exacerbate this pollution.
“Other scientists (Fuller et al The Lancet 2022) calculated that 16% (9 million) of all deaths globally each year are caused by environmental pollution, of which, heavy metals comprise a significant proportion. This new research links the presence of these heavy metals in the agricultural soils and water, with the food that we eat.
“To track these elements, extensive regional studies and AI technology were used to build a map detailing soil metal concentrations at a 10 km grid resolution across the world. The analysis reveals previously unrecognised hotspots of metal-enriched areas, including a zone across southern Europe.
Much of the pollution is in low- and middle-income countries, where communities are directly affected, exacerbating poverty. The effect of these contaminated crops entering global food networks is not as clear. The authors call for soil pollution surveys in data-sparse areas such as sub-Saharan Africa to understand more about its effects on local, and global, human and environmental health.
“There are ongoing global initiatives (the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and FAO) to remediate contaminated soils. This map will be a powerful tool to help us to identify high-risk areas, understand how natural and human activities have contributed to the pollution, and design mitigation and remediation strategies.
“This map also illustrates how metal pollution is independent of human borders; to tackle this problem, countries will have to work together.”
‘Global soil pollution by toxic metals threatens agriculture and human health’by Hou et al. was published in Science at 19:00 UK time on Thursday 17th April.
DOI:10.1126/science.adq6807
Declared interests
Dr Lucie Buchi “I don’t have any conflict of interests to declare”
Prof Oliver Jones “I have no conflicts of interest to declare in this case.”
Dr Wakene Negassa “None”
Prof Chris Collins “None”
Dr Liz Rylott “no conflict of interest”
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Reprepsentative Kathy Castor (FL14)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Reps. Kathy Castor (FL-14) and Rob Wittman (VA-1) introduced the Finding Opportunities for Resource Exploration (Finding ORE) Act to strengthen U.S. mineral security and reduce strategic vulnerabilities. Senators Chris Coons (D-Del.), Todd Young (R-Ind.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.
Critical minerals are essential to producing technologies for the defense, semiconductor, automotive, and energy sectors—industries that will determine America’s economic future and global influence. Although we have an abundance of domestic mineral resources, demand already outstrips this supply – we must work with allies and partners to achieve mineral security. Additionally, the U.S. is heavily dependent on China for the production and processing of many key critical minerals. This bill would leverage the strengths of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in geological mapping of critical mineral reserves while giving U.S. firms a leg up in responsibly developing global mineral resources around the world with strong environmental and labor standards.
This bill builds upon the bipartisan legislation of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Critical Minerals Working Group, which Reps. Castor and Wittman co-chaired in the 118th Congress.
“America’s dependence on adversarial nations for critical minerals poses a significant threat to our national security and our clean energy future,” said Representative Castor. “The Finding ORE Act leverages our expertise in geologic mapping to promote the sustainable development of critical mineral supply chains through international partnerships. This legislation will make our nation safer and stronger while supporting our strategic alliances. I’m grateful to my bipartisan colleagues for working together to enhance U.S. leadership in the clean energy transition.”
“Critical minerals and rare earth elements are the building blocks of our modern economy and our national security,” said Representative Wittman. “This bill ensures that the United States can work hand-in-hand with like-minded nations to identify and responsibly develop these essential resources, while strengthening supply chain resilience and promoting American leadership in mineral exploration. Through this bill, we are reinforcing our alliances, building technical capacity, and supporting global standards in responsible mineral development. I’m proud to introduce the Finding ORE Act as a forward-looking solution to this pressing global challenge.”
“From the technology that powers the cell phones in our pockets to the systems that keep us safe, Americans depend on critical minerals for our economic strength and national security,” said Senator Coons. “The Finding ORE Act makes sure that our nation will have access to the essential materials we need to keep innovating, growing our economy, and deterring our enemies. I’m grateful for the bipartisan and industry support this bill has received and look forward to pushing for its enactment.”
“Many countries are unmapped or reliant on outdated geological surveys. Our bill would create opportunities for collaboration between the United States and these countries to update geological mapping with the goal of locating critical mineral deposits. These partnerships would be mutually beneficial and provide the United States access to more critical minerals, reducing our dependence on China,” said Senator Todd Young.
“We can’t solve climate change or strengthen national security without harnessing the power of critical minerals,” said Senator Hickenlooper. “Better and more accurate maps will help us and our allies safely and ethically explore untapped critical mineral deposits.”
“Access to a reliable supply chain of critical minerals is essential to meet our nation’s defense, manufacturing, and energy needs,” said Senator Cornyn. “By shoring up alliances with trusted allies and promoting geological mapping of critical mineral reserves, this legislation would ensure America has the resources needed to keep up with global demand and bolster both our mineral security and national security in the years ahead.”
“The United States has too often watched from the sidelines as our adversaries explored, invested in, and secured the world’s most promising mineral deposits,” said Abigail Hunter, Executive Director of SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy. “This bill changes that. It positions the United States—our geological experts and industry—to help identify and potentially develop the next generation of great deposits. It ensures we show up in resource-rich nations, rather than leaving them to deepen their ties with China.”
“The American Critical Minerals Association welcomes the bipartisan, bicameral introduction of the Finding ORE Act by Senators Coons, Young, Hickenlooper, and Cornyn and Representatives Wittman and Castor,” said Sarah Venuto, Executive Director of ACMA. “Expanding our knowledge base of global minerals resources and growing partnerships with our allies will ensure the United States is a leading force in resourcing critical minerals in a responsible way.”
“Colorado School of Mines commends Senators Coons, Young, Hickenlooper, and Cornyn and Reps. Wittman and Castor for their bipartisan efforts to leverage U.S. expertise in mineral mapping to support safe, secure, and responsible mineral supply chains,” said Dr. John Bradford, Vice President for Global Initiatives at Colorado School of Mines. “When called upon to contribute, institutions with strong partnerships with USGS, like Colorado School of Mines, seek to support America’s government and industry partners to advance the technology, knowledge, and workforce required to responsibly identify, assess, and produce mineral resources in the U.S. and around the world.”
“BPC Action applauds the bipartisan introduction of the Finding ORE Act. The bill will strengthen U.S. supply chain security by enhancing coordination with allies on critical mineral development, helping secure new critical minerals sources free from adversary control,” said Michele Stockwell, president of Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPC Action).
“Terra AI celebrates this forward-thinking, bi-partisan critical minerals exploration legislation introduced by Senators Coons, Young, Hickenlooper, and Cornyn and Reps. Wittman and Castor,” said John Mern, CEO of Terra AI. “The Finding ORE Act would empower America’s agencies and private firms to explore and claim the next major deposits of critical minerals which will supply our industries for decades to come; supporting manufacturing, aerospace, energy, and artificial intelligence. We support this act’s unique approach to winning the critical minerals race by leveraging America and Her Allies’ relative advantages — strong diplomatic relations, world-leading technology, and entrepreneurial spirit. This act is the essential early stage first step to establishing US global mineral dominance and winning this generational opportunity. As a mineral exploration AI company, we see huge value in collaboration between the private sector and our nation’s diplomatic, geologic and financial agencies abroad. It is a winning playbook, and we look forward to seeing more legislation in this area.”
The Finding ORE Act would authorize the Director of USGS to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOU) with foreign partner countries related to the mapping of critical minerals. The bill identifies four objectives for these MOUs:
Committing USGS to assist the partner country with a range of critical mineral mapping activities;
Committing the partner country to offer a right of first refusal to private companies based in the United States or an allied country in the further development of mapped critical minerals;
Facilitating investment in the development of critical minerals in the partner country, including by leveraging financing from the U.S. Development Finance Corporation and Export-Import Bank;
Ensuring that mapping data created through a partnership with USGS is not disclosed to governmental or private entities in non-allied countries.
The bill requires USGS to collaborate with both the State Department and the private sector in identifying which countries to prioritize for the negotiation of an MOU, and would involve the State Department in the negotiation and implementation process.
New York, New York, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AI Transportation Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: AITR), a publicly-listed special purpose acquisition company (“AITR”), today announced that The Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (“Nasdaq”) determined to suspend trading and delist AITR’s securities from Nasdaq due to AITR’s failure to pay certain fees required by Listing Rule 5250(f), unless AITR appeals this determination. AITR does not intend to request a hearing to appeal the determination, which decision was based on a careful review of numerous factors, including the potential for limiting the significant costs associated with remaining listed on Nasdaq and complying with Nasdaq listing standards.
AITR’s securities includes its ordinary shares value $0.0001 per share (the “Ordinary Shares”), its publicly-traded rights whereby each right provides the holder with a right to acquire 1/8th of one Ordinary Share (the “Rights”), and AITR’s publicly-traded units, consisting of one Ordinary Share and one Right.
Nasdaq is expected to file a Form 25 (Notification of Removal from Listing) with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to the delisting of AITR’s securities. Suspension of trading of AITR’s securities occurred at the opening of business on April 16, 2025. The removal of AITR’s securities from Nasdaq will be effective 10 days after the filing of the Form 25.
Following the delisting, AITR expects that the Ordinary Shares will be traded on a market operated by the OTC Markets Group Inc. (the “OTC”). No assurances can be provided, however, that trading of the Ordinary Shares on the OTC will occur.
On April 11, 2025, AITR received a notice (the “Notice”) from Nasdaq stating that AITR’s failure to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 also serves a basis for delisting AITR’s securities from Nasdaq.
About AITR AcquisitionCorp. AI Transportation Acquisition Corp. (“AITR”) is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. Efforts to identify a prospective target business will not be limited to a particular business, industry or sector or geographical region. On November 8, 2023, AITR consummated an initial public offering of its units, with each unit consisting of one ordinary share and one right to receive one-eighth (1/8) of one ordinary share upon consummation of AITR’s initial business combination.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute forward-looking statements. The words “expect,” “intend,” “continue,” “potential,” “may,” “will” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements concerning AITR’s plans with respect to the delisting and deregistration of its securities; the perceived benefits and timing of the delisting and deregistration; and the trading of the securities. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the risk that the delisting and deregistration process will take longer than expected and that the benefits of such actions may not be realized; the impact of changing laws and regulations and those risks and uncertainties described in AITR’s filings with the SEC, including AITR’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023 and its subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and AITR specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Readers should not rely upon this information as current or accurate after its publication date.
Contacts
AI Transportation Acquisition Corp Mr. Yongjin Chen Chief Executive Officer 10 East 53rd Street, Suite 3001 New York, NY 10022 Email: chenyongjin@ds-cap.com
Headline: How Microsoft and Cloudforce help higher education innovate with Azure AI
Learn how deploying AI platforms in higher education with Microsoft and Cloudforce can help improve outcomes, streamline tasks, and ensure data privacy.
Many leaders in higher education are eager to tap into the vast potential of AI. In fact, 89% of institutions are engaged in AI strategic planning in some capacity.1 They aim to improve student outcomes with personalized learning, streamline administrative tasks for faculty and staff with AI-powered agents, and take advantage of the countless other ways generative AI can help them innovate. Top institutions are already deploying AI platforms in higher education.
Microsoft and our network of partners can support your journey forward with AI. Unlike many publicly available AI tools, a solution built by a Microsoft partner with Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service keeps your AI interactions private, allowing you to stay in control of your institution’s information. It’s also easier to maintain compliance with data privacy laws like Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Microsoft’s commitment to Trustworthy AI means that AI is secure, safe, and private. Students, faculty, and researchers can also select from a wide array of leading models, with popular options from creators such as OpenAI, Meta, DeepSeek, and more, to find the best fit for their use cases.
In a datasheet on accelerating AI innovation, we highlight how our partner Cloudforce has developed the nebulaONE® solution, powered by Azure OpenAI Service, to simplify access to Microsoft’s most advanced generative AI capabilities. Let’s explore how it empowers institutions to achieve more.
Download the AI innovation datasheet
How nebulaONE by Cloudforce aims to bring secure AI to all
Many students and faculty are already using generative AI. But as they adopt their own unsecured AI tools, it creates concerns with IT governance, security, privacy, and data protection, and it limits the ability to scale AI throughout the institution. Cloudforce, a Microsoft Supplier of the Year in 2024, has expertise in building AI solutions to address those concerns, as well as over a decade of experience designing and deploying complex infrastructure and cloud-native apps exclusively on Azure. Cloudforce built nebulaONE on Azure to use its built-in security and privacy features, and the company is engaged with dozens of higher education institutions to fulfill its mission of providing secure AI access for all.
Discover Azure in education
A conversational generative AI gateway, nebulaONE allows students, faculty, researchers, and staff to harness cutting-edge AI models to reimagine learning experiences, accelerate research, protect intellectual property, and drive institutional efficiencies in every department. It includes an intuitive, multimodal chat interface for the AI interactions that are familiar to many, and it provides the ability to develop low-code, task-specific AI agents to drive innovation and efficiency across campus. The nebulaONE platform deploys to your Azure environment, so your data remains private, and you gain the compliance and security protections built into Azure AI services.
Click to enlarge
“We know leaders in higher education are facing pressure to prepare the workforce of tomorrow to succeed with AI, or risk being left behind,” says Cloudforce CEO Husein Sharaf. “We created nebulaONE to address the most pressing needs of educators and students, with a rapid implementation process that securely enables generative AI use at scale. Our campus-wide management layer keeps institutions in the driver’s seat from a cost and governance perspective, while a simple, custom-branded user interface drives user adoption. Our platform provides the foundation for a flexible AI strategy that evolves as new models and capabilities emerge.”
Cloudforce supports institutional leaders wherever you are in your journey, whether that’s exploring AI for the first time or connecting an AI platform to their full data estate. The Cloudforce team can host workshops to help identify early use cases or provide trainings and prompt-a-thons to reinforce best practices and teach you and your colleagues how to develop your own agents. They also offer assistance with change management and strategic communications to drive campus-wide adoption of nebulaONE and the uses that provide the most value for your institution.
The real-world impact of generative AI in higher education
One success story comes from the University of California, Los Angeles, John E. Anderson Graduate School of Management (UCLA Anderson). Leaders at UCLA Anderson had concerns with using public AI platforms, so they looked for a partner who could deliver a secure, private experience that enabled their priority use cases. They chose to adopt nebulaONE because it’s a fully managed platform that deploys in their Azure environment, and within about two months, they launched a generative AI chatbot to support MBA students with their capstone project.
Explore AI in education
UCLA Anderson leaders sought to develop and deploy a host of AI-powered chatbots for a variety of specific purposes, and Cloudforce validated use cases and provided hands-on training to empower UCLA staff to independently build them with nebulaONE. The school has now deployed bots to help students register for classes and provide feedback on essays, as well as a forthcoming AI-powered agent that will reduce administrative tasks for career coaches so they can spend more time with the school’s 40,000 alumni. Several months after UCLA deployed the platform, monthly active user rates continued to increase rapidly, growing by 485% from December 2024 to January 2025.
UCLA is hardly alone. A growing number of colleges and universities are deploying nebulaONE to harness the power of AI:
California State University, Fullerton (Cal State Fullerton) now provides secure, university-managed AI for all students through TitanGPT, as the custom-branded platform is known. They have also started exploring use cases for support solutions, like an agent to streamline HelpDesk support and their IT ticketing system.
London Business School sought to find a cost-effective, scalable AI solution, with access to a variety of AI foundation models. After a brief demo, they quickly began a full deployment to all 6,000 students, faculty, and researchers—the first in the United Kingdom to do so.
TerpAI, the chatbot built on the nebulaONE platform at the University of Maryland, acts as a digital assistant and educational resource to help faculty and students brainstorm ideas, analyze data, create study guides, develop lesson plans, and more.
The platform is nicknamed CWRU AI at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), where the CRWU community can select between AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o or 3.5 Turbo, Meta’s Llama 3.2, and DeepSeek R1. CWRU AI uses AI reasoning to analyze images, PDFs, Word, and Excel files, and the community can deploy chatbots connected to specific data sources for departments or groups.
Learn more about what’s possible with AI
These examples highlight how leaders in higher education can quickly and securely implement generative AI to enhance student services, academic offerings, and operational efficiency. Ready to deploy AI at your school? Discover how nebulaONE can make AI accessible by downloading the datasheet from Microsoft and Cloudforce.
Download the AI innovation datasheet
Learn more about how to get started with these resources:
1 Jenay Robert. 2024 EDUCAUSE AI Landscape Study. Research report. Boulder, CO, US: EDUCAUSE, February 2024.
0:14 – Chief Economists on the 3 trends transforming our economies
9:29 – Microplastics are harming photosynthesis in plants
11:06 – 4°C of global warming will slash the average person’s wealth by 40%, a study finds
12:39 – AI can now imitate the style of Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli. Is this the end of copyright?
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THIS PRESS RELEASE IS NOT FOR PUBLICATION, DISTRIBUTION OR RELEASE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO, OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR RESIDENT IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW.
Amsterdam, 17 April 2025
EXOR N.V.: ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE REFERENCE VWAP FOR THE TENDER OFFER
On 17 April 2025, the reported closing price of the Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam was EUR 78.30 per Ordinary Share.
The volume weighted average market price at which Exor’s Ordinary Shares traded on Euronext Amsterdam (the “Volume-Weighted Average Price” or “VWAP”) during the period from 09:00 CET on 27 March 2025 to 17:40 CET (inclusive) on 17 April 2025 was EUR 80.0027 per Ordinary Share (the “Reference VWAP”). The price corresponding to a three (3) per cent discount over the Reference VWAP (the “Minimum Price”) is EUR 77.6026 per Ordinary Share and the price corresponding to a ten (10) per cent premium over the Reference VWAP (the “Maximum Price”) is EUR 88.0029 per Ordinary Share.
The table below sets out the EUR price per Ordinary Share associated with each of the VWAP-based prices within the Price Range.
The Strike Price will be set after the closing of the Tender Offer Period on 23 April 2025 and shall not exceed the Maximum Price or be lower than the Minimum Price and is subject to the Price Cap defined in the Offer Memorandum.
VWAP-based price within the Price Range
Price in euro per Ordinary Share to which the VWAP-based prices in the Price Range correspond
Reference VWAP – 3% (the Minimum Price)
EUR 77.6026
Reference VWAP – 2%
EUR 78.4026
Reference VWAP – 1%
EUR 79.2026
Reference VWAP
EUR 80.0027
Reference VWAP + 1%
EUR 80.8027
Reference VWAP + 2%
EUR 81.6027
Reference VWAP + 3%
EUR 82.4027
Reference VWAP + 4%
EUR 83.2028
Reference VWAP + 5%
EUR 84.0028
Reference VWAP + 6%
EUR 84.8028
Reference VWAP + 7%
EUR 85.6028
Reference VWAP + 8%
EUR 86.4029
Reference VWAP + 9%
EUR 87.2029
Reference VWAP + 10% (the Maximum Price)
EUR 88.0029
As set out in the Offer Memorandum, the Price Cap, is the lower of (i) EUR 98.73, or (ii) 110 per cent of the highest closing price recorded for the Ordinary Shares on Euronext Amsterdam during the Determination Period, which is equal to EUR 99.94 (the “Price Cap”). The VWAP-based prices within the Price Range are not affected by the Price Cap, and as a result, no validly tendered shares will be disregarded.
Further information
The Offer Memorandum, containing the full terms and conditions of the Tender Offer and instructions to Qualifying Shareholders on how to tender their Ordinary Shares should they wish to do so, has been made available on a dedicated part of the Company’s website (see below). Terms used but not defined in this announcement have the meaning assigned to them in the Offer Memorandum.
ZURICH, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The first AI-Powered DEX on XRP Ledger, XploraDEX is igniting a firestorm across the XRPL ecosystem as its $XPL Presale enters its final four days. With a rapidly shrinking token allocation and buzz intensifying across social platforms, what began as a high-potential opportunity has become one of the most urgent plays in DeFi right now.
The first AI-powered decentralized exchange built natively on the XRP Ledger, XploraDEX is designed to give traders an unfair advantage through smart automation, predictive analytics, and real-time trade optimization. It’s not just solving the problem of inefficient trading—it’s flipping it on its head.
$XPL is the fuel behind it all. Token holders unlock access to intelligent trading dashboards, lower fees, yield incentives, and decision-making power through governance. The upcoming launchpad and staking modules are further enhancing the token’s role within the broader XploraDEX ecosystem.
Final Round of $XPL PreSale
In the last 48 hours, whale activity has spiked. On-chain data shows major wallets consolidating $XPL positions while retail participation surges—triggered by growing awareness that time is almost up. With more than 80% of the $XPL presale allocation already filled, new buyers are scrambling to join before listings go live and the price adjusts upward.
XploraDEX is shaping up to be the most transformative platform XRPL has seen in years. Its AI engine will help users detect momentum shifts, automate entries and exits, and adapt to market conditions faster than human traders ever could.
The $XPL PreSale isn’t just about buying a token—it’s about being first to a movement. A protocol backed by real utility, smart infrastructure, and the speed of the XRP Ledger.
If you’re watching from the sidelines, the signal is clear: the market is moving. And the gate is closing.
Disclaimer: This press release is provided by the XploraDEX. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice.
Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.
Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.
Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.
When Harthik Parankusham ’28 (CLAS) visited his grandfather recently, the signs of cognitive decline were obvious – the family patriarch forgot his own grandson’s name.
Worldwide, 55 million people have undiagnosed mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, with 7.4 million in the United States alone, Parankusham says, noting that the current means of diagnosing something like Alzheimer’s disease – that is, MRIs, PET scans, and bloodwork – can be expensive and often come too late.
That got the physiology and neurobiology major thinking and deep in research. Could there be a means of early detection?
Leila Daneshmandi, left, and Tiffany Kelley, co-directors of the Nursing & Engineering Innovation Center, speak during Wednesday’s event (Sarah Redmond / UConn Photo).
Parankusham’s Raayu Institute, comprising a national team of researchers, created a simple test for the linguistic biomarkers that show up years before other symptoms. It’s a test that asks patients to simply write a story while a computer analyzes their grammar, word choice, and cadence for anomalies.
“Let’s make Alzheimer’s and undiagnosed MCI a thing of the past,” he told a panel of judges on Wednesday, April 16 during the InnovateHealth PitchFest at UConn’s Innovation Partnership Building.
His pitch earned him first place in the Innovation Idea category.
“Every single pitch we saw today – whether it affected millions and millions of lives or just one life – it made the world a better place,” Michael McGuire, Beekley Medical director of strategic growth and innovations and one of the PitchFest judges, said. “An event like this today lets us know health care is in really good hands.”
From a portable test for tuberculosis from the team Clara Health to insoles with air chambers that adapt to an individual’s foot from the team SoleShift, which respectively won second and third place in Innovation, the late afternoon event gave each team five minutes to sell their idea.
But before attendees and a panel of judges settled in to hear from the students, they spent the day embracing possibility during the first part of the inaugural Nursing and Engineering Innovation Forum, a product of UConn’s Nursing & Engineering Innovation Center.
The center opened in 2023 and since then, has focused on research education, community engagement, and technology transfer, Tiffany Kelley, co-director and School of Nursing associate professor-in-residence, said. Its goal is to address health care challenges through new technology.
“Just one conversation can open the door,” she said of the event that drew about 100 registrants from a mix of industry, corporate partnerships, and UConn alums.
Those attending the event had opportunities to speak with students, faculty, and industry experts. (Coral Aponte / UConn Photo)
With Beekley Medical and VentureWell as sponsors, along with UConn’s College of Engineering, School of Nursing, Provost’s Office, Office of the Vice President for Research, and Innovation Partnership Building, the forum spotlighted researchers whose work has benefitted from Faculty Innovation Seed Grants and Faculty Senior Design Awards.
Presenters talked about using artificial intelligence to assess patients’ trust in their nurses and how AI can be used to fight pain and opioid dependence. They also detailed their work on humans’ sucking reflex and the use of pulse oximetry.
“Nurses have always been innovators. We can trace it back in our history,” School of Nursing Dean Victoria Vaughan Dickson said, adding that, nonetheless, “we often don’t see ourselves as innovators. We know the problems, we can think of some of the solutions … and by partnering with others who have other areas of expertise we can take those solutions into testing and into solving our problems.”
That spirit of teamwork was most evident during PitchFest, the Center’s second time hosting the event. Students came not just from majors like biomedical engineering and nursing, but also from elsewhere on campus, including places like digital media and design in the School of Fine Arts.
“People are talking, people are networking, it’s hard to get them back in their seats,” Leila Daneshmandi, Center co-director and assistant professor-in-residence in the College of Engineering’s biomedical engineering department, said during a break in the presentations.
When the time came, though, the audience hushed as the final five PitchFest teams, competing in the Prototype in Development category, took center stage.
The team Zemi already has raised $65,000 for their line of smart clothing – tight-fitting shirts and leggings outfitted with sensors to track an individual’s cardiac, skin, and muscular activity.
Zemi’s lab in Farmington, though, needs additional specialized equipment, especially since their clothing will be part of a National Institutes of Health research project through UConn.
John Toribio ’25 Ph.D. told the judges his project – conceived with Kyle Mahoney ’20 (CAHNR), ’22 MS, ’25 Ph.D. – is better than common wearable trackers that rely on estimated metrics and don’t detect medical events until well after the fact.
The PitchFest winners impressed judges with their creativity and determination to solve real-world problems. (Coral Aponte / UConn Photo)
More electrodes, more data, he said.
With applications in health care, competitive athletics, and in exercise science institutes, Zemi can make clothing for just about any application from sleeping hospital patients to high-performance athletes.
Toribio’s pitch earned the team first place in the Prototype category. The team ChromaShield, with its early warning patch for radiation dermatitis, took second place, and the team Dentopa and its solution for tooth sensitivity took third.
“An event like PitchFest is so important because this really helps outline the future of health care,” McGuire said. “At Beekley, one of our core values is that in everything we do we want to make the world a better place. … As innovators in the health care space that’s ultimately our job and everyone in this room did it very well.”
“Nurses work on teams and this just really solidifies it,” Dickson added. “All of these groups were teams, whether there was one person presenting or two … that’s the core of nursing, being part of a team. And nurses lead teams, you saw here that nurses lead innovative teams.”
Daneshmandi noted that “engineers bring a unique lens of problem-solving and system design that when paired with the clinical insight of nurses unlocks entirely new solutions to longstanding health challenges. This kind of interdisciplinary collaboration is what drives transformative innovation in health care, and we’re working to foster this at the Center across students and faculty.”
Source: The Conversation – Canada – By Raymond A. Patterson, Professor, Area Chair, Business Technology Management, Haskayne School of Business, University of Calgary
For customers who don’t have the freedom to choose where they shop, technological advancements — particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and intrusive personal data collection — are making price discrimination, inflation and lower-quality goods increasingly likely. Vulnerable consumers are most at risk.
Flexibility-based price discrimination allows companies to charge different people different prices for the same produce or service, based on how easily they can walk away.
When consumers can easily find better deals elsewhere, they hold the power. However, AI tools are allowing sellers to become increasingly adept at uncovering how much flexiblity their consumers have. This practice raises serious ethical concerns.
Dynamic pricing allows companies to take advantage of customers who can’t easily go elsewhere.
Dollar stores, for example, often serve low-income communities in smaller markets. When these retailers realize their customers have limited alternatives, they are less inclined to keep prices low. Product quality can decline as well.
Economic impacts of price discrimination
In our recent study, we examined how flexibility-based price discrimination affects a seller’s profitability in a competitive market, and demonstrated how consumer welfare is affected. Using economic modelling, we studied how price discrimination can impact consumers from different socioeconomic backgrounds.
We found that companies don’t just raise prices when customers aren’t able to easily switch to a competitor — for low-income consumers they also reduce product quality as well. This double blow hits low-income consumers hard. As technology improves, the gap between high- and low-income consumers grows wider.
Our findings show that companies that take advantage of consumer inflexibility are likely to prosper, often at the expense of those with the least power to choose.
The same thing happens with provincial trade barriers and tariffs. Product quality, price and income are known to be intertwined, with higher income countries receiving higher quality goods. When consumers’ ability to find the best possible deal is limited, companies will exploit that lack of choice, as is implied by our study.
When retailers realize their customers have limited alternatives, they are less inclined to keep prices low. (Shutterstock)
Inflexible consumers with lower incomes suffer more from price discrimination than high-income consumers in the same situation. Any barriers that reduces consumer flexibility disproportionately harms low-income consumers, who are more likely to face lower-quality products as a result.
In contrast, high-income consumers may see their product quality improve. This is because high-income consumers are willing and able to pay for the improved quality and technology-enabled price discrimination can enable the seller to satisfy their needs better.
Technology and consumer resilience
Our study provides valuable insights for both lawmakers and policymakers. It demonstrates that new policies are necessary to protect vulnerable consumers with limited flexibility from price discrimination.
But this is only part of the story. When these same techniques are used to target wealthier consumers, it can result in positive social outcomes for them. The differing outcomes for high versus low income inflexible consumers will exacerbate wealth inequity.
For firms investing in new technologies like AI, flexibility-based price discrimination can inadvertently benefit competitors by partitioning the market — even if the competitor doesn’t use the technology.
For companies, many things can cause or reveal consumer inflexibility, technology being a primary example. Technology advances rapidly. Catering to either high- or low-income customers causes businesses to make different strategic choices depending on how flexible their customer base is when it comes to new technological developments.
For customers, maintaining flexibility is critical. Flexibility can take many forms: having access to transportation to access a wider range of stores, avoiding consumer debt or having enough savings. It can also mean having a smartphone with unlimited data to make online price comparisons.
However, not all consumers can maintain this kind of flexibility. Working parents, for example, might not have the time or financial bandwidth to comparison shop for groceries across multiple stores. It can increase their vulnerability to higher prices and lower-quality goods.
Policy implications and the path forward
Whether flexibility-based price discrimination should be supported or restricted depends on who it targets. Flexibility-based price discrimination may require regulatory intervention or price subsidies to ensure ethical implementation. While ensuring the quality of low-end products is increasingly important, addressing the limitations on consumer flexibility caused by socioeconomic status is key.
In Canada, Indigenous and rural communities similarly lack access to high-speed broadband and also must travel long distances to reach major shopping centres. Our results show that, as flexibility declines, so does consumer welfare for rural low-income populations.
If there is a positive side to all of this, it’s that companies can adapt quickly to these shifts. Businesses like dollar stores are likely to benefit in the short term, although product quality will likely decline for people who can least afford it. This isn’t just an ethical choice made by these companies, but an economic inevitability in a system where people have unequal access to rapidly evolving technology.
As trade tensions grow, mitigating consumer inflexibility should be a key policy focus for Canada. Support should start with low-income households by increasing their ability to choose how and where they shop.
In the long term, price discrimination will continue to prey on the socioeconomic, geographic and literacy-based barriers that underlie the digital divide. The goal should be policy reform to empower flexibility for those most affected.
Raymond A. Patterson currently receives funding from the Haskayne School of Business and the National Cybersecurity Consortium (NCC). Previous funding has been obtained from a variety of private and public sources.
Emily Laidlaw receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the National Cybersecurity Consortium.
Jian Zhang receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Private investments have long been dominated by institutional players and high-net-worth individuals, leaving everyday investors sidelined. With blockchain technology opening new avenues for financial inclusion, Valuit is emerging as a pioneering force in on-chain investment banking, breaking down barriers and making private market opportunities more accessible than ever before.
Transforming Traditional Finance with Blockchain Innovation
Valuit was conceived out of a real-world challenge—how to invest in private assets like litigation financing and private credit despite capital constraints. The company’s founding team, with expertise spanning cryptocurrency trading, traditional finance, banking infrastructure, and debt markets, recognized the inefficiencies in legacy systems. Their solution? A blockchain-powered financial ecosystem that democratizes access to investment opportunities.
“Valuit is not just about tokenizing assets; it’s about creating an inclusive investment infrastructure where liquidity, compliance, and security come together seamlessly,” said Kevin Cafeo, Co-Founder & CEO of Valuit.
Meet the Visionary Founders
Kevin Cafeo – Co-Founder & CEO
Kevin founded Valuit in 2022 with the mission to make private market investments more inclusive. Prior to Valuit, he played a pivotal role in scaling Zeebu, a blockchain-powered payment network that processed billions in on-chain telecom settlements, where he led growth and market expansion strategies.
Aren Bagci – Co-Founder & CIO
A seasoned leader in global market expansion and institutional finance, Aren has a proven track record of driving corporate growth by entering new markets and forging high-impact strategic partnerships. During his tenure at TigerEdge, he led growth-focused investment initiatives across domestic energy markets, including capital deployments into onshore oil and gas projects involving major operators such as Exxon, Pioneer, and Devon.
Raj Brahmbhatt – Co-Founder & Chairman
A trailblazer in blockchain and fintech, Raj is the co-founder and CEO of Zeebu, where he has overseen over $7 billion in on-chain transactions. His expertise in scaling blockchain-powered payment solutions and building products that truly bridge Tradfi to Defi, highlight his deep understanding of financial technology innovation.
The Rising Market Opportunity
The tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) is redefining financial markets. According to a report by Boston Consulting Group, the RWA tokenization market is projected to exceed $16 trillion by 2030, encompassing diverse asset classes such as real estate, private equity, and commodities.
With institutional adoption gaining traction and regulatory frameworks evolving, the market is poised for exponential growth. However, despite this momentum, accessibility and compliance challenges persist—gaps that Valuit is actively addressing through its comprehensive ecosystem.
Beyond Tokenization: A Full-Scale Investment Ecosystem
Unlike platforms that merely tokenize assets, Valuit is building a holistic financial infrastructure, integrating:
Compliance & Regulation: Ensuring global regulatory adherence to make tokenized assets legally sound and institutionally viable.
Capital Markets Integration: Bridging traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) for efficient capital deployment and secondary market liquidity.
Blockchain-Powered Automation: Utilizing smart contracts to streamline transactions, reduce costs, and enhance transparency.
Valuit’s product suite is designed to cater to a broad range of stakeholders:
Tokenization Platform: A comprehensive solution for issuing, managing, and trading tokenized assets.
DeFi Tools: Advanced decentralized financial instruments that enhance liquidity, enable market-making, and optimize capital efficiency.
AI-Driven Compliance: Leveraging AI-powered automation for regulatory oversight, risk management, and investment decision-making.
Who Stands to Benefit?
Valuit serves as a gateway to new financial opportunities for diverse stakeholders:
Asset Owners: Unlock liquidity through seamless tokenization, ensuring transparency of investment products and leveraging innovative capital structures.
Institutional Investors: Gain exposure to new asset classes with reduced friction. Reduce bottom-line expenditure by up to 60%, enable cross-border distribution channels to onboard new liquidity providers, and create innovative investment vehicles to automate administrative functions while optimizing portfolios for existing investors.
Retail Investors: Access investment opportunities that were previously out of reach, with enhanced options for cross-border diversification and addressing capital constraints.
With an intuitive and compliant platform, Valuit eliminates the technical complexities often associated with blockchain investments, ensuring a seamless experience for all investors.
A Vision for the Future
Valuit is on a mission to reshape the financial landscape, making alternative investments as straightforward as trading public stocks. With a firm foundation in compliance, capital markets, and blockchain innovation, the company is positioned to redefine asset issuance, management, and trading in real-time.
“As finance moves toward decentralization, Valuit is ensuring this shift is not just a wrapper of traditional products, but a shift from legacy capital markets infrastructure to a transparent, automated, and efficient process that benefits all stakeholders.” added Kevin Cafeo.
Stay Updated with Valuit
For more information and the latest updates, follow Valuit on:
Valuit is a technology platform enabling the tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) and bridging traditional and decentralized finance. While it offers tools for asset tokenization, liquidity, compliance, and smart contracts, Valuit does not provide financial advice, manage investments, or act as a broker.
All investment activities involve risk, and blockchain-related offerings are subject to evolving regulations. Users should conduct independent research and seek professional advice before investing. Valuit makes no guarantees on financial outcomes and is not liable for losses resulting from reliance on this information.
Disclaimer:This press release is provided by the Valuit LLC. The statements, views, and opinions expressed in this content are solely those of the content provider and do not necessarily reflect the views of this media platform or its publisher. We do not endorse, verify, or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of any information presented. We do not guarantee any claims, statements, or promises made in this article. This content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial, investment, or trading advice. Investing in crypto and mining-related opportunities involves significant risks, including the potential loss of capital. It is possible to lose all your capital. These products may not be suitable for everyone, and you should ensure that you understand the risks involved. Seek independent advice if necessary. Speculate only with funds that you can afford to lose. Readers are strongly encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. However, due to the inherently speculative nature of the blockchain sector—including cryptocurrency, NFTs, and mining—complete accuracy cannot always be guaranteed.Neither the media platform nor the publisher shall be held responsible for any fraudulent activities, misrepresentations, or financial losses arising from the content of this press release. In the event of any legal claims or charges against this article, we accept no liability or responsibility.
Legal Disclaimer: This media platform provides the content of this article on an “as-is” basis, without any warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied. We assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies, errors, or omissions. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information presented herein. Any concerns, complaints, or copyright issues related to this article should be directed to the content provider mentioned above.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today about artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity.1 In the past, a skilled forger could pass a bad check by replicating a person’s signature. Now, advances in AI can do much more damage by replicating a person’s entire identity. This technology—known as deepfakes—has the potential to supercharge identity fraud. I’ve recently spoken about the importance of recognizing both the benefits and the risks of generative AI (Gen AI).2 Today, I’d like to focus more on the darker side of the technology—specifically how Gen AI has the potential to enable deepfake technology, and what we should be doing now to defend against this risk in finance. Escalating Threat of Gen-AI Facilitated CybercrimeCybercrime is on the rise, and cybercriminals are increasingly turning to Gen AI to facilitate their crimes. Criminal tactics are becoming more sophisticated and available to a broader range of criminals. Estimates of direct and indirect costs of cyber incidents range from 1 to 10 percent of global GDP.3 Deepfake attacks have seen a twentyfold increase over the last three years.4 Cybercrime with deepfakes involves the same cat and mouse game common to sophisticated criminal activity. Both cybercriminals and financial institutions are constantly trying to outdo each other. Criminals develop new attack methods, and companies respond with better defenses. Here, the same technological innovations that enable the bad actors can also help those fighting cybercrime. However, there is an asymmetry—the fraudsters can cast a wide net of approaches and target a wide number of victims, and they only need a small number to be successful. Their marginal cost is generally low, and individual failures matter little. Conversely, companies must undergo a rigorous review and testing process to mount effective cyber defenses and will thus be slower in developing their defenses. A single failure is very costly. As we consider this issue from a policy perspective, we need to take steps to make attacks less likely by raising the cost of the attack to the cybercriminals and lowering the costs of defense to financial institutions and law enforcement. Anatomy of a DeepfakeDeepfake attacks are those in which an attacker uses Gen AI to create a doppelganger with a person’s voice or image and uses this doppelganger to interact with individuals or institutions to commit fraud. Deepfake technology is a particularly pernicious vehicle for cybercrime.5 The process begins with voice synthesis, where Gen AI models can synthesize the speech of their victim not only in words, but also in phrase patterns, tone, and inflection. With just a short sample audio, for example, criminals assisted by Gen AI can impersonate a close relative in a crisis situation or a high-value bank client, seeking to complete a transaction at their bank.6 Criminals can also use Gen AI-generated videos to create believable depictions of individuals. For videos, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are the core technology behind most deepfake systems.7 GANs consist of two competing models, the generator and the discriminator, which compete with and improve each other. This competition results in increasingly realistic, indistinguishable fake images and videos.8 Deepfake technology can also be augmented by other AI tools; for instance, criminals can use AI to extract and organize extensive multimodal personal data to facilitate identity verification. Attackers can also turn to “dark web” tools, such as jailbroken versions of popular large language models, where the guardrails have been removed, to learn the deepfake trade and improve their attacks.9 Deepfakes in ActionI expect that many of you can recall examples of how deepfakes of politicians and prominent business executives have fooled the public and spread disinformation. Deepfakes are also being used to commit payment fraud. In one case in 2024, a sophisticated deepfake of the chief financial officer for British engineering and architectural firm Arup was reportedly deployed in a video meeting and convinced an Arup financial employee to transfer $25 million to thieves.10 In another case, an attacker attempted to undertake a highly convincing audio deepfake of the chief executive of Ferrari, down to mimicking his southern Italian accent.11 The recipient of the attack—another Ferrari executive—tested the caller with a personal question only the chief executive would know, which thankfully exposed the fraud. And these institutions and individuals are not alone—a 2024 survey finds that over 10 percent of companies reported experiencing deepfake fraud attempts, and few steps have been taken to mitigate the risks.12 Particularly since COVID, we conduct much of our professional and personal lives over video. When we see realistic and interactive video images of a loved one in trouble, we are disposed to trust them and do what we can to help. Identity verification standards at banks often use voice detection, which may become vulnerable to Gen AI tools. If this technology becomes cheaper and more broadly available to criminals—and fraud detection technology does not keep pace—we are all vulnerable to a deepfake attack. These attacks can have significant financial costs to the victims of the crime and can also pose costs to society, eroding trust in communications and in institutions. Defending Against DeepfakesSo what should we do? As I mentioned above, we should take steps to lessen the impact of attacks by making successful breaches less likely, while making each attack more resource-intensive for the attacker. Let me start with ways to make successful breaches less likely. A key step is to recognize the importance of strong, resilient financial institutions in preventing attacks. Banks are frontline defenders against deepfake-enabled fraud due to their direct involvement with financial transactions and customer data. To verify payors, banks maintain identity verification processes, including multi-factor authentication and account monitoring practices. To the extent deepfakes increase, bank identity verification processes should evolve in kind to include AI-powered advances such as facial recognition, voice analysis, and behavioral biometrics to detect potential deepfakes. Other techniques focus on assessing the probability that AI has been used in audio or video based on underlying metadata and then flagging the identity or transaction for further review using other verification. These technical solutions can detect subtle inconsistencies in video and audio that human observers may miss. Banks have two points of control over the transaction—confirming not only the sender’s identity, but also the legitimacy of the recipient address. They can scrutinize the recipients of large or unusual transactions, employing advanced analytics to flag suspicious patterns that could indicate fraudulent activities, and perform additional reviews before authorizing a payment to a recipient that raises flags. Banks also invest in their human controls by maintaining up-to-date training for staff on the emerging risks and incorporating the necessary security measures to mitigate the damages from breaches when they occur. And they are engaging with other financial institutions to help define the threat and identify appropriate controls and mitigants.13 Customers should do their part, enabling multi-factor authentication on their accounts and verifying unusual requests through a separate channel, even if the person making the request seems genuine. They should seek out education for themselves and their loved ones to help them detect and prevent fraud before it occurs.14 And customers should value strong security practices at their financial institutions, including those which may add some friction to the user experience. The customers that may be the highest-value targets for criminals are often those with the largest digital presence, and thus most susceptible to deepfakes. They are also the customers who may prefer the most frictionless user experience, making detecting deepfakes more difficult. When it comes to protecting our money, we ought to expect and appreciate a little friction. Regulators can help to reinforce the importance of cyber defenses in safe and sound banking through appropriate updates to guidance and regulation. As with all rules, we should be mindful of the impacts on smaller institutions and help ensure that rules are right-sized for the risk. In addition, we can work with core providers to understand the extent to which they are incorporating AI advancements in their products and services to help smaller banks defend against deepfakes and other emerging risks from the technology. Last, we can also highlight research and development for cybersecurity startups and research into tools to combat deepfakes and Gen AI-based fraud. Regulators should consider how we could leverage AI technologies ourselves, including to enhance our ability to monitor and detect patterns of fraudulent activity at regulated institutions in real time. This could help provide early warnings to affected institutions and broader industry participants, as well as to protect our own systems. In addition to preventing attacks, we should also explore ways of making attacks more costly. These may include coordination with domestic and global law enforcement, internationally consistent laws against cybercrime, and continued improvement on sharing threat intelligence and insights in real-time. The official sector and banks should continue efforts to improve fraud data sharing within the financial sector and help institutions respond more quickly to emerging Gen AI-driven threats. This will make it far harder for fraudsters to operate undetected, increasing the complexity and cost of their activities. But the sharing is only as good as the data, and banks must do their part. We should help ensure that banks and other regulated institutions meet their duties to report cyber incidents in a timely way, and regulators should too.15 Another way to disrupt the economics of cybercrime is by increasing penalties for attempting to use Gen AI to commit fraud and increasing investment in cybercrime enforcement. This includes targeting the upstream organizations that benefit from illegal action and strengthening anti-money-laundering laws to disrupt illicit fund flows and freeze assets related to cybercrime. The fear of severe legal consequences could help to deter bad actors from pursuing AI-driven fraud schemes in the first place. ConclusionDeepfakes are only one of many new techniques to facilitate cyberattacks, but they feel particularly salient because they are so personal. And they are on the rise. We will need financial institutions to adapt, collaborate, and innovate in the face of these emerging threats. Thank you.
1. The views expressed here are my own and are not necessarily those of my colleagues on the Federal Reserve Board or the Federal Open Market Committee. Return to text 2. Michael S. Barr, “Artificial Intelligence: Hypothetical Scenarios for the Future” (speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY, February 18, 2025); Michael S. Barr, “AI, Fintechs, and Banks” (speech at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, April 4, 2025). Return to text 3. International Monetary Fund, Global Financial Stability Report, chapter 3 (October 2024), See also, World Economic Forum, Why We Need Global Rules to Crack Down on Cybercrime (January 2023). Return to text 4. “Fraud attempts with deepfakes have increased by 2137% over the last three years,” Signicat, February 20, 2025, https://www.signicat.com/press-releases/fraud-attempts-with-deepfakes-have-increased-by-2137-over-the-last-three-year#:~:text=Evolving20AI2Dbased20techniques20pose,AI2DDriven20Identity20Fraud20report. Return to text 5. Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud,” public service announcement, December 3, 2024. Return to text 6. See note 5. Return to text 7. Tianxiang Shen, Ruixian Liu, Ju Bai, and Zheng Li, “Deep Fakes” Using Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN) (PDF). McAfee, Beware the Artificial Impostor (May 2023), https://www.mcafee.com/content/dam/consumer/en-us/resources/cybersecurity/artificial-intelligence/rp-beware-the-artificial-impostor-report.pdf. Return to text 8. “What is a GAN?” AWS, https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/gan/#:~:text=A20generative20adversarial20network20(GAN,from20a20database20of20songs. Return to text 9. KELA, The State of Cybercrime 2025 Report (February 2025), https://www.kelacyber.com/resources/research/state-of-cybercrime-2025/. Return to text 10. Kathleen Magramo, “British Engineering Giant Arup Revealed as $25 Million Deepfake Scam Victim,” CNN Business, May 17, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/16/tech/arup-deepfake-scam-loss-hong-kong-intl-hnk/index.html. Return to text 11. Sandra Galletti and Massimo Pani, “How Ferrari Hit the Brakes on a Deepfake CEO,” MIT Sloan Management Review, January 27, 2025. Return to text 12. Chad Brooks, “1 in 10 Executives Say Their Companies Have Already Faced Deepfake Threats,” business.com, June 28, 2024, https://www.business.com/articles/deepfake-threats-study/. Return to text 13. See, for instance, FS-ISAC’s report on deepfake threats and risk management at https://www.fsisac.com/hubfs/Knowledge/AI/DeepfakesInTheFinancialSector-UnderstandingTheThreatsManagingTheRisks.pdf. Return to text 14. There are a variety of public and private resources that can help. See, for example, the National Security Agency/Central Security Service at https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/3523329/nsa-us-federal-agencies-advise-on-deepfake-threats/; and the National Cybersecurity Alliance at https://www.staysafeonline.org/articles/why-your-family-and-coworkers-need-a-safe-word-in-the-age-of-ai. Return to text 15. “Computer-Security Incident Notification Requirements for Banking Organizations and Their Bank Service Providers,” 86 Fed. Reg. 66,424 (November 23, 2021). Return to text
SAN FRANCISCO, April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sift, the AI-powered fraud platform delivering identity trust for leading global businesses, today announced that its industry-first Fraud Industry Benchmarking Resource (FIBR) is now integrated directly into the Sift product experience (Sift Console).
This innovation gives fraud and risk teams immediate access to their own fraud performance metrics compared against industry and global benchmarks without leaving their operational hub in the Sift Console.
The new FIBR integration specifically delivers comparative payment fraud attack rates, manual review rates, and chargeback metrics directly alongside customers’ own performance data. This side-by-side comparison eliminates the need to navigate between multiple platforms to benchmark performance, enabling more efficient and confident data-driven fraud strategy decisions.
“Access to credible fraud benchmarking insights has been a big and long-standing challenge for risk teams. Data was both unreliable and had to be stitched together across multiple, questionable sources,” said Armen Najarian, Sift’s Chief Marketing Officer. “We’re proud to deliver an industry-first by adding FIBR directly into the Sift product experience, bringing the insights our customers need to make even more confident and efficient risk decisions in a single view.”
The FIBR integration allows Sift Payment Protection customers to:
Compare their own payment fraud, manual review, and chargeback rates against the Sift Global Data Network
Filter benchmark data by specific industries for more relevant comparisons
Make more informed decisions about risk thresholds and fraud operations
Since its launch in 2023, FIBR has established itself as a vital resource in the fraud prevention industry by unlocking Sift’s extensive global data network available for benchmarking purposes. Unlike opaque approaches that leave companies guessing about industry standards, FIBR provides transparent metrics derived from Sift’s data network, which processes over 1 trillion events annually across more than 700 global businesses.
The FIBR Console integration is now available to all Sift Payment Protection customers through the Sift Console.
For more information about the latest FIBR innovation, visit the Sift Blog here.
About Sift
Sift is the AI-powered fraud platform securing identity trust for leading global businesses. Our deep investments in machine learning and user identity, a data network scoring 1 trillion events per year, and a commitment to long-term customer success empower more than 700 customers to grow fearlessly. Brands including DoorDash, Yelp, and Poshmark rely on Sift to unlock growth and deliver seamless consumer experiences. Visit us at sift.com and follow us on LinkedIn.
Media Contact: Victor White VP, Corporate Marketing, Sift press@sift.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif., April 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Top California Lender, a prominent player in the national lending sector, is thrilled to announce that Jerry Dean has taken over as the new leader of the organization. With a robust background in the lending industry, Dean brings extensive experience and a visionary approach to propel the company forward. Alongside this leadership transition, Top California Lender is introducing a dynamic new team to support its growth, featuring experts in finance, technology, and client relations to enhance service delivery. Additionally, the company is pioneering the use of AI for underwriting, leveraging advanced algorithms to streamline loan approvals and improve accuracy, setting a new standard in the industry. The AI system analyzes vast datasets, including credit histories, property valuations, and market trends, to deliver faster, more precise decisions, reducing human bias and processing times by up to 40%. This technology also enables real-time risk assessment and adaptive learning, allowing the system to refine its models based on ongoing market shifts, ensuring a competitive edge and client satisfaction.
Recently, under Dean’s leadership, Top California Lender closed a significant $14.7 million senior living construction loan in Florida. This financing supports the development of a 136-unit assisted-living and memory care facility, with construction underway and completion anticipated in the near future. The loan highlights Dean’s strategic focus on expanding Top California Lender’s presence in the senior housing sector.
Top California Lender offers a diverse portfolio of loan programs tailored to meet varied client needs nationwide, including Rehab/Renovation Loans for property upgrades, Construction Loans for new builds, Condo Conversion & Development for transforming properties, Equity Cash-Out for accessing home equity, Land Development & Subdivision for expanding real estate projects, Change of Use for repurposing assets, Bridge Loans for short-term financing, and Commercial Acquisition Loans for business property purchases. The company is also expanding its brokers program, providing brokers with access to its wholesale lending channels to process these loans, ensuring competitive rates and efficient closings for clients. Dean’s leadership marks a transformative chapter for Top California Lender, renowned for its innovative financing solutions and dedication to the national community. Further details about his plans, the new team, the AI underwriting initiative, and the enhanced brokers program will be shared in the coming weeks.
While increasing numbers of people in the UK – often young women – are opting for dermal fillers to achieve a fuller look without surgery, the rise of overfilled “trout pouts” and stiff “duck lips” has sparked a wave of alarm, even among those who might typically support cosmetic treatments.
Lip fillers are far from risk-free – and in some cases, the health consequences are permanent.
Unlike surgical procedures, lip fillers are not legally considered medical treatments. That means they are largely unregulated, and in many cases, are being injected by people with little or no medical training.
This is a problem, because lips are delicate and highly mobile. They contain very little natural fat and rely on a ring of tiny muscles to express everything from joy to concern. Injecting too much filler, or using the wrong kind, can interfere with these muscles – leaving the lips stiff, unnatural, or even immobile.
While some patients seek lip fillers for genuine medical reasons, such as facial palsy or disfigurement, these are exceptions. For most, the health risks can outweigh the cosmetic benefits.
What are fillers made of?
The substances used in lip fillers have changed over time. Older materials such as liquid silicone were eventually phased out due to serious complications, including scarring and migration of the product to other parts of the body.
Today, most lip fillers are made from hyaluronic acid (HA) – a substance that naturally exists in our bodies, particularly in connective tissue. HA attracts water, giving the skin volume and keeping it hydrated. As we age, our natural levels of HA decrease, which is why skin becomes drier and loses firmness.
The HA used in fillers is either extracted from animal tissue, such as rooster combs, or produced synthetically using bacteria. While this modern version is safer than older fillers, it still carries risks including allergic reactions, reactivation of cold sores (herpes simplex virus), infections and inflammation.
There have also been rare, but severe, cases of vascular complications such as blindness and tissue death, when fillers accidentally enter blood vessels.
The risk to kidneys
Less widely known – but equally concerning – is how repeat filler use may affect internal organs, particularly the kidneys.
Hyaluronic acid isn’t just a skin plumper – it also plays a role in the immune system. When the body detects inflammation, such as from repeated filler injections, it can respond by producing HA in the kidneys. This triggers a chain reaction: first, the kidneys produce high-molecular weight HA, which increases inflammation. Later, they switch to low-molecular weight HA, which reduces inflammation but causes fibrosis, or scarring of the tissue.
This double-edged response has been linked to chronic kidney disease and, in severe cases, even renal failure. Researchers are still exploring these links, but the risks become more significant with each repeated injection – especially in people who are genetically or medically vulnerable.
HA can also contribute to the formation of calcium oxalate crystals in the kidneys. These can lead to kidney stones and further tissue damage, potentially causing lifelong complications.
Who should avoid lip fillers?
Given these risks, some people should approach fillers with extreme caution – or avoid them entirely. These include people with a history of kidney problems or allergic reactions to filler ingredients, recurrent cold sores, autoimmune conditions (like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis), diabetes or blood clotting disorders, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Despite the risks, lip fillers remain widely accessible and heavily promoted – particularly to young people influenced by social media trends. Many undergo these treatments without fully understanding what they’re putting into their bodies.
So, what needs to change? First, better regulation. If lip filler injections were treated as medical procedures, stricter controls could help reduce botched treatments and serious complications.
Second, more education. Patients need to understand that just because something is “non-surgical” doesn’t mean it’s safe. Fillers are still foreign substances being injected into the body. They come with risks – and these risks can increase over time.
Lip fillers can offer subtle, beautiful enhancements when used sparingly and professionally. But when misused or overused, they can lead to lasting disfigurement, loss of function, and even serious internal health issues like kidney damage.
Beauty trends should never come at the cost of your health.
Jim Frame 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.
