Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) is proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and the accomplishments of our Hispanic Sailors and staff. This month, NSMRL is spotlighting Lt. Galo Barrezueta, deputy department head for the Operations Department.
Barrezueta’s Navy story began in 2007, when he enlisted as a hospital corpsman shortly after graduating high school in New Jersey. He was searching for a career that would offer him the opportunity to be part of something bigger than himself.
“I joined because I was searching for a better opportunity for me and my family,” said Barrezueta. “The Navy offered so many enticing opportunities. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Over his 13 years as an enlisted Sailor, Barrezueta took advantage of many such opportunities. He started on a path towards hospital administration with a bachelor’s degree in 2012 and his first master’s degree in 2019. He briefly left the Navy in 2020, after being waitlisted for the Health Services Collegiate Program (HSCP), but only a few short months after separating, the Navy called him back to ask if he was still interested in becoming an officer.
Barrezueta was thrilled to rejoin the Navy.
“When I separated, I worked in the public sector at a clinic, which was fine, but wasn’t really the same,” said Barrezueta. “The comradery and the relationships I’d had in the Navy just weren’t there. It was a 9-5, and when five hit, everyone went home. There was no working together towards a mission, and no one was really willing to help each other. That was the main thing I missed about the military. The ability to work towards one goal and one mission.”
Through the HSCP, Barrezueta received his second master’s degree in healthcare administration, and commissioned in 2022. He is excited to also join the Association of Hispanic Naval Officers (ANSO), an initiative founded in 1981 by Eduardo Hidalgo, the first Secretary of the Navy of Hispanic descent. ANSO is dedicated to supporting Hispanics and Latinos across all ranks and career milestones (recruitment, retention, promotion).
“Influencing the next generation is key and that’s why I’m excited to join ANSO,” stated Barrezueta. “I’ve talked to many kids with similar backgrounds to mine, and sharing my experiences so they can be better prepared to take advantage of the opportunities the Navy offers. One of my childhood friends, for example, has a daughter who was going to enlist, but based on her grades and personality, I encouraged her to join the ROTC at her college, and now she’s going through that program and is doing great.”
Barrezueta and his family moved to New Jersey from Ecuador when he was 10 years old, which has given him a deep appreciation for the Hispanic and American cultures, although he sometimes finds it difficult to explain how he embraces both.
“I love having the opportunity to share both my cultures, Hispanic and American,” Barrezueta said. “Sometimes I have to explain why I do things differently, and it’s because I have such a different perspective, as someone from two distinct cultures. For example, I grew up loving football [soccer] in Ecuador, but after coming to the U.S., I am also obsessed with baseball. It’s easy for me to appreciate and enjoy both, but I often find myself having to explain why I love each, because if you didn’t grow up in that culture, you don’t understand.”
To Barrezueta, it is important that the Navy continue celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month, as well as other diversity celebrations throughout each year.
“Ultimately, our country is built on diversity, which is our biggest strength,” said Barrezueta. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with other Services, and you can see our strength when we go into other countries and we have people who speak those different languages and are able to communicate with the locals. Not just Hispanics, but all different cultures. It’s important that our Navy reflect the diversity of our country.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month is a month-long celebration in the United States that honors the contributions and cultural heritage of Hispanic and Latino Americans. It is observed from September 15 to October 15. This year’s theme is “Pioneers of Change: Shaping the Future Together.”
NSMRL, part of Naval Medical Research & Development, and based out of Groton, Connecticut, sustains the readiness and superiority of undersea warfighters through innovative health and performance research and works to lead the world in delivering science solutions to ensure undersea warrior dominance.
Elizabeth of Austria and Casimir IV of Poland in the woodcut from the Łaski Statute.Archiwum Główne Akt Dawnych
Throughout history, queens have often been judged on their looks. Beauty standards shaped early-modern queenship. Even today, royal women such as the UK royal family’s Camilla, Catherine and Meghan are scrutinised for their looks, while their male counterparts aren’t held to the same standard.
One woman who faced particular scrutiny for her looks was Elizabeth of Austria (1436/37–1505). Known as the “mother of kings”, Elizabeth married Casimir IV of Poland and had 13 children, securing the Jagiellon dynasty’s future. Yet she is still remembered for her supposed lack of beauty.
This obsession with her appearance overlooks what really mattered for queens in her time: fertility, motherhood, political alliances and dynastic stability.
Beauty versus duty
Elizabeth was a powerful queen consort of Poland who played a significant role in European politics. Yet for centuries, she has been chiefly labelled as unattractive. This narrative likely began as early as 50 years after her death, with commentators focusing on her supposed ugliness.
But the foundation for these claims is shaky, at best. Medieval chroniclers, such as Jan Długosz, who documented the lives of Polish rulers and their families, made no mention of Elizabeth’s appearance.
This omission is significant as Długosz often commented on the beauty, or lack thereof, of other royal women. The absence of such remarks in Elizabeth’s case suggests her physical appearance was not a matter of public concern during her lifetime.
Later chroniclers such as Maciej of Miechów (1457–1523) and Marcin Bielski (1495–1575), who drew heavily from Długosz, also failed to comment on Elizabeth’s looks, further underscoring the lack of focus on her beauty.
In 1548, Polish nobleman Andrzej Górka alleged in a rhetorical speech that King Casimir IV was disappointed by Elizabeth’s appearance and considered breaking off their engagement. Górka claimed the king expressed doubts about the impending marriage because of Elizabeth’s lack of beauty – and the only thing that persuaded him to wed was a sense of duty.
However, Górka’s speech took place almost a century after the actual events. It was delivered in a political context where the goal was to influence Casimir’s grandson not to marry for love.
This saga mirrors a well-known English story involving Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. In 1540, Henry, eager to meet his new bride, rode in disguise to surprise her. The meeting didn’t go as planned. Henry’s disappointment in Anne’s appearance became notorious and the marriage was speedily annulled.
Both of these stories reflect the pressure queens faced to meet idealistic beauty standards, often with serious consequences. Henry’s judgement of Anne based on her looks altered the course of their marriage and, by extension, future political alliances. His behaviour reinforced the idea that a queen’s worth was tied to her physical appearance, overshadowing her political or dynastic significance.
Elizabeth as the ‘ugly queen’
The primary role of a queen in early-modern Europe was to provide heirs and secure political alliances through marriage. Beauty was arguably not the most important factor.
This 1454 painting depicts the marriage of Elizabeth of Austria to Casimir IV of Poland. Wikimedia
Elizabeth of Austria’s marriage to Casimir IV of Poland was about strengthening ties between the Habsburg and Jagiellon dynasties, not about physical attraction. Of Elizabeth’s 13 children, several went on to become kings and queens across Europe. Her ancestry and status as a mother were the basis of her political influence – far more valuable than her looks.
However, as history shows, the perception of a queen’s beauty could still end up influencing her legacy. While Elizabeth’s contemporaries didn’t seem to care about her appearance, later generations did.
The myth of Elizabeth’s unattractiveness gained traction primarily after a 1973 investigation into the royal tombs at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. Skeletal remains identified as belonging to Elizabeth showed facial deformities, reinforcing the myth. However, there’s no solid proof these bones were even hers, and the findings have since been questioned.
Nonetheless, the idea that a queen had to be beautiful to be politically capable took hold over time. Even though Elizabeth helped secure the future of one of Europe’s most powerful dynasties, her legacy is clouded by a narrative focused on her appearance.
Royal beauty standards today
Royal women in the 21st century continue to be haunted by the same narratives that plagued Anne of Cleves and Elizabeth of Austria. Queen Camilla, for instance, has been criticised for her looks throughout her public life, especially in comparison to the late Princess Diana.
Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle also face intense media scrutiny over their appearance, with headlines dissecting everything from their fashion choices to their weight. Queen Mary of Denmark, Princess Charlene of Monaco and Queen Letizia of Spain face similar scrutiny.
Sure, queens were and are aware of this. Many even weaponised beauty, ritual and fashion for their own gain. Cleopatra did this to hold onto power in ancient Egypt, and Marie Antoinette to protect herself from the hostile French court.
Marie Antoinette, with her extravagant dresses, became as renowned for her fashion as her scandalous behaviour. British Museum, CC BY-NC-SA
Elizabeth I’s reign in England gave rise to a concept of “Elizabethan beauty”, characterised by pale skin and rosy lips and cheeks. And the late Elizabeth II understood the need to dress the part.
By reducing royal women to their looks – or framing them as fashion icons – we fail to reckon with their individual characters and influence in the world. Meanwhile, men such as King Charles, King Frederick of Denmark and King Felipe of Spain are more likely to be judged by their virility, actions and policies.
Should beauty really matter when it comes to royal women? Shouldn’t we be more interested in their contributions to history, politics and society?
It’s time to shift the conversation away from appearance and focus on what matters: the impact these women have on the world. Like their male counterparts, they are crucial figures in shaping history and politics, so we ought to think carefully about how we judge them.
Darius von Guttner Sporzynski receives funding from the National Science Centre, Poland as a partner investigator in the grant “Polish queen consorts in the 15th and 16th centuries as wives and mothers” (2021/43/B/HS3/01490).
Magdalena Biniaś-Szkopek receives funding from the National Science Centre, Poland, as the principal investigator in the grant “Polish queen consorts in the 15th and 16th centuries as wives and mothers” (2021/43/B/HS3/01490).
Robert Tomczak receives funding from the National Science Centre, Poland, as a post-doctoral fellow in the grant “Polish queen consorts in the 15th and 16th centuries as wives and mothers” (2021/43/B/HS3/01490).
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi lays foundation stone and inaugurates multiple development projects in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh Inaugurates and lays foundation stone of multiple airport projects worth over Rs 6,100 crore
Development initiatives of today will significantly benefit the citizens, especially our Yuva Shakti: PM
In the last 10 years, we have started a huge campaign to build infrastructure in the country: PM
Kashi is model city where development is taking place along with preservation of heritage:PM
Government has given new emphasis to women empowerment ,society develops when the women and youth of the society are empowered: PM
Posted On: 20 OCT 2024 6:47PM by PIB Delhi
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone and inaugurated multiple development projects in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh today. The projects of today include multiple airport projects worth over Rs 6,100 crore and multiple development initiatives in Varanasi.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that today is a very auspicious occasion for Kashi as he mentioned inaugurating RJ Sankara Eye Hospital earlier today. He said that the Hospital would be very helpful for the elderly and children. Referring to the development projects of today, the Prime Minister mentioned the inauguration of new airport terminals in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh including Babatpur Airport and Sarsawa Airport of Agra and Saharanpur. He emphasized that development projects pertaining to Education, Skill Development, Sports, Healthcare and Tourism among other sectors have been presented to Varanasi today which would not only boost services but also create employment opportunities for the youth. Shri Modi recalled participating in Abhidhamma Diwas a few days ago and mentioned inaugurating multiple development projects worth crores of rupees today related to the development of Sarnath, the land of Lord Buddha’s sermons. The Prime Minister highlighted the association of Sarnath and Varanasi With Pali and Prakrit languages and mentioned granting them the status of classical language recently. He said that it is a matter of great pride that languages used in the scriptures have been granted classical language status. The Prime Minister congratulated the people of Kashi and India for the development projects of today.
Recalling his promise to work three times more when he was given the opportunity to serve the people of Varanasi, the Prime Minister remarked that in less than 125 days of the formation of Government, the work on various schemes and projects worth more than Rs. 15 lakh crore had already begun. He added that the maximum budget of these was dedicated to the poor, farmers and the youths. Shri Modi said that today there was a discussion in every household about the work of Rs. 15 lakh crore as against the scams which were being reported in the newspapers a decade ago. He added that the change that the country desired where the money of the people was spent on the people along with the progress of the country with utmost honesty were the top priorities of the Government.
The Prime Minister underlined that the government has initiated a huge campaign for infrastructural development in the country in the last 10 years with two main objectives of improving services for the people and creating employment opportunities for the youth through investments. Giving examples of development works of modern highways, laying of railway tracks on new routes and establishment of new airports, the Prime Minister emphasized that it is enhancing convenience for the people and creating employment at the same time. He said that the construction of the highway for Babatpur Airport not only benefited the travelers but also gave a boost to agriculture, industry and tourism. He informed that work is already underway for the expansion of Babatpur Airport to increase its flight handling capacity.
Shri Modi highlighted that India’s airports and their magnificent buildings with amazing facilities is a topic of discussion all over the world. Shri Modi said that in 2014, there were only 70 airports, while today, there are more than 150 airports along with the renovation work of the old airports. He added that last year, the construction of new facilities was completed at more than a dozen airports in the country which include Aligarh, Moradabad, Shravasti and Chitrakoot airports. Shri Modi remarked that the grand international airport in Ayodhya was welcoming Ram devotees every day. The Prime Minister highlighted that today UP was known as ‘state of expressways’ as against the past when it was taunted for its dilapidated roads. He added that today UP was also known as a state with the most number of international airports with a grand international airport going to be built soon in Jewar, Noida. Shri Modi lauded the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Ministers of UP along with the entire team for the progress of UP.
The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the rate of progress as a Member of Parliament from Varanasi and reiterated his dream of making Kashi a model city of urban development where progress and heritage go hand in hand. He said that today Kashi is identified by the grand and divine Dham of Baba Vishwanath, Rudraksh Convention Center, infrastructure projects like Ring Road and Ganjari Stadium and modern facilities like ropeway. “City’s wide roads and beautiful ghats of Ganga ji are captivating everyone today”, he added.
The Prime Minister said that it is the Government’s constant endeavor to make Kashi and Purvanchal a huge center of trade and business as he mentioned the construction of a new rail-road bridge over River Ganga a few days ago which would comprise a 6 lane highway and railway lines for several trains. He said that it would hugely benefit the people of Varanasi and Chandauli.
“Our Kashi is now becoming a very big center for sports”, said Shri Modi. He added that the revamped Sigra Stadium was in front of the people now and arrangements were made in the new stadium for preparations from national competitions to Olympics along with modern facilities for sports. The Prime Minister highlighted the potential of young players of Kashi, which was evident during the Member of Parliament sports competition and now youngsters of Purvanchal were provided with good facilities for preparing for bigger competitions.
Underlining that development of society occurs when its women and youth are empowered, the Prime Minister stressed that the government has given new strength to women. He mentioned schemes like Mudra Yojna where crores of women have been facilitated loans to start their own businesses. “Today, efforts are being made to create ‘Lakhpati Didis’ in villages and women are even becoming drone pilots”, PM Modi said. Highlighting the belief in Kashi that even Lord Shiva seeks alms from Goddess Annapurna, the Prime Minister said that this belief has driven the government to place Nari Shakit at the center of every initiative for the goal of Viksit Bharat. He emphasized that under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, millions of women have been handed out their own homes including women of Varanasi. The Prime Minister also highlighted that the government is set to construct another three crore houses and assured that those women who have yet to receive homes under the PM Awas scheme will be given their houses soon. In addition to providing piped water, Ujjwala gas, and electricity, PM Modi said that the new PM Suryaghar Free Electricity Scheme will further ease the lives of women, allowing them to benefit from free power and even earn from it.
“Our Kashi is a multi-hued cultural city, with the holy Jyotirlinga of Lord Shankar, a Moksha Tirtha like Manikarnika and also a place of knowledge like Sarnath”, said Shri Modi. He remarked that it was only after decades, that so much work was simultaneously carried out for the development of Banaras. Questioning the previous governments on the poor development and progress of Varanasi, Shri Modi remarked that his Government worked on the mantra of Sabka Saath. Sabka Vikas without any discrimination in any scheme. He added that the Government stuck to its words and cited the example of the grand Ram temple built in Ayodhya, as promised. He also mentioned the historic reservation for women in the Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha completed by the government. Shri Modi also mentioned the other achievements of abolition of Triple Talaq, granting constitutional status to the Backward Class Commission and granting 10 percent reservation to the economically backward classes of people.
“We have done our work with sincerity, implemented policies with good intentions and strive to improve the lives of every family in the country,” said Prime Minister Modi. He emphasized that the nation’s continuous blessings are a result of the government’s efforts as recently seen in Haryana, where the ruling dispensation secured its third consecutive government. He also noted the record number of votes received in Jammu and Kashmir.
Noting that dynastic politics is a significant danger to the country, especially to the youth, the Prime Minister explained that such form of politics often deprives young people of opportunities. He reiterated his clarion call from the Red Fort to bring one lakh young individuals into politics whose families have no political background. He stressed that this initiative will change the direction of Indian politics eradicating corruption and family-driven mindsets. Encouraging the youth of Kashi and Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said, “I urge the youth to become the pivot of this new political movement. As the Member of Parliament of Kashi, I am committed to bringing forward as many young people as possible.” Concluding the address, the Prime Minister said that Kashi stands as a symbol of new benchmarks of development for the entire nation. He congratulated the states and people of Kashi on the new development programs launched today.
Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Smt Anandiben Patel, Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath and Union Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu were present on the occasion among others.
Background
In line with his commitment to boost connectivity, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone for the expansion of the airport runway and construction of a new terminal building and allied works of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi worth around Rs 2870 crore. He also laid the foundation stone of New Civil Enclave at Agra Airport worth more than Rs 570 crore, Darbhanga Airport worth around Rs 910 crore and Bagdogra Airport worth around Rs 1550 crore.
The Prime Minister inaugurated new terminal buildings of Rewa Airport, Maa Mahamaya Airport, Ambikapur and Sarsawa Airport worth over Rs 220 crore. The combined passenger handling capacity of these airports increases to more than 2.3 crore passengers annually. The designs of these airports are influenced and derived from the common elements of heritage structures of the region.
In line with his vision to provide top-quality infrastructure for sports, the Prime Minister inaugurated Phases 2 and 3 of the redevelopment of Varanasi Sports Complex worth over Rs 210 crore under Khelo India scheme and the Smart City Mission. The project aims to create a state-of-the-art sports complex featuring a National Centre of Excellence, players’ hostels, sports science center, practice fields for various sports, indoor shooting ranges and combat sports arenas among others. He also inaugurated 100-bed girls’ and boys’ hostels and a public pavilion at Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Sports Stadium, Lalpur.
The Prime Minister inaugurated tourism development works in Buddhism-related areas in Sarnath. These enhancements include the construction of pedestrian-friendly streets, new sewer lines and upgraded drainage systems and organized vending zones with modern designer vending carts to promote local handicraft vendors, among others. The Prime Minister also inaugurated multiple other initiatives like tourism development works at Banasur Temple and Gurudham Temple along with beautification and redevelopment of parks etc.
Speaking at the launch of infrastructure projects in Varanasi. These development initiatives will significantly benefit the citizens, especially our Yuva Shakti.https://t.co/wwzjuVyFW8
Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri J.P. Nadda inaugurates the “Medicine Update BJMFCON 2024”, organized by the Bihar & Jharkhand Medical Forum (BJMF) Out of total 1.73 lakh high-quality Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in India, 10,716 are in Bihar with a footfall of 8.35 crore and 4.36 crore non-communicable disease (NCD) screenings, 3,825 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in Jharkhand with a footfall of 2.33 crore and 2.12 crore NCD screenings: Shri Nadda
“Infant Mortality Rate in Bihar came down from 42 to 27 in 2020, and in Jharkhand, from 34 to 25 in 2020”
“157 District hospitals converted to medical colleges in India, out of which 8 were in Bihar (in Purnia, Saran, Samastipur, Jhajharpur, Siwan, Buxar, and Jamui) and 5 in Jharkhand (in Dumka, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Chaibasa, and Kodarma)”
“The Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is being redeveloped into Asia’s second-largest hospital”
Posted On: 20 OCT 2024 4:49PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare and Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri J.P. Nadda inaugurated the “Medicine Update BJMFCON 2024”, organized by the Bihar & Jharkhand Medical Forum (BJMF), here today. As the chief guest at the event, Shri Nadda also released the ‘Souvenir and BJMF Directory’.
Bihar & Jharkhand Medical Forum (BJMF) is a socio-scientific organization of doctors from the states of Bihar & Jharkhand practicing in the Delhi NCR Region for long and serving the people of the region. The first Medicine Update was held in 2023. The 2ndMedicine Update BJMFCON was held today.
Addressing the BJMFCON 2024, Shri Nadda stated that “I am delighted to know that BJMF takes its socio, academic and scientific program ahead. You all have not just become doctors for yourself but also have given back to society. United efforts have been made by you to ensure outreach to society while also enlightening yourself through such conferences, continued medical education, seminars, group discussions, and panel discussions conducted by the BJMF.”
Highlighting the government’s efforts in transforming the health landscape of the country, Shri Nadda stated that “under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, the government is taking steps to ensure high quality and affordable healthcare facilities to all” and “is committed to implementing a comprehensive health policy that provides holistic, inclusive, preventive, promotive, curative, palliative and rehabilitative care to all.”
Underlining the government’s efforts on preventive aspects of healthcare and early detection of diseases in the country, he stated that, “there are 1.73 lakh high-quality Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in India that go through a digital high-quality assessment. Out of the total Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in India, 10,716 are in Bihar with a footfall of 8.35 crore and 4.36 crore non-communicable disease (NCD) screenings, while there are 3,825 Ayushman Arogya Mandirs in Jharkhand with a footfall of 2.33 crore and 2.12 crore NCD screenings.”
Highlighting the strides made in mother and child health, he stated that “institutional deliveries increased from 78.9% to 88.6% in first 5 years of Modi Government”, Shri Nadda stated that “the infant mortality rate (IMR) has declined in the country. IMR in India was 28 per 1000 live births in 2020. In Bihar, it came down from 42 to 27 in 2020, and in Jharkhand, from 34 to 25 in 2020. The under 5 Mortality Rate was 32 per 1000 live births in India in 2020. In Bihar, it came down from 53 to 30 in 2020 and from 44 to 27 in 2020, in Jharkhand.”
He further added that “from 387 before 2014 to 766, an increase of 98% in the number of medical colleges has been ensured under the Prime Minister’s leadership. 157 District hospitals were converted to medical colleges out of which 8 were in Bihar in Purnia, Saran, Samastipur, Jhajharpur, Siwan, Buxar, and Jamui. 5 of these were in Jharkhand in Dumka, Hazaribagh, Palamu, Chaibasa, and Kodarma.” He emphasized that “the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) is being redeveloped into Asia’s second-largest hospital.”
He added that “The number of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) seats has seen an increase of 125% i.e. from 51,348 before 2014 to 1,15, 412. While there has been an increase of 134% in postgraduate (PG) seats from 31,185 before 2014 to 73,111.”
He also highlighted that “under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY) to correct regional imbalances in the availability of affordable/ reliable tertiary healthcare services and also to augment facilities for quality medical education in the country new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will be opened up in Patna and Darbhanga in Bihar and at Deoghar in Jharkhand.” He also added that “under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY), the world’s largest health insurance scheme, Rs. 86,797 crores worth of treatment has been authorized. As part of its commitment to senior care, the government has extended Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY to all seniors aged 70 and above which facilitates them accessing up to ₹5 lakh of healthcare benefits.”
He commended the healthcare providers “for their relentless efforts to ensure the accessibility of healthcare services even in the remotest areas of the country” and highlighted their efforts and service during the COVID-19 pandemic. He concluded his remarks by thanking the doctors for their contribution to providing healthcare to the people and ensuring the achievements of the government in this direction and urged the participants of the programme to come up with concrete recommendations for improving healthcare facilities in the country.
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MV/AKS
HFW/HFM inaugurates “Medicine Update BJMFCON 2024”/20th October 2024/1
The Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education (DoSEL), is sending 20 school students and 2 supervisors to Japan to participate in the Sakura Programme 2024 along with 5 other countries from 20-26 October 2024. The enthusiastic and excited children were flagged off by Shri Charanjt Taneja, Deputy Secretary, DoSEL; Dr. Amarendra Prasad Behera, Joint Director, CIET-NCERT; and Ms. Kirti Panwar, Deputy Commissioner, Navodaya Vidyalaya in a ceremony at CIET-NCERT organised by DoSEL. The event was also attended by Mr. Kemmochi Yukio, Manager of the Japan Science and Technology Agency, and officials from DoSEL-MoE. These 20 students (10 boys and 10 girls) are from Navodaya Vidyalayas and alumni of the PRERANA program from across the country.
To develop the intellectual horizon and scientific exploration among young learners, the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) has been implementing the “Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science” also known as the “Sakura Science Programme” since 2014. India was added to the Sakura Program in 2015. The students are invited under the programme for short-term visits to Japan, giving them the opportunity to experience Japan’s cutting-edge science and technology as well as its culture.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, while emphasizing the importance of curriculum and pedagogy in schools, endorses that “Learning should be Holistic, Integrated, Enjoyable and Engaging in itself. Also, NEP-2020 states that in all stages, experiential learning will be adopted as standard pedagogy within each subject, and with explorations of relations among different subjects. It is in this context that educational trips and excursions to various places of importance in terms of historical, cultural, social and technological development are of paramount importance. Japan as a developed nation, a friendly country, along with technological advancements, is also a favourite destination for educational exposure. Therefore, visiting a country like Japan is always enriching and provides an opportunity for the exploration of innovative practices.
India participated in the program for the first time in April 2016. So far, 553 students and 85 supervisors have visited Japan under this programme. The last batch visited Japan in June 2024.
PM to visit Varanasi on 20th October PM to inaugurate and lay foundation stone of multiple airport projects worth over Rs 6,100 crore
PM to inaugurate RJ Sankara Eye Hospital
PM to also inaugurate multiple development initiatives in Varanasi
Posted On: 19 OCT 2024 5:40PM by PIB Delhi
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi on 20th October. At around 2 PM he will inaugurate RJ Sankara Eye Hospital. Thereafter, at around 4:15 PM, he will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects in Varanasi.
Prime Minister will inaugurate the RJ Sankara Eye Hospital. The hospital will offer comprehensive consultations and treatments for various eye conditions. Prime Minister will also address the gathering on the occasion.
In line with his commitment to boost connectivity, Prime Minister will lay the foundation stone for expansion of airport runway and construction of a new terminal building and allied works of Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport, Varanasi worth around Rs 2870 crore. He will also lay the foundation stone of New Civil Enclave at Agra airport worth more than Rs 570 crore, at Darbhanga airport worth around Rs 910 crore and at Bagdogra airport worth around Rs 1550 crore.
Prime Minister will inaugurate new terminal buildings of Rewa Airport, Maa Mahamaya Airport, Ambikapur and Sarsawa Airport worth over Rs 220 crore. The combined passenger handling capacity of these airports will increase to more than 2.3 crore passengers annually. The designs of these airports are influenced and derived from the common elements of heritage structures of the region.
In line with his vision to provide top-quality infrastructure for sports, Prime Minister will inaugurate Phases 2 and 3 of redevelopment of Varanasi Sports Complex worth over Rs 210 crore under Khelo India scheme and the Smart City Mission. The project aims to create a state-of-the-art sports complex featuring a National Centre of Excellence, players’ hostels, sports science centre, practice fields for various sports, indoor shooting ranges, combat sports arenas among others. He will also inaugurate 100-bed girls’ and boys’ hostels and a public pavilion at Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Sports Stadium, Lalpur.
Prime Minister will inaugurate tourism development works of Buddhism related areas in Sarnath.These enhancements include the construction of pedestrian-friendly streets, new sewer lines and upgraded drainage system, organised vending zone with modern designer vending carts to promote local handicraft vendors, among others.
Prime Minister will also inaugurate multiple other initiatives like tourism development works at Banasur Temple and Gurudham Temple, beautification and redevelopment of parks etc.
STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, October 21, 2024. Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) announces that its portfolio company SVF Vaccines, has presented positive clinical safety and immunogenicity data from a clinical phase 1 study of the universal Covid-19 vaccine candidate, SVF-002.
SVF Vaccines develops SVF-002, a DNA vaccine designed to engage a broad neutralizing response directed against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, but has also been designed to induce a T-cell response that is capable of eliminating cells in which the virus is present. SVF-002 has now been evaluated in a double-blind, first-in-human clinical study. The results were presented today at the annual meeting of the International Society for Vaccines in Seoul, South Korea, by the principal investigator of the study, Professor Soo Aleman, Senior Physician and Section Manager at the Medical Unit for Infectious Diseases, Karolinska University Hospital.
The results showed that the vaccine candidate was safe and well-tolerated and that the higher dose boosted neutralizing antibodies to the spike protein and provided unique T-cell responses against highly conserved components of the virus, the membrane protein and the nucleoprotein, which may entail better protection even if the virus changes. The study was run by the OpenCorona consortium in collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden. The study enrolled healthy individuals who had previously received three doses of an mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine.
“SVF Vaccine is developing a portfolio of therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines that potentially can both prevent disease and cure infected patients. The positive results in the clinical phase 1 study are an important achievement that validates SVF Vaccines development platform,” says Viktor Drvota, CEO of Karolinska Development.
Karolinska Development’s ownership in SVF Vaccines amounts to 34%.
Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) is a Nordic life sciences investment company. The company focuses on identifying breakthrough medical innovations in the Nordic region that are developed by entrepreneurs and leadership teams. The Company invests in the creation and growth of companies that advance these assets into commercial products that are designed to make a difference to patient’s lives while providing an attractive return on investment to shareholders.
Karolinska Development has access to world-class medical innovations at the Karolinska Institutet and other leading universities and research institutes in the Nordic region. The Company aims to build companies around scientists who are leaders in their fields, supported by experienced management teams and advisers, and co-funded by specialist international investors, to provide the greatest chance of success.
Karolinska Development has a portfolio of eleven companies targeting opportunities in innovative treatment for life-threatening or serious debilitating diseases.
The Company is led by an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals with a proven track record as company builders and with access to a strong global network.
Dr. Mahncke will discuss how brain health issues of the person-in-crisis can create obstacles to a successful negotiation, and how negotiators who understand these issues (and optimize their own brain performance) can guide negotiations to a successful conclusion.
“We now do considerable work with SWAT, law enforcement, and emergency response,” observed Dr. Mahncke. “Crisis negotiation draws on a large number of cognitive skills, which we’ve shown — across many studies and field trials — can be systematically improved. Those cognitive skills include attention, speed of processing, memory, and decision-making, but we’ve learned there are many others, including both general and momentary alertness, inhibitory response, emotional recognition, multiple object tracking, peripheral vision, initiation of movement recognition, divided attention, and rule switching.”
“Managing crisis negotiations is incredibly cognitively demanding,” Dr. Mahncke continued. “It demands mastery of divided attention and rule shifting, as you prioritize and re-prioritize continuously incoming information. It’s both art and science, and we are honored to be asked to present the latest neuroscience related to this field. Our goal is to help officers be relaxed and ready to address the crises with peak cognitive skills and abilities.”
During his two-hour workshop, Dr. Mahncke will share an overview of how certain cognitive abilities — shown to be systematically improvable — relate to crisis negotiation and management, including data from recent studies and field trials, learnings from interviews, findings regarding the impact of BrainHQ exercises on stress, anxiety, fatigue, confidence and control, as well as some hands-on time with BrainHQ. Conference registrants will have access to the cognitive exercises throughout the conference.
BrainHQ exercises have shown benefits in hundreds of studies. Such benefits include gains in cognition (attention, speed, memory, decision-making), in quality of life (depressive symptoms, confidence and control, health-related quality of life) and in real-world activities (health outcomes, balance, driving, workplace activities). BrainHQ is offered by leading health and Medicare Advantage plans, by leading medical centers, clinics, and communities, and by elite athletes and teams, special forces, the military, and other organizations focused on peak performance. Consumers can try a BrainHQ exercise for free daily at https://www.brainhq.com.
Major steps have been taken to build the Einstein Telescope in the border region of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. This was revealed at the 4th ministerial summit on the project. The Flemish government is already reserving €200 million for the project. In addition, Belgium and the Netherlands support the steps being taken in Germany to definitively earmark funds for the construction of the Einstein Telescope. Finally, it was announced at the summit that the 1rst results of the drilling campaign give the preliminary conclusion that the subsoil in the border area of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany is sufficiently stable and offers opportunities to build the telescope.
Newcomers
That news caused great optimism among the responsible ministers from North Rhine-Westphalia, Belgium and the Netherlands at the Kerkrade conference on the underground telescope.
Following elections and government formation in the Netherlands and Belgium, a number of new ministers in the Netherlands and Belgium are responsible for the Einstein Telescope project. From Wallonia it is Minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet, in Flanders it is Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele and from the Netherlands Minister Eppo Bruins, who also hosted.
Commitment in the 3 countries
Ahead of the summit, it was announced that the new Flemish cabinet is already reserving €200 million for the Einstein Telescope. This is good news. Together with the financial reservation in the Netherlands and the extra boost given by Minister Bruins on Prinsjesdag, a total of more than a billion euros is available for the Einstein Telescope in both countries. Germany is also taking steps for the Einstein Telescope. There, an application is under way to get the Einstein Telescope on Germany’s priority list for large scientific infrastructure. This is a necessary condition for a financial contribution. Dutch and Belgian ministers have indicated their support for this proposal.
Drilling campaign: hard rock favourable
A key condition for building the Einstein Telescope is that the soil is suitable for it. To determine that, drilling to an average depth of 300 metres was carried out at 11 locations in the border region of Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Not all analyses have been completed yet, but the first preliminary conclusions look good. It was found that the subsurface consists of harder rock layers than initially assumed. This is favourable for building an underground research infrastructure. The analysed data from the drillings have been independently verified by the geological service of TNO (Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). TNO concurs with the research team’s conclusion based on these initial findings that there are no factors that would make the project unfeasible. This drilling campaign and the data collected do not yet say anything about exactly where the 3 vertices for the underground telescope will be. Further geological research is needed for that. In addition, seismic surveys must show that the area is sufficiently noise-free to allow the telescope to measure gravity waves optimally. Furthermore, civil engineering studies must show how the construction of the underground tunnels and vertices is possible. In addition, environmental impact studies will help determine the most suitable location.
Einstein Telescope of great value
The Einstein Telescope will be of great value to science, the economy and society. Studies show that every euro invested will pay for itself twice over, and thousands of additional jobs are expected to be created in the border area of the 3 countries. Both for scientists and professionals in the fields of construction, maintenance and hospitality. The decision on where to build the Einstein Telescope will be made in 2026. The border region of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium is in the race together, working on the best possible bid book. The Netherlands has €58 million for preparation and a reservation of €870 million for construction.
Quotes from national and regional ministers
Minister Eppo Bruins (OCW) – the Netherlands: ‘Together, we are really another step closer to the Einstein Telescope. The Flemish investment is very good news, and Germany is also taking steps. These agreements and first results of the ground borings mean that the ground under our plan is getting firmer, both literally and figuratively. And that’s good news. Together, we can really give a major boost to science, society and the economy in our countries with the Einstein Telescope.’
State Secretary Thomas Dermine, Belgium: ‘This latest ministerial meeting shows that the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany continue to make significant daily efforts to ensure that the candidacy of the EMR region for the Einstein Telescope is as solid and coherent as possible. The Belgian federal government, whose administration (BELSPO) coordinates the work of the Belgian Task Force, closely monitors the next steps to be taken to ensure that this high-value scientific project is actually realized in the EMR region. The realization of a European project of this caliber will enhance the EMR cross-border region and demonstrate that Europe is at the top of scientific technology in the field of gravitational wave detection.’
Nathanael Liminski, Minister of Federal, European, International Affairs and Media of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and Head of the State Chancellery: ‘We are constantly fostering cross-border cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia, the Netherlands and Belgium for the benefit of the people in the region. Of the many areas and projects in which we work together, the Einstein Telescope stands out in particular. Joint cutting-edge research projects send out the signal that we, as Europe, have the confidence to be among the best in the world. The Einstein Telescope has enormous potential, both scientifically and economically.’
Gonça Türkeli-Dehnert, State Secretary, Ministry of Culture and Research of the State of North-Rhine Westphalia: ‘The research landscape in North Rhine-Westphalia, with its many excellent universities and research institutions, is unique in Europe. I am sure that North Rhine-Westphalia and its partners in the Netherlands and Belgium will be the ideal home for the Einstein Telescope.’
Minister Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Wallonia: ‘This project is of great importance for scientific research and European scientific collaboration, but also for the economy of our regions, which is why the new Walloon Government fully supports this bid through the Economy and Industry Department. Most of this project will be carried out under Walloon soil, and the spin-offs will be significant for our regions. In the coming weeks, the Walloon Government will be expanding its project team to maximise the chances of this joint bid by Germany, the Netherlands, Flanders and Wallonia.’
Flemish Prime Minister Matthias Diependaele: ‘The Einstein Telescope is a unique ‘Big Science’ project. It links fundamental science, technological innovation, attraction of STEM fields and international appeal. A strong commitment from all governments involved will enable us to actually bring this unique scientific infrastructure to the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion. This is why the new Flemish government has already entered an initial reservation of 200 million euros in its budget.’
Deputy Stephan Satijn (Economy, Finance and Business, Public affairs) Province of Limburg (NL): ‘During the ministerial meeting, it became clear that we all want the same thing: to bring the Einstein Telescope to this region. The new ministers are also keeping the Einstein Telescope high on the agenda. With good agreements, we have taken another step forward.’
A visitor looks at a lunar soil sample displayed at a Space Day of China science exhibition in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, April 24, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Chinese researchers have developed bricks from a material that has a similar composition to lunar soil, with the hope that they can be used to build a lunar base in the future. According to a recent video clip provided to Xinhua by the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), a team of researchers led by Ding Lieyun used a lunar soil simulant to make “lunar bricks” that are more than three times stronger than standard red bricks or concrete bricks. The team also developed another construction option using additive manufacturing technology. The researchers invented a 3D-printing robot to print houses using lunar soil. According to Zhou Cheng at HUST, the team used five different simulated lunar soil compositions and three different sintering processes, which can provide more accurate scientific data for the selection of materials and process optimization for future lunar base construction. The composition of lunar soil varies in different locations on the moon, Zhou said, noting that there is one composition that simulates the lunar soil at the landing site of Chang’e-5, which is mainly basalt. Some other compositions simulate the soil found at other locations, soil that is mainly anorthosite. He explained that the bricks need to undergo performance testing to determine if their mechanical performance will degrade in the lunar environment and whether they can withstand the high frequency of lunar quakes. The moon has a vacuum environment with significant cosmic radiation, and temperatures exceed 180 degrees Celsius during the lunar day, dropping to minus 190 degrees Celsius at night. The team has to determine how well the bricks can insulate and if they can withstand the radiation, Zhou said. According to China Central Television, the lunar bricks will be sent to China’s space station aboard the Tianzhou-8 cargo spacecraft to verify their mechanical and thermal performance, as well as their ability to withstand cosmic radiation. The first lunar brick is expected to return to Earth by the end of 2025. China unveiled a national mid-term to long-term development program for space science on Tuesday, outlining a roadmap for the development of space science in China through 2050. The international lunar research station, which was initiated by China, will be constructed during the program’s second phase from 2028 to 2035.
A press briefing on the 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum is held in Beijing on Oct. 18. [Photo courtesy of the China Association for Science and Technology]
The 2024 World Science and Technology Development Forum (WSTDF), hosted by the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), will commence in Beijing on Oct. 22, according to a press briefing held on Friday.
Guided by the implementation of China’s three major global initiatives, the forum will center on the theme “Science and Technology for the Future” and focus on in-depth discussions of six topics. It aims to harness international expertise to drive high-quality development, foster cross-cultural scientific exchanges, and tackle global challenges through innovation and technological solutions.
The main activities of the 2024 WSTDF will take place in Beijing from Oct. 22-24, with the closing ceremony set for Oct. 30. During the event, in addition to the opening ceremony on Oct. 22, six major thematic sessions and three roundtable dialogues will be held, complemented by several cultural exchange activities. The six thematic sessions will explore the following key areas: “AI Governance Innovation: Building an International Trust Foundation for Cultivating the Ecology of Science and Technology Governance (Intelligence)”; “Interdisciplinary Science-Based Solutions Towards Sustainable Development (Interdisciplinary)”; “Open Science Infrastructures: Building a Collaborative Platform for the Sciences Decade (Infrastructures)”; “Cross-Industry Resource Collaboration and Integration to Provide Innovative Application Scenarios for Enhancing the Intelligent Manufacturing Industry (Innovation)”; “Harmonious Coexistence of Nature and Humanity: Environment and Health (Interaction)”; and “Science and Technology for Risk-Informed Sustainable Development (Integration).” The three roundtable dialogues will focus on the following themes: “Encouraging women’s participation in science and technology”; “Science: Openness, Cooperation and Mobility”; and “Seminar on Effectively Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.”
In addition, three key international exchange events will enrich the forum, namely the 2024 China-ASEAN Engineers Forum in Beijing on Oct. 16; the opening ceremony of the 2024 WLA Forum & The Award Ceremony of the 2024 WLA Prize in Shanghai on Oct. 25; and the 11th China-Russia Engineering and Technology Forum in Heilongjiang on Oct. 28-29.
The 2024 WSTDF is expected to attract hundreds of high-profile participants, including leaders from relevant countries, global award winners, heads of the United Nations as well as international science and technology organizations, as well as renowned scientists, entrepreneurs and educators from home and abroad. Among the attendees will be over 10 Nobel laureates and other major award winners, more than 40 academicians, over 30 business representatives, and nearly 50 delegates from international organizations.
Featuring a diverse array of events, including thematic sessions, open forums and closed-door meetings, the forum will emphasize fostering interdisciplinary technological cooperation and integration. Through proposals, reports and declarations, it aims to drive meaningful progress in science and technology.
In line with its commitment to simplicity and practicality, the forum will embrace a green, low-carbon and sustainable approach. This includes utilizing paperless communication to boost efficiency, leveraging digital technology to streamline event services, and using renewable energy vehicles for guest transportation. Additionally, the forum will limit the number of participants, avoid unnecessary formalities and minimize decorations to foster a focused and efficient environment.
First launched and hosted by CAST in 2019, the WSTDF has been held five times. Amidst the complex and evolving global landscape, the forum has played a vital role in fostering non-governmental scientific and technological exchange, broadening avenues for international collaboration, and establishing an open and trustworthy network of cooperation. This year, the forum will once again offer a crucial platform for nations to exchange ideas, deepen partnerships and advance scientific innovation and development on a global scale, contributing to a community with a shared future for mankind.
A farmer pours green soybeans into a basket in Guancang of Jintang County, Chengdu of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, June 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua] Soybean harvesting in China’s major soybean producing area of Heihe in Heilongjiang Province is near completion, poised for a bumper harvest, according to the city’s agricultural authority on Wednesday. The harvesting has been completed in more than 90 percent of Heihe’s 1.38 million hectares of soybean planting area, which was 10 percent faster than that of last year, said Su Hui, deputy director of the city’s agriculture and rural affairs department. He said that the soybean production this year has been orderly. In harvested areas, growers and the local authorities have started to carry out soil conservation and preparation for achieving high yield next year. “Heihe’s soybean output this year is poised to increase, compared to that of last year, which should partly be attributed to high-quality soybean varieties and improved planting technology,” said Jia Hongchang, a researcher with the Heihe branch of the Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences. Heilongjiang, China’s major grain barn, is the country’s largest soybean-producing province. Heihe alone produces about one-seventh of the country’s soybean output. The city’s soybean output in 2023 amounted to 2.6 billion kg. Jia said that the province has accelerated the construction of the soybean seed breeding bases for developing high-quality seeds. Heihe’s plantation areas have realized a 100-percent coverage rate of high-quality soybean seeds. With the faster pace of harvesting, big grain purchasers are moving up their stock. “These days, our purchase volume has risen sharply to reach more than 300 tonnes a day at the highest. All of our 80 sets of automatic soybean oil pressing machines have powered on for processing soybeans,” said Chen Liang, chairman of Heilongjiang Xuda Cereals, Oils and Foods Co., Ltd.
An international team led by scientists with the Institute of Chemistry under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new type of high-efficiency solar cell. The perovskite-organic tandem solar cell can achieve a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 26.4 percent, the highest efficiency for such solar cells to date, according to Li Yongfang, an academician and a researcher at the institute. Perovskite solar cells and organic solar cells represent the next generation of solar cells. Compared to the currently widely used crystalline silicon solar cells, they offer advantages such as ease of preparation, light weight and the ability to be fabricated into flexible devices. These features present significant application prospects in areas such as portable energy, building-integrated photovoltaics and indoor photovoltaics. The novel cell utilizes wide-bandgap perovskite materials to absorb short-wavelength sunlight and the narrow-bandgap organic active layer to absorb near-infrared long-wavelength sunlight, Li said. He added that this combination significantly expands the usable solar spectrum and effectively enhances the energy conversion efficiency of the device. The study was published in the journal Nature.
Ambassador Douglas Yu-Tien Hsu and Director General David Cheng-Wei Wu visited Charles Sturt University, Bathurst Campus where they were warmly welcomed by Associate Dean (Academic), Associate Professor Julia Lynch, and Associate Dean (Research), Professor Zahid Islam, from the Faculty of Business, Justice & Behavioural Sciences at Charles Sturt University. The university also arranged a tour of the campus facilities and teaching environments, hoping to attract more outstanding Taiwanese students and strengthen academic exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and Australia.
The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, made the following statement today in recognition of Small Business Week:
October 20, 2024 – Ottawa, Ontario
The Honourable Rechie Valdez, Minister of Small Business, made the following statement today in recognition of Small Business Week:
“Small Business Week is a great occasion to celebrate Canada’s incredible small businesses. They may be small, but they have a huge impact. They make up 98% of all businesses in Canada, account for nearly half of the country’s private sector jobs and generate at least one third of our economic output.
“Our government is taking action to ensure these businesses have the support they need to succeed today and compete in a rapidly changing business environment.
“We are reducing costs, lowering fees and boosting small businesses’ bottom lines. We fulfilled our commitment to lower taxes for small businesses to 9%. We then kept taxes low for more small businesses by raising the income threshold for the small business tax rate from $15 million to $50 million, and we negotiated with Visa and Mastercard to lower credit card interchange fees by up to 27%, effective October 19, 2024. This will save eligible Canadian businesses about $1 billion over five years. We have also improved the Canada Small Business Financing Program by providing additional and more flexible loan and financing options for small businesses, while cutting the administrative burden.
“Before the end of this year, eligible small and medium-sized businesses will also receive the Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses directly into their bank accounts. For example, an eligible small business in Winnipeg with 10 employees will receive $4,810, a small business in Mississauga with 50 employees will receive $20,050, and a medium-sized business in Calgary with 200 employees will receive $118,200.
“To ensure small businesses can keep up with emerging technologies and compete in an increasingly digital business environment, we’ve committed $2.4 billion to help secure Canada’s AI advantage. This includes $100 million to help small and medium-sized businesses scale up and increase productivity by building and deploying new AI solutions. Through the Canada Digital Adoption Program, we have invested $1 billion to help over 60,000 small businesses grow their business online and boost their business technologies.
“We are also building an inclusive economy. We are dedicated to supporting under-represented communities through historic programs like our nearly $7 billion Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, which helps women entrepreneurs access the resources they need to start up and scale up their business. We also established programs like the Black Entrepreneurship Program and the 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program, which are helping remove systemic barriers that entrepreneurs from under-represented groups face in accessing the resources they need.
“In July, I announced an investment of $25 million in five more venture capital (VC) fund managers as part of the inclusive growth stream of the renewed Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative committed to in Budget 2021. The inclusive growth stream will help advance equity, diversity and inclusion in the Canadian VC ecosystem by increasing access to capital for diverse fund managers and entrepreneurs.
“To encourage young Canadians to pursue entrepreneurship, in Budget 2024 we committed $60 million to Futurpreneur Canada to provide young entrepreneurs with an extra year of collateral-free lending and increase their maximum collateral-free loan from $60,000 to $75,000. On top of this, young entrepreneurs that have been in business for up to two years will now be eligible for Futurpreneur loans. Futurpreneur’s Side Hustle Program will also increase its loans from $15,000 to $25,000.
“I would like to take this moment to express my sincere appreciation for all of Canada’s small business owners. Investing in diverse entrepreneurs is among the most meaningful actions we can take to build a strong, inclusive economy. We remain committed to supporting you as you adapt and strive for continued success.
“I invite all Canadians to join me in supporting our local businesses during Small Business Week and to keep doing so every week thereafter. Together, we will build a strong and resilient economy for all Canadians.”
Media Relations Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada media@ised-isde.gc.ca
For easy access to government programs for businesses, download the Canada Business app.
Source: Switzerland – Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport
On 21 and 22 October 2024, Thomas Rothacher, Head of armasuisse Science and Technology, will take part with a delegation in a meeting of the research directors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The meeting will be characterised by increased international cooperation with the focus on robotics, drone defence and systems for the soldiers.
Even though she was speaking to a roomful of teachers, Harris didn’t focus on teacher-specific issues. Rather, she spoke about general policies that working people want, such as sick leave and paid family leave. She also spoke about the labor movement more broadly. “When unions are strong, America is strong,” she said.
Public school teachers are not often talked about as a major force in national politics. They are not wealthy donors. They rarely hold public office. Many congresspeople claim to have been “educators,” but that includes law school professors, school fundraisers and school district superintendents.
Teachers and their unions, however, can be influential in politics – in the U.S. and globally. Walz’s candidacy prompts a reexamining of their role. Whose interests do they represent? Can teachers really speak on behalf of broader communities?
Our view, based on political science research we and others have carried out, is that teachers are one of the most – if not the most – well-organized groups advocating in favor of the economic interests of working people in politics today.
The rise of teachers as political candidates around the world
Walz’s candidacy as a high school teacher turned high-profile politician has few obvious precedents in the United States. But Walz is far from unique globally.
In many developing democracies, from Colombia to Indonesia and India, teachers are a large group of public sector workers who are organized through powerful labor unions. Around the world, teacher candidates have risen through the ranks politically. In Colombia, for example, the teachers union has 270,000 members, making it the largest union in that country. A number of leaders from that union have moved from the union presidency to the Senate of the republic.
The 2024 book “Mobilizing Teachers” documents the emergence of teachers as a political force in Latin America beginning three decades ago.
In the U.S., public K-12 teachers do not usually become high-profile political candidates. However, they emerged as major political actors in other ways in the late 20th century. This was spurred by economic changes such as automation and globalization, which disrupted the work of many unions – such as manufacturing unions – but not teachers. Today, 1 in 5 union members are teachers. And teachers as a whole make up 8% of the college-educated workforce in the United States.
Through their labor unions, teachers in the U.S. are sometimes recruited as political candidates, especially in state and local elections. However, their numbers are few. In 2018, for example, teachers were on the ballot in record numbers but still represented just 3% of candidates.
Teachers and the public interest
Teachers in the U.S. have faced criticism for opposing reforms such as school choice and connecting teacher evaluations to student test scores. Some scholars believe these reforms could improve education quality.
In the U.S., there’s also concern about teachers’ strong influence on school board elections and Democratic Party primaries. Some researchers argue that teachers unions have disproportionate power because “they are actively and purposely engaged in an electoral effort to control their own superiors” – school board members. In other words, unlike private sector workers, teachers unions use their political clout to select their own bosses.
Yet, other scholars have shown that the policies teachers pursue often align with the interests of students. Teachers unions have long argued that better teacher working conditions mean better learning conditions for students, and that’s what they often advocate for.
In some states and cities, there are severe teacher shortages, which some analysts cite to argue that low pay for teachers has made it an unattractive career. These shortages not only affect the quality of education but also reflect the economic concerns of middle-class Americans. Teacher salaries have stagnated, even though a large body of economics research has shown a cause-and-effect relationship between increasing educational spending and better student achievement, especially when funding increases go to teacher salaries.
Over the past 16 years in the U.S., teacher strikes have raised teacher salaries and the salaries of other education workers, such as janitors, bus drivers and administrative staff. Teachers have also highlighted the kinds of school-quality concerns that many parents care about, such as free school meals and hiring more counselors, nurses and psychologists at schools.
Melissa Arnold Lyon receives funding from a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Academy of Education (NAEd) and the Spencer Foundation.
Christopher Chambers-Ju does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Company announces submission of IND Clinical Hold Complete Response Letter
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 21, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — CERo Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERO) (“CERo”), an innovative immunotherapy company seeking to advance the next generation of engineered T cell therapeutics that employ phagocytic mechanisms, provides the following corporate update to stockholders from Interim CEO Chris Ehrlich.
To our Valued Stockholders:
Following the events of the last several months, I believe it appropriate to discuss our recent progress and illuminate the path forward for CERo. As you know, we received notice of a clinical hold for CERO-1236 earlier this year. Since then, we have been diligently working to complete the experimental studies necessary to address and resolve the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (the “Agency” or the “FDA”) questions. We recently completed communications with the FDA, in which we were able to gain feedback on our approach to addressing the Agency’s questions.
We have now submitted our Complete Response Letter to the Agency and look forward to what we hope will be the authorization to begin human trials. That said, given the blocks of time between submission to the Agency and their expected 30-day response time, we feel it is more realistic to adjust our previous guidance about potential entry into the clinic from 2024 to early 2025.
We are also very pleased to have made important changes to our management team and Board of Directors. As previously announced, Al Kucharchuk has joined as our new Chief Financial Officer. Al is well versed in the unique challenges associated with small and microcap life sciences companies in the public markets, having deep experience in both since 2006.
In addition, as previously announced, we have promoted Kristen Pierce to the position of Chief Development Officer. Kristen has deep expertise in the management of preclinical oncology programs and has been instrumental in our development of CERO-1236. We believe that that our team is well-positioned to help drive our science and our business forward.
We have also made several changes to our Board of Directors, which we believe will enhance our execution of our business plan and we are well-positioned to do so. Finally, we recently disclosed our cash balance of $3.2 million as of September 30, 2024, which we are optimistic should provide sufficient runway to execute on our strategy.
I anticipate providing an update on FDA’s determination whether to release the clinical hold, as well as our path forward in the coming weeks and months and remain excited for the future of CERo. Thank you for your continued interest in our company, and the trust you continue to show both our management and our science.
Sincerely, Chris Ehrlich Interim CEO CERo Bio
About CERo Therapeutics, Inc. CERo is an innovative immunotherapy company advancing the development of next generation engineered T cell therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Its proprietary approach to T cell engineering, which enables it to integrate certain desirable characteristics of both innate and adaptive immunity into a single therapeutic construct, is designed to engage the body’s full immune repertoire to achieve optimized cancer therapy. This novel cellular immunotherapy platform is expected to redirect patient-derived T cells to eliminate tumors by building in engulfment pathways that employ phagocytic mechanisms to destroy cancer cells, creating what CERo refers to as Chimeric Engulfment Receptor T cells (“CER-T”). CERo believes the differentiated activity of CER-T cells will afford them greater therapeutic application than currently approved chimeric antigen receptor (“CAR-T”) cell therapy, as the use of CER-T may potentially span both hematological malignancies and solid tumors. CERo anticipates initiating clinical trials for its lead product candidate, CER-1236, in early 2025 for hematological malignancies.
Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains statements that are forward-looking and as such are not historical facts. This includes, without limitation, statements regarding the financial position, business strategy, clinical development of CER-1236, and the plans and objectives of management for future operations of CERo. These statements constitute projections, forecasts and forward-looking statements, and are not guarantees of performance. Such statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. When used in this communication, words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “might,” “plan,” “possible,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “strive,” “would” and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. When CERo discusses its strategies or plans, it is making projections, forecasts or forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the beliefs of, as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to, CERo’s management.
Actual results could differ from those implied by the forward-looking statements in this communication. Certain risks that could cause actual results to differ are set forth in CERo’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed on April 2, 2024, and the documents incorporated by reference therein. The risks described in CERo’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission are not exhaustive. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all such risk factors, nor can CERo assess the impact of all such risk factors on its business, or the extent to which any factor or combination of factors may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. You should not put undue reliance on these statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. All forward-looking statements made by CERo or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the foregoing cautionary statements. CERo undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Matt Kasson, Associate Professor of Mycology and Plant Pathology, West Virginia University
A zombie cicada fungus, _Massospora cicadina_, has consumed the rear end of this periodical cicada, replacing it with a ‘plug’ of chalky spores.Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Is a zombie apocalypse caused by fungi, like the Cordyceps from “The Last of Us,” something that could realistically happen? – Jupiter, age 15, Ithaca, New York
Zombies strike fear into our hearts – and if they’re persistent, eventually they get inside our heads. Animals taken over by zombies no longer control their own bodies or behaviors. Instead, they serve the interests of a master, whether it’s a virus, fungus or some other harmful agent.
Those all are fictional. Nature is where we can find real examples of zombification – one organism controlling another organism’s behavior.
I study fungi, a huge biological kingdom that includes molds, mildews, yeasts, mushrooms and zombifying fungi. Don’t worry – these “brain-eating organisms” tend to target insects.
The fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infects and kills ants. Over time, they can diminish the local ant population.
Insect body snatchers
One of the most famous examples is the zombie ant fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, which is part of a larger group known as Cordyceps fungi. This fungus inspired the video game and HBO series “The Last of Us,” in which a widespread fungal infection turns people into zombie-like creatures and causes society to collapse.
In the real world, ants usually comes into contact with this fungus when spores – pollen-size reproductive particles that the fungus makes – fall onto the ant from a tree or plant overhead. The spores penetrate the ant’s body without killing it.
Once inside, the fungus spreads in the form of a yeast. The ant stops communicating with nestmates and staggers around aimlessly. Eventually it becomes hyperactive.
Finally, the fungus causes the ant to climb up a plant and lock onto a leaf or a stem with its jaws – a behavior called summiting. The fungus changes into a new phase and consumes the ant’s organs, including its brain. A stalk erupts from the dead insect’s head and produces spores, which fall onto healthy ants below, starting the cycle again.
A citrus cicada nymph infected with Ophiocordyceps sobolifera. The nymph lives underground, but the fungus ensures that it ‘summits’ to just below the soil line, so that its stalks (pink) and spores find their way above ground. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Scientists have described countless species of Ophiocordyceps. Each one is tiny, with a very specialized lifestyle. Some live only in specific areas: for example, Ophiocordyceps salganeicola, a parasite of social cockroaches, is found only in Japan’s Ryukyu Islands. I expect that there are many more species around the world awaiting discovery.
The zombie cicada fungus, Massospora cicadina, has also received a lot of attention in recent years. It infects and controls periodical cicadas, which are cicadas that live underground and emerge briefly to mate on 13- or 17-year cycles.
The fungus keeps the cicadas energized and flying around, even as it consumes and replaces their rear ends and abdomens. This prolonged “active host” behavior is rare in fungi that invade insects. Massospora has family members that target flies, moths, millipedes and soldier beetles, but they cause their hosts to summit and die, like ants affected by Ophiocordyceps.
The real fungal threats
These diverse morbid partnerships – relationships that lead to death – were formed and refined over millions of years of evolutionary time. A fungus that specializes in infecting and controlling ants or cicadas would have to evolve vastly new tools over millions more years to be able to infect even another insect, even one that’s closely related, let alone a human.
In my research, I’ve collected and handled hundreds of living and dead zombie cicadas, as well as countless fungus-infected insects, spiders and millipedes. I’ve dissected hundreds of specimens and uncovered fascinating aspects of their biology. Despite this prolonged exposure, I still control my own behavior.
Dozens of Massospora cicadina-infected 13-year cicadas being prepared for drying and analyzing in Matt Kasson’s mycology lab at West Virginia University. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
Some fungi do threaten human health. Examples include Aspergillus fumigatus and Cryptococcus neoformans, both of which can invade people’s lungs and cause serious pneumonia-like symptoms. Cryptococcus neoformans can spread outside the lungs into the central nervous system and cause symptoms such as neck stiffness, vomiting and sensitivity to light.
Invasive fungal diseases are on the rise worldwide. So are common fungal infections, such as athlete’s foot – a rash between your toes – and ringworm, a rash that despite its name is caused by a fungus.
Fungi thrive in perpetually warm and wet environments. You can protect yourself against many of them by showering after you get sweaty or dirty and not sharing sports gear or towels with other people.
Not all fungi are scary, and even the alarming ones won’t turn you into the walking dead. The closest you’re likely to come to a zombifying fungus is through watching scary movies or playing video games.
If you’re lucky, you might find a zombie ant or fly in your own neighborhood. And if you think they’re cool, you could become a scientist like me and spend your life seeking them out.
Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.
And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.
Matt Kasson has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, USDA ARS and USDA APHIS.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Xochitl Ortiz Ross, Ph.D. Candidate in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Marmots were the perfect test species for a wildlife adversity index. Xochitl Ortiz Ross
Psychologists know that childhood trauma, or the experience of harmful or adverse events, can have lasting repercussions on the health and well-being of people well into adulthood. But while the consequences of early adversity have been well researched in humans, people aren’t the only ones who can experience adversity.
If you have a rescue dog, you probably have witnessed how the abuse or neglect it may have experienced earlier in life now influence its behavior – these pets tend to be more skittish or reactive. Wild animals also experience adversity. Although their negative experiences are easy to dismiss as part of life in the wild, they still have lifelong repercussions – just like traumatic events in people and pets.
As behavioral ecologists, we are interested in how adverse experiences early in life can affect animals’ behavior, including the kinds of decisions they make and the way they interact with the world around them. In other words, we want to see how these experience affect the way they behave and survive in the wild.
Many studies in humans and other animals have shown the importance of early life experiences in shaping how individuals develop. But researchers know less about how multiple, different instances of adversity or stressors can accumulate within the body and what their overall impact is on an animal’s well-being.
Wild populations face many kinds of stressors. They compete for food, risk getting eaten by a predator, suffer illness and must contend with extreme weather conditions. And as if life in the wild wasn’t hard enough, humans are now adding additional stressors such as chemical, light and sound pollution, as well as habitat destruction.
Given the widespread loss of biodiversity, understanding how animals react to and are harmed by these stressors can help conservation groups better protect them. But accounting for such a diversity of stressors is no easy feat. To address this need and demonstrate the cumulative impact of multiple stressors, our research team decided to develop an index for wild animals based on psychological research on human childhood trauma.
A cumulative adversity index
Developmental psychologists began to develop what psychologists now call the adverse childhood experiences score, which describes the amount of adversity a person experienced as a child. Briefly, this index adds up all the adverse events – including forms of neglect, abuse or other household dysfunction – an individual experienced during childhood into a single cumulative score.
This score can then be used to predict later-life health risks such as chronic health conditions, mental illness or even economic status. This approach has revolutionized many human health intervention programs by identifying at-risk children and adults, which allows for more targeted interventions and preventive efforts.
So, what about wild animals? Can we use a similar type of score or index to predict negative survival outcomes and identify at-risk individuals and populations?
These are the questions we were interested in answering in our latest research paper. We developed a framework on how to create a cumulative adversity index – similar to the adverse childhood experiences score, but for populations of wild animals. We then used this index to gain insights about the survival and longevity of yellow-bellied marmots. In other words, we wanted to see whether we could use this index to estimate how long a marmot would live.
Yellow-bellied marmots are an excellent study system because they are diurnal, or active during the day, and they have an address. They live in burrows scattered across a small, defined geographical area called a colony. The size of the colony and the number of individuals that reside within varies greatly from year to year, but they are normally composed of matrilines, which means related females tend to remain within the natal colony, while male relatives move away to find a new colony.
Yellow-bellied marmots hibernate for most of the year, but they become active between April and September. During this active period, we observe each colony daily and regularly trap each individual in the population – that’s over 200 unique individuals just in 2023. We then mark their backs with a distinct symbol and give them uniquely numbered ear tags so they can be later identified.
Although they can live up to 15 years, we have detailed information about the life experiences of individual marmots spanning almost 30 generations. They were the perfect test population for our cumulative adversity index.
Among the sources of adversity, we included ecological measures such as a late spring, a summer drought and high predator presence. We also included parental measures such as having an underweight or stressed mother, being born or weaned late, and losing their mother. The model also included demographic measures such as being born in a large litter or having many male siblings.
Importantly, we looked only at females, since they are the ones who tend to stay home. Therefore, some of the adversities listed are only applicable to females. For example, females born in litters with many males become masculinized, likely from the high testosterone levels in the mother’s uterus. The females behave more like males, but this also reduces their life span and reproductive output. Therefore, having many male siblings is harmful to females, but maybe not to males.
A yellow-bellied marmot shown on a trail camera in Montana.
So, does our index, or the number of adverse events a marmot experienced early on, explain differences in marmot survival? We found that, yes, it does.
Experiencing even just one adversity event before age 2 nearly halved an adult marmot’s odds of survival, regardless of the type of adversity they experienced. This is the first record of lasting negative consequences from losing a mother in this species.
So what?
Our study isn’t the only one of its kind. A few other studies have used an index similar to the human adverse childhood experiences score with wild primatesand hyenas, with largely similar results. We are interested in broadening this framework so that other researchers can adopt it for the species they study.
A better understanding of how animals can or cannot cope with multiple sources of adversity can inform wildlife conservation and management practices. For example, an index like ours could help identify at-risk populations that require a more immediate conservation action.
Instead of tackling the one stressor that seems to have the greatest effect on a species, this approach could help managers consider how best to reduce the total number of stressors a species experiences.
For example, changing weather patterns driven by global heating trends may create new stressors that a wildlife manager can’t address. But it might be possible to reduce how many times these animals have to interact with people during key times of the year by closing trails, or providing extra food to replace the food they lose from harsh weather.
While this index is still in early development, it could one day help researchers ask new questions about how animals adapt to stress in the wild.
Xochitl Ortiz Ross has received funding from The National Science Foundation, The University of California, Los Angeles, The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, The Animal Behavior Society, The American Society of Mammalogists, and The American Museum of Natural History.
Daniel T. Blumstein received funding from The National Science Foundation, The University of California Los Angeles, The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory and the National Geographic Society.
A growing number of students in public schools – right now, about 15% of them – are eligible for special education services. These services include specially designed instruction for students with autism, learning or physical disabilities, or traumatic brain injuries. But going into the current school year, more than half of U.S. public schools anticipate being short-staffed in special education. Dr. Kimber Wilkerson, a professor of special education and department chair at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, explains why there’s a shortage and what needs to be done to close the gap.
Dr. Kimber Wilkerson discusses the special education teacher shortage.
The Conversation has collaborated with SciLine to bring you highlights from the discussion, which have been edited for brevity and clarity.
Which students receive special education services?
Kimber Wilkerson:Students with a disability label receive special education services. They need these additional services and sometimes instruction in school so they can access the curriculum and thrive like their peers.
What is happening with staffing for special education?
In the past 10 years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, those challenges started to increase. There were more open positions in special education at the beginning of each school year than in previous decades. In the 2023-24 school year, 42 states plus the District of Columbia reported teacher shortages in special education.
What is causing these shortages?
Wilkerson: One, there are fewer young people choosing teaching as a major in college and as a profession. And special education is affected by these lower rates more than other forms of education.
Also, there’s more attrition – people leaving their teaching job sooner than you might expect – not because they’re retiring, but because they are tired of the job.
They want to do something different. They want to go back to school. Sometimes it’s life circumstances, but the number of people leaving the job before retirement age has increased. And in our state, Wisconsin, about 35% of all educators leave the field before they hit their fifth year.
Why do special education teachers leave the profession?
Wilkerson: There’s not a national study that speaks to that reason. There are some localized studies, and people report things like too much paperwork or too many administrative tasks associated with the job. Sometimes they report the students’ behavioral challenges. Sometimes it’s a feeling of isolation, or a lack of support from the school.
How are students with disabilities affected when their school does not have enough special educators?
Wilkerson: In a school that’s one special educator short, the other special educators have to take over that caseload. Instead of having 12 students on their caseload, maybe now they have 20. So, the amount of individual attention given to each student with a disability decreases.
Also, when teachers with experience leave the profession, they leave behind a less experienced group of teachers. This means the students are losing out on the benefit of those years of wisdom and experience.
What are some strategies to recruit and retain more special education teachers?
Wilkerson: There’s a range of strategies that different universities, states and school districts have taken, like residency programs.
In these programs, the person who is learning to be a teacher, and who is referred to as a teaching resident, works alongside a mentor teacher for an entire year in a school, and they get paid to do so. They’re not the teacher of record, but they’re learning and getting paid, and they’re in that school community.
Can you tell us about your recent study on supporting new special education teachers?
Wilkerson: One thing that made a big difference is when the teachers in our study, which is now under review, had access to a mentor and a group of their peers. We called this facilitated peer-to-peer group of teachers a “community of practice.” Every other week, on Zoom, we’d get these new special education teachers from different school districts together, along with experienced teachers. And they would do some sort of work on problems, bringing in the things that were challenging, and work on possible solutions as a group.
We also used Zoom to do one-on-one mentoring. And what people liked about it was that they could talk to someone who wasn’t right in their building and right in their district who they could be open and vulnerable with.
Sometimes, special educators can be isolated because they’re not necessarily a part of a grade-level team. They work with kids across a lot of classrooms. This gave them an opportunity to have their own kind of community, and that made a difference.
We also surveyed their level of burnout and how good they felt about the job they did. And then we surveyed special education teachers who weren’t participating in our community of practice.
At the end of the year, those people who had that mentoring and the community of practice felt less burnt out, and they also felt more effective in the area of classroom management. And that’s critical, because burnout is one of the primary reasons people leave the profession.
So if we can make people feel like they’re better equipped to handle this challenging position, then that’s one strategy to increase the number of people wanting to stay in their job year after year.
SciLine is a free service based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a nonprofit that helps journalists include scientific evidence and experts in their news stories.
Kimber Wilkerson receives funding from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences and the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The Taliban, an ultraconservative Islamic political group, retook control of Kabul a little more than three years ago, dashing many Afghans’ hopes for a tolerant, democratic government.
As U.S. troops withdrew from Afghanistan days after the Taliban’s resurgence in 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans flocked to the Kabul airport, desperate to be evacuated. Among them were Afghans who worked for U.S. military and NATO forces as interpreters and in other roles – in addition to other people who were afraid of the Taliban.
Many of the Afghans who fled their country in 2021 went to Iran, Pakistan and other nearby countries. To offer a lifeline to the Afghans who came to the U.S., the Biden administration announced on Aug. 29, 2021, that evacuated Afghans could legally – but temporarily – stay in the U.S.
As a scholar of civil conflict and refugee migration, I have been following the Afghan evacuation and policy responses in Washington since 2021. While President Joe Biden renewed humanitarian parole for approximately 70,000 Afghans in 2023, these people remain in legal limbo, unable to fully move forward in their lives.
The upcoming election will likely be decisive in resolving Afghans’ legal status or not.
An Afghan couple, including a man who worked as an interpreter for the U.S. military, walk in Charlestown, Mass. in February 2022. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
Understanding humanitarian parole
The U.S. admitted Afghans into the country through what’s called humanitarian parole, a federal program that the president can authorize to give protection to people in other countries facing extreme emergency circumstances.
Humanitarian parole must be renewed by a presidential administration every two years, unlike the U.S. refugee admission policy, which gives foreigners who face legitimate fears of returning home the right to get permanent residency in the U.S.
The Afghan parole program enabled people like Mina Bakhshi – a female rock climber who had no future under the Taliban because of her gender – to enter the U.S. and attend college.
It also helped people like Qasim Rahimi, a journalist in Afghanistan, to flee to safety with his family and settle in Kansas City, Missouri.
Yet humanitarian parole is not a permanent solution.
While these Afghan people can legally work and attend school in the U.S., they often face obstacles with getting stable work or even finding a home to rent because they are not permanent residents and do not have Social Security numbers.
A long history of parole in the US
Typically, the U.S. government has used humanitarian parole to rescue people from conflicts in which U.S. armed forces are involved, like Vietnam and Ukraine.
People who face serious danger because of conflict or other reasons can also enter the U.S. by applying for and receiving refugee status, but it can take more than a year for it to be granted. Humanitarian parole lets the U.S. government act quickly when it wants to help foreigners come to the country during an emergency.
At the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, for example, the U.S. admitted thousands of Vietnamese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants fleeing their countries.
The U.S. also issued humanitarian parole to Hungarian and Cuban refugees who fled communist dictatorships in the 1950s.
More recently, the U.S. granted parole to a group of Haitian orphans following a major earthquake in 2010, and to children from Central America who illegally crossed the border without their parents during the Obama administration.
While Biden issued temporary humanitarian parole to Afghans in 2021 and renewed it in 2023, only Congress has the power to pass an act that would ensure they can legally stay in the country permanently. Yet, a deadlocked Congress has failed to pass legislation to adjust the status of Afghans.
Yet, a handful of Republican lawmakers, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley, have opposed the act on national security grounds. They say that vetting procedures for newcomers are not sufficient, which could lead to security risks. Some want a more targeted program that focuses only on Afghans who worked with U.S. troops.
An Afghan evacuee living in Charlestown, Mass., in February 2022 shows a photo of himself working in Afghanistan as a translator. Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images
The election factor
The fate of Afghan parolees will likely be determined by the results of the upcoming election. Should Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris win office, I believe she is likely to renew parole for Afghans for at least two more years, as Biden did in 2023. Congress may be more likely to pass the Afghan Adjustment Act after the election, since it is rare to pass major legislation during an election period.
What Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump might do about Afghans living temporarily in the U.S. is an open question. During Trump’s previous presidential term, his administration focused in part on curbing immigration. This included slashing refugee admissions and making it harder to issue U.S. visas to Afghans and Iraqis who worked with the U.S. military.
On the campaign trail, Trump has promised to renew his travel ban on Muslims and to continue to limit immigration to the U.S.
In the meantime, Afghans who fled the Taliban continue to face uncertainty about their future in the U.S.
Idean Salehyan is affiliated with the Niskanen Center in Washington, D.C.
Voting machines are tested at the Wake County Board of Elections on Sept. 17, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. Allison Joyce/Getty Images
The 2024 election is rife with controversy, from the politics of the campaigns to the politics surrounding the administration of elections. Accusations of wrongdoing and ineptitude continue to plague election officials, despite their explanations of legal compliance and process.
This is not new. During the 2016 election season, there was a growing narrative in the media and elsewhere that U.S. elections were poorly run. These accusations came from the left and the right, with concerns ranging from voter suppression to rigged machines.
My colleagues and I have been studying election administration intensely for many years. When these accusations were made, they struck us as both odd and incorrect. We traveled around the country to visit election offices. We did surveys, we interviewed people, we ran focus groups, we toured election offices.
In 2020, my colleague Kathleen Hale and I published a book on innovation in election administration. Among our conclusions: U.S. elections are not broken, and while fragmented and sometimes confusing, the system is functioning well, despite myriad pressures on it.
The 2020 election continued to underscore that American election administration is strong across the country, despite the narrative from some losing candidates that there was widespread fraud and conspiracy.
I continue to interact with election officials on a regular basis through meetings, conversations, classes I teach and election observations. While there are normal errors and mistakes that will always happen, this year’s presidential election also continues to demonstrate that the people running our elections are professionals engaging in neutral administration, upholding the law as well as important public administration principles of transparency, accountability, accuracy, integrity and widespread access for eligible voters.
These people are doing this work despite an increasingly complicated and threatening environment for election officials.
These offices work closely with other county and city government offices. Their employees are trained on standard operating procedures to ensure ballot security and electoral integrity, and they work closely with state election offices to ensure standard application of federal and state laws. In some states, such as Colorado and Ohio, they have professional associations to enhance their coordination and work. And there are national professional and training programs to further enhance the field.
Despite the fact that most people think elections are held every other year, when you take into account state, local and special elections and the steps involved in preparation, early and absentee voting, election day voting and canvas and certification, there is an election being run somewhere in America almost every day.
Working in elections is uniquely challenging. Deadlines are fixed, budgets are comparatively small in most places, and perfection is expected at all times. For the past two presidential election cycles, election officials in some jurisdictions faced almost constant accusations of incompetence or fraud. Accusers are rarely able to provide actual evidence.
There are excellent examples around the country of good election administration in the face of many challenges and accusations of wrongdoing.
Another example is Mary Hall, an auditor in Thurston County, Washington. Hall has been recognized by the state of Washington and her colleagues for her strong professionalism for decades. She heads a robust office and staff who work to communicate to voters to ensure community trust in their processes and outcomes.
There are legitimate reasons that voter rolls are not perfect, and the presence of people on a voter roll who have moved and registered elsewhere is not evidence of fraud. And while such double registration is not illegal, voting in multiple places is. In the face of all of this, Hall continues to respectfully respond to their accusations and criticisms.
“I used to be very proud of my position and telling people what I did for a living. And I don’t do that anymore, because you never know what reaction you’re going to receive from the people on the other end,” Hall told “PBS NewsHour” in November 2023.
Election Day precinct officials receive training at Wake County Board of Elections headquarters on Sept. 26, 2024, in Raleigh, N.C. Allison Joyce/Getty Images
‘Years of unsubstantiated personal attacks’
Other than sowing confusion and public distrust, these attacks and accusations have real-life implications for the lives of the people running elections.
Darling Allen, the former chief election official for California’s Shasta County, is widely regarded among her peers as having the highest levels of professionalism, integrity and honesty. In 2024, Darling Allen was one of five election officials in the country whom the American Bar Association awarded its Unsung Heroes of Democracy Award. That award “recognizes those individuals and organizations who work every day, often behind the scenes or without fanfare, to ensure that our elections are secure and that the democratic ideals set forth in the U.S. Constitution are upheld.”
But years of threats, hate mail, accusations and unsubstantiated personal attacks against her left her physically ill. This stress and resulting health conditions forced her to retire early. A vocal group of county residents alleged that widespread election fraud was happening on her watch and accused her of sedition and treason. In an ironic development, a local news website reported that “Supervisor Patrick Jones, who is the most visible proponent of the claim that election fraud is occurring locally, was himself successfully elected to office in a process overseen by Darling Allen.”
Darling Allen is just one example of dedicated officials who have left the field in recent years because of the rampant, false narrative about election wrongdoing on the part of officials.
But these officials nonetheless persist, upholding state and federal laws and professional standards of conduct and producing accurate and timely election results.
A review of the Moritz College of Law case tracker for the 2020 presidential election, which documents important election law cases from around the nation, demonstrates that many of these charges were meritless and that the results of the election were upheld. These results reflect the competence of those election officials.
Other groups, including academics, have been working to neutrally and empirically study these issues, looking at a range of topics, from election performance to best practices, as well as seeking to understand the impacts of the current narrative on the public.
Real electoral mismanagement is investigated, and the people involved face consequences if it is substantiated. Election fraud is a crime. Election officials know this and work tirelessly to ensure timely, fair, secure and accurate elections.
Mitchell Brown is the Curtis O. Liles III Professor in the Department of Political Science and directs the election administration program at Auburn University. For 35 years, Auburn University faculty have served as the curricular faculty for the Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) certification program, and through this role she serves on the Board of Directors of the Election Center. She has received numerous grants and contracts to study election administration, including from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, Bipartisan Policy Center, and MIT MEDSL, among others.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By John William Devine, Senior Lecturer in Ethics, Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Swansea University
As the new senior head coach of the England men’s football team, Thomas Tuchel has assumed one of the most intensely scrutinised managerial roles, not only in football, but in all of sport.
Commentary following his appointment suggests that he should expect unprecedented scrutiny. Despite superb credentials, including coaching Chelsea to Champions League victory in 2021, Tuchel’s appointment has raised anew the question of whether English players should be managed by an English manager.
At the press conference announcing his appointment, he apologised (only partly in jest) for holding a German passport. He is the first German to be appointed to the role. Sceptics have voiced concern about whether a “foreign” manager – particularly one from the England team’s fiercest rival – could feel the requisite passion, loyalty and determination for English success. But doubts about his commitment are only the beginning – the role of England manager involves an unenviable footballing dilemma.
The renowned American football coach Vince Lombardi made popular the sporting mantra: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.” On the Lombardian view, performance has no value independent of its outcome. Set aside the mastery of skills, the lessons of winning and losing, forging bonds with teammates and opponents and the simple joy of play – for him, the value of sport lies in winning – and winning alone.
On this view, the clamour for Tuchel’s predecessor, Gareth Southgate, to depart following the 2024 UEFA European Football Championship was misguided. In reaching the final of successive European championships (2020 and 2024) and the semi-final of the World Cup in 2018, Southgate brought English men’s football to its greatest height since the World Cup-winning team of 1966.
His team comfortably outperformed the so-called “golden generation” of David Beckham, Stephen Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney, which never progressed beyond the quarterfinals of a major tournament, playing for another foreign manager, Sven-Goran Ericksson. Judged by results alone, Southgate was a once in a generation England manager.
However, the English public subscribed to a more demanding philosophy of football: “Winning is essential, but it is not enough.” Despite the team’s success, the public wanted more. They demanded not only victory, but style too.
Southgate’s team played a conservative, defensively-minded brand of football. In Euro 2024, their passing wasn’t fluid and they created few chances on goal. Instead, they relied on a strong defence coupled with rare moments of attacking brilliance from individual players. Despite their success, Southgate became a lightning rod for criticism due to the uninspiring manner of his team’s victories.
A philosophical dilemma
The pursuit of victory in sport would seem, on the face of it, to be a simple proposition – play as well as you can and hope that this suffices to overcome your opponent. But playing to win is often less about playing well and more about ensuring that your opponent plays badly. It is less about executing your strengths and more about stifling the opposition.
In happy circumstances, playing well and playing to win coincide. In such cases, an opponent’s strengths and weaknesses can largely be ignored. Athletes who are comfortably superior to their opposition (think Serena Williams, Simone Biles, or the All Blacks in their pomp) may have the luxury of ignoring their opponents’ performance. Such is their dominance that, if they play well, victory inevitably follows. However, for mere mortals – including the Three Lions – even a good day can be a losing day.
This tension between playing well and playing to win is one that all athletes, of whatever level, must navigate. Tuchel now takes up the challenge of marrying these often opposed ideals – anything but victory is unacceptable and so too is anything but thrilling football.
In contrast to the Lombardian obsession with winning, sport can also be seen as a vehicle for self-expression. Each sport presents athletes with a unique set of obstacles, constraints embedded in the rules coupled with challenges presented by opponents. How we respond to those obstacles can express something about us, both to ourselves and to others.
Sporting competition can serve as a means of self-expression – a blank canvas on which athletes paint. We must decide how much we value sport as an avenue for proving athletic superiority and how much we value sport as an avenue to convey who we are and what we value. At its best, a national team’s style reflects a national footballing philosophy. But honouring our sporting identity may conflict with our desire to win.
Winning at the highest level and playing to express the pure form of our footballing philosophy may be mutually exclusive goals for all but the most dominant teams. Tuchel must grasp both horns of this dilemma while persuading the public of his desire for English success.
If the team’s results are anything but flawless, his commitment to the cause will be questioned. If the team’s style is unpleasing to the eye, he will be accused of misunderstanding England’s footballing identity. Who would envy him the task ahead?
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John William Devine 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.
ARU gardening expert will discuss if plants could, or should, grow on the Red Planet
A talk at the Chelmsford Science Festival will explore research into new farming methods that could potentially grow plants on Mars – and the moral question of whether humans should cultivate another planet even if they could.
In the 2015 film The Martian, stranded astronaut, Mark Watney, managed to grow potatoes. Recently SpaceX owner Elon Musk has spoken of a desire to set foot on Mars, and potentially colonise the Red Planet. However, the colonisation of Mars would depend on the ability to grow plants.
During the free talk at Anglia Ruskin University’s Chelmsford campus, ARU horticulture expert Mick Lavelle will discuss some modern farming techniques, drawing on research into vertical farming being carried out at ARU Writtle, and how these could make it possible to cultivate life in hostile environments such as Mars.
The talk, A Practical Guide to Gardening on Mars, explores the difficulties this poses and the ways it may be achieved, as well as the ethics of taking organic matter to another planet.
Research published in peer-reviewed journals earlier this year by ARU Writtle showed the success of vertical farming systems, using LED lighting, in stimulating growth in strawberries and in lavender, a valuable plant for essential oil production.
These new studies show that vertical farming using artificial light is not only feasible, but can actually be more productive than traditional farming techniques.
The research into lavender, to be published in the November edition of the journal Industrial Crops and Products, shows that plants grown in these conditions had greater root emergence, root biomass, chlorophyll content, flower bud emergence, and a higher root-to-shoot ratio compared to lavender crops growing in glasshouses under normal lighting conditions.
Another study, published in June, found that certain LED lighting conditions stimulated flower bud emergence in strawberries more than four times more effectively than a control group. LED lighting also appeared to stimulate more chlorophyll content – a crucial element in plant growth because it enables plants to absorb the energy from light.
Mick will also examine whether the desire of wealthy individuals to create life on another planet, and the willingness to strive for it, should be a cue to being better at solving sustainability issues and food production on Earth.
Mick, Senior Lecturer in Landscape Management at ARU Writtle, said:
“Mars has an allure to the super-rich due to the hostility of the planet and its reputation through films and science, not to mention the challenge of achieving something that was previously thought impossible – bringing life to Mars.
“Some new farming techniques do mean this is theoretically possible, and I will draw on our research here at ARU Writtle during the talk.
“Whether we could grow plants on Mars is a seductive question, but the bigger one is, should we? With climate change already ravaging the developing world and millions of people going hungry, perhaps our desire and willingness to use new scientific techniques to cultivate another planet could be better put to use closer to home.”
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The final round of the 43rd All-Russian Student Olympiad on Strength of Materials with International Participation was held at the Polytechnic University. The event was held as part of the 125th anniversary of SPbPU. The Physics and Mechanics Institute was the organizer.
At the opening, the Vice-Rector for Educational Activities of SPbPU Lyudmila Pankova noted that in 1976, the Department of Material Strength of the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute was one of the initiators of organizing city Olympiads in Strength of Materials. Later, such events began to be held at the Polytechnic Institute annually. In 1981, the USSR Ministry of Education decided to hold an annual All-Union Olympiad in Material Strength to improve the level of student training. Since 1991, the event has received All-Russian status with international participation. In different years, representatives of Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Ukraine, and Turkmenistan have participated in the Olympiad. Teams from universities in different regions of Russia, from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, come annually.
In 2002, the event was first held at the Polytechnic University. In the year of its 125th anniversary, SPbPU again welcomed guests from leading Russian universities. This time, the participants included a team from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B. N. Yeltsin.
“Polytech is expanding its boundaries for the exchange of international academic experience and the establishment of partnerships, as well as for the development of cooperation between universities,” emphasized Lyudmila Pankova.
Professor of the Higher School of Mechanics and Control Processes (HSMCP) Artem Semenov noted that 63 students from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Surgut, Kaliningrad, Belgorod, Tula, Perm, Vladimir, Arkhangelsk, Samara, Tver, Ivanovo, Bishkek (team of the Kyrgyz Republic) registered to participate in the competitive tests.
“The Olympiad is taking place in St. Petersburg, the city where Pushkin and Dostoevsky lived and worked, and where Euler and Lame wrote their immortal formulas. The book “Who’s Who in Strength of Materials” by N. N. Malinin shows that of the 110 engineers and scientists from all over the world who influenced the development of this discipline, 25 studied or worked in St. Petersburg, and nine are directly related to our university,” said Artem Semenovich.
He wished the participants to achieve maximum results in the competition, to effectively use their knowledge, and to make new friends.
Professor of the Higher School of Advanced Digital Technologies of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering” Irina Krasyuk noted the development of the Olympiad movement, which creates conditions for the formation of engineering potential and lays the foundations for mastering science-intensive engineering and technical disciplines in the future.
“Strength of materials is a fundamental discipline that studies the features of deformation of the simplest structures and the mechanical stresses that arise in them. The format of the work presented at the Olympiad is aimed at forming advanced professional competencies of a modern engineer,” says Irina Anatolyevna.
She presented the interaction of the Physics and Mechanics Institute and the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” in the organization and work of the Olympiad. This contributes to further internal university integration and external cooperation with leading Russian technical universities.
Irina Anatolyevna focused on how the scientific and educational process takes place at the Physics and Mechanical Institute and the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” of SPbPU, where they provide a unique set of professional competencies in solving complex multidisciplinary industrial problems that meet the world level and the needs of high-tech industries of the Russian Federation.
The organizing committee included the chairman — director of PhysMech Aleksey Filimonov, deputy chairman — chief specialist of the Directorate of Educational Programs of PhysMech Daria Afonskaya, adviser to the rector’s office Vitaly Drobchik, professor of GSOMPU Artem Semenov, associate professor of GSOMPU Daria Kitaeva, associate professor of GSOMPU Elena Yakovleva and assistant of GSOMPU Aleksey Grishchenko. The chairman of the jury was professor of Bauman Moscow State Technical University Aleksey Pokrovsky.
The first place was taken by the team of the Moscow State Technical University named after N.E. Bauman, the second place went to the Moscow Polytechnic University, and the third place went to the Samara National Research University named after Academician S.P. Korolev. Three participants won in the nomination “Miss Olympiad”, and the prize for the originality of the solution was won by a student of the Moscow Automobile and Road State Technical University. All winners and prize winners received diplomas, memorable gifts, souvenirs of the Polytechnic, letters of thanks and certificates.
The KRSU team was awarded a 1st degree diploma as winners among foreign participants. The head of the university, Denis Fomin-Nilov, was thanked.
“Thank you very much for your hospitality and cordiality. Our trip to you exceeded all my expectations, which I am very happy about,” shared the head of the KRSU team Azamat Dzhamankulov, head of the Department of Mechanics and Instrumentation named after Ya. I. Rudayev.
A cultural program was prepared for the Olympiad participants, which included a visit to the Polytechnic History Museum, the A. G. Gagarin Laboratory of Strength of Materials in the Mechanical Building, laboratories of the Higher School of Theoretical Mechanics and Computational Physics, and a walk around the campus.
The closing ceremony of the Olympiad was attended by the Vice-Rector for Digital Transformation of SPbPU, the Head of the Advanced Engineering School of SPbPU “Digital Engineering” Alexey Borovkov. He noted that the strength of materials, like theoretical mechanics, are an integral fundamental element of high-quality engineering education. Strength of materials or mechanics of materials and structural elements is the most important element of the culture of engineers around the world. The priority goal of the development of systems engineering education is to train engineering special forces with fundamental physical, mathematical, computational and engineering training. Conditions for training such specialists have been created in the Master’s program of the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering” of SPbPU. The uniqueness of the educational process lies in the training of personnel for orders from leading high-tech companies, which allows developing modern multidisciplinary competencies to solve frontier engineering problems put forward by the high-tech industry of Russia.
Alexey Ivanovich emphasized the importance of acquiring and consolidating knowledge, developing skills and abilities to solve problems within the discipline “Strength of Materials” for the further development of advanced digital and production technologies. This multidisciplinary knowledge and competencies are necessary for the application of advanced technology of the 21st century – the development of digital twins of high-tech products, materials, physical and mechanical, technological and operational processes. The development of system digital engineering requires fundamental principles of physical and mathematical and physical and mechanical education, within which the strength of materials plays an important role.
In conclusion, Alexey Ivanovich congratulated the participants on their results and invited them to apply for master’s programs at PISh SPbPU, where the educational process is built on the principle of “Come to study where you can work! Come to work where you can study! Which guarantees an invitation to work in a leading high-tech company during your master’s degree!”
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University – Peter the Great St Petersburg Polytechnic University –
The Kyrgyz-Russian Educational Forum was held at the J. Balasagyn Kyrgyz National University in Bishkek. The event was organized by Rossotrudnichestvo and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic with the support of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and the Administration of the President of Russia. More than 40 Russian and 34 Kyrgyz universities participated.
“Ties between Russia and Kyrgyzstan are being established and strengthened. Our energy, medicine, education and other sectors need highly qualified specialists, and we must train them. In this matter, we have great support from Russia,” said Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Edil Baisalov at the opening of the forum.
“Russia allocates 700 quotas for admission of Kyrgyz citizens to leading Russian universities,” said Pavel Shevtsov, Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo. “Today’s forum and exhibition will allow us to understand even more deeply what areas of training and specialties are most in demand among young people in Kyrgyzstan. The country’s leading universities, which have been successfully training citizens of foreign countries for decades, are present here. The Decade of Science and Education is currently taking place in Russia. And today Russia has something to show Kyrgyzstan and the world. I am confident that today’s forum will give impetus to the development of higher education in both countries.”
Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was represented at the forum by the executive secretary of the coordinating council of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in the field of education “Engineering, technology and technical sciences” professor Pavel Romanov. He held a round table on the topic “Engineering and technical education of the future: training personnel for the digital economy”, spoke about the proposals of the coordinating council of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation in the field of engineering, technology and technical sciences to create a nationally oriented model of engineering education, presented the experience of developing the Advanced Engineering School “Digital Engineering”, and also introduced the participants of the round table to the tasks and practices of strategic interaction between SPbPU and the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B.N. Yeltsin (KRSU) on the development of engineering education in KRSU.
Following the round table, the Polytechnic University’s proposal was adopted into the draft resolution of the forum: “Cooperation between Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the development of engineering education is a priority task. The basis for cooperation is the presence of a historically established common fundamental basis for engineering education: the unity of all levels of the educational space; high-quality physical and mathematical training in schools; fundamental and practical orientation of engineering education. Taking into account modern trends in technological development, it is recommended to pay special attention to the possibilities of digital technologies in education and, in general, to the processes of digital transformation of universities as tools for accelerated development. It is also recommended to develop interaction between universities and industrial partners to improve the efficiency of training personnel to meet the needs of the economy. A successful example of effective interaction between universities in Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the development of engineering education is the cooperation between Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University and the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University named after B.N. Yeltsin. The dissemination of this experience will allow us to significantly improve the quality and demand for engineering education in the short term.”
“For two days, representatives of the educational community of the two countries participated in lively discussions on issues of scientific and educational cooperation, discussed the most interesting formats of interaction. The forum aroused great interest among colleagues from Kyrgyzstan and Russia. I thank our partners for the warm welcome and rich program,” said Deputy Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation Konstantin Mogilevsky.
In conclusion, the delegates attended a concert by the Black Sea Fleet ensemble.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Please note; This information is raw content directly from the information source. It is accurate to what the source is stating and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
With near-constant headlines discussing the devastating crises humanity is currently facing – from climate change to political polarisation and war – many of us are experiencing feelings of existential uncertainty.
This can manifest in different ways, such as feeling anxious or distressed when consuming the news. You might also feel a more subtle but persistent sense of unease and worry about the future.
These feelings are actually linked to changes in the brain. By knowing how this works, we can understand what techniques will best help us to manage this feeling when we next experience it.
Worrying thoughts and feelings about existential threats increase activity in the amygdala – a brain region that responds to threat. This releases stress hormones – first in the brain (hypothalamus and pituitary gland) and then in the adrenal cortex (which sits on top of the kidneys).
The release of these hormones from the adrenal cortex can impact our attention, problem-solving and decision-making abilities due to their effects on two distinct brain regions which support cognitive functions and memory – the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. These regions can actually decrease stress hormone levels, but can become less effective at doing so in response to extremely stressful events or very frequent experiences of stress and anxiety. Chronic stress exposure damages these two brain regions, and can create a vicious cycle of prolonged anxiety.
To cope with this uncertainty and anxiety, one common response people use is information seeking – where we seek out information about an event or situation in order to feel more certain and less anxious.
But this coping mechanism can lead to doomscrolling on social media, where negative content tends to be shared more frequently and feelings of existential uncertainty are exploited for financial or political gain. Our brains also remember negative information better than positive information, which is why negative content is often used for manipulation.
Our attempts to make sense of existential uncertainty can also make some people more susceptible to conspiracy theories. This is because when we feel threatened and uncertain, any explanation for what’s happening seems better than none – and this brings some short-term relief from our worries.
We may also be more inclined to cling to ideas and values that make us feel part of something bigger than ourselves when experiencing existential uncertainty. That’s why some people find themselves feeling more strongly about their political or religious views during periods of unrest – even if such beliefs can sow distrust towards others.
These coping mechanisms may only provide short-term relief from feelings of anxiety – and even worsen our mental health in the long run. To better cope and protect your mental health during times of existential uncertainty, here are some more effective things you can do instead:
1. Stress-reduction exercises
Next time the news makes you feel anxious, try naming the emotion you’re experiencing. Naming emotions can reduce their intensity and unpleasantness. Then count to four while breathing in and count to five while breathing out. Breathing out for longer activates the parasympathetic system – the pathway of neural cells that helps the body rest and relax.
It can be helpful when experiencing existential uncertainty to remind yourself that others are probably feeling the same way. Acknowledging the common humanity of our worries may help reduce the feelings of threat we have.
Writing about what you’re grateful for is another useful way to decrease distress during times of uncertainty. This increases brain activity in the medial prefrontal cortex – a brain area involved in regulating emotions, stress and boosting social-connectedness. The increased brain activity can last as long as three months.
Practising compassion can also reduce distress during times of existential uncertainty. Whereas witnessing others’ suffering can trigger empathic distress – a negative emotion that’s also linked to withdrawal – finding ways to be compassionate and help others can shift this into a positive emotion and make us feel closer to people.
3. Shift your thinking
Instead of spending hours doomscrolling, try using your need for information to search for creative solutions or view the crises as opportunities for innovation where you can put your skills to positive use.
Similarly, new creative ways of responding during times of crisis can shift our thinking to being solution-focused – instead of dwelling on the problems we face. This can support our emotional wellbeing.
If everyone follows these tips, this may create a more cooperative environment which may bring us a bit closer to addressing current global crises at the collective, societal level.
Dusana Dorjee received funding for her research from the British Academy, ESRC, UKRI Innovate UK and Mind & Life Institute. She is a co-director of a community interest company providing training in mindfulness-based wellbeing courses for schools and adults.
For decades, the health of women and gender diverse people has been under-researched, leading to disparities in health outcomes, gaps in access to care and too many instances of mis- and under-diagnosis. The National Women’s Health Research Initiative (NWHRI), led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and supported by Women and Gender Equality Canada, has been working to change that, with a focus on evidence-based solutions that will directly improve women’s and gender diverse people’s access to and experience within the health care system.
$13.7 million investment will support 24 health research projects
October 21, 2024 | Ottawa, Ontario | Canadian Institutes of Health Research
For decades, the health of women and gender diverse people has been under-researched, leading to disparities in health outcomes, gaps in access to care and too many instances of mis- and under-diagnosis. The National Women’s Health Research Initiative (NWHRI), led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and supported by Women and Gender Equality Canada, has been working to change that, with a focus on evidence-based solutions that will directly improve women’s and gender diverse people’s access to and experience within the health care system.
Today, the Honourable Mark Holland, Minister of Health, announced that the Government of Canada, through the NWHRI, is investing $13.7M to support 24 research projects that will delve into under-researched areas of women’s and gender diverse people’s health, including endometriosis, women’s heart health, intimate partner violence, mental health, access to safe abortion and more.
This funding will help research teams tackle important issues such as developing and rapidly adopting screening measures for endometriosis in women and gender diverse youth in Canada, implementing highly efficient, evidence-informed treatment for youth with eating disorders and closing the gap in health disparities in rural, remote and northern Indigenous communities.
Quotes
“I am proud to see great science finding solutions for the broadest range of health issues facing women and gender diverse people. What makes this research even more important is that the topics were identified by women as their health research priorities.”
The Honourable Mark Holland Minister of Health
“The National Women’s Health Research Initiative is about more than addressing gaps in women’s and gender diverse people’s health—it’s a commitment to advancing gender equality in Canada. By fostering talent development, supporting diverse researchers, and driving systemic change, this initiative ensures better health outcomes for all and strengthens the future of scientific research.”
The Honourable Marci Ien Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth
“When it comes to improving health outcomes and access to health care, what women and gender diverse communities need are real-world, evidence-based solutions. That’s exactly what these 24 projects are delivering.”
Dr. Angela Kaida Scientific Director, CIHR Institute of Gender and Health
Quick facts
Women and gender diverse people have been historically under-represented in medical research, such as clinical trials.
The purpose of this funding is to support innovative applied health research to address implementation gaps and advance real-world solutions that improve access to health care and ultimately improve health outcomes for women, girls and gender diverse people across Canada.
Translational research refers to projects focused on expediting the development and adoption of new health care diagnostics, therapeutics and medical devices for the benefit of women, girls, and gender diverse people within the health care system.
Health care implementation science refers to projects focused on scaling up promising practices for removing barriers and improving access to health care.
The initiative goes beyond the sex and gender binary and welcomes the experiences and needs of all people who identify as a woman, girl, intersex, and/or an under-represented gender identity, including, but not limited to, Two-Spirit, trans, non-binary, gender fluid and agender people.
Associated links
Contacts
Matthew Kronberg Press Secretary Office of the Honourable Mark Holland Minister of Health 343-552-5654
At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada’s health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gayle McPherson, Chair in Events and Cultural Policy, and Director of the Research Centre for Culture, Sport and Events, University of the West of Scotland
The tension was palpable as we waited to see if Glasgow would rescue the Commonwealth Games for 2026. After the Australian state of Victoria pulled out, the eyes of the Commonwealth turned to Scotland.
Glasgow delivered a hugely successful event in 2014, raising questions about whether a future games there could match that success. I was part of the bid team as the cultural advisor for Glasgow 2014 and went on to conduct research on the impact of the games on sustainable community participation for people with a disability. So I understand the positive impact the games had for Scotland.
My work over the past couple of decades has examined the social impact of mega sports events and their role as agents for change, specifically disability rights, social inclusion, and peace and diplomacy. In other words, considering whether major sport events truly serve as a force for good as it’s often argued they do. If this is indeed the case, why shouldn’t smaller Commonwealth nations benefit from hosting the games?
Experts often criticise the economic and social impact of major sporting events, but others argue for the social value these events can bring to communities long after they have left town.
My research team conducted a survey on perceptions of the impact of the Glasgow 2014 games that revealed overwhelming support for their lasting impact on the city and Scotland.
The results showed that 75% of respondents believed the games increased civic and national pride, boosted Glasgow and Scotland’s chances of securing future events, enhanced their international reputation, and, as often attested, strengthened the nation’s soft power. Scotland ranks second (behind Quebec) out of ten similar territories for overall soft power, and third for sport.
Amid a rise in the Bric countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) using sport in soft power terms, other nations have sought to be part of this too. The Commonwealth Games is increasingly being used as a vehicle for positive change and regional soft power.
There has been a rise in emerging states running mega sports events, often wealthy illiberal nations such as China and Qatar. However, what about the smaller nations in the Commonwealth? Only two – Malaysia and Jamaica – have ever hosted the Commonwealth Games, and the only other nation outside of Australia, Canada, UK and New Zealand to do so is India.
Glasgow is offering a new model that will create a legacy not only for Scotland, but for many other smaller nations in the Commonwealth. The games are known as the “Friendly Games” – it’s a community that is known for three core values: humanity, equality and destiny.
The family of nations
The African nations form a significant part of the Commonwealth sports movement, so shouldn’t we expect the model that Glasgow is developing to be transferable, ensuring that sport can serve a common good? An environmentally sustainable approach would use facilities and networks already in place to help developing nations, which already suffer disproportionately in terms of climate and environmental risks.
Under this model, venues and infrastructure are already in place. The event is athlete-focused, with competitors staying in hotels as opposed to a purpose-built athlete village, and transport needs minimised through walking or the use of team buses. The 2026 Glasgow event could serve as a blueprint for a sustainable approach to games delivery, inspiring nations such as Ghana, which already has the necessary venues and infrastructure to take on future Commonwealth Games.
With just ten sports across four venues, Glasgow 2026 has thought differently about delivery and digital broadcast. This is the only fully integrated games, hosting para competition at the same time as able-bodied events. This too will help smaller nations’ para-athletes, who often do not get a chance to compete internationally.
The Commonwealth is made up of 56 independent countries and the Commonwealth Games Federation consists of 72 member nations and territories. Gabon and Togo joined the Commonwealth in 2022, neither of which had previous ties to the British empire or other Commonwealth states, demonstrating that some countries still want to be part of a wider family.
Given 19 African countries have Commonwealth Games Associations, we could well see one of these take the baton in future. The Ghanaian sports minister made it clear that after hosting a successful African Games in 2024, he believed the next step would be the Commonwealth Games.
The recent African Games in Ghana’s capital Accra held athletics in a stadium that seats 11,000 spectators, while the World Athletics Championships in 2022 used the University of Oregon’s temporary stadium that seated 13,000. Commonwealth Games Scotland realised that, for 2026, Glasgow could host athletics at an existing stadium in the city with an upgrade to facilities that would provide seating for 11,000.
Ghana and Scotland are learning from each other to lay a path for smaller nations to host future games. The Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022 contributed £1.2 billion to the UK economy and £79.5 million in social value. This is possible for small nations too.
Glasgow 2026 can create a different legacy for the Commonwealth Games; one that is built on inclusion, diversity and sustainability and which incorporates the culture, values and pride of the Commonwealth. The time is right to offer a new approach to event delivery that offers other smaller nations the chance to benefit from sport as a force for good.
Professor Gayle McPherson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Sport Canada and has previously received funding from the Peter Harrison Foundation and Observatory for Sport in Scotland.
