NewzIntel.com

Category: Science

  • MIL-OSI United Nations: Deputy Secretary-General’s message to the High-Level Meeting on International Cooperation on Capacity-building on Artificial Intelligence [as prepared for delivery]

    Source: United Nations secretary general

    His Excellency Mr. Wang Yi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China,

    His Excellency Mr. Felix Mutati, Minister of Technology and Science of the Republic of Zambia,

    Excellencies,

    Ladies and gentlemen,

    I thank the Governments of China and Zambia for organising this High-level Meeting on International Cooperation on Capacity-Building of Artificial Intelligence.

    We stand at a truly pivotal moment. Artificial Intelligence is developing at an unprecedented rate, transforming our world in ways we are only beginning to comprehend.

    It has the potential to help rescue the SDGs and usher in a more durable and equitable future. Recent studies show us that AI can help accelerate nearly 80 per cent of the SDGs.

    Yet, we face a stark reality: AI opportunities are not evenly shared.

    Today, AI capacities are concentrated in a handful of powerful companies – and even fewer countries. The leaders of these companies are exclusively men, and the algorithms they are building risk reinforcing gender and geographic biases.

    Meanwhile, too many countries face significant challenges in accessing AI tools, and too many women and girls lack access to education that could be a platform for careers in this emerging field.

    Excellencies, 

    To truly harness AI’s potential, we need international cooperation – and solidarity. We must urgently bridge the AI capacity gap for developing countries and for women and girls. The risks posed by AI are equally uneven.

    Without adequate guardrails, AI could further exacerbate inequalities and digital divides – once again disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable.

    Excellencies,

    Technology should benefit everyone. 

    AI should be a tool for closing the developmental divide, the digital divide, and the gender divide.

    As we build AI capacity, we must also develop shared knowledge and digital public goods.

    This can be achieved through networks where expertise and AI training data are pooled and made available to everyone who needs them. 

    Interconnected AI centres across different countries and continents can accelerate the advancement of AI, promote data diversity and inclusivity, and foster cooperation rather than competition.

    Last week, the Secretary-General’s High-level Advisory Body on AI issued its final report, with a series of recommendations including:

    •    Creating an AI Capacity Development Network to connect AI centres and provide expertise and training data especially for developing countries; 

    •    Establishing a Global Fund on AI for the Sustainable Development Goals.

    •    And developing a Global Data Framework, so that local AI ecosystems can flourish.

    Many of the recommendations from this Body have been integrated into the recently agreed Global Digital Compact – a landmark agreement that will advance global digital cooperation.

    The Compact includes the first truly universal agreement on the international governance of Artificial Intelligence.

    It also supports networks and partnerships to build capacity on AI in developing countries:

    Commits governments to establish an independent international Scientific Panel on AI; 

    And it represents the first collective effort to reach agreed interoperability standards.

    Excellencies,

    The United Nations is uniquely placed to promote digital cooperation and support the global exchange of best practices for AI capacity building.

    I urge you all to promote a collaborative AI, and to engage in flourishing partnerships – in line with the Global Digital Compact.

    Together, let us develop innovative and inclusive tools for AI governance and cooperation – and build a more sustainable and equitable future for all, where no one is left behind.

    Thank you.
     

    MIL OSI United Nations News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: PASSED SENATE: The National Fossil Act to name the mastodon America’s fossil

    US Senate News:

    Source: United States Senator Mike Braun (Indiana)

    WASHINGTON – The National Fossil Act has now passed the Senate. This bill names the mastodon as the U.S. national fossil, and was introduced by Senator Mike Braun and Senator Gary Peters and cosponsored by Senator Eric Schmitt and Senator Maggie Hassan.

    This is Senator Braun’s 5th standalone bill to pass the Senate just this year, and if signed into law will be his 10th in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) to become law, including provisions on veterans healthcare, opioids, and budget reform. 

    The National Fossil Act aims to celebrate the unique natural history of the United States, and encourage interest in paleontology.

    If the National Fossil Act is passed by the House and signed into law, the mastodon would join the bald eagle, bison, rose, and oak tree as enduring national symbols of the United States.

    The mastodon lived more than 13,000 years ago in the Pleistocene era, predominantly on land that would eventually become the United States of America. A fully grown mastodon was over 10 feet tall, weighed more than 11 tons, and was preceded by a pair of 16-foot-long tusks. Unlike its distant cousin, the mammoth, the mastodon was found exclusively in the United States, with its bones being unearthed in every state across the continental U.S.

    Mastodon fossils are frequently found in Indiana and Michigan.

    The mastodon was made the Indiana state fossil in 2022.

    Mastodons have been found in nearly every Indiana county, including notable discoveries in Hebron, Fort Wayne, and Seymour.

    “Mastodons embody the spirit of exploration, resilience, and strength that exemplifies our great nation. As a uniquely American symbol, mastodons inspire us to embrace our heritage and to protect our country’s natural treasures. I hope making Indiana’s state fossil our national fossil will inspire young Hoosiers to take an interest in our country’s rich natural history that may be in their own backyard.” – Senator Mike Braun

    “Michigan made history when we uncovered one of the most complete skeletons of the Mastodon ever found, and we continue to find traces of this prehistoric giant all throughout our state,” said Senator Peters. “The Mastodon represents a unique piece of both Michigan’s and our nation’s history. By establishing the Mastodon as our national fossil, we can better preserve that history and inspire a new generation of scientists and researchers to continue their pursuit of discovery.”

    The National Fossil Act:

    • Section 1 designates the bill as the National Fossil Act.
    • Section 2 establishes findings on the role of the Mastodon in American public life.
    • Section 3 designates the Mastodon as the national fossil under Title 36 U.S. Code, and makes necessary conforming amendments.

    Senator Braun’s legislative wins this Congress:

    As mentioned, this is Senator Braun’s 5th standalone bill to pass the Senate just this year, and if signed into law will be his 10th bill in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) to become law. 

    Some other Braun bills to become law or pass Senate in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) are:

    (Became Law) The Federal Prison Oversight Act

    • A bill to provide independent oversight to improve conditions for staff and prisoners in federal prisons like Terre Haute. 

    (Became Law) COVID-19 Origins Act

    • A bill that required the intelligence community to declassify important information about the origins of COVID, specifically the Wuhan Institute of Virology. 

    (Became Law) The Wounded Warrior Access Act

    • A bill that streamlines the claims process for veterans with a new online tool, helping those who previously had to get their claims information through the mail or by driving to a regional VA location.

    (Became Law) Department of Defense Overdose Data (DOD) Act

    • A bill to ensure naloxone and any other medication to reverse opioid overdose is available on all military installations and in each operational environment.

    (Became Law) Reforming Benefits for Children of Vietnam Veterans with Spina Bifida

    • A bill to help the children of Vietnam Veterans suffering from spina bifida due to their father’s exposure to Agent Orange get access to medical benefits for the rest of their lives

    (Became Law) Administrative Pay-As-You-Go Act

    • A bill which requires agencies to propose pay-fors to offset expensive government regulations.

               (Passed Senate) VA Home Loan Awareness Act 

    • A bill to inform veteran homebuyers of their eligibility for the VA Home Loan Program, which helps more veterans achieve the dream of homeownership.

    (Passed Senate) Working Dog Health and Welfare Act of 2023

    • A bill to improve conditions for dogs used in the detection of explosives, narcotics and patrol duties by federal agencies, by instituting programs that detect abuse and neglect and ensure emergency medical care, food and water, and rest time.

    (Passed Senate) Mark Our Place Act

    • A bill to provide special headstones upon family request for all veterans who have received the Medal of Honor.

    If signed into law, the National Fossil Act will join the following Braun bills signed into law:

    BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW IN THE 118TH CONGRESS (2023-2024).

    • Federal Prison Oversight Act
    • The COVID-19 Origins Act (Public Law 118-2)
    • The Administrative Pay-As-You-Go Act (included in Public Law 118-5)
    • Reforming Benefits for Children of Vietnam Veterans with Spina Bifida (Public Law 118-8)
    • The Wounded Warrior Access Act (Public Law 118-21)
    • The Korean American VALOR Act (Public Law 118-20)
    • The Department of Defense Overdose Data (DOD) Act (Public Law 118-31)
    • Supporting the Provision of Veteran Survivor Benefit Plans (Public Law 118-31)
    • Flexibility and Funding for the World Trade Center Health Program (Public Law 118-31)

    BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW IN THE 117TH CONGRESS (2021 – 2022):

    • Hire Veteran Health Heroes Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-67)
    • A bill to properly implement the ALS Disability Insurance Access Act (Public Law 117-3)
    • The Consider Teachers Act (Public Law No: 117-49)
    • The Growing Climate Solutions Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The STREAM Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Small Business Establishment Registration Waiver Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The Make It in America Act (Public Law 117-58)
    • The DUMP Opioids Act (Public Law 117-29
    • Better ODDS to Reduce Diversion Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-328)
    • FREED of Opioids Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The Access for Veterans to Records Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Women Who Worked on the Home Front World War II Memorial Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Apply the Science Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The Emergency Use Transparency Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The Recovery Startup Assistance Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Promoting Access to Critical Countermeasures by Ensuring Specimen Samples (ACCESS) to Diagnostics Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Predetermined Change Control Plan Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • Protecting Patients from Counterfeit Medical Devices Act (Public Law 117-328)
    • The PLUM Act (Public Law 117-328)

    BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW IN THE 116TH CONGRESS (2019 – 2020):

    • The Safeguarding Small Business Act
    • Healthcare Transparency
    • the Whistleblower Act of 2019
    • the VA Directly Returning Opioid Prescriptions Act
    • the Stop Student Debt Relief Scams Act of 2019
    • Restore Harmony Way Bridge Act
    • Richard Lugar Post Office Act
    • Payment Integrity Information Act
    • ALS Disability Insurance Access Act
    • OTC Reform
    • The Fair Care Act
    • Braun Provisions in the WRDA Reauthorization in the OMNI

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Why US home insurance rates are rising so fast – hurricanes and wildfires play a big role, but there’s more to it

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Andrew J. Hoffman, Professor of Management & Organizations, Environment & Sustainability, and Sustainable Enterprise, University of Michigan

    The U.S. has seen a large number of billion-dollar disasters in recent years. AP Photo/Mark Zaleski

    Millions of Americans have been watching with growing alarm as their homeowners insurance premiums rise and their coverage shrinks. Nationwide, premiums rose 34% between 2017 and 2023, and they continued to rise in 2024 across much of the country.

    To add insult to injury, those rates go even higher if you make a claim – as much as 25% if you claim a total loss of your home.

    Why is this happening?

    There are a few reasons, but a common thread: Climate change is fueling more severe weather, and insurers are responding to rising damage claims. The losses are exacerbated by more frequent extreme weather disasters striking densely populated areas, rising construction costs and homeowners experiencing damage that was once more rare.

    Hurricane Ian, supercharged by warm water in the Gulf of Mexico, hit Florida as a Category 4 hurricane in October 2022 and caused an estimated $112.9 billion in damage.
    Ricardo Arduengo/AFP via Getty Images

    Parts of the U.S. have been seeing larger and more damaging hail, higher storm surges, massive and widespread wildfires, and heat waves that kink metal and buckle asphalt. In Houston, what used to be a 100-year disaster, such as Hurricane Harvey in 2017, is now a 1-in-23-years event, estimates by risk assessors at First Street Foundation suggest. In addition, more people are moving into coastal and wildland areas at risk from storms and wildfires.

    Just a decade ago, few insurance companies had a comprehensive strategy for addressing climate risk as a core business issue. Today, insurance companies have no choice but to factor climate change into their policy models.

    Rising damage costs, higher premiums

    There’s a saying that to get someone to pay attention to climate change, put a price on it. Rising insurance costs are doing just that.

    Increasing global temperatures lead to more extreme weather, and that means insurance companies have had to make higher payouts. In turn, they have been raising their prices and changing their coverage in order to remain solvent. That raises the costs for homeowners and for everyone else.

    The importance of insurance to the economy cannot be understated. You generally cannot get a mortgage or even drive a car, build an office building or enter into contracts without insurance to protect against the inherent risks. Because insurance is so tightly woven into economies, state agencies review insurance companies’ proposals to increase premiums or reduce coverage.

    The insurance companies are not making political statements with the increases. They are looking at the numbers, calculating risk and pricing it accordingly. And the numbers are concerning.

    The arithmetic of climate risk

    Insurance companies use data from past disasters and complex models to calculate expected future payouts. Then they price their policies to cover those expected costs. In doing so, they have to balance three concerns: keeping rates low enough to remain competitive, setting rates high enough to cover payouts and not running afoul of insurance regulators.

    But climate change is disrupting those risk models. As global temperatures rise, driven by greenhouse gases from fossil fuel use and other human activities, past is no longer prologue: What happened over the past 10 to 20 years is less predictive of what will happen in the next 10 to 20 years.

    The number of billion-dollar disasters in the U.S. each year offers a clear example. The average rose from 3.3 per year in the 1980s to 18.3 per year in the 10-year period ending in 2024, with all years adjusted for inflation.

    With that more than fivefold increase in billion-dollar disasters came rising insurance costs in the Southeast because of hurricanes and extreme rainfall, in the West because of wildfires, and in the Midwest because of wind, hail and flood damage.

    Hurricanes tend to be the most damaging single events. They caused more than US$692 billion in property damage in the U.S. between 2014 and 2023. But severe hail and windstorms, including tornadoes, are also costly; together, those on the billion-dollar disaster list did more than $246 billion in property damage over the same period.

    As insurance companies adjust to the uncertainty, they may run a loss in one segment, such as homeowners insurance, but recoup their losses in other segments, such as auto or commercial insurance. But that cannot be sustained over the long term, and companies can be caught by unexpected events. California’s unprecedented wildfires in 2017 and 2018 wiped out nearly 25 years’ worth of profits for insurance companies in that state.

    To balance their risk, insurance companies often turn to reinsurance companies; in effect, insurance companies that insure insurance companies. But reinsurers have also been raising their prices to cover their costs. Property reinsurance alone increased by 35% in 2023. Insurers are passing those costs to their policyholders.

    What this means for your homeowners policy

    Not only are homeowners insurance premiums going up, coverage is shrinking. In some cases, insurers are reducing or dropping coverage for items such as metal trim, doors and roof repair, increasing deductibles for risks such as hail and fire damage, or refusing to pay full replacement costs for things such as older roofs.

    Some insurances companies are simply withdrawing from markets altogether, canceling existing policies or refusing to write new ones when risks become too uncertain or regulators do not approve their rate increases to cover costs. In recent years, State Farm and Allstate pulled back from California’s homeowner market, and Farmers, Progressive and AAA pulled back from the Florida market, which is seeing some of the highest insurance rates in the country.

    In some cases, insurers are restricting coverage. Roof repairs, like these in Fort Myers Beach, Fla., after Hurricane Ian, can be expensive and widespread after windstorms.
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images

    State-run “insurers of last resort,” which can provide coverage for people who can’t get coverage from private companies, are struggling too. Taxpayers in states such as California and Florida have been forced to bail out their state insurers. And the National Flood Insurance Program has raised its premiums, leading 10 states to sue to stop them.

    About 7.4% of U.S. homeowners have given up on insurance altogether, leaving an estimated $1.6 trillion in property value at risk, including in high-risk states such as Florida.

    No, insurance costs aren’t done rising

    According to NOAA data, 2023 was the hottest year on record “by far.” And 2024 could be even hotter. This general warming trend and the rise in extreme weather is expected to continue until greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are abated.

    In the face of such worrying analyses, U.S. homeowners insurance will continue to get more expensive and cover less. And yet, Jacques de Vaucleroy, chairman of the board of reinsurance giant Swiss Re, believes U.S. insurance is still priced too low to fully cover the risk from climate change.

    Climate change is a major factor in the rising cost of insurance. Join us for a special free webinar with experts Andrew Hoffman of the University of Michigan and Melanie Gall of Arizona State University to discuss the arithmetic behind these rising rates, what climate change has to do with it, and what may be coming in your future insurance bills.

    Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 11:30 a.m. PT/2:30 p.m. ET.
    Register for the webinar here.

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

    – ref. Why US home insurance rates are rising so fast – hurricanes and wildfires play a big role, but there’s more to it – https://theconversation.com/why-us-home-insurance-rates-are-rising-so-fast-hurricanes-and-wildfires-play-a-big-role-but-theres-more-to-it-238939

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI USA: House Passes Bonamici, Kean Bill to Expand Satellite Data Sharing

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Suzanne Bonamici (1st District Oregon)

    (September 23, 2024) WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 6219, the Accessing Satellite Capabilities to Enable New Discoveries Act (ASCEND Act), legislation to permanently authorize the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition program within NASA.   

      

    Introduced by Congressman Tom Kean, Jr. (NJ-07) and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), this bipartisan bill provides statutory authority for the Commercial SmallSat Data Acquisition Program. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) established the program as a pilot program in 2017 to acquire commercial small-satellite data in support of NASA’s earth science research.  

      

    Congressman Kean spoke on the House floor in support of his bill, watch HERE.   

     

    “The bipartisan ASCEND Act is a commonsense solution to help researchers benefit from the vast, high-quality data available from commercial satellites to better understand climate change, natural disasters, and earth sciences,” said Congresswoman Bonamici. “I’m grateful that the House passed this legislation and I will continue advocating with Rep. Kean for the Senate to schedule a vote on the bill.” 

    “Passing the ASCEND Act demonstrates our strong commitment to NASA’s commercial operators and public-private partnerships,” said Congressman Kean. “These efforts are essential for advancing human exploration and ensuring America’s leadership in space innovation. The ASCEND Act will provide access to data sets and imagery from the commercial space sector, supporting critical scientific research and paving the way for a sustainable future for generations to come. I thank my House colleagues for supporting my bill and look forward to seeing this on the Senate floor soon.”   

     

    The ASCEND Act would:   

    • Establish CSDA as a permanent program within NASA’s Earth Science Division.   
    • Direct NASA to expand procurement licenses to provide federal agencies access to high quality Earth remote sensing datasets and imagery.    
    • Promote the acquisition of new datasets for scientific and non-scientific applications.   
    • Require an annual report to Congress on the uses and impact of commercial data products and licensing agreements.   

     

    Read more about the bill HERE.  

    Congressman Kean serves on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. 

     

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Four of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s Amendments to the ‘Fix Our Forests Act’ Included in Final House Passage

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Lauren Boebert (Colorado, 3)

    Washington, D.C. — U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (CO-03) released the following statement after four of her active management amendments passed and were included in H.R. 8790, the “Fix Our Forests Act,” which passed the House of Representatives on a bipartisan vote of 268-151.

    “America needs to do more to actively manage our forests and prevent catastrophic wildfires that are devastating our communities. Federal agencies have to stop spending billions of dollars on the backend putting out fires and shift to a comprehensive, proactive approach. The Fix Our Forests Act and my four amendments do exactly that and are the type of solutions needed in the West and Colorado. I thank House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman for his support on all four of my amendments, and I urge the Senate to take up his critical legislation,” said Congresswoman Boebert.

    Background, courtesy of the House Natural Resources Committee:

    The Fix Our Forests Act is a historic and comprehensive package that will encourage active forest management and support community resiliency to wildfires by expediting environmental analyses, reducing frivolous lawsuits and increasing the pace and scale of forest restoration projects.

    The bill will:

    • Simplify and expedite environmental reviews for forest management projects
    • Promote federal, state, tribal and local collaboration
    • Deter frivolous litigation that delays essential projects
    • Create a framework for prioritizing treatments in the forests at highest risk of wildfire
    • Encourage adoption of state-of-the-art science and data for federal land managers
    • Encourage active management to improve the safety of powerlines and other infrastructure
    • Strengthen tools like Good Neighbor Authority and Stewardship Contracting

    Information on Rep. Boebert’s included amendments:

    Boebert Amendment #12: Clarifies existing authorities may be utilized to prevent wildfires in Fire Regimes IV and V 

    Amendment 12 makes an important clarification that expands the acres of at-risk forests that would be eligible for streamlined management authorities. Under current law, regimes 4 and 5 are subject to extensive “National Environmental Policy Act” (NEPA) requirements for active management. A fire regime map by county can be found HERE. 

    This amendment is critical to fire mitigation efforts across the states of Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Utah, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Maine, West Virginia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Virginia, North Carolina, Iowa, Florida, and Texas

     

    Boebert Amendment #13: Ensures grazing is one of the hazardous fuel reduction activities authorized by the bill

    Fuels treatments are effective, and federal agencies have made clear that “over 90 percent of the fuel treatments are effective in changing fire behavior and/or helping with control of the wildfire.” 

    Grazing animals play an important part in maintaining healthy ecosystems by controlling the ecological balance of vegetative species, reducing fire fuels that result from the accumulation of non-native plant biomass, and improving soil health by trampling plant residue and their own waste into the soil profile. Cattle, sheep, and goats can play a regenerative wildfire mitigation role that also provides for our food and fiber needs.

     

    Boebert Amendment #14: Requires regional foresters to submit a plan through the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program for the treatment and removal of trees killed by or infested with bark beetles in Western states

    The Bark Beetle epidemic has caused significant damage to roughly 100,000 square miles of forest in the western United States alone. Along the West Coast and through the Rocky Mountains, bark beetles have affected tens of millions of acres of forest. While bark beetles are native to U.S. forests and play important ecological roles, they can cause extensive tree mortality and negative economic and social impacts.

    Spruce beetles have killed millions of trees on more than 1.8 million acres in Colorado since 2000 and provided increased fuels for wildfires. In Colorado, 2021 was one of the worst wildfire seasons our state has ever endured with the three largest fires in state history. Bark beetle epidemics and catastrophic wildfires are a significant threat. This can be minimized by thinning overgrown forests and removing hazardous fuels produced by beetle overpopulation. 

     

    Boebert Amendment #15: Requires regional foresters to submit a plan for the sale of Christmas trees and firewood on federal lands

    Under current law, American families can purchase a permit from the forest service to cut Christmas trees from their favorite national forest as well as harvest any firewood, transplants, post and poles, and other forest products to improve forest health. We have seen successful Christmas tree and firewood harvesting operations in the state of Colorado, and this program has served as a locally based solution to help thin our overgrown forests. 

    According to the Forest Service, “The permit system helps to thin densely populated stands of small-diameter trees. Local forest health experts identify areas that benefit from thinning trees and tend to be the perfect size for Christmas trees. Removing these trees in designated areas helps other trees grow larger and can open areas that provide food for wildlife.”

    For more information on the Fix Our Forests Act, click HERE.

    ###

    For updates, subscribe to Congresswoman Boebert’s newsletter here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI: Capital City Bank Names Matthew Henderson Chief Information Security Officer

    Source: GlobeNewswire (MIL-OSI)

    TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Capital City Bank today announced the promotion of Matthew Henderson to chief information security officer, effective October 1, 2024. He will succeed LeAnne Staalenburg McCorvey, who will retire on December 31, 2024. In this role, Henderson will lead the Corporate Security & Risk Department, overseeing both the information and physical security teams. His responsibilities include developing, overseeing, monitoring, managing and reporting on the security program in accordance with policy.

    Henderson began his career with Capital City Bank in September 2022 as an information security officer. In this role, he focused on information security, physical security, vendor management, business continuity and incident response initiatives.

    He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Management Information Systems from Troy University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, respectively. His credentials include certifications as a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, Certified Information Security Manager, Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control and Certified Information Systems Auditor.

    With over 15 years of experience in information technology, cybersecurity, information security and physical security across various industries, Henderson brings a wealth of knowledge to his new position. He also serves on several advisory boards and committees within the financial sector, including the American Bankers Association’s Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience Advisory Committee, the Risk and Compliance Conference Board and the Cyber Risk Institute’s Joint Standards Committee.

    “Matt’s extensive experience and proven expertise make him an ideal choice to lead our Corporate Security & Risk Department,” said Bill Smith, Capital City Bank Group chairman, president and CEO. “I am confident that under his leadership we will continue to uphold the highest standards of security and risk management.”

    Beyond his professional roles, Henderson is actively engaged in the community. He is a member of Celebration Baptist Church, Shriners International and the Tallahassee Tennis Association. Additionally, he volunteers with Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Big Bend.

    In his spare time, Henderson enjoys spending time with his wife, Brittony, and their two children.

    About Capital City Bank Group, Inc.
    Capital City Bank Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CCBG) is one of the largest publicly traded financial holding companies headquartered in Florida and has approximately $4.2 billion in assets. We provide a full range of banking services, including traditional deposit and credit services, mortgage banking, asset management, trust, merchant services, bankcards, securities brokerage services and financial advisory services, including the sale of life insurance, risk management and asset protection services. Our bank subsidiary, Capital City Bank, was founded in 1895 and now has 63 banking offices and 105 ATMs/ITMs in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. For more information about Capital City Bank Group, Inc., visit http://www.ccbg.com.

    For Information Contact:
    Brooke Hallock
    Hallock.Brooke@ccbg.com
    850.402.8525

    A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf7fbf1f-1dda-4f42-ba36-e248463f7a03

    The MIL Network –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: Press release: PM tells US investors “Britain is open for business” as he secured major £10 billion deal to drive growth and create jobs

    Source: United Kingdom – Prime Minister’s Office 10 Downing Street

    A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York today.

    • Major U.S. company Blackstone has confirmed a £10 billion investment in the North East of England to create one of the largest artificial intelligence data centres in Europe 
    • Move will create 4,000 jobs for British people and benefit the local community in Blyth  
    • Prime Minister continues his international drive to boost the UK’s reputation on the global stage, unlock new opportunities to drive growth at home and improve the lives of British people

    A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York today.  

    The deal with US investment company Blackstone, facilitated by the Office for Investment, will create the biggest AI data centre in Europe, boosting the UK’s world leading capabilities in the AI sector and driving growth in the local community. 

    Over 4,000 jobs will be created as a result, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site in Blyth, Northumberland. Construction on the site is expected to begin next year, with the data centres set to store the vast amount of data needed to power AI, and to store the information generated by AI systems.  

    The Prime Minister’s number one mission for government is economic growth, and foreign investment will be a key part of driving it – by creating jobs which will put money into the pockets of hard-working British people.  

    The local community in Blyth – which suffered as a result of the failure of BritishVolt – will also directly benefit from the investment, with Blackstone confirming it will invest £110 million into a fund – supporting further skills training and transport infrastructure in the area.  

    The UK is already home to the highest number of data centres in Western Europe and just last month, the government classed data centres as ‘Critical National Infrastructure’ in the first designation in almost a decade to provide greater reassurance to businesses that the UK is a secure place to invest in and develop data centres.   

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:  

    The number one mission of my government is to grow our economy, so that hard-working British people reap the benefits – and more foreign investment is a crucial part of that plan.

    New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage and we’re open for business.

    Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said: 

    The UK is a top investment market for Blackstone because of its powerful combination of talent and innovation along with a highly transparent legal system.  We are making significant commitments to building social housing, facilitating the energy transition, growing life sciences companies and developing critical infrastructure needed to fuel the digital economy. This includes a projected £10 billion investment to build one of Europe’s largest hyperscale data centres supporting 4,000 jobs. Blackstone is committed to Britain.

    The Prime Minister will meet Blackstone President Jon Gray in New York this morning, as he seeks to rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination in order to drive growth and create opportunities for British people.  

    This comes ahead of the UK’s International Investment Summit in October, which is set to bring together hundreds of leading CEOs and investors set to attend representing the best of business across the globe, with an ambitious programme to showcase the UK’s economic strengths. 

    The summit will rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination to drive growth and create opportunities for British people and cement the government’s enduring partnership with businesses to give them the certainty they need to invest and grow in the UK.

    Today’s investment also bolsters the UK’s bilateral trading relationship with the US which is already worth over £340 billion – making the US our largest single trading partner.  

    Every day, 1.2 million Americans go to work for UK-owned businesses and 1.3 million Brits work for US owned companies. Just last year the UK and US together invested over $1.2 trillion in each other’s economies, across key sectors like financial services, green infrastructure, real estate and technology.

    Updates to this page

    Published 25 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SARP West 2024 Whole Air Sampling (WAS) Group

    Source: NASA

    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Donald Blake, University of California, Irvine
    Graduate Mentor: Katherine Paredero, Georgia Institute of Technology

    [embedded content]
    Katherine Paredero, graduate student mentor for the 2024 SARP West Whole Air Sampling (WAS) group, provides an introduction for each of the group members and shares behind-the scenes moments from the internship.

    [embedded content]

    Urban Planning Initiative: Investigation of Isoprene Emissions by Tree Species in the LA Basin
    Mikaela Vaughn, Virginia Commonwealth University
    Elevated ozone concentrations have been a concern in Southern California for decades. The interaction between volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrous oxides (𝑁𝑂!) in the presence of sunlight leads to enhanced formation of tropospheric ozone (𝑂”) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA). This can lead to increased health hazards, exposing humans to aerosols that can enter and be absorbed by the lungs, as well as a warming effect caused by ozone’s role as a greenhouse gas in the lower levels of the atmosphere. This study will focus on a VOC that is of particular interest, isoprene, which has an atmospheric lifetime of one hour, making it highly reactive in the presence of the hydroxyl radical (OH) and resulting in rapid ozone formation. Isoprene is a biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emitted by vegetation as a byproduct of photosynthesis. This BVOC has been overlooked but should be investigated further because of its potential to form large sums of ozone. In this study the reactivity of isoprene with OH dominated ozone formation as compared to other VOCs. Ambient isoprene concentrations were measured aboard NASA’s airborne science laboratory (King Air B200) along with whole air sampling canisters. Additionally, isoprene emissions of varying tree species, with one to three samples per type, were compared to propose certain trees to plant in urban areas. Results indicated that Northern Red Oaks and the Palms family emitted the most isoprene out of the nineteen species documented. The species with the lowest observed isoprene emissions was the Palo Verde and the Joshua trees. The difference in isoprene emissions between the Northern Red Oak and Joshua trees is approximately by a factor of 45. These observations show the significance of considering isoprene emissions when selecting tree species to plant in the LA Basin to combat tropospheric ozone formation.

    [embedded content]

    VOC Composition and Ozone Formation Potential Observed Over Long Beach, California
    Joshua Lozano, Sonoma State University
    Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), when released into the atmosphere, undergo chemical reactions in the presence of sunlight that can generate tropospheric ozone, which can have various health effects. We can gauge this ozone formation by multiplying the observed mixing ratios of VOCs by their respective rate constants (with respect to OH radicals). The OH radical reacts very quickly in the atmosphere and accounts for a large sum of ozone formation from VOCs as a result, giving us an idea of the ozone formation potential (OFP) for each VOC. In this study, we investigate observed mixing ratios of VOCs in order to estimate their contribution to OFP over Long Beach, California. The observed species of VOCs with the highest mixing ratios differs from the observed species with the highest OFP, which highlights that higher mixing ratios of certain VOCs in the atmosphere do not necessarily equate to a higher contribution to ozone formation. This underscores the importance of understanding mixing ratios of VOC species and their reaction rates with OH to gauge impacts on ozone formation. In the summer there were significantly lower VOC concentrations compared to the winter, which was expected because of differences in boundary layer height within the seasons. Additionally, a decrease in average mixing ratios was observed between the summer of 2014 and the summer of 2022. A similar trend was observed in OFP, but by a much smaller factor. This may indicate that even though overall VOC emissions are decreasing in Long Beach, the species that dominate in recent years have a higher OFP. This research provides a more comprehensive view of how VOCs contribute to air quality issues across different seasons and over time, stressing the need for targeted strategies to mitigate ozone pollution based on current and accurate VOC composition and reactivity.

    [embedded content]

    Investigating Enhanced Methane and Ethane Emissions over the Long Beach Airport
    Sean Breslin, University of Delaware
    As climate change continues to worsen, the investigation and tracking of greenhouse gas emissions has become increasingly important. Methane, the second most impactful greenhouse gas, has accounted for over 20% of planetary warming since preindustrial times. Methane emissions primarily originate from biogenic and thermogenic sources, such as dairy farms and natural gas extraction. Ethane, an abundant hydrocarbon emitted from biomass burning and natural gas, contributes to the formation of tropospheric ozone. The data for this project was collected in December 2021 and June 2022 aboard the DC-8 aircraft, where whole air samples were taken during low approaches to find potential sources of methane and ethane emissions. Analysis of these samples using gas chromatography revealed a noticeable increase in methane and ethane concentrations over Long Beach Airport, an area surrounded by numerous plugged oil and gas wells extracting crude oil and natural gas. In this study, we observe that methane and ethane concentrations were lower in the summer and higher in the winter, which can be primarily attributed to seasonal variations in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer height. Our results show that in both summer and winter campaigns, the ratio of these two gases over the airport was approximately 0.03, indicating that for every 100 methane molecules, there are 3 ethane molecules. This work identifies methane and ethane hotspots and provides a critical analysis on potential fugitive emission sources in the Long Beach area. These results emphasize a need to perform in depth analyses on potential point sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the Long Beach area.

    [embedded content]

    Investigating Elevated Levels of Toluene during Winter in the Imperial Valley
    Katherine Skeen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
    The Imperial County in Southern California experiences pollutants that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, and as a result, residents are suffering from adverse health effects. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are compounds with a high vapor pressure at room temperature. They are readily emitted into the atmosphere and form ground level ozone. Toluene is a VOC and exposure poses significant health risks, including neurological and respiratory effects. This study aims to use airborne data to investigate areas with high toluene concentrations and investigate potential source. Flights over the Imperial Valley were conducted in the B200 King Air. Whole air canisters were used to collect ambient air samples from outside the plane. These Whole Air Canisters were put through the UCI Rowland Blake Lab’s gas chromatograph mass spectrometer, which identifies different gasses and quantifies their concentrations. Elevated values of toluene were found in the winter as compared to the summer in the Imperial Valley, with the town of Brawley having the most elevated amounts in the air. Excel and QGIS were utilized to analyze data trends. Additionally, a backward trajectory calculated using the NOAA HYSPLIT model revealed the general air flow on days exhibiting high toluene concentrations. Here we suggest Long Beach may be a source of enhanced toluene levels in Brawley. Both areas exhibited enhanced levels of toluene with slightly lower concentrations observed in Brawley. We additionally observed other VOCs commonly emitted in urban areas, and saw a similar decrease in gasses from Long Beach to Brawley. This trend may indicate transport of toluene from Long Beach to Brawley. Further research could be done to investigate the potential for other regions that may contribute to high toluene concentrations in Brawley. My study contributes valuable insights to the poor air quality in the Imperial Valley, providing a foundation for future studies on how residents are specifically being affected.

    [embedded content]

    Characterizing Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) Emissions from Surface Expressions of the Salton Sea Geothermal System (SSGS)
    Ella Erskine, Tufts University
    At the southeastern end of the Salton Sea, surface expressions of an active geothermal system are emitting an assemblage of potentially toxic and tropospheric ozone-forming gasses. Gas measurements were taken from ~1 to 8 ft tall mud cones, called gryphons, in the Davis-Schrimpf seep field (~50,000 ft2). The gaseous compounds emitted from the gryphons were collected using whole air sampling canisters. The canisters were then sent to the Rowland-Blake laboratory for analysis using gas chromatography techniques. Samples from June of 2022, 2023, and 2024 were utilized for a time-series analysis of VOC distribution. Originally, an emission makeup similar to petroleum was expected, as it has previously been found in some of the seeps. It is thought that hydrothermal fluid can rapidly mature organic matter into hydrothermal petroleum, so it is logical that the emission makeup could be similar. However, unexpectedly high levels of the VOC benzene were recorded, unlike concentrations generally observed in crude oil emissions. This may indicate a difference between the two sources in regard to their formation process or parent material composition. A possible cause of the elevated benzene could be its relatively high aqueous solubility compared to other hydrocarbons, which could allow it to be more readily incorporated into the hydrothermal fluid. Since the gryphons attract almost daily visitors, it is important to quantify their human health effects. Benzene harms the bone marrow, which can result in anemia. It is also a carcinogen. Additionally, benzene can react with the OH radical to form ozone, an additional health hazard. Future studies should revisit the Davis-Schrimpf field to continue the time series analysis and collect samples of the water seeps. Additionally, drone and ground studies should be conducted in the geothermal power plant adjacent to the gryphons to determine if benzene is being emitted from drilling activities.

    [embedded content]

    Airborne and Ground-Based Analysis of Los Angeles County Landfill Gas Emissions
    Amelia Brown, Hamilton College
    California has the highest number of landfills of any individual US state. These landfills are concentrated in densely populated areas of California, especially within the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Landfills produce three main byproducts: heat, leachate, and landfill gas (LFG). LFG is primarily composed of methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂), with small concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other trace gases. The CH4 and CO2 components of LFG are well documented, but the VOCs and trace gases in LFG remain underexplored. This study investigates the emission of trace gases from four landfills in Los Angeles County, with a particular focus on substances known to have high Ozone Depletion Potentials (ODPs) and Global Warming Potentials (GWPs). The four landfills sampled were Chiquita Canyon Landfill, Lopez Canyon Landfill, Sunshine Canyon Landfill, and Toyon Canyon Landfill. Airborne samples were taken above the four landfills and ground samples were taken at Lopez Canyon as this was the only site accessible by our research team. The substances of interest were chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), and halons. Airborne CH4 and CO2 measurements over the four landfills were obtained using the Picarro instrument onboard NASA’s B-200 aircraft. Ground samples were collected using whole air sampling canisters and were analyzed to determine the concentrations of these gases. The analytical approach for the ground samples combined Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) with Flame Ionization Detection (FID) and Mass Selective Detection (MSD), providing a comprehensive profile of the emitted compounds. Findings reveal elevated levels of substances with high ODP and GWP, which were banned under the Montreal Protocol of 1987 and its subsequent amendments due to their contributions to stratospheric ozone depletion and climate change. These results underscore the importance of monitoring and mitigating landfill gas emissions, particularly for those containing potent greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances.
    Click here watch the Atmospheric Aerosols Group presentations.
    Click here watch the Terrestrial Ecology Group presentations.
    Click here watch the Ocean Group presentations.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: SARP West 2024 Oceans Group

    Source: NASA

    Faculty Advisor: Dr. Henry Houskeeper, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute
    Graduate Mentor: Lori Berberian, University of California, Los Angeles

    [embedded content]
    Lori Berberian graduate student mentor for the 2024 SARP West Oceans group, provides an introduction for each of the group members and shares behind-the scenes moments from the internship.

    [embedded content]

    Leveraging High Resolution PlanetScope Imagery to Quantify oil slick Spatiotemporal Variability in the Santa Barbara Channel
    Emory Gaddis, Colgate University
    Located within the Santa Barbara Channel of California, Coal Oil Point is one of the world’s largest hydrocarbon seep fields. The area’s natural hydrocarbon seepage and oil production have sustained both scientific interest and commercial activity for decades. Historically, indigenous peoples in the region utilized the naturally occurring tar for waterproofing baskets, establishing early evidence of the natural presence of hydrocarbons long before modern oil extraction began. Gaseous hydrocarbons are released from the marine floor through the process of seeping, wherein a buildup of reservoir pressure relative to hydrostatic pressure causes bubbles, oily bubbles, and droplets to rise to the surface. This hydrocarbon seepage is a significant source of Methane CH4—a major greenhouse gas––emissions into the atmosphere. Current limitations of optical remote sensing of oil presence and absence in the ocean leverage geometrical as well as biogeochemical factors and include changes in observed sun glint, sea surface damping, and wind roughening due to changes in surface oil concentrations. We leverage high-resolution (3m) surface reflectance observations obtained from PlanetScope to construct a time series of oil slick surface area spanning 2017 to 2023 within the Coal Oil Point seep field. Our initial methods are based on manual annotations performed within ArcGIS-Pro. We assess potential relationships between wind speed and oil slick surface area to support a sensitivity analysis of our time series. Correcting for confounding outside factors (e.g., wind speed) that modify oil slick surface area improves determination of oil slick surface area and helps test for changes in natural seepage rates and whether anthropogenic activities, such as oil drilling, alter natural oil seepage. Future investigations into oil slick chemical properties and assessing how natural seepage impacts marine and atmospheric environments (e.g., surface oil releases methane into the atmosphere) can help to inform the science of optimizing oil extraction locations.

    [embedded content]

    Investigating Airborne LiDAR Retrievals of an Emergent South African Macroalgae
    Rachel Emery, The University of Oklahoma
    Right now, the world is facing an unprecedented biodiversity crisis, with areas of high biodiversity at the greatest risk of species extinction. One of these biodiversity hotspots, the Western Cape Province of South Africa, features one of the world’s largest unique marine ecosystems due to the extensive growth of canopy forming kelps, such as Macrocystis and Ecklonia, which provide three-dimensional structure important for fostering biodiversity and productivity. Canopy-forming kelps face increasing threats by marine heatwaves and pollution related to climate change and local water quality perturbation. Though these ecosystems can be monitored using traditional field surveying methods, remote sensing via airborne and satellite observations support improved spatial coverage and resample rates, plus extensive historical continuity for tracking multidecadal scale changes. Passive remote sensing observations—such as those derived using observations from NASA’s Airborne Visible-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer – Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) —provide high resolution, hyperspectral imagery of oceanic environments anticipated to help characterize community dynamics and quantify macroalga physiological change. Active remote sensing observations, e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), are less understood in terms of applications to marine ecosystems, but are anticipated to support novel observations of vertical structure not supported using passive aquatic remote sensing. Here we investigate the potential to observe an emergent canopy-forming macroalgae (i.e., Ecklonia, which can extend more than a decimeter above the ocean’s surface) using NASA’s Land, Vegetation, and Ice sensor (LVIS), which confers decimeter-scale vertical resolution. We validate LVIS observations using matchup observations from AVIRIS-NG imagery to test whether LiDAR remote sensing can improve monitoring of emergent kelps in key biodiversity regions such as the Western Cape.

    Vertical structure of the aquatic light field based on half a century of oceanographic records from the southern California Current
    Brayden Lipscomb, West Virginia University
    Understanding the optical properties of marine ecosystems is crucial for improving models related to oceanic productivity. Models relating satellite observations to oceanic productivity or subsurface (e.g., benthic) light availability often suffer from uncertainties in parameterizing vertical structure and deriving columnar parameters from surface observations. The most accurate models use in situ station data, minimizing assumptions such as atmospheric optical thickness or water column structure. For example, improved accuracy of satellite primary productivity models has previously been demonstrated by incorporating information on vertical structure obtained from gliders and floats. We analyze vertical profiles in photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) obtained during routine surveys of the southern California Current system by the California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigation (CalCOFI). We find that depths of 1% and 10% light availability show coherent log-linear relationships with attenuation measured near surface (i.e., within the first 10 m), despite vertical variability in water column constituent concentrations and instrumentation challenges related to sensitivity, self-shading, and ship adjacency. Our results suggest that subsurface optical properties can be more reliably parameterized from near-surface measurements than previously understood.

    [embedded content]

    Comparing SWOT and PACE Satellite Observations to Assess Modification of Phytoplankton Biomass and Assemblage by North Atlantic Ocean Eddies
    Dominic Bentley, Pennsylvania State University
    Upwelling is the shoaling of the nutricline, thermocline, and isopycnals due to advection by eddies of the surface ocean layer. This shoaling effect leads to an increase in the productivity of algal blooms in a given body of water. Mesoscale to deformation scale eddy circulation modulates productivity based on latitude, season, direction, and other physical factors. However, many processes governing the effects of eddies on the ocean microbial environment remain unknown due to limitations in observations linking eddy strength and direction with productivity and ocean biogeochemistry. Currently, satellites are the only ocean observing system that allows for broad spatial coverage with high resample rates, albeit with limitations due to cloud obstructions (including storms that may stimulate productivity) and to observations being limited to the near-surface. A persisting knowledge gap in oceanography stems from limitations in the spatial resolution of observations resolving submesoscale dynamics. The recent launch of the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission in December of 2022 supports observations of upper-ocean circulation with increased resolution relative to legacy missions (e.g. TOPEX/Poseidon, Jason-1, OSTM/Jason-2). Meanwhile, the launch of the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite in February of 2024 is anticipated to improve knowledge of ocean microbial ecosystem dynamics. We match up SWOT observations of sea surface height (SSH) anomalies—informative parameters of eddy vorticity—with PACE observations of surface phytoplankton biomass and community composition to relate the distribution of phytoplankton biomass and assemblage structure to oceanic eddies in the North Atlantic. We observe higher concentrations of Chlorophyll a (Chla) within SSH minima indicating the stimulation of phytoplankton productivity by cyclonic features associated with upwelling-driven nutrient inputs.

    [embedded content]

    Assessing EMIT observations of harmful algae in the Salton Sea
    Abigail Heiser, University of Wisconsin- Madison
    In 1905, flooding from the Colorado River gave rise to what would become California’s largest lake, the Salton Sea. Today, the majority of its inflow is sourced from agricultural runoff, which is rich in fertilizers and pollutants, leading to elevated lake nutrient levels that fuel harmful algal blooms (HAB) events. Increasingly frequent HAB events pose ecological, environmental, economic, and health risks to the region by degrading water quality and introducing environmental toxins. Using NASA’s Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) imaging spectrometer we apply two hyperspectral aquatic remote sensing algorithms; cyanobacteria index (CI) and scattering line height (SLH). These algorithms detect and characterize spatiotemporal variability of cyanobacteria, a key HAB taxa. Originally designed to study atmospheric mineral dust, EMIT’s data products provide novel opportunities for detailed aquatic characterizations with both high spatial and high spectral resolution. Adding aquatic capabilities for EMIT would introduce a novel and cost-effective tool for monitoring and studying the drivers and timing of HAB onset, to improve our understanding of environmental dynamics.

    [embedded content]

    Reassessing multidecadal trends in Water Clarity for the central and southern California Current System
    Emma Iacono, North Carolina State University
    Over the past several decades, the world has witnessed a steady rise in average global temperatures, a clear indication of the escalating effects of climate change. In 1990, Andrew Bakun hypothesized that unequal warming of sea and land surface temperatures would increase pressure gradients and lead to rising rates of alongshore upwelling within Eastern Boundary Currents, including the California Current System (CCS). An anticipated increase in upwelling-favorable winds would have profound implications for the productivity of the CCS, wherein upwelled waters supply nutrient injections that sustain and fuel coastal ocean phytoplankton stocks. Increasing upwelling, therefore, is anticipated to increase the turbidity of the upper ocean, corresponding with greater phytoplankton concentrations. Historical observations of turbidity are supported by observations obtained using a Secchi Disk, i.e., an opaque white instrument lowered into the water column. Observations of Secchi depth—or the depth at which light reflected from the Secchi Disk is no longer visible from the surface—provide a quantification of light penetration into the euphotic zone. The shoaling, or shallowing, of Secchi disk depths was previously reported for inshore, transition, and offshore waters of the central and southern CCS for historical observations spanning 1969 – 2007. Here, we reassess Secchi disk depths during the subsequent period spanning 2007 to 2021 and test for more recent changes in water clarity. Additionally, we evaluate the seasonality and spatial patterns of Secchi disk trends to test for potential changes to oceanic microbial ecology. Indications of long-term trends in some of the coastal domains assessed were found. Generally, our findings suggest a reversal of the trends previously reported. In particular, increases in water clarity likely associated with a recent marine heatwave (MHW) may be responsible for recent changes in Secchi disk depth observations, illustrating the importance of MHW events for modifying the CCS microbial ecosystem.
    Click here watch the Atmospheric Aerosols Group presentations.
    Click here watch the Terrestrial Ecology Group presentations.
    Click here watch the Whole Air Sampling (WAS) Group presentations.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: PM tells US investors “Britain is open for business” as he secured major £10 billion deal to drive growth and create jobs

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments

    A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York today.

    • Major U.S. company Blackstone has confirmed a £10 billion investment in the North East of England to create one of the largest artificial intelligence data centres in Europe 
    • Move will create 4,000 jobs for British people and benefit the local community in Blyth  
    • Prime Minister continues his international drive to boost the UK’s reputation on the global stage, unlock new opportunities to drive growth at home and improve the lives of British people

    A major £10 billion investment which will create thousands of jobs in the North East of England has been announced by the Prime Minister in New York today.  

    The deal with US investment company Blackstone, facilitated by the Office for Investment, will create the biggest AI data centre in Europe, boosting the UK’s world leading capabilities in the AI sector and driving growth in the local community. 

    Over 4,000 jobs will be created as a result, including 1,200 roles dedicated to the construction of the site in Blyth, Northumberland. Construction on the site is expected to begin next year, with the data centres set to store the vast amount of data needed to power AI, and to store the information generated by AI systems.  

    The Prime Minister’s number one mission for government is economic growth, and foreign investment will be a key part of driving it – by creating jobs which will put money into the pockets of hard-working British people.  

    The local community in Blyth – which suffered as a result of the failure of BritishVolt – will also directly benefit from the investment, with Blackstone confirming it will invest £110 million into a fund – supporting further skills training and transport infrastructure in the area.  

    The UK is already home to the highest number of data centres in Western Europe and just last month, the government classed data centres as ‘Critical National Infrastructure’ in the first designation in almost a decade to provide greater reassurance to businesses that the UK is a secure place to invest in and develop data centres.   

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:  

    The number one mission of my government is to grow our economy, so that hard-working British people reap the benefits – and more foreign investment is a crucial part of that plan.

    New investment such as the one we’ve announced with Blackstone today is a huge vote of confidence in the UK and it proves that Britain is back as a major player on the global stage and we’re open for business.

    Jon Gray, President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone, said: 

    The UK is a top investment market for Blackstone because of its powerful combination of talent and innovation along with a highly transparent legal system.  We are making significant commitments to building social housing, facilitating the energy transition, growing life sciences companies and developing critical infrastructure needed to fuel the digital economy. This includes a projected £10 billion investment to build one of Europe’s largest hyperscale data centres supporting 4,000 jobs. Blackstone is committed to Britain.

    The Prime Minister will meet Blackstone President Jon Gray in New York this morning, as he seeks to rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination in order to drive growth and create opportunities for British people.  

    This comes ahead of the UK’s International Investment Summit in October, which is set to bring together hundreds of leading CEOs and investors set to attend representing the best of business across the globe, with an ambitious programme to showcase the UK’s economic strengths. 

    The summit will rebuild Britain’s reputation as an investment destination to drive growth and create opportunities for British people and cement the government’s enduring partnership with businesses to give them the certainty they need to invest and grow in the UK.

    Today’s investment also bolsters the UK’s bilateral trading relationship with the US which is already worth over £340 billion – making the US our largest single trading partner.  

    Every day, 1.2 million Americans go to work for UK-owned businesses and 1.3 million Brits work for US owned companies. Just last year the UK and US together invested over $1.2 trillion in each other’s economies, across key sectors like financial services, green infrastructure, real estate and technology.

    Updates to this page

    Published 25 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Fourth Annual Women in STEM Conference Gains Traction

    Source: US State of Connecticut

    Women in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields are experiencing a new period of growth, acceptance, and respect in the modern workforce. 

    But when UConn alumna Jeanine Armstrong Gouin studied civil engineering in the 1980s, it was hard to feel welcome in an engineering building that didn’t even have a women’s bathroom. 

    Despite the dreary beginning, Gouin (who graduated in 1987, about four years before the Castleman Building installed women’s restrooms) delivered an inspirational message to an audience of young female STEM students last week.

    A member of the audience asks a question during the Q&A portion of the Career Panel.

    The Women in STEM Frontiers in Research Expo (WiSFiRE) was held on Friday at the UConn Storrs campus. It brought together university undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, alumni, and STEM employees and supporters. 

    WiSFiRE was one of the first conferences in the region to specifically highlight the work of women researchers in STEM. That mission has been solidified through a recent endowment by Gouin.

    Gouin, who is both a UConn Trustee and U.S. division president of environmental consulting firm SLR International Corp., made an undisclosed gift in July to endow the Jeanine Armstrong Gouin Initiative for Women in Leadership at the UConn College of Engineering. 

    The gift will provide financial support for leadership programs and activities that are available to all engineering students, not just women.   

    Part of that endowment will continue to support WiSFiRE.

    Friday’s event included panels, technical talks, and networking opportunities for the men and women leading the STEM fields today. 

    Speakers, panelists and moderators included: Gouin; physics professor Nora Berrah; alumna and University of Kentucky professor Gosia Chwatko; earth sciences professor Ran Feng; animal science professor Sarah Reed; chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Kristina Wagstrom; civil and environmental engineering professor Guiling Wang; electrical and computer engineering professor Zongjie Wang; statistics professor Elizabeth Schifano; biomedical engineering professor Leila Daneshmandi; civil and environmental engineering professor Alexandra Hain; molecular and cell biology professor Kat Milligan-McClellan; biomedical engineering professor Kristin Morgan; civil and environmental engineering professor Fatemeh Fakhrmoosavi; animal science professor Maria Gracia Gervasi; mechanical, aerospace, and manufacturing engineering professor SeungYeon Kang; computing professor Lina Kloub; chemistry professor Priya Shah; pharmacy professor Kristin Waters, and mathematics professor Xiaodong Yan. 

    The expo is co-chaired by UConn Engineering professors Qian Yang and Anna Tarakanova. 

    To the students and budding engineers, UConn faculty advised them to challenge themselves, answer the unanswered questions, get involved, and above all else, be the hard worker they always dreamed of being. 

    “Learn the skills you know you need to learn,” Wagstrom said. “Critically look at everything you’re producing. You are the best judge of your own work.” 

    Tarakanova explained that through Gouin’s support, they hope to build momentum throughout the year, with smaller events and opportunities to gather together between the annual exposition. 

    Jeanine Armstrong Gouin presenting during the fourth annual WiSFiRE.

    “We look to establish more mentor/mentee models through the STEM fields in the university,” Tarakanova said. “While many of us are blessed to have found our ‘home’ of supporters early on in our careers, there are many young women who still need to find their ‘STEM sisters.’” 

    After the event, participants supplied feedback about the days’s offerings. 

    “I personally enjoyed seeing that many amazing women in STEM,” one participant said. “It’s been a long time since the last time I felt welcome in an academic environment, but this event reminded me of who I always wanted to be.” 

    Students enjoyed the opportunities for networking, and the panel speakers. 

    “I enjoyed talking to other people, hearing the inspirational words, and hearing students present research,” one student commented. “I didn’t realize how intimidated I was by research before, and this experience has given me confidence and assurance that I can do it too.” 

    View photos from the event online. 

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: U.S. Rep. Rose Votes ‘No’ on Another Continuing Resolution

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman John Rose (TN-06)

    Washington, DC—Today, U.S. Representative John Rose (TN-06) voted ‘No’ on H.R. 9747, the Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act, 2025, which would extend federal government funding until December 20th at levels originally passed in two “minibus” funding bills, the first being on March 6th, 2024 totaling $432 billion and the second on March 22nd, 2024 totaling $1.2 trillion.

    Rep. Rose has voted ‘No’ on every short-term government funding bill known as a Continuing Resolution, or CR, that has not included significant spending cuts or policies to secure the border or safeguard American elections.

                                                                                     

    Rep. Rose released the following statement:

    “Tennesseans sent me to Washington to make difficult decisions on how to spend their hard-earned taxpayer dollars and not take the easy route by voting for a CR that extends inflationary spending into the lame duck session of Congress,” said Rep. Rose. “With the national debt well over $35 trillion and government deficits topping $1.7 trillion a year, I could not in good conscience support a continuation of the status quo. Washington must take after Tennessee and restore fiscal constraint or risk driving the future prosperity of our country off an insurmountable fiscal ledge.”

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Beyer Introduces Legislation To Support Wildlife Migration and Protect Biodiversity

    Source: United States House of Representatives – Representative Don Beyer (D-VA)

    Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA) and Vern Buchanan (R-FL) today introduced the Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act to establish an American Wildlife Corridors System that allows species to move freely and safely between habitats to access resources, establish new territories, promote gene flow, and adapt to the impacts of changing climate.

    “One of the simplest yet most effective solutions to address biodiversity loss caused by habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation, and obstruction is providing species opportunity to move across lands and waters,” said Rep. Don Beyer. “By connecting different habitat areas, we can allow animals to move safely between them without the threat of barriers that often put species in danger. Our legislation would direct key Federal land and water management agencies to develop and manage national wildlife corridors to enhance biodiversity, support ecosystem stability, and benefit both wildlife and human communities.”

    “Corridors increase wildlife movement between habitat areas by approximately 50 percent compared to areas not connected by corridors. By protecting wildlife corridors, this bill will help conserve and restore America’s wildlife, from Florida panthers to monarch butterflies,” said Susan Holmes, Executive Director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “We thank Congressman Beyer and Congressman Buchanan for introducing this important bill.”

    “Defenders of Wildlife appreciates Reps. Beyer and Buchanan’s leadership in protecting America’s wildlife and their habitats through this strategic and collaborative approach to conservation planning,” said Mary Beth Beetham, Legislative Director for Defenders of Wildlife. “By allowing animals to move across landscapes to access food and respond to climate change, connecting our lands and waters is key to the survival of a diverse array of species, from the iconic grizzly bear to the monarch butterfly. The Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act is an investment in our natural heritage and the type of proactive wildlife stewardship that transcends political affiliation, speaking to the heart of our American values.”

    The Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act would establish and maintain a habitat connectivity area mapping and science program to support State, local, and Tribal government efforts to protect and designate habitat connectivity areas as American wildlife corridors. The bill would also establish a wildlife corridor grant program administered by the National Fish and Wildlife to support these efforts.

    Text of the Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity Conservation Act is available here.

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Video: NASA Science Live: Could Jupiter’s Moon Europa Support Life?

    Source: United States of America – Federal Government Departments (video statements)

    Join mission experts as they discuss NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to an ocean moon of Jupiter and answer your questions live. Submit questions in the chat using #AskNASA.

    Clipper is set to launch on a journey to discover the secrets hidden under this moon’s icy crust. Does Europa have conditions to support life?

    Europa Clipper is set to launch in October 2024 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It will arrive at Jupiter in 2030. Learn more about the mission: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/europa-clipper/

    Credit: NASA

    #EuropaClipper #AskNASA #NASA

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiiTYYTqoJY

    MIL OSI Video –

  • MIL-OSI USA: 2024 SARP West Closeout

    Source: NASA

    On August 12-13, 24 students from the West Coast cohort of NASA’s Student Airborne Research Program (SARP) gathered at University of California, Irvine (UCI) to present their final research to a room of mentors, professors, family, and NASA personnel.
    SARP is an eight-week summer internship for undergraduate students, hosted in two cohorts: SARP West operates out of Ontario Airport and UCI in California, while SARP East operates out of Wallops Flight Facility and Christopher Newport University in Virginia. After research introductions from faculty, instrument scientists, and staff, students are assigned one of four research categories: for SARP West, these categories are aerosols, terrestrial ecology,  whole air sampling (WAS), or oceans. Each group is led by a dedicated researcher who is a specialist in that field, along with a graduate student mentor. Over the course of the summer, each intern develops their own research project as they conduct field work, collect data, and fly onboard either the P-3 or B200 NASA flying laboratories.
    “You really see them become scientists in their own right,” said Stephanie Olaya, Program Manager for SARP East and West. “A lot of these projects are PhD level: they are researching and making novel discoveries for the field. They don’t even realize the magnitude of the things they’ve accomplished until the end of the program.”

    Stephanie olaya
    SARP Program Manager

    Research is not the only focus of the program, however. Faculty and mentors alike commented on the confidence they watched grow in the cohort over the two month internship, and the sense of camaraderie with their peers. Olaya says building a sense of community is a primary goal of the program, which encourages close friendships through communal living, regular group dinners, and weekend trips, in addition to the hours of team fieldwork, data collection, and laboratory analysis.  
    The final presentations are another critical facet of the program, as it teaches students how to communicate scientific research and results to a non-scientific audience. “We want to impress on these students that science is not just for scientists,” Olaya said. “Science is for everyone.”
    The event finished with closing remarks by Barry Lefer, Tropospheric Composition Program Manager at NASA Headquarters. “I want to welcome you to the SARP family,” Lefer said, “and to the NASA family.”
    To watch videos of these student’s presentations and/or read their research abstracts, please follow the links below.

    Introduced by Oceans Group PhD student mentor Lori Berberian, University Of California, Los Angeles

    Leveraging high resolution PlanetScope imagery to quantify oil slick spatiotemporal variability in the Santa Barbara Channel

    Emory Gaddis, Colgate University

    Investigating airborne LiDAR retrievals of an emergent South African macroalgae

    Rachel Emery, The University of Oklahoma

    Vertical structure of the aquatic light field based on half a century of oceanographic records from the Southern California current

    Brayden Lipscomb, West Virginia University

    Comparing SWOT and PACE satellite observations to assess modification of phytoplankton biomass and assemblage by North Atlantic ocean eddies

    Dominic Bentley, Pennsylvania State University

    Assessing EMIT observations of harmful algae in the Salton Sea

    Abigail Heiser, University of Wisconsin- Madison

    Reassessing multidecadal trends in water clarity for the Central and Southern California current system

    Emma Iacono, North Carolina State University

    Introduced by Atmospheric Aerosols PhD student mentor Madison Landi, University of California, Irvine

    A comparative analysis of tropospheric NO2: Evaluating TEMPO satellite data against airborne measurements

    Maya Niyogi, Johns Hopkins University

    Investigating the atmospheric burden of black carbon over the past decade in the Los Angeles Basin

    Benjamin Wells, San Diego State University

    Tracking methane and aerosols in relation to health effects in the San Joaquin Valley

    Devin Keith, Mount Holyoke College

    Investigating the effects of aerosols on photosynthesis using satellite imaging

    Lily Lyons, Brandeis University

    Validating the performance of CMAQ in simulating the vertical distribution of trace gases

    Ryleigh Czajkowski, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

    Estimating aerosol optical properties using Mie Theory and analyzing their impact on radiative forcing in California

    Alison Thieberg, Emory University

    Introduced by WAS PhD student mentor Katherine Paredero, Georgia Institute of Technology

    Urban planning initiative: Investigation of isoprene emissions by tree species in the LA Basin

    Mikaela Vaughn, Virginia Commonwealth University

    VOC composition and ozone formation potential observed over Long Beach, California

    Joshua Lozano, Sonoma State University

    Investigating enhanced methane and ethane emissions over the Long Beach Airport

    Sean Breslin, University of Delaware

    Investigating elevated levels of toluene during winter in the Imperial Valley

    Katherine Skeen, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

    Characterizing volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from surface expressions of the Salton Sea Geothermal System (SSGS)

    Ella Erskine, Tufts University

    Airborne and ground-based analysis of Los Angeles County landfill gas emissions

    Amelia Brown, Hamilton College

    Introduced by Terrestrial Ecology PhD student mentor Megan Ward-Baranyay, San Diego State University

    Predicting ammonia plume presence at feedlots in the San Joaquin Valley from VSWIR spectroscopy of the land surface

    Gerrit Hoving, Carleton College

    Burn to bloom: Assessing the impact of coastal wildfires on phytoplankton dynamics in California

    Benjamin Marshburn, California Polytechnic State University- San Luis Obispo

    Species-specific impact on maximum fire temperature in prescribed burns at Sedgwick Reserve

    Hannah Samuelson, University of St. Thomas

    Quantifying the influence of soil type, slope, and aspect on live fuel load in Sedgwick Reserve

    Angelina Harris, William & Mary

    From canopy to chemistry: Exploring the relationship between vegetation phenology and isoprene emission

    Emily Rogers, Bellarmine University

    Keeping it fresh(water): Understanding the influence of surface mineralogy on groundwater quality within volcanic aquifer systems

    Sydney Kent, Miami University

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Getting SSPICY: NASA Funds Orbital Debris Inspection Mission

    Source: NASA

    NASA is advancing an innovative approach to enabling commercial inspection of defunct, or inoperable, satellites in low Earth orbit, a precursor to capturing and repairing or removing the satellites.
    The agency has awarded Starfish Space of Seattle, Washington, a Phase III Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract to complete the Small Spacecraft Propulsion and Inspection Capability (SSPICY) mission. The award follows a Phase III study, which funded four U.S. small businesses including Starfish to develop mission concepts. Starfish Space will receive $15 million over three years to execute the mission.
    The ability to inspect defunct spacecraft and identify opportunities for repair or deorbiting is critical to maintaining a safe orbital environment for spacecraft and humans. Orbital debris mitigation is a key component of NASA’s Space Sustainability Strategy.
    “The SSPICY mission is designed to mature technologies needed for U.S. commercial capabilities for satellite servicing and logistics or disposal,” said Bo Naasz, senior technical lead for in-space servicing, manufacturing, and assembly in NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate. “In-space inspection helps us characterize the physical state of a satellite, gather data on what may leave spacecraft stranded, and improve our understanding of fragmentations and collisions, a difficult but critical factor in a sustainable space operating environment.”
    The Starfish-led mission uses the company’s Otter spacecraft, a small satellite about the size of an oven, which is designed to inspect, dock with, and service or deorbit other satellites. Otter’s electric propulsion system will not only help it efficiently travel to multiple satellites, but the SSPICY demonstration also will mature the spacecraft’s ability to perform inspections using electric propulsion, an important enabling technology not typically used for rendezvous and proximity operations.
    During the SSPICY mission, Otter will visit and inspect multiple U.S. owned defunct satellites that have agreed to be visited and inspected – a delicate and challenging task, as satellites move quickly and are kept far apart from each other for safety. Otter will approach within hundreds of meters of each satellite to conduct inspections during mission operations. During the inspection, Otter will gather key information about each of the debris objects including their spin rate, spin axes, and current conditions of the objects’ surface materials.
    The SSPICY mission is the first commercial space debris inspection funded by NASA and supports the agency’s efforts to extend the life of satellites while reducing space debris. Satellites that are no longer in use can break apart or collide with one another, creating debris clouds that pose risk to human spaceflight, science and robotic missions in Earth’s orbit, and missions to other planets in the solar system. Data from inspections like those planned during the SSPICY demonstration will play a critical role in understanding the nature of defunct satellites and advancing solutions for reuse or disposal.
    “We are excited to expand our partnership with NASA, building on our shared commitment to advancing in-space manufacturing and assembly capabilities,” said Trevor Bennett, co-founder of Starfish Space. “It’s an honor for Starfish to lead the first commercial debris inspection mission funded by NASA. We look forward to collaborating on this and future satellite servicing missions to enable a new paradigm for humanity in space.”
    The Otter spacecraft is expected to launch in late 2026 and will begin performing inspections in 2027.
    The SSPICY demonstration is funded and managed by NASA’s Small Spacecraft Technology program based at NASA’s Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. The award is enabled by NASA’s SBIR program, which is open to U.S. small businesses to develop an innovation or technology. These programs are part of NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
    Learn more at:
    https://www.nasa.gov/space-technology-mission-directorate

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: CSIR-NIScPR Signs MoU with Gurugram University to Collaborate and Serve Society through Science

    Source: Government of India (2)

    Posted On: 25 SEP 2024 5:09PM by PIB Delhi

    CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR) signed an MoU with the Gurugram University on 24thSeptember 2024 at the NIScPR’s Vigyan Sanchar Bhawan, Pusa Campus, New Delhi. This MoU will open up new windows for the both the institutions in the service of society. The key areas of this memorandum of understanding are science communication, STI policy research, traditional knowledge and many more. On the occasion of this MoU signing, the Director of CSIR-NIScPR and Vice Chancellor of Gurugram University shared their views about the significance and need of this MoU.

    Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh Roushan, Controller of Administration, CSIR-NIScPR and Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Registrar, Gurugram University signed and exchanged the MoU. Dr. Sarala Balachandran, Chairperson, Department of Chemistry; Dr. Dwivedi, Head, Nursing; and Dr. Rakesh Yogi, Chairperson, Media Studies, Gurugram University also joined the program. CSIR-NIScPR has seven decades legacy of science communication and science policy research. On 13th-14th November 2024, CSIR-NIScPR in collaboration with Gurugram University is going to organise an International Conference on Communication and Dissemination of Traditional Knowledge (CDTK-2024). Last date for early bird registration for CDTK-2024 is 30thSeptember 2024.

    *****

    AG

    (Release ID: 2058653) Visitor Counter : 74

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI USA: Statement by NIH on Research Misconduct Findings

    Source: US Department of Health and Human Services – 2

    News Release

    Thursday, September 26, 2024

    Following an investigation, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has made findings of research misconduct against Eliezer Masliah, M.D., due to falsification and/or fabrication involving re-use and relabel of figure panels representing different experimental results in two publications. NIH will notify the two journals of its findings so that appropriate action can be taken. NIH initiated its research misconduct review process in May 2023 after it received allegations from the HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) that same month. NIH began its investigation phase in December 2023, concluded its investigation of these allegations on September 15, 2024, and notified HHS ORI of its findings.

    Dr. Masliah joined the agency in the summer of 2016 as director of the Division of Neuroscience (DN) at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and an NIH intramural researcher investigating synaptic damage in neurodegenerative disorders. He has published numerous papers as an NIH intramural researcher. Currently, Dr. Masliah is not serving in the capacity of director of the NIA DN. Amy Kelley, M.D., NIA Deputy Director, is also serving as the Acting NIA DN Director. Beyond this information, NIH does not discuss personnel matters.

    Any allegations involving Dr. Masliah’s NIH-supported extramural research prior to joining NIH would be referred to HHS ORI, consistent with NIH policies and procedures.

    About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov.

    NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

    ###

    MIL OSI USA News –

  • MIL-OSI Asia-Pac: Health chief starts Beijing visit

    Source: Hong Kong Information Services

    Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau and a delegation today began their visit to Beijing by calling on Mainland officials to introduce them to the latest developments of various healthcare reforms in Hong Kong and deepen synergistic collaboration on healthcare-related areas with the Mainland.

    During a meeting with National Health Commission (NHC) Vice-minister Yu Xuejun, Prof Lo engaged in an in-depth discussion on how to further deepen cross-boundary collaboration on health and medical innovation between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

    He also actively put forward to the NHC multiple proposals on measures for promoting the cross-boundary flow of innovation elements, including entry and exit of human genetic resources in the Development Plan for Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science & Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone (Development Plan for Shenzhen Park) promulgated by the State Council.

    Prof Lo noted that the Development Plan for Shenzhen Park emphasises the co-ordinated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong through the establishment of an internationally competitive base for industrial pilot-scale testing and transformation in Hetao to support the innovative application of advanced biomedicine technologies.

    Last year’s Policy Address also proposed the development of Hong Kong into an international health and medical innovation hub.

    To this end, the Health Bureau strives to push forward with multiple key initiatives, including joining forces with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up in the Hetao Area an international clinical trial collaboration platform for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the “one zone, two parks” model in expectation of simultaneous commencement of operation in the fourth quarter.

    The health chief pointed out that the development of innovative drugs and medical devices not only enhances healthcare standards but also transforms the industry, adding that Hong Kong’s healthcare system must keep abreast of the times and pursue transformation with innovation.

    Prof Lo and the delegation also met National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) Commissioner Prof Yu Yanhong and discussed issues related to the promotion of the development of Chinese medicine (CM).

    He said the Hong Kong SAR Government will continue to press ahead with the high-quality development of CM in Hong Kong on all fronts by giving full play to the characteristics of CM in Hong Kong and the city’s strengths in areas such as service delivery, standard-setting, international connectivity and clinical research, assisting the nation to propel CM to go global.

    Separately, at a meeting with the Head of the Department of Political Affairs of the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China Lyu Weihong, Prof Lo highlighted that the Hong Kong SAR Government has been maintaining close co-operation with the Mainland’s entry-exit health inspection and quarantine authorities, as well as strengthening the joint efforts in disease prevention and control in terms of entry-exit health inspection and quarantine between the Mainland and Hong Kong, with a view to safeguarding the wellbeing and safety of residents and travellers of the two places.

    The two parties also exchanged views on the promotion of the cross-boundary flow of innovation elements as mentioned in the Development Plan for Shenzhen Park.

    The delegation will call on the State Council’s Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office and the National Medical Products Administration tomorrow before departing for Hong Kong in the evening.

    MIL OSI Asia Pacific News –

  • MIL-OSI United Kingdom: AUKUS statement: 26 September 2024

    Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments 3

    The defence ministers of the AUKUS partnership met in London to review progress in and reaffirm their commitment to the AUKUS partnership.

    Today the Right Honourable John Healey MP, Secretary of State for Defence, United Kingdom hosted the Honourable Richard Marles MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence, Australia and the Honorable Lloyd J. Austin III, Secretary of Defense, United States (U.S.) at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, the United Kingdom (UK) to review progress in and reaffirm their commitment to the AUKUS partnership.

    The AUKUS partnership reflects the continued commitment by Australia, the United Kingdom, and United States to support a free and open Indo-Pacific that is peaceful, secure and stable.  The discussions between the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister today reaffirmed the importance of this innovative, enduring, and trusted partnership in the face of a rapidly evolving and increasingly unstable international security environment. The three nations will continue to work to uphold the global rules-based order where international law is followed, and states can make sovereign choices free from coercion.  In this context, they reiterated their shared commitments to the AUKUS partnership for the decades to come and welcomed the progress made since AUKUS Defence Ministers last met in California, the United States, in December 2023.

    Pillar I – Conventionally Armed, Nuclear-Powered Submarines (SSNs)

    In March of 2023, our Heads of Government met to announce a comprehensive plan to support Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability as quickly as possible.  Since that announcement, our three governments have worked shoulder-to-shoulder to refine the milestones and principles that will form the building blocks for this decades-long partnership.

    The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister reiterated their shared and enduring commitment to setting the highest nuclear non-proliferation standard, and the importance of this work to the success of the programme. They undertook to continue AUKUS partners’ open, and transparent engagement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and noted the ongoing bilateral negotiations between the IAEA and Australia to develop a robust safeguards and verification approach for Australia’s naval nuclear propulsion programme under Article 14 of Australia’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA.

    Over the last year, our Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Royal Navy (RN), and U.S. Navy personnel have worked tirelessly across governments, defence industry, and academic institutions to optimise the training of personnel to maintain, sustain, operate, and crew nuclear-powered submarines.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister reiterated that the delivery of the “Optimal Pathway” depends upon the skilled workforces of all three countries and reaffirmed their shared commitment to develop a robust base of skills across their military, civilian and industrial sectors.

    • More than 60 RAN personnel are currently in various stages of the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine SSN training pipeline to equip a cadre of Australian officers and sailors with experience aboard the U.S. Virginia class SSNs that the RAN will own and operate from the early 2030s.  These numbers will increase further in 2025, with more than 100 personnel commencing training. Six officers have completed all training and have been assigned to U.S. Virginia class submarines.  RAN enlisted sailors will join U.S. submarine crews before the end of this year.
    • In the United Kingdom, three RAN officers completed the UK Nuclear Reactor course in July 2024 and are now assigned to UK Astute class submarines. The next group of RAN officers will commence training in the UK in November 2024.
    • The RN, with the support of the Australian Submarine Agency, has also delivered professional and general naval nuclear propulsion training for more than 250 Australian personnel in Canberra.
    • Australians have embedded into programme delivery teams in the UK Ministry of Defence and with Rolls-Royce Submarines. Australians are also currently embedded in U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program teams.
    • In July and September 2024, Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard welcomed the first 40 ASC Pty Ltd personnel into its training pipeline with the expectation of more than 100 additional ASC Pty Ltd employees by mid-2025.
    • The Australian Government has committed to nearly AUD 250 million to start delivering the skills and workforce needed for its SSN program, including providing 4,001 Commonwealth Supported Places at Australian universities, in addition to 3,000 undergraduate scholarships over six years, to build the necessary Australian Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics workforce.
    • Additional programs have seen more than 70 Australians supported to undertake postgraduate nuclear studies at universities in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia.
    • Australia has also recently announced the “Jobs for Subs” initiative, a government-funded program to evolve ASC Pty Ltd to recruit, train and retain approximately 200 additional graduates, apprentices and trainees to support Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-West) in Western Australia.

    Recognising that our partners in defence industry are and will remain vital to this endeavour, the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister discussed opportunities to maximize our efforts to foster collaboration and build resilience across our industrial bases and supply chains. They welcome the collaboration between BAE Systems (BAES) and ASC Pty Ltd to bring together their combined decades of submarine building to deliver the SSN-AUKUS programme.

    • The U.S. Government decided to invest USD 17.5 billion into its submarine industrial base to support initiatives related to supplier development, shipbuilder and supplier infrastructure, workforce development, technology advancements, and strategic sourcing.
    • Australia has also committed to invest over AUD 30 billion in the Australian defence industrial base to develop Australia’s supply chains and facilitate industry participation in U.S. and UK supply chains.
    • His Majesty’s Government announced an initial allocation of £4 billion from the United Kingdom to continue the detailed design work of SSN-AUKUS and order long-lead items, as well as the United Kingdom’s investment of £3 billion across its Defence Nuclear Enterprise, including the construction of submarine industrial infrastructure that will help to deliver the SSN-AUKUS programme.
    • The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the AUKUS partners’ commitment to accelerate opportunities for Australian industry in the Virginia class submarine supply chain, including through the Defence Industry Vendor Qualification Program and other industry collaboration initiatives.  They welcomed ongoing efforts to encourage further industrial base partnerships to build resiliency across the trilateral Submarine Industrial Base.
    • This August, as a direct result of our close collaboration over this year, our three nations commenced the execution of the first-ever planned maintenance activity of a U.S. SSN in Australia.  More than 30 RAN personnel worked alongside U.S. Navy and contractor personnel and UK observers to conduct routine maintenance and observe safety and stewardship evolutions.  This was an important step in building Australia’s capacity to support a rotational presence of UK and U.S. SSNs at SRF-West beginning as early as 2027, as well as Australia’s future sovereign SSN capability.

    The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister emphasised the importance of ensuring that our trilateral systems have the tools they need to transfer information and data in a timely fashion to facilitate cooperation.  They were pleased to welcome the August 2024 signing of an enabling agreement for trilateral cooperation related to naval nuclear propulsion. Once in force, this historic agreement will enable AUKUS partners to go beyond sharing naval nuclear propulsion information, allowing the United States and the United Kingdom to transfer nuclear-propulsion material and equipment to Australia required for the safe and secure construction, operation, and sustainment of conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarines.  

    This agreement reaffirms, and remains consistent with, the AUKUS partners’ respective, existing international non-proliferation obligations. As a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Australia has re-affirmed unequivocally that it does not have, and will not seek to acquire, nuclear weapons. 

    Pillar II – Advanced Capabilities

    The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister hailed progress being made under Pillar II to deliver capability to our defence forces while bolstering industry and innovation sector collaboration. AUKUS nations continue to pool the talents of our defence sectors to catalyse, at an unprecedented pace, the delivery of advanced capabilities.

    Through AUKUS Pillar II, our trilateral science and technology, acquisition and sustainment, and operational communities are working across the full spectrum of capability development—generating requirements, co-developing new systems, deepening industrial base collaboration, and bolstering our innovation ecosystems.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed progress made in building a more capable, combined joint force of the future because of this work.

    • This year, under the Maritime Big Play initiative, we are undertaking a series of integrated trilateral experiments and exercises to enhance interoperability and accelerate the combined fielding of autonomous uncrewed systems in the maritime domain.  Later this year, the three nations will bring together approximately 30 systems across four domains for the first large-scale AUKUS integrated demonstration.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the inclusion of technologies from companies in each of the three nations and plans to expand to include additional industry partners in the future.
    • In 2024, AUKUS partners furthered their undersea warfare capabilities by beginning to scale up the ability to launch and recover uncrewed underwater systems from torpedo tubes on current classes of British and U.S. submarines, which will increase the range and capability of our undersea forces.  AUKUS partners are exploring opportunities to collaborate on sensors and payloads to maximize this capability and deliver effects such as strike, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.
    • In parallel, the United Kingdom and the United States are strengthening superiority in the maritime domain by integrating the Sting Ray lightweight torpedo into the P-8A Maritime Patrol Aircraft alongside the Mk 54 torpedo, with trials planned for 2025. This will increase the opportunity for interchangeability and potential work on future torpedo programmes.  These efforts will ultimately enhance the survivability of our surface combatant and submarine fleets.
    • In the area of long-range precision strike, we are increasing our collective ability to develop and deliver offensive and defensive hypersonic technologies through a robust series of trilateral tests and experiments that will accelerate the development of hypersonic concepts and critical enabling technologies.  These capabilities will hold time critical and heavily defended targets at risk from increased ranges, enhancing the survivability of our forces and defending our homelands and forces against potential threats.
    • Advancing our maritime domain autonomy and decision advantage efforts, AUKUS partners demonstrated and deployed common advanced artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms on P8-A Maritime Patrol aircraft to process data from each nations’ sonobuoys. These advances allow for faster data processing and improved target identification in congested acoustic environments, enhancing our combined anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed plans to scale these technologies in 2025.
    • Our joint forces demonstrated several innovative uses of AI technologies to enhance decision making and bolster combined military effects.  In March, AUKUS partners demonstrated the ability to rapidly co-develop and deploy trilateral AI algorithms to find and fix targets for strike.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed trilateral plans to explore the introduction of these capabilities into operational units in the coming years.

    The International Joint Requirements Oversight Council (I-JROC) remains a critical collaborative forum to identify and validate joint and combined requirements to ensure capability development considers interoperability and interchangeability from the very start. The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed the establishment of trilaterally determined key operational problems, leveraging existing activities to achieve capability development priorities endorsed by I-JROC. AUKUS partners seek:

    • An enhanced multi-domain long-range strike capability that incorporates asymmetric capabilities and integrated targeting;
    • Strengthened multi-domain integrated air and missile defence capability;
    • Resilient command and control systems that maintain a diverse range of information; and
    • Enhanced logistical networks that are able to deliver persistent support and sustainment for operations in contested environments.

    To this end, the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed work underway across our trilateral Armies, Navies, and Air Forces to explore additional opportunities for collaboration in the land, maritime, air, and other domains under AUKUS Pillar II. 

    A cornerstone of our AUKUS Pillar II program remains the opportunity to leverage the best of our defence industrial bases and innovation ecosystems.  Over the past year we have further integrated our innovation ecosystems and fostered increased collaboration with these stakeholder communities to explore opportunities in all aspects of Pillar II.

    • AUKUS partners executed the first trilaterally sponsored innovation prize challenge, which focused on electronic warfare.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister are pleased to announce Advanced Design Technology Pty Ltd, Inovor Technologies Pty Ltd and Penten Pty Ltd (AUS), Amiosec Ltd, University of Liverpool, Roke Manor Research Ltd, Autonomous Devices Ltd (UK), and Distributed Spectrum (U.S.) as the winners for this challenge.  The selection of these companies demonstrates the important contributions that our trilateral commercial sectors and innovation bases can make in addressing critical operational requirements.
    • Building on the success of this first challenge, the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister were pleased to endorse plans for a robust two-year agenda that will increase collaboration between and among our innovation centres of excellence.  Through this collaboration, AUKUS partners will leverage innovative tools to reach our entrepreneurs and actively solicit new and powerful capabilities from our trilateral innovation ecosystem and industrial base.
    • In coordination with industry associations representing the trilateral defence industrial base, the Advanced Capabilities Industry Forum, continues to provide an opportunity for representatives across government and industry to exchange ideas and deepen industrial collaboration in Pillar II.  By the end of this year, AUKUS partners will have convened meetings in each country and facilitated discussions with technology and policy subject matter experts to increase understanding and information sharing.
    • In response to industry feedback and as current projects mature beyond traditional research and development projects, the National Armaments Directors from each nation are identifying opportunities to harmonise acquisition processes and reducing barriers to facilitate the accelerated delivery of Pillar II advanced capabilities.

    In April 2024, the Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister announced principles for engaging additional partners on opportunities to collaborate on AUKUS Pillar II projects.  The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister welcomed progress on consultations with Japan on improving interoperability with Japan’s maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation. The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister noted ongoing consultations with Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II on a project by project basis.   

    Defence trade and industrial base collaboration

    To promote innovation and realise the goals of AUKUS, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States implemented momentous amendments to our respective export control regimes.  These historic efforts will maximise secure, licence-free defence trade and stimulate innovation across the full breadth of our defence collaboration, mutually strengthening our three defence industrial bases, while maintaining rigour and security in all three systems. The Secretaries and Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed support to reduce bureaucratic barriers to collaboration to enable deeper defence industrial base cooperation.

    Updates to this page

    Published 26 September 2024

    MIL OSI United Kingdom –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Post-election violence is possible in US, political scientist says − and it could be worse than Jan. 6

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Alexander Cohen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Clarkson University

    Should Americans be bracing for bloodshed if Donald Trump loses the 2024 presidential election?

    As a political scientist who studies American politics, I can easily imagine a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection – or worse – following this November’s presidential election.

    Flashback to 2020

    Four years ago, in an attempt to overturn his loss in the 2020 presidential election, then-President Donald Trump and his surrogates furiously challenged its results. Lodging 63 lawsuits, Trump and his surrogates tried to discredit or override vote counting, election processes and certification standards in nine states.

    None of these attempts was successful. Many were dismissed as baseless – often by Trump-appointed judges – before they even saw trial. Simply put, there is no evidence of widespread fraud. Even a voter data expert hired by Trump concluded that the 2020 election was not stolen.

    The U.S. legal system agreed, demonstrating that courts remain an important bulwark protecting American democracy. Yet the legal system cannot prevent political violence wrought by election denialism, as the country soon learned.

    On Jan. 6, 2021, over 2,000 people stormed the United States Capitol to forcibly prevent Congress from certifying the 2020 presidential election. Four people died and 138 police officers were injured during the riot, which inflicted nearly US$3 million of damage. Four officers who responded to the riot would later kill themselves.

    The mob was spurred, at least in part, by Trump’s rousing speech at a rally in Washington, D.C., earlier that day. There, he reiterated his claims that the 2020 election had been “stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats” and warned the crowd of approximately 53,000 that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.”

    Many legal scholars considered this to be incitement.

    “He clearly knew there were people in that crowd who were ready to and intended to be violent,” legal scholar Garrett Epps told the BBC. “He not only did nothing to discourage it, he strongly hinted it should happen.”

    Trump: A sore loser … and winner

    Trump has a long history of denying the results of any contest whose outcome he does not like.

    Before entering the political arena, Trump called the 2012 Emmys “dishonest” because his show, “The Apprentice,” did not win. In 2012, he dismissed then-President Barack Obama’s reelection as a “total sham” and questioned the accuracy of vote tallies and voting machines. Unleashing a barrage of tweets, Trump urged citizens to “fight like hell” against a “disgusting injustice.”

    As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump called the Republican primaries fraudulent after his competitor Sen. Ted Cruz won in Iowa, tweeting that the Texan “stole it.”

    Ultimately, Trump won the Republican primaries and the national presidential campaign against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Nonetheless, he falsely claimed that he only lost the popular vote – Trump fell 2 million short of Clinton’s 65.8 million votes – due to massive voting among illegal immigrants.

    Attacking the 2024 election

    Trump has doubled down on his election denial this election cycle. By May 2024, The New York Times had documented 550 such statements, up from roughly 100 in the entire 2020 campaign.

    Continuing to insist that the 2020 election was “rigged,” Trump predicts a repeat in 2024.

    This narrative of pervasive victimization has been bolstered by a flurry of lawsuits and criminal investigations brought against the former president. Since 2020, state and federal prosecutors have charged Trump with 94 crimes, including business fraud, mishandling classified documents and interfering with the federal election.

    In New York, he was convicted of 34 counts of corporate fraud and found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case filed by author E. Jean Carroll.

    Trump has cast these legal challenges as a deliberate attempt by President Joe Biden to interfere with the 2024 election over 350 times.

    “My legal issues, every one of them, civil and the criminal ones, are all set up by Joe Biden,” Trump told a New York City crowd in January 2024. “They’re doing it for election interference.”

    His surrogates amplify this message. For instance, Mike Howell, director of the right-leaning Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project, proclaimed on June 6, 2024, at a public Washington event that there is a “0% chance of a free and fair election.”

    From denialism to violence: Warning signs

    Lying about election results is no mere tantrum. It is a cornerstone of Trump’s strategy to paint himself as the victim of an elitist deep state – an image that appeals to his base, particularly among white working-class voters, some of whom feel that they are victims themselves of globalization and shadowy elites.

    This strategy is working.

    A September 2023 survey by the independent pollster PRRI showed that 32% of Americans believe that the 2020 election was stolen. Even though the question has been comprehensively litigated and dismissed in the courts, many American citizens simply do not believe, under any circumstances, that Trump can lose in a fair election.

    That fact, combined with other statistics from the same poll, explains why I believe another Jan. 6 is possible.

    About 23% of Americans and 33% of Republicans believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country” – a 5% increase among Republicans and 8% among the general public since 2021.

    Meanwhile, 75% of Americans believe that American democracy is at risk in the 2024 election. That, too, may be something worth fighting for – especially when 39% of Trump supporters and 42% of Biden supporters report having no friends who support the opposing candidate. When people do not trust or socialize with people unlike them, violence between groups is more likely.

    I fear little can be done to prevent such violence.

    In 2022, Congress, acting in rare bipartisan fashion, approved the Electoral Count Reform and Transition Improvement Act of 2022, which closed many doors that President Trump attempted to use to thwart the 2020 election. Yet, as history shows, rule of law is not a certain brace against violence.

    Given the perceived stakes of the election for most Americans, along with Trump’s ever-sharpening incendiary rhetoric, it is hard to imagine that Jan. 6, 2021, was an isolated chapter in American history.

    Indeed, it may have been just a prelude.

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

    – ref. Post-election violence is possible in US, political scientist says − and it could be worse than Jan. 6 – https://theconversation.com/post-election-violence-is-possible-in-us-political-scientist-says-and-it-could-be-worse-than-jan-6-238663

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Rodney E. Rohde, Regents’ Professor & Chair, Medical Laboratory Science, Texas State University

    Rabies is a fatal disease for both animals and people. CDC/Barbara Andrews

    Rabies is a deadly disease. Without vaccination, a rabies infection is nearly 100% fatal once someone develops symptoms. Texas has experienced two rabies epidemics in animals since 1988: one involving coyotes and dogs in south Texas, and the other involving gray foxes in west central Texas. Affecting 74 counties, these outbreaks led to thousands of people who could have been exposed, two human deaths and countless animal lives lost.

    In 1994, Gov. Ann Richards declared rabies a state health emergency. The Texas Department of State Health Services responded by launching the Oral Rabies Vaccination Program to control the spread of these wildlife rabies outbreaks.

    Since 1995, the program has distributed over 53 million doses of rabies vaccine over 758,100 square miles (nearly 2 million square kilometers) in Texas by hand or aircraft. Rabies cases in dogs and coyotes went from 141 to 0 by 2005, and rabies cases in foxes went from 101 to 0 by 2014. By 2004, one canine rabies variant was effectively eliminated from Texas, and another variant was substantially controlled.

    We are researchers who began studying wildlife rabies and oral vaccination in the 1980s. From providing a proof of concept in using oral vaccines in raccoons to being among the first to use new rabies vaccines in the 1990s, we were on the ground floor of efforts to contain this deadly virus.

    Decades of vaccine research led to one of the most successful public health projects in Texas. And we’re hopeful it could provide a road map for the use of mass wildlife vaccination to prevent future outbreaks.

    Developing the oral rabies vaccine

    The Texas Oral Rabies Vaccination Program benefited greatly from the work of multiple researchers over prior decades.

    The mid-20th century saw several major developments in rabies control. With the failure of efforts to poison or trap infected animals, virologist and veterinarian George Baer at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recognized the need for a different strategy to prevent and control wildlife rabies. His and his colleagues’ work in the 1960s led to the concept of oral rabies vaccination. While orally vaccinating wildlife would help combat infection at its source, it was previously thought to be logistically unfeasible given the large range of target animals.

    By the late 1970s, European researchers began the first field trials to orally vaccinate foxes against rabies. Small plastic containers were filled with vaccines and placed into baits, such as chicken heads. Over 50,000 of these vaccine-laden baits were distributed over four years in fox habitats in forests and fields.

    Early vaccine baits were coated with fishmeal crumbles and cod liver oil.
    Maki et al/Veterinary Research, CC BY-ND

    Researchers in Canada also began similar field trials in Ontario. During the 1980s, an average of 235 rabid foxes per year were reported in the area. Baits containing oral rabies vaccine were dropped annually from 1989 to 1995 and successfully eliminated the fox variant of rabies from the whole area.

    Recombinant oral rabies vaccine

    The first generation of these vaccines used live viruses modified in an attempt to not cause severe disease. Although effective and generally safe, the original rabies vaccines had to be kept in cool temperatures and had the rare risk of causing rabies in animals.

    In the early 1980s, scientists developed recombinant rabies vaccines, which use a separate virus to express the genes of the rabies virus. A collaboration between a nonprofit institute, the U.S. government, and the pharmaceutical industry led to the development of a recombinant viral vaccine that produced a rapid immune response against rabies without the possibility of causing rabies.

    In 1984, preliminary work in laboratory animals showed the promise of using an oral form of the recombinant vaccine to vaccinate animals. However, the concept of using genetically modified organisms was in its infancy among both scientists and the general public. While the vaccine was safe and effective in captive raccoons and foxes, major questions loomed over how it might affect other species once released into the environment.

    After years of work improving the vaccine’s design and testing its safety in several nonhuman species, the first European trial was held on a military base in Belgium. With data supporting it could safely and effectively control wildlife in Luxembourg and France, the vaccine was licensed to control fox rabies in 1995.

    In the U.S., similar studies of the oral recombinant rabies vaccine were conducted. The first trial began in 1990 at Parramore Island off the Virginia coast, and a year of intensive monitoring found no significant adverse effects on the environment or any wildlife species. A second yearlong study on the mainland near Williamsport, Pennsylvania, had similarly positive results.

    After the vaccine was successfully used to control raccoon rabies in tests in several other East Coast states, it was approved for use on raccoons in 1997.

    In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received funding to expand existing oral wildlife vaccination projects to states of strategic importance, to prevent the spread of specific rabies viruses, and to coordinate interstate projects.

    Results in Texas

    In Texas, the oral recombinant vaccine is now primarily distributed by hand and by approximately 75 separate helicopter flights annually.

    The Texas Department of State Health Services rabies laboratory worked alongside the CDC to create the Regional Rabies Virus Reference Typing Laboratory. One of us was recruited to both distribute the vaccine in the field and to develop molecular typing tools to discriminate between different types of rabies virus variants in the lab. These techniques allowed us to identify where different rabies virus variants were emerging at any given moment.

    The Texas Oral Rabies Vaccination Program continues to monitor and control rabies cases in the state.

    Our lab was also the first in the nation outside of the CDC to assist other U.S. states and countries in testing their specimens for rabies virus variants. These techniques helped researchers monitor where the rabies epizootic was ongoing or retreating due to wildlife vaccination and new forms of spread.

    With the constant threat of emerging and reemerging infectious diseases like COVID-19 and influenza, the prospect of mass vaccination of wild animals may be one way to address future pandemics. Though there is much work ahead of us, we have hope that we may one day have the option of using mass wildlife vaccination to reduce or eliminate infectious diseases like rabies.

    Rodney E. Rohde has received funding from the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science, U.S. Department of Labor (OSHA), and other public and private entities/foundations. Rohde is affiliated with ASCP, ASCLS, ASM, and serves on several scientific advisory boards.

    Charles E. Rupprecht consults for global academic, governmental, industrial and NGO organizations. He receives funding from academic, governmental, industrial, and NGO sources.

    – ref. Airdropping vaccines to eliminate canine rabies in Texas – two scientists explain the decades of research behind its success – https://theconversation.com/airdropping-vaccines-to-eliminate-canine-rabies-in-texas-two-scientists-explain-the-decades-of-research-behind-its-success-238508

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California’s poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit?

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By Manuel Pastor, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and American Studies & Ethnicity, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

    The edge of the Salton Sea, a heavily polluted lake with large geothermal and lithium resources beneath it. Manuel Pastor

    Imperial County consistently ranks among the most economically distressed places in California. Its Salton Sea, the state’s biggest and most toxic lake, is an environmental disaster. And the region’s politics have been dominated by a conservative white elite, despite its supermajority Latino population.

    The county also happens to be sitting on enough lithium to produce nearly 400 million batteries, sufficient to completely revamp the American auto fleet to electric propulsion. Even better, that lithium could be extracted in a way consistent with broader goals to reduce pollution.

    The traditional ways to extract lithium involve either hard rock mining, which generates lots of waste, or large evaporation ponds, which waste a lot of water. In Imperial Valley, companies are pioneering a third method. They are extracting the mineral from the underground briny water brought up during geothermal energy production and then injecting that briny water back into the ground in a closed loop. It promises to yield the cleanest, greenest lithium on the planet.

    The hope of a clean energy future has excited investors and public officials so much that the area is being rechristened as “Lithium Valley.”

    In a region desperate for jobs and income, the prospect of a “white gold rush” is appealing. Public officials have been working to roll out the red carpet for big investors, including trying to create a clear plan for infrastructure and a quicker permitting process. To get community groups’ support, they are playing up the potential for jobs, including company commitments to hire local workers.

    But Imperial Valley residents who have been on the butt end of get-rich schemes around water and real estate in the past are worried that their political leaders may be giving away the store. As we explore in our new book, “Charging Forward: Lithium Valley, Electric Vehicles and a Just Future,” the U.S. has an opportunity to ensure that these residents directly benefit from the lithium extraction boom, which is an important part of the global shift to clean energy.

    Possibilities and perils in ‘Lithium Valley’

    Imperial Valley is emblematic of the potential and the risks that have long faced impoverished communities in resource-rich regions.

    To understand the possibilities and perils in Imperial Valley, it’s useful to remember that the world is not just moving away from fossil fuel extraction but toward more mineral extraction. Today’s battery technology – necessary for electric vehicles and energy storage – relies on minerals including cobalt, magnesium, nickel and graphite. And mineral extraction is often accompanied by obscured environmental risks.

    A prototype for CTR’s lithium-producing geothermal facility, in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Imperial Valley.
    Manuel Pastor

    In Imperial Valley, environmental and community organizations are worried about lithium extraction’s water use, waste and air pollution as production steps up and truck traffic increases. When your region’s childhood asthma rate is already more than twice the national average, and dust from the drying lake is toxic, kicking up a “little extra dust” is a big deal.

    Comite Civico del Valle, a long-established environmental justice organization in Imperial Valley, has sued to slow down a streamlined permitting process for Controlled Thermal Resources, a company planning lithium extraction there. The group’s concern is that inadequate environmental reviews could result in harm to residents’ health. Both the company and public officials are warning that the lawsuit could stop the lithium boom before it begins.

    Local communities are also concerned about how much benefit they will see while the industry profits. They note that the electric vehicle boom driving lithium demand occurred precisely because of public policy. Tesla, for example, has benefited from multiple rounds of state and federal zero-emissions vehicle incentives, including the sale of emissions credits that accounted for 85% of Tesla’s gross margin in 2009 and rose to US$1.8 billion a year by 2023.

    Behind these policies and financial incentives have been public will and taxpayer money.

    Young advocates with the Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition have been spreading their concerns through the community.
    Chris Benner

    We believe that local residents, not just companies, deserve a return. Rather than promising to just pay for community “benefits,” such as environmental mitigation, contributions to municipal coffers or jobs, the companies could pay “dividends” directly to local residents and communities.

    There are models of this dividend approach. For example, the Alaska Permanent Fund gives an annual amount to all residents of that state from revenues obtained from the oil beneath the ground.

    In Imperial Valley, the actual ownership of the lithium is complex, involving a mix of privately owned subsurface rights, public lease rights obtained by companies and public rights held by the regional water district to whom companies will pay royalties.

    Given the ownership complexities and the desire to benefit as development takes place, local authorities and community organizations persuaded the state in 2022 to pass a per-metric-ton lithium tax to address local needs.

    Controlled Thermal Resources CEO Rod Colwell, right, walks near the Salton Sea with a colleague.
    AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

    That “flat tax” was bitterly resisted by some in the emerging industry on the grounds that it could make Imperial Valley’s less-polluting extraction method too costly to compete with environmentally damaging imports; after the vote, CTR’s CEO called the legislators “clowns.” Meanwhile, CTR has also agreed to hire union workers in the construction phase. Everyone – companies, communities and government officials – is struggling to balance economic viability with accountability.

    Lessons for a just transition

    The hesitance of low-income Imperial Valley residents to immediately buy into the lithium vision is deeply rooted in history.

    Decades of racial exclusion, patronizing practices and broken promises have led to deep distrust of outsiders who assert that things will be better this time.

    Irrigation at the turn of the last century was supposed to bring an agriculture boom, but the early result was a broken canal that released enough water over nearly two years of disrepair to create what is now the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea was then supposed to fuel recreational tourism, but the failure to replenish it with anything but agricultural runoff helped to kill fish, birds and recreation. A more recent scheme to attract solar farms in recent decades delivered little employment and more worries about agricultural displacement.

    You can still find old billboards promising a resort life on the Salton Sea, which today is one of the state’s most polluted lakes. Wind kicks up toxic dust when the water is low.
    Manuel Pastor

    Building the supply chain here, too

    In recent years, some people have pinned their hopes on lithium. The main site so far in Imperial Valley has been CTR’s Hell’s Kitchen. It’s a fitting moniker on summer days when temperatures regularly exceed 110 degrees.

    Ensuring that the surrounding communities benefit from this new lithium boom will require thinking about how to attract not just companies extracting the lithium but also those that will use it. So far, Imperial County has had limited success in attracting related industries. In 2023, a company named Statevolt said it would build a “gigafactory” there to assemble batteries. However, the company’s previous efforts – Britishvolt in the United Kingdom and Italvot in Italy – have stalled without any volts being produced. Imperial County will need serious suitors to make a go of it.

    A potentially promising future for modern transportation and energy storage may be brewing in Imperial Valley. But getting to a brighter future for everyone will require remembering a lesson from the past: that community investments tend to be hard-won. We believe that ensuring everyone benefits long term is essential for achieving a more inclusive and sustainable future.

    Research for the book from which this article draws was supported by the James Irvine Foundation, New Energy Nexus, the California Wellness Foundation, and Open Society Foundations. Manuel Pastor was also supported by a Residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center.

    Research for the book from which this article draws was supported by the James Irvine Foundation, New Energy Nexus, the California Wellness Foundation, and Open Society Foundations. Chris Benner was also supported by a Residency at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Center.

    – ref. Big lithium plans for Imperial Valley, one of California’s poorest regions, raise a bigger question: Who should benefit? – https://theconversation.com/big-lithium-plans-for-imperial-valley-one-of-californias-poorest-regions-raise-a-bigger-question-who-should-benefit-238397

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Global: Grocery stores that donate expiring food − instead of price discounting or discarding − make higher profits

    Source: The Conversation – USA – By John Lowrey, Assistant Professor of Supply Chain and Health Sciences, Northeastern University

    This new food pantry opened on Long Island in September 2024. Alejandra Villa Loarca/Newsday RM via Getty Images

    All major supermarkets and retailers that sell groceries, such as Kroger, Walmart and Costco, give large amounts of food to food banks and pantries. In 2022, retailers donated close to 2 billion pounds of food across the United States, which amounted to US$3.5 billion that year. The estimated value of donated food was a little less than $2 per pound in 2022.

    Retailers donate products that are typically packaged, palatable and safe for consumption, yet unsuitable for sale due to quality concerns, such as minor blemishes. Since these items can go a long way to feeding hungry people, donations represent one of the best uses of leftover or surplus food.

    Donations are also technically acts of charity, and the companies responsible for them get tax breaks. This means that donations boost profits by lowering costs. There’s a second effect of donations on a store’s bottom line: They improve the quality of food on the store’s shelves and increase revenue from food sales.

    As a supply chain scholar who studies food banks, I worked with a team of economists to estimate the effects of retail food donations. We used sales data for five perishable food categories sold by two competing retail chains, with stores located in a large, Midwestern metropolitan area. We found that stores that remove items on the brink of expiration, donate them to food banks and fill up the emptied shelf space with fresher inventory get more revenue from sales and earn higher profits.

    Retailers donate 30% of what food banks give their clients

    U.S. food banks, which have been operating for more than 50 years, give away over 6 billion pounds of food annually.

    They get about 30% of that food for free from supermarkets and big-box retailers that sell groceries. Prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers supplied more than twice as much food to food banks than the federal government did. The volume of food supplied by federal programs administered by the United States Department of Agriculture, such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program, have steadily increased since 2020, to now almost match the volume of food donated by retailers.

    In 2022, for example, the network of more than 200 Feeding America member food banks procured about 2 billion pounds from retailers and almost 1.5 billion pounds from government programs.

    The remaining 2.88 billion pounds of food were either purchased directly, provided by farmers, donated by food processing companies or donated by people and organizations in local communities.

    Despite several federal programs that help low-income people get food and the nation’s robust network of food banks and food pantries, nearly 50 million Americans are experiencing food insecurity. That means they can’t get enough nutritious food to eat at least some of the time.

    Retail donation routines are established but inconsistent

    When food on a store’s shelves is on the verge of expiration, store managers have three options. They can donate or discard it, or sell it at a discount.

    Stores that regularly donate food have established routines for when they set aside about-to-expire food to give away. However, these routines are often inconsistent.

    Many stores donate only on a seasonal basis or just give away certain kinds of food. For example, they might donate only meat, baked goods or fruits and vegetables. In many cases, donations take a backseat to more immediate priorities, such as customer service.

    Those realities can increase the likelihood that food will land at the dump instead of on somebody’s table.

    Although millions of Americans struggle to find their next meal, close to 40% of food gets thrown out along the supply chain, as food moves between agricultural producers, factories, retailers and consumers. This is largely due to logistical challenges: It’s hard to transport and distribute highly perishable food.

    Discounted meat is displayed at a San Rafael, Calif., grocery store in September 2024.
    Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

    Discounts on food can undercut sales

    Stores often prefer to sell food on the brink of expiration at a discount rather than donate it or throw it out due to the money they recoup that way. This option, however, also keeps the discounted food on the shelf, where it takes up valuable space that could otherwise hold fresher inventory.

    Shelf space dedicated to the sale and promotion of full-priced products competes with that for price-discounted food. Stocking perishable foods that are starting to look iffy – such as bananas with brown spots sold alongside unblemished yellow bananas – could harm a retailer’s image if shoppers start to question the store’s quality.

    In other words, if consumers make judgments based on all the produce that’s on display, then it may be better for stores if they don’t sell sad-looking bananas and instead just give them away.

    My research team calls this practice “preemptive removal.” Increasing the average quality level of food on display does more than improve a store’s appearance. We used panel data with over 20,000 observations, and we included 21 retail stores that compete in a similar market geography. The five fresh food categories were bakery, dairy, deli, meat and produce.

    Stores that donated food, instead of discounting it, may have made better use of the limited room to display fresher inventory. My research team found that food donations can increase average food prices by up to 1%, which corresponds to a 33% increase in profit margins. Profit margins for supermarkets and other food retailers are quite low and typically hover below 3%.

    That means even a small increment in food prices, even a 1% bump up, can translate into significantly higher profits for retailers. At the same time, increasing the volume of retail food donations would get more food to people who need it, limit hunger and reduce food insecurity.

    Prof Lowrey has consulted with several Feeding America member Food Banks on procurement and food-distribution-related supply chain projects. He has also served on an advisory board to the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, focused on supply chain responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the emergency feeding network. His research has been funded by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (National Institute for Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture).

    – ref. Grocery stores that donate expiring food − instead of price discounting or discarding − make higher profits – https://theconversation.com/grocery-stores-that-donate-expiring-food-instead-of-price-discounting-or-discarding-make-higher-profits-234998

    MIL OSI – Global Reports –

  • MIL-OSI Africa: W Cape records lowest HIV prevalence rate in SA

    Source: South Africa News Agency

    Out of the nine provinces in South Africa, the Western Cape had the lowest HIV prevalence (7.4%) in 2022 and second lowest in 2017 (8.6%).

    According to the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), this translates to 540 000 people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Western Cape, which was a decline from 560 000 PLHIV in 2017.

    The information is based on the findings of the Sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence and Behaviour Survey (SABSSM VI) for the Western Cape, which was released by the HSRC on Thursday. 

    According to the overall principal investigator of the study, the HSRC’s Professor Khangelani Zuma, the survey showed that in 2022, HIV prevalence in the province was higher among those aged 25 to 49 (10.8%) for both females (14.6%) and males (5.8%). 

    Meanwhile, HIV prevalence was higher among females (9%) compared to males (5.6%).

    “HIV prevalence peaked at 12.9% amongst those aged 35 to 39 in 2022 from 23.4% in 2017 within the same age group. 

    “There was a decrease in HIV prevalence in 2022 among all age groups younger than 30 to 34 years compared to 2017, apart from the age groups zero to 14; 15 to 19, and those 50 years and older. 

    “The worsening prevalence among those younger than 24 years is deeply concerning, as it shows continued new infections from both horizontal and vertical transmissions,” Zuma said.

    SAnews reported last week that Mpumalanga now has the highest HIV prevalence at 17.4% in 2022, which translates to an estimated 890 000 (PLHIV) in the province, followed by KwaZulu-Natal.  

    READ | Mpumalanga records highest HIV prevalence rate 

    Antiretroviral treatment

    Antiretroviral treatment (ART) coverage in the Western Cape increased to 76.8% in 2022, from 54.4% in 2017. 

    This translates to an estimated 360 000 PLHIV in the province receiving ART in 2022.

    In 2022, ART use among all PLHIV in the province was lower among those aged 15 to 49 (76.5%) compared to other age groups. 

    ART use was also lower among males (75.3%) compared to females (77.1%). 

    In addition, ART use was 76.2% amongst respondents who reside in urban areas and 81.4% in the City of Cape Town.

    The SABSSM VI survey, conducted between 2022 and 2023, aimed to maintain surveillance of HIV infection and behaviours in South Africa, evaluate the progress of the South African national HIV and Aids, STI and TB Strategic Plan, and monitor HIV indicators for national and international reporting.

    Viral load suppression (VLS)

    The survey further revealed that in 2022, among all provinces, the Western Cape had the seventh highest proportion of PLHIV with VLS (78.4%), having increased from 2017 (54.6%).

    Overall, VLS was also lower among males (76%) compared to females (79.7%). 

    VLS was also lower among those aged 50 and older (69.4%) compared to other age groups. 

    Knowledge of HIV status

    The professor expressed concern that PLHIV between 25 and 49 years accounted for the majority of PLHIV in the Western Cape, who were unaware of their HIV status (59.1%); aware but not on ART (64.7%), and on ART but not VLS (66.7%). 

    Adolescents and youth aged between 15 and 24 contributed disproportionally to gaps in treatment, accounting for just 9.5% of all PLHIV.

    Regarding the key drivers of the HIV epidemic, Zuma noted that in the Western Cape, there was an increase in the proportion of adolescents and youth aged 15 to 24, who reported sex before the age of 15 in 2017 (14%), compared to 2022 (16.3%). 

    Sexual debut before the age of 15 among adolescents and youth aged 15 to 24 in 2022 was higher among males (21.5%) than females (11.3%).

    Multiple sexual partners

    The survey revealed that in the Western Cape, 6.7% of people aged 15 and older reported having two or more sexual partners in 2022 compared to 7.6% in 2017.

    The proportion of people aged 15 and older who reported having multiple sexual partners was two-fold higher among males (8.9%), compared to females (4.4%), and higher among those aged 15 to 24 (19.1%) compared to other age groups.

    Condom use 

    The survey revealed that 22.1% reported using a condom with their most recent sexual partner in 2022 compared to 26.6% in 2017, representing a 4.5% decline. 

    Condom use with their most recent sexual partner among people who are 15 years and older was higher among those 15 to 24 years (39.9%) and in the urban areas (22.5%), while it was similar by sex.

    A higher proportion also reported that they had never or sometimes (81.4%) used a condom with their most recent sexual partner. Only 13.4% reported that they had used condoms almost every time.

    Consistency of condom use with their most recent sexual partner among people aged 15 in the province was higher among youth aged 15 to 24 (24%). – SAnews.gov.za

    MIL OSI Africa –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Get a grant to study in the UAE

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

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

    The Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education informs about the start of accepting applications for a grant for training in higher education programs – bachelor’s programs, master’s programs, postgraduate programs (doctoral studies), as well as for Arabic language courses at the Mohammed bin Zayed University for the Humanities (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates).

    Russian students interested in learning Arabic are eligible to participate. The University provides grants for the following programs: Arabic language courses (30 places), and bachelor’s, master’s, and postgraduate programs (15 places).

    Information about the programs is posted on the website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Center for the Development of Education and International Activities (Interobrazovanie)” in the section “Academic Mobility – Programs”.

    All interested candidates should contact the International Cooperation Department of the State University of Management at ab_kasatkina@guu.ru by October 10, 2024.

    The competitive procedure is carried out by the Emirates side. For questions regarding participation in the programs, please contact Rashid Alminhali, Head of the Protocol Department at Mohammed bin Zayed University for Humanities and Sciences, at the email address: rashed.almenhali@mbzuh.ac.ae.

    The deadline for submitting documents is October 20, 2024.

    Subscribe to the tg channel “Our State University” Announcement date: 09/26/2024

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

    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.

    Get a grant to study in the UAE

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Modern technologies and high-class care: the medical and diagnostic complex of the A.S. Loginov Moscow Scientific Center turns one year old

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    The capital’s oncology service is a shining example of how new standards and approaches improve the quality and accessibility of medical care in the city. Moscow standard of oncological care, which was introduced just a few years ago, has shown very good results. For example, thanks to it, the detection rate of oncological diseases has grown to 67 percent, and it is increasing every year. And thanks to the creation of anchor oncology centers based on the leading capital clinics, the oncology service has received not only a powerful technological base, but also the ability to ensure continuity at each stage of patient treatment – from the moment of suspicion of the disease to subsequent dispensary observation.

    Despite the excellent results, the city does not stop there and continues to actively develop this area. Specialists develop new methods and algorithms, client paths that make the treatment process as transparent and understandable as possible for the patient. The most modern equipment is supplied to hospitals, existing hospital buildings are reconstructed according to uniform standards, new treatment and diagnostic complexes are built.

    A year ago, the new ultra-modern treatment and diagnostic complex of the Moscow Clinical Research Center (MCRC) named after A.S. Loginov received its first patients. Its opening was a key stage in the modernization of the capital’s oncology service. The area of over 75 thousand square meters houses a 24-hour and day hospital, an outpatient oncology care center, rheumatology and endoscopic centers, radiation therapy and radioisotope diagnostics departments, a modern pathomorphology laboratory, a powerful operating block with 18 operating rooms and other services. During the first year of operation, more than 180 thousand patients were treated in the new complex.

    Full cycle of oncological care, high-tech operations and radiation therapy

    The A.S. Loginov MCNC operates an outpatient oncology care center. A full cycle of multidisciplinary oncology care is organized here, from diagnostics and treatment to subsequent lifelong patient monitoring. Since the opening of the new building of the A.S. Loginov MCNC, oncologists of the outpatient oncology care center have conducted about 330 thousand appointments.

    Every week, doctors perform more than 200 high-tech operations in the surgical hospital. Doctors use robotic technologies, X-ray surgical systems and navigation stations. The most complex interventions are performed in a hybrid operating room equipped with an angiograph. Thanks to gentle anesthesia methods, minimally invasive operations and active postoperative recovery, patients return to full life in the shortest possible time.

    The unique technological equipment of the complex made it possible to conduct radiation therapy, which had not been performed at the A.S. Loginov Moscow Scientific Center before. Now there is a radiotherapy department with three state-of-the-art linear accelerators and a brachytherapy system. About 270 patients receive treatment daily. Since the opening of the department, more than 1.7 thousand people have undergone radiation therapy, and over 30 thousand radiotherapy sessions have been conducted. The new complex has modern linear accelerators for antitumor 3D and 4D radiation therapy. They allow procedures to be performed with the highest precision, without affecting the patient’s healthy tissues.

    From a pathomorphological laboratory to an inter-district rheumatology center

    A centralized pathomorphological laboratory operates on the basis of the A.S. Loginov MCNC complex. It conducts histological, histochemical and immunohistochemical studies, biopsy. The results of the studies allow doctors to establish an accurate diagnosis, determine the stage of the disease, and also correctly and quickly select treatment tactics. Every day, the laboratory receives materials from 300-400 patients and conducts up to 1.5 thousand studies of glass preparations.

    Since the opening of the new medical and diagnostic complex The employees of the pathological anatomy department of the A.S. Loginov Moscow Cancer Research Center have performed more than 100 thousand biopsies (about 450 thousand slides), and the time it takes to obtain the results of such studies has been reduced by one and a half times. The pathomorphological laboratory operates in a digital format: all research materials are scanned and securely stored in a single digital archive, which is replenished with studies from all the anchor oncology centers of the capital. The formation of the largest database has become the basis for the development of artificial intelligence technologies.

    In addition, an inter-district rheumatology center operates on the basis of the A.S. Loginov MCNC. Thus, the patient receives all the necessary assistance – from a comprehensive examination to effective therapy and observation – in one medical organization. Residents of the Eastern, South-Eastern and North-Eastern administrative districts of Moscow receive treatment here. During the time of work in the new building, specialists of the rheumatology center have held appointments approximately 60 thousand times.

    High-tech endoscopy center, multidisciplinary care and more

    At the end of 2023, the A.S. Loginov Moscow Scientific Center began operating Endoscopy center. Specialists perform diagnostic procedures there and, if possible, immediately remove neoplasms or refer the patient for surgical treatment. New modern equipment has been installed in 12 manipulation rooms, ensuring the most accurate diagnostics. Over 10 thousand studies have been conducted in the endoscopic center.

    The consultative and diagnostic department has all the capabilities to provide multidisciplinary care at the highest level. Over the year of work in the new building, more than 85 thousand patients received expert care in various areas, including gastroenterology, proctology, surgery, neurology, urology, gynecology, endocrinology, traumatology, pulmonology and cardiology.

    The most comfortable conditions for patients have been created in the hospital of the new complex of the A.S. Loginov Moscow Scientific Center. In small wards with panoramic windows, a shower and a toilet, multifunctional beds with an electric drive are installed, there is a button to call medical personnel, air conditioning and ventilation systems. A barrier-free environment has been created for people with limited mobility.

    More than 31 thousand patients have already received inpatient treatment in the new complex. In addition, about five thousand people received treatment as part of the day hospital.

    The team of the A.S. Loginov MKNC is represented by the best medical specialists. Among them are world experts, academicians, professors, doctors and candidates of medical sciences.

    Since 2019, a new standard of oncology care has been implemented in the capital. Five anchor oncology centers have been organized on the basis of the A.S. Loginov Moscow Scientific Center, Oncology Center No. 1 of the S.S. Yudin City Clinical Hospital, S.P. Botkin City Clinical Hospital, the Kommunarka Moscow Multidisciplinary Clinical Center, and the Moscow City Oncology Hospital No. 62.

    Sobyanin spoke about the new stage of modernization of the Loginov Clinical CenterAt the level of world standards: how oncological diseases are treated at the A.S. Loginov Scientific Center

    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.

    http://vvv.mos.ru/nevs/item/144461073/

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI Security: Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Delivers Remarks at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi

    Source: United States Attorneys General 13

    Remarks as Delivered

    Thanks, Todd, and thanks for the warm welcome.

    I am very happy to be here in Mississippi.

    In just a few moments, Todd and I will meet with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to talk about the work that everyone is doing to keep Mississippi safe.

    I am grateful that I have the chance to meet with our law enforcement partners here today. You do the work, the most dangerous work, protecting people in Mississippi. You are indispensable partners for us.

    I am very happy to hear that the sheriff’s investigator is okay, and that the perpetrators have been arrested. Just another piece of evidence about how dangerous the work that local law enforcement does, and we are grateful for everything that you do to protect the citizens of these communities and to work with our law enforcement and our U.S. Attorney’s Office on the same mission. Thank you.

    I am also grateful to have the chance to recognize the extraordinary public servants of this office for their extraordinary work and their extraordinary hard work.

    This U.S. Attorney’s Office is the face of the Justice Department here in the Southern District of Mississippi. When people in this District look to see what the Justice Department stands for, they look to this U.S. Attorney’s Office. I have been consistently impressed with the work that you guys do.

    That work, and the work of our state and local law enforcement partners, is making a difference.

    Three-and-a-half years ago, the Justice Department launched an ambitious strategy to combat violent crime. That strategy is rooted in exactly the kinds of partnerships we see around this table. Today, we are seeing results.

    Just earlier this week, the FBI released a report noting an 11.6% drop in homicides last year and one of the lowest violent crime rates nationwide in 50 years.

    And newly released data indicates that this trend is continuing. Earlier this month, the Justice Department’s Violent Crime Reduction Steering Committee announced data from across 88 cities that indicates that violent crime has continued to decline considerably in 2024. That included a further 16.9% drop in homicides.

    But we know that progress in many communities is still uneven. And, of course, there is no acceptable level of violent crime.

    That is why the Justice Department is continuing to work with our partners here in Mississippi and across the country to combat violent crime, and drug trafficking, and gun trafficking.

    Last month, working with the DEA, this office secured a guilty plea from a member of a drug-trafficking organization in California that sent packages of narcotics to Mississippi. During the investigation, we seized more than 5,700 grams of methamphetamine, 236 grams of fentanyl, and 84 grams of cocaine.

    In July – following a joint operation with ATF, DEA, and other federal agencies – this office secured guilty pleas from five men who participated in a scheme to purchase firearms, machinegun conversion devices, and explosives for delivery to Mexico. Three of the men sought to barter the weapons in exchange for cocaine.

    In March – working with the ATF and the Clinton Police Department – this office secured a 10-year sentence for a man who illegally possessed a firearm and fired a weapon at a law enforcement officer during a high-speed chase in Jackson.

    As we work together to reduce violent crime, we know that building and maintaining public trust is essential to public safety. That is why the Justice Department has taken action when that trust has been violated.

    Earlier this year, the Department worked to secure [10 to 40-year] sentences against six law enforcement officers in Rankin County who violated the civil rights of Black men.

    The officers kicked in the door of a home where the men were residing; handcuffed and arrested them without probable cause; called them racial slurs; and punched, kicked, tased, and assaulted them. After one of the officers fired his gun in the mouth of a victim, the group went outside to come up with a cover story.

    Those actions were a betrayal of the community the officers were sworn to protect, a betrayal of their profession, and a betrayal of their fellow officers.

    To help the community rebuild trust, the Justice Department launched a civil pattern or practice investigation to examine allegations that the Rankin County Sheriff’s Department systematically violates people’s constitutional rights. We are committed to working with local officials, deputies, and the community to conduct a comprehensive investigation.

    The Justice Department is also committed to providing resources necessary to support public safety here in Mississippi.

    Earlier this year, the Justice Department added Jackson to its Violent Crime Initiative. That initiative surges law enforcement tools and resources to target gangs and other violent groups that threaten our communities. In particular, it directs prosecutors from the Justice Department’s headquarters Criminal Division to partner with our prosecutors here on the ground in Jackson to target the individuals who are most responsible for the violence.

    In addition to using our investigative and prosecutorial resources, we are also committed to using our grantmaking capabilities to invest in public safety.

    For example, today, the Justice Department awarded nearly $300,000 to enhance the City of Jackson’s forensic science capabilities. We also awarded nearly $900,000 under our Coordinated Tribal Assistance Program, which funds Tribes’ efforts to develop comprehensive and coordinated approaches to public safety.

    These grants are part of the more than $29 million that the Justice Department is awarding to organizations and government agencies in Mississippi this month to support law enforcement activities and community initiatives.

    These funds will, among other things, help law enforcement agencies in Mississippi hire more officers, prevent and combat violent crime and drug trafficking, and improve services for survivors of domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other crimes.

    We remain committed to providing our law enforcement and community partners with the resources they need to protect their communities.

    The examples I have shared today are just a snapshot of the extraordinary work that this office is doing every day to protect people in the District, and to fulfill the Justice Department’s mission to ensure the rule of law, to keep our communities safe, and to protect civil rights.

    I am very proud of the public servants who make up this office. And I am equally proud of the relationships that they have built with the law enforcement agencies around this table. Those partnerships are the essence of the way in which we combat violent crime and protect our communities.

    I thank you. I am looking forward to our meeting now.

    MIL Security OSI –

  • MIL-OSI Russia: Place for meetings and walks: the portal “Discover Moscow” has published a route along the embankments

    MIL OSI Translation. Region: Russian Federation –

    Source: Moscow Government – Government of Moscow –

    On the portal and in the mobile application “Get to Know Moscow” a new walking route has appeared. The path goes through the Krymskaya, Prechistenskaya, Bersenevskaya, Sofiyskaya, Raushskaya and Kremlevskaya embankments. Thanks to the audio guide, you can put the excursion in the background and enjoy a leisurely promenade through the capital without being distracted by the screen.

    City residents and tourists will be able not only to admire the colorful views and ancient buildings, but also to learn interesting facts about their history and architecture. In addition to familiar places, participants will discover completely new routes. For example, during a walk along the Krymskaya Embankment, you can walk along the pedestrian bridge over the Vodootvodny Canal of the Moscow River, which opened this summer.

    “The capital’s embankments are among the favorite walking places of Moscow residents and guests. Each of them has its own history, style and architectural features. The new route is an opportunity to look at familiar, well-known places from a different point of view, learn more about them and experience the atmosphere of the capital in a new way. Users can study their favorite embankment in detail or devote a day to a leisurely stroll around all the points. And the audio guide will make the excursion more exciting and memorable,” the press service said.

    Department of Information Technology the city of Moscow.

    In the mid-19th century, there were meadows on this site where horses were grazed, and in architectural plans the location appeared as the Crimean Dam, the rampart from the Crimean Bridge, or the passage from the Crimean Bridge.

    It is suggested to start your acquaintance with the Krymskaya Embankment with a look at the monument to Peter I at the confluence of the Moscow River and the Vodootvodny Canal. The impressive sculpture made of steel and bronze weighs over two thousand tons and rises 98 meters above the ground. It was installed in 1997, when Moscow celebrated its 850th anniversary.

    This summer, a new pedestrian bridge across the Vodootvodny Canal of the Moscow River was opened near the monument to Peter the Great. It is 58 meters long and eight meters wide. The bridge connects Balchug Island with the Krymskaya and Yakimanskaya embankments, adding beauty and convenience to walks in the city center. There is a long bench on the bridge where you can rest and admire the scenery.

    Prechistenskaya Embankment is located on the left bank of the Moskva River in the Khamovniki district. It owes its name to the street of the same name, which appeared on the map of Moscow back in the 16th century. The pedestrian Patriarch’s Bridge, located next to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, connects it with Bersenevskaya Embankment.

    The architectural pearls of Prechistenskaya Embankment have been mansions for many years. For example, the building of the patron Ivan Tsvetkov, designed by the famous Viktor Vasnetsov. Or the house of Alexander Levenson, designed by Fyodor Shekhtel. And not without the city estate of Ivan Mazurin, decorated with a turret.

    The main attraction of the embankment is the apartment building of Z.A. Pertsova. The building with majolica, resembling a fairy-tale tower, is rightfully considered one of the most outstanding buildings of the capital in the neo-Russian style. Each of these mansions has its own stories, legends and ancient secrets.

    Bersenevskaya Embankment is located opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. It starts near the Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge, curving towards the monument to Peter I. According to one version, the embankment owes its name to gooseberries: once upon a time, there were Bersenevskaya gardens on this bank of the Moscow River.

    The legendary Krasny Oktyabr factory is located in the Bersenevskaya Embankment area. The old brick buildings are an example of industrial architecture from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The famous House on the Embankment, immortalized in Yuri Trifonov’s novel, is also located in the historical Yakimanka area.

    Sofiyskaya Embankment stretches along the right bank of the Moskva River directly opposite the Kremlin. It starts from Serafimovich Street and ends near the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge. This place is famous for its beautiful view of the Kremlin.

    The name of the embankment is associated with the Church of St. Sophia the Wisdom of God in Srednie Sadovniki, one of the oldest buildings in Zamoskvorechye. The wooden church itself was destroyed in a fire in 1493, and in 1682 a stone St. Sophia Church was built here.

    Walking along the embankment, listeners will pass by the legendary Kokorevsky Podvorye. The old hotel building with shops and wholesale warehouses was built in the early 1860s on the initiative of the entrepreneur and philanthropist Vasily Kokorev.

    Raushskaya Embankment runs along the Moskva River in the Zamoskvorechye district. It is located between Balchug Street and the Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge. The name of the embankment is presumably associated with the ravushki — canals that used to drain water from the floodplain lands of Zamoskvorechye.

    In 1896, the Raushskaya power plant, which is still operating today, appeared here. Built by order of Emperor Alexander III, it was the first station to produce alternating current. The building of GES-1 of PAO Mosenergo supplies energy to the center of Moscow. The oldest power plant in Russia is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique object of industrial architecture. The appearance of the Raushskaya Embankment is complemented and decorated by the Church of St. Nicholas in Zayatskoye, built in the middle of the 18th century under the supervision of the famous master Prince Dmitry Ukhtomsky.

    The Kremlin Embankment, the first stone embankment in Moscow, has long been depicted on all city postcards and is still the most recognizable symbol of the capital. It is about one kilometer long. The embankment offers a good view of Red Square and Vasilievsky Spusk, as well as the southern wall of the Kremlin with its unique ancient towers. In addition, the embankment overlooks the Alexander Garden, as well as the Zotov Estate, an architectural monument of the 18th–19th centuries.

    “Discover Moscow” is a joint project of the departments of information technology, culture, cultural heritage, education and science. The interactive guide contains photographs and descriptions of more than 2.3 thousand buildings, 704 monuments, 410 museums, 490 places, over 270 walking routes, as well as information about 333 historical figures. All this is also available in the mobile application “Get to Know Moscow”.

    The implementation of digital solutions in the cultural sphere corresponds to the objectives of the national project “Culture” and the regional project of the city of Moscow “Digital Culture”. More information about this and other national projects implemented in Moscow can be found on a special page.

    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.

    http://vvv.mos.ru/nevs/item/144474073/

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and or sentence structure not be perfect.

    MIL OSI Russia News –

  • MIL-OSI China: Chang’e-6 lunar samples to be displayed at Airshow China

    Source: China State Council Information Office 2

    Lunar samples collected by China’s Chang’e-6 mission from the far side of the moon will be on display at the 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, also known as Airshow China, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense announced Wednesday.
    The Chang’e-6 return capsule will also be showcased, allowing the public to witness the advancements of China’s space industry, said Li Yang, an official with the agency.
    The airshow is scheduled for Nov. 12-17 in Zhuhai, a city in south China’s Guangdong Province, and will feature various types of aircraft and carrier rockets.
    According to Hao Changfeng, spokesperson for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, the company will present nearly 200 high-tech products, including first-time exhibits such as the Chang’e-6 probe and the Long March-8A carrier rocket. “About 150 items will be debuting, with new exhibits making up 75 percent of the display,” said Hao.
    Wu Jiwei, spokesperson for the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, announced that the company will showcase more than 260 products, emphasizing advancements in new quality productive forces.
    Since its inception in 1996, Airshow China has become an important window for showcasing advanced aviation and aerospace technologies and equipment from home and abroad. It has also become an international platform for promoting business cooperation in aviation and aerospace technologies and equipment. 

    MIL OSI China News –