Category: Test

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Christian Heiss, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Head of Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Surrey

Imagine having blocked arteries in your legs and not knowing it. At first, there may be no symptoms at all. Just occasional fatigue, cramping or discomfort – symptoms easy to dismiss as ageing or being out of shape.

But as blood flow worsens, a small cut on your foot might not heal. It can turn into an ulcer. In the worst cases, it can lead to amputation. This condition is called peripheral artery disease (PAD) – and it’s far more common than many realise.

PAD affects around one in five people over the age of 60 in the UK, and is especially prevalent in people with diabetes, high blood pressure or kidney disease.

PAD is rarely an isolated issue: it’s usually a sign of widespread atherosclerosis, the build-up of fatty deposits that can also narrow arteries in the heart and brain.

It also significantly increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other conditions linked to poor blood flow to vital organs. Research shows that a large proportion of people diagnosed with PAD will die within five to ten years, most often due to these complications.

Early detection is key to reducing the impact of PAD, and I’ve been working with colleagues to develop a faster, simpler way to diagnose it.

PAD testing

Doctors can check circulation in the feet by comparing blood pressure in the toe with that in the arm. The result is known as the toe–brachial index (TBI). The trouble is that the test needs a toe-sized cuff, an optical sensor and a doctor who knows how to use the equipment.

Many GP surgeries and foot clinics don’t have this kit. And in many people, especially those with diabetes or stiff arteries, the test doesn’t always give a clear or reliable, result.

Our research team asked a simple question: could we turn a routine ultrasound scan into a quick, reliable way to measure blood flow in the foot?

Most hospitals, and many community clinics, already have handheld ultrasound probes, which use Doppler sound to track how blood flows through vessels.

This works through the Doppler effect: as blood moves, it changes the pitch of the sound waves. Healthy blood flow creates a strong, steady “swoosh”, while a narrowed or blocked artery produces a faint or disrupted sound. Doctors are trained to hear the difference and use these sound patterns to spot circulation problems, especially in conditions like PAD.

But my research team wondered whether a computer could do more than listen: we wanted to know whether it could convert the shape of that Doppler “wave” into a number that mirrors the TBI.

To investigate, we scanned the feet of patients already being treated for PAD – 150 feet in all. For each artery, we used Doppler ultrasound to measure how quickly blood surged with each heartbeat, a pattern known as the acceleration index. We then compared these results to the standard toe–brachial index, the traditional test that measures blood pressure in the toe.

A one-minute scan, a nearly perfect match

The acceleration index alone was able to predict the standard toe–brachial index with 88% accuracy. Using a simple formula, we converted that Doppler reading into an “estimated TBI” – a number that closely mirrored the conventional result. It needed no toe cuff, no optical sensor and it took under a minute to perform.

Even more encouraging, estimated TBI rose in tandem with traditional TBI results after treatment. When patients underwent angioplasty – a procedure to reopen blocked arteries – their estimated TBI increased almost identically to the measured TBI. That means this scan doesn’t just help diagnose PAD; it could also be used to track recovery over time.

Crucially, our approach works with equipment that’s already widely available. We repeated the experiment using a basic pocket Doppler: the kind many GPs and podiatrists have tucked in a drawer.

While it wasn’t quite as precise as hospital-grade ultrasound, the results were still strong. With some additional software refinement, doctors could soon assess foot circulation quickly and accurately using tools they already own, without adding time to a busy clinic schedule.

Why early detection matters

Because early diagnosis of PAD changes everything. It can mean the difference between losing a foot, keeping your mobility and living longer with a better quality of life. It can shorten hospital stays and reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke.

But right now, too many people with PAD aren’t diagnosed until they already have chronic limb-threatening ischaemia – the most severe form of the disease. This condition occurs when blood flow to the legs or feet becomes critically low, depriving tissues of oxygen. It can cause constant foot pain (especially at night), wounds that won’t heal and, in advanced cases, tissue death (gangrene) and the risk of amputation. Without urgent treatment to restore circulation, chronic limb-threatening ischaemia can be life-threatening.

Part of the problem is that the tools used to diagnose PAD are often slow, expensive or too complicated for routine use. That’s why a simple, cuff-free Doppler scan that provides a reliable estimate of toe–brachial index is so promising. It uses equipment that many clinics already have, takes less than a minute and delivers immediate results – offering a faster, easier way to spot poor circulation before serious damage is done.

We’re now looking at ways to automate the measurement so that it can be used even by non-specialists. We’re testing it in various clinics with different patient groups and exploring its performance over time. But the evidence so far suggests that this could become a key part of vascular care – not just in hospitals, but in GP surgeries, diabetes clinics and anywhere else early intervention could save a limb.

Blocked arteries don’t need to stay hidden. With the right tools, we can find them earlier, treat them faster and protect people from the devastating consequences of late diagnosis.

Christian Heiss has received funding from Lipton Teas & Infusions, Ageless Science, iThera, the Medical Research Council, the ESRC, European Partnership on Metrology, co-financed from European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme and UK Research and Innovation. He is member of the board of the European Society of Vascular Medicine, president of the Vascular, Lipid and Metabolic Medicine Council of the Royal Society of Medicine, and chairperson-elect of the ESC WG Aorta and Peripheral Vascular Diseases.

– ref. A one minute scan of your foot could help prevent amputation – here’s how – https://theconversation.com/a-one-minute-scan-of-your-foot-could-help-prevent-amputation-heres-how-260847

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Sally Pearse, Strategic Lead for Early Years and Director of the Early Years Community Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University

The government has announced its strategy for “giving every child the best start in life”, laying out proposals covering early years care, education and support in England.

The strategy builds on the current local family hub model of services, which offer a range of support aimed at babies and young children. Best Start family hubs will further bring together early years and family services in a similar way to the previous Sure Start programme. The government’s commitment includes £1.5 billion in investment to implement these reforms.

The Best Start Hubs will be a one-stop shop to support families with their child’s early development, from breastfeeding advice to speech and language support and stay and play sessions. The hubs will also support families with wider challenges such as housing and benefits, and provide courses for parents.

The attempt to bring services together to deliver local, holistic support to families is understandable given the impact of the original Sure Start initiative, introduced by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

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The Sure Start Local Programmes that were established from 1999 onwards had a significant positive effect on those families who had access to them. From 2010, though, when the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came into power, funding was cut and many Sure Start centres closed.

In May 2025 the Institute for Fiscal Studies published a summary report on the short- and medium-term effects of Sure Start on children’s lives.

They found that the impact of the Sure Start services for under-fives was remarkably long-lasting, with improvements during their teenage years in educational attainment and behaviour in school, and reductions in hospital admissions. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that these long-term benefits significantly outweigh the cost of the Sure Start programme.

Like Sure Start, the Best Start strategy has the potential to be transformational for young children and their families.

However, the current range of challenges faced by families and the depth of child poverty in the country will make bringing about this transformation challenging. A 2023 report from charity the Joseph Rowntree Foundation estimates that there are one million children growing up destitute in the UK, without the means to stay warm, dry, clean and fed.

The challenge of poverty

The day after the Best Start strategy was launched, the children’s commissioner for England published a research report on children’s experience of growing up in a low-income family. Based on interviews with 128 children, the report outlines the “almost-Dickensian” levels of poverty experienced by children whose basic needs are not being met. Children described poor housing conditions, mouldy food and lack of hot water.

The significant impact that poverty has on children’s educational attainment, health and future lives will be difficult for the benefits that the Best Start programme may provide to negate.

I have witnessed these financial challenges and the wider range of issues families are dealing with on a daily basis in my own role as the director of the Early Years Community Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, and through my wider research with families.

In March 2024 I was part of a team of researchers who were commissioned by the Ministry for Housing, Community and Local Government to explore how multiple insecurities, such as financial difficulties, health problems, precarious work, poor housing and lack of support networks affected people’s lives.

Parents described the difficulties of making ends meet. They talked about having to deal with many different national and local agencies, the stress this created within their family and the toll on their health and wellbeing.

Even working full-time did not necessarily make families more secure. In one family, the working pattern the parents had to adopt to make ends meet meant that they only had one day a fortnight to be together.

We have to do stupid hours. I mean my partner, she works nights. I work mainly days … we’re kind of like passing ships in the night.

The places these families turned to were local community centres run by a range of organisations. The common themes about why they accessed these centres were the warm, welcoming, non-judgemental approach taken by staff, trusting relationships with staff and the range of services and support that were offered.

This bodes well for the Best Start strategy – if it is able to deliver the full range of services the government has outlined in a local trusted space. However, this will be a significant challenge in communities that have lacked support over recent years, are suffering the hardships of poverty and that may have lost trust in government services.

Sally Pearse received funding from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government

– ref. England’s family hubs plan aims to build on Sure Start’s success – but may struggle to overcome today’s child poverty levels – https://theconversation.com/englands-family-hubs-plan-aims-to-build-on-sure-starts-success-but-may-struggle-to-overcome-todays-child-poverty-levels-260630

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Laura Crossley, Senior Lecturer in Film, Bournemouth University

The first two superhero movies of the year examined the morality of power and politics (Captain America: Brave New World) and mental health and personal accountability (Thunderbolts*) in thoughtful and often nuanced ways. It is rather depressing, then, that the third act of Superman is largely a prolonged CGI punch-fest that lacks any narrative or visual vigour to make it interesting.

There is a lot riding on the success of the DC Universe (DCU), now under the creative stewardship of director James Gunn and producer James Safran. After the varied fortunes of the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), this iteration of Superman marks a reboot of DC properties and is the introductory instalment of the first phase, or “chapter” as they are being called, with the subtitle Gods and Monsters.

The films also marks a shift from the “Snyderverse” – the series of interconnected films made under the oversight of director Zack Snyder – which were characterised by the darkness of both their themes and their aesthetics.

This darkness, and the attendant moral ambiguity, of the Snyderverse has been replaced by a more optimistic tone. This new Superman film is more simplistic and clear-cut, with good versus bad and a bright, comic-book design.

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Anyone familiar with Gunn’s previous superhero offerings (The Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy; The Suicide Squad) will recognise much of the tone and the look. This is very much the Superman movie that Gunn wants to make. And therein lies part of the problem.

As the opening film of chapter one, this effectively sets the tone for all that is to come across the DCU. But that raises the question of how Gunn’s overall approach will work with future properties that will have (or should have) very different styles, narrative themes and concerns.

This film is deliberately not an origin story. We meet Superman (David Corenswet), bloodied and battered after having lost an off-screen fight. He’s already an established superhero in a world accustomed to them after approximately 300 years of “metahumans” – as the opening exposition dump helpfully informs us.

Superman then returns to the icy Fortress of Solitude, complete with robot staff and adorable CGI super-dog, Krypto. We are, in effect, entering the middle of the story, with Superman’s dual identity as Clark Kent already known to his girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan).

The pair have a fun, palpable chemistry. In an early stand-out scene, Lois, in journalist mode, grills Clark/Superman on the finer points of superhero accountability and responsibility after he single-handedly – and without any form of legal jurisdiction – stops a war between the fictitious countries of Boravia (eastern European, evil) and Jahanipur (a south-east Asian/Middle Eastern mash-up in which the people are impoverished and entirely agency-free), just before the movie begins. Sadly, these valid and deeply relevant questions remain unexplored for the rest of the film.

Brosnahan is a spiky, intelligent and self-assured Lois Lane who is not given enough to do, partly because this “starting in the middle” approach robs her relationship with Clark/Superman of any real tension and complexity. But also because the film is so overstuffed that there is little room for any meaningful character development.

What we do have is incoherent plotting, clunky dialogue and exposition and too many characters who are too thinly drawn.

The gang’s back together

Corenswet is a fine Superman, commandingly heroic and believably vulnerable when required. However, there is not much opportunity for him to explore his Clark Kent alter-ego before he is in full superhero mode, thereby denying the character time to establish the humanity that is core to Superman’s personality.

Lex Luthor (Nicholas Holt), the quintessential Superman villain, is supposed to be brilliant but here is rendered more as an Elon Musk-like figure with hints of Trump. He’s a megalomaniac with a populist touch with motivations that are so unclear as to be nonsensical.

We also get members of the Justice Gang, including a horribly bewigged Nathan Fillion as Green Lantern, Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi).

Gathegi steals almost the entire movie with a charismatic, laid-back turn that is crying out for his own standalone entry. Mister Terrific gets the movie’s most fun set piece: a single-handed fight against multiple goons choreographed to an upbeat pop soundtrack that is straight out of the James Gunn playbook.

As is the Justice Gang’s fight against an inter dimensional giant squid, which plays out as the comedic backdrop visible through a window during a pivotal scene with Lois Lane, and in which a depressed Superman takes no part. Any moments of seriousness are immediately undercut by on the nose and often cheap jokes.

The lack of narrative focus and character development results in a story that does not give us any tangible reasons to care about these characters beyond the fact that they are already well-established cultural icons. The lack of scaffolding means that when we reach what should be the emotional turning points, there is no heft to these moments.

The phoney war between Boravia and Jahanipur also provides problematic optics. The people of Jahanipur are an anonymous mass of peasants armed only with sticks who get a single word of dialogue shared between them (“Superman!”). They are at the mercy of their warlike neighbours in Boravia, whose evil is made evident through the grotesque physicality of their leader (Zlatko Buric).

This plot device seems to be making a passing reference to both the war in Ukraine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, without having anything of value to say about either. The situation is resolved by the arrival of the American Justice Gang (because all metahumans are exclusively based in America, apparently) and then we’re on to the next joke.

In this Superman reboot, the humanity of the character is largely lost, something we are told about rather than see. This is ironic given that truth, justice and humanity are supposed to be the guiding principles of the Superman story.

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

– ref. Superman: James Gunn’s prolonged punch-fest falls flat – https://theconversation.com/superman-james-gunns-prolonged-punch-fest-falls-flat-260940

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By James Sweeney, Professor, Lancaster Law School, Lancaster University

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are refusing to implement a government plan to move hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a what it calls a “humanitarian city” in Rafah on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt. Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, chief of the IDF general staff said the plan was not part of the military’s operational plan for destroying Hamas and freeing the remaining hostages.

Army reservists have reportedly also complained that the plan amounts to a war crime. In my view as an expert in international law, they are correct. Forcibly relocating a population is prohibited, even in war. It is also a crime against humanity and could even amount, under certain circumstances, to genocide.

There is some important historical context to consider before examining the legal issues at play.

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The prosecution of crimes against humanity first took place at the Nuremberg trials of surviving senior Nazis after the second world war. By that time the idea of war crimes was clearly established – but they tended to concern what you should not do to the enemy civilian population.

The problem was that the worst atrocities of the Nazis were committed against their own people – the German Jews (and many, many others too). The idea of crimes against humanity was created to fill this gap, and was used to prosecute the surviving masterminds of the Holocaust.

Conditions for a ‘crime against humanity’

Crimes against humanity are a category that contains several separate crimes. If the right conditions are there, you might talk about “the crime against humanity of murder” or the “crime against humanity of rape”. The conditions are that the underpinning crime takes place against a backdrop of a “widespread or systematic” attack on a civilian population.

The attack does not have to include a literal armed attack: apartheid, for example, was established as a crime against humanity in 1973 in response to the policies of the South African government. It is also not necessary that there is an armed conflict for a particular crime to be a crime against humanity.

Within the category of crimes against humanity is included “deportation and forcible transfer” (see article 7 of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court).

This is what the Israeli government’s plan for moving Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” would appear to amount to. If the plan stopped at leaving Gazan Palestinians in Rafah then it would be “forcible transfer”, and if they were relocated to another country it would be “deportation”.

Coercion is key to the crime of forcible transfer. It’s fanciful to think that every single Gazan civilian would want to move to Rafah in circumstances where they would be security-checked on entry and thereafter forbidden from leaving.

How could a liveable city, with all the infrastructure needed, even be created? What of the dentists, doctors, teachers, lawyers, mechanics, entrepreneurs and anyone else who was able to make an honest living? Will they really be given a place to carry out their work?

Ethnic cleansing

The term “ethnic cleansing” is sometimes used to describe what is being proposed by the Israeli government. I dislike the term, and it has no meaning in law. It became a commonly used term during the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia when ethnic Serbs, and in some instances ethnic Croats, expelled hundreds of thousands of people of any other ethnicity out of the territory that they held.

For this practice, the president of the former Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milošević, and a string of Bosnian Serb and Bosnian Croat leaders were charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Milošević died before the ICTY could deliver a verdict in his case, but many others were found guilty. The actions of the Bosnian Serb forces in the town of Srebrenica were even found by the ICTY to have been an act of genocide, because they were not just expelling non-Serbs but wiping them out: at one point in July 1995 they killed around 8,000 men and boys in just a few days.

A lot would depend on the conditions in which the Palestinians would live in the “humanitarian city”. If they were deprived of sufficient food and medical supplies in a way that could only be seen as intended to lead to their deaths, then that too could be held to qualify as an act of genocide.

Justice and accountability

It is clear to me that the forced relocation of Gazans to a “humanitarian city” would violate international law. What is not so clear cut is how to hold its instigators to account.

There are already arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant. But there is no international police force and so the ICC relies on participating states to arrest suspects on its behalf. Hungary welcomed Netanyahu in April this year, while announcing it would withdraw from the ICC.

In the same way, Netanyahu flew to Washington DC this week to meet with Donald Trump, but was not arrested because the US doesn’t recognise the ICC. During his visit, Netanyahu announced he would be nominating Trump for the Nobel peace prize.

South Africa has also sought to hold the state of Israel to account at the International Court of Justice, alleging the crime of genocide. The court has yet to rule, saying only that it is plausible that acts of genocide might occur in Gaza.

Since Hamas launched its vicious attack on Isreal on the October 7 2023, there has been constant violence and massive loss of life in the region. However, the proposed “humanitarian city” is not, in my view, a lawful route to peace and stability. As for anyone actually facing justice for the many atrocities that we have seen, an international consensus in favour simply doesn’t exist. And, in the current climate, there’s little sign that it will exist any time soon.

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

– ref. Plans to relocate Gazans to a ‘humanitarian city’ look like a crime against humanity – international law expert – https://theconversation.com/plans-to-relocate-gazans-to-a-humanitarian-city-look-like-a-crime-against-humanity-international-law-expert-260727

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ruth Patrick, Professor in Social Policy, University of Glasgow

New government statistics released today show the reach of the two-child limit. There are 1,665,540 children in England, Scotland and Wales living in households affected by the two-child limit, an increase of over 35,000 from the same time in 2024.

The two-child limit restricts means-tested child benefits to the first two children in a household, subject to some exceptions.

Its sister policy, the benefit cap, affects over 115,000 households, including 300,000 children. It routinely pushes families into deep poverty, far below the standard poverty line of 60% of median income.

The benefit cap places a limit on the total amount a household can receive if no-one in the household earns a minimum amount, again subject to some exceptions linked to receipt of disability benefits.

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Over the past five years, we have been part of a team of academic researchers investigating the impact of both policies on families with three or more children. We’ve found that these policies drive up poverty, creating deprivation and hardship. This in turn causes sustained and severe harm to children and their families.

The two-child limit and benefit cap leave many families living with extreme financial insecurity. They harm parental mental health, as mothers and fathers struggle to try and make an inadequate income stretch to meet the needs of their children.

In addition, these policies do not fall evenly across the population when looking at ethnicity. Overall, 70% of the families affected by the two-child limit are white, as are 66% affected by the benefit cap. But our new analysis shows that children from an ethnic minority are up to three times as likely as white children to be affected by the two-child limit. They are also up to four times as likely to be affected by the benefit cap.

Alongside administrative statistics, we have analysed household survey data, published today as a policy brief. We find that one in five children from Pakistani families and one in four children from Bangladeshi families are now affected by the two-child limit.

Rising poverty

Our analysis also indicates that these policies are contributing to very high and rising levels of poverty. We estimate that 66% of Bangladeshi children, 60% of Pakistani children, and nearly half (48%) of black children live in poverty. This compares to one in four (24%) white children living below the poverty line – still far too many.

This new analysis provides us with better understanding of where the damage done by both policies is falling. It’s an important reminder of how the two-child limit and benefit cap directly conflict with ambitions not only to act on child poverty, but also to reduce systematic inequalities linked to ethnicity.

Scrapping the two-child limit would give larger families access to benefits they currently miss out on – but it would not have any effect on smaller families living in poverty, so isn’t the only policy solution needed.

Nonetheless, analysis by the Resolution Foundation has shown that getting rid of the two-child limit – which would cost £1.4 billion – is by far the most cost-effective way to reduce the number of children living in poverty. Spending £1.4 billion in other ways – for example by increasing benefits for all families – would make less difference to child poverty than if the two-child limit were ended.

It’s also important to keep in mind the impact on the depth of poverty. Larger families tend to be living further below the poverty line. Scrapping the two-child limit will make a big difference in many households, even if they are not lifted out of poverty as a result.

Labour came into government on a manifesto of “change”, and Keir Starmer has promised to be “laser-focused” in his commitment to drive down poverty.

Labour have already said that they want to get rid of the two-child limit, arguing that they just need to find the money to do so. The government has established a child poverty taskforce, due to report in the autumn, and made a first concrete policy commitment with the extension of free school meals provision for families in England. But there is no alternative to serious action on social security benefits if significant progress is to be made.

Ruth Patrick receives funding from a range of funders including Nuffield Foundation, AFFT, Trust for London, The Robertson Trust and the Centre for Impact on Urban Health. She is a member of The Labour Party.

Kitty Stewart has received funding from the Nuffield Foundation and from LSE for the research reported in this article.

– ref. Over 1.6 million children live in families made poorer by the two-child limit on benefits – new data – https://theconversation.com/over-1-6-million-children-live-in-families-made-poorer-by-the-two-child-limit-on-benefits-new-data-260449

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Divya Venkatesh, BBSRC Discovery Fellow, University of Oxford

Cambodia’s Ministry of Health recently confirmed the country’s twelfth human case of H5N1 avian influenza so far this year. The patient, a five-year-old boy from Kampot province, is currently in intensive care with severe respiratory symptoms.

The announcement, on July 3, came just days after a 19-month-old child in neighbouring Takeo province died from the same virus.

To date, there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. But the steady increase in cases has renewed attention to the risks posed by H5N1. This highly pathogenic bird flu virus spreads rapidly among poultry and occasionally jumps to humans – often with deadly consequences.

Since 2003, there have been at least 954 reported human infections globally, nearly half of them fatal, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Experts have long considered H5N1 a serious pandemic threat due to its high mortality rate and potential to evolve.

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The recent Cambodian cases are linked to the 2.3.2.1e lineage of H5N1 (previously known as 2.3.2.1c), a strain that has circulated for decades in poultry across Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. From 2005 to 2014, Cambodia saw sporadic but severe human infections – then almost a decade passed without new cases.

That changed in 2023 when six human cases were reported. The numbers have since climbed: ten in 2024, and now 12 in the first half of 2025. Of these recent infections, at least 12 – about 43% – have been fatal. A troubling pattern is also emerging: seven of this year’s cases occurred in June alone, according to the WHO’s latest Disease Outbreak News update.

Animal pandemic

Globally, however, a different H5N1 lineage – 2.3.4.4b – has dominated in recent years. This strain sparked a devastating wave of avian outbreaks starting in 2021, sweeping across continents and decimating wild bird and poultry populations. It also spread to mammals, leading scientists to label it an “animal pandemic”.

Although it no longer causes mass die-offs, 2.3.4.4b remains widespread and dangerous, particularly because of its capacity to infect mammals. It has been linked to about 70 human cases in the US alone, with only one death recorded so far, and is under investigation for suspected mammal-to-mammal transmission in species, including US dairy cattle and seals.

Influenza viruses are notoriously prone to genetic reassortment – a process by which two or more strains infect the same host and exchange genetic material. These events can sometimes generate new, more transmissible or deadly variants. In April 2024, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization reported the emergence of a reassortant virus in Vietnam. This new strain combines surface proteins from the long-standing 2.3.2.1e virus with internal genes from the globally dominant 2.3.4.4b.

Evidence suggests that this reassortant virus may be driving the rise in Cambodian human infections.

A 2024 study, which has not yet undergone peer review, found that the new virus carries genetic markers that could enhance its ability to infect humans – although it is not yet considered human-adapted. According to the study’s authors, this reassortant form has become the predominant strain found in poultry across the region in recent years.

So far, all confirmed human cases in Cambodia have been linked to direct contact with infected or dead poultry – often in small, rural backyards. This suggests that the country’s “one health” strategy, which aims to integrate human, animal and environmental health responses, is functioning as intended. Although some gaps clearly remain.

Food safety and food security remain serious concerns across much of Cambodia and south-east Asia. Limited veterinary oversight, informal poultry markets, lack of compensation for poultry losses due to disease, and poor biosecurity may offer the virus opportunities to persist and evolve – and potentially reach more people.

Since the COVID pandemic, advances in disease surveillance and reporting have made it easier to detect and confirm human infections, Dr Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran, head of the Pathogen Evolution Lab at Hong Kong University, told me over email. However, he notes that surveillance remains heavily concentrated in urban areas and the commercial poultry sector, while rural settings and interactions with wild birds are poorly monitored.

Expanding surveillance to these overlooked areas will be vital, he says, if the world hopes to better understand – and prepare for – the next potential influenza pandemic.

Divya Venkatesh receives funding from BBSRC.

– ref. Child hospitalised as bird flu cases climb in Cambodia – https://theconversation.com/child-hospitalised-as-bird-flu-cases-climb-in-cambodia-260565

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Alexandra Makin, Third Century Research Fellow, Manchester Metropolitan University

The Bayeux tapestry is set to return to the UK for the first time in almost 1,000 years. One of the most important cultural artefacts in the world, it is to be displayed at the British Museum from September 2026.

Its significance for history is unquestioned – but you may not think of the Bayeux tapestry as a work of art. Sure, you may recognise it from your history lessons or political campaigns. Maybe you like embroidery and textiles or know about it because of the modern versions it inspired – think the Game of Thrones tapestry or the Great Tapestry of Scotland. Perhaps you are an early medievalist and use it as comparative evidence.

For me, this now famous wall hanging is undoubtedly art, created with great skill. What fascinates me as a textile archaeologist is how early medieval people saw and understood the tapestry.

First, let’s contextualise it a little. The hanging is not a woven tapestry but an embroidery, stitched in wool threads on nine panels of linen fabric that were then sewn together. It was made in around 1070, probably in England. Nobody knows how big it originally was, but it now measures 68.3 metres long by approximately 70cm high.

Starting at the end of Edward the Confessor’s reign (1042-1066), the tapestry’s comic book narrative tells a vivid, very modern story of the struggle for power and the English throne – and the brutal means William of Normandy (1028-1087) used to get it.

This article is part of Rethinking the Classics. The stories in this series offer insightful new ways to think about and interpret classic books and artworks. This is the canon – with a twist.

It follows the highs and lows of Harold Godwinson, Edward the Confessor’s brother-in-law, who became king after Edward’s death in 1066, and his eventual downfall at the Battle of Hastings.

The end of the hanging, and therefore the story, is now missing but it was probably the triumphal coronation of William. It would have provided a mirror in symmetry to the first scene, which depicts an enthroned Edward.

Sensory archaeology of the tapestry

Today, the hanging is famous because it is the only surviving example of its kind. But documentary sources from early medieval England demonstrate that this type of wall hanging was a popular way for families to depict their stories and great deeds.

A good example is the Byrhtnoth wall hanging, which Æthelflæd, the wife of an Anglo-Saxon Ealdorman of Essex Byrhtnoth, gave to the church in Ely after he was killed in 991. We know that the Normans also understood these storytelling wall hangings because Abbot Baudri of Bourgueil (c. 1050-1130) expertly incorporated such a device in a poem he wrote to honour Adela of Blois (c. 1067-1137), the daughter of William the Conqueror and Matilda (c. 1031-1083).

The Bayeux tapestry was, therefore, an obvious way to tell people about the downfall of the English and the rise of the Normans. But this is not all. The early medieval population of Britain loved riddles, multilayered meanings and hidden messages. Evidence survives in pieces like the gold buckle from the 7th-century Sutton Hoo ship burial, the early 8th-century Franks Casket and the 10th-century Book of Exeter. So it is not surprising that people today have argued for hidden messages in the Bayeux tapestry.

While these concepts are interesting, so much emphasis has been placed on them and the role the embroiderers played in creating them, that other ways of early medieval viewing and understanding have been ignored.

Early medieval society viewed its world through the senses. By using sensory archaeology, a theoretical approach that helps researchers understand how past societies interacted with their worlds through sight, touch, taste, smell and sound, we can imagine how people encountering the Bayeux tapestry would have connected with and understood it.

Art historian Linda Neagley has argued that pre-Renaissance people interacted with art visually, kinaesthetically (sensory perception through bodily movement) and physically. The Bayeux tapestry would have been hung at eye level to enable this. So if we take expert in Anglo-Saxon culture Gale Owen-Crocker’s idea that the tapestry was originally hung in a square with certain scenes facing each other, people would have stood in the centre. That would make it an 11th-century immersive space with scenes corresponding and echoing each other, drawing the viewer’s attention, playing on their senses and understanding of the story they thought they knew.

If we imagine ourselves entering that space, we move from a cooler, stone-hewn room into a warmer, softer area, encased in linen and wool, their smell tickling our noses. Outside sounds would be deadened, the movement of people softened, voices quietened. People would move from one scene to another, through the open doors of the stage-like buildings where the action inside can be seen and watched, boldly or surreptitiously. The view might be partially blocked by others and their reactions and gesticulations as they engaged with and discussed what they saw.

The bright colours of the embroidery would have made a kaleidoscope of colour, a blur that defined itself the closer people got to the work. The boldness and three-dimensionality of the stitching helped to draw them into the action while any movement of the hanging brought the imagery alive.

Here are the main characters in the room with you, telling you their story, inviting you to join them on their journeys of victory or doom.

As onlookers discussed what they saw, or read the inscriptions, they interacted with the embroidered players, giving them voice and enabling them to join the conversation. If the hanging formed part of a banquet then the smell of food, clanking of dishes and movement of the fabric and stitchwork as servants passed would have enhanced the experience. The feasting scenes dotted throughout the hanging would be echoed in the hall.

I believe the Bayeux tapestry was not simply an inanimate art object to be viewed and read from the outside. It was an immersive retelling of the end of an era and the start of something new. When you entered its space you became part of that story, sensorially reliving it, keeping it alive. To me, this is the true power of this now famous embroidery.

Beyond the canon

As part of the Rethinking the Classics series, we’re asking our experts to recommend a book or artwork that tackles similar themes to the canonical work in question, but isn’t (yet) considered a classic itself. Here is Alexandra Makin’s suggestion:

The ITV series Unforgotten, now in its sixth season (with a seventh on the way) gripped me from the start. It follows a team of British police detectives as they track down the killers of people whose bodies have been recently found, but who were murdered years before.

As they do, we, the viewer, are given access to the characters’ often emotional stories. We are brought into their sphere and experience their pain, distress, happiness, horror. We get unrivalled access, eventually, to the motives for their seemingly strange actions. As with the Bayeux tapestry, we are swallowed up in their worlds. This is achieved by Chris Lang’s fabulous writing, the cinematography and the exquisite acting.

Together these elements make a whole, opening a window, immersing you in a world full of powerful sensory engagements. For me, this is classic art in the making.

Alexandra Makin undertakes unpaid consultancy work for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum.

– ref. Bayeux tapestry set to return to the UK – in medieval times it was like an immersive art installation – https://theconversation.com/bayeux-tapestry-set-to-return-to-the-uk-in-medieval-times-it-was-like-an-immersive-art-installation-258438

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Clodagh Harrington, Lecturer in American Politics, University College Cork

Acclaimed author Michael Lewis wrote a book about the first Trump administration entitled The Fifth Risk, outlining the consequences when people who don’t understand how the government of a vast, complex and multifaceted nation works are put in charge of said government.

The bestseller was more gripping and fascinating than any work of fiction. It outlined the realities that followed Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign promises to shrink the federal bureaucracy. In it, Lewis quotes lawyer Max Stier, who he describes as the American with the greatest understanding of how his nation’s government worked. Stier offers the truism that “the basic role of governments is to keep us safe.”

You might deduce that this means those in charge during, and ahead of, emergencies should know what to do and how to do it. And, they have to want to do it. In the case of Trump term one, there was often evidence that some or all of these three elements were lacking. Evidently, planning for distant risk was not something that Trump and his team were interested in prioritising.

Fast forward to July 2025, and US headlines are filled with images of devastating flash floods in which more than 100 Texans, many of them children, lost their lives. In Kerr County, outside of San Antonio, water levels of the Guadalupe River rose to what was considered a once in a “100-year catastrophe”. Nobody saw it coming, or at least not to the extent that it did. Despite official warnings, the result was one of the worst natural disasters ever faced by the state.

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Days earlier, Trump’s “big beautiful bill” was passed in the Senate with a tight 51:50 majority. Republican Texas senator Ted Cruz was among the supporters of a bill which will cut funding for the National Weather Service (NWS) by 6.7% in 2026. These come on the back of earlier resource reductions to the NWS and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA).

Within days of the Texas floods, Democrats were calling for an investigation into whether previous budget cuts might have affected capacity for flood preparedness in Kerr County.

Read more:
How Donald Trump’s economic policies, including uncertainty around tariffs, are damaging the US economy

For the bereaved, talk of culpability will hardly bring solace. And any immediate political blame game presents as unseemly in the middle of so much personal tragedy. But a New York Times article reported that “some experts say that staff shortages might have complicated forecasters’ ability to coordinate response”. Such speculative language does not offer clarity or reassurance, and even the often brash president has thus far refrained from finger pointing.

Nonetheless, uncomfortable conversations are necessary, as it is clear that slashing federal funding does not serve the nation well. Trump already had budget cutting form, as his first-term efforts to slash NOAA and related programme funding demonstrated.

In 2017, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was also targeted for staff and funding reductions. This came along with the appointment of EPA chiefs who appeared uninterested in prioritising the climate crisis. More recently, the controversial spending cuts agency the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), headed by Elon Musk, included NOAA in its sights.

Read more:
Why Texas Hill Country, where a devastating flood killed dozens, is one of the deadliest places in the US for flash flooding

Yale University’s Center for Environmental Communication said that while there was no clear evidence that budget cuts had affected weather forecasting in the Texas case, Trump’s planned additional cuts would affect some of NOAA’s key flash flood forecast tools. This includes the Flash project, which improves accuracy, timing and specificity of warnings, such as those that occurred in Texas on July 4. It also said that the weather service had lost many of its most senior staff, which would increase the risks associated with weather-related tragedies.

Cuts and the climate

Across the board, Doge has targeted other agencies that the public rely on in a crisis, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), where plans to reduce staffing by about 20% are currently coming into effect. With responsibility for managing natural and climate-fuelled disasters from hurricanes to floods, the agency has become busier in recent years as disasters have evolved from seasonal to perennial.

Rob Moore, the director of flooding solutions at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an influential environmental body, argued that “America’s disaster safety net is unraveling.”

There are likely to be more floods, and other nature-based catastrophes with multiple probable causes and features. While outright prevention may not always be possible, governmental risk and disaster management can help to preclude the devastation seen on July 4 in Texas.

The problem with responding to long-term risk with short-term or inadequate solutions is that one day, an existential threat could arrive for which the US will not be ready. The danger may not even be as overwhelming as a global pandemic or nuclear threat. It could be as mundane as a local river overflowing. For those who lost their loved ones in Texas, there is nothing distant about their anguish.

A country with the world’s largest economy does not have to cut federal bureaucracy corners. Wasting tax dollars is never a vote winner, but funding vital emergency services like Fema and the National Weather Service is a fundamental feature of an advanced democracy. As is investing in the technology and personnel to do all possible to predict flash floods. Trump would do well to remember this as he meets the bereaved in Kerr County.

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

– ref. Trump’s budget cuts are adding to risk in life-threatening floods and emergencies – https://theconversation.com/trumps-budget-cuts-are-adding-to-risk-in-life-threatening-floods-and-emergencies-260710

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Paul Hough, Lecturer Sport & Exercise Physiology , University of Westminster

As with many competitions, competitors in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 tournament face a gruelling match schedule. There are typically only three or four days between matches during the group stage of international tournaments – with some teams even facing tighter turnarounds depending on scheduling.

This congested fixture schedule places a significant physical demand on players, increases injury risk and makes it challenging to sustain peak physical performance. This is why recovery strategies are put into action from the moment the match ends so players are in peak condition for the next match.

The first recovery strategy happens as soon as players arrive in the changing room. There will be a buffet-style food selection with plenty of carbohydrate and protein-based snacks to begin refuelling. Players also typically consume a “recovery” drink. This consists of carbohydrates to restore muscle glycogen (which our body uses for energy), and around 20-30 grams of protein to aid muscle repair.

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Over the following days, players will follow a meticulously-planned diet with the correct balance of carbohydrates, protein, fats and nutrients (such as the polyphenols found in tart cherry juice) to support muscle repair and adaptation.

Sweat loss during matches – particularly in summer tournaments – leads to significant dehydration. Players typically sweat around 1.5 litres or more during a match. Immediately after a match, players are given isotonic drinks to replace the water and electrolytes (specifically sodium) they’ve lost through sweating.

To estimate fluid loss, players’ post-match weight is recorded to guide how much they should drink. A one kilogram reduction in body weight corresponds to roughly one litre of fluid lost through sweating. To re-hydrate, players drink around 1.5 litres per kilogram of weight lost.

Physical recovery

Some players might perform around 10-15 minutes of low-intensity aerobic activity immediately following the match – such as cycling. This light activity maintains blood flow to the muscles, which might reduce the feeling of muscle soreness in the following days, although the evidence for this is inconclusive.

Players often use cold water immersion (ice baths) to reduce inflammation, swelling and muscle soreness. This involves standing or sitting in cold water (which is between 10–15°C) for around 10–15 minutes. Players may also take ice baths in the days between matches. Although there’s debate over whether ice baths speed up recovery, it remains a widely accepted practice in elite sport where rapid recovery is prioritised.

Another option involves alternating between hot water (around 36°C) and cold water – a practice known as contrast water therapy. Contrast water therapy causes the blood vessels to constrict in the cold water, then dilate in the hot water. This practice may enhance blood flow, reduce swelling and decrease muscle soreness.

Players often wear compression garments for several hours post-match and overnight. These garments enhance blood flow and reduce swelling. They’re also shown to reduce pain and muscle soreness.

Recently, inflatable compression leg sleeves have become popular among athletes. These boots inflate and deflate cyclically to promote blood flow and lymphatic drainage. This works similar to a sports massage or contrast water therapy, helping clear inflammatory proteins from the body. This may reduce swelling and decrease the severity of muscle soreness.

Sleep also plays a crucial role in a player’s physical and mental restoration between tournament matches. Players are encouraged to get eight to ten hours of quality sleep per night. Some players even take a 20-90 minute nap in the early afternoon to increase alertness, improve mood and potentially improve performance.

Good sleep hygiene can help players get a good night’s sleep even despite hectic tournament schedules. This involves ensuring their bedroom is cool and dark and minimising screen time before bed.

Preparing for the next match

The day after a match, players will perform a recovery session incorporating some sort of light activity – such as cycling, dynamic movements in the swimming pool and foam rolling (a type of self-massage that uses a foam cylinder to apply pressure to different muscles).

Although light activity does not accelerate muscle recovery, it can offer psychological benefits – such as reducing the feeling of muscle soreness and stiffness. Players may also undergo targeted physiotherapy and massage to reduce muscle soreness, increase mobility and ease pain.

Recovery time varies between players and the level of fatigue they experience. Fatigue will be influenced by the player’s age and their match demands – with players who run a greater distance or perform more sprints and changes of direction typically taking more time to recover between matches.

Players’ fatigue is monitored between matches using various methods – including GPS data, biochemical markers of inflammation and muscle damage, and wellness questionnaires. This data is used to individualise training and recovery.

Players showing elevated fatigue might perform light technical drills, tactical walkthroughs of different plays and strategies the player might use on the field and mobility-focused gym work to maintain sharpness without causing more fatigue. Whereas players whose fatigue levels have returned to close to normal will resume normal training.

Performing on the world stage with the weight of national pride brings intense pressure. Players must contend with media scrutiny coupled with the expectations of coaches and fans. These factors can disrupt sleep and trigger a biological stress response, which may impair recovery.

So to help manage mental stress, teams schedule structured downtime, encouraging players to connect with family or engage in hobbies that promote mental recovery and psychological detachment from football. Sports psychologists may also support players during tournaments, providing mental skills training and helping players develop strategies to cope with stress and pressure.

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

– ref. Women’s Euro 2025: what players do to recover between matches — and how they prepare for their next game – https://theconversation.com/womens-euro-2025-what-players-do-to-recover-between-matches-and-how-they-prepare-for-their-next-game-260248

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Janine Natalya Clark, Professor of Transitional Justice and International Criminal Law, University of Birmingham

The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in New York included a world premiere of War Through the Eyes of Animals (also known as Animals in War). The documentary gives an animal-eye view of Russia’s war against Ukraine and features the wartime experiences of several different species, including a cow, a rabbit and a wolf.

Throughout history, animals have been affected by war and exposed to its many dangers. Despite this, war is usually discussed from human-centred perspectives that marginalise animal experiences.

My own work on the Russia-Ukraine war uses sound as a way of thinking about some of the war’s environmental impacts and the experiences of animals. The idea that sound can provide ecological information is not new. Research has shown how the sounds, for example, of plants and animals can tell us a lot about how their environment is changing. What is new is exploring this in the context of war.

For my research project I interviewed more than 30 Ukrainians, including botanists, ornithologists, herpetologists (who study reptiles and amphibians) and a marine biologist. I also asked them to make short recordings of their local soundscapes.

A scientist working in Tuzlivski Lymany National Park in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine made a recording of Iranian Shahed drones flying over his office and explained that these “abnormal” sounds greatly affect some species of birds.

In 2024, for example, there was a large colony of nesting flamingos in Tuzlivski Lymany. However, noise caused them to abandon their nests, leaving their eggs vulnerable to predators. No chicks were born in the flamingo colony that year. Research in peacetime has found that drones can lead to significant breeding failures among some birds.

A herpetologist, meanwhile, shared his recording of natterjack toads and European tree frogs that he made in the Volyn region of northern Ukraine the year before the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

What he wanted to convey was that he may never hear this particular “amphibian chorus” again. The area is close to the border with Belarus, and it is unclear what impact the construction of Ukrainian defensive fortifications has had on local animal and plant life.

I also asked interviewees whether the war has helped nature in any way. In response, they frequently talked about reduced anthropogenic (human-made) pressures on the environment. An example is the ban on hunting, first imposed at the start of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

One interviewee recorded a nighttime summer meadow in Kyiv region and captured the distant sound of a fox calling. The prohibition on hunting has enabled foxes to thrive

Another interviewee made a recording near the Kaniv Nature Reserve in central Ukraine. Alongside birdsong are the barking sounds of roe deer, another species that has benefited from the hunting ban.

Of course, such population increases are not necessarily beneficial to wider ecosystems, as ecologist Aldo Leopold discussed in his classic Thinking like a Mountain (1949). Leopold found that uncontrolled numbers of deer due to the mass killing of wolves in the United States during the first part of the 20th century took a huge toll on the environment. “I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed”, he wrote”, “first to anaemic desuetude, and then to death”.

The fact that the Russia-Ukraine war has contributed to reducing some anthropogenic pressures does not in any way minimise the enormity of harm done to nature, including forests, soil and marine ecosystems. Yet it is too narrow to think about the environment only in terms of harms done to it.

Nature’s recovery

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) created following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 is often cited as an example of nature’s ability to recover. One of the ornithologists whom I interviewed made a recording of birdsong from within the CEZ, in northern Ukraine.

When I listen to the recording I am reminded of research which has found that birds have adapted physiologically to radiation exposure within the CEZ.

Another example of recovery relates to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023. When Russian aggressors breached the dam, water drained from the Kakhovka reservoir, leaving it dry. Today, there is a young willow forest growing on the site of the former reservoir.

To emphasise the resilience of nature, one of my interviewees made an audio recording from the Yelanets Steppe Nature Reserve in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine. Against the acoustic backdrop of wind gusting through the grasslands are the repeated calls of the common pheasant.

These sounds of the wild steppe awakening in early spring, the interviewee stressed, are also the sounds of nature getting on with life.

Birdsong is clearly audible in a recording made by soldiers near the frontline in Kharkiv region.

Similarly, birds continued to sing over the trenches during the first world war. Some interviewees also pointed out that certain species of birds, including cormorants, herons and white storks, have adapted to the sounds of war, becoming less sensitive to them.

Justice and reparations

I am particularly interested in the significance of nature’s sounds in the context of transitional justice – and especially reparations.

Discourse on environmental reparations focuses on repairing harms done to nature – and sounds can provide useful insights into some of these harms.

But what is missing from existing scholarship on reparations is attention to some of the ways that ecosystems can and do regenerate and recover. Moving forward, therefore, it is essential to think about how reparations can support (and not disturb) these natural ecosystem processes.

Janine Natalya Clark receives funding for this research from the Leverhulme Trust (RF-2024-137)

– ref. Sound recordings can give us an animal-eye view of the war in Ukraine – https://theconversation.com/sound-recordings-can-give-us-an-animal-eye-view-of-the-war-in-ukraine-260519

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Gemma Ware, Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The Conversation

 Across Europe, far-right movements are gaining ground. From the Netherlands, to Germany and Italy, they’re winning seats in parliaments and sometimes joining ruling coalitions. By normalising nationalist rhetoric and challenging democratic institutions, these parties raise comparisons with former periods of fascism on the continent.

Between 1943 and 1945, when Nazi forces occupied northern Italy, ordinary people in towns and villages across the country took up arms against fascism in one of Europe’s largest resistance movements. Now, 80 years later, in many of these same towns, anti-fascist sentiment remains unusually strong.

In this episode of The Conversation Weekly podcast, we speak to political scientist Juan Masullo at Leiden University, who’s been finding out about the enduring legacy of these anti-fascist movements.

The town of Sant’Anna di Stazzema, tucked away in the mountains of Tuscany, is a place haunted by its wartime past. The site of a notorious Nazi massacre during the Italian civil war it’s become a memorial to Italian resistance, and what Massulo describes as a “bastion of anti-fascist, left-wing progressive thinking”.

In 2021, the mayor of Stazzema began collecting signatures from around Italy to a petition calling for a ban on every form of fascist or neo-fascist propaganda. It needed 50,000 signatures to be discussed in parliament, and 240,000 signed it.

Masullo saw this as an opportunity to answer a question about political resistance and its legacy: was there an association between places with a lot of anti-fascist resistance during the war, and places that supported the petition? “We did find out that there was an association,” he told us. And when he began interviewing people in places where the correlation was particularly strong to try and find out why, he said “ these people spend a lot of time memorialising what happened”.

Listen to the full episode of The Conversation Weekly to hear our conversation with Juan Masullo about his research.

This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Mend Mariwany with mixing and sound design by Eloise Stevens and theme music by Neeta Sarl. Gemma Ware is the executive producer.

Newsclips in this episode from DW News, BBC News, BattleForTelenuovo, Hindustan Times, Look in the Past War Archives, Archivio Luce Cinecittà, Tele Liguria Sud.

Listen to The Conversation Weekly via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our RSS feed or find out how else to listen here. A transcript of this episode is available on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Juan Masullo has received funding for this research from UNUWIDER and Leiden University. He is affiliated with the University of Milan.

– ref. The enduring anti-fascist legacy of places that mark Italy’s wartime resistance – podcast – https://theconversation.com/the-enduring-anti-fascist-legacy-of-places-that-mark-italys-wartime-resistance-podcast-260741

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Nik Georgopoulos, Associate Professor in Cell Biology and Transforming Lives Fellow, Sheffield Hallam University

Hair loss is one of the most feared and traumatic side effects of cancer chemotherapy treatment, both for patients themselves and their loved ones, as it can visibly represent the “face of cancer”.

For most patients, maintaining their hair is not just about vanity – it’s about identity, dignity and control. That’s why scalp cooling caps, or (cold caps), often worn during chemotherapy, have become an increasingly common sight in cancer wards.

Chemotherapy drugs work by killing rapidly dividing cancer cells – unfortunately, they cause collateral toxicity to rapidly dividing healthy cells in our body, like those in the roots of our hair. This leads to hair follicle damage and ultimately, hair loss.

Automated scalp cooling devices are used to chill the scalp just before, during and for a short time after chemotherapy treatment. Our previous research showed that cooling works through several mechanisms. It reduces blood flow to the scalp, meaning less of the drug reaches the hair follicles.

It lowers cell activity and metabolism, which makes hair cells less likely to react to chemotherapy. Also, cooling directly stops drugs from entering follicle cells. But despite its potential, scalp cooling doesn’t work for all patients. Until now, we didn’t really know why.

Our new research shows that temperature precision might be fundamental in the ability of scalp cooling to prevent hair loss. We used human hair follicles grown as “mini organs” in the lab to simulate what happens during chemotherapy.

When we treated hair follicles with chemotherapy drugs, we found that cooling, quite remarkably, can prevent the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs. However, there is a catch: it only works if hair follicles are cooled to the right level. If not, the protection is not adequate to “rescue” them from the toxicity of chemotherapy.

More specifically, when cooled to an optimal temperature of 18°C, hair follicles were completely protected from chemotherapy drug-induced damage. However, when the temperature was higher – say, 26°C – the protection dropped dramatically. This finding may explain why scalp cooling doesn’t work for all patients. In real-world settings, scalp temperature can vary due to differences in equipment, head shape, blood flow, or hair type. Some patients may not reach the “protective threshold”.

But, here’s the exciting part: if the temperature isn’t cold enough, we have found a way to compensate for this by adding antioxidants, and that makes a huge difference. Together, cooling and antioxidant form a strong protective combination – offering hair follicles a powerful, double layer of defence.

So, how do the antioxidants help? Chemotherapy drugs generate harmful molecules called reactive oxygen species, or ROS, which contribute to cell damage. By adding antioxidants like N-Acetylcysteine or Resveratrol – even at sub-optimal cooling temperatures – we saw a remarkable improvement in protection. In fact, the combined effect of antioxidants and moderate cooling mimicked the protection seen with optimal cooling alone.

Although our study was conducted in the lab, it paves the way for improving the outcomes for patients undergoing chemotherapy. The findings suggest that combining antioxidants with existing scalp cooling could make the treatment more reliable and accessible.

We’re now developing a topical antioxidant treatment designed to reach the vulnerable parts of hair follicles in the scalp. The idea is to apply this lotion during scalp cooling, to boost the follicle’s defenses. Clinical trials are being planned to test this combined approach in patients.

Our new research is a milestone, because with the help of antioxidants, we may now be able to offer effective scalp cooling-based hair protection more widely and more consistently – even when conditions aren’t perfect. The combinatorial approach is based on over a decade of research into how chemotherapy damages hair – and how that damage can be stopped.

Hair loss during chemotherapy is deeply distressing. If we can improve the tools we already have, such as scalp cooling, and make them work better for more people, we can help preserve not just hair, but dignity, normality and quality of life during an incredibly difficult time.

The future of supportive cancer care isn’t just about treating the disease. It’s also about helping people feel like themselves and maintain their dignity while they fight it. This new approach has the potential to “change the face of cancer” for patients worldwide.

Nik Georgopoulos is a member of the scientific advisory board of Paxman Coolers Ltd, but receives no consultancy-related income. He holds a research collaboration with and his laboratory receives funding from Paxman Coolers Ltd.

– ref. Cooling and antioxidants could help prevent hair loss during chemotherapy – new research – https://theconversation.com/cooling-and-antioxidants-could-help-prevent-hair-loss-during-chemotherapy-new-research-259722

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Breno Nunes, Associate professor in Sustainable Operations Management, Aston University

Since early January 2025, residents of Birmingham in the UK have been caught in the dispute between the city council and the Unite union over pay, terms and conditions for waste and recycling collectors. The latest attempt at talks broke down in acrimony.

At one point during the crisis, there were 17 tonnes of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham. Businesses and residents face public health and safety risks including pest infestations and the spread of disease and fire hazards.

These have tainted the reputation of the city and hurt its chances of hosting events and attracting visitors. The news of cat-sized rats in Birmingham has made headlines from the US to Australia.

Read more:
Birmingham bin strikes: a threat to public health

Workers’ pay is being negotiated between the union and the council in Birmingham. However, this is a fairly dangerous job and, with an ageing population, it may become more difficult to hire new workers. We argue that a more fair approach would be to use technology to help transition workers (including through training) towards better paid and safer positions.

This would be an opportunity to build more sustainable waste management in the UK’s second largest city and beyond. Advances in robotics and AI are making automated refuse collection a reality, for example. Some cities in the US, Canada and parts of Europe already use robotics-enabled equipment in their refuse collection systems.

A shortage of skilled personnel threatens the transition towards a greener economy. People have to be at the centre of the solution. In this case, skilled workers are needed to keep different types of waste separate and so improve recycling rates.

The recovery value can be high for certain products such as electronics, automotive parts, as well as materials like plastic and metal. This is still difficult for machines to do.

Smart bins and automated trucks

Birmingham city council has already proposed improvements to waste collection. Based on publicly available information, it aims at increasing the number of rubbish trucks, reducing the number of collection days and retraining refuse collectors. But it has yet to take full advantage of existing advanced technologies.

The plan, for instance, proposes improving communication with residents about collection day via text messages. While welcome, this is rather basic. It was only during the pandemic that all recycling centres started using online booking systems. Prior to that, endless queues were common – wasting time and increasing emissions with traffic jams.

We argue that a whole-systems approach is needed to make the most of the opportunities new technology affords. Automated side loader trucks and smart bins are already used in various cities – the latter use sensors to monitor waste volumes and predict when collection is needed. The council could analyse the strengths and weaknesses of each technology in different areas of the city.

Side loader trucks, which can lift up large bins and empty them, automate a dangerous process and are already considered a mature technology, used in cities across the US, Canada and Sweden. These trucks are difficult to drive in narrow streets. But, where appropriate, their benefits include increased productivity, reduced collection costs and greater worker safety.

Sensors embedded in the vehicle, including from cameras, can provide data on the distribution of waste in different areas. This helps to produce a waste map. AI algorithms can analyse the data and provide customised collection schedules that optimise the use of trucks in the collection fleet. The algorithms can learn and be continuously revised to improve the service.

In busy areas of the city, information from smart bins can prevent rubbish accumulating. Advanced machine learning techniques can then be employed to further optimise the collection schedule by detecting, for instance, anomalies such as a sudden increase in some types of waste. Such systems can provide more adaptable solutions and increase the productivity of officers.

Recent improvements in imaging techniques and chemical analysis can help to identify different waste materials and allow automatic sorting, and the identification of hazardous waste.

Other technological solutions, such as the use of smart underground large storage containers as communal bins allow for less frequent collections, but they may require significant changes to both infrastructure and trucks. These already exist in parts of Spain.

Pneumatic waste collection systems have been tested in Wembley, a suburb in northwest London. In this system, waste is sucked through underground pipes by a fan system at speeds approaching 50mph to a central point, where it is stored in airtight containers until further treatment takes place. More than 30 countries adopt this system.

Educating the public is vital too. Reducing waste in the first place is a good way to save money and would reduce pressure on waste collection systems.

As far as Birmingham goes, overlooking advanced technologies won’t make the council’s task of satisfying residents and waste collection teams any easier. We think a lot of people would be happier to see more robotics trucks and smart bins than more rats in the streets.

Breno Nunes receives funding from InnovateUK for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project on sustainable manufacturing strategy.

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

– ref. From robotic trucks to smart bins: how technology is helping cities sort their waste problem – https://theconversation.com/from-robotic-trucks-to-smart-bins-how-technology-is-helping-cities-sort-their-waste-problem-260023

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Janine Natalya Clark, Professor of Transitional Justice and International Criminal Law, University of Birmingham

The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival in New York included a world premiere of War Through the Eyes of Animals (also known as Animals in War). The documentary gives an animals-eye view of Russia’s war against Ukraine and features the wartime experiences of several different species, including a cow, a rabbit and a wolf.

Throughout history, animals have been affected by war and exposed to its many dangers. Despite this, war is usually discussed from human-centred perspectives that marginalise animal experiences.

My own work on the Russia-Ukraine war uses sound as a way of thinking about some of the war’s environmental impacts and the experiences of animals. The idea that sound can provide ecological information is not new. Research has shown how the sounds, for example, of plants and animals can tell us a lot about how their environment is changing. What is new is exploring this in the context of war.

For my research project I interviewed more than 30 Ukrainians, including botanists, ornithologists, herpetologists (who study reptiles and amphibians) and a marine biologist. I also asked them to make short recordings of their local soundscapes.

A scientist working in Tuzlivski Lymany National Park in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine made a recording of Iranian Shahed drones flying over his office and explained that these “abnormal” sounds greatly affect some species of birds.

In 2024, for example, there was a large colony of nesting flamingos in Tuzlivski Lymany. However, noise caused them to abandon their nests, leaving their eggs vulnerable to predators. No chicks were born in the flamingo colony that year. Research in peacetime has found that drones can lead to significant breeding failures among some birds.

A herpetologist, meanwhile, shared his recording of natterjack toads and European tree frogs that he made in the Volyn region of northern Ukraine the year before the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022.

What he wanted to convey was that he may never hear this particular “amphibian chorus” again. The area is close to the border with Belarus, and it is unclear what impact the construction of Ukrainian defensive fortifications has had on local animal and plant life.

I also asked interviewees whether the war has helped nature in any way. In response, they frequently talked about reduced anthropogenic (human-made) pressures on the environment. An example is the ban on hunting, first imposed at the start of the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014.

One interviewee recorded a nighttime summer meadow in Kyiv region and captured the distant sound of a fox calling. The prohibition on hunting has enabled foxes to thrive

Another interviewee made a recording near the Kaniv Nature Reserve in central Ukraine. Alongside birdsong are the barking sounds of roe deer, another species that has benefited from the hunting ban.

Of course, such population increases are not necessarily beneficial to wider ecosystems, as ecologist Aldo Leopold discussed in his classic Thinking like a Mountain (1949). Leopold found that uncontrolled numbers of deer due to the mass killing of wolves in the United States during the first part of the 20th century took a huge toll on the environment. “I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed”, he wrote”, “first to anaemic desuetude, and then to death”.

The fact that the Russia-Ukraine war has contributed to reducing some anthropogenic pressures does not in any way minimise the enormity of harm done to nature, including forests, soil and marine ecosystems. Yet it is too narrow to think about the environment only in terms of harms done to it.

Nature’s recovery

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) created following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 is often cited as an example of nature’s ability to recover. One of the ornithologists whom I interviewed made a recording of birdsong from within the CEZ, in northern Ukraine.

When I listen to the recording I am reminded of research which has found that birds have adapted physiologically to radiation exposure within the CEZ.

Another example of recovery relates to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023. When Russian aggressors breached the dam, water drained from the Kakhovka reservoir, leaving it dry. Today, there is a young willow forest growing on the site of the former reservoir.

To emphasise the resilience of nature, one of my interviewees made an audio recording from the Yelanets Steppe Nature Reserve in the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine. Against the acoustic backdrop of wind gusting through the grasslands are the repeated calls of the common pheasant.

These sounds of the wild steppe awakening in early spring, the interviewee stressed, are also the sounds of nature getting on with life.

Birdsong is clearly audible in a recording made by soldiers near the frontline in Kharkiv region.

Similarly, birds continued to sing over the trenches during the first world war. Some interviewees also pointed out that certain species of birds, including cormorants, herons and white storks, have adapted to the sounds of war, becoming less sensitive to them.

Justice and reparations

I am particularly interested in the significance of nature’s sounds in the context of transitional justice – and especially reparations.

Discourse on environmental reparations focuses on repairing harms done to nature – and sounds can provide useful insights into some of these harms.

But what is missing from existing scholarship on reparations is attention to some of the ways that ecosystems can and do regenerate and recover. Moving forward, therefore, it is essential to think about how reparations can support (and not disturb) these natural ecosystem processes.

Janine Natalya Clark receives funding for this research from the Leverhulme Trust (RF-2024-137)

– ref. Sound recordings can give us an animals’ eye view of the war in Ukraine – https://theconversation.com/sound-recordings-can-give-us-an-animals-eye-view-of-the-war-in-ukraine-260519

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Jane Steventon, Course Leader, BA (Hons) Screenwriting; Deputy Course Leader & Senior Lecturer, BA (Hons) Film Production, University of Portsmouth

When HBO launched Lena Dunham’s Girls in 2012, it followed shows such as Buffy (1997-2003), Sex and the City (1998-2004) and Gossip Girl (2007-2012), which had all set a standard of shiny, sanitised female representation that was both attractive and palatable to a wide audience.

The grubby realism of Dunham’s New York twentysomethings, on the other hand, offered a surprising authenticity for some. But for others it was too messy, too white, too privileged and too authored around Dunham’s own life.

Although younger characters are often categorised by self-absorption and poor judgment, the “realness” of Girls was still challenging for many viewers. In particular they struggled with Dunham’s own character, Hannah Horvath, an aspiring writer frequently making personal and professional mistakes. She made for an unlikely – and often unlikable – heroine.

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Much attention was also paid to Hannah’s nudity, which proved to be a talking point each season. Dunham is known for her bold and positive attitude to her body, which clearly does not conform to standard Hollywood beauty types. But this reaction to Hannah’s frequent nakedness was ultimately highlighted as misogynistic by the creative powers behind the series such as producer Judd Apatow and co-writer Jenni Konner, as well as Dunham herself.

The same critics may have similar problems with Too Much. Though fresh 20-something protagonist, Jessica is played with gusto by TikTok star Megan Stalter, not Dunham herself. She’s known for her scene-stealing performance in comedy-drama Hacks (2021-).

Too Much is still clearly written by Dunham. Jess’s relocation from NYC to London echoes her own move to the UK in 2021, where she met and married the Peruvian-British musician Luis Felber and settled in north London.

The pair have co-created this “love letter to London”, with Dunham directing and and Felber providing the original music. The story takes in London pubs, creative agencies, Notting-Hill-the-movie aspirations and council-estate realities.

Growing pains

As Jess starts work in a London media agency, helmed by an excitable Richard E. Grant, she meets cerebral indie musician Felix (played convincingly and charmingly by Will Sharpe). Their instant connection means that Jess is thrust back into the world of dating, with all the Instagram anxiety and breakup PTSD that her last relationship produced.

The tone is at once fresh and frivolous, but episode one feels contrived at times with the creaky set-up of post-relationship life and relocation.

The familial scenes are the most enjoyable, with Dunham calling in all her celebrity cameo favours, including herself as Jessica’s mother (she snaffles some of the show’s best lines), and Rita Wilson playing her own mother. The small but mighty Rhea Pearlman grabs the great-grandmother role with gusto, flirting salaciously with Jess’s paramour while dispensing wicked wisecracks with bone-dry humour.

As the story develops, so does the sophistication and thoroughbred quality of Dunham’s writing and directing. Glorious moments of obsession with skin, taste and touch in the early days of a relationship are convincingly conveyed by credible and well-crafted moments of intimacy, both physical and intellectual.

As Jessica and Felix navigate the inevitable ups-and-downs of togetherness (dinner parties, red-flag paranoia and an unrequited “I love you”), Dunham reflects on love’s tumultuous and terrifying roller-coaster via brilliant dialogue and meaningful visual storytelling.

A particularly thought-provoking moment of direction comes in the form of a long take at the end of episode three, where the duo cosy up together, ready for sleep, in silent closeness. Jess listens to music on headphones, potentially excluding Felix, but the inference is of acceptance and tenderness – a reassuring sign of potential longevity.

The pitfalls on the road to love are frequently revealed in flashback from Jessica’s past relationship with Zev (Michael Zegen), who has moved on with a new partner. We go from the “meet-cute” and early days of infatuation between Jess and Zev, steadily giving way to less and less tolerance and emotional intimacy, until finally the betrayal with the new love becomes clear.

Capitalising on the anxieties induced by social media, Dunham has Jess obsessively watching Zev’s new love Wendy (Emily Ratajkowski) on Instagram, where every desirable detail of her life plays out in perfection. When Wendy broadcasts the inevitable proposal on Instagram Live, Jess is sent spiralling and decides to flee to London.

As the series progresses, Dunham’s goals become clearer and echo those of Girls. Both shows explore what it means to be “too much” – an accusation that many strong, ambitious and focused women have experienced.

Being too much, it turns out, may be not such a bad thing. As Felix remarks at the close of episode four, after one of their first clashes, “too much” is not necessarily an insult – it can be a way of describing someone who is remarkable. It’s something that Dunham clearly believes – and wants us all to believe – about the tumultuous and chaotic experience of growing up.

Too Much is a hopeful paean to womanhood, a declaration that messiness, failure and fear are all part of becoming a woman just as much as joy, love and intimacy. This show inspires and engages the more it reveals of its flawed and fallible protagonist amid the melting pot of London that Dunham so clearly adores.

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

– ref. Too Much: Lena Dunham’s love letter to London, romance and the messiness of being a woman – https://theconversation.com/too-much-lena-dunhams-love-letter-to-london-romance-and-the-messiness-of-being-a-woman-260528

Source: ForeignAffairs4

Source: The Conversation – UK – By Ernestine Gheyoh Ndzi, Senior Lecturer at York Business School, York St John University

The recent launch of a government review into parental leave and pay in the UK is a hugely welcome development. In order to bring about meaningful change, it must challenge the fundamental issue at the heart of current parental leave laws. They are strongly influenced by, and so perpetuate, gender norms that see women as caregivers and fathers as breadwinners.

Parents in the UK can take maternity leave, paternity leave and shared parental leave in the first year of their child’s life. While these allowances provide parents with support, the support is disproportionate in how it is split between mothers and fathers. Although gender roles have evolved significantly, UK policies lag behind.

Mothers and fathers are equal parents and have equal parenting responsibilities. However, mothers are allowed up to 52 weeks of maternity leave, while fathers are only entitled to two weeks of statutory paternity leave.

The introduction of shared parental leave in 2015 was welcomed as a positive step towards gender equality – but it has failed in this aim.

There are significant barriers stopping fathers from benefiting fully from the legislation. Parents can share up to 50 weeks of leave between them. But because mothers are entitled to a year of leave, the policy requires mothers to act as gatekeepers. The mother determines if the father can share the leave and how long she is willing to give up for the father.

Consequently, fathers have no autonomy or independence to take parental leave at a time that is important to them and their babies – and they may be reluctant to deprive the mother of leave she is entitled to.

What’s more, while maternity and paternity leave is well known and the process relatively straightforward, shared parental leave has been criticised for its complexity. Parents that have explored shared parental leave have found the policy and process incredibly complex because some employers still don’t understand how it works and so are unable to support parents.

The problems with the policy have affected its uptake. Only 5% of fathers take any shared parental leave.

Financial implications

Another problem that affects all three policies is the pay. While the UK has a generous maternity leave allowance of 52 weeks, this is not accompanied by a decent financial allowance.

Although employers can set more generous terms, the law requires only the first six weeks of maternity leave to be paid at 90% of the mother’s salary. This is followed by 33 weeks at statutory pay of £187.18 and 13 weeks of no pay. The two weeks of paternity leave are paid at the statutory rate of £187.18, or 90% of the father’s average weekly earnings (whichever is lower).

And while shared parental leave allows the mother to split 50 weeks of leave with her partner, a significant period of this is unpaid. Out of these 50 weeks, parents can share 37 weeks of pay at statutory rate and the rest of the leave would be unpaid.

Mothers have returned to work early because financially they cannot afford to stay longer on maternity leave – a problem compounded by the rising cost of living. Fathers sometimes opt to take annual leave rather than paternity leave because of the low pay.

The same reason applies to shared parental leave because parents cannot afford to both be off at the same time or different times on the statutory rate. While the policies are well intended, there is no financial incentive for parents to take it.

Finances have a significant impact on parental leave choices. The government review should enhance parental leave pay to encourage and support parents, particularly fathers.

Impact on careers

The implications for parents’ careers also need to be considered. While parental leave should not affect the career aspirations or progressions of the parents, my research demonstrates otherwise. Mothers have been bullied, refused opportunities, and have felt forced to leave their jobs.

Research also shows that fathers have concerns about their careers when considering parental leave. While it is illegal for an employer to discriminate against a parent for taking parental leave, this remains an area of concern.

My research has demonstrated that some fathers consider shared parental leave as a “luxury” they cannot afford. They feel they need to work hard to demonstrate their commitment to their job. Equal parenting policies would support women’s careers and encourage fathers to take up more family responsibilities without fear of repercussions.

The last point to consider – and one that often goes overlooked – is that how parents choose to feed their baby may have an effect on their decisions to take parental leave. Babies can be breastfed, formula fed or a mixture of both breast and formula feeding. If the parents make the decision to breastfeed – a choice recommended by the World Health Organisation – this may affect the mother’s decision on how much leave she takes.

Employers have legal obligations to carry out risk assessments for breastfeeding mothers and make reasonable adjustments on specific health and safety guidelines. However, a general policy that covers the wider needs of breastfeeding mothers and offers them more support at work should be implemented.

My research shows that mothers may prefer to take more maternity leave to enable them to breastfeed.

The parental leave review shouldn’t miss the opportunity to introduce breastfeeding policies that ensure mothers are properly supported in the workplace – as well as making sure that both mothers and fathers have the opportunity to prioritise caring and their careers.

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

– ref. Parental leave in the UK isn’t working – here’s what needs to change – https://theconversation.com/parental-leave-in-the-uk-isnt-working-heres-what-needs-to-change-209661